cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hydroamination reactions catalyzed by [Au2(μ-Cl)(μ-bis(phosphino)ferrocene)][BArF24]

Abstract 1,1′-bis(phosphino)ferrocene ligands are commonly employed in a variety of catalytic systems. These ligands are of particular interest as the steric and electronic properties of the phosphorus donor atoms can be altered by changing the substituents of the phosphines. In addition, the ferrocene backbone of the ligands provides unique electronic and conformational flexibility to these ligands. Previous investigations in this lab have examined catalytic ring closing reactions using a series of gold compounds with bis(phosphino)ferrocene ligands, [Au2Cl2(μ-PP)]. These gold compounds were shown to react with sodium tetrakis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)borate, Na[BArF24], to generate a cationic species with the general formula [Au2(μ-Cl)(μ-PP)][BArF24] that are much more efficient catalysts than the [Au2Cl2(μ-PP)] compounds. In this study, a series of [Au2Cl2(μ-PP)] (μ-PP = 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene (dppf), 1,1′-bis(diiso-propylphosphino)ferrocene (dippf), 1,1′-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ferrocene (dcpf), 1,1′-bis(ditert-butylphosphino)ferrocene (dtbpf), 1-diphenylphosphino-1′-ditert-butylphosphinoferrocene (dppdtbpf) or 1,1ʹ-bis(5-methyl-2-furanylphosphino)ferrocene (dfurpf)) compounds were examined as catalysts for the intramolecular ring-closing hydroamination of 3-(vinyloxy)propan-1-amine and the intermolecular hydroamination of phenylacetylene with a variety of phenylamine reagents. The catalytic activity of the corresponding [Au2(μ-Cl)(μ-PP)][BArF24] compounds that were generated in situ was also explored. Two new [Au2Cl2(μ-PP)] compounds with chiral bis(phosphino)ferrocene ligands (PP = 1,1′-bis(2R,5R-dimethylphospholanyl)ferrocene (R-dMeplf) or 1,1′-bis(2S,5S-dimethylphospholanyl)ferrocene (S-dMeplf)) were prepared, characterized spectroscopically and electrochemically, and evaluated as catalysts in the ring-closing hydroamination reaction. In addition, the X-ray structures of [Au2Cl2(μ-PP)] (PP = dppdtbpf, R-dMeplf and S-dMeplf) were determined.
Seasonal polyphenism of spotted-wing Drosophila is affected by variation in local abiotic conditions within its invaded range, likely influencing survival and regional population dynamics.

Overwintering Drosophila often display adaptive phenotypic differences beneficial for survival at low temperatures. However, it is unclear which morphological traits are the best estimators of abiotic conditions, how those traits are correlated with functional outcomes in cold tolerance, and whether there are regional differences in trait expression.We used a combination of controlled laboratory assays, and collaborative field collections of invasive Drosophila suzukii in different areas of the United States, to study the factors affecting phenotype variability of this temperate fruit pest now found globally.Laboratory studies demonstrated that winter morph (WM) trait expression is continuous within the developmental temperature niche of this species (10-25°C) and that wing length and abdominal melanization are the best predictors of the larval abiotic environment.However, the duration and timing of cold exposure also produced significant variation in development time, morphology, and survival at cold temperatures. During a stress test assay conducted at -5°C, although cold tolerance was greater among WM flies, long-term exposure to cold temperatures as adults significantly improved summer morph (SM) survival, indicating that these traits are not controlled by a single mechanism.Among wild D. suzukii populations, we found that regional variation in abiotic conditions differentially affects the expression of morphological traits, although further research is needed to determine whether these differences are genetic or environmental in origin and whether thermal susceptibility thresholds differ among populations within its invaded range.
Descriptive epidemiology and return to sport after hand fractures in NCAA athletes

Background Metacarpal and phalanx fractures are common among professional athletes. There is a paucity of data to guide team physicians on expected return to play after hand fractures. The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiology and return to play times after hand fractures in NCAA athletes. We hypothesized that surgical management of fractures may expedite return to play times. Methods The NCAA Injury Surveillance Program database was queried for metacarpal and phalanx fractures during the 2009-2014 seasons in all sports. Injury rates per 100,000 athleteexposures (AEs) were calculated. Student's t-test, Wilcoxon Rank sum tests, Chi-Squared tests, and Fisher Exact Test were used. Statistical significance was set to p Results Sports with the highest rates of phalanx and metacarpal fractures included Men's Football, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's Wrestling, and Women's Field Hockey. Multiple sports had participants with no hand fractures over the study period. Male student-athletes with metacarpal fractures treated operatively returned to play at a mean of 31.8±29.4 days versus 13.8±23.6 days for those treated non-operatively. 92% of male student-athletes were able to return to sport in the same season without operative management versus 67% with operative management. Female student-athletes had a cohort too small for statistical analysis. Return to play times for male student-athletes with phalanx fractures were not significantly different between operative and non-operative groups (16.1±21.5 days versus 7.1±13.3 days). Conclusions Hand fractures are relatively common among NCAA student-athletes participating in contact sports. Student-athletes with metacarpal fractures returned to play at an average of 2-4 weeks after injury; those with phalanx fractures returned at an average of 1-2 weeks. The return to play times illustrated within this study can be used to counsel athletes, athletic trainers, and coaches.Level of evidence: IV.
The other side of the covid-19 curve: A model for the safe reintegration of elective interventional pain procedures

Background Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians have had to think quickly, adapt to changing recommendations sometimes on a daily basis, and have often had to rely on trial-and-error-based treatment protocols under various conditions. As we move on past the apex of the COVID-19 curve, new treatment protocols for the safe reintegration of elective interventional pain procedures into chronic pain practice are needed. Methods Literature review and description of a model for the safe reintegration of interventional pain procedures. Limitations A narrative review with paucity of literature. Discussion Herein we describe one such model in the hopes that through similar knowledge sharing, we can draw on others experiences to reach a collective conclusion on the safest, most effective, and efficient way(s) to move forward.
Moving Target Defense Application and Analysis in Software-Defined Networking

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) dissociates the control plane from the data plane, creating a central point facilitating managed services and network virtualization. SDN allows flexibility by dynamic programmability features. On the other hand, Moving Target Defense (MTD) increases complexity in the network to prevent or delay attacks by continuously creating and adapting to the dynamic environment. In this paper, we implement a Moving Target Defense technique in Software-Defined Networking and analyze the TCP and UDP traffic generated in the network. MTD implementation in SDN has been well studied, but there is little work to analyze and evaluate the impact of this dynamic environment on SDN performance. The network's dynamic nature creates considerable overhead on the controller, resulting in poor performance, latency, jitter, and packet loss. This paper analyzes MTD traffic implemented in a software-defined network and compares the results with the traditional (without MTD) software-defined network topology.
Wind Energy Micorogrids for Smart Grid in Rural Sindh — Nooriabad

Developing countries are now shifting towards renewable energy microgrid (MG) frameworks for rural electrification. In such a paradigm, the shift embarks variation in the network planning for future trends. Pakistan is one of such developing country with an evolving power grid. Southern Pakistan consists of Sindh province with a lot of population distributed in the rural areas. Transmission of power is only limited to main cities due to lack of funds and distributed network planning although the prospect of renewable energy is favorable enough in this region to supply country and mitigate the power issue. To ascertain maximum utilization of the renewable resources for future policies and planning, robust and reliable planning needs to be done. In this aspect, distributed sovereign control of these sustainable MGs is proposed for the region of Nooriabad which is associated with various rural regions. Independent MGs are formulated to comply with the increasing population of the region.
Potential in stochastic differential equations: novel construction

There is a whole range of emergent phenomena in a complex network such as robustness, adaptiveness, multiple-equilibrium, hysteresis, oscillation and feedback. Those non-equilibrium behaviours can often be described by a set of stochastic differential equations. One persistent important question is the existence of a potential function. Here we demonstrate that a dynamical structure built into stochastic differential equation allows us to construct such a global optimization potential function. We present an explicit construction procedure to obtain the potential and relevant quantities. In the procedure no reference to the Fokker–Planck equation is needed. The availability of the potential suggests that powerful statistical mechanics tools can be used in nonequilibrium situations.
Efficient Estimation for Models With Nonlinear Heteroscedasticity

We study efficient estimation for models with nonlinear heteroscedasticity. In two-step quantile regression for heteroscedastic models, motivated by several undesirable issues caused by the prelimi...
Kinetic investigation of oxidation of alkanolamine by Cerium(IV) in acidic medium: catalytic effect of Mn(II)

The decomposition kinetics of ethanolamine in acid medium using Ce(IV) as oxidant and Mn(II) as a catalyst has been reported. Michaelis–Menten type of kinetic pattern is suggested based on the nature of rate dependence on substrate concentration. First-order dependence of rate on oxidant was observed up to more than three half-lives. The rate constant decreased with an increase in acid concentration and the negative slope of Zucker–Hammett plot demonstrates inverse dependence of rate on the acid concentration. Ce(OH)3+ is considered as the most active species of Cerium in the reaction medium based on the kinetic observations. The rate increased with the catalyst concentration although the order is fractional. The products formed have not shown any effect on the progress of the reaction. From the temperature dependence studies, activation parameters for the oxidation reaction are evaluated and the entropy of activation was found to be negative. Based on all kinetic findings and presuming a complex species formation between the substrate, catalyst and the oxidant suitable mechanism has been proposed. The micro-rate constants involved in the proposed reaction mechanism has also been determined.
EphA2 is a Lung Epithelial Cell Receptor for Pneumocystis β-glucans.

Pneumocystis spp. interaction with myeloid cells is well known, especially in macrophages. Contrary, how the organism binds to lung epithelial cells is incompletely understood. Ephrin type-A receptor (EphA2), has been previously identified as a lung epithelial pattern recognition receptor (PRR) that binds to fungal β-glucans. Herein, we also report that EphA2 can also bind Pneumocystis β-glucans, both in isolated forms and also on exposed surfaces of the organism. Furthermore, binding of Pneumocystis β-glucans resulted in phosphorylation of the EphA2 receptor, which has been shown to be important for downstream proinflammatory response. Indeed, we also show that IL-6 cytokine is significantly increased when lung epithelial cells are exposed to Pneumocystis β-glucans, and that this response could be blocked with preincubation with a specific antibody to EphA2. Our study presents yet another Pneumocystis lung epithelial cell receptor with implications for initial colonization and possible therapeutic intervention.
“I Think Most of Society Hates Us”: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Interviews with Incels

Involuntary celibates, or “incels,” have received increased public attention in past years, likely as a result of media reports that link incels to incidents of mass violence. Although prior research has examined various elements of the online community, none have directly engaged with incels to understand the causes and effects of their inceldom. Using a hegemonic masculinity framework, this article analyzes data from interviews with incels (N = 10) to identify emergent themes about their situations, attitudes, and experiences. The data reveal that the participants feel that they 1) experience masculinity challenges that affect their romantic opportunities, 2) are marginalized or treated as “subhumans” due to their appearance or other characteristics, and as a result, 3) experience negative emotions related to their inceldom. This, in turn, affects their belief in the BlackPill and their online behavior such as shit-posting. Supported by interview data, these findings can highlight both the similarities and diversity of thought within the incel community while also examining the ways that hegemonic masculinity can lead to the marginalization of specific groups of men. As such, this study can inform future research about incels, suggesting that it should include continued interaction with members of the community and quantitative survey research about incels. Furthermore, it can outline and inform intervention strategies addressing the negative effects of gender hegemony that should be considered for individual approaches to inceldom.
2MASS Observations of Molecular Clouds

A major goal of star formation studies is to characterize the conditions and “mode” under which most stars form in our Galaxy (see, e.g. Lada, Strom, & Myers 1993). That is, among the continuum of stellar systems found in molecular clouds, how are most stars created? Are they formed primarily in rare, but densely populated clusters, or among smaller clusters and isolated star forming regions? Do most stars form uniformly in time throughout the lifetime of a molecular cloud, or in sporadic bursts? What causes one portion of a molecular cloud do form rich clusters, but not other regions? How (and if at all) do the properties of the stars (e.g. lifetime of protoplanetary disks, the stellar initial mass function, etc…) vary among the different stellar systems? While answering these questions requires substantial photometric and spectroscopic observations, the first crucial step requires determining the size and spatial distribution of the stellar population within molecular clouds.
Code partitioning for synthesis of embedded applications with phantom

In a large class of embedded systems, dynamic multitasking using traditional OS techniques is infeasible because of memory and processing overheads or lack of operating systems availability for the target embedded processor. Serializing compilers have been proposed as an alternative solution, enabling a designer to develop multitasking applications without the need of OS support. A serializing compiler is a source-to-source translator that takes a POSIX compliant multitasking C program as input and generates an equivalent, embedded processor independent, single-threaded ANSI C program, to be compiled using the embedded processor-specific tool chain. Such serializing compilers work by partitioning each task into blocks of code and synthesizing a scheduler that dynamically switches among these blocks. The quality of the compiled code in terms of multitasking overhead and task latency is highly dependent on the partitioning algorithm. In this work, we give our solution to the partitioning problem in the context of serializing compilers. We show that it is possible to provide the designer with a set of Pareto-optimal solutions that trade off multitasking overhead for task latency.
A SWOT Analysis of Medical Tourism: India and South Korea

Medical tourism is a fast growing trend in Asia, and both India and South Korea have been among the front runners in this industry. Several factors come into play when a country is contemplating about engaging in medical tourism as part of its strategies for economic growth. Government support and other areas such as infrastructure, competence of medical staff, the entrepreneurial drive of the middlemen facilitating the process, and the general reputation and political stability of the host country are among key influencing factors. This paper conducts a comparative SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis in India and South Korea with the objective of understanding the various factors that can help or impede the growth of the medical tourism in both nations.
Using Seed Words to Learn to Categorize Chinese Text

In this paper, we focus on text categorization model by unsupervised learning techniques that do not require labeled data. We propose a feature learning bootstrapping algorithm (FLB) using a small number of seed words, in that features for each of categories could be automatically learned from a large amount of unlabeled documents. Using these learned features we develop a new Naive Bayes classifier named NB_FLB. Experimental results show that the NB_FLB classifier performs better than other Naive Bayes classifiers by supervised learning in small number of features cases.
Periarteritis nodosa: Case report

Abstract A case of periarteritis nodosa is reported in an allergic individual in whom it is believed that allergy was of etiologic importance. The diagnosis was made ante mortem and in the absence of clinically demonstrable subcutaneous nodules and was verified by muscle biopsy.
Limitation of multiparticle correlations for studying the event-by-event distribution of harmonic flow in heavy-ion collisions

The sensitivity of flow harmonics from cumulants to the event-by-event flow distribution $p({v}_{n})$ is investigated using a simple central moment expansion approach. For a narrow distribution whose width is much smaller than the mean ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{n}\ensuremath{\ll}\ensuremath{\langle}{v}_{n}\ensuremath{\rangle}$, the differences between the first three higher-order cumulant estimates ${v}_{n}{4},{v}_{n}{6}$, and ${v}_{n}{8}$ are not very sensitive to the shape of $p({v}_{n})$. For a broad distribution ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{n}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}\ensuremath{\langle}{v}_{n}\ensuremath{\rangle}$, the higher-order cumulant estimates differ from each other but may change sign and become ill defined. This sign change arises from the choice of $p({v}_{n})$, without the need to invoke nonflow effects. Direct extraction of $p({v}_{n})$ via a data-driven unfolding method used by the ATLAS experiment is a more preferred approach for flow distribution measurement.
A Cost Analysis of the American Board of Internal Medicine's Maintenance-of-Certification Program.

The American Board of Internal Medicine recently changed the requirements for its maintenance-of-certification (MOC) program but withdrew some of the changes after criticism from physicians and spe...
Optimizing the Impact Resistance of Matrix-free Spectra®Fiber-reinforced Composites:

It has been discovered that Spectra® fiber can shift its peak melting temperature upward by almost 10 if it is maintained at constant length. Based on this, a novel processing method called high-temperature, high-pressure sintering has been developed in which Spectra® cloth is consolidated using heat and pressure to make a matrix-free fiber-reinforced composite. Because of the outstanding properties of the Spectra® fiber, the resulting product is a high modulus, high strength, and high-impact resistant ‘one-polymer composite.’ The three key processing parameters are temperature, time, and pressure. The high temperature is in the vicinity of the fiber’s normal melting point so as to induce adequate, but not excessive melting, which allows for the fusion of the cloths on recrystallization. Time is important in the sense of facilitating heat transfer and promoting interfiber and interlayer adhesion while conserving the fiber’s high crystallinity and orientation. The high pressure exerted laterally on the clo...
Effect of protease‐activated receptor 2 activation on single TRPV1 channel activities in rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons

Protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) is involved in airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness; both are the prominent features of asthma. Transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1) is expressed in pulmonary sensory nerves, functions as a thermal and chemical transducer and contributes to neurogenic inflammation. Using cell-attached single-channel recordings we investigated the effect of PAR2 activation on single TRPV1 channel activities in isolated pulmonary sensory neurons. Our immunohistochemical study demonstrated the expression of PAR2 in rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons. Our patch-clamp study further showed that intracellular application of capsaicin (0.75 μm) induced single-channel current that exhibited outward rectification in these neurons. The probability of the channel being open (Po) was significantly increased after the cells were pretreated with PAR2-activating peptide (100 μm, 2 min). Pretreatment with trypsin (0.1 μm, 2 min) also increased the single-channel Po, and the effect was completely inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor (0.5 μm, 3 min). In addition, the effect of PAR2 activation was abolished by either U73122 (1 μm, 4 min), a phospholipase C inhibitor, or chelerythrine (10 μm, 4 min), a protein kinase C inhibitor. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that activation of PAR2 upregulated single-channel activities of TRPV1 and that the effect was mediated through the protein kinase C-dependent transduction pathway.
Strategic Foci in Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract We investigate whether the strategies deemed important by social entrepreneurs contrast with those of commercial entrepreneurs. We hypothesize that social entrepreneurs value externally-focused strategies more highly and internally-focused strategies less compared with commercial entrepreneurs. We test our hypotheses using cross-sectional time-series analyses on five waves of Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II (PSED II) data. In support of our hypotheses, we find that strategies focused on serving missed customers, marketing/promotion, and intellectual property are deemed more important by social entrepreneurs. We further find that strategies focused on quality products and contemporary/attractive products are deemed more important by commercial entrepreneurs.
Fractal equations and their solutions

Fractal image compression is achieved by Fractal transformation of images. To complete a fractal transformation, one has to solve a Fractal equation. In this paper, we will develop an algorithm for solving Fractal equations of black and white images. We will first briefly derive several types of Fractal equations. Then we will present an algorithm for solving Fractal equations. We will discuss images with more than two pixel intensities in the second part of this paper.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Primary care of adolescents with bulimia nervosa

Adolescents with bulimia nervosa present a challenge to pediatric nurse practitioners. These adolescents have a disorder that is secretive and difficult to diagnose, chronic, multifaceted, and difficult to treat. However, armed with the proper knowledge and skills, pediatric nurse practitioners are the ideal primary health care providers for this population.
Bovine hemoglobin pseudo-crosslinked with mono(3,5-dibromosalicyl)-fumarate.

Under oxygenated conditions bovine hemoglobin reacts with mono(3,5-dibromosalicyl)-fumarate which specifically acylates the EF5 lysines in the β-cleft of the protein. The chemical modification introduces in the molecule a pseudo-crosslink which hinders the dissociation of the hemoglobin molecule into dimers. Retention time in circulation of the chemically modified bovine hemoglobin, measured in the rat, is increased fivefold with respect to untreated bovine hemoglobin. The oxygen affinity at 37°C and at pH 7.4, has a P50= 5.4 kPa and a value of n= 1.9. Under the same experimental conditions the oxygen affinity is not sensitive to anions and polyanions whereas it is sensitive to CO2. The Bohr effect is shifted toward the alkaline pH range by 0.5–1: the maximum number of protons released is 1.5/tetramer, similar to normal bovine hemoglobin (1.8 protons/tetramer). Analysis of the binding isotherms, using the two-state Monod-Wyman-Changeux model and fixing the value of the allosteric constant L= 105, shows that the oxygen affinity of the T structure is not modified, and that the low oxygen affinity of the system is due to a decrease of the oxygen affinity of the R structure. Analysis using the sequential Adair model shows a modification of the overall binding constants and suggests a redistribution of the intermediate species of oxygenation.
Identification and structural characterization of an unusual RING-like sequence within an extracellular biomineralization protein, AP7.

The RING or Really Interesting New Gene represents a family of eukaryotic sequences that bind Zn (II) ions and participate in intracellular processes involving protein−protein interaction. Although found in over 400 different proteins, very little is known regarding the structure–function properties of these domains because of the aggregation problems associated with RING sequences. To augment this data set, we report an unusual 36 AA C-terminal sequence of an extracellular matrix mollusk shell protein, AP7, that exhibits partial homology to the RING family. This Cys, His-containing sequence, termed AP7C, binds Zn (II) and other multivalent ions, but does not utilize a tetracoordinate complexation scheme for binding such as that found in Zn (II) finger polypeptides. Moreover, unlike Zn (II) finger and RING domains, this 36 AA can fold into a relatively stable structure in the absence of Zn (II). This folded structure consists of three short helical segments (A, B, and C), with segments A and B separated b...
Tapping student interests and concerns

A dream assignment causes a teacher to worry that it may be “too good” and to consider what effect he wants to have as a teacher.
Hormone therapy and endometrial angiogenesis.

Irregular endometrial bleeding occurs in up to 60% of hormone therapy (HT) users and leads to discontinuation of therapy in up to one-third of these women. Aberrant endometrial angiogenesis has been implicated as a cause of abnormal endometrial bleeding. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) are two well-characterized angiogenic modulators that play critical roles in endometrial angiogenesis. We have proposed a hypothesis that alterations in the expression of these two potent angiogenic modulators may be a mechanism involved in endometrial bleeding in HT users. 17β-Estradiol increased VEGF levels in the endometrial glandular epithelium (Ishikawa cells) in vitro. Progesterone has no effect on VEGF expression. The synthetic progestins in HT preparations were found to increase VEGF expression to a greater extent than 17β-estradiol. Progesterone increased TSP-1 mRNA in Ishikawa cells. 17β-Estradiol had no effect on TSP-1 mRNA and the effect of synthetic progestins on TSP-1 exp...
Postischemic administration of an anti-Mac-1 antibody reduces ischemic cell damage after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats.

Postischemic cerebral inflammation may contribute to ischemic cell damage. The CD11b/18 (Mac-1) integrin mediates stimulated neutrophil binding to endothelia. We therefore investigated the effect of administration of an anti-Mac-1 monoclonal antibody on cerebral ischemic cell damage in the rat. Rats (n = 10) were subjected to 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion; the anti-Mac-1 antibody was administered at a dose of 2 mg/kg i.v. at 1 hour of reperfusion and 1 mg/kg i.v. at 22 hours of reperfusion or an isotype-matched control antibody (n = 10) was administered using the same experimental protocol. Rats were killed at 46 hours of reperfusion, and brain sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histological evaluation. In a separate population of rats given either vehicle (n = 8) or anti-Mac-1 antibodies (n = 9), intraparenchymal neutrophils were measured by means of a myeloperoxidase assay. The lesion volume was significantly smaller (28%) in the anti-Mac-1 antibody group compared with the vehicle control group (P < .01). Numbers of intraparenchymal polymorphonuclear cells were significantly reduced (P < .05) in the cortex of the anti-Mac-1 antibody group compared with the vehicle control group. Our data demonstrate that administration of anti-Mac-1 antibody 1 hour after onset of reperfusion results in significant reductions of ischemic cell damage and intraparenchymal neutrophils after transient (2-hour) focal cerebral ischemia in the rat.
Postdischarge, postoperative nosocomial infection surveillance using random sampling

Nosocomial infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hospital patients. Nosocomial infections, defined as infections that occur in patients after hospital admission and that were not present or incubating at the time of admission,’ have been estimated to occur in 5% to 6% of hospital patients.’ Nosocomial infection rates are highest on surgical services in all types of hospitals, with the urinary tract the most frequent site, followed by surgical wounds and the lower respiratory tract.L.3 These three sites account for more than 70% of surgical service nosocomial infections.’ Nosocomial infections prolong hospital stays, increase rehospitalization rates, and significantly increase health care costs.’ A retrospective study of 16 literature reports between 1933 and 1975 revealed that hospital stays were prolonged from 1.3 to 26.3 days as a result of nosocomial infections.3 More recent studies have demonstrated that. the average surgical wound infection prolongs the hospital stay by 7.4 days.3 Postoperative nosocomial infections may not be detected until after the patient has been discharged from the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control have suggested at a category III level (to be considered but not recommended for widespread adoption) that discharged patients be contacted 30 days after surgery to determine whether nosocomial infections had oc-
Applying nonlinear multiloop simulation to effects-based operations

Effects-Based Operations (EBO) consider an adversary nation as a system, which can be decomposed into (1) National Elements of Value (NEVs), (2) target systems, and (3) target sets. This approach to studying EBO is founded on the insight that the effects of an aerospace campaign, both physical and behavioral, can be understood as the dynamic behaviors of a complex system. This study proposes addressing the EBO problem domain in terms of a nonlinear, multi-feedback loop model, which can be analyzed using commercial system dynamics modeling and simulation tools. This study aims to advace targeting policy in three sections covering (1) overview of concepts, (2) next steps, and (3) risks and alternatives.
Adaptive record clustering

An algorithm for record clustering is presented. It is capable of detecting sudden changes in users' access patterns and then suggesting an appropriate assignment of records to blocks. It is conceptually simple, highly intuitive, does not need to classify queries into types, and avoids collecting individual query statistics. Experimental results indicate that it converges rapidly; its performance is about 50 percent better than that of the total sort method, and about 100 percent better than that of randomly assigning records to blocks.
On the effect of mobility variation on MOS device characteristics

An empirical approximation is used to predict the effect of surface-field dependent mobility on MOS device characteristics. Mobility dependence on both gate and drain voltages is considered. The approximation is verified by comparison with experimental device characteristics.
Development and evolution of nanostructure in bulk thermoelectric Pb-Te-Sb alloys

Motivated by reports of exceptionally high zT > 2 in thin film superlattices or “quantum well” materials with nanometer sized features, we have undertaken a study of composite materials with nanoscale features that promise to provide similar structures in bulk material. Nanometer scale layers of PbTe and Sb2Te3 with periodicities of 180 nm to 950 nm form when quenched eutectic PbTe-Sb2Te3 melt, crystallizing as Pb2Sb6Te11, subsequently annealed. The lamellar spacing depends on the temperature and time of the anneal. The mechanism for the development of the nanostructures is probed by examining the fraction of material transformed as a function of anneal time. Preliminary analysis of the shape factor exponent reveals that the transformation to the nanostructured lamellae bears similarities to the thickening of very large plates. The coarsening of the lamellar spacing is also examined as a function of time and temperature.
Age-related effects of triphenyl phosphite-induced delayed neuropathy on central visual pathways in the European ferret (Mustela putorius furo).

Abstract Age-Related Effects of Triphenyl Phosphite-Induced Delayed Neuropathy on Central Visual Pathways in the European Ferret (Mustela putorius furo). Tanaka, D., Jr., Bursian, S. J., and Aulerich, R. J. (1994) Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 22, 577-587. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the maturation of visual system neurons and the onset of their susceptibility to triphenyl phosphite (TPP)-induced delayed neurotoxicity in the European ferret. We administered single subcutaneous doses of TPP (1184 mg/kg body wt) to 1- to 10-week-old ferret kits to assess the effects on connections and neurons of the developing lateral geniculate thalamic nucleus (LGN) and primary visual cortex. Brains were processed with a modified Fink-Heimer silver-impregnation method. Axonal and terminal degeneration were first noted in the LGN of kits injected at 5 weeks of age. The severity of the degeneration increased in kits injected at later ages and reached adult densities and configurations in ferrets injected at 10 weeks of age. Degenerating neuronal cell bodies were also present in the LGN of kits injected at 7 weeks of age and older. In the visual cortex, axonal and terminal degeneration were consistently present in kits injected at 8 weeks of age and attained adult-like densities in kits injected at 10 weeks of age. Previous studies have reported that the ferret visual system appears to reach anatomical maturity (as defined by mature LGN lamination patterns, the location and density of axon terminals originating from neurons in the retina and LGN, and the migration and synaptic connections of cortical neurons) by 4-5 weeks of age. A temporal comparison of these normal developmental data with the degeneration data obtained in the present study suggests that immature neurons in the visual system of the ferret are not susceptible to TPP-induced delayed neurotoxicity but only become so after they have achieved some degree of maturity. Whether the LGN neurons undergoing degeneration are directly affected by TPP or are showing a transneuronal response to loss of afferent input remains unresolved.
The normal vibrations of tetrahydrofuran and its deuterated derivatives

Abstract A normal co-ordinate analysis of the vibrations of tetrahydrofuran and several deuterated derivatives has been performed assuming the molecules possess C 2ν , symmetry. The method of damped least squares was used to obtain values for 30 force constants in a valence force field. This force field was defined in terms of a redundant set of 43 internal co-ordinates. The refinement waa performed using cartesian co-ordinates, so there was no attempt to eliminate the redundancies. Approximately 80 frequencies were reproduced with an average error of about 9 cm −1 .
A bunch of tiny individuals—Individual-based modeling for microbes

Abstract The individual-based (aka agent-based) approach is now well established in ecological modeling. Traditionally, most applications have been to organisms at higher trophic levels, where the importance of population heterogeneity (intra-population variability), complete life cycles and behavior adapted to internal and external conditions has been recognized for some time. However, advances in molecular biology and biochemistry have brought about an increase in the application of individual-based modeling (IBM) to microbes as well. This literature review summarizes 46 IBM papers for bacteria in wastewater treatment plants, phytoplankton in ocean and inland waters, bacteria in biofilms, bacteria in food and other environs, and “digital organisms” and “domesticated computer viruses” in silico . The use of IBM in these applications was motivated by population heterogeneity (45%), emergence (24%), absence of a continuum (5%), and other unknown reasons (26%). In general, the challenges and concepts of IBM modeling for microbes and higher trophic levels are similar. However, there are differences in the microbe population dynamics and their environment that create somewhat different challenges, which have led to somewhat different modeling concepts. Several topics are discussed, including producing, maintaining and changing population heterogeneity (different life histories, internal variability, positive feedback, inter-generation memory), dealing with very large numbers of individuals (different up-scaling methods, including representative space vs. super-individual, number vs. biomass based, discrete vs. continuous kinetics, various agent accounting methods), handling space, simulating interactions with the extracellular environment (hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian approach), modeling agent–agent interaction (self-shading, predation, shoving) and passive transport (random walk with spatially variable diffusivity, well-mixed reactors). Overall, the literature indicates that the application of IBM to microbes is developing into a mature field. However, several challenges remain, including simulating various types of agent–agent interactions (formation and function of colonies or filaments, sexual reproduction) and even smaller individuals (viruses, genes). Further increases in intracellular detail and complexity in microbe IBMs may be considered the combination of systems biology and systems ecology, or the new field of systems bioecology.
Examining the impact of phonics intervention on secondary students’ reading improvement

This paper describes an action research project focusing on the effects of a phonics intervention on the reading fluency of high school students. Phonics instruction is normally associated with earlier stages of learners’ reading development. If it is an effective tool for early readers, then it would seem that struggling readers at the high school level might benefit from an intervention program that used a phonics‐based approach. Pre‐testing identified the decoding skills that students were unfamiliar with and the phonics intervention addressed the identified areas of need. Students were tested three times over time: one as a baseline measure, the second after a seven‐week intervention was completed, and the last one year after the completion of the initial intervention. Two measures were recorded for each of the three time spots: the first was Raw Score and the second was Reading Grade Level. Results showed that there was a significant change over time in the three measures for both Raw Score and the R...
Postconditioning isolation disrupts contextual conditioning: An experimental analysis.

Contextual-fear conditioning requires a lengthy retention period to fully emerge. This phenomenon might reflect the consolidation of a representation of the context that can be used to evoke fear. To investigate this hypothesis, 25 day-old rats that were returned to their home cages after conditioning were compared with rats that were isolated in a novel room. Isolation disrupted contextual but not auditory-cue fear conditioning when the conditioning-isolation interval was 2 hr or less, but not when it was 24 hr. Preexposure to the context prevented the isolation effect, and isolation disrupted this effect of context preexposure. These results support the consolidation hypothesis and the view that contextual- and auditory-cue fear conditioning depend on different processes.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY JOB SATISFACTION

This paper presents the findings of a 1983 survey of 131 faculty in four postsecondary institutions in a state in the southeastern U.S.A. The purpose of the study was to elicit faculty judgments about their self‐concepts and commitment, stresses, and satisfactions in work and family life. This report presents data only about the respondents and their work: their job and its stressors and job satisfactions and dissatisfaction. The study revealed that faculty derive high satisfaction from student achievement, their own intellectual growth in a discipline and the world of ideas, working under flexible and relatively autonomous conditions, and association with stimulating peers. Their chief dissatisfactions dealt with job conditions (equipment and facilities, inflexible teaching schedules), personal conditions (lack of recognition, heavy teaching load), salary, red tape, and student and colleague apathy. A secondary purpose of the study was to test Herzberg's two‐factor theory of job satisfaction. These respo...
Magnetic flux of colinear bipolar spot pairs

It has been widely conjectured that solar flares are energized by the magnetic energy stored in complex active regions. Paradoxically, however, in attempting to show that magnetic changes cause or characterize flares, solar magnetic observations have produced equivocal results.
A study of the family unit's response to hemodialysis.

Abstract The response of a family to the stress of having one of its members treated for end stage renal failure via hemodialysis maintenance, has been reported to have implications for the patients emotional and physical well-being. Yet, little is found in the literature describing the international form the family response takes. The purpose of this study was to describe the patient-family interaction within families of patients of hemodialysis. A conjoint family interview was conducted to assess the manner in which family performs its primary functions. The assumption underlying this foccus is that serious imbalances between conditions offered to and required by a given member would be discernible as disagreement or tension in relation to these transactional areas. Following the interview completed the Family Index of Tension; a rating instrument which provides a format for quantifying the information obtained. It was noted that of the 20 family units interviewed a relatively consistent picture evolved which was marked by the patient manifesting great levels of control. There appeared to be only minimal overt communication between all family members with the conspicuous omission of the children. Although great concern was expressed there was minimal regard for the needs of the nonafflicted family members. Additionally, there appeared to be a withdrawal from social life into a very family (if not patient) centered existence.
A comparison of cultural characteristics and infectivity of Frankia isolates from root nodules of Casuarina species

The isolations of three new strains of Frankia were made from root nodules of Casuarina cunninghamiana growing aeroponically. Two strains, HFPCcI1 and HFPCcI2 isolated by Lopez are typical Frankia strains, producing sporangia among filamentous mats in culture and, in the absence of combined nitrogen, forming vesicles and showing acetylene reduction. They are red-pigmented and, although failing to nodulate Casuarina hosts, effectively nodulated Elaeagnus and Hippophae. A third strain HFPCcI3 isolated by Zhang from the same source, also a typical Frankia, can form sporangia and vesicles in culture and reduce acetylene, is unpigmented, fails to nodulate Elaeagnus but effectively nodulates C. cunninghamiana and C. equisetifolia. Comparisons are made among all of the Casuarina isolates in our collection from around the world (twelve in all) with regard to their cultural characteristics and capacity to infect host plant species. Questions are raised about the specificity of the various isolates and their possible affinities. Opportunities are suggested for inoculation of seedlings for forestry and field application using the infective, effective strains now available.
TIME-DOMAIN ULTRA-WIDEBAND IMAGING RADAR EXPERIMENT FOR VERIFYING SUPER-RESOLUTION IN NONLINEAR INVERSE SCATTERING

This paper presents an experimental verification of the super-resolution phenomenon in nonlinear inverse scattering using a time-domain (TD) ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging radar system developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The TD-UWB microwave imaging radar system successfully combines the UWB impulse radar system and a nonlinear inverse scattering imaging algorithm, the distorted-Born iterative method (DBIM), for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and remote sensing purposes. The experimental data were collected from a limited view angles using a switched Vivaldi antenna array which consists of five transmitters and six receivers. The experimental data are processed with the DBIM, and show that it can resolve features smaller than the half-wavelength dictated by the Rayleigh criterion. The experimental results also demonstrate that DBIM can recover information on the backside of a penetrable scatterer even though scattering data are collected only from limited view angles from the front...
Fast parallel algorithms for all-sources lexicographic search and path-algebra problems

Abstract This paper places three greedy search problems in the class N C : lexicographic topological-first search (lex-tfs) for DAGs, lexicographic depth-first search (lex-dfs) for DAGs, and lexicographic breadth-first search (lex-bfs) for directed graphs. The latter result answers an open question of Hoover and Ruzzo (A compendium of problems complete for P, draft, November 1985). For each of these problems, we show that the search trees from all sources in a graph of n vertices can be computed by an EREW PRAM in O(log2n) time using O(n3) operations for lex-dfs and O(n3 log n) operations for lex-bfs/lex-tfs. Two novel results that emerge from our derivation of the algorithms are of interest in their own right. One uncovers a natural correspondence between the greedy search strategies and lexicographic versions of path finding problems. The other result is our approach to generating parallel algorithms for the lexicographic versions of path-algebra problems in a uniform way. This approach gives rise to a unifying algorithm which yields, as particular cases, N C algorithms for the path problems that correspond to the three greedy search strategies: all-pairs lexmax longest paths for weighted DAGs, all-pairs lexmin paths for DAGs, and all-pairs lexmin shortest paths for weighted directed graphs with no cycles of negative cost.