cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Computed tomography imaging of left atrium and pulmonary veins for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Atrialfibrillationisthemostcommonsustainedsupraventricular arrhythmia. The prevalence and the incidence increases with advancing age and with the presence of cardiovascular disease. 1 It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality due to hemodynamic deterioration secondarytoincreasedheartrate,lossofatrioventricularsynchrony,andprogressivedysfunctionoftheleftatrium,which may increase the risk of stroke and other embolic events secondary to atrial thrombi. 2 Atrial fibrillation is more frequent in patients with hypertension or structural heart disease such as underlying valve disease (especially rheumatic and mitral valve) 3,4 and coronary artery disease. It is more frequent in patients with cardiopulmonary disease resulting in hypoxia or hypercapnia such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or in patients with metabolic disease such as diabetes mellitus and hyperthyroidism. Atrial fibrillation has a strong association of with other arrhythmias such as Wolff—Parkinson‐White syndrome, atrioventricular nodal reentranttachycardias,andsicksinussyndrome.Inaddition, it may occur in healthy patients in times of stress, following surgery, strenuous exercise, or with stimulants such as coffee or alcohol. 5
Public Self-Consciousness, Social Anxiety, and Attitudes Toward the Use of Clothing

Two studies were conducted to examine the relationships between public self-consciousness, social anxiety, and clothing variables. Individuals who are high in public self-consciousness are thought to be aware of themselves as social objects and to be especially concerned with their public self-presentation. It was therefore predicted that there would be positive relation ships between public self-consciousness and fashion opinion leadership, clothing interest, clothing conformity, self-perceived fashionability, and actual fashionability. The self-evalua tion that accompanies public self-consciousness is thought to produce social anxiety if the evaluation results in an awareness of discrepancies between the self-image and a socially defined ideal. It was therefore further predicted that subjects who are high in public self- consciousness but have low scores on tests of fashion opinion leadership, clothing interest, clothing conformity, self-perceived fashionability, and actual fashionability would have relatively high levels of social anxiety. The first prediction was supported in Study 1; results regarding the second prediction were inconclusive. An experiment was subsequently designed to examine the causal sequence involved in the relationships between public self-conscious ness, clothing, and social anxiety, and this effect was strongest for subjects who were high in public self-consciousness.
Creating an Organizational Framework for Assessment of Student Engagement.

This chapter is a case study of one institution's effort to institutionalize a process through which student development is promoted through active engagement with the community.
Small satellites with micro-propulsion for communications with the Lunar South Pole Aitkens Basin

A lunar sample return mission to the Lunar South-Pole Aitkens Basin (LSPAB) has been highlighted as a high priority objective of the most recent (2011) Decadal Survey for Planetary Science, by the National Research Council. This class of mission, however, faces a dramatic communications limitation, due to the lack of a frequent, or continuous, line-of-sight communications path to Earth-based ground stations. Brunner and others have proposed a communications system utilizing Low Lunar Polar Orbits (LLPO) and Lunar Halo orbits for this purpose. Ely and others have outlined proposals for using several communication satellites to form a relay network using LLPO, taking into account the Lunar masscon's that would perturb such orbits. However, any relay network of communication satellites would still have to connect back to a suitable Earth-based ground station (Near Earth Network, or otherwise), or a tracking and data relaying satellite (e.g., TDRS).
Rethinking shared-memory languages and hardware

The era of parallel computing for the masses is here, but writing correct parallel programs remains difficult. For many domains, shared-memory remains an attractive programming model. The memory model, which specifies the meaning of shared variables, is at the heart of this programming model. Unfortunately, it has involved a tradeoff between programmability and performance, and has arguably been one of the most challenging and contentious areas in both hardware architecture and programming language specification. Recent broad community-scale efforts have finally led to a convergence in this debate, with popular languages such as Java and C++ and most hardware vendors publishing compatible memory model specifications. Although this convergence is a dramatic improvement, it has exposed fundamental shortcomings in current popular languages and systems that thwart safe and efficient parallel computing.I will discuss the path to the above convergence, the hard lessons learned, and their implications. A cornerstone of this convergence has been the view that the memory model should be a contract between the programmer and the system - if the programmer writes disciplined (data-race-free) programs, the system will provide high programmability (sequential consistency) and performance. I will discuss why this view is the best we can do with current popular languages, and why it is inadequate moving forward, requiring rethinking popular parallel languages and hardware. In particular, I will argue that (1) parallel languages should not only promote high-level disciplined models, but they should also enforce the discipline, and (2) for scalable and efficient performance, hardware should be co-designed to take advantage of and support such disciplined models. I will describe the Deterministic Parallel Java (DPJ) language and DeNovo hardware projects at Illinois as examples of such an approach.This talk draws on collaborations with many colleagues over the last two decades on memory models (in particular, a CACM'10 paper with Hans-J. Boehm) and with faculty, researchers, and students from the DPJ and DeNovo projects.
Preparation of pooled cryoprecipitate for treatment of hemophilia A in a home care program

Cryoprecipitate is used infrequently in home therapy for patients with hemophilia A since freezer storage is required and resuspension and pooling of thawed cryoprecipitate is cumbersome. We evaluated procedures for preparation of cryoprecipitate in an "open system" so that four to six bags of cryoprecipitate could be pooled after production and refrozen for home therapy. Factor VIII activity for pooled cryoprecipitate was 132 +/- 30 (mean +/- SD), 125 +/- 45, and 145 +/- 47 units per bag pooled in three separate studies. Cultures from cryoprecipitate pools and individual cryoprecipitate bags did not show contamination in the "open system" or with the water bath thawing procedure. The mean increment in factor VIII activity per unit per kg infused was 0.02 units per ml and the mean half-life was 10.5 hours in three patients with hemophilia A. Pooled cryoprecipitate was shown to be clinically efficacious and acceptable for use in home care programs for hemophilia A.
Chromosome aberrations in desmoid tumors Trisomy 8 may be a predictor of recurrence

Cytogenetic analyses of short-term cultures revealed clonal chromosome aberrations in 6 of 13 desmoid tumors. These aberrations included two consistent events, trisomy 8 (n = 4) and trisomy 20 (n = 3), which have not been reported previously in desmoid tumors. Because trisomy 8 was found in two recurrent desmoid tumors, we used fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) methodology to evaluate chromosome 8 in 25 paraffin-embedded and frozen desmoid specimens. The FISH studies demonstrated that both patients with cytogenetic trisomy 8 at the time of recurrence also had had trisomy 8 in primary tumors 4 years earlier. The proportion of trisomy 8 cells in these cases did not change substantially between original diagnosis and recurrence. The FISH studies also revealed trisomy 8 in one recurrent desmoid tumor which had been cytogenetically unremarkable and revealed trisomy 8 in one recurrent desmoid that had not been karyotyped. Four of six patients with trisomy 8 had been followed for more than 1 year, and the desmoid tumors in each of these 4 patients recurred. By contrast, recurrence was noted in only 2 of 17 patients whose desmoid tumors lacked trisomy 8. Our findings demonstrate that trisomy 8 and trisomy 20 are nonrandom aberrations in desmoid tumors. Trisomy 8 appears to be associated with an increased risk of recurrence.
The anisotropic (2S + 1) level Ising ferromagnet

Abstract By generalizing the method of Lagrange multipliers for the simple two-level system. The magnetization and free energy per ion can be calculated in a mean field approximation for a (2 S + 1) level Ising system with uniaxial anisotropy.
Similarities in the Neural Control of the Shoulder and Elbow Joints Belie Their Structural Differences

Movement of the hand in three dimensional space is primarily controlled by the orientation of the shoulder and elbow complexes. Due to discrepancies in proprioceptive acuity, overlap in motor cortex representation and grossly different anatomies between these joints, we hypothesized that there would be differences in the accuracy of aimed movements between the two joints. Fifteen healthy young adults were tested under four conditions – shoulder motion with the elbow constrained and unconstrained, and elbow motion with the shoulder constrained and unconstrained. End point target locations for each joint were set to coincide with joint excursions of 10, 20 or 30 degrees of either the shoulder or elbow joint. Targets were presented in a virtual reality environment. For the constrained condition, there were no significant differences in angular errors between the two joints, suggesting that the central nervous system represents linked segment models of the limb in planning and controlling movements. For the unconstrained condition, although angle errors were higher, hand position errors remained the same as those of the constrained trials. These results support the idea that the CNS utilizes abundant degrees of freedom to compensate for the potentially different contributions to end-point errors introduced by each joint.
Integer Division in Linear Time with Bounded Fan-In

A binary algorithm for division of an (M + N)-bit integer by an N-bit integer is presented. The algorithm produces the (M + 1)-bit quotient and the N-bit remainder in time O(M + N). Two hardware implementations, one using combinational logic in cellular arrays, and one employing systolic arrays, are given. These implementations are designed for modularity and regularity, and thus are suitable for VLSI systems. An important property of these implementations is that decisions are based on only one bit of the operands. Thus, fan-in and length of connecting wires are bounded independently of operand size. In addition, the systolic implementation has area O + N), which is the best possible.
Genetic approaches to addiction: genes and alcohol.

Aims Alcoholism is a chronic relapsing disorder with an enormous societal impact. Understanding the genetic basis of alcoholism is crucial to characterize individuals’ risk and to develop efficacious prevention and treatment strategies. Methods We examined the available scientific literature to provide an overview of different approaches that are being integrated increasingly to advance our knowledge of the genetic bases of alcoholism. Examples of genes that have been shown to influence vulnerability to alcoholism and related phenotypes are also discussed. Results Genetic factors account for more than 50% of the variance in alcoholism liability. Susceptibility loci for alcoholism include both alcohol-specific genes acting either at the pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic levels, as well as loci moderating neuronal pathways such as reward, behavioral control and stress resiliency, that are involved in several psychiatric diseases. In recent years, major progress in gene identification has occurred using intermediate phenotypes such as task-related brain activation that confer the advantage of increased power and the opportunity of exploring the neuronal mechanisms through which genetic variation is translated into behavior. Fundamental to the detection of gene effects is also the understanding of the interplay between genes as well as genes/environment interactions. Whole Genome Association studies represent a unique opportunity to identify alcohol-related loci in hypothesis-free fashion. Finally, genome-wide analyses of transcripts and chromatin remodeling promise an increase in our understanding of the genome function and of the mechanisms through which gene and environment cause diseases. Conclusions Although the genetic bases of alcoholism remain largely unknown, there are reasons to think that more genes will be discovered in the future. Multiple and complementary approaches will be required to piece together the mosaic of causation.
Newton’s Colors: Simulating Interference Phenomena in Realistic Image Synthesis

The laws of physics that govern thin film interference are reviewed and the colors in nature that are produced by this mechanism are simulated. An efficient technique for adjusting out of gamut colors is developed and is applied to the problem of synthesizing the highly saturated interference colors. Common examples of thin film interference are reproduced, including the iridescent colors created by multiple film layers.
Land Cover Change and Associated Trends in Surface Reflectivity and Vegetation Index in Southwest Kansas: 1972-1992

Abstract Land cover is an important component of the earth system. Human induced surface alteration can affect earth systems directly, through loss or degradation of ecosystems, or indirectly through impact on the climate and biogeochemical cycles necessary to sustain life on earth. The significance of the earth's surface has made land use/land cover change an important issue in global change research. Alteration of land cover occurs at a variety of spatial scales, but as with many environmental change issues, the impacts of surface changes are often conceptualized at the global scale. In this study, we investigate the effects of land cover change on total reflected radiation and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a 10,000 km2 local area in the High Plains of southwestern Kansas. Landsat MSS data from five years of record within the twenty‐year period 1973 to 1992 were classified into cool season crop, warm season crop, and pasture/prairie. Mean values of summer reflectance and NDVI from...
Acquisition of 16S rRNA methylase gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Summary Background Bacteria develop resistance to aminoglycosides by producing aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes such as acetyltransferase, phosphorylase, and adenyltransferase. These enzymes, however, cannot confer consistent resistance to various aminoglycosides because of their substrate specificity. Notwithstanding, a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain AR-2 showing high-level resistance (minimum inhibitory concentration >1024 mg/L) to various aminoglycosides was isolated clinically. We aimed to clone and characterise the genetic determinant of this resistance. Methods We used conventional methods for DNA manipulation, susceptibility testing, and gene analyses to clone and characterise the genetic determinant of the resistance seen. PCR detection of the gene was also done on a stock of P aeruginosa strains that were isolated clinically since 1997. Findings An aminoglycoside-resistance gene, designated rmtA , was identified in P aeruginosa AR-2. The Escherichia coli transformant and transconjugant harbouring the rmtA gene showed very high-level resistance to various aminoglycosides, including amikacin, tobramycin, isepamicin, arbekacin, kanamycin, and gentamicin. The 756-bp nucleotide rmtA gene encoded a protein, RmtA. This protein showed considerable similarity to the 16S rRNA methylases of aminoglycoside-producing actinomycetes, which protect bacterial 16S rRNA from intrinsic aminoglycosides by methylation. Incorporation of radiolabelled methyl groups into the 30S ribosome was detected in the presence of RmtA. Of 1113 clinically isolated P aeruginosa strains, nine carried the rmtA gene, as shown by PCR analyses. Interpretation Our findings strongly suggest intergeneric lateral gene transfer of 16S rRNA methylase gene from some aminoglycoside-producing microorganisms to P aeruginosa . Further dissemination of the rmtA gene in nosocomial bacteria could be a matter of concern in the future.
Headache Attributed to Cranial or Cervical Vascular Disorders

Cranial or cervical vascular disease is commonly associated with headaches. The descriptions may range from a thunderclap onset of a subarachnoid hemorrhage to a phenotype similar to tension type headache. Occasionally, this may be the sole manifestation of a potentially serious underlying disorder like vasculitis. A high index of clinical suspicion is necessary to diagnose the disorder. Prompt recognition and treatment is usually needed for many conditions to avoid permanent sequelae that result in disability. Treatments for many conditions remain challenging and are frequently controversial due to paucity of well controlled studies. This is a review of the recent advances that have been made in the diagnosis or management of these secondary headaches.
Selective Quantification of Cardiac Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Function from Non-Invasive Measurements

Power spectral analysis of spontaneous heart rate (HR) variability is a popular and convenient technique for quantifying cardiac autonomic nervous function. While this technique can provide an effective index of parasympathetic nervous function, it cannot provide a pure index of beta-sympathetic nervous function. We have developed a non-invasive technique for selectively quantifying cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous function by employing a multi-signal approach in conjunction with prior physiologic knowledge. We have tested the technique in 14 human subjects under pharmacological autonomic blockade, and our results show that the technique can substantially outperform traditional HR power spectral indices in terms of predicting the known drug effects
The moderating effect of perceived control on motivation to engage in deliberative processing

Research has demonstrated that perceived control adds explanatory power to the prediction of behavioral intention. This research extends previous findings by demonstrating how different levels of perceived control can affect an individual's motivation to engage cognitive resources for deliberative processing when forming a behavioral intent. The results of three studies support predictions that lower versus higher levels of perceived control result in the formation of behavioral intent based on deliberative rather than nondeliberative processing. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Simulation and modeling-new macro model for Zeners

A macro model of the 6.2-V 1N5920B Zener diode which very accurately represents the measured characteristics both in the DC and AC domain is presented. For users who do not have access to optimization software, the model can still be easily customised for other Zener diodes by replacing the emission coefficients (N), saturation currents (Is) and series resistance (Rs) under forward and reverse bias. One would also need to modify the temperature coefficient and measure the capacitance (CIO) at V/sub d/=0 V bias, to have a functional model of the Zener diode. However, there is no easy technique to extract the TT parameter without going through an extraction process. Therefore, without modification to the T1 parameter, one has to be careful when using the customized model for switching applications. >
Effect of plasma osmolality on resistance to blood flow through skeletal muscle.

SummaryThe gastrocnemious-plantaris muscle group of the dog was pump-perfused at constant flow with fresh plasma from a donor dog. When the osmolality of the perfusing plasma was increased by adding sodium chloride, glucose, sucrose, mannitol, dextran, or urea, the resistance to flow through the muscle decreased. The decrease in resistance was proportional to the increase in plasma osmolality. When distilled water was added to the plasma to decrease the osmolality, the resistance to flow through the muscle increased in proportion to the decrease in osmolality. The response to most test substances persisted for at least 20 min. These data suggest a mechanism regulating blood flow in resting muscle that is sensitive to osmolar concentration differences.
Small area parallel Chien search architectures for long BCH codes

To implement parallel BCH (Bose-Chaudhuri-Hochquenghem) decoders in an area-efficient manner, this paper presents a novel group matching scheme to reduce the Chien search hardware complexity by 60% for BCH(2047, 1926, 23) code as opposed to only 26% if directly applying the iterative matching algorithm. The proposed scheme exploits the substructure sharing within a finite field multiplier (FFM) and among groups of FFMs.
Electric levitation bearings for micromotors

An electric suspension that can be used as a bearing to reduce friction in micromotors was studied. Experimental evidence indicates that suspension stabilization can be achieved without the need for position sensors. The experimental investigation revealed some problems that need to be addressed before the electric suspension can be successfully adapted for use in micromotors. However, the potential benefits of the electric suspension appear to be quite significant, and worth pursuing. >
PARLAK: Parametrized Lock Cache Generator

A system-on-chip lock cache (SoCLC) is an intellectual property (IP) core that provides effective lock synchronization in a heterogeneous multiprocessor shared-memory system-on-a-chip (SoC). We present PARLAK, a parametrized lock cache generator tool. PARLAK generates a synthesizable SoCLC architecture with a user specified number of lock variables and user specified number and type(s) of processor(s). PARLAK can generate a full range of customized SoCLCs, from a version for two processors with 32 lock variables occupying 1,790 gates of area to a version for 14 processors with 256 lock variables occupying 37,380 gates of area (in TSMC 0.25/spl mu/m technology). PARLAK is an important contribution to IP-generator tools for both custom and reconfigurable SoC designs.
Proton-Pump Inhibitors for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in Critically Ill Patients:

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) for stress ulcer prophylaxis in critically ill adults.DATA SOURCES:Computerized biomedical literature search of MEDLINE (1966–June 2002) was conducted using the MeSH headings proton-pump inhibitor, ulcer, critical care, and acid. References of selected articles were reviewed. A manual search of critical care, surgery, trauma, gastrointestinal, and pharmacy journals was conducted to identify relevant abstracts.DATA SYNTHESIS:Traditional medications used for stress ulcer prophylaxis include antacids, histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs), and sucralfate. Few studies have evaluated PPIs for stress ulcer prophylaxis. The majority of studies have demonstrated that enteral or intravenous administration of PPIs to critically ill patients elevates intragastric pH and consistently maintains pH ≥4.0. PPIs are safe and seem to be as efficacious as H2RAs or sucralfate for prevention of bleeding from stress-related mucosal damage (SRMD) and they may prov...
Composition of Binary Quadratic Forms and the Foundations of Mathematics

I hope that the use of module multiplication in some measure simplifies Gauss’s theory of composition of forms. For example, it clarifies the difficult associativity property described and proved by Gauss in art. 240. Multiplication of modules is obviously an associative binary operation, and this property easily translates into the property Gauss uses.10
Health as a Social Media

The pervasiveness of social media networks combined with new health monitoring devices and an increasing understanding of the importance of social influence on chronic disease has created a new situation where health can be integrated into and change our self-identity, our social relationships and our relationship with our communities both local and global, on-line and in-person to a much greater extent than in the recent past. This chapter examines some of these aspects and interactions between health technology and social media and imagines prospective scenarios for how this might impact our culture, society, politics and economics by considering both the potential benefits and the dangers inherent.
Managed Habitats Increase Occupancy of Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) and May Buffer Impacts from Sea Level Rise

Global wetland degradation and loss are occurring at a rapid rate, and in the United States over 50 % of wetlands in the lower 48 states have been altered since European settlement. In some cases, wetlands that were historically transformed for agriculture are now managed as wetland habitat. We conducted occupancy surveys for black rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) in managed and unmanaged areas of coastal South Carolina. We modeled landscape and local variables potentially influencing black rail occupancy and we assessed whether these habitat associations indicated vulnerability following expected alterations from sea level rise. Black rails occupied 17 of 344 surveyed sites. Landscape factors had the strongest influence on black rail occupancy. Occupancy was associated with impounded marshes, decreasing distance to forest, and greater proportion of marsh landscape within a 200 m buffer. We mapped parameters from our top model to predict the amount of current and future suitable habitat under various sea level rise scenarios at Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, a black rail hotspot. Suitable habitat decreases in tidal marshes but increases in impounded areas. The current use of impoundments by black rails could represent a new management strategy for mitigating the loss of black rail habitat.
σ Bond activation through tunneling: formation of the boron hydride cations BHn(+) (n = 2, 4, 6).

The network of H2 additions to B+ and subsequent insertion reactions serve as a tractable model for hydrogen storage in elementary boron-containing compounds. Here, they are investigated using state-of-the-art ab initio methods (up to CCSDTQ and cc-pCV6Z basis sets). The binding energies of H2 to HBH+ (14.9 kcal mol−1) and HBH(H2)+ (18.1 kcal mol−1) are determined to be much higher than those for B(H2)+ (3.8 kcal mol−1), B(H2)2+ (3.0 kcal mol−1), and B(H2)3+ (2.5 kcal mol−1) at the CCSDTQ/CBS level of theory. These predictions are in agreement with the experiments of Kemper, Bushnell, Weis, and Bowers (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 7577). Molecular orbital analyses show that the enhanced binding in HBH(H2)m+ complexes originates from the strong interaction between the 1σu HOMO of HBH+ and the 1σu LUMO of H2. For the insertion reactions B(H2)n+ → HBH(H2)n−1+, activation barriers are determined to be 58.3 kcal mol−1 [Mk-MRCCSD(T)/CBS], 12.2 kcal mol−1 (CCSDTQ/CBS) and 4.6 kcal mol−1 (CCSDTQ/CBS) for n = 1, 2, and 3, respectively. After using theoretical results to remove tunneling effects from the experimental rate constants, new Arrhenius fits yield activation barriers of 4.6(3) kcal mol−1 and 3.8(1) kcal mol−1 for the BH6+ and BD6+ insertion reactions, respectively, which are in near perfect agreement with converged theoretical values (4.6 kcal mol−1 and 3.9 kcal mol−1). These findings demonstrate that earlier Arrhenius fits considerably underestimate these barriers, and that quantum tunneling dominates the σ bond activation mechanism witnessed in previous experiments involving BH6+.
The Radiation Induced Emulsion Polymerization of Vinyl Acetate

The advantages and disadvantages of using high energy radiation to initiate the emulsion polymerization of vinyl monomers in general, and vinyl acetate in particular, are discussed. Since the activation energy for the initiation step is close to zero, polymerizations can be conducted at any temperature without resorting to complex redox systems. In the case of vinyl acetate, low temperature polymerizations lead to high molecular weights with considerable advantages for some paint and coating applications.
Lessons from Crash

Love it or hate it, the major motion picture Crash is discussed as a tool to teach a sociological perspective of racism. Using multiple examples from the film, the paper focuses on seeing the sociological in personal practices of everyday life. Similarly, analyzing individual experiences and expressions of racism for institutional contexts provides insights into systemic inequalities and thus, allows us the ability to analyze solutions to them. The author argues that using the film provides an opportunity to expose institutional racism if read with a sociological imagination. Moreover, the paper suggests that it is imperative to see, and to teach our students to see, institutional racism not as something out there beyond the everyday interpersonal interactions of everyday life, but as represented in the micro interactions of daily life.
Macro influencers of electronic health records adoption

While adoption rates for electronic health records (EHRs) have improved, the reasons for significant geographical differences in EHR adoption within the USA have remained unclear. To understand the reasons for these variations across states, we have compiled from secondary sources a profile of different states within the USA, based on macroeconomic and macro health-environment factors. Regression analyses were performed using these indicator factors on EHR adoption. The results showed that internet usage and literacy are significantly associated with certain measures of EHR adoption. Income level was not significantly associated with EHR adoption. Per capita patient days (a proxy for healthcare need intensity within a state) is negatively correlated with EHR adoption rate. Health insurance coverage is positively correlated with EHR adoption rate. Older physicians (>60 years) tend to adopt EHR systems less than their younger counterparts. These findings have policy implications on formulating regionally focused incentive programs.
International Differences in Length of Stay and Discharge Destination Following Hospitalization for Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: A variety of institutional and technological factors have led to reduced lengths of stay (LOS) among patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (MI) over the past two decades, but large international variations in LOS remain. One factor influencing LOS variation may be the availability of post-acute care facilities. When such facilities are unavailable, patients must be discharged in good enough condition to receive care at home. We explore this phenomenon by examining the influence of discharge destination on LOS for MI in 9 countries. Methods: Data are from a multi-site, international registry of patients who presented to acute care hospitals with MI. We used a 2-stage model to estimate the impact of LOS on the likelihood of discharge to home while controlling for patient demographics, medical history, MI severity at presentation, and country. Predicted values of LOS were generated by regressing LOS against the variables listed above, plus the sum of Medicare resource value units (RVUs) associated with procedures performed during the stay. A linear probability model was used to model discharge status as a function of predicted LOS and other variables (excluding RVUs), including country-LOS interactions. Results: Of 5573 observations, 380 patients that died during hospitalization, 435 with missing or invalid lengths of stay, 12 awaiting transplantation and 641 with missing or invalid discharge disposition were excluded, leaving a total of 4105 observations. Mean age was 65.9 years (SD 13.7); 66.8% were male. Mean LOS for the sample was 9.0 days (SD 8.8). Mean LOS was shortest for the US and longest for Canada (7.6 versus 12.0 days, p Conclusions: These data confirm large differences in LOS at the country level and indicate that patients with longer LOS are likelier to be discharged home than to another facility. This analysis is subject to several limitations, including small sample sizes in several countries, missing discharge data for ~10% of observations, and lack of post-discharge survival data. While our ability to definitely address potential factors affecting LOS across countries is limited, our results suggest a potential inefficient use of health care resources, since acute care hospitalization is comparatively more expensive than skilled nursing or rehabilitation care. Further, this analysis shows the importance controlling for the endogeneity of LOS.
Differential Modification of the Lignin and Cellulose Components in Wheat Straw by Fungal Colonists of Ruminant Dung: Ecological Implications

SUMMARY Fungal isolates from collections of cattle dung representing different stages in decomposition were examined for their ability biologically to modify the lignin and cellulose components of unamended native wheat straw (WS). Growth rate of fungal isolates on dung-extract agar was not correlated with their ability to affect biomass loss of WS. Later-sporulating colonists promoted greater biomass losses (total dry weight and cellulose). A late-appearing unidentified basidiomycete was most effective in degrading lignin and rendering the cellulosic components of natural lignocelluloses more susceptible to hydrolysis by cellulase. Fungal degradation of differentially 14Clabeled natural lignocelluloses (LC) added to ground and pelletized WS was followed by monitoring 14CO2 evolution during a 48-da incubation. Three late-appearing species on dung were more efficient in producing 14CO2 from specifically cellulose-labeled lignocelluloses (LC*) than were three earlierappearing species. The percentage of "4CO2 evolved from lignin-labeled lignocelluloses (L*C) was sixfold greater with the late-appearing basidiomycete than with any of the five ascomycetes. Present findings help to explain patterns of fungal development in cattle feces and the importance of lignindegrading, "white rotting" basidiomycetes in feces decomposition.
Methodological Tool or Methodology? Beyond Instrumentality and Efficiency With Qualitative Data Analysis Software

El software para analisis de datos cualitativos (SADC) se ha vuelto cada vez mas popular entre los investigadores. No obstante, se han desarrollado escasas discusiones relativas al efecto del SADC en la validez del analisis de datos cualitativos. Se trata de una cuestion apremiante, especialmente debido a que la reciente proliferacion de conceptualizaciones de validez ha desafiado, y hasta cierto punto desautorizado, la conexion dada por hecho entre la concepcion metodologicamente neutra de validez y SADC. Este articulo sugiere un marco alternativo para examinar la relacion entre validez y el uso de SADC. Desplazando el foco analitico desde la instrumentalidad y la eficiencia del SADC a la practica investigativa en si misma, proponemos que los investigadores cualitativos deberian generar un "espacio de reflexion" en la interseccion entre su enfoque metodologico, la estructura de validez incorporada del SADC y el contexto especifico de investigacion, con la finalidad de tomar decisiones metodologicas deliberativas y reflexivas. Explicitamos este nuevo marco a traves de la discusion de un proyecto de investigacion de accion colaborativa. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602160
INDOOR EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION OFANTICORROSION PERFORMANCE OF BRACELET ANODE FOR OIL-WATER WELLS IN DAQING OILFIELD

In view of the fact that casing corrosion leakage gets more and more intense year by year in oil-water wells in Daqing oilfield,we made a survey on the corrosion situation of casings in oil-water well and the relevant corrosivity of soils of the oil field.The result indicated that the casing corrosion is induced by many factors.Corresponding to the distribution of oil-water wells in Daqing Oil Field,for which an anticorrosion technology by means of the so called bracelet anode is proposed.The technology is applicable to the new drilling oil-water well as well as the oil-water of put out casing in Daqing oilfield.Through the experiment in laboratory,we define the best arrangement of bracelet anodes.The result indicated that the effective polarization radius of bracelet anodes is larger than 9 m.The best arrangement is that a bracelet anode is fixed in every casing within a depth up to 100m deep.The protection potential of the casing is below -850 mV(SCE),whilst the protectiveness offered by polarization current may reach up to 100 m in depth.
Imaging innovations for wide-field, high-resolution microscopy

We report the recent developments of Fourier ptychography and whole-slide-imaging system for wide-field, high-resolution microscopy. We demonstrate the multiplexed modeling for recovering high-dimensional data from 2D image measurements.
COMBINING SELF-MOTIVATION WITH LOGICAL PLANNING AND INFERENCE IN A REWARD-SEEKING AGENT

Our interest is ultimately in intelligent, linguistically competent agents. Such agents must be capable of planning in an incompletely known world, inference over a substantial knowledge base (including a selfmodel), dialogue, and unceasing pursuit of their own rewards. Many AI systems have demonstrated some of these abilities, but none to our knowledge have integrated them all. We present a simple framework for defining such self-motivated cognitive agents in simulated worlds and exemplify this with an agent dubbed ME (for Motivated Explorer). Future work will move the domain to the real world (rather than more elaborate simulated worlds) and emphasize dialogue. ME can plan and think ahead (where actions produce gradual change over time), deal with unforeseen events, make inferences about states (including its own and other agents’ knowledge and wants), engage in question-answering with the user and other agents, and do so indefinitely and autonomously, driven by the expected cumulative rewards or costs of its contemplated sequences of actions and anticipated future states. Unlike the type of self-motivated agent described here, traditional planners have been constrained to act and react in accord with user-specified goals, constraints and preferences. Self-motivation would seem to lead to single-minded, self-indulgent behavior, but this is not at all so. If the agent “enjoys” acquiring knowledge, exploring its environment, conversing, and satisfying perceived user goals, then it can appear curious, interactive, and helpful. It may also seem that such an agent could do no more than typical reinforcement learning (RL) agents. In fact, the kind of agent envisaged and illustrated here conceives of its world and its actions in logical descriptive terms – it is a cognitive agent and thus able to plan ahead, entertain beliefs about itself and other agents, and engage in question-answering dialogue. In Section 2, we describe what we mean by a self-motivated cognitive agent, and our development framework for implementing such agents. In Section 3 we detail how actions are defined for an agent, the planning process, and the somewhat altered syntax and meaning of action definitions when we are specifying “actual” actions (as carried out when “running” the simulated world). In Section 4 we focus on the reasoning (including introspection) performed by the agent. In Section 5, we instantiate the agent ME in a particular simulated world in order to demonstrate and experiment with our framework. The simple sample world suffices for illustrating and supporting the points
Friendship, Depression, and Suicide Attempts in Adults: Exploratory Analysis of a Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.

Social support is thought to protect against the risk of suicidal behavior in young people and late life, but less is known about the role of friendship in adults. We explored the effect of friendship on suicide attempt risk during 1-year follow-up of 132 adults presenting with major depressive episode (MDE). Items from the Social Adjustment Scale-Self-Report were used as an index of frequency and quality of recent friendship contacts. Survival methods tested associations of friendship with risk of suicide attempt, recurrent MDE, and related outcomes during follow-up. Impaired friendship predicted greater risk of suicide attempt in an unadjusted Cox model. This association was stronger for quality (p = .009) than frequency (p = .081) of friendship contacts. In the adjusted model, the effect of friendship on suicide attempts was largely explained by self-reported depression severity. Friendship has a potentially bidirectional relationship with depression, and its effect on suicidal behavior appears to occur through its relationship with depression. Future research should examine the effect of antidepressant treatment on friendship and be designed to test mediation models of relationships between friendship, depression, and suicidal behavior.
Note: Positive transfer of visual training to the Mueller-Lyer figure

Attention is drawn to two reports of positive transfer of visual pretraining. The implication of these reports for figural after-effect interpretations of decrements to illusion figures is discussed. Suggestions are made regarding future research.
Philanthropic Foundations and Civil Society in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite the fact that international private foundations and local philanthropic institutions have been supporting the political and economic development of African countries for a number of decades now, scholars of African development and civil society have paid very little attention to their efforts. Neither has there been much discussion about traditional African philanthropy and its relevance (or lack thereof) to community development and civil society. This chapter is an attempt to highlight the link between philanthropy and civil society in sub-Saharan Africa by drawing attention to the role of foreign and local philanthropic institutions in the promotion of civil society and democratic governance on the continent. It defines “philanthropy” as it relates to the African context, outlines the conceptual relationship between “philanthropy” and “civil society,” and discusses the major philanthropic institutions working in the area of civil society development in sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes with a discussion of the continued dependence of most donor-supported African philanthropic foundations on external sources for the bulk of their funding and why their financially dependent status could be problematic for the development and strengthening of African civil society.
Hedging Housing Risk

Abstract An effective hedging programme varies according to the risk faced by different principals. For the individual homeowner, risk is largely idiosyncratic and driven by their home’s specific characteristics. Price appreciation of new homes is the primary concern of developers, while investors who hold diversified portfolios mainly face systematic risk that is highly correlated with changes in a local or national real estate market. Opportunities to manage house price risk include hedging with futures contracts, options, and products offered by financial intermediaries. Nevertheless, investors have been slow to embrace these opportunities because of practical problems, including difficulty in estimating hedge ratios, uncertain hedge horizons, and cash flow issues related to margin accounts.
Zika viral infection and neutralizing human antibody response in a BLT humanized mouse model.

Abstract Many murine and non-human primate animal models have been recently developed to understand Zika viral pathogenesis. However, a major limitation with these models is the inability to directly examine the human-specific immune response. Here, we utilized a BLT humanized mouse model endowed with a transplanted human immune system. Plasma viremia could be detected within 48 h after viral challenge and viremia persisted for as long as 220 days in some mice. Neutralizing human antibody was detected in infected mice and mouse sera showed reactivity with the viral envelope and capsid proteins in a radio-immunoprecipitation assay. Human monocytes/macrophages, B cells and hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow were found to be virus infected. These data establish that BLT mice are permissive for Zika viral infection and are capable of generating viral-specific human immune responses thus providing a human surrogate model for future testing of vaccine and antiviral therapeutic candidates.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cerebral palsy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is the inhalation of 100% oxygen inside a hyperbaric chamber pressurized to greater than 1 atmosphere. This treatment has been approved for use in several indications including decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, severe burns, or chronic infections. HBO has been studied in cerebral palsy (CP), based primarily on the concept of improving oxygen availability to damaged brain cells with potential for recovery, even in after chronic injury. The evidence on HBO in CP is limited in precision, control groups, and methodological flaws. Three randomized controlled trials provide moderate strength of evidence that HBO does not improve gross motor function compared with slightly pressurized room air or wait-list controls, but these findings are controversial due to the nature of the control used (e.g., pressurized room air) and the limited number of patients studied. Observational before-after studies stimulate the interest in HBO for CP but are limited by methodological risk of bias. Adverse events of HBO include middle ear barotrauma, often requiring myringotomy and tube placement, and a potential increased risk of seizures. The use of HBO in CP remains controversial.
Measuring fine-grained heart-rate using a flexible wearable sensor in the presence of noise

Wearables with embedded electrodes and sensors are capable of continuously performing Electrocardiography (ECG), recording electrical activity of the heart, while estimating heart-rate of the wearer. Recent advances in wearable technology have generated comfortable flexible sensors that conform to the contours of the body and can measure heart-rate in the field by capturing QRS complexes of ECG signals. Due to various activities of daily living (ADL), skin deformation by means of lateral, rotational or skin stretching can cause changes in the current pathways of the sensor creating noisy data. The challenge is to disentangle the noise from the usable data in order to accurately detect QRS complexes of ECG signals. In this paper we design a framework to capture noise from a miniaturized flexible sensor, the Biostamp1 (with 4 leads), worn on the chest of 16 participants performing a set of structured ADL in a home setting, and a baseball player (pitcher). We present a machine-learning framework using a consensus fusion classifier comprising a Support Vector Machine and Neural Network learned model to remove noise while preserving neighboring R-peaks. We evaluate the model using Leave One Subject Out (LOSO) and yield an average of 83% F-measure on the 17 participants (including the pitcher). The low false negative rate provides accurate heart-rate detection on a finegrained (every 5 seconds) level, in the presence of intermittent stretching of the skin. Our results increase the reliability of detecting heart-rate in real-world and player settings, increasing the utility of flexible ECG-based sensors in the field.