cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
WE-B-BRA-03: Adaptive Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (AIGRT) for Hypo-Fractionated Prostate Cancer Treatment

Purpose: The large fractional dose of hypo‐fractionated prostate treatment requires high accuracy of daily treatmentdelivery. This study analyzes the performance of an adaptive IGRT (AIGRT) technique, which combines image guidance and adaptive re‐planning to maximize the efficiency and accuracy of such treatment.Method and Materials: 18 patients were studied retrospectively with the hypo‐fractionated treatment regime of 4.4 Gy × 10 fractions. The CTV (prostate + seminal vesicles) and OARs (bladder and rectum) of the planning CT and daily CBCT were contoured by attending physician to maintain consistency in contouring. For each fraction, the AIGRT initiates an automated “soft‐tissue matching” process to find the best fit for the “anatomy‐of‐the‐day” in the patient‐specific plan‐pool (all delivered plans). The matching is successful if the previous smallest PTV can cover current CTV (i.e. minimum deformation and OAR overexposure). If the matching fails, a re‐planning process will re‐optimizes the fluence maps to generate an adaptive plan, which will be used to treat the patient for that fraction. Furthermore, this adapted plan is added to the plan‐pool. Daily DVHs and key dosimetric parameters for the CTVs and OARs were analyzed. The AIGRT technique is compared to soft‐tissue matching (“Soft‐Plan”, current standard), and the daily re‐planning treatments (“Re‐Plan”, the most conformai treatment).Result: (1) Daily D99% to CTVs for all patients ranged from 99.3%–105.1% (AIGRT), 99.9%–105.1% (Re‐Plan), 72.6%–104.7% (Soft‐Plan), respectively, indicating Soft‐Plan is the only technique fails to deliver consistent daily dose to CTV (p=0.0194). (2) V100% and V65% volumes (representing high and medium dose regions) of the bladder and rectum using AIGRT and Re‐Plan techniques were 2.4%–8.3% smaller than those using Soft‐Plans (p<0.0001). (3) AIGRT reduced re‐planning frequency by 43% averaged for all patients. Conclusion: AIGRT improves the efficiency compared to Re‐Plan and the accuracy compared to Soft‐Plan. (Research sponsored by Varian Medical Systems)
Rheological Properties of “Dry Water”

This study reports the rheological properties of the novel material “dry water” which contains about 98% by weight water but resembles a dry powder. Dry water is a water-in-air inverse foam which consists of microscopic water droplets encapsulated with hydrophobic fumed-silica nanoparticles. This novel material offers a large surface to volume ratio on the order of 2 × 105 m2 /m3 for the gas and water phases. Thus, it provides a convenient medium for surface area limited processes and finds applications from cosmetics to gaseous fuel storage. In this study both steady and dynamic rheological properties of dry water were measured. In particular, the elastic (G′ ) and viscous (G″ ) moduli, and the complex dynamic shear viscosity (η* ) were recovered from experimental data. Results showed that both the elastic and viscous moduli decreased with increasing strain at strains larger than 4%, and both moduli are weak functions of rotational frequency. Complex dynamic shear viscosity decreased with strain and rotational frequency. When compared with the studies in literature, rheological experiments and obtained results indicated that dry water behaves as a gel rheologically under the investigated conditions.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Analysis of anchor text for web search

It has been observed that anchor text in web documents is very useful in improving the quality of web text search for some classes of queries. By examining properties of anchor text in a large intranet, we hope to shed light on why this is the case. Our main premise is that anchor text behaves very much like real user queries and consensus titles. Thus an understanding of how anchor text is related to a document will likely lead to better understanding of how to translate a user’s query into high quality search results. Our approach is experimental, based on a study of a large corporate intranet, including the content as well as a large stream of queries against that content. We conduct experiments to investigate several aspects of anchor text, including their relationship to titles, the frequency of queries that can be satisfied by anchortext alone, and the homogeneity of results fetched by anchor text.
Perfusion method for preparing pig brain cortex for Golgi-Cox impregnation.

The perfusion procedure described in this paper produces high quality impregnation of pig visual and somatosensory cortical neurons with a Golgi-Cox solution. Starting within 30 min after death, pig heads were perfused with a fixative solution composed of a mixture (v/v) of liquid phenol, 5%; formalin, 14%; ethylene glycol, 25%; methanol, 28%; and water, 28% for two periods of 4 hr each. After perfusion, the heads were chilled for at least 18 hr. The entire brain was removed from the skull and then placed in 10% buffered formalin, where it remained for at least 10 days before taking the blocks that were to be immersed in the Golgi-Cox solution. Three weeks spent in the Golgi-Cox solution typically produced uniform neuron impregnation. The tissue blocks were then embedded in celloidin and sectioned at 120 μm. This procedure avoids the following difficulties: Golgi-Cox methods that produced excellent results with rodent or primate tissue were unsuccessful with pig tissue, placing fresh tissue in Golgi-Cox s...
Synthesis and analysis of the membrane proximal external region epitopes of HIV‐1

The membrane proximal external region (MPER) of gp41 abuts the viral membrane at the base of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein spikes. The MPER is highly conserved and is rich in Trp and other lipophilic residues. The MPER is also required for the infection of host cells by HIV-1 and is the target of the broadly neutralizing antibodies, 4E10, 2F5, and Z13e1. These neutralizing antibodies are valuable tools for understanding relevant conformations of the MPER and for studying HIV-1 neutralization, but multiple approaches used to elicit MPER binding antibodies with similar neutralization properties have failed. Here we report our efforts to mimic the MPER using linear as well as constrained peptides. Unnatural amino acids were also introduced into the core epitope of 4E10 to probe requirements of antibody binding. Peptide analogs with C-terminal Api or Aib residues designed to be helical transmembrane (TM) domain surrogates exhibit enhanced binding to the 4E10 and Z13e1 antibodies. However, we find that placement of constrained amino acids at nonbinding sites within the core epitope significantly reduce binding. These results are relevant to an understanding of native MPER structure on HIV-1, and form a basis for a chemical synthesis approach to mimic MPER stricture and to construct an MPER-based vaccine.
Remodeling of a larval skeletal muscle motoneuron to drive the posterior cardiac pacemaker in the adult moth, Manduca sexta.

During postembryonic development, a larval skeletal muscle motoneuron, MN-1 in abdominal segments 7 and 8, becomes respecified to innervate the terminal cardiac chamber of adult Manduca sexta. Neural tracing techniques and electrophysiology were used in this study to describe the anatomical and physiological remodeling of this identified motoneuron. During metamorphosis the MN-1 in segments 7 and 8 undergoes dendritic reorganization. Long new dendrites extend anteriorly in the terminal ganglion neuropil. Intracellular and extracellular recordings showed that broader action potentials, increased firing rate, and development of a bursting activity pattern accompany MN-1 respecification. Cardiac mechanograms showed that MN-1 activity bursts always correlate with the anterograde cardiac beat. Bilateral MNs-1 fire at similar times to activate and sustain the putative cardiac pacemaker activity of the terminal chamber synergistically. After remodeling, MN-1 output could be influenced rapidly by sensory inputs during evoked cardiac reversal. The effect is exerted by inhibition of MN-1 firing that, in turn, causes early blockade of the anterograde beat and reversal to the retrograde direction of beat. J. Comp. Neurol. 478:126 –142, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Indexing terms: insect dorsal vessel; myogenic and neurogenic heartbeat; chordotonal organ; sensory-evoked reversal; neuronal respecification
Successful aging among people with HIV/AIDS

With advances made in the treatment of people with HIV/AIDS, there is an increasing number of persons who are reaching old age. This is a heterogeneous group. Yet, all of these diverse patients share in common the challenge of aging successfully despite their condition. There is little room in most gerontological conceptualizations for consideration of success for older persons unfortunate enough to live with chronic and particularly life-threatening illnesses in late life. Ideals of successful aging certainly leave little room for older adults with HIV/AIDS, a highly stigmatized, life-threatening, and disabling condition. In this article, we briefly review a new model of successful aging that we have developed, and show how it can be meaningfully applied to expectations of successful aging even among disabled and chronically ill populations of older adults such as persons with HIV/AIDS.
Hypoxia-inducible factor-2α and iron absorptive gene expression in Belgrade rat intestine

The divalent metal transporter (DMT1, Slc11a2) is an important molecule for intestinal iron absorption. In the Belgrade (b/b) rat, the DMT1 G185R mutation markedly decreases intestinal iron absorption. We used b/b rats as a model to examine the genes that could be compensatory for decreased iron absorption. When tissue hypoxia was assayed by detecting pimonidazole HCl adducts, the b/b liver and intestine exhibited more adducts than the +/+ rats, suggesting that hypoxia might signal altered gene expression. Total RNA in the crypt-villus bottom (C-pole) and villus top (V-pole) of +/+, b/b, and iron-fed b/b rats was isolated for gene array analyses. In addition, hepatic hepcidin and intestinal hypoxia-inducible factor-α (Hifα) expression were examined. The results showed that expression of hepatic hepcidin was significantly decreased and intestinal Hif2α was significantly increased in b/b and iron-fed b/b than +/+ rats. In b/b rats, the expression of Tfrc mRNA in the C-pole and of DMT1, Dcytb, FPN1, Heph, Hmox1, and ZIP14 mRNAs in the V-pole were markedly enhanced with increases occurring even in the C-pole. After iron feeding, the increased expression found in b/b rats persisted, except for Heph and ZIP14, which returned to normal levels. Thus in b/b rats depressed liver hepcidin production and activated intestinal Hif2α starting at the C-pole resulted in increasing expression of iron transport genes, including DMT1 G185R, in an attempt to compensate for the anemia in Belgrade rats.
Half-Pel Accurate Motion-Compensated Orthogonal Video Transforms

Motion-compensated lifted wavelets have received much interest for video compression. While they are biorthogonal, they may substantially deviate from orthonormality due to motion compensation, even if based on an orthogonal or near-orthogonal wavelet. A temporal transform for video sequences that maintains orthonormality while permitting flexible motion compensation would be very desirable. We have recently introduced such a transform for integer-pel accurate motion compensation from one previous frame. In this paper, we extend this idea to half-pel accurate motion compensation. Orthonormality is maintained for arbitrary half-pel motion compensation by cascading a sequence of incremental orthogonal transforms. The half-pel intensity values are obtained by averaging neighboring integer-pel positions. Depending on the number of averaged integer-pel values, we use different types of incremental transforms. The cascade of incremental transforms allows us to choose in each step the optimal type of incremental transform and, hence, the optimal half-pel position. Half-pel motion-compensated blocks of arbitrary shape and size can be used as the granularity of the cascade can be as small as one pixel. The new half-pel accurate motion-compensated orthogonal video transform compares favorably with the integer-pel accurate orthogonal transform
Volcanic Petrology and Geologic History of Northeast Bank, Southern California Borderland

Basaltic rocks, hyaloclastites, and fossil fragments incorporated in volcanic material, dredged from the flanks of Northeast Bank on the Southern California Borderland, show trace element abundances typical of eastern Pacific basin alkali basalts but enriched (880 ppm) Ba. The fossil fragments, incorporated in breccia, hyaloclastite, and agglomerate, include a fauna which lived in less than 50 m of water, as well as forms from the intertidal zone. Bathymetry of the bank and the depth range of the dredged zone indicate that there has been at least 300 or as much as 500 m subsidence since the volcanism which incorporated the fauna in volcanic material. Isostatic adjustments due to crustal load of the bank can account for this subsidence.
Epidemiologic Trends in Head and Neck Cancer and Aids in Diagnosis

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer worldwide predominately associated with tobacco use. Changing cause and increased incidence in oropharyngeal carcinomas is associated with high-risk types of human papilloma virus and has an improved survival. Optical devices may augment visual oral examination; however, their lack of specificity still warrants tissue evaluation/biopsy. Histologic factors of oral carcinomas are critical for patient management and prognostic determination. Clinical biomarkers are still needed to improve early detection, predict malignant transformation, and optimize therapies.
Reef-associated crustacean fauna: biodiversity estimates using semi-quantitative sampling and DNA barcoding

The cryptofauna associated with coral reefs accounts for a major part of the biodiversity in these ecosystems but has been largely overlooked in biodiversity estimates because the organisms are hard to collect and identify. We combine a semi-quantitative sampling design and a DNA barcoding approach to provide metrics for the diversity of reef-associated crustacean. Twenty-two similar-sized dead heads of Pocillopora were sampled at 10 m depth from five central Pacific Ocean localities (four atolls in the Northern Line Islands and in Moorea, French Polynesia). All crustaceans were removed, and partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I was sequenced from 403 individuals, yielding 135 distinct taxa using a species-level criterion of 5% similarity. Most crustacean species were rare; 44% of the OTUs were represented by a single individual, and an additional 33% were represented by several specimens found only in one of the five localities. The Northern Line Islands and Moorea shared only 11 OTUs. Total numbers estimated by species richness statistics (Chao1 and ACE) suggest at least 90 species of crustaceans in Moorea and 150 in the Northern Line Islands for this habitat type. However, rarefaction curves for each region failed to approach an asymptote, and Chao1 and ACE estimators did not stabilize after sampling eight heads in Moorea, so even these diversity figures are underestimates. Nevertheless, even this modest sampling effort from a very limited habitat resulted in surprisingly high species numbers.
Polling on a Budget: Implementing Telephone Surveys in Introductory and Advanced American Politics Courses

Research suggests that student learning is enhanced when students are engaged through active learning strategies. In studying public opinion and polling, challenges include the provision of meaningful active learning environments when resources are limited. In this article, I discuss the design and implementation of telephone surveys as a teaching tool for use in introductory American politics as well as upper-level public opinion courses. I emphasize polling situations in which there are limited resources or no established survey research center is available. Topics include student involvement in survey design and implementation, logistics, and budgeting. Student satisfaction with participation in the survey process is also discussed.
Neonatal Body Composition: Measuring Lean Mass as a Tool to Guide Nutrition Management in the Neonate.

Neonatal nutrition adequacy is often determined by infant weight gain. The aim of this review is to summarize what is currently known about neonatal body composition and the use of body composition as a measure for adequate neonatal nutrition. Unlike traditional anthropometric measures of height and weight, body composition measurements account for fat vs nonfat mass gains. This provides a more accurate picture of neonatal composition of weight gain. Providing adequate neonatal nutrition in the form of quantity and composition can be a challenge, especially when considering the delicate balance of providing adequate nutrition to preterm infants for catch-up growth. Monitoring weight gain as fat mass and nonfat mass while documenting dietary intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrate in formulas may help provide the medical community the tools to provide optimal nutrition for catch-up growth and for improved neurodevelopmental outcomes. Tracking body composition in term and preterm infants may also provide c...
Pharmacokinetics of Anti-Cancer Drugs Used in Breast Cancer Chemotherapy

Pharmacokinetics of anticancer drugs used in breast cancer therapy are well established. This chapter reviews preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics of the following drugs: cyclophosphamide, docetaxel, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, methotrexate and tamoxifen. The absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs are discussed in the context of breast cancer. The effect of age and menopause status on drug pharmacokinetics is evaluated. The important role of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling in understanding the phenomenon of chemo fog, memory deficit in breast cancer chemotherapy, is explored.
Honeybees and Tetracycline Resistance

ABSTRACT Like animals and people, insects can serve as both collectors and disseminators of antibiotic resistance genes, as exquisitely demonstrated by a recent study (B. Tian, N. H. Fadhil, J. E. Powell, W. K. Kwong, and N. A. Moran, mBio 3[6]:e00377-12, doi:10.1128/mBio.00377-12, 2012). Notably, the relatively confined ecosystem of the honeybee gut demonstrates a large propensity for harboring a diverse set of tetracycline resistance genes that reveal the environmental burden resulting from the long-time selective pressures of tetracycline use in the honeybee industry. As in humans and animals, these genes have become established in the native, nonpathogenic flora of the insect gut, adding credence to the concept that commensal floras provide large reservoirs of resistance genes that can readily move into pathogenic species. The homology of these tetracycline resistance determinants with those found in tetracycline-resistant bacteria associated with animals and humans strongly suggests a dissemination of similar or identical genes through shared ecosystems. The emergence of linked coresistances (ampicillin and tetracycline) following single-antibiotic therapy mirrors reports from other studies, namely, that long-term, single-agent therapy will result in resistance to multiple drugs. These results contrast with the marked absence of diverse, single- and multiple-drug resistance genes in wild and domestic bees that are not subjected to such selective pressures. Prospective studies that simultaneously track both resistance genes and antibiotic residues will go far in resolving some of the nagging questions that cloud our understanding of antibiotic resistance dissemination.
Echolucent regions in carotid plaque: Preliminary analysis comparing three-dimensional histologic reconstructions to sonographic findings☆

Abstract This study compares sonographic and histologic findings within defined spatial regions in carotid artery plaque, using computer generated three-dimensional reconstructions. Twenty-four patients (14 asymptomatic, 10 symptomatic) with angiographically documented 70% to 99% carotid artery stenosis were examined with ultrasonic B-mode imaging prior to endarterectomy. Using a standardized protocol for instrument set-up and scanning technique, echolucent regions in the plaque were identified. After endarterectomy, each plaque was sectioned at 0.5 to 1.0 millimeter increments throughout its length. Sites containing intraplaque hemorrhage, cholesterol clefts, foam cells, necrotic cores, dense calcification and speckled calcification were identified. These areas were outlined on a template, digitized and imported into a computer program that created three-dimensional reconstructions of the histologic findings. Each carotid plaque was divided into quadrants for analysis: (1) lateral wall proximal to the common carotid bifurcation (flow divider); (2) medial wall proximal to the flow divider; (3) lateral wall distal to the flow divider; and (4) medial wall distal to the flow divider. The odds of finding intraplaque hemorrhage, foam cells, necrotic cores and speckled calcification were significantly higher in quadrants with an echolucent region identified by ultrasonography (odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for intraplaque hemorrhage = 3.5 (1.4–8.6); foam cells = 4.0 (1.6–9.9); necrotic cores = 3.2 (1.2–8.4); speckled calcification = 4.0 (1.6–9.8). This preliminary analysis demonstrates the potential of these newly developed techniques for comparing ultra-sonic imaging to histology.
The relationship among binge severity, personality psychopathology, and body mass index.

Objective: To determine the relationship among binge severity, personality psy- chopathology, and body mass index (BMI) among individuals with binge eating disorder (BED). Method: Participants were 50 individuals from the community who responded to advertisements for a medication treatment study of compulsive overeating and met BED criteria. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. Results: Binge eating severity was significantly and positively correlated with BMI and personality disorder symptomatology. The frequency of binge eating episodes, but not binge size, was associated with greater levels of personality psychopathology. BMI and personality psychopathology were unrelated. Twelve percent of the participants met full criteria for avoidant personality disorder (APD) and 10% met full criteria for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Discussion: Findings suggest that eating pathology, rather than weight, is related to personality psychopathology. APD and OCPD traits may be of particular relevance when considering treatment interventions for individuals with BED. # 2003 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 34: 98-107, 2003.
Analysis of seismic magnitude differentials ( m b − M w ) across megathrust faults in the vicinity of recent great earthquakes

Spatial variations in underthrusting earthquake seismic magnitude differentials (mb − Mw) are examined for plate boundary megathrusts in the vicinity of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman (Mw 9.2), 2010 Maule, Chile (Mw 8.8), and 11 March 2011 Tohoku, Japan (Mw 9.1) great earthquakes. The magnitude differentials, corrected for ω-squared source spectrum dependence on seismic moment, provide a first-order probe of spatial variations of frequency-dependent seismic radiation. This is motivated by observations that the three great earthquakes all have coherent short-period radiation from the down-dip portions of their ruptures as imaged through back-projections, but little coherent short-period energy from shallower regions where large coseismic slip occurred. While there is substantial scatter in the magnitude measures, all three regions display some increase in relative strength of short-period seismic waves with depth, with the pattern being strongest for Sumatra and Japan where the deeper portion of the seismogenic zone is below the overriding crust. Other regions such as the Kuril Islands, Aleutians, Peru, and Southern Sumatra/Sumba show little, if any, depth pattern in the magnitude differentials. Variation in material and frictional properties over particularly wide seismogenic megathrusts likely produce the depth-dependence observed in both mb−Mw residuals and great earthquake seismic radiation.
Statistical analysis and yield optimization in practical RF and microwave designs

This presentation provides a historical perspective of the advances in statistical design methodologies for microwave design tools. We focus on some of the early efforts by John Bandler to turn his research advances into practical results. We describe the formulation of the yield optimization problem, in particular the powerful one-sided l 1 objective function. We discuss modeling requirements to properly account for statistical variations in IC manufacturing. We also describe applications of yield sensitivities and design of experiments (DOE) as well as a recent technique for fast CMOS mismatch analysis.
Myogenic Induction of Aligned Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheets by Culture on Thermally Responsive Electrospun Nanofibers

Exploration of artificial, nanometer-scale features to mimic natural matrices has revealed a powerful influence of nano-topography over cellular behavior. In this study, aligned nanofibers composed of thermally responsive hydroxybutyl chitosan were electrospun to create a robust scaffold for the production of aligned cell sheets. With a median fiber diameter of 436 nm, fiber alignment created repetitively spaced nanometer-scale topographical features on the scaffold surface. When cultured on these surfaces, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) showed alignment and elongation in both cell body and nucleus. In addition to morphological changes, topographical features induced expression of genes indicative of myogenic induction of hMSC cultured in proliferative, non-differentiating medium. Thermal reversibility of the fibers allows for the dissolution of the polymer from the cell/scaffold construct without disruption of cytoskeletal structure and cell–cell interactions. For cell-based regenerative medicine applications, thermally reversible nanofibers can thus produce polymer-free cell layers engineered with exposure to nano-topographical cues.
Effects of membership functions on fuzzy signal detection

Fuzzy logic can be used to construct signal detection systems that, unlike Bayesian classifiers, can explicitly describe the degree of uncertainty in the detection decision. Use of piece-wise linear membership functions produced a detector with a small number (approximately 25%) of waveforms classified as uncertain and corresponding decreases in the number of waveforms correctly and incorrectly classified as signal-absent or signal-present (compared to a Bayesian detector). Detection performance was relatively insensitive to the parameters used for the membership function, as long as it was piece-wise linear. These results are in contrast to those found for continuous nonlinear membership functions. In the latter case, over 60% of the waveforms were classified as uncertain. The number of classification errors was reduced to almost zero, but performance was very sensitive to the parameters used for the membership function. In both cases, approximately one-third of the waveforms classified as uncertain were waveforms that were incorrectly classified by the Bayesian detector, and the remaining two-thirds were waveforms that were correctly classified by the Bayesian detector. >
Revisiting sequential pattern hiding to enhance utility

Sequence datasets are encountered in a plethora of applications spanning from web usage analysis to healthcare studies and ubiquitous computing. Disseminating such datasets offers remarkable opportunities for discovering interesting knowledge patterns, but may lead to serious privacy violations if sensitive patterns, such as business secrets, are disclosed. In this work, we consider how to sanitize data to prevent the disclosure of sensitive patterns during sequential pattern mining, while ensuring that the nonsensitive patterns can still be discovered. First, we re-define the problem of sequential pattern hiding to capture the information loss incurred by sanitization in terms of both events' modification (distortion) and lost nonsensitive knowledge patterns (side-effects). Second, we model sequences as graphs and propose two algorithms to solve the problem by operating on the graphs. The first algorithm attempts to sanitize data with minimal distortion, whereas the second focuses on reducing the side-effects. Extensive experiments show that our algorithms outperform the existing solution in terms of data distortion and side-effects and are more efficient.
Intraclass Correlation Estimates in a School-based Smoking Prevention Study Outcome and Mediating Variables, by Sex and Ethnicity

Most school-based smoking prevention studies employ designs in which schools or classrooms are assigned to different treatment conditions while observations are made on individual students. This design requires that the treatment effect be assessed against the between-school variance. However, the between-school variance is usually larger than the variance that would be obtained if students were individually randomized to different conditions. Consequently, the power of the test for a treatment effect is reduced, and it becomes difficult to detect important treatment effects. To assess the potential loss of power or to calculate appropriate sample sizes, investigators need good estimates of the intraclass correlations for the variables of interest. The authors calculated intraclass correlations for some common outcome variables in a school-based smoking prevention study, using a three-level model-i.e., students nested within classrooms and classrooms nested within schools. The authors present the intraclass correlation estimates for the entire data set, as well as separately by sex and ethnicity. They also illustrate the use of these estimates in the planning of future studies.
Design and measurement of a circularly polarized Ka-band reflectarray antenna

Reflectarray antennas are composed of phased elements to mimic conventional curved reflectors. An important step of the reflectarray antenna design is the selection of array elements, whose performance strongly determines the system behavior. This paper compares the bandwidth, fabrication tolerance, and design flexibility characteristics of several types of elements for Ka-band operation. Based on this investigation, a Ka-band circularly polarized reflectarray antenna is designed and a prototype is fabricated and measured in a planar near field measurement system. This designed antenna provides a possible choice for the sub-array of a recently developed single-layer multi-band reflectarray antenna.
Deficient Event-Related Theta Oscillations in Individuals at Risk for Alcoholism: A Study of Reward Processing and Impulsivity Features

Author(s): Kamarajan, Chella; Pandey, Ashwini K; Chorlian, David B; Manz, Niklas; Stimus, Arthur T; Anokhin, Andrey P; Bauer, Lance O; Kuperman, Samuel; Kramer, John; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Schuckit, Marc A; Hesselbrock, Victor M; Porjesz, Bernice | Abstract: BackgroundIndividuals at high risk to develop alcoholism often manifest neurocognitive deficits as well as increased impulsivity. Event-related oscillations (EROs) have been used to effectively measure brain (dys)function during cognitive tasks in individuals with alcoholism and related disorders and in those at risk to develop these disorders. The current study examines ERO theta power during reward processing as well as impulsivity in adolescent and young adult subjects at high risk for alcoholism.MethodsEROs were recorded during a monetary gambling task (MGT) in 12-25 years old participants (N = 1821; males = 48%) from high risk alcoholic families (HR, N = 1534) and comparison low risk community families (LR, N = 287) from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Impulsivity scores and prevalence of externalizing diagnoses were also compared between LR and HR groups.ResultsHR offspring showed lower theta power and decreased current source density (CSD) activity than LR offspring during loss and gain conditions. Younger males had higher theta power than younger females in both groups, while the older HR females showed more theta power than older HR males. Younger subjects showed higher theta power than older subjects in each comparison. Differences in topography (i.e., frontalization) between groups were also observed. Further, HR subjects across gender had higher impulsivity scores and increased prevalence of externalizing disorders compared to LR subjects.ConclusionsAs theta power during reward processing is found to be lower not only in alcoholics, but also in HR subjects, it is proposed that reduced reward-related theta power, in addition to impulsivity and externalizing features, may be related in a predisposition to develop alcoholism and related disorders.
Teaching semaphores using... semaphores

The word "semaphore" describes both a structure used in computing to manage concurrency and a signal used by trains and naval vessels to transmit information and prevent collisions. In this paper, we present a series of activities which help students build intuition about concurrency by managing "railway semaphores" using an open source train simulation game. The increasing importance of multi-core computers and computing clusters makes concurrency an especially important topic in both operating systems and systems programming courses. Students often struggle to understand semaphores and concurrency problems. One reason for this is that these subjects are often presented as abstract mathematical objects which are hard to visualize. Using simulation to make these ideas more concrete can improve understanding and increase engagement in the course.
Probiotics in Foods and Supplements

The number of commercially marketed probiotic products in the USA has increased dramatically. There is a paucity of information regarding the dosage and viability of the different probiotic strains and products. This chapter will provide a practical overview of the different probiotic preparations available to clinicians.
Testing Beckers Efficient Marriage Market Hypothesis And Its Implications For Spouse Selection And Marital Transfers In India

This paper constructs an empirical model of spouse selection based on Becker’s efficient marriage market hypothesis to examine how equilibrium sorting takes place in marriage markets in India. It finds that education of the groom and age of the bride has the largest effect on matching behavior in India. More importantly, it finds that marital transfers from brides and their families to grooms and their families increase the likelihood of women marrying men of similar type.
The Effects of Portfolio Purchasing on Scientific Subject Collections

A citation analysis was conducted to understand how the purchase of journal portfolios supports the research of faculty in the life, medical, physical and applied sciences and influences collections at The Ohio State University. Of the 253,604 citations from 6,815 articles reviewed, faculty cited 2,407 journal titles ten or more times. Results indicated that less than 50 percent of the titles listed for faculty in the Colleges of Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine were acquired through a portfolio. A discussion questioning the value of the portfolio purchase follows, with the author concluding that journal portfolios are contributing to the normalization of library collections.
Isoagglutinin Titers in Serum Disease, in Leukemias, in Infectious Mononucleosis, and after Blood Transfusions

The purpose of this presentation is to report: (a) the finding of very high titers of isoagglutinins in patients with horse serum disease, (b) the finding of very low titers in patients with chronic leukemias, (c) the failure to influence the titer of isoagglutinins by the introduction of large quantities of blood as well as by removal of similar quantities. To provide standards of comparison, the titers of isoagglutinins were studied in a series of 517 persons.
Differential Receptor Tyrosine Kinase PET Imaging for Therapeutic Guidance

1413 Objectives Aims of this study were 1) to investigate the effect of extravasation on tumoral time activity curve according to the extravasated amount in animal xenograft tumor model on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and 2) to find the temporal change of tumoral standardized uptake value (SUV) according to the extravasated amount in human oncologic FDG PET. Methods For animal experiment, FDG extravasations at tails were done in HCT116 bearing mice xenograft tumor model making 3 groups (no extravasation, 40% extravasation, 80% extravasation, each n=5). Dynamic animal PET scans were done for two hours. Time activity curves were obtained for extravasation site and tumors. For human PET, which were done 1 hour after FDG injection, following scans were included: 1) patient who had undergone both whole body and subsequent additional regional scans, 2) entire extravasated activity included in the whole body scan, 3) lesion included on both whole body and additional regional scan, and 4) lesion was either biopsy proven or clinically suspected for malignancy. SUVs of tumor (both on whole body and additional PET images) and extravasation site were recorded. Results In animal experiment, times to reach a plateau at tumor were not different between 3 extravasation groups. Times to reach a minimum at extravasation site were not different between 3 extravasation groups, either. However, tumoral mean activity and activity at the extravasation site showed negative correlation 1 hour after injection. In human PET, 22 cases were enrolled (M:F=14:8, age: 70.8±9.2 yrs). SUV changes between whole body and additional PET images did not show significant correlation with interval between injection and whole body scan start time, interval between whole body scan start time and additional scan start time and activity at extravasation site. Conclusions Even extensive extravasation did not affect the tumor uptake plateau time. Thus, in routine practice, even though extravasation was identified, imaging time that is 60 minutes after FDG injection needs not to be modified. However, tumor SUV itself can be underestimated in case of extravasation.
Effects of Processing Parameters on Zinc Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Single Solution Deposition

Zinc oxide thin films were prepared via the sol-gel spin-coating method with the use of a spin processor. The film’s annealing parameters were varied to study their impact on the final film morphology and electrical properties. Characterization of the structural properties of the samples was carried on a X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy. Electrical characterization was obtained with the use of a four point probe. Optical characterization of the samples was carried on a UV-Vis-NIR Spectrophotometer. Samples annealed under a cover are observed to have a higher transmission percentage on the visible light range while having a very small grain size and small relative resistivity. Samples annealed under standard atmospheric conditions show a larger grain size and resistivity, and correlated to it, a smaller transmission percentage. Samples annealed under vacuum prove to have a much more reduced optical, electrical, and structural properties when compared to the rest of the samples.
Skin Window Studies of the Acute Inflammatory Responses of Neutropenic Patients

The acute inflammatory responses of three cyclic neutropenic and 15 chronic neutropenic patients were studied with the Rebuck skin window technique. The neutrophil responses at 3 and 5 hr after initiation of the inflammation were roughly proportional to the blood neutrophil counts. Cyclic neutropenics in their neutropenic phase and severe chronic neutropenics both showed normal mononuclear cell responses. These observations indicate that neutrophil accumulation at an inflammatory site is not necessary to initiate the mononuclear cell response as previously postulated. It is further suggested that in these patients with decreased neutrophils but normal monocyte counts the monocytes play a vital role in preventing serious infections.
Hepatobiliary disease in inflammatory bowel disease

PSC is the most common and most important hepatobiliary disease seen in association with IBD. Approximately 5% of all patients with CUC have PSC, and most patients with PSC ultimately develop IBD, usually CUC. PSC and CUC appear to be associated diseases-one does not cause the other, but common pathogenic mechanisms are likely involved. PSC alone does not differ from PSC with IBD with regard to clinical, biochemical, cholangiographic, and hepatic histologic features. There is an overlap syndrome of CAH and PSC in patients with CUC suggesting that patients with CAH and CUC should have a cholangiogram. Colectomy in patients with PSC and CUC does not influence the PSC and, if done for colitic indications, should be accompanied by an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Serologic markers are being identified, which are frequently found in PSC with or without CUC, including markers for the dreaded complication of cholangiocarcinoma. Unfortunately, patients with PSC and CUC are doubly at risk for malignancies of the colon and biliary system. Medical therapies are being assessed that may beneficially affect both PSC and CUC, and liver transplantation is life-saving for patients with advanced PSC. Although CAH and gallstones are also found in association with IBD, they are much less common and of considerably less clinical importance than PSC associated with IBD.
Ineffectiveness of Adjunctive Topiramate in Infants with Refractory Partial Seizures

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, international study of topiramate in 149 infants aged 1-24 months (mean age 12 months) with refractory partial-onset seizures is reported from Seattle Children’s Hospital, WA.
Product introduction of GaAs multiplex ICs in a Gb/s fiber link transmission system

A successful application of GaAs MSI standard-cell ICs (integrated circuits) has been demonstrated in a lightwave transmission system that has been in production for well over a year. Specifically, a two-chip GaAs chip set was designed, modified, and validated for operation in a lightwave transmission system over the commercial equipment temperature range of 0-70 degrees C. One IC is used as a 12:1 multiplexer and retime element in a 1.13-Gb/s optical transmitter, while the second contains a data-slicer, clock recovery phase detector, and 1:12 demultiplexer for the companion 1.13-Gb/s optical receiver. The author presents a case study of the program-related experiences of designing and integrating GaAs circuits into a production system. An overview of the program timing and scheduling, design analysis and reviews, relevant design cycle times, simulation checkpoints, and the relationship of system requirements to device partitioning is given. >
Post-Hurricane Successional Dynamics in Abundance and Diversity of Canopy Arthropods in a Tropical Rainforest.

We quantified long-term successional trajectories of canopy arthropods on six tree species in a tropical rainforest ecosystem in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico that experienced repeated hurricane-induced disturbances during the 19-yr study (1991-2009). We expected: 1) differential performances of arthropod species to result in taxon- or guild-specific responses; 2) differences in initial conditions to result in distinct successional responses to each hurricane; and 3) the legacy of hurricane-created gaps to persist despite subsequent disturbances. At least one significant effect of gap, time after hurricane, or their interaction occurred for 53 of 116 analyses of taxon abundance, 31 of 84 analyses of guild abundance, and 21 of 60 analyses of biodiversity (e.g., richness, evenness, dominance, and rarity). Significant responses were ∼60% more common for time after hurricane than for gap creation, indicating that temporal changes in habitat during recovery were of primary importance. Both increases and decreases in abundance or diversity occurred in response to each factor. Guild-level responses were probably driven by changes in the abundance of resources on which they rely. For example, detritivores were most abundant soon after hurricanes when litter resources were elevated, whereas sap-suckers were most abundant in gaps where new foliage growth was the greatest. The legacy of canopy gaps created by Hurricane Hugo persisted for at least 19 yr, despite droughts and other hurricanes of various intensities that caused forest damage. This reinforces the need to consider historical legacies when seeking to understand responses to disturbance.
The Emerging Neurobiology of Dissociative States

Sensory perception often appears to be a fixed process that produces an exact transcription of the world. This view conflicts with the increasingly well-characterized distortions in perception, identity, and memory that are commonplace in everyday life (Krystal et al., 1995; Ray 1996). Generally, modest levels of stress distort perception in a manner that optimizes information processing. For example, stress may enhance the focusing of attention and the efficiency of several cognitive processes at the expense of reduced processing of peripheral stimuli in the environment. As stress becomes extreme, gross perceptual distortions emerge, including illusions and hallucinations. These perceptual alterations may occur in association with identity-related disturbances such as derealization and depersonalization. Equally profound perceptual alterations take place as people fall asleep or undergo prolonged sensory deprivation.
Does race play a role in invasive procedure treatments?: an initial analysis

This study applies machine learning to a popular inpatient data set to identify whether black patients are treated differently than other patients in the invasive heart treatment decision. We use reverse machine learning to predict patient race using treatment and comorbidities in a matched patient sample. Our finding is suggestive that treatment choice only moderately depends on patient race.
Overcoming the PBL Assessment Challenge: Design and Development of the Incremental Thesaurus for Assessing Causal Maps (ITACM)

Because of the lack of tools available to assess problem-solving skills, teachers often revert to more traditional instructional approaches (e.g. lecture-based, memorization) that fail to prepare learners for the complexity of dynamic work environments. To overcome this challenge, technology solutions are needed that accurately and efficiently assess complex problem-solving skills such as causal reasoning. Moreover, these tools must be valid and reliable so instructors can accurately assess student learning. This emergent report details the design and development of Incremental Thesaurus for Assessing Causal Maps. As will be described, the software offers three unique features: (a) analysis of causal map with little or no manipulation of the original file; (b) a growing repository of terms that supports efficient assessment and (c) ability to codify the level of concept complexity using the structure–behavior–function framework.
TrajViz: A Tool for Visualizing Patterns and Anomalies in Trajectory

Visualizing frequently occurring patterns and potentially unusual behaviors in trajectory can provide valuable insights into activities behind the data. In this paper, we introduce TrajViz, a motif (frequently repeated subsequences) based visualization software that detects patterns and anomalies by inducing “grammars” from discretized spatial trajectories. We consider patterns as a set of sub-trajectories with unknown lengths that are spatially similar to each other. We demonstrate that TrajViz has the capacity to help users visualize anomalies and patterns effectively.