cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Celebrating Chemistry and Art: National Chemistry Week 2001

For the year 2001 the theme of National Chemistry Week, the American Chemical Society’s annual outreach program, is “Celebrating Chemistry and Art.” Various examples of chemists who also made contributions to music, literature, and poetry are presented. The relationship of chemistry to such visual arts as painting, sculpture, photography, and art conservation is discussed. Useful resource articles are also cited. The history of National Chemistry Day, the brainchild of 1989 ACS President George C. Pimentel, and its successor, National Chemistry Week, are briefly discussed, as well as the desirability of a change in date because of competition from election news in the media. The new date for NCW, beginning in 2002, is announced for the first time.
Field Tests of Exercise in COPD: The Six-Minute Walk Test and the Shuttle Walk Test

Exercise testing is useful to assess the degree of disability, prognosis for survival, presence of exercise-induced hypoxemia, and response to treatment in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Simple walking tests have been developed and are increasingly used in assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients for clinical and research purposes. This article reviews how these tests are performed and to what degree they are reliable, and how these tests are used in assessment of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Option Coskewness and Capital Asset Pricing

This article shows how the market coskewness model of Rubinstein (1973) and Kraus and Litzenberger (1976) is altered when a nonredundant call option is optimally traded. Owing to the option's nonredundancy, the economy's stochastic discount factor (SDF) depends not only on the market return and the square of the market return but also on the option return, the square of the option return, and the product of the market and option returns. This leads to an asset pricing model in which the expected return on any risky asset depends explicitly on the asset's coskewness with option returns. The empirical results show that the option coskewness model outperforms several competing benchmark models. Furthermore, option coskewness captures some of the same risks as the Fama--French factors small minus big (SMB) and high minus low (HML). These results suggest that the factors that drive the pricing of nonredundant options are also important for pricing risky equities.(JEL G11, G12, D61) Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
Corticotropin releasing factor receptor-mediated stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity in the rat brain.

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity and receptor binding were examined in the rat brain homogenates using a potent synthetic CRF analog—[d-Tyr3,d-Pro4, Nle18,21, α-helical]CRF3–41 (α-hel CRF3–41). Binding of α-hel CRF3–41 in the rat brain was saturable, reversible, of high affinity and exhibited relevant peptide specificity. This analog also stimulated adenylate cyclase activity of various brain regions; the greatest magnitude of stimulation was in the cerebral cortex followed by the septum, cerebellum and thalamus. Adenylate cyclase stimulation in the cerebral cortex was concentration-dependent with an ED50 of2.5±0.4nM for α-hel CRF3–41 and an ED50 of16 ± 2nM for ovine and rat CRF. Maximal stimulation was comparable for all peptides. Agonist-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was competitively blocked by the CRF antagonists. The inactive CRF analog, ovine CRF1–39, at concentrations less than 1μM, did not significantly stimulate adenylate cyclase. Adrenalectomy, which has been reported to modulate CRF receptor number and CRF-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in the anterior pituitary, had no effect on CRF receptor binding or CRF-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in the cerebral cortex. These results suggest that, as in the anterior pituitary, at least some of the physiological responses mediated by CRF receptors in the brain utilize the cyclic nucleotide regulatory pathway as a post-receptor mechanism.
Two Hundred Latin American Books in English Translation: A Bibliography

Author's Summary— A list of Latin American works available in English translation prepared to serve as a guide to the re-education of the non-Spanish-speaking North American. This is a revision of my “A Selected Bibliography of Latin American Literature in English Translation” The Modern Language Journal, XXVI, 116–122, February, 1942.
Hypersonic similarity solutions for airfoils supporting exponential shock waves

Abstract : A study was made of airfoil optimization, using the equations of hypersonic gas dynamics to explore the 'Newtonian chine strip' theory that airfoil concavity enhances the lift-to-drag ratio for a fixed drag penalty. The flow behind concave and convex exponential shock waves is investigated, and the corresponding airfoil surfaces are determined. The calculations show that the optimum lifting surface for fixed drag is only slightly more concave than a flat plate and that the improvement in performance is small. A limit line is shown to exist in the flow field behind convex exponential shock waves, so that is is not possible to construct a convex airfoil that supports an exponential shock wave over its entire length if the nose curvature is too large. (Author)
Contemporary Evaluation and Treatment of Distal Radius Fractures

Distal radius fractures are among the most common fractures encountered by orthopedic surgeons. Because of many fracture patterns and types, it has been difficult to develop a comprehensive classification. Treatment options vary depending on injury severity and stability of the fracture reduction. Closed reduction and immobilization can be used for stable fractures. Common surgeries include pinning with and without external fixation and open reduction and internal fixation. Technological advances such as locking and fixed angle plates have made the volar approach feasible. Dorsal plating with low profile plates and fragment-specific techniques can be successful in treating distal radius fractures. Following fracture reduction and stabilization, assessment of distal radioulnar joint stability is essential and must be stabilized when necessary.
Induction of protective immunity against Schistosoma mansoni by a non-living vaccine. V. Effects of varying the immunization and infection schedule and site.

Intradermal (i.d.) injection with non-living schistosome antigens plus bacterial adjuvant protects mice against subsequent infection with Schistosoma mansoni. This protection became apparent within 2 weeks after a single inoculation and persisted for at least 8 weeks. Administration of one or more booster immunizations enhanced the level of protection but never produced complete resistance to cercarial challenge under the conditions tested. All immunized mice recognized the Sm 97 antigen in adult worms, as measured by antibody reactivity in ELISA, although the level of reactivity did not correlate with the level of resistance. Significant protection was observed when mice were immunized in the skin of the chest, the footpad or at the base of the tail if challenge infection was administered percutaneously either on the abdomen or back. However, when mice were infected by cercarial exposure of the tail skin, the level of resistance was consistently lower regardless of the immunization site. Vaccinated mice were not resistant to infection with lung stage parasites. These results demonstrate that the i.d. vaccine induces significant and persistent resistance in mice, the level of which is strengthened by booster immunization. The resistance is unrelated to inflammation at the site of immunization. However, immune response at the challenge site may play a critical role in the effector mechanism of resistance in this model.
CLINICAL AND MOLECULAR FOLLOWUP AFTER RADICAL RETROPUBIC PROSTATECTOMY

AbstractPurpose: We previously reported evidence of hematogenous dissemination of prostate cells during radical retropubic prostatectomy, and we now provide clinical and molecular reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followup of that patient cohort.Materials and Methods: A total of 101 men with clinically localized prostate cancer were prospectively enrolled in the study. The prostate specific antigen (PSA) RT-PCR assay was performed on peripheral venous blood samples preoperatively in 101, during surgery in 29, during and up to 12 weeks after surgery in 50 and at least 1 year postoperatively in 65 patients. Correlation with clinical (PSA) indicators of recurrence was performed.Results: Of the 101 patients 9 demonstrated biochemical evidence of prostate cancer progression (median followup 22 months). Of the 50 men with perioperative molecular results the RT-PCR positive rate increased from 22% preoperatively in 11 to 48% in 24 (p = 0.02) and then decreased to 10% in 4 of 40 men at 1 ye...
Human sensory dominance

Human Ss matched an auditory and a visual stimulus for subjective magnitude. Then each stimulus was used as a cue in a reaction time task. On occasions when both stimuli were presented simultaneously, Ss’ responding was seen to be dominated by the visual stimulus. Of further interest was the finding that on some occasions of simultaneous light-tone presentation Ss were unaware that the tone had been presented. This apparent prepotency of the visual over the auditory stimulus was seen to persist across a variety of experimental conditions, which included giving Ss verbal instructions to respond to the tone when both stimuli were presented simultaneously.
The primary structure of the hemoglobin α-chain of the arctic ground squirrel

1. 1. The amino acid sequence of the α-chain from the arctic ground squirrel Citellus parryii)§ is reported. The tryptic peptides prepared from the hemoglobin were isolated by reverse phase HPLC and sequenced. Data from the tryptic peptides were supported by that from cyanogen bromide peptides and acid cleavage peptides which were partially sequenced. 2. 2. Comparison with other rodent α-chains shows 15 differences with mouse, 20 with rat, 25 with muskrat, 16 with mole rat, 33 with the guinea-pig and 23 with the hamster. 3. 3. Comparison of arctic ground squirrel hemoglobin α-chain with the amino-terminal 25 residues of the marmot shows one amino acid difference at position 13.
Fast Frequency-Domain Decomposition for Ambient Oscillation Monitoring

This paper proposes a multidimensional ambient oscillation monitoring algorithm denoted as fast frequency-domain decomposition (FFDD). Based on a new theoretical result, the algorithm is offered as an improvement over the previously proposed frequency-domain decomposition in that FFDD does not require time-consuming singular value decomposition and it does not require cross spectrum estimates. FFDD is useful for fast real-time ambient modal estimation of a large number of synchrophasor measurements. The algorithm is tested on archived event data from a real power system.
Quality of service (QoS) metrics for continuous media

This paper presents quality of service (QoS) metrics for continuity and synchronization specifications in continuous media (CM). Proposed metrics specify continuity and synchronization, with tolerable limits on average and bursty defaults from perfect continuity, timing and synchronization constraints. These metrics can be used in a distributed environment for resource allocation. Continuity specification of a CM stream consists of its sequencing, display rate and drift profiles. The sequencing profile of a CM stream consists of tolerable aggregate and consecutive frame miss ratios. Rate profiles specify the average rendition rate and its variation. Given a rate profile, the ideal time unit for frame display is determined as an offset from the beginning of the stream. Drift profile specifies the average and bursty deviation of schedules for frames from such fixed points in time. Synchronization requirements of a collection of CM streams are specified by mixing, rate and synchronization drift profiles. Mixing profiles specify vectors of frames that can be displayed simultaneously. They consist of average and bursty losses of synchronization. Rate profiles consist of average rates and permissible deviations thereof. Synchronization drift profiles specify permissible aggregate and bursty time drifts between schedules of simultaneously displayable frames. It is shown that rate profiles of a collection of synchronized streams is definable in terms of rate profiles of its component streams. It is also shown that mixing and drift profiles of a collection of streams are non-definable in terms of sequencing and drift profiles of its constituents. An important consequence of the mutual independence of synchronization and continuity specification is that, in a general purpose platform with limited resources, synchronized display of CM streams may require QoS tradeoffs. An algorithm that makes such tradeoffs is presented as a proof of applicability of our metrics in a realistic environment.
When the Bell Tolls: The Effects of School Starting Times on Academic Achievement.

Abstract A number of high schools across the United States have moved to later bell times on the belief that their previous bell times were too early for the “biological clocks” of adolescents. In this article I study whether doing so improves academic performance. I first focus on the Twin Cities metropolitan area, where Minneapolis and several suburban districts have made large policy changes but St. Paul and other suburban districts have maintained early schedules. I use individual-level ACT data on all individuals from public high schools in this region who took the ACT between 1993 and 2002 to estimate the effects of school starting times on ACT scores. I then employ school-level data on schedules and test scores on statewide standardized tests from Kansas and Virginia to estimate the effects of bell times on achievement for a broader sample. The results do not suggest an effect of school starting times on achievement.
Prime ideals and radicals in semigroup-graded rings

In this paper we study the ideal structure of the direct limit and direct sum (with a special multiplication) of a directed system of rings; this enables us to give descriptions of the prime ideals and radicals of semigroup rings and semigroup-graded rings.We show that the ideals in the direct limit correspond to certain families of ideals from the original rings, with prime ideals corresponding to “prime” families. We then assume the indexing set is a semigroup ft with preorder defined by α≺β if β is in the ideal generated by α, and we use the direct sum to construct an Ω-graded ring; this construction generalizes the concept of a strong supplementary semilattice sum of rings. We show the prime ideals in this direct sum correspond to prime ideals in the direct limits taken over complements of prime ideals in Ω when two conditions are satisfied; one consequence is that when these conditions are satisfied, the prime ideals in the semigroup ring S[ft] correspond bijectively to pairs (Φ, Q) with Φ a prime ideal of Ω and Q a prime ideal of S. The two conditions are satisfied in many bands and in any commutative semigroup in which the powers of every element become stationary. However, we show that the above correspondence fails when Ω is an infinite free band, by showing that S[Ω] is prime whenever S is.When Ω satisfies the above-mentioned conditions, or is an arbitrary band, we give a description of the radical of the direct sum of a system in terms of the radicals of the component rings for a class of radicals which includes the Jacobson radical and the upper nil radical. We do this by relating the semigroup-graded direct sum to a direct sum indexed by the largest semilattice quotient of Ω, and also to the direct product of the component rings.
Design quality in pre-project planning: applications of the Project Definition Rating Index

The development of the project scope definition package is one of the major tasks in the pre-project planning process. It is where risks associated with the project are analysed, early designs are formulated, critical decisions are made and the specific project execution approach is defined. However, early planning in many cases is not performed well in the building industry, and, as a result, the building sector suffers from poor or incomplete scope definition, frequently experiencing considerable changes that result in significant cost and schedule overruns. The Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) is a weighted score sheet used for determining the level of scope definition of building projects during pre-project planning. Developed by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in 1999, this tool has been widely adopted by various owners and designers in the building industry. Using the PDRI while conducting planning charrettes (i.e. intense focus meetings involving key stakeholders) provides a collabo...
Flow control in the ARPA network

Abstract The issues of flow control in packet-switching computer networks is discussed, including the reasons why it is required and several proposed mechanisms for its implementation. Flow control schemes used in the ARPANET are analyzed to show concrete examples of strengths and weaknesses. Future trends in hardware are examined to point out possible influences on flow control problems and solutions.
Reactions between cobalt and gallium arsenide in bulk and thin-film forms

Abstract The GaAs Co system was studied experimentally using bulk and thin-film diffusion couples. The samples were analyzed for reaction phase sequence, phase morphology, phase composition and electrical characteristics. The reaction sequence was found to be complex, but was the same for both types of diffusion couple. Likewise, the compositions of the phases CoGa and CoAs formed at the interface GaAs Co were the same for both types of diffusion couples, and are in agreement with the phase diagram within the uncertainties of the data.
Validation of 3DFE Model of Jointed Concrete Pavement Response to Temperature Variations

The most appropriate method to validate the thermoelastic response of a 3D finite element (3DFE) model of dowel jointed concrete pavements subjected to temperature variation is to compare its results with field-measured data. However, field-measured strains in a concrete slab are not only due to temperature variation but they also include components due to construction curling, shrinkage and moisture. Such nonlinear strain contributors are not simulated in concrete constitutive models currently used in 3DFE; thus, field-measured strains cannot be directly used to validate the thermoelastic response of 3DFE models before some data reduction. This paper presents a data reduction technique that renders strains suitable for 3DFE model response validation. The field-measured data were obtained from an intensively instrumented pavement section in West Virginia whose instrumentation plans are described. Data sets of field-measured strains together with the associated temperature profiles are presented in this st...
5-Azacytidine-induced 6-thioguanine resistance at the gpt locus in AS52 cells : Cellular response

Treatment of AS52 cells with 5-azacytidine resulted in an induction of 6-thioguanine-resistant [6TG] colonies, which reached a maximum by an expression time of 9 days. Dose responses for both cytotoxicity and mutation induction were determined following treatment with 5-azacytidine. At 20 microM treatment, 5-azacytidine exposure resulted in about 50% survival. Mutant frequency reached a maximum of 10 microM. At concentrations between 10 and 20 microM, 5-azacytidine was a potent mutagen but did not exhibit a dose response. Although many compounds both induce cell death and affect the growth rate of cells, 5-azacytidine specifically induced cell death and did not affect the doubling time of the surviving treated cell population.
Effect of pH on local and gross conformational changes in aspartate transcarbamylase.

Summary Two techniques were used to probe changes in the tertiary and quaternary structure of aspartate transcarbamylase induced by the binding of carbamyl phosphate and succinate over the pH range 6.0 to 8.5. The ultraviolet difference spectrum of the catalytic subunit was essentially invariant over the pH range studied, while the difference between the rates of mercurial-induced dissociation of the native enzyme in the presence and absence of ligands increased significantly with decreasing pH.
Informed consent for medical research by the elderly.

Much has been written about the possible lack of capacity of the elderly, especially certain vulnerable populations of older individuals, to give informed consent for medical research. Several small studies have shown a deficit for comprehension of consent material, by the elderly, especially those with less education, but this appears small in comparison to an overall deficit in the general population. A number of investigations have suggested that deficits in executive control functions (ECFs) may be related to lack of capacity to make clinical judgments, but these have yet to be applied to research. Many methods have been piloted to measure capacity and to improve comprehension, some of which may help, although none has been proved conclusively to do either. As the elderly experience significant morbidity and mortality from a vast array of illnesses, the use of the elderly as subjects of medical research is especially important. To prevent older individuals from being coerced into participating or potentially being harmed by scientific investigation, they must give informed consent to their involvement. However, there are many studies to suggest that they are not well informed. A discussion ensued in the 1970s and 1980s about whether or not the elderly deserved special protection as a class of individuals, based on their possible increased risk during medical experimentation, but it was ultimately decided that, because the majority of elderly are perceived to be cognitively intact, they need not receive additional safeguards (High & Doole, 1995, Behavioral Science and Law, 13, 319-335). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2000 (Federal Registrar Rules and Regulations, 46, 8366-8392) reviewed existing protections for subjects of human research and deemed they were inadequate, issuing new guidelines. This article reviews evidence that differences exist between the ability of young and old in their capacity to give consent. Alterations in methods of obtaining consent may help individuals to give a more informed consent, and even enable subjects who lack the capacity to consent, such as cognitively impaired individuals, to participate in research. However an ideal means of screening or altering the consent process has yet to be devised. Many of these methods are briefly considered.
A cluster analysis of personality style in adults with ADHD.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use hierarchical linear cluster analysis to examine the normative personality styles of adults with ADHD. Method: A total of 311 adults with ADHD complet...
Spatial variation in carrier dynamics along a single CdSSe nanowire

Abstract Ultrafast charge carrier dynamics along individual CdS x Se 1− x nanowires has been measured. The use of an improved ultrafast Kerr-gated microscope allows for spatially resolved luminescence measurements along a single nanowire. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was observed at high excitation fluences. Position dependent variations of ultrafast ASE dynamics were observed. SEM and colorimetric measurements showed that the difference in dynamics can be attributed to variations in non-radiative recombination rates along the wire. The dominant Shockley-Read recombination rate can be extracted from ASE dynamics and can be directly related to charge carrier mobility and defect density. Employing ASE as a probe for defect densities provides a new sub-micron spatially resolved, contactless method for measurements of charge carrier mobility.
Pathogenesis of partial tear of the rotator cuff: A clinical and pathologic study

This prospective study investigated the clinical and pathologic results in 66 patients with partial tears of the rotator cuff from January 1996 to December 1998. The pathologic change in the rotator cuff was graded from the magnetic resonance images by using the criteria described by Zlatkin and Iannotti. A modified grading system from Ozaki and Panni was used for pathologic grading of the anterior acromion. The functional score of Constant and Murley was used for clinical assessment. The pathologic change in the rotator cuff revealed by the magnetic resonance imaging study was more severe in patients with articular side tears compared with patients who had bursal side tears. On the contrary, the pathologic changes in the acromion were significantly milder in patients with articular side tears compared with bursal side tears. These observations indicate that articular side tears of the rotator cuff are mainly associated with intrinsic pathologic changes of the rotator cuff, whereas bursal side tears are associated with subacromial impingement on an underlying milder pathologic change of the rotator cuff.
Influence of soil moisture on simulations of katabatic flow

Simulations of katabatic flow with a two-dimensional dynamic numerical model with a soil parameterization indicate that downslope flow developed over a moist slope is weaker than that over a dry slope. This agrees with earlier findings that daytime anabatic (upslope) flow is weaker over a moister slope. But, whereas the weaker anabatic flow is produced because surface evaporation prevents the moist slope from heating as much as a dry slope, the weaker katabatic flow is produced over moist slopes because (1) the soil thermal conductivity is greater in moist soil, and (2) downward longwave radiation flux from the atmosphere to the surface is greater because of higher humidity in the air near the surface from evaporation. The higher thermal conductivity allows warmer soil temperatures (heat) to diffuse upward to the soil surface and prevents the surface temperature from becoming as cold in the moist run as in the dry run.
Gas emission from chamber walls

Abstract The neutral gas concentration in the chamber wall of a plasma experiment is described by a one-dimensional diffusion equation in the wall with a nonlinear boundary condition relating to gas emission rates. The equation is transformed to an integral equation, which is solved analytically for short and long times and also numerically. Chamber pressure rise during and after plasma decay is compared with experimental data.
Investigation of the effect of scattering agent and scattering albedo on modulated light propagation in water

A recent paper described experiments completed to study the effect of scattering on the propagation of modulated light in laboratory tank water [Appl. Opt.48, 2607 (2009)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.48.002607]. Those measurements were limited to a specific scattering agent (Maalox antacid) with a fixed scattering albedo (0.95). The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of different scattering agents and scattering albedos on modulated light propagation in water. The results show that the scattering albedo affects the number of attenuation lengths that the modulated optical signal propagates without distortion, while the type of scattering agent affects the degree to which the modulation is distorted with increasing attenuation length.
Environmental Influences and Personal Choice: A Humanistic Perspective on Acculturation

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical rationale for the application of the Garza and Lipton (1982) interactional model to the study of acculturation. The major contention is that past models have failed to adequately account for the highly complex interaction between environmental influences and personal choice. The interactional model is reviewed and discussed in order to show how certain aspects of the theories of Egon Brunswik (1952), George Kelly (1955), and Kurt Lewin (1935) have been incorporated into the proposed model. Following this discussion, the model is presented in detail, emphasizing its relevance for understanding the acculturation phenomenon. Finally, the notion of the multicultural person is proposed as guide to future work on acculturation from the perspective of humanistic interaction.
Gene Therapy Targeting HIV Entry

Despite the unquestionable success of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the treatment of HIV infection, the cost, need for daily adherence, and HIV-associated morbidities that persist despite ART all underscore the need to develop a cure for HIV. The cure achieved following an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) using HIV-resistant cells, and more recently, the report of short-term but sustained, ART-free control of HIV replication following allogeneic HSCT, using HIV susceptible cells, have served to both reignite interest in HIV cure research, and suggest potential mechanisms for a cure. In this review, we highlight some of the obstacles facing HIV cure research today, and explore the roles of gene therapy targeting HIV entry, and allogeneic stem cell transplantation in the development of strategies to cure HIV infection.
Effects of bias on the results of diagnostic studies of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Purpose Design weaknesses in studies of diagnostic tests can lead to biases that produce misleading results. The extent to which such biases exist in studies of diagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is unknown, and no studies address whether these biases influence published estimates of the performance of CTS diagnostic tests. The present study investigates these issues. Methods We conducted a systematic review of studies of tests used to diagnose CTS in adults. Whether a study had design-related biases was determined using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies instrument, by determining whether a study had a case control design, and by considering each study's level of evidence. We used meta-regression to determine whether any of these factors influenced estimates of the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio of diagnostic tests. Results A total of 23 studies of 129 diagnostic test evaluations met our inclusion criteria. Of those, 87% (20 of 23 studies) contained at least 1 bias and, on average, each study contained 2 biases. The most common design-related bias was spectrum bias (61% of studies [14 of 23 studies]), which was perfectly correlated with use of a case control design. Spectrum bias was associated with a statistically significant overestimation of sensitivity, specificity, and the diagnostic odds ratio. Test review bias (which was clearly present in 35% of studies [8 of 23 studies]) was associated with statistically significant overestimation of sensitivity and the diagnostic odds ratio. These results were not influenced by whether the diagnostic test under study was a clinical or an electrodiagnostic test. Conclusions Well-designed studies of diagnostics for CTS are uncommon, and shortcomings in the design of studies of clinical and electrodiagnostic tests are associated with overestimates of the performance of these tests. Consequently, most articles on diagnostic tests for CTS are unlikely to report results that are applicable to actual clinical practice.
Prevalence of Inducible Clindamycin Resistance among Community- and Hospital-Associated Staphylococcus aureus Isolates

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections have become common among both hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients. Optimal outpatient therapy for MRSA infections has yet to be determined, but this matter is complicated by the possibility of inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance (MLSBi). We studied the prevalence of MLSBi in community- and hospital-associated S. aureus isolates and the prevalence of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) and identified clinical predictors of CA-MRSA and MLSBi. Among 402 S. aureus isolates, the overall prevalence of MLSBi was 52%, with 50% of MRSA and 60% of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates exhibiting MLSBi. CA-MRSA represented 14% of all isolates and had a lower prevalence of MLSBi than hospital-associated MRSA (33% versus 55%). The presence of skin or soft-tissue infection was predictive for CA-MRSA, and the presence of a comorbidity was predictive for MLSBi. Due to the low prevalence of MLSBi among CA-MRSA isolates, clindamycin remains a useful option for outpatient therapy.
The signature of ozone depletion on tropical temperature trends, as revealed by their seasonal cycle in model integrations with single forcings

[1] The effect of ozone depletion on temperature trends in the tropical lower stratosphere is explored with an atmospheric general circulation model, and directly contrasted to the effect of increased greenhouse gases and warmer sea surface temperatures. Confirming and extending earlier studies we find that, over the second half of the 20th Century, the model's lower-stratospheric cooling caused by ozone depletion is several times larger than that induced by increasing greenhouse gases. Moreover, our model suggests that the response to different forcings is highly additive. Finally we demonstrate that when ozone depletion alone is prescribed in the model, the seasonal cycle of the resultant cooling trends in the lower stratosphere is quite similar to that recently reported in satellite and radiosonde observations: this constitutes strong, new evidence for the key role of ozone depletion on tropical lower-stratospheric temperature trends.
Step response bounds for systems described by M-matrices, with application to timing analysis of digital MOS circuits

Methods adapted from optimal control are used to calculate simple closed-form upper and lower bounds for the step response of linear systems governed by M-matrices. For high order systems these bounds can be calculated using far less computer time than an "exact" numerical solution requires. The technique has proven to be of real industrial significance in integrated circuit CAD, where it is used for rapid calculation of signal propagation delay through the myriad of interconnect paths in digital MOS IC's.
Studies on the formation of oxalic acid by Aspergillus niger.

Although Aspergillus niger, strain 72-4, has been studied previously because of the high yields of citric acid it gives when fermenting sugars, it also produces oxalic acid under the proper conditions. The present work is a study of the conditions under which oxalic acid is formed, the substrates that are converted to it, and the mechanism of its formation from these substrates. Oxalic acid is never found in normal growth fermentations with strain 72-4 until after autolysis has begun. However, in replacement fermentations in which preformed, washed mycelium is resuspended in nitrogen-free medium, oxalic acid is often formed together with citric acid. It was originally suggested (1) that oxalic acid is made by hydrolytic splitting of oxalacetate. Later work (2, 3), although consistent with this theory, gave data more in line with the results of the present work, which indicate that oxalacetate is oxidatively split to 2 molecules of oxalic acid. Direct oxidation of acetate to oxalate was ruled out by the work of Bomstein and Johnson (3) and also by the present work. The present study also shows that, at neutral pH, a great variety of sugars and related compounds can be fermented to oxalic acid by fluoride and fluoroacetate-insensitive pathways. Compounds part of or related to the Krebs cycle still appear to form oxalic acid by oxidative splitting of oxalacetate.
Teaching Wisdom to Interest: Book Five of Plato's Republic

We suggest that Book Five of the Republic , where Plato discusses the status of women in the guardian class, is a superb source of Platonic insight. For it is precisely the discussion of women that is most vulnerable to co-optation by the modern vernacular of interest, a vernacular to which the Republic is vehemently opposed. If students come to appreciate an alternative perspective regarding this most sensitive of modern issues, the full impact of the Socratic approach is available to them.
Relative Susceptibility of Confused and Red Flour Beetles to Twelve Organophosphorus Insecticides, with Notes on Adequacy of the Test Method

The comparative susceptibility of the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal, and the red flour beetle, T. castaneum (Herbst), to 12 organophosphorus insecticides was determined by direct application of spray solutions to adult insects with a Potter laboratory spray tower. The order in effectiveness of insecticides against the confused flour beetle at LC95, with an indication of the significance of differences shown by 95% confidence limits, was: fenthion ≽ Gardona® (2- chloro-1- (2,4,5 - trichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate) ≽ fenitrothion (O,O -dimethyl O -4-nitro- m -tolyl phosphorothioate) > Bay 77488 (O,O -diethyl phosphorothioate O -ester with phenylglyoxylonitrile oxime) ≽ Dursban>® (O,O -diethyl O -3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl phosphorothioate) ≽ Bay 78182 (O,O -diethyl phosphorothioate O -ester with (o -chlorophenyl) glyoxylonitrile oxime) ≽dichlorvos ≽ C-9491 ( O - (2,5-dichloro -4-iodophenyl) O,O -dimethyl phosphorothioate) ≽malathion > Abate® (O,O -dimethyl phosphorothioate O,O -diester with 4,4'- thiodiphenol) > dicapthon > diazinon. The order and an indication of the significance of differences in effec- tiveness of insecticides against the red flour beetle at LC96was: fenthion ≽ fenitrothion ≽ Bay 77488 ≽ Durs- ban ≽ Bay 78182 ≽ malathion ≽ Gardona ≽ Abate ≽ dicl1lorvos ≽ dicaplhon ≽ diazinon ≽ C-9491. On the basis of 1 being assigned to the LC95 value obtained with fenthion, the ratio of differences in effec- tiveness of insecticides ranged up to 10.2 X with diazinon against the confused flour beetle and up to 4.4 X with C-9491 against the red flour beetle. At LC95 and LC50, C-9491 and Gardona were more toxic to confused than to red flour beetles. All other insecticides were more toxic to the red flour beetle than to the confused flour beetle. The magnitude of differences between species in susceptibility to cacll insecticide ranged from 1.14 X for Gardona to 3.27 X for diazinon at LC60 and from 1.27 X for dichlorvos to 3.53 X for diazinon at LC95. It was concluded that the Potter laboratory spray tower was adequate for use as a standard method of application to assess the direct-contact toxicity of insecticides on a comparative basis.
Wave Propagation in Parallel Plate Metallic Waveguide With Finite Conductivity and Three Dimensional Roughness

We study the effects of random roughness on wave propagation in a parallel plate metallic waveguide with finite conductivity. The rough surface is three dimensional (3D) with roughness heights varying in both horizontal directions. Integral equations are obtained from the extinction theorem formulated with layered medium Green's function. The second order small perturbation method is then applied to solve the integral equations. A closed form expression for the coherent wave is derived, which is expressed in terms of a three-fold Sommerfeld type integral due to the waveguide structure. Approximate methods are applied to calculate the Sommerfeld integral. The results based on the approximations are shown to agree with that of direct integration. The coherent wave enhancement factors of absorption are computed. Results of the present 3D roughness case are compared with the previous results of two dimensional (2D) roughness. The results for waveguides are also compared with the results obtained for a plane wave incident on a metal surface with 3D roughness. Results are illustrated for 3D roughness with a variety of power spectra. It is shown that enhancement factors of 3D roughness are larger than for 2D roughness. We also show that enhancement factors for a waveguide are larger than that of the plane wave case. Comparisons are also made between the theoretical results and measurements.
Indications for Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot: The Quest Continues

Until Blalock and Taussig developed the first palliative systemic-to-pulmonary shunt operation in 1945,1 tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) was a nearly uniformly lethal congenital cardiac anomaly. In the 5 decades since Lillehei and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota reported the first successful intracardiac repair in 1955,2 early mortality has decreased markedly from 50% to <2%.2–4 In the modern surgical era, most infants with TOF survive the initial surgical repair and reach adulthood. More recently, the excellent results in the pediatric age group have led the field to shift its attention to late sequelae of repaired TOF in the rapidly growing population of adult patients, including the increasing rates of morbidity and mortality. Article see p 1861 Despite many advances in surgical repair during the past 6 decades, the majority of TOF patients continue to experience residual hemodynamic and electrophysiological abnormalities.5,6 To effectively relieve the obstructed right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), the surgeon must often disrupt the integrity of the pulmonary valve, which results in pulmonary regurgitation. The ensuing chronic right ventricular (RV) volume overload and akinesis or dyskinesis of the RVOT wall, along with conduction delay from the nearly universal right bundle-branch block, initiate a cascade of pathophysiological abnormalities that lead to RV dilatation and ultimately dysfunction.7 Left ventricular dysfunction, arrhythmias, exercise intolerance, heart failure symptoms, and death may follow.8 Residual intracardiac shunts, tricuspid regurgitation, RVOT or pulmonary artery stenosis, impaired diastolic properties, atrial enlargement, RV hypertension, intraventricular and interventricular dyssynchrony, and diffuse myocardial fibrosis are some of the factors that might accelerate the adverse cardiac remodeling and lead to worse clinical outcomes. Indeed, the adverse remodeling that leads to electromechanical cardiomyopathy manifests in increasing rates of morbidity and mortality beginning during the third decade of life.9 Pulmonary …
Spontaneous dissociation-association of monomers of the human-stem-cell-factor dimer.

In its native state, recombinant human-stem-cell-factor (SCF) dimer can spontaneously and rapidly undergo hybridization when two different SCF dimer species are incubated together. SCF species differing in molecular charge, e.g., a wild-type SCF form and a variant with Asp at position 10 instead of Asn, were used in the hybridization studies; the original species and newly formed dimer hybrid can be separated and quantified by cationic-exchange h.p.l.c. The hybridization reaches an equilibrium where the ratio of hybrid dimer to each of the original species is 2. Kinetic studies of the initial rate of hybridization enable a rate constant for monomer dissociation to be determined. This rate constant is influenced by pH, temperature and salt concentration. The pH and salt effects suggest that salt bridges between charged amino acids at the monomer-monomer interface may be present. From the temperature effects, the activation energy for monomer dissociation was determined to be 85.6 kJ/mol, which is typical for oligomeric proteins. Heavily glycosylated recombinant SCF from Chinese-hamster ovary cells exchanged equally well with the bacterially derived non-glycosylated SCF, indicating that the attached carbohydrate moieties had no effect on monomer exchange.
RFID Based Indoor Navigational Aid for Persons with Severe Visual Impairments

A flexible, low cost, and portable indoor navigational aid for persons who are blind or have severe visual impairments remains an unmet need and a technical challenge. Whereas devices using global positioning system (GPS) signals hold promise for navigational assistance in the outdoor environment, they do not work where GPS signals are absent or greatly attenuated. Thus a network of navigational beacons is needed for the indoor environment. This paper describes the promise of an indoor navigational aid that relies on a network of custom extended-range RFID tags. RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology has the advantages of being low cost, unobtrusive, and highly flexible in the sense that sight impaired travelers can use personalized RFID tags to mark indoor locations of their particular interest. However, commercially available RFID tags have very short detection ranges. To make them suitable as indoor electronic beacons, their range of detection must be greatly extended. Some of the technical challenges and proposed solutions that can extend the detection range are discussed in this paper following an overview of the proposed RFID based indoor navigational aid.
The push for test in universities

It is noted that the increased use of application-specific integrated circuits in products is increasing the demand for courses in VLSI. It is argued that design for testability should be an integral part of these project courses. The results of an IEEE Computer Society survey of universities teaching VLSI are presented, along with some recommendations for facilitating the process of emphasizing test in curricula. Specifically, it is recommended that VLSI testing in universities be facilitated by having public domain-integrated CAD tools that support automatic test pattern generation and built-in self-test, more textbooks which incorporate design for testability, increased industrial and governmental equipment support, standardized design frames and test fixtures that can be share among projects and organizations, and additional publicity to raise the awareness level for these needs. >
TinyOS-based real-time wireless data acquisition framework for structural health monitoring and control

SUMMARY Wireless smart sensor networks have become an attractive alternative to traditional wired sensor systems to reduce implementation costs of structural health monitoring systems. The onboard sensing, computation, and communication capabilities of smart wireless sensors have been successfully leveraged in numerous monitoring applications. However, the current data acquisition schemes, which completely acquire data remotely prior to processing, limit the applications of wireless smart sensors (e.g., for real-time visualization of the structural response). Although real-time data acquisition strategies have been explored, challenges of implementing high-throughput real-time data acquisition over larger network sizes still remain because of operating system limitations, tight timing requirements, sharing of transmission bandwidth, and unreliable wireless radio communication. This paper presents the implementation of real-time wireless data acquisition on the Imote2 platform. The challenges presented by hardware and software limitations are addressed in the application design. The framework is then expanded for high-throughput applications that necessitate larger networks sizes with higher sampling rates. Two approaches are implemented and evaluated on the basis of network size, associated sampling rate, and data delivery reliability. Ultimately, the communication and processing protocol allows for near-real-time sensing of 108 channels across 27 nodes with minimal data loss. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Local smoothness and the price of anarchy in splittable congestion games

Abstract Congestion games are multi-player games in which players' costs are additive over a set of resources that have anonymous cost functions, with pure strategies corresponding to certain subsets of resources. In a splittable congestion game, each player can choose a convex combination of subsets of resources. We characterize the worst-case price of anarchy — a quantitative measure of the inefficiency of equilibria — in splittable congestion games. Our approximation guarantee is parameterized by the set of allowable resource cost functions, and degrades with the “degree of nonlinearity” of these cost functions. We prove that our guarantee is the best possible for every set of cost functions that satisfies mild technical conditions. We prove our guarantee using a novel “local smoothness” proof framework, and as a consequence the guarantee applies not only to the Nash equilibria of splittable congestion games, but also to all correlated equilibria.