cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the potential to measure photosynthetic rates in C3 plants (Flaveria pringlei and Oryza sativa) by combining chlorophyll fluorescence analysis and a stomatal conductance model

The response curves of leaf photosynthesis to varying light, temperature and leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficit were measured in the C 3 plants Flaveria pringlei and Oryza saliva in normal air with a computerized open infrared gas analysis (IRGA) system, and the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, described as (1-F s /F' m ) after Genty, Briantais & Baker (1989, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 990, 87-92), was simultaneously measured with a modulated fluorometer. A model was written for rates of CO 2 fixation as a function of the true rate of O 2 evolution measured by fluorescence analysis (Jo 2 ), mesophyll conductance and intercellular CO 2 partial pressure. A second model was developed for rates of CO 2 fixation as a function of J0 2 , mesophyll conductance and stomatal conductance. In the latter case, leaf stomatal conductance was simulated using the stomatal model proposed by Leuning (1995, Plant, Cell and Environment 18, 339-355). The rates of CO 2 fixation predicted from the models were similar to rates measured by IRGA. The results indicate that there is potential to measure CO 2 fixation in C 3 plants by combining the non-invasive measurement of J0 2 by chlorophyll fluorescence analysis with the stomatal conductance model.
Challenges, Alternatives, and Paths to Sustainability for Health Information Exchange Efforts

Health information exchange (HIE) is a promising approach to improving the cost and quality of healthcare. We sought to identify the strengths and weaknesses of organizational models to achieve exchange, and what can be done to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of exchange efforts. We interviewed state and national health informatics policy experts (n?=?17). Data were collected as part of an evaluation of the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL NY) program and included respondents from both the private and public sectors. Data were analyzed using a general inductive and comparative approach with open coding of themes. Interviewees generally viewed HIE as a public or societal good to be valued. However, they identified challenges with the regional health information organization (RHIO) model of facilitating exchange including: economics, organizational issues, and geography. RHIOs were contrasted against alternative methods of exchange such as Direct, enterprise HIE, and vendor-mediated exchange. HIE is a difficult undertaking due to political and economic reasons. Alternatives to the RHIO model have features that may be more attractive to participants, but may be of less public benefit. Using states as intermediaries and mandating exchange under public health law may avoid the challenges facing exchange efforts. Moving forward, policies will have to address the shortcomings of each HIE model to ensure information is effectively shared between providers to maximize health benefits.
Disruption of the Murine Protein Kinase Cβ Gene Promotes Gallstone Formation and Alters Biliary Lipid and Hepatic Cholesterol Metabolism

The protein kinase C (PKC) family of Ca2+ and/or lipid-activated serine-threonine protein kinases is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance. We recently reported that protein kinase Cβ (PKCβ), a calcium-, diacylglycerol-, and phospholipid-dependent kinase, is critical for maintaining whole body triglyceride homeostasis. We now report that PKCβ deficiency has profound effects on murine hepatic cholesterol metabolism, including hypersensitivity to diet-induced gallstone formation. The incidence of gallstones increased from 9% in control mice to 95% in PKCβ−/− mice. Gallstone formation in the mutant mice was accompanied by hyposecretion of bile acids with no alteration in fecal bile acid excretion, increased biliary cholesterol saturation and hydrophobicity indices, as well as hepatic p42/44MAPK activation, all of which enhance susceptibility to gallstone formation. Lithogenic diet-fed PKCβ−/− mice also displayed decreased expression of hepatic cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and sterol 12α-hydroxylase (CYP8b1). Finally, feeding a modified lithogenic diet supplemented with milk fat, instead of cocoa butter, both increased the severity of and shortened the interval for gallstone formation in PKCβ−/− mice and was associated with dramatic increases in cholesterol saturation and hydrophobicity indices. Taken together, the findings reveal a hitherto unrecognized role of PKCβ in fine tuning diet-induced cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis, thus identifying PKCβ as a major physiological regulator of both triglyceride and cholesterol homeostasis.
How do the Japanese compete

Many Americans see Japan as a monolith and MIT1 as its leader. In any discussion of competition with the Japanese the specter rises of a unified business and government, where MIT1 determines which direction the economy shall take, pinpointing industries which will rise, funding their development, protecting them from foreign competition in domestic markets, forecasting their demise and softening that blow with subsidies. We hear much of “window guidance” which must be followed because of the government’s pervasive influence in financing through the Bank of Japan. The specter is indeed just that, a ghost or shadow of the truth. The purpose of this discussion is to realistically assess MITI’s role in the Japanese economy. This will include its perceived purpose as well as the practicality of how it functions. An assessment will be made whether or not a similar institution would be appropriate or effective in the United States.
Effects of Physical Attractiveness on Perception of Social Skill

To evaluate whether physically attractive individuals are seen as more socially skilled than unattractive ones, nine color photographs of a female in attractive, neutral, and unattractive presentat...
Psychoanalysis and suggestion

Summary The relation between psychoanalysis and suggestion (hypnosis) was critically examined. The thesis was offered that the connection between them is essentially historical; they are logically distinct operations, and are therefore incommensurable. The similarities that seem to make analysis and suggestion comparable are deceptive: they rest on the fact that both have been defined as therapeutic activities, aimed at alleviating or curing mental symptoms or illness . Operationally, however, analysis and suggestion differ radically in the kinds of activities in which therapist and patient engage when doing or undergoing one or another “therapy;” they also differ in the kinds of authority and power that the therapist assumes in the two relationships. The dilemma posed by the alleged similarities and differences between analysis and suggestion may be resolved by viewing both methods, and other forms of psychotherapy as well, as educational rather than as therapeutic enterprises.
Simulation of electrophoretic separations by the flux-corrected transport method

Electrophoretic separations at typical experimental electric field strengths have been simulated by applying the flux-corrected transport (FCT) finite difference method to the transient, one-dimensional electrophoresis model. The performance of FCT on simulations of zone electrophoresis (ZE), isotachophoresis (ITP), and isoelectric focusing (IEF) has been evaluated. An FCT algorithm, with a three-point, central spatial discretization, yields numerical solutions without numerical oscillations or spurious peaks, which have plagued previously-published second-order solutions to benchmark ZE and ITP problems. Moreover, the FCT technique captures sharp zone boundaries and IEF peaks more accurately than previously-published, first-order upwind schemes.
Distinguishability and identifiability of contact states

An important component of machine perception is the estimation of contact states during task execution. This paper addresses two fundamental questions that must be answered when formulating mathematical descriptions of the contact states: Are two contact states distinguishable from each other? Can the unknown or imprecisely known parameters in these descriptions be identified? A technique is presented to answer these questions, which is based on a Taylor series expansion of the contact state's constraint equations. The approach is illustrated through several examples.
Cheap Coals or Limitation of the Vend? The London Coal Trade, 1770–1845

An econometric model is here used to estimate the price and output effect of the Limitation of the Vend, a mineowners' cartel. It is found that when a formal regulation existed the price of coal rose significantly in the London market, whereas there was little output effect. The price effect was relatively small, however, especially when compared to the per unit tax on coal. Although the cartel was deemed to be successful, the existence of substantial monopoly profits was questioned. THE Limitation of the Vend was the final, and probably most successful, manifestation of a series of mineowners' organizations in the northeast of England (Northumberland and Durham) that stretched back at least to the beginning of the seventeenth century. The Limitation was a cartel, the purpose of which was to restrict output and raise price in both the northeast and the primary market of London, whose inhabitants were virtually dependent upon this single source of supply to satisfy their energy needs.' Assessing the ability of the Limitation of the Vend to realize its goals (especially that of raising price) has yet to be addressed adequately by economic historians and is a first step in evaluating the Limitation's impact on economic growth in the northeast and in London. The classic analysis of the Limitation of the Vend is Paul Sweezy's Monopoly and Competition in the English Coal Trade, 1550-1850. Its reputation is well deserved, for Sweezy combined sophisticated economic theory with cogent historical narrative. He recognized that there were forces tending both to encourage regulation and to cause a breakdown in regulation, which he discussed in detail. When it came to analyzing the price and output effects of the Limitation, however, his
2D-3D rigid registration of X-ray fluoroscopy and CT images using mutual information and sparsely sampled histogram estimators

The registration of pre-operative volumetric datasets to intra-operative two-dimensional images provides an improved way of verifying patient position and medical instrument location. In applications from orthopedics to neurosurgery, it has great value in maintaining up-to-date information about changes due to intervention. We propose a mutual information-based registration algorithm which establishes the proper alignment via a stochastic gradient ascent strategy. Our main contribution lies in estimating probability density measures of image intensities with a sparse histogramming method which could lead to potential speedup over existing registration procedures and deriving the gradient estimates required by the maximization procedure. Experimental results are presented on fluoroscopy and CT datasets of a real skull, and on a CT-derived dataset of a real skull, a plastic skull and a plastic lumbar spine segment.
The status of liver transplantation for hepatitis C

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects 3% of the world's population, or approximately 170 million people. Most of those acutely infected progress to chronic infection and are unresponsive to existing antiviral treatment. Over a 20-year period, chronic HCV infection leads to cirrhosis and the sequelae of end-stage liver disease, including hepatic encephalopathy, ascites, variceal haemorrhage and hepatocellular carcinoma. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the optimal treatment for decompensated HCV cirrhosis, but is limited by organ availability and universal graft reinfection. This review discusses the results with OLT for HCV from the Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant Center and discusses future directions in the management of HCV.
Communications, navigation, and surveillance events simulation for the national airspace system

The National Airspace System (NAS) is a large and complex system encompassing a wide-range of resources to enable safe and efficient air transportation. To effectively manage the NAS, it is very important to be able to reliably assess current and future demand for communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) resources as they are triggered by air traffic control (ATC) events. The authors present an integrated model that is capable of relating NAS ATC events to NAS CNS demand. Model validation with a subset of recorded ETMS CNS statistics will be presented. Combining such a model with NAS future demand predictors such as Terminal Area Forecasts (TAF) and Future Aviation Timetable Estimator (FATE), it becomes possible to estimate the increase in CNS demand and future requirements for CNS capacity, for resource planning purposes. The model presented in this paper includes tracking of radar-related messages and sector workload.
The Economics of Software Upgrades throughout the Product Life Cycle

The utility obtained by a user from implementing a software product declines with time because the users expectations regarding the product are constantly evolving. A monopolist takes advantage of this fact and periodically updates the product with a new version to better satisfy user requirements. In this way, it gets repeat business for itself by selling the updated version to existing users. We find that the optimal time to upgrade declines with the products network externalities. At the beginning of the product life cycle, when the market is growing, the monopolist leverages incompatibility between the existing and updated versions to force existing users to upgrade more quickly. Further, the optimal time to introduce a new version is increasing in the rate of market growth. We also show when profit flows can increase by integrating two complementary software products.
A comparison of output-analysis methods for simulations of processes with multiple regeneration sequences

We compare several simulation estimators for a performance measure of a process having multiple regeneration sequences. We examine the setting of two regeneration sequences. We compare two existing estimators, the permuted estimator and the semi-regenerative estimator, and two new estimators, a type of U-statistic estimator and a type of V-statistic estimator. The last two estimators are obtained by resampling trajectories without and with replacement, respectively. The permuted estimator and the U-statistic estimator turn out to be equivalent, but the others are in general different. We show that when estimating the second moment of a cumulative cycle reward, the semi-regenerative and V-statistic estimators have non-negative bias, with the semi-regenerative bias being larger. The permuted estimator was previously shown to be unbiased. Although some of the estimators have different small-sample properties, they all satisfy central limit theorems with the same asymptotic variance constant.
Kinetic Theory of Molecular Radiometric Force and Radiometer

Abstract : The equation for the molecular radiometric force and moment on a body with convex surface enclosed by an arbitrary closed system in the Knudsen regime has been presented based on the revised theory of thermal transpiration established recently by Wu. Two exact solutions of the molecular vane-radiometers in a cylindrical tube and rectangular duct have been obtained in closed forms and calculated through numerical computation. These solutions reduce to the classical theory developed by Knudsen in the limit of infinitely large containers. (Author)
After the Critical Election: Presidential Leadership, Competition and the Consolidation of the New Deal Realignment

The concept of critical realignment has shaped much of the thinking of political scientists and historians about the processes and patterns of change in American politics. Research on re-alignment has, however, tended to focus on successful cases and to concentrate on the electoral breakpoints rather than the process of regime formation, with the result that little systematic thinking has been devoted to the question of why some electoral upheavals lead to party realignment while other large vote shifts do not. This article begins from the proposition that the election does not so much constitute the realignment as offer the opportunity and the momentum for the new party to build a lasting national coalition. Whether the party capitalizes on this potential depends on processes and events that follow the critical election, during what could be called the ‘consolidation phase’ of the realignment. The question is ultimately one about public opinion, but the concept of consolidation needs to take in the interaction between the public and political elites, since mass opinion is formed in the context of elite initiatives and interpretations. The model of consolidation depicts two interrelated processes. The first involves strategic competition among elites, including elected officials and organized societal interests, who frame the conflict, by prioritizing issues and cleavages, and by relating policy proposals to group identities and widely-shared values. The second focuses on the public. Their standing loyalties disrupted by the crisis and the incumbents' inability to deal with it successfully, citizens engage in a process of experiential search as they seek to re-establish the stable political orientation given by attachment to a political party. The article draws on qualitative and quantitative information from the New Deal to illustrate the model of consolidation.
Coding and system theory: a control engineer feeds back

In 1969, James L. Massey and the author expressed the conviction that an interdisciplinary approach to the theories of automatic control and of error-correcting codes could, because of common algebraic content, result in advances in each field at that time. They pointed out that the cross-contributions promised to come from the unified study of the relatively general and abstract viewpoint of control and of the specific and intricate techniques of coding. Having spent about eighteen months doing preliminary studies, the authors had found evidence of interdisciplinary interest on the part, of groups specializing in adaptive processes, switching and automata theory, coding theory, information theory, circuit and system theory, and automatic control theory, together with an interest by electrical engineers in general. Encouraged by the interest and the preliminary results, Massey and Sain proposed formal investigations of this interdisciplinary frontier, to formulate problems in coding as general problems in dynamical system theory, to formulate problems in control as problems in coding theory, to determine thereby new solutions and techniques in both areas, to establish the significance of these solutions and techniques, to subsequently merge known results in coding and control theories, and to isolate during the progress of the work any basic differences between the two areas. Looking back upon those early goals, it is certainly true that some of them have seen a great deal of progress over the years, and others are yet today in progress. The primary goal of this paper is to discuss the early results; and the focus is placed upon the first five years.
Gonadal Responses of Hamsters to Interrupted Dark Periods

Pinealectomized and sham-operated male and female hamsters were studied to determine whether it is the ratio of light/dark or the amount of each at any one time which is important for normal reproductive function. Even 15 minutes of light within a long dark period was sufficient to prevent the antigonadotropic activity of the pineal gland. 4 hours of light per day was followed by testicular regression (p-less than .01) for sham-operated animals; however for pinealectomized animals testes remained normal. It is postulated that there is only a certain amount of pineal antigonadal factor (PAG) released which is compatible with continued gonadal support or that there is only a certain time that PAG can be circulating before gonadal support becomes inadequate. A neural rather than a humoral effect of light is postulated. It is concluded the length of the dark period determines reproductive activity in hamsters rather than the amount of light/day or the light/dark ratio.
Tax Credit for Taxes Paid Abroad

For a few years now Colombia has witnessed an increase in its investments abroad. For these investments, unilateral measures to avoid or reduce double taxation on income tax such as the Tax Credit (TC) for taxes paid abroad are earning relevance. However, in Colombia the TC has been subject of modest tax study. This article introduces the general characteristics of TC taken from other countries’ doctrine and legislation and compares them to Colombian TC regulations.
Breast Cancer Risk and Aging—Misquoted Data and Public Information

The "risk of breast cancer in women increases with age" is a longtime misstatement that does not conform to statistical data. Contrary to the common perception and widely publicized statements, the overall risk of developing breast cancer decreases in women as they grow old.
Differential Diagnosis of Bronchiectasis and Bronchitis

SUMMARY 1.Dlstinguishing bronchial deformity or dilatation occurs in bronchiectasis, as well as in acute and chronic bronchitis. 2.Bronchiectasis consists of a permanent saccular or fusiform bronchial deformity following a previous pneumonia in the same area. 3.Acute bronchitis has a reversible cylindrical deformity of the dependent bronchi following an acute respiratory infection. 4.Chronic bronchitis has diffuse bronchographic features. Preliminary clinical studies suggest that these features may be due to elevated intrabronchial pressure produced by an obstructing mechanism during cough.
The Effect of Dietary Phytase on Growth Performance and Phosphorus Utilization of Broiler Chicks

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary phytase and increasing levels of available phosphorus (Pav) on the growth performance and phosphorus metabolism of broiler chicks. In both experiments, graded levels of P provided by dicalcium phosphate and of phytase were added to a low-P corn-soybean meal basal diet. In Experiment 1, diets providing .21, .29, .37, and .44% Pav without phytase; .21% Pav plus .05, .10, or .30% phytase; and .29% Pav plus .10% phytase were each fed to four groups of seven chicks, 3 days of age. In Experiment 2, diets providing Pav levels of .32, .38, and .44% and phytase levels of .5, 1.0, and 1.5% (250, 500, and 750 units/kg) in a factorial arrangement were each fed to four groups of eight chicks, 5 days of age. In Experiment 1, increasing dietary Pav, but not phytase, increased feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion, plasma inorganic P, tibia and toe ash, and tibia breaking strength (P ≤ .05). Plasma inorganic P responded quadratically to increasing dietary phytase. In Experiment 2, feed intake and weight gain were increased by elevating the level of Pav, but not by phytase. Toe and tibia ash and plasma inorganic P were increased by dietary phytase and increasing levels of Pav (P ≤ .01). Tibia breaking strength was improved (P ≤ .05) by dietary phytase but not by increasing levels of Pav. The P excretion was elevated (P ≤ .01) by increasing levels of Pav and was decreased by supplemental phytase (P ≤ .05). Dietary phytase added to diets low in Pav was able to improve some, but not all variables studied.
Commentary: George W. Comstock's Contributions to Respiratory Disease Epidemiology

George W. Comstock’s career spanned a remarkable era in the epidemiology of respiratory diseases. At its beginning, tuberculosis was a leading cause of death, and the emerging epidemics of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were being recognized. Occupational lung diseases were common among workers in dusty trades, industry, and mining. At its end, tuberculosis had been largely controlled in many of the more developed countries, including the United States, as had many of the major occupational lung diseases. Unfortunately, the dual epidemics of smokingcaused lung disease—lung cancer and COPD—were still causing increasing numbers of deaths even though the causes of most cases of disease had been identified. Not surprisingly, given Comstock’s broad reach and curiosity, his studies on respiratory health extended beyond tuberculosis to cigarette smoking, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and COPD. The decades of his career also saw the development of carefully standardized methods for the study of respiratory diseases. These methods were first developed in the United Kingdom by Cochrane, Fletcher, and others for investigating the causes and natural history of chronic lung diseases. Benjamin Ferris (1), a physiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, brought these methods to the United States for his pioneering air pollution studies. Comstock contributed to one of the major efforts to adapt these methods for use in the United States. He was a key participant in the American Thoracic Society’s Epidemiology Standardiza
A Full Electromagnetic Analysis for the Soret and Folded Zone Plate Antennas

Antennas based on the Soret and folded zone plates are analyzed using the body-of-revolution finite-difference time-domain method. Parametric studies of the focusing performance of these antennas are performed by varying the number of zones, the focal length, and the diameter of the zone plate. The results of the studies provide insight into the factors that influence the performance of these zone plate antennas and are used to generate accurate design graphs. The full analysis is validated by comparison with previously measured data for an integrated-circuit zone plate antenna
IMMUNIZATION EXPERIMENTS WITH SWINE INFLUENZA VIRUS

1. Swine influenza virus obtained from the lungs of infected ferrets or mice, when administered intramuscularly or subcutaneously, immunizes swine to swine influenza. 2. Ferrets, which have received subcutaneous injections of swine influenza virus obtained from the lungs of infected ferrets, are immune to intranasal infection with this virus. Similar injections with virus from the lungs of infected mice or swine do not immunize. 3. Mice can be immunized to intranasal infection with swine influenza virus by the subcutaneous injection of virus obtained from the lungs of infected mice, but not by similar injection with virus from the lungs of infected ferrets or swine. Repeated injections induce greater immunity than a single one. 4. Intraperitoneal inoculation of both mice and ferrets with swine influenza virus immunizes them to intranasal infection and it appears to make little or no difference whether the virus used as vaccine is obtained from the lungs of infected mice, ferrets, or swine. 5. Field experiments in which swine influenza followed the intramuscular administration of virus are cited as examples of the hazard involved in the use of this means of immunization in a densely crowded susceptible population.
Cognition and Tool Use

Tool use rivals language as an important domain of cognitive phenomena, and so as a source of insight into the nature of cognition in general. But the favoured current definition of tool use is inadequate because it does not carve the phenomena of interest at the joints. Heidegger’s notion of equipment provides a more adequate theoretical framework. But Heidegger’s account leads directly to a non-individualist view of the nature of cognition. Thus non-individualism is supported by concrete considerations about the nature of tools and tool use.
The Impact of Human Capital Measures on the Performance of Small, Women-Owned Firms

Previous research has indicated that women-owned firms tend to trail men-owned firms in various performance areas.The influence of human capital variables--e.g., education, experience--on the performance of women-owned firms was investigated to see if levels of human capital are positively correlated with levels of firm performance. The sample was drawn from the Federal Reserve Board’s 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances (SSBF), which provided balance sheets and income statements on 3,561 small U.S. firms with fewer than 500 employees.The data were analyzed using a variety of multivariate models.The findings revealed that women-owned firms were smaller than men-owned firms in total sales and total assets.However, when controlling for sales level and industry sector, women-owned firms, when compared to men-owned firms, were found to have no fewer employees, were much more profitable in terms of return on sales, showed a higher year-to-year growth rate in sales, and were less likely to show zero or negative growth. In spite of the smaller size of women-owned firms compared to men-owned firms, it was found that women-owned firms did not trail men-owned firms in terms of profit and growth. (AKP)
From YUPPIES to GUPPIES: Unfunded Mandates and Benefit Plan Regulation

This article considers the debate and literature on unfunded federal mandates in the context of federal health care and pension regulation. The debate over mandated coverage, especially in health care coverage, has more in common with the unfunded mandates literature than just the use of the term "mandate" -- a term now widely viewed as a pejorative. On the theoretical level, the article considers whether the unfunded mandates literature can explain the dichotomy between the widespread use of plan content regulation and the consistent defeat of plan sponsorship legislation. On the political level, it asks whether requiring increased attention to the incremental costs associated with proposed regulation would increase the stability, cohesiveness, and long-range policy objectives of the regulation of health care and pension plans. The article argues that, though such analysis might appear to offer some superficial advantages, it actually would pose a significant threat to the normative quality of legislation. The article then identifies three categories of important policy criteria that should govern legislative debate on these issues and shows that the narrow consideration of incremental costs may divert attention from those criteria.
Homology of Branched Coverings of 3-Manifolds

We give a relation between the homology groups H1() and H1 (M) for a branched cyclic cover → M of arbitrary closed, oriented 3-manifolds which generalizes a classical result of Plans on covers of S3 branched over a knot and provides other quantitative information as well. We include a general "free calculus" procedure for computing homology groups of branched covers and reinterpret the results in this computational setting.
A MULTIOBJECTIVE INVESTIGATION OF 50-SEAT COMMUTER AIRCRAFT USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM

Aircraft conceptual design is a complex, multidisciplinary process. Often many decisions about the aircraft concept are made early on based on qualitative information subject to an engineer's experience and personal preferences. A genetic algorithm (GA) seeks to reduce the number of qualitative decisions required and increase the number of design variables that can be considered. Genetic algorithms are search methods based on the patterns of natural selection seen in biological populations. Because the GA is not a calculus based method, continuous, discrete, and integer design variables can be easily in a single run of the code. This feature allows the GA to combine concept selection with aircraft sizing. Multiobjective genetic algorithms can generate a large number of designs that approximate the Paretooptimal set in a single run of the code. A multiobjective GA is applied to a 50-seat commuter aircraft design problem. NOMENCLATURE
Basis set dependence of coupled cluster optical rotation computations.

Specific rotations for five notoriously difficult molecules, (S)-methyloxirane, (S)-methythiirane, (S)-2-chloropropionitrile, (1S,4S)-norbornenone, and (1R,5R)-β-pinene, have been computed using coupled cluster (CC) and density functional theory (DFT). The performance of the recently developed LPol basis sets compared to the correlation-consistent sets of Dunning and co-workers has been examined at four wavelengths: 355, 436, 589, and 633 nm. We find that the LPol basis sets are an efficient choice, often outperforming the more commonly used correlation-consistent basis sets of comparable size. The smallest of the four, LPol-ds, performs nearly as well as the rest of the series and often yields results closer to the basis set limit than appreciably larger basis sets. While the performance of the LPol bases is admirable, they still do not alleviate the need for high levels of electron correlation, vibrational corrections, and the inclusion of solvent effects to accurately reproduce experimental rotations. ...
Polygamy after Windsor: What's Religion Got to Do with It?

Ever since the 1878 case, Reynolds v. United States, polygamists have argued that their plural marriage practices are protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. After Lawrence v. Texas, polygamists added substantive Due Process arguments under the Fourteenth Amendment’s “intimacy privacy” interpretation to their arsenal. This article argues that in order for polygamists to find constitutional protection and recognition, they must shed their arguments founded in religion and rely instead on substantive Due Process. Although First Amendment jurisprudence would subject polygamy bans to a higher level of scrutiny, this heightened protection comes at a cost. The landmark same-sex marriage case, United States v. Windsor, and the opinion’s protected liberty interest of “equal dignity” provides polygamy advocates with substantive grounds to protect their plural marriage practices, as well as pave the way for recognition of “intimate pluralism” and alternative relationship forms like polyamory and group marriage.
Bladder Sparing Surgery for Locally Advanced Female Urethral Cancer

AbstractCystectomy remains one of the standard treatments for women with locally advanced (stage C) urethral cancer, or stage A or B lesions that have failed radiation therapy. Often, the urethral neoplasm does not invade the bladder. We treated 5 women with stage C urethral cancer by wide local excision with or without concomitant radiation therapy, while preserving the bladder. Local control was achieved in all patients with followup ranging from 4 to 75 months (median 42). We believe that bladder sparing treatment strategies should be considered for selected stage C tumors when the bladder is not invaded by the neoplasm.
Diagnostic utility of the HIV dementia scale and the international HIV dementia scale in screening for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders among Spanish-speaking adults.

ABSTRACTGiven that neurocognitive impairment is a frequent complication of HIV-1 infection in Spanish-speaking adults, the limited number of studies assessing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) in this population raises serious clinical concern. In addition to being appropriately translated, instruments need to be modified, normed, and validated accordingly. The purpose of the current study was to examine the diagnostic utility of the HIV Dementia Scale (HDS) and International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) to screen for HAND in Spanish-speaking adults living with HIV infection. Participants were classified as either HAND (N = 47) or No-HAND (N = 53) after completing a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Receiver operating characteristic analyses found the HDS (AUC = .706) was more sensitive to detecting HAND than the IHDS (AUC = .600). Optimal cutoff scores were 9.5 for the HDS (PPV = 65.2%, NPV = 71.4%) and 9.0 for the IHDS (PPV = 59.4%, NPV = 59.1%). Canonical Correlation Analysis found...
Pattern of initial clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus in a tertiary care hospital.

Objective To determine the pattern of initial clinical manifestations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and to compare these features with those recorded elsewhere in Pakistan. Methods This cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed in the Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from November 2015 to January 2016. Sixty one patients of SLE diagnosed as per ACR (American College of Rheumatology) 1982 revised criteria, were enrolled. The patients were evaluated for the initial clinical manifestations of SLE. The information was collected on a specially designed proforma and analyzed by using SPSS version 17. Results Out of 61 patients, 49 (80.3%) were females and 12 (19.7%) males, showing a female to male ratio of 4:1. The mean age of patients was 26.2 ± 7.9 years. Fatigue was the most common presenting feature in 56 (91.8%) patients, followed by joint pains in 55 (90.2%) and fever in 54 (88.5%). Renal involvement was found in 46 (75.4%). Comparison of these presenting features was made with other studies carried out in Northern Pakistan (Islamabad) and in central Punjab (Pakistan). There were statistically significant differences in fever, fatigue and arthritis between our patients and the other two above mentioned study groups. However, comparison of renal manifestations showed significant difference only with Islamabad study, and not with previous study from central Punjab. Conclusion In this study, majority of patients presented with combination of fatigue, fever, rash and arthritis. Almost three-fourth of patients had renal manifestations at initial presentation. Therefore, it is important for clinicians to have high index of suspicion for SLE, when patients present with above symptoms.
Epidemiology of Emergency Department Visits for Anxiety in the United States: 2009–2011

Objective:The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiology of anxiety-related emergency department (ED) visits in the United States and assess the care provided during those visits.Methods:Data from the 2009–2011 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey were used to identify all ED visits in which the patient received a primary anxiety diagnosis or declared anxiety as the reason for the visit (N=1,029). Patient characteristics, treatment provided, and dispositions of these nationally representative visits were assessed.Results:There were an estimated 1,247,000 anxiety-related ED visits annually, representing .93% of all ED visits. The proportion of total ED visits that were anxiety related was higher among women than men (1.05% versus .77%) and among nonelderly adults (1.28%) versus other age groups, non-Hispanic whites (1.06%) versus other racial-ethnic groups, and self-pay visits (1.20%) versus other forms of insurance. Among anxiety-related visits, a small percentage (9.6%) involved a...
Genomic translational research: Paving the way to individualized cardiac functional analyses and personalized cardiology

For most of Medicine's past, the best that physicians could do to cope with disease prevention and treatment was based on the expected response of an average patient. Currently, however, a more personalized/precise approach to cardiology and medicine in general is becoming possible, as the cost of sequencing a human genome has declined substantially. As a result, we are witnessing an era of precipitous advances in biomedicine and bourgeoning understanding of the genetic basis of cardiovascular and other diseases, reminiscent of the resurgence of innovations in physico-mathematical sciences and biology-anatomy-cardiology in the Renaissance, a parallel time of radical change and reformation of medical knowledge, education and practice. Now on the horizon is an individualized, diverse patient-centered, approach to medical practice that encompasses the development of new, gene-based diagnostics and preventive medicine tactics, and offers the broadest range of personalized therapies based on pharmacogenetics. Over time, translation of genomic and high-tech approaches unquestionably will transform clinical practice in cardiology and medicine as a whole, with the adoption of new personalized medicine approaches and procedures. Clearly, future prospects far outweigh present accomplishments, which are best viewed as a promising start. It is now essential for pluridisciplinary health care providers to examine the drivers and barriers to the clinical adoption of this emerging revolutionary paradigm, in order to expedite the realization of its potential. So, we are not there yet, but we are definitely on our way.
Telemedicine in the Apple App Store: An Exploratory Study of Teledermatology Apps

Background: ‘Direct to Consumer’ (DTC) mobile teledermatology apps are becoming available enabling patients to communicate directly with specialists without going through primary care providers or other trained intermediaries. Introduction: An exploratory study was done to determine app diagnostic quality and features that help or hinder patients' ability to communicate with diagnosticians. Materials and Methods: All mobile teledermatology apps available at the Apple App Store were reviewed, the two most popular were identified and tested together with three other apps having similar functionality using a single patient who was also examined by a dermatologist in-person. Results: Apps varied in diagnostic scope, data gathering methods, services, rendered results, and in geographic coverage and cost. Discussion: Apps were weak in thoroughness of taking diagnostic history, omitting key questions related to current medications and allergies. The dermatology practices associated with different apps tended to provide concordant diagnoses, except for one using the app that was least thorough. Conclusions: Mobile teledermatology apps vary and can potentially affect continuity of care. Since some may increase risk of medical errors the American Telemedicine Association's guidelines for teledermatology need to address the use of direct to consumer apps. App regulation, certification, or guidelines suggesting appropriate development and use are needed. These conclusions are reinforced in a larger study that since has been conducted.
Organisational and technology management issues in a job shop environment

In a manufacturing planning and control (MPC) system, the shop floor control (SFC) back–end component provides detailed schedule information for each open order in the system. The absence of SFC is evidenced by excessive work–in–progress (WIP) inventories, resulting from excessive slack in scheduling operations. At one client company, the need for shop floor control was judged to be critical, yet the timing of the introduction of a fully integrated SFC was deemed inappropriate due to inadequacies in MPC. Instead, a custom, stand–along, finite capacity scheduler was developed. The package is intended to provide an interim capability only. The package runs on any PC compatible microcomputer, and utilises a user–friendly spreadsheet interface as a front–end. This paper deals with related issues in the design, implementation, and acceptance of a product which provides an interim shop floor control function in a job shop environment. It is seen that organisational issues can have a great impact on progress in the introduction and implementation of new systems, particularly when organisational structure, in this case the use of matrix management, encourages competition for control over the management of machine shop resources.
Automotive system integration for EMC

What's the Goal? • Produce a vehicle… — That is self-compatible — That meets world-wide regulatory requirements — That can survive realistic EM environments — With the lowest cost and weight possible
Inactivation of Mechanically Activated Piezo1 Ion Channels Is Determined by the C-Terminal Extracellular Domain and the Inner Pore Helix

Piezo proteins form mechanically activated ion channels that are responsible for our sense of light touch, proprioception, and vascular blood flow. Upon activation by mechanical stimuli, Piezo channels rapidly inactivate in a voltage-dependent manner through an unknown mechanism. Inactivation of Piezo channels is physiologically important, as it modulates overall mechanical sensitivity, gives rise to frequency filtering of repetitive mechanical stimuli, and is itself the target of numerous human disease-related channelopathies that are not well understood mechanistically. Here, we identify the globular C-terminal extracellular domain as a structure that is sufficient to confer the time course of inactivation and a single positively charged lysine residue at the adjacent inner pore helix as being required for its voltage dependence. Our results are consistent with a mechanism for inactivation that is mediated through voltage-dependent conformations of the inner pore helix and allosteric coupling with the C-terminal extracellular domain.
What is the 360-degree approach to defining success for VAP?

listed a number of conditions (including catheter-associated urinary tract infection and vascular-catheter-associated infection) that it will no longer reimburse.6 This will put added pressure on institutions to minimize these infections and limit the resources used to manage patients with these infections. Although VAP is not included in the current CMS listing, this could change as funding shrinks and other preventable conditions are targeted for nonreimbursement.
Multiple Reactivations of Major Fault Zones in the Northern Reading Prong, USA

Fundamental zones of crustal weakness that were established in the northern Reading Prong during Grenville orogenesis were reactivated during every subsequent tectonic event. The rocks in these fault zones contain complexly overprinted mylonites, cataclasites, and breccias with distinct kinematics and mineralizations. By studying the similarities and differences of rocks from three separate fault zones across the eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the southeastern New York part of the Reading Prong, the tectonic succession and a relative chronology can be determined. In addition, new indicators of multiple reactivations can be identified.
Marfan syndrome: The variability of operative management

Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder of connective tissue with an incidence of approximately 1 in 20 000 (1). The disorder is characterized by clinical manifestations in the cardiovascular, ocular, and skeletal systems. As a consequence of cardiovascular complications, life expectancy is primarily reduced (2). Recent collaborative efforts have identified fibrillin as the most promising candidate gene for the Marfan syndrome (3–8). The gene coding for fibrillin has been recently localized to chromosome 15 (3, 8). The importance of this finding is that the genetic linkage of this disorder to chromosome 15 should ultimately provide DNA diagnostic analysis for patients with Marfan syndrome. Until such time when genetic diagnosis, treatment, or even prevention is available, surgical intervention will remain the mainstay of treatment for the cardiovascular manifestations that occur in greater than 95% of adults with Marfan syndrome and are responsible for the markedly reduced life expectancy of patients afflicted with the syndrome.