cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory carcinoma of the breast: results of a combined-modality approach--M.D. Anderson Cancer Center experience.

A total of 106 patients with inflammatory carcinoma of the breast underwent combined-modality treatment consisting of doxorubincin-containing chemotherapy. All patients received three cycles of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) before local therapy. From 1974 to 1977 (group A), primary radiotherapy was the local treatment modality and chemotherapy was given for a total of 24 months. From 1978 to 1981 (group B), mastectomy became the primary local treatment modality and FAC was reinstituted within 10–14 days after surgery; after completion of FAC, consolidation radiotherapy was given. From 1982 to 1986 (group C), vincristine and prednisone were added to FAC, and doxorubicin was given by continuous infusion. The median follow-up of the three groups was 56 months. For patients alive at the time of analysis, median follow-ups were 141, 111, and 49 months in groups A, B, and C, respectively. Disease-free survival at 5 years was 35%, 22%, and 41% for groups A, B, and C, respectively, and respective overall survival at 5 years was 37%, 30%, and 48%. Mastectomy in addition to radiotherapy resulted in local control rates similar to those obtained with radiotherapy alone, but this approach would result in fewer late sequelae of high-dose irradiation and provided histologic staging for chemotherapy response. The patients treated on protocol C had slightly better disease-free and overall survival, but the differences were not statistically significant. The 5-year disease-free survival of patients achieving a clinical complete remission (CR) or partial remission (PR) was superior to that of patients whose response was less than a PR. There was no episode of doxorubicin-related cardiac toxicity in group C. Combined-modality treatment for inflammatory carcinoma of the breast resulted in improved survival.
Precipitation Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Ti-Mo Medium-Carbon Steel During Austenite to Bainite Transformation

The precipitation behavior and evolution of mechanical properties of Ti-Mo-bearing microalloyed medium-carbon steel during austenite to bainite transformation were studied, and two different cooling rates including ultrafast cooling (~80 °C/s) and accelerated cooling (~15 °C/s) during transformation were also investigated. The results suggest that Ti-Mo-bearing medium-carbon steel yield finer microstructure and nano-precipitates during austenite to bainite transformation during both ultrafast cooling and accelerated cooling processes. Yield strength and tensile strength obtained by ultrafast cooling process were higher than the accelerated cooling process, while the elongation was slightly reduced. Microstructural characterization indicated that grain refinement and precipitation hardening were the primary reasons for the increase in strength. Ultrafast cooling increased the density of dislocations and refined the grain size. Average size of precipitates containing Ti and Mo was 3-6 nm by ultrafast cooling process, while average precipitate size obtained by accelerated cooling process was 6-9 nm.
Growth of Secure Messaging Through a Patient Portal as a Form of Outpatient Interaction across Clinical Specialties

Objective: Patient portals are online applications that allow patients to interact with healthcare organizations. Portal adoption is increasing, and secure messaging between patients and health-care providers is an emerging form of outpatient interaction. Research about portals and messaging has focused on medical specialties. We characterized adoption of secure messaging and the contribution of messaging to outpatient interactions across diverse clinical specialties after broad portal deployment. Methods: This retrospective cohort study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center examined use of patient-initiated secure messages and clinic visits in the three years following full deployment of a patient portal across adult and pediatric specialties. We measured the proportion of outpatient interactions (i.e., messages plus clinic visits) conducted through secure messaging by specialty over time. Generalized estimating equations measured the likelihood of message-based versus clinic outpatient interaction across clinical specialties. Results: Over the study period, 2,422,114 clinic visits occurred, and 82,159 unique portal users initiated 948,428 messages to 1,924 recipients. Medicine participated in the most message exchanges (742,454 messages; 78.3% of all messages sent), followed by surgery (84,001; 8.9%) and obstetrics/gynecology (53,424; 5.6%). The proportion of outpatient interaction through messaging increased from 12.9% in 2008 to 33.0% in 2009 and 39.8% in 2010 (p Conclusions: This study demonstrates rapid adoption of secure messaging across diverse clinical specialties, with messaging interactions exceeding face-to-face clinic visits for some specialties. As patient portal and secure messaging adoption increase beyond medicine and primary care, research is needed to understand the implications for provider workload and patient care. Citation: Cronin RM, Davis SE, Shenson JA, Chen Q, Rosenbloom ST, Jackson GP. Growth of secure messaging through a patient portal as a form of outpatient interaction across clinical specialties. Appl Clin Inf 2015; 6: 288–304 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2014-12-RA-0117
A new analytical formulation for the generalized corresponding states model for thermodynamic and surface properties in pure fluids

Abstract In a previous study [Kiselev, S.B., Ely, J.F., 2003. Generalized corresponding states model for bulk and interfacial properties of pure fluids and fluid mixtures. Journal of Chemical Physics 119(16), 8645–8662] we developed a formulation of the generalized corresponding states (GCS) model which incorporated critical region non-analytic behavior via a parametric crossover function. The parametric variable in that model was obtained from the crossover modification of the sine model originally proposed by Fisher et al. [1999. Trigonometric models for scaling behavior near criticality. Physical Review B 59(22), 14533–14545]. In this work we have developed a new version of the GCS model that incorporates an analytical sine (ANS) model solution which greatly simplifies the application of the resulting equation of state (EOS). Similar to the original GCS/CRS model, the new GCS/ANS model contains the critical point parameters and acentric factor as input and yields a very accurate description of the PVT- and VLE-surfaces of one-component fluids in a wide range of thermodynamic states, including the nearest vicinity of the critical point. The GCS/ANS model reproduces the saturated pressure and liquid density data with an average absolute deviation (AAD) of about 1% and the vapor density with AAD of about 2–3%. In the one phase region for ρ ⩽ 2 ρ c the model reproduces the PVT data with an AAD less then 2% and for liquid densities where ρ ⩾ 2 ρ c with an AAD of about 1–2%. In combination with the density functional theory (DFT), the GCS/ANS–DFT model is also capable of reproducing the surface tension of one-component fluids (polar and non-polar) with high accuracy.
Highly resolved spectra of local modes of benzene.

Rotational cooling by supersonic expansion and laser labeling spectroscopy were used to obtain high-resolution fundamental and first- and second-overtone spectra of C-H stretches of benzene in a molecular beam. Rich fine structure in the spectra has been observed. Transformation from the ``normal-mode'' picture to the ``local-mode'' picture seems to occur between v=2 and v=3. Vibrational lifetimes in local-mode bands exceed \ensuremath{\simeq}0.5 psec.
A plasma wave and electron-plasma diffusion interpretation of Thomson scattering from a plasma containing negative ions

Abstract The properties of electron diffusion and ion-acoustic wave propagation in a plasma composed of negative ions, positive ions and electrons are investigated. Both the ion-acoustic wave phase velocity and the effective electron diffusion coefficient are found to be functions of λ_, the ratio of negative ion to electron number density. In particular the phase velocity is found to be proportional to (1 + λ_) 1 2 while the effective electron diffusion coefficient is found to be proportional to (1 + λ_). These results are then applied to obtain a qualitative description of Thomson scattering from the three species plasma.
The pvc Operon Regulates the Expression of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Fimbrial Chaperone/Usher Pathway (Cup) Genes

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa fimbrial structures encoded by the cup gene clusters (cupB and cupC) contribute to its attachment to abiotic surfaces and biofilm formation. The P. aeruginosa pvcABCD gene cluster encodes enzymes that synthesize a novel isonitrile functionalized cumarin, paerucumarin. Paerucumarin has already been characterized chemically, but this is the first report elucidating its role in bacterial biology. We examined the relationship between the pvc operon and the cup gene clusters in the P. aeruginosa strain MPAO1. Mutations within the pvc genes compromised biofilm development and significantly reduced the expression of cupB1-6 and cupC1-3, as well as different genes of the cupB/cupC two-component regulatory systems, roc1/roc2. Adjacent to pvc is the transcriptional regulator ptxR. A ptxR mutation in MPAO1 significantly reduced the expression of the pvc genes, the cupB/cupC genes, and the roc1/roc2 genes. Overexpression of the intact chromosomally-encoded pvc operon by a ptxR plasmid significantly enhanced cupB2, cupC2, rocS1, and rocS2 expression and biofilm development. Exogenously added paerucumarin significantly increased the expression of cupB2, cupC2, rocS1 and rocS2 in the pvcA mutant. Our results suggest that pvc influences P. aeruginosa biofilm development through the cup gene clusters in a pathway that involves paerucumarin, PtxR, and different cup regulators.
Social Norms and Economic Theory

Elster contrasts two distinct and frequently opposing social science traditions. One was fostered by Adam Smith and is carried forward today by neoclassical economists and rational-choice theorists in political science. It views humans as “economic men,” that is, as motivated by egoistic material concerns. The other tradition has its roots in the work of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, provides the basis for much contemporary sociology and has adherents among political scientists, particularly political culture theorists such as Eckstein (1988). It views humans as social creatures, having duty-based and other obligations to their fellows. “Sociological man’s” activity is thus constrained by shared social (cultural) norms. Elster is skeptical that these cultural norms generally realize individual self-interest as this is understood in the rational-choice tradition. Indeed, elsewhere he distinguishes “economic man” rationality and “nonra-tional” cultural norms even more sharply than he does in this chapter (Elster 1989b). Overall, Elster holds that, for the most part, cultural norms neither arise from rationality, as neoclassical economists understand it, nor do they serve it.
Microengineered Sensors: A Review

Recently the application of bulk and surface processing of silicon related materials has made it possible to successfully fabricate micromechanical structures in the range of 0.5 to 500 microns, which exhibits unrestrained motion over at least one degree of freedom. The sculptural fabrication techniques can be used to realize a variety of measurement devices (microengineered sensors). This paper describes the recent developments in the area of design, fabrication and operation of these microengineered sensors. The possible integration of the sensing elements with the signal processing circuit on one chip (the so called smart sensors) is also being discussed briefly.
Cover Picture: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 18/2002

The cover picture shows the newest member of an “elite” club of aromatic molecules. The platinabenzene, in which a benzene methine (CH) unit has been replaced by an isoelectronic platinum fragment, completes the series of metalla-aromatics containing third row, Group VIII metals (Os, Ir, Pt). Previously excluded, the molecule gains admittance to this select club because it exhibits properties similar to other six-membered ring heteroaromatic compounds (e.g., pyridine), such as ring planarity, delocalized bonding, and downfield shifts in the 1H NMR spectrum. The platinabenzene shares a feature unique for the third period transition metals in that it requires no further stabilization by coordination to an additional metal center. More on the structure and properties of this molecule can be found in the communication by Haley et al. on p. 3470 ff.
Failures of the VCG mechanism in combinatorial auctions and exchanges

The VCG mechanism is the canonical method for motivating bidders in combinatorial auctions and exchanges to bid truthfully. We study two related problems concerning the VCG mechanism: the problem of revenue guarantees, and that of collusion. The existence of these problems even in one-item settings is well-known; in this paper, we lay out their full extent in multi-item settings. We study four settings: combinatorial forward auctions with free disposal, combinatorial reverse auctions with free disposal, combinatorial forward (or reverse) auctions without free disposal, and combinatorial exchanges. In each setting, we give an example of how additional bidders (colluders) can make the outcome much worse (less revenue or higher cost) under the VCG mechanism (but not under a first price mechanism); derive necessary and sufficient conditions for such an effective collusion to be possible under the VCG mechanism; and (when nontrivial) study the computational complexity of deciding whether these conditions hold.
Open preperitoneal retrofascial mesh repair for multiply recurrent ventral incisional hernias.

Background Because herniorrhaphy failure and complication rates appear proportional to the number of previous repairs, multiply recurrent hernias (MRH) represent a formidable challenge. We sought to determine the safety and efficacy of open preperitoneal retrofascial mesh repair of MRH. Study design We conducted a retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing an open preperitoneal retrofascial mesh repair of multiply (two or more) recurrent hernias at a tertiary care referral center. Results From January 2001 to May 2005, 128 patients underwent surgical repair of an MRH; 32 of these underwent an open preperitoneal repair. The average body mass index was 39.1±8.4 kg/m2 (range 28.9 to 61.0 kg/m2). All patients had significant comorbidities; 18.8% were smokers. The number of previous herniorrhaphies was 3.6 (range 2 to 24). Polypropylene mesh was used in all patients, including lightweight polypropylene in 10 (31.2%) patients. The average mesh size was 937±531 cm2 (range 225 to 1,800 cm2). There were no major intraoperative complications. Wound infection occurred in 4 patients (12.5%, all smokers), requiring partial mesh excision in 1 patient. Univariate analysis revealed smoking as the only predictor of wound or mesh-related morbidity (p=0.0004). At a mean followup of 28.1 months (range 8 to 60 months), there has been 1 recurrence (3.1%) in the patient requiring partial mesh removal. Conclusions Open preperitoneal retrofascial mesh repair resulted in an effective herniorrhaphy with low perioperative morbidity in patients with MRH. Smoking cessation appears to be important in minimizing infectious complications. Given the technical challenge, surgical care of patients with MRH may be best provided in referral centers with interest and expertise in complex hernia repairs.
The evolution of externality rights: Flexibility versus ambiguity

Coase argued that externality rights should sometimes be flexible, but warned that ambiguity can also hinder market transactions. Flexible liability is not uncommon and can be shown to provide useful information under nonconvexity. At a global optimum, each side must be able to compensate the other. There are also limited incentive gains from flexible liability for private externalities. For public externalities, however, claims will be exaggerated when agents are risk seeking and understated when they are risk averse. Efficient specifications of right are thus unlikely to emerge from self-interested litigation alone.
On the Methodology of Solution Synthesis

The persistence of many old problems suggests that our unilateral approaches to solutions are inadequate. A change in outlook has been fostered by the systems viewpoint, resulting in a movement toward a more creative formulation of systems and a dissolution of disciplinary boundaries, The systems approach is open-ended, however, and does not have the perspective that is necessary for developing meaningful solutions for complex problems. We must concern ourselves with the elements of synthesis that would close the problem loop, that is, a methodology of solution synthesis. A theory of solution synthesis is developed within the context of social behavior. Many of the concepts utilized in the development of this theory were drawn from the knowledge attributed to general systems theory. A formal phenomenological theory for solution synthesis is presented as eight propositions with inference into a social context. The application of the theory for solution synthesis is illustrated through the development of a plan for urban citizen participation.
Investigation of intrinsic optical damage in potassium bromide at 532 nm.

We report here the details of an investigation of intrinsic single-pulse optical damage in KBr at 532 nm [Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 1605 (1987)]. The technique employed is based on the self-trapped-exciton recombination luminescence, and the temperature dependence of the luminous efficiency is utilized to measure the lattice-temperature rise resulting from the interaction of KBr with intense laser pulses at 532 nm. The mechanism of the laser-solid interaction is shown to be four-photon free-carrier generation and subsequent free-carrier heating with small contributions from laser-generated defect formation, absorption, and relaxation as well as direct recombination of the charge carriers. Single-pulse damage occurs at a temperature very close to the melting point of the material with no indication of electron-avalanche impact ionization.
Conjugated and Cross-Conjugated Mesomeric Betaines. Correlation of Electroreduction with Structure and Physiological Activity

Abstract Electroreduction studies were performed on several cross- conjugated mesomeric betaines containing the fused pyrazolium (2) and fused imidazolium (3) ring systems. Studies at acidic pH were of principal interest. Substituent effects for 2 were in line with prior findings, and reduction potentials were comparatively negative (−0.96 to −1.34 V). Reduction potentials fit the modified Hammett equation. Compound 3 was more readily reduced (−0.88 V). The related ψ-oxatriazoles (6) gave values in the range of −0.85 to −1.22 V. The electrochemical characteristics are compared with those of the mesoionic syndnones (4) and synoneimines (5) . These mesoionic compounds were generally reduced at more positive potentials than (2) and )3) . A relatiosnhip between electroreduction and physiological activity is proposed. The overall results are in keeping with the hypothesis of widespread participation of iminium-type species in biological systems.
NDE of multilayer ceramic chip capacitors based on acoustic waveguides excitation

An acoustic waveguide technique is investigated as a potential tool for detecting delaminations, voids, or microcracks in multilayer ceramic chip capacitors. The technique uses acoustic transducers mounted on tapered buffer rods to excite and to detect acoustic waves in a capacitor. The points of the transmitting and receiving buffer rods are brought in contact with the opposite ends of the capacitors, and a pulse excitation is applied. For a defect-free sample, the received acoustic signal is a series of echoes representing reverberations within the capacitor. The presence of defects in the capacitor changes the acoustic propagation properties, resulting in changes in the measured echo train. A series of experiments was performed for a number of capacitors to verify the potential of acoustic waveguide coupling. >
Statins Inhibit β-Adrenergic Receptor–Stimulated Apoptosis in Adult Rat Ventricular Myocytes via a Rac1-Dependent Mechanism

Background— 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A inhibitors (statins) inhibit myocyte hypertrophy in vitro and ameliorate the progression of cardiac remodeling in vivo, possibly because of inhibition of the small GTPase Rac1. The role of Rac1 in mediating myocyte apoptosis is not known. β-Adrenergic receptor (βAR)-stimulated myocyte apoptosis is mediated via activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), leading to activation of the mitochondrial death pathway. We hypothesized that βAR-stimulated apoptosis in adult rat ventricular myocyte (ARVMs) is mediated by Rac1 and inhibited by statins. Methods and Results— βAR stimulation increased apoptosis, as assessed by transferase-mediated nick-end labeling, from 5±1% to 24±2%. βAR stimulation also increased Rac1 activity. Adenoviral overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of Rac1 inhibited βAR-stimulated apoptosis, JNK activation, cytochrome C release, and caspase-3 activation. Cerivastatin likewise inhibited the βAR-stimulated activation of Rac1, decrea...
Dual Time-Interleaved Successive Approximation Register ADCs for an Ultra-Wideband Receiver

Ultra-wideband radio requires Nyquist sampling rates of at least 500 MS/s with low resolutions. While flash is the traditional choice for these specifications, a comparative energy model is used to show the potential energy savings of the time-interleaved successive approximation register architecture, which requires only a linear number of comparisons versus exponential for flash. A dual 500-MS/s, 5-bit ADC chip is implemented in a 0.18-mum CMOS process, with both ADCs synchronized for use in an I/Q UWB receiver. Each ADC uses a 6-way time-interleaved SAR topology with full custom logic, self-timed bit-cycling, and duty cycling of the comparator preamplifiers to enable 500-MS/s operation with 7.8 mW power consumption. The output resolution is adjustable down to the 1-bit level for additional power savings
Variations in the Rhythms of Respiration and Nitrogen Fixation in Members of the Unicellular Diazotrophic Cyanobacterial Genus Cyanothece

In order to accommodate the physiologically incompatible processes of photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation within the same cell, unicellular nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria have to maintain a dynamic metabolic profile in the light as well as the dark phase of a diel cycle. The transition from the photosynthetic to the nitrogen-fixing phase is marked by the onset of various biochemical and regulatory responses, which prime the intracellular environment for nitrogenase activity. Cellular respiration plays an important role during this transition, quenching the oxygen generated by photosynthesis and by providing energy necessary for the process. Although the underlying principles of nitrogen fixation predict unicellular nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria to function in a certain way, significant variations are observed in the diazotrophic behavior of these microbes. In an effort to elucidate the underlying differences and similarities that govern the nitrogen-fixing ability of unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria, we analyzed six members of the genus Cyanothece. Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142, a member of this genus, has been shown to perform efficient aerobic nitrogen fixation and hydrogen production. Our study revealed significant differences in the patterns of respiration and nitrogen fixation among the Cyanothece spp. strains that were grown under identical culture conditions, suggesting that these processes are not solely controlled by cues from the diurnal cycle but that strain-specific intracellular metabolic signals play a major role. Despite these inherent differences, the ability to perform high rates of aerobic nitrogen fixation and hydrogen production appears to be a characteristic of this genus.
Characterizing quality of content distribution from YouTube like portals

YouTube like media portals have changed the way users access media content in the Internet. Among many popular media sharing websites, some of the most popular ones are YouTube [7], Google-Video [4], Yahoo-Video [6], Metacafe [5], Flickr [3] and BlipTV [1]. Two factors along with the ubiquity of the Web have bolstered tremendous growth of these sites, namely, availability and media quality.
Persistence and Differential Survival of Fecal Indicator Bacteria in Subtropical Waters and Sediments

Fecal coliforms and enterococci are indicator organisms used worldwide to monitor water quality. These bacteria are used in microbial source tracking (MST) studies, which attempt to assess the contribution of various host species to fecal pollution in water. Ideally, all strains of a given indicator organism (IO) would experience equal persistence (maintenance of culturable populations) in water; however, some strains may have comparatively extended persistence outside the host, while others may persist very poorly in environmental waters. Assessment of the relative contribution of host species to fecal pollution would be confounded by differential persistence of strains. Here, freshwater and saltwater mesocosms, including sediments, were inoculated with dog feces, sewage, or contaminated soil and were incubated under conditions that included natural stressors such as microbial predators, radiation, and temperature fluctuations. Persistence of IOs was measured by decay rates (change in culturable counts over time). Decay rates were influenced by IO, inoculum, water type, sediment versus water column location, and Escherichia coli strain. Fecal coliform decay rates were significantly lower than those of enterococci in freshwater but were not significantly different in saltwater. IO persistence according to mesocosm treatment followed the trend: contaminated soil > wastewater > dog feces. E. coli ribotyping demonstrated that certain strains were more persistent than others in freshwater mesocosms, and the distribution of ribotypes sampled from mesocosm waters was dissimilar from the distribution in fecal material. These results have implications for the accuracy of MST methods, modeling of microbial populations in water, and efficacy of regulatory standards for protection of water quality.
Energy-Efficient VoIP over Wireless LANs

Emerging dual-mode phones incorporate a wireless LAN (WLAN) interface along with the traditional cellular interface. The additional benefits of the WLAN interface are, however, likely to be outweighed by its greater rate of energy consumption. This is especially of concern when real-time applications, that result in continuous traffic, are involved. WLAN radios typically conserve energy by staying in sleep mode. With real-time applications like voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), this can be challenging since packets delayed above a threshold are lost. Moreover, the continuous nature of traffic makes it difficult for the radio to stay in the lower power sleep mode enough to reduce energy consumption significantly. In this work, we propose the GreenCall algorithm to derive sleep/wake-up schedules for the WLAN radio to save energy during VoIP calls while ensuring that application quality is preserved within acceptable levels of users. We evaluate GreenCall on commodity hardware and study its performance over diverse network paths and describe our experiences in the process. We further extensively investigate the effect of different application parameters on possible energy savings through trace-based simulations. We show that, in spite of the interactive, real-time nature of voice, energy consumption during calls can be reduced by close to 80 percent in most instances.
The Ongoing Debate about the Impact of the 150‐Hour Education Requirement on the Supply of Certified Public Accountants

ABSTRACT: Many factors, including Sarbanes‐Oxley, fueled an increase in demand for accountants in recent years, particularly those who are professionally certified, so that demand exceeded supply in the U.S. (Anonymous 2007) and elsewhere (Hambly 2007). Future challenges facing the profession, such as implementing XBRL and IFRS, may also increase demand, perhaps again creating shortages. It is within this context that we examine the issue of the shortage of accountants by focusing on factors that affect supply. We study trends in two types of data: graduation rates for accounting majors (i.e., the number of accounting graduates divided by total business majors) and CPA exam candidacy. The former provides a measure of the total pool of potential CPA exam candidates and the latter is the subset of those who are attempting to become professionally certified. Various studies have observed a decline in CPA exam candidacy and have proposed that it results from the additional education requirement associated wit...
Racial Differences in Epinephrine and β2-Adrenergic Receptors

This study examined the effects of ethnicity and hypertension on beta 2-adrenergic receptors and on plasma catecholamines in a group of 77 unmedicated mildly hypertensive and normotensive men. Black hypertensive subjects had the most sensitive and white hypertensive subjects the least sensitive beta-receptors (as assessed by isoproterenol-stimulated cyclic AMP in lymphocytes [P = .02]). In contrast, postreceptor adenylate cyclase activation (as assessed by forskolin stimulation) was similar among groups. As with beta-receptor sensitivity, black hypertensive subjects had the highest beta-receptor density and white hypertensive subjects the lowest (P = .03). Blacks demonstrated lower plasma epinephrine values compared with whites (P = .03). Across all subjects, plasma epinephrine was negatively correlated with beta-receptor density (r = -.26, P < .05) and sensitivity (r = -.25, P < .05). There were no group differences in binding affinity to the beta-antagonist iodopindolol. The findings support the notion of increased beta-adrenergic receptors in hypertension in blacks.
Post-Sampling Changes in Microbial Community Composition and Activity in a Subsurface Paleosol

Laboratory storage of deep vadose zone sediments has previously resulted in an increase in the abundance of cultured microorganisms by as much as 10,000-fold, without concomitant increases in total microscopic counts. In the present study, factors contributing to the time-dependent stimulation of various microbiological parameters were examined during a 224 d post-sampling period, using a factorial-design experiment that partitioned the effects of storage time, sediment condition (intact blocks or homogenized) during storage, and O2 concentration (0.5, 4.5, and 21%) during storage at 15°C. Stored samples were analyzed at selected intervals, to determine direct microscopic counts, viable biomass, lipid biomarker profiles, cultured aerobic heterotrophic microorganisms, and microbial activity. Time of storage prior to analysis of the samples was the most important factor affecting the microbiological response. Sediment condition influenced the stimulation response: microbial activity and the population of cultured microorganisms increased faster, and reached slightly higher values, in the homogenized samples, although maximum values were reached at similar times in the homogenized and intact samples. O2 concentration also influenced the response, but was the least important of the factors evaluated. Total cells and viable biomass, measured as total phospholipid fatty acids, changed little during storage. Maximum cultured populations and activity were attained at 63 to 112 d, with culture counts approximating the total numbers of microscopically counted cells. At approximately the same time, unbalanced growth (evidenced by high ratios of polyhydroxybutyrate to phospholipid fatty acid) indicated that inorganic nutrients became limiting. Lipid biomarkers indicative of Gram-positive bacteria, including actinomycetes, became dominant components of the community profiles in samples maintained at 0.5% and 4.5% O2. The shift in the microbial community from relatively inactive, predominantly uncultured microorganisms to metabolically active populations that were nearly all cultured highlights the need for rapid initiation of analyses after sample acquisition, if measurement of in situ microbiological properties is desired. The fact that these processes also occur in intact sediment blocks suggests that minor perturbations in the chemical or physical properties of subsurface sediments can result in major changes in the activity and composition of the microbial community.
Recovering reflectance and illumination in a world of painted polyhedra

To be immune to variations in illumination, a vision system needs to be able to decompose images into their illumination and surface reflectance components. Most computational studies thus far have been concerned with strategies for solving the problem in the restricted domain of 2-D Mondrians. This domain has the simplifying characteristic of permitting discontinuities only in the reflectance distribution while the illumination distribution is constrained to vary smoothly. Such approaches prove inadequate in a 3-D world of painted polyhedra which allows for the existence of discontinuities in both the reflectance and illumination distributions. The authors propose a two-stage computational strategy for interpreting images acquired in such a domain. The first stage attempts to use simple local gray-level junction analysis to classify the observed image edges into the illumination or reflectance categories. Subsequent processing verifies the global consistency of these local inferences while also reasoning about the 3-D structure of the object and the illumination source direction. >
Sex and stochasticity affect range expansion of experimental invasions

Understanding and predicting range expansion are key objectives in many basic and applied contexts. Among dioecious organisms, there is strong evidence for sex differences in dispersal, which could alter the sex ratio at the expansion's leading edge. However, demographic stochasticity could also affect leading-edge sex ratios, perhaps overwhelming sex-biased dispersal. We used insects in laboratory mesocosms to test the effects of sex-biased dispersal on range expansion, and a simulation model to explore interactive effects of sex-biased dispersal and demographic stochasticity. Sex-biased dispersal created spatial clines in the sex ratio, which influenced offspring production at the front and altered invasion velocity. Increasing female dispersal relative to males accelerated spread, despite the prediction that demographic stochasticity would weaken a signal of sex-biased dispersal. Our results provide the first experimental evidence for an influence of sex-biased dispersal on invasion velocity, highlighting the value of accounting for sex structure in studies of range expansion.
A survey of neurologists' views on epilepsy surgery and medically refractory epilepsy

There is a 20-year delay between the diagnosis of epilepsy and surgical treatment. The aim of this study was to describe the different views held by neurologists regarding refractory epilepsy that may contribute to the delay in referring patients for epilepsy surgery. Neurologists in Michigan were mailed a 10-item survey inquiring about their definition of medically refractory epilepsy and their decision-making process in referring patients for epilepsy surgery. Eighty-four neurologists responded (20%). The majority defined medically refractory epilepsy as failure of three monotherapy antiepileptic drug (AEDs) trials and at least two polytherapy trials. Nineteen percent responded that all approved AEDs had to fail before a patient could be defined as medically refractory. Eighty-two percent of the respondents had referred patients for epilepsy surgery. Almost 50% were not satisfied with the level of communication from epilepsy centers. One-third reported serious complications resulting from surgery. These findings suggest that further education and improved communication from comprehensive epilepsy centers may shorten the time to referral and ultimately improve the lives of patients with epilepsy.
Research Article: Differential acute sensitivity of wild Rana sylvatica and laboratory Xenopus laevis tadpoles to the herbicide atrazine

Abstract Atrazine is one of the most used herbicides in the United States and has previously been implicated in local amphibian declines. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of atrazine on 2 frog species—the amphibian model species Xenopus laevis and the wood frog Rana sylvatica. Tadpoles just before hindlimb emergence were exposed to either 1 part per billion (ppb) or 25 ppb atrazine in their water. Behavior was observed daily, and at the end of 15 days exposure the tadpoles were weighed, developmentally staged, and measured for head width and tail width. Differences were found among all of these for the X. laevis (p < 0.002), with the difference occurring only for the low dose animals (and not the high dose animals) for weight, stage, and tail width. Head width was significantly different for the X. laevis exposed to both the high and low concentrations of atrazine. No morphological differences were seen in R. sylvatica, but increased mortality and behavioral differences were seen in ...
Peritoneal dialysis in children: issues for the 21st century.

sate solutions, as well as in the types of catheters and tubing connections, to diminish the potential for infectious complications. The most successful of these changing technologies has been the Y-configuration used in CAPD, which has made the "flush before fill" technique possible, thus allowing contaminants to be flushed into the drain bag before the patient is filled (1). Several studies have shown decreased peritonitis rates in adult patients treated with CAPD with the introduction of the "flush before fill" technique. In contrast, peritonitis rates have remained consistently higher in pediatric patients compared to adults as shown by various studies (2,3). This outcome has been demonstrated in the adult and pediatric dialysis program at UCLA, in which similar training material and treatment protocols are practiced, but in which the peritonitis rate of the pediatric patients is signifi cantly higher. The reasons for higher peritonitis rates in pediatric patients are not very clear. One factor may be that the vast majority of pediatric patients are treated with APD as compared to CAPD in adults. In APD, the "flush before fill" technique ofCAPD has not been perfected in any of the machines used for APD. Multiple bags of solution may be used and the fluid pathway is complex, with no direct flush to the drain bag before the patient is filled. The development of APD technology that utilizes a true "flush before fill"
Michigan Local Leaders See Need for State and Local Ethics Reform

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ views on a variety of issues regarding ethics at the state and local levels, including how ethical they believe Michigan’s state and local government leaders are, what types of ethics policies are needed, and what types are already in place in their jurisdictions. Findings in the report are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the Fall 2014 wave of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS).
Arbitrarily High-Order-Accurate, Hermite WENO Limited, Boundary-Averaged Multi-Moment Constrained Finite-Volume (BA-MCV) Schemes for 1-D Transport☆

Abstract This study introduces the Boundary Averaged Multi-moment Constrained finite-Volume (BA- MCV) scheme for 1-D transport with Hermite Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (HWENO) limiting using the ADER Differential Transform (ADER-DT) time discretization. The BA- MCV scheme evolves a cell average using a Finite-Volume (FV) scheme, and it adds further constraints as point wise derivatives of the state at cell boundaries, which are evolved in strong form using PDE derivatives. The resulting scheme maintains a Maximum Stable CFL (MSCFL) value of one no matter how high-order the scheme is. Also, parallel communication requirements are very low and will be described. h-refinement experiments demonstrate proper convergence order, and p-refinement experiments demonstrate expected exponential convergence. The over- all ADER-DT + BA-MCV + HWENO scheme is a scalable and larger time step alternative to Galerkin methods for multi-moment fluid simulation in climate and weather applications.
The Gatekeepers of Contact Child–Caregiver Dyads and Parental Prison Visitation

As gatekeepers, caregivers play a pivotal role in the facilitation of parental prison contact, and some caregivers may be more likely to take children to visit than others. To advance prior work, I...
Elite Groups: A Scheme for the Study of Power in Canada

Among the constant facts and tendencies which are to be found in all political organisms one is so obvious that it is apparent to the most casual eye. In all societies -from societies that are meagerly developed and have barely attained the dawnings of civilization, down to the most advanced and powerful societies-two classes of people appear-a class that rules and a class that is ruled. The first always the less numerous, performs all political functions, monopolizes power and enjoys the advantages that power brings, whereas the second, the more numerous class is directed and controlled by the first....'
Elucidating the design principles of photosynthetic electron-transfer proteins by site-directed spin labeling EPR spectroscopy

Site-directed spin labeling electron paramagnetic resonance (SDSL EPR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool to determine solvent accessibility, side-chain dynamics, and inter-spin distances at specific sites in biological macromolecules. This information provides important insights into the structure and dynamics of both natural and designed proteins and protein complexes. Here, we discuss the application of SDSL EPR spectroscopy in probing the charge-transfer cofactors in photosynthetic reaction centers (RC) such as photosystem I (PSI) and the bacterial reaction center (bRC). Photosynthetic RCs are large multi-subunit proteins (molecular weight≥300 kDa) that perform light-driven charge transfer reactions in photosynthesis. These reactions are carried out by cofactors that are paramagnetic in one of their oxidation states. This renders the RCs unsuitable for conventional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy investigations. However, the presence of native paramagnetic centers and the ability to covalently attach site-directed spin labels in RCs makes them ideally suited for the application of SDSL EPR spectroscopy. The paramagnetic centers serve as probes of conformational changes, dynamics of subunit assembly, and the relative motion of cofactors and peptide subunits. In this review, we describe novel applications of SDSL EPR spectroscopy for elucidating the effects of local structure and dynamics on the electron-transfer cofactors of photosynthetic RCs. Because SDSL EPR Spectroscopy is uniquely suited to provide dynamic information on protein motion, it is a particularly useful method in the engineering and analysis of designed electron transfer proteins and protein networks. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Biodesign for Bioenergetics--the design and engineering of electronic transfer cofactors, proteins and protein networks, edited by Ronald L. Koder and J.L. Ross Anderson.
TRAP Language Identification System for RATS Phase II Evaluation

Automatic language identification or detection of audio data has become an important preprocessing step for speech/speaker recognition and audio data mining. In many surveillance applications, language detection has to be performed on highly degraded audio inputs. In this paper, we present our work on language detection in highly degraded radio channel scenarios. We provide a brief description of the Targeted Robust Audio Processing (TRAP) language detection system builtfor the Phase II Evaluationof the RobustAutomatic Transcription of Speech (RATS) program. This system is a combination of 15 systems with different frontends and speech activity decisions. We also analyze the usefulness of multi-layer perceptron (MLP) based non-linear projection of i-vectors before SVM classification. The proposed backend reduces the Equal Error Rate (EER) by 11%–25% relative compared to the baseline PCA-based feature representation for SVM classification, on the RATS test data consisting of data from eight highfrequency radio communication channels. Index Terms: Language identification (detection), highly degraded radio channel, RATS, i-vector, multi-layer perceptron.
Digital Recording and Numerical Reconstruction of Holograms: A New Optical Diagnostic for Combustion

Digital holographic interferometry (DHI) is a relatively newer imaging and measurement technique that electronically records a hologram (e.g., on a CCD) and reconstructs it using a numerical method. Cumbersome chemical processing of the hologram is avoided in DHI, thereby providing greater flexibility, speed, and the potential for real time processing. In conventional holography fringes that are neither bright nor dark on a hologram cannot be accurately resolved. The DHI technique reported so far has not yet been used for combustion applications. Herein, we will evaluate its efficacy for making temperature measurements in flames and assess its applicability through a simulation. The double exposures associated with the holographic technique are each considered recorded by a hypothetical CCD sensor at separate times. We have applied the principles of Fourier optics to develop a numerical method for hologram reconstruction.© 2002 ASME
Philosophy matters to medicine.

L'enseignement majeur de la philosophie en matiere de medecine n'est-il pas l'utilisation d'une analyse ethique tant de la theorie que de la pratique clinique
Lossless data hiding for images based on integer wavelet optimum histogram pair

Embedding location map is a commonly used method for image data hiding;however,it has little payload and the visual effect is not good enough.Therefore,a lossless data hiding scheme of histogram pair was proposed based on multi-gray image authenticity certification.It applied the Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT) to gray image,selected the optimum threshold in the histogram,and made the histogram pair to embed data.The experimental results show that the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) is up to 46 dB in the payload of 0.1 bpp (bit per bixel),and the proposed scheme is effective.