cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A silver impregnated antimicrobial dressing reduces hospital length of stay for pediatric patients with burns.

We sought to study whether the application of a novel silver impregnated antimicrobial dressing (Aquacel ®Ag, ConvaTec, Princeton, NJ) affects the hospital length of stay in pediatric patients with partial-thickness burns. A retrospective review of Burn Registry Data from a large children's hospital burn unit was conducted to answer this question. Pediatric patients admitted with partial-thickness burns treated with Aquacel ®Ag from January 2005 through August 2005 were included in the study (n = 39). The comparison group of patients treated with silver sulfadiazine (SSD®; Par Pharmeceuticals, Woodcliff, NJ) cream was matched for age and %TBSA burned from the same time period the previous year (n = 40). Analysis was conducted for intent to treat. Mean length of stay for control patients treated with SSD® was significantly longer (8.36 days) compared with Aquacel Ag-treated patients (4.48 days; p =.002, t-test for unequal variances). Length of stay for both groups was significantly associated with %TBSA burned (p <.001, r 2 =.38). Post-hoc analysis controlling for %TBSA burned revealed an adjusted mean length of stay for the control group that was longer than that of the Aquacel ®Ag group (5.9 days vs. 3.8 days, respectively). These data confirm that application of a new burn dressing (Aquacel Ag) reduces hospital length of stay. Reduction in the complexity and number of dressing changes needed with use of Aquacel ®Ag, in combination with significantly reduced length of stay, should result in a significant cost savings in the care of this patient population.
Dislocation Rates Following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty Have Plateaued in the Medicare Population

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of larger femoral head diameters, in combination with recent practice including enhanced soft tissue choices and various operative exposure choices has led to any further decline in dislocation rates. 51,901 patients undergoing primary THA were identified from 5% Medicare Part B (physician/carrier) claims between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2011. Dislocation rate at 6 months following THA was 2.84% over the study period (1997-2011). From 2005 to 2011, dislocation rates following primary THA have plateaued in the United States at approximately 2%. This suggests that the full benefits using large femoral head sizes are now realized. For further improvement in dislocation rates, a greater emphasis will be required on patient selection, surgical technique and component alignment.
Combing the hairball with BioFabric: a new approach for visualization of large networks

The analysis of large, complex networks is an important aspect of ongoing biological research. Yet there is a need for entirely new, scalable approaches for network visualization that can provide more insight into the structure and function of these complex networks. To address this need, we have developed a software tool named BioFabric, which uses a novel network visualization technique that depicts nodes as one-dimensional horizontal lines arranged in unique rows. This is in distinct contrast to the traditional approach that represents nodes as discrete symbols that behave essentially as zero-dimensional points. BioFabric then depicts each edge in the network using a vertical line assigned to its own unique column, which spans between the source and target rows, i.e. nodes. This method of displaying the network allows a full-scale view to be organized in a rational fashion; interesting network structures, such as sets of nodes with similar connectivity, can be quickly scanned and visually identified in the full network view, even in networks with well over 100,000 edges. This approach means that the network is being represented as a fundamentally linear, sequential entity, where the horizontal scroll bar provides the basic navigation tool for browsing the entire network. BioFabric provides a novel and powerful way of looking at any size of network, including very large networks, using horizontal lines to represent nodes and vertical lines to represent edges. It is freely available as an open-source Java application.
Phase II trial of vincristine infusion in acute leukemia

A phase II trial of prolonged IV infusions of vincristine was conducted in 21 patients with refractory acute leukemia. Patients received 0.25-0.50 mg/m2 by infusion daily for 5 days after an initial 0.5-mg bolus. A partial response was observed in one of two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Of 14 patients with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia, a complete response lasting for 2.5 months occurred in one patient and a partial response lasting 1.3 months was observed in a second. No objective responses were noted in five patients with blast crisis of chronic granulocytic leukemia. Nonhematologic toxicity was minimal and, when present, generally consisted of a feeling of weakness; constipation, mucositis, and areflexia were also observed. Hematologic toxicity consisted mainly of mild to moderate reduction of platelets in most patients; marked thrombocytopenia (less than 50,000/mm3) occurred in two patients whose pretreatment platelet count was greater than 100,000/mm3. Although generally well tolerated, prolonged infusion of vincristine appears to have limited activity in the treatment of refractory acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia and blast crisis of chronic granulocytic leukemia; further evaluation is needed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia refractory to conventional bolus injection.
Enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance and high-spin polarization at room temperature in a polystyrene-coated Fe 3 O 4 granular system

Polystyrene-coated ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ nanoparticles through surface engineering exhibit an intergranular tunneling magnetoresistance (MR) ratio of 22.8% at room temperature and a maximum MR of 40.9% at $110\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. The drastic enhancement of the MR ratio clearly suggests that there is high degree of spin polarization even at room temperature for half metallic ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$. The estimated spin polarization $P$ is about 54% and 83% at room temperature and $110\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, respectively.
Clinical experience with nonthoracotomy cardioverter defibrillators

A new generation of defibrillators has been introduced that do not require a thoracotomy. The purpose of this report was to examine 100 consecutive nonthoracotomy implantations at our institution and compare them with a series of 102 patients undergoing thoracotomy implantations by the same surgeon over a 4-year period between August 1989 and September 1994. The two groups were comparable for age, sex, comorbidity, cardiac disease status, ejection fraction, and electrophysiologic presentation. Nonthoracotomy systems were implanted successfully in 94% of patients. Patients undergoing a nonthoracotomy implantation had significantly shorter intensive care unit (1.7 ± 1.7 versus 3.3 ± 3.9 days; p p p
Consistency and variability among college students in rating their teachers and courses: A review and analysis

As indicated by the reliability of individual ratings, college students are only moderately consistent in rating their teachers and courses, although these modest interrater associations do produce substantial reliabilities for composite ratings when the ratings of at least 20 to 25 students in a class are averaged together. The patterning and correlates of variability of student ratings within classes are examined. Certain attributes and experiences of students are weakly related to their ratings, and inconsistently so, across studies; others are more strongly and consistently related. Various correlates of student ratings have also been found to interact as well as linearly combine with one another in their association with ratings. Moreover, certain kinds of “fit” between teachers and different students in their classes are related to ratings. Whether various correlates of within-class ratings are to be interpreted as biasing factors or as natural influences on social perception is analyzed in terms of whether students' ratings are objective descriptions or subjective, evaluative reactions.
Glycemic Index of Ten Common Horse Feeds

Abstract Two 6 × 6 Latin-square designed experiments examined the glycemic responses to 10 common equine feeds in six Quarter Horse mares. At 8:00 am of the sampling days, horses were offered a meal of 1 of 10 common feeds. The amount of feed offered was calculated on an isocaloric basis at 4 Mcal digestible energy per meal. Jugular blood samples were collected for 300 minutes after feeding, and plasma was analyzed for glucose concentration. The results showed that plasma glucose values peaked approximately 90 to 120 minutes after eating, whereas glycemic index (GI) values ranged from 7 to 129 based on a standard of oats set at a GI of 100. The four feeds with the highest GI values (sweet feed, corn, jockey oats, and oats) were greater (P
The Use of Autogenous Hip Marrow in the Treatment of Juvenile Periodontosis: A Case Report

SCHALLHORN 1 HAS REPORTED on the use of autogenous hip marrow biopsies in the treatment of infra-bony craters. The authors are unaware of any report on the use of autogenous hip marrow for the treatment of periodontosis. This particular case utilized two slightly different approaches as compared to that reported by Schallhorn. The hip marrow was not obtained by a biopsy method, but rather a cut-down was performed on the anterior iliac crest. After the marrow was ob­ tained, it was frozen in nutrient mixture F122 contain­ ing 10% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The viability of mammalian cells frozen in DMSO has been found to be greater than those frozen in culture media supplemented with glycerol,3 as per Schallhorn. A 15 year old Negro female presented with severe vertical bone loss and associated pocket formation of 8-12 mm on the maxillary central incisors, mandibular central incisors, maxillary right first molar, maxillary left first molar and mandibular left first molar. The maxillary and mandibular central incisors had migrated labially and an associated diastema was present in both arches. There was no pocket formation or bone loss present on the mandibular right first molar. There was no apparent reason to explain this rather unusual find­ ing. The gingival condition and alveolar bone level in the rest of the oral cavity was normal with a sulcular depth of 0-3 mm. The medical history was negative and there was no systemic findings to explain the un­ usual localized bone loss.
SU(2) × SU(2) breaking and the Cabibbo angle

Abstract In a recent investigation of the transformation properties under chiral SU(3) × SU(3) of the hadron energy density H ( X ) Gell-Mann, Oakes and Renner have assumed the form H = H − H 0 − CU 8 where H is SU(3) × SU(3) invariant while U 0 and U 8 belong to the representation (3 ∗ , 3) + (3, 3 ∗ ) and have found the constant C to be near the value − 2 , which corresponds to the limit in which the subgroup SU(2) × SU(2) remains an exact symmetry with the conservation of the axial-vector currents being realized through massless pions. Here we pursue the question of the SU(3) × SU(3) transformation properties of H ( X ) further and investigate the deviations from the limiting case C = − 2 under specific assumptions regarding the origin of the breaking of SU(2) × SU(2). Our main assumption is that chiral SU(2) × SU(2) breaking in strong interactions (C ≠ − 2 , m π ≠ 0) and the non-conservation of strangeness in weak interactions (Cabibbo angle θ ≠ 0) derive from a common origin. We find that all the small parameters C + 2 , m π /m K and θ are simply related to each other and that the hadron energy density H ( X ) constains in addition a term U 3 , belonging to the same (3 ∗ , 3) + (3, 3 ∗ ) representation of determined strength which also breaks SU(2) and thus contributes to certain mass shifts, e.g., K + − K o , along with the usual electromagnetic interaction. Numerically the comparison with experiment is favourable lending support to our assumptions regarding the breaking of SU(2) × SU(2).
Identity status theory and Erikson's theory: Communalities and differences

Abstract Cote and Levine's (1988, Developmental Review 8, 147–184) critique of identity status theory focuses on two questions: (a) whether the theory can appropriately be considered as “Eriksonian” theory and (b) whether the theory and the research it has generated has furthered an understanding of the nature of identity or its development. While it is readily acknowledged that the terminology employed within identity status theory differs in some important respects from that used by Erikson, the usages are conceptually related and most often compatible. The numerous points of theoretical communality between identity status theory and Erikson's theory are sufficient to justify the claim that those using the identity status paradigm are working from a foundation provided by Erikson. The numerous points of theoretical differences between the theories reveals the extent of independence between the two perspectives. Responses are also provided to a number of specific criticisms of the identity status paradigm including those pertaining to (a) the “continuum concept,” (b) the developmental implications of the paradigm, (c) elitism, (d) ethnocentrism, and (e) construct underrepresentation. The contributions of the identity status paradigm to date and the future of identity research are also discussed.
Re-examination of the equations of poroelasticity

Abstract For the mechanical behavior of poroelastic media, the method of homogenization has been applied to derive effective equations on the macroscale, for a matrix with a periodic structure on the microscale. In existing theories the resulting effective equations are linear, which not only confirm the phenomenological theory of Biot [ J. Appl. Phys. 12 , 155–165 (1941)], but also provide a theoretical framework for calculating the constitutive coefficients. We point out that all past authors applied the continuity of displacement and stresses at the initial and undeformed solid-water interface; this implies that the solid displacement, due either to global or local strain, must be much smaller than the granular or pore size. Here we shall allow the matrix displacement corresponding to the global strain to be comparable to the granular size, and show that the resulting effective equations are non-linear in general. The constitutive coefficients of the non-linear terms nevertheless vanish under two conditions: (i) when the global-scale deformation is also much smaller than the granular size, and (ii) when the global-scale deformation is comparable to the granular or pore size, but the microcell geometry is symmetric with respect to three orthogonal planes. The first limit is trivial and is no different from the existing theories. The second limit is not trivial and shows the robustness of the linearized equations. The result suggests that the linear effective equations may be adequate even for practical problems involving not-too-small deformation or loading, as long as the microscale geometry is isotropic in the statistical sense.
Optimal Production Planning by a Gradient Technique I. First Variations

A gradient technique baaed on the first variations is used to solve a production scheduling problem with known sales forecasting. The function to be minimized is the sum of the costs derived from holding inventories, stockouts, and the deviation of the production rate from the optimal rate for the plant. This technique has the advantage of being able to investigate problems with a large number of state variables and can also be extended to multiproduct, multifacility operations with complex interconnections.
Effects of interactions of two moving lines on single unit responses in the cat's visual cortex.

Abstract The responses of single units were recorded with extracellular microelectrodes from the visual cortex of cats. Response histograms were collected to stimuli which consisted of two narrow parallel lines of different separations moving through each neuron's receptive field. The majority of units showed a clear decrease in both peak and total response when the separation of the stimulating lines averaged about 0·5. Some units showed an enhancement of their response at separations greater than or less than this. This enhancement could only sometimes be correlated with a “bimodal” excitatory response to a single line.
Isolation and characterization of an active-site peptide from a sterol methyl transferase with a mechanism-based inhibitor

Chemical affinity labeling of pure sterol methyl transferase (SMT) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae using the mechanism-based irreversible inhibitor, [3-3H]26,27-dehydrozymosterol, inhibited the SMT with an apparent Ki of 1.1 microM and k(inact) of 1.52 min(-1). The protein-inhibitor adduct was subjected to cleavage with trypsin and the resulting covalently modified peptide was analyzed by Edman sequencing from the N-terminus. The radiochemically labeled ca. 5.0 kDa peptide fragment of the cleavage mixture was shown to be contiguous through 17 residues to a segment that includes a highly conserved hydrophobic motif (Region I, stretching between T78 and F91) characteristic of SMT enzymes. The results confirm that Region I is the sterol binding/active site.
Neural markers for immediate performance accuracy in a Stroop color-word matching task: An event-related potentials analysis

The present study examined the neural markers measured in event-related potentials (ERPs) for immediate performance accuracy during a cognitive task with less conflict, i.e., a Stroop color-word matching task, in which participants were required to judge the congruency of two feature dimensions of a stimulus. In an effort to make ERP components more specific to distinct underlying neural substrates, recorded EEG signals were firstly dissolved into multiple independent components (ICs) using independent component analysis (ICA). Thereafter, individual ICs with prominent sensory- or cognitive-related ERP components were selected to separately reconstruct scalp EEG signals at representative channels, from which ERP waveforms were built, respectively. Statistical comparisons on amplitudes of stimulus-locked ERP components, i.e., prefrontal P2 and N2, parietal P3, bilateral occipital P1 and N1, revealed significant reduced P3 amplitude in error trials than in correct trials. In addition, significant evident ERN was also observed in error trials but not in correct trials. Considering the temporal locus of semantic conflict in the present task, we concluded that reduced P3 amplitude in error trials reflect impaired resolving process of semantic conflict, which further lead to a performance error in the Stroop color-word matching task.
B74-21 Patern Classification and Scene Analysis

This book covers most of the major topics in pattern recognition at a level appropriate to a new student of the field. Therefore it can be very useful as a textbook either for an introductory graduate, or an advanced undergraduate course. The authors have deliberately played down the mathematical formalism (no long or rigorous proofs) and assumed only that background which students in such courses are expected to have. They supply numerous problems and quite a few illustrative and instructive examples. One attractive feature is the critical evaluation of many of the techniques discussed which their own experience enables them to do. I enjoyed reading statements like the one on p. 179 about the literature on linear discriminant functions. Finally each chapter is followed by extensive historical and bibliographical remarks.
How well do the DSM-5 alcohol use disorder designations map to the ICD-10 disorders?

Background The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10), both establish diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders. The dimensional severity perspective provided by the DSM-5 may overlap in important ways but also may diverge from the categorical harmful use versus dependence designations presented by the ICD-10. It is especially important to consider the convergence of these 2 diagnostic approaches as the DSM is widely used by clinicians, but the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently required that providers bill for services using the ICD-10 designations. Methods Data from 6,871 male and 801 female admissions to a state prison system were used to compare the DSM-5 severity index for alcohol use disorder to the ICD-10 clinical and research formulations for harmful use and dependence. Results The DSM-5 and the ICD-10 were highly convergent for the most severe alcohol use disorders and also for those who did not receive a diagnosis. Most DSM-5 moderate alcohol use disorder cases were classified as dependence cases under both the clinical and research ICD criteria. In contrast, there was much more variation in the DSM mild cases. These were divided into categories of harmful use or misuse, depending on whether the clinical or research ICD criteria were applied. Results were similar among male and female inmates. Conclusions The DSM-5 and ICD-10 exhibit a high level of agreement for cases that would not receive a diagnosis as well as the most severe cases. However, there are important distinctions to be made between the 2 approaches for mild and moderate DSM disorders in addition to harmful use/misuse cases in the ICD. The cases influenced by these discrepancies are most likely to be affected by recently implemented service provider billing practices.
Bacteriophage T2 as seen with the freeze-etching technique

Abstract Freeze-etching of bacteriophage T2 reveals new data on the phage ultrastructure which are discussed in relation to information obtained from negatively stained preparations. The polygonal head of the freeze-etched phage shows capsomeres of 10 nm (= 100 A) in diameter with central depressions. There are six neighbors around most of the capsomeres, and the repeat vector of the surface lattice measures about 10 nm. Individual capsomeres seem to be composed of smaller units. The sheath of the phage tail exhibits a surface lattice indicative of six right-handed helices. The helices reveal a beaded fine structure, the elements of which are interpreted as homologous to the subunits seen after negative staining. The neighboring helices are cross-linked by bridgelike elements. During sheath contraction the pitch angle of the helices increases from 50 ° to 66 °. In the contracted sheath twelve helices are visible, again composed of subunits and cross-linked to their neighbors. The surface structure of the “polysheath” resembles that of a contracted sheath. Polysheaths break down into right-handed helical structures.
Expression of placental leptin and leptin receptor transcripts in early pregnancy and at term

Objective: To demonstrate the expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts for placental leptin and leptin receptor in early gestation and at term, to quantitate transcriptional changes relative to stage of gestation, to localize transcripts within specific placental cell types, and to determine if transcripts also are expressed in cultured cells. Methods: Expression of leptin and leptin receptor was assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and leptin quantitated against a leptin mRNA competitor (MIMIC), in human placental villous tissue collected at term cesarean deliveries and earlier during gestation (7–14 weeks) upon elective terminations. In situ hybridization was used to identify cell types exhibiting transcripts for genes of interest. Additionally, tissue was dispersed enzymatically, cytotrophoblast cells progressed to syncytiotrophoblastic maturity in culture, and transcripts were assessed. Results: Placental leptin and leptin receptor transcripts were identified in early (n = 6) and late (n = 5) gestation. Although no changes (P > .05) were apparent for receptor, leptin mRNA declined (P < .005) from (mean ± standard error) 1.815 ± .491 attomoles/μg total RNA early in gestation to .013 ± .003 attomoles/μg total RNA at term. Leptin and leptin receptor transcripts were localized in trophoblast by in situ hybridization and were expressed in culture. Conclusion: Results suggest an ontogenetic decline in leptin mRNA with advancing gestation. Localization of leptin and leptin receptor transcripts in syncytiotrophoblasts, cells also responsible for the production of hormones vital to pregnancy maintenance, suggest a potential for autocrine or paracrine interactions within this tissue. Finally, transcript expression in cultured cells suggests the suitability of in vitro paradigms for future studies of leptin in pregnancy.
Ionic polymer–metal composites: III. Modeling and simulation as biomimetic sensors, actuators, transducers, and artificial muscles

This paper, the third in a series of four review papers to appear in this journal, presents a number of descriptions of various modeling and simulation techniques and, briefly, the associated experimental results in connection with ionic polymer–metal composites and, in general, ionic polymer–conductor composites, as soft biomimetic distributed sensors, actuators, transducers, and artificial muscles.
Amino acid sequence of a hypertrehalosaemic neuropeptide from the corpus cardiacum of the cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea

The hypertrehalosaemic factor from the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea , a decapeptide, has been assigned the structure Glu-Val-Asn-Phe-Ser-Pro-Gly-Trp-Gly-Thr-Nh2. The structure was assigned from its high-resolution fast atom bombardment mass spectrum and metastable studies on the M + H ion and confirmed by solid phase synthesis.
Dubious reliability of Q-wave formation in predicting new regional left ventricular akinesis after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Abstract Evolution of Q waves on the electrocardiogram has been considered the primary marker for myocardial infarction and development of regional left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. 1 Although regional LV contractility pre- and postoperatively has not been studied frequently, new Q waves after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have also been assumed to indicate deterioration of LV contractility. 2–4 Bassan et al 5 found that some patients with new Q waves after CABG had akinesis preoperatively with no change in postoperative wall motion, and suggested that surgery “unmasked” the old infarction. We studied patients developing Q waves after CABG, and found that some had new areas of akinesis and others had apparent “unmasking” of previous infarction. We also describe a third, previously undescribed group of patients who had normal regional LV contractility both pre- and postoperatively despite evolution of Q waves after CABG.
Multinuclear NMR spectroscopic studies of aryltrimethylsilanes and aryldimethylphosphaneboranes

Abstract Proton, boron-11, carbon-13, silicon-29, and phosphorus-31 NMR chemical shifts and coupling constants are reported for nine ortho- and 2,6-disubstituted aryltrimethylsilanes and five similarly substituted aryldimethylphosphaneboranes. Resonances in the natural-abundance carbon-13 NMR spectra for both sets of derivatives are assigned on the basis of additivity relationships, proton-coupled spectra, and relative magnitudes of | J(31P13C) | coupling constants. Carbon-13 chemical shifts and |1J(13C1H) | coupling constants indicate that the P(BH3)(CH3)2 group is electron-withdrawing. The 13C chemical shifts of aryl C(5) carbons can be attributed to steric inhibition of resonance of about the same magnitude as that produced by ortho-Si(CH3)3. Chemical shift and coupling constant data from previous work are expanded in terms of Taft's dual substituent constants σ1 and σR0. Least squares solutions of these equations for aryldimethylphosphaneborane derivatives provide values of 0.41 for σ1 and 0.04 for σR0 for the P(BH3)(CH3)2 group. These constants produce reasonable agreement with observed 13C chemical shifts and coupling constants in the ortho derivatives.
Inadequacy of Perivascular Edema Hypothesis to Account for Distribution of Pulmonary Blood Flow in Lung Edema

West and co-workers obtained inversion of pulmonary blood flow per unit lung volume (Q·/V) in isolated, perfused dog lungs under special pressure-flow conditions in acute edema with high venous pressure. Repeating their experiments, we determined Q·/V by the 133xenon scanning procedure and weighed the lungs continuously to determine the rate of edema formation. Edema slowly developed spontaneously in six lungs in which pulmonary artery pressure exceeded alveolar pressure, which exceeded venous pressure (zone II). We found no Q·/V changes. In six other zone II lungs we induced edema rapidly with alloxan. We found no changes in Q·/V. In six lungs with high venous pressure in which both pulmonary arterial and venous pressures exceeded alveolar pressure (zone III), we obtained flow inversion when driving pressure was less than 3 mm Hg and blood flow less than 100 ml/min. This confirms West's findings but shows that flow inversion is not related to pulmonary edema in general. We rapidly froze two additional lungs in each set. All showed interstitial perivascular edema, particularly below the hilum. Alveolar walls were more congested and blood vessels more distended at all levels in lungs with high venous pressure than in the other types. We found no vascular compression, kinking, or nipping in lungs showing Q·/V inversion. The perivascular spaces of lungs with spontaneous and alloxan-induced edema were distended with fluid, although flow distribution remained normal. We conclude that closure of dependent lung vessels by the accumulation of interstitial perivascular edema is not an adequate explanation for this phenomenon.
Iconic programming proves effective for teaching the first year programming sequence

Research has been undertaken to answer the following question: Can icon-based programming languages be used to teach first year programming concepts to undergraduate students more effectively than text-based languages? BACCII++ is an iconic environment developed at Texas Tech University for teaching procedural and object-oriented programming concepts and languages. Course materials were developed and used under experimental conditions during the 1995-96 school year at Texas Tech University, with half using BACCII++ to generate C++ code, and the other half using only C++. For each course in each semester the experiment was run, the sections using BACCII++ did significantly better in overall performance.
Comparison of the excimer laser with the erbium yttrium aluminum garnet laser for applications in osteotomy

The ablative removal of bone tissue and the accompanying acoustic wave have been studied in a liquid environment using an ultraviolet excimer laser (Argon Fluoride and Krypton Fluoride) and a mid-infrared Erbium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) laser© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Oxidation of thiobenzamide by the fad-containing and cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases of liver and lung microsomes

Abstract Two distinct microsomal pathways involved in the metabolism of thiobenzamide to thiobenzamide S -oxide have been identified and quantitated in the liver and lungs of mice and rats, using a highly inhibitory antibody against NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. Approximately 50 and 65% of the oxidation in mouse and rat liver microsomes, respectively, was due to the FAD containing monooxygenase, the remainder being catalyzed by cytochrome P-450. In the mouse lung, S-oxidation was predominantly via the FAD-containing monooxygenase while that in the rat lung was about 60% via the FAD-containing enzyme and 40% via cytochrome P-450. Cytochrome P-450 dependent S-oxidation of thiobenzamide was induced in the liver by treatment of mice with phenobarbital and slightly increased by treatment with 3-methylcholanthrene, while in rat liver either of these treatments caused only a small increase in metabolism due to cytochrome P-450. Thermal inactivation of the FAD containing monooxygenase left the cytochrome P-450 component essentially unchanged. Thermally treated microsomes had a pH activity profile characteristic of cytochrome P-450 and were less inhibited by methimazole and thiourea when compared to untreated microsomes. Female mouse liver microsomes had a much higher, and female rat liver microsomes a lower, ability to S-oxidize thiobenzamide when compared to the males.
Good Grief! Anxiety Sours the Economic Benefits of First Offers

Two studies tested whether making first offers influences negotiators’ feelings of anxiety and their sense of satisfaction. The results of Study 1 show that the strategy of making the first offer led to decreased levels of satisfaction with the negotiation process and outcomes. This effect was mediated by perceived feelings of anxiety. Study 2 discerned that anxiety about making the first offer derived from self-perception concerns, represented as anxiety about being taken advantage of by the opposing party. In both studies, anxiety led negotiators who made the first offer to be relatively less satisfied with the negotiation, than negotiators who did not make the first offer, despite the increased economic gains associated with making the first offer.
Rare events, sample size, and statistical problems in the analysis of the NCS city surveys

The NCS city surveys are a unique and important data set and criminologists' only practical alternative to UCR based crime rate estimates for a large number of American cities. There are, however, some statistical problems involved in using this particular data set that are quite different from those usually faced by researchers investigating crime rates across cities. These result from the relative rareness of many of the crimes investigated and the small number of cities included in these surveys. These problems include the unreliability of rate estimates for cities and the potential for both lack of statistical power and the overfitting of equations designed to explain differences in crime rates among cities. Each of these problems is explicated, and strategies for analyzing these data are suggested.
Accounting for sediment sources and sinks in the linear regression analysis of the suspended sediment load of streams: The Rio Puerco, New Mexico, as an example

This study addresses the effects of sediment sources and sinks on the simulation of the suspended sediment load in streams by linear regression. The study investigates the sediment load of the Rio Puerco, an ephemeral stream in central New Mexico, which produces one of the highest suspended sediment loads in the United States and the world.The suspended sediment load in the Rio Puerco is simulated by linear regression on a daily, monthly, and annual basis. The monthly regression relationship yielded the highest correlation coefficient (0.93) compared to the daily (0.87) and annual (0.90) relationships. Hence, the monthly relationship is chosen to investigate the impact of sources and sinks on the suspended sediment load.The effects of sources and sinks are determined by fitting three regression lines through the data. This has allowed the calculation of the amounts of sediment gained from sources and those lost to sinks. Accounting for the effects of sources and sinks has resulted in a significant increase in the correlation coefficient of the two regression variables, the monthly suspended sediment load (Y) and the monthly water discharge (X). The correlation coefficient has increased from 0.93 to 0.98. This, in turn, has led to substantial improvement in the accuracy of the prediction of the suspended load using linear regression. The absolute value of the percent deviation of the annual predicted loads from the observed values has a median of 12.9% and a mean of 20.2% for the proposed approach, which considers sources and sinks, compared to a median of 38.5% and a mean of 45.7% for the existing traditional approach, which does not account for sources and sinks.
Do Children with Constitutional Delay Really Have More Learning Problems

To assess the effects of constitutional short stature on intellectual, academic and visual-motor functioning, we administered a battery of psychological tests to a group of 24 such children. Their responses were compared to those of 23 subjects with normal height matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. Contrary to the conclusions of uncontrolled studies, our data showed short and control groups to be comparable on all variables. While children with constitutional delay have been shown to exhibit low self-esteem and high levels of internalizing behavior problems, these difficulties do not appear to intrude significantly into the intellectual or academic realms.
Developing a Mathematical Community Using an Electronic Discussion Forum in an Elementary Mathematics Methods Course

This study was designed to inspect the impact of using online discussion forum (a password-protected asynchronous web-based discussion forum) in an elementary methods course. The results of this study were that students felt that they were part of a community of learners and became more aware of current research in the field of mathematics education. Furthermore, some had begun to evidence signs of becoming a “teacher as researcher.” Students who were often reticent about participating in class contributed to discussions on the forum, became more thoughtful about their responses, and increased their use of technology to facilitate their learning. To support the development of a mathematical community in an elementary methods course, an electronic discussion forum was developed as a teaching experiment for one semester. To design the activities, requirements, and protocols for participation, the author had to explore the notion of “mathematical community.” What are its characteristics? Why might it be appropriate for elementary school mathematics education students? This article explores the role and characteristics of a mathematics community, speculates about its relevance in elementary school mathematics education instruction, and reports the results of using a semester-long electronic discussion forum in an elementary methods course.
Wave‐distribution in a homogeneous current

In this paper an attempt is made to find a dynamic explanation for the large-scale horizontal mixing which is observed in the atmosphere and in the oceans. The primary mechanism in Rossby's theory of atmospheric and oceanic circulations is the injection of a jet into a resting environment and its subsequent modification by horizontal mixing. The question arises as to whether the observed turbulent state of such a stream is due to dynamic instability. In the case of a homogeneous current of infinite thickness which is bounded on each side by a resting fluid, Rayleigh found that horizontal disturbances of all wave-lengths are unstable. When the whole system rotates about a vertical axis, it is found that, providing the thickness of the layer is infinite, all wave-lengths are still unstable, the effect of the rotation being merely the addition of a geotropic pressure-term. The effect of the finite thickness of the layers has been investigated in the case of two currents of opposite directions which are bounded by a vertical surface. It is found that for wave-lengths which are long in comparison with the thickness of the layers, the instability is decreased but not eliminated.
Electron transfer in non-oxovanadium(IV) and (V) complexes: Kinetic studies of an amavadin model*

Electron-transfer reactions of the eight-coordinate vanadium complex, bis-(N- hydroxy iminodiacetate)vanadium(IV) (V(HIDA) 2 ) 2- , a synthetic analog of amavadin with ascorbic acid and hexachloroiridate(IV), have been studied. The self-exchange rate constant for this analog has been calculated from oxidation and reduction cross-reactions using Marcus theory and directly measured using 51 V NMR paramagnetic line-broadening tech- niques. The average self-exchange rate constant for the bis-HIDA vanadium(IV/V) couple equals 1.5 × 10 5 M -1 s -1 . The observed rate enhancements are proposed to be due to the small structural differences between the oxidized and reduced forms of the HIDA complex and inner-sphere reorganizational energies. The electron-transfer reaction of this synthetic analog is experimentally indistinguishable from amavadin itself, although significant differences exist in the reduction potential of these compounds. This suggests that ligand modification effects the thermodynamic driving force and not the self-exchange process.
Molecular Detection of Mutations Associated with First- and Second-Line Drug Resistance Compared with Conventional Drug Susceptibility Testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The emergence of multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is a significant impediment to the control of this disease because treatment becomes more complex and costly. Reliable and timely drug susceptibility testing is critical to ensure that patients receive effective treatment and become noninfectious. Molecular methods can provide accurate and rapid drug susceptibility results. We used DNA sequencing to detect resistance to the first-line antituberculosis drugs isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), pyrazinamide (PZA), and ethambutol (EMB) and the second-line drugs amikacin (AMK), capreomycin (CAP), kanamycin (KAN), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and ofloxacin (OFX). Nine loci were sequenced: rpoB (for resistance to RIF), katG and inhA (INH), pncA (PZA), embB (EMB), gyrA (CIP and OFX), and rrs, eis, and tlyA (KAN, AMK, and CAP). A total of 314 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates representing a variety of antibiotic resistance patterns, genotypes, and geographical origins were analyzed. The molecular data were compared to the phenotypic data and the accuracy values were calculated. Sensitivity and specificity values for the first-line drug loci were 97.1% and 93.6% for rpoB, 85.4% and 100% for katG, 16.5% and 100% for inhA, 90.6% and 100% for katG and inhA together, 84.6% and 85.8% for pncA, and 78.6% and 93.1% for embB. The values for the second-line drugs were also calculated. The size and scope of this study, in numbers of loci and isolates examined, and the phenotypic diversity of those isolates support the use of DNA sequencing to detect drug resistance in the M. tuberculosis complex. Further, the results can be used to design diagnostic tests utilizing other mutation detection technologies.
The interleaving problem in program understanding

One of the factors that can make a program difficult to understand is that code responsible for accomplishing more than one purpose may be woven together in a single section. We call this interleaving, and it may arise either intentionally-for example, in optimizing a program, a programmer may use some intermediate result for several purposes-or unintentionally, due to patches, quick fixes, or other hasty maintenance practices. To understand this phenomenon, we have looked at a variety of interleaving instances in actual programs and have distilled characteristic features. If the characterization proves to be robust then it will enable the design of tools for detection of interleavings and the extraction of the individual strands of computation.
A novel scheme for protecting receiver's location privacy in wireless sensor networks

Due to the open nature of a sensor network, it is relatively easy for an adversary to eavesdrop and trace packet movement in the network in order to capture the receiver physically. After studying the adversary's behavior patterns, we present countermeasures to this problem. We propose a locationprivacy routing protocol (LPR) that is easy to implement and provides path diversity. Combining with fake packet injection, LPR is able to minimize the traffic direction information that an adversary can retrieve from eavesdropping. By making the directions of both incoming and outgoing traffic at a sensor node uniformly distributed, the new defense system makes it very hard for an adversary to perform analysis on locally gathered information and infer the direction to which the receiver locates. We evaluate our defense system based on three criteria: delivery time, privacy protection strength, and energy cost. The simulation results show that LPR with fake packet injection is capable of providing strong protection for the receiveriquests location privacy. Under similar energy cost, the safe time of the receiver provided by LPR is much longer than other methods, including Phantom routing [1] and DEFP [2]. The performance of our system can be tuned through a few system parameters that determine the tradeoff between energy cost and the strength of location-privacy protection.
Speech-enabled card games for language learners

This paper debuts a novel application of speech recognition to foreign language learning. We present a generic framework for developing user-customizable card games designed to aid learners in the difficult task of vocabulary acquisition. We also describe a prototype game built on this framework that, using a Mandarin speech recognizer, provides a student of Chinese with opportunities to speak vocabulary items in a meaningful context. The system dynamically loads only the necessary vocabulary for each game in an effort to maintain robust recognition performance without limiting the lexical domain. To assess the Sentence Error Rate (SER) of our prototype, we asked college-age students from various universities in the United States and beyond to participate in a Web-based user study. The three central concepts in the game were recognized with a SER of 16.02%, illustrating the feasibility of deploying this system in a university curriculum via the Internet. Finally, to ensure that our recognizer is behaving appropriately with regard to learner speech, we perform a rigorous analysis of the recognition errors to determine their underlying causes.
Evolution of primary and aggregate particle‐size distributions by coagulation and sintering

A sectional model for aggregate aerosol dynamics accounting for gas-phase chemical reaction, coagulation, and sintering at nonisothermal conditions is presented. The aggregate structure was considered by the implementation of a constant mass fractal dimension on the aggregate collision diameter and an average, but variable, aggregate area within a given volume section. The model showed separately the evolution of the size distribution of the primary and aggregate particles. Model predictions with respect to average primary particle diameters and aggregate particle-size distributions were evaluated by comparing with experimental data for synthesis of titania by TiCl4 oxidation in a furnace aerosol flow reactor. The effects from sintering time and mass fractal dimension are also discussed.
Demonstration of a Self-Synchronized Polyphase Sampling and Demultiplexing Scheme for Radio-Frequency Analog Signals

A novel self-synchronizing optoelectronics polyphase scheme for sampling and demultiplexing radio-frequency (RF) signals is demonstrated. One unique feature of this approach is that the optically sampled RF signal always remains in the electrical domain and thus eliminates the need for electrical-to-optical and back to electrical conversions. Furthermore, the simplicity and ease of construction of the scheme readily allows it to be scaled to obtain high sampling rates. As a proof of concept, a 100-MHz RF electrical signal sampled at the rate of 1.28 GS/s and then demultiplexed into four 320-MHz signals was experimentally demonstrated.