The English of the southern United States is possibly the most studied of any regional variety of any language because of its rich internal diversity, its distinctiveness among regional varieties in ...the United States, its significance as a marker of regional identity, and the general folkloric appeal of southern culture. However, most, if not all, books about Southern American English have been directed almost exclusively toward scholars already working in the field. This 2003 volume, written by a team of experts, many of them internationally known, provides a broad overview of the foundations of and research on language variation in the southern United States designed to invite inquiry and inquirers. It explores historical and cultural elements, iconic contemporary features, and changes in progress. Central themes, issues and topics of scholarly investigation and debate figure prominently throughout the volume. The extensive bibliography will facilitate continued research.
OBJECTIVES: Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) for hospitalizations have varying levels of severity that impact hospital reimbursement. This study assesses the distribution of DRG severity levels in ...lower anterior resection (LAR) procedures among colorectal cancer patients and explores the association of specific complications bleeding, infection and anastomotic leak (AL) and DRG severity category of a major comorbidity or complication (MCC). METHODS: We reviewed the Premier Perspective® Database containing billing data from over 600 hospitals in the U.S. Included patients were >18 years of age, had a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and underwent an elective LAR between 2008 and 2014. AL, bleeding and infection were identified using ICD-9 diagnosis codes. Multivariate models were used to estimate the association of each major complication on receiving MCC DRG classification, adjusting for differences in patient, hospital, and surgical characteristics; separate models were run for each complication. RESULTS: A total of 8,790 patients underwent elective LAR with a cancer diagnosis during the study period. Of these, 3,450 (39%) were coded as having no complications/comorbidity, 4,465 (51%) were classified into complication or comorbidity (CC) category, and 875 (10%) were classified as the most severe MCC category. Incidence of AL, bleeding and infection was 12.9%, 9.5% and 5.8%, respectively in the overall sample. These complications were disproportionally higher in the MCC category (AL=35.3%, bleeding=24.2% and infection=41.7%). Results of the multivariate models showed that AL, bleeding and infection were associated with higher odds of receiving an MCC classification AL:Odds Ratio(OR) =4.12;CI:3.42-5.0;Bleeding: OR= 2.56,CI:2.08-3.16;Infection:OR=38.19;CI:29.53-49.39). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that a majority of elective LAR procedures among cancer patients fall under the CC or MCC DRG categorization. Incidence of complications such as AL, bleeding and infection are associated with a greater likelihood of falling under the MCC DRG category and would likely lead to a greater economic burden.
The elliptic flow of muons from the decay of charm and bottom hadrons is measured in pp collisions at sqrts=13 TeV using a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 150 pb^{-1} recorded by the ...ATLAS detector at the LHC. The muons from heavy-flavor decay are separated from light-hadron decay muons using momentum imbalance between the tracking and muon spectrometers. The heavy-flavor decay muons are further separated into those from charm decay and those from bottom decay using the distance-of-closest-approach to the collision vertex. The measurement is performed for muons in the transverse momentum range 4-7 GeV and pseudorapidity range |η|<2.4. A significant nonzero elliptic anisotropy coefficient v_{2} is observed for muons from charm decays, while the v_{2} value for muons from bottom decays is consistent with zero within uncertainties.
We present Experiment 864's measurement of invariant antideuteron yields in 11.5A GeV/c Au+Pt collisions. The analysis includes 250x10(6) triggers representing 14x10(9) 10% central interactions ...sampled for events with high mass candidates. We find (1/2pip(t))d(2)N/dydp(t) = 3.5+/-1.5(stat)+0.9-0.5(syst)x10(-8) GeV-2 c(2) for 1.8<y<2.2, < p(t)> = 0.35 GeV/c ( y(c.m.) = 1.6) and 3.7+/-2.7(stat)+1.4-1.5(syst)x10(-8) GeV-2 c(2) for 1.4<y<1.8, < p(t)> = 0.26 GeV/c, and a coalescence parameter B2; of 4.1+/-2. 9(stat)+2.3-2.4(syst)x10(-3) GeV2 c(-3). Implications for coalescence and antimatter annihilation are discussed.
Coal tar is one of the oldest and an effective treatment for psoriasis. Coal tar has been directly applied to the skin, or used in combination with UV light as part of the Goeckerman treatment. The ...use of coal tar has caused long-term remissions in psoriasis, but has fallen out of favor because the treatment requires hospitalization and coal tar is poorly acceptable aesthetically to patients. Thus, determining the active antipsoriatic component of coal tar is of considerable therapeutic interest. We fractionated coal tar into its components, and tested them using the SVR angiogenesis inhibitor assay. Treatment of SVR endothelial cells with coal tar fractions resulted in the isolation of a single fraction with antiangiogenic activity. The active antiangiogenic compound in coal tar is carbazole. In addition to antiangiogenic activity, carbazole inhibited the production of inflammatory IL-15 by human mononuclear cells. IL-15 is elevated in psoriasis and is thought to contribute to psoriatic inflammation. Carbazole treatment also reduced activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which is proinflammatory and elevated in psoriasis. The effect of carbazole on upstream pathways in human psoriasis was determined, and carbazole was shown to inhibit signal transducer and activator of transcription (stat)3-mediated transcription, which has been shown to be relevant in human psoriasis. IL-15, iNOS, and stat3 activation require the activation of the small GTPase rac for optimal activity. Carbazole was found to inhibit rac activation as a mechanism for its inhibition of downstream inflammatory and angiogenic pathways. Given its antiangiogenic and anti-inflammatory activities, carbazole is likely a major component of the antipsoriatic activity of coal tar. Carbazole and derivatives may be useful in the therapy of human psoriasis.
We tested the hypothesis that increases in pressure in the abdomen (Pab) exerted by CO2 insufflation during laparoscopy would increase elastance (E) and resistance (R) of both the lungs and chest ...wall. We measured airway flow and airway and esophageal pressures of 12 anesthetized/paralyzed tracheally intubated patients during mechanical ventilation at 10-30/min and tidal volume of 250-800 mL. From these measurements, we used discrete Fourier transformation to calculate E and R of the lungs and chest wall. Measurements were made at 0, 15, and 25 mm Hg Pab in the 15 degrees head-down (Trendelenburg) posture and at 0 and 15 mm Hg Pab in the 10 degrees head-up (reverse Trendelenburg) posture. Lung and chest wall Es and Rs while head-down increased at Pab = 15 mm Hg, and both Es increased further at Pab = 25 mm Hg (P < 0.05). Both Es and Rs also increased while head-up at Pab = 15 mm Hg (P < 0.05), but increases in lung E and R were less than while head-down (P < 0.05). The increase in lung E and R at Pab = 15 mm Hg in either posture were positively correlated to body weight or body mass index, whereas the increases in chest wall E and R were negatively correlated to the same factors (P < 0.05). Lung and chest wall mechanical impedances increase with increasing Pab; the increases depend on body configuration and are greater while head-down.
Recent results in d+Au and p+Pb collisions at RHIC and the LHC provide evidence for collective expansion and flow of the created medium. We propose a control set of experiments to directly compare ...particle emission patterns from p+Pb, d+Au, and He3+Au or t+Au collisions at the same sNN. Using a Monte Carlo Glauber simulation we find that a He3 or triton projectile, with a realistic wave function description, induces a significant intrinsic triangular shape to the initial medium. If the system lives long enough, this survives into a significant third-order flow moment v3 even with viscous damping. By comparing systems with one, two, and three initial hot spots, one could disentangle the effects from the initial spatial distribution of the deposited energy and viscous damping. These are key tools for answering the question of how small a droplet of matter is necessary to form a quark-gluon plasma described by nearly inviscid hydrodynamics.
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