cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
FEED AND FOOD FROM DESERT ENVIRONMENTS

The Bio-Saline Concept. The term “Bio-Saline Research” was originally designated by the National Science Foundation scientists to describe a concept “that in time will lead to sustainable industries based specifically on plants selected to grow in salt water”,1 particularly in arid land areas of the Earth, where there is an abundance of solar radiation, sea water and dry climate.2 A broader consideration of the possibilities of such areas indicates that it is also worthwhile to consider the potential of utilizing plants which are not salt-tolerant. The bio-saline concept has been extended to emcompass “the elements of research, development, demonstration, and utilization to apply modern biological sciences and technologies for deriving essential resource materials in an environmentally harmonious manner from marine and arid land mass systems.”3 Within this latter framework are the two main topics of this article: the use of plants adapted to arid lands, and modification of the environment through Controlled Environmental Agricultural Technology (CEA)2 to allow a broad range of conventional and unconventional crops to be grown with a very limited supply of fresh or brackish water. This water could be derived from the sea, from saline lakes, or from waste water treatment.
Neutropenias in Felty’s Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Autoimmune neutropenia is characterized by the presence of autoantibodies produced by the patient’s immune system against antigens on neutrophils, and it can be divided into primary and secondary forms. Primary autoimmune neutropenia is not a common condition in the adult population, but secondary autoimmune neutropenia may be as common as autoimmune disorders of red blood cells and platelets. Secondary autoimmune neutropenia often is not diagnosed because symptoms are less overt with no reliable markers for in vivo neutrophil lysis in contrast with hemoglobin in hemolytic anemia.
A Software-Defined Radio for Wireless Brain Implants Network

A novel Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) system based on a distributed network of implantable wireless sensors was proposed. Small CMOS "Neurograin" chips (0.5x0.5 mm2) with on-chip antenna are designed to harvest near-field RF energy at ~1 GHz, and backscatter 10 Mbps BPSK modulated data asynchronously and periodically. A "Skinpatch" software-defined radio (SDR) receiver is realized on a commercial USRP running GNU Radio programs. It down-converts the reflected waves from the Neurograins and performs data recovery. In this BMI prototype demonstration, 32 Neurograins will be wirelessly powered, while a Skinpatch USRP will recover their backscattered packets in real-time.
The great debate: study proves whether people or algorithms are best at facial ID

Face recognition is a vital and controversial area, with its use by police and government under scrutiny worldwide. Accurate use of the technology is paramount, and in law enforcement the responsibility for identification falls primarily to professional forensic facial experts. Yet despite the societal importance of face ID applications, remarkably little is known about the accuracy of professionals relative to others with no training – and nothing is known about how human experts compare to state-of-the-art face recognition technology.
Incremental Binarization on Recurrent Neural Networks for Single-channel Source Separation

This paper proposes a Bitwise Gated Recurrent Unit (BGRU) network for the single-channel source separation task. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) require several sets of weights within its cells, which significantly increases the computational cost compared to the fully-connected networks. To mitigate this increased computation, we focus on the GRU cells and quantize the feedforward procedure with binarized values and bitwise operations. The BGRU network is trained in two stages. The real-valued weights are pretrained and transferred to the bitwise network, which are then incrementally binarized to minimize the potential loss that can occur from a sudden introduction of quantization. As the proposed binarization technique turns only a few randomly chosen parameters into their binary versions, it gives the network training procedure a chance to gently adapt to the partly quantized version of the network. It eventually achieves the full binarization by incrementally increasing the amount of binarization over the iterations. Our experiments show that the proposed BGRU method produces source separation results greater than that of a real-valued fully connected network, with 11-12 dB mean Signal-to-Distortion Ratio (SDR). A fully binarized BGRU still outperforms a Bitwise Neural Network (BNN) by 1-2 dB even with less number of layers.
Beyond the first pass: revascularization remains critical in stroke thrombectomy.

Background The first pass effect has been recently reported as a predictor of good clinical outcome after stroke thrombectomy. We evaluate the first pass effect on outcome and the influence of revascularization in these and other patients. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database on anterior cerebral circulation stroke thrombectomy cases from April 2012 to April 2018. Data compiled included patient demographics, presenting National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, vessel occlusion site, thrombectomy procedural details, and 90 day modified Rankin Scale scores. Results 205 patients were included. The numbers of patients who underwent one, two, three, four, five, and six passes were 69, 70, 55, 9, 1, and 1, respectively. Successful revascularization was achieved in 87%, 83%, and 64% of patients in the one, two, and 3 or more passes groups, respectively (p=0.002). Good functional outcome was inversely correlated with number of passes when comparing the one, two, and three or more passes groups (54%, 43%, 29%; P=0.014). In patients with full revascularization, there was no significant difference in good functional outcomes between the one, two, and three or more passes groups (64%, 65%, 50%; P=0.432). Number of passes was not an independent negative predictor of good clinical outcome (OR 1.66, 95% CI 0.82 to 3.39; P=0.165). Conclusions First pass thrombectomy patients have better functional outcomes compared with beyond-first pass patients. This effect is related at least in part to a higher rate of revascularization in one pass patients. Revascularization beyond the first pass should continue to be the goal of stroke thrombectomy.
The Role of Achievement Goal Orientation on Metacognitive Process Use in Game-Based Learning

To examine relations between achievement goal orientation—a construct of motivation, metacognition and learning, multiple data channels were collected from 58 students while problem solving in a game-based learning environment. Results suggest students with different goal orientations use metacognitive processes differently but found no differences in learning. Findings have implications for measuring motivation using multiple data channels to design adaptive game-based learning environments.
The Social Meaning of Children's Narratives: A Review of the Attachment-Based Narrative Story Stem Technique

Recent attachment-based research with the Narrative Story Stem Technique (NSST), a laboratory method using family doll figures and structured story stems, has proven to be useful in assessing young children's perceptions of social relationships. Eleven studies are reviewed that have validated this method with measures of children's social behavior or experience, contributing to a long-needed empirical basis for interpretations of children's play. Meaningful themes found in children's responses with the NSST are presented and organized with concepts from attachment theory, particularly the child's perception of the caregiver's trustworthiness and self-perception of worthiness to receive care. Implications for continuing research and for clinical interviewing are discussed.
Aqueous batteries get energetic.

Aqueous batteries hold promise for large-scale energy storage, but are often maligned because of their low energy densities. Now, a demonstration of halogen conversion–intercalation chemistry inside graphite has blazed a trail for high-energy aqueous batteries.
Classifying Enteral Nutrition: Tailored for Clinical Practice

To discuss the different forms of enteral nutrition, while outlining available evidence for its use in specific conditions and how enteral nutrition composition may or may not influence relevant outcomes. Enteral nutrition formulas were originally conceived as a liquid form of nutrition for individuals who otherwise could not consume adequate calories through solid food. Over time, the emergence of specialty formulas marketed to benefit specific diseases or conditions has led to a broad range of potentially confusing options. While most options have theoretical benefit for their marketed conditions, the evidence demonstrating practical benefit is not consistent. Overall, the certainty of evidence for specialty formulas remains low or very low. In most instances, one could begin with standard polymeric formula, except in cases where disease-specific formulas are recommended. Much research is nonetheless still needed to clarify whether some disease-specific formulas are truly beneficial or merely theoretical features.
Master as a Service: A multidisciplinary approach to Big Data teaching

The recent and rapid growth of data-driven applications, fostered by the advent of enhanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) together with the broad availability of modern high-performance storage and computing infrastructures, has created a considerable gap of experts in this new field. The quick evolution of these technologies, their dissimilarities with traditional approaches, and the broad skills set required to master them, might prevent existing professionals working in industry to gain high quality knowledge and experience in Big Data related areas. Therefore, universities and teaching professionals must propose feasible and effective alternatives to train professionals and students in these topics. The purpose of this paper is to present the Master as a Service (MaaS) approach, that is currently being used to train students in Big Data- related areas (e.g., eHealth, Digital Transformation, etc.), following a multidisciplinary, Project Based Learning strategy. More specifically, students coming from different master's degrees and undergraduate backgrounds (ranging from management studies to computer engineering, including architects, social and physical sciences) are trained to address latent and future challenges in Big Data and High-Performance Computing technologies by combining their profiles, and exposing them to real-world challenges that require the very best of each different profile. The results obtained from the implementation of the MaaS approach during the last two years in terms of both student satisfaction and employability rate, confirm the benefits of this method and encourage practitioners to keep working in this direction.
Sleep in the Social World of College Students: Bridging Interpersonal Stress and Fear of Missing Out with Mental Health

Introduction: The college years are characterized by psychosocial and biological phenomena that may impact mental health, such as heightened sensitivity to social stressors and compromises in sleep quantity and quality. The current study uses a biopsychosocial approach to examine the associations among interpersonal stress, Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), insomnia, and mental health. Methods: Survey data were collected from 283 undergraduate students (90% female) with a mean age of 21.4 years. A path analysis was utilized to test a mediational model linking interpersonal stress and FoMO with mental health through a mediator of insomnia. We hypothesized that higher levels of interpersonal stress and FoMO would be associated with higher levels of insomnia symptoms, which would in turn be associated with poorer mental health. Results: As predicted, insomnia partially mediated significant associations of interpersonal stress and FoMO with mental health. The association of interpersonal stress with insomnia and mental health was more robust than the association of FoMO with these variables. Conclusions: The pathway from interpersonal stress and/or FoMO, through insomnia, to compromises in mental health may be modifiable through behavioral interventions focusing on coping skills, sleep hygiene, and even technology-related habit changes. Recommendations to help disrupt this pathway, particularly among college students, are discussed.
Surfactant selection criteria with flowback efficiency and oil recovery considered

Abstract Although field data reports that adding surfactants into hydraulic fracturing fluid increases flowback efficiency, there is a lack of studies that investigate whether the higher flowback efficiency necessarily results in a higher oil recovery. This study aims to propose a relationship between flowback efficiency and oil recovery using a numerical modeling approach. The surfactants properties (interfacial tension/IFT reduction, wettability alteration, adsorption, and partitioning) are calibrated based on laboratory experimental data, while the reservoir model is validated based on field production data from the Middle Bakken shale reservoir. The reservoir flow model is also coupled with geomechanics to model the reservoir stress-dependent permeability. Our model successfully reproduces the field observations that adding surfactants into the fracturing fluid can increase the flowback efficiency. However, the higher flowback efficiency does not necessarily lead to a higher oil recovery. Sensitivity analysis is performed on the wettability alteration, IFT value, and surfactant concentration. Our model shows that to maximize the oil recovery, the surfactants should strongly alter the wettability to water-wet while maintaining a high oil-water IFT, as high as 20 mN/m. The high IFT will help maintain the high capillary pressure required to suck the water into the matrix while expelling the oil from the matrix. However, to maximize the flowback efficiency, the surfactants should achieve a low IFT (as low as 0.001 mN/m) with more flexible wettability-alteration criteria. This study quantitatively suggests that when surfactant is added into the fracturing fluid, a higher flowback efficiency does not necessarily result in a higher oil recovery. This is because the primary driving mechanism of oil recovery from unconventional reservoirs, which are generally mixed-to oil-wet, seems to be spontaneous imbibition, in which water-wet rock is then favorable.
Ideation and assessment of a nitric oxide delivery system for spontaneously breathing subjects.

Abstract Background There is an increasing interest in safely delivering high dose of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) as an antimicrobial and antiviral therapeutics for spontaneously breathing patients. A novel NO delivery system is described. Methods We developed a gas delivery system that utilizes standard respiratory circuit connectors, a reservoir bag, and a scavenging chamber containing calcium hydroxide. The performance of the system was tested using a mechanical lung, assessing the NO concentration delivered at varying inspiratory flows. Safety was assessed in vitro and in vivo by measuring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in the delivered NO gas. Lastly, we measured the inspired and expired NO and NO2 of this system in 5 healthy subjects during a 15-min administration of high dose NO (160 parts-per-million, ppm) using our delivery system. Results The system demonstrated stable delivery of prescribed NO levels at various inspiratory flow rates (0–50 L/min). The reservoir bag and a high flow of entering air minimized the oscillation of NO concentrations during inspiration on average 4.6 ppm for each 10 L/min increment in lung inspiratory flow. The calcium hydroxide scavenger reduced the inhaled NO2 concentration on average 0.9 ppm (95% CI -1.58, −0.22; p = .01). We performed 49 NO administrations of 160 ppm in 5 subjects. The average concentration of inspired NO was 164.8 ± 10.74 ppm, with inspired NO2 levels of 0.7 ± 0.13 ppm. The subjects did not experience any adverse events; transcutaneous methemoglobin concentrations increased from 1.05 ± 0.58 to 2.26 ± 0.47%. Conclusions The system we developed to administer high-dose NO for inhalation is easy to build, reliable, was well tolerated in healthy subjects.
Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation to Microglia.

Microglia, the immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), play critical roles in CNS homeostasis and disease. Mounting evidence has linked aberrant microglial functions to neurodevelopment, neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, underlining the need for novel models to investigate human microglia biology. Here we describe a protocol for generating in vitro patient-specific microglia progenitors and microglia-like cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our protocol generates microglia progenitor cells in approximately 35 days, which then can further mature into microglia-like cells within two additional weeks. Microglia differentiation is driven by specific growth factors and cytokines in serum-free conditions, resulting in mesodermal progenitors that grow in a monolayer which releases free-floating microglia progenitors. Isolated progenitors can be used in co-culture systems with other neuronal cells, xenotransplanted to generate chimeric mouse models, or further differentiated into adherent microglia-like cells for functional studies.
Wood abundance in urban and rural streams in northwestern South Carolina

In streams and rivers, wood from riparian vegetation contributes to habitat complexity and substrates for stream biota, influences channel geomorphology, alters flow, retains sediment and organic matter, and enhances nutrient uptake. A few studies have shown that wood amounts in urban streams may be lower than in rural streams or that wood amounts in streams are inversely related to watershed impervious surface cover (ISC). To determine if these patterns occur more broadly, we compared wood amounts in urban and non-urban streams in the South Carolina Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces. We measured wood abundance in 20 streams draining urbanized (15–68% ISC) or non-urbanized (≤ 2.5% ISC) watersheds. Our results did not support the hypothesis that urban streams would have less wood than rural streams, and we found no relationship between wood amounts and watershed ISC. Indeed, one urban stream bordered by large riparian trees had the greatest wood volume of all streams in our study. Instead, large wood amounts were best explained by tree canopy cover and length of unobstructed tree-lined channel upstream. These results suggest that the presence of numerous riparian trees influences wood amounts positively even in urban streams where wood amounts might be expected to be low.
College students' perceptions on sense of belonging and inclusion at the academic library during COVID-19

Abstract This paper demonstrates how university students experienced and perceived inclusion in a public research university library context during COVID-19. Both quantitative (n = 3379) and qualitative data (n = 575) from the 2021 student survey were examined to explore students' library experiences and their perceptions of inclusion. The quantitative data revealed that students using both the physical and online library had the greatest sense of belonging, whereas students who never used any library resources had the least sense of belonging. The qualitative data further revealed that when students used the in-person library space they felt a sense of belonging, as well as feeling accepted and valued; on the other hand, it was hard for them to judge inclusion when they had not been in the library due to COVID-19. This finding suggests how academic libraries need to prepare for the hybrid environment (in-person and online) so that students using online resources and services feel connected to the library.
Intensity Variations in Cosmic Rays

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on intensity variations in cosmic rays. Cosmic rays were discovered about 45 years ago in an effort to explain the residual electrical conductivity in gases in an electroscope when the instrument was completely shielded from all known ionizing radiations. No matter how much shielding was used, some conductivity remained to indicate a very penetrating source of ionizing radiation. The source of cosmic rays is quite different from the forces involved in nuclear structure, because the known energy limits within atomic nuclei or the binding forces that hold the various elementary particles together to form nucleus are limited to a few tens of million electron volts. This chapter discusses in a general way the intensity variations related to geophysical and solar phenomena. Particularly, the reasons for taking measurements over the whole surface of the earth and for long periods of time are discussed in the chapter. The current theory of the source of cosmic rays that is receiving most favorable consideration by investigators in cosmic rays and cosmogony is also outlined in the chapter.
Nonequilibrium Measurements of Free Energy Differences for Microscopically Reversible Markovian Systems

An equality has recently been shown relating the free energy difference between two equilibrium ensembles of a system and an ensemble average of the work required to switch between these two configurations. In the present paper it is shown that this result can be derived under the assumption that the system's dynamics is Markovian and microscopically reversible.
Enzymatic conversion of delta-amino levulinic acid to porphobilinogen.

An enzyme has been found in extracts ofchicken erythrocytes which converts δ-amino levulinicacid to the monopyrrole porphobilinogen. Some of itsproperties have been described ( 6 ).
Exploring new analog test methods with Eagle Tester (test vehicle: OVIC)

This report details the development on Analog IC devices, the OVIC (Over Voltage Protection IC) on the Eagle Test System (ETS) tester platform. New test interface design and setup were evaluated. These setups were considered with the in-house test handler platform in mind. The setups were mainly constrained by physical space constrains. The effects of cable length on DUT performance and floating versus grounded DUT were also evaluated. This development was primarily motivated by test accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness on the ETS. The output response of the experiment were voltage, current and timing. Results indicate that with short test cable and grounded DUT, very repeatable readings could be achieved. Longer test cables or a floating DUT setup would require proper characterisation of the test setup if any of these is to be implemented.
Massive Parallelization of the WRF GCE Model Toward a GPU-Based End-to-End Satellite Data Simulator Unit

Modern weather satellites provide more detailed observations of cloud and precipitation processes. To harness these observations for better satellite data assimilations, a cloud-resolving model, known as the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model, was developed and used by the Goddard Satellite Data Simulator Unit (G-SDSU). The GCE model has also been incorporated as part of the widely used weather research and forecasting (WRF) model. The computation of the cloud-resolving GCE model is time-consuming. This paper details our massively parallel design of GPU-based WRF GCE scheme. With one NVIDIA Tesla K40 GPU, the GPU-based GCE scheme achieves a speedup of ${\bf 361} \times $ as compared to its original Fortran counterpart running on one CPU core, whereas the speedup for one CPU socket (four cores) with respect to one CPU core is only ${\bf 3}.{\bf 9} \times $ .
Disease maps: epidemics on the ground

In any introductory course in human or medical geography, a discussion will inevitably arise concerning the importance of mapping. In conjunction with this discussion, one often retells the story o...
Metabolic Regulation of Liver Regeneration

Abstract All serious liver injuries alter metabolism. Those injuries also initiate hepatic regeneration. Experimental analyses using rodent partial hepatectomy and other models implicate the metabolic changes that occur in response to hepatic injury as vital regulators of liver regeneration. These studies also show that disrupting certain elements of the stereotypical metabolic response to hepatic insufficiency suppresses liver regeneration, while augmenting components of the response can accelerate regeneration. Such data raise the possibility that specific metabolic interventions might promote human liver regeneration for therapeutic benefit in liver disease. This chapter provides an update to recent reviews considering the functional connections between metabolism and liver regeneration and includes an overview of the current evidence in support of regenerative functions of liver injury-induced alterations in metabolism, discussions about important areas for further study, and reflections on provocative clinical implications raised by these considerations.
Reconstruction of dynamic image series from undersampled MRI data using data-driven model consistency condition (MOCCO).

Purpose To accelerate dynamic MR imaging through development of a novel image reconstruction technique using low-rank temporal signal models preestimated from training data. Theory We introduce the model consistency condition (MOCCO) technique, which utilizes temporal models to regularize reconstruction without constraining the solution to be low-rank, as is performed in related techniques. This is achieved by using a data-driven model to design a transform for compressed sensing-type regularization. The enforcement of general compliance with the model without excessively penalizing deviating signal allows recovery of a full-rank solution. Methods Our method was compared with a standard low-rank approach utilizing model-based dimensionality reduction in phantoms and patient examinations for time-resolved contrast-enhanced angiography (CE-MRA) and cardiac CINE imaging. We studied the sensitivity of all methods to rank reduction and temporal subspace modeling errors. Results MOCCO demonstrated reduced sensitivity to modeling errors compared with the standard approach. Full-rank MOCCO solutions showed significantly improved preservation of temporal fidelity and aliasing/noise suppression in highly accelerated CE-MRA (acceleration up to 27) and cardiac CINE (acceleration up to 15) data. Conclusions MOCCO overcomes several important deficiencies of previously proposed methods based on pre-estimated temporal models and allows high quality image restoration from highly undersampled CE-MRA and cardiac CINE data. Magn Reson Med 74:1279–1290, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The rôle of emotion in tuberculosis

Summary (1) The human organism responds as a unitary whole to its environment, rather than as separated into concepts of “mind” versus “body.” (2) Because man, being animal plus, has a bigger brain, he can within limits choose the direction of his growth-energy and develop his nervous system by use, short of fatigue. (3) Emotion is a form of energy, discharging in muscle and gland. It is essential to recognise the dynamic quality of emotion in tuberculosis. (4) It is essential also to recognise the principles that emotion and preparation to act are brought about by stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. (5) That the body, when prepared for violent action by the sympathetic, suffers when action is thwarted or postponed. (6) That tuberculosis is a disease peculiarly fitted through its long duration, disturbance of social relations, financial burden, and segregation, to foster emotional stress. (7) That tuberculosis prevents effective discharge of energy through physical activity, and therefore requires re-routing. (8) That fear, anger, hate are the most disrupting emotions in tuberculosis, and that fear is practically universally present. (9) That spes phthisica is a disguise for fear, and that the same mental state is present in other chronic diseases having like conditions. (10) That a specific toxin is not essential to produce emotional symptoms commonly attributed to tuberculosis. (11) That it should be possible to compare from the dynamic angle emotional symptoms in all chronic illness, regardless of specific toxins. (12) That in re-education lies relief and that it is necessary to show the patient how to deal with his emotional problems by tracing their sources, substituting new feeling-habits, and by offering outlets for his energy which shall be satisfactory to him on his own intellectual level.
Solving Interval Constraints by Linearization in Computer-Aided Design

Current parametric CAD systems require geometric parameters to have fixed values. Specifying fixed parameter values implicitly adds rigid constraints on the geometry, which have the potential to introduce conflicts during the design process. This paper presents a soft constraint representation scheme based on nominal interval. Interval geometric parameters capture inexactness of conceptual and embodiment design, uncertainty in detail design, as well as boundary information for design optimization. To accommodate under-constrained and over-constrained design problems, a double-loop Gauss-Seidel method is developed to solve linear constraints. A symbolic preconditioning procedure transforms nonlinear equations to separable form. Inequalities are also transformed and integrated with equalities. Nonlinear constraints can be bounded by piecewise linear enclosures and solved by linear methods iteratively. A sensitivity analysis method that differentiates active and inactive constraints is presented for design refinement.
GAS-LIQUID MASS TRANSFER IN ROTATING PERFORATED-DISC CONTACTORS

Abstract This paper presents a numerical model for predicting the performance of liquid-gas mass transfer in a rotating perforated-disc type contactor. The device consists of a cylindrical section situated between two 45-degree conical sections. A liquid flows downward by gravity while a stream of air moves upward by buoyancy thus forming a counter-current flow situation in the contactor. A gas dissolved in the liquid transfers into air bubbles which are sheared to a tiny size as they rise through the perforations on the rotating disc. Both laminar and turbulent flows are treated. Utilizing the velocity distribution [10,11] and bubble trajectory [12] as the basis, the interphase mass transfer performance of carbon dioxide in the water-air system is numerically determined. It is disclosed that in both laminar and turbulent flow cases, the rate of interphase mass transfer increases significantly with a reduction in bubble size. Rotational speed does not affect mass transfer in laminar flow but causes an exponential mass transfer enhancement in higher turbulent flows. There exists an optimum through-flow rate of the liquid for the best mass transfer performance depending on the initial bubble size and disc speed. Test results [9] provide a qualitative confirmation of the theory.
Operative management of massive hernias with associated distended bowel

Abstract Introduction Hernia patients with a history of recurrent bowel obstructions, chronic bowel dysmotility, and bowel distension have few options for return to a “normal” life. Return of the bowel and adhesiolysis seems the logical surgical solution, but the return of a swollen distended bowel into the abdominal cavity would put patients at a high risk for the development of abdominal compartment syndrome. Hernia repair with large pieces of mesh under tenuous skin flaps to incorporate the bowel into the abdominal cavity has its own set of devastating complications, including mesh infection, extrusion, and fistula formation. Methods Here we present 4 patients who underwent successful treatment with a combined small bowel resection for volume reduction and simultaneous components separation hernia repair for autogenous closure without mesh. Results All patients had successful abdominal wall closure without major complications and were tolerating enteral feedings upon discharge. Conclusions A combined approach of small bowel resection and separation of parts hernia repair is a feasible and successful means for approaching challenging abdominal wall defects with chronically distended bowel. A vicious cycle in which postoperative elevation in intra-abdominal pressure leads to severe systemic consequences can be averted. Moreover, bowel function can be restored and excellent cosmesis achieved, leading to significant improvements in patients' quality of life.
Tick infestation simulating a traumatized, papillomatous nevus

Abstract A patient is described who had a five-week history of agonizing pain in a "mole" on his left inner thigh that clinically was thought to be a traumatized, papillomatous nevus. Biopsy disclosed the presence of the body parts of a hard tick. Much has been written about ticks as agents or vectors of disease. This case demonstrates the less well-described ability of a blood-engorged tick to clinically simulate a traumatized or infarcting skin growth, and it represents the second reported case of the development and persistence of a tick bite nodule following complete surgical removal of all tick parts.
A HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER: REMARKS ON ENGSTROM'S THE FORM OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

In the opening frame of Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter, heat waves rising from the high desert reduce the visual field to an indeterminate blur. Gradually out of this undifferentiation, a distant figure on a horse emerges. It is as though this stranger has willed himself into existence—as though the thought of his mission makes itself real though an understanding of its own efficacy, and constitutes the stranger as the subject of the film that follows. Moreover, since the efficacy of this thought originates in the consciousness of its own goodness—his mission is for good—this judgment constitutes an audience who can share the same volition and wish for its success. A morality tale follows in which the self-conceit of the people of Lago is humbled by a figure whose identity is at some level familiar, but obscured by their own misrepresentations of self-worth. In the closing frame, unhappiness now reapportioned to vice, the stranger recedes back into the same undifferentiation, his mission complete— brought to fruition but not to an end, since ‘true ends’, as it were, ‘never bring themselves to an end’ (48). In the Form of Practical Knowledge, Stephen Engstrom does not drift, but he does traverse the high plains of Kant’s practical philosophy by a path that lifts our understanding of Kant to a higher plane. He connects Kant’s Categorical Imperative with reason by showing how it can be unfolded out of the very idea of practical knowledge of objective good, where the idea of practical knowledge leads to the conditions of universal validity expressed in the Formula of Universal Law. He then traces its substantive implications for conduct through its application in the ‘primitive act’ of making happiness an end. The Form of Practical Knowledge is a remarkably rich, insightful and deep book, and many ideas in the book deserve attention. With some difficulty, I limit myself to two—his innovative interpretation of the Categorical Imperative, and a conception of certain cognitive acts that offers insight into Kantian spontaneity as norm-guided self-determination. I’ll begin with the latter.
EFFECTS OF INDOLE‐3‐ACETIC ACID AND PARACHLOROPHENOXY‐ISOBUTYRIC ACID ON ABSCISSION IN PETIOLES OF DEBLADED LEAVES OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS

The effects of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid (PCIB) on rates of abscission layer formation and abscission were investigated. The primary leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris were used as test material. Treatment at the distal end of one petiole of the pair from debladed primary leaves with 1% IAA inhibited the abscission of that petiole and accelerated the abscission of its opposite untreated partner. PCIB applied simultaneously with IAA counteracted the accelerating effect of IAA on the opposite untreated petiole. This influence increased with increasing concentrations of PCIB. Anatomical studies revealed that PCIB, although it counteracted the effect of IAA on the rate of abscission, had no effect on abscission layer formation. In other words abscission layer formation takes place under the influence of the auxin despite the presence of the antiauxin. The centripetal sequence of abscission layer formation was found in all cases. SINCE APPLIED antiauxinis have been shown to compete with auxins for active sites in the cell (.McRae and Bonnier, 1953), a reasoniable assumption is that they accelerate abscissioin. This assumption has received some experimental support. Triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), a compound that may loosely be termed an antiauxini, wheni applied to the intact apical bud accelerates internode abscission in kidney bean (Weintraub et al., 1952). They reported that other halogen-substituted benizoic acids acted in the same manner but were less effective than TIBA. Furthermore, they found that the acceleration of abscission in all inistances could be counteracted by simultaneous application of IAA. Transcinnamic acid (Hall, 1952) and maleimides (Overbeek, Blondeau and Horne, 1955), compounds demonstrating some of the characteristics of antiauxins, have been shown to accelerate the abscission of petioles of debladed leaves of cotton and peach respectively. In the lpresent study the effects of the antiauxin p-chlorophenoxy-isobutyric acid (PCIB) and IAA, alone and in combination, on the abscission of petioles of debladed leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L., were investigated. The anitiauxin effects of PCIB were first described by Burstrom (1950) in a study of the growth anid metabolism of wheat roots. In more recent studies PCIB was found to
Daytime water detection based on color variation

Robust water detection is a critical perception requirement for unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) autonomous navigation. This is particularly true in wide open areas where water can collect in naturally occurring terrain depressions during periods of heavy precipitation and form large water bodies (such as ponds). At far range, reflections of the sky provide a strong cue for water. But at close range, the color coming out of a water body dominates sky reflections and the water cue from sky reflections is of marginal use. We model this behavior by using water body intensity data from multiple frames of RGB imagery to estimate the total reflection coefficient contribution from surface reflections and the combination of all other factors. We then describe an algorithm that uses one of the color cameras in a forward-looking, UGV-mounted stereo-vision perception system to detect water bodies in wide open areas. This detector exploits the knowledge that the change in saturation-to-brightness ratio across a water body from the leading to trailing edge is uniform and distinct from other terrain types. In test sequences approaching a pond under clear, overcast, and cloudy sky conditions, the true positive and false negative water detection rates were (95.76%, 96.71%, 98.77%) and (0.45%, 0.60%, 0.62%), respectively. This software has been integrated on an experimental unmanned vehicle and field tested at Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA, USA.
Who is Stressed-Out?: Results from a Nationally Respresentative Sample of Americans

PURPOSE: Stress has long been a focus of researchers and of interest to primary care physicians because of its association with poor health outcomes, specifically cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and poor glucose control. The problem with current measures of stress is that they largely use "stress scales", which assume that life events affect all individuals the same way. We wished to measure stress from a psychological perspective by analyzing self-reports of stress in a nationally representative sample. METHODS: Survey data from the National Health Information Survey (NHIS), years 1993 and 1995, were analyzed using a cross-section of the population. Ordered logistic regression techniques were used to examine self-reports of stress (likert-type response) over a two week period; covariates of interest were age, educational level, income, marital status, working status, and race. Separate models were done for males and females. Statistical analyses were done using Stata 6.0. RESULTS: The total sample size for the two years of NHIS data was 38,345; and the response rate exceeded 90%. Controlling for other covariates, self-reports of stress increased with education and decreased with income. Contrary to what has previously been reported in the sociologic literature, our data showed that married men and women were both more likely to report stress compared with the unmarried (OR's 1.5 and 1.2 respectively, p-values < 0.05). Not surprisingly, married women who stayed at home were likely to report less stress (OR 0.72, p-value < 0.05) compared with married men who stayed at home (0.98, p-value < 0.05). Additionally, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian immigrants were less likely to report stress (OR's 0.42–0.52, p-values < 0.05) compared with non-Hispanic white Americans. CONCLUSION: Preliminary results indicate that when measuring stress from a psychological perspective, i.e., using self-reports, there exist some expected as well as surprising results. Perhaps we can use collectively these results in a primary care setting to identify individuals who might be "stressed out" with the idea that this information might ultimately impact upon their health status.
The effects of acute uremia on plasma glucose, insulin and growth hormone in the rat.

Abstract The effects of acute uremic syndrome upon plasma glucose, insulin and growth hormone were evaluated in the fasted rat 24 hours following bilateral nephrectomy. Appropriate control studies were instituted to correct for the non-specific effects of surgical intervention. The mean levels of plasma glucose, IRI and GH, as well as insulin to glucose ratio were significantly higher in the uremic animals than in the sham-operated controls. The fasting hyperglycemia in the presence of high levels of circulating IRI observed in the nephrectomized rats suggest impaired responsiveness of the peripheral tissues to the action of insulin. Since similar findings have been reported in chronic renal failure in the human, it is suggested that the acutely uremic rat might be employed as an experimental model for further elucidating the underlying mechanisms of glucose intolerance in uremia.
Diversity and Species Composition of Subaerial Algal Communities in Forested Areas of Meghalaya, India

The study deals with a comparative study on diversity and species composition of subaerial algal communities from tree barks of closed undisturbed sacred grove, mixed plantation, and open disturbed forest. A total of 85 taxa had been recorded, 30 cyanobacteria and 55 algal species belonging to six classes of algae. Sacred grove harboured the highest subaerial algal diversity compared to those of plantation and open disturbed forest. There was a strong significant difference in species composition among the three different sampling areas. High number of diatoms with 14 species was recorded in sacred grove. Cyanobacteria with 22 species were the frequent group in disturbed forest whereas Trentepohliales dominated in plantation. Canonical correspondence analysis confirmed that high photon irradiance favored the growth of cyanobacteria in disturbed forest. The abundance of Trentepohliales members correlated to high rainfall and photon irradiance. High diversity and presence of many diatom species in undisturbed Mawphlang sacred grove were associated with low photon irradiance and high relative humidity and could also be due to a presence of suitable substrata formed by the growth of mosses. Sunlight, relative humidity, and rainfall were the important factors which played a major role in determining the diversity and distribution of subaerial algal communities.
Treatment of severe Epstein-Barr virus-induced lymphoproliferative syndrome with ganciclovir: Two cases of after solid organ transplantation

A lymphoproliferative syndrome following organ transplantation has been described that results from infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) [1,2]. EBV infection in the immunosuppressed host can induce B-cell proliferation and clinical disease that varies from benign infectious mononucleosis to a fulminant polyclonal or monoclonal lymphoid proliferation [2-51. Successful treatment has been accomplished by reducing immunosuppression and initiating therapy with acyclovir [2,6-81. Recently, anti-B-cell antibodies have also been successfully employed in two children after HLA-mismatched bone marrow transplantation [9]. Despite the use of these modalities, treatment failures have occurred, especially if the lymphoproliferation is monoclonal [lo]. Ganciclovir, 9-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxymethyl) guanine, is a powerful inhibitor of herpes viruses including herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus, and EBV [ll-141. In vitro assays have demonstrated that ganciclovir is more potent than acyclovir in inhibiting EBV virus and may be more effective in the treatment of this infection [13]. Experience with ganciclovir in patients with cytomegalovirus infections has demonstrated the drug’s efficacy and low incidence of side effects [15-181. To our knowledge, the use of ganciclovir in patients with the lymphoproliferative syndrome has not been reported. We describe two cases of a severe lymphoproliferative disorder with EBV infection following transplantation. Both patients received ganciclovir after a poor initial response to intravenous acyclovir and reduction of immunosuppression.
Acid mucopolysaccharides of frog cartilage in thyroxine-induced metamorphosis.

Abstract 1. 1. In early stages of larval development, cartilage of Rana catesbiana tadpoles contains a mixture of acid mucopolysaccharides which are incompletely sulfated. The polymer content is represented by about 40% chondroitin sulfate-A-type disaccharides, 20% chondroitin sulfate-C-type disaccharides, and 40% chondroitin-type disaccharides. During maturation of tadpoles, the degree of sulfation increases toward a content of equal amounts of chondroitin sulfates A and C. Further changes in composition occur during adult development after metamorphosis, since adult cartilage contains 70% chondroitin sulfate A and 30% chondroitin sulfate C. These changes in composition are not unique to the frog and may reflect an aspect of a common vertebrate pattern in development. 2. 2. [ 14 C]Acetate and [ 35 S]sulfate are readily incorporated into chondroitin sulfates of cartilage slices in vitro . Cartilage slices from tadpoles induced to metamorphose with thyroxine show up to 10-fold increases in 14 C incorporation and up to 30-fold increases in [ 35 S]sulfate incorporation. The 35 S incorporation is mainly into chondroitin sulfate A. 3. 3. Preparations were separated by electrophoresis and by ion-exchange procedures into fractions of differing degrees of sulfation. [ 14 C]Acetate was incorporated mainly into low-sulfated fractions of normal cartilage and into the high-sulfated fractions of metamorphosing cartilage, while the specific activity remained highest in the low-sulfated fractions from both kinds of cartilage. It is probable that the biosynthesis of chondroitin sulfates of varying degrees of sulfation involves sequential addition of sulfate to intracellular polymers by specific sulfotransferases. 4. 4. A possible direct effect of thyroxine on sulfation in cartilage slices was not detected. Thyroxine may possibly exert in vivo a selective stimulating effect on sulfation mechanisms involved in synthesis of chondroitin sulfates during metamorphosis.