cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term kinematics and sediment flux of an active earthflow, Eel River, California

Although earthfl ows are the dominant erosion mechanism in many mountainous landscapes, estimates of long-term earthfl ow-driven sediment fl ux remain elusive because landslide displacement data are typically limited to contemporary time periods. Combining high-resolution topography from airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging), total station surveying, orthorectifi ed historical aerial photographs, and inventories of meteoric 10 Be in soil pits, we quantifi ed ~150 years of slope movement on a 1.5-km-long earthfl ow in the Eel River catchment, northern California, United States. Using LiDAR-derived topography, we mapped the upper half of the earthfl ow into three distinct kinematic zones: an upslope source area, a long narrow transport zone, and a mid-slope compressional zone. From our air photo analysis (1944‐2006), average velocities are fastest in the transport zone (1.7 m/a), slowest in the source zone (<1 m/a), and decrease monotonically over the past 30 years in all three zones. Meteoric 10 Be inventories systematically increase with distance downslope of the source area, consistent with the notion that the elongate transport zone acts like a relatively undeformed soil conveyor that can be used to quantify long-term displacement. Because our 10 Be-derived transport zone velocity of 2.1 m/a averages over the past 150 years, pre-1944 velocities likely approached 2.5 m/a, suggesting that twentieth century land-use practices have not increased rates of sliding. Although our results reveal a progressive decline in velocity that may refl ect exhaustion of readily mobilized source material, velocities temporarily increased in the midtwentieth century due to major hydrologic events. Given an average velocity of 2 m/a, the Kekawaka earthfl ow is defl ating its source area over 20 times faster than the regional erosion rate, emphasizing the localized and vigorous role of active earthfl ows in landscape evolution.
A multifluid mix model for the layered incompressible materials

In this paper, a model for the unstable mixing of n parallel or concentric incompressible fluid layers is proposed. The approach to constructing this model is pairwise, based on a known two incompressible fluid mixing model. The problem complexity increases significantly in going from two to three fluids, but the increase in complexity is relatively small thereafter. We present a detailed study of the n=3 problem, which displays all of the difficult modeling issues applicable to arbitrary n?3 while still being reasonably tractable.
Attribute-driven Footprint Suppression

Most land seismic data volumes suffer from acquisition footprint which can often be confused with faults, fractures, and karst. Geometric attributes such as coherence and curvature enhance the appearance of subtle geologic features, but also exacerbate footprint artifacts. We use this ‘negative’ feature of geometric attributes as a means of characterizing short-wavelength footprint components. Once characterized, we subtract the footprint from the migrated seismic data volume using an adaptive subtraction technique and recompute attributes from these filtered data volumes. We demonstrate the effectiveness and pitfalls of this approach on a data volume exhibiting karst from the Central Basin Platform of west Texas,
Vascular endothelial growth factor as a biomarker for the early detection of cancer using a whole cell-based biosensor

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a cytokine and endothelial cell (EC) mitogen that has been studied for its role in angiogenesis of malignant tumors. Elevated quantities of VEGF in the serum and plasma of patients have been correlated with the presence of cancer and metastasis. Since VEGF induces hyperpermeability of EC monolayers, this protein can be detected in vitro with a whole cell-based biosensor. This biosensor consists of a confluent monolayer of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) attached to a cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane of an ion-selective electrode (ISE). Previous studies regarding this biosensor have shown that when the biosensor was exposed to a model toxin, such as histamine, the response of the biosensor served as an indirect measurement of the presence of histamine. Similarly, the biosensor responds to the presence of VEGF, but is much more sensitive because VEGF is known to be 50,000-fold more potent than histamine when inducing EC hyperpermeability. The ISE response increased with increasing VEGF concentration. Since lower concentrations required more exposure time, the detection limit was established as a function of exposure time (2-10 h). The practical applicability of the biosensor was also established with cultured human melanoma cells WM793 (nonmetastatic) and 1205LU (metastatic). The resultant change in the potential values revealed significant production of VEGF from the 1205LU cells. A VEGF ELISA was performed to confirm the VEGF concentration in each sample. The biosensor closely predicted the concentrations determined through the ELISA. These results support the use of a cell-based ISE as a quick screening method for the presence of VEGF.
The Perfusion Paradox and Vascular Instability in Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) exhibits a curious coexistence of contrasting perfusion profiles in the circulatory system: hypoperfusion is endemic in microcirculatory beds occluded by hemoglobin S-containing erythrocytes while hyperperfusion characterizes the systemic (macro)circulation and a number of regional vascular circuits. This review highlights this perfusion paradox of SCD, focusing on forearm blood flow and the renal circulation, and exploring the extent to which alterations in vasoactive systems (such as nitric oxide and prostanoids) are involved. Also reviewed are the mechanisms and pathways that contribute to altered vascular reactivity and vascular instability observed in SCD. Finally, the possibility that the induction of heme oxygenase-1, recently described in SCD, may confer a protective response in the vasculature and other tissues is discussed.
Mechanics of plastic deformation in metal forming processes: Experimental and numerical methods

Abstract Recent developments in numerical and experimental techniques for the analysis of deformation mechanics in metal forming processes are presented. New developments of slip-line nets and the introduction of matrix operators in the construction of slip-line fields are reviewed. The application of the finite-element method, the visioplasticity method, and the finite-difference method for the analysis of metal forming processes are described. Detailed results are presented in terms of deformation patterns, and velocity, strain and stress distributions. The wealth of information obtainable using the visioplasticity method is demonstrated. Especially noteworthy are the prediction of central burst formation, grain distortion, and die design.
Transient hydrocephalus as a presenting sign associated with adrenoleukodystrophy

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy is a progressive neurologic disorder of white matter that has a wide range of clinical phenotypes. In the childhood cerebral form, patients usually present with behavioral or cognitive changes in the first decade, develop progressive visual loss, spastic quadriparesis, dementia, and seizures, and deteriorate to a vegetative state or death within a few years.1 This case report describes a patient who developed transient hydrocephalus as the presenting sign of adrenoleukodystrophy but was otherwise asymptomatic, despite extensive white matter lesions on MRI. A previously healthy 6-year-old boy presented to an emergency room with a 1-day history of progressive headache, mental status changes, and fever. CT of the head revealed dilated lateral but normal third and fourth ventricles (figure, A) and bilateral hypodensities of the temporal lobes and parietal subcortical white matter. The patient was referred to St. Louis Children’s Hospital initially for neurosurgical evaluation. Neurologic examination was notable only for an abnormal mental status, characterized by …
Perceived Maternal Child-Rearing Behavior among Disabled and Non-Disabled Adolescents:

Summary.-The purposes of this scudy were (a) to contrast the reported perceptions of maternal rearing using the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory of 70 disabled (cerebral palsied) and 70 non-disabled adolescents of similar sex, age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status and (b) to evaluate the impact of severity of physical impairment within the disabled group. Analyses of variance were completed using group (disabled/controls) as one dimension and sex as the within-groups source. Partial correlations were used to assess the relationship between severity of incapacitation and perceived maternal behavior. Of the 18 main effects, rwo were significant, suggesting that the non-disabled perceived their mothers as more possessive and intrusive than did the disabled. Males perceived their mothers as significantly more lax in discipline and allowing more autonomy than did females. Severity of disability was only modestly related to perceived maternal behavior. With this sample of disabled adolescents it was suggested that a physically handicapping condition and its severity may be of more limited influence in the maternal rearing process than assumed. Investigators of parent-child rearing attitudes and behaviors have uaditionally employed parental self-report techniques to assess child-rearing styles. Independent observers have been used in the laboratory and in the home; however, the majority of studies have utilized parental assessment instruments. Ausubel, Balthazar, Rosenthal, Blackman, Schpoont, and Welkowitz (1954) and Serot and Teevan ( 1961) suggested that parental behavior as perceived and interpreted by the child may have more explanatory value in terms of the effect upon the child's behavior than the characterization of such behaviors by parents or independent observers. Consistent with this phenomenological approach Schaefer (1965) developed the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory to measure these perceptions It should be emphasized that the inventory does not purport to assess child-rearing behaviors directly but rather the child's perceived report of them. Since the appearance of the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory several authors (Burger, Lamp, & Rogers, 1975; Armentrout & Burger, 1972; Burger & Armentrout, 1971) have reported that factor analysis of subjects' responses to this inventory can be represented by three dimensions: Acceptance versus Rejection, Psychological Autonomy versus Psychological Control, and Firm Control versus Lax Control. Developmental trends are reported on these 'Portions of this article were read at the meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy, Washington, D. C, December, 1973. The author wishes to thank L. Schoer. V. Rowley, R. Rembolt for their help with this study. Address correspondence to: D. C. Harper, University of Iowa, Hospital School, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
Increasing Accuracy and Efficiency for Regularized Navier-Stokes Equations

In this article, a finite element scheme for the family of time relaxation models, that represent a regularization of Navier-Stokes equations, is developed, analyzed and numerically tested. The proposed finite element scheme combines three ideas: (i) the use of an incompressible filter, for better consistency outside the periodic domains, (ii) a second order accurate linearization for the nonlinear term, that allows to solve only one linear system per time step, and (iii) a stabilization in time term that compliments well the linearization. A complete numerical analysis of the scheme, that includes the computability of its numerical solutions, its stability, and velocity error estimates, is given. This is followed by numerical experiments that confirm the theoretical convergence rates and show the advantage of the proposed scheme.
X-Lab: XML-based laboratory exercises for CS1

Most community colleges and universities offer an Introduction to Computer Programming course in Java. For such courses, the ACM/IEEE Curricula '91 report recommends a co-requisite laboratory experience. While commonly used textbooks typically offer on-line presentation materials for use in lecture, there are few resources supporting the development of the laboratory component. This paper describes a set of freely available web-based laboratory exercises called X-Lab. These exercises are complete, modular, and self-verifying. Our distribution uses XSLT templates to create standardized HTML lab exercise sets from XML documents. The XML implementation provides several advantages, including standardization, customization at installation, and the ability to create simulations using XML tags with no specialized graphical programming.
Day-of-injury CT as an index to pre-injury brain morphology: degree of post-injury degenerative changes identified by CT and MR neuroimaging.

A detailed case study is presented in which pre-injury CT scan findings are compared and contrasted with post-injury CT and MR results in a case of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The day-of-injury scan represented an adequate estimate of pre-injury morphological status based on cross-sectional area measurements of the ventricular system. By comparing pre-injury CT measurements with those obtained on the day of injury, 2 days post-injury and 16 months post-injury via assessing cross-sectional area of select ventricular regions (e.g. anterior and temporal horns, body and third ventricle) it was demonstrated that the TBI induced over a 50% ventricular expansion. Such ventricular expansions are felt to provide some index into diffuse axonal injury which may provide a means of eventually quantifying the degree of structural damage secondary to TBI. This analysis also demonstrated that there were no significant differences between selected cross-sectional ventricular areas in the 15 day and 16 month post-injury MR scans. This finding suggests that the degenerative effects of TBI have a rapid onset and are becoming readily apparent by 15 days post-injury. Thus, early imaging may provide a good index of long-term morphological outcome in TBI.
A randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of mandibular implant-supported overdentures and conventional dentures in diabetic patients. Part I: Methodology and clinical outcomes

Abstract Statement of problem. Scientific evidence is lacking to support the general application of implant-supported mandibular overdentures. Purpose. This randomized clinical trial was undertaken to compare the efficacy of conventional mandibular and implant-supported overdentures in diabetic edentulous patients with clinically acceptable metabolic control. Method. A total of 102 diabetic patients, treated with or without insulin, were randomized to receive a new maxillary denture and either a conventional or an implant-supported removable mandibular overdenture. Treatment was completed for 89 patients, 37 with the conventional and 52 with implant-supported dentures. Detailed examinations, tests, and questionnaires were given before and at 6- and 24-months after treatment completion. Comparisons between the two treatment groups were made for treatment failures based on prespecifed criteria and the type and amount of maintenance care provided. Results. The insulin and noninsulin treated groups were collapsed because of the lack of significant differences at entry. The conventional denture and implant-supported overdenture groups were similar in terms of general demographics, medical status, quality of their original dentures and denture support, several functional measures, and patient satisfaction. Treatment was judged to be successful in 56.9% of patients with conventional dentures and 72.1% with overdentures. This difference in success rate was not statistically significant ( p > 0.05). Patients with treatment failures in both groups required excessive maintenance care. Those with conventional dentures needed frequent denture base adjustments and relines, whereas those with overdentures required frequent clip replacements and repairs. Although significant improvements were seen with both treatment modalities, a higher percentage of patients with implant-supported overdentures than those with conventional dentures reported improvements in chewing comfort and moderate-to-complete overall satisfaction. (J Prosthet Dent 1998;79:555-69.)
Vitamin D metabolism and function in the skin.

The keratinocytes of the skin are unique in being not only the primary source of vitamin D for the body, but in possessing the enzymatic machinery to metabolize vitamin D to its active metabolite 1,25(OH)2D. Furthermore, these cells also express the vitamin D receptor (VDR) that enables them to respond to the 1,25(OH)2D they produce. Numerous functions of the skin are regulated by 1,25(OH)2D and/or its receptor. These include inhibition of proliferation, stimulation of differentiation including formation of the permeability barrier, promotion of innate immunity, and promotion of the hair follicle cycle. Regulation of these actions is exerted by a number of different coregulators including the coactivators DRIP and SRC, the cosuppressor hairless (Hr), and β-catenin. This review will examine the regulation of vitamin D production and metabolism in the skin, and explore the various functions regulated by 1,25(OH)2D and its receptor.
Between Business and Bureaucrats: Pingtan Storytelling in Maoist and Post-Maoist China

This article examines the complex relationship of the state, market, and artists in pingtan storytelling in post-1949 China. By focusing on Su Yuyin, a pingtan storyteller, and his performing career, this article explores the persistence of cultural markets after the Communist victory in 1949 and argues that the market continued to play a significant role in shaping China’s popular culture, which the government was keen on patronizing and politicizing. By comparing the regime’s management of pingtan storytelling before and after the Cultural Revolution (1966—1976), this article further argues that the regime’s censorship of popular culture in the 1950s and 1960s was handicapped by its lack of financial resources and the continued existence of cultural markets. The result was that censorship was not as strictly and efficiently enforced as has been assumed.
Polymer-coated long-circulating microparticulate pharmaceuticals

The field of long-circulating microparticulate drug carriers is reviewed. The protective effect of certain polymers including poly(ethylene glycol) on nanoparticulate carriers (liposomes, nanoparticles, micelles) is considered in terms of statistical behaviour of macromolecules in solution. Using liposomes as an example, the mechanism is discussed assuming that surface-grafted chains of flexible and hydrophilic polymers form dense 'conformational clouds' preventing other macromolecules from interaction with the surface even at low concentrations of the protecting polymer. The scale of the protective effect is interpreted as the balance between the energy of the hydrophobic anchor interaction with the liposome membrane core or with the particle surface and the energy of the polymer chain free motion in solution. The possibility of using protecting polymers other than poly(ethylene glycol) is analysed, and examples of such polymers are given, based on polymer-coated liposome biodistribution data. General requirements for protecting polymers are formulated. Sterically protected nanoparticles and micelles are considered, and differences in steric protection of liposomes and particles are discussed. The problem of the preparation of drug carriers combining longevity and targetability is analysed. The biological consequences of steric protection of drug carriers with surface-grafted polymers are discussed, and possible clinical applications for long-circulating pharmaceutical carriers are considered.
Presternal peritoneal catheter.

The swan neck presternal catheter is composed of 2 flexible (silicon rubber) tubes joined by a titanium connector at the time of implantation. The exit site is located in the parasternal area. The catheter located on the chest was designed to reduce the incidence of exit site infections compared to peritoneal dialysis catheters with abdominal exits. From August 1991 to September 30, 2001, 974 swan neck presternal catheters were implanted worldwide. At the university of Missouri, 150 of these catheters were implanted and followed for over 130 patient years. Presternal catheters tended to perform better than swan neck abdominal catheters regarding exit and tunnel infections, even though they were implanted in several patients in whom regular catheters with the exit on the abdomen would be difficult or impossible to implant. Two-year survival probability of presternal catheters was 0.95. Recurrent/refractory peritonitis was the only reason for catheter failure. The catheter is particularly useful in obese patients (body mass index >35), patients with ostomies, children with diapers and fecal incontinence, and patients who want to take baths without the risk of exit contamination. Many patients prefer presternal catheter because of better body image. Disadvantages of the presternal catheter are minimal. Compared with abdominal catheters, dialysis-solution flow is slightly slower because of the increased catheter length; however, slower flow is insignificant clinically. There is a possibility of catheter disconnection in the tunnel, but this complication is extremely rare in adults and easily corrected. Finally, the implantation technique is more challenging compared with that of single-piece, abdominal catheters.
Contexts, functions, forms, and processes of collaborative everyday problem solving in older adulthood

The present paper reviews the extant literature on collaborative everyday problem solving in older adulthood and explicates the contexts, functions, forms, and processes of collaboration in daily life. In this review, we examine collaboration as it occurs in the daily lives of older adults in addition to the specified intelligence-like tasks more typical of the current literature. Drawing from multiple literatures that have examined collaboration, including sociocultural perspectives within child development, life-span cognition, educational psychology, and social psychology, we illuminate the changing contexts of collaboration across the life span and examine the role of potential collaborators, the multiplicity of forms and functions of collaboration, and the social processes that may facilitate or hinder collaborative performance.
The hydration dynamics of polyelectrolyte gels with applications to cell motility and drug delivery

We combine the physics of gels with the hydrodynamics of two-phase fluids to construct a set of equations that describe the hydration dynamics of polyelectrolyte gels. We use the model to address three problems. First, we express the effective diffusion constants for neutral and charged spherically distributed gels in terms of microscopic parameters. Second, we use the model to describe the locomotion of nematode sperm cells. Finally, we describe the swelling dynamics of polyelectrolyte gels used for drug release.
Older patients with cardiac devices: the need for better patient-doctor conversations

In the fall of 2013, our 86-year-old dad, Robert Drye, a heart failure patient, mentioned to us that his cardiologist was going to repair his cardiac device. Dad has an implanted dual-chamber pacemaker and defibrillator (pacemaker/implantable cardioverter-defibrillator [ICD]) that will pace his heartbeat if it beats too slowly and provide a shock if he develops a life-threatening irregular rhythm. His cardiologist could not get a recording off the device, presumably because of a failure of the wire that connects it to the heart’s rhythm system. He referred Dad to his electrophysiologist, his cardiologist specializing in heart rhythm problems. The specialist informed Dad that the failing lead might cause the pacemaker/ICD to fire inappropriately and proposed performing a procedure to disable the lead and place a working one. He told Dad he would have to stay in the hospital overnight. He did not mention any risks of the procedure other than infection. We were ambivalent about the ICD procedure. In fact, it is fair to say we were biased against it; one of us helped develop a national ICD complications quality measure and the other is a palliative care doctor. We were both well aware of the risks but not sure of the benefit. We decided we should share our reservations with Dad and make sure that having the device repaired was the right decision for him. Our dad was living at home but seemed to be increasingly frail. Seven years before, Dad had a cardiac arrest. A sudden block in the blood flow to his heart damaged the heart muscle and caused a usually fatal heart arrhythmia called …
Pulse-width-modulation schemes for an integrated traction and compressor drive system

This paper presents pulse-width-modulation schemes for an integrated traction and compressor drive system for automotive applications. The integrated drive system employs a five-leg inverter to control a three-phase traction motor and a two-phase compressor motor and can significantly reduce the component count of the compressor drive for heating, ventilating and air-conditioning in fuel cell and hybrid electric vehicles. Because the common terminal of the two-phase motor is tied to the neutral point of the three-phase traction motor, PWM schemes that generate a zero-sequence voltage to the three-phase motor may produce an unwanted zero-sequence current. This paper presents PWM strategies for the two-phase motor to avoid this zero-sequence current and discusses in detail three commonly used three-phase PWM schemes. Experimental results are included to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Women be Healthy: Evaluation of a Women's Health Curriculum for Women with Intellectual Disabilities

Background Insufficient attention has been paid towards treating the unique health needs of women with intellectual disabilities. This paper describes an 8-week curriculum, ‘Women Be Healthy’, developed for women with intellectual disabilities to help them become more equal partners in their health care. The curriculum includes psycho-education, coping skills training, exposure to the medical setting and assertiveness training. Materials and methods Twenty-two women completed assessments of health knowledge, health behaviour beliefs and coping strategies, prior to and following participation in the 8-week curriculum, which took place in a group setting at a clinic for people with intellectual disabilities. Results Women showed significant improvements in health knowledge, health behaviour beliefs and coping strategies following intervention, and maintained some of these treatment gains (health knowledge and health behaviour beliefs) at a 10-week follow-up. Conclusions ‘Women Be Healthy’ is an example of a group-based intervention that helps women with intellectual disabilities become more knowledgeable and perhaps more comfortable with health-care procedures.
Effects of dance on upper extremity activities in underserved adults

AbstractPurpose:This secondary analysis examined the immediate and maintaining effects of a 12-week line-dancing intervention on upper and lower extremity activities in underserved adults who receive care from a nurse-managed clinic (NMC).Data sources:This one-group, repeated measures, feasibility s
Enrollment with a primary care provider does not preclude ED visits for patients with woman’s health–related problems

Abstract Objective The Affordable Care Act places primary care at the cornerstone of health maintenance. It is believed that increasing access to primary health care providers will limit emergency department (ED) use. This study examines woman's health–related ED visits by patients enrolled in an obstetric/gynecologic (OB/GYN) clinic. Methods A database was created combining patient information from a hospital-affiliated OB/GYN clinic and the electronic medical records from the ED of the affiliated hospital. This database was used to evaluate woman's health–related ED use by patients registered in this OB/GYN clinic compared with patients not affiliated with the clinic. Results Over an 23-month period, there were 41,791 ED visits made by 21,223 individual women >12 years of age. A total of 7251 (17.4%) of the ED visits were for OB/GYN-related conditions. There were 6430 individual women registered at the OB/GYN clinic, 1411 (22.0%) of whom made 2415 woman's health–related visits to the ED. Of the OB/GYN-related ED visits by clinic patients, 1794 (74.3%) were made during weekdays and 1023 (42.3%) were made during hours when the clinic was open for care. Study patients had diagnostic studies beyond a urine analysis or pregnancy test performed during 61% of ED visits, with an admission rate of 2%. Conclusion Enrollment with a primary care provider alone does not eliminate the need for ED use in women with health-related conditions.
Comparison of regulatory features among primate lentiviruses.

It has been more than a decade since the description of primate lentiviruses as the etiological agents for immunodeficiencies (Barre—Sinoussi et al. 1983; Gallo et al. 1984; Levy et al. 1984; Clavel et al. 1986). Since that time, besides the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2), molecular isolates of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs; Desrosiers 1990), as well as related viruses in cattle, cats, sheep, and goats, have been obtained. For HIVs and SIVs, extensive nucleotide sequencing information is available; the sequences from 30 or more individual HIV isolates and 20 or more SIV isolates are available in one recent compilation (Myers et al. 1992a). Based on this information, the phylogenetic relationship between (and among) HIVs and SIVs has been proposed (reviewed in Desrosiers 1990; Myers et al. 1992b). From this perspective, we can operationally categorize the primate lentiviruses into four groups, represented by (a) HIV-1 and SIVcpz; (b) SIVsmm, SIVmac, and HIV-2; (c) SIVagm; and (d) SIVmnd (Desrosiers 1990; Myers et al. 1992b).
Coordination factors in adaptive scheduling for soft real-time cooperative tasks: a performance study

In the complex work environments of modern industrial and administrative organisations, the problems of articulating distributed activities are at a high order of complexity. To master these complexities, we adopt a reflective system architecture. With such architecture the necessary adaptability for complex real-time systems can be attained. The advantage of the coordination mechanism (help) defined in this paper is to allow multi-agent systems to reason about their performance in terms of missed soft deadlines and completeness and to adapt to dynamic environments.
Biomarkers of some pulmonary diseases in exhaled breath

Analysis of various biomarkers in exhaled breath allows completely non-invasive monitoring of inflammation and oxidative stress in the respiratory tract in inflammatory lung diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), bronchiectasis and interstitial lung diseases. The technique is simple to perform, may be repeated frequently, and can be applied to children, including neonates, and patients with severe disease in whom more invasive procedures are not possible. Several volatile chemicals can be measured in the breath (nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia), and many non-volatile molecules (mediators, oxidation and nitration products, proteins) may be measured in exhaled breath condensate. Exhaled breath analysis may be used to quantify inflammation and oxidative stress in the respiratory tract, in differential diagnosis of airway disease and in the monitoring of therapy. Most progress has been made with exhaled nitric oxide (NO), which is increased in at...
Pipelined VLSI recursive filter architectures using scattered look-ahead and decomposition

The authors explore various approaches to pipelining recursive digital filters. A past attempt to pipeline directly from recursive filters was based on clustered look-ahead computation, which leads to a linear increase in hardware with respect to the number of loop pipeline stages. However, the pipelined filters derived using this technique are not guaranteed to be stable. The authors introduce a new look-ahead approach (referred to as scattered look-ahead) to pipeline recursive filters in a way that guarantees stability. They also propose a decomposition technique to implement the nonrecursive portion (generated due to the scattered look-ahead) in a decomposed manner (for cases where the number of loop pipeline states is a power of two) to obtain pipelined realizations of logarithmic implementation complexity with respect to the number of loop pipeline stages (as opposed to linear). Based on the scattered look-ahead technique, they present fully pipelined and fully hardware efficient bidirectional linear systolic arrays and unidirectional ring arrays for implementation of high speed recursive digital filters. >
OA04.02. Mechanisms of growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer by omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Purpose Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are widely considered health promoting. We have previously reported that the omega-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) inhibits growth of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) cells in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanism underlying the effects of EPA in PaCa cells is unknown. Methods
Linking Genes to Cardiovascular Diseases: Gene Action and Gene–Environment Interactions

A unique myocardial characteristic is its ability to grow/remodel in order to adapt; this is determined partly by genes and partly by the environment and the milieu interieur. In the "post-genomic" era, a need is emerging to elucidate the physiologic functions of myocardial genes, as well as potential adaptive and maladaptive modulations induced by environmental/epigenetic factors. Genome sequencing and analysis advances have become exponential lately, with escalation of our knowledge concerning sometimes controversial genetic underpinnings of cardiovascular diseases. Current technologies can identify candidate genes variously involved in diverse normal/abnormal morphomechanical phenotypes, and offer insights into multiple genetic factors implicated in complex cardiovascular syndromes. The expression profiles of thousands of genes are regularly ascertained under diverse conditions. Global analyses of gene expression levels are useful for cataloging genes and correlated phenotypes, and for elucidating the role of genes in maladies. Comparative expression of gene networks coupled to complex disorders can contribute insights as to how "modifier genes" influence the expressed phenotypes. Increasingly, a more comprehensive and detailed systematic understanding of genetic abnormalities underlying, for example, various genetic cardiomyopathies is emerging. Implementing genomic findings in cardiology practice may well lead directly to better diagnosing and therapeutics. There is currently evolving a strong appreciation for the value of studying gene anomalies, and doing so in a non-disjointed, cohesive manner. However, it is challenging for many-practitioners and investigators-to comprehend, interpret, and utilize the clinically increasingly accessible and affordable cardiovascular genomics studies. This survey addresses the need for fundamental understanding in this vital area.
Genetic identification of cryptic juveniles of little skate and winter skate

As the morphological discrimination of winter skate Leucoraja ocellata and little skate Leucoraja erinacea juveniles is unreliable, a genetic assay, based on the restriction digest with Sty I of a segment of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene, capable of discriminating the species was developed. The reliable identification of species can be used to improve the accuracy of population assessment models.
Evoked Vocal Responses Change with Experience in Male Physalaemus pustulosus

The acquisition of signals used in intrasexual communication is not well studied. To better understand the possible contribution of early experience to the acquisition of intrasexual responses, we reared Neotropical Tungara frogs, Physalaemus pustulosus, in four acoustic environments: 1) conspecific chorus, 2) heterospecific chorus, 3) acoustic isolation, and 4) noise. For the heterospecific chorus, we chose the calls of a congener, P. enesefae, with which P. pustulosus is sympatric in parts of its distribution. We measured the evoked vocal responses (EVR) of these frogs in response to calls of the conspecifics, to calls of the congener, and to calls representing an intermediate between the two species. Male P. pustulosus reared hearing the calls of P. enesefae produced more calls overall and more complex calls in response to the call of P. enesefae. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the EVR of male anurans can be influenced by early experience and is the product of an interaction between genes ...
Global Inequalities in Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality are Linked to Deprivation, Low Socioeconomic Status, and Human Development.

Objectives This study examined global inequalities in cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates as a function of cross-national variations in the Human Development Index (HDI), socioeconomic factors, Gender Inequality Index (GII), and healthcare expenditure. Methods Age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates were calculated for women in 184 countries using the 2008 GLOBOCAN database, and incidence and mortality trends were analyzed using the WHO cancer mortality database. Log-linear regression was used to model annual trends, while OLS and Poisson regression models were used to estimate the impact of socioeconomic and human development factors on incidence and mortality rates. Results Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates varied widely, with many African countries such as Guinea, Zambia, Comoros, Tanzania, and Malawi having at least 10-to-20-fold higher rates than several West Asian, Middle East, and European countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Switzerland. HDI, GII, poverty rate, health expenditure per capita, urbanization, and literacy rate were all significantly related to cervical cancer incidence and mortality, with HDI and poverty rate each explaining >52% of the global variance in mortality. Both incidence and mortality rates increased in relation to lower human development and higher gender inequality levels. A 0.2 unit increase in HDI was associated with a 20% decrease in cervical cancer risk and a 33% decrease in cervical cancer mortality risk. The risk of a cervical cancer diagnosis increased by 24% and of cervical cancer death by 42% for a 0.2 unit increase in GII. Higher health expenditure levels were independently associated with decreased incidence and mortality risks. Conclusions and Public Health Implications: Global inequalities in cervical cancer are clearly linked to disparities in human development, social inequality, and living standards. Reductions in cervical cancer rates are achievable by reducing inequalities in socioeconomic conditions, availability of preventive health services, and women’s social status. Key Words: Cervical cancer • Incidence • Mortality • Global inequality • Human development • Gender inequality • Social inequality • Poverty • Literacy • GNI per capita.
The emotional impact of injury following an international terrorist incident.

BACKGROUND: Terrorism represents a major public health threat throughout the world. Bombings of the United States Embassies in East Africa in 1998 resulted in extensive physical and emotional casualties. METHODS: This study examined posttraumatic stress reactions, worry, and feelings of safety in the workplace in the context of injury in a convenience sample of 21 individuals directly exposed to the bombing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Eight months postbombing, participants completed a self-report instrument examining demographics, exposure, injury, initial reaction, posttraumatic stress, worry, and feelings of safety in the workplace. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. The "Impact of Event Scale-Revised" measured current posttraumatic stress. RESULTS: Report of injury predicted posttraumatic stress, intrusion, and arousal but not avoidance/numbing. Injury and intrusion were significant predictors of ongoing worry. CONCLUSIONS: Even relatively minor injury may be associated with ongoing posttraumatic stress and worry. The participants in the sample were all highly exposed which, along with the small sample size, may have limited the ability to establish other expected relationships. Language: en
Misalignment of watershed and jurisdictional boundaries: the importance of scale

The misalignment of the boundaries of watersheds and jurisdictions is cited often as a barrier to effective water governance, but the validity of the assertion depends on watershed scale and the decisions or processes involved. The paper probes these decision processes and their alignment with scales of natural watersheds and with governance processes. Two examples from the USA provide context and data to inform the discussion, one from the humid eastern part and one from the drier western part. Ultimately, the spatial and governance scales determine the complexity of decisions. The major issue is the level and nature of negotiations and how stakeholders communicate and work with each other to resolve issues in a form of pragmatic federalism, where the concept merges into decentralization to the subwatershed level. At smaller scales, negotiations can be worked out in person-to-person venues but at larger scales institutions have their own trajectories and inertia. Ultimately, watershed boundaries can be effective for joint planning and assessment, but decisions follow governance patterns. Basin boundaries do provide venues for coordination mechanisms to mediate conflicts.
Captures of Protaphorura fimata (Collembola: Poduromorpha: Onychiuridae) on Beet and Potato Baits in the Salinas Valley of California

Abstract Protaphorura fimata Gisin (Collembola: Poduromorpha: Onychiuridae) feeds on the germinating seeds of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), causing severe stand losses in the northern Salinas Valley of California. Because there is no grower-friendly tool available to monitor P. fimata in the commercial lettuce fields to guide management decisions, we examined the potential utility of potato slices (Solanum tuberosum L.), typically used to monitor garden symphylan, Scutigerella immaculata Newport, and beet slices (Beta vulgaris L.) as baits for P. fimata capture and compared them with P. fimata extracted from the soil using the Berlese funnel method. Results suggest that both potato and beet slices were attractive to P. fimata as they captured greater numbers of P. fimata when deployed in the soil than were extracted using a Berlese funnel. Between beet and potato, beet slices captured significantly greater numbers of P. fimata than potato slices in both years. In addition, two experiments were conducted t...
Deictic teleassistance

We present a simple sign language for teleassistance inspired by the work of the Bernstein (1967) and by psychophysical evidence in hand-eye coordination. In our schema, a teleoperator uses hand signs to guide an otherwise autonomous robot manipulator through a given task. Each sign signals a context switch and provides a hand-centered reference frame for the robot's servomotor routines. The signs are natural, such as pointing to an object to indicate the desire to reach toward it as well as the axis along which to reach. These signs are called deictic from the Greek word for pointing to stress their indicative and relative nature. The task example is opening a door using a Utah/MIT hand mounted on a Puma 760 arm. The teleoperator wears an EXOS hand master and polhemus sensor. Three variations of nearest neighbor pattern classification are tested for online recognition of the sign language. The simplest, in which the operator signs each pose once before starting, is the best for this task. The dual-control strategy of teleassistance combines teleoperation and autonomous servo control to their advantage. The use of a symbolic sign language helps to alleviate many problems inherent to literal master/slave teleoperation. Conversely, the integration of global operator guidance and hand-centered coordinate frames permits the servo routines to position the robot in relative coordinates and interpret feedback within a constrained context, significantly simplifying the computation and reducing the need for detailed task models. >
UV photo-chlorination and -bromination of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Electron-withdrawing halogen atoms are often bonded to the surface of carbon nanotubes to assist in the conversion from metallic to semiconducting properties. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were surface modified using UV photolysis with: (i) a broad band of wave lengths from approximately 250 to 400 nm having a maximum intensity at approximately 300 nm for photolysis of Cl2, (ii) low-pressure Hg lamps emitting 253.7 nm photons for photo-decomposition of HBr, and (iii) low-pressure Hg lamps emitting both 253.7 and 184.9 nm for photo-dissociation of HCl and HBr, respectively, and analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Chlorine atoms adhered more readily than bromine atoms with the π-conjugation of the SWCNTs. The dominant increase with treatment was observed in the singly bonded chlorine moiety. Chlorine atoms, generated by UV photolysis of Cl2, produced a higher Cl saturation level of approximately 36 at.% than previously observed for multi-walled carbon nanotubes (13 at.%).The degree of chlorination depended on the amount of oxygen on the surface of the SWCNTs. Photo-dissociation of gaseous HCl and HBr showed lower amounts of halogenation on SWCNTs (approximately 5.8 at.% Cl and 2.5 at.% Br, respectively) than photolysis of Cl2.
The relationship between endemic fluorosis and geographical enviroment in the west-river region

Objective The west-river passway is severe fluorosis areas by means of finding out the relationship between the feature of geographical enviroment and geological enviroment and endemic fluorosis. Methods Combine epidemiology with geograph and geology investigation methods to sort geographical enviroment. geological enviroment and the distribution of fluoride content of groundwater in this areas. Results Rock and mineral accumulated fluoride provide fluoride sources for this areas;meanwhile the dry and less rain climate make fluoride content accumulated and increased. Shallow layer groundwater is largely evaporated, furthermore make fluoride content increased; less river and worse groundwater runoff make fluoride gathered in low-lying land by weathering and leaching. Thus this induces high fluoride areas in alluvial fan of mountainous region in northern mountain and saline-alkalilc marsh on the edge of phreatic the prevalence of endemic fluorosis in west-river region. Conclusions Geographical enviroment and climate play important roles in fluorosis areas.
Considerations about the Aspirin and Tranexamic Acid for Coronary Artery Surgery (ATACAS) trial

The results of the Aspirin and Tranexamic Acid for Coronary Artery Surgery (ATACAS) trial have recently been published (1). The vast majority of patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are undergoing chronic therapy with aspirin once daily. It is therefore not surprising that the debate on perioperative aspirin is extremely actual. In their article, Myles et al. report that among patients undergoing CABG the administration of preoperative aspirin resulted in neither a lower risk of death or thrombotic complications nor a higher risk of bleeding than that with placebo.