cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ligand-Targeted Binding of a Novel Silicone Magnetic Microsphere

In ligand-targeted drug delivery, a carrier particle conjugated with a ligand binds preferentially to an overexpressed receptor on the membrane of a specific cell type. A therapeutic agent is adsorbed onto or absorbed within the carrier, and its release is often triggered by magnetic stimulation or other means. In this work, we demonstrate ligand-targeted delivery with a novel magnetic microsphere by conjugating the drug carriers with a folic acid ligand that preferentially binds to HeLa cells overexpressing folic acid receptors. The microspheres used in this study are produced in-house and contain magnetite nanoparticles (∼10 nm) distributed uniformly throughout an amine-functionalized silicone matrix. The sphere diameter is scalable from 0.5 to 2.0 microns, and the concentration of magnetic nanoparticles can be varied up to 50% wt. The silicon matrix of this carrier facilitates compatibility with lipophilic drugs, the high magnetic content allows the potential for magnetically-stimulated drug release, and an abundance of primary amines within the matrix enables surface functionalization with a variety of ligands. Microspheres in this study were conjugated with folic acid using an EDAC reaction and tagged with a fluorophore. The spheres were incubated with HeLa cells, which overexpress folate-binding protein, and the degree of binding after 30 minutes was analyzed with fluorescence microscopy. We show a five-fold increase in bound spheres per cell relative to a control sphere without folic acid, indicating a high degree of specific binding. The preferential binding of ligand-conjugated magnetic microspheres gives insight into the utility of these drug carriers for targeted drug delivery studies.
Evaluation of thermal and cryo lesions by diffusion-weighted MRI

The purpose of this study is to further investigate the approach of DWI to estimate the cell viability immediately after treatment. In this work, we reported the result from 12 canine prostate experiments underwent cryoablation or hyperthermic therapy. The lesion detected by diffusion-weighted imaging was evaluated through apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, image contrast, and lesion contour compared to contrast enhanced imaging and histology.
Micro-optics in VCSEL and solid-state laser resonators

Several unconventional laser resonators are described, and their application to various laser systems is explored. Spatial mode control of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers is enhanced by two spatial filtering methods. The first employs a GRIN lens with a patterned mirror designed to reflect power only from desired modes. The angular selectivity of a Fabry-Perot etalon is used in the second system to improve spatial modal discrimination. Diffractive optical elements are used with a solid-state laser for beam shaping and aberration correction. An analysis of the effects of fabrication errors shows that higher-order diffraction terms and phase errors can result in distorted modes. However, proper cavity design can help to reduce these effects and insure proper mode shape.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Gospel According to: A Theory of Transformative Discursive Allegory

The battle between secular culture and conservative religion is one that pervades modern society. In the face of this vehement clash, a curious collection of books has emerged that attempt to provide a means of reconciliation between faith and popular culture. The Gospel according to book series by Presbyterian publisher Westminster John Knox (WJK) Press pairs seemingly controversial artifacts of popular culture such as The Simpsons with the gospel message. These books function in a way that is similar to allegory but lacks allegorical form. This essay argues for the existence of a distinctive rhetorical strategy called transformative discursive allegory that functions to create an allegorical relationship between a secular and a sacred text. WJK's The Gospel according to book series is shown as an example of how transformative discursive allegory functions to allow the faithful to participate in popular culture while simultaneously affirming one's ideological beliefs as omnipresent in the world. The find...
Uterine relaxant properties of bradykinin in vitro.

AT the present time, there is no effective means of blocking uterine contractions in order to prevent premature labour. A drug which would block uterine contractions may reduce the incidence of prematurity. Of all infant deaths occurring at the New York Hospital in 1961, 72.5 per cent were prematurely born.
Initial Findings on the Feasibility of Real-Time Feedback Control of a Hazardous Contaminant Released Into Channel Flow by Means of a Laboratory-Scale Physical Prototype

The threat of accidental or deliberate toxic chemicals released into public spaces is a significant concern to public safety. The real-time detection and mitigation of such hazardous contaminants has the potential to minimize harm and save lives. We develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow control model with the capability of detecting and mitigating such contaminants. Furthermore, we develop a physical prototype to then test the computer model. The physical prototype is in its final stages of construction. Its current state, along with preliminary examples of the flow control model are presented throughout this paper.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Second-look laparotomy and salvage therapy: A research modality only?

Abstract Two hundred twelve patients who underwent second-look laparotomy as part of their treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer were evaluated. Factors associated with positive second looks were initial stage, tumor grade, age, and residual disease ( P P P = 0.75). Second-look laparotomy does not improve survival with currently existing salvage modalities and should primarily be confined to those patients willing to participate in research protocols evaluating new second-line therapy.
Macrosocial change, feminization of agriculture, and peasant women's threefold economic role

Analysis of the impact of change in land tenure and production patterns on the roles and position of women in Romanian villages in the last 25 years reveals some unpredictable consequences of the macro social changes brought about in Romanian agriculture. A time budget survey of 500 peasant families revealed that: (1) no work role is performed exclusively by either sex; (2) the time allocated to various roles for women is independent of whether the family lives in a mountainous region, but the converse is true for men; (3) women spend more time in house keeping activities than in all other activities taken together; and (4) women still manage to work more than their husbands on cooperative farms in two out of three ecological areas. Hence, though women's traditional roles of housekeeper and mother may have changed in content, the time spent on them has not been reduced. This situation has increased women's economic decision-making authority, authority within the family and economic independence. These gains, however, are constrained by the traditional view of women as subservient to men and the extraordinary amount of effort expected from women under the new regime. 20 references.
Visualizing the evolution of community structures in dynamic social networks

Social network analysis is the study of patterns of interaction between social entities. The field is attracting increasing attention from diverse disciplines including sociology, epidemiology, and behavioral ecology. An important sociological phenomenon that draws the attention of analysts is the emergence of communities, which tend to form, evolve, and dissolve gradually over a period of time. Understanding this evolution is crucial to sociologists and domain scientists, and often leads to a better appreciation of the social system under study. Therefore, it is imperative that social network visualization tools support this task. While graph-based representations are well suited for investigating structural properties of networks at a single point in time, they appear to be significantly less useful when used to analyze gradual structural changes over a period of time. In this paper, we present an interactive visualization methodology for dynamic social networks. Our technique focuses on revealing the community structure implied by the evolving interaction patterns between individuals. We apply our visualization to analyze the community structure in the US House of Representatives. We also report on a user study conducted with the participation of behavioral ecologists working with social network datasets that depict interactions between wild animals. Findings from the user study confirm that the visualization was helpful in providing answers to sociological questions as well as eliciting new observations on the social organization of the population under study.
Tumorigenicity of EJ-ras oncogene transformed NIH 3T3 cells and expression of plasminogen activators

A number of clonal cell lines have been isolated from NIH 3T3 cells transfected with the plasmid, pSV2 gpt-EJ-ras. The plasmid expresses Val12 instead of Gly12 in p21 ras protein and can be selected for the expression of E. coli XGPRT gene in mammalian cells. Southern analyses of the Eco R1 and Bam H1 digests of chromosomal DNA shows that multiple copies of the plasmid are integrated in a tandem sequence in the clones used in this study. The transfectants showed refractile appearance and criss-crossed pattern of growth, exhibited elevated expression of ras mRNA and formed tumors in nude mice commensurate with the copy number of the integrated EJ-ras gene. The increased propensity to form tumors did not correlate with the expression of urinary or tissue plasminogen activators (u-PA or t-PA). The cellular and secreted activity of u-PA in fact decreased as the ras gene expression increased. These data show that the enhanced tumorigenicity of transformed murine cells is related to the tandem integration and expression of human EJ-ras. The overexpression of ras has very little effect on t-PA but appears to suppress u-PA activity.
Scaling and multiscaling in models of fragmentation

We introduce a simple geometric model which describes the kinetics of fragmentation of d-dimensional objects. In one dimension, our model coincides with the randon scission model and shows a simple scaling behavior in the long-time limit. For dg1, the volume of the fragments is characterized by a single scale 1/t, while other geometric properties such as the length are characterized by an infinite number of length scales and thus exhibit multiscaling.
A solution to Kiang's problem #6

Three similar solutions for Problem #6 are offered. These solutions do not use any symbolic system, but are the results of simple mathematical analysis. The results are computationally elementary, and are intended to demonstrate that the power of symbolic systems is wasted on this problem, and there is no practical reason to use them. An Algol procedure for Si is given.
Proposed Methods for Producing Short Intense Monoenergetic Ion Pulses

A method is outlined whereby suitable periodic deflection over the range of possible path lengths between foci of an appropriate focusing magnet is utilized to convert a continuous monoenergetic ion beam at one focus into very short duration high intensity monoenergetic ion pulses at the other focus. Time-of-flight analysis of reaction particle pulses resulting from the interaction of the ion pulses with stationary target nuclei is discussed, and the application of this method to the elastic and inelastic scattering of neutrons is considered briefly.
Dopaminergic Modulation of Na,K-ATPase Activity in the Proximal Tubules of Normotensive and Hypertensive Rats

Renal proximal tubular Na,K-ATPase plays an important role in the maintenance of sodium homeostasis and it is known that dopamine (DA) exerts an inhibitory effect on the activity of this enzyme. We have found that DA-induced inhibition of Na,K-ATPase is abolished in the spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) in comparison with age-matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Dopamine inhibits Na,K-ATPase via phospholipase C coupled protein kinase C pathway. The enzyme protein kinase C subsequently causes inhibition of Na,K-ATPase. In the SHR, DA-induced activation of phospholipase C is diminished, which in turn is responsible for the abolished inhibition of Na,K-ATPase. We have now shown that DA-induced activation of protein kinase C, which results from activation of DA-1 receptors is also abolished in the SHR which would account for the failure of DA to inhibit Na,K-ATPase in the hypertensive animals. Recently, we have examined the possibility that the failure of DA to inhibit Na,K-ATPase activity may be related to abnormal expression of DA receptors. In radioligand binding studies with [3H] SCH 23390 as a DA-1 receptor ligand and [3H] spiroperidol as a DA-2 receptor ligand we showed that both [3H] SCH 23390 and [3H] spiroperidol bindings are best fit to one site model in either WKY or SHR. Both Bmax and KD of either ligand binding to proximal tubule in the SHR were not statistically different from their WKY counterparts.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Human urotensin II-induced aorta ring contractions are mediated by protein kinase C, tyrosine kinases and Rho-kinase: inhibition by somatostatin receptor antagonists.

Human urotensin II-(1–11) and its N-terminally shortened analogues, human urotensin II-(4–11)-OH and human urotensin II-(4–11)-NH2 are potent vasoconstrictor peptides in isolated rat thoracic aorta. Human urotensin II-induced tonic aorta ring contractions are inhibited by the Ca2+ channel antagonists, verapamil, nitrendipine and diltiazem; D609 (Tricyclodecan-9-yl-xanthogenate, K), selective inhibitor of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C and partially by phospholipase C inhibitor U-73122 {1-[6-((17s-3 Methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl)amino)hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-25-dione} and a selective inhibitor of phosphatidyl-inositol-specific phospholipase C-ET-18-OCH3 (Edelfosine,1-O-octadecyl-2O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine); protein kinase C inhibitors, chelerythrine and NPC-15437 {S-2,6-diamino-N-[[1-(1-oxotridecyl)-2-piperidinyl]methyl]-hexanamide dihydrochloride}; tyrosine kinase inhibitors, genistein and tyrphostin B42 and Rho-kinase inhibitor HA-1077 [1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-homopiperazine dihydrochloride]. This indicates that human urotensin II-induced tonic contractions of the rat aorta are mediated by phospholipase C, protein kinase C, tyrosine kinases and Rho-kinase related pathways. In the high K+ medium, human urotensin II induces dose-dependent phasic oscillations of aortic rings. These are inhibited by Ca2+ channel antagonists, the phospholipase C inhibitor, U-73122 and protein kinase C inhibitors, chelerythrine and NPC-15437, indicating that human urotensin II-induced phasic oscillations of the rat aorta are mediated by phospholipase C and protein kinase C-dependent pathways. Given their close structural similarity, several somatostatin analogues, importantly containing DCys5 and DTrp7 and expressing different degrees of somatostatin receptor antagonist activity, were tested for possible inhibitory effects on human urotensin II-induced contractions of the rat aorta rings. Pre-incubation of rat aorta rings in the presence of somatostatin analogues, which are preferentially sst2 specific binders: PRL-2882; PRL-2903 and PRL-2915 at micro-molar concentrations significantly blocked the development of human urotensin II-induced tonic contractions. Somatostatin receptor antagonists dose-dependently inhibited human urotensin II-induced Ca2+ transients in rat thoracic aorta rings. These somatostatin receptor antagonists displayed moderate affinities for recombinant rat and human urotensin II receptor binding sites. The data support the suggestion that urotensin II receptor and somatostatin type 2/5 receptors display similar surface topologies and that analogues of somatostatin could provide useful lead compounds for the development of more potent urotensin II receptor antagonists.
Large Aperture High Accuracy Satellite Laser Tracking

A satellite laser ranging station has been established in order to range both low and high earth-orbiting satellites with a few-mm accuracy; this entails precision pointing of a 15-ton, azimuth-elevation-mounted coude telescope. Because tracking is performed under open loop computer control with no feedback from laser returns, the initial acquisition data and the algorithms for orbit computation must be accurate enough to maintain the satellite within the narrow laser beam width. The system is currently being used to track the LAGEOS and STARLETTE satellites.
Structure and variability of the alboran sea frontal system

Physical characteristics of the Alboran Sea in the western Mediterranean were examined in October 1977 during a survey by ship and aircraft. The main features observed were a distinct oceanic front coinciding with the jet of incoming North Atlantic water and an associated anticyclonic gyre in the western half of the basin. The front was confined to the upper 200 m and was a continuous feature extending from the Strait of Gibraltar 500 km eastward to the prime meridian. Of particular interest was the observed variability of the anticyclonic gyre. In 10 days between two surveys the center of the gyre shifted 50 km westward. This shift may correspond to changes in strength of the North Atlantic inflow as inferred by local wind and the average atmospheric pressure over the western Mediterranean.
Estimation of Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater by the Passive Flux Meter

Abstract Monitoring arsenic in the subsurface is a necessity today. This research evaluated the ability of the passive flux meter (PFM) to estimate arsenic in groundwater. Activated alumina, which displayed a Freundlich adsorption isotherm with respect to arsenic in solution, was evaluated as the internal sorbent for the PFM. A model aquifer incorporating PFMs estimated arsenic recovery of 87.33–99.08% in the wells. Arsenic mass recovery from extraction of the activated alumina ranged from 89.26 to 89.29%. The PFM calculated mass flux to within 4% of theoretically computed aquifer mass flux. Results indicate that PFM is a promising device for assessing arsenic in groundwater.
Foraging-Related Activity of Bald Eagles at a Washington Seabird Colony and Seal Rookery

Abstract From 1980 to 1998, Washington's Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) population increased at an annual rate of 10%. Over the same time period, foraging activity of Bald Eagles at marine bird breeding colonies also increased. From 1993 to 2008, we observed foraging-related behavior of Bald Eagles on Violet Point, Protection Island. This island hosts more than 70% of the breeding seabirds in Washington's inner seaways and serves as an important rookery for harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). We found that (1) eagles landed more frequently in seal haul-out (beach) areas than in gull-nesting (non-beach) areas of Violet Point, and that subadult eagles were more likely to land in gull-nesting areas than were adult eagles; (2) the presence of eagles on the beach was positively related to the presence of harbor seals on the beach; (3) a greater-than-expected number of adult eagles as compared with subadult eagles preyed on gull chicks; (4) subadult and adult eagles that attempted prey capture were equally su...
Discrete systems with delays in control

The problem of finding an optimal control in linear discrete systems with time delays in both the state variables and control variables is studied.
Energetic and Entropic Contributions to the Interaction of Unequal Spherical Double Layers

Abstract The potential energy as a function of distance is obtained for the double-layer interaction of two spherical colloidal particles. The Poisson-Boltzmann equation is solved numerically, using a collocation technique, for two spheres having various sizes and for constant potential and constant charge boundary conditions. The potential distribution is determined and then used to find the change in the electrical energy, the entropy, and the chemical part of the free energy as the two particles are brought into contact from infinity. Various approximate methods used previously, depending on surface conditions and geometry, are found to work quite well for the constant potential case, but for the constant charge case, they are not adequate for most of the parameter space. The interaction energy profiles are found to be functions of the curvature of the interacting spheres, and the dependence is quite strong for the constant charge case, in which the relative magnitudes of the electrical energy and entropy change significantly as the radii of the interacting spheres are changed for a fixed Debye length.
Adenovirus-mediated Transduction of Type 2 Alveolar Cells to Express Recombinant Surfactant Protein-B (rSP-B) • 1659

Adenovirus-mediated Transduction of Type 2 Alveolar Cells to Express Recombinant Surfactant Protein-B (rSP-B) • 1659
Globally convergent homotopy algorithms for nonlinear systems of equations

Probability-one homotopy methods are a class of algorithms for solving nonlinear systems of equations that are accurate, robust, and converge from an arbitrary starting point almost surely. These new globally convergent homotopy techniques have been successfully applied to solve Brouwer fixed point problems, polynomial systems of equations, constrained and unconstrained optimization problems, discretizations of nonlinear two-point boundary value problems based on shooting, finite differences, collocation, and finite elements, and finite difference, collocation, and Galerkin approximations to nonlinear partial differential equations. This paper introduces, in a tutorial fashion, the theory of globally convergent homotopy algorithms, deseribes some computer algorithms and mathematical software, and presents several nontrivial engineering applications.
A New, General Approach to Tuning the Properties of Functionalized Polythiophenes: The Oxidative Polymerization of Monosubstituted Bithiophenes

A new synthetic approach to functionalized polythiophenes utilizing 4-substituted 2,2‘-bithiophenes is described. The general utility of this approach is illustrated by the preparation of the representative poly(4-substituted 2,2‘-bithiophenes) (where substituent = octyl, hydroxymethyl, carboxy, carbomethoxy, or acetoxyethyl). The use of monofunctionalized bithiophenes as monomers has a number of advantages over traditional 3-substituted thiophene precursors. These advantages include direct oxidative polymerization of electron-poor monomers, selective oxidative polymerization in the presence of oxidatively sensitive side chains, polymerization without oxidative degradation of the backbone, and production of polymers with decreased side-chain density. The combination of these advantages allows the facile oxidative polymerization of monomers containing a large variety of functional groups. The reduction in side-chain density results in polymers with increased effective conjugation lengths as evidenced by th...
Beyond reference price: understanding consumers’ encounters with unexpected prices

The concept of reference price is a well‐established phenomenon in the marketing and consumer behavior literature. Given this, we investigate what happens when consumers, given a particular reference price, encounter unexpected prices. It is proposed that the theory of dissonance reduction provides a framework for studying situations in which consumers’ encountered prices are significantly different from their expectations. The three modes of dissonance reduction proposed: to change one’s attitude or cognition, to seek consonant information, and to trivialize some element of the dissonant relationship are demonstrated through theoretical interpretation and illustrated with in‐depth interviews.
If it’s red, it’s not Vap: How competition among words may benefit early word learning

One of the most prominent issues in early cognitive and linguistic development concerns how children figure out meanings of words from hearing them in context, since in many contexts there are multiple words and multiple potential referents for those words. Recent findings concerning on-line sentence comprehension suggest that, within the conversational context, potential referents compete for mappings to words. Three experiments examined whether such competitive processes may play a role in young children's learning of novel adjectives in an artificial word learning task. According to a competitive process view, although young children often mismap adjectives to whole objects rather than the properties of objects, explicitly mentioned familiar words should strongly map to referents consistent with those words and thereby decrease the likelihood of novel words being mismapped to these referents. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the role of the mere mention of familiar words and the role of word order in two year olds' ability to map a novel adjective to a property. Experiment 3 examined these processes in three year olds. The results indicate that lexical competition plays a particularly strong role in helping two year olds map a novel object to a property, whereas syntactic information about form class may also be informative to older children. The results suggest how fundamental processes of lexical competition in on-line word comprehension may give young learners a way to leverage known words in learning new words.
Node counts in neck dissection: are they useful in outcomes research?

Abstract Objectives: We studied the unilateral nodal yields for procedures reported as standard or modified radical neck dissection (RND) to determine their applicability in outcomes research. Methods: We analyzed the unilateral nodal yields for all procedures reported as RND for carcinoma of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx at our institution from 1985 to 1997 (n = 64, no prior treatment). These included both standard and modified techniques, encompassing levels I through V of the neck. Each side of a bilateral RND was treated as a separate case. This sample was compared with a similar population from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) registry. Nodal yield was obtained for RND alone and for unspecified neck dissection with primary excision for the same diseases and time period (n = 1499). Results: The mean nodal yield from 64 RND was 30 vs 27 in the SEER data. The standard deviation was 14.7 compared with 17.2 in the SEER data. Values ranged from 7 to 66 nodes whereas the SEER range was from 1 to 97 nodes. Although the SEER data contain nodal yields from regional or selective neck dissection, we corroborate our findings of large variance in nodal yield from our RND sample. Conclusions: Large variance in nodal yields from RND may have undefined effects on quality of life, cure rate, and survival. Until correlation of nodal yields with outcomes is examined, we cannot know how to relate RND to outcomes. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2001;124:433-5.)
Lack of efficacy of etanercept in Sjögren syndrome correlates with failed suppression of tumour necrosis factor α and systemic immune activation

Objective: To provide insight into the clinical failure of the TNFα inhibitor, etanercept, in primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS), we perform an extensive analysis of the systemic immune profile of pSS patients and monitor the effect of etanercept treatment on these immune parameters. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of primary SS patients and healthy controls were compared by flow cytometry for differences in distribution of specific cell populations (T cells, B cells, monocytes), as well as for their expression of activation markers (CD25, HLADR), TNF receptors and chemokine receptors (CXCR1, 2) before and after treatment. Systemic cytokine levels were measured by multiplex ELISA assay in plasma and in LPS stimulated whole blood from healthy controls and from pSS patients before and after etanercept. Baseline cytokine levels were correlated with clinical markers of disease. Results: Prior to treatment, salivary gland inflammatory focus scores did not correlate with circulating TNF levels. Further consistent with lack of evidence of significant clinical benefit, enhanced markers of immune activation, frequency of cell subpopulations, and aberrant cytokine profiles were not restored to normal levels by etanercept treatment. Remarkably, the levels of circulating TNFα were significantly increased after treatment. Conclusion: Etanercept is an ineffective therapeutic agent in pSS consistent with the absence of suppression of TNFα and other indicators of immune activation in this patient population. These data suggest that TNFα may not be a pivotal cytokine in the pathogenesis of pSS, impelling continued molecular characterization of disease parameters to define appropriate intervention targets.
Solvability of a boundary value problem with the nonlinearity satisfying a sign condition

Soit f:[0,π]×R→R une fonction donnee satisfaisant des conditions de Caratheodory et h:[0,π]→R une fonction donnee dans L 1 [0,π]. On obtient l'existence d'une solution au probleme aux valeurs limites: u''(x)+u(x)+F(x,u(x))=h(x), x∈[0,π]; u(0)=u(π)=0 pour h(x) telle que ∫ 0 πh(x)sinxdx=0 et f(x,u) telle que f(x,u)u≥0 pour u∈R et il y a une constante β≥0 telle que limsup |u|→∞ F(x,u)/u=β<3 uniformement pour x∈[0,π]
Incidence of Unplanned Return to the Operating Room Following Vitreoretinal Surgery at a Public Teaching Hospital

AbstractPurpose: To determine the incidence of unplanned return to the operating room within 30 or 90 d following vitreoretinal surgery.Methods: Hospital records of 431 patients undergoing vitreoretinal surgery at San Francisco General Hospital between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2009 were reviewed to determine the incidence of unplanned reoperations.Results: Unplanned reoperation occurred within 30 d in 22 cases (3.77%) and within 90 d in 56 cases (9.61%).Conclusions: This study establishes benchmarks for the rate of unplanned return to the operating room following vitreoretinal surgery at an urban teaching hospital. Measuring reoperation within 90 d may provide a useful quality improvement metric of short- and middle-term complications.
Proposal for an extreme-ultraviolet selective autoionization laser in Zn III.

A system is proposed whereby Zn atoms that are photoionized by soft x rays from a laser-produced plasma undergo selective super-Coster–Kronig decay leading to inversion and lasing on several XUV Zn iii transitions. Calculations indicate that lasing will occur when a moderate-sized (∼10-J) 1.06-μm pump laser is used.
Methylamines in the marine atmosphere

There is growing recognition of the possible importance of organic nitrogen compounds in the global atmospheric nitrogen cycle. Concentrations of gaseous methylamines (MAs) have been measured for the first time in the atmosphere of two non urban regions-coastal Hawaii and Rhode Island. In Hawaii gaseous MA concentrations were as follows: monomethylamine (MMA), 11±5 pmol/m³ dimethylamine (DMA), 93±51 pmol/m³ and trimethylamine (TMA), 30±19 pmol/m³. Concentrations of these compounds were also measured in coastal seawater in Hawaii and Massachusetts and in rainwater from Rhode Island. Calculations of the fluxes of MAs across the air-sea interface indicate that the oceans are a source for MMA and TMA but may be a sink for dimethylamine (DMA). The concentrations of MAs observed in rain can largely be explained by scavenging of gaseous MAs. Another important removal process for atmospheric MAs appears to be oxidation by OH radicals. Wet and dry removal combined with OH oxidation appear to balance oceanic production of MMA and TMA in the Hawaii region. Significant uncertainties remain about the cycling of DMA.
Pulse-width-modulating control of a nonlinear electromagnetic actuator

The performance of a fast, nonlinear, clapper-type electromagnetic actuator used in impact printing is controlled by real-time measurement and feedback. The objective is to regulate flight time, which is the time from start to actuation to impact. Toward this end, control is applied digitally via pulse-width modulation of a series of coil-driving pulses, which together propel the armature through its trajectory. Each pulse is modulated individually based on state-variable errors measured on its rising edge. The functional relationships between the measured state-variable errors and the required pulse-width modulations are derived systematically, using a computer-controlled method involving trial-and-error experimentation followed by statistical regression. The resulting control law accounts for both mechanical and electrical perturbations and is expressed in an analytic format that can be applied either by look-up tables or by direct computation. Using look-up tables, typical closed-loop operation is shown to achieve dramatic reductions in flight-time error when compared with open-loop operation. >
Electro-optic modulation in an anisotropic artificial Kerr medium

We describe the performance of intensity and phase modulators that use an aqueous suspension of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microparticles. In this medium, the electro-optic effect is caused by the reorientation of anisotropic microparticles in an applied electric field. The intensity modulator was constructed in the Kerr geometry by the use of a sample path length of 20 μm. The response time of the modulator is less than 25 ms, and the depth of modulation was measured to be 28 dB for a switching voltage of 134 Vrms. The switching voltage necessary to achieve a π-phase shift with the phase modulator is less than 30 Vrms.
Assessing student attitudes toward design and innovation

The authors present the results of a research project that investigated student attitudes toward design and innovation. The study was conducted using students from an engineering program and an engineering technology program. Of the ten items in the survey, engineering majors and technology majors differed significantly on three items. A personality assessment instrument was also used to determine if personality factors influenced student attitudes and beliefs within the major. The data show that personality factors do contribute to attitudes and beliefs. >
Two-Stage learning to rank for information retrieval

Current learning to rank approaches commonly focus on learning the best possible ranking function given a small fixed set of documents. This document set is often retrieved from the collection using a simple unsupervised bag-of-words method, e.g. BM25. This can potentially lead to learning a sub-optimal ranking, since many relevant documents may be excluded from the initially retrieved set. In this paper we propose a novel two-stage learning framework to address this problem. We first learn a ranking function over the entire retrieval collection using a limited set of textual features including weighted phrases, proximities and expansion terms. This function is then used to retrieve the best possible subset of documents over which the final model is trained using a larger set of query- and document-dependent features. Empirical evaluation using two web collections unequivocally demonstrates that our proposed two-stage framework, being able to learn its model from more relevant documents, outperforms current learning to rank approaches.
Content-based video retrieval: does video's semantic visual feature matter?

A new shot level video browsing method based on semantic visual features (e.g., car, mountain, and fire) is proposed to facilitate content-based retrieval. The video's binary semantic feature vector is utilized to calculate the score of similarity between two shot keyframes. The score is then used to browse the "similar" keyframes in terms of semantic visual features. A pilot user study was conducted to better understand users' behaviors in video retrieval context. Three video retrieval and browsing systems are compared: temporal neighbor, semantic visual feature, and fused browsing system. The initial results indicated that the semantic visual feature browsing was effective and efficient for Visual Centric tasks, but not for Non-visual Centric tasks.
Evaluation of Truck Operating Characteristics on a Rural Interstate Freeway with Median Lane Truck Restriction

The increase in truck traffic on interstate freeways continues to raise concerns about the large trucks' dimensions that cause sight distance problems and about trucks' low capability to accelerate, decelerate, and maintain speed particularly on steep grades. To address safety and operational concerns caused by truck traffic, a multitude of restriction policies have been instituted around the United States. This study was aimed at determining the operational and safety impacts of the 24-h restriction of trucks from using the median lane of a six-lane freeway corridor, Interstate 75 in Florida. It should be noted that traffic flow on this corridor is relatively uncongested and the corridor operates at Level of Service B or better throughout the day. Analysis of field and simulation data indicated that the difference between truck and passenger car speeds and travel times were insignificant on the unrestricted middle and shoulder lanes. About two-thirds of both passenger cars and trucks were traveling within the 10-mph pace that ranged from 70 to 80 mph in the corridor, which has a speed limit posted at 70 mph. The field data also indicated that trucks were able to use the middle lane to pass 25% of the time during the truck peak-hour period with the assumption of a 10-s gap acceptance. In addition, simulation analysis indicated that opening all lanes to trucks increased the number of lane-changing maneuvers by 11% in the daytime, a phenomenon likely to increase crashes in the corridor.
Estimation of smooth time-varying parameters in state space models

In this article, we propose a penalized likelihood method to estimate time-varying parameters in standard linear state space models. The time-varying parameter is modeled as a smoothing spline and then expressed as a state space model. The maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the smoothing parameter. The proposed method is assessed by a simulation study and applied to virological response data from an HIV-infected patient receiving antiretroviral treatment.
Application of the Gell-Mann--Okubo formula to the total widths of unstable hadrons

A calculation of the effects of first-order symmetry breaking on unstable hadrons shows that the total widths should obey the Gell-Mann--Okubo formula. This prediction is accurate to 7 MeV for the vector mesons, to 10 MeV for the tensors, and provides a new constraint on the octet-singlet mixing angle. A new relation is derived for the widths of the 3/2/sup +/ decimet, which is accurate to 1 MeV.
The bichromaticity of cylinder graphs and torus graphs

The bichromaticity of a bipartite graph B is defined as the maximum value of r + s for which B has the complete bipartite graph Kr, s as a homomorphic image. We determine the bichromaticity of any bipartite cylinder graph C2n × Pm or torus graph C2n × C2m. In the process, we disprove a conjecture of Harary, Hsu, and Miller [2].
Brachial Plexopathy Following Use of Recombinant Human BMP-2 for Treatment of Atrophic Delayed Union of the Clavicle

Case:Although recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) is approved for treatment of open tibial fractures and anterior lumbar interbody fusion, off-label use has been associated with complications such as local inflammation, osteolysis, and dysphagia. This case report describes a pat
Measuring Connectivity: A Call to Measure Internet Development with Open, Timely, and Relevant Data

Open, timely, and relevant data is critical for strategic Internet development. By proposing a framework for collecting, standardizing, and reporting data on key Internet development metrics, we propose a model for a “Connectivity Report” that aims to bring together key stakeholders and provide a 360-degree view of the state of global Internet connectivity. Ultimately, this data can be used by a variety of stakeholders to identify trends, pinpoint challenges, and craft data-driven solutions to connectivity challenges. Our working paper makes a broad proposal for series of metrics for measuring Internet connectivity. We make three recommendations for next steps to improve the information available on global connectivity: 1) We propose that the private sector hold a series of open conferences in 2016 to establish how each of us can collaborate to provide better metrics on global connectivity; 2) We propose that the process for reaching consensus on metrics should endeavor to develop principles concerning technical, methodological and statistical standards to facilitate openness and information exchange; and 3) We plan, ourselves, to begin to release data to the public as part of this effort and encourage others to do so in the spirit of getting the discussion started.
The Role of the International Court in the Hostages Crisis

Cases involving important political issues have not often been brought to the International Court of Justice and, when brought, have sometimes not been decided. It was especially noteworthy, therefore, when the dispute concerning the American hostages in Iran was submitted to the Court by the United States and when the Court decided, twice, that Iran should release the hostages.' Unfortunately, Iran refused to comply with the Court's orders and, although the Court was probably no more ineffective than several others in attempting to free the hostages, it may still be asked whether the Court was properly employed in this international dispute. After all, the Court is often perceived as a weak and not very effective institution. Was it realistic to expect it to play a helpful role in this crisis? Was it a mistake to blot the Court's record with a decision so apparently ineffective? This article first introduces the Hostages case, looking at the United States application, the Iranian response, the Court's interim order and its final judgment. Second, it considers the effectiveness of the Court, examining the ways in which the rulings of the Court might have contributed to the settlement of the hostages crisis and the possible impact of the case on the reputation of the Court. Third and fourth, it evaluates the decision of the United States to submit the case and the decision of the Court to decide it. The article concludes that, although the reputation of the Court may have suffered by the rendering of an apparently ineffective judgment, the United States was, on balance, right to bring the case to the Court and the Court, on balance, right to decide it. The article also suggests that states should take the interests of the Court more into account in deciding what cases to bring to the Court and that we should be aware that, faced with disputes not easily resolved by judicial settlement, the Court may suffer a blow to its prestige whether it decides to render a decision or not.
MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond

Large magnitude earthquakes in urban environments continue to kill and injure tens to hundreds of thousands of people, inflicting lasting societal and economic disasters. Earthquake early warning (EEW) provides seconds to minutes of warning, allowing people to move to safe zones and automated slowdown and shutdown of transit and other machinery. The handful of EEW systems operating around the world use traditional seismic and geodetic networks that exist only in a few nations. Smartphones are much more prevalent than traditional networks and contain accelerometers that can also be used to detect earthquakes. We report on the development of a new type of seismic system, MyShake, that harnesses personal/private smartphone sensors to collect data and analyze earthquakes. We show that smartphones can record magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less and develop an on-phone detection capability to separate earthquakes from other everyday shakes. Our proof-of-concept system then collects earthquake data at a central site where a network detection algorithm confirms that an earthquake is under way and estimates the location and magnitude in real time. This information can then be used to issue an alert of forthcoming ground shaking. MyShake could be used to enhance EEW in regions with traditional networks and could provide the only EEW capability in regions without. In addition, the seismic waveforms recorded could be used to deliver rapid microseism maps, study impacts on buildings, and possibly image shallow earth structure and earthquake rupture kinematics.
Transient Flow in Free-Surface, Pressurized Systems

Transients may arise in a hydraulic system such that flow conditions may alternate between free surface and submerged or pressurized behavior. Analytical considerations begin with the open-channel surge equations, and the resulting method-of-characteristics solution. The surge wave in the tunnel is described after Meyer-Peter and Favre. At the free-surface, pressurized interface, a method of solution similar to the movement of a hydraulic bore is arrived at. An experimental study is presented which describes the phenomena and gives verification to the numerical mode. As an application the Wettingen system is analyzed and shown to agree favorably with earlier results.
Best Management Practices for Temperate and Tropical/Subtropical Fruit Crops in Florida: Current Practices and Future Challenges

A wide variety of temperate, subtropical, and tropical fruit crops are grown commercially in Florida. Farm size ranges from large commercial operations exceeding 100 acres to small 1or 2-acre ‘‘estate’’ farms. Irrigation and fertilization practices vary widely with crop, soil type, and management philosophy. However, many growers are adopting practices such as microirrigation, fertigation, and other technologies, which, if properly used, should reduce water and fertilizer inputs and minimize leaching and runoff of fertilizers and pesticides. Although fertilizer and irrigation recommendations exist for major crops such as avocado (Persea americana), mango (Mangifera indica), and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), there is little research-based information specific to Florida for many minor crops, including muscadine (Vitis rodundifolia), blackberry (Rubus spp.), sapodilla (Manilkara zapota), guava (Psidium guajava), papaya (Carica papaya), and others. Even where recommendations exist, refinement of irrigation and fertilization practices is needed because of changes in technology.