cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and Safety of Procedural Sedation and Analgesia for Burn Wound Care

The study aim was to quantify efficacy and patient safety of registered nurse-administered procedural sedation and analgesia in a regional burn center. The investigators conducted a review of procedural sedation forms for all pediatric and adult patients admitted to this burn center from January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2005, for demographic and clinical data including patient age, gender, body weight, TBSA, dates of burn injury and wound care procedures, length of procedure, pre- and postprocedural pain assessment, procedural sedation/analgesia medications and doses, adverse drug events, and related interventions. During the 12-month study period, a total of 328 burn patients received 1293 procedural sedation procedures; child subjects (≤ 18 years) received 356 procedures and adult subjects (19-87 years) received 937 procedures. The mean (SD) length of the procedure was 60.1 (22.49) minutes with a range of 10 to 170 minutes. The mean subject age was 34.2 years (range: 6 weeks to 87 years), 67% were male, and the mean TBSA was 17% (0.5-68%). Ninety-four percent received fentanyl for analgesia and 85% received midazolam for anxiolysis and amnesia. The mean preprocedural pain score was 3.2 and the mean postprocedural pain score was 2 (t = 14.795; df = 1243; P < .001). Ten adverse events, all respiratory related, were documented in eight patients, two of whom experienced a second adverse event for an overall adverse event rate of 0.77%. No patient required intubation. Procedural sedation administered by a registered nurse competent in administration and monitoring in a burn center provided safe and effective pain management during wound care.
Spectroscopy of gamma-ray bursts: An overview

Abstract More than two decades of accumulated data on the spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) are now in hand. In general, burst spectra display a wide variety of both spectral and temporal behavior. In essentially all bursts where spectral measurements are possible, the spectrum evolves during the burst. This spectral complexity and variability has presented researchers with a challenging task. Early spectral measurements contained evidence for cyclotron-line-like absorption and emission features. These results were the main anchor for the galactic neutron star paradigm for the origin of gamma-ray bursts. Ginga provided striking confirmation with evidence in three bursts for cyclotron absorption with both first and second harmonics present in two of them. The absorption line energies were consistent with the teragauss magnetic fields expected for neutron stars. However, the BATSE experiment on CGRO has dealt a severe blow to this paradigm. BATSE has found no evidence for the expected galactic anisotropy and also no evidence for cyclotron lines. This paper will: 1) provide an historical overview of GRB spectroscopic measurements 2) a discussion of the BATSE/Ginga controversy and 3) a sampling of the most recent results and analyses of GRB spectral data.
What’s a losing party to do? The calculus of contesting state legislative elections

Existing theories of contesting elections typically treat all potential challengers as identical while under-playing the importance of political parties and primary contests. We offer a theory addressing these issues based on how the various actors in the process define and evaluate the probability of winning an election and the value of the office being contested. We test our theory by estimating a model predicting which of three responses a party that loses a legislative race makes in the next cycle: nominating the same candidate, nominating a new candidate, or nominating no one. We find substantial empirical support for our theory.
Market Intermediaries and Price Instability: Some Welfare Implications

The welfare consequences of price instability critically depend on the type of market intermediary. Both a producer marketing board and a pure middleman will stabilize consumer prices; but the latter, unlike the producer marketing board, will find it advantageous to "manufacture" price instability for producers.
Designing for Constant Change: An Adaptable Growth Model for Architecture

Design of universal components that can tolerate technological, environmental, and circumstantial changes over time is a challenge for an architect. In this paper, I would like to propose a scaled prototype of architectural components that can reconfigure themselves into globally functional configurations based on feedback from locally distributed intelligence embedded inside the component. The project aims at demonstrating a design system that can respond to dynamically changing environment over time without imposing a static blueprint of the structure in a top-down manner from the outset of design processes. The control of the subunits are governed by the logic of a distributed system simulated by the use of multiple microcontrollers, and appropriate geometrical configurations will be computationally derived based on physical-environmental criteria such as solar radiation from various sensors and social-programmatic issues.
Siblings with prune belly syndrome and associated pulmonic stenosis, mental retardation, and deafness

This is the fifth family in the literature with siblings having the prune belly syndrome. It is the first with associated pulmonary stenosis, mental retardation, and hearing deficit. A genetic factor is suggested as the primary cause of the syndrome.
An Inexpensive Autosampler to Maximize Throughput for an Ion Source that Samples Surfaces in Open Air

Rapid analysis of hundreds of wipe samples after a chemical dispersion event is essential for quickly characterizing the hazard posed to the public. An autosampler was built to pull 76 cotton swabs mounted along a 91-cm (3-foot) long, square aluminum rod in open air, through the ionizing beam of a direct analysis in real time (DART 1 ) ion source interfaced to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The rod and swabs mounted on N-scale model railroad flat cars were pulled through the ion source in 7.5 min by a 7-rpm motor. Percent relative standard deviations (%RSDs) of 18.5% to 21.3% were obtained for the chromatographic peak areas of the protonated molecule. Maximum-to-minimum ratios of the areas were between 2.22 and 2.71. Measured exact masses of analyte ions were always accurate to within 1 mDa. 1DART is a registered trademark of JEOL USA, Inc, Peabody, MA.
Stop-and-Go Movements of Plant Golgi Stacks Are Mediated by the Acto-Myosin System

The Golgi apparatus in plant cells consists of a large number of independent Golgi stack/trans-Golgi network/Golgi matrix units that appear to be randomly distributed throughout the cytoplasm. To study the dynamic behavior of these Golgi units in living plant cells, we have cloned a cDNA from soybean (Glycine max), GmMan1, encoding the resident Golgi protein α-1,2 mannosidase I. The predicted protein of approximately 65 kD shows similarity of general structure and sequence (45% identity) to class I animal and fungal α-1,2 mannosidases. Expression of a GmMan1::green fluorescent protein fusion construct in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright Yellow 2 suspension-cultured cells revealed the presence of several hundred to thousands of fluorescent spots. Immuno-electron microscopy demonstrates that these spots correspond to individual Golgi stacks and that the fusion protein is largely confined to the cis-side of the stacks. In living cells, the stacks carry out stop-and-go movements, oscillating rapidly between directed movement and random “wiggling.” Directed movement (maximal velocity 4.2 μm/s) is related to cytoplasmic streaming, occurs along straight trajectories, and is dependent upon intact actin microfilaments and myosin motors, since treatment with cytochalasin D or butanedione monoxime blocks the streaming motion. In contrast, microtubule-disrupting drugs appear to have a small but reproducible stimulatory effect on streaming behavior. We present a model that postulates that the stop-and-go motion of Golgi-trans-Golgi network units is regulated by “stop signals” produced by endoplasmic reticulum export sites and locally expanding cell wall domains to optimize endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi and Golgi to cell wall trafficking.
SEMI-LOGARITHMIC GRAPHS IN GEOGRAPHY

(1963). SEMI-LOGARITHMIC GRAPHS IN GEOGRAPHY. The Professional Geographer: Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 19-23.
Hydrogels for osteochondral repair based on photocrosslinkable carbamate dendrimers.

First generation, photocrosslinkable dendrimers consisting of natural metabolites (i.e., succinic acid, glycerol, and β-alanine) and nonimmunogenic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were synthesized divergently in high yields using ester and carbamate forming reactions. Aqueous solutions of these dendrimers were photocrosslinked with an eosin-based photoinitiator to afford hydrogels. The hydrogels displayed a range of mechanical properties based on their structure, generation size, and concentration in solution. All of the hydrogels showed minimal swelling characteristics. The dendrimer solutions were then photocrosslinked in situ in an ex vivo rabbit osteochondral defect (3 mm diameter and 10 mm depth), and the resulting hydrogels were subjected to physiologically relevant dynamic loads. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed the hydrogels to be fixated in the defect site after the repetitive loading regimen. The ([G1]-PGLBA-MA)2-PEG hydrogel was chosen for the 6 month pilot in vivo rabbit study because this ...
Increased epidermal deoxyribonuclease I activity in beta-irradiated guinea pig skin. Irradiation through the hair, a required control.

Within 24 h after close clipping of guinea pig hair there is dramatic increase in epidermal deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) and the enzyme can be washed from the skin surface with 0.14 M NaCl or from excised epidermis prior to homogenization. In order to study changes in DNase I activity as a result ofβ-irradiation injury it was necessary to irradiatethrough the hair of one flank with 4700 repβ (90Sr-90Y). These changes were compared with those after a contact dose of 3000 repβ given to the closely clipped skin surface on the other flank. Extracellular epidermal DNase I increased significantly on days 10 and 15 postirradiation in both flanks; however, there was a 3- to 4-fold greater concentration on the flank from which the hair had been clipped prior to irradiation. The possible mechanisms for the increase in epidermal DNase I were discussed.
Injury–induced expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by glial and microglial cells in the leech central nervous system within minutes after injury

It is known that nitric oxide (NO) is produced by injured tissues of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) within days of injury. The aim of the present experiments was to determine the cellular synthesis of NO in the CNS immediately after injury, using the CNS of the leech which is capable of synapse regeneration, as a step towards understanding the role of NO in nerve repair. We report that within minutes after crushing the nerve cord of the leech, the region of damage stained histochemically for NADPH diaphorase, which is indicative of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, and was immunoreactive for endothelial NOS (eNOS). On immunoblots of leech CNS extract, the same antibody detected a band with a relative molecular mass of 140,000, which is approximately the size of vertebrate eNOS. Cells expressing eNOS immunoreactivity as a result of injury were identified after freezing nerve cords, a procedure that produced less tissue distortion than mechanical crushing. Immunoreactive cells included connective glia and some microglia. Calmodulin was necessary for the eNOS immunoreactivity: it was blocked by calmodulin antagonist W7 (25 microM), but not by similar concentrations of the less potent calmodulin antagonist W12. Thus in the leech CNS, in which axon and synapse regeneration is successful, an increase in NOS activity at lesions appears to be among the earliest responses to injury and may be important for repair of axons.
Special article: Benchmarking in pediatric infection control: Results from the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system and the pediatric prevention network

Abstract The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical errors stated that 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur annually because of adverse patient events, at a national cost of $17 to $29 billion. Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are estimated to represent 50 percent of this human and economic burden. Surveillance in combination with infection control programs can prevent up to one third of HAIs by organizing and implementing focused prevention interventions. The National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1970, establishes and monitors national benchmarks for HAI rates based on standardized definitions and validated methodology and facilitates comparative quality assessments for individual hospitals. Estimates of the burden of HAIs on hospitalized children can vary widely from less than 1 percent to greater than 20 percent, depending on the patient's host factors or extrinsic exposures, the methodology used to ascertain infections, and the denominator used to calculate rates. It is useful to have benchmark rates, such as those determined through the NNIS system, that reflect consistently collected data over time and for large populations of patients. In 1999, the Pediatric Prevention Network, a collaboration between the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions and the Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted the first national point prevalence surveys of HAIs in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. The data provided by the NNIS system (incidence data) and the Pediatric Prevention Network (prevalence data) surveys are important contributors to our understanding of the epidemiology of HAIs in pediatric patients. Copyright © 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company
Performance Feedback and Probabilistic Bonus Contingencies among Employees in a Human Service Organization.

Abstract The present study examined the effects of performance feedback on the behavior of front line supervisory employees at a social service agency. A multiple baseline across three participants was used with three different feedback procedures consisting of verbal feedback, verbal plus individual comparative graphic feedback, and verbal feedback, graphic feedback and a lottery for financial rewards. When verbal feedback alone was applied, performance targets increased relative to baseline. When graphic feedback was added to verbal feedback, no clear additional differences were evident. After adding a lottery-based financial incentive program to the treatment package, target responding increased greatly. Implications for the use of lottery-based financial incentives in the context of human service delivery are discussed.
1-μs laser pulses from XeF

Long‐pulse operation of the XeF laser has been achieved utilizing electron beam excitation of Ar/Xe/NF3 gas mixtures. For a total mixture pressure of 2.5 atm, ∼0.30 J of 350‐nm radiation was obtained in a 1‐μs FWHM pulse.
Impossibility of a Certain Cyclotomic Equation with Applicationsto Difference Sets

Under certain conditions, we show the nonexistence of an element \gamma in the p-th cyclotomic field over \bQ, that satisfies \gamma \bar{\gamma} = n. As applications, we establish the nonexistence of some difference sets and affine difference sets.
Conformational substates of calmodulin revealed by single-pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer: influence of solution conditions and oxidative modification.

A calmodulin (CaM) mutant (T34,110C-CaM) doubly labeled with fluorescence probes AlexaFluor 488 and Texas Red in opposing domains (CaM-DA) has been used to examine conformational heterogeneity in C...
A review of uses of health care utilization databases for epidemiologic research on therapeutics

Abstract Objective Large health care utilization databases are frequently used in variety of settings to study the use and outcomes of therapeutics. Their size allows the study of infrequent events, their representativeness of routine clinical care makes it possible to study real-world effectiveness and utilization patterns, and their availability at relatively low cost without long delays makes them accessible to many researchers. However, concerns about database studies include data validity, lack of detailed clinical information, and a limited ability to control confounding. Study Design and Setting We consider the strengths, limitations, and appropriate applications of health care utilization databases in epidemiology and health services research, with particular reference to the study of medications. Conclusion Progress has been made on many methodologic issues related to the use of health care utilization databases in recent years, but important areas persist and merit scrutiny.
The effect of methionine on folic acid and histidine metabolism in perfused rat liver.

Abstract The effect of methionine on the metabolism of histidine and folic acid was studied in perfused livers of rats fed a vitamin B 12 -deficient diet. Addition of methionine to the perfusion medium increased the conversion of [2- 14 C]histidine to 14 CO 2 and diminished or prevented the accumulation of formiminoglutamic acid. Methionine did not influence the uptake of folic acid from the perfusion fluid into the liver and its reduction to the tetrahydro level. However, methionine increased the proportion of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolic acid (H 4 PteGlu), 10-formyl-H 4 PteGlu and polyglutamate forms of folic acid in the liver and prevented the accumulation of 5-methyl-H 4 PteGlu. In the absence of methionine, 5-methyl-H 4 PteGlu represented more than 80% of the reduced monoglutamate derivatives of folic acid in the perfused liver. Our data strongly support the concept that vitamin B 12 and/or methionine deficiency results in the accumulation of 5-methyl-H 4 PteGlu. Ethionine, and homocysteine together with betaine, but not homocysteine alone, betaine or choline, show the same effect as methionine.
Unconventionally high and low frequency eddy current methods for material surface characterizations

This paper reports on a type of multiple frequency eddy current NDE methodologies. A specific focus was placed on a multiple low frequency methodology that is suitable for case depth characterization of case‐hardened steel samples. A nominally uniform excitation field approach has been developed, and demonstrated to work for discriminating the case depths ranging between 1 mm and 6 mm, while meeting additional requirements of one‐sided access and a finite stand‐off distance.
Correlation between [125I]calmodulin binding and lipid fluidity in synaptic plasma membranes: effects of ethanol and other short-chain alcohols

Abstract Ethanol inhibits [125I]calmodulin binding to synaptic plasma membranes from rat brain, and this inhibition is correlated in a conentration-dependent manner with the increase of membrane fluidity, as determined by diphenylhexatriene fluorescence polarization. Moreover, several short-chain alcohols that increase membrane fluidity are also effective inhibitors of [125I]calmodulin binding. These data support the notion that ethanol inhibits calmodulin binding by increasing lipid fluidity of the synaptic membranes.
EFFECTS OF PROCESS VARIABLES ON RETENTION OF VOLATILES IN FREEZE-DRYING

SUMMARY— Retention of organic volatiles in freeze-dried solutions of mono-, di- end polysaccharides was studied as a function of different process conditions. Under the experimental conditions used, slow freezing and decreasing sample thickness promoted retention. The effects of platen temperature and of concentration of solution components were more complex. Effects of process variables were explained on the basis of a mechanism which postulates formation of microregions due to association of carbohydrate molecules. These microregions become impermeable to organic compounds when their water content decrease below a critical level.
Token Achievement: An Examination of Proportional Representation and Performance Outcomes

Kanter's theory of proportional representation suggests that tokens (members of one social category in a numerical minority) will underachieve relative to dominants (members of a complementary social category in numerical majority). This paper identifies and controls for several factors confounded with the effects of proportional representation on performance outcomes. The grade point averages of male and female college seniors are examined in an academic community into which relatively small numbers of women recently have been introduced. The analysis suggests that the relationship between tokenism and underachievement holds only for low-status tokens among high-status dominants and that a modified definition of relative achievement is needed. In this paper, we develop several hypotheses based on Kanter's (a,b) theory of proportional representation. Each hypothesis incorporates a factor that might interact with tokenism and its effect on achievement. We disentangle these factors from tokenism and reexamine the effect of tokenism on achievement. It is important to note that while Kanter's theory provides a basis for our research questions, we do not test her theory directly. Rather, we are concemed with darifying aspects of the proportion effect which Kanter does not develop in her pioneering research on the
A pharmacological review of raloxifene

In view of its highly tissue-selective pharmacological properties (i.e., relatively pure antagonist in reproductive tissue with minimal agonist effects to nearly full agonist properties in bone and on cholesterol metabolism), terms used to define compounds with slightly related pharmacology (i.e., antiestrogen, partial estrogen agonist) do not adequately describe raloxifene's activity. Thus, raloxifene is distinct from agents such as tamoxifen (which does stimulate the uterus), or frank estrogen (which do not sufficiently antagonize estrogen's agonistic effects in reproductive tissue). In this regard, raloxifene and its pyrrolidine analogue, LY117018, (81) are the first representatives of a novel class of pharmacological agents, which we have termed “selective estrogen receptor modulator” (SERM). While we now have considerable evidence to distinguish estrogen recepto-mediated effects on bone from those on reproductive tissue, the precise mechanism for this tissue-specific mechanism remains an active area of investigation. Clearly, many important issues remain to be explored.
High temperature solution (flux) and high pressure solution (hydrothermal) crystal growth

Abstract This review traces the recent developments of high temperature solution (flux) and high pressure solution (hydrothermal) crystal growth. High temperature solution (HTS) growth of oxide materials from ionic liquids (PbO, PbF 2 , Bi 2 O 3 , KF and their combinations) and network-forming liquids (various borates for example) has advanced to the stage of a routine experimental tool. Recent significant improvements in technique include the use of controlled oxygen partial pressures to grow nonstoichiometric oxides and lower valence state oxides directly in equilibrium with a gas atmosphere, the use of moving flux zones modes to grow solid solutions, and the use of isothermal flux-evaporation also to grow solid solutions. Current experimentation is directed toward improved understanding of the physical chemistry of the flux liquids (liquid structure and its influence on growth, location of crystallizing ions in the liquid structure, thermodynamic models for solutions behavior, etc.) and toward the development of novel flux systems for non-oxide materials. High pressure solution (HPS) growth is less advanced as a routine technique because of difficulties with seed crystal surfaces and orientations, selection of workable solvents, and suppression of spontaneous nucleation and crystal flawing. Where these have been solved, however, much better material is grown by HPS methods than HTS methods in general. Research here is directed toward the discovery of useful non-aqueous solvents and a better understanding of the nature of the supercritical fluid and the growth process. HPS methods have very recently been used for growth of large single crystals of metastable phases by use of epitaxy on appropriate substrates.
Toll-Like Receptor Ligands Induce Human T Cell Activation and Death, a Model for HIV Pathogenesis

Background Recently, heightened systemic translocation of microbial products was found in persons with chronic HIV infection and this was linked to immune activation and CD4(+) T cell homeostasis. Methodology We examined here the effects of microbial Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands on T cell activation in vitro. Conclusions/findings We show that exposure to TLR ligands results in activation of memory and effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. After exposure to each of 8 different ligands that activate TLRs 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9, CD8(+) T cells are activated and gain expression of the C type lectin CD69 that may promote their retention in lymphoid tissues. In contrast, CD4(+) T cells rarely increase CD69 expression but instead enter cell cycle. Despite activation and cell cycle entry, CD4(+) T cells divide poorly and instead, disproportionately undergo activation-induced cell death. Systemic exposure to TLR agonists may therefore increase immune activation, effector cell sequestration in lymphoid tissues and T cell turnover. These events may contribute to the pathogenesis of immune dysfunction and CD4+ T cell losses in chronic infection with the human immunodeficiency virus.
Measuring dispositions for lexicographic preferences of environmental goods: integrating economics, psychology and ethics

Abstract This paper combines the psychometric methods of paired comparisons (PC) and environmental disposition measurement to assist in identifying lexicographic behavior in choice experiments. Our methodology obtains complete preference profiles of all elements in the choice set and measures of attitudinal dispositions, including an environmental ethics (EE) disposition, for all respondents. The methodology is applied across two treatments that differ only on the range of the dollar magnitudes—Treatment A ranges from $10 to $700 (USD) and Treatment B ranges from $10 to $9000 (USD). Dispositions of pastoralism (PA), antiquarianism and environmental ethicism tend to correlate positively with increasing preferences for environmental goods, while the disposition of environmental adaptation (EA) negatively correlates with preferences for environmental goods. The marginal effects of environmental dispositions are largest for respondents who do not value environmental goods highly (low valuers) and those who potentially value the goods lexicographically. The results demonstrate that information regarding our sample's attitudinal dispositions toward the environment may enable the differentiation of high valuers from lexicographic valuers of environmental goods.
Early diagenesis of mangrove leaves in a tropical estuary: Bulk chemical characterization using solid-state 13C NMR and elemental analyses

Abstract Changes in the chemical composition of mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) leaves during decomposition in tropical estuarine waters were characterized using solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and elemental (CHNO) analysis. Carbohydrates were the most abundant components of the leaves accounting for about 50 wt% of senescent tissues. Tannins were estimated to account for about 20 wt% of leaf tissues, and lipid components, cutin, and possibly other aliphatic biopolymers in leaf cuticles accounted for about 15 wt%. Carbohydrates were generally less resistant to decomposition than the other constituents and decreased in relative concentration during decomposition. Tannins were of intermediate resistance to decomposition and remained in fairly constant proportion during decomposition. Paraffinic components were very resistant to decomposition and increased in relative concentration as decomposition progressed. Lignin was a minor component of all leaf tissues. Standard methods for the colorimetric determination of tannins (Folin-Dennis reagent) and the gravimetric determination of lignin (Klason lignin) were highly inaccurate when applied to mangrove leaves. The N content of the leaves was particularly dynamic with values ranging from 1.27 wt% in green leaves to 0.65 wt% in senescent yellow leaves attached to trees. During decomposition in the water the N content initially decreased to 0.51 wt% due to leaching, but values steadily increased thereafter to 1.07 wt% in the most degraded leaf samples. The absolute mass of N in the leaves increased during decomposition indicating that N immobilization was occurring as decomposition progressed.
Traveltime tomography with a spatial-coherency filter

Spatially incoherent small wavelengths in a velocity tomogram are usually noise that could destablize an iterative traveltime tomographic process. By defining the number of connected cells of similar values in an image as the spatial-coherency (SC) value of these cells, an SC filtering is introduced in this paper to suppress incoherent features in an image. An SC filter first quantifies the SC value of all image cells and then conducts a discriminative moving-average over cells of low SC values. It is demonstrated that such an SC filtering of the intermediate-stage tomograms may enhance the robustness of the iterative tomographic process to noise. The SC values can be used in general to deconvolve an image of any dimension into components of different lengths in spatial connectivity.
CONDUCTION ELECTRON-MAGNETIC ION INTERACTION IN RARE EARTHS

The proposal is maade that there is an additional effective electron- electron interaction in the rare earths which results from the conduction electron-magnetic ion exchange. The strength of the net electron-electron interaction should tnen be expected to be a function of spin as well as solute concentrations. (W.D.M.)
Context-correlated parameters of snake and lizard tongue-flicking

Abstract Three parameters of tongue-flicking in snakes and lizards (oscillation duration, oscillation number and relative circumscribed area) were examined in filmed captive contexts. A comparative survey of four lizard and 10 snake species uncovered a consistent trend for exploratory tongue flicks to have both shorter oscillation durations and smaller relative circumscribed areas than defensive tongue flicks. Young sibling garter snakes ( Thamnophis sirtalis ) studied in four contexts (feeding, exploration, social, defence) replicated the above results and clearly distinguished the other two contexts as well. Fine-grained studies of tongue movement topography have methodological and evolutionary implications for the study of squamate reptile behaviour.
Red Tape and Public Managers' Decision Making

Whereas past studies have examined organizational red tape in terms of either particular organizational processes, time required to fulfill organizational functions, or Managers'perceptions, our re...
SUPPRESSION OF RESIDUAL OESTROGEN PRODUCTION WITH AMINOGLUTETHIMIDE IN WOMEN FOLLOWING SURGICAL HYPOPHYSECTOMY OR ADRENALECTOMY

SUMMARY In postmenopausal women with breast carcinoma, plasma and urinary oestrogens remain detectable following surgical adrenalectomy or hypophysectomy. These residual oestrogens could result from absorption of exogenous steroids, from endogenous production, or from a combination of these two sources. To determine whether endogenous production contributes to this oestrogen pool, we administered a potent steroidogenesis inhibitor, aminoglutethimide (AG), to women with breast carcinoma following hypophysectomy or adrenalectomy. Plasma and urinary oestrogens were measured with radioimmunoassays developed to provide appropriate sensitivity. In five women treated after initial hypophysectomy (hypox), plasma oestrone fell from 66·28 pg/ml (hypox) to 9·1 ± 2·4 pg/ml (hypox and AG) and oestradiol decreased from 8·3 ± 1·8 pg/ml to 2·5 ± 0·69 pg/ml. Similar decrements in urine oestrone (U-E1) and ostradiol (U-E2) were observed (U-E1 hypox: 2·25 ± 0·71 μg/24 h and 0·071·0±015 μg/24 h hypox and AG; U-E2 0·47 ± 0·12 μg/24 h hypox to 0·124 ± 0·015 hypox and AG, P<0·05 for all). Similar significant reductions in plasma oestrone and oestradiol were observed in four women treated with aminoglutethimide following surgical adrenalectomy. While the levels of urinary oestrogens also fell in these patients, the differences were not statistically significant. In response to the decrements in oestrogen levels induced by AG, 2/5 women in the post-hypophysectomy group and 2/4 in the post-adrenalectomy group experienced partial objective tumour regression. These observations indicated that the residual oestrogens produced after surgical adrenalectomy or hypophysectomy, even though made in small quantities, were nonetheless biologically active. We conclude that endogenous production of oestrogens in extragonadal and extra-adrenal sites occurs after major surgical endocrine
A Controlled Study of the 1-hour and 24-hour Effects of Inhaled Nitric Oxide on Oxygenation in Children With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure † 176

A prospective, randomized, controlled study of children (age: 1 month - 17 years) with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure was performed to determine whether 24 hrs of inhaled nitric oxide (INO) improves oxygenation index (OI) more than conventional therapy alone. Twelve patients were treated with 10 ppm INO from the onset of randomization and 12 control patients were initially managed by conventional therapy alone. After 24 hours, control patients were also treated with 10 ppm INO. Blood gases were measured at baseline, at 1 hour after randomization, and at 24-hour intervals for 2 days. INO improved OI during the initial hour of therapy. However, 24 hours after randomization, the OI of surviving treated patients were not improved in comparison to baseline or the OI of 10 surviving controls. A similar number of patients in each group developed >20% decrease, or >20% increase, in OI during the initial 24 hours after randomization. OI acutely improved in control patients when INO was started after 24 hours of conventional therapy. The OI of these patients remained improved on INO 48 hours after randomization. In conclusion, OI is initially improved by 10 ppm INO in children with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. However, a sustained improvement in oxygenation may not occur during prolonged therapy in some patients.
Recent Studies in Novel Therapy for Metastatic Sarcomas

Gemcitabine and combinations Several groups have studied the nucleoside analog gemcitabine in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) with variable results depending on study design and patient population. We performed a two-arm phase 2 study of the nucleoside analog gemcitabine in patients who had advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. We studied the weekly schedule of the drug at a dose of 1000 mg/m 2 every week for up to 7 weeks followed by a 1-week break and restaging. Responding patients subsequently continued with the same weekly dose for 3 weeks followed by a 1-week break. One arm included patients previously treated for soft-tissue sarcoma, excluding those who had gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), in whom we saw seven partial responses (PR) out of 39 patients for a response rate of 18% (95% CI, 7%–29%). The median duration of response was 3.5 months, with a range from 2 to 13 months. Four of the ten patients who had leiomyosarcoma of nongastrointestinal origin achieved a PR, suggesting the possibility of some selective activity in this subset. In the other arm, comprised of patients who had GISTs, no objective responses were achieved in 17 evaluable patients, and that arm was therefore discontinued. Comparison of cellular pharmacology demonstrated a 1.4-fold increase in the concentration of gem
630 Hemodynamic Consequences of LVAD Therapy in Patients with Restrictive and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

RV dysfunction, the sildenafil group had a similar duration of milrinone support (16.3 13.7 days vs 16.4 13.0 days, P 0.32) to the group that did not receive sildenafil, and a similar length of hospital stay post LVAD implantation (27.4 15.9 days vs 27.4 16.2 days, P 0.47). Conclusions: Prospective studies are warranted to evaluate the use of sildenafil in patients with severe RV dysfunction post LVAD implantation.
The intraclass covariance matrix

Introduced by C.R. Rao in 1945, the intraclass covariance matrix has seen little use in behavioral genetic research, despite the fact that it was developed to deal with family data. Here, I reintroduce this matrix, and outline its estimation and basic properties for data sets on pairs of relatives. The intraclass covariance matrix is appropriate whenever the research design or mathematical model treats the ordering of the members of a pair as random. Because the matrix has only one estimate of a population variance and covariance, both the observed matrix and the residual matrix from a fitted model are easy to inspect visually; there is no need to mentally average homologous statistics. Fitting a model to the intraclass matrix also gives the same log likelihood, likelihood-ratio (LR) chi2, and parameter estimates as fitting that model to the raw data. A major advantage of the intraclass matrix is that only two factors influence the LR chi2--the sampling error in estimating population parameters and the discrepancy between the model and the observed statistics. The more frequently used interclass covariance matrix adds a third factor to the chi2--sampling error of homologous statistics. Because of this, the degrees of freedom for fitting models to an intraclass matrix differ from fitting that model to an interclass matrix. Future research is needed to establish differences in power-if any--between the interclass and the intraclass matrix.
Age-related differences in auditory cortical representations of spatial cues

Converging evidence indicates that binaural processing declines with age and is impaired further by age-related hearing loss. Research in young, normal-hearing adults indicates that spatial coding is governed by an opponent-channel (OC) mechanism. Under the OC model, the sensitivity to changes or shifts in perceived lateralization can be predicted based on the direction and magnitude of the shift, where large, outward shifts are predicted to cause a greater neural response than small and/or inward shifts. It is possible that age-related changes in spatial coding reflect changes in the OC mechanism, perhaps due to reduced neural inhibition or a more general reduction in temporal precision. Cortical event-related responses elicited by both ITD and ILD changes were measured using a 64-channel montage during a passive, continuous change-detection paradigm. Source localized cortical activation patterns were analyzed with regard to degree of lateralized shift, direction of shift (toward or away from perceived midline), and listener group. Results are consistent with an OC mechanism of spatial coding for both younger and older adults. Behavioral data from the same subjects are reported for correlation analyses with neural data. The present study provides a foundation for understanding the cortical dynamics of age-related changes in spatial tuning.
Learning outcomes in a simulation game for associate degree nursing students.

Learning outcomes of a simulation game designed to have one-to-one correspondence between behavioral objectives and game plays is reported The behavioral objectives were core concepts in psychiatric mental health nursing taught to associate degree nursing students. Decisions to use the simulation game method grew out of difficulties inherent in the community college nursing program, as well as the need for self-paced, efficient, learner-centered learning and evaluative tools.After the trial and revision of the game, a number of research hypotheses were tested Simulation gaming was found to be an effective mode of learning, and students who acted as teachers for other students learned significantly more than those who were taught. Some of the recommendations for further research were to study varied nursing populations, to add a control group, to test the long-range learning effects of playing the game, to decrease experimenter bias, to study transfer of learning to actual nurse-patient situations and chan...
Transfer of persistence to the acquisition of a new behaviour

Two experiments tested whether the degree of effort required for the reinforcement of one behaviour would affect the acquisition of a second behaviour. In the first experiment, rats were placed in a conditioning chamber and: (a) were required to press a lever for food pellets on a fixed ratio schedule, (b) received free presentation of the pellets, or (c) did not receive pellets. Next, all rats were rewarded for a new behaviour, round trips across the length of a runway. As predicted, the fixed-ratio group had the greatest shuttle rate. In the second experiment, two groups were required to press a lever, and the number of presses per pellet was varied. For two other groups not required to press the lever, the amount of food presented per approach to the feeder was varied. The greater required number of lever presses and the lesser number of pellets per approach to the feeder produced the higher subsequent shuttle rates. Two alternative explanations were compared: the degree of accustomed effort per reinfo...
A Two‐stage Procedure with Controlled Error Probabilities for Testing Bioequivalence

The procedures currently used for testing the bioequivalence of two drug formulations achieve control over the error probability of erroneously accepting bioequivalence or over the probability of erroneous rejection, but not over both error probabilities. A two-stage procedure that rectifies this drawback is presented, assuming that the performance of the drug is characterized by a normally distributed variate.
Development and application of a virtual environment for reconstructive surgery.

Objective: This paper details the development and application of a Virtual Environment for Reconstructive Surgery (VERS). It addresses the technical and user-interface challenges in developing such a system, and the lessons learned during application of the system in the case of a 17-year-old boy with a severe facial defect arising from the removal of a soft-tissue sarcoma.Materials and Methods: Computed tomography (CT)scans were segmented into bone and soft-tissue classifications using traditional and novel algorithms, a surface mesh was generated, and imaging arrifacts were removed, yielding a mesh suitable for visualization. This patient-specific mesh was then used in a virtual environment by the surgeons for preoperative visualization of the defect, planning of the surgery, and production of a custom surgical template to aid in repairing the defect.Results: This system was successfully used to plan the surgery of the patient and to produce a custom, patient-specific template that was used to harvest b...
Extending Inter-process Synchronization with Robust Mutex and Variants in Condition Wait

Condition variables and mutexes are synchronization mechanisms defined in the POSIX Pthreads specification and there are several implementations that address these requirements. Applications wanting to use them for inter-process communication could suffer from process hangs, in the event of unexpected termination of a mutex owning process. Also, if condition waiters need to have fairness associated with them across processes, threads should enable priority scheduling with contention scope set to system level. This could prevent a thread in another process, or in the kernel, from running and lead to starvation. To address these limitations, we present a mechanism to implement FIFO condition wait, signaling and robust mutex using system V semaphores. The paper also describes lockless condition wait, a simple mechanism implemented using compare-and-swap (CAS) atomic primitive. Since semaphores are known to be heavy weight objects, we evaluate the performance of the proposed base implementation in comparison with process shared mutexes and condition variables provided by pthread library on major UNIX platforms. The results indicate that the overheads associated with semaphores even out gradually under heavy loads (with the exception of Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL) on Linux) on multi-CPU machines lending support to the idea that the implementation could be widely deployed by applications wanting prioritized and robust synchronization.
Parenteral Antibiotic Use in Acute-Care Hospitals: A Standardized Analysis of Fourteen Institutions

Despite increasing concerns regarding the need to optimize appropriate antibiotic use in hospitals, a standardized method for evaluating interinstitutional antibiotic use has not been developed. To address this issue, antibiotic use was analyzed by means of a uniform methodology among 14 acute-care hospitals. Data were standardized by use of a defined daily dose for each antibiotic while adjusting for patient volume by calculating use per 1000 patientdays. Within the group, there was a 68% range in total parenteral antibiotic expenditures and wide variability in the use of individual agents. Analysis of these differences indicated that only the use of active antibiotic-management programs clearly correlated with antibiotic cost per 1000 patient-days ( ). Given these results, we believe that wider comparative analP ! .001 ysis of antibiotic use with a standardized methodology in conjunction with standardized analysis of nosocomial infection rates and antibiotic resistance data may enhance the stewardship of antibiotics in acute-care hospitals. It is widely recognized that large portions of pharmacy expenditures in acute-care hospitals represent acquisition costs for parenteral antibiotics, accounting for 20%‐40% of a hospital’s total drug budget [1‐3]. Beginning in 1973, hospitals have been encouraged to develop policies and procedures to maximize appropriate antibiotic use while containing costs [4]. In the 1980s, Kunin [5, 6] recommended a wide range of both active and passive interventions to optimize the appropriate use of antibiotics while controlling costs and limiting selective pressure on the development of antibiotic resistance. These issues were most recently evaluated by the Joint Committee on the Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance, who provided a broad range of evidence-based recommendations and strategic goals to optimize antibiotic use and limit the emergence of antimicrobial resistance within hospitals [7]. Although many hospitals monitor antibiotic expenditures for budgetary purposes, an analysis of such expenditures as part of an assessment of various forms of management interventions has been reported for only a relatively small number of institutions [8‐17]. Although these reports have documented various aspects of antibiotic use and management interventions within individual institutions, lack of a standardized method for conducting and reporting such evaluations has prevented the analysis of interinstitutional use and expenditures. The development of systems by hospitals to measure the use
DObjects: enabling distributed data services for metacomputing platforms

Many contemporary applications rely heavily on large scale distributed and heterogeneous data sources. The key constraints for building a distributed data query infrastructure for such applications are: scalability, consistency, heterogeneity, and network and resource dynamics. We designed and developed DObjects, a general-purpose query and data operations infrastructure that can be integrated with metacomputing middleware. This demo proposal describes the architecture and the dynamic query processing functionalities of our data services and shows how they are integrated with a metacomputing framework offering users an open platform for building distributed applications that require access to data integrated from multiple data sources.