cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Operating principles of an electrothermal vibrometer for optical switching applications

A compact polysilicon surface-micromachined microactuator designed for optical switching applications is described. This actuator is fabricated using the foundry MUMPs process provided by Cronos Integrated Microsystems Inc. Actuated electrothermally, the microactuator allows fast switching speeds and can be operated with a low voltage square-wave signal. The design, operation mechanisms for this long-range and high frequency thermal actuation are described. A vertical micromirror integrated with this actuator can be operated with a 10.5 V, 20 kHz 15% duty-cycle pulse signal, achieving a lateral moving speed higher than 15.6 mm/sec. The optical switch has been operated to frequencies as high as 30 kHz.
Nonvisualization of the ovaries on pelvic ultrasound: does MRI add anything?

The purpose of our study is to assess the utility of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the event that either one or both ovaries are not visualized by pelvic ultrasound. This HIPAA-compliant retrospective study was approved by our local institutional review board and informed consent waived. 1926 pelvic MRI examinations between March 2007 and December 2011 were reviewed and included if a combined transabdominal and endovaginal pelvic ultrasound had been performed in the preceding 6 months with at least one ovary nonvisualized. Ovaries not visualized on pelvic ultrasound were assumed to be normal and compared with the pelvic MRI findings. MRI findings were categorized as concordant or discordant. Discordant findings were divided into malignant, non-malignant physiologic or non-malignant non-physiologic. The modified Wald, the “rule of thirds”, and the binomial distribution probability tests were performed. 255 pelvic ultrasounds met inclusion criteria with 364 ovaries not visualized. 0 malignancies were detected on MRI. 6.9% (25/364) of nonvisualized ovaries had non-malignant discordant findings on MRI: 5.2% (19/364) physiologic, 1.6% (6/364) non-physiologic. Physiologic findings included: 16 functional cysts and 3 hemorrhagic cysts. Non-physiologic findings included: 3 cysts in post-menopausal women, 1 hydrosalpinx, and 2 broad ligament fibroids. The theoretical risk of detecting an ovarian carcinoma on pelvic MRI when an ovary is not visualized on ultrasound ranges from 0 to 1.3%. If an ovary is not visualized on pelvic ultrasound, it can be assumed to be without carcinoma and MRI rarely adds additional information.
Utilization of stem cells to treat congenital heart disease: hype and hope.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Surgical advances over the past few decades have transformed the clinical management of congenital heart disease, such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Congenital heart disease affects more than 1% of liveborn infants and accounts for more than 2.5 million affected children per year worldwide. The cost and availability of complex medical management for these children becomes bluntly realized when heart failure progresses and only palliative options remain. Cell-based cardiac regeneration has been the focus of intensive efforts in adult heart disease for more than a decade and now has promise for pediatrics. RECENT FINDINGS Innate cardiac regeneration in the pediatric setting is measurable and potentially modifiable in the early stages of development. Repurposing cell-based manufactured products to promote cardiac regeneration in congenital heart disease has demonstrated significant improvement in cases of dilated cardiomyopathy and structural heart disease in infants. SUMMARY A focus on preemptive cardiac regeneration in the pediatric setting may offer new insights into the timing of surgery, location of cell-based delivery, and type of cell-based regeneration that could further inform acquired cardiac disease applications. The concept of cell-based pediatric cardiac regenerative surgery could transform the management of congenital heart disease when cost-effective strategies produce a valuable adjunctive solution to improve outcomes of cardiac surgery.
Composite PdTa metal membranes for hydrogen separation

The fabrication of a composite metal membrane using vapor deposition techniques is reported. Commercially obtained tantalum foils are cleaned by ion milling and subsequently coated with palladium metal. The test foil was 13 μm tantalum sheet coated with 1 μm of palladium on each side. For comparison, several other foils of differing tantalum and palladium thicknesses were investigated. These membranes having an area of about 2 cm2 provide a hydrogen flux ranging from 18.7 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) at 300°C to 27.4 sccm at 365°C with a hydrogen differential pressure of about 355 torr. The deposited palladium films were oriented along the (111) crystal axis. Gas flux versus pressure measurements revealed that these membranes do not show the P0.5 dependence upon applied differential pressure expected for foils in which bulk diffusion is rate limiting. This indicates that surface effects are becoming significant in determining hydrogen flux.
An information retrieval approach for regression test prioritization based on program changes

Regression testing is widely used in practice for validating program changes. However, running large regression suites can be costly. Researchers have developed several techniques for prioritizing tests such that the higher-priority tests have a higher likelihood of finding bugs. A vast majority of these techniques are based on dynamic analysis, which can be precise but can also have significant overhead (e.g., for program instrumentation and test-coverage collection). We introduce a new approach, REPiR, to address the problem of regression test prioritization by reducing it to a standard Information Retrieval problem such that the differences between two program versions form the query and the tests constitute the document collection. REPiR does not require any dynamic profiling or static program analysis. As an enabling technology we leverage the open-source IR toolkit Indri. An empirical evaluation using eight open-source Java projects shows that REPiR is computationally efficient and performs better than existing (dynamic or static) techniques for the majority of subject systems.
Structure of 3 Alpha-Hydroxysteroid/Dihydrodiol Dehydrogenase Complexed With NADP+

Rat liver 3α-hydroxysteroid/dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (3α-HSD) inactivates circulating steroid hormones and is involved in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) carcinogenesis. It is the only HSD of known structure in the aldo−keto reductase (AKR) superfamily and may provide a paradigm for other mammalian HSDs in this family. The structure of the 3α-HSD·NADP+ binary complex has been determined at 2.7 A resolution and refined to a crystallographic R-factor of 23.4% with good geometry. The model is similar to other binary complexes in the AKR superfamily in that NADP+ binds at the C-terminal end of an α/β barrel. However, it is unique in that NADP+ is bound in two alternate conformations, probably because of the lack of a salt-linked “safety belt” over the pyrophosphate bridge. The structure supports a previously proposed catalytic mechanism for carbonyl reduction in which Tyr 55 is the general acid, and its effective pKa is lowered by the adjacent Lys 84. We present evidence that the structurally distinct ...
Securing Digital Reputation in Online Social Media [Applications Corner]

As computing and communication systems evolve rapidly and ubiquitously, it has become convenient and almost effortless for individual users to generate, share, and exchange information on online social media. Through online social media, a wide range of digital content, which covers blogging, forums, reviews, social networking, question-answer databases, digital video, mobile phone photography, and wikis, is created by users and has dramatically changed the way people work and interact. However, the simplicity of creating such digital content online has also led to an increase of users? concern about the trustworthiness of such information. To address the issue of trustworthiness, a widely recognized approach is to evaluate the quality of the online information based on feedback from large scale, virtual word-of-mouth networks where individuals share their own opinions and experiences. The aggregated result of such feedback is called digital reputation. Digital reputation has already been widely adopted by current online social media. For example, viewers on YouTube may ?like? or ?dislike? a video clip, buyers on Amazon share their purchasing experiences, travelers evaluate hotels or restaurants on Yelp, and readers can either ?dig? or ?bury? a piece of social news on Reddit. The reputation-based solution is playing an increasingly important role in influencing users? online social interactions. For example, eBay sellers with established reputations can expect about 8% more revenue than new sellers marketing the same goods [1]; the survey in [2] reveals that the services receiving five-star ratings will attract 20% more revenue than the same services receiving four-star ratings.
Scale and magnanimity in Civic Liberalism

Abstract Thomas Spragens attempts to rebuild liberal theory by arguing that realist, libertarian, egalitarian, and identity liberals all have valid insights, but develop them one‐sidedly. Re‐examining the work of sixteenth‐ and seventeenth‐century liberals leads, he contends, to a more balanced liberalism. Spragens's often‐impressive effort to reconstruct liberalism is undermined by insufficient appreciation of the role of the scale of the polity and by confusions about civic friendship. Appreciation of Hayekian insights about spontaneous order, and of the limits of citizen knowledge in large polities, would help him solve the first problem. Distinguishing between friendship, friendliness, and social capital would help resolve the second.
Abstract 456: Immune-suppressive myeloid cells are induced during disease progression in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Background: Pancreatic cancers produce multiple immune-suppressive factors that can be measured in peripheral blood. Elevated levels of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) induced by tumor derived factors are associated with inhibition of immune responses in gastrointestinal malignancies (Mundy-Bosse, et al., CII, 2011). We hypothesized that levels of MDSC and pro-MDSC cytokines would be elevated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with progressive disease. Methods: Plasma and immune cells from peripheral blood were obtained from 30 pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. Group A consisted of 15 patients undergoing chemotherapy (11 stage III/IV, 4 stage II). Group B consisted of 15 chemonaive patients (10 stage III/IV, 5 stage II) and group C consisted of 9 normal patients. The nonparametric Wilcoxon test was used to compare the cytokines in the plasma between the various groups (A/B vs C, A vs B). The Bonferroni method was used to adjust for data obtained for 27 cytokines via BioPlex assay. Pathway analysis on cytokine profiles obtained from the BioPlex analysis was performed using IPA. A S100A9 ELISA was performed on chemonaive patients and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare levels between patients with different cancer stages. MDSC (HLADR neg/low , CD33 + , CD11b + , CD15 +/ − and CD14 +/ − ) were phenotyped via flow cytometry. Results: BioPlex analysis was performed on all subjects (Groups A, B and C). Increases in the levels of pro-MDSC cytokines were observed for A/B vs C (IL4 (p=0.005), IL5 (p=0.046), IL10 (p=0.046), GCSF (p=0.027). Increases were also observed in levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. RANTES p neg/low /CD33 + cells (9.1 ± 6.1 %) than SD (n=4) patients (1.4 ± 0.6%), with p=0.01 based on the Mann-Whitney test. MDSC and T cells isolated from a patient with 19.3% HLADR neg/low /CD33 + cells in peripheral blood were co-cultured and demonstrated that MDSC decreases T cell proliferation and responsiveness to interferon stimulation by 85%. Conclusions: Levels of pro-MDSC cytokines are increased in the circulation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. MDSC chemotaxic factors such as S100A9 increase with stage. This study suggests that MDSC in peripheral blood may be a predictive biomarker of chemotherapy failure in pancreatic cancer patients. Citation Format: Joseph Markowitz, Bonnie K. Paul, Taylor R. Brooks, Lai Wei, Jeff Pan, Katherine L. Martin, Eric Luedke, Bethany L. Mundy-Bosse, Gregory B. Lesinski, Tanios Bekaii-Saab, William E. Carson. Immune-suppressive myeloid cells are induced during disease progression in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 456. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-456
Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods for Radiation Hybrid Mapping

ABSTRACT The ordering of genetic loci is central to genetic mapping at all levels. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques can provide estimates of the posterior density of orders while accounting naturally for missing data, data errors, and unknown parameters. MCMC sampling schemes have been proposed for mapping problems such as linkage mapping and radiation hybrid mapping. The sampling schemes tend, however, to suffer from poor mixing caused by strong correlations between the model parameters. The method described here investigates the effect of using a modified sampling scheme, simulated tempering, on the mixing characteristics of the Markov chain. The method is illustrated by the analysis of haploid radiation hybrid mapping data; the principles are, however, applicable to a range of mapping problems. The results demonstrate that simulated tempering greatly improves the performance of the MCMC sampling scheme. For the radiation hybrid problem, the approach is probably not suitable for simultaneously...
Isospin dependent global nucleon-nucleus optical model at intermediate energies

A global nucleon-nucleus optical potential for elastic scattering has been produced which replicates experimental data to high accuracy and compares well with other recently formulated potentials. The calculation that has been developed describes proton and neutron scattering from target nuclei ranging from carbon to nickel and is applicable for projectile energies from 30 to 160 MeV. With these ranges it is suitable for calculations associated with experiments performed by exotic beam accelerators. The potential has both real and imaginary isovector asymmetry terms to better describe the dynamics of chains of isotopes and mirror nuclei. An analysis of the validity and strength of the asymmetry term is included with connections established to other optical potentials and charge-exchange reaction data.
Colonial Knowledge and the Fate of Hindustani

Towards the end of Paul Scott's A Division of the Spoils, the final novel of The Raj Quartet, and in the television series as well, Indian people make an appearance and commit acts of unmotivated and horrible violence. The British heroine comments, “Such a damn, bloody, senseless mess … the mess the raj had never been able to sort out.” Making sense, sorting out, was supposed to be the special vocation of British rule, yet here were all the seething, primordial conflicts rising to the surface again in the Hindu versus Muslim partition of India in 1947.
Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of a Wear-Resistant Alloyed Ductile Iron Austempered at Various Temperatures

To further improve the mechanical performance of a new type of alloyed bainitic wear-resistant ductile iron, the effects of the various austempering temperatures have been investigated on microstructure and mechanical behaviors of alloyed ductile iron Fe-3.50C-1.95Si-3.58Ni-0.71Cu-0.92Mo-0.65Cr-0.36Mn (in weight percent). This alloyed ductile iron were firstly austenitized at 1123 K (850 °C) for 1 hour and then austempered in a salt bath at 548 K, 573 K, and 598 K (275 °C, 300 °C, and 325 °C) for 2 hours according to time–temperature–transformation diagram calculated by JMatPro software. The microstructures of austempered wear-resistant ductile irons consist of matrix of dark needle-like ferrite plus bright etching austenite and some amount of martensite and some dispersed graphite nodules. With increasing the austempering temperature, the amount of ferrite decreases in austempered ductile iron, while the amount of austenite and carbon content of austenite increases. There is a gradual decrease in hardness and increase in compressive strength with increasing austempering temperature. The increased austenite content and coarsened austenite and ferrite can lead to a hardness decrease as austempering temperature is increased. The increased compressive strength can be attributed to a decreased amount of martensitic transformation. The alloyed ductile iron behaves rather well wear resistance when the austempering is carried out at 598 K (325 °C) for 2 hours. Under the condition of wear test by dry sand/rubber wheel, the wear mechanisms of austempered ductile irons are both micro-cutting and plastic deformation.
Mapping the train model for earthquakes onto the stochastic sandpile model

We perform a computational study of a variant of the “train” model for earthquakes [Phys. Rev. A 46, 6288 (1992)], where we assume a static friction that is a stochastic function of position rather than being velocity dependent. The model consists of an array of blocks coupled by springs, with the forces between neighbouring blocks balanced by static friction. We calculate the probability, P(s), of the occurrence of avalanches with a size s or greater, finding that our results are consistent with the phenomenology and also with previous models which exhibit a power law over a wide range. We show that the train model may be mapped onto a stochastic sandpile model and study a variant of the latter for non-spherical grains. We show that, in this case, the model has critical behaviour only for grains with large aspect ratio, as was already shown in experiments with real ricepiles. We also demonstrate a way to introduce randomness in a physically motivated manner into the model.
Hemodynamic and reflex sympathetic control of transmural activation and rate of ventricular tachycardia in ischemic and hypertrophic ventricular myocardium of the dog.

BACKGROUNDA previous study found that the electrophysiological response to ischemia is altered in hypertrophic myocardium, resulting in prolonged transmural activation time (TAT) associated with induction of sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. This study investigated the role of hemodynamics in modulating TAT and the cycle length of induced ventricular tachycardia (VT) in dogs with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).METHODS AND RESULTSAnesthetized open-chest dogs underwent 3 hours of uninterrupted circumflex coronary occlusion. During atrial drive, TAT was recorded between endocardial and epicardial bipolar pairs on the same multipolar plunge needle placed in nonischemic and ischemic zones, documented by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. TAT and VT induced by up to three extrastimuli were studied during hypertension (control), during normotension produced most frequently by nitroprusside infusion (3-6 micrograms/kg/min), and during further hypertension most frequently produced by phenylep...
Institutional and Secondary Landlordism in the Pearl River Delta, 1600-1949:

The structure of Chinese rural society, the causes of the agricultural depression during the Republican era, and their relationship to the Communist Revolution of 1949 have long been subjects of ideological and scholarly debate. There are two principal schools of interpretation: the distributionist school, with which many Chinese nationalists and Marxists may be identified, and the technologist school, into which many Western scholars fall.' For the distributionists, Chinese rural society was characterized by maldistribution of wealth, the symptoms of which were the increasing concentration of landownership and growing tenancy, and the concomitant exploitation of tenants by landlords through rack rents, usurious interest rates, and price manipulations. The implication was that drastic land reform or social revolution was necessary to end China's rural crisis.
Prenatal screening for intimate partner violence: A qualitative meta-synthesis

Abstract Aim The aim of this meta-synthesis was to glean an understanding of healthcare providers' experience with prenatal screening for intimate partner violence (IPV). Background Prenatal screening guidelines for IPV are in place; however, a gap exists between these recommendations and providers' practices. Methods Noblit and Hare's (1988) approach to synthesizing qualitative research studies was utilized. Eight research reports were identified and produced a sample of 142 experienced women's healthcare providers from the United States, New Zealand, and Sweden. Results The synthesis revealed five overarching themes: (1) therapeutic relationship, (2) understanding what she is not saying, (3) presence of partner, (4) variations of how and when to discuss, and (5) "lost in the maze" of disclosure. When analyzed as a whole, the five themes contribute to a lack of universal screening for IPV. Conclusions Given that IPV is a social problem with long-term negative sequela, providers are poised to identify women during the perinatal timeframe to ensure adequate referrals and services to stop the cycle of violence.
Beyond assistive technology: universal design goes to school

For centuries, print technologies have been the dominant means for learning and expression in our schools. However, print technologies are not equally accessible to all students. Those with sensory, physical and learning disabilities face particular barriers in print. Schools have attempted to overcome these barriers with a variety of adaptations such as special classrooms, therapies, and assistive technologies. As schools move to a more inclusive multimedia platform, new opportunities arise to eliminate barriers for children with disabilities. The realization of these opportunities can only be achieved through universal design of educational media and materials. The prospects of universal design in education will be the focus of this presentation.
A CYCLOPHILIN FROM THE POLYCENTRIC ANAEROBIC RUMEN FUNGUS ORPINOMYCES SP. STRAIN PC-2 IS HIGHLY HOMOLOGOUS TO VERTEBRATE CYCLOPHILIN B

Abstract A cyclophilin (CyP) purified to homogeneity from the polycentric anaerobic rumen fungus Orpinomyces sp. strain PC-2 had a molecular mass of 20.5 kDa and a pI of 8.1. The protein catalyzed the isomerization of the prolyl peptide bond of N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-(cis,trans)-Pro-Phe p-nitroanilide with a kcat/Km value of 9.3 x 10(6) M-1.s-1 at 10 degrees C and pH 7.8. Cyclosporin A strongly inhibited this peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerase activity with an IC50 of 19.6 nM. The sequence of the first 30 N-terminal amino acids of this CyP had high homology with the N-terminal sequences of other eukaryotic CyPs. By use of a DNA hybridization probe amplified by PCR with degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed based on the amino acid sequences of the N terminus of this CyP and highly conserved internal regions of other CyPs, a full-length cDNA clone was isolated. It possessed an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 203 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 21,969, containing a putative hydrophobic signal peptide sequence of 22 amino acids preceding the N terminus of the mature enzyme and a C-terminal sequence, Lys-Ala-Glu-Leu, characteristic of an endoplasmic reticulum retention signal. The Orpinomyces PC-2 CyP is a typical type B CyP. The amino acid sequence of the Orpinomyces CyP exhibits striking degrees of identity with the corresponding human (70%), bovine (69%), mouse (68%), chicken (66%), maize (61%), and yeast (54%) proteins. Phylogenetic analysis based on the CyP sequences indicated that the evolutionary origin of the Orpinomyces CyP was closely related with CyPs of animals.
Conservation and persistence of spin currents and their relation to the Lieb-Schulz-Mattis twist operators

Systems with spin-orbit coupling do not conserve ``bare'' spin current $\mathbf{j}$. A recent proposal for a conserved spin current $\mathbf{J}$ [J. Shi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 076604 (2006)] does not flow persistently in equilibrium. We suggest another conserved spin current $\overline{\mathbf{J}}$ that may flow persistently in equilibrium. We give two arguments for the instability of persistent current of the form $\mathbf{J}$: one based on the equations of motions and another based on a variational construction using Lieb-Schulz-Mattis twist operators. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling, the three forms of spin current coincide.
CORRELATES OF A ROMANTIC ATTITUDE TOWARD LOVE

(1) To 49 male and 54 female students (M.,. = 19.3 yr., SD = 1.4) were administered the romantic attitude toward love scale (Knox & Sporakowski, 1968), the Zung (1965) Self-rating Depression scale and a test of irrational thinking by Lee, et al. (1979). For both sexes, a romantic attitude toward love was associated with a higher irrationality score (Pearson r = 0.50, one-tailed P < 0.001). Women with a romantic attitude toward, love were more depressed ( r = 0.38, p = 0.003) but not men ( r = 0.07). ( 2 ) For 38 male and 37 female students (M,,. = 19.3 yr., SD = 1.4), given the romantic attitude toward love scale and a measure of the degree of satisfaction of Maslow's five basic needs (Lester, e: al., 1983), a romantic attitude was not associated with the degree of satisfaction of physiological needs ( r = 0.00), safety needs ( r = 0.03), belonging needs (+ = 0.02), esteem needs ( r = -0.10) or self-acrualization needs ( r = 0.03). Furthermore, a romantic attitude toward love was not associated with a measure of healthy love (Dietch, 1978) ( r = -0.13). ( 3 ) For 6 male and 43 female students (M.,. = 20.1 yr., SD = 1.1), given the romantic attitude toward love scale and Rubin's (1970) loving and liking scales, a romantic attitude toward love was correlated with scores on Rubin's loving scale ( r = 0.32, P = 0.01) but not with the liking scale ( r = 0.13). These studies have identified several correlates of a romantic attitude toward love. Romantics are less rational and, if women, more depressed. A romantic attitude toward love is not associated with liking one's partner, the degree of satisfaction of basic needs, or a measure of healthy love.
A dose-volume-based tool for evaluating and ranking IMRT treatment plans.

External beam radiotherapy (RT) is commonly used for patients with cancer. While tumor shrinkage and palliation are frequently achieved, local control and cure remain elusive for many cancerous diseases. With regard to local control, the fundamental problem is that RT-induced normal tissue injury limits the dose that can be delivered to the tumor. While intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) allows for the delivery of higher tumor doses and the sparing of proximal critical structures, multiple competing plans can be generated based on dosimetric and/or biological constraints that need to be considered/compared. In this work, an IMRT treatment plan evaluation and ranking tool, based on dosimetric criteria, is presented. The treatment plan with the highest uncomplicated target conformity index (TCI+) is ranked at the top. The TCI+ is a dose-volume based index that considers both a target conformity index (TCI) and normal tissues sparing index (NTSI). TCI+ is designed to reflect clinical judgment of the merit of a treatment plan. To demonstrate the utility of this tool, several-competing lung and prostate IMRT treatment plans are compared. Results show that the plan with the highest TCI+ values accomplished the competing goals of tumor coverage and critical structures sparing best, among rival treatment plans for both treatment sites. The study demonstrates that i) dose-volume based indices, which summarize complex dose distributions through a single index, can be used to automatically select the optimal plan among competing plans and ii) this dose-volume based index may be appropriate for ranking IMRT dose distributions.
The interpersonal skills of recent U.S. entrants to the field of healthcare management

A national survey was conducted to determine the current state of senior executive perceptions of recent entrant managers within corporate headquarters, hospital systems, and freestanding hospitals. The survey was constructed based on leadership interpersonal competencies and competency-based career development programs. A total of 676 respondents returned a survey, representing 31% of the mailing sample. The goal of the research was to determine the perceptions that senior executives have about the interpersonal skills of recent entrants to the field of health care management and identify best practices for organizational training of such entrants. Findings reveal that senior executives view the recent entrant manager favorably regardless of age, gender, education, and non-clinical/clinical background. Senior executives also observed the need to require additional training of recent entrant managers in areas of management skills on understanding organizational politics, using a variety of techniques to influence others, handling difficult people or situations using diplomacy, confronting others about their mistakes, and exercising authority.
The blue streak: A dynamic trait in the mud fiddler crab, Uca pugnax

Mud fiddler crabs, Uca pugnax, have a streak of blue coloration located on the front of the carapace above the mouth and centered between the eyes. We documented that this blue streak is absent in juveniles and develops as crabs become sexually mature. By photographing male crabs under controlled conditions in the laboratory, we demonstrated that the brightness of the blue streak (in comparison with the rest of the carapace) is dynamic, and can dim from bright blue to nearly black in fewer than two minutes. We examined blue streak variability in male crabs in response to physical factors (light and temperature) and social context to begin to understand what causes its dynamic response. The blue streak darkens in response to decreased ambient light, but does not respond to changes in temperature. In the field, it is brighter when crabs are roaming on the mudflat or fighting, but darker when crabs are basking or performing waving displays. The highly visual nature of fiddler crabs and the dynamic character of the blue streak suggest that it may communicate information about the state of a crab or its environment.
Utilisation bounds of P-FRP tasks

Priority-based functional reactive programming (P-FRP) is a new functional programming formalism for developing safety-critical embedded systems. P-FRP allows static priority assignment and guarantees real-time response by preempting lower priority tasks. Due to the state-less nature of functional programmes, preempted tasks in P-FRP are aborted and have to restart after the higher priority tasks have completed execution. Since the execution semantics of P-FRP are different from the classical preemptive model of execution, existing utilisation-based sufficient conditions cannot be applied. In this paper, we derive a new utilisation-based sufficient schedulability condition for P-FRP, and validate it using experimental task sets. We then compare the sufficient schedulability condition of P-FRP with that of the preemptive model to demonstrate the severe restrictions on task set sizes in P-FRP. Effect on the utilisation bound under conditional preemption has also been analysed.
SU‐FF‐T‐335: MU Variation for Total Body Irradiation (TBI)

Purpose: To determine a simplified formula to calculate monitor unit (MU) for total body irradiation (TBI) for 6 MV photon beams. Method and Materials: Patient data were accumulated for TBI with 6 MV photon beams between January 2002 and February 2006. The dependence of MU on SAD, patient thickness, and field sizes were examined for four different linear accelerator types. Results: MU depends strongly on SAD but is almost independent of the linear accelerator types. Among the 47 patients examined, the depth varied between 6.5 and 21.5 cm (mean and s.d.11.5 ± 3.6 cm), the field sizes varied between 20 and 50 cm (mean and s.d.35 ± 8 cm) and SAD varied between 492 and 591 cm. MU is linearly proportional to the thickness of patient separation and, to a lesser extent, linearly dependent on the equivalent patient field size. To deliver 200 cGy, the mean and standard deviation of MU*(100/SAD)2 is 113 ± 11 for all patients examined. Conclusion: To deliver 200 cGy with 6 MV photon beams, MU can be determined using a formula MU*(100/SAD)2 = 2.63 d + 82.6 to within an accuracy of 5.7% for most of patients examined. To increase the accuracy further, requires taking into account the field size dependence.
Organic cosolvent effects on the sorption and transport of neutral organic chemicals

Abstract Soil column miscible displacement techniques were used to investigate the effects of an organic cosolvent (methanol) on the sorption and transport of three neutral organic chemicals, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and the herbicide diuron, through a sandy surface soil. A two-domain, or bicontinuum, first-order mass transfer model described the experimental data well. For the three solutes used in this study, the equilibrium sorption coefficient (K) decreased log-linearly as the volume fraction of methanol (f c ) increased. The physical properties calculator of the SPARC computer model was used for generating solute solubility profiles to estimate the slope of the Log K-f c relationship.
Human Cytomegalovirus UL84 Localizes to the Cell Nucleus via a Nuclear Localization Signal and Is a Component of Viral Replication Compartments

The UL84 open reading frame encodes a protein that is required for origin-dependent DNA replication and interacts with the immediate-early protein IE2 in lytically infected cells. Transfection of UL84 expression constructs showed that UL84 localized to the nucleus of transfected cells in the absence of any other viral proteins and displayed a punctate speckled fluorescent staining pattern. Cotransfection of all the human cytomegalovirus replication proteins and oriLyt, along with pUL84-EGFP, showed that UL84 colocalized with UL44 (polymerase accessory protein) in replication compartments. Experiments using infected human fibroblasts demonstrated that UL84 also colocalized with UL44 and IE2 in viral replication compartments in infected cells. A nuclear localization signal was identified using plasmid constructs expressing truncation mutants of the UL84 protein in transient transfection assays. Transfection assays showed that UL84 failed to localize to the nucleus when 200 amino acids of the N terminus were deleted. Inspection of the UL84 amino acid sequence revealed a consensus putative nuclear localization signal between amino acids 160 and 171 (PEKKKEKQEKK) of the UL84 protein.
Further studies on the purification and properties of a ribonuclease inhibitor from lens cortex.

Abstract A ribonuclease inhibitor protein has been purified 500-fold from a crude extract of bovine lens cortex. This protein has a molecular weight of 32,000 as determined by Sephadex gel filtration and migrates as a very acidic protein in disk electrophoresis. The inhibition of ribonuclease appears to involve the formation of an inactive ribonuclease-inhibitor complex. This complex was shown to have a molecular weight of 48,000 which indicates a 1:1 stoichiometry. The formation of this complex depends upon charge interaction since the presence of poly- l -lysine interferes with the inhibition of ribonuclease. Data are also preseted which show that there is no difference in absolute ribonuclease activity between normal and cataractous lenses, and that ribonuclease activity in the lens is located mainly in the lens epithelium.
Transplantation of microencapsulated bovine chromaffin cells reduces lesion-induced rotational asymmetry in rats.

Abstract Surrounding bovine chromaffin cells by a semipermeable membrane may protect the transplanted cells from a host immune response and shield them from the inflammatory process resulting from the surgical trauma. Encapsulation of the chromaffin cells was achieved by inter-facial adsorption of a polycation on a polyanionic colloid matrix in which the chromaffin cells were entrapped. Basal and potassium-evoked release of catecholamines from encapsulated bovine chromaffin cells was analyzed over a 4-week period in vitro. Norepinephrine and dopamine release remained constant over time whereas epinephrine release significantly decreased. The chromaffin cells also retained the capacity for depolarization-elicited catecholamine release 4 weeks following the encapsulation procedure. Morphological analysis revealed the presence of intact chromaffin cells with well-preserved secretory granules. Striatial implantation of chromaffin cell-loaded capsules significantly reduced apomorphine-induced rotation compared to empty polymer capsules in animals lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamne frr at least 4 weeks. Intact chromaffin cells expressing tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-β-hydroxylase were observed in all capsules implanted in the striatum for 4 weeks. The assessment of the clinical potential of transplanting encapsulated adrenal chromaffin cells of either allo- or xenogeneic origin for Parkinson's disease will require long-term behavioral studies. The present study suggests, however, that the polymer encapsulation procedure may offer an alternative to adrenal autografts as a source of dopaminergic tissue.
Application of Extended Kalman Filter to On-Line Diesel Engine Cylinder Pressure Estimation

Cylinder pressure is one of the most important parameters characterizing the combustion process in an internal combustion engine. The recent developments in piezoelectric pressure transducers and progress in on-line computational throughput facilitate the use of cylinder pressure as a feedback signal for engine combustion control. However, a typical production cylinder pressure sensor is subject to noise and offset issues that require signal processing methods, including averaging over several engine cycles, in order to extract a pressure trace sufficiently accurate for combustion characterization. This limits the application of cylinder pressure sensing to off-line applications. In order to enable closed-loop combustion control using cylinder pressure feedback, this study proposes a real-time estimation algorithm that extracts the pressure signal on a crank-angle basis. A simplified thermodynamic model for Diesel engine combustion is derived to predict the in-cylinder pressure. The model is then adapted to model-based estimation, by applying an Extended Kalman Filter in conjunction with a recursive least squares estimation. The resulting estimator is tested on a high-fidelity Diesel engine model for different operating conditions. The results obtained show the effectiveness of the estimator in reconstructing the cylinder pressure and in rejecting measurement noise and modeling errors.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Correctness of a distributed transaction system

A distributed transaction system manages information that is dispersed over a number of storage devices. This paper deals with an experimental transaction system designed to satisfy real-time constraints through distributed control of the executions of transactions. Of interest is the correctness of the algorithm for distributed control. Demonstrating the correctness involves showing that the algorithm guarantees the consistency of distributed data, and equally importantly, that every transaction will eventually terminate. Proof of consistency is based on the notion of serializability of transactions while proof of termination is based on the conflict resolution and failure recovery strategies employed by the transaction system.
Market Segmentation for Fast-Food Restaurants in an Era of Health Conciousness

Abstract Recent societal changes toward heightened interest in health and nutrition indicate consumers' health- and nutrition-related attitudes and behaviors may be important for segmenting the market for fast-food restaurants (FFR's). This research conducted a recent survey of 387 consumers to investigate the extent to which these variables, as well as demographics, predict patronage of FFR's. Findings indicate that consumers who do not patronize FFR's have the strongest involvement with health-related issues, while frequent patrons have the weakest involvement. Thus, marketers could use a combination of general health- and nutrition-related attitudes and behaviors to supplement demographic information when plotting their marketing strategy.
Derivation of gamma variate indicator dilution function from simple convective dispersion model of blood flow.

The gamma variate function, commonly used to analyze time–activity curves obtained in nuclear medicine flow studies, is shown to be related to the solution to the differential equation obtained from a one‐dimensional convective dispersive model of blood flow.
Independence of trace storage and organized recall

The issue of independence vs dependence of trace storage is reexamined in the context of a mathematical model for organized recall. According to the model independently stored items which share dependence upon the accessing and execution of a common retrieval plan will exhibit mutual stochastic dependence of a certain mathematical form in retrieval. The model is fit to free and cued recalls of categorized lists. The model-based prediction that cuing will produce stochastic independence in recall among items belonging to the same category is confirmed. The implications of this result for storage dependence and storage independence theories are discussed.
The Contribution of the Library to the Reputation of a University

This paper explores the relationship between a peer-assessed reputation rating for each of the 247 doctoral universities and cross-institutional performance indicators for universities and their libraries. Using multiple regression, the variable of library expenditures, was the only consistently significant one using combinations of variables. This report is the first showing empiric evidence of the relationship between reputation with measures used in higher education and library performance.
Large size GEM for Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS) polarimeter for Hall A 12 GeV program at JLab

Abstract We report on the R&D effort in the design and construction of a large size Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) for the Proton Polarimeter Back Tracker (BT) of the Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS) in Hall A at Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory (JLab). The SBS BT GEM trackers consist of two sets of five large GEM chambers of size 60×200 cm 2 . The GEM chamber is a vertical stack of four GEM modules, each with an active area of 60×50 cm 2 . We have built and tested several prototypes and the construction of GEM modules for SBS BT is ongoing. We describe in this paper the design and construction of the GEM module prototype as well as the preliminary results on performance from tests carried out in our detector lab and during test beam at Fermi National Laboratory (Fermilab).
Ethanol and oleate inhibition of α-ketoisovalerate and 3-hydroxyisobutyrate metabolism by isolated hepatocytes

Abstract Ethanol inhibited glucose synthesis from α-ketoisovalerate by isolated rat hepatocytes without significant inhibition of flux through the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex. Accumulation of 3-hydroxyisobutyrate, an intermediate in the catabolism of α-ketoisovalerate, was increased by ethanol, indicating inhibition of flux at the level of 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase. 3-Hydroxybutyrate caused the same effects as ethanol, suggesting inhibition was a consequence of an increase in the mitochondrial NADH/NAD + ratio. Flux through the 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase was more sensitive to regulation by the mitochondrial NADH/ NAD + ratio than flux through the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase. Oleate also inhibited glucose synthesis from α-ketoisovalerate, but marked inhibition of flux through the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex was caused by this substrate.
Infer Species Phylogenies Using Self-Organizing Maps

With rapid advances in genomics, phylogenetics has turned to phylogenomics due to the availability of large amounts of sequence and genome data. However, incongruence between species trees and gene trees remains a challenge in molecular phylogenetics for its biological and algorithmic complexities. A state-of-the-art gene concatenation approach was proposed to resolve this problem by inferring the species phylogeny using a random combination of widely distributed orthologous genes screened from genomes. However, such an approach may not be a robust solution to this problem because it ignores the fact that some genes are more informative than others in species inference. This paper presents a self-organizing map (SOM) based phylogeny inference method to overcome its weakness. The authorâ€™s proposed algorithm not only demonstrates its superiority to the original gene concatenation method by using same datasets, but also shows its advantages in generalization. This paper illustrates that data missing may not play a negative role in phylogeny inferring. This study presents a method to cluster multispecies genes, estimate multispecies gene entropy and visualize the species patterns through the self-organizing map mining.
755-2 Current Management of ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction and Outcome of Thrombolytic Ineligible Patients: Results of the Multicenter TIMI 9 Registry

Despite clear benefit of thrombolysis (Tlysis) and primary (1°) PTCA for acute MI, prior reports have indicated a low use of thrombolytic therapy in the U.S. Further, single center reports have suggested that mortality is up to 5 times higher when thrombolysis is not given. To evaluate the management and outcome of acute MI in 1994, we conducted a registry in 20 hospitals (16 with l° PTCA capability) and prospectively identified allconsecutive patients (ptsl presenting with acute MI and ST segment elevation or new LBBB. A total of 587 pts were identified, 200 were enrolled in the TIMI 9 thrombolytic trial of hirudin vs. heparin, and 387 in the TIMI 9 Registry. Tlysis was given to 356 of 587 (60.7%) pts (of whom 200/356 (56%) were enrolled in TIMI 9); l° PTCA was performed in 62/587 (10.5%) of the total population and medical therapy used in 169/587128.8%). Of the patients enrolled in the TIMI 9 Registry, those treated with l° PTCA were significantly younger, 60.7 years, vs. 64.9 for Tlysis and 66.1 for medical therapy(each p l 0.05) and were less oftenwomen, 20.0%, vs. 36.2% and 36.1%, respectively, (each p l 0.05). Time to presentation was significantly longer for medically treated pts: 13.8h vs. 4.4h for Tlysis and 3.3h for 1° PTCA (each p l 0.001). Delayg 12 hours was the reason cited most often for pts not treated with thrombolysis. Inhospital mortality is shown. Recurrent MI was similar in the 3 groups, 4.2%. Conclusions (1) In 1994 in the U.S., reperfusion therapy was used in 71% of pts with ST elevation MI at these hospitals. (2) The potential underutilization of l° PTCA in women deserves further study. (3) Early mortality was similar for Tlysis and l° PTCA, but highest for medically treated pts, which supports further expansion of reperfusion therapy in ST elevation MI (including use of strategies to shorten patient time to presentation) and the need for improved medical therapies for thrombolytic ineligible patients. Download : Download high-res image (51KB) Download : Download full-size image