cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Circadian variation of sudden cardiac death or fatal myocardial infarction is abolished by propranolol in patients with heart disease and complex ventricular arrhythmias

Abstract Sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction have a circadian pattern with a significant morning peak. 1–6 The circadian rhythm associated with acute myocardial infarction was not observed in patients receiving propranolol. 6 We are reporting data on the times of sudden cardiac death or fatal myocardial infarction from a prospective study of patients ≥62 years of age with heart disease, complex ventricular arrhythmias, and a left ventricular ejection fraction ≥40% randomized to propranolol or no antiarrhythmic drug. 7
Wormholes and Global Symmetries

Abstract We examine the effects that topological fluctuations in the structure of space-time have on the global U(1) symmetry of a scalar field theory. When the symmetry is not spontaneously broken we find wormhole solutions which break the U(1) symmetry despite the fact that they have infinite euclidean action. In the case where the symmetry is spontaneously broken we find wormhole solutions of finite action.
Microstructure and properties of Bi-2223/Ag/Ni tapes

To reduce the production cost of Bi-2223 superconducting tapes, Bi-2223/Ag/Ni tapes were fabricated by the powder-in-tube process. The effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and critical current of the Bi-2223/Ag/Ni tapes were studied. The phase compositions of the samples were characterized using XRD. The microstructure was observed using SEM. Experimental results indicate that higher temperature is more conducive to the formation of Bi-2223 phase at an atmosphere of 8.5% O2. After the two-step heat treatment, the critical current of samples is about 67.5 A.
Evaluation of unilateral decortication. A patient successfully treated 44 years after onset of tuberculosis.

Abstract A patient is presented who responded successfully to decortication 44 years after the onset of tuberculosis. The possible mechanisms by which unilateral pleural disease affects overall lung function are discussed, as are current methods of assessment. The fiberoptic bronchoscope has a potentially useful role in the investigation of regional lung function.
The Topology of Phase Boundaries for Oil/Brine/Surfactant Systems and Its Relationship to Oil Recovery

Surfactant/oil/water phase diagrams have become the most important screening tool used to select microemulsion systems for enhanced oil recovery. It is shown that the phase diagrams can be made to take on different configurations depending on the alcohol cosurfactant, the salinity, the impurities present in the surfactant, and the dispersity of the surfactant mixture. Besides the importance of the phase boundary shape, this study provides further insight into factors determining the height of the binodal surface on the pseudoternary phase diagram. Results show the effect of salinity as well as the surfactant, alcohol, and hydrocarbon types on the height of the binodal surface. 24 refs.
Water transport in plants: Mechanism of apparent changes in resistance during absorption.

Leaf water potentials were measured at various rates of water absorption in whole plants and detached leaves of well-watered Helianthus annuus L. The experiments were conducted in the steady state, where changes in leaf hydration did not affect the measurements but both the transpiration and growth components of absorption could be observed. Calculations of the total plant resistance to water transport showed that the resistance at low fluxes was about 30 times the resistance at high fluxes. Most of the change took place in the leaves, since similar changes could be demonstrated in detached leaves. The roots accounted for little of the change, since they varied in resistance by a factor of only 2.5 as flow varied.To ascertain whether the protoplasts of the leaves varied in resistance by an amount which could account for the change in resistance to water transport, measurements of rates of water movement in and out of the protoplasm were made when gradients in water potential between the protoplasts and the water source were varied. These showed that water movement did not occur at rates which could account for high rates of transpiration even when large differences in potential drove flow. The high temperature sensitivity of efflux confirmed that the leaf protoplasts limited flow in these experiments. When the edge of the leaf was excised and flow occurred primarily through the vascular system of the leaf, the resistance was much lower than in the protoplasts. It is therefore concluded that the leaf protoplasts represent a high resistance to water transport and that a considerable portion of the water involved in transpiration must bypass them.Calculations based on a model of water transport showed that the protoplast resistance was almost 30 times larger than the resistance of the path leading from the soil to the leaf protoplasts. The decrease in resistance of the leaves with increasing rates of absorption was therefore attributed to a decrease in water movement in and out of leaf cells, which involved a high resistance, and an increase in movement around the leaf protoplasts, which involved a low resistance. Since the experiments were conducted at the steady state, the high resistances were apparent at low rates of flow where only growth occurred, whereas the low resistances could be observed at high rates of flow because growth did not occur and flow consisted solely of transpiration. Because of the high resistance of the protoplast pathway, leaf water potentials were governed more by protoplast water movement than by transpiration over a considerable range of rates of water absorption. This may explain some of the differences in earlier work on leaf water potentials and water transport.
Accessibility of case and gender contrasts for agent-object assignment in Broca's aphasics and fluent anomics ☆

Abstract Yugoslav agrammatic Broca's aphasics, fluent anomics, and control subjects were tested for comprehension of agent-object relations in a series of simple Serbo-Croatian sentences in the conversational past tense, consisting of two nouns and a transitive action verb. The availability of two closed class cues—case contrasts and gender contrasts—as well as the availability of an open class lexical cue—animacy contrasts—was varied across sentences. An analysis of subjects' agent-object assignments yielded the following results: Both Broca's aphasics and fluent anomics showed a selective impairment in sensitivity to closed class morphology, although anomics were considerably less impaired than Broca's aphasics. This finding was interpreted as evidence for a non-syndrome-dependent vulnerability of abilities to process closed class morphology for comprehension. In addition, the pattern of agent-object assignments for Broca's aphasics revealed that the degree to which they were able to access the two closed class cues depended on a convergence of the various cues to agent-object relations. In particular, a convergence of case and gender contrasts had an interactive effect on Broca's responses: Gender agreement cues were accessed only in the presence of convergent case contrasts. Conversely, sensitivity to case contrasts was dramatically heightened in the presence of convergent gender contrasts. These results were consistent with a view that the two cues function as intrasentential “primes” or “retrieval cues” for one another.
Assessment and Management of Pain Associated with Lameness in Cattle

Lameness impacts the cattle industry in economic losses and welfare considerations. In addition to production deficits, pain and distress associated with lameness have been documented. The evaluation and prevalence of lame cattle is one of the primary factors in third-party welfare audit programs. To improve earlier detection and treatment of lameness, locomotion scoring systems have been developed for routine use by farm employees. Recommendations for pain management typically include the use of a multimodal therapeutic approach. Similarly, in lame cattle, pain can best be alleviated by implementing a multimodal approach including corrective claw trimming and placement of foot blocks combined with additional benefits provided by analgesic compounds.
Effects of residual stress and geometry on crack kink angles in graded composites

Effects of residual stress, geometry and applied load on the stress intensity factors of cracks in discretely layered, graded composites were investigated using finite element techniques. Elastic gradient profiles introduce mixed mode conditions for cracks oriented perpendicular to the gradient. Residual stresses further affect the in-plane stress intensity factors such that the amount of mode-mixity depends on the applied load. The effect of residual stress and applied load on the mode-mixity depends on the specimen geometry. Implications of the residual stress and geometric-load effects on the predicted crack kink angle are discussed.
Toward a rational model of discourse comprehension

The essence of language is human activity-activity on the part of one individual to make himself understood by another, and activity on the part of that other to understand what was in the mind of the first. These two individuals, the producer and the recipient of language, or as we may more conveniently call them, the speaker and the hearer, and their relations to one another, should never be lost sight of if we want to understand the nature of language and of that part of language which is dealt with in grammar. But in former times this was often overlooked, and words and forms'were often treated as if they were things or natural objects with an existence of their own--a conception which may have been to a great extent fostered through a too exclusive preoccupation with written or printed words, but which is fundamentally false, as will easily be seen with a little reflexion. (p. 17)
Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector Tracking System

The ATLAS Experiment is equipped with a charge particle tracking system built on three sub-detectors: silicon pixels, silicon strips and straw tubes, composing the ATLAS Inner Detector (ID) which is embeded in a 2 Tesla magnetic field. To achieve the desired tracking performance, these sub-detectors have to be aligned with the typical precision better than 10 micrometers. Different alignment techniques have been used to reconstruct the detector geometry. Cosmics data collected between 2008 to 2009 and 900 GeV center-of-mass energy proton-proton collision data collected in December 2009 are used simultaneously to derive alignment constants. The performance of the alignment is also studied using 7 TeV collision data collected in May 2010. The results show that the ATLAS tracker is approaching the precision of ideal geometry.
On the Conceivability of an Omniscient Interpreter

J'examine l'argument de "l'interprete omniscient" (10) contre les objections sceptiques formulees par Donald Davidson en 1977, qu'il a retractees vingt-deux ans plus tard Je soutiens que la force de cet argument a ete sous-estimee. Je m'inscris en faux contre les critiques voulant que Davidson ait suppose l'existence effective de l'IO, et que les autres croyances philosophiques de Davidson soient incompatibles avec la possibilite de concevoir l'idee d'un 10. Si l'argument semble peu plausible a prime abord, c'est que Davidson a suggere qu'un 10 attribuait les croyances en utilisant les memes methodes qu'un interprete humain faillible. On peut remedier a ce probleme en adoptant une theorie de l'ambiguite des croyances.
Molecular Mechanisms of Human Hypertension

Supported in part by a Specialized Center of Research in Hypertension and NIH K08 awards (to A. G. G. and D. S. G.). R. P. L. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Refugees in Vermont: mobility and acculturation in a new immigrant destination

Abstract This paper explores the idea of mobility for recent refugees who have resettled in a non-traditional immigrant destination in the northeastern U.S. It is based on a multi-year qualitative study of travel behavior, preferences, and needs amongst these new arrivals in a small city in the state of Vermont. As a result of their experiences of both forced displacement from their home as well as stasis within camp settings and the refugee determination process, refugees are an example of what some have called “a dialectic of movement/moorings” ( Urry, 2003 : 125), both on the move and trapped in place. Their resettlement in the U.S., as this paper illustrates, may represent a further extension of this dialectic—placed by government agents in new immigrant reception areas not of their own choosing, forced to commute long distances and into unfamiliar environments for work and limited in their abilities to access healthcare, education and employment (amongst other services) due to a range of transportation barriers. I argue in this paper that refugee mobilities in a new settlement site are about more than inconvenience: barriers to movement may constitute obstacles to acculturation, integration, self-empowerment, and community building.
Combined chloroquine and ribavirin treatment does not prevent death in a hamster model of Nipah and Hendra virus infection.

Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are recently emerged, closely related and highly pathogenic paramyxoviruses that cause severe disease such as encephalitis in animals and humans with fatality rates of up to 75 %. Due to their high case fatality rate following human infection and because of the lack of effective vaccines or therapy, they are classified as Biosafety Level 4 pathogens. A recent study reported that chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, was effective in preventing NiV and HeV infection in cell culture experiments. In the present study, the antiviral efficacy of chloroquine was analysed, individually and in combination with ribavirin, in the treatment of NiV and HeV infection in in vivo experiments, using a golden hamster model. Although the results confirmed the strong antiviral activity of both drugs in inhibiting viral spread in vitro, they did not prove to be protective in the in vivo model. Ribavirin delayed death from viral disease in NiV-infected hamsters by approximately 5 days, but no significant effect in HeV-infected hamsters was observed. Chloroquine did not protect hamsters when administered either individually or in combination with ribavirin, the latter indicating the lack of a favourable drug–drug interaction.
Effect of Dimensions on the Efficiency of Radiant Energy Cells

This paper deals with the enhancement of the quantum efficiency and photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency of a p-n semiconducting cell by optimizing the dimensions of the cell. Based on the Shockley-Read statistics a general expression for the quantum efficiency of monochromatic incident radiant energy photons has been derived in terms of the absorption coefficient of the incident photons, the minority carrier diffusion length, the built-in electrostatic field appearing in diffused cells, and the surface recombination velocity in the exposed layer of the cell. Although the expressions derived may be used for all semiconducting p-n cells, special efforts have been made in the analysis and computations of the germanium p-n cell. The germanium cells show a great potential for photovoltaic energy conversion from radiant sources other than the sun. The results for germanium indicate that the quantum efficiency strongly depends upon the thicknesses of the exposed and base layers. The built-in electrostatic field and the surface recombination velocity in the exposed layer influence the quantum efficiency greatly. Optimization studies for the thicknesses of the exposed and base layers of an n-p type germanium for different values of minority carrier diffusion length, built-in electrostatic field, and surface recombination velocity have been worked out.
Stress corrosion crack velocity in 4340 steel

Abstract Continued application of the tensile ligament instability model to environment assisted crack propagation velocities—this time for a 4340 steel tempered at 750°F—indicates that when fine details of this process are examined evidence of its applicability can result. The apparent constant velocity regime discussed by other authors and noted here can be considered as an averaged value resulting from short spurts of velocity acceleration damped out by a branching process.
Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World (2 vols.)

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: E. A. Bucchianeri Year: 2008 Pages: 1140 Publisher: AuthorHouse ISBN: 978-1434390608 (soft cover).
What Drives Morally Committed Citizens? A Study of the Antecedents of Public Service Motivation

This study examines the relationship between public service motivation and antecedents believed to be important determinants of moral commitment. Research conducted during the past decade indicates that public service motivation is a valid construct that is useful for predicting outcomes that are important to public organizations and to society. The sample for the empirical study consists of winners of the Daily Point of Light Award and the President’s Community Volunteer Award. Antecedents studied are volunteer experience, religious activity, and parental socialization. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are used to identify key determinants of public sector motivation. Religious activity is positively related to formal and informal volunteering. Interviews strongly support the quantitative findings, especially the importance of religion, but also highlight the role of life-changing events.
Neutralization Profiles of Sera from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected Individuals: Relationship to HIV Viral Load and CD4 Cell Count

During primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, there is little heterogeneity among HIV strains isolated from an individual patient. This is followed over time by an increase in the genetic diversity of the virus population (3, 12, 20). This increase in genetic diversity is responsible for the emergence of escape mutants that are no longer recognized by autologous neutralizing antibodies or virus-specific T lymphocytes (1, 2, 16, 23, 24, 30). Several studies have indicated that neutralizing antibodies rapidly appear after primary HIV infection and that this is followed by the emergence of virus strains that are resistant to autologous sera (1, 2, 4). This decline in the ability to neutralize autologous strains may be associated with the emergence of more-virulent strains and disease progression. It is important to mention that the patients showing signs of immunological escape retain the ability to make neutralizing antibodies, although these antibodies are not directed against their predominant autologous strains. The sera from these patients fail to neutralize their autologous strains while retaining the ability to neutralize laboratory-adapted HIV type 1 (HIV-1) strains, such as the prototype MN strain (25). This suggests the possibility of halting immune escape, perhaps by effective antiretroviral therapy and therapeutic vaccines, which could lead to delay of the emergence of more-virulent strains. A syncytium-inducing (SI) phenotype has been reported to be associated with increased virulence and disease progression (6, 26). The relationship of the generation of SI strains to the lack of autologous neutralization and to the sequence of their appearance has not been completely examined. The V3 domain of gp120 is the major neutralization epitope (11, 15, 18) and controls the capability of the virus to form syncytia (9, 10, 14). Thus, factors that may influence the ability to make neutralizing antibodies may potentially impact the cytopathogenicity of the virus and vice versa. However, heterologous antibodies were shown to neutralize infectious molecular clones with V3 loops of both SI and non-SI (NSI) primary and laboratory-adapted viruses (13). Knowing the neutralization profile might be important in guiding treatment decisions, particularly in immune-based therapy approaches involving neutralizing antibodies. In this study the relationship of escape from autologous viral neutralization and/or neutralization of prototype laboratory strains to markers of disease progression was examined.
A Spot Plate Method for Antibiotic-Bacterial Killing Rates

The large amount of material and the multiple pipettings involved in the standard pour-plate method used to derive antibiotic induced bacterial killing curves prompted studies of a method utilizing a spot plate technique. This method produces similar in vitro results and allows for rapid sampling, ease of colony counting, a considerably shortened incubation period and the ability to test several bacterial strains concurrently.
Augmented anastomotic urethroplasty.

Purpose: During substitution urethroplasty, if the stricture contains a 1 to 2 cm region that is particularly narrow and/or fibrotic, that portion may be excised with subsequent anastomosis of the dorsal or ventral aspect of the urethra to shorten, widen and optimize the urethral wall onto which an onlay graft is to be placed. This procedure is termed augmented anastomotic urethroplasty. To determine the effectiveness of this approach we reviewed our experience with augmented anastomotic urethroplasty in an 8-year period.Materials and Methods: We reviewed the records of patients who underwent augmented anastomotic urethroplasty between October 1997 and April 2005. Perioperative characteristics were compared between successes and failures using the Wilcoxon/Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests.Results: Of 69 patients who underwent augmented anastomotic urethroplasty for recurrent urethral strictures 5 had undergone previous urethroplasty using a genital skin flap or graft. At a median followup of 34 month...
Fatty acid binding protein 4 is a target of VEGF and a regulator of cell proliferation in endothelial cells

Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) plays an important role in maintaining glucose and lipid homeostasis. FABP4 has been primarily regarded as an adipocyte- and macrophage-specific protein, but recent studies suggest that it may be more widely expressed. We found strong FABP4 expression in the endothelial cells (ECs) of capillaries and small veins in several mouse and human tissues, including the heart and kidney. FABP4 was also detected in the ECs of mature human placental vessels and infantile hemangiomas, the most common tumor of infancy and ECs. In most of these cases, FABP4 was detected in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. FABP4 mRNA and protein levels were significantly induced in cultured ECs by VEGF-A and bFGF treatment. The effect of VEGF-A on FABP4 expression was inhibited by chemical inhibition or short-hairpin (sh) RNA-mediated knockdown of VEGF-receptor-2 (R2), whereas the VEGFR1 agonists, placental growth factors 1 and 2, had no effect on FABP4 expression. Knockdown of FABP4 in ECs significantly reduced proliferation both under baseline conditions and in response to VEGF and bFGF. Thus, FABP4 emerged as a novel target of the VEGF/VEGFR2 pathway and a positive regulator of cell proliferation in ECs.
A review of duck nutrition research

A review of the literature on the nutrition of ducks revealed that although several areas have been intensively researched (protein requirements, dietary effects on carcass composition, and vitamin...
Use of electrostatic potentials to study non-bonded intramolecular interactions in 1,8-disubstituted naphthalenes with carbonyl groups as electrophilic substituents

Ab initio Self-Consistent Field molecular orbital calculations were carried out on seven 1,8-disubstituted naphthalene compounds to probe the non-bonded intramolecular interactions between electrophilic and nucleophilic substituents located at the 1 and 8 positions. The electrophilic substituents were characterized by the CyO group with the carbonyl carbon as the electrophilic center. The nucleophilic substituents were amino [(CH 3) 2N‐], methoxy (CH3O‐) and hydroxy (‐OH) groups. The nature of the intramolecular interaction was probed by calculating the molecular electrostatic potential on the molecular surface adjacent to the substituents. Differences in net atomic charges and surface molecular electrostatic potentials with and without an adjacent substituent showed the presence of significant non-bonded interactions between the electrophilic and nucleophilic centers in these compounds. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Structural organization and dynamics of exopolysaccharide matrix and microcolonies formation by Streptococcus mutans in biofilms

Aims: To investigate the structural organization and dynamics of exopolysaccharides (EPS) matrix and microcolonies formation by Streptococcus mutans during the biofilm development process. Methods and Results: Biofilms of Strep. mutans were formed on saliva-coated hydroxyapatite (sHA) discs in the presence of glucose or sucrose (alone or mixed with starch). At specific time points, biofilms were subjected to confocal fluorescence imaging and computational analysis. EPS matrix was steadily formed on sHA surface in the presence of sucrose during the first 8 h followed by a threefold biomass increase between 8 and 30 h of biofilm development. The initial formation and further development of three-dimensional microcolony structure occurred concomitantly with EPS matrix synthesis. Tridimensional renderings showed EPS closely associated with microcolonies throughout the biofilm development process forming four distinct domains (i) between sHA surface and microcolonies, (ii) within, (iii) covering and (iv) filling the spaces between microcolonies. The combination of starch and sucrose resulted in rapid formation of elevated amounts of EPS matrix and faster assembly of microcolonies by Strep. mutans, which altered their structural organization and susceptibility of the biofilm to acid killing (vs sucrose-grown biofilms; P < 0·05). Conclusions: Our data indicate that EPS modulate the development, sequence of assembly and spatial distribution of microcolonies by Strep. mutans. Significance and Impact of the Study: Simultaneous visualization and analysis of EPS matrix and microcolonies provide a more precise examination of the structural organization of biofilms than labelling bacteria alone, which could be a useful approach to elucidate the exact mechanisms by which Strep. mutans influences oral biofilm formation and possibly identify novel targets for effective antibiofilm therapies.
Rats exposed to acute pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency are more sensitive to the amnestic effects of scopolamine and MK-801: examination of working memory, response selection, and reinforcement contingencies.

Pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (PTD), which has been used as a model of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), produces a range of neuropathological and behavioral abnormalities in rodents. The extent of the diencephalic damage produced by this treatment varies from moderate to extreme cell loss. The magnitude of working memory impairment tends to correlate with the degree of neuropathology. In this study a PTD protocol that produces moderate thalamic pathology was used to gain further insight into the neurobehavioral consequences of thiamine deficiency. Towards this end, two distinct manipulations were conducted. First, the differential outcomes procedure (DOP), which correlates specific reinforcers with specific to-be-remembered events, was applied to an operant version of matching-to-position (MTP). This behavioral manipulation was conducted to determine if the DOP would improve memory performance in PTD-treated rats, demonstrating some intact cognitive functions. Additionally, to assess the functional integrity of the cholinergic and glutamatergic systems, normal and PTD-treated rats were administered i.p. injections of scopolamine and MK-801. It was found that the DOP enhanced memory, but not acquisition performance, in both normal and PTD-treated rats. Furthermore, when administered scopolamine, but not MK-801, rats trained with the DOP continued to outperform rats trained with a non-differential outcomes procedure (NOP). However, PTD-treated rats, regardless of training procedure (DOP, NOP), were more disrupted by the 'amnestic' effects of both scopolamine and MK-801. The differential sensitivity of treatment groups to the amnestic effects of scopolamine and MK-801 reveals insights into the neurochemical correlates of memory processes and WKS.
Using Action Learning and Critical Thinking Tools to Make Changes in Higher Education.

As the reported institution increased admission requirements, added master’s and doctoral programs, and revised its strategic thrust, greater emphasis was placed on assessing student learning outcomes and whether the “treatment” of education has had a measurable impact. Consistent with Smith and Clark (2010), we implemented an action learning approach and integrated critical thinking concepts in instructional delivery for an undergraduate human resource management (HR) capstone course and examined the process used to changing the general education curriculum and advising model through those same lenses. Keys to success in both arenas depend on faculty engagement and interest, willingness to be in a continuous improvement mode and their high level of involvement and trust in the goals and process. Additionally faculty’s comfort with receiving and incorporating feedback from students in realtime, particularly if developmental feedback, without reacting punitively, is critical in maintaining student interest and involvement in the course laden with action-learning and critical-thinking activities. Student engagement, interest and willingness to be in a continuous improvement mode increase with faculty receptivity to feedback and accessibility for interaction outside of the classroom.
Recursive Moving Frames for Lie Pseudo-Groups

This paper introduces a new, fully recursive algorithm for computing moving frames and differential invariants of Lie pseudo-group actions. The recursive method avoids unwieldy symbolic expressions that complicate the treatment of large scale applications of the equivariant moving frame method. The development leads to novel results on partial moving frames, structure equations, and new differential operators underlying the moving frame construction. In particular, our methods produce a streamlined computational algorithm for determining moving frames and differential invariants of finite-dimensional Lie group actions.
Abstract 190: Predictors and Outcome of Anthracycline-induced Cardiomyopathy among Lymphoma Patients

Background: Anthracyclines (AC) are one of the most potent anti-neoplastic agents in the treatment of lymphoid malignancies. However their therapeutic benefit is limited by cardiotoxicity. Among patients receiving AC, it is unclear whether traditional cardiovascular markers predict cardiomyopathy (CMP) and whether patients with AC-CMP have higher mortality compared with non-CMP patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a cohort of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients evaluated by the Emory Lymphoma program who received AC between 1992 and 2013. We assessed cardiac function by echocardiogram or equilibrium radionuclide imaging. We examined the prevalence of AC-CMP (defined as an absolute decrease in LVEF > 10% with a decline 50%). Analyses only included patients who received assessment of LVEF both pre and post-AC. Statistical analysis was performed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression models of clinical characteristics potentially associated with a decrease in LVEF. Results: Of 218 patients who received AC (median dose 300 mg/m2), 41% (89 of 218) had imaging surveillance before and after AC. Twenty seven percent of patients had AC-CMP. In the multivariate analyses after adjusting for demographics and traditional cardiac comorbidites, among patients receiving AC, patients with tobacco abuse [OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 0.8 to 7.0; P = 0.12], coronary artery disease [OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 0.8 to 7.9; P = 0.10] and diabetes [OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 0.9 to 9.9; P = 0.08] were more likely to have CMP although the association did not reach statistical significance. Mortality among CMP patients was numerically higher compared with non-CMP patients (50% vs. 35%; P = 0.28). Conclusions: Among patients receiving AC for lymphoma, there is a trend towards increased risk of CMP in patients with history of tobacco abuse, CAD and diabetes. Additionally, AC-CMP patients had numerically higher mortality compared with non-CMP patients. Future studies are needed to confirm these important findings in larger samples to ascertain predictors and outcome of AC induced CMP in cancer patients.
Understanding Rule of Law / Supremecy of Law and Underlying Obstacles in Turkey and Around the World

Rule of Law has become every country’s ambition; developed countries are promoting it, multinational corporations want it, and aid organizations are trying to build it. No country in modern times - with the possible exception of China during the cultural revolution- has ever said “We reject the rule of law,” although by their actions some countries have done so. The goal of this paper is to provide some additional perspective on the Rule of Law for discussion and deliberations in Turkey. The paper starts with some of the major obstacles, and then make a few comments regarding the author’s impressions about Turkey and the Rule of Law as compared to other countries. There are three major obstacles discussed briefly: defining the rule of law, developing rule of law culture, and legal structure to support rule of law.
KSHV/HHV-8 associated lymph node based lymphomas in HIV seronegative subjects. Case report and review of the literature

Abstract Extracavitary primary effusion lymphoma (ExPEL) is a rare, high-grade lymphoproliferative disorder that displays immunoblastic, plasmablastic, or anaplastic morphology. It usually lacks expression of B-cell and T-cell markers, but often expresses the plasma cell markers CD138 and MUM1, and the activation marker CD30, along with EMA. ExPEL, similar to classic PEL occurring as lymphomatous effusions in serous body cavities without an associated tumor mass, is consistently associated with human herpes virus-8 (HHV8) infection, while a majority of cases also exhibits Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) co-infection. Clinically, it is characterized by an almost exclusive male predominance (98% male), HIV-positivity (96% of patients are HIV+), acute presentation with B symptoms, and unfavorable overall survival (40% of patients die within 2months). We report an asymptomatic HIV-negative female patient with incidentally found splenomegaly and extensive PET FDG-avid retroperitoneal, pelvic, and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. A core biopsy of her right pelvic lymph node showed aggregates of atypical cells with anaplastic features. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the neoplastic cells were positive for CD45, CD20, CD30, MUM1, CD138, EMA, CD3, HHV-8 and EBER. The diagnosis of ExPEL was established. Against medical advice and given the absence of significant symptoms, the patient refused to start treatment. Four months after the diagnosis, the patient remains asymptomatic, and follow-up CT scan demonstrates stability of her lymphadenopathy. We present here a case of ExPEL in which the patient's presentation defies the clinical norms, illustrating that ExPEL should also be included in the differential diagnosis of lymphomas occurring in asymptomatic HIV-negative patients.
Learning programs

The nature of learning programs is explained, and problems encountered in building them are discussed. Some current approaches to machine learning are reviewed. An application of machine learning to nondestructive identification of subsurface anomalies in aircraft is described. >
EM Adaptive LASSO—A Multilocus Modeling Strategy for Detecting SNPs Associated with Zero-inflated Count Phenotypes

Count data are increasingly ubiquitous in genetic association studies, where it is possible to observe excess zero counts as compared to what is expected based on standard assumptions. For instance, in rheumatology, data are usually collected in multiple joints within a person or multiple sub-regions of a joint, and it is not uncommon that the phenotypes contain enormous number of zeroes due to the presence of excessive zero counts in majority of patients. Most existing statistical methods assume that the count phenotypes follow one of these four distributions with appropriate dispersion-handling mechanisms: Poisson, Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP), Negative Binomial, and Zero-inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB). However, little is known about their implications in genetic association studies. Also, there is a relative paucity of literature on their usefulness with respect to model misspecification and variable selection. In this article, we have investigated the performance of several state-of-the-art approaches for handling zero-inflated count data along with a novel penalized regression approach with an adaptive LASSO penalty, by simulating data under a variety of disease models and linkage disequilibrium patterns. By taking into account data-adaptive weights in the estimation procedure, the proposed method provides greater flexibility in multi-SNP modeling of zero-inflated count phenotypes. A fast coordinate descent algorithm nested within an EM (expectation-maximization) algorithm is implemented for estimating the model parameters and conducting variable selection simultaneously. Results show that the proposed method has optimal performance in the presence of multicollinearity, as measured by both prediction accuracy and empirical power, which is especially apparent as the sample size increases. Moreover, the Type I error rates become more or less uncontrollable for the competing methods when a model is misspecified, a phenomenon routinely encountered in practice.
On the relationship of liver mitochondrial coenzyme Q to hyperthyroidism in rats.

SummaryA study in young rats (weanling to 7 weeks of age) has shown that: (1) Liver mitochondria from rats with induced hyperthyroidism were less efficient as energy transducers than controls, as judged by lower P/O ratios. (2) Liver mitochondria from hyperthyroid rats contained more coenzyme Q than did controls. (3) Accordingly, coenzyme Q probably is not involved as an intermediate for phosphorylation; but rather, in the hyperthyroid state is in an alternate pathway of electron transport by-passing phosphorylation. (4) Methionine, under the conditions of the study, exerted no antithyrotoxic effect in terms of coenzyme Q content or P/O ratios of liver mitochondria.
Reconstruction of Magnetic Resonance Image T_2 State Mapping Diagram of Cheese and Bread Samples Using Matlab 6.5 Software

The images with different Tau values were gained by using a spin3D sequence under low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) image experiment. Invoking the program designed by ourselves, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2 mapping diagrams of cheese and bread samples' are reconstructed by software Matlab 6.5. The T2 distribution of samples were observed obviously from the T2 state mapping diagram. The results further suggests that using the programs designed by software Matlab 6.5 to reconstruct the T2 mapping diagrams is feasible.
Studies on the organic chlorine pesticide HCH and DDT in pine needles

The residual amount of HCH and DDT in pine needles of north, east, south and southwestern areas in China were determined with gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results indicated that b-HCH content was the highest among four HCH isomers (a, b, g, d) amounting 38%~46% of the total amount. The content ranges of HCH, DDT and DDE were 24.7~35.5ng/g, 2.4~7.0ng/g and 2.4~2.8ng/g respectively. The contents of DDE and total HCH tended to be north Chinaeast Chinasouth Chinasouthwestern China, and east Chinanorth Chinasouth China southwestern China, respectively. The ratio of DDE and DDT in north and east China was greater than 1; and the ratio was less than 1 in south and southwestern China, which showed that in these two regions there was recent input of DDT.
Birefringence of SrTi O 3 Produced by the 105°K Structural Phase Transition

Accurate birefringence measurements on monodomain SrTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ platelets give important information about the fluctuations associated with the second-order structural phase transition. Above the transition, the monodomain character is announced by a birefringence tail caused by anisotropic fluctuations. Because of these, a distinct cusp is observed at the transition temperature ${T}_{a}$. Below ${T}_{a}$, the difference $〈\ensuremath{\phi}_{c}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}〉\ensuremath{-}〈\ensuremath{\phi}_{a}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}〉$ between mean-square rotations ${\ensuremath{\phi}}_{c}$ associated with the order parameter and orthogonal rotations ${\ensuremath{\phi}}_{a}$ is obtained.
Immunophenotypic diagnosis of clinical and preclinical chronic lymphatic leukemia by using monoclonal antibodies against the cCLLa, a CLL-associated antigen.

The clinical usefulness of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against the cCLLa, an antigen restricted to B-chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL) and its variants, was ascertained in 65 patients with overt CLL and 25 individuals with unexplained mild lymphocytosis. Healthy volunteers (n = 25) and patients with malignant and nonmalignant disorders (n = 58) served as controls. The following observations were made in CLL. (a) Anti-cCLLa MoAbs identified neoplastic CLL cells as judged by the high correlation (r = .985) between monoclonal surface immunoglobulins (Slgs) and cCLLa expression in all patients, and dual-label flow cytometry studies showing cCLLa expression by monoclonal Slg-bearing B-CLL cells but not by normal B lymphocytes. (b) The size of the circulating cCLLa-positive clone paralleled the degree of lymphocytosis (r = .987) and was associated with reciprocal (r = .893) relative T lymphopenia. Ten patients with borderline lymphocytosis exhibited a subset of monoclonal Slg/cCLLa-positive cells ranging from 16% to 45% of the total. These patients were indistinguishable from those with CLL in terms of age, clone lineage, and reciprocal relative T lymphopenia. Two patients have progressed to overt CLL within 19 months, but eight have not (observation time, 18 to 82 months). These data suggest that anti-cCLLa MoAbs are sensitive probes useful to identify and monitor cCLLa clones during their clinical and preclinical phases.
Integrating palliative care into end-of-life care for children with cancer

ABSTRACTCaring for high-risk pediatric oncology patients and their families requires attention to many significant palliative care, often end-of-life (EOL), issues that providers should be armed to address. Caring for these patients specifically at the EOL requires a broad, interdisciplinary approach to address the patients’ physical, psychosocial, spiritual/existential and emotional suffering. In addition, the team should be aware of ethical concerns that may arise. This review focuses on primary incorporation of core palliative care principles into the care of pediatric oncology patients at the EOL. To promote best practice within pediatric oncology, core pediatric palliative care (PPC) principles should be incorporated throughout the illness trajectory by oncologists. For high-risk patients, specialty trained palliative care consultants should work in conjunction with primary oncology providers to optimize the care these patients receive. This review of experts’ experience, recent data and anticipated ...
Modes competition in superradiant emission from an inverted sub-wavelength thick slab of two-level atoms

Abstract Using the expansion in the eigenmodes of 1-D Lienard-Wiechert kernel, the temporal and spectral profiles of the radiation emitted by a fully inverted collection of two-level atoms in a sub-wavelength slab geometry are computed. The initial number of amplifying modes determine the specific regime of radiation. In particular, the temporal profile of the field intensity is oscillatory and the spectral profile is non-Lorentzian with two unequal height peaks in a narrow band centered at the slab thickness value at which the real parts of the lowest order odd and even eigenvalues are equal.
CHAPTER 16 – The Neural Bases of Text and Discourse Processing

Understanding discourse requires the comprehension of individual words and sentences, as well as integration across sentence representations to form a coherent understanding of the discourse as a whole. The processes that achieve this coherence involve a dynamic interplay between mental rep resentations built on the current sentence, the prior discourse context, and the comprehender ’ s background (world) knowledge. In this chapter, we outline the cognitive and linguistic processes that support discourse comprehension and explore the functional neuroanatomy of text and discourse processing. Our review suggests an emerging picture of the neurocognition of discourse comprehension that involves an extended language processing network, including left dorsal and ventral frontal regions, left temporal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and posterior cingulate. While convergent evidence points to the importance of left frontal and temporal networks in discourse processing, the role of right hemisphere networks is less clear.
Suggestion Selling in the Fast Food Environment: Observations and Implications

Suggestion selling in the fast food environment is a popular approach for generating additional sales. This paper reports on restaurant managers’ views on suggestion selling, consumers’ views on suggestion selling, and the results of an experiment that evaluates the technique in the fast food environment. An explanation of the results and some additional research directions are also offered.
Flotation of monazite in the presence of calcite part I: Calcium ion effects on the adsorption of hydroxamic acid

Abstract The dissolution of minerals provides elevated concentrations of alkaline earth metal ions such as calcium (Ca 2+ ) in water which may have a significant influence on flotation performance. The effects of Ca 2+ ions dissolved from calcite surfaces on the flotation performance of a monazite-calcite system have been investigated using micro-flotation tests followed by fundamental collector adsorption studies. The results indicate that specially adsorbed CaOH + via hydrogen bonding competed with hydroxamic acid for the phosphate-oxygen active sites on the monazite surface and decreased its hydrophobicity due to hydration. Electrostatically adsorbed CaOH + on monazite increased the adsorption density of hydroxamic acid through a chelating interaction. At higher dosages of calcium and hydroxamic acid, bulk and surface precipitation of calcium-hydroxamate occurs in the monazite-calcium-hydroxamic acid system.
Control‐Based Approaches to Dynamic Resource Management in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing paradigm provides a range of attractive features such as resource elasticity, cost efficiency, and ease of management. Although much progress has been made in the dynamic resource management using control-based approaches in cloud computing environments, there are two significant research challenges. First, only single metric like mean response time (MRT) has been considered in the study of quality of service in individual applications. Second, to evaluate the performance of dynamic controllers, a single benchmark application is usually utilized in the previous work although the application may be driven by different synthetic workloads or utilization traces collected from production environment. This chapter analyses these two issues through experiments on a test bed with multi-tier applications hosted on multiple virtual machines. It evaluates the relationship between resource utilization and MRT for a three-tier application when the CPU shares of the virtual machines (VMs) are dynamically tuned through the utilization controllers.