cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social isolation and outcomes post stroke

Objective: To assess the relationship between social isolation and stroke outcomes in a multiethnic cohort. Methods: As part of the Northern Manhattan Stroke Study, the authors prospectively followed a cohort of patients with stroke for 5 years. Baseline data including social isolation were collected. At follow-up, the authors documented outcome events as defined by the first occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke recurrence, or death. Cox hazard models were used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR, 95% CI) for prestroke predictors of post stroke outcomes. Results: The authors followed 655 ischemic stroke cases for a mean of 5 years. The cohort was 55% women; 17% white, 27% African American, 54% Hispanic; mean age 69 ± 12 years. There were 265 first outcome events. In univariate analysis, coronary artery disease (OR 1.3, 1.0 to 1.7), age > 70 years (OR 1.9, 1.5 to 2.5), atrial fibrillation (AF) (OR 1.8, 1.3 to 2.5), race-ethnicity (white vs Hispanic) (OR 1.7, 1.1 to 2.9), physical inactivity (OR 1.3, 1.1 to 2.6), help at home (OR 1.8, 1.4 to 2.4), and social isolation (OR 1.4, 1.2 to 1.6) were associated with increased risk of an outcome event. No association was seen for hypertension, diabetes, education, sex, insurance, occupation, marital status, or primary care physician. In the multivariable model controlling for age, AF (OR 1.9, 1.5 to 2.5), help at home (OR 1.5, 1.1 to 2.0), and social isolation (OR 1.4, 1.1 to 1.8) predicted outcome events. Conclusion: Prestroke social isolation is a predictor of outcome events post stroke. Lack of social support may contribute to poorer outcomes due to poor compliance, depression, and stress.
Epidermal keratinocyte polarity and motility require Ca2+ influx through TRPV1

Ca2+ has long been known to play an important role in cellular polarity and guidance. We studied the role of Ca2+ signaling during random and directed cell migration to better understand whether Ca2+ directs cell motility from the leading edge and which ion channels are involved in this function by using primary zebrafish keratinocytes. Rapid line-scan and time-lapse imaging of intracellular Ca2+ (Ca2+i) during migration and automated image alignment enabled us to characterize and map the spatiotemporal changes in Ca2+i. We show that asymmetric distributions of lamellipodial Ca2+ sparks are encoded in frequency, not amplitude, and that they correlate with cellular rotation during migration. Directed migration during galvanotaxis increases the frequency of Ca2+ sparks over the entire lamellipod; however, these events do not give rise to asymmetric Ca2+i signals that correlate with turning. We demonstrate that Ca2+-permeable channels within these cells are mechanically activated and include several transient receptor potential family members, including TRPV1. Last, we demonstrate that cell motility and Ca2+i activity are affected by pharmacological agents that target TRPV1, indicating a novel role for this channel during cell migration.
Turbulence in an oceanic convective mixed layer

The first direct measurements of turbulence in an oceanic convective mixed layer were obtained during a cold-air outbreak. The uniformity of the turbulent dissipation rate and its relation to the surface buoyancy flux are similar to observations of convection in the atmosphere.
Effect of mazindol on brain dopamine turnover in spiperone-treated rats

Mazindol, an anorexic drug, caused a large increase in brain 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) concentration in spiperone-pretreated rats. The increase was dose-related over a 1--10 mg/kg dose range of mazindol and was maximum within 1 hour after maxzindol injection into rats pretreated 1 hour previously with spiperone. In spiperone-pretreated rats, mazindol accelerated the disappearance of dopamine after the inhibition of dopamine synthesis by alpha-methyltyrosine. Mazindol apparently resembles amfonelic acid, methylphenidate, and cocaine in facilitating the impulse-mediated release of dopamine.
Reproductive tract abnormalities in rats treated neonatally with DES

Neonatal female Sprague-Dawley rats were given daily injections of 3 micrograms diethylstilbestrol (DES) for 5 days beginning within 24 hours of birth. Some of these rats were ovariectomized between the 15th and 18th postnatal days, and on the 60th postnatal day were given daily injections of 3 micrograms estradiol for 1, 3, or 5 weeks. Intact rats were sacrificed at 60, 95, or 130 days. The morphology of the upper vagina, cervix, and lower uterus was examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. Two abnormalities resulting from neonatal DES exposure were found. The first was squamous metaplasia observed in the uteri of rats given DES and later exposed to exogenous or endogenous estrogen. Metaplasia was seen in both the luminal and glandular epithelium. The longer the rats were exposed to exogenous or endogenous estrogen, the more extensive was the metaplasia. The second was a gross morphologic abnormality seen in all rats given DES regardless of any later treatment. That part of the cervix that protrudes into the cranial limit of the vagina was absent and, thus, a vaginal fornix was nonexistent. Previous investigations have emphasized abnormalities of the lower reproductive tract. The present study indicates that the upper reproductive tract also must be considered in investigations of the effects of hormones administered to neonates.
Solubilization of hormone-responsive adenylate cyclase from human renal cortex.

Abstract Adenylate cyclase activity from human renal cortical plasma membranes remained in the 100,000 xg supernatant (2 hrs) following treatment with 0.25% Lubrol PX in 10mM Tris buffer (pH 7.45), 1 mM EDTA, 0.25 M sucrose, and 5 mM NaF. Solubilization decreased total adenylate cyclase activity by at least one-half; responsiveness to calcitonin, glucagon and guanyl nucleotides, but not to parathyroid hormone, was preserved. Glucagon and calcitonin-stimulated adenylate cyclase eluted near the void volume on Sephadex G200 columns; two other peaks of non-hormone stimulated activity eluted later.
Increased protein degradation results from elevated free calcium levels found in muscle from mdx mice

The defective gene responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in humans and the dystrophic condition in mdx mice results in a lack of dystrophin at first thought to be localized to the triads, but more recently found on the cytoplasmic side of the sarcolemma of skeletal muscle fibres. Because the total calcium content of dystrophic fibres is significantly raised, we have compared the intracellular free calcium concentration [( Ca2+]i) in skeletal muscle in normal and mdx mice. We find that [Ca2+]i is markedly elevated in mdx muscle fibres compared with normal fibres, both at rest and during stimulation. By measuring protein degradation rates and manipulating [Ca2+]i, we have been able to demonstrate directly that the elevation of [Ca2+]i in mdx fibres results in an enhanced net degradation of muscle proteins.
Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets revisited.

Purpose of reviewThere has been continued interest in the physiological, nutritional and clinical aspects of low-carbohydrate diets. This review will discuss the effects on appetite regulation, metabolic parameters, body weight and body composition, the role of glycemic index and glycemic load, as w
Analysis of fault events in MVDC architecture

Effective interruption of load currents under both normal and fault conditions presents major challenges in medium-voltage dc distribution systems. In a highly-integrated dc power system, the preponderance of power converters connecting several loads with power ranging from (W) to (MW) levels rises additional concerns about the effects of a dc fault on other loads connected to the same bus or adjacent buses. Equally critical are the interactions between these power converters during the fault isolation and clearance process. In order to address some of these issues, a basic model has been constructed to study the behavior and effects of dc faults in an MVDC power system for an all-electric ship. Results of the analysis are presented.
Kernel-Assisted MPI Collective Communication among Many-core Clusters

Architectural hierarchies and hardware complexity brought by multicore or many-core Clusters, greatly challenge MPI applications' performance in two ways: performance efficiency and cross-platform portability. The cross-platform portability assumption, 'write once and efficiently run everywhere,' is not guaranteed by current MPI libraries, mainly due to implementation details. To partially address the performance issue exposed by hardware complexity and memory hierarchies, we propose a kernel assisted MPI collective communication approach, directly based on the kernel assisted one-sided single-copy module: KNEM. First, we introduce the general operating principles of KNEM memory copy, and then we present the design and implementation of KNEM collective, an intra-node collective component of Open MPI for shared memory nodes. Additionally, we describe how to integrate the kernel-assisted approach into collective communications on heterogeneous multicore clusters with intra- and inter-node communication. We evaluate and experimentally demonstrate the performance advantages of our kernel-assisted MPI collective over state-of-art MPI libraries (Open MPI and MVAPICH2).
Gamma-densitometry tomography of gas holdup spatial distribution in industrial-scale bubble columns

Gamma-densitometry tomography (GDT) experiments have been performed to measure gas holdup spatial variations in two bubble columns: a 0.19 m inside diameter Lucite column and a 0.48 m inside diameter stainless steel vessel. Two-phase air/water flows were examined. Horizontal scans at one vertical position in each column were made for several air flow rates. An axisymmetric tomographic reconstruction algorithm based on the Abel transform has been used to calculate the time-averaged gas holdup radial variation. Integration of these profiles over the column cross section has yielded area-averaged holdup results, which have been compared with volume-averaged gas holdups determined from differential pressure measurements and from the rise in the air/water interface during gas flow. The results agree reasonably well.
Putting the "Development" in Professional Development: Understanding and Overturning Educational Leaders' Immunities to Change

In this article, authors Deborah Helsing, Annie Howell, Robert Kegan, and Lisa Lahey argue that today's educational leaders face a host of complex demands as they strive to implement lasting, meaningful change in their school environments. As these demands often require a level of personal development many adults may not yet have, there is a need for professional development programs that are genuinely developmental. This article describes one such program that provides the opportunity for participants to make qualitative shifts in the ways that they understand themselves and their work. Using case study methodology, the authors explore the psychological development of one participant as she increases her capacity to determine, and be guided by, her own theories, values, and expectations of her personal and professional relationships and responsibilities.
Hypoglycemia and reduced feed intake in broiler chickens treated with metformin

The bi-guanide metformin is used to treat noninsulin dependent diabetes in obese patients. In addition to having antihyperglycemic effects, metformin is also anorectic and reduces BW. These studies were performed to determine if metformin possesses similar properties in chickens. Metformin-HCl was administered to 14-day-old broiler chickens at either 300 or 600 mg/kg per day in the drinking water for 10 d while monitoring BW and feed intake. No changes in water intake were observed, while feed intake and daily gains were only significantly reduced by the 600 mg/kg dose. After oral administration of a single dose of 300 mg/kg metformin-HCl, feed intake was significantly reduced by 4 h and remained suppressed for greater than 24 h relative to controls. Plasma hormones and metabolites (glucose, lactate, insulin, glucagon, uric acid, nonesterified fatty acid, and triglycerides) were monitored at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 24 h posttreatment. Significant and acute decreases in blood glucose, insulin, and triglycerides were observed at 3 h posttreatment as compared to controls. Opposing acute increases in glucagon and NEFA levels were also observed at 3 h followed by an increase in uric acid 6 h posttreatment. These observations suggest that metformin induces metabolic changes in birds, similar to that observed in mammals and may act in a common manner. Metformin-HCl may be useful in glucose metabolism studies by inducing hypoglycemia, a condition rarely observed in birds.
Behavioral influences of the neuropeptides ACTH and MSH: A methodological review

Abstract During the past 20 years, there has been repidly accumulating evidence that polypeptide hormones of pituitary origin are important mediators of behavior. The research has been focused primarily upon the actions of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). A large number of methodological difficulties have developed and are in need of careful review. Important pharmacological and behavioral variables are reviewed both in general and as they relate to current research on the actions of ACTH and MSH. In addition, suggestions are given for control and/or study of these variables. Finally, the main integrating hypotheses, fear, memory and attention, are reviewed and evaluated.
Stock Returns, Implied Volatility Innovations, and the Asymmetric Volatility Phenomenon

We study the dynamic relation between daily stock retums and daily innovations in optionderived implied volatilities. By simultaneously analyzing innovations in index- and firmlevel implied volatilities, we distinguish between innovations in systematic and idiosyncratic volatility in an effort to better understand the asymmetric volatility phenomenon. Our results indicate that the relation between stock retums and innovations in systematic volatility (idiosyncratic volatility) is substantially negative (near zero). These results suggest that asymmetric volatility is primarily attributed to systematic market-wide factors rather than aggregated firm-level effects. We also present evidence that supports our assumption that innovations in implied volatility are good proxies for innovations in expected stocic volatility.
Full-duplex retrodirective array using mutually-exclusive uplink and downlink modulation schemes

This paper introduces a new architecture implementing full-duplex communication using a retrodirective array transceiver. The array scheme overcomes the difficulty of corruption of the outgoing retrodirected signal by the incoming interrogation signal inherent when using phase conjugation mixers. To remedy this problem, mutually-exclusive modulation techniques are utilized: uplink data is contained in time domain while the downlink data is contained in the polarization of the retrodirected signal. A phase conjugation mixer which is also able to modulate the polarization sense of the output radiation is also discussed for use in the retrodirective transceiver array.
Two-photon fluorescence correlation spectroscopy through a dual-clad optical fiber

We report on the utilization of a dual-clad optical fiber for two-photon excited fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). High excitation efficiency is obtained by sending prechirped ultrafast pulses through the single-mode core of the fiber, while the fluorescence collection efficiency is enhanced because of the larger numerical aperture of the inner cladding. We show that the utilization of a dual-clad fiber is critical for ultrasensitive two-photon fluorescence detection. Our system has the ability to detect fluorescent nanospheres as small as 12 nm in radius. Quantum dots of radius 7 nm are also measured and show excellent signal to noise ratio. The particle sizes obtained from the fiber FCS system were confirmed by measurements using a commercial dynamic light scattering (DLS) system.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Antagonism by the Murine Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Receptor 2-Fc Fusion Protein Exacerbates Histoplasmosis in Mice

Treatment of some inflammatory conditions with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) antagonists is efficacious, but such treatments are associated with infections with intracellular pathogens, including Histoplasma capsulatum. We explored protective immunity to H. capsulatum in mice given a fusion protein consisting of TNF-alpha receptor 2 (TNFR2) bound to the Fc portion of mouse IgG1. Intraperitoneal administration of this inhibitor exacerbated primary or secondary pulmonary infection at dosages ranging from 1 to 5 mg/kg. All mice with primary infection given the inhibitor succumbed to infection within 10-21 days of treatment. In secondary histoplasmosis, mice receiving 1, but not 5, mg/kg survived treatment. Fungal burden was increased even if treatment with the inhibitor was initiated after the onset of infection. The inflammatory response of the lungs of mice given the inhibitor did not differ from that of mice given control vehicle. Susceptibility was not associated with major alterations in cytokines known to protect or exacerbate infection. However, expression of nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) was depressed early in primary infection. These results demonstrate that antagonism of endogenous TNF-alpha by this fusion protein modulates susceptibility. Impaired immunity is not a result of altered cytokine responses or changes in the inflammation and may not be demonstrable in other murine strains.
Sleep abnormalities in schizophrenia may suggest impaired trans-thalamic cortico-cortical communication: towards a dynamic model of the illness.

Schizophrenia is associated with a wide range of symptoms. These include auditory hallucinations, delusions, and experiences that one is not in control of one’s own thoughts and actions, but that they are inserted by an outside agency. It has been proposed that a disturbance in the sense of self may account for many of these symptoms. This disturbance in turn may be associated with source monitoring deficits. In other words, individuals with schizophrenia may misattribute the source of their own thoughts and actions to an outside agency, which then results in the experience of psychosis such as that of hearing voices. To explain the source monitoring deficits, it has been proposed that this illness involves impairment in corollary discharge mechanisms. Corollary discharge refers to preparation of sensory systems that will be affected by an action in advance of that action, which then allows this action to be recognized as one’s own. Current research on corollary discharges suggests that they may involve the thalamus, which is notably affected in schizophrenia in terms of volume loss. Sleep abnormalities in this illness also suggest thalamic dysfunction as sleep spindles, which are markedly reduced in schizophrenia, require intact thalamocortical interactions. In this review, evidence is presented that suggests that propagation of corollary discharges and sleep spindles may be two mechanistically related processes as both involve trans-thalamic cortico-cortical interactions. These interactions may be impaired in schizophrenia and characterization of their mechanism may constitute a step towards developing a dynamic model of schizophrenia.
Longevity Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Linking Metabolism, Genome Stability, and Heterochromatin

When it was first proposed that the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae might serve as a model for human aging in 1959, the suggestion was met with considerable skepticism. Although yeast had proved a valuable model for understanding basic cellular processes in humans, it was difficult to accept that such a simple unicellular organism could provide information about human aging, one of the most complex of biological phenomena. While it is true that causes of aging are likely to be multifarious, there is a growing realization that all eukaryotes possess surprisingly conserved longevity pathways that govern the pace of aging. This realization has come, in part, from studies of S. cerevisiae, which has emerged as a highly informative and respected model for the study of life span regulation. Genomic instability has been identified as a major cause of aging, and over a dozen longevity genes have now been identified that suppress it. Here we present the key discoveries in the yeast-aging field, regarding both the replicative and chronological measures of life span in this organism. We discuss the implications of these findings not only for mammalian longevity but also for other key aspects of cell biology, including cell survival, the relationship between chromatin structure and genome stability, and the effect of internal and external environments on cellular defense pathways. We focus on the regulation of replicative life span, since recent findings have shed considerable light on the mechanisms controlling this process. We also present the specific methods used to study aging and longevity regulation in S. cerevisiae.
Spiritual Expressions of African Americans and Whites in Cancer Pain

Background: Spiritual practices are one way that individuals cope with cancer pain. Purpose: Describe and contrast expressions and values about the use of spirituality for pain in African American (AA) and White (WH) oncology patients. Methods: Six groups (3 AA; 3 WH; n=42; mean age 58) were conducted. Focus group and qualitative methodology with a cultural interpretive lens was utilized. The Model of Integrated Spirituality provided the conceptual framework for understanding the narratives. Findings: AAs and WHs did not differ on demographics, pain status, or integrative therapies. Three spirituality themes emerged: 1) pain and distress as antecedents to the use of spirituality; 2) active and existential attributes of the use of spirituality; and 3) mobilization of internal and external resources as outcomes. There were commonalities between AAs and WHs but greater frequency of certain subthemes and keywords in AAs. Conclusions: Future studies should examine whether differences in overt expressions trans...
FOCUS: a system for searching for multi-colored objects in a diverse image database

We describe a new muli-phase, color-based image retrieval system (FOCUS) which is capable of identifying multi-colored query objects in an image in the presence of significant, interfering backgrounds. The query object may occur in arbitrary sizes, orientations, and locations in the database images. Scale and rotation invariant color features have been developed to describe an image, such that the matching process is fast even in the case of complex images. The first phase of processing matches the query object color with the color content of an image computed as the peaks in the color histogram of the image. The second phase matches the spatial relationships between color regions in the image with the query using a spatial proximity graph (SPG) structure designed for the purpose. Processing at coarse granularity is preferred over pixel-level processing to produce simpler graphs, which significantly reduces computation time during matching. The speed of the system and the small storage overhead make it suitable for use in large databases with online user interfaces. Test results with multi-colored query objects from man-made and natural domains show that FOCUS is quite effective in handling interfering backgrounds and large variations in scale. The experimental results on a database of diverse images highlights the capabilities of the system.
Generalizability of clinical trials for cannabis dependence to community samples.

There is a growing concern that results of tightly controlled clinical trials of individuals with alcohol use disorders may not generalize to broader community samples. To assess the proportion of community-dwelling adults with alcohol dependence who would have been eligible for a typical alcohol dependence treatment study, we developed a new, simple method: we applied a standard set of eligibility criteria commonly used in alcohol outcome studies to a large (n = 43,093) representative US adult sample interviewed face-to-face, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). We found that approximately one-half (50.5%) of all individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol dependence (n = 1484) and 79.4% of those who sought treatment (n = 185) were excluded by one or more study criteria. Individual study criteria excluded from 0.9% to 48.2% of the overall sample and 0.8% to 43.7% of the treatment-seeking sample. For the overall sample, the lack of motivation/compliance and financial situation criteria excluded the largest percentage of individuals. In the treatment-seeking subsample, comorbid medical conditions and legal problems excluded the largest proportions of individuals. Our study provides a new method to assess the generalizability of clinical trials, and gives further evidence that typical clinical trials for alcohol dependence likely exclude most adults with the disorder in the community and under care, and support the notion that clinical trials recruit “pure” rather than “typical” patients. Clinical trials should carefully evaluate the effects of the selected eligibility criteria on the generalizability of their results.
Qualitative reinforcement learning

When the transition probabilities and rewards of a Markov Decision Process are specified exactly, the problem can be solved without any interaction with the environment. When no such specification is available, the agent's only recourse is a long and potentially dangerous exploration. We present a framework which allows the expert to specify imprecise knowledge of transition probabilities in terms of stochastic dominance constraints. Our algorithm can be used to find optimal policies for qualitatively specified problems, or, when no such solution is available, to decrease the required amount of exploration. The algorithm's behavior is demonstrated on simulations of two classic problems: mountain car ascent and cart pole balancing.
Teens, Libraries, and Social Media: Myths and Reality

This article presents a brief overview of research relating to teens, libraries, and social media. It also summarizes a recent multimethod study of how public and school libraries fit into U.S. teens’ increasingly online information lives. The study results debunk five popular myths about teens and social media and reveal many positive ways that teens are using social media to connect with peers and adults and to seek and share information. The article concludes with a discussion of the role that libraries can play in designing services and programs to encourage teens to engage in positive social media use.
Integration of Large-Scale Linguistic Resources in a Natural Language Understanding System

Knowledge acquisition is a serious bottleneck for natural language understanding systems. For this reason, large-scale linguistic resources have been compiled and made available by organizations such as the Linguistic Data Consortium (Comlex) and Princeton University (WordNet). Systems making use of these resources can greatly accelerate the development process by avoiding the need for the developer to re-create this information.In this paper we describe how we integrated these large scale linguistic resources into our natural language understanding system. Client-server architecture was used to make a large volume of lexical information and a large knowledge base available to the system at development and/or run time. We discuss issues of achieving compatibility between these disparate resources.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Assisted Prediction of Secondary Structure for RNA: Incorporation of Direction-Dependent Chemical Shift Constraints.

Knowledge of RNA structure is necessary to determine structure–function relationships and to facilitate design of potential therapeutics. RNA secondary structure prediction can be improved by applying constraints from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments to a dynamic programming algorithm. Imino proton walks from NOESY spectra reveal double-stranded regions. Chemical shifts of protons in GH1, UH3, and UH5 of GU pairs, UH3, UH5, and AH2 of AU pairs, and GH1 of GC pairs were analyzed to identify constraints for the 5′ to 3′ directionality of base pairs in helices. The 5′ to 3′ directionality constraints were incorporated into an NMR-assisted prediction of secondary structure (NAPSS-CS) program. When it was tested on 18 structures, including nine pseudoknots, the sensitivity and positive predictive value were improved relative to those of three unrestrained programs. The prediction accuracy for the pseudoknots improved the most. The program also facilitates assignment of chemical shifts to individual...
Mastering Situation Awareness: The Next Big Challenge?

John Boyd recognized in the 1960's the importance of situation awareness for military operations and introduced the notion of the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act). Today we realize that many applications have to deal with situation awareness: Customer Relationship Management, Human Capital Management, Supply Chain Management, patient care, power grid management, and cloud services management, as well as any IoT (Internet of Things) related application; the list seems to be endless. Situation awareness requires applications to support the management of data, knowledge, processes, and other services such as social networking in an integrated way. These applications additionally require high personalization as well as rapid and continuous evolution. They must provide a wide variety of operational and functional requirements, including real time processing.Handcrafting these applications is an almost impossible task requiring exhaustive resources for development and maintenance. Due to the resources and time involved in their development, these applications typically fall way short of the desired functionality, operational characteristics, and ease and speed of evolution. We - the authors - have developed a model enabling the development and maintenance of situation-aware applications in a declarative and therefore economical manner; we call this model KIDS - Knowledge Intensive Data-processing System.
Indentation Techniques for the Study of Deformation Across Grain Boundaries

The mechanism by which deformation is transferred across grain boundaries and ways in which boundaries of different misorientations impact this process has been studied using indentation testing. This information could be useful in designing texture of nanocrystalline materials to maximize their mechanical properties for specific applications. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) has been combined to identify slip systems activated around indentations. When indentations are placed near grain boundaries, slip steps can be imaged on both sides of the boundary and the associated slip systems of each grain can be determined. Dislocation pile ups have been observed around indentations near boundaries which do not share a common slip direction with the active slip planes of either grain, and slip steps have been seen to traverse boundaries when these shared slip directions are present.
PS-064 Diagnostic Values Of Alvarado Scoring System, Ultrasound And C-reactive Protein In Paediatric Acute Appendicitis

Background and aim Ultrasound (US) and Alvarado scoring system (ASS) are very helpful in making the diagnosis of Acute appendicitis (AAp). Therefore important evaluate the usefulness of ASS, US and C-reactive protein (CRP) in AAp diagnostics for children (7–18 years). Methods 46 patients with clinically suspected AAp were enrolled in the prospective study (January 2010–December 2013). Each patient underwent abdominal US and was evaluated for the ASS criteria and for CRP. The ASS is based on three symptoms, three signs, and two laboratory findings. Sensitivity and specifity of the diagnostic tests were assessed. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board. Results 58.7% of our patients were boys, 41.3% - girls, the mean age was 12.91 years (SD 3.2). 47.8% had AAp and underwent appendectomy. The positive predictive value (PPV) for US was 95.5% and the negative predictive value (NPV) - 75%. The sensitivity for diagnosing AAp by US - 77.82%, the specificity - 94.7%. Anorexia and leukocytosis were significantly related to AAp (p Conclusions ASS should be used in clinical practice for the patient’s benefit. US provides reliable findings for helping to diagnose AAp if ASS score ≥7 and CRP value is normal.
A Protest Against Visa Situation

The concern of American professors with the restrictive legislation hampering the entry into the United States of distinguished foreign visitors is expressed in the following letter to Chancellor Kimpton by three University of Chicago professors. Mr. Kimpton has endorsed these views and forwarded the letter to Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Samuel K. Allison is director of the Institute for Nuclear Studies Cyril S. Smith is director of the Institute for the Study of Metals; and John U. Nef is professor of economic history and chairman of the Committee on Social Thought.
Effects of molecular rotation after ionization and prior to fragmentation on observed recoil-frame photoelectron angular distributions in the dissociative photoionization of nonlinear molecules

Experimental angle-resolved photoelectron-photoion coincidence experiments measure photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) in dissociative photoionization (DPI) in the reference frame provided by the momenta of the emitted heavy fragments. By extension of the nomenclature used with DPI of diatomic molecules, we refer to such a PAD as a recoil-frame PAD (RFPAD). When the dissociation is fast compared to molecular rotational and bending motions, the emission directions of the heavy fragments can be used to determine the orientation of the bonds that are broken in the DPI at the time of the ionization, which is known as the axial-recoil approximation (ARA). When the ARA is valid, the RFPADs correspond to molecular-frame photoelectron angular distributions (MFPADs) when the momenta of a sufficient number of the heavy fragments are determined. When only two fragments are formed, the experiment cannot measure the orientation of the fragments about the recoil axes so that the resulting measured PAD is an azimuthally averaged RFPAD (AA-RFPAD). In this study we consider how the breakdown of the ARA due to rotation will modify the observed RFPADs for DPI processes in nonlinear molecules for ionization by light of arbitrary polarization. This model is applied to the core C $1s$ DPI of ${\mathrm{CH}}_{4}$, with the results compared to experimental measurements and previous theoretical calculations done within the ARA. The published results indicate that there is a breakdown in the ARA for two-fragment events where the heavy-fragment kinetic energy release was less than 9 eV. Including the breakdown of the ARA due to rotation in our calculations gives very good agreement with the experimental AA-RFPAD, leading to an estimate of upper bounds on the predissociative lifetimes as a function of the kinetic energy release of the intermediate ion states formed in the DPI process.
Basal body temperature recordings in spontaneous abortion.

PIP: Basal body temperature (BBT) charts taken during the cycle of conception in cases that resulted in spontaneous abortion appear to provide the best available information concerning events associated with time of fertilization in doomed gestations. This study is based on a series of 227 patients who had early spontaneous abortion occurring between January 1967 and December 1974. A diagnosis of pregnancy initiated regular assays of urinary estrogen and pregnanediol excretion. Patients were instructed to report any bleeding episode which might occur, and to preserve all tissues that might be expelled. A total of 11 basal body temperature charts were obtained from patients who had subsequent early spontaneous abortion. Chromosome studies and histologic investigations were conducted. Another group of 11 consecutive BBT records were obtained from patients who had normal deliveries. The study shows that women with normal cycles experience a midcycle temperature rise requiring 1 to 3 days. In subsequent patients, this time limit was exceeded in 7 out of 11 cases of early abortion, and in 4 of 11 fertilization that resulted in an apparently normal gestation and infant. As temperature rise resulted from vigorous progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum, subnormal levels indicate inadequate steroidogenesis in the early luteal phase, and falling estrogen and progesterone levels predicted fetal demise in all cases. These findings are useful in the management of early pregnancy that follows repeated spontaneous first trimester abortions or a prolonged period of infertility. They also confirm experimental and clinical evidence regarding the role of ovulation defects in the occurrence of various types of reproductive wastage, including early abortion, anatomic and chromosome defects of the embryo and others. Prospective studies of cycles of conception through BBT recordings/hormone assays may shed light in the understanding of defects of human reproduction.
Deleuze and Guattari’s language for new empirical inquiry

AbstractThis paper reviews Deleuze’s theory of language in Logic of Sense, and Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of language in A Thousand Plateaus. In the ontology informed by the Stoics described in those books, human being and language do not exist separately but in a mixture of words and things. The author argues that this flattened ontology of surfaces is incommensurable with the ontology of depth used in conventional humanist qualitative methodology and recommends beginning new empirical inquiry with a concept instead of with method and methodology.
Does U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Training Constitute a Type of Civic Education

ABSTRACTIn what respects can military basic training affect veterans’ civic identities? According to a 2015 report published by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), military service positively affects civic health. While social scientists have also noted this possible connection, little attention has been paid to how and why this link might exist. To test the purported relationship between military training and increased civic capacities, I explored the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) Recruit Training program. I conducted 20 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 17 enlisted Marine veterans and Marine drill instructors (DI) to ascertain their perceptions of the pedagogical aspirations of their service’s recruit training. The study’s participants reported that Marine Corps Recruit Training does seek to inculcate skills, values, and habits that are consistent with a civic identity as discussed in the civic-engagement and civic-education literature.
Embolization of Renal Angiomyolipoma

This section provides a comprehensive procedural report for embolization of renal angiomyolipoma procedure with up-to-date explanatory notes, synopsis of the indications and contraindications, and potential complications in an organized and practical format.
Development of Optical Fiber/Polymer Interface for Immobilized Sensors

Fiber optical chemical sensors are a field of growing importance with diversified applications in oceanography, chemical process, clinical diagnosis, and environmental monitoring. The objective of this study is to develop the technology to support specific analytical reagents on polymeric membranes for fiber optical sensors. A three layered method has been developed to coat a hydrophilic polymer matrix on an optical fiber and to incorporate indicator dyes. pH sensitive dyes have been used as a test case. This paper reports on the development of optimal synthetic conditions of the polymer matrix relative to the fiber polymer matrix interface, light transparency, thermal and mechanical stability. The flexibility of the system to incorporate other indicators is also presented and discussed.
Recent advances and applications of gas chromatography vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy

The vacuum ultraviolet spectrophotometer was developed recently as an alternative to existing gas chromatography detectors. This detector measures the absorption of gas-phase chemical species in the range of 120-240 nm, where all chemical compounds present unique absorption spectra. Therefore, qualitative analysis can be performed and quantification follows standard Beer-Lambert law principles. Different fields of application, such as petrochemical, food, and environmental analysis have been explored. Commonly demonstrated is the capability for facile deconvolution of co-eluting analytes. The concept of additive absorption for co-eluting analytes has also been advanced for classification and speciation of complex mixtures using a data treatment procedure termed time interval deconvolution. Furthermore, pseudo-absolute quantitation can be performed for system diagnosis, as well as potentially calibrationless quantitation. In this manuscript an overview of these features, the vacuum ultraviolet spectrophotometer instrumentation, and performance capabilities are given. A discussion of the applications of the vacuum ultraviolet detector is provided by describing and discussing the papers published thus far since 2014.
Relationship between surgical oncologic outcomes and publically reported hospital quality measures.

6504 Background: Hospital-level measures of patient satisfaction and process measures of quality are now reported publically by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. There are currently n...
Modeling variability in porescale multiphase flow experiments

Abstract Microfluidic devices and porescale numerical models are commonly used to study multiphase flow in biological, geological, and engineered porous materials. In this work, we perform a set of drainage and imbibition experiments in six identical microfluidic cells to study the reproducibility of multiphase flow experiments. We observe significant variations in the experimental results, which are smaller during the drainage stage and larger during the imbibition stage. We demonstrate that these variations are due to sub-porescale geometry differences in microcells (because of manufacturing defects) and variations in the boundary condition (i.e., fluctuations in the injection rate inherent to syringe pumps). Computational simulations are conducted using commercial software STAR-CCM+, both with constant and randomly varying injection rates. Stochastic simulations are able to capture variability in the experiments associated with the varying pump injection rate.
Stable isotope ratios and reforestation potential in Acacia koa populations on Hawai’i

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes can be influenced by a multitude of factors including elevation, precipitation rate, season, and temperature. This work examined the variability in foliar stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope ratios of koa ( Acacia koa ) for 17 sites on Hawai’i Island delineated by elevation and precipitation gradients. Sites were identified and grouped with respect to mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT) and position along three elevation ranges. Analysis of the resultant δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope ratios from multiple individuals at these sites indicated that certain sites showed a demonstrated correlation between carbon and/or nitrogen content, isotope ratios, precipitation, and elevation however many sites showed no correlation. We used publicly available temperature and moisture data to help eliminate confounding effects by climatic drivers and capture possible points of contention. At sites where the temperature, precipitation, and elevation data were not significantly different we compared stable isotope information to determine if additional variables could have contributed to the lack of more correlative data. Our results note several areas within the Waiakea Forest Reserve and Volcanoes National Park where, based on isotope results, reforestation efforts could be most successfully initiated.
Impact of services on retaining subsidized housing

The most common reason for lease violations among residents of subsidized housing in the United States is late and nonpayment of rent, which can lead to eviction. However, little is known about wha...
Isolating Equatorial and Oxo Based Influences on Uranyl Vibrational Spectroscopy in a Family of Hybrid Materials Featuring Halogen Bonding Interactions with Uranyl Oxo Atoms

The syntheses and crystal structures of six new complexes containing the UO22+ cation, m- or p-halobenzoic acid ligands (where halogens are Cl and I), and the chelating N-donors 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (1, 3, 4, and 6) or 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (terpy) (7 and 9) are described and compared to UO2-m-bromo- and p-bromobenzoic analogues (2, 5, and 8) that have been reported previously. The spectroscopic properties (both vibrational and luminescence) for all nine complexes along with stretching and interaction force constants are reported and redshifts are noted as the electron-donating ability of the chelating N-donors increases. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of these complexes shows that whereas inclusion of a chelating ligand (i.e. phen or terpy) in the uranyl first coordination sphere is important for limiting tecton diversity, variation of the position and identity of the halogen atom on the benzoic acid ligand exert much greater influence in terms of driving halogen bonding interactions with the uranyl oxo atoms. In particular, the polarizability of the selected halogen atom is shown to be the most important criterion for engineering oxo atom participation in noncovalent assembly. Spectroscopic analysis of complexes 1–9, however, demonstrates that vibrational spectra are impacted most by the degree of electron donation by equatorial N-donor ligands, and that in some cases, such donation may also facilitate oxo interactions with otherwise unfavorable halogen bond donors.
Transmission of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus to Tomato Plants of Different Ages

Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and mechanical transmissions of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) to tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill, cv. ‘Sunny Hybrid’) were investigated relative to plant age at the time of inoculation. In 1999, thrips and mechanical transmissions were compared between plants at 7, 14 and 28 d after germination under field exclusion cages. In 2000, thrips transmission was evaluated in plants at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 d after germination, and mechanical transmission was evaluated in plants at 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 d after germination. Subsamples of thrips from flowers of TSWV-infected tomato used in 1999 transmission consisted of 59% Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), 34% F. tricici (Fitch), and subsamples of thrips collected from onion used in 2000 transmission consisted of 78% F. occidentalis and 19% F. fusca (Hinds). There was significant yield reduction resulting from early transmission of TSWV in the mechanical transmission test in 2000 (P= 0.008), but not in thrips t...