cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Utility of standardized discharge criteria after appendectomy to identify pediatric patients requiring intervention after postoperative imaging

Abstract Background The purposes of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of failure-of-discharge criteria and identify the cohort of pediatric patients after appendectomy in whom postoperative imaging would impact management. Methods Pediatric patients who underwent an appendectomy from July 2009 to May 2017 were included. Complicated appendicitis was defined based on the intraoperative diagnosis. Postoperative imaging was recommended at postoperative days 5–7 for patients who met at least one criterion of failure of standard management: fever (>38°C), leukocytosis (white blood cell count >12,000/mm 3 ), diet intolerance, or uncontrolled pain by oral analgesics at postoperative day 5. Primary outcomes included any intervention (reoperation, drainage procedures, or change in antibiotics). Results In all, 3,276 pediatric patients undergoing appendectomy were identified. Of these patients, 12% met at least 1 discharge criterion of failure Most discharge failures (79%) underwent postoperative imaging, such as computed tomography (68%), ultrasonography then computed tomography (20%), or ultrasonography only (12%); 39% of imaging patients required intervention. On multiple logistic regression, 3 criteria (diet intolerance, fever, and leukocytosis), complicated disease, and age were associated with the need for intervention after imaging. The type of imaging modality did not discriminate need for intervention. Conclusion Standardized criteria identifying failure of ability to discharge the patient after appendectomy limits the need for unnecessary imaging. In the management of pediatric appendicitis, a selective approach resulted in a high yield of complications requiring intervention after obtaining postoperative imaging.
Positioning Theory in Language Teacher Education

This chapter depicts the link between positioning theory and second/foreign language teacher education. The increasing focus on “social context” has resulted in a shift in language teaching; that is, the main goal of language teacher education (LTE) has shifted from equipping language teachers with the best practices and expecting them to be the transmitters of knowledge to preparing and understanding language teachers in their social contexts and histories. These recent understandings of language teaching and teachers have led to three major areas of research: learning to teach; the identities and agency of language teachers; and the sociocultural nature of language teaching practices. This chapter explains how positioning theory can be utilized in some of these areas.
IgA You Assay? The Correlation between Sleep and Stress

The most well known fact about sleep is that humans need it - while we are asleep our metabolic processes slow down and during long periods of sleep our bodies repair the damage that the stress our bodies have undergone throughout the day. Throughout the day our bodies are bombarded by signals from the environment, and undergoes biological changes in response to external and internal stimuli. Sleep is a period of time to restore the body to optimum condition to continue the process all over again the next day. The human body regulates stress by producing glucocorticoid steroid hormones, which also function as immune response suppressants. During sleep cortisol levels are decreased as they inhibit the body’s period of restoration. The production of immunoglobulin A, an antibody associated with mucosal membranes, is inhibited by glucocorticoids, and thus shows a relationship with sleep and other factors associated with stress. This experiment focused on correlations between sleep and stress found on the campus of Radford University. Our groups recorded the amount of sleep participants acquired the previous night and how long they had been awake, and correlated these with the concentration of salivary IgA. According to our initial data collection there was no significant correlation between the amount of sleep (p=0.305) or hours awake (0.670) to IgA levels. Additional sampling later in the semester will be used to supplement this data set and mapped using geospatial coordinates.
Convexity and monotonicity in nonlinear optimal control under uncertainty

We consider the problem of finite-horizon optimal control design under uncertainty for imperfectly observed discrete-time systems with convex costs and constraints. It is known that this problem can be cast as an infinite-dimensional convex program when the dynamics and measurements are linear, uncertainty is additive, and the risks associated with constraint violations and excessive costs are measured in expectation or in the worst case. In this paper, we extend this result to systems with convex or concave dynamics, nonlinear measurements, more general uncertainty structures and other coherent risk measures. In this setting, the optimal control problem can be cast as an infinite-dimensional convex program if (1) the costs, constraints and dynamics satisfy certain monotonicity properties, and (2) the measured outputs can be reversibly `purified' of the influence of the control inputs through Q- or Youla-parameterization. The practical value of this result is that the finite-dimensional subproblems arising in a variety of suboptimal control methods, notably including model predictive control and the Q-design procedure, are also convex for this class of nonlinear systems. Subproblems can therefore be solved to global optimality using convenient modeling software and efficient, reliable solvers. We illustrate these ideas in a numerical example.
Processing Spatio-temporal Data On Map-Reduce

The amount of spatio-temporal data generated in numerous scientific and industrial settings have exploded in recent years. Without a distributed platform, supporting efficient analytics operations over such voluminous datasets become prohibitively expensive. As a result there has been an increasing interest in using map-reduce to parallelize the processing of large-scale spatio-temporal data. While Hadoop, which has become the de-facto implementation of map-reduce, has shown to be effective in handling large volumes of unstructured data, several key issues needs to be addressed to exploit its power for processing spatio-temporal data.
UBE2S Learns Self-Control.

In this issue of Structure, Liess et al. (2019) demonstrate that the cell cycle regulator UBE2S shuts itself off through autoubiquitination at a conserved lysine residue. Since E2s are at the center of the ubiquitination cascade, this presents a possible regulatory mechanism in a multitude of cellular processes.
Design, Modeling, and Simulation of Two-Piece Trapezoidal Piezoelectric Devices for Sensing and Energy Harvesting

The objective of the research is to design a high power energy harvester device through a two-piece trapezoidal geometry approach. The performance of the composite two-piece trapezoidal piezoelectric PZT-PZN polycrystalline ceramic material is simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics. Results are analysed using the series configuration of a two-piece trapezoidal composite bimorph cantilever which vibrates at the first fundamental frequency. The two-piece trapezoidal composite beam designs resulted in a full-width half-maximum electric power bandwidth of 2.5 Hz while providing an electric power density of 16.81 mW/cm3 with a resistive load of 0.08 MΩ. The authors believe that these results could help design a piezoelectric energy harvester to provide local energy source which provides high electric power output.
The t in I = Prt.

A few years ago I was looking for applications in which the calculator would be a useful aid. I decided to take my house payment book to class with me and let the students check the bank's arithmetic. Three lines of my book are included in table 1. When I took out the $28 000 twenty year loan the bank told me that my annual interest rate was 7.5 percent. For the December payment, using / = Prt, the calculations went nicely:
Global microRNA profiling identified miR-10b-5p as a regulator of neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1)-glioma migration.

AIMS Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is an autosomal-dominant cancer predisposition syndrome caused by loss of function alterations involving the NF1 locus on chromosome 17. The most common brain tumours encountered in affected patients are low-grade gliomas (pilocytic astrocytomas), although high-grade gliomas are also observed at increased frequency. While bi-allelic NF1 loss characterizes these tumours, previous studies have suggested noncoding RNA molecules (microRNA, miR) may have important roles in dictating glioma biology. METHODS To explore the contributions of miRs in NF1-associated gliomas, we analysed five high-grade gliomas (NF1-HGG) and five PAs (NF1-PA) using global microRNA profiling with NanoString-based microarrays followed by functional experiments with glioma cell lines. RESULTS miR-10b-5p, miR-135b-5p, miR-196a-5p, miR-196b-5p, miR-1247-5p and miR-320a (adjusted P 3-fold in NF1-HGG relative to NF1-PA tumours. In addition, miR-378b and miR-1305 were decreased 6.8- and 6-fold, respectively, whereas miR-451a was increased 2.7-fold (adjusted P < 0.05) in NF1-PAs compared to non-neoplastic NF1 patient brain specimens (n = 2). As miR-10b-5p was the microRNA overexpressed the most in NF1-high-grade glioma compared to NF1-low-grade glioma (5.76 fold), we examined its levels in glioma cell lines. miR-10b-5p levels were highest in adult glioma cell lines and lowest in paediatric low-grade glioma lines (P = 0.02). miR-10b-5p knockdown resulted in decreased invasion in NF1-deficient LN229 high-grade glioma line, whereas its overexpression in the NF1-PA derived line (JHH-NF1-PA1) led to increased invasion. There was no change in cell growth (viability and proliferation). CONCLUSIONS These proof-of-concept experiments support a role for microRNA regulation in NF1-glioma biology.
Phase Behavior of Poly(ethylene oxide) in Room Temperature Ionic Liquids: A Molecular Simulation and Deep Neural Network Study.

The phase behavior of polymers in room temperature ionic liquids is a topic of considerable interest. In this work we study the phase diagram of poly(ethylene oxide) in four imidazolium ionic liqui...
On the stability of the open-string QED neutron and dark matter.

We study the stability of a hypothetical QED neutron, which consists of a color-singlet system of two $d$ quarks and a $u$ quark interacting with the quantum electrodynamical (QED) interactions. As a quark cannot be isolated, the intrinsic motion of the three quarks in the lowest-energy state of the QED neutron may lie predominantly in 1+1 dimensions, as in a $d$-$u$-$d$ open string. In such an open string, the attractive $d$-$u$ and $u$-$d$ QED interactions may overcome the weaker repulsive $d$-$d$ QED interaction to bind the three quarks together. We examine the stability of the QED neutron in a phenomenological three-body problem in 1+1 dimensions with an effective interaction between electric charges extracted from Schwinger's exact QED solution in 1+1 dimensions. The phenomenological model in a variational calculation yields a stable QED neutron energy minimum at a mass of 44.5 MeV. The analogous QED proton with two $u$ quarks and a $d$ quark has been found to be too repulsive to be stable and does not have a bound or continuum state, onto which the QED neutron can decay via the weak interaction. Consequently, the lowest-energy QED neutron is stable against the weak decay, has a long lifetime, and is in fact a QED dark neutron. Such a QED dark neutron and its excited states may be produced following the deconfinement-to-confinement transition of the quark gluon plasma in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Because of the long lifetime of the QED dark neutron, self-gravitating assemblies of QED dark neutrons or dark antineutrons of various sizes may be good candidates for a part of the primordial dark matter produced during the deconfinement-to-confinement phase transition of the quark gluon plasma in the evolution of the early Universe.
Development of MDM2 degraders based on ligands derived from Ugi reactions: Lessons and discoveries

Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have gained tremendous interest in both the academic and pharmaceutical communities. This opens a new way to regulate the cellular protein homeostasis, especially for disease-related proteins. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of MDM2 degraders based on ligands that were readily prepared by a four-component Ugi reaction. After extensive optimization based on anti-proliferation and MDM2 degradation, WB214 was identified as the most potent anti-proliferative agent in various leukemia cell lines. Surprisingly, our mechanistic investigations indicated that WB214 not only effectively induced the degradation of MDM2, but also led to the degradation of p53. Further studies revealed that WB214 degraded MDM2 as a molecular glue. WB214 and its related analogues did not bind to MDM2 in the p53 binding region and MDM2 was discovered as a novel neo-substrate of the E3 ligase cereblon. Finally, we found that WB214 could potently degrade GSPT1, which could rationalize the inhibition of cell growth. A selective degrader for GSPT1 over MDM2 was then developed through systematically varying different motifs.
Modular and state-relevant functional network connectivity in high-frequency eyes open vs eyes closed resting fMRI data.

Abstract Background Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) is employed to assess “functional connections” of signal between brain regions. However, multiple rs-fMRI paradigms and data-filtering strategies have been used, highlighting the need to explore BOLD signal across the spectrum. Rs-fMRI data is typically filtered at frequencies ranging between 0.008∼0.2 Hz to mitigate nuisance signal (e.g. cardiac, respiratory) and maximize neuronal BOLD signal. However, some argue neuronal BOLD signal may be parsed at higher frequencies. New method To assess the contributions of rs-fMRI along the BOLD spectra on functional network connectivity (FNC) matrices, a spatially constrained independent component analysis (ICA) was performed at seven different frequency “bins”, after which FNC values and FNC measures of matrix-randomness were assessed using linear mixed models. Results Results show FNCs at higher-frequency bins display similar randomness to those from the typical frequency bins (0.01−0.15), while the largest values are in the 0.31−0.46 Hz bin. Eyes open (EO) vs eyes closed (EC) comparison found EC was less random than EO across most frequency bins. Further, FNC was greater in EC across auditory and cognitive control pairings while EO values were greater in somatomotor, visual, and default mode FNC. Comparison with existing methods Effect sizes of frequency and resting-state paradigm vary from small to large, but the most notable results are specific to frequency ranges and resting-state paradigm with artifacts like motion displaying negligible effect sizes. Conclusions These suggest unique information may be derived from FNC matrices across frequencies and paradigms, but additional data is necessary prior to any definitive conclusions.
The Origins of Judicial Review

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Marbury v. Madison, the case which is often taught in law schools as establishing judicial review. Despite the absence of any broader political controversy over the role of the Supreme Court, akin to that which existed during the Civil War or the New Deal periods, academics from both ends of the political spectrum have attacked the legitimacy of judicial review. Recent critics have even argued that the Constitution, as originally understood, did not authorize courts to refuse to enforce unconstitutional legislation. In this paper, we discuss the textual, structural, and historical roots of judicial review. First, we show that the constitutional text permits judicial review and we describe the severe difficulties associated with the claim that the Constitution is not law to be applied in the courts. Second, we explain that the constitutional structure requires the judiciary refuse to enforce laws that violate the Constitution due to its status as a coordinate branch of government. Simply put, the text and structure demand that the judiciary interpret and give effect to the Constitution in the course of performing its function of deciding Article III cases or controversies. Third, we refute the notion that the Founders did not understand the Constitution to establish judicial review. We trace how historical developments leading up to the ratification had made judicial review a familiar institution to the Founders, and we demonstrate that all those who discussed judicial review during ratification (there were dozens) agreed that the Constitution authorized judicial review. We conclude that those who argue that the Founders originally understood the Constitution to preclude judicial review have misread the historical record.
The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Africa: An Exploration of Semi-Authoritarianism in Post-1991 Ethiopia

Ethiopia after 1991 has been considered as a hybrid regime. A multi-ethnic and multi-faith empire-state with around eighty ethnic groups, Ethiopia could be considered the most difficult proposition of third wave democratization in Africa. It was extremely poor, incredibly diverse, and politically unstable lacking favorable structural conditions and any prior democratic experience. The collapse of the Derg regime nonetheless raised hopes of a new era although not the hysteria for democracy heralded by the “second liberation” elsewhere. The complete breakdown of the communist regime presented a rare opportunity for genuine change in the country. However, the transition proved to be flawed to lead to the emergence and consolidation of democracy in Ethiopia. This paper investigates the institutional factors that thwarted democratic transition and consolidation in post-1991 Ethiopia. It pays particular focus on the political values, actors, and institutions of the liberation movement (the TPLF and its larger ruling coalition) as one set of (informal) institutional legacies that, even though these institutions have ironically received far less scholarly attention, strongly impinged on democratic transitions in other parts of post-Cold War Africa such as Eritrea, Rwanda, and the Southern African post-liberation countries.
Leaving hypnosis behind

Our consciousness and our practice of hypnosis co-evolve. From earliest civilizations to the present, we can think of the source of our abilities and knowledge, along with our self-awareness, as progressing from external and imperative to internal and autonomous. This perspective aligns with Jaynes' thesis on the origin of consciousness and its trajectory from a bicameral mind, to increasing self-efficacy, and on toward higher consciousness. With the ongoing emergence of our subjective and narrative consciousness comes shifting and multiplying resources for rational, shared, compassionate, and creative self-determination. However, the formal practice of therapeutic hypnosis - especially within reductive and diagnosis-based biomedical and psychological models - has lagged behind the evolution of consciousness. Most of the history of hypnosis has adhered to the bicameral paradigm. We have reserved a place for the authority of an externalized, revered entity whom we credit nonconsciously with our innate and extraordinary abilities. The creative applications of hypnosis by Erickson and the expansion of that work by Rossi signaled a fundamental emergence from that paradigm that encourages self-authorization and moves hypnosis practice toward a more evocative, systematic, and numinous horizon.
Isols and Kneser Graphs

Call a subcollection of e=(0,1,…) a set, a collection of sets a class and a collection of classes a family. A class S is intersecting, if it is nonempty and any two of its members have at least one element in common. Suppose n, r, k, ∈, e, r ≥ 2 and n = 2r+k. Let Vr(ν) be the class of all r-subsets of an n-set ν. It is known [3, pp. 259–261] that there is a partition of Vr(ν) into k+2 intersecting classes, (b) there is no partition of Vr(ν) into k+1 intersecting classes. Call a partition of Vr(ν) into £ intersecting classes minimal, if Vr(ν) has no partition into l-1 intersecting classes. It is intuitively clear and readily proved that: (c) all minimal partitions of Vr(ν) into intersecting classes have the same cardinality.
Informing About Semantic Information: A Set of Exercises and Lessons Learned

Information is a ubiquitous term that in both academic and practical settings is taken seriously while used carelessly (Lee 2010; McKinney and Yoos 2015). While used poorly, a growing number of recent publications on information identify the importance of the term for both IS research and practice (Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic 2011; Floridi 2011; Kettinger and Li 2010; Mingers 2013). While the academic community is now engaging the topic, most students are unaware of how they become informed. We believe informing is related to meaning, that information changes a mind. To help students understand the implications of this semantic aspect of information we have developed a number of classroom exercises. We’ve used these exercises with freshmen, EMBA students, and in management, statistics and MIS courses at three institutions and in small and large lecture formats. This paper introduces these exercises. It is organized from shortest and simplest exercises to longest and most complex. In turn we briefly describe semantic theories of information, criteria we use in designing the exercises, the exercises themselves and lessons learned.
A 5.8GHz, 47% efficiency, linear outphase power amplifier with fully integrated power combiner

This paper presents an outphase power amplifier, consisting of two class-E power amplifiers and a power combiner. Using shielded coplanar striplines, the first low-loss, fully integrated 5.8 GHz Wilkinson combiner is realized with excellent isolation for a robust outphase PA. The outphase power amplifier, fabricated in IBM 7WL SiGe BiCMOS, achieves a peak efficiency of 47% at the maximum output power of 18.5dBm. For an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing input signal of 32 sub-channels of 64-QAM, the adjacent channel power leakage ratio is better than 32dBc.
Vacuum microtriode utilizing nanodiamond microtip emitters

This article reports a vacuum field emission microtriode utilizing nanodiamond as the emitting material. The device was fabricated by IC-compatible fabrication process involving a mold transfer technique coupled with nanodiamond chemical vapor deposition. Triode behavior was characterized, showing gate-controlled emission current modulation with high current density at low bias conditions. A high current density of ∼150 mA/cm2 is achievable at low operating gate and anode voltages. It was found the nanodiamond microtriode can be used as a buffer amplifier for high frequency applications. The realization of an efficient vacuum microtriode achieves a fundamental step for further development of vacuum integrated microelectronics.
Decreased Sensitivity of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Imaging in Infection and Inflammation

Nuclear medicine plays an important role in the evaluation of inflammation and infection. Although 99m Tc-methylene diphosphonate, 67 Ga-citrate, and in vitro labeled autologous leukocyte imaging are useful procedures, there are limitations to each of them. 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron-emission tomography (PET) and PET/computed tomography offer several advantages over conventional single-photon–emitting tracers and has proved to be a valuable addition to the nuclear medicine infection imaging armamentarium. PET provides high-resolution 3-dimensional images of the whole body that facilitates precise localization of abnormalities. Localization is enhanced with PET/computed tomography. Fluorodeoxyglucose, for the most part, is exquisitely sensitive with a high negative predictive value. In general, the limiting factor of the test is specificity. However, there are some situations in which the limitation to the test is not low specificity but rather low sensitivity.
Effects of material and process on the reliability of very small hermetic microwave packages

Three very small microwave packages have been designed and fabricated. The hermeticity performance and reliability of these packages were evaluated. Package A has brazed leads and hence superior lead strength (lead tension and lead fatigue), but poor and inconsistent hermeticity yields. The leads of package B are sandwiched between the base and lid using the solder glass, so that the lead strength is not as good as that of the brazed leads. Furthermore, the sealed package is more susceptible to handling-related problems. The bending process caused microcracks along the sealing glass, which deteriorate the hermeticity of the package. The package C design incorporated the package A design and the side braze package design. The reliability of this package meets the JAN-S requirements as well as other military standard specifications. The performance of the package is also acceptable for high-frequency microwave applications. The results indicate that packages designed with closely matched coefficient of linear thermal expansion materials provide reliable hermetic packages. >
Predicting nursing turnover with catastrophe theory

wagner c.m. (2010) Predicting nursing turnover with catastrophe theory. Journal of Advanced Nursing 66(9), 2071–2084. Abstract Aim. This paper is a report of a study comparing an innovative nonlinear model and a traditional linear model for accuracy in prediction of nursing turnover. Background. An international, sustained nursing shortage creates a need to target accurately the staff population at risk for turnover. Existing linear methodology is cumbersome with the number of variables needed, while producing inadequate results. Nonlinear modelling methods offer increased simplicity and accuracy in predictability. Methods. A correlational survey with a longitudinal cohort prospective study was carried out in 2005–2006 with a convenience sample of 1033 Registered Nurses from the Midwest region of the United States of America. At time 1, 756 usable questionnaires were returned and 496 at time 2. Data analysis included analyses of a cusp catastrophe model, a cube-shaped four-dimensional figure with a top that provided a down-turning slope area (the catastrophe/cusp zone). This fluid, dynamic cusp version employed the smallest number of control and dependent variables. Results. The exceedingly small turnover sample preempted the use of the computerized program Cuspfit; a proven quasi-quantitative methodology demonstrated 80·4% predictability in the cusp catastrophe model overall and 53·6% correct predictions of actual terminations, particularly in nurses with <5 years of nursing experience. Additional accurate predictions were obtained with the use of a time-staged model. Organizational commitment and anticipated turnover were accurate predictor variables; job tension was not. Conclusion. Catastrophe models are useful in predicting nursing turnover. Future nursing researchers should act on this evidence to benefit forthcoming studies and the profession.
Maternal Organ Distribution of Cardiac Output in the Diet-Restricted Pregnant Rat

Maternal organ distribution of cardiac output was measured with 15-micron diameter, radioactively labeled microspheres in ad libitum-fed or 50% diet-restricted, term pregnant rats, and in ad libitum-fed nonpregnant rats. The diet-restricted dams had a 33% lower total cardiac output than the ad libitum-fed dams, but it was not significantly different from that of the nonpregnant rats. Placental blood flow in the diet-restricted rats was 30% lower than that in the ad libitum-fed rats. Except for a higher blood flow to the pancreas and a lower blood flow to the uterine tissue, blood flows to the other organs of the diet-restricted dams were not significantly different from those of ad libitum-fed pregnant dams. Blood flows to the lungs, small intestine and ovaries of the diet-restricted pregnant rats were higher than those in the nonpregnant rats. Dietary restriction resulted in a decreased percentage of the cardiac output being distributed to the pregnant uterus and an increased percentage to the hepatic portal circulation, thus maintaining a liver blood flow similar to that in nonpregnant rats. Thus, maternal liver blood flow, rather than that to the placentas, is protected during malnutrition.
Proteomic Characterization of Human Plasma High Density Lipoprotein Fractionated by Gel Filtration Chromatography

Plasma levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are inversely proportional to the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Recent applications of modern proteomic technologies have identified upward of 50 distinct proteins associated with HDL particles with many of these newly discovered proteins implicating HDL in nonlipid transport processes including complement activation, acute phase response and innate immunity. However, almost all MS-based proteomic studies on HDL to date have utilized density gradient ultracentrifugation techniques for HDL isolation prior to analysis. These involve high shear forces and salt concentrations that can disrupt HDL protein interactions and alter particle function. Here, we used high-resolution size exclusion chromatography to fractionate normal human plasma to 17 phospholipid-containing subfractions. Then, using a phospholipid binding resin, we identified proteins that associate with lipoproteins of various sizes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We identified 14 new phospholipid-associated proteins that migrate with traditionally defined HDL, several of which further support roles for HDL in complement regulation and protease inhibition. The increased fractionation inherent to this method allowed us to visualize HDL protein distribution across particle size with unprecedented resolution. The observed heterogeneity across subfractions suggests the presence of HDL particle subpopulations each with distinct protein components that may prove to impart distinct physiological functions.
Direct numerical simulations of mixing and reaction in a nonpremixed homogeneous turbulent flow

Abstract Direct numerical simulations have been performed to study the mechanisms of mixing and chemical reaction in a three-dimensional, homogeneous turbulent flow under the influence of the reaction of the type A + B → Products . The results are used to examine the applicability of Toor's hypothesis [1] and also to determine the range of validity of various coalescence-dispersion (C/D) turbulence models that have been used previously to model the effects of turbulent mixing in such flows [2]. The results of numerical simulations indicate that the probability density function (PDF) of a conserved Shvab-Zeldovich scalar quantity, characterizing the mixing process, evolves from an initial double-delta distribution to an asymptotic shape that can be approximated by a Gaussian distribution. During this evolution, the PDF cannot be characterized by its first two moments; therefore, the application of Toor's hypothesis is not appropriate for the prediction of such flows. The results further indicate the initial stages of mixing are well represented by the Dopazo-O'Brien C/D model, whereas, at intermediate times, the results obtained by DNS fall between those obtained by the two closures of Dopazo and O'Brien [3] and Janicka et al. [4], and deviate the most from those of Curl [5]. Therefore, a C/D model between the two closures of Dopazo-O'Brien and Janicka et al. is expected to result in favorable comparison with our data. The final stages of mixing are not well predicted by any of the C/D closures in that none of the models is capable of predicting a Gaussian asymptotic PDF for the Shvab-Zeldovich scalar variable. The results of our numerical simulations may be used to generate a C/D model (or models) that can predict all the stages of mixing accurately.
Surface-renewal models in mass transfer

Abstract Several surface renewal models are developed to describe mass transfer between phases. D anckwerts ' and H igbie 's derivations are examined with respect to some alternative eddy residence-time distributions: dead time and multiple capacitance effects are considered. Two other models are based respectively on assumptions of (1) a transient, non-equilibrium interface, and (2) a thin interfacial layer of reduced effective diffusivity. The first of these predicts a maximum in mass transfer rate with respect to system agitation.
A clinician's paradigm in the treatment of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronically recurring inflammatory disease that affects the skin, scalp, and joints. It ranges in severity from mild to severe, and patients with moderate to severe disease experience significant deterioration in quality of life. The goals of psoriasis treatment are to gain initial and rapid control of the disease process, decrease the percentage of body surface area involved, decrease plaque lesions, achieve and maintain long-term remission, minimize adverse events, and improve patient quality of life. Therapy varies depending on disease severity and spread and will shift from control of acute flares to long-term maintenance. Topical treatment for mild psoriasis includes the use of topical corticosteroids, calcipotriene, tazarotene, topical tars, anthralin, and keratolytics. Treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis includes systemic therapies, such as methotrexate, acitretin, cyclosporine, and biologic agents. Treatment can be effected using combination, rotational, or sequential regimens. Treatment algorithms developed by a 2002 consensus conference are described. Because some degree of therapy will always be necessary, ranging from maintenance of long-term remission to control of acute psoriasis flares, each patient requires an individualized plan.
Trends in blood pressure among children and adolescents.

ContextThe prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents increased between 1988 and 2000. The change in blood pressure among children and adolescents over that time and the role of overweight is unknown.ObjectiveTo examine trends in systolic and diastolic blood pressure among children and adolescents between 1988 and 2000.Design, Setting, and PopulationTwo serially conducted cross-sectional studies using nationally representative samples of children and adolescents, aged 8 to 17 years, from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted in 1988-1994 (n = 3496) and NHANES 1999-2000 (n = 2086).Main Outcome MeasuresSystolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.ResultsIn 1999-2000, the mean (SE) systolic blood pressure was 106.0 (0.3) mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure was 61.7 (0.5) mm Hg. After adjustment for age, mean systolic blood pressure was 1.6 mm Hg higher among non-Hispanic black girls (P = .11) and 2.9 mm Hg higher among non-Hispanic black boys (P<.001) compared with non-Hispanic whites. Among Mexican Americans, girls' systolic blood pressure was 1.0 mm Hg higher (P = .21) and boys' was 2.7 mm Hg higher (P<.001) compared with non-Hispanic whites (P<.001). With further adjustment for body mass index, these differences were attenuated. After age, race/ethnicity, and sex standardization, systolic blood pressure was 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6-2.2) mm Hg higher (P<.001) and diastolic blood pressure was 3.3 (95% CI, 2.1-4.5) mm Hg higher in 1999-2000 (P<.001) compared with 1988-1994. With further adjustment for differences in the body mass index distribution in 1988-1994 and 1999-2000, the increase in systolic blood pressure was reduced by 29% and diastolic blood pressure was reduced by 12%.ConclusionsBlood pressure has increased over the past decade among children and adolescents. This increase is partially attributable to an increased prevalence of overweight.
The occurrence and photoregulation of flavonoids in barley plastids

Abstract Whole-leaf extracts of etiolated or light-grown barley shoots contain the C-glycosylflavones saponarin, lutonarin and lutonarin 3′-methyl ether. Plastids isolated by aqueous techniques contain only saponarin. Contamination experiments using foreign flavonoids indicate that saponarin recovered from plastids is not a contaminant from other cellular fractions. In response to brief red light treatment 24 hr before harvest, saponarin levels are approximately doubled in whole-shoot extracts, but increased about 3.5 fold in plastids. This photocontrolled increase is far-red reversible. Thus saponarin is selectively accumulated in barley plastids and this accumulation is controlled by phytochrome.
ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING

Electromagnetic properties of hardened concrete specimens are measured over a microwave frequency range from 0.1 to 20 GHz. The experimentally obtained values provide information about the behavior of concrete and its interaction with electromagnetic waves. In addition to the frequency variation, the effect of different moisture contents on the electromagnetic properties is studied. Properties of mortar specimens and constituents of concrete, that is, coarse aggregates, sand, and cement, are also measured. An open-ended coaxial probe method is used for the measurement of real and imaginary parts of complex permittivity of concrete. The physical significance of the measured data in nondestructive testing, including penetration depth and detectability, is discussed. The results of electromagnetic property measurements indicate that the dielectric constant of dry concrete appears to be frequency independent over the range from 0.1 to 20 GHz, whereas the loss factor increases over that range. The moisture content of concrete significantly affects the dielectric constant and loss factor. The quantitative results obtained from this research will serve as a basis in applying wideband microwave imaging techniques for nondestructive testing of concrete using radar. The results can also be used for selecting the optimum combinations of radar measurement parameters for better detection.
EFFECTIVE ACTION OF A MAGNETIC MONOPOLE IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRODYNAMICS WITH MASSLESS MATTER AND GAUGE THEORIES OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

We compute the one-loop effective action of a magnetic monopole in three-dimensional electrodynamics of massless bosons and fermions and find that it contains an infrared logarithm. So, when the number of massless matter species is sufficiently large, monopoles are suppressed and in the weak-coupling limit charged particles are unconfined. This result provides some support to the idea of new gauge interactions in planar electronic systems. It also provides a mechanism by which interlayer tunneling of excitations with one unit of the ordinary electric charge can be suppressed while that of a doubly charged object is allowed.
Comparative survivorship and life history of painted greenling (Oxylebius pictus) in Puget Sound, Washington and Monterey Bay, California

The painted greenling, Oxylebius pictus, a hexagrammid fish of shallow, northeastern Pacific rocky habitats was observed and collected near the center of its range at Monterey Bay, California, and near the northern limit of its distribution at Puget Sound.
Characterization of the mouse organ of Corti cytoarchitecture using a stick representation

The supporting cells and hair cells (HCs) in the organ of Corti (OoC) are highly organized. The precise 3D micro-structure is hypothesized to play a critical role in cochlear function. Recently, we combined two techniques to obtain the organ of Corti cytoarchitecture. Two-photon imaging allowed us to perform in situ imaging without subjecting the tissue to other potential distortions, while genetically engineered mTmG mice have a fluorophore embedded in the cell membranes. In this contribution we discuss the parameterization step necessary to compare structures obtained with this technique at different locations and in different specimens. First, the z-axis is chosen perpendicular to the basilar membrane. Subsequently, base and apex of cells are indicated by landmarks. As such, the cells are approximated as a stick representation. This representation is used to calculate the 3D lengths and angles of all imaged cells. Since the OoC is not straight but spiral-shaped, the radial (y) and longitudinal (x) directions differ at each location. Therefore, circular arcs are fitted through the 3 rows of outer HCs to define the local radial (y) and longitudinal (x) direction. Novel in this approach is the 3D data of the cell position in the organ of Corti. Cell diameters and tissue areas cannot be quantified with this stick representation and need to be measured separately.
Variations on a theme of Heine and Stieltjes: an electrostatic interpretation of the zeros of certain polynomials

We show a way to adapt the ideas of Stieltjes to obtain an electrostatic interpretation of the zeroes of a large class of orthogonal polynomials.
Effect of ouabain on total vascular capacity in the dog.

Abstract Whereas the cardiac effects of digitalis glycosides have been extensively studied, less is known of the extracardiac effects of the drug, in particular the effects on vascular capacity. We investigated the effects of parenteral ouabain on vascular capacity in the dog with particular emphasis on transhepatic resistance and its interaction with splanchnic and total intravascular capacity. We studied 49 dogs on total cardiopulmonary bypass in which the splanchnic and extrasplanchnic circulations could be separately perfused and drained, and the portal vein could be vented to systemic venous pressure. The results indicate: (a) ouabain produces a net central displacement of blood at 30 min after administration of 150 +/- 70 ml (SEM), (b) this displacement occurs despite a substantial increase in transhepatic resistance, although the early rise in transhepatic resistance may delay the net displacement of blood, and (c) the decrease of overall vascular capacity is due to an effect of ouabain on the capacitance vessels of both the splanchnic and extrasplanchnic circulations. The peripheral vascular capacity effects of ouabain may therefore contribute to overall cardiac performance.
Location is everything: let-7b microRNA and TLR7 signaling results in a painful TRP.

Extracellular let-7b, a microRNA found in the central nervous system, affects neurons through its interaction with Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), but with divergent outcomes in different neurons. Lehmann et al . found that let-7b stimulation of cortical and hippocampal neurons led to neuronal apoptosis, whereas Park et al . report that let-7b activation of TLR7 stimulated the cation channel transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) on dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons and induced pain responses. The primary difference that may influence these distinct responses to let-7b is the localization of TLR7 to the endosome in the cortical and hippocampal neurons or the plasma membrane in the sensory neurons. These studies suggest that different types of neurons traffic TLR7 to distinct membrane locations, affecting the functional response of neurons to let-7b stimulation.
Surface enrichment and trace-element uptake during crystal growth

Abstract Adsorption or enrichment of trace elements in the near-surface or interfacial regions of minerals has been documented in systems ranging from low-temperature aqueous environments to magmas. Under static conditions, this surface enrichment results from chemical equilibrium between the host medium of the crystal and the surface layer, which may exhibit diversity or flexibility in the types of atomic sites present. If the crystal is growing, any trace elements bound in the surface layer may be buried and trapped in the newly-formed lattice, resulting in lattice concentrations that deviate substantially from those predicted by equilibrium partitioning between the crystal and its growth medium. The effectiveness of this growth entrapment process depends upon the interplay between the growth rate, V , of the crystal (which can be thought of as the burial rate of surface-enriched element i) and the diffusivity, D i , in the near-surface region of the crystal (which determines how efficiently i can escape to the surface by diffusion). The competition can be quantified in terms of the dimensionless number Vl / D i ; (termed the growth Peclet number, Pe), where l is the half-thickness of the surface-enriched layer. Depending upon the degree of surface enrichment, some growth entrapment is possible if Pe > 0.1, and the process is highly efficient if Pe > 10. An assessment of Pe for a wide variety of geological situations suggests that growth entrapment is common in diagenetic and metamorphic environments but limited to slow lattice diffusants in silicic igneous systems. It is probably rare to nonexistent in basaltic systems except at laboratory growth rates.
Platelets, inflammatory cells, von Willebrand factor, syndecan-1, fibrin, fibronectin, and bacteria co-localize in the liver thrombi of Bacillus anthracis-infected mice

Abstract Vascular dysfunction and thrombosis have been described in association with anthrax infection in humans and animals but the mechanisms of these dysfunctions, as well as the components involved in thrombi formation are poorly understood. Immunofluorescent microscopy was used to define the composition of thrombi in the liver of mice challenged with the Bacillus anthracis Sterne spores. Lethal infection with the toxigenic Sterne strain, in contrast to the non-lethal, non-toxigenic delta-Sterne strain, demonstrated time-dependent increase in the number of vegetative bacteria inside the liver sinusoids and central vein. Massive appearance of thrombi typically occluding the lumen of the vessels coincided with the sudden death of infected animals. Bacterial chains in the thrombi were stained positive for syndecan-1 (SDC-1), fibronectin, and were surrounded by fibrin polymers, GPIIb-positive platelets, von Willebrand Factor (vWF), CD45-positive leukocytes, and massive amount of shed SDC-1. Experiments with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) demonstrated the active role of the host response to the secreted pathogenic factors of bacteria during the onset of the pro-thrombotic condition. The bacterial culture supernatants, as well as the isolated proteins (the pore-forming toxin anthrolysin O and phospholipase C) induced release of vWF, while anthrolysin O, sphingomyelinase and edema toxin induced release of thrombin from HUVECs and polymerization of fibrin in the presence of human plasma. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that activation of endothelium in response to infection can contribute to the formation of occlusive thrombi consisting of aggregated bacteria, vWF, shed SDC-1, fibrin, activated platelets, fibronectin and leukocytes.
Logbooks : A review of ENT registrar surgery

An annual snapshot of ENT SpR training is available at the Record of In-Training Assessment (RITA) when the regional trainees present their operative logs for scrutiny. Simple arithmetic reveals information about the quantity of operative training experience but rather less about quality. The logbook provides some insight into a trainee's surgical exposure and what opportunities are available in the region. This paper presents the summated logbooks of the ENT SpRs in the Eastern deanery presented at the annual RITA.
Radiation field in the troposphere and stratosphere from 240–1000 NM-I. General analysis

Abstract A method for rapid calculation of the multiply-scattered solar induced radiation field in the troposphere and stratosphere is presented. The method is described in sufficient detail so that the mathematical model can be incorporated in a straightforward manner into photochemical models of the troposphere and stratosphere. Results are described which show that multiple scattering and ground albedo can result in large amplifications of the radiation field in the photochemically active region 240–1000 nm.