cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cytogenetic diagnosis of normal 46,XX karyotypes in spontaneous abortions frequently may be misleading

Abstract Objective: To use the molecular identification of Y chromosome material in products of conception cytogenetically diagnosed as "46,XX" to confirm the occurrence of inaccurate cytogenetic test results most likely attributable to maternal cell contamination. Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: Academic medical center. Patient(s): Thirty-four archival tissues from cases of spontaneous abortion with a "46,XX" karyotype based on cytogenetic analysis. Intervention(s): Maternal and villus DNA were extracted from microdissected, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival tissues. The presence of the X and Y chromosomes was detected with the use of polymerase chain reaction assays and confirmed with fluorescence in situ hybridization. Main Outcome Measure(s): Accuracy of cytogenetic evaluation of products of conception. Result(s): Four (29%) of 14 first trimester and 1 (5%) of 20 second trimester "46,XX" pregnancy losses contained Y chromosome–specific DNA and demonstrated a single X chromosome–specific allele by polymerase chain reaction analysis consistent with an "XY" karyotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was confirmatory in 4 of 5 samples that demonstrated single X and Y signals in villus cells. Conclusion(s): Inaccuracy exists in the cytogenetic analysis of early products of conception that most likely is due to maternal cell contamination. In the absence of confirmatory testing, such as with a "DNA fingerprinting" assay, reports of a "46,XX" karyotype should be used cautiously in patient counseling and management.
Ethical and legal issues in the care of substance-using women

Substance use occurs among women of all demographic groups. Current legal issues provide the foundation for an ethical analysis of the goals, values, and professional obligations of nurses caring for substance-using women. Adequate knowledge, well developed interpersonal skills, and insight into personal attitudes are essential for ethical and effective professional care.
Chlorofluorocarbon sources of environmental contamination

The quantities of chlorofluorocarbons (FCC9s) used commercially in the United States and globally are reviewed, and estimates of environmental release from the applications are made. The results indicate that sizable quantities of the FCC9s that have been produced have not yet reached the environment and that regulation of U.S. applications would partly reduce, but not end, the possible destruction of stratospheric ozone.
A prospective study of the utility of magnetic resonance imaging in determining candidacy for partial breast irradiation.

Purpose Retrospective data have demonstrated that breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may change a patient's eligibility for partial breast irradiation (PBI) by identifying multicentric, multifocal, or contralateral disease. The objective of the current study was to prospectively determine the frequency with which MRI identifies occult disease and to establish clinical factors associated with a higher likelihood of MRI prompting changes in PBI eligibility. Methods and Materials At The University of Chicago, women with breast cancer uniformly undergo MRI in addition to mammography and ultrasonography. From June 2009 through May 2011, all patients were screened prospectively in a multidisciplinary conference for PBI eligibility based on standard imaging, and the impact of MRI on PBI eligibility according to National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project protocol B-39/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group protocol 0413 entry criteria was recorded. Univariable analysis was performed using clinical characteristics in both the prospective cohort and in a separate cohort of retrospectively identified patients. Pooled analysis was used to derive a scoring index predictive of the risk that MRI would identify additional disease. Results A total of 521 patients were screened for PBI eligibility, and 124 (23.8%) patients were deemed eligible for PBI based on standard imaging. MRI findings changed PBI eligibility in 12.9% of patients. In the pooled univariable analysis, tumor size ≥2 cm on mammography or ultrasonography ( P =.02), age P =.01), invasive lobular histology ( P =.01), and HER-2/neu amplification ( P =.01) were associated with a higher likelihood of MRI changing PBI eligibility. A predictive score was generated by summing the number of significant risk factors. Patients with a score of 0, 1, 2, and 3 had changes to eligibility based on MRI findings in 2.8%, 13.2%, 38.1%, and 100%, respectively ( P Conclusions MRI identified additional disease in a significant number of patients eligible for PBI, based on standard imaging. Clinical characteristics may be useful in directing implementation of MRI in the staging of PBI candidates.
Real estate investments in developing countries: reputation, managerialism and monitoring

Proposes a reputation‐based model to examine the managerial investment and liquidation decisions regarding real estate projects in developing countries. Unlike investments in domestic projects, foreign investments are subject to noisy monitoring, resulting in a liquidation inefficiency where managers preserve their reputational capital by not liquidating projects likely to fail as long as negative signals are not revealed to the public. The manager’s decision to invest in foreign countries is influenced not only by the difference between foreign and domestic project returns, but also by the change in reputational capital. Shows that reputation‐based utility maximization can lead to an under‐investment in profitable foreign projects. Government support to invest in foreign countries can reduce the under‐investment problem, but it can also increase the liquidation inefficiency.
Predicting a human gut microbiota’s response to diet in gnotobiotic mice

The interrelationships between our diets and the structure and operations of our gut microbial communities are poorly understood. A model community of 10 sequenced human gut bacteria was introduced into gnotobiotic mice, and changes in species abundance and microbial gene expression were measured in response to randomized perturbations of four defined ingredients in the host diet. From the responses, we developed a statistical model that predicted over 60% of the variation in species abundance evoked by diet perturbations, and we were able to identify which factors in the diet best explained changes seen for each community member. The approach is generally applicable, as shown by a follow-up study involving diets containing various mixtures of pureed human baby foods.
Antihypertensive Medication Initiation Among Young Adults with Regular Primary Care Use

BACKGROUND Young adults with hypertension have the lowest prevalence of controlled blood pressure compared to middle-aged and older adults. Uncontrolled hypertension, even among young adults, increases future cardiovascular event risk. However, antihypertensive medication initiation is poorly understood among young adults and may be an important intervention point for this group.
An Empirical Mode Decomposition Approach for Iris Recognition

Biometrics is inherently a reliable technique to identify human's authentication by his or her own physiological or behavioral characteristics. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD), a multiresolution decomposition technique, is adaptive and appears to be suitable for nonlinear, non-stationary data analysis. EMD analyzes the signal locally and separates the component holding locally the highest frequency from the rest into a separate component. In this paper, we adopt the EMD approach to extract residual components from the iris image as the features for recognition. Three different similarity measures have been evaluated. Experimental results show that three metrics have achieved similar performance. Therefore, the proposed method has demonstrated to be promising for iris recognition and EMD is suitable for feature extraction.
A heritable difference in the resistance of turkey blastoderms to prolonged preincubation storage--cytological evidence.

Abstract KOSIN and Arora (1966) have reported that following a period of extended storage, eggs from a Broad Breasted Bronze (B.B.B.) line selected for large body size at 24 weeks of age (line 2) produced, in the first three days of incubation, more dead and abnormal embryos than those from a B.B.B. line selected for high hatchability (line 4). Furthermore, the surviving normal embryos in the latter were consistently superior in their rate of early development. The purpose of the present paper is (a) to augment our earlier observations on the gross appearance of the affected blastoderms and (b) to report the results of a cytological study of the blastoderms, from the same two genetically isolated lines (cf. Kosin and Arora, 1966) subjected in-ovo, first, to extended preincubation storage and, then, to brief incubation. The latter treatment was introduced to test the capacity of cells in “aged” blastoderms to recuperate during . . .
Electronic radios and hi-fi sound

The development by the Semiconductor industry of large scale MOS integrated circuits, hyperabrupt junction tuning diodes, digital displays and high speed digital circuits have made possible the development of electronically tuned automotive radios. The market environment created by digital clocks and watches and by digital calculators has led to the warm market reception of electronically tuned automotive radios. The introduction of FM stereo broadcasts, tape players, noise reduction circuits, noise blanker circuits, stereo/mono blend circuits, improved tapes, audio power booster amplifiers, graphic equalizers, and improved speakers have all contributed to the development of automotive hi-fi sound. Today's youth, who were raised in a home hi-fi environment, have been the driving force in the automotive hi-fi marketplace. With electronically tuned automotive radios and automotive hi-fi sound in its infancy, it is more likely that the future will bring improved performance in both the broadcast and recorded audio functions. These performance improvements must be made in concert with the other improvememts dictated by the changing automobile market. The future market will likely become more sophisticated requiring higher product performance and modified selling techniques.
Preschool neurobehavioral outcome following fetal myelomeningocele surgery.

Objective: It was the aim of this study to assess the prevalence of preschool neurobehavioral problems in children following fetal myelomeningocele (fMMC) surgery. Methods: Prior to the Management of Myelomeningocele Study, 30 fMMC patients underwent a standardized neurodevelopmental examination at 5 years of age. The prevalence of behavioral problems was assessed by the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL), which includes a total problem score and 2 broad-band indices (internalizing and externalizing problems). fMMC children were classified as having normal, at-risk or clinically significant scores based on calculated T scores. Results: Twenty-two (73%) fMMC families completed the evaluation. Mean age at delivery following fMMC surgery was 35.5 ± 1.6 weeks. The prevalence of ‘at-risk’ or ‘clinically significant’ scores for internalizing, externalizing and total behavioral problems was similar to general population norms. No difference in overall internalizing (p = 0.19), externalizing (p = 0.54) and total behavioral (p = 0.18) scores was found between non-shunted and shunted fMMC children. However, shunted fMMC children were more likely to experience anxiety and depressive (p = 0.02), pervasive developmental (p = 0.03) and withdrawn (p = 0.06) behavior. Oppositional defiant, attention deficit and hyperactivity problems were not found. No correlation was found between overall neurodevelopmental outcome and abnormal CBCL scores. Conclusions: fMMC surgery and subsequent preterm delivery is not associated with increased behavioral problems, impaired social interactions and restricted behavior patterns. Shunted fMMC children were more likely to have scores in the ‘at-risk’ or ‘clinically significant’ range for multiple CBCL subindices. Early detection of behavioral problems following fMMC surgery provides an opportunity for targeted and timely intervention enabling affected fMMC children to be socially successful.
Adolescent perceived attachment to parents in relation to competence, depression, and anxiety: A longitudinal study.

Attachment theory leads to the suggestion that the supportive function of attachment relations may be most salient during early adolescent transitions, such as the child's transition into junior hi...
Recombinant activated factor VII in patients with acute liver failure with UNOS Status 1A: a single tertiary academic centre experience.

Background and Objectives Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is often used in off-label indications, including many situations in which the patients are at risk of thrombosis. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the use of rFVIIa in patients with acute liver failure – UNOS Status 1A (ALF-1A) to determine its efficacy and safety profile. Materials and Methods Using the transplantation records, all adult patients with ALF-1A were identified from 6/2001 to 3/2009. From patients' medical charts, rFVIIa dose, blood component usage, short-term outcomes [length of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay, ability to undergo orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) and in-hospital survival rate] and adverse events were examined. Results Forty-two patients with ALF-1A were identified. Fifteen patients received rFVIIa with doses ranging between 24·4 μg/kg and 126·8 μg/kg. Three patients received two doses of rFVIIa. The age, baseline activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and platelet (PLT) count were not statistically different between the group receiving rFVIIa versus the group that did not. However, the prothrombin time (PT) was significantly higher in the rFVIIa group. Although the rFVIIa group stayed in the ICU longer and required significant more blood products during admission, there was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of length of hospital stay, ability to undergo OLT and survival rate. There was no increase in complications, including thrombosis, after receiving rFVIIa. Conclusion Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) appears to be safe in patients with ALF-1A, but to elucidate its full role, a randomized controlled trial would be ideal.
ACM HotMobile 2013 poster: CPM: a participation management framework for mobile crowdsensing

We proposes CPM, a participation management framework that enables cost-efficient task distribution in crowdsensing applications. The core enablers of CPM include participation pattern learning, incentive modeling, and cost-optimized task allocation. Our preliminary results demonstrate that CPM reduces the participation cost significantly while maintaining almost the same sensing quality compared with existing schemes.
Designing and deploying a rural ad-hoc community mesh network testbed

Rural communities suffer from a lack of infrastructure for inexpensive high-speed access to the Internet. One approach to providing high-speed access in these environments is to share a small number of more expensive high-speed connections across the community. A wireless mesh network can provide a low-cost backbone to enable this sharing. Existing solutions to building community mesh networks use proprietary technology or typically require rooftop or other outdoor antenna deployment. We examine the feasibility of constructing a community mesh network in a rural neighborhood at Dartmouth College using off-the-shelf hardware and software components and without using an outdoor antenna. We identify several challenges to construction of such networks including network density, hardware limitations, and US electrical code. In this paper, we outline some of the key challenges we faced during our deployment and suggest solutions
A direct comparison of quality of life in obese and Cushing's syndrome patients

Objective: Obese (OB) individuals and patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) often have similar clinical presentations. While each group has reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL), it is not known whether the degree of impairment is different and might distinguish between them. The objective of this study was to compare HRQL in these two populations. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Three hundred and twenty-seven OB patients (48.1G11.7 years; 72.5% women) with weight gain and at least two features of CS were recruited from an outpatient weight management clinic. Sixty-six untreated patients with CS (41.6G13.2 years; 78.8% women) presented to the NIH Clinical Center for evaluation. Subjects completed the SF-36 survey and a locally created symptom questionnaire. Results: After adjusting for symptom count, OB patients had a significantly higher (better HRQL) mean physical component summary (PCS) score than CS patients (44.9G0.6 vs 35.4G1.5, P!0.0001). However, the mean mental component summary (MCS) score was lower (worse HRQL) in the OB group (41.6G0.6 vs 50.7G1.6, P!0.0001). Symptom count showed significant correlations with PCS and MCS scores. BMI correlated with PCS (rZK0.29) in OB but not in CS patients. BMI was not associated with MCS in either group. Conclusion: HRQL is significantly different between OB and CS patients. Surprisingly, after adjusting for symptom count, OB patients showed worse mental health scores than the CS population. Significant differences in HRQL and symptom count may suggest which OB patients should be screened for CS.
Charge-coupled-device X-ray detector performance model

A model that predicts the performance characteristics of CCD detectors being developed for use in X-ray imaging is presented. The model accounts for the interactions of both X-rays and charged particles with the CCD and simulates the transport and loss of charge in the detector. Predicted performance parameters include detective and net quantum efficiencies, split-event probability, and a parameter characterizing the effective thickness presented by the detector to cosmic-ray protons. The predicted performance of two CCDs of different epitaxial layer thicknesses is compared. The model predicts that in each device incomplete recovery of the charge liberated by a photon of energy between 0.1 and 10 keV is very likely to be accompanied by charge splitting between adjacent pixels. The implications of the model predictions for CCD data processing algorithms are briefly discussed.
Dependency treelet translation: the convergence of statistical and example-based machine-translation?

We describe a novel approach to MT that combines the strengths of the two leading corpus-based approaches: Phrasal SMT and EBMT. We use a syntactically informed decoder and reordering model based on the source dependency tree, in combination with conventional SMT models to incorporate the power of phrasal SMT with the linguistic generality available in a parser. We show that this approach significantly outperforms a leading string-based Phrasal SMT decoder and an EBMT system. We present results from two radically different language pairs, and investigate the sensitivity of this approach to parse quality by using two distinct parsers and oracle experiments. We also validate our automated bleu scores with a small human evaluation.
Which ovarian masses need intervention

Ovarian cancer is deadly if not detected early, but it is only one of many causes of pelvic masses, which are common. The physician's job is to determine if a mass is likely to be malignant and needing surgical evaluation. The best predictors of malignancy are a combination of factors that include the patient's age, family history, menopausal status, symptoms, findings on physical examination and imaging studies, and blood level of the cancer biomarker CA125.
Critical Heat Flux Measurement and Model for Refrigerant-123 Under Stabilized Flow Conditions in Microchannels

The present work is aimed toward understanding the effect of flow boiling stability on critical heat flux (CHF) with Refrigerant-123 (R-123) in microchannel passages. Experimental data and theoretical model to predict the CHF are the focus of this work. The experimental test section has six parallel microchannels with each having a cross sectional area of 1054 × 157 µm 2 . The effect of flow instabilities in microchannels is investigated using flow restrictors at the inlet of each microchannel to stabilize the flow boiling process and avoid the backflow phenomena. This technique resulted in successfully stabilizing the flow boiling process as seen through a high-speed camera. The present CHF result is found to correlate to mean absolute error (MAE) of 24.1% with a macroscale empirical equation by Katto [13]. A theoretical analysis of flow boiling phenomena revealed that the ratio of evaporation momentum to surface tension forces is an important parameter. For the first time, a theoretical CHF model is proposed using these underlying forces to represent CHF mechanism in microchannels, and its correlation agrees with the experimental data with MAE of 2.5%.
Pest-management technologies for peasants: a farming systems approach

The development of crop-management technologies for peasant agriculture must fit the socio-economic and ecological features of small farming systems. Only through research that is multidisciplinary and agroecologically orientated, is it possible to understand fully the agro-socioeconomic circumstances that determine the management criteria and levels of resource use by small farmers. Results from these agroecological studies, coupled with the farmers' practical knowledge, can serve as a starting point to develop pest-control technologies which are adapted to the farmers' resource base and local conditions. Throughout the process, technology generation must start and end in the farmers' fields.
A Librarian's Stroll Through Milton's Afterlife

â€œA Librarianâ€™s Stroll through Miltonâ€™s Afterlifeâ€ is a brief gallery tour of our favorite books in the exhibition, The Afterlife of John Milton. They are not necessarily curatorial favorites, assuming curators should want books that best illustrate the arguments underlying their show, nor a readerâ€™s favoriteâ€”books with the most powerful or influential or recognizable texts. Although all of them do support the theme of the show and possess famous and astonishing texts, our favorites are first and foremost distinctive, one-of-a-kind objects, with their own unique histories and compelling stories. A few of these are modest in scopeâ€”amusing anecdotes, or bibliographic jokesâ€”but one or two are truly remarkable.
The roles of pteridine reductase 1 and dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase in pteridine metabolism in the protozoan parasite Leishmania major.

Trypanosomatid protozoans depend upon exogenous sources of pteridines (pterins or folates) for growth. A broad spectrum pteridine reductase (PTR1) was recently identified in Leishmania major, whose sequence places it in the short chain alcohol dehydrogenase protein family although its enzymatic activities resemble dihydrofolate reductases. The properties of PTR1 suggested a role in essential pteridine salvage as well as in antifolate resistance. To prove this, we have characterized further the properties and relative roles of PTR1 and dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase in Leishmania pteridine metabolism, using purified enzymes and knockout mutants. Recombinant L. major and Leishmania tarentolae, and native L. major PTR1s, were tetramers of 30-kDa subunits and showed similar catalytic properties with pterins and folates (pH dependence, substrate inhibition with H2pteridines). Unlike PTR1, dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase showed weak activity with folate and no activity with pterins. Correspondingly, studies of ptr1 2 and dhfr-ts 2 mutants implicated only PTR1 in the ability of L. major to grow on a wide array of pterins. PTR1 exhibited 2000-fold less sensitivity to inhibition by methotrexate than dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase, suggesting several mechanisms by which PTR1 may compromise antifolate inhibition in wild-type Leishmania and lines bearing PTR1 amplifications. We incorporate these results into a comprehensive model of pteridine metabolism and discuss its implications in chemotherapy of this important human pathogen.
The Fulfillment of Expectations for College and Student Departure Decisions

Following the recommendations of Braxton, Sullivan, and Johnson, (1997) to seek explanations for social integration, this study addresses how the fulfillment of college expectations affects social integration. Path analysis is used to examine the effects of having academic and social expectations met on social integration; the effect of social integration on a student's subsequent level of commitment to his/her college or university; and finally the effect of subsequent institutional commitment on the likelihood of student persistence in college. Results from the analyses indicate the fulfillment of students' social expectations for college positively affects both social integration and subsequent institutional commitment. The greater the degree of these, the more likely students will re-enroll in the university.
Expression of apoptotic factors in vaginal tissues from women with urogenital prolapse.

Aims Increased apoptotic activity in pelvic tissues may contribute to development of pelvic floor disorders. We evaluated expression of apoptotic factors (Bcl-2 family) in vaginal tissues from women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and how these factors correlate with severity of prolapse. Methods mRNA and protein expression of anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic factors in vaginal tissues from subjects and controls were determined by real-time PCR and Western blot. Severity of prolapse was staged using POP-Q criteria. Results Differential expression of Bcl-2 family factors was observed in protein rather than in gene expression. During the secretory phase, the anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2, Bcl-xl) and pro-apoptotic protein (Bax) were upregulated in controls compared to cases (P < 0.05). The ratios of Bcl-2/Bax and Bcl-2/Bad, which determine cellular sensitivity to induction of apoptosis, were higher in controls versus cases. Higher ratios indicate reduced cellular sensitivity to apoptosis. Protein expression of Bax and Bad was higher in women with severe compared to mild prolapse (P < 0.05). Conclusion Increased expression of Bad, Bax, and decreased ratios of Bcl-2/Bax, Bcl-2/Bad suggest increased apoptotic activity or sensitivity to induction of apoptosis in vaginal tissues of women with POP. Neurourol. Urodynam. 30: 1627–1632, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reversing Blood Flows Act through klf2a to Ensure Normal Valvulogenesis in the Developing Heart

Heart valve anomalies are some of the most common congenital heart defects, yet neither the genetic nor the epigenetic forces guiding heart valve development are well understood. When functioning normally, mature heart valves prevent intracardiac retrograde blood flow; before valves develop, there is considerable regurgitation, resulting in reversing (or oscillatory) flows between the atrium and ventricle. As reversing flows are particularly strong stimuli to endothelial cells in culture, an attractive hypothesis is that heart valves form as a developmental response to retrograde blood flows through the maturing heart. Here, we exploit the relationship between oscillatory flow and heart rate to manipulate the amount of retrograde flow in the atrioventricular (AV) canal before and during valvulogenesis, and find that this leads to arrested valve growth. Using this manipulation, we determined that klf2a is normally expressed in the valve precursors in response to reversing flows, and is dramatically reduced by treatments that decrease such flows. Experimentally knocking down the expression of this shear-responsive gene with morpholine antisense oligonucleotides (MOs) results in dysfunctional valves. Thus, klf2a expression appears to be necessary for normal valve formation. This, together with its dependence on intracardiac hemodynamic forces, makes klf2a expression an early and reliable indicator of proper valve development. Together, these results demonstrate a critical role for reversing flows during valvulogenesis and show how relatively subtle perturbations of normal hemodynamic patterns can lead to both major alterations in gene expression and severe valve dysgenesis.
Total ionizing dose effects and reliability of graphene-based non-volatile memory devices

We discuss total ionizing dose effects and reliability of graphene-based electronics and non-volatile memory devices. The degradation after radiation exposure of these structures derives primarily from surface oxygen adsorption. Excellent stability and memory retention are observed for ionizing radiation exposure or constant-voltage stress. Cycling of the memory state leads to a significant degradation of the performance.
A Two‐Tiered Approach to Reactive Transport: Application to Sr Mobility Under Variable pH

One benefit of a coupled geochemistry/transport approach is that interactions between chemical constituents that can change the mobility of species (such as pH) can be treated explicitly, rather than lumping all of the geochemistry into a single term (i.e., the retardation factor). A two-tiered approach to modeling coupled geochemistry/transport is presented here, which allows a comparison of the results of different methods as well as better efficiency in modeling time. The codes ParSSim, a coupled transport code for supercomputers, and PHREEQC, an advective geochemistry code, were used to model Sr mobility under varying pH. The problem was based on liquid low level radioactive waste that was disposed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) in a highly alkaline solution to try to enhance precipitation and sorption. Interactions with carbonate rock and ground water lowered the pH and led to mobilization of radionuclides such as {sup 90}Sr. Simulation of contaminant migration in this mixing environment requires a coupled geochemistry and transport model. The interplay between propagation of a pH front (which was retarded) and propagation of the Sr front leads to a fast-moving pulse of Sr as well as a strongly retarded front of Sr. This behavior could not havemore » been predicted by a geochemistry or a transport code alone.« less
Hypochondriacal delusion in an elderly woman recovers quickly with electroconvulsive therapy

A 72-year-old woman without any medical and psychiatric history, suffered from nausea, pain in the epigastria and constipation for over a year. She eventually lost 20 kilograms despite nightly drip-feeding. Extensive additional tests did not reveal any clues for her complaints. She remained convinced that her symptoms were a side-effect of anti-fungal medication she used. She was diagnosed with hypochondria. In the course of time her ideas about her somatic symptoms became delusional and she was diagnosed with a hypochondriacal delusion as part of melancholia, without depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure as prominent features. It is important to recognize melancholia as soon as possible by continually evaluating other symptoms of depression. This may enable to avoid repetitive and exhaustive somatic examinations, which are not indicated, and to start effective treatment. In our patient electroconvulsive therapy resulted in a fast and complete recovery.
The multigraph approach to parallel, distributed, structurally adaptive signal processing

Structurally adaptive and dynamically reconfigurable systems are presented as important ingredients in the design and development of robust large-scale signal-processing systems for operation in complex nonstationary environments. The multigraph programming and execution environment (MPEE) is a complete, parallel, fully integrated programming and execution environment for structurally adaptive signal-processing systems. It provides a user-friendly environment for designing, programming, and executing such a signal-processing system. The MPEE is shown to have many advantages, due to graph-based processing, dynamic scheduling, multiprocessor programming capabilities, a hierarchical approach to system design, and graphic editors. >
The genetic implication for preceding generations of the prenatal diagnosis of interrupted aortic arch in association with unsuspected DiGeorge anomaly

We present a case of prenatally diagnosed interrupted aortic arch with a ventricular septal defect in the presence of maternal congenital heart disease, which led to the detection of segmental monosomy of chromosome 22q11.2 in both patients. The implications of detecting a microdeletion and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to prenatal diagnosis and counseling are discussed.
GOETHE, HESIOD, AND YEATS ON PROGRESS

Departing from the general optimism of the day, Goethe's short essay "Geistesepochen" took inspiration from Hesiod and pointed forward to the bleak vision of W. B. Yeats. Although separated by centuries, each of those authors interpreted the course of history as one of decline. In particular, they felt that their own times were, if not in the grip, then on the verge of decay, even catastrophe. Both Yeats and Goethe wrote specifically about the loss of a center and concomittant disintegration. Goethe's personal experiences in the first decades of the new nineteenth century surely colored his cultural commentary, but the essay also takes a longer view of human progress, only to conclude that there is no such thing. In his assessment of cultural history, Goethe thus has more in common with a Schopenhauer or Spengler than with a Leibniz or Lessing. While Goethe's overview of human history tells us about the changing world he saw, it speaks as well to the one we face today.
A 9 GHz, 5 mW VCO using lumped-element transformer feedback in 150 GHz f/sub T/ SiGe HBT technology

This paper presents the design of a novel SiGe HBT voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) that uses a lumped-element transformer as the feedback network. The VCO design employs a filter-type transformer, as opposed to an inductive transformer, to improve both the power consumption and tuning range. Unlike for the conventional cross-coupled differential oscillator and the coupled-Colpitt's oscillator, the transformer isolates the frequency selecting passive components from the parasitics of the biasing circuitry, enabling a linear tuning range of over 1 GHz (12 %) at 10 GHz. The isolation also improves the resonator loaded Q, thereby reducing the power consumption of the VCO. The measured phase noise varied between -108 dBc/Hz to -104 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz offset over the entire tuning range of 1.04 GHz. The oscillator provides an output power of -7.5 dBm without any buffering, at 4.75 mW of power consumption from a 2 V power supply.
‘The show of the millennium’: screening the big-money quiz show and the Bollywood superstar

The phenomenal success of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, underlines not only the successful adaptation of a global format show, but also its role in reinforcing and reiterating the nation's transition from a socialist ethos to a consumerist ontology. For millennial India, grappling with the contentious issues of tradition and modernity in a rapidly globalizing milieu, the show's ‘aspirational consumerism’ offered its viewers a new value system – an espousal that was further reaffirmed by its host, Bollywood legend, Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan's professional reincarnation, from a fading film star to a transmedia celebrity, and the subsequent reinvention of his star image, from a socialist icon to a capitalist endorser, embodied the new ideology of consumerism. This article examines the unique meanings engendered by the format show in the Indian context, and consequently, enumerates the cultural currency of the Bollywood star as a site of mediation and ar...
Misidentification in Estimating the Paternal Sib Correlation

Abstract Misidentification of sires of cows in paternal half-sib analyses of variance biases the estimate of heritability downward. Four models of misidentification yield approximately the same reductions in estimated heritability. The reduced estimates are approximately p2 of the actual heritability where p is the fraction of cows whose sire is correctly identified. The reduction in heritability estimates from daughter-dam regression would be to a fraction, p, of the actual heritability where p is the fraction of dams correctly identified. Empirical paternal sib analyses of New York Dairy Herd Improvement Holstein records suggest that misidentification is more common among grade cows with registered dams and grade cows having grade dams which are not identified than among registered cows with registered dams.
The identification of isolated maxillary molars

A method of identifying isolated first and second maxillary molars based upon the relative degree of root trifurcation is presented. The derived discriminant function is successful in correctly identifying more than 95% of the cases studied.
The Variety of Property Systems and Rights in Natural Resources

Property theory has not kept pace with the growth of empirical and historical information on property systems. This paper, prepared for a Lincoln Institute conference on "The Evolution of Property Systems and Rights Related to Land and Natural Resources": (a) introduces conventional theories of property rights in natural resources (based largely on Hardin 1968 and Demsetz 1967); (b) addresses issues in the construction and meaning of property rights and systems; (c) describes the findings of social scientists from decades of field and experimental research about the structure and performance of existing property systems; and (d) calls on property scholars to move beyond "naive" and simplistic theories of property rights in light of the wealth of empirical evidence demonstrating the variety of successful property regimes in use.
The Effect of Regulation on Innovation

Clear rules of the game (e.g., established property rights and institutions of exchange) are important for innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish, but how those rules are defined is important. The scope and reach of federal regulation in the United States has been increasing over the last 30 years, and while federal agencies often try to quantify the benefits and costs of their regulations before they are issued, those measures are necessarily static, and bounded by data available to, and assumptions made by, the analyst. These analyses cannot capture the organic, dynamic nature of innovation nor anticipate how participants in a market might respond to incentives created by the regulation. Arguments that support “technology forcing” regulations often neglect the opportunities foregone when resources are devoted in a particular direction. Further, because regulations can confer competitive advantage on certain market participants at the expense of others, they provide incentives to focus innovative energy on influencing the rules, rather than innovating along more productive dimensions. Scholarship of the 1960s and 1970s showed that price and entry regulation tended to benefit organized interests at the expense of the broader public interest, and led to the economic deregulation movement that served to increase competition in several previously-regulated industries, with resulting improvements in innovation and consumer welfare. I hope to generate discussion of the effects of regulatory practices on innovation using current examples.
Equivariant bifurcations and morsifications for finite groups

For a bifurcation germ F(x,λ):ℝn+1,0→ℝn,0 which is equivariant with respect to the action of a finite group G, there are permutation actions of G on various subsets of branches of F−1(0). These sets include the set of all branches as well as the set of branches where λ>0 or 0 or <0, We shall give formulas for the modular characters of these permutation representations (which are the regular characters restricted to the odd order elements of G). These formulas are in terms of the representations of G on certain finite dimensional algebras associated to F. We deduce sufficient conditions for the existence of submaximal orbits by comparing the permutation representations for maximal orbits with certain representations of G.
Path integral molecular dynamics study of small H2 clusters in the large cage of structure II clathrate hydrate: Temperature dependence of quantum spatial distributions

We report a path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) study of the temperature dependence of the spatial distribution of two and four H 2 molecules inside the large cage of the structure II clathrate hydrate. The PIMD calculations were performed at five temperatures ranging from 25 to 200 K. Their results were combined with those from an earlier diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) study of this system at T = 0 K [Sebastianelli, F.; Xu, M.; Bacic, Z.J. Chem. Phys. 2008, 129, 244706]. The spatial distribution of the confined H 2 molecules at each of the temperatures considered was characterized with the help of several one-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) distribution functions of suitably chosen intermolecular coordinates, generated by the PIMD and DMC calculations. The 1D distribution that proved to be the most strongly temperature dependent, and also the most revealing about the structural properties of the system as a function of temperature, involves the H 2 -cage center-H 2 angle. In the case of four caged H 2 molecules, this angular distribution provides clear evidence that between 50 and ~100 K the system undergoes a qualitative change. At 50 K and below, the system is fully localized in the global minimum of the intermolecular potential, corresponding to a tetrahedral configuration of H, molecules with a unique orientation relative to the cage frame. At temperatures of 75-100 K and higher, nearly degenerate local minima ~200 cm -1 above the global minimum become accessible and are increasingly sampled by the system. The 3D spatial distributions also show this growing delocalization above 75—100 K. Our findings are in accord with the localization-delocalization transition observed experimentally to occur at 50 K for four D 2 molecules in the large cage [Lokshin, K. A.; Zhao, Y.; He, D.; Mao, W. L.; Mao, H. K.; Hemley, R. J.; Lobanov, M. V.; Greenblatt, M. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2004, 93, 125503].
Quantum dot–quantum dot interactions mediated by a metal nanoparticle: Towards a fully quantum model

We study the interactions between two semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs) coupled to a metal nanoparticle using different approximations. In particular, we identify and address issues in modeling the system using a semiclassical approach. We find that a semiclassical approach to model the coupling between the SQDs can lead to unstable, oscillatory, and chaotic behavior in a strong SQD--SQD coupling regime. This nonlinear behavior is shown to be due to a breaking of the identical particle symmetry. Additionally, we see that this chaotic behavior is closely related to the type of decoherence present in the system, specifically, whether the decoherence is collective or noncollective between the two SQDs. This provides insight into proper accounting of these important, but often neglected, interactions. When the system is modeled using a more quantum mechanical approach, this chaotic regime is absent. Finally, we compare the two models on a system with a strong plasmon-mediated interaction between the SQDs and a weak direct interaction between them. In this case, we find that while the results of the two models are similar, dipole blockade and the level splitting of the single-exciton states in the quantum model give rise to nontrivial differences between the two models.
IMAGES IN CLINICAL MEDICINE. Lancisi's Sign.

A 60-year-old man presented with progressive dyspnea and weight gain. A holosystolic murmur that augmented with inspiration was noted at the left lower sternal border. Examination of the neck revealed a palpable, monomorphic venous pulsation, known as Lancisi's sign, shown in a video.
Characteristics of the glutathione/glutathione-S-transferase detoxification system in melphalan resistant human prostate cancer cells

Glutathione (GSH) and glutathione-S-transferases (GST) have been implicated in resistance of tumor cells to certain alkylating agents, including melphalan. Glutathione levels and GST activities were determined in melphalan-resistant sublines of the human prostate carcinoma cell lines DU 145, PC-3 and LNCaP produced by serial treatment with melphalan at progressively increasing concentrations. The resistant sublines M4.5DU145, M5DU145, M6DU145, M6PC-3 and M6LNCaP were 27-, 7-, 3-, 6- and 2-fold more resistant to melphalan than the parental lines. The melphalan-resistant DU 145 and PC-3 lines showed cross-resistance to cisplatin and tetraplatin, but retained sensitivity to vinblastine, colchicine and etoposide. Interestingly, both sublines were also resistant to methotrexate and adriamycin. The melphalan-resistant LNCaP line showed slight resistance to cisplatin and adriamycin, but remained sensitive to tetraplatin and methotrexate. This line also retained sensitivity to vinblastine while developing resistance to colchicine. Intracellular GSH levels were increased 2.8 fold for M5DU145, 1.7 fold for M6PC-3 and 2.1 fold for M6LNCaP compared to the parental lines, whereas GST activity using chlorodinitro-benzene as a substrate was comparable for all lines. When cumene hydroperoxide was used as a substrate, an increase in GST activity was noted only in the M6PC-3 line as compared with the parent line. Western blot analysis showed no change in GST isozyme profile between parent and resistant DU 145 lines; however a mu class isoenzyme was detected in the resistant, but not in the parent PC-3 line, using a Yb1 antibody. M5DU145 cells maintained in the absence of melphalan for seven months maintained their resistance to melphalan. Depletion of GSH, with buthionine sulfoximine, to control levels reversed melphalan resistance to control levels.
Photothermal spectroscopy and Its application

The nonradiative processes associated with the absorption of electromagnetic radiation result in the heating of the material (solids, liquids, or gases) under investigation. Typical values of the temperature rise are 10-5°C. This temperature rise is what is exploited to measure very small optical absorption coefficients (αl ~ 10−8) and to determine thermal and electronic transport properties of matter. Over the past few years we have developed two purely optical approaches for performing photo-thermal spectroscopy: photothermal deflection1 and photothermal displacement.2
The Beginning of the Crisis: Thailand

Over the course of a number of years during the 1980s and 1990s the Thai monetary authorities had, with some justification, earned a reputation for sound monetary management. Likewise, the fiscal authorities had run a tight conservative budget policy throughout most of this period. A relatively open economy, Thailand had earned high praise from the IMF and the World Bank as well as foreign investors for its apparently sound economic policies. With a kind of aleatory irony that in retrospect has indeed assumed historic proportions, Thailand became the epicentre of the financial earthquake in Asia. In July 1997 the World Bank’s model Southeast Asian developing economy turned out to be the weakest link in the chain of Asian finance. The devaluation of the baht triggered almost accidentally a region-wide crisis. How did this come to pass?