cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP), Sleep Disordered Breathing, and Automatic Analysis

A translational research using cyclic alternatingpattern (CAP) analysis was performed in premeno-pausal women with complaints of fatigue and a lowbut abnormal apnea–hypopnea index (AHI).Results indicated that apnea and hypopnea do notdescribe well abnormal breathing during sleep inpremenopausal women. Also, nonrapid eye move-ment (NREM) sleep scoring of CAP with automaticanalysiswascloselyrelatedtothoseobtainedbytwoindependent and blind to condition visual scorers.Pearson correlation coefﬁcient showed a signiﬁcantpositive correlation between a visual analog fatiguescale score and CAP rate (scored either byautomaticanalysis or visual analysis). But no signiﬁcant corre-lation was noted between visually scored EEGarousalandsamescale.CAPisanimportantadjunc-tion in the investigation of the sleep disturbancepresented by sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) pa-tients. The CAP automatic scoring system tested issufﬁcientlyaccuratetohelpCAPscoring.Currentre-spiratory scoring criteria to evaluate severity of SDBin premenopausal women may be inadequate.IntroductionSleep disruption deﬁned by changes in sleep stagesscored according to the international criteria ofRechtschaffen and Kales [1] has correlated poorlywith common complaints such as fatigue and dec-rements in alertness. The American Sleep DisordersAssociation (ASDA) addition of scoring EEGarousals of 3 seconds or longer [2] has improvedthe detection of sleep disruption but remains insen-sitive to more subtle EEG changes. Correlating sleepdisruptions with subjective complaints is compli-cated by the occurrence of patients with a highAHI in the absence of excessive sleepiness com-plaints. This ﬁnding may be related to the factthat breathing events may terminate with a brain-stem activation and not with an EEG arousal. Con-versely, patients mayalso complain of tiredness andfatigue or cognitive impairment during the daytimewhile demonstrating a low number of EEGarousals, that again, fails to correlate with the sever-ity of the daytime symptoms.
Variation in the Use of 12-Lead Electrocardiography for Patients With Chest Pain by Emergency Medical Services in North Carolina

Background Prehospital 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) is critical to timely STEMI care although its use remains inconsistent. Previous studies to identify reasons for failure to obtain a prehospital ECG have generally only focused on individual emergency medical service (EMS) systems in urban areas. Our study objective was to identify patient, geographic, and EMS agency-related factors associated with failure to perform a prehospital ECG across a statewide geography. Methods and Results We analyzed data from the Prehospital Medical Information System (PreMIS) in North Carolina from January 2008 to November 2010 for patients >30 years of age who used EMS and had a prehospital chief complaint of chest pain. Among 3.1 million EMS encounters, 134 350 patients met study criteria. From 2008–2010, 82 311 (61%) persons with chest pain received a prehospital ECG; utilization increased from 55% in 2008 to 65% in 2010 (trend P <0.001). Utilization by health referral region ranged from 22.9% to 74.2% and was lowest in rural areas. Men were more likely than women to have an ECG performed (63.0% vs 61.3%, adjusted RR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04). The certification-level of the EMS provider (paramedic vsbasic/intermediate) and system-level ECG equipment availability were the strongest predictors of ECG utilization. Persons in an ambulance with a certified paramedic were significantly more likely to receive a prehospital ECG than nonparamedics (RR 2.15, 95% CI 1.55, 2.99). Conclusions Across a large geographic area prehospital ECG use increased significantly, although important quality improvement opportunities remain. Increasing ECG availability and improving EMS certification and training levels are needed to improve overall care and reduce rural-urban treatment differences.
Synchrony-based integration of EEG and fMRI-BOLD in cognitive state transitions

Background Both EEG and the blood-oxygen-dependent contrast (BOLD) signal used in fMRI are believed to reveal reentrant signaling among complexly connected and dynamically reconfigured neural networks. As such, both signals show measurable responses to changes in global brain state. Simultaneous EEG and fMRI were collected during quiet waking rest after which subject's were asked to fall asleep. Using stochastic phase synchronization between low frequency amplitude envelopes (<0.2 Hz) created from alpha-band (8 – 12 Hz) filtered scalp EEG data and BOLD time series calculated from regions of interest in left and right visual cortex, we examined the feasibility of integrating information contained in both these signals. from Sixteenth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2007 Toronto, Canada. 7–12 July 2007
An interference and QOS aware distributed scheduling approach for hybrid IEEE 802.16E mesh networks

A distributed scheduling approach for fast deployable tactical IEEE 802.16e networks is presented where distributed base stations with dual radios form a mesh backhaul and mobile battle units communicate through these base-stations. The mesh backhaul is formed via an IEEE 802.16e mesh mode radio on each base station, while mobile units communicate with base stations via PMP mode radios. The scheduling approach consists of two phases. In the first phase where base stations are deployed, a centralized mesh scheduling algorithm is applied with collected information on network topology, radio parameters, and initial QoS provision requirements. At the same time, each base station utilizes the initial mesh schedule to derive a PMP schedule for actual demands from associated mobile units. In the second phase, each base station monitors its carried PMP traffic load statistics; to accommodate traffic load changes in a distributed fashion, each base station lends or borrows time slots from nearby base stations to adjust its mesh and PMP radio schedules. The distributed schedule adaptation method not only allows individual base stations to accommodate short-term increases in bandwidth demands, it also provides the means for optimizing the mesh and PMP schedules with respect to actual bandwidth demands. Integrated with a previously proposed routing scheme, the method is evaluated with simulations in network simulator ns-2. In various mobile scenarios, increased overall network throughput and per-mobile throughput across handoffs are achieved with the proposed scheduling methods.
CORBA wrapping of legacy scientific applications using remote variable scheme

A distributed object is a reusable, self-contained piece of software that cooperates with other objects on the same machine or across a network in a plug-and-play fashion via a well-defined interface. The Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) attempts to provide a collaborative aircraft engine design and simulation environment based on this concept. Many scientific applications in aerodynamics and solid mechanics are written in Fortran. Refitting these legacy Fortran codes with distributed objects can increase the code reusability. The remote variable scheme provided in NPSS helps programmers easily migrate the Fortran codes towards a client-server platform. This scheme gives the client the capability of accessing the variables at the server site. Through the operator overloading features in C++, remote variables can be used in much the same way as traditional variables. The remote variable scheme adopts the lazy update approach and the prefetch method. Preliminary performance evaluation shows that communication overhead can be greatly reduced.
What's going on?: learning communication rules in edge networks

Existing traffic analysis tools focus on traffic volume. They identify the heavy-hitters - flows that exchange high volumes of data, yet fail to identify the structure implicit in network traffic - do certain flows happen before, after or along with each other repeatedly over time? Since most traffic is generated by applications (web browsing, email, p2p), network traffic tends to be governed by a set of underlying rules. Malicious traffic such as network-wide scans for vulnerable hosts (mySQLbot) also presents distinct patterns.We present eXpose, a technique to learn the underlying rules that govern communication over a network. From packet timing information, eXpose learns rules for network communication that may be spread across multiple hosts, protocols or applications. Our key contribution is a novel statistical rule mining technique to extract significant communication patterns in a packet trace without explicitly being told what to look for. Going beyond rules involving flow pairs, eXpose introduces templates to systematically abstract away parts of flows thereby capturing rules that are otherwise unidentifiable. Deployments within our lab and within a large enterprise show that eXpose discovers rules that help with network monitoring, diagnosis, and intrusion detection with few false positives.
An efficient method of simulating the detailed electromechanical response of industrial power systems

A new method is presented for simulating the large-disturbance, electromechanical response of mine and other industrial power systems. With this method, detailed waveforms that include the transient components of machine currents and bus voltages can be obtained rapidly. This approach may be a useful supplement to traditional steady-state analysis techniques when considering circuit breaker requirements in light of a variety of system transients including the following: starting of large motors or groups of motors, reclosure of motors following temporary isolation or during bus transfers, and rapid changes in the mechanical loading of motors. The short simulation times associated with this method are achieved by modeling the power system with line charging capacitance neglected. This eliminates high frequency modes, which often lead to long computation times in other detailed simulations, but retains the machine stator transients that affect significantly the instantaneous currents and voltages throughout the system. With shunt capacitance neglected, however, the system model is represented by a set of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). The crux of the new method is a systematic procedure for establishing a readily simulated state-space model from these DAEs.
A characterization of the distance to infeasibility under block-structured perturbations

We discuss several generalizations of the classical Eckart and Young identity: inf{k Ak : A + A is singular} = 1 kA 1 k . We show that a natural extension of this identity holds for rectangular matrices defining conic systems of constraints, and for perturbations restricted to a particular block structure, such as those determined by a sparsity pattern. Our results extend and unify the classical Eckart and Young identity, Renegar’s characterization of the distance to infeasibility [Math. Programming 70 (1995), 279‐351], Rohn’s characterization of the componentwise distance to singularity [Linear Algebra Appl. 126 (1989), 39‐78], and Cheung and Cucker’s characterization of the normalized distance to illposedness [Math. Programming 91 (2001), 163‐174].
Geographies of generation: age restrictions in international adoption.

International adoption relocates minors, and only minors, from one country to another. The centrality of age to adoptive migration may prevent us from seeing the significance of generation: the prospective parent's age is also examined and evaluated for its relationship to the child's age and what this relationship will mean for the creation of a family. Because international adoption results in children crossing borders to enter new kinship formations, the assumptions under which it operates require closer geographical analysis. Generation, or the age range that separates dependents and their caretakers, is a significant but unstated motivator of international adoption policies and practices. This article argues that a normative and biologized sense of intergenerational difference is embedded in international adoption. The presence of generational ideology in national laws and international norms regarding international adoption demonstrate a broader sense in which policies situate more privileged famili...
Proliferative potential and polymorphism of human endometrial stromal cells

The proliferative potential of stromal cells from human endometrium, separated from glands by dispersion in the presence of collagenase and subsequent passage through a sieve, was evaluated by determining the total number of cell doublings achieved when cells were repeatedly subcultured in a 1:2 split ratio in Ham's F-10 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Fifty doublings or more (up to 100) were observed in 8 of the 26 specimens (30%) which we examined. This number of doublings is high for cells obtained from adult tissues and may in part reflect the unusually great proliferative capacity of human endometrium when compared to that of other tissues. The shape of the stromal cells depended on the medium in which they were originally cultured. Cells cultured in Ham's F-10 medium containing 10% FBS showed the typical fibroblastic morphology at confluence; they appeared elongated or spindle-shaped and formed monolayers. In contrast, cultures in CMRL-1066 medium in the presence of 10% FBS appeared polygonal or stellate-shaped and also formed monolayers. In about 50% of the cultures in CMRL-1066 medium we observed fibroblast-shaped cells that superficially resembled cells grown in Ham's F-10 medium, but were able to form dome structures. In some cultures the regions of prominent overgrowth were macroscopically visible. Switching media during later passages did not reverse the shape of the cells obtained in CMRL-1066 medium or that of the fibroblast-shaped cells in Ham's F-10 medium, suggesting either that the growth of a subpopulation was favoured early during cellular adaptation to primary culture or that there was a single cell population whose phenotype was determined early in culture and then no longer responded to medium factors. Examination of the cytoskeleton after visualization with rhodamine-labelled phalloidin revealed that the arrangement of the microfilaments corresponded to the cell shape observed in living cells under the phase contrast microscope. Distinct changes in morphology were observed when primary stromal cell cultures in CMRL-1066 medium were exposed to progesterone, indicating that progestins may affect cytoskeletal proteins.
The natural history of untreated severe or critical limb ischemia

Objective Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Because most patients with CLI will eventually undergo some type of revascularization, the natural history of CLI is not well defined, although it is important to know when patients decide to pursue treatment. Methods We systematically searched multiple databases for controlled and uncontrolled studies of patients with CLI who did not receive revascularization with a minimum follow-up of ≥1 year. Predefined outcomes of interest were mortality, major amputation, and wound healing. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool cumulative incidence across studies. Results We identified 13 studies enrolling 1527 patients. During a median follow-up of 12 months, all-cause mortality rate was 22% (confidence interval [CI], 12%-33%) and major amputation rate was 22% (CI, 2%-42%). Worsened wound or ulcer was found at 35% (CI, 10%-62%). There was a trend toward improvement in mortality and amputation rate in studies done after 1997. The quality of evidence was low because of increased risk of bias and inconsistency. Conclusions Mortality and major amputations are common in patients who have untreated CLI during a median follow-up of 1 year, although these outcomes have improved in recent times.
The safety of ONRAB® in select non-target wildlife

a b s t r a c t ONRAB® is a recombinant human adenovirus type 5 (HAd5) with the rabies glycoprotein gene incor- porated into its genome. ONRAB ® has been used in Canada as an oral rabies vaccine in target wildlife species such as: red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and striped skunk (Mepthis mephitis). We evaluated the safety of ONRAB ® in non-target wildlife species likely to contact the vaccine baits during oral rabies vaccine campaigns in the United States. We investigated the effects of oral inoculation of high titer ONRAB ® , approximately ten times the dose given to target species, in wood rats (Neotoma spp.), eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestri), and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger). We performed real-time poly- merase chain reaction (PCR) on fecal swabs, oral swabs, and tissues, including lung, liver, kidney, small intestine, large intestine, and when appropriate nasal turbinates, to detect ONRAB® DNA from inoculated animals. By seven days post-inoculation, turkeys, opossums, and cottontails had all stopped shedding ONRAB® DNA. One wood rat and one fox squirrel still had detectable levels of ONRAB® DNA in fecal swabs 14 days post-inoculation. Real-time PCR analysis of the tissues revealed some ONRAB ® DNA per- sisting in certain tissues; however, there were no significant gross or histologic lesions associated with ONRAB® in any of the species studied. Our results suggest that many non-target species are not likely to be impacted by the distribution of ONRAB ® as part of oral rabies vaccination programs in the United States.
Quantitative measures of boundary and contrast enhancement in speckle reduction in ultrasonic B-mode images using spatial bessel filters

The spatial Bessel filters are studied for their ability to reduce ultrasonic speckle and enhance the boundaries of regions of interest (ROI) in medical B-mode images. Using the concept of the heterogeneity index, a new parameter is defined to provide a quantitative measure of the edge visibility. It is hypothesized that this edge visibility parameter will be almost equal to unity if the ROI does not contain a boundary and greater than unity when the ROI contains a boundary. Analyses of 2 computer-synthesized images containing speckle and B-mode images of tissue-mimicking phantoms were carried out. The improvement in contrast and enhancement in edge visibility were estimated. In addition, parametric images containing a map of the edge visibility were created that showed clear boundaries. The quantitative measures strongly support the visual perception of contrast and enhanced edge visibility provided by the spatial Bessel filters. Results demonstrate the potential use of Bessel spatial filters in providing speckle reduction along with the ability to enhance the boundaries of regions of interest in B-mode images.
The leucine-rich repeat region of GP Ib/spl alpha/ is important in the interaction of the platelet GP Ib-IX-V complex with immobilized von Willebrand factor under fluid shear stress

Platelets play key roles in physiology, such as the arrest of bleeding following vascular injury, and in pathology, such as mural arterial thrombosis. The initial step in both processes is platelet adhesion to von Willebrand factor (vWf). The adhesion molecule on the platelet surface responsible for this interaction is the platelet glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX-V complex. This complex consists of four subunits: GP Ib/spl alpha/, GP Ib/spl beta/, GP IX, and GP V[1]. The GP Ib/spl alpha/ subunit contains the vWf binding site and seven structural motifs of a leucine-rich sequence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of the leucine-rich repeat region of GP Ib/spl alpha/ in the interaction of the GP Ib-IX-V complex with immobilized vWf under fluid shear stress. Cells expressing GP Ib/spl alpha/ with various point mutations in its leucine-rich repeat region either failed to interact with immobilized vWf or rolled on the surface at higher velocities compared to cells expressing wild-type GP Ib/spl alpha/. These results illustrate the importance of the leucine-rich repeat region of GP Ib/spl alpha/ in the receptor-ligand interaction under fluid shear stress.
Say Goodbye to the Books: Information Literacy as the New Legal Research Paradigm

Legal research technology has changed dramatically in the last fifteen years, and it is time for law school legal research programs to catch up. Students entering law school are increasingly less comfortable with using print materials, and at the same time, electronic search technology is no longer modeled on a print-based system. Current legal research pedagogy, developed in the context of a print-based research environment, is waning in utility and may soon be moot. In order to give law students the skills to conduct effective legal research, and to adapt those skills to future technological development, we need to rethink how we teach and assess legal research.This article argues that we should make information literacy the foundation of legal research instruction. By reframing the goal of legal research instruction as increasing the information literacy (specifically, the legal information literacy) of our students, we will be able to leverage the research skills they already possess and instill in them skills that are transferable to the legal research tools of tomorrow. The article first traces the history of how legal research is taught and introduces the idea of information literacy as a new way of thinking about legal research instruction. It then presents the results of our survey of incoming law students’ research training, habits, practices, and beliefs. Finally, it discusses how the theory of information literacy and our survey results can be used to rethink the way legal research is taught. With this in mind, we can begin to develop methods of research instruction that result in an increased level of legal information literacy, no matter the students’ starting points.
Design issues in division and other floating-point operations

Floating-point division is generally regarded as a low frequency, high latency operation in typical floating-point applications. However, in the worst case, a high latency hardware floating-point divider can contribute an additional 0.50 CPI to a system executing SPECfp92 applications. This paper presents the system performance impact of floating-point division latency for varying instruction issue rates. It also examines the performance implications of shared multiplication hardware, shared square root, on-the-fly rounding and conversion, and fused functional units. Using a system level study as a basis, it is shown how typical floating-point applications can guide the designer in making implementation decisions and trade-offs.
Storage of a Portal-Extracted Data in a Relational Database

Share price information is vital for stock exchange activities in a vibrant economy. Increasingly, enterprise portals provide share price data and views of stock quotes from several financial reporting Web sites. However, the portals do not provide a mechanism for the user to store these quotes for further data analysis. This paper describes the framework used to store a portal-extracted share price data into a relational database. It shows the utility of online generated data which are sources of new data that can be further harnessed to strengthen analysis
Spatial Visualization, Visual Imagery, and Mathematical Problem Solving of Students With Varying Abilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' use of visual imagery and its relationship to spatial visualization ability while solving mathematical word problems. Students with learning disabilities (LD), average achievers, and gifted students in sixth grade (N = 66) participated in this study. Students were assessed on measures of mathematical problem solving, visual imagery representation, and spatial visualization ability. The results indicated that gifted students performed better on both spatial visualization measures than students with LD and average-achieving students. Use of visual images was positively correlated with higher mathematical word-problem-solving performance. Furthermore, the use of schematic imagery was significantly and positively correlated with higher performance on each spatial visualization measure; conversely, it was negatively correlated with the use of pictorial images.
Romanticism and wanderlust: An effect of personality on consumer preferences

This study investigates the role of romanticism versus classicism in determining consumer preferences among various types of vacation trips. Specifically, it proposes a personality index intended to measure romanticism versus classicism (RC) and reports an experiment that supports both the reliability of the proposed a priori RC Index and its validity in moderating the utilities of two travel features (risk and warmth) as determinants of travel preferences. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Biosynthesis of Phycobiliproteins in Cyanobacteria

The characteristic blue-green and red colors of cyanobacteria and red algae reflect the presence of their water-soluble, light-harvesting antenna complexes called phycobilisomes. Phycobiliproteins are the major components of these complexes and can represent 40-50% of the total protein of cyanobacterial cells cultured under low light. 1 Each phycobiliprotein consists of two different polypeptide chains, α (~17 kDa) and β (~18 kDa), each of which carries at least one (and up to 3) covalently attached phycobilins. 1, 2 Phycobiliproteins are frequently isolated as (αβ)3 or as (αβ)6 hexameric complexes. The assembly of the phycobiliproteins into phycobilisomes is mediated by their interaction with specific linker polypeptides which also modulate the spectroscopic properties of the phycobiliproteins. 3
Peripheral arterial disease is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation in the elderly

Aims To examine the relationship between peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in a population-based cohort study of older adults. Methods and results We examined the relationship between PAD and AF in 5143 participants (85% white, 43% male) in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a longitudinal, observational study of adults aged 65 years and older. Peripheral arterial disease was defined by abnormal ankle-brachial index (ABI) values ( 1.4). Incident AF events were ascertained by self-reported history, study electrocardiograms, and hospitalization discharge records. Cox regression was used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between PAD and AF. Over a median follow-up of 11.7 years, a total of 1521 participants developed AF. The incidence rate (per 1000 person-years) of AF was higher in those with PAD (incidence rate = 32.9, 95% CI = 29.5, 36.7) than those without PAD (incidence rate = 23.3, 95% CI = 22.0, 24.6). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis, PAD was associated with an increased risk for AF (HR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.34, 1.72). Each 0.1 decrease in the ABI was associated with a 6% increase in the risk for AF (HR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.10). The associations of high (>1.4) and low ( 1.4: HR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.95, 1.86). Conclusion The presence of PAD should alert practitioners to the increased risk of AF. Elderly patients with PAD possibly will benefit from routine electrocardiographic screening to identify AF events.
Surface Passivation of CdTe Single Crystals

Low open-circuit voltages (850-870 mV), due to excessive bulk and surface recombination, currently limit CdTe photovoltaic efficiencies. Here, we study surface recombination in single crystals with single-photon excitation time-resolved photoluminescence (1PE-TRPL) to measure minority carrier lifetimes. Typically, minority carrier lifetimes of untreated undoped CdTe material as measured by 1PE-TRPL are ~100 ps or less, even though their bulk lifetimes as measured by two-photon excitation TRPL can reach 100 ns. Such short 1PE-TRPL lifetimes indicate very high surface recombination velocities exceeding 100 000 cm/s. Here, we examine treatments that can reduce surface recombination and discuss different ways of evaluating their efficacy.
A Review, Evaluation and Classification of Fatigue Countermeasures for Transportation Operators:

An expert panel and scientific literature analysis provided data for classifying and evaluating countermeasures for transportation operator fatigue. The panel identified a set of risk factors that are common across transportation modes, and a variety of strategies used or available to reduce fatigue. Twenty such fatigue countermeasures were identified and evaluated on the basis of empirical data in the literature. Of the twenty, only six provide reasonable relief from fatigue without undesirable side effects; these include: adequate sleep, caffeine, napping, anchor sleep, trip planning, and a good sleeping environment. The remaining 14 countermeasures either produce side effects, are illegal without a prescription, are impractical for everyday implementation, or simply do not work. These latter countermeasures, such as opening a window for fresh air while driving, or stopping to exercise, are potentially dangerous, as they may lead drivers to believe they are not fatigued when in fact they are.
Present Situation of the Development in the Preparation of Spherical Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Powders

Preparation methods and researching developments of spherical Yttrium Aluminum Garnet(YAG) powders have been introduced. Analysis of various methods including spray pyrolysis, precipitation method, hydro-thermal method, freeze-dried technology and micro-emulsion etc. lead to the researching direction in the future.
Taxonomic revision of Leandra sect. Leandra (Melastomataceae, Miconieae)

A taxonomic monograph of a re-circumscribed Leandra sect. Leandra is presented. The new circumscription is based on a previous phylogenetic hypothesis, and diagnostic morphological characters are discussed. Four new combinations to Leandra are proposed, one from Clidemia ( L. capilliflora ) and three from Ossaea ( L. capitata , L. cogniauxii and L. loligomorpha ). Additionally, eight species are treated as synonyms for the first time, and 15 lectotypes are designated. A review of the 17 recognized species, including descriptions, synonymy, illustrations and distribution maps, is provided. This work also includes an overview of general morphology, leaf and flower anatomy, phenology and geographical distribution. Species with a history of taxonomic problems and/or with distinctive morphotypes are further investigated with morphometrics tools.
Arterialization of coronary veins in the treatment of myocardial ischemia.

Six dogs were subjected to arterialization of the left anterior descending vein (LADV). Tests showed that the predominant flow through these vessels did perfuse the myocardium: Lowering of oxygen content of the perfusing blood and myocardial uptake of macroaggregate albumin 131I were noted. The possibility of small atrioventricular (A-V) shunts was not excluded.
Demand and Supply? Railway Space and Social Taxonomy

I n 1873, the editor of the Ahmedabad Samachar filed a complaint against the Bombay, Baroda, and Central Indian Railway (BBCI) for making him share a third-class railway carriage with a sweeper. Branding the complaint as one based upon ‘a vain superstition of the Hindoo religion,’ Ahmedabad's small cause court referred the case to the Bombay High Court, which dismissed it. About 35 years later, in 1911, Mathradas Ramchand, a pleader travelling from Karachi to Hyderabad on the North-Western Railway (NWR) also lost a legal battle. This time, it was Mathradas who challenged the railway's right to segregate paying passengers by delimiting certain second-class carriages as ‘Europeans only.’ The judicial commissioner of Sind disagreed with his claim and instead upheld the railway's right to exclude Indians from any carriage marked ‘Europeans only.’ A decade later, in 1921, Venkataramana Ayyangar faced an even more perplexing situation. He described to members of the Madras Legislative Council how his motor-driver Jnanamuttu had failed to procure him a retiring room at Erode station—until he decided to don a hat and give his name as John Matthew. Then, the station-master acquiesced. As these incidents suggest, railway space spurred public conversations about contact and access, rights and privileges, and inclusion and exclusion. On the one hand, the everyday routines of railway travel engendered a series of shared experiences among colonial India's vast body of passengers (Chapter 1). On the other hand, train compartments and carriages, waiting and retiring rooms at stations, refreshment rooms, and dining cars were everyday spaces in which strangers found themselves in unprecedented situations of proximity. The ensuing conversations about distinction, difference, and distance—invoking (and combining) arguments of class, rank, race, or gender—resulted in negotiations that ranged from public protestations to litigious conflict. Caste status, socio-religious taboos on contact, and arguments of respectability and hygiene were amalgamated to counter the possibilities of physical proximity, especially in overcrowded spaces.
Extending Relational Query Languages for Data Streams

The design of continuous query languages for data streams and the extent to which these should rely on database query languages represent pivotal issues for data stream management systems (DSMSs). The Expressive Stream Language (ESL) of our Stream Mill system is designed to maximize the spectrum of applications a DSMS can support efficiently, while retaining compatibility with the SQL:2003 standards. This approach offers significant advantages, particularly for the many applications that span both data streams and databases. Therefore, ESL supports minimal extensions required to overcome SQL’s expressive power limitations—a critical enhancement since said limitations are quite severe on database applications and are further exacerbated on data stream applications, where, e.g., only nonblocking query operators can be used. Thus, ESL builds on user-defined aggregates and flexible window mechanisms to turn SQL into a powerful and computationally-complete query language, which is capable of supporting applications, such as data stream mining and sequence queries that are beyond the application scope of other DSMSs.
Distributed Processing: A Tool for Tactical Communications Networks

A proof-of-concept gateway employing a distributed architecture has been built and demonstrated. The gateway serves as a translator between tactical C3 networks. It employs commercial off-the-shelf technology, including a derivative of Ethernet, in a virtual machine implementation. The multinode communication system employs concurrent processing and is managed by a MITRE-developed real-time operating system (kernel). This kernel employs the commercial operating executive Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX), which has been tailored to the multiprocessing environment.
Corrosion behaviour of friction-bit-joined and weld-bonded AA7075-T6/galvannealed DP980

ABSTRACTJoining of aluminium alloys 7075-T6 and galvannealed dual phase 980 steel was achieved by friction bit joining (FBJ) and weld-bonding (FBJ + adhesive) processes. Accelerated laboratory-scale corrosion tests were performed on both FBJ only and weld-bonded specimens to study joint strength under a corrosive environment. Static lap shear tests showed that both FBJ only and weld-bonded cases generally retained more than 80% of the joint strength of non-corroded specimens at the end of corrosion testing. The presence of Zn/Fe coating on the steel substrate resulted in improved corrosion resistance for FBJ specimens, compared to joints produced with bare steel. An optical microscopy was used for cross-sectional analysis of corroded specimens. Some corrosion on the joining bit was observed near the bit head. However, the joining bit was still intact on the steel substrate, indicating that the primary bond was sound.
South Texas Higher Education: Critical Thinking in the Classroom

Changing demographics in the last two decades has increased the Hispanic population across the nation. In South Texas, the minority has become the majority. Current research identifies cooperative learning and critical thinking as major contributors in the achievement of Hispanic students. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross sectional survey of college studentsâ€™ perceptions of the level of critical thinking activity occurring in their university classrooms. Two groups were surveyed: freshmen and upper classmen. The findings of this study were rather disconcerting as the freshmen participants perceived more critical thinking behavior to be occurring in their classrooms, than the upper classmen. Students gave suggestions that critical thinking could be improved in university classrooms; primarily related to active student involvement, peer interaction, group projects, and class discussions.
NGO Capacity and Foreign Aid Allocation

We examine a previously untapped dataset which quantifies NGO Capacity, or the ability of NGOs to formulate and implement their goals. We explore these data, and compare them with another little-used dataset – the mechanism donor states use to deliver their foreign aid to intended beneficiaries. Utilizing a sample selection model, we investigate how recipient governance and NGO Capacity affect donor states’ aid allocation and channel of delivery decisions. We hypothesize that donors will choose non-state channels in recipients with poor governance, and that they will choose NGOs more often in recipients with high NGO Capacity. We find that while donors respond to poor recipient governance in the predicted way at a global level, they do not do so at a regional level in Central and Eastern Europe or in Africa. Furthermore, we find little evidence that donors take NGO Capacity into account when making aid allocation and channel of delivery decisions. Donors appear to either ignore NGO Capacity entirely or utilize NGOs more often in the recipients with the worst NGO Capacity.
Analysis of Nanoparticle-Adjuvant Properties In Vivo

Nanoparticles can be engineered for targeted antigen delivery to the immune cells and for stimulating the immune response to improve the antigen immunogenicity. This approach is commonly used to develop nanotechnology-based vaccines. In addition, some nanotechnology platforms may be initially designed for drug delivery, but in the course of subsequent characterization, their additional immunomodulatory functions may be discovered that can potentially benefit vaccine efficacy. In both of these scenarios, an in vivo proof of concept study to verify the utility of the nanocarrier for improving vaccine efficacy is needed. Here, we describe an experimental approach and considerations for designing an animal study to test adjuvant properties of engineered nanomaterials in vivo.
Targeting mutagenesis in B cells: Phosphorylation goes beyond AID association

The mutations induced by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) trigger antibody diversification but can cause genome instability. We find that AID phosphorylation is an important determinant of “off-target” mutagenesis and identify a drug that increases this activity. These studies demonstrate how dysregulating AID phosphorylation can promote oncogenesis.
Pediatric-Specific Point of Care US Management

POC US is a friendly technology for pediatric patients, with inherent characteristics that make typical disease processes amenable to diagnose by ultrasound. There are multiple applications that can be used in the pediatric setting, with specific strategies to enhance adoption. When selecting machines and probes, broadband high frequency probes can often be used. Clinical pediatric ultrasound use is increasing and has been adopted by multiple POC specialties.
Use of (Gyro) Gy and Spermine Synthase Transgenic Mice to Study Functions of Spermine

The polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are essential for mammalian cell growth, -differentiation, and cell death and have important physiological roles in all tissues. Many of the properties of polyamines that can be demonstrated in vitro are common to all three molecules with differences only in potency. Loss of any of the enzymes needed to make either putrescine or spermidine (which also -prevent the production of spermine) is lethal, but male mice lacking spermine synthase (SpmS) due to a deletion of part of the X chromosome are viable on the B6C3H background. These mice are termed Gyro (Gy) due to their circling behavior. They have a variety of abnormalities including deafness, neurological problems, small size, and a tendency to early death. They can therefore be used to evaluate the physiological function(s) uniquely provided by spermine. They also provide a potential animal model for Snyder-Robinson syndrome (SRS), a rare human inherited disease due to a loss of SpmS activity. An essential control in experiments using Gy mice is to demonstrate that the abnormal phenotypes exhibited by these mice are abolished by providing replacement spermine and this can be accomplished by breeding with CAG-SMS mice that express SpmS from a ubiquitous promoter. Techniques for identifying, characterizing, and using these mouse strains and limitations of this approach are described in this chapter.
Teaching about AIDS in public schools: Characteristics of early adopter communities in Massachusetts

Many teenagers are at risk for contracting AIDS because of their sexual activity and intravenous (IV) drug use. It is important that they be given information about the disease and its prevention. Some communities have taken early initiatives with respect to teaching about AIDS in their public schools. To determine whether or not there are attributes that would predict the likelihood of a community’s integrating AIDS information into the public school curriculum, we explored 25 variables in a sample of 63 Massachusetts communities. None of the variables was found to be significant. We conclude that there are obviously other factors as yet unidentified, that explain why some towns teach about AIDS while others do not. Further research is necessary.
Worldview, Christian Maturity, and Young Adulthood: The What, When, Where, and How of Education after High School

The years directly following high school graduation play a significant part in the realization of Christian maturity. During this time, children begin to take ownership over most aspects of their life, including their spirituality. For many, this process unfolds simultaneously with post-secondary education in colleges or universities that can strengthen the faith system of the student’s childhood or divert her/his attention to a different pursuit. Consequently, children in their late teens need the guidance of parents to help them find the environment that will best enable them to grow in their Christian maturity, develop a Christ-centered worldview, and acquire the skills necessary to succeed personally and professionally. To that end, this chapter begins by defining Christian maturity and the development of worldview. In such context, the chapter discusses the values inherent in modern (or postmodern) universities and the influence colleges play in a person’s life. Finally, the chapter provides details, advantages, and disadvantages of various choices after high school and guidance on discerning the best option.
On Nothing and Everything

The use of ethnicity as a grouping variable in health research is disturbing to scientists. It is poorly defined, is not objectively measured, and cannot be studied in a true experiment. Thus, scientific conclusions about the causal relationship between ethnicity and health are difficult to make. To a large extent, ethnic categories are problematic because they are socioculturally constructed categories. Depending on the culture, definitions and criteria for ethnic categories vary. Even within cultures, such as the United States, criteria for membership differs from one context to another. However, ethnicity as a grouping variable should not be discarded because it is not scientific. It deserves careful study because it is associated with important health outcomes. It is well known that ethnic groups differ dramatically on many measures of health outcomes (e.g., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1985).
The Malpractice Crisis

A physicians argues for reform of jury adjudication and non-economic damage awards in medical malpractice claims. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
On the interpretation and application of mean times to extinction

As a metric of population viability, conservation biologists routinely predict the mean time to extinction (MTE). Interpretation of MTE depends on the underlying distribution of times to extinction (DTE). Despite claims to the contrary, all information regarding extinction risk can be obtained from this single statistic, the MTE, provided the DTE is exponential. We discuss the proper interpretation of MTE and illustrate how to calculate any population viability statistic when only the MTE is known and the DTE is assumed to be exponential. We also discuss the restrictive assumptions underlying the exponential DTE and the conditions under which alternative models for the DTE are preferable to the conventional (exponential) model. Despite superficial similarities between the exponential and alternative DTEs, several key differences can lead to substantially different interpretations of the MTE.
Dose escalation of radiotherapy in unresectable extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of escalated dose radiation therapy (EDR, defined as doses >50.4 Gy in 28 fractions [59.5 Gy BED]) on overall survival (OS), freedom from local progression (FFLP), and freedom from distant progression (FFDP) of patients with unresectable extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC). METHODS A consecutive cohort of 80 patients who underwent radiotherapy for unresectable EHCC from 2001 to 2015 was identified. Demographic, tumor, treatment, toxicity, and laboratory variables were collected. The maximal RT doses ranged from 30 to 75 Gy (median 50.4 Gy, at 1.8-4.5 Gy/fraction). Gross tumor volume (GTV) coverage by maximal dose in EDR group ranged from 38% to 100%. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate OS, FFLP, and FFDP. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were analyzed. RESULTS After radiotherapy, median OS, FFLP, and FFDP were 18.7, 22.6, and 24.3 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in OS or FFLP between patients who received EDR to portions of the GTV and patients who did not. On multivariate analysis, bigger GTV, age, and ECOG performance status were independently associated with shorter OS. Local progression on chemotherapy prior to RT was independently associated with shorter FFLP. High baseline neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (>5.3) was independently associated with shorter FFDP. Toxicity grades were similar in EDR and lower doses except lymphopenia which was higher in EDR (P = 0.053). CONCLUSIONS EDR to selective portions of the GTV may not benefit patients with unresectable EHCC despite having acceptable toxicity. New methods to improve local control and survival for unresectable EHCC are needed.