cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Non-fatal overdose and subsequent drug treatment among injection drug users

Overdose is a leading cause of death among illicit drug users. Nine hundred twenty-four injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore, Maryland, were interviewed to characterize overdose events and determine the circumstances under which they lead to drug treatment. Overall, 366 (39.7%) reported at least one non-fatal drug overdose. Most (96.2%) used heroin on the day of their last overdose and almost half (42.6%) used heroin and alcohol but few (4.1%) used tranquilizers or benzodiazepines. Five percent were in drug treatment when the overdose occurred and 7.1% had been incarcerated 2 weeks prior. One in four IDUs (26.2%) sought drug treatment within 30 days after their last overdose of whom 75% enrolled. Speaking with someone about drug treatment after the overdose was associated with treatment seeking (AOR 5.22; 95% CI: 3.12, 8.71). Family members were the most commonly cited source of treatment information (53.7%) but only those who spoke with spouses, crisis counselors and hospital staff were more likely to seek treatment. Not being ready for treatment (69.6%) and not viewing drug use as a problem (30.7%) were the most common reasons for not seeking treatment and being placed on a waiting list was the most common reason for not subsequently enrolling in treatment (66.7%). Of the IDUs treated by emergency medical technicians, ER staff or hospital staff, only 17.3%, 26.2% and 43.2% reported getting drug treatment information from those sources, respectively. Interventions that provide drug treatment information and enhance motivation for treatment in the medical setting and policies that reduce barriers to treatment entry among motivated drug users are recommended.
REF-ARF: a system for solving problems stated as procedures

This paper describes an effort to design a heuristic problem-solving program which accepts problems stated in a nondeterministic programming language and applies constraint satisfaction methods and heuristic search methods to find solutions. The use of nondeterministic programming languages for stating problems is discussed, and REF, the language accepted by the problem solver ARF, is described. Various extensions to ref are considered. The conceptual structure of the program is described in detail and various possibilities for extending it are discussed. The use of the input language and the behaviour of the program are described and analyzed in sixteen sample problems.
Inferior olivary hypertrophy is uncommon in progressive supranuclear palsy

Inferior olivary hypertrophy (IOH) is an uncommon disorder attributed to transsynaptic degeneration and characterized clinically by palatal myoclonus and histopathologically by swollen, fenestrated neurons and bizarre astrocytic gliosis. IOH is usually associated with the interruption of the dentato-olivary tract, most often from cerebrovascular lesions in the dentate nucleus or red nucleus. In progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the dentato-olivary tract is consistently affected, and there are reports suggesting that IOH may be relatively common in PSP. To address this issue, the frequency of IOH was investigated in 264 PSP brains. To determine if there was a relationship between IOH and neurofibrillary degeneration in the dentato-olivary pathway, the severity of neurofibrillary degeneration was assessed in the inferior olivary nucleus, cerebellar dentate nucleus and red nucleus in PSP cases with and without IOH. IOH was uncommon in PSP, being found in only 4 of 264 (1.5%) brains, which was not significantly different from the frequency in non-PSP controls (8 of 862; 0.9%). In all non-PSP cases IOH was associated with cerebrovascular lesions, but not in any of the PSP cases with IOH. The severity of neurofibrillary degeneration in the inferior olivary nucleus was significantly greater in PSP cases with IOH than in PSP cases without IOH, whereas there were no significant differences in the cerebellar dentate nucleus and red nucleus. These findings suggest that direct neurofibrillary degeneration in the inferior olivary nucleus may be related to IOH in PSP rather than transsynaptic degeneration.
Dissection Properties of Aneurysmal and Nonaneurysmal Human Ascending Thoracic Aorta: Preliminary Results

Ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA) is among the most devastating forms of cardiovascular disease, causing a significant mortality despite current medical and surgical treatments [1]. Moreover these therapies themselves are associated with great risk of mortality or morbidity, complicated by the advanced age of the typical patient, and high surgical costs. The mechanics of spontaneous aortic dissection is not fully understood. It is generally believed that aortic dissection initiates as an intimal tear in which a separation of wall layers produces the formation of a ‘false’ lumen. The dissection may propagate axially and/or circumferentially due to blood flow and pressure. Dissection may lead to several possible complications. For example, the septum between the false lumen and true lumen may fracture, resulting in embolism and ischemic damage. Another possibility is that the thinned and weakened residual outer aortic wall may fail, resulting in rapid blood loss and tamponade.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Theory of the Bridge-Rectified Synchronous Generator with a Large Number of Stator Phases - Part II

In order to improve the characteristics of a bridge-rectified synchronous generator, the number of stator phases is increased. This paper discusses the basic theory of this machine, which turns out to be ati interesting cross link between the DC commutator and the AC synchronous machine. A mesh connected stator winding is found to be preferable to a star connection and the stator thus becomes the equivalent of a conventional DC armature with each previous commutator bar replaced by two diodes. Commutation is now initiated by the mainpole and the commutation zone changes in width and location as a function of load. Consequently, commutation has a major influence on the required excitation and the general characteristics of the machine. The theory presented is based on the general MMF distribution in the airgap and deals with actual non-sinusoidal quantities. The theory is also adaptable to brushless DC shunt and series motors with an optional compensating winding. Part II discusses a numerical example in detail.
Extended Hough methodology in geo-spatial image exploitation

Hough transform theory provides a heuristically appealing approach toward finding lineal features in imagery. Unfortunately direct algorithmic implementation of its theory results in many practical problems. We provide two interlocking theoretical extensions to greatly enhances the Hough transform's ability to handle finite lineal features and allow directed search for parallel lines within the scene while balancing memory and computational complexity. Both extensions involve expansion of the Hough space concept to allow easier access to processed data for both dedicated silicon and general-purpose computer implementations.
A spectral characterization of KMS states

Let ω be a state on aC*-dynamical system\((\mathfrak{A}, \mathbb{R}, \alpha )\). For each of the following properties of ω: (1) ω is β-K MS with respect to α for some given β, 0≦β<+∞, (2) ω is either a KMS state or a ground state, necessary and sufficient conditions are given involving only the spectral subspaces of\(\mathfrak{A}\) associated with α. The results provide a new insight in the concept of passivity, introduced by W. Pusz and S. L. Woronowicz.
Theoretical analysis of an alphabetic confusion matrix

A study was undertaken to acquire a confusion matrix of the entire upper-case English alphabet with a simple nonserifed font under tachistoscopic conditions. This was accomplished with two experimental conditions, one with blank poststimulus field and one with noisy poststimulus field, for six Ss run 650 trials each. Three mathematical models of recognition, two based on the concept of a finite number of sensory states and one being the choice model, were compared in their ability to predict the confusion matrix after their parameters were estimated from functions of the data. In order to ascertain the facility with which estimates of similarity among the letters could lead to a psychological space containing the letters, ηij, the similarity parameter of the choice model was input to an ordinally based multidimensional scaling program. Finally, correlation coefficients were computed among parameters of the models, the scaled space, and a crude measure of physical similarity. Briefly, the results were: (1) the finite-state model that assumed stimulus similarity (the overlap activation model) and the choice model predicted the confusion-matrix entries about equally well in terms of a sum-of-squared deviations criterion and better than the all-or-none activation model, which assumed only a perfect perception or random-guessing state following a stimulus presentation; (2) the parts of the confusion matrix that fit best varied with the particular model, and this finding was related to the models; (3) the best scaling result in terms of a goodness-of-fit measure was obtained with the blank poststimulus field condition, with a technique allowing different distances for tied similarity values, and with the Euclidean as opposed to the city-block metric; and (4) there was agreement among the models in terms of the way in which the models reflected sensory and response bias structure in the data, and in the way in which a single model measured these attributes across experimental conditions, as well as agreement among similarity ami distance measures with physical Similarity.
Comparison of low-cost hyperspectral sensors

Recent advances in large format detector arrays and holographic diffraction gratings have made possible the development of imaging spectrographs with high sensitivity and resolution, at relatively low component cost. Several airborne instruments have been built for the visible and near IR spectral band with 10-nm resolution, and SNR of 200:1. Three instruments are compared, an all-reflective spectrography using a convex grating in an Offner configuration, and two off-the-shelf transmission grating spectrographs using volume holograms. The camera is a 1024 X 1024 frame transfer, back-thinned CCD, with four taps for obtaining high frame rates. Performance and scan data is presented and compared to the design for image quality, distortion, and throughput.
The pathology of liver allograft surving longer than one year

Although prolonged survival after liver transplantation is now common, the condition of allografts after prolonged survival has not been widely discussed. We reviewed 86 biopsy samples from 38 patients. The samples were obtained between 366 and 1,622 days after transplant. Thirteen patients' biopsy samples were normal or showed minor changes. Six patients' samples showed rejection. Four patients, including two with rejection, demonstrated ischemic change. Three patients showed focal fibrosis, polymorphonuclear infiltration and bile duct proliferation simulating biliary obstruction, although biliary stones were found in only one patient. Three patients had acute hepatitis. Seven patients had a pattern of chronic persistent hepatitis; four had chronic active hepatitis. Follow-up biopsy samples were obtained in seven chronic hepatitis patients. Two of the patients with chronic hepatitis patients. Two of the patients with chronic active hepatitis have shown slight progression of the disease. None has progressed to cirrhosis, but neither has the chronic active hepatitis resolved. It is likely that some of these cases represent non-A, non-B hepatitis. Although histological abnormalities are common after successful transplantation, the clinical significance of many of the changes remains to be determined. Only patients with rejection or vascular thromboses required new transplants.
Logic-based switching for robust control of minimum-phase nonlinear systems

We consider a single-input–single-output minimum-phase nonlinear system with large parametric uncertainty. The system can be represented globally in the normal form and our goal is to find a dynamic output feedback control law to ensure that the output (practically) asymptotically tracks a bounded smooth reference signal. Earlier work used high-gain observers with saturation to derive adaptive as well as robust control laws for this problem. The adaptive control law requires the nonlinear functions to be linearly parameterized in the unknown parameters and could have unsatisfactory transient performance for a large parameter set. The robust control law is based on a worst-case design and could be overly conservative. High gain feedback is needed to implement both controllers in the case when the parameter set is large. As a result, the robust and adaptive controllers may perform poorly in the presence of unmodeled dynamics and measurement noise. In order to reduce the controller gain and improve performance we propose a new approach based on partitioning the set of uncertain parameters into smaller subsets. Robust control laws are designed for each subset and logic based switching is used to choose the appropriate control law. The switching rule uses an estimate of the derivative of a Lyapunov function, which is provided by a high-gain observer.
Rapid DNA sequencing by horizontal ultrathin gel electrophoresis.

Abstract A horizontal polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis apparatus has been developed that decreases the time required to separate the DNA fragments produced in enzymatic sequencing reactions. The configuration of this apparatus and the use of circulating coolant directly under the glass plates result in heat exchange that is approximately nine times more efficient than passive thermal transfer methods commonly used. Bubble-free gels as thin as 25 microns can be routinely cast on this device. The application to these ultrathin gels of electric fields up to 250 volts/cm permits the rapid separation of multiple DNA sequencing reactions in parallel. When used in conjunction with 32P-based autoradiography, the DNA bands appear substantially sharper than those obtained in conventional electrophoresis. This increased sharpness permits shorter autoradiographic exposure times and longer sequence reads.
Technique for determining the speed capabilities of 2D ferrite core memories

A new and powerful method has been developed which makes possible an analytical study of the sensitivity of 2D memory cycle times to most of the pertinent memory variables. Worst-case conditions in a 2D ferrite core memory have been considered. The analysis allows independent variations (from nominal) of all drive pulse amplitudes and widths, plus variations in the thresholds of the cores caused by manufacturing. Also included are the efficiency of the thermal packaging and the effects of partial switching. In the analysis, the nonmagnetic times (time for regeneration, array delays, etc.) are lumped into a single non-magnetic delay time. The analysis results in a set of simultaneous equations interrelating all the pertinent memory variables. A set of characteristic curves is determined experimentally for the particular core type being evaluated. From these curves, 18 constants, which allow the various core properties to be analytically described, are extracted. The simultaneous equations were programmed for machine solution so that, upon the injection of 18 core constants, the speed capabilities of that particular core type could be fully evaluated in about one minute. This technique allows the core to pick its own nominal operating current amplitudes and durations. This is important since, otherwise, there is no way of being sure that the pulses picked for a core at ambient temperature will be satisfactory when the core runs hot in a worst-case cycle. The results found when applying this new method to high-speed 2D ferrite memory cores are included.
The wake potential and dynamic screening in a hydrogen system

Abstract The wake potential of a fast charged particle is calculated from first-order quantum-mechanical perturbation theory for hydrogen 1s → 2s and 1s → 2p transitions without any cutoff parameter. In the first-order approximation, the wake charge distribution is a linear charge along the fast charged particle path, with a charge distribution radius of a few A around the fast charged particle path. The screening of the charged parade by its own wake potential is also calculated and found to be important.
Boundary layer flows for a class of elastic fluids

Abstract Equations describing the flow within a boundary layer for elastic fluids are solved for several cases of physical significance. It is found that the question of increased or decreased wall stresses due to the presence of elasticity depends not only on the fluid, but on the particular geometry in question.
Active Oxidation of SiC

The high temperature oxidation of silicon carbide occurs in either a passive or active mode, depending on temperature and oxygen potential. Passive oxidation forms a protective oxide film which limits attack of the SiC:SiC(s) + 3/2 O2(g) = SiO2(s) + CO(g.) Active oxidation forms a volatile oxide and leads to extensive attack of the SiC: SiC(s) + O2(g) = SiO(g) + CO(g). The transition points and rates of active oxidation are a major issue. Previous studies are reviewed and the leading theories of passive/active transitions summarized. Comparisons are made to the active/passive transitions in pure Si, which are relatively well-understood. Critical questions remain about the difference between the active-to-passive transition and passive-to-active transition. For Si, Wagner [2] points out that the active-to-passive transition is governed by the criterion for a stable Si/SiO2 equilibria and the passive-to-active transition is governed by the decomposition of the SiO2 film. This suggests a significant oxygen potential difference between these two transitions and our experiments confirm this. For Si, the initial stages of active oxidation are characterized by the formation of SiO(g) and further oxidation to SiO2(s) as micron-sized rods, with a distinctive morphology. SiC shows significant differences. The active-to-passive and the passive-to-active transitions are close. The SiO2 rods only appear as the passive film breaks down. These differences are explained in terms of the reactions at the SiC/SiO2 interface. In order to understand the breakdown of the passive film, pre-oxidation experiments are conducted. These involve forming dense protective scales of 0.5, 1, and 2 microns and then subjecting the samples with these scales to a known active oxidation environment. Microstructural studies show that SiC/SiO2 interfacial reactions lead to a breakdown of the scale with a distinct morphology.
Gonadotropin Response to Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone in Men with Germinal Aplasia

ABSTRACT The effect of LHRH administration on plasma FSH and LH concentrations was evaluated in 3 men with germinal aplasia and six normal men. Mean basal FSH and LH levels were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in patients with germinal aplasia than normals, however, the mean LH concentration in patients was at the upper limit of normal range. Rapid injection of LHRH resulted in an elevation of FSH and LH concentrations in both normals and patients. For LH, the increase for patients (5.5-fold) was larger (p < 0.01) than that for normal men (3.5-fold). Similarly, the rise in FSH for patients (1.0-fold) was greater (p < 0.01) than that for normals (0.5-fold). These data indicate that in men with germinal aplasia some degree of physiologic restraint of FSH secretion remains operative despite markedly increased basal FSH levels. The exaggerated increase in LH concentration following LHRH supports the concept that a small but compensated, Leydig cell failure coexists in patients with germ cell depletion.
A phase II trial of vinorelbine and intensive temozolomide for patients with recurrent or progressive brain metastases

Purpose To investigate the efficacy and safety of the combination of vinorelbine and intensive temozolomide for recurrent or progressive brain metastases from solid tumors. Methods Patients ≥18 years of age and with Karnofsky performance scale (KPS) ≥ 60, adequate organ function and progressive or recurrent brain metastases were eligible. This was a phase II trial with 28-day cycles using temozolomide (150 mg/m2, days 1–7 and 15–21) and vinorelbine 25 or 30 mg/m2 on days one and eight. The primary endpoint was objective radiographic response. Results Thirty-eight patients (15 men, 23 women) with a median age of 57 years (range, 39–75) and median KPS of 80 were enrolled. The primary tumor sites were lung (n = 20), breast (n = 11), colorectal (n = 2), kidney (n = 2), bladder (n = 1), endometrium (n = 1), head and neck (n = 1). Prior therapies included chemotherapy (97%), whole-brain radiation therapy (79%), brain metastasis resection (53%) and stereotatic radiosurgery (47%). Objective radiographic response rate was 5% (one complete response and one minor response); five patients had stable disease, 29 progressive disease and two patients were not evaluable. Twenty-nine patients (76%) have died and the median follow-up of survivors was six months. Median progression-free and overall survivals were 1.9 and 5 months, respectively. Grade 3/4 toxicities were mainly hematological and two patients discontinued the study due to myelosuppression. Conclusions In this heavily pretreated population of patients with brain metastases, adding vinorelbine and increasing the intensity of temozolomide do not improve response rates compared to previous studies with single-agent temozolomide at standard doses.
A Case of Myoedema and Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

A cachectic 55-year-old man presented with ataxia and metabolic instability. On physical examination, he had prominent myoedema in all muscle groups. In addition, a CT scan and lumbar puncture showed extensive nonobstructive hydrocephalus. Further clinical evaluation revealed elevated creatine phosphokinase and liver enzyme levels, although the patient was euthyroid. The patient improved neurologically and metabolically with supportive therapy but the myoedema persisted. Previous cases have emphasized that myoedema is a localized, electrically silent, benign myopathic disorder of unknown cause. As with a previous case with ventricular enlargement, myoedema may be part of systemic pathology. Finally, as in most other reports, myoedema is a rare condition; only 3 cases (of 44) with palpable (but not visible) myoedema were uncovered in this study.
A retrospective analysis of lingual nerve sensory changes after mandibular bilateral sagittal split osteotomy

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the patient-reported incidence, duration, and perceived deficit in daily activities associated with lingual nerve (LN) sensory changes after bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) of the mandible and to compare them with inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) sensory changes in the same study population. Materials and Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 316 patients who had undergone BSSO procedures between 1980 and 1993. The patients were queried for perceived sensory changes in the distribution of the IAN and LN; duration of these sensory changes; and alteration in daily activities caused by these sensory changes. The same questionnaire was mailed to 47 patients who had undergone isolated genioplasty (GP) to control for the normal variance of non-BSSO surgery on perceived LN sensory changes. Results: Forty-three percent of the BSSO patients and 38% of the GP patients returned the questionnaires. Within the BSSO group, 19.4% reported LN sensory changes, of which 69.3% reported that these changes resolved within 1 year; 88% reported altered daily activities. By comparison, 95.5% reported a perceived IAN sensory change, of which 27.3% reported that these changes resolved within 1 year; 57% reported altered daily activities. Within the GP control group, 11% reported LN sensory changes; none of the reported sensory changes lasted longer than 1 month. Conclusions: A small percentage of patients report LN sensory changes after BSSO. When compared with IAN reported sensory changes, LN sensory changes resolve more frequently and sooner, but they are associated with greater perceived deficits in daily activity. The interpretation of the reported incidence of LN change must be critically reviewed because control subjects also responded positively.
The Crystal Lattice of Potassium Pyrosulphite, K 2 S 2 O 5 , and the Structure of the Pyrosulphite Group

The crystal lattice of potassium pyrosulphite was examined in order to determine the structure of the pyrosulphite group. The Laue method and the oscillating crystal method were used. The dimensions of the monoclinic unit cell were found to be: $a=6.95\mathrm{A}$, $b=6.19\mathrm{A}$, $c=7.55\mathrm{A}$, $\ensuremath{\beta}=102\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}{41}^{\ensuremath{'}}$. The density determination gave 2.34 and corresponds to two molecules ${\mathrm{K}}_{2}$${\mathrm{S}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{5}$ in the unit cell. The space group is $\frac{P{2}_{1}}{m({{C}_{2h}}^{2})}$. Two sets of four oxygen atoms are lying in general positions with coordinates $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}(\mathrm{xyz})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}(x, \frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{-}y, z)$, while the remaining atoms are all lying in the reflection planes $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}(u\frac{1}{4}v)$. The parameter values corresponding to the sixteen degrees of freedom were determined accurately and uniquely. No other assumptions than those underlying the theory for the diffraction of x-rays by crystals were made. The final parameters are: In the lattice the potassium atoms are surrounded by nine or by seven oxygen atoms at average distances, respectively, of 3.01A and 2.78A. The pyrosulphite group can be described as a sulphite group and a sulphur dioxide molecule linked together by an electron pair bond between the two sulphur atoms. The sulphur to sulphur distance is 2.18A and the average sulphur to oxygen distance is 1.46A.* The atomic arrangement explains the observed cleavage and twinning.
The Gallium(III) and Indium(III) Complexes of Tris(2-mercaptobenzyl)amine and Tris(2-hydroxybenzyl)amine

Tris(2-mercaptobenzyl)amine, S3N, and tris(2-hydroxybenzyl)amine, O3N, were investigated with In3+ and Ga3+ in solution and in the solid state to help interpret the contrasting in vivo behavior of ...
Diseases diagnosed in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) of the southeastern United States.

Diagnostic findings are presented on 139 sick or dead wild turkeys examined during the period 1972 through 1984. Turkeys originated from eight southeastern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia) and included 31 turkeys categorized as capture-related mortalities and 108 turkeys categorized as natural mortalities. Frequent diagnoses (≥10% of case accessions) in the natural mortality group were trauma, avian pox, and histomoniasis. Less frequent diagnoses (≤4% of case accessions) included malnutrition/environmental stress syndrome, coligranuloma-like condition, crop impaction, bumblefoot, organophosphate toxicosis, infectious sinusitis, a lympho-proliferative disease, salmonellosis, aspergillosis, toxoplasmosis, crop trichomoniasis, and melorheostosis.
Analysis of craft workers' and foremen's perceptions of the factors affecting construction labour productivity

Extensive studies have been conducted to examine the factors affecting construction productivity, but efforts have rarely been made to obtain craft workers' input. A survey was administered to 1996 craft workers throughout the US to quantify the workforce's perspective of construction labour productivity. Specifically, the survey measured the impact of 83 productivity factors, which had been identified through 18 focus group sessions with craft workers and their immediate supervisors on jobsites located throughout the US. Craft workers provide detailed insight into the factors affecting their daily productivity, and most of the adversarial factors affecting construction labour productivity can be addressed by jobsite management teams. The major findings indicated that craft workers and foremen share a general perception of the factors impacting on construction productivity; however, differences do exist. Specifically, foremen reported factors related to project management and engineering drawings having a...
THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF RIBOFLAVIN—II. POLAROGRAPHIC STUDIES ON THE HYDROXYETHYL AND FORMYLMETHYL ANALOGS OF RIBOFLAVIN*

— The anaerobic photobleaching of 6, 7-dimethyl-9-(2′-hydroxyethyl)-isoalloxazine, 9-(2′-hydroxyethyl)-isoalloxazine and 6,7-dimethyl-9-(formylmethyl)-isoalloxazine have been compared. Polarographic and spectrophotometric techniques were used for rate studies. The methyl groups on the aromatic ring at the 6 and 7 positions affects the product distributtion in these simple flavins. Formylmethylflavin is postulated to undergo a bimolecular photoredox reaction which is novel to flavin photochemistry. It was demonstrated that there is a common type of leucoflavin formed during anaerobic photobleaching of riboflavin, formylmethylflavin and hydroxyethylflavin. This leucocompound also formed during the photoreduction of formylmethylflavin but not during the photoreduction of the other flavins.
One-pot formation of multifunctional Pt-conducting polymer intercalated nanostructures

A novel multifunctional Pt nanoparticle@PPy nanofiber intercalated structure (Pt NP@PPy NF) has been synthesized facilely in one-pot. Pt NPs, with size and facet control, were nicely assembled and embedded into the polymer nanofiber network. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used during the synthesis process which would assist the self-assembly of the metal nanoparticles and polymer backbones into the intercalated structure. Space-confined distribution of the Pt NPs was achieved within the large dimension PPy nanofiber network, which could enhance the interfacial electron transfer process as well as diminish the catalyst deformation. The as-formed Pt NPs have a cluster-like structure and are mainly composed of 3.5 nm primary Pt particles with (100) surface atoms. Enhanced electrocatalytic properties were shown by the Pt NP@PPy NF intercalated structure, with sufficiently high enzyme-less glucose biosensitivity and a long linear range from 1–30 mM (R = 0.9995). High electrochemical cycling stability, chloride (Cl−) tolerance and good selectivity are also obtained for the Pt NP@PPy NF structure, as the electrode showed no obvious response to the common interfering agents, such as ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA), and 4-acetamidophenol (AP). Furthermore, the Pt NP@PPy NF showed excellent catalytic activity for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which displayed sufficient CO tolerance, and higher activity compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. This intrinsically multifunctional Pt NP@PPy NF with well-controlled Pt facets thus could serve as an advanced electrocatalyst for biosensing and fuel cell applications, surpassing the performance of many existing materials.
My world is ok, but yours is not: television news, the optimism gap, and stress

Public opinion polls reliably find a disparity between people's views of the state of their own communities and of the nation in general. This discrepancy, frequently called the Optimism Gap, is often attributed to the fact that people have personal knowledge of things around them, but derive their larger world-view from media sources such as television, which tend to over emphasize the negative, risky aspects of life. This study explores this premise, as well as the possibility that emotional factors such as depression, anxiety, and anger also play a role. Data from 171 participants were analysed. Overall, people rated problems in the nation in general as more severe than those in their own communities. Television exposure was predictive of ratings of problems nationwide, but not of problems in respondents' own communities, while attention paid to the television news was related to ratings of national and community problems. Depression, irrational beliefs, and anger arousal were all related to ratings of problems in the nation in general, while anger arousal and optimism were predictive of ratings of problems in respondents' own communities. These findings suggest that the links between television news exposure and mental health should be explored further. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Trace Analysis by X-Ray Emission Spectrography

WE have used X-ray emission spectrography1 (X-ray fluorescence) for rapid and accurate direct analysis of small quantities of material by a technique resembling that of the familiar spot test2. Our results on zinc (Fig. 1) show the simplicity and speed of the method.
Cauda equina tolerance to high-dose fractionated irradiation.

Purpose: To report late neurologic toxicity rates and clinical outcomes for patients treated with high dose fractionated radiation therapy using three-dimensional treatment planning and combined proton and photon beams to portions of the cauda equina (L2-coccyx). Methods and Materials: Medical records of 53 patients treated to fields encompassing the cauda equina were reviewed for the onset of neurologic symptoms in the absence of local failure. All doses were normalized to equivalent dose delivered in 2-Gy fractions. Median cauda dose was 65.8 cobalt Gray equivalents (CGE) (range, 31.9–85.1). Median follow-up was 87 months (range, 14–217 months). Results: Nineteen patients experienced local recurrences, and 13 others had neurologic toxicity. A total of 54% (i.e., 7/13) of the toxicities occurred 5 years or more after treatment. Median caudal dose was 73.7 CGE in the group with neurologic toxicity, and 55.6 CGE in those without. On multivariate actuarial analysis, cauda dose and gender were statistically significant for neurotoxicity at p = 0.002 and p = 0.017, respectively. The estimated tolerance doses 5 years from treatment, TD 5/5 and TD 50/5, were 55 CGE and 72 CGE, respectively, for males and 67 CGE and 84 CGE for females. The tolerance doses were about 8 CGE lower when estimated at 10 years from treatment. Disease-free survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 66% and 53%, respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests that the probability of neurotoxicity is a relatively steep function of dose to cauda equina (slope γ 50 = approximately 3). The cauda equina tolerance is greater for females than males by about 11 CGE (at 2 CGE per fraction). Extended follow-up is necessary to accurately assess neurologic damage and then differentiate that phenomenon from local recurrence; the traditional 5-year assessment has limited meaning in this population. Local control remains an issue for these patients, even with the radical doses used.
Invited Paper Lightwave Technology in Microwave Systems

Many advanced microwave system concepts such as active aperture phased array antennas use distributed topologies in which lightwave circuits are being proposed to interconnect both the analog and digital modules of the system. Lightwave components designed to implement these interconnects are reviewed and their performance analyzed. The impact of trends in component development are discussed.
The disaster of war: American understandings of catastrophe, conflict and relief

This article explores how US humanitarian aid workers in Great War era Europe understood the war, their relief work and its significance. It argues that contemporary ideas about disaster and disaster assistance, formed in the decades before the war began, fundamentally shaped the way that Americans conceived of their wartime humanitarian aid and its significance. Through an interrogation of both the metaphorical and the material links between early twentieth century American ideas of war and natural disaster – and, by extension, war relief and disaster relief – this essay advances novel insights about the intellectual and cultural history of US humanitarian aid efforts for European civilians during the Great War era.
Political Fund-Raising, Patron-Client Relations, and Organized Criminality Two Case Studies

This article provides two case studies of political fund-raising abuses committed during the 1996 U.S. election cycle. The author contends that the behaviors described are best characterized as a form of organized criminality and that a good way to study these behaviors is to frame them in terms of patron-client relations. Though noting the limitations of this approach, the author concludes that social network methods are not only a good match with the patron-client perspective but also offer a realistic opportunity to advance the understanding of organized/white-collar-type crimes.
The Benevolent Leader: Children's Images of Political Authority

Society's training of the young, including formal and informal citizenship instruction, character training, and the processes which lead to the development of different personality types, has been seen as an important determinant of adult political behavior by theorists since Plato. In addition, much of our traditional folklore, not to mention much twentieth century literature on personality development, national character, authoritarianism, and electoral preference, points to the utility of examining the individual's early years as one means of illuminating his mature actions.The present paper considers one aspect of the child's political development—the genesis of his attitudes toward political leaders and the possible ways that this developmental process may affect his adult responses to the formal wielders of power. Citizens' orientations to political authority have a complex and imperfectly understood, but obviously important, bearing on the equilibrium of a body politic.Two classes of data will be considered: survey literature giving some indication of how adults respond to political leaders, and results of a study of 659 New Haven public and private school children of widely varying socio-economic status, ranging from fourth- through eighth-graders (about nine to thirteen years of age). Paper-and-pencil questionnaires were administered to this sample between January and March of 1958. Findings from these sources are supplemented by a smaller collection of prolonged interviews with individual children and many informal encounters with groups of school children and teachers over a period of about two years.
The use of adjuvants in studies on influenza immunization. I. Measurements in monkeys of the dimensions of antigenicity of virus-mineral oil emulsions.

Untoward reactions at the site of inoculation were not observed in monkeys vaccinated with influenza virus incorporated in a water-in-oil emulsion without acid-fast bacilli. Studies were then made to measure some of the dimensions of antigenicity of these emulsions to evaluate the extent of the immunologic adjuvant effect. This included measurements of height and persistence of the antibody response to inoculation and measurements of the extent to which the vaccine could be diluted and still induce antibody formation; i.e., antigenic extinction. In addition, comparisons were made of the rates of development of hemagglutination-inhibiting, virus-neutralizing, and complement-fixing antibody activities to determine the relationship among these three properties of the serum of immunized animals. It was found that levels of antibody many fold higher were induced by the virus-adjuvant mixtures as compared with virus in an aqueous menstruum, and that the level of antibody induced was related to the quantity of antigen incorporated in the emulsion. The stock vaccine when emulsified could be diluted 100,000-fold and was still active in antibody formation whereas a 100-fold dilution of the antigen without emulsification was essentially ineffective. Equivalent quantities of virus in 0.1 ml. or 1.0 ml. of emulsion induced antibody responses that were indistinguishable with respect to level or persistence. In comparing the course of antibody development it was found that hemagglutination-inhibiting, virus-neutralizing, and complement-fixing antibodies develop at different rates; careful analysis of the data derived from the present study together with other observations warrant the conclusion that these antibody activities are not present in constant proportion and are independent of one another. The implications of this observation and of the others mentioned above are discussed.
Asymptotics of a Fredholm Determinant Corresponding to the First Bulk Critical Universality Class in Random Matrix Models

We study the determinant det(I−KPII) of an integrable Fredholm operator KPII acting on the interval (−s, s) whose kernel is constructed out of the Ψ-function associated with the Hastings–McLeod solution of the second Painleve equation. This Fredholm determinant describes the critical behavior of the eigenvalue gap probabilities of a random Hermitian matrix chosen from the unitary ensemble in the bulk double scaling limit near a quadratic zero of the limiting mean eigenvalue density. Using the Riemann–Hilbert method, we evaluate the large s-asymptotics of det(I−KPII) .
Instantons and the chiral phase transition at nonzero baryon density

We study an interacting ensemble of instantons at a finite baryon chemical potential. We emphasize the importance of fermionic zero modes and calculate the fermion induced interaction between instantons at a nonzero chemical potential. We show that unquenched simulations of the instanton ensemble are feasible in two regimes, for a sufficiently small and for a very large chemical potential. At a very large chemical potential chiral symmetry is restored and the instanton ensemble is dominated by strongly correlated chainlike configurations.
Two-step mechanism for actin polymerization in human erythroleukemia cells induced by phorbol ester.

Human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells grow in suspension, but after treatment with nM PMA the cells adhere and spread on glass or fibronectin [Jarvinen et al., 1987: Eur. J. Cell Biol. 44:238–246]. We observed an early (20–30 min) stage of spreading in which F-actin was organized into peripheral arcs near the spreading margin and vinculin was localised to the cell's periphery at the ends of these arcs. By 1 h the cells were well spread with straight actin bundles many of which ended at more central sites terminating on patches containing vinculin and talin; thus the cells assemble typical stress fibers but do not appear to polarize. The cells also spread on RGD polymer. DiC8 (1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol, C8:0, Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) induced spreading but only if DAG kinase inhibitor and A-23187 were also present; in their absence cells adhered but did not spread. Spreading was ∼85% inhibited by 100 nM staurosporine. PKC-β was shown to be present in the cells by immunoblotting. In cells spread for 1 h with PMA, F-actin increased to 180% of control levels as measured by RP binding and the actin sequestering complex of G-actin-thymosin β4 decreased significantly. To determine whether the F-actin increase required adhesion, we inhibited cell attachment to the substratum by adding RGDS, by coating glass surfaces with hemoglobin, or by a combined treatment. Under these conditions PMA-treated suspended cells still increased their F-actin to 126–137% of controls, a significant increase over control levels. Staurosporine inhibited F-actin increases under all the conditions studied. Permeabilized cell suspensions, incubated with rhodamine labelled G-actin, incorporated the labelled actin along cell membranes at a low level. A few minutes preincubation with either diC8 plus DAG kinase inhibitor or with PMA strongly increased the incorporation. This increased incorporation was reduced to below control levels by either staurosporine (100 nM) or cytochalasin D (1 μM). We conclude that both suspended and spreading HEL cells can be stimulated to polymerize actin by a mechanism dependent on PKC or a PKC-like molecule. In suspended cells, the polymerization occurs along the membrane. When cells spread, F-actin increased to a significantly greater extent. This second step could involve additional polymerization, perhaps at the observed adhesion sites, decreased turnover of the actin bundles, or a combined effect of both mechanisms. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Applications of algebraic geometry to systems theory--Part I

-Basic theorems of algebraic geometry are applied to prove some pole-placement theorems, including an improved version of pole placement with output feedback. Examples are given which show the limitations of the algebro-geometric theorems and their potential value for systems theory. This paper and those to follow might contribute towards making the powerful theorems of modern algebraic geometry accessible and applicable to problems of engineering.
True Incidence of Pacemaker Syndrome

Although the purported incidence of pacemaker syndrome according to the literature is only 5%-15%, this is based on a series of patients with VVI pacing. Increasing numbers of studies are being reported in which patients prefer the dual chamber mode despite little benefit being demonstrated on objective testing, suggesting that pacemaker syndrome may be more common than is generally reported. This study was designed to evaluate the reported symptoms in a series of patients programmed to both the VVI and one or more dual chamber modes. Forty unselected patients with dual chamber pacemakers were entered into a blind, randomized trial comparing the symptoms associated with VVI pacing to those associated with dual chamber pacing. Patients were randomized to either VVI or dual chamber pacing. At the end of 1 week, questionnaires rating 16 different symptoms were completed. Blood pressure, LV function, presence of ventriculoatrial conduction, and ability to override the pacemaker were evaluated. The pacemaker was then programmed to the other mode. Overall, 12 of 16 symptoms were significantly worse in the VVI as compared to dual chamber mode. The most highly significant (P less than 0.005) were shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, pulsations in the neck or abdomen, cough, and apprehension. Pacemaker syndrome was clinically recognized in 83% of patients paced in the VVI mode with 65% of patients experiencing moderate to severe symptoms. There were no readily identified clinical, hemodynamic, or electrophysiological parameters that predicted which patients would develop pacemaker syndrome. Thus, when patients have an opportunity to experience both pacing modes in close proximity to one another, there is a high incidence of pacemaker syndrome in the VVI mode.
Epidemiologic Study of In-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Elderly

We identified 433,985 patients who underwent in-hospital CPR; 18.3% of these patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.2 to 18.5) survived to discharge. The rate of survival did not change substantially during the period from 1992 through 2005. The overall incidence of CPR was 2.73 events per 1000 admissions; the incidence was higher among black and other nonwhite patients. The proportion of patients undergoing in-hospital CPR before death increased over time and was higher for nonwhite patients. The survival rate was lower among patients who were men, were older, had more coexisting illnesses, or were admitted from a skilled-nursing facility. The adjusted odds of survival for black patients were 23.6% lower than those for similar white patients (95% CI, 21.2 to 25.9). The association between race and survival was partially explained by hospital effects: black patients were more likely to undergo CPR in hospitals that have lower rates of post-CPR survival. Among patients surviving in-hospital CPR, the proportion of patients discharged home rather than to a health care facility decreased over time. CONCLUSIONS Survival after in-hospital CPR did not improve from 1992 through 2005. The proportion of in-hospital deaths preceded by CPR increased, whereas the proportion of survivors discharged home after undergoing CPR decreased. Black race was associated with higher rates of CPR but lower rates of survival after CPR.