cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear Dynamics near the Onset of Cellular Growth During Thin-Film Solidification of a Binary Alloy: On the Observability of Weakly Nonlinear States

Results from a combination of thin-film directional solidification experiments and two-dimensional numerical simulations are described and suggest that steadily growing patterns of shallow solidification cells with a unique wavelength cannot be observed in the succinonitrile-acetone organic alloy. Thin-film directional solidification experiments performed on long time scales and for conditions very close to the onset of morphological instability show the evolution to complex patterns in space and time — possibly spatiotemporal chaos — with mean wavelength significantly below the critical value predicted by linear theory. Numerical simulations confirm many of the features of the cells observed in experiments and link the mechanisms for the birth and death of cells with the proximity of codimension-two bifurcations caused by the flatness of the neutral stability curve with spatial wavelength.
Operating Systems (OS)

In Chap. 4 (Software), the user interface (interaction) with the computer hardware (Chap. 5) is implicitly specified as being via a compiler program which translates user-defined high-level language programs (e.g. C++ programs) into low-level assembly language programs. The latter are parsed into a sequence of simple machine-like operation-based statements (like X=Y+Z) that can be executed more-or-less directly by MIPS-type hardware computers configured with registers and processors, as explained in Chap. 5. This application-software (e.g. C++) interaction with the computer hardware, the user interface, is supported by little more than a hardware device called a program counter in conjunction with straightforward state-control logical circuits, following Turing’s basic ideas on computation Control rather closely. However, in this early method of treatment of the rather simple user interface, there is no account given of certain implicit and important details, such as how the C++ user gains access to the compiler or to other assumed supporting facilities such as library subroutines called in the high-level user program or to data-file storage. For the early instances of software-hardware interactions, this naive approach to the user interface was sufficient. However, by the 1960s, hardware and application software programs had both become much more sophisticated and the user interface more complicated.
Pre-transplant alpha-fetoprotein is associated with post-transplant hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence mortality.

BACKGROUND Although liver transplantation may potentially cure hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the risk of HCC recurrence is 8%-20% at five years post-transplant. Pre-transplant alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a predictor of HCC recurrence, but it is unknown if pre-transplant AFP also predicts survival in patients with recurrence. METHODS We performed a retrospective cohort study using the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database between 2002 and 2016. We identified adult transplant recipients with HCC recurrence after liver transplantation for HCC and used Cox regression to compare patient survival among different maximum pre-transplant AFP levels. RESULTS The cohort (N = 1164) was primarily male, white, and with hepatitis C liver disease. The median time to HCC recurrence was 11.6 months (interquartile range 6.1-26.3). In Cox regression analysis, increasing pre-transplant AFP was associated with poorer survival when adjusting for age, pre-transplant model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), and time to HCC recurrence. For example, patients with pre-transplant AFP ≥500ng/mL had a 1.6-fold higher risk of death versus those with AFP ≤20ng/mL (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Pre-transplant AFP is independently associated with survival in patients with HCC recurrence. These findings further contextualize the importance of pre-transplant AFP in liver transplantation and may improve prognostication for patients with HCC recurrence.
Some Approaches to Assessing Failure Probabilities of Redundant Structures

The growing acceptance of the concept of variability in the properties of structural materials (fracture toughness of metals, differences in composite fibers, etc.), along with the inherent randomness of loading due to nature, has caused the approach of analyzing structural systems using reliability techniques to become increasingly important. Classical reliability analysis is traced from basic probability theory to the development of fiber bundle theory with its resulting features and limitations. Recent applications of reliability analysis to "weak-link" structural systems are cited. Current research in the probabilistic treatment of physically redundant structures is then discussed with emphasis on the proper definition of convolution integral limits and the problems involved in the statistical modeling of real engineering components. Recent and anticipated trends in the application of reliability techniques to analyzing redundant structures are examined, including risk analyses of current Air Force aircraft and the "wear-out" approach to life expectancy. Conclusions are drawn concerning the role that risk analysis could play in modern aerospace design and in establishing structural design criteria.
A improved equation of state for Xe gas bubbles in γU-Mo fuels

Abstract A monolithic fuel design based on a U–Mo alloy has been selected as the fuel type for conversion of the United States High-Performance Research Reactors (HPRRs). An issue with U–Mo monolithic fuel is the large amount of swelling that takes place during operation. The accurate prediction of fuel evolution under irradiation requires implementation of correct thermodynamic properties into mesoscale and continuum level fuel performance modeling codes. However, the thermodynamic properties of the fission gas bubbles (such as the relationship among bubble size, equilibrium Xe concentration, and bubble pressure) are not well known. This work studies Xe bubbles in γU-Mo from a diameter of 3 nm up to 8.5 nm and from 400 K up to 700 K. The energetic relationship of Xe bubbles with regard to voids and Xe substitutional atoms is described. The transition is also determined for when a bubble becomes over-pressurized. Finally, an equation of state is fit to the pressure as a function of molar volume and temperature.
Solution-Phase Activation and Functionalization of Colloidal WS2 Nanosheets with Ni Single Atoms.

Single-atom functionalization of transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets is a powerful strategy to tune the optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties of two-dimensional materials. In thi...
"Resilience: A Necessary Protective Factor for Nursing Students"

The Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a postinfectious and autoimmune‐induced peripheroneural disorder characterized by being an acquired acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy which often follows gastrointestinal or respiratory infections [1-3]...
Real-time detection of maize crop disease via a deep learning-based smartphone app

Diseases in plants are substantially problematic for agricultural yield management. Compounded with insufficient information to correctly diagnose crops, they can lead to significant economic loss and yield inefficiencies. Due to the success of deep learning in many image processing applications, the first part of this paper involves designing a deep neural network for the detection of disease in maize due to its economic significance. A convolutional neural network is designed and trained on a public domain dataset with labeled images of maize plant leaves with disease present, or lack thereof. In the second part of this paper, the trained convolutional neural network is turned into a smartphone app running in real-time for the purpose of performing maize crop disease detection in the field in an on-the-fly manner. The smartphone app offers a cost-effective, portable, and universally accessible way to detect disease in maize. The approach developed in this paper enables recognizing early signs of plant pathogens from maize crop images in realtime in the field, thus leading to preemptive corrective actions prior to significant yield loss. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in agriculture, real-time detection of crop disease, smartphone
National trends in postoperative infections across surgical specialties

Abstract Background Despite the introduction of several measures to reduce incidence, postoperative infections have been reported to increase. We aimed to assess trends in the incidence and impact of postoperative infections using a recent national cohort. Methods Patients undergoing the most commonly performed elective inpatient procedures in 9 surgical specialties were identified from the 2006 to 2014 National Inpatient Sample. Diagnostic coding was utilized to identify patients with postoperative infections. To adjust for patient and operative differences in assessing outcomes, an inverse probability of treatment weighing protocol was used. Results Of an estimated 23,696,588 patients, 1,213,182 (5.1%) developed postoperative infections. Skin and soft tissue operations had the highest burden (12.9%) and endocrine the lowest (1.3%). During the study period, we found decreasing incidence, case fatality, and incremental cost of postoperative infections. Infection was associated with increased in-hospital mortality (1.4 vs 0.4%, P Conclusion During the study period there was a substantial decrease in the burden of postoperative infections. Despite encouraging trends, postoperative infections continue to serve as a suitable quality improvement target, particularly in specialties with a high burden of infections.
New Modulation Technique for Five-level Interleaved T-type Inverters for Switching Loss Reduction

This paper presents a new carrier allocation technique for level-shifted carrier pulse width modulation strategy for five-level interleaved T-type voltage source inverters. The proposed modulation method avoids the simultaneous switching of the two interleaved inverter cells since only one of these inverter cells is undergoing switching for half of the fundamental period. The other inverter cell is clamped to either the positive dc bus, negative dc bus or midpoint of the dc-link capacitors. Therefore, the proposed modulation method achieves almost 50 percent switching loss reduction compared to the conventional phase-shifted carrier pulse width modulation strategy for interleaved voltage source inverters. The conduction loss of the inverter is slightly increased (by about 5 percent). But, the overall loss of the inverter is significantly reduced. The proposed modulation method is validated using experimental test.
Diversity of social networks versus quality of social support: Which is more protective for health-related quality of life among older adults?

Abstract Both social networks and social support are important in addressing bio-psycho-social events in older adults. Their associations with health-related quality of life (HRQOL), however, are not well understood. This study aims to examine the associations of diversity of social networks and perceived quality of social support with HRQOL in older adults. We used data from 2012 to 2013 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions Wave III (NESARC-III), and included respondents aged 65 or older (n = 5799 unweighted). We used the Social Network Index (SNI) to measure diversity of social connections and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12) to measure perceived quality of social support. We also constructed HRQOL (mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS)) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). We characterized socio-demographic, behavioral, and clinical factors, and HRQOL and QALYs by type of social support. We also used multivariable-adjusted regression analyses to assess the associations of diversity of social networks and perceived quality of social support with HRQOL and QALYs, respectively. Older adults with greater diversity of social networks, regardless of perceived quality of social support, had higher mean scores in HRQOL domains, although effect sizes were small. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, diversity of social networks was positively associated with HRQOL-MCS (coefficient = 0.59; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.08–1.09), HRQOL-PCS (coefficient = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.38–1.61), and QALYs (coefficient = 0.01; 95% CI, 0.00–0.02). Perceived quality of social support was not associated with HRQOL. The diversity of social networks, more than perceived quality of social support, may be protective for HRQOL in older adults.
Multi-Criteria Frameworks to Improve Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Environmental Governance in the Amazon

In the Amazon, environmental governance (EG) is an important multi-stakeholder approach to the sustainable management of natural resources. There is by now a large theoretical literature on the many requirements for effective EG. There is also an extensive empirical literature on EG in the Amazon. While empirical work in the Amazon has advanced our understanding of EG, it also has important limitations. There remains a need to unpack the many requirements for effective EG in order to identify violations of particular criteria to explain cases where EG is ineffective. There is also a need for multi-case comparative analyses of EG across diverse parts of the Amazon in order to identify common explanations for ineffective EG. We therefore review multi-criteria frameworks for the evaluation of EG, noting their contributions and differences. We then briefly discuss five study cases in the Amazon, in order to identify common explanations for ineffective EG. We suggest that identification of violations of specific criteria for effective EG can guide targeted conservation action in a specific case. By extension, identification of common criteria violated across cases can provide a basis for broader conservation strategy to improve EG.
Fused filament fabrication of void-free parts using low viscosity hot melt adhesives

Abstract In this work, a polyamide hot melt adhesive was evaluated as a feedstock for material extrusion additive manufacturing (AM). This adhesive, Technomelt PA 6910, is a semicrystalline polymer with a sub-ambient glass transition temperature, intermediate melting temperatures, and low recrystallization temperature. Due to this combination of properties, Technomelt PA 6910 is a room temperature flexible material that exhibits high toughness and strength, and good adhesion. Technomelt PA 6910 was extruded into filament form and printed using fused filament fabrication (FFF), a desktop form of material extrusion AM. The effect of extruder temperature on print quality and mechanical properties and the effect of raster angle and layer height on mechanical properties of prints were studied. Optimized print parameters, as well as the material’s low viscosity, resulted in void-free prints that exhibited isotropic tensile properties comparable to or better than compression molded values. This work broadens the material window for FFF and demonstrates that hot melt adhesives can be used to additively manufacture optically transparent, flexible structures capable of >1,200% strain to failure. The mechanical properties of Technomelt PA 6910, combined with FFF as a versatile processing technique, make this material a candidate for a variety of applications in which transparency, design complexity, and flexibility at a wide range of temperatures are desired.
Friend or Foe: Hybrid proline-rich proteins determine how plants interact with and respond to beneficial and pathogenic microbes

Abstract Plant plastids generate signals, including some derived from lipids, that need to be mobilized to effect signaling. We used informatics to discover potential plastid membrane proteins involved in microbial responses. Among these are proteins co-regulated with the systemic immunity component AZI1, a hybrid proline-rich protein (HyPRP) and HyPRP superfamily members. HyPRPs have a transmembrane domain, a proline-rich region (PRR) and a lipid transfer protein domain. The precise subcellular location(s) and function(s) is unknown for most HyPRP family members. As predicted by informatics, a subset of HyPRPs have a pool of protein that targets plastid outer envelope membranes (OEMs) via a mechanism that requires the PRR. Additionally, two HyPRPs may be associated with thylakoid membranes. Most of the plastid and non-plastid localized family members also have pools that localize to endoplasmic reticulum, plasma membrane or plasmodesmata. HyPRPs with plastid pools regulate, positively or negatively, systemic immunity against the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. HyPRPs also regulate the interaction with the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria Pseudomonas simiae WCS417 in the roots to influence colonization, root system architecture and/or biomass. Thus, HyPRPs have broad and distinct roles in immune, development and growth responses to microbes and reside at sites that may facilitate signal molecule transport.
Using complementary tools to characterize the effects of radiation in electro-optic polymeric materials

Understanding the fundamental mechanisms behind the radiation resistance of polymers and molecules would allow us to tailor new materials with enhanced performance in space and adverse environments. Previous studies of the radiation effects on polymer-based photonic materials indicate that they are very dependent on the choice of polymer-host and guest-chromophores. The best results have been reported from the combination of CLD1 as a guest-chromophore doped in APC as host polymer, where improvement of the performance was observed upon gamma-irradiation at moderate doses. In this paper, we report on the different complementary tools that have been tried to characterize the origin of such enhancement: characterization of the linear and nonlinear response, characterization of chemical properties, and application of an all-optical protocol. We derive some general conclusions by contrasting the results of each characterization, and propose complementary experiments based on microscopy techniques.
Direct Medical Costs and Utilization of Health Care Services to Treat Pneumonia in the United States: An Analysis of the 2007–2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to assess how pneumonia incidence, health care resource utilization, costs, and hospital length of stay differ by age category in the United States. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey database was conducted from 2007 to 2011 for patients with pneumonia. Study outcomes were pneumonia incidence, annual health care utilization, and expenditures across 5 age groups. Early trends of outcomes in the period after introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) (2011) were compared with the pre-PCV13 period (2007–2009). Findings Pneumonia incidence rates for the 1790 patients ranged from 9.2 to 33.0 per 1000 patients. Patients P P 18, ≥18 to P = 0.009), ≥45 to ≤65 years ($4726; P 65 years ($7206; P P > 0.05). Implications Pneumonia remains a disease with significant burden in the United States, and clinical and economic outcomes varied widely by age. Hospitalization for pneumonia has a considerable effect on economic burden, particularly for the very young (
MIXTURE DESIGNS FOR FOUR FACTORS.

Abstract : Scheffe, in two recent papers (1958, 1963), has given designs for experimenting with mixtures. The basis of these designs is the choice of symmetrical arrangements of points in the factor space and the fitting of carefully chosen models which have exactly as many coefficients as there are data points. The designs are such that some of the experiments do not contain any of one or more ingredients of the mixture. This may or may not be a disadvantage depending on the problem involved. Here an alternate form of design selection is made for the case of mixtures of four factors. It extends the method used in the three factor case in an earlier paper, (Draper and Lawrence, 1965). This involves the premise that, in the absence of specialist knowledge about the form of the true response function, it is desired to fit a response surface equation of first or second order over the factor space of possible mixtures, and experimental runs are needed which, in a certain sense, ensure the best surface fit possible. The principles used in the choice of appropriate designs will be those originally introduced by Box and Draper (1959). (Author)
Extension of the amino acid sequence of a lysine-rich histone.

Abstract The amino acid sequence of a lysine-rich histone from rabbit thymus has been extended from residue 72 to residue 107. This region is rich in hydrophobic residues, poor in basic residues, and lacks proline. There is a region of at least 67 consecutive residues in the histone that contains no proline. The data establish that a previously reported phosphorylation site in calf thymus lysine-rich histone corresponds to residue 105 in the rabbit thymus histone sequenced. Two of the phosphorylation sites of lysine-rich histone have thus been shown to lie at the extremities of the region rich in hydrophobic residues and devoid of prolines. Additional tryptic peptides were isolated which together seem to account for the remaining half of the molecule.
MARS: a system for publishing XML from mixed and redundant storage

We present a system for publishing as XML data from mixed (relational+XML) proprietary storage, while supporting redundancy in storage for tuning purposes. The correspondence between public and proprietary schemas is given by a combination of LAV-and GAV-style views expressed in XQuery. XML and relational integrity constraints are also taken into consideration. Starting with client XQueries formulated against the public schema the system achieves the combined effect of rewriting-with-views, composition-with-views and query minimization under integrity constraints to obtain optimal reformulations against the proprietary schema. The paper focuses on the engineering and the experimental evaluation of the MARS system.
Effect of molding compound/polyimide interfacial chemistry on TSOP delamination

The effect of interfacial chemistry on plastic package delamination is investigated. The effect of cleaning treatments, molding compound types and polyimide die coating types is examined. Delamination is induced by subjecting a TSOP package with a large die to a simulated board mounting process. Stressing consists of moisture saturation at 75% RH at room temperature followed by vapor phase reflow. The best combination of materials and processes examined results in a TSOP package with no delamination after moisture saturation and vapor phase reflow. >
Linking Characteristics Discovered in Spelling Assessment to Intervention Goals and Methods

This article presents two approaches to determining the goals and methods of instruction in spelling. One approach is to administer a standardized test, document the student's grade-level performan...
Circularly Polarized Square Slot Antenna With a Largely Enhanced Axial-Ratio Bandwidth

A new easy-to-apply design procedure is proposed in this letter for constructing small wideband circularly polarized (CP) bidirectional and unidirectional square slot antennas. With an asymmetric T-shaped strip protruded from the signal line of the feeding coplanar waveguide (CPW) into the square slot, a reference antenna with a fractional 3-dB axial-ratio bandwidth (abbreviated as CPBW) of about 11% can be obtained. The proposed bidirectional CP slot antenna (BICPSA) can be modified from the reference antenna by stretching the left end of the T-shaped strip upward, by embedding a rectangular metal patch in the square slot, and by implanting a grounded metal strip from the right edge of the slot. The resulting BICPSA has a much larger CPBW of 39.1%, which is about 3.55 times that of the reference antenna. Finally, by placing a simple reflector underneath this BICPSA without changing its structural dimensions, one can obtain unidirectional radiation patterns with a greatly increased gain of 7.6 dBic, but with only a slightly decreased CPBW of 34.3%.
Undocumented migration and the residential segregation of Mexicans in new destinations

This study uses data from the 2000 Census and 2005–2009 American Community Survey to examine the impact of undocumented Mexican migration to new destinations on residential segregation between Mexican immigrants and native-born whites and native-born blacks. We find that Mexican-white and Mexican-black segregation is higher in new Mexican gateways than in established areas and that, for Mexican-immigrant segregation from whites, this heightened level of residential segregation in new destinations can be explained by the high presence of unauthorized Mexican immigrants living there which tends to bolster segregation between the two groups. By contrast, Mexican-immigrant segregation from native-born blacks tends to be lower in areas with larger undocumented populations, a pattern that is especially true in new destinations. Neither of these opposing effects of legal status on Mexican-immigrant segregation can be explained by compositional differences in assimilation (English ability and earnings) between documented and undocumented immigrants nor by structural variation in metropolitan areas, suggesting a unique association between legal status and segregation.
Behavioral treatment of marital discord

Many techniques derived from various family therapies such as filial therapy (Stover & Guerney, 1967), conjugal therapy (Ely, 1970), conjoint parent/child therapy (Wertheim, 1959), conjoint marital therapy (Haley, 1963; Satir, 1964, 1965), and conjoint family therapy (Satir, 1964, 1965) have recently been incorporated into the practice skills repertory of clinical social workers. Of all of these approaches the behavioral view has a substantial pool of accumulated data to support its wide use in practice (Jacobson & Martin, 1976). However, virtually no detailed explanation of the behavioral view appears in the social work literature, thus hindering its application. To alleviate this deficiency this article reviews the following topics: basic philosophy; behavioral exchange and marital satisfaction; development of marital conflict; clinical implications; clinical assessment; tools for intervention; and procedural guidelines for the treatment process.
Remarks concerning inelastic electron scattering from 3He

Abstract Previous calculations of the two-body coincidence break-up of 3 He have been re-examined in some detail with the object of reconciling an apparent inconsistency between the coincidence and integrated cross-section data. An impulse approximation in which only on-the-mass-shell intermediate nucleon states are kept is employed. Spectator nucleon effects are found to be small. The strong dependence of the cross section on the choice of three-body wave functions previously used in analyses of elastic electron scattering is investigated. The pole approximation gives a best fit to the shapes of the coincidence and integrated cross sections. However, in order that the normalizations agree, a reinterpretation of the coincidence data is proposed.
Evidence for re-distribution of137Cs in Alaskan tundra, lake, and marine sediments

Tundra sampling conducted during 1989–1990 at Imnavait Creek, Alaska (68°37′N, 149°17′W) indicated that inventories of137Cs were close to expectations, based upon measured atmospheric deposition for this latitude band. Typically observed at a depth of 4–10 cm, peak accumulations of137Cs were associated with organic materials, above any mineral soil. Accumulated inventories of137Cs in tundra decreased by up to 50% along a transect to Prudhoe Bay (70°13′N, 148°30′W). Atmospheric deposition of137Cs decreased with latitude in the Arctic, but declines in deposition would have been relatively small over this distance (200 km). This finding suggests a recent loss of137Cs from tundra over the northern parts of the transect between Imnavait Creek and Prudhoe Bay. This hypothesis is supported by observations of maximum137Cs accumulations occurring in surface layers of the more northern tundra rather than at depth (as at Imnavait Creek), as well as by indications of higher137Cs accumulations in a lake inlet. On the other hand, marine sediments collected in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Seas, including the Yukon River delta region, show apparently lower inventories compared to tundra or lake sediments, although complete inventories are unavailable due to radiocesium buried to depths (> 20 cm) beyond the sampling capabilities used.
Kallikrein-kinin in stem cell therapy

The tissue kallikrein-kinin system exerts a wide spectrum of biological activities in the cardiovascular, renal and central nervous systems. Tissue kallikrein-kinin modulates the proliferation, viability, mobility and functional activity of certain stem cell populations, namely mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), mononuclear cell subsets and neural stem cells. Stimulation of these stem cells by tissue kallikrein-kinin may lead to protection against renal, cardiovascular and neural damage by inhibiting apoptosis, inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative stress and promoting neovascularization. Moreover, MSCs and EPCs genetically modified with tissue kallikrein are resistant to hypoxia- and oxidative stress-induced apoptosis, and offer enhanced protective actions in animal models of heart and kidney injury and hindlimb ischemia. In addition, activation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin system promotes EPC recruitment to the inflamed synovium of arthritic rats. Conversely, cleaved high molecular weight kininogen, a product of plasma kallikrein, reduces the viability and vasculogenic activity of EPCs. Therefore, kallikrein-kinin provides a new approach in enhancing the efficacy of stem cell therapy for human diseases.
Screening for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the Presence of Psychiatric Comorbidities

Abstract Chapman JC, Andersen AM, Roselli LA, Meyers NM, Pincus JH. Screening for mild traumatic brain injury in the presence of psychiatric comorbidities. Objective To determine whether or not a battery of neurobehavioral tests, the Brief Objective Neurobehavioral Detector (BOND), could detect mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among a group of psychiatric inpatients with numerous substance-related and medical comorbidities. The 16-item BOND is comprised of neurologic examination tasks and has been shown to correlate with radiologic and cognitive findings in previous studies. Design Masked comparison. Setting Inpatient psychiatric unit at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, DC. Participants Patients (N=51) sequentially admitted for suicidal ideation in the context of various psychiatric disorders. Interventions No intervention. Main Outcome Measure BOND total and subtest scores. Results Forty-three patients were eligible and analyzed. Twenty-seven had sustained an mTBI in the distant past, and 16 had never sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) (non-TBI group). On average, the mTBI group demonstrated a significantly greater number of abnormal subtests on the BOND (mean, 7.22) than did the non-TBI group (mean, 4.50; P =.003). Although the BOND significantly correlated with the presence of mTBI, it did not correlate with any of the psychiatric, substance-related, or medical comorbidities. Multiple regressions indicated that the BOND total score was not explained by age, posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis, or any combination of the psychiatric, substance-related, or medical comorbidities. High rates of sensitivity (70%) and specificity (69%) were found. Conclusions The results of this pilot study suggest that the inexpensive, brief, and objective BOND instrument may be a useful screening tool for the detection of subtle neurologic brain abnormalities after mTBI, even in the presence of substantial comorbidities.
Astronomical misconceptions and the effectiveness of science museums in promoting conceptual change

The present study identified misconceptions concerning the effect of gravity on planetary motion and attempted to foster conceptual change through the hands-on, informal environment of a science museum. Participants were given pre- and posttests to illuminate possible misconceptions and to assess the effectiveness of the informal curriculum. Results indicated that inaccurate conceptions concerning the relationship between mass, gravity, and planetary motion are plentiful. Although some misconceptions remained intact after instruction, most were replaced with more scientifically accurate notions. Mean test scores significantly increased after instruction (p<0.05), and a follow-up survey demonstrated that the conceptual change was stable
A comparison of the gas, solution, and solid state coordination environments for the Cu(II) complexes of a series of linear aminopyridine ligands with varying ratios of 5-and 6-membered chelate rings

Abstract The synthesis and characterization of the copper(II) complexes of a series of tetradentate, pentadentate and hexadentate aminopyridine ligands that contain ethylenediamine and/or propylenediamine groups are described. The ligands include: 1,12-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,5,8,11-tetraazadodecane, TRIEN-pyr; 1,13-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,5,9,12-tetraazatridecane, DIEN-PN-pyr; 1,14-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,6,9,13-tetraazatetradecane, DIPN-EN-pyr; 1,15-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,6,l0,14-tetraazapentadecane, TRIPN-pyr; 1,9-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,5,8-triazanonane, DIEN-pyr; 1,11-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,6,10-triazaundecanenane, DIPN-pyr; 1,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,5-diazahexane, EN-pyr; and 1,7-bis(2-pyridyl)-2,6-diazaheptane, PN-pyr. The following methods were used to determine the binding geometries of the copper(II) complexes in the solid, solution, and gas phases: magnetic susceptibility measurements, absorption spectroscopy, EPR spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. An X-ray structure was determined for the DIPN-pyr complex. The solid state structures were all found to be monomeric Cu(II) complexes with the coordination number set by the denticity of the ligand while the solution structures of all of the complexes except those with TRIPN-pyr and DIPN-pyr were found to be square pyramidal or elongated octahedral. The TRIPN-pyr and DIPN-pyr complexes showed considerable trigonal bipyramidal distortions. The gas phase data showed that the substitution of 6-membered for 5-membered chelate rings helped the ligand span more coordination sites. The TRIEN-pyr complex was 4- or 5-coordinate compared to the 5- or 6-coordination seen with the other three hexadentate ligands, and the DIPN-pyr complex was weakly 5-coordinate as compared to the 4-coordinate DIEN-pyr complex. The preferred structures of the ligands were consistent with their electrochemical behavior which showed the stability of the Cu(II) complex decreased in the order: DIPN-EN-pyr, TRIEN-pyr, DIEN-PN-pyr > DIEN-pyr > DIPN-pyr > TRIPN-pyr > PN-pyr > EN-pyr.
Perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma.

Background Perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma is a rare variant of anal canal epithelioid tumors. Our objective in this report is to examine the clinical features, pathology, treatment, and outcome for patients with perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma. Methods A retrospective review identified four patients with histologically proven perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma. The medical records of these patients were reviewed for presentation, therapy, and outcome. Results Pain and bleeding were present in all cases. In three of four patients, chronic perirectal disease was present, including two abscesses and one fistula. All patients had extensive local disease at presentation. One patient presented with bilateral inguinal nodal metastases. Two patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation, with a third patient receiving radiation alone. Two of these three patients underwent abdominoperineal resection. Three patients subsequently died (all of progression and/or recurrence) 2–48 months after diagnosis. The fourth patient (who was treated with chemotherapy and radiation followed by abdominoperineal resection) is alive and disease free at 12 months. Conclusions Perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma is a rare disease with a poor prognosis, mostly due to its advanced nature at the time of diagnosis. Chemoradiation followed by surgery may improve outcome in selected individuals. J. Surg. Oncol. 64:218–221 © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An Automatic, Pneumatic Source-Control System for Positioning Gamma and Neutron Calibration Sources

A microcomputer-based source-control system was developed to move gamma and neutron calibration sources into position for sample irradiation. In addition to monitoring interlocks and system status, the computer calculates for gamma sources the time required for a requested exposure at a specified distance. All system use data is stored, and monthly reports are generated.
Economic trade-offs to limit nonpoint sources of agricultural pollution

A national model has been built which allows analysis of physical and economic trade-offs as soil loss per acre is limited to specified levels in each major land group of the nation. Crop variables with their associated conservation practices are developed for each of 1891 land groups in 223 agricultural producing regions and 51 water supply regions. The regions and soil groups are made interdependent through regional commodity demands and a transportation submodel. Hence, changes in cropping systems and erosion control practices in one region are simultaneously expressed in effects on other regions. Soil loss limits are set at 10, 5, and 3 t per acre. The 10 t limit does not have a large impact on interregional production patterns and farm comodity prices. However, the 5 and 3 t limits, either singularly or in combination with different export levels, cause rather marked increases in commodity prices. Also at limits of 5 and 3 t, considerable shifts take place among regions in the crops grown and the erosion control methods used. Regions with erosive soils sacrificed in reduced income; regions with level soils can crop more intensely and gain greater income. Conservation practices such as reduced tillage increase the amount of pesticides needed in some regions and pose special environmental problems. The South Atlantic region is affected most by soil loss limits to control nonpoint pollution. The Great Plains regions with more level land and limited rainfall are affected least.
Automated detection of anomalous shipping manifests to identify illicit trade

We describe an approach to analyzing anomalies in trade data based on the identification of cluster outliers. The approach uses unsupervised machine learning methods to discover semantically coherent clusters of shipping records in large collections of trade data. Trade data with cluster annotations are then used as input to a supervised machine learning algorithm to train and evaluate a classification model capable of identifying members of each cluster. The evaluation of this classification model provides an assessment of cluster coherence. Outliers are identified for each cluster by measuring the Euclidean distance from each member of the cluster to the cluster centroid, and then selecting a percentile threshold to identify shipping records with extreme distances from the cluster centroid. We describe a specific application of this approach to a dataset of 2.36M records for containerized shipments, with specific reference to the detection of anomalies potentially related to nuclear smuggling. Results show that this approach succeeds in finding semantically coherent clusters of shipping records, and identifying outliers that may help facilitate the detection of illicit trade.
Hepatic Artery Aneurysm in Corticosteroidtreated, Adult Kawasaki's Disease

We describe a single case of Kawasaki's disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome) with the rare complication of a hepatic artery aneurysm which was surgically repaired. Unusual features include arterial aneurysmal formation in the hepatic arteries rather than in coronary arteries, the unusual morphology of the hepatic artery aneurysm, and the expansion of the aneurysm after corticosteroid therapy.
Limited versus unlimited membership in microbial communities: evaluation and experimental tests of some paradigms

Recent developments in community ecology have allowed for the synthesis of community models based on principles of limited and unlimited membership. In this discussion, these developments are used as a framework for evaluating the validity of three paradigms that have constrained research on aquatic microbial communities. Because microbes are considered to possess global distributions, species availability is not generally considered to be an important factor determining microbial community composition in most habitats. Requirements for the global distribution of a species are not the same as those for unlimited availability. Rates of propagule transport to isolated and newly formed aquatic systems (≤ 4 years old) are low enough to have a strong effect on microbial community composition. Natural aquatic systems may require several years to accumulate a full complement of species adapted to environmental conditions at a particular time. Except under extreme circumstances, environmental conditions are not considered to constrain membership in aquatic microbial communities. Most evidence for this contention is based on an inability to detect simple relationships between species distributions and levels of individual environmental parameters. Environmental measurements are often made at a spatial scale much greater than that of the local environment of microbes. Biotic interactions, such as competition, are generally considered to be the predominant force structuring aquatic microbial communities. Although there is an extensive laboratory database to suggest the importance of different types of species interactions, there have been few field studies to confirm this. A general research protocol is described to test predictions derived from current theory of microbial community organization. A mesocosm approach is advocated in order to incorporate crucial aspects of environmental realism into experimental designs while maintaining some of the control found in the laboratory.
Randomized NP-completeness for p-adic rational roots of sparse polynomials in one variable

Relative to the sparse encoding, we show that deciding whether a univariate polynomial has a p-adic rational root can be done in NP for most inputs. We also prove a sharper complexity upper bound of P for polynomials with suitably generic p-adic Newton polygon. The best previous complexity upper bound was EXPTIME. We then prove an unconditional complexity lower bound of NP-hardness with respect to randomized reductions, for general univariate polynomials. The best previous lower bound assumed an unproved hypothesis on the distribution of primes in arithmetic progression. We also discuss analogous results over R.
Extending Pummerer reaction chemistry. Synthesis studies in the phakellin alkaloid area.

The syntheses of (±)-dibromophakellstatin and, from this species, (±)-dibromophakellin are described. Oxidative cyclization of a phenylthiolated dihydrooroidin derivative triggered by a Pummerer reaction constitutes the key step in this biomimetic approach to this family of marine alkaloids.
An introductory pharmacy practice experience using simulated patient care activities in a pharmaceutical care laboratory environment

Abstract Objective To describe an introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) using simulated and actual patient care activities in a pharmaceutical care laboratory environment. Design A pharmaceutical care laboratory course was identified as having pre-existing learning objectives and activities that included 19 of the 21 suggested IPPE activities in Appendix C of the Accreditation Council for Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) Standards Version 2.0. Course activities were further developed to meet the accreditation standard guidelines for classification as an IPPE. Learning activities and an authentic learning environment were used for students to practice simulated and actual patient-centered care. Assessment Rubrics and checklists were used to assess student competence. Reflective discussions and reflection papers were used to evaluate student perceptions of simulation and overall course effectiveness. Longitudinal evaluation of the IPPE has shown consistent student performance over time. Conclusion Simulated and actual patient-centered care activities are valuable to providing students with meaningful learning experiences and can be integrated into pharmaceutical care laboratory environment to meet IPPE requirements.
Cryopyrin‐associated periodic syndromes and autoinflammation

Autoinflammatory syndromes are a distinct class of inherited diseases of cytokine dysregulation with important cutaneous features. Several disorders, including familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS), Muckle-Wells syndrome and neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disorder (NOMID), are associated with mutations in a common gene, CIAS-1. These disorders are now believed to represent related conditions along a spectrum of disease severity, in which FCAS is the mildest and NOMID is the most severe phenotype. Patients typically present with lifelong atypical urticaria with systemic symptoms, with potential for developing end-organ damage due to chronic inflammation. Advances in the understanding of the genetic basis of these syndromes have also revealed cytokine signalling molecules that are critical to normal regulation of inflammatory pathways. The dramatic response of these syndromes to anakinra, an interleukin (IL)-1 antagonist, highlights the important role of IL-1 cytokine signalling in the pathogenesis of this rare but fascinating class of diseases.
Chirality and its applications to engineered materials

Chiral, literally means handed and comes from the Greek work cheir for 'hand' since our hands are non-superimposable on their mirror images. As Lord Kelvin defined it in 1893: 'I call any geometrical figure, or any group of points, chiral, and say it has chirality, if its image in a plane mirror, ideally realized, cannot be brought to coincide with itself.' Characteristically, a substance with chirality must have neither a center nor a plane of symmetry for its molecular framework. Chirality is present in many organic substances, liquids, and crystals, but also in more common objects such as golf clubs, helices, human hands and feet, etc. Recently, chirality has aroused much interest due to its interesting effects on electromagnetic wave-material interaction resulting in drastically changed polarization, reflection, and absorption relative to a non-chiral material with the same (epsilon) and (mu) . There are two phenomena that can be observed and measured when an electromagnetic wave travels through a suspension of chiral inclusions. Optical rotatory dispersion (ORD), which is due to the different phase velocities for the left and right circularly polarized waves, rotates the plane of the polarization. Circular dichroism (CD), which is caused by the different absorption for the left and right circularly polarized waves, elliptically polarizes the transmitted fields.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The nephrotoxicity of new and old immunosuppressive drugs

The above snapshot of the relevant literature on chronic Cyclosporine and Tacrolimus nephropathy indicate fertile areas for further study. The reader is referred to recent reviews for a more in-depth analysis of this problem (2).