cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calabash Community Hospital

This case considers a $10 million investment in an outpatient surgery center by a not-for-profit community hospital in rural South Carolina. A member of the purchasing department, R. D. Scott, is invited to complete a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis of the investment opportunity to help quantify the financial costs and benefits of the project in this not-for profit context. The analysis maintains substantial uncertainty regarding a number of key parameters. Excerpt UVA-F-1946 Apr. 15, 2020 Calabash Community Hospital As R. D. Scott left work on a Friday in early December 2019, it seemed like a perfect evening in Calabash, South Carolina. The temperature was 70 degrees, the smell of Lizard's Thicket fried chicken was wafting in the air, and Scott was on his way to cheer on his alma mater's Clemson Tigers as they took on the Virginia Cavaliers for a football conference championship. But then as he viewed the grassy field just beyond the parking lot—the site for a potential new facility—Scott was reminded of the drama of that morning's meeting. The Meeting Scott worked in the purchasing department for Calabash Community Hospital (CCH). He had been there long enough to know the hospitals' suppliers backward and forward. Business at the hospital had long been stable and profitable—a true cash cow. While work life was stable and comfortable at CCH, a growing group at the hospital was concerned about the relaxed nature of CCH management. They saw substantive changes in care at other hospitals in the region, including significant investments pouring into new facilities. The group anticipated a bleak future for CCH if the administrative team wasn't more aggressive. Emily Tang, chief financial officer for the hospital, was not among those advocating for change, but nonetheless, she had responded by organizing a team of administrators, doctors, and nurses to lead an effort to gather data on the feasibility of starting up an ambulatory (outpatient) surgical center (ASC) at CCH. Scott was a member of the team. . . .
Replicating Maximum Yield Annuities with US Treasury Funds

Many individuals rely on annuity purchases to provide a steady stream of income during their post-retirement years. Life insurance companies provide a variety of annuity contracts, but they often come with sizable fees that are extremely detrimental to the purchaser in a low-interest-rate environment. This article develops a methodology that enables retail investors to structure annuities using commonly available US Treasury exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds. Only historical price or NAV data and Treasury yield data are required to implement the strategy. The funds compose a dynamically managed portfolio requiring only an initial investment. Each period, the portfolio is rebalanced to match the modified duration of a reference annuity. This minimizes interest rate risk from parallel shifts in future yield curves. The weights are optimized to provide the highest yield possible. The objective is for the portfolio to provide the required periodic annuity payments and have a zero balance at annuity maturity under a variety of interest rate scenarios, while providing the maximum possible yield. Scenario tests show that the strategy is effective under parallel yield curve shifts, but may have shortfalls for curve steepening and gains for curve flattening. Investors may choose to add to their initial investment to reduce the risk of shortfalls if the curve steepens. The article concludes with an implementation of the strategy using actual Treasury ETFs. TOPICS:Retirement, exchange-traded funds and applications, fixed income and structured finance, performance measurement Key Findings ▪ US Treasury ETFs can be used to replicate an annuity, thus enabling retail investors to avoid the sizable fees charged by life insurance companies. ▪ The replication performs well for parallel yield curve shifts. ▪ Future work using key-rate durations may enhance the performance of the replication for non-parallel yield curve shifts.
Factors associated with potentially avoidable interhospital transfers in emergency general surgery-A call for quality improvement efforts.

Abstract Background Emergency general surgery conditions are common, require urgent surgical evaluation, and are associated with high mortality and costs. Although appropriate interhospital transfers are critical to successful emergency general surgery care, the performance of emergency general surgery transfer systems remains unclear. We aimed to describe emergency general surgery transfer patterns and identify factors associated with potentially avoidable transfers. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of emergency general surgery episodes in 8 US states using the 2016 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient and Emergency Department Databases and the American Hospital Association Annual Surveys. We identified Emergency Department-to-Inpatient and Inpatient-to-Inpatient interhospital emergency general surgery transfers. Potentially avoidable transfers were defined as discharge within 72 hours after transfer without undergoing any procedure or operation at the destination hospital. We examined transfer incidence and characteristics. We performed multilevel regression examining patient-level and hospital-level factors associated with potentially avoidable transfers. Results Of 514,410 adult emergency general surgery episodes, 26,281 (5.1%) involved interhospital transfers (Emergency Department-to-Inpatient: 65.0%, Inpatient-to-Inpatient: 35.1%). Over 1 in 4 transfers were potentially avoidable (7,188, 27.4%), with the majority occurring from the emergency department. Factors associated with increased odds of potentially avoidable transfers included self-pay (versus government insurance, odds ratio: 1.26, 95% confidence interval: 1.09–1.45, P = .002), level 1 trauma centers (versus non-trauma centers, odds ratio: 1.24, 95% confidence interval: 1.05–1.47, P = .01), and critical access hospitals (versus non-critical access, odds ratio: 1.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.15–1.47, P Conclusion Over 1 in 4 emergency general surgery transfers are potentially avoidable. Understanding factors associated with potentially avoidable transfers can guide research, quality improvement, and infrastructure development to optimize emergency general surgery care.
The influence of parasitism on producers and nutrients in mesocosm ecosystems

Abstract Pathogens and parasites are increasingly recognized as important components within host populations, communities, and ecosystems. Both density-mediated and trait-mediated impacts of parasites on ecosystems are known and likely operate together to influence ecosystem processes. Despite the assertion that trait-mediated impacts of parasites are pervasive, empirical evidence of these effects is lacking. Our aim is to fill this gap and test whether parasitism can influence ecosystem processes within controlled mesocosm ecosystems. In the host-parasite (snail-trematode) system used, parasites form cysts in second intermediate host tissue and cause minimal direct mortality (minimizing density-mediated parasite impacts). We created mesocosms across a gradient of parasitism and measured water column nutrient concentrations, producer biomass, and invertebrate community composition. We demonstrate that trematode parasitism is correlated with an increase in periphyton dry mass and percent ash-free dry mass. Additionally, water column carbon and phosphorus concentrations were influenced by producers but not parasites. We demonstrate that parasites in the metacercarial stage have limited impact as “ecosystem engineers”, but some data suggest parasites may have a subtle influence on ecosystem processes.
The Effect of Patient Circuit Compensation for Different Ventilator Modes

Background: A key element of lung-protective ventilation is to control tidal volume within 4–8 mL/kg of predicted body weight. In volume-targeted modes, a portion of tidal volume is lost due to compression in the patient circuit. The automatic compensation for compressible volume by the ventilator is important. Many critical care ventilators provide patient circuit compensation to counteract the loss of volume in ventilator circuits based on circuit compliance (Ccircuit) and airway pressure (Paw). The purpose of the study was to assess how inspiratory effort affects volume delivery with or without circuit compensation. Methods: This study was conducted using the IngMar Active Servo Lung 5000 (ASL 5000), programmed to simulate an adult patient with moderate ARDS (compliance = 40 mL/cm H2O and resistance = 10 cm H2O/L/s) and different inspiratory efforts. The effort models were set to maximum muscle pressure, Pmax = 0, 5, 10, 15 cm H2O. The experiment was performed with a heated humidifier in the patient circuit, filled with water, but not turned on. Two modes were used on a Servo-U ventilator: volume-controlled continuous mandatory ventilation with set-point targeting scheme (VC-CMVs) and pressure-controlled continuous mandatory ventilation with adaptive targeting scheme (PC-CMVa). The outcome variable was the difference between tidal volume with and without circuit compensation for passive and active breathing (ΔVT). ΔVT = (Paw-PEEP)/Ccircuit. We recorded the mean of inspired tidal volume as measured and analyzed by the ASL 5000 for 10 breaths after stabilization. Results: Data are shown in the graph below. ΔVTdecreases as Pmax increases. Conclusions: The effects of circuit compensation are affected by the simulated inspiratory effort, as expected. For volume-targeted modes, increasing effort decreases Paw. Decreasing Paw decreases ΔVT.
Development of a highly stable liposomal irinotecan with low toxicity and potent antitumor efficacy

1409 Irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) is a water soluble camptothecin prodrug indicated for use in chemotherapy of colorectal cancers. Previous attempts to liposomalize irinotecan suffered from the drug’s tendency to remain in the lipid membrane compartment and high drug escape rates in the presence of plasma. We applied intraliposomal drug trapping agents with increased anionic charge density to improve irinotecan retention within the inner aqueous space of small (80-120 nm) unilamellar liposomes. Transmembrane gradient of substituted amine salts employing two intraliposomal highly anionically charged trapping agents resulted in liposomes not only entrapping CPT-11 with very high loading capacity (drug-to-lipid ratios over 800 μg CPT-11/μmol phospholipid at over 90% encapsulation efficiency), but also with excellent stability as evidenced by half-lives of drug release from the liposomes in the circulation of up to 57 hours. This anion-stabilized liposomal formulation of CPT-11(HBI-02) in rats showed a plasma AUC for the drug that improved by greater than 500-fold upon liposome encapsulation. The gradient loading method employed also prevented the hydrolysis of CPT-11 to the inactive carboxylate form or conversion to its active metabolite, SN-38, prior to reaching the tumor. While liposomalization of water-soluble camptothecins has been consistently reported to increase the drug’s toxicity, a single i.v. dose acute toxicology study in normal mice showed the maximum tolerated dose of HBI-02 was over 320 mg/kg, in contrast to 80 mg/kg for CPT-11 administered in solution (“free CPT-11”) demonstrating a remarkable amelioration of systemic toxicity. In a nude mouse model of BT-474 human breast carcinoma xenografts, HBI-02 demonstrated substantially higher efficacy when compared to free CPT-11 at the same dose (50 mg/kg drug twice weekly for two weeks), with 100 % complete tumor regressions in a HBI-02 treated group, with no apparent signs of toxicity or weight loss during the course of study. In human colon carcinoma (HT-29) xenografts, HBI-02 given once weekly for 3 weeks at 50 or 25 mg/kg demonstrated similarly high efficacy and low toxicity, although tumor regrowth rates did increase when the dose was lowered from 50 to 25 mg CPT-11/kg/dose or when another, more rapidly drug releasing liposome formulation was employed. We conclude that high drug load and improved encapsulation stability in vivo provided by intraliposomal anionic stabilization of CPT-11 is key to achieving high antitumor activity of a liposomal CPT-11, while reducing drug toxicity.
Homogeneous, bioluminescent assays for proteasome activity

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 1361 Protein degradation is mediated predominantly through the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. The importance of the proteasome in regulating degradation of proteins involved in cell cycle control, apoptosis, and angiogenesis led to the recognition of the proteasome as a therapeutic target for cancer. The first generation proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, is now an approved drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Peptide-conjugated fluorophores are widely used as substrates for monitoring proteasome activity, but fluorogenic substrates can exhibit significant background and can be problematic for screening due to interference from test compounds. To address these issues, we developed a homogeneous, bioluminescent method that combines peptide-conjugated aminoluciferin substrates and a stabilized luciferase. We first developed this method for monitoring caspase activities and have now developed homogeneous, bioluminescent assays for all three proteasome activities. We use Suc-LLVY-aminoluciferin, Z-LRR-aminoluciferin, and Z-nLPnLD-aminoluciferin to monitor the chymotrypsin-like, trypsin-like, and caspase-like activities of the proteasome, respectively. The luminogenic assays showed increased dynamic range and improved detection sensitivity compared to the analogous fluorogenic assays. In addition, the luminescent assays rapidly attained maximum signal and held stable light emission, allowing for assay flexibility. We have applied this technology to a cell-based assay using the Suc-LLVY-aminoluciferin substrate in combination with a selective membrane permeabilization step. The cell-based assay does not require lysate preparation and enables measurement of proteasome activity in a more physiologically relevant environment. The assay has been tested on numerous cell lines and has been shown to monitor proteasome activity that is inhibited by lactacystin and epoximicin. The proteasome assays are designed in a simple “add and read” format and have been tested in 96 and 384-well formats. The homogeneous, luminogenic protease assay format was at least 10-fold more sensitive than fluorogenic assays using comparable substrates for several proteases. The bioluminescent, coupled-enzyme format enables sensitive and rapid protease assays ideal for high-throughput screening.
A Decade of Tests of Grand Unified Theories

This paper considers from an empirical point of view: (i) the agreement between experiment and the grand unified theory (SU(5)) prediction of sin 2γW; (ii) the results of the most recent searches for baryon number and lepton number non-conservation; (iii) possible lepton structure; and (iv) possible electric charge non-conserving processes.
Not in our stars : The University of Windsor Archives and Library Disaster Plan

Abstract The University of Windsor, Ontario, is a medium-sized public institution with extensive library and archival holdings. Until the mid-1990s, no disaster preparedness plan existed tor the library and archives. This article describes the formation and operation of the University of Windsor Library and Archives Disaster Team, and outlines a simple but comprehensive plan for handling incidents of fire, flood, and similar emergency situations.
Dynamics of Nonrigid Articulated Robot Linkages

This paper presents the kinematic and dynamic analysis of an n-link manipulator with flexible members. The deformation of a link from its rigid body position is modeled by a homogeneous transformation. The dynamic equations are obtained using an Euler-Lagrange formulation. These equations are compared to those describing a rigid link mechanism.
Write and Erase Threshold Voltage Interdependence in Resistive Switching Memory Cells

A statistical dependence of set voltage $V_{\rm set}$ on the preceding reset voltage $V_{{\rm {reset}}}$ is observed in resistive memory arrays and explained in terms of two interlocking mechanisms. This dependence can be replicated on a single device by intentionally varying the $V_{\rm reset}$ values by various linear voltage ramp rates. The latter mechanism is well modeled under the assumption that a critical heat deposited locally in the filament triggers the rupture of the filament. Mechanisms are proposed to explain the impact of different ramp rates of the reset operation on the ruptured gap in the filament that affect, in turn, the $V_{\rm set}$ value of the subsequent set operation. Based on these observations, a one-time tightening procedure is designed, leading to tightened $V_{\rm set}$ and $V_{{\rm {reset}}}$ distributions.
Efficient Inter-Carrier Compensation for Competing Networks when Customers Share the Value of a Call

With competition in telecommunications markets networks must complete calls originated on competing networks. The payments for such "termination services" affect retail prices and therefore consumption of telecommunications. Regulators typically require the calling party's network to pay a termination fee to the called party's network equal to the terminating network's "incremental cost" of completing the call. I show that when both parties to a call benefit from it, they should bear the costs of the call in proportion to the value that they receive from the call. This implies that requiring two networks to exchange traffic at a single point on a bill and keep basis can generate efficient network utilization in cases where imposing all costs on the calling party's network will not. This occurs even with unbalanced traffic between the two networks. Thus, regulators may improve the efficiency of telecommunications markets by establishing inter-carrier compensation rules that cause the calling party and the called party to share the cost of a call.
Identifikation und Quantifizierung von Fettkompartimenten mit CT und MRT und deren Stellenwert

In addition to being overweight, as defined by the BMI, the distribution, composition and biological activity of adipose tissue are key elements in the cardiovascular risk stratification of patients. Several non-invasive techniques have been developed to quantify local fat depots, whereby computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the most important. In general adipose tissue is subdivided into subcutaneous and visceral compartments and although both are associated with cardiovascular risk factors and disease, visceral fat has on average a stronger association and a clearly higher biological activity independent of traditional risk factors. This maybe explained by the higher endocrine activity and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines by visceral fat. Especially pericardial adipose tissue, a local visceral fat depot surrounding the coronary arteries, is associated with the presence, extent and severity of coronary artery disease. However, several other local fat depots have been identified and associations with various diseases have been established. This article gives an overview over the current methods for the identification and quantification of local fat depots and summarizes the hypothesized and known associations. Furthermore, it gives an overview of the potential significance of individual local fat depots for cardiovascular risk stratification.
Robotic surgery for staging of serous papillary and clear cell carcinoma of the endometrium.

Background The feasibility of robotic staging for high-risk endometrial cancer is unclear. Methods Retrospective review of papillary serous and clear cell endometrial cancer open staging (OS) and robotic staging (RS) cases (2009–2011) by two gynaecological oncologists. Results There were 15 OS and 17 RS cases (no conversions). Age, uterine weight and body mass index were comparable, with more stage I RS cases. Operative time (172.5 vs 124.2 min, p = 0.0005), blood loss (71.9 vs 310.0 ml, p = 0.0002), hospital stay (5.4 vs 1.2 days, p = 0.0016) and lymphadenectomy yield (16.8 vs 10.2 nodes, p = 0.0041) were decreased for RS. Optimal cytoreduction rates (100% vs 93%, p = 0.2794), follow-up (19.9 vs 27.1 months, p = 0.2283) and recurrences (three vs five, p = 0.5395) were equivalent. Disease-free survival (54.5% vs 66.7%, p = 0.5302) and overall survival rates (81.8% vs 80.0%, p = 0.9075) were equivalent. Conclusions Robotic staging is feasible with minimal blood loss, a short operative time and recovery and good optimal cytoreduction rates. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intra- and Extraluminal Fluid

Intraluminal fluid collections are defined for the purposes of this chapter as fluid within bowel since the gallbladder and urinary tract are dealt with in separate chapters. Intraluminal fluid can be seen in both normal and abnormally dilated loops of bowel. Extraluminal fluid refers to fluid external to any hollow viscera, i.e., bowel, gallbladder, urinary bladder. This fluid can either be free within the abdominal cavity, i.e., ascites, or can be loculated in the intra or extraperitoneal compartment, i.e., hematomas, seromas, abscesses, or lymphoceles. This chapter will discuss applications of real-time ultrasound imaging in the identification and differentiation of intraluminal from extraluminal fluid.
On-line electrochemical monitoring of (TNT) 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in natural waters

Abstract An electrochemical flow system for on-line monitoring of trace 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in marine environments, based on a square-wave voltammetric operation at a carbon-fiber based detector, is described. The system offers selective measurements of sub-ppm concentrations of TNT in untreated seawater matrix (with a detection limit of 25 ppb). It responds rapidly to sudden changes in the TNT concentration with no observable carry-over. About 600 runs can be made every hour with high reproducibility (e.g. R.S.D.=2.3%, n=40) and stability. A computerized baseline subtraction offers effective compensation of the oxygen background contribution. Good sensitivity and stability is illustrated also for on-line monitoring of TNT in untreated river water samples. The system lends itself to full automation and to deployment onto various mobile platforms. By meeting the high-sensitivity, selectivity, stability, portability and low-cost demands, such as voltammetric flow detection holds great promise for field-based screening operations aimed at characterizing and remediating unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminated underwater sites.
Enhancing Teacher Health Literacy in School Health Promotion A Vision for the New Millennium

ABSTRACT: While the National Health Education Standards focused interest and attention on student (consumer) health literacy, equal attention should be given to teacher (provider) health literacy. Teacher health literacy may be defined as “the capacity of teachers to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services, with the competence to use such information and services in ways that enhance the learning of health concepts and skills by school students.” This paper reviews a traditional model for school health teacher preparation, then presents an alternative, university field-tested model for enhancing health literacy in teacher education. This new model presents an innovative instructional paradigm, the Child and Adolescent Health (CAH) Logic Framework. This training model (vision) illustrates and emphasizes the link between child and adolescent health research and theory, CAH information, and application to health education, public policy, medical care, and health advocacy.
Rf And Laser Space-Based Communication Links: Another Perspective

During the remainder of the 1980's and early 1990's, many technology improvements will be made to achieve high data rate satellite-to-satellite communications. Programs such as the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization's SDS (Strategic Defense System) have projected architecture requirements for data transfer rates ranging from hundreds of kilobits per second to hundreds of megabits per second on satellite crosslinks. The advanced technology required to realize these rates is being investigated even now, but a general solution for the communications problem, defined in part by unique operating environ-ments ranging from benign to highly perturbed, is not possible. This paper focuses on one aspect of the overall satellite communications problem. It begins by briefly comparing radio frequency (RF) with direct detection laser communications (lasercom) for application to high data rate SDS low and medium earth orbit crosslinks. This comparison is based on near term technology suitable for early deployment in the SDS. The RF system is a millimeter-wave system operating in the 60 GHz region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Lasercom system is considered to operate in the near infrared, from 0.8 to 1.1 micrometers. The trades consider operation in benign as well as the very stressing environments postulated for the Strategic Defense System which includes low and high altitude nuclear bursts as well as the threat of spaced based jamming sources and directed energy weapons. Results of the trades are presented to show the advantages and disadvantages of each type of system. The advantages and disadvantages of the RF and Lasercom systems are of sufficient magnitude to consider combining the best features of each to create a truly new communication system with capabilities far exceeding those of either system. For example, maximum survivabilty results from carrying both systems (RF & Lasercom) on the satellite. However, this approach is costly in terms of weight, power, and real estate. A better approach would be to carry the capabilities of both sys-tems. Such an approach is proposed in this paper. The combination of systems, termed the Dual Mode Communications System (DMCS), is the principal thrust of the remainder of the paper.
Prolyl cis-trans Isomerization as a Molecular Timer in Crk Signaling

In a recent issue of Molecular Cell, Sarkar et al. (2007) use NMR to identify peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerization as an autoinhibitory switch in the adaptor protein Crk, suggesting a new mechanism for controlling the rate of formation of signaling complexes.
Prolonged stimulation by follicle-stimulating hormone is required for the induction of ovarian follicular cysts by human chorionic gonadotropin in hypophysectomized rats.

Combined stimulation by follicule-stimulating hormone (FSH) and subovulatory doses of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, luteinizing hormone [LH]-like activity) produces large ovarian follicular cysts in hypophysectomized (HYPOXD) immature rats. To obtain a better understanding of the extent to which stimulation by FSH is required in order for hCG to induce these ovarian cysts, immature HYPOXD rats were given subcutaneous (sc) injections of 1 IU hCG twice daily for 9 d, either alone or with daily injections of 2 μg of highly purified ovine FSH on Ovaries and serum samples were collected on the morning of d 10 of treatment. Animals that were treated for 9 d with hCG, but that received either no FSH or only 1 or 2 d of FSH treatment, did not display antral follicles on day 10 of treatment. The largest cross-sectional areas for the ovaries from animals that received 1 or 2 d of FSH treatments ranged between 6.84±0.51 mm2 and 8.94±0.89 mm2. The diameters of the largest preantral follicles in the ovaries of these two groups ranged between 0.278±0.011 and 0.320±0.028 mm, respectively. In contrast, ovaries from hCG-treated HYPOXD rats that received FSH treatments for either 5 or 9 d displayed follicular cysts by the morning of day 10. The largest cross-sectional areas for the ovaries from these two treatment groups were similar (15.68±1.61 and 18.7±5.13 mm2, respectively), as were the mean diameters of the cystic follicles in these two groups (0.929±0.096 and 0.830±0.063 mm, respectively). Although serum androstenedione and testosterone concentrations were greater for HYPOXD rats that received combined FSH+hCG treatments than for animals that received hCG treatments alone, these concentrations did not increase with increasing numbers of days of FSH treatment. As with serum androstenedione and testosterone concentrations, serum estradiol and estrone concentrations for HYPOXD rats treated with hCG alone were limited (0.002±0.001 and 0.004±0.002 ng/mL, respectively), but had increased by day 10 after a single injection of FSH on day one of treatment. In contrast to serum androgen concentrations, serum estradiol and estrone concentrations continued to increase as the number of days of combined FSH+hCG treatment increased. These observations indicate that, in the rat, a significant period of exposure to tonic stimulation by both FSH and LH-like activity is required for the development of large ovarian cysts. Further, this period of exposure to FSH appears to be linked to increased peripheral serum estrogen concentrations, rather than to increased androgen concentrations. Therefore, the data provide indirect support for the concept that estrogens play a direct role, at the level of the ovary, in the induction of large ovarian cysts in the rat.
Aquatic macrophyte breakdown in an Appalachian river

Weight loss from Podostemum ceratophyllum, Elodea canadensis, Potamogeton crispus, Justicia americana, and Typha latifolia was measured by exposing air dried leaf material in 15 cm2 nylon mesh bags (3 mm octagonal openings). Breakdown rates for these species were 0.037, 0.026, 0.02l, 0.016, and 0.007 day−1, respectively. In general, these rates are much faster than reported rates of tree leaf breakdown in streams. Shredders accounted for 35% of the macroinvertebrates found on the leaf bags. However, macroinvertebrate densities on the aquatic macrophyte tissue were well below densities commonly found on leaf bags in small streams. The rapid breakdown of aquatic macrophytes in the New River suggests that organic matter from this source may constitute a significant pulse in the annual energy dynamics of the river.
Surface tension effects in breaking wave noise

The role of surface active materials in the sea surface microlayer on the production of underwater noise by breaking waves is considered. Wave noise is assumed to be generated by bubbles formed within actively breaking whitecaps, driven into breathing mode oscillation at the moment of their formation by non-equilibrium, surface tension forces. Two significant effects associated with surface tension are identified—a reduction in low frequency noise (<1000 Hz) due to the re-fragmentation of actively radiating bubbles by fluid turbulence within the whitecap and a reduction in overall noise level due to a decrease in the excitation amplitude of bubbles associated with reduced surface tension. The impact of the latter effect on the accuracy of Weather Observations Through Ambient Noise estimates of wind speed is assessed and generally found to be less than ±1 m s−1 for wind speeds less than 10 m s−1 and typical values of surfactant film pressure within sea slicks.
OPTOKINETIC ROTATION-INDUCED TASTE AVERSIONS CORRELATE WITH OVER-ALL SYMPTOMS OF MOTION SICKNESS IN HUMANS

51 subjects were divided into Familiar- and Unfamiliar-drink groups based on whether they had tasted soybean milk before the experiment. Each subject then viewed an optokinetic rotating drum for 10 min. Subjective assessments of nausea and over-all symptoms of motion sickness were measured during the drum rotation. Two hours later subjects drank the soybean milk again. The consumed volume and rating of likeableness of the drink were subsequently measured. Analysis showed that the subjects in the Unfamiliar-drink group reported significantly higher taste aversion and consumed significantly less soybean milk after rotation than those in the Familiar-drink group. Correlation for the Unfamiliar-drink group indicated that the rated taste aversion was positively correlated with ratings of over-all symptoms of motion sickness and that the consumed volume of soybean milk was negatively correlated with ratings of over-all symptoms of motion sickness. We concluded that the magnitude of acquired conditioned taste av...
Sorting out the survival impact of radiation therapy in early-stage invasive breast cancer.

Radiation plays a major role in the management of early-stage breast cancer. While its impact on local–regional control is clearly documented with both clinically and statistically significant gains, the impact of radiation on overall and disease-free survival in early-stage disease remains a matter of controversy and debate.1–4 There are two major areas where the impact of radiation therapy on overall and disease-free survival has been extensively evaluated: 1. radiation to the whole breast following breast-conserving surgery (BCS + RT) and 2. comprehensive irradiation to the chest wall/breast and regional lymphatics after definitive surgery. In this commentary, we will review the evidence and controversies in these two major areas.1–3
A STUDY OF READING DISABILITY USING EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS ELICITED DURING AUDITORY ALLITERATION JUDGMENTS

Sixteen adolescent dyslexics (age range =12–18 years) and 16 similarly aged normal readers listened to spoken words and judged whether word pairs started with the same or different sounds (e.g., alliterated). Single‐syllable, high‐frequency, real‐word digitized speech stimuli were used with word pairs having a 50% chance of alliterating. Response accuracy, response latency, and event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Reading‐disabled participants were split into 2 groups based on performance on an auditory phonological task (Bradley Oddity Task). The 10 dyslexic participants who made errors on the task were called dysphonetics. The 6 dyslexics who made no errors were called phonetics. Normal readers responded both more accurately and faster than either reading‐disabled group. The phonetic and dysphonetic groups did not differ in accuracy or response latency. ERPs of the normal readers showed an N400 priming effect for alliterating targets. Specifically, the ERPs to the alliterating targets we...
Susceptibility to childhood leukemia

Leukemia occurs as the result of leukemia-promoting factors and the ability/inability of the immune system to attack and eliminate upcoming malignant cells. In this issue of Blood , Almalte et al describe in a case-control study how the presence of activating killer-cell immunoglobulin-like
Fish and blue crab assemblage structure in a U.S. mid atlantic coastal lagoon complex

Variability in assemblages of organisms in contiguous lagoons is dependent upon component bays and their connections to the ocean and terrestrial watersheds. Fish and blue crab assemblage structure of Maryland's coastal lagoon complex, which consists of Assawoman, Isle of Wight, Sinepuxent, and Chincoteague Bays, was analyzed for spatial and seasonal patterns for the period 1991–2002. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinated sites from a Maryland state trawl survey into discrete groups associated with each embayment. Dominant species includedCallinectes sapidus, Anchoa mitchilli, Leiostomous xanthurus, Bairdiella chrysoura, andBrevoortia tyramus. The relative abundance of these and other dominant species were significantly higher in the two bays north of the ocean inlet than in bays south of the inlet. Ninety-two species were identified in the survey, with total species richness highest in the southern-most bay (Chincoteague: S=83) and lowest in the northern most bay (Assawoman: S=59). On a catch per unit effort basis, the northern two bays were more diverse and productive. These bays were most affected by anthropogenic eutrophication, but also exhibited higher connectivity to the ocean inlet. There was clear seasonality in assemblage structure with peak abundance and diversity in the summer compared to spring and fall. Factors that influenced seasonal and spatial structure of Maryland's coastal lagoon complex included temperature, degree of eutrophication, and proximity to oceanic exchange. The arrangement of the bays in their exposure to oceanic and watershed influences specify that habitat management actions should occur at a bay-level scale rather than across the lagoon complex.
Polar lows as arctic hurricanes

Satellite observations of the polar oceans have revealed the presence of small, intense vortices that often resemble hurricanes, having clear central eyes surrounded by deep convective clouds. Recent aircraft and dropsonde data also show that these storms, like hurricanes, occur within deep moist adiabatic atmospheres and possess warm cores. We propose that at least some polar lows are indeed arctic hurricanes. Using a recently developed theoretical model of the mature hurricane, we show that the observed difference between the moist entropy of the troposphere and that representing saturation at sea surface temperature can sustain moderately intense hurricanes. Unlike the environments of tropical hurricanes, much of this moist entropy difference results from an air-sea temperature difference. Numerical experiments using an axisymmetric nonhydrostatic model confirm that intense hurricanes can develop in environments typical of those in which polar lows are observed to develop. Due to the relatively large values of the Coriolis parameter, these storms have smaller diameters than do hurricanes. The experiments also show that the deep, cold cut-off lows which create favorable thermodynamic environments for polar lows also inhibit their development because of the large intertial stability of their circulations. Finally, we show that, like hurricanes, surface flux-driven polar lows cannot arise spontaneously, but require an independent and presumably non-axisymmetric dynamical mechanism for their initiation. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0870.1989.tb00362.x
ELECTRIC FISH (GYMNOTUS CARAPO) AS A TOOL FOR BIOASSAY OF METHYLPHENIDATE AND CHLORPROMAZINE.

Gymnotus carapo, an electric knife fish, produces a continuous spontaneous discharge, the rate of which is subject to modulation, when the fish is disturbed. Free swimming knife fish of this species were subjected to the action of chlorpromazine and methylphenidate, while the discharge was detected by electrodes in the corners of the aquarium and recorded on magnetic tape. Methylphenidate increased and chlorpromazine decreased the frequency. The log dose response curves for both compounds presented a straight line relationship. The usefulness of the technique for bioassay of compounds acting on the central nervous system is discussed briefly.
Impact of flare on CD variation for 248-nm and 193-nm lithography systems

All optical imaging systems have some amount of stray light, or flare, that detracts from system performance, critical dimension (CD) control, and process latitude. The effects of flare increase when multiple exposure processes, such as complementary phase shift, are used since this doubles the amount of exposure energy going through the optics. Flare was characterized on several modern KrF and ArF exposure tools using a direct method of measurement. Flare is determined by measuring the reduction in the size of a 160 nm line as it is subjected to increasing dose from a second 'flare' exposure. The amount of flare is determined using regression between experimental and modeled data. Lithography modeling was used to quantify the amount of flare responsible for CD variation. This method allows evaluation of CD control degradation on actual features that are sized close to production feature size. The effects of substrate reflectance and mask loading were also studied. The results were compared to a published large pad flare measurement technique in common use.
Dendritic remodeling of hippocampal neurons is associated with altered NMDA receptor expression in alcohol dependent rats

Prolonged alcohol exposure has been previously shown to impair the structure and function of the hippocampus, although the underlying structural and biochemical alterations contributing to these deleterious effects are unclear. Also unclear is whether these changes persist into prolonged periods of abstinence. Previous work from our lab utilizing a clinically relevant rodent model of alcohol consumption demonstrated that alcohol dependence (induced by chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure or CIE) decreases proliferation and survival of neural stem cells in the hippocampal subgranular zone and hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus, implicating this region of the cortex as particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of prolonged ethanol exposure. For this study, we investigated seven weeks of CIE-induced morphological changes (dendritic complexity and dendritic spine density) of dentate gyrus (DG) granule cell neurons, CA3, and CA1 pyramidal neurons and the associated alterations in biochemical markers of synaptic plasticity and toxicity (NMDA receptors and PSD-95) in the hippocampus in ethanol-experienced Wistar rats 3h (CIE) and 21 days (protracted abstinence) after the last ethanol vapor exposure. CIE reduced dendritic arborization of DG neurons and this effect persisted into protracted abstinence. CIE enhanced dendritic arborization of pyramidal neurons and this effect did not persist into protracted abstinence. The architectural changes in dendrites did not correlate with alterations in dendritic spine density, however, they were associated with increases in the expression of pNR2B, total NR2B, and total NR2A immediately following CIE with expression levels returning to control levels in prolonged abstinence. Overall, these data provide the evidence that CIE produces profound changes in hippocampal structural plasticity and in molecular tools that maintain hippocampal structural plasticity, and these alterations may underlie cognitive dysfunction associated with alcohol dependence. In addition, the compensatory state concurrent with reduced plasticity during protracted abstinence could leave the hippocampus vulnerable to subsequent insult following chronic ethanol exposure.
Characterization of pitting corrosion damage through multiscale analysis

The paper documents a novel method for characterizing pitting corrosion damage in structural materials such as Al 2024-T3. Specimens of such alloys are corroded in a controlled environment and the pits' geometry is captured digitally using white light interference microscopy. The digital data are then processed with wavelet-based analysis thus making possible a multi-resolution description of the geometrical features. The analysis reveals several interesting features of the pits that are similar for all the experimental data analyzed herein, and independent of the process followed for creating them. The first property identified as common to all pits is their geometrical scaling with a (Hurst) exponent of 0.63 +/- 0.12. Furthermore, the ratio (omega) of the surface area of the pit as represented at coarse scales through the wavelet representation, over the area of its intersection with the plane at zero depth is found to be 1.17 +/- 0.07 consistently. The ratio of the total surface area over its intersection is found to be 1.6 +/- 0.2. Either one of these ratios together with the Hurst exponent provide sufficient information for obtaining a pit's geometry from images capturing its 2D shape only, a capability important for efficient characterization. Additionally, such a characterization is paramount for rigorously addressing fatigue crack initiation and propagation.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Cardiovascular effects of ethanol, its congeners and synthetic bourbon in dogs

Abstract The hemodynamic effects of ethanol, methanol, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, iso-amyl alcohol and synthetic bourbon were studied in anesthetized, open chest dogs. The blood levels of ethanol and congeners were measured by gas chromatography. When the blood ethanol levels were less than 3 mg/ml, heart rate, systemic arterial pressure and myocardial contractile force increased slightly. However, with higher levels of ethanol, these three parameters decreased progressively as pulmonary arterial pressure increased. Likewise, methanol, ethyl acetate, iso-amyl alcohol and synthetic bourbon depressed the cardiovascular functions with the smaller blood levels. Among the congeners studied, iso-amyl alcohol caused the most marked myocardial depressant action. Acetaldehyde always increased heart rate, systemic arterial pressure and myocardial contractile force significantly. The magnitude of the hemodynamic changes produced by synthetic bourbon was practically similar to those by synthetic ethanol when the blood ethanol levels were less than 3 mg/ml. However, with the higher doses, synthetic bourbon caused significantly greater hemodynamic changes than synthetic ethanol.
Histidyl-proline diketopiperazine: its biological role as a regulatory peptide

Histidyl-proline diketopiperazine [cyclo(His-Pro)] is a metabolic of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH). This review summarizes the literature concerning cyclo (His-Pro) and, in addition, some studies dealing with TRH and other peptides that are considered of interest. The enzymes concerned with the metabolism of TRH are discussed. Distribution studies of peptides by immunological methods show that, while TRH is concentrated in synaptosomes, cyclo (His-Pro) is not, suggesting that cyclo (His-Pro) is not a classical neurotransmitter. Rat brain contains approximately three times as much cyclo (His-Pro) as TRH, mainly localized in the pituitary and hypothalamus. While the TRH is found in a free form, the cyclo (His-Pro) is bound to a carrier of molecular weight approximately 70 000. While specific membrane receptors for TRH have been detected in pituitary cells, no such receptors for cyclo (His-Pro) have yet been found in brain or pituitary; however, there is a specific binding of cyclo (His-Pro) to adrenal cortex membranes, Both TRH and cyclo (His-Pro) have effects in the central nervous system or pituitary. These include effects on prolactin release, thermoregulation, CNS depression, stereotypic behavior and cyclic nucleotide levels. Possible mechanisms and interrelations of these effects are discussed.
Stage III pancreatic cancer and the role of irreversible electroporation

About a third of patients with pancreatic cancer present with locally advanced disease that is not amenable to resection. Because these patients have localized disease, conventional ablative therapies (thermal ablation and cryoablation) have the potential to be beneficial, but their use is inherently limited in the pancreas. These limitations could be overcome by irreversible electroporation—a novel, non-thermal ablative method that is gaining popularity for the treatment of many soft tissue tumors, including those of the pancreas. This review summarizes the status of this technique in the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Most of the evidence on efficacy and safety is based on non-randomized prospective series, which show that irreversible electroporation may improve overall survival and pain control in locally advanced pancreatic cancer. As experience with this procedure increases, randomized controlled trials are needed to document its efficacy in locally advanced pancreatic cancer more precisely.
Effects of bond hardness and diamond concentration on the erosion of diamond tool materials

Erosion of the tool material during deterministic microgrinding is essential to produce self-sharpening. In this study the effect of bond hardness and diamond size on the erosion of bronze-bond, diamond-abrasive tool materials is reported.