cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mainstream Cigarette Smoke Impacts the Mouse Vocal Fold Epithelium and Mucus Barrier.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Cigarette smoke (CS) is a primary risk factor for the development of numerous benign and malignant laryngeal diseases. The epithelium and mucus lining the vocal folds (VF) are the first barriers against CS. The primary objective of this study was to investigate epithelial and mucus barrier changes in the mouse laryngeal mucosa upon exposure to subacute CS. The secondary objective was to compare mucus barrier changes in mice and human smokers and nonsmokers. Study Design Animal model. METHODS Mice were exposed to CS for 4 weeks for 4 hours (N = 12, high dose [HD]) or 1 hour (N = 12, low dose [LD]) per day. Air-exposed mice were used as a control group (N = 10). Larynges were harvested and VF epithelial barrier integrity was evaluated including cellular proliferation and expression of cell junctions. We also investigated mucus production by examining mucus cell area and mucin expression in mice and human smokers and nonsmokers. RESULTS HD CS increased VF epithelial cellular proliferation but did not alter the expression of cell junctions. HD CS also induced hypertrophy of the mucus-producing submucosal glands. However, only LD CS increased MUC5AC gene expression. MUC5AC staining appeared elevated in laryngeal specimens from smokers, but this was not significant as compared to nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS These findings help us identify potential adaptive mechanisms to CS exposure as well as set the foundation for further study of key aspects of epithelial and mucus barrier integrity that may be implicated in laryngeal disease development following prolonged smoking. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 131:2530-2539, 2021.
Rozważania o nowym paradygmacie kryminalistyki

Forecasts for the emergence of the new forensic science paradigm appeared at the end of the first decade of the current century and were born from a confrontation of the methodology of genetic identification and classical types of forensic identifications. In the latter, it is expected that there will be a departure from the subjective assessment of the identification value of the features of the examined objects, in favour of experimental checking of their frequency. Consequently, the opinions issued should be based on statistical estimates of the likelihood of a specific feature configuration being repeated in two different objects. This is also intended to lead to only probable opinions being issued. The purpose of this article is to present the views of selected forensic scientists regarding anticipated paradigm changes and to assess the reality of postulates. DNA and other objects that are the subject of forensic research have different properties, which makes it very difficult or even impossible to build representative population databases to form the basis for statistical calculations. Thus, the anticipated transition from subjective qualitative methods to objective quantitative methods, although desirable, is in practice very limited.
Increasing Incidence of Hand and Distal Upper Extremity Injuries Associated with Electric Scooter Use

Purpose Electric scooters (e-scooters) have seen an increase in popularity in cities across the United States as a form of recreation and transportation. The advent of ride-sharing applications allows anyone with a smartphone to easily access these devices, without any investment or experience required. In this study, the authors analyze scooter-related injuries of the hand and upper extremity. Methods The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried to look for injuries related to the use of e-scooters between 2010 and 2019. Data collected included demographic information, the location of the injury, the injury diagnosis, and disposition. National estimates (emergency room visits in the United States) were calculated using the weight variable included in the NEISS database. Miscoded reports were excluded. As a corollary, Google Trends data were utilized to establish a correlation between e-scooter-related injuries and the relative number of e-scooter hits on the Google search engine. Results From 2010 to 2019, there were 730 e-scooter-related injuries reported to the NEISS database. This corresponds to an estimated 26,412 injuries nationally during this time period. The incidence of scooter-related injuries increased by over 230% (2,130 national injuries in 2010; 7,213 national injuries in 2019; relative difference 5,083). Injuries most commonly occurred in patients aged 10 to 18 years (30.3%). The most frequent site of injury was the wrist (41.9%). The most common injury diagnosis was fracture (55.3%). Additionally, there was a correlation between the number of Google Trends e-scooter hits and the number of injuries during this time period. Conclusions The incidence of e-scooter-related upper extremity injuries increased dramatically in the United States between 2010 and 2019. Clinical relevance As novel e-scooter-sharing apps become increasingly popular, it is imperative that users are educated about the risk of injury and that use of proper protective equipment is encouraged.
Differences in Visual Intelligibility Across Talkers

For a number of years, researchers have studied patterns of consonant and vowel confusions in speechreading Visually similar speech sounds are referred to as visemes. Factors affecting viseme groupings include coarticulation effects of accompanying sounds, environmental effects (e g, lighting), and articulatory differences among various talkers. The contribution of the latter, talker differences, is addressed in this paper.
An Automated Radiochemical Purification Procedure for the Mass Spectrometric Analyses of Thorium and Plutonium in Environmental Samples (Poster)

Current procedures for the determination of radionuclides at low activities require the ability to separate and purify the isotopes of interest prior to their analysis. Ion exchange procedures have proved quite useful in this regard. An automated analytical system has now been developed at Woods Hole which allows for the purification of radionuclides via ion exchange procedures. This system will be described as it has been used for the preparation of marine samples for thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). An all Teflon-based series of valves, pumps and tubing is controlled via a micro-processor in order to process up to five samples through anion exchange columns. The inherent advantages of this system include a high sample throughout at a considerable savings of labor. Reproducible and high analytical yields are achieved as well as extremely low and constant blanks for Th and Pu which are required for TIMS.
Almost-Topological Conjugacy

In this chapter we investigate two equivalence relations between subshifts of finite type. The first is finite equivalence and the second is almost-topological conjugacy. These equivalence relations are weaker than topological conjugacy which we discussed in Chapter 2. They are meant to capture the “typical” behavior of points in a subshift of finite type.
Measuring Altruistic and Solidaristic Orientations Toward Others Among People Who Inject Drugs

The altruism and/or solidarity of people who inject drugs helps protect sex and drug partners from HIV. Research has been hindered by lack of measures. We developed and administered scales to assess them to 300 people who inject drugs. Altruism and Solidarity Scales were both internally consistent. Each correlated significantly with measures of helping others. These measures appear reliable and valid. They can be used to study how big events or structural interventions affect altruism and solidarity, and how altruism and solidarity are associated with changes in HIV or other risks, among people who inject drugs.
Architectural characterization of VM scaling on an SMP machine

The use of virtualization as a means to consolidate multiple applications on the same server platform continues to grow in the datacenter. However, the performance implications in a virtualized environment are not yet thoroughly understood for key commercial server workloads. In this paper, our goal is to provide architectural insights into the performance of server application scaling in a virtualization environment. We do so by studying the scaling behavior of a compute intensive application, namely SPECjbb2005 which is a commercial Java server benchmark. When comparing to native execution, the performance of a single virtual machine running SPECjbb2005 appears to be comparable. However, as the number of virtual machines is increased, the performance degradation was found to be significant. A detailed investigation into overheads of virtual machine scheduling and context switching overhead was conducted. Based on this investigation, we show how the number of instructions executed per operation, the cycles per instruction, and the cache misses and the TLB misses all are affected when scaling virtual machines. We also compare the performance of the simultaneously running virtual machines and discuss fairness and prioritization implications of scheduling decisions.
Fluctuations of elastic interfaces in fluids: theory, lattice-boltzmann model, and simulation

Abstract We study the dynamics of elastic interfaces-membranes-immersed in thermally excited fluids. The work contains three components: the development of a numerical method, a purely theoretical approach, and numerical simulation. In developing a numerical method, we first discuss the dynamical coupling between the interface and the surrounding fluids. An argument is then presented that generalizes the single-relaxation-time lattice-Boltzmann method for the simulation of hydrodynamic interfaces to include the elastic properties of the boundary. The implementation of this method is outlined and it is tested by simulating the static behavior of spherical bubbles and the dynamics of bending waves. By means of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem we recover analytically the equilibrium frequency power spectrum of thermally fluctuating membranes and the correlation function of the excitations. Also, the nonequilibrium scaling properties of the membrane roughening are deduced, leading us to formulate a scaling law describing the interface growth, W2(L,t)=L(3) g(t/L(5/2)), where W, L, and t are the width of the interface, the linear size of the system, and the time, respectively, and g is a scaling function. Finally, the phenomenology of thermally fluctuating membranes is simulated and the frequency power spectrum is recovered, confirming the decay of the correlation function of the fluctuations. As a further numerical study of fluctuating elastic interfaces, the nonequilibrium regime is reproduced by initializing the system as an interface immersed in thermally preexcited fluids.
Dependability, Abstraction, and Programming

In this paper, we look at what is required to produce programs that are dependable. Dependability requires more than just high availability. Rather, a program needs to be "right" as well, solving the problem for which it was designed. This requires a program development infrastructure that can, by means of appropriate abstractions, permit the programmer to focus on his problem, and not be distracted by "systems issues" that arise when high availability is required. We discuss the attributes of good abstractions. We then illustrate this in the programming of dependable systems. Our "abstraction" is a transparently persistent stateful programming model for use in the web enterprise setting where exactly-once execution is required. Work on this abstraction is reviewed. The new technical meat of the paper is in (1) describing how to reduce the performance cost of using the abstraction; (2) extending the flexibility of using this abstraction; (3) and showing how to exploit it to achieve dependability.
A Coupled-Pixel Model (CPM) Atmospheric Retrieval Algorithm for High-Resolution Imagers

AbstractLow-frequency passive microwave observations allow for oceanic remote sensing of surface wind speed and rain rate from spaceborne and airborne platforms. For most instruments, the modeling of contributions of rain absorption and reemission in a particular field of view is simplified by the observing geometry. However, the simplifying assumptions that can be applied in most applications are not always valid for the scenes that the airborne Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) regularly observes. Collocated Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) and HIRAD observations of Hurricane Earl (2010) indicate that retrieval algorithms based on the usual simplified model, referred to here as the decoupled-pixel model (DPM), are not able to resolve two neighboring rainbands at the edge of HIRAD’s swath. The DPM does not allow for the possibility that a single column of atmosphere can affect the observations at multiple cross-track positions. This motivates the development of a coupled-pixel model (CPM)...
Adenosine A2 stimulation of tyrosine hydroxylase in rat striatal minces is reversed by dopamine D2 autoreceptor activation.

Abstract The adenosine agonist, 2-chloroadenosine, stimulated tyrosine hydroxylase activity in rat striatal minces; this effect was attenuated by activation of dopamine (DA) D 2 autoreceptors with N-n-propylnorapomorphine and antagonized by theopylline. Forskolin and 8-bromo-cAMP also increased tyrosine hydroxylase activity and their effects were not altered by 2-chloroadenosine. D 1 , α, β and 5-HT agonists did not affect tyrosine hydroxylase activity. Evidently, A 2 receptors on DA nerve terminals stimulate striatal DA synthesis and this effect is negatively modulated by D 2 autoreceptors, probably via changes in intracellular cAMP levels.
Analysis of interval histograms of period of the electroencephalogram from homologous left and right derivations in verbal and nonverbal tasks

Interval histograms of period of the electroencephalogram (EEG) were derived from parietal- occipital derivations of left and right hemispheres in 10 right-handed males, aged 5-11 years. The EEGs were obtained during performance of (1) a verbal task in which the subject was asked to listen to and recall, in correct order, lists of digits equal in length to his digit span, (2) a nonverbal task in which the subject pushed a button as quickly as possible whenever a 1,000-Hz, 72-dB tone was heard over a loudspeaker. The histograms, which were derived by computer, were composed of the durations of 380 EEG half waves taken immediately prior to the initiation of the stimuli. The histograms from left and right derivations, for each condition, were characterized in terms of their central tendency (m), dispersion (σ), skewness (β1), and kurtosis (β2). Except for the values of m in the case of the nonverbal task, there were no differences between the parameters obtained from left and right hemispheres. The fact that σ, β1, and β2 showed no interhemispheric differences argued strongly in favor of the reliability of the central-moments technique of EEG period analysis. The values of m from left and right hemispheres were more alike during performance of the verbal than of the nonverbal task. These findings suggest that performance of verbal and nonverbal tasks may be accompanied by differences in left-right symmetry of the EEG and that the central-moments technique may be sensitive to these interhemispheric differences.
Correlates of Myocardial Performance with Rejection in Pediatric Heart Transplant Patients |[dagger]| 80

In pediatric heart transplant patients, myocardial performance is an important determinant of outcome. However, correlates mediating systolic and diastolic function in these patients are incompletely understood. We determined left ventricular +dP/dtmax (an index of contractility);-dP/dtmax and Tau (measures of relaxation), and end diastolic pressure(EDP); and performed right ventricular endomyocardial biopsies, in 5 post-transplant patients undergoing 8 cardiac catheterizations. One patient(*) had 3, and another (†) 2 catheterizations because of severe rejection. Their ages ranged from 4 to 17 yrs., and the time from transplant to catheterization was 2.5 to 3 yrs. Mechanical parameters were determined from left ventricular pressure tracings recorded at 200 mm/sec, and sampled at 4.16 ms intervals. Tau, the relaxation time constant, was obtained by fitting the ventricular pressure data to the exponcntial function P(t) = Po e-t/Tau, where Po is the pressure at -dP/dtmax, and t the time. Myocardial rejection was classified as mild (open box), moderate (shaded box) or severe (black box), based upon the grading system of the International Society for Heart Transplantation. Positive- and -dP/dtmax were jointly evaluated to determine whether ventricular contraction and relaxation were coupled (Fig. 1). Tau and EDP were analyzed to examine the relationship between active relaxation and passive filling (Fig. 2). Both correlations were highly significant regardless of the patients' degree of rejection. In conclusion, for these pediatric heart transplant patients: 1) Contraction-relaxation coupling is preserved, 2) + and -dP/dtmax do not correlate with the degree of rejection, and 3) Tau and EDP correlate with each other, and, more importantly, with the degree of rejection.
Detailed velocity-dependent line shapes for degenerate four-wave mixing spectra in a two-level atomic system

We study phase-conjugate degenerate four-wave mixing in an optically pumped, two-level atomic system (the ${3s}^{2}{S}_{1/2},$ $F=2,$ ${m}_{\mathrm{F}}=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{2}{3p}^{2}{P}_{3/2},$ $F=3,$ ${m}_{\mathrm{F}}=3$ transition in a diffuse, collision-free, thermal beam of sodium). In this investigation, we study the detailed line shape and strength of the four-wave mixing signal as a function of the intensity of the cw pump waves, and of the velocity of the atoms. Our technique allows us to examine the four-wave mixing interaction under conditions in which the Doppler shift, the natural linewidth of the transition, and the Rabi frequency for the interaction are each comparable with one another. From our experimental measurements and computational results, we show that the line shapes are very complex in this regime, and that they depend sensitively upon the atomic velocity, especially in the case when the intensity of the forward and backward pump beams exceeds the saturation intensity for the transition.
GAMMA YIELD FROM THE PROTON BOMBARDMENT OF TRITIUM

The Livermore 90-in. variable-energy cyclotron has been used to measure the excitation function for the $\mathrm{T}(p, \ensuremath{\gamma}){\mathrm{He}}^{4}$ reaction for proton energies between 5.8 and 9.2 Mev at a laboratory angle of 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. The $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ radiation was produced in a 0.12-Mev-thick tritium gas target and detected in a 5-in.-diam by 6-in.-long NaI(Tl) crystal. Gamma-ray angular distributions were measured at ${E}_{p}=5.8, 6.4, 7.7, 8.4, \mathrm{and} 9.2$ Mev and were found to be peaked at angles less than 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, the asymmetry increasing with proton energy. No evidence was found for excited states of ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$ previously reported by Milone.
Density functional calculations of the electronic structure and optical properties of aluminosilicate polymorphs (Al2SiO5)

The density functional theory (DFT) based orthogonalized linear combination of atomic orbitals (OLCAO) method is used to study the electronic structure and spectroscopic properties of three alumino silicate polymorphs (Al 2 SiO 5 ), andalusite, sillimanite, and kyanite. These polymorphs are precursors to mullite, which is an excellent refractory material. The electronic structure results include the band structure, total and partial density of states, bond order, and Mullikan effective charge (Q*), whereas the spectroscopic properties include X-ray absorption near-edge-structure (XANES), and the complex optical dielectric functions (e 1 + ie 2 ) for each polymorph. For the XANES calculations, we use a supercell approach and account for the electron-core hole interaction. Our calculations show that the polymorphs are insulators with direct band gaps of 5.05, 5.21, and 5.80 eV for andalusite, sillimanite, and kyanite, respectively. The calculated refractive indices (n) for each material are in agreement with experimental values from the literature. Results on the XANES spectral calculations ( K -edge and L -edge) for all crystallographically nonequivalent ions in the polymorphs are presented. It is shown that to achieve excellent agreement with the experimentally measured spectrum, a weighted sum of the spectra from crystallographically inequivalent sites must be used. The analysis of the XANES spectra based on differences in the local bonding environments are provided.
Categorization of line drawings of natural scenes using non-accidental properties matches human behavior

Humans can understand the gist of scene images accurately at a brief glance [8], with similar level of performance even when the scenes images are reduced from color photographs to line drawings [6]. What are the decoding representations enabling this ability? Recognition-by-components theory suggests that we use non-accidental properties, such as collinearity, curvature, or specific types of vertices, for the recognition of objects and their spatial relations [4]. Practical tests of this model with real-world images have so far failed due to the challenge of extracting these nonaccidental properties from photographic images. For our work we used line drawings that were generated by artists, who digitally traced the outlines in photographs of natural scenes. Having the exact coordinates of the artists’ pen strokes available allowed us to define non-accidental properties and other scene statistics using linear algebra. Specifically, we automatically extracted the distributions of contour length, curvature, orientation, angle between lines in intersections, as well as the counts of T, X, Y and arrow junctions. We used these features to train a classifier to discriminate between six categories of natural scenes (beaches, city streets, forests, highways, mountains, and offices). The classifier could correctly identify the category for 84% of the line drawings in a left-out test set (chance: 17%). To assess the relevance of these features for human behavior, we compared the errors made by the classifier for the different types of features with the errors made by human participants ii in a six-alternative forced-choice categorization task of briefly presented and masked images. For line drawings, correlations of the off-diagonal elements of the confusion matrices were significant at p < 0.01 for intersection angles (r = 0.55) and junction type (r = 0.48), at p < 0.05 for contour curvature (r = 0.45). Furthermore, the error pattern for observers viewing color photographs were highly correlated with those of classifiers using intersection angles (r = 0.48, p = 0.008) and counts of junctions (r = 0.49, p = 0.006) as features. This match between non-accidental properties and human behavior serves as experimental confirmation of the importance of these features for the perception of natural scenes.
STRESS ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION IMAGING IN THE EVALUATION OF CHEST PAIN: A COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS STUDY

Stress echocardiography and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) are non-invasive methods for detecting obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Stress echocardiography requires direct endocardial visualization, which may be enhanced with ultrasound contrast agents. Given rising healthcare costs and
14-3-3 proteins interact with specific MEK kinases.

Abstract MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinasekinase) kinases (MEKKs) regulate c-Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular response kinase pathways. The 14-3-3ζ and 14-3-3e isoforms were isolated in a two-hybrid screen for proteins interacting with the N-terminal regulatory domain of MEKK3. 14-3-3 proteins bound both the N-terminal regulatory and C-terminal kinase domains of MEKK3. The binding affinity of 14-3-3 for the MEKK3 N terminus was 90 nm, demonstrating a high affinity interaction. 14-3-3 proteins also interacted with MEKK1 and MEKK2, but not MEKK4. Endogenous 14-3-3 protein and MEKK1 and MEKK2 were similarly distributed in the cell, consistent with their in vitrointeractions. MEKK1 and 14-3-3 proteins colocalized using two-color digital confocal immunofluorescence. Binding of 14-3-3 proteins mapped to the N-terminal 393 residues of 196-kDa MEKK1. Unlike MEKK2 and MEKK3, the C-terminal kinase domain of MEKK1 demonstrated little or no ability to interact with 14-3-3 proteins. MEKK1, but not MEKK2, -3 or -4, is a caspase-3 substrate that when cleaved releases the kinase domain from the N-terminal regulatory domain. Functionally, caspase-3 cleavage of MEKK1 releases the kinase domain from the N-terminal 14-3-3-binding region, demonstrating that caspases can selectively alter protein kinase interactions with regulatory proteins. With regard to MEKK1, -2 and -3, 14-3-3 proteins do not appear to directly influence activity, but rather function as “scaffolds” for protein-protein interactions.
Activation of phospholipid thromboplastin by lecithin.

THIS communication is prompted by the recent report of Newlands and Wild1 that a preparation of soybean phospholipid can serve as a useful source of platelet factor for the thromboplastin generation test. We have been trying in this laboratory for several years to define the phospholipid structures responsible for thromboplastic activity. Reports have been limited to preliminary communications2–4 because the degree of purity of the active fractions does not permit a rigorous correlation of structure with activity, although the evidence suggests that the essential structural requirement is the presence of a serine or ethanolamine base in a glycerophospholipid molecule. It should be noted that the activity discussed in this communication is acceleration of the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin in the presence of calcium and a suitable (glass) surface in mammalian coagulation systems. Phosphatidyl serine, which has a higher activity per unit weight than thromboplastic protein in accelerating prothrombin conversion in the rabbit system2, is without effect when studied with avian plasmas.
Ground water contaminant modeling for bioremediation: A review

Abstract This paper presents an overview of biodegradation as a remediation technology for contaminated ground water. A discussion of design issues for the remediation process and a review of models applied to biodegradation in groundwater are included. Following a description of bioplume ii numerical degradation model, the authors discuss its application to field studies of an aviation fuel spill in Traverse City, Michigan.
Aqueous-Phase Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: Effect of Reaction Temperature on Ruthenium Nanoparticle Catalyst and Comparison with Supported Ru and Co Catalysts

The effect of reaction temperature on the performance of a ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst was investigated during aqueous-phase Fischer–Tropsch synthesis using a 1 L stirred tank reactor in the batch mode of operation. The activity of the catalyst was found to increase monotonically with increasing reaction temperature. At lower temperatures oxygenates content is high. With increasing the reaction temperature, oxygenate selectivity decreases and the hydrocarbons selectivity increases. Methane and carbon dioxide selectivity increases with reaction temperature. Under similar activation and reaction conditions, a NaY supported 2.5 wt% Ru catalyst and a traditional cobalt FT catalyst (0.5 %Pt-25 %Co/Al2O3) were utilized. The activity of the supported ruthenium and cobalt catalysts are lower than the ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst and carbon dioxide formation is high for supported catalysts. High activity of ruthenium nanoparticles compare to the supported catalysts might be due to the high ratio of atoms remaining at the surface, and which are therefore available for acting in the chemical transformation of the substrates.
Recent advances in the isolation and structural studies of biomacromolecules using microcolumn techniques

Microcolumn liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis facilitate isolation of biological macromolecules at subnanogram levels. In order to characterize structurally such small amounts of labile materials, it is essential to develop new nanoscale sample treatment approaches and highly sensitive analytical techniques for the determination of biomolecular fragments. Progress in this area is summarized, using selected examples of the amino acid, peptide, and oligonucleotide separations.
Crystal Structures of the Adenylate Sensor from Fission Yeast AMP-Activated Protein Kinase

The 5′-AMP (adenosine monophosphate)–activated protein kinase (AMPK) coordinates metabolic function with energy availability by responding to changes in intracellular ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and AMP concentrations. Here, we report crystal structures at 2.9 and 2.6 A resolution for ATP- and AMP-bound forms of a core αβγ adenylate-binding domain from the fission yeast AMPK homolog. ATP and AMP bind competitively to a single site in the γ subunit, with their respective phosphate groups positioned near function-impairing mutants. Unexpectedly, ATP binds without counterions, amplifying its electrostatic effects on a critical regulatory region where all three subunits converge.
Traditional Agriculture and the Conservation of Biological Diversity in Crete, Greece

The biological diversity in traditional agroecosystems and potential diversity loss associated with land use change in upland Crete was investigated. Using transects, plots and point count sampling...
What Went Wrong

Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), $27.95. Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Comm...
Effects of information processing speed on learning, memory, and executive functioning in people living with HIV/AIDS

Introduction: It is unclear whether or to what degree literacy, aging, and other neurologic abnormalities relate to cognitive deficits among people living with HIV/AIDS in the combined antiretroviral therapy (CART) era. The primary aim of this study was to simultaneously examine the association of age, HIV-associated motor abnormalities, major depressive disorder, and reading level with information processing speed, learning, memory, and executive functions, and to determine whether processing speed mediated any of the relationships between cognitive and noncognitive variables. Method: Participants were 186 racially and ethnically diverse men and women living with HIV/AIDS who underwent comprehensive neurological, neuropsychological, and medical evaluations. Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess the extent to which information processing speed mediated the relationship between age, motor abnormalities, major depressive disorder, and reading level with other cognitive abilities. Results: Age,...
Center-Line Deflection of Pneumatic Tires Moving in Dry Sand

Abstract Tyre deflection data were studied from tests performed in the single-wheel test facilities at the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. The tests were performed with a smooth 11·00–20, 12-PR tubular type moving under a 3,000 lb load in mortar sand of various strengths and a smooth 9·00–14, 2-PR tubeless tyre moving under a 890 lb load in Yuma sand of various strengths. Plots are presented of the path of a point on the centre line of the tyres relative to a moving and a fixed frame of reference. Representative plots are included to show the effect of slip, soil strength and inflation pressue on the path and to compare the paths of a point on towed and powered tyres.
The gene coding the human S11 surface antigens maps between the loci for HPRT and G6PD on the X-chromosome.

Abstract The human S11 surface antigens are expressed on fibroblasts and are coded by a gene on the X-chromosome. We have regionally mapped this gene by examining S11 expression on a panel of hybrid lines which had fragmented the X-chromosome either during chromosome-mediated gene transfer, or by interspecies translocation during hybrid cell expansion. Using indirect immunofluorescence and the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), it was possible to isolate antigen-positive and -negative hybrid subpopulations for subsequent genetic analysis. The gene coding S11 could be localized to Xq27–28, between the loci for HPRT and G6PD where genes for the S10 and S12 antigens have been previously mapped. This work demonstrates the value of cell surface antigens and the FACS in somatic cell genetic analysis, and provides evidence for regional clustering of surface antigen loci on the human X-chromosome.
A Study of African American Serial Killers

A comparison of 57 African American serial killers since 1900 with 205 Euro-American serial killers on 83 variables revealed that African American serial killers killed fewer victims, committed fewer sexually deviant and violent acts in their crimes (such as less often torturing victims or committing bizarre sexual acts such as necrophilia), and seemed more normal in childhood.
Oxidative coupling of methane on improved bismuth oxide membrane reactors

Fluorite-structured yuria-bismuth oxide membranes with improved chemical stability were prepared by doping samarium in the lattice. The samarium-doped yuria-bismuth oxide (BYS) membranes are in fluorite structure, with high oxygen permeability and good catalytic properties for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). The oxygen partial pressure dependence of oxygen permeation flax shows a shift of the rate-limiting step from the suface reaction to the hulk electron-hole conduction as temperature increases from 750 to 950°C. OCM reactions were conducted in a membrane reactor made of the disk-shaped BYS membrane. Merhane- and oxygen-containing streams are fed into the opposite sides of the BYS membrane to allow OCM reactions to occur on the membrane surface exposed to methane. The membrane reactor gives C2, yields of 4–11% with C2, selectivity up to 74%. The performance of this membrane reactor is closely related to oxygen permeation properties of the BYS membrane. Experimental results show the effectiveness in improving the C2 yield by increasing the membrane surface area to reactor volume ratio. In this disk-shaped membrane reactor the highest C2, yield achieved is 17%, with a C2 selectivity of about 80%.
Rapid response oxygen-sensing nanofibers

Molecular oxygen has profound effects on cell and tissue viability. Relevant sensor forms that can rapidly determine dissolved oxygen levels under biologically relevant conditions provide critical metabolic information. Using 0.5 μm diameter electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber containing an oxygen-sensitive probe, tris (4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) dichloride, we observed a response time of 0.9±0.12 s while the t95 for the corresponding film was more than two orders of magnitude greater. Interestingly, the response and recovery times of slightly larger diameter PCL fibers were 1.79±0.23 s and 2.29±0.13 s, respectively, while the recovery time was not statistically different likely due to the more limited interactions of nitrogen with the polymer matrix. A more than 10-fold increase in PCL fiber diameter reduces oxygen sensitivity while having minor effects on response time; conversely, decreases in fiber diameter to less than 0.5 μm would likely decrease response times even further. In addition, a 50°C heat treatment of the electrospun fiber resulted in both increased Stern-Volmer slope and linearity likely due to secondary recrystallization that further homogenized the probe microenvironment. At exposure times up to 3600 s in length, photobleaching was observed but was largely eliminated by the use of either polyethersulfone (PES) or a PES-PCL core-shell composition. However, this resulted in 2- and 3-fold slower response times. Finally, even the non-core shell compositions containing the Ru oxygen probe result in no apparent cytotoxicity in representative glioblastoma cell populations.
Lymphatic invasion revealed by multispectral imaging is common in primary melanomas and associates with prognosis

Lymphatic invasion by tumor cells has been noted infrequently in primary melanomas. Our primary hypotheses were that using immunohistochemical markers of lymphatic vessels and of tumor cells would improve detection of lymphatic invasion and that lymphatic invasion would correlate with regional nodal metastatic disease. This study included 106 patients who were diagnosed between 1972 and 1991 and who had 10 years or more of follow-up. We performed dual immunohistochemical stains for podoplanin (for lymphatic vessels) and S-100 (for melanoma cells). Lymphatic invasion was identified by light microscopy and confirmed by multispectral imaging analysis. Lymphatic invasion was detected by morphology alone in 5 cases (4.7%) in contrast to immunohistochemical staining augmented by multispectral imaging analysis where 35 cases (33%) were identified (P < .0001). Lymphatic invasion was significantly associated with time to regional nodal metastatic disease, as well as first metastasis and melanoma-specific death. "Local metastasis," defined by immunohistochemistry-detected lymphatic invasion, satellites, or neural invasion, identified 64% of those who had regional nodal metastatic disease within 5 years of diagnosis. Lymphatic invasion is an underobserved phenomenon in primary melanomas that can be better detected by immunohistochemical staining. The presence of lymphatic invasion may be a clinically useful predictor of regionally metastatic disease.
Role of Penile Prosthesis Insertion in the Treatment of Acute Priapism

Ischemic priapism must be expeditiously treated to prevent corporal fibrosis, penile shortening, and erectile dysfunction. Medical therapy with corporal aspiration and irrigation is a useful first-line therapy, but in refractory cases, invasive procedures are typically necessary. Though sometimes effective, shunt surgeries are not universally successful in achieving detumescence and exacerbate corporal scarring, which makes subsequent penile prosthesis insertion more difficult. Insertion of a penile prosthesis during an acute episode of refractory, ischemic priapism alleviates pain and allows the patient to resume sexual function earlier. It also obviates the corporal scarring that may significantly shorten the penis and complicate subsequent prosthesis insertion.
Cost-effectiveness and decision analysis research in stroke

Abstract Strategies that prevent stroke and treatments given in the acute strokesetting may eliminate or reduce stroke-related disability. The principles of evidence-based medicine demand empirical evidence. However, for patients with stroke, it is infeasible to evaluate the long-term impact of the myriad of possible prevention or acute treatment options in a single, comprehensive trial. Decision and cost models can help clinical and policy decision making by providing projections of the long-term implications of specific prevention or acute treatment strategies. The development and analysis of models proceed through a series of well-defined steps based on emerging standards. Modeling has been applied to many aspects of stroke care, including stroke prevention with carotid surgery, anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation, antiplatelet therapy, acute treatment with thrombolytics, and the impact of various diagnostic tests on outcomes. The Stroke Policy Model is an example of a general-purpose stroke model that aims to integrate best evidence in a way that makes modeling exercises easier and more valid. Models have provided several useful insights, including the importance of specific factors on decision making (such as surgical risk on the value of carotid surgery), the need to assess patient preferences (such as in the decision to use thrombolytic therapy in acute stroke), and the importance of relatively modest treatment effects at a public health level (as in the case of acute stroke treatments.) Current application of modeling in stroke is not yet optimal as shown by divergent conclusions of some models addressing the same issue. Consumers and researchers must demand the same rigor of model-based analyses as that expected of other forms of scientific inquiry.
Freehand ultrasound‐guided femoral arterial catheterization in dogs

Objective: To demonstrate that ultrasound-guided femoral artery catheterization is feasible and practical in dogs. Case series summary: Four female mixed breed dogs weighing 14–23 kg were used following a terminal junior surgery laboratory and had been anesthetized before the ultrasound study. Dogs were positioned in lateral recumbency with the upper limb abducted and immobilized. The dependent limb was extended and shaved and isopropyl alcohol was applied. An ultrasound transducer was oriented transverse to the axis of the limb and, following ultrasonographic identification, the femoral artery was cannulated and a catheter was placed using the Seldinger technique. Ultrasound-guided catheterization was successful in 9 of 10 attempts; cannulization was successful in 10 of 10 attempts. Procedure time improved from 10 minutes to 1 minute during practice. Each of the 2 investigators was able to simultaneously ultrasound and cannulate the vessel. The major complication was hematoma formation, which occurred regardless of success. Information provided: Ultrasound-guided femoral artery catheterization is feasible and relatively easy to master in medium-size, anesthetized dogs.
Stability and queueing time analysis of a reader-writer queue with alternating exhaustive priorities

This paper considers a reader-writer queue with alternating exhaustive priorities. The system can process an unlimited number of readers simultaneously. However, writers have to be processed one at a time. Both readers and writers arrive according to Poisson processes. Writer and reader service times are general iid random variables. There is infinite waiting room for both. The alternating exhaustive priority policy operates as follows. Assume the system is initially idle. The first arriving customer initiates service for the class (readers or writers) to which it belongs. Once processing begins for a given class of customers, this class is served exhaustively, i.e. until no members of that class are left in the system. At this point, if customers of the other class are in the queue, priority switches to this class, and it is served exhaustively. This system is analyzed to produce a stability condition and Laplace-Stieltjes transforms (LSTs) for the steady state queueing times of readers and writers. An example is also given.
Decision/Risk Analysis Software: Survey for Trade Studies

This paper provides an overview of the PC and Mac-based software market for decision/risk analyses. Decision/risk analysis is a powerful methodology for conducting systems engineering trade studies and selecting system designs because the methodology explicitly deals with conflicting performance and cost objectives, uncertainty and risk preference. Information on 28 software packages is provided. Before describing these packages several applications of decision/risk analysis in systems engineering design are presented. In addition, technical performance, usability, compatibility and output documentation issues are discussed. Finally, we forecast the future trends for this software.
Assessing the relationship between individual characteristics, neighborhood context, and fear of crime

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine citizens’ fear of crime based on the neighborhood in which they live. Integrating individual characteristics, citizens’ perceptions, and neighborhood structure provides a more complete perspective on understanding fear. Individuals were asked to report on proximate level of fear, social cohesion, neighborhood disorder and level of police/citizen satisfaction. Neighborhood structure emerged as a predictor of citizen's fear even after controlling for race, age, gender and education. Results indicated that perceived disorder neighborhood structure was strongly associated with citizens’ fear of crime. Considering individual characteristics, perceptions of disorder, and neighborhood context simultaneously provides an opportunity to develop a more comprehensive understanding of fear and policies to reduce fear.
Oceanic Isopycnal Mixing by Coordinate Rotation

Abstract Current numerical models of oceanic circulation differentiate between the eddy diffusion and viscosity transport along the geopotential horizontal and vertical directions only. In order to model the effect of anisotropic turbulence as diffusive transport along and across density surfaces, the isopycnal mixing tensor has been transformed from a diagonal second-rank tensor in the isopycnal coordinate system to a tensor containing off-diagonal elements in the geopotential coordinate system.
Examining ACE analysis reliability estimates using fault-injection

ACE analysis is a technique to provide an early reliability estimate for microprocessors. ACE analysis couples data from abstract performance models with low level design details to identify and rule out transient faults that will not cause incorrect execution. While many transient faults are analyzable in ACE analysis frameworks, some are not. As a result, ACE analysis is conservative and provides a lower bound for the reliability of a processor design. Bounding the reliability of a design is useful since it can guarantee that the given design will meet reliability goals.In this work, we quantify and identify the sources of ACE analysis conservatism by comparing an ACE analysis methodology against a rigorous fault-injection study. We evaluate two flavors of ACE analysis: a "simple" analysis and a refined analysis, finding that even the refined analysis overestimates the soft error vulnerability of an instruction scheduler by 2-3x. The conservatism stems from two key sources: from lack of detail in abstract performance models and from what we term Y-Bits, a result of the single-pass simulation methodology that is typical of ACE analysis. We also examine the efficacy of applying ACE analysis to a class of "partial coverage" error mitigation techniques. In particular, we perform a case study on one such technique and extrapolate our findings to others.
The effects of atypical antipsychotic medications on psychosocial outcomes.

Abstract This review examines the question—Do atypical antipsychotic medications improve psychosocial outcomes?—by examining studies that compared the effects of atypicals to conventional antipsychotics or to other atypical medications. The authors reviewed randomized clinical trials of atypical antipsychotic medication that included psychosocial variables as outcomes. Findings from 31 published studies on more than 12,000 individuals generally showed that atypical medications led to significant improvements in negative symptoms compared to conventional antipsychotics. Effects on global assessment of psychosocial functioning and on the quality of life were mixed with only about half the studies reporting significant improvements. Olanzapine yielded the best results on psychosocial functioning; remoxipride was found to yield few significant changes on these variables. This review provides evidence that some atypical antipsychotics may have direct effects on some of the psychosocial disabilities that result from serious mental illness.
International Competition and Small-Firm Exit in US Manufacturing

This study analyzes both the determinants of small firm exit rates in US manufacturing over the 1989–2004 period, especially the reaction of domestic firms to the nature of foreign competition as measured by industry-specific real exchange rate movements (interacted with import penetration by industry). These international pressures seem to lead to increased rates of smallest-firm exit in manufacturing, though the magnitudes of these effects are smaller than sometimes discussed. However, high-tech industries avoid much of this impact; patents and a reputation for innovation may shield a small firm somewhat from lower-priced foreign competitors.