cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Rationale for the Merger of Special and Regular Education

The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for the merger of special and regular education into one unified system structured to meet the unique needs of all students. The rationale for ...
Finite time stability of sets for hybrid dynamical systems

Notions and tools for finite time stability of closed sets for hybrid dynamical systems modeled as hybrid inclusions are introduced. Finite time stability of a closed set is defined as the following two properties: Lyapunov stability, namely, the property that solutions that start close to the set stay close to it, and finite time convergence. In the latter property, the amount of time required to converge to the set of interest is captured by a settling-time function that depends on hybrid time, namely, the time elapsed during flows and the number of jumps (or events) of the hybrid system. Various sufficient conditions for such properties to hold for a given closed set are established. Conditions involving Lyapunov-like functions that strictly decrease during flows, that strictly decrease during jumps, and that strictly decrease along both regimes are proposed — these functions are only required to be locally Lipschitz. A link between (non-finite time) asymptotic stability and the proposed notion is also established. In addition, sufficient conditions for finite time attractivity involving properties at jumps of the system, the second derivative of a Lyapunov-like function, and a property of nested sets are provided. Throughout the paper, examples exercise the results. In addition, an application to finite time parameter estimation is provided and results are applied to it.
Evaluation of readmission rates for gastrointestinal bleeds in high risk oncologic patients.

e23031Background: Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) results in high rates of hospital admissions, readmissions, significant morbidity and high healthcare cost. To lower readmission rates, Medicare ma...
Forum: Shakespeare and Black America

This introduction both models how one might read race, blackness, activism and Shakespeare and contextualizes the many “Shakespeares” that might be at work in the essays in this cluster, which emerge from the Shakespeare Association of America seminar Shakespeare and Black America. It suggests that scholars in this Shakespearean subfield have political, pedagogical and personal investments that both overlap with and diverge from Shakespeare study as traditionally understood. It addresses some of the complexities of performing, teaching and reading Shakespeare not as an agent of cultural dominion, but as part of resistance and activism in black America.
Easing the Pain of Being Labeled a “Drug Seeker”: Navigating the Metanarrative of Addiction

Recovery from a labral repair hip surgery typically requires several weeks of bedrest, consistent doses pain medication, and weekly physical therapy. Instead of convalescing, the weeks following my...
Successful Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in a Patient With Uncontrolled Scleromyxedema.

Scleromyxedema is a rare disorder characterized by diffuse cutaneous and systemic mucinosis with paraproteinemia. Affected patients usually develop numerous waxy, firm papules and plaques as a result of subcutaneous mucin deposition and fibrosis. Systemic manifestations may involve the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, musculoskeletal, renal, or nervous systems and are known to lead to significant morbidity and mortality if left untreated. As the skin of these patients can be heavily infiltrated with mucin and fibrosis, it is unknown if scleromyxedema affects wound healing. Additionally, owing to the rarity of the disorder, there is very little data regarding surgical outcomes in these patients and their optimal management in the pre- and post-surgical setting. Herein, we report a case of a patient who underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) while in active relapse of his scleromyxedema; he suffered no pre- or post-operative complications and his surgical incision site healed well without any intervention.
Fuzzing JavaScript Engines with Aspect-preserving Mutation

Fuzzing is a practical, widely-deployed technique to find bugs in complex, real-world programs like JavaScript engines. We observed, however, that existing fuzzing approaches, either generative or mutational, fall short in fully harvesting high-quality input corpora such as known proof of concept (PoC) exploits or unit tests. Existing fuzzers tend to destruct subtle semantics or conditions encoded in the input corpus in order to generate new test cases because this approach helps in discovering new code paths of the program. Nevertheless, for JavaScript-like complex programs, such a conventional design leads to test cases that tackle only shallow parts of the complex codebase and fails to reach deep bugs effectively due to the huge input space.In this paper, we advocate a new technique, called an aspect-preserving mutation, that stochastically preserves the desirable properties, called aspects, that we prefer to be maintained across mutation. We demonstrate the aspect preservation with two mutation strategies, namely, structure and type preservation, in our fully-fledged JavaScript fuzzer, called Die. Our evaluation shows that Die’s aspect-preserving mutation is more effective in discovering new bugs (5.7× more unique crashes) and producing valid test cases (2.4× fewer runtime errors) than the state-of-the-art JavaScript fuzzers. Die newly discovered 48 high-impact bugs in ChakraCore, JavaScriptCore, and V8 (38 fixed with 12 CVEs assigned as of today). The source code of Die is publicly available as an open-source project.1
The Limits of an Information Intermediary in Auction Design.

We study the limits of an information intermediary in Bayesian auctions. Formally, we consider the standard single-item auction, with a revenue-maximizing seller and $n$ buyers with independent private values; in addition, we now have an intermediary who knows the buyers' true values, and can map these to a public signal so as to try to increase buyer surplus. This model was proposed by Bergemann et al., who present a signaling scheme for the single-buyer setting that raises the optimal consumer surplus, by guaranteeing the item is always sold while ensuring the seller gets the same revenue as without signaling. Our work aims to understand how this result ports to the setting with multiple buyers. Our first result is an impossibility: We show that such a signaling scheme need not exist even for $n=2$ buyers with $2$-point valuation distributions. Indeed, no signaling scheme can always allocate the item to the highest-valued buyer while preserving any non-trivial fraction of the original consumer surplus; further, no signaling scheme can achieve consumer surplus better than a factor of $\frac{1}{2}$ compared to the maximum achievable. These results are existential (and not computational) impossibilities, and thus provide a sharp separation between the single and multi-buyer settings. On the positive side, for discrete valuation distributions, we develop signaling schemes with good approximation guarantees for the consumer surplus compared to the maximum achievable, in settings where either the number of agents, or the support size of valuations, is small. Formally, for i.i.d. buyers, we present an $O(\min(\log n, K))$-approximation where $K$ is the support size of the valuations. Moreover, for general distributions, we present an $O(\min(n \log n, K^2))$-approximation. Our signaling schemes are conceptually simple and computable in polynomial (in $n$ and $K$) time.
Multi-omic characterization of the thermal stress phenome in the stony coral Montipora capitata

We used network methods to analyze transcriptomic and polar metabolomic data generated from the stress resistant stony coral Montipora capitata. Corals were exposed to ambient or thermal stress conditions over a five-week period that coincided with a mass spawning event of this species. Gene co-expression networks showed that the early thermal stress response involves downregulation of growth and DNA replication, whereas signaling and the immune response are strongly upregulated. Later stages are dominated by suppression of metabolite transport and biomineralization and enhanced expression of transcriptional regulators. Integration of gene-metabolite data demonstrates that the major outcome of the thermal treatment is activation of animal redox stress pathways with detoxification of reactive oxygen species being dominant. Differential regulation of the highly conserved cytochrome P450 gene family was of particular interest with downregulation of CYP1A1, involved in progesterone metabolism, potentially explaining the attenuated mass spawning observed during the sampling period.
The contribution of inflammation to Alzheimer's disease in Down syndrome

Abstract Down syndrome (DS), the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, is characterized by the triplication of chromosome 21. The triplication of the amyloid precursor protein gene, amyloid precursor protein (APP), is thought to be the underlying reason why Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology develops in the DS brain with age. In this chapter, we explore the neuroinflammatory consequences of AD pathology in the brain, and how this may be unique in DS due to the triplication of immune-associated genes also located on chromosome 21.
Allocation and Monitoring

The class of studies designed to answer medical questions are called medical trials. The study may deal with diagnostic, therapeutic, or surveillance issues. The environment in which the study is conducted may vary from a single clinic or laboratory to a geographically dispersed consortium of institutions. The participating disciplines may vary from one to many.
Insights into process reliability through simulation

System dynamics modeling of complex processes as a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations is realistic. Process DOEs based on system dynamics simulations are an inexpensive and effective way of gaining insights into sensitivity to interactions between process control variables. Monte Carlo simulations based on response surfaces are an effective way of assessing process robustness given the variations in the process control variables. Decisions based on probability of achieving certain objectives, given a certain level of variability in process parameters can reliably be made based on system dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations.
Endogenous Stabilization in Open Democracies

In the new Keynesian theory of endogenous stabilization governments react quickly to lean against the macroeconomic wind. In open economies policymaking is complicated by concern about the trade balance. We extend the political business cycle model by assuming that governments have objectives with respect to macroeconomic performance with respect three indicators (growth, inflation and the net exports), but are constrained by an augmented Phillips curve and the inverse relation between net exports and domestic output. As long as adaptive expectations replace rational ones, econometric tests support this characterization of the political-economic equilibrium, and suggest how it is conditioned by political ideology and central bank independence.
Autosomal dominant retinal degeneration and bone loss in patients with a 12-bp deletion in the CRX gene.

Purpose To define the phenotypic expression of a deletion in the gene encoding the transcription factor CRX in a large, seven-generation, white family.
SER-based connectivity of fading ad-hoc networks

Received signal strength has been widely used as the main criterion of connectivity between wireless nodes. We investigate the connectivity of fading wireless ad-hoc networks with a novel connectivity metric. Our metric of connectivity considers realistic effects of the characteristics of the utilized wireless nodes such as modulation and symbol error rate. We assume a pair of nodes are connected if the bi-directional symbol error rate on their direct connecting link is below a given threshold. Our treatment of the problem relies on a probabilistic approach describing the quantities of interest in the form of random variables. Our simulation results over sample ad-hoc topologies support the fact that depending on the characteristics of the wireless nodes, different connectivity results may be observed for the same signal strength.
Assessing the Relationship Between Objective and Subjective Measures of Fiscal Condition Using Government-Wide Statements

Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34 has been in effect for a decade yet there is limited research examining government-wide financial reporting data. This study builds on our ability to delve into the fiscal condition of Wisconsin counties during the Great Recession. The principal aims of the research are: (1) expand on works utilizing GASB 34 reporting requirements; (2) report on county administrators perceptions of fiscal condition; and (3) examine the relationship between subjective and objective measures of fiscal condition. We find little evidence that objective fiscal condition indices are related to subjective administrative assessments of fiscal condition.
Remarks about the wave‐function representability of the first‐order reduced density matrices

It is pointed out that, if {Γy} is the set of Nth-order density matrices associated with a given first-order reduced density matrix γ = γ(x1|x1), then γ is wave-function representable, if and only if there is at least one Γγ for which one has μ = Tr(Γγ − Γ) = 0.
Diurnal tide in the equatorial middle atmosphere as seen in LIMS temperatures

The distribution of day-night temperature differences in the middle atmosphere determined by the Nimbus 7 LIMS experiment is described. Day-night differences maximize at and are approximately symmetric about the equator. Successive centers of opposite sign increase in amplitude with altitude, the pattern having a vertical wavelength of approximately 25 km. Profiles of rocket meridional wind at Kwajalein (8.7 deg N) and Ascension Island (8.0 deg S) taken near local noon and averaged over the LIMS data period, exhibit maxima which support the tidal interpretation of the equatorial temperature pattern. These characteristics are in general agreement with previous observational and theoretical results for the solar driven diurnal tide. Substantial time variations in amplitude and in location of the temperature maxima are observed. The diurnal tide near the equatorial stratopause appears to be influenced by the phase of the semiannual oscillation.
Creeping flame spread: some new results and interpretation for material flammability characterization

Abstract An important component for material flammability is the propensity of flames to spread in horizontal or downward orientation, a situation which is usually called creeping or lateral flame spread. Interpretation of test methods for creeping flame spread is difficult because it involves heat transfer at the tip of the flame, quenching of the flame, the formation of a triple-premixed-diffusion flame, as well as solid pyrolysis kinetics. Separation of these effects theoretically, numerically or experimentally is required for deducing relevant flammability properties. New results presented in this paper on this subject are related to a modification of the initial formulation of the creeping flame spread problem (deRis). In that work and subsequent analysis by other people, it was assumed that the flame leading edge (for infinitely fast chemical kinetics) coincides with the location of the beginning of pyrolysis, i.e., the separation distance between them l = 0. This assumption led to a well defined problem and exact solutions for flame spread on thick and thin materials. Inspired by a recent paper, we have found that the separation distance, l, between the flame leading edge and the beginning of pyrolysis can be arbitrarily set. Then, the creeping flame spread rates for both thin and thick materials have been found (by using the Wiener-Hopf decomposition method) to depend on this separation distance. It is also discussed how this separation distance could be related to the quenching distance of a triple flame near the location of the onset of pyrolysis. For a thermally thick solid, a new analytical solution for creeping flame spread is derived which, moreover, also accounts for the exact nonlinear mass transfer relationship in pyrolyzing region. It is briefly described how these results can be used to obtain relevant flammability parameters for creeping flame spread by comparison with experiments.
Authorship, Collaboration, and Gender: Fifteen Years of Publication Productivity in Selected Geography Journals

In academia, publication productivity, defined as the number of peer-reviewed articles published and the frequency of citations, is a primary factor in the assessment of tenure and promotion. One of the most cited gender differences in academia is the “productivity puzzle,” which suggests that women publish less than men, thereby affecting every aspect of a woman's academic career. Peer-reviewed articles published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers (Annals) and The Professional Geographer (PG) between 1995 and 2006, and in four subdisciplinary journals between 2005 and 2009, as well as citation reports, were used to explore whether gender differences are present in publication productivity. Gender differences were evident in the proportion of women authors, the frequency of collaboration, and the number of citations across a broad range of prestigious geographic journals. For all journals studied, women were underrepresented, especially in the authorship positions that equate to noti...
A New Model for the Simulation of Interfaces at High Temperature

A new method for the molecular dynamics simulation of bulk planar interfaces at high temperatures is presented. The method uses the basic Parrinallo-Rahman (constant stress) scheme modified, however, for the application to inhomogeneous systems. Since our computational cell contains only one interface with 2-d periodic boundary conditions we are able to study isolated interfaces all the way up to melting. The interaction between boundaries which may lead to their annihilation at higher temperatures, which is a problem when 3-d periodic boundaries are applied, is thus avoided. As an application, the method is used to study the stability of a grain boundary at high temperatures. Observations on a possible connection between grain boundary migration and ''premelting'' are discussed. 5 refs., 15 figs.
The accuracy of environmental tobacco smoke exposure measures among asthmatic children

This study determined the reliability and validity of parent-reported measures of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among 91 asthmatic children. Test-retest reliability assessments were conducted for environmental, biological and parent-reported measures of ETS exposure. All measures except a urine cotinine assay resulted in satisfactory levels of reliability. The parent-reported measures of ETS exposure were compared to the environmental filter measure of nicotine as well as submitted to a construct validity test. Parent-reported home exposure to ETS proved moderately and significantly correlated to the filter measure. Approximately 80% of all hypothetical constructs agreed with the observed relationships for convergent, divergent and discrimant validity. It was concluded that middle class Caucasian parents' reports of their asthmatic child's residential ETS exposure are reliable and valid. These parent-reported measures should be valuable tools for epidemiological investigations and for clinical programs designed to reduce asthmatic children's residential exposure to ETS.
DENSE CORDIERITE BODIES

Cordierite bodies having virtually zero porosity when fired between 1285° and 1325°C. were obtained by using calcined blends of MgCO3, talc, and clay; the calcine was combined with raw clay to form the body. These bodies were characterized by low thermal expansion, good mechanical strength, and excellent thermal-shock resistance.
Wieferich's criterion and the abc-conjecture

Abstract We show that the abc-conjecture of Masser and Oesterle implies that there are infinitely many primes for which 2p−1 n= 1 (mod p2). More precisely, we show that there are at least O(log X) such primes less than X. We also prove an analogous result for points of infinite order on elliptic curves having j-invariant 0 or 1728.
Interpretable dimension reduction for classifying functional data

Classification problems involving a categorical class label Y and a functional predictor X ( t ) are becoming increasingly common. Since X ( t ) is infinite dimensional, some form of dimension reduction is essential in these problems. Conventional dimension reduction techniques for functional data usually suffer from one or both of the following problems. First, they do not take the categorical response into consideration, and second, the resulting reduced subspace may have a complicated relationship with the original functional data. In this paper we propose a dimension reduction method, "Functional Adaptive Classification" (FAC), specifically designed for functional classification problems. FAC uses certain complexity constraints to ensure that the reduced subspace has an easily interpretable relationship to the original functional predictor. Extensive simulation studies and an fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) study show that FAC is extremely competitive in comparison to other potential approaches in terms of both classification accuracy and model interpretability.
Universal Integrated Synchronization and Control for Single-Phase DC/AC Converters

The universal integrated synchronization and control (UISC) is proposed to operate a single-phase dc/ac converter in both grid-connected (GC) and stand-alone (SA) modes and offer seamless transition between these modes without any reconfiguration of control structure. As a matter of fact, the UISC does not need to use an islanding detection algorithm in the conventional sense. In GC mode, the UISC controls the real and reactive powers independently. In SA mode, it provides voltage and frequency support. The UISC is not based on direct current control or direct output voltage control. It adjusts the internal converter voltage through a nonlinear mechanism that amounts to the control of the current in GC mode and the voltage in SA mode. The UISC does not require a separate synchronization unit such as a phase-locked loop (PLL). In principle, the UISC is analogous to the combined governor and automatic voltage regulator controls in a synchronous machine (SM). In this sense, it may be considered among the converters that mimic the SMs such as the synchronverter. The proposed UISC is arguably the most unified method that can address different modes of operation of a converter within a microgrid environment without control switching actions. This paper presents the derivations, stability analysis, and numerical results to illustrate the performance of the proposed controller in a single phase situation. A mathematical analysis on the analogies and differences between the UISC and some similar methods is also presented.
Precision interferometry in less than ideal environments

Interferometry can be extremely useful for testing optical components and optical systems as well as the metrology of many other components, such as the flatness and roughness of hard disk drive platters, the shape of magnetic recording heads and machined parts, and the deformations of diffuse surfaces. To make good use of interferometric data the data must be analyzed by a computer to determine if the surface shape is correct or not and if it is not correct what has to be done to correct it and how well the surface being evaluated will perform if it is not corrected. Until recently a major limitation of interferometry for precision metrology was the sensitivity to the environment.
Comparative analysis of air pollution emissions by electric utilities: Public policy implications

One of the objectives of US environmental regulations was to reduce industrial air pollution emissions, especially from the electric utility industry, the major industrial air polluter. In this study, a comparative analysis of air pollution emissions from fossil-fuel-burning electric utility plants is conducted. The analysis focuses on a 12-yr period from 1975 to 1987 for three air pollutants: particulates, surfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. The results indicate that particulate emissions have been significantly reduced but that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are still major problems for a number of plants. Furthermore, the disparity in the performance by plants indicates that by using current technology, the industry as a whole could greatly reduce these emissions. These results have policy implication for future environmental legislation.
What troubles clerks in psychiatry? A strategy to explore the question.

The psychiatric clerkship is a stressful experience that influences attitudes toward patients with psychiatric illnesses and influences recruitment into the field. This study focused on medical students’ encounters with patients they found troubling or difficult, and whether specific themes regarding their emotional responses could be identified. Third-year medical students rotating through the psychiatry clerkship participated in a problem patient conference for which they were required to submit a form detailing a troubling encounter that occurred with a patient in the prior week. During the conferences, students discussed these encounters and their responses to them. The encounters were later reviewed and grouped into a set of four themes. Comparisons were made between male and female students, and response to patients at the start and finish of the clerkship. For both male and female students the most common reaction of a problematic encounter was frustration/helplessness, followed by having a strong negative reaction, then identification with patients evoking a disturbing response, and finally feelings of intimidation and fear. There were no gender differences for any of the four categories. The proportion of encounters classified as intimidating/frightening significantly declined from the first half to the second half of the rotation. The problem patient conference is an effective tool to elicit candid concerns regarding the care of psychiatric patients and is an opportunity to empathically address struggles specific to the psychiatric clerkship.
High focal adhesion kinase expression in invasive breast carcinomas is associated with an aggressive phenotype

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a protein tyrosine kinase expressed in invasive breast cancer that regulates antiapoptotic signaling. We have examined FAK expression by immunohistochemistry using anti-FAK 4.47 in breast tumor samples from a large population-based, case-control study of women participating in the University of North Carolina Breast Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE), Carolina Breast Cancer Study. In this population, 629 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained for FAK and scored as high (3+ or 4+ intensity and > or = 90% positive cells) or otherwise. High FAK expression was associated with poor prognostic indicators including high mitotic index (>10 mitoses per 10 consecutive high-power fields), nuclear grade 3, architectural grade 3, estrogen and progesterone receptor negative, and HER-2/neu overexpressed using CB11 antibody. The association of high FAK expression with HER-2/neu overexpression lends further support that HER-2/neu and FAK collaborate to promote tumorigenesis. The presence of strong FAK expression in many high grade, estrogen- and progesterone-negative breast carcinomas indicates that FAK may be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention.
Resistance-Welding Transients

This paper discusses quantitatively the effect of indiscriminate (random phase-angle) switching in the primary of a resistance welder. The current and power transients occurring because of ``off-angle'' switching are investigated through oscillographic records of transients in loads built up to simulate actual welder-head loads as nearly as possible. In the switching of loads of either high or low power factor and those with or without iron at high-flux densities, the power transients were found to be damped to unimportant values within the time of a very few cycles after the instant of switching. In spot and projection welding, the first few cycles may be extremely important, however, determining the quality of weld even though the total time of the weld period is much greater. This investigation is limited to 60-cycle frequency and to welding periods of two cycles or more.
Are We Overtreating Papillomas Diagnosed on Core Needle Biopsy

Background Breast papillomas often are diagnosed with core needle biopsy (CNB). Most studies support excision for atypical papillomas, because as many as one half will be upgraded to malignancy on final pathology. The literature is less clear on the management of papillomas without atypia on CNB. Our goal was to determine factors associated with pathology upgrade on excision.
New Modulators for IGF-I Activity within IGF-I Processing Products

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is a key regulator of muscle development and growth. The pre-pro-peptide produced by the Igf1 gene undergoes several post-translational processing steps to result in a secreted mature protein, which is thought to be the obligate ligand for the IGF-I receptor. However, the significance of the additional forms and peptides produced from Igf1 is not clear. For instance, the C-terminal extensions called the E-peptides that are part of pro-IGF-I, have been implicated in playing roles in cell growth, including cell proliferation and migration and muscle hypertrophy in an IGF-I receptor independent manner. However, the activity of these peptides has been controversial. IGF-IR independent actions suggest the existence of an E-peptide receptor, yet such a protein has not been discovered. We propose a new concept: there is no E-peptide receptor, rather the E-peptides coordinate with IGF-I to modulate activity of the IGF-I receptor. Growing evidence reveals that the presence of an E-peptide alters IGF-I activity, whether as part of pro-IGF-I, or as a separate peptide present. In this review, we will examine the past literature on IGF-I processing and E-peptide actions in skeletal muscle, address the previous attempts to separate IGF-I and E-peptide effects, propose a new model for IGF-I/E-peptide synergy, and suggest future experiments to test if the E-peptides truly modulate IGF-I activity.
The limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in Huntington's disease

The functional integrity of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis was studied in 10 patients with Huntington's disease (HD) and 10 age- and weight-matched control subjects by measuring basal ACTH and cortisol secretion, analyzing the subjects' ACTH and cortisol responses to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) challenge, and by means of the dexamethasone-suppression test (DST). Basal cortisol and ACTH levels were significantly higher in patients with HD compared with controls. Following CRH administration, ACTH responses tended to be blunted in concert with normal cortisol levels. Two patients with HD and one control subject were DST nonsuppressors. Post-DST plasma dexamethasone levels were 57% lower among patients compared with the control group. Only in the HD group age was there an important variable in influencing spontaneous cortisol secretion as well as plasma dexamethasone levels during DST. These results suggest that patients with HD have an endogenous CRH overdrive, possibly due to a loss of (GABA) gamma-aminobutyric acid-containing neurons, and that age might have an effect on the outcome of LHPA axis function tests in patients only.
Screening for renovascular hypertension. A which hunt.

Even in 1989, patients with renovascular hypertension (RVH) have blood pressure that often remains relatively difficult to control, continue to be at risk for a deterioration of renal function (especially if they have atherosclerotic disease), and are subjected to an array of side effects and complications, some of them from modern antihypertensive agents. And so the «which» hunt continues: which patients, which tests, which etiologies, and which therapies
EUS-guided choledochoduodenostomy with a lumen-apposing metal stent before duodenal stent placement for malignant biliary and duodenal obstruction

Treatment of biliary obstruction when the major papilla is inaccessible is challenging. EUS-guided choledochoduodenostomy (EUS-CDS) with a lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) (AXIOS, Xlumena Inc, Mountain View, Calif) either alone or after duodenal stent placement has been reported. We report LAMS placement before duodenal stent placement for malignant biliary and duodenal obstruction (BDO) (Video 1, available online at www.giejournal.org). A 56-year-old man with metastatic cancer involving the liver, duodenum, and colon presented with BDO. ERCP was not possible because of an infiltrating ulcerated, stenotic mass preventing major papilla access. EUS-guided biliary access was performed using a transbulbar approach, and the tract was dilated with a 4-mm dilating balloon. A biflanged LAMS (inner diameter, 10 mm; length, 10 mm) was placed under EUS and fluoroscopic guidance (Fig. 1A). The duodenal stricture was treated with an enteric metal stent overlapping the LAMS (Fig. 1B). The patient tolerated the procedure with resolution of BDO.
Responses to Amyloids of Microbial and Host Origin Are Mediated through Toll-like Receptor 2

Curli fibrils are proteinaceous bacterial structures formed by amyloid fibrils composed of the major curli subunit CsgA. Like beta-amyloid 1-42, which is associated with brain inflammation and Alzheimer's disease, curli fibrils have been implicated in the induction of host inflammatory responses. However, the underlying mechanisms of amyloid-induced inflammation are not fully understood. In a mouse sepsis model, we show that curli fibrils contributed to Nos2 expression, a hallmark of inflammation, by stimulating Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2. The TLR2 agonist activity was reduced by an amyloidogenicity-lowering amino acid substitution (N122A) in CsgA. Amyloid-forming synthetic peptides corresponding to beta-amyloid 1-42 or CsgA 111-151 stimulated Nos2 production in macrophages and microglia cells through a TLR2-dependent mechanism. This activity was abrogated when an N122A substitution was introduced into the synthetic CsgA peptide. The induction of TLR2-mediated responses by bacterial and eukaryotic amyloids may explain the inflammation associated with amyloids and the resulting pathologies.
Variability of timing in expressive piano performance increases with interval duration

In simple motor tasks such as finger tapping at different constant rates, within-trial variability of response interonset intervals (IOIs) increases with IOI duration (which varies between trials). In expressive piano performance, the rate of key depressions is not constant, in part due to compositional structure and in part due to expressive timing, so that IOIs of many different durations occur within a single “trial.” Nevertheless, across repeated performances of the same music (Schumann’s “Traumerei” and Debussy’s “La fille aux cheveux de lin”) at the same intended tempo, the standard deviations of individual IOIs tend to increase linearly with their average duration. This is also true when the variation is due to expressive timing alone and when unintended differences in basic tempo between performances are taken into account. In the music studied here, at least, there was no evidence of compensatory timing. The results suggest that the pianists employed a continuously variable tempo governed by a flexible internal timekeeper whose variability follows a generalized Weber’s law (for IOIs longer than about 300 msec).
Assessing the order of critical alterations in prostate cancer development and progression by IHC: Further evidence that PTEN loss occurs subsequent to ERG gene fusion

ERG rearrangements and PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) loss are two of the most common genetic alterations in prostate cancer. However, there is still significant controversy regarding the order of events of these two changes during the carcinogenic process. We used immunohistochemistry (IHC) to determine ERG and PTEN status, and calculated the fraction of cases with homogeneous/heterogeneous ERG and PTEN staining in a given tumor. Using a single standard tissue section from the index tumor from radical prostatectomies (N=77), enriched for relatively high grade and stage tumors, we examined ERG and PTEN status by IHC. We determined whether ERG or PTEN staining was homogeneous (all tumor cells staining positive) or heterogeneous (focal tumor cell staining) in a given tumor focus. Fifty-seven percent (N=44/77) of tumor foci showed ERG positivity, with 93% of these (N=41/44) cases showing homogeneous ERG staining in which all tumor cells stained positively. Fifty-three percent (N=41/77) of tumor foci showed PTEN loss, and of these 66% (N=27/41) showed heterogeneous PTEN loss. In ERG homogeneously positive cases, any PTEN loss occurred in 56% (N=23/41) of cases, and of these 65% (N=15/23) showed heterogeneous loss. In ERG-negative tumors, 51.5% (N=17/33) showed PTEN loss, and of these 64.7% (N=11/17) showed heterogeneous PTEN loss. In a subset of cases, genomic deletions of PTEN were verified by fluorescence in situ hybridization in regions with PTEN protein loss as compared with regions with intact PTEN protein, which did not show PTEN genomic loss. These results support the concept that PTEN loss tends to occur as a subclonal event within a given established prostatic carcinoma clone after ERG gene fusion. The combination of ERG and PTEN IHC staining can be used as a simple test to ascertain PTEN and ERG gene rearrangement status within a given prostate cancer in either a research or clinical setting.
An Examination of Pace's Model of Student Development and College Impress

Pace (1979b) delineates a model for the study of student development and college impress. That model was the basis for his development of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) and the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ). His perspective is similar to Astin (1970 1984) and Tinto (1975 1986) in that each posit student time and effort to be the key constructs associated with outcomes of the college experience. These authors also postulate that the extent to which students' exert their time and efforts in the educational opportunities and activities provided by institutions directly impacts their growth and development. This study tests Pace's model using a sample of community college students in 40 community colleges across the United States with the student outcome being perceived gains in personal and social development. Results strongly support Pace's proposition relative to student effort in that effort is the most important determinant of perceived gains. Recommend...
Passage of American shad: paradigms and realities

Abstract Despite more than 250 years of development, the passage of American shad Alosa sapidissima at dams and other barriers frequently remains problematic. Few improvements in design based on knowledge of the swimming, schooling, and migratory behaviors of American shad have been incorporated into passage structures. Large-scale technical fishways designed for the passage of adult salmonids on the Columbia River have been presumed to have good performance for American shad but have never been rigorously evaluated for this species. Similar but smaller fishway designs on the East Coast frequently have poor performance. Provision of effective downstream passage for both juvenile and postspawning adult American shad has been given little consideration in most passage projects. Ways to attract and guide American shad to both fishway entrances and downstream bypasses remain marginally understood. The historical development of passage structures for American shad has resulted in assumptions and paradigms abou...
Site-selective dual modification of periplasmic binding proteins for sensing applications

We have developed three sensitive and specific amino acid sensors based on bacterial periplasmic solute binding proteins. A site-specific amino-terminal transamination reaction provides a useful complement to cysteine chemistry for the covalent modification of biomolecules in this application. We demonstrate this combination to attach two different chromophores to a single biomolecule in two locations. The periplasmic glutamine binding protein from E. coli was modified with a pair of dyes suitable for fluorescence resonance energy transfer, and this conjugate exhibited an l-glutamine dependent optical response. Two periplasmic binding proteins from the thermophilic organism Thermotoga maritima, for arginine and aliphatic amino acids, were modified and evaluated similarly. All three conjugates manifested signal changes mediated by resonant energy transfer upon binding their respective ligands, with nanomolar dissociation constants and stereochemical specificity. This represents a readily generalizable method for construction of reagentless biosensors. The double-labeling strategy was also exploited for the surface attachment of a dye-labeled glutamine binding protein via a biotin-streptavidin interaction.
Development of a photographic package printer: a case study

A specialty area in the commercial photographic industry involves simultaneously producing a plurality of high-quality photographs of varying size and shape from a single photographic negative or digital image. The images are formed on a large piece of photographic paper by a set of lenses having specific magnifications and appropriately located between the negative and paper. Package printers are typically reconfigurable to allow different sets of images to be created; however, such reconfiguration is time consuming. Most often, a package printer is configured and then devoted to a specific format. The case study presented in this paper covers the system requirements, design and fabrication of the various lenses, exposure and color balancing of the lenses, alignment and tolerancing. An interesting aspect of this package printer project was that the client literally built everything in-house including the mechanical housing, film and paper transports, lamp houses, lenses, and coatings. A critical element of the design, fabrication, and assembly of these package printers was tolerancing. Since a large number of these package printers was to be manufactured for their in-house, management needed assurance that the unit could be reasonably manufactured and would be reliable in the several plants around the world. The emphasis of this case study is on the challenge of producibility which required close attention to the capabilities of the various fabrication groups, assemblers, and technicians employed by the client. The project was successful and untold billions of photographs have been made by these package printers.
Occasionalism, Laws and General Will

Malebranche held that God acts only by general volitions and so is not constantly interfering in the world. The content of God's volitions appears to include the general laws of nature and the particular initial configuration of the created world, so that occasional or natural causes have an important explanatory role. It is clear that at the least Malebranche meant by a ‘general volition’ the willing of events which followed general laws. Steven Nadler argued that this is all we should understand by a ‘general volition’, and so we should think that general volitions are simply particular volitions which follow a general law. I argue that this view is not the correct interpretation of Malebranche's general volitions, for it does not do justice to the theological doctrine of the Treatise, masks the genuine difference between Arnauld and Malebranche, and conflicts with what Malebranche says about practical volitions. I then argue that despite Malebranche's view of general volitions, there is still an import...
Strategies to improve the cardiovascular risk profile of thiazide-type diuretics as used in the management of hypertension

Thiazide diuretics are one of the preferred pharmacologic treatments for hypertension. However, there has been rather pointed debate during the past 20 years about the clinical significance of the biochemical and/or metabolic adverse effects caused by diuretics. This controversy centers around whether the hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hyperuricemia, hyperglycemia and/or hyperlipidemia occasionally seen with diuretics might lessen some of the beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk seen with reductions in blood pressure. One of the biggest controversies in the last few years has focused on whether the small increase in absolute risk of diabetes seen with diuretic therapy should be a concern. The vigilant clinician should appropriately dose and monitor diuretic therapy either when given alone or when used in combination therapy. When these strategies are employed, the adverse effects seen with diuretics can be minimized or negated, and in so doing cardiovascular benefits can be optimized.
Ionic Product of Heavy Water

A PRELIMINARY determination of the dissociation of heavy water, by measurement of the electromotive force of cells containing pure deuterium electrodes in solutions of KOD and DC1 in heavy water containing 95.5 per cent D2O, has given the result that KW for D2O is of the order of one third the ionic product for ordinary water, at the same total ionic strength (0.1 and 0.05). It is proposed now to use the same method for an accurate determination.
Calculator least squares evaluation of k for the first order rate equation

Abstract A calculator program 1KIN1 is described for computing the first order rate constant by least squares. Coding is for the Hewlett-Packard HP-67 and HP-97 programmable calculators, but the general algorithms and the design features are adaptable to other programmable calculators of comparable or greater program and memory capacity.