cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Direct comparison of an intravascular and an extracellular contrast agent for quantification of myocardial perfusion

A direct comparison of extracellular and intravascular contrast agents for the assessment of myocardial perfusion was carried out in a porcine model (N = 5) with a flow-limiting occluder on the left anterior descending coronary artery. Rapid imaging during the first pass of an extracellular or intravascular contrast agent with a saturation-recovery-prepared TurboFLASH sequence showed comparable peak contrast-to-noise enhancements in myocardial tissue regions with flows averaging 1.1 +/- 0.2 at baseline to 4.8 +/- 0.6 ml/min/g during hyperemia. The coefficient of variation between the MR estimates of blood flow with Gadomer-17 and the microsphere blood flow measurements was 11 +/- 11%, while the corresponding co-efficient of variation for blood flow estimates with the extracellular CA was 23 +/- 11%. Blood volume differences between rest and hyperemia observed with the intravascular tracer were significant (Vvasc(rest) = 0.078 +/- 0.013 ml/g, versus Vvasc(hyperemia) = 0.102 +/- 0.019 ml/g; p < 0.05). The effects of water exchange were minimized through the choice of pulse sequence parameters to provide blood volume estimates consistent with the changes expected between rest and hyperemia. This study represents the first application of multiple indicators in first pass imaging studies for the assessment of myocardial perfusion. The use of an intravascular instead of an extracellular contrast agent allows a reduction of the degrees of freedom for modeling tissue residue curves and results in improved accuracy of blood flow estimates.
A molecular orbital study of 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenethylamine and related polyhydroxyphenethylamines.

Complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO) calculations indicate that 6-hydroxydopamine (2,4,5-trihydroxyphenethylamine), 2,3,5-trihydroxyphenethylamine, and 2,3,4,5-tetrahydroxyphenethylamine have the same minimum energy conformations. 6-Hydroxydopamine is known to cause neurodegeneration; all three compounds have recently been shown to have long-term effects on the accumulation of [3H]norepinephrine in mouse heart in vivo. The minimum energy conformations are gauche forms in which the proton on the nitrogen atom, at the end of the rotated side chain, and the 2-hydroxyl oxygen atom are 1.29 A apart, a likely intramolecular hydrogen bonding distance. All three of these compounds contain para-oriented hydroxyl groups. These 2,5-dihydroxy substituents display about the same interatomic distance as that between the oxygen atom in the 5-hydroxyl group and the nitrogen atom in the minimum energy conformers, and it is proposed that this distance might be important for interaction of these compounds with macromolecules. The criteria of a specific interatomic distance, combined with their ease of oxidation to 1,4-quinones via anion-radical mechanisms when a third hydroxyl group is present in the molecule, and adequate uptake at the active site are sufficient to define the biological activity of longterm reduction in the cardiac uptake of norepinephrine. The minimum energy conformations, interatomic distances, and net electronic charge distributions in isomeric 2,3,4-, 3,4,5-, 2,3,6-, and 2,4,6-trihydroxyphenethylamines and 2,5-dihydroxyphenethylamine have also been obtained. These compounds do not meet one or more of the listed criteria for inducing long-term reduction in cardiac uptake of [2H]norepinephine.
Regional Variation in Mammography Use among Insured Women 40-49 Years Old: Impact of a USPSTF Guideline Change

Purpose: The impact of the USPSTF (US Preventive Services Task Force) recommendation that 40-49 year old women should no longer routinely receive screening mammography in November 2009 in different regions of the US is unknown. Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study using medical claims from administrative health records from privately insured 40-59 year old women enrolled between 2005 and 2012 to evaluate biennial screening trends. Results: There was a slight decrease in mammography usage among 40-49 year old US women after the 2008-2009 biennial period (p < 0.001). There were some regional differences in mammography trends, with the West showing the greatest difference in odds of 40-49 year olds receiving a mammography in 2011-2012 compared to 2008-2009 (OR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.91-0.94). Although trends for 50-59 year olds mirrored that of 40-49 year olds, the younger age group had a stronger decline in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Conclusions: These findings show that USPSTF guideline changes made some differences in mammography usage among 40-49 year olds, but adherence was uneven across regions.
Multi‐mode acquisition (MMA): An MS/MS acquisition strategy for maximizing selectivity, specificity and sensitivity of DIA product ion spectra

In proteomics studies, it is generally accepted that depth of coverage and dynamic range is limited in data-directed acquisitions. The serial nature of the method limits both sensitivity and the number of precursor ions that can be sampled. To that end, a number of data-independent acquisition (DIA) strategies have been introduced with these methods, for the most part, immune to the sampling issue; nevertheless, some do have other limitations with respect to sensitivity. The major limitation with DIA approaches is interference, i.e., MS/MS spectra are highly chimeric and often incapable of being identified using conventional database search engines. Utilizing each available dimension of separation prior to ion detection, we present a new multi-mode acquisition (MMA) strategy multiplexing both narrowband and wideband DIA acquisitions in a single analytical workflow. The iterative nature of the MMA workflow limits the adverse effects of interference with minimal loss in sensitivity. Qualitative identification can be performed by selected ion chromatograms or conventional database search strategies.
NFIRAOS in 2015: engineering for future integration of complex subsystems

The Narrow Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) will be the first-light facility Adaptive Optics (AO) system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). NFIRAOS will be able to host three science instruments that can take advantage of this high performance system. NRC Herzberg is leading the design effort for this critical TMT subsystem. As part of the final design phase of NFIRAOS, we have identified multiple subsystems to be sub-contracted to Canadian industry. The scope of work for each subcontract is guided by the NFIRAOS Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and is divided into two phases: the completion of the final design and the fabrication, assembly and delivery of the final product. Integration of the subsystems at NRC will require a detailed understanding of the interfaces between the subsystems, and this work has begun by defining the interface physical characteristics, stability, local coordinate systems, and alignment features. In order to maintain our stringent performance requirements, the interface parameters for each subsystem are captured in multiple performance budgets, which allow a bottom-up error estimate. In this paper we discuss our approach for defining the interfaces in a consistent manner and present an example error budget that is influenced by multiple subsystems.
Firm strategy under imperfectly competitive market conditions

Differences in tastes, desires, incomes and locations of buyers, and differences in the use which they wish to make of commodities all indicate the need for variety and the necessity of substituting for the concept of a “competitive ideal,” an ideal involving both monopoly and competition. Edward Chamberlin We have so far considered two distinctly different market structures: perfect competition (characterized by producers that cannot influence price at all because of extreme competition) and pure monopoly (in which there is only one producer of a product with no close substitutes and whose market is protected by prohibitively high barriers to entry). Needless to say, neither of those theoretical structures well describes most markets. Even in the short run, producers typically compete with several or many other producers of similar, but not identical, products. General Motors Corporation competes with Ford Motor Company and a number of foreign producers. McDonald's Corporation competes with Burger King Corporation, Carl's Jr., and any number of other burger franchises, as well as with Pizza Hut, Popeye's Fried Chicken, and Taco Bell. In the long run, all these firms must compete with new companies that surmount the imperfect barriers to entry into their markets. In short, most companies competing in the imperfect markets can cause producers to be more efficient in their use of resources than under pure monopoly, although less efficient than in perfect competition. Part A of this chapter develops the theory of competition in obvious markets, those for products.
Atypical anti-glomerular basement membrane disease: lessons learned

Anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease usually pursues a self-limited course, at least from the immunological perspective. In addition, circulating antibodies to cryptic, conformational epitopes within the NC1 domain of the alpha 3 chain of Type IV Collagen are commonly found at the zenith of the clinical disease. However, exceptions to these general rules do occur, as exemplified by two remarkable cases reported in this issue of the Clinical Kidney Journal. The possible explanations for and the lessons learned from these uncommon occurrences are discussed in this short commentary.
Compositional Analysis of Wax Esters in Human Meibomian Gland Secretions by Direct Infusion Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Wax esters (WE) are one of the predominant lipid types in human meibomian gland secretions (meibum) and account for 40–50 % of total meibum lipids. Recently, we managed to quantify 51 isomeric groups of intact WE in normal human meibum samples by direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS), with each WE peak in the MS spectrum corresponding to one isomeric group (Chen et al, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 54(8):5730–53, 2013). However, the information of the isomeric composition in each group was not obtained. In this study, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was applied to quantify relative amounts of these isomers using the intensities of the corresponding diagnostic ions after appropriate correction and normalization. This data was combined with the previous obtained mole fraction of each isomeric group to total WE in human meibum to determine the corresponding percentage of each isomer. A total of 23 of the most abundant WE peaks of different molecular weights (corresponding to 85.3 % of the total amount of WE) in human meibum were studied and resulted in quantification of 92 WE species. The quantitative information of composition of WE in human meibum will help better understand their role in the tear film.
Development of a thermodynamic model for a cold cycle 3He-4He dilution refrigerator

Abstract A thermodynamic model of a 3 He- 4 He cold cycle dilution refrigerator with no actively-driven mechanical components is developed and investigated. The refrigerator employs a reversible superfluid magnetic pump, passive check valves, a phase separation chamber, and a series of recuperative heat exchangers to continuously circulate 3 He- 4 He and maintain a 3 He concentration gradient across the mixing chamber. The model predicts cooling power and mixing chamber temperature for a range of design and operating parameters, allowing an evaluation of feasibility for potential 3 He- 4 He cold cycle dilution refrigerator prototype designs. Model simulations for a prototype refrigerator design are presented.
Can Costco Reign in Spain

This paper discusses the corporate and human resources strategies of Costco, and the prospects for its expansion into Spain, with regard to cultural and economic fit.
Predictors and Clinical Outcomes of Next-Day Discharge After Minimalist Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Abstract Objectives This study sought to investigate predictors and safety of next-day discharge (NDD) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Background Information about predictors and safety of NDD after TAVR is limited. Methods The study reviewed 663 consecutive patients who underwent elective balloon-expandable TAVR (from July 2014 to July 2016) at our institution. We first determined predictors of NDD in patients who underwent minimalist transfemoral TAVR. After excluding cases with complications, we compared 30-day and 1-year outcomes between NDD patients and those with longer hospital stay using Cox regression adjusting for the Predicted Risk of Mortality provided by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The primary endpoint was the composite of mortality and readmission at 1 year. Results A total of 150 patients had NDD after TAVR and 210 patients had non-NDD. Mean age and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality were 80.7 ± 8.8 years and 6.6 ± 3.7%, respectively. Predictors of NDD were male sex (odds ratio [OR]: 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28 to 3.18), absence of atrial fibrillation (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.57), serum creatinine (OR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.55 to 0.92), and age (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.93 to 0.98). As expected, 84% of patients with complications had non-NDD. After excluding cases with complications, there was no difference in hazard rates of the 30-day composite outcome between NDD and non-NDD (hazard ratio: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.20 to 1.91), but the hazard of the composite outcome at 1 year was significantly lower in the NDD group (hazard ratio: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.81). This difference in the composite outcome can be explained by the lower hazard of noncardiovascular related readmission in the NDD group. Conclusions Factors predicting NDD include male sex, absence of atrial fibrillation, lower serum creatinine, and younger age. When compared with patients without complications with a longer hospital stay, NDD appears to be safe, achieving similar 30-day and superior 1-year clinical outcomes.
Superinfection Exclusion between Two High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Types during a Coinfection

Superinfection exclusion is a common phenomenon whereby a single cell is unable to be infected by two types of the same pathogen. Superinfection exclusion has been described for various viruses, including vaccinia virus, measles virus, hepatitis C virus, influenza A virus, and human immunodeficiency virus. Additionally, the mechanism of exclusion has been observed at various steps of the viral life cycle, including attachment, entry, viral genomic replication, transcription, and exocytosis. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the causative agent of cervical cancer. Recent epidemiological studies indicate that up to 50% women who are HPV positive (HPV+) are infected with more than one HPV type. However, no mechanism of superinfection exclusion has ever been identified for HPV. Here, we show that superinfection exclusion exists during a HPV coinfection and that it occurs on the cell surface during the attachment/entry phase of the viral life cycle. Additionally, we are able to show that the minor capsid protein L2 plays a role in this exclusion. This study shows, for the first time, that superinfection exclusion occurs during HPV coinfections and describes a potential molecular mechanism through which it occurs.IMPORTANCE Superinfection exclusion is a phenomenon whereby one cell is unable to be infected by multiple related pathogens. This phenomenon has been described for many viruses and has been shown to occur at various points in the viral life cycle. HPV is the causative agent of cervical cancer and is involved in other anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. Recent epidemiological research has shown that up to 50% of HPV-positive individuals harbor more than one type of HPV. We investigated the interaction between two high-risk HPV types, HPV16 and HPV18, during a coinfection. We present data showing that HPV16 is able to block or exclude HPV18 on the cell surface during a coinfection. This exclusion is due in part to differences in the HPV minor capsid protein L2. This report provides, for the first time, evidence of superinfection exclusion for HPV and leads to a better understanding of the complex interactions between multiple HPV types during coinfections.
Comparison of Post-therapy Dysphonic Voices and Normal Voices.

Summary Purpose The purpose of the present investigation was to compare the voices of post-therapy dysphonic participants with participants who have normal voices to determine how close the corrected voices approached normal vocal levels. The present investigation is a follow-up to the authors' previous research in which dysphonic participants, with voices ranging from moderate-to-severe dysphonia, were evaluated pre- and post therapy using the Dysphonic Severity Percentage scale and the interval scale. Methods In the present study, five raters, three speech-language pathologists experienced in assessing dysphonia, and two trained speech-language pathology college students evaluated 20 participants with normal voices under the same two conditions as those of the corrected participants—when reading a paragraph aloud and during spontaneous speech. While listening to the recordings of the normal voices, the raters tallied any dysphonic syllables produced by the participants to obtain a Dysphonic Severity Percentage for both paragraph reading and spontaneous speech. The raters also evaluated the normal voices on the interval scale. These data were compared with those of the post-therapy participants, who were evaluated under the same conditions and methods pre- and post therapy. Results and Conclusion The dysphonic participants' voices improved significantly post therapy in comparison with their pretherapy result; their improvement, however, was not commensurate with the voices of the normal participants, and the data showed a significant difference between the two groups. Both evaluation scales reflected a high agreement among raters.
Structure, function, and regulation of the chalcone synthase.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of the activity, function, and control of chalcone synthase (CHS) enzyme. It describes the reaction it catalyzes, the secondary metabolic products of the pathways in which it is involved, and the functions of these products. The chapter also explores how CHS is regulated to facilitate flavonoid biosynthesis under particular developmental and environmental conditions. CHS is a condensing enzyme, unique to plants, that builds a 15-carbon (C15) intermediate from which all flavonoids are derived. It is regarded the key enzyme of flavonoid biosynthesis, as it is the first enzyme committed to flavonoid production. Because changes in the activity of CHS are closely associated with the induction of synthesis of many different flavonoids, it represents an enzyme under considerable environmental and developmental regulation. Chalcone synthase catalyzes the formation of naringenin chalcone from one molecule of 4-coumaroyl CoA and three molecules of malonyl CoA. The biosynthesis proceeds by stepwise decarboxylative condensation of acetate units from the malonyl residues with the starter 4-coumaroyl CoA residue, releasing four molecules of CoA and three of CO2 in the process. Very closely related to chalcone synthases are the enzymes that synthesize the backbone of the stilbene phytoalexins, the stilbene synthases (STS).
The Nature of Operations Research and its Beginnings

The development of military operations research in World War II is outlined, with examples of several specific studies. This historical account is followed through postwar applications in U. S. industry, the organization of professional societies and the recent applications by governmental agencies to problems in the public interest. The common features of these studies are identified as characteristic of O — R, although the problems vary widely in subject matter and scope. Programs of courses for O — R training are offered in more than 20 universities and military schools.
Ethical Investment in the Stock Market: Halal Investing and Zakat on Stocks

Islamic finance is the fastest growing segment of the global financial system and has been experiencing an impressive double-digit growth in recent history. Following the growth trend of Islamic finance, a rapidly rising affluent and well-educated Muslim middle class from the Islamic world and Western countries is aspiring to match finance with faith and fueling demand for Islamic investments. This paper examines how Muslim investors can invest in the contemporary stock market in a way completely compatible with the letter and spirit of divine Islamic law or shariah, and how Islamic investment is considered for zakat — a religious obligation to donate to the poor and needy a certain percentage of wealth. The conditions laid down by shariah make Muslim investors’ participation in the stock market a special case of ethical investment. This paper discusses a qualitative screening process to identify stocks of companies that are engaged in business or activities permissible (halal) in Islam, and a quantitative screening process utilizing financial ratio analysis to allow companies in permissible business to use a tolerable level of interest-bearing securities and associated interest income and expenses. Stocks of companies passing these tests are designated as shariah-compliant stocks or halal investments and these stocks form the investment opportunity set for Muslim investors. The paper then focuses on how to cleanse investment income from shariah-compliant stocks contaminated by income from impermissible (haram) sources and concludes with a discussion of two opinions of Islamic jurists and shariah scholars on treatment of investment in stocks for zakat calculation.
Nonoperative management of giant omphalocele leading to early fascial closure.

Abstract Purpose We describe our series of giant omphalocele patients treated with a serial taping method for gradual reduction of the abdominal contents and early fascial closure. Methods Between 2010 and 2017 we cared for ten newborns with giant omphaloceles. The average gestational age was 35.5 weeks (range 29–38) and average birthweight was 2.84 kg. Seven infants had other major anomalies, including one with a variant of Pentology of Cantrell. Four had abnormal chromosomes. None had any attempt to primarily close the defect. Omphalocele defects were serially taped at bedside in the NICU with the child awake until the viscera were completely reduced, and the defect could be closed. Results Mean time to closure was 13.7 days (median 14 days). Six were closed primarily without a patch. The remaining four infants required Gore-Tex patch (covered by skin) which was later removed and fascia closed in three infants (at 70 days, 75 days, and 11 months of age). Total length of stay was a mean 71.8 days (median 71). Conclusions Serial taping achieves early fascial closure and avoids complications of a staged surgical approach, such as multiple anesthetics, loss of fascial margin integrity, silo dehiscence, and fistula formation. Compression of the viscera is slow enough to avoid abdominal compartment syndrome and the fascia and amnion are left intact leaving the option available to use escharotic agents if required. Type of study Treatment study. Level of evidence Level III.
Energy Disaggregation Based Deep Learning Techniques: A pre-processing Stage to Enhance The Household Load Forecasting

The development of the current power system grid is essential to serve the client better. Especially, with the massive expansion in the distribution network and the increase of renewable energy penetration. This development means the grid must be reliable, more flexible, and smarter. Households represent a massive portion of the grid infrastructure. The deployment of smart appliances enables the grid to be smarter through energy/demand side management based appliances control. Therefore, Short-Term Load Forecasting (STLF) is needed to help the energy management for households' systems. The main challenge for STLF at the household's level is the high uncertainty in the load demand. In this paper, a new method for households' STLF is employed. It consists of a Feed Forward artificial neural network (FFANN) and a preprocessing stage of Energy Disaggregation (ED) techniques. Extract the individual load pattern of household's appliances from the total load demand by the ED techniques, enlarge the training data set of the FFANN forecaster to achieve a remarkable improvement for its forecasting performance. Three deep neural network architectures have been used for energy disaggregation. 1) denoising autoencoder (DAE); 2) a unique type of a recurrent neural network (RNN) entitled long short-term memory (LSTM); 3) a network that provides rectangles for the estimated demand by regression the start time, end time and average power demand (nicknamed as RECTANGLES). The proposed method outperforms the state of the art techniques in household load forecasting regarding RMSE, NRMSE, and MAE.
Testing Assumptions of the Categorization Approach to Studying Sports Participation and Alcohol Use

The present study tested whether playing football or lacrosse in high school is associated with more problematic alcohol use during college compared with playing other sports in high school. A samp...
Dual antithrombotic therapy in PCI: Potential harm in routine adoption

Randomized clinical trials support the use of dual antithrombotic therapy (DAT) in PCI patients but outcomes in clinical practice are unclear. In this observational study of patients at high risk for thromboembolism and bleeding, routine use of a P2Y12 inhibitor alone compared with DAPT with OAC was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic events without a lower risk of bleeding. Future randomized trials and observational analyses of large registries are needed to select the ideal patient population for DAT.
IMPACT OF VARIANT PULMONARY VENOUS ANATOMY ON THE EFFICACY OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION ABLATION

Cryoballoon pulmonary vein (PV) isolation/ablation is an efficacious treatment of paroxysmal and early persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), including in patients with left common (LC) PV anatomy. The efficacy of cryoballoon ablation is unknown in patients with right middle or accessory (RMA) PVs.
Dysregulation of sonic hedgehog pathway and pericytes in the brain after lentiviral infection

Impairment of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) has been associated with cognitive decline in many CNS diseases, including HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Recent research suggests an important role for the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway in the maintenance of BBB integrity under both physiological and pathological conditions. In the present study, we sought to examine the expression of Shh and its downstream effectors in relation to brain pericytes and BBB integrity in HIV-infected humans and rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), an animal model of HIV infection and CNS disease. Cortical brain tissues from uninfected (n = 4) and SIV-infected macaques with (SIVE, n = 6) or without encephalitis (SIVnoE, n = 4) were examined using multi-label, semi-quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy of Shh, netrin-1, tight junction protein zona occludens 1 (ZO1), glial fibrillary acidic protein, CD163, platelet-derived growth factor receptor b (PDGFRB), glucose transporter 1, fibrinogen, and SIV Gag p28. While Shh presence in the brain persisted during HIV/SIV infection, both netrin-1 immunoreactivity and the size of PDGFRB+ pericytes, a cellular source of netrin-1, were increased around non-lesion-associated vessels in encephalitis compared to uninfected brain or brain without encephalitis, but were completely absent in encephalitic lesions. Hypertrophied pericytes were strongly localized in areas of fibrinogen extravasation and showed the presence of intracellular SIVp28 and HIVp24 by immunofluorescence in all SIV and HIV encephalitis cases examined, respectively. The lack of pericytes and netrin-1 in encephalitic lesions, in line with downregulation of ZO1 on the fenestrated endothelium, suggests that pericyte loss, despite the strong presence of Shh, contributes to HIV/SIV-induced BBB disruption and neuropathogenesis in HAND.
Methods for destriping Landsat Thematic Mapper images - A feasibility study for an online destriping process in the Thematic Mapper Image Processing System (TIPS)

Methods for destriping TM images and results of the application of these methods to selected TM scenes with sensor and scan striping, which was not removed by the radiometric correction during the TM Archive Generation Phase in TIPS, are presented. These methods correct only for gain and offset differences between detectors over many image lines and do not consider within-line effects. The feasibility of implementing a destriping process online in TIPS is also described.
Complex Fracture Nucleation and Evolution with Nonlocal Elastodynamics

A mechanical model is introduced for predicting the initiation and evolution of complex fracture patterns without the need for a damage variable or law. The model, a continuum variant of Newton’s second law, uses integral rather than partial differential operators where the region of integration is over finite domain. The force interaction is derived from a novel nonconvex strain energy density function, resulting in a nonmonotonic material model. The resulting equation of motion is proved to be mathematically well-posed. The model has the capacity to simulate nucleation and growth of multiple, mutually interacting dynamic fractures. In the limit of zero region of integration, the model reproduces the classic Griffith model of brittle fracture. The simplicity of the formulation avoids the need for supplemental kinetic relations that dictate crack growth or the need for an explicit damage evolution law.
Rasch Analysis of Reliability and Validity of Scores From the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM).

Background:The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of scores from the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Sports scales in pat...
Repair of Rotator Cuff Tendon Defects in Aged Rats Using a Growth Factor Injectable Gel Scaffold

Purpose To determine if the tendon-specific crosslinking gelatin (Col-Tgel) impregnated with growth factors promotes tendon healing at the bone interface and in a tendon window model. Methods Two different Col-Tgel formulations were first tested in vitro by evaluating cell morphology and tendogenic differentiation. After the optimum formulation was determined, the gel was mixed with either transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) or growth differentiation factor-7 (GDF-7) growth factor and prepared for injections. Window defects were induced in 12 animals, which were randomized into the following treatments: (1) sham, (2) empty Col-Tgel, (3) Col-Tgel containing TGF-β3, or (4) Col-Tgel containing GDF-7. Based on these results, the sham, empty Col-Tgel, and Col-Tgel containing TGF-β3 were applied to the supraspinatus repair interface. Tendons were analyzed biomechanically and histologically using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining. Results In the window defect model, histologic scores were the best in rats treated with TGF-β3 containing Col-Tgel, followed by the empty Col-Tgel scaffold, and finally the sham control. The GDF-7 Col-Tgel was not further tested because occasional ectopic cartilage and bone formation was found in the prior window defect model. In the supraspinatus repair model, there was no statistical difference (P > .05) in the biomechanical strength among the 3 treatment groups, but load-to-failure ratio improved when TGF-β3 was added to the scaffold, suggesting improved tendon healing. Conclusions This pilot study evaluated the performance of an injectable gel tendon graft in a population of retired breeder rats. The results suggest that Col-Tgel containing TGF-β3 may be a useful adjunctive treatment for surgical repair of full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Histologic and biomechanical scores suggest that Col-Tgel containing TGF-β3 promotes tendon healing. Clinical Relevance The results of this study suggest that shoulders injected with Col-Tgel may be a useful adjunctive treatment for repair of rotator cuff tears.
Abstract P506: Dietary Self-monitoring Using An App: Are Frequency, Consistency And Completeness Related To Weight Loss?

Background: Approximately 70% of the U.S. adult population has obesity and/or overweight and thus increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and type II diabetes mellitus. Standard obesity treatment...
Evidence for an edge supercurrent in the Weyl superconductor MoTe2

Edge supercurrents in superconductors have long been an elusive target. Interest in them has reappeared in the context of topological superconductivity. We report evidence for the existence of a robust edge supercurrent in the Weyl superconductor molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2). In a magnetic field B, fluxoid quantization generates a periodic modulation of the edge condensate observable as a “fast-mode” oscillation of the critical current Ic versus B. The fast-mode frequency is distinct from the conventional Fraunhofer oscillation displayed by the bulk supercurrent. We confirm that the fast-mode frequency increases with crystal area as expected for an edge supercurrent. In addition, weak excitation branches are resolved that display an unusual broken symmetry.
Plasmapheresis for the Treatment of Iatrogenic Antithrombin Excess as a Result of Spuriously Low Antithrombin Activity Measurements

We report an intensive care patient who was given excessive amounts of antithrombin concentrate in response to spuriously low antithrombin activity measurements and was then treated with plasmapheresis (therapeutic plasma exchange or TPE) to remove the excess.
Weight Stigma as a Predictor of Distress and Maladaptive Eating Behaviors During COVID-19: Longitudinal Findings From the EAT Study.

BACKGROUND: Weight stigma is common for people with obesity and harmful to health. Links between obesity and complications from COVID-19 have been identified, but it is unknown whether weight stigma poses adverse health implications during this pandemic. PURPOSE: We examined longitudinal associations between prepandemic experiences of weight stigma and eating behaviors, psychological distress, and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic in a diverse sample of emerging adults. METHODS: Participants (N = 584, 64% female, mean age = 24.6 ± 2.0 years, mean body mass index [BMI] = 28.2) in the COVID-19 Eating and Activity over Time (C-EAT) study were cohort members of the population-based longitudinal study EAT 2010-2018. Weight stigma reported by participants in 2018 was examined as a predictor of binge eating, eating to cope, physical activity, depressive symptoms, and stress during COVID-19. Data were collected via online surveys during the U.S. outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. RESULTS: Prepandemic experiences of weight stigma predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms (s = 0.15, p < .001), stress (s = 0.15, p = .001), eating as a coping strategy (s = 0.16, p < .001), and an increased likelihood of binge eating (odds ratio = 2.88, p < .001) among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic but were unrelated to physical activity. Although associations remained after accounting for demographic characteristics and BMI, the magnitude of longitudinal associations was attenuated after adjusting for prior levels of the outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS: Young adults who have experienced weight stigma may have increased vulnerability to distress and maladaptive eating during this pandemic. Public health messaging could be improved to support people of diverse body sizes and reduce the harmful consequences of weight stigma.
Gamma-Ray Telescopes: 400 Years of Astronomical Telescopes

The last half-century has seen dramatic developments in γ−ray telescopes, from their initial conception and development through to their blossoming into full maturity as a potent research tool in astronomy. Gamma-ray telescopes are leading research in diverse areas such as γ−ray bursts, blazars, Galactic transients, and the Galactic distribution of 26Al.
How trade affects the US produce industry: the case of fresh tomatoes

The US produce industry faces intensifying competition from imports, particularly those from Mexico, the largest exporter of produce to the United States. Fresh produce imports from Mexico have gro...
Uncertain Progress on the Fuzzy Boundaries of Alzheimer's Disease: Reading Between the Guidelines

Recently, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Alzheimer’s Association (AA) issued new guidelines for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related conditions [1–4]. It is important to think deeply about the lessons learned from these new efforts both in terms of their actual content and the cultural context in which they were issued. We believe that these lessons about the state of AD research are more profound than the documents themselves, and speak to broad issues concerning the relationship between science and society, aging and disease, and efforts to improve the quality of life of older people affected by age associated cognitive challenges.
Free energy coupling within macromolecules. The chemical work of ligand binding at the individual sites in co-operative systems.

Individual-site binding curves such as those obtainable from techniques of DNase footprinting or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to monitor structurally localized events within biopolymers. This paper discusses thermodynamic aspects of individual-site ligand binding for co-operative systems where the binding of ligand at a local site is coupled to binding of the same ligand species at other sites within the macromolecule. Individual-site binding isotherms have the following properties. (1) They provide a direct indication of the role played by the particular site in the overall binding reaction. (2) They can be used to determine the energetic contribution of loading the site regardless of the complexity of the system. (3) They can be used to resolve microscopic equilibrium constants and co-operativity constants in cases where the classical isotherm is incapable of such resolution. The microscopic constants bear a complex relation to the chemical work of loading each individual site. For a system with two interacting sites we derive analytical relationships between the individual-site loading energies and the microscopic constants. These relationships prescribe, for any values of the microscopic constants, how the co-operative energy is partitioned between events at the two sites. At fixed ligand activity the binding free energy can be estimated directly from an individual-site isotherm. This quantity, which is also a composite of the microscopic constants, provides a useful measure of site-site interaction. Several examples and applications are discussed for these properties of individual-site binding reactions.
Viability of Multithreading on Networks of Workstations

Recent trend in high-performance computing focuses on networks of workstations (NOWs) as a way of realizing cost-effective parallel machines. This has been due to the availability of powerful wide-issue processors, high-speed networks, and software infrastructure systems. Due to its distributed nature, message-passing has been the choice of communication model for NOWs. This paper, however, examines the viability of using multithreading on NOWs. A matrix multiplication algorithm was studied by simulating a shared-memory abstraction on top of Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) to characterize the behavior of multi-threading. Our experiments indicate the performance of multithreading, with a small number of threads per processor, is very comparable to that of programs written using message-passing. Our studies also show multithreading has an added advantage over message-passing in that it is relatively insensitive to initial data distribution.
Optimal electricity supply: Reliability, pricing and system planning

This paper provides a summary of recent developments in electricity supply reliability, pricing, and system planning with emphasis on the close interrelationships among these aspects. By focusing attention on the hitherto relatively neglected area of outage costs, a broader approach to system planning was developed in which the sum of system costs and outage costs is minimized. This methodology effectively subsumes the traditional system planning criterion of minimizing only the system costs subject to an arbitrary target reliability level. The methodology is applied to the case of a typical urban distribution system. The use of reliability indices and techniques of estimating outage costs are also discussed.
A zero-knowledge poker protocol that achieves confidentiality of the players' strategy or How to achieve an electronic poker face

Many attempts have been previously made to achieve a protocol that would allow people to play mental poker [SRA, GM1, BF, FM, Yu, Cr] (I would rather say electronic poker). But no solution has ever come close to reality with respect to poker strategy. Poker players usually claim that luck has nothing to do with their gains. In fact, poker is a very strategic game. Often, an inexperienced player will loose a lot of money when playing against an experienced player, only because the former cannot hide so easily his emotions. The experienced player can easily know whether his opponent has a good hand or not.
The Use of Structural Analysis to Identify Setting Events in Applied Settings for Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders.

This study investigated the use of practitioner-implemented structural analyses to determine setting events affecting the disruptive behavior of two male students with EBD in a self-contained classroom. Descriptive measures (PBQ, SEII, and direct observation) and analogue probes were employed and contrasted. An ABA reversal design was used to compare intervention packages; maintenance and social validity data were also obtained. Findings indicate that structural analyses can be implemented by a practitioner and can lead to the development of successful interventions within educational settings. Implications for broad implementation and future research are also discussed.
Expert systems techniques, tools and applications

Expert Systems. Techniques, Tools, and Applications is a collection of research papers covering a range of topics in expert systems and knowledge engineering. The book is edited by Philip Klahr and the late Donald A. Waterman, both of Rand Corporation. The papers are selected from RAND technical reports published from 1977 to 1985. The book is most valuable to people learning knowledge engineering. Four of the papers provide interesting glimpses at the problems involved in transforming knowledge about a domain into computer representations. In addition, the book contains one or two interesting papers for researchers in each of the areas of knowledge acquisition, reasoning with uncertainty, and distributed problem solving.
DNA kinks available...if needed.

In this issue of Structure , Lankas and coworkers (Lankas et al., 2006) use molecular dynamics simulations of highly strained 94 base-pair DNA circles to show DNA kinking (unstacking of base pairs). The significance of such kinks is surprisingly controversial.
Visual working memory retains movement information within an allocentric reference frame

What frame of reference do we use to remember observed movements? One possibility is that visual working memory (VWM) retains movement information using a retinotopic frame of reference: A coordinate system with respect to the retina that retains view-dependent information. Alternatively, VWM might retain movement information using an allocentric frame of reference: A coordinate system with respect to the scene that retains view-invariant information. To address this question, I examined whether VWM retains view-dependent or view-invariant movement information. Results show that (1) observers have considerable difficulty remembering from which viewpoints they observed movements after a few seconds' delay, and (2) the same number of movements can be retained in VWM whether the movements are encoded and tested from the same viewpoint or from different viewpoints. Thus, movement representations contain little to no view-dependent information, which suggests that VWM uses an allocentric reference frame to ret...
A model of the secondary radiation belt

Products of nuclear reactions between primary radiation belt protons and constituents of the tenuous upper atmosphere form a collocated secondary radiation belt. A calculation of the time-dependent secondary intensity provides a model specification of this environmental component for low- and medium-altitude satellite orbits. It is based on an earlier model of the radiation belt protons, the novel feature being a determination of the secondary source function from nuclear reaction cross sections. All long-lived secondary products are included, isotopes of H and He being dominant while the heavier Li to O isotopes are present at relatively low levels. Secondary protons are shown to be a minor correction to the primary radiation belt.
Maternal virilization due to luteoma associated with delayed lactation.

Objective To report on a patient with virilization during pregnancy who experienced delayed lactation secondary to elevated maternal androgens. Design Case report and review of the literature. Setting University hospital. Patient(s) A 32-year-old pregnant woman presented with virilization at 32 weeks' gestation. Intervention(s) Laboratory evaluation, ultrasound examination, magnetic resonance imaging, cesarean section for fetal indication, nipple stimulation to facilitate lactation. Main Outcome Measure(s) Case report. Result(s) Postpartum normalization of serum T levels and patient ability to breastfeed exclusively after delayed initiation of lactation. Conclusion(s) Maternal virilization during pregnancy is rare and is often due to androgen-secreting tumors that are benign. Therefore, careful evaluation of these patients is important to avoid inadvertent oophorectomy.
Suitability of a Coal-Derived Carbon-Based Foam for use in Thermal Protection Systems of Common Aero Vehicles

Common Aero Vehicles (CAVs) are relatively small‐size, un‐powered, self‐maneuvering vehicles equipped with a variety of weapons and launched from space. One of the major obstacles hampering a full the realization of the CAV concept is a present lack of lightweight, high‐temperature insulation materials which can be used for construction of the CAV’s thermal protection system (TPS). A computational analysis is utilized in the present work to examine the suitability of a carbon‐based, coal‐derived foam for the TPS applications in the CAVs. Toward that end, a model is developed for the high‐temperature effective thermal conductivity of foam‐like materials. In addition, an insulation sizing procedure is devised to determine the minimum insulation thickness needed for thermal protection of the vehicle structure at different sections of a CAV. It is found that the carbon‐based foam material in question can be considered as a suitable TPS insulation material at the leeward side and at selected portions of the windward side of a CAV (specifically the portions which are further away from the vehicle nose).
Isotopic exchange of beryllium hydride with deuterium

Beryllium hydride has been synthesized by Ethyl Corporation workers based upon a modification of the method of Coates and Holley, a method that gives product purities of 90-98 wt.%. The direct synthesis using beryllium powder and hydrogen has been unsuccessful. Beryllium deuteride can also be prepared by Ethyl Corporation's process using all-deuterated organic reactants. However, it is difficult to replace all deuterium atoms in hydrogenated alkyls, and the procedures are slow and costly. This note reports a process of producing beryllium deuteride by activating pyrolysis-process beryllium hydride and exchanging the hydride with deuterium gas under pressure and temperature.