cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anesthesia for Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Cell Autotransplantation (TPIAT)

Pediatric patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis (CP) have significantly impaired quality of life similar to pediatric patients with advanced end organ disease. Poorly controlled CP leads to significant morbidity and patients are often unable to participate in daily activities without significant disability. Patients may have impaired physical and psychosocial development mainly as a result of chronic pain. The management of the anesthetic care is guided by three main principles, intraoperative general anesthesia, pain management, and specific interventions aimed at improving the necessary conditions for graft survival. Glycemic control is crucial to optimize islet cell autograft survival. There is considerable variability in the rates of insulin independence even when islet cell infusion mass is optimal. Heparin administration is often necessary to prevent graft complications after intraportal infusion of islet cells. General anesthesia is standard and a multimodal pain management strategy is necessary given current limitations with regional techniques. Long term goals for outcomes after TPIAT include insulin independence, pain relief, narcotic independence, improved nutritional status and improvements in overall quality of life measures.
Mathematics Clusters Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses in Adolescents’ Mathematical Competencies, Spatial Abilities, and Mathematics Attitudes

Pre-algebra mathematical competencies were assessed for a large and diverse sample of sixth graders (n = 1,926), including whole number and fractions arithmetic, conceptual understanding of equalit...
Determination of molar activity of [18F]fluoride by HPLC via sulfonyl derivatization

Abstract The molar activity of [18F]fluoride was determined by HPLC of sulfonyl fluorides, which have high UV absorbance and are formed exclusively from sulfonyl chlorides and [18F]fluoride in aqueous solution. The measurable limit of sulfonyl fluorides is as low as 0.1 ppm, allowing measurements up to the theoretical molar activity of [18F]fluoride. The method was validated with standard solutions of fluoride, and provides a convenient way to measure molar activity of [18F]fluoride using only HPLC without specialized equipment.
Optimization of CdZnTe low energy threshold utilizing readout ASIC charge pumping for the High-Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager SmallSat Explorer

The High-Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager SmallSat Explorer (HSE) is a proposed wide-field, hard X-ray (3-300 keV) coded aperture telescope. Operating a closely tiled array of pixelated CdZnTe (CZT) detectors, HSE seeks to rapidly localize short gamma ray bursts (GRBs) resulting from neutron star and black hole mergers and search for faint undiscovered black hole low mass x-ray binaries. The spectral signatures of these phenomena fall off as a power law, thereby motivating the improvement of HSE’s hard x-ray band coverage at lower energies. This is achievable by tuning HSE’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) ASIC detector readout and operating in a charge pumping mode. This can extend energy band coverage to as low as 2-3 keV, but requires careful independent tuning of each of the instrument’s ASIC devices. An optimization procedure for efficiently tuning the detector readout via commandable ASIC registers is reported.
Prevalence of Extensive and Limited Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia and Progression to Dysplasia and Gastric Cancer

Guidelines cite extensive gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) as a bigger risk factor for gastric cancer (GC) than limited GIM and an indication for endoscopic surveillance. Data on progression of extensive GIM to GC in the USA are limited. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and progression rates of extensive GIM in a US cohort. This retrospective study assessed the prevalence of extensive GIM between 1/1/1990 and 8/1/2019 at a large academic medical center. Multivariable regression was used to identify predictors of extensive GIM. Incidence of GC on follow-up was calculated as number of new diagnoses divided by person-years of follow-up. Presence of GIM on subsequent follow-up endoscopy was assessed. Of 1256 individuals with GIM, 352 (28%) had extensive GIM and 904 (72%) had limited GIM. On multivariable analysis, older age (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02) and Hispanic ethnicity (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.11–2.16) were predictive of extensive GIM. The annual incidence of GC for GIM overall was 0.09%. There was no difference in progression to GC between extensive or limited GIM (IRR 0, 95% CI 0–2.6), or to advanced lesions overall (IRR 0.37, 95% CI 0.04–1.62). 70% of individuals had persistent GIM on follow-up biopsy, and 22% with limited GIM had extensive GIM on follow-up biopsy. 28% of individuals with GIM have the extensive subtype, and are more likely to be older and of Hispanic ethnicity. There was no difference in progression to GC between extensive and limited GIM. Further research is needed to better assess risk of GIM in the US context.
Field experiences in health: making them successful close encounters of the real kind.

(1981). Field Experiences in Health: Making Them Successful Close Encounters of the Real Kind. Health Education: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 40-41.
MICROPROCESSOR APPLICATIONS IN VEHICLE EMISSIONS TESTING

The flexibility, high performance, and cost benefits of microprocessors have been effectively applied to the field of automotive emissions testing. This paper describes the use of microprocessors in drivers aid, SHED testing, dynamometer coastdown calibration and vehicle storage techniques. The successful implementation of microcomputers into emissions measurement systems have provided the automotive industry with a cost-effective, powerful and dependable tool for use in meeting the increasingly stringent emissions and fuel economy testing requirements for the 80's and beyond.
Telemedicine: The future of medicine - a case study of telemedicine applications within the United States

Telemedicine is the interactive audio-visual communication between health care providers and their patients. The paper describes various aspects of telemedicine in the US. Telemedicine system can utilise video conferencing, voice mentoring, mobile high bandwidth communications systems and digital imaging . They claim to improve the quality of emergency care, provide access to specialty care regardless of location and provide better overall medical decision support. Examples are cited to show that telemedicine is used for emergency consultation, mentoring at a distance, providing access to medical expertise in remote rural and expensive-to-serve areas, and for patient and medical education. It is claimed that potential savings can include provider time and travel, patient time and travel, savings from reductions or substitutions in personnel needed, the reduction of redundant tests, and treatment early in the course of the disease when treatment is less costly.
The Evolution of Nursing

Everything in this universe is subject to countless refurbishes. The modifications are invariably met for the development of a certain ideology or substance. This is just one of the many explanations why â€œthere is nothing constant in this world, but change.â€ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â In the field of nursing, various principles are being undertaken, and it is but right for us, nurses to develop innumerable revisions to attain precision, thereby improving our Health Care Delivery System to our clients seeking for medical and nursing care. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Nursing is not a static, unchanging profession but it is continuously growing and evolving as society changes, as health care emphases and methods change, as lifestyle change â€“ and as nurses, themselves change (Potter & Perry, 2005). In this article, one will be able to apprise himself/herself with the up-to-date trends in the field of nursing specifically on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
The Role of Negative Polarity and Concord Marking in Natural Language Reasoning

For better or for worse, most of the large body of research on natural lan­ guage semantics done in the past two decades has employed semantic (model­ theoretic) methods but has ignored deduction. Of course, deductive and se­ mantic analysis of the same ' logic' have long been viewed as intrinsically com­ plementary methods by logicians, for well-known reasons. It is also a truism that humans do not carry anything analogous to infinite sets of possible worlds or situations around in their heads, so the study of deduction-inferential relations based on syntactic properties of some kind of "representations" of denotations-are potentially of relevance to the psychology of language and to computational processing of meaning in a way that model-theoretic semantics alone is not . The construction of deductive systems is sometimes said to involve "making certain semantic distinctions visible in the syntax" , i .e . as syntactic properties that deductive rules can be made sensitive to. For example, consider the typed lambda calculus; though our semantics comprehends all possible operations of types (t, t) and ( ( t , t ) , t) ( i .e. truth-functions) already, it is only by allowing de­ ductive rules to single out "', 1\, V, -, etc. syntactically that we can formulate the deductive rules of the propositional calculus. But exactly which semantic distinctions are relevant? Many alternatives are possible, depending on our goals, and many semantic distinctions do not seem to be of broad relevance for any goal (e.g. that between different individ­ ual predicates, like horse vs. cow ) . From the beginnings of the history of logic ( and particularly with Leibniz) , up through the recent past (the generative semanticists ) , and present , one pervasive goal has been the construction of a NATURAL LOGIC , one which permits the description of the most important common and important inferences of natural language, in terms of syntac­ tic forms which have as much formal similarity to natural language sentences as possible ( and/or as much justification as abstract "logical forms" in an
Marital Rape and the Third-Class Citizenship of Married Women in Cameroon

Cameroon has a Constitutional obligation to promote gender equality and to protect its citizens. Additionally, by being a party to a number of international instruments prohibiting violence against women, Cameroon additionally has international obligations to its female citizens. However, married women are treated as third-class citizens in Cameroon. Men are beneficiaries of all of the protections of international and domestic statutory and customary law. Unmarried women are protected by statute from discriminatory treatment, but face disparate treatment in customary mechanism. Married women are further marginalized by Cameroon’s statutes, and in particular by Article 297, which legalizes the rape of a woman by her husband. This note identifies the gaps and inconsistencies in Cameroon’s laws with respect to marital rape suggests ways in which the Cameroonian government could change its laws in order to comply with Constitutional and international obligations.
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics : Reading Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE NICOMACHEAN ETHICS The Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle tells us, is a search or an investigation (1.6.1096a12; b35; 1102a13). It poses a question at the start, looks at various possible answers along the way, and concludes with a definite judgment. The treatise therefore has something of the shape of a detective story. What Aristotle tells us he is looking for, and what he wants us to join with him in looking for, is what he calls the “ultimate goal” of human life. Informally, we might think of this as what counts as “doing well” in life, or what it is for someone to be in the true sense “a success.” To attain our ultimate goal is to achieve “happiness.” Practically speaking, the ultimate goal in life is something toward which we would do well to direct everything else that we do. We reasonably prefer this to anything else. Our ultimate goal, we might think, is something we can rest satisfied in : when we attain it, we require nothing more. Is there such a goal which is the same for all, and, if so, what is it? This is the basic question of the Ethics . It is useful to think of any search as involving four basic elements. Suppose, for instance, that a detective wished to establish the identity of a person who committed a murder.
Book Review: King, Roger, and Gavin Kendall. The State, Democracy & Globalization. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Roger King and Gavin Kendall bring into one book three important concepts dear to political scientists: the state, democracy and globalization. Their book is a good introduction to these topics for both experts and laymen alike. The book is divided into ten chapters the first three of which, focus on the concept of the "State", its historical development and the theories which attempt to explain and understand it. The next two chapters deal with democracy and its application to the understanding of the state. Chapters six and seven deal with globalization and suprastate governance. The last two chapters deal with the concept of the liberal state power, domination, culture and sociality. The final chapter provides a postscript with the authors pondering on the future of the state. The book is strong in theory but its great weakness is its tendency to jump around all over the place on the three important concepts that the book tries to study.
Anticompetitive Regulation in the Payment of Card Industry

The payment card industry in the United States has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 reflects a high-water mark of congressional influence for the industry, altering bankruptcy procedures largely for the benefit of card issuers. Since that point, Congress has turned repeatedly to rein in perceived abuses in the industry. The most substantial and direct response to the perception of abuse is the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. That statute was focused directly on the card industry and outlawed a wide variety of industry practices. More recently, in § 1075 (the “Durbin Amendment”) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Congress cut permissible interchange fees for debit card transactions to amounts that approximate the costs of processing those transactions; the Federal Reserve’s implementing regulation apparently will lead to a more than 50 percent decline in those fees. So why is it at all noteworthy that Congress, in the course of reining in an industry targeted for excessive behavior, should require substantial changes in the industry’s operations? My hypothesis is a simple one. Both provisions make it more challenging to operate profitably in the payment card market. Because both provisions will pose greater challenges for smaller firms than they do for larger firms, both statutes will make it harder for smaller banks to compete in the payment card market. It may not be easy to evaluate the consequences of greater concentration in the industry. But it is clear that industry concentration is not what drove Congress to action: whatever else Congress was trying to do, it certainly was not trying to drive small banks from the payment card market.
Development of macrociliary cells in Beroe. II. Formation of macrocilia

Two patterns of macrociliary growth occur in Beroe. Early differentiation described previously (Tamm & Tamm, 1988) leads to the first pattern of ciliogenesis. A tuft of 10-20 single cilia initially grows out from basal bodies that have migrated to the cell surface and are axially aligned. Ciliary membranes then begin to fuse along their length, except at the base, resulting in thicker groups of cilia on each cell. Progressive fusion of ciliary membranes, together with addition and elongation of new axonemes, finally results in mature macrocilia, 5 microns thick and 40 microns long, enclosed by a single membrane distally. The second pattern of ciliogenesis begins with the simultaneous appearance of several hundred ciliary buds on the apical surface. The short cilia possess individual membranes with bulbous tips, and are not axially aligned. Subsequent elongation is accompanied by progressive fusion of neighbouring ciliary membranes, except at the base, leading to flat-topped 'stumps' surrounded by a single membrane distally. Further elongation then proceeds asymmetrically within each stump. Axonemes on the aboral side of the macrocilium stop elongating, while those towards the oral side increase progressively in height, resulting in a slanted profile. Basal feet and central-pair microtubules are now uniformly aligned. Unequal elongation of axonemes on the oral and aboral sides of the macrocilium continues until the macrocilium resembles a lobster's claw, with a long slender shaft projecting from a broad base. Finally, the polarity of unequal growth reverses: the shorter axonemes on the aboral side elongate and almost catch up with the longer ones on the opposite side, resulting in a mature macrocilium of uniform diameter. The unusual membrane architecture of the macrocilium is thus a consequence of selective fusion of the distal regions of originally separate ciliary membranes. The polarized, asymmetrical growth of axonemes on the two sides of the macrocilium illustrates a remarkable control of microtubule elongation at the subcellular level.
Control of breathing in babies of narcotic- and cocaine-abusing mothers

To learn if chemoreceptor control of breathing is abnormal in babies whose mothers took narcotics, cocaine, or both drugs during pregnancy, we performed hypoxia and hypercapnia challenges on 28 babies (≥ 36 weeks gestation). Six babies were exposed to narcotics, six to cocaine, nine to both drugs, and seven babies were controls. Studies were done at 3 and 8 weeks and 3 and 5 months of age. Gestational ages were similar, but birth weight was lower in the cocaine group. Respiratory rate was higher in both groups of cocaine-exposed babies at 3 weeks. End-tidal partial pressure of CO2 (PCO2) was decreased and partial pressure of O2 (PO2) increased at 3 and 8 weeks in babies exposed to narcotics plus cocaine. At 3 weeks, babies exposed to narcotics plus cocaine had a shift to the left in CO2 response with a normal slope; at 8 weeks, both intercept and slope were decreased. Responses to hypoxia were similar among the four groups. Babies exposed to narcotics plus cocaine before birth have abnormalities in control of breathing in the first months after birth.
Spreading Diagrams for the Optimization of Quill Pin Printed Microarray Density

The printed feature size from a quill pin microarraying system was characterized to predict optimal microarray density from common experimental variables of pin size, solution viscosity, and surface wettability. Features containing fluorescent dye were printed from two solvent systems, glycerol in water and sucrose in water, and observed over a wide range of solute concentrations and substrate wettabilities. Observed feature spreading was used to generate spreading diagrams that predict printed microarray feature dimensions from the water contact angle of the substrate, the size of the printing pin, and the viscosity (or wt % solute) of the printing buffer. In general, feature size was observed to increase with substrate wettability and solution viscosity. A simple model was developed to predict feature density as a function of the above variables.
A comparison of geostatistical procedures for spatial analysis of precipitation in mountainous terrain

Abstract Spatially distributed measurements or estimates of precipitation over a region are required for modelling of hydrologic processes and soil moisture for agricultural and natural resource management. Simple interpolation methods fail to consider the effects of topography on precipitation and may be in considerable error in mountainous regions. The performance of three geostatistical methods for making mean annual precipitation estimates on a regular grid of points in mountainous terrain was evaluated. The methods were: (1) kriging; (2) kriging elevation-detrended data; and (3) cokriging with elevation as an auxiliary variable. The study area was the Willamette River basin, a 2.9 million hectare region spanning the area between the Coast Range and the Cascade Range in western Oregon. Compared with kriging, detrended kriging and cokriging both exhibited better precision (as indicated by estimation coefficients of variation of 16 and 17% vs. 21%; and average absolute errors of 19 and 20 cm vs. 26 cm) and accuracy (as indicated by average errors of −1.4 and −2.0 cm vs. −5.2 cm) in the estimation of mean annual precipitation. Contour diagrams for kriging and detrended kriging exhibited smooth zonation following general elevation trends, while cokriging showed a patchier pattern more closely corresponding to local topographic features. Detrended kriging and cokriging offer improved spatially distributed precipitation estimates in mountainous terrain on the scale of a few million hectares. Application of these methods for a larger region, the Columbia River drainage in the USA (57 million hectares), was unsuccessful due to the lack of a consistent precipitation-elevation relationship at this scale. Precipitation estimation incorporating the effects of topography at larger scales will require either piecewise estimation using the methods described here or development of a physically based orographic model.
The negative feedback control by estradiol and progesterone of LH secretion in the ovariectomized rhesus monkey.

The pulsatile, circhoral discharges of LH observed in ovariectomized rhesus monkeys were blocked within min following single intravenous injections of 17β-estradiol or the initiation of estradiol infusions which achieved physiologic plasma levels of the steroid. The resulting depression in plasma LH concentrations was maintained for several hr after circulating estrogen levels had declined to undetectable values. Pulsatile LH discharges resumed abruptly following this period of inhibition but with a lower frequency and larger magnitude. In contrast, intravenous injections of progesterone had no effect on LH secretion unless massive doses were given, with resultant plasma concentrations of the steroid a thousand fold greater than luteal phase levels. These but caused irregularities in the circhoral rhythm. Similarly, the daily subcutaneous administration of progesterone, in oil, for 2 weeks failed to reduce the elevated plasma LH concentrations in ovariectomized animals. It is concluded that estrogen is th...
1:1 alternating copolymers of 1-bicyclobutanecarbonitrile with styrene

High molecular weight, 1:1 alternating copolymers of 1-bicyclobutanecarbonitrile with styrene were prepared in tetramethylenesulfone solution by complexing the electron-poor bicyclobutane monomer with zinc chloride. Methyl 1-bicyclobutanecarboxylate under these conditions gave copolymers containing a slight excess of styrene units (ratio 1:1.3 to 1:1.8). High molecular weight homopolymers of 1-bicyclobutanecarbonitrile and of methyl 1-bicyclobutanecarboxylate were prepared similarly. The tendency of the bicyclobutane nitrile to form 1:1 alternating copolymers is as great as that of its vinyl analog, acrylonitrile, and the synthesis of other alternating copolymers from this monomer should be possible.
Suppression of Tie-1 in endothelial cells in vitro induces a change in the genome-wide expression profile reflecting an inflammatory function

Tie-1 is an endothelial specific receptor tyrosine kinase that is upregulated in diseases such as atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. We recently demonstrated that Tie-1 induced a proinflammatory response when overexpressed in endothelial cells. Here, we used a complementary approach and suppressed endogenous Tie-1 expression in endothelial cells to examine its function by microarray analysis. Tie-1 appeared to govern expression of many genes involved in inflammation. Expression knockdown of Tie-1 significantly reduced endothelial conditioned medium ability to stimulate MCP-1 production in U937 cells. Collectively, our results support the notion that Tie-1 has an inflammatory function in endothelial cells.
Vibrational and Electronic Structure of Hydrogen-Related Defects in Silicon Calculated by the Extended Hückel Theory

Extended Huckel theory calculations are carried out for interstitial hydrogen atoms in silicon model crystals without and with vacancies. The energetically stable positions for the hydrogens appear to be the tetrahedral interstitial site in crystals without vacancies; in the case of vacancies the hydrogens favor positions in the dangling bonds of the vacancies 0.35 bond lengths away from the vacancy nearest neighbors. The vibrational frequencies for all defect types considered are in very close agreement with infrared bands observed after proton irradiation of silicon. The frequencies increase with the number of hydrogens in a vacancy. The hydrogen-related impurity levels are very close to the valence band edge, both above or below. Rechnungen nach der erweiterten Huckel-Theorie werden fur Wasserstoff-Zwischengitteratome in Silizium-Modellkristallen ohne und mit Leerstellen ausgefuhrt. Die energetisch stabilen Positionen fur die Wasserstoffatome erweisen sich als tetraedrische Zwischengitterplatze in Kristallen ohne Leerstellen. Im Falle von Leerstellen bevorzugen die Wasserstoffatome Positionen in den freien Bindungen der Leerstellen, 0,35 Bindungslangen von den nachsten Nachbaratomen der Leerstelle entfernt. Die Schwingungsfrequenzen fur alle betrachteten Defektarten liegen sehr nahe bei denen von Infrarotbanden, die nach Protonenbestrahlung von Silizium beobachtet wurden. Die Frequenzen nehmen mit der Anzahl von Wasserstoffatomen in einer Leerstelle zu. Die Defektniveaus, die von den Wasserstoffatomen herruhren, liegen sehr dicht ober- oder unterhalb der Valenzbandkante.
Electrical Resistivity of Single Crystals of Some Dilute Solid Solutions in Zinc

Sets of single crystals were grown of binary alloys consisting of dilute solid solutions of Cd, Cu, Ag, Au, Ni and Fe, each in zinc. Electrical resistivities at 20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C are expressed in terms of principal resistivities, ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{90}$, these values coming from the usual ${cos}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}$ ($\ensuremath{\theta}$=orientation) plot of measured resistivities of a set of crystals. The resistance increases in a given series of alloys with increasing concentration, in a nonlinear fashion. The initial increase in resistivity (above that of pure zinc) in micro ohm-cm per atomic percent of solute is: Cd 0.94, Cu 0.4, Ag 1.1, Au 2.3, Ni 51.0, Fe 300.0. This is correlated with the nearness of the solute metal to zinc in the periodic table. The ratio of principal resistivities is slightly higher than that for the zinc crystal. Temperature coefficients decrease in such a way that Mathiessen's rule is satisfied (with a maximum deviation of 4 percent) for all the alloys.
Sentencing practices under the Arkansas sentencing guideline structure

Abstract In the last thirty years, research on differential sentencing practices became one of the dominant thrusts of academic interest in criminal justice studies. This was mainly because several reforms had been added to the various sentencing structures in the United States, one of which was the adoption of guideline based sentencing strategies. Although several studies were conducted regarding the impact of these guidelines, these were provided by a limited number of sources. For instance, the majority of this research was conducted on data collected by the United States Sentencing Commission and the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission. This study attempted to further the discussion on sentencing practices by examining data from a new source, the Arkansas Office of Courts. This study first examined the judge's decision to imprison and jail the defendant using logistic regression, and second, for those individuals incarcerated, OLS and negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to explore potential disparities in the length of prison and jail sentences. The results of this analysis in Arkansas illustrated striking comparisons to studies that were conducted on other guideline structures. The legally relevant variables were the greatest predictors of whether or not an offender was sentenced to prison. Extralegal variables, on the other hand, had negligible effects. Implications for policy are also discussed.
Recreational development and shoreline modification along the north coast of Yucatán, Mexico

The north coast of Yucatan has been a destination for domestic tourists for over a century. Since 1945, recreational development has created a 20-km summer home strip centred upon the port of Progreso. In response to port and harbour improvements and corollary down-drift erosion, second-home owners have armoured the shoreline with groynes and caused a severe physical and aesthetic degradation of the coastal landscape. Since 1990, even the up-drift coast has become armoured and aesthetically degraded. Here, the impetus to modify the shoreline has been in response to poor construction practices and an inability by vacation-home owners to adjust to the natural processes of accretion and erosion that characterize this physical environment. As groyne construction diffuses eastward into pristine beach environments, efforts to expand international tourism may be hindered by environmental degradation caused by shoreline modification.
Extraanatomical bypass procedures.

Those extraanatomical bypass procedures which are useful for revascularization of the lower extremities include femorofemoral, axillofemoral, and iliofemoral transobturator bypass. All of these procedures became firmly established during the 1960's, and have added greatly to the armamentarium of the vascular surgeon.
The cilium on mammalian vestibular hair cells.

The mammalian vestibular cilium is described. It is shown to be comprised of nine dense outer fibers and an intermittent central density; this stands in contradistinction to vestibular cilia of non-mammalian species that have been shown to be comprised of nine outer doublet tubules surrounding two central tubules. The possible functional meaning of these observations is discussed.
Relationship Between Epithelium and Connective Tissue in Gingival Inflammation

Histologic and electron microscopic study of inflamed gingival tissue reveals changes in both the epithelium and the connective tissues. These changes appear to be morphologically related. Although precise mechanisms are not known, there is evidence that a metabolic or chemical change in one of the tissues influences the behavior or metabolism of the other.
Identifying functionally connected habitat compartments with a novel regionalization technique

Landscape ecologists have increasingly turned to the use of landscape graphs in which a landscape is represented as a set of nodes (habitat patches) connected by links representing inter-patch-dispersal. This study explores the use of a graph-based regionalization method, Graph-based REgionalization with Clustering And Partitioning (GraphRECAP), to detect structural groups of habitat patches (compartments) in a landscape graph such that the connections (i.e. the movement of individual organisms) within the groups are greater than those across groups. Specifically, we mapped compartments using habitat and dispersal data for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in an agricultural landscape in southern Madagascar using both GraphRECAP and the widely-used Girvan and Newman method. Model performance was evaluated by comparing compartment characteristics and three measures of network connectivity and traversability: the connection strength of habitat patches in the compartments (modularity), the potential ease of individual organism movements (Harary index), and the degree of alternative route presence (Alpha index). Compartments identified by GraphRECAP had stronger within-compartment connections, greater traversability, more alternative routes, and a larger minimum number of habitat patches within compartments, all of which are more desirable traits for ecological networks. Our method could thus facilitate the study of ecosystem resilience and the design of nature reserves and landscape networks to promote the landscape-scale dispersal of species in the fragmented habitats.
Performance of the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 for pediatric cardiac surgery patients

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 (PIM-2) for pediatric cardiac surgery patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). DESIGN : Retrospective cohort analysis. SETTING Multi-institutional PICUs. PATIENTS Children whose PICU admission had an associated cardiac surgical procedure. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Performance of the PIM-2 was evaluated with both discrimination and calibration measures. Discrimination was assessed with a receiver operating characteristic curve and associated area under the curve measurement. Calibration was measured across defined groups based on mortality risk, using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. Analyses were performed initially, using the entire cohort, and then based on operative status (perioperative defined as procedure occurring within 24 hrs of PICU admission and preoperative as occurring >24 hrs from the time of PICU admission). A total of 9,208 patients were identified as cardiac surgery patients with 8,391 (91%) considered as perioperative. Average age of the entire cohort was 3.3 yrs (median, 10 mos, 0-18 yrs), although preoperative children tended to be younger (median, <1 month). Preoperative patients also had longer PICU median lengths of stay than perioperative patients (12 days [1-375 days] vs. 3 days [1-369 days], respectively). For the entire cohort, the PIM-2 had fair discrimination power (area under the curve, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.83) and poor calibration (p < .0001). Its predictive ability was similarly inadequate for quality assessment (standardized mortality ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.90) with significant overprediction in the highest-decile risk group. For the subpopulations, the model continued to perform poorly with low area under the curves for preoperative patients and poor calibration for both groups. PIM-2 tended to overpredict mortality for perioperative patients and underpredict for preoperative patients (standardized mortality ratios, 0.69 [95% confidence interval, 0.59-0.78] and 1.48 [95% confidence interval, 1.27-1.70], respectively). CONCLUSIONS The PIM-2 demonstrated poor performance with fair discrimination, poor calibration, and predictive ability for pediatric cardiac surgery population and thus cannot be recommended in its current form as an adequate adjustment tool for quality measurement in this patient group.
Concentrations and Discrimination of Chemically Related Metals in a Food Chain

Abstract Concentrations of the related elements calcium, strontium, barium, and lead were determined in soil extract, consumer stomach contents, and consumers in lead polluted and unpolluted areas. Discrimination against the nonessential metals relative to the nutritious metal calcium, as the metals were transferred through a trophic pathway was determined. Discrimination of metals varied systematically as a function of degree of nonessential element similarity to calcium. The existence of systematic trends of discrimination may facilitate the assessment of natural levels of some toxic elements (e.g. lead) in organisms.
Activation of poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP-1) induces release of the pro-inflammatory mediator HMGB1 from the nucleus.

Necrotic cells release inflammatory mediators that activate cytokine production from innate immune cells. One mediator of this activation is high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1). HMGB1 is normally a chromatin-associated protein and is sequestered at condensed chromatin during apoptosis. How it is released from chromatin during necrotic cell death is not known. Here we show that after DNA-alkylating damage, the activation of poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) regulates the translocation of HMGB1 from the nucleus to the cytosol. This displaced HMGB1 is subject to release if the cell then loses plasma membrane integrity as a result of necrosis. Both full-length HMGB1 and a truncated form of HMGB1 lacking the highly conserved glutamate-rich C-terminal tail can induce macrophage activation and tumor necrosis factor-α production. However, displacement of HMGB1 from the nucleus following PARP activation requires the presence of the glutamate-rich C-terminal tail. Although the C-terminal tail is not the sole substrate for PARP modification of HMGB1, it appears to be required to destabilize HMGB1 association with chromatin following PARP-dependent chromatin modifications. These data suggest that PARP-dependent nuclear-to-cytosolic translocation of HMGB1 serves to establish the ability of cells to release this potent inflammatory mediator upon subsequent necrotic death.
RAISE (Rapid Access Integrating Safer Entry) for the Elderly: Readiness of Older Adults to Adopt a Universal Serial Bus Personal Health Record for Medication Reconciliation

Older adults with chronic illnesses may be particularly in need of assistance to adopt a personal health record (PHR) system to enhance medication management safety and quality health care due to potentially poor self-care management skills and few or nonexistent information technology skills. The challenge for older adults is how best to ready themselves for active partnership with their healthcare provider to ensure they have the highest quality of care possible. A descriptive exploratory study was conducted to assess the level of understanding and acceptance of a universal serial bus (USB) drive PHR by both older adult health care consumers and geriatric clinicians. The specific aim was to identify the readiness of older adults and physicians who are managing chronic illnesses to use the USB PHR system. Data from focus groups composed of physicians and older adults are reported here. Physicians indicated willingness to partner with their patients to update current medication lists onthe USB PHR. Older adults, despite lack of knowledge, would use this technology if their healthcare provider collaborated with them by updating the USB PHR. While generalizability of these results is limited due to small sample size, they do provide the underpinning to proceed to the next step of this research. Future research aims to design and test an education-support intervention including a comparative effectiveness and a cost/benefit analysis to aid participants’ adoption of a USB PHR for the purpose of medication reconciliation.
HYBRIDIZATION STUDIES IN PERENNIAL ZINNIAS

A B S T R A C T Results of hybridization studies among the 6 species of subgenus Diplothrix (Zinnia-coMPOSITAE) are reported. Also included are analyses of chiasmata frequency in the parental species and 2 diploid hybrids. Pairing relationships and chiasmata frequency of the chromosomes in the hybrids of the diploid species indicate their genomes are homologous. Analyses of F2's of Z. juniperifolia X acerosa (2n) show that production of pigment in ray flowers, C, from Z. juniperifolia segregates as a simple dominant over colorless, cc, from Z. acerosa. Morphological studies of the hybrids produced to date indicate that the origin of the polyploid taxa has been more circuitous than simple hybridization followed by chromosome doubling. The genomic constitution of Z. juniperifolia is designated AIAI, that of Z. acerosa A2A2, and that of Z. oligantha A3A3. Morphological data and chromosomal pairing in the polyploid hybrids suggest that the tetraploid species should be tentatively assigned genomic formulae as follows: AjA,A2A2 or A1AjA3A3 for both Z. citrea and Z. grandiflora, and A2A2A3A3 for 4n Z. acerosa.
Infection and Immunity: Neonatal Immunology

Each limb of the immune system is partially functional, partially non-functional at the time of birth. Newborns are unusually susceptible to infection, and feeding practices, immunization schedules and certain congenital conditions are all affected by the state of the infants immune system. I shall review each of these systems. The granulocytes are slow to chemotax but can phagocytise well, and have only a modest reduction of bactericidal activity; however this latter ability may be compromised severely in the presence of stress or infection. The mononuclear phagocytes (monocytes) are also slow to chemotax, but their bactericidal and cytotoxic functions are normal. The fixed mononuclear cells may have diminished phagocytosis and killing capacity. The monocytes may also have a defect in antigen processing with decreased expression of DR antigen. Complement activity is about 25–50% of the maternal level but this is usually sufficient to prevent infection in the term infant. In the presence of prematurity complement components may be reduced sufficiently so as to produce a clinically significant opsonic deficiency. This can be corrected by plasma or gamma globulin. Certain Gram (-) organisms need alternative complement pathway activation to affect opsonization the newborn may have decreased ability to activate this pathway. The antibody synthetic system is essentially inoperative at birth despite adequate B-cells, as a result of intrinsic B-cell inactivity and enhanced T-cell suppression. Passive maternal IgG usually but not always, compensates for this deficit in the term infant. Local secretory IgA antibody synthesis is also absent for the first 6 to 8 weeks of life; this is compensated for in part by the ingestion of breast milk, The first antibody responses noted are IgA antibody responses, while IgG responses are initially sluggish and delayed. Poor IgG antibody responses to certain antigens, particularly polysaccharides, may persist for a prolonged period. Neonatal T-cells show good recognition and proliferative responses but T-cell cytotoxicity is compromised and certain lymphokines (e.g. MIF, immune interferon) are markedly deficient. Delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity is also deficient. Natural killer activity is also reduced. Thymus size and hormonalactivity is increased. Taken as a whole, the immature immune system does not have the capacity to fully respond to an invading organism, and the result is frequent, severe, and occasionally fatal infection.
Reaction mechanism and rate constants of the CH+CH4 reaction: a theoretical study

Ab initio and density functional calculations have been performed to elucidate the mechanism of CH radical insertion into methane. The results show that the reaction can be viewed to occur via two stages. On the first stage, the CH radical approaches methane without large structural changes to acquire proper positioning for the subsequent stage, where H-migration occurs from CH4 to CH, along with a C–C bond formation. Where the first stage ends and the second begins, a tight transition state was located using the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) and MP4(SDQ)/6-311++G(d,p) methods. Using a rigid rotor – harmonic oscillator approach within transition state theory, we show that at the MP5/6-311++G(d,p)//MP4(SDQ)/6-311++G(d,p) level the calculated rate constants are in a reasonably good agreement with experiment in a broad temperature range of 145–581 K. Even at low temperatures, the insertion reaction bottleneck is found about the location of the tight transition state, rather than at long separations between the CH and CH...
Onset of metallization and related transitions in solid hydrogen.

The onset of metallization in highly compressed solid hydrogen and a corresponding discontinuity in molecular vibrations have been linked in the literature to band-gap closure in an ordered hcp structure. We performed extensive first-principles calculations on the energetics and the electronic properties of solid hydrogen, and explored in detail variations in molecular orientations, bond lengths, and the c/a ratio, within an hcp lattice. We find that the commonly assumed structure is energetically unfavorable, and that lower-energy structures have wider band gaps to much higher density. Implications for the onset of metallization are discussed.
Improvement of maximum occlusal forces after orthognathic surgery

Abstract Purpose: A number of studies have reported that maximum voluntary bite forces increase after orthognathic surgery. This study determined rates of long-term improvement in bite forces and looked for both sex-related differences in improvement and for any differences among surgical procedures. Patients and Methods: The study tested 117 patients before surgery and between 6 months and 3 years after surgery. At each trial, unilateral maximum voluntary bite force was measured at four different tooth positions using a standard transducer. Forty-three control subjects were similarly tested. The rate of increase in maximum bite force was calculated separately for male and female patients in various groups of patients and the controls. Results: The patients had significantly lower maximum bite forces than the controls before surgery and for as long as 2 years after surgery. Within 6 months after surgery, patients' bite forces were already greater than their pre-surgical forces. Patients generally showed steady improvement in bite force thereafter, with male patients improving more quickly than female patients. There were no clear differences among surgical procedures. Conclusions: Any temporary reduction in maximum voluntary bite force disappears less than 6 months after orthognathic surgery. Orthognathic surgery improves patients' bite forces, but this improvement may be gradual, requiring many months.
Photoinitiated cationic polymerization of cycloaliphatic epoxide with siloxane or alkoxysilane functionalized polyol coatings

Abstract Polyols were reacted with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) or 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (IPTES) to form siloxane functionalized polyols. The UV-reactivity of these siloxane functionalized polyols were investigated using real-time FT-IR spectroscopy. The reactivity of TEOS modified polyols was dependent on the relative humidity. However, for the IPTES functionalized polyols the effect of relative humidity was dependent on the degree of IPTES functionalization. When the polyols were only partially functionalized with IPTES, the effect of relative humidity was minimal. However, when polyols were fully functionalized with IPTES, the curing was dependent on relative humidity. The siloxane functionalized polyols were formulated with a cycloaliphatic epoxide and cationic photoinitiator. The photo-induced curing kinetics of these cycloaliphatic epoxide/siloxane functionalized polyol coatings were also investigated. Unlike the TEOS functionalized polyols, the addition of IPTES functionalized polyols into the formulation inhibited the curing speed. This inhibition was attributed to the basicity nitrogen of the urethane linkage. The effect of relative humidity on the UV-curing reaction of cycloaliphatic epoxide coatings was lowered by the incorporation of the TEOS functionalized polyols.
Determinant of block-Toeplitz band matrices

Some expressions are given for the determinant of an mn×mn block-Toeplitz band matrix L=[Li−j], with bandwidth (p+q+1)n<mn, in terms of the n×n generating matrix polynomial L(λ)=Σp+qj=0λjLp−j, detL-q≠0. In the scalar case this yields formulas for the determinant expressed via the zeros of the generating (scalar) polynomial. The approach adopted in this work leans heavily on the recently developed spectral theory of matrix polynomials.