cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Normal Sinus Rhythm in a Patient with Corrected Transposition of Great Arteries After 30 Years of Complete Heart Block

A case of a patient with corrected transposition of great arteries with complete atrioventricular block for 29 years who was in sinus rhythm.
Magnetohydrodynamic density waves in a galactic disk system of stars and gas

Abstract We study galactic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) density waves in a composite system consisting of a stellar disk and a magnetized thermal gaseous disk. Perturbations in the two disks are coupled through gravitational interaction. In the tight-winding regime, dispersion relations for MHD density waves are derived under two different approximations for the stellar disk. This investigation clarifies the interrelation between spiral structures in the stellar disk and spiral synchrotron radio structures in the magnetized thermal gaseous disk.
Reliability of goniometric measurements of active arm elevation in the scapular plane obtained in a clinical setting.

Abstract Our purpose was to determine the intratester and intertester reliability of measurements of both scapular and glenohumeral rotation during active arm elevation in the scapular plane with a new device, the scapulohumeral goniometer (SHG). Ten physical therapists, with 1 to 29 years of clinical experience, obtained repeated measurements on 45 subjects who were 27 to 82 years old. All subjects were tested in uniform standing position with the handheld SHG, which was positioned over the subject's scapula and posterior shoulder according to operationally defined landmarks. For both scapular and glenohumeral rotation, 50% of the time the first and second measurements made on a patient by the same physical therapist differed by 3° or more. Ten percent of the time, these measurements differed by 8° or more. Measurements of active range of movement of scapular and glenohumeral rotation made by the same physical therapist during arm elevation in the scapular plane are clinically unacceptable when obtained with the current techniques for positioning the SHG. Clinical decisions based on results of active scapular and humeral motion in the scapular plane as measured on a patient by the same therapist with an SHG should be made with caution, because of the variability associated with this procedure.
Chemical and physical labyrinthectomy for Meniere's disease

The use of intratympanic gentamicin is currently a popular and easily performed office procedure for the conservative treatment of the Meniere's disease patient who has failed medical therapy or who is not a candidate for surgical therapy. The procedure provides excellent control for the symptom of vertigo. Despite this success, there remains a significant risk of hearing loss irrespective of administered dose. In the future, antioxidant [42,43] or salicylate therapy may prevent aminoglycoside toxicity [44]. These prophylaxis methods have shown promise in the laboratory. Current methods do not allow for accurate drug delivery to the inner ear. Middle ear mucosal status, round window thickness or adhesion, patency of eustachian tube, and the effect of endolymphatic hydrops on ototoxicity are factors simply out of the control of the operator's hands. Judging by the number of recent articles, intratympanic gentamicin instillation will continue to be an area of interest for the otologist. Users should be encouraged to be consistent and conservative in gentamicin dosing. It is clear that vestibular ablation is not necessary for adequate control of vestibular symptoms and that larger doses may increase the risk of hearing loss. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery guidelines [45] should be used and adhered to for reporting on the treatment of Meniere's disease, so that the literature may be more comparable. In the same light, a prospective standardized trial would be helpful in determining ultimate efficacy and risk to the patient. Transmastoid labyrinthectomy remains the surgical standard for extirpating the offending labyrinth when hearing preservation is not an issue. In appropriate patients, the procedure is a safe and effective method for relieving patients of vertiginous attacks. Most patients tolerate the procedure very well and are able to compensate fairly well over the course of several weeks to months.
Evaluation of soil respiration and soil CO2 concentration in a lowland moist forest in Panama

Soil gas exchange was investigated in a lowland moist forest in Panama. Soil water table level and soil redox potentials indicate that the soils are not waterlogged. Substantial microspatial variation exists for soil respiration and soil CO2 concentration. During the rainy season, soil CO2 at 40 cm below the surface accumulates to 2.3%–4.6% and is correlated with rainfall during the previous two weeks. Temporal changes in soil CO2 are rapid, large and share similar trends between sampling points. Possible effects of soil CO2 changes on plant growth or phenology are discussed.
Thymidylic acid synthesis in Eimeria tenella (Coccidia) cultured in vitro.

SYNOPSIS The source of thymidylic acid for DNA synthesis in 1st generation stages of Eimeria tenella cultured in vitro was investigated using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine, a thymidine analog, and 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine, an inhibitor of de novo thymidylic acid synthesis. Results show that the parasite is unable to utilize either exogenous thymidine or 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine but is dependent upon the methylation of deoxyuridylic acid via the thymidylate synthetase reaction to supply thymidine for DNA synthesis.
Learned taste aversions in rats as a function of delay, speed, and duration of rotation ☆

Abstract Rats fed a saccharin solution and then rotated on a turntable showed an aversion to the saccharin solution on later testing. In the first experiment, the rats learned to avoid saccharin with delays of as much as 9 hr between drinking the saccharin and the start of rotation. The second experiment showed that the critical determinant of aversiveness of rotation was number of rotations. The rats avoided saccharin as much after rotation at high speeds for short durations as after rotation at low speeds for long durations.
Nulling at the Keck interferometer

The nulling mode of the Keck Interferometer is being commissioned at the Mauna Kea summit. The nuller combines the two Keck telescope apertures in a split-pupil mode to both cancel the on-axis starlight and to coherently detect the residual signal. The nuller, working at 10 um, is tightly integrated with the other interferometer subsystems including the fringe and angle trackers, the delay lines and laser metrology, and the real-time control system. Since first 10 um light in August 2004, the system integration is proceeding with increasing functionality and performance, leading to demonstration of a 100:1 on-sky null in 2005. That level of performance has now been extended to observations with longer coherent integration times. An overview of the overall system is presented, with emphasis on the observing sequence, phasing system, and differences with respect to the V2 system, along with a presentation of some recent engineering data.
Noncirrhotic Portal Hypertension in Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection

The majority of infants with cytomegalovirus hepatitis have resolution of the disease with little evidence of fibrosis; there are only rare instances of cirrhosis. We report an infant with cytomegalovirus hepatitis who developed portal hypertension and hematemesis at 3 months of age. Liver biopsy showed resolution of the hepatitis but the presence of noncirrhotic sinusoidal fibrosis. Because of recurrent hematemesis in spite of sclerosing therapy on two occasions, the beta antagonist propranolol was begun. Hepatic wedge pressures before and after treatment with propranolol were 13 and 7 mm Hg, respectively. The findings emphasize: (i) that cytomegalovirus hepatitis may result in noncirrhotic sinusoidal fibrosis and (ii) that propranolol may be beneficial in the management of portal hypertension secondary to noncirrhotic sinusoidal fibrosis.
Context-Dependent BSE Impacts on Canadian Fresh Beef Purchases

Household-level Nielsen Homescan data from 2002 to 2006 were used to identify Canadian consumers'; reactions to the early Bovine spongiform encephalopathy discoveries that severely impacted Canada's beef industry. Consumers reacted to the initial BSE event by purchasing more fresh beef, apparently to support struggling ranchers. Reaction to each subsequent BSE discovery, however, was negative and diminishing in magnitude. The results were consistent across 3 measures of monthly beef purchases: participation, units purchased, and beef expenditure. Failing to account for the context of individual BSE events would have produced little evidence of consumer reaction, a common finding among prior North American BSE studies.
Catalytic Consequences of Spatial Constraints and Acid Site Location for Monomolecular Alkane Activation on Zeolites

The location of Bronsted acid sites within zeolite channels strongly influences reactivity because of the extent to which spatial constraints determine the stability of reactants and of cationic transition states relevant to alkane activation catalysis. Turnover rates for monomolecular cracking and dehydrogenation of propane and n-butane differed among zeolites with varying channel structure (H-MFI, H-FER, H-MOR) and between OH groups within eight-membered ring (8-MR) side pockets and 12-MR main channels in H-MOR. Measured monomolecular alkane activation barriers depended on catalyst and reactant properties, such as deprotonation enthalpies and proton affinities, respectively, consistent with Born−Haber thermochemical cycles that define energy relations in acid catalysis. Monomolecular alkane cracking and dehydrogenation turnovers occurred with strong preference on acid sites contained within smaller 8-MR pockets in H-MOR, while rates on sites located within 12-MR channels were much lower and often undete...
Mental health consultation at a youth shelter: An ethnographic approach

Shelters for homeless and runaway youth offer temporary, safe shelter to children and youth who have no alternative available to them other than life on the streets, many of whom also present a wide range of mental health problems. Traditional office- or clinic-based mental health services may not be available to or may not meet the needs of this population, yet many shelter programs are not equipped to deal with youth who enter with mental health problems. This article describes a non-traditional model to enhance mental health service delivery in a shelter for homeless and runaway youth. Through the use of an ethnographic approach to mental health consultation, the rate of unplanned discharge from the shelter was reduced by more than half and other benefits were noted. Similar approaches might be applicable in other child and youth shelter settings.
Latency-Associated Nuclear Antigen of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) Upregulates Survivin Expression in KSHV-Associated B-Lymphoma Cells and Contributes to Their Proliferation

Survivin is a master regulator of cell proliferation and cell viability and is highly expressed in most human tumors. The molecular network linked to survivin expression in tumors has not been completely elucidated. In this study, we show that latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA), a multifunctional protein of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) that is found in Kaposi's sarcoma tumors, upregulates survivin expression and increases the proliferation of KSHV-infected B cells. Analysis of pathway-specific gene arrays showed that survivin expression was highly upregulated in BJAB cells expressing LANA. The mRNA levels of survivin were also upregulated in HEK 293 and BJAB cells expressing LANA. Similarly, protein levels of survivin were significantly higher in LANA-expressing, as well as KSHV-infected, cells. Survivin promoter activity assays identified GC/Sp1 and p53 cis-acting elements within the core promoter region as being important for LANA activity. Gel mobility shift assays revealed that LANA forms a complex with Sp1 or Sp1-like proteins bound to the GC/Sp1 box of the survivin promoter. In addition, a LANA/p53 complex bound to the p53 cis-acting element within the survivin promoter, indicating that upregulation of survivin expression can also occur through suppression of p53 function. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analyses revealed that survivin expression was upregulated in KSHV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma tissue, suggesting that LANA plays an important role in the upregulation of survivin expression in KSHV-infected endothelial cells. Knockdown of survivin expression by lentivirus-delivered small hairpin RNA resulted in loss of cell proliferation in KSHV-infected cells. Therefore, upregulation of survivin expression in KSHV-associated human cells contributes to their proliferation.
Right-Sided Congestive Heart Failure in Dogs Produced by Controlled Progressive Constriction of the Pulmonary Artery

Right heart failure was produced in dogs by controlled progressive stenosis of the pulmonary artery. Cardiac enlargement, systemic venous engorgement, tachycardia, hepatomegaly and ascites were consistent findings. The course of cardiac failure was characterized by continual changes in cardiovascular hemodynamics; either cardiac decompensation became progressively severe or circulatory function improved and diuresis resulted. Sodium (Na) retention was always associated with high central venous pressure. Cardiac output was reduced during Na retention except during spontaneous anemia superimposed on cardiac failure. Glomerular filtration rate was frequently normal at the onset of cardiac failure.
Custom Foot Orthoses

A well thought-out prescription for custom foot orthoses (CFO) that takes into consideration the dysfunction of that particular athlete’s foot and the activity of the athlete is a pre-requisite to a successful clinical outcome. Addressing the specific needs of the pathology producing the dysfunction as well as the symptoms the athlete is experiencing makes the difference between treatment success or failure and patient satisfaction or frustration. Dispensing the same orthosis for posterior tibial dysfunction and plantar fasciitis will not produce the same successful outcomes for both because these are different pathologies with different functional needs and different mechanical origins.
Comparison of Steady‐State Blood Levels of Two Carbamazepine Formulations

Summary: The steady-state plasma level produced by brand-name carbamazepine (CBZ) (Tegretol, Ciba-Geigy) was compared with a generic formulation (Parke-Davis) in 10 subjects with partial epilepsy in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over clinical trial. In addition, seizure frequency and clinical and laboratory signs of toxicity were evaluated. Our results failed to show any difference in CBZ blood levels, seizure frequency, or clinical or laboratory signs of toxicity in patients receiving either the brand-name or generic formulation. RESUME Le taux sanguin en phase equilibre obtenu par la carbamazepine originelle (Tegretol, Ciba-Geigy) a ete compare avec celui obtenu par une preparation generique (Parke-Davis) chez 10 sujets presentant une epilepsie partielle au moyen une etude randomisee en double aveugle avec croisement. La frequence des crises et les manifestations cliniques et biologiques intolerance ont egalement eteevaluees. Les resultats ne mettent pas en evidence de difference dans les taux sanguins, la frequence des crises ou les signes cliniques et biologiques de toxicite entre les patients soumis au medicament origine ou a la preparation generique. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Steady State Plasma-Konzentrationen wurden bei 10 Patienten mit partieller Epilepsie in einer randomisierten Doppelblind-Cross Over-Studie verglichen unter der Therapie mit Tegretol (Ciba-Geigy) und einem Generic von Parke-Davis. Zusatzlich wurde die Anfallsfrequenz sowie klinische Zeichen und Labor-werte hinsichtlich Toxizitat ausgtewertet. Wir fanden keine Differenzen bezuglich der Carbamazepin-Blutspiegel, Anfallsfrequenz, klinischer Zeichen, beziehungsweise Laborwerte fur eine Toxizitat bezuglich beider Medikationen.
A Cotinine in Freeze-Dried Urine Reference Material.

A cotinine in freeze-dried urine reference material (RM 8444) was prepared at three concentrations: (1) a "blank" level typical of nonsmokers with no exposure to cigarette smoke, (2) a "low" level corresponding to nonsmokers with passive exposure to side-stream smoke, and (3) a "high" level typical of smokers. Low- and high-level materials were prepared gravimetrically from pooled urine by the addition of appropriate amounts of cotinine Perchlorate. Cotinine was determined by GC-MS using cotinine-d3) as an internal standard. No evidence for sample inhomogeneity was observed. This reference material will fulfill a need for a urine-based standard to assist in the validation of field methods used for assessing exposure to cigarette smoke.
Experiences and lessons learned in the design and implementation of an Information Assurance curriculum

In 2004, Dakota State University proposed a model for information assurance and computer security program development. That model provided a framework for developing undergraduate and graduate programs at DSU. This paper provides insight into experiences and lessons learned to further implement that model. The paper details modifications to both the undergraduate and graduate information assurance programs as a result of specific issues and challenges. Further, the paper highlights the introduction of a new terminal degree that includes an information assurance specialization. As a national center of excellence in information assurance education, we are confident that this paper will be helpful to universities around the world in either developing new or improving existing IA programs.
Renewable energy based capstone design applications for an undergraduate engineering technology curriculum

The senior design project is a capstone course taken in the final year of the electrical and information engineering technology (EIET) program at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The EIET program has been recently updated and is Iowa's first four-year Bachelor of Science degree in the electrical engineering technology area. The program has 2+2 articulation agreements with Iowa community colleges. Introduction of renewable energy applications to electrical engineering technology curriculum at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) has impacted students, faculty, and university community positively and promoted feasibility and adoption of more eco-friendly energy technologies. This paper presents the results of three solar and/or wind power based senior design projects promoting environmentally friendly technologies in Iowa. This paper also illustrates several methods for collaborating with regional corporate partners. The capstone senior projects listed are: (1) design and development of a fiberglass zero emission solar electric boat for Iowa lakes and rivers; (2) computer controlled solar powered outdoor digital display for departmental recruitment; and (3) design and implementation of a wind-solar hybrid power generation and instrumentation station. The first objective of this paper is to show how two of these projects were adapted for the undergraduate teaching and research curriculum. The second objective is to illustrate how student design projects can serve as an excellent marketing tool for engineering and engineering technology programs.
Epidemiologic Studies of Papago Indian Mortality

With data from the Papago population register and death certificates from the Arizona State Department of Health, vital rates and causes of death were examined for the decade 1950-59. Data were then divided to permit an assessment of the impact of residence in modern and traditional Papago communities on vital rates.Birth and death rates computed for the Papago population were in general agreement with similar data on Arizona Indian and U. S. Indian populations. Because of incompleteness of cause of death coding, mortality analysis was inconclusive.The vital rates for modern versus traditional communities disclosed differences which were the opposite of those predicted. Both birth and death rates were higher in modern than in traditional villages. This reversal may be explained by the inadequacy of the reporting system for vital events during the decade.
Detailed Characterization of Transceiver Parameters Through Loop-Back-Based BiST

The impact of impairments such as transmitter/receiver I/Q gain/phase mismatch on the performance have become severe due to high operational speeds and continuous technology scaling. In this paper, we present a built-in-self-test (BiST) solution for quadrature modulation transceiver circuits using only transmitter and receiver baseband signals for test analysis. The mapping between transmitter input signals and receiver output signals are used to extract impairment and nonlinearity parameters separately with the help of the NLS method and detailed nonlinear system modeling. Experimental measurement results are in good agreement with the simulations and they confirm the high accuracy of the proposed method.
Thermochromic VO2 nanorods and other vanadium oxides nanostructures

Thermochromic VO{sub 2} nanorods were prepared via thermal conversion of the metastable VO{sub 2}-B phase synthesized by hydrothermal methods. We observe an increased thermochromic transition temperature to {approx}75-80 deg. C by variable-temperature infrared spectroscopy. Nano- and sub-micron structures of other vanadium oxides (V{sub 3}O{sub 7} (NH{sub 4}){sub 0.5}V{sub 2}O{sub 5}, and V{sub 2}O{sub 5}) were obtained simply by varying the starting materials in the hydrothermal synthesis. We also obtained nanostructures of the high temperature tetragonal rutile phase of VO{sub 2} by thermolysis of single-source vanadium (IV) precursors.
Building Scholarly Writers: Student Perspectives on Peer Review in a Doctoral Writing Seminar.

Peer review was used as a primary pedagogical tool in a scholarly writing course for social work doctoral students. To gauge student response to peer review and learning as a result of peer review, the instructor used narrative analysis to organize student comments into themes. Themes identified included initial trepidation, “no pain, no gain,” and writing as relationship. Students transitioned from cautious reluctance about peer review to embracing it as a necessary part of the writing and publication process. As a profession that values collaboration, social work doctoral programs may benefit by encouraging peer support to enhance student writing and scholarly productivity.
AUTOMATIC RECONSTRUCTION OF 3D CAD MODELS FROM DIGITAL SCANS

We present an approach for the reconstruction and approximation of 3D CAD models from an unorganized collection of points. Applications include rapid reverse engineering of existing objects for use in a virtual prototyping environment, including computer aided design and manufacturing. Our reconstruction approach is flexible enough to permit interpolation of both smooth surfaces and sharp features, while placing few restrictions on the geometry or topology of the object. Our algorithm is based on alpha-shapes to compute an initial triangle mesh approximating the surface of the object. A mesh reduction technique is applied to the dense triangle mesh to build a simplified approximation, while retaining important topological and geometric characteristics of the model. The reduced mesh is interpolated with piecewise algebraic surface patches which approximate the original points. The process is fully automatic, and the reconstruction is guaranteed to be homeomorphic and error bounded with respect to the original model when certain sampling requirements are satisfied. The resulting model is suitable for typical CAD modeling and analysis applications.
Dehn surgery equivalence relations on 3-manifolds

Suppose M is an oriented 3-manifold. A Dehn surgery on M (defined below) is a process by which M is altered by deleting a tubular neighbourhood of an embedded circle and replacing it again via some diffeomorphism of the boundary torus. It was shown by Lickorish [Li] and Wallace [Wa] that any closed oriented connected 3-manifold can be obtained from any other such manifold by a finite sequence of Dehn surgeries. Thus under this equivalence relation all closed oriented 3-manifolds are equivalent. We shall investigate this same question for more restricted classes of surgeries. In particular we shall insist that our Dehn surgeries preserve the integral (or rational) homology groups. Specifically, if M0 and M1 have isomorphic integral (respectively rational) homology groups, is there a sequence of Dehn surgeries, each of which preserves integral (respectively rational) homology, that transforms M0 to M1? What is the situation if we further restrict the Dehn surgeries to preserve more of the fundamental group? Is there a difference if we require ‘integral’ surgeries? We also show that these Dehn surgery relations are strongly connected to the following questions concerning another point of view towards understanding 3-manifolds. Is there a Heegard splitting of M0, M0 = H1 ∪fH2 (Hi are handlebodies of genus g and f is a homeomorphism of their common boundary surface), and a homeomorphism g of ∂H1 such that M1 has a Heegard splitting using g ∘ f as the identification? Since there are many natural subgroups of the mapping class group, such as the Torelli subgroup and the ‘Johnson subgroup’, one can ask the same question where g is restricted to lie in one of these subgroups. This is related to work of Morita on Casson's invariant for homology 3-spheres [Mo1]. Even under these restrictions it has been known for some time that any homology 3-sphere is related to S3. This fact has been used to define, calculate and understand invariants of homology 3-spheres (such as Casson's invariant) by choosing such a ‘path to S3’ in the ‘space’ of 3-manifolds.
Is conscientious objection incompatible with a physician’s professional obligations?

In response to physicians who refuse to provide medical services that are contrary to their ethical and/or religious beliefs, it is sometimes asserted that anyone who is not willing to provide legally and professionally permitted medical services should choose another profession. This article critically examines the underlying assumption that conscientious objection is incompatible with a physician’s professional obligations (the “incompatibility thesis”). Several accounts of the professional obligations of physicians are explored: general ethical theories (consequentialism, contractarianism, and rights-based theories), internal morality (essentialist and non-essentialist conceptions), reciprocal justice, social contract, and promising. It is argued that none of these accounts of a physician’s professional obligations unequivocally supports the incompatibility thesis.
The applicability of sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for the quantitation of fragments in immune serum globulin preparations.

. A comparison of sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), ultracentrifugation and gel permeation chromatography was investigated for quantitation of fragments in preparations of immune serum globulin. SDS-PAGE was shown to be the method of choice by virtue of its sensitivity and its ability to clearly separate the products of fragmentation. Gel permeation chromatography and ultracentrifugation yielded similar results but did not approach the sensitivity of SDS-PAGE.
Asenapine: A New Antipsychotic Option

Asenapine is a new psychopharmacologic agent approved for the acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia and the acute and maintenance treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder. The efficacy of asenapine in treating schizophrenia was evaluated in four 6-week studies in which placebo and active controls (risperidone, olanzapine, and haloperidol) were used. Two 3-week placebo-controlled trials examined the efficacy of asenapine and active control (olanzapine) in the treatment of bipolar I disorder. Asenapine demonstrated efficacy in relation to placebo for 2 of the acute schizophrenia trials and both trials examining the acute treatment of bipolar I disorder. Several factors should be examined when considering asenapine therapy in relation to other antipsychotics including efficacy, atypicality of receptor binding, obstacles to administration and compliance, and finally cost. No efficacy advantage is evident with asenapine over other antipsychotic agents. Barriers to achieving compliance with asenapine include the recommendations of twice daily dosing, the need to avoid food and liquids for at least 10 minutes postadministration, the need for patient cooperation with sublingual administration, and the low bioavailability of the tablet if swallowed. Finally, no cost advantage is evident for using asenapine in comparison to the already available generic risperidone or other soon-to-be generic atypical antipsychotics.
Scale Factors for Simulation of Drifting Snow

Theoretical scale factors for simulating drifting snow in wind tunnel are derived by using equation of vertical transport and threshold characteristics; it is shown that scale factors derived from equation of motion of particles can be substituted for scale factor obtained from vertical-transport equation which involves mass transfer coefficients that cannot be readily solved; simulation of change in elevation of snow surface during long period of time is examined.
U.S. Credit Spread and Global Stock Markets

Based theoretically and empirically on the international transmission and spill-over, this study is set up to examine how returns on three groups (developed, emerging and frontier) of global stock markets respond to the U.S. credit spread shock. The Granger-causality is computed to determine the causal linkage between the U.S. credit spread and returns on the global stock market. The generalized impulse response functions and variance decomposition are also estimated.
Environmental Factors Affecting the Foraging Behavior of Herons in Ichkeul National Park, Tunisia

Abstract. This study was carried out at Ichkeul National Park, Tunisia, during 2009 and 2010. The influence of environmental variables on the foraging behavior of three Ardeid species was studied. Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) were the least active of the three species, having the greatest resting percentages in 2009 (55.0%) and 2010 (64.9%); they primarily used the “standing and wait” hunting behavior (68.5%). Great Egrets (A. alba) (93.6%) and Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta) (86.5%) primarily adopted a “walking slowly” strategy. Little Egrets also frequently used the “walking quickly” behavior, a more active hunting technique. Both Little and Great egrets varied their hunting behaviors according to water depth. In shallows, they used the “walking quickly” behavior, while in deeper waters they used the “standing and wait” behavior (Little Egret: r = -0.26, P < 0.001; Great Egret: r = -0.44, P < 0.01). For Little Egrets only, high temperature (F = 42.77, df = 1, P < 0.001) and high wind velocity (F = 63.81...
Al12Cu Superatom as Stable Building Block of Ionic Salts

The neutral copper aluminum cluster complex Al12CuM3 [M = K, K3O, and K(2,2,2-crypt)] has been investigated at the PBE96 level of theory. It is found that Al12Cu could be considered a superatom mimic of a phosphorus atom. It shows large electron affinity and is able to receive three electrons from elements or compounds with low ionization energies like K, K3O, or K(2,2,2-crypt) to become a stable electronic closed shell with a large gap between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO–LUMO gap). Theoretical calculations confirm that similar to the phosphorus atom in PK3, the superatom Al12Cu cluster could form ionic salts, as shown from stable dimers, trimers, and tetramers of the Al12Cu{K(2,2,2-crypt)}3 complex. On the basis of the maintenance of its integrity in these assemblies it could be predicted that Al12CuM3 holds great potential as a building block for the development of future nanostructured materials. Furthermore, the choice of the K(2,2,2-crypt) molecules to stabiliz...
Four-Year Prospective Study of Homosexual Men: Correlation of Immunologic Abnormalities, Clinical Status, and Serology to Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; formerly called HTLV-III/LAV), like many other infectious diseases, is associated with a wide spectrum of disease manifestations. Some individuals infected with HIV have remained asymptomatic, while others have developed mild constitutional symptoms, severe signs of disease, or AIDS, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, Atlanta, Ga) [1]. The factors that influence the development of the various clinical manifestations remain largely unknown. To elucidate factors that may influence the clinical outcome of HIV infection, we initiated a prospective study of a group of men at high risk for acquiring this infection. We report here on 40 randomly selected, homosexual men from New York City, who were studied over a four-year period (1981-1985) and were evaluated serologically, immunologically, and clinically on an individual basis.
Psychological Burden Associated With Lung Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review.

Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose radiation computed tomography (LDCT) reduces mortality and is recommended for high-risk current and former smokers. Several potential harms associated with LCS have been identified, including the potential for psychological burden. To summarize the current state of the scientific knowledge on psychological burden associated with LCS, we performed a systematic search of the contemporary quantitative and qualitative research literature. We included randomized controlled trials and cohort studies that evaluated the effect of LCS with LDCT on psychological burden and health-related quality of life assessed using validated and nonvalidated measures. PubMed, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and Scopus were searched for English language articles published between 2004 and January 2015. Data abstraction and quality assessment were conducted by 2 independent reviewers. Thirteen studies were included that met our inclusion criteria. Overall, results were variable with some studies reporting worse psychological burden for patients with indeterminate results at prescreening, after screening, and at short-term follow-up ( 6 months after screen). LCS might be associated with short-term adverse psychological burden, particularly after a false positive result. However, these adverse effects diminished over time. The amount of current evidence is small, with limitations in study design and use of outcome measures. More high-quality research is needed to determine the frequency, duration, and overall magnitude of LCS-related psychological burden in nonclinical trial settings.
Facial Analysis in Video: Detection and Recognition

Biometric authentication systems automatically identify or verify individuals using physiological (e.g., face, fingerprint, hand geometry, retina scan) or behavioral (e.g., speaking pattern, signature, keystroke dynamics) characteristics. Among these biometrics, facial patterns have the major advantage of being the least intrusive. Automatic face recognition systems thus have great potential in a wide spectrum of application areas. Focusing on facial analysis, this dissertation presents a face detection method and numerous feature extraction methods for face recognition. Concerning face detection, a video-based frontal face detection method has been developed using motion analysis and color information to derive field of interests, and distribution-based distance (DBD) and support vector machine (SVM) for classification. When applied to 92 still images (containing 282 faces), this method achieves 98.2% face detection rate with two false detections, a performance comparable to the state-of-the-art face detection methods; when applied to video streams, this method detects faces reliably and efficiently. Regarding face recognition, extensive assessments of face recognition performance in twelve color spaces have been performed, and a color feature extraction method defined by color component images across different color spaces is shown to help improve the baseline performance of the Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) problems. The experimental results show that some color configurations, such as YV in the YUV color space and YI in the YIQ color space, help improve face recognition performance. Based on these improved results, a novel feature extraction method implementing genetic algorithms (GAs) and the Fisher linear discriminant (FLD) is designed to derive the optimal discriminating features that lead to an effective image representation for face recognition. This method noticeably improves FRGC ver1.0 Experiment 4 baseline recognition rate from 37% to 73%, and significantly elevates FRGC ver2.0 Experiment 4 baseline verification rate from 12% to 69%. Finally, four two-dimensional (2D) convolution filters are derived for feature extraction, and a 2D+3D face recognition system implementing both 2D and 3D imaging modalities is designed to address the FRGC problems. This method improves FRGC ver2.0 Experiment 3 baseline performance from 54% to 72%.
Mode of delivery influences age-specific, birth weight-specific neonatal mortality in very low birth weight infants. 1194

Effect of delivery mode on neonatal mortality in very low birth weight(VLBW) births has been controversial. We examined this question, using the U.S. Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Sets for three years, 1989-91. Of all VLBW live births (n=141,497), 47.9% were delivered by primary vaginal delivery, 1.5% by vaginal delivery with a history of previous C-section, 37.5% by primary C-section, 7.0% by repeat C-section, and 6.2% by unknown mode of delivery. Only the VLBW (<1,500 gms) live births delivered by primary vaginal delivery or by primary C-section were examined. Neonatal mortality rates (NMR) were expressed by age of death per 1,000 live births for <1hr and <28 days NMR and per 1,000 survivors for 1-23 hrs, 1-6 days, and 7-27 days NMR. In all VLBW groups, births by primary C-section was associated with a significantly lower <1hr NMR, compared to the births by primary vaginal delivery (Table). This difference in <1hr NMR was progressively greater with a decrease in birth weight. The association of low NMR with C-section persisted throughout the entire neonatal period in the 500-749 gm group, but only up to 23 hrs of life in the remaining VLBW groups. Primary C-section was associated with low overall (<28 days) NMR only in the <1,000 gm births and not in the 1,000-1,499 gm group, however.
Incentive mechanisms for crowdsensing: crowdsourcing with smartphones

Smartphones are programmable and equipped with a set of cheap but powerful embedded sensors, such as accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope, GPS, microphone, and camera. These sensors can collectively monitor a diverse range of human activities and the surrounding environment. Crowdsensing is a new paradigm which takes advantage of the pervasive smartphones to sense, collect, and analyze data beyond the scale of what was previously possible. With the crowdsensing system, a crowdsourcer can recruit smartphone users to provide sensing service. Existing crowdsensing applications and systems lack good incentive mechanisms that can attract more user participation. To address this issue, we design incentive mechanisms for crowdsensing. We consider two system models: the crowdsourcer-centric model where the crowdsourcer provides a reward shared by participating users, and the user-centric model where users have more control over the payment they will receive. For the crowdsourcer-centric model, we design an incentive mechanism using a Stackelberg game, where the crowdsourcer is the leader while the users are the followers. We show how to compute the unique Stackelberg Equilibrium, at which the utility of the crowdsourcer is maximized, and none of the users can improve its utility by unilaterally deviating from its current strategy. For the user-centric model, we design an auction-based incentive mechanism, which is computationally efficient, individually rational, profitable, and truthful. Through extensive simulations, we evaluate the performance and validate the theoretical properties of our incentive mechanisms.
On the temperature dependence of subthreshold currents in MOS electron inversion layers, revisited

The drain current of a transistor in subthreshold operation exhibits a temperature dependence due to the thermal voltage, kT/q. The magnitude of this temperature dependence, as measured in 1979, was reported to be greater than the expected kT/q due to increased interface state densities; however, thirty years later, we saw little dependence. This behavior is of interest because subthreshold-enabled asynchronous circuits allow for operation below threshold with optimal power performance at threshold, but the original work suggests that static current will increase with temperature at a rate greater than predicted by the thermal voltage alone. Furthermore, the previously recorded behavior was very similar to what would be expected from ESD diodes. We revisit the work by Card et al., and present data from a commercially available 350nm process over temperature.
Moderating effects of perceived growth on the association between fear of cancer recurrence and health-related quality of life among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

ABSTRACTWe examined whether (1) fear of cancer recurrence was related to lower health-related quality of life and (2) perceived growth moderated the link between fear of recurrence and health-related quality of life. About 292 adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (diagnosed with cancer at ages 15–34) completed a cross-sectional survey. Fear of recurrence was related to poorer physical and mental health-related quality of life. The negative association between fear of recurrence and mental health-related quality of life was moderated by perceived growth. Fostering perceived growth may mitigate the adverse associations of fear of recurrence and health-related quality of life.
Selective nonoperative management of abdominal gunshot wounds with isolated solid organ injury.

Abstract Objective To review selective nonoperative management (SNOM) of gunshot wound (GSW) patients with isolated abdominal solid organ injury. Methods Patients who sustained isolated solid organ injury secondary to GSW from 2003 to 2014 were studied. The use of SNOM over time was analyzed, and comparisons of initial SNOM and operative management (OM) groups were performed. Results Of 127 patients, 63 (50%) underwent SNOM. There were no significant differences between the early/late or SNOM/OM groups in demographics, physiologic presentation, or Injury Severity Score. SNOM increased from the early to late cohorts (31%–67%, p Conclusion An increase in SNOM vs. OM was associated with equivalent outcomes. Patients undergoing SNOM received fewer PRBCs and had shorter LOS.
Semianalytical expressions for (L̄/ρ)airmed and Prepl for electrom beams

The tables of the mean restricted collision masss stopping power ratios for water, polystyrene and acrylic relative to air given in the AAPMTG-21 protocol have been fitted to an expression with 20 coefficients using the depth in the phantom and the mean incident electron energy as two independent variables. Using these expressions, the calculatd values agree with the tabulated values with +0.5% in 85% of the cases and within ±1.0% in 95% of the cases. For each of the four cylindrical chamber inner diameters, given in the protocol, the electron fluence correction P repl has been fitted to an expression with four coefficients using the mean electon energy at depth z as an independent variable.
Operating System Classification Performance of TCP/IP Protocol Headers

Identification of operating systems in a local network is an issue for both network management and security. Network practitioners rely on some classifier tools, but those tools' rules are generated by an expert. Hence, existing approaches need to be manually updated for each new operating system. In this paper, we analyze the TCP/IP packet headers to automate operating system classification. To this end, we measure the classification performance of each protocol, and determine the unique features between operating systems. We utilize a genetic algorithm to determine the relevant packet header features. Then, we use several machine learning algorithms to generate set of rules that can differentiate operating systems. Overall, with IP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, HTTP, DNS, SSL, SSH, and FTP, protocol header information, on average, operating system classification can be performed at a rate of 68.0%, 51.6%, 98.4%, 71.1%, 78.7%, 29.2%, 25.0%, 22.5%, and 14.0%, respectively. In general, feature extraction with genetic algorithm further improves the results, e.g. to an average of 99.1% for TCP.
life as opera: A Cultural Metaphor in Chinese

This chapter argues that life is an opera is a cultural metaphor with a rich cultural schema, representing an important aspect of the conceptualization of life in Chinese culture, and characterising cultural cognition of the Chinese as a cultural group. In this cultural metaphor, the source domain, opera, is a cultural category, referring specifically to Chinese opera, with Beijing opera as its prototype. While this metaphor is instantiated richly in the Chinese language, this chapter focuses on its salient manifestation in multimodal format in Chinese culture as cultural artefacts. More specifically, “cultural artefacts” refers to song lyrics, calligraphies, paintings and photographs. The study of multimodal manifestation of this cultural metaphor reinforces the earlier finding based on linguistic evidence that the life is an opera metaphor in Chinese culture contrasts with the life is a play metaphor in the West, representing a core component of the Chinese cultural conceptualization of life. The chapter also discusses how three kinds of experience, cultural, bodily and linguistic, interact, giving rise to such metaphorical conceptualization in cultural cognition.
Some Problems Raised by the Official Estimates of American Per Capita Food Consumption

W7 HOEVER looks into a publication of the United States Department of Agriculture entitled Food Consumption in the United States, 1909-52 will find in it almost inconceivably detailed statistical information pertaining to national use of food, annually from 1909 to 1952; and from supplementary documents, one can have data for later years too. These give a basis for attempting first to describe and second to explain changing patterns of national food use over as long a time as I could manage. The descriptive statistical work has probably proceeded nearly as far as is necessary. On some matters of interpretation, and particularly the buttressing of hypotheses with statistical evidence, I am still groping. Six summary tables of the basic descriptive statistics have been distributed. I shall focus here upon some but not all of the problems both of measurement and of interpretation of long-term trends. First I shall mention problems of definition and coverage; second, problems concerning relative levels and trends of ingestion and noningestion; third, problems of backward projection; fourth, problems of the causation of changing proportions; and fifth, problems of forward projection.
Were the student’s actions a manifestation of the student’s disability? The need for policy change and guidance

Under federal special education law, before a school district may discipline a student with a disability for greater than 10 days, it must first determine whether the student’s actions were a manifestation of his or her disability (IDEA, 2004). This requirement, referred to as manifestation determination review (MDR), aims to ensure that students with disabilities do not experience a significant disciplinary change in placement for actions that are caused by their disabilities. This article will discuss the evolution of the legal standard and the policy implications of a study that examined 80 MDR decisions in one large urban school district.