cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predictors of rural critical care nurses’ willingness to care for people with AIDS

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between rural critical care nurses’ attitudes about acquired immunedeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and people with AIDS (PWAs), and their willingness to provide care to AIDS patients. Sixty-one critical care nurses in nine rural counties in the northeastern USA completed a mailed questionnaire as part of a larger study of 957 rural nurses. A bivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a relationship between willingness to provide care and positive attitudes about homosexuality, nursing care concerns, and professional–societal concerns. However, a multivariate logistic regression indicated that the most significant factors influencing rural critical care nurses’ willingness to care were their feelings of not being prepared to care for people with AIDS, and their anxiety and fears about contracting the disease from their patients. These findings add insight into the care of critically ill AIDS patients and support the need for continuing educational efforts in rural areas of the USA to address critical care nurses’ concerns.
Seasonal nitrogen and carbon concentrations in white, brown and woody fine roots of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh)

Small diameter (<1.0-mm) Acer saccharum Marsh roots were separated into white, brown and woody development state classes and analyzed for total N and C concentrations in April, July and October of 1988. White roots had greater concentrations of N and C than either brown or woody roots at each sampling date, and the N concentration of brown roots was consistently greater than that of woody roots. There were no temporal changes in N concentrations in any of the roots. C was slightly elevated in mid-summer in all three classes of roots. The data suggest the possible existence of an N translocation mechanism in ageing and developing fine roots. More research should be undertaken to establish the mechanisms of N loss in developing fine roots.
Niacin prevents DNA strand breakage by adenosine deaminase inhibitors

The adenosine deaminase inhibitors deoxycoformycin and erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3 nonyl) adenine (EHNA) induce single-strand DNA breaks in cultured human lymphocytes. Deoxycoformycin produced a significant number of strand breaks (4-fold increase compared to controls) and EHNA induced strand breaks in a dose-dependent manner. Strand breaks stimulate repair by poly (ADP-ribosylation) which requires NAD+ as a cofactor. Niacin is a precursor of NAD+ and when preincubated with human lymphocytes prior to exposure to adenosine deaminase inhibitors, strand breakage was reduced significantly. The administration of niacin may represent an approach to decreasing the toxicity associated with these agents.
Increased in vitro lipid peroxidation of gerbil cerebral cortex as compared with rat

The in vitro thiobarbituric acid test was used as a measure of lipid peroxidation in the gerbil and rat. Synaptosomal preparations were isolated from the cerebral cortex of each species and incubated with a free radical generating system. Varying concentrations of ADP-Fe3+, with ascorbate and oxygenated incubation medium were used to generate hydroxy-radicals. Peroxidation of the synaptosomal membrane lipids was determined using malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation. Both the gerbil and rat demonstrated significant increases in MDA in the presence of the generating system, while the gerbil P2 fraction consistently showed an increased level of MDA accumulation as compared with rat at each of the concentrations of ADP-Fe3+. Across a range of concentrations, there was a 2-2.6-fold greater increase in MDA accumulation in gerbil as compared with rat. Free radical generation is currently thought to be involved in the associated damage following cerebral ischemia. An in vitro model capable of producing biochemically similar damage to membrane systems by means of a controlled free-radical generating system may prove useful in studying possible mechanisms of ischemic damage.
Effects of Incommensuracy on the Structural and Electrical Properties in PbTe-Bi superlattice Films

We studied the structural and electrical transport properties of incommensurate PbTe-Bi superlattice films. The properties of those samples were noticeably different from those of commensurate samples. For the incommensurate samples, the satellite peaks, in the 9–29 x-ray scans along the [111] growth orientation, became broader and the ratio of satellite intensities to the Bragg intensity became smaller. The resistances of incommensurate samples were about three times larger than those of corresponding commensurate ones. These features are interpreted by an enhancement of the lateral nonuniformity of interfaces in incommensurate samples. The exponential dependence of the resistance on temperature in incommensurate samples was also in contrast to the logarithmic behavior observed in commensurate ones.
Deformation mechanisms and microtensile behavior of single colony Ti-6242Si

The constant strain rate deformation behavior of individual a ‐b colonies of the titanium aeroengine alloy Ti‐6Al‐2Sn‐4Zr‐ 2Mo‐0.1Si (compositions in wt.%) has been investigated through microsample tensile testing techniques. The mechanical behavior and deformation mechanisms observed were found to depend strongly on colony orientation. A near-Burger’s orientation relationship (OR) has been observed for the a (hcp) and b (bcc) phases in these colonies, grown utilizing a vertical float zone technique. The Burger’s OR is believed to be responsible for the observed anisotropy in the critical resolved shear stress for the three a:3e11-20e{10-10} prism slip systems. A more pronounced anisotropy was observed in the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) for the three a:3e11-20e{0001} hcp basal slip systems. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) investigations of the slip line morphology of the deformed samples indicates an inhibition of b-lath shearing for colonies oriented for basal slip, while frequent shear offsets of the b phase by slip lines were observed in the samples oriented for prism slip. The effects of the Burger’s OR, slip line spacing and elastic interactions stresses arising from the a ‐b interface are considered in explaining the observed anisotropy in CRSS. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Research Note and Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: Boundary Conditions and Extensions

In business ethics, there is a large body of literature focusing on the conditions, factors, and influences in the ethical decision-making processes. This work builds upon the past critical reviews by updating and extending the literature review found in Craft’s (J Bus Ethics 117(2):221–259, 2013) study, extending her literature review to include a total of 141 articles. Since past reviews have focused on categorizing results based upon various independent variables, we instead synthesize and look at the trends of these based upon the four ethical decision making categories: Awareness, Behavior, Judgment, and Intention. We focus on the moderation (30 studies) and mediation (23 studies) effects found within these studies and provide an in-depth analysis of future trends. Furthermore, we also highlight key statistical and methodological concerns, outline overarching trends, and directions of future research in empirical ethical decision making.
LASER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION

The role of lasers in the cosmetic surgery practice has expanded to include many new applications. During the recent explosion of interest in cosmetic laser surgery, many practitioners began to explore the use of laser technology to aid in hair transplantation. In actuality, hair transplantation was one of the fields that had long escaped the use of outside innovative technology. Active discussion in the literature has ensued regarding its pros and cons. 13,14 To warrant the use of a novel technique, such as laser for hair transplantation, the new technique must have an equal or superior outcome to conventional methods. Additionally, as is the case with lasers, the advantages should outweigh the added cost of this new technology. Laser hair transplantation has been associated with multiple advantages including control of bleeding, decreased surgical times, less traumatic graft handling, diminished graft compression, and a more natural appearance. These advantages, however, must be weighed against the disadvantages of this procedure, which include an increased expense, additional training, safety hazards, and a slight delay in hair growth (Table 1). Laser technology, when used properly by well-trained specialists, has a definite role in current cosmetic hair restoration. This article addresses the specific role and state-of-the-art of laser use in hair transplantation surgery. A directive is given to further the use of lasers in hair transplantation in a safe and clinically responsible manner. Hair transplantation is mainly performed on men. Approximately 200,000 individuals, most with male pattern baldness, undergo hair transplantation annually in the United States. Beginning in the late 1950s standard technique involved the use of large punch grafts harvested from the occipital and parietal regions. In more recent years, micrografting techniques involving small round grafts or slit grafts have become the standard of care. Instead of punchgraft harvesting, a strip graft is obtained, which in turn is dissected into round grafts or slits depending on the preference of the transplant surgeon. Recipient sites for the new grafts are created with trephines, fine blades, or hollow needles in the scalp areas selected to grow new healthy anagen hair. The micrografts usually consist of single, dual, or triple hair grafts, whereas minigrafts (to attain additional density) usually contain from four density to eight hairs. The use of larger grafts usually leads to the typical "doll's hair" or "corn-row" appearance, a feature deemed unattractive by most. Refined techniques yield the desired slit and round grafts by diligently and patiently dissecting the strip graft. Micrografting is also the most commonly used technique for restorative work of "large graft appearance" in the hair transplant practice. Hair transplantation aided by laser can prove to be beneficial in meeting the high expectations of hair transplantation patients. The hair transplant patient of this last decade and next millenium should expect a hair transplant with moderate-to-good coverage and above all a natural appearance.
Suppression of vascular endothelial growth factor-mediated endothelial cell protection by survivin targeting.

The protective genes that mediate endothelial cell (EC) survival during angiogenesis have not been completely characterized. Here, we show that an antisense oligonucleotide to the apoptosis inhibitor survivin suppressed de novo expression of survivin in ECs by vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF). In contrast, the survivin antisense oligonucleotide did not affect anti-apoptotic bcl-2 levels in endothelium. When assessed in cell death assays, antisense targeting of survivin abolished the anti-apoptotic function of VEGF against tumor necrosis factor-α- or ceramide-induced cell death, enhanced caspase-3 activity, promoted the generation of a ∼17-kd active caspase-3 subunit, and increased cleavage of the caspase substrate, polyADP ribose polymerase. In contrast, the survivin antisense oligonucleotide had no effect on EC viability in the absence of VEGF. Antisense oligonucleotides to platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1, CD31), lymphocyte function-associated molecule-3 (LFA-3, CD58), or intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54) did not reduce the anti-apoptotic function of VEGF in endothelium. When tested on other angiogenic activities mediated by VEGF, survivin antisense treatment induced rapid regression of three-dimensional vascular capillary networks, but did not affect EC migration/chemotaxis. These data suggest that the anti-apoptotic properties of VEGF during angiogenesis are primarily mediated by the induced expression of survivin in ECs. Manipulation of this pathway may increase EC viability in compensatory angiogenesis or facilitate EC apoptosis and promote vascular regression during tumor angiogenesis.
Congruent evolution of different classes of non-coding DNA in prokaryotic genomes

Prokaryotic genomes are considered to be ‘wall-to-wall’ genomes, which consist largely of genes for proteins and structural RNAs, with only a small fraction of the genomic DNA allotted to intergenic regions, which are thought to typically contain regulatory signals. The majority of bacterial and archaeal genomes contain 6–14% non-coding DNA. Significant positive correlations were detected between the fraction of non-coding DNA and inter- and intra-operonic distances, suggesting that different classes of non-coding DNA evolve congruently. In contrast, no correlation was found between any of these characteristics of non-coding sequences and the number of genes or genome size. Thus, the non-coding regions and the gene sets in prokaryotes seem to evolve in different regimes. The evolution of non-coding regions appears to be determined primarily by the selective pressure to minimize the amount of non-functional DNA, while maintaining essential regulatory signals, because of which the content of non-coding DNA in different genomes is relatively uniform and intra- and inter-operonic non-coding regions evolve congruently. In contrast, the gene set is optimized for the particular environmental niche of the given microbe, which results in the lack of correlation between the gene number and the characteristics of non-coding regions.
Estrogen regulation of immune responses after injury.

There is a naturally occurring gender difference in immune responses which persists after traumatic injury. Physiological levels of 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) are immunostimulatory, whereas high pregnancy and superphysiological levels are immunosuppressive. In contrast, at all concentrations, testosterone suppresses immune responses. Evidence from this laboratory and others suggest that the gender difference in immune responses after injury is mediated in part by alterations in the circulating levels of gonadal steroid hormones through modulation of production of inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6). Aberrant production of IL-6 is known to be an important mediator of immunity after injury. Since E(2) is a critical regulator of IL-6 production and overall immune function, it suggests gender specific therapies should be considered for the treatment of patients.
Representational task formats and problem solving strategies in kinematics and work

Trabajo financiado por: Gobierno de Extremadura. Beca GR15102. Parcialmente financiado por Fondos FEDER
Characterization of Ambiguity in Decision Making.

This article concerns the decision making process in individual human organisms. Ambiguity is a type of uncertainty resulting from the decision maker possessing vague information about the chances of various events occurring. This study tested an hypothesis concerning how ambiguity is characterized or encoded subjectively. Subjects were presented with games intended to induce subjective second order probability distributions over the chances of winning $1.00. Under the assumption that ambiguity is avoided, subjects' preferences among the game implied that ambiguity cannot be fully characterized by the ranges of subjective second order probability distributions. Avenues for pursuing alternative encoding explanations are discussed, also.
A Room With A Grim View: The ‘Ambient Despair’ That Marks Life In Assisted Living

After entering an assisted living facility at age fifty-three because of young-onset Parkinson’s, an observer-advocate contemplates the dire need for long-term care reform.
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate content of endomyocardial tissue obtained by biopsy in cyclosporine immunosuppressed human cardiac transplant recipients

Abstract Our laboratory has previously reported the myocardial cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) content in normal humans and patients with cardiomyopathy. 1 Concentric left ventricular hypertrophy and hemodynamic abnormalities suggestive of diastolic dysfunction have been observed in the transplanted heart. 2,3 The etiology of the diastolic dysfunction is unknown. Cyclic AMP content may increase in response to depletion of myocardial energy stores and may serve as a stimulus for protein synthesis and ventricular hypertrophy. Cyclosporine, a commonly used immunosuppressive agent, has been shown to have an affinity for the calcium regulatory protein calmodulin. 4 Calmodulin in vitro can stimulate adenylate cyclase, thereby potentially increasing cyclic AMP, and, in addition, can stimulate phosphodiesterase, hence theoretically decreasing cyclic AMP levels. This investigation measures the myocardial cyclic AMP content in cyclosporine-treated cardiac transplant recipients. We hypothesized that the hemodynamic and anatomic (hypertrophy) abnormalities observed in the transplanted heart may be related to abnormalities in myocardial cyclic AMP content.
Making Books for Mr Murray: The Case of Edward Parry's Third Arctic Narrative

The Arctic explorer Edward Parry was among the most admired heroes of the 1820s, and his four narratives, all published by John Murray, won exceptionally high praise from reviewers. However, the praise was not unmixed with criticism. This article examines the reception of the third narrative, which was the least favourably received of the four. Reviewers’ praise of it was often combined with insinuations that the true aim of the Admiralty expeditions led by Parry and his fellow naval officers was the production of luxurious and profitable quartos (or, as it was then termed, ‘book-making’). Many of the reviews demonstrate a sceptical and highly sophisticated approach to exploration literature as a genre. The case of Parry’s third narrative therefore demonstrates the complexity of the processes through which the credibility and cultural authority of exploration narratives were negotiated.
Cortical control of tongue contractility in the rat under ketamine anaesthesia.

SUMMARY 1. Cortico-lingual and linguo-cortical interconnectivity was investigated in ketamine-anaesthetized rats mounted onto a stereotaxic apparatus. The tip of the tongue was tied to a force displacement transducer to monitor tongue retrusions. The tongue cortical area was exposed in one or both hemispheres to record evoked potentials or spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, or to stimulate electrically with single square pulses of up to 50 V and 0.25 ms pulse width. 2. The results showed that (i) tongue retrusions elicited by electrical stimulation were identical to those induced by ketamine; (ii) ketamine-induced tongue contractions correlated in time with cortical EEG potentials which were easily distinguished from the background noise; (iii) haloperidol (2.5 mg/kg, i.m.) suppressed the cortically evoked tongue contractions as well as the ketamine-induced contractions. 3. These results suggest that ketamine-induced tongue retrusions may involve the cortex in their mediation if not their generation and that this may provide a basis for the suppression of dyskinetic activity during sleep or unconsciousness.
The distribution of cobalt in Oceanic waters

Abstract Neutron activation and direct instrumental analysis utilizing multi-dimensional gamma-ray spectrometry was employed to measure the concentrations and variations of cobalt in oceanic waters. The cobalt concentrations observed in this work are much lower than most previously reported values. Surface concentrations in the North Central Pacific Ocean averaged about 10 nanograms/liter. Tropical Northeast Pacific Ocean waters and Oregon coastal waters averaged about 20 and 46 ng Co/l., respectively, after a few high values suspected of contamination were omitted. Tropical North Atlantic Ocean waters averaged approximately 25 ng Co/l., while Bering Sea and Mediterranean Sea waters averaged approximately 30 and 20 ng Co/l., respectively. Various coastal areas throughout the world contained slightly higher concentrations. The distribution of cobalt in the oceans is highly variable. Calculations show that assimilation of cobalt by phytoplankton and marine organisms cannot fully account for the observed variations, and the heterogeneous distribution of cobalt throughout the oceans is, for the most part, inexplicable.
The role of computed tomography with contrast and small bowel follow-through in management of small bowel obstruction

Abstract Background: In a significant percentage of patients, radiologic evaluation other than plain abdominal films are required to confirm or exclude the presence of small bowel obstruction. Methods: Over a 1-year period, 55 patients had both computed tomography and small bowel follow-through studies. Patients were classified as having (1) paralytic ileus, (2) low-grade obstruction, (3) high-grade obstruction, or (4) complete mechanical obstruction. The gold standard for diagnosis was celiotomy in 42 patients and clinical follow-up in 13 patients. Results: Thirty-six out of 42 patients had proven intestinal obstruction at the time of celiotomy. Computed tomography identified 32 out of the 36 high-grade and complete mechanical obstructions. Computed tomography was superior to small bowel follow-through in identifying masses, malignancies, and features of strangulation. Small bowel follow-through correctly identified “insignificant obstructions” when contrast reached the cecum within 4 hours in 18 of 19 patients. Conclusions: In patients with equivocal findings of small bowel obstruction, computed tomography should be used initially and then small bowel follow-through if computed tomography is not diagnostic. Computed tomography was superior in this study for detecting the cause of the intestinal obstruction and presence of strangulation.
Subtype-specific overexpression of the Rac-GEF P-REX1 in breast cancer is associated with promoter hypomethylation

The Rac-GEF P-REX1 is a key mediator of ErbB signaling in breast cancer recently implicated in mammary tumorigenesis and metastatic dissemination. Although P-REX1 is essentially undetectable in normal human mammary epithelial tissue, this Rac-GEF is markedly upregulated in human breast carcinomas, particularly of the luminal subtype. The mechanisms underlying P-REX1 upregulation in breast cancer are unknown. Toward the goal of dissecting the mechanistic basis of P-REX1 overexpression in breast cancer, in this study we focused on the analysis of methylation of the PREX1 gene promoter. To determine the methylation status of the PREX1 promoter region, we used bisulfite genomic sequencing and pyrosequencing approaches. Re-expression studies in cell lines were carried out by treatment of breast cancer cells with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine. PREX1 gene methylation in different human breast cancer subtypes was analyzed from the TCGA database. We found that the human PREX1 gene promoter has a CpG island located between -1.2 kb and +1.4 kb, and that DNA methylation in this region inversely correlates with P-REX1 expression in human breast cancer cell lines. A comprehensive analysis of human breast cancer cell lines and tumors revealed significant hypomethylation of the PREX1 promoter in ER-positive, luminal subtype, whereas hypermethylation occurs in basal-like breast cancer. Treatment of normal MCF-10A or basal-like cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine in combination with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A restores P-REX1 levels to those observed in luminal breast cancer cell lines, suggesting that aberrant expression of P-REX1 in luminal breast cancer is a consequence of PREX1 promoter demethylation. Unlike PREX1, the pro-metastatic Rho/Rac-GEF, VAV3, is not regulated by methylation. Notably, PREX1 gene promoter hypomethylation is a prognostic marker of poor patient survival. Our study identified for the first time gene promoter hypomethylation as a distinctive subtype-specific mechanism for controlling the expression of a key regulator of Rac-mediated motility and metastasis in breast cancer.
Isolation of sperm nuclei and nuclear matrices from the mouse, and other rodents.

The isolation of mammalian sperm heads from their tails is complicated by the relatively high density of the tails, but facilitated by the fact that protamine condensation of the sperm chromatin, and the insolubility of the perinuclear theca make the sperm nucleus stable in SDS. Two methods are described for the isolation of rodent sperm nuclei using sucrose step gradients in which the sperm nuclei are only centrifuged one time, minimizing potential damage by mechanical stress.
Elucidation of the multiple roles of CheD in Bacillus subtilis chemotaxis.

Chemotaxis by Bacillus subtilis requires the CheD protein for proper function. In a cheD mutant when McpB was the sole chemoreceptor in B. subtilis, chemotaxis to asparagine was quite good. When McpC was the sole chemoreceptor in a cheD mutant, chemotaxis to proline was very poor. The reason for the difference between the chemoreceptors is because CheD deamidates Q609 in McpC and does not deamidate McpB. When mcpC-Q609E is expressed as the sole chemoreceptor in a cheD background, chemotaxis is almost fully restored. Concomitantly, in vitro McpC activates the CheA kinase poorly, whereas McpC-Q609E activates it much more. Moreover, CheD, which activates chemoreceptors, binds better to McpC-Q609E compared with unmodified McpC. Using hydroxyl radical susceptibility in the presence or absence of CheD, the most likely sites of CheD binding were the modification sites where CheD, CheB and CheR carry out their catalytic activities. Thus, CheD appears to have two separate roles in B. subtilis chemotaxis - to bind to chemoreceptors to activate them as part of the CheC/CheD/CheYp adaptation system and to deamidate selected residues to activate the chemoreceptors and enable them to mediate amino acid chemotaxis.
Response of deep detectors to extraterrestrial neutrinos

We calculate the rate of upward muons induced by an arbitrary spectrum of ..nu../sub ..mu../ and nu-bar/sub ..mu../, including effects of the W propagator in the relevant charged-current cross sections. The results can be used to infer a parent-neutrino rate from an observed signal of upward muons.
Saw-tooth pole solenoid actuator for aerospace applications

Solenoid is an electromagnetically operated actuator. The classical solenoids employ armatures which are either flat or conical pole with various cone angles based on the force requirement. This paper describes a novel method of introducing surface features at an appropriate location in the solenoid geometry in order to reduce the reluctance in the working air gap and decrease the leakage flux which also means increasing the Magneto Motive Force (MMF) into working air gap is discussed in this paper. The idea is to do minimal changes to the solenoid in order to extend its usability to more than one application. Infolytica MagNet® tool is used for performance comparison of conventional and proposed solenoid keeping same applied MMF and simulation parameters for both classical and proposed geometries. This analysis considers worst case solenoid geometry and it also includes method of modeling the practical non-idealities that exists due to manufacturing and assembly process. This analysis also provides input for refinement of solenoid part dimensions and tolerance stack up.
Processor-embedded distributed MEMS-based storage systems for high-performance I/O

Summary form only given. Built upon new data organization and access characteristics, MEMS-based storage devices have come under consideration as an alternative to disks for large data-intensive applications. While not already in commercial production, MEMS-based storage devices have outperformed disks in device-level simulations. Processor-embedded distributed disks improved performance of workloads by offloading application-level processing to the storage. To exploit the potential benefits offered by these emerging storage technologies and offloading models, we propose a processor-embedded distributed MEMS-based storage architecture, and evaluate the proposed architecture with representative database and data mining workloads. Our results show that MEMS-based storage improved the overall performance of these workloads over disk-based systems, and transformed the characteristics of several workloads, impacting the design points for future storage architectures.
Nonparametric Estimation of Relative Risk Using Splines and Cross-Validation

An alternative to the local scoring method of Hastie and Tibshirani [J. Statist. Sci., 1 (1986), pp. 297–318] is provided for nonparametric estimation of the relative risk in the Cox model. The method involves penalized partial likelihood. Computations are carried out using a damped Newton–Raphson iteration. Each iterate is evaluated using an appropriately preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm. The algorithm is globally convergent under mild conditions. One-step diagnostics are developed and cross-validation criteria are provided to guide the evaluation of the degree of smoothness of the estimator. These cross-validation scores have potential application to model selection in standard Cox regression contexts also. Bayesian confidence intervals akin to those of Wahba [J. Roy. Statist. Soc., 45 (1983), pp. 133–150] are defined. The performance of the methodology is illustrated on real and simulated data.
Comment on “Spontaneous emission: vacuum fluctuations or radiation reaction” by R. R. Puri

It has recently been claimed that the vacuum field does not contribute explicitly, in any operator ordering, to spontaneous emission. This claim is based on a trivial observation that misses the point of a whole series of independent investigations.
Performance and Economic Analysis of Biomass/Coal Co-Gasification IGCC Systems With Supercritical Steam Bottom Cycle: Part 2 — Pre-Combustion Carbon Capture

One of the main advantages of IGCC technology is that it is the only form of power generation that is compatible with pre-combustion carbon capture. Part 2 of this paper will thus focus on analyzing pre-combustion CCS, utilizing both sourshift and sweet-shift processes and comparing them to each other and to the results of post-combustion CCS from Part 1. Pre-combustion CCS plants are smaller than post-combustion ones, and usually require 25% less energy for CCS due to their compact size for processing fuel flow only under higher pressure (450 psi), versus processing the combusted gases at near-atmospheric pressure. For pre-combustion CCS, sour-shift appears to be superior both economically and thermally to sweet-shift in the current study. Sour-shift is always cheaper, (by a difference of about $600/kW and $0.02-$0.03/kW-hr), easier to implement, and also 2-3 percentage points more efficient. Adding biomass to the system always reduces the emissions and can even make a plant carbon-negative with as little as 10% biomass by weight. In addition, the efficiency will improve (0.7 points) and power output will also improve (~1%-3% more) for up to 10% biomass ratio (BMR) for the right kind of biomass that has been properly pretreated. Beyond 10% BMR, however, the efficiency begins to drop due to the rising pretreatment costs, but the system itself still remains more efficient than from using coal alone (between 0.2-0.3 points on average). The economic difference is fairly marginal, but the trend is inversely proportional to the efficiency, with CoE decreasing by 0.5 cents/kW-hr from 0%10% BMR and rising 2.5 cents/kW-hr from 10%-50% BMR. Finally, the CO2 removal cost for sour-shift is around $20/ton, whereas sweet-shift’s cost is around $30/ton, which is much cheaper than that of post-combustion CCS from Part 1: about $60-$70/ton.
A prospective, double‐blind, randomized clinical feasibility trial of controlling the storage age of red blood cells for transfusion in cardiac surgical patients

BACKGROUND Recent evidence demonstrates an association between duration of storage of red blood cells (RBC) and morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery. We studied the feasibility of two different schemes for categorizing and randomizing age of RBC units transfused in cardiac surgical patients. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS In Phase 1, 20 subjects were randomly assigned to standard of care (SOC) versus no RBCs with more than 21 days' storage duration. In Phase 2, 23 subjects were randomized to RBCs of 7 +/- 4 versus 21 +/- 4 days' storage duration. The age of study RBC units was masked. RESULTS In Phase 1, no patients received RBCs 31 days or older in SOC, and there was overlap in storage age shared in both arms so the predefined feasibility criteria were not met. In Phase 2, it was feasible to deliver specified age RBCs to the 7-day arm (achieved in 100% of subjects), but feasibility was not demonstrated for the 21-day arm (only 50% of subjects transfused with target age RBCs). Significant differences, however, were observed between the 7 +/- 4- and 21 +/- 4-day arms with respect to age of all RBC units (6 +/- 2 vs. 18 +/- 7, p = 0.0002) and maximum age (7 +/- 2 vs. 20 +/- 7, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Given the current storage age distribution of available RBC inventory, use of a SOC arm in future studies is unlikely to result in a large exposure to "old" blood. It is feasible to randomize patients to "younger" RBCs (3-11 days) but design strategies are needed to provide "intermediate-aged" or "old" blood as a comparator.
Fast model selection based speaker adaptation for nonnative speech

The problem of adapting acoustic models of native English speech to nonnative speakers is addressed from a perspective of adaptive model complexity selection. The goal is to select model complexity dynamically for each nonnative talker so as to optimize the balance between model robustness to pronunciation variations and model detailedness for discrimination of speech sounds. A maximum expected likelihood (MEL) based technique is proposed to enable reliable complexity selection when adaptation data are sparse, where expectation of log-likelihood (EL) of adaptation data is computed based on distributions of mismatch biases between model and data, and model complexity is selected to maximize EL. The MEL based complexity selection is further combined with MLLR (maximum likelihood linear regression) to enable adaptation of both complexity and parameters of acoustic models. Experiments were performed on WSJ1 data of speakers with a wide range of foreign accents. Results show that the MEL based complexity selection is feasible when using as little as one adaptation utterance, and it is able to select dynamically the proper model complexity as the adaptation data increases. Compared with the standard MLLR, the MEL+MLLR method leads to consistent and significant improvement to recognition accuracy on nonnative speakers, without performance degradation on native speakers.
Enzyme-catalyzed polymerization: an opportunity for innovation

—The application of enzymes in organic synthesis has attracted the attention of many research workers in recent years. Specific enzymatic catalysis is expected to synthesize polymers with high selectivity and/or novel structures. Up to now, the enzymatic synthesis of polyphenols, cellulose, lignin, and polypeptides, as well as non-natural polymers, has been successfully achieved. This review discusses the systematic synthesis of polyphenols using horseradish peroxidase-hydrogen peroxide (HRP-H2O2), the ring-opening polymerization of lactones using the enzyme lipase, and the successful synthesis of cellulose using the enzyme cellulase. The polyphenols enzymatically synthesized have been explored as substitutes of phenol-formaldehyde resins to eliminate the pollution caused by formaldehyde in the environment. Due to their unique π-conjugation nature, these polymers have potential applications in nonlinear optics and in the fabrication of light-emitting diodes. The enzymatic polymerizations using lipase have...
Injury Prevention as an Integral Part of Health System Reform Efforts: Lessons Learned from Recently Enacted Massachusetts Laws

AbstractAbstract—Injury is the leading cause of mortality in people younger than 44 years of age. Injury prevention laws and policies are not only effective in saving lives at a population level but are also remarkably cost-effective compared to most public health interventions. For example, the implementation of a stricter Massachusetts Graduated Driver Licensing Law in 2007 resulted in a very significant and rapid decrease in the rates of motor vehicle crashes of teenager drivers, saved thousands of lives, and resulted in more than $10 million dollars savings in health care costs over 5 years. We therefore suggest that trauma and injury prevention should be made a priority in any attempt at local, regional, or national health system reform.
Recent concepts in the pathophysiology and evaluation of spasticity

Spasticity is still a challenge to clinicians and scientists. The participation of Ia, Ib, II, III and IV afferents pathways, as well as those related with presynaptic inhibition. Renshaw cells modulation, and alpha and gamma motoneurons hyperexcitability, in this medical problem are reviewed. A brief overview on the more common neurophysiological tests performed during the evaluation of human spasticity is presented.
An Introduction to Cap and Trade for Animal Welfare

Thinking outside of the proverbial box, could a market‐based approach such as cap and trade be successfully used to improve animal welfare throughout the United States and across the various industries that use animals?This article will explore that very question by focusing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) publication, Tools of the Trade: A Guide to Designing and Operating a Cap and Trade Program for Pollution Control (Tools of the Trade). The stated purpose of Tools of the Trade is to serve “as a reference for policy‐makers and regulators considering cap and trade as a policy tool to control pollution. It is intended to be sufficiently generic to apply to various pollutants and environmental concerns; however, it emphasizes cap and trade to control emissions produced from stationary source combustion.” This article will make use of the generic nature of this publication to explore whether the concern for animal welfare can legitimately be substituted for the concern for the environment. Specifically, can the argument be made that cap and trade, when properly implemented, could serve to improve the lives of animals?
The Production of Experimental Influenza in Mice by Inhalation of Atmospheres Containing InfluenzaVirus Dispersed as Fine Droplets

During the 1918 pandemic of influenza numerous attempts were made to transmit the disease to human volunteers. The methods employed included spraying nasopharyngeal secretions from cases of influenza into the nose and throat of presumably susceptible individuals. Such experimental inoculations, as well as others in which influenzal secretions were swabbed on the throat and nose, failed to produce the disease. Likewise, direct exposure of normal subjects to infected cases under controlled conditions was found to be equally unsuccessful in producing experimental transmission of influenza. These studies have
A Switched Mode Li-ion Battery Charger with Multiple Energy Harvesting Systems Simultaneously Used as Input Sources

Energy harvesting is a green source of energy which can help reduce the maintenance cost in the frequent replacement of batteries, reduce pollution, and enable the long term powering of devices in places that are not easily accessible. In recent past, systems have been proposed to use energy harvesting systems to charge energy storage devices. This paper presents a simple but effective solution to combine multiple energy harvesting systems simultaneously for battery charging. This ensures the effective use of environmental energy for the powering of microsystems at all times. The proposed system has a monitoring interface, which monitors the energy harvesting systems' outputs, combined with a battery charger to charge a Li-ion battery, thereby providing an approach which ensures that the battery can always be charged using green energy. The simulation of the system's behavior takes into account the variable nature of the different energy harvesting sources to ensure that the presented system is a viable option when dealing with multiple energy harvesting systems and Li-ion battery charging.
The Use of Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest During Heart Transplantation Does Not Worsen Posttransplant Survival.

Background Hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) has been used as an adjunct to cardiopulmonary bypass for decades, both electively and emergently, to facilitate a bloodless operative field while maintaining cerebral protection. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of HCA during heart transplantation on posttransplant outcomes. Methods All adult patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation at our institution between 2000 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were stratified based on need for HCA during surgery; patients who required HCA (HCA group, n = 25), and patients who did not (no-HCA group, n = 903). The primary outcomes of interest were 30-day and 1-year mortality and postoperative complication rate. Results Indications for HCA included control of significant hemorrhage (n = 9), need for distal aortic procedures (n = 9), or as an aid in difficult mediastinal dissection (n = 7). Mean duration of HCA was 22 ± 18 minutes at a mean temperature of 24.5° ± 5.5°C. Significantly more patients in the HCA group underwent transplant for congenital heart disease (16.0% HCA versus 2.8% no-HCA, p = 0.006), and patients in the HCA group had undergone more prior sternotomies (HCA 1 [interquartile range: 1 to 2] versus no-HCA 1 [interquartile range: 0 to 1], p p = 0.29) or 1-year mortality (8.0% HCA versus 12.3% no-HCA, p = 0.76). The HCA group had higher rates of reoperation for mediastinal bleeding and postoperative respiratory failure. Conclusions The need for HCA during heart transplantation is rare but, when required, it is frequently a life-saving adjunct to cardiopulmonary bypass. However, patients who require HCA have higher rates of postoperative complications. Risk factors for needing HCA during transplantation include congenital heart disease and more than one prior sternotomies.
N-Type Hyperbranched Polymers for Supercapacitor Cathodes with Variable Porosity and Excellent Electrochemical Stability

A series of n-type hyperbranched polymers exhibiting variable porosity and excellent electrochemical stability are presented for use as the cathodes of asymmetric supercapacitors. The polymers are designed with triphenylamine (TPA) cores and naphthalene diimide (NDI) terminal units, with NDI being chosen for its electrochemical stability under reduction. A different number of thiophene rings between the TPA and NDI units are used to alter the porosity. These devices show very good stability over 500 cycles as a result of the stable NDI unit, and nitrogen adsorption experiments confirm that the addition of thiophene spacers results in a concomitant increase in the polymer matrix pore size. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) characterization reveals that as the porosity of the polymer increases, the diffusion resistance decreases. However, as the pore size increases, the charge transfer resistance and equivalent series resistance increases. Finally, one of the polymers is used to fabricate proof-o...
User-centered Design of Collaborative Geovisualization Tools

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on approaches to facilitate user-centered design (UCD) between distributed users and developers of collaborative tools. Additionally, it introduces a case study that illustrates the way these approaches have been implemented to aid remote collaboration in the environmental sciences. It introduces an initial set of online user centered assessment techniques that can be expanded into a more formal methodology, which merges electronic usability assessment with traditional techniques. Most current UCD assessment methods are derived from recommendations made for single user workspaces. Although these methods provide a basis for creating new collaborative geovisualization tools, they do not fully support collaboration between groups of usability test subjects and software designers who are often distributed in space and usability measurements of geocollaborative tools running in a “real-world” distributed mode. Research on collaborative geovisualization tool design has just begun and offers many interesting research challenges.
First report of safety and efficacy of daratumumab in 2 cases of advanced immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis.

To the editor: Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL) with advanced cardiac involvement is characterized by short survival. Outcomes are especially poor for patients who have multiorgan involvement and coexisting multiple myeloma and do not achieve normalization of the serum free light chains
Decision-Making, Bracing, and Other Adjuncts for Management of In-Season Contact Athletes With Shoulder Instability ☆

In-season contact athletes experiencing shoulder instability have a wide range of options available that require careful consideration. These athletes, and the physicians who treat them, have consequential decisions to make when it comes to managing an in-season anterior instability event. Controversy continues to exist on the best course of action: nonoperative vs operative management. Many factors play into the decision, including the timing of the injury (early or late in the athlete's season), the presence of bony injury, including bony Bankart or large Hill-Sachs defect, athlete age, and whether they are involved in contact sports. If the athlete is experiencing a primary instability event with a soft tissue injury alone without glenoid bone loss, then nonoperative management including bracing and physical therapy may be recommended with an expected return to sport within 7-21 days. When an athlete is indicated for surgical intervention, either due to recurrent instability or other pathology associated with the injury, the physician has several options available. The purpose of this article is to explore the surgical decision-making process for an in-season contact athlete experiencing shoulder instability.
Current and upcoming pharmacotherapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Given the high prevalence and rising incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the absence of approved therapies is striking. Although the mainstay of treatment of NAFLD is weight loss, it is hard to maintain, prompting the need for pharmacotherapy as well. A greater understanding of disease pathogenesis in recent years was followed by development of new classes of medications, as well as potential repurposing of currently available agents. NAFLD therapies target four main pathways. The dominant approach is targeting hepatic fat accumulation and the resultant metabolic stress. Medications in this group include peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor agonists (eg, pioglitazone, elafibranor, saroglitazar), medications targeting the bile acid-farnesoid X receptor axis (obeticholic acid), inhibitors of de novo lipogenesis (aramchol, NDI-010976), incretins (liraglutide) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 or FGF-19 analogues. A second approach is targeting the oxidative stress, inflammation and injury that follow the metabolic stress. Medications from this group include antioxidants (vitamin E), medications with a target in the tumour necrosis factor α pathway (emricasan, pentoxifylline) and immune modulators (amlexanox, cenicriviroc). A third group has a target in the gut, including antiobesity agents such as orlistat or gut microbiome modulators (IMM-124e, faecal microbial transplant, solithromycin). Finally, as the ongoing injury leads to fibrosis, the harbinger of liver-related morbidity and mortality, antifibrotics (simtuzumab and GR-MD-02) will be an important element of therapy. It is very likely that in the next few years several medications will be available to clinicians treating patients with NAFLD across the entire spectrum of disease.