cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A PROCEDURE FOR THE STUDY OF FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE NITROGEN METABOLISM OF ISOLATED TISSUES: HORMONAL INFLUENCES1

The classical approach to the study of the nitrogen metabolism of tissues has been through observations of urinary nitrogen changes. Efforts at more direct measurement have led to studies of NPN fractions in the blood of normal (Harrison and Long, 1940), nephrectomized (Bondy and Engel, 1947), and eviscerated (Frame and Russell,1946) animals under a variety of conditions. New approaches which have recently been introduced are the analyses of whole tissues before and after experimental manipulation of the animal (White and Dougherty, 1947) and the use of isotopes to calculate breakdown and synthesis rates(Sprinson and Rittenberg, 1949). Direct in vitro observation of the nitrogen metabolism of tissues has been discouraged by the finding that during incubation there is always a net loss of nitrogen from the tissue slices. However, if the loss of nitrogen during incubation is a constant, reproducible quantity
WFPC2 Images of Multiple Nuclei in Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei

High-resolution images have been made with the Hubble Space Telescope of the cores of three active galaxies: Mrk 348, Mrk 516, and Mrk 789. The 500 s images were taken using the WFPC2 camera with the F606W filter. Each galaxy exhibits structure which may be interpreted as multiple nuclei. Mrk 348 appears to have two nuclei, although it is possible that they may be bipolar ejecta from the core. The optical image was compared to a VLBI image showing a linear triple source. Though there are similarities between the two images, there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between the sources. The optical polarization angle for Mrk 348 (168°) is almost perpendicular to the position angle of its nuclei (84°). Mrk 516 is a spiral with a warped disk which may be evidence of a recent merger. One of its two nuclei is resolved. Mrk 789 was identified as a double nucleus galaxy from the ground and is a merger in which three sources were detected within one of the previously identified nuclei. However, it is possible that the knots may be very bright H II regions.
Incest and sexual abuse of children

Abstract Incest is defined, and the literature on it is reviewed. Clinical illustrations focus on the complexity of the issues involved and emphasize the need for careful, long-term, controlled studies using a broad population base for sampling. In addition, we stress the importance of determining clearer and more substantial criteria for psychological assessment because the specific impact of incestuous experiences is unclear, multidetermined, and may later in life manifest itself in a variety of ways including sexual dysfunction and depression.
Influence of Nickel Catalyst Geometry on the Dissociation Barriers of H2 and CH4: Ni13 versus Ni(111)

The role of catalyst size and geometry in hydrocarbon decomposition is elucidated using density functional theory (DFT). For the sake of clarity, the work focuses on the dissociative adsorption of H2 and CH4 on an icosahedral Ni13 cluster and a Ni(111) surface. Both H2 and CH4 adsorb molecularly at t1 sites of the cluster. Subsequent dissociation leaves H atoms most strongly bound to c3 sites, while CH3 favors t1 and b2 sites. A hybrid linear synchronous transit/quadratic synchronous transit (LST/QST) transition state search algorithm allows transition state structures to be located and dissociation barriers to be obtained. The lowest H2 and CH4 dissociation barriers are estimated to be 3.5 and 9.9 kcal/mol, respectively. The corresponding values for Ni(111) are 0.6 and 21.4 kcal/mol. Molecular orbital (MO) theory is employed to explain how local distortion in the electronic structure of the nickel atoms lowers these barriers.
Exploring extra-binomial variation in teratology data using continuous mixtures.

Summary. Discrete data from animal teratology experiments are known to exhibit extra-binomial variation. For example, we discuss a dominant lethal assay experiment in which male mice are exposed to various levels of radiation and are then mated to females. The response of interest is the number of resorptions out of the number of implantations. Most statistical work on analyzing such data has focused on modeling response rates as a function of dose of a suspected teratogen (radiation in this case) while accounting for the extra-binomial variability when calculating standard errors of the regression coefficients. Sometimes, however, when an unobserved genetic or exposure variable is suspected, the shape of the mixing distribution is of interest. We propose a mixture of beta-binomials (MBB) family of distributions that includes the non-parametric mixture of binomials model of Laird (1978) as a special case. The MBB family can accommodate a mixing distribution with one or more modes, and we develop a bootstrap test for multimodality. We apply the method to data from a dominant lethal teratology experiment.
Ensemble Kalman filter for automatic history matching of geologic facies

Abstract In this paper we address two fairly difficult problems. The first is the problem of matching production data (in this case, production and injection rates) by adjustment of the locations of the geologic facies boundaries. The second is the use of a Kalman filter for updating the facies locations in the reservoir model. Traditional automatic history matching tools are not widely available for reservoirs with unknown facies boundaries, largely because of the complexity of developing software for computing the sensitivity of the data to model parameters, the lack of differentiability of facies type, and the high computational cost in generating multiple reservoir models that are conditional to given data. With careful definition of variables, the use of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) minimizes those difficulties. First, the gradient does not need to be computed explicitly, the coding for the EnKF algorithm is easy and adaptable to any reservoir simulator on a plug-in basis. Second, an approximation to differentiability results from the correlation of variables. Third, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) method takes one simulation run per reservoir model realization, and the simulations of the reservoir models in the ensemble are ideal for multiple-processor parallel computation. We use the truncated pluri-Gaussian model to generate random facies realizations. The geostatistical model is fully specified by the threshold truncation map and the covariance models for the two Gaussian random fields. The pluri-Gaussian model is well known but not widely used, partly because of the difficulty of generating conditional realizations. In the first example, we demonstrate the application of the EnKF to the problem of generating facies realizations conditional to observations at 18 wells on a 128 × 128 grid. In the second example, realizations of facies on a 50 × 50 grid, conditional to facies observations at the wells and to production and injection rates, are generated using the EnKF. In general, we found that application of the EnKF to the problem of adjusting facies boundaries to match production data was relatively straightforward and efficient.
HIGHER AVERAGE MERCURY CONCENTRATION IN FISH FILLETS AFTER SKINNING AND FAT REMOVAL

Ten male and ten female brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) ranging in weight from about 500 to 3500 grams were caught in Lake Ontario. Opposite sides of each individual fish were randomly processed and trimmed to yield skinned or unskinned fillets. Skinning resulted in an increase in the average concentration of total mercury in the fillets of fish of either sex but the increases were not significant. With the exception of the unskinned fillets of the male fish, the concentration of mercury in the fillets increased significantly as the weight of the fish of either sex increased. The fillets of the male fish appeared to be higher in mercury than that in the corresponding fillets of female fish of comparable weight. In all instances, the concentrations of mercury in skinned and unskinned fillets were well below the 1 ppm fresh weight action level of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Land application of poultry litter and water quality in Oklahoma, U.S.A.

With the rapid growth of the poultry industry in Oklahoma, U.S.A., more litter is applied to farm land. Thus, information is required on the impact of applications on regional soil and water resources. The effect of soil and poultry litter management on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loss in runoff and subsurface flow from four 16 m2 plots (Ruston fine sandy loam, 6 to 8% slope) was investigated under natural rainfall. Plots under Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) received 11 Mg litter ha−1, which amounts to contributions of approximately 410 kg N and 140 kg P ha−1 yr−1. In spring, litter was broadcast on 3 of the plots; the upper half of one and total area of the other two. One of the total-area broadcast plots was tilled to 6 cm, the other remained as no till. The fourth plot served as a control. Relative to the control, litter application increased mean concentrations of total N and total P in runoff during the 16-week study for no-till (15.4 and 5.8 mg L−1) and tilled treatments (16.7 and 6.1 mg L−1). However, values for the half-area application (5.6 and 2.0 mg L−1) were similar to the control (5.7 and 1.3 mg L−1). Interflow (subsurface lateral flow at 70 cm depth) P was not affected by litter application; however, nitrate-N concentrations increased from 0.6 (control) to 2.9 mg L−1 (no till). In all cases, < 2 % litter N and P was lost in runoff and interflow, maintaining acceptable water quality concentrations. Although litter increased grass yield (8518 kg ha−1) compared to the control (3501 kg ha−1), yields were not affected by litter management. An 8-fold increase in the plant available P content of surface soil indicates long-term litter management and application rates will be critical to the environmentally sound use of this nutrient resource.
ARTICULATED WHEELED ROBOTS: EXPLOITING RECONFIGURABILITY AND REDUNDANCY

Articulated Wheeled Robotic (AWR) locomotion systems consist of chassis connected to a set of wheels through articulated linkages. Such articulated “leg-wheel systems” facilitate reconfigurability that has significant applications in many arenas, but also engender constraints that make the design, analysis and control difficult. We will study this class of systems in the context of design, analysis and control of a novel planar reconfigurable omnidirectional wheeled mobile platform. We first extend a twist based modeling approach to this class of AWRs. Our systematic symbolic implementation allows for rapid formulation of kinematic models for the general class of AWR. Two kinematic control schemes are developed which coordinate the motion of the articulated legs and wheels and resolve redundancy. Simulation results are presented to validate the control algorithm that can move the robot from one configuration to another while following a reference path. The development of two generations of prototypes is also presented briefly.
Tumor fistulization associated with targeted therapy: computed tomographic findings and clinical consequences.

PURPOSE To describe the computed tomographic (CT) appearances and clinical consequences of tumor fistulization as a complication of targeted therapy for cancer. METHODS The committee on human research approved this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study and waived written informed consent. Based on the records of the senior author and our multidisciplinary Tumor Boards, we retrospectively identified 4 patients (1 man and 3 women with a mean age of 55.25 years; range, 47 to 64 years) who developed tumor fistulization while being treated with targeted therapy consisting of sunitinib (n = 2); bevacizumab (n = 1); and XL184, an investigational c-Met inhibitor (n = 1). All available clinical, imaging, and histopathological records were reviewed, with particular emphasis on treatment administered, CT findings, and clinical course. RESULTS All 4 patients developed fistulae from large metastatic deposits in the abdomen (mean size before treatment, 10.55 cm; range, 7.4-13.4 cm) to the gastrointestinal tract, and one patient also developed fistulae from a lung metastasis of undetermined size to the bronchial tree. All fistulae manifested as the appearance of air within a pre-existing tumor mass. At the time of fistula detection, disease at other sites in the 4 patients showed signs of regression (n = 1), progression (n = 2), or stability (n = 1). Currently, one patient is alive without evidence of disease, and the 3 other patients are deceased. CONCLUSIONS Targeted therapy can be associated with tumor fistulization to the gastrointestinal tract or tracheobronchial tree; familiarity with the CT findings should facilitate the diagnosis of this complication, which seems to be of variable and patient-specific prognostic significance.
Elasto-plastic deformation of compositionally graded metal-ceramic composites

The elasto-plastic deformation due to thermal and mechanical loading of layered metal-ceramic composites with compositionally graded interfaces is analyzed using detailed finite element models. The model material considered is a Ni-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layered system with a compositionally graded interface. The analyzes consider planar geometries with perfectly periodic arrangements of the constituent phases, by recourse of new classes of square-packing and hexagonal-packing unit cell formulations for the graded material. Also considered are graded phase arrangements within which large numbers of microstructural units of the two phases are randomly placed within the unit cell. It is found that square-packing arrangements provide the best possible bounds for the thermal strains and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the graded multi-layer, among the different unit cell models examined; however, no unique bounds could be identified for mechanical loading. The numerical predictions of thermal and mechanical response are compared with those provided by the mean-field approach involving an incremental Mori-Tanaka analysis and by the simple rule-of-mixture approximations. The former method provides a stiffer mechanical response than the finite-element unit cell models. The finite element predictions of bending CTE due to thermal excursions match the overall trends observed experimentally for the Ni-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gradedmore » system, and further provide a quantitative prediction of the temperature for the onset of plastic flow in the graded material.« less
Oncogenic ras alters sensitivity of mouse colonocytes to butyrate and fatty acid mediated growth arrest and apoptosis

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and butyrate favorably modulate colonocyte proliferation and apoptosis. In order to elucidate how oncogenic Ras modulates responses to these chemopreventive nutrients, we incubated isogenic non-transformed and Ras malignant transformed mouse colon cells with butyrate and DHA or linoleic acid (LA). Combining DHA with 1 mM butyrate decreased proliferation relative to LA or no PUFA treatment in both cell lines. At a higher butyrate dose (5 mM), caspase 3 activity was elevated to a greater extent in Ras transformed cells. Only non-transformed cells were sensitive to the apoptogenic effects of DHA, indicating that Ras transformation alters sensitivity to dietary chemopreventive agents.
The microwave spectrum, barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group, and 14N nuclear quadrupole coupling constants in methacrylonitrile

Abstract The microwave spectrum of trans -crotononitrile was investigated in the 36–40 and 8–13 GHz frequency regions. Several J 0 J - J 1, J -1 transitions were assigned and the results lead to the following rotational constants for the A torsional state: A A = 38 053.97 ± 0.4 MHz; B = 2297.06 ± 0.02 MHz; and C = 2195.21 ± 0.02 MHz. The barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group was determined to be V 3 = 1900 ± 20 cal/mole. The 14 N nuclear quadrupole coupling was observed under high resolution leading to the following values of the coupling constants along the principal inertial axes: χ aa = −3.7 ± 0.1 MHz and χ bb = 1.7 ± 0.05 MHz. The methyl group barrier in trans -crotononitrile is discussed in light of the barriers in isoprene, trans -crotonoaldehyde, 2-methyl-1-buten-3-yne, and the cis - and trans -pentadienes.
Microwave limb sounder on EOS-CHEM for atmospheric chemistry and global change investigations

The Microwave Limb Sounder on EOS-CHEM foratmospheric chemistry and global change investigationsDennis A. Flower, Joe W. Waters,Lucien Froidevaux, Robert F. Jarnot, Gary K. Lau,Herbert M. Pickett, William G. Read, and Peter H. Siegel.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California, 91109-8099, USA.ABSTRACTThe Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) for NASA's Earth Observing System Chemistry Mission series ofsatellites is currently under development, with launch planned for 2002 on BOS-CHEM. This sensorbuilds on heritage from the successful MLS on NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS),which was first to demonstrate the microwave limb sounding technique for measuring the abundance oftrace species in the Earth's atmosphere from an orbiting satellite"2'3'4. Its relevance to the atmosphericchemistry and global change objectives of Mission to Planet Earth is discussed along with details of theinstrumentation being developed.1. INTRODUCTIONThe Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites planned by NASA, together with satellites planned by ESAand Japan, will provide a 15 year comprehensive set of measurements which are essential for advancing
Novel magnetic structure of integrated differential-mode and common-mode inductors to suppress DC saturation

Integrating differential-mode (DM) and common-mode (CM) inductors onto a single core has been expected to miniaturize EMI filters. However, the previously-reported magnetic structure often suffers from saturation by DC current, hindering miniaturization by integration. This problem seems exacerbated by the fact that this conventional structure tends to induce large DC flux because its equivalent number of turns for the DM inductance is restricted to only half of the total number of turns. This paper addresses the problem by proposing a novel structure that assigns more turns to the DM inductance to suppress the DC flux more effectively. This paper confirmed theoretically and experimentally that the proposed structure is equivalent to series-connected DM and CM inductors. Additionally, analytical estimation revealed that the proposed structure reduced core volume by 41% compared to the conventional structure under the same amount of copper. These results suggest effectiveness of the proposed structure for miniaturizing EMI filters.
Nonlocal Landau theory of the magnetic phase diagram of highly frustrated magnetoelectric CuFeO 2

A nonlocal Landau-type free-energy functional of the spin density is developed to model the large variety of magnetic states, which occur in the magnetic-field\char21{}temperature phase diagram of magnetoelectric ${\text{CuFeO}}_{2}$. Competition among long-range quadratic exchange, biquadratic antisymmetric exchange, and trigonal anisotropy terms, consistent with the high-temperature rhombohedral $R\overline{3}m$ crystal symmetry, are shown to all play important roles in stabilizing the unusual combination of commensurate and incommensurate spin structures in this highly frustrated triangular antiferromagnet. It is argued that strong magnetoelastic coupling is largely responsible for the nonlocal nature of the free energy. A key feature of the analysis is that an electric polarization is induced by a canting of the noncollinear incommensurate spin structure. Application of the model to ordered spin states in the triangular antiferromagnets ${\text{MnBr}}_{2}$ and ${\text{NaFeO}}_{2}$ is also discussed.
The ‘New’ Sociology of Empire and Colonialism

This study reviews recent sociological scholarship on empire and colonialism. The new ‘imperial–colonial studies’ in sociology is not a fully fledged subfield but an emerging space of inquiry that examines social forms, processes, and relations associated with imperialism and colonialism. This study sketches the main features of the new scholarship. It also situates the new sociological studies within a larger history of sociological inquiry and interdisciplinary context. Finally, it suggests that the future of sociology’s new imperial–colonial studies lies not in ‘sociologizing’ the study of empire and colonialism but in deploying analyses of empire and colonialism to help critically reorient some of traditional sociology’s limiting lenses and assumptions.
Unseating prevention for multiple frame bridges using superelastic devices

Unseating of bridge spans due to excessive relative hinge opening is a common problem for bridges subjected to strong ground motion. Various unseating prevention devices have been developed in both the United States and Japan to try to reduce the likelihood of collapse due to unseating. This paper presents the results of the evaluation of unseating prevention devices using nitinol shape memory alloys (SMAs). Superelastic SMAs have the ability to remain elastic under very large deformations, due to a solid-state martensitic transformation. This unique property leads to enhanced performance of the adaptive superelastic unseating prevention device, compared with conventional devices used in the United States and Japan. To assess the effectiveness of the devices, nonlinear time history analyses are performed on a typical multiple frame reinforced concrete box girder bridge using a suite of representative ground motions. The results show that for multiple frame reinforced concrete box girder bridges the adaptive superelastic devices are very effective in limiting the relative hinge displacement and preventing unseating, compared with the conventional steel cable restrainers.
Quantitative Analysis of Wi-Fi in the Presence of Interferers

Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) based networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM band. This "unlicensed" band is crowded by other wireless devices like baby monitors, Bluetooth based devices, and cordless phones. Microwave Ovens (MWO) are particularly popular unintentional transmitters that also operate in this band. This paper discusses a research focused on quantitatively analyzing the effects of various interferers on Wi-Fi based on metrics such as average data rates, number of packets transmitted, total power, retry rate and CRC error rate. This analysis will be a key element in designing and comparing various interference mitigation mechanisms in Wi-Fi and implementing restrictions on proprietary devices.
Technology, Demutualisation and Stock Exchanges: The Case for Co-Regulation

Self-regulation should involve expertise, and efficiency, and may work better across national borders than legal regulation anchored to a particular national legal system. On the other hand, self-regulation may be self-interested regulation. The paper describes recent changes in financial exchange structure and how regulators are reacting to these changes. I examine arguments for and against treating the new exchanges as self-regulatory bodies, and argue that we should move away from traditional self-regulation of exchanges, and instead move explicitly towards a system of co-regulation of exchanges and their competitors in which stakeholder interests are consciously built into the regulatory system. The development of multinational exchanges and transnational linkages between exchanges makes the nurturing of co-regulation in exchanges more problematic. A first attempt to solve this problem should involve building co-regulation into our models of how to regulate exchanges at the domestic level, at the regional level, and at the supranational level through bodies such as IOSCO.
Oxygen Reactive Ion Beam Etching on Polyimide to Enhance Copper Film Adhesion

Polyimide(PI) films were modified by O2 reactive ion beam etching(RIBE) to make special surface features which enhance the adhesion of copper films. The top plane and the cross-sectional plane of PI films were changed to a grass-like structure and a plate-like structure, respectively. The reason for these surface morphological changes is presumably due to the structural inhomogeniety of PI. XPS studies show that the O2 RIBE oxygenates the PI, resulting in an increase in oxygen and a decrease in carbon and nitrogen. The adhesion of evaporated copper on the O2 RIBE modified PI was substantially increased. In this study, the maximum peel strength of modified PI, 70 grams/mm, is more than 25 times larger than that of the unmodified PI, 2.5 grams/mm. Two types of failure mechanisms were observed with various ion doses:adhesive failure at the Cu/PI interface and at very large doses cohesive failure at the roots of the thin and long grass blades of PI.
The influence of the solvent upon the low shear viscosity of styrene–acrylonitrile copolymer solutions

This paper describes the results of an experimental investigation concerning the effect of polymer–solvent thermodynamics on low-shear viscosity of copolymer soltions. Thermodynamic parameters and low-shear solution viscosities were measured for solutions of polystyrene homopolymer and styrene–acrylonitrile copolymers in four solvents: benzene, dioxane, methyl ethyl ketone, and dimethylformamide. The thermodynamic quality of a solvent for a polymer is characterized by free-energy-of-mixing parameters. These quantities are: the Flory-Huggins thermodynamic interaction parameter χ, the second virial coefficient (from light scattering), the intrinsic viscosity, and the polymer expansion factor. The thermodynamic interaction between a solvent and a polymer in solution influences the rheological behavior of the system. At low concentrations of polymer in solvent, the low-shear solution viscosity is larger in a good solvent than in a poor solvent. In solutions of higher concentration, the reverse may be true and the viscosity is often significantly larger in a poor solvent than in a good one. These results are not predicted quantitatively by existing theory. The parameters in existing viscosity correlation techniques are found to be solvent dependent. The so-called entanglement concentrations for polymer solutions are not unique for a particular polymer but are related to the free energy of mixing polymer with solvent.
Effect of Body Weight and Age at Calving on Milk Production in Holstein Cattle

Summary The 180-day production records of 1,344 lactations of Holstein cows including records of lactations one through eight, collected from six herds, were used to determine the independent influences of age and weight on production. A multiple regression analysis of first lactation data indicated that for a constant age milk production increased 134lb and fat 7.8lb for each 100-lb increase in body weight, and for a constant weight each increase of one month of age was accompanied by an increase of 46lb of milk and 1.2lb of fat. When all lactations were combined and the number of the lactation ignored, milk production increased by 400lb and fat production by 14.4lb for each 100-lb increase in weight. For a constant weight each month increase in age was accompanied by an increase of 28.4lb of milk and 0.9lb of fat. Heritability estimates based on 385 daughter-dam pairs for body weight, milk production, and fat production were .29, .44, and .0, respectively, when obtained from first lactation data, and were .19, .43, and .41 for all lactations 1 through 4 combined. Genetic correlations between total milk and fat production were of the order of .90. Those between body weight and production ranged from near zero in the first lactation to −.53 in the second lactation. The genetic correlation between weight and milk was −.12 and that between weight and fat −.23, when the first four lactations were combined. Because of the negative correlations, less progress would be expected in selecting for both increased body weight and production than if they were independent or positively correlated. Analysis of the data indicated that as much and probably more of the variation in production was associated with body weight as with age.
P5.061 Microwave-Accelerated Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MAMEF) Point-Of-Care Test For the Detection of Chlamydia Trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most commonly reported sexually-transmitted infections (STI). In 2011, there were over 1.2 million cases of chlamydia reported to the CDC. This infection has serious sequelae among women including PID, tubal factor infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and ectopic pregnancy. Chlamydia infections can increase HIV transmission 3-5 fold. Often persons who present to a clinic for STI testing never return to the clinic to receive their STI test results. Thus the availability of a point-of-care test which can be resulted to them immediately is highly desirable. In the present study, we report the results of a blinded study evaluating the performance of two microwave-accelerated metal-enhanced fluorescence (MAMEF) assays for detection of CT DNA. MAMEF combines the benefits of low power microwave acceleration (MA) to rapidly accelerate biological reactions to completion within seconds with those of metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) for amplification of the fluorescence signal.
Critical Care Transesophageal Echocardiography

Critical care transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is useful in characterizing shock states encountered by intensivists when transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) gives insufficient information or when more detailed analysis of cardiac structures is needed. It is safe, feasible, and easy to learn and is a recommended component of advanced critical care echocardiography. This article reviews critical care TEE regarding training, equipment, comparison with TTE, indications, safety, and standard views of critical care TEE. It should be considered a companion article to a recent two-part series in CHEST that focused on advanced critical care TTE. Included with this article is an online supplement that has a representative series of critical care TEE images with clinical commentary.
Managing Technology Service Encounters: Provider Perspectives of Telemedicine Encounter Quality

Companies in a wide variety of industries are increasingly turning to technology-based systems to serve customers. The effectiveness of such systems depends on how comfortable users feel with the systems and the quality of technology-based encounters with consumers (Parasuraman and Colby, 2001). Health care is leading the way via using telemedicine for direct patient care. However, holistic (socio-technical) understanding of telemedicine encounter quality is still somewhat limited. To enrich understanding, we use a field study comprising multiple methods (direct observation, interview, survey) and perspectives (researcher and provider) to collect and interpret data. We conduct this study from the position of the health care provider, namely medical professionals who directly use the technology and are accountable for patient care. We enumerate quality attributes in the form of a taxonomy. Furthermore, we enrich understanding and the ability to take action and strategize by discerning the opportunities for controlling each attribute.
Context-aware web search abandonment prediction

Web search queries without hyperlink clicks are often referred to as abandoned queries. Understanding the reasons for abandonment is crucial for search engines in evaluating their performance. Abandonment can be categorized as good or bad depending on whether user information needs are satisfied by result page content. Previous research has sought to understand abandonment rationales via user surveys, or has developed models to predict those rationales using behavioral patterns. However, these models ignore important contextual factors such as the relationship between the abandoned query and prior abandonment instances. We propose more advanced methods for modeling and predicting abandonment rationales using contextual information from user search sessions by analyzing search engine logs, and discover dependencies between abandoned queries and user behaviors. We leverage these dependency signals to build a sequential classifier using a structured learning framework designed to handle such signals. Our experimental results show that our approach is 22% more accurate than the state-of-the-art abandonment-rationale classifier. Going beyond prediction, we leverage the prediction results to significantly improve relevance using instances of predicted good and bad abandonment.
Unified stochastic engine (USE) for speech recognition

A unified stochastic engine (USE) that jointly optimizes both acoustic and language models is presented. In the USE, not only can one iteratively adjust language probabilities to fit the given acoustic representations, but one can also adjust acoustic models (including feature representation) guided by language constraints. From the language modeling point of view, the USE makes it possible to encode acoustically confusable words in the language probabilities. From the acoustic modeling point of view, the language-constraint approach makes it possible to focus on acoustic words for which language models lack enough discrimination capacity. The authors report preliminary experimental results for Wall Street Journal continuous 5000-word speaker-independent dictation. The error rate is reduced from 7.3% to 6.9% with the proposed method. >
Self-Serving Attributions: The Role of Physiological Arousal

Asymmetrical attributions for success and failure are an established empirical fact, but the origins of this asymmetry are still the source of some debate. The present research examined whether physiological arousal plays a role in the generation of self-serving attributional judgments. Subjects received false feedback on an achievement-related task while their skin con-ductance levels were being monitored. Subsequently, they attributed their performance to various causal factors. Although attributions for success did not vary as a function of arousal level, self-serving attributions for failure were more apparent when arousal levels were high. These findings appear consistent with the claim that attributions for failure stem, at least in part, from motivational forces. The broader implications of the findings are considered.
Physicians' Anticipated Regret and Diagnostic Testing: Comment on Hozo and Djulbegovic, 2008

In a recent article in this journal, Hozo and Djulbegovic 1 (hereafter H&D) extended their previous work on ‘‘acceptable regret’’ 2 to situations in which diagnostic tests are available. They described a model in which physicians’ levels of acceptable regret affect the probability ranges over which 3 decision alternatives (order a diagnostic test, treat without testing, or withhold treatment without testing) are considered rational and appropriate, and they illustrated the model with an example involving a patient suspected of having a pulmonary embolism (PE). This commentary addresses several issues related to physicians’ regret and diagnostic testing. The first 2 sections concern the 2 components of H&D’s model: expected regret and acceptable regret. The third section sketches an alternative approach that draws more heavily on regret theory 3,4 and the effects of physicians’ anticipated malpractice liability on decision thresholds. 5 The final section points out that physicians’ gains from regret reduction are obtained at the expense of patients’ expected utilities.
Legionnaires Disease with Bacteremic Coinfection

We describe 6 patients who had bacteremic community-acquired pneumonia and unsuspected Legionella pneumophila coinfection. We reviewed case records of patients who were diagnosed as having a recent Legionella infection on the basis of either the presence of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 antigen in urine or a 4-fold increase in L. pneumophila antibody level and with a blood culture that yielded a bacterium other than L. pneumophila. Three patients were diagnosed with legionellosis on the basis of the presence of antigen in urine, and 3 were diagnosed on the basis of a 4-fold increase in antibody titer. Of these 6 patients, 4 were infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae, 1 with Streptococcus pyogenes, and 1 with Enterobacter cloacae. L. pneumophila infection in these patients may have predisposed them to concomitant bacteremia. Initial empiric antimicrobial therapy for patients who live in areas of endemicity and who are smokers should be treated with antimicrobial agents that have activity against pneumococcus and Legionella species.
A remark about a certain class of distribution spaces

The object of this note is to exhibit a certain class of distribution spaces as being c -admissible in the sense of [1] and [2]. Throughout the terminology and notation are the same as in [1] and [2]. The only addition to this is that if x ∈ R n then τ x will denote the translation operator which carries each distribution u onto the distribution u x .
(Re)experiencing hegemony: the linguistic imperialism of Robert Phillipson

Reading Robert Phillipson's Linguistic Imperialism in a graduate seminar in World Englishes at Purdue University prompted intense discussion and debate not only of the issues of language dominance and spread that the author raised, but also of the rhetorical style and strategies that he chose to present a story of linguistic oppression. This article documents the reactions of seminar participants to how Phillipson presented his argument and their conclusion that the rhetorical choices he made seriously affected their ability to find his story convincing. In particular, participants – representing English language speakers in Brazil, Greece, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the USA – identified problems with the author's claims and credibility, style and tone, and terminology and coverage. They also discovered that this book, which they expected to be a narrative of hegemony, was instead an illustration of the use of narrative as a hegemonic tool.
Cloning and expression of the large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel from colonic smooth muscle.

We have cloned cDNAs encoding the alpha- and beta-subunits of a large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel (BK channel) from canine colonic smooth muscle (cslo-alpha and cslo-beta). Nucleotide s...
In Vivo Models for the Evaluation of Antithrombotics and Thrombolytics

The development and application of animal models of thrombosis have played a crucial role in the discovery and validation of novel drug targets and the selection of new agents for clinical evaluation, and have informed dosing and safety information for clinical trials. These models also provide valuable information about the mechanisms of action/interaction of new antithrombotic agents. Small and large animal models of thrombosis and their role in the discovery and development of novel agents are described. Methods and major issues regarding the use of animal models of thrombosis, such as positive controls, appropriate pharmacodynamic markers of activity, safety evaluation, species specificity, and pharmacokinetics, are highlighted. Finally, the use of genetic models of thrombosis/hemostasis and how these models have aided in the development of therapies that are presently being evaluated clinically are presented.
Length of hospital stay after hip fracture and risk of early mortality after discharge in New York state: retrospective cohort study

Study question Can the length of hospital stay for hip fracture affect a patient’s risk of death 30 days after discharge? Methods In a retrospective cohort study, population based registry data from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) were used to investigate 188 208 patients admitted to hospital for hip fracture in New York state from 2000 to 2011. Patients were aged 50 years and older, and received surgical or non-surgical treatment. The main outcome measure was the mortality rate at 30 days after hospital discharge. Study answer and limitations Hospital stays of 11-14 days for hip fracture were associated with a 32% increased odds of death 30 days after discharge, compared with stays lasting one to five days (odds ratio 1.32 (95% confidence interval 1.19 to 1.47)). These odds increased to 103% for stays longer than 14 days (2.03 (1.84 to 2.24)). Other risk factors associated with early mortality included discharge to a hospice facility, older age, metastatic disease, and non-surgical management. The 30 day mortality rate after discharge was 4.5% for surgically treated patients and 10.7% for non-surgically treated patients. These findings might not be generalizable to populations in other US states or in other countries. The administrative claims data used could have been incomplete or include inaccurate coding of diagnoses and comorbid conditions. The database also did not include patient socioeconomic status, which could affect access to care to a greater extent in New York state than in European countries. Specific cause of death was not available because few autopsies are performed in this population. What this study adds By contrast with recent findings in Sweden, decreased length of hospital stay for hip fracture was associated with reduced rates of early mortality in a US cohort in New York state. This could reflect critical system differences in the treatment of hip fractures between Europe and the USA. Funding, competing interests, data sharing University of Rochester grant from the Clinical Translational Science Institute for statistical analyses used in this work (National Institutes of Health (UL1 TR000042)) and the National Institutes of Health (K-08 AR060164-01A). No competing interests declared. Data may be obtained through SPARCS at https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/sparcs/access/.
Molecular and Particle Simulations

The objective of this Chapter is to demonstrate the potential role of computer simulations in induction of the mode of irreversible change of material and formulation of continuum models of damage mechanics. An example of molecular simulation and two particle simulations are selected to illustrate this objective.
Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia with 2:1 Atrioventricular Block

This report illustrates an interesting case of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia that presented with 2 different ventricular cycle lengths due to a 2:1 block in the lower common pathway. At the induction of the tachycardia, a long-short sequence above the His creates a phase 3 block resulting in a 2:1 conduction in the lower common pathway. A premature ventricular contraction, by retrograde penetration of the His, eliminates the long-short sequence and brings the conduction back to 1:1.
Controller structure for optimized region of attraction of polynomial systems

The problem of optimizing the region of attraction (ROA) of continuous, autonomous polynomial system models is considered in this paper. An increase in the ROA of a favorable equilibrium point is a key step in ensuring the system is robust to the internal and external perturbations that may lead it to deviate from its equilibrium point. For example, in disease control and treatment, an increase in the ROA is desirable to inhibit the growth of a malignant cell. In this work, we propose a feedback nonlinear controller structure to optimize the ROA of a polynomial system model while keeping the nature and position of the favorable fixed point unchanged. The control action allows us to manipulate positions of other fixed points, thus providing an increase in the ROA of the fixed point of interest. We show that an extension of the bi-level optimization algorithm presented by Matallana et al. can be used to optimize the parameters of the proposed controller structure. We compare the resulting ROA of the controlled system with the ROA of the uncontrolled system to assess the effectiveness of the approach.
SYNCHRONOUS INITIATION AND SPORULATION OF FRUIT BODIES BY COPRINUS CINEREUS ON A DEFINED MEDIUM

As in many Basidiomycetes, dikaryotic mycelia of Coprinus cinereus neither initiates nor produces normal fruit bodies in the absence of light. However, once light-dependent fruit body initiation takes place, alternating periods of light and dark are required for normal fruit body development. Cultures grown on a defined medium designated as Coprinus Fruiting Medium (CFM) at 25 C and exposed to continuous light or alternating 12-h periods of light and dark, invariably produced fruit body primordia at the point of inoculation. Cultures kept in the light following fruit body initiation gave rise to abortive fruit bodies. Cultures grown in alternating light and dark periods produced fruit body initials after 140 to 144 hours of incubation. If these incubation conditions were continued, 4-5 fruit bodies per culture sporulated synchronously during the 5th 12-h dark period following fruit body initiation. Cultures incubated in the dark did not produce fruit body initials. The presence of both DL-alanine and L-asparagine in CFM was essential for both fruit body initiation and fruit body maturation given the appropriate light and dark regimes. The synchronous nature of both fruit body initiation and fruit body maturation exhibited by C. cinereus grown on CFM under the conditions described here make this procedure useful for a variety of developmental studies.
Mars aeronomy orbiter and its contribution to the vision for exploration

The upper atmosphere of Mars is thought to be unique due to the large influences exerted by the highly dynamic lower atmosphere below and the solar wind above. We review the history of upper atmosphere and solar wind interaction measurements at Mars and describe previous efforts to develop a dedicated Mars Aeronomy Orbiter. Science rationale, measurement requirements and mission design considerations for such a mission are presented that reflect not only recent improvements in our understanding of Mars, but also the President’s Vision for Exploration. Finally, we will discuss near-term opportunities for the implementation of a Mars upper atmosphere and solar wind interaction mission.
XIAP promote cell proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma through regulating expression of CDK4/CDK6/cyclin D1 complex

Objective To investigate the relationship between XIAP and CDK4/CDK6/cyclin D1 complex in cell growth of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods In preliminary study,Pathway Array was used to analyze protein in HCC tissues.After treatment of embelin in Huh7 cells,cell proliferation and cell cycle analysis were proceeded.Protein expression of XIAP,CDK4,CDK6 and cyclin D1 were detected by Western blot.Results Pathway Array showed co-expression of XIAP with CDK4,CDK6,cyclinD1 in HCC tissues.Embelin could lead arrset of G1 phase with concomitant decrease of S phases and inhibition of cell growth in Huh7 cells.XIAP could regulate expression of CDK4,CDK6 and cyclin D1 in Huh7 cells.Conclusion XIAP could promote cell proliferation through regulating proteins expression of CDK4,CDK6 and cyclin D1 in G1 phase,leading cell entering to G1 phase in HCC cells.
The Effects of High-Stakes Accountability Measures on Students With Limited English Proficiency

This article reports on a 3-year ethnographic study in a Boston Public school of the performance of Haitian students on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and its lasting and ...
Geriatric Gastroenterology: Future Trends

The US population is aging rapidly as the “baby boom” cohort begins to enter the geriatric age range of 65 and older. This demographic shift is likely to have significant effects on gastroenterology practice for at least a quarter of a century. Care of older patients is often much more complex, due in part to significant chronic disease burden and also to increasing impairment in mobility and cognition. This chapter identifies various aspects of gastroenterology practice that will likely be impacted by the increasing number of geriatric-aged patients, and suggested approaches to address these issues.