cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diagnosing acetabular labral tears with hip traction sonography: a case series.

Three cases of acetabular labral tear (ALT) diagnosed with sonography (US) are reported. We aim to show utility for US with the addition of manual hip traction as an adjunctive modality to the current diagnostic imaging of choice, magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA), for diagnosing ALT. Three cases of young athletic patients with similar clinical presentations are reported. All received US examination of the hip with attention to the labrum that included a novel long-axis hip traction technique which assisted in diagnosing ALT. In the first and second cases, MRA and orthopedic consult were obtained for confirmation of the diagnosis. Arthroscopy was performed to correct the ALT. The third patient declined an MRA. Conservative management consisted of McKenzie method active care, resulting in return to sport in the third case. These three cases demonstrate the clinical and sonographic presentation of ALT. The dynamic long-axis hip traction protocol facilitated the use of US as an adjunctive modality for diagnosing ALT by increasing the visualization of the defect.
Collateral Effect of Covid-19 on Stroke Evaluation in the United States.

Use of Stroke Imaging during the Covid-19 Pandemic The authors reviewed an imaging database used to determine whether patients with acute stroke were eligible to undergo endovascular thrombectomy. ...
KATRIN: an experiment to determine the neutrino mass

KATRIN is a very large scale tritium-beta-decay experiment to determine the mass of the neutrino. It is presently under construction at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, and makes use of the Tritium Laboratory built there for the ITER project. The combination of a very large retarding-potential electrostatic-magnetic spectrometer and an intense gaseous molecular tritium source makes possible a sensitivity to neutrino mass of 0.2 eV, about an order of magnitude below present laboratory limits. The measurement is kinematic and independent of whether the neutrino is Dirac or Majorana. The status of the project is summarized briefly in this report.
Evaluation of the Safety of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Antagonists for Migraine Treatment Among Adults With Raynaud Phenomenon.

Importance Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists have demonstrated tremendous promise in migraine management. However, these medications decrease reflex vasodilatory response, which may lead to exacerbation of microvascular disease in susceptible patients, such as patients with Raynaud phenomenon (RP). Objective To investigate the microvascular complications of CGRP antagonists in patients with underlying RP. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study was performed from May 18, 2018, to September 15, 2020, in Mayo Clinic Health System patients with Raynaud phenomenon while undergoing CGRP antagonist therapy to treat migraine. Inclusion criteria were age older than 18 years, history of migraine, past or current treatment with CGRP antagonists, and diagnosis of primary or secondary RP. Exposure Treatment with CGRP antagonists. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome measure was microvascular complications (eg, worsening RP, digital ulcerations, and gangrenous necrosis) after initiation of treatment with a CGRP antagonist. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between those who experienced complications and those who did not. Results A total of 169 patients (163 [96.4%] female; 151 [89.3%] non-Hispanic White; mean [SD] age, 46 [13] years) were identified. Of the 169 patients, 9 (5.3%) exhibited microvascular complications, ranging from worsening RP to gangrene and autonecrosis that required distal digit amputation. Comparative analysis did not find statistically significant differences in demographic or clinical characteristics between the 2 cohorts. All 9 patients with complications were female (mean [SD] age, 40 [12] years). Five of the 9 patients (55.6%) had previously diagnosed RP; in 3 the RP was primary, and 2 it was secondary to scleroderma. The other 4 patients (44.4%) were newly diagnosed with RP. Eight of the 9 patients (88.9%) had chronic migraine; 4 had migraine with aura, and 5 had migraine without aura. The CGRP antagonist agents temporally associated with the microvascular complications included galcanezumab (in 3 patients), erenumab (in 5 patients), and fremanezumab (in 1 patient). Conclusions and Relevance The results of this study indicate that microvascular complications of CGRP antagonist use in patients with underlying RP are uncommon. The incidence of serious adverse events, although rare, warrant caution when considering the use of these agents in patients with RP.
Pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication adherence in older adults: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE As pharmacists work to ensure reimbursement for chronic disease management services on the national level, evidence of their impact on important health metrics, such as medication adherence, is needed. However, summative evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of pharmacists to improve medication adherence in older adults. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions on medication adherence in older adults (65+ years). DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS Using a systematic review and meta-analytic approach, a comprehensive search of publications in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar was conducted through April 2, 2020 for randomized clinical trials of pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication adherence in older adults. A standardized mean difference effect size (Cohen's d) was calculated for medication adherence in each study. Study effect sizes were pooled using a random-effects model, with effect sizes weighted by inverse of its total variance. MEASUREMENTS Medication adherence using any method of measurement. RESULTS Among 40 unique randomized trials of pharmacist-led interventions with data from 8822 unique patients (mean age, range: 65-85 years), the mean effect size was 0.57 (k = 40; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.38-0.76). When two outlier studies were excluded from the analysis, the mean effect size reduced to 0.41 (k = 38; 95% CI: 0.27-0.54). A sensitivity analysis of medication adherence outcome by time point resulted in a mean effect size of 0.64 at 3 months (k = 12; 95% CI: 0.32-0.97), 0.30 at 6 months (k = 13; 95% CI: 0.11-0.48), 0.22 at 12 months (k = 12; 95% CI: 0.08-0.37), and 0.36 for outcome time points beyond 12 months (k = 5; 95% CI: 0.02-0.70). CONCLUSION This meta-analysis found a significant improvement in medication adherence among older adults receiving pharmacist-led interventions. Implementation of pharmacist-led interventions supported by Medicare reimbursement could ensure older adults' access to effective medication adherence support.
Constitutional Federalism, Individual Liberty, and the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998

Constitutional federalism has been called back from its deathbed by the United States Supreme Court. After half a century of deference to the growth of federal power at the expense of the states, the last decade has seen a reversal. In a series of cases beginning in 1991, the Supreme Court has consistently rebuffed Congress’s attempts to interfere with state sovereignty. Federalism once again matters to the Supreme Court. For a time, it appeared that the Court’s efforts to protect federalism reflected a broader political current favoring government decentralization. When the Republican Party took control of Congress in 1994, there was talk of returning authority to the states and relieving the burdens that the federal government had imposed on them. Congress even passed the Unfunded Mandates Act, erecting certain procedural obstacles to federal legislation
Congenital Mitral Stenosis Resulting from Anomalous Arcade and Obstructing Papillary Muscles Report of Correction by Use of Ball Valve Prosthesis

Successful replacement of a mitral valve with a ball valve prosthesis in a 10 month old male infant is described. The resected congenitally stenotic mitral valve showed the obstructing mechanism to be related to (1) an arcade-like thickening of the line of closure of the anterior mitral leaflet, extending between the apexes of the anterolateral and the posteromedial papillary muscles, and (2) prominent papillary muscles that crowded the subvalvar area in the left ventricular inflow tract. Neither closed mitral commissurotomy nor open valvuloplasty seemed adequate to relieve this obstruction. As a consequence, replacement of the mitral valve by a ball valve prosthesis was carried out. Thirteen months after operation the patient was well. It is recognized that progressively larger prosthetic replacements may be needed as the infant grows.
Magnetic fusion reactor economics

An almost primordial trend in the conversion and use of energy is an increased complexity and cost of conversion systems designed to utilize cheaper and more-abundant fuels; this trend is exemplified by the progression fossil/spl rarr/fission/spl rarr/fusion. The present projections of the latter indicate that capital costs of the fusion "burner" far exceed any commensurate savings associated with the cheapest and most-abundant of fuels. These projections suggest competitive fusion power only if internal costs with the use of fossil or fission fuels emerge to make them either uneconomic, unacceptable, or both with respect to expensive fusion systems. This "implementation-by-default" plan for fusion energy is re-examined by identifying in general terms fusion power-plant embodiments that might compete favorably under conditions where internal costs (both economic and environmental) of fossil and/or fission are not as great as is needed to justify the contemporary vision for fusion power. Competitive fusion power in this context will require a significant broadening of an overly focused program to explore the physics and symbiotic technologies leading to more compact, simplified, and efficient plasma-confinement configurations that reside at the heart of an attractive fusion power plant.
Adaptive modeling and H/sub /spl infin// control for photolithography manufacturing process

A run-by-run feedback controller is designed for Intel manufacturing fabs to stabilize the critical dimension in the process of photolithography, in the presence of unpredictable process drift and unknown non-Gaussian disturbances. The controller is a combination of an adaptive model with an H/sub /spl infin// feedback. The model described here is a discrete-time model based on real data from the shallow trench isolation area in one of the Intel flash manufacturing fabs.
Knowledge and Its Place in Nature

1. Investigating Knowledge Itself 2. Knowledge as a Natural Phenomenon 3. Human Knowledge and Social Practices 4. Human Knowledge and Reflection 5. Normativity and Natural Knowledge 6. What Philosophy Might Be Bibliography, Index
Identifying novel regulators of TIM-3 expression in exhausted T cells (IRC9P.707)

Chronic viral infection and the tumor microenvironment provide settings where T cells are persistently stimulated by their cognate antigen. These T cells are often ‘exhausted’ and exhibit decreased effector function and proliferative potential. Tim-3 is an inhibitory receptor upregulated on the surface of exhausted T cells, and Tim-3 blockade has shown potential for reversal of this phenotype. Understanding mechanisms that regulate Tim-3 expression and signaling can provide insight into therapeutics to rescue exhausted T cell function. Upon T cell activation, the unfolded protein response (UPR) is initiated to resolve a build-up of newly translated protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Bat3, an ER chaperone upregulated during the UPR, was suggested to be a repressor of Tim-3 cytoplasmic signaling. XBP1, a transcription factor activated during the UPR, is predicted to bind the Tim-3 gene. We aim to confirm the interaction of XBP1 with the Tim-3 gene, as well as understand its functional significance. Linking the UPR and Tim-3 could provide novel information on pathways that drive exhaustion and offer insight into therapies for diseases where chronic antigen stimulation occurs.
Mutations affecting cell fates and cellular rearrangements during gastrulation in zebrafish

One of the major challenges of developmental biology is understanding the inductive and morphogenetic processes that shape the vertebrate embryo. In a large-scale genetic screen for zygotic effect, embryonic lethal mutations in zebrafish we have identified 25 mutations that affect specification of cell fates and/or cellular rearrangements during gastrulation. These mutations define at least 14 complementation groups, four of which correspond to previously identified genes. Phenotypic analysis of the ten novel loci revealed three groups of mutations causing distinct effects on cell fates in the gastrula. One group comprises mutations that lead to deficiencies in dorsal mesodermal fates and affect central nervous system patterning. Mutations from the second group affect formation of ventroposterior embryonic structures. We suggest that mutations in these two groups identify genes necessary for the formation, maintenance or function of the dorsal organizer and the ventral signaling pathway, respectively. Mutations in the third group affect primarily cellular rearrangements during gastrulation and have complex effects on cell fates in the embryo. This group, and to some extent mutations from the first two groups, affect the major morphogenetic processes, epiboly, convergence and extension, and tail morphogenesis. These mutations provide an approach to understanding the genetic control of gastrulation in vertebrates.
Transcriptional analyses of an ethanol inducible promoter in Escherichia coli and tobacco for production of cellulase and green fluorescent protein

Cellulase is a widely used enzyme for saccharification of plant cell walls for the production of biofuels. In our work, we tested an ethanol inducible native alcA promoter from Aspergillus nidulans in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and tobacco. The alcA promoter was fused with a cellulase gene and then the promoter was compared with other widely used promoters, namely, T5 and cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S in E. coli. We also tested the activity of alcA promoter in tobacco by transiently expressing a green fluorescent protein gene under the control of alcA promoter. We concluded from our quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results that when alcA promoter was expressed along with AlcR transcription factor, the alcA promoter was 11 times more active than the T5 promoter. The qPCR data suggested that there may be a direct correlation between AlcR concentrations and alcA activity, indicating a key role of the activator AlcR in the regulation of the alcA promoter. Our work on inducible promoter syst...
The urban and community health pathway: preparing socially responsive physicians through community-engaged learning.

One of five options for the new required Medical College of Wisconsin Pathways program, the Urban and Community Health Pathway (UCHP), links training with community needs and assets to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to provide effective care in urban, underserved settings; promote community health; and reduce health disparities. Students spend at least 10 hours per month on pathway activities: 4 hours of core material delivered through readings, didactics, case discussions, and site visits; and at least 6 hours of experiential noncore activities applying core competencies, guided by an Individualized Learning Plan and faculty advisor. Noncore activities include community-engaged research, service-learning activities or other relevant experiences, and submission of a synthesis paper addressing pathway competencies. The first cohort of students began their pathways in January 2010. Of 560 participating students, 95 (of which 48 were first-year, 21 second-year, and 26 third-year students) selected UCHP. Core sessions focused on public health, social determinants, cultural humility, poverty, the local healthcare system, and safety net. During noncore time, students engaged in projects addressing homelessness, obesity, advocacy, Hmong and Latino health, HIV, asthma, and violence prevention. Students enjoyed working with peers across classes and favored interactive, community-based sessions over didactics in the classroom. Students' papers reflected a range of service and scholarly activities and a deepened appreciation of social and economic influences on health. The UCHP enriches the traditional curriculum with individualized, community-based experiences to build knowledge about health determinants and skills in partnering with communities to improve health. Language: en
Exploring Explanation: Explaining Inconsistent Evidence Informs Exploratory, Hypothesis-Testing Behavior in Young Children

Explaining inconsistency may serve as an important mechanism for driving the process of causal learning. But how might this process generate amended beliefs? One way that explaining inconsistency may promote discovery is by guiding exploratory, hypothesis-testing behavior. In order to investigate this, a study with young children ranging in age from 2 to 6 years (N = 80) examined the relation between explanation and exploratory behavior following consistent versus inconsistent outcomes. Results indicated that for inconsistent outcomes only, the kind of explanation children provided informed the kind of exploratory behavior they engaged in and the extent to which children modified and generated new hypotheses. In sum, the data provide insight into a mechanism by which explaining inconsistent evidence guides causal cognition.
Identifying weak dielectric objects on conductive surfaces in millimeter-wave imaging

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imaging is able to detect not only conducting but also weak dielectric objects. When a dielectric is affixed to a conducting surface, reflection of the dielectric can be difficult to distinguish from the sidelobes from the surface, since they have similar magnitude and range. The ability to distinguish imaging artifacts and target surfaces is necessary to enable automated feature analysis and threat detection of unknown targets. Our new methods varies the imaging bandwidth, which changes the range of the sidelobe position without changing the range of the dielectric peak reflection, which distinguishes the front surface dielectric reflectivity from sidelobe artifacts. Experimental data is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.
Loop Transformations for Architectures with Partitioned Register Banks

Embedded systems require maximum performance from a processor within significant constraints in power consumption and chip cost. Using software pipelining, processors can often exploit considerable instruction-level parallelism (ILP), and thus significantly improve performance, at the cost of substantially increasing register requirements. These increasing register requirements, however, make it difficult to build a high-performance embedded processor with a single, multi-ported register file while maintaining clock speed and limiting power consumption.Some digital signal processors, such as the TI C6x, reduce the number of ports required for a register bank by partitioning the register bank into multiple banks. Disjoint subsets of functional units are directly connected to one of the partitioned register banks. Each register bank and its associate functional units is called a cluster. Clustering reduces the number of ports needed on a per-bank basis, allowing an increased clock rate. However, execution speed can be hampered because of the potential need to copy “non-local” operands among register banks in order to make them available to the functional unit performing an operation. The task of the compiler is to both maximize parallelism and minimize the number of remote register accesses needed.Previous work has concentrated on methods to partition virtual registers amongst the target architecture's clusters. In this paper, we show how high-level loop transformations can enhance the partitioning obtained by low-level schemes. In our experiments, loop transformations improved software pipelining by 27% on a machine with 2 clusters, each having 1 floating-point and 1 integer register bank and 4 functional units. We also observed a 20% improvement on a similar machine with 4 clusters of 2 functional units. In fact, by performing the described loop transformations we were able to show improvements of greater than 10% over schedules (for un-transformed loops) generated with the unrealistic assumption of a single multi-ported register bank.
Surface-plasmon excitation using a polarization-preserving optical fiber and an index-matching fluid optical cell.

Existing experimental configurations to excite surface plasmons are reviewed, and a new experimental method for exciting surface plasmons is described. A transverse magnetic polarized wave is guided by a polarization-preserving optical fiber, collimated by a gradient-index lens, and launched into an optical cell filled with index-matching fluid. The wave is reflected off of a rotating mirror and excites a surface plasmon on a dielectric–metal interface by attenuated total reflection. The reflectance and incidence angles are measured simultaneously with a position-sensitive photodiode. The main advantages of this new method, compared with existing methods, are the low equipment costs and the ease with which a variety of surface-plasmon experiments can be performed.
Critical Elements of Foreign Currency Translation: A Worldwide Informational and Accounting Problem

The purpose of this study is to describe and clarif y the foreign currency translation problem and to s uggest normative criteria by which various methodologies c an be tested. The translation problem is presented as a set of four critical questions: (1) whether transla tion should be done, (2) what numbers to use to tra nslate foreign currency accounts into the reporting curren cy, (3) what to do with the imbalance that results from translating different accounts with different numbe rs and (4) what, if anything, to do about changes i n price levels. Several normative criteria are recommended for evaluating of various translation methodologies , some related specifically to earnings quality. It i s further suggested that when empirical research is done to test various translation methodologies against norm ative criteria, (1) no translation at all and (2) p rice parity methodologies should also be tested.
Effects of home care on caregivers' psychosocial status.

Purpose: To examine changes in the psychosocial status of caregivers of post-surgical patients with cancer, and how their status was affected by (a) whether caregivers had physical problems of their own, and (b) whether the patient received a home care intervention. Many studies in this area to date have not included sufficient measurement points to identify fluctuations in psychosocial status over time. In addition, many have used caregiver health as an outcome rather than a predictor. Design: Longitudinal, randomized trial using a sample of 161 caregivers of cancer patients being treated at one large university hospital in the northeastern United States, 1993-1996. Half the patients were randomly assigned to receive a standardized home-care nursing intervention. The population of interest was caregivers of patients who were (a) diagnosed with a solid-tumor cancer within the past 2 months, (b) age 60 or older, (c) hospitalized for surgical treatment of the cancer and expected to live at least 6 months, and (d) had a complex problem at hospital discharge. All caregivers were living with the patient at time of discharge. Methods: Data were collected in structured interviews administered at the time of the patients' discharge and approximately 3 and 6 months later. Psychosocial status was measured using the Caregiver Reaction Assessment and the CES-Depression scale. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed for each psychosocial measure, using as factors Time (i.e., interview 1, 2, or 3), Group (treatment and control), and Caregiver Physical Problem. Findings: Overall, psychosocial status improved from baseline to 3 months, and was about the same at 6 months. Among caregivers with physical problems, the psychosocial status of those in the treatment group declined compared to those in the control groups in the 3 months after discharge; an opposite pattern was observed in the following 3 months. Conclusions: People who are caregivers for cancer patients and have physical problems of their own are at risk for psychologic morbidity, which may have a delayed onset. This delay may reflect the replacement of an initial optimism with discouragement as the reality of long-term illness sets in. Home care may create a situation in which caregivers are required to confront the realities of long-term caregiving quickly, cutting short their initial optimism, but also preparing them for what is to come.
Primary Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the vulva: Report of a case and brief review of the literature

Primary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) of the vulva is rare. Fifteen cases of primary cutaneous vulvar LCH have been reported in English literature. We report an additional case of LCH confined to the vulva. In this article, we describe the clinical presentation, histopathology and immunohistochemistry findings of vulvar LCH that are helpful to both gynecologists and pathologists in the diagnosis of this entity. We briefly discuss the pathogenesis of LCH. The debate whether LCH is a reactive or neoplastic entity is still ongoing.
Professional liability insurance

This article introduces the emergency physician to professional liability insurance: the type of insurance, whether it is the only type available in the region, and, if claims-made insurance, whether the tail coverage rate is reasonable; the limits of liability and whether these are appropriate for emergency medicine in the region; the policy exclusions and restrictions; the insurance company's financial strength; whether an attorney is provided for a claim, whether fees are covered by the policy, whether they are subtracted from the policy limit, whether the physician can choose a defense attorney, and whether the physician's consent is required for the insurance company to settle a case.
Measurement of gas trapped in the lungs during acute changes in airway resistance in normal subjects and in patients with chronic pulmonary disease

Abstract Measurements of airway resistance and functional residual capacity (plethysmographic method), functional residual capacity (helium dilution method), various partitions of the lung volume, and the maximal mid-expiratory flow rate were performed in fourteen normal subjects and fourteen patients with chronic pulmonary disease before and after the inhalation of constricting aerosols (aluminum dust and carbachol) and a dilating aerosol. The normal subjects and patients were equally divided into two groups, one breathing carbachol and the other aluminum dust. Increases in airway resistance were produced in every instance in both normal subjects and patients by both constricting aerosols. On the average, the rise was double the control value. This was accompanied by significant accumulation of trapped air (difference in volume of functional residual capacity by the two methods) in thirteen of the fourteen patients. Significant trapping occurred in half of the normal subjects. The vital capacity was little affected in the normal persons but the average reduction from control values was 0.6 L. in patients breathing carbachol and 1.1 L. in those breathing aluminum dust. Inhalation of a sympathomimetic aerosol restored all measurements towards the control value or better. A second inhalation of approximately the same number of breaths of the constricting aerosols demonstrated a protective effect of the sympathomimetic aerosol. This time significant elevations in any of the measurements occurred in only three instances. Two of the three exceptions were patients who received twice the number of breaths of carbachol on the second administration. Continuous analysis of nitrogen in the expired air of several other normal subjects during oxygen breathing showed marked changes of intrapulmonary gas mixing associated with elevated airway resistance and probable trapping. The nitrogen washout curves returned to normal subsequent to inhalation of a sympathomimetic aerosol and remained normal after repeat inhalation of the constricting aerosol. The amounts of intrapulmonary gas trapped, the reasons for the validity of the trapping measurements, and some of the probable mechanisms involved in its production are discussed.
Distribution of young's modulus in the cancellous bone of the proximal canine tibia

Abstract Canine cancellous bone is used as a model for human bone in experimental orthopedic research, including models of total knee arthroplasty. Depth-force measurements produced by small-diameter indentation testing were used to derive the variation of Young's modulus over the transverse cross-sectional surface at three levels within the proximal canine tibia. At the most proximal section the presence of lateral and medial peaks of equal modulus (∼1100 MPa) was found. Modulus averages for the three resection levels revealed a trend of distally decreasing values, from 692 MPa proximally to 417 MPa distally. Average regional modulus values for the canine tibia were 50–75% higher than previously reported for the tibia of healthy young adult humans, although the local maxima were only 5–20% greater in canines.
Ecto-ATPase: an activation marker necessary for effector cell function

Summary: Ecto-ATPase, a transmembrane enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of extracellular ATP (ATPJ to ADP and inorganic phosphate, is expressed upon cell activation, Ecto-ATPase is inhibited by non-hydrolyzable ATP analogues, which are competitive inhibitors of the catalytic reaction, and the ATP analogue affinity label, 5′-p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl adenosine (5′-FSBA), which irreversibly inhibits the catalytic activity. These nucleotide antagonists do not cross the cell membrane and are specific for ecto-ATPase in T cells, B cells and NK cells. Inhibition of ecto-ATPase by both reversible and irreversible nucleotide ant agonists results in the inhibition of antigen induced cytokine secretion and cytolytic activity of T cells. Likewise, granule release and cytolytic activity of NK cells as well as antibody secretion and spontaneous proliferation by B-cell hybridomas are inhibited. Inhibition of ecto-ATPase does not influence effector cell-target cell conjugate formation, but acts, in part, by regulating the influx of extracellular calcium that is necessary to maintain cellular activation. Thus, further elucidation of ecto-ATPase regulation and expression and its interaction with intracellular signal transduction events will provide a basis for understanding the role of the hydrolysis of ATPe by ecto-ATPase in lymphocyte effector function.
Excess market value, market power, and inside ownership structure

This study is an empirical investigation of whether principal-agent problems do in fact significantly affect corporate managers' decision making, and hence the price of the firms' securities. If inside ownership structure of firms is reflected in firm market value, then agency theory leads one to expect that market value will be a positive function of the degree of inside ownership. This study demonstrates that rational investors recognize inside ownership and its resultant effect on market value. Furthermore, it is shown that excess market value as measured by the Tobin's Q-ratio is related to the level of advertising and R&D expenditure, the degree of market power as proxied by the Lerner Index, leverage, and firm size.
Leveraging Public Land Development Initiatives for Private Gain The Political Economy of Vacant Land Speculation in Phoenix, Arizona

Land speculation has been an integral component of the political economy of land development in American urban history. In the American Sunbelt, land speculation occurs amid progrowth governance regimes that engage in intermunicipal competition for capital investment. This article presents a mixed-methods case study of vacant land speculation in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, before, during, and after the mid-2000s property boom. Results indicate that land speculation represented a significant barrier to both public and private infill development efforts, and that some municipal development initiatives actually facilitated private speculative profits. Speculative strategies are enabled when weaknesses in the coordination and bargaining power of urban growth regimes, derived from conflict within and between governmental scales, can be exploited by individual market actors. The self-propulsive nature of speculative property market cycles, unconstrained by local regimes increasingly dependent on nonlocal capital...
A Mindfulness Course Decreases Burnout and Improves Well-Being among Healthcare Providers:

Objective:Healthcare providers are under increasing stress and work-related burnout has become common. Mindfulness-based interventions have a potential role in decreasing stress and burnout. The purpose of this study was to determine if a continuing education course based on mindfulness-based stress reduction could decrease burnout and improve mental well-being among healthcare providers, from different professions.Design:This was a pre-post observational study conducted in a university medical center. A total of 93 healthcare providers, including physicians from multiple specialties, nurses, psychologists, and social workers who practiced in both university and community settings, participated. The intervention was a continuing education course based on mindfulness-based stress reduction that met 2.5 hours a week for 8 weeks plus a 7-hour retreat. The classes included training in four types of formal mindfulness practices, including the body scan, mindful movement, walking meditation and sitting meditati...
Estimation of parameters and reliability from generalized life models

Simultaneous estimation of parameters with p (≥ 2) components, where each component has a generalized life distribution, is considered under a sum of squared error loss function. Improved estimators are obtained which dominate the maximum likelihood and the niinimum mean square estimators. Robustness of the improved estimators is shown even when the component distributions are dependent. The result is extended to the estimation of the system reliability when the components are connected in series. Several numerical studies are performed to demonstrate the risk improvement and the Pitman closeness of the new estimators.
Pubic Spread Development and First Egg Lay in Japanese Quail

Abstract Measurement of the space between the pelvic (“pin”) bones, also known as pubic spread (PS), is used to determine the state of sexual development of female broiler breeders. Herein, we examined PS at selected intervals before, during, and after puberty in Coturnix, an avian species often used for extrapolation of data to more valuable poultry stocks. The PS was determined using different sets of wooden applicator sticks joined together to represent fixed gauges of increasing widths. These gauges were placed between the pelvic pin bones of individual quail until the best fit was detected. Within a bird (n = 80), PS measurements were made at 15 different ages (beginning at 21 and ending at 84 d of age). A cubic relationship was found to exist between age and PS. The best-fit curve of this relationship showed that little development in PS was evident between 21 to 38 d (prepubescence), rapid and increasing development occurred between 38 to 59 d, and no further development occurred from 59 to 84 d of age (postpubescence). Regressions of PS with age at first egg showed that the optimum age range to make a PS measurement to predict the onset of egg lay was sometime during 49 to 52 d of age. The data demonstrate the usefulness of making pubic measurements in Japanese quail to evaluate sexual development and to predict the initiation of egg lay.
Thin eolianites interbedded within a fluvial and marine succession: early Proterozoic Whitworth Formation, Mount Isa Inlier, Australia

Abstract The early Proterozoic Whitworth Formation in the Mount Isa Inlier, Australia contains the oldest known, thinly bedded eolian dune and amalgamated interdune deposits, and records the complex interplay of eolian, fluvial and marginal-marine depositional processes. The Whitworth Formation accumulated during the waning phases of rifting in a north-south trending trough that began between 1808 and 1790 Ma and ended before 1740 Ma. Three eolian facies are recognized: (1) cosets of cross strata, (2) sets of horizontal to low-angle strata, and (3) isolated sets of cross strata. Facies El records preservation of dunes with low angles of climb without intervening interdune deposits. Sets of facies E2 are interpreted as either sand sheet, preserved dune plinths or amalgamated interdune deposits. Facies E3 is encased in facies E2 and consists of lenses of cross strata with irregular tops. This association of facies is comparable to recent gypsum dune and interdune deposits at White Sands, New Mexico. Facies E3 reflects limited dune preservation during migration and accumulation at or near the groundwater table. Vertical change from amalgamated interdune deposits to dune without interdune deposits records dunefield initiation or lateral migration from a peripheral to a more centralized position within the dunefield. Increased sedimentation rates promoted preservation of dune deposits represented by facies E1. Decreased sedimentation rate and possible limited sediment bypassing resulted in amalgamation of interdune deposits on the dunefield periphery. Eolian facies E1 and E2 are interbedded with ephemeral-river deposits. Three ephemeral-river facies are recognized: (1) cosets of horizontal strata; 2) cosets of horizontal strata and overlying trough cross beds; and (3) cosets of medium-scale trough cross beds. Ephemeral-river facies F3 often are preserved in channels incised into eolian facies E3. Associated marginal-marine facies consist of: (1) thin-bedded arenites of intertidal to supratidal origin, and (2) trough and tabular planar cross-bed sets and cosets that resulted from migration of subaqueous dunes within a tide-dominated subtidal setting. Interbedded fluvial and eolian deposits reflect either autogenic processes, such as reworking of fluvial sands by eolian processes, or incursion of a fluvial system into a dunefield related to allogenic processes such as climatic change. Dune deposits in the Whitworth Formation probably developed under arid to semi-arid conditions as indicated by extensive ephemeral-river deposits, presence of evaporite pseudomorphs, and absence of wet interdune deposits. Interbedded eolian, fluvial, and marginal-marine deposits resulted from relative sea-level fluctuations related to a combination of eustasy and intrabasinal tectonics.
On the stability of paths, Steiner trees and connected dominating sets in mobile ad hoc networks

We propose algorithms that use the complete knowledge of future topology changes to set up benchmarks for the minimum number of times a communication structure (like paths, trees, connected dominating sets, etc.) should change in the presence of a dynamically changing topology. We first present an efficient algorithm called OptPathTrans that operates on a simple greedy principle: whenever a new source-destination (s-d) path is required at time instant t, choose the longest-living s-d path from time t. The above strategy when repeated over the duration of the s-d session yields a sequence of long-lived stable paths such that number of path transitions is the global minimum. We then propose algorithms to determine the sequence of stable Steiner trees and the sequence of stable connected dominating sets to illustrate that the principle behind OptPathTrans is very general and can be used to find the stable sequence of any communication structure as long as there is a heuristic or algorithm to determine that particular communication structure in a given network graph. We study the performance of the three algorithms in the presence of complete knowledge of future topology changes as well as using models that predict the future locations of nodes. Performance results indicate that the stability of the communication structures could be considerably improved by making use of the knowledge about locations of nodes in the near future.
The ground-state conductivity profile of the core-mantle system of the Earth-reply

Abstract The ground state of the core-mantle conductivity system is defined as a step function transition from the constant non-zero conductivity of the core to zero conductivity in the mantle. This ground state is reached by letting the thickness of a transition region Δ → 0, where Δ appears as a parameter in the model conductivity of the system. By a transformation of the equation governing the behavior of the electrostatic potential φ, it is shown that the function V(x) = (1/σ 1 2 )( d 2 σ 1 2 / d x 2 ) acts as a potential barrier in the quantum mechanical sense, and that for certain conductivity profiles σ(x), where x is the usual Cartesian coordinate, the electrostatic potential is screened out in regions where σ(x) → 0 as Δ → 0. Consequently, E = −∇φ also vanishes in these regions. The results generalize to the time-dependent case. Conditions that the conductivity function σ(x) must satisfy to qualify as the ground-state conductivity are defined and an example is provided.
Arctic ungulates at the northern edge of terrestrial life

The two ungulate species that occur in the High Arctic, Rangifer tarandus and Ovibos moschatus, exhibit considerable adaptive plasticity in response to habitat variability throughout their circumpolar distribution. R. tarandus, however, has a much wider latitudinal distribution and occurs within a wider range of both forest and tundra habitat types than 0. moschatus, reflecting greater morphological, physiological, and behavioral plasticity. As a consequence, muskoxen have been less successful than caribou and reindeer in maintaining populations at their southern limits. Muskoxen, however, existed throughout Pleistocene glaciations in the cold periglacial steppes of Eurasia and North America and find the closest analog to this vegetation type in the High Arctic, where they have been more successful than R. tarandus in maintaining their populations.
The Effects of Electrode‐Tissue Contact on Radiofrequency Lesion Generation

During the generation of radiofrequency (RF) lesions in the ventricular myocardium, the maintenance of adequate electrode-tissue contact is critically important. In this study, lesion dimensions and temperature and impedance changes were evaluated while controlling electrode-tissue contact levels (-5, 0, +1, and +3 mm) and power levels (10, 20, and 30 W). This data was used to assess the ability of impedance and temperature monitoring to provide useful information about the quality of electrode-tissue contact. The results show that as the electrode-tissue contact increases, so does the amount of temperature rise. With the electrode floating in blood (-5 contact), the average maximum temperature increase with 20 and 30 W was only 7 +/- 1 and 11 +/- 2 degrees C, respectively. At 20 and 30 W the temperature plateaued shortly after the initiation of power application. With good electrode-tissue contact (+1 mm or +3 mm), the temperature increase within the first 10 seconds was significantly greater than the temperature increase from baseline with poor contact (0 mm or -5 mm) and reached a maximum of 60 +/- 1 degrees C after 60 seconds of power application. As the electrode-tissue contact increased, so did the rate and level of impedance decrease. However, the rate of impedance decrease was slower compared to the rate of temperature rise. With the electrode floating in blood, the maximum impedance decreases with 20 and 30 W were 6 +/- 6 omega and 9 +/- 5 omega, respectively. The impedances plateaued after a few seconds of power application. With the electrode in good contact, the maximum impedance decreases with 20 and 30 W were 25 +/- 2 omega and 20 +/- 6 omega, respectively. In these cases the rate of the impedance decrease plateaued after 40 seconds of power application. The increase in lesion diameter and depth correlate well with decreasing impedance and increasing temperature. However, lesion depth appears to correlate better with impedance than temperature. We conclude that, since the electrode-tissue contact is not known prior to the application of power to the endocardium, in the absence of a temperature control system, the power should initially be set at a low level. The power should be increased slowly over 20-30 seconds, and then maintained at its final level for at least 90 seconds to allow for maximal lesion depth maturation. The power level should be lowered if the impedance drop exceeds 15 omega.
Compression of ultra-long microwave pulses using programmable microwave photonic phase filtering with > 100 complex-coefficient taps

Microwave photonic filters with arbitrary phase response can be achieved by merging high-repetition-rate electro-optic frequency comb technology with line-by-line pulse shaping. When arranged in an interferometric configuration, the filter features a number of programmable complex-coefficient taps equal to the number of available comb lines. In this work, we use an ultrabroadband comb generator resulting in a microwave photonic phase filter with >100 complex-coefficient taps. We demonstrate the potential of this filter by performing programmable chirp control of ultrawideband waveforms that extend over long (>10 ns) temporal apertures. This work opens new possibilities for compensating realistic linear distortion impairments on ultrabroadband wireless signals spanning over dozens of nanosecond temporal apertures.
CD8+ T-cell infiltrate in newly diagnosed glioblastoma is associated with long-term survival.

Abstract A growing body of evidence supports the significant interplay between the immune system and glioma pathogenesis. Here we investigate whether the extent of local glioma-associated CD8+ T-cell infiltrate at initial presentation correlates with long-term survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The study was conducted by the University of California San Francisco Brain Tumor Research Center as part of the San Francisco Bay Area Adult Glioma Study, which included over 519 patients with GBM. A central neuropathology review was performed and populations of infiltrating CD8+ T-cells were quantified histologically. Of 108 patients studied, 43 patients had poor survival ( 403 days. Tumors from long-term survivors were more likely than short-term survivors to have intermediate or extensive T-cell infiltrates compared to focal or rare infiltrates, and this association appears to be most significant in Caucasian women (p