cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Relative contributions of surgeons and decision support systems.

This article addresses the role of surgeons and decision support systems in implementing evidence-based surgery. A PubMed search to query ‘‘evidencebased surgery’’ revealed 2835 citations. Between 1971 and 1991, a scant one to three citations appeared annually. In about 1995, an explosive, exponential increase in references to evidence-based surgery began, and has continued to the present. This attention to evidence-based surgery followed Sackett and colleagues’ [1] definition of evidence-based medicine as the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. This means application of scientifically valid patient-oriented evidence that matters (POEM) [2]. This definition also stressed the value of clinical expertise and clinical skill. The practice of evidence-based medicine must include the knowledge, experience, and skill of the physician. In the case of surgery, we cannot overlook or underestimate the value of knowledge, experience, judgment, and technical skill. The art and craft of surgery are important. Evidence-based medicine includes support of individual patient values, choices, and circumstances. The discipline of evidence-based medicine lends itself to the care of individual patients by individual physicians, probably because it was developed by individual physicians caring for individual patients. Surgeons face the challenge of adapting to the discipline of evidence-based medicine and incorporating it into their practice. Each surgeon also treats individual patients: no two patients are the same, and no two operations are the same. Operations, although inherently variable, can be categorized. Ultimately, the universal
An explicit closed-form solution for linear systems subjected to nonstationary random excitation

Explicit, closed-form solutions are presented for the correlation matrix and evolutionary power spectral density matrix of the response of a linear, classically damped MDOF system subjected to a uniformly modulated random process with the gamma envelope function. The effects of the statistical cross-modal correlations on the evolutionary mean square responses are investigated. A simple MDOF system subjected to ground motion is used as an illustrative example. Through this study, additional insight is gained into the nonstationary behavior of linear dynamic systems.
A pharmacological Study of Two Isomeric Sodium Hydroxymercuribenzoates

Several effects of two isomeric sodium hydroxymercuribenzoates have been determined and are reported in this paper. The effects of the two isomers have been found to be essentially identical.
Massively-parallel FDTD simulations to address mask electromagnetic effects in hyper–NA immersion lithography

In the Hyper-NA immersion lithography regime, the electromagnetic response of the reticle is known to deviate in a complicated manner from the idealized Thin-Mask-like behavior. Already, this is driving certain RET choices, such as the use of polarized illumination and the customization of reticle film stacks. Unfortunately, full 3-D electromagnetic mask simulations are computationally intensive. And while OPC-compatible mask electromagnetic field (EMF) models can offer a reasonable tradeoff between speed and accuracy for full-chip OPC applications, full understanding of these complex physical effects demands higher accuracy. Our paper describes recent advances in leveraging High Performance Computing as a critical step towards lithographic modeling of the full manufacturing process. In this paper, highly accurate full 3-D electromagnetic simulation of very large mask layouts are conducted in parallel with reasonable turnaround time, using a Blue- Gene/L supercomputer and a Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) code developed internally within IBM. A 3-D simulation of a large 2-D layout spanning 5μm×5μm at the wafer plane (and thus (20μm×20μm×0.5μm at the mask) results in a simulation with roughly 12.5GB of memory (grid size of 10nm at the mask, single-precision computation, about 30 bytes/grid point). FDTD is flexible and easily parallelizable to enable full simulations of such large layout in approximately an hour using one BlueGene/L "midplane" containing 512 dual-processor nodes with 256MB of memory per processor. Our scaling studies on BlueGene/L demonstrate that simulations up to 100μm × 100μm at the mask can be computed in a few hours. Finally, we will show that the use of a subcell technique permits accurate simulation of features smaller than the grid discretization, thus improving on the tradeoff between computational complexity and simulation accuracy. We demonstrate the correlation of the real and quadrature components that comprise the Boundary Layer representation of the EMF behavior of a mask blank to intensity measurements of the mask diffraction patterns by an Aerial Image Measurement System (AIMS) with polarized illumination. We also discuss how this model can become a powerful tool for the assessment of the impact to the lithographic process of a mask blank.
EUS-guided fiducial placement before targeted radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Background Image-guided radiation therapy allows the delivery of precisely aimed radiation beams to tumors while minimizing radiation to adjacent normal tissue. This is particularly important in the prostate, a moving target whose positioning depends on the dynamics of its neighboring bladder and rectum. Targeted radiation therapy can be achieved by using implantable radiographic markers, or fiducials, which serve as reference points to accurately delineate tumors. Objective To determine the feasibility and safety of placing fiducials in the prostate under linear array EUS guidance to facilitate targeted radiation therapy. Design Retrospective analysis of a prospective database. Setting University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, a tertiary cancer referral center. Patients Localized prostate cancer patients scheduled to undergo intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Interventions A total of 16 patients underwent EUS-guided fiducial placement to delineate the prostate before planned radiation therapy. Results Fiducial placement was successful in all patients (100%). A total of 71 gold markers were deployed in a 4-quadrant manner outlining the prostate. Seven of 16 patients had an additional fiducial placed to ensure adequate prostate delineation. Patients tolerated the procedure well with minimal discomfort. No complications developed from the procedure. Limitations Single-center experience, small sample size. Conclusions EUS-guided placement of fiducials to facilitate image-guided radiation therapy for prostate cancer is a feasible alternative to transperineal or transrectal US approaches, thereby adding to the expanding list of indications for linear EUS. This procedure can be safely performed by endosonographers familiar with perirectal anatomy and transrectal FNA technique.
The heart in hemochromatosis.

Abstract A case of hemochromatosis with death due to heart failure has been presented. The literature has been reviewed with respect to the pathophysiology of congestive heart failure due to hemochromatosis. The possibility of fatty degeneration of the heart as a precursor of myocardial fibrosis was discussed. In addition, the findings of focal necrosis of the anterior pituitary and lack of body storage fat are reported.
The effect of medial thalamic lesions on acquisition of a go, no-go, tone-light discrimination task

Rats with bilateral lesions of either the anterior, central, or posterior dorsomedial thalamus or with sham operations were compared on the acquisition of a food reinforced, tone-light, go/no-go discrimination task in an operant chamber. Rats with small lesions of the central portion of the medial thalamus (centered on the dorsomedial nucleus) were found to be deficient relative to rats with sham or small anterior medial thalamic lesions.
Sleep and Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a lifelong disorder generally appearing in adolescence and typically exhibiting the tetrad of excessive sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. Not all patients develop the full symptomatology. The etiology remains unknown and treatment is symptomatic. Narcolepsy was described a little over 100 years ago and remained a rather esoteric diagnosis until the advent of clinically accessible sleep laboratories. Today, narcolepsy is diagnosed more frequently than multiple sclerosis and constitutes a socially incapacitating disorder when fully developed.
Supply chain management and the international dissemination of e‐commerce

Supply‐chain management, at least in the largest multi‐national corporations, is a global endeavor. It is undergoing a transformation caused by the worldwide spread of digital communications, and e‐commerce in particular. Hence, it is necessary to understand the development of e‐commerce and its future trends. This development is based on what is at times rather rapid advances generated or supported by the external environment with factors like institutions and electronic infrastructures. E‐commerce is rapidly spreading internationally, but by no means uniformly, across boundaries, or for that matter within countries. The great relevance of examining the international spread of e‐commerce is that most corporations actually source globally. The stages of e‐commerce evolution, from rather primitive incipiency to highly advanced B2B forms, are conditioned by factors which range from the availability of complementary assets to institutional considerations.
Vulnerability categorization using Bayesian networks

This paper proposes a novel model and methodology to classify and categorize vulnerabilities according to their security types. We use Bayesian networks to automate the process. An example is provided to demonstrate the process of categorization. The automatically generated result is compared to the CVE type in NVD [6], and it proved the correctness of our method.
Scientific visualization and the Rivers Project at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications

The author describes NCSA's approach to the development of visualization tools for scientists at remote locations as well as those with complex special requirements. The Rivers (Research on Interactive Visual Environments) Project is an interesting and potentially important attempt to extend high-end visualization to the interactive steering of supercomputer simulations. Other groups at NCSA deal with 'routine' graphics, with custom high-quality animations for scientists, and with the development of toolsets ranging from generating color palettes to volume visualization. >
Regulation of 5-HT2A/C receptors and DOI-induced behaviors by protein kinase Cγ

Abstract Protein kinase Cγ (PKCγ) null mutant mice demonstrate increased behavioral impulsivity and ethanol consumption. Pharmacological studies have shown that 5-HT 2A/C receptors modulate impulsivity and ethanol consumption in rodents and that PKC can regulate 5-HT 2A/C receptors. To determine whether PKCγ plays a selective role in 5-HT 2A/C receptor regulation, biochemical and behavioral experiments were performed in PKCγ mutant and wild-type mice. DOI-stimulated phosphoinositol hydrolysis and [ 125 I]-DOI saturation binding in the PFC, and quantitative autoradiography of [ 125 I]-DOI binding sites in 15 brain regions were analyzed. DOI-induced head twitch responses (HTR) were measured in naive mice after an acute 2.5 mg/kg injection of DOI. Results indicated that DOI-induced HTR was significantly greater in mutant mice compared to wild-type mice. Results of the phosphoinositol hydrolysis, membrane binding, and autoradiography experiments indicated that in mutant mice, increased HTR was associated with increased 5-HT 2A/C receptor function in the PFC, but not increased receptor number or affinity suggesting that PKCγ regulates receptor function but not receptor number. These data support a role for 5-HT 2A/C receptors in the PFC in mediating some of the behavioral differences observed between PKCγ mutant and wild-type mice.
Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Treated With Primary Radiotherapy: A Comparison of the Addition of Cetuximab or Chemotherapy and the Impact of Protocol Treatment

Purpose The addition of platinum-based chemotherapy (ChRT) or cetuximab (ExRT) to concurrent radiotherapy (RT) has resulted in improved survival in Phase III studies for locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC). However the optimal treatment regimen has not been defined. A retrospective study was performed to compare outcomes in patients who were treated definitively with ExRT or ChRT. Methods Cetuximab with concurrent RT was used to treat 29 patients with LAHNC, all of whom had tumors of the oral cavity, oropharynx, or larynx. All patients were T2 to T4 and overall American Joint Committee on Cancer Stage III to IVB, with a Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score of 60 or greater. ChRT was used to treat 103 patients with similar characteristics. Patients were evaluated for locoregional control (LRC), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS). Median follow-up for patients alive at last contact was 83 months for those treated with ExRT and 53 months for those treated with ChRT. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess independent prognostic factors. Results The LRC, DMFS, and DSS were not significantly different, with 3-year rates of 70.7%, 92.4%, and 78.6% for ExRT and 74.7%, 86.6%, and 76.5% for ChRT, respectively. The OS was significantly different between the two groups ( p = 0.02), with 3-year rates of 75.9% for ExRT and 61.3% for ChRT. OS was not significant when patients who were on protocol treatments of ExRT or ChRT were compared. Also, OS was not significant when multivariate analysis was used to control for potential confounding factors. Conclusion In our single-institution retrospective review of patients treated with ExRT or ChRT, no significant differences were found in LRC, DMFS, DSS, or OS.
Cultural Comparison Research Designs in Food, Eating, and Nutrition

Abstract Culture plays a central role in shaping food, eating, and nutrition. Research that makes cultural comparisons extends our understanding of cultural generality and uniqueness. Several types of research designs can be used to make cultural comparisons, both synchronic (at one point in time) and diachronic (across time). Uni-cultural designs examine phenomena within cultural cases but do not explicitly make cultural comparisons. Sub-cultural designs compare cultural groups within a complex society in the form of ethnic group comparisons and acculturation studies. Cross-cultural designs examine differences between several cultures, investigating individuals in cross-national and migration studies and investigating societies in holocultural research and globalization analyses. When implementing research designs to make cultural comparisons, other methodological issues must be considered such as defining units of analysis, sampling cultures and individuals within cultures, and developing equivalent measurement procedures for different cultures. Specific consideration of research design and research method implementation can strengthen cultural comparison research in food, eating, and nutrition.
Beta-adrenergic stimulation of Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransport activity in the rabbit lens.

Abstract Experimental maneuvers known to increase cellular cAMP levels evoked a stimulation in the K+ influx across the anterior surfaces of isolated rabbit lenses, as measured by 86Rb+ uptake. For this, the lenses were mounted in a modified Ussing-type chamber and exposed to the radiolabel under short-circuit conditions. The enhanced, cAMP-elicited flux was attributed to the basolateral Na+–K+–2Cl− cotransporter given its preclusion by bumetanide, a highly selective inhibitor of this symport, and the ineffectiveness of ouabain in mitigating the stimulation. The ouabain- plus bumetanide-insensitive K+ uptake, which is about 10% of the total influx and represents passive entry of the radiolabel, was not affected by cAMP-elevating conditions. Forskolin, an activator of adenylyl cyclase; epinephrine, a non-selective adrenergic agonist; and the beta-selective agents, isoproterenol and terbutaline, were among the drugs used to elicit the increase in bumetanide-sensitive K+ inflow. In experiments with isoproterenol, the stimulated influx evoked by the agonist was inhibited in lenses simultaneously exposed to propranolol. Other observations included that the stimulation of bumetanide-sensitive K+ influx with forskolin was eliminated in lenses pretreated with the protein kinase inhibitors, staurosporine or H-89. However, these drugs were ineffective in preventing the increased influx produced by calyculin A, a phosphatase inhibitor, suggesting modulation of the cotransporter by at least two independent pathways. The cAMP-generating stimuli also produced an inhibition of the short-circuit current across the lens and an increase in translens resistance. These latter effects suggest that cAMP elevation also evokes an inhibition in an epithelial conductance(s) simultaneously to the stimulation of the cotransporter. As such, this study provides the first indication for the regulation of lens transport by adrenoceptors, presumably of the beta-2 subtype.
Statistics of Scalar Fields in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Based on Large-Eddy Simulations. Part II: Forced Convection

Forced convection in a quasi-steady atmospheric boundary layer is investigated based on a large-eddy simulation (LES) model. The performed simulations show that in the upper portion of the mixed layer the dimensionless (in terms of mixed layer scales) vertical gradients of temperature, humidity, and wind velocity depend on the dimensionless height z/z i and the Reech number Rn. The peak values of variances and covariances at the top of the mixed layer, scaled in terms of the interfacial scales, are functions of the interfacial Richardson number Ri. As a result expressions for the entrainment rates, in the case when the interfacial layer has a finite depth, and a condition for the presence of moistening or drying regimes in the mixed layer, are derived. Profiles of dimensionless scalar moments in the mixed layer are proposed to be expressed in terms of two empirical similarity functions F m and F i , dependent on dimensionless height z/z i , and the interfacial Richardson number Ri. The obtained similarity expressions adequately approximate the LES profiles of scalar statistics, and properly represent the impact of stability, shear, and entrainment. They are also consistent with the parameterization proposed for free convection in the first part of this paper.
Gender stratification in higher education: The Department of Home Economics at the University of California, Berkeley 1916–1962

Abstract This paper illuminates the process by which those disciplines which are dominated by women—education, library science, nursing, social welfare, public health and home economics— become low in status, power and prestige. Further, this paper intends to show how these departments are prone to determination in times of crisis and structural reorganization of the university. This study therefore analyses the administrative behavior of a coeducational university towards a department which consisted mainly of women. I will argue that gender is a relevant, indeed critical variable, to consider when analysing the organization of higher education because universities structurally exclude women.
Heat Transfer in a Rectangular Channel with Dimples Applied to One Wall

Nusselt number augmentation, and overall friction augmentation throughout the length of the duct. The largedimple feature was found to promote significant intensification of convective heat transfer (as high as 80%) at a Reynolds number of 30,000. Furthermore, the double-dimple surface feature was found to promote heat transfer augmentation comparable with the large-dimple feature, accompanied by the pressure loss penalty of the modest small dimple. By contributing to a clearer understanding of the effects produced by these geometries, the development of more effective channel-cooling designs can be achieved.
Understanding Fragile X Syndrome: Insights from Retarded Flies

Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation, is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the fragile X mental retardation 1 (fmr1) gene. FMR1 is an RNA binding protein that is highly expressed in neurons of the central nervous system. Recent studies in Drosophila indicate that FMR1 plays an important role in synaptogenesis and axonal arborization, which may underlie the observed deficits in flight ability and circadian behavior of fmr1 mutant flies. The relevance of these studies to our understanding of fragile X syndrome is discussed.
Structural basis of respiratory syncytial virus neutralization by motavizumab

Motavizumab is approximately tenfold more potent than its predecessor, palivizumab (Synagis), the FDA-approved monoclonal antibody used to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. The structure of motavizumab in complex with a 24-residue peptide corresponding to its epitope on the RSV fusion (F) glycoprotein reveals the structural basis for this greater potency. Modeling suggests that motavizumab recognizes a different quaternary configuration of the F glycoprotein than that observed in a homologous structure.
Regulation by let-7 and lin-4 miRNAs results in target mRNA degradation.

Summary MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ∼22 nucleotide RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of protein-coding genes. In a present model of miRNA function in animals, miRNAs that form imperfect duplexes with their targets inhibit protein expression without affecting mRNA levels. Here, we report that in C. elegans , regulation by the let-7 miRNA results in degradation of its lin-41 target mRNA, despite the fact that its 3′UTR regulatory sequences can only partially base-pair with the miRNA. Furthermore, lin-14 and lin-28 are targets of the lin-4 miRNA, and we show that the mRNA levels for these protein-coding genes significantly decrease in response to lin-4 expression. This study reveals that mRNAs containing partial miRNA complementary sites can be targeted for degradation in vivo, raising the possibility that regulation at the level of mRNA stability may be more common than previously appreciated for the miRNA pathway.
Four-meter lunar engineering telescope

The 16-meter diffraction limited lunar telescope incorporates a primary mirror with 312 one-meter segments; 3 nanometer active optics surface control with laser metrology and hexapod positioners; a space frame structure with one-millimeter stability; and a hexapod mount for pointing. The design data needed to limit risk in this development can be obtained by building a smaller engineering telescope on the moon with all of the features of the 16-meter design. This paper presents a 4.33-meter engineering telescope concept developed by the Summer 1990 Student Program of the NASA/JHU Space Grant Consortium Lunar Telescope Project. The primary mirror, made up of 18 one-meter hexagonal segments, is sized to provide interesting science as well as engineering data. The optics are configured as a Ritchey-Chretien with a coude relay to the focal plane beneath the surface. The optical path is continuously monitored with 3-nanometer precision interferometrically. An active optics processor and piezoelectric actuators operate to maintain the end-to-end optical configuration established by wave front sensing using a guide star. The mirror segments, consisting of a one-centimeter thick faceplate on 30-cm deep ribs, maintain the surface figure to a few nanometers under lunar gravity and thermal environment.
The photoreceptors and visual pigments in the retina of a boid snake, the ball python (Python regius)

The photoreceptors and visual pigments of Python regius were studied using microspectrophotometry and scanning electron microscopy. The retina contains rods and cones, with rods constituting at least 90 % of the photoreceptor population. The rods are of a single type with long, narrow outer segments and are tightly packed. The wavelength of maximum absorbance ( l max) of the visual pigment in the rods is in the region of 494 nm. Two distinct types of cone are present. The most common cone, with a stout but stubby outer segment, contains a visual pigment with l max at approximately 551 nm. A relatively rare cone, with a long, slender outer segment, contains an ultraviolet-sensitive visual pigment with l max at approximately 360 nm. All the visual pigments have chromophores based on vitamin A1. The results are discussed in relation to the behavior of P. regius.
Ethnic and National Stereotypes: The Princeton Trilogy Revisited and Revised

Three studies assessed changes in the content, consensus, and favorableness of 10 ethnic and national stereotypes by replicating and extending the Princeton trilogy. Results indicated that throughout the past 60 years, almost all of the ethnic and national stereotypes that were examined had changed in content, and more than half had changed in consensus. Most changes in consensus reflected increases rather than decreases, suggesting that modern members of stereotyped groups may confront stereotypes more frequently than did previous members of stereotyped groups. However, the damaging effects that consensual stereotypes can have on members of these groups may be tempered by the finding that most of the stereotypes became more favorable. These results are discussed in terms of changing social roles, intergroup contact, and stereotype accuracy.
Racialized Identitites and the Formation of Black Gangs in Los Angeles

This article traces the history of Black gangs in Los Angeles, California and identifies the factors that were most significant in the formation of these gangs during two waves of gang formation in the post-World War II period. The results of this analysis suggest that the racialization of Black youths played a major factor in both waves of gang formation. The more popular explanations based on economic and community deficiencies, themselves a by-product of racialization, are more central to gang maintenance and proliferation than gang formation.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Is a Negative Regulator of Cellular Differentiation

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) has been shown to be an important mediator of intracellular signal transduction in mammalian cells. We show here, for the first time, that the blockade of PI3K activity in human fetal undifferentiated cells induced morphological and functional endocrine differentiation. This was associated with an increase in mRNA levels of insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an increase in the insulin protein content and secretion in response to secretagogues. Blockade of PI3K also increased the proportion of pluripotent precursor cells coexpressing multiple hormones and the total number of terminally differentiated cells originating from these precursor cells. We examined whether any of the recently described modulators of endocrine differentiation could participate in regulating PI3K activity in fetal islet cells. The activity of PI3K was inversely correlated with the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor–induced downregulation or nicotinamideinduced upregulation of islet-specific gene expression, giving support to the role of PI3K, as a negative regulator of endocrine differentiation. In conclusion, our results provide a mechanism for the regulation of hormone-specific gene expression during human fetal neogenesis. They also suggest a novel function for PI3K, as a negative regulator of cellular differentiation.
A Precise and Practical Harmonic Elimination Method for Multilevel Inverters

Multilevel inverters have been widely used in medium- and high-voltage applications. Selective harmonic elimination for the staircase voltage waveform generated by multilevel inverters has been studied extensively in the last decade. Most of the published methods on this topic were based on solving high-order multivariable polynomial equation groups derived from Fourier series expansion. This paper presents a different approach, which is based on equal area criteria and harmonic injection. With the proposed method, regardless of how many voltage levels are involved, only four simple equations are needed. The results of a case study with maximum of five switching angles show that the proposed method can be used to achieve excellent harmonic elimination performance for the modulation index range at least from 0.2 to 0.9. To demonstrate the adaptability of the proposed method for waveforms with a high number of switching angles, experimental results on a 1-MVA 6000-V 17-level cascade multilevel inverter are also shown at the end of this paper.
Orientation and crystallization in poly(ethylene terephthalate) during drawing at high temperatures and strain rates

We review some recent research developments on structure development during drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) film, and we report a study of constant-load drawing of amorphous PET film at temperatures of 120°C and 132°C, including the effects of redrawing high-temperature drawn film at lower temperature. To permit constant-load drawing at high temperature without inducing crystallization in the undrawn specimen, a drawing instrument was built that permits very rapid heating of the sample, and its operation is described. The initial stage of drawing at high temperatures is characterized by polymer flow where, owing to high rates of molecular relaxation, neither molecular orientation nor crystallization occurs. Strain-rate increases sharply in the course of the deformation, reducing the time available for relaxation, and the chains start to orient at a draw ratio that depends on temperature. Orientation rapidly reaches a saturation level, which is lower at the higher draw temperature. Crystallization onset seems to lag only slightly behind orientation onset because the critical orientation for inducing crystallization is very low at these temperatures. It appears that there is time for crystallization to proceed to pseudo-equilibrium values corresponding to a particular orientation level, which differs from previous results obtained from constant-force drawing at lower temperatures, and possible reasons for this are discussed. In two-stage drawing, where film drawn at 132°C was redrawn along the same axis at 100°C, high draw ratios were obtained despite the high strain rates, and the levels of noncrystalline orientation and crystallinity were similar to the levels expected from single stage drawing at 100°C.
Smoking patterns in African Americans and whites with advanced COPD.

Background The prevalence and mortality associated with COPD increases with age, with higher rates observed in whites than African Americans. Causes and explanations for smoking-related racial differences on the respiratory system have not been determined. Objective To investigate racial differences in smoking patterns and lung function in patients with advanced COPD. Design Retrospective record review of patients with advanced COPD. Setting Outpatient pulmonary clinic in a tertiary-care urban hospital. Patients One hundred sixty patients with advanced COPD (80 African Americans and 80 whites) referred for either lung volume reduction surgery or transplantation evaluation. Data collection Demographics, smoking profile, pulmonary function testing, arterial blood gases, and exercise stress tests were compared between African-American and white patients. Results Despite comparable pulmonary function, African Americans were younger at presentation and had lower overall pack-years of smoking than whites (58 ± 10 years vs 62 ± 8 years, and 44 ± 23 pack-years vs 66 ± 31 pack-years, respectively; p Conclusion Among susceptible patients with advanced COPD, African Americans and women seem more prone to the effects of tobacco smoke than their counterparts.
Periventricular Spread of Tumor Demonstrated by Computed Tomography

Spread of intracranial neoplasms through the periventricular tissues of the brain is well known to neuropathologists, but is almost never recognized by the usual neuroradiologic techniques of angiography and pneumoencephalography. Periventricular tumor spread can, however, be readily demonstrated by contrast-enhanced CT scanning. This report documents 4 cases of periventricular tumor diagnosed by CT scanning.
Response of Castlegate sandstone to true triaxial states of stress

[1] A suite of true triaxial tests were performed on Castlegate sandstone to assess the influence of the intermediate principal stress on mechanical response and failure. Five independent deviatoric stress states were employed, for which the intermediate principal stress ranged from equal to minimum compression (axisymmetric compression) to maximum compression (axisymmetric extension). For each deviatoric stress state, five constant mean stress tests were conducted, covering mean stresses ranging from brittle to ductile failure. At low mean stresses, shear bands formed, and the peak stress required to induce failure decreased with increasing intermediate principal stress. Thus, failure at low mean stresses depends on the third invariant of deviatoric stress. Shear bands formed under all deviatoric stress states and over a wide range of mean stresses. The band angle (defined as the angle between the band normal and the direction of maximum compression) decreased with increasing mean stress. There was no clear trend in band angle with respect to intermediate principal stress; however, a small trend would be obscured by data scatter due to specimen variability. At higher mean stresses, no localization was observed. The upper bound mean stress at which shear localization occurred increased with increasing intermediate principal stress. Therefore, the mean stress that demarcates the brittle-ductile transition depends on the third invariant of deviatoric stress.
Hippocampal place cells and the generation of a temporal code

Abstract Pyramidal cells in the hippocampus of freely moving rats have a spatially specific activity pattern which provides information to downstream in the phase of cell activity. We present a minimal biophysical model for the generation of the phase information from a combination of two inputs: a short duration spatial trigger and the animal's running speed. This single input is shown to determine the start and end of the spatial firing, and a transient phase code for location. Three different simple networks are shown to produce this behavior, without changes in synaptic conductance or connectivity.
MINFLOTRANSIT: min-cost flow based transistor sizing tool

This paper presents MINFLOTRANSIT, a new transistor sizing tool for fast sizing of combinational circuits with minimal cost. MINFLOTRANSIT is an iterative relaxation based tool that has two alternating phases. For a circuit with |V| transistors and |E| wires, the first phase (D-phase)) is based on minimum cost network flow, which in our application, has a worst-case complexity of O(|V||E|log(log(|V|))). The second phase W-phase has a worst case complexity of O(|V||E|). In practice, during our simulations both the D-phase and W-phase show a near linear run-time dependence on the size of the circuit, comparable to TILOS. Simulation results show excellent run-time behavior for MINFLOTRANSIT on all the ISCAS85 benchmark circuits. For reasonable delay targets MINFLOTRANSIT shows up to 16.5% area savings over a circuit sized using a TILOS-like algorithm.
Choices of education in Japan

Abstract Choices between schools are generally not available at the compulsory education level (grades 1–9) in Japan, but are unavoidable at higher levels, because schools are highly differentiated and none, public or private, are automatically open to anyone who wishes to attend. The primary mechanism for placing students in these schools is achievement examinations. Parents and students must weigh the efforts required to get into different schools and their direct monetary costs against the rewards to be expected. These post-education rewards are also highly differentiated by school. Parental involvement in education includes intense information searches about schools, requirements and rewards, as well as efforts to enhance achievement by students. Local variations in educational options, students' sex and socioeconomic factors also influence parents' and student education decisions.
The Liberty Party and Polk's Election, 1844

(1991). The Liberty Party and Polk's Election, 1844. The Historian: Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 691-710.
Neuropilin-1 functions as a VEGFR2 co-receptor to guide developmental angiogenesis independent of ligand binding

During development, tissue repair, and tumor growth, most blood vessel networks are generated through angiogenesis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of this process and currently both VEGF and its receptors, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and Neuropilin1 (NRP1), are targeted in therapeutic strategies for vascular disease and cancer. NRP1 is essential for vascular morphogenesis, but how NRP1 functions to guide vascular development has not been completely elucidated. In this study, we generated a mouse line harboring a point mutation in the endogenous Nrp1 locus that selectively abolishes VEGF-NRP1 binding (Nrp1(VEGF-)). Nrp1(VEGF-) mutants survive to adulthood with normal vasculature revealing that NRP1 functions independent of VEGF-NRP1 binding during developmental angiogenesis. Moreover, we found that Nrp1-deficient vessels have reduced VEGFR2 surface expression in vivo demonstrating that NRP1 regulates its co-receptor, VEGFR2. Given the resources invested in NRP1-targeted anti-angiogenesis therapies, our results will be integral for developing strategies to re-build vasculature in disease.
Machine learning identifies specific habitats associated with genetic connectivity in Hyla squirella.

Summary The goal of this study was to identify and differentiate the influence of multiple habitat types that span a spectrum of suitability for Hyla squirella ,a widespread frog species that occurs in a broad range of habitat types. We collected microsatellite data from 675 samples representing 20 localities from the southeastern USA and used machine-learning methodologies to identify significant habitat features associated with genetic structure. In simulation, we confirm that our machine-learning algorithm can successfully identify landscape features responsible for generating between-population genetic differentiation, suggesting that it can be a useful hypothesis-generating tool for landscape genetics. In our study system, we found that H. squirella were spatially structured and models including specific habitat types (i.e. upland oak forest and urbanization) consistently explained more variation in genetic distance (median pR 2 = 47.78) than spatial distance alone (median pR 2 = 23.81). Moreover, we estimate the relative importance that spatial distance, upland oak and urbanized habitat have in explaining genetic structure of H. squirella. We discuss how these habitat types may mechanistically facilitate dispersal in H. squirella. This study provides empirical support for the hypothesis that habitat-use can be an informative correlate of genetic differentiation, even for species that occur in a wide range of habitats.
Parental influences to smoke in Latino youth.

Background. Latino youth have been found to have a higher prevalence of tobacco use than do other ethnic groups, possibly due to cultural factors and parental influences. Methods. Seventh-grade students (N = 589) were surveyed in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico, to assess parental influences to smoke. These parental influence variables were studied with logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, and number of parents who smoke. Results. Among those whose parents smoke, Mexican students were asked to strike a match to light their parents′ cigarettes significantly more often (57%) than Mexican-American students (37%) and U.S. Others (37%) (P < 0.05). Seventeen percent of the Mexican students reported having lit a cigarette in their own mouth for their parents, compared to 18% of Mexican-Americans and only 3% of U.S. Others (P < 0.01). Mexicans reported buying cigarettes for their parents more often (62%), compared with 36% for Mexican-Americans and 30% for U.S. Others (P < 0.01). Child smoking was only associated with friend offers of tobacco and parental prompts to light cigarettes in their mouths. Conclusion. Latino parents are inadvertently prompting their children to smoke. Smoking prevention programs targeting Latino youth may need to include a parental tobacco education component.
Preschool children's awareness of private speech:

The present study explored: (a) preschool children’s awareness of their own talking and private speech (speech directed to the self ); (b) differences in age, speech use, language ability, and mentalizing abilities between children with awareness and those without; and (c) children’s beliefs and attitudes about private speech. Fifty-one children between the ages of 3 and 5 completed a selective attention task from which a sample of private speech was video-recorded for use during a subsequent experimenter‐child interview. Children also completed a standardized language assessment and a battery of mentalizing tasks. Roughly half of the children (54%) showed awareness of talking during the task, and 52% of the children who talked during the task stated that their speech was self-directed. Children who were aware of their private speech were significantly older, had greater expressive language skills, used more private speech, and had higher deceptive-box scores than children who were not aware of their private speech. Participants believed that private speech was positive and helpful. Implications of this work for researchers and early childhood educators are discussed.
Cellular factors controlling the activity of woodchuck hepatitis virus enhancer II.

Woodchuckhepatitisvirus(WHV)efficientlyinduceshepatocellularcarcinomainchronicallyinfectedhosts. A key step in hepatocarcinogenesis by WHV is insertional activation of the cellular N-mycgene by integrated viral DNA. WHV enhancer II (En II) is the major cis-acting element involved in this activation. Here we characterize this viral enhancer element and define the cellular factors involved in its activity. WHV En II activity is strongly liver specific and maps to an 88-nucleotide DNA segment (nucleotides 1772 to 1859) located 5*to the pregenomic RNA start site. Genetic analyses and electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicate that the enhancer contains three subregions important to its activity. The core elements of the enhancer are recognition sites for the liver-enriched factors HNF1 and HNF4; together, these signals account for the bulk ofEnIIactivityaswellasitsstrongliverspecificity.Multimerizationofeitherrecognitionsiteproducedstrong activity even in the absence of other En II sequences. 5*to these elements is a binding site for the ubiquitous Oct-1 transcription factor, which further augments enhancer activity ca. twofold. Hepatitis B viruses (hepadnaviruses) are hepatotropic DNA viruses that cause acute and chronic hepatitis and are strongly associated with the development of liver cancer (14). A central eventinthevirallifecycleisthetranscriptionoftheviralDNA by host RNA polymerase II. This step not only produces the mRNAs that engender the viral proteins but also produces the RNA template for reverse transcription. Production of the latter is strongly liver specific and is an important determinant of the hepatotropism that is the hallmark of this viral family (14, 22, 45).
Animating safety-critical automation logic and intent: a candidate design

Systems that require human interaction with complex automation (and vice versa) can exhibit hazardous features such as operator mental intractability and mode confusion, in addition to spawning operator attentional and motivational problems. Moreover, efforts to minimize operator error through automation often make the system vulnerable to designer error. While the role, and hence responsibility, of automation expands to assume safety-critical decisions and tasks, ultimate accountability continues to rest squarely on the human operators and observers. No automation design is fail-proof, yet automation usually induces humans to behave as if it were - particularly as automated systems become more complex and non-communicative. These are key issues that confront designers of automation and user-machine interfaces. In this paper a display design is proposed whereby both the logic and the intentions of the automation are depicted in an integrated, pattern-oriented fashion to reduce cognitive demand and facilitate user detection of automation (more fundamentally, design) error. This flight environment and display has been implemented in a PC-based simulation at MIT's Software Engineering Research Lab (SERL), and is currently being used to explore issues relating to human supervisory performance in high-threat environments.
Freedom, responsibility, and agency

This paper first distinguishes three alternative views that adherents to both incompatibilism and PAP may take as to what constitutes an agent's determining or controlling her action (if it's not the action's being deterministically caused by antecedent events): the indeterministic-causation view, the agent-causation view, and "simple indeterminism." The bulk of the paper focusses on the dispute between simple indeterminism - the view that the occurrence of a simple mental event is determined by its subject if it possesses the "actish" phenomenal quality and is undetermined by antecedent events - and Timothy O'Connor's agent-causation view. It defends simple indeterminism against O'Connor's objections to it and offers objections to O'Connor's view.
Peripheral arterial disease: Evaluation, risk factor modification, and medical management

Objective:�Toreviewtheevaluationandmedical� managementofperipheralarterialdisease�(PAD). •� Methods:�Reviewoftheliterature. •� Results:�PADisahighlyprevalentbutunderrec- ognizedandundertreatedconditionassociated� withsignificantmorbidityandmortality.�PADisan� importantmanifestationofsystemicatherosclerosis,� whichreducesarterialbloodtothelowerextremities� duringexerciseorrest.�Ithasastrongassociation� withthewell-definedatheroscleroticrisksfactors� suchasdiabetesmellitus,�cigarettesmoking,�ad- vancedage,�hyperlipidemia,�andhypertensionand� canhaveavariedclinicalpresentation.�PADcanbe� diagnosedaccuratelywithacomprehensivehistory� andphysicalexaminationandsimple,�noninvasive,� tests.�GiventheassociationofPADwithsignificant� morbidityandmortalityandmultipleatherosclerotic� riskfactors,�aggressiveriskfactormodificationand� secondarypreventionstrategiessuchasantiplatelet� therapy,�lipidloweringtherapy,�smokingcessation,� diabetescontrol,�andantihypertensivetreatment� shouldbeconsideredinpatientswithPAD.�Thera- peuticangiogenesisusinggene-basedgrowthfac- torsandstemcell-basedtherapiesremainaprom- isingfutureoptionforthetreatmentofPAD. •� Conclusion:�Cliniciansshouldhaveahighindexof�
A Critique of Contemporary Marriage and Family Research

T HE phenomena of love, courtship, marriage, and the family have only recently been considered objects for serious systematic research. The accumulation of folklore about the intimacies of marriage and family life have been for centuries the legitimate concern of novelists, religious leaders, comedians, poets, and cynics. Textbook writers and journalists draw heavily from common-sense assertions and clinical hunches because the researcher has so recently arrived on the scene that his works are scarcely known. This is the historical backdrop for my evaluation of marriage and family research. My task is made easier because most family research has been completed within the last thirty years.' Evaluation will be organized around six focal points; Functions of Family Research, Long Term Trends, Contemporary Emphases in Marriage and Family Study, Recent Criticisms, Obstacles to Progress, and Prospects for Future Research.