cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design, implementation, and evaluation of a longitudinal cancer curriculum

Abstract The University of Massachusetts Medical School's two year preclinical curriculum is organized by organ system and controlled by the basic science departments. It is followed by two years of required and elective clinical clerkships. An evaluation of cancer teaching in the preclinical curriculum using criteria derived from the Cancer Education Objectives for Medical Schools was conducted. Deficiencies in cancer teaching were documented and the need for an organized cancer education program established. The administration then allotted 18 hours for cancer teaching spread over the two years of the preclinical curriculum. Supported by an R25 Cancer Education Grant, the Longitudinal Cancer course (LCC), was developed in an attempt to effectively utilize the scattered class time to meet a significant number of American Association for Cancer Education Objectives. In addition, interdisciplinary teaching of the more common cancers was facilitated and faculty were supported in their use of cancer related ...
Exponential decay of the power spectrum of turbulence

The analyticity on a strip of the solutions of Navier-Stokes equations in 2D is shown to explain the observed fast decay of the frequency power spectrum of the turbulent velocity field. Some subtleties in the application of the Wiener-Khinchine method to turbulence are resolved by showing that the frequency power spectrum of turbulent velocities is in fact a measure exponentially decaying for frequency →±∞. Our approach also shows that the conventional procedures used in analyzing data in turbulence experiments are valid even in the absence of the ergodic property in the flow.
Managing financial risk in planning under uncertainty

A methodology is presented to include financial risk management in the framework of two-stage stochastic programming for planning under uncertainty. A known probabilistic definition of financial risk is adapted to be used in this framework and its relation to downside risk is analyzed. Using these definitions, new two-stage stochastic programming models that manage financial risk are presented. Computational issues related to these models are also discussed. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 963–989, 2004
Staff-assisted home hemodialysis in debilitated or terminally ill patients.

End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who arediagnosed to have a terminal illness or severedebility have limited options for theircontinued care. This results in a frequentdecision to withdraw dialysis support. Due totheir tenuous condition, continuedtransportation to the dialysis facility furtheraggravates the emotional, financial andphysical burden to the patient and family. Wewould like to present our data on 28 patientswith severe debilitating and terminalillnesses. The mean age was 69 years with a(±) 11.8 SD and range of 44―87 years. Nineof them were males and 19 females. All of thesewere considered terminally ill as most of thesepatients had multi-organ failure. Ten hadstroke, 16 had cardiac failure, 2 had severevascular insufficiency, one resulting inbilateral leg amputation, 5 had debilitatingpulmonary disease needing oxygen therapy and 8had cancer. These patients were dialyzed attheir home by a registered nurse (RN) accordingto a dialysis prescription provided by anattending nephrologist. Twenty-three patientsdied at home, one transferred to acute carefacility and 3 to hospice care after a meanstaff-assisted home hemodialysis (SAHD) durationof 14.1 ± 2.9 weeks. ESRD patients withsevere disability can continue dialysis in amore convenient and comfortable setting athome, and yet be relatively cost-effective.
Stress hormone masculinizes female morphology and behaviour

Sex steroids play major roles in vertebrate sexual differentiation. Unexpectedly, we now find that exposure to elevated levels of the naturally occurring stress hormone cortisol can also masculinize sexually dimorphic morphological characters and behaviour in adult female mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) in a dose-dependent manner. Females masculinized by cortisol developed elongated anal fins with distal tip features similar to those of mature males. Most masculinized females also attempted to copulate when placed with normal females. Although the mechanism of masculinization is currently unknown, we propose a role for an enzyme that both inactivates cortisol and catalyzes the final step in synthesis of a major teleost androgen. This mechanism may also help explain some previously reported effects of stress on sexual development across vertebrate taxa. Our findings underscore the need to understand the full range of chemicals, both naturally occurring hormones and human-produced endocrine disruptors, that can influence sexual differentiation and reproductive function.
An Exploration of Mashups and Their Potential Educational Uses

ABSTRACT A Web mashup is an application that combines data and functionality from more than one source. By bringing disparate data together in ways that enable users to do new things or accomplish common tasks with newfound efficiency, mashups are rapidly increasing in number and may offer exciting new possibilities for classroom instruction. However, in comparison to more established Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts, which already enjoy a place in the educational conversation, mashups are less well-known and their educational uses are less explored. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to provide an introduction to mashups as part of Web 2.0 technology, describe several mashup examples, and explore their potential use in educational contexts.
Antiabortion violence in the United States

Abstract Background This study was conducted to determine if an association exists between the amount of harassment and violence directed against abortion providers and the restrictiveness of state laws relating to family planning. Study Design We used responses from a July 2010 survey of 357 abortion providers in 50 states to determine their experience of antiabortion harassment and violence. Their responses were grouped and analyzed in relation to a published grading of state laws in the United States (A, B, C, D and F) as they relate to restrictions on family planning services. Results Group by group comparison of respondents illustrates that the difference in the number of reported incidents of minor vandalism by group is statistically significant (A vs. C, p=.07; A vs. D, p=.017; A vs. F, p=.0002). Incidents of harassment follow a similar pattern. There were no differences noted overall for violence or major vandalism. Major violence, including eight murders, is a new occurrence in the last two decades. Conclusions Harassment of abortion providers in the United States has an association with the restrictiveness of state abortion laws. In the last two decades, murder of abortion providers has become an unfortunate part of the violence.
Small-Molecule Effectors of Hepatitis B Virus Capsid Assembly Give Insight into Virus Life Cycle

The relationship between the physical chemistry and biology of self-assembly is poorly understood, but it will be critical to quantitatively understand infection and for the design of antivirals that target virus genesis. Here we take advantage of heteroaryldihydropyrimidines (HAPs), which affect hepatitis B virus (HBV) assembly, to gain insight and correlate in vitro assembly with HBV replication in culture. Based on a low-resolution crystal structure of a capsid-HAP complex, a closely related series of HAPs were designed and synthesized. These differentially strengthen the association between neighboring capsid proteins, alter the kinetics of assembly, and give rise to aberrant structures incompatible with a functional capsid. The chemical nature of the HAP variants correlated well with the structure of the HAP binding pocket. The thermodynamics and kinetics of in vitro assembly had strong and predictable effects on product morphology. However, only the kinetics of in vitro assembly had a strong correlation with inhibition of HBV replication in HepG2.2.15 cells; there was at best a weak correlation between assembly thermodynamics and replication. The correlation between assembly kinetics and virus suppression implies a competition between successful assembly and misassembly, small molecule induced or otherwise. This is a predictive and testable model for the mechanism of action of assembly effectors.
Roles of Leptin and Ghrelin in the Loss of Body Weight Caused by a Low Fat, High Carbohydrate Diet

Loss of body fat by caloric restriction is accompanied by decreased circulating leptin levels, increased ghrelin levels, and increased appetite. In contrast, dietary fat restriction often decreases adiposity without increasing appetite. Substitution of dietary carbohydrate for fat has been shown to increase the area under the plasma leptin vs. time curve (AUC) over the course of 24 h. This effect, if sustained, could explain the absence of a compensatory increase in appetite on a low fat diet. To clarify the effect of dietary fat restriction on leptin and ghrelin, we measured AUC for these hormones in human subjects after each of the following sequential diets: 2 wk on a weight-maintaining 35% fat (F), 45% carbohydrate (C), 20% protein (P) diet (n = 18); 2 wk on an isocaloric 15% F, 65% C, 20% P diet (n = 18); and 12 wk on an ad libitum 15% F, 65% C, 20% P diet (n = 16). AUC for leptin was similar on the isocaloric 15% F and 35% F diets (555 +/- 57 vs. 580 +/- 56 ng/ml.24 h; P = NS). Body weight decreased from 74.6 +/- 2.4 to 70.8 +/- 2.7 kg on the ad libitum 15% F diet (P < 0.001) without compensatory increases in food consumption or AUC for ghrelin. Proportional amplitude of the 24-h leptin profile was increased after 12 wk on the 15% fat diet. We conclude that weight loss early in the course of dietary fat restriction occurs independently of increased plasma leptin levels, but that a later increase in amplitude of the 24-h leptin signal may contribute to ongoing weight loss. Fat restriction avoids the increase in ghrelin levels caused by dietary energy restriction.
Backprojection-based imaging geometric parameter estimation

In SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) and X-ray CT, point sources are commonly used to acquire data for imaging parameter estimation. The parameters are estimated by fitting the point source projection data to a mathematical model of the imaging system. This paper introduces two backprojection-based parameter estimation methods. In the first method a point source is attached to the object; the second method is data-based without using a point source at all.
Interactions of 14C-labeled multi-walled carbon nanotubes with soil minerals in water

Carbon nanotubes are often modified to be stable in the aqueous phase by adding extensive hydrophilic surface functional groups. The stability of such CNTs in water with soil or sediment is one critical factor controlling their environmental fate. We conducted a series of experiments to quantitatively assess the association between water dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and three soil minerals (kaolinite, smectite, or shale) in aqueous solution under different sodium concentrations. (14)C-labeling was used in these experiments to unambiguously quantify MWCNTs. The results showed that increasing ionic strength strongly promoted the removal of MWCNTs from aqueous phase. The removal tendency is inversely correlated with the soil minerals' surface potential and directly correlated with their hydrophobicity. This removal can be interpreted by the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (EDLVO) theory especially for kaolinite and smectite. Shale, which contains large and insoluble organic materials, sorbed MWCNTs the most strongly.
Digital Quantification Is More Precise than Traditional Semiquantitation of Hepatic Steatosis: Correlation with Fibrosis in 220 Treatment-Naïve Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Steatosis, as associated with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), has been considered a risk factor for development of fibrosis. Our aims were to determine if correlations existed between the degree of steatosis and fibrosis in treatment-naive CHC patients, and to compare the accuracy of digital image analysis with semiquantification (manual assessment) to quantify hepatic steatosis. We studied 220 treatment-naive, liver biopsy-proven CHC patients, including a serial biopsy sub-cohort of 37 patients with a mean interval of 3.82 years. Steatosis and fibrosis % were evaluated using digital quantification of steatosis (DQS) and fibrosis contrasted with manual assessment. Most patients had <6% steatosis measured manually and digitally. Overall, manual assessment of steatosis was 3.78 times greater than DQS. Increasing steatosis % was associated with advancing fibrosis stage, both manually and digitally. Intraobserver reliability for DQS showed higher intraclass correlation reproducibility (r = 0.98, P < 0.001) than the manual method (r = 0.81, P < 0.01). Interobserver concordance for DQS had an average measure intraclass correlation of r = 0.99. Cirrhotics were more likely than non-cirrhotics to have grade 2 steatosis. Increased steatosis was associated with increased fibrosis. DQS was consistently more precise and reproducible than manual assessment of steatosis in grades 1 (1 to <6%) and 2 (6 to <34%), and may prove to be especially preferable in clinical trials of pharmacotherapeutic agents.
Inside the Organizational Learning Curve: Understanding the Organizational Learning Process

Inside the Organizational Learning Curve: Understanding the Organizational Learning Process
The development of manufactured flood risk: New Orleans' mid‐century growth machine and the hurricane of 1947

Much of the flood risk faced by coastal and riparian populations worldwide is manufactured rather than strictly natural--the outcome of human development projects involving municipal growth machines. This paper details the impacts of the hurricane of September 1947 on New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and its relationship with the urban development and expansion efforts undertaken during and after the Second World War of 1939-45. New Orleans' newest drainage and shipping canals, which were a major part of its mid-twentieth century development initiative, funnelled the storm surge into the city, a pattern that would repeat itself in subsequent years. Unlike more infamous hurricanes, such as Betsy and Katrina of 1965 and 2005, respectively, the 1947 event is not well-known among disaster researchers. Yet, it provides a fundamental example of how local elites have continuously exacerbated flood risk throughout the city and surrounding area, leaving it simultaneously dependent on and endangered by its embedded system of drainage and shipping canals.
Migraine and circle of Willis anomalies

Several mechanisms are currently thought to contribute to migraine pathogenesis, including interictal neuronal hyperexcitability, cortical spreading depression underlying the symptom of aura, and trigeminal nerve activation at a peripheral and central level. However, these mechanistic concepts incompletely explain migraine susceptibility in individual patients and do not fully account for the well documented association between migraine and ischemic cerebrovascular disease, including increased risk of both clinical stroke and subclinical brain lesions in migraine patients. The circle of Willis is a major source of collateral blood flow supply in the human brain, and developmental morphologic variants of the circle of Willis are extremely frequent. Altered cerebral blood flow (CBF) has been demonstrated in regions supplied by variant circle of Willis vessels. Our central hypothesis is that circle of Willis anomalies correlate with alterations in cerebral hemodynamics and contribute to migraine susceptibility and ischemic complications of migraine. Dysregulation of CBF may allow relative ischemia to develop in the setting of increased metabolic demand related to neuronal hyperexcitability, may trigger cortical spreading depression, and may predispose individuals with migraine to ischemic lesions and stroke. Identification of structural alterations in the cerebral vasculature in migraine patients would have several important pathophysiological and clinical implications. First, it would provide a developmental mechanism for migraine susceptibility that may lead to further insights into genetic predisposition to migraine. Second, it would expand understanding of potential mechanisms underlying migraine aura and linking migraine with both clinical and subclinical cerebral infarction. Third, it could help to identify the subpopulation of patients at risk of progressive cerebral ischemia so as to target preventative therapies appropriately. Fourth, it would suggest a role for further diagnostic evaluation to determine migraine mechanism in individual patients, analogous to the current paradigm in ischemic stroke in which determination of stroke mechanism is critical to therapeutic decision-making.
Ratcheting-induced wrinkling of an elastic film on a metal layer under cyclic temperatures

Abstract This paper develops a theoretical model for wrinkling of an elastic film on an elastic–plastic metal layer caused by cyclic temperatures. The film is compressively strained and bonded to the metal layer, which in turn lies on a thick substrate. The thermal expansion mismatch between the metal and the substrate induces a biaxial stress, which is assumed to be large enough to cause the metal to deform plastically during each cycle. Wrinkling of the film induces normal and shear tractions at the film–metal interface, which bias the plastic flow of the metal. Consequently, the metal ratchets, namely, accumulates plastic deformation in the same directions as the temperature cycles. Concomitantly, the wrinkle of the film grows. The model reveals an analogy between ratcheting and creep. Analytical solutions are obtained for linear perturbation analysis and equilibrium states. Numerical simulations show evolution of wrinkles under various conditions and the effect of elastic constraint.
AIDS Drugs For All: Advocacy strategies to address costs

. . . price is a man-made obstacle that we can change . . . Alan Berkman, founder of Health GAP (cited in Smith and Siplon 2006, 56) So you have to develop a coherent critique of public policy . . . If you can't persuade serious people you have a good idea, you are not going to go very far. You have to really have a persuasive argument why your policy will work, will get things done, will not destroy the incentive system, for example, for pharmaceuticals, or that it's a reasonable exception in the case of people with low incomes. Jamie Love, Director of the Consumer Project on Technology/Knowledge Ecology International, 2003 In the previous chapter we saw that the AIDS treatment movement was able to cohere around universal access to treatment as its primary objective. But how could a universal access regime become (or at least approach) reality? With ARV drugs costing thousands of dollars per patient per year, there was no way that the international community would mobilize around that objective. Yet by the late 1990s, drug prices would begin to fall radically, with the expansion of “differential pricing” by the branded pharmaceutical companies and, even more important, the entry of generic manufacturers into the ARV market. These developments, however, were not simply a reflection of rational decision-making by corporate executives who were seeking to maintain their share of the AIDS marketplace. Instead, they were a product of advocates' strategies that had as their explicit objective the reduction of ARV prices.
Genetic algorithm synthesis of impedance-matched infrared ZIMs with wide FOV using a generalized inversion algorithm

The new field of metamaterials has garnered substantial research interest in recent years due to their necessity in developing technologies such as flat ‘perfect lenses’ [1] and the electromagnetic cloak [2]. Of special interest are the negative index metamaterials (NIMs) which have been experimentally demonstrated in the RF regime as well as at optical wavelengths [3, 4]. Compared with NIMs, zero index metamaterials (ZIMs) have received less attention, but have found themselves useful in arguably more compelling applications such as transformation optics devices, far-field focusing lenses and artificial magnetic mirrors [2, 5, 6]. Most publications only consider the response of ZIMs to normally incident waves [7]. However, these ZIM structures are inherently anisotropic and require illumination by obliquely incident waves in many applications of practical interest. Therefore, the angular response of ZIMs has to be considered if an improved picture of the electromagnetic properties of ZIMs is desired for practical applications. In this paper, we present an impedance-matched low loss infrared ZIM with a wide field-of-view. The ZIM structure is optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA) [8] combined with a generalized inversion method capable of retrieving the effective anisotropic constitutive parameters of the metamaterial with its angular response considered.
Basic aspects of high-speed sorting for clinical applications.

High-speed cell sorting is currently being used in a number of clinical applications due to its obvious benefits of speed and purity. These applications include rare-cell sorting for the enrichment of stem cells, DCs, fetal cells in maternal circulation, Ag-specific T cells, as well as tumor-cell detection and enrichment for residual disease diagnosis, or depletion for transplant purging. Highspeed sorting is not limited to rare populations, as sperm sorting for gender selection demonstrates. Operators performing clinical flow sorting may come into contact with potentially infectious material. Since cell sorters can generate aerosols, aerosol-containment systems should be used for instrument-operator protection. In addition, if flow sorting is to be used to purify cell populations for reinfusion into patients, a more rigorous set of precautions is needed to protect the sample during this process. Cell sorter manufacturers have devised equipment to help with these goals, and the solutions currently available for the Cytomation (Fort Collins, Colorado) MoFlo high-speed cell sorter were presented. Overview of high-speed sorting technology There are requirements of both the instrumentation and cellular sample for high-speed cell sorting. Instrumentation should be designed at the outset with this capacity in mind. Cellular samples must be at a high concentration in order for the machine to properly utilize such a system, allowing a high-speed train of single cells to be presented. Instrumentation can also be used for conventional sorting (, 10 000 event/s), with cell samples at lower concentrations giving excellent results.
Commentary: Two views of cholera

on Japan of Edmund Alexander Parkes, pioneer of modern hygiene. Environ Health Prev Med 2004;9:9–12. 13 Aldrich J. Mathematics in the London/Royal Statistical Society 1834-1934. Electronic Journal for History of Probability and Statistics 2010;6:1–33. 14 Koch T. The map as intent: variations on the theme of John Snow. Cartographica 2004;39:1–14. 15 Goranson C. GIS Spatial Analyst Tutorial using John Snow’s cholera data. 2012. http://www.youtube. com/watch?v1⁄4isVD8u6WrG4 (24 August 2013, date last accessed). 16 Heidelberg JF, Eisen JA, Nelson WC et al. DNA sequence of both chromosomes of the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Nature 2000;406:477–83.
Influence of spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) management treatments on arbuscular mycorrhizae and soil aggregation

Abstract Spotted knapweed is an invasive mycorrhizal weed prevalent in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Little is known about the effects of spotted knapweed or its management methods on soil quality and soil structure. This study compared soils from spotted knapweed–infested areas with areas where spotted knapweed is being managed using several herbicides and mechanical treatments. We measured concentrations of glomalin, a glycoprotein produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), that is correlated with soil aggregate stability, AMF hyphal length, and percent water-stable aggregates (WSA) in soils from managed and unmanaged areas. Areas with high knapweed density (unmanaged areas) generally had lower glomalin concentrations and AMF hyphal lengths compared with areas receiving chemical and combined mechanical–chemical management treatments. Total glomalin was significantly negatively correlated with percent knapweed cover. However, WSA was high (70 to 80%) in soils from all management treatm...
Modified virtual build methodology for computer-aided ergonomics and safety: Research Articles

In the past, computer-based ergonomic analysis has been time-consuming and has required many assumptions when the virtual human motion paths have been programmed. Hence, it appears that many in the human factors and ergonomics profession have not developed much expertise in the Digital Human Modeling area. The Virtual Build method first demonstrated by the Ford Motor Company appears to improve the accuracy and speed of the ergonomic analyses used in design of assembly processes. It allows capture of real-motion and virtual process interaction rather than assuming expected posture and task motion. A variation of the Virtual Build methodology, presented in this article, affords the benefit that both product and process design can be analyzed prior to production and limitations have been overcome. Hardware limitations in the Virtual Build environment previously prevented transfer of the data collection and analysis methods to the real manufacturing environment and limited the ability to validate the predictions from the virtual industrial environment. Preliminary results of the case illustrating the modified Virtual Build research methodology presented in this article appear to be promising in support of computer-aided ergonomics and safety for design of new or existing workstations and consumer products. A mixed-mode virtual-real environment that provides force feedback can be used to supplement the experimental setup and improve fidelity of the interactions in a work design assessment. A summary of the comfort assessment for a product design example that was tested with constrained human motion is outlined in the results section and presented in the context of a summary of key issues in Virtual Interactive Design and Virtual Build Assessments. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 413–422, 2007.
Helping First-Year Students Make the Transition to College through Advisor-Researcher Collaboration

Most information advisors receive about first-year advisees pertains to students' academic achievement and high school courses. To assist students effectively with the transition to college, advisors need additional information. We describe a collaborative process used to develop a prematriculation, academic motivation instrument that provides important information for academic advisors and the whole institution. The collaborators included academic advisors, institutional research personnel, and a faculty member from the School of Education, all working together to create the instrument, examine its psychometric properties, and make decisions about how to use the data. The instrument shows promise as predictor of academic success in the early college years and could potentially assist advisors in identifying first-year students at risk for academic difficulties. Relative emphasis: * research, theory, practice
Infrared behavior of non-Abelian gauge theories

Infrared singularities in non-Abelian gauge (Yang-Mills) theories are studied in the leading-logarithm approximation. In addition to the usual infrared limit in which the infrared cutoff ..mu.. approaches zero for fixed on-shell momenta, we consider high-energy wide-angle scattering and form factors at large momentum transfer t in which infrared-induced powers of g/sup 2/ln/sup 2/ t (g = coupling constant) typical of vector field theories appear in perturbation expansions. Our techniques include asymptotic estimates of Feynman integrals (to sixth order) and a nonperturbative approach based on a conjectured formula for soft-meson emission. Remarkably, the logarithms sum up into exponential factors much as in QED. Unlike QED, cross sections for production of nonsinglet particles, even including an indefinite number of soft gauge quanta, vanish as ..mu.. ..-->.. 0, a phenomenon we interpret as evidence of particle confinement. We discuss exclusive hadronic processes in the context of the non-Abelin quark-gluon theory based on color SU(3). We find justification for the scaling laws at large momentum transfers (''quark counting rules'') in that the infrared logarithms cancel in the scaling pieces of hadronic amplitudes while providing a fast damping of the ''pinch'' contributions associated with Landshoff graphs. (AIP)
Ontogenetic diet shifts produce trade‐offs in elemental imbalance in bluegill sunfish

Summary Many species undergo substantial ontogenetic changes in elemental content that often accompany significant shifts in diet. However, it is unclear how elemental imbalance varies across ontogeny and whether these changes are caused by ontogenetic diet shifts. Because elemental imbalance can affect individual growth rates, behaviour and nutrient cycling, understanding the role of ecological stoichiometry in consumers with ontogenetic diet shifts will enhance our ability to predict how individuals and populations influence broader ecological processes. In a field survey, we examined ontogenetic changes in stoichiometry of the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), which undergoes an ontogenetic diet shift from zooplankton to benthic invertebrates. Specifically, we quantified the elemental composition of diets, bodies and excreta of bluegill ranging in size from larvae to small adults (10–110 mm total length). We compared imbalance between diet elemental content and individual needs before and after the diet shift. At around 25 mm total length, bluegill diet shifted from zooplankton to benthic invertebrates. Benthic invertebrates had lower nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents than zooplankton. Elemental imbalance estimates indicated potential carbon (C) limitation in all sizes of bluegill, and the diet shift tended to reduce C imbalance relative to P. However, N:P imbalance was exacerbated by the diet shift, resulting in high ratios of N:P in excreta. Changes in per cent N and C:N ratios in bluegill were generally associated with the diet shift and can be explained by the levels of these elements in the diet. In contrast, bluegill P and calcium contents increased dramatically prior to the diet shift and are more likely a result of ontogenetic constraints, specifically skeletal development in larval fish. Our results indicate that ontogenetic diet shifts can produce trade-offs in imbalance between different elemental ratios, and provide stoichiometrically explicit support for previous findings that energetics (including C limitation and food availability) is an important driver of bluegill diet shifts. The patterns in elemental imbalance associated with diet shifts may alter a consumer's role in ecosystem-level processes like nutrient cycling.
Predictors of Mortality in Outpatient Geriatric Evaluation and Management Clinic Patients

Background This study describes characteristics and predictors of survival in an outpatient Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) population. Methods Prospective evaluation and longitudinal follow-up of consecutive patients (N = 636) seen in a GEM Clinic between January 1986 and September 1991. Results The typical patient was 78.4 years of age, White, female (73%), unmarried (66%), and living with a spouse or relative (47%). Although two-thirds were demented, most were independent in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and partially dependent in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Subjects were followed for an average of 25 months. In bivariate analysis, IADL was the strongest predictor of survival (O.R. = 4.4). Higher ADL, better cognitive status, lower comorbid illness, and lack of recent hospitalization were also predictive of survival. In stepwise logistic regression, only IADL (O.R. = 4.2) and comorbid illness (O.R. = 1.5) predicted survival. In Kaplan-Meier Lifetable Analysis, survival at two years was 91% in the least dependent IADL group while survival was 75% in the most dependent group. Comorbid illness was the only factor that improved prediction of survival above that seen with IADL alone. When subjects are stratified by both function and illness, mortality was 36% in the ill and disabled group and 8% in those of high function and limited illness. Conclusions IADL and comorbid illness scores offer a means of stratifying subjects for risk of death and may be useful in evaluating and comparing mortality experience in outpatient GEM and control populations. Stratification may increase the likelihood that studies aimed at improving survival will detect a difference resulting from the intervention.
Assessment of Concrete Structures Affected by Alkali–Silica Reaction and Freeze–Thaw by Use of Ultrasonic Surface Wave Method

Two of the most common causes of concrete degradation are alkali–silica reaction (ASR) and freeze–thaw (FT) cycling. ASR and FT may significantly reduce service life of concrete structures and can cause degradation in the mechanical properties of concrete, including its modulus of elasticity and its flexural strength. Cracking due to ASR and FT provides numerous open pathways for water and could cause premature failure of various concrete structures. The progression of damage due to ASR and FT was investigated by testing beams or cylindrical specimens cured under laboratory conditions or through conventional destructive methods, such as mechanical testing and petrography on the drilled cores. Coring is time-consuming and expensive, and the retrieved cores are representative of only a small portion of the structure. In some cases, extraction of cores is not feasible. The rapid in situ detection and quantification of the adverse impacts of ASR and FT are desirable. Nondestructive evaluation methods can supp...
Effect of Surface Topography on Space Charge Characteristic in Polyethylene

With great progresses of space charge measurement technologies in the last three decades,lots of researches were focused on space charges in solid dielectrics.The heat pressing and annealing condition of polyethylene(PE) affect its morphology obviously.During the heat pressing,the surface of PE forms different surface topographies because of different substrate materials.Surface topography has great relation to the epitaxial crystallization layer and influences the space charge characteristic of PE dramatically.The formation process of different surface topographies and their micrographic characters in low density polyethylene(LDPE) was studied in this paper.PEA method was used to measure the space charge distribution of samples with different surface topographies and morphologies in LDPE.It's found out that the varied surface topographies have different accumulation characteristics of space charge.
Electrocardiographic findings associated with very low calorie dieting

OBJECTIVE : To determine the safety of very low calorie diets (VLCD) in regard to their effects on cardiac function. DESIGN : EKG changes were analyzed for 126 women on a VLCD of 3349 kJ/d (800 kcal/d). EKGs were done when the diet was begun, after 3 months of dieting, and at a 6 month follow up after being off the diet for 3 months. SETTING : Subjects were solicited through advertisements and charged $1,000 for participating after being screened for age, weight, and health status. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES : EKG QTc intervals, PR interval, QRS interval, ST-T wave changes, and heart rate. RESULTS : Over one-fourth (27.0%) of subjects had normal EKGs at all three time points studied. Sinus bradycardia was the most common abnormality, observed in 60 subjects (47.6%) on at least one of the three EKGs. Fifty-eight (46%) patients had EKGs with ST-T wave abnormalities observed on at least one of the EKGs. Eight subjects (6.4%) had prolonged QTc (more than one standard deviation beyond the average for women) intervals on at least one EKG. None of these eight persons had significant untoward medical consequences. CONCLUSION : A VLCD diet of 3349 kJ/d (800 kcal/d) for up to 3 months is not associated with significant electrocardiographic abnormalities or clinical cardiac complications, provided the patients have low cardiovascular risk at baseline.
An Experimental Investigation of Jet Noise from Septa Nozzles

Results of an experimental study with a large aspect ratio rectangular nozzle, divided into multiple compartments or septa, as pertinent to distributed propulsion, are presented. Noise measurements at high-subsonic conditions show that the nozzle with the septa is quieter than the corresponding baseline nozzle without the septa. At relatively lower Mach numbers a high-frequency tone is heard. This is shown to be due to Karmann vortex shedding from the trailing edge of the partitions that separate a septum from the adjacent ones. Flowfield measurements for a six septa case show that the cellular flow structure, issuing from the nozzle, goes through a curious coalescence with increasing downstream distance (x) from the nozzle. Adjacent cells pair to yield a three-cell structure by x/D =2, where D is the equivalent diameter of the baseline nozzle. By about x/D =16, both the septa case and the baseline case evolve to yield axisymmetric flowfields.
Altered serum factor VIII-related antigen (VIII : AGN)/von Willebrand factor (VIII : vWf) in haemophiliacs with inhibitors to factor VIII procoagulant activity (VIII : C).

Inhibitors to factor VIII (anti-F VIII) developing in patients with classic haemophilia have apparent specificity for the factor VIII procoagulant activity (VIII : C), rather than the factor VIII-related antigen (VIII : AGN) and von Willebrand factor (VIII : vWf) regions of the factor VIII complex. Since procoagulant function is absent following in vitro clotting, but serum retains VIII : AGN/vWf properties, we searched for differences in VIII : AGN and VIII : vWf of inhibitor serum that might relate to the presence of anti-F VIII. Rocket immunoelectrophoresis and the washed platelet ristocetin assay were performed on the plasma and serum of nine haemophiliacs with inhibitors, 23 non-inhibitor haemophiliacs and six normal subjects. Unlike normal and non-inhibitor haemophilic sera, that from five of nine inhibitor patients demonstrated absent VIII : vWf and significantly lower VIII : AGN (p less than 0.05). Furthermore, VIII : AGN of faster mobility was detected on crossed immunoelectrophoresis of the sera of three inhibitor patients. Thrombin clotting of plasma from haemophiliacs with high titer anti-F VIII was associated with a greater loss of VIII : vWf than seen with non-inhibitor haemophilic plasma. This effect was independent of the presence of platelets. These data indicate that in vitro clotting is associated with alteration in the serum VIII : AGN/vWf of some haemophiliacs with anti-F VIII.
Legionella DNA Markers in Tap Water Coincident with a Spike in Legionnaires’ Disease in Flint, MI

Two clusters of Legionnaires’ disease occurred in Flint, MI, subsequent to switching to a corrosive potable water source from April 2014 to October 2015. We hypothesized that the interrupted corrosion control and associated release of iron, nutrients, and depleted chlorine residual in the distribution system would lead to high levels of Legionella. A tap water survey conducted throughout Flint in August and October 2015 confirmed Legionella pneumophila in two hospitals (mean of 1890 ± 2220 gene copy numbers/mL, 48% positivity), but not small single-story buildings. The hospitals frequently had optimal Legionella growth temperatures and were located in high-water age zones of the distribution system (3 to >6 days). Relatively high concentrations of iron were present (mean of 51.0 ± 37.2 ppb), and Cl2 residual was sporadic (mean of 0.700 ± 0.775 mg/L) throughout the Flint distribution system. This study addresses knowledge gaps linking legionellosis outbreaks to changes in municipal water quality and distri...
The Figure of Catachresis and the Plot of Unreadability in Deconstruction

In the polarised scenario of contemporary criticism, deconstruction has willingly played the role of the arch antagonist and dismantler of traditional scholarship, assaulting the notion of a fixed and determinable meaning, and the authority of any particular system of reading fueled, according to Jacques Derrida, by the ‘powerful, systematic, and irrepresible desire for such a signified’.1 Certain deconstructionist pronouncements, especially when lifted out of their qualifying contexts, have contributed to the misconception that poststructuralist theory is adverse to disciplined, ‘thoughtful’ reading, blocking the process of interpretation even before it had a chance to articulate anything: ‘Modern hermeneutics … is actually a negative hermeneutics. On its older function of saving the text, of tying it once again to the life of the mind, is superimposed the new one of doubting, by a parodistic or playful movement, master theories that claim to have overcome the past, the dead, the false. There is no Divine or Dialectic Science which can help us purify history absolutely, to pass in our lifetime a last judgment on it’.2
Robert Louis Stevenson and The Master of Ballantrae (1889)

The following pages discuss nine novels that illustrate the kinds of liberty that Stevenson allowed himself and other novelists as they undertook the writing of historical romances. For all of them, the changing marketplace had rendered many of Sir Walter Scott’s dicta unusable. My extended consideration of their literary merits (and occasionally their literary failings) is not a simple defence of the rightness of the enthusiastic responses of their readers, though it seems necessary to stress, from the beginning, the fact that all these novels were commercially successful. At any rate, I do not want to dwell on the shabbiness of reviewing standards which refused to acknowledge the degree of success achieved by authors who knew what they were about, who aimed to please their readers with modest but well-crafted narratives, and who worked hard at their craft.
A knowledge base for indexing and retrieving disassembly plans

Disassembly has become an important issue recently, as people begin to be concerned about the environment and natural resources. Many methodologies have been used to tackle disassembly problems. Design for disassembly (DFD) and planning for disassembly (PFD) are the two main approaches to address such problems. The focus of this paper is on PFD. To assist planners to solve PFD problems, a system must have some heuristics and domain specific knowledge, which is related to the representation of the disassembly knowledge. In previous work, the authors proposed to use EMOPs (eposodic memory organization packet) for the knowledge representation of the PFD plan. This paper presents the implementation of the EMOP memory model. The model has been implemented in C++. Examples are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the memory model.
The relationship of seizure focus with depression, anxiety, and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with epilepsy

For youth with epilepsy, comorbid psychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety, require further examination as they carry increased risk for reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The current study assessed whether rates of depression, anxiety, and withdrawal behaviors differed based on seizure location. Data included parental ratings on the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-2) and the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE) questionnaire for 132 children and adolescents (mean age=11.34, SD=3.95) with generalized or partial (i.e., frontal [FLE] or temporal lobe epilepsy [TLE]) epilepsy. Our results identified clinically significant internalizing psychopathology in nearly half of our sample (41%). Although rates of internalizing behavior were similar between generalized and partial groups, children and adolescents with TLE demonstrated higher rates of depression compared to youth with FLE. No effects of laterality on internalizing behaviors were identified between TLE and FLE groups. Finally, for youth with TLE, parental depression ratings along with current number of antiepileptic medications (AEDs) were found to be significant barriers to HRQOL above and beyond anxiety, withdrawal, and epilepsy-specific variables. Temporal lobe epilepsy was associated with a two-fold risk of clinically significant depression ratings. These findings highlight the high prevalence of internalizing psychopathology features in pediatric epilepsy and offer further support for the relationship between depression and TLE in children and adolescents with epilepsy.
Introduction to the Symposium: Integrative Life-History of Whole-Organism Performance.

SYNOPSIS A strong case can be made for whole-organism performance traits (i.e., dynamic, ecologically relevant traits whose expression is shaped by underlying morphological factors) as being the ultimate integrative traits. This is not only because they capture the output of multiple lower levels of biological organization, but also because they are directly relevant to individual fitness in multiple ecological contexts, and are in many cases important proximate determinants of survival and/or reproductive success. But although many ecological and evolutionary phenomena can be examined through the lens of performance (and vice-versa), performance research has been surprisingly slow to incorporate concepts from the large and important field of life-history evolution. Such a synthesis is necessary, because shifts in resource allocation strategies can have implications for these highly ecologically relevant, functional traits, whose expression may trade-off against fecundity, immune function, or longevity, among other key life-history traits. The papers in this symposium showcase many of the ways in which life-history strategies can have direct consequences for the expression, maintenance, and evolution of whole-organism performance (and at least one case where they may not). By approaching the issue of life-history trade-offs from a number of diverse perspectives, this symposium reveals the scope for future explicit integration of life-history techniques with those of whole-organism performance studies for a more complete understanding of multivariate phenotypic evolution.
The Role of TonB Gene in Edwardsiella ictaluri Virulence.

Edwardsiella ictaluri is a Gram-negative facultative intracellular pathogen that causes enteric septicemia in catfish (ESC). Stress factors including poor water quality, poor diet, rough handling, overcrowding, and water temperature fluctuations increase fish susceptibility to ESC. The TonB energy transducing system (TonB-ExbB-ExbD) and TonB-dependent transporters of Gram-negative bacteria support active transport of scarce resources including iron, an essential micronutrient for bacterial virulence. Deletion of the tonB gene attenuates virulence in several pathogenic bacteria. In the current study, the role of TonB (NT01EI_RS07425) in iron acquisition and E. ictaluri virulence were investigated. To accomplish this, the E. ictaluri tonB gene was in-frame deleted. Growth kinetics, iron utilization, and virulence of the EiΔtonB mutant were determined. Loss of TonB caused a significant reduction in bacterial growth in iron-depleted medium (p > 0.05). The EiΔtonB mutant grew similarly to wild-type E. ictaluri when ferric iron was added to the iron-depleted medium. The EiΔtonB mutant was significantly attenuated in catfish compared with the parent strain (21.69 vs. 46.91% mortality). Catfish surviving infection with EiΔtonB had significant protection against ESC compared with naive fish (100 vs. 40.47% survival). These findings indicate that TonB participates in pathogenesis of ESC and is an important E. ictaluri virulence factor.