cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality of Care Before and After Mergers and Acquisitions of Rural Hospitals.

Importance Rural hospitals are increasingly merging with other hospitals. The associations of hospital mergers with quality of care need further investigation. Objectives To examine changes in quality of care for patients at rural hospitals that merged compared with those that remained independent. Design, Setting, and Participants In this case-control study, mergers at community nonrehabilitation hospitals in Federal Office of Rural Health Policy-eligible zip codes during 2009 to 2016 in 32 states were identified from Irving Levin Associates and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Outcomes for inpatient stays for select conditions and elective procedures were derived from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases. Difference-in-differences linear probability models were used to assess premerger to postmerger changes in outcomes for patients discharged from merged vs comparison hospitals that remained independent. Data were analyzed from February to December 2020. Exposures Hospital mergers. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was in-hospital mortality among patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, stroke, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hip fracture, or pneumonia, as well as complications during stays for elective surgeries. Results A total of 172 merged hospitals and 266 comparison hospitals were analyzed. After matching, baseline patient characteristics were similar for 303 747 medical stays and 175 970 surgical stays at merged hospitals and 461 092 medical stays and 278 070 surgical stays at comparison hospitals. In-hospital mortality among AMI stays decreased from premerger to postmerger at merged hospitals (9.4% to 5.0%) and comparison hospitals (7.9% to 6.3%). Adjusting for patient, hospital, and community characteristics, the decrease in in-hospital mortality among AMI stays 1 year postmerger was 1.755 (95% CI, -2.825 to -0.685) percentage points greater at merged hospitals than at comparison hospitals (P < .001). This finding held up to 4 years postmerger (DID, -2.039 [95% CI, -3.388 to -0.691] percentage points; P = .003). Greater premerger to postmerger decreases in mortality at merged vs comparison hospitals were also observed at 5 years postmerger among stays for heart failure (DID, -0.756 [95% CI, -1.448 to -0.064] percentage points; P = .03), stroke (DID, -1.667 [95% CI, -3.050 to -0.283] percentage points; P = .02), and pneumonia (DID, -0.862 [95% CI, -1.681 to -0.042] percentage points; P = .04). Conclusions and Relevance These findings suggest that rural hospital mergers were associated with better mortality outcomes for AMI and several other conditions. This finding is important to enhancing rural health care and reducing urban-rural disparities in quality of care.
PROPULSION METHODS IN ASTRONAUTICS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the nonchemical propulsion systems which are suitable for minimum-energy, or near minimum-energy, high payload missions to the near planets. There are many other missions for which nonchemical propulsion systems may be suitable. The reduction in round-trip time is not directly proportional to reductions in transit time, because of the orbital motion of the planets. Consequently, substantial reductions in transit time are needed before significant reductions in total time are attained. With a nuclear heat-transfer rocket, the Mars round-trip time can be reduced to about 400 days, and the Venus trip time to about 180 days without much increase in initial weight for a manned expedition, because the reduction in required payload to some extent balances the required increase in propellant weight ratio. The best hope for accomplishing such very-high-energy missions with reasonable payload ratio appears to lie in the development of thermonuclear rockets or gas-phase nuclear fission rockets.
Paregoric Should Be Banned

I was surprised to find that camphorated oil and spirits of camphor were common causes of poisoning in children, for I did not realize that these products were often present in most households or that they were used for folklore therapy by parents any more. I wish the author (Pediatrics 62:404, 1978) had gone one step further to speak about the impropriety of using paregoric as a mild opiate for children, often in combination with absorbent agents expected to remove intestinal toxins during diarrhea.
Genetic Analysis of Bacteriophage Mu-Induced Flagellar Mutants in Escherichia coli

In previous work, at least 10 discrete cistrons involved in the synthesis of flagella in Escherichia coli were described. Six cistrons were located between his and uvrC on the genetic map. These were referred to as hag, flaA, flaB, flaC, flaD, and flaE. Four cistrons referred to as mot, flaG, flaH, and flaI were located between uvrC and aroD. In order to determine whether these genes are organized into transcriptional units, a series of Mu phage-induced flagellar mutants was studied. The mutant strains behaved as if they were carrying strong polar mutations. Of 228 independent Mu-induced mutants, 114 with mutations in the his-aroD region of the genetic map were tested by preparing partial diploid strains with episomes carrying a variety of previously defined mutations. The pattern of complementation that emerged indicated that cistrons flaB, flaC, and flaE form a transcriptional unit. Cistron flaO, defined in the course of this study, is also a member of this transcriptional unit. The order of transcription is B-C-O-E. flaA was found to be complex, and it included four cistrons, flaA, flaP, flaQ, and flaR, with the transcriptional order A-P-Q-R. Cistrons flaG and flaH are cotranscribed with the transcriptional order G-H. The remaining genes, flaD, flaI, hag, and mot do not belong to multicistronic transcriptional units. Complementation analysis suggested that the cheC locus is the same as cistron flaA.
Single-Step Process to Treat the High Chloride Pu Inventory at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP)

The Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), operated by Fluor Hanford identified that up to 1000 items in their inventory contained high concentrations of chloride salts. This is problematic in that some of these salts are volatile at stabilization temperatures. At temperature (> 950 C) the molten salt is volatile and very corrosive to the furnace and off-gas system. Early testing at PFP indicated that the salt would deposit and plug the off-gas line. After stabilization, a sample of the material is processed through a Loss-on-Ignition (LOI) test. This test is intended to demonstrate that the stabilized material has < 0.5% moisture, which is required to meet Department of Energy (DOE) Order 3013 requirements. This moisture content is determined by heating a sample of the stabilized material to 1000 C and measuring the weight loss. All weight loss is assumed to be moisture (water). Consequently, any salt remaining after stabilization will volatilize to some extent during the LOI testing. This could cause the sample to fail the LOI test and require additional stabilization processing for the failed material. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) identified a potential process whereby the volatile nature of the salts could be used to potentially separate the saltsmore » from the plutonium oxide. After identification of this potential process, the Nuclear Material Focus Area acted quickly and as a result, in July 2001, PNNL was funded to design, build, and test a simple proof-of-principle system.« less
Teaching the Net Generation without Leaving the Rest of Us Behind: How Technology in the Classroom Influences Student Composition

Today's entering college students have the advantage of a lifetime of computer use. Education scholars and professionals claim that such exposure makes these students the most prepared ever to enter college. It cannot be argued that the advent of the Web, and Web 2.0 has placed at students' fingertips great works of literature, art, and science. It also cannot be argued that despite all this opportunity, students enter college writing with less precision than at any time in the last century. The two facts are reconcilable because (1) students map the world of technology differently than we do; and (2) they live in a digital culture different from our own. Until we understand that our perception of computers and technology is vastly different from our students, we cannot understand why they do what they do, and they will never understand what we want of them. This article argues that unless we change our pedagogy of technology, students and faculty will continue to be frustrated at poor performance, plagiarism, and misunderstandings about what each expects of the other. Los estudiantes que entran a la universidad en el siglo XXI tienen una ventaja sobre sus colegas de hace una decada porque tienen toda una vida usando el computador. Academicos y profesionales afirman que dicha exposicion convierte a estos estudiantes en los mejor preparados para entrar a la universidad. No puede ser negado que la llegada del internet y de la web 2.0 ha colocado al alcance de los estudiantes grandes obras de literatura, arte y ciencia. Tampoco puede ser negado que, a pesar de todas estas oportunidades, los estudiantes entran a la universidad escribiendo con menor precision que cualquier otro momento en el ultimo siglo. Ambos hechos son compatibles porque: (1) los estudiantes interpretan el mundo de la tecnologia de forma diferente a nosotros, y (2) ellos viven en una cultura digital diferente a la nuestra. Hasta que comprendamos que nuestra percepcion de las computadoras y la tecnologia es diferente a la de nuestros estudiantes, no comprenderemos porque hacen lo que hacen, y ellos nunca comprenderan lo que queremos de ellos. Este articulo sugiere que, a menos que cambiemos nuestra pedagogia de la tecnologia, estudiantes y profesores continuaran frustrados por el bajo rendimiento, plagio y malentendidos acerca de lo que cada uno espera del otro.
Drinking Motives and Alcohol Use Behaviors among African American College Students: The Mediating Role of Protective Behavioral Strategies

Drinking motives are robust predictors of alcohol use behaviors among college students. However, less is known about the link between drinking motives and alcohol use behaviors among African American college students. This study explored the associations between drinking motives and alcohol use behaviors in a sample of 215 African American college students. The study also assessed whether protective behavioral strategies mediated the associations between drinking motives and alcohol use behaviors. A direct relationship emerged between enhancement motives and alcohol consumption, harmful drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Protective behavioral strategies mediated each of these relationships. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Intracellular alpha-ketoglutarate controls the efficacy of renal organic anion transport.

Renal organic anion secretion is driven by indirect coupling to the Na+ gradient at the basolateral membrane through Na(+)-dicarboxylate cotransport and dicarboxylate-organic anion exchange. The impact of changing intracellular alpha-ketoglutarate (alpha KG) concentrations and gradient on p-aminohippurate (PAH) transport was assessed in rat renal cortical slices. Fluorimetric analysis of alpha KG indicated that freshly isolated slices averaged 137 +/- 4 nmol/g wet weight (approximately 265 microM in cellular water). This value was sustained over several hours at 4 degrees C. On incubation at 22 degrees C, intracellular alpha KG concentrations rose steadily, reaching levels of 2 (air) to 4 (100% O2) times that of fresh tissue. When internal alpha KG was increased by preincubation and PAH uptake was determined at a fixed gradient, PAH transport increased with increasing internal alpha KG. Conversely, at a fixed internal alpha KG concentration, PAH uptake was a linear function of the driving force provided by the alpha KG gradient. Thus, intracellular alpha KG is a major determinant of the efficacy of renal organic anion transport, and events that alter internal alpha KG concentration, gradient, or both are poised to exert significant control over organic anion secretion. Kinetic analysis of alpha KG-PAH exchange indicated that the Km for alpha KG was 151 microM in basolateral membrane vesicles and 131 microM in slices. Because PAH transport increased at intracellular alpha KG concentrations that should have been saturating, this finding indicates that cytoplasmic alpha KG levels must be substantially lower than total tissue concentration, i.e., that much intracellular alpha KG must be sequestered.
Measuring Transportation System Resilience: Response of Rail Transit to Weather Disruptions

AbstractMajor disruptions of transportation systems due to severe weather events such as hurricanes, storm surges, and flooding are becoming more common. A logical response is to make those systems better able to withstand and rebound from large-scale weather assaults. Resilience is the term commonly used to describe this property of transportation systems, and while there are numerous definitions of resilience, there is no commonly used metric to characterize it. This paper reviews the concept of resilience in different fields and offers a definition that encompasses three common strategies for making transportation systems more resilient: hardening, redundancy, and elasticity. The paper offers a graphical and analytic metric for assessing the resilience of scheduled transportation services in the face of weather disruptions, focusing on heavy rail transit (HRT) systems. The concept of planned service days lost to weather disruptions is suggested as a useful aggregate measure of system resilience that is...
Farcical heroism: Aimé Césaire reads Homer, Virgil, and Plautus

The article analyses how Aime Cesaire in his seminal book-length poem Cahier d’un retour au pays natal carefully yet discrepantly reworks the tradition of epic writing to appropriate central topoi of the epic, which he claims as a point of departure for postcolonial writing. In this foundational text of Antillean literature, Cesaire presents an intertextual rebuttal of the key features of epic writing that allows him to redirect the genre’s orientalist trajectory towards resistance to colonial oppression. The article argues that Cesaire challenges the authority of epic tradition with a notion of heroism that reflects the subversive mode of farce in the vein of Plautus.
A STUDY OF THE EARLY LIFE STAGES OF THE LOBSTER, Homarus americanus, USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM)1

With the accelerated interest in commercial lobster production, knowledge of the early developmental stages is important. There are limited observations and data pertaining to the first 4 life stages of the American lobster Homarus americanus. The existing data can be strengthened through use of the scanning electron microscope. Current sketches are based on light microscopy and observations without magnification. A series of micrographs of the first 4 life stages with reference to existing drawings are presented. The first 3 larval stages float in the pelagic environment while the fourth stage sinks to the bottom and assumes the characteristic bottom-dwelling behavior of adult lobsters. Characteristics pertaining to number and loss of appendages, size and division of the body, spines, division of the uropod, development of the walking legs and antennae are stressed. A two-dimensional drawing will be presented utilizing the existing published data for the life stages and the scanning electron micrographs.
Energetics and regulation of crossbridge states in mammalian smooth muscle.

On the basis of measurements of the high energy phosphate usage associated with different mechanical states, as well as the degree of myosin light chain phosphorylation and mechanical properties, information has been gained concerning the existence and regulation of different crossbridge states in smooth muscle. Although incomplete, a general operational scheme is shown in figure 5. At very low intracellular calcium concentrations, actin and myosin are dissociated, as shown by a loss of resistance to stretch in resting muscles. At somewhat higher intracellular calcium concentrations in atonic, resting muscles, crossbridges can attach and be manifest mechanically as an increased resistance to stretch without ATP-driven crossbridge cycling and active force production. When the muscle is activated, intracellular calcium increases further, the light chains of myosin are phosphorylated through the calcium-calmodulin activation of myosin light chain kinase, actin-activated myosin ATPase activity increases and crossbridges cycle. Calcium also appears to modulate the ATPase activity and the rate of cycling of the phosphorylated crossbridge. The crossbridge cycling rate is highest during force development and slows with time as maximum isometric force is maintained reflecting a change in the rate at which phosphorylated crossbridges cycle. This may result from a decrease in the intracellular free calcium concentration with continued stimulation. During relaxation, the intracellular calcium concentration decreases, there is net dephosphorylation of the myosin light chains, the rate at which phosphorylated crossbridges cycle slows further with a gradual return to the attached, but non-cycling state or the detached state.
Low-frequency conductivity of a nondegenerate two-dimensional electron liquid in strong magnetic fields

We study the conductivity of a nondegenerate two-dimensional electron liquid in a quantizing magnetic field for frequencies well below the cyclotron frequency. The conductivity is formed by electron transitions in which the energy of a photon goes to the interaction energy of the many-electron system, whereas the involved momentum is transferred to the quenched disorder. The conductivity peak is non-Lorentzian. Its shape depends on the relation between the correlation length ${r}_{\mathrm{c}}$ of the disorder potential and the typical amplitude ${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{f}}$ of vibrations of the electrons about their quasiequilibrium positions in the liquid. The width of the peak is determined by the reciprocal time it takes to move an electron over ${r}_{\mathrm{c}}$ (or the magnetic length l for ${r}_{\mathrm{c}}ll).$ In turn, this time is determined by vibrational or diffusive motion, depending on the ratio ${r}_{c}/{\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{f}}.$ We analyze the tail of the conductivity peak for a short-range disorder. It is formed by multiple collisions with the disorder potential. We also analyze scattering by rare negatively charged traps, and show that the conductivity spectrum in this case depends on both short- and long-time electron dynamics.
Early Splenectomy and Survival of Inbred Mice

THE spleen is known to function in lymphopoiesis1–3, phagocytosis4,5, and immunogenesis6–8, but these functions are not essential to normal survival or health when the spleen is removed during adult life9–11. The spleen appeared in the primitive fishes and has persisted in much the same morphological state in all vertebrates which have evolved since12–14. Such phylogenetic constancy implies survival advantage, but the basis of this advantage remains enigmatic.
The response of alanine to a 150 keV X-ray beam

Abstract The alanine/electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry system was used to measure a 150 keV X-ray quality, and the response was compared to 60 Co γ -ray measurements using the same system. The absorbed dose-to-alanine per unit air-kerma for the two beam qualities were calculated with the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code. The measured and calculated results were combined to derive the relationship of the alanine/EPR response to the absorbed dose-to-alanine. We found a 16.1% (±0.8) reduction in alanine/EPR response to air-kerma for the 150 keV X-rays relative to the 60 Co γ -rays, and a 5.7% (±0.8) reduction in alanine/EPR response to the absorbed dose-to-alanine. The results support an earlier published prediction.
Nonlinear stability of a self-similar 3-dimensional gas flow

We show that the 3-dimensional supersonic gas flow past an infinite cone is nonlinear staple upon the perturbation of the obstacle. The perturbed flow exists globally in space and tends to the self-similar flow downstream. There is a thin layer of concentration of vorticities and entropy variation. Our analysis is based on an approximation scheme using local self-similar solutions as building blocks. This enables us to obtain global estimates of the nonlinear interactions of waves needed for the stability analysis.
Attachment of pathogenic prion protein to model oxide surfaces.

Prions are the infectious agents in the class of fatal neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which affect humans, deer, sheep, and cattle. Prion diseases of deer and sheep can be transmitted via environmental routes, and soil is has been implicated in the transmission of these diseases. Interaction with soil particles is expected to govern the transport, bioavailability and persistence of prions in soil environments. A mechanistic understanding of prion interaction with soil components is critical for understanding the behavior of these proteins in the environment. Here, we report results of a study to investigate the interactions of prions with model oxide surfaces (Al2O3, SiO2) using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and optical waveguide light mode spectroscopy. The efficiency of prion attachment to Al2O3 and SiO2 depended strongly on pH and ionic strength in a manner consistent with electrostatic forces dominating interaction with these ox...
MicroRNAs and Photocarcinogenesis

As a new class of sequence-specific regulators of gene expression, the microRNAs (miRNA) form a regulatory network with growth factors and transcription factors participating in various biological processes. It is now being recognized that the various key processes involved in cancer induction are under the control of these small noncoding RNAs, which regulate ~30% of all human genes by targeting sequences in their 3'-untranslated regions. Photocarcinogenesis is a complex interplay of signaling events in the UV exposed human skin including DNA damage and repair, apoptosis, cell survival, mutations and the immune system. In this review, we have scrutinized the role of miRNAs in skin cancer biology focusing on the three most common types of skin cancer namely the basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and cutaneous malignant melanoma. An overview of these studies will be useful in gaining insights into the mechanisms of cancer development in the human skin. A better understanding of the functionality of miRNAs will have enormous implications to risk assessment, and to target interventions against signaling events involved in photocarcinogenesis.
S-MATRIX POLES IN THE DETERMINATION OF PARITIES

Recently it has been conjectured that there exist dispersion relations in momentum transfer variables. It has been suggested that an approximation to these relations could be used in order to determine such physical quantities as parities, coupling constants, etc. This approximation consists of extracting the contribution of certain single-particle intermediate states to S-matrix elements, and analyzing the experimental data on the assumption that these contributions predominate. Some potential difficulties inherent in such an analysis are printed out. (W.D.M.)
Thermophysical and mechanical properties of near-stoichiometric fiber CVI SiC/SiC composites after neutron irradiation at elevated temperatures

Abstract Thermophysical and mechanical properties of high purity chemically vapor-deposited (CVD) SiC and chemically vapor-infiltrated SiC matrix, pyrocarbon/SiC multilayered interphase composites with Hi-Nicalon™ Type-S and Tyranno™-SA3 SiC fibers were evaluated following neutron irradiation. Specimens including statistically significant population of tensile bars were irradiated up to 5.3 displacement-per-atom at ∼220 to ∼1080 °C in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory and High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Thermal diffusivity/conductivity of all materials decreased during irradiation. The reciprocal thermal diffusivity linearly increased with temperature from ambient to the irradiation temperature. The magnitude of defect thermal resistance was distinctively different among materials and its ranking was Hi-Nicalon™ Type-S > Tyranno™-SA3 > CVD SiC regardless of irradiation condition. Dynamic Young’s modulus decrease for the irradiated CVD SiC exhibited explicit correlation with swelling. No significant effects of neutron irradiation on tensile properties of the composites were revealed, except for an anomaly case for the Hi-Nicalon™ Type-S composite irradiated in a specific condition. According to the single filament tensile evaluation, fibers of both types retained the original strength during irradiation at intermediate temperatures but significantly deteriorated during bare fiber irradiation at ∼910 °C. However, fiber strength deterioration was not observed when irradiated in composite form. Irradiation effects on the fiber–matrix interface properties were discussed based on results from the composite and single filament tensile tests, the hysteresis analysis, and the fracture surface examination.
Functional regions of the envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

The envelope of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) plays a central role in the process of virus entry into the host cell and in the cytopathicity of the virus for lymphocytes bearing the CD4 molecule. Mutations that affect the ability of the envelope glycoprotein to form syncytia in CD4+ cells can be divided into five groups: those that decrease the binding of the envelope protein to the CD4 molecule, those that prevent a post-binding fusion reaction, those that disrupt the anchorage of the envelope glycoprotein in the membrane, those that affect the association of the two subunits of the envelope glycoprotein, and those that affect post-translational proteolytic processing of the envelope precursor protein. These findings provide a functional model of the HIV envelope glycoprotein.
Randomized search trees

A randomized strategy for maintaining balance in dynamically changing search trees that has optimal expected behavior is presented. In particular, in the expected case an update takes logarithmic time and requires fewer than two rotations. Moreover, the update time remains logarithmic, even if the cost of a rotation is taken to be proportional to the size of the rotated subtree. The approach generalizes naturally to weighted trees, where the expected time bounds for accesses and updates again match the worst case time bounds of the best deterministic methods. The balancing strategy and algorithms are exceedingly simple and should be fast in practice. >
The influence of sporadic anovulation on hormone levels in ovulatory cycles

study design, size, duration: The BioCycle Study was a prospective cohort including 250 healthy regularly menstruating women, 18– 44 years of age, from Western New York with no history of menstrual or ovulation disorders. The women were followed with up to eight study visits per cycle for two cycles, most of which were consecutive. participants/materials, setting and methods: All study visits were timed to menstrual cycle phase using fertility monitors and located at the University at Buffalo women’s health research center from 2005 to 2007. The main outcomes measured were estradiol, progesterone, LH and follicle-stimulating hormone levels in serum at up to 16 visits over two cycles. Anovulation was defined as peak serum progesterone concentrations ≤5 ng/ml and no serum LH peak detected during the mid- or late-luteal phase visit. main results and the role of chance:Reproductive hormone concentrations were lower during anovulatory cycles, but significant reductions were also observed in estradiol (225%, P ¼ 0.003) and progesterone (222%, P ¼ 0.001) during the ovulatory cycles of women with one anovulatory cycle compared with women with two ovulatory cycles. LH peak concentrations were decreased in the ovulatory cycle of women with an anovulatory cycle (significant amplitude effect, P ¼ 0.004; geometric mean levels 38% lower, P , 0.05). limitations, reasons for caution: Follow-up was limited to two menstrual cycles, and no ultrasound assessment of ovulation was available. Data were missing for a total of 168 of a possible 4072 cycle visits (4.1%), though all women had at least five visits per cycle (94% had seven or more per cycle). wider implications of the findings: These results suggest a possible underlying cause of anovulation, such as a longer-term subclinical follicular, ovarian or hypothalamic/pituitary dysfunction, even among healthy, regularly menstruating women.
Ending Social Work's Grudge Match: Problems Versus Strengths

Some in social work have called for a paradigm shift away from a focus on problems to a focus on strengths, empowerment, and capacity building. This call sets up an unnatural dichotomy, asking social workers to identify with one side or another. In this article, we review social work history to argue that the best social work practice has always maintained a dual focus on both problems and capacity building. Throughout our history, those who championed a problem-oriented practice also emphasized strengths and growing client capacity, and today's strength-based, capacity-oriented practitioners typically advocate for the solving of consumer's presenting problems.
Disrupted coronary artery caused by angioplasty: supportive and surgical considerations.

Abstract Of 2,859 patients having percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, 201 (7%) underwent emergency coronary artery bypass grafting. Two categories of patients were reviewed. Group 1 consisted of 126 patients of 2, 304 who had immediate coronary artery bypass grafting after failed elective percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Ninety-eight of these patients had angiographic evidence of occlusion of a coronary artery, and 28 had angiographic evidence of coronary artery dissection. Epicardial hemorrhage was observed at operation in 20% (25 patients). Three deaths (2.4%) occurred in group 1, and an average of 3.3 grafts was performed per patient. Group 2 comprised 75 of 555 patients who had unsuccessful attempted percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty during an evolving myocardial infarction and required immediate coronary artery bypass grafting. Angiography revealed coronary artery occlusion in 61 patients with dissection in 14. All group 2 patients had evidence of myocardial injury by electrocardiographic and enzymatic (myocardial-specific isoenzyme of creatine kinase) criteria. Three deaths (4%) occurred in this group, and there was an average of 3.4 grafts per patient. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is routinely performed without surgical consultation, although an operating room and team are usually available. Supportive techniques include the intraaortic balloon pump and percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass. In those patients with coronary artery dissection, care must be taken to reestablish the true lumen of the coronary artery. Hemopericardium should be surgically explored and broken guidewires or other foreign bodies or debris removed. From 1979 through 1986, the number of patients requiring emergency coronary artery bypass grafting after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty steadily declined to less than 5%.
CTGF is increased in basal deposits and regulates matrix production through the ERK (p42/p44mapk) MAPK and the p38 MAPK signaling pathways.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness in the United States.1 The most prominent histopathological changes involve the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and Bruch membrane. With aging, Bruch membrane thickens and accumulates basal deposits. The earliest basal deposits consist mainly of normal basement membrane proteins such as laminin and fibronectin.2 Thickening basal deposits are associated with AMD.3 The RPE is believed to play a primary role in the formation of basal deposits. For example, oxidative stress to the RPE increases the production of extracellular matrix components.4 Interestingly, RPE cells from AMD donors secrete twofold to threefold more fibronectin and MMP-2 than RPE cells from age-matched healthy donors.5 Understanding how the earliest basal deposits form before they become associated with disease represents a potential therapeutic target. Our laboratory previously identified advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and oxidized apolipoprotein B100 lipoproteins in Bruch membrane of early AMD samples.6,7 In addition, we found that connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) were upregulated in RPE cells exposed to either AGEs or oxidized apolipoprotein B100 lipoproteins.7,8 The relationship between these changes in Bruch membrane and matrix expansion during early basal deposit formation is unknown at this time. The upregulation of these cytokines is intriguing, because TGF-β appears to promote profibrotic signals through CTGF.9 CTGF is a 38-KDa cysteine-rich polypeptide that was originally identified from conditioned medium of human umbilical vein endothelial cells.10 The biological role of CTGF is pleiotropic and cell-type specific. In the present study, we address the hypotheses that CTGF promotes altered matrix regulation by RPE cells, and that CTGF can be localized to Bruch membrane during early AMD. We have targeted the response by RPE cells from CTGF stimulation to fibronectin, laminin, and MMP-2 production, since they are significant components of Bruch membrane.
Length of guanosine homopolymeric repeats modulates promoter activity of subfamily II tpr genes of Treponema pallidum ssp. pallidum

In Treponema pallidum, homopolymeric guanosine repeats of varying length are present upstream of both Subfamily I (tprC, D, F and I) and II (tprE, G and J) tpr genes, a group of potential virulence factors, immediately upstream of the +1 nucleotide. To investigate the influence of these poly-G sequences on promoter activity, tprE, G, J, F and I promoter regions containing homopolymeric tracts with different numbers of Gs, the ribosomal binding site and start codon were cloned in frame with the green fluorescent protein reporter gene (GFP), and promoter activity was measured both as fluorescence emission from Escherichia coli cultures transformed with the different plasmid constructs and using quantitative RT-PCR. For tprJ, G and E-derived clones, fluorescence was significantly higher with constructs containing eight Gs or fewer, while plasmids containing the same promoters with none or more Gs gave modest or no signal above the background. In contrast, tprF/I-derived clones induced similar levels of fluorescence regardless of the number of Gs within the promoter. GFP mRNA quantification showed that all of the promoters induced measurable transcription of the GFP gene; however, only for Subfamily II promoters was message synthesis inversely correlated to the number of Gs in the construct.
Identification of Functional Toxin/Immunity Genes Linked to Contact-Dependent Growth Inhibition (CDI) and Rearrangement Hotspot (Rhs) Systems

Bacterial contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) is mediated by the CdiA/CdiB family of two-partner secretion proteins. Each CdiA protein exhibits a distinct growth inhibition activity, which resides in the polymorphic C-terminal region (CdiA-CT). CDI+ cells also express unique CdiI immunity proteins that specifically block the activity of cognate CdiA-CT, thereby protecting the cell from autoinhibition. Here we show that many CDI systems contain multiple cdiA gene fragments that encode CdiA-CT sequences. These “orphan” cdiA-CT genes are almost always associated with downstream cdiI genes to form cdiA-CT/cdiI modules. Comparative genome analyses suggest that cdiA-CT/cdiI modules are mobile and exchanged between the CDI systems of different bacteria. In many instances, orphan cdiA-CT/cdiI modules are fused to full-length cdiA genes in other bacterial species. Examination of cdiA-CT/cdiI modules from Escherichia coli EC93, E. coli EC869, and Dickeya dadantii 3937 confirmed that these genes encode functional toxin/immunity pairs. Moreover, the orphan module from EC93 was functional in cell-mediated CDI when fused to the N-terminal portion of the EC93 CdiA protein. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that the genetic organization of CDI systems shares features with rhs (rearrangement hotspot) loci. Rhs proteins also contain polymorphic C-terminal regions (Rhs-CTs), some of which share significant sequence identity with CdiA-CTs. All rhs genes are followed by small ORFs representing possible rhsI immunity genes, and several Rhs systems encode orphan rhs-CT/rhsI modules. Analysis of rhs-CT/rhsI modules from D. dadantii 3937 demonstrated that Rhs-CTs have growth inhibitory activity, which is specifically blocked by cognate RhsI immunity proteins. Together, these results suggest that Rhs plays a role in intercellular competition and that orphan gene modules expand the diversity of toxic activities deployed by both CDI and Rhs systems.
Water Potential Increase in Sliced Leaf Tissue as a Cause of Error in Vapor Phase Determinations of Water Potential

Earlier reports that the water potential of sliced leaf tissue is higher than that of unsliced control tissue are confirmed. The effect is shown to increase as damage to the tissue due to slicing is increased. However, there is some evidence that increase in damage beyond a certain point causes water potentials to fall again towards the control value. The electrical resistance of washings from sliced leaf tissue increases with increase in the time interval between slicing and washing. Both the rise in water potential of sliced tissue and the rise in electrical resistance of washings are partially and reversibly inhibited by low temperature. These results suggest that the remaining intact cells actively accumulate solutes released from the cells cut open on slicing. The sap from the sliced cells is thereby diluted and flows passively into the intact cells. Since pressure potential changes more rapidly with cell volume than does osmotic potential, the net result is a rise in the total water potential of sliced tissue. It is concluded that this effect may cause spuriously high water potential values to be measured if excessively small pieces of leaf tissue are used. This is demonstrated with stacks of annuli cut from leaves.
GlimpseData: towards continuous vision-based personal analytics

Emerging wearable devices provide a new opportunity for mobile context-aware applications to use continuous audio/video sensing data as primitive inputs. Due to the high-datarate and compute-intensive nature of the inputs, it is important to design frameworks and applications to be efficient. We present the GlimpseData framework to collect and analyze data for studying continuous high-datarate mobile perception. As a case study, we show that we can use low-powered sensors as a filter to avoid sensing and processing video for face detection. Our relatively simple mechanism avoids processing roughly 60% of video frames while missing only 10% of frames with faces in them.
Colon Neoplasms Develop Early in the Course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

Background & Aims Colon cancer surveillance guidelines for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) suggest annual colonoscopy once the diagnosis of concomitant disease is made, but there is little evidence to support this recommendation. We conducted a retrospective review of patients with colonic neoplasms (colon cancer or dysplasia) to test this guideline's validity and determined when colonic neoplasms occurred in the population. Methods Records were retrospectively reviewed from 54 patients with IBD, PSC, and colonic neoplasia for dates of diagnosis of IBD, PSC, and colon neoplasia and descriptive information about the colon neoplasms that developed. Results The occurrence of colon neoplasms within 2 years of diagnosis of IBD and PSC (21.5 per 100 patient years of follow-up) was similar to the occurrence within 8 to 10 years from diagnosis of IBD and PSC (20.4 per 100 patient years of follow-up). The colonic neoplasms that developed in this population were spread throughout the colon. Conclusions Patients with IBD and PSC have a risk of developing colonic neoplasms soon after the coexistence of the 2 diseases is discovered. This finding supports the current colon cancer surveillance guideline recommendations of yearly colonoscopies for this patient population, beginning at the time of diagnosis of PSC in patients with IBD or with the diagnosis of IBD in patients with PSC.
Analysis of Risk and Risk-Reduction Strategies- A Multiple Product Case:

This study investigated both the amount of risk that consumers face in a new car purchase situation and the different types of strategies that they use to reduce that risk. The findings revealed that owners of different makes of cars perceive varying amounts of risk to be associated with the purchase of a new car. However, no significant differences in the overall amounts of risk associated with the different purchase situations were found. Also it was found that different strategies for reducing the risk were utilized by the different car ownership groups.
Universal multiple-output second-order digital filter

A universal, second-order, digital-filter structure is proposed, which realises simultaneously a lowpass, a highpass, a bandpass, a notch and allpass transfer function. The structure uses two unit-delays and four multipliers, and is quite attractive for VLSI implementation since a versatile universal chip can be fabricated, which can be used for the implementation of Butterworth, Chebyshev and elliptic digital filters as well as digital equalisers.
CEDAR in the budget

The importance of space to the Department of Defense (DOD) mission is evidenced by the recent formation of the U.S. Space Command and the growing number of space DOD systems. Research and development in solar-terrestrial physics conducted and supported by DOD agencies is directed toward the short- and long-term requirements of each agency. However, the understanding, specification, modeling, and prediction of the space environment and of space system/environment interactions is of interest to all of the DOD organizations that are responsible for operating or communicating in space. Research in solar, interplanetary, magneto-sphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, and middle atmosphere physics is thus supported by several DOD agencies. Studies of geomagnetic fluctuations, atmospheric radio noise, and radio wave generation and propagation are also funded. The variability and disturbances of the space environment have the greatest impact on space systems operations; research and development thus tends to focus on the dynamical behavior of the solar-terrestrial regions. Laboratory, ground-based, and space-based experiments are conducted, along with associated analytical and theoretical efforts.
FREE VIBRATION OF LAMINATED CIRCULAR PIEZOELECTRIC PLATES AND DISCS

The free vibration characteristics of laminated circular piezoelectric plates and discs are considered using a discrete-layer model of the weak form of the equations of periodic motion. Through-thickness approximations are used for the three displacement components and the electrostatic potential, resulting in an accurate representation of the discontinuity in gradients of these quantities from the mismatch in material properties at a dissimilar interface. In the radial and circumferential co-ordinates, several different approximation functions are used that depend upon the type of problem being considered, specifically the boundary conditions at the outer edge of the solid. Representative cases are studied both for thin plates and for thick discs. Excellent agreement is found with results of previous studies, and several new results are presented.
Universal Grammar: Hypothesis space or grammar selection procedures? Is UG affected by Critical Periods?

Universal Grammar (UG) can be interpreted as a constraint on the form of possible grammars (hypothesis space) or as a constraint on acquisition strategies (selection procedures). In this response to Herschensohn we reiterate the position outlined in Epstein et al. (1996a, r), that in the evaluation of L2 acquisition as a UG- constrained process the former (possible grammars/ knowledge states) is critical, not the latter. Selection procedures, on the other hand, are important in that they may have a bearing on development in language acquisition. We raise the possibility that differences in first and second language acquisition pertaining to both attainment of the end-state and course of development may derive from differences in selection procedures. We further suggest that for these reasons age effects in the attainment of nativelike proficiency must necessarily be separated from UG effects.
Epilepsy, violence and aggression: Legal implications

Controversy exists in the literature as to whether or not there is a causal relationship between epilepsy and violence. In spite of this lack of certainty, epilepsy has long been used as a criminal defense. After a review of the relevant literature, the following conclusions are made: (1) ictal violence is rare, disorganized, and very unlikely to result in acts of vicious violence; and (2) whether or not interictal violence is caused by epilepsy probably depends on the focus of the seizure activity, with right temporal lobe epileptics being most likely to display violence and aggression.
Mass Transport Phenomena in Superhydrophobic Surfaces

We present results of a droplet placed on a controlled super-hydrophobic surface cooled underneath by a thermal electrical cooler to demonstrate quick change in contact angles from the Cassie composite contact state to the Wenzel wetting contact state. The measured contact angles are compared with the theoretical predictions of Cassie’s and Wenzel’s equations and found to be consistent. The actual details of the transition phenomena are observed under a microscope through a specially designed one-dimensional micro-channel with concaved structures at the two sidewalls. It is found that the temperature gradient enhanced mass transfer can cause a rapid condensation in the air-filled cavities, which is believed to be the possible mechanism to trigger the energy state transition and explain instabilities of super-hydrophobic surfaces at the Cassie state. The phenomenon of mass transport into micro and nanocavities is important in understanding the nature of nano-structured super-hydrophobic surfaces.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
The Harvest Labor Market in California

I. The nature of the problem, 463. — II. The demand for harvest labor by the individual firm, 471. — III. The supply of harvest labor, 482. — IV. Conclusion, 490.