cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of Strain in a Porcine Model of Skin Expansion Using Multi-View Stereo and Isogeometric Kinematics

Tissue expansion is a popular technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery that grows skin in vivo for correction of large defects such as burns and giant congenital nevi. Despite its widespread use, planning and executing an expansion protocol is challenging due to the difficulty in measuring the deformation imposed at each inflation step and over the length of the procedure. Quantifying the deformation fields is crucial, as the distribution of stretch over time determines the rate and amount of skin grown at the end of the treatment. In this manuscript, we present a method to study tissue expansion in order to gain quantitative knowledge of the deformations induced during an expansion process. This experimental protocol incorporates multi-view stereo and isogeometric kinematic analysis in a porcine model of tissue expansion. Multi-view stereo allows three-dimensional geometric reconstruction from uncalibrated sequences of images. The isogeometric kinematic analysis uses splines to describe the regional deformations between smooth surfaces with few mesh points. Our protocol has the potential to bridge the gap between basic scientific inquiry regarding the mechanics of skin expansion and the clinical setting. Eventually, we expect that the knowledge gained with our methodology will enable treatment planning using computational simulations of skin deformation in a personalized manner.
Cell Removal: Efferocytosis

In metazoans, removal of cells in situ is involved in larval maturation, metamorphosis, and embryonic development. In adults, such cell removal plays a role in the homeostatic maintenance of cell numbers and tissue integrity as well as in the response to cell injury and damage. This removal involves uptake of the whole or fragmented target cells into phagocytes. Depending on the organism, these latter may be near-neighbor tissue cells and/or professional phagocytes such as, in vertebrates, members of the myeloid family of cells, especially macrophages. The uptake processes appear to involve specialized and highly conserved recognition ligands and receptors, intracellular signaling in the phagocytes, and mechanisms for ingestion. The recognition of cells destined for this form of removal is critical and, significantly, is distinguished for the most part from the recognition of foreign materials and organisms by the innate and adaptive immune systems. In keeping with the key role of cell removal in maintaining tissue homeostasis, constant cell removal is normally silent, i.e., does not initiate a local tissue reaction. This article discusses these complex and wide-ranging processes in general terms as well as the implications when these processes are disrupted in inflammation, immunity, and disease.
Genital tract GBS and rate of histologic chorioamnionitis in patients with preterm premature rupture of membrane.

AbstractIntroduction: Histologic chorioamnionitis (HC) is a common finding in the placenta from patients with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). The purpose of this study is to determine if HC differs based on the Group B streptococcus (GBS) status in patients managed expectantly with PPROM <34 weeks gestation.Methods: A retrospective study was performed of patients admitted with PPROM between 23 0/7 and 33 6/7 weeks from 2003 to 2014 at one institution. Patients were excluded if in labor, evidence of clinical chorioamnionitis, nonreassuring fetal status, multifetal gestation, HIV positive, or if GBS specimens or placental histology were not available. Placental pathology results were compared using Fisher’s exact test.Results: One hundred eighty-one patients met inclusion criteria and 55 (30.3%) were GBS positive. The prevalence of HC did not differ between the GBS positive and GBS negative groups (69 versus 64.2%, respectively; p = .62). Clinical chorioamnionitis, endomyometritis, wound inf...
The early argument for prefrontal leucotomy: the collision of frontal lobe theory and psychosurgery at the 1935 International Neurological Congress in London

The pathophysiology of mental illness and its relationship to the frontal lobe were subjects of immense interest in the latter half of the 19th century. Numerous studies emerged during this time on cortical localization and frontal lobe theory, drawing upon various ideas from neurology and psychiatry. Reflecting the intense interest in this region of the brain, the 1935 International Neurological Congress in London hosted a special session on the frontal lobe. Among other presentations, Yale physiologists John Fulton and Carlyle Jacobsen presented a study on frontal lobectomy in primates, and neurologist Richard Brickner presented a case of frontal ablation for olfactory meningioma performed by the Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Walter Dandy. Both occurrences are said to have influenced Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz (1874-1955) to commence performing leucotomies on patients beginning in late 1935. Here the authors review the relevant events related to frontal lobe theory leading up to the 1935 Neurological Congress as well as the extent of this meeting's role in the genesis of the modern era of psychosurgery.
Model-less forecasting of Hopf bifurcations in fluid-structural systems

Abstract Predicting critical transitions and post-transition dynamics of complex systems is a unique challenge. In this paper, a novel approach is introduced to forecast Hopf bifurcations and the post-bifurcation dynamics of nonlinear fluid-structural systems. The forecasting method is model-less and uses measurements of the system response collected only in the pre-bifurcation regime. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to a cantilever high aspect ratio wing exposed to gust loads as perturbations. To generate surrogate measurements required for forecasting bifurcations in this large-dimensional complex system, a nonlinear strain-based finite element formulation coupled with unsteady aerodynamics is used to model the fluid–structure interaction. Results show that the method successfully forecasts the linear flutter speed and the amplitude of the limit cycle oscillations that occur in the post-bifurcation regime. The procedure is shown to be time efficient, model-less, and to require only few measurements, which makes the proposed forecasting method a unique tool for nonlinear analysis of complex systems.
Applying Concepts of Complexity to Structural Health Monitoring

The process of implementing a damage detection strategy for aerospace, civil, and mechanical engineering infrastructure is referred to as structural health monitoring (SHM). The SHM method complements traditional nondestructive evaluation by extending these concepts to online, in situ, system monitoring on a more global scale. For long term SHM, the output is periodically updated information that provides details on the continual deterioration of a system. After severe events, SHM is used for short term rapid condition screening and aims to provide reliable, near real-time information on structural integrity. The hypothesis of this paper is that structural degradation increases the complexity of a system, and that SHM can be used to detect this change over both long and short-term periods. Various measures of complexity were investigated, including Shannon and spectral entropies of accelerometer readings for real time damage detection and gradient measures for image-based corrosion detection. It was concluded that different measures of complexity were more appropriate for varying types of damage, i.e. spectral entropy was more appropriate for identifying cracks in a structure, while Shannon entropy was more appropriate for identifying corrosion on a plate.
Wide Band GAP Semiconductors. Good Results and Great Expectations

We will review properties of wide band gap semiconductors, which make them superior materials for many electronic and optoelectronic applications. These semiconductors should allow us to achieve a very high on-to-off ratio in transistors, implement nonvolatile solid state memories, and develop new optoelectronic and optical devices for visible and ultraviolet ranges as well as electronic and optoelectronic systems operating in a harsh environment and/or at elevated temperatures. Technological difficulties, relatively low mobility values, and problems related to contacts and traps make the realization of this great potential a challenge. We show that many of these difficulties can be alleviated in A1GaN/GaN Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors (HFETs), which use superior transport properties of the two dimensional electron gas in wide band gap semiconductors. A1GaN/GaN HFET’s, which have been fabricated on a transparent sapphire substrate, are very sensitive to ultraviolet light. Hence, they can be also used as solar blind ultraviolet photodetectors.
Detection of Myeloma Cells in the Urine Sediment

The urine sediments of 18 patients with multiple myeloma were stained with tetrachrome stain and examined by light microscopy. Eleven of the eighteen sediments contained cells with the morphologic characteristics of plasma cells. When stained with fluoroscein conjugated rabbit immune globulin prepared against k and A light chains, eight of these sediments contained fluorescent staining plasma cells. In each case the cells stained with the antibody to the light chain of the patient’s myeloma protein and not with the other light-chain antibody. Examinations of sediment from patients with other types of renal disease and normal subjects did not reveal the presence of fluorescent staining cells. In the urine of two myeloma patients, cells were identified as plasma cells by electron microscopy. No correlation was found between the presence of plasma cells and the patient’s monoclonal protein, light-chain type, or the presence or degree of renal disease. The finding of myeloma cells in the urine presumably indicates an extramedullary extension of the disease, and their presence may contribute to the renal impairment commonly found in myeloma patients. is a common and serious complication in patients with multiple myeloma.’ “ Examination of the urine in myeloma patients has traditionally been directed towards detection of infectious agents, measurement of simple compounds such as uric acid, and testing for the presence of Bence Jonesprotein by physical or immunochemical means. In certain urinary tract malignancies, however, cytologic study of the urinary sediment has proven to be of diagnostic import.5’6 Because malignant plasma cells are sometimes found at extramedullary sites and because of the high frequency of renal dysfunction in multiple myeloma, a systematic search for plasma cells in the urinary sediment has been carried out in a group of myeloma patients with and without overt renal disease. In this report, methods of examining the urinary sediment by light and fluorescent microscopy are described. These methods have been applied to normal subjects, to patients with myeloma, and to patients with various types of renal disease. The studies showed that cells with morphologic characteristics of plasma cells may be detected by light and electron microscopy in the urine of some patients with
Microstructural Contributions to the Fracture Resistance of Silicon Nitride Ceramics

To achieve toughening by the crack bridging process the introduction of large elongated grains by fracture resistance is necessary but not sufficient. While increasing the diameter of the elongated grains can increase the toughening effect, this requires that fracture occur along grain interfaces rather than through the grains. This interface debonding process appears to be modified by the chemistry of the oxynitride glass at the grain boundaries. Experiments show that increasing the yttria to alumina ratio or decreasing the ntirogen content of Si-AI-O-N glasses promotes interfacial debonding. The crack bridging contributions to the R-curve behavior is also a function of the content and size of the bridging reinforcement as noted in whisker-reinforced ceramics. Thus, control of micrstructure and interfacial phases is critical to the development of toughened silicon nitiride ceramics.
IMPACT OF SHUTTLE ON TECHNOLOGY AND UTILITY OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES

This paper describes the profound increase in spacecraft technology, system capability, and user utility provided by the shuttle. The shuttle provides this enhanced capability at a cost much less than that of today's expendable boosters, Thor-Delta and Atlas-Centaur. The shuttle-launched spacecraft can be much heavier and have larger dimensions to accommodate greater antenna sizes, larger solar arrays and thermal dissipation area, more communications transponders, and complex on-board communications switching devices. The high performance shuttle spacecraft will simultaneously permit many more communications channels and much lower cost earth stations. The result is low cost utilization by a much larger number of users, thereby opening up new classes of services worldwide. The paper quantifies a variety of typical national and regional 1985 satellite systems utilizing shuttle capability. This description includes satellites, earth stations, system characteristics and overall utility.
'The Chatbot Will See You Now': Mental Health Confidentiality Concerns in Software Therapy

Woebot, a chatbot leveraging cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, promises to provide a new area of software therapy, in which users can use software to address feelings of anxiety or depression. Similar technologies claim to provide "chat" or "support", but not treatment so as to avod FDA oversight. Regardless, the current privacy framework of the U.S. provides no confidentiality obligations on these apps, even though states provide similar restrictions on use and disclosure on licensed mental health professionals. This Article argues that new legislation is necessary to protect the use and disclosure of information submitted by consumers to chatbots intended for use as electronic therapists. It looks at existing state laws, the senstitivity of mental health information and need for greater confidentaility protections, as well as the Supreme Court opinions in Jaffee v. Redmond as a guide. Ultimately, it concludes that cognitive behaviorally trained therapy A.I. intended for use by consumer as such should be subject to heightened confidentiality requirements.
Laparoscopic procedures in patients with cardiac ventricular assist devices.

Cardiac left ventricular assist device (LVAD) placement is a common therapy for heart failure. Non-cardiac surgical care of these patients can be complex given the need for anticoagulation, perioperative monitoring, comorbidities, and anatomical considerations due to the device itself. There are no guidelines or significant patient series reported to date for laparoscopic procedures in this population. We herein report the techniques and outcomes for commonly performed laparoscopic procedures in patients with LVADs at a high volume center. From our database of patients with ventricular assist devices, we retrospectively identified patients who underwent laparoscopic abdominal surgery. Intraoperative and perioperative data were collected, including anticoagulation management, transfusions and complications. Techniques and preoperative considerations from the surgeons were also compiled and described. Of 374 patients that had placement of LVADs, 17 had an elective laparoscopic procedure: enteral access placement (n = 7), cholecystectomy (n = 6), hernia repair (n = 2), small bowel resection (n = 1) and splenectomy (n = 1). Preoperative evaluation routinely included radiologic imaging to evaluate driveline location. The most common abdominal entry technique was a periumbilical open Hasson technique (11/17). No cases were converted to open. Overall, the average blood loss was 132 ± 64 mL and the average operative time was 1.8 ± 0.3 h. Five of the 17 patients required intraoperative blood transfusion. No patients suffered perioperative thrombotic events or LVAD complications secondary to holding anticoagulation. No patients required interventions or reoperation for bleeding complications. There were no mortalities related to these procedures. Laparoscopic abdominal procedures are safe and feasible in patients with LVADs. Although special consideration for bleeding and thrombotic risks, placement of ports and perioperative management is required, the presence of a LVAD itself should not be considered a contraindication for laparoscopic surgery and may in fact be the preferred method for access in these patients.
What Makes It Psychoanalysis?: A Commentary On The Contributions Of Dana Birksted-Breen

The Work of Psychoanalysis: Sexuality, Time and the Psychoanalytic Mind. By Dana Birksted-Breen, New York, Routledge, 2016, 283 pp.
Predictive and spatial analysis for estimating the impact of sociodemographic factors on contraceptive use among women living with HIV/AIDS (WLWHA) in Kenya: Implications for policies and practice.

Background Despite the availability and knowledge of various contraceptive methods, consistent utilisation in women living with HIV/AIDS (WLWHA) within the reproductive age group remains below the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Family Planning 2020 goals. This study examines the association between sociodemographic factors and contraceptive use including the effect of clustering tendencies of these factors on contraceptive usage among WLWHA in Kenya. Methods Weighted multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to determine the association of sociodemographic factors on contraception use among WLWHA using the 2008–2009 Kenya Demographic Health Survey. Spatial autocorrelation techniques were used to explore clustering tendencies of these factors on contraception utilisation. Our study population included 304 HIV positive women, aged 15–49 years. Results Among 304 HIV-positive women in our study population, 92 (30.3%) reported using one method of contraception. Contraceptive use was significantly associated with wealth and education after adjustment for other sociodemographic variables. Women classified as having low and middle wealth index were less likely to use contraceptives (OR=0.17, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.43; OR=0.33, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.98, respectively) compared with women classified as having high wealth index. Similarly, women with primary education only were less likely to use contraceptives compared with women with secondary or higher education (OR=0.42, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.98). Spatial autocorrelation revealed significant positive clusters with weak clustering tendencies of non-contraceptive use among different levels of wealth index and education within different regions of Kenya. Conclusion These findings underscores the need for intervention programmes to further target socially disadvantaged WLWHA, which is necessary for achieving the SDGs.
Metal-Free Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Mediated by Cyclic(Alkyl)(Amino) Carbenes

Carbenes are known to activate carbon dioxide to form zwitterionic adducts. Their inherent metal-free redox activity remains understudied. Herein, we demonstrate that zwitterionic adducts of carbon dioxide formed with cyclic(alkyl)(amino) carbenes are not only redox active, but they can mediate the stoichiometric reductive disproportionation of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and carbonate. Infrared spectroelectrochemical experiments show that the reaction proceeds through an intermediate radical anion formed by one-electron reduction, ultimately generating a ketene product and carbonate in the absence of additional organic or inorganic reagents.
Contextualizing Space and Time for GeoAI JITAIs (Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions)

The success of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) is contingent on the application's ability to understand, predict, and intervene upon the health behavior of interest. Advances in mobile technologies and wearable sensors are presenting further opportunities for "in the moment" intervention, however, integration of spatial and complex temporal concepts have been minimal in JITAIs to date. Here we share thoughts on how health behaviors can be contextualized in space and time with the purpose of predicting health behaviors through the use of GeoAI JITAI models, and highlight future challenges that need to be addressed.
An Automated Procedure for Selecting Boiling Water Reactor Refueling Policies Following Operational Problems or Changes

Previous work on the automated selection of refueling patterns under equilibrium conditions has been extended to situations where operational difficulties or changes have been encountered. The appr...
Rigorous and fast computation of plasmonic particle-substrate interactions

As powerful wave-front shapers, meta-surfaces can be used as planar lenses, polarizers, vortex generators, and other components. A general design approach is the finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique, which is robust but computationally costly. The discrete dipole approximation (DDA) is a rigorous and fast alternative, but has not been widely used in nanophotonic design because of computational complexity resulting from dipole-substrate interactions. Here we present a substrate-compatible DDA formulation using a one-dimensional Green’s function in cylindrical coordinates that accurately handles singularities and high-frequency oscillations. It is significantly faster with similar accuracy compared to several other methods, including FDTD.
Optimizing Price Menus for Duration Discounts: A Subscription Selectivity Field Experiment

To optimize price menus for duration discounts, both randomized field experiments and careful modeling of consumer self-selection are critical.
Minimally Invasive Surgery for Intradural Tumors

The traditional approach for resection of intradural spinal tumors is an open laminectomy. This approach provides a wide, bilateral exposure to the spinal column. However, in order to achieve this exposure, the bilateral musculature must be stripped away from the bony anatomy and the posterior ligamentous complex disrupted. Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) has garnered increasing popularity over the past two decades and the use of tubular retractors to access the spinal column has been applied to all levels of the spine for multiple pathologies and surgical procedures. The potential benefits of MISS approaches are less postoperative pain, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery and return to work, and fewer complications. In this chapter, we will describe our method for the resection of intradural spinal tumors utilizing an MISS technique. We discuss the indications and preoperative considerations when considering an MISS approach. Our technique utilizing a non-expandable tubular retractor is then described. Finally, we examine the existing body of literature of intradural extramedullary and intramedullary spinal tumors. We aim to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of how to approach patients with intradural spinal tumors from an MISS perspective and safely and effectively perform resection through a tubular retractor.
Stay Socially Distant and Wash Your Hands: Using the Health Belief Model to Determine Intent for COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors at the Beginning of the Pandemic.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has quickly spread around the world, and since currently no treatments that are safe and effective for large groups of people nor a vaccine are available, the best w...
Blind Network Revenue Management and Bandits with Knapsacks under Limited Switches

Our work is motivated by a common business constraint in online markets. While firms respect the advantages of dynamic pricing and price experimentation, they must limit the number of price changes (i.e., switches) to be within some budget due to various practical reasons. We study both the classical price-based network revenue management problem in the distributionally-unknown setup, and the bandits with knapsacks problem. In these problems, a decision-maker (without prior knowledge of the environment) has finite initial inventory of multiple resources to allocate over a finite time horizon. Beyond the classical resource constraints, we introduce an additional switching constraint to these problems, which restricts the total number of times that the decision-maker makes switches between actions to be within a fixed switching budget. For such problems, we show matching upper and lower bounds on the optimal regret, and propose computationally-efficient limited-switch algorithms that achieve the optimal regret. Our work reveals a surprising result: the optimal regret rate is completely characterized by a piecewise-constant function of the switching budget, which further depends on the number of resource constraints -- to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the number of resources constraints is shown to play a fundamental role in determining the statistical complexity of online learning problems. We conduct computational experiments to examine the performance of our algorithms on a numerical setup that is widely used in the literature. Compared with benchmark algorithms from the literature, our proposed algorithms achieve promising performance with clear advantages on the number of incurred switches. Practically, firms can benefit from our study and improve their learning and decision-making performance when they simultaneously face resource and switching constraints.
A Global People's Liberation Army: Possibilities, Challenges, andOpportunities

Under what conditions will China decide to employ military capabilities abroad and will this be a positive or negative development for the United States and the international order? We argue that developing expeditionary capabilities is clearly a priority for high-level leadership and the domestic public’s expectation for protection while abroad further motivates plans to develop the military in this direction. Moreover, Chinese strategic thinking and debates about the shape and nature of such a capability suggest the doctrinal development needed to support an expeditionary force is already underway. But even if China develops the capability, this does not mean Beijing will always choose to use it. We develop a typology of to capture the conditions under which China may employ its expeditionary capabilities based on the degree to which China is directly targeted and international receptivity to a larger Chinese role. We evaluate the implications of these four types - China as an activist, vigilante, team player and free rider – and argue that under most conditions the United States should be open to a greater role for the PLA.
MiR-338-5p Levels and Cigarette Smoking are Associated with Neuropathic Pain Severity in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury: Preliminary Findings from a Genome-Wide microRNA Expression Profiling Screen.

Abstract Objective To identify microRNA biomarkers and clinical factors associated with neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury. Design Cross-sectional, secondary analysis of baseline data collected from ongoing clinical studies. Using a genome-wide microRNA screening approach, we studied differential microRNA expression in serum from 43 adults with spinal cord injury enrolled in ongoing clinical studies. Least squares regression was utilized to identify associations between microRNA expression, clinical factors, and neuropathic pain severity. Setting Community dwelling individuals with spinal cord injury. Participants Participants (n = 43) were at least 18 years of age with spinal cord injury with 28 reporting neuropathic pain and 15 reporting no neuropathic pain. Interventions Not applicable Main Outcome Measures Pain presence, type, and intensity were assessed with the International Spinal Cord Injury Basic Pain Dataset. Serum microRNA normalized deep sequencing counts were quantified from blood samples. Participant demographic factors, injury characteristics, medication use, and health habits were collected via questionnaire. Results miR-338-5p expression and history of cigarette smoking were associated with and explained 37% of the variance in neuropathic pain severity (R2 = 0.37, F2,18 = 5.31, p = 0.02) independent of other clinical factors. No association was identified between miR-338-5p levels and nociceptive pain severity. Conclusions Our findings suggest that miR-338-5p and cigarette smoking may both play a role in the development or maintenance of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury. While additional work is needed to confirm these findings, validated target analysis suggests a neuroprotective role of miR-338-5p in modulating neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis, and that its downregulation may result in maladaptive neuroplastic mechanisms contributing to neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury.
Mechanisms of hemostasis and therapy of thrombosis: new concepts based on the metabolism of arachidonic acid by platelets and endothelial cells.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the mechanisms of hemostasis and therapy of thrombosis. It also discusses the new concepts based on the metabolism of arachidonic acid by platelets and endothelial cells. Hemostasis is the physiological response to injury of blood vessels. The net result of the hemostatic process is the arrest of bleeding and the initiation of the repair of the injured vessel wall. It is a dynamic process which involves the blood vessel wall, blood platelets, the blood clotting system, and the fibrinolytic system. The initial event in hemostasis as well as inflammation, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis is injury to the wall of a blood vessel. The consequence of the injury may depend on its severity, the conditions in the local environment, the general health of the subject, and his nutritional status.
Computer‐Aided Instruction

The sections in this article are 1 Learning Environments on Desktop Computers 2 Learning Environments on Networks 3 Appropriate Application of Computer-Aided Learning Environments 4 Creation of Learning Environments
Multi-Start and Strategic Oscillation Methods - Principles to Exploit Adaptive Memory

We propose approaches for creating improved forms of constructive multi-start and strategic oscillation methods, based on the search principles of persistent attractiveness and marginal conditional validity. These approaches embody adaptive memory processes by drawing on combinations of recency and frequency information, which can be monitored to encompass varying ranges of the search history. In addition, we propose designs for investigating these approaches empirically, and indicate how a neglected but important kind of memory called conditional exclusion memory can be implemented within the context of these methods.
Six Cases in Search of a Decision: The Story of In re Marriage Cases

This chapter will appear in the book, Women and the Law Stories, to be published by Foundation Press (Elizabeth Schneider and Stephanie Wildman, eds.) in fall 2010. The chapter provides historical context for the groundbreaking decision in In re Marriage Cases, which, for a time at least, provided marriage equality for same-sex couples in the State of California. The authors discuss the development of the state constitution, the extension of its equality provisions to protect women, the California Supreme Court’s historic ruling in 1948 that extended marriage equality to interracial couples, and the state’s unique history in the advancement of lesbian and gay rights. Woven throughout the chapter are the stories of couples who fought for the right to marry the person of their choice. The story ends, however, with the acknowledgment that the passage of Proposition 8 created a stark Pirandello-like absurdity of having something that was real in one moment appear to dissolve in the next moment. The chapter closes with the observation that the true ending of the story of marriage equality in California is not yet known.
Effects of Dietary Selenium and Vitamin E on Covalent Binding of Aflatoxin to Chick Liver Cell Macromolecules

Day-old single comb white Leghorn chicks of both sexes maternally depleted in selenium (Se) and vitamin E (VE) were fed a low Se and VE-free semipurified basal diet or that diet supplemented with graded levels of Se (0.2 - 20.0 ppm as Na2SeO3) of VE (100 IU/g as all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate), or both. At 14 days of age, chicks were given 1 mg/kg [3H] aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) i.p. and killed either 2 or 24 hours later. Covalent binding of AFB1 to liver DNA and RNA in chicks fed the basal diet was significantly greater than in chicks supplemented with Se or VE, or both. Phenobarbital treatment prior to administration of AFB1 decreased adduct formation in most groups, and abolished differences in adduct formation due to diet. These results suggest that combined Se-VE deficiency enhances activation or inhibits detoxification of AFB1 in vivo.
The Sixth Amendment and Hearsay: An Introduction for Students and Practitioners

In Crawford v. Washington, the Supreme Court revolutionized the relationship between hearsay and the Sixth Amendment. During the seven years since that landmark decision, the Court has issued a series of increasingly fractious opinions interpreting Crawford. Students and practitioners struggle to reconcile this line of cases and to apply the Court’s reasoning to new disputes. This chapter, drawn from the forthcoming second edition of our book, Learning Evidence: From the Federal Rules to the Courtroom (West Publishing 2d ed. 2011), introduces students and lawyers to the Court’s Crawford line of cases. The chapter also illustrates a method we have developed for teaching legal principles without lengthy excerpts from appellate opinions. In upper level courses, students must master a large body of doctrine while advancing their analytic, writing, and other skills. Rather than teach every doctrinal principle through a case, materials like these give students a foundation that we build upon in class with problems, simulations, selected case analysis, and other exercises.
The reliability of curvature estimates from linear elastic tactile sensors

This papers analyzes the reliability of radius of curvature estimates from tactile sensor data. A linear elastic model is used to fit the indenter parameters, load, location, and curvature, to the sensor output. It was found that both contact models and calibration techniques could dramatically effect the bias and variance of the estimated indenter parameters. The Fourier series is found to be an appropriate basis in which to analyze both the calibration of tactile sensors and the problem of band limited shape interpretation.
Laser-induced acoustic generation for buried object detection

Mechanisms for the production of acoustic energy in soil by pulsed CO 2 laser excitation of the surface are reported. When the laser pulse in unfocused with a spot size about 1 cm in diameter, a single narrow acoustic pulse is observed with a spectral content near the detector limit of 100 kHz and a velocity of 255 m/s, close to the speed of sound in air. Whenthe laser is focused to a spot size on the order of 1 mm diameter, the audible acoustic intensity in greatly increased and we observe a second broad acoustic feature. This feature has a much lower frequency and velocity. We have tentatively identified the fast mode as a normal compressive mode and the slow mode as a Biot slow-wave. A study of visible light emission when the focused CO 2 laser beam strikes the sand surface indicates ionized nitrogen, oxygen, and silicon are present. This implies that the mechanism for sound production with the focused beam involves ionization by the optical electric field, expansion, and subsequence collapse of the air. The mechanisms for sound production by the unfocused beam, which produces better imaging of underground objects, appears to be quite different.
Assessing the influence of upstream drainage lakes on fluvial organic carbon in a wetland-rich region

[1] The role of aquatic ecosystems in regional and global carbon cycles is becoming increasingly apparent, and lakes and reservoirs may be particularly important to the retention and processing of organic carbon. If this is the case, then lakes and reservoirs may act as control points that decrease OC concentrations and fluxes in downstream aquatic ecosystems. We tested this hypothesis at a regional scale by comparing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and fluxes in 52 randomly selected streams and rivers with and without upstream lakes in the water-rich Northern Highlands Lake District (NHLD), Wisconsin, USA. DOC concentrations were significantly higher (p 0.49). Likewise, there were no significant differences in DOC:DON or DOC:DOP ratios, or in yields from watersheds with and without upstream lakes after compensating for wetland influences. We suggest that lake OC storage or processing may be limited by high hydrologic flushing in lakes with stream outlets and overwhelmed by larger scale influences of landscape composition in the NHLD. Consequently, drainage lakes in carbon-rich regions like the NHLD may have limited influence on terrigenous carbon exports to the ocean.
Blood Pressure Guideline Adherence in Patients with Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke in the Neurointensive Care Unit Setting.

Patients with acute brain injuries require strict physiologic control to minimize morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess in-hospital compliance to strict physiologic parameters (BP, HR, ICP, SpO2) in these populations. Patients with severe cerebrovascular events were admitted to the neurointensive care unit (NSICU) and were continuously monitored using the BedMasterEX (Excel Medical Electronics Inc, FL) system, which recorded hemodynamic data via an arterial catheter continuously in 5-s intervals. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of healthcare provider shift changes (6–8 a.m./p.m) and of day (6 a.m.–6 p.m.) versus night (6 p.m–6 a.m) shifts in hemodynamic control. Fifty patients admitted to the NSICU, 50 % male, mean age 59.7 ± 13.9 years with subarachnoid hemorrhage (23), ischemic stroke (8), subdural hematoma (4), intracerebral hemorrhage (3), intraventricular hemorrhage (2), and miscellaneous injuries (10) were enrolled. Data represented 2,337 total hours of continuous monitoring. Systolic BPs (SBP) were on average outside of recommended ranges 32.26 ± 30.46 % of the monitoring period. We subdivided adherence to ideal SBP range: optimal (≥99 % of time spent in NSICU within range) was achieved in 12 %, adequate (90 %) in 16 %, suboptimal (80 %) in 20 %, inadequate I (70 %) in 12 %, and inadequate II (<70 %) in 40 % of patients. Comparison of shift change %time and day versus night %time out of parameter yielded no statistically significant differences across SAH patients. Hemodynamic management of patients with cerebrovascular injuries, based on targeted thresholds in the NSICU, yielded optimal control of SBP in only 28 % of our patients (within parameters ≥90 % of time).
Adsorption of Pd on H1/W(110)

Abstract Some properties of the system Pd/H/W(110) have been examined. Adsorption of a monolayer of Pd on H1/W(110) leads to a work function of 5.18 eV, not yet that of Pd multilayers on W(110), 5.6 eV, but heading in that direction. A Pd excitation is seen at 8.5 eV; in the absence of H this energy is seen only for thicker Pd layers on W(110). It is concluded that Pd monolayers on H/W(110), and also on O/W(110) behave somewhat like multilayers of Pd on W(110), i.e., approach bulk Pd properties, although not nearly as effectively as Cu monolayers approach bulk Cu. Desorption of H2 through 1–3 Pd monolayers was observed and suggests that Pd lowers the binding of H at the WPd interface.
Targets of the master regulator of biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis.

Summary Wild strains of the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis are capable of forming architecturally complex communities of cells. The formation of these biofilms is mediated in part by the 15-gene exopolysaccharide operon, epsA-O, which is under the direct negative control of the SinR repressor. We report the identification of an additional operon, yqxM-sipW-tasA, that is required for biofilm formation and is under the direct negative control of SinR. We now show that all three members of the operon are required for the formation of robust biofilms and that SinR is a potent repressor of the operon that acts by binding to multiple sites in the promoter region. Genome-wide analysis of SinR-controlled transcription indicates that the epsA-O and yqxM-sipW-tasA operons constitute many of the most strongly controlled genes in the SinR regulon. These findings reinforce the view that SinR is a master regulator for biofilm formation and further suggest that a principal biological function of SinR is to govern the assembly of complex multicellular communities.
Mechanical Properties of Concrete with Ground Waste Tire Rubber

Because used tires represent an increasingly serious environmental problem in the United States, this study was undertaken to examine the feasibility of using finely ground rubber in Portland-cement concrete. Various percentages of rubber, by weight of cement, were added to a control mix and the effects on the plastic and hardened properties of concrete were investigated. Workability of the mixes was affected, but it was controllable. For hardened concretes, the tests were conducted for compressive strength, split-cylinder strength, modulus of elasticity, and flexural strength. Stress-strain response was also investigated. The strength and stiffness characteristics were markedly reduced for rubcrete mixtures.
Prolongation of refractoriness and activation time in normal canine ventricular myocardium following bolus administration of lidocaine.

This study examines the electrophysiologic effects of an intravenous bolus of lidocaine in the normal canine ventricle. In 14 open-chest dogs, left ventricular effective refractory period, ventricular repolarization time, and activation time were measured continuously during ventricular pacing (150/min) before, during, and after intravenous lidocaine given over 4 minutes. Lidocaine doses of 1.25, 2.5, and 5.0 mg/kg transiently prolonged the ventricular effective refractory period from 177 ± 4 (x ± standard error of the mean) to 185 ± 5 msec (p < 0.03), 176 ± 3 to 188 ± 6 msec (p < 0.05), and 176 ± 5 to 197 ± 5 msec, (p < 0.05), respectively, at 6 ± 1.5 minutes from the onset of the bolus. Serum lidocaine levels obtained at the peak of the effective refractory penod prolongation averaged 4.3 ± 1.0, 9.0 ± 3.0, and 22.3 ± 4.7 μg/ml, respectively. Ventricular repolarization time was not prolonged. Activation time also transiently increased from 43 to 45 msec (p < 0.05) and from 47 to 52 msec with the 2.5 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg doses, respectively. Cardiac denervation and administration of propranolol, 1 mg/kg intravenously, did not influence these responses to lidocaine. We conclude that a bolus of lidocaine tranciently prolongs the effective refractory period and activation time in the normal canine ventricle because of its direct membrane rather than autonomic effects.
High resolution drift tube hodoscopes for cosmic ray studies

Abstract Thin-walled drift tubes have been used in conjunction with a superconducting magnet for the rigidity spectrometer aboard two recent particle astrophysics experiments flown on high altitude balloons: PBAR (a low energy antiproton search) and SMILI (the superconducting magnet instrument for light isotopes). The HEAT (high energy antimatter telescope) experiment currently under construction will also employ this technology. This paper reviews the design, construction, and in-flight operation of the PBAR and SMILI systems, as well as the design of the HEAT system which will be used in conjunction with a new superconducting magnet aboard an upcoming series of balloon experiments to study high energy positrons and antiprotons in the cosmic radiation. In addition to a brief account of the scientific goals for these flights, the prospects for future application of this technology to long duration exposures aboard antarctic balloon flights and spacecraft are discussed.
An empirical study of the cube - root test for homogeneity of variance with respect to the effects of non - normality and power

Monte Carlo techniques were employed to assess the relative effects of non-normality upon an exact test, two Bartlett tests, and Samiuddin's cube-root test for homogeneity of variance. Inaddition, all four tests were compared with respect to empirical power. Though all four tests were grossly affected by departures from normality, the exact test appeared to be the least disturbed. With respect to empirical power, for k = 2, the exact test displayed the greatest power. The Bartlett tests performed comparably to one another, and both were consistently superior to the cube-root test. For k=4 and k=6, the Bartlett tests continued to display comparable power, and both were consistently superior to Samiuddin's test.
Comparison of indoor and outdoor residential levels of volatile organic chemicals in five U.S. geographical areas

Abstract Matched pairs of indoor and outdoor air samples from residences in Greensboro, NC; Baton Rouge/ Geismar, LA; Deer Park/Pasadena, TX; Elizabeth/Bayonne, NJ: Antioch/W. Pittsburg, CA; and several small communities in the Los Angeles area were collected and analyzed for over 20 volatile organic compounds during the period from 1981 to 1984. Indoor (I) medians and maximum levels were higher than the corresponding outdoor (O) concentrations over the large majority of chemicals studied. In some cases, e.g., chloroform, dichlorobenzenes, and tetrachloroethylene, the median ratios (I/O) were greater than 10.
Variable precision logic

Abstract Variable precision logic is concerned with problems of reasoning with incomplete information and resource constraints. It offers mechanisms for handling trade-offs between the precision of inferences and the computational efficiency of deriving them. Two aspects of precision are the specificity of conclusions and the certainty of belief in them; we address primarily certainty and employ censored production rules as an underlying representational and computational mechanism. These censored production rules are created by augmenting ordinary production rules with an exception condition and are written in the form “if A then B unless C”, where C is the exception condition. From a control viewpoint, censored production rules are intended for situations in which the implication A ⇒ B holds frequently and the assertion C holds rarely. Systems using censored production rules are free to ignore the exception conditions when resources are tight. Given more time, the exception conditions are examined, lending credibility to high-speed answers or changing them. Such logical systems, therefore, exhibit variable certainty of conclusions, reflecting variable investment of computational resources in conducting reasoning. From a logical viewpoint, the unless operator between B and C acts as the exclusive-or operator. From an expository viewpoint, the “if A then B” part of censored production rule expresses important information (e.g., a causal relationship), while the “unless C” part acts only as a switch that changes the polarity of B to ¬B when C holds. Expositive properties are captured quantitatively by augmenting censored rules with two parameters that indicate the certainty of the implication “if A then B”. Parameter δ is the certainty when the truth value of C is unknown, and γ is the certainty when C is known to be false.