cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Randomly Permuted (t,m,s)-Nets and (t, s)-Sequences

This article presents a hybrid of Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo methods. In this hybrid, certain low discrepancy point sets and sequences due to Faure, Niederreiter and Sobol’ are obtained and their digits are randomly permuted. Since this randomization preserves the equidistribution properties of the points it also preserves the proven bounds on their quadrature errors. The accuracy of an estimated integrand can be assessed by replication, consisting of independent re-randomizations.
I-RMI: performance isolation in information flow applications

A problem with many distributed applications is their behavior in lieu of unpredictable variations in user request volumes or in available resources. This paper explores a performance isolation-based approach to creating robust distributed applications. For each application, the approach is to (1) understand the performance dependencies that pervade it and then (2) provide mechanisms for imposing constraints on the possible ‘spread' of such dependencies through the application. Concrete results are attained for J2EE middleware, for which we identify sample performance dependencies: in the application layer during request execution and in the middleware layer during request de-fragmentation and during return parameter marshalling. Isolation points are the novel software abstraction used to capture performance dependencies and represent solutions for dealing with them, and they are used to create (2) I(solation)-RMI, which is a version of RMI-IIOP implemented in the WebSphere service infrastructure enhanced with isolation points. Initial results show the approach's ability to detect and filter ill-behaving messages that can cause an up to a 85% drop in performance for the Trade3 benchmark, and to eliminate up to a 56% drop in performance due to misbehaving clients.
Library instruction for high‐risk freshmen: Evaluating an enrichment program

Purpose – Library instruction is an important component in developmental programs for high‐risk college freshmen. There is little in the literature to describe information literacy programs for these students. Aims to redress this omission.Design/methodology/approach – This article describes a library instruction component that was included in an English department enrichment skills program for university freshmen with low verbal SAT scores. The library component includes instruments used to evaluate library sessions from the viewpoint of both the English department faculty and library faculty. A pre‐session survey was given to students to ascertain their previous experience with using the library. The results of this indicated that library instruction was needed. An assessment quiz given to students at the end of the session evaluated what they had learned.Findings – Two or three library sessions are required to cover the basic skills of library use. In addition, librarians and English professors need to...
Separation of Nicotinic Acid and Six Metabolites within 60 Seconds Using High-Flow Gradient Chromatography on Silica Column with Tandem Mass Spectrometric Detection

Separation of nicotinic acid and its six metabolites (nicotinamide, nicotinuric acid, 1-methy-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, 1-methy-4-pyridone-5-carboxamide, 1-methyl-nicotinamide, and nicotinamide-N-oxide) within 60 seconds was achieved by using a gradient chromatography at a flow rate of 4 mL min−1 on silica column and aqueous/organic mobile phases with tandem mass spectrometric detection. The fourth metabolite, 1-methyl-4-pyridone-5-carboxamide, did not show isotopic or cross channel interference, even though it co-eluted with nicotinamide-N-oxide. This method was validated to analyze all seven compounds in human plasma and urine samples which were extracted with Waters Oasis MCX 96-well plate. The linearity of the method is 10 to 2000 ng mL−1 for each analyte. The relative standard deviation and relative error for the standards were less than 17% and 8.4%, respectively. The relative standard deviation and relative error for the quality control samples were less than 12% and 13% respectively.
Breaking Boundaries for Global Learning

Dedication. Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. Contributing Authors. Part 1: Introduction. Breaking Boundaries for Global Learning Richard G. Milter. Part 2: Teams and Collaborative Learning. Creating Conditions for Collaborative Learning Dirk Tempelaar. Michaelsen's Model of Team-Based Learning Applied in Undergraduate Kinesiology Classes Harry J. Meeuwsen & George A. King. Cross-Cultural Virtual Teamwork: Implications from the Multicultural E-classroom Ken Morse. Collaborative Learning Applied in the Orientation Process of Undergraduate Students Myrta Rodriguez. Part 3: Transitioning From Academic Settings to the Workplace. Online Learning: Learner's Liberation? Tessa Owens. Learning to Work: Easing the Transition Cathrine Le Maistre & Anthony Pare. Breaking the Boundaries between Academic Degrees and Lifelong Learning Thomas J.P. Thijssen & Fons T.J. Vernooij. An Innovation in Access: Developing the Generic Skills of Business Students through a Virtual Corporate Experience Jennifer Radbourne. Part 4: Role of Information Technology in the Learning Process. Can 'Learning by Teaching' Contribute to E-learning? Raffi Duymedjian. A Collaborative Tool for Argumentation-based Learning: Examining Face-to-Face and Computer-based Approaches in a UK Secondary School Lia Litosseliti, Laurie Hirsch, Jeanne Cornillon, & Masoud Saeedi. Adapting a Face-to-Face Training Program to a Distance Delivery Model: a Case Study of a Professional Training Program Menno van Doorn & Richard G. Milter. An Innovative Approach to Addressing Heterogeneity of Large Classes: Results from Teaching Business Statistics Marc Humbert. Using Information Technology in Teamwork during Collaborative Extra-Class Activities Silvia Sanchez Vizcarra. Part 5: Program-Level Innovation Strategy. Contextual Learning in Higher Education Claus Nygaard & Ib Andersen. A Multi-Step Process for Assessing Student Outcomes in the Business Curriculum Wendy L.Pirie, Michael K. McCuddy, & Mary Y. Christ. Student Characteristics and Academic Success Luke B. Connelly. Making Space for Twenty-first Century Management Learning Clive Holtham & Martin Rich. The Value of Multidisciplinary Integration: Evidence from TwoEngineering Courses Willem van Woerden & Waling Bandsma. A Survey of Distance Education Programs Morgan M. Shepherd, Ben Martz, Jeff Ferguson, & Gary Klein. Index.
Fetal pathology and mechanism of fetal death in saline-induced abortion: a study of 143 gestations and critical review of the literature.

Abstract One hundred and twenty fetuses were salvaged from 143 consecutive, saline-induced abortions. The main pathologic findings consisted of widespread vascular dilatation, congestion, edema, hemorrhage, and parenchymatous dehydration. The lesions are comparable to those described in acute salt poisoning of infants, oral salt poisoning of animals, and human and animal hypernatremia caused by other factors. This strongly suggests fetal hypertonicity and dehydration as the bases for the changes. It is concluded that the mechanism of fetal death in hypertonic saline abortion is essentially that of acute salt poisoning and that placental damage plays a much less important role than is commonly accepted.
NF‐κB RelB Negatively Regulates Osteoblast Differentiation and Bone Formation

RelA-mediated NF-κB canonical signaling promotes mesenchymal progenitor cell (MPC) proliferation, but inhibits differentiation of mature osteoblasts (OBs) and thus negatively regulates bone formation. Previous studies suggest that NF-κB RelB may also negatively regulate bone formation through noncanonical signaling, but they involved a complex knockout mouse model, and the molecular mechanisms involved were not investigated. Here, we report that RelB(-/-) mice develop age-related increased trabecular bone mass associated with increased bone formation. RelB(-/-) bone marrow stromal cells expanded faster in vitro and have enhanced OB differentiation associated with increased expression of the osteoblastogenic transcription factor, Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2). In addition, RelB directly targeted the Runx2 promoter to inhibit its activation. Importantly, RelB(-/-) bone-derived MPCs formed bone more rapidly than wild-type cells after they were injected into a murine tibial bone defect model. Our findings indicate that RelB negatively regulates bone mass as mice age and limits bone formation in healing bone defects, suggesting that inhibition of RelB could reduce age-related bone loss and enhance bone repair.
Identifying Curve Reaction Point Using NDS Data

The object of this research was to use naturalistic driving study data (NDS) to determine where drivers begin reacting to the presence of a curve. Understanding where drivers begin to react to the curve is important for optimal placement of traffic control devices, such as advance curve warning signs, as well as other countermeasures. Time series data were modeled using regression analysis. Results indicate that, depending on radius of curve, drivers begin reacting to the curve 164 to 180 meters (538.1 to 590.6 feet) upstream of the point of curvature. This was compared against sign placement guidelines in the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and it was determined these guidelines are appropriately set based on where drivers actually react to the curve. The analysis found that drivers begin reacting to the curve sooner for curves with larger radii than for curves with smaller radii. Drivers may not be able to gauge the sharpness of the curve, or sight distance issues may be a concern for sharper curves. It should be noted that the model only identified where drivers reacted to the curve. This research question did not attempt to answer whether the reaction point was sufficient for drivers to successfully negotiate the curve. It is also noted that sample sizes are small. Due to resource and data constraints it was not possible to model a large number of drivers over large variation of different curve types. Consequently, the results provide useful information but should be used within the context of the study limitations.
Platelet ITAM signaling is critical for vascular integrity in inflammation

Platelets play a critical role in maintaining vascular integrity during inflammation, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here we report that platelet immunoreceptor tyrosine activation motif (ITAM) signaling, but not GPCR signaling, is critical for the prevention of inflammation-induced hemorrhage. To generate mice with partial or complete defects in these signaling pathways, we developed a protocol for adoptive transfer of genetically and/or chemically inhibited platelets into thrombocytopenic (TP) mice. Unexpectedly, platelets with impaired GPCR signaling, a crucial component of platelet plug formation and hemostasis, were indistinguishable from WT platelets in their ability to prevent hemorrhage at sites of inflammation. In contrast, inhibition of GPVI or genetic deletion of Clec2, the only ITAM receptors expressed on mouse platelets, significantly reduced the ability of platelets to prevent inflammation-induced hemorrhage. Moreover, transfusion of platelets without ITAM receptor function or platelets lacking the adapter protein SLP-76 into TP mice had no significant effect on vascular integrity during inflammation. These results indicate that the control of vascular integrity is a major function of immune-type receptors in platelets, highlighting a potential clinical complication of novel antithrombotic agents directed toward the ITAM signaling pathway.
Characterization of QWIP (10-16 μm) broadband FPA

An optimally designed GaAs/AlGaAs broadband Quantum Well IR Photodetector QWIP Focal Plane Array FPA is fabricated and hybridized to a 640 × 512 Read Out Integrated Circuit with 25μm pixel pitch. The substrate-thinned and LCC mounted FPA was loaded into a dewar and cooled to liquid Neon temperature for characterization. The temperature of the FPA was stabilized at 35K several minutes after power was applied. We will report on the NEΔT, QE, uniformity, and D* result.
The Relationship between Systemic Hypertension and Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is well recognized as an aging-related disorder. Its prevalence and occurrence are similar to that seen in men with essential hypertension (EH). The most common cause of ED is vascular in origin, specifically corporal smooth muscle (CSM) dysfunction in which the CSM is unable to relax sufficiently enough to prevent the loss of blood from the corporal bodies. With EH, it is recognized that the arterial vessels of the systemic circulation become stiff and, like the vessels and sinusoids in the penis, are also unable to relax normally thereby resulting in an elevation of the systemic blood pressure. Since the smooth muscles both in the corporal sinusoids and in the media of the arterial vessels have a similar embryonic origin, it is logical to assume that the aging-related factors that affect the corporal tissue is the same that affect the smooth muscle and connective tissue within the media of the arterial system. This would explain the high prevalence of hypertension in men with ED and suggest that early prevention strategies for both ED and EH should be directed towards the smooth muscle and their supporting structures in each respective tissue.
Inhibitory properties of endogenous subunit ϵ in the Escherichia coli F1 ATPase

Abstract Homogeneous ϵ bound tightly to the purified Escherichia coli ATPase (ECF 1 from which ϵ had been removed and strongly inhibited its ATPase activity. ECF 1 containing ϵ had a lower specific activity than ECF 1 missing ϵ, provided that the ATPase assay was carried out at relatively high concentrations of enzyme. Antiserum specific for the ϵ subunit stimulated the ATPase, as did diluting the enzyme, apparently by dissociating ϵ. When the ATPase reaction was started by the addition of enzyme, the rate of ATP hydrolysis increased progressively during the first 3 min until a linear steady-state rate was reached. A prior incubation with ATP abolished the lag period and ADP prevented the ATP effect. ECF 1 missing ϵ gave a linear rate of ATP hydrolysis without a lag, unless ϵ was rebound to it before the assay. These results suggest that ECF 1 as purified is in an inhibited state due to the presence of the ϵ subunit, whose interaction with ECF 1 is governed by an equilibrium binding. ATP appears to convert ECF 1 to a form which more readily binds and releases ϵ.
Making assessment relevant to treatment planning: The STS clinician rating form.

This article reports on the development of a computerized, clinician-based method of assessing patient variables that contribute to differential assignment of psychotherapy models. In the current health care environment, omnibus personality tests and current state measures are both expensive and insensitive to most of the empirically defined patient characteristics that have been identified as indicators of different treatment qualities. Moreover, reliance on patient self-report introduces a variety of distortions and limits predictive studies and follow-up assessments to those who are cooperative. These factors limit the usefulness of the currently available procedures. Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction (ATI) research has revealed differential effects of manualized cognitive, interpersonal, and insight-oriented treatments as a function on a select number of relatively specific personality and symptom qualities. A cost- and time-efficient method of measuring these dimensions could increase the power of treatment by identifying in advance those that are likely to be most effective for a given patient. The STS (Systematic Treatment Selection) Clinician Rating Form is a relatively brief, clinician-based measure of a variety of patient dimensions, including subjective distress, various aspects of coping style, and resistance traits. Current data reveal good interrater reliability and adequate levels of discriminant and convergent validity.
Retrograde left-ventricular hemodynamic assessment of mechanical aortic and mitral valve gradients using a high-fidelity pressure wire: A case series†

Noninvasive assessment of mechanical heart valve function with echocardiography is challenging. There are important safety issues when considering placing a standard catheter across a mechanical valve with for invasive hemodynamic measurements. The feasibility of using a high-fidelity micromanometer coronary pressure guide wire to assess hemodynamics across mechanical valves has been reported. Although this method appears feasible, safe, and free of major complication, its application and utility remains obscure and underappreciated. We report a series of two patients with mitral and aortic (St. Jude and Bjork-Shiley) mechanical valves in which we successfully used this pressure wire technique to assess valvular function in patients evaluated for repeat surgical valve replacement. We include the first report of this guide wire technique to assess hemodynamics across a Bjork-Shiley single-tilting disk valve.
Identification and partial purification of a human natural killer cell proliferation-inducing factor

Culture supernatants of Concanavalin A activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were found to contain a factor which induced proliferative response in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. This proliferation-inducing factor specifically induced and sustained proliferation of purified human NK cells but not of T or B cells. Although interleukin 2 (IL12) also has proliferation-inducing effects on NK cells, the partially purified proliferationinducing factor preparations contained no measurable IL2 contamination. Moreover, neutralizing anti-IL2 antibodies did not block the growth effect of proliferation-inducing factor on purified human NK cells. Other cytokines which were tested, including IL4, IL6, IL7, IL12, TNF and IFN, were all found to be inactive in the proliferation-inducing factor assay. While proliferation-inducing factor by itself had no effect on T-cell proliferation, IL2-induced proliferation of T cells was significantly enhanced in the presence of proliferation-inducing factor, as was IL2-induced NK-cell proliferation. NK cells could be maintained in culture for at least a month in the presence of proliferation-inducing factor alone, but the cells lost their cytolytic activity after 3–4 weeks in culture. Addition of IL2, to NK cells which had been cultured in the presence of proliferation-inducing factor, restored their cytotoxicity. Proliferation-inducing factor activity was partially purified on an anion exchange HPLC column. The molecular weight of proliferation-inducing factor appeared to be about 10 kDa, based on its elution profile on a sizing HPLC column. Our results indicate that proliferation-inducing factor is a novel NK-cell proliferationinducing factor.
Syntactic analysis in sentence comprehension: effects of dependency types and grammatical constraints.

This paper presents three experiments on the parsing of Italian wh-questions that manipulate the wh-type (whovs. which-N)and the whextraction site (main clause, dependent clause with or without complementizer). The aim of these manipulations is to see whether the parser is sensitive to the type of dependencies being processed and whether the processing effects can be explained by a unique processing principle, the minimal chain principle (MCP; De Vincenzi, 1991). The results show that the parser, following the MCP, prefers structures with fewer and less complex chains. In particular: (1) There is a processing advantage for the wh-subject extractions, the structures with less complex chains; (2) there is a processing dissociation between the whoand which questions; (3) the parser respects the principle that governs the well-formedness of the empty categories (ECP).
Electric charges: The social construction of rate systems

Price is a central analytic concept in both neoclassical and old institutional economics. Combining the social network perspective with old and new institutionalist approaches to price formation, this article examines technological, economic, institu- tional, and political factors that shaped the earliest pricing systems for electricity used in the United States, between 1882 and 1910. We show that certain characteristics of electricity supply led to ambiguities in how the product should be priced, which created a politics of pricing among electricity producers. In particular, we investigate why the "Wright system," arguably inferior in productive efficiency to other alternatives, was widely adopted by 1900. We argue that this outcome resulted in part from the political and organizational clout of its supporters, as well as from their particular conceptions of the boundaries and future of the industry itself. The Wright system best suited the "growth dynamic" strategy promoted by the managers of large central stations in their fierce competition with smaller and more decentralized installations. Thus, even in this apparently highly technical and mainly economic issue of how to price the product, there was ample room for social construction and political manipulation. The outcome reached was by no means inevitable and had a highly significant impact on the shape of the American industrial infrastructure.
Contralateral and long latency effects of human biceps brachii stretch reflex conditioning.

Results from previous studies on monkeys and human subjects have demonstrated that the biceps brachii spinal stretch reflex (SSR) can be operantly conditioned. The extent to which conditioning paradigms influence contralateral SSRs or longer latency responses in the same limb has not been examined. Nine subjects were given 10 training sessions to either increase or decrease the size of their biceps brachii SSR. Group changes were compared to the mean of six baseline (control) sessions. Both groups showed progressive SSR changes over the training sessions. Up-trained subjects increased their SSR responses by an average of 135.3% above baseline, with the last three sessions showing a 237.5% increase, while down-trained subjects reduced their average SSR responses by 43.4%, with a 52.7% reduction over the last three sessions. Ipsilateral longer latency responses showed average changes of 68.9% and-68.7% for up- and down-trainers, respectively. As in the case of SSRs, these responses changed progressively over sessions, with a 131.5% increase seen in the last three up-training sessions and an 82.4% reduction over the same period for down-trainers. Correlation coefficients between SSR and longer latency responses were high (R=0.90, up-trainers; R=0.87, down-trainers). Contralateral SSR and longer latency responses, measured in the absence of feedback and at least 10 min after ipsilateral conditioning, showed directional changes that were similar to the trained side, but their magnitudes were not as profound. Collectively, these data suggest that unilateral SSR conditioning affects spinal circuits controlling contralateral SSRs and influences longer latency responses.
Computational Issues for Large-Scale Land Surface Data Assimilation Problems

Abstract Land surface data assimilation problems are often limited by the high dimensionality of states created by spatial discretization over large high-resolution computational grids. Yet field observations and simulation both confirm that soil moisture can have pronounced spatial structure, especially after extensive rainfall. This suggests that the high dimensionality of the problem could be reduced during wet periods if spatial patterns could be more efficiently represented. After prolonged drydown, when spatial structure is determined primarily by small-scale soil and vegetation variability rather than rainfall, the original high-dimensional problem can be effectively replaced by many independent low-dimensional problems that can be solved in parallel with relatively little effort. In reality, conditions are continually varying between these two extremes. This is confirmed by a singular value decomposition of the replicate matrix (covariance square root) produced in an ensemble forecasting simulatio...
Transition of outgrowing spores of Bacillus brevis into vegetative cells is not dependent on destruction of gramicidin S

Certain Bacillus brevis strains produce gramicidin S (GS) during sporulation, and germination of such spores is delayed at the stage of outgrowth by endogenous or exogenous GS. Claims have been made that the transition from germinating spores into vegetative cells is dependent on GS destruction. We observed no such destruction of either exogenous or endogenous GS. Thus, in our hands, the “recovery” of the inhibited germinating spores must be dependent on something other than GS elimination.
Reassessing Water Security in the Mekong: The Chinese Rapprochement with Southeast Asia

Abstract This paper focuses on China's incentive in basin-wide cooperation in the Mekong Basin and argues that understanding the role of three factors—the non-water resources, geography, and climate regimes—is critical to explaining China's cooperative attitude. More specifically, it addresses the overarching question: Under what conditions are the Mekong riparian states able to govern the shared water cooperatively to overcome collective action problems in situations, where the presence of the hegemonic upstream state like China precludes cooperation? The core of the paper offers an integrative approach that connects water resources, non-water resources, geography, and climate types for explaining international riparian politics.
High-pressure rotational deformation apparatus to 15 GPa

A new apparatus has been developed that allows large-strain plastic deformation experiments under high pressure with a controlled strain rate in simple shear deformation geometry. A modification is made to a Drickamer-type opposed anvil apparatus to allow torsion tests by attaching a rotation actuator composed of a dc servomotor and a gear box. A thin disk of a sample (less than ∼0.8 mm thick and to ∼4 mm diameter) can be sheared between two anvils under pressure by a rotation actuator. Specimens of Fe were sheared to strains exceeding γ∼6 at pressures up to ∼15 GPa. Nearly simple shear deformation was achieved when the initial sample thickness is less than ∼0.4 mm. This apparatus allows studies of plastic flow and deformation microstructures under high pressures.
Lattice chiral gauge theories: Results and problems

Abstract The status of two proposals for describing chiral gauge theories encompassing the electroweak standard model on the lattice is reviewed and some of the open questions are discussed.
Alterations in the offsprings' response to an oral glucose challenge associated with acute maternal malnutrition during late pregnancy

Abstract An acutely malnourished pregnant rat model was used to test the effect of intrauterine growth retardation on the subsequent response of the offspring to a loading dose of glucose. Timed-pregnant Harlan-Sprague Dawley rats were given access to only tap water from day 17 through day 19 of their pregnancies (72 hours total). Control mothers had access to lab chow and water throughout their pregnancies. The litters were randomly culled to 4 males and 4 females, whenever possible, and the offspring were given oral glucose tolerance tests at 60, 180 and 360 days of age. At 60 and 180 days of age, malnourished offspring were glucose intolerant (e.g., at 60 days, control males 60 minute serum [glucose] = 9.3±0.1 mM, [malnourished] = 10.1±0.2; [control females] = 9.6±0.2 versus [malnourished] = 10.5±0.3; (overall P
Implicit Apodization of Interferograms in Fourier Transform Spectroscopy

The removal of secondary and tertiary interferograms from the main interferogram in Fourier transform spectroscopy can lead to an implicit apodization of the specimen interferogram. This effect can result in the generation of unwanted artifacts in the specimen's transmittance or absorption spectrum. One approach for avoiding this problem is to use an apodization function on the background and reference interferograms which matches the function used on the specimen interferogram.
Scheduling Unit-Length Packets with Soft Deadlines

We study scheduling unit-length packets with soft deadlines. In our setting, packets arrive over time and a packet may have different values contributed to the objective when it is delivered at different time. In one time step, at most one packet is allowed to be sent. Our goal is to maximize the total value achieved by delivering packets. Based on various application requirements, we propose two models: a general model and a B-bounded model. In this paper, we design optimal offline algorithms and two simple online algorithms, MATCH and GREED, and give their competitive analysis.
Development of ferroelectric electron beam diodes

Summary form only given, as follows. We are currently investigating the use of ferroelectric ceramics for electron beam generation. These materials exhibit a spontaneous (saturation) polarization, P/sub s/, of up to 100 /spl mu/C/cm/sup 2/. Emission occurs when the polarization state of the ferroelectric is changed rapidly by an applied electric field, and a fraction of the surface screening charge is released at a gridded electrode. Using a lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramic as the electron source in a planar 14 kV diode geometry we have measured diode current densities of up to 40 A/cm/sup 2/ with a 5n gap. The normalized rms emittance of this beam has been measured to be 12/spl pi/ mm-mrad at 8 A. Recent results from experiments to extend operation of this diode up to 70 kV, 300 ns pulses will be reported. We are also designing a 20-30 kV, 1 /spl mu/s system that will be operated in a repetition rate mode. We are planning to use such a system as part of our program to develop compact X-band sources with average power levels in the hundreds of watts range. Using simulation codes, such as EGUN, together with results from analytical work TWT structures are being designed for use with these sources. The advantages of using PPM focusing in both cylindrical or sheer beam configurations are also under investigation.
Bioorganotin chemistry: biological oxidation of tributyltin derivatives

Abstract The biological oxidation of several tributyltin derivatives by a rat liver microsomal mixed function oxygenase produces carbon hydroxylated compounds identified as α-, β-, γ- and σ-hydroxylbutyldibutyltin derivatives. The mechanistic implications and the possible role of the tin atom in these oxidations are discussed.
RESONANCE PARAMETER DISTRIBUTIONS FOR INTERFERING RESONANCES.

Abstract The distributions of Kapur-Peierls or Humblet-Rosenfeld resonance parameters and spacings for a variety of interference conditions have been obtained by Monte Carlo calculations in the two-resonance approximation using the distribution of R -matrix resonance parameters and spacings and the mathematical connection between the R -matrix and Kapur-Peierls cross-section formulations. The R -matrix distributions are assumed the same under all conditions of interference.
Long-Term Functional and Quality of Life Outcomes After Coloanal Anastomosis for Distal Rectal Cancer

This study was designed to evaluate the long-term functional and quality-of-life outcomes of patients after coloanal anastomosis for distal rectal cancer. A total of 192 patients underwent coloanal anastomosis between 1982 and 2001 at two tertiary referral institutions. Standardized and validated questionnaires to assess functional and quality-of-life outcomes were mailed to 151 patients, of which 121 patients responded (median follow-up, 65 months). Patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy had more bowel function problems than patients who did not receive pelvic radiotherapy. No significant differences in relevant functional and quality-of-life outcomes were seen among patients who received preoperative or postoperative pelvic radiotherapy. Patients requiring permanent diversion as a result of complications of the surgery had decreased quality of life. Coloanal anastomosis for distal rectal cancer has favorable long-term outcomes. Pelvic radiotherapy has an adverse effect on subsequent bowel function (whether given preoperatively or postoperatively) in patients who maintain intestinal continuity. Loss of intestinal continuity after a coloanal anastomosis is associated with diminished quality of life.
Core Competencies in Hospital Pharmacy Practice: Department Financial Management:

This series of articles in the Director's Forum continue to review key core competencies necessary for a pharmacy department to define their value in patient care. Competencies of medication order ...
Evolutionary design on a budget: robustness and optimality of bacteriophage T7

Exploring how biological systems have been 'designed' by evolution to achieve robust behaviours is now a subject of increasing research effort. Yet, it still remains unclear how environmental factors may contribute to this process. This issue is addressed by employing a detailed computer model for the intracellular growth of phage T7. More than 150 000 in silico T7 mutants were generated and the rates and efficiencies of their growth in two host environments, namely, a realistic environment that offered finite host resources for the synthesis of phage functions and a hypothetical environment where the phage was supplied infinite host resources, were evaluated. Results revealed two key properties of phage T7. First, T7 growth was overall robust with respect to perturbations in its parameters, but fragile with respect to changes in the ordering of its genetic elements. Secondly, the wild-type T7 had close to optimal fitness in the finite environment. Furthermore, a strong correlation was found between fitness and growth efficiency in the finite environment. The results underscore the potential importance of the environment in shaping robust design of a biological system. In particular, the strong correlation between fitness and growth efficiency suggests that T7 may have evolved to maximise its growth rate by minimising waste of finite resources.
Durability, Reliability, Viability: 48 Year-survival of a Starr-Edwards Mitral Valve

We report a case of 67 year-old female with a 48-year survival of a Starr–Edwards valve at mitral position. The patient underwent Starr–Edwards mitral valve replacement at age of 19 years for mitral stenosis secondary to severe rheumatic valve disease. The patient had experienced a progressive decline in her functional status with increasing dyspnoea on exertion over a two-week period to eventual development of severe shortness of breath at rest prior to hospitalisation. Transoesophageal echocardiogram revealed severe para-prosthetic and intravalvular mitral valve regurgitation. The patient underwent explantation of Starr–Edwards valve and replacement with a mechanical prosthesis. Our case details the longest reported survival of a Starr–Edwards prosthetic valve at mitral area.
Presence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor mRNA in rat myenteric plexus cells

Idiopathic neuromuscular disease of the gastrointestinal tract (functional bowel disease) is thought to result from the malfunction of neurons within the enteric nervous system. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs have recently been shown to organize the disordered motility patterns typical in these patients and to produce significant, long-term symptomatic improvement. To determine whether GnRH analogs might bind to an endogenous enteric nervous system GnRH receptor, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using cultured neonatal rat enteric neuron RNA and rat GnRH receptor primers. A PCR product of the predicted size was cloned and nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that the myenteric plexus PCR product encoded a portion of the GnRH receptor sequence previously identified in rat pituitary. These results suggest that cells in the myenteric plexus express GnRH receptors that may bind exogenously administered GnRH analogs. The expression of GnRH receptors in enteric neurons would provide an explanation for the effectiveness of GnRH analogs in treatment of idiopathic neuromuscular disease of the gastrointestinal tract.
The effects of varying the number of conditioned leaders on group problem solving

One hundred and twenty student Ss were divided into 30 four-man groups. The independent variable was the number of persons reinforced for verbal output in a group problem-solving situation. In 10 groups, only one person was reinforced; in 10 others two persons were reinforced; and in another 10 groups, all four persons were rewarded for their verbal participation. The dependent variables investigated were the amount of time necessary for solution of the problems and the total number of conflict remarks generated during those sessions. The results indicate that the 2TP groups took significantly longer to come to solution of the problem than either of the other two conditions. The number of conflict remarks, however, did not discriminate among treatments. The evidence suggests that the probable cause of the 2TP groups’ poor performance is due to the significantly greater number of conflict statements generated by the initial high talker than were in the other two treatments.
A practical automatic polyhedral parallelizer and locality optimizer

We present the design and implementation of an automatic polyhedral source-to-source transformation framework that can optimize regular programs (sequences of possibly imperfectly nested loops) for parallelism and locality simultaneously. Through this work, we show the practicality of analytical model-driven automatic transformation in the polyhedral model -- far beyond what is possible by current production compilers. Unlike previous works, our approach is an end-to-end fully automatic one driven by an integer linear optimization framework that takes an explicit view of finding good ways of tiling for parallelism and locality using affine transformations. The framework has been implemented into a tool to automatically generate OpenMP parallel code from C program sections. Experimental results from the tool show very high speedups for local and parallel execution on multi-cores over state-of-the-art compiler frameworks from the research community as well as the best native production compilers. The system also enables the easy use of powerful empirical/iterative optimization for general arbitrarily nested loop sequences.
The effect of α-hexachlorocyclohexane on liver growth in intact and adrenalectomized rats

Abstract α-Hexachlorocyclohexane was administered as a single oral dose (100 mg/kg body wt) to both intact and adrenalectomized male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the intact rats there was a peak in [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA at 30 hr and an increase in relative liver weight (liver weight/body wt × 100) which peaked at 60 hr post α-HCH dose. However, in α-HCH-dosed adrenalectomized rats [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA remained elevated throughout the study period and relative liver weight was not significantly increased. In corticosterone-supplemented α-HCH-dosed Adx rats, [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA was significantly reduced and RLW was increased comparable to that seen in intact animals. These results suggest that α-HCH-induced liver growth is mediated by corticosterone.
Teacher Perspectives on Web Design Instruction

Web development is an inherently interdisciplinary field that offers a unique introductory path to computing prior to more traditional programming courses. While significant earlier work has investigated the challenges that novice web developers encounter, little research is available about teaching while coping with the field's considerable breadth. This paper reports findings from interviews with practicing web design instructors in secondary and post-secondary teaching environments. We present emergent themes related to recruitment strategies, student expectations, teaching techniques, and common challenges. We find significant effort is needed to cope with mismatches between students' expectations of what web design is and the HTML/CSS syntax-oriented view of the discipline often emphasized by teachers. We conclude with implications for new teaching tools that would help better sustain student motivation while equipping them with fundamental skills in web development.
Hard X-ray beam damage study of monolayer Ni islands using SX-STM

X-ray beam-induced damage in nanoscale metal islands was investigated. Monolayer-high Ni islands were prepared on a Cu(111) substrate. High brilliance X-rays with photon energies between 8.45 and 8.85 keV illuminated the sample for about 11 hours. In order to track changes in the morphology of the islands, the synchrotron X-ray scanning tunneling microscopy (SX-STM) technique was utilized. The result shows that X-ray illumination onto Ni islands does not induce noticeable damage. The study demonstrates that local beam-induced changes can be studied using SX-STM.
The presence of the milk protein, α-lactalbumin and its mRNA in the rat epididymis

Abstract α-Lactalbumin, a modifier protein that changes the substrate specificity of galactosyltransferase, to promote the synthesis of lactose, is found in the mammary glands of lactating mammals and in milk. Molecules similar to mammary gland α-lactalbumin but distinct in their modifier activity have been found in rat epididymal fluid. We report here, using a rat mammary gland α-lactalbumin cDNA clone as a hybridization probe, RNA sequences homologous to α-lactalbumin mRNA were detected in total RNA from the rat epididymis. This finding suggests that α-lactalbumin or similar molecules, in adddition to regulating lactose synthesis in the mammary gland, may have other important functions in mammalian reproduction.
Numerical Simulation of Thermal Damage to Living Biological Tissues Induced by Laser Irradiation Based on a Generalized Dual Phase Lag Model

A generalized dual phase lag (DPL) bioheat model based on the nonequilibrium heat transfer in living biological tissues is applied to investigate thermal damage induced by laser irradiation. Comparisons of the temperature responses and thermal damages between the generalized and classical DPL bioheat model, derived from the constitutive DPL model and Pennes bioheat equation, are carried out in this study. It is shown that the generalized DPL model could predict significantly different temperature and thermal damage from the classical DPL model and Pennes bioheat conduction model. The generalized DPL equation can reduce to the classical Pennes heat conduction equation only when the phase lag times of temperature gradient (τ T ) and heat flux vector (τ q ) are both zero. The effects of laser parameters such as laser exposure time, laser irradiance, and coupling factor on the thermal damage are also studied.
Bayesian Statistic Based Multivariate Gaussian Process Approach for Offline/Online Fatigue Crack Growth Prediction

Offline and online fatigue crack growth prediction of Aluminum 2024 compact-tension (CT) specimens under variable loading has been modeled, using multivariate Gaussian Process (GP) technique. The GP model is a Bayesian statistic stochastic model that projects the input space to an output space by probabilistically inferring the underlying nonlinear function. For the offline prediction, the input space of the model is trained with parameters that affect fatigue crack growth, such as the number of fatigue cycles, minimum load, maximum load, and load ratio. For the online prediction, the model input space is trained using piezoelectric sensor signal features rather than training the input space with loading parameters, which are difficult to measure in a real time scenario. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to extract the principal features from sensor signals. In both the offline and online case, the output space is trained with known associated crack lengths or crack growth rates. Once the GP model is trained, a new output space for which the corresponding crack length or crack growth rate is not known, is predicted using the trained GP model. The models are validated through several numerical examples.
Making Corrector Plates by Schmidt’s Vacuum Method

The theory and procedure are given for figuring corrector plates for Schmidt cameras and related systems following Bernhard Schmidt’s classic method. The figure is achieved while the plate is deformed with a partial vacuum on one side. The method easily yields zone-free plates. A modification is described here wherein the correct profile is obtained without precise knowledge of the Young’s modulus or Poisson ratio of the particular glass disk in hand. The method is recommended for systems of f/2.5 or slower as there is danger of the plate breaking for faster systems.
Acute care nurse practitioners in transplantation: adding value to your program.

Nurse practitioners are nurses who are prepared at the graduate level. They exercise autonomy in clinical decision making, perform physical examinations and obtain health histories, diagnose and treat a variety of illnesses, provide education and counseling to patients, perform procedures, and ultimately provide cost-effective care. The role of the nurse practitioner evolved in the 1960s, when nurse practitioners filled a void in response to the nationwide shortage of physicians. Today, nurse practitioners specialize both by degree and by certification examination. There are several types of nurse practitioners, including acute care, adult, family practice, and pediatric. The incorporation of acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) in transplant programs is an emerging field and varies across the country from center to center. The goals of this article are to (1) identify implications for ACNPs in transplant, (2) discuss the value of using ACNPs in practice, and (3) explore billing and regulatory aspects o...
Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma: MR findings.

Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangiomas are uncommon tumors of the abdomen; CT and ultrasound have been used in the past to identify and characterize them. To the best of our knowledge the MR findings of retroperitoneal cystic lymphangiomas have not been reported
Hybrid fluorometric flow analyzer for ammonia.

We describe a robust, highly sensitive instrument for the determination of ambient ammonia. The instrument uses two syringe pumps to handle three liquids. The flow configuration is a hybrid between traditional flow injection (FI) and sequential injection (SI) schemes. This hybrid flow analyzer spends ∼87% of its time in the continuous flow FI mode, providing the traditional FI advantages of high baseline stability and sensitivity. The SI fluid handling operation in the remaining time makes for flexibility and robustness. Atmospheric ammonia is collected in deionized water by a porous membrane diffusion scrubber at 0.2 L/min with quantitative collection efficiency, derivatized on-line to 1-sulfonatoisoindole, and measured by fluorometry. In the typical range for ambient ammonia (0−20 ppbv), response is linear (r2 = 0.9990) with a S/N = 3 limit of detection of 135 pptv (15 nM for 500 μL of injected NH4+(aq)) with an inexpensive light emitting diode photodiode-based detector. Automated operation in continuou...
Use of Dietary Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nitrogen by Lake Trout

In a 12 week experiment, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were fed diets in which 50% of the nitrogen was provided by one of six preparations of Saccharomyces yeast. Fish fed baker's yeast with disrupted cell walls grew at a rate equal to that of fish fed the control diet and faster than fish fed intact yeast cells. Fish fed a diet containing disrupted yeast cells previously washed in a saline solution did not perform as well. The results of this study indicated that it may be possible to use more than 50% yeast in the diets of salmonid fishes.