cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Use of human fibrinogen concentrate during proximal aortic reconstruction with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

Abstract Objective Human fibrinogen concentrate (HFC) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use at 70 mg/kg to treat congenital afibrinogenemia. We sought to determine whether this dose of HFC increases fibrinogen levels in the setting of high-risk bleeding associated with aortic reconstruction and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA). Methods This was a prospective, pilot, off-label study in which 22 patients undergoing elective proximal aortic reconstruction with DHCA were administered 70 mg/kg HFC upon separation from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Fibrinogen levels were measured at baseline, just before, and 10 minutes after HFC administration, on skin closure, and the day after surgery. The primary study outcome was the difference in fibrinogen level immediately after separation from CPB, when HFC was administered, and the fibrinogen level 10 minutes following HFC administration. Additionally, postoperative thromboembolic events were assessed as a safety analysis. Results The mean baseline fibrinogen level was 317 ± 49 mg/dL and fell to 235 ± 39 mg/dL just before separation from CPB. After HFC administration, the fibrinogen level rose to 331 ± 41 mg/dL ( P Conclusions Administration of 70 mg/kg HFC upon separation from CPB raises fibrinogen levels by approximately 100 mg/dL without an apparent increase in thrombotic complications during proximal aortic reconstruction with DHCA. Further prospective study in a larger cohort of patients will be needed to definitively determine the safety and evaluate the efficacy of HFC as a hemostatic adjunct during these procedures.
Group use of programed instruction as a means of generating homogeneous study groups

Extensive use of existing linear programed textbooks has convinced the writer that extra-program experiences are necessary if the program's contents are to be used effectively. This is the legitimate domain of the classroom teacher. Unfortunately the individual, self-paced study of programed textbooks makes it extremely difficult for the classroom teacher to provide extraprogram, integrative experiences. The reason can be traced to the differences in reading rate and retention that obtain in the typical classroom: one student is 200 frames ahead of another student but knows little of what he has read, while another student is slowly and diligently examining each frame. Because of these diversities in performance, the teacher's time and competencies cannot be utilized effectively. Some publisher's manuals say that the differences in student performance are an advantage; they enable the teacher to work with the individual students. This is a naive view since it is doubt-
NATIONAL RECREATION TRAILS : A FORGOTTEN DESIGNATION

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Society of American Foresters and can be found at: http://www.safnet.org/publications/jof/index.cfm.
Law and Environmental Statistics

Many environmental regulations and standards are based on statistical data and inferences drawn from them. Often the statistical analysis used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or other governmental body, in developing an exposure or effluent limit or a monitoring program, is challenged by the industry or public interest group that is most affected by its decision. Then, the courts need to examine the record on which the EPA or other agency relied in setting the standard. Because there are several statutes regulating the environment in the US as well as in Europe, in assessing the adequacy of the underlying scientific support of a regulation or protocol, one needs to be aware of the relevant statute. This article discusses several important statistical issues that have arisen in actual cases and briefly describe some other topics that arise in this area.
Cyclization of methyl 6,7-epoxycitronellate to methylcyclopentane derivatives : Alkoxide induced conversion of γ-lactones to γ,δ-unsaturated acids

Abstract The reaction of sodium hydride or potassium t-butoxide with methyl epoxycitronellate ( 1 ) in dimethylformamide affords a mixture of cis,cis -puleganolide ( 2 ) and cis,trans -puleganolide ( 3 ) in high yield. When the cyclization is conducted at 110°, the isomeric 2-isopropenyl-5-methylcyclopentanecarboxylic acids ( 8a–d ) become the major products. It is demonstrated that γ-lactones undergo alkoxide-induced elimination to afford γ,δ-unsaturated acids.
Surgical results of the Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study.

Object The Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study (COSS) was conducted to determine if superficial temporal artery–middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass, when added to the best medical therapy, would reduce subsequent ipsilateral stroke in patients with complete internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion and an elevated oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) in the cerebral hemisphere distal to the occlusion. A recent publication documented the methodology of the COSS in detail and briefly outlined the major findings of the trial. The surgical results of the COSS are described in detail in this report. Methods The COSS was a prospective, parallel-group, 1:1 randomized, open-label, blinded-adjudication treatment trial. Participants, who had angiographically demonstrated complete occlusion of the ICA causing either a transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke within 120 days and hemodynamic cerebral ischemia indicated by an increased OEF measured by PET, were randomized to either surgical or medical treatment. One hund...
Grid Refinement in Adaptive Non-rigid Registration

Non-rigid mutual information (MI) registration algorithms with many degrees of freedom (DOF) are quite useful, but they come at high computational cost and have convergence issues. As a remedy adaptive non-rigid registration algorithms, where DOF is increased adaptively (i.e. the grid is refined adaptively), have been proposed. There are at least two ways to refine a grid adaptively: one based on changes in the global measure, the other based on a local measure. We compare these two and show that a local measure method can have better sensitivity to deformations than the global measure. The local measure employed is a novel method using local entropies and local MI.
Simplifying Dynamic Programming via Tabling

In the dynamic programming paradigm the value of an optimal solution is recursively defined in terms of optimal solutions to subproblems. Such dynamic programming definitions can be very tricky and error-prone to specify. This paper presents a novel, elegant method based on tabled logic programming that simplifies the specification of such dynamic programming solutions. Our method introduces a new mode declaration for tabled predicates. The arguments of each tabled predicate are divided into indexed and non-indexed ones so that tabled predicates can be regarded as functions: indexed arguments represent input values and non-indexed arguments represent output values. The non-indexed arguments in a tabled predicate can be further declared to be aggregate, e.g., the minimum, so that while generating answers, the global table will dynamically maintain the smallest value for that argument. This mode declaration scheme, coupled with recursion, provides a considerably easy-to-use method for dynamic programming: there is no need to define the value of an optimal solution recursively, instead, defining a general solution suffices. The optimal value as well as its corresponding concrete solution can be derived implicitly and automatically using tabled logic programming systems. Experimental results are shown to indicate that the mode declaration improves both time and space performances in solving dynamic programming problems on tabled LP systems. Additionally, our mode declaration scheme provides an alternative implementation vehicle for preference logic programming.
Has the internet increased trade? Evidence from industrial and developing countries

If the Internet made it easier for firms to enter new markets by reducing communication and search costs, then it may also have made it easier to export goods and services. The authors find that higher Internet penetration in developing countries is correlated with greater exports to industrial countries, but not with trade between developing countries or with exports from industrial countries. Interpreting the correlations is difficult because causation may run from Internet use to exports or from trade openness to Internet use. To test whether Internet use affects export behavior, the authors endogenize Internet use by using countries' regulation of data services and Internet provision as instrumental variables. The results are robust to endogenizing Internet penetration, suggesting that access to the Internet does affect the export performance of firms in developing countries. In other words, Internet access appears to stimulate exports from poor countries to rich countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that regulatory policies affecting telecommunications and Internet development indirectly affect trade, further emphasizing the importance of deregulating potentially competitive services in the telecommunications industry.
Hadron Supersymmetry and Relations between Meson and Baryon Masses

Supersymmetry is a symmetry between bosons and fermions. To my knowledge, Hironari Miyazawa was the first person to apply the idea of supersymmetry to particle physics. As early as 1966 he published a paper1 in which the abstract states that “both baryons and mesons are grouped together in...a supermultiplet.” Miyazawa introduced his scheme with the aim of obtaining relations between properties of baryons and mesons. He wrote a second paper on the subject two years later.2
AN ALUMINOSILICATE ION EXCHANGER FOR RECOVERY AND TRANSPORT OF $sup 137$Cs FROM FISSION-PRODUCT WASTES

A method for recovering fission-product cesium from aged basic fission-product waste with an aluminosilicate ion exchanger (Decalso) was developed and demonstrated. Cesium is selectively adsorbed o...
Dilithium Tris(1‐pentynyl)cuprate

[58384-88-6] C15H21CuLi2 (MW 278.79) InChI = 1S/3C5H7.Cu.2Li/c3*1-3-5-4-2;;;/h3*3,5H2,1H3;;;/q;;;-2;2*+1 InChIKey = XIUGILQVZNKCBG-UHFFFAOYSA-N (organometallic alkynylating agent for α,β-unsaturated ketones1 and for displacement of electrophilic amines2) Solubility: sol ether to −78 °C. Preparative Method: to purified Copper(I) Iodide (10.5 mmol) suspended in ether at 0 °C is added 1-pentynyllithium (30 mmol; prepared from n-Butyllithium and 1-pentyne).3 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: should be used immediately following preparation.
Mechanisms that control bacterial populations in continuous-flow culture models of mouse large intestinal flora.

A previous study had established that anaerobic continuous-flow (CF) cultures of conventional mouse cecal flora were able to maintain the in vivo ecological balance among the indigenous bacterial species tested. This paper describes experiments designed to determine the mechanisms which control the population sizes of these species in such CF cultures. One strain each of Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium sp., and Eubacterium sp. were studied. Growth of these strains in filtrates of CF cultures was considerably more rapid than in the CF cultures themselves, indicating that the inhibitory activity had been lost in the process of filtration. Growth rates to match those in CF cultures could be obtained, however, by restoring the original levels of H2S in the culture filtrates. The inhibitory effect of H2S in filtrates and in dialysates of CF cultures could be abolished by adding glucose or pyruvate, but not formate or lactate. The fatty acids present in CF cultures matched those in the cecum of conventional mice in both quality and concentration. These acids could not account for the slow rates of growth of the tested strains in CF cultures, but they did cause a marked increase in the initial lag phase of E. coli growth. The results obtained are compatible with the hypothesis that the populations of most indigenous intestinal bacteria are controlled by one or a few nutritional substrates which a given strain can utilize most efficiently in the presence of H2S and at the prevailing conditions of pH and anaerobiosis. This hypothesis consequently implies that the populations of enterobacteria, such as the E. coli strain tested, and those of the predominant anaerobes are controlled by analogous mechanisms.
Attrition from conjoint alcoholism treatment: do dropouts differ from completers?

This study addresses patient attrition in order to identify variables associated with retention in conjoint treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence. Subjects were 105 male alcoholics and their partners who participated in a randomized clinical trial of three approaches to conjoint treatment of alcoholism: (a) alcohol and behavioral marital therapy (ABMT); (b) ABMT plus Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon (AA/ABMT); and (c) ABMT plus relapse prevention (RP/ABMT). Completers ( n = 45) attended two assessment and 15–17 treatment sessions. Partial completers ( n = 23) left treatment between the 5th and 15th treatment session. Thirty-seven dropouts left treatment between the first assessment session and the 5th treatment session; of these, 22 dropouts completed at least one treatment session (called early treatment dropouts). Of subjects who entered treatment, dropouts from early treatment were least compliant with treatment requirements in the first few sessions, less educated, and less committed to their relationship. Data indicate that therapists with more clinical experience were more likely to retain clients in treatment, regardless of treatment condition. The data do not reflect a linear relationship between most variables studied and a continuum of attrition status from assessment to completion of the program.
Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and/or O3 on intra- and interspecific competitive ability of aspen.

Three model communities of trembling aspen (monoculture, and mixed with either paper birch or sugar maple) were grown for seven years in elevated atmospheric CO2 and O3 using Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) technology. We utilized trends in species' importance, calculated as an index of volume growth and survival, as indications of shifting community composition. For the pure aspen communities, different clones emerged as having the highest change in relative importance values depending on the pollutant exposure. In the control and elevated CO2 treatments, clone 42E was rapidly becoming the most successful clone while under elevated O3, clone 8 L emerged as the dominant clone. In fact, growth of clone 8 L was greater in the elevated O3 treatment compared to controls. For the mixed aspen-birch community, importance of aspen and birch changed by -16% and +62%, respectively, in the controls. In the treatments, however, importance of aspen and birch changed by -27% and +87%, respectively, in elevated O3, and by -10% and +45%, respectively, in elevated CO2. Thus, the presence of elevated O3 hastened conversion of stands to paper birch, whereas the presence of elevated CO2 delayed it. Relative importance of aspen and maple changed by -2% and +3%, respectively, after seven years in the control treatments. But in elevated O3, relative importance of aspen and maple changed by -2% and +5%, respectively, and in elevated CO2 by +9 and -20%, respectively. Thus, elevated O3 slightly increases the rate of conversion of aspen stands to sugar maple, but maple is placed at a competitive disadvantage to aspen under elevated CO2.
Start and the Restriction Point

Commitment to division requires that cells sense, interpret, and respond appropriately to multiple signals. In most eukaryotes, cells commit to division in G1 before DNA replication. Beyond a point, known as Start in yeast and the restriction point in mammals, cells will proceed through the cell cycle despite changes in upstream signals. In metazoans, misregulated G1 control can lead to developmental problems or disease, so it is important to understand how cells decipher the myriad external and internal signals that contribute to the fundamental all-or-none decision to divide. Extensive study of G1 control in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammalian culture systems has revealed highly similar networks regulating commitment. However, protein sequences of functional orthologs often indicate a total lack of conservation suggesting significant evolution of G1 control. Here, we review recent studies defining the conserved and diverged features of G1 control and highlight systems-level aspects that may be common to other biological regulatory networks.
Multislice computed tomographic findings in symptomatic patients after amplatzer septal occluder device implantation.

Background: Complications of transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) include pericardial effusion, tamponade, and even death. Transthoracic echocardiography in the adult is often limited by poor acoustic windows that lead to incomplete device assessment. Advances in multislice computed tomography (MSCT) provide an alternative modality to assess the anatomy of the Amplatzer Septal Occluder (ASO) device. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of MSCT in providing anatomic information in patients with persistent or recurrent symptoms after transcatheter closure of ASDs with ASO devices. Methods: A retrospective analysis of adult patients who underwent ASO device implantation with subsequent MSCT imaging as a result of symptoms from June 2006 to May 2007 was performed. Data analysis included age, gender, size of ASO device, relationship of the device to surrounding structures, symptoms, and the length of time between device implantation and onset of symptoms. Results: Eleven patients were identified with a mean age of 41 years. Patients presented with symptoms 1 week to 2.4 years after implantation. ASO size ranged from 8 to 36 mm. MSCT provided detailed information in all 11 cases regarding anatomic location of the device with respect to surrounding structures. Nonobstructive coronary plaque disease was identified in one patient. Two patients had pericardial effusions. Conclusions: Cardiac symptoms after ASO implant deserve thorough investigation. MSCT is feasible in the assessment of such patients and offers a unique assessment of the device to surrounding anatomic structures and should be considered as a useful adjunct to echocardiography in symptomatic patients.
1064 COURSE OF PULMONARY DYSFUNCTION IN CHILDREN SURVIVING PNEUMOCYSTIS CARINII PNEUMONITIS (PCP): A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Twenty-five pulmonary function studies were done serially in 23 children, 7-18 years of age, who had survived the acute stage of PCP and were asymptomatic. Spirometric indices, expiratory flow rates, pulmonary gas transfer factor (DLCO), blood gases and other clinical variables were assessed a few days befor hospital discharge and at 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month intervals. Two patients developed recurrent PCP during follow-up and were studied twice. All but 5 (80%) had pulmonary dysfunction when tested initially. A decrease in DLCO in 17 studies was the most common abnormality. Restrictive lung disease was seen in 11, an obstructive component in 1, and arterial hypoxemia at rest in 9 cases. Roentgenologic evidence of lung opacities, seen in 11 studies, was positively correlated (P<0.001) with decreases in DLCO. Arterial hypoxemia was significantly related to intrapulmonary right-to-left shunting (P<0.001) but not to DLCO indicating the importance of ventilation-perfusion abnormalities in the genesis of hypoxemia in these patients. Serial follow-up studies showed significant improvement in lung functions within 1 month (P<0.001) and complete resolution by 6 months in all survivors. The recovery was not related to the amount or duration of oxygen therapy or to the need for mechanical ventilation. Histopathologic studies in 9 patients who died during follow-up or subsequently did not indicate any residual interstitial fibrosis, collagen deposits and alveolopathy or vascular proliferation. We conclude that PCP in older children commonly does not result in long-lasting pulmonary sequelae.
Investigating the Effects of Grain Boundary Energy Anisotropy and Second-Phase Particles on Grain Growth Using a Phase-Field Model

A phase-field model was used to investigate the simultaneous effects of grain boundary energy anisotropy and the presence of second-phase particles on grain growth in polycrystalline materials. The system of grains with anisotropic grain boundary energies was constructed by considering models of low and high misorientation angles between adjacent grains. Systems without particles reached a steady state grain growth rate, and this rate decreased by including the grain boundary energy anisotropy. In addition, the presence of particles significantly altered the microstructures during grain growth. This study showed that for systems including particles, the critical average grain size to stop grain growth depends not only on the volume fraction and size of particles, but also on the grain boundary energy anisotropy.
“Some in Rags and Some in Jags and Some in Silken Gowns”: Textiles from Iceland’s Early Modern Period

The Danish trade monopoly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries resulted in the implementation of strict regulations and controls on textile production, the introduction of weaving workshops equipped with new horizontal looms, and a deliberate attempt to phase out the production of homespun cloth on the warp- weighted loom. What was the fate of homespun cloth in this era of introduced industrialization in Iceland? Archaeological textile collections from Iceland's early modern period are abundant though understudied. This paper reports current research on these collections and suggests that homespun cloth did not die out in the late medieval period, but that it continued into the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, declining slowly thereafter. Moreover, homespun cloth of the early modern period evolved into something that was structurally different than its earlier medieval version, possibly in response to increased climatic fluctuations during the Little Ice Age.
Electron spectroscopy into the twenty-first century

Abstract Global socioeconomic trends define the external envelope within which electron spectroscopy will develop in the coming decades. The signs are very positive that this field will be increasingly in demand as new methodology is developed, leading to advances in both basic science and applications to technology. Four fields of transcendent scientific opportunity are identified. All benefit from electron spectroscopy. Two of the many newly developing techniques related to electron spectroscopy are described briefly.
Innovation in a Cold [War] Climate: Engineering Peace with the American Military-Industrial Complex

On January 8, 2008, executives at MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), a systems engineering firm centered in Vancouver, British Columbia, triggered a political firestorm by announcing that, subject to regulatory approval by the governments of Canada and the United States, shareholders had approved the sale of the firm's space business to Alliant Techsystems (ATK), an aerospace company and manufacturer of land mines, cluster bombs, and missiles headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Daniel Friedmann, MDA's chief executive since 1995, argued the sale would “allow the company to focus management and financial resources exclusively on its rapidly growing information products business,” particularly the firm's property-information systems for those “involved in real estate-related transactions such as the buying, selling, conveyancing, mortgage financing, and insurance of properties.”
Investigation of voltage stability in unbalanced distribution systems with DG using three-phase current injection based CPF

Because of slow expansion of unbalanced distribution systems and fast growth of load, as well as the increased DG penetration level, voltage stability becomes an important issue for the proper operation of distribution systems. In this work, a three-phase current injection based continuation power flow was proposed and implemented to compute the three-phase PV curve of distribution systems. Different load models and load connections were considered, as well as DG in PQ or PV control mode with reactive power limit. Detailed implementation of the proposed method was described. IEEE 13-node test feeder was modeled and several case studies were performed to investigate the impact of various factors on the voltage stability of the unbalanced distribution system.
Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Colonial Bentgrass ( Agrostis capillaris L.) using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Markers

Colonial bentgrass (Agrostis capillaris L.) is a cool-season grass, native to temperate Asia and Europe. It has good tolerance to low temperatures and partial shade and is well suited to golf course fairways and tees. Little information is available regarding levels and patterns of genetic variation among populations of colonial bentgrass, which would be useful for breeding programs. To study the genetic relationships among 27 colonial bentgrass accessions obtained from the US National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were scored and analyzed. Out of 80 primers screened, 16 were selected for further analysis, which yielded a total of 120 polymorphic bands used to differentiate the accessions. Dice's similarity coefficients for pair-wise comparisons ranged from 0.23 to 0.84 based on the RAPD data. Since there was no similarity coefficient value close to 1 between any two accessions, there was no apparent duplication among the sampled accessions. A dendrogram constructed on the basis of the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic average (UPGMA) clustering algorithm clearly separated 26 of the accessions into three clusters with one accession distinct from the rest. The least similar pair of accessions was PI 204397 from Turkey and PI 628720 from Bulgaria, and the most similar pair was PI 509437 from Romania and PI 491264 from Finland. Clustering patterns based on principal components analysis (PCA) corresponded well with the dendrogram. A high cophenetic correlation (r = 0.82) was found between the RAPD data matrix and cophenetic matrix. The accession PI 628720, from Bulgaria, did not cluster with any other accessions.
Two organizational case studies of IT-Enabled value

IT-enabled value has continued to attract research and managerial attention because some organizations tend to outperform others in deriving IT-enabled value from their investments. Since there are many direct and indirect influencers of IT-enabled value, we posit that what may distinguish one organization from another are the assumptions and conceptual models of transformation processes associated with IT-enabled value creation. Transforming organizational inputs like technology investments, investments in improvement and training and management resources into IT-enabled value is a complex process. Consequently, we adopted a process-oriented stance to uncover the mental models and shared assumptions that underlie such transformative processes. By using interpretive structural modelling, we were able to map and analyse conceptual models of principal stakeholders who are associated with information technologies in two organizations. Our results show how antecedents and consequents associated with IT-enabled value vary across organizations. The primary implication of our findings for managers and practitioners is that it is possible to identify the principal levers to derive IT-enabled value. The major research implication lies in being able to frame the process of deriving IT-enabled value as emergent and dynamic. Our methodological contribution is in presenting an efficient approach to understand and improve the process of IT-enabled value creation. This forms an important contribution because post-facto insights may be too late for organizations and managers to leverage the potential of new technologies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Blood-brain barrier

The Concept of a Blood-Brain Barrier. By Michael Bradbury. Pp.465. (Wiley: Chichester, UK, and New York, 1979.) £22.
Repetition frequencies of early and late-replicating DNA of frog embryos.

Abstract Renaturation rates of labeled DNA isolated from partially synchronized Rana pipiens embryo explants at different times in the S period were compared. No differences in the proportions of DNA of any class of repetition frequency were observed between DNA replicating early or late in S.
P18.11: Unilateral pulmonary agenesis: prenatal imaging and outcome in three cases

Objectives: To review the imaging findings and outcome of unilateral pulmonary agenesis in the fetus. Methods: Retrospective review at a single academic center. Results: Case 1: Presented at 29 weeks with severe IUGR, occipital encephalocele, left renal agenesis, arthrogryposis, small stomach and left lung agenesis. The infant died at 30 hrs of age, no intervention occured. Case 2: Presented at 18 weeks with unilateral left lung agenesis, small right lung, right renal agenesis, interrupted aortic arch, facial dysmorphism. The infant lived about 30 mins after resuscitation attempts ceased. Case 3: Presented at 20 weeks with left pulmonary agenesis, right renal agenesis, club foot, caudal regression sequence and other vertebral segmentation anomalies as well as a single umbilical artery. The infant survived; she had emergency repair of aortic coarctation and is alive at age 3. All had normal karyotype. Conclusions: Pulmonary agenesis is described as an isolated finding in the pediatric literature however 50% of live born infants have features of the VACTERL association. Our series suggests that the prognosis is guarded when the diagnosis is made prenatally. All three had significant associated abnormalities, some of which were not appreciated on fetal US or MRI. Two infants died in the neonatal period and the third had a difficult time during repair of an unanticipated coarctation of the aorta.
Symbiotic prokaryotic communities from different populations of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta

The prokaryotic community composition of the ecologically dominant sponge, Xestospongia muta, and the variability of this community across in different populations of sponges from the Caribbean and Bahamas were quantified using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The symbiotic prokaryotic communities of X. muta were significantly different than the surrounding bacterioplankton communities while an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) of the sponge prokaryotic symbionts from three geographically distant sites showed that both symbiont and bacterioplankton populations were significantly different between locations. Comparisons of individual sponges based on the UniFrac P-test also revealed significant differences in community composition between individual sponges. The sponges harbored a variety of phylum level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) common to many sponges, including Cyanobacteria, Poribacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Gemmatimonadetes, but four additional symbiotic phyla, previously not reported for this sponge, were observed. Additionally, a diverse archaeal community was also recovered from X. muta including sequences representing the phyla Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota. These results have important ecological implications for the understanding of host–microbe associations, and provide a foundation for future studies addressing the functional roles these symbiotic prokaryotes have in the biology of the host sponge and the nutrient biogeochemistry of coral reefs.
Autonomous real-time landing site selection for Venus and Titan using Evolutionary Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Future science-driven landing missions, conceived to collect in situ data on regions of planetary bodies that have the highest potential to yield important scientific discoveries, will require a higher degree of autonomy. The latter includes the ability of the spacecraft to autonomously select the landing site using real-time data acquired during the descent phase. This paper presents the development of an Evolutionary Fuzzy Cognitive Map (E-FCM) model that implements an artificial intelligence system capable of autonomously selecting a landing site with the highest potential for scientific discoveries constrained by the requirement of soft landing in a region with safe terrains. The proposed E-FCM evolves its internal states and interconnections as a function of real-time data collected during the descent phase, therefore improving the decision process as more accurate information becomes available. The E-FCM is constructed using knowledge accumulated by planetary experts and it is tested on scenarios that simulate the decision process during the descent phase toward the Hyndla Regio on Venus. The E-FCM is shown to quickly reach conclusions that are consistent with what would be the choice of a planetary expert if the scientist were presented with the same information. The proposed methodology is fast and efficient and may be suitable for on-board spacecraft implementation and real-time decision making during the course of robotic exploration of the Solar System.
Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases

Review of Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases . Amber M. VanDerwarker and Tanya M. Peres, eds. 2010. Springer, New York. Pp. 317, 13 color illustrations, 13 black-and-white illustrations. $129.00 (hardback). ISBN 9781441909343.
Dynamics of Fermat potentials in nonperturbative gravitational lensing

We present a framework, based on the null-surface formulation of general relativity, for discussing the dynamics of Fermat potentials for gravitational lensing in a generic situation without approximations of any kind. Additionally, we derive two lens equations: one for the case of thick compact lenses and the other one for lensing by gravitational waves. These equations in principle generalize the astrophysical scheme for lensing by removing the thin-lens approximation while retaining the weak fields.
An approximation method for eigenvectors of very large matrices

A Monte-Carlo approach for solving huge, dense matrices for eigenvalues and eigenvectors is proposed. The matrix must satisfy certain conditions including a smooth density of diagonal elements curve and relatively constant off-diagonal elements. The approach simply involves randomly choosing a finite order (as large as computationally possible) subset matrix from the original matrix and then diagonalizing the subset. The results are crude, but often informative.
Emergency physician perceptions of patient safety risks.

Study objective Although national standards to address patient safety exist, their relevance to emergency department (ED) patient safety is unclear. We survey practicing emergency physicians to assess their perceptions of the relative importance of patient safety concerns and how these varied by urban/rural location and practice characteristics. Methods We developed and analyzed electronically collected survey data that assessed emergency physician perceptions of patient safety risks. American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) members rated 16 patient safety concerns with a 5-point Likert scale. Results Of 2,507 emergency physician respondents, 1,114 (44%) practiced in urban, 1,056 (42%) in suburban, and 337 (13%) in rural settings. Crowding from inpatient boarding (mean Likert scale score 4.3), availability of specialty consultation (mean 4.1), and nursing shortages (mean 3.9) were the greatest concerns. Rural respondents ranked consultant availability (mean 4.3), lack of follow-up after ED care (mean 3.8), and nurse shortages (mean 3.8) as top concerns. Crowding was the greatest concern for suburban (mean 4.3) and urban emergency physicians (mean 4.5) but was ranked seventh by rural emergency physicians (mean 3.5). Crowding was perceived as a greater problem as hospital size, ED volume, and the percentage of patients who left without being seen increased, regardless of practice location. Conclusion In this sample of practicing emergency physicians, rural emergency physicians' patient safety concerns differ from those of their urban/suburban counterparts. For urban/suburban emergency physicians, crowding is the greatest safety concern; for rural emergency physicians, consultant availability was the greatest concern. Emergency physicians' greatest concerns are not routinely measured and reported as part of national patient safety benchmarking programs.
Color-coded speckle tracking radial strain dyssynchrony analysis in a canine model of left bundle branch block and cardiac resynchronization therapy

Quantification of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony is important for heart failure patients with left bundle branch block to assess the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We tested the hypothesis that LV contraction dyssynchrony and the impact of CRT on restoration of efficient synchronous contraction could be quantified from discordant regional radial strain.
External Rossby Waves in the Two-Layer Model

Abstract In order to clarify the extent to which the two-layer model can successfully simulate the remote tropospheric response to localized stationary forcing, the structure of stationary Rossby waves in the two-layer model is compared with that in continuous models. One finds a close correspondence when the two-layer flow is supercritical in the sense of the Phillips' criterion, except for the possibility of upstream propagation in the two-layer model when the lower-layer wind is small. When the two-layer flow is subcritical, the stationary waves can be very seriously distorted. The manner in which neutral modes are spatially or temporally destabilized by damping in the two-layer model is contrasted with similar results for Charney's model.
A collaborative cardiologist-pharmacist care model to improve hypertension management in patients with or at high risk for cardiovascular disease

Physician led collaborative drug therapy management utilizing clinical pharmacists to aid in the medication management of patients with hypertension has been shown to improve blood pressure control. With recommendations for lower blood pressures in patients with coronary artery disease, a cardiologist-pharmacist collaborative care model may be a novel way to achieve these more rigorous goals of therapy.Objective: The purpose of this project was to evaluate this type of care model in a high cardiac risk patient population.Methods: A retrospective cohort study determined the ability of a cardiologist-pharmacist care model (n=59) to lower blood pressure and achieve blood pressure goals (< 130/80 mmHg) in patients with or at high risk for coronary artery disease compared to usual cardiologist care (n=58) in the same clinical setting.Results: The cardiologist-pharmacist care model showed a higher percentage of patients obtaining their goal blood pressure compared to cardiologist care alone, 49.2% versus 31.0% respectively, p=0.0456. Greater reductions in systolic blood pressure (-22 mmHg versus -12 mmHg, p=0.0077) and pulse pressure (-15 mmHg versus -7 mmHg, p=0.0153) were noted in the cardiologist-pharmacist care model. No differences in diastolic blood pressure were found. There was a shorter duration of clinic follow-up (7.0 versus 13.2 months, p=0.0013) but a higher frequency of clinic visits (10.7 versus 3.45, p<0.0001) in the cardiologist-pharmacist care model compared to usual care. The number of antihypertensive agents used did not change over the time period evaluated.Conclusion: This study suggests a team-based approach to hypertensive care using a collaborative cardiologist-pharmacist care model improves blood pressure from baseline in a high cardiac risk patient population and was more likely to obtain more stringent blood pressure goals than usual care.
Precise sex ratios manifested by several encyrtid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) of brown soft scale, Coccus hesperidum L. (Hemiptera: Coccidae)

We examined whether several facultatively gregarious encyrtid (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) endoparasitoids of brown soft scale, Coccus hesperidum L., manifest precise sex allocation under field conditions. Metaphycus luteolus (Timberlake), Metaphycus angustifrons (Compere), Metaphycus stanleyi (Compere), and Microterys nietneri (Motshulsky) evince brood sex ratios that are female-biased and extremely precise (low variance in the number of sons per host). Typically, this sex allocation pattern is attributed to extreme local mate competition (LMC) in which only one foundress exploits a patch of hosts and mating occurs mostly between her offspring. However, such a pattern of sex allocation was not detected for Metaphycus helvolus (Compere). Also, a large proportion of the broods in all five species contained only daughters; thus, an excess of male-only broods was expected if unmated females (i.e., females that can produce only sons) contribute offspring before mating. All-male broods were rare in our samples. This finding coupled with the life history characteristics of these wasps, such as the exploitation of aggregated hosts and the long life span and mobility of males, suggest that nonlocal mating is frequent. Our empirical work suggests that it is advantageous to allocate precise sex ratios in cases in which mating opportunities for males are not restricted to their natal host and/or when multiple foundresses exploit large patches of hosts. Limited theoretical work also supports this prediction but more detailed studies of this taxon’s mating structure and other life history characteristics are necessary to understand their sex allocation decisions.
Self-esteem of female athletes and nonathletes relative to sex role type and sport type

The purpose of the present research was to investigate the relationship of the self-esteem of female athletes and nonathletes to sex role type and sport type. The athletic group was comprised of 75 female collegiate athletes from eight sports and the nonathletic group consisted of a random sample of 75 female nonathletes. An assessment of self-esteem and sex role type was completed through administering to all subjects the short form of the (PRF) ANDRO Scale of Masculinity and Femininity, and the Interpersonal Disposition Inventory (IDI). On the basis of the results of the IDI, the subjects were categorized into four sex role types: androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated. Based upon previous research, it was predicted that (1) athletes would exhibit higher self-esteem scores than nonathletes, (2) the self-esteem of androgynous individuals would be higher than other sex role types, (3) the self-esteem of feminine or undifferentiated individuals would be lower than other sex role types, (4) the self-esteem of female athletes in higher femininity status sports would be greater than those in lower femininity status sports, and (5) there would be a greater proportion of androgynous athletes and feminine nonathletes. The following significant results were found: nonathletes in the feminine sex role type were lower in self-esteem than all other groups; and there was a greater proportion of androgynous athletes and feminine nonathletes than expected by chance. There were no differences in self-esteem of athletes in higher femininity status vs lower femininity status sports. These findings were discussed relative to past research, and the potential impact of sport on the psychosocial development or selection of certain sex role types.
Fast algorithm for Monte Carlo simulations of systems with fermions.

A fast algorithm for computing the effects of the fermionic determinant in a lattice field theory is presented which involves only local field updates. The method makes use of bosonic pseudofermion fields, but differs from other pseudofermion techniques in that it has no built-in systematic error. In particular, the magnitude of changes in the gauge field from one configuration to the next need not be restricted. The method is successfully demonstrated in a two-dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theory coupled to spinless fermions.
Conversion of an inactive cardiac dihydropyridine receptor II-III loop segment into forms that activate skeletal ryanodine receptors.

A 25 amino acid segment (Glu666–Pro691) of the II-III loop of the α1 subunit of the skeletal dihydropyridine receptor, but not the corresponding cardiac segment (Asp788–Pro814), activates skeletal ryanodine receptors. To identify the structural domains responsible for activation of skeletal ryanodine receptors, we systematically replaced amino acids of the cardiac II-III loop with their skeletal counterparts. A cluster of five basic residues of the skeletal II-III loop (681RKRRK685) was indispensable for activation of skeletal ryanodine receptors. In the cardiac segment, a negatively charged residue (Glu804) appears to diminish the electrostatic potential created by this basic cluster. In addition, Glu800 in the group of negatively charged residues 798EEEEE802 of the cardiac II-III loop may serve to prevent the binding of the activation domain.
A thruster sub-system module /TSSM/ for solar electric propulsion

Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) is currently being studied for possible use in a number of near-earth and planetary missions. Thruster systems for these missions could be integrated directly into a spacecraft or modularized into a Thruster Sub-System Module (TSSM). A TSSM for electric propulsion missions would consist of a 30-cm ion thruster, thruster gimbal system, propellant storage and feed system, associated Power Processing Unit (PPU), thermal control system and complete supporting structure. The TSSM would be wholly self-contained and be essentially a plug-in or strap-on electric stage with simple mechanical, thermal, electrical and propellant interfaces. The TSSM described in this report is designed for a broad range of missions requiring from two to ten TSSM's mounted in a 2 by x configuration. The thermal control system is designed to accommodate waste heat from the power processor based on realistic efficiencies when the TSSM is operating from 0.7 to 3.5 AU's. The modules are 0.61 M (2 ft) wide by 2.29 M (7.5 ft) long and have a dry weight including propellant tank of 54.4 kg (120 lb). The propellant tank will hold 145.1 kg (320 lb) of mercury.
Quantum dot intersubband photodetectors

Quantum dots are recognized as very promising candidates for the fabrication of intersubband photodetectors in the infrared spectral range. At present, material quality is making rapid progress and some devices have been demonstrated. Examples of mid-infrared quantum dot intersubband photodetectors are presented along with device design and data analysis. Nonetheless, the performance of these devices remains less than comparable quantum well intersubband photodetectors due to difficulties in controlling the quantum dot size and distribution during epitaxy.