cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Current and future surgical approaches in the management of endometrial carcinoma

The surgical approach to endometrial carcinoma has been and continues to be inconsistent. It ranges from hysterectomy alone for all patients, hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy based on the surgeon’s criteria for risk of nodal metastasis based on preoperative grading and/or intraoperative assessments, and hysterectomy with limited lymphadenectomy, to hysterectomy with full pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy for all patients. Recent evidence has clearly described the very poor correlation of pre- and/or intraoperative assessments with final hysterectomy pathologic findings. Lymphadenectomy has also been found to be therapeutic in high-risk groups. Despite this, many surgeons have not adopted a policy of comprehensive staging for all patients with endometrial carcinoma. All patients with endometrial carcinoma diagnosed on preoperative endometrial sampling should undergo comprehensive surgical staging if technically and medically possible. Surgical cytoreduction of metastatic disease is also associated wi...
Magnitude Estimation of Oral Cavity Distances

Adult subjects were asked to estimate relative distances between points marked on artificial palates fitted to their own palatal vaults. The artificial palates were less than 1 mm thick and extende...
Concept validation for a resized AMLCD used in a land-mobile environment

Resizing AMLCD's by cutting has been demonstrated over a period of 15 years. However, compatibility of this approach with a harsh land-military environment has only recently been established. This paper will describe development and testing of a resized AMLCD, specifically to explore application to this environment. The application and test environment selected is that of the Control-Display unit for the Mobile Gun System (MGS). We describe the existing MGS display requirements and how the resized COTS display matched these requirements. We have also included results from performance and environmental tests that were used to validate this technology in the land-mobile environment.
Terrorism and External Audiences: Influencing Foreign Intervention Into Civil Wars

ABSTRACTThis article evaluates the effects of terrorism on interventions into civil wars. Considering civil wars from 1970–1999, this study analyzes how the use of terrorism as a tactic affects external interventions on behalf of opposition groups, interventions on behalf of governments, and diplomatic interventions. While some authors would suggest that groups might utilize terrorism as a tactic to gain external support, this study finds little evidence that groups are actually successful in gaining such support. In fact, terrorism that targets civilians appears to actually decrease the likelihood of military interventions on behalf of opposition groups. Furthermore, in civil wars with high numbers of terrorist attacks there is a greater likelihood of economic intervention on behalf of governments, further weakening the potential benefit for groups in utilizing terrorism as a tactic. While this is certainly a welcome finding, a consideration of five case studies of suicide terrorism (Lebanon, Sri Lanka, ...
Reserve ratios: A proposal for change

Abstract The paper addresses the problem of Fed control of the money supply and the inherent instability of a fractional reserve banking system which Friedman covered in A Program for Monetary Stability. While Friedman proposed a 100 percent reserve requirement as a solution, this work suggests a change from imposing legal reserve ratios on specific liabilities to one of imposing them on total bank liabilities. Reserve ratios are compared to tax rates. Friedman's proposal is to increase the tax rate to 100 percent on specific liabilities and pay interest on reserve balances at the Fed. The proposal of this paper is to keep the tax rates (present reserve ratios) but change the tax base. It is shown that the Fed would gain control over the maximum expansion of banks, but would lose direct control over specific liabilities. The Fed would not tax some liabilities and subsidize others. The Fed could concentrate on setting the tone of the money market and allow the public to use whatever set of bank liabilities it desires as money without specific penalty.
The adoption of centralized customer service systems: A survey of local governments

Abstract This study examines the adoption of centralized customer service systems in local governments in the United States. Survey data is used to show the relationship between different factors of E-Government adoption and the implementation of this information technology (IT). The results of this study show that the adoption of a centralized customer service system was related to the form of government that the local government had and being located in a central city. The results also indicated that the sophistication of the local government's website was related to the adoption of a centralized customer service system. The results of this study did not support the claim that larger cities are more likely to be adopters of this type of IT. Other results indicate that only 15% of local governments have adopted this IT. These information systems are well-integrated with existing online communication methods such as email and the internet. The information from this IT is commonly used by local governments for performance management and budget development.
THE QUEST FOR UNIMOLECULAR RECTIFICATION FROM OXFORD TO WALTHAM TO EXETER TO TUSCALOOSA

A unimolecular electronic device should perform active electronic functions by exploiting the energy levels, or conformations, of a singlemolecule, or a very few molecules, and should be addressable electrically by macroscopic electrodes. We found unimolecular rectification in a molecule, γ-hexadecylquinolinium tricyanoquinomethanide, 4, in which the ground state is Zwitterionic: D+-π-A−, while the first excited state is undissociated: D0-π-A0. This 2.3 nm long unimolecular device, measured three years ago between Al electrodes and now between Au electrodes, confirms a 1974 proposal by Aviram and Ratner.
The Radiologist as Interpreter and Translator

In this issue of Radiology, Davenport et al report a published assessment of the reproducibility of three assessment and reporting systems in two different physician study groups (experienced academic subspecialty abdominal imagers and 2nd- and 3rd-year radiology residents).
Parallel high-radix nonrestoring division

An algorithm for high-radix nonrestoring division is proposed which combines a cost-efficient quotient estimation technique with collapsing of the division into one operation each iteration. The quotient estimation technique is a direct combinatorial algorithm which allows a more generalized partial remainder than similar studies. In addition, the successor partial remainder is calculated directly from the previous partial remainder. The intermediate steps of calculating the next quotient estimate, multiplying it by the divisor, and then subtracting the result from the previous remainder are telescoped into one step. This is possible due to the use of simple direct combinatorial equations for the quotient estimate. Thus, one operation is used to generate the next remainder from the previous remainder. This operation is similar to a multiplication with a reduced carry propagate adder. This algorithm reduces the latency of each iteration to less than the delay of one multiplication. Thus, high-radix nonrestoring division is possible with a low latency and no need for an off-chip ROM to hold a quotient estimate. >
Novel Mechanism of Anti-apoptotic Function of 78-kDa Glucose-regulated Protein (GRP78) ENDOCRINE RESISTANCE FACTOR IN BREAST CANCER, THROUGH RELEASE OF B-CELL LYMPHOMA 2 (BCL-2) FROM BCL-2-INTERACTING KILLER (BIK)

Activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway represents a major mechanism for breast cancer regression resulting from anti-estrogen therapy. The BH3-only protein BIK is inducible by estrogen-starvation and anti-estrogen treatment and plays an important role in anti-estrogen induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells. BIK is predominantly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum where it regulates BAX/BAK-dependent release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum stores and cooperates with other BH3-only proteins such as NOXA to cause rapid release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activate apoptosis. BIK is also known to inactivate BCL-2 through complex formation. Previously, we demonstrated that apoptosis triggered by BIK in estrogen-starved human breast cancer cells is suppressed by GRP78, a major endoplasmic reticulum chaperone. Here we described the isolation of a novel clonal human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7/BUS-10) resistant to long-term estrogen deprivation. These cells exhibit elevated level of GRP78, which protects them from estrogen starvation-induced apoptosis. Our studies revealed that overexpression of GRP78 suppresses apoptosis induced by BIK and NOXA, either alone or in combination. Surprisingly, the interaction of GRP78 with BIK does not require its BH3 domain, which has been implicated in all previous BIK protein interactions. We further showed GRP78 and BCL-2 form independent complex with BIK and that increased expression of GRP78 decreases BIK binding to BCL-2. Our findings provide the first evidence that GRP78 can decrease BCL-2 sequestration by BIK at the endoplasmic reticulum, thus uncovering a potential new mechanism whereby GRP78 confers endocrine resistance in breast cancer.
Small domains spell fast strictness analysis

Use of strictness analysis in parallel evaluation and optimization of lazy functional languages is well known. The first formal treatment of strictness analysis appeared in Mycroft's seminal work which however dealt only with flat domains. Unlike flat domains, strictness analysis on non-flat domains involves determining how a function transforms a demand (degree of strictness) on its output into a demand on its arguments. Solutions to this problem in its full generality require large domains and appear both complex and expensive to implement. However, only two kinds of demands arise naturally in lazy normalization of terms, viz., e-demand (normal form needed) and d-demand (root stable or head normal form needed). Based on this observation, we identify three useful forms of strictness for non-flat domains - ee, dd and de. Each of these three forms of strictness play an important role in evaluation of functional programs. Specifically, ee strictness is used for transforming call-by-need to call-by-value and dd strictness is useful in repairing violations of strong sequentiality of equational programs as well as in a critical optimization step used in rewriting implementations of such languages. We present intuitively simple methods to compute them. Our methods are computationally efficient as they are based on small domains (1 point for ee and dd and 2 points for de). They are powerful enough to extract all useful strictness information in practice and are general enough to handle functions defined by rewrite rules. We are able to reason about all user defined data types within a single framework and also handle polymorphism.
CH Bond Activation in Cations of the Type {[(2,4,6-Me3C6H2NCH2CH2)2NMe]ZrR}+ and a Simple Solution that Yields a Catalyst for the Living Polymerization of 1-Hexene

{[(MesNCH2CH2)2NMe]ZrMe}[B(C6F5)4] and intermediates in the polymerization reaction of 1-hexene that are formed from it decompose as a consequence of CH activation in an ortho methyl group in the mesityl substituent. The intermediates in the polymerization reaction decompose significantly more readily than does {[(MesNCH2CH2)2NMe]ZrMe}[B(C6F5)4]. On the other hand, analogous cationic complexes that contain the [(2,6-Cl2C6H3NCH2CH2)2NMe]2- ligand are relatively stable and will consume 1-hexene in a strictly first-order and apparently living manner at 0 °C in chlorobenzene.
Long-term l-Arginine Supplementation Improves Small-Vessel Coronary Endothelial Function in Humans

Background—Coronary endothelial dysfunction is characterized by an imbalance between endothelium-derived vasodilating and vasoconstricting factors and coronary vasoconstriction in response to the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine. Thus, the present double-blind, randomized study was designed to test the hypothesis that long-term, 6-month supplementation of l-arginine, the precursor of the endothelium-derived vasodilator NO, reverses coronary endothelial dysfunction to acetylcholine in humans with nonobstructive coronary artery disease. Methods and Results—Twenty-six patients without significant coronary artery disease on coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound were blindly randomized to either oral l-arginine or placebo, 3 g TID. Endothelium-dependent coronary blood flow reserve to acetylcholine (10−6 to 10−4 mol/L) was assessed at baseline and after 6 months of therapy. There was no difference between the two study groups in clinical characteristics or in the coronary blood flow i...
Survey of Older Drivers' Experiences with Florida's Mandatory Vision Re-screening Law for Licensure

Purpose: To document the license renewal experiences of Florida drivers ages 80 and older who must pass a visual acuity test when renewing their driver's license. Methods: Study participants (n = 1,242 drivers) were contacted via telephone and completed a survey regarding their experiences with the license renewal process. Results: The majority (80.2%) of those eligible for license renewal reportedly attempted to do so and 88.0% succeeded the first time they tried. A large percentage of drivers (88%) who failed the vision test said they sought treatment, and 77.6% of drivers who reattempted renewal reportedly passed the test. About half of drivers who did not seek renewal said they thought they would fail the vision test. The majority of those choosing not to renew their license (99.5%) reported using transportation alternatives. Conclusions: This study suggests that the Florida vision screening re-licensure law is not a deterrent to seeking license renewal for the ≥ 80-year-old population. Furthermore, o...
REGULATION OF CELLULOLYTIC ACTIVITY IN THE WHITE-ROT FUNGUS ISCHNODERMA RESINOSUM

The white-rot fungus Ischnoderma resinosum, which is capable of selective removal of lignin from wood, was grown on soluble media in stationary submerged cultures to investigate the effects of various carbohydrates on cellulolytic activity. The activities of extracellular cellulases (filter paper activity and carboxymethyl cellulase) were higher in cultures grown on carboxymethyl cellulose than in those grown on xylan or glucose. Carboxymethyl cellulase was induced in succinate-grown cultures after the addition of cellobiose or carboxymethyl cellulose; ^-glucosidase was induced by cellobiose. Supplemental xylose, arabinose, fucose, glucuronic acid, and several other carbohydrates were catabolite repressors of cellulase activity.
1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 increases collagen production in dermal fibroblasts

The effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) on proliferation and collagen type I and type III production in cultured human fibroblasts was examined. Previous studies have identified receptors for the vitamin in human dermal fibroblasts, and have suggested the skin to be a target tissue. While many studies examining keratinocyte modulation by 1,25-(OH)2D3 have been undertaken, very few have been performed on dermal fibroblasts. Neonatal foreskin fibroblast cultures were examined for cell number, extracellular collagen accumulation, and collagen mRNA levels, after 5 days exposure to 1,25-(OH)2D3 at a concentration of 10−7 M. The vitamin significantly suppressed (P < 0.01) the proliferation of fibroblasts cultured in the presence of serum. Day 5 cell culture supernatants showed a significant per cell increase in collagen type I (P < 0.05) and type III (P < 0.01) as measured by ELISA. Type I collagen production in exposed cells was 11.64 + 0.531 μg/106 cell vs. 9.53 + 0.500 μg/106 cells in unexposed cells. Type III collagen production was 0.601 + 0.012 μg/106 cell in exposed cells and 0.247 + 0.008 μg/106 cells in unexposed cells. mRNA levels were increased after a 4-day exposure to 10−7 M 1,25-(OH)2D3 for both type I (2.5–5-fold) and type III (5.5–7.76-fold) collagen. These results suggest a novel effect of increased collagen production by dermal fibroblasts upon exposure to 1,25-(OH)2D3 that is independent of proliferation.
Visualized Monitoring of Virtual Business Process for SOA

Business user oritented business process monitoring plays a key role for enterprises to improve business processes' visibility and responsiveness. Usually an end-to-end business process is implemented by heterogenous technologies and their combinations in a SOA enviroment, for instance: business process execution language (BPEL), J2EE and any other technologies which can leverage Web service as composition interface. This paper introduces a business user oritented virtual business process monitoring model to represent the visualized process view associated with monitoring metrics. A virtual business process monitoring approach is provided to aggregate and correlate process execution status information produced by heterogenous technologies and components of a SOA solution. A real customer case study is presented at the end of the paper to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach.
Tolerance and Liberty: Answering the Academic Left's Challenge to Homeschooling Freedom

Millions of children in the United States are educated in the home. Millions more receive their education from private institutions. For parents, a common reason for seeking alternatives to public education is the desire to ensure that they receive instruction in accord with their religious beliefs. In many cases, these beliefs include exclusive claims about the nature of God, salvation, or morality. Recently, several scholars have argued that, to achieve a diverse and tolerant society, homeschooling and private education should be abolished or severely limited. They have contended that “a liberal multicultural education,” which will expose children to different ideas and perspectives, is necessary for the preservation of democratic values. Homeschooling, they claim, leads to close-mindedness and intolerance because children are taught to affirm certain beliefs which imply that not all other traditions are equally valid. The argument that homeschooling should be banned or severely restricted, however, rel...
Neonatal renal enlargement as a sonic window.

Pour visualiser l'autre rein. Illustration par deux observations: dysplasie renale multikystique bilaterale; hydronephrose d'un cote, kyste mesenterique abdominal de l'autre cote
A low-power accuracy-configurable floating point multiplier

Floating point multiplication is one of the most frequently used arithmetic operations in a wide variety of applications, but the high power consumption of the IEEE-754 standard floating point multiplier prohibits its implementation in many low power systems, such as wireless sensors and other battery-powered embedded systems, and limits performance scaling in high performance systems, such as CPUs and GPGPUs for scientific computation. This paper presents a low-power accuracy-configurable floating point multiplier based on Mitchell's Algorithm. Post-layout SPICE simulations in a 45nm process show same-delay power reductions up to 26X for single precision and 49X for double precision compared to their IEEE-754 counterparts. Functional simulations on six CPU and GPU benchmarks show significantly better power reduction vs. quality degradation trade-offs than existing bit truncation schemes.
Uridine diphosphoglucose content of human erythrocytes: Assessment by conversion to uridine diphosphoglucuronate

To settle the ongoing controversy regarding differential uridine diphosphoglucose (UDPG) and uridine diphosphogalactose (UDPGal) content of erythrocytes, which may be important in evaluating the metabolic abnormality in patients with galactosemia, we derived a combined enzymatic-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. Uridine diphosphoglucuronate (UDPGA), the unique product of UDPG dehydrogenase activity, was separated and quantified by HPLC in extracts of human erythrocytes. The quantity of UDPGA produced in cell filtrates incubated with the enzyme corresponds to the amount of UDPG directly determined by HPLC. The amount of UDPGA produced was independent of the enzyme purity or activity used. On the other hand, the amounts of UDPG estimated by fluorometric measurement of the production of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide varied with the enzyme purity and activity. The combined enzymatic-HPLC method confirms the direct determinations of UDPG content of normal erythrocytes. The results indicate that, under appropriate conditions, the fluorometric-based assay will give accurate estimates of UDPG, but the direct HPLC method yields consistent and correct UDPG and UDPGal determinations.
Triple-porosity analysis of solute transport

Abstract As an extension to the traditional dual-porosity approach, a triple-porosity model is presented to study the solute transport in heterogeneous porous media where the transport processes are distinctly different between macropores, mesopores and micropores. The distinctions in terms of conductance and storage in the respective pore domain are characterized by the fact that: (a) macropores are primary flow paths where both dispersion and convection are prevalent; (b) mesopores are intermediate flow paths where convection becomes dominant and (c) micropores are supplemental flow paths and mass storage spaces where only diffusive flow is manifested. In cascading coupling, the solute interchange between micropores and mesopores is maintained by assuming micropore diffusion as internal sources (sinks) attached to mesopore skins. A comprehensive solute exchange between macropores and mesopores is preserved. A mathematical model is constructed in accordance with the physical conceptualization. The coupled partial differential equations are solved in a one-dimensional geometry using Laplace transform, and the subsequent coupled ordinary differential equations are circumvented via the method of differential operators. Semi-analytical solutions are obtained.
Past Lessons and Future Importance of Polarization

Why is Lipkin giving this talk? The real answer is that Viki Weisskopf couldn’t make it. Krisch and Joseph were desperate! This is the best they could do. However, Lipkin does have the following good polarization credentials.
Convective Heat Transfer in a Channel in the Presence of Solid Particles

In this paper, the effect of cylindrical solid particles suspended in liquid on the rate of heat transfer in a channel is studied. The computational method is based on the lattice-Boltzmann method for the fluid flow and the energy equation. The effects of Reynolds number, particle-to-channel size ratio, location of the particle, and the eccentricity of the particle on heat transfer from the channel walls are considered. The effect of moving particles is also considered on the heat transfer enhancement by simulating several suspended particles moving with the fluid. This latter condition represents a case with solid particles suspended in the cooling medium such as in micro/nanofluids. The results provide insight in the mechanism by which suspended particles can effectively change the rate of heat transfer in a channel. The local and average wall Nusselt numbers are presented for these conditions.© 2007 ASME
Adsorption of Aqueous Nucleobases, Nucleosides, and Nucleotides on Compost-Derived Humic Acid. 1. Naturally Occurring Pyrimidines

Adsorption of the naturally occurring pyrimidine nucleobases and their corresponding nucleosides and nucleotides on compost-derived humic acid (HA) has been studied in aqueous solution. All these nine solutes interact with HA. Adsorption isotherms were measured at 19 solute concentrations from 12−600 μM and 6 temperatures in the range 10.0−40.0 °C. Analysis with the Langmuir model indicates that adsorption occurs in three detectable steps A, B, and C, depending on the solute and the experimental conditions. Most of the data fit the Langmuir model, which generates a site capacity vi and an equilibrium constant Ki for each detectable adsorption step. Site capacity and solute selectivity data indicate that the HA sites responsible for adsorption steps A, B, and C are chemically different and that pyrimidine solutes are adsorbed through their nucleobase units. Adsorption of pyrimidines on HA is exothermic, thermoneutral, or endothermic, depending on the solute and the adsorption step. Linear correlation of ad...
Interactions of electrons with poly (methyl methacrylate)

Abstract Electron inelastic mean free paths and energy loss per unit pathlength for electrons in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) are calculated for electron energies below 10 keV. An insulator model is used to describe the interactions with valence electrons. The model parameters are determined by fitting the imaginary part of the dielectric response function ϵ2(q,ω) to experimental values for the limit q → 0. The interaction with core electrons is calculated using generalized oscillator strengths for carbon and oxygen K shell ionization.
Fine Structure of Trypanosoma cyclops in Noncellular Cultures

SYNOPSIS The fine structure of the epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cyclops maintained in blood agar medium at 25 C is described. This organism was isolated from the Malaysian primates Macaca nemestrina and Macaca ira. A distinctive feature of T. cyclops is that it is pigmented when grown in the presence of hemoglobin. The pigment bodies apparently lack a substructure and are electron dense even in unstained sections. Most of the pigment is located posterior to the kinetoplast region but some is found adjacent and anterior to the kinetoplast. Cells from control cultures grown in medium lacking hemoglobin did not possess this type of pigment body. Similarly, pigment was not found in cells of an Indonesian trypanosome grown in medium containing hemoglobin. The cytoplasm of T. cyclops is bounded by a unit membrane which is specialized where it makes contact with the flagellum. A cytostome extends from the region of the flagellar pocket. The kinetoplast and nucleus are immediately posterior to the base of the flagellum. Transverse sections in the region of the flagellar pocket and flagellar base often reveal a group of 3 microtubules which are distinct from the pellicular microtubules.
Competing syntactic and phonological constraints in Hebrew prosodic phrasing

This study brings empirical data from Hebrew to support Selkirk's claim that prosodic phrasing is the result of an interaction of syntactic and phonological constraints. Employing a recently devised protocol, a production experiment elicited contextually disambiguated utterances of the relative clause attachment ambiguity construction. Satisfying the syntactic alignment constraint (Align R XP) and the phonological length constraints (BinMin and BinMax) would result in different prosodic phrasings for this syntactically ambiguous construction, permitting a test of the ranking of these constraints. Two types of data analysis suggest that in Hebrew the syntactic and phonological constraints are strictly ranked: In a context where the two types of constraints are in conflict, the alignment constraint is dominant; when the alignment constraint is vacuously satisfied, effects of the lower-ranked length constraints come into play. Together, these experimental findings illustrate the descriptive value of the constraint ranking hypothesis for prosodic phrasing.
Ethics Cases in Professional Practice

This forum article is a continuation of a regular series of columns on engineering ethics. The column has been generated, in part, by an interactive discussion on the Internet. The focus of the Ethics Case program is to present real situations taken from professional practice in order to stimulate greater attention to ethical issues and to allow Internet Web site visitors the opportunity to avoid similar pitfalls in their own careers. In addition to presenting results from the Internet discussion, the article includes an overview of the Public Broadcasting Network five-part television series, "Building Big." Episodes covered construction of bridges, design and construction of domes, skyscrapers, engineering challenges and social consequences of dams, and design and construction of tunnels. The column concludes with a summary of results from a survey of faculty advisors conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) Committee for Student Activities (CSA). Survey questions addressed seven topics: faculty advisor roles, specific chapter/club activities, workshops for student chapter leaders, national ASCE competitions, funding, ASCE contact member roles, and specific comments/criticisms of the CSA.
Computer-assisted analysis of behavior-brain damage relationships

Experimental destruction of subcortical brain tissue by electrolytic, radio frequency, or excitotoxin lesions is commonly used in the study of the neural control of behavior. Relating variability in the locus and extent of brain damage to lesion-produced variability in behavior is essential to a complete analysis of the behavioral effects of brain damage. We describe the use of commercially available computer accessories and software for measuring the area of irregular polygons to accurately and rapidly estimate the amount of damage to any of a number of brain structures included within an area of experimental destruction. We then describe the use of statistical programs for correlation and multiple regression in calculating relationships between damage to particular structures and behavior. As an example, we show that excitotoxin (and presumably axon-sparing) lesions of lateral hypothalamic tissue adjacent to the caudal zona incerta virtually eliminate male sexual behavior in rats. The use of multiple regression analysis, in conjunction with procedures for calculating destruction to different brain regions, provides a way of correlating brain damage and behavior that has widespread application in studies of the behavioral effects of brain lesions.
Overdistention of the neural tube causes congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease consists of cardiac anomalies that originated before or during the truncus arteriosus stage. The central nervous system, serving all organs, is the first to develop. It is the only organ possessing a third circulation. Immediately after the neural tube closes at the fourth week, its lining of immature ependymal cells secretes a proteinaceous neural tube fluid (NTF) at a pressure higher than the amniotic pressure. The resulting distention helps to shape not only the embryonic brain and spinal cord but also the bordering mesodermal cells that later will form vertebrae. The choroid plexus does not begin to secrete true cerebrospinal fluid until two weeks later. Should hypersecretion occur during this critical two week interval, the neural tube will overdistend and allow NTF to infiltrate into mesoderm (Fig. 1). Here, this fluid with its extraneous protein, may damage cells that are destined to form the anlagen of mesodermal organs such as the heart. It may also damage the primitive gut resulting in pulmonary, gastrointestinal and genitourinary anomalies. The most convincing evidence that the neural tube had been overdistended is the combination of anterior and posterior spina bifida that constitutes bilateral hemivertebrae. Vertebral anomalies are present in congenital heart disease though scarcely recognizable on the chest film of the newborn.
Major depression and the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule: validation in medically ill hospitalized patients.

The authors validate the usefulness of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) in prevalence studies of major depression (MD) in medically ill male veterans. The affective disorders portion of the DIS was administered by a trained interviewer to a representative sample of 408 medically-ill hospitalized patients (75% over age 70). Using a standardized handscoring method for the DIS, the patients were categorized as having or not having MD. Using a two-stage design, sixty-nine patients scoring above a cutoff score on a self-rated depression scale were referred for blind evaluation by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist made a clinical diagnosis of MD using a standard checklist of DSM-III criteria. The DIS correctly diagnosed MD in 78 percent (14/18) of older and 69 percent (9/13) of younger patients, and correctly ruled out the disorder in 65 percent (15/23) of older and 67 percent (10/15) of younger patients; the kappa statistic of agreement was .40 in older and .36 in younger patients.
Use of simulation to assess electronic health record safety in the intensive care unit: a pilot study.

Objective: To establish the role of high-fidelity simulation training to test the efficacy and safety of the electronic health record (EHR)–user interface within the intensive care unit (ICU) environment. Design: Prospective pilot study. Setting: Medical ICU in an academic medical centre. Participants: Postgraduate medical trainees. Interventions: A 5-day-simulated ICU patient was developed in the EHR including labs, hourly vitals, medication administration, ventilator settings, nursing and notes. Fourteen medical issues requiring recognition and subsequent changes in management were included. Issues were chosen based on their frequency of occurrence within the ICU and their ability to test different aspects of the EHR–user interface. ICU residents, blinded to the presence of medical errors within the case, were provided a sign-out and given 10 min to review the case in the EHR. They then presented the case with their management suggestions to an attending physician. Participants were graded on the number of issues identified. All participants were provided with immediate feedback upon completion of the simulation. Primary and secondary outcomes: To determine the frequency of error recognition in an EHR simulation. To determine factors associated with improved performance in the simulation. Results: 38 participants including 9 interns, 10 residents and 19 fellows were tested. The average error recognition rate was 41% (range 6–73%), which increased slightly with the level of training (35%, 41% and 50% for interns, residents, and fellows, respectively). Over-sedation was the least-recognised error (16%); poor glycemic control was most often recognised (68%). Only 32% of the participants recognised inappropriate antibiotic dosing. Performance correlated with the total number of screens used (p=0.03).
The worst-case capacity of wireless sensor networks

The key application scenario of wireless sensor networks is data gathering: sensor nodes transmit data, possibly in a multi-hop fashion, to an information sink. The performance of sensor networks is thus characterized by the rate at which information can be aggregated to the sink. In this paper, we derive the first scaling laws describing the achievable rate in worst-case, i.e. arbitrarily deployed, sensor networks. We show that in the physical model of wireless communication and for a large number of practically important functions, a sustainable rate of Theta(1/log2 n) can be achieved in every network, even when nodes are positioned in a worst-case manner. In contrast, we show that the best possible rate in the protocol model is Theta(1/n), which establishes an exponential gap between these two standard models of wireless communication. Furthermore, our worst-case capacity result almost matches the rate of Theta(1/log n) that can be achieved in randomly deployed networks. The high rate is made possible by employing non-linear power assignment at nodes and by exploiting SINR-effects. Finally, our algorithm also improves the best known bounds on the scheduling complexity in wireless networks.
Automated cropping and artifact removal for knife-edge scanning microscopy

Knife Edge Scanning Microscopy (KESM) is a high-throughput imaging technique used to obtain large-scale anatomical information (≈1cm3) at sub-micrometer resolution. Data acquisition has been fully automated, however significant post-processing and reconstruction must be done manually. KESM is unique in that illumination and tissue sectioning are performed using a diamond knife. Therefore many of the physical forces applied to the knife (e.g., vibration, slip, and light refraction) manifest as image artifacts and must be removed in post-processing. In this paper, we propose a fully automated framework to extract valid data from imaged sections and remove lighting artifacts, allowing reconstruction of the volumetric structures in multiple terabyte-scale data sets.
Calling for validation: demonstrating the use of mobile phone data to validate integrated land use transportation models

In this paper we demonstrate the use of a particular source of ICT data, Mobile phones, generated and provided by a mobile phone service provider, to help validate an integrated land use transportation (LUT) model calibrated for the Lisbon, Portugal, metropolitan area (hereafter LMA). Specifically, we use 1 month of anonymous data provided by a private cell phone network operator. These data allowed us to identify, for each phone, all phone activity, localized to the nearest cellular telephone tower (601 towers in LMA). We use the cellular phone towers to generate analysis zones consistent with existing statistical and administrative boundaries (i.e., census blocks and civil parishes). We also infer, for each cell phone tower analysis zone, the number of phones that “reside” and/or “work” in that zone, based on the phone activity profile generated over the observed month.
Advances in wide-area hyperspectral image simulation

With the advent of hyperspectral imaging spectrometers comes the need for procedures that detect and interrogate spectral quantities of interest. Such procedures or algorithms play a key role in the dissemination and interpretation of hyperspectral data. Validation of these algorithms involves well-characterized field collection campaigns that can be time and cost prohibitive. Radiometrically, as well as geometrically, correct synthetic imagery offers algorithm developers a surrogate to potentially unattainable field campaigns. The image simulation surrogate must ideally match real world scenes in both spatial and spectral complexity for one to have faith in algorithm performance. To this end, there is a need to develop synthetic scenes, based on real world data, which encompass full 3-dimensional geometric complexities as well as wide-area, spectrally complex backgrounds. Prior work has been done on the inclusion of backgrounds into a synthetic environment, however, this work did not generate wide-area imagery with all the complexities realized in real world data. This paper investigates the generation of a wide area synthetic scene rendered by the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model. The large area scene or "MegaScene" described in this paper is 0.6 square miles and contains an order of magnitude increase in objects, materials, and spectra, as compared to previously rendered scenes. Hyperspectral analysis using off-the-shelf classification and target detection algorithms was performed on the data to illustrate quantitative and qualitative fidelity.
How Corruption Puts Higher Education at Risk

Global attention begin in the 1990s with definitions and questions as to how common education corruption was; it then expanded to include the differences from one to another region, ranging from financial corruption and student plagiarism to sexual intimidation. Once these had been mapped, the next issues concerned the degree to which education corruption might affect an economy, and the degree to which it might be addressed through changes in policy.
Discreet Discrete Commands for Assistive and Neuroprosthetic Devices

Many new assistive devices are available for individuals paralyzed below the neck due to spinal cord injury. Severely paralyzed individuals must be able to command their complex assistive devices using remaining activity from the neck up. Electromyographic (EMG) sensors enable people to use contractions of head and neck muscles to generate multiple proportional command signals. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals can also be used to generate commands for assistive device control by conveying information about imagined or attempted movements. Fully-implanted wireless biopotential detection systems are now being developed to reliably detect EMGs, EEGs, or a mixture of the two from recording electrodes implanted just under the skin or scalp thus eliminating the need for externally worn hardware on the head or face. This present study shows how novel patterns of jaw muscle contractions, detected via biopotential sensors on the scalp surface or implanted just under the scalp, can be used to generate reliable discrete EMG commands, which can be differentiated from patterns generated during normal activities, such as chewing. These jaw contractions can be detected with sensors already in place to detect other muscle- or brain-based command signals thus adding to the functionality of current device control systems.
Electronic medical record and quality of patient care in the VA.

I was working at the Providence VA Medical Center emergency room when I was asked to see a new, confused, diabetic patient, who was visiting her family in Providence. The nurse informed me that her blood sugar was low. We took measures to correct her blood sugar immediately. The patient was not clear regarding her medications. Her primary care physician was at a VA hospital in California. Logging into the VA Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), I gained access to the patient’s recent outpatient office visit notes, and obtained the most current medication list. It became clear that the patient was not taking her diabetic medications as prescribed and that she was hypoglycemic because of overmedication. Via the electronic medical record, VA physicians can ascertain not only the patient’s latest data, but also a complete medical record going back as far as the mid -1980s, including records of care performed in any other Veterans Health Administration (VHA ) hospital or clinic. More than $ 1.2 trillion spent on health care each year is estimated to be wasted—about half the $2.2 trillion spent in the United States on health care each year, according to the most recent data from Price Waterhouse Cooper Health Research Institute. Much of the waste is a result of disorganization and lack of accurate information. This results in orders for unneeded tests and ineffective procedures and in simple human error. Advanced health information technology can reduce these consequences substantially in the following ways:
Evidence for microfloral succession on allochthonous plant litter in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, USA

Changes in hydrolytic, respiratory,catabolic and lipid biosynthetic activities depend at least in part on successional changes in the microfloral populations of allochthonous plant litter incubated in a semi-tropical estuary. Initial colonization is by populations which have a high content of muramic acid relative to the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and which are progressively displaced by a microflora with a lower ratio of muramic acid to ATP. Scanning electron micrography of the plant-litter microflora shows a succession of forms, with an initial bacterial colonization and its progressive displacement by more complex forms. Estimates of the microbial mass and the rates of phospholipid synthesis suggest that the detrital microflora has a relatively slow growth rate compared to its growth potential.
Contracting With Uncertain Level Of Trust

The paper investigates the impact of trust on market efficiency and bilateral contracts. We prove that a market in which agents are trusted to the degree they deserve to be trusted is as efficient as a market with complete trustworthiness. In other words, complete trustworthiness is not a necessary condition for market efficiency. We prove that distrust could significantly reduce market efficiency, and we show how to solve the problem by using appropriately designed multiagent contracts. The problem of trust is studied in the context of a bilateral negotiation game between a buyer and a seller. It is shown that if the seller’s trust equals the buyer’s trustworthiness, then the social welfare, the amount of trade, and the agents’ utility functions are maximized. The paper also studies the efficiency of advance payment contracts as a tool for improving trustworthiness. It is proved that advance payment contracts maximize the social welfare and the amount of trade. Finally, the paper studies the problem of how to make agents truthfully reveal their level of trustworthiness. An incentive–compatible contract is defined, in which agents do not benefit from lying about their trustworthiness. The analysis and the solutions proposed in this paper could help agent designers avoid many market failures and produce efficient interaction mechanisms.
Complex query decorrelation

Complex queries used in decision support applications use multiple correlated subqueries and table expressions, possibly across several levels of nesting. It is usually inefficient to directly execute a correlated query; consequently, algorithms have been proposed to decorrelate the query, i.e. to eliminate the correlation by rewriting the query. This paper explains the issues involved in decorrelation, and surveys existing algorithms. It presents an efficient and flexible algorithm called magic decorrelation which is superior to existing algorithms both in terms of the generality of application, and the efficiency of the rewritten query. The algorithm is described in the context of its implementation in the Starburst Extensible Database System, and its performance is compared with other decorrelation techniques. The paper also explains why magic decorrelation is not merely applicable, but crucial in a parallel database system.
The rate of DNA evolution: Effects of body size and temperature on the molecular clock

Observations that rates of molecular evolution vary widely within and among lineages have cast doubts on the existence of a single “molecular clock.” Differences in the timing of evolutionary events estimated from genetic and fossil evidence have raised further questions about the accuracy of molecular clocks. Here, we present a model of nucleotide substitution that combines theory on metabolic rate with the now-classic neutral theory of molecular evolution. The model quantitatively predicts rate heterogeneity and may reconcile differences in molecular- and fossil-estimated dates of evolutionary events. Model predictions are supported by extensive data from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. By accounting for the effects of body size and temperature on metabolic rate, this model explains heterogeneity in rates of nucleotide substitution in different genes, taxa, and thermal environments. This model also suggests that there is indeed a single molecular clock, as originally proposed by Zuckerkandl and Pauling [Zuckerkandl, E. & Pauling, L. (1965) in Evolving Genes and Proteins, eds. Bryson, V. & Vogel, H. J. (Academic, New York), pp. 97–166], but that it “ticks” at a constant substitution rate per unit of mass-specific metabolic energy rather than per unit of time. This model therefore links energy flux and genetic change. More generally, the model suggests that body size and temperature combine to control the overall rate of evolution through their effects on metabolism.
Simulation of random jitter in ring oscillators with SPICE

A time-domain model of the semiconductor device noise sources that includes operating region dependencies and is suitable for incorporation into the SPICE simulator is presented. Simulation results of the random jitter for practical MOS ring oscillators are discussed.