cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Use of double wire-guided technique and transpancreatic papillary septotomy in difficult ERCP: 4-year experience.

Background and aims: Post-ERCP complications increase with repeated attempts at cannulation. We evaluated several advanced biliary cannulation techniques applied when the standard approach fails. Methods: In total, 1873 consecutive patients underwent ERCP at our institution during the period 2010 – 2014. Guidewire-assisted (GA) cannulation with no contrast injection until deep biliary cannulation was considered the standard technique. Advanced techniques used were double wire-guided (DWG) cannulation, transpancreatic papillary septotomy (TPS), and needle-knife sphincterotomy (NKS). When GA cannulation failed, DWG cannulation was usually attempted first if the pancreatic duct (PD) wire was in place; if that failed, TPS or NKS was performed. Alternatively, TPS or NKS were performed alone. A prophylactic pancreatic stent was placed with repeated PD cannulation or PD contrast injection. During the last 2 years of review, indomethacin suppositories were given post-procedure to all patients who underwent advanced techniques. Results: The overall biliary cannulation success rate was 97 % (1823/1873). Advanced techniques were used in 12 % of ERCPs (230/1873), with 87 % (200/230) success rate. DWG was used alone or in combination with other techniques in 58 % (134/230) of advanced cases, with 68 % (91/134) success rate. Biliary cannulation was achieved in 96 % (91/95) of procedures when DWG was used alone, 76 % (26/34) with TPS alone, 80 % (37/46) for NKS alone, and 84 % (46/55) with multiple techniques. The overall rate of post-ERCP pancreatitis was 0.4 %, with all patients treated conservatively. Conclusion: In our experience at an urban tertiary care center, use of advanced techniques in difficult ERCP improved the overall success rate of biliary cannulation after standard technique failure without a significant increase in complication rate.
Acoustic radiation force based quantification of tissue shear modulus within the region of excitation

The speed of shear wave propagation in tissue is directly related to the tissue's shear modulus. Shear waves can be generated in tissue using focused, impulsive, acoustic radiation force excitations. Shear modulus reconstruction has typically been performed by monitoring shear wave propagation in regions that are spatially offset from the region of excitation (ROE), but such methods require greater radiation forces than methods that work within the ROE. Previously validated 3D FEM models of soft tissue response to impulsive radiation force excitations, coupled with Field II simulations of ultrasonic displacement tracking, were utilized for this work. Simulations were performed for a given focal geometry (Siemens CH41 transducer) for a range of tissue stiffnesses (mu = 1-15 kPa). Linear, elastic, isotropic material properties were assumed, making the time-to-peak (TTP) displacements along the axis of symmetry in the ROE proportional to the tissue's shear wave speed and the excitation beam geometry. Lookup tables specific to an excitation/tracking focal configuration were generated from simulated data, and stiffness estimates as a function of depth were possible using experimental data in calibrated phantoms and soft tissues in vivo. These stiffness estimates were compared with estimates using our previously validated Lateral TTP method. Simulation data indicate that the reconstructed shear moduli are independent of variations in tissue attenuation that impact the spatial distribution of radiation force in the ROE. Phantom reconstructions yielded ROE TTP shear modulus estimates within 0.15 kPa to those using the Lateral TTP method. The axial ROI for each method is similar, but the lateral ROI is ~30times smaller for the ROE TTP method (0.2 vs. 6 mm). The ROE TTP algorithm applied to in vivo data yielded similar mean shear stiffness estimates (mu = 1.7 kPa), but with increased variance (0.9 vs. 0.2 kPa) compared to the Lateral TTP algorithm. Greater displacement magnitudes are present within the ROE compared with spatially-offset locations, producing greater displacement SNR and reducing the acoustic energy needed to generate accurate displacement estimates. Reduced acoustic output leads to decreased transducer and tissue heating. Measuring TTP values within the ROE, instead of at multiple offset locations, also reduces data acquisition times, limiting displacement motion artifacts. The ROE TTP precision is jitter dependent; material shear moduli can be reconstructed within <0.5 kPa.
Predictors of a histopathologic diagnosis of complicated appendicitis

Abstract Background Despite its utilization, the intraoperative (IO) assessment of complicated appendicitis (CA) is subjective. The histopathologic (HP) diagnosis should be the gold standard in identifying patients with CA; however, it is not immediately available to guide postoperative management. The objective of this study was to identify predictors of an HP diagnosis of CA. Materials and methods A retrospective review of all patients who underwent appendectomy at our institution from 2011-2013 was conducted. CA was defined by perforation or abscess on pathology report. Predictors of an HP diagnosis of CA were evaluated using a multivariable regression model. Results A total of 239 of 1066 patients had CA based on IO assessment, whereas 143 of 239 patients (60%) had CA on HP and IO assessment. On multivariable analysis, an IO diagnosis of CA was associated with an HP diagnosis of CA (odds ratio [OR]: 10.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.19-16.58). Other risk factors were age (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.09-1.49), number of days of pain (OR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.07-1.37), increased heart rate (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.02-1.26), appendix size (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.03-1.16), and an appendicolith (OR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.12-2.71) on preoperative CT imaging. Conclusions In addition to age, increased heart rate, pain duration, appendix size and appendicolith, the IO assessment is also associated with an HP diagnosis of CA; however, 40% of patients were incorrectly classified. Using these predictors with improved IO grading may achieve more accurate diagnosis of CA.
Genetic Analysis of Venous Thromboembolism in UK Biobank Identifies the ZFPM2 Locus and Implicates Obesity as a Causal Risk Factor.

Background—UK Biobank is the world’s largest repository for phenotypic and genotypic information for individuals of European ancestry. Here, we leverage UK Biobank to understand the inherited basis...
Jurors' perceptions of juvenile offenders tried in adult criminal court

Understanding jurors' perceptions of juvenile defendants has become increasingly important as more and more juvenile cases are being tried in adult criminal court rather than family or juvenile court. Intellectual disability and child maltreatment are overrepresented among juvenile delinquents, and juveniles (particularly disabled juveniles) are at heightened risk for falsely confessing to crimes. In two mock trial experiments, we examined the effects of disability, abuse history, and confession evidence on jurors' perceptions of a juvenile defendant across several different crime scenarios. Abused juveniles were treated more leniently than nonabused juveniles only when the juvenile's crime was motivated by self-defense against the abuser. Jurors used disability as a mitigating factor, making more lenient judgments for a disabled than a nondisabled juvenile. Jurors also completely discounted a coerced confession for a disabled juvenile, but not for a nondisabled juvenile. In fact, compared with when it was portrayed as voluntary, jurors generally discounted a juvenile's coerced confession. Implications for public policy and directions for future research are discussed.
Multiple Myeloma Baseline Immunoglobulin G Level and Pneumococcal Vaccination Antibody Response

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in multiple myeloma (MM), a cancer of the immune system. Vaccination clinical efficacy endpoints have not been demonstrated, and there are limited data on surrogate markers of efficacy. This pilot study evaluated sequential immunologic markers after standard pneumococcal vaccination (PV) in patients with MM and non-MM controls. Vaccination was standard for PV (PCV13 or PPV23), with laboratory testing at baseline and at 2, 4, 12 and 24 weeks after vaccination. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to pneumococcal antigens were detected by ELISA. Prevaccination total IgG levels and IgG subclass levels were also measured by ELISA. Four of 6 controls responded with at least a 2-fold increase in antibody concentration; only 2 controls had a sustained increase in concentration. Six of 8 patients with MM had at least a 2-fold antibody increase; however, only 2 of these patients showed a sustained increase of antipneumococcal antibody. Response rate differences were not statistically significant in this small pilot, and there was no relationship between responsiveness to PV and initial serum total IgG levels or IgG subclasses at study entry. Future prospective studies are needed to ascertain the immunological and clinical efficacy and effectiveness of various vaccines and vaccination strategies in MM.
The Effectiveness of Aquatic Group Therapy for Improving Water Safety and Social Interactions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Program

Drowning is the number one cause of accidental death in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Few studies have examined the effectiveness of swim instruction for improving water safety skills in children with moderate to severe ASD. This study examines the feasibility and effectiveness of an aquatic therapy program on water safety and social skills in children with mild to severe ASD (n = 7). Water safety skills were evaluated using the Aquatics Skills Checklist and social skills were measured using the Social Skills Improvement Scale. We provide preliminary evidence that children with ASD can improve water safety skills (p = 0.0002), which are important for drowning prevention after only 8 h of intervention. However, social skills did not respond to intervention (p = 0.6409).
QUASIMULTIPLIERS OF OPERATOR SPACES

We use the injective envelope to study quasimultipliers of operator spaces. We prove that all representable operator algebra prod- ucts that an operator space can be endowed with are induced by quasi- multipliers. We obtain generalizations of the Banach-Stone theorem.
Subtotal Resection of Jugular Paragangliomas

Historically, the mainstay of treatment for jugular paraganglioma has been gross total resection. While this strategy has led to relatively low recurrence rates [1–5], it has often been pursued at the expense of cranial nerve function. This trade-off was especially true for larger tumors extending through the pars nervosa of the jugular foramen and those with intracranial extension. Bacciu et al. [6] recently reviewed 122 patients with Fisch class C and D jugular paraganglioma and found that 54% of patients developed one or more new cranial nerve deficits after surgery with gross total resection being achieved in 86% of cases. Similarly, the Vanderbilt Otology Group’s review of 202 patients with jugular paragangliomas found a 60% rate of new cranial nerve injuries after performing gross total resection in 90% of cases [2, 7].
Securing FPGA-based obsolete component replacement for legacy systems

Component-aging is unavoidable in legacy systems. Although re-designing the system typically results in a high cost, the need to replace aged components for legacy systems is an urgent priority. Unfortunately, the aged components are likely to be obsolete and not available on the current market. Obsolete component replacement with field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices is emerging as a feasible option to extend the lifetime of legacy systems. While replacing the aged component, we traditionally only focus on matching the functionality and neglect the potential security threats from FPGA replacement. However, recent literature demonstrates that FPGA devices may contain hardware Trojans, which are induced during FPGA device fabrication or bitstream generation time. To prevent the Trojans on FPGA from receiving external inputs or leaking sensitive information, we propose a Runtime Pin Grounding (RPG) scheme to ground the unused pins and check the pin status at every clock cycle. Furthermore, we exploit the principle of moving target defense (MTD) and propose a hardware MTD (HMTD) method. In our method, the aged obsolete unit is replicated to multiple copies in the FPGA device, and two of the replicas are randomly selected for output comparison and thus Trojan detection. We successfully implemented the proposed RPG and HMTD methods on a Nexys-3 FPGA board. Our case study shows that the proposed RPG scheme increases the FPGA utilization rate by less than 0.1%. On average, our HMTD method reduces the hardware Trojan bypass rate by 61% over the existing method.
Revisiting the "myth" of feminine masochism

Masochism, an enigmatic concept and clinical entity, has long posed one of the most difficult therapeutic challenges. Clinical observation supports the view that both men and women can exhibit masochistic traits. However, by virtue of their gender specific developmental paths, men and women may differ in their respective masochistic manifestations. Female patients often report a tendency to inhibit aggression which can lead to its somatic expression. Women also tend to be more prone to certain types of self-defeating behaviors and affective states, such as eating disorders, depression, and victimization. Factors contributing to the development of masochism in women include the influence of pre-oedipal and oedipal relations with the parents, narcissistic needs, and the internalization of societal attitudes toward women.
Dialect recognition using adapted phonetic models.

In this paper, we introduce a dialect recognition method that makes use of phonetic models adapted per dialect without phonetically labeled data. We show that this method can be implemented efficiently within an existing PRLM[1] system. We compare the performance of this system with other state-of-theart dialect recognition methods (both acoustic and token-based) on the NIST LRE 2007 English and Mandarin dialect recognition tasks. Our experimental results indicate that this system can perform better than baseline GMM and adapted PRLM systems, and also results in consistent gains of 15-23% when combined with other systems.
Reason, Intellect, and Consciousness in Islamic Thought

In what follows, I address the broad contours of the Islamic “intellectual tradition,” by which I mean philosophy and Sufism. Specifically, I want to suggest that the important issue for this tradition was not how the technical operation of intelligence that we call “reason” is accomplished, but how human intelligence itself can be fully actualized. Notions of reason, intelligence, and consciousness were rooted in concepts of human potentiality, and these represented versions of what can be called “spiritual anthropology.” Human nature was understood as an on-going and ever-changing manifestation of the Divine Word or the Supreme Reality, and full actualization of this nature was seen as demanding a disciplined body, mind, and heart.
Supervision in Teacher Education

This article provides an overview of the past, present, and future of supervision in teacher education and offers a global perspective on the importance of supervision in teacher education. Supervisory practices common to teacher education programs worldwide are highlighted and so are the specific aspects of the supervisory process. Models of supervision in teacher education are described and examples of supervisory models from an international community of teacher educators are given. Efforts that are currently in place to improve teacher education through supervision indicate a universal awareness of the necessity of quality supervision in teacher education.
Profiling Volatile Constituents of Homemade Preserved Foods Prepared in Early 1950s South Dakota (USA) Using Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) with Gas Chromatography⁻Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Determination.

An essential dimension of food tasting (i.e., flavor) is olfactory stimulation by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted therefrom. Here, we developed a novel analytical method based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) sampling in argon-filled gas sampling bags with direct gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) determination to profile the volatile constituents of 31 homemade preserves prepared in South Dakota (USA) during the period 1950–1953. Volatile profiles varied considerably, but generally decreased in detected compounds, complexity, and intensity over three successive 2-h SPME sampling periods. Volatile profiles were generally predominated by aldehydes, alcohols, esters, ketones, and organic acids, with terpenoids constituting much of the pickled cucumber volatiles. Bisphenol-A (BPA) was also serendipitously detected and then quantified in 29 samples, at levels ranging from 3.4 to 19.2 μg/kg, within the range of levels known to induce endocrine disruption effects. Absence of BPA in two samples was attributed to their lids lacking plastic liners. As the timing of their preparation coincides with the beginning of BPA incorporation into consumer products, these jars may be some of the first BPA-containing products in the USA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to characterize BPA in and volatile profiles of rare historical foods with SPME.
Moral Decision Making and Multinationals

American business schools are going international. Courses in international business are blossoming everywhere and international topics are being added to existing courses. Although business ethicists have addressed international issues for the past fifteen years or more, there has been no systematic book length treatment of international business ethics. Thomas Donaldson's entry provides an auspicious beginning to systematic reflection on international business ethics.
Effect of Treatment Preference in Randomized Controlled Trials: Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

A significant limitation of the traditional randomized controlled trials is that strong preferences for (or against) one treatment may influence outcomes and/or willingness to receive treatment. Several trial designs incorporating patient preference have been introduced to examine the effect of treatment preference separately from the effects of individual interventions. In the current study, we summarized results from studies using doubly randomized preference trial (DRPT) or fully randomized preference trial (FRPT) designs and examined the effect of treatment preference on clinical outcomes. The current systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies using DRPT or FRPT design were identified using electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Google Scholar between January 1989 and November 2018. All studies included in this meta-analysis were examined to determine the extent to which giving patients their preferred treatment option influenced clinical outcomes. The following data were extracted from included studies: study characteristics, sample size, study duration, follow-up, patient characteristics, and clinical outcomes. We further appraised risk of bias for the included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool. The search identified 374 potentially relevant articles, of which 27 clinical trials utilized a DRPT or FRPT design and were included in the final analysis. Overall, patients who were allocated to their preferred treatment intervention were more likely to achieve better clinical outcomes [effect size (ES) = 0.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.10–0.26]. Subgroup analysis also found that mental health as well as pain and functional disorders moderated the preference effect (ES = 0.23, 95% CI 0.11–0.36, and ES = 0.09, 95% CI 0.03–0.15, respectively). Matching patients to preferred interventions has previously been shown to promote outcomes such as satisfaction and treatment adherence. Our analysis of current evidence showed that allowing patients to choose their preferred treatment resulted in better clinical outcomes in mental health and pain than giving them a treatment that is not preferred. These results underline the importance of incorporating patient preference when making treatment decisions.
How Do You Build a “Culture of Health”? A Critical Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities from Medical Anthropology

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Action Framework aims to "make health a shared value" and improve population health equity through widespread culture change. The authors draw upon their expertise as anthropologists to identify 3 challenges that they believe must be addressed in order to effectively achieve the health equity and population health improvement goals of the Culture of Health initiative: clarifying and demystifying the concept of "culture," contextualizing "community" within networks of power and inequality, and confronting the crises of trust and solidarity in the contemporary United States. The authors suggest that those who seek to build a "Culture of Health" refine their understanding of how "culture" is experienced, advocate for policies and practices that break down unhealthy consolidations of power, and innovate solutions to building consensus in a divided nation.
An Investigation into the Origin of Autopoiesis.

Using a glider in the Game of Life cellular automaton as a toy model of minimal persistent individuals, this article explores how questions regarding the origin of life might be approached from the...
Incorporating information from markers in LD with test locus for detecting imprinting and maternal effects

Numerous statistical methods have been developed to explore genomic imprinting and maternal effects by identifying parent-of-origin patterns in complex human diseases. However, because most of these methods only use available locus-specific genotype data, it is sometimes impossible for them to infer the distribution of parental origin of a variant allele, especially when some genotypes are missing. In this article, we propose a two-step approach, LIMEhap, to improve upon a recent partial likelihood inference method. In the first step, the distribution of the missing genotypes is inferred through the construction of haplotypes by using information from nearby loci. In the second step, a partial likelihood method is applied to the inferred data. To substantiate the validity of the proposed procedures, we simulated data in a genomic region of gene GPX1. The results show that, by borrowing genetic information from nearby loci, the power of the proposed method can be close to that with complete genotype data at the locus of interest. Since the inference on the genotype distribution is made under the assumption of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), we further studied the robustness of LIMEhap to violation of HWE. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of LIMEhap by applying it to an autism dataset.
Spin–Orbit Torque Switching in Low-Damping Magnetic Insulators: A Micrmomagnetic Study

Magnetic insulators, in particular, rare-earth iron garnets, have low damping compared to metallic ferromagnetic materials due to lack of conduction electrons. In analogy to spin-transfer-torque devices, the low-damping nature is presumed to be an advantage for spintronic applications. We report that perpendicular magnetic anisotropy material with low damping actually does not favor reliable spin–orbit torque (SOT) switching. Increasing damping, introducing interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions, or field-like torques may help SOT switching in some cases. Having notches in a nanometer-scale element, which is a more realistic size for practical applications, can also improve switching stability.
Combining Physiological and Neuroimaging Measures to Predict Affect Processing Induced by Affectively Valent Image Stimuli.

The importance of affect processing to human behavior has long driven researchers to pursue its measurement. In this study, we compared the relative fidelity of measurements of neural activation and physiology (i.e., heart rate change) in detecting affective valence induction across a broad continuum of conveyed affective valence. We combined intra-subject neural activation based multivariate predictions of affective valence with measures of heart rate (HR) deceleration to predict predefined normative affect rating scores for stimuli drawn from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) in a population (n = 50) of healthy adults. In sum, we found that patterns of neural activation and HR deceleration significantly, and uniquely, explain the variance in normative valent scores associated with IAPS stimuli; however, we also found that patterns of neural activation explain a significantly greater proportion of that variance. These traits persisted across a range of stimulus sets, differing by the polar-extremity of their positively and negatively valent subsets, which represent the positively and negatively valent polar-extremity of stimulus sets reported in the literature. Overall, these findings support the acquisition of heart rate deceleration concurrently with fMRI to provide convergent validation of induced affect processing in the dimension of affective valence.
Biallelic RP1-associated retinal dystrophies: Expanding the mutational and clinical spectrum.

Purpose To evaluate the phenotypic spectrum of autosomal recessive RP1-associated retinal dystrophies and assess genotypic associations. Methods A retrospective multicenter study was performed of patients with biallelic RP1-associated retinal dystrophies. Data including presenting symptoms and age, visual acuity, kinetic perimetry, full field electroretinogram, fundus examination, multimodal retinal imaging, and RP1 genotype were evaluated. Results Nineteen eligible patients from 17 families were identified and ranged in age from 10 to 56 years at the most recent evaluation. Ten of the 21 unique RP1 variants identified were novel, and mutations within exon 2 accounted for nearly half of alleles across the cohort. Patients had clinical diagnoses of retinitis pigmentosa (13), cone-rod dystrophy (3), Leber congenital amaurosis (1), early-onset severe retinal dystrophy (1), and macular dystrophy (1). Macular atrophy was a common feature across the cohort. Symptom onset occurred between 4 and 30 years of age (mean 14.9 years, median 13 years), but there were clusters of onset age that correlated with the effects of RP1 mutations at a protein level. Patients with later-onset disease, including retinitis pigmentosa, had at least one missense variant in an exon 2 DCX domain. Conclusions Biallelic RP1 mutations cause a broad spectrum of retinal disease. Exon 2 missense mutations are a significant contributor to disease and can be associated with a considerably later onset of retinitis pigmentosa than that typically associated with biallelic RP1 mutations.
Criminal cannibalism: An examination of patterns and styles

Abstract Cannibalism is a practice that has been present in numerous cultures. Personal cause or criminal cannibalism is arguably one of the most unfathomable acts which an individual might perpetrate. This study examined the patterns of those who engage in cannibalism in comparison to those who posthumously dismember or mutilate their victims but do not consume their flesh. Cases were extracted from the Serial Killer Database, as well as media sources, and assessed for characteristics of the perpetrators. An informational form was developed and used to establish quantitative parameters and objectively extract pertinent information that could be used for comparison and pattern analysis. Variables including motives, styles, and level of organization during the crime were examined for each case. The majority of the cannibalism cases were consistent with an offensive style (56.7%), while cases in the dismemberment-only group were marked by a defensive style (66.7%). Whereas the majority of dismemberment/mutilation cases have the ultimate goal of disposing of evidence, the dataset demonstrated that cannibal cases are primarily planned, organized and driven by sadism. The findings support two primary patterns among cannibalistic offenders: ‘psychosis-driven, disorganized and aggressive’ and ‘sadism-driven, organized and offensive’.
Prognostic relevance of CSF and peri-tumoral edema volumes in glioblastoma

Abstract Background We conducted a segmental volumetric analysis of pre-operative brain magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of glioblastoma patients to identify brain- and tumor-related features that are prognostic of survival. Methods Using a dataset of 210 single-institutional adult glioblastoma patients, total volumes of the following tumor- and brain-related features were quantified on pre-operative MRIs using a fully automated segmentation tool: tumor enhancement, tumor non-enhancement, tumor necrosis, peri-tumoral edema, grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Their association with survival using Cox regression models, adjusting for the well-known predictors of glioblastoma survival. The findings were verified in a second dataset consisting of 96 glioblastoma patients from The Cancer Imaging Archive and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCIA/TCGA). Results CSF volume and edema were independently and consistently associated with overall survival of glioblastoma patients in both datasets. Greater edema was associated with increased hazard or decreased survival [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) with 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34 [1.08–1.67], p = 0.008 (institutional dataset); and, 1.44 [1.08–1.93], p = 0.013 (TCIA/TCGA dataset)]. Greater CSF volume also correlated with increased hazard or decreased survival [aHR 1.27 [1.02–1.59], p = 0.035 (institutional dataset), and 1.42 [1.03–1.95], p = 0.032 (TCIA/TCGA dataset)]. Conclusions Higher brain CSF volume and higher edema levels at diagnosis are independently associated with decreased survival in glioblastoma patients. These results highlight the importance of a broader, quantitative brain-wide radiological analyses and invite investigations to understand tumor-related causes of increased edema and possibly increased CSF volume.
Kinematic and Kinetic Changes after Total Hip Arthroplasty during Sit-To-Stand Transfers: Systematic Review.

Abstract Background Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common and effective surgical procedure that allows patients with hip osteoarthritis to restore functional ability and relieve pain. Sit-to-stand transfers are common demanding tasks during activities of daily living and are performed more than 50 times per day. The purpose of this systematic review is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of biomechanical changes during sit-to-stand transfers after THA. Methods Relevant articles were selected through MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science. Articles were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: 1) participants underwent total hip arthroplasty without restriction on the arthroplasty design, 2) involved either kinematic or kinetic variables as the primary outcome measure, 3) evaluated sit-to-stand, and 4) were written in English. Results A total of 11 articles were included in the current systematic review. The THA group exhibited altered movement patterns as compared to healthy controls. Improvement in loading asymmetry was found up to 1 year after THA, but other kinetic changes indicate intensified contralateral limb loading. Limb differences were apparent, but whether these differences persist over 10 months after THA is still unknown. Conclusion Despite the inevitable changes in kinematics and kinetics in sit-to-stand transfers after THA, it appears to be important to resolve asymmetrical loading between the operative and nonoperative limbs to minimize risk for subsequent joint problems.
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION: Implementation of a capstone course with Formative OSCEs to evaluate preparedness for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE)

Background: Capstone courses are well documented in pharmacy programmes, but vary in content, methods, and assessment. Aim: To describe the development and implementation of a capstone course for pharmacy students. Description: Components of the capstone course included clinical reviews, pre-tests, calculations, cases, and formative and summative objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Formative OSCEs were a unique aspect of this capstone course, and were used to help students identify clinical strengths and recognise areas of weakness prior to advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE). Evaluation: A total of 72 students completed the capstone course in spring 2018. Student survey data indicated that the format of the course was conducive to learning, particularly the use of formative OSCEs. Conclusion: A capstone course was successfully designed and implemented that assessed a variety of pharmacy knowledge and skills prior to APPE. Student feedback and performance in the course provided insight that led to revisions in the pre-APPE curriculum.
A Note on Widder’s Inequality

The purpose of this note is to provide an extension of Widder’s inequality, which is a refinement of Hilbert’s inequality, from the Hilbert sequence space l 2 to the Banach sequence space l p , and to point out that this extension holds for a wider class of generalized Hilbert matrix transformations. These results are based on some of the sharp inequalities concerning the continuity properties for the sequence-to-function Hausdorff transformation, including power series and moment sequences studied by Hardy and Littlewood (J. Math. 157, 141–158, 1927), which were obtained by the author in Georgakis (Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 103, 531–542, 1988), and also some sharp inequalities for a class of generalized Hilbert matrix transformations found in Georgakis (An Extension of Hilbert’s Inequality, a manuscript).
Updates from Inter-Governmental Organizations

Over a million people have fled Libya since the February 2011 uprising to oust leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi turned violent. Many of them are foreigners who had taken refuge in Libya from conflict in their own countries. Some have returned to their countries of origin, but others remain in a precarious situation as thirdcountry refugees – twice displaced from their home countries. Humanitarian agencies say these people, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, cannot return to their countries of origin for fear of persecution or violence and must be resettled immediately. In Libya, anti-Qadhafi forces often accused them of being pro-regime foreign mercenaries, rendering their return to Libya improbable. Roughly 5,000 non-Libyan refugees and asylum-seekersremain in makeshift camps in Tunisia and Egypt. TheUN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), responsible for coordinating international action to protect refugees, faces major difficulties in fulfilling its mandate due, in large part, to a lack of cooperation by the European Union (EU). Seven of the twenty-seven EU states, all signatories to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees (Convention), pledged 394 spots for the UNHCR’s overall Global Resettlement Solidarity Initiative, which has an initial target of resettling 8,000 refugees. No EU member state has offered additional resettlement places for the 2,397 third country refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing Libya that the UNHCR has designated in need of immediate resettlement. In comparison, Norway, a non-EU member, offered 250 spots for refugees from Libya. Similarly, the United States pledged an open number of places. Under the Convention, which enshrines the principle of non-refoulement, refugees and asylumseekers cannot be forcibly returned to their countries of origin. Therefore, the UNHCR and potential host countries are responsible for finding adequate solutions for their resettlement. UPDATES FROM INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
In vitro growth inhibition of a broad spectrum of tumor cell lines by activated human dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical subsets of leukocytes providing antigen presentation for initiation of humoral and cellular immune responses. Their role as effector cells in tumor resistance, however, is less known. We report here that human DCs generated by culturing plastic-adherent peripheral blood monocytes in the presence of granulocyte-monocyte colony–stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 have potent growth-inhibition activity in vitro on a wide spectrum of human tumor lines of different tissue origin. Proinflammatory stimuli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ, but not tumor necrosis factor– and CD40 signaling, can further enhance DC-mediated inhibition of tumor growth. The growth inhibition requires contact between DCs and tumor cells while LPS treatment enhances the antitumor activity in DC culture supernatants. Our results suggest that in addition to their predominant role as regulatory cells, activated DCs are also potential effector cells in tumor immunity.
The Availability Heuristic: A Redux

This article reports on a subset of results from a larger study which examined middle and high school students' probabilistic reasoning. Students in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11 at a boys' school (n=173)...
Cognitive models applied to human effectiveness in national security environments (ergonomics of augmented cognition system design and application).

In complex simulation systems where humans interact with computer-generated agents, information display and the interplay of virtual agents have become dominant media and modalities of interface design. This design strategy is reflected in augmented reality (AR), an environment where humans interact with computer-generated agents in real-time. AR systems can generate large amount of information, multiple solutions in less time, and perform far better in time-constrained problem solving. The capabilities of AR have been leveraged to augment cognition in human information processing. In this sort of augmented cognition (AC) work system, while technology has become the main source for information acquisition from the environment, the human sensory and memory capacities have failed to cope with the magnitude and scale of information they encounter. This situation generates opportunity for excessive cognitive workloads, a major factor in degraded human performance. From the human effectiveness point of view, research is needed to develop, model, and validate simulation tools that can measure the effectiveness of an AR technology used to support the amplification of human cognition. These tools will allow us to predict human performance for tasks executed under an AC tool construct. This paper presents an exploration of ergonomics issues relevant to AR andmore » AC systems design. Additionally, proposed research to investigate those ergonomic issues is discussed.« less
Conditional gene expression in the mouse using a Sleeping Beauty gene-trap transposon

Insertional mutagenesis techniques with transposable elements have been popular among geneticists studying model organisms from E. coli to Drosophila and, more recently, the mouse. One such element is the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon that has been shown in several studies to be an effective insertional mutagen in the mouse germline. SB transposon vector studies have employed different functional elements and reporter molecules to disrupt and report the expression of endogenous mouse genes. We sought to generate a transposon system that would be capable of reporting the expression pattern of a mouse gene while allowing for conditional expression of a gene of interest in a tissue- or temporal-specific pattern. Here we report the systematic development and testing of a transposon-based gene-trap system incorporating the doxycycline-repressible Tet-Off (tTA) system that is capable of activating the expression of genes under control of a Tet response element (TRE) promoter. We demonstrate that the gene trap system is fully functional in vitro by introducing the "gene-trap tTA" vector into human cells by transposition and identifying clones that activate expression of a TRE-luciferase transgene in a doxycycline-dependent manner. In transgenic mice, we mobilize gene-trap tTA vectors, discover parameters that can affect germline mobilization rates, and identify candidate gene insertions to demonstrate the in vivo functionality of the vector system. We further demonstrate that the gene-trap can act as a reporter of endogenous gene expression and it can be coupled with bioluminescent imaging to identify genes with tissue-specific expression patterns. Akin to the GAL4/UAS system used in the fly, we have made progress developing a tool for mutating and revealing the expression of mouse genes by generating the tTA transactivator in the presence of a secondary TRE-regulated reporter molecule. A vector like the gene-trap tTA could provide a means for both annotating mouse genes and creating a resource of mice that express a regulable transcription factor in temporally- and tissue-specific patterns for conditional gene expression studies. These mice would be a valuable resource to the mouse genetics community for purpose of dissecting mammalian gene function.
Newborn screening for sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies. Survey of comprehensive centers for sickle cell disease.

The ten National Institutes of Health-supported centers are currently involved in screening newborn infants for sickle cell disease. Early detection or sickle cell disease, institution of penicillin prophylaxis to start no later than 3 months of age, and follow-up in a comprehensive health program are essential for significant reduction in morbidity and mortality that is due mainly to intercurrent potentially lethal infections such as pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Tracking patients and at-risk individuals for follow-up management and counseling have been identified as problems. Certain socioeconomic and environmental factors impact upon the solution to these problems. Finally, additional research will be required to determine how long penicillin prophylaxis should be continued to provide adequate control of potentially serious and lethal infections. A special study to address this need is being inaugurated by the National Institutes of Health.
Optimal control of delay-differential inclusions

In this paper we consider nonconvex delay-differential inclusions and obtain necessary optimality conditions in the refined Euler-Lagrange form developed by B.S. Mordukhovich (1995) for nonconvex systems without delays. The results obtained are formulated in terms of the nonconvex normal cone and subdifferential that are smaller than the corresponding constructions of F.H. Clarke (1983).
Biochemistry of the uremic syndrome.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the biochemistry of the uremic syndrome. In recent years, the ability to treat uremia has outstripped the understanding of its pathogenesis. A precise understanding of the pathogenesis of the uremic syndrome, however, continues to elude people. Numerous substances have been isolated from the blood of uremic subjects and have been studied in vivo and in vitro . Increasingly clinicians appreciate the role of acidosis, hyponatremia and water intoxication, anemia, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, hypertension, and heart failure. Clinicians rely mainly on blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine measurements to evaluate patients with renal failure. The metabolic changes—retention of a legion of substances; the loss of vital renal hormones (e.g., erythropoietin) and enzymes (e.g., 1α-hydroxylase); the effect of the uremic environment on organ function, intermediary metabolism, and transport processes; dialysis-related problems; and exogenous toxins—observed in uremia result from the decline in renal excretory function. The chapter focuses on the retention of inorganic substances such as hyperkalemia, hydrogen ion and trace elements, and organic substances including oxalate, urea, guanidine, and polyamines. The chapter concludes with a discussion of dialysis related problems and related drugs and exogenous toxins.
Stereocontrol in the intramolecular diels-alder reaction VI: use of mixed acetals as ester equivalents in the connecting chain

Abstract the feasibility of the use of an acetal as the linking group for the diene and dienophile in the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction has been demonstrated. Although some limitations were encountered, in general the mixed acetals examined showed excellent thermal stability with no tendency to undergo elimination of methanol even at temperatures in excess of 200°C for several hours providing the expected cycloadducts in good to excellent yield.
A carbohydrate epitope defined by monoclonal antibody VC1.1 is found on N-CAM and other cell adhesion molecules

Abstract VC1.1 is a monoclonal antibody that stains the surfaces of neuronal subsets in the brain. Previous work showed that VC1.1 recognizes 3 polypeptide bands with molecular weights of 95–105 kDa, 140 kDa and 170 kDa and two high molecular weight proteoglycans with weights of approximately 680 and 650–700 kDa. The heterogeneity and molecular weight range of these bands suggested that VC1.1 might recognize a carbohydrate moiety associated with a family of cell surface molecules. It had been previously demonstrated that a separate monoclonal antibody, HNK-1 also recognized a cell surface associated epitope characterized as a sulfate- and glucuronic acid-containing N-linked carbohydrate. This epitope has been shown to be present on members of the N-CAM adhesion molecule family. In this report, we demonstrate that VC1.1 recognizes an N-linked carbohydrate group that is attached to myelin-associated glycoprotein and N-CAM. Immunocytochemical and biochemical comparisons of VC1.1 and HNK-1 staining in rat and cat brain indicate that these two antibodies probably recognize overlapping, or identical carbohydrate epitopes.
Synthesis of 2-amino-5-benzoyl-4-(2-furyl)thiazoles as adenosine A(2A) receptor antagonists.

Abstract The discovery and synthesis of a series of 2-amino-5-benzoyl-4-(2-furyl)thiazoles as adenosine A2A receptor antagonists from a small-molecule combinatorial library using a high-throughput radioligand-binding assay is described. Antagonists were further characterized in the A2A binding assay and an A1 selectivity assay. Selected examples exhibited excellent affinity for A2A and good selectivity versus the A1 receptor.
Sources of Discontent: Residential Satisfaction of Tenants From an Internet Ratings Site

This article presents the first systematic analysis of residential satisfaction ratings from the largest consumer comment Web site for U.S. apartment residents, www.ApartmentRatings.com. Using the 464,281 tenant satisfaction ratings posted from January 1, 2000, to January 1, 2007, we examine the relative importance of seven core factors in determining tenant satisfaction: parking, noise level, landscaping, safety, building construction, office staff, and maintenance service. Cross tabulation, ordered logit, probit, and path analysis models all point to tenant relations with management office staff as the most influential factor in tenant satisfaction. The fact that the manager—tenant relationship exists for tenants but not for homeowners may help to explain why the gap in residential satisfaction between owners and renters persists even when controlling for other physical environmental characteristics.