cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Orthographic influence on spoken word identification: Behavioral and fMRI evidence.

Abstract The current study investigated behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for orthographic influences on auditory word identification. To assess such influences, the proportion of similar sounding words (i.e. phonological neighbors) that were also spelled similarly (i.e., orthographic neighbors) was computed for each auditorily presented word as the Orthographic-to-Phonological Overlap Ratio (OPOR). Speech intelligibility was manipulated by presenting monosyllabic words in multi-talker babble at two signal-to-noise ratios: + 3 and + 10 dB SNR. Identification rates were lower for high overlap words in the challenging + 3 dB SNR condition. In addition, BOLD contrast increased with OPOR at the more difficult SNR, and decreased with OPOR under more favorable SNR conditions. Both voxel-based and region of interest analyses demonstrated robust effects of OPOR in several cingulo-opercular regions. However, contrary to prior theoretical accounts, no task-related activity was observed in posterior regions associated with phonological or orthographic processing. We suggest that, when processing is difficult, orthographic-to-phonological feature overlap increases the availability of competing responses, which then requires additional support from domain general performance systems in order to produce a single response.
Factors associated with long-term mechanical ventilation in extremely preterm infants

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with long-term intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) in extremely preterm infants. METHODS Study setting was a ten bed pod (SBP) part of the Level IV all referral NICU, dedicated to the care of infants born at <27 weeks and which utilizes a protocol-driven approach to care. All admissions to the SBP from 2005 to 2011 were included if admitted in the first week of life and alive at 56 days of age. RESULTS There were 210 patients and 35% were on IPPV for ≥56 days (for the purposes of this study defined as long-term IPPV). Long-term IPPV patients were born earlier, had lower birth weight, were admitted later, and more likely to come from a level III NICU. LTV patients were more likely to have a PDA ligation, receive dopamine, receive TPN longer, and receive supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks PMA. In logistic regression modeling transfer from another Level III NICU (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.5-9.2, p = 0.006) and recieveing dopamine (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.5-6.3, p = 0.002) were associated with long-term IPPV. CONCLUSIONS In this cohort of infants born at <27 weeks gestation 35% were on long term IPPV. There are identifiable factors known on admission and occurring during the NICU stay that are associated with long-term IPPV.
Risk Assessment of Critical Carotid Stenosis Treatment: Suggestions for Perioperative Management

Carotid stenosis is typically caused by an atherosclerotic plaque that is most ­commonly found in the internal carotid artery at the point of bifurcation of the common carotid artery. It is classified as asymptomatic if there have been no ischemic events related to it, or symptomatic if there is a history of a stroke or transient ischemia attack (TIA). Carotid stenosis is evaluated by carotid ultrasound, magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) with or without contrast, CT angiogram (CTA) or angiogram. MRA and ultrasound are typically screening tests, and CTA and/or angiogram are usually done before carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid artery stenting (CAS) to accurately assess the degree of stenosis. Intervention is indicated for those with 70–99% stenosis but not for those with complete occlusion. It may be beneficial for those with 50–69% stenosis in centers known to have a very low surgical morbidity and mortality.
Algebraic Models of Hadrons

A brief introduction to the method of spectrum generating algebras and dynamic symmetries is given. Applications of the method to the structure of hadrons (mesons and baryons) are presented.
Umweltschutz in der Chemischen Industrie

Nach der Art ihrer Tatigkeit ist die chemische Industrie zu charakterisieren als Industriegruppe „die mit Hilfe von chemischen und physikalischen Verfahren, durch Stoffumwandlung und -veredelung sowie Weiterverarbeitung eine grose Menge von Produkten herstellt“ (Schworm, K. 1967, S. 12). Jedoch ist eine derartige technologische Definition alleine nicht eindeutig, denn man zahlt Industriezweige wie die Erdolverarbeitung oder die Glasindustrie, die obige Definitionskriterien im spezialisierten Rahmen ihrer Geschaftstatigkeit ebenso erfullen, gemeinhin nicht zur chemischen Industrie (vgl. Kolbel, H. / Schulze, J. 1970, S. 5).
Historical Trends in the Recognition and Assessment of Childhood Psychopathology

Surprisingly, the scientific study of childhood psychopathology is of relatively recent origin, primarily dating since the early 1900s. There seem to have been several important historical trends that resulted in a failure to recognize the importance of assessing, diagnosing, and treating mental disorders in children. One important factor was certainly the comparable lack of attention paid to the psychological problems of adults until the late 1800s. Thus, early views of children’s psychological problems closely paralleled those of adult’s mental disorders. These views of psychopathology through the ages will be described in more detail later. As will be discussed, the lack of any theoretical framework for investigating psychopathology greatly hindered progress.
Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer

The roles we are beginning to assign to nutrition and diet as facotrs in the causation of cancer are only one aspect of the realization that these are of major importance to human health in many ways other than just in growth and development. Nutritional science is coming to have a special application in surgery, in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, and it is even being recognized as important in studies of pharmacology and toxicology.
Earth's Subdecadal Angular Momentum Balance from Deformation and Rotation Data.

Length-of-Day (LOD) measurements represent variations in the angular momentum of the solid Earth (crust and mantle). There is a known ~6-year LOD signal suspected to be due to core-mantle coupling. If it is, then the core flow associated with the 6-year LOD signal may also deform the mantle, causing a 6-year signal in the deformation of the Earth’s surface. Stacking of Global Positioning System (GPS) data is found to contain a ~6-year radial deformation signal. We inverted the deformation signal for the outer core’s flow and equivalent angular momentum changes, finding good agreement with the LOD signal in some cases. These results support the idea of subdecadal core-mantle coupling, but are not robust. Interpretation of the results must also take into account methodological limitations. Gravitational field changes resulting from solid Earth deformation were also computed and found to be smaller than the errors in the currently available data.
Ruminal impaction in a miniature zebu steer

An approximately one-year-old miniature zebu steer was examined for lethargy, anorexia and decreased faecal output of one day’s duration. Based on the steer’s history of malnourishment, physical examination and abdominal radiographic images, ruminal impaction was discussed as the top differential diagnosis. Exploratory flank laparotomy and rumenotomy demonstrated severe ruminal impaction of primarily hickory nuts with additional fibrous feed material, sand and two small, blunt, metallic objects. These materials were manually removed, and the rumen and reticulum were thoroughly lavaged. The steer recovered well from general anaesthesia and was treated with repeated orogastric transfaunation postoperatively. The steer did well for the remainder of his hospitalisation, was returned to a normal diet, resumed passage of normal faeces and was discharged three days postoperatively.
A Proposed Amendment to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to Crack Down on Corruption in the Environmental Crime Scene

Corruption in the global, political and economic systems and the exploitation of natural resources account for many of the world’s most extreme cases of environmental injustice and human rights abuses. Corruption can be considered a catalyst for environmental crime because it plays an important role in signing and forging import and export certifications, unlawfully clearing customs, issuing licenses, facilitating fraudulent trade and the transportation of illicit goods and “turning a blind eye.” Environmental crime is one of the most profitable forms of criminal activity, generating profits in the amount of tens of billions of dollars for criminal enterprises each year, and it is vastly expanding. A disproportionately high percentage of environmental crime occurs in disadvantaged communities that lack sufficient resources to prevent the crime or impose penalties on the perpetrator. The FCPA contains an exception for “routine governmental action” — more commonly referred to as the “facilitating payments” or “grease payments” exception — which is a highly debated topic within FCPA law because it is difficult to distinguish an act that is “ordinarily and commonly performed” from an act that would be deemed “part of the decision-making processes.” This loophole has led to a “gray area of corruption” because it has effectively blurred the distinction between acceptable facilitating payments and illegal bribes. Environmental regulation in any country gives rise to opportunities for exchanges between government officials and individuals in the private sector, and each point of contact creates an opportunity to pay a bribe or seek improper influence. Many of the payments made to foreign officials throughout these standard regulatory processes or procedures fall within this “gray area of corruption.” This Article proffers a proposed amendment to the FCPA that repeals and replaces the facilitating payments exception and requires the DOJ’s Attorney General to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat corruption in the context of environmental crime.
Neutrophilic proteolysis in the cystic fibrosis lung correlates with a pathogenic microbiome.

Studies of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung microbiome have consistently shown that lung function decline is associated with decreased microbial diversity due to the dominance of opportunistic pathogens. However, how this phenomenon is reflected in the metabolites and chemical environment of lung secretions remains poorly understood. Here we investigated the microbial and molecular composition of CF sputum samples using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and untargeted tandem mass spectrometry to determine their interrelationships and associations with clinical measures of disease severity. The CF metabolome was found to exist in two states: one from patients with more severe disease that had higher molecular diversity and more Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the other from patients with better lung function having lower metabolite diversity and fewer pathogenic bacteria. The two molecular states were differentiated by the abundance and diversity of peptides and amino acids. Patients with severe disease and more pathogenic bacteria had higher levels of peptides. Analysis of the carboxyl terminal residues of these peptides indicated that neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G were responsible for their generation, and accordingly, these patients had higher levels of proteolytic activity from these enzymes in their sputum. The CF pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa was correlated with the abundance of amino acids and is known to primarily feed on them in the lung. In cases of severe CF lung disease, proteolysis by host enzymes creates an amino acid-rich environment that P. aeruginosa comes to dominate, which may contribute to the pathogen’s persistence by providing its preferred carbon source.
Hybrid Learning Approach of Combining Cluster-Based Partitioning and Hidden Markov Model for IoT Intrusion Detection

Internet of Things (IoT) is a global network that connects various types of objects "things" via internet. It becomes a core technology for various applications and more and more embedded within our daily lives and businesses. As the technology grows and evolves a number of issues will arise and be focused on in IoT, Security is one of the central issues in IoT in the last decade. However, most of today's IoT intrusion detection systems suffer from high false alarms rate with moderate accuracy and detection rates when it's not able to detect all types of IoT intrusions correctly. To overcome this problem, hybrid techniques are used. In this paper, hybrid learning approach combining partitioning clustering techniques with Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed approach using K-Medoids has improved the detection rate as well as decreased the false positive rate.
Dependence-Biased Clustering for Variable Selection with Random Forests

Abstract We introduce a method for selecting a small subset of informative, non-redundant predictors from a set of input variables, given an output variable. The core of this method is a novel measure of variable importance, which is an enhancement of the so-called “conditional permutation importance” (CPI). In CPI, the importance of an input variable is measured by the expected increase of a random forest (RF)’s prediction error when such variable is randomly permuted within certain groups of observations. While CPI obtains these groups from the stochastic recursive partitions that the RF carries out on the input space, our measure relies on a new approach that groups observations by means of a special form of clustering, which optimally leverages the structure of dependences existing between input variables. We show that our measure can be effectively used to recursively eliminate both unimportant and redundant input variables. Extensive experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of our method in comparison with many RF-based methods for variable selection.
Percutaneous Transesophageal Access for Enteral Feeding Tube Placement.

The purpose of this study was to describe our experience with percutaneous transesophageal enteral feeding tube placement when percutaneous gastrostomy tube placement is not feasible. A retrospective review was performed from July 2018 to March 2019. Thirteen patients (9 females, 4 males), (age range 22–80 years; mean age, 55 years; mean body mass index of 24.6) underwent placement of 14 percutaneous transesophageal enteral feeding tubes. Relative contraindications to standard gastrostomy tube placement included: prior gastric surgery (5 patients), severe contractures/large body habitus (2), abdominal mesh (1), high riding stomach (1), interposition of bowel (1), ascites (1), and refractory gastrostomy tract leak (1). Patients were evaluated for functionality of the tube, complications, and patients’ satisfaction with physical examination at 24 h, review of electronic medical record and phone interviews at 1 month, and 3-month follow-up. Complications were classified according to the CIRSE guidelines. Technical success rate was 100% with placement of seven percutaneous transesophageal gastrostomy tubes and seven percutaneous transesophageal jejunostomy tubes. One patient underwent tube placement twice after dislodgement. At 3-month follow-up, two patients had died, one patient was lost to follow-up, and 11 patients had properly working tubes. No major complications occurred. Minor complication rate was 43% (6/14). Patient’s satisfaction scores ranged from “poor” 2/11 (18%) or “neutral” 4/11 (36.4%) to “satisfied/very satisfied” 5/11 (45.3%). Percutaneous transesophageal enteral feeding tube placement is feasible with a low complication rate. A majority of patients were either satisfied or neutral with the transesophageal enteral tube.
How Actors Can Animate Game Characters: Integrating Performance Theory in the Emotion Model of a Game Character

Despite the development of sophisticated emotion models, game character facial animation is still often completed with laborious hand-controlled key framing, only marginally assisted by automation. Behavior trees and animation state machines are used mostly to manage animation transitions of physical business, like walking or lifting objects. Attempts at automated facial animation rely on discrete facial iconic emotion poses, thus resulting in mechanical “acting”. The techniques of acting instructor and theorist Sanford Meisner reveal a process of role development whose character model resembles components of Appraisal Theory. The similarity conjures an experiment to discover if an “emotion engine” and workflow method can model the emotions of an autonomous animated character using actor-centric techniques. Success would allow an animation director to autonomously animate a character’s face with the subtlety of gradient expressions. Using a head-shot video stream of one of two actors performing a structured Meisner-esque improvisation as the primary data source, this research demonstrates the viability of an actor-centric workflow to create an autonomous facial animation system.
NMR-based metabolomic profile of cold stun syndrome in loggerhead Caretta caretta, green Chelonia mydas and Kemp's ridley Lepidochelys kempii sea turtles in North Carolina, USA

In North Carolina, winter weather events causing sea surface temperatures to acutely drop below approximately 12°C may result in strandings of threatened loggerhead Caretta caretta, green Chelonia mydas and endangered Kemp's ridley Lepidochelys kempii sea turtles due to cold stun syndrome. Clinically, these turtles have been shown to have metabolic and respiratory acidosis. The purpose of this study was to apply NMR-based metabolomics to further our understanding of the pathogenesis of cold stun syndrome in sea turtles. Heparinized whole blood and plasma samples were collected from apparently healthy loggerhead (whole blood n = 8), green (whole blood n = 12, plasma n = 10) and Kemp's ridley (whole blood n = 14, plasma n = 10) sea turtles. Blood and plasma samples were also collected from juvenile, in-water or beach-cast cold stun affected sea turtles (loggerhead n = 9, green n = 11, Kemp's n = 6). We identified 18 metabolites in our spectra including amino acids, energy compounds, glycerol, ketone bodies, nucleosides/nucleotides, organic acids and osmolytes. There were several significant differences between metabolites in control and affected turtles, likely secondary to anorexia, such as differences in dimethyl sulfone, glycerol, leucine, isoleucine and trimethylamine N-oxide concentrations. Significant differences in multiple metabolites related to exertion and anaerobic metabolism included concentrations of acetate, creatine, lactate and succinate. Changes in glycerol and propylene glycol concentrations suggest some metabolic changes may have cold protective properties. The primary metabolomic findings were consistent with what is known about clinical biochemistry and blood gas panel perturbations in cold stun affected turtles. This study provides a baseline for the metabolic profile of control and cold stun affected sea turtles in North Carolina and we have identified several metabolites worthy of further investigation with regards to their roles in hypoxia, ischemia and reperfusion.
Contingency target assessment, trajectory design, and analysis for NASA's NEA scout solar sail mission

Abstract The presented study examines contingency target selection and trajectory design for NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission under the assumption of a missed lunar gravity assist. Two previously considered asteroids are selected as potential targets for the given scenario based on favorable orbital characteristics for launch dates ranging from June 27, 2020 through July 26, 2020. Initially, a simplified circular restricted 3-body problem + ideal solar sail model is utilized to survey trajectory options for a month-long launch window. Selected solutions from this data set are then converged in an N-body ephemeris + non-ideal sail model. Results suggest that NEA Scout can still perform asteroid rendezvous mission under the missed lunar gravity assist scenario with new targets, 2019 GF1, 2018 PK21, and 2007 UN12, based on the target launch dates. Further target assessment is carried out for 165 days beyond the current June 27, 2020 launch date.
Anterior Cerebral Artery Bypass for Complex Aneurysms: Advances in Intracranial-Intracranial Bypass Techniques.

Background Anterior cerebral artery (ACA) bypasses for complex aneurysms are infrequently performed, yet previous experience demonstrates the importance of intracranial-intracranial bypasses. Here we describe technical advances in intracranial-intracranial bypass techniques and their clinical results. Methods Twenty-three patients with complex aneurysms requiring ACA bypasses were retrospectively studied. Ten patients were treated in period 1 (1997–2013) and 13 in period 2 (2014–2018). Results There were 3 precommunicating, 8 communicating, and 8 postcommunicating ACA aneurysms, plus 4 middle cerebral artery aneurysms. ACA in situ bypass was the most commonly performed (9 patients; 39%). The classic left A3 ACA–right A3 ACA in situ bypass was performed in 5 patients, but 3 new in situ variations emerged in period 2: left pericallosal artery (PcaA)–right PcaA (n = 1), left callosomarginal artery (CmaA)–right CmaA (n = 2), and left CmaA–right A3 ACA (n = 1). The sole reimplantation in period 1 was the ipsilateral and vertical PcaA-CmaA reimplantation, whereas reimplantations in period 2 were contralateral and horizontal (left PcaA–right PcaA and right A3 ACA–left anterior internal frontal artery). The A1 ACA was used as a donor only in period 2 in 4 patients with middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysms. Bypass patency was 91%, and 21 patients (91%) improved or remained at neurologic baseline (mean [standard deviation] follow-up duration, 26 [8.2] months). Conclusions ACA bypass techniques continue to evolve with the addition of several variations. These variations push bypass techniques beyond the standard constructs and add important alternatives to our bypass arsenal.
Disease Site-Specific Guidelines for Curative Radiation Treatment During 'Limited Surgery' and 'Hospital Avoidance': A Radiation Oncology Perspective From the Epicenter of COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented situation where the standard of care (SOC) management for cancers has been altered significantly. Patients with potentially curable cancers are at risk of not receiving timely SOC multidisciplinary treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or combination treatments. Hospital resources are in such high demand for COVID-19 patients that procedures, such as surgery, dentistry, interventional radiology, and other ancillary services, are not available for cancer patients. Our tertiary care center is considered the center of the epicenter in the USA. As a result, all non-emergent surgeries have been suspended in order to provide hospital beds and other resources for COVID-19 patients. Additionally, ambulatory efforts to avoid treatment-related morbidity are critical for keeping patients out of emergency departments and hospitals. In this review article, we discuss evidence-based radiation therapy approaches for curable cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on three scenarios of cancer care: 1) radiation therapy as an alternative to surgery when immediate surgery is not possible, 2) radiation therapy as a 'bridge' to surgery, and 3) radiation options definitively or postoperatively, given the risk of hospitalization with high-dose chemotherapy.
Decentralized machine-learning-based predictive control of nonlinear processes

Abstract This work focuses on the design of decentralized model predictive control (MPC) systems for nonlinear processes, where the nonlinear process is broken down into multiple, yet coupled subsystems and the dynamic behavior of each subsystem is described by a machine learning model. One decentralized MPC is designed and used to control each subsystem while accounting for the interactions between subsystems through feedback of the entire process state. The closed-loop stability of the overall nonlinear process network and the performance properties of the decentralized model predictive control system using machine-learning prediction models are analyzed. More specifically, multiple recurrent neural network models suited for each different subsystem need to be trained with a sufficiently small modeling error from their respective actual nonlinear process models to ensure closed-loop stability. These recurrent neural network models are subsequently used as the prediction model in decentralized Lyapunov-based MPCs to achieve efficient real-time computation time while ensuring closed-loop state boundedness and convergence to the origin. The simulation results of a nonlinear chemical process network example demonstrate the effective closed-loop control performance when the process is operated under the decentralized MPCs using the independently-trained recurrent neural network models, as well as the improved computational efficiency compared to the closed-loop simulation of a centralized MPC system.
Critical review on PFOA, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer.

The carcinogenicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been reviewed previously by several different regulatory agencies and researchers, with contradictory conclusions–especially regarding epide...
Gamma: leveraging Gustavson’s algorithm to accelerate sparse matrix multiplication

Sparse matrix-sparse matrix multiplication (spMspM) is at the heart of a wide range of scientific and machine learning applications. spMspM is inefficient on general-purpose architectures, making accelerators attractive. However, prior spMspM accelerators use inner- or outer-product dataflows that suffer poor input or output reuse, leading to high traffic and poor performance. These prior accelerators have not explored Gustavson's algorithm, an alternative spMspM dataflow that does not suffer from these problems but features irregular memory access patterns that prior accelerators do not support. We present GAMMA, an spMspM accelerator that uses Gustavson's algorithm to address the challenges of prior work. GAMMA performs spMspM's computation using specialized processing elements with simple high-radix mergers, and performs many merges in parallel to achieve high throughput. GAMMA uses a novel on-chip storage structure that combines features of both caches and explicitly managed buffers. This structure captures Gustavson's irregular reuse patterns and streams thousands of concurrent sparse fibers (i.e., lists of coordinates and values for rows or columns) with explicitly decoupled data movement. GAMMA features a new dynamic scheduling algorithm to achieve high utilization despite irregularity. We also present new preprocessing algorithms that boost GAMMA's efficiency and versatility. As a result, GAMMA outperforms prior accelerators by gmean 2.1x, and reduces memory traffic by gmean 2.2x and by up to 13x.
Fifteen-Year Trends in Incidence of Cardiogenic Shock Hospitalization and In-Hospital Mortality in the United States.

Background There is a lack of contemporary data on cardiogenic shock (CS) in‐hospital mortality trends. Methods and Results Patients with CS admitted January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2018, were iden...
The Optimal Construction of Internationally Diversified Equity Portfolios Hedged Against Exchange Rate Uncertainty

Much of the empirical work on hedging exchange rate exposure in portfolios of financial assets has used a unitary hedge ratio, or a currency overlay. Alternatively, the currencies themselves can be treated as assets and the position in them optimized. This study empirically tests whether the ex post results of recent studies, which conclude that currencies should themselves be optimized, stand up under parameter uncertainty. It may very well be that ex ante, when parameter inputs must be estimated from historical data, the attempt to determine the optimal currency weights results in inferior performance in comparison to using a simple unitary hedging strategy, or even unhedged international investment. The results suggest that a local currency return unitary hedging strategy works best in the presence of parameter uncertainty.
Dementia Care Involvement and Training Needs of Social Services Directors in U.S. Nursing Homes.

This study describes social services directors’ involvement in dementia care in U.S. nursing homes, focusing on interest in and needs for dementia care training. Respondents were 924 social service...
Prospects for Perovskites in Space

In support of a sustainable human-lunar presence, there is a need for very large (>100kW) and high-voltage-capable solar arrays, estimated to cost over $150M. Perovskite-based thin film photovoltaics offer substantial advantages over state of the art solar arrays from the perspective of manufacturing large arrays. Many of the challenges perovskite solar cells experience in terrestrial operations, e.g degradation caused by moisture and oxygen exposure, are not applicable in long-term space applications. The solar cells must present thermal and vacuum stability and achieve relatively high power conversion efficiencies to become the next generation space photovoltaic technology. Data suggest that judicious choice of material interlayers plays a strong role in thermal vacuum performance. Perovskites regularly achieve ~23% single junction efficiencies but efficiencies in excess of 30% are possible via tandem devices. Perovskites present many opportunities for integration into multi-junction devices with preliminary investigations and perovskite-silicon, perovskite-CIGS and perovskite-perovskite tandems may be suitable for operation in space. Here we provide an overview of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funded research program to develop novel materials to enable the implementation of perovskite photovoltaic devices long-duration operation in space.
Embracing the Promise and Potential of Preschool-Age Black Boys: Strength-Based Opportunities for Early Childhood School Psychologists

Although extensive research illustrates the numerous benefits associated with attending a high-quality early childhood education program, preschool-age Black boys are not equitable beneficiaries of...
Diffusion in Stoichiometric Close-Packed Oxides

The bonding in metal oxides is predominantly ionic, but the transport properties of these materials are very different from those of monovalent ionic solids. The bonding in oxides is much stronger as a result of the higher formal valence of the ions. This causes significant differences in behaviour, and serious experimental difficulties are also encountered. The main problems are as follows: (a) Melting points are high (often to ca. 3000°C) which makes the growth of high-purity single crystals difficult. The problem is frequently compounded by high vapor pressures at elevated temperatures. (b) Although measurements of diffusion at temperatures close to the melting point of an oxide are of interest, such temperatures are accessible only with great difficulty. (c) Enthalpies for defect formation are large. Oxides are accordingly much less tolerant of aliovalent impurities. Moreover, the high valence state of the constitutent ions results in the formation of complex compensating defects for impurities and to strongly bound defect clusters. (d) Many oxides have a large electronic component to their electrical conductivity. Transport numbers depend on impurity content and oxygen partial pressure in a complex way that has only recently been elucidated for some oxides. Measurement of electrical conductivity and use of the Nernst-Einstein relation have not been used to such great advantage as in the interpretation of diffusion mechanisms in monovalent ionic solids.
Symbolically enhanced parameter estimation for reliable adaptive control

Adaptive controllers with linear estimators are often implemented on processes that exhibit nonlinear, nonstationary behavior. As a result, the sensitivity of these estimators must be continually adjusted to remain responsive to current process behavior. This work takes a novel approach to the practice of adjusting sensitivity. Here, the recent behavior of the process is used as the primary indicator for making decisions about when and how to make such adjustments. The diagnosis of process behavior is made at a qualitative level to place current operation into one of several categories. An inferencing system directs the diagnosis and uses the result to implement appropriate adjustment actions. The result is a preemptive action that indicates improved controller reliability. A preliminary validation is presented in the adaptive control of a nonlinear reactor simulation.
Federalism at Work: Housing the Homeless in North Carolina

Homelessness is a major social problem in the US. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HUD) estimates that some two to three million individuals in the US experience homelessness each year with a smaller, more visible group experiencing repeated or chronic homelessness. This latter group places disproportionately heavy demands on available social service agencies at the local, state, and federal levels of government. Since 2003 the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) has worked with over 350 communities of all sizes across the country to aid them in developing ten-year strategic plans to end chronic homelessness in their communities. While the focus of these plans has been on chronic homelessness, the goal is also to create an infrastructure that will enable the local communities to aid the homeless in general. USICH has also spurred the development of state-level interagency councils and serves as a major diffusion point for information on the successes and activities of its local partners. Similarly, the state councils have performed a comparable function within their jurisdictions.This article examines how this process has worked in the state of North Carolina where thirteen communities and counties have developed such strategic plans during the past five years. These communities encompass larger urban areas such as the cities of Charlotte, Durham, and Raleigh to smaller, more rural communities working in partnership with their home county governments. We focus on the vertical dimension of federal-state and state-community interactions, and the horizontal dimension of community-community interactions as a means of examining the diffusion of information, policy ideas, and expertise. The paper concludes by assessing this pattern of policy development within the broader literature of federalism as it has evolved under the current Bush administration.
Lipid binding by Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase is disrupted by small alterations of the carboxyl-terminal region.

Abstract Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase is a membrane-associated flavoprotein dehydrogenase which is greatly activated by lipids and detergents. The carboxyl-terminal region of the protein has been shown to play a critical role in the interaction with lipids. We report mutations generated by chemical and oligonucleotide-mediated site-directed mutagenesis of the poxB gene which result in enzymes defective in lipid activation. Nine mutants were isolated which encode enzymes with point mutations in the carboxyl-terminal segment of the protein. Two mutant lesions introduced termination codons giving enzymes lacking the last nine or three amino acids of the protein which were unable to interact with detergents in vitro and were unable to function in vivo. Of the missense mutants isolated, two were most informative. One was the substitution of Glu-564 with proline in the PoxB16 oxidase. This residue lies in the center of a putative lipid-binding amphipathic alpha-helix (Arg-558 to Thr-568) located close to the carboxyl terminus. Strains producing the PoxB16 oxidase were devoid of oxidase activity in vivo, the enzymes could not be activated by Triton X-100, and were activated poorly by phospholipids in vitro. These results indicated that the PoxB16 oxidase lacked normal lipid-binding ability. Another mutant oxidase (PoxB15) in which proline was substituted for Asp-560 at the beginning of the amphipathic alpha-helix had normal oxidase activity. These findings indicate that the amphipathic alpha-helix structure plays an essential role in the activation and lipid-binding properties of the enzyme. The second informative missense mutation was the substitution of the carboxyl-terminal arginine with glycine. This enzyme showed normal activation in vitro by phospholipids and some detergents, and somewhat reduced activity in vivo. This mutant enzyme appeared to dissociate from detergent vesicles more readily than does the normal enzyme. A model for the membrane interaction of the carboxyl terminus based on the properties of these mutant proteins is presented.
Blunt liver injury in children and adults: is there really a difference?

Hepatic injuries are increasingly managed nonoperatively with the availability of adjunctive procedures such as angiography, ERCP, and percutaneous drainage. Although extensively discussed in the adult population, little has been reported on outcomes and management of pediatric liver injury. Retrospective review of all patients with blunt liver injuries admitted to an adult Level I trauma center and pediatric trauma center within the same community was performed from 2004 to 2006. The necessity for operation, adjuncts to nonoperative management, and outcome were collected and compared for the pediatric (PED) ( or = 18 years of age) injured patients. There were 389 liver injuries identified (PED = 90, adult = 299); 25 per cent of adult injuries were greater than or equal to grade III, while 23 per cent of PED injuries were high-grade injuries. Each group of patients had similar rates of primary operative intervention: adult patients (18%) versus PED patients (16%). Adjunctive therapies were rarely used in the PED patients with only one patient requiring a percutaneous drain and one patient undergoing ERCP twice. Conversely, the adult patient group required eight percutaneous drains, 15 angiograms, 6 ERCPs and 14 laparoscopic abdominal washout procedures. ICU and hospital LOS were 25 per cent and 33 per cent lower in the adult population for high-grade injuries. The overall mortality rates were similar at 7 per cent (PED) and 9 per cent (adult). Liver-related mortality was 50 per cent (3/6 deaths) in the PED group with no liver-related deaths in the adult group (27 deaths). Adult patients with blunt liver injury were no more likely to sustain high grade liver injuries than PED patients. Furthermore, adult and PED patients underwent similar rates of operative intervention and primary liver procedures. Adult patients used adjunctive measures as part of their nonoperative management more frequently, but both subsets had similar length of hospital stays and low overall mortality. A higher rate of liver-related mortality was seen in the PED population. Overall, PED patients seemed to sustain fewer liver related complications necessitating invasive procedures despite similar injury patterns.
The Amino Acid Sequence of an Extracellular Nuclease of Staphylococcus aureus III. COMPLETE AMINO ACID SEQUENCE

The amino acid sequence of an extracellular nuclease of Staphylococcus aureus, strain V8, is presented. The calculated molecular weight of the nuclease is 16,807.
Immunohistochemical survey of cobalamin-binding proteins

Dietary cobalamin is bound to intrinsic factor (IF) and nonintrinsic factor (R protein) in the gastrointestinal tract. Distribution of IF has previously been described only in the stomach (parietal, chief cells), duodenum (mucous cells), and pancreatic juice. Cells containing R protein have been reported to be more widespread, including mucin-secreting cells of the intestinal tract. To further clarify the cells producing these cobalamin binders in the various organs, we surveyed a number of tissues in four species, with monospecific antisera raised against rat IF and hog R protein, using indirect immunoperoxidase histochemistry. A positive staining pattern was confirmed after blocking with the appropriate protein purified to homogeneity. Strong IF staining was noted over chief cells in the rat stomach, with weaker but substantial staining in the parietal cells as well. Intrinsic factor was found only in parietal cells in all other species examined. R protein was found in parietal cells of all species tested, except in the hog, where mucous cells of the basal crypt stained. The area of the brush border and apical cytoplasm in small intestinal epithelial cells was also positive for both IF and R protein, probably reflecting uptake. Accessory digestive organs, such as salivary gland and pancreas were also positive for both IF and R protein in the secretory ducts. Accessory digestive organs contribute to the secretion of IF as well as R protein, but the physiologic importance of this IF secretion is not clear.
Stability, linearization and control of switched systems

We derive Lyapunov stability and linearization properties for a class of switched systems. Based on these properties, we use an LMI method to design stabilizing controllers for switched systems. An example is given to illustrate the theoretical results.
The recent reversal of the growth trend in MRI: a harbinger of the future?

Purpose Diagnostic imaging services have been repeatedly targeted as a source of excess health care expenditure. In particular, MRI is considered a high-tech and high-cost imaging service that saw rapid increases in utilization in the early 2000s. However, the most recent trends in the utilization of MR are not known. The aim of this study was to quantify trends in MR utilization overall and by body system from 1998 to 2010 in the Medicare population. Methods Medicare Part B data sets were obtained for 1998 to 2010 for all MR examinations performed in the Medicare population. Using Current Procedural Terminology codes, the total volume and utilization rates of all MR examinations were tabulated for each year of the study period. MR volume was then categorized by body system. Results The utilization rate of MR examinations in the Medicare population was 73 per 1,000 beneficiaries in 1998, increased to a peak of 189 in 2008, and decreased to 183 in 2010. The compound annual growth rate from 1998 to 2008 was 10%. The utilization rate in 2010 represents a decrease of 3.1% from the 2009 utilization rate. The most frequently imaged body section in every year was the head, which accounted for 2,404,250 examinations in 2010, 37.3% of all MR examinations in that year. Conclusions The overall MRI utilization rate sharply increased from 1998 until 2008 but then decreased in each of the next 2 years. A similar trend was noted for MR examinations performed in most body sections. These trends are likely to be the result of a number of possible causative factors.
Do amyloids remember their origin? New insights into the prion species barrier.

Excellent work by Vanik et al. (2004) demonstrates that, in the test tube, prion protein itself is responsible for its species specificity, although questions remain about whether this occurs in the same way in the organism.
TECHNIQUES OF PLETHYSMOGRAPHY

Four plethysmographic techniques-rheoplethysmography, electrical impedance plethysmography, girth plethysmography, and photoplethysmography–are described and their theoretic bases discussed. Advantages and limitations are noted, and particular emphasis is given to the optical methods and the use of glass fiber light guides in the construction of the transducer. Typical examples of current plethysmographic research are presented.
On implementing behavioral rewriting

Behavioral specification is an important algebraic method in software technology. A subtle aspect of behavioral specification is that operations may not be compatible with the behavioral (or observational) equivalence, meaning that the typical congruence inference rule may not be sound and, implicitly, that standard term rewriting cannot be used as is to execute behavioral specifications. Behavioral rewriting is an appropriate generalization of term rewriting which is already internally implemented in two behavioral specification and verification systems, CafeOBJ and BOBJ. In this paper we propose two alternative solutions to implement behavioral rewriting, on top of almost any standard term rewriting system, without modifying it internally.
Immunoglobulin A protease is a virulence factor for gram-negative pneumonia

Background Secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) is the principal immunologic defense of respiratory and other mucosal surfaces in the body. SIgA is relatively stable in mucosal secretions. However, cleavage of SIgA by bacterial proteases might render it immunologically inactive and thus contribute to the development of pneumonia as well as other infections. Bacterial species and infection sites might be important in the expression of bacterial protease activity and serve as the impetus to this study. Methods Bacterial isolates from respiratory and nonrespiratory sites were incubated with SIgA in vitro. SIgA degradation was determined by size exclusion ultrafiltration and gel electrophoresis. Results IgA protease activity was evident in gram-negative but not gram-positive respiratory isolates. Gram-negative isolates from nonrespiratory sources did not exhibit IgA protease activity. Conclusions Expression of IgA protease activity might be important in the development and subsequent outcome of gram-negative pneumonia in the patient in the surgical intensive care unit.
The Spatial Vectorcardiogram and Mean Spatial Ventricular Gradient in Normal Pregnant Women

The spatial vectorcardiogram and the spatial ventricular gradient of normal subjects in the last trimester of pregnancy and in some of the same subjects following delivery have been studied. It was found that the vectorcardiograms could be divided into two groups on the basis of the form of the QRS sE-loops, as has been previously reported for other normal subjects. In some instances records taken after delivery or records taken during pregnancy with the subject in deep inspiration altered both the orientation and the form of the QRS sE-loop. Since these alterations were most likely due to changes in position of the heart and extracardiac tissues, it is suggested that these are factors determining the configurations of the two types of normal QRS sE-loops.
Virulence of an aphid-derived isolate of Beauveria bassiana (Fungi: Hyphomycetes) to the hop aphid, Phorodon humuli (Homoptera: Aphididae)

The potential for biological control of the hop aphid using an aphid-derived isolate of Beauveria bassiana was investigated in the laboratory and field. In initial bioassays using conidial suspensions at dosages ranging from 104 to 108 a conidia/ml, the isolate exhibited a high level of virulence to Phorodon humuli (Schrank), yielding a LC50 of 1.37 × 105 conidia/ml. LT50 values decreased with increasing conidial dose, being 11.1 ± 4.2, 8.4 ± 4.0, 5.0 ± 1.5, 3.6 ± 1.5, and 3.1 ± 1.1 d at 104, 105, 106, 107, and 108 conidia/ml, respectively. A potential for long-term control was demonstrated when conidial suspensions were applied to aphid-infested potted hop plants. Aphids increased only slightly during a 4-wk period on potted hop plants treated with a suspension of 107 conidia/ml. This was significantly lower than the net increase found on the controls and on plants treated with a suspension of 105 conidia/ml. However, there was no mycosis detected in aphids when a 107 conidia/ml suspension was applied in an aphid-infested commercial hop yard.