cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Unifying Framework for Parallel Computing

We propose a new theoretical model for parallelism. The model is explictly based on data and work distributions, a feature missing from other theoretical models. The major theoretic result is that data movement can then be derived by formal reasoning. While the model has an immediate interpretation in distributed memory parallelism, we show that it can also accomodate shared memory and hybrid architectures such as clusters with accelerators.The model gives rise in a natural way to objects appearing in widely different parallel programming systems such as the PETSc library or the Quark task scheduler. Thus we argue that the model offers the prospect of a high productivity programming system that can be compiled down to proven high-performance environments.
Studies of Aqueous Humor Dynamics in Man : I. Measurements in Young Normal Subjects

Aqueous humor dynamics can be defined in terms of intraocular pressure, episcleral venous pressure, true facility, pseudofacility, and aqueous flow through the eye. With the use of cooperative subjects, the measurements can be made repetitively and are reproducible with small standard errors. In addition, good agreement between right and left eyes allows examination of pharmacologic agents on one eye as compared with the other eye. Application of this technique to a study of the mechanism of the topical steroid response of intraocular pressure indicated that the elevated intraocidar pressure is related only to a significant reduction in true outfloio facility.
Effects of clinical decision support and pharmacist prescribing authority on a therapeutic interchange program.

PURPOSE Results of an evaluation of therapeutic interchange (TI) program outcomes with use of prescriber alerts alone or in combination with pharmacist prescribing are reported. METHODS A retrospective single-center study was conducted to compare TI outcomes before incorporation of prescriber alerts encouraging formulary agent use into the electronic medical record (period 1), after alert implementation (period 2), and after implementation and expansion of TI protocols including pharmacist prescribing authority (period 3). The evaluation focused on TI orders for 3 drug classes: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (HMG-CoA RIs). The primary outcome was formulary medication utilization. RESULTS In total, 2,881, 2,700, and 3,088 prescriptions for medications in the ACEI, ARB, or HMG-CoA RI class were ordered during periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Overall formulary adherence improved from 78.3% in period 1 to 97.6% in period 2 and 99.2% in period 3 (p < 0.001 for both comparisons with period 1). The percentages of inappropriate dosing conversions were 51.6%, 37.2%, and 2.4% in periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively; the corresponding percentages of inappropriate discharge medications were 64.5%, 16.3%, and 2.4%. CONCLUSION Percentages of formulary medications in 3 medication classes, considered separately and together, increased with the implementation of TI alerts for prescribers and the addition of TI-related pharmacist prescribing authority. Over the same study periods, percentages of inappropriate dosing conversions and inappropriate discharge medications decreased.
Step‐function luminopsins for bimodal prolonged neuromodulation

Although molecular tools for controlling neuronal activity by light have vastly expanded, there are still unmet needs which require development and refinement. For example, light delivery into the brain is still a major practical challenge that hinders potential translation of optogenetics in human patients. In addition, it would be advantageous to manipulate neuronal activity acutely and precisely as well as chronically and non-invasively, using the same genetic construct in animal models. We have previously addressed these challenges by employing bioluminescence and have created a new line of opto-chemogenetic probes termed luminopsins by fusing light-sensing opsins with light-emitting luciferases. In this report, we incorporated Chlamydomonas channelrhodopsin 2 with step-function mutations as the opsin moiety in the new luminopsin fusion protein termed step-function luminopsin (SFLMO). Bioluminescence-induced photocurrent lasted longer than the bioluminescence signal due to very slow deactivation of the mutated channel. In addition, bioluminescence was able to activate most of the channels on the cell surface due to the extremely high light sensitivity of the channel. This efficient channel activation was partly mediated by radiationless bioluminescence resonance energy transfer due to the proximity of luciferase and opsin. To test the utility of SFLMOs in vivo, we transduced the substantia nigra unilaterally via a viral vector in male rats. Injection of the luciferase substrate as well as conventional photostimulation via fiber optics elicited circling behaviors. Thus, SFLMOs expand the current approaches for manipulation of neuronal activity in the brain and add more versatility and practicality to optogenetics in freely behaving animals.
Towards Generalizing Stochastic Spatiotemporal Graphs for Analyzing Least-Cost Path Stability

In numerous applications, spatiotemporal graphs are studied to exploit the structure of underlying data to characterize, control, or predict behavior. Nodes of these graphs exhibit spatiality, while edge connectivity and weighting may be derived from spatial conditions of the incident nodes. Because of the complexity added by the temporal dimension, these graphs are typically modeled in part as a stochastic processes. Though numerous application-defined spatiotemporal graphs with stochastic parameterizations exist, a general stochastic process for such graphs has not yet been formally defined in the literature. In an effort to move towards generalization, we offer a brief introduction to the Stochastic SpatioTemporal (SST) graph model, which describes a graph as a set of initially observed nodes and several sets of stochastic processes: one describing node motion, one describing edge connectivity, and one describing edge weight variation. We propose a Monte Carlo method framework by which temporal graph algorithms that yield numerical or set-based results may be studied for conditions of stability. We demonstrate such a framework by way of a geometric SST graph, which is defined based on the geometric random graph exhibiting Brownian motion of nodes. We offer results to show the points at which node movement and edge weight variation cause the geometric SST graph to become unstable for predicting least-cost paths. Finally, we discuss ongoing research projects and plans currently being undertaken to study and utilize stochastic properties of spatiotemporal network data.
Behavioral and Clinical Characteristics of Self-Identified Bisexual Men Living with HIV Receiving Medical Care in the United States—Medical Monitoring Project, 2009-2013

Nationally representative data comparing demographic, risk, and clinical information among bisexual men with other MSM or heterosexuals are lacking. We described differences in demographic characte...
Endoscopic Evaluation of the Pediatric Larynx

Visualization of the larynx is necessary to evaluate structure and function, identify pathology, and plan treatment. There are different methods of evaluating the larynx, and each has benefits and limitations. Flexible endoscopy under halogen light can be performed in the clinic on nearly all children and provides an excellent view of general structure and mobility at the cricoarytenoid joints. Rigid or flexible stroboscopy provides more in-depth evaluation of the vibratory properties of the vocal folds, closure pattern, and any vocal fold lesions. High-speed laryngeal visualization has the advantage of being able to capture vibratory properties of aperiodic or chaotic vibration.
Effect of Over the Counter Ibuprofen Dosing after Sinus Surgery for Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Prospective Cohort Pilot Study.

Introduction:Management of pain following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) often involves intermittent use of opioid medications. Given the current opioid crisis, many surgeons aim to minimize opioid...
Extending cultural mismatch theory: in consideration of race/ethnicity

Cultural Mismatch Theory (CMT) has emerged as a paradigm to account for the disparate experiences and outcomes of first-generation students (FGSs). Past research on CMT demonstrate how social clas...
Chasing the rate: An interrupted time series analysis of interventions targeting reported hospital onset Clostridioides difficile, 2013-2018.

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of major interventions targeting infection control and diagnostic stewardship in efforts to decrease Clostridioides difficile hospital onset rates over a 6-year period. DESIGN Interrupted time series. SETTING The study was conducted in an 865-bed academic medical center. METHODS Monthly hospital-onset C. difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates from January 2013 through January 2019 were analyzed around 5 major interventions: (1) a 2-step cleaning process in which an initial quaternary ammonium product was followed with 10% bleach for daily and terminal cleaning of rooms of patients who have tested positive for C. difficile (February 2014), (2) UV-C device for all terminal cleaning of rooms of C. difficile patients (August 2015), (3) "contact plus" isolation precautions (June 2016), (4) sporicidal peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide cleaning in all patient areas (June 2017), (5) electronic medical record (EMR) decision support tool to facilitate appropriate C. difficile test ordering (March 2018). RESULTS Environmental cleaning interventions and enhanced "contact plus" isolation did not impact HO-CDI rates. Diagnostic stewardship via EMR decision support decreased the HO-CDI rate by 6.7 per 10,000 patient days (P = .0079). When adjusting rates for test volume, the EMR decision support significance was reduced to a difference of 5.1 case reductions per 10,000 patient days (P = .0470). CONCLUSION Multiple aggressively implemented infection control interventions targeting CDI demonstrated a disappointing impact on endemic CDI rates over 6 years. This study adds to existing data that outside of an outbreak situation, traditional infection control guidance for CDI prevention has little impact on endemic rates.
Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Fe2AlB2 synthesized by single-step reactive hot pressing

Abstract A single-step, reactive hot-pressing technique was used to synthesize dense, polycrystalline samples of the nanolaminated MAB phase, Fe2AlB2. The process yielded nearly single-phase stoichiometric Fe2AlB2 materials containing only Al2O3 as the impurity phase in a fraction of the synthesis time typically required for the more commonly used arc-melting methods. To determine crystalline, magnetic, and stoichiometric properties, samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and temperature-dependent vibrating sample magnetometry. The results of both magnetic techniques show magnetic and magnetocaloric properties similar to those obtained in the literature by other methods such as multi-day arc melting and annealing.
BROAD H I ABSORBERS AS METALLICITY-INDEPENDENT TRACERS OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM*

Thermally broadened Lyα absorbers (BLAs) offer an alternative method to highly ionized metal lines for tracing the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) at T>105 K. However, observing BLAs requires data of high quality and accurate continuum definition to detect the low-contrast features, and a good knowledge of the velocity structure to differentiate multiple blended components from a single broad line. Even for well-characterized absorption profiles, disentangling the thermal line width from the various thermal and non-thermal contributors to the observed line width is ambiguous. We compile a catalog of reliable BLA candidates along seven active galactic nucleus sight lines from a larger set of Lyα absorbers observed by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We compare our measurements based on independent reduction and analysis of the data to those published by other research groups. We examine the detailed structure of each absorber and determine a reliable line width and column density. Purported BLAs are grouped into probable (15), possible (48), and non-BLA (56) categories. Combining the first two categories, we infer a line frequency , comparable to observed O VI absorbers, also thought to trace the WHIM. We discuss the overlap between BLA and O VI absorbers (20%-40%) and the distribution of BLAs in relation to nearby galaxies (O VI detections in BLAs are found closer to galaxies than O VI nondetections). We assume that the line width determined through a multi-line curve of growth (COG) is a close approximation to the thermal line width. Based on 164 measured COG H I line measurements, we statistically correct the observed line widths via a Monte Carlo simulation. Gas temperature and neutral fraction are inferred from these statistically corrected line widths and lead to a distribution of total hydrogen columns. Summing the total column density over the total observed path length, we find a BLA contribution to the closure density of ΩBLA = 6.3+1.1 –0.8 × 10–3 h –1 70 based on 104 Monte Carlo simulations of each BLA system. There are a number of critical systematic assumptions implicit in this calculation, and we discuss how each affects our results and those of previously published work. In particular, the most comparable previous study by Lehner et al. gave ΩBLA = 3.6 × 10–3 h –1 70 or 9.1 × 10–3 h –1 70, depending on which assumptions were made about hydrogen neutral fraction. Taking our value, current O VI and BLA surveys can account for ~ 20% of the baryons in the local universe while an additional ~ 29% can be accounted for in the photoionized Lyα forest; about half of all baryons in the low-z universe are found in the intergalactic medium. Finally, we present new, high signal-to-noise ratio observations of several of the BLA candidate lines from Early Release Observations made by the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on HST.
Does Chronic Cannabis Use Impact Risky Decision-Making: An Examination of fMRI Activation and Effective Connectivity

With the increase in use of cannabis and its shifting legal status in the United States, cannabis use has become an important research focus. While studies of other drug populations have shown marked increases in risky decision-making, the literature on cannabis users is not as clear. The current study examined the performance of 17 cannabis users and 14 non-users on the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) using behavioral, fMRI and effective connectivity methods. Significant attenuation was found in a functional pathway projecting from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in cannabis users compared to non-using controls as well as decreases in risk-taking behaviors. These findings suggest that cannabis users may process and evaluate risks and rewards differently than non-users.
Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacter hormaechei Isolated from Imported Retail Shrimp.

ABSTRACT Here, we announce the draft genome sequence of Enterobacter hormaechei 2B-MC1, isolated from a shrimp sample collected from a farmer’s market in Atlanta, Georgia. The assembled genome sequence observed was 4,661,561 bp long with a G+C content of 55.3%. The isolate harbored sul1, sul2, qnrA1, oqxB, dfrA23, blaACT, floR, fosA, tet(A), aph(6)-Id, and aph(3″)-Ib antibiotic resistance genes.
Quasiclassical simulations based on cluster models reveal vibration-facilitated roaming in the isomerization of CO adsorbed on NaCl

The desire to better understand the quantum nature of isomerization led to recent experimental observations of the vibrationally induced isomerization of OC–NaCl(100) to CO–NaCl(100). To investigate the mechanism of this isomerization, we performed dynamics calculations using finite (CO–NaCl)n cluster models. We constructed new potential energy surfaces for CO–NaCl and CO–CO interactions using high-level ab initio data and report key properties of the bare CO–NaCl potential energy surface, which show much in common with the experiment. We investigated the isomerization dynamics using several cluster models and, in all cases, isomerization was seen for highly excited CO vibrational states, in agreement with experiments. A detailed examination of the reaction trajectories indicates that isomerization occurs when the distance between CO and NaCl is larger than the distance at the conventional isomerization saddle point, which is a strong indicator of ‘roaming’. Recent experiments reporting the isomerization of CO on a NaCl(100) surface—from C adsorbed to O adsorbed—represent a major challenge to simulate from first principles. Now, using dynamics calculations and (CO–NaCl)n cluster models that feature CO–CO interactions, it is found that isomerization occurs via a ‘roaming’ mechanism at a large distance from the NaCl(100) surface.
Effectiveness of Blood Lipid Management in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease.

Abstract Background Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is associated with heightened risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major adverse limb events (MALE) in peripheral artery disease (PAD). Lipid-lowering therapies (LLT) that reduce LDL-C decrease this risk. Objectives The authors examined LLT use and actual achieved LDL-C in PAD. Methods PAD patients in MarketScan from 2014 to 2018 were identified. Outcomes included LLT use, defined as high-intensity (HI) (high-intensity statin, statin plus ezetimibe, or PCSK9 inhibitor), low-intensity (any other lipid regimen), or no therapy, and follow-up LDL-C. Factors associated with LDL-C Results Among 250,103 PAD patients, 20.5% and 39.5% were treated at baseline with HI and low-intensity LLT, respectively; 40.0% were on no LLT. Over a 15-month median follow-up period, HI LLT use increased by 1.5%. Among 18,747 patients with LDL-C data, at baseline, 25.1% were on HI LLT, median LDL-C was 91 mg/dl, and 24.5% had LDL-C Conclusions In PAD, LLT use is suboptimal, LDL-C remains elevated, and LLT intensity is a poor surrogate for achieved LDL-C. Less aggressive lipid management was observed in PAD versus cardiovascular disease, highlighting missed opportunities for implementation of proven therapies in PAD.
Trainee Sex and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestone Assessments During General Surgery Residency.

Importance In evaluating the effectiveness of general surgery (GS) training, an unbiased assessment of the progression of residents with attention to individual learner factors is imperative. Objective To evaluate the role of trainee sex in milestone achievement over the course of GS residency using national data from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study evaluated female and male GS residents enrolled in ACGME-accredited programs in the US from 2014 to 2018 with reported variation in milestones performance across years in training and representation. Data were analyzed from November 2019 to June 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures Mean reported milestone score at initial and final assessment, and predicted time-to-attainment of equivalent performance by sex. Results Among 4476 GS residents from 250 programs who had milestone assessments at any point in their clinical training, 1735 were female (38.8%). Initially, female and male residents received similar mean (SD) milestone scores (1.95 [0.50] vs 1.94 [0.50]; P = .69). At the final assessment, female trainees received overall lower mean milestone scores than male trainees (4.25 vs 4.31; P < .001). Significantly lower mean milestone scores were reported for female residents at the final assessment for several subcompetencies in both univariate and multivariate analyses, with only medical knowledge 1 (pathophysiology, diagnosis, and initial management) common to both. Multilevel mixed-effects linear modeling demonstrated that female trainees had significantly lower rates of monthly milestone attainment in the subcompetency of medical knowledge 1, which was associated with a significant difference in training time of approximately 1.8 months. Conclusions and Relevance Both female and male GS trainees achieved the competency scores necessary to transition to independence after residency as measured by the milestones assessment system. Initially, there were no sex differences in milestone score. By graduation, there were differences in the measured assessment of female and male trainees across several subcompetencies. Careful monitoring for sex bias in the evaluation of trainees and scrutiny of the training process is needed to ensure that surgical residency programs support the educational needs of both female and male trainees.
Impacts of dietary self-monitoring via MyFitnessPal to undergraduate women: A qualitative study

Abstract The present study explored college women’s perceptions of how dietary self-monitoring alters eating and body image-related cognitions and behaviors. The sample consisted of undergraduate women (N = 20), aged ≥ 18 (mean = 21.9 ± 6.6 years) from a cross-sectional qualitative study using semi-structured interviews conducted upon participants’ completion of a randomized controlled trial testing the effects of dietary self-monitoring via the smartphone app, MyFitnessPal. Inductive content analysis was utilized to identify participants’ perceptions of how engaging in dietary self-monitoring for one month impacted them. Participants’ experiences dietary self-monitoring was highly variable, with some participants reporting increased negative feelings (n = 9), positive feelings (n = 7), or both (n = 2). Other notable findings included increases in weight and/or shape concerns (n = 10) and a number of changes in dietary intake and other behaviors. Participants indicated that dietary self-monitoring may be helpful when trying to lose weight but harmful if the behavior becomes obsessive or if the user has poor body image. Individual experiences with dietary self-monitoring varies widely, and while dietary self-monitoring may be a useful tool for some college women, use should be monitored to avoid possible harmful side effects.
Boardroom Progressives or Rich People’s Movement?

School privatization battles involve sides that both claim to be only about the good of children—teachers on one side, wealthy corporate reformers and their allies on the other. Are the funders Boardroom Progressives seeking to aid the less well-off, or does their secrecy suggest they are running a Rich People’s Movement with benefits to themselves? This chapter examines the intellectual underpinnings of the privatization movement, the corporate reformers beliefs in markets, accountability, and charter schools, and their antipathy toward teachers unions. Teachers and their allies dispute that the reformers know what is best for children and point to other possible motives: attacking unions, exploiting the free market in public education for profit, and keeping the taxes of the rich as low as possible. Since unions are the only organized counterbalance to the dominance of the wealthy in politics, the stakes are high.
The Marks of a Professional Man in Recreation

(1960). The Marks of a Professional Man in Recreation. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 31, No. 8, pp. 31-31.
Characterization of Material Properties of Aorta from Oscillatory Pressure Tests

Traumatic Aorta Rupture (TAR), also known as Traumatic Rupture of Thoracic Aorta (TRA), is one of the major causes of fatalities in motor vehicle accidents. This issue has been studied in the past; however, the results of the suggested mechanisms are speculative and inconclusive. One cause for these speculations is an incomplete understanding of the material properties of aorta. Therefore, the goal of this experiment was to characterize the dynamic structural response of the aorta to a biaxial loading. Seven samples were subjected to a pressure oscillation input ranging from 7kPa to 76kPA at a frequency ranging from .5Hz to 5Hz. The results were presented in the form of pressure versus volumetric strain which showed an increase in both phase and magnitude of the linear modulus. Initial modeling was completed utilizing hyperelastic constitutive equations. The results of this study will be used to determine a viscoelastic constitutive model and a finite element model for the aorta material.
Computer studies of hybrid slotted working sections with minimum steady interference at subsonic speeds

A series of computations on tunnel boundary-interference effects for hybrid-slotted working sections was performed using the WALINT code. The slots were modeled as lines of porosity with linear crossflow characteristics. The basic shape evaluated was for a rectangular section with height-to-width ratio = 0.835 and its companion in the duplex mode (half model testing) with height-to-width ratio = 0.6. A best overall basic configuration was determined with seven slots on each wall with open area ratio on each wall of 17.5%. For both full-span and half-model testing, the optimum solution required closing all but two slots on each of the half-walls parallel to the plane of the wing (equivalent to four slots on the full floor and ceiling). The results are presented here for the best configurations and are shown to be within the figure-of-merit range of + or - 0.04 in upwash, and + or - 0.1 in curvature for the Mach number range 0.6 to 0.85. Blockage effects are shown to be small.
A PSPACE-complete Sperner triangle game

We create a new two-player game on the Sperner Triangle based on Sperner's lemma. Our game has simple rules and several desirable properties. First, the game is always certain to have a winner. Second, like many other interesting games such as Hex and Geography, we prove that deciding whether one can win our game is a PSPACE-complete problem. Third, there is an elegant balance in the game such that neither the first nor the second player always has a decisive advantage. We provide a web-based version of the game, playable at: http://cs-people.bu.edu/paithan/spernerGame/. In addition we propose other games, also based on fixed-point theorems.
Group-level effects of forgiveness: Group cohesiveness and collective action in social dilemmas

Forgiveness research has predominately focused on individual/relational outcomes such as well-being and closeness. Less research has examined group outcomes such as cohesiveness or collective action. Forgiveness studies have also emphasized the victim’s or transgressor’s perspective, neglecting the effects of forgiveness on ingroup members who have neither given nor received forgiveness. We theorize that forgiveness promotes collective action among ingroup members through group cohesiveness and that transgressors’ apologetic reactions impact this process. In a laboratory experiment, 229 students (175 females) were led to believe they were in a social dilemma with three others. Some participants witnessed group members forgive an apologetic, obstinate, or neutral defector, whereas others witnessed an unforgiving response. Forgiveness of apologetic and neutral defectors increased later cooperation among ingroup members. This effect was generally mediated by group cohesiveness. Our findings suggest that forgiveness can impact cooperation on a group level, providing a path to successful resolutions to collective action problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of green fluorescent protein-expressing bacterial strains and evaluation for potential use as positive controls in sample analyses.

Strains of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium were engineered to express the gene for a modified green fluorescent protein (GFP) and were evaluated for potential use as positive controls in sample analyses. The strains fluoresced when observed as colonies with a handheld UV lamp or as individual cells under a fluorescent microscope. The strains maintained their fluorescence following growth in three series of transfer experiments including 8 to 11 passages from broth to broth and twice for 15 consecutive transfers from broth onto Trypticase soy agar plates. Cultures also maintained stability in the ability to fluoresce when agar plates were refrigerated (4°C) for up to 12 days. Growth characteristics of the GFP-positive strains were comparable to those of corresponding control strains. The GFP-positive strains were successfully identified using rapid diagnostic methods and were differentiated from their corresponding non-GFP strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis bu...
Strange Parallels: Integration Under Expanding Inner Asian Influence, II

WHY CHINA AND SOUTH ASIA? Previous chapters argued that, amidst innumerable discrepancies and peculiarities, mainland Southeast Asian realms, Russia, France, and Japan shared broadly comparable trajectories. To recapitulate: Lying on the periphery of older civilizations, each region imported a world religion and developed a charter polity in the latter half of the first or the early second millennium c.e. Each was substantially protected against occupation from Inner Asia, in recognition of which I have termed these areas part of Eurasia's protected zone. Russia apart, all these states controlled what by Qing or Mughal standards were modest domains. Starting in the late first millennium, resuming at some point between 1450 and 1650, and accelerating in the 18th and 19th centuries, each state expanded territorially and centralized administration. So too, and again with notable acceleration after 1700, linguistic and cultural practices became more horizontally and vertically uniform even as cultural production grew more specialized. Symptomatic of cumulative integration was the tendency everywhere but Japan for successive interregna to grow shorter and less disruptive. Because I sought to establish that mainland Southeast Asia participated in wider Eurasian trends, I have concentrated thus far on regions whose political chronologies approximated those of the mainland most closely. But several considerations oblige us now to extend our gaze in this and the following chapter to China and to South Asia, both part of what I term the “exposed zone” of Eurasia.
Preliminary Evaluation of the Vitros ECi Cardiac Troponin I Assay

The recently published standards of practice for the use of cardiac marker testing for ruling in and ruling out acute myocardial infarction (AMI) recommend the implementation of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) or T (cTnT) as appropriate markers (1). The purpose of this preliminary study was to analytically and clinically evaluate the Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (Rochester, NY) Vitros Troponin I immunodiagnostic assay. The Vitros ECi system uses reagents containing biotinylated monoclonal anti-cTnI antibody and goat polyclonal anti-cTnI antibody labeled with horseradish peroxidase. After an 8-min incubation for reagents and sample in a well precoated with streptavidin, the well is washed and a signal reagent containing horseradish peroxidase substrates is added to detect peroxidase bound to the well by utilizing an enhanced chemiluminescence reaction (2). The imprecision (as the CV, %) within the same calibration performed according to NCCLS guidelines (3) showed the following results: between-run (n = 80) means over 31 days on 20 occasions were 0.347 μg/L (10%), 0.768 μg/L (5.9%), 4.10 μg/L (4.3%), and …
Use of a single-zone thermodynamic model with detailed chemistry to study a natural gas fueled homogeneous charge compression ignition engine

Abstract A single zone thermodynamic model with detailed chemical kinetics was used to simulate a natural gas fueled homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. The model employed Chemkin and used chemical kinetics for natural gas with 53 species and 325 reactions. This simulation was used to complete analyses for a modified 0.4 L single cylinder engine. The engine possessed a compression ratio of 21.5:1, and had a bore and stroke of 86 and 75 mm, respectively. Several sets of parametric studies were completed to investigate the minimal initial temperature, engine performance, and nitric oxide emissions of HCCI engine operation. The results show significant changes in combustion characteristics with varying engine operating conditions. Effects of varying equivalence ratios (0.3–1.0), engine speeds (1000–4000 RPM), EGR (0–40%), and fuel compositions were determined and analyzed in detail. In particular, every 0.1 increase in equivalence ratio or 500 rpm increase in engine speed requires about a 5 K higher initial temperature for complete combustion, and leads to around 0.7 bar increase in IMEP.
Routine full-lung tomography in the initial staging and treatment planning of patients with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The yield of additional information from anteroposterior full-lung tomograms that changed stage or treatment, in comparison to that obtained from routine chest radiographs, was prospectively evaluated in 243 previously untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although new information was found in 21.4% of all patients, in only 1.2% did these additional data change patient staging. In 3.3% of the other patients the tomograms provided information that affected radiotherapy treatment planning as practiced in our institution.
TREATMENT OF SELF‐INJURIOUS BEHAVIOUR WITH OVERCORRECTION*

INTRODUCTION Self-injurious behaviours are frequently observed in facilities for psychiatric and mentally retarded patients. Baumeister and Rollings (in press), in a review of treatment procedures for self-injurious behaviour, concluded that contingent aversive stimulation, such as electric shock, is the most effective means of suppressing these behaviours, but because of recent court decisions and negative press it is seldom used. Nevertheless, such distressing and destructive behaviour cannot ethically be ignored. A procedure which has shown promise for this problem is overcorrection, a mild punishment procedure which is desirable because, not only does it result in reduction of target responses, but it teaches appropriate alternative behaviour through required practice (Foxx and Azrin, 1973). The present study investigated two new variations of overcorrection in the treatment of self-injuriom behaviours of a single subject. METHOD Subject Dawn was a long-term resident of the lowest functioning women's unit in a large psychiatric hospital (i.e. these residents generally lacked self-help skills such as dressing and toileting). She was fifty-seven years old, had been diagnosed as profoundly retarded, and had resided in the hospital for thirty-eight years. Dawn was able to communicate by pointing and by using limited vocabulary (approximately twenty words). However, she rarely took opportunities to interact with other residents and/or staff and would frequently ignore others if spoken to. On occasion Dawn was hostile and combative, generally when asked to comply with requests by staff (i.e. do not pull out your hair). These behaviours had been treated without success by chemotherapy and shock therapy several years before. Typically Dawn paced the halls and dayroom of the ward or sat in a corner by herself. She would engage in self-injurious behaviour during a large percentage of this time.
N-Methylated ageliferins from the sponge Astrosclera willeyana from Pohnpei

Abstract The sponge Astrosclera willeyana contains seven new bromopyrrole alkaloids (3–9), together with the known alkaloids bromoageliferin (10) and dibromoageliferin (11). The structures of the new alkaloids (3–9), ageliferins that are methylated on one or both of the pyrrole nitrogens, were elucidated by interpretation of spectral data. Chemotaxonomic relationships involving bromopyrrole alkaloids are discussed in the light of this research.
Extracting community structure through relational hypergraphs

Social media websites promote diverse user interaction on media objects as well as user actions with respect to other users. The goal of this work is to discover community structure in rich media social networks, and observe how it evolves over time, through analysis of multi-relational data. The problem is important in the enterprise domain where extracting emergent community structure on enterprise social media, can help in forming new collaborative teams, aid in expertise discovery, and guide long term enterprise reorganization. Our approach consists of three main parts: (1) a relational hypergraph model for modeling various social context and interactions; (2) a novel hypergraph factorization method for community extraction on multi-relational social data; (3) an on-line method to handle temporal evolution through incremental hypergraph factorization. Extensive experiments on real-world enterprise data suggest that our technique is scalable and can extract meaningful communities. To evaluate the quality of our mining results, we use our method to predict users' future interests. Our prediction outperforms baseline methods (frequency counts, pLSA) by 36-250% on the average, indicating the utility of leveraging multi-relational social context by using our method.
A Stochastic Constrained Optimal Replacement Model: The Case of Ship Replacement

This paper formulates a stochastically constrained equipment replacement model. Its aim is to determine a sequence of replacement dates such that the total "current account" cost of all future costs and capital expenditures over an infinite time horizon for the n initial incumbent machines is minimized subject to the constraints that, at each point in time, the expected number of machines in each of several "utility classes" has a prescribed value. The theoretical model is then solved under a set of simplifying assumptions and applied to the problem of ship replacement.
The effects of oxygen on the wear of Si3N4 against cast iron and steel

Abstract Oxygen is shown to be a factor in the wear of silicon nitride against cast iron and steel. Pin-on-disk tests show that the wear of silicon nitride against cast iron and steel is reduced when the oxygen concentration of the atmosphere is reduced. A relationship between pin-on-disk and machining tests is shown. Machining data are presented to indicate how the wear of the silicon nitride tool is reduced when the oxygen concentration at the toolworkpiece interface is reduced with a stream of nitrogen.
Utility of a Noninvasive Serum Biomarker Panel for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Eosinophilic Esophagitis: A Prospective Study.

Utility of a Noninvasive Serum Biomarker Panel for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Eosinophilic Esophagitis: A Prospective Study
A Mixture Model for Longitudinal Data with Application to Assessment of Noncompliance

Summary. In clinical trials of a self-administered drug, repeated measures of a laboratory marker, which is affected by study medication and collected in all treatment arms, can provide valuable information on population and individual summaries of compliance. In this paper, we introduce a general finite mixture of nonlinear hierarchical models that allows estimates of component membership probabilities and random effect distributions for longitudinal data arising from multiple subpopulations, such as from noncomplying and complying subgroups in clinical trials. We outline a sampling strategy for fitting these models, which consists of a sequence of Gibbs, Metropolis-Hastings, and reversible jump steps, where the latter is required for switching between component models of different dimensions. Our model is applied to identify noncomplying subjects in the placebo arm of a clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of zidovudine (AZT) in the treatment of patients with HIV, where noncompliance was defined as initiation of AZT during the trial without the investigators' knowledge. We fit a hierarchical nonlinear change-point model for increases in the marker MCV (mean corpuscular volume of erythrocytes) for subjects who noncomply and a constant mean random effects model for those who comply. As part of our fully Bayesian analysis, we assess the sensitivity of conclusions to prior and modeling assumptions and demonstrate how external information and covariates can be incorporated to distinguish subgroups.
Effect of high temperature creep on the fire response of restrained steel beams

At room temperature, and at service load levels, creep has little effect on the performance of steel structures. However, under fire conditions, creep becomes a dominant factor and influences fire resistance of steel members. Under fire conditions, significant forces develop in restrained steel beams and these forces induce high stresses in the steel section. The extent of creep deformations is affected by magnitude and rate of development of stress and temperature in steel. In this paper, the effect of high temperature creep on fire response of restrained beams is investigated. Current high temperature creep models are compared. Finite element model created in ANSYS was validated by comparing the predictions with fire test data. The validated model was applied to investigate the effect of load level, heating rate, fire scenario and fire induced axial restraint on the extent of creep deformations. Results from the parametric study indicate that the influence of high temperature creep increases with the increase in axial restraint, heating rate, and load level. Generally, neglecting high-temperature creep effect stiffens the structural response and leads to reduced deflections but larger restraint forces. Therefore, neglecting high temperature creep in fire resistance analysis of steel structures can lead to unconservative predictions.
Configuration space Faddeev calculations. V. Variational bounds

Three three-nucleon model problems are proposed as test cases for numerical computation: the ground and excited states of a spin-isospin independent Yukawa potential (Delves potential) and the ground state of a spin-isospin independent potential composed of one attractive and one repulsive Yukawa function (Malfliet-Tjon V). Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are calculated using a configuration space Faddeev approach, and variational upper and lower bounds are evaluated using these wave functions. Each calculation is performed both as a projected $s$-wave potential problem, and as a true local potential problem in which nucleon-nucleon partial waves through $l=6$ are kept. For each case the eigenvalue appears to be converged to within 1 keV and it agrees well with the upper bound. A brief review of bounding techniques is presented.
Missionary Medicine and Akan Therapeutics: Illness, Health and Healing in Southern Ghana's Basel Mission, 1828-1918

The Basel missionaries in southern Ghana came from a strong religious healing tradition in southwest Germany that, within some circles, had reservations about the morality and efficacy of biomedicine in the nineteenth century. Along with Akan Christians, these missionaries in Ghana followed local Akan healing practices before the colonial period was formalized, contrary to a pervasive discourse condemning local religion and healing as un-Christian. Around 1885, however, a radical shift in healing practices occurred within the mission and in Germany that corresponded to both the Bacteriological Revolution and the formal colonial period. In 1885 the first medical missionary from Basel arrived in Ghana, while at the same time missionaries began supporting biomedicine exclusively. This posed a great problem for Akan Christians, who began to seek Akan healers covertly. Akan Christians argued with their European coreligionists that Akan healing was a form of culturally relative therapy, not a rival theology.
Inhibition of MAPK stimulates the Ca2+-dependent big-conductance K channels in cortical collecting duct

The kidney plays a key role in maintaining potassium (K) homeostasis. K excretion is determined by the balance between K secretion and absorption in distal tubule segments such as the connecting tubule and cortical collecting duct. K secretion takes place by K entering principal cells (PC) from blood side through Na+, K+-ATPase and being secreted into the lumen via both ROMK-like small-conductance K (SK) channels and Ca2+-activated big-conductance K (BK) channels. K reabsorption occurs by stimulation of apical K/H-ATPase and inhibition of K recycling across the apical membrane in intercalated cells (IC). The role of ROMK channels in K secretion is well documented. However, the importance of BK channels in mediating K secretion is incompletely understood. It has been shown that their activity increases with high tubule flow rate and augmented K intake. However, BK channels have a low open probability and are mainly located in IC, which lack appropriate transporters for effective K secretion. Here we demonstrate that inhibition of ERK and P38 MAPKs stimulates BK channels in both PC and IC in the cortical collecting duct and that changes in K intake modulate their activity. Under control conditions, BK channel activity in PC was low but increased significantly by inhibition of both ERK and P38. Blocking MAPKs also increased channel open probability of BK in IC and thereby it may affect K backflux and net K absorption Thus, modulation of ERK and P38 MAPK activity is involved in controlling net K secretion in the distal nephron.
Ultra High Speed Electronics Based On Proposed High T c Superconductor Switching Devices

The development of superconductivity near 100 K allows hybrid superconductor/semiconductor electronic devices to be experimentally investigated as a means of realizing improved ultra high speed very large scale integration (VLSI) electronics. Incorporating superconductors into conventional semiconductor structures will be the most likely approach to developing hybrid VLSI devices. The analysis of passive hybridization (using superconductive interconnects) of semiconductor devices concludes that this approach might produce significant benefits in at least some cases. Active hybridization of semiconductor devices, in which the inclusion of superconductors in a semiconductor device significantly alters device operation, is treated briefly. Such devices might be a means of achieving revolutionary rather than evolutionary improvement of electronic systems. The hybridization schemes are illustrated with a proposed ultra high speed resonant tunneling transistor (RTT) structure and with hybrid MOSFET structures. From the processing perspective, rapid isothermal processing (RIP) based on incoherent light sources is a promising technology for the fabrication of hybrid devices.