cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Care of cancer patients in a home-based hospice program: a comparison of oncologists and primary care physicians.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to describe a group of patients cared for in a home-based hospice program and to determine if there was a difference in patients' experiences dependent on whether the attending physician was a primary care physician or an oncologist. METHODS Information about cancer patients admitted to the Burlington Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) Hospice program from January 1986 to December 1990 was reviewed to compare the experiences of the patients of the oncologists with those of the patients of the primary care physicians. RESULTS There was no difference in average length of stay or overall ambulatory status between the patient groups. The patient group cared for by oncologists had more hospitalizations than the group cared for by primary care physicians though there was not a significant difference in the percentage of hospital vs home deaths. There was a significant difference between the groups in the use of controlled-release morphine, with oncologists using this approach more often than primary care physicians. Oncologists also had more patients on continuous parenteral morphine infusions during hospice care. CONCLUSIONS Primary care physicians as well as oncologists provide effective cancer care and pain control in this home-based hospice program. The hospice interdisciplinary team can be a valuable resource for physicians in supplying information on appropriate narcotics dosages and routes of administration for their dying patients.
The prevalence of hepatitis B infection in central China: An adult population-based serological survey of a large sample size

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of serum HBsAg among adults in Henan province, China. A provincial serosurvey of people aged 18-74 years was conducted and individuals for analysis were selected using a multistage stratified random cluster sampling method. A 5-ml serum sample from each person was collected and the serum was tested for the presence of HBsAg, HBcAb, HBsAb, HBeAg, and HBeAb by ELISA. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with the prevalence of HBsAg. A total of 16,685 residents, aged 18-74 years who resided in 60 communities or villages in Henan, China were surveyed. Among the eligible study population, 642 HBsAg positive cases (3.7%) were found. The prevalence increased steadily from 3.1% among population aged 18-35 years old, to 5.1% among population aged 55-74 years. Accordingly, HBsAb declined steadily from 53.4% to 24.7%. Six hundred and forty-two positive HBsAg blood samples were screened for the HBeAg and HBeAb. HBeAg prevalence declined steadily from 27.7% among population age 18-35 years old to 6.8% among population age 55-74 years old. The single factor analysis was used for 16 possible risk factors and multivariate analysis showed that five risk factors were significantly related to HBV infection. HBV infection is a serious public health problem among adult population in Henan. Strengthening administrative regulations of medical practices, especially in rural areas, and providing health education propaganda to the public of HBV infection should be given more attention on public health policy. J. Med. Virol. 89:450-457, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The PHOTON Explorations: Sixteen Activities, Many Uses

The PHOTON Explorations were adapted from favorite demonstrations of teacher participants in the PHOTON projects of the New England Board of Higher Education as well as Hands-on-Optics activities and interesting demonstrations found on the web. Since the end of project PHOTON2 in 2006, the sixteen inquiry-based activities have formed the basis for a hands-on “home lab” distance- learning course that has been used for college students, teacher professional development and corporate training. With the support of OSA, they have been brought to life in a series of sixteen short videos aimed at a middle school audience. The Explorations are regularly used as activities in outreach activities for middle and high school students and are introduced yearly to an international audience at an outreach workshop at SPIE’s Optics and Photonics meeting. In this paper we will demonstrate the Explorations, trace their origins and explain the content. We will also provide details on the development of the Exploration videos, the online course, and outreach materials and give statistics on their use in each format. Links to online resources will be provided.
Performance and Interoperability Issues in Incorporating Cluster Management Systems within a Wide-Area Network-Computing Environment

This paper describes the performance and interoperability issues that arise in the process of integrating cluster management systems into a wide-area network-computing environment, and provides solutions in the context of the Purdue University Network Computing Hubs (PUNCH). The described solution provides users with a single point of access to resources spread across administrative domains, and an intel ligent translation process makes it possible for users to submit jobs to different types of cluster management systems in a transparent manner. The approach does not require any modifications to the cluster management software; however, call-back and caching capabilities that would improve performance and make such systems more interoperable with wide-area computing systems are discussed.
Property Value as a Proxy of Socioeconomic Status in Education

The effects of poverty on important outcome measures are devastating and well documented, but the conceptualization and operationalization of socioeconomic status (SES) are underdeveloped. Various ...
Relative Deprivation and Perceived Inefficacy of the Civil Rights Movement and of Black Elected Officials

Objectives This study addresses whether relative deprivation theory explains why some blacks perceive that the civil rights movement and black elected officials failed to improve the lot of the black community, including their own life chances. Methods We use data from a nationally representative survey of black adults, collected approximately 15 years after the passing of landmark civil rights legislation. Results Net of control variables, we find that relative deprivation associates significantly and positively with perceived inefficacy of black elected officials. However, relative deprivation does not predict perceptions of the civil rights movement as ineffective. Conclusions We know too little about mechanisms that produce variation in blacks’ perceptions of race-related social change. Today's economic and sociopolitical climate provides a unique opportunity to explore and explain such variation.
Simultaneous editing of GABA and glutathione at 7T using semi-LASER localization.

Purpose To demonstrate simultaneous editing of the two most commonly edited and overlapping signals, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glutathione (GSH), with Hadamard encoding and reconstruction of MEGA-edited spectroscopy (HERMES) using sLASER localization at 7T. Methods Density matrix simulations of HERMES at 7T were carried out and compared with phantom experiments. Additional phantom experiments were performed to characterize the echo time (TE) -dependent modulation of GABA- and GSH-edited HERMES spectra at TE of 80-160 ms. In vivo experiments were performed in 10 healthy volunteers, comparing HERMES (11 min) to sequentially acquired MEGA-sLASER detection of GABA and GSH (2 × 11 min). Results Simulations of HERMES show GABA- and GSH-edited spectra with negligible levels of crosstalk, and give modest agreement with phantom spectra. The TE series of GABA- and GSH-edited HERMES spectra modulate as a result of T2 relaxation and coupling evolution, with GABA showing a stronger TE-dependence. In vivo HERMES experiments show well-edited GABA and GSH signals. Measured concentrations are not statistically different between HERMES and MEGA-sLASER for GABA (1. 051 ± 0.254 i.u. and 1.053 ± 0.248 i.u; P > 0.985) or GSH (0.300 ± 0.091 i.u. and 0.302 ± 0.093 i.u; P > 0.940). Conclusion Simulated, phantom and in vivo measurements of HERMES show excellent segregation of GABA- and GSH-edited signals, and excellent agreement with separately acquired MEGA-sLASER data. HERMES allows two-fold acceleration of editing while maintaining spectral quality compared with sequentially acquired MEGA-sLASER measurements. Magn Reson Med 80:474-479, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Discriminative n-gram selection for dialect recognition.

Dialect recognition is a challenging and multifaceted problem. Distinguishing between dialects can rely upon many tiers of interpretation of speech data—e.g., prosodic, phonetic, spectral, and word. High-accuracy automatic methods for dialect recognition typically rely upon either phonetic or spectral characteristics of the input. A challenge with spectral system, such as those based on shifted-delta cepstral coefficients, is that they achieve good performance but do not provide insight into distinctive dialect features. In this work, a novel method based upon discriminative training and phone N grams is proposed. This approach achieves excellent classification performance, fuses well with other systems, and has interpretable dialect characteristics in the phonetic tier. The method is demonstrated on data from the LDC and prior NIST language recognition evaluations. The method is also combined with spectral methods to demonstrate state-of-the-art performance in dialect recognition.
Permeability Reduction in Water Sensitivity of Sandstones

A model was developed to describe the rapid decline of permeability of Berea sandstone resulting from its water sensitivity. The model is based on the release and capture of clay particles. The release of clay particles from the pore wall is approximated as a first order decay process and the rate at which particles leave the suspension to plug the pores is assumed to be directly proportional to the particle concentration in the suspension. The resulting equations are solved in conjunction with a semi-empirical relationship relating the local permeability and the amount of clay particles captured to determine the overall permeability of the sandstone core as a function of time. Model predictions are in agreement with experimental observations.
Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions Data Harmonization: Rationale and Development of Guidelines.

Background: The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) research program aims to defeat the rising HIV epidemic among adolescents and young adults in the United States. Objective: This study aims to optimize cross-study analyses and comparisons of standardized measures (variables) collected in the ATN. Methods: Guidelines were developed for harmonizing measures to be collected across ATN studies. Results: Eight domains were identified for harmonization—Demographics and Socioeconomic Characteristics, Sexual Behavior and Risk, Substance Use and Abuse, HIV-Positive Cascade, HIV-Negative Cascade, Mental Health, Social Support and Isolation, and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Cascade. Conclusions: The collection of selected key measures in a uniform manner across studies facilitates the characterization of participant populations, comparisons between studies, and pooled analysis of data from multiple studies.
Dyadic Harmonic Analysis and Weighted Inequalities: The Sparse Revolution

We will introduce the basics of dyadic harmonic analysis and how it can be used to obtain weighted estimates for classical Calderon–Zygmund singular integral operators and their commutators. Harmonic analysts have used dyadic models for many years as a first step toward the understanding of more complex continuous operators. In 2000, Stefanie Petermichl discovered a representation formula for the venerable Hilbert transform as an average (over grids) of dyadic shift operators, allowing her to reduce arguments to finding estimates for these simpler dyadic models. For the next decade, the technique used to get sharp weighted inequalities was the Bellman function method introduced by Nazarov, Treil, and Volberg, paired with sharp extrapolation by Dragicevic et al. Other methods where introduced by Hytonen, Lerner, Cruz-Uribe, Martell, Perez, Lacey, Reguera, Sawyer, and Uriarte-Tuero, involving stopping time and median oscillation arguments, precursors of the very successful domination by positive sparse operators methodology. The culmination of this work was Tuomas Hytonen’s 2012 proof of the \(A_2\) conjecture based on a representation formula for any Calderon–Zygmund operator as an average of appropriate dyadic operators. Since then domination by sparse dyadic operators has taken central stage and has found applications well beyond Hytonen’s \(A_p\) theorem. We will survey this remarkable progression and more in these lecture notes.
Development of a collisional dissipation rate model for frictional cylinders

Abstract Homogeneous cooling system (HCS) and shear flow (SF) particulate systems are simulated using the discrete element method (DEM) to develop a collisional dissipation rate model for frictional cylinders. This combination of driven and undriven simulations provides a foundation of results that are not affected by particle alignment or clustering. Particle aspect ratio (AR), coefficient of restitution (e), coefficient of friction (μ), and solid volume fraction (αs) are all varied to produce a collisional dissipation rate model based on a decoupling of e and μ. The new dissipation rate model for frictional cylinders modifies the dissipation rate model for frictionless spheres, where e is replaced with an effective coefficient of restitution (eeff) that is a function of μ. Analysis of the granular temperature ratio indicates that a two-fluid model describing the flow of frictional cylinders will require a rotational granular energy balance.
O encontro mais estranho de todos: discriminação étnica e racial no sistema de saúde dos Estados Unidos

Em 2003, um comite do Instituto de Medicina da Academia Nacional de Ciencias dos Estados Unidos resumiu centenas de estudos documentando o fato de minorias raciais americanas, e principalmente os afro-americanos, receberem cuidados de saude piores para uma ampla gama de doencas, em comparacao com seus concidadaos brancos. Tais diferencas raciais persistem mesmo depois de ajuste para fatores sociodemograficos e para a capacidade dos pacientes de pagar pela assistencia. O comite concluiu que os estereotipos negativos inconscientes dos medicos contra afro-americanos, e talvez contra outras pessoas de cor, provavelmente contribuem para essas disparidades. O artigo faz uma revisao seletiva de estudos publicados desde 2003 sobre a provavel contribuicao do preconceito inconsciente dos medicos americanos para as desigualdades nos cuidados de saude. Todos os estudos usaram o Teste de Associacao Implicita, que quantifica a velocidade relativa com que os individuos associam atributos positivos como “inteligentes” aos brancos, comparados com os negros ou latinos. Alem de avaliar atitudes inconscientes dos medicos em relacao aos pacientes, alguns estudos analisaram as dimensoes comportamentais e afetivas da comunicacao medico-paciente, como a “dominância verbal” dos medicos e o fato dos pacientes se sentirem, ou nao, respeitados. Os estudos revisados detectaram um vies inconsciente “pro-branco” nas atitudes e na interacao dos medicos com os pacientes, embora algumas evidencias sugiram que os medicos negros e as medicas podem ser menos propensos a esse tipo de vies. O contato social limitado entre medicos brancos e minorias etnico-raciais fora do contexto clinico e a premencia do tempo com que os medicos lidam muitas vezes durante encontros com pacientes com problemas de saude complexos podem agravar a susceptibilidade dos medicos ao preconceito inconsciente.
Nontraditional Use of TEE to Evaluate Hepatic Vasculature and Guide Surgical Management in Orthotopic Liver Transplantation.

Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) during orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) is used to gather real-time information on cardiovascular function and intravascular volume status. We report a case where nonstandard TEE views were used to inspect the hepatic vasculature after allograft implantation. A 29-year-old male with secondary biliary cirrhosis with a MELD score of 20 underwent OLT using a liver from a 21-year-old brain-dead donor. Postreperfusion TEE, using the modified hepatic vein views, confirmed the presence of an inferior vena cava (IVC) suprahepatic anastomotic stenosis and hepatic vein and IVC thrombus resulting in hepatic venous outflow obstruction, allograft congestion, and hemodynamic instability. These nonstandard TEE images established the extent of suprahepatic caval outflow obstruction, in which intraoperative ultrasound was unable to definitively demonstrate. This guided real-time surgical decision-making in the postimplantation phase of the operation—ultimately leading to hepatic vein and IVC thrombectomy and revision of suprahepatic caval anastomosis.
A Defence of medical ethics as uncommon morality

I am grateful to the esteemed commentators for their critiques of my paper, ‘Why Not Common Morality’.1 As I read through their remarks, however, they seemed to be talking past my arguments. Their criticisms nevertheless make it clear that I need to explain myself better. I am therefore grateful to the editor for allowing me this opportunity to clarify my position. My paper presented two arguments for concluding that common morality is untenable as an account of medical ethics. First, I provided a negative argument to show that common morality does not provide an adequate account of medical ethics. Second, I offered a positive argument that demonstrated why the medical professions require a distinct morality. My negative argument relies on counterexamples to show that the duties of medicine are different from the duties of everyday life. It is intended as a refutation of the claim by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress that ‘The common morality is applicable to all persons in all places, and we rightly judge all human conduct by its standards’.2 Logically, if any of the duties of medical ethics are inconsistent with common morality, they are not compatible with common morality standards. My counterexamples demonstrate that standards of conduct judged acceptable by common morality are irreconcilable with duties of medical ethics. Hence, they could not follow from the same principles. If the standards of common morality lead to particular judgments about the morality of a certain conduct, those same standards cannot also be the basis for reaching the opposite judgments about that sort of conduct. Charles Foster,3 Alex John London,4 Ruth Macklin5 and Bryanna Moore6 all suggest that exceptions to my examples refute my negative argument. As far as they go, …
Determinants of International Stock Listings: New Evidence

This study reports the results of a survey of managers of NYSE-listed firms whose stocks became listed on one or more of the following exchanges - London's International Stock Exchange (ISE), Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE), and Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). The results show much similarity between the motives of NYSE firms for listing on these three exchanges. The key motives include increasing visibility, broadening the shareholder base, and gaining access to financial markets. Most respondents perceive few initial barriers to listing on the ISE and FSE, but the situation differs on the TSE. Respondents saw cost and disclosure requirements as initial barriers, but they decided to list their firms' stock anyway.
Acute Brain Injury in Infant Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: An Autopsy Study.

Objectives Characterization of the types and timing of acute brain injury in infant autopsy patients after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Single tertiary-care center. Patients Infants supported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Measurements and main results Clinical and pathologic records were reviewed for infant extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients who had undergone brain autopsy in a single center between January 2009 and December 2018. Twenty-four patients supported on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation had postmortem examination with brain autopsy. Median age at extracorporeal membrane oxygenation initiation was 82 days (interquartile range, 11-263 d), median age at time of death was 20 weeks (interquartile range, 5-44 wk), and median extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support duration was 108 hours (interquartile range, 35-366 hr). The most common acute brain injury found at autopsy was hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (58%) followed by intracranial hemorrhage (29%). The most common types of intracranial hemorrhage were intracerebral (17%), subarachnoid (17%), and subdural (8%). Only five infants (21%) did not have acute brain injury. Correlates of acute brain injury included low preextracorporeal membrane oxygenation oxygen saturation as well as elevated liver enzymes, total bilirubin, and lactate on days 1 and 3 of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Gestational age, Apgar scores, birth weight, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation duration, anticoagulation therapy, and renal and hepatic impairments were not associated with acute brain injury. Conclusions Acute brain injury was observed in 79% of autopsies conducted in infants supported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury was the most common type of brain injury (58%), and further associations with preextracorporeal membrane oxygenation acute brain injury require additional exploration.
Pumiliotoxin metabolism and molecular physiology in a poison frog

ABSTRACT Poison frogs bioaccumulate alkaloids for chemical defense from their arthropod diet. These small molecules are sequestered from their gastrointestinal tract and transported to the skin for storage. Although many alkaloids are accumulated without modification, some poison frog species can metabolize pumiliotoxin (PTX 251D) into the more potent allopumiliotoxin (aPTX 267A). Despite extensive research characterizing the chemical arsenal of poison frogs, the physiological mechanisms involved in the sequestration and metabolism of individual alkaloids is unknown. We performed a feeding experiment with the Dyeing poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) to ask if this species can metabolize PTX 251D into aPTX 267A and what gene expression changes are associated with PTX 251D exposure in the intestines, liver, and skin. We found that D. tinctorius can metabolize PTX 251D into aPTX 267A, and that PTX 251D exposure changed the expression of genes involved in immune system function and small molecule metabolism and transport. These results show that individual alkaloids can modify gene expression across poison frog tissues and suggest that different alkaloid classes in wild diets may induce specific physiological changes for accumulation and metabolism.
Model test of cantilevered double-row anti-sliding piles in steeply slipping landslides

The mechanism governing pile–soil and rock interaction in steeply slipping landslides is quite different from that observed in gently slipping landslides. In particular, the mechanism responsible for the double-row anti-sliding pile stress is notoriously complex. Using the K285 landslide along the Neijiang-Liupanshui railway route as an example in our study, we demonstrated that pile safety in steeply slipping landslides was based on the similarity principle. A physical model interaction test between the double-row anti-sliding piles and the landslide was performed to determine the impact of factors such as the failure mode as well as pile stress, bending moment, and head (top) displacement on the safety of a project site. Herein, we noted that the landslide thrust located behind the lower row was about ½- to 1 times that of the upper row when the distance between two rows of anti-sliding piles was about the same as the pile length, assuming that the same loading conditions were used. Also, the resistance of the sliding mass in front of the upper row piles had a maximum value, and the maximum bending moment of the lower row was about - to 1 times that of the upper row under the aforementioned assumptions. The results indicated that the anti-sliding pile heads should be 0.5–1.0 m higher than the ground surface around the piles and backfilled behind the piles. Additionally, the bedrock located before the piles adopted a "wedge" fracture with a depth corresponding to the position of the maximum bending moment. The associated fracture angle and depth were related to the friction angle of the bedrock and the inclination angle of the slipping surface. In conclusion, the study provided insight that will be useful for designing anti-sliding piles to mitigate the occurrence and impact of these types of landslides.
Annotation and extraction of age and temporally-related events from clinical histories

Age and time information stored within the histories of clinical notes can provide valuable insights for assessing a patient’s disease risk, understanding disease progression, and studying therapeutic outcomes. However, details of age and temporally-specified clinical events are not well captured, consistently codified, and readily available to research databases for study. We expanded upon existing annotation schemes to capture additional age and temporal information, conducted an annotation study to validate our expanded schema, and developed a prototypical, rule-based Named Entity Recognizer to extract our novel clinical named entities (NE). The annotation study was conducted on 138 discharge summaries from the pre-annotated 2014 ShARe/CLEF eHealth Challenge corpus. In addition to existing NE classes (TIMEX3, SUBJECT_CLASS, DISEASE_DISORDER), our schema proposes 3 additional NEs (AGE, PROCEDURE, OTHER_EVENTS). We also propose new attributes, e.g., “degree_relation” which captures the degree of biological relation for subjects annotated under SUBJECT_CLASS. As a proof of concept, we applied the schema to 49 HP the automated NLP system achieved F1 scores of 86% (AGE) and 86% (TIMEX3). Age and temporally-specified mentions within past medical, family, surgical, and social histories were common in our lung cancer data set; annotation is ongoing to support this translational research study. Our annotation schema and NLP system can encode historical events from clinical notes to support clinical and translational research studies.
Magnesium sulfate titration reduces maternal complications following fetoscopic closure of spina bifida.

Objective To evaluate if magnesium sulfate (MgSO4 ) titration following fetoscopic spina bifida closure is associated with fewer maternal complications than the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) tocolytic regimen. Methods This prospective cohort study included 73 consecutive patients undergoing fetoscopic closure of spina bifida between 2015 and 2020. A policy of using the MgSO4 regimen per the MOMS trial was changed to a flexible one in which MgSO4 was titrated according to the frequency of the uterine contractions following surgery. The frequency of maternal pulmonary edema, low maternal oxygen saturation requiring oxygen supplementation, atelectasis, hypocalcemia, and preterm delivery was compared before and after the policy was changed. Results A higher proportion of women in the group that used the MOMS MgSO4 regimen had pulmonary edema compared to those in the flexible one (26.1% [6/23] vs. 6% [3/50]; p = 0.024). Multivariate analysis showed that the MOMS tocolytic regimen was independently associated with a higher risk of pulmonary edema (adjusted odds ratio: 8.57; 95% confidence interval: 1.54-47.7; p = 0.014) than a flexible one. There was no difference in the rate of preterm delivery. Conclusion Following fetoscopic closure of spina bifida, the MOMS MgSO4 regimen is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary edema than a more flexible regimen.
Has Congress Stopped Executives from Raiding the Bank? A Critical Analysis of I.R.C. §409A

In October 2004 Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act ("AJCA"). Among other things, the AJCA created Internal Revenue Code §409A to address perceived abuses of nonqualified deferred compensation. Section 409A contains detailed and restrictive provisions relating to nonqualified deferred compensation including rules on when distributions may be made, when the arrangement may be renegotiated, and new penalties applicable if a plan fails to qualify under §409A. This paper focuses on how §409A began largely as a reaction to the sizeable distributions to Enron executives from their nonqualified deferred compensation accounts shortly before Enron's collapse. The paper discusses how §409A represents a major shift in nonqualified deferred compensation planning but does little to remedy the exact problem at Enron that gave rise to §409A.
Challenging the Medical Residency Matching System through Antitrust Litigation.

The legal challenge to the residency training system and the match by which medical school graduates are assigned to residency programs alleged that they impose anticompetitive restraints on medical residency placement, hiring, and salaries. The challenge was dismissed in federal court in 2004.
Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

Each year, the SIGCSE Symposium represents a most exciting time for computing educators. This year's event continues that wonderful tradition with a wide array of talks, sessions, workshops, exhibits, and opportunities for dialog.Congratulations to Mordechai Ben-Ari, winner of SIGCSE's Award for Contributions to Computer Science Education, and to Bruce Klein, winner of SIGCSE's Award for Lifetime Service! Many, many thanks for the entire SIGCSE 2004 Committee for its marvelous work in putting so many pieces together! Special thanks go to Daniel Joyce and Deborah Knox for their outstanding leadership as Symposium Co-Chairs. This annual event requires leaders with insight, creativity, dedication, organizational ability, collaborative skill, and considerable hard work, and these leaders have done an outstanding job. Special thanks also to Wanda Dann and Thomas Naps as Program Co-chairs for their terrific leadership, energy, sense of balance, and communicative abilities in shaping the record number of session proposals into a rich and varied program.These Proceedings represent a stimulating guide for attendees to the Symposium. I welcome conference participants to this energizing event where you will attend sessions, catch up with old friends, and meet new colleagues.These Proceedings also represent a great resource for all SIGCSE members, with thought-provoking papers, descriptions, and references. Happy reading to all! Even with this event upon us, it is worthwhile to look ahead to coming activities. SIGCSE is a vibrant and growing organization due to the contributions of all its members, and I encourage you to participate in events and to help SIGCSE develop even further. Every three years, SIGCSE elects officers to help guide the organization. The next election will take place this spring, and in March or April SIGCSE members should receive by mail information on an outstanding list of candidates. I encourage all SIGCSE members to vote! Each summer, SIGCSE sponsors a European conference. This year, please join us June 28-30, 2004, at ITiCSE 2004 at the University of Leeds, England. For more details, please see http://www.iticse04.leeds.ac.uk/
The Conversion of Diamond Walnut Growers

Three aspects of property rights theory are particularly relevant to the conversion of the walnut-marketing cooperative, Diamond Walnut Growers (DWG), into a publicly traded stockholder-owned corporation. The horizon problem became apparent when DWG began investing heavily in branded, value-added products. The resulting need for additional member capital raised the free rider problem. The principal-agent problem was also relevant, given the increasing complexity of DWGâ€™s financing and marketing activities. An additional economic issue surrounding the conversion was the monopsonistic situation created when members signed long-term marketing agreements with the new firm that was maximizing shareholder value, rather than grower returns.
Hadronic contributions to g−2 from the lattice

These proceedings summarize a talk given at the Tau 2008 meeting in Novosibirsk, Russia, September 21–25, 2008. We report on the current status of the O ( α 2 ) and O ( α 3 ) hadronic contributions, calculated on the lattice, to the muon g − 2 which arise from the hadronic vacuum polarization and light-by-light scattering. An attempt to calculate the light-by-light contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment in QED, using lattice techniques, as a first step toward computing the analogous hadronic contribution is discussed.
Expression of proteins encoded by the Escherichia coli cyn operon: carbon dioxide-enhanced degradation of carbonic anhydrase.

Abstract Cyanase catalyzes the reaction of cyanate with bicarbonate to give 2CO2. The cynS gene encoding cyanase, together with the cynT gene for carbonic anhydrase, is part of the cyn operon, the expression of which is induced in Escherichia coli by cyanate. The physiological role of carbonic anhydrase is to prevent depletion of cellular bicarbonate during cyanate decomposition due to loss of CO2 (M.B. Guilloton, A.F. Lamblin, E. I. Kozliak, M. Gerami-Nejad, C. Tu, D. Silverman, P.M. Anderson, and J.A. Fuchs, J. Bacteriol. 175:1443-1451, 1993). A delta cynT mutant strain was extremely sensitive to inhibition of growth by cyanate and did not catalyze decomposition of cyanate (even though an active cyanase was expressed) when grown at a low pCO2 (in air) but had a Cyn+ phenotype at a high pCO2. Here the expression of these two enzymes in this unusual system for cyanate degradation was characterized in more detail. Both enzymes were found to be located in the cytosol and to be present at approximately equal levels in the presence of cyanate. A delta cynT mutant strain could be complemented with high levels of expressed human carbonic anhydrase II; however, the mutant defect was not completely abolished, perhaps because the E. coli carbonic anhydrase is significantly less susceptible to inhibition by cyanate than mammalian carbonic anhydrases. The induced E. coli carbonic anhydrase appears to be particularly adapted to its function in cyanate degradation. Active cyanase remained in cells grown in the presence of either low or high pCO2 after the inducer cyanate was depleted; in contrast, carbonic anhydrase protein was degraded very rapidly (minutes) at a high pCO2 but much more slowly (hours) at a low pCO2. A physiological significance of these observations is suggested by the observation that expression of carbonic anhydrase at a high pCO2 decreased the growth rate.
How accurate are physical property estimation programs for organosilicon compounds

Organosilicon compounds are important in chemistry and commerce, and nearly 10% of new chemical substances for which premanufacture notifications are processed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) contain silicon (Si). Yet, remarkably few measured values are submitted for key physical properties, and the accuracy of estimation programs such as the Estimation Programs Interface (EPI) Suite and the SPARC Performs Automated Reasoning in Chemistry (SPARC) system is largely unknown. To address this issue, the authors developed an extensive database of measured property values for organic compounds containing Si and evaluated the performance of no-cost estimation programs for several properties of importance in environmental assessment. These included melting point (mp), boiling point (bp), vapor pressure (vp), water solubility, n-octanol/water partition coefficient (log KOW), and Henry's law constant. For bp and the larger of 2 vp datasets, SPARC, MPBPWIN, and the USEPA's Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (TEST) had similar accuracy. For log KOW and water solubility, the authors tested 11 and 6 no-cost estimators, respectively. The best performers were Molinspiration and WSKOWWIN, respectively. The TEST's consensus mp method outperformed that of MPBPWIN by a considerable margin. Generally, the best programs estimated the listed properties of diverse organosilicon compounds with accuracy sufficient for chemical screening. The results also highlight areas where improvement is most needed. Environ Toxicol Chem 2013;32:2433–2440. © 2013 SETAC
l-Asparaginase activity of soils

A simple, precise, and sensitive method to assay l-asparaginase (l-asparagine amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.1) activity in soils is described. This method use steam distillation to determine the NH inf4 sup+ produced by l-asparaginase activity when soil is incubated with buffered (0.1 M THAM, pH 10) l-asparagine solution and toluene at 30°C for 2 h. The procedure developed gives quantitative recovery of NH inf4 sup+ -N added to soils and does not cause chemical hydrolysis of l-asparagine. The optimum buffer pH for NH inf4 sup+ -N released by l-asparaginase activity in soils was 10. This enzyme was saturated with 50 mM l-asparagine, and the reaction rate essentially followed zero-order kinetics. The d-isomer of asparagine was also hydrolyzed in soils, but at only 16% of the activity of the l-isomer at a saturating concentration of the substrate. The optimal temperature for the soil l-asparaginase reaction occurred at 60°C and denaturation began at 65°C. The Arrhenius equation plot for l-asparaginase activity in three selected soils was linear between 10 and 50°C. The activation energy values of this enzyme ranged from 20.2 to 34.1 (average 26.6) kJ mol-1. Application of three linear transformations of the Michaelis-Menten equation showed that the K m values of l-asparaginase in nine soils ranged from 2.6 to 10.0 (average 6.1) mM and the V max values ranged from 9 to 131 μg NH inf4 sup+ -N released g-1 soil 2 h-1. The temperature coefficients (Q 10) for soil l-asparaginase activity ranged from 1.12 to 1.70 (average 1.39). Steam sterilization (121°C for 1 h), formaldehyde, and NaF decreased the activity but the presence of toluene increased the amount of NH inf4 sup+ released. Treatment of soils with dimethylsulfoxide completely destroyed l-asparaginase activity. The use of sulfhydryl reagents indicated that a free sulfhydryl moiety was required to maintain the active enzyme. l-Asparaginase activity in soils was increased by 13 to 18% in the presence of THAM buffer prepared to contain 5 mM Ca2+ and Mg2+, respectively.
The Effects of Observed Fractional Vegetation Cover on the Land Surface Climatology of the Community Land Model

Abstract Accurate modeling of surface processes requires a specification of the amount of land covered by vegetation. The National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Land Model (CLM2) does not realistically represent sparsely vegetated regions because of a lack of bare soil in the model. In this study, the existing CLM2 surface dataset is replaced by a global 1-km fractional vegetation cover dataset. This results in a doubling of global bare soil fraction in the model. It also significantly affects the fractional coverages of shrub, grass, and crop compared with only minor changes to trees. Regional changes occur most greatly in Australia, with an increase of over 0.4 in bare soil fraction. The western United States, southern South America, and southern Africa show fractional increases of more than 0.2. Simulations of CLM2 coupled with the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM2) show several regions with statistically significant decreases of up to 2 K in 2-m air temperature and up to 10 K in ground temp...
Validity of self-assessment of sexual maturation in adolescent male patients with cystic fibrosis

Purpose: Self-assessment of sexual maturity by healthy male adolescents has been found to correlate closely with physician ratings. Data are lacking, however, in adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF), where an altered body image may affect self-assessment. Delayed sexual maturation occurs in many patients with CF, particularly those with severe disease. We hypothesized that self-assessment of sexual maturation by adolescents with CF would agree with physician ratings. Methods: Using Tanner's standard photographs for pubic hair (PH) and genital (G) development, we compared self-assessment of sexual maturation to physician rating in 34 adolescent male patients with CF and 27 healthy male controls (C). Results: The two groups did not differ in age. All subjects were initially examined and Tanner-staged by a physician (SRB), and instructed in self-assessment using the Tanner photographs; they then performed a self-assessment. Scores by physician and subjects were assessed for inter-observer agreement by Kappa analysis. For the CF group, 29 of 34 PH assessments and 21 of 34 G assessments demonstrated exact inter-observer agreement between physician and subject ratings. The Kappa coefficient, κ, (weighted for the degree of closeness between two observers) was 0.946 for PH and 0.840 for G and the C group, κ was 0.905 for PH and 0.737 for G. Repeat analysis combining stages 3 and 4 PH and G development yielded higher inter-observer agreement in the CF group (33 of 34 PH assessments and 26 of 34 G assessments) and in the C group (24 of 27 PH assessments and 18 of 27 G assessments). Conclusions: Self-assessment is a valid method to assess sexual maturity in clinical evaluation and as a research tool in the study of patients with CF.
The Influence of Social Aversion and Institution-Based Trust on Computer Self-Efficacy, Computer Anxiety and Antecedents to IT Use

Prior research has shown that proximal states are important mechanisms through which distal states relate to IT usage. In particular, the influence of distal traits tied to social activity has not been incorporated into the nomological network surrounding information technology IT use. Addressing this literature gap, the authors develop their research model using Social Cognitive Theory and examine how two distal traits, social aversion SA and institution-based trust TRIT, influence computer self-efficacy CSE and other proximal state-like differences related to IT use. The authors' results show that SA and TRIT demonstrated influence on CSE and CA at the general and specific levels of analysis, and that CSE mediates the influence of SA and TRIT on PU and PEOU, yet does not fully mediate the influence of CA on PU and PEOU. The implications of their findings for research and practice are discussed, as well as avenues for future research.
The Photographic Reciprocity Law Failure for Radiations of Different Wave-Length

The reciprocity-law failure of a number of dye-sensitized emulsions has been studied for radiations of different wave-length. The curves showing the exposure, It, to give a certain density, d, as a function of the exposure time, t, are found to be essentially, but not always exactly, parallel if curves referring to the same density are compared. This is in agreement with previous experience. For the case of complete parallelism, a relation is derived between the slope, G, of the intensity scale H and D curves obtained with radiations of different wave-length, λ1 and λ2, and exposure times, t1 and t2: 1/G(λ1,t1)-1/G(λ2,t1)=1/G(λ1,t2)-1/G(λ2,t2).This means that, for a given emulsion, the shapes of spectral-sensitivity curves (log exposure required to obtain a certain density as a function of wave-length) for different exposure times are identical, providing all the exposures within one spectral-sensitivity curve are of the same duration. The above equation is compared with the experimental results and found to hold within rather narrow limits.The bearing of the experimental results on tone reproduction and on the distribution of the latent image within the silver bromide grains is discussed.
Physiological role of collagen XVIII and endostatin

Collagen XVIII is a component of basement membranes (BMs) with the structural properties of both a collagen and a proteoglycan. Proteolytic cleavage within its C-terminal domain releases a fragment...
RNAi-induced down-regulation of FLT3 expression in AML cell lines increases sensitivity to MLN518

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is constitutively activated in approximately 30% of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients and appears to confer an adverse prognosis. Thus, development of inhibitors and/or antibodies that specifically target FLT3 has been of substantial interest. In this regard, phase 1 and 2 trials involving FLT3 inhibitors have recently reported FLT3 inhibition and leukemic blast reduction in some patients. Despite this, issues such as specificity and resistance need to be addressed. Consequently, the development of alternative approaches for targeting FLT3 would be of great consequence. In the present report, we demonstrate that FLT3 siRNA effectively down-regulates FLT3 expression in Ba/F3 cells transfected with FLT3 containing an activating internal tandem duplication (ITD) in the juxtamembrane domain and FLT3-ITD–positive Molm-14 human leukemia cells. Treatment with the FLT3 siRNA results in growth inhibition and apoptosis of these cells. Furthermore, siRNA-induced down-regulation of FLT3 increased the sensitivity of both cell lines to treatment with the FLT3 inhibitor MLN518. This illustrates the potential benefit of combined therapeutic approaches.
Elastic Scattering of 39.6-MeV Protons by Even Isotopes of Ni and Zn

Differential cross sections and polarizations for 39.6-MeV protons elastically scattered from the isotopes $^{58,\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}60,\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}62,\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}64}\mathrm{Ni}$ and $^{64,\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}66,\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}68}\mathrm{Zn}$ have been measured using the University of Minnesota linear accelerator. An atomic-beam-type polarized source was used for the polarization measurements. The data have been analyzed using both the standard optical model and a recent approach to the optical model developed by Greenlees, Pyle, and Tang, in which the real part of the central potential and the spin-orbit potential are obtained from the two-nucleon potential and the neutron, proton, and matter point-density distributions. Root-mean-square radii of the real central potentials are extracted from the data, but no systematic trend is evident for an isotopic sequence.
Treatment of a Bacterial (Mycotic) Intracranial Aneurysm Using an Endovascular Approach

The case of a patient with a bacterial intracranial aneurysm treated with antibiotics and endovascular obliteration is reported. The patient presented with dysphasia and right hemiparesis. A medical workup revealed endocarditis and associated heart valve dysfunction with no evidence of congestive heart failure. Computed tomography demonstrated subarachnoid hemorrhage, and a subsequent cerebral arteriogram showed a distal left middle cerebral aneurysm, which, as demonstrated by angiography, did not change in size in 2 weeks. An endovascular approach was used to obliterate the aneurysm and its parent vessel. Endovascular techniques may be used to obliterate certain bacterial intracranial aneurysms, particularly in patients who harbor distal aneurysms.
Feasibility study of Californium-252 for the therapy of stage IV cervical cancer

Twenty patients with Stage IVA and IVB cervic cancers were treated with Californium-252 (Cf) neutron brachytherapy (NT) in a feasibility trial between 1976 and 1986. Eleven patients had Stage IVA disease; nine patients had Stage IVB disease. Patient compliance with therapy was poor in four of nine patients with Stage IVB disease, and the 50% survival time was 6 months. In Stage IVA disease there were 18% 3-year survivals. For those that failed, the 50% survival time was 7.5 months. Because of the frequency of disseminated metastases, effective adjuvant therapy needs to be developed to use after the tumor debulking therapy, especially for Stage IVB disease. A single early Cf-NT implant followed by 6000 cGy of whole-pelvis fractionated radiation would accomplish this adequately for local tumor control and palliation.