cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance of portable staring infrared cameras

The availability of high quality MWIR and LWIR staring infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) has enabled system manufacturers to develop portable imaging systems with thermal resolution less than 0.020 Kelvin at standard video frame rates. These staring IRFPA systems exceed the performance of portable serially scanned systems used in medical studies prior to mid 1980 by more than a factor of 10. High quantum efficiency staring IRFPAs maintain sensitivity over narrow spectral bandwidths and at high frame rates, enabling the development of portable imaging spectrometers from the SWIR to the LWIR. The medical benefits of using high performance staring IRFPA systems for radiometric imaging, spectrally and temporally resolved imaging, and multisensor fusion have not been fully explored. A variety of portable packages are available from the industry, each containing unique design features that impact sensor performance, usability, size, weight, and power consumption. The performance of cooled and uncooled portable staring infrared cameras is presented, including temporal and spatial noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD), minimum resolvable temperature difference (MRTD), and stability.
Cougars’ key to survival through the Late Pleistocene extinction: insights from dental microwear texture analysis

Cougars (Puma concolor) are one of only two large cats in North America to have survived the Late Pleistocene extinction (LPE), yet the specific key(s) to their relative success remains unknown. Here, we compare the dental microwear textures of Pleistocene cougars with sympatric felids from the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California that went extinct at the LPE (Panthera atrox and Smilodon fatalis), to clarify potential dietary factors that led to the cougar's persistence through the LPE. We further assess whether the physical properties of food consumed have changed over time when compared with modern cougars in southern California. Using dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), which quantifies surface features in three dimensions, we find that modern and Pleistocene cougars are not significantly different from modern African lions in any DMTA attributes, suggesting moderate durophagy (i.e. bone processing). Pleistocene cougars from La Brea have significantly greater complexity and textural fill volume than Panthera atrox (inferred to have primarily consumed flesh from fresh kills) and significantly greater variance in complexity values than S. fatalis. Ultimately, these results suggest that cougars already used or adopted a more generalized dietary strategy during the Pleistocene that may have been key to their subsequent success.
Gender differences in student performance in large lecture classrooms using personal response systems ('clickers') with narrative case studies

This study investigated gender differences in science learning between two pedagogical approaches: traditional lecture and narrative case studies using personal response systems (‘clickers’). Thirteen instructors of introductory biology classes at 12 different institutions across the USA and Canada used two types of pedagogy (Clicker Cases and traditional lecture) to teach eight topic areas. Three different sets of multiple regression analysis were conducted for three separate dependent variables: posttest score, change in score from posttest to final, and transfer score. Interactions between gender and pedagogical approach were found across the three analyses. Women either performed better with Clicker Cases, or about the same with either instructional method, but men performed markedly better with lectures in most topic areas. Our results suggest that men and women experience two pedagogical approaches—Clicker Cases and lectures—differently, and that Clicker Cases are more favorable for women than for men.
Enhancing classical controls education via interactive GUI design

This column presents a graphical and somewhat automated tool for performing the iteration when using classical control design methods. The graphical user interface is an easy way for students to see the effect of the gain and the compensator pole-zero locations on the closed loop step response. Thus, the tool presented extends the capabilities of classical control design methods as they are currently presented in textbooks. Three examples are given that demonstrate the use and effectiveness of this tool. Furthermore, the Bode plot and the root locus windows are tied together in such a way that students can see how changes to the root locus affect the open loop Bode plot and vice versa.
Character and evolution of protein-protein interfaces.

Protein–protein interactions create the macromolecular assemblies and sequential signaling pathways essential for cell function. Their number far exceeds the number of proteins themselves and their experimental characterization, while improving, remains relatively slow. For these reasons, novel computational methods have important roles to play in understanding the physical basis of protein interactions, and in constraining the molecular basis of their specificity. This paper discusses methods based on multiple sequence alignments of protein homologues and phylogenetic trees.
Combining head-mounted and projector-based displays for surgical training

We introduce and present preliminary results for a hybrid display system combining head-mounted and projector-based displays. Our work is motivated by a surgical training application, where it is necessary to simultaneously provide both a high-fidelity view of a central close-up task (the surgery) and visual awareness of objects and events in the surrounding environment In particular, for trauma surgeons it would be valuable to learn to work in an environment that is realistically filled with both necessary and distracting objects and events. In this paper, we motivate the use of a hybrid display system, discuss previous work, describe a prototype along with methods for geometric calibration, and present results from a controlled human subject experiment.
The Effect of Hydrogen Ambients on Failure Mechanisms in Cmos Metallization

This report is the first description of the effects of hydrogen on failure mechanisms in an actual device under accelerated test. Time to failure data in vacuum, and in hydrogen is presented. A time sequence of micrographs of the circuit operated in hydrogen clearly shows the arrest of void and extrusion formation on the metallization tracks.
Advice and Consent: An Alternative Mechanism for Shareholder Participation in the Nomination and Election of Corporate Directors

There is cause to believe that institutional investors have a comparative advantage in identifying suboptimal governance structures, but that incumbent boards have a comparative advantage in rectifying those shortcomings, provided that the incumbents concur that the shortcomings are material. It follows that a desirable governance mechanism would simultaneously allow shareholders to specialize in the area of their comparative advantage (i.e., the identification of governance problems) and boards to specialize in their area of comparative advantage (i.e., the crafting of solutions to identified problems), while forcing boards to take shareholder criticism seriously. The direct shareholder access proposals under consideration by the SEC lack the significant benefits that can result from such functional specialization. The "advice and consent" procedure defined by Article II Section 2 of the United States Constitution provides a model of functional specialization within the structure of a representative democracy. This article adapts that "advice and consent" mechanism to the corporate context. Under the proposed mechanism, any director who is elected despite the fact that a majority of shareholders withhold authority for that director's election would suffer a variety of material disabilities imposed under SEC or SRO regulations. For example, the director might not be deemed independent for purposes of listing standards, and might be prohibited from voting on any matter required by SRO or SEC rules. Such directors could also be subject to rules that would call into question a corporation's ability to insure or indemnify them for violations of federal securities laws. Directors are unlikely to be enthusiastic about serving subject to such disabilities. Boards are also unlikely to be enthusiastic about the continued service of such directors. The proposed advice and consent mechanism can thereby create significant incentives for boards and shareholders to reach a compromise regarding acceptable board structures and candidates. An advice and consent mechanism has several clear advantages over the Commission's proposed shareholder access initiatives. An advice and consent mechanism seeks to promote cooperation between shareholders and incumbent boards rather than to provoke confrontation. It greatly reduces the danger that shareholders will resort to the proxy mechanism as a device for promoting special interest agendas, and also greatly diminishes the dangers of factionalization that can arise from the election of dissident directors to a board. The proposal eliminates the need for the Commission to adopt complex and potentially arbitrary rules defining "trigger conditions" and "qualified shareholders." There is also far less risk that the mechanism could be pre-empted by conflicting state legislation.
(−)(1S)‐1‐Phenylethyl Hydroperoxide and (+)(1R)‐1‐Phenylethyl Hydroperoxide

(−)(1S)-1-Phenylethyl Hydroperoxide [116102-42-2] C8H10O2 (MW 138.16) InChI = 1S/C8H10O2/c1-7(10-9)8-5-3-2-4-6-8/h2-7,9H,1H3/t7-/m0/s1 InChIKey = GQNOPVSQPBUJKQ-ZETCQYMHSA-N (+)(1R)-1-Phenylethyl Hydroperoxide [78833-98-4] C8H10O2 (MW 138.16) InChI = 1S/C8H10O2/c1-7(10-9)8-5-3-2-4-6-8/h2-7,9H,1H3/t7-/m1/s1 InChIKey = GQNOPVSQPBUJKQ-SSDOTTSWSA-N (reagent used as an oxidant in wide array of reactions) Physical Data: bp 250 °C (at 760 mm Hg); d 1.089 g cm−3. Solubility: soluble in dichloromethane, carbon tetrachloride, and most organic solvents. Form Supplied in: the reagents are not commercially available. Purification: purified using silica gel flash column chromatography, elution with 1:9 ethyl acetate:hexanes.1 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: unknown, but like most alkyl hydroperoxides. PEHP should be stored cold (ca. 0 °C) in the absence of light in a container unlikely to shatter if there is pressure build up. Exposing concentrated solutions of PEHP to heat, acid, reducing agents, or transition metal salts should be avoided. Excess PEHP should be carefully decomposed by treatment with reducing agents such as aq. sodium sulfite, methyl sulfide, or triphenylphosphine.
Unifying execution of imperative and declarative code

We present a unified environment for running declarative specifications in the context of an imperative object-Oriented programming language. Specifications are Alloy-like, written in first-order relational logic with transitive closure, and the imperative language is Java. By being able to mix imperative code with executable declarative specifications, the user can easily express constraint problems in place, i.e., in terms of the existing data structures and objects on the heap. After a solution is found, the heap is updated to reflect the solution, so the user can continue to manipulate the program heap in the usual imperative way. We show that this approach is not only convenient, but, for certain problems can also outperform a standard imperative implementation. We also present an optimization technique that allowed us to run our tool on heaps with almost 2000 objects.
Gender differences in recovery after coronary artery bypass surgery

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to examine whether female gender is associated with poorer recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. BACKGROUND The risks and benefits associated with CABG surgery in women are not as well established as they are in men, and there are concerns that women may have worse outcomes. The recovery period after CABG (the first four to eight weeks after the surgery) is a vulnerable time, with higher risks of complications and hospital readmission. There is little information on patients' experiences during this phase, particularly among women. METHODS We prospectively followed 1,113 patients (804 men and 309 women) who underwent first CABG consecutively between February 1999 and February 2001. Patients were interviewed at baseline and between six and eight weeks after surgery. Clinical data were abstracted from medical records. RESULTS Compared with men, women were older and more often had unstable angina and congestive heart failure, lower physical function (PF), and more depressive symptoms in the month before surgery. At six to eight weeks after CABG surgery, after adjustment for baseline characteristics, the rate of hospital readmission was 20.5% in women and 11.0% in men (p = 0.005), and the mean number of physical symptoms and side effects was 2.5 in women and 2 in men (p = 0.0009). Whereas, on average, PF remained unchanged in men (an increase in score of 0.3 points, 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.1 to 1.8) and depressive symptoms improved (a decrease of 0.2 depressive symptoms, 95% CI, -0.4 to -0.04), women showed, on average, a 13-point decline in physical function (95% CI, -15.8 to -10.4) and an increase of 0.5 in depressive symptoms (95% CI, 0.1 to 0.9). CONCLUSIONS After CABG surgery, women have a more difficult recovery compared with men, which is not explained by illness severity, presurgery health status, or other patient characteristics.
Clinical aspects of the Mayo/IBM PACS project

A joint project between Mayo Clinic and IBM to develop a picture archival and communications system has been under development for three years. This project began as a potential solution to a pressing archival problem in magnetic resonance imaging. The project has grown to encompass a much larger sphere of activity including workstations, image retrieval, and report archival. This report focuses on the clinical aspects involved in the design, development, and implementation of such a system. In particular, emphasis is placed on the clinical impact of the system both inside and outside of the radiology department. The primary concerns have centered on fidelity of archival data, ease of use, and diagnostic efficacy. The project to date has been limited to neuroradiology practice. This group consists of nine staff radiologists and fellows. Administrative policy decisions regarding the accessibility and available of digital data in the clinical environment have been much more difficult and complex than originally conceived. Based on the observations thus far, the authors believe the system will become a useful and valuable adjunct to clinical practice of radiology.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Low-Power Heterogeneous Graphene Nanoribbon-CMOS Multistate Volatile Memory Circuit

Graphene is an emerging nanomaterial believed to be a potential candidate for post-Si nanoelectronics due to its exotic properties. Recently, a new graphene nanoribbon crossbar (xGNR) device was proposed which exhibits negative differential resistance (NDR). In this article, a multistate memory design is presented that can store multiple bits in a single cell enabled by this xGNR device, called graphene nanoribbon tunneling random access memory (GNTRAM). An approach to increase the number of bits per cell is explored alternative to physical scaling to overcome CMOS SRAM limitations. A comprehensive design for quaternary GNTRAM is presented as a baseline, implemented with a heterogeneous integration between graphene and CMOS. Sources of leakage and approaches to mitigate them are investigated. This design is extensively benchmarked against 16nm CMOS SRAMs and 3T DRAM. The proposed quaternary cell shows up to 2.27× density benefit versus 16nm CMOS SRAMs and 1.8× versus 3T DRAM. It has comparable read performance and is power efficient up to 1.32× during active period and 818× during standby against high-performance SRAMs. Multistate GNTRAM has the potential to realize high-density low-power nanoscale embedded memories. Further improvements may be possible by using graphene more extensively, as graphene transistors become available in the future.
Avulsion fracture of the ligamentum teres in a child: a case report

Mise en evidence sur les radiographies d'un elargissement de l'espace articulaire, sans signe de fracture ni de luxation. Interet de la tomodensitometrie avec realisation de coupes tous les 1,5 mm afin de mettre en evidence le fragment osseux empechant la reduction de la luxation
Stress Analysis Along Tree Branches

Efforts have been made to develop various models to calculate the stress due to weight throughout tree branches. Most studies assumed a uniform modulus of elasticity throughout the branch as well as analyzing the branch as a tapered cantilever beam orientated horizontally or at an angle. However, previous studies show that branches located lower on the tree have a greater variance of modulus of elasticity values in the radial direction and that branches located lower on a tree are more curved. Also, different tree species have different morphologies, some with curvy branches. In this work we have developed a model which considers the curved shape and varying modulus of elasticity values in order to determine stress across the tree branches more accurately. To do this the cross sectional area was divided into rings and each ring was assigned a different modulus of elasticity. Next, the area of the rings was transformed according to their modulus of elasticity. We then considered the curved shape of the branch by generating a best fit line for the diameter of the tree branch in terms of distance from the end of the branch. The generated diameter equation was used in the stress calculations to provide more realistic results. Based on equations developed in this work, we have created a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in Matlab, which can be used as a tool to calculate stress within tree branches by biologists without getting involved with the mathematical and mechanical calculations. We also created a Finite Element Model (FEM) in Abaqus and compared results.© 2014 ASME
A discontinuous Galerkin method for nonlinear shear-flexible shells

Abstract In this paper, a discontinuous Galerkin method for a nonlinear shear-flexible shell theory is proposed that is suitable for both thick and thin shell analysis. The proposed method extends recent work on Reissner–Mindlin plates to avoid locking without the use of projection operators, such as mixed methods or reduced integration techniques. Instead, the flexibility inherent to discontinuous Galerkin methods in the choice of approximation spaces is exploited to satisfy the thin plate compatibility conditions a priori. A benefit of this approach is that only generalized displacements appear as unknowns. We take advantage of this to craft the method in terms of a discrete energy minimization principle, thereby restoring the Rayleigh–Ritz approach. In addition to providing a straightforward and elegant derivation of the discrete equilibrium equations, the variational character of the method could afford numerous advantages in terms of mesh adaptation and available solution techniques. The proposed method is exercised on a set of benchmarks and example problems to assess its performance numerically, and to test for shear and membrane locking.
An interleukin-1 receptor fragment inhibits spontaneous sleep and muramyl dipeptide-induced sleep in rabbits

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is hypothesized to be involved in physiological sleep regulation and in sleep responses occurring during infectious disease. If this hypothesis is correct, then inhibition of endogenous IL-1 should reduce both normal sleep and N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (MDP)-induced sleep. MDP is a somnogenic substance derived from bacterial cell walls. We report here the effects of a synthetic IL-1 receptor fragment corresponding to amino acid residues 86-95 of the human type I IL-1 receptor (IL-1RF) on spontaneous sleep and IL-1 beta- and MDP-induced sleep and fever in rabbits. Two doses of the IL-1RF (25 and 50 micrograms) were injected into normal rabbits intracerebroventricularly (icv). Both doses significantly decreased spontaneous non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) across a 22-h recording period. Pretreatment of rabbits with 25 micrograms of IL-1RF blocked the somnogenic actions of 10 ng icv IL-1. Similarly, central pretreatment of animals with 25 micrograms IL-1RF significantly attenuated the NREMS-promoting and REMS-suppressive actions of 150 pmol MDP injected centrally. The increase in NREMS and decrease in REMS induced by systemic injection of 12.5 micrograms/kg MDP were also significantly suppressed by central administration of 50 micrograms IL-1RF. In contrast, the febrile response induced by either intracerebroventricularly or intravenously injected MDP were not significantly affected by IL-1RF. These results support the hypothesis that endogenous, brain-derived IL-1 contributes to the maintenance of normal sleep and may mediate sleep responses to systemic as well as central bacterial infections.
Validating Emotional Attention Regulation as a Component of Emotional Intelligence: A Stroop Approach to Individual Differences in Tuning into and Out of Nonverbal Cues

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has captivated researchers and the public alike, but it has been challenging to establish its components as objective abilities. Self-report scales lack divergent validity from personality traits, and few ability tests have objectively correct answers. We adapt the Stroop task to introduce a new facet of EI called Emotional Attention Regulation (EAR), which involves focusing emotion-related attention for the sake of information processing rather than for the sake of regulating one’s own internal state. EAR includes two distinct components. First, tuning into nonverbal cues (TINC) involves identifying nonverbal cues while ignoring alternate content, i.e., emotion recognition under conditions of distraction by competing stimuli. Second, tuning out of nonverbal cues (TONC) involves ignoring nonverbal cues while identifying alternate content, i.e., the ability to interrupt emotion recognition when needed to focus attention elsewhere. An auditory test of valence included positive and negative words spoken in positive and negative vocal tones. A visual test of approach-avoidance included green and red colored facial expressions depicting happiness and anger. The error rates for incongruent trials met the key criteria for establishing the validity of an EI test, in that the measure demonstrated test-retest reliability, convergent validity with other EI measures, divergent validity from factors such general processing speed and mostly personality, and predictive validity in this case for well-being. By demonstrating that facets of EI can be validly theorized and empirically assessed, results also speak to the validity of EI more generally.
Quality of Life Outcomes From a Phase 2 Trial of Short-Course Radiation Therapy Followed by FOLFOX Chemotherapy as Preoperative Treatment for Rectal Cancer

Purpose A prospective phase 2 trial of short-course (SC) radiation therapy (RT) with 25 Gy over 5 fractions, followed by 4 cycles of 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin (mFOLFOX6) before surgery was recently completed at our institution. We present here the patient-reported quality of life (QOL) outcomes from this trial. Methods and Materials Eighty patients with cT3/T4, any N, any M rectal adenocarcinoma planned for resection were enrolled between 2009 and 2012. The QOL data were obtained prospectively using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colon (FACT-C) questionnaire before RT, before surgery, and 1 year after surgery. The previously validated minimally importance difference (MID) method was used to measure clinically significant QOL changes in FACT-C scores for each patient across time points. We examined the role of ostomy on QOL. We also compared QOL with disease outcomes and physician-reported toxicity. Results The FACT-C questionnaire was completed by 97% of patients before RT, 85% immediately before surgery, and 62% 1 year after surgery. There was no statistically significant change in mean FACT-C scores from before treatment to after treatment. The majority of patients had either no change or an increase in QOL 1 year after treatment using the MID method. There were significant changes in QOL between patients with ostomy versus no ostomy 1 year after treatment for functional well-being (FWB) (14.81 vs 20.52, P =.018) and the colorectal cancer subscale (CCS) using the MID method ( P =.004). Patients without ostomy reported stable changes in bowel control 1 year after surgery. There was no statistically significant correlation between QOL and disease recurrence, pathologic complete response, pathologic T stage downstaging, or acute/late toxicity. Conclusions SC-RT and sequential mFOLFOX6 as preoperative therapy for rectal cancer results in stable patient-reported QOL outcomes 1 year after treatment. These findings in conjunction with previously reported oncologic outcomes support further evaluation of this regimen in a phase 3 setting.
Assessment of Silicon-On-Insulator Technologies for VLSI

A high—performance, cost—effective silicon—on—insulator (SOI) technology would have important near—term applications in radiation—hardened electronics and longer term applications in submicrometer VLSI. The advantages of SOI over bulk Si technology for these applications will be outlined, and CMOS, CJFET, andbipolar device structures being developed for SOI will be discussed. The current status and future prospects of the two most promising SOI technologies —— beam recrystallization and high—dose oxygen implantation —— will be reviewed, with emphasis on such issues critical to commercialization as material quality and manufacturing feasibility.
Treating drug addicts and alcoholics together: a clinical trial.

This study reports on a comparative empirical investigation into the effects of treating alcoholics and drug addicts together as opposed to separately. Four hundred fifty subhects who had been randomly assigned to combined and separate treatment were followed eight months post treatment. The study reports on general effects of outcome of treating alcoholics and drug addicts together rather tahn separately and moves on to ascertain whether certain subgroups of alcoholics and drug addicts might do better or worse in combined or separate treatment. In general, neither drug addicts nor alcoholics did worse on any of the outcome measures. Furthermore non of the subgroups did better or worse in combined or separate treatment. The study provides support for combined treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts as a feasible alternative to separate treatment.
Conceptual and Empirical Scrutiny of Covarying Depression Out of Suicidal Ideation

Depression and suicidal ideation are highly intertwined constructs. A common practice in suicide research is to control for depression when predicting suicidal ideation, yet implications of this practice have not been subjected to sufficient empirical scrutiny. We explore what, precisely, is represented in a suicidal ideation variable with depression covaried out. In an adult psychiatric outpatient sample (N = 354), we computed two variables-depression with suicidal ideation covaried out, and suicidal ideation with depression covaried out-and examined correlations between these residuals, three factors comprising a variegated collection of psychological correlates of suicidal ideation, psychiatric diagnoses, and past suicidal behavior. FINDINGS indicated that suicidal ideation with depression covaried out appears to be characterized by fearlessness about death, self-sacrifice, and externalizing pathology. We propose that suicidal ideation may comprise two distinct components: desire for death (passive ideation and depressive cognitions) and will (self-sacrifice, fearlessness, externalizing behavior). Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.© The Author(s) 2016. Language: en
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection: achievement of high pregnancy rates in couples with severe male factor infertility is dependent primarily upon female and not male factors.

Objective To determine the efficacy and factors affecting outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in patients with severe male factor infertility. Design Prospectively designed clinical trial of patients selected to participate in the study based upon the following inclusion criteria: previous total failed fertilization or unsuitable sperm parameters for conventional IVF. Setting Tertiary care academic center. Patients Ninety-two consecutive couples undergoing IVF therapy augmented with ICSI during April through December 1994 were studied. Main Outcome Measures Fertilization and ongoing implantation and pregnancy rates (PRs). Results A total of 1,163 preovulatory oocytes were manipulated, yielding a diploid fertilization rate of 60.9%; the oocyte damage rate was 13.2%. The transfer rate was 95% with 43.1% of cycles having excess embryos that were cryopreserved. Overall, the clinical and ongoing PRs per transfer were 31.9% and 26.8%, respectively. None of the sperm parameters of the original semen analysis correlated with ICSI outcome. Female age did not affect fertilization results but had a significant impact on PR ( Conclusions Intracytoplasmic sperm injection offers a new and powerful therapeutic option to treat couples with severe male factor infertility associated with a variety of sperm abnormalities. An adequate female age is a pivotal factor determining a successful outcome.
Predictability of the t(1;19)(q23;p13) from surface antigen phenotype: Implications for screening cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia for molecular analysis: A Pediatric Oncology Group study

The t(1;19)(q23;p13) translocation occurs in approximately 5% of B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALLs) occurring in children. Its presence has been associated with a poor prognosis, which may be overcome with more intensive therapy. Although leukemic cells from cases of t(1;19)-ALL frequently express cytoplasmic mu heavy chains, their complete antigenic profile remains undefined. Among 697 consecutive cases of B-precursor ALL with complete phenotypic studies using a panel of monoclonal antibodies, 22 cases were found to carry the t(1;19). Twenty of 22 cases had an identical, complex phenotype characterized by homogeneous expression of CD19, CD10, and CD9; complete absence of CD34; and at least partial absence of CD20. Overall, this phenotype was seen in only 8.0% (56 of 697) of childhood B-precursor ALL. One of the two remaining t(1;19)-carrying cases conformed to this phenotype, but was lacking data for CD9. The other case differed by virtue of expression of CD34 and was also hyperdiploid with 55 chromosomes. Molecular studies showed E2A-PBX1 abnormalities in all examined cases (12 of 12) with the t(1;19), including the case lacking CD9 data. In contrast, no E2A-PBX1 abnormalities were detected in the sole t(1;19)-ALL with CD34 expression. Seventeen cases with the characteristic phenotype and uninformative cytogenetics were also molecularly analyzed and 5 of 17 (including 4 of 8 with unsatisfactory cytogenetics and 1 of 9 with a normal karyotype) contained E2A gene rearrangements and E2A-PBX1 fusion mRNAs. Our results show that all cases of t(1;19)-ALL with concomitant E2A-PBX1 fusion invariably express a characteristic but uncommon profile of surface antigens. These observations suggest that selective molecular analysis of a small subset of patients (those with uninformative cytogenetics and the characteristic phenotype) can identify a significant number of additional cases of ALL with E2A-PBX1 fusion that might benefit from more intensive therapy.
Impact of pH enhancement on populations of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in boneless lean beef trimmings.

Boneless lean beef trimmings were inoculated with multiple strains of salmonellae, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 at levels of ca. 6 log 10 CFU/g. pH enhancement with ammonia gas was then used to increase the pH of the trimmings to ca. 9.6. The product was then frozen, chipped, and compressed into blocks. pH enhancement reduced the populations of salmonellae, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli O157:H7 by approximately 4, 3, and 1 log 10 cycles, respectively. After the product had been frozen and compressed into blocks, no salmonellae or E. coli O157:H7 were detectable by enumeration or after enrichment and isolation. The final populations of L. monocytogenes were reduced by ca. 3 log 10 cycles relative to the initial populations. When uninoculated pH-enhanced lean boneless trimmings were blended with inoculated ground beef to a final concentration of 15% (wt/wt), pathogen populations in the ground beef were reduced by approximately 0.2 log 10 cycles.
On Yugoslav Poststructuralism: Introduction to “Art, Society/Text”

“Umetnost, družba/tekst” was an editorial published in the Slovenian journal Problemi-Razprave (Problems-Debates) in 1975. The journal was the central outlet of the so-called Slovenian Lacanian school and as such the most important place for the reception of French anti-humanist philosophy in the former Yugoslavia. The concept of the journal was based on interpreting French post-structuralism in the spirit of the Tel Quel magazine, anti-humanist Marxism in the spirit of Louis Althusser, theoretical psychoanalysis in the spirit of Jacques Lacan and his followers, as well as on a special blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Althusserian ideology critique, which characterised the French journal Cahiers pour l'Analyse. One might also find theoretical and conceptual similarities between Problemi and other French post-structuralist periodicals, such as Peinture, cahiers theoriques and Cahiers du cinema. The editorial presented here is thus a unique example of introducing structuralism, post-structuralism, and L...
Clonal analysis of human anti-V3 monoclonal antibodies selected by a V3 tetramer

The production of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has been improved recently using the single B cell and PCR technology. A number of new anti-HIV-1 mAbs directed to various epitopes were produced by selecting single B cells from HIV positive individuals using the HIV-1 envelope (Env) proteins, and we tested whether the peptide can select B cells specific to a particular Env epitope. Using the fluorescently-labeled peptide tetramer representative of the V3 loop of HIV-1 Env gp120 for staining the B cells derived from one HIV-1 infected donor, four clonal human mAbs were produced with specificity to the V3 region. The clonality of the four V3 mAbs was based on the usage of the same immunoglobulin genes and almost identical sequence of CDRs. The amino acid changes were present only in the framework and, possibly, they could be related to the differences observed in the relative affinity binding of these four mAbs to V3 antigen. One representative V3 mAb displayed very potent neutralizing activity to one of two viruses tested. This study shows the feasibility of utilizing a peptide tetramer to select epitope-specific B cells and produce mAbs.
Vestibular, Balance, Microvascular and White Matter Neuroimaging Characteristics of Blast Injuries and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Four Case Reports

AbstractBackground: Case reports are presented on four Veterans, aged 29–46 years, who complained of chronic dizziness and/or postural instability following blast exposures. Two of the four individuals were diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury and three of the four were exposed to multiple blasts. Comprehensive vestibular, balance, gait, audiometry and neuroimaging procedures were used to characterize their injuries.Case report: Vestibular assessment included videonystagmography, rotary chair and cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials. Balance and gait testing included the sensory organization test, preferred gait speed and the dynamic gait index. Audiometric studies included pure tone audiometry and middle-ear measurements. Neuroimaging procedures included high resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging, susceptibility-weighted imaging and diffusion-tensor imaging.Findings: Based on the neuroimaging and vestibular and balance test results, it was found that all individuals ...
Graphene: packing and dependency-aware scheduling for data-parallel clusters

We present a newcluster scheduler, GRAPHENE, aimed at jobs that have a complex dependency structure and heterogeneous resource demands. Relaxing either of these challenges, i.e., scheduling a DAG of homogeneous tasks or an independent set of heterogeneous tasks, leads to NP-hard problems. Reasonable heuristics exist for these simpler problems, but they perform poorly when scheduling heterogeneous DAGs. Our key insights are: (1) focus on the long-running tasks and those with tough-to-pack resource demands, (2) compute a DAG schedule, offline, by first scheduling such troublesome tasks and then scheduling the remaining tasks without violating dependencies. These offline schedules are distilled to a simple precedence order and are enforced by an online component that scales to many jobs. The online component also uses heuristics to compactly pack tasks and to trade-off fairness for faster job completion. Evaluation on a 200-server cluster and using traces of production DAGs at Microsoft, shows that GRAPHENE improves median job completion time by 25% and cluster throughput by 30%.
Anaphylactoid reaction to rattlesnake envenomation.

The clinical manifestations of an anaphylactoid reaction are identical to true anaphylaxis; however, a previous exposure to the offending agent is not needed to manifest these symptoms. We present a case of an anaphylactoid reaction in a 62-y-o female following a first-time envenomation by a rattlesnake. The patient required s.c. epinephrine and i.v. diphenhydramine, methylprednisolone, and ranitidine. She had not been envenomated by a rattlesnake previously or received any horse-derived antivenins in the past.
What triggers young Millennials to purchase eco-friendly products?: the interrelationships among knowledge, perceived consumer effectiveness, and environmental concern

As the attention to environmental sustainability heightens, marketers increasingly claim that their products help preserve the environment. Without proper understanding of how emerging target marke...
Superconducting optoelectronic platform for neuromorphic computing

We propose a hybrid semiconductor-superconductor hardware platform for the implementation of neural networks and large-scale neuromorphic computing. The platform combines semiconducting few-photon light-emitting diodes with superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors to behave as spiking neurons.
Fundamental Study of Corrosion Preventive Compounds: Part II—Effects on Galvanic Corrosion of Coated Al Alloy Panels Coupled to Noble Fasteners

The effects of corrosion preventive compounds (CPCs) on galvanic corrosion of coated Al alloy panels coupled to noble material fasteners were studied using a test specimen consisting of a painted A...
Africa and the Second World War

This chapter focuses on the role and experience of African soldiers, African civilians, and their continent in the Second World War. It begins with an analysis of the outbreak of the conflict, chronicles the process of recruitment of Africans, and concludes with an examination of the impact of the war on African soldiers, African civilians, and the African continent. It pays close attention to the key moments of the war in Africa. It also examines African involvement outside Africa. The chapter demonstrates that Africans participated intensively and extensively in the Second World War, that their role was dynamic and not static, and that Africans and their continent were immensely affected by the conflict.
Towards Multi-modal Interaction with Interactive Paint

We present a Multi-Modal Interactive Paint application. Our work is intended to illustrate shortcomings in current multi-modal interaction and to present design strategies to address and alleviate these issues. In particular, from an input perspective use in a regular desktop environment. A serious of challenges are listed and addressed individually with their corresponding strategies in our discussion of design practices for multi-modality. We also identify areas which we will improve for future iterations of similar multi-modal interaction applications due to the findings identified in this paper. These improvements should alleviate shortcomings with our current design and provide further opportunities to research multi-modal interaction.
Androgen Mediated Regulation of the G1-S Transition in Prostate Cancer

Prostatic adenocarcinoma is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in the United States and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men (Landis et al., 1998). Most prostate cancers are treated by androgen ablation, since androgen is a required mitogen for the survival and proliferation of prostate cells (Cunha et al., 1987; Jenster, 1999; Klotz, 2000; Labrie, 2000). This treatment is initially effective, as upon androgen withdrawal most prostate cancer cells undergo cell cycle arrest or cell death (Denmeade et al., 1996; Murphy et al., 1991; Westin et al., 1995). Unfortunately, androgen independent tumors arise and lead to patient morbidity. Determination of how androgen exerts its effect as a mitogen in early prostate cancer, and how the androgen requirement is subverted in advanced disease is the focus of intensive research.
In Situ Study of Stainless Steel’s Passive Layer Exposed to HCL Using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

The nature of 304 stainless steel’s passive film and how it is altered as a function of exposure time in hydrochloric acid (HCl) acid has been studied using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). This experiment offers the distinct advantage of in situ studies, on a microscopic scale, of the electrical character of the surface in the presence of a corrosive environment. In the present paper we present evidence which shows directly how the surface structure of 304 stainless steel is altered by HCl; simultaneously the surface is probed with a STM. In particular, the in situ current, I, versus bias voltage, V, curves were measured as a function of etchant exposure time. The important region, concerning passivation, is the extent and the slope of the I-V curve near where the current is zero; this region corresponds to the material showing corrosion resistance and exhibits a low or zero slope near where the current is equal to zero. The research establishes a quantitative measure of the extent of corrosion protection, stability, and the kinetics of the passive film. The findings of this research are correlated with nanoscale STM images of the 304 stainless steel’s surface.
MILLIONAIRE MIGRATION AND STATE TAXATION OF TOP INCOMES: EVIDENCE FROM A NATURAL EXPERIMENT

This paper examines the migration response to a millionaire tax in New Jersey, which raised its income tax rate on top earners by 2.6 percentage points to 8.97 percent, one of the highest tax rates in the country. Drawing on unique state tax micro-data, we estimate the migration response of millionaires to the rate increase, using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy. The results indicate little responsiveness, with semi-elasticities generally below 0.1. Tax-induced migration is estimated to be higher among people of retirement age, people living on investment income rather than wages, and people who work (and pay tax) entirely in-state. The tax is estimated to raise $1 billion per year and modestly reduce income inequality.
Management of Hypertension after Ventricular Assist Device Implant

Left ventricular assist devices are widely available for end stage heart failure patients as a destination therapy or as a bridge to transplantation. Hypertension is a well-established risk factor for renal disease and stroke in the absence of a left ventricular assist device. There is increasing evidence that hypertension also contributes to various adverse outcomes including stroke, aortic insufficiency, and thromboembolic events in left ventricular device patients. The accurate measurement of blood pressure as well as the recognition and management of hypertension in patients with left ventricular assist devices is essential for optimizing device function, end organ perfusion, and for reducing the likelihood of adverse events. As clinical experience with left ventricular assist devices increases, blood pressure goals as well as methods to measure blood pressure in continuous flow left ventricular device patients have been further defined.
Anion-exchange polymer filament coating for ultra-trace isotopic analysis of plutonium by thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract A new sample loading procedure was developed for isotope measurements of ultra-trace amounts of Pu with thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) that is based on a polymer thin film architecture. The goals were to simplify single filament TIMS sample preparation for Pu, while preserving the sensitivity and accuracy of the resin bead loading method, and to eliminate sample losses experienced with the bead loading method. Rhenium filaments were degassed, dip-coated with a thin (~ 120 nm) hydrophobic base layer of poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVBC), and spotted with an aqueous solution comprising triethylamine-quaternized PVBC and diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane crosslinker. This procedure formed a toroidal, hydrophilic anion-exchange polymer spot surrounded by the hydrophobic base polymer. The thin film-coated filaments were direct loaded with 10 pg of New Brunswick Laboratory certified reference material (NBL CRM) 128 from a 9 M HCl matrix. Aqueous sample droplets adhered to the anion-exchange polymer spot, facilitating sample loading. Toroidal spots with a thickness of 20–30 µm generated the highest sample utilization, surpassing the sample utilization of the standard bead loading method by 175%. Measured isotopic ratios were in good agreement with the certified value of the 239Pu/242Pu ratio for NBL CRM 128. The use of dimpled filaments further aided sample loading by providing a well-shaped substrate to deposit the sample droplet. No sample losses were experienced with the thin film loading method over 65 sample analyses. Finally, polymer coatings suppressed filament aging under atmospheric conditions, enabling the bulk production of filaments with adequate shelf life for future analyses.