cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of preoperative testosterone levels with testicular germ cell tumor histology.

e16045Background: Testicular germ cell cancer incidence has increased over the past several decades. Unfortunately, epidemiologic studies have been unable to identify causative factors to explain t...
Evaluating Path Query Mechanisms as a Foundation for SDN Network Control

The separation of control and data planes promulgated in Software-Defined Networking (SDN) architectures provides new opportunities for sophisticated control over the paths packets take while traversing the network. At the same time the complexity of data representing the network state continues to grow, reflecting complex topological and policy relationships between network elements and their domains. It is critical to the success of SDN to design an abstraction layer capable of storing network topology information and allowing to query it using standardized tools, in a way similar to how traditional databases enabled the abstraction of relational data. This abstraction would cleanly separate policy implementations in SDN controllers from the nuts-and-bolts of handling the topology data. In this paper we investigate multiple approaches to path queries in semantically-rich network descriptions using a variety of mechanisms. We describe a method for storing and querying semantic network graph data using Tarjan path algebras - to our knowledge used for the first time in the context of path-finding in computer networks. We compare the expressiveness and performance of queries that are representative of multi-domain SDN environments.
Spatial and feature-based attention to expressive faces

Facial emotion is an important cue for deciding whether an individual is potentially helpful or harmful. However, facial expressions are inherently ambiguous and observers typically employ other cues to categorize emotion expressed on the face, such as race, sex, and context. Here, we explored the effect of increasing or reducing different types of uncertainty associated with a facial expression that is to be categorized. On each trial, observers responded according to the emotion and location of a peripherally presented face stimulus and were provided with either: (1) no information about the upcoming face; (2) its location; (3) its expressed emotion; or (4) both its location and emotion. While cueing emotion or location resulted in faster response times than cueing unpredictive information, cueing face emotion alone resulted in faster responses than cueing face location alone. Moreover, cueing both stimulus location and emotion resulted in a superadditive reduction of response times compared with cueing location or emotion alone, suggesting that feature-based attention to emotion and spatially selective attention interact to facilitate perception of face stimuli. While categorization of facial expressions was significantly affected by stable identity cues (sex and race) in the face, we found that these interactions were eliminated when uncertainty about facial expression, but not spatial uncertainty about stimulus location, was reduced by predictive cueing. This demonstrates that feature-based attention to facial expression greatly attenuates the need to rely on stable identity cues to interpret facial emotion.
Scaffolding Successful Mobile Experiences for Frontline ESL Workers: An Exploratory Study

This 10-week exploratory study investigates the use of a mobile language learning app, Babbel, by 10 ESL front-line employees and 4 managers and native English-speaking employees at a Fortune 500 company. We focused on the participants’ motivations for using the language learning app and the challenges that they faced. Three key thematic findings were convenience of access, instrumental motivation, and state communicative self-confidence, while challenges included technological literacy and accountability. Recommendations emphasize the importance of onboarding procedures for those with low technological literacy, continual support from a community of practice, and management participation.
CDC's Multiple Approaches to Safeguard the Health, Safety, and Resilience of Ebola Responders

Over 27,000 people were sickened by Ebola and over 11,000 people died between March of 2014 and June of 2016. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, Georgia USA) was one of many public health organizations that sought to stop this outbreak. This agency deployed almost 2,000 individuals to West Africa during that timeframe. Deployment to these countries exposed these individuals to a wide variety of dangers, stressors, and risks.Being concerned about the at-risk populations in Africa, and also the well-being of its professionals who willingly deployed, the CDC did several things to help safeguard the health, safety, and resilience of these team members before, during, and after deployment.The accompanying special report highlights innovative pre-deployment training initiatives, customized screening processes, and post-deployment outreach efforts intended to protect and support the public health professionals fighting Ebola. Before deploying, the CDC team members were expected to participate in both internally-created and externally-provided trainings. These ranged from pre-deployment briefings, to Preparing for Work Overseas (PFWO) and Public Health Readiness Certificate Program (PHRCP) courses, to Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200, and 400 courses.A small subset of non-clinical deployers also participated in a three-day training designed in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS; Bethesda, Maryland USA) to train individuals to assess and address the well-being and resilience of themselves and their teammates in the field during a deployment. Participants in this unique training were immersed in a Virtual Reality Environment (VRE) that simulated deployment to one of seven different types of emergencies.The CDC leadership also requested a pre-deployment screening process that helped professionals in the CDC's Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) determine whether or not individuals were at an increased risk of negative outcomes by participating in a rigorous deployment at that time.When deployers returned from the field, they received personalized invitations to participate in a voluntary, confidential, post-deployment operational debriefing one-on-one or in a group.Implementing these approaches provided more information to clinical decision makers about the readiness of deployers. It provided deployers with a greater awareness of the kinds of challenges they were likely to face in the field. The post-deployment outreach efforts reminded staff that their contributions were appreciated and there were resources available if they needed help processing any of the potentially-traumatizing things they may have experienced.
Cognitive Training: How Evidence, Controversies, and Challenges Inform Education Policy:

Both scientists and the general public want to know whether basic cognitive abilities can improve with dedicated behavioral training. This would have many practical implications, including possible...
Opioid Consumption Following Breast Surgery Decreases with a Brief Educational Intervention: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Current rates of opioid prescribing and consumption in the United States have resulted in deleterious consequences for both patients and society. There has been a focus on opioid consumption and overprescribing, but the utility of patient education in reducing opioid consumption has only recently been explored. This randomized trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief patient educational intervention in reducing pain and opioid consumption in patients undergoing mastectomy and breast reconstruction. A parallel, randomized, single-center trial of women undergoing mastectomy with immediate, implant-based breast reconstruction was completed to evaluate the utility of a patient educational instrument with information on multi-modal pain control. A questionnaire was administered postoperatively to collect data on pain control and opioid consumption. Fifty participants were randomized to each group preoperatively; 46 control (92%) and 39 intervention (78%) participants completed the postoperative questionnaire. Active tobacco use was more common in the control group (p = 0.04). There was a trend towards lower pain scores in the intervention group (3.0/10, SD 1.8 vs 3.6/10, SD 1.6, p = 0.06). Both groups were prescribed a median of 32.0 5-mg oxycodone tablets postoperatively. Participants in the intervention group consumed 33% fewer opioids than the control group (16.2 tablets, SD 16.4 vs 24.3 tablets, SD 21.8, p = 0.05). The use of a brief educational intervention provided at a preoperative appointment can reduce opioid consumption. We recommend the use of an educational intervention to decrease opioid consumption among breast surgery patients.
Editorial comment: change in leadership.

With this issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension (JHH), I step down as Editor-in-Chief. I am quite happy that Michael Stowasser, a long-term Associate Editor of JHH and an accomplished investigator and well-respected hypertension expert has agreed to take my place as Editor. In his hands, I am confident that JHH will continue to thrive and serve as an important outlet for high-quality original scientific studies, review articles and editorial commentaries related to hypertension and vascular disease.
#SEASolidarity: Student Organizing in the Anti-Deportation Movement

According to the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center, a record number of Southeast Asian refugees have been targeted for deportation under the Trump administration. In this piece, we offer a ref...
Facial Masking for Covid-19 - Potential for "Variolation" as We Await a Vaccine.

Facial Masking for Covid-19 Increasing the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections that are asymptomatic with the simple public health measure of universal masking might help make the infection less de...
A nation of immigrants reconsidered: U.S. society in an age of restriction, 1924-1965: edited by Maddalena Marinari, Madeline Y. Hsu, and María Cristina García, Champaign, IL, University of Illinois Press, 2019, viii, 308 pp., $30.00 (paperback), ISBN: 9780252083969

A nation of immigrants reconsidered, an anthology of historical essays by contemporary scholars of migration, labor, and race, presents research on a very wide range of topics. But each essay in th...
Functoriality of the BGG Category &#x1d4aa;††

This article aims to contribute to the study of algebras with triangular decomposition over a Hopf algebra, as well as the BGG Category &#x1d4aa;. We study functorial properties of &#x1d4aa; across various setups. The first setup is over a skew group ring, involving a finite group Γ acting on a regular triangular algebra A. We develop Clifford theory for A⋊Γ, and obtain results on block decomposition, complete reducibility, and enough projectives. &#x1d4aa; is shown to be a highest weight category when A satisfies one of the “Conditions (S);” the BGG Reciprocity formula is slightly different because the duality functor need not preserve each simple module. Next, we turn to tensor products of such skew group rings; such a product is also a skew group ring. We are thus able to relate four different types of Categories &#x1d4aa;; more precisely, we list several conditions, each of which is equivalent in any one setup, to any other setup, and which yield information about &#x1d4aa;.
Effect of high NA “half-field” printing on overlay error

High NA EUV lithography will offer single exposure patterning for pitches below 28nm, simplifying process flows. However, overlay error complexity will increase. Specifically, a semiconductor build will require use of both high NA EUV tools that can only expose half the field size of low NA EUV and optical tools. This means that to achieve full productivity on the low NA EUV and optical tools used, a semiconductor build using these tools will need to minimize overlay error back to a scanner map exposed with the high NA EUV tool that has twice the number of exposures. Overlay error minimization on full field tools takes advantage of keeping exposure maps constant between different layers so that scan direction and step direction are maintained. This is not possible when using a high NA EUV tool in a semiconductor build unless the number of scans on the low NA and optical tools are doubled, thus decreasing the productivity on those tools. Having a full field minimize overlay error back to two half fields results in new required overlay controls between the two half fields to achieve low overlay error. In particular, stitch overlay control for the half field exposures can be very helpful to achieving good overlay error between a layer exposed with full field exposure map and a layer exposed with a half field exposure map. To get early learning on these effects, we designed a test reticle with a unique “figure 8” black border that allows step plans to be exposed with either half or full field exposures. To get rapid learning the reticle is designed to take advantage of resist-to-resist overlay targets that engage with each other when there is a programed 180 um step delta between the two exposures. The effects of order of exposures as well as scan and step direction differences between the half field and full field step plans are investigated.
Cost-efficient reconfigurable geometrical bus interconnection system for many-core platforms

System-on-chip (SoC) embedded computing platforms can support a wide range of next generation embedded artificial intelligence and other computationally intensive applications. These platforms require cost effective interconnection network. Network-on-chip has been widely used today for on-chip interconnection. However, it is still considered expensive for large system sizes. As full bus-based interconnection has high number of bus connections, reduced bus connections might offer considerable implementation economies with relatively small design cost for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based embedded platforms. In this paper, we propose a cost efficient generalized reconfigurable bus-based interconnection for many-core system with reduced number of bus connections. We generalize the system with b =min {n,m}/k number of interconnect buses in which where n is the number of processor cores, m is the number of memory-modules and k is the general bus reduction factor. We present four geometrical interconnect configurations and provide their characterization in terms of memory bandwidth, cost per bandwidth and bus fault tolerance for various system sizes. Our results show that these configurations provide reduced cost per bandwidth and can achieve higher system throughput with bus cache.
Synthesis and styrene copolymerization of novel trisubstituted ethylenes: 9. Halogen, methyl, methoxy and nitro ring-substituted octyl phenylcyanoacrylates

Novel trisubstituted ethylenes, halogen, methyl, methoxy and nitro ring-substituted octyl phenylcyanoacrylates, RPhCH=C(CN)CO2CH2(CH2)6CH3 (where R is 2-chloro-6-fluoro, 3-chloro-4-fluoro, 2-chloro-5-nitro, 4-chloro-3-nitro, 5-chloro-2-nitro, 5-iodo-2-methoxy, 2,4,5-trimethyl, 2,4,6-trimethyl, pentamethyl, 2,3-dimethyl-4-methoxy, 2,5-dimethyl-4-methoxy, 2,4-dimethoxy-3-methyl) were prepared and copolymerized with styrene. The ethylenes were synthesized by the piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring-substituted benzaldehydes and octyl cyanoacetate, and characterized by CHN analysis, IR, 1H and 13C NMR. All the ethylenes were copolymerized with styrene in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70C. The compositions of the copolymers were calculated from nitrogen analysis.
Infinite-dimensional analyticity in quantum physics

A study is made, of families of Hamiltonians parameterized over open subsets of Banach spaces in a way which renders many interesting properties of eigenstates and thermal states analytic functions of the parameter. Examples of such properties are charge/current densities. The apparatus can be considered a generalization of Kato's theory of analytic families of type B insofar as the parameterizing spaces are infinite dimensional. It is based on the general theory of holomorphy in Banach spaces and an identification of suitable classes of sesquilinear forms with operator spaces associated with Hilbert riggings. The conditions of lower-boundedness and reality appropriate to proper Hamiltonians is thus relaxed to sectoriality, so that holomorphy can be used. Convenient criteria are given to show that a parameterization $x \mapsto {\mathsf{h}}_x$ of sesquilinear forms is of the required sort ({\it regular sectorial families}). The key maps ${\mathcal R}(\zeta,x) = (\zeta - H_x)^{-1}$ and ${\mathcal E}(\beta,x) = e^{-\beta H_x}$, where $H_x$ is the closed sectorial operator associated to ${\mathsf {h}}_x$, are shown to be analytic. These mediate analyticity of the variety of state properties mentioned above. A detailed study is made of nonrelativistic quantum mechanical Hamiltonians parameterized by scalar- and vector-potential fields and two-body interactions.
Testing Detection of K-Ary Code Obfuscated by Metamorphic and Polymorphic Techniques.

K-ary codes are a form of obfuscation used by malware in which the code is distributed across K distinct files. Detecting them is difficult because recognizing the pieces that belong together is hard and provably impossible in general, and the techniques of encryption, metamorphism, and steganography can further obfuscate the code. We built a proof-of-concept K-ary program to test its detectability. It simulated a “keylogger”, malware that records keystrokes. We distributed it into parallel obfuscated processes run by a central controller process. We ran both static and dynamic tests to try to detect the keylogger using a variety of parameters. These tests used cosine similarity and clustering methods to correlate pieces of the malware, assuming that using a controller process meant the pieces would have similar code for communications, and that similarity could still be recognized even if obfuscated. Results showed moderate but not perfect success at recognizing our simulated malware. This should provide new tools to detect malware camouflage and evasion.
Precipitation impacts on earthen architecture for better implementation of cultural resource management in the US Southwest

Changing seasonal precipitation patterns prompted by climate change are likely causing increasing degradation of adobe architecture in the American Southwest. This deterioration includes surface erosion and catastrophic collapse. This study examines the impact of changing rainfall patterns on untreated adobe walls to understand how damage occurs and anticipate future impacts. To complete the study, we constructed 20 adobe test walls. Using a portable rain simulator, each wall was subjected to two rainfall experiments: high-intensity rainfall simulations (rain intensity variable) and low-intensity rainfall simulations (rain event number variable). Wall-degradation metrics (material loss, volume loss, affected surface area, and cavity depth) were calculated for each wall using pre- and post-simulation LiDAR scans. Internal wall moisture was also measured with embedded volumetric water content sensors. In the high-intensity experiment, the lines of best-fit for material loss and affected surface area show that surface erosion increases with rain intensity, while cavity depth remains consistent. Linear models and post-hoc tests indicate material loss and affected surface area is significantly different for each high-intensity rainfall treatment. Furthermore, the interior of each wall remained relatively dry demonstrating that rain intensity is not a strong predictor of interior wall moisture. In the low-intensity rainfall experiment, the rainfall simulations yielded statistically similar erosion and interior wall moisture results. Greater infiltration occurred under low-intensity long-duration rain conditions, while greater surficial damage occurred under high-intensity rain conditions. In conclusion, changing weather regimes are bringing more intense rainfall events to the arid American Southwest. This study suggests that more frequent high intensity rain events will cause increasing damage to adobe walls. Resource managers will need to adapt current management strategies to account for this change.
The Role of the ACE2/MasR Axis in Ischemic Stroke: New Insights for Therapy.

Ischemic stroke remains the leading cause of neurologically based morbidity and mortality. Current stroke treatment is limited to two classes of FDA-approved drugs: thrombolytic agents (tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)) and antithrombotic agents (aspirin and heparin), which have a narrow time-window (<4.5 h) for administration after onset of stroke symptoms. While thrombolytic agents restore perfusion, they carry serious risks for hemorrhage, and do not influence damage responses during reperfusion. Consequently, stroke therapies that can suppress deleterious effects of ischemic injury are desperately needed. Angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) has been recently suggested to beneficially influence experimental stroke outcomes by converting the vasoconstrictor Ang II into the vasodilator Ang 1–7. In this review, we extensively discuss the protective functions of ACE2-Ang (1–7)-MasR axis of renin angiotensin system (RAS) in ischemic stroke.
Clinical pathologic correlation: Recurrent abdominal pain and primary amenorrhea.

A 13-yr-old white female was referred to the Adolescent Clinic for evaluation of recurrent lower abdominal pain. According to the patient this pain started one evening approximately two years ago and was crampy and sharp in nature continued several hours and was improved with use of ibuprofen. However the pain continued to recur at unpredictable intervals and had led to hospitalization for an appendectomy (the appendix was normal on histological examination) 6 months earlier and hospitalization for abdominal pain 3 months ago with no improvement whatsoever. This pain continued to occur 2-3 times a month. Specific questioning of this patient revealed that she had frequent small and sometimes liquid stools which alternated with periods of rare bowel movements and considerable straining. On several occasions her stools were very hard and tinged with blood. (excerpt)
Translation term weighting and combining translation resources in cross-language retrieval

In TREC-10 the Berkeley group participated only in the English-Arabic cross-language retrieval (CLIR) track. One Arabic monolingual run and four English-Arabic cross-language runs were submitted. Our approach to the cross-language retrieval was to translate the English topics into Arabic using online EnglishArabic bilingual dictionaries and machine translation software. The five official runs are named as BKYAAA1, BKYEAA1, BKYEAA2, BKYEAA3, and BKYEAA4. The BKYAAA1 is the Arabic monolingual run, and the rest are English-to-Arabic cross-language runs. The same logistic regression based document ranking algorithm without pseudo relevance feedback was applied in all five runs. We refer the readers to the paper in [1] for details.
Interstellar organics and possible connections with the carbonaceous components of meteorites and IDPs

Studying the chemical and isotopic composition of interstellar ice and dust provides insight into the composition and chemical history of the solid bodies in the solar nebula and the nature of the materials subsequently brought into the inner part of the solar system by comets and meteorites. It is now possible to probe the composition of these microscopic interstellar particles. High quality IR spectra of many different astronomical sources (some associated with dark molecular clouds, and others in the diffuse interstellar medium) are now available. Comparisons of these spectra with laboratory spectra and complex organic components of these materials are discussed.
Matrix-Free Polynomial-Based Nonlinear Least Squares Optimized Preconditioning and Its Application to Discontinuous Galerkin Discretizations of the Euler Equations

We introduce a preconditioner that can be both constructed and applied using only the ability to apply the underlying operator. Such a preconditioner can be very attractive in scenarios where one has a highly efficient parallel code for applying the operator. Our method constructs a polynomial preconditioner using a nonlinear least squares (NLLS) algorithm. We show that this polynomial-based NLLS-optimized (PBNO) preconditioner significantly improves the performance of a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) compressible Euler equation model when run in an implicit---explicit time integration mode; note that IMEX methods are valuable only for low Mach number flows. The PBNO preconditioner achieves significant reduction in GMRES iteration counts and model wall-clock time, and significantly outperforms several existing types of generalized (linear) least squares polynomial preconditioners. Comparisons of the ability of the PBNO preconditioner to improve DG model performance when employing the Stabilized Biconjugate Gradient algorithm (BICGS) and the basic Richardson iteration are also included. In particular, we show that higher order PBNO preconditioning of the Richardson iteration (run in a dot product free mode) makes the algorithm competitive with GMRES and BICGS in a serial computing environment. Because the NLLS-based algorithm used to construct the PBNO preconditioner can handle both positive definite and complex spectra without any need for algorithm modification, we suggest that the PBNO preconditioner is, for certain types of problems, an attractive alternative to existing polynomial preconditioners based on linear least-squares methods.
The Kaiser Family Foundation Community Health Promotion Grants Program: findings from an outcome evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: To present results from an outcome evaluation of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's Community Health Promotion Grants Program (CHPGP) in the West, which represented a major community-based initiative designed to promote improved health by changing community norms, environmental conditions, and individual behavior in 11 western communities. METHODS: The evaluation design: 14 randomly assigned intervention and control communities, 4 intervention communities selected on special merit, and 4 matched controls. Data for the outcome evaluation were obtained from surveys, administered every two years at three points in time, of community leaders and representative adults and adolescents, and from specially designed surveys of grocery stores. Outcomes for each of the 11 intervention communities were compared with outcomes in control communities. RESULTS: With the exception of two intervention communities-a largely Hispanic community and a Native American reservation-we found little evidence of positive changes in the outcomes targeted by the 11 intervention communities. The programs that demonstrated positive outcomes targeted dietary behavior and adolescent substance abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement of health through community-based interventions remains a critical public health challenge. The CHPGP, like other prominent community-based initiatives, generally failed to produce measurable changes in the targeted health outcomes. Efforts should focus on developing theories and methods that can improve the design and evaluation of community-based interventions.
Late Thrombosis of the Aortic Bjork-Shiley Prosthesis: Its Clinical Recognition and Management

Seven cases of massive thrombosis of an aortic Bjork-Shiley prosthesis were encountered among 433 valvular implants. Four patients died before treatment could be instituted, and three underwent repeat surgery successfully. Anticoagulation therapy was probably well maintained in four, and poorly maintained in three patients. These cases illustrated the need for a high index of suspicion and prompt recognition of this complication in patients with aortic Bjork-Shiley prostheses. The diagnosis of massive thrombosis should be suspected with the rapid onset of (1) signs of congestive heart failure, (2) absence or attenuation of valvular clicks, (3) aortic regurgitation, or (4) hemolytic anemia. Salvage of these patients requires emergency replacement of the thrombosed prosthesis or removal of the thrombus.
The role of stored glycogen during long-term temperature acclimation in the freshwater crayfish, Orconectes virilis.

Abstract 1. 1. Glycogen content of heart, abdominal muscle and hepatopancreas was measured in starved crayfish, Orconectes virilis , acclimated at 1–2°C and 21°C for 45 days. 2. 2. The average percentages of glycogen in heart, hepatopancreas and abdominal muscle were observed to be 2·90, 0·70 and 0·18 per cent in 1–2°C acclimated crayfish, and 1·57, 0·62 and 0·051 per cent in 21°C acclimated crayfish. 3. 3. Changes in total body glycogen could account for only 1 per cent of the differential respiratory rate associated with metabolic temperature adaptation. 4. 4. Changes in glycogen content of heart muscle could account for 36–42 per cent of the differential respiratory rate associated with metabolic temperature adaptation.
Specific method for determination of gefitinib in human plasma, mouse plasma and tissues using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive and specific method was developed and validated using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for determination of gefitinib in human plasma and mouse plasma and tissue. Sample preparation involved a single protein precipitation step by the addition of 0.1 mL of plasma or a 200 mg/mL tissue homogenate diluted 1/10 in human plasma with 0.3 mL acetonitrile. Separation of the compounds of interest, including the internal standard (d8)-gefitinib, was achieved on a Waters X-Terra C18 (50 mm x 2.1 mm i.d., 3.5 microm) analytical column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-water (70:30, v/v) containing 0.1% formic acid and isocratic flow at 0.15 mL/min for 3 min. The analytes were monitored by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray positive ionization. Linear calibration curves were generated over the range of 1-1000 ng/mL for the human plasma samples and 5-1000 ng/mL for mouse plasma and tissue samples with values for the coefficient of determination of > 0.99. The values for both within- and between-day precision and accuracy were well within the generally accepted criteria for analytical methods (< 15%). This method was subsequently used to measure concentrations of gefitinib in mice following administration of a single dose of 150 mg/kg intraperitoneally and in cancer patients receiving an oral daily dose of 250 mg.
Dynamic analysis of geometrically nonlinear truss structures

Abstract Beam-like truss structures undergoing large deflections when subjected to static and dynamic loadings are studied by using the matrix method and equivalent continuum models. For the matrix method, an incremental procedure with equilibrium iterations are used. Equivalent continuum beam models are derived based on the properties of a typical substructure of the truss. Solutions obtained by using both methods are compared for a number of examples.
Human brands and mutual choices: an investigation of the marketing assistant professor job market

We present a two-sided matching framework to investigate the entry-level marketing assistant professor job market. Under this framework, candidates’ and departments’ decisions to mutually choose one another are driven by the matching value produced by the pair, which is in turn determined by observable department brand cues and candidates’ human brand cues such as field of research, research productivity, and ranking status. Our results suggest that matches between candidates and faculty trained in the same field do not always generate the highest matching value. Candidates’ publications in top marketing journals enhance their likelihood of matching with research-oriented hiring departments, and this effect is moderated by their field of research. In general, the ranking status of candidates boosts their chance of being matched with research-oriented hiring departments. However, this effect differs across fields, and it also interacts with candidates’ own research productivity. In particular, publications by candidates from top-ranked degree-granting departments are taken as three to four times more valuable by research-oriented hiring departments. Our work extends the current research on the marketing job market and, most importantly, quantifies and compares the significance of various human brand cues in influencing mutual choices in the job market.
A generalized hypergreedy algorithm for weighted perfect matching

We give a generalization of the hypergreedy algorithm for minimum weight perfect matching on a complete edge weighted graph whose weights satisfy the triangle inequality. With a modified version of this algorithm we obtain a logn-approximate perfect matching heuristic for points in the Euclidean plane, inO(n log2 n) time.
Vision-assisted lead-to-pad alignment technique for placement of surface mount components

In this paper, a lead-to-pad alignment technique for surface mount component placement on printed circuit boards is developed. The problem is expressed as a nonlinear optimization problem with a linear objective function and quadratic constraints. A solution procedure is developed and compared with a known nonlinear optimization solution technique. Results show substantial improvements in execution time of the optimization and yield of the placement operation when implemented in a robotic cell.
Islamic Goals for Clinical Treatment at the End of Life: The Concept of Accountability Before God (Taklīf) Remains Useful: Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Ethical Obligations and Clinical Goals in End-of-Life Care: Deriving a Quality-of-Life Construct Based on the Islamic Concept of Accountability Before God (Taklīf)”

Our target article aimed to advance professional conversations and multidisciplinary engagement regarding the ethics of end-of-life care from an Islamic perspective. If the open commentaries are an...
Characterization of Mycoplasmatales Virus laidlawii 1

A recent report1 described for the first time the isolation of a virus that infects a species of mycoplasma. This agent, now designated MVL1, has been purified, examined in the electron microscope and its nucleic acid type determined. Cultures of M. laidlawii strain BN1 (ref. 1), grown in glucose serum broth or agar2, were inoculated with virus during their log phase and incubated at 37° C for 18–24 h. On solid medium, plaques were observed in the mycoplasmal lawn from which virus was harvested by flooding the plate with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.3, for 3–5 h. The titre of the virus was estimated as previously reported1.
The Validity of Bayesian Tailored Testing.

There are two general ways to terminate the Bayesian tailored testing process:, according to the standard error of the estimate (S.E.E.) or according to the number of items administered. In this st...
Multiple evaluators in an extensible programming system

As advanced computer applications become more complex, the need for good programming tools becomes more acute. The most difficult programming projects require the best tools. It is our contention that an effective tool for programming should have the following characteristics:(1) Be a complete programming system---a language, plus a comfortable environment for the programmer (including an editor, documentation aids, and the like).(2) Be extensible, in its data, operations, control, and interfaces with the programmer.(3) Include an interpreter for debugging and several compilers for various levels of compilation---all fully compatible and freely mixable during execution.(4) Include a program verifier that validates stated input/output relations or finds counter-examples(5) Include facilities for program optimization and tuning---aids for program measurement and a subsystem for automatic high-level optimization by means of source program transformation.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Environmental Toxicant Exposure

The study of neurological impacts of toxicants has emphasized neuropsychological tests as important outcome variables. Direct assessment of neural substrates of environmental impacts could offer many advantages. I discuss our use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the neurological assessment of adult lead poisoning of monozygotic twins as an example. Cognitive testing showed frontal lobe dysfunction in both twins, and more dramatic hippocampal dysfunction in the twin with higher lead exposure (JG). MRS showed lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratios in JG. The findings illustrate the potential utility of MRS in assessing impacts of not only lead, but other toxicants as well.
Long-term Outcomes Following Tumor Ablation for Treatment of Bilateral Colorectal Liver Metastases

Importance Ablative therapies extend the capability of delivering potentially curative treatment for bilateral hepatic colorectal metastases. Objective To compare the long-term effectiveness of ablation with that of resection in patients with bilateral hepatic colorectal metastases. Design Review of a prospective database of 2123 operative cases of hepatic colorectal metastases. Setting A large institution with expertise in ablation and resection. Patients Patients with bilateral colorectal liver metastases undergoing operation with a curative intent. A total of 141 patients had been treated with bilateral resection (BR) and 95 had undergone ablation. Interventions Radiofrequency or microwave ablation alone or in combination with resection (A/R) compared with BR. Main Outcomes and Measures We compared tumor characteristics and operative and postoperative outcomes using χ 2 or Wilcoxon tests as appropriate and assessed overall survival differences between the 2 groups using the log-rank test. Results During the study, 141 patients were treated with BR and 95 patients with A/R. The A/R group was a significantly poorer prognostic group than the BR group as judged by the Clinical Risk Score ( P P = .52), but a lower blood loss (A/R: 300 mL, BR: 500 mL; P P P = .16). Conclusions and Relevance Treatment of bilateral, multiple hepatic metastases with combined resection and ablation was associated with improved perioperative outcomes without compromising long-term survival compared with bilateral resection. Ablative therapies extend the capability of delivering potentially curative treatment for bilateral hepatic colorectal metastases.
Active Galactic Nucleus and Starburst Classification from Spitzer Mid‐Infrared Spectra for High‐Redshift SWIRE Sources

Spectra have been obtained with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope for 20 sources in the Lockman Hole field of the SWIRE survey. The sample is divided between sources with indicators of an obscured AGN, based primarily on X-ray detections of optically faint sources, and sources with indicators of a starburst, based on optical and near-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs), which show a luminosity peak from stellar photospheric emission. Ten of the 11 AGN sources have IRS spectra that show silicate absorption or are power laws; only one AGN source shows PAH emission features. All nine of the sources showing starburst SEDs in the near-infrared show PAH emission features in the IRS spectra. Redshifts are determined from the IRS spectra for all nine starbursts (1.0 < z < 1.9) and 8 of the 11 AGNs (0.6 < z < 2.5). Classification as AGN because of an X-ray detection, the classification as AGN or starburst derived from the photometric SED, and the IRS spectroscopic classification as AGN (silicate absorption) or starburst (PAH emission) are all consistent in 18 of 20 sources. The surface density for starbursts that are most luminous in the mid-infrared is less than that for the most luminous AGNs within the redshift interval 1.7 ≾ z ≾ 1.9. This result implies that mid-infrared source counts at high redshift are dominated by AGNs for f_ν(24 μm) ≳ 1.0 mJy.
A hybrid approach to test-analysis-model development for large space structures

The present FEM reduction method for the generation of test-analysis-models (TAMs) in test-analysis correlation addresses contentions that the current modal TAM is hypersensitive to differences between test model shapes and analysis mode shapes, thereby generating large off-diagonal terms within the orthogonality and cross-orthogonality matrices employed in test-analysis mode-shape correlation. A hybrid TAM methodology is accordingly developed which combines the exact representation of the FEM target modes from the modal TAM with the more accurate TAM representation of the residual modes; the superior residual dynamics representation of the hybrid TAM is demonstrated for a detailed representation of a large space structure.
Anodized microporous and nano structured Ti-6Al-4V for increasing bone cell functions

Spinal deformities and degenerative diseases affect thousands worldwide. Pedicle screws and fixation plates can be used to stabilize the spine to correct deformity until fusion occurs [1]. Titanium is often used for such devices for its superior mechanical, biocompatible and improved imaging properties [2]. Despite recent improvements, loosening at the bone-implant interface can cause failure [3]. This has led many to modify the surface roughness of titanium-based implants through anodization [4,5], even creating unique nanotubes through anodization in hydrofluoric acid (which has been shown to increase bone growth) [6]. However, titanium-based pedicle screws (and other titanium-based implants) are often first anodized in sulfuric acid for color coding purposes. Thus, for the first time, the objective of this present in vitro study was to compare the influence of anodizing titanium-based pedicle screws in sulfuric acid (as done in the orthopedic implant industry) against anodizing in hydrofluoric acid to implement nanometer surface features important for promoting osteoblast (bone forming cell) functions.
Effect of chronic azathioprine treatment on germ-line transmission of Hprt mutation in mice.

Azathioprine (Aza), a prodrug of 6-mercaptopurine, is used in human medicine to prevent transplant rejection and for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Extremely high HPRT lymphocyte mutant frequencies (MFs) are found in humans and mice chronically treated with Aza, and these elevated MFs appear to be caused by selection and amplification of pre-existing HPRT mutant lymphocytes. In the present study, we investigated if in vivo selection by Aza also promotes the germ-line transmission of Hprt mutants. Fifty-five male C57BL/6 mice were treated with 10 mg/kg Aza three times/week for 24 weeks; 10 control mice were treated with the vehicle. Each of these males then was bred to unexposed females for a total of 8 weeks. Analysis of the Aza-treated males after the breeding period indicated that 12 had highly elevated Hprt lymphocyte MFs (1 × 10−4–2.5 × 10−1 vs. normal MFs of <1 × 10−5), indicating that the Aza treatment successfully selected somatic cell mutants. The female offspring from the breeding were sacrificed at 28 days of age and Hprt MFs were measured in spleen lymphocytes. Most of the 364 female offspring (332 from Aza-treated fathers) had Hprt MFs of 0–6 × 10−6, but seven of the offspring had moderately elevated MFs of 16 × 10−6–55 × 10−6. Since one of these mice was fathered by a control male, these relatively high MFs appear to be part of the normal variation in lymphocyte Hprt MF. The present results provide no evidence that long-term Aza treatment promotes high levels of germ-line Hprt mutation transmission in mice. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2007. Published 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Pathological Effect of Homeostatic Synaptic Scaling on Network Dynamics in Diseases of the Cortex

Slow periodic EEG discharges are common in CNS disorders. The pathophysiology of this aberrant rhythmic activity is poorly understood. We used a computational model of a neocortical network with a dynamic homeostatic scaling rule to show that loss of input (partial deafferentation) can trigger network reorganization that results in pathological periodic discharges. The decrease in average firing rate in the network by deafferentation was compensated by homeostatic synaptic scaling of recurrent excitation among pyramidal cells. Synaptic scaling succeeded in recovering the network target firing rate for all degrees of deafferentation (fraction of deafferented cells), but there was a critical degree of deafferentation for pathological network reorganization. For deafferentation degrees below this value, homeostatic upregulation of recurrent excitation had minimal effect on the macroscopic network dynamics. For deafferentation above this threshold, however, a slow periodic oscillation appeared, patterns of activity were less sparse, and bursting occurred in individual neurons. Also, comparison of spike-triggered afferent and recurrent excitatory conductances revealed that information transmission was strongly impaired. These results suggest that homeostatic plasticity can lead to secondary functional impairment in case of cortical disorders associated with cell loss.
Effect of Dietary Restriction on Benzo [A] Pyrene (Bap) Metabolic Activation and Pulmonary Bap-Dna Adduct Formation in Mouse

ABSTRACTHepatic microsomal xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme activities of laboratory animals can be modulated by Dietary restriction (DR). the modulation of xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme activities can affect the metabolic activation of chemical carcinogens. Acute DR (60% of the food consumption of ad libitum (AL)-fed mice
In vitro reassembly of squid brain intermediate filaments (neurofilaments): purification by assembly-disassembly

Intermediate filaments from squid brain tissue were reassembled in vitro and purified by two cycles of assembly and disassembly. Purified squid brain filaments contained one major polypeptide (60,000 daltons), which constituted about 70 percent of the total protein, and three minor polypeptides (74,000, 100,000, and 220,000 daltons). Squid brain intermediate filaments were reconstituted from rod-shaped protofilamentous subunits. In addition to the intermediate filaments, dense bodies which may function in intermediate filament nucleation or organization were retained through two purification cycles.
A Hybrid Laser/Aerosol Method for the Synthesis of Porous Nanostructured Calcium Phosphate Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract : We present a new synthesis method based on laser generation and processing of aerosol particles that can produce calcium phosphate coatings in a porous nanostructured configuration. The process uses laser ablation of crystalline hydroxyapatite targets to produce a calcium phosphate aerosol comprising micro- and nanoparticles that are processed and deposited on metallic substrates under well-controlled temperature and ambient conditions, creating a microporous calcium phosphate network suitable for growth of biogenic calcium phosphate materials. Laser ablation is carried out using a KrF excimer laser at fluences between 0.4 J/cm2 and 2.8 J/cm2 and temperatures ranging from 500 deg C to 760 deg C. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy measurements on samples deposited above 750 deg C show that the obtained material is crystalline hydroxyapatite with good mechanical stability. Its microstructure features a porous framework of partially sintered microparticles surrounded by nanoparticulate material.
Clinical Differences Between Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Depressed Children and Adolescents

To examine the clinical symptoms and comorbid psychiatric disorders of depressed children and adolescents with and without clinically significant suicidal ideation.
Single-molecule motions enable direct visualization of biomolecular interactions in solution

Biomolecular interactions are directly detected and visualized in solution with a single-molecule method that measures time-dependent diffusion coefficient and mobility of electrokinetically trapped species.