cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Are My Pediatric Patients at Increased Risk of Developing Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an underrecognized and often undiagnosed cause of morbidity and mortality. Many children and adolescents are at increased risk of developing CKD as they mature and age, secondary to conditions commonly cared for by pediatric health professionals. Prematurity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, congenital heart disease, sickle cell disease and trait, severe obesity, cancer chemotherapy, other drug toxicities, and systemic situations that may cause acute kidney injury such as sepsis or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy predispose to potential CKD. Clinicians should be aware of these conditions in order to screen for CKD, choose non-nephrotoxic treatments for these children whenever possible, and treat or refer those who have early signs of CKD.
Aortic Stenting for Isolated Aortic Stenosis at the Level of the Inferior Mesenteric Artery

A covered aortic stent was deployed for in a patient with symptoms of intermittent claudication secondary to midsegment infrarenal aortic stenosis approaching occlusion. Management of infrarenal aortic stenosis and occlusion is discussed.
Using Compliance Data to Understand Uncertainty in Drinking Water Lead Levels in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The historical use of lead in potable water plumbing systems has caused significant public health challenges. The Lead and Copper Rule requires utilities to take action if the 90th percentile lead ...
Loyalty to a Nero? Publicising Puritan Persecution in the 1630s

The bounds of loyalty to the English monarchy were greatly tested when individuals suffered religious persecution. During the reforms of Archbishop William Laud, protesting puritans legitimised their disobedience to the crown by deeming themselves Christian martyrs under Nero. This chapter considers the case of John Bastwick, William Prynne, and Henry Burton, whose persecutions in the 1630s and later release by the Long Parliament brought to the fore questions of loyalty, obedience, and religious conscience in England in the years leading up to civil war. Through an analysis of their public presentation—in print, in the courtroom, on the scaffold, and in procession—the chapter will argue that these puritans appropriated stories of the Neronian persecution of Christians, and especially of the Apostle Paul, to represent themselves as true Christian martyrs and to castigate the English prelacy and government as tyrannical. The chapter also considers Prynne’s Histrio-mastix for its extensive comparisons of King Charles with Nero. Attending to these claims of Neronian and religious persecution demonstrates how conceptions of religion, politics, history, and gender became significantly intertwined in descriptions of tyranny and languages of disloyalty and dissent in the 1630s and 1640s.
Neuroscience Gateway Enabling Large Scale Modeling and Data Processing in Neuroscience Research

The Neuroscience Gateway (NSG) has been serving the computational neuroscience community over seven years since its inception in early 2013. It has fulfilled its original goal of catalyzing progress in computational neuroscience by reducing technical and administrative barriers that neuroscientists face in accessing and using high performance computing (HPC) resources needed for large scale neuronal modeling projects involving tools and software which require and run efficiently on HPC resources of XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment). In recent years, in addition to computational neuroscientists, growing numbers of experimentalists such as cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists, biomedical researchers, physicists and electrical engineers are increasingly interested in using NSG for their neuroscience data processing and analysis needs. We also notice an expanding use of machine/deep learning approaches in neuroscience research. To accommodate the needs of these types of data processing and machine/deep learning workloads NSG is adding new cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities, features and resources. Large scale computational workloads that are focused on processing and analysis of brain image data and machine learning require high throughput computing (HTC) resources than HPC, utilize commercial cloud and GPUs, and use various data functionalities, such as ability to transfer/store large data to/on NSG, validate the data, process same data by multiple users on NSG provided compute resources, publish final data products, visualize the data, search the data etc. Until now, NSG has primarily been a resource for neuroscience users who use NSG for their computational neuroscience work and, more recently, data processing workloads. But recently there is a demand from the neuroscience community to make NSG an environment where neuroscience tool developers can test, benchmark, and scale their newly developed tools and eventually disseminate their tools via the NSG for neuroscience users. In this short poster-paper we will show (i) how NSG has been successfully serving primarily the computational neuroscience community, as well as some data processing focused neuroscience researchers, until now, (ii) how we plan NSG to be a tool developers environment in addition to it already successfully being a science gateway for the neuroscience community and (iii) how NSG is transforming to accommodate more data processing and machine learning oriented neuroscience users.
Outcomes of COVID-19 in Patients with Obesity in United States: A Large Research Network Study

Introduction: Comorbidities associated with obesity are widely recognized risk factors for poor COVID-19 outcomes;however, obesity as an independent risk facto
RadioGraphics Update: PI-RADS Version 2.1—A Pictorial Update

Editor's Note.-Articles in the RadioGraphics Update section provide current knowledge to supplement or update information found in full-length articles previously published in RadioGraphics. Authors of the previously published article provide a brief synopsis that emphasizes important new information such as technological advances, revised imaging protocols, new clinical guidelines involving imaging, or updated classification schemes. Articles in this section are published solely online and are linked to the original article.
On assurance testing for repairable systems

We consider assurance testing for repairable systems when supplementary information is available in addition to the data collected in the assurance test. The supplementary information is incorporat...
Changing Medical Education When Change Is Hard: Implementing an Interdepartmental Entrustable Professional Activity.

Background Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are a new tool for assessing learners that represents a significant movement in graduate medical education (GME) toward competency-based assessment and serves as a bridge between milestones and clinical practice. Whenever a major change is implemented to any system, resistance to change is expected. Many change management models have been proposed to overcome this resistance; a newer model is outlined in the book Switch. The objective was to describe the change management principles used to institute an EPA. Methods The model introduced in Switch was used as a framework for implementing a trauma resuscitation EPA in a joint effort between the departments of surgery and emergency medicine (EM) at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. The Department of Emergency Medicine used the principles of change management, completing 295 faculty evaluations of trauma resuscitations compared to the Department of Surgery, whose faculty completed 50 evaluations between the study period of July 2018 through October 2019. A survey completed winter 2019 of EM faculty was used to determine the most important principles toward successful implementation. Results Twenty-seven of 35 (78% response rate) of EM faculty identified key concepts from Switch as being instrumental in the successful implementation. Internal discussion of the implementation approach used by the Department of Surgery identified several limitations that would have been overcome by using these same change management principles. Conclusion We conclude that the principles of change management provide a useful framework for successfully implementing EPAs into GME.
Reading practices of Spanish-speaking readers in the United States and Canada:

Drawing on a subset of data from a larger survey study of immigrant and migrant Spanish-speaking readers in the United States and Canada, this article explores their pre-immigration reading histori...
Using the Veggie Meter in Elementary Schools to Objectively Measure Fruit and Vegetable Intake: A Pilot Study

Self-reported fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in children has limitations that could be overcome with objective measures that are easy to implement. The Veggie Meter (VM) is a non-invasive portable device that measures skin carotenoid levels, a concentration biomarker of usual FV intake. While VM has been used to measure FV consumption in adults, few studies have explored its use in elementary school settings. Designing research studies using the VM with elementary school-age children requires an understanding of how well this device can be used in a school setting and of the distribution of VM scores in this population. We used VM to measure skin carotenoids in a diverse sample of 143 elementary school children who also answered commonly asked questions about consumption frequency of FV the previous day. Multivariable regression was used to assess the independent association of demographic variables with VM scores. VM scores were also compared with student-reported FV intake. There was a weak but statistically significant correlation between reported frequency of total vegetable consumption the previous day and observed VM scores (r = 0.174, p = 0.042). This study provides an example of the successful use of the VM in a school setting to collect an objective measure of FV intake and provides important description of data that can inform future studies.
Real world use of FLT3 inhibitors for treatment of FLT3+ acute myeloid leukemia (AML): A single center, propensity-score matched, retrospective cohort study.

BackgroundPatients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with a FLT3 mutation (FLT3+ AML) have historically had poor outcomes. While the addition of the FLT3 inhibitors to induction therapy has bee...
Route of protein loss during a model protein-losing gastropathy in dogs.

To trace the route of vascular protein loss into the stomach lumen during a model protein-losing gastropathy induced by irrigating the stomachs of dogs with dithiothreitol, horseradish peroxidase injected into the vascular system was traced by electron microscopy. T-1824 (Evans blue) was injected into the vascular system, and its presence in the stomach contents indicated the production of a protein-losing gastropathy. Dithiothreitol invariably produced protein-losing gastropathies. Microscopically the damage was observed as dilation of the intercellular space and by vacuole formation in a few surface mucous cells. In control dogs injected with peroxidase, the dense reaction product was always found in the mucosal capillaries, but only rarely in small, restricted areas of the lamina propria. In dithiothreitol-treated animals, the peroxidase reaction product was regularly seen in the blood vessels, the lamina propria, in the dilated and normal undilated intercellular space, and in the gastric lumen. It is concluded that in this acute model protein-losing gastropathy, the major, massive protein loss occurs by an intercellular route.
Delta and mu enkephalins inhibit spontaneous GABA-mediated IPSCs via a cyclic AMP-independent mechanism in the rat hippocampus.

The effects of enkephalins selective for delta and mu opioid receptors on inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) mediated by GABA were studied in chloride-loaded CA1 pyramidal neurons in adult rat hippocampal slices. The mu agonist DAMGO (0.1 microM) significantly reduced the amplitudes of evoked monosynaptic IPSCs, recorded following the antagonism of excitatory glutamate receptors, and this effect was reversed by the mu antagonist CTOP (1 microM). The selective delta receptor agonists DPDPE and D-Ala2-deltorphin II (both 0.1–0.5 microM) had no effect on these evoked currents. In contrast, the frequency of tetrodotoxin-resistant spontaneous miniature GABA-mediated currents (m- IPSCs) was significantly reduced by both DPDPE (0.1–0.5 microM) and DAMGO (0.1–0.5 microM), while the amplitudes of these events were unaltered. These effects were reversed by the selective delta antagonist ICI 174,864 (1 microM) and the selective mu antagonist CTOP (1 microM), respectively. To investigate the mechanisms of this mu and delta receptor-mediated modulation of GABA release, and the possible involvement of a cAMP-sensitive K+ conductance, spontaneous action potential-dependent IPSCs (s-IPSCs) were measured following pretreatment with 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP). 8-Br-cAMP (250 microM) had no effect alone on the amplitude or frequency of s-IPSCs, nor did it alter the inhibitory effects of the delta and mu agonists. These results indicate that delta and mu opioid receptor activation inhibits spontaneous GABA release, independently of cAMP, through direct actions at inhibitory nerve terminals, and that delta opioids inhibit spontaneous but not evoked GABA release in the hippocampus.
50-Mbs diffuse infrared free-space link using on-off keying with decision-feedback equalization

We report an experimental 50-Mb/s free-space infrared link for indoor wireless communication, which achieves low bit-error rates (BERs) in the presence of multipath distortion, shadowing, and ambient natural and artificial lighting. The eye-safe 805-nm transmitter, directed at the ceiling, emits an on-off-keyed signal having 475-mW average power. The receiver employs a 1-cm/sup 2/ silicon p-i-n photodiode coupled to a high-index hemispherical concentrator; which is covered by an optical bandpass filter of 30-nm bandwidth. A decision-feedback equalizer mitigates the effect of multipath ISI. In the presence of bright skylight, the link achieves a range of 2.9 mn at 10/sup -7/ BER. >
Insinuating the Product into the Message

Abstract The cozy arrangement of marketers embedding their products in mediated messages has its antecedents in radio and television, when sponsors often controlled the entirety of programs, from writing to casting to pitches for the products within the program. This essay sketches the rise and fall of this system as it paved the way for contemporary product placement.
Energy analysis of coal, fission, and fusion power plants

The method of net energy analysis has been applied to coal, fission, and fusion power plants. Energy consumption over the lifetime of the plants has been calculated for construction, operation and maintenance, fuel, public welfare, and land use and restoration. Thermal and electric energy requirements were obtained separately for each energy consuming sector. The results of the study are presented in three ways: total energy requirements, energy gain ratio, and payback periods. All three types of power plants are net producers of energy. The coal and fusion power plants are superior to fission plants from the energy efficiency point of view. Fission plants will improve considerably if the centrifuge replaces the gaseous diffusion as a method of enrichment.
Author's reply [to comments on "Resonant frequencies of rectangular microstrip antennas with flush and spaced dielectric superstrates"]

Bernhard and Tousignant (see IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol.47, p.302-308, Feb. 1999) replies that Mishra's (see IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagat., vol.51, no.4, p.917, 2003) makes the point that we do not consider the thickness of the spaced superstrate in the theoretical formulation. We already note this detail. The goal of the paper is to provide a closed-form model to predict the resonant frequency of a microstrip antenna with a spaced superstrate as accurately as possible given the tolerance ranges of the structure's electrical and physical parameters. For materials with relative permittivities less than 3, the data suggest that the thickness of the superstrate can be neglected without loss of accuracy in light of these tolerances.
Computational Modeling of Active Corrosion Inhibitor Release from an Al-Co-Ce Metallic Coating Protection of Exposed AA2024-T3

An Al-Co-Ce alloy coating has been developed for an AA2024-T3 substrate that can serve as barrier, sacrificial anode, and reservoir to supply soluble inhibitor ions to protect any defect sites. In this paper, the chemical throwing power of such an Al-Co-Ce metallic coating under thin electrolyte films representative of atmospheric conditions is modeled. The geometry is that of an Al-Co-Ce surface with the presence of a scratch simulating exposed AA2024-T3. The model calculates the time necessary to accumulate Ce +3 and Co +2 inhibitors over the scratch when released from the Al-Co-Ce coating under different conditions. The model factors in the pH-dependent passive dissolution rate of an Al-Co-Ce alloy to define the inhibitor release flux. Transport by both electromigration and diffusion are considered together. The effects of scratch size, initial pH, chloride concentration, and electrochemical kinetics of the material involved were studied. Sufficient accumulation of the released inhibitor (i.e., the Ce +3 concentration surpassed the critical inhibitor concentration over AA2024-T3 scratches) was achieved within a few hours (e.g., ∼4 h for scratches of S = 1500 μm) when the initial solution pH was 6 and the coating was adjacent to the AA2024-T3.
Production and detection of intermediate vector bosons and heavy leptons in pp and p ¯ p collisions

Prospect for the discovery of the charged and neutral intermediate vector bosons in high-energy nucleon---(anti)nucleon collisions are examined. Theoretical arguments for the existence of intermediate bosons are reviewed and the anticipated properties are enumerated. Detailed calculations based on the Drell-Yan model are presented for the production cross sections and for the distributions of decay products. On the basis of these computations the requirement r experimental detectors are assessed.
Nature of the enhanced optical absorption of dye-coated Ag island films

This paper reports the results of a calculation of the optical response of a hexagonal lattice of Ag spheroids coated with confocal layers of dye. The layered spheroid polarizability and the local field, which includes the effects of interactions with the quartz substrate, are calculated in the electrostatic limit. Using experimental data for a 60-A mass thick annealed Ag island film to determine the Ag spheroid aspect ratio and assuming a Lorentz oscillator response for the dye, it is shown that the absorption spectrum can exhibit three or more resonances depending on the strengths of the dye dispersion and the particle interactions. By comparing the power absorbed in the dye layer to the peak power absorbed by an equal volume of dye laid on a quartz substrate, it is shown that an absorption enhancement of the order of 10 can be obtained even when the molecular absorption energy is separated from the Ag spheroid plasma resonance by an electron volt or more. The enhancement is due to the amplification by the Ag core of the electric fields associated with the driven modes of the dye layer.
Relational aggression, positive urgency and negative urgency: predicting alcohol use and consequences among college students

Research on relational aggression (indirect and social means of inflicting harm) has previously focused on adolescent populations. The current study extends this research by exploring both the frequency of perpetrating and being the target of relational aggression as it relates to alcohol use outcomes in a college population. Further, this study examines whether positive urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to positive emotions) and negative urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to negative emotions) moderate the relationship between relational aggression and alcohol outcomes. In this study, 245 college students (65.7% female) completed an online survey. Results indicated greater frequency of perpetrating relational aggression, higher levels of positive urgency, or higher levels of negative urgency was associated with more negative consequences. Further, negative urgency moderated the relationship between frequency of perpetrating aggression and consequences such that aggression was more strongly associated with consequences for those high in urgency. Counter to the adolescent literature, the frequency of being the target of aggression was not associated with more alcohol use. These findings suggest that perpetrators of relational aggression may be at particular risk for negative alcohol-related consequences when they act impulsively in response to negative, but not positive, emotions. These students may benefit from interventions exploring alternative ways to cope with negative emotions.
Elevated ALCAM Shedding in Colorectal Cancer Correlates with Poor Patient Outcome

Molecular biomarkers of cancer are needed to assist histological staging in the selection of treatment, outcome risk stratification, and patient prognosis. This is particularly important for patients with early-stage disease. We demonstrate that shedding of the extracellular domain of ALCAM (Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule) is prognostic for outcome in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Previous reports on the prognostic value of ALCAM expression in CRC have been contradictory and inconclusive. This study clarifies the prognostic value of ALCAM by visualizing ectodomain shedding using a dual stain that detects both the extracellular and the intracellular domains in formalin-fixed tissue. Using this novel assay, 105 primary colorectal cancers patients and 12 normal mucosa samples were evaluated. ALCAM shedding, defined as detection of the intracellular domain in the absence of the corresponding extracellular domain, was significantly elevated in CRC patients and correlated with reduced survival. Conversely, retention of intact ALCAM was associated with improved survival, thereby confirming that ALCAM shedding is associated with poor patient outcome. Importantly, analysis of stage II CRC patients demonstrated that disease-specific survival is significantly reduced for patients with elevated ALCAM shedding (p=0.01, HR 3.0) suggesting that ALCAM shedding can identify patients with early stage disease at risk of rapid progression.
Neurophysiological Feature Detectors and Speech Perception: A Discussion of Theoretical Implications

The purpose of this paper is to promote consideration of a neurophysiologically oriented theory of speech perception. This theory holds that the phonological attributes of human speech are decoded ...
Outpatient minimally invasive parathyroidectomy: a combination of sestamibi-SPECT localization, cervical block anesthesia, and intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay.

Background: Despite the high cure rate and low morbidity of bilateral neck exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism, there is a movement toward minimizing the process in terms of incision, cost, extent of exploration, and length of hospital stay, while maintaining excellent outcomes. Methods: Between March and November 1998, 33 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism underwent minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. All had preoperative sestamibi-SPECT scans suggesting a single adenoma, underwent anterior cervical block anesthesia by the surgeon, and were explored through a 1- to 4-cm incision. Intraoperative parathyroid hormone assays were performed before and 5 to 10 minutes after parathyroid resection. Outcomes were compared with those of 184 consecutive patients who underwent bilateral parathyroid exploration under general anesthesia by the same surgeon between August 1990 and May 1996. Results: The mean age of the patients undergoing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy was 61 ± 2 years, and 24 of the 33 patients were women. Thirty (91%) had resection of a single adenoma under regional anesthesia; 26 of these were done as outpatient procedures. Three patients underwent conversion to general anesthesia for bilateral exploration and were found to have multigland disease (two double adenomas, one hyperplasia). All 33 patients were normocalcemic postoperatively. There was no morbidity. When the minimally invasive parathyroidectomy and bilateral parathyroid exploration groups were compared, they were found to be similar with respect to age, preoperative calcium and parathyroid hormone levels, cause of primary hyperparathyroidism, weight of resected glands, cure rates, and morbidity. However, the minimally invasive parathyroidectomy group had a significantly shorter length of hospital stay (0.3 ± 0.2 vs 1.8 ± 0.1 days, P < .001) and lower costs ($3174 ± $386 vs $6328 ± $292, P < .001). Conclusions: Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy is a safe, cost-effective alternative to bilateral exploration and may be the procedure of choice for select patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. (Surgery 1999;126:1016-22.)
Loss of optineurin in vivo results in elevated cell death and alters axonal trafficking dynamics.

Mutations in Optineurin have been associated with ALS, glaucoma, and Paget’s disease of bone in humans, but little is known about how these mutations contribute to disease. Most of the cellular consequences of Optineurin loss have come from in vitro studies, and it remains unclear whether these same defects would be seen in vivo. To answer this question, we assessed the cellular consequences of Optineurin loss in zebrafish embryos to determine if they showed the same defects as have been described in the in vitro studies. We found that loss of Optineurin resulted in increased cell death, as well as subtle cell morphology, cell migration and vesicle trafficking defects. However, unlike experiments on cells in culture, we found no indication that the Golgi apparatus was disrupted or that NF-κB target genes were upregulated. Therefore, we conclude that in vivo loss of Optineurin shows some, but not all, of the defects seen in in vitro work.
Toluene Disrupts Outer Hair Cell Morphometry and Intracellular Calcium Homeostasis in Cochlear Cells of Guinea Pigs

Abstract The aromatic hydrocarbon, toluene, has been demonstrated to disrupt auditory system function both in occupational epidemiological and in laboratory animal investigations. This agent, along with several other organic solvents, impairs hearing preferentially at middle frequencies—a finding that distinguishes these agents from the traditional high-frequency impairment observed with ototoxic drugs such as aminoglycoside antibiotics and cisplatin. Prior investigations have identified the outer hair cell as a probable target for toluene exposure, although studies designed to evaluate spiral ganglion cell impairment have not been reported. The purpose of this investigation was to determine directly whether outer hair cells isolated from the guinea pig cochlea show morphological alterations consistent with a toxic response to toluene exposure. Since slow adjustments of outer hair cell length can result from alteration in free intracellular calcium concentration, the effect of toluene on calcium homeostasis was monitored in both outer hair cells and spiral ganglion cells. A dose–response relationship was observed in the extent of outer hair cell shortening produced by toluene with a significant shortening observed at concentrations of 100 μ m and higher. By contrast, the nonototoxic solvent, benzene, produced little shortening at 100 μ m to 1 m m concentrations. Studies of calcium homeostasis conducted using the fluorescent probe, Fura-2, showed that toluene enhanced free intracellular calcium levels of both outer hair cells and spiral ganglion cells within 5 min of exposure at concentrations of 30 μ m and higher. Intracellular calcium levels were elevated only slightly following benzene administration at 1 m m , but not at lower concentrations. Cells cultured in artificial perilymph nominally containing no calcium and those to which EGTA was added still showed a maximal increase in intracellular calcium level when treated with toluene. These data indicate that the elevation in free intracellular calcium levels produced by toluene results from release of calcium from intracellular stores.
Life cycle and behaviour of Charoxus spinifer and Charoxus major (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), predators of fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae)

Charoxus spinifer is associated in southern Florida with native fig trees (Ficus aurea and Ficus citrifolia). Winged adult beetles, 3.0–3.6 mm long, mate on Ficus twigs outside the syconia (fruits), and enter the syconia through holes cut by male pollinating wasps. Adults and larvae eat adult wasps within the syconia. Ovaries hold few, large, mature eggs. Larvae develop through three instars. Fully grown larvae abandon the syconia, drop to the ground, burrow to a depth of 1.5–3.7 cm, spin a silken cocoon, and pupate. Pupal duration is 8–9 days. Larval populations are highest in May, when penultimate stage syconia (phase D) are most abundant, but were detected in all months except June. Charoxus major is reported from Veracruz, associated with Ficus lapathifolia. Its adults extract wasp occupants of galled fig ovaries within syconia, and its eggs were found singly in empty galls.
The Redding Tradition of Organizational Communication Scholarship: W. Charles Redding and his Legacy

W. Charles Redding's academic legacy, viewed over the course of his life, embodies the ways technical and pragmatic knowledge have developed in organizational, as well as managerial, communication. In this article, we identify four characteristics of the scholarly aspect of The Redding Tradition: belief in human progress through empirical investigations; power of critique; message exchange as the core of organizational communication; and the need to understand the socio‐historical and diverse theoretical underpinnings of our field.
Neutron-chamber detectors and applications

Abstract Detector applications in nuclear safeguards and waste management have included measuring neutrons from fission and (α, n) reactions with well-moderated neutron proportional counters, often embedded in a slab of polyethylene. Other less-moderated geometries are useful for detecting both bare and moderated fission-source neutrons with good efficiency. The neutron chamber is an undermoderated detector design comprising a large, hollow, polyethylene-walled chamber containing one or more proportional counters. Neutron-chamber detectors are relatively inexpensive, can have large apertures, usually through a thin chamber wall, and offer very good detection efficiency per dollar. For 10% of the cost, a neutron-chamber detector may give one-half the total detection efficiency of a slab detector for detecting neutrons from a distant, bare source. A nuclear-safeguards pedestrian monitor detects concealed plutonium using two such chamber detectors to form a walk-through portal. Neutron-chamber detectors have also been used for monitoring vehicles and for assaying large crates of transuranic waste. Our Monte Carlo calculations for a new application (monitoring low-density waste for concealed plutonium) illustrate the advantages of the hollow-chamber design for detecting moderated fission sources.
CONTIG EXPLORER: Interactive Marker-Content Map Assembly

In STS-content mapping of a region, multiple optimal or near-optimal putative orders of markers exist. Determining which of the markers in this region can be placed reliably on the physical map of the chromosome and which markers lack sufficient evidence to be placed requires software that facilitates exploratory sensitivity analysis and interactive reassembly with different subsets of the input data and that also assists the evaluation of any arbitrary (user-specified) marker order. We describe CONTIG EXPLORER, a package for interactive assembly of STS-content maps that provides the user with various ways of performing such analyses, thereby facilitating the design of laboratory experiments aimed at reducing ambiguity in STS order. We then compare the output of CONTIG EXPLORER with two other assembly programs, SEGMAP and CONTIGMAKER, for a region of chromosome 12p between 21 and 38 cM on the sex-averaged CEPH/Genethon linkage map.
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Type II in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients: incidence and complications.

OBJECTIVE Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Type II (HIT II) is the autoimmune-mediated severe form of the disease characterized by a significant reduction in platelets, and it carries a high risk of "paradoxical" serious thrombotic complications. Although HIT II has been studied in several different patient populations, the incidence of HIT II and the rate of thrombotic complications have never been reported in a neurosurgical patient population. Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients, among neurosurgical patient populations, have a high exposure to heparin because they are in critical care units and have indwelling vascular catheters. In addition, the increase in neuroendovascular procedures with the associated use of heparinization will increase the exposure of SAH patients to heparin. METHODS During a 3.5-year period (January 2000-June 2003), 389 consecutive SAH patients were treated at our center. We retrospectively reviewed their laboratory data and medical records and used accepted clinical criteria for the diagnosis of HIT II to determine the incidence of HIT II, thrombotic complications, management, and outcome. RESULTS Fifty-nine patients (15%) met the clinical diagnostic criteria for HIT II. The average platelet count nadir in the HIT II patients was 68,600 +/- 25,300/microl (mean +/- standard deviation). Female patients and patients with Fisher Grade 3 were more likely to develop HIT II (P < 0.01). Thirty-six patients (61%) underwent a neuroendovascular procedure. The rate of systemic thrombotic complications in the HIT II patients was 37 versus 7% in SAH patients without HIT II (P < 0.001), and the rate of new hypodensities on head computed tomographic scans was 66% in the HIT II patients versus 40% in the SAH patients without HIT II (P < 0.001). Clinical outcomes were worse in the HIT II patients. The outcome was favorable for 38% in the HIT II patients versus 52% in all SAH patients (P < 0.05), and deaths were more common (29%) in the HIT II patients than in all SAH patients (12%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION The incidence of HIT II in SAH patients at a single center was 15%. The SAH patients with HIT II had significantly higher rates of thrombotic complications, new hypodensities on head computed tomographic scans, more deaths, and significantly less favorable outcomes. This is the first report of the incidence of HIT II in a neurosurgical patient population.
An oxygen nonstoichiometry study of barium polytitanates with hollandite structure

Abstract A series of barium titanium oxides with various Ba/Ti ratios having a hollandite structure were obtained by firing chemical synthesized oxide precursors under reducing atmosphere conditions (H2/N2 gas mixture flow) at temperatures of 1100°C and above. An oxygen nonstoichiometry was determined by a thermogravimetric analysis through oxidizing in air. It was shown that barium titanium hollandites may adopt both oxygen excess and oxygen-deficient stoichiometries within the structure. As a limiting case the barium titanium hollandites with only tetravalent titanium ions were obtained. The influence of oxygen nonstoichiometry on the hollandite monoclinic–tetragonal phase transition and a barium superstructure ordering was investigated and discussed. Distortion scaling rules are considered to compare this work with earlier investigations on hollandites.
A comparison between the sensitivity behavior of direct and long‐lived classical trajectories and quantum wave packets

We compare the sensitivities to initial conditions for both direct (regular) and long‐lived (chaotic) trajectories in classical scattering calculations with the corresponding properties of trajectories of position and momentum expectation values for quantum wave packets. The collinear H+H2 reaction is used as an example. The results show that the high sensitivity seen in chaotic trajectories is not reflected in the quantum dynamics. We conclude that it is possible for a classical ensemble consisting of only regular trajectories to respond trajectory by trajectory to perturbations in much the same way as a quantum wave packet. (There will of course be cases that are exceptions to this rule.) The response of an ensemble consisting of chaotic trajectories may on the average be similar to that of a wave packet, but not at the level of individual trajectories. In addition, the sensitivities of these trajectories to variations in the potential are analyzed. We conclude that the large contributions to the sensit...
Acoustic emission and phase transitions in YBa2Cu3O7-x

Abstract Intense acoustic emission signals were detected at and below 450°C as a superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7- x ceramic was cooled in air from 800°C. This is attributed to oxygen ion ordering at the orthorhombic I to II transition. This corroborates the reported abrupt changes in T c from 60 to 90 K as YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7- x is annealed at 400°C after quenching from 600°C. No acoustic emission signals were detected during heating from 25°C to 800°C and during cooling from 800°C down to 450°C.
The Role of Empathetic Concern and Communication on Job Tension and Job Satisfaction of Customer Service Employees

The authors examine a model of empathetic behavior introduced in the social and clinical psychology literature to determine whether empathy contributes significantly to the job satisfaction or job tension of customer service employees. Both job satisfaction and job tension were found to be influenced by the level of .empathetic concern employees had towards customers, the amount of emotional contagion they experienced, and the degree of communicative responsiveness expressed. Results suggest that management should hire empathetic individuals, develop empathetic skills among their employees, and empower them to act accordingly. Findings have applicability to all service related organizations and businesses.
Are the circular, dark features on Comet Borrelly's surface albedo variations or pits?

Abstract The highest resolution images of Comet 19P/Borrelly show many dark features which, upon casual inspection, appear to be low albedo markings, but which may also be shadows or other photometric variations caused by a depression in the local topography. In order to distinguish between these two possible interpretations we conducted a photometric analysis of three of the most prominent of these features using six of the highest quality images from the September 22, 2001 Deep Space 1 (DS1) flyby. We find that: 1. The radiance in the darkest parts of each feature increases as phase angle decreases, similarly to the radiance behavior of the higher albedo surrounding terrain. The dark features could be either fully illuminated low albedo spots or, alternatively, they could be depressions. No part of any of the three regions was in full shadow. 2. One of the regions has a radiance profile consistent with a rimmed depression, the second, with a simple depression with no rim, and the third with a low albedo spot. 3. The regolith particles are backscattering and carbon black is one of the few candidate regolith materials that might explain this low albedo. We conclude that Borrelly's surface is geologically complex to the limit of resolution of the images with a combination complex topography, pits, troughs, peaks and ridges, and some very dark albedo markings, perhaps a factor of two to three darker than the average 3–4% albedo of the surrounding terrains. Our technique utilizing measured radiance profiles through the dark regions is able to discriminate between rimmed depressions, rimless depressions and simple albedo changes not associated with topography.
On geometric sequences of reflection coefficients and Gaussian autocorrelations

The author shows that by interpreting the lattice filter as a discrete transmission line, the problem of determining the reflection coefficients associated with a Gaussian autocorrelation can be solved easily using the Schur algorithm. These reflection coefficients have been shown to be in geometric progression; it is claimed that this has been done in a much simpler and more enlightening manner than in the presentation of G. Jacoriti and G. Scarano (see ibid., vol.75, no.7, p.960-961, 1987). The geometric progression of reflection coefficients leads to a stationarity property of the discrete transmission line, which accounts for the striking simplicity of the expressions for the waves traveling in the line. >
De Pelayo a Belay: la batalla de Covadonga según los historiadores árabes

Se sublevo en tierras de Galicia un asno salvaje llamado Belāy. Ibn Ḥayyān La historia del rey Pelayo y la batalla de Covadonga es, que duda cabe, una de las leyendas mas importantes de la historio...
Hα Emission 11 Kiloparsecs above M82

We report the discovery of Hα emission associated with the redshifted lobe of the M82 superwind extending out to a projected distance of 11 kpc from the disk of M82, which is 3 times farther than previously identified emission-line components associated with the nuclear superwind. The Hα emission can be traced nearly continuously for 10' northwest of M82 out to an emission-line structure (the cap) that lies at a projected distance of 11-12 kpc from the M82 nucleus. The cap has a shell-like morphology, is blueshifted by 50-200 km s-1 relative to the M82 nucleus, and is visible in a ROSAT PSPC image of the region. We consider two possible models for the Hα bright cap: it may be a bow shock formed by the impact of the superwind, either with previously emitted wind material or with ambient intergalactic material and/or tidal debris left over from the interaction between M81 and M82; or it may trace photoionized material illuminated by Lyman continuum photons leaking out of the M82 nuclear region through the hot bipolar cavity produced by the starburst-driven superwind.
Ultrafast x-ray pulses emitted from a liquid mercury laser target.

We report the generation of ultrashort, hard-x-ray pulses from a liquid mercury target irradiated by 5kHz laser pulses. The new x-ray source is designed for time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy as well as imaging applications. This marks the first laser-driven plasma x-ray source that continuously recycles the target material, facilitating maintenance-free operation. Theoretical calculations show mercury targets emit shorter x-ray pulses than targets of lighter elements under identical illumination and x-ray detection conditions.
Evolution of bimodal distributions in the sintering of model supported metal catalysts

Abstract Model Pt/γ-Al 2 O 3 catalysts were prepared and characterized in our laboratories. They were sintered in flowing oxygen at 600 °C for up to 24 h. Particle sizes, shapes, and relative positions were determined from bright field images, and crystal structures from diffraction in the transmission electron microscope. Ion scattering spectroscopy gave surface compositions. The platinum particles in the unsintered samples were uniformly sized and evenly distributed upon the support. The sintered samples contained some larger particles, along with smaller (2-nm) particles that uniformly covered the support surface, giving rise to a bimodal size distribution. The average size of the particles in the larger mode increased with time, while both the size and the number of the particles in the smaller mode remained substantially constant. The average size of the larger particles after 24 h sintering was compared to a theoretical model that considers Ostwald ripening and particle migration. Agreement between the calculated and the observed distributions requires a lower than expected value for the metal-support interfacial tension. The value is consistent with the presence of metal oxide rather than metal in contact with the support. Surface analysis showed that at least the free surface of the metal particles is oxidized, while electron microscopy indicates that the interior remains as metal. This structure is also expected to affect the particle size distribution by promoting splitting until the entire particle is converted to oxide.
The beneficial effect EDTA on development of mouse one-cell embryos in chemically defined medium.

Abstract An improved methology for culturing noninbred (ICR) mouse one-cell embryos is described. The successful development of one-cell embryos into blastocysts in chemically defined (Whitten's) medium was significantly enhanced by the presence of EDTA. More than 70% of ICR one-cell embryos developed into blastocysts in Whitten's medium in the presence of 10.8 μM EDTA, while, without EDTA, only 15–30% of embryos reached blastocyst stage. A concentration of 10.8 μM EDTA also promoted the development of 65–90% of inbred C57BL 6 one-cell embryos in Whitten's medium. This beneficial role of EDTA is probably related to the chelation of some metal ion(s) other than Ca2+ or Mg2+.
Direct Visualization of Water-Induced Relocation of Au Atoms from Oxygen Vacancies on a TiO2(110) Surface

Variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to show that Au1+ deposited onto a TiO2(110)-(1 × 1) surface under soft-landing conditions at 600 K results in a surface decorated w...
Suppression of amber mutants in vitro induced by low temperature.

Amber mutations are efficiently and specifically suppressed during protein synthesis in vitro in an Su− S-30 extract at 25 °C, but not at 37 °C. Eight different amber mutations in three different genes have been tested, and all are suppressed. The efficiencies of suppression range from 20 to 35%, when protein synthesis is at the Mg2+ concentration optimal for β-galactosidase synthesis at 25 °C. The suppression efficiency increases to approximately 60% at higher Mg2+ concentrations, and is reduced to less than 5% at very low concentrations. Ochre and UGA mutations are not suppressed at all under these conditions. The amber suppression is inhibited by addition of a purified protein synthesis release factor to the reaction, or when the protein synthesis reaction takes place in extracts derived from bacteria which are streptomycin-resistant.
Distribution of genes for gap junction membrane channel proteins on human and mouse chromosomes.

Gap junctions are widely distributed structures that mediate communication between cells. The channels that allow passage of small molecules between adjacent cells are made up of oligomeric proteins (connexins) that are encoded by a family of related genes. By probing somatic cell hybrid DNA on Southern filters with rat or human cDNAs or human genomic fragments, we have mapped four functioning gap junction genes, (α1, β1, β2, and α3), to different sites on human chromosomes:GJA1 (connexin43) to 6p21.1–q24.1;GJB1 (connexin32) to Xcen-q22;GJB2 (connexin26) to 13; andGJA3 (connexin46) also to 13, probably nearGJB2. The GJA3 probe also hybridized to a restriction fragment that was mapped to chromosome 1. A GJA1-related pseudogeneGJA1P was assigned to chromosome 5. The homologous loci in mouse were assigned to regions of known conserved syntenic groups:Gja-1 to chromosome 10;Gjb-1 to XD-F4 andGjb-2 to 14. Of two sites of hybridization with the GJA3 probe, on mouse 14 and 5, we assume that the site on 14 corresponds to theGJA3 locus on human 13. Based on these data, additional members of this family of related genes can be isolated and characterized, and possible human and mouse mutations can be identified.