cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of alkali promoters in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis on Ru/SiO2 surfaces

Cs-promoted Ru-Na/SiO2 catalysts were characterized via1H NMR spectroscopy. Contrary to the results of studies using single crystals, we did not find any evidence of a ruthenium-mediated electronic interaction between the alkali promoter and adsorbed hydrogen. The site blocking effects of the Cs promoter diminished after exposure to hydrogen for extended periods of times. This effect was partly reversible after thermal evacuation of the hydrogen. In the presence of Cs, the surface of the support was also modified; the intensity of the diamagnetic resonance in the spectrum (predominantly Si-OH) decreased, and an additional resonance appeared in the spectra. There is evidence that hydrogen spillover and hydrogen mobility were also restricted in the Na-Cs-promoted system.
Sullivan's local Euler characteristic theorem

Using a certain cell decomposition of a closed neighborhood of a point a in a real analytic set A and the orientability modulo 2 of A ([1,3.7] or [5,7.3]), we obtain a short proof, by counting cells, of D. Sullivan's theorem ([9]) that X(A,A ∼ {a})) is odd.
Millimeter-wave multi-Gigabit WLAN: Challenges and feasibility

The wide harmonized spectrum in the unlicensed 60 GHz band has been considered for WPAN standardizations. Recently there is also growing interest in the industry to use the same band for multi-Gigabit WLAN usages and standardization. In this paper, we describe the unique challenges and analyze the feasibility of realizing a multi-Gigabit WLAN in this band. We present analysis and simulation findings on the transmission range and spatial reuse opportunity with beamforming. We also explore options for range extension and multi-band integration.
800 Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomies: A Single Surgeon Series

Purpose: We hypothesized that from 1999 to 2008 patient and tumor selection criteria, perioperative outcomes, complications and renal function outcomes may have evolved significantly in 800 laparoscopic partial nephrectomies.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively divided 800 patients who underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for tumor, as done by 1 surgeon, into 3 chronologic eras, including era 1—276 from September 1999 to December 2003, era 2—289 from January 2004 to December 2006 and era 3—235 from January 2007 through November 2008. We evaluated prospectively collected data on tumor characteristics, perioperative outcomes and renal function outcomes.Results: When comparing eras 1 to 3, tumors in the most recent era were larger, more commonly 4 cm or greater, and central, and less often peripheral and less than 4 cm (each p value significant). Despite increasing tumor complexity warm ischemia time was shorter (31.9, 31.6 and 14.4 minutes, respectively, p <0.0001), and the overall rates of posto...
Optimal flow rates and well locations for soil vapor extraction design

A mixed-integer programming model to determine the optimum number of wells, their locations and pumping rates for soil vapor extraction (SVE) is developed by coupling an air flow simulation model (AIR3D) to the GAMS optimization software. The model was tested for sensitivity of the vertical discretization of the domain, the number of potential well locations, the number of constraints, and the screen length of the wells. It was shown that these variables affected the optimal solution. It was also shown that the installation costs of the wells in the model influenced the optimal design. This was demonstrated by comparing the results of the mixed-integer programming model to a linear programming model in which the installation costs of the wells were neglected. The mixed-integer programming model could be useful in the design process in cases of short remediation times when the installation costs of wells could be significant. Numerous test cases with results are presented to demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the model.
High Density Lipoprotein Uptake by Scavenger Receptor SR-BII

Scavenger receptor class B, type I (SR-BI) mediates selective uptake of high density lipoprotein (HDL) lipids. It is unclear whether this process occurs at the cell membrane or via endocytosis. Our group previously identified an alternative mRNA splicing variant of SR-BI, named SR-BII, with an entirely different, yet highly conserved cytoplasmic C terminus. In this study we aimed to compare HDL uptake by both isoforms. Whereas SR-BI was mainly (∼70%) localized on the surface of transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells, as determined by biotinylation, HDL binding at 4 °C, and studies of enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged SR-BI/II fusion proteins, the majority of SR-BII (∼80-90%) was expressed intracellularly. The cellular distribution of SR-BI was not affected by deletion of the C terminus, which suggests that the distinct C terminus of SR-BII is responsible for its intracellular expression. Pulse-chase experiments showed that SR-BII rapidly internalized HDL protein, whereas in the case of SR-BI most HDL protein remained surface bound. Like its ligand, SR-BII was more rapidly endocytosed compared with SR-BI. Despite more rapid HDL uptake by SR-BII than SR-BI, selective cholesteryl ether uptake was significantly lower. Relative to their levels of expression at the cell surface, however, both isoforms mediated selective uptake with similar efficiency. HDL protein that was internalized by SR-BII largely co-localized with transferrin in the endosomal recycling compartment. Within the endosomal recycling compartment of SR-BII cells, there was extensive co-localization of internalized HDL lipid and protein. These results do not support a model that selective lipid uptake by SR-BI requires receptor/ligand recycling within the cell. We conclude that SR-BII may influence cellular cholesterol trafficking and homeostasis in a manner that is distinct from SR-BI.
Transient Conductance Measurements During Pulsed Laser Annealing

Measurements were made of the conductance of single crystal Au-doped Si and silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) during irradiation with 30 nsec ruby laser pulses. After the decay of the photoconductive response, the sample conductance is determined primarily by the thickness and conductivity of the molten layer. For the single crystal Au-doped Si, the solid-liquid interface velocity during recrystallization was determined from the current transient to be 2.5 m/sec for energy densities between 1.9 and 2.6 J/cm 2 , in close agreement with numerical simulations based on a thermal model of heat flow. SOS samples showed a strongly reduced photoconductive response, allowing the melt front to be observed also. For complete melting of a 0.4 μm Si layer, the regrowth velocity was 2.4 m/sec.
A flexible, integrated system for generating meteorological surfaces derived from point sources across multiple geographic scales

Abstract The generation of meteorological surfaces from point-source data is a difficult but necessary step required for modeling ecological and hydrological processes across landscapes. To date, procedures to acquire, transform, and display meteorological information geographically have been specifically tailored to individual studies. Here we offer a flexible, integrated system that employs a relational database to store point information, a modular system incorporating a choice of weather data interpolation methods, and a matrix inversion method that speeds computer calculations to display information on grids of any specified size, all with minimal user intervention. We demonstrate the power of this integrated approach by cross-validating projected daily meteorological surfaces derived from ∼1200 weather stations distributed across the continental United States for a year. We performed cross-validations for five meteorological variables (solar radiation, minimum and maximum temperatures, humidity, and precipitation) with a truncated Gaussian filter, ordinary kriging and inverse distance weighting and achieved comparable success among all interpolation methods. Cross-validation computation time for ordinary kriging was reduced from 1 h to 3 min when we incorporated the matrix inversion method. We demonstrated the system's flexibility by displaying results at 8-km resolution for the continental USA and at one-degree resolution for the globe.
The probabilities of supercoil removal and decatenation by yeast DNA topoisomerase II.

Background: In yeast a single type II DNA topoisomerase is involved in both the removal of DNA supercoils and the unlinking of intertwined pairs of newly replicated chromosomes or plasmids; in bacteria, two type II enzymes, DNA gyrase and DNA topoisomerase IV, function separately in the passage of DNA segments in cis and in trans. To deduce the molecular characteristics of these enzyme-mediated reactions, the efficiencies of supercoil removal and decatenation by the yeast enzyme upon the addition of a nonhydrolysable ATP analogue were determined. Results: The probability that a bound enzyme transports a DNA segment in cis increases with positive or negative supercoiling of the DNA, and transport is nearly quantitative at high degrees of supercoiling. The relative probabilities of transporting a contiguous and noncontiguous DNA segment by a yeast enzyme bound to one member of a singly linked pair of 3.6-kb rings were calculated from the observed efficiency of decatenation. When the enzyme-bound ring is highly supercoiled, transport of a noncontiguous segment is more probable than a contiguous one. Conclusion: A DNA-bound yeast enzyme has no intrinsic bias in its selection of a contiguous or noncontiguous DNA segment for transport, and the selection is determined by DNA conformations. For the singly linked dimeric catenane studied, a high degree of supercoiling of the enzyme-bound DNA does not make supercoil removal more favourable than decatenation. In the case of bacterial gyrase, however, wrapping of a DNA segment around the enzyme is expected to strongly favour the transport of a contiguous segment.
Sensitivity of actively damped structures to imperfections and modeling errors

The sensitivity of actively damped response of structures with respect to errors in the structural modeling is studied. Two ways of representing errors are considered. The first approach assumes errors in the form of spatial variations (or imperfections) in the assumed mass and stiffness properties of the structures. The second approach assumes errors due to such factors as unknown joint stiffnesses, discretization errors, and nonlinearities. These errors are represented here as discrepancies between experimental and analytical mode shapes and frequencies. The actively damped system considered here is a direct-rate feedback regulator based on a number of colocated velocity sensors and force actuators. The response of the controlled structure is characterized by the eigenvalues of the closed-loop system. The effects of the modeling errors are thus presented as the sensitivity of the eigenvalues of the closed-loop system. Results are presented for two examples: (1) a three-span simply supported beam controlled by three sensors and actuators, and (2) a laboratory structure consisting of a cruciform beam supported by cables.
Estimating the legibility of a single letter E viewed at different display angles

Abstract Text is often viewed not perpendicularly to its display. With nine assumptions, this study developed a new equation for estimating the legibility of a single letter E viewed at different display angles. This equation examines viewing distance, text height, strokewidth, Snellen acuity, background luminance, luminance contrast, and incident angle. This equation was derived from the existing Howett's equation based on a constant-solid-angle hypothesis tested in a lighting laboratory by reading letter ‘E’s using 20 young human subjects. The hypothesis holds when the incident angle 0° ≤ ξ ≤ 65.7°, but fails when 65.7° ξ ≤ 82.8° (the maximum angle tested). Another ambient-light hypothesis was also tested in the same laboratory using 20 young subjects to verify the negligible influence (less than 9%) of ambient light on legibility of text. The new equation was accordingly improved to help ergonomists and other professionals create and maintain legible displays.
Desde la ‘cobardía’ de Cardenio a la ‘timidez’ de Alonso Quijano

Cardenio, a central figure in Part One of Don Quixote suffering from love madness, has frequently been studied, but little attention has been given to the impact of his story on the novel’s protagonist. As the result of listening to Cardenio’s narration of his inhibited and maddening love affair, Don Quixote resolves to follow his example to the extent of imitating a form of amorous derangement typical of chivalric and sentimental novels. But in justifying this decision he reveals for the first time that his Dulcinea is in fact the peasant Aldonza Lorenzo, transformed into an ideal lady only in his imagination, and to whom he has never summoned the courage to speak. He then takes a second step, also unprecedented for him, of sending Sancho to Aldonza in order to declare his love, and in so doing he dares to open the possibility of a real relationship.
An Iterative-Improvement Approach to the Numerical Solution of Vector Toeplitz Systems

This paper describes an algorithm for the approximate solution of vector Toeplitz systems via an iterative-improvement method. The algorithm exploits the special structure of Toeplitz matrices, namely, their similarity to vector circulants, and is particularly well suited for solving large systems. Sufficient convergence conditions and concrete error bounds for the iteration are presented along with an application of the routine to a problem in the design of planar digital filters for image processing.
Low-power and high speed CPL-CSA adder

High speed, low power, area efficient adders continue to play a key role in hardware implementations of digital signal processing applications. Adders based on Complimentary Pass Transistor Logic (CPL) are power and area efficient, but are slower compared to Square Root Carry Select (SQRT-CS) based adders. This paper proposes a unique custom adder design in 250-nm CMOS technology, which is based on a combination of CPL and CS logic to obtain a fast and power/area efficient adder design. A 16 bit CPL/CS adder is presented which is faster compared to the standard SQRT-CS adder while significantly reducing the power and area.
Small-angle scattering by a finite cone

High-frequency scattering by a finite perfectly conducting right-circular cone is analyzed by modifying geometrical diffraction theory for application at and near nose-on aspects. Formulas appropriate for predicting principal-polarization radar cross sections as functions of frequency and aspect angle are presented. Calculations on a cone are in very good agreement with monostatic measurement data in the limited aspect interval 0 \leq \phi \leq \gamma , where \gamma , is the half-angle of the cone.
A methodological comparison of Monte Carlo Simulation and Epoch-Era Analysis for tradespace exploration in an uncertain environment

This paper examines uncertainty in design and traditional methods of accounting for it, while developing a methodological comparison of Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) and Epoch-Era Analysis (EEA). Particular focus is placed on the way by which MCS and EEA handle uncertainty from both endogenous sources (i.e., those arising from modeling design and performance), and from exogenous sources such as requirements definition and the particularities of an uncertain future. The applicability of each approach is examined, along with the inherent assumptions, the information required for implementation, and the relative strengths and weaknesses. The contexts under which one method offers particular advantages in terms of quantifying, propagating, or visualizing uncertainty over the other are highlighted. Furthermore, we examine the potential for hybrid methods that combine the strengths of both MCS and EEA. Examples applications particularly suited to MCS, EEA, and a hybrid MCS/EEA method are presented.
The California Supreme Court and the Death Penalty

The California Supreme Court's death penalty decisions provide an ideal vehicle for examining the relationships among judicial selection, individual judicial decision making, and court policy-makin...
The Public Service of the Future

This article seeks to identify the status and infrastructure of public service in 2020. It first examines Leonard White’s early effort at predicting a future search for public service, written in 1942, but with an eye toward the 1950s and 1960s. The authors assess the subsequent structural and ideological development of public service to lay a framework for their own projection of the public service of the future. They anticipate important foundational shifts that will lead to a revaluing of public service and opportunities to reinvigorate public work. The authors conclude with a list of six specific public service infrastructure changes that they anticipate will become manifest by 2020. Guest editors’ note: In 1942, the University of Chicago Press published a book edited by Leonard D. White titled The Future of Government in the United States. Each chapter in the book presents predictions concerning the future of U.S. public administration. In this article, James L. Perry and Neal D. Buckwalter examine White’s predictions for the future of public service published in that book, comment on whether White’s predictions were correct, and look to the future to examine public administration in 2020.
Semiparametric Analysis for Additive Risk Model via Empirical Likelihood

Cox's proportional hazards model has been the most popular model for the regression analysis of censored survival data. However, the additive risk model provides a useful alternative. In this article, we apply the empirical likelihood ratio method to the additive risk model with right censoring and derive its limiting distribution. Based on the result, we construct a confidence region for the regression parameter. Useful extensions are discussed. Simulation results are presented to compare the proposed method with that method based on normal approximation.
Symptom Clusters in Individuals Living With Advanced Cancer

Objectives To discuss issues related to symptom clusters in patients living with advanced cancer. Data Sources Research and review articles. Conclusion The importance for symptom cluster evaluation in oncology has been documented; however, there remain a number of inconsistencies in the literature as to the best way to accomplish this. Individuals living with advanced cancer are often dealing with symptoms from their disease, as well as prior and current therapies. Research related to patients receiving long-term cancer therapies and the symptom clusters experienced by this group of individuals is needed. Implications For Nursing Practice Understanding the intricacies of symptom clusters in this population is an area for future research.
Immobilization of cellulose fibrils on solid substrates for cellulase-binding studies through quantitative fluorescence microscopy

Cellulases, enzymes capable of depolymerizing cellulose polymers into fermentable sugars, are essential components in the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials. Given the importance of these enzymes to the evolving biofuel industry considerable research effort is focused on understanding the interaction between cellulases and cellulose fibrils. This manuscript presents a method that addresses challenges that must be overcome in order to study such interactions through high-resolution fluorescence microscopy. First, it is shown that cellulose can be immobilized on solid substrates through a polymer lift-off technique. The immobilized cellulose aggregates present characteristic morphologies influenced by the patterned feature size used to immobilize it. Thus, through a variety of pattern sizes, cellulose can be immobilized in the form of cellulose particles, cellulose mats or individual cellulose fibrils. Second, it is shown that both cellulose and Thermobifida fusca cellulases Cel5A, Cel6B, and Cel9A can be fluorescently tagged and that the labeling does not inhibit the capability of these cellulases to depolymerize cellulose. The combination of the immobilization technique together with fluorescence labeling yields a system that can be used to study cellulose-cellulase interactions with spatial and temporal resolution not available through more conventional techniques which measure ensemble averages. It is shown that with such a system, the kinetics of cellulase binding onto cellulose fibrils and mats can be followed through sequences of fluorescence images. The intensity from the images can then be used to reconstruct binding curves for the cellulases studied. It was found that the complexity of cellulose morphology has a large impact on the binding curve characteristics, with binding curves for individual cellulose fibrils closely following a binding saturation model and binding curves for cellulose mats and particles deviating from it. The behavior observed is interpreted as the effect pore and interstice penetration play in cellulase binding to the accessible surface of cellulose aggregates. These results validate our method for immobilizing nanoscale cellulose fibrils and fibril aggregates on solid supports and lay the foundation for future studies on cellulase-cellulose interactions.
Novel focused OCT-LIF endoscope

Combined optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) endoscopy has shown higher sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing normal tissue from adenoma when compared to either modality alone. Endoscope optical design is complicated by the large wavelength difference between the two systems. A new high-resolution endoscope 2 mm in diameter is presented that can create focused beams from the ultraviolet to near-infrared. A reflective design ball lens operates achromatically over a large wavelength range, and employs TIR at two faces and reflection at a third internal mirrored face. The 1:1 imaging system obtains theoretically diffraction-limited spots for both the OCT (1300 nm) and LIF (325 nm) channels.
Guided modes in graded index optical fibers

A new approach to optical propagation in graded index fibers, based on local tracking of evanescent waves, is developed. The theory furnishes the high-frequency asymptotic expansion of the modal field and yields explicit tractable expressions for the expansion coefficients. When tested for the parabolic profile, the asymptotic series generated by the method is found to agree term by term with the known exact result. The method is then applied to polynomial profiles for which exact solutions are not available.
Molecular nanosensors based on the inter-sheet tunneling effect of a bilayer graphene

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a novel high-performance molecule sensor using the inter-sheet tunneling effect of a bilayer graphene. Nanosensors for ethanol molecules have been fabricated based on mechanical exfoliation and e-beam lithography for demonstrating the feasibility. Experiments reveled that by making electric contacts to different sheets of a bilayer graphene, inter-sheet effects can be exposed. As a result, the “inter-layer” sensor has a much higher (a typical result showed more than 8 times higher) sensitivity than that of an “intra-layer” sensor, in which the electric contacts are placed on the same layer. The adoption of the inter-sheet effects remarkably enriched the applicable transduction mechanisms. These include the enhanced edge effects due to the extra sides, inter-sheet tunneling due to the spacing change caused by molecule adsorption/desorption, force/displacement, pressure, surface tension, and heating, and potentially inter-sheet doping due to the open step.
Finding shape axes using magnetic fields

This paper presents a novel method, based on magnetic field principles, for obtaining the axes of shapes. The method is based on directional information of the shape's boundary. By simulating a parallel algorithm, we are able to generate the inner as well as the outer axes (axes of concavities) of the shape. The preprocessing phase for this algorithm involves obtaining the shape's gradient. Each point of the gradient is substituted by a minute magnetic dipole. The cumulative magnetic field due to these dipoles is accumulated at all points in the image in a one-pass algorithm. The magnitude of the final magnetic vector field has valleys that are created from mutual and directionally balanced cancellations of opposing boundary segments. These valleys signify the axes of the shape. The axes are obtained by performing a valley search. The magnetic field modeling (MFM) method has an advantage over previous approaches since it utilizes not only the location information of the boundary, but also its directional information. As demonstrated, experimental results of the MFM method are much improved, compared to other skeletonization algorithms which tend to generate spurious and noisy axes.
Anomalous Evidence, Confidence Change, and Theory Change.

A novel experimental paradigm that measured theory change and confidence in participants' theories was used in three experiments to test the effects of anomalous evidence. Experiment 1 varied the amount of anomalous evidence to see if "dose size" made incremental changes in confidence toward theory change. Experiment 2 varied whether anomalous evidence was convergent (of multiple types) or replicating (similar finding repeated). Experiment 3 varied whether participants were provided with an alternative theory that explained the anomalous evidence. All experiments showed that participants' confidence changes were commensurate with the amount of anomalous evidence presented, and that larger decreases in confidence predicted theory changes. Convergent evidence and the presentation of an alternative theory led to larger confidence change. Convergent evidence also caused more theory changes. Even when people do not change theories, factors pertinent to the evidence and alternative theories decrease their confidence in their current theory and move them incrementally closer to theory change.
Hydrocolloid dressings promote granulation tissue on exposed bone.

We describe a simple technique of using hydrocolloid dressings on exposed bone devoid of periosteum to induce a robust bed of granulation tissue amenable to successful skin grafting. Healing of surgical defects overlying bone devoid of periosteum is an important reconstructive challenge for dermatol
Tough Love: How Communal Schemas and Contracting Practices Build Relational Capital in Entrepreneurial Teams

Entrepreneurial teams often operate under conditions of novelty—the lack of familiarity. Novelty can undermine team members' ability to develop the relational capital (trust, identification, and mutual obligation) needed for a venture to succeed. Building on research on relational schemas and the governance of interfirm relations, I argue that entrepreneurial teams can counteract the challenges of novelty by adopting communal relational schemas (caring about one another' s needs) and contracting practices (making expectations explicit and transparent).
Rate-distortion optimal motion estimation algorithm for video coding

A rate-distortion optimal motion estimation algorithm that leads to an efficient bit allocation between inter- and intra-frame information is presented. For coders in which motion vectors are differentially encoded, the rate-distortion optimization process is formulated as a shortest path finding problem. Adopting this framework, we show that the optimal solution for the conventional block-based motion estimation followed by 1-D DPCM and Huffman coding can be obtained by using dynamic programming or the Viterbi algorithm without resorting to an iterative procedure. Since memory and computational requirements for the optimal algorithm increase dramatically with the search range, we propose an effective fast algorithm that closely approximates the optimal performance while requiring considerably less complexity. When used in a hybrid motion compensated (MC) coding system, the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional MSE-optimal motion estimation approach in terms of PSNR performance under a low-bit-rate constraint. Our experimental results demonstrate overall gains in the range of 0.5 to 1.4 dB.
Intoxication and Society: Problematic Pleasures of Drugs and Alcohol (2013), edited by Herring, J., Regan, C., Weinberg, D., & Withington, P. Padstow, UK: Palgrave MacMillan

When I first opened this book, I did not know what to expect. My background in the substance abuse field is as a practitioner, and I tended toward those works which appeared to directly apply to my...
A simple ultrasound guide for needle puncture

A method of ultrasound directed needle puncture using a clamp and a guide block is described. It eliminates the need for an aspiration biopsy transducer and has proved to be simple, accurate, and inexpensive.
The Analysis of the Contribution of Human Factors to the In-flight Loss of Control Accidents

In-flight loss of control (LOC) is currently the leading cause of fatal accidents based on various commercial aircraft accident statistics. As the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) emerges, new contributing factors leading to LOC are anticipated. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), along with other aviation agencies and communities are actively developing safety products to mitigate the LOC risk. This paper discusses the approach used to construct a generic integrated LOC accident framework (LOCAF) model based on a detailed review of LOC accidents over the past two decades. The LOCAF model is comprised of causal factors from the domain of human factors, aircraft system component failures, and atmospheric environment. The multiple interdependent causal factors are expressed in an Object-Oriented Bayesian belief network. In addition to predicting the likelihood of LOC accident occurrence, the system-level integrated LOCAF model is able to evaluate the impact of new safety technology products developed in AvSP. This provides valuable information to decision makers in strategizing NASA's aviation safety technology portfolio. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of human causal factors in the model, including the contributions from flight crew and maintenance workers. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy was used to develop human related causal factors. The preliminary results from the baseline LOCAF model are also presented.
Evaluation of left ventricular endocardial volumes and ejection fractions computed from gated perfusion SPECT with magnetic resonance imaging: comparison of two methods.

Two methods of computing left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction (EF) from 8-frame gated perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were compared with each other and with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Thirty-five subjects underwent 8-frame gated dual-isotope SPECT imaging and 12- to 16-frame gated MR imaging. Endocardial boundaries on short-axis MR images were hand traced by experts blinded to any SPECT results. Volumes and EF were computed with the use of Simpson’s rule. SPECT images were analyzed for the same functional variables with the use of 2 automatic programs, Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) and the Emory Cardiac Toolbox (ECTb). The mean difference between MR and SPECT EF was 0.008 for ECTb and 0.08 for QGS. QGS showed a slight trend toward higher correlation for EF (r = 0.72, SE of the estimate = 0.08) than ECTb (r = 0.70, SE of the estimate = 0.09). For both SPECT methods, left ventricular volumes were similarly correlated with MR, although SPECT volumes were higher than MR values by approximately 30%. QGS and ECTb values of cardiac function computed from 8-frame gated perfusion SPECT correlate very well with each other and correlate well with MR. Averaged over all subjects, ECTb measurements of EF are not significantly different from MR values but QGS significantly underestimates the MR values.
Review: Decorative Plasterwork in Ireland and Europe: Ornament and the Early Modern Interior by Christine Casey and Conor Lucey, eds.

Christine Casey and Conor Lucey, eds. Decorative Plasterwork in Ireland and Europe: Ornament and the Early Modern Interior London: Four Courts Press, 2012, 266 pp., 32 color and 120 b/w illus. $70 (cloth), ISBN 9781846823213 In a 1977 JSAH review, Robert Raley praised Geoffrey Beard’s Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain as “another contribution to the slowly building storehouse of literature concerning the important, but generally neglected, field of the builder’s art.”1 Yet the perceived necessity of a 2010 reprint of the volume, which would itself be lauded with the claim that “for those who are looking for a historic resource on the makers and styles of British plasterwork, look no further,” demonstrates the glacial speed at which this storehouse of literature is being filled.2 Despite a sizable proliferation of scholarship on eighteenth-century architecture and, especially, interiors, studies focusing on decorative plasterwork have continued to lag behind.3 Even while cheekily asking the question “Is stucco just the icing on the cake?” in the keynote with which Alastair Laing addressed the 2010 conference at Trinity College, Dublin, from which this edited collection has been formed, the contributors to this beautiful volume resolutely answer no. Coeditor Conor Lucey’s introduction frames the volume’s thirteen essays stemming from that conference and explains that “the purpose … was three fold: to investigate the currency of a shared decorative language across eighteenth-century Europe; to consider the Irish stuccoed interior, arguably the apogee of visual culture in this island during the Georgian era, within its broader continental contexts; and to reflect on the current state of scholarship within the field” (21). Lucey offers his hypothesis on what he terms “the problem” of the historiography of architectural decoration writ large (29). Here he focuses on its in-between status as both sculpture and craft. Lucey points out that the recent “revival of academic interest in craftsmanship as cultural practice” brings a greater currency to the study of decorative plasterwork than had more traditional theorizations of the study of the history of art …
Immunological Dysfunction with Atrophic Gastritis and Gastric Malignancy

Atrophic gastritis is an indolent disease of the stomach of unknown etiology. Histologically normal glandular gastric mucosa is replaced by flat colonic-type endothelium and the submucosa is heavily infiltrated with immune reactive cells (Fenwick, 1870; Coghill, 1960; Wood et al, 1964). The stomach loses its ability to secrete hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and intrinsic factor (Levine and Ladd, 1921; Castle, 1929) and serum gastrin levels are elevated when antral mucosa is preserved (McGuigan and Trudeau, 1970; Strickland and Mackay, 1973; Hughes et al., 1972). The lack of intrinsic factor secretion due to atrophic gastritis causing vitamin B12 malabsorption is the basic lesion of pernicious anemia (Castle, 1929). Patients with pernicious anemia require lifelong parenteral vitamin B12 replacement. Much still remains to be learned about the etiology and pathophysiology of atrophic gastritis. It is not known whether atrophic gastritis results from one or more pathogenetic mechanisms. It is not understood why (1) various autoimmune phenomena, (2) other immunological disorders, and (3) outwardly unrelated diseases involving other organs frequently coexist with atrophic gastritis. Patients with atrophic gastritis have an increased risk of developing cancer of the stomach. It is not known whether this association is an unexplained coincidence or whether atrophic gastritis is a precancerous condition. The primary objectives of this chapter are to review current information about immunological perturbations with atrophic gastritis and gastric carcinoma and to discuss the potential significance of these perturbations.
Zfp423 Maintains White Adipocyte Identity through Suppression of the Beige Cell Thermogenic Gene Program

The transcriptional regulators Ebf2 and Prdm16 establish and maintain the brown and/or beige fat cell identity. However, the mechanisms operating in white adipocytes to suppress the thermogenic gene program and maintain an energy-storing phenotype are less understood. Here, we report that the transcriptional regulator Zfp423 is critical for maintaining white adipocyte identity through suppression of the thermogenic gene program. Zfp423 expression is enriched in white versus brown adipocytes and suppressed upon cold exposure. Doxycycline-inducible inactivation of Zfp423 in mature adipocytes, combined with β-adrenergic stimulation, triggers a conversion of differentiated adiponectin-expressing inguinal and gonadal adipocytes into beige-like adipocytes; this reprogramming event is sufficient to prevent and reverse diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance. Mechanistically, Zfp423 acts in adipocytes to inhibit the activity of Ebf2 and suppress Prdm16 activation. These data identify Zfp423 as a molecular brake on adipocyte thermogenesis and suggest a therapeutic strategy to unlock the thermogenic potential of white adipocytes in obesity.
Identical synchronization of chaotic secure communication systems with channel induced coherence resonance

This paper is devoted to addressing the synchronization, and detection of random binary data exposed to inherent channel variations existing in Free Space Optical (FSO) communication systems. This task is achieved by utilizing the identical synchronization methodology of Lorenz chaotic communication system, and its synergetic interaction in adversities imposed by the FSO channel. Moreover, the Lorenz system has been analyzed, and revealed to induce Stochastic Resonance (SR) once exposed to Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN). In particular, the resiliency of the Lorenz chaotic system, in light of channel adversities, has been attributed to the success of the proposed communication system. Furthermore, this paper advocates the use of Haar wavelet transform for enhanced detection capability of the proposed chaotic communication system, which utilizes Chaotic Parameter Modulation (CPM) technique for means of transmission.
Thermal Analysis for Cryosurgery

Although analytical methods for predicting the growth of cryogenic lesions are mostly products of the last decade, various forms of cryosurgical procedures have been in practice for over a century. Reviews of the subject of cryogenic surgery are given by Cooper,(1) and Van Leden and Cahan,(2) which chronicle the pioneering efforts in establishing this modality and the number of areas in medicine where it has been applied. A brief summary of these developments is provided to serve the needs of the unfamiliar reader and to offer a perspective for the analytical methods that follow.
Industrialisation in Swaziland

Chapter 2 focused on the political economy of textile industrialisation in South Africa, to provide a context in which to analyse the emergence and development of Swaziland’s peripheral political economy. However, just as South Africa exhibited a different pattern of industrialisation from European countries, Swaziland has experienced a modified version of the South African process. Mining and plantation agriculture began in the former at the turn of the century. Manufacturing has been introduced in two spurts, with agricultural processing beginning in the late 1940s and textile industrialisation in the 1980s. While men figured prominently in early industrialisation, women became involved later.
An Improved Technique for Reducing the Number of Particles in a Technetium-99m Macroaggregated Albumin Injection

For patients with right-to-left cardiac shunts and pediatric lung scan patients who will receive technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin (99mTc-MAA), it is necessary to reduce the number of MAA particles given. A previous method for reducing the number of99mTc-MAA particles limits the injected volume to 0.1 ml, which is too small for any practical use. In addition, if the volume injected is increased, the excessive dilution of the stannous chloride results in a poor labeling. By initially incubating a small volume of sodium [99mTc]pertechnetate in a predivided MAA vial, our proposed method is able not only to achieve a greater binding efficiency, but also a more practical injected volume (0.5–1.0 ml) compared to the previous method. The99mTc-MAA particle size, number, and stability over time were all within an acceptable range.
The Digital Generation

This chapter provides a scholarly review of the characteristics of the digital generation. The focus is on youth media practices, including time and activities using electronic media among young children, tweens, teens, and college students. It also examines the learning preferences of youth as reported in the literature. Finally, it offers suggestions for technology uses among youth consistent with current policy documents.
COLT: COnstrained Lineage Tree Generation from sequence data

Lineage analysis has been an important method for understanding the mutation patterns and the diversity of genes, such as antibodies. A mutation lineage is typically represented as a tree structure, describing the possible mutation paths. Generating lineage trees from sequence data imposes two unique challenges: (1) Types of constraints might be defined on top of sequence data and tree structures, which have to be appropriately formulated and maintained by the algorithms. (2) Enumerating all possible trees that satisfy constraints is typically computationally intractable. In this paper, we present a COnstrained Lineage Tree generation framework (COLT) that builds lineage trees from sequences, based on local and global constraints specified by domain experts and heuristics derived from the mutation processes. Our formal analysis and experimental results show that this framework can efficiently generate valid lineage trees, while strictly satisfying the constraints specified by domain experts.
User recommendation in healthcare social media by assessing user similarity in heterogeneous network

We proposed methods for representing the healthcare social media data as a heterogeneous healthcare information network.Then we introduced a local and a global structural approach to measure user similarity in the heterogeneous network.Experiment results showed that structural methods achieve better performance than content-based method for active users.Global approach can deal with sparse networks, capture the implicit similarity between two users, and performed better than local approach.Different approaches may capture different aspects of the similarity relationship between two users. ObjectiveThe rapid growth of online health social websites has captured a vast amount of healthcare information and made the information easy to access for health consumers. E-patients often use these social websites for informational and emotional support. However, health consumers could be easily overwhelmed by the overloaded information. Healthcare information searching can be very difficult for consumers, not to mention most of them are not skilled information searcher. In this work, we investigate the approaches for measuring user similarity in online health social websites. By recommending similar users to consumers, we can help them to seek informational and emotional support in a more efficient way. MethodsWe propose to represent the healthcare social media data as a heterogeneous healthcare information network and introduce the local and global structural approaches for measuring user similarity in a heterogeneous network. We compare the proposed structural approaches with the content-based approach. ResultsExperiments were conducted on a dataset collected from a popular online health social website, and the results showed that content-based approach performed better for inactive users, while structural approaches performed better for active users. Moreover, global structural approach outperformed local structural approach for all user groups. In addition, we conducted experiments on local and global structural approaches using different weight schemas for the edges in the network. Leverage performed the best for both local and global approaches. Finally, we integrated different approaches and demonstrated that hybrid method yielded better performance than the individual approach. ConclusionThe results indicate that content-based methods can effectively capture the similarity of inactive users who usually have focused interests, while structural methods can achieve better performance when rich structural information is available. Local structural approach only considers direct connections between nodes in the network, while global structural approach takes the indirect connections into account. Therefore, the global similarity approach can deal with sparse networks and capture the implicit similarity between two users. Different approaches may capture different aspects of the similarity relationship between two users. When we combine different methods together, we could achieve a better performance than using each individual method.
Characteristics of individuals seeking activity-based restorative therapy following spinal cord injury: A focus on hope.

BACKGROUND There is a lack of evidence regarding the psychosocial characteristics of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) undergoing activity-based restorative therapy (ABRT) treatment. OBJECTIVES This study seeks to describe the hopefulness of a sample of ABRT participants and describe the relationship between hopefulness and level of rehabilitation engagement. METHODS A prospective cross-sectional cohort study was conducted using a convenience sample of 73 individuals with SCI (mean time since injury = 66.6 months) seeking out-patient, post-acute rehabilitation at a metropolitan ABRT center. Outcome measures included a demographic survey, The Hope Scale, the Patient Health Questionare-9 and the Hopkins Rehabilitation Engagement Rating Scale. RESULTS The ABRT group reported higher levels of hope (M = 54.78, SD = 7.13) than have been reported in a sample of individuals with SCI seeking traditional rehabilitation in the acute (M = 24.58, SD = 4.06) setting. Rehabilitation engagement was not related to hopefulness in the ABRT group. CONCLUSIONS The ABRT group demonstrated high levels of hopefulness. The difference in hopefulness noted between this group and previous studies could be due to the time elapsed since injury, the presence of choice in the rehabilitation process, or the possibility that individuals who chose to participate in ABRT may have inherently different hopefulness characteristics than the broader SCI population.
Sonographic Evaluation of an Immature Brescia-Cimino Fistula:

Arteriovenous fistulas are known to be traumatic, congenital, or created for hemodialysis purposes in patients diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. In this case study of an immature Brescia-Cimi...
Assisting Clients and Their Families Cope With Mental Health–Related Stressors of Type 1 Diabetes:

An individual diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) typically relies on medical professionals for support and assistance. The family of the person with T1D is an important source of emotional suppor...