cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Species distribution modelling—Effect of design and sample size of pseudo-absence observations

We explored the effect of varying pseudo-absence data in species distribution modelling using empirical data for four real species and simulated data for two imaginary species. In all analyses we used a fixed study area, a fixed set of environmental predictors and a fixed set of presence observations. Next, we added pseudo-absence data generated by different sampling designs and in different numbers to assess their relative importance for the output from the species distribution model. The sampling design strongly influenced the predictive performance of the models while the number of pseudo-absences had minimal effect on the predictive performance. We attribute much of these results to the relationship between the environmental range of the pseudo-absences (i.e. the extent of the environmental space being considered) and the environmental range of the presence observations (i.e. under which environmental conditions the species occurs). The number of generated pseudo-absences had a direct effect on the predicted probability, which translated to different distribution areas. Pseudo-absence observations that fell within grid cells with presence observations were purposely included in our analyses. We discourage the practice of excluding certain pseudo-absence data because it involves arbitrary assumptions about what are (un)suitable environments for the species being modelled.
Biological competition: Decision rules, pattern formation, and oscillations

This article summarizes some of the new mathematical and physical ideas about competition that have emerged during the past eight years. Each of these ideas can be expressed in several ways. For example, every competitive system induces a decision scheme that can be used to analyze its global dynamics. Otherwise expressed, you learn a lot about a competition by keeping track of who is winning it! Otherwise expressed again, you can understand more about certain nonequilibrium systems by measuring where they change fastest rather than where they achieve equilibrium. Still otherwise expressed, you can sometimes learn a lot about a continuous parallel process by embedding a discrete serial process into it, even though you couldn’t guess which serial process to embed without referring to the parallel process.
A retrospective review of acupuncture use for the treatment of pain in sickle cell disease patients: Descriptive analysis from a single institution

Objectives:This retrospective study describes the use of acupuncture for adult sickle cell patients in a single institution.Materials and Methods:We identified 47 sickle cell disease patients referred for acupuncture at the National Institutes of Health between January 2005 and September 2011. All p
The content, consequence and likeness approaches to verisimilitude: compatibility, trivialization, and underdetermination

Theories of verisimilitude have routinely been classified into two rival camps—the content approach and the likeness approach—and these appear to be motivated by very different sets of data and principles. The question thus naturally arises as to whether these approaches can be fruitfully combined. Recently Zwart and Franssen (Synthese 158(1):75–92, 2007) have offered precise analyses of the content and likeness approaches, and shown that given these analyses any attempt to meld content and likeness orderings violates some basic desiderata. Unfortunately their characterizations of the approaches do not embrace the paradigm examples of those approaches. I offer somewhat different characterizations of these two approaches, as well as of the consequence approach (Schurz and Weingartner (Synthese 172(3):415–436, 2010) which happily embrace their respective paradigms. Finally I prove that the three approaches are indeed compatible, but only just, and that the cost of combining them is too high. Any account which combines the strictures of what I call the strong likeness approach with the demands of either the content or the consequence approach suffers from precisely the same defect as Popper’s—namely, it entails the trivialization of truthlikeness. The downside of eschewing the strong likeness constraints and embracing the content constraints alone is the underdetermination of the concept of truthlikeness.
Ovarian dynamics and oosorption in two species of predatory lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Ovarian development and oviposition dynamics of two species of lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata L. and C. transversoguttata richardsoni Brown, are examined in laboratory experiments in which pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris) are provided ad libitum and then removed. Both species respond to prey removal by stabilizing at lower body weights, and by laying progressively fewer and smaller eggs of reduced viability, until oviposition ceases altogether after several days of starvation. Dissections of females after prey removal reveal similar patterns of oosorption in both species. However, C. septempunctata reduces oviposition more rapidly after prey removal than does C. transversoguttata. When prey are again provided, C. septempunctata soon lay as many eggs as previously but C. transversoguttata lay fewer. Females, especially of C. septempunctata, that stop producing and resorb eggs in the absence of prey lay more eggs subsequently than do females that feed continually on prey provided ad libitum and lay eggs throughout the experiment. Thus, although both species are responsive to a rapid change in prey availability, C. septempunctata appears to be especially responsive. Rapid responses to changes in prey availability may contribute to the greater abundance and reproductive success of this introduced species relative to the native C. transversoguttata in western North American alfalfa fields that exhibit widely varying pea aphid densities. However, both species engage in oosorption as a means of reserving resources under poor prey conditions and enhancing future reproductive effort when prey conditions improve.
The role of B7 co‐stimulation in activation and differentiation ofCD4+and CD8+T cells

The functional significance of B7 co-stimulation in T-cell activation was described first in the context of preventing the induction of anergy. The functions of this pathway are far more complex than initially appreciated in view of the existence of two B7 molecules which have specificities for both CD28 and CTLA-4, which serve to amplify and terminate T-cell responses respectively Mice lacking B7 co-stimulators and CD28 and CTLA-4 co-stimulatory receptors are helping to clarify the functions of this key immunoregulatory pathway In this review we will focus on the role of B7 co-stimulation in the activation and differentiation of CD4 + helper cells and CD8 + cytotoxic cells. The contribution of B7 co-stimulation to CD4 + responses depends upon the activation history of the T-cell and the strength of the T-cell antigen receptor signal. B7 co-stimulation contributes to interleukin (IL)-2 production by both naive and previously activated CD4- T cells. B7 co-stimulation is most critical for the differentiation of naive CD4 + T cells to IL-4 producers, but predominately influences IL-2 production by previously activated CD4 + cells. B7 co-stimulation is important in development of cytotoxic T cells through both effects on T-helper cells and by direct co-stimulation of CD8 + cells.
Testing Basil Bernstein's Sociolinguistic Theories

The purpose of this study was to test Basil Bernstein's sociolinguistie theories. Based on an interview study of 138 kindergarten children, the data for the most part did not support Bernstein's ideas. Speech style indicators did not cluster into elaborated and restricted variants. Neither social control strategies nor school achievement scores were differentially related to elaborated and restricted variants. There was marginal evidence that some elaborated speech style indicators were related negatively to family size. Finally, children's social perceptions, a measure of elaborated codes at the psychological level, were related positively to their school achievement scores.
Emergency intraosseous infusions in children

Vascular access during advanced life support is essential. Vascular access in the critically ill child can be particularly difficult and often causes unacceptable delay. Intraosseous infusion provides safe, rapid, reliable access to the venous circulation. A case is presented illustrating the value of familiarity with this procedure. Use of the bone marrow for emergency administration of fluids and medications should be considered early in resuscitation until vascular access is obtained.
Agricultural conservation practices increase wetland ecosystem services in the Glaciated Interior Plains

The Glaciated Interior Plains historically supported a broad variety of wetland types, but wetland losses, primarily due to agricultural drainage, range from 50% to 90% of presettlement area. Wholesale land use change has created one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth, but wetland conversion has also led to the loss of the ecosystem services they provide, particularly water quality improvement, flood de-synchronization, carbon sequestration, and support of wetland-dependent species (biodiversity). Nearly three-quarters of the Glaciated Interior Plains fall within the Mississippi River drainage basin, where the combination of extensive tile drainage and fertilizer use has produced watersheds that contribute some of the highest nitrogen yields per acre to the Mississippi River. Wetland conservation practices implemented under Farm Bill conservation programs have established or involved management of nearly 110 000 ha of wetlands, riparian zones, and associated ecosystem services over the period 2000-2007. We estimated the cumulative ability of these conservation practices to retain sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus in Upper Mississippi River Basin watersheds. Estimated retention amounts to 1.0% ,1 .5% ,a nd 0.8% of the total N, sediment, and P, respectively, reaching the Gulf of Mexico each year. If nutrient reduction is estimated based on the quantity of nutrients exported from the Glaciated Interior Plains region only, the numbers increase to 6.8% of N, 4.9% of P, and 11.5% of sediment generated in the region annually. On a watershed basis, the correlation between the area of wetland conservation practices implemented and per-hectare nutrient yield was 0.81, suggesting that, for water quality improvement, conservation practices are successfully targeting watersheds that are among the most degraded. The provision of other ecosystem services such as C sequestration and biodiversity is less well studied. At best, implementation of wetland and riparian conservation practices in agricultural landscapes results in improved environmental quality and human health, and strengthens the rationale for expanding conservation practices and programs on agricultural lands.
Electrostatics in wind-blown sand.

Wind-blown sand, or ‘‘saltation,’’ is an important geological process, and the primary source of atmospheric mineral dust aerosols. Significant discrepancies exist between classical saltation theory and measurements. We show here that these discrepancies can be resolved by the inclusion of sand electrification in a physically based saltation model. Indeed, we find that electric forces enhance the concentration of saltating particles and cause them to travel closer to the surface, in agreement with measurements. Our results thus indicate that sand electrification plays an important role in saltation.
Aeroacoustic Measurements of a Wing-Flap Configuration

Aeroacoustic measurements are being conducted to investigate the mechanisms of sound generation in high-lift wing configurations, and initial results are presented. The model is approximately 6 percent of a full scale configuration, and consists of a main element NACA 63 \sub{2}-215 wing section and a 30 percent chord half-span flap. Flow speeds up to Mach 0.17 are tested at Reynolds number up to approximately 1.7 million. Results are presented for a main element at a 16 degree angle of attack, and flap deflection angles of 29 and 39 degrees. The measurement systems developed for this test include two directional arrays used to localize and characterize the noise sources, and an array of unsteady surface pressure transducers used to characterize wave number spectra and correlate with acoustic measurements. Sound source localization maps show that locally dominant noise sources exist on the flap-side edge. The spectral distribution of the noise sources along the flap-side edge shows a decrease in frequency of the locally dominant noise source with increasing distance downstream of the flap leading edge. Spectra are presented which show general spectral characteristics of Strouhal dependent flow-surface interaction noise. However, the appearance of multiple broadband tonal features at high frequency indicates the presence of aeroacoustic phenomenon following different scaling characteristics. The scaling of the high frequency aeroacoustic phenomenon is found to be different for the two flap deflection angles tested. Unsteady surface pressure measurements in the vicinity of the flap edge show high coherence levels between adjacent sensors on the flap-side edge and on the flap edge upper surface in a region which corresponds closely to where the flap-side edge vortex begins to spill over to the flap upper surface. The frequency ranges where these high levels of coherence occur on the flap surface are consistent with the frequency ranges in which dominant features appear in far field acoustic spectra. The consistency of strongly correlated unsteady surface pressures and far field pressure fluctuations suggests the importance of regions on the flap edge in generating sound.
Astrobiological relevance of phenols and their silicates

We have prepared solid silicates of various phenols and have studied them by the IR (infra-red) spectroscopy. Phenols are organic compounds that are important in biology. Only very recently phenols have been synthesized in prebiotic manner. They are formed under the hydrothermal conditions and also under the simulated conditions of the interstellar space. Solid phenol silicates, which we have prepared, are ideally suited for the preservation of phenols on prebiotic Earth and in space, and for their transportation in space. The reflectance IR spectra of phenol silicates were taken and are currently being analyzed. Our goal is to determine if phenols are entombed, covalently bound, or both, in respect to the silicate matrix. We have also prepared fluorescent phenol silicates.
Your Friends and Neighbors: Localized Economic Development and Criminal Activity

Abstract We exploit a sudden shock to demand for a subset of low-wage workers generated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program in San Antonio, Texas, to identify the effects of localized economic development on crime. We use a difference-in-differences methodology that takes advantage of variation in BRAC’s impact over time and across neighborhoods. We find that appropriative criminal behavior increases in neighborhoods where a fraction of residents experienced increases in earnings. This effect is driven by residents who were unlikely to be BRAC beneficiaries, implying that criminal opportunities are important in explaining patterns of crime.
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave generation by planetary pickup ions: One‐dimensional hybrid simulations at sub‐Alfvénic pickup velocities

[1] Enhanced electromagnetic plasma waves generated by unstable pickup ion distributions have been detected by spacecraft in several planetary environments including those of Venus, Earth, Mars, comets, Jupiter and Saturn. These waves are important because they can be used as a diagnostic of the local plasma and the ion pickup conditions. Interpretation of these waves relies on understanding the source of free energy and how that free energy is reduced through instability growth. In this manuscript, we focus on the regime where the pickup velocity is sub-Alfvenic and systematically illustrate some basic differences in instability behavior by carrying out one-dimensional hybrid simulations of pickup ion-generated waves for varying pickup angle, α. Although several pickup ion-driven instabilities are possible in this regime, the dominant electromagnetic instability that is observed is the ion cyclotron ring instability, which generates waves in the spacecraft frame with frequencies near the pickup ion cyclotron frequency. To better understand the instability behavior as well as what wave properties a spacecraft would potentially observe, we carry out the simulations in the bulk plasma frame and in the planetary rest frame (i.e. spacecraft frame). The simulations presented here are not meant to reproduce any particular planetary environment but are intended to illustrate the general behavior in the sub-Alfvenic pickup velocity regime. We also review the previous observations and dispersion analyses of pickup ion-driven waves in the relevant planetary environments, and discuss them in terms of our simulation results.
Underlying grammatical rule structure in the deaf.

The purposes of this study were (1) to use further the measure developed and reported by Sarachan (1971) for assessing underlying language structure in the deaf, and (2) to investigate the rule-bou...
Phase retrieval with signal bias

The effect of a uniform measurement bias, due to background light, stray light, detector dark current, or detector offset, on phase retrieval wavefront sensing algorithms is analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the root-mean-square error of the retrieved phase can be more sensitive to an unaccounted-for signal bias than to random noise in practical scenarios. Three methods for reducing the impact of signal bias are presented.
Effect Of Salinity On Growth And Survival Of Penaeid Shrimp In Ponds1

Brown shrimp did not survive an initial 32 days of pond culture at 7 ppt. At 15 ppt salinity, survival was 6.7% and production was 78.4 kg/ha. Both survival and production were best at 21 ppt amounting to 20.8% and 185.3 kg/ha, respectively. At harvest, brown shrimp had a heads-on count of 86 and 108/kg at 15 and 21 ppt, respectively. White shrimp survival increased with increasing salinity averaging 12.7, 43.8 and 60%, respectively, for the three levels of salinity. Production, amounted to 121.5 kg/ha at 7 ppt, 452.5 kg/ha at 15 ppt and 416.6 kg/ha at 21 ppt. At harvest, white shrimp had a heads-on count of 101, 95 and 141/kg at 7, 15 and 21 ppt, respectively. Growth of both species seemed to vary inversely with survival. Coefficient of condition (K) averaged 8.5 for brown shrimp and 7.2 for white shrimp.
Outcome-volume relationships and transhiatal esophagectomy: minimizing failure to rescue

The objective of this study is to describe the system and technical factors that enabled our moderate size transhiatal esophagectomy program to achieve low mortality rates. A retrospective chart review was conducted on 200 consecutive patients who underwent transhiatal esophagectomy at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Primary outcomes included operative times, estimated blood loss, frequency and nature of complications, and lengths of stay in the hospital and the intensive care unit. In general, surgical outcomes tended to improve over the course of this study. We identified decreased operative time, intra-operative blood loss, frequency of complications, and lengths of intensive care unit and hospital stay as the program matured. Through coordinated actions of the surgical and anesthesia teams, all intraoperative injuries were responded to in an effective, emergent fashion and all but one patient was saved. This resulted in an inhospital and 30-day mortality rate of only 0.5%. Our study suggests that a dual attending approach, focus on avoiding “failure to rescue”, increased volume, and a surgeon driven commitment to quality improvement may lead to low mortality rates after transhiatal esophagectomy.
Application of Roman Spectroscopy for the Study of Phase Transformation in Ti0.65Sn0.35O2

Polycrystalline, Al-doped samples in the TiO2-SnO2 ceramic system were made and annealed in the two-phase field above the [001] coherent spinodal. The samples were examined, after various annealing times, using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. It was observed that time constants obtained from X-ray studies were in good agreement with those obtained from Raman shifts, and both showed similar effects of grain size on the decomposition kinetics. These results suggest that Raman spectroscopy may be a useful technique for the study of phase transformations in ceramics.
Evaluation of prophylactic oxacillin in cat bite wounds

A prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to determine the influence of prophylactic oxacillin on the frequency of infection in cat bite wounds. Adult patients with uninfected full-thickness wounds presenting within 24 hours of injury were considered. Emergency department management consisted of cleansing, irrigation, debridement, and closure as indicated; no topical antibiotics were applied. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oxacillin 500 mg qid for five days or identically appearing placebo. Home wound care was standardized and patients were observed at least every two days for a minimum of five days, or until wounds were sufficiently healed to allow discharge from the study. Clinical assessment of infection was confirmed microbiologically when possible. Twelve patients were admitted and 11 completed the study. Oxacillin (n = 5) and placebo (n = 6) groups were identical in sex, age, number of wounds per patient, wound location and type, delay to emergency department presentation, length of follow-up observation, medication compliance, and adequacy of home wound care. Four of six patients receiving placebo, but none of the five receiving oxacillin, developed a wound infection (P = .045). Material obtained from three of these four patients yielded Pasteurella multocida as the responsible organism. Prophylactic oxacillin was thus associated with a significant reduction in the frequency of infection following cat bites. We recommend such therapy in the care of these wounds.
Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality: The Impact of Criminalizing HIV Nondisclosure on Public Health Nurses' Counseling Practices

In Canada, there have been a growing number of criminal HIV nondisclosure cases where public health records have been subpoenaed to aid in police investigations and/or to be presented in court as evidence against HIVpositive persons. This has led some to suggest that nurses provide explicit warnings about the limits of confidentiality in relation to crimes related to HIV nondisclosure, while others maintain that a robust account of the limits of confidentiality will undermine the nurse–client relationship and the public health goals of reducing HIV/ sexually transmitted infection transmission. This article engages with this issue by exploring whether and how public health nurses endeavor to control information about the limits of confidentiality at the outset of HIV posttest counseling. The data indicate variation in practices, as nurses pragmatically balance ethical and professional concerns; although some nurses intentionally withhold information about the risk of subpoena, others report talking to clients about confidentiality in ways that focus on the risk of harm associated with criminalization. The discussion argues that practice variation also illuminates medico-legal relations between health care and the criminal justice system. Data are drawn from qualitative interviews with 30 nurses working at four public health units in Ontario.
On the Estimation of Direct Irrigation Benefits

For optimal allocation of resources, it is critical to arrive at proper estimations of direct benefits created by irrigation projects. This paper reviews critically the traditinal procedures of estimating the direct irrigation benefits and, in this context, presents formulas to show the extent of bias in them. The paper further discusses the implications of shifts in demand over time for biases in the estimation of direct benefits through traditional procedures and provides altenate procedures for the proper estimation of direct irrigation benefits. In this context, it throws some light on the exact distribution of benefits between consumers and producers.
Cumulative Sum: a proficiency metric for basic endoscopic training

Background As work hour restrictions increasingly limit some operative experiences, personalized evaluative methods are needed. We prospectively assessed the value of cumulative sum (Cusum) to measure proficiency with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) among surgical trainees.
Cellular Scale Biophysical Models of Membrane Sculpting by the Proteins During Endocytosis and Exocytosis

We employ coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations and continuum mechanics methods to quantify the membrane-bending action of exo70. CGMD simulations show that exo70 produces the strongest curvature when bound to a key lipid PIP2, and when dimerized. To relate these simulations to experiments, we first quantify the deformation field generated by exo70 using CGMD simulation, and then investigate the resulting cellular morphologies using a continuum mechanics model for membrane bending. In the first step, we characterize the deformation field by directly analyzing curved membrane conformations generated by CGMD simulations of mutant and wild-type exo70 on mixed lipid bilayers. Monte Carlo simulations yield membrane morphologies which we relate to cryo-transmission electron microscopy images of exo70 remodeling a GUV. This model agrees with experiments which show that PIP2 binding and dimerization are necessary for generating membrane tubulues and protrusions. We show that this multi-scale model allows us to relate the structural as well as thermodynamic details of exo70 membrane-binding and self-association to the induced deformation field and resulting cellular morphologies. We also extend our studies to ENTH, BAR, and ESCRT family proteins. We show that thermal undulations in the membrane and cooperativity in the curvature fields, collectively drive the membrane into different morphological states (buds, tubules, etc.) that resemble those in cellular experiments in vivo and vesicle experiments in vitro. We determine the relative stability of the above mentioned shapes based on the free energy of these membrane configurations, determined using the methods of Thermodynamic Integration (TI) and Bennett Acceptance (BA), and Widom Insertion techniques. Results are shown for the case of Exo70 protein and ENTH, and N-BAR domains and also compared against measurements determined from experiments.
Motor Unit Substitution in Long-Duration Contractions of the Human Trapezius Muscle

We examined the activity pattern of low-threshold motor units in the human trapezius muscle during contractions of 10 min duration. Three procedures were applied in sequence: 1) static contraction ...
Musculoskeletal: what's different in children? Follow-up for sinusitis visit: and oh, could you check her left wrist—it hurts

This ten-year-old female was being brought in for a follow-up visit for sinusitis. When this was taken care of, the mother then said to the attending physician “Oh, could you check her left wrist because she says it’s been hurting her for over a week”. The patient’s wrist was a little tender around the distal left radius, but there was no swelling or redness. Range of motion was basically normal but with motion the patient did say pain was present. Radiographs of the wrists were obtained (Fig. 1). Do you see any abnormality on the left? If you do, how would you put all of this together?
The Genome Sequence DataBase: towards an integrated functional genomics resource

During 1998 the primary focus of the Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB; http://www.ncgr.org/gsdb ) located at the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) has been to improve data quality, improve data collections, and provide new methods and tools to access and analyze data. Data quality has been improved by extensive curation of certain data fields necessary for maintaining data collections and for using certain tools. Data quality has also been increased by improvements to the suite of programs that import data from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (IC). The Sequence Tag Alignment and Consensus Knowledgebase (STACK), a database of human expressed gene sequences developed by the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI), became available within the last year, allowing public access to this valuable resource of expressed sequences. Data access was improved by the addition of the Sequence Viewer, a platform-independent graphical viewer for GSDB sequence data. This tool has also been integrated with other searching and data retrieval tools. A BLAST homology search service was also made available, allowing researchers to search all of the data, including the unique data, that are available from GSDB. These improvements are designed to make GSDB more accessible to users, extend the rich searching capability already present in GSDB, and to facilitate the transition to an integrated system containing many different types of biological data.
Voter Preference and Emotion: Using Emotional Response to Classify Decided and Undecided Voters1

This study tested the utility of using the emotioneliciting qualities of candidates to classify both decided and undecided voters. Based on Mehrabian and Russell's (1974b) theoretical perspectives, a hypothesis was developed that emotional response to candidates could be used to discriminate between voters. Three hundred eighty-six registered voters in Bexar County, Texas, were randomly polled. These voters were asked a series of attitude and behavior questions. Of special interest for this study were questions about the Texas Governor's race between Bill Clements and Mark White. Voters were asked to identify their preference for either man and to respond to questions that tapped the emotioneliciting qualities of each candidate. The results indicated that the emotioneliciting qualities of the political candidates could be used to discriminate both decided and undecided voter preference. Specifically, over 90% of the decided voters and 80% of the undecided voters were accurately classified. This was seen as important for two reasons. First, it supported the claim that emotions may play an important role in voter preference. Second, it suggested a method for discriminating between voters even when voters were unable to immediately identify their own candidate preferences. Also of importance was the finding that the emotioneliciting quality scales became a “clarification” tool for some voters who were “on the fence” about the two candidates. After these voters responded to questions about thek feelings, candidate preference could be more clearly verbalized. A refinement of the “emotion-eliciting quality” instrument was suggested for future research.
A Comparison of Second, Third, and Fourth Order Phase-Locked Loops

This paper presents data describing various performance characteristics of phase-locked loops, which were obtained for the purpose of determining an optimum selection of system order in view of typical operating conditions. With the functions optimized with respect to particular performance characteristics, calculations of the integrated square error and peak error with polynomial inputs are presented in terms of the noise bandwidth; and the generalized error coefficients are also provided in terms of the bandwidth with consideration for the use of both perfect and imperfect integrators. With specific input functions as provided by signals transmitted from earth satellites, an improved performance is demonstrated with the use of the higher order loops, and experimental results verify the calculations and also demonstrate the feasibility of the fourth order loop design.
Juvenile periodontitis‐Healing following therapy to control inflammatory and traumatic etiologic components of the disease

A case of localized juvenile periodontitis with bone loss affecting molars and premolars with advanced destruction around the lower first molars is described. These lesions were associated with areas of excess occlusal trauma. The ramifications of combined therapy aimed at the elimination and control of both the inflammatory and occlusal components of the disease are discussed relative to the successful treatment of this case. A description of the periodontal status of a sibling of the patient has been included. Extensive defects are associated with the anterior teeth and in this case the patient presented with excessive trauma in the anterior region. Considering the localities of the disease and the similarities between the inflammatory components in both cases, a link between occlusal trauma and juvenile periodontitis is discussed.
Is female sex associated with ED delays to diagnosis of appendicitis in the computed tomography era

Abstract Background Historically, females had delays to definitive diagnosis of appendicitis when compared to males. In this current millennium, appendicitis is now most commonly diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) in the emergency department (ED) rather than at surgery. Objective The aim of the study was to assess if female gender is still associated with delays to diagnosis of appendicitis in the CT era. Methods A retrospective cohort analysis of adult patients with appendicitis at a university teaching hospital ED was conducted. Inclusion criteria was age of more than 18 years and an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), diagnosis of appendicitis. Patients were excluded from analysis if they were pregnant, no CT scan was obtained in the ED, or had incomplete outcome data. Results One hundred thirty-seven patients met inclusion criteria; 65 female, 72 males. Time from triage to CT order was 138 minutes in females and 95 minutes in males (P = .0012). Time from initial physician evaluation to CT order was 45 minutes in females and 28 minutes in males (P = .0012). Nonclassic symptoms were more common in females and pelvic evaluation did not delay the CT order. Conclusion Female gender is still associated with delays to CT acquisition and diagnosis of appendicitis.
Year-in-advance Forecasting of the Indian Monsoon Rainfall

The paper starts out by discussing factors which influence the Indian monsoon rainfall—including Northern Hemispheric temperature changes, long-period soli–lunar tides, and the tidelike phenomena associated with the wobble of the Earth relative to its spin-axis. When the effects of these factors on precipitation are quantified and integrated into a thermodynamical–statistical model, long-range climatic forecasts can be made that are better than chance or than predicting ‘normal’ up to two or more years in advance.Climatic changes have had profound effects on the peoples of India through the controlling influence of the monsoon on Indian agriculture. We now have a technological tool, never before available, that might lessen the impact of variations of the monsoon by forecasting these variations one to two years in advance. The two-years-in-advance 1982 monsoon rainfall forecast for June and July, using the same station models that produced the excellent 1981 forecast, indicates that there is a two-to-one chance that the 1982 Indian monsoon rainfall will be less, in general, in June and July, than it was in 1981. The question which we wish to ask the reader is: How can this new technology be used? For example, how can this type of information be used for planning and policy-making in order to ensure less uncertainty about food supplies in the future than in the past?This region cannot depend upon the monsoon to bring plentiful rain every year, and, therefore, it is essential that we should continue to improve our forecasting capability and that others learn to make optimum use of these forecasts.
Relationships between diffusion tensor and q-space MRI.

Fundamental relationships between diffusion tensor (DT) and 3D q-space MRI are derived which establish conditions when these two complementary MR methods are equivalent. It is shown that the displacement distribution measured by q-space MRI in both the large displacement (i.e., large r) and the long-wavelength (i.e., small q) limits is the same 3D Gaussian displacement distribution assumed in DT-MRI. In these limiting cases, q-space MR yields a dispersion tensor that is identical to the effective DT, D, measured in DT-MRI. An experiment is then proposed to measure D using q-space methods. These findings establish that the effective DT, measured in DT-MRI, characterizes molecule motions on a coarse length-scale. Finally, the feasibility of and requirements for performing 3D q-space MRI on a clinical scanner are considered.
A Phylogenetic and Genomic Analysis of Crop Germplasm: A Necessary Condition for its Rational Conservation and Use

Biological research can be divided, at the risk of oversimplification, in a “vertical” and a “horizontal” component. Vertical biology refers to the elucidation of the function of individual organisms, from the gene to the phenotype. Horizontal biology refers to a comparison of function among organisms. Examples of vertical biology are the current genomics projects focused on model organisms such as human (Rowen et al., 1997), mouse (Dietrich et al., 1995), Arabidopsis (Bevan et al., 1998), and rice (Havukkala, 1996). In these projects, the ultimate goal is to identify each gene of the organism and their functions, at the molecular, cellular, and organismic level. It is a reductionist approach that relies on a few genotypes. Examples of horizontal biology are studies of the function of ecosystems, comparative genomics, and biodiversity (Conner et al., 1998; McCouch, 1998;
Cesarean delivery does not offer a benefit to extremely low birthweight (ELBW) neonates in the breech presentation

(ELBW) NEONATES IN THE BREECH PRESENTATION SHARI GELBER, DAVID PAUL, AMY MACKLEY, ANTHONY SCISCIONE, Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Christiana Care Health Services, Dept of Neonatology, Newark, Delaware OBJECTIVE: The ideal mode of delivery for ELBW infants in the breech presentation is controversial. Recent reports have found a significant neonatal benefit to breech ELBW infants delivered by cesarean. We sought to compare the neonatal outcomes in ELBW (!1000 g) neonates in the breech presentation delivered vaginally versus by cesarean. STUDY DESIGN: Case-cohort study of all infants !1000 g in the breech presentation delivered at a single tertiary care institution between 1993 and 2003. Infants with congenital anomalies were excluded. The primary outcome variable was neonatal death. Demographic information, and potential confounding variables were recorded. Univariate analysis comparing mode of delivery with outcome variables was performed by ANOVA and c, and multivariate analysis was performed by logistic regression. A P ! .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 68,000 deliveries were performed during the study period, of which 216 (0.3%) were ELBW in the breech presentation. Of those, 160 (74%) delivered by cesarean and 56 (26%) delivered vaginally. There was no significant difference in maternal age, chorioamnionitis, preterm rupture of the membranes, antibiotic use, ethnicity or oligohydramnios. On univariate analysis, infants delivered vaginally had a lower gestational age (24.5 vs 26.1 weeks; P ! .01), were smaller (695 g vs 779 g; P ! .01), more likely to have preterm labor (90% vs 71%; P = .01), less likely to have preeclampsia (0% vs 17%; P = .001), more likely to die (46% vs. 31%; P = .046), and more likely to have intraventricular hemmorhage (IVH) (30% vs. 50%; P = .01). There was no difference in periventricular leukomalacia. On multivariate analysis controlling for gestational age, steroid use, preeclampsia, preterm labor and oligohydramnios, there was no significant difference in neonatal death (O.R. 0.76; 95% CI 0.34-1.7), all IVH (O.R. 0.64; 95% CI 0.32-1.3), or grade III-IV IVH (O.R. 1.04; 95% CI 0.46-2.3). CONCLUSION: Cesarean delivery of ELBW neonates in the breech presentation does not appear to improve neonatal outcomes.
A flexible decoder IC for WiMAX QC-LDPC codes

A programmable and power-efficient decoder IC employing the layered-decoding message-passing algorithm and the low-complexity offset-based Min-Sum check algorithm for irregular QC-LDPC codes is presented. The iterative decoder can be reconfigured to decode all the QC-LDPC codes defined in the Mobile WiMAX standard. Specifically, the decoder achieves a throughput of 68 Mbps at a 100-MHz clock rate for the rate-1/2 length-2304 code with ten iterations, and occupies a core area of 3.4 mm2 in 0.18-mum CMOS technology and dissipates estimated 165 mW from a 1.8-V supply. It is 53% smaller, 86% lower in complexity, and has better energy efficiency than other published WiMAX LDPC decoder ASICs, to the best of our knowledge.
The Effect of Yoga on Markers of Bone Turnover in Osteopenic Women: a Pilot Study

Weight-bearing exercise is recommended to improve bone density. Hatha Yoga is a popular form of weight- bearing exercise that includes physical postures, stretching, breathing, and relaxation. We hypothesized that Hatha Yoga would have beneficial effects on bone turnover markers. We conducted a small feasibility pilot study with a prospective, pre-post design comparing markers of bone turnover before and after Yoga training in sedentary osteopenic postmenopausal women. Markers of bone formation were measured with serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP). Measures of bone resorption were measured with urinary type I collagen cross-linked N-telopeptide (uNTX). Seven participants completed a 12-week series of one hour per week Yoga classes, in addition to home Yoga practice. We analyzed the correlation between time spent on Yoga and time spent on other weight-bearing exercise and change in bone turnover markers. The amount of Yoga practice was significantly correlated with BAP levels ( r = 0.68, p = 0.09). A weaker, non-significant correlation was found between the amount of Yoga practice and uNTX levels ( r = -.54, p = .21). Compared to Yoga, other physical activities were less correlated with BAP and uNTX levels. Yoga may have beneficial effects on bone turnover in osteopenic postmenopausal women.
Inelastic Beams under Moment Gradient

The paper examines the behavior of wide flange beams loaded into the inelastic range under moment gradient conditions. It is shown that loads in excess of the plastic moment can be expected and that lateral buckling is not as critical as previous studies had indicated. Frequently, local buckling is a controlling factor and this allows the rotation capacity to be determined. A theory based on local buckling has been used to show that the hinge angle that can be delivered is a constant, and a lower bound estimate of the hinge angle has been presented. Test results confirm the lower bound nature of the hinge angle theory, but there is a need for further tests to define the limits within which the theory is applicable. It is shown that a primary consequence of high shear forces is to reduce the rotation capacity of the beam.
Lessons from the Niagara Movement: Prosopography and Discursive Protest

This article uses a case study of the Niagara Movement, which functioned from 1905–1910, to demonstrate that the use of prosopography (collective biographies) is a propitious methodological tool, particularly for those interested in the social-psychological analysis of movement actors within networks. I present a prosopography of the founders of the Niagara Movement. Learning more about the identity of political actors provides clues to the ways strategic choices are made and how collective action frames are developed. The prosopography of the Niagara Movement also provides theoretical insights into discursive processes that are often lost in studies of long movement trajectories. I analyze potential explanations for the absence of organizations such as the Niagara Movement from the civil rights canon, and, through an analysis of talk as a resource for mobilization, pinpoint directions for future researchers interested in micro theories of mobilization.
Enhancing the imaging and biosafety of upconversion nanoparticles through phosphonate coating

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which are generated by doping with rare earth (RE) metals, are increasingly used for bioimaging because of the advantages they hold over conventional fluorophores. However, because pristine RE nanoparticles (NPs) are unstable in acidic physiological fluids (e.g., lysosomes), leading to intracellular phosphate complexation with the possibility of lysosomal injury, it is important to ensure that UCNPs are safely designed. In this study, we used commercially available NaYF4:Er/Yb UCNPs to study their stability in lysosomes and simulated lysosomal fluid. We demonstrate that phosphate complexation leads to REPO4 deposition on the particle surfaces and morphological transformation. This leads to a decline in upconversion fluorescence efficiency as well as inducing pro-inflammatory effects at the cellular level and in the intact lung. In order to preserve the imaging properties of the UCNPs as well as improve their safety, we experimented with a series of phosphonate chemical moieties to passivate particle surfaces through the strong coordination of the organophosphates with RE atoms. Particle screening and physicochemical characterization revealed that ethylenediamine tetra(methylenephosphonic acid) (EDTMP) surface coating provides the most stable UCNPs, which maintain their imaging intensity and do not induce pro-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo. In summary, phosphonate coating presents a safer design method that preserves and improves the bioimaging properties of UCNPs, thereby enhancing their biological use.
Representational Inconsistency: Presentation of Self and Explanations of Washington Activity in Campaign Mail and Franked Mail

Studies of representation have focused primarily on the correlation between legislators’ voting records and their constituents’ preferences; however, accountability inevitably includes representatives’ explanations of their legislative actions. Unlike previous research that has examined consistency within a single form of communication, this study systematically examines legislators’ consistency in the explanations they give across different means of communication. Contrary to arguments that members of Congress do not vary their explanations or presentational styles, we find that incumbents present themselves to constituents differently through different methods of communication. Using the 2006 Campaign Communication Survey, a random survey of registered voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania who were asked to send in all campaign mail received during three weeks in 2006, we compare the content of campaign mail and franked mail incumbents send to constituents. Even though the mediums of communication are similar...
Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation

SUMMARY The pre-participation evaluation should be performed prior to entrance into a new level of school, at least six weeks prior to planned participation, and by a physician who is knowledgeable in the area of sports medicine and supportive of athletic activities. Mass screening can be an adequately efficient method if it is well organized, the medical history form is complete, and the physical examination includes the areas described in this article. Clearance should be sports-classification specific and even sports specific in some instances. The use of levels of clearance allows greater flexibility and individualization by the physician. If these guidelines are followed, the task of the pre-participation evaluation will become more meaningful for both the physician and the athlete.