Save America: Stop Illegal Immigration

Security is an overriding issue confronting the United States, and if we want enhanced security, illegal immigration must be stopped. In fact, illegal immigration is an addiction that the United States must break, or it will break the United States

Methods of fitting multivariant functional models in the area of large computer exploita- tion final report, 23 may 1963 - 23 jul. 1965

Methods of fitting multivariant functional models in area of large computer exploitatio

Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library, Number Four: Gilded Age of Legal Ethics: Essays on Thomas Goode Jones\u27 1887 Code and the Regulation of the Profession

Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library, Number Four contains four essays concerning the 1887 Code of Ethics of the Alabama State Bar Association and its author, Thomas Goode Jones (1844-1914). Jones\u27 Code of Ethics is also included. Jones was an Alabama lawyer, judge, house representative, and governor. The 1887 Code of Ethics of the Alabama State Bar Association was the first code of legal ethics created by a state bar association and served as a structure for following codes of ethics. Jones\u27 Code of Ethics is composed of some 57 duties specifically enjoined by law upon attorneys...https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/occasional_publications/1003/thumbnail.jp

An Update on Grading of Salivary Gland Carcinomas

Histologic grade is a significant predictor of outcome in salivary gland carcinomas. However, the sheer variety of tumor type and the rarity of these tumors pose challenges to devising highly predictive grading schemes. As our knowledge base has evolved, it is clear that carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma is not automatically a high grade tumor as is traditionally suggested. These tumors should be further qualified as to type/grade of carcinoma and extent, since intracapsular and minimally invasive carcinomas ex pleomorphic adenoma behave favorably. The two carcinoma types for which grading schemes are common include adenoid cystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Adenoid cystic carcinomas are graded based solely on pattern with solid components portending a worse prognosis. Occasionally, adenoid cystic carcinomas may undergo transformation to pleomorphic high grade carcinomas. This feature confers a high propensity for lymph node metastasis and should thus be reported to alert the clinical team. Mucoepidermoid carcinomas are graded in a three tier fashion based on a constellation of features including cystic component, border, mitoses, anaplasia, and perineural invasion among others. All grading schemes are somewhat cumbersome, intimidating and occasionally ambiguous, but evidence suggests that using a scheme consistently shows greater reproducibility than using an intuitive approach. The intermediate grade category demonstrates the most variability between grading systems and thus the most controversy in management. In the AFIP system intermediate grade tumors cluster with high grade tumors, while in the Brandwein system, they cluster with low grade tumors

Cancer somatic mutations cluster in a subset of regulatory sites predicted from the ENCODE data

Background: Transcriptional regulation of gene expression is essential for cellular differentiation and function, and defects in the process are associated with cancer. The ENCODE project has mapped potential regulatory sites across the complete genome in many cell types, and these regions have been shown to harbour many of the somatic mutations that occur in cancer cells, suggesting that their effects may drive cancer initiation and development. The ENCODE data suggests a very large number of regulatory sites, and methods are needed to identify those that are most relevant and to connect them to the genes that they control. Methods: Predictive models of gene expression were developed by integrating the ENCODE data for regulation, including transcription factor binding and DNase1 hypersensitivity, with RNA-seq data for gene expression. A penalized regression method was used to identify the most predictive potential regulatory sites for each transcript. Known cancer somatic mutations from the COSMIC database were mapped to potential regulatory sites, and we examined differences in the mapping frequencies associated with sites chosen in regulatory models and other (rejected) sites. The effects of potential confounders, for example replication timing, were considered. Results: Cancer somatic mutations preferentially occupy those regulatory regions chosen in our models as most predictive of gene expression. Conclusion: Our methods have identified a significantly reduced set of regulatory sites that are enriched in cancer somatic mutations and are more predictive of gene expression. This has significance for the mechanistic interpretation of cancer mutations, and the understanding of genetic regulation

Solar Intranetwork Magnetic Elements: bipolar flux appearance

The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic axis orientation. On average, the sampled IN ERs have total maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{17} Mx, separation of 3-4 arcsec, and a lifetime of 10-15 minutes. The smallest IN ERs have a maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{16} Mx, separations less than 1 arcsec, and lifetimes as short as 5 minutes. Most IN ERs exhibit a rotation of their magnetic axis of more than 10 degrees during flux emergence. Peculiar flux appearance, e.g., bipole shrinkage followed by growth or the reverse, is not unusual. A few examples show repeated shrinkage-growth or growth-shrinkage, like magnetic floats in the dynamic photosphere. The observed bipolar behavior seems to carry rich information on magneto-convection in the sub-photospheric layer.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure

A nationwide survey to measure practice variation of catheterisation management in patients undergoing vaginal prolapse surgery

Urinary catheterisation following vaginal prolapse surgery causes inconvenience for patients, risk of urinary tract infections and potentially longer hospitalisation. Possibly, practice variation exists concerning diagnosis and management of abnormal postvoid residual (PVR) volume implying suboptimal treatment for certain subgroups. Nationwide questionnaire-based survey. Post-operatively, 77% performed transurethral indwelling catheterisation, 12% suprapubic catheterisation and 11% intermittent catheterisation. Catheterisation was applied 3 days (1-7 days) following anterior repair and 1 day (1-3 days) following all other procedures. The median cut-off point for abnormal PVR was 150 mL (range 50-250 mL). Treatment of abnormal PVR consisted mostly of prolonging transurethral indwelling catheterisation for 2 days (range 1-5 days; 57%), 29% by intermittent and 12% by suprapubic catheterisation. Antibiotics were administered by 21% either routinely or based on symptoms only. Due to insufficient evidence and suboptimal implementation of available evidence, practice variation in catheterisation regimens is hig

Protocol for Physiotherapy OR Tvt Randomised Efficacy Trial (PORTRET): a multicentre randomised controlled trial to assess the cost-effectiveness of the tension free vaginal tape versus pelvic floor muscle training in women with symptomatic moderate to severe stress urinary incontinence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stress urinary incontinence is a common condition affecting approximately 20% of adult women causing substantial individual (quality of life) and economic (119 million Euro/year spent on incontinence pads in the Netherlands) burden. Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is regarded as first line treatment, but only 15-25% of women will be completely cured. Approximately 65% will report that their condition improved, but long term adherence to treatment is problematic. In addition, at longer term (2-15 years) follow-up 30-50% of patients will end up having surgery. From 1996 a minimal invasive surgical procedure, the Tension-free Vaginal Tape (TVT) has rapidly become the gold standard in surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence. With TVT 65-95% of women are cured. However, approximately 3-6% of women will develop symptoms of an overactive bladder, resulting in reduced quality of life. Because of its efficacy the TVT appears to be preferable over PFMT but both treatments and their costs have not been compared head-to-head in a randomised clinical trial.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A multi-centre randomised controlled trial will be performed for women between 35 - 80 years old with moderate to severe, predominantly stress, urinary incontinence, who have not received specialised PFMT or previous anti-incontinence surgery. Women will be assigned to either PFMT by a specialised physiotherapist for a standard of 9-18 session in a period of 6 months, or TVT(O) surgery. The main endpoint of the study is the subjective improvement of urinary incontinence. As secondary outcome the objective cure will be assessed from history and clinical parameters. Subjective improvement in quality of life will be measured by generic (EQ-5D) and disease-specific (Urinary Distress Inventory and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire) quality of life instruments. The economical endpoint is short term (1 year) incremental cost-effectiveness in terms of costs per additional year free of urinary incontinence and costs per Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) gained. Finally, treatment strategy and patient characteristics will be combined in a prediction model, to allow for individual treatment decisions in future patients. Four hundred female patients will be recruited from over 30 hospitals in the Netherlands</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Nederlands trial register: NTR 1248</p

The quest for the solar g modes

Solar gravity modes (or g modes) -- oscillations of the solar interior for which buoyancy acts as the restoring force -- have the potential to provide unprecedented inference on the structure and dynamics of the solar core, inference that is not possible with the well observed acoustic modes (or p modes). The high amplitude of the g-mode eigenfunctions in the core and the evanesence of the modes in the convection zone make the modes particularly sensitive to the physical and dynamical conditions in the core. Owing to the existence of the convection zone, the g modes have very low amplitudes at photospheric levels, which makes the modes extremely hard to detect. In this paper, we review the current state of play regarding attempts to detect g modes. We review the theory of g modes, including theoretical estimation of the g-mode frequencies, amplitudes and damping rates. Then we go on to discuss the techniques that have been used to try to detect g modes. We review results in the literature, and finish by looking to the future, and the potential advances that can be made -- from both data and data-analysis perspectives -- to give unambiguous detections of individual g modes. The review ends by concluding that, at the time of writing, there is indeed a consensus amongst the authors that there is currently no undisputed detection of solar g modes.Comment: 71 pages, 18 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics Revie