cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cancer risk in different generations of Middle Eastern immigrants to California, 1988-2013.

The objective of this study is to compare cancer risk among different generations of Middle Eastern immigrants (ME) and non-Hispanic whites (NHW) in California between 1988 and 2013. We used data from the California Cancer Registry to identify invasive primary incident cancer cases in three population groups: (i) first-generation ME immigrants, (ii) second- or subsequent-generations ME immigrants, and (iii) NHW. Proportional incidence ratio (PIR) was used to compare cancer risk of the 15 selected most common cancers in the 3 population groups taking into consideration time since immigration for first-generation ME immigrants. First generation ME immigrants were more likely to be at increased risk of stomach (PIR= 3.13) and hepatobiliary (PIR = 2.27) cancers in females and thyroid (PIR = 2.19) and stomach (PIR = 2.13) cancers in males in comparison with NHW. Second- or subsequent-generations ME immigrants were at increased risk of thyroid cancer (PIR = 1.43 in females and 2.00 in males) in comparison with NHW, and malignant melanoma cancer (PIR = 4.53 in females and 4.61 in males) in comparison with first-generation ME immigrants. The risk levels of breast, thyroid and bladder cancers in ME first generation were significantly higher compared to NHW regardless of time spent in the United States suggesting the role of genetic predisposition, and/or cultural characteristics associated with these cancers. The results suggest that differences in cancer risk between ME first-generation immigrants and NHW change in second or subsequent generations, approaching the risk level of NHW and indicating the impact of acculturation in this immigrant population.
Determinants of the risk of accidents in the Gulf of Mexico commercial fisheries

Abstract I investigate the determinants of casualties (fatal and non-fatal injuries as well as missing) among commercial fishermen in pursuit of all fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. A count data modeling approach is applied to United States Coast Guard (USCG) historical time series data. The results indicate that fishermen are willing to accept financial rewards for an increase in the risk of casualties. I also find that poor weather conditions, as measured by wave height, and lack of job availability in the market increase the chances of casualties. More crewmembers relative to the vessel size help reduce the chances of casualties in dangerous situations at sea. However, in my broad overview of commercial fishery casualties, I could not find a statistically significant positive support for any impact of government policy variables, including the USCG Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) observer programs.
Automated formulation of constraint satisfaction problems

A wide variety of problems can be represented as constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), and once so represented can be solved by a variety of effective algorithms. However, as with other powerful, general Al problem solving methods, we must still address the task of moving from a natural statement of the problem to a formulation of the problem as a CSP. This research addresses the task of automating this problem formulation process, using logic puzzles as a testbed. Beyond problem formulation per se, we address the issues of effective problem formulation, i.e. finding formulations that support more efficient solution, as well as incremental problem formulation that supports reasoning from partial information and are congenial to human thought processes.
Occupational Cancer: Modern History

Cancer was once so rare that medical students in the 1930s rushed to see an autopsy, but cancer today claims the lives of one in four persons in most industrial countries. In more heavily industrialized zones of rapidly growing areas of China, the government reports that half of all deaths are due to cancer. The history of public and professional understanding of the causes of cancer indicates that powerful political and social forces have affected what are regarded as important cancer causes. The absence of human evidence often reflects difficulties of conducting epidemiological investigations in the real world, where multiple exposures take place throughout modern life. Efforts to identify human causes of cancer must incorporate the full array of information available, ranging from experimental models in cell cultures, to whole animal lifetime feeding studies, to structure–activity analyses of known and suspected carcinogens, and ultimately to studies of human patterns of exposure and disease.
Chapter 9: Money and Happiness: Implications for Investor Behavior

This chapter provides a synthesis of the research literature on the relationship between money and happiness. Money refers to income and income-related factors. Happiness is typically measured by life satisfaction, but also by daily happiness and living a meaningful life. Based on research evidence, personal income increases happiness to a certain degree in a nonlinear fashion. In the range from low to middle income, income has a strong positive relationship with happiness. From middle to high income levels, the positive association between income and happiness diminishes. People living in richer countries are happier. Unhappiness results from seeking materialist goals. Most research studies examine whether income increases happiness. The emerging academic literature examines the reverse causality and explores whether happier people make more money, which is gaining empirical support. The chapter provides a discussion of the implications of these research findings for investor behavior.
Understanding the Role of Team Member Personal Style in Project Performance: Does the Type of Innovation Matter?

Teams are progressively becoming primary in the way employees in organizations conduct work. We investigated the role of staff personal style in project performance for teams working on incremental...
From Songs to Psalms: Grieg’s Cosmopolitan Aesthetic

Despite his important status in Denmark, many critics and scholars alike have proclaimed that Otto Benzon was not an effective choice of poet for Grieg’s songs, Opp. 69 and 70. This chapter argues that the composer’s decision was not as puzzling as it has been portrayed. On the contrary, by situating these works within the context of the cosmopolitan conditions outlined in Chap. 2, their significance comes into better focus. This chapter thereby offers an analytical survey of the experiments Grieg generated for the purpose of interweaving rich layers of national and cosmopolitan identities. It also demonstrates how techniques such as chromatic juxtapositioning and tetrachordal transformation, which were developed as musical analogues for literary practices, became common strategies for cosmopolitanizing national sources in his late songs and last choral works, Four Psalms, Op. 74.
Time to biochemical and radiographic progression in patients treated with adenovirus-PSA vaccine for non-metastatic/early metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer: Phase 2 trial results.

e16132 Background: AdPSA is an investigational replication-deficient adenovirus-based PSA vaccine. A prior phase I trial in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) showed...
The physics of precipitation in cumulus clouds

Over the past several years, the University of Chicago has conducted a program of research into the physics and chemistry of cumulus cloud precipitation. From these measurements it has been possible to isolate the sublimation-coalescence mechanism (Bergeron process) from the condensation-coalescence mechanism and to estimate the relative role of each process in the formation of rain n cumulus clouds. It is found that size of cloud capable of raining is a strong function of geography, that the environment of the cloud is very important in determining the probability of rain and that liquid water content is one of the most important within-cloud parameters. An essential part of the research concerned cloud treatment. Definite, positive treatment effects were demonstrated for rain initiation through coalescence using water spray. No effects were detectable from dry ice seeding of subcooled clouds, although any such effects may have been obscured by sample size (27 cloud pairs).
Does trauma-focused exposure therapy exacerbate symptoms among patients with comorbid PTSD and substance use disorders?

Background Although exposure-based therapy is a well-established, effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some practitioners report reluctance to implement it due to concerns that it may exacerbate symptoms of PTSD and commonly comorbid disorders, such as substance use disorders (SUD). Aim This study compared the exacerbation of psychological symptoms among participants with comorbid PTSD and SUD who received either SUD treatment alone or SUD treatment integrated with exposure therapy for PTSD. Method Participants (N = 71) were treatment-seeking, military Veterans with comorbid PTSD and SUD who were randomized to 12 individual sessions of either (1) an integrated, exposure-based treatment (Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders using Prolonged Exposure; COPE); or (2) a non-exposure-based, SUD-only treatment (Relapse Prevention; RP). We examined between-group differences in the frequency of statistically reliable exacerbations of PTSD, SUD and depression symptoms experienced during treatment. Results At each of the 12 sessions, symptom exacerbation was minimal and generally equally likely in either treatment group. However, an analysis of treatment completers suggests that RP participants experienced slightly more exacerbations of PTSD symptoms during the course of treatment. Conclusions This study is the first to investigate symptom exacerbation throughout trauma-focused exposure therapy for individuals with comorbid PTSD and SUD. Results add to a growing literature which suggests that trauma-focused, exposure-based therapy does not increase the risk of symptom exacerbation relative to non-exposure-based therapy.
Inimitable Paul Talalay (1923–2019)

Pharmacology lost a pioneer and champion with the passing of Paul Talalay. A brilliant scientist and inspiring mentor, he had been the John Jacob Abel Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He died at age 95, after a full life, on 10 March 2019.
Impact of discerning reliability preferences of riders on the demand for mobility-on-demand services

We formalize one aspect of reliability in the context of Mobility-on-Demand (MoD) systems by acknowledging the uncertainty in the pick-up time of these services. This study answers two key question...
Transport and dispersion of particle-Laden streaks in a standardized human nasal geometry

Microparticle transport in the human airway is an important problem with major implications for global healthcare. However, nasal cavity flows are not well understood due to morphological variations and the difficulty of acquiring data in realistic geometries. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to obtain the 3D, three-component mean velocity field for flow through a scale replica of the Carleton-Civic standardized nasal geometry (Liu et al. in J Appl Physiol 106(3):784–795, 2009). Velocity measurements at two flow rates (representative of steady inhalation at 15 and 30 L/min) reveal the presence of a strong swirling flow structure in the nostril, stagnant or weakly reversed flow in the lower meatus, and a separation region at the top of the nasopharynx. The measurements suggest a transitional or weakly turbulent flow regime. A recently developed MRI-based technique was used to measure the 3D mean particle concentration distribution for two particle-laden streaks introduced near the nostril opening. The particles were representative of 0.75 micron dust-like particles inhaled at 30 L/min. The streak injected near the nostril base remained confined to the lower portion of the nasal cavity, while the streak injected near the tip was dispersed across most of the passage cross-section past the nasal valve. Mixing occurred most rapidly in the nostril and in the nasopharynx. The results suggest that some level of drug targeting in the nasal cavity may be achievable by choosing the introduction site at the nostril opening.
Game Theoretic Cyber Deception to Foil Adversarial Network Reconnaissance

Cyber adversaries are known to complete network attacks after lengthy reconnaissance phases where they map out the vulnerabilities present inside an enterprise network to find the best route of compromise. Using deceptive responses to alter the perceived configurations (system characteristics) of hosts observed from reconnaissance activities gives the network administrator the ability to increase uncertainty to an adversary attempting to compromise the network. We introduce a novel game-theoretic model of deceptive interactions of this kind between a defender and a cyber attacker, which we call the Cyber Deception Game. This work considers both a powerful (rational) attacker, who is aware of the deception and has a robust amount of information of the defender’s deception strategy, and a naive attacker who is not aware with fixed preferences over observed network hosts. We show that computing the optimal deception strategy for the network administrator is NP-hard for both types of attackers. For the case with a powerful attacker, we provide two solution techniques that use mixed-integer linear programming, a reformulation method and a bisection algorithm, as well as a fast and effective greedy algorithm. Similarly, we provide complexity results and propose exact and heuristic approaches when the attacker is naive. Our extensive experimental analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of our approaches.
2018 Annual Report of the University of Kansas Health System Poison Control Center.

Introduction This is the 2018 Annual Report of the Kansas Poison Control Center at The University of Kansas Health System (KSPCC). The KSPCC serves the state of Kansas 24-hours per day, 365 days a year with certified specialists in poison information and clinical and medical toxicologists. Methods All encounters reported to the KSPCC from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 were analyzed. Data recorded for each exposure included caller location, age, weight, gender, exposure substance, nature of exposure, route of exposure, interventions, medical outcome, disposition, and location of care. Results There were 21,072 total encounters, including 20,031 human exposure cases. Calls were received from every county and hospital in Kansas. Most of the exposures involved females (51.5%, n = 10,320) and a child less than 19 year of age (64%, n = 12,865). Medical outcomes were 24.5% (n = 4,912) no effect, 17.7% (n = 3,542) minor effect, 9.1% (n = 1,830) moderate effect, and 2.4% (n = 476) major effect. Seven deaths were reported in 2018. The number of exposure calls from healthcare facilities and severity of medical outcomes increased in 2018 compared to 2017. Conclusion The 2018 KSPCC annual report demonstrated that the center receives calls from the entire state of Kansas totaling over 20,000 human exposures. While pediatric exposures remain the most common encounter, a trend continued of an increasing number of calls from healthcare facilities and for cases with serious outcomes. This report supported the continued value of the KSPCC to both public and acute health care in the state of Kansas.
A Game-Theoretic Approach to Sequential Detection in Adversarial Environments

The problem of sequential binary hypothesis testing in an adversarial environment is investigated. Specifically, if there is no adversary, the samples are generated independently by a distribution p; and if the adversary is present, the samples are generated independently by another distribution q. The adversary picks a distribution $q \in \mathcal{Q}$ with cost c(q). The goal of the defender is to decide whether there is an adversary using samples as few as possible; and the goal of the adversary is to fool the defender. The problem is formulated as a non-zero-sum game between the adversary and the defender. A pair of strategies (attack strategy from the adversary and the sequential hypothesis testing scheme from the detector) is proposed and proved to be a Nash equilibrium pair for the non-zero-sum game asymptotically. Numerical experiments are provided to validate our results.
Anomalies of the Gastrointestinal Tract

Anomalies encountered during gastrointestinal (GI) tract surgery can be subcategorized based upon the result of aberrant embryogenesis of the foregut (esophagus, stomach, duodenum), midgut (jejunum thru transverse colon), or hindgut (transverse colon through anus). Most embryonic abnormalities present during infancy, although some present later in childhood, and a minority may be asymptomatic through adulthood. In addition to restoring appropriate GI tract function, in treating anatomic variants, it is important to recognize and search for associated anomalies in other systems. Surgical considerations for anatomic variants of the gastrointestinal tract may be specific to the repair of the abnormality itself and may even require the creation of a novel anatomic variant, or may be secondary to frequently associated abnormalities which dictate the surgical approach to repair.
Physical and technological considerations

Abstract This chapter provides a discussion of the physical and technological security measures employed and in place at and in ports to deny access, and deter, detect, and defend against an attack.
Terrain-aware traverse planning for a Mars sample return rover

NASA and ESA are proposing to retrieve samples from Mars with a rover that will need to drive long distances, beyond what is seen on images from previous downlinks, to complete its mission in less ...
Improved LPD Characteristics for QS-DS-CDMA Employing Randomization Techniques

Easily and flexibly deployable ad-hoc communication networks emerging in tactical military or even civilian contexts, frequently suffer from poor synchronization due to lack of coordinating infrastructure. In addition to synchronization issues, and especially in military settings, security from the aspect of detectability is also of crucial importance. Imperfect synchronization can be dealt with by making use of Quasi-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (QS-CDMA), relying on Loosely Synchronous Codes to maintain orthogonality in the presence of limited time delays. Security, in terms of low probability of detection (LPD) from the standpoint of a malicious adversary, can be improved (reduced detection) by employing randomization techniques that disrupt the inherent structure of the transmitted QS-CDMA signals. This is based on the fact that QS-CDMA signals are Cyclostationary, having (almost) periodic Auto-Correlation functions (ACF) due to eminent signal periodicities (such as spreading code repetition). In this paper, we propose techniques to disturb the ACF and equivalently the Spectral Correlation function, and reduce the Degree of Cyclostationarity (DCS), our LPD measure. Specifically, we investigate randomization via 1) random per symbol time dithering and 2) random selection of spreading sequences, as well as a hybrid approach combining time dithering and code randomization. In all proposed techniques knowledge of the randomization pattern is not required at the legitimate receiver. We derive the Spectral Correlation function of the QS-CDMA signal under the proposed randomization schemes and compare it to simulations. We show through analysis and extensive numerical simulations that the proposed technique can reduce the DCS by almost two orders of magnitude. We also show that enhanced LPD can be achieved using the proposed techniques while sacrificing a part of the reduced time synchronization requirement. We further analyze the implications of the friendly receiver not knowing the randomization pattern and present results on the resulting communication performance.
Cold Atmopsheric Pressure Plasma Planar and Radial Arrays for Biofilm Remediation

Cold Atmospheric pressure Plasma (CAP) has the ability to both inactivate and remove bacterial biofilms from wounds and surfaces. Planar CAP arrays 1 (2.4 x 2 cm) have been developed using linear discharge elements (2.4 cm long), operating with a 0.75 mm gap at 0.5-2 kV, 20 kHz AC. The elements are fabricated using Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC). Hydrated argon gas flows (1-5 slm) between two plates to create the discharge element. Each discharge element draws 0.5 – 1.5 mA depending upon operating conditions. The elements are stacked together to form the arrays. Measurements of reactive oxygen species have shown generation of peroxide and hydroxyl radicals which increase linearly with plasma exposure times from the arrays. Measurements of the Colony Forming Units (CFUs) shown >99% reduction in <60 s for bacterial biofilms on a range of substrates (stainless steel, glass, plastic). Removal (etching) of bacterial biofilms on steel has also been demonstrated when using water vapor with the argon gas mixture. Etch time are 100-200 s depending upon biofilm thickness and operating conditions. Finally, radial plasma arrays (4 cm diameter) are also under development for use in structures such as pipes. These have been operated in a 3-element configuration. Additional biofilm etching results for the planar arrays and new results from the radial arrays will be presented.
Nutrient Dynamics in Coastal Lagoons and Marine Waters of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Determining the efficacy of efforts to conserve natural systems requires that environmental baseline data exist; without such baseline data, it is impossible to determine if management actions are working. This study presents water quality baseline data (nutrients) for the coastal waters of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. As the island's economy shifts more towards tourism, these data can be used to verify that conservation efforts to preserve the ecology of the coastal waters are succeeding. Surface waters were sampled at 40 sites, selected using a stratified random sampling design, on 7 occasions between July 2007 and March 2008. Nutrient concentrations were similar to what has been observed in other systems in Puerto Rico, except for in the near coastal lagoons which had significantly higher observed concentrations. Variations in nutrients between lagoons are driven by connectivity to the ocean and lagoon depth. Because of these relationships, and because there are no obvious major sources of point or non-point sources of pollution on the island that would affect only the lagoons, it is hypothesized that these high nutrient levels are the natural status of the system, rather than evidence of eutrophication.
Challenging El Salvador's rural health care strategy

Can a supply-driven network of under-skilled rural health promoters make a difference in rural health care? There are few, if any, signs that the current rural health strategy in El Salvador is working, whether the health promoters are government employees or non-governmental organization (NGO) workers. The authors arrived at this conclusion after conducting interviews and analyzing primary and secondary data. The village-based health promoters lack incentives and supervision, and ultimately have little to offer to local communities. NGO workers are more successful than government workers, but neither group performs satisfactorily. Even the rural poor use private services quite intensively, despite the high cost of the services and of getting access to them. Moreover, people seem to seek the services they need. They select self-treatment in 50 percent of illness episodes, with about the same success rate as when they use health providers. Other options should be considered, as results can be improved without increasing costs.
Neutron and X-Ray Scattering Studies of Premartensitic Phenomena

Competing interactions play an essential role in all types of phase transitions. In the much studied spin glasses it is well known that the competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions lead to a spin’s frustration resulting in the frozen spin glass state at low temperatures /1/. In ferroelectrics, the competition is between short-range interatomic forces and longer range electric dipolar forces which leads to the structural instability associated with ferroelectric ordering /2/. In metals, where martensitic phase transitions occur, the competing forces are not as well defined, but are likely due to the interatomic forces and the longer range electronic interactions. Depending upon the electronic band structure and the phonon dispersion curves of the solid, a variety of structures and microstructures can appear over a wide range of temperatures and compositions.
Microactuated neural probes to compensate for brain micromotion

One of the dominant failure modes of chronic neural implants is micromotion of the surrounding brain tissue relative to the implant leading to neuronal drift and shear injury. In this study, we have (a). Assessed the micromotion in the somatosensory cortex and (b). Designed, developed and tested a microactuated neural probe that can compensate for brain micromotion. We used a differential variable reluctance (DVRT) transducer in adult rats (n=8) to monitor micromotion in the somatosensory cortex. Electrostatic microactuators were fabricated using the SUMMiT (Sandia's Ultraplanar Multilevel MEMS Technology) process, a 5-layer polysilicon micromachining technology of the Sandia National labs, NM. In anesthetized rats, surface micromotion was observed to be in the order of 2-25 /spl mu/m due to pressure changes during respiration and 1-3 /spl mu/m due to vascular pulsatilily. In addition there were long-term drifts in the order of 80 /spl mu/m due to changes in the anesthetic level. The microactuated neural probe was capable of moving in steps of 1/spl mu/m with an aggregate translational capability in the order of several millimeters. In conclusion, there is significant micromotion in the surface of the somatosensory cortex that could lead to failure of chronic neural implants. Microactuated neural probes are capable of compensating for this micromotion.
Cerebral neuroblastoma in an adult. Case report, pharmacology, and review of the literature.

Abstract The case of a 69-year-old man, who had a 3-week history of symptoms resembling an organic brain syndrome and who had no focal neurologic deficit, is reported. The investigation revealed a mass lesion in the left frontoparietal area, which was found to be a neuroblastoma. Treatment included surgical removal followed by radiation therapy to the brain. A survey of the literature to date reveals only 11 reported cases of cerebral neuroblastoma in adults.
Comparison of Myoglobins from Harbor Seal, Porpoise, and Sperm Whale: IV. ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TRYPTIC PEPTIDES OF PORPOISE MYOGLOBIN

Porpoise myoglobin has been fully alkylated after removal of the heme group to produce a derivative modified at the methionyl and histidyl residues as well as the α-amino group. Isolation and characterization of the tryptic peptides on Dowex 50 and Dowex 1 have produced a tentative structure analogous to the known sequence of sperm whale myoglobin. By this technique, 81 of 153 residues can be positioned in the sequence establishing that 10 residues are different from the sperm whale structure. In addition, five replacements are indicated from compositional data. These results indicate that the porpoise protein more closely resembles the sperm whale one than does the seal protein described previously, which had a minimum of 25 replacements when compared to the sperm whale protein.
Treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome with agents interfering with inhibitory cytokines

Results of these trials provide evidence for biological activity and some clinical efficacy of agents potentially blocking inhibitory cytokines in patients with MDS. However, given the limited responses, it appears that factors additional to TNFalpha inhibitory activity contribute to the development of cytopenias in these patients. Further studies are warranted using anti-TNFalpha/anti-inhibitory cytokine approaches, either alone or in combination with other agents, capable of abrogating the effects of additional inhibitory mechanisms in MDS.
On the Wavelength of Maximum Baroclinic Instability

Abstract A four-level quasigeostrophic model of a baroclinic atmosphere is used to examine the instability of short (∼2000 km) baroclinic waves. It is determined that only a slight decrease in the low-level static stability or increase in the low-level wind shear relative to the stale stability and wind shear in the middle and upper troposphere can mean the difference between the maximum growth rate occurring at a wavelength of 4000 km (∼wavenumber 7) or 2000 km (∼wavenumber 15). Similar changes of static stability in the upper troposphere relative to the middle and lower troposphere have very little effect on the growth-rate spectrum. This effect of vertical variations in the static stability and wind shear on the growth-rate spectrum is consistent with the structure of the short wavelengths. Wavelengths 4000 km extend through the depth of the troposphere. Therefore, changes in the static stability of the basic zonal flow near the earth's...
Electrical communication between glucose oxidase and different ferrocenylalkanethiol chain lengths

We describe the factors affecting the electron transfer process between the different components of a self-assembled mixed monolayer. The system is comprised of mixed monolayers containing aminoalkanethiols (AMATs) and ferrocenylakanethiols (FATs) of variable chain lengths. We study the effects of different ratio of the two mixed monolayer components on the permeability of the monolayer toward a Ru(NH{sub 3}{sub 6}Cl{sub 3} redox probe. In order to study the electrical communication between the enzyme and the mediator molecules, the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) was attached to the AMAT sites to create a biosensor device. The relative efficiency of a biosensor of each chain-length combination of FAT and AMAT was examined. In light of this comparison, we consider the critical factors for efficient electron transfer between the ferrocene mediator and the GOx redox active site immobilized as part of the surface-confined system. We find that the biosensor response is greatest when the enzyme and the FATs are attached to the surface with different alkane chain lengths. We also find strong evidence for the existence of domains of FAT and AMAT in the mixed monolayer system.
Response to Dr. Costellos’ submission entitled “Re: Vitamin and mineral use and risk of prostate cancer: the case–control surveillance: Zhang et al. Cancer Causes Control. 2008 Dec 18. [Epub ahead of print]”

We agree with Drs. Franklin and Costello that the study of weak associations in observational epidemiologic studies is difficult. In a well-conducted randomized trial of zinc supplement use, in relation to incidence of prostate cancer, differences between the treated and untreated groups that could bias the results would be small or absent, if the study was large enough. In the absence of such a randomized trial, however, there is no alternative to reliance on the weight of evidence from observational epidemiologic studies and other relevant (e.g., laboratory) investigations. Despite some inconsistencies, which are usually the situation for weak associations, the weight of evidence from epidemiologic studies at present is in the direction of an adverse effect. Our results add to that evidence. We make no claim for having established cause and effect. In addition, we agree with the limitations of our study that Drs. Franklin and Costello had pointed out; having ourselves pointed them out in our paper. We had noted that we had no information on dosage of the supplements. We also had commented that since zinc has been linked to prostate health, some men with early symptoms of cancer might have self-medicated with zinc supplements, which could have contributed to the positive findings. Let us hope that evidence will be forthcoming from well-conducted randomized trials. In their absence, however, we must make judgments based on the best evidence available, even if it is imperfect.
Translation Quality Evaluation: empirical evidence for a functionalist approach

AbstractFollowing a review of existing approaches to translation quality evaluation, this paper describes a proposal for evaluation that addresses some of the deficiencies found in these models. The proposed approach is referred to as componential because it evaluates components of quality separately, and functionalist, because evaluation is carried out relative to the function specified for the translated text. In order to obtain some empirical evidence for the functionalist/componential approach, a tool was developed and pilot-tested for inter-rater reliability. In addition, the research project sought to obtain some data on qualifications of raters/users and their performance using the tool. Forty raters were asked to use the tool to rate three translated texts. The texts selected for evaluation consisted of reader-oriented health education materials. Raters were bilinguals, professional translators and language teachers. Some basic training was provided. Data was collected by means of the tool and a q...
Target physics summary

Abstract The target physics portion of the Symposium on Heavy Ion Fusion is summarized. Target calculations are moving beyond decoupled models to completely integrated calculations. A variety of target topologies were discussed. There is a good theoretical understanding of ignition scaling. Recent experiments have verified our theoretical understanding of atomic opacities and hydrodynamic instability growth.
Short-term retention as a function of word frequency

Summary The English text frequency of words used in a sequential-memory task was manipulated. In this task S continually received new words to be remembered, and, at unpredictable moments, was requested to recall some of them. Three groups of Ss were compared. One group was presented high-frequency words, another low-frequency words, and a third was presented words which varied in frequency over a wide range. Recall varied as a function of word frequency. Differences in recall were greater when the memory requirements of the task were low than when they were high.
Circadian and developmental regulation of Oct-2 gene expression in the suprachiasmatic nuclei

Oct-2 is a transcriptional activating factor that is expressed in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), the site of a biological clock. We examined in rats whether Oct-2 gene expression is regulated by the circadian pacemaker or by light using quantitative in situ hybridization. The ontogeny of Oct-2 gene expression in the SCN was also studied. Oct-2 mRNA levels remained constant throughout the circadian cycle. In contrast to c-fos mRNA levels which are acutely induced by acute light exposure at night, Oct-2 mRNA levels were not increased by light exposure at night. At gestational day 18, the first age the SCN are anatomically distinct, a prominent Oct-2 hybridization signal was present in the SCN. Our results suggest that Oct-2 is constitutively expressed in the SCN and is present from the time the SCN are discernible as discrete nuclei in fetal brain.
Vectorcardiographic Studies in Acquired Valvular Disease with Reference to the Diagnosis of Right Ventricular Hypertrophy

The orthogonal vectorcardiogram described by Schmitt and Simonson has been studied in 37 patients with "pure" mitral stenosis. The diagnosis of right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) could be established from changes in the magnitude, azimuth, and elevations of the initial, middle, and terminal forces, which could not be detected by the routine 12-lead electrocardiogram. This type of [see figure in the PDF file] recording has proved to be of great value in the diagnosis of right ventricular hypertrophy, particularly when the hypertrophy is of mild or moderate degree. Analysis of the instantaneous vectors has proved to be the single most important criterion in the electrocardiographic diagnosis of right ventricular hypertrophy.
Förster Energy Transfer and Davydov Splittings in Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory: Lessons from 2-Pyridone Dimer.

The Davydov or exciton splitting of vertical excitation energies is commonly used to estimate the excitation energy transfer rate between chromophores. Here we investigate the S1−S2 Davydov splitting in 2-pyridone dimer as a function of the monomer separation, R. We assess the ability of various functionals to reproduce the Davydov splitting at finite R predicted by the approximate coupled cluster singles doubles method CC2. While semilocal functionals fail qualitatively because of spurious charge-transfer intruder states, global hybrids with a large fraction of exact exchange, such as BHandH-LYP, reproduce the CC2 splittings within few wavenumbers. We analyze our results by comparison to lowest-order intermolecular perturbation theory in the spirit of Forster and Dexter. At equilibrium hydrogen bond distance, the Forster−Dexter splittings are too small by up to a factor of 2.
Magnetism and phase relations of the PrAl2CaAl2, GdAl2CaAl2 systems

Abstract The magnetic properties and phase relations of the ternary systems Pr 1− x Ca x Al 2 and Gd 1− x Ca x Al 2 are reported. The first system exhibits complete miscibility whereas the second shows a miscibility gap extending from x = 0.5 to 0.8. The ternaries were examined magnetically to ascertain whether antiferromagnetism could be produced by replacing the trivalent rare earth ion with divalent Ca. Results for the (Pr, Ca)Al 2 system give some indication that the exchange changes sign when 80% or more of the Pr is replaced by Ca. The α-phase (Gd-rich) alloys in the (Gd,Ca)Al 2 system are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures only modestly reduced from that of GdAl 2 . The β-phase (Ca-rich) alloys in this system are paramagnetic to 4.2°K. The evidence suggests that PrAl 2 and CaAl 2 are electronically similar in regard to band structure and both differ in band structure from GdAl 2 .
On the synaptogenic sequence in the chick retina

Study of the developing chick retina with the electron microscope revealed that dyad ribbon synapses begin to form in the inner plexiform layer before synaptic ribbons begin to appear in photoreceptor terminals of the outer plexiform layer. This centrifugal (inner to outer) sequence of synaptogenesis in the predominantly cone retina of the chick differs from the centripetal sequence that has been reported for the predominantly rod retinas of the mouse and rat. This difference does not favor the hypothesis, suggested by others, that the photo-receptor may influence the maturation of inner retinal elements. The different patterns of synaptogenesis are discussed briefly with reference to anatomical differences between the retinas of different species.
A theory of withdrawal of cylinders from liquid baths

A theory of the amount of liquid entrained by cylinders upon withdrawal from liquid baths is derived for a wide range of cylinder radii. The theory is based on matching curvatures for static and dynamic menisci. Predicted values are expressed as the effect of the dimensionless wire radius (Goucher number) and dimensionless withdrawal speed (capillary number) on the dimensionless flux. The theory was verified experimentally for all wire radii by removing short cylinders from oily fluids and with other information. The fluids used included kerosene, mineral oil, motor oil, and glycerine, with viscosities from 2 to 500 centipoise; Goucher numbers ranged from 0.05 to 1.2. Deviations, which were noted at high capillary numbers where velocity gradients become appreciable, indicated that the theory is a plug flow or low speed theory. Also discussed are differences found with water and the conditions under which films coalesced into droplets.
An application of the Cooley-Tukey algorithm to equalization

A new method is proposed to determine the tap settings of a delay-line filter for distortion correction of digital data after transmission by a voice line. The procedure described achieves approximately the optimal tap settings by solving a system of linear equations with a circulant matrix of coefficients. When the fast Fourier transform algorithm of Cooley and Tukey is used, the resulting quantity of computations is considerably smaller than in other known methods. Therefore, much faster equalization can be achieved.
OOV words in an English-Arabic CLIR system

Proper nouns are usually primary keys in a query. Their correct translation might be necessary to maintain a good retrieval performance in a cross language information retrieval (CLIR) system. However, dictionaries only include the most commonly used proper nouns, like major countries and capitals. As they are spelling variants of each other in most languages, using an approximate string matching technique against the target database index is the common approach taken to find the target language correspondents of the original query key. N-gram technique proved to be the most effective among other approximate string matching techniques. As we are dealing with an English-Arabic CLIR system which involves two languages of different alphabets, we decided to combine transliteration with the n-gram technique to generate the different spelling variants of out of vocabulary (OOV) words. We call this technique: Transliteration Ngram (TNG). One issue that arises with the Arabic language is that words that are spelled similarly can have different meanings depending on the context of the sentence. This is particularly true for proper names, which usually have a meaning if used as a verb or adjective. To further enhance our transliteration approach, we chose to use part of speech (POS) disambiguation to reduce the number of unrelated words from the set transliterations obtained using TNG.
Application of solution structure theorems to Cattaneo–Vernotte heat conduction equation with non-homogeneous boundary conditions

In this study, a non-Fourier heat conduction problem formulated using the Cattaneo–Vernotte (C–V) model with non-homogeneous boundary conditions is solved with the superposition principle in conjunction with solution structure theorems. It is well known that the aforementioned analytical method is not suitable for such a class of thermal problems. However, by performing a functional transformation, the original non-homogeneous partial differential equation governing the physical problem can be cast into a new form such that it consists of a homogeneous part and an additional auxiliary function. As a result, the modified homogeneous governing equation can then be solved with solution structure theorems for temperatures inside a finite planar medium. The methodology provides a convenient, accurate, and efficient solution to the C–V heat conduction equation with non-homogeneous boundary conditions.
Rotating deep annulus convection: The steady high amplitude wave regime—Internal thermal fields

Abstract In the high-amplitude wave regime, at each point in the axial plane, the temperature has a maximum, a minimum, and a time (or longitudinally) averaged value due to the propagation of the regular waves. The axial-plane profile of each of these three temperature fields was measured for 53 different combinations of ω, Δr w T and n. A few sample profiles are displayed. Correlations of several internal thermal parameters (especially Ro g,t ) with the externally imposed parameters, are given along with the spatial variation of the thermal fields. Ro g,t is always less than the value which would occur if the symmetrical regime existed, while the variation of Sz g,t with the imposed parameters is about the same as for the symmetrical regime. The parametric variation of the wave amplitude is the only quantity dependent on n. Based on the parametric variation of the fields, the wave regime diagram can be subdivided into several different regions : a quasi-conductive, a conductive-convective zone, and a reg...
Rapidly Intensifying Hurricane Guillermo (1997). Part I: Low-Wavenumber Structure and Evolution

Abstract The structure and evolution of rapidly intensifying Hurricane Guillermo (1997) is examined using airborne Doppler radar observations. In this first part, the low-azimuthal-wavenumber component of the vortex is presented. Guillermo’s intensification occurred in an environmental flow with 7–8 m s−1 of deep-layer vertical shear. As a consequence of the persistent vertical shear forcing of the vortex, convection was observed primarily in the downshear left quadrant of the storm. The greatest intensification during the ∼6-h Doppler observation period coincided with the formation and cyclonic rotation of several particularly strong convective bursts through the left-of-shear semicircle of the eyewall. Some of the strongest convective bursts were triggered by azimuthally propagating low-wavenumber vorticity asymmetries. Mesoscale budget analyses of axisymmetric angular momentum and relative vorticity within the eyewall are presented to elucidate the mechanisms contributing to Guillermo’s structural evol...
A new scheme for efficient generation of coherent and incoherent submillimeter to THz waves in periodically-poled lithium niobate

Abstract We show that periodically-poled LiNbO 3 , when used in the backward configuration can efficiently generate submillimeter to THz waves via such second-order nonlinear processes as optical parametric oscillation, difference-frequency generation, and parametric fluorescence. We estimate the threshold intensity for the parametric oscillation to be below 1 GW/cm 2 and show how the efficiencies of the difference-frequency generation and parametric fluorescence benefit from the large diagonal element of the second-order susceptibility tensor in LiNbO 3 .