Triorchidism at orchidopexy: a case report

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Star Architecture as Socio-Material Assemblage

Taking inspiration from new materialism and assemblage, the chapter deals with star architects and iconic buildings as socio-material network effects that do not pre-exist action, but are enacted in practice, in the materiality of design crafting and city building. Star architects are here conceptualized as part of broader assemblages of actors and practices ‘making star architecture’ a reality, and the buildings they design are considered not just as unique and iconic objects, but dis-articulated as complex crafts mobilizing skills, technologies, materials, and forms of knowledge not necessarily ascribable to architecture. Overcoming narrow criticism focusing on the symbolic order of icons as unique creations and alienated repetitions of capitalist development, the chapter’s main aim is to widen the scope of critique by bridging culture and economy, symbolism and practicality, making star architecture available to a broad, fragmented arena of (potential) critics, unevenly equipped with critical tools and differentiated experiences

Information-theoretic active contour model for microscopy image segmentation using texture

High throughput technologies have increased the need for automated image analysis in a wide variety of microscopy techniques. Geometric active contour models provide a solution to automated image segmentation by incorporating statistical information in the detection of object boundaries. A statistical active contour may be defined by taking into account the optimisation of an information-theoretic measure between object and background. We focus on a product-type measure of divergence known as Cauchy-Schwartz distance which has numerical advantages over ratio-type measures. By using accurate shape derivation techniques, we define a new geometric active contour model for image segmentation combining Cauchy-Schwartz distance and Gabor energy texture filters. We demonstrate the versatility of this approach on images from the Brodatz dataset and phase-contrast microscopy images of cells

Intracellular Water Exchange for Measuring the Dry Mass, Water Mass and Changes in Chemical Composition of Living Cells

We present a method for direct non-optical quantification of dry mass, dry density and water mass of single living cells in suspension. Dry mass and dry density are obtained simultaneously by measuring a cell’s buoyant mass sequentially in an H[subscript 2]O-based fluid and a D[subscript 2]O-based fluid. Rapid exchange of intracellular H[subscript 2]O for D[subscript 2]O renders the cell’s water content neutrally buoyant in both measurements, and thus the paired measurements yield the mass and density of the cell’s dry material alone. Utilizing this same property of rapid water exchange, we also demonstrate the quantification of intracellular water mass. In a population of E. coli, we paired these measurements to estimate the percent dry weight by mass and volume. We then focused on cellular dry density – the average density of all cellular biomolecules, weighted by their relative abundances. Given that densities vary across biomolecule types (RNA, DNA, protein), we investigated whether we could detect changes in biomolecular composition in bacteria, fungi, and mammalian cells. In E. coli, and S. cerevisiae, dry density increases from stationary to exponential phase, consistent with previously known increases in the RNA/protein ratio from up-regulated ribosome production. For mammalian cells, changes in growth conditions cause substantial shifts in dry density, suggesting concurrent changes in the protein, nucleic acid and lipid content of the cell.National Cancer Institute (U.S.). Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (U54CA143874)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Center for Cell Division Process Grant P50GM6876)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Contract R01CA170592)United States. Army Research Office (Institute for Collaborate Biotechnologies Contract W911NF-09-D-0001

The Citation Field of Evolutionary Economics

Evolutionary economics has developed into an academic field of its own, institutionalized around, amongst others, the Journal of Evolutionary Economics (JEE). This paper analyzes the way and extent to which evolutionary economics has become an interdisciplinary journal, as its aim was: a journal that is indispensable in the exchange of expert knowledge on topics and using approaches that relate naturally with it. Analyzing citation data for the relevant academic field for the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, we use insights from scientometrics and social network analysis to find that, indeed, the JEE is a central player in this interdisciplinary field aiming mostly at understanding technological and regional dynamics. It does not, however, link firmly with the natural sciences (including biology) nor to management sciences, entrepreneurship, and organization studies. Another journal that could be perceived to have evolutionary acumen, the Journal of Economic Issues, does relate to heterodox economics journals and is relatively more involved in discussing issues of firm and industry organization. The JEE seems most keen to develop theoretical insights

Focus on vulnerable populations and promoting equity in health service utilization ––an analysis of visitor characteristics and service utilization of the Chinese community health service

Background Community health service in China is designed to provide a convenient and affordable primary health service for the city residents, and to promote health equity. Based on data from a large national study of 35 cities across China, we examined the characteristics of the patients and the utilization of community health institutions (CHIs), and assessed the role of community health service in promoting equity in health service utilization for community residents. Methods Multistage sampling method was applied to select 35 cities in China. Four CHIs were randomly chosen in every district of the 35 cities. A total of 88,482 visitors to the selected CHIs were investigated by using intercept survey method at the exit of the CHIs in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Descriptive analyses were used to analyze the main characteristics (gender, age, and income) of the CHI visitors, and the results were compared with that from the National Health Services Survey (NHSS, including CHIs and higher levels of hospitals). We also analyzed the service utilization and the satisfactions of the CHI visitors. Results The proportions of the children (2.4%) and the elderly (about 22.7%) were lower in our survey than those in NHSS (9.8% and 38.8% respectively). The proportion of the low-income group (26.4%) was apparently higher than that in NHSS (12.5%). The children group had the lowest satisfaction with the CHIs than other age groups. The satisfaction of the low-income visitors was slightly higher than that of the higher-income visitors. The utilization rate of public health services was low in CHIs. Conclusions The CHIs in China appears to fulfill the public health target of uptake by vulnerable populations, and may play an important role in promoting equity in health service utilization. However, services for children and the elderly should be strengthened

Evidence for distinct coastal and offshore communities of bottlenose dolphins in the north east Atlantic.

Bottlenose dolphin stock structure in the northeast Atlantic remains poorly understood. However, fine scale photo-id data have shown that populations can comprise multiple overlapping social communities. These social communities form structural elements of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) [corrected] populations, reflecting specific ecological and behavioural adaptations to local habitats. We investigated the social structure of bottlenose dolphins in the waters of northwest Ireland and present evidence for distinct inshore and offshore social communities. Individuals of the inshore community had a coastal distribution restricted to waters within 3 km from shore. These animals exhibited a cohesive, fission-fusion social organisation, with repeated resightings within the research area, within a larger coastal home range. The offshore community comprised one or more distinct groups, found significantly further offshore (>4 km) than the inshore animals. In addition, dorsal fin scarring patterns differed significantly between inshore and offshore communities with individuals of the offshore community having more distinctly marked dorsal fins. Specifically, almost half of the individuals in the offshore community (48%) had characteristic stereotyped damage to the tip of the dorsal fin, rarely recorded in the inshore community (7%). We propose that this characteristic is likely due to interactions with pelagic fisheries. Social segregation and scarring differences found here indicate that the distinct communities are likely to be spatially and behaviourally segregated. Together with recent genetic evidence of distinct offshore and coastal population structures, this provides evidence for bottlenose dolphin inshore/offshore community differentiation in the northeast Atlantic. We recommend that social communities should be considered as fundamental units for the management and conservation of bottlenose dolphins and their habitat specialisations

The association of health literacy with adherence in older 2 adults, and its role in interventions: a systematic meta-review

Background: Low health literacy is a common problem among older adults. It is often suggested to be associated with poor adherence. This suggested association implies a need for effective adherence interventions in low health literate people. However, previous reviews show mixed results on the association between low health literacy and poor adherence. A systematic meta-review of systematic reviews was conducted to study the association between health literacy and adherence in adults above the age of 50. Evidence for the effectiveness of adherence interventions among adults in this older age group with low health literacy was also explored. Methods: Eight electronic databases (MEDLINE, ERIC, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, DARE, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Knowledge) were searched using a variety of keywords regarding health literacy and adherence. Additionally, references of identified articles were checked. Systematic reviews were included if they assessed the association between health literacy and adherence or evaluated the effectiveness of interventions to improve adherence in adults with low health literacy. The AMSTAR tool was used to assess the quality of the included reviews. The selection procedure, data-extraction, and quality assessment were performed by two independent reviewers. Seventeen reviews were selected for inclusion. Results: Reviews varied widely in quality. Both reviews of high and low quality found only weak or mixed associations between health literacy and adherence among older adults. Reviews report on seven studies that assess the effectiveness of adherence interventions among low health literate older adults. The results suggest that some adherence interventions are effective for this group. The interventions described in the reviews focused mainly on education and on lowering the health literacy demands of adherence instructions. No conclusions could be drawn about which type of intervention could be most beneficial for this population. Conclusions: Evidence on the association between health literacy and adherence in older adults is relatively weak. Adherence interventions are potentially effective for the vulnerable population of older adults with low levels of health literacy, but the evidence on this topic is limited. Further research is needed on the association between health literacy and general health behavior, and on the effectiveness of interventions

Search for D0 to p e- and D0 to pbar e+

Using data recorded by CLEO-c detector at CESR, we search for simultaneous baryon and lepton number violating decays of the D^0 meson, specifically, D^0 --> p-bar e^+, D^0-bar --> p-bar e^+, D^0 --> p e^- and D^0-bar --> p e^-. We set the following branching fraction upper limits: D^0 --> p-bar e^+ (D^0-bar --> p-bar e^+) p e^- (D^0-bar --> p e^-) < 1.2 * 10^{-5}, both at 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/, submitted to PRD. Comments: changed abstract, added reference for section 1, vertical axis in Fig.5 changed (starts from 1.5 rather than 2.0), fixed typo