cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incumbent solutions in branch-and-bound algorithms: setting the record straight

Abstract The folklore of integer linear-programming holds that the computational efficiency of branch-and-bound (B&B) algorithms can be greatly improved by specifying a “good” initial bound on the objective function value for the problem being solved. This belief is reiterated in user's manuals for many of the well-known commercial integer-programming software packages and in various research papers. Although this belief is certainly not wrong, it is not entirely reliable. In fact, the use of “better” initial incumbent solution values can sometimes actually lead to longer B&B searches. This note provides an explanation for this anomaly and attempts to set the record straight about the heuristic nature of using initial incumbent solutions in B&B algorithms.
Building a better critic-recent empirical results

Critic engineering advances a theory of errors and repair strategies that helps a system collaborate with an expert during knowledge acquisition. The result is an expert critiquing system, or critic, designed to improve the collected knowledge. An implementable version of the critic-engineering methodology that includes first principles, generic question sets, and a library of error triggers and correction strategies is defined, and lessons learned about the methodology from applications and experiments in diverse domains are presented. The implementation of influencers, which offer positive criticisms before or during a task to help prevent biases before they occur, and debiasers, which use negative criticisms during or after a task to help correct a bias or error after it occurs, are discussed. Other implementations of critic engineering are also discussed. >
The specificity of endurance training on muscular power and muscle fibre size

In an effort to further examine the specificity of training concept, six female student volunteers (mean age=25.3 years) were endurance trained three times a week for a period of twelve weeks. The training consisted of thirty minutes of continuous running per workout. Identical test batteries were administered prior to (pre) and immediately following (post) the treatment period. Each battery of tests consisted of three measures of muscular leg power (vertical jump test, 18-29 m sprint, and the Margaria Step Test), and two measures of cardiovascular endurance (Cooper's 12 minute run, and V˚O2 max during treadmill running). A muscle biopsy from the lateral aspect of the gastrocnemius muscle was also included. The biopsy specimens were stained for myosin ATPase. Percentages of fast twitch (FT) and slow twitch (ST) muscle fibres as well as mean individual FT and ST fibre areas were determined. The training produced significant changes in the exercising subjects for thel2-minute run (p=0.006)and VO2max(p=0.003...
GENES FOR THE LONG RUN

![Figure][1] Can the same genes both improve your aptitude for endurance exercise and lower your life expectancy? A recent study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in track athletes suggests that the answer may be `yes'. The mitochondrial genome is a small (17-kb), circular chromosome that encodes
Polioencephalomalacia Associated with Canine Distemper Virus Infection

Eight dogs with severe neurologic signs, including seizures, had polioencephalomalacia of the pyriform cortex, Ammon's horn and deep structures in the temporal lobe. The polioencephalomalacia was considered to be a consequence of canine distemper virus infection based on clinical signs, typical inclusions, the demonstration of viral antigens in the lesions and of characteristic paramyxovirus nucleocapsids by electron microscopy. Little evidence for neuronal destruction by direct viral activity was found. Selective nerve cell necrosis was attributed to ischemia (vascular lesions and seizure induced consumptive anoxia) and immune mechanisms. The selective involvement of the rhinencephalic structures was thought to be related to the mode of entry and spread of the virus.
On the Path of Hesitation

I wish to thank Gert Biesta for directing us down an incredibly important path. He seeks to insert “hesitation” into discussions of relational pedagogies, and by this, he means that we should value the lack of understanding teachers and students have of one another, their distance from one another, and their strangeness to one another. For those of us who tend to foreground our “love” or “care” for students, and for those of us who say we “listen” to our students or “recognize” our students for who they are, I take it that Biesta is offering us a warning. We might limit the intellectual potential of educational events when we rush to predefine pedagogical relationships as close or warm or ethically defensible. Stated positively, we should appreciate the ways in which distance and strangeness can help produce dynamic intellectual play amongst students and teachers. Biesta’s case for hesitation comes in the form of three cautionary arguments.
Motion Planning of Uncertain Fully-Actuated Dynamical Systems: A Forward Dynamics Formulation

This work presents a novel nonlinear programming based motion planning framework that treats uncertain fully-actuated dynamical systems described by ordinary differential equations. Uncertainty in multibody dynamical systems comes from various sources, such as: system parameters, initial conditions, sensor and actuator noise, and external forcing. Treatment of uncertainty in design is of paramount practical importance because all real-life systems are affected by it; ignoring uncertainty during design may lead to poor robustness and suboptimal performance. System uncertainties are modeled using Generalized Polynomial Chaos and are solved quantitatively using a least-square collocation method. The computational efficiency of this approach enables the inclusion of uncertainty statistics in the nonlinear programming optimization process. As such, new design questions related to uncertain dynamical systems can now be answered through the new framework. Specifically, this work presents the new framework through a forward dynamics formulation where deterministic actuator inputs are prescribed and uncertain state trajectories are quantified. The benefits of the ability to quantify the resulting state uncertainty are illustrated in an effort optimal motion planning case-study of a serial manipulator pick-and-place application. The resulting design determines a feasible effort optimal motion plan—subject to actuator and obstacle avoidance constraints—for all possible systems within the probability space. Variance of the system’s terminal conditions are also minimized in a Pareto optimal sense. The inverse dynamics formulation (using deterministic state trajectories and uncertain actuator inputs) is presented in a companion paper.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Effects of endemic densities of canopy herbivores on nutrient dynamics along a gradient in elevation in the southern Appalachians

In southern Appalachian forests, outbreaks of insect herbivores have been shown repeatedly to increase the availability of nutrients in soil and the export of nitrate in forest streams. The mechanisms underlying herbivore-induced changes in nutrient dynamics include inputs of insect frass (feces) and modification of precipitation as it passes through the forest canopy (throughfall). Here, we consider the effects of endemic (non-outbreak) populations of insect herbivores on soil processes in the southern Appalachians. We measured inputs of frass and throughfall at three elevations at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina. We also measured soil nutrient availability and soil respiration. Inputs of total frass, frass nitrogen and frass carbon exhibited early- and late-season peaks, with those peaks occurring earlier at low elevation where leaf flush begins first. The C:N ratio of frass generally increased over time at all elevations, presumably reflecting seasonal declines in foliar nitrogen. Nitrate in throughfall generally increased over time, whereas throughfall phosphate declined and throughfall ammonium remained relatively constant. Relationships among frass deposition and throughfall nutrients varied with elevation. At low elevation, frass nitrogen was strongly correlated with throughfall nitrate, but this relationship was absent at mid and high elevation. The relationships between frass deposition and throughfall ammonium were inconsistent among elevations. The availabilities of nitrate and ammonium in soil were both related to frass deposition. For example, frass deposition in May explained about 62 % of the variance in soil nitrate availability. Soil respiration exhibited summer maxima at all elevations and was related primarily to soil temperature. There was also a weak positive relationship between the C:N ratio of frass and soil respiration. Overall, we suggest that endemic densities of canopy herbivores can influence forest soil processes, but that the relationships exhibit pronounced spatial and temporal variability.
Fate Of Organic Solvents In Landfill Leachates Under Simulated Field Conditions And In Anaerobic Microcosms

Municipal solid waste landfill leachates were stored in holding tanks to simulate an impoundment stabilization stage as part of a wastewater recirculation experiment. The field study was conducted over 2 consecutive years, followed by a laboratory microcosm experiment aimed at differentiating between anaerobic degradation and other processes that might be responsible for the field experiment observations. The compound CFC-113 was added to the field holding tanks and the laboratory microcosms as an indicator of anaerobic activity. The results showed that an anaerobic solution environment promotes rapid dechlorination of chlorinated solvents, but that most aromatic hydrocarbons are not degraded to the same extent. The chlorinated organic solvents contained in the leachate were found to undergo reductive dechlorination typical of anaerobic biological processes.
Telecommunications analysis service for DS1 planning and operations

In the "faster, better, cheaper" era, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) continues to develop smaller and more frequent missions. The Deep Space Network (DSN) must track many spacecraft simultaneously. With ground tracking resources limited and with NASA moving into an era of full cost accounting, the need for an efficient and well-coordinated multi-mission telecommunications analysis service is apparent. This service is now provided as part of Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate (TMOD)'s Deep Space Mission System (DSMS). DS1 is the first mission to subscribe to TMOD's services. This paper describes the DS1 telecommunications link analysis service scenarios, including the DS1 safing incident on July 28, 1999, the day of Asteroid Braille flyby. The theme of this paper is to demonstrate that good people, efficient processes, and effective tools are key elements that enable 1) a wide range of cost-effective telecommunications analysis support, and 2) timely detection and anticipation of unforeseen situations.
Increased Risk of Virologic Rebound in Patients on Antiviral Therapy with a Detectable HIV Load <48 Copies/mL

We investigated the independent effects of HIV-1 "target not detected" measurements versus those that were detectable but below the limit of quantification by Taqman RT-PCR assay on subsequent viral rebound as there are conflicting data regarding the clinical implications of arbitrary or isolated low-level viremia. Cox proportional hazard regression modeling was used to investigate the independent effects of the first HIV-1 load measurement after introduction of the Taqman RT-PCR assay (time-point 0 [T0]), pre-T0 viral loads, CD4 T cell count, race/ethnicity, gender, age and NNRTI use on risk of a confirmed VL >50, >200, >400 and >1000 copies/mL at 22 months follow-up in analyses of all patients and propensity-matched baseline cohorts. 778 patients had a viral load that was either not detected by RT-PCR (N = 596) or detectable, but below the limit of quantification (N = 182) at T0. Detectable viremia, lower T0 CD4 count, decreased age, and having detectable or unknown VL within a year prior to T0 were each associated with viral rebound to >50, >200 and >400 copies/mL. Overall failure rates were low and 1000 copies/mL. A majority of patients with rebound >200 copies/mL subsequently re-suppressed (28 of 53). A detectable VL <48 copies/mL was independently and significantly associated with subsequent viral rebound, and is cause for clinical concern.
Variation, selection and evolution of function-valued traits.

We describe an emerging framework for understanding variation, selection and evolution of phenotypic traits that are mathematical functions. We use one specific empirical example – thermal performance curves (TPCs) for growth rates of caterpillars – to demonstrate how models for function-valued traits are natural extensions of more familiar, multivariate models for correlated, quantitative traits. We emphasize three main points. First, because function-valued traits are continuous functions, there are important constraints on their patterns of variation that are not captured by multivariate models. Phenotypic and genetic variation in function-valued traits can be quantified in terms of variance-covariance functions and their associated eigenfunctions: we illustrate how these are estimated as well as their biological interpretations for TPCs. Second, selection on a function-valued trait is itself a function, defined in terms of selection gradient functions. For TPCs, the selection gradient describes how the relationship between an organism’s performance and its fitness varies as a function of its temperature. We show how the form of the selection gradient function for TPCs relates to the frequency distribution of environmental states (caterpillar temperatures) during selection. Third, we can predict evolutionary responses of function-valued traits in terms of the genetic variance-covariance and the selection gradient functions. We illustrate how non-linear evolutionary responses of TPCs may occur even when the mean phenotype and the selection gradient are themselves linear functions of temperature. Finally, we discuss some of the methodological and empirical challenges for future studies of the evolution of function-valued traits.
Regression of Records on Herd-Mate Averages

Summary Curvilinearity of regression and heterogeneity of linear regressions among sire groups of daughter records on herd-mate averages were studied for 44,975 first-lactation milk and fat records of New York Holstein cows sired by artificial insemination. Linear regressions were statistically heterogeneous. Similarly, curvilinear regression accounted for a statistically significant amount of variation above variation accounted for by linear regression. On a practical basis, however, neither group linear regressions nor curvilinear regression accounted for more than 1% additional variation over that accounted for by common linear regression. These results indicate that except for extreme cases where the average of the herd-mates is far above or far below breed average, the common linear regression of 0.88 is suitable for adjusting daughter averages for herd-mate level.
Human SMC5/6 complex promotes sister chromatid homologous recombination by recruiting the SMC1/3 cohesin complex to double‐strand breaks

The structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) family of proteins has been implicated in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination (HR). The SMC1/3 cohesin complex is thought to promote HR by maintaining the close proximity of sister chromatids at DSBs. The SMC5/6 complex is also required for DNA repair, but the mechanism by which it accomplishes this is unclear. Here, we show that RNAi-mediated knockdown of the SMC5/6 complex components in human cells increases the efficiency of gene targeting due to a specific requirement for hSMC5/6 in sister chromatid HR. Knockdown of the hSMC5/6 complex decreases sister chromatid HR, but does not reduce nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) or intra-chromatid, homologue, or extrachromosomal HR. The hSMC5/6 complex is itself recruited to nuclease-induced DSBs and is required for the recruitment of cohesin to DSBs. Our results establish a mechanism by which the hSMC5/6 complex promotes DNA repair and suggest a novel strategy to improve the efficiency of gene targeting in mammalian somatic cells.
Chemical visualization of phosphoproteomes on membrane

With new discoveries of important roles of phosphorylation on a daily basis, phospho-specific antibodies, as the primary tool for on-membrane detection of phosphoproteins, face enormous challenges. To address an urgent need for convenient and reliable analysis of phosphorylation events, we report a novel strategy for sensitive phosphorylation analysis in the Western blotting format. The chemical reagent, which we termed pIMAGO, is based on a multifunctionalized soluble nanopolymer and is capable of selectively binding to phosphorylated residues independent of amino acid microenvironment, thus offering great promise as a universal tool in biological analyses where the site of phosphorylation is not known or its specific antibody is not available. The specificity and sensitivity of the approach was first examined using a mixture of standard proteins. The method was then applied to monitor phosphorylation changes in in vitro kinase and phosphatase assays. Finally, to demonstrate the unique ability of pIMAGO to measure endogenous phosphorylation, we used it to visualize and determine the differences in phosphorylated proteins that interact with wild-type and kinase dead mutant of Polo-like kinase 1 during mitosis, the results of which were further confirmed by a quantitative phosphoproteomics experiment.
An Agenda for Case-Based Research

Let us face it. As individuals, only a few issues influence our research agendas. We tend to focus on one or two research streams in which we have had previous publishing success, we explore new to...
Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) of bone marrow (BM) origin not only provide the supportive microenvironmental niche for hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) but are capable of differentiating into various cell types of mesenchymal origin, such as bone, fat and cartilage. In vitro and in vivo data suggest that MSC have low inherent immunogenicity, modulate/suppress immunologic responses through interactions with immune cells, and home to damaged tissues to participate in regeneration processes through their diverse biologic properties. MSC derived from BM are being evaluated for a wide range of clinical applications, including disorders as diverse as myocardial infarction and newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus type 1. However, their use in HSC transplantation, either for enhancement of hematopoietic engraftment or for treatment/prevention of graft-versus-host disease, is far ahead of other indications. Ease of isolation and ex vivo expansion of MSC, combined with their intriguing immunomodulatory properties and their impressive record of safety in a wide variety of clinical trials, make these cells promising candidates for further investigation.
Incorporating dexamethasone release in hydrogel coated microdialysis probes

Microdialysis probes were used to study the influence of membrane modifications on glucose recovery. The microdialysis membranes were modified by adding a hydrogel coating. The coated probes were evaluated in vitro and in vivo for glucose permeability. It was found that percent glucose recovery was reduced by 25% in vitro using hydrogel coated probes compared to control probes. However, the glucose recoveries of the coated probes in vivo were more similar to that of control probe, with an average difference of 6%. From these results, it was concluded that the tissue resistance to glucose transport was much greater than the resistances of the hydrogel and biofouling. The hydrogel formulation was then changed to deliver a tissue modifying drug to reduce the tissue resistance. Dexamethasone was incorporated into the hydrogels to reduce inflammation. These hydrogels are capable of releasing drug up to 14 days. The dexamethasone hydrogels will be coated onto microdialysis probes in future in vivo studies to determine the effect of reduced inflammatory response on glucose recovery.
Integrated Sensor and Media Modeling Environment Developed and Applied to Ground-Penetrating Radar Investigation of Bridge Decks

Integrated sensor and media modeling environment has been developed to simulate subsurface sensing systems and environmental parameters relevant to the subsurface sensing modalities. The modeling environment is designed to represent complexity in subsurface features, sensor models, and the integration of the sensors with the subsurface environment. The ability to model complex subsurface environments and any potential random distribution of subsurface properties allows for realistic modeling of heterogeneous subsurface environments such as bridged deck/pavement systems. Many applications can benefit from the modeling, simulation, and interpretation capabilities in the new modeling environment that supports improved understanding of system behavior through simulations to evaluate the ability of a particular modality to detect defects. While numerous modeling packages exist to simulate different wave-based modalities, the integrated sensor and media modeling environment is developed to, in a straightforward manner, physically represent the complex subsurface civil infrastructure environment. Physical modeling capabilities enable the object-oriented programming environment facility portability to other application domains as a generic volume serves as the boundaries for internal elements modeled to represent realistic changes in material properties and buried objects. Model development is demonstrated on a realistic bridge deck example.
INVESTIGATION OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS OF HEXAFLUORENIUM

The cardiovascular side effect liability of hexafluorenium 0.4 mg/kg was investigated in 24 subjects anaesthetized with, and in 20 others without, halothane. These subjects also received suxamethonium 0.2 mg/kg and were intubated. A third control group of 20 patients was anaesthetized with halothane, but did not receive hexafluorenium or suxamethonium and was not intubated. Ventricular rates increased only moderately after hexafluorenium, but more markedly (from 74.7 ± 2.5* to 98.1 ± 3.3) after endotracheal intubation. Nodal rhythm, the only arrhythmia encountered before endotracheal intubation, developed in 4 subjects of the control group, and in 13 of the 44 patients who received hexafluorenium. Eight of these instances occurred between the administrations of hexafluorenium and suxamethonium. The few more serious arrhythmias encountered after hexafluorenium all occurred following endotracheal intubation.
Stabilization of distributed networked control systems with minimal communications network

In this paper we study general stability condition of distributed networked control systems with minimum number of necessary communication links. We use the Lyapunov direct method to find a general stability condition that guarantees the asymptotic stability of the entire networked control system and then use binary programming to design a communications network with minimum number of links that satisfies the general stability condition. Reducing the number of communication links implies minimization of the communications network's cost and energy consumption. The results apply to networks of linear time-invariant (LTI) systems.
External Ellipsoidal Harmonics for the Dunkl-Laplacian ?

The paper introduces external ellipsoidal and external sphero-conal h-harmonics for the Dunkl-Laplacian. These external h-harmonics admit integral representations, and they are connected by a formula of Niven's type. External h-harmonics in the plane are expressed in terms of Jacobi polynomials P , n and Jacobi's functions Q , of the second kind.
Electroconvulsive Therapy and Neurosurgery

Treatment options for psychiatric disorders include psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and somatic therapies. Somatic therapies (also known as brain stimulation or neuromodulation) are a group of surgical and/or device-based techniques that target disease-relevant structures of the nervous systems via surgical ablation or electrical modulation. The goal of these interventions is to therapeutically modify pathological patterns of brain activity and circuit connectivity. In this chapter we will review the use of electroconvulsive therapy and surgical somatic therapies such as limbic system ablation, deep brain stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation in clinical psychiatry.
Origin of North American Elymus (Poaceae: Triticeae) Allotetraploids Based on Granule-bound Starch Synthase Gene Sequences

The current circumscription of Elymus based on cytogenetic analyses includes all allopolyploid Triticeae species containing the St (Pseudoroegneria) genome. In North American Elymus ,t heSt genome is combined with H (from Hordeum) in an allotetraploid (StStHH) configuration. The goal of this study is to determine whether molecular phylogenetic analyses support existing cytogenetic data with regard to the evolutionary origin of North American Elymus. Analyses were performed using sequences from the nuclear starch synthase gene, and include multiple species of Elymus, Pseudoroegneria, and Hordeum, along with representatives of most of the other monogenomic genera in the Triticeae. The results support the hypothesis that Pseudoroegneria and Hordeum are the genome donors to the North American Elymus tetraploids. One species currently placed in Elymus (an octoploid, Elymus californicus) appears to be unrelated to the rest. The close relationships among Elymus H-genome sequences, with one exception, are consistent with a single origin of the group. The St-genome group consists of two well-defined clades, but support for the monophyly of the entire St group is weak. There are short- comings associated with the current dependence on genome pairing data for grouping and ranking in the Triticeae, but molecular phylogenetic data suggest that, in many cases, groups delimited by cytogenetic data do in fact correspond to evolutionary lineages.
Twist and Turn

In this study, Namba et al. review eight years of data from Kaiser Permanente’s arthroplasty registry and report on the relative risk of revision for fixed versus mobile-bearing implants. In brief, the study cohort included 47,339 arthroplasties, with 62% performed in women. The overwhelming majority of procedures utilized fixed-bearing systems, while just over 10% (4830) used rotating-platform mobile bearings. Of those, 3112 had a posterior-stabilized Rotating-Platform Press-Fit Condylar (RP-PFC) design, 1053 received a Low Contact Stress (LCS) implant, and 665 had a cruciate-retaining RP-PFC design. Of note, the patients receiving a mobile-bearing implant were significantly younger than those receiving a fixed-bearing implant. Of this group, 881 knees were revised for any reason. Three hundred and sixty-six knees were revised for infection, while 515 were revised for other causes; these were fairly typical for a large cohort, including instability, pain, aseptic loosening, osteolysis, arthrofibrosis, failure of osseous ingrowth, and wear1. Of note, approximately 4% of the patients died within the study period, and 9% were lost to follow-up. The major concern for the authors, and consequently for readers, is that the risk of …
Symptoms of insomnia among adolescents in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of symptoms of insomnia among adolescents living along the United States-Mexico border and to examine whether ethnicity and birthplace affect risk for such symptoms. DESIGN: Cross-sectional school-based survey using a version of the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, modified to elicit data on sleep problems. SETTING: A probability sample of 13 high schools selected from more than 40 high schools in the 4 southernmost counties in Texas-the Lower Rio Grande Valley-contiguous with Mexico. PARTICIPANTS: All ninth-grade students who agreed to participate (n = 5,118). MEASUREMENTS: The sleep module consisted of queries about trouble initiating asleep, trouble maintaining sleep, early morning waking, nonrestorative sleep, quality of sleep, and amount of sleep. RESULTS: Symptoms of insomnia were common, with 12.4% of respondents meeting symptom criteria for insomnia almost every day of the past month. Females were more likely to report insomnia, as were youths reporting lower socioeconomic status. Crude odds ratios suggested foreign-born and those who identified themselves as "Mexican" rather than "Mexican American" were at lower risk of insomnia. However, multivariate analyses eliminated these differences. CONCLUSIONS: More comparative research is needed to ascertain whether and how ethnic culture affects risk for disordered sleep.
Hemostatic plug formation in normal and von Willebrand pigs: the effect of the administration of cryoprecipitate and a monoclonal antibody to Willebrand factor

Hemostatic plug (HP) formation was investigated in the ear bleeding time incision in normal and von Willebrand pigs. HP volume was calculated by integrating the areas of serial sections. In normal pigs (n = 11), platelets immediately formed a layer on the surface of the cut channel. Platelet aggregates formed at the ends of transected vessels and gradually enlarged. Finally, all transected vessels were occluded by HP and bleeding stopped. In contrast, large HPs were formed in the incision in von Willebrand's disease (vWD) pigs (n = 4); these HPs did not cover the ends of the transected vessels, which continued to bleed, allowing the formation of large hemostatically ineffective platelet aggregates in the incision. Canals traversed these HPs, and bleeding from the open vessels may have continued through them. After infusion of cryoprecipitate into a vWD pig, the bleeding time shortened, and the morphological findings of the HPs were similar to those of normal pigs. In normal pigs (n = 3) infused with an anti-Willebrand factor monoclonal antibody, which prolonged the bleeding time, a large HP formed in the incision, similar to that observed in the vWD pig. The volume of the normal and vWD HPs increased with time. These in vivo findings suggest that Willebrand factor is involved in the localization of the HP to the damaged vessel and may also play a role in platelet-platelet interaction. A computerized morphometric technique was used for measuring the volume of the hemostatic plugs and the distance of sequential points on the perimeter of the HP from the center of selected bleeding vessels.
Cardiovascular Complications of Novel Multiple Myeloma Treatments.

Case presentation: A 75-year-old woman was referred to cardiology for optimization of cardiovascular risk factors before starting a new cancer treatment. She was diagnosed with IgG-κ multiple myeloma (MM) 2 years previously that progressed after her previous treatments. Her medical history also included type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and a remote history of deep vein thrombosis treated with a “blood thinner” for 6 months. Her hematologist has determined that a combination of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone is the best treatment option for this patient but is concerned about the risk of cardiovascular complications from the new treatment and wants the patient to undergo evaluation by a cardiologist. MM is a plasma cell malignancy characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow microenvironment, monoclonal protein in the blood or urine, and associated organ dysfunction.1 MM accounts for 1% of all cancers and ≈13% of all hematologic malignancies. Approximately 86 000 new cases of MM occur annually worldwide and affect primarily older individuals with a median age of diagnosis of ≈70 years.2 Over the past few decades, overall survival has improved from an age-adjusted 5-year relative survival of 35.6% in 1998 to 2001 to 44% in 2006 to 2009.3 This improvement is due largely to increased use of autologous stem cell transplantation and the introduction of novel agents, including immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs; ie, thalidomide [Thalomid], lenalinomide [Revlimid], and pomalidomide [Pomalyst]) and proteasome inhibitors (PIs; ie, bortezomib [Velcade] and carfilzomib [Kyprolis]). Figure 1 shows the milestones in MM treatment. Figure 1. Milestones in multiple myeloma (MM) treatment. The treatment paradigm of multiple myeloma treatment shifted with the introduction of 2 categories of novel treatment, immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and proteasome inhibitors (PIs), which significantly improved survival in patients with MM. Cancer is associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolic …
Crystal structure and thermal expansion of aragonite-group carbonates by single-crystal X-ray diffraction

Crystal structures of four aragonite-group carbonates—aragonite (Ca0.997Sr0.003CO3), calcian strontianite (Ca0.147Sr0.853CO3), cerussite (Ca0.001Pb0.999CO3), and witherite (Sr0.019Ba0.981CO3)—have been refined at ambient conditions, and thermal expansion has been measured over a range of temperatures from 143 to 586 K by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Average linear thermal expansion coefficients α( V ) are 58(2), 58.3(7), 64(2), and 57(2) (× 10−6 K−1) for aragonite, strontianite, cerussite, and witherite, respectively, throughout the experimental temperature range. Aragonite, strontianite, and witherite have very similar α( V ) values, whereas that of cerussite is significant larger, primarily due to the c -axis thermal expansion for cerussite being much larger than those of the other carbonates. There are no significant differences for α( a ) values among the four carbonates, whereas α( b ) values decrease in the order of aragonite > strontianite > cerussite ≈ witherite, and α( c ) values increase in the order of aragonite vs. T (K) is fitted linearly quite well, with a slope of 5.8(8) × 10−6 (A/K). Corrected for assumed rigid body motion, the CO3 groups showed no significant change in C-O distances over the temperature range.
Dorsally located corneal dermoid in a cat

Case summaryA 2-month-old, male kitten was presented for evaluation of unilateral blepharospasm and epiphora involving the right eye. Ocular examination revealed conjunctivitis, a superficial corneal ulcer, reflex anterior uveitis and a haired mass within the dorsal cornea of the right eye. The mass was subsequently removed surgically via a lamellar keratectomy. Histologic evaluation of the mass via light microscopy revealed it to be comprised of normal-haired skin with mild inflammation. One week after surgical removal and medical management of the corneal ulcer, all ocular clinical signs had resolved with minimal corneal scarring. On re-examination 6 months following surgical excision of the mass, the kitten was noted to be comfortable with no significant corneal scarring.Relevance and novel informationTo our knowledge, this is the first case report of a dorsally located corneal dermoid in a cat.
Design and Performance Characterization of a Novel Low-Pole Dual-Stator Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Machine for Traction Application

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the performance of a novel dual-stator six-slot four-pole (6/4) flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machine. The proposed dual-stator 6/4 FSPM machine topology eliminates even-order harmonics in the flux linkage and back-electromotive force, which exist in the conventional single-stator single-rotor topology. The resulting back-electromotive forces of the proposed dual-stator machine are balanced and sinusoidal waveforms. Design principles including sizing equations for the machine are studied based on the flux linkage harmonic contents and generalized sizing laws. The performance characterization is studied for two possible topology variations of the dual-stator structure. A design for a 30-kW traction application is investigated to demonstrate good constant power operation capability. The low fundamental frequency requirement of the dual-stator 6/4 FSPM machine is beneficial to the reduction of iron loss at high-speed conditions. High efficiency is achieved for the majority of the speed range, particularly at the high-speed regions.
Delayed-type hypersensitivity skin responses associated with feline infectious peritonitis in two cats.

Two cals previously challenge-exposed and seropositive to feline infectious peritonitis virus ( fipv ) were evaluated for delayed-type hypersensitivity ( dth ) skin responses to intradermal fipv. Before testing, cat 1 ( fip -resistant) had survived a severe experimental fipv challenge-exposure and had remained asymptomatic, whereas cat 2 ( fip -susceptible) developed acute fulminant fip after a considerably smaller virus challenge-exposure. Cat 1 developed a focal thickened plague at the fipv -injected skin site at 48 hours after injection. Histological examinations of serial punch biopsies from virus-inoculated skin revealed perivascular and diffuse dermal infiltrations of macrophages, lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leucocytes which were maximal at 48 to 72 hours after injection. In contrast, cat 2 did not react grossly and showed only very mild dermal infiltrates at 72 hours after injection. The present findings of strong dth responses to fipv in a resistant cat and minimal responses in a cat with acute fulminant fip suggest that certain in vivo cellular immune reactions may be associated with disease resistance.
Woodland Pottery Function, Cooking, and Diet in the Upper Great Lakes of North America

A multidimensional approach to functional analysis was employed to examine pottery use, cooking, and subsistence in pre-European North American contexts. A variety of analytic techniques were applied to ceramic assemblages from two sites on the south shore of Lake Superior: the Middle Woodland Naomikong Point site and the Late Woodland Sand Point site. The analyses of both technical attributes and use-alteration traces suggest that a majority of pottery vessels from these sites were used for cooking throughout the Woodland period. Lipid residue analysis corroborates traditional subsistence information but specifies which foods were cooked in pottery vessels. Vessel size varies according to context rather than by time or by function, with larger vessels associated with ritual areas and smaller vessels originating from domestic spheres, a trend potentially related to feasting behavior. Interior carbonization patterns change in frequency between the Middle and Late Woodland periods, suggesting a shift in coo...
The Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Evidence from Canada

The Canadian transition to IFRS provides a valuable IFRS learning opportunity. The Canadian transition and implementation of IFRS provides a unique opportunity to examine the conversion of financial reporting from a similar set of financial reporting rules as U.S. GAAP in a similar economic and business environment. The implementation and adoption of IFRS is not a monolithic event. Our ability to comprehensively understand and assess IFRS requires transparent disclosures such as those mandated by IFRS 1 and disaggregation of the equity components to observe and measure the impact of IFRS as it pertains to discretionary management implementation choices, material reclassifications, and GAAP-to-GAAP differences. Comprehensive knowledge of IFRS 1, First Time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards is crucial to our ability to assess the transitory and future impact of IFRS. IFRS 1 sets the precedent for financial reporting under IFRS, overrides transitional provisions included in other IFRS, and prescribes detailed disclosures. This detailed “rules-based” standard permits discretionary management policy choices which have material impact on transitory reporting as well as future financial results.
Sustainable IT Services: Creating a Framework for Service Innovation

IT organizations are under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable business practices as the societal costs of IT have become more apparent. Initial efforts to address the environmental impact of IT have focused on minimizing energy costs and the ecological footprints of IT products and operations. However, this ?>green IT ?> orientation does not address the potential for IT to become a key enabler, and indeed a primary driver, of overall corporate sustainability strategy. As IT departments embrace a more strategic role, future success will be determined by the ability to meet market requirements, governmental regulations, and societal expectations. To address this opportunity, IT managers will need to move beyond narrow operational requirements and harness IT's ability to develop innovative new services that will define the future of corporate sustainability and social responsibility efforts. Sustainable IT services, applications that provide innovative solutions for corporate ecological and societal issues, represent an excellent opportunity for IT organizations to become indispensable players in the development of essential new markets.
Rules of performance in the nursing home: A grounded theory of nurse–CNA communication

This study offers an initial theoretical understanding of nurse-CNA communication processes from the perspectives of nurses and CNAs who are providing direct care to residents in nursing homes. A grounded theory approach provided an understanding of nurse-CNA communication process within the complexities of the nursing home setting. Four themes (maintaining information flow, following procedure, fostering collegiality, and showing respect) describe the "rules of performance" that intertwine in nuanced relationships to guide nurse-CNA communication processes. Understanding how these rules of performance guide nurse-CNA communication processes, and how they are positively and negatively influenced, suggests that nurse-CNA communication during direct care of nursing home residents could be improved through policy and education that is specifically designed to be relevant and applicable to direct care providers in the nursing home environment.
Review on fabrication techniques for porous electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells by sacrificial template methods

Abstract Porous ceramic microstructures play an important role in enhancing the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The development of SOFCs that can generate high power densities requires improvements in the electrodes. The engineering of the highly porous electrodes is required to maximize the number of electrochemical reaction sites and to facilitate the gas diffusion. Various sacrificial template methods are capable of generating appropriate porous microstructures and can give a strict control over the porosity amount, pore sizes, and morphology. The present review provides a broad overview on SOFCs from the perspectives of creating porous electrodes using sacrificial template methods as a state of the art strategy. In addition, the manufacturing processes for the production of SOFCs are overviewed and described with focus on the advantages and limitations of each method.
The Involvement of Lipids in Signal Transmission Across Cell Membranes of the Nervous System

Plasma membranes of cells in the nervous system have, in addition to specialized tasks characteristic for each cell type or particular cell region (such as nerve endings), the same functions as those of cells in other organs. One of these functions is the transmission of information from the extracellular environment to the interior of the cell where a variety of metabolic events take place in response to the requirements of the organism.
History of Orthopaedic Surgery Residency in the United States

Orthopaedic surgery education has evolved over the last 100 years from the initiation of small residency programs at a few universities to the 155 accredited programs in the United States. This specialty education serves to train orthopaedic surgeons from new medical school graduates to someone who can be a safe, practicing orthopaedic surgeon. How the education has evolved is juxtaposed on the advances in the specialty itself, with the content of orthopaedic surgery becoming larger and more complex over time.
Total-Factor Spillovers, Similarities, and Competitions in the Petroleum Industry

Abstract This article investigates multi-dimensional spillovers, similarities, and competitions in the petroleum industry. Spatial techniques are applied first in production function in order to observe the cross-sectional dependence in each of the four dimensions (product-, technology-, segment-, and region-wide). These four single-dimensional spatial models are then aggregated by a model averaging method that assigns weights to different models based on their ability to explain data. Taking all dependences into consideration, this article estimates the total-factor spillovers, similarities, and competitions in the spirit of total-factor productivity. Negative spillover effects are observed in all the four dimensions. Moreover, segment-wide competition has negative effect on productivity. Some policy implications concerning human capital, globalization, and development strategies are also discussed.
Shifting Public Health Priorities and the Global Effort to Prevent a Bird Flu Pandemic

Global strategy to control highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has changed dramatically since 2003 when it was first reported that a confirmed bird flu jumped the species barrier to infect a human in Hong Kong. Evidence of this shift in priorities in the global fight against HPAI can be found most clearly in program funding trends. In late 2008 and into 2009, financial commitments from international donors for all HPAI programs dropped significantly. Meanwhile, within HPAI programs, funding shifted substantially away from animal biosecurity projects and into human response and preparedness work. This Article examines three reasons for this shift in priorities: the global experience with the H1N1 pandemic, the rise of the “One World, One Health” movement, and hard-learned lessons about both the locus of HPAI risk within the various sectors of poultry production in developing nations and the difficulty of changing behaviors in the name of making poultry production more secure. The Article concludes that the twin strategies of (1) building an international public health infrastructure that can better respond to emerging infections at the human-animal interface and (2) boosting preparedness for a potential human pandemic, while well-intentioned, are siphoning resources away from HPAI prevention at least in the short-run. Likewise, the strategy within HPAI prevention of concentrating efforts to improve biosecurity in commercial poultry production sectors leaves the vulnerable population in the backyard sector at greater risk for poultry infections that threaten their livelihoods and human infections that threaten their lives unless and until the benefits of commercial biosecurity trickle down to the backyard sector. In the end, we cannot afford public health strategies that short-shrift HPAI programs generally or HPAI prevention efforts in particular – including prevention efforts in the backyard farming sector – while focusing on other priorities.