cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sources and Perceptions of Indoor and Ambient Air Pollution in Rural Alaska

Even though Alaska is the largest state in the United States, much of the population resides in rural and underserved areas with documented disparities in respiratory health. This is especially true in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (southwest) and Ahtna (southcentral) Regions of Alaska. In working with community members, the goal of this study was to identify the air pollution issues (both indoors and outdoors) of concern within these two regions. Over a two-year period, 328 air quality surveys were disseminated within seven communities in rural Alaska. The surveys focused on understanding the demographics, home heating practices, indoor activities, community/outdoor activities, and air quality perceptions within each community. Results from these surveys showed that there is elevated potential for PM10/PM2.5 exposures in rural Alaska communities. Top indoor air quality concerns included mold, lack of ventilation or fresh air, and dust. Top outdoor air pollution concerns identified were open burning/smoke, road dust, and vehicle exhaust (e.g., snow machines, ATVs, etc.). These data can now be used to seek additional funding for interventions, implementing long-term, sustainable solutions to the identified problems. Further research is needed to assess exposures to PM10/PM2.5 and the associated impacts on respiratory health, particularly among susceptible populations such as young children.
Fokker-Planck equation application to analysis of a simplified wind turbine model

This paper presents a new method to evaluate the stochastic dynamic model of the wind turbine system using stochastic differential equations (SDE). The wind speed is described by the Rayleigh distribution which is constructed as the stationary solution of a one-dimensional nonlinear SDE. The dynamic model of the wind turbine system can be combined with this SDE of wind speed to expand to multi-dimensional stochastic differential equations. The time evolution of the probability density function of the system is described by the Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) which can be derived from the corresponding stochastic differential equations. The procedure is illustrated using a constant-speed wind turbine model with squirrel cage induction generator.
Debating ‘Brain Drain’ in the Context of Globalisation

(1996). Debating ‘Brain Drain’ in the Context of Globalisation. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education: Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 269-285.
A novel mutation in helix 12 of the vitamin D receptor impairs coactivator interaction and causes hereditary 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-resistant rickets without alopecia.

Hereditary vitamin D-resistant rickets (HVDRR) is a genetic disorder most often caused by mutations in the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The patient in this study exhibited the typical clinical features of HVDRR with early onset rickets, hypocalcemia, secondary hyperparathyroidism, and elevated serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D3]. The patient did not have alopecia. Assays of the VDR showed a normal high affinity low capacity binding site for [3H]1,25-(OH)2D3 in extracts from the patient’s fibroblasts. However, the cells were resistant to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D action as demonstrated by the failure of the patient’s cultured fibroblasts to induce the 24-hydroxylase gene when treated with either high doses of 1,25-(OH)2D3 or vitamin D analogs. A novel point mutation was identified in helix H12 in the ligand-binding domain of the VDR that changed a highly conserved glutamic acid at amino acid 420 to lysine (E420K). The patient was homozygous for the mutation. T...
Reinforcement Learning With Sequences of Motion Primitives for Robust Manipulation

Physical contact events often allow a natural decomposition of manipulation tasks into action phases and subgoals. Within the motion primitive paradigm, each action phase corresponds to a motion primitive, and the subgoals correspond to the goal parameters of these primitives. Current state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithms are able to efficiently and robustly optimize the parameters of motion primitives in very high-dimensional problems. These algorithms often consider only shape parameters, which determine the trajectory between the start- and end-point of the movement. In manipulation, however, it is also crucial to optimize the goal parameters, which represent the subgoals between the motion primitives. We therefore extend the policy improvement with path integrals (PI2) algorithm to simultaneously optimize shape and goal parameters. Applying simultaneous shape and goal learning to sequences of motion primitives leads to the novel algorithm PI2 Seq. We use our methods to address a fundamental challenge in manipulation: improving the robustness of everyday pick-and-place tasks.
Movement of the Boll Weevil into and out of a Cotton Field as Determined by Flight Screens

When the movement of Anthonomus grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), into and out of a cotton field was monitored for 2 years with 3 × 5-ft flight screens, weevils were found to enter and leave the field throughout the season with the greatest numbers occurring during August and September. The numbers of weevils captured by the screens apparently reflect general activity, which is continuous throughout the season; however, peak numbers captured coincided with the emergence of generations. The numbers entering the field from the southwest were always significantly greater than the numbers entering from other directions because of the favorable hibernation sites in that direction and an untreated cotton field beyond them. The flight screens were more efficient in monitoring weevils entering the field than those leaving it.
Aseptic meningitis: a seasonal concern.

Outbreaks of aseptic meningitis like illnesses have occurred in high school football players for reasons that may include the close contact among players and the overlap of football season with the peak enterovirus season. The main symptoms are fever, headache, and neck or back stiffness; physical findings may include signs of meningeal irritation. Evaluation of the cerebrospinal fluid can confirm the diagnosis. Treatment of viral meningitis is generally supportive, and patients usually do well, while other forms of aseptic meningitis may require drug treatment or removal of inciting medications. Not sharing water bottles may help reduce risk.
Initiation and growth characterization of corner cracks near circular hole

Abstract The finite element analysis of crack problems often incorporates the asymptotic character of the local solution into the formulation. Embedment of stress or strain singularities can impose serious restrictions on the outcome and inconsistencies in predicting crack and/or growth. These restrictions are discussed in connection with the problem of two diametrically opposite corner cracks near a circular hole subjected to remote uniform tension. Enforced in the numerical treatment is the 1/r character of the strain energy density function local to the corner crack border where r is the radial distance measured from the crack front. The tendency for the corner crack to become a through crack is predicted by assuming that each point of the crack border extends by an amount proportional to the strain energy density factor. The path would correspond to the loci of minimum strain energy density function. Numerical results are displayed graphically and discussed in connection with crack initiation and non-self-similar crack growth.
Physical Factors Which Influence Vascular Caliber and Blood Flow

1. The radii of blood vessels constitute their major biological functions. 2. The radii of blood vessels are abnormally reduced in most forms of hypertension. 3. The radii of blood vessels are determined by distending pressure and by the geometry and stiffness of the wall material. The latter two factors determine the vessel tone. Thus, tone is defined by those factors which determine vessel radius with respect to distending pressure. 4. It is now possible to measure simultaneously the distending pressure and the factors which determine tone, as well as the radius of vessels. Thus, it is possible to quantitate the factors which determine vascular tone: elastic stiffness (E), viscous stiffness (R), radius (r), and wall thickness (8). 5. These factors have been studied in intact dogs, and the tone of the major vessels of the vascular tree has been mapped out. 6. As the vessel wall itself becomes stiffened, compensatory changes may occur in the geometry. As the vessel dilates and thins, the r/8 ratio enlarge...
Reactivity of cis dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (cisplatin) toward selected nucleophiles

Abstract Results are reported for the reaction of cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (“cisplatin”) with various nucleophiles in aqueous solution at constant ionic strength (μ = 0.5) and 30°C. The reactivity is described in terms of linear free energy relationships between the logarithm of the second order rate constants and two established indices of nucleophilicity, i.e. electrode potentials, E° and nucleophilic reactivity constants, nPto (based on reactivity of trans-[Pt(PY)2Cl2] in methanol). New nucleophilic reactivity constants, (nPto)′are reported based on “cisplatin” reactivity in water.
Commentary: A New Frontier But the Same Old Problem

As during other eras of American history, both the current debate and attempts to reform the health care system are fraught with vested interests and conflict among policy makers, consumers, the health and medical complex, insurers, and the business community. The process reflects both the strengths and the limitations of our democratic system, and demonstrates the factional battles that must be waged to attain fundamental social change in American society. Although racial justice is not the dominant issue, the parallels between the present congressional deliberations and polemics and the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s are inescapable. For one, a major goal is to codify the basic human right of health care for all, regardless of medical or socioeconomic condition—that is, universal health insurance. Second, although a general feeling exists among the public that considerable change is needed in our health care system, elected representatives cannot agree on an appropriate course of action.
Decision‐making collaboration scale: Tests of validity

A trait Decision‐Making Collaboration Scale was discussed and examined for reliability and validity. The scale represents on‐going scale development to measure decision‐making tendencies. The premise is that individuals are generally willing or not willing to participate collaboratively in decision‐making communication interpersonally. The 13‐item measure is described. Support for validity was addressed by investigating the relationships between the decision‐making construct with argumentativeness, verbal aggression, interpersonal communication competence, and willingness to communicate. Willingness to participate in collaborative decision making was moderately related to argumentativeness, competence, and willingness to communicate in a positive manner, while slightly related to verbal aggression in a negative manner. Some construct validity was offered by asking participants to report their decision‐making tendencies and comparing these reports to their friends’ ratings of them. No significant differenc...
Disparities in mortality after blunt injury: does insurance type matter?

Background Insurance-related outcomes disparities are well-known, but associations between distinct insurance types and trauma outcomes remain unclear. Prior studies have generally merged various insurance types into broad groups. The purpose of this study is to determine the association of specific insurance types with mortality after blunt injury.
Stellar dynamic spectroscopy

The dynamic spectrum, a three dimensional record of the radio intensity as a function both of time and frequency, has long been used as a probe of plasma processes in the solar corona. Beginning with the work of Wild and McCready (1950) dynamic spectroscopy has been used to distinguish between the multitude of radio wave emitting phenomena which occur in the solar corona and to infer the physical mechanisms responsible.
Finding action dependencies using the crowd

Training intelligent systems is a time-consuming and costly process that often limits real-world applications. Prior work has attempted to compensate for this challenge by generating sets of labeled training data for machine learning algorithms using affordable human contributors. In this paper, we present ARchitect, a system that uses the crowd to extract context-dependent relational structure. We focus on activity recognition because of its broad applicability, high level of variation, and difficulty of training systems a priority. We demonstrate that using our approach, the crowd can accurately and consistently identify relationships between actions even over sessions containing different workers and varied executions of an activity. This results in the ability to identify multiple valid execution paths from a single observation, suggesting that one-off learning can be facilitated by using the crowd as an on-demand source of human intelligence in the knowledge acquisition process.
A study of the nucleic acid of bacteriophage T7.

A T7 bacteriophage preparation has been obtained with a P per infective particle of 8.2 × 10^(−18) g. Only 71% of the P of the preparation is present as DNA. No RNA is present. DNA was prepared from T7 in 70% yield by denaturation of the virus with urea plus dodecyl sulfate, followed by deproteinization by chloroform. The molar proportions of bases in the DNA are: deoxyadenylic acid, 1.04; thymidylic acid, 1.04; deoxycytidylic acid, 0.96; deoxyguanylic acid, 0.96. During complete digestion of the T7 DNA with pancreatic deoxyribonuclease, 19.4% of the phosphate diester bonds were split. After fractionation of the digest by ion-exchange chromatography, 5.9% of the P of the digest was recovered as dinucleotides. These were fractionated and their relative proportions determined. Four of the dinucleotide fractions were analyzed for their isomeric position.
Complement fixation by small, DNase-resistant DNA-anti-DNA immune complexes

125I-ds DNA-anti-DNA immune complexes (IC) formed at antibody excess and containing DNA of 300-350 base pairs (bp) fixed complement, incorporated C3b and bound to the C3b receptors (CR1) on human red blood cells (RBC). When the IC were treated with DNase to generate small, DNase-resistant IC, some of the IC incorporated C3b, but did not bind to RBC. In order to examine C3b incorporation and RBC binding by IC of specific sizes, the DNase treated IC were fractionated by sucrose density gradient (SDG) ultracentrifugation. Small IC containing one, two, three or four IgG molecules per fragment of 125I-ds DNA were identified by autoradiography after electrophoresis of the SDG fractions on 3-12% linear polyacrylamide gradient gels. The SDG fractions were tested for C3b incorporation and RBC binding ability. There was neither C3b incorporation nor RBC binding activity in fractions which corresponded to 9-11S (containing IC with one IgG/DNA). Fractions which corresponded to 12-22S (containing IC with up to four IgG/DNA fragment) demonstrated increased C3b incorporation with increased size, but did not show significant RBC binding activity. Fractions with IC containing four or more IgGs (22-24S) incorporated C3b and bound to RBC at approximately the same level. It is concluded that DNase digested IC which contain three-four IgG/DNA fragment are large enough to activate complement and incorporate C3b, but are too small to bind to RBC CR1. These IC could therefore escape rapid clearance from the circulation via the erythrocyte CR1 clearance mechanism. Such IC could persist in the circulation and potentially elicit pathogenic effects in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
A Study of Supercritical Jet Fuel Injection

An experimental investigation was conducted to examine the behavior of supercritical fluid (SCF) jets injected into supercritical environments. The behavior of the fluid, JP-10, was studied after it was passed through a pressure-swirl atomizer and entered a nitrogen environment. SCF jet behavior was characterized by the jet cone angle and penetration length. Cone angle and penetration length are reported as functions of density ratio (defined as the ratio of density of the injected fuel to the nitrogen environment), fuel mass flow rate, and pressure-swirl atomizer internal geometry. The density ratio was varied by altering the reduced temperature of the fuel (1.01<Tr <1.10) and nitrogen environment, while keeping the fuel reduced pressure constant at 1.05. Fuel mass flow rate ranged from 1.0 to 3.0 g/s (7.94 to 23.8 lbs/hr). Pressure-swirl atomizer internal geometry was varied by controlling the swirl number, ranging from straight bore to Sn=1.0. It was found that increasing the swirl number for a SCF fluid has the largest effect on jet cone angle, followed by a change in the density ratio; the mass flow rate had the least effect. The penetration length of the SCF jet increased when either the mass flow rate or density ratio increased. The mass concentration field significantly widens when the swirl number of the injector increased, as opposed to changes in the mass flow rate or density ratio which were found to have little effect.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Observations On the Genus Xenanthura (Isopoda, Anthuridae)

[Description complete de Xenanthura linearis, dont l'auteur a donne la diagnose dans une note preliminaire en 1954. Une forme etroitement apparentee, X. orientalis Barnard, est egalement decrite. Certains caracteres de ces especes necessitent une nouvelle diagnose du genre., Description complete de Xenanthura linearis, dont l'auteur a donne la diagnose dans une note preliminaire en 1954. Une forme etroitement apparentee, X. orientalis Barnard, est egalement decrite. Certains caracteres de ces especes necessitent une nouvelle diagnose du genre.]
Testing Competing Explanations for the Adoption of Type II Policies

The author examines the ability of city leaders to exert influence over the structure of development within their city's borders, particularly heeding the notion that cities are captive to mobile capital. He examines the adoption of Type II developmental strategies: policies that allocate the costs of development more equitably between cities and mobile capital. Using a national survey of directors of chambers of commerce, the author tests a number of hypotheses relating to the adoption of Type II developmental strategies. The analysis both supports conventional wisdom and provides new insight into the more politicized nature of Type II developmental strategies.
The relationship of intestinal fat to an augmented acid and gastrin response in dogs with a reversible pancreatic fistula.

Gastric hypersecretion results when pancreatic juices are excluded from the duodenum whether by pancreatic duct ligation, pancreatic fistula, pancreaticoileostomy, or pancreatectomy [l, 3-7,9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 21, 241. This phenomenon is well documented but the mechanism(s) have not been defined. A recent study from this laboratory indicates that in dogs with pancreatic duct ligation, an augmented antral gastrin response to meals was a primary factor in the induction of gastric hypersecretion (22). It was suggested that the augmented gastrin response resulted from an inadequate release of a fat-stimulated hormone that normally appears in response to a meal and that this hormone acts in part to inhibit mealstimulated gastrin release from the antrum. Investigations in the pancreatic duct-ligated animal model have inherent limitations [22]. This study investigates the gastrin and acid responses to meals in dogs with a reversible pancreatic fistula and the relationship of duodenal fat to these responses.
Fracture abundance and patterns in the Subandean fold and thrust belt, Devonian Huamampampa Formation petroleum reservoirs and outcrops, Argentina and Bolivia

Abstract Opening-mode fractures in Devonian sandstones in outcrop and in several fields in the Subandean Ranges of southern Bolivia and northern Argentina compose two fracture sets, I and II that strike west–northwest and north–northeast, respectively. Abundant Set I fractures are at a high angle to local Andean structural trends, and Set II is aligned with fold axes. Crosscutting relations and quartz textures in fractures suggest that, although Set I is locally older, these sets may have opened partly contemporaneously. Sets comprise both macroscopic fractures and more abundant, millimeter-scale microfractures . Fractures with opening displacement of less than 0.1 mm are typically sealed with quartz, but wider fractures are lined with quartz and contain connected fracture porosity. Microfractures are more abundant than macrofractures, and size distributions can be interpreted to approximate power laws. Microfracture strain is an efficient method of quantifying fracture abundance. Both sets record small fracture strains of 0.00016–0.0083. In backlimbs Set I strain is higher in brittle quartz-rich sandstones. Set II strain varies markedly and is generally high in hinges and steep forelimbs of asymmetric anticlines. For individual samples, Set I–II strains in fold hinges and forelimbs are comparable, consistent with concurrent Set I–II growth. Open fractures that could augment permeability are present both on and off structure, but microfractures document fracture abundance that varies with structural position and sandstone quartz content that could account for variations in production outcomes.
A Cost of Sexual Attractiveness to High-Fitness Females

Adaptive mate choice by females is an important component of sexual selection in many species. The evolutionary consequences of male mate preferences, however, have received relatively little study, especially in the context of sexual conflict, where males often harm their mates. Here, we describe a new and counterintuitive cost of sexual selection in species with both male mate preference and sexual conflict via antagonistic male persistence: male mate choice for high-fecundity females leads to a diminished rate of adaptive evolution by reducing the advantage to females of expressing beneficial genetic variation. We then use a Drosophila melanogaster model system to experimentally test the key prediction of this theoretical cost: that antagonistic male persistence is directed toward, and harms, intrinsically higher-fitness females more than it does intrinsically lower-fitness females. This asymmetry in male persistence causes the tails of the population's fitness distribution to regress towards the mean, thereby reducing the efficacy of natural selection. We conclude that adaptive male mate choice can lead to an important, yet unappreciated, cost of sex and sexual selection.
Sediment provenance and controls on slip propagation: Lessons learned from the 2011 Tohoku and other great earthquakes of the subducting northwest Pacific plate

The ∼50 m slip of the Tohoku earthquake occurred along a very fine grained red-brown smectitic clay horizon subducting in the Japan Trench. This clay, cored in the plate boundary fault at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 345, Site C0019, correlates with similar pelagic clay recovered seaward of the trench at Deep Sea Drilling Project Sites 436 and 1149. Comparable clays occur throughout the northwest Pacific Basin. Backtracking of ocean drilling Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 indicates that they formed during the Early Cretaceous at the Kula-Pacific Ridge. These sites traveled northwestward through the equatorial zone, accumulating siliceous and calcareous oozes until ca. 100–85 Ma. Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 then entered the realm of pelagic clay deposition where they remained until ca. 15 Ma. From ca. 15 Ma to the present, Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 accumulated clays and silty clays with variable amounts of siliceous microfossils and volcanic ash, representing the transition from deep-sea conditions to a continental margin sedimentary environment. The predicted backtracked vertical sequence of sediments fits well with the cores at Sites 436, 1149, and C0019, after accounting for structural complications in the latter. Pelagic clay occurs in numerous boreholes penetrating the relatively smooth ocean floor of the Pacific plate north and northeast of the Tohoku earthquake. Here the widespread pelagic clay apparently fosters tsunami and tsunamigenic earthquakes. Seamounts rising above the normal oceanic crust accumulated sequences of calcareous sediments as their crests remained above the calcite compensation depth for most of their history. A seafloor including pelagic clay and carbonate-covered seamounts occurs south and southeast of the southern extent of the Tohoku earthquake rupture zone. This area has no historic tsunami or tsunamigenic earthquakes along the Japan and Izu-Bonin Trenches with the possible exception of the poorly located Enpo earthquake of A.D. 1677. We believe that the seamounts incoming on the oceanic plate to the south and southeast of the Tohoku rupture zone interfere with long-distance propagation of slip in the pelagic clay, limiting earthquake magnitude, shallow slip, and tsunami generation.
SUMP: a secure unicast messaging protocol for wireless ad hoc sensor networks

Most wireless ad hoc sensor networks are susceptible to routing level attacks, in which an adversary masquerades as a legitimate node to convince neighbouring nodes that it is the 'logical' next hop or is on a 'better' path for forwarding packets and arbitrarily drops the packets forwarded by neighbouring nodes. In this paper, we propose a Secure Unicast Messaging Protocol (SUMP) for wireless ad hoc sensor networks to mitigate the threat of routing level attacks. SUMP groups nodes into levels based on hop count to provide hop-by-hop group authentication using Merkle hash trees. This method allows for varied levels of security in accordance with a node's hop count from the base station and secure, directed unicast communications from the base station to individual nodes. Unlike other such protocols the parent information maintained by a node running SUMP is securely provided by the base station and thus mitigates the threat of the adversary convincing a node to forward through a non-existent path.
Internal Dispute Resolution: The Transformation of Civil Rights in the Workplace

Many employers create internal procedures for the resolution of discrimination complaints. We examine internal complaint handlers' conceptions of civil rights law and the implications of those conceptions for their approach to dispute resolution. Drawing on interview data, we find that complaint handlers tend to subsume legal rights under managerial interests. They construct civil rights law as a diffuse standard of fairness, consistent with general norms of good management. Although they seek to resolve complaints to restore smooth employment relations, they tend to recast discrimination claims as typical managerial problems. While the assimilation of law into the management realm may extend the reach of law, it may also undermine legal rights by deemphasizing and depoliticizing workplace discrimination.
Ultrabroadband few-cycle infrared pulse generation from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier based on bulk niobate crystals

We describe a near-IR two-stage noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) pumped at 800 nm that employs bulk congruent lithium niobate [LiNbO3 (c-LNB)] and bulk potassium niobate [KNbO3 (KNB)] crystals. Noncollinear phase matching in these materials allows for generation of pulses as broad as 2900 cm−1 (∼78 THz) centered in the near-IR at ∼1300 nm. In the particular geometry described here, the LNB crystal amplifies the white-light seed continuum, and the KNB crystal further amplifies the broadband near-IR pulses. Use of pulse-front matching at both nonlinear optical crystals allows for improvement of the spatiotemporal profile of the amplified ultrabroadband signal pulses and their compression to ≤22 fs. Because of the relatively high nonlinear coefficients of these crystals, we achieve overall amplification efficiencies >7% in two consecutive NOPA stages.
Markedness conflation in Optimality Theory

Markedness distinctions can be ignored. For example, in some languages stress avoids central vowels, and falls on high peripheral vowels, yet in the Uralic language Nganasan central and high peripheral vowels are treated in the same way: stress avoids both types equally. Such ‘conflation’ of markedness categories is not only language-specific, but also phenomenon-specific. In contrast, dominance relations in markedness hierarchies are universal; e.g. stress never seeks out a central vowel when a high peripheral vowel is available. This article argues that both language-specific conflation and universal markedness relations can be expressed in Optimality Theory. Constraints that refer to a markedness hierarchy must be freely rankable and mention a contiguous range of the hierarchy, including the most marked element. The empirical focus is sonority-driven stress in Nganasan and Kiriwina. In addition, Prince & Smolensky's (1993) fixed ranking theory of markedness hierarchies is shown to be unable to produce the full range of attested conflations.
208) Arachnoiditis Associated with Intrathecal Analgesic Administration

Intrathecal analgesic administration via implanted drug infusion system has become a popular method of treating otherwise intractable pain. Drug reactions are known to occur but are typically similar to side effects that occur with systemic administration of the same drug and are reversible upon discontinuation of drug delivery. Symptoms consistent with arachnoiditis have been reported to occur with intrathecal infusion of high concentration bupivacaine but not for other agents, to our knowledge, and there are no reports describing arachnoiditis attributable to an indwelling intrathecal catheter. We treated a 47 year-old woman, with multiple drug allergies, who had complex regional pain syndrome II. She responded favorably to several single injections of intrathecal clonidine, had a successful trial with continuous intrathecal infusion of clonidine/morphine, and underwent implantation of a Medtronic 8617 pump and Model 8709 catheter. Approximately 2 weeks post-implant, she developed back and leg pain, numbness, and paresthesias throughout the distribution of the cauda equina. Evaluation revealed possible catheter migration into the subdural space. The catheter was revised and the daily dose of intrathecal clonidine/morphine was reduced with subsequent improvement of these symptoms. Several weeks later, she had the onset of progressively worsening back and leg pain and spasms (which became severe), cramping, numbness, and paresthesias in distribution of the cauda equina. Catheter studies, MRI, and CSF studies were normal. Drug infusion was discontinued with no improvement in symptoms. The infusion system was explanted due to concern about possible arachnoiditis induced by the silicone rubber catheter. We do not have proof of arachnoiditis in this case but the symptoms were classic for arachnoiditis, silicone rubber is known to produce an inflammatory reaction in some individuals, and we are not aware of any reports of arachnoiditis being associated with the infusion of either morphine or clonidine. There exists one other documented (not published) case in which a silicone rubber intrathecal catheter was felt to have induced arachnoiditis. This is a very rare occurrence but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of individuals with intrathecal infusion systems who develop symptoms of arachnoiditis.
Gaussian red alert exponents: Geometry and code constructions

In non-block “streaming” data settings it has been observed that the availability of feedback dramatically changes the attainable communication reliability as a function of delay. The codebooks upon which these results depend contain a special and extremely reliable “red alert” message, used to indicate to the decoder when its best guess of the prior transmission is erroneous. In this paper we develop analogous results for additive white Gaussian channels that operate under both average and peak power constraints. We derive achievable error exponents for the special message for all rates up to capacity and provide geometric intuition for our coding scheme and error analysis.
The impact of new technology on soft error rates

This paper presents the impact of new microprocessor technology on microprocessor soft error rate (SER). The results are based on Oracle's (formerly Sun Microsystems) neutron beam testing over the past several years. We describe how the tests were conducted and how the test results are used to influence microprocessor design. As microprocessor feature sizes decreased from 180nm to 65nm, memory error rates per bit decreased, but our data indicates a reversal of this trend at 40nm. Flop error rates still appear to be decreasing, even at a 28nm feature size We measure SER as a function of power supply voltage (Vdd) over a range of 1.2V down to 0.5V, and the data shows SER significantly increases as Vdd decreases. This result implies that dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS), a commonly used microprocessor energy reduction technique, could cause a significant decrease in microprocessor reliability. The data also show that more energy-efficient transistors using back bias technique do not appear to significantly impact microprocessor reliability.
From "In" to "Over": Behavioral Experiments on Whole-Network Computation

We report on a series of behavioral experiments in human computation on three different tasks over networks: graph coloring, community detection (or graph clustering), and competitive contagion. While these tasks share similar action spaces and interfaces, they capture a diversity of computational challenges: graph coloring is a search problem, clustering is an optimization problem, and competitive contagion is a game-theoretic problem. In contrast with most of the prior literature on human-subject experiments in networks, in which collectives of subjects are embedded "in" the network, and have only local information and interactions, here individual subjects have a global (or "over") view and must solve "whole network" problems alone. Our primary findings are that subject performance is impressive across all three problem types; that subjects find diverse and novel strategies for solving each task; and that collective performance can often be strongly correlated with known algorithms.
A Three-Dimensional Variational Data Assimilation System for MM5: Implementation and Initial Results

Abstract A limited-area three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system applicable to both synoptic and mesoscale numerical weather prediction is described. The system is designed for use in time-critical real- time applications and is freely available to the data assimilation community for general research. The unique features of this implementation of 3DVAR include (a) an analysis space represented by recursive filters and truncated eigenmodes of the background error covariance matrix, (b) the inclusion of a cyclostrophic term in 3DVAR's explicit mass–wind balance equation, and (c) the use of the software architecture of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to permit efficient performance on distributed-memory platforms. The 3DVAR system is applied to a multiresolution, nested-domain forecast system. Resolution and seasonal- dependent background error statistics are presented. A typhoon bogusing case study is performed to illustrate the 3DVAR response to a single surface pressure...
Model Plastic-Rubber Composites from Emulsion Polymers

Two of the most interesting phenomena of polymer science are the reinforcement of the strength of rubber vulcanizates by particulate fillers and the toughening (to impact) of plastics by particulate rubber inclusions. The mechanisms underlying these phenomena have, however, been difficult to elucidate because of the complexity of the materials used in their industrial applications. Thus the most common filler used in rubber technology, carbon black, has a complex structure, making it difficult even to determine its “particle” size, aside from the question of its chemical reactions with the rubber. Similarly, the rubbertoughened plastics, such as high-impact polystyrene, are prepared by a polymerization process in presence of dissolved rubber, leading to a precipitation of ill-defined rubber “particles”.
A Property of Appell Sets

(1945). A Property of Appell Sets. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 191-193.
Thermomechanical Response Variability of Composite Panels with Continuous and Terminated Stiffeners

A study is made of the variability of the response of stiffened composite panels, associated with variations in the major geometric and material parameters of the structures. The major parameters, which have the most effect on the response quantities of interest, are identified by using a hierarchical sensitivity analysis. The range of variation of the response is determined by using a fuzzy set analysis, with the major parameters treated as fuzzy parameters. Numerical results are presented showing the variability of the response of panels with both continuous and terminated stiffeners associated with variations in the micromechanical, effective layer and geometric parameters. Both flat and curved panels are considered.
Subclavian steal: Endovascular treatment of total occlusions of the subclavian artery using a retrograde transradial subintimal approach.

IntroductionIn symptomatic subclavian steal syndrome, endovascular treatment is the first line of therapy prior to extra-anatomic surgical bypass procedures. Subintimal recanalization has been well...
The treatment of severe depression: is there an efficacy gap between SSRI and TCA antidepressant generations?

Background: Depression is classified along a spectrum of severity that may have implications for treatment. Since the newer generation of serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has, for the most part, displaced the older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) as first-line treatment, the efficacy of the SSRIs compared with the TCAs for severe depressions has been questioned. Method: I reviewed all available English-language literature in the MEDLINE data base that compared the SSRIs with the TCAs, especially those studies on severe depression. Results: Most of the studies that explored the efficacy of the SSRIs, as compared with the TCAs, for severe depression found that these two classes of antidepressants were equivalent. Nevertheless, only a few studies actually studied severely depressed inpatients
Radiobiological properties of the human hematopoietic microenvironment: contrasting sensitivities of proliferative capacity and hematopoietic function to in vitro irradiation

We describe the effects of in vitro irradiation on the proliferative capacity and hematopoietic supportive function of human marrow stromal cells. To assess the effects on the proliferative capacity of stromal progenitors and differentiated fibroblasts, marrow cell suspensions and trypsin-dispersed marrow fibroblasts were treated with a single dose of gamma radiation at 100 rad/min. Fibroblastic progenitors (CFU-F) showed an exponential decrease in colony formation with increasing doses of irradiation, with a Do slightly higher than that of granulomonopoietic progenitors (CFU-GM); Do values for CFU-F and CFU-GM were 130 and 115, respectively. However, although the CFU-F survival curve exhibited a shoulder (n = 1.3), the CFU-GM curve did not (n = 1.0), indicating that only fibroblastic progenitors have the potential to repair irradiation-induced damage. Passaged marrow fibroblast colony-forming cells also showed a shouldered exponential survival curve with a Do of 110 and n value of 1.4. Marrow stromal progenitors giving rise to adherent layers in long-term marrow cultures also demonstrated a highly radiosensitive proliferative capacity. Stromal layers derived from irradiated marrow suspensions failed to establish adherent layers after relatively low doses of irradiation (over 240 rad) in a dose-response manner. To assess any functional damage in stromal progenitors surviving irradiation, stromal layers derived from marrow suspensions irradiated up to 240 rad were cocultured with freshly isolated autologous hematopoietic cells and assayed for their capacity to support prolonged CFU-GM production. Confluent stromal layers derived from irradiated marrow suspensions sustained CFU-GM production as well as controls. To study the effects of irradiation on the hematopoietic supportive capacity of established marrow-derived stromal layers, 4 to 6-week-old adherent layers were irradiated as described and cocultured with autologous marrow cells enriched for colony-forming cells. Stromal layers irradiated up to 1,320 rad sustained prolonged CFU-GM production, indicating that the hematopoietic supportive function remained intact at this dose of irradiation. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the proliferative capacity of human marrow stromal progenitors, as well as that of their differentiated descendants, is quite sensitive to in vitro radiation, while the hematopoietic supportive function of differentiated stromal cells is relatively resistant to the effects of radiation.
A safe technique for closure of the recurrent patent ductus arteriosus

In an early series of 73 operations for patent ductus arteriosus, closure was by the triple ligation method. Over a short period, recurrence of patency was observed in 2 cases and after that the technique of division and suture rather than ligation became standard. For closure of the recurrent ductus, a modification of the usual technique is necessary to minimize danger of injury to the recurrent nerve and the great vessels. A safe method was devised which involves an intrapericardial approach to the superior aspect of the ductus and dissection inferiorly which avoids denudation of the aorta. This technique was used with satisfaction in 6 cases of recurrent patent ductus arteriosus.
The Ups and Downs of Mountain Life: Historical Patterns of Adaptation in the Cascade Mountains

Assuming the central importance of mountains in the American West, this article suggests continuity in the history of indigenous communities and logging towns in the Cascade Range. Case studies emphasize the role of mobility and broad trade networks, and the results lead to new questions on the meaning of mobility in western history.
The Painted Cohorts

In “A Harlot’s Progress,” William Hogarth illustrates the fallen woman’s characteristic journey from innocence to death. She begins as an attractive young woman who is brought into a house of ill repute where she loses her innocence and descends into the outwardly lavish yet inwardly degrading world of the eighteenth-century bawdy house. Before long, she is sentenced to prison, but after being released she returns to prostitution, contracts venereal disease, and dies. Journalists and novelists of Stephen Crane’s time, a century and a half after Hogarth, depicted the prostitute in much the same way. Crane’s contemporaries described her as a young woman seduced by a man who had promised her the world only to cast her by the wayside after corrupting her. Believing that no self-respecting man would want an impure woman, she turns to a life of prostitution. She first joins one of the finer parlor houses, but as her degradation continues, she descends to concert halls and, eventually, the streets. Finally, she kills herself.
“Mind Reading”: A Look at Changing Intentions

Methods adapted from control engineering can be used to discriminate intended from unintended consequences of an organism's actions. By continuously monitoring a quantity called the stability factor it is possible to observe changes in intention which are not visible in overt behavior.
New perspectives for targeting RAF kinase in human cancer

The discovery that a subset of human tumours is dependent on mutationally deregulated BRAF kinase intensified the development of RAF inhibitors to be used as potential therapeutics. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved second-generation RAF inhibitors vemurafenib and dabrafenib have elicited remarkable responses and improved survival of patients with BRAF-V600E/K melanoma, but their effectiveness is limited by resistance. Beyond melanoma, current clinical RAF inhibitors show modest efficacy when used for colorectal and thyroid BRAF-V600E tumours or for tumours harbouring BRAF alterations other than the V600 mutation. Accumulated experimental and clinical evidence indicates that the complex biochemical mechanisms of RAF kinase signalling account both for the effectiveness of RAF inhibitors and for the various mechanisms of tumour resistance to them. Recently, a number of next-generation RAF inhibitors, with diverse structural and biochemical properties, have entered preclinical and clinical development. In this Review, we discuss the current understanding of RAF kinase regulation, mechanisms of inhibitor action and related clinical resistance to these drugs. The recent elucidation of critical structural and biochemical aspects of RAF inhibitor action, combined with the availability of a number of structurally diverse RAF inhibitors currently in preclinical and clinical development, will enable the design of more effective RAF inhibitors and RAF-inhibitor-based therapeutic strategies, tailored to different clinical contexts.
Racial and Ethnic Discrimination, Medical Mistrust, and Satisfaction with Birth Control Services among Young Adult Latinas

Abstract Background Racial/ethnic discrimination and medical mistrust contribute to disparities in use of and satisfaction with health care services. Previous work examining the influence of discrimination and medical mistrust on health care experiences has focused primarily on African Americans. Despite the finding that Latinas report lower rates of contraceptive use than White women, little is known about the influence of these factors on health care satisfaction, specifically satisfaction with contraceptive services, among Latina women. Methods We conducted computer-assisted interviews with 254 Latina women aged 18 to 25 living in rural communities in Oregon. Only the 211 women who reported ever receiving birth control services answered the question regarding satisfaction with birth control services and were included in the analytic sample. Using multivariable logistic regression models, we explored the relationship between medical mistrust and everyday discrimination on satisfaction with birth control services, accounting for relevant factors. Results More than 80% of the total sample reported ever seeing a health care provider for birth control services and of these women, 75% reported being very or extremely satisfied with their birth control services. Latinas who reported higher levels of medical mistrust and racial/ethnic discrimination reported being less satisfied with birth control services. After adjusting for perceived barriers to accessing contraceptive services and other relevant factors, only perceived barriers and racial/ethnic discrimination remained significantly associated with satisfaction. Conclusions This study contributes to the growing understanding of the pervasive effects that racial/ethnic discrimination and medical mistrust have on satisfaction with health services among Latinas in the United States.