cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Meta-analysis of the effects of nonnutritive sucking on heart rate and peripheral oxygenation: Research from the past 30 years

A meta-analysis of the effects of nonnutritive sucking (NNS) on heart rate and transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPa02) was performed. Four studies of NNS on heart rate without stimulations, three studies on heart rate during painful stimulations, and three studies on TcPa02–all conducted over the past 30 years–were found through a computer search. Using the Fisher combined test, NNS significantly decreased heart rate without stimulations (p =. 002) and during painful stimulations (p =. 0001), and significantly increased TcPaO2 (p =.0001). The total weighted effect size for heart rate without stimulations was small (0.17); however, it was large for heart rate during painful stimulations (1.05) and TcPaO2 (0.69). Larger effects were noticed for preterm infants than for term infants and for longer NNS. More studies of NNS effects with independent treatment and control groups, using the physiological outcome variables of heart rate and oxygenation for different age groups of preterm infants, are needed to exam...
Effects of the Presence or Absence of Satellite Chick-Waterers in Conjunction with Nipple-Drinkers on the Mortality and Productive Performance of Broiler Chicks from Young and Old Dams

Abstract Two runs of one experiment were conducted to study the effects of the presence or absence of satellite (SAT) chick-waterers in conjunction with nipple-drinkers on the mortality and productive performance of mixed-sex, broiler chicks grown to 42 days of age. Data were combined for analysis. The chicks were obtained from dams 29, 31, 61, and 65 wk of age. The treatments were: 1) chicks from 61- and 65-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers only; 2) chicks from 29- and 31-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers only; 3) chicks from 61- and 65-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers plus one SAT-waterer per replication; 4) chicks from 29- and 31-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers plus one SAT-waterer. The SAT waterers were removed after 11 days. Routine management procedures were followed. The chicks from the older dams (61 and 65 wk of age) were heavier (1.60 versus 1.58 kg, P
An empirical investigation of managerial achievement, job statisfaction and values: An informational perspective

Provision of appropriate information and feedback to managers is crucial for the success of an organization. This study examines the availability and desirability of various informational feedback mechanisms to a group of managers in Saudi Arabia. Study results highlight some interesting differences among managers with varying value orientations and satisfaction profiles in terms of their informational needs. Implications of the findings are discussed.
A SIMPLIFIED MEDIUM FOR COUNTING CLOSTRIDIUM SPORESab

SUMMARY A simple, easily prepared medium for counting Clostridium spores is described. With yeast extract starch bicarbonate (YESB) agar, counts of mildly heated (75°C. for 60 minutes) spores of 5 Clostridium strains were consistently comparable to those secured in a modification of Yesair's pork infusion medium, with or without added bicarbonate. Omission of bicarbonate from YESB agar resulted consistently in a small but significant decrease in counts with Cl. Botulinum 62A. Addition of bicarbonate to the Yesair medium resulted in increased counts and earlier colony development with Cl. botulinum 62A. With spores of 6 Clostridium strains heated at 100°C. for a period sufficient to insure at least 99.95% destruction, recovery counts in YESB were comparable to those in modified Yesair's medium, with no evidence of dormancy.
Major Histocompatibility Class II Transactivator (CIITA) Mediates Repression of Collagen (COL1A2) Transcription by Interferon γ (IFN-γ)

Interferon γ (IFN-γ) plays an important role during inflammation by repressing collagen and activating major histocompatibility class II (MHC-II) expression. Activation of MHC-II by IFN-γ requires regulatory factor for X-box 5 (RFX5) complex as well as class II transactivator (CIITA). We have shown that the RFX family binds to the COL1A2 transcription start site (Sengupta, P. K., Fargo, J., and Smith, B. D. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 24926–24937), and the RFX5 complex represses COL1A2 gene expression during IFN-γ response (Xu, Y., Wang, L., Buttice, G., Sengupta, P. K., and Smith, B. D. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 49134–49144). In this report, we demonstrate that CIITA is a key mediator of COL1A2 repression by IFN-γ. IFN-γ up-regulates the expression of CIITA in a time-dependent manner in lung fibroblasts and promotes CIITA protein occupancy on COL1A2 transcription start site in vivo as judged by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. There are coordinate decreases in the occupancy of RNA polymerase II on the collagen transcription start site with increasing CIITA occupancy during IFN-γ treatment. In addition, we are able to specifically knockdown the IFN-γ-stimulated expression of CIITA utilizing short hairpin interference RNA (shRNA) against CIITA. This leads to the alleviation of COL1A2 repression and MHC-II activation by IFN-γ. RFX5 recruits CIITA to the collagen site as evidenced by DNA affinity chromatography. The presence of RFX5 complex proteins enhances the collagen repression by CIITA reaching levels occurring during IFN-γ treatment. Co-expression of CIITA with deletion mutations and collagen promoter constructs demonstrates that CIITA represses collagen promoter mainly through its N-terminal region including the acidic domain and the proline/serine/threonine domain. Our data suggest that CIITA is a crucial member of a repressor complex responsible for mediating COL1A2 transcription repression by IFN-γ.
Temperature-dependent effects on mutualistic, antagonistic, and commensalistic interactions among insects, fungi and mites

The relative abundance and nature of associations between symbiotic species can be affected by abiotic conditions with consequences for population dynamics. We investigated the effects of temperature on the community of mites and fungi associated with the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis , an important pest of pine forests in the southern United States. First, we determined whether the growth rates of mutualistic and antagonistic fungi associated with D. frontalis differed in their responses to temperature. Second, we tested the effects of temperature on the abundance of, and interactions among, fungi, mites and beetles within D. frontalis -infested trees. Fungi differed in their growth responses to temperature, resulting in changes in fungal-beetle associations. Mite species associated with D. frontalis also differed in their responses to temperature, resulting in different mite communities associated with bark beetle progeny. The effects of temperature on beetle reproduction could not be ass...
Larval performance of aquacultured Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) fed rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) enriched with selected commercial diets

Abstract Selected rotifer enrichment diets were compared on the basis of growth, survival, and fatty acid content of larval Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. Two 9-day larval rearing trials were conducted using a recirculating aquaculture system. In Trial 1, two microalgae concentrates (Isochrysis sp., ISO; and Pavlova sp.), a semi-moist paste (Protein Selco Plus, PS+), and a combination of the three diets were compared. In Trial 2, PS+ and three dry enrichment diets (Ori-Green, OG; Protein HUFA, PH; and AlgaMac 3050, AM) were compared. Larvae were fed rotifers 4 times daily at a rate of 2.5 rotifers/ml/feeding at 2–9 days post-hatch (DPH). Although larval growth in both trials was likely influenced by differences in culture density resulting from variable survival, in Trial 1 at 9 DPH standard length (SL) of larvae fed Pavlova-enriched rotifers (4.60 ±0.39 mm, mean ± SD) was greater (P
On the performance and analysis of DNS security extensions

The Domain Name System (DNS) is an essential component of the critical infrastructure of the Internet. The role of DNS is vital, as it is involved in virtually every Internet transaction. It is sometimes remarked that DNS works well as it is now and any changes to it may disrupt its functionality and add complexity. However, due to its importance, an insecure DNS is unacceptable for current and future networks. The astonishing simplicity of mounting an attack against the DNS and the damaging potential of such an attack should convince practitioners and system administrators to employ a secure version of DNS. However, security comes with a cost. In this paper, we examine the performance of two proposals for secure DNS and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both. In particular, we analyze the impact that security measures have on the performance of DNS. While it is clear that adding security will lower DNS performance, our results show that the impact of security can be mitigated by deploying different security extensions at different levels in the DNS tree. We also describe the first implementation of the SK-DNSSEC [1] protocol. The code is freely downloadable and released under an open-source license.
Real-time experimental control in cellular neurophysiology

Electrophysiologists study neuronal input-output behavior by approximating synaptic input with a predetermined current waveform. In living tissue however, a synaptic event induces a conductance change in the neuronal membrane, and the current passed through that conductance is not predetermined, but a function of the continuously changing membrane potential. Using high frequency feedback, the dynamic clamp technique allows experimentalists to introduce conductance changes in living neurons. Using a dynamic clamp, we find that current steps elicit greater membrane potential variance than more natural conductance steps. In addition, reliability profiles to the same pseudo-synaptic waveform change when currents are substituted for conductances. Hence, under certain conditions current input is an invalid approximation of conductance changes, and dynamic clamp should be used to examine neuronal input-output behaviors. Furthermore, dynamic clamp can be used as a control tool for other neuronal experiments. We demonstrate the use of a dynamic clamp as a signal detector, a frequency control device, and as a way to connect living cells to virtual networks. Thus we show that the dynamic clamp technique is a critical tool not only useful for mapping neuronal input-output function, but in a broader context of neuronal control.
Is there clinical value to prognostic signatures in early-stage NSCLC?

pAMPK and pmTOR favorably predicted outcome in early NSCLC. The differences were small. Phosphoprotein lability makes routine clinical use and validation difficult. Protein IHC is unlikely to be clinically useful and numerous efforts to create predictive models to select resected patients for therapy have been unsuccessful.
Thermal Effusivity Changes as a Precursor to Moist Desquamation

Skin toxicity is a ubiquitous side effect in radiotherapy and can be difficult to predict. Moist desquamation in cancer patients can decrease quality of life and occasionally demand unplanned treatment breaks thus worsening outcome. In breast cancer patients, moist desquamation occurs approximately one-third of the time, and while avenues such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy exist to decrease skin side effects, they may be prohibitively expensive to distribute widely. To selectively target patients who are at risk for high skin toxicity, toxicity prediction beyond heuristics is required. This study presents 3D thermal tomography, a translation technology that employs active thermal imaging to map the thermal effusivity of skin. Irradiated mice were imaged throughout reaction development to establish a correlation between effusivity changes and eventual toxicity severity. Female hairless mice (n = 11) were anesthetized and irradiated to 40 Gy in one fraction using a 1 cm Leipzig brachytherapy appl...
Sharpening of hollow silicon microneedles to reduce skin penetration force

In this research, hollow silicon microneedles with sharpened tips have been fabricated without any reduction to the needle shaft diameter. By sharpening the needles only at the tip and not over the entire length of the needle, their mechanical strength is maintained, while reducing the insertion force into skin. The process achieves this geometry by novel use photoresist depletion during DRIE. Microneedles of varying levels of tip sharpness were tested on human cadaver skin to measure their force of penetration. The results show a marked decrease of insertion force with progressive sharpening of microneedle tips, reducing more than 75 times in magnitude for extremely sharp tips. The toughness of human skin was derived to be approximately 24.28 kJ m?2.
FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE PUT‐CALL PARITY IMPLIED RISK‐FREE INTEREST RATE

In this paper the put-call parity implied riskless rate of borrowing and lending is re-examined. Using a rigorous model, it is shown that, given the level of an observable proxy of the risk-free rate of lending (T-bill rates, for example), the put-call parity provides an opportunity to borrow at rates substantially below the market rate of lending. This is especially true when high interest rates prevail. The major conclusion is either that American option prices may invalidate the parity, or that option markets are not as frictionless as one might wish.
A surface wave analysis of seismic anisotropy beneath eastern North America

SUMMARY The nature of upper-mantle seismic anisotropy beneath central and eastern North America has been evaluated using the phase velocities of surface waves traversing the length of the Missouri-to-Massachusetts (MOMA) broad-band array. Frequency-dependent phase delays of fundamental-mode Love and Rayleigh waves, measured across the array using a cross-correlation procedure, require the presence of anisotropy in the upper mantle. 2-D radially anisotropic structures obtained via linearized inversion of these data contain shear anisotropy with a magnitude of ∼3 per cent between the Moho and at least 180-km depth. Models in which the mantle lithosphere is isotropic cannot satisfy the data. This anisotropy is approximately constant across the tectonic transition from the craton to the Atlantic margin. Forward models consisting of a shallow, lithospheric layer of azimuthal anisotropy derived from previous shear wave splitting observations fail to satisfy the surface wave delay times. The combined surface wave and splitting results suggest the presence of two layers of anisotropy: a lithospheric layer that produces the phase-delay differences observed in Love and Rayleigh waves but is transparent to vertically propagating shear body waves; and a deeper (presumably asthenospheric) layer that generates the shear wave splitting. One plausible model is that the lithosphere is characterized by vertically heterogeneous anisotropic fabric, which would produce minimal splitting in vertical shear waves. Such fabric has been hypothesized for regions of weak and complex splitting such as South Africa and Australia; the results here imply that it may be appropriate for North America as well.
Age Differences in Trade-off Decisions: Different Strategies but Similar Outcomes

The primary purpose of this study was to examine age differences in processing strategies of emotionally difficult trade-off decisions. In addition, the study tested the relevant contributions of the cognitive and emotional mechanisms to age differences in processing strategies. Altogether, 40 younger adults and 40 older adults were randomly assigned to either a high or low emotionally difficult condition of a car-purchasing decision task. MouselabWEB software was used to trace participants' processing strategies. Results showed that older adults were more likely to use attribute-based processing strategies, whereas younger adults were more likely to use alternative-based processing strategies in the high-emotion condition. In the low-emotion condition, on the other hand, both younger and older adults preferred to use alternative-based processing strategies. Furthermore, the results suggested that the cognitive measure (i.e., digit symbol coding) was not correlated with the age effects on processing strategies.
Co-Teaching In Higher Education

This paper will describe a project that includes 16 university level co-taught classes. Preparation of the faculty co-teaching along with results from the study will be shared.
Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. IX. Host plant and population specific epicuticular hydrocarbon expression influences mate choice and sexual selection.

2 Abstract Sexual signals in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis include cuticular hydrocar- bons (CHCs), contact pheromones that mediate female discrimination of males during courtship. CHCs, along with male courtship songs, cause premating isolation between diverged populations, and are influenced by genotype 9 environment interactions caused by different host cacti. CHC profiles of mated and unmated adult flies from a Baja California and a mainland Mexico population of D. mojavensis reared on two host cacti were assayed to test the hypothesis that male CHCs mediate within-population female discrimination of males. In multiple choice courtship trials, mated and unmated males differed in CHC profiles, indicating that females prefer males with particular blends of CHCs. Mated and unmated females signifi- cantly differed in CHC profiles as well. Adults in the choice trials had CHC profiles that were significantly different from those in pair-mated adults from no-choice trials revealing an influence of sexual selection. Females preferred different male CHC blends in each population, but the influence of host cactus on CHC variation was significant only in the mainland popu- lation indicating population-specific plasticity in CHCs. Different groups of CHCs mediated female choice-based sexual selection in each population suggesting that geographical and ecological divergence has the potential to promote divergence in mate communication systems.
Role of Specific Interactions Between Protein Kinase C and Triphenylethylenes in Inhibition of the Enzyme

The tumor promoter receptor protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated as a key enzyme in cellular growth regulation. It is, therefore, believed that specific PKC inhibitors may include effective antiproliferative agents. Previously, we have shown that the antiestrogen tamoxifen and related triphenylethylenes are potent inhibitors of PKC. Although the mechanism of inhibition of PKC by triphenylethylenes clearly involves nonspecific interactions between the antiestrogens and the lipid cofactor of PKC, we recently demonstrated that PKC itself has specific triphenylethylene-binding sites, suggesting that the inhibitory mechanism also involves specific drug-protein interactions. In this report, we characterize the direct interactions between PKC and triphenylethylenes and demonstrate their relevance to the inhibitory action of triphenylethylenes against PKC. We show (a) that the triphenylethylene-binding sites of PKC are located in the catalytic domain of the enzyme, (b) that MgATP (i.e., 10 mM MgCl2 plus 1 mM ATP) competes with the triphenylethylenes for binding sites on PKC, and (c) that triphenylethylenes are competitive inhibitors of PKC with respect to MgATP. Taken together, these data provide strong evidence that triphenylethylenes can inhibit PKC by binding directly to the ATP-binding region of the active site of the enzyme. The specific interactions between triphenylethylenes and PKC characterized here may provide a rationale for developing more specific PKC inhibitors.
Resolution of petrous internal carotid artery stenosis after transluminal angioplasty. Case report

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is commonly used for treatment of peripheral vascular disease, but only recently has it been applied to craniocervical lesions. The successful use of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for treatment of an isolated high-grade stenosis of the petrous internal carotid artery is described in a patient with progressive ischemic symptoms despite maximum medical management. At his 2-year follow-up examination, the patient remained asymptomatic with angiographic evidence of progressive resolution of the stenotic lesion and indirect evidence of improved hemispheric blood flow ipsilateral to the lesion. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty may provide an effective means of treatment for selective intracranial artherosclerotic stenosis.
Textual Iconicity and the Primitivist Cosmos: Chronotopes of Desire in Travel Writing about Korowai of West Papua

The figure of the primitive circulates globally as a projected other of self-conceivedly modern people, who through it wrestle with their own historical conditions. But what makes representations of the primitive persuasive? This article examines genre, register, and voice features of a highly repetitive sample of travel narratives about Korowai and Kombai people of New Guinea published in high-circulation magazines and newspapers. I suggest that the genre's effectiveness turns on cultivation of iconicity among three event-worlds: a chronotope of narrated travel, a chronotope of author-reader relations, and a mythic chronotope of the civilized and the primitive. In a “hall of mirrors” effect, dense networks of intratextual iconicity make broad primitivist stereotypy, narrow travel events, and the textual event of travel writing performance support each other's believability, vividness, and claims to attention. [chronotopes, travel writing, iconicity, repetition, temporality, narrative, myth]
Impact of undergraduate medical training on housestaff problem-solving performance: implications for problem-based curricula

This article reports a study comparing the problem-solving performance of housestaff with undergraduate medical training in either conventional or problem-based schools. After reading two clinical cases, residents were required to write differential diagnoses and pathophysiological explanations. Biomedical and clinical knowledge used and reasoning strategies were identified. The results suggest that housestaff performance is influenced by the nature of instruction. Housestaff trained in a conventional curriculum (CC) focused on patient information, separated biomedical from clinical knowledge, and used data-driven strategies. Housestaff from problem-based learning curricula (PBLC) organized their knowledge around generated inferences, integrated biomedical and clinical knowledge, and used hypothesis-driven strategies. Data-driven reasoning appears to be impeded in PBLC, suggesting that PBLC students have difficulties in acquiring problem schemata. Previous investigations also found this pattern to be true for medical students trained in two different curriculum formats. Although all housestaff generated equal numbers of diagnostic hypotheses during the reasoning process, housestaff from the conventional curriculum generated a greater number of accurate hypotheses than residents in PBLC. These results are discussed in relation to assumptions in health professional curricula about the adequacy of hypothetico-deductive methods of reasoning as teaching mechanisms and the need for clinical and biomedical knowledge integration.
Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis ccpC gene by CcpA and CcpC

Bacillus subtilis CcpC, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator, represses the transcription of genes for citrate synthase (citZ) and aconitase (citB) in response to citrate availability. Transcription of ccpC was shown to initiate at two promoters, P1, located just upstream of the ccpC gene, and P2, located within or upstream of the neighbouring ykuL gene. Expression from the ccpC-specific promoter (P1) was negatively regulated by CcpC but independent of the carbon source in the medium. Gel shift and DNase I footprinting experiments revealed that CcpC binds to an interrupted dyad sequence that surrounds the ccpC transcriptional start point. Transcription of ccpC from the upstream promoter (P2) was repressed by glucose in a CcpA-dependent manner. A putative CcpA binding site (cre) was identified upstream of the -35 region of the P1 promoter. Transcriptional fusion studies demonstrated that glucose repression of ccpC expression from the P2 promoter depends on this cre site. In addition, DNase I footprinting experiments showed that CcpA specifically binds to this cre site and that the introduction of mutations (cre*) into this site abolished the binding. These results suggest that CcpA may control CcpC synthesis by acting as a road-block to readthrough transcription from the P2 promoter.
Explicit finite element analysis of a flexible multibody dynamic system with highly damped compliant fingers

Many industries require transferring objects from conveyors to a processing line at production rate. In food processing, grasping mechanisms with highly damped compliant fingers must be capable of accommodating a limited range of object shapes/sizes without causing damages on the products being handled. Most existing models, however, are inadequate to predict the dynamics of a compliant mechanism with large deformation, contact nonlinearity, and complex 3D geometries. This paper investigates the explicit finite-element (FE) method for industrial automation applications, where both geometric and operational parameters must be evaluated. Specifically, this paper discusses the effects of several key factors (that include material properties and element types as well as the numbers of nodes) on a FE computation. Along with an experiment /computation method (that relaxes limitations of a log-decrement method generally valid for systems with an oscillatory response), the procedure to account for the damping effect in simulating the dynamics of a compliant grasping system is numerically illustrated with experimental validation against published data.
Endocarpic microorganisms of two types of windrow-dried peanut fruit (Arachis hypogaea L.).

Abstract The endocarpic microorganisms of peanut fruit dried in either a random windrow (plants left as they fell from the digger) or an inverted windrow (plants inverted to expose fruit to sunlight) were different from that of freshly dug fruit. Chaetomium, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium were the dominant fungi found associated with shells (pericarp) of freshly dug fruit. The dominant fungi of shells of windrowed fruit included Chaetomium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Sclerotium, and Alternaria. Seeds of freshly dug fruit were dominated by Penicillium and Aspergillus. The only dominant species in seed of windrowed fruit was Penicillium. Microorganisms were isolated from shells and seed of freshly dug fruit at a frequency of 79% and 52%, respectively. The percentage of infestation was reduced by drying in the field. This was particularly true of the inverted windrow. The proportion of shells and seed infested with a microorganism was reduced 13% and 36%, respectively, after field drying for 5 to 7 days in random and inverted windrows. Microorganisms were isolated much more frequently from shell pieces (73%) than from seed (36%).
Brief Report: Friendships of Adolescents with and without Diabetes

Background Friendships of adolescents with chronic illness have been rarely studied. Objective To compare the friendships of boys and girls with diabetes with those between healthy adolescents. Methods One hundred and thirty-eight adolescents were interviewed at summer camps. Participants indicated their number of close friends and rated friendships for support and conflict. Participants described aspects of their same-sex and other-sex friendships that they liked and disliked. Results Adolescents with diabetes have friendships that are similar to those between healthy adolescents, with a few exceptions. Conclusions Emotional support may be especially valued by girls with diabetes, whereas differences among friends may be less valued among adolescents with diabetes.
Life without Work: Understanding Social Class Changes and Unemployment through Theoretical Integration.

Unemployment is a stark reality in today’s economic climate, and many Americans report a fear of loss or decrease in social status as a result of unexpected unemployment. Despite vocational psychology’s emphasis on work as a domain of life, very little exploration on how social class shifts impact workers has been conducted. One way to rectify the current gaps in the literature is to consider the integration of multiple theories that address different aspects of social class identity and the role of work in people’s lives. Intersectional approaches, the Social Class Worldview Model, and the Psychology Working perspectives are discussed in this article as applicable to life without work, particularly in relation to unemployment among underserved populations. Multidisciplinary literature is highlighted and integrated to inform the current understanding of these problems. Implications for psychologists and career counselors conducting research, practice, and public policy are discussed.
Mucosal preservation in the treatment of mucocele with CO2 laser.

F b ucoceles are common lesions of the oral cavity. hey are frequently seen in children and affect the ower lip in 60% of the reported cases. Mucocele ften occurs following trauma, such as lip biting, to minor salivary gland. Traditional management of his lesion is excision with the associated overlying ucosa. We are presenting an alternative surgical pproach with mucosal sparing using a carbon dixide (CO2) laser.
Spinnaker formation of sinus venosus valve. Case report of a fatal anomaly in a ten-year-old boy.

A persistent right valve of the sinus venosus fatally complicated a case of tricuspid atresia in a 10-year-old boy. The center of this large membrane stretched to form a sac resembling a spinnaker. Depending on the relative amounts and directions of blood flowing against it from the coronary sinus below and the venae cavae above, the sail might fill or empty quickly. This gave means of potential obstruction: either of coronary venous flow which, without a tricuspid valvular orifice, could be trapped beneath the membrane; or of all right atrial flow if the sac fell across the sole atrial outlet, the septal defect. Such episodic block caused syncope six times in the last 23 months of life and death in acute right heart failure.
Estimating the Standard Error of the Impact Estimator in Individually Randomized Trials With Clustering

ABSTRACTIn the “individually randomized group treatment” (IRGT) experimental design, individuals are first randomly assigned to a treatment arm or a control arm, but then within each arm, are grouped together (e.g., within classrooms/schools, through shared case managers, in group therapy sessions, through shared doctors, etc.) to receive services. In the common setting where the second-stage grouping is not experimentally controlled, we demonstrate that the standard error estimators for the estimated treatment effects from both random and fixed effects models are biased because parameters required to compute the standard errors are not identifiable from the data. We discuss implications for designing and analyzing IRGTs and provide suggestions for mitigating the bias.
The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up

Neurobiologists and cognitive scientists are engaged in new efforts to establish the brain basis of consciousness. Progress in brain imaging, quantitative EEG recording in humans and in unit recording in animals, have all contributed to our present knowledge. However, progress has been limited by the relative poverty of the paradigms used in these studies, many of which do not take subjective experience into account. One promising, though problematical, paradigm lucid dreaming, has recently been employed and preliminary results are encouraging and complimentary . It is the purpose of this paper to consider the pros and cons of this approach and to interpret the results of the new findings.
A Simple Chi-Square Statistic for Testing Homogeneity of Zero-Inflated Distributions

Zero-inflated distributions are common in statistical problems where there is interest in testing homogeneity of two or more independent groups. Often, the underlying distribution that has an inflated number of zero-valued observations is asymmetric, and its functional form may not be known or easily characterized. In this case, comparisons of the groups in terms of their respective percentiles may be appropriate as these estimates are nonparametric and more robust to outliers and other irregularities. The median test is often used to compare distributions with similar but asymmetric shapes but may be uninformative when there are excess zeros or dissimilar shapes. For zero-inflated distributions, it is useful to compare the distributions with respect to their proportion of zeros, coupled with the comparison of percentile profiles for the observed non-zero values. A simple chi-square test for simultaneous testing of these two components is proposed, applicable to both continuous and discrete data. Results of simulation studies are reported to summarize empirical power under several scenarios. We give recommendations for the minimum sample size which is necessary to achieve suitable test performance in specific examples.
Just When You Thought It was Safe

It is now just a bit more than a decade since the thoughts of scientists and policy makers were preoccupied with the recombinant DNA controversy. We are now told that this was a tempest in a teapot—that “without doubt, almost all fears and concerns over recombinant DNA expressed in the early days of its advent have been laid to rest.”1 The needless alarm notwithstanding, the manner in which the affair was handled is also portrayed as a proud moment for science, when scientists recognized their social responsibilities and voluntarily suspended potentially valuable work until secure that it could be pursued safely.
Concomitant Isolation of the Pulmonary Veins and Posterior Wall Using a Box Lesion Set in a Patient with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation and Variant Pulmonary Venous Anatomy

Variant pulmonary venous anatomy is common and its pre-procedural recognition through cardiac imaging facilitates a personalized approach to ablation tailored to the individual patient. Close juxtaposition of the right and left pulmonary veins is an anatomic variation that serves as an ideal substrate for creation of a single box lesion set that concomitantly isolates the pulmonary veins and posterior wall. Isolation of the posterior wall may serve as an adjunctive ablative strategy in addition to pulmonary vein isolation that facilitates maintenance of sinus rhythm among patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.
Revisiting the Design, Construction and Damage Assessment of Large Hyperbolic Cooling Towers

Hyperbolic cooling towers of ever greater height have been constructed since 1914. As the height of the shells increased, engineers became increasingly concerned about the effects of wind loads on these structures and likely adapted methodologies from tall building and chimney practice for the designs. The failure of three of a group of eight completed cooling towers with height 114 meters at Ferrybridge, UK in 1965 exposed the inadequacy of the then prevailing procedures for wind design and served to initiate and accelerate research programs on a wide variety of subjects. Topics included wind pressure magnitude and distribution, stability, ring stiffeners, column supports, reinforcement quantities and placement, seismic resistance, imperfections, temperature and shrinkage, soil-structure interaction, concentrated surface loads, openings and construction loading. In this paper, several of these research topics are discussed briefly, with emphasis on those that have influenced the design, construction and damage assessment of cooling towers in the US. The evolution of tower design procedures is traced and a discussion of unanticipated damage and failures during construction is offered. The application of modern analytical methods and experimental research studies to understand the cause of the damages and failures and to propose corrective procedures is emphasized. This paper is based on an invited lecture presented at ISCM-2012 in Cologne Germany, June 2012. Permission for the use of the materials contained in the proceedings was obtained from the conference chairman Prof. Dr-Ing. Reinhard Harte. Due to page limitations, the paper has been slightly abridged here. The longer version is available from the Proceedings, ISCT 2012 6 th International Symposium on Cooling Towers, R. Harte and R. Meiswinkel, eds, Faculty
Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: A Comment:

The author comments on Fornell and Larcker's article in the February 1981 issue of JMR. He indicates some limitations of the analyses, pinpoints where they can be misleading, and introduces some ne...
Kinetics of the remediation of Arsenic-contaminated groundwater using nanoscale magnetite particles

Arsenate species are toxic compounds widely found as contaminants in industrial and metallurgical environments. Environmental health problems related to industrial waste streams and related drinking water contaminations can commonly occur. Around the world, from Bangladeshi water wells to Oklahoman metal plating sites, toxic levels of arsenic (As) leach into potable water. This paper describes a flow loop system that relies on magnetic nanoscale particles, iron oxide (nanorust), for the removal of these toxic metals. The nanorust particles have an extremely high surface area which allows for the rapid removal of these metal oxides. Perhaps even more importantly, nanorust (iron oxide) also has the unique advantage that it can be easily removed and re-concentrated using inexpensive low field magnetic (125 T) separation techniques. In this study we will present results on treating low levels of As in water with nano particles of mesh size at 50 nm and 26 nm. Determination of As concentrations below 100 ppb level was attained using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) system and a continuous flow loop system.
Formations of Energy: Modelling Toward an Understanding of Open Thermodynamic Systems

This inquiry explores how cellular automations (CA) can be used to characterize open thermodynamic systems. Open thermodynamic systems describe the formation of buildings, landscapes, and cities; systems shaped by the exchange of energy and material flowing through the larger environments of which they are a part. Unlike models focused on the formation of objects, this inquiry focuses on cell-based modelling that brings us into contact with the forces that shape objects. This research uses CA to visualize the dynamic and constantly evolving exchange of mass and energy that characterize these systems. This methodology explores “non-expert” modelling, i.e. models generated across disciplinary boundaries, in an effort to yield trans-disciplinary insights. This model connects architectural practices to silviculture literature through a simulation that characterizes the role of disturbance on the spatial patterns of forest succession. While this model mimics forest development at the landscape scale, forests may also be modelled as a micro-scaled variable in a global carbon model or as macro-scaled variable in models that characterize thermodynamic performance at the building-scale.
Review of Russia's Economic Legislation in June 2013

In June, the following amendments were introduced into the legislation: a state and municipal contract on supply of goods, fulfillment of jobs and rendering of services may be canceled due to a unilateral refusal of a party to fulfill it; high-skilled foreign experts may reside and work in Russia without a patent which is issued to a foreign national who arrived in Russia in accordance with the procedure which does not require a visa; exclusive rights of the Russian Federation to intellectual outputs will be assigned more actively to nationals of the Russian Federation and legal entities; the procedure for execution and issuing by the Federal Migration Service of Russia of invitations to foreign nationals and stateless persons for entry into the Russian Federation has been updated.
Research on Three-phase Calibration Method of HV Three-phase Combined Transformer and its Implementation

In this paper,a three-phase calibration method which is that the three-phase voltage transformer or current transformer of HV three-phase combined transformer is calibrated in the same time with simulating real running state is proposed.And a standard calibrating apparatus which is used to implementation three-phase calibration method is designed.The structure,working principle,technical characteristics,test circuit and test results of standard calibrating apparatus are given out.The large test results show that the error performance in real running state of 10～35kV HV three-phase combined transformer can be calibrated accurately and the error caused by the mutual influence between the voltage transformer or current transformer can be detected out with the proposed three-phase calibration method and apparatus.
Potential of stockpiled perennial forages in winter grazing systems for pregnant beef cows

We conducted a 3-yr study to measure herbage masses and chemical compositions of stockpiled perennial forages and corn crop residues and compare performance of cows grazing these forages or maintained in a drylot during winter. Midgestation, mature, medium-framed crossbred beef cows (mean BW, 506 kg; mean condition score, 5.3) 1) strip-grazed replicated fields containing stockpiled tall fescue-alfalfa, 2) strip-grazed stockpiled smooth bromegrass without (yr 1) and with (yr 2 and 3) red clover, 3) strip-grazed corn crop residues at 1.2 cows/ha, or 4) they were confined in a drylot for 129 to 141 d. All cows were offered grass-legume hay as large round bales to maintain a condition score of 5 on a 9-point scale. Mean initial amounts (P .05) among forage species or grazed and nongrazed areas. Cows grazing stockpiled tall fescue-alfalfa had greater (P < .05) BW gains than those in other systems and greater (P < .05) body condition score increases than cows grazing corn crop residues. Because cows grazed stockpiled tall fescue-alfalfa, smooth bromegrass-red clover, and corn crop residues for 85, 83, and 57 d before beginning hay supplementation, cows grazing these forages required 1,069, 1,031, and 627 kg/cow less hay DM to maintain body condition than cows confined in a drylot.
Smoking status and symptom burden in surgical head and neck cancer patients.

Objectives/Hypothesis Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients who smoke are at risk for poor treatment outcomes. This study evaluated symptom burden and clinical, sociodemographic, and psychosocial factors associated with smoking in surgical patients to identify potential targets for supportive care services. Study Design Cross-sectional survey. Methods Individuals with HNSCC of the oral cavity, larynx, or pharynx were recruited from two cancer centers and completed questionnaires assessing smoking status (never, former, current/recent), patient characteristics, and symptoms before surgery. Results Of the 103 patients enrolled, 73% were male, 52% were stage IV, 41% reported current/recent smoking, and 37% reported former smoking. Current/recent smokers were less likely than former smokers to have adequate finances (53% vs. 89%, P = .001) and be married/partnered (55% vs. 79%, P = .03). Current/recent smokers were also more likely than both former and never smokers to be unemployed (49% vs. 40% and 13%, respectively, all P = .02) and lack health insurance (17% vs. 5% and 13%, respectively, all P ≤.04). Fatalistic beliefs (P = .03) and lower religiosity (P =.04) were more common in current/recent than never smokers. In models adjusted for sociodemographic/clinical factors, current/recent smokers reported more problems than former and never smokers with swallowing, speech, and cough (P ≤.04). Current/recent smokers also reported more problems than never smokers with social contact, feeling ill, and weight loss (P ≤ .02). Conclusions HNSCC patients reporting current/recent smoking before surgery have high-risk clinical and sociodemographic features that may predispose them to poor postoperative outcomes. Unique symptoms in HNSCC smokers may be useful targets for patient-centered clinical monitoring and intervention. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 2016
Differential Evolution for Multi-objective Robust Engineering Design

There have been various algorithms based on Differential Evolution (DE) that have been demonstrated to optimize various engineering problems. While there has been work on using variations of DE for solving multi-objective problems, there has not been much work on applying this methodology to tolerance design. The ability to handle tolerances is extremely important in robust design, where a product of process is to be optimized while minimizing its responses to uncontrollable manufacturing and/or operational variations. This paper will demonstrate how Multi-Objective Differential Evolution can be applied to the area of multiple objective tolerance design. The algorithm’s utility is highlighted with two canonical engineering design optimization problems.
Aggregating Conditionally Lexicographic Preferences Using Answer Set Programming Solvers

We consider voting over combinatorial domains, where alternatives are binary tuples. We assume that votes are specified as conditionally lexicographic preference trees, or LP trees for short. We study the aggregation of LP tree votes for several positional scoring rules. Our main goal is to demonstrate that answer-set programming tools can be effective in solving the winner and the evaluation problems for instances of practical sizes. To this end, we propose encodings of the two problems as answer-set programs, design methods to generate LP tree votes randomly to support experiments, and present experimental results obtained with ASP solvers clingo and clingcon.
Ruptured Cystic Mesothelioma Diagnosed after Blunt Trauma; Case Report and Literature Review

The majority of blunt trauma is secondary to motor vehicle crashes,especially in those wearing seatbelts or sitting in the front or passenger seat location.Hollow viscus gastrointestinal injuries occur more frequently in small bowel, followed by colorectal, duodenum, stomach and appendix. A 25-year-old male presents after being involved in a motor vehicle accident. Initialworkup was significant for moderate amount of pelvic free fluid and curvilinear,cystic­like structures in the pelvis. He subsequently developed peritonitis and underwentdiagnostic laparoscopy, which revealed multiple cystic nodules arising from theperitoneum. Pathology demonstrated benign cystic mesothelioma (BCM). BCM is a very rarecondition of mesothelial­lined, variably sized, fluid­filled cysts that arises from theserous, pericardial or peritoneal lining. Due to the scarcity of cases, its management and prognosis are not fully established. This singular case highlights the necessity for a clinician to have a widedifferential forunusual causes of free pelvic fluid after blunt abdominaltrauma.
Top-Down Simulation Methodology of a Mixed-Signal Read Channel Using Standard VHDL

This paper presents a mixed-signal system modeling and simulation methodology using an event-driven simulator that supports real-valued signals, such as standard VHDL. Success of this methodology has been demonstrated by a commercial 550 MHz Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) magnetic recording read channel. The read channel IC is of mixed-signal design type with 30% analog and 70% digital content. The digital portion has been synthesized from the RTL subset of VHDL (1987 standard). The analog part has been behaviorally modeled using the 1993 standard version of VHDL. Five abstraction levels of digital circuits modeling are also described.