cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bone Morphogenetic Protein Use and Cancer Risk Among Patients Undergoing Lumbar Arthrodesis: A Case-Cohort Study Using the SEER-Medicare Database.

Background: Recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are growth factors utilized in lumbar arthrodeses. Limited data from randomized trials suggest that BMP may increase cancer risk. We sought to evaluate cancer risk and mortality following the use of BMP in lumbar arthrodesis. Methods: Within the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program-Medicare cohort, we conducted a case-cohort study of 7,278 individuals who were ≥65 years of age and had undergone a lumbar arthrodesis from 2004 to 2011. Of these patients, 3,627 were individuals in a 5% random subcohort of Medicare enrollees in SEER areas including 191 who developed cancer, and there were 3,651 individuals outside the subcohort who developed cancer. Weighted Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for cancer on the basis of exposure to BMP. Results: In the SEER-Medicare subcohort, 30.7% of individuals who underwent a lumbar arthrodesis received BMP. BMP was not associated with overall cancer risk in univariate analyses (HR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.82 to 1.02]) or after adjustment for demographic characteristics, comorbidities, hospital size, history of cancer, and calendar year (adjusted HR, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.84 to 1.05]). Individual cancer types were also not significantly elevated (p > 0.05 for all) in BMP users compared with nonusers. In addition, BMP use was not associated with a new cancer in people who had cancer prior to undergoing lumbar arthrodesis (adjusted HR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.71 to 1.52]) or with mortality after a cancer diagnosis (adjusted HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.93 to 1.19]). Conclusions: In a large population of elderly U.S. adults undergoing lumbar arthrodesis, BMP use was not associated with cancer risk or mortality. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Microvascular Decompression for Trigeminal Neuralgia (S59.001)

OBJECTIVE: To report the treatment experience in a large group of patients with trigeminal neuralgia. BACKGROUND: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is commonly treated initially with medication to reduce pain. Patients with medically refractory TN may be treated with microvascular decompression (MVD) of the trigeminal nerve. Blink reflex (BR) and brain MRI studies are often performed to assess the trigeminal nerve. DESIGN/METHODS: The Mayo Clinic Arizona (MCA) EMG Laboratory database was searched from 1997 – 2010 for patients with diagnostic codes for TN or atypical facial pain. The records of 476 consecutive patients were retrospectively reviewed to identify 201 patients who met the following criteria: age 18-100, clinical features of TN, blink reflex study and brain imaging (MRI or CT). Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for clinical information. RESULTS: Of 201 patients, complete remission (CR) was reported with carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine in 11 (5%), with gabapentin in 4 (2%), and baclofen in 2 (1%). A MVD procedure was performed in 113 patients (56%). The indications for MVD surgery were incomplete response to medications (71%), medication side effects (9%), or patient desire to be off medication (20%). The outcome of MVD at 1-8 weeks was CR in 85 patients (76%), partial remission in 12 (11%) and no change in 7 (6%). Complications of MVD seen in 27 patients (24%), included new facial numbness in 9 (8%) and a variety of surgical complications in 11 (10%). 31 patients (27%) had recurrence of TN at a mean time of 12.5 months after MVD. CONCLUSIONS: Only about 8% of patients with TN experience complete remission with medical therapy. The majority of patients in this series elected to undergo MVD for refractory TN. The outcome of MVD at 1-8 weeks is favorable but roughly 25% of patients experience complications and 25% experience delayed recurrence of TN. Disclosure: Dr. Bello has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ross has nothing to disclose.
Narrative and the Multiple Sclerosis Body

Disease is usually considered without reference to the social context or the narrative of the body. This chapter explores multiple sclerosis through the lens of the denial of the experience of the body; which is viewed as a modern and gendered issue. The author also envisions different cells of the immune system and the blood–brain barrier through metaphor. Finally, the chapter examines the phenomenon of mast fruiting or the collective action of certain trees and explores how that might be related to the functioning of the immune system.
Towards Assessing Students' Prior Knowledge from Tutorial Dialogues.

This paper describes a study which is part of a project whose goal is to detect students’ prior knowledge levels with respect to a target domain based solely on characteristics of the natural language interaction between students and a state-of-the-art conversational Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). We report results on dialogues collected from two versions of the intelligent tutoring system DeepTutor: a micro-adaptive-only version and a fully-adaptive (microand macro-adaptive) version. We extracted a variety of dialogue and session interaction features including time on task, student-generated content features (e.g., vocabulary size or domain specific concept use), and pedagogy-related features (e.g., level of scaffolding measured as number of hints). We present which of these features are best predictors of pre-test scores as measured by multiple-choice questions.
Stretchable, Twisted Conductive Microtubules for Wearable Computing, Robotics, Electronics, and Healthcare

Stretchable and flexible multifunctional electronic components, including sensors and actuators, have received increasing attention in robotics, electronics, wearable, and healthcare applications. Despite advances, it has remained challenging to design analogs of many electronic components to be highly stretchable, to be efficient to fabricate, and to provide control over electronic performance. Here, we describe highly elastic sensors and interconnects formed from thin, twisted conductive microtubules. These devices consist of twisted assemblies of thin, highly stretchable (>400%) elastomer tubules filled with liquid conductor (eutectic gallium indium, EGaIn), and fabricated using a simple roller coating process. As we demonstrate, these devices can operate as multimodal sensors for strain, rotation, contact force, or contact location. We also show that, through twisting, it is possible to control their mechanical performance and electronic sensitivity. In extensive experiments, we have evaluated the capabilities of these devices, and have prototyped an array of applications in several domains of stretchable and wearable electronics. These devices provide a novel, low cost solution for high performance stretchable electronics with broad applications in industry, healthcare, and consumer electronics, to emerging product categories of high potential economic and societal significance.
Sedentary Behaviors and Biomarkers Among Breast Cancer Survivors

Background: Sedentary behavior is associated with increased risk of poor outcomes in breast cancer survivors, but underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This pilot study explored associations between different aspects of sedentary behaviors (sitting, prolonged sitting, sit-to-stand transitions, and standing) and breast cancer risk-related biomarkers in breast cancer survivors (n = 30). Methods: Sedentary behavior variables were objectively measured with thigh-worn activPALs. Breast cancer risk-related biomarkers assessed were C-reactive protein (CRP), insulin, and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and were measured in fasting plasma samples. Linear regression models were used to investigate associations between sedentary behavior variables and biomarkers (log CRP, insulin, and HOMA-IR). Results: Sit-to-stand transitions were significantly associated with insulin resistance biomarkers (P < .05). Specifically, each 10 additional sit-to-stand transitions per day was associa...
We can do so much better: Reflections on reading “Signaling Effects of Scholarly Profiles—The Editorial Teams of North American Accounting Association Journals”

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to provide a commentary on the article “Signaling Effects of Scholarly Profiles—The Editorial Teams of North American Accounting Association Journals.” I take a broad approach to my essay, discussing potential root causes for the article’s results as opposed to providing a critique of their specific findings. I hope to add to this academic conversation by drawing on personal reflections and related prior literature to discuss why North American accounting research communities, especially in the U.S., should take substantive actions to promote and support a broader, more relevant, and inclusive research agenda.
Effect of a group medical clinic for veterans with diabetes on body mass index.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of a group medical clinic designed for patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension on body mass index.MethodsUsing data from a randomized trial of 239 veter...
Synthesis and Characterizations of Macrocyclic Cr(III) and Co(III) 1-Ethynyl Naphthalene and 9-Ethynyl Anthracene Complexes: An Investigation of Structural and Spectroscopic Properties.

Reported herein are the syntheses and structural and emission spectroscopic characterizations of new CrIII(HMC) and CoIII(cyclam) complexes bearing fluorophore alkynyl ligands, where HMC and cyclam are 5,5,7,12,12,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane and 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, respectively. Two Cr(III) bis-1-ethynylnaphthalene (C2Np) complexes, trans-[Cr(HMC)(C2Np)2]Cl ([1]Cl) and cis-[Cr(HMC)(C2Np)2]Cl ([2]Cl), were prepared from the reactions between trans/cis-[Cr(HMC)Cl2]Cl and lithium 1-ethynylnaphthalene (LiC2Np) in yields of 73 and 66%, respectively. Also investigated are CoIII(cyclam) complexes bearing both C2Np and C2ANT (ANT = 9-anthryl), namely [Co(cyclam)(C2Ar)Cl]Cl (Ar = ANT ([3]Cl), Np ([4]Cl)), [Co(cyclam)(C2Np)(NCCH3)](OTf)2 ([5](OTf)2), and [Co(cyclam)(C2Np)2]OTf ([6]OTf). Complexes [3]Cl (72%) and [4]Cl (67%) were prepared from the reaction between [Co(cyclam)Cl2]Cl and Me3SiC2ANT or Me3SiC2Np, respectively, in the presence of triethylamine. The reaction of [4]Cl wi...
Simulations of Lubricant Behavior at the Interface with Bearing Solids

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study how solid walls affect the structure and dynamics of a contacting fluid. We first describe the changes in structure induced by a single solid wall. Both layering and in-plane order are found within 4 to 10 molecular diameters of the solid surface. The degree of in-plane order is directly correlated with the transfer of shear stress, and thus with the effective boundary condition for fluid flow. A range of boundary conditions from partial slip to entrainment of fluid layers is found. We next consider fluid films confined between two walls. As the film thickness decreases, the ordering influences of the two walls begin to overlap. This may ultimately lead to a phase transition in the film. Spherical molecules crystallize, while chain molecules enter a glassy state. The onset of the glass transition is heralded by dramatic increases in viscosity and by universal non-Newtonian behavior. Crystalline or glassy films have a non-zero yield stress. When this is exceeded the film undergoes a transition to a fluid state and shears easily. This releases stress in the film, which may then refreeze. We show that this is the origin of stick-slip motion at low velocities.
Who Develops and Runs the Models

This chapter considers three alternative approaches to the running of simulation modeling for land and water management decision making. The scientific community is ultimately responsible for the definition of many of the dynamics that drive simulation models. Hence, the first approach is to have the scientists run and interpret the models. The second is a two-tiered simulation modeling approach in which scientific models are used to set variables in simpler management models. The third approach is to create management models from scientific models.
Cancer, Methionine, and Transmethylation

The nature of cancer is outlined and it is concluded that many changes in the cellular program are required for clinical cancer to occur in humans. These large program changes are not as compatible with mutation theories as they are with altered methionine metabolism and imbalanced transmethylation inclding DNA hypomethylation which are prevalent in all surveys of human cancer. Transmethylation is affected by many and diverse carcinogens further supporting our hypothesis. Applications of altered methionine metabolism/transmthylation for cancer prevention and treatment are discussed.
Fate and Potential of Xenobiotics

The potentially toxic organics (TOs) that can be present in agricultural, municipal, and industrial wastes number in the thousands. Extensive data bases show that TO concentration in biosolids are low; much less data is available for other wastes, but the consensus is that TO concentrations are similar. TO reactions in wastes/soils also are expected to be similar to soil/biosolid — TO reactions. Thus, the sizable data, research, and risk assessment base for biosolids seems applicable to many other wastes. If TO variety and concentrations in a waste are similar to those in biosolids, risk to humans, animals, and the environment is minimal. Various fate processes of TO in soil/waste mixtures, as well as risk assessment for TOs in biosolids, are reviewed to support the conclusion. Research needs are identified to confirm the conclusion.
Plant Disease Prevention and Management in Sustainable Agricultural Systems

This chapter emphasizes the importance of devoting more efforts to create sustainable farming system for plant disease prevention and management in the tropics. We highlight sustainable pest management approaches that: (1) enhance high biological diversity through polyculture instead of the conventional preference of monoculture cropping systems; (2) increase ecosystem community stability by promoting natural enemies of multiple pests and pathogens; (3) stimulate inherent plant defenses; (4) improve plant health by maintaining nutrient cycling and energy flow; and (5) target vulnerable stages of a pest or pathogen through the understanding of their ecology. The use of therapeutic approaches, whether biological, chemical, or physical, is in violation of the five fundamental approaches for sustainable pest management listed above. The foundation for disease management in sustainable agricultural systems should be based on an understanding of the total agroecosystem composite of the biology of pathogens, host plant defenses, plant mixtures, soil, natural enemies, and timing of cultural practices to avoid creating a conducive environment for disease development. Successful examples of sustainable pest management strategies using these approaches are listed for key plant pathogens. While the literature review on sustainable pest management approaches for different groups of plant pathogens has been reviewed separately, future work in developing sustainable pest management should design approaches that can target multiple pests and plant pathogens concurrently through environmentally friendly and renewable strategies.
The Influence of Political Ideology and Socioeconomic Vulnerability on Perceived Health Risks of Heat Waves in the Context of Climate Change

AbstractVulnerability and resilience to extreme weather hazards are a function of diverse physical, social, and psychological factors. Previous research has focused on individual factors that influ...
Asian financial market integration and the role of Chinese financial market

Abstract This paper uses panel unit root test and panel cointegration test to examine whether there are common trends among Asian financial markets, and if there are common trends, are they stationary or not. Asian stock market integration is an important issue in the midst of ever increasing goods and service trades. Despite the recent progress, the degree of intra-regional financial integration appears to lag behind the increase in trades in the region. Empirical evidence shows that financial market returns among Asian countries are all stationary in itself and panel unit root tests reinforces this conclusion. Asian financial markets generally move together, and they could be integrated in a statistical point of view. China appears to be an outlier in this analysis, and her financial market is not in sync with any other Asian financial markets in the sample.
Recursive Deep Residual Learning for Single Image Dehazing

There have been a flurry of works on deep learning based image dehazing in recent years. However, most of them have only used deep neural networks to estimate the transmission map (or its variant); while the module of generating dehazed image is still model-based. Inspired by the analogy between image dehazing and image denoising, we propose to reformulate dehazing as a problem of learning structural residue (instead of white Gaussian noise) and remove haze from a single image by a deep residue learning (DRL) network. Such novel reformulation enables us to directly estimate a nonlinear mapping from input hazy images to output dehazed ones (i.e., bypassing the unnecessary step of transmission map estimation). The dehazing-denoising analogy also motivates us to leverage the strategy of iterative regularization from denoising to dehazing - i.e., we propose to recursively feed the dehazed image back to the input of DRL network. Such recursive extension can be interpreted as a nonlinear optimization of DRL whose convergence can be rigorously analyzed using fixed-point theory. We have conducted extensive experimental studies on both synthetic and real-world hazy image data. Our experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed recursive DRL approach and shown that our technique outperforms other competing methods in terms of both subjective and objective visual qualities of dehazed images.
Stem Cell Mobilization and Autograft Purity with Novel Induction Regimens in Multiple Myeloma

Background High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the standard-of-care in transplant-eligible patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Bortezomib with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (RVD) is the most common triplet induction regimen for patients with newly diagnosed MM in the US. Carfilzomib with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (KRD), however, has shown promising efficacy and may ultimately supplant RVD. Comparative studies of stem cell collection yields and autograft purity after RVD vs KRD induction have not been performed and merit investigation. Methods Study subjects received RVD or KRD induction therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between 2014-2018. Statistical analyses included unpaired t-test, chi-square test, ANOVA, and Fisher's exact test (P value Results Demographics were similar for the 2 cohorts (RVD: 126 patients, KRD: 101 patients) (Fig 1A). Deeper responses (VGPR or better), including bone marrow (BM) minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity by 10-color flow cytometry, were higher with KRD (Fig 1B). Pre-collection BM cellularity, interval from end of induction therapy to start of stem cell collection, and method of stem cell mobilization were similar for the 2 cohorts (Fig 2). Average time to stem cell collection completion (collection target = 10 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg) was slightly greater with KRD (RVD 1.87 vs KRD 2.2 days), as was the fraction of patients requiring ≥3 days to complete collection (RVD 21.4% vs KRD 39.6%) (Fig 2). Viable CD34+ cell content (cells/mcL) was significantly higher with RVD (111.31 vs 63.54, p=0.0019), which associated with higher total stem cell yield after RVD (RVD 11.21 × 106 vs KRD 9.44 × 106, p=0.0245). Collection failure was rare but higher with KRD (4 patients, 3.96%) than with RVD (1 patient, 0.8%) (p=0.17). Advanced age (≥70) was a common factor predictive of lower stem cell yields for both cohorts ( Conclusion KRD induces deeper clinical responses and greater stem cell graft purity than RVD without compromising stem cell yield or post-transplant engraftment kinetics, despite decreased viable CD34+ content of autografts and lower stem cell collection totals.
High- $Q$ Tunable Evanescent-Mode Cavity SIW Resonators and Filters With Contactless Tuners

This paper presents a novel method to widely tune high-quality factor evanescent-mode cavity resonators and filters using contactless tuners. The proposed method resolves multiple challenges facing reliable manufacturing and operation of these filters by avoiding the attachment of the flexible tuner to the cavity and replacing it with capacitive contactless tuners. This paper discusses the design consideration and tradeoffs as well as demonstrates the performance of the proposed concept using the substrate-integrated-waveguide technology. The resonators demonstrate more than octave tuning range (TR), quality factor up to 650, and power handling exceeding 100 W. In addition, the second-order bandpass filters are demonstrated, along with the long-term measurements, showing better than 1.17% frequency error after a 15-h stability test, and less than 1.47% frequency error after a 450 cycles repeatability test over an octave TR from 1.8 to 3.6 GHz.
Predicted ultrafine particulate matter source contribution across the continental United States during summertime air pollution events

Abstract. The regional concentrations of airborne ultrafine particulate matter mass ( Dp µm ; PM 0.1 ) were predicted in 39 cities across the United States (US) during summertime air pollution episodes. Calculations were performed using a regional source-oriented chemical transport model with 4 km spatial resolution operating on the National Emissions Inventory created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Measured source profiles for particle size and composition between 0.01 and 10 µm were used to translate PM total mass to PM 0.1 . Predicted PM 0.1 concentrations exceeded 2 µg m−3 during summer pollution episodes in major urban regions across the US including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston, Miami, and New York. PM 0.1 spatial gradients were sharper than PM 2.5 spatial gradients due to the dominance of primary aerosol in PM 0.1 . Artificial source tags were used to track contributions to primary PM 0.1 and PM 2.5 from 15 source categories. On-road gasoline and diesel vehicles made significant contributions to regional PM 0.1 in all 39 cities even though peak contributions within 0.3 km of the roadway were not resolved by the 4 km grid cells. Cooking also made significant contributions to PM 0.1 in all cities but biomass combustion was only important in locations impacted by summer wildfires. Aviation was a significant source of PM 0.1 in cities that had airports within their urban footprints. Industrial sources, including cement manufacturing, process heating, steel foundries, and paper and pulp processing, impacted their immediate vicinity but did not significantly contribute to PM 0.1 concentrations in any of the target 39 cities. Natural gas combustion made significant contributions to PM 0.1 concentrations due to the widespread use of this fuel for electricity generation, industrial applications, residential use, and commercial use. The major sources of primary PM 0.1 and PM 2.5 were notably different in many cities. Future epidemiological studies may be able to differentiate PM 0.1 and PM 2.5 health effects by contrasting cities with different ratios of PM0.1∕PM2.5 . In the current study, cities with higher PM0.1∕PM2.5 ratios (ratio greater than 0.10) include Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Bakersfield, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, and Cleveland, OH. Cities with lower PM 0.1 to PM 2.5 ratios (ratio lower than 0.05) include Lake Charles, LA, Baton Rouge, LA, St. Louis, MO, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, D.C.
Neuregulins 1, 2, and 3 Promote Early Neurite Outgrowth in ErbB4-Expressing Cortical GABAergic Interneurons.

The neuregulins (Nrgs 1–4) are a family of signaling molecules that play diverse roles in the nervous system. Nrg1 has been implicated in the formation of synapses and in synaptic plasticity. Previous studies have shown Nrg1 can affect neurite outgrowth in several neuronal populations, while the role of Nrg2 and Nrg3 in this process has remained understudied. The Nrgs can bind and activate the ErbB4 receptor tyrosine kinase which is preferentially expressed in GABAergic interneurons in the rodent hippocampus and cerebral cortex. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of Nrgs 1, 2, and 3 on neurite outgrowth of dissociated rat cortical ErbB4-positive (+)/GABA+ interneurons in vitro. All three Nrgs were able to promote neurite outgrowth during the first 2 days in vitro, with increases detected for both the axon (116–120%) and other neurites (100–120%). Increases in the average number of primary and secondary neurites were also observed. Treatment with the Nrgs for an additional 3 days promoted an increase in axonal length (86–96%), with only minimal effects on the remaining neurites (8–13%). ErbB4 expression persisted throughout the dendritic arbor and cell soma at all stages examined, while its expression in the axon was transient and declined with cell maturation. ErbB4 overexpression in GABAergic neurons promoted neurite outgrowth, an effect that was potentiated by Nrg treatment. These results show that Nrgs 1, 2, and 3 are each capable of influencing dendritic and axonal growth at early developmental stages in GABAergic neurons grown in vitro.
Vibrational and electron-phonon coupling properties of β-Ga2O3 from first-principles calculations: Impact on the mobility and breakdown field

The wide band gap semiconductor β-Ga2O3 shows promise for applications in high-power and high-temperature electronics. The phonons of β-Ga2O3 play a crucial role in determining its important material characteristics for these applications such as its thermal transport, carrier mobility, and breakdown voltage. In this work, we apply predictive calculations based on density functional theory and density functional perturbation theory to understand the vibrational properties, phonon-phonon interactions, and electron-phonon coupling of β-Ga2O3. We calculate the directionally dependent phonon dispersion, including the effects of LO-TO splitting and isotope substitution, and quantify the frequencies of the infrared and Raman-active modes, the sound velocities, and the heat capacity of the material. Our calculated optical-mode Gruneisen parameters reflect the anharmonicity of the monoclinic crystal structure of β-Ga2O3 and help explain its low thermal conductivity. We also evaluate the electron-phonon coupling matrix elements for the lowest conduction band to determine the phonon mode that limits the mobility at room temperature, which we identified as a polar-optical mode with a phonon energy of 29 meV. We further apply these matrix elements to estimate the breakdown field of β-Ga2O3. Our theoretical characterization of the vibrational properties of β-Ga2O3 highlights its viability for high-power electronic applications and provides a path for experimental development of materials for improved performance in devices.
Poverty in the Making of HIV/AIDS

It is well-established that poverty and disease are intimately connected, with poverty often viewed as both a cause and consequence of disease. However, the nature and implications of this causal connection are understood in strikingly different ways in scientific and social studies of disease, each of which tend to posit disease as either biological or social in origin and thus accord varying degrees of primacy to the role of poverty — as a putatively social problem — in the aetiology and effects of disease. This chapter revisits the question of how poverty and disease are related, but does so in a way that avoids sequestering the biological dimensions of disease from its social dimensions. The starting point for my analysis is the Mbeki government’s theory that AIDS is a disease of poverty and not simply the outcome of a viral infection. This account of AIDS supports a view of disease as the product of social forces. HIV activists in South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) contested the government’s claim that AIDS in Africa is a disease of poverty, arguing that poverty is a distal factor that shapes the disease but not its primary causal agent. Endorsing the orthodox scientific explanation, the TAC insisted that AIDS is caused by the virus HIV. In the framing of the TAC-government struggle, these two accounts of AIDS causation were treated as polarised along orthodox/dissident lines.
Primary Dural Repair via an Endoscopic Endonasal Corridor: Preliminary Development of a 3D-Printed Model for Training

Objectives Endonasal suturing is an investigational method for dural repair that has been reported to decrease the incidence of cerebrospinal fluid fistula. This method requires handling of single-shaft instrumentation in the narrow endonasal corridor. In this study, we designed a low-cost, surgical model using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to simulate dural repair through the endonasal corridor and subsequently assess the utility of the model for surgical training. Methods Using an Ultimaker 2+ printer, a 3D-printed replica of the cranial base and nasal cavity was fitted with tissue allograft to recapitulate the dural layer. Residents, fellows, and attending surgeons were asked to place two sutures using a 0-degree endoscope and single-shaft needle driver. Task completion time was recorded. Participants were asked to fill out a Likert scale questionnaire after the experiment. Results Twenty-six participants were separated into groups based on their prior endoscope experience: novice, intermediate, and expert. Twenty-one (95.5%) residents and fellows rated the model as “excellent” or “good” in enhancing their technical skills with endoscopic instrumentation. Three of four (75%) of attendings felt that the model was “excellent” or “good” in usefulness for training in dural suturing. Novice participants required an average of 11 minutes for task completion, as compared with 8.7 minutes for intermediates and 5.7 minutes for experts. Conclusion The proposed model appears to be highly effective in enhancing the endoscopic skills and recapitulating the task of dural repair. Such a low-cost model may be especially important in enhancing endoscopic facility in countries/regions with limited access to cadaveric specimens.
We should be careful, activity in mCi or MBq doesn’t really measure what we want it to measure.

2062 Objectives: Immediately before radiopharmaceutical administration, patient syringes are measured using a dose calibrator. The activity of the radioactive sample is recorded, but the intention is to measure the amount of radioactive material that will be administered to the patient. While the two quantities are closely related, they are not the same, creating scope for much confusion particularly when different isotopes are involved. Methods: Activity is the rate of nuclear disintegrations and is the product of the number of radioactive atoms in a sample, multiplied by the probability per unit time that an atom will decay (λ, decay constant). The decay constant is inversely related to the radioactive half-life (λ = 0.693 / half life) and is accurately known for all isotopes of interest. The total number of radioactive atoms in a sample can be estimated by dividing the activity by the decay constant. Results: A sample of 18F (λ = 0.006315 / min) with an activity of 10 mCi would be expected to contain 3.5 x 1012 radioactive atoms. In contrast a sample of 13N (λ = 0.069558 / min) with a higher activity of 20 mCi contains only 0.6 x 1012 radioactive atoms and a sample of 124I (λ = 0.000115 / min) with an activity of just 1 mCi contains 19.3 x 1012 radioactive atoms. In this example, the highest activity is associated with the smallest amount of radioactive atoms and the smallest activity is associated with the highest amount of radioactive atoms. Activity is therefore quite misleading if the intention is to convey the amount of radioactive material that will be given to a patient. Of course, 2 mCi of a particular isotope contains twice as much radioactive material as 1 mCi of the same isotope. The confusion arises when different isotopes are considered, as is often the case. Quantifying radiopharmaceutical administrations in terms of the total number of radioactive atoms could be achieved with a small modification to the output of existing dose calibrators and may be more intuitive for lay audiences. Indeed Nuclear Medicine professionals may also prefer to measure the amount of radioactive material using a quantity that actually measures the amount of radioactive material. Conclusions: The current practice of using activity as a way of quantifying the amount of radioactive material administered to a patient is potentially misleading. Greater awareness of the relationship between activity and the number of radioactive atoms may help avoid confusion.
Disperse and Preserve the Perverse: How Hip-Hop Censorship Changed Popular Music Production in China

How do states censor an artistic genre that challenges the social norms? The answers to this question in the existing literature are mostly based on investigations of particular artists or artworks...
Striatal compartmentalization and clustering of different subtypes of astrocytes is altered in the zQ175 Huntington's disease mouse model

Huntington′s disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects the striatum, a brain region that controls movement and some forms of cognition. Dysfunction and loss of medium spiny neurons of the striatum is accompanied by astrogliosis (increased astrocyte density and pathology). For decades, astrocytes were considered a homogeneous cell type, but recent transcriptomic analyses revealed astrocytes are a heterogeneous population classified into multiple subtypes depending on the expression of different gene markers. Here, we studied whether three different striatal astrocyte subtypes expressing glutamine synthetase (GS), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), or S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B) are differentially altered in HD. We conducted a comparative immunofluorescence analysis in the striatum of WT and the heterozygous zQ175 HD mouse model and found that the expression and abundance of GFAP+ and S100B+ astrocytes increased in zQ175 mice, while GS+ astrocytes showed no alteration. We then explored whether there was a differential spatial distribution of any of these subtypes within the striatum. We developed a systematic brain compartmentalization approach and found that while GS+ and S100B+ astrocytes were more homogeneously distributed throughout the striatum in zQ175 mice, GFAP+ astrocytes preferentially accumulated in the dorsomedial and dorsolateral striatum, which are regions associated with goal-directed and habitual behaviors. Additionally, GFAP+ astrocytes in zQ175 mice showed increased clustering, a parameter that indicates increased proximity and that is associated with localized inflammation and/or neurodegeneration. Our data suggest a differential susceptibility in both increased density and striatal compartmentalization of different subtypes of astrocytes in zQ175. These results highlight new potential implications for our understanding of astrocyte pathology in HD.
Chapter 4 Fluorescent Standards

Publisher Summary In quantitative fluorescence microscopy, the aim is to measure and interpret the light output from an excited fluorophore. To do this, one has to know the limits of the reliability of the optical and detection systems that they are operating at optimal levels and the conditions employed are reproducible. One needs to be able to interpret the fluorescence signal in terms of the phenomenon or reaction under study. Thus, standards are required for two different purposes. The first is for the evaluation of the quality and capabilities of optical and detection systems and for their standardization, correction, and adjustment. The second is to serve as calibration references so that fluorescence output can be interpreted in terms of the underlying phenomena of interest. Earlier the main standards available for fluorescence microscopy were phosphor crystal, uranyl glass, and solutions of fluorochromes. Since then, a number of new standards have been developed that are of considerable use. This chapter describes some of the standards that are available and how they may be used and the four kinds of materials that are available for use as system standards: standard cells, manufactured beads, standard solutions, and solid standards. It also provides an overview on system standards.
System on Mobile Devices Middleware: Thinking beyond Basic Phones and PDAs

Several classes of emerging applications, spanning domains such as medical informatics, homeland security, mobile commerce, and scientific applications, are collaborative, and a significant portion of these will harness the capabilities of both the stable and mobile infrastructures (the “mobile grid”). Currently, it is possible to develop a collaborative application running on a collection of heterogeneous, possibly mobile, devices, each potentially hosting data stores, using existing middleware technologies such as JXTA, BREW, Compact .NET and J2ME. However, they require too many ad-hoc techniques as well as cumbersome and time-consuming programming. Our System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware, on the other hand, has a modular architecture that makes such application development very systematic and streamlined. The architecture supports transactions over mobile data stores, with a range of remote group invocation options and embedded interdependencies among such data store objects. The architecture further provides a persistent uniform object view, group transaction with Quality of Service (QoS) specifications, and XML vocabulary for inter-device communication. I will present the basic SyD concepts, introduce the architecture and the design of the SyD middleware and its components. We will discuss the basic performance figures of SyD components and a few SyD applications on PDAs. SyD platform has led to developments in distributed web service coordination and workflow technologies, which we will briefly discuss. There is a vital need to develop methodologies and systems to empower common users, such as computational scientists, for rapid development of such applications. Our BondFlow system enables rapid configuration and execution of workflows over web services. The small footprint of the system enables them to reside on Java-enabled handheld devices.
ALTERNATIVE LITIGATION FINANCE AND THE ATTORNEY- CLIENT PRIVILEGE

The United States legal system has a new player: the alternative litigation finance (ALF) entity. In recent years ALF entities have begun providing financing for small-scale matters and also complex commercial matters involving millions of dollars. The recent success of ALF has been assisted by the fact that at least in some jurisdictions it is now clear that perceived historical barriers to ALF such as champerty, usury, and ethics precepts do not, in fact, block ALF. With ALF arrangements becoming more commonplace, questions have emerged about the effect the integration of ALF entities into attorney-client relationships has on the attorney-client privilege. This Article explores traditional attorney-client privilege doctrine to determine whether the privilege protects communications involving ALF entities. This Article concludes that ALF entities cannot benefit from the joint client doctrine because they, in fact, are not joint clients. Even if ALF entities sought to be joint clients, ethical principles likely would not allow joint client status in the investment decision stage of the relationship and might not allow it in the monitoring stage of the relationship. ALF entities likely cannot benefit from the allied party-common interest doctrine for communications in the investment decision stage but might be able to avail themselves of this doctrine for communications in the monitoring stage if the particular court involved uses a broad definition of common interest. In addition, an ALF entity would not likely be found to be an agent of the client or lawyer such that privilege protection would include it. Ultimately, this Article concludes that privilege doctrine should not be stretched to reach the ALF scenario because to do so would damage the privilege itself. Rather, if the involvement of ALF entities in the legal market is sufficiently beneficial and if there is a sufficient need for privilege protection, an independent ALF privilege might be the best solution.
A Lysine-rich Protein from Spermatozoa of the Molluse Mytilus edulis

Abstract A small basic protein φ3II has been purified from spermatozoa of Mytilis edulis. It was extracted from chromatin by ethanol-HCl and further purified by chromatography on Biogel P-10 and Sephadex G-100. The protein has a molecular weight of about 5000. Half its residues are lysine and its is also rich in alanine, proline, and serine. It shows some compositional similarities to protamines if lysines are considered homologous with arginines. The composition of φ3II is also somewhat similar to that of the carboxyl region of lysine-rich histone.
Distributed algorithms for secure multipath routing

To proactively defend against intruders from readily jeopardizing single-path data sessions, we propose a distributed secure multipath solution to route data across multiple paths so that intruders require much more resources to mount successful attacks. Our work exhibits several crucial properties that differentiate itself from previous approaches. They include (1) distributed routing decisions: routing decisions are made without the centralized information of the entire network topology, (2) bandwidth-constraint adaptation: the worst-case link attack is mitigated for any feasible session throughput subject to the link-bandwidth constraints, and (3) lexicographic protection: severe link attacks are suppressed based on lexicographic optimization. We devise two algorithms for the solution, termed the bound-control algorithm and the lex-control algorithm, and prove their convergence to the respective optimal solutions. Experiments show that the bound-control algorithm is more effective to prevent the worst-case single-link attack when compared to the single-path approach, and that the lex-control algorithm further enhances the bound-control algorithm by countering severe single-link attacks and various models of multi-link attacks. Moreover, the lex-control algorithm offers prominent protection after only a few execution rounds. Thus, system designers can sacrifice minimal routing security for significantly improved algorithm performance when deploying the distributed secure multipath solution.
The spectrographic determination of oxygen in metals—I: Plain carbon steels

Abstract The presence of oxygen in metals may greatly influence the physical properties of the metal. Although progress has been made in applying chemical methods to the determination of oxygen in metals, the performance of the analysis is a singularly difficult task. The problems encountered in extending conventional spectrographic techniques to this determination are surveyed and techniques for surmounting some of the problems are presented. A d.c. carbon-arc excitation method for the determination of oxygen in plain-carbon steels in the concentration range 20 to 2000 parts per million is discussed in detail. The method is based on the liberation of the oxygen as carbon monoxide into an argon atmosphere which supports a conventional arc discharge between a counter electrode and the sample supported in a carbon electrode. The intensity ratio of the line pair is related to the oxygen concentration in the usual manner. The precision is comparable to results obtained by most vacuum fusion methods, whereas considerably less time is required per determination.
Due caution using early β-blockers for acute myocardial infarction

Outcomes: The two pre-specified co-primary outcomes were: (1) composite of death, reinfarction, or cardiac arrest; and (2) death from any cause during the scheduled treatment period. Comparisons were by intention to treat, and used the log-rank method. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT 00222573. Results: Neither of the co-primary outcomes was significantly reduced by allocation to metoprolol. For death, reinfarction, or cardiac arrest, 2166 (9.4%) patients allocated metoprolol had at least one such event compared with 2261 (9.9%) allocated placebo (odds ratio [OR] 0.96, 95% CI 0.90–1.01; p=0.1). For death alone, there were 1774 (7.7%) deaths in the metoprolol group versus 1797 (7.8%) in the placebo group (OR 0.99, 0.92–1.05; p=0.69). Allocation to metoprolol was associated with fewer people having reinfarction (464 [2.0%] metoprolol vs. 568 [2.5%] placebo; OR 0.82, 0.72–0.92; p=0.001) and ventricular fibrillation (581 [2.5%] vs. 698 [3.0%]; OR 0.83, 0.75–0.93; p=0.001). Overall, these reductions were counterbalanced by more subjects developing cardiogenic shock (1141 [5.0%] vs. 885 [3.9%]; OR 1.30, 1.19–1.41; p<0.00001). This excess of cardiogenic shock was mainly during days 0–1 after admission, whereas the reductions in reinfarction and ventricular fibrillation emerged more gradually. Consequently, the overall effect on death, reinfarction, arrest, or shock was significantly adverse during days 0–1 and significantly beneficial thereafter. There was substantial net hazard in hemodynamically unstable patients, and moderate net benefit in those who were relatively stable (particularly after days 0–1).
HfO/sub 2//metal stacks: determination of energy level diagram, work functions & their dependence on metal deposition

We report the following results for metal/HfO/sub 2//oxide stacks, (i) The energy level band diagram of HfO/sub 2//SiO/sub 2/ stacks is experimentally determined for the first time; the conduction band offset between HfO/sub 2/ and interfacial SiO/sub 2/ is estimated to be 2.05 eV. (ii) Work functions of W, Re and TaSiN are measured for HfO/sub 2//SiO/sub 2//Si and SiO/sub 2//Si stacks: work functions exhibit no Fermi pinning effect in HfO/sub 2/, unlike previous report by Schaeffer et al in 2004. (iii) The impact of metal gate deposition on its work function and the oxide charge density is investigated. Measurements show that the tungsten work function is independent of deposition time and method (CVD vs. sputtering). However, oxide charge density (Q/sub 0X/) depends both on the deposition time and method: Q/sub 0X/ is positively charged for CVD and negatively charged for sputtered depositions. Also, Q/sub 0X/ increases with W deposition time.
Kinetics of agitation-induced coagulation of high-solid latexes

Abstract the rate of mechanical coagulation of a high-solids latex, in a stirred tank (∼35%), was measured experimentally. Elimination of the air-liquid interface by conducting coagulation experiments in a filled tank reduced the rate of coagulation as compared to that of an unfilled tank with an air-liquid interface. Also, a semi-theoretical equation was developed to better describe the experimental coagulation rate, which showed acceleration in the later stages of coagulation. The equation which combines the effects of shear and surface coagulation has the form dc dt = P 1 + P 2 C − P 3 C where C is particles concentration and t is time. The parameters P1, P2, and P3 are related to the different aspects of the mechanical coagulation process.