cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Further investigations into the luminescence of silver-activated ZnS: CdS phosphors containing nickel and cobalt

An attempt has been made to explain the luminescence of (ZnS: CdS: Ag: Ni: Co) phosphors using the uniform luminescence centre model of zinc sulphide. The phosphors investigated give rise to characteristic glow curves with a number of peaks depending on the cobalt content. The emitted thermoluminescence consists of two bands: a yellow band at 5900 A° and another in the red region of the spectrum (7000 A°). These peak wavelengths coincide reasonably well with values of 5800 A° and 6800 A°) predicted by the uniform luminescence centre model. It is suggested that the yellow thermoluminescence takes place with the participation of the conduction band while electron transfer via the conduction band from traps to separated luminescence centres is assumed for the red glow.
Development of bevacizumab in advanced cervical cancer: pharmacodynamic modeling, survival impact and toxicology.

ABSTRACT Historically, patients with metastatic, persistent or recurrent cervical cancer had limited therapeutic options. Despite several Phase II/III clinical trials, the combination of cisplatin and paclitaxel remained the most effective chemotherapeutic regimen. In 2014, publication of Gynecologic Oncology Group 240 represented the emergence of an alternate and effective therapeutic option. This prospective, randomized, Phase III clinical trial explored the impact of adding the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab to two separate cytotoxic chemotherapy backbones. Importantly, the study met its primary end point, showing a survival advantage of approximately 4 months without detriment in quality of life. As such, a review of bevacizumab and its application in patients with advanced-stage cervical cancer is warranted.
Colon and Rectal Surgery Is a “High Outlier” Specialty: A Case Study Using Postoperative Urinary Tract Infection

The incidence of major complications after colorectal resection remains high. Rates may even exceed those predicted by risk-adjustment models commonly in use. Colon and rectal resections account for the greatest share of all postoperative morbidity and mortality in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program general surgery cohort, and a disproportionate share of the costs associated with postoperative complications. Infectious complications are particularly overrepresented, as surgical site and urinary tract infections are 2-3 times more common after colon and rectal surgery than other general surgery operations. Thus, surgeons with a specialty interest in colorectal surgery may be flagged as “high outliers” unless more is done to account for procedure-specific risk.
Arene-cation interactions of positive quadrupole moment aromatics and arene-anion interactions of negative quadrupole moment aromatics.

Intermolecular interactions involving aromatic π-electron density are widely believed to be governed by the aromatic molecular quadrupole moment, ϑzz. Arene−cation binding is believed to occur primarily with negative ϑzz aromatics, and arene−anion binding is believed to occur largely with positive ϑzz aromatics. We have performed quantum mechanical computations that show the cation binding of positive ϑzz aromatics and the anion binding of negative ϑzz aromatics is quite common in the gas phase. The π-electron density of hexafluorobenzene, the prototypical positive ϑzz aromatic (experimental ϑzz = +9.5 ± 0.5 DA), has a Li+ binding enthalpy of −4.37 kcal/mol at the MP2(full)/6-311G** level of theory. The RHF/6-311G** calculated ϑzz value of 1,4-dicyanobenzene is +11.81 DA, yet it has an MP2(full)/6-311G** Li+ binding enthalpy of −12.65 kcal/mol and a Na+ binding enthalpy of −3.72 kcal/mol. The π-electron density of benzene, the prototypical negative ϑzz aromatic (experimental ϑzz = −8.7 ± 0.5 DA), has a F-...
Morphine inhibits the development of allogeneic immune responses in mouse lymph node

Morphine and related opiates are often administered to relieve post-operative and chronic pain following transplantation surgery. Opiates have been shown to suppress a variety of immune parameters in both animal models and man. In the present study, we investigated whether morphine affects allogeneic immune responses by injecting C57BL/6 mice in the footpad with allogeneic spleen cells and examining changes in the draining popliteal lymph node (PLN). Morphine (administered as subcutaneous implants) had profound inhibitory effects on the development of alloreactivity manifested as a suppression of: (1) lymph node hyperplasia, (2) mixed lymphocyte reactivity (MLR) in PLN cells and (3) the number of CD4+ and Thy 1.2 lymphoid subsets. These inhibitory effects of morphine were abolished or dramatically reduced by co-administration of the opiate antagonist, naltrexone, indicating that suppression of allo-sensitization was opiate receptor mediated. In toto, these findings demonstrate that morphine administration interferes with the development of allogeneic immune response in mouse lymph node through an opiate receptor mediated mechanism.
Risk of catastrophic terrorism: an extreme value approach

This paper models the stochastic behavior of large-scale terrorism using extreme value methods. We utilize a unique dataset composed of roughly 26,000 observations. These data provide a rich description of domestic and international terrorism between 1968 and 2006. Currently, a credible worst-case scenario would involve losses of about 5000 to 10,000 lives. Also, the return time for events of such magnitude is shortening every year. Today, the primary threat is from conventional weapons, rather than from chemical, biological and/or radionuclear weapons. However, pronounced tails in the distribution of these incidents suggest that this threat cannot be dismissed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Using Exploratory Data Analytics to Identify Deficiencies in mCherry Red Fluorescent Protein and Suggest Improvements

Red fluorescent proteins are a valuable class of genetically encoded indicators for in vivo imaging. Even so, development of brighter variants has stagnated despite extensive efforts. To address this need, we have generated a library of over two hundred thousand simulated structures of mCherry fluorescent protein variants. The atomic positions of non-hydrogen atoms was then correlated with the planarity of the mCherry chromophore, a key determinant of molecular brightness. These studies revealed geometric instability of the mCherry chromophore. Further, we identified ten positional changes in mCherry side chains that strongly correlated with changes in the mCherry chromophore conformation. Site directed mutagenesis of key amino acids was then used to improve the mCherry quantum yield by approximately ten percent. These results suggest that a data analytics approach can be applied to structural engineering of fluorescent proteins for the first time.
Kinetic studies of stereoselective vanadyl(IV) tartrate reactions

Abstract The stereoselective ligand substitution reaction, (VO)2(l-C4H2O6)4−2 + d-C4H4O2−6 ⇄ (VO)2(d-C4H2O6)(l-C4H2O6)4− + l-C4H4O2−6, and ligand exchange reaction, 1 2 (VO)2(l-C4H2O6)4−2 + 1 2 (VO)2(d-C4H2O6)4−2 ⇄ (VO)2(d-C4H2O6(l-C4H2O6)4−, both occur by parallel path processes. The major paths for the two reactions have reaction rate laws of forms d[(VO)2(d-C4H2O6)(l-C4H2O6)4−]/dt = k1[(VO)2(l-C4H2O6)4−2] for ligand substitution and d[(VO)2(d-C4H2O6)(l-C4H2O6)4−]/dt = k3{[(VO1)2(l-C4H2O6)4−2] + [(VO)2(d-C4H2O6)4−2]} (for equimolar reactants) for ligand exchange. The respective kinetic parameters at 25.0 °C and μ = 3.00 mol l−1 (LiClO4) are k1 = 0.0112 ± 0.0013 sec−1, ΔH≠ = 25 ± 2 kcal mol−1, ΔS≠ = 17 ± eu and k3 = 0.00693 ± 0.00027 sec−1, ΔH≠ = 23.5 ± 1.0 kcal mol−1, ΔS≠ = 10 ± 3 eu. That corresponding activation parameters are equal indicates that the first-order pathways of the two reactions may have identical dissociative rate determining steps. The secondary, autocatalytic paths, which are also present in these reactions, apparently involve product-assisted ligand dissociations.
Consistent Factorization of Jet Observables in Exclusive Multijet Cross-Sections

Abstract We demonstrate the consistency at the next-to-leading-logarithmic (NLL) level of a factorization theorem based on Soft-Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) for jet shapes in e + e − collisions. We consider measuring jet observables in exclusive multijet final states defined with cone and k T -type jet algorithms. Consistency of the factorization theorem requires that the renormalization group evolution of hard, jet, and soft functions is such that the physical cross section is independent of the factorization scale μ . The anomalous dimensions of the various factorized pieces, however, depend on the color representation of jets, choice of jet observable, the number of jets whose shapes are measured, and the jet algorithm, making it highly nontrivial to satisfy the consistency condition. We demonstrate the intricate cancellations between anomalous dimensions that occur at the NLL level, so that, up to power corrections that we identify, our factorization of the jet shape distributions is consistent for any number of quark and gluon jets, for any number of jets whose shapes are measured or unmeasured, for any angular size R of the jets, and for any of the algorithms we consider. Corrections to these results are suppressed by the SCET expansion parameter λ (set by the ratio of the typical momentum in a jet transverse to the jet axis to the total jet energy) and in the jet separation measure 1 / t 2 = tan 2 ( R / 2 ) / tan 2 ( ψ / 2 ) , where ψ is the angular separation between jets. Our results can be used to calculate a wide variety of jet observables in multijet final states to NLL accuracy.
Biodefense countermeasures: the impact of Title IV of the US Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act.

The 2006 US Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) new authority to fund the development and procurement of medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. The legislation builds on the authority the HHS gained in 2004 under Project BioShield, which established a fund to procure medical countermeasures. This article reviews the new HHS authorities and the improvements on BioShield, and it describes some of the challenges HHS will face in exercising the new authorities to fund the development and procurement of medical countermeasures against CBRN threats. (Published: 29 February 2008) Emerging Health Threats Journal 2008, 1 :e3. doi: 10.3134/ehtj.08.003
Exploring posttraumatic stress disorder symptom profile among pregnant women

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more prevalent in perinatal than general samples of women (6-8% vs. 4-5%). To explore potential causes, we examined the symptom profiles of women belonging to two separate samples: a perinatal clinic sample (n = 1581) and a subsample of women in a similar age range from the U. S. National Women's Study (NWS) (n = 2000). Within the perinatal sample, risk ratios were higher for all 17 PTSD symptoms among women with current PTSD compared with unaffected women, suggesting that higher rates are not likely due to measurement error. The younger age and greater social disadvantage in the perinatal clinic sample contributed only a small proportion of variance in symptom levels compared with extent of trauma exposure and pre-existing PTSD. Compared with the national study sample's symptom profile, the perinatal sample had higher rates of occurrence of five symptoms: detachment, loss of interest, anger and irritability, trouble sleeping, and nightmares. This analysis confirms that PTSD rates are higher in perinatal samples, which is likely due to exacerbation of pre-existing PTSD among women of a younger age and greater social disadvantage. Further elucidation is warranted, including identifying triggers and determining if there are needs for pregnancy-specific interventions.
Reduced blood flow increases the in vivo ammonium ion concentration in the RIF-1 tumor

Purpose : Previous studies from our laboratory have suggested that pooling of ammonium in tumor tissues may be caused by its inefficient removal due to the poor vasculature commonly found in tumors. The purpose of these experiments was to validate the relationship between tumor ammonium ion concentration and tumor blood flow, and to determine whether large concentrations of ammonium ion detected by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy are either produced within the tumor or simply imported into the tumor through the blood stream. Methods and Materials : To test this hypothesis, we reduced blood flow in subcutaneously grown Radiation Induced Fibrosarcoma-1 (RIF-1) tumors, either by creating partial ischemia with a bolus injection of hydralazine or by occlusion with surgical sutures. 14 N and 31 P NMR spectroscopy were used to detect the presence of ammonium, and to assess the bioenergetic status of the tumors, respectively. Results : A correlation between ammonium ion concentration and PCr/P i ratio was established for untreated tumors. An increase in the in vivo tumor ammonium ion concentration was observed for every tumor that experienced a reduction in blood flow caused by either hydralazine injection or suture ligation. Changes in ammonium ion concentration paralleled changes in the bioenergetics of hydralazine-treated tumors. Conclusion : Our results support the hypothesis that a reduction in tumor blood flow is responsible for the accumulation of ammonium in tumors, and that detected ammonium originated from within the tumor.
Blastomycosis in northeast Tennessee

Study objectives To study the epidemiologic and clinical features of blastomycosis in northeast Tennessee. Design Retrospective review of blastomycosis cases in the region from 1980 through 1995. Setting Hospitals located in the Tri-Cities region of northeast Tennessee. Patients Seventy-two patients with confirmed blastomycosis infection. Interventions None. Results During the 1980 to 1995 study period, we documented 72 cases of blastomycosis. The mean age was 52 years (range, 13 to 86 years), most were male (69.4%), and nine were immunocompromised. A possible environmental exposure was noted for 28 patients. Pulmonary involvement represented the most common site of infection (61 cases), but multiorgan involvement was common (17 cases). Most patients with pulmonary blastomycosis (66%) presented with a chronic illness, and radiologic findings usually revealed local consolidation or a mass-like lesion. Nine patients developed ARDS with an associated mortality rate of 89%, compared with a 10% mortality for non-ARDS pulmonary cases. Antifungal treatment regimens varied widely, with amphotericin B often used for sicker patients. An epidemiologic evaluation revealed that the mean yearly incidence rate for blastomycosis quadrupled between 1980 and 1987 (0.31 cases/100,000 population) and 1988 to 1995 (1.23 cases/100,000 population) (p=0.00001). Most new blastomycosis cases in the 1988 to 1995 period occurred in three counties in the region where significant new construction projects have been underway. Conclusion Blastomycosis is endemic in northeast Tennessee and the number of cases is increasing, coinciding with major new construction in the region. Clinicians in the area must be alert to this condition.
In vivo tyrosine hydroxylation in the diabetic rat retina: effect of tyrosine administration.

The in vivo rate of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) accumulation was measured in light-adapted retinas of normal and diabetic albino rats. DOPA accumulation was significantly below normal in diabetic retinas; tyrosine levels were also reduced. In vitro tyrosine hydroxylase activity was normal. The administration of tyrosine methylester (500 mg/kg, i.p.) to diabetic animals significantly raised retinal tyrosine levels and enhanced DOPA accumulation. Reduced tyrosine levels may therefore contribute to the observed reduction in in vivo tyrosine hydroxylation rate in the diabetic retina.
An unexpected 12− state in 55Mn

Abstract The angular distribution observed for the 57 Fe(p, τ) reaction to a level near 1.29 MeV in 55 Mn shows a striking rise at small angles. This signature of an L = 0 transferred pair requires the existence of a new state nearly degenerate with the 11 2 − state known at 1.292 MeV. Comparison of the (p, τ) and d, α) angular distributions implies a spin of 1 2 − for this state. Shell model calculations including both 2p-3h and 3p-4h states correctly predict this level and its properties.
Teaching Modeling in Management Science

This essay discusses how we can most effectively teach Management Science to students in MBA or similar programs who will be, at best, part-time practitioners of these arts. I take as a working hypothesis the radical proposition that the heart of Management Science itself is not the impressive array of tools that have been built up over the years optimization, simulation, decision analysis, queuing, and so on but rather the art of reasoning logically with formal models. I believe it is necessary with this group of students to teach basic modeling skills, and in fact it is only when such students have these basic skills as a foundation that they are prepared to acquire the more sophisticated skills needed to employ Management Science. In this paper I present a hierarchy of modeling skills, from numeracy skills through sophisticated Management Science skills, as a framework within which to plan courses for the occasional practitioner.
Scoring and thresholding for availability

As the capacity of hardware systems has grown and workload consolidation has taken place, the volume of performance metrics and diagnostic data streams has outscaled the capability of people to handle these systems using traditional methods. As work of different types (such as database, batch, and Web processing), each in its own monitoring silo, runs concurrently on a single image (operating system instance), both the complexity and the business consequences of a single image failure have increased. This paper presents two techniques for generating actionable information out of the overwhelming amount of performance and diagnostic data available to human analysts. Failure scoring is used to identify high-risk failure events that may be obscured in the myriad system events. This replaces human expertise in scanning tens of thousands of records per day and results in a short, prioritized list for action by systems staff. Adaptive thresholding is used to drive predictive and descriptive machine-learning-based modeling to isolate and identify misbehaving processes and transactions. The attraction of this technique is that it does not require human intervention and can be reapplied continually, resulting in models that are not brittle. Both techniques reduce the quantity and increase the relevance of data available for programmatic and human processes.
Determinants of clearance of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from the circulation

Abstract Elucidation of determinants of the clearance of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from the circulation is necessary in order to identify subjects in whom dose regimens will require modification in order to maximise safety and efficiency. Preliminary observations in hepatectomised animals suggest that the liver is a primary site of metabolism of t-PA. To determine whether alterations in hepatic blood flow simulating those encountered clinically in patients with congestive heart failure affect the rate of clearance of t-PA from plasma, t-PA was administered intravenously to nine dogs before and after hepatic blood flow had been reduced by induction of systemic hypotension. Hepatic blood flow was evaluated sequentially by analysis of the plasma clearance of carbon-l4 labelled taurocholic acid, a novel tracer selected because of its high hepatic extraction fraction. The extraction fraction of t-PA by the liver was measured directly by assay of the concentration of t-PA in simultaneously obtained arterial and hepatic venous blood samples. Both the concentration of t-PA antigen and t-PA functional activity were determined. t-PA was cleared from plasma in a bi-exponential manner with an early brisk (α) and a relatively less steep brisk (β) phase. At baseline, the half-life ( t , 1 2 ) of t-PA during the α-phase was 3.5±0.2 (±SEM) min. It did not change appreciably, averaging 4.4±0.6 min, despite marked reduction of hepatic blood flow accompanying profound hypotension with a 45%) reduction of mean arterial pressure. Similarly, the half-life of t-PA during the β-phase of clearance at baseline (12.6±1.1 min) was not significantly altered by reduction of hepatic blood flow (12.5 ± 0.9 min). The hepatic extraction fraction of t-PA declined progressively with time after administration of bolus of t-PA from 41±27%-0 (n = 3) 1 min after injection to 34 ± 16%, (n = 4), 14 ± 13% (n = 6) and 10 ± 11% (n = 6) 12, 20 and 30 min after injection in normotensive animals. Overall, the extraction fraction of t-PA by the liver increased 66.2±19.2% above the baseline level when hypotension was present compared to the case with normotension. This increase in extraction fraction associated with a diminution of hepatic blood flow probably accounts for the relatively consistent rate of clearance of t-PA from the circulation despite reduction of hepatic blood flow. The results obtained indicate that the rate of clearance of t-PA from the circulation does not diminish markedly despite profound hemodynamic perturbations and reduction of hepatic blood flow to levels simulating those likely to be encountered in patients with severe cardiovascular disease. Accordingly, they suggest that major modifications in dosage will not be required to compensate for derangements in hepatic perfusion. The bi-exponential nature of clearance of t-PA from the circulation and the diminished hepatic extraction fraction as a function of time underscore the likelihood that accumulation of t-PA may be encountered with prolonged administration.
Aluminum fluoride induces a reversible Ca2+ sensitization in α-toxin-permeabilized vascular smooth muscle

The mechanism of aluminumfluoride (AlF)-induced Ca2+ sensitization was explored in α-toxin-permeabilized rabbit mesenteric artery. In the presence of 0.18 μM Ca2+ and deferoxamine, a strong chelator of aluminum (Al3+), fluoride (F−; applied in the form of NaF) induced very slow tension development, while in the presence of tracer levels of Al3+, tension developed rapidly possibly due to formation of Al−F complexes (especially AlF4−). As a result, AlF significantly shifted the relationship between tension development and free Ca2+ concentration in the Ca2+-t-EGTA buffer (pCa-tension curve) to the left. The rate of the tension development also dependend on the EGTA concentration: increasing the EGTA concentration from 0.5 to 10 mM markedly decreased the maximal rate of contraction ((dT/dt)max), probably due to chelation of Al3+ by EGTA, without effect on the maximal tension (ΔTmax). The AlF-induced Ca2+ sensitization could be reversed by extensive washing with relaxing solution (pCa > 8), in contrast to the contractions induced by guanosine 5'-[γ-thio]triphosphate (GTPγs; a non-hydrolyzable GTP analogue) or phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) which were irreversible. However, the action of all the compounds appeared to be mediated through a H-7 (1-[5-isoquinolinesulfonyl]-2-methylpiperazine dihydrochloride)-sensitive pathway, and no additive effects among them were observed. In addition, GDP increased (dT/dt)max due to AiF without changing ΔTmax, whereas guanosine 5'[β-thio]diphosphate (GDPβs; a non-hydolyzable GDP analogue) decreased both parameters. These findings suggest that AlF acts on G-proteins to enhance Ca2+ sensitivity of contractile elements through a H-7-sensitive pathway.
Agricultural intensification in a Philippine frontier community: impact on labor efficiency and farm diversity

There has been little research directed specifically at the point of transition between extensive and intensive cultivation, whereby farmers decide or are forced to change techniques in order to maximize outputs through greater investment of human labor. Conelly went to the west coast of Palawan Island (the same island where James Eder studied the Batak) to investigate the transition underway from traditional swidden agriculture to irrigated rice production. On the basis of Boserup’s widely accepted theory, he assumed that such a change would be resisted because the farmer has to invest much more labor. With permanent irrigated production the soil is no longer left fallow, forcing cultivators to adopt labor-intensive methods of cultivation to maintain yields. Another widely accepted parallel argument is that because extended agriculture involves a very diverse range of crops through interplanting a number of species in each plot, with intensification the quality and reliability of the food supply will decline. What Conelly found was that while the long-term consequences of intensification may conform to these theories, in the short-term, which is what people take most seriously, standards of living improve. The reason for this is that farmers do not make the transition to irrigation directly from long fallow swidden cultivation. Rather, they make the transition from a short-fallow form of horticulture in which fields are allowed only 2–4 years in which to recover their fertility—which they do poorly. Thus, farmers no longer reap the benefits associated with traditional, highly diversified cropping. At this point, irrigation, even with its high labor requirements, looks attractive.
Elastic-Plastic Analysis of Combined Mode II and III Crack-Tip Fields Under Small-Scale Yielding Conditions

To investigate the behavior of the near-tip fields, the normalized stresses ahead of the crack tip are plotted as functions of the normalized radial distance to the tip for several combinations of prescribed mode II and III elastic K fields. The angular variations of the normalized stresses at a fixed radial distance deep within the plastic zone are also plotted for several combinations of remote mode II and III elastic K fields
A decision support system of dynamic vehicle refueling

Fuel optimizers are software products that reduce the fuel cost of motor carriers at the ''point of purchase'' by optimally determining: (i) which truck stop(s) to use, and (ii) how much fuel to buy at the chosen truck stop(s). These products, however, upset many truck drivers by ''confiscating'' their freedom to choose truck stops. Consequently, users are suffering from limited actual cost savings due to low driver compliance rates. We develop a decision support system that reduces the fuel cost of motor carriers at the point of purchase without confiscating the drivers' freedom to choose truck stops, so that higher driver compliance rates are expected.
Analyzing Topical Structure in ESL Essays: Not All Topics Are Equal

Topical structure analysis (TSA), a text-based approach to the study of topic in discourse, has been useful in identifying text-based features of coherence. It has also been used to distinguish between essays written by groups of native English speakers with varying degrees of writing proficiency (Witte, 1983a, 1983b). More recently, TSA has distinguished between higher and lower rated ESL essays, but with different results from those found with native speakers of English (Connor & Schneider, 1988). The present study replicated the previous ESL study of two groups of essays written for the TOEFL Test of Written English with three groups of essays. Findings indicate that two topical structure variables, proportions of sequential and parallel topics in the essays, differentiate the highest rated group from the two lower rated groups. We offer explanations for the results and propose that all occurrences of a particular type of topic progression do not contribute equally to the coherence of a text.
The impact of marketing on internal stakeholders in destination branding: The case of a musical city

The city and destination branding literatures stress the importance of brand image, with an emphasis on achieving differential and competitive positioning. However, an important part of building a ...
Rule Utilitarianism, Equality, and Justice

Utilitarianism and the Concept of Social UtilityIn this paper I propose to discuss the concepts of equality and justice from a rule utilitarian point of view, after some comments on the rule utilitarian point of view itself.Let me start with the standard definitions. Act utilitarianism is the theory that a morally right action is one that in the existing situation will produce the highest expected social utility. (I am using the adjective “expected” in the sense of mathematical expectation.) In contrast, rule utilitarianism is the theory that a morally right action is simply an action conforming to the correct moral rule applicable to the existing situation. The correct moral rule itself is that particular behavioral rule that would yield the highest expected social utility if it were followed by all morally motivated people in all similar situations.
Solidly-Mounted Agile Resonator / Transducer

Solidly mounted resonators (SMRs) were proposed by Newell in the mid-1960s. Decoupling from the mounting substrate was achieved at a single frequency by a Bragg stack of quarter-wavelength plates. While the initial concept was ahead of fabrication technology, SMRs are now a practical resonator design yielding high Qs in a space-efficient and robust mounting configuration. This paper introduces the concept of a Bragg anti-reflection stack made adjustable by endowing each layer with piezoelectricity and providing for changing the electrical boundary conditions.
Time-discrete beta-process model for interval-censored survival data

Grouped survival data with possible interval censoring arise in a variety of settings. This paper presents nonparametric Bayes methods for the analysis of such data. The random cumulative hazard, common to every subject, is assumed to be a realization of a L6vy process. A time-discrete beta process, introduced by Hjort, is considered for modeling the prior process. A sampling-based Monte Carlo algorithm is used to find posterior estimates of several quantities of interest. The methodology presented here is used to check further modeling assumptions. Also, the methodology developed in this paper is illustrated with data for the times to cosmetic deterioration of breast-cancer patients. An extension of the methodology is presented to deal with two interval-censored times in tandem data (as with some AIDS incubation data).
Prenatal effects on reproductive capacity during aging in female mice.

The production of live young during successive pregnancies was investigated in female CF-i house mice (Mus inusculus) identified at cesarean delivery as having developed in utero between 2 male fetuses (2M females) or not next to a male fetus (OM females). 2M female mice have previously been found to be exposed to higher concentrations of testosterone than OM females during fetal life, presumably as a result of the transport of steroids between contiguous fetuses. OM and 2M females were paired with stud males. The males were removed prior to delivery of a litter and replaced by other males when the litter was weaned. This process was repeated until: 1) a female did not become pregnant within 2.5 mo or 2) two successive litters were produced in which all of the pups were dead. In Experiment 1 females were first mated when 25 days old, and 2M females ceased producing litters containing live pups at a younger age and after fewer litters than did OM females; however, many females were terminated from the study as a result of producing 2 successive litters of dead young rather than failing to become pregnant during a 2.5-mo period. There was a gradual decline in the number of live young produced by OM females as a function of age and parity, but 2M females abruptly ceased producing any live young after producing a litter of normal size. For the last live litter, there were thus significantly fewer live young produced by OM females than by 2M females. None of these differences were observed in Experiment 2, in which OM and 2M females were mated for the first time beginning at 7 mo of age. The 2M females in this experiment ceased producing live young at a significantly older age than did the 2M females first mated at puberty. In contrast, there was no effect of age at initial mating on the age at which OM females ceased producing live young. This finding suggests that exposure of 2M females to elevated titers of testosterone during fetal life results in a reduction in reproductive life span if they first become pregnant during the pubertal period.
Inpatient psychiatric care experience and its relationship to posthospitalization treatment participation.

ObjectiveThis study used factor analysis of a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) survey to identify factors that measure satisfaction with inpatient treatment and to examine the factors’ utility in evaluating treatment participation following discharge.MethodsThe Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (inpatient version) (I-SHEP) was mailed to 34,237 veterans who were discharged from inpatient to outpatient care in the VHA during fiscal year 2009 and was completed by 7,408 patients. A factor analysis of survey responses identified underlying I-SHEP factors and evaluated relationships between the factors, patient characteristics, and attendance at VHA mental health appointments within seven and 30 days of discharge.ResultsThe factor analysis identified three domains of satisfaction: respect and caring by nurses–overall hospital impression; involvement and information about care; and respect and caring by doctors. These factors demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.93, .90, and .94, ...
Designing and implementing effective venous thromboembolism prevention protocols: lessons from collaborative efforts

Hospital acquired venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major source of morbidity and mortality, yet proven prevention measures are often underutilized. The lack of a validated VTE risk assessment model, difficulty integrating VTE risk assessment and prevention protocols into the routine process of care, and the lack of standardized metrics for VTE prophylaxis have all been barriers. Recently, a VTE risk assessment/prevention protocol has been validated, leading to portable strategies achieving breakthrough levels of adequate prophylaxis in a variety of inpatient settings. VTE prevention protocol design and implementation strategies have been collected in implementation guides available from the Society of Hospital Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. These guides were the centerpieces of national collaborative efforts to improve VTE involving over 150 medical centers, honing the approach to accelerate improvement described in this article. Embedding a VTE prevention protocol into admission, transfer, and perioperative order sets is a key strategy. A VTE prevention protocol is defined as a VTE risk assessment with no more than three levels of risk, tightly linked to recommended prophylaxis for each level. A balance between the need to provide protocol guidance and the need for efficiency and ease-of-use by the clinician must be maintained. The power of this protocol driven approach is bolstered by a quality improvement framework, multidisciplinary teams, ongoing monitoring of the process, and real time identification and mitigation of non-adherents via a technique that measures progress and prompts concurrent intervention, an approach we call “measure-vention.”
Impact on Empiric Treatment of Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis Using an Optical Immunoassay

The potential impact of using a rapid diagnostic test (Strep A OIA) on detection and treatment of group A β-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis in a large-volume pediatric and adolescent clinic was examined. Of 519 swabs processed for both culture and the OIA test, 114 were culture-positive for GABHS compared with 133 positive by the OIA test, for an agreement of 94%. OIA test sensitivity compared with culture was 96%, and specificity was 94%. Forty-seven percent of all study patients were empirically placed on antibiotics. In-clinic OIA testing could have reduced inappropriate therapy and been a cost-effective alternative to culture.
Scholarly Networking Among Business Students: Structured Discussion Board Activity and Academic Outcomes

The authors’ intent was to show the effect of student discussion board activity on academic outcomes, after accounting for past academic performance. Data were collected from 516 students enrolled in a junior-level required business course. Controlling for students’ grade point average, stepwise regression showed a significant relationship between scholarly discussion board usage and both group and individual grades. Students who read the discussion board improved their final grade. More importantly, those students who posted to the discussion board showed further improvement in their academic performance. The findings strongly support the critical notion that when discussion board activity is structured, scholarly networking leads to better student performance. This should encourage more faculty to incorporate task-oriented online discussion in their courses.
FURTHER EXPERIMENTS ON DISTANCE NAVIGATION IN THE ADELIE PENGUIN PYGOSCELZS ADELZAE

Summary Further experiments confirm our recently reported findings that Adelie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae, transported from rookeries on the coasts of Antarctica to remote release points, consistently select a departure direction to the N.N.E. with respect to their home meridian. New releases were made at the South Pole where sun altitude is constant and in the offshore pack ice where the initial N.N.E. departure direction led the birds directly away from their home. Birds imported from the Mirnyy coast, 85° of longitude to the west of Cape Crozier selected a departure direction to the N.W. After being held in an open pen at the new position for three weeks, however, Mirnyy birds revised their orientation to match the N.N.E. departures of a comparably held group of Crozier birds. Juvenile penguins taken from creches and from the beach at Cape Crozier selected the same departure direction as adults. Several lines of evidence suggest that the mechanism used in initial direction selection may be different from that used in course maintenance. The consistent northward or outward departure orientation is discussed in terms of escape to offshore feeding grounds. The easterly component of this orientation is discussed in terms of compensation for a westward drift imposed on outward-moving birds by coastal currents. A circadian rhythm in phase with conditions at the longitude of the home rookery is regarded as serving to guide a displaced bird back to its home coast. A circadian rhythm reset to the solar cycle of a new longitude is regarded as serving to guide a displaced bird to the nearest coast. The return of displaced birds to their home rookery, after initial orientation in other directions, emphasizes the fact that the departure response observed in these studies is only one part of a complex navigational mechanism, which guides the Adelie Penguin through its seasonal migrations.
Predictive multiple model switching control with the self-organizing map

A predictive, multiple model control strategy is developed by extension of self-organizing map (SOM) local dynamic modeling of nonlinear autonomous systems to a control framework. Multiple SOMs collectively model the global response of a nonautonomous system to a finite set of representative prototype controls. Each SOM provides a codebook representation of the dynamics corresponding to a prototype control. Different dynamic regimes are organized into topological neighborhoods where the adjacent entries in the codebook represent the global minimization of a similarity metric. The SOM is additionally employed to identify the local dynamical regime, and consequently implements a switching scheme that selects the best available model for the applied control. SOM based linear models are used to predict the response to a larger family of control sequences which are clustered on the representative prototypes. The control sequence which corresponds to the prediction that best satisfies the requirements on the system output is applied as the external driving signal.
Section Review Biologicals & Immunologicals The use of immunoconjugates in cancer therapy

Those immunoconjugates that have entered clinical trials (i.e., immunotoxins, radiolabelled and bispecific antibodies) have shown promising antitumour activity in haematopoietic tumours (lymphomas/leukaemias). To eliminate large solid tumours, immunoconjugates will require changes in both the antibody and effector moieties since these tumours are poorly vascularised and rarely express tumour-specific antigens. This review describes improvements which may have a major impact on the next generation of immunoconjugates.
Social robots and virtual agents as lecturers for video instruction

One emerging convention in video lectures is to show presentation slides with an inset video of the instructor's head. Substituting a robot or a digital agent for the video of the instructor could radically decrease production time and cost; thus, the influence of a digital agent or robot on the learner should be evaluated. Agent-based alternatives for a talking head were assessed with an experiment comparing human and agent lecturers in a video from a popular online course. Participants who saw the inset video of the actual lecturer replaced by an animated human lecturer recalled less information than those who saw the recording of the human lecturer. However, when the actual lecturer was replaced with a social robot, knowledge recall was higher with an animated robot than a recording of a real robot. This effect on knowledge recall was moderated by gender. Attitudes were more positive toward human lecturers than toward robots. An initial proof-of-concept demonstrates that although a human lecturer is preferable, robotic and virtual agents may be viable alternatives if designed properly. We used robotic and virtual agents as "talking heads" in video instruction.An experiment found knowledge recall varied based on how the lecturer was presented.Liking and social presence were higher with a human lecturer than with a robot.Robotic and virtual agents may be low-cost, accessible options for video instruction.
A Distributed Triage Model for Digital Forensic Services to State and Local Law Enforcement

We propose a distributed triage model for digital forensic services to state local law enforcement. This would permit efficient use of forensic resources by using local law enforcement for basic digital forensic analysis and assigning more complex matters to intermediate and advanced examiners.
A Practical and Efficient Implementation of WF 2 Q

The WF2Q+ scheduler combines all three properties that are important to a fair queueing algorithm: a tight delay bound, a small worst-case fair index value, and a relatively low worst-case complexity of O(log n) for a link with n flows. We present a new implementation of WF2Q+ in which both the number of packet sorting operations and the computation of the virtual time function are independent of the number n of flows. Our implementation exploits two widely observed characteristics of the Internet, namely that service providers offer some type of tiered service with a small number of service levels, and that a small number of packet sizes dominate. Our scheduler combines provably good performance with amenability to hardware implementation in high-speed routers.
Intravenous delivery of cysteamine for the treatment of cystinosis: association with hepatotoxicity

Nephropathic cystinosis is a lysosomal storage disorder, which, if untreated, results in renal failure by age 10 years. Oral cysteamine has been shown to preserve renal function in these patients. In this study, a 2-year-old girl with nephropathic cystinosis and severe gastrointestinal dysmotility was treated with intravenous (i.v.) administration of cysteamine hydrochloride (HCl). This is only the second report of long-term i.v. cysteamine therapy for nephropathic cystinosis. Unlike the treatment in the previous case, however, treatment in our patient was limited by liver toxicity.
Carbohydrate and fat as a fuel for insect flight. A comparative study.

Abstract From a metabolic point of view, three different types of insect flight muscles can be distinguished: muscles that degrade only carbohydrates, those depending only on fatty acids, and a third type in which both substrates can be oxidized. In the flight muscles examined no quantitative differences in the activities of the citric acid cycle enzymes were observed, although between the various insects during flight differences exist in respiratory rate. On the other hand, strict relations are present between respiration and the glycolytic or β -oxidative pathway in Apis, Locusta , and Actias . The activities of the two enzymes of the glycerophosphate cycle are directly correlated with the glycolytic capacity of the flight muscles. Fatty acid oxidation is supposed to be advantageous for migratory animals and insects that do not feed in the adult stage. Before the onset of migratory flights carbohydrate-metabolic processes in the flight muscles might be responsible for reaching optimal thoracic temperatures.
Flash visual evoked potentials at 2-year-old infants with different birth weights.

Background Increased prevalence of visual impairments has been reported in preterm populations. However, it remains unclear about the long-term visual electrophysiological outcomes and their association with visual cognitive functions in premature infants. We investigated visual electrophysiological outcome of 2-year-old infants of different birth weights by flash visual evoked potentials (FVEPs) in order to explore the correlation between visual cognitive functions and FVEPs and to assess the application of FVEPs in evaluating the visual capability of an infant.
Hybrid Measure of Agreement and Expertise for Ontology Matching in Lieu of a Reference Ontology

Ontologies have been widely used as a knowledge representation framework, and numerous methods have been put forth to match ontologies. It is well known that ontology matchers behave differently in various domains, and it is a challenge to predict or characterize their behavior. Herein, a hybrid expertise-agreement aggregation strategy is proposed. Although others rely on the existence of a reference ontology, this typically does not exist in the real world. In this article, the fuzzy integral FI is used to aggregate multiple ontology matchers in lieu of a reference ontology. Specifically, we present a measure of expertise and fuse it with our previous agreement measure that is motivated by crowd sourcing to improve recall. This way, any available domain knowledge, in terms of partial ordering of a subset of inputs, can be included in the decision-making process. By adding the domain knowledge to the agreement model, we are able to reach the upmost performance. Preliminary results demonstrate the robustness of our approach across domains. Sensitivity analysis is also provided, which shows the limits to which extreme destructive expertise affects system performance.