cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vanderbilt head and neck symptom survey, version 2.0: Clinical and research utility for identification of symptom clusters and changes in symptoms over time.

Abstract Objectives The symptoms and functional defects following treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) have been poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (VHNSS) version 2.0 to identify symptom clusters experienced by patients with HNC as well as assess reliability and sensitivity to change. Materials and methods The VHNSS 2.0 questionnaire was completed by 150 patients over three studies. Two studies utilized the survey at multiple time points. Results Cluster analysis identified ten multi-item clusters and three single items. The internal consistency was good to excellent, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient above 0.90 in five symptom clusters and above 0.70 in remaining clusters. Clusters demonstrated convergent and divergent validity with other measures. Symptom burden was lowest at baseline, peaked at the end of treatment then subsided over the following months. Conclusions The VHNSS 2.0 is a reliable and valid measure of acute and late toxicities in patients treated for HNC. The tool may be used in research and clinical practice to screen, to evaluate treatments, and to compare side effects of treatment regimens.
A Cultural Perspective of Teaching and Learning Ete in a Digitally Connected World

The past millennium has brought forth unprecedented advancements in engineering and technology. Microchips have been invented and shrunk to the size of a pinhead, man has walked on the moon, great rivers have been dammed for irrigation, the Internet connects the globe through social networking, nanotechnology brings medical breakthroughs and Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) guide us to our destination. These advancements shape our social systems, our view of the world, how we interact with fellow humans and the quality of life. Each country’s culture and how they live has been influenced by engineering and technological advancements, which continue to mold culture and influence a new generation of students. Yet, in many ways, educational systems across the globe have not integrated and joined the technological cultural influences of students with the technological advancements shaping the world.
Even Number of Dimensions

We shall continue to develop the theory only for the case of n even. With n odd there is a little further complication but no essential change. We shall ultimately make n → ∞ and then the distinction between even and odd n becomes unimportant.
Musical Appropriation, Musical Meaning, and the Law

The following paper is an excerpt from a book I am currently writing entitled Musical Appropriation, Musical Meaning, and the Law. This monograph explores two fundamental questions from the point of view of a musicologist: - How has intellectual property (IP) law impacted musical creativity within the past fifty years? - How have restrictions on appropriation changed the way music communicates? Important authors in the field of cultural studies have claimed that IP has exerted a categorically negative effect on musical creativity. My book challenges this conventional wisdom by arguing that copyright law has led to a cultivation of techniques that refine, rather than stunt, music's capacity to communicate. This project provides a nuanced analysis of the effects of IP law on musical meaning, and will be an important contribution to the fields of musicology, cultural studies, and the law.
Robotically-assisted Ventral Hernia Repair

Since the introduction of laparoscopic ventral hernia repair in the early 1990s [1], the benefits of the procedure—decreased postoperative pain, faster recovery with less wound, and overall complication rates, while maintaining recurrence rates equal or less to those of open ventral hernia repair—have led to its widespread adoption. Laparoscopy, however, has its own limitations. The lack of articulation limits the degrees of motion of laparoscopic instruments, and visualization is also limited to two dimensions. As a result, technically demanding maneuvers such as intracorporeal closure of hernia defect or minimally invasive myofascial release have not been widely adopted. This can compromise the outcome of the repair, leading to increased mesh bulging, hernia recurrences, seroma formation, and patient dissatisfaction [2]. Additionally, the tackers and transabdominal sutures used to secure the mesh have been implicated in the occurrence of increased pain and postoperative adhesions.
Retinal layer parcellation of optical coherence tomography images: Data resource for multiple sclerosis and healthy controls.

Abstract This paper presents optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the human retina and manual delineations of eight retinal layers. The data includes 35 human retina scans acquired on a Spectralis OCT system (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany), 14 of which are healthy controls (HC) and 21 have a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). The provided data includes manually delineation of eight retina layers, which were independently reviewed and edited. The data presented in this article was used to validate automatic segmentation algorithms (Lang et al., 2013).
Streamlined Convergence Acceleration for CFD Codes

Enigma, a simplified interface to the PETSc library, is shown to enable the rapid solution of discrete partial differential equations. Two CFD codes, LAURA and HyperSolve, use Enigma to compute steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. Using PETSc, Enigma is shown to provide a Jacobian-Free Newton-Krylov method (JFNK), globalized with pseudotransient continuation, that improves efficiency over the point-implicit relaxation method traditionally used by LAURA. It is shown that iterative error has a large impact on surface heat transfer predicted by LAURA on an axisymmetric sphere-cone geometry. Also, the convergence rate of HyperSolve simulating subsonic flow over a delta wing geometry with the JFNK method is shown to be more efficient than employing a defect correction method as the nonlinear solver.
Loss of a novel striated muscle-enriched mitochondrial protein Coq10a enhances postnatal cardiac hypertrophic growth

Abstract Postnatal mammalian cardiomyocytes undergo a major transition from hyperplasia (increases in cell numbers) to hypertrophy (expansion in cell size). This process is accompanied by rapid mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic switches to meet the demand of increased cardiac output. Although most mitochondrial components express ubiquitously, recent transcriptomic and proteomic analyses have discovered numerous tissue-specific mitochondrial proteins whose physiological functions are largely unknown. Here we report that a highly evolutionarily conserved mitochondrial protein Coq10a is predominantly expressed in mammalian cardiac and skeletal muscles, and is highly up-regulated around birth in a thyroid hormone-dependent manner. Deletion of Coq10a by CRISPR/Cas9 leads to enhanced cardiac growth after birth. Surprisingly, adult Coq10a mutant mice maintain the hypertrophic heart phenotype with increased levels of coenzyme Q (CoQ) per cardiomyocyte, preserved cardiac contractile function and mitochondrial respiration, which contrasts with reported mice and humans with mutations in other Coq family genes. Further RNA-seq analysis and mitochondrial characterization suggest an increase of mitochondrial biogenesis in the Coq10a mutant heart as a possible consequence of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha (PGC1α) activation, consistent with a recent intriguing report that CoQ may function as a natural ligand and partial agonist of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor (PPAR) α/γ. Taken together, our study reveals a previously unknown function of a novel striated muscle-enriched mitochondrial protein Coq10a in regulating postnatal heart growth.
Chapter 20 – Evaluating pseudo-random number generators

Publisher Summary The ability to construct a sequence of random numbers is crucial to a variety of computing tasks, from designing arcade games, to generating fractals, to using Monte Carlo techniques. The graphing capabilities of Mathematica (a software package for solving a variety of mathematical problems in algebra, graphics, statistics and calculus) provide a quick, visual route to evaluating some of the characteristics of pseudorandom number generators. This chapter is a tutorial on some simple statistical techniques for testing the output of such generators. Th chapter discusses random numbers on the interval [0, 1] and algorithms that approximate a sequence of statistically independent random numbers distributed uniformly over this interval. Tests of the uniformity of the distribution of a sequence of random numbers are examined. Then several techniques for probing how independent any element of a random number sequence is from the preceding and following elements of that sequence are looked at. The output from several random number generators is explored including that from congruential generators with integer parameters, a generator with an irrational modulus, the RND function in BASIC on a Commodore 64, and the Random[] function in “Mathematica.”
Facing Death in a Pandemic

Every day since early March, I have stumbled over the paradox of whether one can die a good death in a pandemic.
Impact of Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders on Nursing Clinical Decision Making.

Objectives Code status specifies the action that healthcare providers should take in the event of cardiac arrest. Studies have shown, however, that patients with do-not-resuscitate/do-not-intubate (DNR/DNI) orders have worse outcomes and do not consistently receive the standard of care. Several studies have demonstrated that physicians behave differently toward patients with DNR/DNI orders, but little research exists into whether DNR/DNI status affects the practice of other members of the care team. Our objective was to determine whether code status affects decision making by nursing staff. Methods This was an anonymous, self-administered survey of nurses between April 2018 and March 2019 using SurveyMonkey. The survey contained four previously published clinical vignettes followed by a series of questions regarding specific interventions tailored to reflect nursing escalation of care. Our focus was two local hospitals: one large academic quaternary-referral center and one large community hospital. Registered nurses on medical-surgical units identified based on available unit-specific e-mail listservs from both hospitals were the participants. Nurses in higher-acuity units were excluded. Results Nurses are significantly less likely to call rapid response or a physician when a patient undergoes certain changes in clinical status if the patient is labeled as DNR/DNI rather than full code. For all of the vignettes, respondents were less likely to say they would call rapid response or a physician for patients with a DNR/DNI status who developed tachycardia (P 0.05). Nurses with >3 years of experience were less likely to escalate care throughout the vignettes (odds ratio Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate that code status affects decision making by nursing staff. It highlights the limitations that code status designations create with regard to patient care. By acknowledging that patients with DNR/DNI orders receive different care, we can create systems in which patients are treated equally, regardless of their code status.
Simple or complex? Consumer response to display signs

Retail signage provides information from the marketer to facilitate product purchase. An increase in sign information creates greater sign complexity, which raises the question: for consumer product choices, what quantity of information is helpful versus overwhelming? We hypothesize that consumers would allocate more visual attention to complex signs and that sign complexity would be a predictor of likeliness to buy (LTB). Five experts rated 105 real garden center signs for complexity and five low, moderate, and highcomplexity signs were selected for the study. Signs were incorporated into Tobii X1 Light Eye Tracker software, where 85 non-student subjects rated sign attractiveness and LTB from a display containing that sign. Subjects allocated greater visual attention (higher fixation count and longer total fixation duration) to more complex signs, which were also rated as most attractive. Initial regression results showed sign attractiveness and fixation count were positive predictors of LTB, while complexity and total fixation duration were inversely related to LTB. Mediation analysis showed that fixation duration fully mediates fixation count impact on purchase intention. Results suggest that informationrich messaging in high complexity signs, while seen as attractive, may give consumers too much information and higher cognitive load, which makes decision-making more difficult.
Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 replication in an immunocompromised patient.

We describe a case of chronic COVID-19 in a patient with lymphoma and associated B-cell immunodeficiency. Viral cultures and sequence analysis demonstrate ongoing replication of infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus for at least 119 days. The patient had three admissions related to COVID-19 over a four-month period and was treated twice with remdesivir and convalescent plasma with resolution of symptoms. The patient's lack of seroconversion and prolonged course illustrate the importance of humoral immunity in resolving SARS-CoV-2 infection. This case highlights challenges in managing immunocompromised hosts, who may act as persistent shedders and sources of transmission.
The Role of Preoperative Briefing and Postoperative Debriefing in Surgical Education

OBJECTIVE To study the impact of a new preoperative briefing and postoperative debriefing tool on the perceived quality of surgical education and to assess attitudes of residents and attendings regarding this tool. DESIGN Surrounding introduction and use of the tool (JHFIRE: Joint Huddles for Improving Resident Education), perceived quality of surgical education was assessed with pre- and postintervention System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities (SETQ) surveys. Additionally, a postintervention Likert survey regarding the JHFIRE tool itself was completed by residents and faculty. SETTING Johns Hopkins University Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, a tertiary care academic institution. PARTICIPANTS All residents and attendings who used the tool were invited to participate. 40 participants (13 residents, 27 attendings) completed the preintervention SETQ. 11 participants (3 residents, 7 attendings, 1 unspecified) completed the postintervention SETQ. For postintervention qualitative assessment of the tool itself, 12 participants (3 residents, 7 attendings, 2 unspecified) provided feedback. RESULTS The tool was well-received with large subjective benefit in improving resident surgical education. A total of 88% thought that the time spent on the debriefings was “just right” and 91% planned to make the debriefings a regular part of operative performance assessments. Despite this overwhelmingly positive feedback, there was no overall difference in pre- and postintervention SETQ scores for climate of surgical education in the Department (4.25 ± 0.55 vs. 4.10 ± 0.88, p = 0.63). CONCLUSIONS Introduction of 4 item preoperative briefing and 4 item postoperative debriefing checklists was welcomed by both residents and faculty for its ability to shape surgical education in the operating room into a guided discovery model of hands-on education. Overall SETQ scores did not change, but most participants found value in the tool and plan to continue its use.
X-Ray Arc Structures in Chandra Images of NGC 5128 (Centaurus A)

We describe results from our initial study of the diffuse X-ray emission structures in NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) using the Chandra X-ray Observatory observations. The high angular resolution Chandra images reveal multiscale X-ray structures with unprecedented detail and clarity. The large-scale structures suggest complex symmetry, including a component possibly associated with the inner radio lobes, and a separate component with an orthogonal symmetry that may be associated with the galaxy as a whole. We detect arclike soft X-ray structures, extending to ~8 kpc in the direction perpendicular to the jet. These arcs appear to be tracing an ellipse, or a ring seen in projection, and are enclosed between the dust and H I-emitting gas in the central region of the galaxy and the optical and H I shell fragments at a distance of about 8-10 kpc. The diffuse X-ray and the optical emission in the arcs could originate in a region of interaction (possibly a shock) between the infalling material from the outer regions of the galaxy and the cool dust and H I-emitting material in the center or from an equatorial outflow resulting from an outburst of nuclear activity ~107 yr ago.
GNSS Reflectometry from Smartphones: Testing Performance of In-Built Antennas and GNSS Chips

Raw Global Navigation Satellites Systems (GNSS) data have been directly accessible from mass-market devices running the Android Nougat (or newer) operating system since late 2016. The availability of GNSS raw data made possible to investigate feasibility of using in-built GNSS chipsets within smartphone devices as passive radar receivers for the purpose of land remote sensing. In this study, we integrate smart-phones into small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to collect reflected GNSS raw data for the purpose of mapping top 5-cm soil moisture. The reflected GNSS signals collected by the smartphones show high correlation with spatial features on the ground such as ponds, crops, and small creeks. To determine the quality of smartphone in-built antenna and chipset, we conducted several experiments. The results show that (1) the radiation pattern of smartphone's GNSS antenna are observed to be highly irregular, but time-invariant, and (2) internal GNSS chip produces observables of sufficient quality when the GNSS smartphone reflected signals are compared with a high quality custom-built dual channel receiver. This paper summarizes the experimental findings and challenges that need to be resolved in order to use the GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) technique via ubiquitous smartphones from small UASs.
Women in Politics: The Effect on Board Diversity

In this paper we examine if gender issues highlighted in visible political races change gender biased social norms and impact subsequent women representation on corporate boards. Firms in districts that experience an increase in viable female candidates in House, Senate or Gubernatorial races are associated with a significant growth in the number of women directors that is increasing in the visibility of the female political candidate. We document that a viable female political candidate is associated with change in local gender attitudes and find that local institutional investors and directors play a significant role in influencing firms towards gender diversity. Analysis around 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, an event that generated strong gender undertones and resulted in a surprise win substantiates the results. The results highlight that change in the attitudes towards women leadership arising from women’s success in the political sphere are important in improving gender diversity in the corporate world.
Delay in cancer treatment is associated with increased mortality.

Commentary on: Hanna TP, King WD, Thibodeau S, et al . Mortality due to cancer treatment delay: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2020;371:m4087. doi:10.1136/bmj.m4087 Cancer treatment is a multimodality approach, consisting of surgery, systematic treatment and radiotherapy. Delay in cancer treatments could be multifactorial based on system factors and patient factors and mostly results in poor patient outcomes. Treatment delay is associated with increased mortality,1 but understanding the impact of delay on mortality is essential. Hanna et al conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis to quantify the linear association of cancer treatment delay and mortality for seven major cancer …
Urban Storm Runoff Model

A surface flow routing model based upon a kinematic cascade of planes and channels is combined with a parametric infiltration model to constitute a watershed model. The kinematic approximation is used to route flows through storm drains of trapezodal or circular cross section. Model parameters are estimated from the hydraulic characteristics of the surface and soils. A Chezy friction relationship is used to model surface flow resistance. The predictive ability of the watershed model is tested by simulating runoff hydrographs from a 67-ha urban watershed near Denver, Colorado. /Author/
Concentrated Media is Something We Can't Ignore: A Response to Speaker Pelosi

This essay briefly responds to a request that the U.S. Department of Justice should give San Francisco Bay Area newspapers more leeway under the federal antitrust laws to merge or consolidate their business operations. The essay agrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's concerns that a strong, free, and independent press is vital to our democracy and in informing our citizens, especially news organizations that devote resources to gathering news. As the essay explains, the antidote is not to weaken the antitrust laws to enable large media conglomerates to become even bigger. Instead, the health of the marketplace of ideas depends on the antitrust laws to preserve divergent and competing voices.
Leveraging the Dialectical Theory in Case Study Analysis: Genzyme's Ethical Dilemma

This paper provides the theoretical framework for a case study that I share with students in my courses. The dialectical theory2 is used to analyze ethical conundrums pertaining to Genzyme, a successful bio-tech corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts that manufactures treatments for serious diseases such as kidney problems, immune diseases, and cancer.3 We discuss questions such as: is Genzyme acting unethically when averaging extremely high profit margins on drugs for rare diseases? Is the company taking advantage of the lack of pharmaceutical choices that patients have when addressing their ailments? The dialectical theory provides the framework and vocabulary for discussing, unpacking, and analyzing the complex aspects of this ethics case study. The students are taught various management strategies for dealing with dialectical tensions. Moreover, students are encouraged to think objectively and systemically in order to understand the complexities of ethical decision-making processes.
Leveraging World Bank Resources for the Poorest: IDA Blended Financing Facility Proposal

With the Millennium Development Goals deadline only five years away, the international donor community faces significant challenges due to the global economic crisis, record government deficits, and simultaneous funding requests from nearly every multilateral development institution. This paper proposes a new World Bank financing model for creditworthy emerging economies, such as India and Vietnam, which currently receive billions of dollars in IDA assistance. In contrast to the current IDA-centric financing model, the IBRD would provide the same loan volumes to qualifying emerging economies while IDA would provide grant subsidies to buy down the concessionality level of these IBRD loans. As such, these countries would be held harmless both in terms of aid volumes and lending terms. By better leveraging the IBRD’s balance sheet for loan capital, IDA then could re-allocate what it otherwise would have provided to emerging economies. For the current IDA-15 replenishment period, this would mean up to $7.5 billion in additional assistance for the world’s poorest, most vulnerable countries. In relative terms, this would entail a 30 percent increase over existing levels. Of this, African countries would have received an additional $5.5 billion in IDA assistance. If donor governments find a way to scrape together increased contributions to IDA, then the allocation pie would grow by an even larger margin. The Inter-American Development Bank already successfully utilizes a similar approach for its lower middle-income and low-income country clients. It is time for World Bank shareholders to seriously consider the same resource-maximizing model. With the IDA-16 replenishment and IBRD general capital increase negotiations currently underway, they have an excellent window of opportunity to implement this win-win-win approach.
Prince Hamlet and the Problem of Succession

King Hamlet of Denmark has recently died in his orchard. Palace sources claim the King’s death was a tragic accident occasioned by a snakebite. He is survived by Her Majesty Queen Gertrude and His ...
Modules of Square Integrable Holomorphic Germs

This paper was inspired by Guan and Zhou’s recent proof of the socalled strong openness conjecture for plurisubharmonic functions. We give a proof shorter than theirs and extend the result to possibly singular Hermitian metrics on vector bundles.
Optimum channel and source integrated (CSI) coding

A novel analog channel and source integrated (CSI) coding formulation is offered that inherently arises from a systematic generalization of a recently offered minimum mean squared error (MMSE) linear state space (LSS) predictive transform (PT) source coding formulation. The CSI coding formulation leads to both suboptimum and optimum coders. The suboptimum coder has a decoder that is relatively simple to design and implement but has a stability that is a function of the assumes signal source statistics. On the other hand, the optimum coder has a decoder that is more complex to design and implement but has the advantage of being stable regardless of the assumed signal source statistics and is, in addition, strictly optimum for the ease where the true describing equations for the channel and signal source are of the additive white noise and white LSS types, respectively. >
Biomarkers in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a prominent condition whose frequency is increasing, especially in the context of an aging population. The ability to discern the cause of undifferentiated dyspnea in acute presentations is an increasing struggle. In this review, we seek to explore the various biomarkers that have been studied for the diagnosis of ADHF and their respective clinical utilities as the most recent data would suggest. Natriuretic peptides, galectin-3, soluble ST2, adrenomedullin, cardiac troponin-T, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, and copeptin are reviewed. Of these biomarkers, natriuretic peptides are the most thoroughly evaluated and show the most promise for diagnosis or exclusion of acute heart failure, though other biomarkers can add significant utility in the form of prognostication.
Relativistic self-focusing in underdense plasma

We present the description of powerful beam self-focusing in underdense plasma. The importance of electron cavitation, i.e. total electron evacuation under the effect of ponderomotive forces, is emphasized. Cavitation results in suppression of filamentation and the possibility to channel power well above the nominal critical power of self-focusing for a distance of many Rayleigh lengths.
Assessing traditional verification's effectiveness on safety-critical software systems

Abstract Because of the rapid growth of computer-related technologies, various organizations are putting higher demands on software systems. These include placing software in total or partial control over critical system functions such as navigating planes, controlling traffic systems, identifying military targets, and facilitating medical treatments, to name just a few. Unfortunately, certain faults in such systems can result in catastrophic consequences such as death, injury, or environmental harm. To detect these faults, various standards state that these software systems must undergo verification by specific verification techniques, both static and dynamic. However, some of these techniques are traditional in nature and do not focus on detecting safety-critical faults. Instead, these traditional techniques focus on all classes of faults. To determine the effectiveness of such techniques at detecting safety-critical faults, we conducted an experiment that measured hazardous-fault leakage (i.e., the number of safety-critical faults that these traditional techniques failed to detect). This article discusses this experiment, presents the results, and proposes some new ideas that show promise at reducing hazardous-fault leakage. Additionally, this article discusses traditional verification and how it is inadequate for verifying safety-critical software systems.
An Electron-Waveguide Y Branch for Current Switching

Recent advances in material growth and lithography have made it possible to fabricate electronic structures with dimensions smaller than the so-called phase coherence length of electrons. In such structures electrons propagate without making any phase breaking collisions, hence the phases of the electron waves entering and leaving the structure are deterministically related. This is analogous to the situation in photonics, and one can envision fabricating electron waveguides. This opens up the possibility of creating new and novel devices drawing parallels from photonic devices and many such proposals have already been made [1], [2]. In this work we experimentally studied one such device, which is the analog of the Y branch in integrated optics also known as the digital switch [3].
A boundary element method for steady incompressible thermoviscous flow

A boundary element formulation is presented for moderate Reynolds number, steady, incompressible, thermoviscous flows. The governing integral equations are written exclusively in terms of velocities and temperatures, thus eliminating the need for the computation of any gradients. Furthermore, with the introduction of reference velocities and temperatures, volume modeling can often be confined to only a small portion of the problem domain, typically near obstacles or walls. The numerical implementation includes higher order elements, adaptive integration and multiregion capability. Both the integral formulation and implementation are discussed in detail. Several examples illustrate the high level of accuracy that is obtainable with the current method.
Potential Trade-Offs Between Future Economic Growth and Open Land Conservation Adjacent to Public Protected Areas: A Case Study in Northwest Montana

Potential trade-offs between future economic growth and the conservation of open land adjacent to public protected areas in Flathead County in Northwest Montana are evaluated for nine economic growth–land use policy futures. Future increases in total output and total jobs under three economic growth scenarios are projected using the IMPLAN model. The locations of parcels developed between 2005 and 2024 under the nine futures are simulated using the Ecosystem Landscape Modeling System. Open land adjacent to public protected areas in Flathead County decreases as economic growth and associated land development increase. Implementing a more restrictive land use policy may reduce but not eliminate the loss of open land from economic growth and associated land development. Trade-offs between total output and open land conservation and between total jobs and open land conservation decrease as economic growth decreases and/or the land use policy becomes more restrictive.
Single unit activity during behavioral conditioning: arousal effects.

Abstract Extracellular recordings of single unit activity in unanesthetized, unparalyzed squirrel monkeys demonstrated three types of response patterns which reflect alterations in levels of behavioral arousal. Other types of single unit activity were highly correlated with psychophysical measures of stimulus detection.
Terbium(III) complexes of (−)-quinic acid☆

Abstract Complexation between terbium(III) and (−)-quinic acid (quin) (1,2,3,5-tetrahydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acid) was studied by means of circularly polarized luminescence spectroscopy. [Tb]:[quin] ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:5 and 1:10 were studied, and measurements of intermolecular energy transfer were used to determine pH regions in which the complexes remained monomeric. Simplification of the solution phase equilibria was sought by studying the behavior of mixed ligand complexes. The compounds contained terbium(III), quin and a second achiral ligand (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 1,2-cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid, pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid or 5-sulfosalicylic acid). The chiroptical studies permitted certain conclusions to be drawn regarding the nature of the bonding existing between the terbium(III) ion and the quin ligand.
Investigations on the presence of Forssman antigen in ragweed pollen

Abstract 1.1. Rabbits immunized with ragweed pollen extract produce ragweed antibodies. 2.2. Ragweed antibodies are easily demonstrable by precipitation and complement fixation tests. 3.3. The increase in titer of Forssman antibodies in such rabbit sera is not significant. There is no evidence for the assumption that Forssman antigen is present in ragweed pollen.
Bridging Locoregional Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prior to Liver Transplantation

The impact of locoregional therapy prior to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma utilizing either transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), yttrium-90 (90Y), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), or resection prior to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is largely unknown. We sought to examine locoregional therapies and their effect on survival compared with transplantation alone. A retrospective review of a prospectively collected database. 123 patients were included. Patients were analyzed in two groups. Group I consisted of 50 patients that received therapy (20 TACE; 16 90Y; 13 RFA, 3 resections). Group II consisted of 73 patients transplanted without therapy. Median list time was 28 days (range 2–260 days ) in group I, and 24 days (range 1–380 days) in group II. Median time from therapy to OLT was 3.8 months (range 9 days to 68 months). Twelve patients (24%) were successfully downstaged (8 TACE, 2 90Y, 2 RFA/resection). Overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival were 81%, 74%, and 74%, respectively. Survival was not statistically significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.53). The 12 patients downstaged did not have a significant difference in survival as compared with the patients who received therapy but did not respond or the patients who were transplanted without therapy (P = 0.76). Our report addresses locoregional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma as a bridge to transplant. There was no statistical difference in overall survival between patients treated and those not treated prior to transplant. We provide further evidence that locoregional therapy is a safe tool for patients on the transplant list, does not impact survival, and can downstage selected patients to allow life-saving liver transplantation.
A split microchannel design and analytical model to compensate for electroosmotic instabilities in micro-separations

Organic polymers offer many advantages as materials for the construction of microfluidic devices but suffer frequently from the limitation that the electrodynamic flow they support can exhibit considerable instability. This article describes a split-channel microfluidic device that can be used to compensate for changes in electroosmotic flow. The design of the separation system divides an analyte plug after injection between two separation channels of differing length. The two channels are later recombined for single point detection, eliminating the need for a scanning optical detection system. The utility of this simple design lies in the fact that the migration time of any analyte can be referenced to its twin in the parallel separation channel. This eliminates the need for a separate electroosmotic marker and allows mobilities measured in multiple devices to be compared quantitatively. Using a model adopted from the literature, the data from the split channel system can be used to precisely account for the drift that characterizes electrophoretic separations made in a polymer chip. The relative standard deviations of the analyte mobilities measured for replicate runs on multiple devices were reduced from values as high as 20% to ca. 1% RSD. This internal standardization procedure also appears to address other sources of drift in the electroosmotic flow (EOF) supported by the polymer microchannel, eliminating the need for careful monitoring of either the temperature or reservoir pH between separation runs.
Radiation damage studies of DO silicon sensors for Run IIb

The DO Silicon Microstrip Tracker has been operating for two years in the DO experiment at Fermilab. The existing silicon tracking system has limited lifetime to microdischarge effects at high bias voltage. Radiation studies of the current detector are described. We describe the design of the RunIIb replacement and discuss irradiations performed at Kansas State University. The hardness factor is found to be 40% lower than the value calculated from non ionizing energy loss scaling.
Individual variation in perfume blending in male greater sac-winged bats

Abstract Male greater sac-winged bats, Saccopteryx bilineata , use hovering flights to court females in their harem territory. While hovering, males fan a fragrant perfume from sac-like organs in the wing membrane towards the females. Each afternoon, males renew the perfumes of their wing sacs during a stereotypical and time-consuming behavioural sequence, which includes blending secretions from genital and gular glands. I investigated whether male perfume-blending behaviour varies between the mating and the nonmating season, and whether successful males, those with large harems, have different patterns of perfume blending than less successful males. I measured variation in perfume-blending behaviour in 21 adult males. The pattern of perfume blending was not significantly different between the mating and the nonmating season. However, the time at which perfume blending began and terminated differed between seasons. During the mating season, males spent about the same time cleaning their wing sacs during phase I of perfume blending, irrespective of the number of females in their harem. During phase II, males with large harems spent significantly less time refilling and blending perfume than males with small harems. In addition, males with large harems took up fewer droplets of secretion from the genital region. Overall, male–male interactions were rare during perfume blending, and the decrease in duration in phase II was not attributable to more disturbance in large harems. There was also no evidence that males prevented each other from transferring secretions into their wing sacs. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved .
Response of male Culicoides variipennis sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) to carbon dioxide and observations of mating behavior on and near cattle.

The response of male Culicoides variipennis sonorensis Wirth & Jones to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) was examined at a dairy in the Chino Basin of southern California. Males were collected using CDC-type suction traps (no light) during 6 evenings in September and October 1995 when C. v. sonorensis were abundant. Traps were baited with 1.8 kg of dry ice, 200-350 nulliparous females, or nothing. Greater than 8 times as many males were captured in CO 2 -baited suction traps than in either female-baited or unbaited traps. Female-baited and unbaited traps did not differ in the number of males captured. Observations of mating behavior near and on a host calf were made at a nearby dairy. Males swarmed 1-2 m downwind (east) of a restrained calf and 0.3-1.0 m above ground level. Males were also observed coupled with blood-feeding females on the calf venter (especially umbilicus and teats). Virgin female C. v. sonorensis were captured in CO 2 -baited suction traps and by aspiration while they were engorging on the venter of a tethered calf. There appear to be at least two mating strategies in this species: mating presumably may occur near hosts in male swarms as well as stenogamously on the venter of the host. These mating strategies may serve as prezygotic reproductive isolating mechanisms between closely related and sometimes sympatric members of the C. variipennis complex.
Visualization of High-Dimensional Combinatorial Catalysis Data

The role of various techniques for visualization of high-dimensional data is demonstrated in the context of combinatorial high-throughput experimentation (HTE). Applying visualization tools, we identify which constituents of catalysts are associated with final products in a huge combinatorially generated data set of heterogeneous catalysts, and catalytic activity regions are identified with respect to pentanary composition spreads of catalysts. A radial visualization scheme directly visualizes pentanary composition spreads in two-dimensional (2D) space and catalytic activity of a final product by combining high-throughput results from five slate libraries. A glyph plot provides many possibilities for visualizing high-dimensional data with interactive tools. For catalyst discovery and lead optimization, this work demonstrates how large multidimensional catalysis data sets are visualized in terms of quantitative composition activity relationships (QCAR) to effectively identify the relevant key role of compo...
The three bears are all boys: Mothers' gender labeling of neutral picture book characters.

Two studies examined mother's labeling of gender-neutral characters in young children's picture books. In the first study, mothers and their 18- to 38-month-old children looked at three popular children's books together. The mothers' use of masculine or feminine names or pronouns to refer to gender-neutral characters was recorded. The data revealed an extreme masculine bias: 95% of all characters of indeterminate gender were referred to by the mothers as males. In a second study, specially prepared picture books were used to examine the effect of gender-relevant variables on the mothers' labeling. The results replicated Study 1 in showing a strong bias toward referring to neutral pictures with masculine labels: The incidence of masculine labels was again high and, in addition, was relatively impervious to most of the gender-relevant manipulations included in the books. The one variable that had a strong, consistent effect on the mothers' labeling was the presence of an adult in the pictures: Child Characters were nearly always referred to as males when they appeared alone; they were more likely to be given feminine or neutral lables when they were pictured in the presence of an adult. This result is related to Carpenter's [“Activity Structure and Play: Implications for Socialization,” in M. Liss (Ed.), Social and Cognitive Skills: Sex Roles and Childrens Play, New York: Academic Press, 1983] model of the development of sex-typed behavior. The data are also discussed with respect to the well-documented sexist bias in picture books for preschool children.
Serum antibodies to DNA by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE)

Abstract Counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) is rapid, convenient, and a relatively sensitive method for detection of anti-DNA antibodies. Specificity of anti-DNA antibodies for SLE as measured by CIE is only fair with unfractionated DNA as antigen. The relative lack of specificity is related to contaminating denatured DNA in our preparation. Specificity regarding detection of anti-DNA is good, although there was a disturbingly high incidence of sera positive by CIE and negative by Farr assay (11% of sera tested). Again, these false positives occurred when commerical unfractionated DNA was used, and this problem was largely overcome by use of fractionated or purified DNA. Data obtained using methylated albumin-kieselguhr native DNA fractions suggest that anti-nDNA is quite specific for SLE. There remain, however, occasional patients who give positive reactions with native DNA by CIE, but who apparently have illnesses other than SLE.
Rapid Assessment of Urban Wetlands: Functional Assessment Model Development and Evaluation

The objective of this study was to test the ability of existing hydrogeomorphic (HGM) functional assessment models and our own proposed models to predict rates of nitrate production and removal, functions critical to water quality protection, in forested riparian wetlands in northeastern New Jersey. In particular, the relationship between rapidly measured structural indicators and complex nitrogen (N) cycling functions was evaluated as well as the ability of generalized biogeochemical models to predict rates of specific N cycling processes. Additional models were designed specifically to predict net nitrification and denitrification rates, using both rapid and non-rapid variables based on known controlling factors on these two processes. Existing models and our own rapid models were not able to describe net nitrification and denitrification rates in urban riparian wetlands. Our additional models based on non-rapid variables, quantified through long-term hydrological monitoring and laboratory analyses of soil properties, successfully described net nitrification rates, but surprisingly failed to adequately predict denitrification rates. The high variability in hydrological and soil properties and the complexity of site-specific relationships between disturbance, altered hydrology, and hydrologically driven N cycling processes in urban wetlands restricts our ability to predict denitrification rates using simple models. It is recommended that functional assessment models be designed to describe specific, process-based functions which are based on structural indicators that are well linked to process rates. These indicators should be based on measurements from at least one year of hydrological monitoring and from simple laboratory measurements of soil properties. Detailed studies of populations of wetlands may be necessary to validate specific forms of models.
Regulation of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin d synthesis by intracellular vitamin d binding protein-1.

Control of 125-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D) synthesis is believed to be primarily at the level of expression of the vitamin D-1-hydroxylase (CYP1alpha; CYP1α) gene. Once transcribed, generation of product, as catalyzed by 1-hydroxylase, depends upon the availability of various co-factors, molecular oxygen, electrons as well as substrate to the enzyme. Here we provide evidence that the quantity of product 1,25-(OH)2D generated also relies on the presence and level of expression of the intracellular vitamin D binding protein-1 (IDBP-1) and its capacity to promote 24-hydroxylase (CYP24) gene expression. Stable transfection of the IDBP-1 cDNA increased 1,25-(OH)2D synthesis up to 700% (p < 0.001) in cells devoid of 24-hydroxylating potential but only 70% (p = 0.018) in cells in which the CYP24 gene is expressed. IDBP-1-mediated increase in 1,25-(OH)2D production was independent of any change in CYP1α expression but highly dependent on the ability of exogenously-added or endogenously-synthesized 1,25-(OH)2...
Emulation of forward-looking radar technology for threat detection in rough terrain environments: a scattering and imaging study

Large-scale, full-wave modeling of multistatic target imaging in a rough ground environment is described. The emulation methodology employs a parallelized three-dimensional “near-field” finite-difference time-domain algorithm in characterizing the electromagnetic scattering from the ground surface and buried and on-surface targets in the form of landmines and unexploded ordnances; subsequent focusing of the scattered fields into an image is obtained with the time-reversal technique. The emphasis of this study is on investigating the detectability of discrete ground targets in the presence of distributed variable ground clutter as relevant to performance prediction for ultra-wideband forward-looking radar applications.