cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The mobilization of computerized crime mapping: a randomized controlled trial

To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a decentralized, smartphone-based crime mapping and analysis tool designed for law enforcement officers working in a patrol capacity. A mixed-methods, block randomized controlled trial was conducted. Baseline and exit surveys were conducted to evaluate device usage, application usage, knowledge of crime clusters, and data sources that individuals perceived to be most useful in identifying crime clusters. Focus groups were used to explore contextual factors associated with app usage. The results of this research suggest that patrol officers did not value the functionality offered by mobile crime mapping capabilities. Despite broad popularity of agency-provided smartphones, users saw little value in the custom app developed for those devices. Users reported that they were already aware of where crime was occurring and that the mobile platform did not provide useful additional details. Focus group members described some backfire effects of the evaluation methodology. The results of this randomized experiment demonstrate that smartphone-based crime mapping technology was poorly adopted because it was not perceived as useful. These results suggest that decentralizing crime mapping to this degree may have limited utility for end users. However, advances in smartphone technology since this research was conducted may provide future opportunities for development.
Windup and Directionality Compensation in Nonlinear Model-Based Control

When a process with actuator saturation nonlinearities is controlled with an analytical (nonmodel predictive) controller, the closed-loop performance may be of low quality due to process directionality and/or windup. This work characterizes these two phenomena and presents (a) an optimal directionality compensator and (b) nonlinear model-based control laws that optimally compensate for process directionality and windup.
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective clothing

Abstract: A fundamental understanding of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats is presented in order to provide a basis for the design of modern protective technologies and for the evaluation of the equipment on a material and full-ensemble scale. The balance between the protection against chemical warfare that is provided by an ensemble and the level of comfort that the ensemble permits is discussed and the factors to be considered when designing CBRN protective clothing are examined. Particular attention is paid to respiratory protection and heat strain. The man-in-simulant-test (MIST) is described in detail.
Characteristics of Phytoplankton Communities in the Coastal Waters of Power Plant

This study analyzes characteristics of phytoplankton communities around Wolseong nuclear power plant by selecting 16 stations from July 2006 to June 2007 and understands the influences on standing crops and chlorophyll a of phytoplankton by passing through the cooling water system. The total species number is 283, among which diatoms is 208 occupying 73.5% of total taxa. The mean of total standing crops is 469,380-3,704,114 cells L-1. It is the highest in April 2007 because blooming of Chaetoceros socialis occurs during this period. The mean standing crops of microplankton and nanoplankton are average 129,666-3,392,640 cells L-1 and 240,943-650,505 cells L-1 respectively, which occupy 54.01% and 46.54% of total standing crops. The mean concentrations of total chlorophyll a is 0.64-5.39 μg L-1. The mean concentrations of chlorophyll a of microplankton, nanoplankton and picoplankton are 1.33 μg L-1, 0.21 μg L-1 and 0.49 μg L-1 respectively. Dominant species around Wolseong neclear power plant during this study are Chaetoceros debilis, Chaetoceros socialis, Leptocylindrus danicus, Pseudo-nitzschia fraudulenta, P. subfraudulenta and Thalassiosira decipiens. Fluctuation rates of standing crops and chlorophyll a concentrations of phytoplankton passing through the cooling water system are 22.80% and 50.48% respectively. Decrease of standing crops and chlorophyll a concentrations of phytoplankton means that community structure of phytoplnakton may change at the discharge areas.
8.2 Perspective and Concepts: Biomolecular Significance of Homochirality: The Origin of the Homochiral Signature of Life

‘Homochirality’ or one-handedness is a characteristic hallmark of terrestrial life, which is based on nucleic acids made of all- D sugars coding for proteins made of all- L amino acids. But why is life made of L -amino acids and not their ‘unnatural’ D mirror images? In this article we consider at what stage in the origin of life homochirality first arose, and whether life's handedness was selected by chance or by a chiral influence. We discuss in detail the two most popular chiral influences – circularly polarized radiation, and parity-violation by the weak force – together with mechanisms to amplify small enantiomeric excesses to homochirality. We focus in particular on the ‘parity-violating energy difference’ or ‘PVED’ between enantiomers, and review calculations of the PVED, which show that in most cases the natural enantiomers are indeed of slightly lower energy than their ‘unnatural’ mirror images. We also review proposed methods to measure the PVED. We conclude with a review of the new field of ‘exochirality’ (chirality outside Earth), and discuss proposed instruments to search for homochirality as a signature of life both in situ on solar system bodies and remotely on extra-solar planets.
Conditional Requirement for Chemotaxis in Induction of Rooty Tumors by Agrobacterium Tumefaciens on Roots of Pisum Sativum

The rhizosphere is a zone of intense microbial activity where the successful establishment of symbiotic or pathogenic organisms can have a dramatic impact on plant health. Little is known about production and regulation of plant factors that influence the rhizosphere environment. Components of exudates from roots can influence the gene expression and growth of soilborne microorganisms (for ex Stachel et al 1985, Peters et al 1986, reviewed in Curl & Truelove 1986), and can act as chemoattractants (for ex Ashby et al 1988, Caetano-Anolles et al 1988, Hawes et al 1988). The primary sources of such exudates in healthy plants of some species are secretory cells from the root cap (Oades 1978). Sloughed root cap (SRC) cells, which can be isolated nondestructively (Hawes and Wheeler 1982), and can be cultured (Hawes and Pueppke 1986), have been shown to survive for some time in the rhizosphere independently of the root (Vermeer and McCully 1982). Not unexpectedly, carbon-rich SRC cells can support the growth of bacteria in culture (Hawes and Pueppke 1989), and have been shown to act as nuclei for microbial colonies in soil. However, a series of studies in my laboratory suggest that the impact of these cell populations may go beyond the nonspecific stimulation of microbial growth. In studies with several fungal and bacterial pathogens, I have found that the cells from different plant species and genotypes exhibit dramatic selectivity in binding, chemotaxis, and susceptibility to infection (Goldberg et al 1989, Hawes 1983, 1989, Hawes & Pueppke 1985, 1986, 1989, Hawes et al 1989, Hawes & Wheeler 1982). I am using Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a model system to test the hypothesis that the expression of such properties in SRC cells may act to regulate microbial populations in the rhizosphere.
Clinical and Radiographic Gastrointestinal Abnormalities in McCune-Albright Syndrome.

Context McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is a rare disorder characterized by fibrous dysplasia of bone, cafe-au-lait macules, and hyperfunctioning endocrinopathies. It arises from somatic gain-of-function mutations in GNAS, which encodes the cAMP-regulating protein Gαs. Somatic GNAS mutations have been reported in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) and various gastrointestinal (GI) tumors. The clinical spectrum and prevalence of MAS-associated GI disease is not well established. Objective Define the spectrum and prevalence of MAS-associated GI pathology in a large cohort of patients with MAS. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Methods Fifty-four consecutive subjects with MAS (28 males; age range, 7 to 67 years) were screened with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). Results Thirty of 54 subjects (56%) had radiographic GI abnormalities. Twenty-five (46%) of the screened subjects had IPMNs (mean age of 35.1 years). Fourteen of the 25 had IPMNs alone, and 11 had IPMNs and abnormal hepatobiliary imaging. The 30 patients with MAS-associated GI pathology had a higher prevalence of acute pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, and skeletal disease burden of fibrous dysplasia than patients without GI disease. Conclusions A broad spectrum of GI pathology is associated with MAS. IPMNs are common and occur at a younger age than in the general population. Patients with MAS should be considered for screening with a focused GI history and baseline MRCP. Further determination of the natural history and malignant potential of IPMNs in MAS is needed.
Pediatric Inpatient Dermatology: New Insights on Severe Eruptions and Cutaneous Adverse Reactions

This manuscript reviews important advances in our understanding of severe eruptions and cutaneous adverse reactions in children. The latest research provides significant insights regarding severe cutaneous eruptions including coxsackievirus eruptions, mycoplasma-induced rash and mucositis, urticaria multiforme, erythema multiforme, and severe cutaneous adverse reactions. Recent literature expands our understanding of the incidence and cost, pathophysiology, and management considerations for pediatric patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Pediatric inpatient cutaneous eruptions, from infectious and inflammatory to adverse reactions are very burdensome diseases. It is important to recognize salient features to initiate appropriate workup and management, particularly for patients with severe cutaneous adverse reactions for which early recognition of complications of disease and consultation with colleagues may minimize sequelae.
Provenance: Not the Problem (The Solution): Smithsonian Provenance Research Initiative

In 2008, the Smithsonian expanded its commitment to World War ll-era provenance research on works of art. The Smithsonian Provenance Research Initiative (SPRI) was founded, as an institution-wide p...
An advanced environment for spacecraft engineering subsystem mission operations

The Engineering Analysis Subsystem Environment (EASE) is under development at the JPL with a view to prospective small and large space missions. EASE is a modular multimission/multisystem architecture for spacecraft analysis that encompases monitoring and sequence support; its collection of software analysis modules is specific to a given mission, thereby easily accommodating mission scale. An EASE subsystem analysis module can be developed in modular program sets or packages, and a level of automation can then be introduced within such sets to achieve intramodule automation.
A Primary Reading Program for Beginning Braille Readers.

Describes the procedures used in planning and writing a primary reading program specifically for students who will use braille as their reading medium. Discussion centers on the selection of vocabu...
Effects of antismoking messages from media on adolescent smoking: The roles of family, school, and culture

Abstract Considering the context of family, school, and culture, this paper examines the effectiveness of antismoking messages from public media in influencing adolescents' smoking intention. Specifically, it proposes a model of the impact of antismoking messages on teen smoking intentions, in which media and its interactions with family and school serve as antecedents, adolescents' perceived personal attractiveness and social attractiveness as mediators, and the country-level power distance as the moderator. Utilizing representative data from teenagers in 23 countries, the findings suggest that media exerts a significant impact on adolescents' smoking-related personal attractiveness and social attractiveness, which in turn, affect their smoking intention. In addition, the effectiveness of media is contingent upon the channels of family and school in such a way that the impact of media on adolescents becomes stronger if family and school also deliver antismoking messages. Furthermore, power distance across different countries provides an important context for the individual-level effects. Antismoking messages from media channels are influential in low-power distance countries but not in high-power distance countries; however, family and school channels have a stronger moderating effect in high- vs. low-power distance countries.
C-Met activation is associated with Gemcitabine chemoresistance of pancreatic tumor cells in culture.

2334 Pancreatic cancer afflicts nearly 32,000 people in the USA yearly and has an extremely poor prognosis. The five-year survival rate is less than 5%, due largely to late presentation and resistance to standard therapies. Gemcitabine is currently the standard of care for unresectable tumors; however resistance to gemcitabine quickly emerges. To study mechanisms by which resistance arises in pancreatic tumors, we have isolated two gemcitabine resistant (GR) stable cell lines from the human pancreatic cancer line L3.6pl and AsPC-1. These cells were resistant to gemcitabine compared to the parental cell lines by 50 and 100 fold respectively. They were also resistant to EGFR and c-Met inhibition but were equally sensitive to oxaliplatin and 5-FU. GR cells were more migratory and invasive than parental cells lines. Because of the increased intrinsic migratory ability, we examined the status of c-Met, the tyrosine kinase receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), as c-Met is activated in 70% of human pancreatic cancers. There was a constitutive increase in the phosphorylation of the c-Met receptor, in both cell lines, while total levels were unchanged. Addition of HGF to the GR cells did not further increase receptor phosphorylation. Also, while the parental cell lines could be stimulated to migrate and invade with HGF, no change in migration or invasion was noted with addition of HGF to the GR cells. While c-Met activation was not associated with increased Src or Akt phosphorylation, GR cells acquired changes characteristic of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), including an increase in nuclear β-catenin and vimentin and a decrease in E-cadherin expression. As c-Met activation is associated with nuclear translocation of β-catenin and EGFR phosphorylation, our data suggest that c-Met activation may be an important mechanism leading to gemcitabine resistance, EGFR inhibitor resistance and tumor progression in pancreatic carcinoma. The mechanistic basis for c-Met activation is currently under investigation.
Ruptured cerebral mycotic aneurysm in a left ventricular assist device patient with bacteremia

A 50-year-old male with a history of nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy presented in cardiogenic shock and ultimately underwent durable left ventricular assist device implantation. He recovered wel...
Use of lac operon fusions to isolate Escherichiacoli mutants with altered expression of the fumarate reductase system in response to substrate and respiratory controls

Abstract Strains of E . coli with fusions between the lac structural genes and the promoter region of the fumarate reductase system were constructed from a parental strain deleted in the native lac operon. Like fumarate reductase in wild-type cells, β-galactosidase in these fusion strains is inducible by fumarate, but only under anaerobic conditions. From one of these strains, three classes of mutants altered in the expression of the hybrid operon were isolated. By anaerobic selection for growth on lactose in the absence of fumarate, mutants that synthesize β-galactosidase constitutively both aerobically and anaerobically were obtained. By aerobic selection for growth on lactose in the presence of fumarate, mutants that are inducible in the enzyme both aerobically and anaerobically and mutants that are inducible in the enzyme only aerobically were obtained. The regulatory behaviors of the mutants studied suggest that substrate and respiratory control of the expression of the fumarate reductase complex are mechanistically connected.
Cerebral Blood Flow Predicts Conversion of Mild Cognitive Impairment into Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Decline: An Arterial Spin Labeling Follow-up Study.

BACKGROUND This is the first longitudinal study to assess regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes during the progression from normal control (NC) through mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). OBJECTIVE We aim to determine if perfusion MRI biomarkers, derived from our prior cross-sectional study, can predict the onset and cognitive decline of AD. METHODS Perfusion MRIs using arterial spin labeling (ASL) were acquired in 15 stable-NC, 14 NC-to-MCI, 16 stable-MCI, and 18 MCI/AD-to-AD participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) cognition study. Group comparisons, predictions of AD conversion and time to conversion, and Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MSE) from rCBF were performed. RESULTS Compared to the stable-NC group: 1) the stable-MCI group exhibited rCBF decreases in the right temporoparietal (p = 0.00010) and right inferior frontal and insula (p = 0.0094) regions; and 2) the MCI/AD-to-AD group exhibited rCBF decreases in the bilateral temporoparietal regions (p = 0.00062 and 0.0035). Compared to the NC-to-MCI group, the stable-MCI group exhibited a rCBF decrease in the right hippocampus region (p = 0.0053). The baseline rCBF values in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) (p = 0.0043), bilateral superior medial frontal regions (BSMF) (p = 0.012), and left inferior frontal (p = 0.010) regions predicted the 3MSE scores for all the participants at follow-up. The baseline rCBF in the PCC and BSMF regions predicted the conversion and time to conversion from MCI to AD (p < 0.05; not significant after multiple corrections). CONCLUSION We demonstrated the feasibility of ASL in detecting rCBF changes in the typical AD-affected regions and the predictive value of baseline rCBF on AD conversion and cognitive decline.
Spatial variation in the intensity of interactions via heterospecific pollen transfer may contribute to local and global patterns of plant diversity.

BACKGROUND Studies that aim to understand the processes that generate and organize plant diversity in nature have a long history in ecology. Among these, the study of plant-plant interactions that take place indirectly via pollinator choice and floral visitation has been paramount. Current evidence, however, indicates that plants can interact more directly via heterospecific pollen (HP) transfer and that these interactions are ubiquitous and can have strong fitness effects. The intensity of HP interactions can also vary spatially, with important implications for floral evolution and community assembly. SCOPE Interest in understanding the role of heterospecific pollen transfer in the diversification and organization of plant communities is rapidly rising. The existence of spatial variation in the intensity of species interactions and their role in shaping patterns of diversity is also well recognized. However, after 40 years of research, the importance of spatial variation in HP transfer intensity and effects remains poorly known, and thus we have ignored its potential in shaping patterns of diversity at local and global scales. Here, I develop a conceptual framework and summarize existing evidence for the ecological and evolutionary consequences of spatial variation in HP transfer interactions and outline future directions in this field. CONCLUSIONS The drivers of variation in HP transfer discussed here illustrate the high potential for geographic variation in HP intensity and its effects, as well as in the evolutionary responses to HP receipt. So far, the study of pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions has been almost entirely dominated by studies of pre-pollination interactions even though their outcomes can be influenced by plant-plant interactions that take place on the stigma. It is hence critical that we fully evaluate the consequences and context-dependency of HP transfer interactions in order to gain a more complete understanding of the role that plant-pollinator interactions play in generating and organizing plant biodiversity.
Synovial sarcoma of the head and neck masquerading as a vagal schwannoma

Abstract Background Synovial sarcomas (SS) are aggressive soft tissue malignancies that classically affect the lower extremities of young patients. They are particularly rare in the head/neck region, comprising Case description A 30-year-old male presented with a 4–6 month history of a rapidly enlarging neck mass associated with dysphagia, dyspnea, dysphonia, and left vocal fold paralysis. Imaging was concerning for schwannoma vs paraganglioma, and initial pathology analysis was consistent with a neuroendocrine neoplasm. Repeat pathology/molecular analyses at a tertiary medical center suggested a diagnosis of sarcoma. The patient underwent surgical resection followed by chemo-radiation. Final pathology confirmed the diagnosis of synovial sarcoma. Conclusions Although rare, synovial sarcoma of the head and neck is highly aggressive and should be quickly diagnosed using imaging, pathology, and molecular testing. Repeat pathology review at a tertiary center is indicated if symptoms do not fully align with imaging findings.
Conservative numerical schemes with optimal dispersive wave relations: Part I. Derivation and analysis

An energy-conserving and an energy-and-enstrophy conserving numerical schemes are derived by approximating the Hamiltonian formulation of the inviscid shallow water flows based on the vorticity-divergence variables. These schemes also conserve the first-order moments such as mass and vorticity, as usual. The Conservative properties of the schemes stem from the skew-symmetry and singularities of the Poisson brackets, which are carefully retained in the discrete approximations. The schemes operate on unstructured orthogonal dual meshes, over bounded or unbounded domains, and they are also shown to possess the same optimal dispersive wave relations as those of the Z-grid scheme, which is a consequence of the use of the vorticity and divergence variables.
The Behavioral Toxicity of Monoamine Oxidase-lnhibiting Antidepressants

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the nature and incidence of the adverse effects reported with a major class of drugs used primarily as antidepressant and antihypertensive agents, the so-called monoamine oxidase (MAO)-inhibiting drugs. For comparative purposes, several other drugs with some antidepressant properties including the tricyclic antidepressants, lithium carbonate, amphetamine, L-tryptophan, and L-dopa is also considered briefly. The frequency of behavioral side effects during treatment with MAO-inhibiting antidepressants, clinical reports of the three most clinically effective drugs—namely, iproniazid, phenelzine, and tranylcypromine are systematically surveyed. The incidence and type of behavioral side effects, their time course, and their relation to drug dose, duration of treatment, and type of clinical population are presented in the chapter. Iproniazid was the first MAO-inhibiting agent studied extensively in man. The frequency of behavioral side effects observed during iproniazid treatment in studies of its clinical efficacy in patients with tuberculosis and patients with psychiatric disorders is also discussed in the chapter.
Photo Quiz: High Fevers in the High Desert in Oregon

A patient's wife called the Kaiser Permanente clinic and spoke to the advice registered nurse (RN) on behalf of her wife (the 56-year-old patient declined to come to the phone). The patient's wife stated that the patient had persistent fever and aches that had gotten progressively worse since the
Chronic systemic pesticide exposure reproduces features of Parkinson's disease

The cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) is unknown, but epidemiological studies suggest an association with pesticides and other environmental toxins, and biochemical studies implicate a systemic defect in mitochondrial complex I. We report that chronic, systemic inhibition of complex I by the lipophilic pesticide, rotenone, causes highly selective nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration that is associated behaviorally with hypokinesia and rigidity. Nigral neurons in rotenone-treated rats accumulate fibrillar cytoplasmic inclusions that contain ubiquitin and alpha-synuclein. These results indicate that chronic exposure to a common pesticide can reproduce the anatomical, neurochemical, behavioral and neuropathological features of PD.
Depression and hip fracture risk: the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study

OBJECTIVE: Since hip fracture is the most devastating consequence of osteoporosis from a public health standpoint, addressing whether depression is predictive of fracture risk is important. The purpose of this study is to determine whether individuals with high depressive symptomatology are more likely to suffer an osteoporotic hip fracture than subjects with intermediate or low depressive symptomatology. METHODS: Data from the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) were obtained from a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized civilians. A cohort aged 25 through 74 at baseline (1971-1975) was observed through 1992. Subjects were followed-up for a maximum of 22 years. Included in the analyses were 6,195 white and black subjects. Ninety-five percent of the original cohort completed the study. Hospital records and death certificates were used to identify a total of 122 hip fracture cases. RESULTS: In an unadjusted Cox proportional hazards regression model for all individuals, depression was predictive of hip fracture (hazard ratio [HR]=1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.13, 3.21; p=0.016). In a multivariate proportional hazards model controlling for (1) age at baseline, (2) gender, (3) race, (4) body mass index, (5) smoking status, (6) alcohol consumption, and (7) physical activity level, high depressive symptomatology remained predictive of hip fracture (HR=1.70; 95% CI=0.99, 2.91; p=0.055). CONCLUSIONS: This study gives evidence of a prospective association between depression and hip fracture. Additional studies are needed to verify these findings and to elucidate the pathways for the effects of depression on hip fracture incidence. Language: en
MODIFICATION OF RADIATION DAMAGE OF BACTERIA BY FOLIC ACID ANTAGONISTS

Pittillo, Robert F. (Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, Ala.), Mary Lucas, Robert T. Blackwell, and Carolyn Woolley. Modification of radiation damage of bacteria by folic acid antagonists. J. Bacteriol. 90:1548-1551. 1965.-The folic acid analogues, 2,4-diamino-6-methylpteridine, amethopterin, and aminopterin, have been found to sensitize certain bacteria, especially Escherichia coli, to the lethal action of ionizing irradiation. Data are presented which indicate that (i) the compounds must be present during the irradiation period for maximal sensitization to be observed, (ii) the sensitizing effect can be nullified by cysteine or cysteamine, (iii) the sensitizing effect occurs in a number of diverse bacterial genera, and (iv) folic acid neither sensitizes bacteria to irradiation nor prevents the sensitization caused by these antifolic agents.
Gender difference in the prevalence of clinical depression: the role played by depression associated with somatic symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that female subjects may exhibit a higher prevalence than male subjects of depression associated with somatic symptoms but not a higher prevalence of depression not associated with these other symptoms. METHOD: The author reanalyzed research interview data on major depression from the National Comorbidity Survey, dividing respondents into those who met overall criteria for major depression and exhibited fatigue and appetite and sleep disturbance (“somatic depression”) and those who met overall criteria but did not exhibit these somatic criteria (“pure depression”). RESULTS: Female subjects exhibited a higher prevalence than male subjects of somatic depression but not a higher prevalence of pure depression. Somatic depression was associated with a high prevalence of anxiety disorder and, among female subjects, with body aches and onset of depression during early adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: The gender difference in depression may result from a difference in a specif...
Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identities among South Asians in Trinidad

Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identities among South Asians in Trinidad. Aisha Khan. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. 264 pp.
Review: Kuhonta, Erik Martinez, Dan Slater, and Tuong Vu (eds.) (2008), Southeast Asia in political science: theory, region, and qualitative analysis

Review of the edited volume: Kuhonta, Erik Martinez, Dan Slater, and Tuong Vu (eds.) (2008), Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis, Stanford: Stanford University Press; ISBN 10: 0804758107, 455 pages
Transient photocurrent saturation and deep trapping in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Abstract The transient photocurrent following laser impulse excitation has been measured as a function of laser excitation density for several samples of undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon ( a -Si:H). A feature is observed in these data which is interpreted as originating from complete saturation of the occupancy of deep electron traps. The trap density is estimated from this feature and compared to the neutral dangling bond defect density obtained from electron spin resonance; both measurements are of the same magnitude. Estimates of the density of states, g ∗ ( E ), using the measured trap density are also presented.
Evaluation of patients with methamphetamine- and cocaine-related chest pain in a chest pain observation unit.

Objective Risk of acute coronary events in patients with methamphetamine and cocaine intoxication has been described. Little is known about the need for additional evaluation in these patients who do not have evidence of myocardial infarction after the initial emergency department evaluation. We herein describe our experience with these patients in a chest pain unit (CPU) and the rate of cardiac-related chest pain in this group. Methods Retrospective analysis of patients evaluated in our CPU from January 1, 2000 to December 16, 2004 with a history of chest pain. Patients who had a positive urine toxicologic screen for methamphetamine or cocaine were included. No patients had ECG or cardiac injury marker evidence of myocardial infarction or ischemia during the initial emergency department evaluation. A diagnosis of cardiac-related chest pain was based upon positive diagnostic testing (exercise stress testing, nuclear perfusion imaging, stress echocardiography, or coronary artery stenosis >70%). Results During the study period, 4568 patients were evaluated in the CPU. A total of 1690 (37%) of patients admitted to the CPU underwent urine toxicologic testing. The result of urine toxicologic test was positive for cocaine or methamphetamine in 224 (5%). In the 2871 patients who underwent diagnostic testing for coronary artery disease (CAD), 401 (14%) were found to have positive results. There was no difference in the prevalence of CAD between those with positive result for toxicology screens (26/156, 17%) and those without (375/2715, 13%, RR 1.2, 95% CI 0.8-1.7). Conclusion These findings suggest a relatively high rate of CAD in patients with methamphetamine and cocaine use evaluated in a CPU.
The use of serpentine earth coils in ground coupled heat pump systems

A research program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has studied ground coupling, i.e., the use of the earth as a heat source/sink or storage medium for solar-assisted and stand-alone heat pump systems. As part of this research program, five serpentine earth coil experiments were operated between December 1978 and September 1981. Heat was added to or removed from the earth coils according to weekly schedules based on computer simulations of solar-assisted and stand-alone, ground-coupled heat pump systems operated in the local (New York) climate. Each earth coil was operated according to a different control strategy. This paper presents experimental results from these experiments for the period December 1978 to April 1981, and compares these results to those generated by a computer model, GROCS, developed at BNL. The model is found to provide a reasonably good fit to the data, for the most part, using the experimental undisturbed soil thermal properties. In some cases, the use of a lower soil thermal conductivity provides a better fit, particularly during summer months when heat was added to the ground. Thus, given soil properties, GROCS can be used to predict earth coil performance. If given earth coil performance, the model can predict soil thermalmore » properties. Serpentine earth coils are found to be suitable to provide auxiliary heat or heat rejection for solar heat pump systems. In fact, earth coil-based, stand-alone, ground-coupled heat pump systems can provide all heat needed for winter space heating and all heat rejection required for summer space cooling with no need for any auxiliary heating. Subfreezing winter operation is necessary for shallow earth coils in cold climates. No deleterious effects to the ground were observed from the long-term operation of these experiments.« less
Direct measures of short-term visual storage

Two experiments, involving seven conditions, explored the use of direct measures of visual persistence. In each, the subject was asked to judge if an intermittent stimulus appeared perceptually continuous, or whether it completely faded before the next presentation occurred. The first experiment showed that visual persistence was set at approximately 250 msec. for a recycling presentation of a circle in a tachistoscope; in another task employing a moving opaque slit passing back and forth over a circle, persistence times averaged 50 msec. longer. Reducing luminance by 2 log units increased persistence only slightly, though removing the adapting field increased it by over 100 msec. The second experiment, using the repeating circle, varied the duration of the stimulus, and compared monoptic with dichoptic presentations. Visual persistence was found to be independent of stimulus duration over a range of 4 to 200 msec., where all durations were above recognition threshold for the stimulus. Persistence was una...
The Rational Choice Perspective A Theoretical Assessment

This essay attempts a theoretical assessment of the rational choice perspective, a central tenet in economics that has received wide application in recent decades in the other behavioral and social...
Commentaries on health services research.

Team-based care involving physician assistants (PAs) and/or nurse practitioners (NPs) in the patientcentered medical home is one approach to improving care quality. However, little is known about how to incorporate PAs and NPs into primary care teams. The authors describe the division of patients and services between primary care providers for older diabetes patients on panels with varying levels of PA and NP involvement. Panels with PAs and NPs as usual providers had higher proportions of patients with Medicaid, disability, and depression, and higher probabilities of visits with a supplemental physician. Understanding the division of patients and services between PAs and NPs and physicians will help defi ne provider roles on primary care teams. Everett CM, Thorpe CT, Palta M, et al. Division of primary care services between physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners for older patients with
Crystal Bases forUq(osp(1, 2r))

Abstract We construct Z 2-graded crystal bases for the quantized universal enveloping algebra of the Lie superalgebraosp(1, 2r). We show that, like the crystal bases in the Lie algebra case, these crystal bases carry a remarkable combinatorial structure.
Comparison between the membrane and synaptic properties of human and rodent dentate granule cells

Abstract We have compared the cellular and synaptic properties of rodent dentate granule cells with those of humans. The human tissue was obtained from neurosurgical procedures which necessitated removal of the hippocampus for treatment of extrahippocampal tumors which presented clinically with seizures. The hippocampi studied here were neuroanatomically similar to autopsy controls. The present studies have demonstrated that there are few differences between rodent and human granule cells as regards either their membrane properties or their synaptic physiology and pharmacology. The differences we noted were (1) less spike frequency adaptation in the human relative to rodent cells; and (2) perforant path stimulation reliably elicited both feedforward and feedback inhibition in the rodent cells, while in the human tissue feedback inhibition appeared to predominate. It is unclear if these changes are due to the seizure experience or if they represent true species differences.
Facility for high heat flux testing of irradiated fusion materials and components using infrared plasma arc lamps

A new high-heat flux testing (HHFT) facility using water-wall stabilized high-power high-pressure argon plasma arc lamps (PALs) has been developed for fusion applications. It can accommodate irradiated plasma facing component materials and sub-size mock-up divertor components. Two PALs currently available at Oak Ridge National Laboratory can provide maximum incident heat fluxes of 4.2 and 27 MW m−2, which are prototypic of fusion steady state heat flux conditions, over a heated area of 9 × 12 and 1 × 10 cm2, respectively. The use of PAL permits the heat source to be environmentally separated from the components of the test chamber, simplifying the design to accommodate safe testing of low-level irradiated articles and materials under high-heat flux. Issues related to the operation and temperature measurements during testing of tungsten samples are presented and discussed. The relative advantages and disadvantages of this photon-based HHFT facility are compared to existing e-beam and particle beam facilities used for similar purposes.
Automatic analysis of real algebraic curves

We describe a computer program for the automatic analysis of a real plane affine algebraic curve. The input to the program is a bivariate integral polynomial F (x, y); the outputs are a report on the real curve defined by F(x, y) = 0, and a picture of the curve. The report contains the following information: whether the curve is irreducible, whether singular, and whether bounded; the number of its connected components and the dimension of each; the number of singular, turning, and level points of the curve. Approximations to these special points can be obtained to any desired precision; the more precision, the more time required. The exact form of the picture is controlled by the user; a topologically correct but "linearized" picture can be produced relatively quickly, while a more accurate drawing can be generated but requires more time. The program makes essential use of the clustering cylindrical algebraic decomposition algorithm [Arnon DS: Algorithms for the geometry of semi-algebraic sets (Dissertation). Technical Report #436, Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1981].
Cloning and preliminary characterization of a 121 kDa protein with multiple predicted C2 domains

In the course of characterizing proteins present in a preparation of vesicles from rat adipocytes containing glucose transporters, we examined a protein that migrated at 115 kDa upon SDS gel electrophoresis (designated vp115). Sequences of tryptic peptides were obtained, and from this information the cDNA for rat vp115 was cloned. The cDNA encodes an open reading frame for a protein of 121 kDa. Computer-aided sequence analysis predicted that vp115 has a potential membrane-inserted or membrane-spanning domain toward its amino terminus, followed by five C2 domains. Immunoblotting revealed that vp115 was not actually a component of the glucose transporter-containing vesicles, was most abundant in the plasma membranes and high density microsome fractions of rat adipocytes, and was expressed in all the major rat tissues.
Multimedia encryption with joint randomized entropy coding and rotation in partitioned bitstream

This work investigates the problem of efficient multimedia data encryption. A novel methodology is proposed to achieve encryption by controlling certain operations in the data compression process using a secret key. The new encryption approach consists of two cascaded modules. The first one is called randomized entropy coding (REC) while the second one is called rotation in partitioned bitstream (RPB). By leveraging the structure of the entropy coder, the joint REC/RPB encryption scheme incurs extremely low computational and implementation costs. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme can withstand the ciphertext-only attack as well as the known/chosen plaintext attack. The efficiency and security of the proposed encryption scheme makes it an ideal choice in secure media applications where a large amount of multimedia data has to be encrypted/decrypted in real time.
Glycomimetic building blocks: a divergent synthesis of epimers of shikimic acid

A divergent synthesis of (−)-4-epi-shikimic acid was developed. This route features a one-pot zinc-mediated reductive ring opening of an arabinofuranose followed by a Barbier reaction and culminates in a ring-closing metathesis. Functionalization of (−)-4-epi-shikimic acid via conjugate addition of a thiol occurs in high diastereoselectivity to afford a product with the features of fucosylated glycans.
Spatial and temporal patterns across an ecological boundary: allochthonous effects of a young saltwater lake on a desert ecosystem.

We documented changes in the abundance and composition of terrestrial flora and fauna with respect to distance from the sea edge and timing of large allochthonous inputs from the Salton Sea, California. We found significant effects that were most pronounced within 300 m of the shore, but extended 3 km inland via coyote scat deposition. The zone within 300 m of the sea had a higher density of vegetation with a distinctly different plant composition. The denser vegetation supported higher abundances of birds and reptiles. Coyotes exhibited spatial and temporal responses to marine subsidies of fish, while birds were likely subsidized by aquatic aerial insects. Top-down control, as well as dietary and habitat preferences, may have resulted in reduced number of ants, beetles, and small mammals near the sea. Species responses to the habitat edge appeared to be associated with life history, as the near shore habitat favored habitat generalists and shore specialists, while inland desert habitat favored many sand and open desert specialists. Ecosystem responses support current theories of allochthonous spatial subsidies and consumer-resource dynamics but were limited in scope, magnitude, and distance.
TdTomato and EGFP identification in histological sections: insight and alternatives

Tandem dimer Tomato (tdTomato) provides a useful alternative to enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) for performing simultaneous detection of fluorescent protein in histological sections toget...
Noninvasive radiofrequency ablation of cancer targeted by gold nanoparticles

Introduction Current radiofrequency ablation (RFA) techniques require invasive needle placement and are limited by accuracy of targeting. The purpose of this study was to test a novel non invasive radiowave machine that uses RF energy to thermally destroy tissue. Gold nanoparticles were designed and produced to facilitate tissue heating by the radiowaves. Methods A solid state radiowave machine consisting of a power generator and transmitting/receiving couplers which transmit radiowaves at 13.56 MHz was used. Gold nanoparticles were produced by citrate reduction and exposed to the RF field either in solutions testing or after incubation with HepG2 cells. A rat hepatoma model using JM-1 cells and Fisher rats was employed using direct injection of nanoparticles into the tumor to focus the radiowaves for select heating. Temperatures were measured using a fiber-optic thermometer for real-time data. Results Solutions containing gold nanoparticles heated in a time- and power-dependent manner. HepG2 liver cancer cells cultured in the presence of gold nanoparticles achieved adequate heating to cause cell death upon exposure to the RF field with no cytotoxicity attributable to the gold nanoparticles themselves. In vivo rat exposures at 35 W using direct gold nanoparticle injections resulted in significant temperature increases and thermal injury at subcutaneous injection sites as compared to vehicle (water) injected controls. Discussion These data show that non invasive radiowave thermal ablation of cancer cells is feasible when facilitated by gold nanoparticles. Future studies will focus on tumor selective targeting of nanoparticles for in vivo tumor destruction.
Engineering research and development for the Elise Heavy Ion Induction Accelerator

The Fusion Energy Research engineering team has been conducting Research and Development Associated with the Construction (RDAC) of the Elise accelerator since the approval of Key Decision one (KD1 is start of construction). The engineering design effort has worked in close cooperation with the physics design staff to achieve all parameters of the Elise accelerator. The design included the 2 MV injector, matching section, combiner, induction cells, electric/magnetic quadrupoles, alignment system and controls. All major designs and some hardware testing will be discussed.
The application of 4 × 4 matrix method to the correction of the measurements of hip joint rotations

Abstract The three rotations of the human hip joint can be approximated by using the electrogoniometric technique. Because the measuring device is not directly located at this point, potential errors exist between the recorded and the actual motions. The objective of this paper is to determine the magnitude and the distribution of these errors. The properly attached goniometer linkage and the femur form a 7-link spatial mechanism. The motion of this spatial mechanism is solved by using the 4 × 4 matrix method with three input motions defined from potentiometers attached to the goniometer linkage. From the solution of this mechanism, the corrected rotations of the hip-joint are obtained. The maximum error is less than 5 deg at any point in the walking cycle for a normal subject. The largest corrections occur at maximum internal and external rotations. Measurements of hip motion for several activities of daily living are also corrected, and the errors are magnified, compared to walking, since larger angles of rotation are involved.
Klebsiella Pneumoniae Liver Abscess: An Emerging Problem in North America

Abstract Background: Before the 1980s, Escherichia coli was the most common cause of pyogenic liver abscess, but more recently, Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as the most common organism in the United States and Taiwan. Objective: Our goal is to present a case of K. pneumoniae liver abscess (KLA) and review the risk factors, presenting symptoms, complications, and treatment of this disease that is emerging in North America. Case Report: We present a patient who was found to have KLA complicated by bacteremia and sepsis. Conclusions: Initially described in the Asian literature, KLA is an emerging problem in North America. We present this case to increase awareness among emergency physicians of the diagnosis, risk factors, potential complications—including bacteremia and disseminated infection—and treatment.