cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatiotemporal complexity of the aortic sinus vortex

The aortic sinus vortex is a classical flow structure of significant importance to aortic valve dynamics and the initiation and progression of calcific aortic valve disease. We characterize the spatiotemporal characteristics of aortic sinus vortex dynamics in relation to the viscosity of blood analog solution as well as heart rate. High-resolution time-resolved (2 kHz) particle image velocimetry was conducted to capture 2D particle streak videos and 2D instantaneous velocity and streamlines along the sinus midplane using a physiological but rigid aorta model fitted with a porcine bioprosthetic heart valve. Blood analog fluids used include a water–glycerin mixture and saline to elucidate the sensitivity of vortex dynamics to viscosity. Experiments were conducted to record 10 heart beats for each combination of blood analog and heart rate condition. Results show that the topological characteristics of the velocity field vary in timescales as revealed using time bin-averaged vectors and corresponding instantaneous streamlines. There exist small timescale vortices and a large timescale main vortex. A key flow structure observed is the counter vortex at the upstream end of the sinus adjacent to the base (lower half) of the leaflet. The spatiotemporal complexity of vortex dynamics is shown to be profoundly influenced by strong leaflet flutter during systole with a peak frequency of 200 Hz and peak amplitude of 4 mm observed in the saline case. While fluid viscosity influences the length and timescales as well as the introduction of leaflet flutter, heart rate influences the formation of counter vortex at the upstream end of the sinus. Higher heart rates are shown to reduce the strength of the counter vortex that can greatly influence the directionality and strength of shear stresses along the base of the leaflet. This study demonstrates the impact of heart rate and blood analog viscosity on aortic sinus hemodynamics.
Imagining the Future: What Anarchism Brings to Education

The authors review Judith Suissa's provocative book, Anarchism and Education: A Philosophical Perspective, a text that demonstrates the central role of education in anarchist theory. Suissa compellingly argues against the charges that anarchism is overly idealistic and impractical, instead seeing its potential for innovative and liberatory educational change. The authors suggest, however, that an enhanced conversation among critical pedagogy, antiracist pedagogy and anarchist thinking on education can help to show both the continued relevance of radical and creative thinking, and that anarchist thought has been part of the development of oppositional, critical, collaborative, teaching and learning projects.
A team-based protocol and electromagnetic technology eliminate feeding tube placement complications.

Objective: To examine whether feeding tube placement into high-risk patients using a team-based protocol and electromagnetic tube tracking reduces complications associated with blind tube placement and to evaluate safety of blind tube placement in alert, low-risk patients. Background: Approximately 1.2 million feeding tubes with stylets are placed annually in the US. Serious complications during placement exceed the rates of retained sponges and wrong site surgery. Several suggested solutions to the problem have been proposed but none completely eliminate the serious complications and many are neither cost-effective nor practical. Methods: In a retrospective, single center study, we compared complications after bedside feeding tube placement using a blind technique in 2005 to a hospital protocol mandating tube placement in high-risk patients by a Tube Team in 2007 using electromagnetic tracking. Outcome variables included airway placement, pneumothorax, death, and radiology resource utilization. Results: The Tube Team protocol eliminated airway tube placement (0 of 1154 vs. 20 of 1822, P < 0.001), pneumothorax (0/715 vs. 11/1822, P = 0.009), and all mortality whereas improving placement (83.9% success vs. 60.5%, P<0.001) in high-risk patients compared to the 2005 study. The number of x-rays obtained per tube (1.07 +/- 0.01 vs. 1.49 +/- 0.026, P < 0.001) and need for fluoroscopy (2.1% vs. 10.9%, P < 0.001) significantly dropped with the Tube Team. A final comparison was made to low-risk patients considered acceptable for blind tube placement in 2007 due to their alertness and ability to cooperate and provide feedback during tube placement. Although no mortality occurred during blind placement in low risk, alert patients, blind placement resulted in significantly increased airway placement (3/143, p = 0.001) and pneumothorax (2 of 143, P = 0.01) compared to the Tube Team protocol. Most patients who would have required fluoroscopic placement of feeding tube due to failed blind technique had successful placement by the Team avoiding fluoroscopy. Conclusion: Feeding tube placement by a dedicated team using electromagnetic tracking eliminates the morbidity and mortality of this common hospital procedure. Blind placement is not acceptable in awake, alert patients.
Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

During normal rhythm, an electrical impulse originates from the normal pacemaker of the heart (sinus node) and travels through the upper chambers of the heart (the right and left atria) to cross over a bridge (AV node) to the pumping chambers (ventricles), causing a heartbeat. This is normal sinus rhythm. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart rhythm disorder with rapid, irregular, and chaotic electrical activity in the atria (Figure). The atrial electrical signals bombard the AV node, and some pass through the AV node to the ventricles, producing a rapid, irregular rate and often causing symptoms of palpitations, shortness of breath, or fatigue. AF affects more than 2 million people in the United States alone; it is seen progressively more frequently as a person ages. MRI of the left atrium as viewed from the patient’s back and one mechanism hypothesized to result in AF. Pulmonary veins extend from each side of the atrium. A, A focus on one of the veins might fire and produce an electrical impulse (yellow arrows) that excites the rest of the atrium. B, With rapid firing, the electrical signals begin dividing as they circulate around the atrium. C, The focus is not firing, but the electrical impulses that it initiated continue to circulate around the atrium, producing atrial fibrillation. D, Location of ablation lesions (light blue circles) encircling the pulmonary veins on both sides of the atrium. These lesions prevent any triggers around the pulmonary veins from exciting the rest of the atrium and may interrupt paths needed for multiple impulses to circulate if they were to cause AF. There are 3 major treatment considerations for AF. First, in some people, AF promotes formation of blood clots in the atrium that can travel to the brain and …
Do Leaders Matter and How Would We Know

This paper will explore the ambivalence or conflict in the literature about the extent to which leaders matter in international politics, commonly linked to the level-of-analysis question. One the one hand, national leaders are often larger than life figures with strong preferences and distinctive personalities who seem to leave their stamp on events. On the other hand, most ir scholars place great stress on the incentives and constraints posed by the environment, be it domestic or international. I will proceed in four sections. The first discusses the essential claims at stake, the kinds of evidence that could be adduced to support one position or the other, and the pathways by which individual differences can make themselves felt. The second section examines the implications for morality, responsibility, and democratic theory. This discussion too will point to relevant methods, including ones that are contested. I will then turn to post-Cold War American foreign policy, skeptically examine the claim tha...
Generalized born model with a simple smoothing function

Based on recent developments in generalized Born (GB) theory that employ rapid volume integration schemes (M. S. Lee, F. R. Salabury, Jr., and C. L. Brooks III, J Chem Phys 2002, 116, 10606) we have recast the calculation of the self-electrostatic solvation energy to utilize a simple smoothing function at the dielectric boundary. The present GB model is formulated in this manner to provide consistency with the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory previously developed to yield numerically stable electrostatic solvation forces based on finite-difference methods (W. Im, D. Beglov, and B. Roux, Comp Phys Commun 1998, 111, 59). Our comparisons show that the present GB model is indeed an efficient and accurate approach to reproduce corresponding PB solvation energies and forces. With only two adjustable parameters--a(0) to modulate the Coulomb field term, and a(1) to include a correction term beyond Coulomb field--the PB solvation energies are reproduced within 1% error on average for a variety of proteins. Detailed analysis shows that the PB energy can be reproduced within 2% absolute error with a confidence of about 95%. In addition, the solvent-exposed surface area of a biomolecule, as commonly used in calculations of the nonpolar solvation energy, can be calculated accurately and efficiently using the simple smoothing function and the volume integration method. Our implicit solvent GB calculations are about 4.5 times slower than the corresponding vacuum calculations. Using the simple smoothing function makes the present GB model roughly three times faster than GB models, which attempt to mimic the Lee-Richards molecular volume.
Rectification by a Monolayer of Hexadecylquinolinium Tricyanoquinodimethanide between Gold Electrodes

The asymmetry can be ascribed to the intervalencetransfer band between the HOMO and LUMO, appropriatelyshifted by the applied electrical potential, and coupled tolevels in the Al electrodes. The optical absorption at 570 nm(2.17 eV) in films of 1 can be ascribed to the HOMO–LUMOgap, or in slightly different language, to the transition from theground state (dipole moment 43 8D)
Atmospheric pressure plasma effects on the adhesive bonding properties of stainless steel and epoxy composites

An atmospheric pressure helium and oxygen plasma has been used for the surface preparation of 410 stainless steel and carbon-fiber epoxy laminates prior to bonding to themselves or to each other. L...
Effects of Conserved RNA Secondary Structures on Hepatitis Delta Virus Genotype I RNA Editing, Replication, and Virus Production

RNA editing of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) antigenome at the amber/W site by the host RNA adenosine deaminase ADAR1 is a critical step in the HDV replication cycle. Editing is required for production of the viral protein hepatitis delta antigen long form (HDAg-L), which is necessary for viral particle production but can inhibit HDV RNA replication. The RNA secondary structural features in ADAR1 substrates are not completely defined, but base pairing in the 20-nucleotide (nt) region 3' of editing sites is thought to be important. The 25-nt region 3' of the HDV amber/W site in HDV genotype I RNA consists of a conserved secondary structure that is mostly base paired but also has asymmetric internal loops and single-base bulges. To understand the effect of this 3' region on the HDV replication cycle, mutations that either increase or decrease base pairing in this region were created and the effects of these changes on amber/W site editing, RNA replication, and virus production were studied. Increased base pairing, particularly in the region 15 to 25 nt 3' of the editing site, significantly increased editing; disruption of base pairing in this region had little effect. Increased editing resulted in a dramatic inhibition of HDV RNA synthesis, mostly due to excess HDAg-L production. Although virus production at early times was unaffected by this reduced RNA replication, at later times it was significantly reduced. Therefore, it appears that the conserved RNA secondary structure around the HDV genotype I amber/W site has been selected not for the highest editing efficiency but for optimal viral replication and secretion.
'A Nation to be reckoned with': The politics of world cup stadium construction in Cape Town and Durban, South Africa

On Saturday 15 May 2004, Nelson Mandela wept tears of joy as the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) awarded South Africa the right to host the 2010 World Cup finals – the firs...
GaAs LSA V-band oscillators

GaAs devices verify practical LSA mode operation at V-band frequencies (50-75 GHz). The limitations on power and efficiency are characterized including the dependence of efficiency on electron concentration. The maximum CW power level is 62 mW with an efficiency of 2.2 percent at 64 GHz. The peak power and efficiency is 137 mW and 3.71 percent at 64 GHz for 5 percent duty, pulsed operation. A maximum in the CW efficiency occurs at an n/f ratio of 1.1 × 105s . cm-3corresponding to a doping of 6.6 × 1015cm-3for a frequency of 60 GHz. Device design curves are presented for CW operation subject to Copeland's LSA mode criteria and to a maximum allowed sample temperature rise. Details of a vane circuit are presented which provide V-band resonances and a proper RF environment for LSA-related operation.
Performance evaluation of a random-walk-based algorithm for embedding dynamically evolving trees in butterflies

In many tree-structured parallel computations, the size and structure of a tree that represents a parallel computation is unpredictable at compile-time; the tree evolves gradually during the course of the computation. When such a computation is performed on a static network, the dynamic tree embedding problem is to distribute the tree nodes to the processors of the network such that all the processors receive roughly the same amount of load and that communicating nodes are assigned to neighboring processors. Furthermore, when a new tree node is generated, it should be immediately assigned to a processor for execution without any information on the further evolving of the tree; and load distribution is performed by all processors in a totally distributed fashion.We study the problem of embedding dynamically evolving trees in butterflies. We evaluate the performance of a random-walk-based algorithm. Our performance data demonstrate that butterflies have comparable performance with hypercubes in supporting tree-structured parallel computations.
Wafer bumping, assembly, and reliability assessment of μbumps with 5μm pads on 10μm pitch for 3D IC integration

In this study, ultra fine pitch Cu/Sn lead-free solder microbumps are investigated. Emphasis is placed on wafer bumping, assembly, and reliability of microbumps for 3D IC integration applications. The test vehicle consists of a chip (5mm × 5mm) with 3,200 pads. The pad size is 5μm in diameter and on 10μm pitch. A daisy-chain feature is adopted for the characterization and reliability Assessment. After pattern trace formation, the microbump is fabricated on the trace by an electroplating technique. The wet-etching process is used for the etching of seed layer. A suitable barrier/seed layer thickness is designed and applied to minimize the undercut due to wet etching but still achieve good plating uniformity. In addition, the shear test has been adopted to characterize the bump strength, which exceeds the specification. After wafer bumping and characterization of the microbumps, the Moore's law wafer is dicing into individual chips for chip-to-chip (C2C) bonding of the micro solder joints. The C2C bonding is a flux thermocompression process with a peak temperature of 260°C. The microstructure analyses reveal that the ultra fine pitch micro solder joint can be considered as an intermetallic compound (IMC) joint composed of Cu 6 Sn 5 and a few residual solder compounds.
Impact of Budget and Schedule Pressure on Software Development Cycle Time and Effort

As excessive budget and schedule compression becomes the norm in today's software industry, an understanding of its impact on software development performance is crucial for effective management strategies. Previous software engineering research has implied a nonlinear impact of schedule pressure on software development outcomes. Borrowing insights from organizational studies, we formalize the effects of budget and schedule pressure on software cycle time and effort as U-shaped functions. The research models were empirically tested with data from a 25 billion/year international technology firm, where estimation bias is consciously minimized and potential confounding variables are properly tracked. We found that controlling for software process, size, complexity, and conformance quality, budget pressure, a less researched construct, has significant U-shaped relationships with development cycle time and development effort. On the other hand, contrary to our prediction, schedule pressure did not display significant nonlinear impact on development outcomes. A further exploration of the sampled projects revealed that the involvement of clients in the software development might have ldquoerodedrdquo the potential benefits of schedule pressure. This study indicates the importance of budget pressure in software development. Meanwhile, it implies that achieving the potential positive effect of schedule pressure requires cooperation between clients and software development teams.
Carbohydrate Metabolism of the Chick Embryo

Summary1. Thyroxin and suprarenal cortical extract induce glycogenolysis of the glycogen normally present in the livers of 8-day embryos. 2. The injection of adrenalin in approximately physiological concentration appears to have no effect on liver glycogen. 3. Increased liver and skeletal muscle glycogen and a rise in the blood sugar level have been noted after the injection of crude anterior pituitary extract, suggesting a stimulation of gluconeogenesis. 4. Liver glycogen is increased in 8-day embryos by the injection of insulin and this increase is to be correlated with a rapid fall in the blood sugar level. 5. Injection of glucose fails to interrupt the normal disappearance of glycogen from the livers of 12-day embryos. 6. Both insulin and anterior pituitary extract cause an increase in the liver glycogen of 12-day embryos. The anterior pituitary extract also causes a rise in the blood sugar level at this time.
Conversion of acetic acid to methane by thermophiles

Acetate is the precursor of approximately two-thirds of the methane produced in mesophilic (30–40°C) and thermophilic (45–65°C) anaerobic bioreactors. In the past decade, several thermophilic acetotrophic methanogenic cultures have been isolated including Methanosarcina thermophila, Methanotrhix sp. strain CALS-1, the TAM organism, and syntrophic acetate-oxidizing co-culture. The thermophilic Methanosarcina and Methanothrix cultures physiologically and morphologically resemble their mesophilic homologues, except that they grow two to five times as rapidly. This more rapid growth offers a partial explanation for the higher rates of methanogenesis and lower minimum retention times often found in thermophilic anaerobic bioreactors when compared with mesophilic bioreactors. The thermophilic Methanothrix shows a much lower minimum threshold for acetate utilization (12–20 μM) than does a thermophilic Methanosarcina (1–2.5 mM), consistent with ecological evidence indicating that low acetate concentrations favor Methanothrix. The thermophilic Methanotrhix cultures have a maximum growth temperature near 70°C, while that for thermophilic Methanosarcina cultures is near 60°C, and there is evidence that bioreactors in which Methanothrix predominates are more tolerant to temperatures over 60°C. The rod-shaped TAM organism grows optimally at 60°C, and may represent a new genus. A thermophilic synthrophic coculture converts acetate to methane by a two-step process in which acetate is first oxidized to H2 and CO2 by an acetate oxidizing rod (AOR) followed by methanogenesis from H2 and CO2 by a thermophilic Methanobacterium. The AOR has been isolated in pure culture and has been found to be an acetogen capable of converting H2-CO2 to acetate, the opposite of the reaction it carries out in synthrophic coculture. The partial pressures of hydrogen in the acetate oxidizing coculture must be poised such that both organisms are able to conserve energy. It was found that entropy effects must be taken into account to make an accurate prediction of H2 partial pressures at 60°C, and it is predicted that H2 partial pressures will be generally about five to ten-fold higher in thermophilic anaerobic bioreactors than in mesophilic ones. The presently known upper temperature limit for methanogenesis from acetate is 70°C, despite attempts by the author and others to isolate more thermophilic strains from geothermal environments.
Analyzing Fine-Grained Skill Models Using Bayesian and Mixed Effects Methods

Two modelling methods were used to answer the research question of how accurate various grained 1, 5, 39 and 106 skill models are at assessing student knowledge in the ASSISTment online tutoring system and predicting student performance on a state math test. One method is mixed-effects statistical modelling. The other uses a Bayesian networks machine learning approach. We compare the prediction results to identify benefits and drawbacks of either method and to find out if the two results agree. We report that both methods showed compelling similarity which support the use of fine grained skill models.
Cardiorespiratory fitness in young adulthood and the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors.

ContextLow cardiorespiratory fitness is an established risk factor for cardiovascular and total mortality; however, mechanisms responsible for these associations are uncertain.ObjectiveTo test whether low fitness, estimated by short duration on a maximal treadmill test, predicted the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors and whether improving fitness (increase in treadmill test duration between examinations) was associated with risk reduction.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsPopulation-based longitudinal cohort study of men and women 18 to 30 years of age in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Participants who completed the treadmill examination according to the Balke protocol at baseline were followed up from 1985-1986 to 2000-2001. A subset of participants (n = 2478) repeated the exercise test in 1992-1993.Main Outcome MeasuresIncident type 2 diabetes, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome (defined according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III), and hypercholesterolemia (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥160 mg/dL [4.14 mmol/L]).ResultsDuring the 15-year study period, the rates of incident diabetes, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, and hypercholesterolemia were 2.8, 13.0, 10.2, and 11.7 per 1000 person-years, respectively. After adjustment for age, race, sex, smoking, and family history of diabetes, hypertension, or premature myocardial infarction, participants with low fitness (<20th percentile) were 3- to 6-fold more likely to develop diabetes, hypertension, and the metabolic syndrome than participants with high fitness (≥60th percentile), all P<.001. Adjusting for baseline body mass index diminished the strength of these associations to 2-fold (all P<.001). In contrast, the association between low fitness and hypercholesterolemia was modest (hazard ratio [HR], 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.7; P = .02) and attenuated to marginal significance after body mass index adjustment (P = .13). Improved fitness over 7 years was associated with a reduced risk of developing diabetes (HR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-1.0; P = .04) and the metabolic syndrome (HR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.7; P<.001), but the strength and significance of these associations was reduced after accounting for changes in weight.ConclusionsPoor fitness in young adults is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors. These associations involve obesity and may be modified by improving fitness.
Dietary Arachidonate Differentially Alters Desaturase-Elongase Pathway Flux and Gene Expression in Liver and Intestine of Suckling Pigs

Because dietary arachidonate (ARA) and its eicosanoid derivatives are major regulators of intestinal homeostasis and repair following injury, we evaluated the effects of dietary ARA on desaturation and elongation of (13)C-18:2(n-6) and mRNA abundance of Δ-6-desaturase (FADS2), elongase (ELOVL5), and Δ-5-desaturase (FADS1) in liver and intestine. Day-old pigs (n = 96) were fed milk-based formula containing 0, 0.5, 2.5, or 5% ARA or 5% eicosapentaenoic acid of total fatty acids for 4, 8, and 16 d. In liver, the desaturation rate [nmol/(g tissue⋅h)] of (13)C-18:2(n-6) to (13)C-18:3(n-6) decreased 56% between 4 and 16 d but was not affected by diet. Whereas accumulation in (13)C-20:3(n-6) also decreased with age by 67%, it increased linearly with increasing dietary ARA (P 0.05) but decreased precipitously between birth and d 4 (~70%; P < 0.05). In contrast, intestinal abundance of FADS2 and FADS1 increased 60% from d 4 to 16. In conclusion, dietary ARA regulated the desaturase-elongase pathway in a tissue-specific manner. In liver, ARA had modest effects on (n-6) fatty acid flux, and intestinal FADS2 activity and mRNA increased. Additionally, hepatic flux decreased with postnatal age, whereas intestinal flux did not change.
Damped Oscillations of Coronal Loops

A mechanism of damped oscillations of a coronal loop is investigated. The loop is treated as a thin toroidal flux rope with two stationary photospheric footpoints, carrying both toroidal and poloidal currents. The forces and the flux-rope dynamics are described within the framework of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The main features of the theory are the following: i) Oscillatory motions are determined by the Lorentz force that acts on curved current-carrying plasma structures and ii) damping is caused by drag that provides the momentum coupling between the flux rope and the ambient coronal plasma. The oscillation is restricted to the vertical plane of the flux rope. The initial equilibrium flux rope is set into oscillation by a pulse of upflow of the ambient plasma. The theory is applied to two events of oscillating loops observed by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). It is shown that the Lorentz force and drag with a reasonable value of the coupling coefficient (c d ) and without anomalous dissipation are able to accurately account for the observed damped oscillations. The analysis shows that the variations in the observed intensity can be explained by the minor radial expansion and contraction. For the two events, the values of the drag coefficient consistent with the observed damping times are in the range c d ≈2 – 5, with specific values being dependent on parameters such as the loop density, ambient magnetic field, and the loop geometry. This range is consistent with a previous MHD simulation study and with values used to reproduce the observed trajectories of coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
Rare Targets Are Rarely Missed in Correctable Search

Failing to find a tumor in an x-ray scan or a gun in an airport baggage screening can have dire consequences, making it fundamentally important to elucidate the mechanisms that hinder performance in such visual searches. Recent laboratory work has indicated that low target prevalence can lead to disturbingly high miss rates in visual search. Here, however, we demonstrate that misses in low-prevalence searches can be readily abated. When targets are rarely present, observers adapt by responding more quickly, and miss rates are high. Critically, though, these misses are often due to response-execution errors, not perceptual or identification errors: Observers know a target was present, but just respond too quickly. When provided an opportunity to correct their last response, observers can catch their mistakes. Thus, low target prevalence may not be a generalizable cause of high miss rates in visual search.
Tracheostomy: Why, When, and How?

Tracheostomy is one of the most frequent procedures performed in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Of the many purported advantages of tracheostomy, only patient comfort, early movement from the ICU, and shorter ICU and hospital stay have significant supporting data. Even the belief of increased safety with tracheostomy may not be correct. Various techniques for tracheostomy have been developed; however, use of percutaneous dilation techniques with bronchoscopic control continue to expand in popularity throughout the world. Tracheostomy should occur as soon as the need for prolonged intubation (longer than 14 d) is identified. Accurate prediction of this duration by day 3 remains elusive. Mortality is not worse with tracheotomy and may be improved with earlier provision, especially in head-injured and critically ill medical patients. The timing of when to perform a tracheostomy continues to be individualized, should include daily weaning assessment, and can generally be made within 7 days of intubation. Bedside techniques are safe and efficient, allowing timely tracheostomy with low morbidity.
Performance analysis of prioritized parallel transmission MAC protocol in all-IP wireless WAN

Prioritized parallel transmission MAC (PPTM) protocol is proposed for all-IP wireless wide area network (WAN). In this paper, we analyse its performance and compare it with modified channel load sensing protocol (MCLSP). We model PPTM as a non-preemptive priority queueing system and obtain a close form of transmission time delay for each priority class, throughput of the scheme, and number of packets in the queue in the Poisson arrival case. We find that PPTM achieves less transmission time delay than MCLSP does for high priority data. Hence, the overall performance of the system using PPTM is significantly improved. We verify the conclusions with simulation via a simplified all-IP wireless WAN. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Replacing the Nile: Are Anthropogenic Nutrients Providing the Fertility Once Brought to the Mediterranean by a Great River?

Abstract Prior to construction of the Aswan High Dam, the annual Nile flood delivered about 7–11 × 103 t of biologically available phosphorus (P), at least 7 × 103 t of inorganic nitrogen (N), and 110 × 103 t of silica (Si) to the Mediterranean coastal waters off Egypt. These nutrients stimu-lated a dramatic “Nile bloom” of diatoms which supported a productive fishery. After closure of the dam in 1965, flow from the Nile was reduced by over 90%, and the fishery collapsed. It remained unproductive for about 15 years. The fishery began a dramatic recovery during the 1980s, coincident with increasing fertilizer use, expanded agri-cultural drainage, increasing human population, and dra-matic extensions of urban water supplies and sewage collection systems. Calculations of the potential anthro-pogenic contribution of nutrients (P and N, but not Si) are consistent with the hypothesis that human sewage and agricultural drainage now support the fertility once provided by the Nile, though the nature of the product...
Wellness Coaching for People With Prediabetes: A Randomized Encouragement Trial to Evaluate Outreach Methods at Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, 2013

INTRODUCTION Health coaching can improve lifestyle behaviors known to prevent or manage chronic conditions. Little is known about effective ways to encourage health and wellness coaching among people who might benefit. The purpose of this randomized encouragement trial was to assess the relative success of 3 outreach methods (secured email message, telephone message, and mailed letter) on the use of wellness coaching by people with prediabetes. METHODS A total of 14,584 Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) patients with diagnosed prediabetes (fasting plasma glucose, 110-125mg/dL) were randomly assigned to be contacted via 1 of 4 intervention arms from January through May 2013. The uptake rate (making an appointment at the Wellness Coaching Center [WCC]) was assessed, and the association between uptake rate and patient characteristics was examined via multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS The overall uptake rate across intervention arms was 1.9%. Secured email message had the highest uptake rate (3.0%), followed by letters and telephone messages (P < .05 for all pairwise comparisons). No participants in the usual-care arm (ie, no outreach) made an appointment with the WCC. For each year of increased age, the estimated odds of the uptake increased by 1.02 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04). Women were nearly twice as likely to make an appointment at the WCC as men (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.40-2.51). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that the WCC can recruit and encourage KPNC members with prediabetes to participate in the WCC. Future research should focus on increasing participation rates in health coaching among patients who may benefit.
Arthroscopy before arthroplasty: A con or a comfort?

The proliferation of arthroscopic procedures in the United States has called into question the efficacy of this technique in the presence of degenerative arthritis of the knee. Appropriate filters such as a history of mechanical rather than inflammatory symptoms, the presence or absence of a joint space on weight-bearing radiographs, and the exhaustion of other less invasive measures are not only increasingly appropriate, but may soon be mandated by Medicare and other third-party payers. It is important that orthopedic surgeons lead and modulate this debate in the interest of their patients and the quality of their surgeries.
Environmental Causes of Cancer

In contrast to the concept of cancer that prevailed at the turn of the century, when the disease was generally regarded as a more or less predetermined accompaniment of aging, the vast majority of all malignancies are now thought to arise through the influence of extrinsic, or “environmental”, risk factors, and thus to be potentially preventable (1). This revolution in our attitude toward the cancer problem provides us with one of the most hopeful but also one of the most challenging hypotheses of our time. Our task now is to identify the risk factors and to develop appropriate measures for eliminating them, controlling them, or counteracting them.
Vertical Sculpted Pillar Reduction Mammaplasty in 317 Patients: Technique, Complications, and BREAST-Q Outcomes.

Background The senior author (JCG) has described the vertical sculpted pillar breast reduction. Objectives This manuscript aimed to compare this technique's safety profile to other established techniques via complication rate reporting. Few studies have utilized the BREAST-Q for long-term outcomes reporting in bilateral reduction mammaplasty patients. BREAST-Q outcome comparisons, between cosmetic and insurance-based breast reduction cohorts, have not been previously reported. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on patients who underwent reduction mammaplasty using the vertical sculpted pillar technique. The BREAST-Q postoperative reduction mammaplasty module was administered. Complication rates and outcomes data were compared among patient cohorts distinguished by pedicle, scar pattern, and payor population. Statistically significant differences were set at P < .05. Results Compared to the superior pedicle, use of the superomedial pedicle statistically increased rates of postoperative fat necrosis in this series. Complication rates did not differ among scar patterns, but use of a J, L-shaped, or short-T scar decreased the need for secondary/revisional surgery. Cosmetic and insurance-based outcomes did not differ in any domain of the postoperative reduction mammaplasty BREAST-Q module. Conclusions Complications data for the vertical sculpted pillar reduction mammaplasty were comparable to published results for other techniques. Complication rates are unaffected by scar pattern. Superomedial pedicle selection and larger insurance-based reductions may predispose to statistically significant increases in fat necrosis compared to use of the superior pedicle. Payor source neither affects the majority of complication rates, nor BREAST-Q satisfaction and quality of life domains. This information can be used to improve management of expectations during the preoperative consultation process. Level of Evidence 4![Graphic][1] Therapeutic [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Double-difference tomography of microseismic data for monitoring carbon sequestration

Summary More than 2000 microseismic events have been recorded since early 2008 using a cemented geophone string for monitoring CO2 injection at the Aneth oil field in Utah. The double-difference seismic tomography method has recently been developed for improving earthquake locations and imaging the seismic velocity structure. The method uses both the absolute and differential arrival times to invert the velocity distribution and the source locations simultaneously, leading to an improved precision for microseismic event location. We explore the use of doubledifference tomography for obtaining high-precision locations of microseismic events and improved resolution of velocity structure at the Aneth oil field.
Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon Films by Pulsed Ion Beam Annealing

Regrowth by pulsed proton beam was studied for evaporated amorphous Si layers, for layers converted to polycrystalline by annealing (both with and without Ge markers) and for implantation-amorphized SOS films. Silicon-on-sapphire showed the lowest threshold for regrowth. Amorphous silicon melted at about 0.2 J/cm 2 lower fluences of protons of 380 kev energy than crystalline Si. Implanted Sb into Sos occupies lattice positions exceeding the solid solubility.
Feminist Perspectives Advance Four Challenges to Transform Family Studies

Family is an excellent potential arena to challenge gender norms and change power structures in society because of its pivotal role in socializing generations on gender and other axes of power and oppression. This commentary examines interdisciplinary feminist perspectives on family relationships and discusses the ways in which feminist scholarship challenges traditional approaches to family studies. Specifically, feminist researchers have challenged scholarship on families to: (a) redefine family by un-othering non-conforming families, (b) bring gender consciousness to family research, (c) model intersectionality across structural levels, and (d) apply research to radically alter family life to promote fairness and equity. Several barriers that have frustrated forward motion on some of these ideological battlegrounds are also discussed, including many structural aspects of currently favored epistemological approaches and scholarly traditions. Feminist researchers must continue to challenge the traditional approaches and conclusions of family scholarship, but we must also challenge some more subtle, structurally entrenched ideologies about the process of scholarship itself. This two pronged attack is critical to pull feminist family research from the fringes to center stage, where we can continue to demonstrate what a collective gain feminist approaches bring to our understanding of gender and the family.
Glass Formation and Glassy Behavior

The scientific study of glass-forming substances has been important for well over half a century. The continuing interest in the behavior of these materials was confirmed by a simple computer search of the literature from 1968 to 1987 on ‘glasses’, which resulted in over 125 000 citations, and ‘polymer glasses’, which resulted in over 10 000 citations.1 A further glimpse of the importance of glasses as an area of scientific inquiry can be obtained by browsing through the books, special journal issues and symposium proceedings which have appeared over the past decade and half.2–10
Abstract 18: Galactose impacts cell growth and redox status of glioblastoma multiforme U87 cell lines

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and malignant form of brain cancer in adults, with a median survival time of 12-15 months. Characterizing the metabolic alterations of GBM is a crucial step towards identifying potential targets for treatment, with mitochondria, the electron transport chain, and associated reactive oxygen species presenting lucrative targets for therapy. However, the Warburg effect, in which cells generate ATP mainly via glycolysis despite adequate oxygen and functional mitochondria, can render cancer cells resistant to antagonists of the electron transport chain. This prompts investigations into other nodes of oncogenic metabolism such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway which can regulate glucose metabolism. The present work defined the sensitivity of GBM U87MG, U87OE (over-expressed EGFR), and U87vIII (hyper-activated vIII mutated EGFR) cell lines to media supplemented with galactose versus conventional glucose concentrations. Cells were transfected with a mitochondrial-targeted Glrx-roGFP2 redox biosensor, a mutated GFP protein whose fluorescence reflects the local redox potential, and incubated in Dulbecco9s Modified Eagle9s Medium (DMEM) supplemented with either 25 mM glucose (DMEM-Glu) or 10 mM galactose with and without 1 mM pyruvate (DMEM-Gal±Pyr). Glucose deprivation combined with galactose supplementation allows metabolic isolation of mitochondrial contributions to ATP generation because the glycolytic metabolism of galactose yields no net ATP, forcing cells to rely on increased mitochondrial respiration. Cells were exposed to differential media conditions and assessed via flow cytometry to monitor mitochondrial redox homeostasis after 24 h of media exposure. Wild type U87 cells exhibited a slight reduction upon glycolytic blockade, while mitochondria in the mutant EGFR U87OE and U87vIII cells exhibited extreme oxidation. The sulforhodamine B assay, which determines cell density based on a colorimetric measurement of cellular protein content, was performed to assess cell concentration in different media after 72 h of media exposure. Mutant EGFR U87OE and U87vIII cells experienced much greater growth inhibition and cell death compared to wild type U87MG cells. Thus, EGFR-activating mutations increase cellular dependence on glycolytic ATP generation for cell growth and redox homeostasis. Future work will build on these findings to characterize how the metabolic phenotypes and preferences of these cells are linked to their migratory behavior in an engineered 3D hydrogel environment. Citation Format: Jan C. Lumibao, Vladimir Kolossov, Matthew T. Leslie, H R. Gaskins. Galactose impacts cell growth and redox status of glioblastoma multiforme U87 cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 18.
Gametrics: towards attack-resilient behavioral authentication with simple cognitive games

Authenticating a user based on her unique behavioral bio-metric traits has been extensively researched over the past few years. The most researched behavioral biometrics techniques are based on keystroke and mouse dynamics. These schemes, however, have been shown to be vulnerable to human-based and robotic attacks that attempt to mimic the user's behavioral pattern to impersonate the user. In this paper, we aim to verify the user's identity through the use of active, cognition-based user interaction in the authentication process. Such interaction boasts to provide two key advantages. First, it may enhance the security of the authentication process as multiple rounds of active interaction would serve as a mechanism to prevent against several types of attacks, including zero-effort attack, expert trained attackers, and automated attacks. Second, it may enhance the usability of the authentication process by actively engaging the user in the process. We explore the cognitive authentication paradigm through very simplistic interactive challenges, called Dynamic Cognitive Games, which involve objects floating around within the images, where the user's task is to match the objects with their respective target(s) and drag/drop them to the target location(s). Specifically, we introduce, build and study Gametrics ("Game-based biometrics"), an authentication mechanism based on the unique way the user solves such simple challenges captured by multiple features related to her cognitive abilities and mouse dynamics. Based on a comprehensive data set collected in both online and lab settings, we show that Gametrics can identify the users with a high accuracy (false negative rates, FNR, as low as 0.02) while rejecting zero-effort attackers (false positive rates, FPR, as low as 0.02). Moreover, Gametrics shows promising results in defending against expert attackers that try to learn and later mimic the user's pattern of solving the challenges (FPR for expert human attacker as low as 0.03). Furthermore, we argue that the proposed biometrics is hard to be replayed or spoofed by automated means, such as robots or malware attacks.
The bumper technique for advancing a large profile microcatheter

Operators commonly encounter difficulty maneuvering a microcatheter beyond the distal lip of wide neck aneurysms and aneurysms in challenging locations. Few techniques have been described to guide operators in these particular situations. In this case report of a 56-year-old woman with a 16 mm ophthalmic artery aneurysm, the microcatheter continually snagged the distal aneurysm lip, preventing delivery of a flow diverter into the distal parent vessel. In troubleshooting this obstacle, a second microguidewire was introduced alongside the microcatheter and was used to cover the distal lip of the aneurysm to prevent further snagging. The second guidewire successfully deflected the microcatheter into the distal vessel, a technique that we have aptly dubbed the ‘bumper technique’.
Web-Based Interventions Alone or Supplemented with Peer-Led Support or Professional Email Counseling for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance in Women from Rural Communities: Results of a Clinical Trial.

Objective. This trial compared the effectiveness of a web-based only (WO) intervention with web-based supplemented by peer-led discussion (WD) or professional email counseling (WE) across 3 phases to achieve weight loss and weight maintenance in women from underserved rural communities. Methods. 301 women (BMI of 28–45 kg/m2) randomly assigned to groups participated in guided weight loss (baseline to 6 months), guided weight loss and maintenance (6 to 18 months), and self-managed weight maintenance (18 to 30 months). Results. Retention was 88.7%, 76.5%, and 71.8% at 6, 18, and 30 months, respectively. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated no group differences in change in weight within any phases. At 6 months, observed mean (SD) weight loss was 5.1 (6.0) kg in WO, 4.1 (5.6) kg in WD, and 6.0 (6.3) kg in WE, with 42%, 38%, and 51%, respectively, meeting ≥ 5% weight loss. These proportions dropped by a third after phase 2 with no further change during phase 3. Conclusion. Web-based interventions assisted women from rural communities in achieving 6-month weight loss, with weight regain by half at 30 months. No group differences were potentially due to the robust nature of the web-based intervention. Trial Registration. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01307644 .