cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Velocity tapering in microwave amplifiers

The low-to-moderate RF conversion efficiencies characteristic of kinetic energy conversion devices may be enhanced by appropriately tapering the RF circuit phase velocity. The nonlinear interaction equations have been solved in closed form for an HKB (hard-kernel-bunch) model to obtain an optimum taper form. Several velocity taper forms have been investigated in experimental amplifiers and the power output, gain, efficiency, and phase shift characteristics of these amplifiers are discussed in detail. Conversion efficiencies up to 50 percent and near constant output power for a 20-dB variation in RF drive power have been realized in near optimally tapered circuit amplifiers. Further improvements realized include operation at a single voltage for maximum gain and power output and a nearly linear phase shift characteristic for a ±10 percent voltage modulation.
Effects of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure on response perseveration and ultrasonic vocalization emission in rat during development

The 3 major symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders include 1) social behavioral alterations, 2) problems in communication and 3) higher-order motoric deficits of perseveration and stereotyped movements. Previous work has shown that early developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) alters rat pup social motivation and juvenile rat social recognition/investigation. The present work extends this previous research by examining how perinatal PCB exposure alters motoric functions and communication abilities at different stages of development. Action perseveration was examined using performance measures from a T-maze environment. Communication abilities were evaluated by monitoring ultrasound emission in rat pups during a brief isolation from the litter. T-maze learning and performance were significantly impaired in PCB exposed animals. Additionally, PCB exposure led to reduced ultrasound emission rates during brief isolation from the natal group. When combined with the previous work using the sa...
Perinatal cocaine exposure reduces myocardial norepinephrine transporter function in the neonatal rat

Norepinephrine transporter (NET) mediates the active removal of norepinephrine (NE) released from sympathetic nerve terminals via reuptake, and NET function and expression can be regulated by cocaine. NET expression and its regulation by cocaine in the developing sympathetic nervous system during early postnatal period, however, have not been examined. We quantified immunodetectable NET protein expression in the neonatal rat heart to examine the developmental pattern of myocardial NET during the first 2 weeks after birth. To assess sympathetic innervations, we simultaneously quantified the expression of myocardial tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Timed pregnant rats received daily intragastric treatment with saline (CTL) or cocaine at 60 mg/kg (Coc) from Gestational Day 2 until parturition. After birth, nursing mothers continued to receive the same treatment. The expression of myocardial TH and NET in neonatal rats were then studied at 1 day (Postnatal Day 1, PD1), 7 days (PD7) or 14 days (PD14) of age. We observed a similar age-dependent increase in the expression for myocardial NET and TH during the first 2 weeks of postnatal life, in both CTL and Coc animals. While myocardial TH was significantly up-regulated following perinatal cocaine exposure, no significant change in immunodetectable myocardial NET protein was evident. To further examine whether NET function might be affected by perinatal cocaine exposure, we performed NE uptake in myocardial membranes from PD14 CTL and Coc rats. We found that NE uptake was reduced at PD14 in the cocaine-treated group. Our results indicate that myocardial NET and TH are both developmentally regulated. Furthermore, our results indicate that perinatal exposure to cocaine did not change NET protein expression but impaired myocardial NET function in the neonatal rat.
Solubilities of nonvolatile solutes in polymers from molecular thermodynamics

Because there is no simple, general method for measuring solubilities of nonvolatile solutes in a polymer, this work presents a thermodynamic framework for estimating such solubilities from infinite-dilution distribution-coefficient data for aqueous solutions of the solute in equilibrium with the polymer. The experimental infinite-dilution distribution coefficient is related to that calculated from a molecular-thermodynamic model (Flory-Huggins). The three binary Flory parameters are obtained from water - solute and water - polymer data, and from the solute's distribution coefficient. Solubilities of 19 nonvolatile aromatic solutes were estimated in three polymers: ethyl-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVAc) with 33 (EVAc33), 45 (EVAc45) wt. % vinyl acetate content, and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) at 25°C, where most of the solutes are solids. For some of these systems, predicted solubilities are compared with new experimental results. The calculations reported here may be useful for various applications, including the design of membrane processes or drug-delivery systems, and for packaging technology for foods, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
Multimodal vision glove for touchscreens

This paper presents the development of an inexpensive haptic glove enabling people with visual impairments to picture and interact with basic algebra graphs through multiple points of interaction on touchscreens. The glove sends vibrations to each finger representing a direction which the user must follow to reach a graph on a grid. Through repeated movement, a person will reach, trace, and visualize the graph. Evaluations by thirteen students with visual impairments indicated that visualizing a graph, using multiple points of interaction with haptic feedback, is much faster than single-point-interaction with audio feedback.
The origin of Island mammoths and the quaternary land bridge history of the Northern Channel Islands, California

Pygmy proboscidean remains of Mammuthus exilis occur abundantly in late Quaternary deposits on the Northern Channel Islands, California. On the assumption that ancestral elephants could not have swum to the islands and must therefore have walked out, various land bridges have been hypothesized that link the northern islands to the mainland by a peninsula. Geological evidence for a land bridge, however, is lacking, and new evidence shows that elephants are excellent swimmers and skilled at crossing watergaps. The Santa Barbara Channel was narrowed to only 6 km during glacially lowered sea levels. Modern elephants swim much further, and at speeds ranging from 0.96–2.70 km/hr. Motives for California elephants to cross Pleistocene watergaps are inferred from motives that lead modern elephants in Asia and Africa to cross watergaps. These are the visual and olfactory sensing of islands and of insular food during times of drought or fire-induced food shortage. Diminutive size of M. exilis principally reflects lack of island predators, an adaption to periodic food stress in a finite forage area affected by periodic drought and fire, and an adaptation for keeping population numbers high to maintain genetic variability and to ensure survival despite accidents. A late Quaternary scenario describes the environmental setting of the Santa Barbara Channel and the conditions that led to proboscidean dispersal to the preexistent super-island Santarosae.
A Tool for Training Supervisors: Using the Supervision Feedback Form (SFF)

As the field of supervision and training has evolved, there has been a growing recognition of and appreciation for the skills required to be an effective supervisor or trainer (Liddle, Breunlin, & Schwartz, 1988). This new awareness has pointed to the need for effective methods and tools for training family therapy supervisors. One of the tools I developed to improve my supervision complete to give me feedback on my supervision. This article describes how developing and using an SFF was valuable to me in my training as a supervisor. Based on my experience, I believe the SFF could be a useful tool in training other supervisors.
Adaptation and Transformation: The Transition to Adoptive Parenthood for Gay Male Couples

ABSTRACT This study explored the experiences of adoptive gay male couples in their transition to parenthood through qualitative in-depth interviews with eight gay male couples (N = 16). Data analysis revealed unique journeys to parenthood traveled by study participants during three phases of the adoption process. At pre-adoption, couples successfully overcame negative stereotypes about gay parenting in preparation for the vicissitudes of heterocentric adoption they would encounter. Couples adopted new parenting and partner roles which sometimes challenged the relationship, while they spoke of parenting as transformative of their identities as gay men and as a couple. Implications for practice with adoptive gay couples are also discussed.
Determination of monoclonal antibody-induced alterations in Na+/K+-ATPase conformations using fluorescein-labeled enzyme.

The fluorescein 5'-isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled lamb kidney Na+/K+-ATPase has been used to investigate enzyme function and ligand-induced conformational changes. In these studies, we have determined the effects of two monoclonal antibodies, which inhibit Na+/K+-ATPase activity, on the conformational changes undergone by the FITC-labeled enzyme. Monitoring fluorescence intensity changes of FITC-labeled enzyme shows that antibody M10-P5-C11, which inhibits E1 approximately P intermediate formation (Ball, W.J. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 7155-7162), has little effect on the E1 in equilibrium E2 transitions induced by Na+, K+, Mg2+ Pi or Mg2+. ouabain. The M10-P5-C11 epitope, which appears to reside near the ATP-binding site, does not significantly participate in these ligand interactions. In contrast, we find that antibody 9-A5 (Schenk, D.B., Hubert, J.J. and Leffert, H.L. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 14941-14951) inhibits both the Na+/K+-ATPase and p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity. Its binding produces a 'Na+-like' enhancement in FITC fluorescence, reduces the ability of K+ to induce the E1 in equilibrium E2 transition and converts E2.K+ to an E1 conformation. Mg2+ binding to the enzyme alters both the conformation of this epitope region and its coupling of ligand interactions. In the presence of Mg2+, 9-A5 binding stabilizes an E1.Mg2+ conformation such that K+-, Pi- and ouabain-induced E1----E2 or E1----E2-Pi transitions are inhibited. Oubain and Pi added together overcome this stabilization. These studies indicate that the 9-A5 epitope participates in the E1 in equilibrium E2 conformational transitions, links Na+-K+ interactions and ouabain extracellular binding site effects to both the phosphorylation site and the FITC-binding region. Antibody-binding studies and direct demonstration of 9-A5 inhibition of enzyme phosphorylation by [32P]Pi confirm the results obtained from the fluorescence studies. Antibody 9-A5 has also proven useful in demonstrating the independence of Mg2+ ATP and Mg2+Pi regulation of ouabain binding. In addition, [3H]ouabain and antibody-binding studies demonstrate that FITC-labeling alters the enzyme's responses to Mg2+ as well as ATP regulation.
Dry deposition of reactive nitrogen compounds: A review of leaf, canopy and non-foliar measurements

Abstract This review summarizes dry deposition data for several reactive nitrogen compounds (gases and particles) for both foliar and non-foliar sites of deposition, and differentiates these data with respect to the techniques by which they were obtained. Brief summaries of the atmospheric behavior of reactive nitrogen gases, the processes governing their deposition, and a discussion of the relative importance of dry deposition to total landscape N deposition are also included. Estimates of dry deposition velocities for these species vary significantly depending on the method used and vegetation studied. Leaf-level conductances to the principal reactive nitrogen gases are typically 4–20 times lower than canopy deposition velocity measurements, but this difference can be partially reconciled if canopy leaf area is accounted for when scaling from the leaf to canopy level. Field data inficate that dry deposition of N compounds to plant surfaces is comparable to wet deposition, contributing from 20 to 70% of total atmospheric nitrogen inputs.
Medea in the media Narrative and myth in newspaper coverage of women who kill their children

In reporting news stories about maternal infanticide, journalists and sources employ the narrative of the flawed mother in explaining why women killed their children. A qualitative analysis of 250 ...
Magnetization switching process in multilayers having both bilinear and biquadratic exchange coupling between the adjacent magnetic layers

Magnetization switching process was investigated for GMR multilayers possessing both bilinear and biquadratic coupling between the adjacent magnetic layers, by means of numerical analysis. During the magnetization process, various kinds of magnetization configuration transformations take place depending on the relative values of the exchange coupling fields of both types and the induced anisotropy in each layer. Abrupt switching occurs for the transformation between the configurations between which an energy barrier exits, and when plurality of stable configurations exist as a destiny, it is concluded that the transformation path should depend on the loss mechanism which is still to be investigated.
Colonization for the Prevention of Clostridium difficile Disease in Hamsters

Studies suggest that asymptomatic colonization with Clostridium difficile (CD) decreases the risk of CD-associated disease (CDAD) in humans. A hamster model was used to test the efficacy of colonization with 3 nontoxigenic CD strains for preventing CDAD after exposure to toxigenic CD. Groups of 10 hamsters were given 10 6 nontoxigenic CD spores 2 days after receiving a single dose of clindamycin. Five days later, the hamsters were given 100 spores of 1 of 3 toxigenic CD strains previously shown to cause mortality within 48 h. Each nontoxigenic strain prevented disease in 87%-97% of hamsters that were challenged with toxigenic strains. Failure to prevent CDAD was associated with failure of colonization with nontoxigenic CD. Colonization with nontoxigenic CD strains is highly effective in preventing CDAD in hamsters challenged with toxigenic CD strains, which suggests that use of a probiotic strategy for CDAD prevention in humans receiving antibiotics might be beneficial.
Choriodecidual Group B Streptococcal Infection Induces miR-155-5p in the Fetal Lung in Macaca nemestrina

ABSTRACT The mechanisms underlying fetal lung injury remain poorly defined. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding, endogenous RNAs that regulate gene expression and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of lung disease. Using a nonhuman primate model of choriodecidual infection, we sought to determine if differentially expressed miRNAs were associated with acute fetal lung injury. After inoculating 10 chronically catheterized pregnant monkeys (Macaca nemestrina) with either group B streptococcus (GBS) at 1 × 106 CFU (n = 5) or saline (n = 5) in the choriodecidual space, we extracted fetal lung mRNA and miRNA and profiled the changes in expression by microarray analysis. We identified 9 differentially expressed miRNAs in GBS-exposed fetal lungs, but of these, only miR-155-5p was validated by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (P = 0.02). Significantly elevated miR-155-5p expression was also observed when immortalized human fetal airway epithelial (FeAE) cells were exposed to proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 [IL-6] and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]). Overexpression of miR-155-5p in FeAE cells in turn increased the production of IL-6 and CXCL10/gamma interferon-induced protein 10, which are implicated in leukocyte recruitment but also in protection from lung injury. Interestingly, while miR-155-5p decreased fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) expression in a luciferase reporter assay, FGF9 levels were actually increased in GBS-exposed fetal lungs in vivo. FGF9 overexpression is associated with abnormal lung development. Thus, upregulation of miR-155-5p may serve as a compensatory mechanism to lessen the increase in FGF9 and prevent aberrant lung development. Understanding the complicated networks regulating lung development in the setting of infection is a key step in identifying how to prevent fetal lung injury leading to bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Service system fundamentals: work system, value chain, and life cycle

Service systems produce all services of significance and scope, yet the concept of a service system is not well articulated in the service literature. This paper presents three interrelated frameworks as a first attempt to define the fundamentals of service systems. These frameworks identify basic building blocks and organize important attributes and change processes that apply across all service systems. Although relevant regardless of whether a service system uses information technology, the frameworks are also potentially useful in visualizing the realities of moving toward automated service architectures. This paper uses two examples, one largely manual and one highly automated, to illustrate the potential usefulness of the three frameworks, which can be applied together to describe, analyze, and study how service systems are created, how they operate, and how they evolve through a combination of planned and unplanned change.
The bit vector intersection problem

This paper introduces the bit vector intersection problem: given a large collection of sparse bit vectors, find all the pairs with at least t ones in common for a given input parameter t. The assumption is that the number of ones common to any two vectors is significantly less than t, except for an unknown set of O(n) pairs. This problem has important applications in DNA physical mapping, clustering, and searching for approximate dictionary matches. We present two randomized algorithms that solve this problem with high probability and in sub-quadratic expected time. One of these algorithms is based on a recursive tree-searching procedure, and the other on hashing. We analyze the tree scheme in terms of branching processes, while our analysis of the hashing scheme is based on Markov chains. Since both algorithms have similar asymptotic performance, we also examine experimentally their relative merits in practical situations. We conclude by showing that a fundamental problem arising in the Human Genome Project is captured by the bit vector intersection problem described above and hence can be solved by our algorithms.
Comorbid illness is an important determinant of health-related quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Abstract OBJECTIVES: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients selected for entry into treatment trials have been reported to have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, these trials have an inherent selection bias, and HRQOL in CHC patients may have been underestimated because of the exclusion of patients with comorbid illness. The aim of this study was to assess HRQOL in an unselected group of CHC patients and to identify factors associated with impairment in HRQOL. METHODS: A total of 220 consecutive eligible CHC patients were enrolled from a hepatology clinic. HRQOL was assessed by the short form 36 (SF-36) and comorbid illnesses were assessed by an interview. RESULTS: CHC patients had significantly lower SF-36 scores in all subscales and in the summary scales when compared to those of the healthy general population in the United States (p CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that unselected CHC patients presenting for medical evaluation have a reduced HRQOL, which is lower than that reported for CHC patients entering treatment trials. CHC alone is associated with significant impairment in HRQOL, but the presence of comorbid illness leads to further diminution in HRQOL.
Δ ADC based current mode power supply controller with digital voltage loop

Sigma-delta (SigmaDelta) modulators offer cost advantages in digitally controlled power supplies. Due to its noise shaping, high resolution, high speed ADCs and DACs are not necessary for digital control. This paper presents a low cost current-mode controller. The outer voltage loop is digital with SigmaDelta modulator and low resolution DAC. The inner current loop is kept analog with analog comparator and SR latch. An experimental circuit includes a SigmaDelta modulator test chip, a controller implemented on an FPGA, and a 30 V-to 3.3 V 10 W fly-back converter operating at 100 kHz. Experimental results demonstrate this mixed structure is a suitable solution for digital power supplies.
The neural bases of strategy and skill in sentence-picture verification.

Abstract This experiment used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to examine the relation between individual differences in cognitive skill and the amount of cortical activation engendered by two strategies (linguistic vs. visual–spatial) in a sentence–picture verification task. The verbal strategy produced more activation in language-related cortical regions (e.g., Broca's area), whereas the visual–spatial strategy produced more activation in regions that have been implicated in visual–spatial reasoning (e.g., parietal cortex). These relations were also modulated by individual differences in cognitive skill: Individuals with better verbal skills (as measured by the reading span test) had less activation in Broca's area when they used the verbal strategy. Similarly, individuals with better visual–spatial skills (as measured by the Vandenberg, 1971, mental rotation test) had less activation in the left parietal cortex when they used the visual-spatial strategy. These results indicate that language and visual–spatial processing are supported by partially separable networks of cortical regions and suggests one basis for strategy selection: the minimization of cognitive workload.
Role of radiation therapy in the treatment of stage I/II mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma

ABSTRACT Background: Few large studies exist on the outcome of patients treated for stage I/II mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 77 patients consecutively treated for stage I (n = 66) or II (n = 11) MALT lymphoma at our institution. Progression-free survival (PFS), freedom from treatment failure (FFTF), and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results: The median follow-up time was 61 months (range 2–177 months). Fifty-two patients (68%) received local radiation therapy (RT) alone, 17 (22%) had surgery followed by adjuvant RT, five (6%) had surgery alone, two (3%) had surgery and chemotherapy, and one patient had chemotherapy alone. The median RT dose was 30 Gy (range 18–40 Gy). The 5-year PFS, FFTF, and OS rates were 76%, 78%, and 91%, respectively. The 5-year PFS (79% versus 50%; P = 0.002) and FFTF (81% versus 50%; P = 0.0004) rates were higher for patients who received RT as compared with patients who did not. Conclusions: The prognosis following treatment of stage I/II MALT lymphoma is excellent. RT improves PFS and FFTF and has an important role in the curative treatment of patients with localized disease.
Actuarial Applications of a Hierarchical Insurance Claims Model

This paper demonstrates actuarial applications of modern statistical methods that are applied to detailed, micro-level automobile insurance records. We consider 1993-2001 data consisting of policy and claims files from a major Singaporean insurance company. A hierarchical statistical model, developed in prior work (Frees and Valdez (2008)), is fit using the micro-level data. This model allows us to study the accident frequency, loss type and severity jointly and to incorporate individual characteristics such as age, gender and driving history that explain heterogeneity among policyholders. Based on this hierarchical model, one can analyze the risk profile of either a single policy (micro-level) or a portfolio of business (macro-level). This paper investigates three types of actuarial applications. First, we demonstrate the calculation of the predictive mean of losses for individual risk rating. This allows the actuary to differentiate prices based on policyholder characteristics. The nonlinear effects of coverage modifications such as deductibles, policy limits and coinsurance are quantified. Moreover, our flexible structure allows us to “unbundle” contracts and price more primitive elements of the contract, such as coverage type. The second application concerns the predictive distribution of a portfolio of business. We demonstrate the calculation of various risk measures, including value at risk and conditional tail expectation, that are useful in determining economic capital for insurance companies. Third, we examine the effects of several reinsurance treaties. Specifically, we show the predictive loss distributions for both the insurer and reinsurer under quota share and excess-of-loss reinsurance agreements. In addition, we present an example of portfolio reinsurance, in which the combined effect of reinsurance agreements on the risk characteristics of ceding and reinsuring company are described.
A Complementary Column Generation Approach for the Graph Equipartition Problem

In this paper, we present a high performance recovery algorithm for distributed systems in which checkpoints are taken asynchronously. It offers fast determination of the recent consistent global checkpoint (maximum consistent state) of a distributed system after the system recovers from a failure. The main feature of the proposed recovery algorithm is that it avoids to a good extent unnecessary comparisons of checkpoints while testing for their mutual consistency. The algorithm is executed simultaneously by all participating processes, which ensures its fast execution. Moreover, we have presented an enhancement of the proposed recovery idea to put a limit on the dynamically growing lengths of the data structures used. It further reduces the number of comparisons necessary to determine a recent consistent state and thereby reducing further the time of completion of the recovery algorithm. Finally, it is shown that the proposed algorithm offers better performance compared to some related existing works that use asynchronous checkpointing. Povzetek: Opisan je izboljsan postopek okrevanja v porazdeljenih sistemih.
Stability of numerical integration techniques

This paper presents the cause of instabilities which arise during the numerical solution of ordinary differential equations. By using the numerical integration routines presently available, one actually approximates the differential equation by a difference equation. If the difference equation is of a higher order than the original differential equation, the approximate solution contains extraneous solutions which are not at all related to the true solution. It is the behavior of these extraneous solutions that one is usually concerned with in a stability analysis. Also presented is a procedure for obtaining a bound on the largest allowable integration step size for a class of chemical engineering problems. A detailed explanation of the procedure is illustrated for unsteady state distillation calculations.
Creating diversity in ensembles using artificial data

Abstract The diversity of an ensemble of classifiers is known to be an important factor in determining its generalization error. We present a new method for generating ensembles, D ecorate (Diverse Ensemble Creation by Oppositional Relabeling of Artificial Training Examples), that directly constructs diverse hypotheses using additional artificially constructed training examples. The technique is a simple, general meta-learner that can use any strong learner as a base classifier to build diverse committees. Experimental results using decision-tree induction as a base learner demonstrate that this approach consistently achieves higher predictive accuracy than the base classifier, Bagging and Random Forests. D ecorate also obtains higher accuracy than Boosting on small training sets, and achieves comparable performance on larger training sets.
Newer Trace Elements

Less than 20 years ago, trace elements such as zinc, copper, and chromium were considered to be esoteric considerations for human nutrition. The importance of these trace elements in human health and disease has now been established. In recent years, the consumption of highly refined foods, food product analogues, and empty calories that are often lacking in trace elements has increased. The use of fad diets, refined diets, or total parenteral feeding may in the future reveal the importance of some “newer” trace elements. Recently, nickel, vanadium, silicon, fluorine, and tin have been found to be beneficial in the diets of laboratory animals. It seems probable that some of these elements may also be essential or beneficial for man (Nielsen, 1976).
Doping Effects on the Spin-Density-Wave Background

The single-band Hubbard model has been proposed1 as a candidate to describe the high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors. There are two ways to approach such a strongly correlated electron system with the intrinsic 2D antiferromagnetic correlations. One is from the strong coupling, localized limit, where one could get a Mott insulator in the half-filled case with one electron per Cu site, described by the antiferromagnetic (AF) Heisenberg Hamiltonian. The alternative way is from the itinerant approach, where the insulating spin-density-wave (SDW) state is present at the half-filling. From the itinerant approach, the doping effects of holes on the SDW background will be discussed in the present paper.
Welcome, Healing, and Ethics

This essay, written for a symposium issue on “Relationship Centered Health Care: Implications for Law and Ethics,” advances the claim that welcome — underappreciated and under-theorized — is a primary professional obligation of health care professionals. It further presents the concept of welcoming responsibility as an essential orientation for careful bioethical practice. To be successful, all methods of bioethical analysis — whether Principlism or approaches that emphasize care, community, solidarity, or professionalism — rely on the presence of individuals who are radically open to the presence of all others and ready, willing, and able to take responsibility for what is going on. The classic case of Payton v. Weaver, involving a “disruptive dialysis patient,” is then discussed from a perspective of welcoming responsibility, revealing that all of the professionals involved in the case — physicians, lawyers, and judges — might have better responded to the challenges presented by it if they had approached the person who appeared to them in need with genuine, responsible welcome.
Abstract WMP11: The Association between Endovascular Reperfusion and Favorable Clinical Response Is Similar in Older and Younger Stroke Patients

Background: Older stroke patients generally have poorer clinical outcomes than younger stroke patients. We aimed to determine if the clinical response following endovascular reperfusion differs between older and younger patients with the Target Mismatch profile. Methods: Stroke patients enrolled in the DEFUSE 2 study underwent MRI diffusion (DWI) and perfusion (PWI) weighted imaging prior to endovascular treatment. Target Mismatch was defined as a ratio of PWI (Tmax >6s) over DWI volume >1.8, DWI volume 10s) volume 8 point improvement on the NIHSS or an NIHSS score of 0-1 at 30 days. The relationship between baseline clinical and neuroimaging variables and favorable clinical response, was assessed using logistic regression. In addition, we evaluated the interaction of age and reperfusion on favorable clinical response and compared the effect of reperfusion between younger (age ≤ 80 years) and older (age > 80 years) patients. Results: Seventy-eight patients had a Target Mismatch and forty-two patients had a favorable clinical response. Age (p Conclusion: Target Mismatch patients who are younger have overall better clinical outcomes than older patients with the Target Mismatch. The association between endovascular reperfusion and favorable clinical response did, however, not differ between younger and older stroke patients. These results argue against the use of an age cutoff for endovascular stroke therapy.
Nicotine increases microvascular blood flow and flow velocity in three groups of brain areas.

To examine the mechanism of local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) elevation, nicotine (1.75 mg/kg sc) was administered to rats, and LCBF plus the distribution spaces of radiolabeled albumin (RISA) and red blood cells (RBC) in parenchymal microvessels were measured throughout the brain. Microvascular blood spaces and transit times were calculated from the data. From 1.5 to 3 min after nicotine administration, LCBF was raised by 40–150% in 16 of the brain areas and unaltered in the remaining 28 areas. The affected structures included parts of the visual-auditory, sensorimotor-cortical, and interpeduncular systems. RBC spaces were not changed by nicotine treatment. RISA and blood spaces were increased slightly but not significantly in some of the LCBF-affected areas but nowhere else. Nicotine seemingly elevates LCBF in the affected areas mainly by increasing linear velocity of flow through the microvascular beds. In agreement with this, mean transit time, which is inversely related to velocity, was decreased from 0.3-0.5 to approximately 0.2 s in the microvascular systems of the nicotine-affected areas.
MRI-based pseudo-CT generation using sorted atlas images in whole-body PET/MRI

In this work, we propose a novel approach for MRI-based generation of pseudo-CT images in whole-body PET/MRI based on Hofmann's pattern recognition and atlas registration approach. The major improvement emanates from sorting registered atlas images based on voxelwise local normalized cross-correlation and choosing the most similar atlas image for Gaussian process regression (GPR) analysis. Furthermore, prior knowledge derived from the correlation between lung volume and attenuation coefficients was embedded in the GPR kernel for accurate patient-specific prediction of lung attenuation coefficients. Modifying the GPR algorithm improved the similarity index of bone extraction from 0.55 to 0.61 and enabled significant bias reduction of tracer uptake (SUV) in bony regions. Incorporating prior knowledge about lung volume in the GPR algorithm resulted in SUVmean bias reduction from 8.9% to 4.1% in the whole lung region. Overall, the proposed algorithm provided more accurate PET quantification in the lungs and bony regions.
Sampling Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) on Burned and Unburned Tallgrass Prairie: Night Trapping vs. Sweeping

Two techniques, sweeping with a canvas net and night trapping with a portable trap, were compared as means of sampling Acridid grasshoppers in burned and unburned tallgrass prairie in eastern Kansas. Mark-release experiments revealed that night traps on both burned and unburned sites throughout the summer captured roughly three-fourths of the grasshoppers when the weather was clear and warm; thus, the technique provides good estimates of seasonal change in absolute density. Ability to capture grasshoppers on unburned vs. burned prairie differed for sweep sampling(in contrast to night trapping); only 30 to 40% as many grasshoppers (per grasshopper present) were collected by sweeping on unburned vs. burned sites. Furthermore, grasshoppers were captured more readily by sweeping as they grew older. Therefore, sweeping provided poor estimates of how the relative abundance of grasshoppers (1) changed seasonally at a site, and (2) differed between burned and unburned sites. Sweeping and night trapping provided similar estimates of the relative abundances of individual species present at anyone place and time on either burned or unburned prairie.
Anomalous Isomeric Effect on the Properties of Bisphenol F-based Benzoxazines: Toward the Molecular Design for Higher Performance

A series of 2,2′-, 2,4′-, and 4,4′-substituted benzoxazine monomers based on isomeric bisphenol F and aniline has been synthesized in order to obtain a basic set of design rules toward making higher performance polybenzoxazines. All the monomer structures are confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR, and the purity is calculated by 1H NMR. The polymerization behavior is studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), The rate of polymerization increases in the order 4,4′-, 2,4′-, and 2,2′-substituted monomer. After polymerization, the thermal stability and glass transition temperature (Tg) of each polymer are studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and temperature-modulated DSC. The polymer obtained from 2,2′-substituted monomer gives highest thermal stability as well as Tg, which is against many of such examples available in the literature. Discussions on understanding benzoxazine structure–property relationships have been provided.
SP0080 Characteristics of Effective Treatments and Effective Treatment Environments

Psychosocial treatments for chronic pain have amassed an impressive and progressive record of success. Nonetheless, recent years have identified a number of challenges, including the difficulties in maintaining clinical effectiveness from clinical trials into large scale implementation efforts, unclear identification of specific intervention components that are clearly linked to improving adaptive outcomes, and lack of clarity with regard to the necessary and active ingredients of effective treatment. Overall, these problems highlight the difficulty of translating research into practice. They also help illuminate several potential avenues for improvement. This presentation will briefly review these areas of difficulty and highlight specific data which suggests methods to achieve progress. Particular emphasis will be placed on three distinct areas: (1) the importance and qualities of an effective patient-provider relationship, (2) the need for clear specification of mechanisms by which treatment is hypothesized to work followed by specific tests of the specified hypotheses, and (3) the key influence of therapist behaviors in the determination of treatment success or failure. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.6179
Elevated Temperature Mechanical Properties of Devitrified Metallic Glass

Elevated temperature tensile tests of different microstructures arising from different heat treatments of the Fe-based metallic glass Vitroperm (Fe 73.5 Cu 1 Nb 3 Si 15.5 B 7 ) are presented. An anneal at 600°C for 1h yields a single phase μ-Fe microstructure with equiaxed, randomly oriented 15 nm grains, which is an ideal candidate for study of material properties at diminishing length scale. This microstructure has good stability during tensile testing at 600°C, showing a strain rate exponent correlating to grain boundary sliding (m=0.5), but little ductility, and strengths to 1250 MPa. The brittle behavior could be attributed to the lack of dislocation activity at such length scales. At temperatures up to 725°C, grain growth occurs, leading to elongations as large as 65% at flow stresses of 250 MPa. Precipitation of a second Nb-rich phase accompanies the grain growth. This investigation is supported by NSF, Division of Materials Research, grant NSF-DMR-0240144.
A bold new future for public health or implementing the "Alexander Haig" idea.

An amalgam of effort by public health practitioners and academics is needed to attain the goal of public health taking charge of U.S. health care early in the new millenium. Numerous ideas for joint collaborations in service, research, and teaching are presented. Goals, quality improvement and reporting, customer satisfaction, and leadership training are developing strengths in the field that will help make rapid progress toward the goal. Oversight of health services by public health is essential to the development of a successful U.S. health system.
Effect of Late-Season Fenvalerate and Flucythrinate Applications on European Red Mite (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Tufted Apple Bud Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Populations on Apple

Field studies were conducted from 1982 to 1984 to investigate the effects of selectively timed applications of the pyrethroids fen valerate and Oucythrinate on control of tufted apple bud moth, Platynota idaeusalis (Walker), and density of overwintering European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), eggs. The pyrethroids effectively controlled tufted apple bud moth, especially during Brood II, with only two alternate row-middle (ARM) applications in comparison with five ARM applications for standard organophosphate and carbamate insecticides. However, effect of the pyrethroid applications on the density of overwintering European red mite eggs depended on timing and rate. Applications of pyrethroids before 23 and 16 August in 1983 and 1984, respectively, increased the density of overwintering European red mite eggs in comparison with organophosphate and carbamate insecticides. A four-fold increase in the rate of fenvalerate was followed by an approximate three-fold increase in overwintering European red mite egg density. Results suggested that selectively timed applications of pyrethroids during Brood II oviposition and egg hatch may be used to prevent fruit injury by tufted apple bud moth without causing an increase in the density of overwintering European red mite eggs.
Substance Use and Substance Abuse--What's in a Name?

PURPOSE What's in a name? Because the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, no longer uses the terms dependence and abuse (American Psychiatric Association, 2013a), does the continued use of these terms impact how issues related to at-risk substance use are presented in the literature? The purpose of this review is to explore the implications of the continued use of the term substance abuse in the clinical literature through the review of three articles published in 2015 that used the term substance abuse in the title. REVIEW The use of the term substance abuse in the articles reviewed resulted in presenting a narrow focus on substance use disorders rather than the broader issues of harm that occur across the full continuum of substance use. In addition, the term "substance abuse" in one article lent itself to the use of pejorative language and stigmatization. CONCLUSION It is imperative that we stop using the term substance abuse in clinical articles, because it is no longer clinically relevant and presents a narrow focus of the risks associated with substance use.
Flow Cytometry Deoxyribonucleic Acid Determinations and Cytology of Bladder Washings: Practical Experience

AbstractFlow cytometry deoxyribonucleic acid measurements of bladder washings, routine bladder irrigation cytology and cystoscopic results were compared in a prospective fashion during 33 months of clinical urology practice. Of the 204 patients (286 specimens) studied 74 had bladder tumors or a history of bladder tumors and 130 had other genitourinary pathological conditions, including hematuria, cystitis, benign prostatic hypertrophy or prostatic carcinoma. Flow cytometry and cytology agreed with the cystoscopic findings in 93per cent of the cases, whereas flow cytometry agreed with cytology in 84.6per cent. When combined, flow cytometry and cytology were negative in only 1 case when several papillomas or grade I papillary carcinomas were present on cystoscopy, yielding a diagnostic accuracy of 99per cent. The false negative rates for flow cytometry and cytology were 4.3 and 5.2per cent, respectively, with false positive rates of 4.2 and 3.1per cent, respectively. As expected the specimens that were miss...
How Do Manipulation Arguments Work

Alfred Mele has presented the Zygote Argument as a challenge to compatibilism. In previous work I have offered a critique of Mele’s first premise. Patrick Todd, Neal Tognazzini, and Derk Pereboom have offered an alternative interpretation of the argument, substituting (1*) for (1). Here I offer a critical evaluation of this strategy, and in the process I seek to understand the deep structure of the Zygote Argument.
Transporters in drug discovery and delivery: a new paradigm in ocular drug design

Abstract: A large number of therapeutic molecules acquire very low ocular bioavailibity because of a failure to cross ocular barriers. Over the last decade, transporter/receptor-mediated drug delivery has gained significant attention to improve ocular drug delivery. Different carriers for the transport of amino acids, peptides, lactate, glucose and nucleosides have also been identified on corneal epithelial, conjunctiva, iris-ciliary bodies, lens, sclera, choroid and retinal pigment epithelium. Targeting of drugs to these membrane transporters is a novel and clinically viable approach. With proper understanding of the mechanism of each transporter, suitable drugs or prodrugs can be designed that can be delivered at desired concentrations to the target tissues. Drug delivery approaches targeted at different ocular influx and efflux transporters/receptors are summarized in this chapter.
Patterns of Tissue Pathology in Neurological Diseases

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews some neuropathological patterns noted in certain neurological disorders, namely Wallerian degeneration, cerebral ischemia, neurodegenerative diseases, viral meningoencephalitis and demyelinating diseases. Wallerian degeneration is the commonest tissue reaction that occurs when the continuity of nerve fibers is disrupted. Traumatic transection or crush is a common cause of Wallerian degeneration in the peripheral nerves. Cerebral ischemia is a condition in which blood supply and oxygen deliveries to the brain are inadequate. The most severe form of ischemic injury is a cerebral infarction. Ischemia injury in the brain is usually divided into two groups, focal cerebral ischemia (FCI) and global cerebral ischemia (GCI). Severe ischemia may result in the development of brain infarction. Neurodegenerative diseases and associated inflammation are mentioned in this chapter which usually occurs in adults whose brain already shows some evidence of degenerative changes. Neurodegenerative diseases are diseases of neurons, primarily affecting certain systems of neurons, primarily affecting cerebral cortex present clinically as dementia such as Alzheimer disease (AD). The diseases affecting basal ganglia and related systems manifest as involuntary movement disorders. Parkinson disease (PD) and Huntington disease (HD) belong to this category. More disease-specific distribution of the pathological process and cellular changes has been recognized in neurodegenerative diseases. The viral infection in the central nervous system (CNS) and demyelinating diseases are also discussed in this chapter. Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has been well recognized as one of the commonest neurological complication for the AIDS patients. Demyelinating diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders in which formed myelin sheaths degenerate with relative preservation of axons. Acute disseminated post-infectious encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHL) are both autoimmune demyelinating disorders.