cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
System Characterization and Design Using Mechanical Impedance Representations

Vibration testing is a critical aspect in the qualification of fieldable hardware as dynamic environments are typically design drivers, especially in the case of airborne and space-borne systems. However, when testing components or small subassemblies, it is challenging to match the boundary conditions presented by the true installation interface, which can greatly influence the outcome and inferences of a vibration test campaign. Strategically designed test fixtures, which emulate the impedance of the next level of assembly, can more effectively emulate the boundary conditions present in the fielded system. The objective of this paper is to present an approach to impedance matched fixture design, which requires matching both the transfer and output impedances of the true system. The analyses presented within this paper focus on techniques for matching the drive point impedance, which requires correct solutions for both the transfer and output impedances. The impedance matching approach will utilize undamped lumped parameter systems and highlight the advantages of characterizing the high and low frequency behavior. Additionally, closed form representations of these high and low frequency characteristics will be presented for easily realizable 1D lumped parameter systems.
Mantle cell lymphoma-management in evolution

The management of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) has been an area of rapid change in recent years. These changes have improved the prognosis for a disease that has had historically poor outcomes. There are several treatment options for the patient with newly diagnosed MCL, with younger, fit patients often receiving intensive treatment, while less intensive strategies have been used for older, less fit patients. The past few years has also seen the arrival of several novel agents used in the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease. These targeted therapies combine relatively high response rates with a favorable side-effect profile making them ideal agents for use in this patient population.
Strain-induced phase transition in ultra-thin KTN crystals

Curie Temperature plays an important role in the applications of KTN crystals. However, every crystal is grown with a fixed Curie temperature. In this study, we present a method of manipulating the Curie temperature using strain. This could optimize the performance of our KTN deflectors and other applications.
Herbivory improves the fitness of predatory beetles

While many predatory arthropods consume non-prey foods from lower trophic levels, little is known about what drives the shift from predator to omnivore. Predatory lady beetles often consume non-prey foods like plant foliage and pollen. One species, Coccinella septempunctata, eats foliage to redress sterol deficits caused by eating sterol-deficient prey. Here we explore how omnivory benefits lady beetle fitness. We reared seven species of lady beetles-from five genera distributed across the tribe Coccinellini-on pea aphids in the presence or absence of fava bean foliage; pea aphids have very low sterol content. Foliage supplements lengthened the development times of four species and decreased survival to adulthood of two species; it had no effect on adult mass. We mated beetles in a 2 × 2 factorial design (males with or without foliage paired with females with or without foliage). For each species, we observed a profound paternal effect of foliage supplements on fitness. Females mated to foliage-supplemented males laid more eggs and more viable eggs compared to females mated to non-supplemented males. Foliage-supplemented males produced 2.9-4.6 times more sperm compared to non-supplemented males for the three species we examined. We analysed the sterol profile of four beetle species reared on pea aphids-with or without foliage-and compared their sterol profile to field-collected adults. For two laboratory-reared species, sterols were not detected in adult male beetles, and overall levels were generally low (total ng of sterol/beetle range: 3-33 ng); the exception being Propylea quatuordecimpunctata females (total ng of sterol/beetle range: 50-157 ng). Laboratory-reared lady beetle sterol content was not significantly affected by the presence of foliage. Field-collected beetles had higher levels of sterols compared to laboratory-reared beetles (2,452-145,348 ng per beetle); cholesterol and sitosterol were the dominant sterols in both field-collected and laboratory-reared beetles. Our findings indicate that herbivory benefits lady beetle fitness across the Coccinellini, and that this was entirely a paternal effect. Our data provide a rare example of a nutritional constraint impacting fitness in a sex-specific manner. It also shows, more broadly, how a nutritional constraint can drive predators towards omnivory.
Amygdala Hypoconnectivity and Emotional Blunting in Pediatric Moderate/Severe TBI (2686)

Objective: To test the hypothesis that limbic circuits are particularly vulnerable to traumatic brain injury (TBI), which may underlie the socioemotional dysfunction seen in this population. Background: Nearly 40% of survivors of TBI suffer from long-term disabilities including socioemotional dysfunction. Such disability often remains undetected and undertreated, partly because of gaps in understanding and targeting the neural circuitry responsible. Here, we leverage a componential framework from my prior work in healthy adults and patients with frontotemporal dementia in which I parsed socioemotional behavior into distinct, large-scale networks centralized on the amygdala. Design/Methods: We studied 19 patients (mean age: 17, SD +/− 2) 13–19 months after moderate/severe TBI recruited from 4 pediatric intensive care units as well as 44 well-matched healthy controls (HC). Resting-state fMRI and T1 MPRAGE images underwent typical preprocessing, denoising, coregistration, and analyses in CONN Toolbox to compare connectivity within the a priori amygdala resting-state networks across groups. Results: Patients with TBI demonstrated reduced connectivity within the medial amygdala network as compared to the HC group. This network contains structures involved in reward- and goal-based behavior. Patients with TBI who had the slowest interhemispheric transfer time on an ERP paradigm showed the greatest hypoconnectivity in this network, particularly with regions in the medial temporal and prefrontal cortices. Within the TBI group, those with the greatest medial amygdala hypoconnectivity showed the lowest emotional and behavioral reactivity on two independent parent report scales but connectivity had not association with a working memory. None of these findings could be explained by potential confounds. Conclusions: Medial amygdala circuitry might be particularly vulnerable to TBI, especially for those children with slower interhemispheric transfer time. This hypoconnectivity is likely clinically relevant in that it predicts differences in affective but not cognitive measures. It may be useful as a biomarker for neuropsychological function after TBI and a potential therapeutic target. Disclosure: Dr. Bickart has nothing to disclose. Dr. Olsen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dennis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Babikian has nothing to disclose. Dr. Asarnow has nothing to disclose. Dr. Giza has nothing to disclose.
The Moderating Effect of Faculty Mentorship on Undergraduate Students’ Summer Research Outcomes

This study focused on answering the research question: What are the independent and combined effects of student characteristics and faculty mentorship on the quality of summer undergraduate researc...
Rewriting the playbook: infection prevention practices to mitigate nosocomial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission.

Purpose of review Given the limited evidence and experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this novel pathogen has challenged the field of infection prevention. Despite uncertainty, infection prevention principles and experience with similar diseases have helped guide how to best protect providers and patients against disease acquisition. Recent findings Guidance to date has relied on data from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV to guide practices on patient isolation and personal protective equipment (PPE) use. Although a face mask and eye protection are likely adequate for most clinical scenarios, published guidelines for PPE can be confusing and conflicting. Consensus for what constitutes a high-risk aerosol-generating procedure (AGP) is lacking, but most agree providers performing procedures such as bronchoscopy, intubation, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation would likely benefit from the use of an N95 respirator and eye protection. Summary Needed research to elucidate the predominant SARS-CoV-2 mode of transmission is not likely to be completed in the immediate future. Recommendations for PPE to mitigate procedure-associated risk remain controversial. Nonetheless, implementation of existing measures based on basic infection prevention principles is likely to prevent transmission significantly.
Breaking the spell: Narrative Medicine applications for Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures (PNES).

Abstract Narrative Medicine (NM) sessions draw out the patient’s narrative of illness or injury and treatment in the context of the patient’s whole life story. The focus is to discover topics and areas in the patient’s narrative that the patient needs to explore. PNES may be understood in many cases as a communication disorder in which distress is expressed somatically in a pathological way instead of an adaptive and verbal manner. Patients with PNES are frequently misdiagnosed, and accurate diagnosis may be delayed for many years. PNES may cause severe disruption of the patient’s quality of life in terms of employment or schooling as well as relationships and activities of daily living. NM sessions encourage patients to communicate more effectively about their unspeakable distress and reclaim their lives from the communication disorder of PNES. Narrative writing exercises have also proven helpful for patients facing a variety of traumas and major stresses in situations similar to those faced by patients with PNES. This paper is a narrative review with an illustrative case report indicating NM applications to help a patient with PNES to communicate about a traumatic past that has been avoided and address psychogenic symptoms.
Geostar – A ‘Shovel Ready’ Geostationary Microwave Sounder

A geostationary microwave sounder, capable of providing temperature, water vapor, clouds, precipitation, and wind in the presence of clouds, convection and precipitation, will add tremendously to our ability to observe dynamic atmospheric phenomena, such as hurricanes and severe storms, monsoonal moisture flow, atmospheric rivers, etc. Such a sensor is now feasible, enabled by technology that has been developed under NASA's Instrument Incubator Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Geostationary Synthetic Thinned Aperture Radiometer (GeoSTAR) is essentially an “AMSU in GEO”, i.e. it has similar capabilities as AMSU would have if it were operating on a geostationary satellite, but with similar spatial resolution. GEO orbits are almost 50 times higher than the LEO orbits that current AMSUs operate from, and the corresponding scaling of aperture size required to maintain spatial resolution has stymied the development of such a sensor for many decades. The aperture synthesis approach implemented with GeoSTAR finally overcomes that obstacle, and the large number of microwave receivers and associated electronics required is made possible with new technology that has now been developed. A low-cost mission operating as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite has been designed and is “shovel-ready”. The objectives of such a mission could be to advance our understanding and modeling of storm processes that control rapid or explosive intensification of hurricanes, mesoscale convective systems, and extratropical cyclones, or it could be to support operational weather forecasting and nowcasting. Retrieval of temperature and water vapor profiles is possible even in the presence of moderate precipitation, and with the ability to derive horizontal wind vectors by tracking water vapor features, a rich set of parameters measuring the thermodynamics, dynamics and convection and sampled every 15 minutes, will enable significant progress in storm science and forecasting.
Impact of pre-ablation weight loss on the success of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Introduction Obesity is an established risk factor for recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF) after ablation. The impact of pre-procedure weight changes on freedom from AF (FFAF) after ablation in obese and non-obese patients is unknown. Methods A single-center retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation was performed. Prior to ablation, all candidates were encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyle habits according to American Heart Association guidelines, including weight loss, by their physician. The primary endpoint was FFAF through 1-year after completion of the 3-month blanking period. Results Of the 601 patients (68% male; average age 62.1 ± 10.3 years) included in analysis, 234 patients (38.9%) were obese (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30) and 315 (52.4%) had paroxysmal AF. FFAF was observed in 420 patients (69.9%) at 15 months. Percent change in weight that occurred during the year prior to ablation independently predicted FFAF through 15-months in all patients (adjusted OR=1.17, 95% CI: 1.11-1.23). Subgroup analyses based on paroxysmal vs persistent AF, presence of obesity, and history of prior ablation were performed. Percent change in weight over the year prior to ablation was independently associated with FFAF in all subgroups except non-obese patients with persistent AF. Conclusions Pre-ablation weight loss was associated with FFAF in both obese and non-obese patients. Further studies are needed to define the optimal approach to weight loss prior to AF ablation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Advanced methods for RNA recovery from petroleum impacted soils.

Abstract Microbially-mediated hydrocarbon degradation is well documented. However, how these microbial processes occur in complex subsurface petroleum impacted systems remains unclear, and this knowledge is needed to guide technologies to enhance microbial degradation effectively. Analysis of RNA derived from soils impacted by petroleum liquids would allow for analysis of active microbial communities, and a deeper understanding of the dynamic biochemistry occurring during site remediation. However, RNA analysis in soils impacted with petroleum liquids is challenging due to: (A) RNA being inherently unstable, and (B) petroleum impacted soils containing problematic levels of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors that must be removed to yield high-purity RNA for downstream analysis. A previously published soil wash pretreatment step and a commercially available DNA extraction kit protocol were combined and modified to be able to purify RNA from soils containing petroleum liquids. • A key modification involved reformulation of the pretreatment solution via replacing water as the diluent with a commercially-available RNA preservation solution. • Methods were developed and demonstrated using cryogenically preserved soils from three former petroleum refineries. Results showed the new soil washing approach had no adverse effects on RNA recovery but did improve RNA quality, by PCR inhibitor removal, which in turn allows for characterization of active microbial communities present in petroleum impacted soils. • In summary, our method for extracting RNA from petroleum-impacted soils provides a promising new tool for resolving metabolic processes at sites as they progress toward restoration via natural and/or engineered remediation.
Direct Democracy, Populism, and the Rule of the Right People

Direct democracy is not a populist goal.—Nadia Urbinati, Me the People, 2019The Swiss republic is the world’s preeminent practitioner of direct democracy.—John G. Matsusaka, Let the People Rule, 20...
The Acoustics of Flow over Rough Elastic Surfaces

This paper summarizes an analytical model approach for calculating flow induced sound from either elastic or rigid surfaces with small roughness. The analytical approach used here provides a result for both the wave number-frequency spectrum of the structure’s excitation pressure and the structure’s response to that pressure and can be applied to many types of uneven surfaces, such as those on which are dispersed 2 or 3 dimensional deterministic or random geometric shape irregularities. This paper is focused on 3 dimensional distributed roughness elements. The shape of the unevenness protrudes into the boundary layer above it, acting as a flow spoiler and generating forces and wakes in the immediate region of the roughness element. It is assumed that these shapes are small and in the range of 10 to several hundred viscous scales. We will discuss the effects of surface elasticity on the ability of these sources to produce sound in regions both above the surface (on the flow side for both elastic and inelastic surfaces) and below the surface on the quiescent fluid side (in the case of elastic surfaces). A method for modeling forcing functions will also be presented in the context of the overall theory. The unevenness is presumed to be small enough, or of such a nature, as to not affect the basic elasticity of the surface. In the subject case of rough walls, analytical results will be compared with both aero-acoustics measurements made in multiple facilities and large eddy simulations. All research was made possible by a recent program sponsored by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research.
Light Within or Beacon Without? An Evaluation of the Impact of Evangelicalism on Quakers 1820-1840

This paper examines why the evangelical revival became such an important issue for the Society of Friends in the early nineteenth century. The focus is on the conflict that evangelicalism aroused between 1835 and 1840 with the Beacon controversy and the resultant challenge to the concept of the inward light. The shifting attitudes of Quakers are situated in their contemporary world, in which fundamental changes were occurring in almost every sphere. The position is taken that the wider context of economic growth and political reform provoking social action contributed to evangelicalism making inroads into Quaker belief. The close-up image compares Quakers in Manchester and Kendal and looks at their reactions to the controversy. The wealth, reputation and upward mobility of many leading Quakers by the 1830s, gives credence to my view that evangelical belief and action for them justified their social standing in the eyes of God and man. This was in opposition to the belief in the authority of an unverifiable inward light which required a certain passivity and inaction.
Hydrolysis and other cleavages of glycosidic linkages in polysaccharides

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the cleavage of glycosidic linkages useful for the analysis of oligo- and polysaccharides. The cleavage of glycosidic linkages of larger oligo- and polysaccharides is necessary to determine the monosaccharides that compose the larger carbohydrate. Hydrolysis—that is, the cleavage of a bond by the addition of the elements of a water molecule, is the most common method for the cleavage of glycosidic linkages. Hydrolysis is carried out in aqueous solutions with an acid catalyst, although some special-purpose hydrolyses, such as the liberation of carbohydrate chains from glycoconjugates, require alkaline catalysts. Common acid catalysts are hydrochloric, sulfuric, and trifluoroacetic acids. Glycosidic linkages may also be cleaved in other solvents such as methanol. In this case, water is rigorously excluded so that the elements of a molecule of methanol are added across the glycosidic linkage to afford the methyl glycosides. Methanolysis is usually catalyzed by the addition of dry hydrogen chloride to methanol. Other solvents, such as acetic anhydride-acetic acid (acetolysis) and formic acid (formolysis), are occasionally used for special purposes.
Robust stability, adjoints and LQ control of scale delay systems

The Lyapunov-Krasovskii theory is used to derive sufficient conditions for robust stability (independent of delay) for a special class of functional differential systems with time variant delays. The existence of a triple of positive definite matrices satisfying a certain Riccati-like equation is shown to imply the robust stability. The connection between Hurwitz stability and Schur-Cohn stability of certain system matrices with this Riccati equation is presented. The approach readily yields stabilizability conditions under state feedback. The adjoint equations and optimal LQ control for such systems are derived. It is shown that the optimal regulator involves the feedback of a formal series of point delayed states. A sufficient condition for convergence of this series is given.
Lymphokine modulation of fibroblast proliferation.

In an experimental model of interstitial nephritis resulting in fibrosis, lymphokines secreted by a common population of antigen-reactive T lymphocytes have been shown to exert a bidirectional influence on fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis. We report that these lymphokines can be chromatographically separated into two fractions. The larger m.w. fraction stimulated fibroblast proliferation whereas the smaller m.w. fraction was inhibitory. These results further clarify potentially important immune regulators of fibrogenesis.
The Law, The Writer and The Work: How an Author's Interaction with the Legal System Impacts His Writing

By tracing the lives led by four famous authors and exploring the societies that produced them, this article will show how law effects literature in ways that many readers may not notice. Rather than explore what was expressed by the author, this work will examine the effect the background of the author has on the tone of the works of literature which they produce, the effect the law and their culture's legal system had on their background, and how the characteristics of the cultures and authors reflect the characteristics of the governing legal system. Ultimately, this piece shows that, rather than a society's legal system reflecting its underlying culture, the power of the law has the ability to shape the culture that it is supposed to serve.
Limits of Enceladus's ice shell thickness from tidally driven tiger stripe shear failure

[1] Enceladus's south polar thermal anomaly and water-rich plumes suggest the existence of a subsurface ocean, which is overlain by an ice shell of uncertain thickness. Our objective is to constrain Enceladus's ice shell thickness, through assessment of tidally driven Coulomb failure of Enceladus's tiger stripe faults. We find that thin to moderate ice shell thicknesses (<40 km) support shear failure along the tiger stripes, assuming low ice coefficients of friction (0.1–0.3) and shallow fault depths (<3 km). These results are marginally consistent with the minimum ice shell thickness which can permit convection within Enceladus's ice shell. A plausible scenario is one in which the heat loss and tectonic style of Enceladus has changed through time, with convection initiating in a thick ice shell, and tiger stripe activity commencing as the ice shell thinned.
Ventricular cycle length characteristics estimative of prolonged RR interval during atrial fibrillation.

Background When atrial fibrillation (AF) is incessant, imaging during a prolonged ventricular RR interval may improve image quality. It was hypothesized that long RR intervals could be predicted from preceding RR values.
Riding the multimedia big data wave

In this talk we present a perspective across multiple industry problems, including safety and security, medical, Web, social and mobile media, and motivate the need for large-scale analysis and retrieval of multimedia data. We describe a multi-layer architecture that incorporates capabilities for audio-visual feature extraction, machine learning and semantic modeling and provides a powerful framework for learning and classifying contents of multimedia data. We discuss the role semantic ontologies for representing audio-visual concepts and relationships, which are essential for training semantic classifiers. We discuss the importance of using faceted classification schemes in particular for organizing multimedia semantic concepts in order to achieve effective learning and retrieval. We also show how training and scoring of multimedia semantics can be implemented on big data distributed computing platforms to address both massive-scale analysis and low-latency processing. We describe multiple efforts at IBM on image and video analysis and retrieval, including IBM Multimedia Analysis and Retrieval System (IMARS), and show recent results for semantic-based classification and retrieval. We conclude with future directions for improving analysis of multimedia through interactive and curriculum-based techniques for multimedia semantics-based learning and retrieval.
Momentum and mass transfers in the surface boundary layer

Results are presented from six micrometeorological studies conducted over a grass turf at Davis, California, in 1966 and 1967. Highly reliable surface drag and evaporation data from very sensitive lysimeters of 6·1 m diameter afforded excellent opportunity to evaluate several parameters important to aerodynamic-prediction equations. For the six studies the mean von Karman constant, k, ranged from 0·40 to 0·44, strongly supporting continued acceptance of k at around 0·42. The Monin-Obukhov (1954) universal ϕM function was found to vary as ∣Ri∣−1/3 under near-free convection, indicating significantly greater diabatic profile effects than suggested in the form of the KEYPS profile as given by Sellers (1965). Empirical relationships providing excellent fit to experimental data for the range −3·5 < Ri < 0·3, were ϕM = (1–16 Ri)−1/3 and ϕM = (1 + 16Ri)1/3 respectively for unstable and stable conditions. For ϕw corresponding expressions were ϕw = ·885 (1–22 Ri)−.40 and ϕw = ·885 (1+34 Ri).40. The ratio KW/KM showed a systematic drop from 1·13 at neutral to a value around 0·75 under strongly stable conditions, which conflicts with recent reports of no change of KH/KM within a wide range of stable conditions (Laykhtman and Panomareva 1969; Webb 1970; Oke 1970). The UCD results are in general agreement with the literature in that KW/KM systematically increased with increasing instability. In the range 0 > Ri > −2·0, KW/KM increased from 1·13 to 1·6. No expressions relating ϕM and ϕW or KW/KM to z/L are presented due to uncertainties in Davis z/L data. However, use of Davis Ri data in several published z/L (Ri) relationships, allowed a limited comparison with results of previous studies.
REDUCED LEVEL OF PLASMA ANTIOXIDANT URIC ACID IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

There is evidence of dysregulation of the antioxidant defense system in schizophrenia. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether uric acid, a potent antioxidant, is reduced in the plasma of patients with schizophrenia. To this end, a within-subject, repeated measures, on-off-on haloperidol treatment design was utilized. Male schizophrenic patients with either a haloperidol treatment (n=47) or a drug-free condition (n=35) had significantly lower levels of plasma uric acid than the age- and sex-matched normal control subjects (n=34). Following haloperidol withdrawal, plasma uric acid levels were further reduced in schizophrenic patients (P=0.018; paired t-test, n=35). However, no relationship was found between uric acid levels and the length of the drug-free period ( 5 weeks) or days drug free. In addition, the plasma levels of uric acid in patient groups were significantly and inversely correlated with psychosis. There was a trend for lower uric acid levels in relapsed patients relative to clinically stable patients. Smoking, which can modify plasma antioxidant capacity, was not found to have prominent effects on uric acid levels. The present finding of a significant decrease of a selective antioxidant provides additional support to the hypothesis that oxidative stress in schizophrenia may be due to a defect in the antioxidant defense system.
Painful Bladder Filling and Painful Urgency are Distinct Characteristics in Men and Women with Urological Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes: A MAPP Research Network Study

Purpose: We describe bladder associated symptoms in patients with urological chronic pelvic pain syndromes. We correlated these symptoms with urological, nonurological, psychosocial and quality of life measures.Materials and Methods: Study participants included 233 women and 191 men with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome or chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome in a multicenter study. They completed a battery of measures, including items asking whether pain worsened with bladder filling (painful filling) or whether the urge to urinate was due to pain, pressure or discomfort (painful urgency). Participants were categorized into 3 groups, including group 1—painful filling and painful urgency (both), 2—painful filling or painful urgency (either) and 3—no painful filling or painful urgency (neither).Results: Of the men 75% and of the women 88% were categorized as both or either. These bladder characteristics were associated with more severe urological symptoms (increased pain, frequency a...
Attitudes towards alcoholics anonymous by dually diagnosed psychiatric inpatients.

Abstract Self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have been viewed as beneficial adjuncts to comprehensive treatment programs for the treatment of alcohol use disorders. The usefulness of such programs for individuals with dual psychiatric disorders has not been established. This study examined the alcohol and psychiatric treatment histories of 60 psychiatric inpatients with concomitant alcohol use or abuse with attention to the frequency and correlates with past AA attendance. Most subjects reported feeling comfortable with the basic tenets of AA; neither diagnosis nor gender was related to AA participation, belief in its basic tenets, or willingness to attend AA in the future. Regular, past attendance at AA was surprisingly high (37%) and was not different for individuals with schizophrenic spectrum disorders compared to those with other psychiatric disorders. The majority reported plans to attend AA as part of their outpatient treatment program. The potential benefits of AA for dual diagnos...
Stage I carcinoma of the endometrium: A 5-year experience utilizing preoperative cesium

A treatment protocol for the management of stage I endometrial carcinoma utilizing preoperative cesium is evaluated. One hundred and twelve consecutive patients were treated according to this protocol over a 5-year period. Based on this experience and a literature review a new protocol is recommended. The significant changes include primary surgery without preoperative cesium, primary treatment based on grade without regard to uterine size, modified radical hysterectomy for G3 tumors, pelvic radiotherapy for clear cell carcinoma confined to the pelvis regardless of depth of invasion, cytoxan, adriamycin, and cis-platinum for papillary serous tumors, and postoperative vaginal cuff cesium for G2 and G3 tumors not requiring pelvic radiotherapy.
Error and performance feedback processing by children with Specific Language Impairment—An ERP study

The study evaluates error and feedback related processing in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), and in age and gender matched controls. Participants performed two tasks which varied in the extent to which feedback was provided following each response. Although no group differences were found in accuracy and response time measures, children with SLI corrected a smaller proportion of their errors in comparison with the control group. Neurophysiological data pointed to error and feedback processing differences between the two groups. Errors committed by the control group elicited error-related ERP components (ERN, Pe), while these components were attenuated in the SLI group. A posterior positivity was elicited in association with incorrect responses in both groups. When a feedback stimulus informed the participants about the accuracy of the response, the feedback, rather than the response, elicited an ERN in the control group, while no ERN was elicited in the SLI group. These results suggest that children with SLI have an impaired ability to self-monitor performance and to take advantage of performance feedback.
Virion Incorporation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 Vif Is Determined by Intracellular Expression Level and May Not Be Necessary for Function

The viral infectivity factor (Vif) of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) functions at a late stage of the viral life cycle to confer infectivity on progeny virions. Although Vif is present in HIV-1 particles, both the relevance of incorporation for function and the mechanism that underlies incorporation remain unresolved. Using matched T cell systems that express high or low levels of Vif, we demonstrate that the extent of Vif incorporation into virions varies in relation to cellular expression levels. Because viral infectivity is not affected by these variations, we suggest that the packaging of Vif is neither specific nor necessary for function.
Night length measurements by the circadian clock controlling diapause induction in the mosquito Aedes atropalpus

Night interruption experiments were used to investigate the behavior of the clock controlling diapause induction in the mosquito, Aedes atropalpus. The data from these experiments indicated that the clock included a circadian oscillator which was phase set at dusk. Following this event the oscillator proceeded to drive a nightly rhythm of sensitivity to light. This rhythm included a photoinducible phase where light interruption inhibited diapause. The photoinducible phase was fixed, occurring 7 to 9 hr after dusk in all photoperiod regimens tested. The photoinducible phase was followed by a refractory phase, which continued until dawn. During the refractory period light did not inhibit diapause. These observations indicated that the circadian clock behaved like an interval timer which was set at dusk. The rhythm of sensitivity to light, an inherited time scale, limited the induction of diapause to seasonal periods when nights were longer than 9 hr. As a result, diapause was induced only when the daylength dropped below the critical photoperiod of L15:D9 (hours of light:hours of dark). A ‘T’ experimental design was used to confirm the importance of the length of the night in clock controlled induction of diapause in this mosquito.
Temporal and Spatial Stability of Soil Test Parameters Used in Precision Agriculture

Abstract Variable‐rate technology provides crop producers with the opportunity to vary the crop and soil management practices. The objective of this study was to assess the temporal and spatial stability of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), zinc (Zn), pH, and soil organic matter (OM) for precision nutrient management. This study was conducted over three growing seasons on a continuous maize (Zea Mays L.) production field in northeastern Colorado, USA. Soil samples were collected using a soil sample grid size of 76.2 m×76.2 m. The field was classified into areas of low, medium, and high productivity potential management zones. Spatial statistical analysis was performed. Measured soil parameters varied significantly over space and time (p<0.01). Management zones were effective in identifying homogenous subregions within the field across time (p<0.01). The data suggest that management zones account for spatial and temporal variability for the various soil parameters evaluated in this study.
Thyrotoxic myopathy in mice: Accentuation by a creatine transport inhibitor

To demonstrate the importance of creatine and phosphocreatine in skeletal muscle during periods of metabolic stress, thyrotoxicosis was induced in mice fed the creatine transport inhibitor, beta-guanidinopropionic acid (beta-GPA). Adding 2% of beta-GPA to the diet of normal mice inhibited weight gain and caused a 75% reduction of creatine and phosphocreatine concentrations in skeletal muscle. Addition of 0.25% or 2% of thyroid powder to the diet of normal mice was associated with hyperactivity, cardiomegaly, and a high mortality rate. Superimposing thyrotoxicosis on mice already depleted of creatine and phosphocreatine resulted in degeneration of muscle fibers. These results indicate that high concentrations of creatine and phosphocreatine are essential for the maintenance of muscle integrity during periods of metabolic stress.
Genomic approaches with natural fish populations

Natural populations v. inbred stocks provide a much richer resource for identifying the effects of nucleotide substitutions because natural populations have greater polymorphism. Additionally, natural populations offer an advantage over most common research organisms because they are subject to natural selection, and analyses of these adaptations can be used to identify biologically important changes. Among fishes, these analyses are enhanced by having a wide diversity of species (>28 000 species, more than any other group of vertebrates) living in a huge range of environments (from below freezing to > 46 degrees C, in fresh water to salinities >40 ppt.). Moreover, fishes exhibit many different life-history and reproductive strategies and have many different phenotypes and social structures. Although fishes provide numerous advantages over other vertebrate models, there is still a dearth of available genomic tools for fishes. Fishes make up approximately half of all known vertebrate species, yet <0.2% of fish species have significant genomic resources. Nonetheless, genomic approaches with fishes have provided some of the first measures of individual variation in gene expression and insights into environmental and ecological adaptations. Thus, genomic approaches with natural fish populations have the potential to revolutionize fundamental studies of diverse fish species that offer myriad ecological and evolutionary questions.
Identification of cDNAs encoding bovine cyclin B and Cdk1/Cdc2

Abstract cDNA sequences encoding homologs of cyclin B and Cdk1/Cdc2 were isolated from bovine blastocyst-stage embryos produced in vitro. The bovine CycB sequence is 1548 nucleotides (nt) in length and contains the conserved motif ‘FLRRXSK’, characteristic for known cyclin B proteins. The deduced protein contains 427 amino acids (aa) and has an estimated mass of 47653 Da. The bovine cdkl/cdc2 sequence is 1275 nt in length and contains the highly conserved motif ‘EGVPSTAIREISLLKE’. The deduced protein contains 297 aa (33931 Da).
EFFECTS OF RECRUITMENT/DERECRUITMENT DYNAMICS ON THE EFFICACY OF VARIABLE VENTILATION

Variable (or noisy) ventilation (VV) has been demonstrated in animal models of acute lung injury to be superior to constant (or conventional) ventilation (CV), in terms of improved gas exchange and mitigation of lung injury, for reasons that are not entirely clear. We hypothesized that the efficacy of VV is related to the fact that recruitment and derecruitment of lung units are dynamic processes. To test this hypothesis, we modeled the lung computationally as a symmetrically bifurcating airway tree terminating in elastic units. Each airway was fully open or completely closed, at any point in time, according to its pressure history. The model is able to accurately mimic previous experimental measurements showing that the lungs of mice injured by acid aspiration are better recruited after 60 min of VV than CV. The model also shows that recruitment/derecruitment dynamics contribute to the relative efficacy of VV, provided lung units open more rapidly than they close once a critical opening or closing pressure threshold has been crossed. We conclude that the dynamics of recruitment and derecruitment in the lung may be important factors responsible for the benefits of VV compared with CV.
Invasion of non-native grasses causes a drop in soil carbon storage in California grasslands

Vegetation change can affect the magnitude and direction of global climate change via its effect on carbon cycling among plants, the soil and the atmosphere. The invasion of non-native plants is a major cause of land cover change, of biodiversity loss, and of other changes in ecosystem structure and function. In California, annual grasses from Mediterranean Europe have nearly displaced native perennial grasses across the coastal hillsides and terraces of the state. Our study examines the impact of this invasion on carbon cycling and storage at two sites in northern coastal California. The results suggest that annual grass invasion has caused an average drop in soil carbon storage of 40 Mg/ha in the top half meter of soil, although additional mechanisms may also contribute to soil carbon losses. We attribute the reduction in soil carbon storage to low rates of net primary production in non-native annuals relative to perennial grasses, a shift in rooting depth and water use to primarily shallow sources, and soil respiratory losses in non-native grass soils that exceed production rates. These results indicate that even seemingly subtle land cover changes can significantly impact ecosystem functions in general, and carbon storage in particular.
Noisy channel adaptation in language identification

Language identification (LID) of speech data recorded over noisy communication channels is a challenging problem especially when the LID system is tested on speech data from an unseen communication channel (not seen in training). In this paper, we consider the scenario in which a small amount of adaptation data is available from a new communication channel. Various approaches are investigated for efficient utilization of the adaptation data in a supervised as well as unsupervised setting. In a supervised adaptation framework, we show that support vector machines (SVMs) with higher order polynomial kernels (HO-SVM) trained using lower dimensional representations of the the Gaussian mixture model supervectors (GSVs) provide significant performance improvements over the baseline SVM-GSV system. In these LID experiments, we obtain 30% reduction in error-rate with 6 hours of adaptation data for a new channel. For unsupervised adaptation, we develop an iterative procedure for re-labeling the development data using a co-training framework. In these experiments, we obtain considerable improvements(relative improvements of 13 %) over a self-training framework with the HO-SVM models.
Speech enhancement by residual domain constrained optimization

Abstract A new algorithm for the enhancement of speech corrupted by additive noise is proposed. This algorithm estimates the linear prediction residuals of the clean speech using a constrained optimization criterion. The signal distortion is minimized in the residual domain subject to a constraint on the average power of the noise residuals. Enhanced speech is obtained by exciting the time-varying all-pole synthesis filter with the estimated residuals of the clean speech. The proposed method was tested with speech corrupted by both white Gaussian and colored noise. The enhancement performances were evaluated in terms of segmental signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and ITU-PESQ scores. Experimental results indicate our method yields better enhancement results than a former residual-weighting scheme [Yegnanarayana, B., Avendano, C., Hermansky, H., Murthy P.S., 1999. Speech enhancement using linear prediction residual. Speech Commun. 28, 25–42]. The proposed method also achieves better noise reduction than the time-domain subspace method [Ephraim, Y., Van Trees, H.L., 1995. A signal subspace approach for speech enhancement. IEEE Trans. Speech Audio Process. 3, 251–266] on real world colored noise.
Goals indicate motivation to quit smoking

Aims To test if goals indicate motivation to quit smoking and predict which smokers will make a quit attempt. Design A 28-day natural history feasibility study of smoking cessation and reduction. Setting The study was conducted via telephone calls and mailings. Participants A total of 186 cigarette smokers. Measurements At baseline participants reported one of the following goals for the next 30 days: to quit abruptly, quit gradually, reduce but not quit, or not change their smoking. They also reported motivation to quit smoking on an Intention to Quit Ladder. Throughout the study they reported their cigarette consumption via daily telephone messages. Findings Self-reported motivation to quit differed among goals (F = 286.6, df = 3, P < 0.01). Goals significantly predicted the likelihood of making a quit attempt in the 28 days of the study. In comparison to smokers with the goal of not changing, smokers with a goal of quitting abruptly were more likely to make a quit attempt [relative risk (RR) = 9.6, P < 0.01], as were those with a goal of quitting gradually (RR = 4.5, P = 0.01). Those with a goal of reducing only appeared to be more likely to make a quit attempt than those with a goal of not changing, but the difference was not statistically significant (RR = 3.1, P = 0.15). Smokers with a goal of quitting abruptly were more likely to make a quit attempt than those with a goal of quitting gradually (RR = 2.1, P < 0.05). Conclusions Goals indicate not only preferred method of change but also motivation. Differences in gradual versus abrupt cessation outcomes may be due to motivational rather than methodological differences. Those who plan to quit gradually or reduce only may need additional motivational interventions.
Natural free-running period in vertebrate animal populations.

Regression analysis (analysis of covariance) is contrasted with the conventional "mean period length" for estimating the length of period of the spontaneous activity frequency (free-running period) in population samples of Gila monsters ( Heloderma suspectum ) and kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys merriami ) in the Sonoran Desert. The mean period length in each population does not differ significantly from 24:00 hours ( P > .05) and it does not differ significantly ( P > .05) between the species studied; the probability that the free-running period a(in constant dark) in natural populations of Gila monsters and kangaroo rats is different from 24:00.0 is less than 1 in 1000 ( P
Cell exudation and cell adhesion.

Abstract Experiments are described in which the exudation of 51 Cr-labelled material from fibroblasts and Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cells was correlated with their adhesion to cellular and noncellular surfaces, in vitro. A correlation coefficient of greater than + 0.90 was obtained for adhesion of cells to glass and the release associated with it for both cell types. The release per cell for EAT cells adhering to a fibroblast monolayer was greater than for a glass substrate. Fibroblasts showed no significant difference between adherence to glass or to a fibroblast monolayer. The apparent “substratum specificity” of 61 Cr-release exhibited by the EAT cells, and its apparent loss by the fibroblasts is discussed.