cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
STEM-in-SEM method for morphology analysis of polymer systems

Abstract Applicability of STEM-in-SEM for polymer characterization, particularly for a manufacturing environment, was explored through analysis of a wide range of commercially significant polymer systems. STEM-in-SEM studies of engineering thermoplastic blends and composites, using samples prepared for TEM studies, showed excellent comparison to TEM micrographs. Important structural details of multi-phase polymer systems could be easily obtained, even when using a thermionic SEM. High quality images were obtained from STEM-in-SEM, and enabled the study of commonly monitored features such as overall morphology, identification of component phases, assessment of compatibility between discrete and continuous phases, and the dispersion and distribution of the discrete components. STEM-in-SEM proved to have additional advantages for polymer systems with low contrast between phases, or beam-sensitive samples, which are highly challenging for TEM imaging. Combining the large field of view with the high magnification range in an SEM, it was also possible to successfully study large-scale phenomena, such as crack propagation. High flexibility of STEM-in-SEM over TEM for design changes is also demonstrated to allow for handling of a large number of samples and a lower turnaround time per sample. An increase in productivity by about 50% was obtained for STEM-in-SEM with a 12-sample carousel vs. a conventional single-sample STEM-in-SEM or TEM.
A 72-year-old man with a purpuric rash.

He has multiple medical problems and a new rash that appeared 2 weeks ago. Now he presents to the emergency department confused and diaphoretic. What is the cause of his symptoms?
Diagnostic Exercise: Epithelioid Hemangiosarcoma Mimicking Metastatic Prostatic Neoplasia in a Dog:

A 10-year-old intact male Labrador Retriever dog was euthanized because of rapid deterioration after suffering from mild chronic cough, hematuria, acute blindness, ataxia, and lethargy. Clinical examination revealed blepharospasm and hyphema, with clear discharge from the right eye; a firm mass in an enlarged right testicle; a mass in the irregularly enlarged prostate; and nodules in the left kidney, liver, and spleen detected by abdominal sonography. Cytologic evaluation of fine needle aspirates from the prostate, testis, and kidney comprised large, clustered or individualized, anaplastic cells that lacked convincing tissue differentiation. Necropsy examination revealed an irregularly enlarged prostate with dark tan to red zones and multiple, discrete, beige to dark red nodules that ranged from 0.5 to 6 cm in diameter in the lung, liver, left kidney, right testis, colon wall, stomach wall, and brain. On histologic examination, discrete nests of anaplastic carcinoma-like tumor cells were found in sections...
On almost sure convergence of the quadratic variation of Brownian motion

We study the problem of a.s. convergence of the quadratic variation of Brownian motion. We present some new sufficient and necessary conditions for the convergence. As a byproduct we get a new proof of the convergence in the case of refined partitions, a result that is due to Levy. Our method is based on conversion of the problem to that of a Gaussian sequence via decoupling.
Selectins influence thrombosis in a mouse model of experimental deep venous thrombosis

Background. This study characterizes venous thrombosis in the mouse and examines the important role that the adhesion molecules P-selectin and E-selectin and the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) play in the thrombotic process. Materials and methods. C57BL/6 (wild-type) mice in a natural history protocol (Phase I) and gene-targeted (KO) mice for P-selectin, E-selectin, P/E-selectin, and IL-10 in a follow-up protocol (Phase II) were studied. Inferior vena caval thrombosis was produced by ligation just below the renal veins, and mice were sacrificed and evaluated at various time points up to 12 days later. Results. Phase I: A significant increase in neutrophils on day 2 and in monocytes on day 6 postthrombosis was found in ligated vs sham animals. An associated significant increase in vein wall P-selectin mRNA (6 h, day 2) and an increase in protein (6 h through day 6) were found, while E-selectin mRNA was significantly increased (day 2 through day 6), with a smaller increase in E-selectin protein. IL-10 mRNA increased significantly later (day 2 through day 9), with the values increasing progressively. A positive correlation existed (r = 0.77) between neutrophils and thrombosis at day 2. Phase II: The E-selectin and P/E-selectin double-KO mice showed the least thrombus at day 2 vs wild-type clotted mice, P < 0.01. Additionally, P/E-KO mice demonstrated the lowest inflammatory cell extravasation into the vein wall at day 2. Conclusions. This study demonstrates an acute to chronic inflammatory response in the vein wall associated with venous thrombosis. Inhibition of selectins decreased thrombus formation.
Why Do Parents Homeschool? A Systematic Examination of Parental Involvement:

Although homeschooling is growing in popularity in the United States, little systematic research has focused on this population. Grounded in the parental involvement literature, this study examines...
JLP Associates with Kinesin Light Chain 1 through a Novel Leucine Zipper-like Domain

Scaffolding proteins exist in eukaryotes to properly assemble signaling proteins into specific multimeric functional complexes. JLP is a novel leucine zipper protein belonging to a family of scaffolding proteins that assemble JNK signaling modules. JLP is a proline-rich protein that contains two leucine zipper domains and a highly conserved C-terminal domain. We have identified kinesin light chain 1 (KLC1) as a binding partner for the second leucine zipper domain of JLP using yeast two-hybrid screening. The interaction domain of KLC1 was mapped to its tetratripeptide repeat, which contains a novel leucine zipper-like domain that is crucial for the interaction with JLP. Mutations of Leu-280, Leu-287, Val-294, and Leu-301 within this domain of KLC1 disrupted its ability to associate with JLP. Immunofluorescence studies showed that JLP and KLC1 co-localized in the cytoplasm and that the localization of JLP was dependent on its second leucine zipper. Ectopic expression of a dominant negative form of KLC1 resulted in the mislocalization of endogenous JLP. Moreover, the association between JLP and KLC1 occurred in vivo and was important in the formation of ternary complex with JNK1. These results identify a novel protein-protein interaction between KLC1 and JLP that involves leucine zipper-like domains and support the role of motor proteins in the spatial regulation of signaling modules.
Myocardial deformation recovery from cine MRI using a nearly incompressible biventricular model

This paper presents a method for biventricular myocardial deformation recovery from cine MRI. The method is based on a deformable model that is nearly incompressible, a desirable property since the myocardium has been shown to be nearly incompressible. The model uses a matrix-valued radial basis function to represent divergence-free displacement fields, which is a first order approximation of incompressibility. This representation allows for deformation modeling of an arbitrary topologies with a relatively small number of parameters, which is suitable for representing the motion of the multi-chamber structure of the heart. The myocardium needs to be segmented in an initial frame after which the method automatically determines the tissue deformation everywhere in the myocardium throughout the cardiac cycle. Two studies were carried out to validate the method. In the first study the myocardial deformation was recovered from a 3D anatomical cine MRI sequence of a healthy volunteer and then validated against the manual segmentation of the biventricular wall and against the corresponding 3D tagged cine MRI sequence. The average volume agreement between the model and the manual segmentation had a false positive rate of 3.2%, false negative rate of 2.8% and true positive rate of 91.4%. The average distance between the model and manually determined intersections of perpendicular tag planes was 1.7mm (1.2 pixel). The same procedures was repeated on another set of 3D anatomical and tagged MRI scans of the same volunteer taken four months later. The recovered deformation was very similar to the one obtained from the first set of scans. In the second study the method was applied to 3D anatomical cine MRI scans of three patients with ventricular dyssynchrony and three age-matched healthy volunteers. The recovered strains of the normal subjects were clearly stronger than the recovered strains of the patients and they were similar to those reported by other researchers. The recovered deformation of all six subjects was validated against manual segmentation of the biventricular wall and against corresponding tagged MRI scans. The agreement was similar to that of the first study.
Valproate potentiates and picrotoxin antagonizes the anxiolytic action of ethanol in a nonshock conflict task.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the indirect GABA agonist valproate and the indirect GABA antagonist picrotoxin on the anxiolytic (anti-conflict) activity of ethanol in a behavioral conflict task that does not employ electroshock. This task (negative contrast) quantifies how animals respond to an abrupt, unexpected reduction in reward. Treatment with valproate alone did not elevate depressed behavior engendered by abrupt reduction in reward. However, when administered together with a sub-effective dose of ethanol(0.5 g/kg), valproate (50–200 mg/kg) dose-dependently potentiated the anxiolytic action of ethanol. Picrotoxin (2 mg/kg) antagonized the anxiolytic effects of a larger dose of ethanol (1.0 g/kg) given alone, as well as the ability of valproate to enhance the anxiolytic effects of smaller dose of ethanol (0.5 g/kg). As such, these data support a role for GABA in mediating the anxiolytic activity of ethanol.
Photooxidation of crude oils

Photooxidation is a potentially significant process in the degradation of crude oil spilled at sea. Moreover, a fundamental understanding of the effect of photochemical degradation on crude oil is a prerequisite for providing an accurate description of the recent history and potential fate of oil spilled in a marine environment. In this report we examine the effect of ultraviolet illumination on crude oil using a variety of techniques including gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The saturated compounds are resistant, but the aromatic compounds are particularly sensitive to photooxidation. Greater size and increasing alkyl substitution increase the sensitivity of aromatic compounds to photochemical oxidation. The photooxidized products appear in the resin and polar fractions as determined by thin-layer chroma tography. Thus, the effect of photooxidation is distinctly different from that of biodegradation, where larger and more substituted compounds are more resistant to...
Diffusion-weighted imaging in acute bacterial meningitis in infancy

Bacterial meningitis is frequently fatal or leads to severe neurological impairment. Complications such as vasculitis, resulting in infarcts, should be anticipated and dealt with promptly. Our aim was to demonstrate the complications of meningitis by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in patients who deteriorated despite therapy. We studied 13 infants between the ages of 1 day and 32 months who presented with symptoms ranging from fever and vomiting to seizures, encephalopathy and coma due to bacterial meningitis, performing MRI, including DWI, 2–5 days after presentation. Multiple infarcts were found on DWI in 12 of the 13, most commonly in the frontal lobes (in 10). Global involvement was seen in four children, three of whom died; the fourth had a very poor outcome. In one case abnormalities on DWI were due to subdural empyemas. We diagnosed vasculitis in three of five patients studied with MRA. We think DWI an important part of an MRI study in infants with meningitis. Small cortical or deep white-matter infarcts due to septic vasculitis can lead to tissue damage not easily recognized on routine imaging and DWI can be used to confirm that extra-axial collections represent empyemas.
The campus at the University of Maryland at Baltimore

The University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMAB) is an urban professional school campus. Its 36 acres include 39 buildings, both historic and new. The campus fabric is marked by diversity. The new facilities master plan was developed to reflect the strategic planning process for the campus. Design guidelines are intended to create a common theme while still encouraging each building to have a unique identity. The new Health Sciences Library/Information Services building will sit diagonally from Davidge Hall, built in 1812 and the symbolic center of the campus.
Mev Ion Induced Modification of the Native Oxide of Silicon

We have studied the native oxide of silicon (110) and the changes roduced by MeV ion bombardment using transmission ion channeling of 5.9 MeV 9Be, and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA). Transmission channeling was used to measure interfacial nonregistered Si and adsorbed C and 0. ERDA was used to measure the surface concentration of H. MeV ions were found to cause an increase in the interfacial nonregistered silicon which saturates at approximately one monolayer. Rapid desorption of hydrogen was observed. The effect of 2 keV electrons on the silicon native oxide was also studied by Auger Electron Spectroscopy.
An Analysis of Discrimination between African‐American and Women Police Officers: Are There Differences? Similarities?

Discrimination in the workplace has been particularly troubling for minorities and women. This is especially the case in traditional male dominated professions such as policing and the fire service. This article examines discrimination between African Americans and women who are police officers. In the article we set out to accomplish four primary objectives, to: (1) provide a brief overview of the theoretical explanations of discrimination; (2) examine the early roles of women and African‐American police officers; (3) discuss the findings of discrimination against women and African‐American police officers with a review of the subsequent commission reports aimed at eliminating discrimination; and (4) to conclude with a discussion centering on the expanded roles of African Americans and women in policing, and specific recommendations to minimize discrimination in police organizations.
Selenium-based drug design: rationale and therapeutic potential.

The wide media coverage given recently to a study correlating higher selenium levels with a reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer is but the latest addition to a growing body of epidemiological findings which link dietary selenium deficiency to diseases as diverse as cancer, heart disease, arthritis and AIDS. Indeed, selenium has a long history of association with human health and disease. Moreover, direct evidence is now emerging for specific beneficial effects of dietary selenium supplementation. Thus, the pharmacology, biology and biochemistry of selenium metabolism have become subjects of intense current interest. At the molecular level, selenium (as selenocysteine) is an essential component of the active sites of the enzymes glutathione peroxidase, iodothyronine 5′-deiodinase and mammalian thioredoxin reductase, and is also present in several other mammalian selenoproteins. Both glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin reductase catalyse reactions essential to the protection of cellular components a...
Lifetime of the He2(a3Σ+u metastable helium molecule in electron-bombarded solid helium☆

Abstract The diffusion limited lifetime of the He2(a3Σ+u) metastable helium molecule in electron-bombared solid helium has been found to be nearly the same as its lifetime in similarly excited liquid helium.
An online spatio-temporal association rule mining framework for analyzing and estimating sensor data

A sensor network is a valuable new form of collective computational instrumentation by virtue of its ability to sense physical quantities of interest and to transmit such readings via sub-networks of nodes/computers for processing. Such computing environment typically generates massive amounts of data rapidly in real-time. These infinite volumes of online time-series are formally characterized as data streams. The wealth of fast incoming data streams presents both overhead and logistic challenges for sensor network applications. In this research, we introduce an online data mining framework to serve as an overhead-bounded knowledge discovery tool for sensornet applications. Our framework extends the notions of traditional association rules to multivariate continuous data and uses spatio-temporal correlations to make intelligent inferences about the monitored variables. Our mining framework is additionally pertinent to data estimation, which is an important capability given the inevitability of data loss/corruption with the current sensornet technology. Experimentation shows efficiency of our approach both in terms of overhead cost and quality of missing data estimates.
Adiponectin and adiponectin receptors in the mouse preimplantation embryo and uterus

background: Adiponectin (Adipoq), a protein secreted by adipocytes in inverse proportion to the adipose mass present, modulates energy homeostasis and increases insulin sensitivity. Tissue Adipoq signaling decreases in settings of maternal diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis, conditions which are associated with reproductive difficulty. Our objective was to define the expression and hormonal regulation of Adipoq and its receptors in the mouse preimplantation embryo and uterus. methods and results: By real-time quantitative PCR, mRNA transcripts for Adipoq, AdipoR1, AdipoR2, Ppara, Ppard, FATP1 (SLC27A1) and acyl CoA oxidase (Acox1) were identified in mouse 2-cell and 8-cell embryos, while blastocyst stage embryos and trophoblast stem (TS) cells expressed mRNA for all genes except Adipoq. Protein expression of Adipoq, AdipoR1, AdipoR2, the insulin sensitive transporters GLUT8 (Slc2A8), GLUT12 (Slc2A12) and p-PRKAA1 was identified by immunofluorescence staining in all stages of preimplantation embryos including the blastocyst. In situ hybridization demonstrated the presence of Adipoq, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA in the mouse decidual cells of the implantation site and in artificially decidualized cells, and the expression of these proteins was confirmed by western blotting. Flow cytometry confirmed cell surface expression of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 in TS cells and decidual cells. conclusions: These results suggest for the first time that Adipoq signaling may play an important role in preimplantation embryo development and uterine receptivity by autocrine and paracrine methods in the mouse. Implantation failures and pregnancy loss, specifically those experienced in women with maternal metabolic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and PCOS, may be the result of aberrant Adipoq and AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 expression and suboptimal decidualization in the uterus.
Dynamic Groupcast Traffic Grooming in WDM Networks

Groupcast communication is gaining momentum due to the increasing demands of bandwidth-intensive parallel computing and collaborations. Groupcast is a multipoint-to-multipoint communication pattern, where one or more member nodes in a group are allowed to send traffic with various rates to all other members within the group. Efficient implementation of groupcast requires in-group or cross-group traffic grooming. This paper studies the application of traffic grooming to support dynamic groupcast provisioning in WDM networks with ring and mesh topologies. The design issues such as routing, in-group and cross-group traffic grooming and traffic sub-grouping are addressed.
Changing the language of change: how new contexts and concepts are challenging the ways we think and talk about organizational change

This article proposes that our current terminology and conceptual language for organizational change make it difficult to address the range of changes confronting contemporary organizations. Difficulties discussed include ambiguous and imprecise ways of talking about organizational change, changing organizational contexts that require new ways to think and talk about change, and dealing with implicit assumptions about change that may not be relevant in a world of continual change. A matrix of change scenarios is presented and the term ‘morphing’ is introduced to describe continuous whole-system change in hyperactive business environments. Concepts, assumptions and metaphors associated with ‘altered consciousness’ and self-organizing ‘complex adaptive systems’ are also discussed as alternative ways to think and talk about transformational change. Implications discussed include the need to be specific and self-reflective when thinking and talking about organizational change, and to rethink a possible over-reliance on mechanistic, engineering or planned movement concepts, metaphors and word imagery. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular weight of the major acidic glycoprotein of horse erythrocyte membrane

Abstract We describe a method for determining the subunit molecular weight of membrane glycoproteins which aggregate strongly in aqueous solutions. The sedimentation equilibrium technique which we use is completely thermodynamic in nature and makes no assumptions about the nature of the sedimenting species. We report experiments on the major acidic glycoprotein of horse erythrocyte membranes in 5 m guanidine hydrochloride. The partial specific volume and parameters describing the preferential interaction of the protein with guanidine are measured using a differential density method involving sedimentation equilibrium measurement in H 2 O and in D 2 O. We find the effective partial specific volume (φ′) to be rather small (0.30–0.38) implying strong preferential binding of guanidine to the protein. We find a molecular weight o1f 113,000 ± 10,000 which is in substantial disagreement with other estimates of the subunit molecular weight of the sialo protein of erythrocyte membrane. We conclude that either the subunits are so tightly aggregated that 5 m guanidine hydrochloride fails to disaggregate them or that the Na dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis method leads to a substantial underestimate of the subunit molecular weight. Circular dichroism measurements indicate the helix content of the protein to be similar in 5 m guanidine and in phosphate buffer.
Indirect Crossover of Psychological Contract Underfulfillment: A Leader—Member Analysis

A total of 84 pairs of supervisors and subordinates participated in this dyadic study exploring how unique evaluations of psychological contracts can crossover from leaders to members. Results indicate that when leaders reported more psychological contract underfulfillment (PCUF), they communicated their strain to members in the form of cynicism, emotional displays, and exploring different job opportunities. Additionally, despite controlling for leader—member exchange, cynicism communicated by the leaders to members about organization underfulfillment maintained a significant mediating crossover relationship between leader and member PCUF. Findings suggest that leaders’ experiences with their unique contracts may influence how members experience PCUF.
Psychodynamic and Neurological Perspectives on ADHD: Exploring Strategies for Defining a Phenomenon

This article is a discourse analysis of two historical inquiries into what clinici-ans today call attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Of primary con-cern in this regard are psychodynamic perspectives towards ADHD symptoms, championed by psychoanalysts and psychologists, and neurological perspectives towards ADHD, which continue to favor a purely physiological approach to understanding the disorder. Those within the psychodynamic camp are inclined to view ADHD as an interactional difficulty between self and social environment - a condition best remedied by psychotherapy. Those within the neurological camp see ADHD as a specific brain process, whose effective treatment depends upon adequate psychopharmacology. This essay argues that both psychodynamic and neurological perspectives towards ADHD have strategized to legitimate one perspective through the expulsion of the other. Within the current era of ADHD nomenclature and treatment it is clear that neurological perspectives dominate the debate. However, neurological perspectives continue to be haunted by a considerable amount of skepticism, both nationally and internationally. Because of this it would be difficult to assert that neurological perspectives, though winning the “legitimation race” in contemporary understandings of ADHD, are entirely monolithic sources of ADHD knowledge.
Evaluation of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma for Improving Photoelectrochemical Response of Titania Photoanodes

A synergistic combination of nanostructure synthesis and surface engineering was used to enhance the photoelectrochemical activity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanodes. Titania nanotubular arrays were synthesized by electrochemical anodization of Ti thin foils. An atmospheric-pressure helium plasma followed by exposure to nitrogen was used to modify the surface properties of TiO2 nanotubes. The photocurrent from plasma-treated samples was approximately 25% higher than that from untreated samples. This increase in photoactivity could be ascribed to the following: 1) increased absorption of visible light due to bandgap reduction; 2) efficient charge separation; 3) production of optimal oxygen vacancies; and 4) increased surface area and, hence, enhanced electrode-electrolyte area to provide maximum optical adsorption and efficient charge transfer. The diffused reflectance Ultraviolet-visible (DR-UV-Vis) absorption spectra indicated a marginal increase in absorbance for the plasma-treated samples in the visible region, suggesting a change in surface electronic structure, although bulk electronic properties remain unchanged during plasma treatment.
S100 Protein Subcellular Localization During Epidermal Differentiation and Psoriasis

S100 proteins are calcium-activated signaling proteins that interact with target proteins to modulate biological processes. Our present studies compare the level of expression, and cellular localization of S100A7, S100A8, S100A9, S100A10, and S100A11 in normal and psoriatic epidermis. S100A7 and S100A11 are present in the basal and spinous layers in normal epidermis. These proteins appear in the nucleus and cytoplasm in basal cells but are associated with the plasma membrane in spinous cells. S100A10 is present in basal and spinous cells, in the cytoplasm, and is associated with the plasma membrane. S100A8 and S100A9 are absent or are expressed at minimal levels in normal epidermis. In involved psoriatic tissue, S100A10 and S100A11 levels remain unchanged, whereas, S100A7, S100A8, and S100A9 are markedly overexpressed. The pattern of expression and subcellular localization of S100A7 is similar in normal and psoriatic tissue. S100A8 and S100A9 are strongly expressed in the basal and spinous layers in psoriasis-involved tissue. In addition, we demonstrate that S100A7, S100A10, and S100A11 are incorporated into detergent and reducing agent-resistant multimers, suggesting that they are in vivo transglutaminase substrates. S100A8 and S100A9 did not form these larger complexes. These results indicate that S100 proteins localize to the plasma membrane in differentiated keratinocytes, suggesting a role in regulating calcium-dependent, membrane-associated events. These studies also indicate, as reported previously, that S100A7, S100A8, and S100A9 expression is markedly altered in psoriasis, suggesting a role for these proteins in disease pathogenesis.
The application of subband coding in MPEG for prioritized ATM networks

This paper describes a novel application of subband coding to the MPEG-I video compression algorithm. This scheme yields a higher signal-to-noise ratio at a fixed bit rate compared to existing techniques such as truncation. Simulations performed both with and without motion compensation illustrate the improved subjective visual quality as well as the temporal behavior of the video. Furthermore, these performance gains are unaffected by motion compensation and, hence, can be exploited by any MPEG coder. The algorithm has direct practical significance for layered video coding applications and telecommunications. >
Rpad: open source in action

Rpad is an open-source, interactive, Web-based analysis program. Rpad is an analysis package, a Web-page designer, and a GUI designer all wrapped in one. This paper covers the architecture of Rpad and how it draws on a number of open-source technologies. Demonstrations show how such technology has been used for data mining of outage databases. Open-source software is very good for piecing together technologies.
Suppurative Mediastinitis after Open Heart Surgery: A Case Control Study of Risk Factors

Suppurative mediastinitis occurred in 68 of 9,965 patients (0.7 percent) who underwent median sternotomy at Emory University Hospital from 1973 through 1982. Case-control methodology was used to identify preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative risk factors for the development of poststernotomy mediastinitis. The following 12 individually significant risk factors were identified by univariate analysis: preoperative factors : history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), history of prior sternotomy, pyuria, low ejection fraction, and high left ventricular end-diastolic pressure; intraoperative factors : valvular or aortic aneurysm surgery, prolonged bypass pump time, repeat placement on bypass, duration of surgery; and postoperative factors : surgical reexploration due to postoperative hemorrhage, cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the immediate postoperative period, prolonged time (>48 hours) on mechanical ventilation. By logistic regression analysis, three of these factors were found to be associated independently with increased odds of developing mediastinitis: duration of surgery, history of COPD, and prolonged postoperative mechanical ventilation.(Chest 1988; 94:546-53)
Stable Isotope Evidence for the Adoption of Maize Agriculture

Over the past three decades, dozens of studies have produced carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data on early human bones and teeth from North America. Because these data record individual diets, they provide one way to test various hypotheses about the uptake and continued dependence on maize agriculture that is complementary to floral, paleopathological, and demographic approaches to the same problem. The δ13C values in the organic fraction of bone (bone collagen) plotted against those in the mineral fraction of bone (bone apatite) from several regions across North America reveal that not all human groups responded in the same way to maize agriculture. Rather there was variation between and within geographic regions. Similarly, the δ15N values in bone collagen from sites from across the southeastern United States show variation in dependence on maize and on marine foods that cannot be fully explained by geography or technical expertise. In combination, the data emphasize the need to consider social forc...
A decision model which considers qualitative factors

Today's key business decisions are frequently based solely on the judgement of 'technical experts'. While this may be the ultimate decision point, a more effective method would be to compare the alternative courses of action on the basis of some quantifiable measure. This problem is resolved by developing a mathematical model which includes qualitative factors in the quantitative analysis.
Shielding TCP from last hop wireless losses

The pervasiveness of the transport control protocol (TCP) and the proliferation of wireless local area networks (WLAN) of the 802.11 type make the topic of TCP performance over last hop wireless networks very relevant. The Snoop protocol, a link layer solution introduced several years ago to improve the performance of TCP in this scenario, has been shown to neglect its benefits to the most widely used TCP version, TCP SACK. In this paper, we introduce the TCP SACK-Aware Snoop protocol to address this problem. Our results indicate that the TCP SACK-Aware Snoop protocol improves the performance of TCP SACK by around 30% compared with the original Snoop protocol and by about 8% in an environment where no TCP enhancing mechanism is in place. In addition, we introduce further modifications to the proposed protocol to make its advantages available to any TCP sender. We also show that the mechanism does not introduce unfairness among TCP sources and somewhat protects TCP against UDP traffic. Our results show important throughput improvements to all TCP versions and demonstrate that the TCP SACK-Aware Snoop protocol shields TCP from last hop wireless losses providing throughtput values very close to the maximum possible. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clinical outcome of respiratory failure in patients requiring prolonged (> 24 hours) mechanical ventilation

Patients requiring prolonged (>24 hours) mechanical ventilation have various conditions that result in respiratory failure. All patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation were subdivided into the following six groups: (1) uncomplicated acute lung injury; (2) respiratory failure complicated by multisystem failure; (3) previous lung disease; (4) trauma; (5) other medical causes; and (6) routine postoperative ventilation. During a one-year period, 327 patients required prolonged mechanical ventilation; acute lung injury and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the predominant conditions. Sepsis was both the major predisposing factor for and complication of acute lung injury. Mortality for patients with acute lung injury was 40 percent in the uncomplicated group and 81 percent in patients with acute lung injury complicated by multisystem failure. Acute respiratory failure in association with acute renal failure had a mortality of 89 percent. Number of organ systems involved also correlated with mortality. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonitis or retained secretions, mortality was lower (30 percent), but a significant percentage of these patients (43 percent) became ventilator-dependent. Ventilator dependence did not significantly increase mortality during the course of respiratory failure.
Situational Factors In Conformity1

Publisher Summary Conformity to the group is a complex phenomenon, which should be differentiated into several distinct psychological processes, and has often been contrasted with nonconformity or independence. This chapter describes the various aspects of conformity, public compliance and private change, conditions of responding, characteristics of the group, and nature of the task. Nonconformity consists of two conceptually distinct types of behavior, and may reflect independence, or it may actually be anticonformity. These three types of behavior—conformity, independence, and anticonformity—are related to each other as the apexes of a triangle. It makes a great deal of difference whether agreement with the group is public compliance, or true private change, or whether nonconformity represents independence or anticonformity. Although, there have been a few studies of generalization of conformity, little is known of the generality of conformity, and investigations have not been conducted on the generality of conformity across situations outside the laboratory. A subject in a conformity situation has information and beliefs about several important features of the situation: the task, other members of the group, and the experimenter. Theories of conformity, which have been advanced in recent years, include psychoanalytic, cognitive, reinforcement, and even mathematical models. Research should be directed toward understanding the variables that affect nonconformity, as well as conformity.
The Effects of Temperature, Body Size, and Hydration State on the Terrestrial Locomotion of the Crayfish Orconectes Rusticus

Abstract Although crayfishes can locomote effectively on land, their walking performance may be affected by ambient temperatures and by their body size and hydration state. We used a racetrack timing system and videotaping to monitor the speeds, stride lengths, and stride frequencies of Orconectes rusticus in relation to body mass at temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C. We similarly evaluated the locomotor performances of crayfish subjected to desiccating conditions at 25°C. Speed increased significantly with body mass with a scaling exponent of 0.18. This resulted primarily from a significant size-related increase in stride length. Walking speeds were greatest at the intermediate temperatures (25 and 30°C). This relationship was almost entirely due to thermally dependent adjustments in stride frequency. The crayfish were relatively intolerant of water loss, and locomotion ceased at a mean loss of only 9% of their initial body mass. Walking speed decreased significantly with increasing water loss, du...
NCSX MAGNETIC CONFIGURATION FLEXIBILITY AND ROBUSTNESS

The National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) will study the physics of low-aspect ratio, high-β, quasi-axisymmetric stellarators. To achieve the scientific goals of the NCSX mission, the devi...
High-Resolution Core-Level Photoabsorption of Alkali Halides

The X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) of single-crystal alkali halide salts have been measured at low temperature (T=80 K). By employing the electron partial-yield detection technique, spectra of NaF, NaCl, and NaBr were obtained near the sodium K-edge and spectra of LiF, NaF, and KF were obtained near the fluorine K-edge. All spectra showed sharp features at the absorption threshold and broader absorption features extending 50–80 eV above threshold. The high energy resolution of the soft X-rays (ΔE/E = 4000) allowed the detection of previously unobserved fine structure, particularly in the near-edge region. The narrow features below and just above threshold are attributed to core-level excitons. The intense, broader peaks further above threshold are assigned to single-electron scattering resonances. An ab initio multiple-scattering calculation is used to model the latter effect. Contributions from atomic multielectron excitations, estimated by a comparison to the K-edge photoabsorption spectrum of Ne in the gas phase, are found to be very small.
Simulating Interfacial Thermal Conductance at Metal-Solvent Interfaces: The Role of Chemical Capping Agents

With the non-isotropic velocity scaling (NIVS) approach to reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (RNEMD), it is possible to impose an unphysical thermal flux between different regions of inhomogeneous systems such as solid/liquid interfaces. We have applied NIVS to compute the interfacial thermal conductance at a metal/organic solvent interface that has been chemically capped by butanethiol molecules. Our calculations suggest that coupling between the metal and liquid phases is enhanced by the capping agents, leading to a greatly enhanced conductivity at the interface. Specifically, the chemical bond between the metal and the capping agent introduces a vibrational overlap that is not present without the capping agent, and the overlap between the vibrational spectra (metal to cap, cap to solvent) provides a mechanism for rapid thermal transport across the interface. Our calculations also suggest that this is a nonmonotonic function of the fractional coverage of the surface, as moderate coverages allow...
The Case of Affirmative Action in Undergraduate Admissions in the United States and Brazil

Affirmative action policies were created to ensure equality and fairness for racial/ethnic minorities, and women. These policies are controversial in two large multi-racial nations that have long histories of racial inequality; the United States and Brazil. The role of affirmative action policies in higher education admissions decisions begs the question of whether this policy will be sustained or fail in either of these nations. This paper uses extensive review of the current literature on affirmative action in the U.S. and Brazil and hypothesizes that affirmative action will eventually end in one nation and slowly continue to grow in another.
Stability of Radial Basis Function Methods for Convection Problems on the Circle and Sphere

This paper investigates the stability of the radial basis function (RBF) collocation method for convective problems on the circle and sphere. We prove that the RBF method is Lax-stable for problems on the circle when the collocation points are equispaced and the transport speed is constant. We also show that the eigenvalues of discretization matrices are purely imaginary in the case of variable coefficients and equispaced nodes. By studying the $$\epsilon $$∈-pseudospectra of these matrices we argue that approximations are also Lax-stable in the latter case. Based on these results, we conjecture that the discretization of transport operators on the sphere present a similar behavior. We provide strong evidence that the method is Lax-stable on the sphere when the collocation points come from certain polyhedra. In both geometries, we demonstrate that eigenvalues of the differentiation matrix deviate from the imaginary axis linearly with perturbations off the set of ideal collocation points. When the ideal set is impractical or unavailable, we propose a least-squares method and present numerical evidence suggesting that it can substantially improve stability without any increase to computational cost and with only a minor cost to accuracy.
Molecular associations of major histocompatibility complex antigens: probing the complexity of cell surface receptors.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily, have a central role in immunity. Additionally, there is considerable evidence that these molecules have other roles to play as well 11). This evidence ranges from genetic correlations beween MHC genotype and cell, and even whole-animal, physiology [2], to immunochemical and biophysical demonstrations that the class 1 antigens are physically associated with peptide hormone and other surface receptors (references are summarized in 111). The function of these associations is not known, but they may well originate with the ancestral molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily. Understanding the extent, nature and functional consequences of MHC antigenlreceptor associations would give us insights into the evolutionary origins of MHC antigens, and into larger issues of the evolution and maintenance of polymorphism in populations. We are still in the early stages of our search for this understanding and so still documenting MHC/receptor associations. This paper will discuss four approaches to demonstrating complexes of class 1 MHC antigens with two other cell surface molecules, the class I1 MHC antigens, and the receptor for the T-cell growth factor interleukin 2 (IL-2). Three of these approaches show associations or proximity of molecules in the cell surface. The fourth shows associations of isolated molecules. Each of the four complements the others. All four are independent of the function of the molecules of interest and hence their results are easier to obtain and to interpret than studies of the inhibitory effects of anti
Effect of exercise on fluid balance and renal function in horses.

Exercise causes profound alterations in cardiovascular function and fluid balance. Left unchecked, these fluid and electrolyte losses can lead to cardiovascular and thermoregulatory instability and decreased performance. Exercise-induced changes in renal function are a major route for restoration of fluid and electrolyte balance in the athletic horse. The kidney plays a major role in the integrative response to exercise training. This article reviews recent comparative literature on the effects of acute and chronic exercise on fluid and electrolyte balance and renal function.
An economic analysis comparing the cost feasibility of replacing injection molding processes with emerging additive manufacturing techniques

Additive manufacturing (AM) has proliferated in recent years and is displacing traditional manufacturing methods in numerous applications due to improvements in process efficiencies and cost reductions related to the evolving AM processes. This study explores the cost structure and break-even points of AM versus traditional methods. The comparative analysis examined the cost requirements of AM versus injection molding to manufacture various lot sizes of parts. Break-even points based on lot sizes and the relationship to the overall cost structure were also calculated. This research concludes that break-even points may be calculated based on part mass, density, and lot size.
Arsenite Genotoxicity May Be Mediated by Interference with DNA Damage-inducible Signaling

Publisher Summary Although high concentrations of dimethylated As species can be genotoxic in some systems, arsenite is considered the most likely carcinogenic form of arsenic (As). DNA is not directly damaged by arsenite nor is arsenite significantly mutagenic in mammalian cells at relatively nontoxic concentrations. Arsenite causes chromosome aberrations, aneuploidy, cell transformation, and gene amplification in many cell types. At nontoxic concentrations, arsenite enhances the mutagenicity of UV and small alkylating agents. This suggests that arsenite carcinogenesis may require a partner, such as UV light. Arsenite inhibits the completion of repair of methyl nitrosourea-induced DNA damage. The inhibition by arsenite of the completion of DNA base excision repair appears to occur via effects on DNA ligation, the last step of excision repair. However, neither DNA ligases nor DNA polymerases can be inhibited by arsenite concentrations many-fold higher than those inhibitions by arsenite of DNA repair enzymes (ligases or polymerases). Rather, arsenite may affect cellular control of DNA repair processes.
Heterogeneous knowledge distribution in MMO player behavior

Current examinations of expertise in the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) domain focus primarily on player performance; explorations of player knowledge, however, have the opportunity to meaningfully supplement these studies. Including player knowledge in MMO studies provides the framework needed for a detailed examination of the role of experience and community membership in defining engaged MMO players within a larger population of potential players. Using the Community of Practice framework, we developed a measure of participant's knowledge of MMO specific language to identify individuals who actively engage with other players, a constantly shifting subpopulation who are meaningfully different than those who are not actively participating. We used membership in a community of practice, as determined by our knowledge assessment, to examine the effectiveness of broader demographic questions and more MMO specific demographic questions in creating a predictive model of membership. Our findings indicate that demographics specific to MMO players are more predictive of membership than those used for a general population. Consequently, we recommend that future studies use knowledge-based measures to identify a subpopulation of engaged MMO players within a larger population, allowing researchers to describe their effects with greater precision. Using objective instead of subjective means to measure MMO experience is critical.We created an objective knowledge assessment (MDFE) to assist MMO game researchers.We administered demographics and the MDFE to MMO players and non-players.The MDFE was valid and reliable; MMO specific questions predicted scores.General demographics were less predictive of MDFE scores.