cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Histopathology of residual and recurrent conductive hearing loss after stapedectomy

Hypothesis Histopathologic examination of temporal bones from patients who had undergone stapedectomy may provide information concerning the causes of both residual and recurrent conductive hearing loss (CHL). Background Although closure of the air-bone gap to within 10 dB occurs in approximately 90% of primary stapedectomies, a residual CHL occurs in approximately 10% and recurrent CHL may occur in up to 35% of cases. Putative causes of failure of surgery as determined during revision include erosion of the incus, bony regrowth at the oval window, and displacement of the prosthesis. Most reports on the histopathologic findings of temporal bones from such patients have focused on complications of surgery, with little attempt to correlate postoperative air-bone gap with the observed histopathology. Methods A retrospective review of the author's collection of temporal bones ascertained 22 cases with postoperative CHL of 10 dB or greater (air-bone gap averaged at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz, using postoperative air- and bone-conduction levels) after stapedectomy. These temporal bones were prepared by standard methodology for light microscopy. Results Of the 22 cases with postoperative CHL equal to or greater than 10 dB, there were 19 with residual CHL, 2 with recurrent CHL, and 1 with both residual and recurrent CHL. The most common histopathologic correlates of residual and recurrent hearing loss included resorptive osteitis of the incus (64%); obliteration of the round window by otosclerosis (23%); the prosthesis lying on a residual footplate fragment (23%); the prosthesis abutting the bony margin of the oval window (18%); adhesions in the middle ear (14%); and new bone formation in the oval window (14%). Conclusions Histopathologic examination of temporal bones from patients who in life had undergone stapedectomy provides useful information concerning causes of both residual and recurrent CHL. These data provide a basis for improving both surgical technique and prosthesis design.
Engineering Quality while Embracing Change: Lessons Learned

In an increasingly complex technical environment, failure is accepted as a way of maximizing potential, a way of growing up. Experience can be utilized to improve designs, advance product maturity, and at the same time, can increase team's training and education. It is not enough to understand the development tools to ensure a project's success. Understanding how to plan, measure, communicate, interact, and work in teams is mandatory to make a project successful. A manager cannot enforce a process of good communication between team members. Project teams have to work together in supporting each other and establish a constant communication environment. This paper presents lessons learned during the development process of operations research software. The team members have matured and learned during the process to plan successfully, adapt to changes, use Agile methodologies, and embrace a new attitude towards failures and communication.
Vaccinia as a tool for functional analysis in regenerating limbs: ectopic expression of Shh.

Axolotls, with their extensive abilities to regenerate as adults, provide a useful model in which to study the mechanisms of regeneration in a vertebrate, in hopes of understanding why other vertebrates cannot regenerate. Although the expression of many genes has been described in regeneration, techniques for functional analysis have so far been limited. In this paper we demonstrate a new method for efficient overexpression of foreign genes in axolotls. Using vaccinia virus expressing beta-galactosidase microinjected into regenerating limbs, we show that vaccinia can infect both dividing and nondividing limb cells. The site of infection remains discrete and there is no secondary spread of infection to nearby cells. beta-Gal is expressed at high levels in blastema cells for about a week and in differentiated cells for longer. Blastemas that have been injected with vaccinia at different stages regenerate normally. As a test of the utility of vaccinia for functional analysis in regeneration, we constructed a virus expressing Shh and injected it into the anterior of regenerating limbs. Ectopic Shh expression caused extra digits, carpals, and tarsals in the hands and feet of regenerating limbs, suggesting that despite differences in the timing of expression and the eventual pattern, the function of Shh appears to be similar to that in the developing limbs of other vertebrates. Our results demonstrate that vaccinia virus is an excellent vector for ectopically expressing genes for secreted proteins and is a useful tool to study the function of signaling molecules during the process of regeneration in urodeles.
Radar target recognition using non-cooperative scatterer matching game

This paper utilizes game-theoretic principles in the automatic recognition of unknown radar targets. This study uses a non-cooperative matching game where pure strategies are associated with specific items to be matched, and agreement between possible hypotheses represents the payoff gained when playing a certain strategy against an opponent who is playing another strategy. The target recognition approach attempts to match scattering centers of an unknown target with those of library targets as competing strategies. The algorithm is tested using real radar data representing scattering from commercial aircraft models. Radar data of library targets at various azimuth positions are matched against an unknown radar target signature at a specific aspect angle. Computer simulations provide an estimate of the error rates in scenarios of additive Gaussian noise corrupting target signatures.
A Prospective Study to Determine Whether Cover Gowns in Addition to Gloves Decrease Nosocomial Transmission of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in an Intensive Care Unit

Background:Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) remain a significant nosocomial pathogen. Current guidelines of the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the use of gowns and gloves for some interactions with VRE-infected or -colonized patients to prevent nosocomial transmission of VRE.Objective:To assess the effect of disposable cover gowns on preventing nosocomial transmission of VRE.Design and Setting:Prospective study in a 16-bed medical intensive care unit of a university teaching hospital.Patients:All patients who were at risk to acquire VRE, were admitted to the intensive care unit from August 1998 to January 1999, and had at least two perirectal cultures were included in the analysis of VRE acquisition.Intervention:VRE isolation precautions were changed from gowns and gloves to gloves alone.Main Outcome Measure:VRE acquisition rates and risk factors for VRE acquisition.Results:The VRE acquisition rate was 1.80 cases per 100 days at risk in the gown and gloves period compared with 3.78 in the gloves only period (P= .04). In a proportional hazards model adjusted for length of stay, gloves only precautions with a hazard ratio of 2.5 (P = .02; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 5.3) were the only independent risk factor for VRE acquisition.Conclusion:Our data lend support to current HICPAC recommendations for the use of cover gowns to decrease nosocomial transmission of VRE.
The Effect of Altitude-Induced Hypoxia on Heart Disease: Do Acute, Intermittent, and Chronic Exposures Provide Cardioprotection?

Abstract Anderson, John D., and Benjamin Honigan. The effect of altitude-induced hypoxia on heart disease: do acute, intermittent, and chronic exposures provide cardioprotection? High Alt. Med Biol. 12:45–55, 2011.—With the global prevalence of heart disease continuing to increase and large populations living at altitude around the world, we review the concept of altitude and cardioprotection. Current epidemiologic data, as well as the basic science and molecular mechanisms involved in acute, intermittent, and chronic exposure to altitude, are discussed. Intermittent and chronic exposures have been demonstrated to increase coronary vasculature, decrease infarction size, and provide more efficient metabolism and better cardiac functional recovery postischemia. Mechanisms demonstrated in these situations include those mediated by the hypoxia inducible factor, as well as reactive oxygen species, certain ion channels, and protein kinases. Although current epidemiologic studies are difficult to interpret owing...
The convention on biological diversity and agriculture: Implications and unresolved debates1

Summary. - The Convention on Biological Diversity addresses two controversies that surround plant genetic resources (PGRs). One debate has been over property rights governing PGRs and the distribution of benefits from their use. The second has been over the adequacy of measures to maintain crop genetic diversity. This paper examines how these two debates are linked and reviews previous multilateral attempts to address them. The Convention signals wider international acceptance of stricter property rights over PGRs and the need for multilateral assistance for PGR conservation. However, current proposals to implement the Convention appear too limited in scope to achieve their stated conservation objectives, while several areas of controversy remain. These include debates over: (i) intellectual property protection for biological inventions; (ii) control over PGRs in international gene banks; (iii) the international biosafety protocol regulating biotechnology; (iv) mechanisms to finance PGR conservation; and (v) the allocation of funds between in situ and ex situ conservation. Q 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
An international assessment of ovarian cancer incidence and mortality

Abstract Objective To assess and characterize the temporal variation in ovarian cancer incidence and mortality by age within countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Methods/Materials Data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program in the United States (U.S.) were used to assess ovarian cancer incidence rates (1998–2008) and mortality rates, (1988–2007 for 12-month survival, 1988–2006 for 24-month survival, and 1988–2003 for 60-month survival), stratified by age at diagnosis. Data from GLOBOCAN were used to calculate country-specific incidence rates for 2010 and 2020 and case-fatality rates for 2010. Results A statistically significant decrease in Annual Percent Change (APC) of ovarian cancer incidence was observed in the U.S. for all women (−1.03%), among women who were diagnosed at Conclusions Ovarian cancer survival has shown modest improvement from a statistical perspective in the U.S. However, it is difficult to ascertain how clinically relevant these improvements are at the population or patient level.
Why Does Mutual-Information Work for Image Registration? A Deterministic Explanation

This paper proposes a deterministic explanation for mutual-information-based image registration (MI registration). The explanation is that MI registration works because it aligns certain image partitions. This notion of aligning partitions is new, and is shown to be related to Schur- and quasi-convexity. The partition-alignment theory of this paper goes beyond explaining mutual- information. It suggests other objective functions for registering images. Some of these newer objective functions are not entropy-based. Simulations with noisy images show that the newer objective functions work well for registration, lending support to the theory. The theory proposed in this paper opens a number of directions for further research in image registration. These directions are also discussed.
Electrical properties of chicken feather fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Abstract We have fabricated composites with epoxy, chicken feather fiber (CFF), and E-glass fibers and investigated their properties for potential applications as printed circuit boards (PCBs). The electrical resistivity of the CFF composites was two to four orders of magnitude higher than that of E-glass fiber composites. The dielectric constant of the composites decreased with fiber contents. Composite with hybrid fiber had a low dielectric constant of 3.6–4.2 and a loss tangent of 0.027, which is similar to those of commercial PCB materials. The CFF composite can be potentially used for PCBs industry and the hybrid fiber composite has a good balance of properties and costs, while being more sustainable.
Performance of the adaptive baseband 4D diagonalizer, a crosstalk canceller, with four-dimensional constellations

A method of calculating the probability of symbol error for the four-dimensional (4-D) diagonalizer using arbitrary constellations is presented. The method is applied to a 4-D constellation introduced by A. Gersho and V.B. Lawrence (1984), which is called the GL4-256 constellation. The probability of symbol error performance for GL4-256 is compared to that for the dual-channel 16-QAM case, and it is concluded that GL4-256 performs better for low crosstalk values, i.e., below -9.5 dB, with, the reverse being true for high crosstalk levels. Graphical results are presented for the case of uniform distribution. >
Immunologic and mass-spectrometric estimates of SHBG concentrations in healthy women

Objective Sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations across the adult female lifespan are not well defined. To address this knowledge gap, SHBG was quantified by both immunological and criterion methods, viz, mass spectrometry (MS).
Correlating the structure and localized surface plasmon resonance of single silver right bipyramids

Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), collective electron oscillations in metal nanoparticles, are being heavily scrutinized for applications in prototype devices and circuits, as well as for chemical and biological sensing. Both the plasmon frequency and linewidth of a LSPR are critical factors for application optimization, for which their dependence on structural factors has been qualitatively unraveled over the past decade. However, quantitative knowledge based on systematic single particle studies has only recently become available for a few particle shapes. We show here that to understand the effect of structure (both size and shape) on plasmonic properties, one must take multiple parameters into account. We have successfully done so for a large data set on silver right bipyramids. By correlating plasmon energy and linewidth with edge length and corner rounding for individual bipyramids, we have found that the corner rounding has a significant effect on the plasmon energy for particles of the same size, and thus corner rounding must be taken into account to accurately describe the dependence of a LSPR on nanoparticle size. A detailed explanation of the phenomena responsible for the observed effects and their relationship to each other is presented.
Nanoparticle surface modification by amphiphilic polymers in aqueous media: Role of polar organic solvents

We investigate the role of three polar organic solvents (dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and glycerol) on the interfacial behavior of Pluronic P105 poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO–PPO–PEO) block copolymers on protonated silica nanoparticles in an aqueous dispersion. The polymer adsorption and self-assembly have been assessed from critical surface micelle concentration (csmc, measured by pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy) and adsorbed layer thickness (measured by capillary viscometry) data. Above its csmc, PEO–PPO–PEO block copolymers form hydrophobic domains on the nanoparticle surface. Below a critical concentration in water (known as critical displacer concentration, cdc), organic solvents act as displacers (molecules that can displace adsorbed polymer from a solid surface). The critical displacer concentration is obtained from the csmc and the polymer adsorbed layer thickness data. The cdc is found to be dependent on both the amount of nanoparticles present in the system as well as the nature of the displacer. Below the cdc, the csmc increases and the adsorbed polymer layer thickness decreases with increasing organic solvent concentration. Interfacial free energy calculations suggest that DMF, DMSO, and glycerol can adsorb onto the silica particles by displacing adsorbed PEO. These calculations are consistent with the experimental results in that, as a displacer, glycerol is the most effective and DMF is the least effective. Above the cdc, the influence of glycerol or DMSO on csmc is opposite to that of DMF which is attributed to the cosolvent effect.
Compact Gaussian Beam System for S-Parameter Characterization of Planar Structures at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies

This paper describes the design and implementation of a compact quasi-optical Gaussian beam system for measuring the frequency response of millimeter-wave materials, frequency-selective surfaces, and antenna elements in the array environment. The core components of this system are two wideband millimeter-wave focusing array antennas that act as adapters between the coaxial ports of the network analyzer and the wave ports defined at the input and output planes of the device under test. The use of planar focusing arrays for generating the Gaussian beams leads to very compact measurement setups with a total length of only a few centimeters. This paper addresses the design of the Ka/Q-band focusing arrays and demonstrates the utility of the proposed system through experiment. A useful method that allows reproducing two-port S-parameters from one-port measurements will also be introduced.
Fast and Accurate Waveform Analysis with Current Source Models

Recently current source models (CSMs) have become popular for use in standard cell characterization and static timing analysis. However, there has not been any detailed study of what aspects of the gate behavior should be modeled for sufficient accuracy, and there have been no results reported incorporating a CSM into a timing analysis flow with reasonable runtime. This paper addresses these limitations by investigating complexity/accuracy tradeoffs in CSMs. We then present a novel technique to perform fast, accurate waveform analysis using CSMs. STA results on benchmark circuits show significantly reduced errors compared to a traditional Thevenin-based flow. In terms of mu+sigma percentile, we gain by 20-150 % in slew through this approach.
The Role of Interpreters in Psychotherapy With Refugees: An Exploratory Study

Findings are presented from a narrative study that examined the use of interpreters in psychotherapy with refugees. Fifteen therapists and 15 interpreters were interviewed at 14 refugee mental health treatment centers in the United States. Core findings concerned the impact of interpreters on the therapeutic alliance, the complex emotional reactions that may arise within the therapy triad, the effects of interpreting on interpreters' own well-being, the multiple roles that interpreters play in addition to translating language, and the training and supervision needs of interpreters and of therapists who work with them. Implications of these findings for agencies that use interpreters in their clinical work with refugees are considered, and specific recommendations are made concerning the hiring, training, and support of interpreting staff.
Numerical analysis of single-variable problems with use of continued fractions

Abstract The results of this paper suggest that a continued fraction representation of single-variable problems provides certain advantages over more traditional methods of numerical analysis. The key advantage of continued fraction methods lies in the reduced number of mathematical operations, when compared to traditional methods, needed for data interpolation, root finding and extremum estimation. A systematic representation of continued fractions is presented which allows easy computer adaptation for any size problem.
India's urban revolution: geographies of displacement beyond gentrification

This paper uses an analysis of key dynamics of sociospatial change in Indian cities to offer a sympathetic critique of recent efforts to extend gentrification theory into the Global South. Despite the postcolonial overtures of this new, Southern gentrification literature, the paper argues that the global search for gentrification risks following a diffusionist logic that either presumes a Euro-American template, or else so sheers gentrification of its analytical specificity that it loses both its explanatory power and its political potency. The paper shows that gentrification theory operates on four implicit presumptions, which fail to characterize the primary dynamics of urban change in India. These include: (1) the presumption that lower-class displacement is driven by a reinvestment of capital into disinvested spaces; (2) a property centrism; (3) an agnosticism on the question of extraeconomic force; and (4) the presumption that land from which lower classes are displaced finds a ‘higher and better use...
Fighting for Her Honor: Girls’ Violence in Distressed Communities

Since the 1980s, delinquency researchers and urban ethnographers have increasingly placed girls’ violence in the center of their inquiries. Within recent scholarship, there are several looming questions such as how much of girls’ violence is shaped by the same forces motivating violent boys and how much is shaped by concerns unique to girls. This study draws on data from a 6-year qualitative study of violence among Pacific Islander high school students in Hawaii. We explore how girls’ violence attends to gender as well as to the rampant economic, racial, ethnic, and political dislocations that threatened family survival in adolescents’ communities.
Distress and attitudes in patients perceived as hypochondriacal by medical staff

The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of patients perceived by general physicians as hypochondriacal. The authors requested physicians at a general hospital to refer patients for a study of hypochondriasis. In order to measure depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms, the authors administered several rating and self-rating scales, and to measure hypochondriacal attitudes they administered the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS) and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ). The referred patients (N = 29) had more psychiatric disorders, were more depressed and more anxious, and had more severe somatic symptoms than matched medical patients who had not been referred. Self-rated hypochondriacal fears and beliefs did not differ significantly between the groups. Five of the referred patients (17%) whose initial diagnosis was hypochondriasis were subsequently found to have physical diseases that accounted for their symptoms. The implications of these findings for treatment are discussed.
Promoting professionalism in RN-BSN education

Professional nursing practice entails more than the employment of technical skills while caring for patients. It also includes participation in professional organizations and involvement in the community. While there is evidence of the need for RN-BSN programs to provide learning activities that will promote sustained professionalism in the baccalaureate nurse, there is a paucity of literature describing such activities. This article describes the case report of one university’s use of curricular changes in the RN-BSN program through inclusion of clinical activities to enhance professional development and values. The responses of RN-BSN students to these clinical experiences demonstrate engagement and interest in both professional nursing organization and civic meetings, as well as personal satisfaction as a result of their involvement in these experiences. Nursing faculty teaching in RN-BSN programs should find these comments inspiring, and be motivated to incorporate some of these clinical activities into their curriculum to promote sustained professionalism in RN-BSN students after graduation.
Considerations for implementing tag schedules in transmission circuits

Some considerations in designing a model for reducing the difference between the tag schedules and the actual power flowing on a transmission circuit in a deregulated network are described. The model forces the actual flow to be as close to the tag schedules as possible in order to minimize the "loop flows" in the system. Model verification in a regression perspective is performed using normal probability plots and residual plots to check the validity of the design. Simulated data is used for validation of the model. Case studies on the IEEE 30-bus test system are provided as an illustrative example.
Three-dimensional-object recognition by use of single-exposure on-axis digital holography

On-axis phase-shifting digital holography requires recording of multiple holograms. We describe a novel real-time three-dimensional- (3-D-) object recognition system that uses single-exposure on-axis digital holography. In contrast to 3-D-object recognition by means of a conventional phase-shifting scheme that requires multiple exposures, our proposed method requires only a single digital hologram to be synthesized and used to recognize 3-D objects. A benefit of the proposed 3-D recognition method is enhanced practicality of digital holography for 3-D recognition in terms of its simplicity and greater robustness to external scene parameters such as moving targets and environmental noise factors. We show experimentally the utility of the single-exposure on-axis digital holography–based 3-D-object recognition method.
Information loss in the lattice model of summary tables due to cell suppression

A statistical database (SDB) is a database that is used mostly to provide simple summary statistics (e.g., SUM, COUNT, MAX, MEDIAN, etc.) about individuals in the database and that supports statistical data analysis. When SDB users infer protected information in the SDB from responses to queries, we say that the SDB is compromised. Summary tables are tabular representations of summary data. For a given aggregate function and a set of attributes to specify subsets of individuals in the SDB, all possible (primitive) summary tables form a lattice. The SDB security problem in the lattice model is defined as preventing the users to obtain the information that a table element (i.e., cell) is of size one. In this paper, to solve the SDB security problem in the lattice model, we generalize a technique called cell suppression by merging, and analyze its information loss.
SPOUSE CONCORDANCE OF SMOKING PATTERNS: THE MINNESOTA HEART SURVEY

Spouse concordance of smoking patterns and other lifestyle factors was examined in data provided by 560 married couples from the Minnesota Heart Survey. Married pair concordance was measured against a standard of concordance based on the frequencies in surrogate spouse pairs. Smoking patterns are found to be significantly concordant for married pairs. More married pairs than surrogate pairs tended to both smoke or both not smoke. Among smokers, married pairs are more similar than surrogate pairs in daily number of cigarettes smoked. Among ex-smokers, married pairs are more similar than surrogate pairs in the year they quit smoking. Younger couples with the least amount of education were most concordant and showed the greatest smoking rate. Five additional lifestyle factors showed an increased level of concordance for married over surrogate pairs. Concordance in these factors was not correlated with smoking concordance. It is suggested that married couples respond similarly to a shared environment made up of daily practices, social life, and leisure activities. Further, smoking intervention directed toward the married couple should be considered.
Incidence of Adverse Events in Adults Undergoing Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives This was a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the incidence of adverse events in adults undergoing procedural sedation in the emergency department (ED). Methods Eight electronic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBSCO, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, and Scopus, from January 2005 through 2015. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies of adults undergoing procedural sedation in the ED that reported a priori selected outcomes and adverse events were included. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model and reported as incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The search yielded 2,046 titles for review. Fifty-five articles were eligible, including 9,652 procedural sedations. The most common adverse event was hypoxia, with an incidence of 40.2 per 1,000 sedations (95% CI = 32.5 to 47.9), followed by vomiting with 16.4 per 1,000 sedations (95% CI = 9.7 to 23.0) and hypotension with 15.2 per 1,000 sedations (95% CI = 10.7 to 19.7). Severe adverse events requiring emergent medical intervention were rare, with one case of aspiration in 2,370 sedations (1.2 per 1,000), one case of laryngospasm in 883 sedations (4.2 per 1,000), and two intubations in 3,636 sedations (1.6 per 1,000). The incidence of agitation and vomiting were higher with ketamine (164.1 per 1,000 and 170.0 per 1,000, respectively). Apnea was more frequent with midazolam (51.4 per 1,000), and hypoxia was less frequent in patients who received ketamine/propofol compared to other combinations. The case of laryngospasm was in a patient who received ketamine, and the aspiration and intubations were in patients who received propofol. When propofol and ketamine are combined, the incidences of agitation, apnea, hypoxia, bradycardia, hypotension, and vomiting were lower compared to each medication separately. Conclusions Serious adverse events during procedural sedation like laryngospasm, aspiration, and intubation are exceedingly rare. Quantitative risk estimates are provided to facilitate shared decision-making, risk communication, and informed consent.
Graph-Based Belief Merging

Graphs are employed to define a variety of distance-based binary merging operators. We provide logical characterization results for each class of merging operators introduced and discuss the extension of this approach to the merging of sequences and multisets.
EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION TO TEMPERATURE. I. FITNESS RESPONSES OF ESCHERICHIA COLI TO CHANGES IN ITS THERMAL ENVIRONMENT.

We used bacteria to study experimentally the process of genetic adaptation to environmental temperature. Replicate lines of Escherichia coli, founded from a common ancestor, were propagated for 2,000 generations in 4 different thermal regimes as 4 experimental groups: constant 32, 37, or 42°C (thermal specialists), or a daily alternation between 32 and 42°C (32/42°C: thermal generalists). The ancestor had previously been propagated at 37°C for 2,000 generations. Adaptation of the groups to temperature was measured by improvement in fitness relative to the ancestor, as estimated by competition experiments. All four experimental groups showed improved relative fitness in their own thermal environment (direct response of fitness). However, rates of fitness improvement varied greatly among temperature groups. The 42°C group responded most rapidly and extensively, followed by the 32 and 32/42°C groups, whose fitness improvements were indistinguishable. The 37°C group, which experienced the ancestral temperature, had the slowest and least extensive fitness improvement. The correlated fitness responses of each group, again relative to the common ancestor, were measured over the entire experimental range of temperatures. No necessary tradeoff between direct and correlated responses of fitness was apparent: for example, the improved fitness of the 42°C group at 42°C was not accompanied by a loss of fitness at 37°C or 32°C. However, the direct fitness responses were usually greater than the correlated responses, judged both by comparing direct and correlated responses of a single group at different temperatures and by comparing direct and correlated responses of different groups at a single temperature. These comparisons indicate that the observed adaptation was, in fact, largely temperature specific. Also, the fitness responses of the generalist group across a range of temperatures were less variable than those of the thermal specialist groups considered as whole.
Public health practice in schools of public health: is there a fit?

Public health practice has been a part of schools of public health for a long time and yet it is still an emerging field of scholarship. Practice faculty often are isolated in their schools and not part of the mainstream. This article explores the elements of culture that are necessary to support a
Response of a Triaxial Induction Logging Tool in a Homogeneous Biaxial Anisotropic Formation

Summary In this paper, we present a theoretical analysis for the full response of a triaxial induction logging tool in a homogeneous biaxial anisotropic formation. The triaxial tool comprises three mutually orthogonal transmitters and three mutually orthogonal receivers. The transducer axes of the tool can be arbitrarily oriented with respect to the principal axes of the conductivity tensor of the biaxial anisotropic medium. Effects of logging responses on various tool and formation parameters are investigated using the developed method.
Risk factors, clinical and angiographic features of women aged 50 or less with coronary artery disease

Objective To investigate the risk factors, clinical and angiographic features of women aged 50 or less with coronary artery disease(CAD). Methods One hundred and seventy-three female CAD patients comfi rmed by coronary angiographic aged 50 or less were classifi ed as group A, while another 494 non-CAD women aged 50 or less as group B. The differences in CAD risk factors, clinical and angiographic features between the 2 groups were analyzed. Results There were more women with diabetes, positive CAD family history, dyslipidemia or hypertension(especially diastolic hypertension) in group A than in group B. Patient in group A had higher diastolic pressures and serum glucose level than those in group B but both groups had similar body weights, systolic pressures and menopause ages. The serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were higher in patients in group A than those in group B while high-density-lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein A levels were lower in group A. The low-density-lipoprotein(LDL) and apolipoprotein B were higher in group A than in group B but without signifi cance. There were more women with positive urine protein in group A than in group B. In group A, more than 50% of patients were with single diseased artery while another 15% with slight coronary artery atherosclerosis or even normal arteries. Most of the lesions were found in left anterior descending artery(LAD) and its branches. Conclusions Risk factors of CAD included diabetes, positive CAD family history, dyslipidemia, hypertension(especially diastolic hypertension) and positive urine protein in women aged 50 or less Menopause alone, without other CAD risk factors, would not lead to CAD. Single vessel disease was more commonly found in this group of patients.
High glucose inhibits maturation of the fetal lung in vitro. Morphometric analysis of lamellar bodies and fibroblast lipid inclusions.

BACKGROUND : High glucose levels inhibit fetal lung maturation in vitro, consistent with the increased incidence of respiratory distress syndrome in diabetic gestation. Lung fibroblast neutral lipid stores may preferentially provide substrate to type II cells for surfactant phospholipid synthesis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN : To analyze the impact of high glucose on fetal lung morphology and on fibroblast neutral lipid stores, 20-day fetal rat right upper lobe lung explants were cultured in F-12 medium with final glucose concentrations of 10 mM or 100 mM and were examined by electron microscopy. RESULTS : Decreased numbers of type II pneumocytes/alveolar lining cell (0.19 ± 0.04 versus 0.34 ± 0.04 ; p 1 μM 2 . CONCLUSIONS : These data confirm our previous biochemical results indicating an adverse effect of high glucose on fetal lung surfactant metabolism in vitro and are suggestive of a block in the trafficking of lipids from fibroblasts to type II cells under these conditions. This block may be involved in the pathogenesis of the delay in fetal lung development observed in the diabetic pregnancy.
Model to explain the behavior of 2DEG mobility with respect to charge density in N-polar and Ga-polar AlGaN-GaN heterostructures

There are three possible ways of reducing the charge density (ns) in the N-polar high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) structures, by decreasing the channel thickness, applying reverse gate bias, or modifying the back-barrier. Understanding the behavior of 2DEG mobility as a function of ns is essential to design high performance HEMT devices. Experimental data show that in the N-polar HEMT structures, the 2DEG mobility reduces as the ns decreases by applying reverse gate bias or decreasing channel thickness, whereas in the Ga-polar HEMT structures, the 2DEG mobility increases as the ns in the channel decreases by applying reverse gate bias. In this paper, the 2DEG mobility as a function of ns is calculated in N-polar HEMTs for three different aforementioned cases, and is compared to that in the Ga-polar HEMT structures. It is shown that the conventional scattering mechanisms cannot explain these different behaviors. Two new scattering mechanisms, such as scattering from charged interface states and su...
Local Multipoint Distribution Services (LMDS) system concepts and implementation

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allocated spectrum for a new type of communications service called the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS). The Canadian government has also set aside frequencies for a similar service called Local Multipoint Communication Systems or LMCS. Both provide for approximately 1 GHz of bandwidth in the 28 GHz band. This spectrum will be auctioned to a single licensee for a Basic Trading Area (BTA) in the United States. There are 493 such BTAs in the US. The license holder can transmit video, voice, data and/or any combination of these in one-way or two-way systems using analog or digital techniques. TI's brand name for hardware and software designed to serve the LMDS/LMCS market is MulTIpoint/sup TM/. It is based on a cellular arrangement of nodes which provide broadband two-way wireless communications to subscribers located within a few kilometers of the nodes. The nodes are connected into the network via fiber optic cable. The system provides transmission of video, voice and data to a combination of business and residential customers alike. Although MulTIpoint/sup TM/ is being developed with basic technology today, next generation hardware will need to provide improved performance at lower costs. One way to achieve this is to implement many functions using digital signal processing. This paper highlights areas which are being considered for such implementation.
7.10 Cell-Extracellular Matrix Mechanobiology in Cancer

This chapter reviews the role of mechanical signals from the biophysical microenvironment in controlling the growth and spread of solid tumors, with special emphasis on mechanical signals encoded by the extracellular matrix (ECM). The molecular basis of cell-ECM mechanobiological signaling is first reviewed, followed by a discussion of how various components of these molecular systems contribute to tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. As a case study, the mechanobiological signaling is then discussed in the context of the growth and spread of malignant brain tumors. Finally, the chapter concludes by exploring the potential utility of components of these signaling pathways in the creation of novel anticancer therapies.
STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND STAPHYLOCOCCAL FOOD INTOXICATIONS. A REVIEW

Staphylococcal intoxications involving foods, other than dairy products, have been associated predominantly with meats and bakery items. Outbreaks involving Genoa sausage, corned beef, barbecued chicken, baked ham, fish, pastries, pie fillings, and other foods are reviewed. Because meats have caused food-poisoning outbreaks, commercial samples have been tested for incidence of staphylococcal contamination. Several surveys have revealed that approximately 40% of the samples tested contained coagulase-positive staphylococci. These and other surveys, including studies of some frozen foods, are discussed. Finally, results of research concerning the behavior of staphylococci in several foods are discussed. Investigations on raw, cooked, canned, cured, and smoked meats, and meat pies have been reported in the literature. Studies on pastry and pie fillings have also been conducted and are summarized in this review.
Clinical Outcome of Double Kissing Crush Versus Provisional Stenting of Coronary Artery Bifurcation Lesions: The 5-Year Follow-Up Results From a Randomized and Multicenter DKCRUSH-II Study (Randomized Study on Double Kissing Crush Technique Versus Provisional Stenting Technique for Coronary Artery Bifurcation Lesions)

Background— Provisional stenting is effective for anatomic simple bifurcation lesions. Double kissing crush stenting reduces the 1-year rate of target lesion revascularization. This study aimed to investigate the 5-year clinical results of the DKCRUSH-II study (Randomized Study on Double Kissing Crush Technique Versus Provisional Stenting Technique for Coronary Artery Bifurcation Lesions). Methods and Results— A total of 370 patients with coronary bifurcation lesions who were randomly assigned to either the double kissing crush or provisional stenting group in the DKCRUSH-II study were followed for 5 years. The primary end point was the occurrence of a major adverse cardiac event at 5 years. Patients were classified by simple and complex bifurcation lesions according to the DEFINITION criteria (Definitions and Impact of Complex Bifurcation Lesions on Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Using Drug-Eluting Stents). At 5 years, the major adverse cardiac event rate (23.8%) in the provisional stenting group was insignificantly different to that of the double kissing group (15.7%; P =0.051). However, the difference in the target lesion revascularization rate between 2 groups was sustained through the 5-year follow-up (16.2% versus 8.6%; P =0.027). The definite and probable stent thrombosis rate was 2.7% in each group ( P =1.0). Complex bifurcation was associated with a higher rate of target lesion revascularization (21.6%) at 5 years compared with 11.1% in patients with a simple bifurcation ( P =0.037), with an extremely high rate in the provisional stenting group (36.8% versus 12.5%, P =0.005) mainly because of final kissing balloon inflation (19.4% versus 5.2%; P =0.036). Conclusions— The double kissing crush stenting technique for coronary bifurcation lesions is associated with a lower rate of target lesion revascularization. The optimal stenting approach based on the lesions’ complexity may improve the revascularization for patients with complex bifurcations. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: . Unique identifier: ChiCTR-TRC-0000015.
Tools for large graph mining

Graphs show up in a surprisingly diverse set of disciplines, ranging from computer networks to sociology, biology, ecology and many more. How do such “normal” graphs look like? How can we spot abnormal subgraphs within them? Which nodes/edges are “suspicious?” How does a virus spread over a graph? Answering these questions is vital for outlier detection (such as terrorist cells, money laundering rings), forecasting, simulations (how well will a new protocol work on a realistic computer network?), immunization campaigns and many other applications. We attempt to answer these questions in two parts. First, we answer questions targeted at applications : what patterns/properties of a graph are important for solving specific problems? Here, we investigate the propagation behavior of a computer virus over a network, and find a simple formula for the epidemic threshold (beyond which any viral outbreak might become an epidemic). We find an “information survival threshold” which determines whether, in a sensor or P2P network with failing nodes and links, a piece of information will survive or not. We also develop a scalable, parameter-free method for finding groups of “similar” nodes in a graph, corresponding to homogeneous regions (or CrossAssociations) in the binary adjacency matrix of the graph. This can help navigate the structure of the graph, and find un-obvious patterns. In the second part of our work, we investigate recurring patterns in real-world graphs, to gain a deeper understanding of their structure. This leads to the development of the R-MAT model of graph generation for creating synthetic but “realistic” graphs, which match many of the patterns found in real-world graphs, including power-law and lognormal degree distributions, small diameter and “community” effects.
Virtual Bidding: Equilibrium, Learning, and the Wisdom of Crowds*

Abstract We present a theoretical analysis of virtual bidding in a stylized model of a single bus, two-settlement electricity market. North-American ISOs typically take a conservative approach to uncertainty, scheduling supply myopically in day-ahead (DA) markets to meet expected demand, neglecting the subsequent cost of recourse required to correct imbalances in the realtime (RT) market. This can result in generation costs that far exceed the minimum expected cost of supply. We explore the idea that virtual bidding can mitigate this excess cost incurred by myopic scheduling on the part of the ISO. Adopting a game-theoretic model of virtual bidding, we show that as the number of virtual bidders increases, the equilibrium market outcome tends to the socially optimal DA schedule, and prices converge between the DA and RT markets. We additionally analyze the effects of virtual bidding on social welfare and the variance of the price spread. Finally, we establish a repeated game formulation of virtual bidding, and investigate simple learning strategies for virtual bidders that guarantee convergence to the Nash equilibrium.
Comparing the Healing Potential of Late-Stage Periodontitis and Peri-Implantitis

Peri-implantitis is defined as an inflammatory disease affecting the tissues around osseointegrated functioning implants. Unfortunately, detailed peri-implantitis pathogenesis is not well understoo...
Insistent Humanness in Data Collection and Analysis: What Cannot be Taken Away—The Families and Prisons Project

Bissell offers the idea of insistent humanness as a research concept critical to challenging the narrative authority of dehumanizing institutions—in this case of jail and prison. Through an analysis of one project, he demonstrates how arts-based participatory research methods of data collection and analysis lead to nuanced and incomplete narratives of experience that reflect an insistent humanness. With critical implications for the field of public health and community-based participatory research, he argues that this shift in narrative authority is essential to challenging who can drive the production of knowledge, what types of knowledge are valued, and in what form knowledge is made actionable.
Necessary Conditions for Optimality

Let us consider first the optimal control problem when there are no constraints of the form (3), i.e. free end point problem. Then, under appropriate conditions of continuity and differentiability on the functions involved, the following theorem can be proved ([8] and [9]).