cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An algorithm for correcting mislabeled data

Reliable evaluation for the performance of classifiers depends on the quality of the data sets on which they are tested. During the collecting and recording of a data set, however, some noise may be introduced into the data, especially in various real-world environments, which can degrade the quality of the data set. In this paper, we present a novel approach, called ADE (automatic data enhancement), to correct mislabeled data in a data set. In addition to using multi-layer neural networks trained by backpropagation as the basic framework, ADE assigns each training pattern a class probability vector as its class label, in which each component represents the probability of the corresponding class. During training, ADE constantly updates the probability vector based on its difference from the output of the network. With this updating rule, the probability of a mislabeled class gradually becomes smaller while that of the correct class becomes larger, which eventually causes the correction of mislabeled data after a number of training epochs. We have tested ADE on a number of data sets drawn from the UCI data repository for nearest neighbor classifiers. The results show that for most data sets, when there exists mislabeled data, a classifier constructed using a training set corrected by ADE can achieve significantly higher accuracy than that without using ADE.
Time-related energy distribution in hyperkalemic repolarisation

Tenting of the electrocardiogram (ECG) T wave is a known manifestation of hyperkalemia. In seeking an algorithm for the Marquette 12 SL ECG diagnostic program which would separate the hyperkalemic (HK) T wave from its simulators, the ECGs of 30 HKs were examined. They were compared with those of 25 normokalemics, and 15 pseudohyperkalemics. The most consistent feature of the hyperkalemia T was an isosceles triangulation, prototypical in V4. It was best defined in terms of height (T amp) and maximum slope of T ascent (MST). Preliminary scoring of T amp/MST and (T amp minus mid-ST amplitude)/MST confined all but 3/30 HK to respective values less than 72.5 and 64.5 ms. When used as a research tool among 4500 ECGs, these algorithms proved too sensitive to noise (38% false positive). >
A risk-assessment methodology for the Space-Shuttle external-tank welds

This paper presents a simulation model designed to evaluate the risk involved in deleting preproof test x-ray inspection of some welds on the Space Shuttle external tank (ET). The simulation model combines engineering and statistical models to evaluate the risk of a weld leak or burst during proof test and flight. Results of the model show that the risk due to the deletion of x-ray inspections is relatively high. This suggests that deleting the x-ray inspection would be a step in the wrong direction since the cost of failure during proof testing could be extremely high. Although this study addresses a weld inspection issue on the ET, the models developed can be applicable to other situations where weld risk assessment is needed. >
Spatial audio technology for telepresence

As people start to exploit new telepresence technologies to meet and work, they will be able to exploit all of their senses as they transmit, receive, and monitor information. An essential part of such three-dimensional spaces is the audio landscape. People are able to detect a wide variety of sounds and separate them in space. Spatial separation improves the detection and intelligibility of speech from multiple talkers, and enables simultaneous monitoring of multiple information streams through the use of multiple alert sounds. On-going research at BT Laboratories into spatial audio has resulted in a number of leading edge demonstrations and patent applications. This paper introduces the technologies employed to create spatial audio for real-time synthetic worlds including single and multiple users, and non-ideal acoustic environments.
Developmental Profiles of the Murine Palatal Methylome

BACKGROUND Environmental factors contribute to the etiology of cleft palate (CP). Identification of genes that are methylated during development of the secondary palate will contribute to a better understanding of the gene-environment link contributing to CP. METHODS Genomic DNA fragments from secondary palate tissue from gestational days (GDs) 12 to 14 were subjected to Selective Enrichment of Methylated DNA (SEMD) and used to probe NimbleGen 2.1M mouse promoter arrays. Input (control) and SEMD samples were labeled with Cy3 and Cy5, respectively, and used for array hybridization (three arrays per GD). Data were analyzed using the Bioconductor package Ringo. Gene methylation was verified by pyrosequencing analysis and expression by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS A total of 5577 methylated genes were identified during palate development: (1) 74% of genes were methylated on all three GDs; (2) CpG islands accounted for only 30% of methylated regions of interest (MRIs); (3) location of MRIs was more often observed in gene bodies (73%) than in promoters; (4) evaluation of MRIs on GDs 12–14 revealed no significant differentially methylated regions; (5) DAVID analysis of MRIs revealed that the cadherin and Wnt signaling pathways, as well as pathways involved in proteoglycan synthesis, were significantly enriched for methylated genes. CONCLUSIONS Our prior studies identified differentially expressed mRNAs and microRNAs in the developing palate. The current study complements these studies by identifying genes whose expression may be altered as a result of DNA methylation. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 97:171–186, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical Parameters Essential to Methodology and Interpretation of Mucosal Responses

Research aimed at putting an end to the HIV pandemic is dynamic given the marked advances in understanding of pathogenesis since its origin. Attention has shifted from systemic management of disease to a focus on the most common site of acquisition, the female genital tract. Research on the female genital tract of humans requires consideration of a number of specific clinical parameters. If such parameters are not considered when enrolling subjects into studies, it could lead to faulty data ascertainment. This article reviews important clinical characteristics to consider when conducting studies of the human female genital tract in regard to mucosal immunity and HIV disease. Important topics to consider include the method and source of sample collection, the individual patient characteristics, and in the case of recruitment of HIV-infected women, HIV disease characteristics.
The Effects of the Boating Environment on Operator Performance

Through detailed studies of boating accident data and in-depth accident investigations, the United States Coast Guard has determined that approximately ninety percent of the causes of boating collisions are operator related. These cause identification studies have indicated that the boating environment (through stressors such as noise, heat, glare, etc.) may contribute significantly to operator related causes of accidents. The Visual Alertness Stressor Test (VAST) was developed as a means of measuring the effects of stressors on a boat operator's performance. VAST is a divided attention task. The small boat operator is required to maintain a course and speed dictated by an on board experimenter (primary task), and respond to particular light patterns shown on a semicircular display around the cockpit (secondary task). Basic measures of performance include response times and error scores for the light patterns. This paper presents the results of three years of research in the area of boating stressors and ...
Volume requirements for aerated mud drilling

Aerated mud drilling has been recognized as having many advantages over conventional mud drilling, such ass higher penetration rate, less formation damage, minimized lost circulation, and lower drilling cost. In some areas, the use of aerated mud as a circulating medium for drilling oil and gas wells is becoming an attractive practice. Maintaining an optimum combination of liquid and air flow rates is important in aerated drilling operations. However, most drilling operators are unclear on what constitutes the ``optimum combination of the liquid and air flow rates.`` Guo et al. presented a mathematical approach to determining the flowing bottomhole pressure (BHP) for aerated mud drilling. This paper addresses the use of Guo et al.`s mathematical model to determine liquid and air volume requirements considering wellbore stability, pipe sticking, and formation damage as well as the cuttings-carry capacity of the aerated mud. For a formation-damage-prevention point of view, the liquid fraction in the fluid stream should e as low as possible. However, a sufficient mud flow rate is always required to make the hole stable and to maintain the cuttings-carrying capacity of the aerated mud without injecting much air volume. This paper provides a simple approach to determining the liquid andmore » air volume requirements for aerated mud drilling.« less
Joining a healing community for cancer: who and why?

Abstract This paper provides a description and evaluation of selected aspects of The Wellness Community (TWC), a healing community for people with cancer in Santa Monica, California. Based upon participant observation, TWC's philosophy and program are described. The ways in which charismatic leadership is used to create a sense of ‘healing charisma’ is specified. Interviews were conducted at 3 points over a 10 month period with 65 individuals who initiated contact with TWC. Thirty-seven eventually became participants at TWC, while the 28 who did not were used as a comparison group. Participants were healthier, more oriented toward self-care and less satisfied with their existing social support networks. The findings indicate the role, and limitations, of healing communities for people with chronic physical illness.
Race and others misadventures: Essays in Honor of Ashley Montagu in his Ninetieth Year

Cet article nous donne la presentation d'un ouvrage consacre a la critique de la notion de race faite par Ashley Montagu en 1942. De la est entamee une relexion sur cette notion polemique et une critique de ce livre
Working the Night Shift: The Impact of Compensating Wages and Local Economic Conditions on Shift Choice

The theory of compensating differentials asserts that night shift workers should receive compensating wage differentials due to undesirable work conditions. In weak local economies, workers may have difficulty finding jobs; thus, these workers might be more likely to accept night shift work and be less concerned with the size of the compensating differential for night shifts. Using CPS data from 2001, this paper employs maximum likelihood estimation of an endogenous switching regression model to analyze wages of day and night shift workers and shift choice. The findings indicate the presence of selection bias, thus emphasizing the importance of correcting for self-selection into night shifts. The average of the estimated wage differentials for night shift work is negative for the overall sample, with differentials varying by worker characteristics. The shift differential is found to be a statistically significant predictor of shift choice, indicating that shift premiums play an important role in motivating individuals to select night shift work. Using two measures of local economic conditions and a new method of analyzing interaction effects in the context of an endogenous switching regression model, this paper finds limited evidence that weak local economic conditions lessen the impact of compensating differentials on shift choice.
Effects of gonadal steroids on peripheral benzodiazepine receptor density in women with PMS and controls

Abstract Background: GABA receptor-modifying neurosteroids may play a role in premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) both regulates the formation of neurosteroids and is, in animals, regulated by ovarian steroids. Alterations in PBR density have been observed in association with several psychiatric disorders. Methods: We examined the effects of gonadal steroids on lymphocytic PBR density in nine women with prospectively confirmed PMS and nine controls. PBR densities were measured during three pharmacologically controlled conditions: gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (Lupron)-induced hypogonadism, Lupron plus estradiol, and Lupron plus progesterone replacement. Blood samples were obtained after six weeks of Lupron alone and after 3–4 weeks of estradiol and progesterone replacement. Results: No significant hormone state-related changes in PBR density were observed (ANOVA-R: phase- F 2,32 =1.5, P =0.2). Despite mood symptom development in the subjects with PMS, PBR density did not differ in women with PMS compared to controls across hormonal states (ANOVA-R: F 1,16 =0.6, P =0.4). Conclusions: PBR densities are not altered in women with PMS and are not changed significantly by selective gonadal steroid administration. Changes in PBR density would not appear to underlie the differential sensitivity to the mood destabilizing effects of ovarian steroids in PMS.
Electronic structure and bonding in hexagonal boron nitride

The bonding, cohesive, and electronic properties of hexagonal boron nitride were studied using density functional theory calculations. The properties of this system were calculated using three different exchange–correlation functionals (local density approximation and two forms of the generalized gradient approximation) to determine their relative predictive abilities for this system. In-plane and interplanar bonding was examined using band diagrams, the density of states, and the electron localization function. Different stackings, or arrangements of one basal plane with respect to another, were examined to determine how the bonding and electronic structure changed between different stackings. Calculated band gaps were in the 2.9–4.5 eV range and predominantly indirect, regardless of stacking or the exchange–correlation functional used. The calculated band gaps are in the low range of experimental band gap values, and do not explain the large range of experimental values.
Carotid rete mirabile — An unusual example associated with diffuse bilateral cerebral telangiectasia

The authors report a case of bilateral internal carotid occlusive disease in a 10 year old girl exhibiting telangiectatic anastomoses between the external carotid system and the leptomeningeal vessels on the surface of the brain. It would appear that this patient is an example of an unusual form of progressive cerebral arterial occlusion.
The spreading of a vertical, axially-symmetric laser beam for self-induced laminar and turbulent flow

The lateral spreading of an intense, vertical light beam of axial symmetry, in the absence of a cross wind, is treated by solving the unabbreviated equations of fluid mechanics in conjunction with the equations of optics. The solution is presented in one case by means of a similarity transformation, which reduces the system of partial differential equations into a system of ordinary differential equations. Laminar flow as induced by light absorption is treated in an exact way. Turbulent motion is treated approximately.
Functional Properties of Edible Rice Bran in Model Systems

Functional properties of rice bran model systems were systematically studied to evaluate their potential food use. Three stabilized rice bran products, two defatted and one full-fat, were investigated and compared to wheat bran. Of the four brans investigated, the defatted extruded rice bran absorbed the most water and fat and had the greatest foaming capacity and stability. The defatted X-M processed rice bran exhibited functional behavior most similar to that of wheat bran. The full-fat extruded rice bran absorbed the least amount of water and fat and did not form a foam.
The New Cosmopolitan Monolingualism: On Linguistic Citizenship in Twenty-First Century Germany

In the early years of the twenty-first century, being German has become a matter of linguistic competence and performance. An acute shift in citizenship statutes at the end of the 1990s brought about a peripatetic departure from Germany's “right of blood” (ius sanguinis) toward a French-inspired “right of territory” (ius soli). Yet in the nine years since the policy's implementation, a paradigm quite removed from territorial citizenship has taken hold—one that I will outline as a ius linguarum, or “right of languages.” This article analyzes the civic discourse on German language use as it has evolved from the late 1990s in immigration statutes, press discourse, school reform initiatives, and national service awards. Together, these developments serve as interlocking case studies in the emergence of a new cosmopolitan monolingualism—amid the fluctuating conditions of European integration and economic globalization. The article concludes with some speculations on the impact of a ius linguarum for teachers of literature and language in the German Studies context.
ISOLATION OF ACROLEIN FROM INCUBATED MIXTURES OF SPERMINE WITH CALF SERUM AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAMMALIAN CELLS.

Abstract A cell inhibitory, nitrogen-free aldehyde has been isolated, by distillation, from incubated mixtures of spermine, spermidine, or allylamine with unfractionated calf serum. This aldehyde was identified as acrolein by its ultraviolet and infrared spectra, melting point determinations, and elemental analysis of its 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone derivative. The cell inhibitory activity of acrolein (ID50, S-180 in cell culture = 2.6–3.5 × 10−5 mmole/ml) was comparable to that of spermidine, but in contrast to the latter, the activity of acrolein did not depend on the concomitant presence of plasma amine oxidase.
Racial differences in treatment and survival from early-stage breast carcinoma.

BACKGROUND African-American women have a significantly worse prognosis from breast carcinoma compared with white women, even when the stage at diagnosis is equivalent. The purpose of this study was to analyze racial differences in the treatment (use of breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy) of women with early-stage breast carcinoma and the resulting effects on survival rates. METHODS Subjects included 10,073 African-American and 123,127 white women diagnosed with Stage I, IIA, or IIB breast carcinoma in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program between 1988 and 1998. Comparisons were made by race with treatment, age, hormone receptor status, and stage at the time of diagnosis. Survival analyses were conducted to compare risk of death for African-American and white women while controlling for age, stage, and hormone receptor status. RESULTS Among women diagnosed with early-stage breast carcinoma who receive breast-conserving surgery, African-American women were significantly less likely to receive follow-up radiation therapy in every 10-year age group except in the older than 85 age group. Whether treatment was equivalent or suboptimal, survival for African-American women with early-stage breast carcinoma was significantly worse. However, when treatment was equivalent, the effects of racial differences on survival were significantly less compared with survival associated with suboptimal treatment. CONCLUSIONS Significant racial differences exist in the treatment of women with early-stage breast carcinoma. Public health efforts to eliminate suboptimal treatment would reduce, but not eliminate, racial disparity in survival. Cancer 2002;95:1759–66. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10827
Research and medicine: human conjectures at every turn

In his book, provocatively titled ‘stats.con’ (not ‘com’), Penston examines the sources of contemporary medical knowledge and attacks them all: randomized trials, observational studies, schools of statistics and more. His text covers a wide range of topics, some of which are as philosophical as determinism and indeterminism and others are as practical as reports of fraudulent studies. He has done a fair amount of homework and I found myself agreeing with his arguments many times - although not always with his conclusions. Whether I agreed with him or not, it was refreshing to encounter a courageous author who bluntly states what he thinks. Penston writes passionately and clearly, which makes it easy to identify both mistakes and points of disagreement. We need more physicians who genuinely care about epistemology and methodology and don’t just look for a magical P -value.
Evidence for superfluidity of ultracold fermions in an optical lattice.

Evidence for superfluidity of ultracold fermionic atom pairs in an optical lattice details that such systems are highly controllable, making them attractive models for studying analogous problems such as high-temperature superconductivity. The study of superfluid fermion pairs in a periodic potential has important ramifications for understanding superconductivity in crystalline materials. By using cold atomic gases, various models of condensed matter can be studied in a highly controllable environment. Weakly repulsive fermions in an optical lattice could undergo d-wave pairing1 at low temperatures, a possible mechanism for high temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides2. The lattice potential could also strongly increase the critical temperature for s-wave superfluidity. Recent experimental advances in bulk atomic gases include the observation of fermion-pair condensates and high-temperature superfluidity3,4,5,6,7,8. Experiments with fermions9,10,11 and bosonic bound pairs12,13 in optical lattices have been reported but have not yet addressed superfluid behaviour. Here we report the observation of distinct interference peaks when a condensate of fermionic atom pairs is released from an optical lattice, implying long-range order (a property of a superfluid). Conceptually, this means that s-wave pairing and coherence of fermion pairs have now been established in a lattice potential, in which the transport of atoms occurs by quantum mechanical tunnelling and not by simple propagation. These observations were made for interactions on both sides of a Feshbach resonance. For larger lattice depths, the coherence was lost in a reversible manner, possibly as a result of a transition from superfluid to insulator. Such strongly interacting fermions in an optical lattice can be used to study a new class of hamiltonians with interband and atom–molecule couplings14.
Buckley-James-type Estimator with Right-censored and Length-biased Data

We present a natural generalization of the Buckley-James-type estimator for traditional survival data to right-censored length-biased data under the accelerated failure time (AFT) model. Length-biased data are often encountered in prevalent cohort studies and cancer screening trials. Informative right censoring induced by length-biased sampling creates additional challenges in modeling the effects of risk factors on the unbiased failure times for the target population. In this article, we evaluate covariate effects on the failure times of the target population under the AFT model given the observed length-biased data. We construct a Buckley-James-type estimating equation, develop an iterative computing algorithm, and establish the asymptotic properties of the estimators. We assess the finite-sample properties of the proposed estimators against the estimators obtained from the existing methods. Data from a prevalent cohort study of patients with dementia are used to illustrate the proposed methodology.
Retrieval of internally versus externally generated words in episodic memory

The mnemonic value of internal stimulus generation was investigated in a series of experiments. Subjects either decided if an experimenter-generated word fit a specified context, or they generated a word to fit the context. The results indicated that internal generation of stimulus words consistently induced higher levels of memory performance than did the encoding of experimenter-generated words. The generation factor proved to be a potent one as it tended to override the effects of encoding orientation and encoding congruity. It is argued that the greater memorability for subject- over experimenter-generated words is a result of: (1) the personal reference attribute of the generation operation per se as well as its information content, and (2) the considerable effort required to produce an item to fit a specified context.
Power Optimization of Ultrasonic Friction-Modulation Tactile Interfaces

Ultrasonic friction-modulation devices provide rich tactile sensation on flat surfaces and have the potential to restore tangibility to touchscreens. To date, their adoption into consumer electronics has been in part limited by relatively high power consumption, incompatible with the requirements of battery-powered devices. This paper introduces a method that optimizes the energy efficiency and performance of this class of devices. It considers optimal energy transfer to the impedance provided by the finger interacting with the surface. Constitutive equations are determined from the mode shape of the interface and the piezoelectric coupling of the actuator. The optimization procedure employs a lumped parameter model to simplify the treatment of the problem. Examples and an experimental study show the evolution of the optimal design as a function of the impedance of the finger.
Housing and social support needs of elderly persons: A needs assessment in an independent living facility

Abstract The dramatic increase in the human lifespan has prompted much research on quality of life in old age. Psychosocial needs and developmental tasks of later life are an important focus for service providers in gerontology. A wide variety of housing alternatives for elderly persons now exists and housing program administrators and planners must be informed about developmental and social support needs of elderly residents if they wish to accommodate to residents' changing needs. This research supported the efforts of an independent living apartment complex for the elderly in its plan to adapt in a systematic way to the changing needs of its residents. Residents ( N = 128) were interviewed about their social support perceptions and needs, their use of available services and activities, and their ideas about additional service needs. Respondents were very active and socially involved, and placed great value on independence and not “being a burden” to anyone. While network members, both friends and family, were great sources of emotional support, respondents were less likely to feel able to call on them for tangible or physical aid. Implications of findings for housing programs and for social work researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Determining sources of relative inefficiency in heterogeneous samples: Methodology using Cluster Analysis, DEA and Neural Networks

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a powerful data analytic tool that is widely used by researchers and practitioners alike to assess relative performance of Decision Making Units (DMU). Commonly, the difference in the scores of relative performance of DMUs in the sample is considered to reflect their differences in the efficiency of conversion of inputs into outputs. In the presence of scale heterogeneity, however, the source of the difference in scores becomes less clear, for it is also possible that the difference in scores is caused by heterogeneity of the levels of inputs and outputs of DMUs in the sample. By augmenting DEA with Cluster Analysis (CA) and Neural Networks (NN), we propose a five-step methodology allowing an investigator to determine whether the difference in the scores of scale heterogeneous DMUs is due to the heterogeneity of the levels of inputs and outputs, or whether it is caused by their efficiency of conversion of inputs into outputs. An illustrative example demonstrates the application of the proposed methodology in action.
Benefits of Software Rejuvenation on HPC Systems

Rejuvenation is a technique expected to mitigate failures in HPC systems by replacing, repairing, or resetting system components. Because of the small overhead required by software rejuvenation, we primarily focus on OS/kernel rejuvenation. In this paper, we propose three rejuvenation scheduling techniques. Moreover, we investigate the claim that software rejuvenation prolongs failure times in HPC systems. Also, we compare the lost computing times of the checkpoint/restart mechanism with and without rejuvenation after each checkpoint.
Photoelectrochemical And Structural Behavior Of Manganese Oxide/N-Si Photoanodes

N-silicon photoanodes have been protected against photocorrosion, for use in photo-assisted water electrolysis photoelectrochemical cells, by chemically depositing a thin film of manganese oxide on the surface. Current-potential characteristics of the electrodes have been measured in 0.5 M K2SO4 solution and in 0.2 M NaOH solutions. The onset potential for photocurrent in these electrolytes occur at + 1.1 V and + 0.56 V (vs NHE), respectively. The occurrence of photocurrent due to the photoevolution of oxygen was confirmed by pH dependence of onset potential and the appearance of gas bubbles on the electrode surface. When used in 0.5 M K2SO4 solution, at ~ 1.1 mA.cm-2 photocurrent density, the electrode has shown complete stability, for continuous illumination of ~ 650 hours. The surface analysis of the electrode surface shows that manganese in the manganese oxide is present in + 3 state. The use of electrode for oxygen evolution in aqueous solution changes the Mn203 to MnO (OH) on the surface without affecting the bulk composition.© (1985) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Indirect Covariance NMR Spectroscopy

A novel NMR scheme is presented that establishes homonuclear spin correlations without requiring direct detection of the spin species. This covariance NMR method is experimentally demonstrated for a mixture of amino acids and for the uniformly 13C-labeled cyclic decapeptide antamanide using a 13C-edited TOCSY experiment. The method opens up new avenues for the experimental analysis of molecules containing insensitive spins encountered in biomolecular NMR and analytical chemistry including metabolomics.
Models for Optimizing and Individualizing School Learning.

Two psychological traditions—correlational studies of individual differences and experimental studies of stimulus variation—have failed to make educational research a useful applied science. The two traditions must be integrated within an emerging field of study—social environments of learning. Based on parsimony and predictability, two general models and seven special models are proposed that identify the empirically testable assumptions of instructional programs purporting to optimize or individualize school learning.
The Influence of Disease Perceptions on the Participation of Melanoma Patients and their Partners in Skin Self-Examination Education

By examining differences between patients who enroll or decline to enroll in a partner-based study, future research can benefit and adapt recruitment strategies to reduce sampling biases. This study examined differences between melanoma patients’ who either declined or enrolled in an intervention aimed at increasing skin self-examination (SSE) with partner assistance. Specifically, differences were assessed for gender, age, perception of likelihood of getting another melanoma, benefits of early detection, and severity of the disease. Additionally, reasons for declining were examined. Among 368 melanoma patients interviewed during their appointment with the treating physician, 187 enrolled in the study and 181 declined to participate. No significant age or gender differences between enrolled and declined patients were observed. However, enrolled participants had significantly higher reports on the likelihood of getting another melanoma, severity of melanoma, and early detection as being beneficial (p<0.001). Among those declining to participate, males reported being “too busy and can’t make follow-up appointments” whereas females reported their “partner won’t assist”. Results indicate perceptions of the benefits of early detection, the severity of melanoma, and patients’ increased risk of developing a melanoma may have influenced patients’ decision to participate. Future studies may benefit by highlighting these topics in order to motivate more patients to participant in partner studies.
New vascular sheath for subcutaneous drug administration: design, animal testing, and clinical application for pain prevention after angioplasty

A new vascular sheath design (anesthesia infusion sleeve or AIS) was developed to enable administration of local anesthetics or other medications into the subcutaneous tissue around the insertion site without any additional needle sticks or other manipulation. Design of the system was based upon anatomic measurements of femoral artery depth in 150 patients. Animal studies of prototypes verified subcutaneous delivery using both radiographic methods and direct dissection. The pharmacokinetic profile of plasma lidocaine was also studied in three pigs to document subcutaneous delivery with the AIS. Subsequently a clinical trial of the AIS versus a standard sheath was done in 20 patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. Pain associated with sheath removal was graded using a verbal scale at baseline, during infiltration of the area, and at 1-min intervals during compression for 15 min. Baseline pain was identical in both groups, whereas, during infiltration with lidocaine, pain increased in the standard sheath group and decreased in the AIS group. Pain increased slightly in both groups with initial compression; however, it was significantly less in the AIS group. This difference persisted for several minutes after initial compression. The AIS represents a simple addition to standard sheath protocol offering superior pain control compared to standard technique for sheath removal without the need for systemic analgesics or other medications.
Laser wavelength comparison by high resolution interferometry.

High resolution interferometry has been used to determine the wavelength ratio between two molecularly stabilized He–Ne lasers, one locked to a methane absorption at 3.39 μm and the other locked to the k peak of 129I2 at 633 nm. An optical beat frequency technique gave fractional orders while a microwave sideband method yielded the integer parts. Conventional (third derivative) peak seeking servoes stabilized both laser and cavity lengths. Reproducibility of the electronic control system and optics was a few parts in 1012, while systematic errors associated with curvature of the cavity mirrors limited the accuracy of the wavelength ratio measurement to 2 parts in 1010. The measured wavelength ratio of the methane stabilized He–Ne laser at 3.39 μm [P(7) line, ν3 band] to the 129I2 (k peak) stabilized He–Ne laser at 633 nm was 5.359 049 260 6 (0.000 2 ppm). This ratio agrees with that calculated from the (lower accuracy) results of earlier wavelength measurements made relative to the 86Kr standard. Its higher accuracy thus permits a provisional extension of the frequency scale based on the cesium oscillator into the visible spectrum.
Chemical Suppression of Defects in Mitotic Spindle Assembly, Redox Control, and Sterol Biosynthesis by Hydroxyurea

We describe the results of a systematic search for a class of hitherto-overlooked chemical-genetic interactions in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome, which exists between a detrimental genetic mutation and a chemical/drug that can ameliorate, rather than exacerbate, that detriment. We refer to this type of interaction as “chemical suppression.” Our work was driven by the hypothesis that genome instability in a certain class of mutants could be alleviated by mild replication inhibition using chemicals/drugs. We queried a collection of conditionally lethal, i.e., temperature-sensitive, alleles representing 40% of the yeast essential genes for those mutants whose growth defect can be suppressed by hydroxyurea (HU), known as a potent DNA replication inhibitor, at the restrictive temperature. Unexpectedly, we identified a number of mutants defective in diverse cellular pathways other than DNA replication. Here we report that HU suppresses selected mutants defective in the kinetochore-microtubule attachment pathway during mitotic chromosome segregation. HU also suppresses an ero1-1 mutant defective for a thiol oxidase of the endoplasmic reticulum by providing oxidation equivalents. Finally, we report that HU suppresses an erg26-1 mutant defective for a C-3 sterol dehydrogenase through regulating iron homeostasis and in turn impacting ergosterol biosynthesis. We further demonstrate that cells carrying the erg26-1 mutation show an increased rate of mitochondrial DNA loss and delayed G1 to S phase transition. We conclude that systematic gathering of a compendium of “chemical suppression” of yeast mutants by genotoxic drugs will not only enable the identification of novel functions of both chemicals and genes, but also have profound implications in cautionary measures of anticancer intervention in humans.
Genre analysis of personal statements: Analysis of moves in application essays to medical and dental schools

Abstract Despite the important role the personal statement plays in the graduate school application processes, little research has been done on its functional features and little instruction has been given about it in academic writing courses. The author conducted a multi-level discourse analysis on a corpus of 30 medical/dental school application letters, using both a hand-tagged move analysis and a computerized analysis of lexical features of texts. Five recurrent moves were identified, namely, explaining the reason to pursue the proposed study, establishing credentials related to the fields of medicine/dentistry, discussing relevant life experience, stating future career goals, and describing personality.
Sapphire-fiber-based pyrometer for harsh environment applications

It is very critical to develop sensor that can operate in high temperature and chemically harsh environments. Sapphire (Al 2 O 3 ) material, which possesses a melting point of 2050 °C and a wide transmission wavelength region as high as ∼3.5 μm, has been demonstrated to be an ideal candidate for high temperature fiber-based environmental sensing applications. Under harsh environment, the performance of conventional blackbody radiation based sapphire fiber high temperature sensor could be easily affected due to the lack of cladding. In this paper, a fiber-optic temperature sensor with a single-crystal sapphire fiber as the light guide and a high temperature ceramic coating as the sensing element as well as the protection layer was presented. The radiance emitted from the ceramic coating is used to measure the temperature, and it is transmitted to optical receiver through the sapphire fiber. This ceramic coating greatly improved the stability and dynamical range of pyrometer. Preliminary experimental results demonstrated that the sensor is very promising for measuring ultra-high temperature up to 1900 °C in the harsh environment.
Measurement of male and female sexual dysfunction.

Measurement approaches for male and female sexual dysfunction have proliferated in recent years, spurred in large part by the development of new treatments for male and female dysfunction. In the past, physiologic measures of penile tumescence and rigidity in males, and vaginal blood flow in females, played an important role in clinical and research studies. More recently, a variety of brief, self-report measures have been developed for assessing male and female function across a variety of sexual domains (eg, desire, arousal, orgasm, satisfaction). These self-report measures have been shown to have a high degree of reliability and validity, and are sensitive to treatment interventions. Accordingly, they are widely employed in clinical trials. Daily diary or sexual event logs have similarly been developed for this purpose. Selfreport measures have been used for clinical screening purposes and for diagnostic assessment of sexual function in a number of studies. Finally, several disease-specific quality of life and treatment satisfaction measures have been developed, which are currently in widespread use in clinical trials of sexual dysfunction.
Purification, cDNA Cloning, and Gene Mapping of the Small Subunit of Human DNA Polymerase ε

HeLa DNA polymerase e (pol e), possibly involved in both DNA replication and DNA repair, consists of a catalytic subunit of 261 kDa and a tightly bound peptide with a relative molecular mass of 55 kDa. The cDNA of the 261-kDa polypeptide has been independently cloned, sequenced, and then overexpressed in insect cells to give a soluble, but catalytically unstable protein, suggesting that the small subunit of HeLa pol e might be important for stability. HeLa pol e has been isolated by immunoaffinity purification to obtain sequence information which enabled the cloning of a full-length human cDNA encoding the small subunit. The clone encoded nine proteolytic peptides obtained from the subunit. The 59,434-Da predicated polypeptide has 26% identity and 44% homology to the yeast pol e 80-kDa subunit, DPB2. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, the human pol e p59 locus (DPE2) was assigned to chromosome 14q13-q21.
On the Inflection Point Instability of a Stratified Ekman Boundary Layer.

Abstract The neutral Ekman boundary layer is known to be dynamically unstable to infinitesimal perturbations under typical geophysical conditions. This paper discusses this instability to two-dimensional, simple-harmonic perturbations, for the stratified Ekman layer. While viscosity and Coriolis forces are generally important in setting up the basic mean profile, the inflection point instability can be investigated in the inviscid, non-rotating system limit. However, the singular nature of the resulting second-order characteristic equation makes it necessary to solve the non-singular sixth-order, viscous stratified equation. Since typically occurring Reynolds numbers are much larger than critical, emphasis has been placed on investigating the behavior of maximum growth rates versus stratification for large Re. The appropriate dimensionless parameters are found to be: ξ=(2/Ro Re)½, and Ra= gSδ4/KmmKh [where δ=(2K/ f)½, Re= Vgδ/Km, Ro=Vg/fδ and S=(z+g/ cp)/] for the general case, or ξ and RI=gS/Vz for the i...
A 3-Year Follow-Up of Pre-Emptive vs Deferred Treatment of Cytomegalovirus Disease in Renal Transplantation

Objective: To compare patient survival, graft survival and financial costs at 3 years after renal transplant in graft recipients who received pre-emptive or deferred treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. Clinical outcomes and CMV-related charges at an average of 16 months’ follow-up have been reported previously.
B-Spline-Decomposition-Based Approach to Multiaxis Trajectory Tracking: Nanomanipulation Example

In this brief, a B-spline-decomposition (BSD)-based approach to output tracking with preview is explored to achieve high-speed, large-range nanomanipulation in experiments. The BSD approach is developed to address challenges in preview-based output tracking of nonminimum-phase systems to achieve precision tracking with good robustness to dynamics variations and no demanding online computation. In the BSD approach, a library of output elements and their corresponding input elements is constructed a priori ; then the previewed future desired trajectory is decomposed into a finite number of output elements, and the control input is synthesized using the corresponding input elements with chosen pre- and post-actuation times. The BSD technique uses the uniform B-splines to construct the output elements, the iterative learning control techniques to obtain the input elements, and the stable-inversion theory to quantify the pre- and post-actuation times. In this brief, we demonstrate and evaluate the BSD technique for preview-based precision tracking in experiments, by implementing it to a nanomanipulation application using a scanning probe microscope. The experiments showed that the tracking speed can be substantially improved using the BSD technique over using feedback control alone.
Changeover contingencies and choice on concurrent schedules

Pigeons were trained on a multiple concurrent schedule with two components per session. In one component, changing schedules required the completion of a small fixed ratio on the switching key (a fixed-ratio changeover, or FRCO), and in the other component, changing schedules required only one switching response but engaged a changeover delay (COD) during which keypecks were not reinforced. Response ratios overmatched reinforcer ratios under the FRCO but undermatched under the COD. There was no difference in time allocation. In addition to these molar regularities in behavior, there were characteristic differences in performance at the molecular level. These local patterns of behavior, which can be explained within the context of contingencies created by the different changeover requirements, appear to underlie differences in performance at the molar level. Obtained molar differences in performance are not compatible with the assumption that there is a “general outcome” on concurrent schedules; and explaining these molar differences in performance in terms of the local contingencies of reinforcement is contrary to the assumption that behavior is allocated as a function of molar distributions of reinforcers.
Cellular responses to gravity: extracellular, intracellular and in-between.

Abstract Our understanding of gravitational effects (inertial effects in the vicinity of 1 × g) on cells has matured to a stage at which it is possible to define, on the basis of experimental evidence, extracellular effects on small cells and intracellular effects on eukaryotic gravisensing cells. Yet undetermined is the nature of response, if any, of those classes of cells that are not governed solely by extracellular physical events (as are prokaryotes) and are devoid of obvious mechanical devices for sensing inertial forces (such as those possessed by certain plant cells and sensory cells of animals). This “in-between” class of cells needs to be understood on the basis of the combination of intracellular and extracellular gravity-dependent processes that govern experimentally-measurable variables that are relevant to the cell's responses to modified inertial forces. The forces that certain cell types generate or respond to are therefore compared to those imposed by approximately 1 × g in the context of cytoskeletal action and symmetry-breaking pathways.
Reaction of atomic oxygen with vitreous carbon: laboratory and STS-5 data comparisons

Resultats d'une experience dans laquelle un disque poli du carbone vitreux est expose a un bombardement par l'oxygene atomique suprathermal en vide pousse, reproduisant les conditions de l'exposition au cours d'un vol sur orbite terrestre