cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
BEAT HEATING OF A PLASMA.

If two laser beams have a difference frequency nearly equal to the plasma frequency, nonlinear interaction resonantly excites longitudinal plasma oscillations. These then induce transitions to other transverse modes. Nonlinear damping of the longitudinal mode heats the plasma. The process is optimized by having parallel beams, equal laser intensities, and damping equal to the frequency mismatch.
Self-incompatibility and Clonal Growth in Anemopsis californica

Abstract The occurrence of self-incompatibility in Anemopsis californica (Saururaceae) was investigated in populations located in Irvine, California. Selfed and outcrossed pollinations (pollinations between two populations) carried out in 1995 in a natural population demonstrated that seed production for selfed inflorescences was significantly lower than for outcrossed inflorescences. Naturally pollinated inflorescences produced more seeds per inflorescence than artificially selfed individuals, but far fewer than the artificially outcrossed plants. Additional pollinations were performed the following year in a controlled greenhouse environment using plants collected from the experimental field population. Pollination treatments included selfed and outcrossed pollinations, plus an additional intra-population pollination to investigate the effect of clonal growth on seed production. Results from greenhouse crosses indicated that seed production for the outcrossed individuals was significantly higher than for selfed individuals or individuals used in intra-populational crosses. No electrophoretic variation was detected within any of the populations used in crosses, and most putative loci were identical across populations. Results from these studies indicate that self-incompatibility is present in Anemopsis californica, and that populations may consist of clonally replicated individuals with the same incompatibility reaction.
Sex, lie scales, and electrode caps: an interpersonal context for defensiveness and anterior electroencephalographic asymmetry

Defensiveness has been related to relative left frontal activation (LFA) in women, whereas it has been related to right frontal activation (RFA) in men. These findings have been interpreted from the standpoint of anterior asymmetry and defensiveness being stable traits. While this position has some support in the literature, it is also true that anterior asymmetry responds to affective state manipulations, and defensiveness moderates responses to social and emotional stimuli. We hypothesized that when self-presentation motives are enhanced, defensiveness may be associated with behavioral approach dispositions, whereas lower defensiveness may be associated with behavioral withdrawal dispositions. Consistent with this hypothesis, the present study found that defensiveness was associated with greater relative LFA in the presence of opposite-sex, but not same-sex experimenters.
Disposition and safety of zonisamide after intravenous and oral single dose and oral multiple dosing in normal hound dogs

The purpose of this study was to determine an oral dosing regimen of zonisamide in healthy dogs such that therapeutic concentrations would be safely reached and maintained at steady-state. Adult hound dogs (n = 8) received a single IV (6.9) and an oral (PO) dose (10.3 mg/kg) using a randomized cross-over design. Zonisamide was then administered at 10.3 mg/kg PO every 12 h for 8 weeks. Zonisamide was quantitated in blood compartments or urine by HPLC and data were subjected to noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis. Comparisons were made among blood compartments (one-way anova; P </= 0.05). Differences among blood compartments occurred in all derived pharmacokinetic paramenters for each route of administration after single and multiple dosing. After single PO dosing, plasma C(max) was 14.4 +/- 2.3 mcg/mL and elimination half-life was 17.2 +/- 3.6 h. After IV dosing, volume of distribution was 1.1 +/- 0.25 L/kg, clearance was 58 +/- 11 mL/h/kg and elimination t(1/2) was 12.9 +/- 3.6 h. Oral bioavailability was 68 +/- 12%; fraction of unbound drug approximated 60%. At steady-state (4 days), differences occurred for for all parameters except C(max) and C(min.) Plasma C(max) at steady-state was 56 +/- 12 mcg/mL, with 10% fluctuation between C(max) and C(min.) Plasma t(1/2) (h) was 23.52 +/- 5.76 h. Clinical laboratory tests remained normal, with the exception of total T4, which was below normal limits at study end. In conclusion, 10 mg/kg twice daily results in peak plasma zonisamide which exceeds the recommended human therapeutic range (10 to 40 microg/mL) and is associated with suppression of thyroid hormone synthesis. A reasonable b.i.d starting dose for canine epileptics would be 3 mg/kg. Zonisamide monitored in either serum or plasma should be implemented at approximately 7 days.
Identification of Novel Tumor Markers in Prostate, Colon and Breast Cancer by Unbiased Methylation Profiling

DNA hypermethylation is a common epigenetic abnormality in cancer and may serve as a useful marker to clone cancer-related genes as well as a marker of clinical disease activity. To identify CpG islands methylated in prostate cancer, we used methylated CpG island amplification (MCA) coupled with representational difference analysis (RDA) on prostate cancer cell lines. We isolated 34 clones that corresponded to promoter CpG islands, including 5 reported targets of hypermethylation in cancer. We confirmed the data for 17 CpG islands by COBRA and/or pyrosequencing. All 17 genes were methylated in at least 2 cell lines of a 21-cancer cell line panel containing prostate cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer. Based on methylation in primary tumors compared to normal adjacent tissues, NKX2-5, CLSTN1, SPOCK2, SLC16A12, DPYS and NSE1 are candidate biomarkers for prostate cancer (methylation range 50%-85%). The combination of NSE1 or SPOCK2 hypermethylation showed a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 95% in differentiating cancer from normal. Similarly NKX2-5, SPOCK2, SLC16A12, DPYS and GALR2 are candidate biomarkers for colon cancer (methylation range 60%-95%) and GALR2 hypermethylation showed a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 95%. Finally, SLC16A12, GALR2, TOX, SPOCK2, EGFR5 and DPYS are candidate biomarkers for breast cancer (methylation range 33%-79%) with the combination of EGFR5 or TOX hypermethylation showing a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 92%. Expression analysis for eight genes that had the most hypermethylation confirmed the methylation associated silencing and reactivation with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment. Our data identify new targets of transcriptional silencing in cancer, and provide new biomarkers that could be useful in screening for prostate cancer and other cancers.
Polymer-enhanced bend-mode nematic displays

We describe a detailed study of the bend nematic structure stabilized by the polymer network. The formation of phase-separated polymer network in a bend nematic structure is affected by various factors, such as the polymer network morphology, polymer concentration, applied electric field, UV exposure time, and UV intensity. SEM images of the polymer network morphology show a templating effect, where highly ordered nanofibers mimic the bend state of the liquid crystal. At low monomer concentration and low curing voltage, liquid crystal can be oriented into the twist or splay state. High monomer concentration conveys excessive strength of the polymer network on liquid crystal and shows poor electro-optical properties of liquid crystal. With the current nematic host, the best condition of our experiments is 3% monomer concentration and 5V curing voltage. The resulted liquid crystal-polymer composite shows fairly fast optical response to the applied field.
Heterogeneous Dissolution of Refractory Oxides in Molten Calcium-Aluminum Silicate

La dissolution de Al 2 O 3 , MgAl 2 O 4 , Y 3 Al 5 O 12 , MgO et d'autres oxydes refractaires dans des silicates de Ca-Al fondus est heterogene pour des domaines significatifs de temperature et de composition des silicates, avec formation d'au moins un produit de reaction solide a l'interface oxyde-silicate
Synergistic Effect of Glucocorticoids on the Stimulation of Progesterone Production by Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Cultured Rat Granulosa Cells

The direct effects of adrenocortical steroids on basal and FSH-stimulated production of progesterone by ovarian granulosa cells were investigated in vitro. Granulosa cells from immature, hypophysect'omized, estrogen-treated rats were cultured for 2 days in the presence or absence of FSH and/or corticoids. Treatment with FSH resulted in substantial increases in the accumulation of progesterone, whereas dexamethasone by itself was only minimally effective. However, concomitant treatment with increasing concentrations of various native and synthetic corticoids led to dose-dependent increases (200–500%) in the FSH-stimulated accumulation of progesterone. The stimulatory potencies of the corticoids tested correlated with their glucocorticoid rather than their mineralocorticoid potencies (dexamethasone > cortisol »aldosterone). Treatment with dexamethasone also led to significant increases in the accumulation of progesterone stimulated by prostaglandin E2, cholera toxin, or dibutyryl cAMP. In the presence or ab...
Measuring patient-centered care: An updated systematic review of how studies define and report concordance between patients' preferences and medical treatments

Abstract Objective The purpose was to examine recent advances in measuring value concordance and to highlight best practices. Methods The paper updates a prior systematic review. A systematic review of the literature from 2008 to 2012 identified articles that reported a relationship between patients’ preferences concerning health outcomes and/or medical treatments, and treatment (intended or actual). Relevant articles were independently abstracted by two reviewers. Results The search identified 3635 unique citations, the full text of 187 articles was examined, and 63 articles covering 61 studies were included, nearly a third more articles than identified in the original review. There were 72 different value concordance calculations, the majority of which were clearly reported with significance. More studies assessed knowledge, reported on the association between value concordance and knowledge, and included a decision aid compared to those in the original review. Conclusion There is increased reporting of value concordance in the literature. However, large differences exist in the way that the measure is defined and calculated. The variability makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the quality of care across studies. Practice implications Value concordance is a critical component of patient-centered care, and further attention is needed to establish standards for measurement and reporting.
Modeling and managing content changes in text databases

Large amounts of (often valuable) information are stored in Web-accessible text databases. "Metasearchers" provide unified interfaces to query multiple such databases at once. For efficiency, metasearchers rely on succinct statistical summaries of the database contents to select the best databases for each query. So far, database selection research has largely assumed that databases are static, so the associated statistical summaries do not need to change over time. However, databases are rarely static and the statistical summaries that describe their contents need to be updated periodically to reflect content changes. In this paper, we first report the results of a study showing how the content summaries of 152 real Web databases evolved over a period of 52 weeks. Then, we show how to use "survival analysis" techniques in general, and Cox's proportional hazards regression in particular, to model database changes over time and predict when we should update each content summary. Finally, we exploit our change model to devise update schedules that keep the summaries up to date by contacting databases only when needed, and then we evaluate the quality of our schedules experimentally over real Web databases.
THE INFLUENCE OF DRYING TREATMENT AND BISCUIT STORAGE ATMOSPHERE ON THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A SEMIPORCELAIN BODY

This investigation employed the following drying tests: (1) in the presence of CaCl2, (2) in air circulated at 100°F, (3) in air circulated at 225°F, and (4) in a humidity drier, employing 129°F, dry bulb, with 85% humidity for two days and decreasing humidity to bone dryness in five days. The trials were fired under regular plant conditions and stored as follows: (1) in a closed chamber with adequate supply of CaCl2, (2) in outside weather, winter and spring, (3) alternate soaking in water for two days and drying to 5% of total absorption for the period of test, and (4) in a saturated atmosphere. Data on modulus of rupture, absorption, and porosity are assembled in tables and graphs for comparison, indicating marked influences on these properties both by drying and storage treatments. Explanations of the results are suggested.
Advances in the hyperlens

As a superlens to overcome the well-known diffraction limit, the hyperlens has received much attention due to its super resolving power and magnifying capabilities. In this article, we review the recent developments, including theoretical and experimental studies on the hyperlens. We also discuss its limitations and potential.
Weathering the Storm Nurses’ Stories about Hurricane Sandy

Proposed is a hermeneutic humanbecoming study on the reflections of 16 nurses’ stories about Hurricane Sandy. The phenomenon of interest is weathering the storm. The research question is “what are the emerging meanings of the living experience of weathering the storm?” The perspective to be used is the humanbecoming school of thought. The participants were nurses who were living and working in New York City (NYC) during and after Hurricane Sandy. The emergent meanings are to enhance knowledge and understanding of the experience of weathering the storm for global health nursing.
Perspectives and problems of development in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper analyzes the initial conditions for development facing post-colonial African nations, outlines alternative development strategies followed by different groups of countries and assesses the consequences for growth and poverty alleviation. On the basis of this diagnosis the paper outlines a number of policy priorities for the future including greater research, extension, and infrastructure support for smallholder agriculture, an improvement in the overall structure of incentives in favor of agriculture, a more realistic urban formal sector wage structure to reduce rural-urban migration and foster a more internationally competitive manufacturing sector, and greater emphasis on surplus generation through government budgets and parastatal enterprises.
Sequential value-of-information assessment for prospective drug safety monitoring using claims databases: the comparative safety of prasugrel v. clopidogrel.

Background. Key to conducting active drug safety surveillance using longitudinal health care data is determining whether and when there is sufficient evidence to raise a safety alert. We propose to quantify the expected value of the information (VOI) to be gained through continued monitoring in terms of its potential to reduce health losses among future patients and weigh this against the health cost of exposing current patients during continued monitoring. Objective. To apply this sequential VOI approach to monitoring the comparative safety of prasugrel v. clopidogrel on gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Methods. We calculated expected health losses assuming expected mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), and nonfatal stroke on clopidogrel were 1.27, 5.93, and 1.14 per 100 person-years, using historical data; relative rates on prasugrel were 0.95, 0.76, and 1.02 based on trial data; and MI, stroke, and GI bleed were 9%, 25%, and 0.1% as bad as death, respectively. We assigned gamma prior distribut...
Effects of cavities on monopole antenna current distribution and decoupling from mounting structure

The effects of cavities located near the base of a ground plane-mounted coax-driven monopole antenna are investigated. The cavities are either embedded in the tubular antenna itself or in the region below the conducting surface. Coupled integral equations are formulated and solved to determine the distribution of current on the structure. Two primary functions of the cavities are discussed. 1) At certain frequencies the input impedance of the cavity is infinite and the current at the base of the antenna is forced to zero. A single structure may contain several cavities, each cavity having unique resonant frequencies. It is demonstrated that superposition of these cavities may provide multiple resonant frequencies within a large frequency band. The utility of base cavities in the design of an antenna that is decoupled from the ground plane on which it is mounted is discussed. 2) Regardless of frequency, the cavities affect the distribution of current on the structure and, concomitantly, the standing wave ratio and gain of the antenna. The cavities are shown to be efficient and physically-rigid tools for current-shaping and tuning coax-fed antennas. Results computed from solutions of the coupled integral equations are compared with those from physical measurements
The Roles of the Cooperating Teacher and University Supervisor in Learning to Teach.

Abstract This paper examines “guided teaching” relationships between student teachers and their university supervisors and cooperating teachers, and the influence of these relationships on learning to teach. With few exceptions, the cooperating teachers and university supervisors in the study played limited roles in the process of learning to teach. Exceptions were a small number of cooperating teachers who believed that they could and should play and active role in student teachers' learning, conducted longer and more frequent conferences with their student teachers, and provided more extensive feedback. Based on these findings, we suggest changes in the roles of the university supervisor and cooperating teacher designed to maximize the likelihood that student teaching will be teacher education and will help student teachers explore new ways of teaching.
Region competition: unifying snakes, region growing, energy/Bayes/MDL for multi-band image segmentation

We present a novel statistical and variational approach to image segmentation based on a new algorithm named region competition. This algorithm is derived by minimizing a generalized Bayes/MDL (Minimum Description Length) criterion using the variational principle. We show that existing techniques in early vision such as, snake/balloon models, region growing, and Bayes/MDL are addressing different aspects of the same problem and they can be unified within a common statistical framework which combines their advantages. We analyze how to optimize the precision of the resulting boundary location by studying the statistical properties of the region competition algorithm and discuss what are good initial conditions for the algorithm. Our method is generalized to color and texture segmentation and is demonstrated on grey level images, color images and texture images. >
Opioid-Induced Constipation: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities

1There has been an alarming increase in the prescription of opiates and opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in the past 15 years. It is estimated that opiate-induced constipation (OIC) is experienced by ~ 40 % of these patients, and that constipation and other gastrointestinal symptoms may dissuade patients from using the required analgesic dose to achieve effective pain relief. Opiates have several effects on gastrointestinal functions, and the inhibition of colonic transit and intestinal and colonic secretion results in constipation. Several different pharmacological approaches are being developed to prevent or treat OIC: prolonged release formulations that contain naloxone (a less specifi c opiate antagonist that is widely distributed) and a new class of peripherally restricted -opiate receptor antagonists, including methylnaltrexone, alvimopan, tapentadol, NKTR-118, and TD-1211. Novel patient response outcomes have been developed to facilitate demonstration of effi cacy and safety of drugs in development for OIC.
AAV-mediated leptin receptor installation improves energy balance and the reproductive status of obese female Koletsky rats

Leptin is a hormone secreted primarily by white adipocytes that regulates energy homeostasis and reproduction via CNS receptors. Koletsky (f/f) rats with a leptin receptor (OB-Rb) gene mutation are obese, diabetic and infertile. We employed recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors to transfer the human OB-Rb gene into the brains of female Koletsky rats to identify sites of leptin action in the brain. rAAV-OB-Rb was microinjected into the medial preoptic area (MPOA), the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), the ventromedial hypothalamus, the arcuate nucleus (ARC), or the dorsal vagal complex in the brainstem. Food intake and body weight were monitored bi-weekly for 55 days. Vaginal cytology was examined daily to assess estrous cyclicity. After sacrifice, uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) mRNA in brown adipose tissue and serum concentrations of leptin, insulin, glucose, estradiol and progesterone were measured. Expression of OB-Rb was documented by RT-PCR and site specificity of microinjection was verified by immunohistochemical detection of green fluorescent protein following a control microinjection of rAAV-GFP. OB-Rb installation in the ARC reduced food intake, however, energy expenditure, assessed by UCP-1 mRNA expression, was increased by OB-Rb installation in all sites except the PVN. When injected into the MPOA and ARC, rAAV-OB-Rb stimulated the reproductive axis as evidenced by normalization of estrous cycle length and increased luteinizing hormone releasing hormone concentrations in the hypothalamus. These studies show that long-term installation of a functional leptin receptor in the CNS is achievable using rAAV vectors and further show that leptin acts on specific sites in the brain to produce differential effects on food intake, energy expenditure and reproduction.
Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin-uptake inhibitor, enhances the anticonvulsant effects of phenytoin, carbamazepine, and ameltolide (LY201116).

Dose-response curves for the prototypical anticonvulsants phenytoin (PHT) and carbamazepine (CBZ), and a novel anticonvulsant, ameltolide (LY201116), were determined with and without pretreatment with the selective serotonin-uptake inhibitor fluoxetine by maximal electroshock seizure (MES) test in mice. Fluoxetine (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally, i.p.) produced a dose-related decrease in the ED50 values for the anticonvulsants (i.p. administration) to protect against MES-induced tonic-extensor seizures. Fluoxetine (10 mg/kg i.p.) also decreased the intravenous (i.v.) ED50 doses of the three anticonvulsants by a factor of approximately 2. These data suggest that fluoxetine, through its selective inhibition of serotonergic reuptake, may have beneficial advantages as compared with common antidepressant drugs in treatment of depressed patients with epilepsy and may also enhance the seizure control of prototypical anticonvulsants in treatment of epilepsy.
Syndromic surveillance: STL for modeling, visualizing, and monitoring disease counts

Public health surveillance is the monitoring of data to detect and quantify unusual health events. Monitoring pre-diagnostic data, such as emergency department (ED) patient chief complaints, enables rapid detection of disease outbreaks. There are many sources of variation in such data; statistical methods need to accurately model them as a basis for timely and accurate disease outbreak methods. Our new methods for modeling daily chief complaint counts are based on a seasonal-trend decomposition procedure based on loess (STL) and were developed using data from the 76 EDs of the Indiana surveillance program from 2004 to 2008. Square root counts are decomposed into inter-annual, yearly-seasonal, day-of-the-week, and random-error components. Using this decomposition method, we develop a new synoptic-scale (days to weeks) outbreak detection method and carry out a simulation study to compare detection performance to four well-known methods for nine outbreak scenarios. The components of the STL decomposition reveal insights into the variability of the Indiana ED data. Day-of-the-week components tend to peak Sunday or Monday, fall steadily to a minimum Thursday or Friday, and then rise to the peak. Yearly-seasonal components show seasonal influenza, some with bimodal peaks. Some inter-annual components increase slightly due to increasing patient populations. A new outbreak detection method based on the decomposition modeling performs well with 90 days or more of data. Control limits were set empirically so that all methods had a specificity of 97%. STL had the largest sensitivity in all nine outbreak scenarios. The STL method also exhibited a well-behaved false positive rate when run on the data with no outbreaks injected. The STL decomposition method for chief complaint counts leads to a rapid and accurate detection method for disease outbreaks, and requires only 90 days of historical data to be put into operation. The visualization tools that accompany the decomposition and outbreak methods provide much insight into patterns in the data, which is useful for surveillance operations.
Sensitivity of tropical precipitation extremes to climate change

Precipitation extremes increase in intensity over many regions of the globe in simulations of a warming climate, but not always consistently. Observational constraints, together with a close relationship between model responses to interannual variability and climate change, suggest a high sensitivity of tropical extreme precipitation to warming.
What Matters Most: A Comparison of Expert and Novice Teachers' Noticing of Mathematics Classroom Events

In this study, we examined 10 expert and 10 novice teachers' noticing of classroom events in China. It was found that both expert and novice teachers, who were selected from two cities in China, highly attended to developing students' mathematics knowledge coherently and developing students' mathematical thinking and ability; they also paid attention to students' self-exploratory learning, students' participation, and teachers' instructional skills. Furthermore, compared with novice teachers, expert teachers paid greater attention to developing mathematical and high-order thinking, and developing mathematics knowledge coherently, but paid less attention to teachers' guidance. Moreover, we further illustrated the qualitative differences and similarities in their noticing of classroom events. Finally, we discussed the findings and relevant implications.
Mammalian nitrilase 1 homologue Nit1 is a negative regulator in T cells

The mammalian Nit1 protein is homologous to plant and bacterial nitrilases. In flies and worms, Nit1 is fused to the 5' end of Fhit, suggesting that Nit1 may functionally interact with the Fhit pathway. Fhit has been shown to play a role of a tumor suppressor. Somatic loss of Fhit in human tissues is associated with a wide variety of cancers. Deletion of Fhit results in a predisposition to induced and spontaneous tumors in mice. It has been suggested that Nit1 collaborates with Fhit in tumor suppression. Similar to mice lacking Fhit, Nit1-deficient mice are more sensitive to carcinogen-induced tumors. It was previously shown that ectopic expression of Nit1 or Fhit led to caspase activation and apoptosis, and that both proteins may play a role in DNA damage-induced apoptosis. In this study, we analyzed the physiological function of Nit1 in T cells using Nit1-knockout mice. Nit1-deficient T cells can undergo apoptosis induced by DNA damage due to irradiation and chemical treatment. However, apoptosis induced by Fas or Ca(++) signals appeared to be compromised. Additionally, Nit1 deficiency resulted in T cell hyperproliferative responses induced by TCR stimulation. The expressions of T cell activation markers were elevated in Nit1(-/-) T cells. There was a spontaneous cell cycle entry and enhanced cell cycle progression in Nit1(-/-) T cells. These data indicate that Nit1 is a novel negative regulator in primary T cells.
Pattern matching in LZW compressed files

Compressed pattern matching is an emerging research area that addresses the following problem: Given a text file in compressed format and a pattern, report the occurrence(s) of the pattern in the file with minimal (or no) decompression. In this paper, we report our work on compressed pattern matching in LZW compressed files. The work includes an extension of Amir et al.'s well-known "almost-optimal" algorithm. The original Amir et al.'s algorithm has been improved to search not only the first occurrence of the pattern but also all other occurrences. A faster implementation for so-called "simple patterns" is also proposed. The work also includes a novel multiple-pattern matching algorithm using the Aho-Corasick algorithm. The algorithm takes O(mt+n+r) time with O(mt) extra space, where n is the size of the compressed file, m is the total length of all patterns, t is the size of the LZW trie, and r is the number of occurrences of the patterns. Extensive experiments have been conducted to test the performance of our algorithms and to compare with other well-known compressed pattern matching algorithms, particularly the BWT-based algorithms and another similar multiple-pattern matching algorithm by Kida et al. that also uses the Aho-Corasick algorithm on the LZW compressed data. The results showed that our multiple-pattern matching algorithm is competitive among the best compressed pattern-matching algorithms and is practically the fastest among all approaches when the number of patterns is not very large. Therefore, our algorithm is preferable for general string matching applications. The proposed algorithm is efficient for large files and it is particularly efficient when being applied on archive search if the archives are compressed with a common LZW trie. LZW is one of the most efficient and popular compression algorithms used extensively and our method requires no modification on the compression algorithm. The work reported in this paper, therefore, has great economic and market potential.
Unmet Challenges in the Use of Novel Agents in Locally Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

It has been almost three decades since the addition of chemotherapy was shown to improve survival when added to definitive thoracic radiotherapy in patients with stage III non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Soon thereafter we learned that concurrent chemoradiotherapy was slightly better than sequential treatment. Unfortunately, despite much effort during the last 20 years, we have witnessed little progress in treating this common presentation of lung cancer. Radiation dose, intensity-modulated radiation, newer chemotherapy, induction treatment, consolidation treatment, and incorporation of novel agents have failed to significantly improve outcome. Almost all of the improvement in outcomes of patients with stage III disease in 2011 (16-month median overall survival) compared with 1984 (10-month median overall survival) can likely be explained by stage migration during this period as a result of enhancements in imaging. Contrast this with our progress in approaching metastatic disease. The last decade has witnessed an explosion in our understanding of lung cancer biology and treatment. Agents targeting epidermal growth factor receptor, anaplastic lymphoma kinase, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have made a major impact in the treatment of selected patients with advanced lung cancer, and molecular profiling has emerged as central to the treatment of patients with
Single microphone source separation using high resolution signal reconstruction

We present a method for separating two speakers from a single microphone channel. The method exploits the fine structure of male and female speech and relies on a strong high frequency resolution model for the source signals. The algorithm is able to identify the correct combination of male and female speech that best explains an observation and is able to reconstruct the component signals, relying on prior knowledge to 'fill in' regions that are masked by the other speaker. The two speaker single microphone source separation problem is one of the most challenging source separation scenarios and few quantitative results have been reported in the literature. We provide a test set based on the Aurora 2 data set and report performance numbers on a portion of this set. We achieve results of 6.59 dB average increase in SNR for female speakers and 5.51 dB for male speakers.
Clinical significance of the diagnosis of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL-H) was not included in the 2001 Bethesda System. It is used in some institutions to diagnose cases that fulfill criteria for both the diagnosis of LSIL and atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H). In this study, the authors reviewed their experience with cases reported as LSIL-H during a 4-year interval. METHODS: Clinical information and histologic follow-up data were retrieved for Papanicolaou (Pap) tests (PTs) that were diagnosed as LSIL-H, LSIL, ASC-H and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007. RESULTS: Of 235,645 PTs (97% SurePath) that were processed during the study period, the laboratory diagnosed 0.52% as ASC-H, 2% as LSIL, 0.30% as LSIL-H, and 0.39% as HSIL. Biopsy follow-up was available for 47%, 49%, 56.7% and 74% of these cases, respectively. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2 (CIN-2) and CIN-3 or more severe lesions (CIN-3+) were identified on follow-up cervical biopsy more often in women who had diagnoses of LSIL-H and ASC-H (33.14% and 26.33%, respectively) than in women who had a diagnosis of LSIL (16.11%). CONCLUSIONS: The similarity of histologic follow-up results between LSIL-H and ASC-H suggested that the management of women who have a diagnosis of LSIL-H should be similar to the management of women who have a diagnosis of ASC-H. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.
The posterolateral approach to the femur

The posterolateral approach to the femur gives easy anatomical access to the entire shaft of the bone with negligible blood loss, minimum muscle damage, and only slight, if any, circulatory or sensory impairment. It facilitates reduction, alignment, and fixation of the fracture, and allows for dependent drainage. The scar resulting from the incision is neither disabling nor disfiguring.
Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death for men and women in this country. Despite this fact, great progress has been made over the past few decades in reducing the number of deaths due to myocardial infarction and stroke. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1970 through 2002 have shown a decline in age-adjusted death rates with the largest percentage decreases in death rates from strokes (63%) and heart disease (52%) [1]. Approximately half of the decline in US deaths from coronary artery disease can be attributable to reductions in major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors including reductions in total cholesterol (24%), systolic blood pressure (20%), smoking (12%), and physical inactivity (5%) [2]. Unfortunately, these reductions were partially offset by the increase in obesity and diabetes which accounted for an increased number of deaths (8% and 10%, respectively) due to heart disease.
An Actuarial Perspective on Pension Plan Funding

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) was established by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to provide "insurance guarantees" for qualified pension plans insufficiently funded to provide accrued vested benefits. The PBGC’s annual reports on the liabilities for plans it has taken over and the agency’s assets show that the Single Employer Program has seen this "net position" vary from a surplus of almost $10 billion in 2000, to a deficit of over $29 billion in 2012. The PBGC uses a proprietary Pension Insurance Modeling System to model future scenarios for their obligations. This paper offers observations on future pension plan funding and how this could affect the PIMS model, based on the current environment, and how the agency might respond to change.
A Three-Dimensional Block-Oriented Hybrid Discrete Ordinates and Characteristics Method

In this paper, we present a hybrid formulation/algorithm to solve the linear Boltzmann equation, specifically for application to problems containing regions of low scattering. The hybrid approach uses the characteristics method in low scattering regions, while the remaining regions are treated with the discrete ordinates method (S N ). A shared scattering kernel allows an arbitrary order of anisotropic scattering in both block-oriented solvers. A new three-dimensional transport code (TITAN) has been developed based on the hybrid approach. TITAN divides a problem model into coarse meshes (blocks) in the Cartesian geometry. The block-oriented structure allows different fine-meshing schemes (or characteristic ray densities) and angular quadrature sets for different coarse meshes. Angular and spatial projection techniques are developed to transfer angular fluxes on the interfaces of the coarse meshes. We have tested the performance and accuracy of the new hybrid algorithm within the TITAN code for a number of benchmark problems. The results of a computed tomography model and the Kobayashi benchmark problems are presented in this paper. It is demonstrated that while preserving high-level accuracy as compared to reference Monte Carlo simulations, the hybrid algorithm achieves significant computation efficiency as compared to the S N method only.
Physical activity in Black breast cancer survivors: implications for quality of life and mood at baseline and 6‐month follow‐up

Background The present study sought to examine the influence of physical activity on quality of life and negative mood in a sample of Black breast cancer survivors to determine if physical activity (dichotomized) predicted mean differences in negative mood and quality of life in this population. Methods Study participants include 114 women diagnosed with breast cancer (any stage of disease, any type of breast cancer) recruited to participate in an adaptive cognitive–behavioral stress management intervention. The mean body mass index of the sample at baseline was 31.39 (standard deviation = 7.17). Results A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to determine if baseline physical activity predicted mean differences in negative mood and quality of life at baseline and at follow ups while controlling for relevant covariates. A one-way MANCOVA revealed a significant multivariate effect by physical activity group for the combined dependent variables at Time 2 (post 10-week intervention), p = .039. The second one-way MANCOVA revealed a significant multivariate effect at Time 3 (6 months after Time 2), p = .034. Specifically, Black breast cancer survivors who engaged in physical activity experienced significantly lower negative mood and higher social/family well-being at Time 2 and higher spiritual and functional well-being at Times 2 and 3. Conclusions Results show that baseline physical activity served protective functions for breast cancer survivors over time. Developing culturally relevant physical activity interventions specifically for Black breast cancer survivors may prove vital to improving quality of life and mood in this population. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Short-term memory in children as a function of display size

Display size was varied in a card-guessing game with young children by presenting either 3, 4 or 5 animal cards in serial order, and testing for recall on one of the cards. Marked recency effects were observed at all stages of training, and during the early trials, some primacy was noted. Retrieval appeared to be an all-or-none phenomenon, in contrast to previous studies with 8-item displays, which found generalization and above-chance guessing on the second choice.
Studies in the Leptomitaceae. II. Cytology of Apodachlya Brachynema and Sapromyces Reinschii

(1935). Studies in the Leptomitaceae. II. Cytology of Apodachlya Brachynema and Sapromyces Reinschii. Mycologia: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 274-285.
Carboxysomes and Carboxysome-like Inclusions

Carboxysomes and related polyhedral bacterial inclusions are complex structures that are composedof a limited set of related proteins. The importance of these prokaryotic organelles as metabolicorganizers in autotrophs as well as heterotrophic bacteria is becoming much more apparent. The carboxysome,which is by far the best characterized representative of these inclusions, is found in a variety ofphylogenetically distant autotrophic bacteria and contains the central CO 2fixing enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). The particle participates in theessential CO2 concentrating mechanism and is likely protecting RuBisCO from oxygen.By contrast, the functions of polyhedral inclusions in heterotrophic prokaryotes that have been experimentallyobserved or inferred from comparative genomic analyses are less well understood. This review summarizesthe current state of knowledge regarding structure, function and genetics of carboxysomes and related polyhedralmicrocompartments.
Optimization of PAR-CLIP for transcriptome-wide identification of binding sites of RNA-binding proteins

Photoactivatable-Ribonucleoside-Enhanced Crosslinking and Immunoprecipitation (PAR-CLIP) in combination with next-generation sequencing is a powerful method for identifying endogenous targets of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Depending on the characteristics of each RBP, key steps in the PAR-CLIP procedure must be optimized. Here we present a comprehensive step-by-step PAR-CLIP protocol with detailed explanations of the critical steps. Furthermore, we report the application of a new PAR-CLIP data analysis pipeline to three distinct RBPs targeting different annotation categories of cellular RNAs.
Varicella-Zoster Virus

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is one of the eight herpesviruseso that infects humans. The virus causes two diseases, varicella (chickenpox) and zoster (shingles) (1). Varicella is primarily an illness of children, although as many as 5% of adults in the United States may be susceptible. Zoster is caused by reactivation of latent VZV infection in sensory ganglia, which resulted during the attack of varicella, usually years to decades previously. VZV is able to cause a persistent infection in sensory ganglia without harm, expressing only 5 of its 70 gene products (2). In the setting of a low cell-mediated immune response to VZV, however, full gene expression can occur, and infectious virus may be formed within ganglia and transferred down the axon to the skin (1). Zoster occurs in about 15% of people over their lifetime. It characteristically occurs despite the presence of high titers of antibodies to VZV. Little more is understood about reactivation of VZV; it occurs most commonly in elderly and immunocompromised populations. Reasons for its development in otherwise healthy young persons are not fully understood, but fortunately it is a rather uncommon occurrence.
Writing as Knowing: Creative Knowing Through Multiple Messaging Modes in an Engineering Technical Communications Course

Writing, speaking, and listening are skills integral to securing a job and performing the work of an engineer. We assert that these communicative activities and abilities are not just tools and channels by which engineering concepts and processes are transferred from one individual to another. Rather, writing and communicating engineering concepts and processes constitute what engineers know. We argue that technical writing courses, and all engineering curricula, should foster the development of communication skills and technical engineering knowledge in tandem by providing students with writing and communicative scenarios in which audience, purpose, and context are understood to be inseparable from the technical subject matter conveyed. In this chapter, we establish our argument in two moves. First, we review the existing literature on writing as knowing, communicating in multiple modes, and the transferability of communication skills to a variety of contexts and purposes. We then illustrate how our engineering students develop transferrable communication skills through three assignments taught in our technical communication courses. By asking students to engage with and communicate their engineering knowledge in this way, students are better poised to understand, engage, and create in the complex and demanding world of engineering.
Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn

Failure of the normal circulatory adaptation to extrauterine life results in persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). Although this condition is most often secondary to parenchymal lung disease or lung hypoplasia, it may also be idiopathic. PPHN is characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance with resultant right-to-left shunting of blood and hypoxemia. Although the preliminary diagnosis of PPHN is often based on differential cyanosis and labile hypoxemia, the diagnosis is confirmed by echocardiography. Management strategies include optimal lung recruitment and use of surfactant in patients with parenchymal lung disease, maintaining optimal oxygenation and stable blood pressures, avoidance of respiratory and metabolic acidosis and alkalosis, and pulmonary vasodilator therapy. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is considered when medical management fails. Although mortality associated with PPHN has decreased significantly with improvements in medical care, there remains the potential risk for neurodevelopmental disability which warrants close follow-up of affected infants after discharge.
Transient multi-day simulations of thermal storage and heat extraction for a finned solar thermal storage device

Abstract The effect of combining metal fins (Al) for heat spreading and recovery with phase change material (a mixture of NaNO 3 and KNO 3 ) on the performance of a thermal storage device is investigated. High-resolution transient simulations are performed covering two days of solar energy influx and heat extraction. The solver uses the enthalpy method to track melting, a strongly coupled implicit scheme to calculate conjugate heat transfer, and a dynamically refined mesh to ease grid creation and maximize computational efficiency. A potential application is thermal storage for solar cooking, although other applications can also be envisaged. The energy inputs of the simulations are based average solar radiation during a 48 h solar cycle in New Delhi, India in June with a 1.5 m 2 solar reflector. Four different fin designs for an insulated latent heat thermal storage device (TSD) to be used with a solar cooker are tested. The four designs are compared based on their ability to spread heat evenly and rapidly into the phase change material (PCM) and the ease with which heat can be withdrawn from the device for cooking. The tests demonstrate the potential for using long term, multiday numerical simulations in the evaluation of TSD designs.