cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Heart rate monitoring using Kinect and color amplification

The color part of a color and motion amplification algorithm developed by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSail) research group [1] is converted to real-time and used to visualize and monitor heart rate for drivers in order to sense when a driver becomes sleepy. A Kinect camera mounted on the dashboard is used to gather video data from which the driver's heart rate is extracted in real time. This technology can be used to unobtrusively monitor heart rate and breathing of infants, sleep apnea patients or other individuals where worn devices are not optimal.
Partners in emerging technology : Library support for Web-based courses

Abstract This paper discusses how the University of Wyoming Libraries have worked in partnership with the larger institution and its Outreach School to develop a strategic plan for the future of distance education at the University of Wyoming. This collaboration insures that distance learners receive comparable library services to on-campus learners. The authors focus on how the World Wide Web is utilized to provide library services to students, in particular to online students.
CHAPTER 6 – Shock Capturing

Faced with the task of writing a computer code to solve some flow problem expected to contain shockwaves, the simplest decision would be simply to ignore any complexities that they might cause, and to write the code as though the flow were continuous everywhere. The most likely outcome would seem to be that the shocks would appear as more-or-less well-defined transition regions. We might speak of the shocks as being “captured” by the computation, much as the spirit of a personality can be captured by an artist in a quick sketch. But there could very well be some doubts about how valid these solutions actually were. Would these shockwaves actually be in the right place, and would the transitions across them really resemble the true jumps? The shock-capturing techniques that are nowadays widely used for many important calculations have arisen from systematic efforts to allay these fears. Despite the fact that no special measures are taken to detect the presence of shocks, care is taken with other aspects of the method so that rather precise statements can be made about the results. In particular, as the size of the computational mesh is systematically reduced, and hence the width of the transition, regions is also reduced, the jumps across them will indeed obey the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions, both as regards the strength of the jump and the speed of its propagation. To achieve this much is actually quite easy, but there are other desirable properties that are more elusive. 1. The quality of the transition should be crisp; neither excessively smeared out nor accompanied by meaningless oscillations.
Computer simulation of convective and diffusive transport of controlled-release drugs in the vitreous humor.

Purpose. Biodistribution of drugs in the eye is central to the efficacy of pharmaceutical ocular therapies. Of particular interest to us is the effect of intravitreal transport on distribution of controlled-released drugs within the vitreous.
Outcomes of pregnancies complicated by maternal tuberous sclerosis

We present three cases of maternal tuberous sclerosis without major complications in pregnancy and several other patients who delivered with a low risk obstetrician, from this we conclude that maternal tuberous sclerosis may not be as high risk for pregnancy as previously reported in the literature. Tuberous sclerosis (TS) is a genetic disorder that is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion with variable clinical manifestations including seizures, mental retardation, renal failure and pneumothorax. This case series can aid obstetricians in counseling of patients with this rare disorder.
The Many Faces of Spatial Prediction

This article presents stochastic and nonstochastic methods of spatial prediction, using a unified notation. The geostatistical method (i.e., kriging in its various forms) has an advantage over other predictors in that it adapts to the quantity and quality of spatial dependence demonstrated by the data. Properties of the various methods are discussed very briefly.
Muscle does not drive persistent posttraumatic elbow contracture in a rat model.

Introduction Posttraumatic elbow contracture is clinically challenging because injury often disrupts multiple periarticular soft tissues. Tissue specific contribution to contracture, particularly muscle, remains poorly understood. Methods In this study we used a previously developed animal model of elbow contracture. After surgically inducing a unilateral soft tissue injury, injured limbs were immobilized for 3, 7, 21, and 42 days (IM) or for 42 IM with 42 days of free mobilization (42/42 IM-FM). Biceps brachii active/passive mechanics and morphology were evaluated at 42 IM and 42/42 IM-FM, whereas biceps brachii and brachialis gene expression was evaluated at all time points. Results Injured limb muscle exhibited significantly altered active/passive mechanics and decreased fiber area at 42 IM but returned to control levels by 42/42 IM-FM. Gene expression suggested muscle growth rather than a fibrotic response at 42/42 IM-FM. Discussion Muscle is a transient contributor to motion loss in our rat model of posttraumatic elbow contracture. Muscle Nerve 58:843-851, 2018.
Stretching and Breaking of Ultrathin 2D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) are recent members of the 2D materials family with wide tunability, highly dynamic structural features, and excellent physical properties. Ultrathin 2D HOIPs and their heterostructures with other 2D materials have been exploited for study of physical phenomena and device applications. The in-plane mechanical properties of 2D ultrathin HOIPs are critical for understanding the coupling between mechanical and other physical fields and for integrated devices applications. Here we report the in-plane mechanical properties of ultrathin freestanding 2D lead iodide perovskite membranes and their dependence on the membrane thickness. The in-plane Young’s moduli of 2D HOIPs are smaller than that of conventional covalently bonded 2D materials. As the thickness increases from monolayer to three-layer, both the Young’s modulus and breaking strength decrease, while three-layer and four-layer 2D HOIPs have almost identical in-plane mechanical properties. ...
Evaluation of Sex Distribution of Industry Payments Among Radiation Oncologists

Importance Industry relationships are an important measure of professional advancement; however, the association between physician sex and industry payments in radiation oncology has not been described. Objective To update the trends in the sex distribution of industry payments in radiation oncology. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between July 1, 2018, and August 31, 2018. It used the publicly available Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments program and CMS Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File databases to obtain 2016 industry payment data for US radiation oncologists who reported receiving industry funding in that year (n = 3052). Total monetary value, number of payments, and median payment amounts were determined for each sex in the following categories: research, consulting, honoraria, industry grants, royalty or license, and services other than consulting. Main Outcomes and Measures Industry payment amounts among 3052 radiation oncologists who reported receiving payments in 2016; association of median payment with the types of payment by sex. Results Of the total 4483 radiation oncologists who practiced in 2016, 1164 (25.9%) were female and 3319 (74.0%) were male. Industry payments were distributed among 3052 radiation oncologists (68.1%), of whom 715 (23.4%) were female and 2337 (76.6%) were male. The proportion of female radiation oncologists who received at least 1 industry payment was 61.4% (715 of 1164), whereas the proportion of their male counterparts was 70.4% (2337 of 3319). Across all payment types, female radiation oncologists received a smaller percentage of total industry funding than the percentage of female physicians represented in each category. The median payment value was smaller for female radiation oncologists in consulting (–$1000; 95% CI, −$1966.67 to $100.63;P = .005) and honoraria (–$500; 95% CI, −$1071.43 to $0;P = .007). This trend was also observed in research payments, but was not statistically significant (–$135.02; 95% CI, −$476.93 to $6.88;P = .08). Of the $1 347 509 royalty or license payments made to 72 physicians, none was for female radiation oncologists. Conclusions and Relevance Distribution of industry payments appears to show sex disparity in industry relationships among radiation oncologists; this observation warrants further investigation to determine the underlying reasons and provide avenues for increased parity.
Factors influencing the pace of food intake for nursing home residents with dementia: Resident characteristics, staff mealtime assistance and environmental stimulation.

Aim To examine the association of resident characteristics, staff mealtime assistance and environmental stimulation with the pace of food intake. Design A secondary analysis of 36 baseline eating videos involving 19 nursing assistants and 15 residents with dementia in eight nursing homes from a communication intervention study. Methods The outcome variable was the pace of food intake (the number of bites and drinks per minute). The exploratory variables were resident characteristics (age, gender, dementia stage and eating performance), staff mealtime assistance (frequency of verbal, visual, partial and full physical assistance) and environmental stimulation. Multi-level models were used to examine the association. Results A faster pace of food intake is associated with being male, better eating performance, staff provision of visual and physical assistance and better quality of environmental stimulation that involved interaction. The pace of food intake was not associated with resident age, staff verbal assistance or partial physical assistance.
Genomic Evolutionary Patterns of Leiomyosarcoma and Liposarcoma.

Purpose: Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and liposarcoma (LPS) are common subtypes of soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Patients with metastatic LMS or dedifferentiated LPS (DDLPS) typically have worse outcomes compared to localized LMS or well-differentiated LPS (WDLPS). A better understanding of genetic changes between primary/metastatic LMS and between WDLPS/DDLPS may provide insight into their genetic evolution. Experimental Design: We interrogated whole exome sequencing (WES) from "trios" of normal tissue, primary tumor, and metastatic tumor from individual patients with LMS (n=9), and trios of normal tissue, well-differentiated tumor, and dedifferentiated tumor from individual patients with LPS (n=19). Specifically, we performed mutational, copy number, and tumor evolution analyses on these cohorts and compared patterns among LMS and LPS trios. Results: LMS cases harbored shared drivers through a typical parent/child relationship where the metastatic tumor was derived from the primary tumor. In contrast, while all LPS cases shared the characteristic focal chromosome 12 amplicon, most paired LPS cases did not share additional mutations, suggesting a divergent evolutionary pattern from a common precursor. No highly recurrent genomic alterations from WES were identified that could be implicated as driving the progression of disease in either sarcoma subtype. Conclusions: From a genomic perspective, LMS metastases contain genetic alterations that are also found in primary tumors. WDLPS and DDLPS, however, appear to divergently evolve from a common precursor harboring 12p amplification, rather than as a transformation to a higher-grade tumor. Further efforts to identify specific drivers of these distinct evolutionary patterns may inform future translational and clinical research in STS.
Finding and fueling your professional passion.

Burnout among physician faculty in academic family medicine and other specialties has been measured at “epidemic” levels. No parallel research has been completed on behavioral science faculty in fa...
Bloqueio contínuo do plano do eretor da espinha lombar para o controle da dor pós‐operatória em procedimento de revisão de cirurgia do quadril: relato de caso

Resumo O numero de artroplastias totais de quadril feitas a cada ano continua a aumentar; consequentemente, o mesmo acontece com o numero de procedimentos de revisao de artroplastia total de quadril. Embora nosso metodo tradicional de analgesia para esses pacientes tenha envolvido medicacoes multimodais e um bloqueio continuo do plexo lombar, relatamos dois casos de pacientes que receberam bloqueios continuos do musculo eretor da coluna lombar. Ambos apresentaram excelente controle da dor pos‐operatoria e obtiveram alta hospitalar no primeiro dia de pos‐operatorio. Este relato de caso ilustra a possivel utilidade do bloqueio continuo do plano do eretor da espinha para analgesia pos‐operatoria nas cirurgias, cada vez mais frequentes, de revisao de artroplastia total do quadril.
Hypoalbuminemia Predicts Increased Readmission and Emergency Department Visits After Lower Extremity Bypass

Introduction:Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is associated with poor outcomes across many surgical fields. However, the effects on outcomes after lower extremity bypass (LEB), particularly over the 90...
Immigrant Selectivity Effects on Health, Labor Market, and Educational Outcomes

Over the past two decades, a growing body of research has focused on immigrant selectivity and its effects on immigrant health, immigrant labor market outcomes, and children of immigrants’ educatio...
Unsedated Colonoscopy: Impact on Quality Indicators.

In the USA, sedation is commonly used for colonoscopies; though colonoscopy can be successfully performed without sedation, outcomes data in this setting are scarce. To determine patient characteristics associated with undergoing unsedated colonoscopy and whether adenoma detection rate (ADR) and cecal intubation rate (CIR) differ between sedated and unsedated colonoscopy. Using a single-center electronic endoscopy database, we identified patients who underwent outpatient colonoscopy between 2011 and 2018 with or without sedation. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine factors associated with unsedated colonoscopy, CIR, and ADR. We identified 24,795 patients who underwent colonoscopy during the study period. Of these, 179 patients (0.7%) underwent unsedated colonoscopy. ADR was 27.4% in sedated and 21.2% in unsedated colonoscopies (p = 0.06); CIR was 95.8% in sedated and 85.5% in unsedated patients (p < 0.01). On multivariable analysis, male sex (OR 2.06, CI 1.52–2.79) and suboptimal bowel preparation (OR 1.75, CI 1.24–2.45) were associated with undergoing unsedated colonoscopy, while higher BMI was inversely associated with unsedated colonoscopy (BMI 25–29.9: OR 0.44, CI 0.25–0.77). On multivariable analysis, colonoscopy with sedation was associated with CIR (OR 3.79, CI 2.39–6.00) and ADR (OR 1.45, OR 1.00–2.10). We found that undergoing outpatient colonoscopy with sedation as opposed to no sedation was significantly associated with a higher CIR and ADR. Our findings suggest sedation is necessary to meet current CIR and ADR guidelines; however, given the potential cost and safety benefits of unsedated colonoscopy, further investigation into methods to improve patient selection and colonoscopy quality indicators is warranted.
Walking at work: Maximum gait speed is related to work ability in hospital nursing staff

OBJECTIVES Like the concept of work ability in occupational health, gait speed is a measure of general fitness and can predict functional decline and morbidity. This is especially important when our care-takers, i.e. nurses, show decline in fitness and become care-receivers. The study aims to describe the demographics of hospital nurses in the context of gait speed and work ability as well as to determine the association between them. METHODS Three-hundred and twelve inpatient nurses and nursing assistants were sampled from a level 1 trauma and teaching hospital from several service lines and acuity levels. Spearman correlation tests were utilized to determine the relationship of gait speed and ratings of item 1 on the Work Ability Index (WAI) as well as Cochran-Armitage test for linear trend of gait speed. RESULTS Maximum gait speed has a significant positive association with work ability with a Rho coefficient of 0.217 (P < .0001). Additionally, the linear trend test of gait speed tertiles was significant (P < .001) for work ability categories of Moderate to Poor (0-7) and Good to Excellent (8-10). CONCLUSIONS Gait speed is correlated with the item 1 self-rating of the WAI in hospital nursing staff. The 10-m walk test is a practical and easy measure that can be utilized in occupational health. More research is required to validate gait speed in other occupational health populations and investigate gait speed changes and its interaction with the work environment longitudinally.
Topological imaging of turbulent premixed, prevaporized liquid fuel jet flames using CH (C-X) band PLIF

New imaging capabilities for topology in prevaporized, liquid-fuel flames are presented with the application of CH-radical planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) using the C2Σ+-X2Π (v′=0, v″=0) band. Imaging of turbulent flame structure for ethanol, n-heptane, n-dodecane, and kerosene (JP-8) fuels has been conducted in jet flames using a piloted McKenna burner with a central jet tube. This work presents the first application of CH PLIF for the study of full flame structure and curvature effects with prevaporized liquid fuels, particularly n-dodecane and kerosene. Liquid fuel structure is also compared to results with methane and ethylene. Results show that good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is achieved for all fuels, and the method is feasible in the presence of a dilute droplet field, despite the resonant nature of the technique. Reaction-zone structures clearly depict evidence of nonequidiffusive (Le ≠ 1) effects: strong variation in CH fluorescence is observed in regions of high curvature. Simultaneous excitation of the OH radical is also possible with prevaporized liquid fuels, for combined imaging of the reaction and heat-release zones. In kerosene flames, with aromatic species, fuel fluorescence may also be simultaneously captured, in addition to that from CH and OH, providing information on vapor localization.
Equity and Disasters: Reframing Incident Command Systems

In the late 1980s, the hospital emergency incident command system (now HICS) was developed to align with the National Interagency Incident Management System, the federal plan for improving coordination among agencies in a broad range of large-scale emergencies 2 As HICS have been deployed over recent decades, we have deepened our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their structure for addressing the needs of diverse populations Recurrent experiences with large-scale disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricanes Katrina, Maria, Harvey, and Sandy, have underscored the ways in which health care responses, emergency preparedness, and broader social determinants of health lead to preventable morbidity and mortality in marginalized communities 3 Here we share the case for embedding an equity element in HICS, our institutional experiences in operationalizing equity, and our recommendation for a structural change in the national HICS guidelines: including a defined equity officer (EO) and subject matter experts in health care equity to ensure that actions are taken to improve outcomes for diverse groups during public health emergencies or disasters The absence of equity as an emergency management principle in responses to COVID-19 has resulted in a slow and incomplete hospital response to the disproportionate mortality and morbidity in several historically marginalized populations 4 For example, hospitals have access to detailed information on the demographic composition of their inpatient populations, the ability to screen patients for social needs, and the opportunity to conduct coordinated community outreach to address the needs of communities of color through HICS infrastructure An after-action review is a structured process developed by the US Army to identify strengths and weaknesses in event response 10 This concept has been adapted as a critical step after public health emergencies to gather information on quantitative and qualitative issues to improve preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery for future incidents 11 Our institution has conducted several after-action reviews within the past decade after local events including the Boston Marathon bombings and an active shooter incident in our hospital 1214 We have also facilitated reviews in the wake of other large-scale events such as the urban terror attacks in Paris and Brussels 15 Since our initial patient surge in Boston, Massachusetts, in April 2020 (and given the concern for future surges), we have conducted several debriefings with more than 150 staff members across an academic medical center and community hospital within our larger multihospital health care system
SHOWAR: Right-Sizing And Efficient Scheduling of Microservices

Microservices architecture have been widely adopted in designing distributed cloud applications where the application is decoupled into multiple small components (i.e. "microservices"). One of the challenges in deploying microservices is finding the optimal amount of resources (i.e. size) and the number of instances (i.e. replicas) for each microservice in order to maintain a good performance as well as prevent resource wastage and under-utilization which is not cost-effective. This paper presents SHOWAR, a framework that configures the resources by determining the number of replicas (horizontal scaling) and the amount of CPU and Memory for each microservice (vertical scaling). For vertical scaling, SHOWAR uses empirical variance in the historical resource usage to find the optimal size and mitigate resource wastage. For horizontal scaling, SHOWAR uses basic ideas from control theory along with kernel level performance metrics. Additionally, once the size for each microservice is found, SHOWAR bridges the gap between optimal resource allocation and scheduling by generating affinity rules (i.e. hints) for the scheduler to further improve the performance. Our experiments, using a variety of microservice applications and real-world workloads, show that, compared to the state-of-the-art autoscaling and scheduling systems, SHOWAR on average improves the resource allocation by up to 22% while improving the 99th percentile end-to-end user request latency by 20%.
Comparison of the high sensitivity and standard versions of applied biosystems prociseTM 494 N-terminal protein sequencers using various sequencing supports

Publisher Summary There has been a continual drive to improve the sensitivity of the technique because of the advent of automated N-terminal sequencing. In recent times, the sensitivity of commercially available N-terminal sequencers has continued to improve. Applied biosystems standard ProciseTM 494 N-terminal sequencer (ProciseTM 494HT) can be at present routinely operated at less than 10 pmol. The current trend is to advance N-terminal Edman sequencing to the subpicomole level. The most significant limitation to achieve this goal, using the established instrumental configuration, is the detection of PTH-amino acids by conventional HPLC. Comparison of the signal enhancement and sensitivity of the 494HS and the 494HT is the primary objective of this chapter. Interested lies in validating the utility of high sensitivity sequencing because this technique is critical in the attempt to identify minute amounts of novel factors and potential therapeutics. An additional objective is to compare the repetitive and initial yields of various types of proteins using different sequencing supports. The sequencing supports utilized in this study include ProSorb™, ProBlottTM, and BioBrene™-treated trifloroacetic acid (TFA)-activated glass fiber filters. Comparison of the signal enhancement and limit of detection indicated that the 494HS is significantly more sensitive than the 494HT. Several factors contribute to this increase in sensitivity. The most notable being the combination of the three-fold signal enhancement with the decrease in the detector noise and background noise from the sequencing chemistry.
Identifying Phrasal Verbs Using Many Bilingual Corpora

We address the problem of identifying multiword expressions in a language, focusing on English phrasal verbs. Our polyglot ranking approach integrates frequency statistics from translated corpora in 50 different languages. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates that combining statistical evidence from many parallel corpora using a novel ranking-oriented boosting algorithm produces a comprehensive set of English phrasal verbs, achieving performance comparable to a human-curated set.
Stabilization of negative charge by the cobalticinium nucleus : II. Acidity of hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetraaryl and hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetraalkyl cobalticinium and rhodicinium salts

Abstract Hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetra-substituted cobalticinium and rhodicinium salts exist in proteolytic equilibrium with stable cyclopentadienone complexes. The changes in IR, UV and NMR spectra upon dissociation are described. Acidity constants, K a , have been determined spectrophotometrically for the following hydroxymetallocinium salts, C 5 R 4 OH M + C 5 H 5 : R = CH 3 , M = Co, 4.30 ± 0.07; R = C 6 H 5 , M = Co, 2.42 ± 0.05; R = C 6 F 5 , M = Co, −0.60 ± 0.10; R = C 6 H 5 , M = Rh, 2.54 ± 0.03; R = C 6 F 5 , M = Rh, −0.41 ± 0.10. The acidity increases with increasing electronegativity of the R group and decreases slightly when Co III is replaced by Rh III . The lower acidity of the Rh compounds reflects a slightly lower electronegativity of Rh as compared to Co.
Diffuse luteinization of the ovaries associated with the masculinization syndrome

Abstract The syndrome of masculinization in the female, attributed to pituitary basophilism or adrenal cortical lesions, usually includes regressive changes in the ovaries. At times, however, as evidenced by the two cases described in this report, there may be bilateral ovarian enlargement, due to excessive perifollicular proliferation and luteinization of the theca cells and diffusely scattered luteinized cells within the ovarian parenchyma. The ovrian effects are suggestive of increased gonadotropic stimulation and are probably secondary. It does not appear that they are responsible for the production of the masculinization syndrome. In the clinical investigation of virilism the presence of an ovarian enlargement has been and should be regarded as suspicious evidence of a possible arrhenoblastoma or adrenal rest neoplasm of the ovary. In view of this report, a third possibility exists, namely, enlargement of the ovary due to diffuse luteinization. It may be possible to decide, at operation, by incision of the ovaries, whether or not tumor is present. If, in young patients, tumor can unequivocally be ruled out by this device, one or both ovaries may be left in situ.
Transplanting Kidneys from Deceased Donors With Severe Acute Kidney Injury

Our aim was to determine outcomes with transplanting kidneys from deceased donors with acute kidney injury, defined as a donor with terminal serum creatinine ≥2.0 mg/dL, or a donor requiring acute renal replacement therapy. We included all patients who received deceased donor kidney transplant from June 2004 to October 2013. There were 162 AKI donor transplant recipients (21% of deceased donor transplants): 139 in the standard criteria donor (SCD) and 23 in the expanded criteria donor (ECD) cohort. 71% of the AKI donors had stage 3 (severe AKI), based on acute kidney injury network (AKIN) staging. Protocol biopsies were done at 1, 4, and 12 months posttransplant. One and four month formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) biopsies from 48 patients (24 AKI donors, 24 non-AKI) underwent global gene expression profiling using DNA microarrays (96 arrays). DGF was more common in the AKI group but eGFR, graft survival at 1 year and proportion with IF/TA>2 at 1 year were similar for the two groups. At 1 month, there were 898 differentially expressed genes in the AKI group (p-value <0.005; FDR <10%), but by 4 months there were no differences. Transplanting selected kidneys from deceased donors with AKI is safe and has excellent outcomes.
Toward a Moving Target Defense for Web Applications

Web applications are a critical component of the security ecosystem as they are often the front door for many companies, as such, vulnerabilities in web applications allow hackers access to companies' private data, which contains consumers' private financial information. Web applications are, by their nature, available to everyone, at anytime, from anywhere, and this includes attackers. Therefore, attackers have the opportunity to perform reconnaissance at their leisure, acquiring information on the layout and technologies of the web application, before launching an attack. However, the defender must be prepared for all possible attacks and does not have the luxury of performing reconnaissance on the attacker. The idea behind Moving Target Defense (MTD) is to reduce the information asymmetry between the attacker and defender, ultimately rendering the reconnaissance information misleading or useless. In this paper we take the first steps of applying MTD concepts to web applications in order to create effective defensive layers. We first analyze the web application stack to understand where and how MTD can be applied. The key issue here is that an MTD application must actively prevent or disrupt a vulnerability or exploit, while still providing identical functionality. Then, we discuss our implementation of two MTD approaches, which can mitigate several classes of web application vulnerabilities or exploits. We hope that our discussion will help guide future research in applying the MTD concepts to the web application stack.
Thromboelastographic studies in cerebral infarction.

Blood coagulability in patients following cerebral infarction was studied utilizing the thromboelastograph (TEG). Cerebral infarction patients from two separate institutions were studied within 24 to 48 hours after onset of stroke. Ninety-four stroke patients from one institution and 109 from another yielded a total stroke population of 203 patients for this study. Fifty-nine age-matched normals were used as a control group. Frequency distribution curves were determined for a TEG ratio of ma/(r + k). The 59 controls exhibited a normal frequency distribution between the values of 1.6 and 4.0. Both groups of stroke patients revealed an increased number of patients with a ratio exceeding 4.0, suggesting a hypercoagulable state exists following cerebral infarction in approximately 29% to 38% of the patients studied.
Finite difference analysis of time-dependent spherical problems

Finite difference (FD) method has been used extensively in electromagnetic field modeling because of its ability to robustly handle interactions of field with complex heterogeneous structures. In this paper, we implement the use of explicit finite difference method to solve time-dependent problem in spherical coordinates system. We present results in one dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) that agree with the exact solutions. The study also shows the impact of the changes in the mesh size of each of the spherical coordinates on the accuracy of the FD results.
Ultrafast dynamics of the azobenzene-coumarin complex: investigation of cooling dynamics measured by an integrated molecular thermometer.

The energy dissipation mechanism from photoexcited azobenzene (Az) was studied by femtosecond time-resolved UV absorption spectroscopy using 7-amino-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin (ATC) as a probe. The distance between the probe molecule and Az was fixed by covalently linking them together through a rigid proline spacer. Picosecond dynamics in THF solutions were studied upon excitation into the S1 state by a 100 fs laser pulse at 480 nm. Transient absorption spectra obtained for Az-Pro-ATC combined the S1 state absorption and vibrationally excited ground-state absorption of ATC. Correction of the transient spectrum of Az-Pro-ATC for the S1 absorption provided the time-resolved absorption spectrum of the ATC hot band. Three major components were observed in the transient kinetics of Az-Pro-ATC vibrational cooling. It is proposed that in ca. 0.25 ps after the excitation, the S1 state of azobenzene decays to form an initial vibrationally excited nonthermalized ground state of Az-Pro-ATC that involves vibrational ...
Tissue factor interactions with factor VII: measurement and clinical significance of factor VIIa in plasma.

Certain epidemiological studies have implicated elevated factor VII coagulant activity as a risk factor for ischaemia heart disease. However, progress in understanding the clinical significance of elevated plasma factor VII levels has been hampered by: (1) differences between laboratories in the methodology for measuring factor VII; (2) the existence of multiple forms of factor VII in plasma (i.e. factor VIIa, zymogen factor VII, and a possible phospholipase-sensitive form of factor VII); (3) the resulting uncertainty regarding what is actually being measured in factor VII coagulant assays. Recent mutagenesis studies of tissue factor (the obligate protein cofactor for factor VIIa) have led to new assay technologies capable of quantifying trace levels of plasma factor VIIa without interference from zymogen factor VII. This review article focuses on the current status of measurement of plasma factor VII/VIIa levels and the relationship between various plasma forms of factor VII and risk of thrombotic disease.
The role of figurative language in introductory science texts

The article examines the role of figurative languages (tropes) – specifically, analogy and metaphor, reification and simile, personification and animation – in two introductory-level science texts. Contrary to popular opinion, figures such as personification and animation play an important role, actually more important than analogy, in the presentation of material. The article examines dominant metaphoric themes – such as war and hunting, family and other relationships – and the specific topics they are associated with; e.g., immunity, DNA, evolution, and certain cell functions. It also analyzes some of the linguistic and discourse patterns used in various figures of speech: for example, the use of markers – verbal and typographic – to indicate that an upcoming word or phrase is being used metaphorically; or the use of extended figures of speech, and the interaction of various tropes in treatments of different scientific topics. It closes with several suggestions on the use of figurative language in teaching science.
Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of a case of breast carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features.

Breast disease is of great concern to patients and health care providers alike. Malignancies of the breast and their various presentations can pose tremendous challenges with respect to early diagnosis and effective treatment. Carcinoma of the breast may appear in several forms and produce one or more ectopic substances. Breast carcinomas that display choriocarcinomatous differentiation and produce human chorionic gonadotropin are very rare. Less than a dozen such cases have been described in the medical literature to date. We report a case of breast carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features, which is the first to show immunohistochemical evidence of the expression of both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. We also discuss the cytopathologic aspects observed and conduct a literature review. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2006;34:694–697. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The regional lymph node in mice bearing transplanted syngeneic lymphoma cells.

SummaryMice injected with syngeneic lymphoma cells are able to mount an immu-nological reaction against the tumor cells. This results in marked morphological changes in the spleen and the appearance of circulating antibodies demonstrable by immu-nofluorescent techniques. The lymph nodes and particularly the regional node do not exhibit evidence of an immune response. This may indicate that in certain cases the draining nodes may not participate in the immune response of the host against tumor antigens.The authors express their appreciation to Mrs. Shirley Fullen in helping prepare this manuscript.
Cancer surveillance after ureterosigmoidostomy: Colonic microscopic changes

Ureterosigmoidostomy (U-S) is a procedure for diversion of the urinary stream. U-S is associated with a manyfold-increased risk for subsequent development of colonic carcinoma close to the sites of ureteral entry into the sigmoid colon. A surveillance program for colonic carcinomas in U-S patients includes colonoscopic examination of the colon to at least 60 cm and random biopsies of the sigmoid colon distal to the ureteral orifices. In eight patients, a change from sulphomucin to a variable admixture with sialomucin was found in the histologically unremarkable colonic mucosae. When the urinary stream was shunted away from the U-S site in two patients, the mucosal mucin was composed of sulphomucin which is present in normal sigmoid colons. The effect of urine admixed with feces in the sigmoid colon is nonspecific as judged by alterations of the mucosal mucin composition. The U-S patient deserves periodic examinations to detect colonic carcinoma but the histological examination of colonoscopically unremarkable mucosae is not currently contributory toward this surveillance effort.
The turnover of milkweed pollinia on bumble bees, and implications for outcrossing

Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) picked up a pollen packet (pollinium) of milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) every 2–5 h, usually more rapidly on their feet than on their mouthparts. Pollinia were retained an average of slightly over one day on the mouthparts and one-quarter day on the feet. This long retention period enhances the possibility of outcrossing in this largely or completely self-incompatible species. Although many more pollinia were carried on the feet, the longer retention of those on the mouthparts resulted in their collective outcrossing potential exceeding that of pollinia on the feet. Once pollinia became attached to the bees (via their attachment mechanisms, the corpuscula), others often attached to the translator arms (connecting corpusculum with pollinia) of the first pollinia. Long strings of pollinia and corpuscula often resulted, but they frequently were shed down to a single corpusculum, which was usually retained for long periods (estimated retention time=12–43 days). During the middle and latter part of the flowering period about two-thirds of the bees' feet carried only a single corpusculum. Feet in this condition picked up extremely few pollinia and thus were largely unavailable as sites for pollen transfer. Having several single corpuscula on the feet greatly lowered the number of pollinia carried by a bee over the season. Single corpuscula occurred much less frequently on the mouthparts and were shed over 25 times as rapidly as those on the feet. Many more bumble bees moved between clones than did other possible diurnal pollinators, largely a result of being several times more abundant than all other visitors combined. This factor, plus their heavy pollinia load, suggests that they were the most important diurnal pollinators of these clones.
Comparative evaluation of the sensitometric properties of screen-film systems and conventional dental receptors for intraoral radiography

This investigation determined the sensitometric properties of 27 rare-earth screen-film combinations and compared them to E- and D-speed films and xeroradiography, the current standards for intraoral radiography. A series of exposures from base plus fog to film saturation were made to determine the Hurter and Driffield curve of each image receptor. The base plus fog, film saturation, speed, gamma, average gradient, and resolution were determined. When dental receptors and screen-film systems are compared on the basis of radiographic quality (contrast and resolution), many screen-film systems have similar resolution (greater than 10 line pairs/mm), significantly greater contrast (greater than 2.0), and a substantial speed advantage (greater than 10). Thus selected screen-film systems may be an alternative to conventional dental receptors for intraoral radiography.
Comparison of laparoscopic and open partial nephrectomy in clinical T1a renal tumors

Purpose: Partial nephrectomy has been established as a standard of care for T1a renal tumors. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) has been described as more difficult to perform than open partial nephrectomy (OPN). We compare our series of LPN and OPN. Patients and Methods: From October 2002 to January 2006, 76 LPNs were performed for patients with clinical T1a tumors. These patients were matched with a cohort of patients who underwent OPN for solitary tumors of 4 cm or smaller in diameter. The cohorts were compared with regard to demographics, perioperative data, and outcomes. Results: The patient populations were demographically similar. Although mean tumor size was smaller in the laparoscopic cohort (2.5 v 2.9 cm, P = 0.002), the OPN cohort demonstrated shorter operative (193 v 225 min, P = 0.004) and ischemia times (20.5 v 32.8 min). LPN was associated with less blood loss (212 v 385 mL, P < 0.001) and shorter hospital stay (2.5 v 5.6 days, P < 0.001), however. One positive margin occurred in each ...
Prophylaxis and therapy of plague

Plague has been a scourge of mankind for centuries, and outbreaks continue to the present day. The virulence mechanisms employed by the etiological agent Yersinia pestis are reviewed in the context of the available prophylactic and therapeutic strategies for plague. Although antibiotics are available, resistance is emerging in this dangerous pathogen. Therapeutics used in the clinic are discussed and innovative approaches to the design and development of new therapeutic compounds are reviewed. Currently there is no licensed vaccine available for prevention of plague in the USA or western Europe, although both live attenuated strains and killed whole-cell extracts have been used historically. Live strains are still approved for human use in some parts of the world, such as the former Soviet Union, but poor safety profiles render them unacceptable to many countries. The development of safe, effective next-generation vaccines, including the recombinant subunit vaccine currently used in clinical trials is dis...
Estrogen-Induced c-fos Protooncogene Expression in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells: Role of Estrogen Receptor Sp1 Complex Formation

17Beta-estradiol (E2) induces c-fos protooncogene expression in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, and previous studies in HeLa cells identified an imperfect palindromic estrogen-responsive element (-1212 to -1200) that was required for trans-activation. In contrast, the estrogen-responsive element was not required for E2 responsiveness in MCF-7 cells, and using a series of constructs containing wild-type (pF1) and mutant 5'-flanking sequences (-1220 to -1155) from the c-fos protooncogene promoter in transient transfection assays, it was shown that a GC-rich motif (5'-GGGGCGTGG) containing an imperfect Sp1-binding site was required for hormone-induced activity. This sequence also bound Sp1 protein in gel mobility shift assays, and coincubation with the estrogen receptor (ER) enhanced Sp1-DNA binding. E2 and 4'-hydroxytamoxifen, but not ICI 164,384, induced reporter gene activity in cells transiently transfected with pF1. E2 induced reporter gene activity in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells transiently cotransfected with pF1 and wild-type ER or variant ER in which the DNA-binding domain was deleted (HE11); plasmids expressing N-terminal or C-terminal domains of the ER containing activator function-1 or -2, respectively, were inactive in these assays. In contrast, only wild-type ER mediated 4'-hydroxytamoxifen-induced activity. Induction of c-fos protooncogene expression by E2 in MCF-7 cells is dependent on the formation of a transcriptionally active ER/Sp1 complex that binds to a GC-rich enhancer element.
Verbal Instruction in Instrumental Rehearsals: A Comparison of Three Career Levels and Preservice Teachers

Part 1 of this study was an investigation of the verbal instruction used during 60 rehearsals by expert, novice, and student teachers. Frequency distributions were established for 15 performance variables and 10 rehearsal variables and comments as well as for the number of complete sequential patterns of instruction. Part 2 was a pre-experimental study to determine changes in instruction evidenced by preservice teachers (22 rehearsals) exposed to guided observation as part of an instrumental methods course. Evidence suggests that all three groups of teachers address rhythm/tempo the most frequently. Expert teachers devoted more time to overall ensemble sound (including more demonstrations, instruction/explanations on intonation, and guided listening); of their rehearsal segments, 23% were complete sequential patterns. Novice teachers spent the most time tuning individual notes, whereas student teachers spent the most time correcting wrong notes. Gains for the undergraduates included less emphasis on wrong...
Probing vibrational dynamics of PM650 with two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

Abstract Quantum beating signals in two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy arise from coherent evolution of superpositions of Hamiltonian eigenstates and have been used extensively to study electronic dynamics of photosynthetic complexes. Definitively distinguishing between vibrational and electronic coherences proves challenging in a 2D spectrum because ultrashort pulses can excite either type of coherence. Here, we present 2D spectra of the laser dye, PM650, to characterize vibrational quantum beats. Our experiments show quantum beating throughout the spectrum in both the rephasing and nonrephasing signals. While this ubiquitous beating can be rationalized for a vibrational coherence, it is not what would be expected for an electronic coherence where the quantum beats would be located on the peaks of the states associated with the coherence. Our results suggest that location of the beat frequency within the 2D spectra can be used to distinguish between vibrational and electronic coherences.
Long baseline neutrino oscillations and leptonic CP violation

The status of 3-generation lepton mixing is reviewed. Future possible neutrino facilities using: i ) intense conventional ν ( − ) μ sources, ii ) superbeams and iii ) neutrino factories are discussed. Properties of CP-violating asymmetries are described. It is shown that our ability to measure the CP-violating phase δ is rather insensitive to the specific value of θ 13 for 0.01 ⩽ sin 2 2 θ 13 ≲ 0.20 , as well as the detector distance (for very long distances). The potential for making precision measurements of all neutrino oscillation parameters ( θ i j , Δ m i j 2 , δ ) using a wide band ν μ beam is explained using results of a Brookhaven-Homestake (2540km) study. An outlook on the future is given.
Effects of contrast and spatial frequency on vernier acuity

We have examined vernier acuity using sinusoidal luminance gratings. Vernier thresholds were affected by both grating contrast and spatial frequency. With fixed (50%) contrast gratings, vernier thresholds reached minimum values of approximately 10 sec of arc at spatial frequencies between 6 and 16 c/deg. Vernier thresholds for all spatial frequencies are related to contrast by a power law with exponents of approximately -0.8. Thresholds approach half a grating period (180 deg phase shift) as grating contrast approaches detection thresholds. We discuss our results in relation to three models for vernier detection. Most of our data are consistent with the predictions of Wilson's [(1986) Vision Res. 26, 453-469] model. Detection of vernier off-sets at low spatial frequencies may depend on detection of the horizontal border formed between the two halves of the grating.