cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
National trends and economic impact of surgical treatment for benign kidney tumors.

Abstract Objectives Kidney masses suspicious for malignancy are frequently detected by cross-sectional imaging; however, little is known about the burden of surgical treatment for tumors found to be benign following excision. Material and methods We queried the National Inpatient Sample to identify records of individuals who received surgical treatment for renal neoplasms between 2004 and 2014. We characterized temporal treatment trends, patient demographics, treatment related complications, and charges. Results We identified 7,099 (8.5%) and 76,892 (91.5%) patients who were treated for benign and malignant tumors, respectively. Benign masses accounted for 14.8% of partial and 5.5% of radical nephrectomies. The rates of surgery for benign tumors have remained steady (P = 0.058). The frequency of inpatient death was higher in those with malignant disease (0.63% vs. 0.18%, P Conclusions 8.5% of inpatient renal surgical admissions are performed for benign masses. There has been a trend toward decreased operative management for benign renal tumors over time. Surgical management remains a significant economic burden. Efforts to prospectively evaluate modalities for pretreatment identification should be further pursued.
Outcomes and cost implications of microvascular reconstructions of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND Critical review of current head and neck reconstructive practices as related to free flap donor sites and their impact on clinical outcomes and cost. METHODS Retrospective multicenter review of free tissue transfer reconstruction of head and neck defects (n = 1315). Variables reviewed: defect, indication, T classification, operative duration, and complications. A convenience sample was selected for analysis of overall (operative and inpatient admission) charges per hospitalization (n = 400). RESULTS Mean charges of hospitalization by donor tissue: radial forearm free flap (RFFF) $127 636 (n = 183), osteocutaneous RFFF (OCRFFF) $125 456 (n = 70), anterior lateral thigh $133 781 (n = 54), fibula $140 747 (n = 42), latissimus $208 890 (n = 24), rectus $169 637 (n = 18), scapula $128 712 (n = 4), and ulna $110 716 (n = 5; P = .16). Mean operative times for malignant lesions stratified by T classification: 6.9 hours (±25 minutes) for T1, 7.0 hours (±16 minutes) for T2, 7.3 hours (±17 minutes) for T3, and 7.8 hours (±11 minutes) for T4 (P < .0001). Complications correlated with differences in mean charges: minor surgical ($123 720), medical ($216 387), and major surgical ($169 821; P < .001). Operations for advanced malignant lesions had higher mean charges: T1 lesions ($106 506) compared to T2/T3 lesions ($133 080; P = .03) and T4 lesions ($142 183; P = .02). On multivariate analysis, the length of stay, operative duration, and type a postoperative complication were factors affecting overall charges for the hospitalization (P < .018). CONCLUSION Conclusion: The RFFF and OCRFFF had the lowest complication rates, length of hospitalization, duration of operation, and mean charges of hospitalization. Advanced stage malignant disease correlated with increased hospitalization length, operative time, and complication rates resulting in higher hospitalization charges.
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering: Realizing User Engagement with Game Engineering Techniques

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to the second workshop on Games and Software Engineering --- "GAS 2012: Realizing User Engagement with Game Engineering Techniques." GAS 2012 explores issues that crosscut the software engineering and the game engineering communities. We had a total of eighteen submissions, of which nine were accepted. The first workshop on Games and Software Engineering was held in conjunction with ICSE 2011 in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. This workshop brought a diverse community of researchers and practitioners together, fostering discussion on new and interesting research avenues. This year's program, put together by the program committee and ourselves, touches on three main topics: gamification and the software engineering process, software engineering techniques for games, and studies of serious and pervasive games. We believe that this diversity in topics and selected papers will continue to foster the growth of our community.
Using white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in infectious disease research.

Between 1940 and 2004, more than 335 emerging infectious disease events were reported in the scientific literature. The majority (60%) of these events involved zoonoses, most of which (72%) were of wildlife origin or had an epidemiologically important wildlife host. Because this trend of increasing emerging diseases likely will continue, understanding the pathogenesis, transmission, and diagnosis of these diseases in the relevant wildlife host is paramount. Achieving this goal often requires using wild animals as research subjects, which are vastly different from the traditional livestock or laboratory animals used by most universities and institutions. Using wildlife in infectious disease research presents many challenges but also provides opportunities to answer questions impossible to address by using traditional models. Cervid species, especially white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), elk (Cervus canadensis), and red deer (Cervus elaphus), are hosts or sentinels for several important pathogens, some of which are zoonotic. The long history of infectious disease research using white-tailed deer, conducted at ever-increasing levels of sophisticated biosecurity, demonstrates that this type of research can be conducted safely and that valuable insights can be gained. The greatest challenges to using wildlife in infectious disease research include animal source, facility design, nutrition, animal handling, and enrichment and other practices that both facilitate animal care and enhance animal wellbeing. The study of Mycobacterium bovis infection in white-tailed deer at the USDA's National Animal Disease Center serves to illustrate one approach to address these challenges.
Comprehensive Wound Risk Stratification of Rib-Based Distraction Instrumentation Procedures

Abstract Study Design Single-center retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected registry. Objectives Identify factors predictive of rib-based distraction (RBD) instrumentation wound complication. Create a risk stratification model for RBD instrumentation wound complication. Summary of Background Data RBD instrumentation procedures have a high rate of wound complications, often requiring unplanned operative treatment. Currently, there is a relative lack of understanding of RBD complication risk factors compared with the comprehensive understanding of complication risk factors for other spine surgeries. Methods Between January 2011 and September 2015, patients treated with RBD instrumentation at a single institution were analyzed for risk factors associated with surgical wound complications that resulted in unplanned operative treatment. Univariate logistic regression determined predictors of wound complication and multivariate regression determined independent predictive factors; α = 0.10. Results A total of 122 patients aged 0–18 years underwent 140 implant surgeries in which 22 resulted in complications: 18 (82%) infectious and 4 (18%) noninfectious. Mean age at surgery was 5.2 years. Univariate analysis showed a correlation between wound complication rates and the following: male gender (p = .097), diapered patient with lower back incision (p = .004), bilateral procedure (p = .008), more than three incisions (p = .011), left iliac incision (p = .097), right iliac incision (p = .009), patient age ≤4 years (p = .10), and operative time >150 minutes (p = .079). Multivariate analysis identified the following independent predictors: age ≤ 4 years (p = .002), male gender (p = .04), number of skin incisions (p = .001), left iliac incision (p = .018), and nutritionally challenged (p = .044). The multivariate model predicted wound complications with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88. Conclusions Knowledge of risk factors for RBD instrumentation wound complications can be used to construct patient risk models. This can identify patients at higher risk for complications and influence clinical decision making. Level of Evidence Level II.
Soluble CD14, Ischemic Stroke, and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in a Prospective Study: The REGARDS Cohort.

Background Soluble CD14 (sCD14), a circulating pattern recognition receptor, has been suggested as a cardiovascular disease risk factor. Prospective studies evaluating sCD14 with incident cardiovas...
Restorative Quality Improvement: Novel Application of Six Sigma in a Skilled Nursing Facility.

Background Six Sigma is a quality improvement (QI) method used in hospitals, but not typically in nursing homes (NHs), to reduce service variability and expenditures. Local problem The existing QI process for functional maintenance program (FMP) charting/auditing in an urban NH allowed variability and lost revenue. Methods A single-group pre/posttest design with analysis of variance and t-test analysis was used to implement Six Sigma for the FMP process. Intervention Phases of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control addressed performance objectives of FMP capacity; staff retention; congruence between prescribed, performed, and charted FMPs; and month-end summaries of resident status on FMPs. Results With the existing staff, capability was increased by 17 residents ($200 000 revenue) and 90% to 100% charting congruence was achieved. Limited success was attributed to lack of skill diffusion, team communication, manager availability, and project prioritization. Conclusions Six Sigma was moderately successful when applied in a single NH for QI.
LiteDoc: Make Collaborative Editing Fast, Scalable, and Robust

Collaborative text editing applications like Google docs, Etherpad and Overleaf allow users to concurrently edit a “shared” document. Existing collaborative text editors use either a centralized sever or some form of Paxos-like consensus algorithm to achieve total order on the updates. The editor then uses computationally intensive methods like operational transformation (OT) and differential synchronization (diff-sync) to apply the ordered update events at each client. Unfortunately, these methods often result in huge metadata overhead, are difficult to implement and result in conflicts due to users writing to the same location. With LiteDoc, we propose a different approach to tackle this problem: we make collaborative editing fast, scalable and robust by providing simplified semantics. More importantly, we can formally prove that LiteDoc achieves deterministic guarantees of correctness. LiteDoc divides the shared document into several sections and allow only one user to write at a particular section at any given time. This removes all conflicts that arise from having multiple writers writing to the same location. This mechanism also obviates the task of implementing cumbersome modules for OT, diff-sync and rollbacks in case of conflicts. Note that while LiteDoc supports less features than general collaborative editors like Google docs, it is natural (and courteous) to avoid concurrent writing to the same location when multiple people collaborate.
Can Ophthalmologic Examination Predict Abducens Nerve Recovery After Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery

OBJECTIVES While abducens nerve palsy (ANP) is a known risk in the setting of some endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery (ESBS), frequency and prognosis of post-operative palsy remain unknown. Our goals were to determine the frequency and prognosis of ANP after high-risk ESBS, and identify factors associated with recovery. METHODS Retrospective case series of all patients with pathology at highest risk for abducens nerve injury (pituitary adenoma, chordoma, meningioma, chondrosarcoma, cholesterol granuloma) generated a list of patients with abducens nerve palsy after ESBS performed from 2011-2016. A validated ophthalmologic clinical grading scale measuring lateral rectus duction from 0 to -5 (full motion to inability to reach midline) was measured at multiple time points to assess recovery of ANP. RESULTS Of 655 patients who underwent ESBS with increased risk of abducens injury, 40 (6.1%) post-operative palsies were identified and 39 patients with dedicated examination at multiple time points were included in subsequent analysis. Complete resolution was noted in 25 patients (64%) within 12 months. While 19 of 23 (83%) with a partial palsy had complete resolution, only six of 16 (38%) with a complete palsy resolved entirely (P = .005; Fisher's exact test). All six patients with delayed onset of palsy resolved (P = .070; Fisher's exact test). Meningioma and chordoma had higher rates of both temporary and permanent post-operative ANP (P < .0001; Fisher's exact). CONCLUSIONS The frequency of post-operative ANP following ESBS is low, even in high-risk tumors. While only a minority of complete abducens nerve palsies recover, patients with partial or delayed palsy post-operatively are likely to recover function without intervention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV Laryngoscope, 131:513-517, 2021.
Abstract LB-074: Antigen-cross presentation promotes development of terminally differentiated CD8 T cells in young individuals

Recent advances in T cell-based immunotherapies have revolutionized treatment strategies for several types of cancers; however, approaches that rely on endogenous T cell responses have experienced limited success in pediatric populations, a pattern primarily attributed to the relatively low mutational burden characteristic of pediatric tumors. Here, we report our analysis of CD8 T cells isolated from a diverse set of pediatric solid tumors, documenting an enrichment of CD8 T cells with an antigen-experienced phenotype (i.e., high PD1 expression). The limited ability of immune checkpoint blockade therapy (ICBT) to trigger anti-tumor responses in pediatric populations, despite the presence of activated CD8 T cells in these tumors prompted us to explore alternative mechanisms restricting the endogenous T cell response. Using a novel, transplantable mouse tumor model that expresses a well-characterized epitope coupled to a mCherry marker, we identified antigen cross-presentation by tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells as a key mediator of CD8 T cell effector function in tumors. Specifically, we show that tumor microenvironment (TME)-mediated suppression of CD8 T cell polyfunctionality occurs even in the absence of direct antigen-presentation by tumor cells, suggesting that antigen cross-presentation is sufficient to enforce this dysfunctional state. Strikingly, age-related changes in the TME had a significant impact on the differentiation of tumor-specific CD8 T cells. Cross-presentation of tumor antigens in the young animals skewed the effector differentiation of tumor-specific CD8 T cells toward a TCF7lowGzmBhi terminally differentiated state. Profiling of tumor-infiltrating antigen-presenting cells by scRNAseq revealed the differential polarization of the myeloid compartment towards M1 and M2 phenotypes between the young and adult tumors, respectively. Consistent with our mouse findings, analysis of immune infiltrates from human pediatric solid tumors revealed a strong correlation between the expression of PDL1 on myeloid cells and enrichment of tumor-associated CD8 T cells with an exhaustion phenotype (PD1hiTim3+). Collectively, these data indicate that the “young” microenvironment of an actively developing tissue/individual contributes to the generation of an immune response skewed towards a terminally differentiated state with limited plasticity, thus narrowing the window for immunotherapeutic interventions. Citation Format: Ardiana Moustaki, Jeremy Chase Crawford, Shanta Alli, Anthony Zamora, Yiping Fan, Shannon Boi, Natalie M. McDonald, Paul G. Thomas, Alberto S. Pappo, Michael A. Dyer, Elizabeth Stewart, Sara Federico, Ben Youngblood. Antigen-cross presentation promotes development of terminally differentiated CD8 T cells in young individuals [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-074.
On ε-optimality of the pursuit learning algorithm

Estimator algorithms in learning automata are useful tools for adaptive, realtime optimization in computer science and engineering applications. This paper investigates theoretical convergence properties for a special case of estimator algorithms—the pursuit learning algorithm. We identify a gap in existing proofs of probabilistic convergence for pursuit learning and present a more refined analysis to fill this gap. It is tradition to take the pursuit learning tuning parameter to be fixed in practical applications, but our proof sheds light on the importance of a vanishing sequence of tuning parameters in a theoretical convergence analysis.
Cognitive-motor dual-task gait training within 3 years after stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Dual-task gait training may improve dual-task gait speed after stroke, but the effects on the relative amount of dual-task interference are unclear.Objective: To compare the efficacy of...
Review of the recent blackouts and the enlightenment

With the development of technology, the connection between the power system and the social economy has grown to a high level. To avoid the massive damage caused by power blackouts, in this study, several large-scale blackouts that happened around the world recently have been reviewed and analysed. First, the backgrounds, processes and causes of the blackouts are elaborately illustrated. The causes are summarised into some main points, and coping strategy for each point is discussed. Finally, some enlightenments are concluded to cope with the blackouts and guarantee the security of the power system.
Advanced BEOL Interconnects

Feasibility of single damascene Cu BEOL nanowires with TaN/Ta barrier (i.e. omitting a CVD-Co liner) was studied. Successful Cu gap-fill in 36 nm pitch trenches demonstrated 30% line resistance (Line-R) reduction vs. leading-edge Cu with conventional TaN/Co liner. This was attributed to larger Cu volume fraction and 15% lower intrinsic Cu resistivity. In order to assess the Line-R crossover point, comparable Ru nanowires were estimated through analysis of electron scattering components, based on Rs of blanket Ru films. The calculation predicts Line-R of subtractive-etched Ru lines (larger grains) crosses conventional Cu with TaN/Co liner at 12 nm linewidth, but never crosses Cu with TaN/Ta liner. Analysis of electron scattering components shows the resistivity of Ru lines will be dominated by grain boundary scattering, suggesting that the key for subtractive-etched Ru wires crossing over Cu would be innovations that enhance grain growth of blanket Ru films.
The Geriatrics Excellence in Teaching Series: An Integrated Educational Skills Curriculum for Faculty and Fellows Development

Geriatricians need to acquire skills in teaching and curriculum development to educate physicians caring for the growing population of adults aged 65 and older. To meet this challenge, educators in the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development introduced a monthly seminar series to promote the development of geriatrics faculty and fellows as clinician educators. Ten educational skills development seminars were incorporated into geriatrics grand rounds in the first year of the program. These sessions were implemented using a variety of active learning strategies to expose participants to innovative adult learning-centered approaches for enhancing learning and instruction in medical education. Participants assessed all sessions using a feedback form and were surveyed at the end of the series to measure their overall satisfaction with the program and ascertain its effect on their roles as educators. Participants rated individual sessions highly, and respondents to the survey at the end of the course agreed that the Geriatrics Excellence in Teaching Series provided them with resources for use in their teaching practices and attested to having already applied knowledge and skills learned in the series in their teaching practices. Key elements for the program's success included an upfront needs assessment to prioritize topics, interactive sessions promoting skill development through actual practice of various strategies, open discussions to identify challenges and solutions, and a convenient and customary time slot. This format can be replicated with other geriatrics programs, providing a needed opportunity for faculty and fellows to learn about education principles.
Non-mosaic trisomy 16 in a third-trimester fetus.

Background: Trisomy 16 is the most common trisomy in first-trimester spontaneous abortions, suggesting a high rate of non-disjunction of this chromosome. Deoxyribonucleic acid studies in aborted conceptuses with trisomy 16 have demonstrated a maternal origin in all cases. There have been cases of confined placental mosaicism, fetal mosaicism, and partial trisomy involving chromosome 16 reported in term fetuses. However, to our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of a near-term fetus with full trisomy 16 since the advent of modern chromosomal banding techniques. Case: A 25-year-old Filipino woman underwent obstetric sonographic evaluation at 32 weeks' gestation; results were remarkable for oligohydramnios, severe growth restriction, and multiple dysmorphic features. Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling was performed for rapid karyotyping, viral serology, and blood profiles. The fetal karyotype was 47,XX,+16; the remainder of the laboratory analysis was unremarkable. The patient went into spontaneous labor at 35 weeks' gestation and delivered a stillborn female fetus (birth weight 783 g). Chromosomes from skin, brain, and chorionic villi were examined and all demonstrated trisomy 16 (47,XX,+16). Deoxyribonucleic acid primers for known polymorphic regions of chromosome 16 were used and determined the origin of the extra chromosome to be non-disjunction during paternal meiosis. Conclusion: Previously, full trisomy 16 has been thought to be incompatible with fetal survival past the early second trimester. This case also contrasts with previously reported experience with trisomy 16 in that parental origin studies determined that the extra chromosome 16 originated from the father, suggesting that paternal derivation of the additional chromosome may play a role in the ultimate phenotypic expression.
DOUBLE CONTRAST GASTROGRAPHY IN THE CAT

Radiographic diagnosis of gastric mucosal disease has not been reported in the cat. This may be due to the difficulty in making these diagnoses with survey or single contrast radiography. Double contrast gastrography (DCG) allows direct visualization of gastric mucosal surfaces. The DCG technique in the cat is described, and the normal radiographic appearance is illustrated.
Antimalarial activity of selected aromatic chelators.

Disulfiram and its physiological reduction product diethyldithiocarbamate have been shown to inhibit the growth of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in vitro . It has been suggested that activity of these agents against malaria depends on at least two factors: (1) inhibition of metalloprotein oxidases and (2) chelation by agents with favorable lipid/water partition coefficients (lipophilic) and favorable binding constants. The aromatic chelators 8-hydroxyqumoline and 2-mercaptopyridine- N -oxide possess these characteristics and also exhibit active antimalarial effects in vitro at concentrations to 6.89 x 10-10 and 7.86 x 10-10 M, respectively, the lowest level tested. On the other hand, either the introduction of a methyl group in the number 2 position of 8-hydroxyquinoline or the movement of the hydroxyl group to the 5 position impairs the chelating ability of this compound and, correspondingly, reduces toxicity to the parasite. Approximately 6.28 x 10-6 M 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline and 6.89 x 10-5 M 5-hydroxyquinoline were required to achieve the same inhibition as 6.89 x 10-9 M 8-hydroxyquinoline. This suggests that formation of the ligand-metal complex by these chelating agents is associated with their antimalarial activity. In addition, 8-hydroxyquinoline at a level as low as 6.89 x 10-6 M inhibited parasite glycolysis with no statistically significant effect on the glycolysis of normal red cells. This is similar to effects of disulfiram reported previously. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to thank Dr. Ernest Bueding for suggestions made during the preparation of the manuscript and Dr. Joel Cohen for statistical interpretation of the data. We would also like to acknowledge Dr. William Trager for his support.
International Justice: From the Twilight to the Dawn? International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo at McGill University

This article examines recent historical developments, in particular the establishment of the International Criminal Court, in light of Morgenthau’s The Twilight of International Morality. It suggests three scenarios for understanding the current trajectory of international morality: the false dawn, a superstructure of morality that serves as an apology for the exercise of raw power by liberal democracies; a reverie, a utopia dreamed up by idealists; and the dawn of international justice. The article contends that the third scenario, under which the ICC represents the dawn of international justice and demonstrates that a cosmopolitan international morality can exist, is the most credible despite the persistence of islands of outlawry.
Inhibition of pulmonary surfactant by oleic acid: mechanisms and characteristics

The inhibitory effects of oleic acid (OA) on the surface activity of pulmonary surfactant were characterized by use of the oscillating bubble surfactometer, the Wilhelmy balance, and excised rat lungs. Oscillating bubble studies showed that OA prevented lavaged calf surfactant [0.5 mM phospholipid (PL)] from lowering surface tension below 15 mN/m at or above a molar ratio of OA/PL = 0.5. In contrast to inhibition of surfactant by plasma proteins, increasing the surfactant concentration did not eliminate inhibition by oleic acid, which occurred at OA/PL greater than 0.67 on the oscillating bubble even at surfactant concentrations of 1.5 and 12 mM PL. Studies of surfactant adsorption showed that preformed films of OA had little effect on the adsorption of pulmonary surfactant. Wilhelmy balance studies showed that OA did interfere with the ability of spread films of surfactant to reach low surface tensions during dynamic compression. Further balance experiments with binary films of OA and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine showed that these compounds were miscible in surface films. Together these findings suggested that OA inhibited pulmonary surfactant activity by disrupting the rigid interfacial film responsible for the generation of very low surface tension during dynamic compression. Mechanical studies in excised rat lungs showed that instillation of OA gave altered deflation pressure-volume characteristics with decreased quasi-static compliance, indicating disruption of pulmonary surfactant function in situ. This alteration of mechanics occurred without major changes in the composition of lavaged PLs or in the tissue compliance of the lungs defined by mechanical measurements during inflation-deflation with saline.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Low Stress under Bump Metallizations for Direct Chip Attach

In order to use a flip chip method for bonding the Si chip directly to an organic substrate, compatible under bump metallization (UBM) must be available. Conventional schemes with a copper-based solderable layer are not well compatible with the high-tin solders (such as eutectic Pb-Sn) used with organic substrates. This is due to the rapid reaction between Sn and Cu which depletes the UBM of copper. Ni-based schemes exhibit slower reaction with the solder and have been identified by the semiconductor industry as preferable replacements to Cu-based UBM’s. However, Ni-containing metallurgies are often associated with high stresses, which results in poor practical adhesion between the silicon chip and the metallization, leading to interfacial failure during fabrication or service. In this research, several nickel-containing UBM schemes are studied experimentally. Stress measurements are made for each metallization before patterning of UBM pads. An optimal Ni concentration for the UBM is suggested based on the results from this study.
Micro-crack detection and assessment with embedded carbon nanotube thread in composite materials:

Carbon nanotube thread has shown strong promise to be built into or onto composite materials for strain and damage monitoring via the material’s piezoresistive property. It has been found that a distinguishing feature of sensing thread incorporated in these materials is the detection of micro-cracking. This study articulates how embedded carbon nanotube thread in unidirectional glass fiber composites can identify the onset of matrix cracking, track crack growth, and differentiate between crack breathing and closing states. This information is obtained by analyzing the resistance response of the thread with a low-speed data acquisition system and a simple Wheatstone bridge circuit. A digital optical microscope was utilized to verify that a micro-crack was indeed present in the structure at the location of the sensor thread. Additionally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this crack detection approach compared to past crack detection approaches, a comparison against foil-type strain gauges and piezoelectr...
Vector Finite Element Modeling of Dielectric Guides by Tranverse Magnetic Field Formulation

A transverse vector-H finite element formulation for the solution of modes in optical guides has been implemented, and a quantum well laser structure has been analyzed.
Shock-Wave Attenuation and Energy-Dissipation Potential of Granular Materials

The propagation of uniaxial-stress planar shocks in granular materials is analyzed using a conventional shock-physics approach. Within this approach, both compression shocks and decompression waves are treated as (stress, specific volume, particle velocity, mass-based internal energy density, temperature, and mass-based entropy density) propagating discontinuities. In addition, the granular material is considered as being a continuum (i.e., no mesoscale features like grains, voids, and their agglomerates are considered). However, while the granular material is treated as a (smeared-out) continuum, it is recognized that it contains a solid constituent (parent matter), and that the structurodynamic properties (i.e., Equations of State (EOS) and Hugoniot relations) of the granular material are related to its parent matter. Three characteristic shock loading regimes of granular material are considered and, in each case, an analysis is carried out to elucidate shock attenuation and energy dissipation processes. In addition, an attempt is made to identify a metric (a combination of the material parameters) which quantifies the intrinsic ability of a granular material to attenuate a shock and dissipate the energy carried by the shock. Toward that end, the response of a typical granular material to a flat-topped compressive stress pulse is analyzed in each of the three shock loading regimes.
Linear regression and computational neural network prediction of tetrahymena acute toxicity for aromatic compounds from molecular structure.

A quantitative structure toxicity relationship (QSTR) has been derived for a diverse set of 448 industrially important aromatic solvents. Toxicity was expressed as the 50% growth impairment concentration (ICG50) for the ciliated protozoa Tetrahymena and spans the range −1.46 to 3.36 log units. Molecular descriptors that encode topological, geometrical, electronic, and hybrid geometrical-electronic structural features were calculated for each compound. Subsets of molecular descriptors were selected via a simulated annealing technique and a genetic algorithm. From this reduced pool of descriptors, multiple linear regression models and nonlinear models using computational neural networks (CNNs) were derived and then used to predict the ICG50 values for an external set of representative compounds. An average of 10 nonlinear CNN models with 11-5-1 architecture was found to best describe the system with root-mean-square errors of 0.28, 0.29, and 0.34 log units for the training, cross validation, and prediction ...
Short history of remote sensing of chemical agents

The concept of remote (stand-off) detection of chemical and biological agents was suggested at least as far back as the early fifties; the DoD, (primarily the Army) has had R&D programs going back at least that far. Concepts have included active and passive sensors, infrared and ultraviolet lasers, spectral and imaging systems and all types of combinations that have some potential to meet the Army's very demanding requirements for detection of vapors, aerosols and ground contamination. The spectral principles and early history -- particularly of passive IR systems -- are emphasized.
Anticipation in familial Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Anticipation is discussed in relation to Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and familial cancer.
EFFECTS OF ULTRASOUND EXPOSURE IN VITRO ON NEUROBLASTOMA CELL MEMBRANES

Mechanisms of action of ultrasound on cell membranes were studied on two murine C1300 neuroblastoma cell lines of minimum genetic diversity. Cavitation was established in rotating polystyrene centrifuge tubes by 1 MHz cw ultrasound; exposure time was 5 minutes. NS20Y and N2A cells exposed in suspension responded similarly by 86Rb+ transport and Na+-K+-ATPase activity assays, but differently by trypan blue dye exclusion and lysis assays. This indicates similar overall damage to the cell membranes, despite use of trypsin to release N2As only. Primary evidence of damage was lysis of NS20Ys and permeabilization of N2As. These results indicate that the same ultrasound exposure conditions can produce different effects in cells that differ in their membrane properties.
Hemodynamic Changes During Sleep in Hypertensive Patients

Hemodynamic studies were carried out during nonsedated all-night sleep on 14 patients with established hypertension. The significant changes from awake control values were as follows: mean arterial pressure fell 7.3% in stages I and II sleep and 8.8% in deep (stages III and IV) sleep; cardiac output decreased 10.3, 9.8, and 8.8% in stages I, II, and III and IV sleep, respectively; heart rate fell 4% in stage II sleep. Total peripheral resistance was not significantly altered. These hemodynamic responses during sleep were similar both quantitatively and qualitatively to those previously found in normal subjects. A small difference, which was of questionable significance, was noted between the two groups of subjects with respect to rapid eye movement sleep. While these observations do not disprove a primary neurogenic component in hypertension, they do not support such an hypothesis.
Coupled fiber taper extraction of 153 μm photoluminescence from erbium doped silicon nitride photonic crystal cavities

Optical fiber tapers are used to collect photoluminescence emission at ~1.5 µm from photonic crystal cavities fabricated in erbium doped silicon nitride on silicon. In the experiment, photoluminescence collection via one arm of the fiber taper is enhanced 2.5 times relative to free space collection, corresponding to a net collection efficiency of 4%. Theoretically, the collection efficiency into one arm of the fiber-taper with this material system and cavity design can be as high as 12.5%, but the degradation of the experimental coupling efficiency relative to this value mainly comes from scattering loss within the short taper transition regions. By varying the fiber taper offset from the cavity, a broad tuning range of coupling strength and collection efficiency is obtained. This material system combined with fiber taper collection is promising for building on-chip optical amplifiers.
Ectopic ACTH production in disseminated prostatic adenocarcinoma

The second fully documented case of ACTH-producing prostatic adenocarcinoma with elevated plasma and tissue levels of ACTH is presented. The distinguishing characteristics of ACTH-producing extrapituitary neoplasms and the various modes of therapy are discussed.
Egg shell membrane protein: a nonelastin desmosine/isodesmosine-containing protein.

Abstract Egg shell membrane protein was found to contain the crosslinking amino acids desmosine and isodesmosine. Of particular interest, the desmosine and isodesmosine content was increased severalfold when the egg shell membrane protein was subjected to autoclaving. The major protein in membranes, which contains the crosslinking amino acids desmosine and isodesmosine, differs greatly from elastin in amino acid composition and is resistant to digestion with elastase. It is concluded that this protein component is not elastin but contains desmosine isomers. Further, its amino acid composition does not resemble those reported for other fibrous proteins such as keratin, connectin, collagen, or microfibrillar protein.
Photolysis of CO-NH3 mixtures and the Martian atmosphere

It has already been noted (Ferris and Nicodem, 1972) that although neither CO2 nor H2O affected the rate of NH3 photolysis, CO accelerated the photodecomposition of ammonia, with the formation of a solid product. The photolysis of NH3 in the presence of CO is investigated in greater detail not only because of the potential significance to atmospheric photochemistry on Mars, but also because of the possibility of photocatalytic reactions of NH3 and CO on the Martian surface and in the interstellar medium. These photoreactions may also have occurred on the primitive earth.
Good manufacturing practices (GMP) in a hospital environment: the ideal and the real.

(2001). Good manufacturing practices (GMP) in a hospital environment: the ideal and the real. Cytotherapy: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 63-65.
Combustion synthesis of advanced materials: Part I. Reaction parameters

An explanation of combustion (self propagating high temperature) synthesis (SHS) is given together with a historical perspective of the examination of such exothermic reactions. The application of thermochemical functions has been used to predict theoretically the maximum adiabatic temperature, Tad. This, combined with a knowledge of the ignition temperature, Tig, and the actual combustion temperature, Tc, has been used to determine the heat loss from the SHS reaction and the amount of heat needed to raise the adjacent, cold, reactant layer to the ignition temperature in order to maintain the self sustaining nature of the propagating mode of the reaction. The pertinent reaction parameters that control self propagating high temperature (combustion) synthesis reactions have been examined. These include: reactant particle size and shape; powder mixing and compaction; green density; reaction stoichiometry; impurities; volatiles and diluents; reaction environment; mode and technique of ignition; heating rate; and the effect of these parameters on the generation of heat, exothermicity and control of the SHS reaction.
Observations and Modeling of Banded Orographic Convection

Radar images and numerical simulations of three shallow convective precipitation events over the Coastal Range in western Oregon are presented. In one of these events, unusually well-defined quasi-stationary banded formations produced large precipitation enhancements in favored locations, while varying degrees of band organization and lighter precipitation accumulations occurred in the other two cases. The difference between the more banded and cellular cases appeared to depend on the vertical shear within the orographic cap cloud and the susceptibility of the flow to convection upstream of the mountain. Numerical simulations showed that the rainbands, which appeared to be shear-parallel convective roll circulations that formed within the unstable orographic cap cloud, developed even over smooth mountains. However, these banded structures were better organized, more stationary, and produced greater precipitation enhancement over mountains with small-scale topographic obstacles. Low-amplitude random topographic roughness elements were found to be just as effective as more prominent subrange-scale peaks at organizing and fixing the location of the orographic rainbands.
The impact of cognitive function on medication management: three studies.

OBJECTIVE: Medication non-adherence has been a persistent problem over the past 3 decades; forgetting and being distracted from regular routines are the barriers most frequently cited by patients. Prior research on cognitive function and medication adherence has yielded mixed results. This report compares findings of 3 studies.
Activation of Targeted Necrosis by a p53 Peptide A NOVEL DEATH PATHWAY THAT CIRCUMVENTS APOPTOTIC RESISTANCE

Cancer cells escape apoptosis by intrinsic or acquired mechanisms of drug resistance. An alternative strategy to circumvent resistance to apoptosis could be through redirection into other death pathways, such as necrosis. However, necrosis is a nonspecific, nontargeted process resulting in cell lysis and inflammation of both cancer and normal cells and is therefore not a viable alternative. Here, we report that a C-terminal peptide of p53, called p53p-Ant, induced targeted necrosis only in multiple mutant p53 human prostate cancer lines and not normal cells, because the mechanism of cytotoxicity by p53p-Ant is dependent on the presence of high levels of mutant p53. Topotecan- and paclitaxel-resistant prostate cancer lines were as sensitive to p53p-Ant-induced targeted necrosis as parental lines. A massive loss of ATP pools and intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species was involved in the mechanism of targeted necrosis, which was inhibited by O(2)(.) scavengers. We hypothesize that targeted necrosis by p53p-Ant is dependent on mutant p53, is mediated by O(2)(.) loss and ATP, and can circumvent chemotherapy resistance to apoptosis. Targeted necrosis, as an alternative pathway for selective killing of cancer cells, may overcome the problems of nonspecificity in utilizing the necrotic pathway.
Rotational diffusion in methyl iodide: bandshape analysis of degenerate vibrational modes

The Raman spectral bandshapes of the ν1(A1), ν3(A1) and ν4(E) vibrations of CH3I were studied as a function of temperature in the liquid phase. Perpendicular diffusion coefficients calculated from ν3 agreed well with earlier reported results. The degenerate CH3 stretching vibration, ν4, was analyzed via fitting by a model incorporating two Lorentzian lineshapes. Values of the parallel diffusion constants, D∥, determined using only the narrower component were in excellent semi-quantitative agreement with those predicted by the free rotor model of molecular reorientation. Analysis of the room-temperatur Raman spectrum of ν5(E) yielded the same value of D∥ as that calculated from ν4. The room-temperature infrared spectral intensities of ν5 were fitted by a model with a narrow Lorentzian containing contributions from rotational and vibrational relaxation superposed on a second component introduced to account for the broad background absorption. D∥ determined from the IR bandwidth was in good agreement with values obtained from the Raman spectra of ν4 and ν5. These results demonstrate the utility of analyzing degenerate vibrational modes to determine the parallel diffusion coefficients in C3v molecules.
Approximation Algorithms for Constrained Relay Node Placement in Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks

The constrained relay node placement problem in a wireless sensor network seeks the deployment of a minimum number of relay nodes (RNs) in a set of candidate locations in the network to satisfy specific requirements, such as connectivity or survivability. In this paper, we study the constrained relay node placement problem in an energy-harvesting network in which the energy harvesting potential of the candidate locations are known a priori. Our aim is to place a minimum number of relay nodes, to achieve connectivity or survivability, while ensuring that the relay nodes harvest large amounts of ambient energy. We present the connectivity and survivability problems, discuss their NP-hardness, and propose polynomial time ${\mbi{\cal O}}$ (1)-approximation algorithms with low approximation ratios to solve them. We validate the effectiveness of our algorithms through numerical results to show that the RNs placed by our algorithms harvest 50% more energy on average than those placed by the algorithms unaware of energy harvesting. We also develop a unified-mixed integer linear program (MILP)-based formulation to compute a lower bound of the optimal solution for minimum relay node placement and demonstrate that the results of our proposed algorithms were on average within 1.5 times of the optimal.
From conflict to accommodation: the ‘Foreigners Question’ in Switzerland

. There have been three major periods of post-war migration to Switzerland. First the classic system of guestworker recruitment which lasted from 1948–1960. Second a period of political controversy from 1961–1978 concerned with ‘overforeignisation’ which brought about increased government intervention accompanied by a slight reduction in the foreign population. Recently Swiss labour recruitment has switched from yearly guestworker recruitment to seasonal workers and border commuters. This has lasted from 1979 to the present. Despite the fact that Switzerland has done very little to assist the integration of the immigrant population, they appear comparatively well integrated and surprisingly satisfied.
Alteration in biological properties of human albumin during storage.

Abstract The effects of human albumin preparations on oxidative energy metabolism and lipid svnthesis were investigated in rat liver slices incubated with sodium [1-14C]acetate as precursor. Labeled CO2 production and incorporation of precursor into the major lipid classes was increased 2 to 3-fold by fresh preparations of albumin (fraction V), and by defatted fraction V, whereas highly purified cystalline albumin was less active. Albumin preparations from various commercial suppliers varied widely in activity. Activity of fraction V was preserved during storage at −20°C, and gradually lost at +3°C in the course of 1 year. In contrast, defatted fractions rapidly lost activity in storage at both temperatures. After 1 year in storage at +3°C, albumin preparations became inhibitory to CO2 production and lipid synthesis. The results suggest that commercial albumin used in metabolic studies, and in clinical situations may have unpredictable or undesirable effects related to state of purity and storage conditions of the protein.