cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Impact of Investment Shortfalls on Unfunded Pension Liabilities: The Allure of Neat, but Faulty Counterfactuals

In this paper I provide a methodological critique of the conventional method for assessing the impact of investment shortfalls and other contributors to unfunded pension liabilities, and offer a methodologically sound replacement with substantive policy implications. The conventional method – simply summing the annual actuarial gain/loss figures over time – provides a neat, additive decomposition of the sources of the rise in the Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL). In doing so, however, it implicitly assumes that in the counterfactual exercise, amortization would adjust dollar-for-dollar with the interest on additional UAL. That is, even if the total (and average) shortfall from covering interest is substantial, the marginal shortfall is assumed to be zero. This is not how contribution shortfalls arise under funding formulas typically used by public plans in the United States. Using the actual funding formula in the counterfactual – with contribution shortfalls on the margin -- leads to much higher estimates of the UAL impact of investment shortfalls than the conventional method. The reason is that there are large interactions over time between investment shortfalls and marginal contribution shortfalls. The conventional counterfactual implicitly assumes away these interactions. The resulting additivity is alluring, but illusory. The conventional method also leads to untenable results on other UAL-drivers. Most striking is the implication that the cumulative UAL impact of pension obligation bonds (POB’s) is no different from the initial impact of receiving the proceeds, independent of the return (actual or assumed) on those proceeds. The underlying problem with the conventional framework is that it has emerged without careful attention to the counterfactual scenarios it is meant to address. This paper provides explicit and internally consistent counterfactuals to better understand the conventional method and its flaws, as well as the reasons for using instead the actual amortization formula in the counterfactual. Mathematical methods are used to illuminate the theoretical issues that lie behind any simulations. The analytical results are illustrated empirically with an adapted version of the actuarial history of the Connecticut State Teachers’ Retirement System (CSTRS), FY00-FY14. The example is instructive because it is a highly underfunded system, notable for its high (and unreduced) assumed rate of return (8.5 percent), as well as its use of $2 billion in POB proceeds to reduce the UAL in FY08, just before the market crash.
Stall Suppression of a Low-Reynolds-Number Airfoil with a Dynamic Burst Control Plate

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the use of a dynamic burst control plate to suppress stall on a NACA 0012 airfoil by preventing the bursting of the low Reynolds number leading edge separation bubble. Pressure measurements, force measurements, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) data show the ability of the dynamic burst control plate to reattach the leading edge separation bubble to the surface at higher angles of attack than a stationary burst control plate and increase the lift performance of the airfoil.
PROGNOSIS OF HEMIPARESIS AND APHASIA DUE TO CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES IN RELATION TO THE FINDINGS ON COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY

Computerized tomography (CT) of the brain allows the clinical diagnosis of intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction with a precision heretofore unattainable. The size, location and extension of lesion are acurately portrayed. At Mihara Memorial Hospital in the past two years, prognosis of 101 cases with cerebral infarction and 80 cases with cerebral hemorrhage has been studied in relation to the findings on computerized tomography.1) The hemiplegia (complete palsy) was not found in patients with localized thalamic hemorrhage by CT scan, but was found in most of the patients who had hemorrhagic extension into the ventricle. The prognosis of hemiplegia was determined by the size of hematoma. The larger the lesion, the poorer the prognosis of hemiplegia was.2) All of the patients with putaminal hemorrhage extended into the ventricular system had complete hemiplegia. The prognosis of hemiplegia in patients with the hemorrhage taking place in the anterior putamen, is more favorable than in those with the posterior putaminal hemorrhage.3) Aphasia was not found in the patients who had extension of the hematoma within less than 24mm. Most of the patients with the hematoma larger than 25mm showed total or motor aphasia. The prognosis of aphasia is unfavorable in patients with hematoma larger than 35mm.All of the patients with thalamic hemorrhage showed no aphasia.4) Only 3.3% of the patients with small basal ganglia infarction demonstrated complete hemiplegia as compared with 36.6% of the patients with major artery occlusion.Sixty-five per cent of the patients with small infarction of the basal ganglia made good recovery compared with 17% of the patients with major artery occlusion. Motor deficit were mild in patients with lesion in the anterior limb or genu of the internal capsule, whereas patients who sustained small infarction in the posterior two-third of the posterior limb generally had much more marked motor involvement, especially in the most posterior one-third of the posterior limb.Ninety-two per cent of the patients with lesion less than 10mm had a good recovery whereas there was little or no improvement in 40% of the patients with 10-15mm diameter lesions.The lesion due to major artery occlusion involved the watershed sparing internal capsule at the level including pineal body by CT scan. The hemiparesis and its improvement were unfavorable in the patients with major artery occlusion.Prognosis of aphasia of the patients without obvious low density area on cortex or subcortex was more excellent than those of the patients with above low density area by CT scan.
Enantioselective Total Syntheses of FR901464 and Spliceostatin A and Evaluation of Splicing Activity of Key Derivatives

FR901464 (1) and spliceostatin A (2) are potent inhibitors of spliceosomes. These compounds have shown remarkable anticancer activity against multiple human cancer cell lines. Herein, we describe efficient, enantioselective syntheses of FR901464, spliceostatin A, six corresponding diastereomers and an evaluation of their splicing activity. Syntheses of spliceostatin A and FR901464 were carried out in the longest linear sequence of 9 and 10 steps, respectively. To construct the highly functionalized tetrahydropyran A-ring, we utilized CBS reduction, Achmatowicz rearrangement, Michael addition, and reductive amination as key steps. The remarkable diastereoselectivity of the Michael addition was specifically demonstrated with different substrates under various reaction conditions. The side chain B was prepared from an optically active alcohol, followed by acetylation and hydrogenation over Lindlar’s catalyst. The other densely functionalized tetrahydropyran C-ring was derived from readily available (R)-isopr...
Data Mining of Contingence Table Based on Multinomial Processing Tree Model

According to the existing problems of dominate cells information missing,an automatic data mining method of contingence table is purposed.According to the location of dominate cells,the categories in the original table are classified and represented by tree structure models on the basis of relevant theories of Multinomial Processing Tree(MPT) models,the following processes including hypothesis generations,parameter estimation and goodness-of-fit test is performed automatically.Application result shows the approach can effectively extract the latent interactions and peculiarity association rules.
Staging treatment strategies for colorectal cancer in integrative medicine

The incidence of colorectal cancer is higher in the digestive system malignant tumor, meanwhile, the characteristics of the cancer and the body is dif erent in dif erent development stage of colorectal cancer, as well as the relationship of them. Nowadays, western medicine takes a comprehensive treatment program, which is combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and biological therapy to surgical treatment. According to the characteristics and principles of syndrome dif erentiation and treatment, traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) takes a dif erent treatment strategies in dif erent stages of development of colorectal cancer. Standardized treatment of western medicine combined with individualized TCM treatment for dif erent stages of the colorectal cancer patients will be more benei cial for the various stages of colorectal cancer patients.
Calibration procedure for secular frequency scanning in ion trap mass spectrometers

Rationale Mass spectra can be recorded using ion traps by scanning the frequency of an alternating current (ac) signal that corresponds to the secular frequency of a trapped ion. There is a considerable simplification in the instrumentation needed to perform such a scan compared with conventional scans of the radiofrequency (rf) amplitude. However, mass calibration is difficult. An algorithm that can be used to achieve mass calibration is investigated and the factors that affect ion mass assignments are discussed. Methods Time domain data, recorded using a commercial benchtop linear ion trap mass spectrometer, are converted to the m/z domain using ion Mathieu parameter qu values which are derived from the dimensionless frequency parameter βu expressed as a continuing fraction in terms of qu. The relationship between the operating parameters of an ideal ion trap and the ion m/z ratio is derived from the Mathieu equations and expressed as an algorithm which through successive approximations yields the Mathieu qu value and hence m/z values and peak widths. The predictions of the algorithm are tested against experiment by sweeping the frequency of a small supplementary ac signal so as to cause mass-selective ejection of trapped ions. Results Calibration accuracy is always better than 0.1%, often much better. Peak widths correspond to a mass resolution of 250 to 500 in the m/z 100–1800 range in secular frequency scans. Conclusions A simple, effective method of calibration of mass spectra recorded using secular frequency scans is achieved. The effects of rf amplitude, scan rate, and ac amplitude on calibration parameters are shown using LTQ linear ion trap data. Corrections for differences in ion mass must be made for accurate calibration, and this is easily incorporated into the calibration procedure. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hemodynamic effects of posterior hypothalamic injection of neuropeptide Y in awake rats.

Unilateral microinjection of neuropeptide Y (NPY) into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus was previously found to evoke a sympathoexcitatory-mediated increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) in ure...
Laminar Boundary-Layer Development and Transition of Fish-Shaped Bodies of Revolution

Since the major source of hydrodynamic drag of most fish is due to boundary-layer skin friction, it is expected that the magnitude of the drag is very sensitive to the position of transition from laminar to turbulent flow-at least in the range of body sizes and speeds where Reynolds numbers in the order of millions are achieved. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the effect of body shape on laminar boundary-layer development, transition position, and resulting drag to determine whether fish shapes have undoubtedly evolved from many requirements, the desirability of laminar flow over the nose and an attached flow over the afterbody to minimize drag and enhance pressure sensing (for control and detection) was probably a major requirement for certain sizes and types of fish.
Research for practice: web security and mobile web computing

Our third installment of Research for Practice brings readings spanning programming languages, compilers, privacy, and the mobile web.
Evaluation of solid particle number and black carbon for very low particulate matter emissions standards in light-duty vehicles.

ABSTRACTTo reliably measure at the low particulate matter (PM) levels needed to meet California’s Low Emission Vehicle (LEV III) 3- and 1-mg/mile particulate matter (PM) standards, various approaches other than gravimetric measurement have been suggested for testing purposes. In this work, a feasibility study of solid particle number (SPN, d50 = 23 nm) and black carbon (BC) as alternatives to gravimetric PM mass was conducted, based on the relationship of these two metrics to gravimetric PM mass, as well as the variability of each of these metrics. More than 150 Federal Test Procedure (FTP-75) or Supplemental Federal Test Procedure (US06) tests were conducted on 46 light-duty vehicles, including port-fuel-injected and direct-injected gasoline vehicles, as well as several light-duty diesel vehicles equipped with diesel particle filters (LDD/DPF). For FTP tests, emission variability of gravimetric PM mass was found to be slightly less than that of either SPN or BC, whereas the opposite was observed for US06...
Craniotomy for Treatment of Chronic Subdural Hematoma.

Chronic subdural hematomas are commonly encountered pathologies in neurologic surgery. Primary management for a symptomatic lesion usually entails surgical intervention. There is controversy regarding ideal modality selection among twist drill craniostomy, bur hole craniostomy, and craniotomy. Variations of the craniotomy include a minicraniotomy (usually defined as 30-40 mm diameter), minicraniectomy, and with or without either a partial or full membranectomy. In addition to medical complications, potential surgical complications include recurrence, seizures, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and infection. Prior studies are summarized as well as rates of mortality, morbidity, reaccumulation requiring repeat operation, and clinical outcomes.
Current and emerging therapy of dry eye disease. Part A: pharmacological modalities

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Dry eye disease (DED) is an important public health problem considering its prevalence, morbidity, and cost implications. In the last two decades, new insight on the pathogenesis of dry eye has resulted in development of novel therapeutic modalities.Areas covered: This review will discuss current and emerging pharmacological modalities in treatment of DED to include tear supplements, anti-inflammatory therapy, antibiotics, vitamin A, other vitamins and antioxidants, free amino acids, essential fatty acids, hormone replacement therapy, mucolytics, tear stimulation (secretagogues) and biological tear substitutes. In preparing this review, a Medline, PubMed and Cochrane Database search of the medical literature for the period between January 1978 and July 2016 using a wide range of keywords was conducted. Only treatment modalities that had their efficacy and safety investigated in clinical studies are included.Expert commentary: Many patients have multiple mechanisms contributing to DED...
The Need for School-Based Mental Health Services and Recommendations for Implementation

Mental illness is a major public health concern with significant social cost. Symptoms of mental health problems generally emerge during the school-age years. Although effective interventions are available to decelerate or eliminate incipient concerns, they are rarely accessible to youth. Evidence suggests that school-based mental health services (SBMHS) have the highest likelihood of reaching youth in need. In this paper, the authors and the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders present a foundation for future policy recommendations relative to the need for SBMHS and recommendations for implementation.
Development of a multi-scenario approach to intelligent management of human resources in the field of medicine

The issues of human resource management in the field of medicine were studied and the strategic importance of the human factor and its intellectual potential in improving the quality of health indices were shown. The potentials of using intelligent technologies in management of medical specialist demand and offer adequately reflecting the rapidly changing situation at the labor market were observed. For that purpose, the procedure of intelligent management of demand for and supply of medical personnel was developed. The models of interaction of demand and supply from the standpoint of individual labor market participants (medical specialists and employers) and their behavioral strategies were offered. Formulation of the problem of making a decision concerning the choice of a proper policy of matching supply of and demand for medical specialists reducible to the fuzzy pattern recognition was given. The pattern recognition is based on a fuzzy situational analysis and determining the degree of similarity of fuzzy situations. The degrees of fuzzy inclusion and fuzzy equality were used as the criterion of degree of proximity of two fuzzy situations. The multivariate nature of supply and demand relationship was shown, possible scenarios of their matching were offered and a procedure of decision-making for employment of medical specialists was elaborated. A phased implementation of the multi-scenario procedure of managing demand and supply was carried out by the example of solving the problem of real selection and recruitment of medical specialists for concrete vacancies. The advantage of this approach consists in ensuring possibility of making decisions adequate to the current situation in the human resource management in medicine and its practical implementability. The procedure can be used in management of human resources in various sectors of economy with adaptation to their features.
Workforce management under social Link Based Corruption

Abstract Workforce management has long been an integral part of operational efforts aimed at maximizing revenues. The recent literature in this area has recognized the positive impact of social ties on workforce productivity, motivating new re-formulations of conventional operations research problems to more explicitly consider team building. This paper inspects a different – negative – aspect of social tie formation. Indeed, such ties may enable the spread of negligent or corrupt behavior, presenting a hindrance to the productivity of larger businesses with limited capacity for workforce monitoring. Through model-based analyses, this paper quantitatively establishes the benefits of workforce rotation as a means to curb corruption, and presents rigorous investigations into rotation policy-making. To this end, the Link Based Corruption (LBC) model is introduced. The modeled agents are assumed to be embedded into a directed peer-to-peer monitoring network; e.g., employees working on the same task or in the same room can be viewed as being supervisors of each other. Corruption is taken to be a threat whenever an agent and their supervisor(s) are all corruption-prone (ready to go corrupt); once they identify each other as such, which takes time, a productivity loss takes place. Under the LBC model, this paper addresses the policy-maker’s problem of fixing the agent monitoring structure and timing the workforce rotation so as to minimize the expected long-time loss. The impact of the LBC model parameters – the fraction of corruption-prone agents in the workforce, productivity rate, costs, rate of corrupt link formation, etc. – on the choice of an optimal policy is quantitatively assessed. It is also shown that the problem of inferring the LBC model parameters in real-world settings can be addressed by “feeling the system”, i.e., observing what financial outputs a given business generates when operating under different policy settings.
Heterogeneous Creep Deformations and Correlation to Microstructures in Fe-30Cr-3Al Alloys Strengthened by an Fe 2 Nb Laves Phase

A new Fe-Cr-Al (FCA) alloy system has been developed with good oxidation resistance and creep strength at high temperature. The alloy system is a candidate for use in future fossil-fueled power plants. The creep strength of these alloys at 973 K (700 °C) was found to be comparable with traditional 9 pct Cr ferritic–martensitic steels. A few FCA alloys with general composition of Fe-30Cr-3Al-.2Si-xNb (x = 0, 1, or 2) with a ferrite matrix and Fe2Nb-type Laves precipitates were prepared. The detailed microstructural characterization of samples, before and after creep rupture testing, indicated precipitation of the Laves phase within the matrix, Laves phase at the grain boundaries, and a 0.5 to 1.5 μm wide precipitate-free zone (PFZ) parallel to all the grain boundaries. In these alloys, the areal fraction of grain boundary Laves phase and the width of the PFZ controlled the cavitation nucleation and eventual grain boundary ductile failure. A phenomenological model was used to compare the creep strain rates controlled by the effects of the particles on the dislocations within the grain and at grain boundaries. (The research sponsored by US-DOE, Office of Fossil Energy, the Crosscutting Research Program).
Effect of surgeon “experience” with laparoscopy on postoperative outcomes after colorectal surgery

Background Although the relationship between laparoscopic surgery and improved clinical outcomes has been well established across a variety of procedures, the effect of operative experience with laparoscopic surgery remains less defined. The present study sought to assess the comparative benefit of laparoscopic colorectal surgery relative to surgeon volume. Methods Commercially insured patients aged 18 to 64 years undergoing a colorectal resection were identified using the MarketScan Database from 2010–2014. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to calculate and compare postoperative mortality/morbidity by operative approach relative to surgeon volume. Results A total of 21,827 patients were identified who met inclusion criteria. The median age among patients was 53 years (interquartile range: 46–59) with a slight majority of patients being female ( n = 11,248, 51.5%). Laparoscopic operations were performed in 49.2% of patients ( n = 10,756), whereas 50.7% ( n = 11,071) underwent an open colorectal resection. On multivariable analysis, laparoscopic surgery was associated with 64% decreased odds of developing a postoperative complication or mortality (odds ratio = 0.36, 95% confidence interval, 0.32–0.41, P P P P P Conclusion Although laparoscopic surgery was associated with improved postoperative clinical outcomes, the effect of laparoscopic surgery varied somewhat according to surgeon volume.
Coordination and Binding of Taurine as Determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements on 13C-Labeled Taurine

A number of pharmacological actions of taurine (5,8,9,16,17,19, 21,30,31) on central nervous and peripheral tissues have suggested that taurine might modulate cation flux (15) by either direct (10, 13) or indirect interactions (4) with calcium. The ability of taurine to influence calcium flux by direct coordination with calcium depends on the fraction of free intracellular calcium which can be trapped by taurine. The fraction of calcium that exists as a taurine complex can be estimated readily from intracellular taurine, calcium and hydrogen ion levels, and the formation constants of taurine-calcium complexes. The latter formation constants can be determined in vitro and applied to in vivo conditions. Dolara and coworkers (11,12) using calcium-taurine formation constants estimated from natural abundance 13C chemical shift titration curves, have calculated that approximately 8% of the total calcium in mammalian myocardium exists in taurine complexes. The inherent difficulties associated with making very precise measurements on noisy, low sensitivity natural abundance 13C NMR spectra suggested that the determination of calcium-taurine formation constants be repeated using 13C enriched taurine. We have determined 13C chemical shift titration curves of the calcium-taurine system using 13C-taurine and have obtained new formation constants for calcium-taurine complexes by rigorous complex equilibrium analysis of the titration curves. These formation constants predict that only neglible amounts of calcium are bound directly to taurine at the taurine and calcium levels found in myocardial cells. Additional 13C NMR measurements of taurine in solution have revealed some unexpected electronic properties of the molecule, which may be important to its biological function.
DNA Repair Mechanisms in Other Cancer Stem Cell Models

Stem cells are often referred to as the mother of all cells, meaning that they sit at the apex of a cellular hierarchy and, upon differentiation, give rise to all the mature cells of a tissue. DNA damage constantly arises from DNA replication, spontaneous chemical reactions and assaults by external or metabolism-derived agents. Therefore, all living cells must constantly contend with DNA damage. It is particularly crucial for survival of organisms how DNA damage is handled in stem cells, including tissue specific stem cells. While tissue-specific stem cells share the same purpose of maintaining organ functionality, recent studies have shown that the mechanisms of their response to DNA damage, the outcome of their DNA damage response, and the consequence of DNA repair for genomic stability vary greatly between tissues. Striking differences in the outcome of DNA damage response (DDR) have been seen in hematopoietic stem cells from different species and at different developmental stages. Furthermore cell cycle and metabolic states of stem cells seem to affect choices of DNA repair pathways and a choice between cell survival and death.
Tunable Buckled Beams with Mesoporous PVDF-TrFE/SWCNT Composite Film for Energy Harvesting

By incorporating mesoporous piezoelectric materials and tuning mechanical boundary conditions a simple beam structure can significantly take advantage of limited mechanical displacements for energy harvesting. Specifically, we employed a mesoporous PVDF-TrFE composite thin film mixed with single-wall carbon nanotubes to improve the formation of the crystalline phase in this piezoelectric polymer. The film was then patterned on a thin buckled beam to form a compact energy harvester, which was used to study the effects of two boundary conditions, including the end rotation angle and the location of a mechanical stop along the beam. We carefully designed controlled experiments using mesoporous PVDF-TrFE film and PVDF-TrFE/SWCNT composite films, both of which were tested under two cases of boundary conditions, namely, the rotation of the end angle and the addition of a mechanical stop. The voltage and current of the energy harvester under these two boundary conditions were, respectively, increased by approxim...
Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology

Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology provides a seamless introduction to the subject, identifying various research areas and analyzing how one can approach them statistically. The text provides a solid empirical foundation for undergraduate psychology majors, and it prepares the reader to think critically and evaluate psychological research and claims they might hear in the news or popular press. This second edition features updated examples of research and new illustrations of important principles. It also includes updated coverage of ethical issues in research and of current diversity issues.
Major league baseball’s Moneyball at age 15: a re-appraisal

In the 15 years since publication of the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game in 2003, major-league baseball (MLB) has seen the embrace of analytics by both fans and teams. Using 45 se...
A Passive Client Side Control Packet-based WiFi Traffic Characterization Mechanism.

WiFi has emerged as a pivotal technology for delivering Quality of Experience (QoE) to mobile devices. Unfortunately, exploding numbers of competing devices, potential encroachment by cellular technology, and dramatic increases in content richness deliver a more variable QoE than desired. Moreover, such variance tends to occur both across time and space making it a difficult problem to debug. Existing active approaches tend to be expensive or impractical while existing passive approaches tend to suffer from accuracy issues. In our paper, we propose a novel passive client-side approach that provides an efficient and accurate characterization by taking advantage of the properties of Frame Aggregation (FA) and Block Acknowledgements (BA). We show in the paper that one can accurately derive important metrics such as airtime and throughput with only a minimal amount of observed BAs. We show through extensive experiments the validity of our approach and conduct validation studies in the dense environment of a campus tailgate.
Applications of qualitative content analysis: evaluating the reliability and quality of health information websites

Health information websites have become an increasingly important source of information about medicine and health for non-specialists, patients, and consumers. But questions exist about the reliabi...
Infliximab-Induced Acute Liver Failure in a Patient With Crohn's Disease Requiring Orthotopic Liver Transplantation

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors are not known to have significant liver toxicity; however, a few case reports state otherwise. We report the case of a 25-year-old man with Crohn's disease who was initiated on infliximab. The patient developed severe mixed hepatocellular and cholestatic liver injury that progressed into acute liver failure. Based on clinical history, laboratory findings, and histology, this was presumed because of the development of autoimmune hepatitis secondary to infliximab. He underwent liver transplantation. The mainstay of treatment in this rare condition involves steroid therapy and possible transplantation. Patients must then avoid anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy for life.
Effect of surface detection error due to elastic–plastic deformation on nanoindentation measurements of elastic modulus and hardness

Elastic modulus and hardness are commonly measured using nanoindentation. Calculating these properties from measured force–displacement curves typically requires knowledge of the contact depth of the indenter into the specimen. However, surface detection methods in many nanoindentation experiments can lead to an error in the contact depth measurement and, subsequently, the measured properties. Here, the contributions of elastic and plastic deformations to surface detection errors in nanoindentation experiments are examined through experiments and modeling. The model is used to quantify errors in elastic modulus and hardness measurements due to elastic–plastic deformation during surface detection as a function of the specimen properties, indenter geometry, preload, and contact depth. Nanoindentation measurements on polystyrene, an aluminum alloy, and fused silica specimens with a Berkovich indenter are used to illustrate the effects of surface detection error and are compared to the model. The experiments and model both demonstrate that surface detection error can lead to measurement of apparent depth-dependent properties in homogenous materials.
Bicondylar Fractures of the Proximal Phalanx

Bicondylar fractures of the proximal phalanx are approached dorsally by incising between the extensor slip and the lateral band on either side of the fracture. Alternatively, osteotomy of the dorsal lip of the proximal portion of the middle phalanx can be performed, and the insertion ofthe central slip can be reflected proximally by dissecting on either side of it, providing excellent visualization of the joint surfaces. A screw hole should be predrilled before the osteotomy so that the dorsal lip can be secured at the end of the procedure.
A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE RELATED TO COLLATERAL SEISMIC HAZARDS: THE VALLEY FEVER OUTBREAK TRIGGERED BY THE 1994 NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE

Following the 17 January 1994 Northridge, California earthquake (M = 6.7), Ventura County, California, experienced a major outbreak ofcoccidioidomycosis (CM), commonly known as valley fever, a respiratory disease contracted byinhaling airborne fungal spores. In the 8 weeks following the earthquake (24 Januarythrough 15 March), 203 outbreak-associated cases were reported, which is about an order of magnitude more than the expected number of cases, and three of these cases were fatal.Simi Valley, in easternmost Ventura County, had the highest attack rate in the county,and the attack rate decreased westward across the county. The temporal and spatial distribution of CM cases indicates that the outbreak resulted from inhalation of spore-contaminated dust generated by earthquake-triggered landslides. Canyons North East of Simi Valleyproduced many highly disrupted, dust-generating landslides during the earthquake andits aftershocks. Winds after the earthquake were from the North East, which transporteddust into Simi Valley and beyond to communities to the West. The three fatalities from the CM epidemic accounted for 4 percent of the total earthquake-related fatalities.
Stone Tool Research at the End of the Millennium: Procurement and Technology

The literature of stone tool procurement and technology published in the past decade is reviewed in this article. The presentation attempts to be geographically comprehensive but, because of where it was written, it provides fuller coverage of New World publications, particularly those from North America, than of literature from the rest of the world. Topics covered include raw materials and procurement, flake experimentation, technology, and specific tool types. An article in a subsequent issue of this journal will discuss issues of function, behavior, and classification in lithic analysis.
What is the meaning of “the public interest”?: Examining the ideology of the American public accounting profession

Purpose – To examine the rhetorical claims put forth by several prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession that claim to act in the public interest, and to attempt to identify the ideological position or positions underlying their claims.Design/methodology/approach – Certain rhetorical claims put forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are examined. A discussion of Paul Ricoeur's concept of ideology follows, along with an explanation of the way in which Ricoeur's understanding of ideology can be used to gain a better understanding of the ideology of the American public accounting profession.Findings – Initially it appears that the rhetorical claims of the prominent organizations of the American public accounting profession reveal an underlying neo‐liberal ideology. Closer examination indicates a certain degree of ambiguity with respect to a neo‐liberal ideology, with...
Aspartate transcarbamylase. Stereospecific restrictions on the binding site for L-aspartate.

Abstract Erythro-β-hydroxy-l-aspartate is a good substrate for the catalytic subunit of the aspartate transcarbamylase of Escherichia coli, with Km = 24 mm (approximately the same as the Km for l-aspartate) and Vmax = 0.18 mole per min per g (22% of the Vmax for l-aspartate) at pH 8 and 28°. Aminomalonate is also carbamylated by the enzyme (Km approximately 770 mm and Vmax = 0.014 mole per min per g under the same conditions), but threo-β-hydroxy-dl-aspartate, erythro, threo-β-methyl-dl-aspartate, α-methyl-dl-aspartate, l-glutamate, and O-phospho-dl-serine are all inactive, even at high concentrations of enzyme. dl-α-Methylsuccinate, d- and l-tartrate, d-aspartate, the α- and β-methylaspartates, and threo-β-hydroxy-dl-aspartate are all poor inhibitors (Ki greater than 100 mm), whereas mesotartrate (Ki = 2.7 mm at pH 7 and 28°) and d- and l-malate are good competitive inhibitors for l-aspartate. Since maleate is a much better inhibitor than fumarate, we concluded previously that l-aspartate is bound to the aspartate transcarbamylase-carbamyl phosphate complex with its carboxylates oriented approximately cis to one another. Using erythro-β-hydroxy-l-aspartate as an example, four loci can be designated on the enzyme-carbamyl phosphate complex, corresponding to the positions of the α-amino group (A), the β-hydroxyl group (B), the β-hydrogen (C), and the α-hydrogen (D). When the carboxylates are cis, A is cis to B and C is cis to D. A single set of restrictions on these four loci can be used to rationalize the specificity of the enzyme for analogues of l-aspartate as substrates or inhibitors and the previous observation that l-aspartate binds very poorly to the enzyme-carbamyl phosphate complex. The restrictions are (a) that Loci A and B can accept hydroxyl groups without substantial impairment of binding but Loci C and D cannot, and (b) that an amino or methyl group in any of the four loci undergoes an interaction with the enzyme-carbamyl phosphate complex that prevents tight binding. These restrictions lead to the conclusions that mesotartrate binds with the hydroxyl groups in Loci A and B but not in C and D, that l-malate binds with the hydroxyl group in Locus A, and that d-malate binds with the hydroxyl group in Locus B.
Small Engine Emissions and Their Impact

In an attempt to characterize emissions from small air-cooled utility engines, five gasoline-fueled models were operated over a variety of speeds and loads, and important exhaust constituents were measured. These emissions included hydrocarbons, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, aldehydes, light hydrocarbons, particulates, and smoke. Emissions of sulfur oxides were estimated on the basis of the fuel consumed; evaporative losses of HC were also estimated. The impact of small engine emissions was calculated on the basis of the test results and information on national engine populations and usage. The 50 million or more small engines currently being used account for only a small part of the pollution from all sources. As percentages of the 1970 totals from all sources, small engines appear to nationally account for approximately 0.4% of HC, 0.8% of CO, 0.06% of nitrogen oxides, 0.004% of SO/sub x/, and 0.01% of particulates. As percentages of 1970 mobile source emissions, small engines are responsible for about 0.7% of HC, 1.0% of CO, 0.1% of NO/sub x/, 0.2% of SO/sub x/, and 0.5% of particulates. About 6% of the small engine emissions occur in the northern region, 52% in the central region, and 42% in the southern region.more » The emission factors for small engines under different load conditions and for different engine applications such as lawn and garden work are discussed.« less
Construction of an agent-based framework for evolutionary biology: a progress report

We report on the development of an agent-based system, called ΦLOG, for the specification and execution of phylogenetic inference applications. We detail the implementation of the main components of the system. In the process, we discuss how advanced techniques developed in different research areas such as domain-specific languages, planning, Web Services discovery and invocation, and Web Service compositions can be applied in the building of the ΦLOG system.
Liver hemorrhage: Recurrent episodes during pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia

Intrahepatic hemorrhage with rupture is the most serious and potentially life-threatening liver complication of pregnancy. With improved management, more patients are surviving this complication, and therefore, a number of patients are at risk of a recurrence should they again become pregnant. This case describes a patient who suffered two episodes of intrahepatic hemorrhage in two different pregnancies. Each episode was associated with mild preeclampsia. The first hemorrhage was limited by the liver capsule and treated conservatively, whereas with the second hemorrhage, the subcapsular hematoma ruptured, requiring arterial embolization followed by surgery. An arteriogram performed during the second episode of hemorrhage showed numerous pseudoaneurysms in the area of bleeding, suggesting that a vasculopathy plays a primary role in the pathogenesis of the intrahepatic hemorrhage associated with pregnancy. This case shows that intrahepatic hemorrhage may recur with future pregnancies, and individuals who suffer this complication of pregnancy and again become pregnant should be carefully monitored for the development of preeclampsia.
Attenuation of Immunological Symptoms of Allergic Asthma in Mice Lacking the Tyrosine Kinase ITK

Allergic asthma patients manifest airway inflammation and some show increases in eosinophils, T H 2 cells, and cytokines, increased mucous production in the lung, and elevated serum IgE. This T H 2-type response suggests a prominent role for T H 2 cells and their cytokines in the pathology of this disease. The Tec family nonreceptor tyrosine kinase inducible T cell kinase (ITK) has been shown to play a role in the differentiation and/or function of T H 2-type cells, suggesting that ITK may represent a good target for the control of asthma. Using a murine model of allergic asthma, we show here that ITK is involved in the development of immunological symptoms seen in this model. We show that mice lacking ITK have drastically reduced lung inflammation, eosinophil infiltration, and mucous production following induction of allergic asthma. Notably, T cell influx into the lung was reduced in mice lacking ITK. T cells from ITK −/− mice also exhibited reduced proliferation and cytokine secretion, in particular IL-5 and IL-13, in response to challenge with the allergen OVA, despite elevated levels of total IgE and increased OVA-specific IgE responses. Our results suggest that the tyrosine kinase ITK preferentially regulates the secretion of the T H 2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13 and may be an attractive target for antiasthmatic drugs.
Superficial bladder cancer: Diagnosis, surveillance and treatment

Approximately 70% of all bladder cancers are superficial at the time of presentation. Superficial bladder cancer includes tumors confined to the urothelium (clinical stage Ta) or lamina propria (stage T1) and flat carcinoma in situ (stage Tis). Because the biological behavior of bladder neoplasms is variable, several important prognostic factors must be addressed. Multivariate analyses have shown that factors predictive of tumor recurrence and tumor progression include multifocal tumors, high grade tumors, T1 tumors and positive urinary cytology after transurethral resection (TUR). The patient with superficial bladder cancer should be monitored via endoscopy supplemented by urinary cytology, using either voided or bladder irrigation specimens and urinalysis. Frequent intravenous urography is not required, even in high grade tumors, as long as the clinical and pathologic studies remain negative and the patient is asymptomatic. The "gold standard" of treatment for superficial bladder carcinoma is TUR of the entire tumor. Despite TUR, new tumors will occur in approximately 50% of all patients; those at highest risk for tumor recurrence and progression require adjuvant intravesical therapy after TUR. A variety of drugs are used as intravesical therapy, including thiotepa, mitomycin C, doxorubicin hydrochloride, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), epirubicin, and interferon. Although associated with the most toxicity, BCG appears to be the most efficacious agent in increasing the time to recurrence and progression and in reducing the recurrence rate.
Quality assessment of doctoral programmes

The purpose of this article is to focus attention on the different ways in which doctoral education can be evaluated. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.
Delayed hemorrhage following endoscopic retrograde sphincterotomy for choledocholithiasis

To define the clinical significance of delayed postsphincterotomy hemorrhage, we reviewed 476 consecutive ERCP procedures performed over a three-year period. Of 250 patients who underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES), five (2%) developed postprocedure hemorrhage, two of whom had immediate, self-limited bleeding that resolved after endoscopic injection of epinephrine and did not require transfusion. The other three had delayed hemorrhage characterized by: onset 20–48 hr after the procedure, melena without hematemesis as the index clinical manifestation of bleeding, and atraumatic balloon extraction of common duct stones. Transfusion of 2–6 units of packed erythrocytes was necessary in each and one patient required surgical hemostasis. Delayed hemorrhage following ERS is an important, frequently severe complication to remember when contemplating performing ERS as an outpatient procedure.
Definition and characterization of multivariate negative binomial distribution

The probability generating function (pgf) of an n-variate negative binomial distribution is defined to be [β(s1,…,sn)]−k where β is a polynomial of degree n being linear in each si and k > 0. This definition gives rise to two characterizations of negative binomial distributions. An n-variate linear exponential distribution with the probability function h(x1,…,xn)exp(Σi=1n θixi)f(θ1,…,θn) is negative binomial if and only if its univariate marginals are negative binomial. Let St, t = 1,…, m, be subsets of {s1,…, sn} with empty ∩t=1mSt. Then an n-variate pgf is of a negative binomial if and only if for all s in St being fixed the function is of the form of the pgf of a negative binomial in other s's and this is true for all t.
A super resolution framework for low resolution document image OCR

Optical character recognition is widely used for converting document images into digital media. Existing OCR algorithms and tools produce good results from high resolution, good quality, document images. In this paper, we propose a machine learning based super resolution framework for low resolution document image OCR. Two main techniques are used in our proposed approach: a document page segmentation algorithm and a modified K-means clustering algorithm. Using this approach, by exploiting coherence in the document, we reconstruct from a low resolution document image a better resolution image and improve OCR results. Experimental results show substantial gain in low resolution documents such as the ones captured from video.
The annihilation of galactic positrons

The probabilities of various channels of galactic positron annihilation were evaluated and the spectrum of the resulting radiation was calculated. The narrow width (FWHM less than 3.2 keV) of the 0.511 MeV line observed from the galactic center implies that a large fraction of positrons should annihilate in a medium of temperature less than 100,000 K and ionization fraction greater than 0.05. HII regions at the galactic center could be possible sites of annihilation.
Triple-collision operator for a quantum gas with bound states

The triple-collision operator of dense gas theory is analyzed for a quantum-mechanical gas obeying Boltzmann statistics. The contribution of two-body bound states is extracted by using Faddeev's representation of the three-body resolvent. The result is a binary atom-molecule collision operator which includes the effects of molecular formation and breakup, and inelastic and rearrangement collisions. An additional contribution is a modification of the Boltzmann collision operator due to the binding of one member of the colliding pair to a third particle. The analysis is carried out in the framework of the Green-Kubo formulas so the operators considered are linear and the results are in a form suitable for the evaluation of the transport coefficients.