cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Use of Urine Cytology for Diagnosing Bladder Cancer in Spinal Cord Injured Patients

AbstractPurpose: The diagnosis of bladder cancer in spinal cord injured patients is complicated by inflammatory changes caused by long-term indwelling catheters, which make cystoscopic followup difficult. We evaluated cytology as an aid in diagnosing bladder cancer in spinal cord injured patients.Materials and Methods: The charts of 208 spinal cord injured patients were reviewed retrospectively from January 1988 to July 1995 to define the value of cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer in this population. In all patients at least 1 urine cytology study was done less than 3 months before bladder biopsy. We examined 272 bladder biopsies (several patients underwent more than 1 biopsy at least 1 year apart) with 1 to 6 cytology studies done before biopsy.Results: Cytology results were classified as negative-no malignant cells, inflammation or benign urothelial cells, reactive-atypia or atypical reactive and suspicious-atypical suspicious, keratinizing squamous metaplasia, suspicious for cancer, cancer of...
Inhibitors of the γ-aminobutyric acid transporter 1 (GAT1) do not reveal a channel mode of conduction

Abstract We expressed the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter GAT1 (SLC6A1) in Xenopus laevis oocytes and performed GABA uptake experiments under voltage clamp at different membrane potentials as well as in the presence of the specific GAT1 inhibitors SKF-89976A and NO-711. In the absence of the inhibitors, GAT1 mediated the inward translocation of 2 net positive charges across the plasma membrane for every GABA molecule transported into the cell. This 2:1 charge flux/GABA flux ratio was the same over a wide range of membrane potentials from −110 mV to +10 mV. Moreover, when GABA-evoked (500 μM) currents were measured at −50 and −90 mV, neither SKF-89976A (5 and 25 μM) nor NO-711 (2 μM) altered the 2:1 charge flux/GABA flux ratio. The results are not consistent with previous hypotheses that (i) GABA evokes an uncoupled channel-mediated current in GAT1, and (ii) GAT1 inhibitors block the putative uncoupled current gated by GABA. Rather, the results suggest tight coupling of GAT1-mediated charge flux and GABA flux.
Helmet-mounted display targeting symbology color coding: an air-to-air scenario evaluation

Laboratory and flight test evaluations have consistently demonstrated the potential for helmet-mounted display (HMD) presented information to enhance air combat performance. The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL's) Helmet-Mounted Sight Plus (HMS+) program seeks to provide further enhancement by enabling the presentation of multi-color symbology and sensor imagery. To take proper advantage of color-capable HMDs, systematic evaluations must be conducted to identify the best color-coding techniques. The experiment described here is the second we have conducted to address this need. The first experiment identified the better of two competing color coding strategies for air-to-air weapons symbology and indicated that pilots preferred the color codes over an otherwise equivalent monochrome baseline. The present experiment compared the 'winning' color code to the monochrome baseline during trials of a complex multi-player air-to-air weapon delivery scenario. Twelve fighter pilots representing three different countries (U.S., U.K., and Sweden) flew simulator trials that included target identification, intercept, attack, missile launch, and defensive maneuvering tasks. Participants' subjective feedback and performance data indicated a preference for color coded symbology.
Microwave and hard X-ray bursts from solar flares

We have applied detailed theories of gyro-synchrotron emission and absorption in a magnetoactive plasma, X-ray production by the bremsstrahlung of non-thermal electrons on ambient hydrogen, and electron relaxation in a partially ionized and magnetized gas to the solar flare burst phenomenon. The hard X-ray and microwave bursts are shown to be consistent with a single source of non-thermal electrons, where both emissions arise from electrons with energies < mc 2. Further-more, the experimental X-ray and microwave data allow us to deduce the properties of the electron distribution, and the values of the ambient magnetic field, the hydrogen density, and the size of the emitting region. The proposed model, although derived mostly from observations of the 7 July 1966 flare, is shown to be representative of this type of event.
Qualifying the Sunpower M87n Cryocooler for Operation in the Ams-02 Magnetic Field

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMs-02) experiment uses a superfluid helium dewar to cool a large superconducting magnet. The outer vapor-cooled shields of the dewar are to be held at 80 K by four Sunpower M87N cryocoolers. These cryocoolers have magnetic components that might interact with the external applied field generated by the superconducting magnet, thereby degrading the cryocoolers' performance. Engineering models of the Sunpower M87 have been qualified for operation in a magnetic environment similar to the AMs-02 magnetic environment. Although there was no noticeable performance degradation at field levels that were comparable to AMs-02 field levels, there appears to be a small performance degradation at higher field levels. It was theorized that there were three possible issues related to these performance losses at high magnetic fields: i) induced piston rubbing on the cylinder wall due to forces and torques on the linear motor due to the applied magnetic fields; ii) Magnetic hysteretic and/or eddy current damping of the balancer due to its motion in the applied magnetic fields; iii) Inductance losses in motor due to the applied magnetic field. The experiments conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) cyclotron facility in June 2002 were designed to test these. Tests were performed over a range of field levels that were lower, comparable, and higher than the field levels that the cryocoolers will experience in the AMs-02 operating environment. This paper describes the experiments and the inferences derived from them.
Severe neurological impairment in hereditary methaemoglobinaemia type 2.

Recessive congenital methaemoglobinaemia (RCM) due to NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase (cytb5r) deficiency is a very rare disorder. We report on two unrelated patients (4 and 2.5 years old) with RCM type 2. Developmental delay was obvious at the age of 4 months. On follow-up, both children showed severe tetraspastic cerebral palsy, profound cognitive impairment, strabismus, impressive secondary microcephaly and failure to thrive. One novel mutation in the DIA1gene was identified. Prenatal diagnosis was successfully done in both families by mutation analysis in chorionic villi or measurement of cytb5r in fetal amniotic cells. Conclusion:due to the severity of this disease and its 25% recurrence risk, prenatal diagnosis should be made available to all affected families.
Survey of target localization methods in wireless sensor networks

This paper reviews target localization methods in wireless sensor networks. Target localization methods have been investigated extensively due to their wide applications. Main target localization methods include time delay of arrival methods, direction of arrival methods, energy-based target localization methods, radio mapping methods and so on. In this paper, three main categories of localization methods are reviewed. Moreover, possible future research directions are also given.
A hypervariable repeated sequence on human chromosome 1p36

When used to probe Southern blots of TaqI-digested DNAs from unrelated individuals, p1–79, a 900 bp subclone of a random human cosmid, revealed at least 50 fragments, many of which were polymorphic. Each of 27 unrelated individuals tested with p1–79 displayed a distinct band pattern. Similar variation was seen with several other enzymes, including HaeIII, MspI, PstI and PvuII, whereas other enzymes yielded primarily large fragments of greater than 40 kb. In situ hybridization of p1–79 showed that the loci of hybridization are clustered on human chromosome band 1p36; localization of all TaqI fragments to chromosome 1 was confirmed with a human-rodent somatic cell hybrid panel. DNA sequencing of p1–79 revealed several copies of a 39 bp repeat whose variation in copy number might be the basis of the observed length polymorphisms. Studies of 3-generation Utah families suggest that the numerous restriction fragments homologous to p1–79 are inherited as haplotypes, implying that recombination within this cluster of loci is rare and allowing the cluster to serve as a useful marker for human gene mapping.
Quaternary salts of 2,4,6-(dialkylaminoalkoxy)-1,3,5-triazines and 2,4-(dialkylaminoalkoxy)-quinazolines as curare agents.

Three 2,4,6-(dialkylaminoalkoxy)-1,3,5-triazines, two 2,4-(dialkylaminoalkoxy)-quinazolines, seven tris quaternar salts of the triazines and three bis quaternary salts of the quinazolines were prepared and identified. Seven of the quaternary salts were tested for curariform activity by the mouse screen-drop test and the rabbit head-drop test. In the chick, the quaternary salts produced a flaccid paralysis associated with a pachycurare-type block. Of the seven compounds tested, six were appreciably less active than Flaxedil®. One compound, the tribenzchloride of 2,4,6-(β-diethyl-aminoethoxy)-1,3,5-triazine, was approximately twice as active as Flaxedil® in the mouse and seven times as active in the rabbit.
Dynamic Load Moment Exposure and Spine Function Impairment

A prospective study was performed in distribution center environments in order to determine which physical exposure measures related to a reduction in low back function. Workers in 50 distribution jobs employed in 21 distribution centers were monitored over at least a 6 month period for changes in spine function. Job exposures were monitored with a sonic-based exposure tracking system (laboratory in a backpack) that captured 197 physical exposure metrics per lift. Based upon the database containing over 60,000 lifts, a multivariate model was developed capable of predicting jobs characteristics associated with a decrement in spine function over time. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 85% and 87.5%, respectively. These results provide valuable information for the control of risk in these environments and offer valuable insight regarding the biomechanical functioning of the spine.
Effect of applied field on the spin glass CuCr

Abstract We have examined the resistance of the spin glass, CuCr, as a function of applied magnetic field. The temperature dependence of the position of the resistance maximum is used to characterize the spin glass freezing. A simple functional dependence of this maximum temperature on applied field is proposed to allow quantitative comparison of different samples in terms of parameters that we introduce.
Analysis and synthesis of a class of discrete-time neural networks with multilevel threshold neurons

In contrast to the usual types of neural networks which utilize two states for each neuron, a class of synchronous discrete-time neural networks with multilevel threshold neurons is developed. A qualitative analysis and a synthesis procedure for the class of neural networks considered constitute the principal contributions of this paper. The applicability of the present class of neural networks is demonstrated by means of a gray level image processing example, where each neuron can assume one of sixteen values. When compared to the usual neural networks with two state neurons, networks which are endowed with multilevel neurons will, in general, for a given application, require fewer neurons and thus fewer interconnections. This is an important consideration in VLSI implementation. >
A control theory foundation for self-managing computing systems

The high cost of operating large computing installations has motivated a broad interest in reducing the need for human intervention by making systems self-managing. This paper explores the extent to which control theory can provide an architectural and analytic foundation for building self-managing systems. Control theory provides a rich set of methodologies for building automated self-diagnosis and self-repairing systems with properties such as stability, short settling times, and accurate regulation. However, there are challenges in applying control theory to computing systems, such as developing effective resource models, handling sensor delays, and addressing lead times in effector actions. We propose a deployable testbed for autonomic computing (DTAC) that we believe will reduce the barriers to addressing research problems in applying control theory to computing systems. The initial DTAC architecture is described along with several problems that it can be used to investigate.
Advances in robust multimodal interface design

The author discusses enhanced robustness for three multimodal interface types: speech and pen, speech and lip movements, and multibiometric (physiological and behavioral) input.
Effect of aquatine endodontic cleanser on smear layer removal in the root canals of ex vivo human teeth

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the root canal cleanliness and smear layer removal effectiveness of Aquatine Endodontic Cleanser (Aquatine EC) when used as an endodontic irrigating solution in comparison with 6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-five human teeth were randomly allocated to five treatment groups; the pulp chamber was accessed, cleaned, and shaped by using ProTaper and ProFile rotary instrumentation to an ISO size #40. The teeth were then processed for scanning electron microscopy, and the root canal cleanliness and removal of smear layer were examined. RESULTS: The most effective removal of smear layer occurred with Aquatine EC and NaOCl, both with a rinse of EDTA. CONCLUSIONS: Aquatine EC appears to be the first hypochlorous acid approved by the FDA to be a possible alternative to the use of NaOCl as an intracanal irrigant. Further research is needed to identify safer and more effective alternatives to the use of NaOCl irrigation in endodontics.
Laparoscopic nephron-sparing surgery in the presence of renal artery disease.

Abstract Introduction To describe the technical considerations of laparoscopic nephron-sparing surgery in 3 complicated cases involving kidneys with renal arterial disease. Technical considerations Three candidates for nephron-sparing surgery each had a renal mass, measuring 5.0, 3.5, and 2.5 cm, respectively. The renal arterial pathologic features in the tumor-bearing kidney included renal artery stenosis treated by percutaneous angioplasty and stenting in 1 patient and upper pole intrarenal aneurysm in 1 patient; the final patient had previously undergone aortorenal bypass grafting. The preoperative serum creatinine in the 3 patients was 2.1, 1.0, and 2.5 mg/dL, respectively. Two patients had a solitary functioning kidney. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy with hilar clamping was performed in 2 patients and laparoscopic renal cryoablation in 1 patient. Laparoscopic Doppler ultrasonography was used in each case. The total operative time for the 3 patients was 2.3, 4.0, and 2.8 hours, respectively. The warm ischemia time in the first 2 cases was 28 and 39 minutes, respectively. The blood loss was 50, 400, and 100 mL. Pathologic examination revealed renal cell carcinoma in 2 cases and a calcified aneurysm in 1 case. The hospital stay was 7, 4, and 2 days. The postoperative serum creatinine level was 2.3, 1.4, and 2.5 mg/dL. Conclusions Laparoscopic nephron-sparing surgery is a feasible alternative to open partial nephrectomy and can be successfully applied to select patients with a pathologic renal artery.
Inferring ownership transfer for efficient message passing

One of the more popular paradigms for concurrent programming is the Actor model of message passing; it has been adopted in one form or another by a number of languages and frameworks. By avoiding a shared local state and instead relying on message passing, the Actor model facilitates modular programming. An important challenge for message passing languages is to transmit messages efficiently. This requires retaining the pass-by-value semantics of messages while avoiding making a deep copy on sequential or shared memory multicore processors. A key observation is that many messages have an ownership transfer semantics; such messages can be sent efficiently using pointers without introducing shared state between concurrent objects. We propose a conservative static analysis algorithm which infers if the content of a message is compatible with an ownership transfer semantics. Our tool, called SOTER (for Safe Ownership Transfer enablER) transforms the program to avoid the cost of copying the contents of a message whenever it can infer the content obeys the ownership transfer semantics. Experiments using a range of programs suggest that our conservative static analysis method is usually able to infer ownership transfer. Performance results demonstrate that the transformed programs execute up to an order of magnitude faster than the original programs.
From Conceptualization to Reflection: Ensuring Robust Clinical Experiences While Meeting the Professional Standards for Elementary Special Education Teachers

A major challenge for teacher candidates is meeting the demands of the clinical practice experience which assesses how they make connections between their theoretical knowledge base and the real classroom experience. The critical integration of knowledge of and pedagogy in academic subjects, the use of research-based, scientifically proven strategies and assessment practices, and the understanding of the culturally and linguistically diverse learning needs of students at various developmental levels based on specialty professional standards form the basis for successful teaching and learning. It is this foundation that aids teachers in meeting the multiple teacher licensure requirements across States. Guiding teacher candidates in thinking about, planning, implementing and reflecting on these elements require a systematic approach to clinical practice. This Conceptualization to Reflection Model provides a unique approach for clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers to preparing professional teachers to meet the rigors of the teaching profession. It also serves as a guide for teacher candidates to help them navigate the journey from student to practitioner. Since each teacher preparation program serves a distinct student population, this comprehensive model is presented for one specific degree program: Childhood Special Education (Dual Certificate – Grades 1-6), but can be easily adapted to meet the diverse needs and developmental levels of other student populations.
Expectation of rewards and emotional behavior in monkeys

Abstract From previous theoretical proposals about emotional processes, it was hypothesized that the lack of, or delay of, expected reinforcement for a previously rewarded ongoing plan of action would be associated with emotional behavior. This hypothesis was confirmed by altering the reward contingencies during the differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL) schedule. The DRL requires that the animal wait for a prescribed time interval before responding in order to be reinforced; premature responses are non-rewarded and postpone the availability of a reward until the next prescribed time interval has elapsed. Using each monkey as his own control, two experimental approaches were employed; a mid-point change in the length of the DRL interval or availability of rewards, and discrete manipulations of reward contingencies (no reward or extra rewards) for approriately timed delayed responses after a train of prior consecutive rewards had been established. For the mid-point change experiment, lengthening the DRL interval was associated with sustained emotional behavior, such as bursts of responding and vigorous activity. For the discrete reward manipulations, the lack of expected reinforcement for delayed timing responses that ordinarily would have been rewarded was associated with emotional behavior. The DRL schedule is useful for studying emotional behavior associated with the lack of or delay of rewards. This approach may complement experimental paradigms for studying emotion in animals that employ the use of noxious or painful stimuli. The lack of expected rewards may provide a relevant model for investigating certain types of emotions, such as frustration and anger.
Cooperative Federated Control with Application to Tracking Control

Large-scale systems refer to systems that consist of many interdependent local systems. Conventional centralized control schemes are not suitable for such large-scale systems due to global dynamic behavior complexity and computational difficulties. This paper introduces a general framework of agent based federated control motivated by the political structure where partially self-governing states are united by a federal government. Likewise, a multi-agent based federated control system is composed of local autonomous subsystems that cooperate to provide an overall system behavior. Formation stability and trajectory tracking control of a group of autonomous agents is designed based on this concept. Decentralized cooperative federated controllers are developed for each individual agent. Simulations show that the overall system is globally asymptotically stable to track a time-varying trajectory with a pre-designated formation for a group of nonlinear dynamic agents.
ApoE mimetic peptide decreases Aβ production in vitro and in vivo

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is postulated to affect brain Aβ levels through multiple mechanisms--by altering amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing, Aβ degradation, and Aβ clearance. We previously showed that an apoE-derived peptide containing a double repeat of the receptor-binding region was similarly effective in increasing APP processing in vivo. Here, we further examined whether peptides containing tandem repeats of the apoE receptor-binding region (amino acids 141-149) affected APP trafficking, APP processing, and Aβ production. We found that peptides containing a double or triple tandem repeat of the apoE receptor-binding region, LRKLRKRLL, increased cell surface APP and decreased Aβ levels in PS1-overexpressing PS70 cells and in primary neurons. This effect was potentiated by a sequential increase in the number of apoE receptor-binding domain repeats (trimer > dimer > monomer). We previously showed that the apoE dimer increased APP CTF in vivo; to determine whether the dimer also affected secreted APP or Aβ levels, we performed a single hippocampal injection of the apoE dimer in wild-type mice and analyzed its effect on APP processing. We found increased sAPPα and decreased Aβ levels at 24 hrs after treatment, suggesting that the apoE dimer may increase α-secretase cleavage. These data suggest that small peptides consisting of tandem repeats of the apoE receptor-binding region are sufficient to alter APP trafficking and processing. The potency of these peptides increased with increasing repeats of the receptor binding domain of apoE. In addition, in vivo administration of the apoE peptide (dimer) increased sAPPα and decreased Aβ levels in wild-type mice. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the effects of apoE on APP processing and Aβ production both in vitro and in vivo.
A Comparison of Linkage Disequilibrium Measures for Fine-Scale Mapping

Abstract Linkage mapping generally localizes disease genes to 1- to 2-cM regions of chromosomes. In theory, further refinement of location can be achieved by population-based studies of linkage disequilibrium between disease locus alleles and alleles at adjacent markers. One approach to localization, dubbed simple disequilibrium mapping, is to determine the relative location of the disease locus by plotting disequilibrium values against marker locations. We investigate the simple mapping properties of five disequilibrium measures, the correlation coefficient Δ, Lewontin's D ′, the robust formulation of the population attributable risk δ, Yule's Q , and Kaplan and Weir's proportional difference d under the assumption of initial complete disequilibrium between disease and marker loci. The studies indicate that δ is a superior measure for fine mapping because it is directly related to the recombination fraction between the disease and the marker loci, and it is invariant when disease haplotypes are sampled at a rate higher than their population frequencies, as in a case-control study. D ′ yields results comparable to those of δ in many realistic settings. Of the remaining three measures, Q , Δ, and d , Q yields the best results. From simulations of short-term evolution, all measures show some sensitivity to marker allele frequencies; however, as predicted by analytic results, Q , Δ, and d exhibit the greatest sensitivity to variation in marker allele frequencies across loci.
Cellularly-Driven Differences in Network Synchronization Propensity Are Differentially Modulated by Firing Frequency

Spatiotemporal pattern formation in neuronal networks depends on the interplay between cellular and network synchronization properties. The neuronal phase response curve (PRC) is an experimentally obtainable measure that characterizes the cellular response to small perturbations, and can serve as an indicator of cellular propensity for synchronization. Two broad classes of PRCs have been identified for neurons: Type I, in which small excitatory perturbations induce only advances in firing, and Type II, in which small excitatory perturbations can induce both advances and delays in firing. Interestingly, neuronal PRCs are usually attenuated with increased spiking frequency, and Type II PRCs typically exhibit a greater attenuation of the phase delay region than of the phase advance region. We found that this phenomenon arises from an interplay between the time constants of active ionic currents and the interspike interval. As a result, excitatory networks consisting of neurons with Type I PRCs responded very differently to frequency modulation compared to excitatory networks composed of neurons with Type II PRCs. Specifically, increased frequency induced a sharp decrease in synchrony of networks of Type II neurons, while frequency increases only minimally affected synchrony in networks of Type I neurons. These results are demonstrated in networks in which both types of neurons were modeled generically with the Morris-Lecar model, as well as in networks consisting of Hodgkin-Huxley-based model cortical pyramidal cells in which simulated effects of acetylcholine changed PRC type. These results are robust to different network structures, synaptic strengths and modes of driving neuronal activity, and they indicate that Type I and Type II excitatory networks may display two distinct modes of processing information.
Sudden Cardiac Death

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the unexpected natural death from cardiac cause that occurs spontaneously or within 1 hour from the onset of abrupt change in clinical status in a person without a prior condition that would have appeared to be fatal. This incidence of SCD ranges from 36 to 128 per 100,000 inhabitants per year in different studies. The epidemiology of SCD parallels that of coronary artery disease (CAD). The annual incidence of SCD is three to four times higher in men than in women. The most important predictor of SCD is a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <30%. Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of SCD in Western countries. The incidence of SCD associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is 2% to 4% per year, and it is higher in younger than older patients with HCM. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia is a rare but important cause of SCD in young, otherwise healthy people. It should be considered in patients with frequent ventricular premature beats (VPBs) or ventricular tachycardia (VT), especially if the ventricular arrhythmias have left bundle branch block (LBBB) morphology. Symptomatic valvular aortic stenosis is one of the most common noncoronary causes of SCD. Approximately 10% of SCDs in the adult population occur in patients with dilated cardiomyopathies. Patients with long QT syndrome, short QT syndrome, and Brugada’s syndrome also have increased risk of SCD. Beta-blocker therapy may reduce the risk of SCD after myocardial infarction (MI). Amiodarone has a reduced risk of SCD in several clinical trials. The implantable cardioverter defibrillator reduces the risk of SCD in patients with moderately severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and CAD.
Social structure in leader‐member interaction

The investigation reported here was designed to examine how one leader and three members display social structure through their use of power and social distance language forms. Specifically, this work extends initial research into the simultaneous operation of Leader‐Member Exchange and Average Leadership Style models, by showing how some conversational resources distinguish “in,”; from “middle,”; from “out‐group”; relationships, whereas others neutralize group membership.
Field Studies to Evaluate Commercial Disinfectants for Turkey Hatching Egg Sanitation

Abstract Turkey hatching eggs were sanitized by submersion in heated (41–44° C.) solutions of commercial disinfectants and compared with untreated or formaldehyde fumigated eggs. In some tests half of the eggs were tylosin dipped with a temperature differential method. All eggs were sanitized on commercial farms and incubated in commercial hatcheries. Results indicated that all of the disinfectants tested were safe for turkey hatching egg sanitation at the recommended levels used. Tylosin dipping reduced hatchability in some tests. Bacterial culture of pooled samples of pips, cull poults and dead germs failed to show any consistant advantage favoring fumigation or sanitation with any disinfectant. Experience gained during the course of this study convinced the authors that sanitizing eggs by submersion in heated disinfectant solutions is a practical procedure under farm conditions.
Staphylococcus aureus Capsular Polysaccharides

Serotype 5 and 8 capsular polysaccharides predominate among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. The results of experiments in animal models of infection have revealed that staphylococcal capsules are important in the pathogenesis of S. aureus infections. The capsule enhances staphylococcal virulence by impeding phagocytosis, resulting in bacterial persistence in the bloodstream of infected hosts. S. aureus capsules also promote abscess formation in rats. Although the capsule has been shown to modulate S. aureus adherence to endothelial surfaces in vitro, animal studies suggest that it also promotes bacterial colonization and persistence on mucosal surfaces. S. aureus capsular antigens are surface associated, limited in antigenic specificity, and highly conserved among clinical isolates. With the emergence of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus in the United States in 2002, new strategies are needed to combat staphylococcal infections. Purified serotype 5 and 8 capsular polysaccharides offer promise as target antigens for a vaccine to prevent staphylococcal infections, although the inclusion of other antigens is likely to be essential in the development of an effective S. aureus vaccine. The genetics and mechanisms of capsule biosynthesis are complex, and much work remains to enhance our understanding of capsule biosynthesis and its regulation.
Altruistic Preferences for Life‐Saving Public Programs: Do Baseline Risks Matter?

Cost-benefit analyses of life-saving public programs typically focus on the number of expected deaths avoided (statistical lives saved) as the metric for evaluating benefits. Although this measure of population risk is clearly important, it ignores the distribution of underlying individual risks. A similar number of lives can be saved by protecting relatively large populations with relatively low baseline risk as can be saved by protecting smaller populations faced with higher baseline risks. Should the value of saving a statistical life be sensitive to the baseline levels of risk to exposed individuals? This paper addresses this issue by focusing specifically on individuals’ altruistic values with regard to life-saving programs. Using results from a survey, this study finds that when individuals are asked to state their preference for equally costly life-saving programs that will only affect others’ level of risk, they prefer those that save more lives. More importantly, however, controlling for the number of lives saved, they also prefer programs that affect smaller populations facing higher levels of baseline risk. Furthermore, the results suggest that each order-of-magnitude increase in the level of baseline risk to others approximately doubles the altruistic value component of a statistical life saved.
Effective Flange Width for Composite Steel Beams

The effective flange width is a concept proposed by various codes to simplify the computation of stress distribution across the width of composite beams. Questions have been raised as to the validity of the effective slab width provisions, since they have a direct effect on the computed ultimate moment as well as serviceability limit states such as deflection, fatigue, and overloading. The objective of this paper is to present results from an experimental and analytical investigation to determine the effective slab width in steel composite beams. The Finite Element Method (FEM) was employed for the analysis of composite steel-concrete beams having variable concrete flange widths. Results were compared to those from tests performed on eight beams loaded to failure. Beam test specimens had variable flange width and various degrees of composite action (shear connectors). The comparison presented in terms of the applied load versus deflection, and strain in the concrete slab show that the AISC-LRFD code is conservative and underestimates the width active. Based on a detailed parametric study an equation for the calculation of the effective flange width is recommended.
Golden Parachutes and Board of Director Fiduciary Duty

This paper finds that CEO tenure for firms that adopt golden parachutes is significantly lower than that of nonadopting firms. These CEOs are frequently hired subsequent to control activity such as financial distress, takeover contests, or proxy fights. In the eighties, boards of directors had to include these agreements into employment contracts in order to attract executives from outside their firms. During that period, firms that adopted golden parachutes had a higher likelihood of being future takeover targets.
Discovering the Temporal Interactions between Clinical Observations

The explosion of clinical information provided by the advent of electronic health records (EHRs) offers an exciting opportunity to substantially improve the quality of health care. Updated throughout each patient's health care, EHRs document a wide variety of clinical observations, such as the patient's diagnoses, risk factors, medications, and test results at various points in the patient's history. This allows for the secondary use of EHRs to provide substantial information about the way that patients' clinical pictures and therapies have evolved over time. In this abstract, we outline our ongoing work towards harnessing the chronological, natural language text in EHRs in order to model how individual patients' clinical pictures and therapies have evolved. Moreover, we show our experiments on improving predictive accuracy by discovering latent groups of "similar" patients.
Molecular Origins of Crude Oil Interfacial Activity. Part 4: Oil–Water Interface Elasticity and Crude Oil Asphaltene Films

The ability of crude oil asphaltenes to impart elastic properties to an oil–water interface was investigated. Asphaltenes separated from Tulare, Hamaca, Cold Lake, Hoosier, Celtic, and Talco crude ...
Phase transition of water vapor in a mixed layer cloud

The paper presents a contribution to the theoretical solution of the transfer of water vapor between individual elements in a mixed cloud. Using more realistic parameters measured in the atmosphere and in the laboratory the time variation of water vapor concentration and of the sizes of droplets and ice crystals were calculated in the case of a layer cloud. Such a cloud is relatively stable after approximately ten minutes and the growth of ice crystals having reached the mean size of about 70 μ is small.
A randomised prospective trial to compare the efficacy of bolus versus continuous nasogastric feeding in paediatric intensive care

Objective To compare bolus versus continuous nasogastric feeding in a tertiary paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The outcome measures were: time to achieve maximal nutritional requirement by volume of feed and identify frequency of adverse events. Design Prospective randomised study. Patients 87 patients were recruited in the 22 months study period between April 2006 and February 2008. 76 patients were included for analysis. Measures and main results Following ethical approval and informed consent, eligible admissions to a tertiary PICU from April 2006 to February 2008 were prospectively randomised and enrolled into the study. Gastrostomy feeding, use of motility drugs, gastro-oesophageal reflux and gastrointestinal surgery were exclusion criteria. Patients were randomised to receive either 3 hourly bolus feeds or continuous feeding over 21 hours per day, for a 48 hour study period. Nasogastric (NG) tubes were aspirated 3 hourly and the gastric residual volume recorded (GRV). The protocol was designed to give equal feed volume in a 24 hr period. Intolerance was defined as GRV more than 125% of feed administered. 76 patients were analysed (1.2:1, M: F) median age 11.6 (2.8-49.0) months and weight 10 (4.5-16.2) kg. Bolus group subjects achieved maximal feed potential by 21 hours (18.6 to 25, 95% CI), the continuous group required 27 hours (19.5 to 30, 95% CI, p=0.034). PIM2 scores, sedation, muscle relaxant or inotropes usage between groups were comparable. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse events (bolus n=3 and continuous n=4, p=0.71). Data expressed as Median (interquartile range), Mann Whitney9s test and Fisher9s exact test were used to test for associations. Conclusion This study suggests that bolus feeding methods may be more beneficial, in achieving maximal nutritional requirements earlier, when compared to continuous feeds. The risk of aspiration of aspiration or vomiting is low with both feeding techniques.
Differential responses to endurance training in subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria

To examine the effect of endurance training (6 wk of treadmill running) on regional mitochondrial adaptations within skeletal muscle, subsarcolemmal (SS) and intermyofibrillar (IMF) mitochondria we...
UIE: User-Centric Interference Estimation for Cloud Applications

Interference is one of the key deterrents to cloud adoption, and is known to cause severe degradation in application performance, costing service providers in lost revenues. In this paper, we present UIE, a user-centric approach to detecting and, importantly, estimating the degree of interference experienced by user applications in the cloud. UIE employs queueing theory to model the impact of resource contention on application performance. By leveraging UIE, users can estimate the true amount of resources, including CPU, network, and I/O, allocated to their application at any given time, without any assistance from the cloud provider or hypervisor.
Oral trehalose supplementation improves resistance artery endothelial function in healthy middle-aged and older adults

We hypothesized that supplementation with trehalose, a disaccharide that reverses arterial aging in mice, would improve vascular function in middle-aged and older (MA/O) men and women. Thirty-two healthy adults aged 50-77 years consumed 100 g/day of trehalose (n=15) or maltose (n=17, isocaloric control) for 12 weeks (randomized, double-blind). In subjects with Δbody mass less than 2.3kg (5 lb.), resistance artery endothelial function, assessed by forearm blood flow to brachial artery infusion of acetylcholine (FBFACh), increased ~30% with trehalose (13.3±1.0 vs. 10.5±1.1 AUC, P=0.02), but not maltose (P=0.40). This improvement in FBFACh was abolished when endothelial nitric oxide (NO) production was inhibited. Endothelium-independent dilation, assessed by FBF to sodium nitroprusside (FBFSNP), also increased ~30% with trehalose (155±13 vs. 116±12 AUC, P=0.03) but not maltose (P=0.92). Changes in FBFACh and FBFSNP with trehalose were not significant when subjects with Δbody mass ≥ 2.3kg were included. Trehalose supplementation had no effect on conduit artery endothelial function, large elastic artery stiffness or circulating markers of oxidative stress or inflammation (all P>0.1) independent of changes in body weight. Our findings demonstrate that oral trehalose improves resistance artery (microvascular) function, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, in MA/O adults, possibly through increasing NO bioavailability and smooth muscle sensitivity to NO.
Trading Resources for Communication

This chapter unifies all of the channel coding theorems that we have studied in this book. One of the most general information-processing tasks that a sender and receiver can accomplish is to transmit classical and quantum information and generate entanglement with many independent uses of a quantum channel and with the assistance of classical communication, quantum communication, and shared entanglement.1 The resulting rates for communication are net rates that give the generation rate of a resource less its consumption rate. Since we have three resources, all achievable rates are rate triples ( C,Q,E ) that lie in a three-dimensional capacity region, where C is the net rate of classical communication, Q is the net rate of quantum communication, and E is the net rate of entanglement consumption/generation. The capacity theorem for this general scenario is known as the quantum dynamic capacity theorem, and it is the main theorem that we prove in this chapter. All of the rates given in the channel coding theorems of previous chapters are special points in this three-dimensional capacity region. The proof of the quantum dynamic capacity theorem comes in two parts: the direct coding theorem and the converse theorem. The direct coding theorem demonstrates that the strategy for achieving any point in the three-dimensional capacity region is remarkably simple: we just combine the protocol from Corollary 22.5.2 for entanglement-assisted classical and quantum communication with the three unit protocols of teleportation, super-dense coding, and entanglement distribution. The interpretation of the achievable rate region is that it is the unit resource capacity region from Chapter 8 translated along the points achievable with the protocol from Corollary 22.5.2. In the proof of the converse theorem, we analyze the most general protocol that can consume and generate classical communication, quantum communication, and entanglement along with the consumption of many independent uses of a quantum channel, and we show that the net rates for such a protocol are bounded by the regularization of the achievable rate region.
Marketing Strategy Implications of Consumer Preferences For Downtown Housing

In assessing the feasibility of a newly approved downtown housing project, the Portland [Oregon] Development Commission (PDC) sponsored a study of market and consumer preferences for housing in 1986. The multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) approach is used to examine the data in order to (1) prioritize the significant consumer characteristics, (2) identify the emerging dimensions, and (3) analyze these dimensions substantively to facilitate the development of sound marketing strategies to access, attract and retain potential downtown rental housing consumers.
Association of Parathyroid Gland Biopsy Excision Technique With Ex Vivo Radiation Counts During Radioguided Parathyroid Surgery.

Importance Parathyroid biopsy represents a means for normal and hyperfunctional glands to be distinguished intraoperatively. However, no data exist to guide surgeons regarding how much of a parathyroid gland must be biopsied to satisfy the 20% rule. Objective To quantify the relative proportion of a hyperfunctional parathyroid gland that must be evaluated with the gamma probe to satisfy the 20% rule. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective review of surgical data for 24 consecutive patients (16 women, 18 men; mean [SD] age, 66.6 [10] years; range, 51-83 years) who underwent surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism between May and October, 2015, in a tertieary academic medical center. Main Outcomes and Measures Extirpated parathyroid glands were sectioned into parallel or pie-shaped biopsies and evaluated ex vivo with a gamma probe to determine what percentage of a hyperfunctional gland must be sampled to meet the Norman 20% rule. The hypothesis was formulated during data collection. Results In total, 253 ex vivo biopsy specimens were obtained from 33 surgically removed parathyroid glands. Parathyroid biopsies satisfied the 20% rule with an accuracy that depended on the relative proportion of the parent gland represented: half or more (96.6%; 95% CI, 91.7%-100.0%), a quarter to one-half (87.0%; 95% CI, 79.3%-94.7%), less than a quarter (63.6%; 95% CI, 54.5%-72.8%). When less than a quarter of the gland was removed, pie-shaped biopsies were more likely to satisfy the 20% rule compared with parallel biopsies of the same weight (78.4% vs 56.2%; absolute difference, 22.2%; 95% CI, 4.7%-39.7%). Conclusions and Relevance Unless half of a parathyroid gland is biopsied during radioguided parathyroidectomy, the 20% rule cannot reliably rule out the presence of a hyperfunctional parathyroid lesion. Pie-shaped biopsies originating from the center of the gland are associated with a lower rate of false-negative results compared with peripheral biopsies of similar size. Pie-shaped biopsies and biopsy of half or more of each nonexcised parathyroid gland for ex vivo counts may increase the risk of remnant devascularization and resultant hypoparathyroidism.
Self-Healing Coatings to Mitigate Post-Impact Corrosion

Self-healing polymeric coatings have offered tremendous potential for repairing damage and extending the service life and safety of metallic structures. There have been many challenges associated with the catalyst activated version of the self-healing oligomer filled microcapsule coating additives (or microbeads) technology, but a non-catalyst version appears more promising. The objective of this study was to identify the effect of self-healing coatings in an epoxy coating system containing the non-catalyst microbeads on post-impact corrosion mitigation of water infrastructure. Experimental results showed that coatings containing microbeads did not fully prevent corrosion of the post-impact exposed metal substrate over the exposure period for this study, especially in salt fog and immersion conditions. However, this coating showed less coating degradation compared to the coating without the presence of microbeads.
The United States Leads Other Nations In Differences By Income In Perceptions Of Health And Health Care

We examined income gaps in the period 2011–13 in self-assessments of personal health and health care across thirty-two middle- and high-income countries. While high-income respondents were generall...