cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Random Mode Coupling on Polarization Mode Dispersion and Power Penalty in Single-Mode Fiber Systems

Abstract Effects of random mode coupling are experimentally characterized on polarization mode dispersion and on system penalty. The virtual optical fiber links are proposed and constructed by the use of highly birefringent (B = 6.0 × 10-4) polarization-maintaining fiber to stabilize the state of polarization during propagation and by the introduction of three different numbers of fusion splices (0, 10, and 99 splices) to simulate stable mode coupling. Measurements are conducted on polarization mode dispersion and transmission experiments at 2.5 Gbit/s for the constructed fiber links to see the effects of random mode coupling on polarization mode dispersion and on power penalty. It is confirmed that polarization mode dispersion and system penalty vary inversely with k and inversely with k, respectively, where parameter k characterizes how many times the number of coupling points is increased. The constructed fiber links, which realize stable polarization mode dispersion with random mode coupling, enable this characterization to be successfully conducted.
Measurement of test anxiety among selected black adolescents: Appropriateness of four anxiety scales

In an effort to determine the appropriateness of three already available anxiety measures and one newly developed measure for use with low-achieving minority- group adolescents, this study explored the reliability and validity for four self- report anxiety scales. The Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC), the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), and a newly developed Reading Anxiety Scale (RAS), in which was embedded the Lie Scale for Children (LSC), were administered to 60 seventh- grade black students. Internal consistency reliability estimates are moderate to moderately high. Significant intercorrelations (p<.05) were found among the scales except for the A-State (state anxiety) subscale of the STAIC, which correlated significantly only with the RAS. No scale was found to be redundant with any other scale. The scales differentiated anxiety levels but did not operate differentially on the basis of gender. Conclusions are drawn regarding the appropriateness of using these scales with some minority-group adolescents.
Initial endothelial cell density and chronic endothelial cell loss rate in corneal transplants with late endothelial failure.

Abstract Objective To determine when corneal transplants develop the decreased endothelial cell density that predisposes to late endothelial failure (LEF). Design Noted cohort study within a prospective case series. Participants The authors compared 21 grafts that developed LEF with the remaining transplants (controls) in a longitudinal cohort study of 500 consecutive penetrating keratoplasties by 1 surgeon. Eyes regrafted during the study, fellow eyes of bilateral cases, and patients who did not want their data used for research purposes were excluded, leaving 389 grafts in 389 patients for analysis. Intervention Penetrating keratoplasty. Main outcome measures Endothelial cell density before surgery and at 2 months and 1, 3, 5, and 10 years after surgery. Results Grafts with LEF had lower median endothelial cell densities than other grafts, both before surgery (2710 cells/mm 2 vs. 2991 cells/mm 2 ; P = 0.02) and 2 months after surgery (1895 cells/mm 2 vs. 2501 cells/mm 2 ; P P = 0.002). The endothelial cell loss subsequent to the 2-month examination, however, was not increased in the grafts with LEF. Risk factors for developing LEF included a low endothelial cell density before surgery ( P = 0.007) and 2 months after surgery ( P = 0.002), aphakia or pseudophakia ( P = 0.04), older recipient age ( P = 0.002) and older donor age ( P = 0.03), and occurrence of an endothelial rejection episode ( P = 0.03). Conclusions Corneal grafts with LEF, the major cause of graft failure after 5 postoperative years, fail from low initial endothelial cell density rather than an increased rate of chronic postoperative cell loss. Improved techniques of corneal preservation should decrease the rate of LEF. In addition to low preoperative and 2-month postoperative endothelial cell density, a higher risk of LEF is also seen in patients with aphakia or pseudophakia, older recipient age, older donor age, and occurrence of an endothelial rejection episode.
Mutational analyses reveal a novel function of the nucleotide-binding domain of γ-tubulin in the regulation of basal body biogenesis

We have used in vitro mutagenesis and gene replacement to study the function of the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) of γ-tubulin in Tetrahymena thermophila. In this study, we show that the NBD has an essential function and that point mutations in two conserved residues lead to over-production and mislocalization of basal body (BB) assembly. These results, coupled with previous studies (Dammermann, A., T. Muller-Reichert, L. Pelletier, B. Habermann, A. Desai, and K. Oegema. 2004. Dev. Cell. 7:815–829; La Terra, S., C.N. English, P. Hergert, B.F. McEwen, G. Sluder, and A. Khodjakov. 2005. J. Cell Biol. 168:713–722), suggest that to achieve the precise temporal and spatial regulation of BB/centriole assembly, the initiation activity of γ-tubulin is normally suppressed by a negative regulatory mechanism that acts through its NBD.
Colloidally suspended phytonadione in bishydroxycoumarin-induced hypoprothrombinemia.

Abstract A study of the effectiveness of a phytonadione (vitamin K 1 ) colloidal suspension in reducing the elevated prothrombin times of bishydroxy-coumarin-treated patients was performed. Prothrombin times were studied two, four, six, eight and twenty-four hours after the administering to groups of ten patients each, of 10 mg. of the phytonadione intravenously, intramuscularly and subcutaneously, as well as after administering 5 mg. intravenously. The 10 mg. dose given intravenously showed a statistically significant acceleration of the return of the elevated prothrombin times toward normal as compared to a control group of eight patients similarly studied. This effect was observed at two hours and was greatest four hours after the vitamin was given. The 10 mg. subcutaneous dose and the 5 mg. intravenous dose failed to accelerate the return of the prothrombin times toward normal. The 10 mg. dose given intramuscularly showed some effect after twenty-four hours, but this could not be proved statistically significant. Using the 50 per cent prothrombin time value as the index of a return to a normal coagulation mechanism, four out of the group of ten patients given 10 mg. intravenously failed to reach this value. Nine bleeding episodes secondary to bishydroxycoumarin therapy were treated. Seven patients receiving 10 mg. intravenously and one who received 10 mg. subcutaneously stopped their bleeding in six to twenty-four hours after treatment. The one patient who received 5 mg. intravenously continued to bleed until a second dose of 10 mg. was given intravenously.
Design and implementation of a user-level prioritization service

Most desktop applications execute on commodity operating systems and networks that support end-user requirements on a best effort basis. As a result, the end-user cannot indicate to the underlying system the priority of networked applications when they are executed concurrently. Consequently, the performance of these applications is degraded non-deterministically based on the availability of resources and furthermore the degradation is not in the order and to the extent the end-user would want. This unpredictable degradation frequently affects the usefulness of a user session when multiple networked multimedia applications are executed simultaneously. We designed and implemented a prioritization services that allows an end-user to prioritize applications according to the requirements of an individual session. We report on our experiences during the implementation and our solutions to the difficulties encountered. Our performance analysis demonstrates effective prioritization when multiple applications are executed.
Cilostazol, Not Aspirin, Prevents Stenosis of Bioresorbable Vascular Grafts in a Venous Model

Objective—Despite successful translation of bioresorbable vascular grafts for the repair of congenital heart disease, stenosis remains the primary cause of graft failure. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of long-term treatment with the antiplatelet drugs, aspirin and cilostazol, in preventing stenosis and evaluated the effect of these drugs on the acute phase of inflammation and tissue remodeling. Approach and Results—C57BL/6 mice were fed a drug-mixed diet of aspirin, cilostazol, or normal chow during the course of follow-up. Bioresorbable vascular grafts, composed of poly(glycolic acid) mesh sealed with poly(l-lactide-co-e-caprolactone), were implanted as inferior vena cava interposition conduits and followed up for 2 weeks (n=10 per group) or 24 weeks (n=15 per group). Both aspirin and cilostazol suppressed platelet activation and attachment onto the grafts. On explant at 24 weeks, well-organized neotissue had developed, and cilostazol treatment resulted in 100% graft patency followed by the...
The Initiator Element in a Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Late-Gene Promoter Enhances Activation by ICP4, Resulting in Abundant Late-Gene Expression

The start site regions of late genes of herpes simplex virus type 1 are similar to the eukaryotic initiator sequence (Inr), have been shown to affect the levels of expression, and may also play a role in transcription activation by the viral activator ICP4. A series of linker-scanning mutations spanning the start site of transcription and several downstream mutations in the true late gC promoter were analyzed in reconstituted in vitro transcription reactions with and without ICP4, as well as in the context of the viral genome during infection. The nucleotide contacts previously found to be important for Inr function were also found to be important for optimal induction by ICP4. While the Inr had a substantial effect on the accumulation of gC RNA during infection, no other sequence downstream of the TATA box to +124 had a significant effect on levels of expression during infection. Therefore, these studies suggest that TATA box and the Inr are the only cis-acting elements required to achieve optimal expression of gC, and that the high levels of late-gene transcription may be largely due to the induction by ICP4, functioning through the Inr element.
Does Having a Proactive Personality Lead to Career Success

The article looks at a study of 180 professionals which developed and tested a model linking proactive personality to career success. The study was conducted by Scott Seibert and Maria Kraimer from the University of Illinois at Chicago and J. Michael Crant from the University of Notre Dame. Specific behaviors and contextual factors that act as intervening mechanisms between personality and career progression were examined. The study was designed to determine how a proactive personality can shape career progression over time, helping researchers to understand the processes by which proactive people forge ahead in their careers. Crant, Seibert, and Kraimer sent questionnaires containing a well-known proactive personality scale to randomly chosen business and engineering alumni of a large university to procure data.
Conversion of normal to malignant phenotype: telomere shortening, telomerase activation, and genomic instability during immortalization of human oral keratinocytes

Normal somatic cells terminate their replicative life span through a pathway leading to cellular senescence, which is triggered by activation of p53 and/or pRb in response to critically shortened telomere DNA. Potentially neoplastic cells must first overcome the senescence checkpoint mechanisms and subsequently activate telomerase to propagate indefinitely. Although telomerase activation is closely associated with cellular immortality, telomerase alone is not sufficient to warrant tumorigenicity. Environmental factors, including chemical carcinogens and viral infection, often contribute to aberrant changes leading to tumorigenic conversion of normal cells. Of particular importance in oral cancer development are tobacco-related chemical carcinogens and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. To describe the molecular mechanisms by which these environmental factors facilitate the genesis of oral cancer, we first established an in vitro multistep oral carcinogenesis model by sequential exposure of normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOK) to "high risk" HPV and chemical carcinogens. Upon introduction of the HPV genome, the cells bypassed the senescence checkpoint and entered into an extended, but not immortal, life span during which telomere DNA continued to shorten. In a few immortal clones surviving beyond the crisis, we found a marked elevation of telomerase activity and stabilization of telomere length. Furthermore, the E6 and E7 oncoproteins of "high risk" HPV disrupted the cell cycle control and DNA repair in immortalized HOK, and enhanced mutation frequency resulting from genomic instability. However, HPV infection alone failed to give rise to a tumorigenic cell population, which required further exposure to chemical carcinogens in addition to HPV infection. Analysis of the data presented suggests that oral carcinogenesis is a series of discrete genetic alterations that result from a continued genotoxic challenge by environmental risk factors. Our in vitro model may be useful for investigators with interest in furthering our understanding of oral carcinogenesis.
An agent-based model of the population dynamics of Anopheles gambiae

Agent-based models (ABMs) have been used to model the behaviour of individual mosquitoes and other aspects of malaria. In this paper, a conceptual entomological model of the population dynamics of Anopheles gambiae and the agent-based implementations derived from it are described. Hypothetical vector control interventions (HVCIs) are implemented to target specific activities in the mosquito life cycle, and their impacts are evaluated. The core model is described in terms of the complete An. gambiae mosquito life cycle. Primary features include the development and mortality rates in different aquatic and adult stages, the aquatic habitats and oviposition. The density- and age-dependent larval and adult mortality rates (vector senescence) allow the model to capture the age-dependent aspects of the mosquito biology. Details of hypothetical interventions are also described. Results show that with varying coverage and temperature ranges, the hypothetical interventions targeting the gonotrophic cycle stages produce higher impacts than the rest in reducing the potentially infectious female (PIF) mosquito populations, due to their multi-hour mortality impacts and their applicability at multiple gonotrophic cycles. Thus, these stages may be the most effective points of target for newly developed and novel interventions. A combined HVCI with low coverage can produce additive synergistic impacts and can be more effective than isolated HVCIs with comparatively higher coverages. It is emphasized that although the model described in this paper is designed specifically around the mosquito An. gambiae, it could effectively apply to many other major malaria vectors in the world (including the three most efficient nominal anopheline species An. gambiae, Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles arabiensis) by incorporating a variety of factors (seasonality cycles, rainfall, humidity, etc.). Thus, the model can essentially be treated as a generic Anopheles model, offering an excellent framework for such extensions. The utility of the core model has also been demonstrated by several other applications, each of which investigates well-defined biological research questions across a variety of dimensions (including spatial models, insecticide resistance, and sterile insect techniques).
Alcohol Drinking Patterns among Asian and Caucasian Americans

Previous studies have attributed low rates of alcoholism and alcohol consumption among Chinese and Japanese to genetic or to cultural factors. The present study examined the responses of 47 Asian and 77 Causasian American students who completed questionnaires concerning their drinking patterns, their own and their parents' attitudes toward drinking, and the cues they used to control alcohol consumption. Asian students were also administered assimilation measures. Results indicated that (a) Asians reported more moderate drinking, (b) degree of assimilation was positively related to drinking, (c) attitudes toward drinking were related to reported drinking and were more negative in the case of Asians and their parents, and (d) Caucasians reported more extensive use of cues in the regulation of their drinking. The results suggest the importance of cultural factors in drinking patterns.
Earthquake-induced burial of archaeological sites along the southern Washington coast about A.D. 1700

Although inhabited by thousands of people when first reached by Europeans, the Pacific coast of southern Washington has little recognized evidence of prehistoric human occupation. This apparent contradiction may be explained partly by geologic evidence for coastal submergence during prehistoric earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone. Recently discovered archaeological sites, exposed in the banks of two tidal streams, show evidence for earthquake-induced submergence and consequent burial by intertidal mud about A.D. 1700. We surmise that, because of prehistoric earthquakes, other archaeological sites may now lie hidden beneath the surfaces of modern tidelands. Such burial of archaeological sites raises questions about the estimation of prehistoric human population densities along coasts subject to earthquake-induced submergence. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Information-Based Complexity

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of information-based complexity, the branch of computational complexity that deals with the intrinsic difficulty of the approximate solution of problems for which the information is partial, noisy, and priced. Such problems arise in many areas including economics, physics, human and robotic vision, scientific and engineering computation, geophysics, decision theory, signal processing and control theory.
RENT CONTROL AND ABANDONMENT: A SECOND LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

Rent control has been linked to housing abandonment in both the policy community and in academic research. The roots of this link lie in the political struggle over various forms of rent regulation which took place in New york City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and has spread across the country to touch virtually every community that considered rent regulation as a mechanism for controlling high rent levels. We have reexamined the evidence which was used to make the original claims regarding the consequences of rent regulation on abandonment, and find that it is seriously lacking in explanatory power. Indeed, the problem of low income populations affecting prevailing rent levels seems much more significant in explaining the gap between rent levels necessary for landlords to combat deterioration and avoid abandonment as an option. We conclude by offering a series of policy-related discussions to further articulate the issues.
Local electric field enhancement and polarization effects in a surface-enhanced Raman scattering fiber sensor with chessboard nanostructure

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering fiber sensor with chessboard nanostructure on a cleaved fiber facet is studied by finite-difference time-domain method. Surface plasmons at the metal coated nanostructured fiber facet can be effectively excited and strong local electric field enhancement is obtained. Studies on the influence of light polarization demonstrate a large polarization dependence of the field enhancement factor while the polarization effects on the plasmon resonance wavelength are relatively small.
Identifying salient entities in web pages

We propose a system that determines the salience of entities within web documents. Many recent advances in commercial search engines leverage the identification of entities in web pages. However, for many pages, only a small subset of entities are central to the document, which can lead to degraded relevance for entity triggered experiences. We address this problem by devising a system that scores each entity on a web page according to its centrality to the page content. We propose salience classification functions that incorporate various cues from document content, web search logs, and a large web graph. To cost-effectively train the models, we introduce a soft labeling methodology that generates a set of annotations based on user behaviors observed in web search logs. We evaluate several variations of our model via a large-scale empirical study conducted over a test set, which we release publicly to the research community. We demonstrate that our methods significantly outperform competitive baselines and the previous state of the art, while keeping the human annotation cost to a minimum.
LASER SURGERY IN OTOLARYNGOLOGY: INTERACTION OF CO2 LASER AND SOFT TISSUE

The sequence of histological change induced by CO2 laser irradiation was discussed in terms of two factors: the physiomechanical factor and the physiochemical factor. At sufficiently high heat energy levels, the immediate findings are characterized by crater formation resulting from rapid vaporization of the water and ejection of the solid component. In the immediate vicinity of the crater edge, the maximum tissue temperature rise is 65 degrees C above the 32 degrees C ambient tissue temperature and it decreases to the primary tissue temperature within a distance of 2 mm. The healing process of CO2 laser induced lesions proceeds with minimal delay. The lymphatic and vascular channels are occluded in the marginal area of coagulation resulting in a marked hemostatic effect. This sealing effect increases the margin of safety in preventing possible dissemination of tumor cells. By selecting the appropriate power, time, and focus cone angle, precise destruction of preselected areas of tissue can be achieved with an extraordinary hemostatic effect without damaging the underlying tissue. These advantages are especially helpful in function-preserving surgery.
Food sharing: a model of manipulation by harassment

Most analyses of food-sharing behavior invoke complex explanations such as indirect and delayed benefits for sharing via kin selec tion and reciprocal altruism. However, food sharing can be a more general phenomenon accounted for by more parsimonious, mutualistic explanations. We propose a game theoretical model of a general sharing situation in which food owners share because it is in their own self-interest—they avoid high costs associated with beggar harassment. When beggars harass, owners may benefit from sharing part of the food if their consumption rate is low relative to the rate of cost accrual. Our model predicts that harassment can be a profitable strategy for beggars if they reap some direct benefits from harassing other than shared food (such as picking up scraps). Therefore, beggars may manipulate the owner’s fitness payoffs in such a way as to make sharing mutualistic.
Vectorlike weak currents and new elementary fermions

Recent experimental discoveries encourage speculation that there may be more than four “flavors” of tricolored quarks and/or new flavors of leptons. A vectorlike gauge theory of the weak, electromagnetic, and associated neutral current interactions is then an attractive possibility. We present as an illustrative example a minimal theory based on six quark flavors and six lepton flavors and on the group SU2 × U1 (presumably a subgroup of a larger gauge group).
All Digital-Quadrature-Modulator Based Wideband Wireless Transmitters

A novel architecture for a fully digital wideband wireless transmitter is presented. The proposed structure replaces high-dynamic-range analog circuits with high-speed digital circuits and offers a simple and flexible architecture, which requires less area, consumes less power, and delivers higher performance compared to those of the conventional modulators used for wideband systems. The design is based on a standard 65-nm CMOS process and is suitable for integration with a digital signal processor, memory, and logic implemented in such a process. The presented transmitter is based on a novel digital quadrature modulator (DQM), which achieves digital modulation in a Cartesian coordinate system. The novel architecture employs a single converter, referred to as the differential-like digital-to-RF converter (DDRC), as it is based on fully digitally combining the quadrature baseband signals. A DDRC, which is the heart of a DQM, combines functionalities of a mixer, a digital-to-analog converter, and an RF filter into a single circuit. The total area for the digital blocks is 0.04 mm2, with a power consumption of roughly 5 mW. It is shown that the proposed transmitter meets the spectral mask, defined in the targeted IEEE 802.16e (WiMAX) standard, with a margin of 20 dB and achieves an error-vector-magnitude (EVM) performance of -36 dB with a margin of 6 dB.
Role of CYP1B1 in Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, estimated to affect 60 million people by 2010, and represents a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disease. The two major types of glaucoma include primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary congenital glaucoma (PCG). A genetically heterogeneous group of developmental disorders known as anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) have been reported to be associated with increased intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma. These include Peters' anomaly, Rieger's anomaly, aniridia, iris hypoplasia, and iridogoniodysgenesis. Genetic linkage analysis and mutation studies have identified CYP1B1 as a causative gene in PCG, as a modifier gene in POAG, and, on rare occasions, as causative gene in POAG as well as in several ASD disorders. CYP1B1-deficient mice exhibit abnormalities in their ocular drainage structure and trabecular meshwork that are similar to those reported in human PCG patients. Accordingly, it is speculated that diminished or absent metabolism of key endogenous CYP1B1 substrates adversely affects the development of the trabecular meshwork. CYP1B1 protein is involved in the metabolism of steroids, retinol and retinal, arachidonate, and melatonin. The conserved expression of CYP1B1 in both murine and human eyes, its higher expression in fetal than adult eyes, and its biochemical properties are consistent with this hypothesis. The exact role of CYP1B1 in the pathogenesis of glaucoma and other ASD disorders remains to be elucidated.
Telomeres and telomerase: implications for cancer and aging.

Abstract Shay, J. W. and Wright, W. E. Telomeres and Telomerase: Implications for Cancer and Aging. Maintenance of telomere stability is required for cells to escape from replicative senescence and proliferate indefinitely. Telomere length is maintained by a balance between processes that lengthen telomeres (telomerase) and processes that shorten telomeres (the end-replication problem). Telomerase is a cellular ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase which stabilizes telomere length by adding hexameric (TTAGGG) repeats to the telomeric ends of the chromosomes, thus compensating for the continued erosion of telomeres. Introduction of the telomerase catalytic protein component into normal telomerase-negative human cells results in restoration of telomerase activity and extension of cellular life span. Human cells with introduced telomerase maintain a normal chromosome complement and continue to grow in a normal manner. Telomerase-induced manipulations of telomere length may thus be important not only for ce...
Simulating the Dynamic Behaviour of Chain Drive Systems by Advanced CAE Programs

Due to the increased requirements for chain drive systems of 4-stroke internal combustion engines CAE-tools are necessary to design the optimum dynamic system. In comparison to models used din the past the advantage of the new model CDD (Chain Drive Dynamics) is the capability of simulating the trajectory of each chain link around the drive system. Each chain link is represented by a mass with two degrees of freedom and is coupled to the next by a spring-damper element. The drive sprocket can be moved with a constant or non-constant speed. As in reality the other sprockets are driven by the running chain and can be excited by torques. Due to these unique model features it is possible to calculate all vibration types of the chain, polygon effects and radial or angular vibrations of the sprockets very accurately. The model includes the detailed simulation of a mechanical or a hydraulic tensioner as well. The method is ready to be coupled to other detailed calculation models (e.g. valve train systems, crankshaft, etc.). The high efficiency of the tool predicting the dynamic and acoustic behavior of a chain drive system will be demonstrated in comparison to measurements.
Managing the Copy-Testing Process

The notes describes various methodologies and philosophies of advertising copy test. Additional material this might be used with: MANAGING SPENDING BALANCE IN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS: THE GRODD MODEL REVISITED.
Abstract P1-10-04: Latina Interest in Genetic Breast Cancer Testing: The Significance of Having a Biological Daughter

Background. Breast cancer is a devastating disease. Identification of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations associated with it offer to provide an efficacious “early warning system”. However investigators question whether women are interested in knowing if they possess gene mutations, particularly minorities traditionally averse to dealing with a complex medical system. Effective means for addressing these gaps are unidentified. Here we determine the extent of interest in genetic testing among Latinas compared to Non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Also, we identify factors associated with interest in genetic testing. Finally, we show why differences in interest in genetic testing for breast cancer exist among groups of women. Material and Methods. We surveyed 290 women (153 Hispanic, 137 NHW) aged 26+ from the San Antonio Cancer Therapy and Research Center9s catchment area. Surveys included demographic information, measures assessing breast cancer knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and medical and family history data. Participants were assigned “high” or “moderate/low” cancer risk status according to American College of Medical Genetics Foundation guidelines. Chi-Square and Student9s T-tests assessed bivariate relationships. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with interest in genetic testing. Results. 20% of women were not “Very interested” in genetic testing for the BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation. Bivariate results showed ethnicity, use of non-traditional health care sources and negative perceptions of genetic testing were associated with low interest in genetic testing among all women. A multivariate model of genetic testing interest revealed several measures significantly associated with it, including Hispanic ethnicity (OR 5.74, p Whereas NHW women are influenced in their decision chiefly by use of nontraditional sources of medical care, Latinas are strongly influenced by perceptions of personal risk and having biological daughters. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-10-04.
TREATMENT OF SEVERE AORTIC STENOSIS IN PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE ON DIALYSIS

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and severe aortic stenosis (AS) are a high risk population for which current treatment include balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV), surgical (SAVR) or transcatheter (TAVR) aortic valve replacement. We aimed to compare short- and one-year outcomes among
Hobbes, Covenant, and Constitution

In exploring the relationship of covenant and political order, I shall draw upon two traditions of thought. One is Thomas Hobbes and his development of a political theory that is usually identified as being contractarian in nature. There is also a stong covenantal tradition in Hobbes's formulation. I shall then refer to the American constitutional tradition, which implies a strong covenantal tradition. In understanding the American constitutional tradition it is important to view that tradition as providing an alternative to Hobbes's theory of sovereignty. But its viability as an alternative depends critically upon the covenantal character of those arrangements. I proceed on an assumption that the covenantal tradition refers to circumstances like the Sinaitic tradition of the Hebrews. As Douglas Sturm characterizes this tradition, it refers both to prior conditions and future expectations:
Exploring Quality Programs for English Language Learners in Charter Schools: A Framework to Guide Future Research.

Although there has been a great deal of debate about the effectiveness of charter schools in the research literature, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to English language learners (ELLs) in charter schools. Moreover, the charter school research has predominantly focused on whether or not charter schools are effective rather than how or why high-performing charter schools work, particularly for ELLs. We contend that researchers must expand their focus beyond access and achievement and begin to grapple with questions related to the quality of programs for ELLs in charter schools. To meet an emerging need in the field, we synthesize several strands of existing research—related to charter schools, school improvement, and ELLs in traditional public schools—to propose a five-component framework that describes essential elements of quality programs for ELLs in charter schools. We conclude with a discussion of implications of our framework for research, policy, and practice.
Accuracy of teledentistry examinations at predicting actual treatment modality in a pediatric dentistry clinic

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of predicting dental treatment modalities for children seen initially by means of a live-video teledentistry consultation.MethodsA retrospective dental record review was completed of 251 rural pediatric patients from the Finger Lakes region of New York State who had an initial teledentistry appointment with a board-certified pediatric dentist located remotely at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health in Rochester, NY. Proportions of children who were referred for specific treatment modalities and who completed treatment and proportions of children for whom the treatment recommendation was changed were calculated. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess statistical significance.ResultsThe initial treatment modality was not changed for 221/251 (88%) children initially seen for a teledentistry consultation. Thirty (12%) children had the initial treatment modality changed, most frequently children who were initially suggested treatment with nitrous ...
Weight Misperception and Health-Related Quality of Life in Appalachian Adolescents in the United States.

Introduction There is limited research on the relation between weight misperceptions and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among U.S. adolescents. Methods Baseline data (n = 1509) collected in 2012 from the Team Up for Healthy Living project were used. Measures included BMI percentiles calculated from measured height and weight; self-perception of weight status; and the 23-item PedsQL™ Inventory. Multiple linear regression was performed after adjustment for covariates to examine associations between weight misperception and HRQoL. Results Compared to accurate weight perception, weight underestimation was associated with higher total HRQoL (β = 2.41), physical health (β = 2.77), and emotional (β = 2.83), social (β = 2.47) and psychosocial functioning (β = 2.38) (all p < 0.05). Weight overestimation was associated with lower social functioning (β = -13.13, p < 0.05). Stratified by gender, associations were observed only in males. Discussion Weight underestimation had greater association with HRQoL than weight overestimation; and varied by gender. Better understanding of these associations will assist in improving the health of adolescents in Southern Appalachia.
Myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTFA) regulates the fate of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and its absence in mice leads to osteopenia.

Objective Arising from common progenitors in the bone marrow, adipogenesis and osteogenesis are closely associated yet mutually exclusive during bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) development. Previous studies have shown that morphological changes can affect the early commitment of pluripotent BMSCs to the adipose versus osteoblastic lineage via modulation of RhoA activity. The RhoA pathway regulates actin polymerization to promote the incorporation of globular actin (G-actin) into filamentous actin (F-actin). In doing so, myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) dissociate from bound G-actin and enter the nucleus to co-activate serum response factor (SRF) target gene expression. In this study, we investigated whether MRTFA/SRF is acting downstream of the RhoA pathway to regulate BMSC commitment in mice.
Knowledge Representation in Patient Safety Reporting: An Ontological Approach

lbgPurpose:l/bg The current development of patient safety reporting systems is criticized for loss of information and low data quality due to the lack of a uniformed domain knowledge base and text processing functionality. To improve patient safety reporting, the present paper suggests an ontological representation of patient safety knowledge.lbrglbgDesign/methodology/approach:l/bg We propose a framework for constructing an ontological knowledge base of patient safety. The present paper describes our design, implementation, and evaluation of the ontology at its initial stage.lbrglbgFindings:l/bg We describe the design and initial outcomes of the ontology implementation. The evaluation results demonstrate the clinical validity of the ontology by a self-developed survey measurement.lbrglbgResearch limitations:l/bg The proposed ontology was developed and evaluated using a small number of information sources. Presently, US data are used, but they are not essential for the ultimate structure of the ontology.lbrglbgPractical implications:l/bg The goal of improving patient safety can be aided through investigating patient safety reports and providing actionable knowledge to clinical practitioners. As such, constructing a domain specific ontology for patient safety reports serves as a cornerstone in information collection and text mining methods.lbrglbgOriginality/value:l/bg The use of ontologies provides abstracted representation of semantic information and enables a wealth of applications in a reporting system. Therefore, constructing such a knowledge base is recognized as a high priority in health care.
Copper-Catalyzed Amidation of Primary and Secondary Alkyl Boronic Esters

The oxidative copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of functionalized alkyl boronic esters with primary amides is reported. Through the identification of appropriate diketimine ligands, conditions for efficient coupling of both primary and secondary alkyl boronic esters with diverse primary amides, including acetamide, have been developed.
Abstinence Social Support Among Ex-Prisoners With Substance Use Disorders

The relationships between abstinence social support, substance use, and abstinence self-efficacy were examined among a sample of ex-prisoners exiting inpatient treatment for substance use disorders. Ordinary least squares regressions and bootstrapping procedure were used to test whether the relationship between abstinence social support and substance use would be mediated by abstinence self-efficacy. Significant relationships between variables were observed, and abstinence self-efficacy mediated the relationship between abstinence social support and substance use. Findings suggest that abstinence social support is enhanced by abstinence self-efficacy, and that these recovery resources can benefit persons with incarceration histories who have substance use disorders.
High frequency magnetic field direction finding using MGL-SSA B-dot sensors

Airborne high frequency (HF) direction finding is difficult due to wavelengths on the order of the aircraft size resulting in inefficient apertures and limited azimuthal resolution. This research effort focuses arrays of magnetic field sensors in a simulated airborne array. The MGL-S8A is a magnetic sensor developed for frequencies above 5 GHz and does not offer adequate sensitivity, but a larger MGL-5 sensor does offer efficiencies equivalent to previous research. Eight and ten-element airborne array designs prove to have limited azimuthal resolution, but addition of sensors increases null depth and reduces sidelobes improving the direction finding potential of the array.
Efficacy of Aortic Valve Resuspension in Establishing Valve Competence in Acute Type A Dissections

Background This study investigates the efficacy of aortic valve (AV) resuspension with preservation of the native aortic root in maintaining AV competence during type A dissection repair. Methods A total of 154 acute type A dissection repairs were performed from January 2000 to July 2015. AV resuspension was performed in 120 patients to address AV insufficiency (AI). Survival data were derived from 120 patients who had AV resuspensions and all 154 acute type A dissection repairs. Results Of the 70 patients who presented initially with moderate-to-severe AI, 43 underwent AV resuspension. Echocardiographic data for analysis were available in 40 of these 43 patients. In the group with moderate-to-severe AI at presentation, AV resuspension was able to achieve mild or less AI in 38 of 40 patients (95%) and trivial or no AI in 29 of 40 patients (73%) after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass. The presence of moderate-to-severe preoperative AI did not predict the ability to achieve trivial or no AI with resuspension immediately after coming off cardiopulmonary bypass ( p = 0.3) or on subsequent follow-up ( p = 0.8). Mean echocardiographic follow-up for AV resuspension was 1.21 ± 2.57 years. Three patients who underwent AV resuspension required AV reoperation at follow-up. There was no survival difference between patients who did or did not have AV resuspension ( p = 0.3). Conclusions AV resuspension is able to improve valve competency with good outcomes even in patients with moderate or severe AI at presentation. Overall long-term survival is unchanged compared with other operative strategies for the AV.
A portable droplet magnetofluidic platform for automated RNA quantification and analysis

We report a miniaturized droplet magnetofluidic assay system on a cartridge smaller than 1 cubic inch for automated purification, amplification and melt analysis of RNA targets. This platform demonstrates quantification and confirmation of nucleic acid targets through post­amplification analysis with comparable performance to benchtop reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) assays. Implementation of precise thermoelectric temperature control comparable to benchtop assay systems circumvents functional limitations of diagnostic tests that are currently deployed at the point of care.
Open‐loop Stackelberg learning solution for hierarchical control problems

Summary This work presents a novel framework based on adaptive learning techniques to solve the continuous-time open-loop Stackelberg games. The method yields real-time approximations of the game value and convergence of the policies to the open-loop Stackelberg-equilibrium solution, while also guaranteeing asymptotic stability of the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system. It is implemented as a separate actor/critic parametric network approximator structure for every player and involves simultaneous continuous-time adaptation. To introduce and implement the hierarchical structure to the coupled optimization problem, we adjoin to the leader the controller dynamics of the follower. A persistence of excitation condition guarantees convergence of both critics to the actual game values that eventually solve the hierarchical optimization problem. A simulation example shows the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Modelling pattern dependent variations in semi-additive copper electrochemical plating: AP/DFM: Advanced patterning / design for manufacturability

An empirical model is proposed for predicting layout-dependent thickness variations in the semi-additive copper electrochemical plating (ECP) process. These variations are believed to be caused by the uneven depletion of copper sulfate (CuSO 4 ) during plating, causing low pattern density areas to plate faster than higher pattern density areas. Effective pattern density is extracted from the layout using a spatial filter, and then mapped to the growth rates using a non-linear function. Test structures are designed that represent a wide range of feature sizes and densities. After plating, these structures are profiled and used to fit the model, while similar structures are used to validate its accuracy. Comparisons between the validation predictions and the experimental results show an average Balanced Root Mean Squared Error (BRMSE) of 0.292 µm, and a corresponding R2 value of 0.90.
Fatal leukoencephalopathy in a patient with multiple sclerosis following treatment with ocrelizumab (P5.353)

Objective: To report a case of rapid cognitive decline, diffuse white matter changes and ultimately death in a patient with MS who was recently treated with ocrelizumab. Background: Immunotherapies are used in MS to reduce the number of relapses, reduce the number of new lesions on MRI, and prevent accumulation of disability. The newest FDA approved immunotherapy for the treatment of MS, ocrelizumab, targets B-cells. Though progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, has been associated with other immunosuppressing agents used in the treatment of MS, it has not been reported in the ocrelizumab MS clinical trials. Deaths reported in patients treated with ocrelizumab are rare. Design/Methods: N/A Results: A 55 year-old female with a 23 year history of relapsing-remitting MS recently died following transition from natalizumab to ocrelizumab. Prior immunotherapy included mitoxantrone (6 treatments, >10 years ago), natalizumab (2006–2012, 2013–2017, JC antibody positive since 2011), fingolimod (2012–2013), dimethyl fumarate (2013). She received natalizumab in March 2017 and then ocrelizumab in May 2017. One week after receiving ocrelizumab 300mg, she had a seizure. MRI showed new, non-enhancing white matter disease, raising concern for PML. CSF showed elevated protein but with negative infectious workup. She worsened over the next 10 days despite antibiotics and was treated with IV steroids and plasmapheresis. She presented 1 month later with worsening encephalopathy and worse, diffuse, non-enhancing white matter changes on MRI. CSF was stable and opening pressure was normal. Over the next days, she developed diffuse cerebral edema with midline shift resulting in transtentorial herniation and death. Postmortem examination revealed massive diffuse cerebral edema, ischemic anoxic encephalopathy and histologic features suspicious for viral encephalitis. Immunostains for JC virus and HSV were negative and samples were sent to the CDC for additional testing. Conclusions: Transition from natalizumab to ocrelizumab warrants close clinical and imaging follow up. Disclosure: Dr. Kadish has nothing to disclose. Dr. Robertson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sweeney has nothing to disclose.
What Are Principals’ Perceptions? Recommendations for Improving the Supervision and Evaluation of Principals:

The goals for this qualitative study were to examine principals’ perceptions regarding their own supervision and evaluation. Two research questions guided the qualitative inquiry: (1) What are the ...