cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Length of Stay Beyond Medical Readiness in Neurosurgical Patients: A Prospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND In an era of growing healthcare costs, there is increased pressure on medical care providers to discharge patients once they are medically fit. However, it is not uncommon for patients to stay beyond medical readiness (BMR). OBJECTIVE To analyze the frequency with which patients remain in the hospital BMR. METHODS A prospective cohort analysis utilizing a database maintained between 2014 and 2015 included 718 adults admitted to the neurosurgical service. The attending for admitted patients was asked on a daily basis as to whether the patient was medically cleared for discharge. Standard statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS Of the 718 patients, 105 (14.6%) remained in the hospital BMR. Of the patients who presented with a spinal pathology, 17.8% had a length of stay (LOS)-BMR compared to 13.9% who presented with cerebrovascular pathologies and 14.8% who presented with a brain tumor. The average LOS-BMR was 1.8 d. Only 7.7% of patients who were discharged home had an LOS-BMR compared to 30.7% of patients who were discharged to a skilled nursing facility or rehabilitation center (P < .001). In logistic regression, a physical therapy consultation and discharge to a specialized nursing facility were both associated with a longer LOS (average 2.4 d longer, P < .001, and 6.2 d longer, P = .028, respectively). However, neither was associated with an LOS-BMR. CONCLUSION LOS-BMR is an important process engineering concept within neurosurgery that represents a potential area for improvement to maximize limited healthcare resources. A sizeable portion of neurosurgical patients remained in the hospital BMR.
Convolutional Neural Networks for Breast Cancer Histopathological Image Classification

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Breast cancer is not a single disease, but rather is comprised of many different biological entities with distinct pathological features and clinical implications. Pathologists face a substantial increase in workload and complexity of digital pathology in cancer diagnosis due to the advent of personalized medicine, and diagnostic protocols have to focus equally on efficiency and accuracy. Computerized image processing technology has been shown to improve efficiency, accuracy and consistency in histopathology evaluations, and can provide decision support to ensure diagnostic consistency. We show that convolutional neural networks (CNN) can be an effective tool in classifying breast cancer histopathological images and evaluate its performance as a binary classifier in the field of breast cancer diagnosis using whole slide imaging.
A seal impression from Tell Brak and its matching cylinder seal

Seal impressions on pottery are a recurrent feature during the Bronze Age in the Khabur region. Despite having numerous examples of cylinder sealed pottery in sites such as Tell Arbid or Tell Beydar, none of those present the seal impression at the very base of the vase. While studying some pottery evidence housed in the British Museum and coming from Tell Brak, I came across what certainly is a unique case of a seal impression on pottery in the Khabur region, a seal impression whose cylinder-seal had been already documented by Mallowan back in 1947, which is a Mitannian seal with parallels in sites such as Tell Afis and even Tepe Giyan in Iran. Exceptionally on this occasion a cyilinder seal and its very impression on a vase meet again thousands of years later.
Integration of Transcriptomic Data Identifies Global and Cell-Specific Asthma-Related Gene Expression Signatures

Over 140,000 transcriptomic studies performed in healthy and diseased cell and tissue types, at baseline and after exposure to various agents, are available in public repositories. Integrating results of transcriptomic datasets has been an attractive approach to identify gene expression signatures that are more robust than those obtained for individual datasets, especially datasets with small sample size. We developed Reproducible Analysis and Validation of Expression Data (RAVED), a pipeline that facilitates the creation of R Markdown reports detailing reproducible analysis of publicly available transcriptomic data, and used it to analyze asthma and glucocorticoid response microarray and RNA-Seq datasets. Subsequently, we used three approaches to integrate summary statistics of these studies and identify cell/tissue-specific and global asthma and glucocorticoid-induced gene expression changes. Transcriptomic integration methods were incorporated into an online app called REALGAR, where end-users can specify datasets to integrate and quickly obtain results that may facilitate design of experimental studies.
Second-Year Engineering Design: A Use-Inspired Approach

Design is an important concept that all engineering students should experience throughout their formal education. Providing students with a design experience each semester within a design “spine” affords an explicit opportunity unmatched by a single first-year or capstone experience. The purpose of this chapter is to describe a use-inspired design course offered to engineering students during the beginning of their second year at a large public university in the United States. A description of the place, history, context, project-based pedagogy, and course details are provided as a model example for those interested in offering such a course. These details are framed within the context of limited available credits within an engineering curriculum.
Deeply uncertain pathways: Integrated multi-city regional water supply infrastructure investment and portfolio management

Abstract This study contributes the Deep Uncertainty (DU) Pathways framework for bridging long-term water supply infrastructure investments and improved short-term water portfolio management (e.g., restrictions, water transfers, financial instruments, etc.) to yield a regional water supply policy robust to supply and financial failures. The DU Pathways framework combines flexibility-providing risk-of-failure (ROF) decision rules, dynamic adaptive policy pathways concepts, and a careful consideration of time-evolving information feedbacks to yield management-conditioned infrastructure pathways for regions. The DU Pathways’ framework has been developed to carefully consider multi-actor regional contexts with the goal of aiding stakeholders in discovering pathway policies that attain high performance levels for supply reliability and financial stability across challenging, deeply uncertain futures and to guide robustness compromises that may be necessary between regional actors. As demonstrated in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, DU Pathways clarifies how to identify robust infrastructure investment and management policies across the municipalities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. Our results provide insights about the most cost-effective infrastructure options to be pursued in the near-term, clarify which sources of uncertainty drive the performance tradeoffs and robustness conflicts across the regional system, and demonstrate valuable information on the diversity of interdependent failure modes that may emerge across the multiple actors implementing each candidate policy.
Plasma-derived exosomal analysis and deconvolution enables prediction and tracking of melanoma checkpoint blockade response

Abstract Purpose Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have demonstrated promising therapeutic benefit although a majority will not respond. Here we identify and validate predictive biomarkers from plasma-derived exosomes that allow non-invasive monitoring of tumor intrinsic and host immune status and prediction of ICI success. Experimental Design Transcriptomic profiling of peripheral blood bulk exosomes and tumors from a discovery cohort of 50 patients with metastatic melanoma treated with ICI was undertaken; a further validation cohort of 30 patients was utilized to validate findings from the discovery cohort. We designed a Bayesian probabilistic model to partition bulk exosomes into tumor-specific and non-tumor-specific proportions. Results Exosomal RNA signatures exhibit significant correlations with tumor transcriptomes. Exosomal profiles reflect several key biological drivers of ICI resistance or melanoma progression, exhibit significantly differentially expressed genes and pathways, and correlate with and are predictive of clinical response to therapy. Our deconvolution model estimates contributions from tumor and non-tumor sources, enabling more precise interpretation of differentially-expressed genes and pathways. Exosomal RNA-seq mutational information can be used to segregate responders and non-responders. Conclusions Peripheral blood-derived exosomes can serve as a non-invasive biomarker to jointly probe tumor-intrinsic and immune changes to ICI, and can potentially function as predictive markers of ICI responsiveness and a monitoring tool for tumor persistence and immune activation. Statement of Significance We use transcriptomic analysis of bulk, non-selected, peripheral blood derived exosomes to reveal both tumor-intrinsic and immune-derived signatures predictive of early response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. We develop a novel computational model to classify exosomal transcripts into tumor and non-tumor components and establish relevance in immune checkpoint blockade therapy. We show that tumor driver load from RNA-seq mutational calls are significantly different between responders and non-responders.
Neuromotor Control of Speech and Speechlike Tasks: Implications From Articulatory Gestures

Purpose This study aimed to provide a preliminary examination of the articulatory control of speech and speechlike tasks based on a gestural framework and identify shared and task-specific articula...
Simulation Model of RFID System for RFID-Based Motion-Capture and Localization

This paper develops a simulation model that can be used to develop and validate emerging RFID-based, sensor-fusion algorithms for fine-scale, 3D localization. Measurement-only validation of these algorithms requires exhaustive field campaigns with expensive, unwieldy, custom RF hardware and positioning systems. Our measurement-verified model not only greatly reduces the measurement burden required for testing new algorithms, but also opens the door for the application of artificial intelligence techniques that require substantial training data before implementation.
Commensuration: Re-Formatting the Political

This chapter examines the attempt to create a new system for the collection of the data needed to produce the kind of agriculture statistics in specific commensurable formats required by the EU. The task was to expand the coverage to include all land being farmed, so that the system might be used to generate more comprehensive agricultural data. The effort involved successes and failures that illuminate the ways in which commensurable data is actually produced, involving formatting objects to enable them to be comparable across cases. Through an examination of the work of technicians and extension workers we see how a combination of “high tech”—satellites and tablet computers—and “low tech”—phone calls and cajoling colleagues—amounts to new combinations of human and infrastructural apparatuses, and a change in the metrological regime.
Implementation Science Methodologies for Complementary and Integrative Health Research

Published results of efficacy and effectiveness studies on complementary health approaches should lead to widespread uptake of evidence-based practices, but too often, the scientific pathway ends prematurely, before the best ways to improve adoption, implementation, and sustainability can be determined. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) supports the full continuum of the biomedical research pipeline, whereby a complementary health intervention moves from basic and mechanistic research through efficacy trials and through dissemination and implementation. Implementation science has traditionally been thought of as something that only happens after efficacy and effectiveness have been demonstrated, but it can be prudent to evaluate implementation measures earlier in the process. Implementation science assesses more than just barriers and facilitators; it evaluates specific implementation strategies and characterizes the extent that the intervention is modified within the context of the implementation strategy and health care delivery setting. The best choices for implementation science in complementary health interventions depend on the research questions. Implementation science that tests strategies to address implementation at multiple ecologic levels is a high priority to NCCIH.
The Neuromuscular Effects of the Copenhagen Adductor Exercise: A Systematic Review

# Background Groin strains are one of the most common time-loss injuries in athletes. The Copenhagen Adductor Exercise (CAE) eccentrically strengthens the adductors and may function to prevent adductor strains, similar to the eccentric mechanism in which the Nordic Hamstrings exercise acts to prevent hamstring strains. # Objective The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature on the CAE and its effects on adductor muscle strength and muscle activity in athletes. # Study Design Systematic Review # Methods A systematic search of the literature was performed in the following databases: Pubmed; Medline (EBSCO); Sportdiscus; Scopus; Web of Science; CINAHL; Proquest; Cochrane Library; Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). Inclusion criteria consisted of 1) implements CAE, 2) includes athletes of any age participating in at least one sport, 3) study type is a cohort study or randomized control trial. Studies were excluded if they were not written in English or did not measure strength as an outcome. Data were extracted on eccentric hip adductor strength (EHAD), eccentric hip abductor strength (EHAB), EHAD:EHAB ratio, and electromyography (EMG) activity of the adductor muscles. Quality assessment was performed on all included studies using Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. # Results Five articles were identified for inclusion, four of which received a strong rating, and one a moderate rating on the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. The CAE significantly increased EHAD in four of the four studies that examined it; significantly increased EHAB and EHAD:EHAB in three of the three studies that examined them, and increased the EMG activity of the adductors in the dominant leg 108%. # Conclusion Overall, the CAE increases EHAD, EHAB, EHAD:EHAB, and EMG activity in the hip adductors in male soccer players. The increase in strength may reduce adductor muscle injuries, although more research needs to be done in this area to identify a clear relationship between the CAE and groin injury prevention. # Level of Evidence 1b
Purification and properties of cytochrome c-555 from phototrophic green sulfur bacteria.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes purification and properties of cytochrome c-555 from phototrophic green sulfur bacteria. The green sulfur bacteria are strictly anaerobic. They utilize reduced sulfur compounds such as sulfide, sulfur, and less commonly, thiosulfate as electron donors and carbon dioxide as the primary carbon source. Acetate is assimilated in the presence of sulfide and carbon dioxide. The green bacteria have a unique pathway for carbon assimilation via a reversed tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. The photosynthetic reaction center is related to plant, algal, and cyanobacterial photosystem. The green sulfur bacteria are a rich source of cytochromes. Cytochrome c-555 is a small (10 kDa), soluble protein containing 86-99 amino-acid residues and a single heme. It has a relatively low redox potential of 80-160 mV at pH 7, which may reflect the anaerobic environment in which the species lives. The cells can be broken by repeated cycles of freezing and thawing, by sonication, or by French press. If it is not desired to purify other cytochromes or ferredoxins in addition to cytochrome c-555, then the extract can be desalted with a buffer change to 1 mM phosphate—pH 7—by dialysis or Sephadex G-25 gel filtration.
Urethral suspension with stainless-steel staples.

Abstract The multiplicity of surgical procedures that have been devised for the correction of recurrent urinary stress incontinence is proof that no single method has been found satisfactory for all patients. The new technique of stapling the tissue on each side of the upper urethra to the posterior pubic bone is described and the first 12 so treated are reported upon. Ten of these women are markedly improved and there have been no major complications.
Stump embolization from an occluded internal carotid artery. Case report.

✓ A patient with known internal carotid artery occlusion developed transient ischemic attacks in the distribution of the occluded vessel. Arteriography demonstrated a thrombus clearly originating from the internal carotid artery stump, which was unassociated with significantly stenotic atherosclerotic disease of the ipsilateral common or external carotid arteries. Stump angioplasty and endarterectomy led to complete and sustained cessation of further symptoms.
Subjective Adjustments to Objective Performance Measures

Using proprietary and survey data of 276 objective performance measures for 69 audit managers from 12 divisions of a large internal audit organization, I investigate factors that cause supervisors to subjectively adjust managers' objective performance measures. The organization introduced a pay-for-performance incentive plan that allows supervisors to subjectively adjust audit managers' objective performance measures to correct imperfections in these measures. Empirical evidence documents both benefits and costs of subjective adjustments. Specifically, I find that while supervisors subjectively adjusted objective performance measures they perceived to be noisy, incomplete, non-verifiable, and manipulable, suggesting incentive contracting benefits, they also subjectively adjusted objective performance measures based on managers' influence activities, their own personal preferences, and their own division managers' adjustment tendencies, suggesting incentive contracting costs.
Die zwei Hauptprobleme der physikalischen Ozeanographie

Der Entwicklungsgang der zwei Hauptprobleme der physikalischen Ozeanographie, der allgemeinen ozeanischen Zirkulation und der Gezeitenerscheinungen der Ozeane, wird in den wesentlichen Punkten kurz dargelegt und insbesondere wird auf die neuesten Fortschritte auf diesen Wissensgebieten hingewiesen.
An Introduction to Neural and Electronic Networks

This is a presentation of research and theory from the disciplines that provide the foundations of neural network research: neurobiology, physics, computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics and psychology. It shows how neural networks and neurocomputing represent radical departures from conventional approaches to digital computers, in terms of algorithms as well as architecture. More than 200 line drawings illustrate the many facets of and approaches to neural networks research. This second edition contains new chapters on computational models of hippocampal and cerebellar function, nonlinear information processing, adaptive filtering and pattern recognition, and digital VLSI architecture. Its interdisciplinary emphasis is aimed at a wide array of researchers and students - from neurobiologists to psychologists.
Does It Matter if Preschool Children and Mothers Discuss Positive vs. Negative Events During Reminiscing? Links with Mother-reported Attachment, Family Emotional Climate, and Socioemotional Development

The purpose of the study was to examine the differential relations between mother–child reminiscing about a positive emotional event vs. a negative emotional event and attachment security, family climate, and young children's socioemotional development. Fifty preschool children (M age = 50.69 months, SD = 4.64) and their mothers completed two reminiscing conversations at the laboratory, which were coded for emotion-laden discourse, affect, and elaboration, and children completed measures of emotional understanding and representations of relationships. At their homes, mothers completed the attachment Q-sort and the self-report family inventory. Both attachment security and family climate were related to the quality of mother–child affect and maternal elaboration during both positive and negative reminiscing conversations. Attachment security and family climate, however, were principally related to discussion of emotion during the negative event discussions. In addition, it was mother–child reminiscing about the negative emotional event that was associated with high levels of children's socioemotional development.
Association of logistic and Poisson models of infection with some physical characteristics of a single component plant virus

A logistic model was recently formulated to describe the relationship between concentration of a single component plant virus and infections produced by inoculation to a local lesion host. In this paper the logistic is combined with a Poisson model. The logistic makes accurate fitting possible for a variety of infection-dilution series; and the Poisson acts as a base line, indicating whether lesion numbers are compatible with the hypothesis that random infection of similar infection sites has occurred. A logarithmic form of the logistic equation gives a straight line with negative slope (logit slope) which is useful in characterizing dilution series to which the logistic is fitted. A modified Poisson equation can also be fitted to a range of dilution series; it provides an independent estimate of slope for curves not widely divergent from the standard Poisson. Models have also been developed to define the limits of concentration within which single virions are likely to be randomly dispersed in inoculum without immediate contact with other virions, and are therefore more likely to enter inoculated tissue independently and cause random infections. Models are formulated for aggregation of tobacco mosaic virus in monolayers, crystals, and lenticular aggregates. Published and unpublished data are fitted and analyzed using some of these models.
Using automatic differentiation to solve concentration dependent diffusion problems

We present a Taylor series method for the solution of a class of nonlinear diffusion problems involving a concentration dependent diffusion coefficient. The computational initial-boundary value problem is to determine the concentration of the diffusing substance in a semi-infinite domain at any time, starting with a given initial concentration. The method of solution begins by first mapping the semi-infinite physical domain to a finite computational domain. Then the solution at each spatial grid point is advanced in time using a Taylor series expansion. The method employs a technique known as automatic differentiation, which is neither numerical nor symbolic. This technique is the evaluation of the coefficients in a Taylor series expansion using recursive formulas derived from the differential equation describing the initial value problem. The results obtained using the method of this paper is are in excellent agreement with approximate similarity solutions obtained previously.
The Practice of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Before 1896

Background The science of medicine is a constantly evolving process which builds on the experiences and observations of the past. We hypothesized that the issues of pediatric and adolescent gynecology were also of concern to physicians practicing in the 19th Century. We sought to determine the extent to which our forebears of over 100-years-ago considered, diagnosed and treated these problems. Methods We conducted an exhaustive search through two English language medical journals, The Obstetrical Journal of Great Britain and Ireland (vol. 1–7, 1873–1880) and The American Journal of Obstetrics (vol. 1–32, 1869–1895), for articles relating to pediatric and adolescent gynecology. Results -The most frequently encountered subject was the surgical management of congenital absence or atresia of the vagina and associated anomalies of adjacent organs. By 1881, the opinion expressed by many authors was that the method used by Thomas Addis Emmet to create an artificial vagina between the bladder and the rectum by a single stage procedure of blunt dissection and the immediate placement of a glass vaginal dilator gave the best chance of a favorable outcome. The practice of making an artificial opening through the rectum was abandoned. In 1882, a review of published reports noted 43% post operative mortality in children treated for benign and malignant ovarian tumors. A review article in 1891 reported a 10% mortality rate associated with treatment of the imperforate hymen. A research article in 1870 noted the mean age at menarche in England to be 14.96 years. Additional subjects in the literature included: “Acquired Venereal Disease in Children” warning of the need for “rigid…scrutiny of the attendants and playmates of children” (1893), the enigmatic occurrence of “Vaginal Hemorrhage in an Infant Five-Days-Old” (1874), the brutal atrocities perpetrated against “The Child Wives of India” (1895), “Early Pregnancy” reviewing childbirth by young adolescents (1874), “Hermaphrodism” (1886), “The…Hymen and Its Remains…” (1871), a “Case of Fatal Hemorrhage from the Genital Organs” in which a 17-year-old exsanguinated from a vaginal laceration (1879), “Primary Sarcoma of the Vagina…in a Child Three-Years-Old” (1881), and genital mutilation in “Nymphomania Cured by Excision of the Clitoris” (1875). Conclusion Modern pediatric and adolescent gynecology can trace its roots to well over a century ago.
Clouds and holes: self-organization in compressible fluid and collisionless plasma turbulence

Abstract A simple physical model which describes the dynamics of turbulence and the spectrum of density fluctuations in compressible, self-gravitating matter and self-binding, phase-space density fluctuations is presented. The two systems are analogous to each other in that each tends to self-organize into hierarchical structures via the mechanism of Jeans collapse. Predictions of the model for velocity-dispersion-density-length-scale correlations and morphology of molecular clouds are in good agreement with observational evidence. In the case of collisionless plasmas, the model exhibits interesting geometric properties such as intrinsic intermittency and anisotropy, and explains several features of numerical simulations.
Role of Very-late Antigen-4 (VLA-4) in Myelin Basic Protein-primed T Cell Contact-induced Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines in Microglial Cells

The presence of neuroantigen-primed T cells recognizing self-myelin antigens within the CNS is necessary for the development of demyelinating autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis. This study was undertaken to investigate the role of myelin basic protein (MBP)-primed T cells in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in microglial cells. MBP-primed T cells alone induced specifically the microglial expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1α tumor necrosis factor α, and IL-6, proinflammatory cytokines that are primarily involved in the pathogenesis of MS. This induction was primarily dependent on the contact between MBP-primed T cells and microglia. The activation of microglial NF-κB and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) by MBP-primed T cell contact and inhibition of contact-mediated microglial expression of proinflammatory cytokines by dominant-negative mutants of p65 and C/EBPβ suggest that MBP-primed T cells induce microglial expression of cytokines through the activation of NF-κB and C/EBPβ. In addition, we show that MBP-primed T cells express very late antigen-4 (VLA-4), and functional blocking antibodies to α4 chain of VLA-4 (CD49d) inhibited the ability of MBP-primed T cells to induce microglial proinflammatory cytokines. Interestingly, the blocking of VLA-4 impaired the ability of MBP-primed T cells to induce microglial activation of only C/EBPβ but not that of NF-κB. This study illustrates a novel role of VLA-4 in regulating neuroantigen-primed T cell-induced activation of microglia through C/EBPβ
Errors in using the Reflectance vs Angle of Incidence Method for Measuring Optical Constants

The sensitivity of the reflectance vs angle of incidence method for measuring the optical constants n and k has been investigated using computer methods. Reflectance values for the perpendicular and parallel components Rs and Rp, and their average Ra, corresponding to unpolarized radiation, were computed. With these values, isoreflectance curves were plotted in the n–k plane using a computer–plotter combination. The angles of intersection of these isoreflectance curves provide a measure of the sensitivity of the method and are a function of n and k. For a given n and k, the sensitivity of the method is greatest using Rp and least using Rs Error studies showing the effects of nonparallelism and polarization of the incident radiation and error in reflectance measurement were made for Rp and Ra, but not for Rs because the lack of sensitivity of the method for this component renders it practically useless. The effect of errors was simulated by altering the computed reflectance values by a given amount and plotting the corresponding isoreflectance curves. It was found that the method is least sensitive to errors when using Rp. A scheme for plotting isoreflectance curves using a computer–plotter combination is given as well as an alternative scheme for digital computation of n and k without recourse to isoreflectance curves.
W/C Mirror Deposition Optimization

The reflectivity of grazing incidence W/C multilayer mirrors can be optimized by progressively refining structural features through sputter deposition parameter optimization. Beyond the configuration of system geometry, the deposition rate, substrate temperature and working gas pressure significantly affect the multilayer structure morphology. Of these parameters, working gas pressure has an overwhelming effect. The energy and distribution of sputtered adatoms, directly influenced by the sputtering gas pressure, affects the reactivity at and the reconstruction of vapor deposited surfaces. The interface abruptness is therefore affected by working gas pressure. The reduction in interfacial atomic intermixing (hence roughness) generally follows with decreased gas pressure. Correspondingly, the improved reflective efficiency becomes increasingly noticeable from hard to soft x-rays. Structural and reflectivity improvements in the W/C multilayer mirror system, characterized qualitatively using cross-section electron microscopy and quantitatively using x-ray diffraction, will be correlated to an optimization of the sputter deposition parameter - working gas pressure.
Lattice diffusion and the Heisenberg ferromagnet

It is shown that the master equation for a general diffusion problem with exclusion and symmetric binary transfer rates can be mapped exactly on the Schr\"odinger equation for an equivalent Heisenberg ferromagnet. Quantities of physical interest, e.g., the site occupation probability, are related to the lowest eignstates of the ferromagnet which play no thermodynamic role. The thermodynamics is only reflected in unobservable quantities such as the joint occupation probability of all sites. An additional result, obtained by elementary considerations, is the exact equation for the time evolution of the site-occupation probabilities. For symmetric transfer rates the equation reduces to a linear form in which exclusion effects are no longer present.
Low-stressed high-aspect-ratio ultrathick SU-8 UV-LIGA process for the fabrication of a micro heat exchanger

SU-8 is an ultra-thick negative photoresist with low optical absorption in the near UV range, which makes it an ideal material for generating thick molds for electroforming as well as a structural material for MEMS devices. However, the MEMS fabrication of using SU-8 is largely limited by its well-known poor adhesion to metallic layers as well as the high internal stress induced after baking. In this paper, an optimized process for fabricating ultra-thick low stressed SU-8 mold is developed and good adhesion between SU-8 and metals is obtained by applying a newly developed material, Omnicoat from Microchem Inc. A laminated (sandwiched) micro heat exchanger has been fabricated using the developed process in which sandwiched microchannels (one layer of Ni and one layer of SU-8) has been fabricated using the patterned SU-8 and nickel electroforming process. Test results show that the micro structure fabricated can stand at cryo temperature (77K) without damages such as cracks or delamination.
Elimination of benzene from a benzyloxy ligand to form a carbonyl group on a tungsten-phosphine center

Abstract WH 3 (OCH 2 C 6 H 5 ) (PMe 3 ) 4 ( 1 ) is formed upon reaction of WH 2 (PMe 3 ) 5 with benzyl alcohol for 12 days at ambient temperatures. Thermolysis of 1 at 80°C in toluene solution gives the carbonyl complex, WH 2 (CO)(PMe 3 ) 4 ( 2 ) and benzene. The conversion is slower in the presence of H 2 . Reaction of 1 with D 2 leads to H/D exchange in the hydride ligands and in the benzylic and ortho -phenyl positions of the benzyloxide. A mechanism for the thermolysis of 1 , based on an H 2 elimination, sequential C-H activations, and CO deinsertion from an acyl ligand, is proposed. Thermolysis of 1 is much faster in the presence of free benzyl alcohol and 2 is not formed. The products under these conditions are toluene, bibenzyl, WH 4 (PMe 3 ) 4 , PMe 3 and unidentified material, consistent with the intermediacy of benzyl radicals.
Packing Transitions in Nanosized Li Clusters.

Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA, 92093(February 5, 2008)Packing transitions in the lowest energy structures of Li clusters as a function of size have beenidentiﬁed via simulated annealing. For N ≤ 21, the large p character of Li leads to unexpected ionicstructures. At N ≈ 25, a packing pattern based on interpenetrating 13-atom icosahedra and similarto that of Na and K appears. This pattern persists until at N=55, where another transition to astructure based on a Mackay icosahedron occurs. For clusters of size 55 and 147, the optimized FCCstructure representative of the bulk is still slightly higher in energy than the optimal MIC.PACS number: 36.40+d, 31.20.-d, 31.20.Sy
Cytokine treatment of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells induces a homing defect in nonmyeloablated hosts

Abstract In a bone marrow transplant the selective translocation of stem cells from the blood to the bone marrow is called Homing. This process and the factors that influence it play an important role in the success of bone marrow transplants. Previous data in mice has shown that the majority of the cells capable of long term engraftment have entered S-phase by 12 hrs post infusion (Nilsson, Blood, 90, 1997). In related studies, whole bone narrow cells cultured in IL-3, IL-6, IL-11 and steel factor for 48 hrs have a profound engraftment defect up to 6 months post transplant. Engraftment was lost in late S/ early G2 and regained again in G1. These data indicate two things. First, the importance of cell cycle and second, the necessity to evaluate the homing of cells less than 24 hrs post transplant due to the rapid induction of cell cycle after transplant. We have now evaluated the homing of lineage negative Sca+ C57BL/6 marrow cells when cultured in IL-3, IL-6, IL-11 & steel factor for 48 hrs. Noncultured cells and cells cultured for 48 hours in cytokines were labeled with the fluorescent dye 5,6-carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE). In previous studies, we have shown that by 3 hrs homing of these cells has plateaued. Thus we have examined the homing of 250000 control or cytokine treated Lin-Sca+ CFSE labeled cells 3 hrs after tail vein infusion. Host marrow cells were analyzed by FACS, for the presence of CFSE positive cells. In 5 experiments a range of 16 to 25 million events (cells) per animal was analyzed. These data indicate after 48 hours of cytokine exposure the number of positive donor stem cells seen in the host marrow 3 hrs post transplant is about 5 times less than that that of unmanipulated cells. These data indicate that the long term engraftment defect seen after stem cell exposure to cytokines is due to the induced presence of a homing defect.
Induction of apoptosis in mouse thymocytes by microcolin A and its synthetic analog

Microcolin A (Mic-1), a marine-derived compound, has been shown to be a novel antiproliferative and immunosuppressive agent. We investigated the ability of Mic-1 and its chemosynthetic analog, microcolin A3 (Mic-3), to induce apoptosis in murine thymocytes. Following incubation of the cells with Mic-1 (10-100 nM) or Mic-3 (10-100 nM), internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in apoptotic cells was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis and the diphenylamine (DPA) assay; the presence of hypodiploid nuclei assessed by propidium iodide (PI) staining; and the percentages of apoptotic and necrotic cells quantified by morphological observation and fluorescein labeled annexin-V binding. Our results show that both Mic-1 and Mic-3 are potent inducers of apoptosis in thymocytes depending on drug concentration and time of exposure, with Mic-3 being more potent than Mic-1 in the induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis using monoclonal antibodies specific to thymocyte subpopulations showed that the proportion of the early immature CD4+ CD8+ T-cell subpopulation in thymocytes was selectively decreased by both agents with a corresponding increase of other subpopulations, indicating that CD4+ CD8+ T cells are the most likely targets of Mic-1 and Mic-3. These in vitro results suggest that the antiproliferative and immunosuppressive properties of both compounds are possibly associated with apoptosis-inducing events and imply that they may have additional potential value as antineoplastic agents.
A simplified chemistry module for atmospheric transport and dispersion models: Proof-of-concept using SCIPUFF

Abstract An atmospheric chemistry module was developed to predict the fate of environmentally hazardous compounds discharged into the atmosphere. The computationally efficient model captures the diurnal variation within the environment and in the degradation rates of the released compounds, follows the formation of toxic degradation products, runs rapidly, and in principle can be integrated with any atmospheric transport and dispersion model. To accomplish this, a detailed atmospheric chemistry mechanism for a target toxic industrial compound (TIC) was reduced to a simple empirical effective degradation rate term (keff). Empirically derived decay functions for keff were developed as a function of important meteorological parameters such as solar flux, temperature, humidity, and cloud cover for various land uses and locations by statistically analyzing data generated from a detailed chemistry mechanism run over a wide range of (typical) atmospheric conditions. 1-Butene and two degradation products (propanal and nitrooxybutanone) were used as representative chemicals in the algorithm development for this proof-of-concept demonstration of the capability of the model. The quality of the developed model was evaluated via comparison with experimental chamber data and the results (decay rates) compared favorably for ethene, propene, and 1-butene (within a factor of two 75% or more of the time).
Message design logic, social support, and mixed‐status relationships

This study explores the relationship between superiors' and subordinates' message design logic types and reported amounts of relational social support, trust, discussion of innovation, personal control, expected performance ratings, and burnout. We sought to determine whether relational patterns in design logics exist enabling the identification and prediction of mixed‐status relationships where social support is enhanced. Findings obtained from a voluntary sample of nurses suggest that those relationships where the nurse‐manager employs a “rhetorical” message design logic and the staff nurse does not report the highest levels of relational support, trust, talk on innovation, personal control, expected positive performance rating, and lowest levels of burnout result.
Basalts dredged from the Amirante ridge, western Indian ocean☆

Oceanic tholeiitic basalts were dredged from 2500 to 3000 m depth on each flank of the Amirante Ridge, 1200 km southeast of Somalia in the western Indian Ocean, by R.V. Argo in 1964. One sample, probably shed from a flow or dike in basement beneath the coralline cap, gave a wholerock KAr age of 82±16×106 years. The age is similar to those reported by others for agglomerate from Providence Reef, nearer Madagascar, and for gabbro from Chain Ridge, the southwest member of Owen Fracture Zone, nearer the Somali coast. The Amirante Cretaceous-Early Tertiary occurrence lies between the “continental” 650 × 106 years granites of Seychelles Archipelago and the large Precambrian “continental” block of Madagascar. Trends of major structures and distribution of the related topographic and magnetic-anomaly lineations in 7–8 × 106 km2of the surrounding Indian Ocean suggest that in addition to spreading of the seafloor from the seismically-active Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge-Carlsberg Ridge complex there has been, since mid-Mesozoic time, distributed left-lateral shear along 52°–54°E that has moved Madagascar at least 700 km south relative to Seychelles Bank. Measurements by other indicate the absolute movement of Madagascar has been southward as well. The emplacement of oceanic tholeiitic basalts at shallow depth, the development of volcanic topography between the sedimented Somali and Mascarene basins, and the existence of the faulted Amirante Trench and Ridge are consequences of the displacement.
Origin of the catalytic power of acetylcholinesterase: Computer simulation studies

The energetics of the acylation step of AChE (acetylcholinesterase) is explored by using molecular simulation approaches. These include the evaluation of activation free energies by using the empirical valence bond (EVB) potential surface and an all-atom free energy perturbation (FEP) approach, as well as estimates of the catalytic effect of the enzyme by using the semimicroscopic version of the Protein Dipoles Langevin Dipoles (PDLD/S) method. The determination of the effect of the enzyme is based on the use of reliable experimental information in evaluating the energetics of the reference reaction in water and then on using robust simulations for the evaluation of the effect of moving the reacting system from a solvent cage to the protein active site. This procedure reduces the error range of the overall analysis since the energetics in water is not evaluated by a first principle approach. The use of two simulation methods and different initial conditions provide a way for assessing the error range of t...
PREMATURE OVARIAN FAILURE (POF) FOLLOWING GnRH AGONIST (HISTRELIN) THERAPY FOR IDIOPATHIC CENTRAL ISOSEXUAL PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY (CPP) AND RUSSEL-SILVER DWARFISM (RSD). † 524

The subject of interest, a 17.2 year white female with intrinsic growth retardation and clinical features of RSD, developed POF following histrelin therapy for CPP. At 7 years growth acceleration, breast and public hair development and advancement of skeletal maturation were noted, followed by menarche at 9 years. An ovarian cyst was identified and excised at 9.3 years. Menses persisted after resection of the cyst; pulsatile gonadotropin secretion with a pubertal response to GnRH was demonstrated several months later. Subcutaneous histrelin was used on a compassionate basis for a period of 35 months (9.8-12.8 years) because of poor final height prediction. Consistent suppression of serum sex steroids and gonadotropins were maintained during the treatment period. Following discontinuation of histrelin, 3 menses occurred over the next three years (12.8-16 years). Laboratory investigation revealed POF, with elevated FSH (45.1 IU/L) and undetectable estradiol (<5 pg/mL;<18 pmol/L); anti-ovarian antibodies were negative and galactosemia evaluation normal. Peripheral blood karyotype was 46,XX. Review of ovarian histology from tissue obtained at 9.3 years revealed normal primordial follicles. FSH bioactivity was elevated concurrent with serum FSH elevation, suggesting appropriate gonadotropin bioactivity.
Conserved and partially conserved currents on the light cone

Abstract We show how the constraints of current conservation and partial current conservation can be incorporated on light-cone operator-product expansions. For example, if J μ ( x ) is conserved and [ J 0 ( x ), K ( y )] δ ( x 0 − y 0 ) = L ( x ) δ 4 ( x − y ), then we show how the expansion for the T-product T[ J μ ( x ) K ( y )] can be made manifestly consistent with the operator Ward identity ∂ x μ T [ J μ ( x ) K ( y )] = L ( x ) δ 4 ( x − y ). Our constructions are presented in the framework of a canonical gluon model, the properties of which are discussed in detail. We show that the usual use of canonical commutation relations and field equations is inconsistent with naive scale invariance and the existence of simple local products of fields and discuss ways of resolving this difficulty. As examples, we exhibit the conserved forms for the expansions of the products V μ a ( x ) S b ( y ) and V μ a ( x ) V ν b ( y ) in the gluon model. As applications of our results, we discuss the K l 3 and π l 3 form factors and derive the scaling laws and scaling relations in deep inelastic neutrino-nucleon scattering.
A framework for more valid measures of channel member performance

Abstract Marketing success for firms using an indirect channel often depends on the performance of downstream resellers but the literature examining the link between channel management strategy and reseller performance is fragmented and ambiguous, due in part to the inadequate measurement of performance. This study suggests a framework for defining a more complete domain for the channel member performance construct and for developing valid measures of the construct. An application of the framework suggests that channel member performance is multi-faceted, and requires a multiple measure approach to adequately capture its full domain.
Postnatal enlargement of human tracheobronchial airways and implications for particle deposition

In support of predictions for inhaled particle deposition, morphometric measurements were taken on 20 replica airway casts of people aged 11 days to 21 years. Measurements of right upper lobe airway lengths, diameters, and branching angles were made such that a growth model suitable as input to predictive equations for particle deposition efficiency was obtained. The tracheobronchial airways growth was describable by linear regressions on body length. The length-to-diameter ratio of growing airways did not change in any simple way as a function of airway generation. Airflow rates for a given state of physical activity for various ages were found from previously published data to be describable by linear regressions on body mass. Three states of physical exertion-low activity, light exertion, and heavy exertion-were used for modeling purposes. The computed particle deposition efficiencies indicate that under most circumstances smaller (younger) people will have greater tracheobronchial deposition efficiencies than larger (older) people. For example, tracheobronchial dose on a per kilogram body mass basis for 5-micron-diameter particles may be more than 6 times higher in the resting newborn than in the resting adult assuming equivalent deposition efficiencies above the larynx.