cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU‐GG‐J‐154: Developing Multimodality Image Analysis Software for Target Definition and Therapy Response Assessment

Purpose: Multimodality functional imaging in cancer chemo‐radiotherapy holds promise for improved determination of tumor involvement in tissues and quantification of spatial and temporal changes in tumor pathophysiology in response to therapy. To address urgent needs for efficient analysis tools, we have developed an integrated software suite for retrospective research, prospectively evaluating the efficacy of functional imaging and facilitating streamlined data analysis for large‐scale clinical trials. Methods: Our software was developed using the MATLAB programming language version 7.6. The software runs on a Dell computer server with a 3‐GHz Intel Quad Core Xeon processor and 16‐gigabytes of memory. The software was designed to allow data exchange either directly with a patient image database or via a file system that organizes the data files hierarchically by institutional protocol, patient medical record number, imaging modality, study date, and series description. The spatial transformation matrix files generated in Siemens image registration applications can be read into our system and applied to image datasets in their original format. Results: This software allows simultaneous visualization of spatially registered images and derived parametric maps from various functional and anatomic imaging modalities at multiple time points. DICOM‐RT structure and dose files imported from treatment planning systems can be related to these multimodality images. Quantitative tools were implemented to perform image segmentation, histogram analysis of volumes of interest, and voxel‐wise correlation across modalities. Image and dosimetry data from example patients were processed to illustrate the clinical applicability of the software.Conclusion: We present an efficient image analysissoftware suite capable of simultaneously analyzing longitudinal patient images and radiationdose map with user‐defined volumes of interest or structures previously drawn for treatment planning. We hope this study illustrates well the unique needs of multimodality imaging in radiation therapy practice and encourages collaborative research between medical imaging sciences and radiationoncology.
Architecting security into the clouds: An enterprise security model

Most large corporations and the DoD are moving to implement a common computing environment to support net-centric views, expose authoritative data sources, increase agility, and reduce costs. This Cloud environment will provide a commoditized infrastructure allowing the corporation or Agency to gain efficiencies by focusing on developing granular mission capabilities that leverage common system mechanisms rather than focusing on developing infrastructures to support large individual systems. This approach advocates thin clients for the users, and provides services by the service provider over shared commodity resources. The mobile users are then allowed to not only view large data sets, but empowered to execute large transactions over regionally diversified data sets and computing resources. The technological concept is not new, however the implementation approach presents a strategic shift in the way organizations provision and manage their IT resources. The protection requirements on the data sets vary depending on the data type, originator, user, and sensitivity level. Additionally, the systems that fuse such data would have to deal with classifying the outcome and clearing the computing resources prior to allowing new application to be executed. This indicates that we could end up with a multi-level security system that needs to follow specific rules and the need to send the output to a protected network in order not to have data spill or contaminated resources. This paper discusses these requirements and the potential impact on the cloud architecture. Additionally, the paper discusses the unexpected advantages of the cloud framework providing a sophisticated environment for information sharing and data mining.
Fire sale in financial networks

The default of one bank can cause other banks to default through two channels: financial contagion in the inter-bank liability network and fire sale in the asset selling market. When the defaulted bank cannot fully pay its debt, the loss is transmitted to other banks. When banks rush to sell the same asset simultaneously, they may fall into a Nash equilibrium in which banks compete for liquidity and sell their assets at an artificially low price. In this paper, a model that incorporates these two channels is developed and analyzed theoretically. An algorithm for finding the state in which both the inter-bank liability network and the market are in equilibrium is proposed and tested.
Size Really Matters---New Insights for Start-ups' Survival

This paper presents new evidence regarding a firm's probability for survival, based on the network structure of the firm's managers. We found that start-ups that have larger informal communication networks increased their chance to survive external shock. Original data have been collected from Israeli software start-ups during the dot-com economic growth. About eight years later, we added information about their ability to survive the burst of the dot-com bubble. From a theoretical point of view, this paper highlights the power of the classic social networks approach in explaining organizational performance. From a practical point of view, these findings offer some guidelines for managers of start-ups. Our results show that the size of informal interfirm networks really matters.
Precision resection of intra-axial CNS lesions by CT-based stereotactic craniotomy and computer monitored CO2 laser.

This report describes an open stereotactic technique by which a tumour volume reconstructed in stereotactic space from CT data is removed by stereotactic CO2 laser vaporization. The position of the laser beam in relation to the tumour outlines is monitored by computer and displayed to the surgeon on a graphics display terminal in the operating room. Twenty-six (26) of these procedures have been performed on twenty-four (24) patients with deep-seated intraaxial neoplasms (23) and arteriovenous malformation (1). Post-operative CT scanning revealed no evidence of contrast enhancing lesions in nineteen (19) patients while a small amount of residual tumour was noted in five (5) patients post-operatively. This method has proven itself valuable for maintaining three-dimensional surgical orientation for the resection of intra-axial neoplasms from neurologically important areas.
Intramitochondrial crystals in meristematic cells of Pisum sativum.

Observations of epidermal cells from the root meristem of Pisum sativum reveal the presence of crystalline structures within the mitochondrial matrix. The crystals are rectangular in shape and measure 0.2–0.4 μ across their widths and lengths. A crystalline lattice is formed by the appearance of regular alternating dense and light bands with a repeat of approximately 55 A. Each dense line and light interspace measures 25–30 A in width. The appearance of these intramitochondrial crystals are compared with those reported for intramitochondrial inclusions in both normal and pathologic animal tissues in addition to several similar crystalline structures that occur in other cellular organelles.
The role of neutrophils and monocytic cells in controlling the initiation of Clostridium perfringens gas gangrene

Clostridium perfringens is a common cause of the fatal disease gas gangrene (myonecrosis). Established gas gangrene is notable for a profound absence of neutrophils and monocytic cells (phagocytes), and it has been suggested that the bactericidal activities of these cells play an insignificant role in controlling the progression of the infection. However, large inocula of bacteria are needed to establish an infection in experimental animals, suggesting phagocytes may play a role in inhibiting the initiation of gangrene. Examination of tissue sections of mice infected with a lethal (1 x 10(9)) or sublethal (1 x 10(6)) inoculum of C. perfringens revealed that phagocyte infiltration in the first 3 h postinfection was inhibited with a lethal dose but not with a sublethal dose, indicating that exclusion of phagocytes begins very early in the infection cycle. Experiments in which mice were depleted of either circulating monocytes or neutrophils before infection with C. perfringens showed that monocytes play a role in inhibiting the onset of gas gangrene at intermediate inocula but, although neutrophils can slow the onset of the infection, they are not protective. These results suggest that treatments designed to increase monocyte infiltration and activate macrophages may lead to increased resistance to the initiation of gas gangrene.
Implications of tumor location on subtypes of medulloblastoma.

Background Medulloblastoma (MB) comprises of four molecular subtypes, Sonic hedgehog (SHH), Wingless (WNT), Groups 3 and 4. WNT-subtype MBs were found to arise from midline of the brainstem occupying the fourth ventricle while SHH-subtype occupied the cerebellar hemisphere in a small subset of patients. Procedure We tested this hypothesis in a large cohort of pediatric MBs comprising of all four molecular subtypes. Results We validated in the first comprehensive analysis of tumor location of 60 human MBs representative of the four molecular subtypes, that hemispheric tumors are significantly associated with SHH-subtype MBs while midline tumors with WNT-subtype, Group 3 and 4 MBs (P < 0.001). Nearly half of SHH-subtype MBs were midline. Conclusions Tumor location should not be generalized to MB subtypes. SHH-subtype MBs are not exclusively hemispheric and hemispheric MBs are not always SHH-activated. It is imperative to identify subtypes in conjunction with tumor location when exploring currently available targeted therapy. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2013;60:1408–1410. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Disparate outcome after endovascular treatment of small versus large abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Abstract Objectives The size of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is the most important parameter for determining whether repair is appropriate. This decision, however, must be considered in the context of long-term outcome of treatment, balancing risk for rupture with mortality from the initial procedure and all subsequent secondary procedures necessary when durability is not ideal. Information on the results of endovascular repair of small versus large aneurysms has not been available. Methods Preoperative imaging studies and postoperative outcome were assessed in 700 patients who underwent endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm over 6 years at a single institution. Patients were divided into two groups: 416 patients (59.4%) with aneurysms smaller than 5.5 cm in diameter and 284 patients (40.6%) with aneurysms 5.5 cm or larger in diameter. Outcome variables were assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Results Patients with small and large aneurysms were comparable with regard to all baseline parameters assessed, with the single exception of a small increase in age (2.3 years) in patients with large aneurysms ( P = .031). While there were no differences in rate of type II endoleaks, mid-term changes in sac diameter, or aneurysm rupture between the two groups, at 24 months patients with large aneurysms had more type I leaks (6.4% ± 2.3% vs 1.4% ± 0.6%; P = .011), device migration (13% ± 4.0% vs 4.4% ± 1.8%; P = .006), and conversion to open surgical repair (8.2% ± 3.2% vs 1.4% ± 1.1%; P = .031). Of greatest importance, at 24 months patient survival was diminished (71% ± 4.6% vs 86% ± 2.8%; P P = .011) in the group with large aneurysms. Conclusions Outcome after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm depends on size; results appear inferior in patients with larger aneurysms. These differences attain importance when choosing between observation and repair, balancing risk for rupture against size-dependent outcome.
Stimulation of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate production enhances hypothalamic luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone release without increasing prostaglandin E2 synthesis: studies in prepubertal female rats.

A role for cAMP in the process of LHRH release was suggested several years ago, but only recently has the validity of this notion come under close scrutiny. In the present experiments we have used three probes, which stimulate adenylate cyclase activity via different mechanisms, to determine whether an increase in endogenous cAMP results in LHRH release from the hypothalamus of prepubertal female rats. Median eminences from juvenile, 28-day-old animals were incubated in vitro with either forskolin (F), cholera toxin (CT), or pertussis toxin (PT). All three substances enhanced LHRH release. The estimated ED50 values were 28.7 μM and 20.0 ng/ml, for F and PT1 respectively. The effect of CT appeared biphasic and thus no ED50 could be calculated. None of these agents increased the release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), an obligatory component in the process of norepinephrine-induced LHRH secretion. Doses of PGE2 and F, which were maximally effective in stimulating LHRH release when administered separately, did n...
A STUDY OF THE CHANGES IN VIRULENCE OF THE PNEUMOCOCCUS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF GROWTH AND UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF CULTIVATION IN MEDIA

It has been possible by rapid transfers alone, not only to maintain the virulence for mice of the pneumococcus in artificial media but also to restore a certain degree of virulence to cultures previously rendered non-virulent by less rapid transfers in the same medium. For these results the presence of enriching fluids such as blood or serum is not required. In addition it has been shown that attenuated cultures, which had been repeatedly demonstrated to be avirulent for mice at the 24 hour period of growth, exhibited marked pathogenicity if injected during, or especially at the commencement of the period of maximum growth when the growth energy may be considered at its height. In these cultures, however, the increase in virulence was usually less than in others transferred repeatedly at frequent intervals. The significance of these results is not necessarily limited to pneumococcus infections. Other lines of investigation are suggested which may possibly help to clarify certain conceptions of the relation which the different activities of the bacterial cell as an agent of infection bear to one another and to the host in various infectious diseases. Although the pneumococcus may offer an especially striking example for purposes of demonstration by experiment, it is not probable that the close relation between the vegetative power or growth energy of the pneumococcus and its pathogenic power is peculiar to this organism. The vegetative power may depend upon many conditions affecting both the host and the bacterial agent of infection. Different species of bacteria may acquire or develop it in different degrees under different conditions. But it must assuredly form the basis not only of the essentially parasitic but also of the more special toxicogenic activities of the bacteria.
Airborne-induced experimental Bordetella bronchiseptica pneumonia in Strain 13 guineapigs

To evaluate the efficacy of a commercial bacterial vaccine in protecting Strain 13 guineapigs against fatal Bordetella bronchiseptica pneumonia, it was necessary to establish the infectivity and disease pathogenesis induced by virulent organisms. When guineapigs were exposed to small-particle aerosols of varying concentrations of virulent B. bronchiseptica, a spectrum of disease was produced that ranged from inapparent illness to fulminant bronchopneumonia. Clinical signs began by day 4 after exposure, and were evidenced by anorexia, weight loss, respiratory distress and serous to purulent nasal discharge. Pathological alterations were limited to the respiratory system. Moribund animals exhibited a suppurative necrotizing bronchopneumonia and necrotizing tracheitis. In animals that survived the challenge, the bacteria were eliminated from the lungs by day 28 but continued to persist in the laryngeal area and the trachea. The median infectious dose and the median lethal dose were estimated to be 4 colony-forming units (CFU) and 1314 CFU respectively. These data suggest that the guineapig will be a valuable model system in which to study interactions between Bordetella species and host cells as well as to evaluate potential B. bronchiseptica immunogens.
The Constitution of China

On October 10, 1923, the permanent constitution of the republic of China was promulgated. The “Double Ten,” already a national commemoration day, becomes fittingly the date of the long-awaited culmination of the constitutional movement inaugurated by the revolution of 1911. Although the national assembly was the same legislature which, sitting as a constituent body, completed the first draft of the constitution in 1913 and passed the larger part of it through its second reading in 1916–17, the actual periods devoted to committee work and discussion were limited to the time, not amounting altogether to three years, during which the assembly was permitted by military and political exigencies to remain in session.
Molecules in motion: influences of diffusion on metabolic structure and function in skeletal muscle

Metabolic processes are often represented as a group of metabolites that interact through enzymatic reactions, thus forming a network of linked biochemical pathways. Implicit in this view is that diffusion of metabolites to and from enzymes is very fast compared with reaction rates, and metabolic fluxes are therefore almost exclusively dictated by catalytic properties. However, diffusion may exert greater control over the rates of reactions through: (1) an increase in reaction rates; (2) an increase in diffusion distances; or (3) a decrease in the relevant diffusion coefficients. It is therefore not surprising that skeletal muscle fibers have long been the focus of reaction–diffusion analyses because they have high and variable rates of ATP turnover, long diffusion distances, and hindered metabolite diffusion due to an abundance of intracellular barriers. Examination of the diversity of skeletal muscle fiber designs found in animals provides insights into the role that diffusion plays in governing both rates of metabolic fluxes and cellular organization. Experimental measurements of metabolic fluxes, diffusion distances and diffusion coefficients, coupled with reaction–diffusion mathematical models in a range of muscle types has started to reveal some general principles guiding muscle structure and metabolic function. Foremost among these is that metabolic processes in muscles do, in fact, appear to be largely reaction controlled and are not greatly limited by diffusion. However, the influence of diffusion is apparent in patterns of fiber growth and metabolic organization that appear to result from selective pressure to maintain reaction control of metabolism in muscle.
Pain-relieving prospects for adenosine receptors and ectonucleotidases

Adenosine receptor agonists have potent antinociceptive effects in diverse preclinical models of chronic pain. By contrast, the efficacy of adenosine and adenosine receptor agonists in treating pain in humans is unclear. Two ectonucleotidases that generate adenosine in nociceptive neurons were recently identified. When injected spinally, these enzymes have long-lasting adenosine A 1 receptor-dependent antinociceptive effects in inflammatory and neuropathic pain models. Furthermore, recent findings indicate that spinal adenosine A 2A receptor activation can enduringly inhibit neuropathic pain symptoms. Collectively, these studies suggest the possibility of treating chronic pain in humans by targeting specific adenosine receptor subtypes in anatomically defined regions with agonists or with ectonucleotidases that generate adenosine.
Preparation of 2‐(1‐phenyl‐1H‐pyrazol‐5‐yl)benzenesulfonamides from polylithiated C(α),N‐phenylhydrazones and methyl 2‐(aminosulfonyl)benzoate

Select C(α), N-phenylhydrazones were dilithiated in excess lithium diisopropylamide followed by condensation with methyl 2-(aminosulfonyl)benzoate and acid cyclization to afford new pyrazol-benzenesul-fonamides, 2-(1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)benzenesulfonamides.
Light extraction methods in light-emitting diodes

This paper describes the basics of light extraction in light-emitting diodes covering the ways light is trapped, is lost, and escapes. Additionally, methods to maximize light extraction in various UV-visible emitting semiconductors are shown.
Learning Laboratories for Renewed Community Leadership: Rationale, Programs, and Challenges

In the first issue of this journal in 1993 Joseph Rost declared that leadership development programs offered in the past require new concepts of leadership and new educational methods to develop leaders and collaborators for the 21 st century. This article presents: 1) a rationale for collaborative, shared leadership that fosters community renewal 2) an introduction to situated and action-leaming concepts to guide leadership develop program design 3) an analysis of three leadership development programs that sought to build renewed community or organizational leadership and 4) a discussion of implications for future leadership education.
Morphology and Aging Precision of Statoliths from Larvae of Columbia River Basin Lampreys

Abstract The general morphology and precision associated with age determination of statoliths from larval Pacific lampreys Lampetra tridentata and western brook lampreys L. richardsoni found within the Columbia River basin were examined. Significant positive correlations were observed between the size of left and right statoliths from individuals. Principal components analysis indicated an allometric relationship between lamprey length and statolith size as well as a potential species grouping based on these measurements. Discriminant analysis was able to correctly classify more than 94% of Pacific lampreys and 92% of western brook lampreys based on lamprey length and statolith size, and Pacific lamprey statoliths tended to be larger than western brook lamprey statoliths for lampreys of a given size. Reader bias in age estimates of statoliths was greater for older lampreys. Multiple independent age readings of both statoliths from individual lampreys indicated that the overall average percent error was 16...
Multisensor Precipitation Reanalysis

Abstract Temporally consistent high-quality, high-resolution multisensor precipitation reanalysis (MPR) products are needed for a wide range of quantitative climatological and hydroclimatological applications. Therefore, the authors have reengineered the multisensor precipitation estimator (MPE) algorithms of the NWS into the MPR package. Owing to the retrospective nature of the analysis, MPR allows for the utilization of additional rain gauge data, more rigorous automatic quality control, and post factum correction of radar quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) and optimization of key parameters in multisensor estimation. To evaluate and demonstrate the value of MPR, the authors designed and carried out a set of cross-validation experiments in the pilot domain of North Carolina and South Carolina. The rain gauge data are from the reprocessed Hydrometeorological Automated Data System (HADS) and the daily Cooperative Observer Program (COOP). The radar QPE data are the operationally produced Weather S...
REGULATORY CONTROL OF VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC TEST KITS

Veterinary diagnostic test kits are used in clinical practice and production medicine as a basis for prescribing vaccination and/or treatment regimens. These kits are also used by state and federal animal health officials to control or regulate the movement of animals. The regulation of such kits, which generally takes the form of establishing requirements for licensure, ensures that the kits conform to minimum standards for sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility. To qualify for licensing, diagnostic test kits should have consistent performance characteristics.
The capacity-coverage tradeoff in CDMA systems with soft handoff

In Veeravalli and Sendonaris (1997), the tradeoff between coverage and number of users was explicitly characterized for systems without soft handoff. It is well known that CDMA soft handoff can result in gains both in coverage and in number of users supported. In this paper we extend the analysis of Veeravalli and Sendonaris to derive analytical expressions that quantify the gains from soft handoff. Our analysis may be used in cellular planning in the following two ways: first, to calculate the coverage of cells based on the amount of traffic they will support; and second, to set hard limits on the number of users admitted into the cell in order to meet coverage requirements.
Familial correlates of adolescent girls' physical activity, television use, dietary intake, weight, and body composition

Background: The family environment offers several opportunities through which to improve adolescents’ weight and weight-related behaviors. This study aims to examine the cross-sectional relationships between multiple factors in the family environment and physical activity (PA), television use (TV), soft drink intake, fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, body mass index (BMI), and body composition among a sample of sociodemographically-diverse adolescent girls. Methods: Subjects included girls (mean age = 15.7), 71% of whom identified as a racial/ethnic minority, and one of their parents (dyad n = 253). Parents completed surveys assessing factors in the family environment including familial support for adolescents’ PA, healthful dietary intake, and limiting TV use; parental modeling of behavior; and resources in the home such as availability of healthful food. Girls’ PA and TV use were measured by 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) and dietary intake by survey measures. BMI was measured by study staff, and body fat by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Hierarchical linear regression models tested individual and mutuallyadjusted relationships between family environment factors and girls’ outcomes. Results: In the individual models, positive associations were observed between family support for PA and girls’ total PA (p = .011) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (p=.016), home food availability and girls’ soft drink (p < .001) and FV (p < .001) intake, and family meal frequency and girls’ FV intake (p = .023). Across the individual and mutuallyadjusted models, parental modeling of PA, TV, and soft drink and FV intake was consistently associated with girls’ behavior. Conclusions: Helping parents improve their physical activity and dietary intake, as well as reduce time watching television, may be an effective way to promote healthful behaviors and weight among adolescent girls.
A novel model for examining recovery of phonation after vocal nerve damage.

Summary Objectives/Hypothesis Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury remains a dominant clinical issue in laryngology. To date, no animal model of laryngeal reinnervation has offered an outcome measure that can reflect the degree of recovery based on vocal function. We present an avian model system for studying recovery of learned vocalizations after nerve injury. Study Design Prospective animal study. Methods Digital recordings of bird song were made from 11 adult male zebra finches; nine birds underwent bilateral crushing of the nerve supplying the vocal organ, and two birds underwent sham surgery. Songs from all the birds were then recorded regularly and analyzed based on temporal and spectral characteristics using computer software. Indices were calculated to indicate the degree of similarity between preoperative and postoperative song. Results Nerve crush caused audible differences in song quality and significant drops ( P P P =0.0771). In five of the nine (56%) birds, there was a greater than 50% recovery of spectral indices within a 4-week period. Two birds exhibited substantially less recovery of spectral indices and two birds had a persistent decline in spectral indices. Recovery of temporal index was highly variable as well, ranging from persistent further declines of 45.1% to recovery of 87%. Neither sham bird exhibited significant ( P >0.05) differences in song after nerve crush. Conclusion The songbird model system allows functional analysis of learned vocalization after surgical damage to vocal nerves.
Active learning centre: Design and evaluation of an educational world wide web site

Objective . A new medium - World Wide Web (WWW) - has grown rapidly over the last few years. It provides opportunities for development of new educational tools and facilitates learning through interactivity, self-paced study and easy access. The aim of this project was to devise an educational WWW site (Active Learning Centre) that would take advantage of the capabilities of the new medium and assess its utilization by users. Methods . Active Learning Centre provides customizable computer-generated feedback tests, searchable databases (currently Microbiology , Pharmacology , Vaccines , and Spanish-language Cardiovascular Medications ), remote WWW-based database authoring, and multilingual support. Its modular architecture allows easy expansion into new areas of knowledge. To evaluate the Active Learning Centre we conducted a study evaluating utilization of the site and user feedback. Results . The site is being used by thousands of patrons from around the world, the majority of whom are health professiona...
Testing the Buffering and Boomerang Effects of CSR Practices on Consumers’ Perception of a Corporation during a Crisis

This study explores the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on consumers’ perception of a corporation and the cognitive process involved in those effects. We conducted an experiment in the context of a health campaign by a fictional soft drink company with a 2 (CSR practices: CSR before a crisis vs no CSR before a crisis) × 2 (crisis type: same issue attribute as CSR vs different issue attribute from CSR) factorial design. The results suggest that CSR activities have buffering effects during a crisis, regardless of the issue attributes of the company’s CSR activities and those of the crisis. However, a close examination of the effects of issue attributes revealed that when the issue attributes of the company’s CSR activities and those of the crisis were congruent, consumers perceived the company’s motives for engaging in CSR practices as more self-serving and strategic-serving than public-serving, which led to higher CSR skepticism. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications.
Passive Transfer of Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity to Cell Walls of Staphylococcus aureus

Protracted inflammatory dermal reactions to staphylococcal cell walls were observed in guinea pigs passively sensitized by transfer of peritoneal exudate cells but not by immune serum from guinea pigs actively sensitized with heat-killed cells of Staphylococcus aureus. The experiments verify the hypothesis that the protracted reaction is a cell-mediated immune response which is resolvable from the toxicity of the cell walls.
Assessing the Unilateral Presidency: Constraints and Contingencies

As political battles about public policy give way to legal confrontations over the separation of powers system in the United States, scholars, journalists, and politicians continue to exchange barb...
Weak Instruments and Spurious Regressions

This paper develops an alternative asymptotic approach to Staiger-Stock's (1997) local to zero IV estimation of a structural parameter when instruments are weakly related to the endogenous variables. Rather than treating the limiting coefficients of the instruments in the first-stage regression as being in the neighborhood of Zero, we treat the limiting coefficients as random variables that are centered around zero when instruments are weak. This is done by transforming the first-stage regression into a spurious, higher order regression between weakly related processes. Our methodology exploits the well-known property that in higher order regressions, the rank condition on the moment matrix of instruments and regressors is no longer necessary to obtain standard distributions for estimators and test statistics. Since there is a failure of this rank condition in Staiger-Stock's framework, it seems reasonable to translate the problem to a framework where only the order condition is required. It turns out that our IV estimator has properties similar to the split sample IV estimator of Angrist-Krueger (1995), even though they are based on entirely different first-stage regressions. Unlike the local to zero IV estimator which is biased toward OLS and has a nonpivotal distribution, our estimator is biased toward zero, its distribution is pivotal, and converges at a faster rate of (i.e. it is hyperconsistent relative to the local to zero IV estimator). This implies that many of the tests that were shown to have nonpivotal distributions when instruments are weak, now have pivotal distributions when constructed from our IV estimator.
The linear plastid chromosomes of maize: terminal sequences, structures, and implications for DNA replication

The structure of a chromosomal DNA molecule may influence the way in which it is replicated and inherited. For decades plastid DNA (ptDNA) was believed to be circular, with breakage invoked to explain linear forms found upon extraction from the cell. Recent evidence indicates that ptDNA in vivo consists of linear molecules with discrete termini, although these ends were not characterized. We report the sequences of two terminal regions, End1 and End2, for maize (Zea mays L.) ptDNA. We describe structural features of these terminal regions and similarities found in other plant ptDNAs. The terminal sequences are within inverted repeat regions (leading to four genomic isomers) and adjacent to origins of replication. Conceptually, stem-loop structures may be formed following melting of the double-stranded DNA ends. Exonuclease digestion indicates that the ends in maize are unobstructed, but tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) ends may have a 5'-protein. If the terminal structure of ptDNA molecules influences the retention of ptDNA, the unprotected molecular ends in mature leaves of maize may be more susceptible to degradation in vivo than the protected ends in tobacco. The terminal sequences and cumulative GC skew profiles are nearly identical for maize, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.), with less similarity among other plants. The linear structure is now confirmed for maize ptDNA and inferred for other plants and suggests a virus-like recombination-dependent replication mechanism for ptDNA. Plastid transformation vectors containing the terminal sequences may increase the chances of success in generating transplastomic cereals.
Molecular composition and biodegradability of soil organic matter: a case study comparing two new England forest types.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is involved in many important soil processes such as carbon sequestration and the solubility of plant nutrients and metals. Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry was used to determine the influence of forest vegetation type and soil depth on the molecular composition of the water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) fraction. Contrasting the upper 0–5 cm with the 25–50 cm B horizon depth increment, the relative abundance of lipids and carbohydrates significantly increased, whereas condensed aromatics and tannins significantly decreased for the deciduous stand WEOM. No significant abundance changes were found for the coniferous stand DOM. Kendrick mass defect analysis showed that the WEOM of the 25–50 cm B horizon was depleted in oxygen-rich and higher mass components as compared to the 0–5 cm B horizon WEOM, suggesting that higher mass WEOM components with oxygen-containing functionality show greater reactivity in abiotic and/or biotic reactions. Furthermore, using an inoculated 14...
Seasonal variation in thyroid gland activity in deermice.

SummaryThyroid gland activity as measured by percent colloid, cell height, I131 uptake and thyroxine secretion rates was studied in 2 subspecies of male deermice (P. m. bairdii and P. m. grocilis) during spring, summer, fall and winter. A seasonal difference in activity of the thyroid gland was noted in both subspecies. However, time of maximum and minimum activity also varies in the 2 subspecies. Thyroid cell height and TSR are at a maximum during December-March and a minimum in October for bairdii, and are at a maximum during October-December and a minimum during March-July for gracilis. Radioiodine uptake by the thyroid glands of both subspecies is high during July and December and low during March and October. With the exception of the October period, the thyroid gland of bairdii is more active throughout the year than the thyroid of gracilis. A lack of agreement with all parameters of thyroid activity utilized was noted.
Søren Kierkegaard and Loving Aesthetically

For Soren Kierkegaard, passion and pleasure are at the heart of romantic loving, which he categorizes as part of an aesthetic lifestyle. For one of Kierkegaard’s aesthetic protagonists, Johannes the Seducer, romantic loving is beautiful because it is intoxicating and extraordinarily interesting and transforms one’s life so much that it feels as if it is of mythological proportions.1 One of Kierkegaard’s pseudonyms asks, “What, after all, is a human being without love?”2 and another says that loving relationships give one “the courage to attempt and risk everything”.3 Elsewhere, Kierkegaard wrote that “to love human beings is still the only thing worth living for; without this love you do not really live”.4 However, Kierkegaard also viewed aesthetic loving relationships as inadequate because they are fleeting and immature, reflecting a lack of selfdevelopment and destined to end in despair. To overcome this despair and become a fulfilled individual, Kierkegaard recommended a leap into marriage and faith.
Behavior Imaging: Using Computer Vision to Study Autism

Computer vision technology has a unique opportunity to impact that study of children’s behavior, by providing a means to automatically capture behavioral data in an noninvasive manner and analyze behavioral interactions between children and their caregivers and peers. We briefly outline a research agenda in Behavior Imaging, which targets the capture and analysis of social and communicative behaviors. We present illustrative results from an on-going project on the content-based retrieval of social games between children and adults from an unstructured video corpus.
PREVENTION OF BACTERIAL INFECTION IN THE TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: The Role of Selective Bowel Decontamination

SUMMARY Bacterial infections during the first month after liver transplantation remain a serious problem despite perioperative administration of systemic broad-spectrum antibiotics. These infections usually have been caused by aerobic gram-negative bacilli from the alimentary tract, and the most promising approach during the past decade is to eliminate or suppress these organisms by SBD. Several centers that have used SBD for prophylaxis have reported favorable results, but only one of the studies has been prospective and randomized. Based on the limited information now available, it seems that the efficacy of SBD is dependent on eliminating or suppressing aerobic gram-negative bacilli by the time of transplant surgery. This is an especially important point because successful SBD requires at least several days of treatment, and there are practical problems initiating and maintaining SBD in advance of unscheduled cadaver liver transplantation. Key areas for investigation are to establish by appropriately designed studies the efficacy of SBD and to examine the importance of achieving SBD prior to transplantation surgery.
Patience with difficult patients

The author, an advocate of an approach to healthcare security solutions that emphasizes compassion and safety in the sensitive healthcare environment, describes how a strike team of security, behavioral health and ED staff was able to collaboratively defuse situations with combative patients without resorting to forceful hands-on action.
Mind, language, machine

Today there is no more exciting field of inquiry than that variegated and largely disunified one concerned with investigating human language. In so far as it can be defined as a discipline, it draws relentlessly on the resources of many other disciplines with which it shares interests. Recently the interests of language theorists and researchers have overlapped fruitfully with those of various kinds of computer scientists and psychologists, whose interests in turn appear to be melding in the development of the hybrid discipline of a general cognitive science. As Philip N. Johnson-Laird observes, During the past decade, there has grown up a confederation of disciplines — linguistics, philosophy of mind, cognitive anthropology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and psychology itself — whose practitioners have realized that they are converging on the same set of problems and even independently invoking the same explanatory ideas. The so-called cognitive sciences have sometimes seemed like six subjects in search of an interdisciplinary synthesis; if that synthesis does not yet exist, it is certainly necessary to invent it.1
Doing Biology: Three Case Studies

This chapter is built around three case studies of biological investigations carried out not only in three very different areas of biology, but also in three different settings: the experimental laboratory, the field under natural conditions, and in historical time using paleontology and the fossil record to answer questions about the evolutionary development of life on earth. The first, laboratory-based case concerns the investigation into the mechanism by which nerve fibers growing out from the central nervous system “find” their way to very specific target sites (muscles, for example) in the peripheral areas of the animal body. This work led to the discovery of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the 1950s–1970s. The second, field-based case comes from a long-term investigation into the homing behavior in salmon: namely, an attempt to find out how adult salmon find their way from the ocean to the precise stream in which they hatched three or four years earlier. The third, historical case, involves the quest of evolutionary biologists to understand the causal factors in the extinction of the dinosaurs as part of a larger phenomenon known as “mass extinction”, during which numerous groups of organism all become extinct in a relatively short period of geological time.
More States Should Regulate Pain Management Clinics to Promote Public Health.

The authors reflect on pain management clinics and the need for states to regulate them to promote public health. It states that specific regulation of pain management clinics has only been enacted by 11 states and reports the policies appeared in response to prescribing behaviors that deviated from proper clinical practices. They talk about evidence of effectiveness of these laws in reducing deaths by prescription drug overdose.
Assessment of corneal biomechanical properties using the ultrasonic micro-elastography

Investigating biomechanical properties of the cornea can have many clinical applications, including the diagnosis of keratoconus and post-refractive keratectasia. However, ascertaining the biomechanical properties of cornea remains a challenge because of the low resolution of currently available modalities cannot provide a point-to-point stiffness mapping of cornea. In this study, we reported a high-resolution ultrasonic micro-elastograhy technique for non-invasive mapping of corneal biomechanical properties relative to its morphological structure.
A Retrospective Glance from Russia at Wonderland of Fuzziness

I have received my engineering diploma in Systems of Automated Control from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT, sometimes referred to as “the Russian MIT”) in 1975. This institute prepared specialists for high-tech governmental research institutes mainly located around the Moscow city. But I preferred to be free from duties of researcher working on prescribed tasks and returned to my city Kazan where I held assistant professor position in Department of Applied Mathematics of Kazan Institute of Chemical Technology (now it is Kazan National Research Technological University). I looked for some interesting areas of research and thanks to the department head Prof. Vladimir Skvortsov that drew my attention on the paper of Zadeh [39]. This paper was translated in Russian and published in 1974 in periodical collection of papers “Mathematics Today” in series “Mathematics and Cybernetics. News in Life, Science, and Engineering”.
Pin-track infections: Past, present, and future

Pin-track infections are a common problem with external fixation and any other implant that breaks the skin barrier. The literature is rich with reports and techniques for treating these infections, but lacks a universally accepted definition of a pin track infection, a single commonly accepted classification, or a standard method of reporting. However, the surgeon can follow a commonly accepted series of practical steps to reduce the occurrence of infection. Continuing development of improved surfaces, substances, and techniques may make pin track infections rarer in the future. Careful preoperative planning, meticulous surgical technique, patient education, and close patient monitoring are all critical to minimize pin-track infections.
Cross-Lagged Models of Mathematics Achievement and Motivational Factors among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic High School Students.

This study examines the disparities in, changes in, and longitudinal interrelationships among mathematics achievement and motivational factors for Hispanics and their White, Black, and Asian peers ...
A Simple, Evidence-Based Approach to Help Guide Diagnosis of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background —Diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is challenging in euvolemic patients with dyspnea, and no evidence-based criteria are available. We sought to develop and then validate non-invasive diagnostic criteria that could be used to estimate the likelihood that HFpEF is present among patients with unexplained dyspnea in order to guide further testing. Methods —Consecutive patients with unexplained dyspnea referred for invasive hemodynamic exercise testing were retrospectively evaluated. Diagnosis of HFpEF (case) or non-cardiac dyspnea (control) was ascertained by invasive hemodynamic exercise testing. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the ability of clinical findings to discriminate cases from controls. A scoring system was developed and then validated in a separate test cohort. Results —The derivation cohort included 414 consecutive patients (267 HFpEF and 147 controls, HFpEF prevalence 64%). The test cohort included 100 consecutive patients (61 HFpEF, prevalence 61%). Obesity, atrial fibrillation, age>60 years, treatment with 2 or more antihypertensives, echocardiographic E/e9 ratio>9 and echocardiographic pulmonary artery systolic pressure>35 mmHg were selected as the final set of predictive variables. A weighted score based on these six variables was used to create a composite score (H 2 FPEF score) ranging from 0-9. The odds of HFpEF doubled for each 1 unit score increase [OR 1.98 [1.74-2.30], p 2 FPEF score was superior to a currently-used algorithm based upon expert consensus (increase in AUC of +0.169 [+0.120 to +0.217], p Conclusions —The H 2 FPEF score, which relies upon simple clinical characteristics and echocardiography, enables discrimination of HFpEF from non-cardiac causes of dyspnea, and can assist in determination of the need for further diagnostic testing in the evaluation of patients with unexplained exertional dyspnea.