cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Operant Conditioning of Single Neurons in Monkeys and Its Theoretical Application to EEG Operant Conditioning in Human Epilepsy

Physicians who treat patients with epilepsy are frequently frustrated by the fact that many seizure disorders are refractory to control with standard anticonvulsive drugs. For some patients surgical resection of their focus is an option, but 20%—30% do not derive significant benefit from surgery. Therefore, the idea that some seizure disorders may be controlled by means of noninvasive, low-risk psychophysiological techniques is appealing. Daily encounters with epileptic patients reinforce the concept that such therapy may be possible. For example, epileptics who have seizures precipitated by stress may often find their seizures better controlled if they change employment to a less stressful job. Forster (1966) has demonstrated that for many of the rare “reflex epilepsies” desensitization training can be effective in eliminating the ictal response to the provocative stimulus. A unique case was reported by Efron (1957). His patient’s seizures could be aborted by a strong olfactory stimulus presented during the aura. The patient learned to pair the odor of jasmine with the sight of a silver bracelet, and thus became able to stop the progression of the seizure by looking at the bracelet. However, the above examples are with patients who are not representative of the general population of epileptics. Therefore, a more general paradigm which could be used to treat a larger number of patients is desirable.
Pharmacologic Enhancement of Fetal Lung Maturation

Controlled studies of prenatal corticosteroid treatment in thousands of premature newborns over the last 22 years confirm that this treatment reduces the frequency and severity of respiratory distress syndrome and complements postnatal surfactant treatment. Improvement in lung function begins within hours after starting maternal treatment, lasts up to 7 days, and occurs even when membranes are ruptured prematurely. Additional advantages for premature newborns include reductions in hospital costs as well as reductions in patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing, enterocolitis, intraventricular hemorrhage, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Effect of postemergence fomesafen application on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) growth and utilization by monarchs (Danaus plexippus)

Abstract Field experiments were conducted to investigate impacts of herbicide injury to common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) on oviposition preference of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus Linnaeus). Common milkweed seedlings were transplanted in patches containing five plants spaced 25 cm apart in a no-till soybean field shortly after soybean planting in 2016. Herbicide treatments included an untreated control and 0.14 kg ha−1 fomesafen plus 0.5% crop oil concentrate applied postemergence. The experiment was repeated in the same area in 2017 by planting soybean no-till prior to common milkweed emergence. Common milkweed leaves displayed chlorosis and necrotic lesions five days after fomesafen application during both years. Two weeks following application many leaves damaged by fomesafen dehisced, and plants averaged an injury rating of 3.4 (visual scale of 1 = healthy and 5 = dead). Leaves emerging from the apical meristem following fomesafen application appeared normal, and four weeks after application injury ratings decreased to an average of 2.6. Dry weight of common milkweed ten weeks after application was not affected by fomesafen in either year. Common milkweed plants were examined for monarch eggs and larval instars weekly from May to August. In 2016, patches averaged 0.8 eggs, whereas in 2017 patches averaged 45.2 eggs. Fomesafen did not affect oviposition preference by monarch butterflies in either year. Larval instars on the milkweed patches were recorded throughout 2017. Presence and survival of instars were not affected by fomesafen, with patches averaging 7.5 and 0.1 first and fifth instars, respectively. In greenhouse experiments, common milkweed survived fomesafen rates up to 0.28 kg ha−1, twice the rate typically used in soybean, and plants showed signs of recovery within two weeks of application.
Evaluating the Burnout-Thriving Index in a Multidisciplinary Cohort at a Large Academic Medical Center.

Objectives There has been significant discussion about the quality of burnout research, especially with regard to abbreviated measurements of burnout and/or well-being. The purpose of this study was to compare a single-item, investigator-developed question measuring perceived well-being with validated multi-item measures of burnout and well-being. Methods Between 2016 and 2017, healthcare professionals and medical students at a large academic hospital system were sent an online survey measuring the risk of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), well-being (Physician or Nurse Well-Being Self-Assessment Tool), and perception of personal well-being (Burnout-Thriving Index [BTI], an investigator-developed, single-item measure). Analyses included linear and multiple regression and Pearson correlations. Results The study sample included 1365 medical students, frontline nurses, resident physicians, supervising physicians or fellows, and advanced care practitioners. There were significant differences in all Maslach Burnout Inventory and Physician or Nurse Well-Being Self-Assessment Tool subscale scores based on BTI score (all P 80% sensitivity for high emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Conclusions The BTI may be used to screen for individuals who could benefit from completing a full burnout assessment and may be used to collect a quick "big picture" impression of burnout and well-being at a healthcare institution. Further research is needed to compare BTI score with known consequences of burnout and to explore differences in the relation between BTI score and psychoemotional wellness in different professional groups.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Functional MRI (fMRI), and MR Spectroscopy

Imaging is a useful tool for evaluating a patient with spine or limb pain, after a thorough history and physical examination. The main goal of imaging is to find an undiagnosed systemic source of pain. In approximately 95% of patients with lower back pain, a benign process is the cause. Imaging modalities are then used to find undiagnosed systemic diseases and etiologies of the remaining 5%. This guide considers magnetic resonance imaging for musculoskeletal pathologies that result in back pain.
Epidemiology of Central Nervous System Fungal Infections

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) of the central nervous system (CNS) leads to significant morbidity and mortality. The clinical presentation of CNS IFI is highly variable, leading to a delay in diagnosis. The burden of IFI has been increasing with the increasing numbers of at-risk population, opportunistic fungi in the immunocompromised patients with disseminated disease, post-neurosurgical procedures, implantable devices, spread from contiguous site (sinuses), and environmental exposures in the context of endemic fungi. However, an accurate measure of the CNS disease burden is not known with the exception of cryptococcal infection. The spectrum of the CNS IFI ranges from meningitis and meningoencephalitis to the parenchymal involvement with brain abscesses.
Impact of the Measurement Errors on Synchrophasor-Based WAMS Applications

Data from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) inform powerful diagnostic tools that can help avert catastrophic failures in the power grid. Because of this, PMU measurement errors are particularly problematic, and it is critical to understand their impact. However, there is limited understanding of how much the PMU measurement errors affect the performance of various synchrophasor-based applications, and thus the ability of these applications to fulfill the users' requirements effectively is also unclear. This paper examines internal and external factors contributing to PMU phase angle and frequency measurement errors. A generic method is proposed to evaluate the impact of measurement errors on application performance. The impact of measurement errors on several synchrophasor-based Wide Area Monitoring System (WAMS) applications are analyzed as examples. These applications include power system disturbance location, oscillation detection, islanding detection, and dynamic line rating. The analysis demonstrated that the proposed method can be used to quantify the measurement error impact and analyze the performance degradation of these applications due to the measurement error. It also reveals that the impact of measurement error depends on the type, algorithm, and parameters of applications.
Literature Review: Previous Literature for Understanding Life Insurance and Behavioral Demand for Life Insurance

In this chapter, a literature review focuses on behavioral demand for life insurance. Basic explanations about risk and risk management are discussed first to explain life insurance, specifically in the realm of personal finance. After understanding the general terminology about risk and risk management, the personal needs of life insurance buyers will be explained in this chapter. All explanations include a review of studies and scholarly works related to the research proposed for this analysis.
Ionic liquid-based membranes for water softening

Abstract Ionic liquids can be considered as green reagents for the removal of pollutants from water sources. Ionic liquids display wonderful chemical and physical properties such as high thermal stability, low vapor pressure, and good recyclability. The limit of use of traditional methods of separation of pollutants from water can be overcome by using ionic liquid-based membranes as ionic liquids display negligible vapor pressure and choice of anionic or the cationic part can dictate the solubility. This book chapter is aimed to highlight state-of-the-art ionic liquid-based membranes and proven strategies applied earlier for water purification.
Restless legs syndrome among multiple sclerosis patients in Lebanon.

Abstract Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is often associated with fatigue, with an increased prevalence of sleep disorders compared to the general population, notably restless legs syndrome (RLS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of RLS as well the co-occurrence of spinal demyelination lesions in patients with MS in Lebanon. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we consulted the MS database of the Lebanese association against Multiple Sclerosis and sent out questionnaires to 300 MS patients to screen then confirm the presence of RLS. The final sample included 28 MS participants with confirmed RLS. We conducted further questionnaires to collect demographic data, screen for comorbidities, gather spinal MRI results, and evaluate the severity of both diseases (using the EDSS and the JHRLSS). Results Prevalence of RLS was 15% among MS patients in our study. 46.4% of RLS-affected MS patients had spinal cord demyelination lesions on their MRIs. Participants with MRI lesions had a lower severity score on the JHRLSS (p = 0.088). No association was found between the EDSS results and JHRLSS, demographic data, or comorbidities. Conclusion Restless legs syndrome is commonly found among patients with multiple sclerosis in Lebanon, is underdiagnosed, and ought to be systematically evaluated for in order to improve the patients’ quality of life.
Comprehensive Genome-wide Perturbations via CRISPR Adaptation Reveal Complex Genetics of Antibiotic Sensitivity.

Summary Genome-wide CRISPR screens enable systematic interrogation of gene function. However, guide RNA libraries are costly to synthesize, and their limited diversity compromises the sensitivity of CRISPR screens. Using the Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR-Cas adaptation machinery, we developed CRISPR adaptation-mediated library manufacturing (CALM), which turns bacterial cells into "factories" for generating hundreds of thousands of crRNAs covering 95% of all targetable genomic sites. With an average gene targeted by more than 100 distinct crRNAs, these highly comprehensive CRISPRi libraries produced varying degrees of transcriptional repression critical for uncovering novel antibiotic resistance determinants. Furthermore, by iterating CRISPR adaptation, we rapidly generated dual-crRNA libraries representing more than 100,000 dual-gene perturbations. The polarized nature of spacer adaptation revealed the historical contingency in the stepwise acquisition of genetic perturbations leading to increasing antibiotic resistance. CALM circumvents the expense, labor, and time required for synthesis and cloning of gRNAs, allowing generation of CRISPRi libraries in wild-type bacteria refractory to routine genetic manipulation.
Scheduling Post-disaster Repairs in Electricity Distribution Networks with Uncertain Repair Times

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, large wind and ice storms, typically require the repair of a large number of com- ponents in electricity distribution networks. Since power cannot be restored before the completion of repairs, optimally scheduling the available crews to minimize the cu- mulative duration of the customer interruptions reduces the harm done to the affected community. We have previously proposed approximation algorithms to schedule post-disaster repairs in electricity distribution networks with complete damage information[1]. In this paper, we extend our pre- vious work to the case with incomplete damage information. We model this problem as scheduling a set of jobs with stochastic processing times on parallel identical machines in order to minimize the total weighted energization time. A linear programming (LP) based list scheduling pol- icy is proposed and then analyzed in terms of theoretical performance.
A Category Theory Approach to Interoperability.

In this article, we propose a Category Theory approach to (syntactic) interoperability between linguistic tools. The resulting category consists of textual documents, including any linguistic annotations, NLP tools that analyze texts and add additional linguistic information, and format converters. Format converters are necessary to make the tools both able to read and to produce different output formats, which is the key to interoperability. The idea behind this document is the parallelism between the concepts of composition and associativity in Category Theory with the NLP pipelines. We show how pipelines of linguistic tools can be modeled into the conceptual framework of Category Theory and we successfully apply this method to two real-life examples.
Determination of metformin bio-distribution by LC-MS/MS in mice treated with a clinically relevant paradigm

Metformin, an anti-diabetes drug, has been recently emerging as a potential "anti-aging" intervention based on its reported beneficial actions against aging in preclinical studies. Nonetheless, very few metformin studies using mice have determined metformin concentrations and many effects of metformin have been observed in preclinical studies using doses/concentrations that were not relevant to therapeutic levels in human. We developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry protocol for metformin measurement in plasma, liver, brain, kidney, and muscle of mice. Young adult male and female C57BL/6 mice were voluntarily treated with metformin of 4 mg/ml in drinking water which translated to the maximum dose of 2.5 g/day in humans. A clinically relevant steady-state plasma metformin concentrations were achieved at 7 and 30 days after treatment in male and female mice. Metformin concentrations were slightly higher in muscle than in plasma, while, ~3 and 6-fold higher in the liver and kidney than in plasma, respectively. Low metformin concentration was found in the brain at ~20% of the plasma level. Furthermore, gender difference in steady-state metformin bio-distribution was observed. Our study established steady-state metformin levels in plasma, liver, muscle, kidney, and brain of normoglycemic mice treated with a clinically relevant dose, providing insight into future metformin preclinical studies for potential clinical translation.
Compatibility Analysis of Liquid Gallium and Common Packaging Metals for Application in Electronic Component Thermal Management

Low melting point metals (LMPMs) offer a novel solution to the transient cooling needs of high-power density heat sources due to their high thermal and electrical conductivity. Gallium and its alloys are attractive for applications in high power pulsed energy systems due to a high figure of merit compared to other LMPMs as well as a transition temperature near ambient. However, considerations need to be made for gallium compatibility with common electronics packaging metals to avoid compromising thermal and phase change properties. The experimental presented evaluates gold, copper, nickel, platinum, and aluminum compatibility with liquid gallium. The study addresses concern that metals in packaging will migrate into the gallium, effecting its thermal properties.To evaluate the effects of any interdiffusion or intermetallic formation a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was used to develop heating and cooling curves for gallium packaged with each of the materials. These test packages consist of DSC crucibles with metal thin-films deposited in material stacks typical of electronic microfabrication and packaging. Gallium is introduced to each crucible and ramped through the heating curve three times. Experimental results evaluate the thermal effects of any compatibility concerns with the selected materials. Samples are further analyzed with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to determine nickel and platinum suitability as a diffusion barrier and gallium penetration of the thin film stacks. These results will be used to further the investigation of direct-application of LMPMs to electronics for thermal management.
Revising the Maximal Contrast Dose for Predicting Acute Kidney Injury following Coronary Intervention

Introduction The maximal allowable contrast dose (MACD = 5 × body weight/serum creatinine) is an empiric equation that has been used and validated in several studies to mitigate the risk of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). However, coefficient 5 (referred to as factor K) was empirically devised and never disputed. The aim of this study was to refine the MACD equation for the prediction of CI-AKI following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). Methods This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of adults undergoing PCI. Electronic medical records were reviewed to identify patients who underwent PCI between 2010 and 2019, derived from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry Cath-PCI registry for our hospital. Factor K (defined as contrast volume × serum creatinine/body weight) was calculated for every patient. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed, and the Youden index was used to identify the optimal cut-off value for factor K in predicting severe (stages 2-3) CI-AKI. Results Of the 3,506 patients undergoing PCI, 255 (7.2%) developed CI-AKI, and 68 (26.7%) of the 255 experienced severe AKI. Factor K predicted all-stage CI-AKI (area under the ROC curve 0.649; 95% CI 0.611, 0.686) but had better performance for predicting severe (stages 2-3) AKI (0.736; 95% CI 0.674, 0.800). The optimal cut-off value for factor K in predicting severe CI-AKI was 2.5, with a corresponding sensitivity of 68.7% and specificity of 70.5%. On subgroup analyses, optimal cut-off values for factor K for high-risk groups were not significantly different from those of low-risk groups. Conclusion Our study indicates that factor K in the MACD equation is an independent risk factor for the development of severe CI-AKI, with an optimal cut-off value of 2.5. If our findings are validated, the MACD equation should be revised to incorporate the coefficient of 2.5 instead of 5.
Reflections on Teaching Online

This note reflects on our personal experiences teaching online via Zoom and provides tips and recommendations for effective online teaching.
Sex differences in treatment patterns in cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbations.

Abstract Background Females with cystic fibrosis (CF) have been shown to have worse pulmonary exacerbation (PEx) related outcomes compared to males. However, it is unknown if sex differences in treatment patterns are contributing to these outcomes. Thus, we sought to explore sex differences in treatment patterns in the Standardized Treatment of Pulmonary Exacerbations (STOP) cohort. Methods Data for 220 participants from the STOP cohort were analyzed. Multivariable regression models were used to assess if female sex was associated with duration of treatment with IV antibiotics and inpatient length of stay. Secondary outcomes included antibiotic selection, adjunctive therapies, mean FEV1pp and CFRSD-CRISS respiratory symptom scores at the four study assessments. Results In our adjusted model, the average number of IV antibiotic treatment days was 13% higher in females compared to males (IRR 1.13, 95% CI=1.02,1.25; p=0.02). We found no sex differences in inpatient length of stay, number of IV antibiotics, antibiotic selection or initiation of adjunctive therapies. Overall, females had higher CFRSD-CRISS scores at the end of IV therapy indicating worse symptom severity (23.6 for females vs. 18.5 for males, p=0.03). Conclusions Despite females having a longer treatment duration, our findings demonstrate that males and females are receiving similar treatments which suggest that the outcome disparities in females with CF may not be due to failure to provide the same level of care. Further research dedicated to sex differences in CF is necessary to understand why clinical outcomes differ between males and females.
Anticipating the ethical, legal, and social implications of human genome research: An ongoing experiment

Dr. Victor McKusick was a founding member of the joint NIH-DOE working group that designed the federal effort to address the ethical, legal, and social implications of the US Human Genome Project in 1989. A key feature of this effort was its commitment to anticipating genomics-driven questions before they became urgent practical dilemmas, by complementing the scientific effort to map and sequence the human genome with projects by a wide range of social scientists, humanities scholars, legal experts, and public educators designed to equip society with the foresight required to optimize the public welfare benefits of new genomic information. This article describes the origins of that experiment and the model of anticipatory science policy that it produced, as one piece of Dr. McKusick's extraordinary intellectual legacy.
Hospitalization For Iron Deficiency Anemia In Young Children: A Multicenter Analysis

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) can be detrimental to growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in young children. Approximately 3–7% of preschool children will experience IDA, typically due to dietary habits. IDA is primarily managed in the outpatient setting, though some children with severe anemia may require admission for evaluation or management. No prior studies exist looking at children with severe IDA admitted to US children’s hospitals. Objectives: The primary objective is to describe characteristics of children requiring inpatient admission for a primary diagnosis of IDA. We further aimed to describe …
CuZrO3: If it exists it should be a sandwich.

CuZrO3 has been hypothesized to be a catalytic material with potential applications for CO2 reduction. Unfortunately, this material has received limited attention in the literature, and to the best of our knowledge the exact crystal structure is still unknown. To address this challenge, we utilize several different structural prediction techniques in concert, including the Universal Structure Predictor: Evolutionary Xtallography (USPEX), the Materials Project Structure Predictor, and the Open Quantum Materials Database (OQMD). Leveraging these structural prediction techniques in conjunction with Density-Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, we determine a possible structure for CuZrO3, which resembles a “sandwich” morphology. Our calculations reveal that this new structure is significantly lower in energy than a previously hypothesized perovskite structure, albeit it still has a thermodynamic preference to decompose into CuO and ZrO2. In addition, we experimentally tried to synthesize CuZrO3 based on literature reports and compared computational to experimental X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns confirming that the final product is a mixture of CuO and ZrO2. Finally, we conducted a computational surface energetics and CO2 adsorption study on our discovered sandwich morphology, demonstrating that CO2 can adsorb and activate on the material. However, these CO2 adsorption results deviate from previously reported results further confirming that the CuZrO3 is a metastable form and may not be experimentally accessible as a well-mixed oxide, since phase segregation to CuO and ZrO2 is preferred. Taken together, our combined computational and experimental study provides evidence that the synthesis of CuZrO3 is extremely difficult and if this oxide exists, it should have a sandwich-like morphology.
Prolonged physiological reactivity and loss: Association of pupillary reactivity with negative thinking and feelings

Prolonged psychophysiological reactions to negative information have long been associated with negative thinking and feeling. This association is operationalized in the RDoC negative affect construct of loss, which is nominally indexed by prolonged physiological reactivity, cognitive loss-related constructs such as rumination and guilt, and more feeling-related constructs such as sadness, crying, and anhedonia. These associations have not been tested explicitly. If thinking and feeling aspects of loss reflect different physiological mechanisms, as might be suggested by their putative neurobiology, different intervention pathways might be suggested. Here we examined the extent to which self-reported negative thinking and feeling constructs were associated with prolonged pupillary reactivity following negative words and a subsequent cognitive distractor in a diverse heterogeneously diagnosed sample of N=84 participants. We also considered indices of abuse and variables associated with borderline personality disorder as possible moderators. Consistently, feeling-related negative affect constructs were related to prolonged pupillary reactivity during the distractor after a negative stimulus whereas thinking-related constructs were not. These data suggest that people who have sustained physiological reactions to emotional stimuli may be more strongly characterized by non-linguistic negative feelings than explicit cognitions related to loss. Sustained physiological reactions could reflect efforts to regulate feeling states. In contrast to cognitive and affective variables, abuse was associated with decreased physiological reactivity, consistent with decreased neural engagement. Interventions that target mechanisms underlying feelings and their regulation may be more mechanistically specific to sustained reactivity than those which directly address cognitions.
Complete sequence analysis of transgene loci from plants transformed via microprojectile bombardment

A substantial literature exists characterizing transgene locus structure from plants transformed via Agrobacterium and direct DNA delivery. However, there is little comprehensive sequence analysis of transgene loci available, especially from plants transformed by direct delivery methods. The goal of this study was to completely sequence transgene loci from two oat lines transformed via microprojectile bombardment that were shown to have simple transgene loci by Southern analysis. In line 3830, transformed with a single plasmid, one major and one of two minor loci were completely sequenced. Both loci exhibited rearranged delivered DNA and flanking genomic sequences. The minor locus contained only 296 bp of two non-contiguous fragments of the delivered DNA flanked by genomic (filler) DNA that did not originate from the integration target site. Predicted recognition sites for topoisomerase II and a MAR region were observed in the transgene integration target site for this non-functional minor locus. Line 11929, co-transformed with two different plasmids, had a single relatively simple transgene locus composed of truncated and rearranged sequences from both delivered DNAs. The transgene loci in both lines exhibited multiple transgene and genomic DNA rearrangements and regions of scrambling characteristic of complex transgene loci. The similar characteristics of recombined fragments and junctions in both transgenic oat lines implicate similar mechanisms of transgene integration and rearrangement regardless of the number of co-transformed plasmids and the level of transgene locus complexity.
Smart Components for Structural Vibration Control

A vibration control strategy for multi-component structures has been developed in which the structural components are actively damped beam members. Each component element is smart in the sense that it is an active vibration control system which is autonomous of all other structural components. Distributed sensor and actuator transducers constructed from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF 2 ) are embedded in each beam element. Lyapunov's direct method was used to develop a vibration control strategy for a generalized system consisting of an arbitrary number of smart beam members rigidly joined at a common boundary. The analysis leads to a smart component control law which guarantees stability to the global system. A universal spatial film distribution is proposed which has the potential of providing active damping to all components irrespective of boundary conditions. The control methodology was validated experimentally on a structure constructed from three rigidly joined autonomous smart components. Frequency response data for the first three modes demonstrate that the smart structure control strategy provides active damping simultaneously to multiple vibrational modes.
Silas Weir Mitchell on Epilepsy Therapy in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries (P1.286)

OBJECTIVE: To review the contributions of Silas Weir Mitchell to the treatment of epilepsy around the turn of the 19th century. BACKGROUND: Silas Weir Mitchell is a renown figure in American neurology. While he accomplished much in his career, his ideas and accomplishments in the treatment of epilepsy are little known. DESIGN/METHODS: Review of publications of Silas Weir Mitchell and his contemporaries regarding epilepsy and its treatment. Comparison of Mitchell9s ideas and practice methods with period textbooks and publications regarding seizure management. RESULTS: Mitchell had a background in physiology, and was interested in pharmacotherapy for epilepsy. Unhappy particularly with the tolerability of certain bromide preparations, Mitchell introduced a new bromide preparation, lithium bromide, as a viable therapy. He also unveiled inhaled amyl nitrite as an abortive for seizures accompanied by an appropriate aura, which subsequently gained popularity. Based on the action of amyl nitrite, Mitchell had plans to investigate longer-acting potassium nitrite as a preventative therapy, but this never came to fruition. Despite the prevalent views on lifestyle modification as a treatment for epilepsy at the time, as well as his own development of the “rest cure” for certain disease states, Mitchell was not a proponent of these types of interventions for epilepsy, nor did he support instrumented interventions focused on other organ systems, such as abdominal or gynecologic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Mitchell had distinct views on the treatment of epilepsy. He was particularly interested in pharmacotherapy, which led to his introduction of two new therapeutic agents. His achievements helped advance epilepsy therapeutics during his career. Study Supported by: None. Disclosure: Dr. Burkholder has nothing to disclose. Dr. Boes has nothing to disclose.
Dynamic Federalism and Patent Law Reform

INTRODUCTION 449 I. THE “BROKEN” PATENT SYSTEM 453 II. LOCAL PATENT REFORM AND DYNAMIC FEDERALISM 456 III. RACE TO THE TOP FOR PATENT REFORM 460 A. THE SUPREME COURT AND PATENT REFORM 460 B. CONGRESS AND PATENT REFORM 467 IV. LOCALISM AND PATENT REFORM 472 A. A LOCAL MOVEMENT FOR LOCAL PATENT RULES 472 B. DISTRICT JUDGES: INSTRUMENTAL TO LOCAL PATENT REFORM 477 C. OTHER IMPACTS FROM LOCAL PATENT REFORM 481 V. PUNISHING INNOVATIVE LOCAL REFORM 483 CONCLUSION 489
The hierarchies of knowledge and the mathematics of discovery

Rather than attempting to characterize a relation of confirmation between evidence and theory, epistemology might better consider which methods of forming conjectures from evidence, or of altering beliefs in the light of evidence, are most reliable for getting to the truth. A logical framework for such a study was constructed in the early 1960s by E. Mark Gold and Hilary Putnam. This essay describes some of the results that have been obtained in that framework and their significance for philosophy of science, artificial intelligence, and for normative epistemology when truth is relative.
An Introduction to Interactive Discourse Processing from thePerspective of Plan Recognition and Text Planning

People engage in task-oriented dialogues to carry out or plan a task. Each participant in such an interaction must be capable of processing plans in two ways. First, each participant must be capable of understanding the plans that the other participant is using. Researchers have developed theories and models about how computational systems should go about recognizing the plans and goals of another participant, both at the subject-matter level and at the level of the communication. This area of research is called plan recognition. Secondly, each participant must be able to make their owns plans to communicate. This area of natural language research is called text planning. Interactive systems -- systems that understand natural language and that can produce natural language to engage in a task-related interaction -- must address the issue of how understanding plans (the process of plan recognition) relates to making plans for the interaction (the process of text planning). We provide an introduction to these two research areas in natural language processing. Those who need to be familiar with both areas -- to conduct research at their intersection -- will find this introduction useful for building systems that both understand what people are trying to do when they speak and that can actively participate in the interaction.
Interaction of hydrogen with the Ag(110) surface.

The interaction of atomic and molecular hydrogen with the (110) surface of silver has been studied using electron-energy-loss spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and work-function measurements. No evidence for associative or dissociative chemisorption of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ is observed at the substrate temperatures investigated (\ensuremath{\ge}90 K). However, at 100 K, atomic hydrogen bonds in the [1 1\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{} 0] troughs of the surface in tilted-trigonal sites. As a function of concentration, a sequence of lattice-gas superstructures is observed with LEED including (1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}4), (1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}3), (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}6), and (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) patterns. At saturation coverage, the work function increases by 0.22 eV. However, this phase is metastable; upon annealing, hydrogen desorption is accompanied by an irreversible transition to a new bonding geometry in which LEED shows a dim (1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) superstructure. The desorption of molecular hydrogen is characterized by two overlapping peaks centered at \ensuremath{\sim}155 K [6.9 kJ/mol] and \ensuremath{\sim}180 K [9.9 kJ/mol] which obey first- and second-order kinetics, respectively. Various structural models and hydrogen site assignments are discussed in comparison with data for similar systems.
SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL PREDICTORS OF INTERCOURSE FREQUENCY AND NUMBER OF SEXUAL PARTNERS AMONG MALE AND FEMALE AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

The current study examined 14 waves of data derived from a large, community-based study of the sexual behavior of impoverished youth between 12 and 17 years of age residing in the Deep South. We used multilevel linear modeling to identify ecological predictors of intercourse frequency and number of sexual partners among gender-specific subsamples. Results indicated that predictors of adolescent sexual behavior differed by both type of sexual behavior and gender. For males, age, maternal warmth, parental knowledge, curfew, self-worth, and sense of community predicted intercourse frequency, while age, parental knowledge, curfew, self-worth, friend support, and sense of community were significantly associated with having multiple sexual partners. Among females, age, curfew, and self-worth exerted significant effects on intercourse frequency, while age, parental knowledge, curfew, and self-worth exerted significant effects on having multiple sexual partners. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Demonstration of a new degree of freedom in wireless routing: concurrent cooperative transmission

Cluster transmission, also called Concurrent Cooperative Transmission (CCT) in this paper, enables a collection of power-constrained embedded sensors to transmit as a group and achieve a transmit range that is much greater than the range of a single device. CCT brings a new flexibility to the network layer; for example, CT can be used for load balancing or for overcoming a partition. CCT is also the basis for a fast, contention-free method of broadcasting. A method for achieving cluster transmit time synchronization is described for the non-coherent FSK type of modulation. In this method, nodes derive their synchronization from a received packet. Experimental results are presented for an indoor office environment at 2.4 GHz. Root mean squared (rms) transmit time spreads are reported for a two-hop network as well as for a "ping pong" experiment, which has ten consecutive CCT hops. Examples of CCT range extension are also presented.
Elective Carotid Artery Stenting in the Presence of Contralateral Occlusion

Abstract Significant carotid stenosis in the presence of an occluded contralateral artery has a poor prognosis with medical therapy alone. Carotid cross clamping during surgical endarterectomy results in critical flow reductions in patients with inadequate collateral flow, and represents a significant risk for procedural strokes. Carotid stenting is being evaluated as an alternative to endarterectomy. We describe the immediate and late outcome of a series of 26 patients treated with carotid stenting in the presence of contralateral carotid occlusion. The mean age of the patients in this group was 65 ± 9 years, 23 (89%) were men and 10 (39%) were symptomatic from the vessel treated. The procedural success of carotid stenting in this group of patients was 96%. The mean diameter stenosis was reduced from 76 ± 15% to 2.8 ± 5%. There was 1 (3.8%) minor stroke in a patient who developed air embolism during baseline angiography. At late follow-up there was no neurologic event in any patient at a mean of 16 ± 9.5 months after the procedure. Thus, carotid stenting of lesions with contralateral occlusion can be performed successfully with a low incidence of procedural neurologic complications and late stroke.
Simple correction for Q-meter measurement of proton target polarization

Abstract The Q-meter measurement of polarization for polarized proton targets was computer simulated for Lorentzian, Gaussian and real line shapes, using the dispersion relations to calculate susceptibilities. The enhancement calculated in the usual way by neglecting dispersion, cable and frequency effects, was compared to the true enhancement of the NMR signal. Both the error in the calculated polarization and the signal size were found to vary considerably with all the parameters and line shapes but the error as a function of signal size was almost independent of circuit parameters with only slight dependence on line shape, allowing the error to be found if signal size alone is known.
Diagenetic origin for quartz-pebble conglomerates

The occurrence of quartz-pebble conglomerates (QPC) in the rock record increases backward through time from the Tertiary through the Precambrian. The positive correlation between QPC abundance and age is valid both for numbers of reported QPC and for QPC as a percentage of all conglomerate, and at both the era and the period level. QPC are usually interpreted as being due to intense chemical weathering, protracted transport, or sediment recycling, but none of these can account for the age distribution of QPC, which is the opposite of the global mass-age distribution for sedimentary rocks. Precambrian and Tertiary conglomerates with similar sources and sedimentology have vastly different clast populations, nonquartzose clasts being much more abundant in the younger rocks. Comparison of the petrology of QPC and polymict conglomerates shows that QPC have consistently higher proportions of diagenetic secondary matrix and pressure-solved grain contacts. We conclude that diagenetic factors play an important role in QPC formation by preferentially destroying less durable clasts.
Review article: evidence for the role of gut microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome and its potential influence on therapeutic targets.

SummaryBackground Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent gastrointestinal disease with a substantial social and economic burden. Treatment options remain limited and research on the aetiology and pathophysiology of this multifactorial disease is ongoing. Aim To discuss the potential role of gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of IBS and to identify possible interactions with pathophysiologic targets in IBS. Methods Articles were identified via a PubMed database search [‘irritable bowel syndrome’ AND (anti-bacterial OR antibiotic OR flora OR microbiota OR microflora OR probiotic)]. English-language articles were screened for relevance. Full review of publications for the relevant studies was conducted, including additional publications that were identified from individual article reference lists. Results The role of gut microbiota in IBS is supported by varying lines of evidence from animal and human studies. For example, post-infectious IBS in humans is well documented. In addition, certain probiotics and nonsystemic antibiotics appear to be efficacious in the treatment of IBS. Mechanisms involved in improving IBS symptoms likely go beyond mere changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, and accumulating animal data support the interplay of microbiota with other IBS targets, such as the gut–brain axis, visceral hypersensitivity, mucosal inflammation and motility. Conclusion The role of the gut microbiota is still being elucidated; however, it appears to be one of several important factors that contributes to the aetiology and pathophysiology of the irritable bowel syndrome.
Extinction of laminar partially premixed flames

Flame extinction represents one of the classical phenomena in combustion science. It is important to a variety of combustion systems in transportation and power generation applications. Flame extinguishment studies are also motivated from the consideration of fire safety and suppression. Such studies have generally considered non-premixed and premixed flames, although fires can often originate in a partially premixed mode, i.e., fuel and oxidizer are partially premixed as they are transported to the reaction zone. Several recent investigations have considered this scenario and focused on the extinction of partially premixed flames (PPFs). Such flames have been described as hybrid flames possessing characteristics of both premixed and non-premixed flames. This paper provides a review of studies dealing with the extinction of PPFs, which represent a broad family of flames, including double, triple (tribrachial), and edge flames. Theoretical, numerical and experimental studies dealing with the extinction of such flames in coflow and counterflow configurations are discussed. Since these flames contain both premixed and non-premixed burning zones, a brief review of the dilution-induced extinction of premixed and non-premixed flames is also provided. For the coflow configuration, processes associated with flame liftoff and blowout are described. Since lifted non-premixed jet flames often contain a partially premixed or an edge-flame structure prior to blowout, the review also considers such flames. While the perspective of this review is broad focusing on the fundamental aspects of flame extinction and blowout, results mostly consider flame extinction caused by the addition of a flame suppressant, with relevance to fire suppression on earth and in space environment. With respect to the latter, the effect of gravity on the extinction of PPFs is discussed. Future research needs are identified.
Optical Logic-in the Light of Computer Technology

The great success of silicon microelectronics has led advocates of many alternative technologies to aspire to replace it, at least in some applications. More bluntly, almost everyone who discovers some sort of instability or evidence of gain can think of an aspect of the discovery that has the potential to improve upon the performance of silicon electronics. These proposals are made, however, without an appreciation of the sources of the success of conventional microelectronics. An examination of current technology thus illuminates the barriers that new digital logic technologies must overcome. Digital logic systems must have large numbers of components. A practical system with a large number of components requires that the cost per component be low. The power per component must also be low and the reliability very high. Silicon microelectronics has been able to meet these requirements through miniaturization and integration. These same directions of progress have also conferred high speed on microelectro...
Lateral moisture flow beneath a sandy hillslope without an apparent impeding layer

Part of a small drainage basin on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (about 25 km north of Socorro, NM) was intensively instrumented with soil monitoring equipment to estimate natural ground-water recharge. Soil-moisture data were analysed with special attention to characterizing the influence of topography on the direction of vadose water flow paths in fine to medium aeolian sand. Moisture content data were obtained by the neutron scattering technique, and hydraulic head data were obtained using tensiometers. In addition, tracer experiments were conducted on a sandy hillslope to delineate the flow paths of vadose water. The results indicate that there is a strong lateral component to unsaturated flow on a hillslope, even in the absence of apparent sublayers of much lower permeability. Darcian calculations estimate the long-term, steady, deep flux beneath a concave location to be about 4 per cent of an assumed mean annual precipitation of 20 cm. The deep soil water flux downward varied by several orders of magnitude during the 17 month period of record.
Cerebral mitochondrial redox states during metabolic stress in the immature rat

Abstract The brain mitochondrial NAD + /NADH ratio, as a reflection of the oxidation-reduction (redox) state of cellular compartment, was determined under conditions of hypoxia, anoxia, hypoxia-ischemia, complete ischemia and hypoglycemia in immature rats. NAD + /NADH ratios were calculated from changes in the concentrations of specific oxidative substrates and calculated intracellular pH during cerebral metabolic stress. The results suggest that the use of the acetoacetate/s-hydroxybutyrate substrate couple provides a more accurate prediction of the mitochondrial redox state under adverse conditions than use of the α-ketoglutarate/glutamate couple. It is possible that the mitochondrial oxidation seen with the latter substrate couple during cerebral metabolic stress might reflect a population of cells (neurons or glia) which are substrate-deprived relative to the rest of the brain in the setting of metabolic stress produced by oxygen deficiency.