cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy in Humans

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is a common epilepsy, most often seen in the adolescent population. There are two distinct forms of adolescent myoclonic epilepsy: juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and a more severe type called progressive myoclonic epilepsy. Both these forms will be considered in this chapter.
Expectation, Variance, and Moments

Just as probabilities are idealized relative frequencies, so are expected values analogous idealizations of averages of random variables. Before presenting the formal definition, let us consider an example.
The Psychology of Good and Evil: Mass Murder: U.S. Involvement as Perpetrator, Passive Bystander, Helper

This chapter examines the involvement of the United States in mass murder: as perpetrator, as indirect actor involved in creating conditions contributing to mass murder, as well as a bystander that supported perpetrators, remained passive, or actively attempted to halt mass murder. the united states as perpetrator: mass killing of native americans Native Americans, profoundly different in appearance and ways of life from the whites arriving from Europe, were seen as primitive, uncivilized, with no culture. Over time, they came to be also seen as violent and dangerous. Devaluation, fear and self-interest, wanting the land on which Native Americans lived, all affected policies toward them. There was an evolution of increasing harm-doing that led to mass murder. At first, Native Americans were to be civilized, presumably to lessen their difference from other Americans and to enable them to function in America. Trade, religious missions and conversion, white schooling for the children were all to serve these purposes (Sheehan, 1973). These “civilizing” acts were seen as altruistic. Native Americans were changing in response, but not to a sufficient degree. They continued to live tribal lives and occupy huge areas of land. The policy was changed to relocate Native Americans to the West. This would both remove them from the vicinity of other Americans and provide land. Many tribes resisted relocation, which was to be enforced by the U.S. Army. There were many battles, especially after 1829, when Andrew Jackson became president. Some tribes fought until few remained alive.
Conference Plenary: When Liberation Movements Become One-Dimensional: On Critical Theory and Intersectionality

One of the great obstacles to liberation and social change is the one-dimensional focus of many liberation movements. By “one-dimensional,” we mean the narrow reductionist approach to social change...
Awareness of Listeria and high-risk food consumption behavior among pregnant women in Louisiana

Abstract Listeria monocytogenes is transmitted predominantly through contaminated food. About one in seven (14%) cases of Listeria infection occurs during pregnancy. In this study, we assessed the awareness of foodborne pathogens including Listeria and high-risk food consumption, among 218 pregnant women in southeastern Louisiana parishes in and around an urbanized area. The results showed the relationship between awareness of Listeria and selected demographic variables, such as age, race, and education level. The majority (71.1%) of pregnant women reported the consumption of high-risk foods during pregnancy. One person reportedly consumed six of the seven high-risk foods. Gaps existed between awareness of Listeria and high-risk food consumption behaviors, although as pregnant women’s awareness of Listeria increased, their high-risk food consumption behaviors decreased. Targeted continuing education for pregnant women in Louisiana should address the gaps identified in this study.
Effects of Cord Blood Cell Subset Populations in the Development of the Dominant Cord Blood Unit in Non-Myeloablative Sequential Double Cord Blood Transplantation (DCBT).

Umbilical cord blood has become an established alternative hematopoietic stem cell source for patients without suitable donors. However, single cord blood transplantation in adults has been associated with high mortality rates due to graft failure, delayed engraftment, and poor immune reconstitution. In order to improve engraftment, sequential cord blood transplantation has been employed. One consistent observation with this strategy has been the eventual dominance of one cord graft over the other. However, the factors that determine the fate of one cord over the other have not been well elucidated. Our previous work demonstrated that the dominant cord tends to have an initial higher CD34+ cell dose. This study attempted to identify other cell populations in the cord units that may determine which unit becomes the ultimate source of hematopoiesis. Forty patients with hematologic malignancies underwent non-myeloablative conditioning with fludarabine, melphalan, and ATG followed by two sequential cord blood infusions. All cord units were at least a 4/6 HLA match with the recipient and each other. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine & mycophenolate mofetil or FK-506 & rapamycin. Chimerism analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes was performed by PCR of short tandem repeat loci. Flow cytometry for T-cells (CD4 and CD8), B-cells (CD19), and NK cells (CD3−CD56+CD16− & CD3−CD56+CD16+) were done using standard immunofluorescence methods. A total of 10 patients were available for this analysis. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate the significance of the difference in cell populations between the transplanted cords on graft outcome. This analysis demonstrated that 80% (8 of 10) of the dominant cords had higher NK cells when compared to the rejected unit with average total NK cells of 4.15 x 106 vs 2.30 x 106 per kg of recipient, respectively. Total NK cells included both CD16− and CD16+ cells, but the difference was much higher for CD16+ NK cells, which represent a more mature NK phenotype. B-cells, CD4+ T-cells, and CD8+ T-cells were similar between the two cords. The mean total cell/kg of recipient for each subpopulation between cord units are summarized in Table 1. A trend towards a difference in NK cells (p=0.1) was observed; the small number of samples, however, limited the interpretation of the analysis. Future studies involving additional DCBT recipients are ongoing to better define the influence of NK cells as well as other cell populations including mesenchymal stem cells and T-reg cells on cord graft outcome.
Does Mindfulness Correlate With Physical Function and Pain Intensity in Patients With Upper Extremity Illness

Background Mindfulness skills training interventions seem efficacious in increasing physical function and decreasing pain intensity in patients with chronic pain. The relationship of mindfulness and upper extremity complaints in patients presenting to orthopedic surgical practices is not known. The aim of this study was to assess if mindfulness has a relationship to physical function and pain intensity in patients with upper extremity illness. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 126 patients with a nontraumatic upper extremity condition were asked to fill out questionnaires assessing the 5 facets of mindfulness, pain intensity, and upper extremity physical function, along with clinical and demographic variables prior to their visit with the surgeon. Results Nonreactivity to inner experiences was the only facet of mindfulness that was correlated with upper extremity physical function and pain intensity. The overall mindfulness score was correlated with pain intensity only. In multivariable analyses, mindfulness was not associated with either physical function or with pain intensity. Pain interference was the most important predictor of both pain intensity and physical function. Conclusions Greater overall mindfulness was associated with lower pain intensity, and greater ability to be nonreactive to inner experiences was associated with both pain intensity and upper extremity physical function in bivariate but not multivariable analyses. Pain interference was the most important predictor of both pain intensity and upper extremity physical function. Psychosocial interventions focused on improving physical function and decreasing pain intensity in this population should focus primarily on reducing pain interference, and secondarily on teaching patients mindfulness skills.
Saving energy with an optimized two-stage reverse osmosis system

In a two-stage reverse osmosis (RO) system of finite size, there are two degrees of freedom not present in a single-stage RO system: distribution of RO elements between the two stages (system design), and feed pressures (system operation). In this study, we investigate the optimal system design and operation of a two-stage RO system with a mass-balance model and establish a lower bound for the energy savings achieved by the optimized two-stage system compared to a single-stage system. A two-stage RO system may consume more or less energy than a single-stage RO system of the same size and freshwater productivity, depending on the first-stage feed pressure and second-stage feed pressure. To minimize energy consumption, feed pressures should be chosen to minimize spatial variance in flux. The optimal element configuration places at least half the elements in the first stage; the exact configuration depends on feed salinity, recovery ratio, and membrane permeability. The greatest energy savings are achieved with a two-stage RO system that has both optimal element configuration and feed pressures. More energy can be saved by adding a stage when the thermodynamic least work of separation is larger. For a given feed salinity, energy savings from adding a second stage grow as recovery ratio increases. Brackish water feeds must be taken to high recovery ratios to achieve substantial energy savings; comparable savings can be achieved at lower recovery ratios for higher salinity feeds. We find that significant energy can be saved with the simplest two-stage RO design, at a system flux similar to today's RO plants and accounting for the effects of concentration polarization.
Scaling of Shear Band Fracture Processes

Recently a shear band model has been constructed describing the micro processes of damage (Ref 1). The model considers arrays of shear bands in several size groups and orientations. Under large plastic strains the bands are nucleated, grow, and coalesce to form fragments. With this model we can now estimate the importance of scaling and rate effects. The two effects are intimately related because rate effects are a common source for deviations from replica scaling. Here the model is outlined briefly, with emphasis on the nucleation process which is the main contributor to rate effects. Then a series of calculations are described in which a range of strain rates was applied. The number and size of bands and the strain to failure are examined as a function of strain rate.
Reported gum disease as a cardiovascular risk factor in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Background Several risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been identified among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Periodontitis has been reported to increase the risk of developing a CVD in the general population. Given that individuals with ID have been reported to have a higher prevalence of poor oral health than the general population, the purpose of this study was to determine whether adults with ID with informant reported gum disease present greater reported CVD than those who do not have reported gum disease and whether gum disease can be considered a risk factor for CVD. Methods Using baseline data from the Longitudinal Health and Intellectual Disability Study from which informant survey data were collected, 128 participants with reported gum disease and 1252 subjects without reported gum disease were identified. A series of univariate logistic regressions was conducted to identify potential confounding factors for a multiple logistic regression. Results The series of univariate logistic regressions identified age, Down syndrome, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, reported gum disease, daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and the addition of table salt as significant risk factors for reported CVD. When the significant factors from the univariate logistic regression were included in the multiple logistic analysis, reported gum disease remained as an independent risk factor for reported CVD after adjusting for the remaining risk factors. Compared with the adults with ID without reported gum disease, adults in the gum disease group demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of reported CVD (19.5% vs. 9.7%; P = .001). Conclusion After controlling for other risk factors, reported gum disease among adults with ID may be associated with a higher risk of CVD. However, further research that also includes clinical indices of periodontal disease and CVD for this population is needed to determine if there is a causal relationship between gum disease and CVD.
Selected Letters of Vernon Lee, 1856–1935, Volume I, 1865–1884

The first thing to be noted about this comprehensive edition of Vernon Lee's—Violet Paget's—letters from 1865 to 1884 is its length. At 658 pages it is the longest single book dedicated to this uni...
Resolution of Atropisomeric Cyclic Catechol Monoether O ‑Sulfate Esters by a Molluscan Sulfatase

Atropisomeric cyclic catechol ethers are notoriously difficult to resolve by classical chiral phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Here, we show the first application of sulfatase enzymes for the kinetic resolution of O-sulfato-catechol ethers with enantioselectivities ranging from 30 to 65% ee, as determined by preparation of their Marfey's ether derivatives. Substrate-structure dependence was briefly explored.
Policing the park: understanding soft enforcement.

Evidence indicates that the long standing “low key” enforcement approach to park crime is being replaced with a hard enforcement strategy. This shift is occurring with little understanding of soft ...
The Epidemiology and Etiology of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in the United States. Until recently most attempts by epidemiologists to identify risk factors and understand the etiology of prostate cancer were unfocused, searching for clues which could lead to more definitive and detailed evaluations. In the past few years epidemiologic studies have increasingly centered around three main themes — family history, diet, and hormones — although a few additional risk factors seem to be reproducible across studies and among different target populations, so that these also have received substantial recent attention.
Impact of cross-section uncertainties on the nuclear design of hybrid reactors

Cross-section uncertainty covariance matrices are generated and used with sensitivity coefficients to obtain estimates for the uncertainties in design parameters of a particular class of fission-fusion hybrid reactors, the SOLASE-H design. The analysis shows that the uncertainty in the /sup 233/U production ratio is about 4% and is due mostly to errors associated with the lead cross sections. Reducing the uncertainty in the Pb(n,2n'), Pb(n,3n'), and the Pb(n,nonelastic) cross sections, particularly in the energy range of 9 to 20 MeV, will significantly reduce this uncertainty. Improving the Th(n,..gamma..) cross section in the energy range of 0.35 to 3.35 keV can lead to a 40% reduction in the uncertainty in the /sup 233/U-breeding ratio. It is found that more accurate evaluation of the Pb(n,nonelastic) cross section in the energy range of 0.73 to 14 MeV can reduce the uncertainty in tritium breeding from /sup 6/Li by about 25%. The uncertainty of only 1% found in the tritium-breeding ratio from /sup 7/Li indicates that present nuclear data uncertainties are adequately small. Uncertainty in displacements per atom in Zircaloy-2 cladding due to uncertainties in the Pb(n,inelastic) cross section is small. The analysis reveals the importance of reducing uncertainties in the Th(n,fission) cross sectionsmore » to minimize the uncertainty in the heating rate from nuclear reactions. It is found that uncertainties in the /sup 6/Li(n,..cap alpha..) cross section are acceptable in calculating the various nuclear parameters of the SOLASE-H design.« less
Predicting effect of filler metals on solidification cracking susceptibility of 2024 Al and 6061 Al

The susceptibility to solidification cracking was predicted for aluminium welds of 2024 Al made with filler metals 2319, 4043 and 4145 Al and of 6061 Al made with filler metals 4043 (traditional) a...
Synchrotron X-ray characterization of materials synthesized under microwave irradiation

The application of microwave radiation (MWR) during materials synthesis can generate a wide range of interesting phenomena, such as rapid, low-temperature phase transitions and the formation of nonequilibrium phases. However, the underlying mechanisms by which MWR can influence processes like nucleation, crystallization, sintering, and grain growth remain unknown. A critical need for studying these mechanisms is the ability to quantitatively characterize the effects of MWR exposure on atomic structure. In this regard, synchrotron X-ray sources provide an opportunity to shed new light on electromagnetic (EM) field–assisted synthesis due to the availability of high-energy X-rays that enable a wide range of experimental characterization techniques. Here, we review the use of synchrotron X-ray sources for both ex situ and in situ studies of MWR-assisted synthesis. While many synchrotron-based tools are available to characterize the structural effects of MWR from the micron down to the atomic scale, work in this field is ongoing, and no clear consensus exists regarding the underlying mechanisms of EM field–mediated phase transitions. We discuss the instrumentation available to study field–matter interaction mechanisms and identify future needs in synchrotron characterization to better understand how EM fields can engineer advanced materials.
Feasibility of locating infarct core with 2D angiographic parametric imaging (API) using computed tomography perfusion data

Four-dimensional computed tomography perfusion (CTP) provides the capability to validate angiographic parametric imaging (API) when locating infarct core. Similar results between these two methods could indicate API can be used to determine whether infarct core has changed following reperfusion procedures. CTP data from 20 patients treated for ischemic strokes was retrospectively collected and loaded into a Vitrea software to locate cerebral infarct tissue. The CTP data was then used to simulate anteroposterior (AP), lateral, and planar digital subtraction angiograms (DSA) for each time period through the perfusion scan. These simulated DSA sequences were used to generate API maps related to mean transit time (MTT), bolus arrival time (BAT), time to peak (TTP), area under the curve (AUC), and peak height (PH) parameters throughout the brain. Contralateral hemisphere comparisons of these values were conducted to determine infarct regions. The infarct regions from the Vitrea and API software were compared using a region of interest overlay method. For all patients, contralateral hemisphere percent differences of 40% for MTT, 20% for BAT, 35% for TTP, 55% for AUC, and 50% for PH are consistent with infarct regions. Using these percentages, the accuracy of API in labeling infarct tissue for the AP, lateral, and planar views is 84%, 70%, and 78% respectively. API conducted on CTP data from stroke patients successfully identified infarct tissue using AP and planar DSA’s. Lateral DSA studies indicate future work is necessary for improved results. This validates API is a feasible method for locating infarct core after reperfusion procedures.
On the Effect of NBTI Induced Aging of Power Stage on the Transient Performance of On-Chip Voltage Regulators

This paper analyzes degradation of transient performance of on-chip voltage regulators, namely, a digital low dropout regulator (DLDO) and an integrated inductive voltage regulator (IVR), due to negative-bias-temperature-instability (NBTI) induced aging of power stages. The measurement results from 130nm CMOS test-chips demonstrate that an IVR exhibits a higher tolerance to power stage aging compared to DLDO.
The Limiting Distribution of a Non‐Stationary Integer Valued GARCH(1,1) Process

We consider the integer valued GARCH(1,1) process defined by the two equation system and λ = ω + αY + βλ. When α + β < 1 this process has a stationary solution and properties are well understood. In this note we find the limiting distribution of λ and Y for the case of α + β = 1.
Evaluation of the LACE+ Index for Short-term Cardiac Surgery Outcomes: A Coarsened Exact Match Study.

Background The potential of length of stay, acuity of admission, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, and emergency department visits in the past 6 months (LACE+) scores in patients undergoing cardiac surgery to predict short-term undesirable outcomes was examined. Methods Coarsened exact matching was used to assess the predictive capacity of the LACE+ index among all cardiac surgery cases over a 2-year period (2016-2018) at 1 health system (n = 4001). Study subjects were matched according to characteristics not assessed by LACE+, including duration of surgery, wound class, body mass index, insurance type, median household income, and race. For a comparison of outcomes, LACE score was divided into quartiles and otherwise matched populations were compared in reference to LACE quartile (Q): Q4 versus Q1, Q4 versus Q2, and Q4 versus Q3. Results Escalating LACE+ score significantly predicted increased readmission (6.99% versus 25.92% for Q1 versus Q4, 12.79% versus 26.74% for Q2 versus Q4, and 20.52% versus 27.66% for Q3 versus Q4, respectively; P Conclusions The LACE+ index may be suitable as a prediction model for important patient outcomes in a cardiac surgery population.
Understanding the influenza vaccine as a consumer health technology: a structural equation model of motivation, behavioral expectation, and vaccine adoption

Background: While the flu vaccine is a consumer health technology, little is known about whether vaccine adoption can be explained through the lens of technology acceptance frameworks such as the u...
The management of sepsis: science & fiction

This special edition of the Journal of Thoracic Disease ( JTD ) explores emerging concepts in the management of patients with sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis has been a leading cause of death in humans since the dawn of mankind.
RepEL: A Utility-Preserving Privacy System for IoT-Based Energy Meters

Modern Internet of Things (IoT) applications transmit sensor data to the cloud where it is subjected to analytics to provide useful services to users. Unfortunately, IoT sensor data often embeds sensitive private information that is vulnerable to leakage when sent to the cloud. Prior work on preserving IoT data privacy, particularly in the energy domain, focuses on obfuscating data to prevent extraction of private information. However, unless done carefully, data obfuscation significantly reduces the ability to extract useful but non-private information from the data. As a result, these existing techniques also reduce much of the utility derived from deploying IoT devices. In this paper, we address this problem by designing RepEL, a new utility-preserving privacy technique, which intelligently obfuscates smart energy meter data to prevent leaking a home's private occupancy information, while retaining the ability to perform useful energy disaggregation analytics. To preserve energy data's utility, our approach creates a randomized permutation of actual device usage via load replay while suppressing private user behavior information (such as occupancy) in the original data. We implement our algorithm on an embedded gateway node to demonstrate its feasibility and empirically evaluate our approach using real energy traces from homes. Our results show that the privacy leak rate for nearly two-thirds of the homes is below 10%, with four homes having no privacy leak. At the same time, the change in device usage for these homes is less than 3%. Further, we also demonstrate that RepEL has the flexibility to randomly replay loads, which can prevent adversaries from inferring behavioral patterns from device usage or use the information to determine occupancy.
1214-P: Urocortin3 Is Overexpressed in GLP-1 Positive Enteroendocrine Cells in Human Obesity

UCN3 acts via CRHR2, increases pAKT, pCREB and promotes somatostatin (SST) secretion from D cells. It is unknown whether UCN3 is expressed in gastrointestinal mucosa and its role in obesity. We studied 34 participants, 17 normal weight (age 38±13, 59% female), and 17 with obesity (age 39±9, 65% female). Colonic biopsies were obtained. Single Cell-transcriptomics were completed using the Chromium 10X Genomics platform and Illumina HiSeq4000. Blood was collected at fasting and postprandial at 15, 45, and 90 minutes. RTqPCR and Immunofluorescence (IF) were used to detect UCN3. Blood GLP1 levels were determined by ELISA. HT29 cells were incubated with Sauvagine (2µM), a CRHR2 agonist, for 0, 10, 30, and 60 mins. Cells and supernatant were harvested to perform RTqPCR for SST and CRHR2, western blot for pAKT and pCREB, and ELISA for SST. scRNA-Seq library revealed expression of UCN3 in GLP1 positive cells, confirmed by IF. Ileum and colonic UCN3 mRNA expression was significantly higher in obesity vs. lean (p Therefore, UCN3 is overexpressed in GLP1 positive cells in human obesity. UCN3 increases the secretion of SST, which may explain the association with lower postprandial GLP1. Disclosure M. Ricardo silgado: None. A. Acosta: n/a. C. Yun: None. A. Mcrae: None. G. Calderon: None. G. Daniel: None. C. Alejandro: None. L. Cifuentes: None. A. Hashem: None. M. D. Hurtado: n/a.
Multiparametric mapping in the brain from conventional contrast-weighted images using deep learning.

Purpose To develop a deep-learning-based method to quantify multiple parameters in the brain from conventional contrast-weighted images. Methods Eighteen subjects were imaged using an MR Multitasking sequence to generate reference T1 and T2 maps in the brain. Conventional contrast-weighted images consisting of T1 MPRAGE, T1 GRE, and T2 FLAIR were acquired as input images. A U-Net-based neural network was trained to estimate T1 and T2 maps simultaneously from the contrast-weighted images. Six-fold cross-validation was performed to compare the network outputs with the MR Multitasking references. Results The deep-learning T1 /T2 maps were comparable with the references, and brain tissue structures and image contrasts were well preserved. A peak signal-to-noise ratio >32 dB and a structural similarity index >0.97 were achieved for both parameter maps. Calculated on brain parenchyma (excluding CSF), the mean absolute errors (and mean percentage errors) for T1 and T2 maps were 52.7 ms (5.1%) and 5.4 ms (7.1%), respectively. ROI measurements on four tissue compartments (cortical gray matter, white matter, putamen, and thalamus) showed that T1 and T2 values provided by the network outputs were in agreement with the MR Multitasking reference maps. The mean differences were smaller than ± 1%, and limits of agreement were within ± 5% for T1 and within ± 10% for T2 after taking the mean differences into account. Conclusion A deep-learning-based technique was developed to estimate T1 and T2 maps from conventional contrast-weighted images in the brain, enabling simultaneous qualitative and quantitative MRI without modifying clinical protocols.
Biotic and Abiotic Controls on the Phanerozoic History of Marine Animal Biodiversity

During the past 541 million years, marine animals underwent three intervals of diversification (early Cambrian, Ordovician, Cretaceous–Cenozoic) separated by nondirectional fluctuation, suggesting ...
Disaggregated General Chemistry Grades Reveal Differential Success among BIPOC Students in Partial Flipped Team Learning Classrooms

US colleges and universities have known for decades that higher percentages of racial and ethnic subgroups leave STEM majors, contributing to racial inequality in STEM professions. Many interventio...
Economic Planning under Uncertainty

Models of economic planning in less developed countries (LDC) have increasingly used mathematical programming techniques to analyze optimal pattern of investment allocation between sectors. Usually, some version of the open static or open-dynamic Leontief input-output model is used in such formulations along with an econometric framework for estimating final demand and production coefficients for final inputs like labor and capital. Since this formulation can be viewed as a large-scale linear programming (LP) or nonlinear programming model, it is interesting to note that any uncertainty in estimates of the parameters affect the optimal decisions calculated from such models. From a practical standpoint an analysis of such uncertainty is most important for several reasons. First, the planner’s objective function must retain some flexibility in the plan in the sense of appropriate responses for likely shortages or oversupply of goods in some sectors. Second, the behaviorial response of private producers in a sector under conditions of uncertainty may be far from perfectly competitive in nature, in which case the cost of uncertainty, reflected in market prices and resource allocation processes would lead to inoptimal production and distribution relations. The model must recognze it. Third, for specific sectors like agriculture with a major export crop, fluctuations in agricultural income may build up political pressures for stabilization policies. The latter may not always be stabilizing in a world of uncertainty, unless polcies are designed, monitored and implemented properly, since in an imperfectly competitive world, information lags and risk aversion may be very unequally spread between large and small producers.
Who’s been workin’ on the railroad?: An examination of the construction, distribution, and ethnic origins of domed rock ovens on railroad-related sites

In recent years small domed rock structures have been recorded throughout western North America; others are located in Australia. Those that occur on railroad-related sites are mainly associated with railroad construction camps; a few are known to have been built by later section gang workers. Still others have been found in mining regions, particularly in California. While folklore has often referred to them as “Chinese ovens,” no archaeological or documentary evidence has yet been found that would definitely support a Chinese association with either their manufacture or use in the United States. Instead, there is reason to believe that they were built and used mainly by Italian immigrants who brought with them a familiarity with the construction and use of such ovens for baking bread. In Canada and Australia, however, domed rock structures have occasionally been found on sites apparently coinciding with Chinese occupation. This paper surveys rock oven construction techniques, distribution, ethnic associations, dating, and related literature; it provides a starting point for more intensive, localized studies of such structures.
MO‐FG‐210‐01: Commissioning An US System for Brachytherapy: An Overview of Physics, Instrumentation, and Techniques

Ultrasound (US) is one of the most widely used imaging modalities in medical practice. Since US imaging offers real-time imaging capability, it has becomes an excellent option to provide image guidance for brachytherapy (IGBT). (1) The physics and the fundamental principles of US imaging are presented, and the typical steps required to commission an US system for IGBT is provided for illustration. (2) Application of US for prostate HDR brachytherapy, including partial prostate treatments using MR-ultrasound co-registration to enable a focused treatment on the disease within the prostate is also presented. Prostate HDR with US image guidance planning can benefit from real time visualization of the needles, and fusion of the ultrasound images with T2 weighted MR allows the focusing of the treatment to the specific areas of disease within the prostate, so that the entire gland need not be treated. Finally, (3) ultrasound guidance for an eye plaque program is presented. US can be a key component of placement and QA for episcleral plaque brachytherapy for ocular cancer, and the UCLA eye plaque program with US for image guidance is presented to demonstrate the utility of US verification of plaque placement in improving the methods and QA in episcleral plaque brachytherapy. Learning Objectives: 1. To understand the physics of an US system and the necessary aspects of commissioning US for image guided brachytherapy (IGBT). 2. To understand real time planning of prostate HDR using ultrasound, and its application in partial prostate treatments using MR-ultrasound fusion to focus treatment on disease within the prostate. 3. To understand the methods and QA in applying US for localizing the target and the implant during a episcleral plaque brachytherapy procedures.
Time to therapy and salvage in myocardial infarction

Abstract Objectives. This study sought to examine the influence of time to reperfusion on myocardial salvage. Background. Major trials of reperfusion therapy for myocardial infarction (MI) have demonstrated improved outcome for patients achieving earlier reperfusion. However, some patients experience significant benefit despite delayed reperfusion. Methods. Fifty-five patients with a first anterior MI underwent successful reperfusion therapy (angioplasty or thrombolysis). Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) sestamibi was injected before reperfusion therapy and again at hospital discharge to determine the myocardial salvage index for each patient. Residual flow to the infarct territory was assessed by the nadir of the Tc-99m sestamibi count–profile curve. Results. The salvage index showed wide variability (range −0.04 to 1.0), and extreme values were seen in 34.5% of the group ( 0.90 in 25%). A high salvage index was associated with reperfusion therapy before 2 h (p = 0.02) or good residual blood flow (p Conclusions. In patients with acute MI, successful reperfusion therapy within 2 h is associated with the greatest degree of myocardial salvage. For patients treated after 2 h, residual blood flow to the infarct-related territory appears to be the most important determinant of myocardial salvage.
Efficient Preparative Rentes to 6,6′-Dibromo-2-2′-bipyridine and 6-Bromo-2,2′-bipyridine

Abstract The preparation of 6,6′-dibromo-2,2′-bipyridine and 6-bromo-2,2′-bipyridine are described. The dibromo compound was prepared by way of an improved cuprate synthesis resulting in a 72% yield. The monobromo species was prepared from the dibromo compound by way of metal-halogen exchange in 88% yield.
Letter from the Editor: Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Healthcare Readership Data

The Rural Nurse Organization has been very attentive to the needs of the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care. In 2005, software was installed that records information every time someone accesses the Journal. These recordings include time and date, specific pages accessed, and the location of the person accessing the Journal. As the editor, I am very excited to report that the Journal was accessed 528,780 times in 2006. One of the benefits to those whose articles are published in the Journal is the ability of RNO to report how many times in a given period readers have accessed a particular contributor’s article. I have included a couple of pieces of information from the report for 2006. These reports are available each month on the website. Your RNO membership dues support this reporting function, as well as other information, including the digital library found on the web site. Please consider joining The Rural Nurse Organization if you haven’t already, or renew your membership if you are currently a member. Go to http://www.rno.org/downloads/rno_membership_application.pdf to access the membership form. The form should be printed, filled out, and mailed to RNO. Thank you as always for your support of RNO and the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Healthcare.
Alanine dehydrogenase (ald) is required for normal sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

Abstract The ski22::Tn917lac insertion mutation in Bacillus subtilis was isolated in a screen for mutations that cause a defect in sporulation but are suppressed by the presence or overexpression of the histidine protein kinase encoded by kinA (spoIIJ). The ski22::Tn917lac insertion mutation was in ald, the gene encoding alanine dehydrogenase. Alanine dehydrogenase catalyzes the deamination of alanine to pyruvate and ammonia and is needed for growth when alanine is the sole carbon or nitrogen source. The sporulation defect caused by null mutations in ald was partly relieved by the addition of pyruvate at a high concentration, indicating that the normal role of alanine dehydrogenase in sporulation might be to generate pyruvate to provide an energy source for sporulation. The spoVN::Tn917 mutation was also found to be an allele of ald. Transcription of ald was induced very early during sporulation and by the addition of exogenous alanine during growth. Expression of ald was normal in all of the regulatory mutants tested, including spo0A, spo0K, comA, sigB, and sigD mutants. The only gene in which mutations affected expression of ald was ald itself. This regulation is probably related to the metabolism of alanine.
Topochemical Strategies for the Formation of Alkali-metal Halide Arrays within Perovskite Hosts

Multistep topochemical reactions can be used to construct alkali-metal halide arrays within layered perovskite hosts. Combinations of ion exchange and reductive intercalation (A = Li) or reductive and oxidative intercalation (A = Rb) allow one to prepare the compounds such as (A 2 Cl)LaNb 2 O 7 . These products consist of perovskite blocks separated by double alkali-metal halide layers where the local layer structure is dependent on the size of the alkali cation. Details on the synthesis and structures of these materials are presented, and the general utility of the topochemical strategies used in their preparation is discussed.
A strategic plan to accelerate development of acute stroke treatments

In order to reenergize acute stroke research and accelerate the development of new treatments, we need to transform the usual design and conduct of clinical trials to test for small but significant improvements in effectiveness, and treat patients as soon as possible after stroke onset when treatment effects are most detectable. This requires trials that include thousands of acute stroke patients. A plan to make these trials possible is proposed. There are four components: (1) free access to the electronic medical record; (2) a large stroke emergency network and clinical trial coordinating center connected in real time to hundreds of emergency departments; (3) a clinical trial technology development center; and (4) strategic leadership to raise funds, motivate clinicians to participate, and interact with politicians, insurers, legislators, and other national and international organizations working to advance the quality of stroke care.
Charge exchange reactions of NO+ with noble gases at 2800 eV energy

Abstract Charge exchange cross sections for NO + in the 3 Δ and 1 Σ + states with the noble gases have been measured using a modified TOF spectrometer. In the case of the 3 Δ ion the data suggest that the final state of the NO molecule is the excited state ( 4 Π i ) while for the lower energy 1 Σ + ion the ground state molecule is indicated. This is not always in conformity with the principle that for non-resonant charge exchange the final state leading to the smallest Δ E is favored.
Customized USB Flash Drives Used to Promote Library Resources and Services to First-year Medical and Dental Students

In line with its institution's commitment to keep new student orientation/welcome events "green," Columbia University's Health Sciences Library (HSL) applied for a National Network of Libraries of Medicine Middle Atlantic Region (NN/LM MAR) Small Projects Award(1) in Spring/Summer 2009 to explore paperless modes of outreach. This article describes the project that resulted from this funding, whose purpose was to determine whether customized 1 GB USB flash drives are a good vehicle for distributing library promotional materials to incoming medical and dental students. This project gave HSL librarians the opportunity to connect with students in a way that had not been done before and to consider how these new students use/view the information the library produces.
THE RAPID PROTON PROCESS ASHES FROM STABLE NUCLEAR BURNING ON AN ACCRETING NEUTRON STAR

The temperature and nuclear composition of the crust and ocean of an accreting neutron star depend on the mix of material (the ashes) that is produced at lower densities by fusion of the accreting hydrogen and helium. The hydrogen/helium burning is thermally stable at high accretion rates, a situation encountered in weakly magnetic (B 1011 G) neutron stars accreting at rates > 10-8 M☉ yr-1 and in most accreting X-ray pulsars, where the focusing of matter onto the magnetic poles results in local accretion rates high enough for stable burning. For a neutron star accreting at these high rates, we calculate the steady state burning of hydrogen and helium in the upper atmosphere (ρ < 2 × 106 g cm-3), where T ≈ (5-15) × 108 K. Since the breakout from the "hot" CNO cycle occurs at a temperature comparable to that of stable helium burning (T 5 × 108 K), the hydrogen is always burned via the rapid proton capture (rp) process of Wallace & Woosley. The rp-process makes nuclei far beyond the iron group, always leading to a mixture of elements with masses A ~ 60-100. The average nuclear mass of the ashes is set by the extent of helium burning via (α, p) reactions and, because these reactions are temperature sensitive, depends on the local accretion rate. Nuclear statistical equilibrium, leading to a composition of mostly iron, occurs only for very high local accretion rates in excess of 50 times the Eddington rate. We briefly discuss the consequences of our results for the properties of the neutron star. The wide range of nuclei made at a fixed accretion rate and the sensitivity of the ash composition to the local accretion rate makes it inevitable that accreting neutron stars have an ocean and crust made up of a large variety of nuclei. This has repercussions for the thermal and electrical properties and structural properties (the shear modulus and viscosity) of the neutron star crust. A crustal lattice as impure as implied by our results will have the conductivity throughout most of its mass set by impurity scattering, allowing for more rapid Ohmic diffusion of magnetic fields than previously estimated for mononuclear mixes.
ARMAR: An airborne rain-mapping radar

A new airborne rain-mapping radar (ARMAR) has been developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for operation on the NASA Ames DC-8 aircraft. The radar operates at 13.8 GHz, the frequency to be used by the radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). ARMAR simulates the TRMM radar geometry by looking downward and scanning its antenna in the cross-track direction. This basic compatibility between ARMAR and TRMM allows ARMAR to provide information useful for the TRMM radar design, for rain retrieval algorithm development, and for postlaunch calibration. ARMAR has additional capabilities, including multiple polarization, Doppler velocity measurement, and a radiometer channel for brightness temperature measurement. The system has been tested in both ground-based and airborne configurations. This paper describes the design of the system and shows results of field tests.
A note on the potential for genuine cross-fertilization between anthropology and mathematics

Although there has been much discussion in recent years of the applicability of mathematical methods in the social sciences, little attention has been paid to the interaction of the sociological analysis and the mathematics. In this paper, an example of an extremely fruitful interaction between anthropology and mathematics is described. The interaction has, on the one hand, greatly increased the subtlety and sophistication of the sociological analysis, while on the other hand it has posed interesting mathematical questions.
Media Choices and Trust in Partially Distributed Global Teams

Partially distributed teams (PDTs) are increasingly common in organizations as they collaborate across distance. A PDT has at least two collocated subteams that are geographically distant and communicate by electronic media. This paper reports on a two semester quasi-experimental study of students in global PDTs in the role of software developers designing an emergency management information system. Leadership configuration and temporal distribution were varied and their effects on communication media chosen were examined, as well as the relationship of the media used with trust. Both leadership configuration and distance affect the choices made of communications media and those choices, in some cases, are significantly associated with trust.
Combination therapy design for cancer: A digital systems approach

Cancer encompasses various diseases associated with loss of cell-cycle control, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation and/or reduced apoptosis. Cancer is usually caused by malfunction(s) in the cellular signaling pathways. Malfunctions occur in different ways and at different locations in a pathway. Consequently, therapy design should first identify the location and type of malfunction and then arrive at a suitable drug combination. We consider the growth factor (GF) signaling pathways, widely studied in the context of cancer. Interactions between different pathway components are modeled using Boolean logic gates. All possible single malfunctions in the resulting circuit are enumerated and responses of the different malfunctioning circuits to a ‘test’ input are used to group the malfunctions into classes. Effects of different drugs, targeting different parts of the Boolean circuit, are taken into account in deciding drug efficacy, thereby mapping each malfunction to an appropriate set of drugs.
Physical Aspects of Blade Erosion by Wet Steam in Turbines [and Discussion]

Blade erosion in wet steam turbines is considered to be preceded by the collection of large water droplets on the blade concave surfaces; this is followed by steam breaking up the resulting water film at the stationary blade trailing edges into fairly coarse, slow-moving droplets, and culminates in their collision with the backs of the following moving blade row. Experimental information on droplet collection and on the breakup of water film at the trailing edges has been obtained on turbine blade cascades in a wet air tunnel, and suggestions have been made for relating these results to low pressure steam turbines. The erosion of tool steel and Stellite 6 blade shield materials has been measured in a contrarotating test rig for calculated impact speeds of 1730 ft./s; the best erosion rates to compare appear to be those in a tertiary zone where the rate of weight loss has fallen from a maximum to a lower constant value. The influence of vacuum on specimen weight loss is also considerable, being second only in severity to that of speed over the ranges considered, and this has been attributed to aerodynamic influences on the number of droplets reaching the specimen surface in addition to a reduction in the true velocity of impact. The possibility of reducing erosion in turbines by direct water extraction from hollow stationary blades has been demonstrated on an experimental arcuate cascade. Trailing edge slots have been found to be more effective than face slots if the depression in the hollow centre can be maintained below the trailing edge pressure.