cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dissociation reactions of diatomic silver cations with small alkenes: experiment and theory

Reaction of ground-state Ag2+ (2Σg+, 4d20 σ(5s)1) with either ethene or propene leads to both simple ligand addition and loss of neutral Ag to form ligated Ag+. Rate constants for the dissociation of Ag2+ via association of both ethene and propene have been measured. Experimental and theoretical analysis suggests that loss of a neutral Ag atom occurs upon addition of either the second ethene or first propene ligand to the Ag2+ ion. The measured rate constants exhibit a negative temperature dependence and relatively high reaction efficiency suggesting that the dissociation reactions are exothermic. Electronic structure calculations were preformed using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level in order to generate potential transition state structures for the dissociation reactions. Phase space theory (PST) was used to model the experimental rate data. Good agreement was found between experiment, DFT calculations and PST results for both systems. In both reactions, the negative temperature dependence is due to two factors: The reactions are only mildly exothermic and the product density of states increases more slowly with energy than the reactant density of states. The second factor is due to an atom being one of the products. No evidence for tight transition states was found for either reaction.
Grand Unification and Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Recent progress in some selected areas of grand unification and physics beyond the standard model is reviewed. Topics include gauge coupling unification, SU(5), SO(10), symmetry breaking mechanisms, finite field theory: SU(3)^3, leptonic color: SU(3)^4, chiral color and quark-lepton nonuniversality: SU(3)^6.
Structure of the Y14-Magoh Core of the Exon Junction Complex

Abstract Background: Splicing of pre-mRNA in eukaryotes imprints the resulting mRNA with a specific multiprotein complex, the exon-exon junction complex (EJC), at the sites of intron removal. The proteins of the EJC, Y14, Magoh, Aly/REF, RNPS1, Srm160, and Upf3, play critical roles in postsplicing processing, including nuclear export and cytoplasmic localization of the mRNA, and the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) surveillance process. Y14 and Magoh are of particular interest because they remain associated with the mRNA in the same position after its export to the cytoplasm and require translation of the mRNA for removal. This tenacious, persistent, splicing-dependent, yet RNA sequence-independent, association suggests an important signaling function and must require distinct structural features for these proteins. Results: We describe the high-resolution structure and biochemical properties of the highly conserved human Y14 and Magoh proteins. Magoh has an unusual structure comprised of an extremely flat, six-stranded anti-parallel β sheet packed against two helices. Surprisingly, Magoh binds with high affinity to the RNP motif RNA binding domain (RBD) of Y14 and completely masks its RNA binding surface. Conclusions: The structure and properties of the Y14-Magoh complex suggest how the pre-mRNA splicing machinery might control the formation of a stable EJC-mRNA complex at splice junctions.
Nonlinear harmonic generation and proposed experimental verification in SASE FELs

Recently, a 3D, polychromatic, nonlinear simulation code was developed to study the growth of nonlinear harmonics in self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free-electron lasers (FELs). The simulation was applied to the parameters for each stage of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) SASE FEL, intended for operation in the visible, UV, and short UV wavelength regimes, respectively, to study the presence of nonlinear harmonic generation. Significant nonlinear harmonic growth is seen. Here, a discussion of the code development, the APS SASE FEL, the simulations and results, and, finally, the proposed experimental procedure for verification of such nonlinear harmonic generation at the APS SASE FEL will be given.
How do unfractionated and low-molecular-weight heparin compare after ST-segment elevation MI?

How do unfractionated and low-molecular-weight heparin compare after ST-segment elevation MI?
Test-retest reliability of health-related quality-of-life questionnaires in adults with strabismus.

Purpose To report the test–retest variability of two health-related quality-of-life instruments: the new Adult Strabismus 20 (AS-20) and the National Eye Institute 25-item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25), in adults with strabismus. Design Prospective case series. Methods Fifty-five adult patients in a clinical practice with stable strabismus completed the AS-20 and the NEI VFQ-25 at 2 visits, without intervening treatment. Questionnaires were completed the second time either at a subsequent office visit, immediately before surgery, or by mail. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated. Ninety-five percent limits of agreement and 95% confidence intervals around the 95% limits of agreement also were calculated. Results There was excellent agreement of overall questionnaire scores for the AS-20 (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.92) and NEI VFQ-25 (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.94). The 95% limits of agreement for overall scores were 14.3 points (95% confidence interval, 10.9 to 17.7) for the AS-20 and 11.1 points (95% confidence interval, 8.5 to 13.8) for the NEI VFQ-25. The lower test–retest variability of the VFQ-25 seemed to be partly the result of ceiling effects with many scores at the normal end of the range. Conclusions The new AS-20 and the NEI VFQ-25 show excellent test–retest reliability in adults with strabismus. Change exceeding 95% limits of agreement (14 points on the AS-20 and 11 points on the VFQ-25) is indicative of real change in an individual patient. The AS-20 may be more useful than the VFQ-25 because it is less prone to ceiling effects in adults with strabismus.
Segmental specialization of neuronal connectivity in the leech

1. Every segmental ganglion of the leech Hirudo medicinalis contains two serotonergic Retzius cells. However, Retzius cells in the two segmental ganglia associated with reproductive function are morphologically distinct from Retzius cells elsewhere. This suggested that these Retzius cells might be physiologically distinct as well. 2. The degree of electrical coupling between Retzius cells distinguishes the reproductive Retzius cells; all Retzius cells are coupled in a non-rectifying manner, but reproductive Retzius cells are less strongly coupled. 3. Retzius cells in standard ganglia depolarize following swim motor pattern initiation or mechanosensory stimulation while Retzius cells in reproductive ganglia either do not respond or hyperpolarize. 4. In standard Retzius cells the depolarizing response caused by pressure mechanosensory neurons has fixed latency and one-to-one correspondence between the mechanosensory neuron action potentials and Retzius cell EPSPs. However, the latency is longer than for most known monosynaptic connections in the leech. 5. Raising the concentration of divalent cations in the bathing solution to increase thresholds abolishes the mechanosensory neuron-evoked EPSP in standard Retzius cells. This suggests that generation of action potentials in an interneuron is required for production of the EPSP, and therefore that the pathway from mechanosensory neuron to Retzius cell is polysynaptic. 6. P cells in reproductive segments have opposite effects on reproductive Retzius cells and standard Retzius cells in adjacent ganglia. Thus the difference in the pathway from P to Retzius is not localized specifically in the P cell, but elsewhere in the pathway, possibly in the type of receptor expressed by the Retzius cells.
Factors Influencing the Re-Emergence of Immigrant Rights Coalitions in the United States

This study presents findings from research gathered on the landscape, formation, and characteristics of Immigrant Rights Coalitions (IRCs). The author proposes five factors to explain the widespread emergence of IRCs over the past two decades: (a) the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), (b) local law enforcement collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), (c) worksite enforcement actions, (d) anti-immigrant legislation, and (e) an increase of Latino immigrants in nontraditional settlement states.
Medical school electives and recruitment into psychiatry : a 20-year experience.

Part of psychiatry's recruitment problem is a result of defections among students who were planning careers in psychiatry when they entered medical school. The authors present data from a 20-year (1974-1993) experience at the University of Maryland that shows that students who expressed a preference for psychiatry as a career in the freshman year were four times more likely to enter psychiatric residency training after graduation if they participated in the Combined Accelerated Program in Psychiatry (CAPP), a 4-year psychiatric elective program, than if they pursued the regular undergraduate psychiatric program. More than 20% of the CAPP students who preferred nonpsychiatric careers as freshmen were "converted" to psychiatry and later entered psychiatric residency programs. Recent changes in the ideology and economics of our profession have neither lessened the popularity of the CAPP nor diminished its apparent ability to shelter students preferring psychiatry from the stigmatizing experiences of medical school.
Surface Reconstruction of Noisy and Defective Data Sets

We present a novel surface reconstruction algorithm that can recover high-quality surfaces from noisy and defective data sets without any normal or orientation information. A set of new techniques are introduced to afford extra noise tolerability, robust orientation alignment, reliable outlier removal, and satisfactory feature recovery. In our algorithm, sample points are first organized by an octree. The points are then clustered into a set of monolithically singly-oriented groups. The inside/outside orientation of each group is determined through a robust voting algorithm. We locally fit an implicit quadric surface in each octree cell. The locally fitted implicit surfaces are then blended to produce a signed distance field using the modified Shepardýs method. We develop sophisticated iterative fitting algorithms to afford improved noise tolerance both in topology recognition and geometry accuracy. Furthermore, this iterative fitting algorithm, coupled with a local model selection scheme, provides a reliable sharp feature recovery mechanism even in the presence of bad input.
Degradation of proteins from thylakoid membranes in senescing wheat leaves at high temperature

This investigation determined whether thylakoid proteins would be degraded more rapidly or not in senescing wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.) leaves concurrently exposed to high temperatures. Excised leaves were pulse-labelled with [35S]-methionine for a 12 h period, and then incubated at 22,32 or 42°C for 0, 1, 2, or 3 d, before extracting a thylakoid enriched membrane sample. After electrophoretic separation, two prominent [35S]-labelled protein bands were chosen for further analyses. Band A contained the D-1 thylakoid protein and band B contained thylakoid proteins of the light harvesting complex (LHCII) associated with photosystem II (PSII). Total protein, [35S]-labelled protein, band A protein, and band B protein within the thylakoid enriched membrane samples were measured. Unlabelled thylakoid enriched membrane samples, extracted from leaves given similar treatments, were used to measure uncoupled whole-chain and photosystem II (PSII) electron transport and chlorophyll fluorescence. Accentuated decline in whole-chain and PSII electron transport, increasing Fo values, and decreasing Fmax values were a result of high temperature injury in leaves treated at 42°C. None of the thylakoid enriched membrane protein fractions were degraded more rapidly in high-temperature treated leaves. Degradation of the total [35S]-labelled membrane proteins and band B was inhibited by the 42°C treatment. The results indicate that high temperature stress may disrupt some aspects of normal senescence.
Orientation tuning of the transient-stereopsis system

Stereo-perception appears to be mediated by at least two systems: a transient system that processes stimuli presented briefly and a sustained one that processes stimuli presented for longer durations. In this paper we investigated the tuning of the transient-stereopsis system to stimulus orientation. Narrowband-gabor targets with a constant envelope size (Gaussian standard deviation of 1°) were presented for brief (140 ms) durations at large (from 4 to 8°) disparities. The results were as follows: (1) while observers could extract depth from orthogonally-oriented gabors at above chance levels, their performance was worse than that with gabors of matched orientation; (2) varying the relative contrasts of the two orthogonally oriented gabors of the same spatial frequency resulted in a reduction in performance; (3) varying the relative spatial frequencies of the orthogonally-oriented gabors impaired performance, relative to that for matched frequencies; and (4) varying the relative contrasts of orthogonal gabors that were at different spatial frequencies could improve performance. These results indicate that transient stereo-performance in the orthogonal condition was not mediated by the channels that extracted depth in either the horizontal- or vertically-matched gabor conditions. This apparent lack of orientation tuning is indicative of a second-order pathway. That this performance was mediated by a binocular, as opposed to a monocular channel, is supported by the finding that performance decreased as the contrast of one of the gabors was reduced. The finding that performance with orthogonal gabors of unmatched spatial frequency (0.5 and 4 cpd) could be improved by varying their relative contrasts suggests that the binocular spatial-frequency tuning exhibited by this channel is broadband in nature. Finally, the observation that lowering the contrast of either the high or low spatial-frequency gabor improved performance suggests the presence of at least two broadband channels: one with its peak sensitivity at a low and the other at a high spatial-frequency.
Hairy Root Growth Models: Effect of Different Branching Patterns

Root growth occurs by the formation of younger lateral branches on older parent branches. This growth process can be described by the delays that occur between subsequent branching events and summarized by a set of verbal rules describing the branching kinetics in detail. A method for converting such verbal rules to a mathematical model of the branch number in a root culture under constant environmental conditions is presented here. The model of branch number is then combined with an age distribution balance to give a model of the age distribution in a root culture. Exact solution of the model is possible for deterministic branching dynamics, but results in rather cumbersome expressions for large times. Approximate solutions, valid at large times, therefore are obtained from analysis of the model. From these solutions, one readily obtains the specific growth rate of the culture, solely in terms of the branching kinetics. The extension of the modeling concepts presented here to stochastic branching rules is briefly discussed.
Transnational Migration, the Lost Girls of Sudan and Global “Care work”: A Photo Essay

This essay explores the work lives of a group of Sudanese refugees known popularly as the Lost Girls of Sudan. Like other women from the Global South, the Lost Girls often work in the care work sector as maids, babysitters, nannies, preschool attendants, food service workers, nurses, personal care attendants for elderly and disabled people. The article also explores the U.S. refugee policy of self-sufficiency.
Smearing of interferograms in Fourier transform spectroscopy

The effects of changing spectral radiance during the scan of an interferometer on the spectra obtained from the interferogram are considered. For well-behaved variations the integrated radiance and base line are the same as at the zero path difference of the interferometer. The changes in the appearance of spectral features are hardly changed beyond a few resolution elements from the changing features.
The LEAD Portal: a TeraGrid gateway and application service architecture

The Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD) Portal is a science application portal designed to enable effective use of Grid resources in exploring mesoscale meteorological phenomena. The aim of the LEAD Portal is to provide a more productive interface for doing experimental work by the meteorological research community, as well as bringing weather research to a wider class of users, meaning pre-college students in grades 6–12 and undergraduate college students. In this paper, we give an overview of the LEAD project and the role that LEAD portal is playing in reaching its goals. We then describe the various technologies we are using to bring powerful and complex scientific tools to educational and research users. These technologies—a fine-grained capability based authorization framework, an application service factory toolkit, and a Web services-based workflow execution engine and supporting tools—enable our team to deploy these once inaccessible, stovepipe scientific codes onto a Grid where they can be collectively utilized. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Peirce's Design for Thinking: An Embedded Philosophy of Education.

Although we all learn differently, we all need to be able to engage certain fundamental reasoning skills if we are to manoeuvre successfully through life—however we define success. Peirce's philosophy provides us with a framework for helping students (and ourselves) develop and hone the ability for making deliberate and well‐considered choices. For, embedded within Peirce's complete body of work is a design for thinking that provides a sturdy foundation for the development of three important learning capabilities. These capabilities are 1) the ability to identify, compare, and contrast qualities, 2) the ability to perform analyses, and 3) the ability to interpret the meaning of signs. Although these capabilities may seem like the sort of skills that only older and academically inclined students can master, even young children and the intellectually challenged can learn to use them as well. Once teachers learn to develop their own intellectual potential by expanding these capabilities within themselves, th...
Design and construction of Washington Park Station Westside Light Rail Project Portland, Oregon

Abstract Since 1993, construction has been underway on the Westside Light Rail Project, a 29-km extension of Portland, Oregon's existing light rail transit system. The extension includes a 4.6-km long, twin tunnel section through Portland's West Hills, and an underground station servicing the City's Washington Park. Washington Park Station, constructed in Columbia River Basalt at a depth of 79 m, will be the deepest transit station in North America. The station is laid out in a double platform binocular configuration. The platforms are 62 m long, and the lobby, passageway and platform caverns range in height from 6.4 to 8.8 m. The station caverns were excavated by drilling and blasting in multiple headings. Initial ground support for the station caverns was provided by rock dowels and shotcrete, with spiling used extensively for pre-reinforcement. The final liming consists of reinforced, cast-in-place concrete. Access to and from the surface is provided by two shafts, which will each contain high speed elevators, emergency egress stairways, ventilation ducts and utilities. This paper discusses the geologic conditions, underground opening design, excavation methods, and initial ground support installation for Washington Park station.
Speculations on periodontal attachment loss.

Abstract A hypothesis is presented depicting patterns of human periodontal attachment loss. The patterns described occur rapidly, are site-specific and take place in response to virulence and duration of local irritants. They appear to mirror current clinical observations regarding the nature and progress of site-specific periodontal lesions.
Exploring Weak Dependencies in DAG Scheduling

Many computational solutions can be expressed as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) with weighted nodes. In parallel computing, a fundamental challenge is to efficiently map computing resources to the tasks, while preserving the precedence constraints among the tasks. Traditionally, such constraints are preserved by starting a task after all its preceding tasks are completed. However, for a class of DAG structured computations, a task can be partially executed with respect to each preceding task. We define such relationship between the tasks as weak dependency. %A typical example is exact inference in junction trees, where a clique can be partially updated with respect to any one of its preceding cliques. In this paper, we adapt a traditional DAG scheduling scheme to exploit weak dependencies in a DAG. We perform experiments to study the impact of weak dependency based scheduling method on the execution time using a representative set of task graphs for exact inference in junction trees. For a class of task graphs, on a state-of-the-art general-purpose multicore system, the weak dependency based scheduler runs 4x faster than a baseline scheduler that is based on the traditional scheduling method.
Development of the ex vivo laryngeal model of phonation

Author(s): Howard, N Scott; Mendelsohn, Abie H; Berke, Gerald S | Abstract: Objectives/hypothesisThe direct study of human phonation is limited by the invasive and painful nature of human laryngeal neuromuscular manipulation. As a platform for the study of human phonation, indirect models have been utilized for decades such as animal, cadaveric, and computational. We sought to develop a research method allowing direct scientific control of virtually living larynges to expand our ability to understand human phonation.Study designCanine and porcine models.MethodsNineteen canine larynges were surgically removed and reperfused with progressively adapting methodologies to create ex vivo phonation.ResultsFull neuromuscular stimulation and phonation were ultimately achieved in the ex vivo larynx. As compared with alternative perfusate solutions, heparinized whole blood was found to result in the most robust neuromuscular response. Modification of the reperfusion technique from a continuous flow to a pulsatile pump system resulted in dramatic increases in neuromuscular response and longevity of the organ. The experimental findings were repeated to demonstrate reliability of the ex vivo model.ConclusionsThe ex vivo larynx model is demonstrated to be a repeatable platform for phonatory research. The process of development has been comprehensively described in the present report. Although the described experimental model was designed for phonatory research, this model can be readily adapted for investigations of organ transplant preservation techniques, effects of organ ischemia, and neuromuscular reinnervation capabilities.Level of evidenceNA.
Error Exponents for Variable-length block codes with feedback and cost constraints

Variable-length block-coding schemes are investigated for discrete memoryless channels (DMC) with perfect feedback under cost constraints. Upper and lower bounds are found for the minimum achievable probability of decoding error Pepsi,min as a function of transmission rate R, cost constraint P, and expected block length taumacr. For given P and R, the lower and upper bounds to the exponent -(InPepsi,min)/taumacr are asymptotically equal as taumacr rarrinfin. The reliability function, limtau rarrinfin(-ln Pepsi,min)/taumacr, as a function of P and R, is concave in the pair (P, R) and generalizes the linear reliability function of Burnashev (M.V. Burnashev, 1976) to include cost constraints
Another Venue for Problematic Interpersonal Behavior: The Effects of Depressive and Anxious Symptoms on Social Networking Experiences

The current study examined the influence of depressive, global anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms on the frequency and quality of social networking experiences among young adults. Three hundred and one participants (62% female; mean age = 19.44 years, SD = 2.05) completed an initial survey and a follow-up survey three weeks later. Results indicated that depressive, global anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms were not significantly associated with changes in time spent engaging in social networking activities. In contrast, depressive symptoms were generally associated with increases in negative interactions and negative affect following interactions. Further, global and social anxiety symptoms were generally not significantly associated with changes in the quality of social networking interactions. These findings suggest that social networking activities are another venue in which psychological problems manifest in dysfunctional interpersonal interactions. Further, different types of psychological proble...
Self-Assembled Microlense Arrays on Microfluidic Systems by Selective Plasma Surface Modification

Self-assembled microlens arrays on microfluldic system are fabricated by selective plasma surface modification of patterned photoresist. Spin-coated UV-curable polymer forms microlens only on patterned photoresist due to the different surface energy between the substrate and the surface of photoresist that has been modified by the control of plasma gas.
β3-Adrenergic Receptors Regulate Retinal Endothelial Cell Migration and Proliferation *

Sympathetic nerves may play a role in vascular disorders of the eye. In the present study, we hypothesized that activation of β3-adrenergic receptors on retinal endothelial cells would promote migration and proliferation of these cells, two markers of an angiogenic phenotype. We show, for the first time, expression of β3-adrenergic receptors on cultured retinal endothelial cells. Activation of these receptors with BRL37344, a specific β3-adrenergic receptor agonist, promoted migration that was blocked by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), the mitogen activated protein kinase component MEK, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9. BRL37344 stimulated proliferation, which could be blocked by inhibitors of Src, PI3K, and MEK. These cells also express the β1-adrenergic receptor with no β2-adrenergic receptor expression observed. Stimulation of the β1-adrenergic receptor with xamoterol, a specific partial agonist, did not promote proliferation or migration. These results support the hypothesis that β3-adrenergic receptors play a role in proliferation and migration of cultured human retinal endothelial cells.
Scheduling transactions in real-time database systems

The author describes an efficient algorithm for determining the feasibility of a transaction with runtime linearly proportional to the number of lock requests in the transaction. The schedulability checker based on the game-board representation determines transaction schedulability one at a time (incrementally), and thus it also has linear runtime complexity once the checker is initialized. Given the current configuration of the database and the characteristics of the newly arrived transaction, the feasibility test can determine a priori whether the new transaction can be completed by its specified deadline. An example is presented which illustrates how the transaction feasibility checker and the runtime monitor work. >
Incidence of health insurance claims for thyroid neoplasm and pancreatic malignancy in association with exenatide: signal refinement using active safety surveillance.

Objectives:As part of a regulatory postmarketing commitment, we assessed the risk of claims for thyroid and pancreatic cancer among users of exenatide using an active drug safety surveillance syste...
An Objective Review of the Effectiveness and Essential Characteristics of Performance Feedback in Organizational Settings (1985-1998)

Abstract Performance feedback has been used successfully to increase performance in a variety of organizational settings for over 20 years. The main objective of the present review was to update the feedback literature review conducted by Balcazar, Hopkins, and Suarez in 1985. The current review identified 68 applications of feedback from 43 studies in applied organizational settings. Each application was categorized by: feedback effectiveness, combinations of other interventions with feedback, and essential characteristics of feedback. The results of our review support some findings of the previous review: (a) feedback does not uniformly improve performance, and (b) the addition of other procedures tends to improve the consistency of feedback effects. Our review also suggests that more useful and practical information would come from assessing the functional mechanisms of feedback. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Building better guidelines with BRIDGE-Wiz: development and evaluation of a software assistant to promote clarity, transparency, and implementability

Objective To demonstrate the feasibility of capturing the knowledge required to create guideline recommendations in a systematic, structured, manner using a software assistant. Practice guidelines constitute an important modality that can reduce the delivery of inappropriate care and support the introduction of new knowledge into clinical practice. However, many guideline recommendations are vague and underspecified, lack any linkage to supporting evidence or documentation of how they were developed, and prove to be difficult to transform into systems that influence the behavior of care providers. Methods The BRIDGE-Wiz application (Building Recommendations In a Developer's Guideline Editor) uses a wizard approach to address the questions: (1) under what circumstances? (2) who? (3) ought (with what level of obligation?) (4) to do what? (5) to whom? (6) how and why? Controlled natural language was applied to create and populate a template for recommendation statements. Results The application was used by five national panels to develop guidelines. In general, panelists agreed that the software helped to formalize a process for authoring guideline recommendations and deemed the application usable and useful. Discussion Use of BRIDGE-Wiz promotes clarity of recommendations by limiting verb choices, building active voice recommendations, incorporating decidability and executability checks, and limiting Boolean connectors. It enhances transparency by incorporating systematic appraisal of evidence quality, benefits, and harms. BRIDGE-Wiz promotes implementability by providing a pseudocode rule, suggesting deontic modals, and limiting the use of ‘consider’. Conclusion Users found that BRIDGE-Wiz facilitates the development of clear, transparent, and implementable guideline recommendations.
Cooperative parallelization

We propose a cooperation between the programmer, the compiler and the runtime system to identify, exploit and efficiently exercise the parallelism available in many pointer based applications. Our parallelization strategy, called Cooperative Parallelization, is driven by programmer directives as well as runtime information. We show that minimal information from the programmer can be combined with runtime information to extract latent parallelism in many pointer intensive applications that involve trees and linked lists. We implemented a compilation framework which automatically parallelizes programs annotated with parallelism directives. We evaluated our approach on a collection of linked list and tree based applications. Our results show that we can achieve speedups of up to 15× on a sixteen-core platform. We also compared our approach to OpenMP both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Improved Methods of Genome DNA Extraction and PCR for Old Crab Samples Including Lectotype of Museum

It will be more convictive using lectotype or topotype to clarify taxon problem if the methods of DNA extraction and PCR from old samples are optimized.In this study,nuclear target sequences were successfully obtained from old crabs preserved in Beijing Natural History Museum using improved methods.And variable characters of obtained sequences were analyzed.The improved methods will provide some experimental base in clarifying crabs taxon problems using lectotype and topotype preserved in museum.
Prostate Cancer Screening: More Harm Than Good?

The American Cancer Society and other national medical organizations emphasize the need for routine screening for prostate cancer in men over the age of 50. The serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) assay is the test most commonly recommended for the purpose of screening. However, when PSA screening is examined critically from the standpoint of the principles of screening, evidence from prospective studies to support the routine use of PSA testing is lacking. Data suggest that screening often detects what may be indolent, nonaggressive prostate cancer. The treatment of such a cancer with radiation or radical prostatectomy can result in significant morbidity, including urinary incontinence and impotence, without a proven decrease in mortality. Evidence from randomized clinical trials in support of routine PSA screening is urgently needed.
Allergy to Biting Insects

Allergic reactions to biting insects mediated by IgE antibodies are generally considered to be relatively uncommon. There are only a handful of convincing reports in the literature of reactions to bites of mosquitoes and fleas. A small number of cases of allergy to bites of other flies have been reported as well as 2 cases of bedbug allergy. The biting insect that was most commonly cited as causing the allergic reactions reported in the literature and in the Registry of Reactions to Insect Bites run by the Committee on Insect Allergy of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology was the kissing bug (Triatoma spp, also called reduviid bug and cone-nose bug). 1 Two recent studies performed in a community that contained prime habitat for Triatoma demonstrated a prevalence of IgE antibodies against Triatoma protracta in 6.7% of the population studied. 2 In the same population 3.3% demonstrated IgE antibodies to honeybee and/or yellow jacket venom. 3 Most of the literature on biting insect allergy consists of case reports or summaries of uncontrolled clinical experiences, so that it is very difficult to evaluate critically. There are, however, classic studies of bite reactions in animals by Feinberg et al, 4 and modern scientific investigation of true allergy to flea bites in dogs is now being initiated. 5 In this review we will examine the following: how saliva (oral secretion) antigens can be obtained from biting insects; the normal spectrum of reactions to insect bites; a critical evaluation of reports of allergy to bites from various types of insects; biting insect allergens, the relationship to stinging insect allergy; and the treatment and prevention of reactions.
Matrix analysis: Location and perturbation of eigenvalues

Introduction The eigenvalues of a diagonal matrix are very easy to locate, and the eigenvalues of a matrix are continuous functions of the entries, so it is natural to ask whether one can say anything useful about the eigenvalues of a matrix whose off-diagonal elements are “small” relative to the main diagonal entries. Such matrices do arise in practice; large systems of linear equations resulting from numerical discretization of boundary value problems for elliptic partial differential equations can be of this form. In some differential equations problems involving the long-term stability of an oscillating system, one is sometimes interested in showing that the eigenvalues {λ i } of a matrix all lie in the left half-plane, that is, that Re(λ i ) i > 0. Sometimes one wants to locate the eigenvalues of a matrix in a bounded set that is easily characterized. We know that all the eigenvalues of a matrix A are located in a disc in the complex plane centered at the origin and having radius ∥ A ∥, where ∥·∥ is any matrix norm. But can one do better than this by more precisely locating regions that must either include or exclude the eigenvalues? We shall see that one can.
Acid electrolyzed saline solution

0.1%以下の薄い食塩水を陽極と陰極が隔膜で仕切られた電解槽で電気分解すると,陽極側に低pH(2.2～2.7)で有効塩素濃度20～60ppmの電解水を生成する装置が開発されている。強酸性電解水と呼ばれるこの電解水は,メチシリン耐性黄色ブドウ球菌(MRSA)や薬剤耐性緑膿菌など耐性菌を含む広範な病原細菌に著効を示す。主たる殺菌基盤は次亜塩素酸で,その殺菌機構にはヒドロキシラジカルが主役的に関与すると考えられている。強酸性電解水は,活性は高いが不安定なために市販されておらず,電解装置を現場に設置してユーザーが必要なときに作製し,新鮮なうちに使用する。すなわち,次亜塩素酸の良さを活かし,欠点を克服した新技術といえる。厚生省が手指や内視鏡の洗浄消毒を認めているほか,環境や血液透析機,さらに褥瘡や創部などの洗浄消毒に使用されている。手荒れが少なく,毒性や濃度も低いので,人にも環境にもやさしいなど利点が多い。タンパク性有機物に弱いが,使用対象を考慮した使い方により洗浄消毒の実効を上げられるので,今後利用が拡大すると思われる。
Self-Shifting Neutral Axis and Negative Poisson’s Ratio in Hierarchical Structured Natural Composites: Bamboo

Bamboo is a light weight, high strength natural composite. Although it has been wildly used in the world for thousand years, the mechanism of material enhancement and microstructure/property relationships has not been well understood yet. In this study, triple points bending tests were conducted for mechanical behavior characterization of natural composite-bamboo. Digital Image Correlation was utilized to determine the deformation and strain of a bamboo beam. It was found that (a) the material responses to the applied load had both a linear and a non-linear range, (b) the beam was stiffer when it had node at two ends, (c) the neutral axis shifted toward the tensile side of the beam during loading process, (d) when samples were reloaded, the material responses to the load were different, (e) negative Poisson’s ration was found in the high fiber density of the beam.
Predictors of flight behavior in rural and urban songbirds

ABSTRACT The urban environment poses novel anthropogenic challenges to wildlife. Some species have been noted for changes in their behavior in response to humans and urban-associated activities. Understanding the anthropogenic factors which influence these behavioral changes would contribute significantly to avian conservation in an increasingly urbanized world. We investigated the flight initiation distances (FIDs) and alert distances (ADs) of wild Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) in urban and rural habitats of southwestern Virginia to determine if wild songbirds' tolerances for human approaches differed by species or habitat type (urban or rural). We found Song Sparrows to be more tolerant than Northern Cardinals of human approaches, and urban birds of both species tended to tolerate closer approaches than did rural birds. We then investigated whether cues such as gaze direction or human figure explain differences in Song Sparrows' approach response behavi...
Invasive fungal infections in chronic lymphoproliferative disorders: a monocentric retrospective study

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are serious, life-threatening complications frequently observed in hematological malignancies, in particular in patients affected by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients.[1][1] Epidemiological data
Beliefs about genetic influences on eating behaviors: Characteristics and associations with weight management confidence.

Abstract Introduction The development of precision approaches for customized health interventions is a promising application of genomic discovery. To optimize such weight management interventions, target audiences will need to be engaged in research and implementation efforts. Investigation into approaches that engage these audiences will be required to ensure that genomic information, particularly with respect to genomic influences on endophenotypes like eating behavior, is understood and accepted, and not associated with unintended adverse outcomes. We took steps to characterize healthy individuals' beliefs about genetic influences on eating behavior. Methods Data were collected via online survey from 261 participants selected at random from a database. Results Respondents infrequently spontaneously identified eating behavior-related factors as running in families. However, those who perceived themselves as overweight and perceived a family history of overweight were more likely to attribute eating behavior to genetics on closed-ended assessments, β = 0.252, p = 0.039. Genetic attributions for eating behaviors were associated with lower confidence in ability to control eating and weight, β = − 0.119, p = 0.035. Conclusions These exploratory findings shed light on beliefs about genetic influences on eating, a behavioral trait (rather than a disease). This investigation can inform future health intervention efforts.
Flexible ureteropyeloscopy in the diagnosis of benign essential hematuria.

AbstractBenign essential hematuria is an uncommon syndrome that constitutes a dilemma in diagnosis for the urologist. We studied 32 patients with flexible ureteropyeloscopy. Previous studies included renal arteriography, computerized tomography, ultrasound and urinary cytology. The entire intrarenal collecting system was inspected in 28 of the 32 patients and discrete lesions were found in 16. The most common finding was a hemangioma on a renal papilla in 11 patients. A discrete lesion was treated in 12 patients with successful results in 11. Nonspecific abnormalities were found in 9 patients and attempts at treatment of these lesions in 4 were unsuccessful. No lesion was found in 5 patients. Flexible ureteropyeloscopy offers a minimally invasive approach for the diagnosis of unilateral gross hematuria. Treatment of solitary small discrete lesions was highly successful.
Constraints and capacities for novel livelihood adaptation: lessons from agricultural adoption in an African dryland pastoralist system

Climate change, land use change, and sociopolitical and institutional transitions in African drylands have resulted in the loss, fragmentation, and degradation of environmental resources that pastoralists rely upon to sustain their livestock-based livelihoods. Diversification into irrigated agriculture is a potential strategy to increase food security. However, successful livelihood adaptation depends on access to key forms of natural, human, social, financial, and physical capitals, which may be lacking or unequally distributed in pastoralist communities. In two dryland pastoralist communities in Kenya, an international relief organization introduced irrigated farming in 2010. Nearly 200 individuals began farming, but within 4 years, all had quit. This study investigated the role of household access to different forms of capital in decisions to adopt agriculture, and how adaptive capacities, environmental conditions, and farming as a new livelihood practice interacted to shape household vulnerability. We found that decisions to farm were largely decoupled from access to assets that would afford greater adaptive capacity. The analysis also identified critical constraints that households encountered once they adopted farming. This study highlights the importance of more nuanced understandings of local capacities in the dynamics of adapting to environmental change. We recommend that prior to introducing interventions that promote new livelihood activities, development organizations should assess local capacities and pursue targeted strategies to increase household-level access to the forms of assets that will facilitate successful adaptation.
Stereotypes, Images, and Inclination to Discriminatory Action: The White Racial Frame in the Practice of School Leadership:

Background/ContextMost educators have had little if any preparation in racial literacy, the understanding of social identity related to race and the ability to recognize and negotiate racism. In fa...
Introduction and Overview of Copper as an Element Essential for Life

Copper, in the form of bracelets and ointments, has been a part of folk medicine in the treatment of painful muscles and joints, probably for a long time. However, only in the very recent past has the need for copper in the normal growth, development, and function of living organisms become apparent. Indeed, it is now clear that traces of this versatile transition metal are necessary for all life forms. Copper functions as a cofactor for cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal enzyme of the respiratory electron transport chain in most cells; as part of plastocyanin in the photosynthetic apparatus of plants and algae; as part of the oxygen-carrying hemocyanin of arthropod and gastropod blood; as a cofactor for numerous other (sometimes less fundamental) enzymes; and most probably also as part of smaller peptide and nonpeptide factors that may be involved in regulatory processes (such as cell proliferation and angiogenesis) and in some aspects of body defense in man and animals.
Northern Renaissance: Art and the Birth of Fashion, a collaborative progression from multidisciplinary through interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary

The purpose of this paper is to present a research and course project, Northern Renaissance: Art and the Birth of Fashion, developed between an Art Historian and a Costume Historian at a large Midwestern University. The faculty worked in tandem to offer a cross-listed Special Topic course covering the period of 1350-1580 and spanning most of Europe with the exception of Italy, although Italian influences were included as reference and context. Reception to the initiative was surprisingly positive. The two scholars learned considerably more about each other's knowledge base, with an increasing curiosity and awareness; especially in artistic expression and the unbreakable connection with communication and dissemination of fashion change, infusing the project with energy for further discovery and learning. A website and virtual exhibition are in development as well as plans to prepare a text to expand this new and synthesized knowledge which blurs disciplinary boundaries.
Opioid Overprescription After Knee Arthroscopy and Related Surgery in Adolescents and Young Adults

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the number of opioids prescribed with the amount of pain medication required after knee arthroscopy and related surgery in adolescent and young adult patients to determine the effectiveness of current pain-control practices at a single institution. The secondary purpose was to determine what demographic or surgical factors are associated with increased opioid intake. Methods Adolescent and young adult patients who underwent knee arthroscopy and related surgery, including ligament reconstruction or tibial tubercle osteotomy, between May and August 2016 were provided pain-control logbooks in which they were asked to maintain a record of daily pain medication intake. The outcome of the study was defined as the total number of opioids consumed per patient. Results One hundred patients returned completed logbooks, 56% of whom were female patients. The average age was 17.54 years (standard deviation [SD], 3.51 years). Most patients underwent an open procedure concurrent with knee arthroscopy (60%), underwent nerve block placement (51%), and underwent injection of local anesthesia (91%). Use of both intravenous acetaminophen and ketorolac during the perioperative period was also common (41%). Patients were prescribed an average of 50.98 oxycodone pills (SD, 12.50 pills) and reported consuming an average of 16.52 pills (SD, 13.94 pills), approximately 32.4% of those prescribed. Eleven percent never consumed opioids, and only 1 patient requested a refill during the 21-day postoperative period. Multivariate analysis showed that increased weight, longer surgery time, and increased diazepam use were most closely associated with increased opioid consumption. Conclusions After knee arthroscopy and related surgery, including ligament reconstruction or tibial tubercle osteotomy, adolescent and young adult patients are commonly overprescribed opioids, consuming on average only approximately one-third of those prescribed. Level of Evidence Level IV, case series.