cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differences in housing price forecastability across US states

Abstract Given the marked differences in housing price growth across US regions since the mid-1990s, we investigate forecasts of state-level real housing price growth for 1995–2006. We evaluate forecasts from an autoregressive benchmark model as well as models based on a host of state, regional, and national economic variables. Overall, our results highlight important differences in the forecastability of real housing price growth across US states, especially between interior and coastal states. More specifically, we find that autoregressive models, and especially models that incorporate information from numerous economic variables, often provide relatively accurate housing price forecasts for a number of interior states during the period 1995–2006; all forecasting models, however, tend to perform relatively poorly for a group of primarily coastal states that experienced especially strong housing price growth during this period, pointing to a “disconnect” between housing prices and economic fundamentals for these states.
The low-dose ACTH stimulation test: is 30 minutes long enough?

ABSTRACT Objective: Controversy persists regarding the use of the low-dose adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test (LDST) for the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency (AI) and optimal test result interpretation. However, many centers are now using the LDST to assess cortisol secretion adequacy, and some only use a 30-minute cortisol level to determine adrenal sufficiency or AI. This study examined both 30- and 60-minute cortisol levels to assess whether the interpretation of the test was affected when both cortisol levels were taken into consideration. Methods: Data were obtained by retrospective chart review from a single pediatric endocrinology unit over a 7-year period. We identified 82 patients who completed the LDST. Their mean age was 11.7 years, and 37% were female. Cortisol levels were evaluated at baseline and 30 and 60 minutes after cosyntropin administration. A cutoff value ≥18 μg/dL was used to define adrenal sufficiency. Results: We found that 54% of patients reached peak cortisol levels at 60 minutes, and 11 patients who did not pass the test at 30 minutes did so at 60 minutes. The only predictive characteristic was weight status; overweight and obese individuals tended to peak at 30 minutes, and normal and underweight individuals tended to peak at 60 minutes. Conclusion: Although further studies are necessary to confirm our findings, it appears that measuring cortisol both 30 and 60 minutes following synthetic ACTH administration may be necessary to avoid overdiagnosing AI. Abbreviations: ACTH = adrenocorticotropic hormone AI = adrenal insufficiency BMI = body mass index LDST = low-dose ACTH stimulation test MRI = magnetic resonance imaging
Endobronchial management of lung cancer.

Bronchoscopic phototherapy is available now for 2 distinct categories of tracheobronchial cancer: roentgenographically occult superficial squamous cell carcinoma and advanced malignancy causing significant airway obstruction. Laboratory and clinical experience show that the photodynamic effect of hematoporphyrin derivative phototherapy (HpD-PT) may be useful for treating superficial cancers that penetrate less than 5 mm into bronchial mucosa. The larger, obstructing cancers are better managed by high-power laser sources, stich as the YAC laser, which are effective by hyperthermal photocoagulation, thermal necrosis, and tissue vaporization.
Transformation of cortisol in rheumatoid synovial tissue in vitro.

ABSTRACT 11β-Hydroxyandrostenedione, cortisone, 20α- and 20β-dihydrocortisol and cortisol were identified, by means of paper and thin layer chromatography and reverse isotope dilution technique, as transformation products of cortisol-4-14C in rheumatoid synovial membrane. Non-enzymatic conversion of cortisol to 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione and other unknown compounds has been shown in control experiments. The major metabolic pathways of cortisol in human rheumatoid synovial membrane involve oxidation of the 11β-hydroxyl to 11-ketone, reduction of the 20-ketone to 20α-ol and 20β-ol. No ring A reduced metabolites could be detected.
Abstract P6-06-39: Chest wall invasion is a more significant prognostic factor than nodal spread, triple-negative or Her2 receptor status in stage III breast cancer: A large, single institution retrospective analysis

Background There is a significant variation in response to systemic treatment in stage III breast cancer that is not explained by hormone/Her2 receptor status alone. Identification of additional prognostic factors is needed to further stratify patients for additional treatment. According to the National Cancer Data Base, patients with stage IIIB breast cancer, characterized by having direct chest wall involvement regardless of lymph node spread, have a worse prognosis than patients with stage IIIC breast cancer, generally with significant lymph node involvement (41% vs. 49% 5-year overall survival). We hypothesized that chest wall invasion is an independent prognostic factor and may be more significant than regional nodal spread, triple-negative or Her2 -receptor status, or ethnicity. Methods Our retrospective study included 135 patients with stage IIIB or IIIC breast cancer seen at a large county hospital in Dallas, TX between 2008 and 2013. Patients were stratified into two groups based on whether they had chest wall invasion (T4) or not. Cases of inflammatory breast cancer (T4d) were excluded. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, the Log-Rank test, univariate and multivariate methods were used for statistical analysis. We evaluated the effects of chest wall involvement, ethnicity, and hormone receptor/Her2 status on overall survival. Results In patients with stage III breast cancer, those with chest wall invasion (T4) have a significantly decreased 5-year overall survival (OS) compared to patients with significant regional nodal spread (N3) (62% vs. 81%, p = 0.022, HR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-4.9). Univariate analysis of hormone receptor, Her2 status, African-American or Hispanic ethnicity, the presence of chest wall involvement, and significant regional lymph node involvement (N3 disease or not) showed that ER receptor status and the presence of chest wall involvement were the only significant prognostic factors (p = 0.006 and p = 0.022, respectively). Notably, the combination of ER-negativity and the presence of chest wall invasion predicts for worse prognosis than either alone (p = 0.0011, HR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.2). Conclusion and Discussion Chest wall invasion was an independent predictor for decreased overall survival in stage III breast cancer. This could explain in part why patients with stage IIIB breast cancer have worse overall survival than patients with stage IIIC. There may be an intrinsic biological difference between breast cancer cells that directly invade surrounding chest wall and those that have nodal spread as the main route of metastasis. An inflammatory component in those with chest wall invasion may allow these tumors to be more aggressive and additional research is needed to target potential genes for therapy. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P6-06-39.
In situ measurements of thermal diffusivity in sediments of the methane-rich zone of Cascadia Margin, NE Pacific Ocean

Thermal diffusivity (TD) is a measure of the temperature response of a material to external thermal forcing. In this study, TD values for marine sediments were determined in situ at two locations on the Cascadia Margin using an instrumented sediment probe deployed by a remotely operated vehicle. TD measurements in this area of the NE Pacific Ocean are important for characterizing the upslope edge of the methane hydrate stability zone, which is the climate-sensitive boundary of a global-scale carbon reservoir. The probe was deployed on the Cascadia Margin at water depths of 552 and 1049 m for a total of 6 days at each site. The instrumented probe consisted of four thermistors aligned vertically, one sensor exposed to the bottom water and one each at 5, 10, and 15 cm within the sediment. Results from each deployment were analyzed using a thermal conduction model applying a range of TD values to obtain the best fit with the experimental data. TD values corresponding to the lowest standard deviations from the numerical model runs were selected as the best approximations. Overall TDs of Cascadia Margin sediments of 4.33 and 1.15 × 10–7 m2 s–1 were calculated for the two deployments. These values, the first of their kind to be determined from in situ measurements on a methane hydrate-rich continental margin, are expected to be useful in the development of models of bottom-water temperature increases and their implications on a global scale.
Neuroanatomical correlates of oral reading in acute left hemispheric stroke

Oral reading is a complex skill involving the interaction of orthographic, phonological, and semantic processes. Functional imaging studies with nonimpaired adult readers have identified a widely distributed network of frontal, inferior parietal, posterior temporal, and occipital brain regions involved in the task. However, while functional imaging can identify cortical regions engaged in the process under examination, it cannot identify those brain regions essential for the task. The current study aimed to identify those neuroanatomical regions critical for successful oral reading by examining the relationship between word and nonword oral reading deficits and areas of tissue dysfunction in acute stroke. We evaluated 91 patients with left hemisphere ischemic stroke with a test of oral word and nonword reading, and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted and perfusion-weighted imaging, within 24-48h of stroke onset. A voxel-wise statistical map showed that impairments in word and nonword reading were associated with a distributed network of brain regions, including the inferior and middle frontal gyri, the middle temporal gyrus, the supramarginal and angular gyri, and the middle occipital gyrus. In addition, lesions associated with word deficits were found to be distributed more frontally, while nonword deficits were associated with lesions distributed more posteriorly.
The Transformation of Industrial Apprenticeship in the United States

Between the 1880s and 1930s, apprenticeship was transformed from an institution dominated by employers to one dominated by unions. Prior to this transformation, employers leveraged their ability to hire, fire, and discipline at will by requiring apprentices to post forfeitable performance bonds. Despite their financial interest in the resolution of contract disputes, employers who withheld employees' bonds judged their own cases. Agency theory helps explain the use and abuse of bonding schemes and their role in the subsequent transformation of apprenticeship.
Surface Enhanced Fluorescence of Basic Fuchsin at Roughened Silver Electrodes

Surface enhanced fluorescence and surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) of the dye basic fuchsin are observed on Ag electrode surfaces which have been electrochemically roughened with an oxidation-reduction cycle (ORC) in the presence of basic fuchsin and 0.1 M KC1. The fluorescence of the dye on the Ag surface is red shifted by ca. 26 nm relative to solution fluorescence, and as time passes, the fluorescence broadens into the blue region of the spectrum. The enhancement factor is ca. 26 ± 10 for a vertically oriented monolayer of the dye on the roughened Ag electrode. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicates that unique roughness features are formed during the ORC in the presence of the dye. These features appear to be necessary for surface enhanced fluorescence.
Cloud-to-ground lightning in tropical cyclones: A study of Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Jerry (1989)

Abstract Cloud-to-ground lightning characteristics of two Atlantic cyclones of 1989, Hurricanes Hugo and Jerry, are presented. Statistics on the number of flashes, location, polarity, peak currents, and multiplicity (number of strokes per flash) are examined in an 18-h period divided into prelandfall and postlandfall categories. Land-based and aircraft lower fuselage radar data are also analyzed to determine the nature of the precipitation in which lightning is detected. Jerry is found to be more electrically active than Hugo, with 691 flashes detected compared with 33 flashes for Hugo. The majority of these flashes, regardless of the polarity, are located in the right front and right rear quadrants of the hurricanes, almost exclusively in outer convective rainbands. One reason for the large difference in the number of flashes between the two storms is the presence of many convective rainbands in Jerry, compared to only a few in Hugo. More than 20% of the flashes in each storm have a positive polarity. Me...
Simulated Sunlight Action Spectra for Inactivation of MS2 and PRD1 Bacteriophages in Clear Water

Action spectra for simulated sunlight were measured in clear water for two viruses: PRD1, a double-stranded DNA bacteriophage, and MS2, a single-stranded RNA bacteriophage. Viruses were diluted into phosphate buffered saline (20 mM PBS, pH 7.5) and exposed for 22 h to simulated sunlight either directly or through one of six glass filters with 50% cutoff wavelengths ranging from 280 to 350 nm. Virus survival was measured using the double agar layer plaque method. Both UVA (320�400 nm) and UVB (280�320 nm) light were found to contribute to PRD1 inactivation, while only UVB inactivated MS2. A computational model was developed for interpreting these action spectra with 3-nm resolution. Using these methods, we provide detailed estimates of the sensitivity of MS2 and PRD1 to photoinactivation from 285 to 345 nm. The resulting sensitivity coefficients can be combined with solar spectra to estimate inactivation rates in clear water under different sunlight conditions. This approach will be useful for modeling the inactivation of viruses and other microorganisms in sunlit natural and engineered systems.
Suppression of Loss-of-function Mutations in Escherichia coli Ribonuclease P RNA (M1 RNA) by a Specific Base-pair Disruption

A plasmid encoding ribonuclease P RNA of Escherichia coli (M1 RNA) was mutagenized with hydroxylamine in vitro and defective rnpB genes were identified by screening in an in vivo suppression assay. Defective rnpB sequences were mutagenized with a second round of hydroxylamine to restore activity. We report here that conversion of the C32.G48 base-pair of RNase P RNA to either C.A or U.G restored activity to defective rnpB genes bearing a variety of spatially distinct primary mutations. Disruption of this base-pair in an otherwise wild-type rnpB sequence increased the growth rate of the indicator strain E. coli FS101, consistent with the opening of C32.G48 during in vivo assembly of or catalysis by RNase P.
A macroscale model for simulating pressure drop and collection efficiency of pleated filters over time

Abstract In this work, a computationally affordable macroscale model is developed to simulate the instantaneous collection efficiency and pressure drop of pleated depth filters. The numerical scheme presented here allows for the deposition of particles inside the fibrous fabric of a pleated filter, and accordingly varies its permeability and capture efficiency to simulate aging of the filter over time. This has been accomplished by developing a series of in-house subroutines that remarkably enhance the capabilities of the commercially available computational fluid dynamics code from ANSYS. This model is used to quantify the influence of pleat count, particle diameter, and flow velocity on the instantaneous performance of pleated filters with V-shaped pleats. Our results indicate that increasing the number of pleats reduces the rate of increase of a filter’s pressure drop and capture efficiency. Predictions of our model have been compared against available experimental data, and good agreement has been observed.
Comparison of Final Infarct Volumes in Patients Who Received Endovascular Therapy or Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Intracranial Large-Vessel Occlusions

Importance Studies comparing the efficacy of intra-arterial therapy (IAT) and medical therapy in reducing final infarct volume (FIV) in intracranial large-vessel occlusions (ILVOs) are lacking. Objectives To assess whether patients with ILVOs who received IAT have smaller FIVs than patients who received either intravenous tissue plasminogen activator therapy (IVT) or no reperfusion therapy (NRT) and to determine a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) threshold score that identifies patients most likely to benefit from IAT. Design Retrospective cohort study of patients with ILVOs between 2009 and 2011. Setting Two large-volume stroke centers. Participants Adults with anterior circulation ILVOs who presented within 360 minutes from the time last seen as normal. Patients with isolated extracranial occlusions were not included. Exposure Intra-arterial therapy, IVT, or NRT. Main Outcomes and Measures Final infarct volumes, rates of acceptable outcome defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 3 at hospital discharge, and NIHSS threshold scores. Results A total of 203 consecutive patients with ILVOs were evaluated. Baseline characteristics were similar among the 3 groups. The median infarct volume was significantly smaller for the IAT group (42 cm 3 ) than for the IVT group (109 cm 3 ; P = .001) or the NRT group (110 cm 3 ; P 3 ; P 3 ; P = .004), and M2 middle cerebral artery (33 vs 59 cm 3 ; P = .04) occlusions. Patients were stratified based on NIHSS score at presentation (8-13, 14-19, and ≥20). For patients with an NIHSS score of 14 or higher at presentation, IAT significantly reduced FIV (46 cm 3 with IAT vs 149 cm 3 with IVT or NRT; P 3 with IAT vs 44 cm 3 with IVT or NRT; P = .40). Patients with an NIHSS score of 14 or higher who received IAT appear to benefit most from IAT. Conclusions and Relevance Our data suggest a greater reduction of FIV with IAT compared with either IVT or NRT. Moreover, patients with an NIHSS score of 14 or higher may be the best candidates for endovascular reperfusion therapy.
The quest for single-cycle optical pulses

Few-cycle laser pulses from Ti:sapphire and Cr:Forsterite lasers in the wavelength range from 650 nm to 1600 nm have been demonstrated recently. The possible generation of sinlge-cycle optical pulses based on the coherent superposition of these pulses is discussed.
Thrombus formation in a HeartMate II.

Fig. 1. Thrombus found in the inlet bearing ball and bearing cup upon dismantle of the index of 5.7, power consumption of 7.6 W, and flow of 6.7 l/min. At the time of his re pulmonary artery pressures, and an aortic valve opening with each cardiac cycle. Althou positioned had low velocity flow. LVAD settings were increased to 10,800 rpm; pulsatilit Since the thrombus was in the inlet bearing ball and cup, it did not lead to increased pow
Antiquity observed: A French naturalist in the Aegean Sea in 1547

The focus of this article is the mind of a young French botanist who visits the islands of the Aegean Sea in 1547. Although he is not a professional classicist, he is on the alert for survivals of classical culture among the Greek-speaking natives on Crete, Chios and Lemnos. His chief concern, as a patented Renaissance intellectual, is to find an explanation for the total absence of learning in the Greek world, which appears to him as an antique setting filled with ruined marble and ruined minds. Not given to nostalgia or pathos, he observes the flora and fauna described by Galen and Dioscorides: Nature, at least, remains constant.
Frequency-domain ultrasonic NDE of three-layered media : the inverse problem

This paper presents a frequency-domain ultrasonic technique for a simultaneous determination of the thickness (h) and wavespeed (c) of the individual layers comprising a multilayered medium using the entire complex spectrum. Each of the layers may be «thin»; by thin we mean that the successive reflections of an ultrasonic pulse from the two faces of a layer are non-separable in the time domain. Plane longitudinal waves which are normally incident upon the medium are considered. A systematic analysis of the sensitivity of the complex-valued transfer function to the acoustical parameters of each of the layers has been carried out. Successful inversion results are presented for several three-layer specimens: aluminum/water/aluminum, aluminum/water/titanium, and titanium/water/titanium
Prefrontal and striatal activation during sequence learning in geriatric depression.

Background Frontostriatal dysfunction is a primary hypothesis for the neurocognitive changes of depression in late life. The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks that are known to engage the prefrontal and neostriatal cognitive circuits. Methods Twenty-three elderly subjects (mean age, 69.9 years) participated: 11 subjects with a current major depressive episode and 12 nondepressed elderly control subjects. Subjects underwent fMRI while performing a concurrent implicit and explicit sequence learning task. Region of interest (ROI)-based analyses were conducted, focusing on the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the neostriatum. Results As expected, both the control and depressed subjects learned the sequence during both implicit and explicit conditions. During explicit learning, decreased prefrontal activation was found in the depressed subjects, along with increased striatal activation. The increased striatal activity in the depressed subjects was due to increased activity on the trials that violated the sequence. During implicit learning, no significant differences were found between the groups in the identified ROIs. Conclusions The increased striatal activation on trials that violated the sequence demonstrates a greater response to negative feedback for depressed compared with control subjects. Our observations of significant differences in both prefrontal and striatal regions in the depressed elderly subjects relative to elderly control subjects supports the frontostriatal dysfunction hypothesis of late-life depression.
Self-assembly of mesoporous nanoscale silica/gold composites

The effect of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) template concentration, solvent conditions, and silica source on the structure and self-assembly of mesoporous nanoscale silica/gold composites was investigated. Nanocomposites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and liquid nitrogen adsorption. The number of gold particles per silica shell, referred to as the cluster number, and the ratio of gold/silica to pure silica particles, referred to as the occupancy, varied considerably with the concentration of CTAB template. In addition, the shape of the particles and the direction of mesopore growth were found to depend highly on the solvent composition and the silica source used. The materials produced were thermally stable above 540 °C, had pore volumes greater than 0.53 cm g-1 at standard temperature and pressure, and had surface areas in excess of 690 m2 g-1. The overall particle sizes ranged in diameter from 93 to 520 nm, and the pore center-to-pore center distances of...
Effect of temperature and modifier concentration on retention in supercritical fluid chromatography

Abstract Use of binary modifiers in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) enhances the solvating capabilities of the supercritical mobile phase, allowing the mobile phase to be chemically tailored to a specific separation. The effects of temperature, density and modifier mole fraction on the retention process in capillary SFC was studied. Selectivity, as well as the enthalpy of solute transfer, were seen to be dependent on modifier concentration. Specific molecular interactions between the binary fluid and the solutes as well as enhanced solvation of the bonded stationary phase are suggested by the experimental data.
Protease-Containing Silicates as Active Antifouling Materials

Biocatalytic silicates, composite materials composed of alpha-chymotrypsin and a silicate prepolymer, were prepared via a two-step polymerization process following solubilization of the enzyme in the polymerization media. This new approach resulted in active and stable composites, and a calculated half-life of over 350 days in aqueous buffer at 30 degrees C. The high stability and activity of this biocatalytic silicate was likely due to the covalent attachment between alpha-chymotrypsin and the silicate matrix. The protease-containing silicate was resistant to fouling by nonselective protein binding, as demonstrated by the dramatically reduced binding of human serum albumin to the silicate material when compared to that of a silicate containing pre-inactivated alpha-chymotrypsin.
State Legislators and State Auditors: Is There an Inherent Role Conflict?

Traditionally, one of the functions of state legislatures has been that of oversight. However, because it is the least rewarding, legislatures have paid it the least attention. This has led to increased responsibilities for state auditors. In many cases, their role has expanded from an examination of financial transactions and internal control to include the oversight functions previously performed by the legislatures. The result has been considerable auditor-legislative tensions. This study surveyed state auditors to determine potential areas of conflict between auditors and legislatures. It found the major areas of conflict include inaction by legislators on the findings and recommendations of auditors and attempts at inappropriate control over the audit function by legislatures.
In vivo control of soluble guanylate cyclase activation by nitric oxide: a kinetic analysis

Free nitric oxide (NO) activates soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), an enzyme, within both pulmonary and vascular smooth muscle. sGC catalyzes the cyclization of guanosine 5'-triphosphate to guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP). Binding rates of NO to the ferrous heme(s) of sGC have been measured in vitro. However, a missing link in our understanding of the control mechanism of sGC by NO is a comprehensive in vivo kinetic analysis. Available literature data suggests that NO dissociation from the heme center of sGC is accelerated by its interaction with one or more cofactors in vivo. We present a working model for sGC activation and NO consumption in vivo. Our model predicts that NO influences the cGMP formation rate over a concentration range of approximately 5-100 nM (apparent Michaelis constant approximately 23 nM), with Hill coefficients between 1.1 and 1.5. The apparent reaction order for NO consumption by sGC is dependent on NO concentration, and varies between 0 and 1.5. Finally, the activation of sGC (half-life approximately 1-2 s) is much more rapid than deactivation (approximately 50 s). We conclude that control of sGC in vivo is most likely ultra-sensitive, and that activation in vivo occurs at lower NO concentrations than previously reported.
Lateralized Psychological Impairment Associated With CT Lesions in Head Injured Patients

Summary Twenty-six adult patients with CT scans were given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) during recovery from an acute head injury. Focal lesions were observed on the initial CT scans of 24 patients. These included 13 in the right hemisphere, 8 in the left hemisphere and 3 in both hemispheres. Diffuse cerebral swelling was observed in the remaining 2 patients. Both the standard WAIS examination (11 subtests) and a shorter version described by McFie (7 subtests) were used to assess psychological impairment associated with CT documented lesions. The McFie method involved a special scoring procedure that utilized reference subtests as an index of premorbid functioning. When mean algebraic differences between Verbal and Performance subtests were used, both methods differentiated left and right-sided lesions to a highly significant degree (p
Beauty Queens and Wallflowers - Currency Unions in the Middle East and Central Asia

Against the background of the theory of optimum currency areas, the paper analyzes possible sequences for establishing a currency union (CU) in the Middle East and Central Asia region. Between the corner solutions of independent currencies for all countries in the region and a CU comprising all countries, a large number of combinations of member countries in the CU is possible. The analysis aims to determine the composition of potential CUs as a function of the country initiating the CU, an exogenously determined number of currencies in the region, and the weight attached to the particular selection criteria. Within this framework, the study seeks to establish whether some countries are consistently selected at early stages of the process, while others join only at later stages.
Robotic pediatric cardiac surgery: Present and future perspectives

Advances in robotic technology and imaging systems have enabled the broad application of minimally invasive techniques in cardiac surgery, including coronary artery bypass grafting and mitral valve repair in adults. In pediatric cardiac surgery, however, current robotic systems have been used primarily to facilitate thoracoscopic pediatric procedures on extracardiac lesions, such as ligation of patent ductus and division of vascular rings. The use of smaller instruments with sophisticated robotic wrists may make it possible to perform more complex extracardiac procedures even in young infants. Additionally, future technological improvements, including incorporation of tactile feedback, instrument tracking, and intracardiac imaging (such as real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography), may enable intracardiac robotic surgery to be performed in children. This article reviews the current and potential future applications of pediatric robotic surgery and the developmental work required to enable performance of these procedures, along with an overview of the problems associated with the use of current robotic surgical systems in children.
Crystal structures of the A2A adenosine receptor and their use in medicinal chemistry

New insights into drug design are derived from the X-ray crystallographic structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and the adenosine receptors (ARs) are at the forefront of this effort. The 3D knowledge of receptor binding and activation promises to enable drug discovery for GPCRs in general, and specifically for the ARs. The predictability of modeling based on the X-ray structures of the A2AAR has been well demonstrated in the identification, design and modification of both known and novel AR agonists and antagonists. It is expected that structure-based design of drugs acting through ARs will provide new avenues to clinically useful agents.
Routing through noise and sleeping nodes in sensor networks: latency vs. energy trade-offs

We consider wireless sensor networks with nodes switching "ON" (awake) and "OFF" (sleeping) to preserve energy, and transmitting data over channels with varying quality. The objective is to determine the best path from each node to a single gateway. Performance metrics of interest are: the expected energy consumption for transmissions and the probability that the latency exceeds a certain threshold. Under Markovian assumptions on the sleeping schedules and the channel conditions, we obtain the expected energy consumption of transmitting a packet on any path to the gateway. We also provide a tight large deviations asymptotic for the latency probability on each path. To capture the trade-off between energy consumption and latency probability we formulate the problem of choosing a path to minimize a weighted sum of the expected energy consumption and the exponent of the latency probability. We provide two algorithms to solve this problem: a centralized stochastic global optimization algorithm and a distributed algorithm based on simulated annealing.
Software Annotations for Power Optimization on Mobile Devices

Modern applications for mobile devices, such as multi-media video/audio, often exhibit a common behavior: they process streams of incoming data in a regular, predictable way. The runtime behavior of these applications can be accurately estimated most of the time by analyzing the data to be processed and annotating the stream with the information collected. We introduce a software annotation based approach to power optimization and demonstrate its application on a backlight adjustment technique for LCD displays during multimedia playback, for improved battery life and user experience. Results from analysis and simulation show that up to 65% of backlight power can be saved through our technique, with minimal or no visible quality degradation.
The rate variability-distortion (VD) curve of encoded video and its impact on statistical multiplexing

Encoded video is expected to contribute a significant portion of the load on future communication systems and networks, which often employ statistical multiplexing. In such systems, the number of video streams that can be supported depends both on the mean bit rate as well as bit rate variability of the video streams. At the same time, the utility (revenue) earned from video streaming depends both on the number of supported video streams as well as their quality level. In this paper we examine the interplay between video quality, traffic variability, and utility for open-loop encoded video. We introduce the rate variability-distortion (VD) curve which relates the bit rate variability to the quality level of an encoded video. We find that the VD curve generally exhibits a characteristic "hump" behavior of first increasing, peaking, and subsequently decreasing variability for increasing quality. We examine the impact of video content characteristics, encoding parameters, and traffic smoothing on the VD behavior. We describe a methodology for assessing (i) the set of the video streams that can be supported with a statistical quality of service requirement, and (ii) the utility earned from video streaming over a link. This methodology is based on the rate-distortion and rate variability-distortion characteristics of the videos. We find that the statistical multiplexing gain and the utility as a function of the video quality level typically exhibit a "hump" similar to the VD curve.
Reply: Multiple imputation models should incorporate the outcome in the model of interest

ARTICLE Sir, We thank you for the opportunity to respond to Barlett, Frost and Carpenter who make the important point that the best statistical practice involves considering the outcome when imputing values for a covariate. This also makes sense informally as the goal of imputation is to use as much information as possible to ‘fill-in’ the unknown values yet still account for the uncertainty in the imputed values. In our separate detailed report describing the …
Neural steroid hormone receptors

Abstract (1) Cell nuclear and cytoplasmic receptors for estrogens, androgens, and glucocorticoids have been identified in brains and pituitary glands of vertebrates. With respect to topography, estradiol (E 2 ) receptors are localized primarily in the hypophysiotrophic area and amygdala; 5-α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) receptors are found in hypothalamus and limbic regions in smaller amounts and more uniformly distributed than those for estradiol; and corticosterone receptors are found in the hippocampal formation, septum, entorhinal cortex and amygdala. (2) Where information is available, mainly for estrogen receptors, their neural topography shows a remarkable constancy among vertebrates. The neural topography of estrogen and glucocorticoid receptors of rat and rhesus monkey will be compared. (3) A complicating factor in the study of androgens interacting with the brain is the conversion of testosterone (T) in neural tissue to both estrogenic and androgenic metabolites. Two of the products, E 2 and DHT, are recovered attached to cell nuclear receptors in the rat brain, whereas only DHT and T itself are found in pituitary cell nuclei. Evidence from other laboratories suggests that interactions of E 2 and DHT or T with intracellular receptors each subserve different behavioral and neuroendocrine functions in the rat. (4) The topography of estrogen receptors in the rat brain provides an excellent opportunity for studying estrogen action on brain chemistry. Estrogen effects on monoamine oxidase, choline acetylase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity will be described. The overall importance of the action of steroid hormones on gene expression will be briefly discussed.
Triclosan: a widely used biocide and its link to antibiotics

Triclosan is the active ingredient in a multitude of health care and consumer products with germicidal properties, which have flooded the market in recent years in response to the public's fear of communicable bacteria. Although originally thought to kill bacteria by attacking multiple cellular targets, triclosan was recently shown to target a specific bacterial fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme, enoyl-[acyl-carrier protein] reductase, in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as in the Mycobacteria. Triclosan resistance mechanisms include target mutations, increased target expression, active efflux from the cell, and enzymatic inactivation/degradation. These are the same types of mechanisms involved in antibiotic resistance and some of them account for the observed cross-resistance with antibiotics in laboratory isolates. Therefore, there is a link between triclosan and antibiotics, and the widespread use of triclosan-containing antiseptics and disinfectants may indeed aid in development of microbial resistance, in particular cross-resistance to antibiotics.
Postnatal neogenesis of islets of langerhans in the mouse.

The source of the new islets during growth and the effect of aging on the number of islets have been studied in Webster Swiss mice. A combination of methods was employed, including microscopy in vivo, enumeration of the total number of islets, radioautography with H-3-thymidine, and conventional histological technics. The total number of islets in normal mice increases with age until about six months, and then becomes stable or decreases slightly. Radioautographs showed that the cells of the islets are in all likelihood derived from migrating ductal or periductal cells residing at the junction between the islet and pancreatic duct and at the periphery of the islet, and that these cells doubtless serve as the progenitor pool for the growth of the islet. The nuclear cycle of the insular cells was also determined by this method. In vivo study revealed that the structural integrity of ducts and of their vascular supply is important for the maintenance of the population of ductal and periductal islets.
Femtosecond studies of electrons in liquids

Femtosecond time-resolved measurements were performed on the geminate recombination and solvation of electrons in liquids. The electrons were generated by multiphoton ionization in neat water and alkanes and by multiphoton detachment from Cl− and OH− ions in aqueous solution. For the neat liquids, the results are compared with the Onsager model of ion-pair recombination. An isotope effect is observed in the dynamics of both solvation and recombination in neat D2O relative to H2O. Studies with improved time resolution of electron solvation in neat water have measured the formation, decay, and absorption spectrum of the wet electron, i.e., the presolvated electron. By the discovery of an isosbestic wavelength, the formation of the wet electron is shown to involve two states; i.e., the transition is not continuous. The picture of the wet electron as an excited state of the solvated electron is presented. The differences in the solvation dynamics of electrons that are generated from neat water and from OH− and Cl− ions show that short-range molecular effects are important.
Effect of polyol type on the surface structure of sulfonate-containing polyurethanes

Polyurethanes based upon polytetramethylene oxide (PTMO) as the polyol and derivatized with propyl sulfonate functionality pendant from the urethane nitrogen have previously been shown to possess good blood-contacting properties. Other investigators have shown that sulfonated polyurethanes containing polyethylene oxide (PEO) as the soft segment are much more thrombogenic than those containing PTMO as the soft segment. In this article, the surface properties of sulfonated polyurethanes based upon either PTMO or PEO are compared. Dynamic contact angle measurements show a significant decrease in the receding angles of the sulfonated PTMO-containing polyurethane as compared to its nonsulfonated precursor polymer. No significant difference is seen between the receding contact angles of either the sulfonated PEO-based polyurethane or its nonsulfonated analog. Variable-angle electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) studies of sulfonated PTMO-based polyurethane performed at room temperature show that there is a significant decrease in sulfur content at the surface. In contrast, the sulfonated PEO-based polyurethane showed little change in sulfur content with take-off angle. Finally, ESCA studies of freeze-dried surfaces show a significant increase in sulfur near the surface of the sulfonated PTMO-based polymer as compared to vacuum-dried samples but show no such increase for the sulfonated PEO-based polyurethane. It is suggested that the ability of the sulfonate functionality to be expressed at the surface may explain the observed differences in blood compatibility between the sulfonated polyurethanes based upon polyols of varying hydrophilicity.
Bisphenol A Alters Autonomic Tone and Extracellular Matrix Structure and Induces Sex-Specific Effects on Cardiovascular Function in Male and Female CD-1 Mice

The aim of this study was to determine whether bisphenol A (BPA) has adverse effects on cardiovascularfunctionsinCD-1miceanddefinesex-specificmodesofBPAactionintheheart.Damsand analyzed progeny were maintained on a defined diet containing BPA (0.03, 0.3, 3, 30, or 300 ppm) that resulted in BPA exposures from 4–5 to approximately 5000 g/kg d or a diet containing 17-ethinyl estradiol (EE; 0.02, 0.2, and 0.15 g/kg d) as an oral bioavailable estrogen control. Assessment of electrocardiogram parameters using noninvasive methods found that ventricular functions in both male and female mice were not altered by either BPA or EE. However, exposurerelated changes in the rates of ventricular contraction, suggestive of a shift in sympathovagal balance of heart rate control toward increased parasympathetic activity, were detected in males. Decreased systolic blood pressure was observed in males exposed to BPA above 5 g/kg d and in females from the highest BPA exposure group. Morphometric histological measures revealed sexually dimorphic changes in the composition of the cardiac collagen extracellular matrix, increases in fibrosis, and evidence of modest exposure-related remodeling. Experiments using the -selective adrenergic agonist phenylephrine found that BPA enhanced reflex bradycardia in females, but not males, revealed that BPA and EE exposure sex specifically altered the sympathetic regulation of the baroreflex circuits. Increased sensitivity to the cardiotoxic effects of the-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol was observed in BPA- and EE-exposed females. This effect was not observed in males, in which BPA or EE exposures were protective of isoproterenol-induced ischemic damage and hypertrophy. The results of RNA sequence analysis identified significant sex-specific changes in gene expression in response to BPA that were consistent with the observed exposure-related phenotypic changes in the collagenous and noncollagenous extracellular matrix, cardiac remodeling, altered autonomic responses, changes in ion channel and transporter functions, and altered glycolytic and lipid metabolism. (Endocrinology 156: 882–895, 2015)
Estimating Productivity: Composite Operators for Keystroke Level Modeling

Task time is a measure of productivity in an interface. Keystroke Level Modeling (KLM) can predict experienced user task time to within 10 to 30% of actual times. One of the biggest constraints to implementing KLM is the tedious aspect of estimating the low-level motor and cognitive actions of the users. The method proposed here combines common actions in applications into high-level operators (composite operators) that represent the average error-free time (e.g. to click on a button, select from a drop-down, type into a text-box). The combined operators dramatically reduce the amount of time and error in building an estimate of productivity. An empirical test of 26 users across two enterprise web-applications found this method to estimate the mean observed time to within 10%. The composite operators lend themselves to use by designers and product developers early in development without the need for different prototyping environments or tedious calculations.
A Self-Repairing Prefetcher in an Event-Driven Dynamic Optimization Framework

Software prefetching has been demonstrated as a powerful technique to tolerate long load latencies. However, to be effective, prefetching must target the most critical (frequently missing) loads, and prefetch them sufficiently far in advance. This is difficult to do correctly with a static optimizer, because locality characteristics and cache latencies vary across data inputs and across different machines. This paper presents a mechanism that dynamically inserts prefetch instructions into frequently executed hot traces. Hot traces are dynamically analyzed to identify delinquent loads and the appropriate prefetch distance for those loads. Those prefetches are then inserted into the hot trace. The low overhead of the event-driven dynamic optimization system allows the optimizer to continuously monitor the performance of the software prefetches. This is done to find an accurate and stable prefetch distance and to adapt to changes in program behavior using what we call self-repairing prefetching. Relative to the baseline hardware stride prefetching, we find a total 23% improvement when we use the self-repairing mechanism to adoptively discover the best prefetch distance for each load, which is 12% better performance than dynamic prefetching techniques without adaptive repairing.
The legacy of Pleistocene glaciation and the organization of lowland alluvial process domains in the Puget Sound region

article i nfo Alluvial rivers of the eastern Puget lowland, a landscape shaped by scour and fill from the Cordilleran ice sheet, continue to respond to patterns of deposition and scour by the last-glacial-age ice sheet 18,000 years after deglaciation. Topography revealed by valley cross sections created from high resolution LIDAR digital elevation models shows that rivers are aggrading in valleys eroded by subglacial runoff and degrading in valleys incised by rivers post-glaciation. Slope-area analysis of river profiles shows that profile concavity varies systematically between river segments in the two valley contexts. Concavity indices (θ) in mountain headwaters (0.3b θb0.9) compare to those of many world rivers (0.2b θb1.0), but in the lowlands these indices differ between valleys created by subglacial fluvial erosion (5b θb45) and post-glacially incised river valleys that grade to base levels set by these relict glacial valleys or by post-glacial sea levels (1b θb7). Dramatic differences in river pattern, landforms, and dynamics occur in valleys having contrasting (aggrading vs. degrading) and incomplete responses to Pleistocene glaciation, creating discrete valley-scale hetero- geneities in fluvial process domains along and between rivers. These results point to the importance of valley- scale organization of alluvial process domains along and between rivers having profiles remaining in disequilibrium from Pleistocene glaciation. They also point to the potential usefulness of slope-area analysis of longitudinal profiles in distinguishing among different river valley process domains in lowland alluvial landscapes.