cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Constitutional Counterpoint: Legislative Debates, Statutory Interpretation and the Separation of Powers

Critics have raised concerns that Pepper v. Hart’s relaxation of the exclusionary rule relating to Parliamentary debates in Hansard has created separation of powers issues by attributing statutory meaning to ministerial statements. This article argues that, in some cases, the absence of references to Hansard also has the potential to lead to separation of powers concerns, especially where citing Hansard could blunt criticism that the Supreme Court has exceeded its proper role in statutory interpretation.
Denosumab (Prolia) for Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Prolia is an expensive method of preventing osteoporotic hip fractures, and is associated with significant adverse effects. Safer, less expensive options exist for preventing fracture in high-risk women.
Fresh versus frozen: initial transfer or cumulative cycle results: how do we interpret results and design studies?

The way we practice assisted reproductive technology has changed over time. In many ways these changes have been positive as technology has improved, in vitro culture has improved, and embryo selection increasingly allows a single embryo transfer with high success rates and ever smaller multiple birth rates. However, our specialty has often been criticized for not being critical with respect to the acceptance of new technology. Although the outcome of interest seems clear (increasing birth of a healthy baby), the approach can be more complicated; and as there is a de-linking of egg retrieval and ET, and as costs and procedures increase, we should be rigorous about our acceptance of change. This is not to stall change but to encourage the same rigor and questioning of accepted dogma expected in other fields of medicine. An approach based on standard clinical study design to allow appropriate comparisons between patients, and to allow the most comprehensive information for patient counseling, is presented.
Microstructure of Currency Markets

This chapter summarizes exchange rate research using microstructure models. It first lays out the key features of the foreign exchange market and describes how they are incorporated into a canonical model of currency trading. The empirical implications of the model are then examined. The article also discusses how currency trading links spot rate dynamics to macroeconomic conditions, and how this link sheds light on some long-standing puzzles concerning the behavior of exchange rates.
Chapter 32 – Cost blood group collection

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the Cost blood group system. The history, terminology, and phenotypes related to the Cost blood group system are reviewed. This collection of phenotypically associated high prevalence antigens was established in 1988 and named after one of the original patients who made anti-Csa. Five of the original antigens from this collection are in the Knops system because they are carried on CR1. Csa has variable expression on red blood cells (RBCs) from different people. The in vitro characteristics of alloanti-Csa, alloanti-Csb and the clinical significance of alloanti-Csa, alloanti-Csb are also reviewed.
Hydrogels That Actuate Selectively in Response to Organophosphates

Nerve agents and pesticides represent a category of extremely toxic organophosphate compounds (OPs) that irreversibly inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, disturbing transmission in the synaptic clefts of muscles and nerves. Protection from these compounds necessitates the development of breathable barriers that can selectively block the passage of OPs. Hydrogels prepared from acrylamide, N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide), N,N′-bis(acryloyl)cystamine, and hydrophilic pendant oximes are herein prepared, showing the ability to decontaminate and respond to the presence of OPs through a change in swelling. The oxime-based hydrogels show selective response only to malaoxon when tested against chemicals that are found in sweat as well as other reactive chemicals that are found in the environment. Pore sealing is demonstrated in perforated equilibrated gels within 3–4 h after the addition of malaoxon, showing actuation of the gel in response to organophosphates. This strategy demonstrates the ability to couple oxime-based decontamination and disulfide chemistry to produce hydrogels that can decontaminate organophosphate compounds, sense the decontamination product, and transduce this sensing response into actuation of the gel, which can be used to close pores in gel sheets or between fibers in a protective fabric coating.
The impact of income inequality on rental affordability: An empirical study in large American metropolitan areas:

American metropolitan areas have experienced rising income inequality and worsening rental affordability in the past few decades. Has the rise of inequality caused worsening rental affordability? T...
Lentiviral Gene Transduction in Human and Mouse NK Cell Lines

Natural killer (NK) cells play a vital role in the control of cancer and microbial infections. A major hinderance in studying NK cells is the resistance of these cells to gene transfer. Considering over-expression and gene knockdown studies are crucial tools to study the biology of cells, technologies suitable for transferring genes into NK cells are invaluable. Among various technologies available for gene transfer, lentiviral-mediated transduction has been successful in introducing genes into NK cells. We have standardized methods of lentiviral infection in human and mouse NK cell lines. We obtain transduction efficiencies of 15% in the NK-92 cell line and 30-40% in LNK, YT, and DERL7 cell lines. This method allows efficient and stable introduction of genes and shRNAs into NK cell lines.
How reliable are texture measurements

The purpose of this study was to assess the bias (objectivity) and variability (robustness) of computed tomography (CT) texture features (internal heterogeneities) across a series of image acquisition settings and reconstruction algorithms. We simulated a series of CT images using a computational phantom with anatomically-informed texture. 288 clinically-relevant simulation conditions were generated representing three slice thicknesses (0.625, 1.25, 2.5 mm), four in-plane pixel sizes (0.4, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 mm), three dose levels (CTDIvol = 1.90, 3.75, 7.50 mGy), and 8 reconstruction kernels. Each texture feature was sampled with 4 unique volumes of interest (VOIs) (244, 1953, 15625, 125000 mm3). Twenty-one statistical texture features were calculated and compared between the ground truth phantom (i.e., pre-imaging) and its corresponding post-imaging simulations. Metrics of comparison included (1) the percent relative difference (PRD) between the post-imaging simulation and the ground truth, and (2) the coefficient of variation (%COV) across simulated instances of texture features. The PRD and %COV ranged from -100% to 4500%, and 0.8% to 49%, respectively. PRD decreased with increased slice thickness, in-plane pixel size, and dose. The dynamic range of results indicate that image acquisition and reconstruction conditions (i.e., slice thicknesses, in-plane pixel sizes, dose levels, and reconstruction kernels) can lead to significant bias and variability in texture feature measurements.
50 Years of Spermatogenesis: Sertoli Cells and Their Interactions With Germ Cells

The complex morphology of the Sertoli cells and their interactions with germ cells has been a focus of investigators since they were first described by Enrico Sertoli. In the past 50 years, information on Sertoli cells has transcended morphology alone to become increasingly more focused on molecular questions. The goal of investigators has been to understand the role of the Sertoli cells in spermatogenesis and to apply that information to problems relating to male fertility. Sertoli cells are unique in that they are a nondividing cell population that is active for the reproductive lifetime of the animal and cyclically change morphology and gene expression. The numerous and distinctive junctional complexes and membrane specializations made by Sertoli cells provide a scaffold and environment for germ cell development. The increased focus of investigators on the molecular components and putative functions of testicular cells has resulted primarily from procedures that isolate specific cell types from the testicular milieu. Products of Sertoli cells that influence germ cell development and vice versa have been characterized from cultured cells and from the application of transgenic technologies. Germ cell transplantation has shown that the Sertoli cells respond to cues from germ cells with regard to developmental timing and has furthered a focus on spermatogenic stem cells and the stem cell niche. Very basic and universal features of spermatogenesis such as the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium and the spermatogenic wave are initiated by Sertoli cells and maintained by Sertoli-germ cell cooperation.
WIPIng the Brakes off Autophagy Induction.

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Wan et al. (2018) uncover WIPI2 as a critical rheostat in the control of autophagic degradation by mTORC1 and demonstrate the physiological utility of this signaling axis in promoting the clearance of hepatic lipids.
Temperature Dependent Electrical Transport Properties of High Carrier Mobility Reduced Graphene Oxide Thin Film Devices

We report temperature dependent electrical transport properties of high mobility reduced graphene oxide (RGO) thin films fabricated by pulse laser deposition. The temperature dependent (5K–350K) four terminal electrical transport property measurements confirm variable range hopping and thermally activated transport mechanism of the charge carriers at low (5K–210K) and high temperature (210K–350K) regions, respectively. The calculated localization length, the density of states near the Fermi level ( $E_{F}$ ), hopping energy, and Arrhenius energy gap provide useful information to explain the excellent electrical properties of the RGO films. Hall mobility measurement confirms ${p}$ -type characteristics of the thin films. The charge carrier Hall mobility can be engineered by tuning the growth parameters, and the measured maximum mobility was 1596 cm2v−1s−1. The optimization of the improved electrical property is well supported by structural properties such as the defect density, average size of sp2 clusters and degree of reduction, which were investigated by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis.
Entropy budget and coherent structures associated with a spectral closure model of turbulence

We ‘derive’ the eddy-damped quasi-normal Markovian model (EDQNM) by a method that replaces the exact equation for the Fourier phases with a solvable stochastic model, and we analyse the entropy budget of the EDQNM. We show that a quantity that appears in the probability distribution of the phases may be interpreted as the rate at which entropy is transferred from the Fourier phases to the Fourier amplitudes. In this interpretation, the decrease in phase entropy is associated with the formation of structures in the flow, and the increase of amplitude entropy is associated with the spreading of the energy spectrum in wavenumber space. We use Monte Carlo methods to sample the probability distribution of the phases predicted by our theory. This distribution contains a single adjustable parameter that corresponds to the triad correlation time in the EDQNM. Flow structures form as the triad correlation time becomes very large, but the structures take the form of vorticity quadrupoles that do not resemble the monopoles and dipoles that are actually observed.
Forces in A True and Physical Sense: From Mathematical Models to Metaphysical Conclusions

J. Wilson (2009), Moore (2012), and Massin (2017) identify an overdetermination problem arising from the principle of composition in Newtonian physics. I argue that the principle of composition is a red herring: what's really at issue are contrasting metaphysical views about how to interpret the science. One of these views---that real forces are to be tied to physical interactions like pushes and pulls---is a superior guide to real forces than the alternative, which demands that real forces are tied to "realized" accelerations. Not only is the former view employed in the actual construction of Newtonian models, the latter is both unmotivated and inconsistent with the foundations and testing of the science.
FPGA Demonstrator of a Programmable Ultra-Efficient Memristor-Based Machine Learning Inference Accelerator

Hybrid analog-digital neuromorphic accelerators show promise for significant increase in performance per watt of deep learning inference and training as compared with conventional technologies. In this work we present an FPGA demonstrator of a programmable hybrid inferencing accelerator, with memristor analog dot product engines emulated by digital matrix-vector multiplication units employing FPGA SRAM memory for in-situ weight storage. The full-chip demonstrator interfaced to a host by PCIe interface serves as a software development platform and a vehicle for further hardware microarchitecture improvements. Implementation of compute cores, tiles, network on a chip, and the host interface is discussed. New pipelining scheme is introduced to achieve high utilization of matrix-vector multiplication units while reducing tile data memory size requirements for neural network layer activations. The data flow orchestration between the tiles is described, controlled by a RISC-V core. Inferencing accuracy analysis is presented for an example RNN and CNN models. The demonstrator is instrumented with hardware monitors to enable performance measurements and tuning. Performance projections for future memristor-based ASIC are also discussed.
High prevalence of pro-thrombotic conditions in adult patients with moyamoya disease and moyamoya syndrome: a single center study

Moyamoya Disease (MMD) and moyamoya Syndrome (MMS) have been reported to be associated with pro-thrombotic states in some patients. To date, however, such reports have been limited to case reports or small case series. We sought to determine the prevalence of pro-thrombotic states among a large cohort of both MMD and MMS patients. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all adult patients who were diagnosed with MMD or MMS from our institution. In addition to basic demographic and clinical data, the presence of certain pro-thrombotic conditions was noted. The presence of such conditions was determined based on review of clinical diagnoses and laboratory reports. The length of follow-up and the presence of interval ischemic events were obtained. Out of a total of 180 patients diagnosed with MMD or MMS, 33 were found to have a concomitant pro-thrombotic condition (18.3%). Of 147 patients with MMD, 23 were found to have a pro-thrombotic condition (15.6%). There were 10 out of 33 total patients (30.3%) in the MMS cohort that had a concomitant pro-thrombotic condition. There were no differences in specific pro-thrombotic conditions between MMD and MMS cohorts. There were no differences in future ischemic events between moyamoya patients with pro-thrombotic tendencies compared to those without (13.3% versus 23.7%, respectively, P = 0.32), and this was also true for patients who underwent revascularization procedures (22.6% versus 29.4%, P = 0.76). There was also no difference in prevalence of revascularization graft occlusion between moyamoya patients with pro-thrombotic tendencies and those without at follow-up (1.2% versus 5.9%, P = 0.31). It is likely that both MMD and MMS are associated with or predispose to pro-thrombotic conditions in adult patients, although the clinical and surgical significance is uncertain. Further study is needed in order to further elucidate and characterize this potential association.
The revival of the Name-Glorifiers debate in post-Soviet Russia

Contemporary Russian Orthodoxy has witnessed a revival of a century old religious dispute over the veneration of the divine names (imiaslavie). Debate over the issue has raged on the internet and i...
Nonlinear Optimal Velocity Car Following Dynamics (I): Approximation in Presence of Deterministic and Stochastic Perturbations

The behavior of the optimal velocity model is investigated in this paper. Both deterministic and stochastic perturbations are considered in the Optimal velocity model and the behavior of the dynamical systems and their convergence to their associated averaged problems is studied in detail.
Internal Conversion in Sn 119

The total internal conversion coefficient of the ground-state 23.8-keV transition in ${\mathrm{Sn}}^{119}$ and the ratio ${[\frac{K}{(L+M+\ensuremath{\cdots})}]}_{M4}$ of internal conversion coefficients of the preceding 65.3-keV $M4$ transition have been determined by measuring the coincidence rate between the $K$ x rays following internal conversion of the 65.3-keV transition, and the 23.8-keV gamma rays. The following results were obtained: $\ensuremath{\alpha}=5.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3$ and ${[\frac{K}{(L+M+\ensuremath{\cdots})}]}_{M4}=0.42\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02$.
Levee Fragility Behavior under Projected Future Flooding in a Warming Climate

AbstractAdaptation to climate change requires careful evaluation of infrastructure performance under future climatic extremes. This study demonstrates how a multidisciplinary approach integrating g...
Thinking about Starting an Interdisciplinary Journal: The Medical Humanities as a Case in Point

Academia prizes interdisciplinarity. But what of publishing interdisciplinary journals? They hold the promise of appealing to two different disciplines yet run the risk of appealing to neither. Her...
Cognitive Impact by Blood Circulating Anti-NMDAR1 Autoantibodies

Antibodies persist months and years in blood. Chronic presence of low titers of blood circulating anti-NMDAR1 autoantibodies are sufficient to impair cognitive function in the integrity of the BBB in mice, suggesting potential cognitive damaging effects of low titers of blood circulating anti-NMDAR1 autoantibodies in the general human population and psychiatric patients. Investigation of anti-NMDAR1 autoantibodies against individual NMDAR1 antigenic epitopes may potentially provide risk biomarkers and therapeutic targets for development of immunotherapy as a precision medicine for psychiatric patients in the future.
Studying How Individuals Who Express the Feeling of Loneliness in an Online Loneliness Forum Communicate in a Nonloneliness Forum: Observational Study

Background: Loneliness is a public health concern, and increasingly, individuals experiencing loneliness are seeking support on online forums, some of which focus on discussions around loneliness (loneliness forums). Some of these individuals may also seek support around loneliness on online forums not related to loneliness or well-being (nonloneliness forums). Hence, to design and implement appropriate and efficient online loneliness interventions, it is important to understand how individuals who express and seek support around loneliness on online loneliness forums communicate in nonloneliness forums; this could provide further insights into the support needs and concerns of these users. Objective: This study aims to explore how users who express the feeling of loneliness and seek support around loneliness on an online loneliness forum communicate in an online nonloneliness forum. Methods: A total of 2401 users who expressed loneliness in posts published on a loneliness forum on Reddit and had published posts in a nonloneliness forum were identified. Using latent Dirichlet allocation (a natural language processing algorithm); Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (a psycholinguistic dictionary); and the word score–based language features valence, arousal, and dominance, the language use differences in posts published in the nonloneliness forum by these users compared to a control group of users who did not belong to any loneliness forum on Reddit were determined. Results: It was found that in posts published in the nonloneliness forum, users who expressed loneliness tend to use more words associated with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count categories on sadness (Cohen d=0.10) and seeking to socialize (Cohen d=0.114), and use words associated with valence (Cohen d=0.364) and dominance (Cohen d=0.117). In addition, they tend to publish posts related to latent Dirichlet allocation topics such as relationships (Cohen d=0.105) and family and friends and mental health (Cohen d=0.10). Conclusions: There are clear distinctions in language use in nonloneliness forum posts by users who express loneliness compared to a control group of users. These findings can help with the design and implementation of online interventions around loneliness.
Outcomes Following Cytoreductive Surgery with Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy with and without Diaphragmatic Resection in Patients with Peritoneal Metastases.

Diaphragmatic resection (DR) is often required during cytoreductive surgery/hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) to achieve complete cytoreduction (CC). While CC provides the best survival, requiring a DR may indicate unfavorable tumor biology. We assessed how DR during CRS/HIPEC affects outcomes. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a prospective single-center database from October 1994–May 2020. Peritoneal surface malignancy patients who underwent CRS/HIPEC with CC-0/1/2 were assigned to DR and NoDR groups. Survival was measured using the Kaplan–Meier method. Subgroup analysis was performed for patients with peritoneal cancer index (PCI) ≥ 20 to eliminate confounding of more extensive disease in DR. Of 824 CRS/HIPECs, 774 were included: 134 DR and 640 NoDR. PCI was significantly higher in DR: 29 versus 21, p < 0.001. CC-0/1 rate was 89% in DR and 95% in NoDR (p = 0.003). Neither 100-day morbidity nor mortality differed between the groups (p = 0.355 and p = 1.000). Median follow-up was 64 months. Median overall survival (OS) was significantly lower in DR (32 vs. 96 months, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis by tumor type in patients with PCI ≥ 20 showed significantly shorter OS in DR than NoDR in appendiceal (40 vs. 196 months, p < 0.001) and colorectal (14 vs. 23 months, p = 0.003), but not in ovarian tumors (32 vs. 42 months, p = 0.893), whereas median PCI did not differ among subgroups. DR during CRS/HIPEC does not increase morbidity and mortality. It is associated with worse survival in appendiceal and colorectal tumors, even after adjusting for tumor burden but does not appear to impact ovarian cancer survival.
Olfactory loss and aging: connections with health and well-being.

Age related olfactory dysfunction, or presbyosmia, is a common sensory impairment in aging adults. People in this demographic group with comorbid conditions or exposure to viral, traumatic, or environmental insults remain at the greatest risk for impairment. Several methods for assessing olfaction exist, but they are only available in special settings and require consideration of age, sex, ancestry, and cognition. Perhaps most importantly, olfactory dysfunction has been suggested as an early sign of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and therefore may serve as a tool in the diagnosis and prognosis of these neurodegenerative conditions. Outside of this context, olfactory loss also impacts nutrition, safety, and social relationships, and even predicts mortality itself. This review covers the detection and manifestations of olfactory decline in aging individuals and the myriad ways in which olfactory impairment is connected to their health and well-being.
Variation in the Profit Margin for Different Types of Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Background As health care shifts to a value-based model with bundled-payment methods, it is important to understand the costs and reimbursements of arthroplasty procedures that represent the largest expenditure of Medicare. The aim of the present study was to characterize the variation in (1) total hospital costs, (2) reimbursement, and (3) profit margin for different arthroplasty procedures. Methods The total hospital costs of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), total hip arthroplasty (THA), anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA), and total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) were calculated with use of time-driven activity-based costing at an orthopaedic institution from 2018 to 2020. The average reimbursement for each type of procedure was determined. Profit margin, defined as the reimbursement profit after direct costs, was calculated by deducting the average time-drive activity-based total hospital costs from the reimbursement value. Multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the associations between costs, reimbursement, and profit margins. Results There were 13,545 arthroplasty procedures analyzed for this study, including 6,636 TKAs, 5,902 THAs, 346 TSAs, 577 RSAs, and 84 TAAs. Costs and reimbursement were highest for TAA. THA and TKA resulted in the highest profit margins, whereas RSA resulted in the lowest. The strongest associations with profit margin were private insurance (0.46547), age (-0.22732), and implant cost (-0.19240). Conclusions THA and TKA had greater profit margins overall than TAA and upper-extremity arthroplasty in general. Profit margins for RSA, TSA, and TAA were all at least 28% lower than those for TKA or THA. Lower-volume arthroplasty procedures were associated with decreased profit margins. Study findings suggest that optimizing implant costs and length of stay are important for sustaining institutional fiscal health when performing shoulder and ankle arthroplasty surgery.
Use of Ground Tire Rubber in Reactive Permeable Barriers to Mitigate Btex Compounds

The ability of ground tire rubber to sorb BTEX compounds from groundwater was examined. The current study consisted of running both batch and packed bed column tests to determine the sorption capacity, the flow through utilization efficiency and the reversibility of BTEX sorption to ground tire rubber. Sorption tests for an equilibrium concentration of the contaminant in solution of 10 mg/L showed that the adsorption capacity of ground tire rubber based on a percentage of the adsorption capacity of activated carbon is: 5% for benzene, 4% for toluene, 4% for ethylbenzene, and 8% for p-xylene. Column tests produced utilization efficiencies for ground tire rubber of 32% to 61% when in contact with the contaminant for 36 minutes. Sorption tests indicate no measurable reduction in sorption capacity after 8 consecutive sorption/desorption tests. Possible future uses of ground rubber as a sorption media could include the use of ground rubber as an aggregate in slurry cut-off walls, or as a sorption media in in-situ reactive permeable barriers.
'The Lament for the South': Yu Hsin's 'Ai Chiang-Nan Fu'

The Ai Chiang-nan fu by the sixth-century poet Yu Hsin is one of the most famous and difficult of all Chinese medieval poems. It relates in a highly allegorical and elliptical manner the fall of the Liang dynasty, which the poet served. The poem belongs to the genre of the fu; rhapsodical, elegiac works written in an irregular metre. It is, however not at all typical of the genre, which is more often associated with descriptions of hunting parks, sacrifices, plants and birds. The poem thus deserves study both for its literary merits and for its uniqueness. Dr Graham provides a translation of the poem with a very detailed literary and historical commentary. Most previous studies of the fu have concentrated on the Han period but Dr Graham offers an extended discussion in any language of the genre in the period of the six dynasties (222 589). The book also includes an introduction to the history of the period."
Exact solutions of a generalized autonomous Duffing-type equation

Abstract Exact analytical solutions for a family of autonomous ordinary differential equations arising in connection with many important applied problems such as a cubic–quintic Duffing oscillator, Helmholtz–Duffing oscillator, and nonlinear Schrodinger equation is considered. We obtained several new classes of solutions for 8th and 10th degrees Duffing oscillatory problems. These new non-singular solutions are given in terms of Jacobi elliptic, Weierstrass, algebraic, exponential, and trigonometric functions and general functional forms of the coefficients of Duffing-type equations. We have provided a set of inequalities that helps in finding transformation to obtain solutions to other Duffing equations from a known set of solutions to a related equation in a systematic manner.
Lessons for the International Financial System

The currency turmoil in Asia—which now has extended to Russia as well—has been aggravated by a confidence crisis feeding on itself in a self-reinforcing and destructive way. Financial market “animal spirits” can be sensitive and fickle—which, I hasten to add, is not the same as saying that financial markets are irrational. And the nature of currency crises is such that they mutate over time, much like a virus. These factors make it extraordinarily difficult to predict crises. The initial triggers in a few countries like Thailand may have been reasonably visible, but the depth, timing, speed and spread of the events that followed were not foreseen.
Combining the ASA Physical Classification System and Continuous Intraoperative Surgical Apgar Score Measurement in Predicting Postoperative Risk

The surgical Apgar score predicts major 30-day postoperative complications using data assessed at the end of surgery. We hypothesized that evaluating the surgical Apgar score continuously during surgery may identify patients at high risk for postoperative complications. We retrospectively identified general, vascular, and general oncology patients at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Logistic regression methods were used to construct a series of predictive models in order to continuously estimate the risk of major postoperative complications, and to alert care providers during surgery should the risk exceed a given threshold. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to evaluate the discriminative ability of a model utilizing a continuously measured surgical Apgar score relative to models that use only preoperative clinical factors or continuously monitored individual constituents of the surgical Apgar score (i.e. heart rate, blood pressure, and blood loss). AUROC estimates were validated internally using a bootstrap method. 4,728 patients were included. Combining the ASA PS classification with continuously measured surgical Apgar score demonstrated improved discriminative ability (AUROC 0.80) in the pooled cohort compared to ASA (0.73) and the surgical Apgar score alone (0.74). To optimize the tradeoff between inadequate and excessive alerting with future real-time notifications, we recommend a threshold probability of 0.24. Continuous assessment of the surgical Apgar score is predictive for major postoperative complications. In the future, real-time notifications might allow for detection and mitigation of changes in a patient's accumulating risk of complications during a surgical procedure.
Bilirubin transfer across the human placenta

Abstract Crystalline (unconjugated) bilirubin transfer across the human placenta was studied in a placental perfusion device. Bilirubin transferred readily from the fetal to the maternal circulation, while no detectable transfer from mother to fetus occurred in 130 min. With the use of heparinized saline as the perfusate, water moved from fetus to mother at a faster rate than bilirubin. Bilirubin transfer and erythroblastosis are reviewed.
Preparation and Physicochemical Properties of Human Erythrocuprein

Abstract A relatively simplified method is described for preparing 220-mg quantities of highly purified human erythrocuprein, the copper-containing protein of erythrocytes. The isolated protein has been characterized and found to be similar to previously studied material except that it contains no tyrosine and no hexose and has 7 half-cystine residues per molecule as compared to 5 and 11 residues for two other preparations. The amino acid composition, the copper content (0.38%), the velocity sedimentation and diffusion data, and the results of sedimentation equilibrium experiments all indicate a molecular weight near 33,600. Purified erythrocupreins made by slightly different procedures show variations in extinction coefficients at the 265 mµ and 675 mµ absorption maxima. Erythrocuprein generally exhibits some degree of electrophoretic heterogeneity when examined in low ionic strength buffers. The more electronegative of these two variants could be generated from the other during gel filtration on Sephadex G-75. The nature of this transition has not been elucidated.
Development and Assessment of Service Learning Projects in General Biology

Service learning involves providing service to the community while requiring students to meet learning goals in a specific course. A service learning project was implemented in a general biology course at Rockhurst University to involve students in promoting scientific education in conjunction with community partner educators. Students were required to develop learning objectives, design and complete a community service exercise, and write reflection papers to assess the quality of their learning experience. Rockhurst students worked with high school or grade school students in the local community, providing learning experiences relating to course topics. Information gathered through reflection papers showed high student achievement and satisfaction in the following areas: 1) contributing to the learning of others, 2) contributing to their own learning, and 3) supporting the mission of the university.
Indexing the Local

ion. This is a consequence of the fact that language is never completely shared and that different individuals experience the linguistic and sociolinguistic environment in different ways, depending on the context (who is talking, in what circumstances) and the co-text (what else is being said or done at the same time), and meaning can change.. For example, the same linguistic form can potentially index a referential meaning, social class, and/or place. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the form yinz [y nz] can simply be a second-person plural pronoun; or it can sound sloppy, uneducated, and low-class; or it can sound like “a Pittsburgh thing,” an index of local identity. In order to understand the distribution of meaning of variant forms, we need to take a phenomenological approach,
The Economics of Transforming Network Interconnection and Transport

Telecom regulation thus far has tended to treat telephony interconnection architecture merely from the perspective of technical feasibility. This means that interconnection regulations have been closely tied to the structure of the incumbent's network. This approach may hinder beneficial developments for both voice services and Internet services. Regulation of voice interconnection might more beneficially focus on promoting the development of independently owned entities (which I call service interconnection points or SIPs) that are focal points for voice telephony interconnection and accessing new wide-area services.
Interior Penalty Procedures for Elliptic and Parabolic Galerkin Methods

Standard Galerkin methods based on C0-piecewise-polynomial spaces often can lead to unsatisfactory approximations of solutions of problems having dominant transport terms. A penalty on the jump in the normal derivative across the interior edges of elements can produce an apparent stiffness intermediate between C0 and C1, and such a method is proposed and analyzed for elliptic and parabolic equations.
Analysis of stellar occultation data: Effects of photon noise and initial conditions

An occultation light curve can be analyzed to provide information about a planetary atmosphere. Temperature, pressure, and number density profiles for the atmosphere of Mars are derived from a series of boundary layer equations, which invert equal increments of altitude (as opposed to time) in order to predict the noise quality of the occultation. Numerical results are given for a noisy isothermal light curve, with special attention to error analysis.
Interfacial behavior of complex hydrocarbon fluids at elevated pressures and temperatures

Unlike all the physical properties of the bulk fluid phases, interfacial tension (IFT) is unique in the sense that it relates to the interface between the two immiscible fluid phases. Hence, interfacial tension between the fluid phases can be used to infer a great deal of information about solubility, miscibility and mass transfer interactions between the two bulk fluid phases in contact.In this paper, we examine the utility of interfacial tension to characterize miscibility and mass transfer mechanisms using complex hydrocarbon fluids at elevated pressures and temperatures.For CO2/n-decane system at 37.8 /spl deg/C the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) determined using the VIT technique (7.9 MPa) matched well with the reported MMPs by slim-tube (8.2-8.6 MPa) and rising-bubble techniques (8.8 MPa). For CO2M-C1+ n-C4+ n-CW techniques system at 71.1 /spl deg/C the VIT technique resulted in an MMP value of 12.2 MPa, which is in good agreement with the published values of slim-tube and phase diagram measurements (11.7 MPa) and analytical model predictions (11.7 MPa). This paper discusses the multiple roles of interfacial tension with supporting experimental data obtained at elevated pressures and temperatures and emphasizes the need to recognize interfacial tension as a good phase behavior indicator in fluid-fluid phase equilibria for more efficient use of this fundamental property in several other applications.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Respiratory Complications Associated with Vagus Nerve Stimulators

Intermittent vagus nerve stimulation can reduce the frequency of seizures in patients with refractory epilepsy. Stimulation of vagus nerve afferent fibers can also cause vocal cord dysfunction, laryngeal spasm, cough, dyspnea, nausea, and vomiting. Vagus nerve stimulation causes an increase in respiratory rate, decrease in respiratory amplitude, decrease in tidal volume, and decrease in oxygen saturation during periods of device activation. It usually does not cause an arousal, or a change in heart rate or blood pressure. Most patients have an increase in their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Patients with VNS can have central apneas, obstructive hypopneas, and obstructive apneas. These respiratory events can be reduced with changes in the vagus nerve stimulator operational parameters or with the use of CPAP. In summary, there are complex relationships between epilepsy and obstructive sleep apneas. In particular, patients with refractory epilepsy need assessment for undiagnosed and untreated obstructive sleep apnea before implantation of vagus nerve stimulator devices. Patients with vagus nerve stimulators often have an increase in apneic events after implantation, and these patients need screening for sleep apnea both before and after implantation.
87 Recent progress in determining RNA 3D structure and dynamics using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations

RNA’s biochemical versatility arises from its ability to form tertiary structures, which are governed by the intrinsic flexibility of single-stranded loops, weak stacking interactions, and non-cano...
Feeding Liquid Whey to Dairy Cattle

Abstract Liquid whey was fed to dairy cows and heifers to determine its nutritive value. Sixteen cows were allotted to groups of four each and randomly assigned to a treatment (1) water only, (2)whey plus 30.2 liters of water daily, (3)whey plus 15.1 liters of water daily, and (4) whey only. Grain was offered at 7.5kg per animal daily, and hay was free choice. Hay consumption was reduced by feeding whey, but milk production and composition were not changed. Total consumption of liquid (water + whey) was the same for the four groups. Three groups of six heifers each, 6 to 8 mo of age, were assigned to whey only, whey plus 2.3kg grain per animal daily, or grain only (2.3kg), plus alfalfa hav ad libitum, and were fed as groups. Average daily gains were the same for groups with whey only and grain only whereas animals receiving both whey and grain had greater gains in a 16 wk trial. Hay consumption for the group with whey only was less than for grain only. Two sets of eight cows each were offered whey and water free choice. Average daily consumption was 64.0 liters of whey and 35.3 liters of water per animal. Effects on the health of the animals were not adverse. Whey attracts flies, and sanitation must be proper. Fresh whey should be offered daily, otherwise it sours and is not consumed readily.
Loss of protein kinase Cβ function protects mice against diet-induced obesity and development of hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance

Obesity is an energy balance disorder in which intake is greater than expenditure, with most excess calories stored as triglyceride (TG). We previously reported that mice lacking the beta-isoform of protein kinase C (PKCbeta), a diacylglycerol- and phospholipid-dependent kinase, exhibit marked reduction in the whole body TG content, including white adipose tissue (WAT) mass. To investigate the role of this signaling kinase in metabolic adaptations to severe dietary stress, we studied the impact of a high-fat diet (HFD) on PKCbeta expression and the effect of PKCbeta deficiency on profound weight gain. We report herein that HFD selectively increased PKCbeta expression in obesity-prone C57BL/6J mice, specifically in WAT; the expression levels were little or unchanged in the liver, muscle, kidney, and heart. Basal PKCbeta expression was also found to be elevated in WAT of obese ob/ob mice. Remarkably, mice lacking PKCbeta were resistant to HFD-induced obesity, showing significantly reduced WAT and slightly higher core body temperatures. Unlike lean lipodystrophic mouse models, these mice did not have fatty livers, nor did they exhibit insulin resistance. Moreover, PKCbeta(-/-) mice exhibited changes in lipid metabolism gene expression, and such alterations were accompanied by significant changes in serum adipokines. These observations suggest that PKCbeta deficiency induced a unique metabolic state congruous with obesity resistance, thus raising the possibility that dysregulation of PKCbeta expression could contribute to dietary fat-induced obesity and related disorders.
Recent advances and future directions in the management of hepatitis C infections.

Abstract Current estimates indicate that the hepatitis C virus is the leading cause of death in the United States with infection rates steadily increasing. Successful treatment is made difficult by the presence of various host, virus, and treatment-related factors, warranting the development of new approaches to combat the silent epidemic. The addition of telaprevir and boceprevir to the pharmacotherapeutic arsenal drastically improved success rates in genotype 1 infected patients, but rapid development of resistance mechanisms, increases in adverse effects, and a low spectrum activity proved to be barriers to efficacious treatment. In late 2013, two new agents were approved – sofosbuvir and simeprevir – that have higher barriers to resistance, favorable safety profiles, and profoundly improved success rates; however higher costs associated with the new medications could limit their wider utilization. Further strategies to combat the virus are under development, ranging from interferon-free regimens as well as prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to applications of nanotechnology, helping us get closer to improved treatment of patients infected with hepatitis C.
Convex Decomposition of 3D Solid Models for Automated Manufacturing Process Planning Applications

A new method of decomposing 3D solid models for use in automated manufacturing process planning applications is presented in this paper. The resulting algorithm, which is implemented and interacts with a larger suite of planning tools, is based on dividing complex volumes into convex sub- volumes. In order to ensure that the resulting convex sub- volumes are compact and feasible for machining operations, a set of heuristics are developed to categorize, order, and determine splitting directions of the concave edges. Each of the resulting convex sub-volumes represents material that is to be removed from the bounding-box to create the intended work- piece. The set of sub-volumes represents a compound solid (i.e. decomposed solid) that is converted into graph of boundary representation (B-rep) primitives and is reasoned about in a subsequent search process. The algorithm has been implemented and tested on a variety of solid models resembling real automotive parts, and results show the effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm.
Simplified long-channel MOSFET theory

Abstract The now-classic and highly accurate double-integral expression for the drain current flowing in long-channel MOSFET's is shown to be reducible to a completely equivalent single-integral expression. The single-integral expression is used in turn to straightforwardly establish the approximate closed-form results commonly known as the bulk-charge and charge-sheet relationships. Sample computations which illustrate the general utility of the single-integral expression are also presented.
Memantine: a comprehensive review of safety and efficacy

Background: Memantine is an uncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptor. It is now approved only for treatment of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, as a growing body of evidence indicates that disturbed glutamate neurotransmission may be central to the pathophysiology of such conditions as obesity, schizophrenia, depression, substance abuse, pain disorders and glaucoma, clinical trials have explored the role of memantine in these and other disorders. Objective: To provide a comprehensive review of the safety and efficacy of memantine across the range of clinical applications in which it has been studied. Methods: A search was done on Pubmed using keyword ‘memantine’ to identify clinical trials of memantine. Results/conclusion: At present, clinical trial evidence supports the use of memantine in only moderate-to-severe AD. Preliminary studies suggest benefit in frontotemporal dementia, alcohol dependence, post-traumatic stress disorder, headache and obesity, ...
A norm bound for projections with complex weights

Abstract We consider projections weighted by a complex diagonal matrix. These projections arise in the solution of alternating-current (AC) electrical networks. A norm bound for weighted projections in the case of an ill-conditioned real positive-definite weight matrix was established by Dikin, Stewart, Todd and others. We show that this bound generalizes to the complex case.
Noise tolerant elastic matching model

This paper addresses the regional boundary extraction problem, which attempts to match a reference template contour to a desired target boundary in the presence of noise. A three-step iterative strategy is used: first, a local correspondence is set up between each pixel of the reference template and the target boundary; second, shape information is used to minimize the error from the first step; and third, the template contour is updated. The first step assigns a target pixel to each pixel of the template contour, using an iterated max-min estimator which gives the upper bound for the mean square error. The second step minimizes error by using correlation information between the template pixels; the correlation is approximated as a Gaussian weighted distance function, and effectively smoothes the template contour deformation from the first step. The third step uses this smoothed deformation to update the template contour, which then becomes the starting point for the next iteration. Experimental results are shown in which the algorithm is applied to medical NMR images and performance is compared to the SNAKE algorithm.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.