cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ammonia-nitrogen excretion in Daphnia pulex

Ammonia-nitrogen excretion rates were measured in natural summer and cultured populations of Daphnia pulex from Silver Lake, Clay County, Minnesota, USA during 1973. The mean rate of ammonia-nitrogen excretion for the summer populations was 0.20 µg N animal−1 day−1 or 5.11 µg N mg−1 dry body weight day−1 (N = 80) measured at 15°, 20°, and 25°C. These rates appear to be temperature and weight dependent, but they are probably affected by factors other than temperature and dry body weight. Ammonia-nitrogen excretion rates of Daphnia pulex cultured on Chlamydomonas reinhardi yielded the following relationship with temperature: Log10E = (0.061) T 1.773, where E is µg N animal−1 day−1 and T is temperature °C. The ammonia-nitrogen excretion on a mg−1 dry body weight day−1 basis was related to temperature according to the following similar expression Log10E = (0.043) T + 0.153, where E is µg N mg−1 dry body weight day−1, and T is temperature °C. The length-weight relationship of Daphnia pulex for the summer populations (N = 1583) was log10W = (0.526) Log10L + 1.357, where W is weight in µg and L is length in mm.
The non-parametric statistical evaluation of precipitation chemistry sampler intercomparison data

Abstract The variability in performance of two brands of wet/dry atmospheric deposition samplers was compared for 1 year at a single site. A total of nine samplers was used. Samples were collected weekly and analyzed for pH, specific conductance, common chemical constituents and sample mass. The non-normal distribution within the data set and the non-normal distribution of residuals necessitated the application of the non-parametric Friedman test to assess the comparability of sample chemical composition and volume between and within brands of samplers. Statistically significant differences existed for most comparisons however, the test does not permit quantification of their magnitudes, except in general terms. Differences in analyzed concentrations between samplers were small.
The New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvement

The article presents a review of the book “The New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvement,” by Kiyoshi Suzaki.
From Politics to Reason of State: The Acquisition and Transformation of the Language of Politics 1250-1600

Introduction 1. The acquisition of the language of politics 2. The philosophy of the city and the political man 3. Machiavelli and the republican idea of politics 4. Francesco Guicciardini: between politics and art of the state 5. The last glimmerings of civil philosophy 6. The triumph of reason of state Epilogue Bibliography of primary and secondary sources.
Adaptive Electric Vehicle Charging Coordination on Distribution Network

Electric vehicles (EVs) with large battery charging demands may cause detrimental impact on distribution grid stability without EV charging coordination. This paper proposes an on-line adaptive EV charing scheduling (OACS) framework to optimize EV charging schedules and reduce flow limit, voltage magnitude limit, 3-phase voltage imbalance limit, and transformer capacity violations. EV user convenience is considered and EV charging cost is optimized. DC power flow based optimizations is proposed for EV charging scheduling approximation and parallel ac power flow verification is used to verify the scheduling results. Incremental feasibility improvement procedure is further proposed to correct the scheduling discrepancy between dc linear model and the ac model. Experiments are performed on a modified IEEE 34 14.7 kV distribution system with different EV penetration levels to demonstrate performance comparisons between different scheduling schemes. The result shows that our proposed OACS framework optimizes the EV charging coordination problem efficiently.
Respiratory syncytial virus vaccines for otitis media.

RSV is a high priority for vaccine development because of its propensity to cause pneumonia and bronchiolitis in the infant and young child. Since RSV infection is likely to be a substantial contributor to otitis media, a vaccine could also decrease rates of this disease. No vaccine has yet been developed but it is hoped that the availability of an RSV infectious clone will make it possible to develop a live virus vaccine for the infant and young child. Subunit RSV vaccines are being developed for previously infected persons, i.e. in older children at high risk for RSV disease and the elderly. An effective RSV vaccine for the infant and young child could markedly decrease otitis media disease.
Necrosis of the hepatopancreas in Penaeus monodon and P, stylirostris (Arthropoda, Decapoda) with red disease

The histopathology of red disease was studied in samples of Penaeus monodon from a commercial prawn farm in the Philippines and in a single pond–reared adult P. stylirostris from Hawaii. The principal lesion type observed in prawns from both locations was a marked atrophy and necrosis of the hepatopancreas that was accompanied by an intense cellular inflammatory response. Less commonly, melanized cellular inflammatory lesions were observed in the antennal gland, mandibular organ, gonads, midgut and gills. The aetiology of red disease is unknown, but because of the similarity of hepatopancreatic lesions in red disease to those observed in aflatoxicosis, mycotoxins (or other microbial toxins) present in rancid or spoiled feeds or in the detritus of organically rich ponds are suggested as its cause.
Universal Grammar and the critical age

Differences of opinion between Epstein, Flynn & Martohardjono (1996) and some commentators can be traced to different interpretations of Universal Grammar (UG) form or strategy. Potential full access to the form of linguistic universals in second language acquisition may be distinguished from access to UG strategy, but Epstein et al.'s dismissal of the Critical Age Hypothesis clouds their central argument.
An overview of anomaly detection techniques: Existing solutions and latest technological trends

As advances in networking technology help to connect the distant corners of the globe and as the Internet continues to expand its influence as a medium for communications and commerce, the threat from spammers, attackers and criminal enterprises has also grown accordingly. It is the prevalence of such threats that has made intrusion detection systems-the cyberspace's equivalent to the burglar alarm-join ranks with firewalls as one of the fundamental technologies for network security. However, today's commercially available intrusion detection systems are predominantly signature-based intrusion detection systems that are designed to detect known attacks by utilizing the signatures of those attacks. Such systems require frequent rule-base updates and signature updates, and are not capable of detecting unknown attacks. In contrast, anomaly detection systems, a subset of intrusion detection systems, model the normal system/network behavior which enables them to be extremely effective in finding and foiling both known as well as unknown or ''zero day'' attacks. While anomaly detection systems are attractive conceptually, a host of technological problems need to be overcome before they can be widely adopted. These problems include: high false alarm rate, failure to scale to gigabit speeds, etc. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of anomaly detection systems and hybrid intrusion detection systems of the recent past and present. We also discuss recent technological trends in anomaly detection and identify open problems and challenges in this area.
Isolation and culture of hepatocytes from human liver of immediate autopsy.

Human livers were removed at immediate autopsy (IA) from brain death patients within 1 h after cessation of cardiac function. Viable hepatocytes were isolated successfully from these IA livers by perfusion of an intack lobe with collagenase or by digestion of a small tissue wedge with collagenase-dispase. The yields of hepatocytes ranged from 1 to 3 × 106 cells/g liver in the five cases studied. Approximately 70 to 90% of the cells excluded trypan blue dye. In the isolated hepatocytes, 632 pmol/mg protein of cytochromep 450 and 536. pmol/mg protein cytochromeb 5 were measured. The cells attached to the dishes in 4 h and produced monolayer cultures with a high success rate. The cells maintained in primary cultures for several days and developed ultrastructural features characteristic of human hepatocytes in vivo. The cultured hepatocytes can hydroxylate benzo[a]pyrene, conjugate the metabolites, and have a benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity of 48.7 pmol/mg DNA per h, which is comparable to that of rat hepatocytes. The liver cells repaired DNA damage caused by exposures to aminofluorene and acetylaminofluorene in culture.
A Nondegenerate Kinematic Solution of a Seven-Jointed Robot Manipulator

Kinematically simple manipulators with six joints have unavoidable degenerate configurations that correspond to certain positions or orientations of the end-effector within the workspace. In these degenerate configurations, the end-effec tor of the manipulator is not capable of a motion with six independent degrees of freedom. Such a manipulator reduces the flexibility of a manufacturing system because manufac turing processes need to be planned so that positions or ori entations of the end-effector that correspond to degenerate configurations of the manipulator are not required.In this paper a nondegenerate kinematic solution is devel oped for a kinematically simple seven-jointed robot manipu lator. The solution guarantees that the manipulator is capa ble of positioning and orienting its end-effector within the workspace without ever finding itself in a degenerate configu ration. The nondegenerate kinematic solution is in closed form and is developed from well-known methods and results in three-dimension...
Multiple target tracking and classification improvement using data fusion at node level using acoustic signals

Target tracking and classification using passive acoustic signals is difficult at best as the signals are contaminated by wind noise, multi-path effects, road conditions, and are generally not deterministic. In addition, microphone characteristics, such as sensitivity, vary with the weather conditions. The problem is further compounded if there are multiple targets, especially if some are measured with higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) than the others and they share spectral information. At the U. S. Army Research Laboratory we have conducted several field experiments with a convoy of two, three, four and five vehicles traveling on different road surfaces, namely gravel, asphalt, and dirt roads. The largest convoy is comprised of two tracked vehicles and three wheeled vehicles. Two of the wheeled vehicles are heavy trucks and one is a light vehicle. We used a super-resolution direction-of-arrival estimator, specifically the minimum variance distortionless response, to compute the bearings of the targets. In order to classify the targets, we modeled the acoustic signals emanated from the targets as a set of coupled harmonics, which are related to the engine-firing rate, and subsequently used a multivariate Gaussian classifier. Independent of the classifier, we find tracking of wheeled vehicles to be intermittent as the signals from vehicles with high SNR dominate the much quieter wheeled vehicles. We used several fusion techniques to combine tracking and classification results to improve final tracking and classification estimates. We will present the improvements (or losses) made in tracking and classification of all targets. Although improvements in the estimates for tracked vehicles are not noteworthy, significant improvements are seen in the case of wheeled vehicles. We will present the fusion algorithm used.
Communication Apprehension: A Barrier to Students' Leadership, Adaptability, and Multicultural Appreciation

In today's global context, a lack of comfort in communicating with others can be an unfortunate inhibitor to success in school and work. In this study we measured the level of communication apprehe...
Chemical and heating treatments of ionic monolayer-protected clusters (IMPCs) with different surface counter anions

Abstract This paper shows an in-depth study on the chemical and thermal responses of two ionic monolayer-protected gold clusters (Oct4N+−Br- and Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs). Two IMPCs displayed completely different phase-transfer behaviors when the solutions were in contact with the aqueous solution containing N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)glycine (tiopronin). Not Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs but Oct4N+−Br-IMPCs experienced a facile phase transfer from the organic layer to the aqueous layer, which was resulted from the displacement of ionic ligands by tiopronin monolayers on the gold nanoparticle surface. When the toluene solution containing Oct4N+−Br-IMPCs was treated with the aqueous solution containing NaCl salts, the UV–vis spectrum of the solution containing Oct4N+−Br-IMPCs undertook a fast spectral evolution caused by decomposition/agglomeration of IMPCs. In contrast, Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs exhibited much higher stability against the NaCl treatments. The Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs also displayed a superior thermal stability at relatively high temperature of ∼ 110 ° C . Core size evolutions of Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs without a fast decomposition or aggregation of clusters were also observed during solid-state heating treatments at ∼150 and ∼ 200 ° C . These results support that the presence of different anions clearly affect the overall stability of ionic nanoparticles. The stronger binding property of thiosulfate anions compared to bromide anions with gold nanoparticle surfaces makes Oct4N+−O3SS-IMPCs chemically more inert and thermally more stable.
Standing balance and trunk position sense in impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)-related peripheral neuropathy

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and pre-diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) affect a large segment of the population. Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a common complication of T2DM, leading to sensory and motor deficits. While T2DM-related PN often results in balance- and mobility-related dysfunction which manifests as gait instability and falls, little is known about balance capabilities in patients who have evidence of PN related to IGT (IGT-PN). We evaluated patients with IGT-PN on commonly-used clinical balance and mobility tests as well as a new test of trunk position sense and balance impairment, trunk repositioning errors (TREs). Eight participants aged 50-72 years with IGT-PN, and eight age- and gender-matched controls underwent balance, mobility and trunk repositioning accuracy tests at a university neurology clinic and mobility research laboratory. Compared to controls, IGT-PN participants had as much as twice the magnitude of TREs and stood approximately half as long on the single leg balance test. People with IGT-PN exhibit deficits in standing balance and trunk position sense. Furthermore, there was a significant association between performance on commonly-used clinical balance and mobility tests, and electrophysiological and clinical measures of neuropathy in IGT-PN participants. Because IGT-related neuropathy represents the earliest stage of diabetic neuropathy, deficits in IGT-PN participants highlight the importance of early screening in the dysglycemic process for neuropathy and associated balance deficits.
The legal rights of children in the United States

This article identifies major developments in the legal rights of children and the social forces precipitating the shifting patterns in relationships among parents, children, and the state. The traditional autonomy of parents to have and rear their children remains protected, but the state has become more directly involved in examining financial support and health care issues concerning children. Juvenile status‐based institutions are receiving closer scrutiny and supervision by legislatures and courts in attempts to address the needs of children more fairly white respecting parental rights. Individual rights of children are being legislated or recognized by courts in limited ways in the contexts of public schools, juvenile courts, and the child welfare system.
Entrepreneurship theory, process, and practice in the 21st century

If history is the true roadmap of our future then our economic resurgence will rise from the energy and passion that continually arises from the entrepreneurial spirit inside of individuals. Why? Because it is the result of individual innovation, passion and tenacity. Whether creating the innovations from inside or outside established organisations, it is that knowledge power that fuels a market economy. The one true enduring force is entrepreneurship and the innovation it creates. However, that same force surges in the growing field of entrepreneurship education. In the midst of this huge expansion of entrepreneurship education we have witnessed significant accomplishments in entrepreneurship theory, process, and practice. This article reviews all three components and highlights some of the critical questions that confront entrepreneurship education in the 21st century and how entrepreneurship educators can be the solutions to those questions.
Modeling Transport of a Degradable Chemical and Its Metabolites in the Unsaturated Zone

A mathematical model for transport and transformation of a pesticide and its metabolites in the soil is presented. Mechanisms for convective-transport, hydrodynamic dispersion, ionic exchange, biological degradation, and hydrolysis are accounted for in the mathematical formulation. The major assumptions used in developing the model include: flow in the soil is in the vertical direction and one- dimensional, soil system is homogeneous and isotropic, volumetric water content and Darcy's flux are constant in time and space, and a linear reversible Freundlich isotherm describes the concentrations in the aqueous and adsorbed phases. Based on the outlined assumptions and Laplace transform techniques, analytical solutions for the concentrations of the parent material and its metabolites are presented. The applicability and potential of the model are demonstrated by predicting the transport and transformation of aldicarb (a nematicide of agricultural significance) and its metabolite, aldicarb sulfoxide, in the soil.
Fluctuating Shear Stress Calibration Method Using a Channel Flow

An oscillating plate test facility was designed for the unsteady calibration of a skin-friction shear stress sensor in a liquid. The facility is comprised of a test section with dimensions of 5 mm by 60 mm by 300 mm, with a 48 mm by 25 mm oscillating plate in one wall. The oscillating plate is actuated by an electric motor coupled with an 18-lobed sinusoidal path cam and follower system, which allows oscillation of 1 mm amplitude at frequencies between 10 and 1000 Hz. Glycerin is used as the working fluid. Three actuator configurations are designed and built, and acceleration data is taken for the motion of each. In addition to the test facility design, a full three-dimensional solution to the flow velocity and shear stress inside the test facility is presented. This solution is based on a modification to Stokes' second problem; finite length and width of the oscillating plate are assumed. The work is robust enough that it is theoretically possible to start from a given shear stress distribution and back-calculate a plate configuration and motion description. A one-dimensional unsteady heat transfer solution is also described in detail herein. This solution accounts for the heat generated by the plate oscillation and its effects on glycerin viscosity. Complete comparison between the theoretical and experimental shear stresses was not achieved because of excessive vibrations from all three oscillating plate actuators. Acoustic waves are presented as possible reasons for the excess forces acting on the calibration device. Further work is required to verify that the shear stress generated by the oscillating plate can be fully modeled by the theoretical solution.
Bipolaron model of room temperature superconductivity for oxidized polypropylene

Abstract In this paper, a superconductivity mechanism—Bipolaron model for oxidized polypropylene at room temperature—is proposed. The results agree with the experiments. The calculation of critical temperature is T c =348 K. It also coincides with the prediction T c ∼300–400 K by Ginzburg [V.L. Ginzburg, Physics—Uspekhi 43 (6) (2000) 573–583].
Ethnic Differences in the Relationship between Pericardial Adipose Tissue and Coronary Artery Calcified Plaque: African-American-Diabetes Heart Study

Background: Calcified atherosclerotic plaque (CP) is less prevalent and less severe in African-Americans (AA), relative to European Americans (EA). Because pericardial adipose tissue (PAT) is associated with CP in the neighboring coronary arteries, we explored ethnic-specific relationships between PAT and CP. Methods: PAT volume and coronary and aortic CP were measured in 561 EA and 575 AA subjects with type 2 diabetes using single and multidetector computed tomography. Generalized estimating equations with exchangeable correlation and the sandwich estimator of the variance were used to test for associations between PAT and CP. Results: Mean (sd) ages of AA and EA participants were 56.7 (9.5) and 62.0 (8.9) yr, respectively; diabetes duration was 10.5 (8.1) and 10.1 (7.3) yr; and PAT volume was 86.9 (38.6) and 131.7 (55.3) cm3/45 mm. In AA and EA participants, respectively, mean (sd) coronary CP mass scores were 803 (1,889) and 1,465 (2,847) mg calcium; and aortic CP, 5,407 (10,651) and 10,090 (15,087) mg calcium. Adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, blood pressure, height, smoking, lipid-lowering medications, C-reactive protein, albuminuria, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides, parameter estimates for the relationship between PAT and log(coronary CP+1) were 0.012 in AA (P < 0.0001) and 0.003 (P = 0.24) in EA, with a significant ethnic difference (P = 0.019). No significant relationships or ethnic differences were observed between PAT and aortic CP (P = 0.24, fully adjusted model). Conclusions: Pericardial adiposity is strongly associated with coronary atherosclerosis in AA with type 2 diabetes. Novel cardiovascular disease risk factors such as PAT may contribute to ethnic disparities in susceptibility to development of coronary atherosclerosis.
Lactic Bulk Culture System Utilizing a Whey-Based Bacteriophage Inhibitory Medium and pH Control. I. Applicability to American Style Cheese

Abstract Fresh Cheddar cheese whey was fortified with 1.0% monoammonium phosphate, 1.0% disodium phosphate, and .32% yeast extract, then heated 45 min at 89 C. The phosphate-treated whey medium was compared with unmodified whey, reconstituted pretested nonfat dry milk, and a commercial bacteriophage inhibitory medium. The phosphate whey medium inhibited bacteriophage and stimulated culture growth. To improve culture activity the medium was reformulated, the phosphate content reduced, and the bulk culture system provided with pH control. When coupled with anhydrous ammonia injection to maintain pH 6.0, the medium produced a lactic streptococcus culture with activity superior to that of conventional bacteriophage inhibitory or milk media. Amounts required for inoculation of Monterey cheese milk were 20 to 33% of the requirements for whole milk culture. No differences in cheese yields were detected. Direct inoculation of bulk substrate with freeze-dried seed cultures, bypassing intermediates, was successful. An ammonia injection recorder tracing provided cheese makers with a continuous history of culture activity and guidelines for required inocula adjustments. Culture activity remained nearly constant for a longer time than in conventional cultures. Differential pH electrode systems with built-in transmitters were remarkably stable even though subjected to normal heating and cooling of the substrate.
Stages in the lives of organizations

Organizations go through certain stages and at each stage, their needs for success are different. A four-stage model is presented, including a pendulum model in which the organization swings back and forth, driven by the two opposing forces of centralization and decentralization.
Differentiation-based models of forgivingness, mental health and social justice commitment: Mediator effects for differentiation of self and humility

The present study tested theoretical models of the forgivingness – well-being association with depression symptoms and social justice commitment as outcome measures and with differentiation of self (DoS) and dispositional humility as mediators. In doing so, we addressed the need to explicitly frame the study of virtues in a relational view of the self and extended the research on forgivingness and humility that moves beyond a focus on personal benefit and attends to the ways in which virtues also benefit other persons. The sample consisted of 213 graduate students from a religiously-affiliated university who completed a questionnaire of self-report measures. Results supported the proposed models as significant specific indirect effects were observed through DoS and humility. The findings support a self-regulating mechanism, as measured by DoS and dispositional humility, for the protective influence of forgivingness on depression symptoms and the promotive influence of forgivingness on prosocial relating.
The role of dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran precursors in the formation of tetrachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/-furans during bleaching

The position of the theoretical line describing dioxins control technology is dependent upon the concentration of dioxins precursors in brownstock. The tolerance of the bleaching process to precursor contamination increases as chlorine dioxide substitution increases to the extent that when 100% substitution is used, at the highest levels of precursor contamination studied, 2378-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin is non-detectable in pulp, and 2378-tetrachlorodibenzofuran is detectable but only at background laboratory levels.
Effect of Operating Variables on the Gas Holdup in a Large-Scale Slurry Bubble Column Reactor Operating with an Organic Liquid Mixture

The effects of gas velocity, system pressure, and catalyst loading on gas holdup of H2, N2, CO, and CH4 in an organic mixture of hexanes were investigated in a 0.316 m diameter, 2.8 m height slurry bubble column reactor operating with a commercial Fischer−Tropsch iron-based catalyst. The data were obtained in the churn-turbulent flow regime with catalyst loading up to 50 wt % and a system pressure up to 8 bar. The hydrostatic pressure head method and the dynamic gas disengagement technique were employed to obtain the gas holdup profile and the values corresponding to different gas bubble sizes in the reactor. The experimental data showed that the gas holdup consists mainly of two classes of gas bubbles, small and large. The gas holdup data for the gases used were found to increase with pressure and superficial gas velocity due to the increase of the volume fraction of the small and large gas bubbles, respectively. The increase of catalyst loading, however, appeared to decrease the gas holdup values, due t...
Attention in bisensory simultaneous short-term memory

Subjects were presented with simultaneously visual and auditory material. They were instructed to attend to only one modality but were required to recall materials from both modalities, one before the other. Results supported a previous suggestion that visual recall is minimum under conditions of simultaneous presentation. That is, in situations where S is allowed to divide his attention between both inputs, visual recall was no greater than when his attention was directed away from visual input and to auditory input. It was noted that this difference in recall between the two modalities was limited to verbal material, as other data indicate the opposite effect for nonverbal material.
Phase-change problems with variable surface temperatures.

Simplified procedures are described for the approximate solution of heat-transfer problems with phase change for time-dependent surface temperatures. For constant surface temperature, the specified problem reduces to classical form and may be solved analytically by the method of Neumann. Comparisons between our approximate solutions and numerical solutions, for time-independent and for time-dependent surface temperatures, show that our techniques yield estimates for the rate of movement of the interface between the phases which become progressively better as the complexity of the simplified approximation is increased. I. Outline of Theoretical Considerations N ONSTEADY calculations dealing with high-temperature ablation may be formulated either as problems with specified heat flux or as problems in which the surface temperature is a known (measured) function of the time. Both types of problems are generally not solvable analytically. Furthermore, when the nonsteady heat-transfer problems are coupled to the (steady) external flow, a complex iteration to establish matching of the interface may be required for the time-dependent heat transfer. In problems of this type, it may be justified to utilize simplified approximations in order to reduce the complexity of the required (numerical) analysis. In this paper, we consider the development of simplified, approximate procedures for a classical phase-change problem, namely, that of heat transfer to a system with phase change in which the surface temperature is an arbitrary function of the time. The one-dimensional problem involving surface heating and a phase change is described schematically by the diagram sketched in Fig. 1. In the notation of Carslaw and Jaeger,1 we let vi(x, t) represent the temperature profile of phase 1 and v%(x, t) that of phase 2. Here x denotes the linear distance, and t is the time; the constant thermal diffusivities are identified as KI and /c2, respectively, whereas the constant thermal conductivities are KI and K2. The heat absorbed or liberated, per unit mass of material, at the phase boundary is =FL, respectively; the density is assumed to be the same for both phases and is denoted by p. Hence, the enthalpy increment per unit volume for the phase change becomes =Fl/p. As is fully discussed in Ref. 1, the requisite boundary-value problem is described by the following differential equations, boundary conditions, and interface conditions:
"Balanced" orbital decompression for severe Graves' orbitopathy: technique with treatment algorithm.

Abstract Background: Graves' orbitopathy can produce proptosis, compressive optic neuropathy, and extraocular motility abnormalities; symptoms result from an increase in orbital volume due to expansion of intraorbital fat, with or without extraocular muscle involvement. Study Design: We conducted a chart review of patients who underwent orbital decompression to treat Graves' orbitopathy. Twenty-two orbits (13 patients) underwent orbital bone decompression, of which 17 orbits (9 patients) underwent the combined medial and lateral ″balanced” decompression. Results: All patients had significant improvement with an average decrease in proptosis of 5.9 mm in the balanced decompression group. Restoration of normal optic nerve function was achieved in all patients with compressive optic neuropathy. Diplopia was noted in 4 patients (30.7%) preoperatively. Two patients had new postoperative diplopia (15.35%). Conclusion: In our experience, ″balanced” decompression results in a reduction of proptosis and improved optic nerve function and has a low incidence of complications. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2003;128:228-35.)
Theory of Coexisting Charge- and Spin-Density Waves in ( TMTTF ) 2 B r , ( TMTSF ) 2 PF 6 , and α − ( BEDT − TTF ) 2 M Hg ( SCN ) 4

Recent experiments indicate that the spin-density waves (SDWs) in (TMTTF)_2Br, (TMTSF)_2PF_6 and alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2MHg(SCN)_4 are highly unconventional and coexist with charge-density waves (CDWs). We present a microscopic theory of this unusual CDW-SDW coexistence. A complete understanding requires the explicit inclusion of strong Coulomb interactions, lattice discreteness, the anisotropic two-dimensional nature of the lattice, and the correct bandfilling within the starting Hamiltonian.
Visualization at cryogenic temperatures using a glass fiber bundle

Abstract A visualization method is being used to investigate features of nucleate boiling in narrow channels of liquid nitrogen. The information regarding bubble size, departure frequency, bubble spacing, and velocity will be used to develop an analytical model for critical heat flux (CHF) – especially its dependence in narrow channels on inclination angle and gap spacing. We report on the use of a glass fiber bundle combined with two different photographic and illumination techniques to study the desired bubble characteristics. The special considerations encountered with this approach at liquid nitrogen temperature are highlighted, including the use of submerged light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for illumination.
Synthetic studies on arene-olefin cycloadditions-VIII. Total syntheses of (±)-silphiperfol-6-ene, (±)-7 α H-silphiperfol-5-ene and (±)-7 β H-silphiperfol-5-ene☆

Abstract Total syntheses of (±)-silphiperfol-6-ene, (±)-7 α H-silphiperfol-5-ene and (±)-7 β H-silphiperfol-5-ene are described in which a new element of stereoinduction in arene-olefin meta cycloadditions was tested and a new method for cycloadduct transformation was developed.
A Field Investigation Into the Limits of High-Density Air-Cooling

In this paper we report on a field investigation into airflow management challenges in high density data centers. This field investigation has also served to validate laboratory investigations into high density air cooling issues. In data centers with significant power consumption, and consequently high cooling loads per rack, high volumes of room airflow are required to meet server cooling airflow requirements. These volumes of air can be difficult to deliver in raised floor hot aisle / cold aisle layouts. The velocity of the airflow is such that it creates a negative pressure near the bottom of the rack. This negative pressure entrains air from under and behind the rack, causing recirculation and warmer air being provided to the servers at the base of the rack. This can cause operational problems and server performance impacts. This phenomenon has been demonstrated in previous papers reporting on test data using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) techniques. The current work validates those studies by looking at airflow, infrared thermography, and actual IT performance while the under rack recirculation flows are occurring. Additionally, we demonstrate significant improvement by employing rigorous airflow management practices. We also discuss the limitations of current CFD modeling, the majority of which does not have sufficient grid-wise resolution to capture the problem. Further we discuss typical operational conditions that have suppressed the problem (or perhaps the awareness of) to date. Finally, the paper recommends best practices to mitigate the problem in high density data centers.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
On updating the inverse of the Jacobian matrix

Abstract An algorithm is given for updating the inverse of a matrix which has changed by only a few elements. This algorithm has been found to reduce the computing time required to calculate the inverse of the Jacobian matrix during the solution of ordinary differential equations. A procedure for implementing this algorithm in existing computer code is presented.
The Role of Early Maturation, Perceived Popularity, and Rumors in the Emergence of Internalizing Symptoms Among Adolescent Girls

Despite the widely reported link between early pubertal timing and internalizing symptoms among girls, less is known about the peer reputation of earlier maturing girls. The current study assesses whether early maturation is associated with perceived popularity and/or rumors, and whether these reputational factors help account for earlier maturing girls’ vulnerability to emotional distress. Drawing on three waves of data collected from an ethnically diverse sample of middle school girls (n = 912), hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that more advanced development at the start of middle school predicted peer- and teacher-reported popularity as well as increased risk of being targeted for rumors. Mediation analyses suggested that popularity among boys can put earlier developing girls at risk for rumors. Finally, rumors acted as a partial mechanism through which early maturation was associated with subsequent internalizing symptoms. Knowledge of the peer mechanisms putting earlier developing girls at risk for psychosocial maladjustment can inform intervention and prevention efforts aimed at improving adolescent well-being.
One electron oxidation potential as a predictor of rate constants of N-containing compounds with carbonate radical and triplet excited state organic matter

Photo-generated transient species, such as the carbonate radical and triplet excited state natural organic matter, mediate the oxidation of pollutants in various sunlit or artificially irradiated systems. In this work, one-electron oxidation potentials for 70 nitrogen-containing compounds were computed, and literature data were used to develop quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSARs) for prediction of the second order reaction rate constants with these two oxidants. For carbonate radical, separate QSARs were necessary for compounds with and without resonance stabilization of the resulting radical, and predicted rate constants were, on average, within a factor of three of experimental values. With the limited data set available, results suggest that one-electron oxidation potential is also a viable descriptor variable for predictions of rate constants with triplet excited states.
Formative evaluation of a pediatric digital library's educational content and comparison to national curricular standards.

Background: U.S. medical education has undergone numerous regulatory changes; to maintain educational consistency and quality, these changes must be met with innovative educational methods.Aim: A formative evaluation of a pediatric digital library (PDL) documenting its content and comparing it to 3 national medical education curricula was performed.Methods: The PDL's weekly cases are written using templates based on specific educational constructs. Cases (N = 150) were evaluated in November 2007. Data was tabulated by age group, specialty, symptom/presentation and disease/problem. Curriculum maps were developed from 3 national curricula and topics were mapped to one or more equivalent PDL topics. Data was tabulated for total national curriculum topics, mapped PDL topics and weekly cases.Results: The cases covered 100% of all pediatric age groups (N = 9) and specialties (N = 42). They covered 85% of the symptoms/problems (N = 127) and 37.2% of the diseases/problems (N = 707). Although the PDL was not expli...
Failure of Cricopharyngeal Myotomy to Improve Dysphagia Following Head and Neck Cancer Surgery

Objective To determine whether cricopharyngeal myotomy can improve dysphagia associated with head and neck cancer surgery. Design Prospective, randomized, multicenter trial. Setting Twelve clinical sites across the United States. Patients Between 1989 and 1994, 125 patients undergoing combined modality therapy for head and neck cancer, including resection of the tongue base or supraglottic larynx, were prospectively entered into the trial. Intervention Cricopharyngeal myotomy on a randomized basis. Main Outcome Measures Videofluoroscopic examination to determine oropharyngeal swallowing efficiency, which is defined as the ratio of percentage of the bolus swallowed to total swallowing time using 3 different bolus consistencies. Results No significant difference in oropharyngeal swallowing efficiency between myotomy vs no myotomy was seen at 6 months of follow-up regardless of bolus consistency. Conclusions In this prospective test of cricopharyngeal myotomy, the procedure fails to significantly improve dysphagia associated with head and neck cancer surgery. The efficacy of this surgical procedure in other disease entities should also be rigorously explored.
GENEVA SMITHERMAN , Word from the mother: Language and African Americans

Geneva Smitherman, Word from the mother: Language and African Americans. New York: Routledge, 2006. Pp. xiii, 172. Hb $80.00.Intended for specialists and general readers alike, this book draws upon linguistics and cultural studies to describe African American Language (AAL). Smitherman details the linguistic, cultural, and social forces AAL is both embedded in and embeds.
Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: 2014 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America

A panel of national experts was convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to update the 2005 guidelines for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). The panel's recommendations were developed to be concordant with the recently published IDSA guidelines for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The focus of this guideline is the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of diverse SSTIs ranging from minor superficial infections to life-threatening infections such as necrotizing fasciitis. In addition, because of an increasing number of immunocompromised hosts worldwide, the guideline addresses the wide array of SSTIs that occur in this population. These guidelines emphasize the importance of clinical skills in promptly diagnosing SSTIs, identifying the pathogen, and administering effective treatments in a timely fashion.
Learning as a context for differences and differences as a context for learning

In this paper we describe how we, as two trainers with multiple differences, engaged with a group of trainees in a process of deconstructing the differences between the participants in the training group, using the acronym Social GRRAACCEESS as a heuristic. We will explore how these differences reflexively influenced the process of learning, through teaching, training and supervision, within the group.
Transition state analysis of model and enzymatic prenylation reactions

To obtain a transition state (TS) structure for an enzyme-catalyzed prenylation reaction, SN1 and SN2 model substitution reactions with dimethylallyl chloride were first studied. 13C Kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) for the model reactions were measured by a natural abundance NMR method and used to validate the computational methods that would be used in the subsequent determination of the enzymatic TS structure. Using a primary 13C KIE and a secondary 2H KIE measured via mass spectrometry, a TS structure for the enzyme-catalyzed reaction was computed; a density functional level of electronic structure theory using the mPW1N functional in combination with the 6-31+G(d) basis set was employed for those calculations. That structure has a C−O bond length of 1.69 A and a C−S bond length of 3.70 A. While the former bond length is similar to that for a nonenzymatic SN2 reaction, the latter is considerably (0.90 A) longer, indicating that the enzyme effects catalysis via an “exploded” TS structure.
Living Without Free Will: Introduction: Hard incompatibilism

In recent decades, with advances in psychology, sociology, and neuroscience, the notion that certain patterns of human behavior may ultimately be due to factors beyond our control has become a serious cultural concern. In our society, the possibility that criminal behavior, for example, may be caused by influences in upbringing or by abnormal features of the brain is very much a live hypothesis. Furthermore, many people agree that criminals cannot be blameworthy for actions and tendencies produced in this way. At the same time, most assume that even if criminal actions frequently have this sort of causal history, ordinary actions are not similarly generated, but rather are freely chosen, and we can be praiseworthy or blameworthy for them. A less popular and more radical claim is that factors beyond our control produce all of our actions. Since the first appearance of strategies for comprehensive explanation in ancient times, philosophers have been aware that our theories about the world can challenge our commonplace assumptions about agency in this more general way. One reaction to this stronger claim is that it would leave morality as it is, or that if any revisions must occur, they are insubstantial. But another is that we would not then be blameworthy or praiseworthy for our actions – in the philosophical idiom, we would not be morally responsible for them. I shall argue that our best scientific theories indeed have the consequence that we are not morally responsible for our actions.
Incremental Volume Rendering Algorithm for Interactive 3D Ultrasound Imaging

This paper describes a medical 3D ultrasound imaging system that incrementally acquires and visualizes a 3D volume from a series of 2D images. The system acquires the image from a conventional B-mode 2D echography scanner, whose scanhead is attached to a mechanical tracking arm with three degrees of freedom. It reconstructs a stream of 2D images with their locations and orientations into a 3D array of regularly spaced samples, to be rendered by a modified front-to-back image-order volume rendering algorithm. Visualization is done so that each incoming 2D image slice promptly affects the rendering result. This paper concentrates on the incremental volume rendering algorithm that takes advantage of the incremental scanning to reduce image generation time per each input image slice. We describe a new fast ray-clipping scheme called D-buffer algorithm that is based on the Z-buffer algorithm. It is followed by another speedup scheme called hierarchical ray caching, and a method to efficiently integrate geometric objects with volume data in image space.
Treatment of Hyperemesis Gravidarum With Nasogastric Feeding

Hyperemesis gravidarum, an antepartem disorder characterized by severe nausea and vomiting, is usually a benign condition with a favorable outcome. Although no increase in fetal or maternal morbidity results, the disorder has deleterious effects on both nutrition and everyday life. The authors describe a treatment protocol for hyperemesis gravidarum that uses continuous infusion of an iso-osmolar tube-feeding product and their experiences with its use in 30 patients. Uniformly good symptom relief was obtained by this technique, thus avoiding the need for more invasive therapy. It is proposed that this treatment is a safe and effective means of managing severe nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy.