cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variability in serotonin and enterochromaffin cells in patients with colonic inertia and idiopathic diarrhoea as compared to normal controls

AIM: To evaluate differences in distribution, density and staining intensity of enterochromaffin cells (EC) and serotonin cells (SC) in the colonic mucosa of patients with colonic inertia (CI), idiopathic diarrhoea (ID) and a control group. METHODS: Three groups were studied: 19 patients' colons after subtotal colectomy for CI, and 17 patients' biopsies for diarrhoea (>3 bowel movements/day) with histological findings of normal mucosa (excluding microscopic, eosinophillic and collagenous colitis). The third group included 15 patients who underwent colonoscopy and biopsy for indications other than constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhoea or neoplasm (control group). Specimen blocks were obtained in each case from the right and left colon. Immunohistochemical staining for EC and SC were done on 4 micro m sections from Hollandes fixed, paraffin embedded tissues with primary rabbit antibody against chromagranin A or serotonin, and biotynylated secondary antibody and enzyme labelled streptavidin. RESULTS: The number of EC in the mucosa of the left colon in patients with CI (16.8 +/- 10.2) and ID (19.9 +/- 9.7) were significantly higher than they were on the right side (CI: 9.4 +/- 6.0, ID: 12.1 +/- 5.3). However, there were no significant differences between the left and right sides in the control group (L: 10.3 +/- 5.3; R: 13.4 +/- 7.6). Although the quantity of EC in the left colon in both patients with CI (P < 0.05) and ID (P < 0.01) were significantly higher than in the controls, there was no significant difference between CI and ID. In both the right and left colon, the percentage of EC with low positive density was significantly higher (P < 0.01) while those cells with moderate or low staining intensity were significantly lower in patients with CI than in either patients with ID or control group. In patients with CI, the quantity of SC in the mucosa of the left colon (12.1 +/- 6.4) was higher than in the right (CI: 7.9 +/- 3.6; control 4.6 +/- 3.3; ID 4.6 +/- 2.9) (P = 0.0057). In contrast there was no significant difference in SC in either the ID or control groups. The quantity of SC in both sides of the colon was significantly higher both in patients with CI as compared to the control group (P < 0.01) and patients with CI vs. patients with ID (L = P < 0.01; R = P < 0.05). There was a significantly positive correlation between the numbers of EC and SC in patients with CI (L: r = 0.5425, P < 0.05; R: r = 0.745, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In patients with CI, EC increases possibly due to an increase in SC. Conversely, in patients with ID, the EC increase results from peptides other than SC. Our results suggest that different aetiological factors contribute to ID and CI.
Influence of the surface morphology on the early stages of Cu oxidation

a b s t r a c t The growth and morphological features of Cu films deposited on NaCl(1 0 0) by e-beam evaporation have been examined to evaluate the effect of various surface morphologies on the initial oxidation of Cu. It is shown that epitaxial Cu films with significantly reduced surface roughness can be achieved by first nucleating Cu seeds at 450 ◦ C that favors epitaxial Cu grains which is followed by subsequent seed growth at 150 ◦ C that favors smooth Cu film. The effect of the variations of the surface morphology of the resulting Cu films by the different growth conditions on the early stages oxidation of Cu films is examined by in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). It is shown that the changes in the surface morphologies of the Cu film result in distinct variations in the nucleation density and growth rates of oxide islands. Such correlation between the surface morphology and the initial oxidation behavior of the Cu films provides insights into understanding the microscopic processes of the transient oxidation of metals and for manipulating the initial oxide formation through surface treatments.
The Fête Française: A Promotional Venture

ABSTRACT: The language contest is an excellent tool for stimulating student interest in foreign language study, at the same time that it increases public awareness of the accomplishments of students in acquiring foreign language skills. This article describes the organization of a successful language contest now in its eighth year of operation.
Spin-wave emitting diodes and spin diffusion in magnetic multilayers

When a dc current traverses a magnetic multilayer, a spontaneous precession of the magnetization is predicted to arise. In the present work, we discuss three different configurations for this device. We show that the multilayer must not exhibit complete mirror symmetry with respect to the median plane of the precessing layer. Also, we solve the Valet-Fert spin-diffusion equations in the various layers. The results lead to certain optimum values for the layer thicknesses and for the conduction-electron spin-relaxation time in some layers. Finally, we propose an alternate mechanism to "pump" the conduction-electron spins.
Immunological Control of Macrophage Proliferation In Vivo

The transfer of cell-mediated anti-Listeria immunity to normal recipient mice with spleen cells from convalescing donors results in a striking increase in the replication of macrophages in the recipients' livers. Macrophage division occurs 24 h earlier and is 2 to 3 times more intense than macrophage division in mice combating infection with the aid of normal spleen cells. The spleen cells responsible for triggering increased macrophage division and for mediating immunity are destroyed by anti-theta serum and complement, thus showing that they are thymus derived lymphocytes. Their capacity to trigger macrophage division is not realized in the absence of an adequate number of replicating Listeria in the recipients' tissues.
Relational associative learning induces cross-modal plasticity in early visual cortex

Neurobiological theories of memory posit that the neocortex is a storage site of declarative memories, a hallmark of which is the association of two arbitrary neutral stimuli. Early sensory cortices, once assumed uninvolved in memory storage, recently have been implicated in associations between neutral stimuli and reward or punishment. We asked whether links between neutral stimuli also could be formed in early visual or auditory cortices. Rats were presented with a tone paired with a light using a sensory preconditioning paradigm that enabled later evaluation of successful association. Subjects that acquired this association developed enhanced sound evoked potentials in their primary and secondary visual cortices. Laminar recordings localized this potential to cortical Layers 5 and 6. A similar pattern of activation was elicited by microstimulation of primary auditory cortex in the same subjects, consistent with a cortico-cortical substrate of association. Thus, early sensory cortex has the capability to form neutral stimulus associations. This plasticity may constitute a declarative memory trace between sensory cortices.
A recombineering‐based gene tagging system for Arabidopsis

One of the most information-rich aspects of gene functional studies is characterization of gene expression profiles at cellular resolution, and subcellular localization of the corresponding proteins. These studies require visualization of the endogenous gene products using specific antibodies, or, more commonly, generation of whole-gene translational fusions with a reporter gene such as a fluorescent protein. To facilitate the generation of such translational fusions and to ensure that all cis-regulatory sequences are included, we have used a bacterial homologous recombination system (recombineering) to insert fluorescent protein tags into genes of interest harbored by transformation-competent bacterial artificial chromosomes (TACs). This approach has several advantages compared to other classical strategies. First, the researcher does not have to guess what the regulatory sequences of a gene are, as tens of thousands of base pairs flanking the gene of interest can be included in the construct. Second, because the genes of interest are not amplified by PCR, there are practically no limits to the size of a gene that can be tagged. Third, there are no restrictions on the location in which the fluorescent protein can be inserted, as the position is determined by sequence homology with the recombination primers. Finally, all of the required strains and TAC clones are publically available, and the experimental procedures described here are simple and robust. Thus, we suggest that recombineering-based gene tagging should be the gold standard for gene expression studies in Arabidopsis.
Sensor Measurements for Wi-Fi Location with Emphasis on Time-of-Arrival Ranging

Wireless local area network (WLAN) location is the perfect complement to global positioning system (GPS) receivers for providing users with location information. WLAN operates in many areas in which GPS receivers cannot establish a lock, such as in indoor environments and metropolitan (obstruction by tall buildings) areas. There are many references to WLAN location in scientific literature. Most of this literature concentrates on signal-strength-based approaches. The advantage of signal strength approaches is that they are easy to implement, usually only requiring software modifications. In this paper, we discuss a novel time of arrival (TOA) approach that Intel research has developed. Although this approach typically requires minor silicon or firmware modifications to implement, it can deliver significant performance improvements over signal-strength-based measurements, as shown in this paper. Currently, Intel is introducing this method as an approach to add fine-accuracy location into the IEEE WLAN standard, 802.11 v.
Unified analysis of half-bridge converters with current-doubler rectifier

This paper presents a unified analysis of half-bridge converters with current-doubler rectifier using an averaged circuit model. The model is applicable for both symmetrical and asymmetrical control. Different approaches to integrating the transformer with the inductors are discussed and their equivalent circuit models for use with the averaged converter model are developed. In addition, an inductor loop formed by the transformer and the two filter inductors is identified, and its effects on converter operation and control design are discussed. Numerical simulation and experimental results from a prototype converter are also reported.
Effect of Spinal Deformity on Pelvic Orientation from Standing to Sitting Position

Abstract Background The effect of fixed spinal deformities on a functional pelvis from standing to sitting is not fully understood. We aimed to assess the change in preoperative sagittal pelvic tilt angle (SPTA) from standing to sitting in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty, comparing flexible and fixed spinal deformities. Methods Between July 2011 and October 2011, 68 consecutive unilateral total hip arthroplasties were implanted in 68 patients with a mean age of 71 ± 6 years. Fixed spinal deformity was defined as Results The mean standing and sitting SPTA was 3.7° of anterior tilt and 17.7° of posterior tilt, respectively (change of 21.4 ± 12.5°). Seventy-five percent had flexible pelvises, all of which had a posterior tilt from standing to sitting. One patient in the fixed pelvis (1.4%) had a loss of posterior tilt from standing to sitting. The mean change of SPTA from standing to sitting in the fixed and flexible pelvis groups was 5.9 ± 3.5° to 26.7 ± 9.6° of posterior tilt, which was statistically significant ( P Conclusion There was a significant change in sagittal pelvic tilt from standing to sitting, especially in patients with a flexible spine, in which the functional anteversion increases with sitting. The patients with a fixed pelvis had significantly less SPTA in standing (less anteversion) with less posterior sagittal tilt in sitting, which should be incorporated in cup positioning.
“I Don’t Lend Money; it Causes Amnesia!” Money, Culture and Ethics

Christian leaders seek to be ethical people and make ethical decisions, but often the ethical dilemmas a leader must face do not have clear-cut answers. Ethical dilemmas can be even more troubling when they occur in a culturally diverse situation that is coupled with decisions involving financial transactions. Views of money and how to handle money are culturally influenced and may not be the same as the views of the leader, who may come from a different culture. This leads the Christian leader to ponder: When working in a culturally diverse environment, how can one tell the difference between a money-related cultural difference and an ethical infraction? The following article discusses the challenges of intercultural leadership that involve financial transactions and offers suggestions for addressing the resulting cultural and ethical questions.
Laryngeal Manifestations of Neurofibromatosis

ObjectivesTo describe the range of findings in patients with neurofibromatosis (NF) presenting to a laryngology clinic and to analyze the etiologic factors of vocal fold dysfunction in this cohort.Study DesignCase series with chart review.SettingTertiary laryngology practice.Subjects and MethodsAll cases of NF presenting to an academic laryngology practice were retrospectively reviewed (August 2005 to May 2014), with a total of 34 cases. Demographic data, symptoms, and endoscopic examination findings were reviewed. Etiologic factors of laryngeal complaints were analyzed with reference to NF-associated pathologies and surgical history.ResultsThirty-four patients with NF-1 or NF-2 were evaluated, and 28 of these patients (6 NF-1 and 22 NF-2) had laryngeal pathology. The most common presenting symptoms were vocal weakness (n = 21), dysphagia (n = 5), and globus (n = 4). Three patients had NF-related vocal fold masses on examination, including 2 neurofibromas and 1 schwannoma. Unilateral vocal cord paralysis ...
The effect of policy changes on hepatitis A vaccine uptake in Arizona children, 1995-2008.

a ABSTRACT Objective. In 1995, the first hepatitis A vaccines became available for use. At that time, Arizona had the highest hepatitis A incidence of all 50 states. During that same time period, the Arizona State Immunization Information System (ASIIS) was created to collect information on all immunizations given in the state. Four state-level hepatitis A vaccination policies were enacted according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and local initiatives from 1996 to 2005. Our primary objective was to assess the impact of these policies on vaccine uptake in children. Methods. Immunization records from ASIIS were used to calculate yearly coverage of children with at least one reported hepatitis A vaccination between 1995 and 2008. Proportions vaccinated were calculated by age group (12-23 months, 24-59 months, 5-9 years, 10-14 years, and 15-19 years) for three regions: Maricopa County; Apache and Navajo counties; and the remaining 12 Arizona counties, which were grouped as one to reflect different target groups for the four policies examined. We calculated percent changes from before and after each policy implementation. Results. Significantly different percent changes were detected among the three regions that related to the four policies implemented. Percent change in uptake was consistently higher in the regions that were targeted for that specific policy. Conclusions. Analysis of ASIIS data revealed a major effect of hepatitis A policy recommendations on vaccine uptake in Arizona. Targeting high-risk populations through vaccine recommendations and child care entry require- ments was highly successful in achieving higher vaccination coverage.
Optical and electrostatic characterization of oscillatory Hall discharge behavior

The characterization of oscillatory phenomena in Hall discharges using both optical emission measurements and electrostatic probes is presented. The instabilities of the plasma in two Hall discharges with differing geometry and operating conditions are discussed. In both cases, the measurements confirm the existence of spatially-isolated, low-frequency (5-70kHz) azimuthal drift waves when operating in the ionization regime (at low discharge voltages). These disturbances are overtaken by yet lower frequency, spatially-homogeneous disturbances when operating in the current saturation regime (at higher discharge voltages). The lower frequency disturbances are believed to be ionization instabilities, and their frequencies scale qualitatively with voltage and magnetic field in accordance with the "push-pull" or "predator-prey" model of Fife et al. (AIAA 97-3052). The optical emission-based studies of the plasma fluctuations are consistent with the results of negatively-biased ion-saturation probes, and, in addition, clearly indicate the presence of higher frequency (2-70 MHz) disturbances over a wide range of operating conditions.
The Significance of Outer Space Hotels in Development of the Space Tourism Industry

lthough space travel up to this point has been exclusively for astronauts and scientists, hotel owners and the wealthy are now trying to get into space. Entrepreneurs are working with scientists and dreamers alike to create a place for people to travel and vacation on the orbital level. Regardless of the challenges, the new space race has begun as privately owned companies battle money, governmental restrictions, and dangers in space as they attempt to create “the place to be”.
Investigation of Invisible Au in Au-bearing FeS_2 Microcrystals from Carlin Gold Ore Deposit, Nevada, USA:TEM Study and Geochemical Modeling

Transmission electron microscopy study indicates that microcrystalline Fesulfide crystals around large pyrite crystals from Carlin mine of Nevada are marcasite. The marcasite contains Au and As. There are bandlike features in the marcasite. These bandlike areas are relatively rich in As with respect to the neighboring areas. It is proposed that the bandlike areas are also relatively rich in lattice bound Au. According to the obtained equation for distribution coefficients of trivalent cations in calcite, it is proposed that cationic Au 3+ were incorporated into the fine grain marcasite at the marcasite-solution interface during non equilibrium (fast) crystallization of the marcasite. The partitioning of Au 3+ in the marcasite is controlled by non equilibrium distribution coefficient (K ' d). However, pyrite formed through equilibrium (slow) crystallization will not incorporate Au 3+ into the crystal, because of its low equilibrium distribution coefficient (K d) for Au 3+ . Recrystallization of early formed fine grain crystals will remove REE and Au from the crystals. Incorporation of larger cations of Au 3+ and Au + may result in local structural distortion with respect to normal marcasite structure, and shows the form of the band like feature.
Stimulation of eosinophil production in vitro by eosinophilopoietin and spleen-cell-derived eosinophil growth-stimulating factor

Eosinophilopoietin (EPP) was previously characterized by the ability to stimulate eosinophil production in vivo, but these studies could not ascertain whether EPP had a direct effect on the bone marrow or acted indirectly by causing release of eosinophilopoietic activity by other tissues. The present studies demonstrate that EPP stimulates eosinophil growth in liquid culture of mouse bone marrow in vitro. The timing of stimulation by EPP in vivo and in vitro were parallel, with maximal eosinophil growth after 48 hr. Moreover, EPP appears similar to, and possible identical with, the eosinophil growth-stimulating substance (EO-GSF) released by antigenic stimulation of immune nonadherent spleen cells. Both EPP and EO-GSF are of low molecular weight, both produce stimulation of eosinophil growth with identical kinetics, and both produced similar dose-response curves in the liquid culture system.
Risk and protective factors for heavy binge alcohol use among American Indian adolescents utilizing emergency health services

ABSTRACTBackground: American Indian (AI) adolescents are disproportionately burdened by alcohol abuse and heavy binge use, often leading to problematic drinking in adulthood. However, many AI communities also have large proportions of adults who abstain from alcohol. Objective: To understand these concurrent and divergent patterns, we explored the relationship between risk and protective factors for heavy binge alcohol use among a reservation-based sample of AI adolescents. Methods: Factors at individual, peer, family, and cultural/community levels were examined using a cross-sectional case–control study design. Cases were adolescents with recent heavy binge alcohol use that resulted in necessary medical care. Controls had no lifetime history of heavy binge alcohol use. 68 cases and 55 controls were recruited from emergency health services visits. Participants were 50% male; average age 15.4 years old, range 10 to 19. Independent variables were explored using logistic regression; those statistically signi...
„Micro-assay“ für die serologische Bestimmung von Tumorzellantikörpern: Vorläufige Ergebnisse mit chemisch induzierten Mäuse-sarcomas und menschlichen Tumorzellkulturen

Es gilt heute als mehr oder weniger akzeptiert, das die meisten experimentell erzeugten Tiertumoren und die pathologischerweise auftretenden menschlichen Malignome tumorspezifische Antigene haben (Hellstrom, 1974).
Moravia’s Representation of Compassion

This chapter investigates divergent possibilities for triggering or denying compassionate responses by stressing the values of Italian society that need to find permanence and stability. The female protagonist’s compassionate reactions, or their absence, draw attention to creative ways for envisioning women’s refusal of exploitation and suggest new approaches to explore Two Women. Moravia casts Cesira as a tragic character who puts herself in others’ situations even though her vulnerability puts her in danger. The story depicts her downfall after the soldiers’ assault and her physical and moral destruction. This tragic event enables Cesira to grow both psychologically and emotionally. Cesira’s compassionate responses and awareness of the social and cultural situation of the time allow her to recognize similarities among individuals of different nationalities promoting understanding.
Sunday democracies: a mixed methods analysis of members’ perceptions of church authority and organizational dissent

ABSTRACTPrevious research has emphasized differences between churches and other types of organizations including the potential for leaders’ authority to be based on unassailable interpretations of Scripture and on divine callings. The present study examined members’ perceptions of church authority and the degree to which those perceptions affected their willingness to express dissenting opinions, a key feature of organizational democracy. Focus group participants described a fluid process as they negotiated how their voices would be heard in decision-making while simultaneously entrusting some decision-making to ordained leaders. That process sometimes involved seeing members’ voices as one expression of divine authority or compartmentalizing pastoral leadership to spiritual matters and democratic leadership to practical matters. Focus groups also emphasized the importance of church committees and transparency as integral practices for members’ voice in church decision-making. Surveys of a wider group of ...
Low-cost floating emergence net and bottle trap: comparison of two designs

Sampling emergent aquatic insects is of interest to many freshwater ecologists. Many quantitative emergence traps require the use of aspiration for collection. However, aspiration is infeasible in studies with large amounts of replication that is often required in large biomonitoring projects. We designed an economic, collapsible pyramid-shaped floating emergence trap with an external collection bottle that avoids the need for aspiration. This design was compared experimentally to a design of similar dimensions that relied on aspiration to ensure comparable results. The pyramid-shaped design captured twice as many total emerging insects. When a preservative was used in bottle collectors, >95% of the emergent abundance was collected in the bottle. When no preservative was used, >81% of the total insects were collected from the bottle. In addition to capturing fewer emergent insects, the traps that required aspiration took significantly longer to sample. Large studies and studies sampling remote locations could benefit from the economical construction, speed of sampling, and capture efficiency.
Effect of Sulphur and Iron-EDDHA on Chlorophyll Synthesis, Iron Enzymes and Crop Yield of Sugarcane

Summary A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of sulphur and iron on iron chlorosis of sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) grown on calcareous soil. Sulphur and iron treatments increased the chlorophyll content, and catalase and peroxidase activity several times that of chlorotic leaves while the aconitase activity remained unaffected. While both treatments reduced the phosphorus content only sulphur treatment decreased the iron content significantly. Chlorosis appears to be due to a reduced physiological availability of iron due either to a reduced permeability of intracellular membranes or competition with some other element for the same reactive site.
Interfacial Dynamics within an Organic Chromophore-Based Water Oxidation Molecular Assembly

Photoinduced electron injection, intra-assembly electron transfer, and back-electron transfer are investigated in a single-site molecular assembly formed by covalently linking a phosphonated terthiophene (T3) chromophore to a Ru(terpyridine)(bipyridine)(L)2+ (L = MeCN or H2O) water oxidation catalyst adsorbed onto a mesoporous metal-oxide (MOx) film. Density functional theory calculations of the T3-trpy-Ru-L assembly indicate that the molecular components are strongly coupled with enhanced low-energy absorptions owing to the presence of an intraligand charge transfer (ILCT) transition between the T3 and trpy moieties. Ultrafast spectroscopy of the MOx//T3-trpy-Ru-L assemblies reveals that excitation of the surface-bound T3 chromophore results in ps–ns electron injection into the metal-oxide conduction band. Electron injection is followed by rapid (<35 ps) intra-assembly electron transfer from the RuII catalyst to regenerate the T3 chromophore with subsequent back-electron transfer on the microsecond time ...
Energy efficient analog spiking temporal encoder with verification and recovery scheme for neuromorphic computing systems

Making a computing system that mimic biological neural behavior in mammalian brain has attracted worldwide attention and endeavor. Neuromorphic computing systems, employing very-large-scale integration circuits to implement onto hardware, incorporates learning. Neural encoder, as one of the crucial component in neuromorphic computing systems, encodes the input information into spikes. By taking the temporal response structure into consideration, temporal encoding with interspike intervals exhibits the capability of containing more information and encoding information using the time correlation between spikes. In this paper, a neural encoder with iterative structure, adapting interspike interval encoding scheme, is proposed. Considered the tradeoff between power consumption and die area, we employed an analog implementation of the spiking neuron. By doing so, power-consuming analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and operational amplifiers (Op-AMPs) are not needed, resulting in a tremendous saving on power consumption and die area. Due to the iterative processing, the growth of the spike amounts with respect to the neuron number is exponential, which significantly reduces power consumption.
Abstract 179: Patient Selection for Endovascular Stroke Therapy: Can MRA substitute for PWI?

Background: The DEFUSE 2 study demonstrated that in acute ischemic stroke patients, the perfusion-diffusion mismatch profile, termed Target Mismatch (TMM), is associated with favorable clinical outcomes following endovascular reperfusion; no association was present for patients without TMM. Perfusion imaging,however, may not be feasible in various clinical settings. We examined whether a combination of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and DWI could be used as an alternative to PWI/DWI. Methods: We assessed agreement between the MRA/DWI mismatch and TMM profiles. MRA/DWI Mismatch was defined as an ICA or MCA-M1 occlusion with a DWI volume 1.8, DWI 10 sec) <100 mL. Favorable Clinical Response was defined as an improvement of ≥8 points on the NIHSS between day 0 and day 30, or an NIHSS score of ≤1 at day 30. The response to reperfusion was assessed in patients with MRA/DWI mismatch and no MRA/DWI mismatch, and similarly, in patients with TMM and no TMM. Results: In DEFUSE 2, 58 of 94 patients had MRA/DWI mismatch (61.7%) and 76 had TMM (80.9%). The MRA/DWI mismatch model correctly identified 71% of the TMM patients (54/76). It had a high positive predictive value for identifying TMM (54/58; 93.1%), but relatively low sensitivity (54/76; 71%). There was a differential response to reperfusion according to a patient’s TMM status (p=0.03), but not according to their MRA/DWI mismatch status (p=0.5; see figure). Conclusions: The MRA/DWI mismatch model has high specificity for identifying TMM but lacks sensitivity.Consequently, patient selection based on MRA/DWI criteria may exclude a substantial proportion of patients from treatment who have the potential to respond favorably to reperfusion.
Growth trajectory and neurodevelopmental outcome in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of impaired growth on short-term neurodevelopmental (ND) outcomes in CDH survivors. Methods Between 9/2005–12/2014, 84 of 215 (39%) CDH survivors underwent ND assessment at 12 months of age using the BSID-III. Results Mean cognitive, language, and motor scores were 92.6 ± 13.5, 87.1 ± 11.6, and 87.0 ± 14.4, respectively (normal 100 ± 15). 51% of patients scored 1 SD below the population mean in at least one domain, and 13% scored 2 SD below the population mean. Group-based trajectory analysis identified two trajectory groups (‘high’ and ‘low’) for weight, length, and head circumference (HC) z-scores. ( Fig. 1 ) 74% of the subjects were assigned to the ‘high’ trajectory group for weight, 77% to the ‘high’ height group, and 87% to the ‘high’ HC group, respectively. In multivariate analysis, longer NICU stay (p Conclusions At 1 year, half of CDH survivors had a mild delay in at least one developmental domain. Low HC trajectory was associated with worse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Type of study Prognosis Study/Retrospective Study. Level of evidence Level II.
Child’s Play : Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan

Few things make Japanese adults feel quite as anxious today as the phenomenon called the “child crisis.” Various media teem with intense debates about bullying in schools, child poverty, child suicides, violent crimes committed by children, the rise of socially withdrawn youngsters, and forceful moves by the government to introduce a more conservative educational curriculum. These issues have propelled Japan into the center of a set of global conversations about the nature of children and how to raise them. Engaging both the history of children and childhood and the history of emotions, contributors to this volume track Japanese childhood through a number of historical scenarios. Such explorations—some from Japan’s early modern past—are revealed through letters, diaries, memoirs, family and household records, and religious polemics about promising, rambunctious, sickly, happy, and dutiful youngsters. “I do not know of any collection like this in English, dealing so comprehensively and from so many angles with the topic of the history of children and childhood in Japan.” PETER CAVE, author of Schooling Selves and Primary School in Japan “In Child’s Play , ‘childhood’ assumes many roles and guises, and many points of departure. The authors demonstrate the significance of Japanese cultural institutions and practices for a more comprehensive, and sobering, understanding of the artifice and operations alike of ‘childhood.’” JENNIFER ROBERTSON, author of Robo sapiens japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation SABINE FRUHSTUCK is Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her publications include Colonizing Sex: Sexology and Social Control in Modern Japan and Uneasy Warriors: Gender, Memory, and Popular Culture in the Japanese Army . ANNE WALTHALL is Professor Emerita of Japanese History at the University of California, Irvine. Her publications include The Weak Body of a Useless Woman: Matsuo Taseko and the Meiji Restoration , and Japan: A Cultural, Social, and Political History .
Mapping glenohumeral laxity: effect of capsule tension and abduction in cadaveric shoulders

Background Shoulder capsular plication aims to restore the passive stabilization of the glenohumeral capsule; however, high reported recurrence rates warrant concern. Improving our understanding of the clinical laxity assessment across 2 dimensions, capsular integrity and shoulder position, can help toward the standardization of clinical tools. Our objectives were to test and describe glenohumeral laxity across 5 capsular tension levels and 4 humeral position levels and describe tension-position interplay. Methods We tested 14 dissected cadavers for glenohumeral laxity in 5 directions: anterior, posterior, and inferior translation, and internal and external axial rotation. Laxity was recorded across capsule tension (baseline, stretched, 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm of plication) and position (0°, 20°, 40°, 60° of scapular abduction). Repeated-measures analysis of variance with post hoc contrasts tested the effect of tension, position, and composite tension × position on laxity. Results Capsule tension, position, and composite interplay had a statistically significant, although unequal, effect on laxity in each direction. Laxity was consistently overconstrained in 15-mm plication and was overall greatest in 20° and lowest in 60°. Restoration occurred most in 10 mm, but this depended on the position. The composite effect was significant for external and internal rotation and inferior laxity, but laxity at the middle range (20° or 40°) was different than at the end range (0° or 60°) for all directions. Conclusions On average, laxity was restored to baseline tension after 10-mm plication, but this determination varied depending on shoulder position. Middle-range laxity behaved differently than end-range laxity across plication tensions. This information is useful in understanding the unstable shoulder as well as for standardizing clinical laxity assessment.
The First Lave for Energy

TO CHARACTERIZE THE MACROSCOPIC STATE OF A SYSTEM, a person needs a complete set of independent variables. For a uniform pure substance at rest at a given height in the gravitational field, three are needed. These may be pressure P, temperature T, and number of moles n, set (P, T, n), or volume V, temperature T, and number of moles n, set (V, T, n).
Spatiotemporal analysis of compositional data: increased precision and improved workflow using model-based inputs to stock assessment

Stock assessment models are fitted to abundance-index, fishery catch, and age–length–sex composition data that are estimated from survey and fishery records. Research has developed spatiotemporal m...
Smart-Pixel, Cellular Neural Network, and Chaotic Chips

Local interconnection and simple synaptic operators are the most attractive features of the CNN for VLSI implementation in high-speed, real-time applications. Several hardware implementations of the CNN have been reported in the literatures [1]–[11]. The CMOS VLSI design of a continuous-time shift-invariant CNN with digitally-programmable operators is considered. In addition, the circuits for hardware annealing [12, 13, 14, 15] is included to provide the flexibility of the network in a variety of applications.
NGOs and Human Rights: Channels of Power

This essay, a revised version of which will appear in the Research Handbook on Human Rights (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2009), attempts to systematize NGO activity relating to human rights. It first describes why human rights supplies fertile ground for the study of non-governmental organizations. As human rights obligations cannot be explained in terms of reciprocal state interest, non-state actors are a probable causal agent in the entrenchment of human rights regimes. The chapter confronts NGOs as agents of material power. The chapter then describes four primary pathways for the exercise of NGO power: through and against states, international organizations, corporations, and each other. Only by situating NGO power relative to state and non-state entities does the breadth and novelty of NGO participation in today's global decision-making come into full relief. Given the fact of that broad power, the chapter concludes by addressing the question of NGO accountability, suggesting that institutionalization of NGO power holds the most promise for appropriately constraining its exercise.
Game-theoretic models of ISP-ISP and ISP-customer interactions

The talk will consist of two parts. In the first part of the talk, we will examine how transit and customer prices and quality of service are set in a network consisting of multiple ISPs. Some ISPs may face an identical set of circumstances in terms of potential customer pool and running costs. We will examine the existence of equilibrium strategies in this situation and show how positive profit can be achieved using threat strategies with multiple qualities of service. It will be shown that if the number of ISPs competing for the same customers is large then it can lead to price wars. ISPs that are not co-located may not directly compete for users, but may be nevertheless involved in a non-cooperative game of setting access and transit prices for each other. They are linked economically through a sequence of providers forming a hierarchy, and we study their interaction by considering a multi-stage game. We will also consider the economics of private exchange points and show that they could become far more wide spread then they currently are. This is joint work with Srinivas Shakkottai (UIUC) (see [1]).
Immunoassays in Biotechnology

Immunoassays are analytical methods for detection and quantitation depending on the binding of a specific antibody with its corresponding antigen. Advances in biotechnology have brought many method improvements and new applications for immunoassays. Although several method formats are possible, the underlying principle of each method is an antibody combining with its target, be it a protein, virus, peptide, cell, organelle, or organic molecule. Immunoassays have a strong background in clinical and biomedical applications for the detection of hormones, disease biomarkers, and therapeutics. The technology, now successfully adapted to small molecules, has supported environmental and human exposure monitoring studies for pesticides, industrial chemicals, and exposure biomarkers. Described here is a brief background of immunoassay technology, basic concepts and theory, and generic approaches for methods development. Improvements in reagent development, utilization of new labels, various multiplexing capabilities, interrelationships between immunoassay and biotechnology, and examples of immunoassays relating to environmental and human health are also presented. The information provided should be of sufficient depth to assist in the consideration of this technology for solving analytical problems of biological and environmental significance.
SUPPRESSION OF THE IN VIVO HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE BY A SPECIES OF NORMAN HUMAN SERUM LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the suppression of the in vivo humoral immune response by a species of normal human serum low-density lipoprotein. A species of normal human serum low density lipoprotein (LDL-In) has been identified with suppressive activity for in vitro human lymphocyte mitogen and allogenic cell stimulations. In a study described in the chapter, LDL-In was isolated in a partially purified form from pooled normal human serum. The effects of in vivo administration of LDL-In also were influenced by antigen dose. Additional data also was obtained on the numbers of plaque-forming cells, the mean plaque diameters and numbers of antigen-binding cells in LDL-In suppressed mice.
Molecular Engineering to Enhance Aptamer Functionality

Rapid development of bioanalysis and biomedicine requires enhanced and multiple functionality of aptamers. The field of molecular engineering has advanced to a stage where more and more molecular functions can be rationally designed in a predictable manner. By combining these two fields together, aptamer-based molecular engineering is able to tune the functionalities of aptamers toward more complicated and effective biological and biomedical applications. In this chapter, we focus on introducing the substantial progress in the development of using smart ways to broaden the multifunctional and logical applications of aptamers.
The Power Curve: Teaching the Essentials of Flight

If you were to skim through a text on classical aerodynamics for engineers, and then take a close look at one presenting basic theory of flight for pilots, you may be struck by the similarities rather than by the differences between the two. Of course, the former will contain more detailed information and give it in a much more technical and complicated way. Yet, both will be organized similarly, starting with isolated, basic components and building up to some major applications of the theory. This is the traditional way of teaching basic theory of flight to pilots. This paper proposes an alternate approach. Rather than beginning with the underlying causes of flight, it proposes to unravel basic principles by starting with the consequences of aerodynamic phenomena. Perhaps the best way of illustrating how this opposite approach may work is by presenting a simple model. Here, I show how the power curve, representing the most generalized consequence of all aerodynamic processes, could be used as a vehicle to introduce basic principles of flight to beginner pilots. This approach may allow schools to standarize teaching of basic aerodynamics and may permit students to increase their understanding of flight in a way they can effectively apply this knowledge during initial training. Although a solid understanding of how airplanes fly is not the only goal of a sound training program, gaining a high level of understanding in this vital area should be one of the most crucial requirements for ensuring competency and safety among professional pilots.
Management of Insulinoma

Insulinomas are functional neuroendocrine tumors resulting in excessive secretion of insulin. The classic presentation includes symptoms related to hypoglycemia which resolves with glucose administration. Symptoms usually occur after periods of fasting. Roughly 5% are associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) syndrome. Diagnosis is confirmed with a 72-h fasting test. Once a biochemical diagnosis is confirmed, localization with cross-sectional imaging should be obtained. If computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fails to localize the tumor, endoscopic ultrasound may be employed. Definitive treatment with surgical resection is indicated when the patient does not have evidence of metastatic disease. Metastatic disease is usually treated medically with diazoxide and calcium channel blockers.
The Year in Review: Anesthesia for Congenital Heart Disease 2018

This review article surveys the published literature from January 2018 to March 2019. Three themes were identified and articles were selected based on their originality and interest to anesthesiologists caring for patients with congenital heart disease.
Auto-ASD-Network: A Technique Based on Deep Learning and Support Vector Machines for Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder using fMRI Data

Quantitative analysis of brain disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an ongoing field of research. Machine learning and deep learning techniques have been playing an important role in automating the diagnosis of brain disorders by extracting discriminative features from the brain data. In this study, we propose a model called Auto-ASD-Network in order to classify subjects with Autism disorder from healthy subjects using only fMRI data. Our model consists of a multilayer perceptron (MLP) with two hidden layers. We use an algorithm called SMOTE for performing data augmentation in order to generate artificial data and avoid overfitting, which helps increase the classification accuracy. We further investigate the discriminative power of features extracted using MLP by feeding them to an SVM classifier. In order to optimize the hyperparameters of SVM, we use a technique called Auto Tune Models (ATM) which searches over the hyperparameter space to find the best values of SVM hyperparameters. Our model achieves more than 70% classification accuracy for 4 fMRI datasets with the highest accuracy of 80%. It improves the performance of SVM by 26%, the stand-alone MLP by 16% and the state of the art method in ASD classification by 14%. The implemented code will be available as GPL license on GitHub portal of our lab (https://github.com/PCDS).
When mother knows best: A population genetic model of transgenerational versus intragenerational plasticity

Many organisms exhibit phenotypic plasticity; producing alternate phenotypes depending on the environment. Individuals can be plastic (intragenerational or direct plasticity), wherein individuals of the same genotype produce different phenotypes in response to the environments they experience. Alternatively, an individual's phenotype may be under the control of its parents, usually the mother (transgenerational or indirect plasticity), so that mother's genotype determines the phenotype produced by a given genotype of her offspring. Under what conditions does plasticity evolve to have intragenerational as opposed to transgenerational genetic control? To explore this question, we present a population genetic model for the evolution of transgenerational and intragenerational plasticity. We hypothesize that the capacity for plasticity incurs a fitness cost, which is borne either by the individual developing the plastic phenotype or by its mother. We also hypothesize that individuals are imperfect predictors of future environments and their capacity for plasticity can lead them occasionally to make a low-fitness phenotype for a particular environment. When the cost, benefit and error parameters are equal, we show that there is no evolutionary advantage to intragenerational over transgenerational plasticity, although the rate of evolution of transgenerational plasticity is half the rate for intragenerational plasticity, as predicted by theory on indirect genetic effects. We find that transgenerational plasticity evolves when mothers are better predictors of future environments than offspring or when the fitness cost of the capacity for plasticity is more readily borne by a mother than by her developing offspring. We discuss different natural systems with either direct intragenerational plasticity or indirect transgenerational plasticity and find a pattern qualitatively in accord with the predictions of our model.