cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Applications of robots in urology

During the last two decades the field of urology has seen a tremendous growth in minimally invasive surgery. Potential advantages with this shift toward laparoscopic surgery include smaller incisions, reduced blood loss, less post-operative pain with reduced intake of narcotics, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery. Nephrectomy, adrenalectomy, pyeloplasty, and prostatectomy have all established themselves as procedures benefitting from minimally invasive surgery. Complex laparoscopic procedures, for example prostatectomy, have proven to be quite a daunting task, because of the steep learning curve for many urologists [1]. Factors limiting the performance of standard laparoscopic radical prostatectomy are counter-intuitive motion, the lack of depth perception secondary to 2D vision, and rigid instrumentation with only four degrees of surgical freedom. These factors hinder visualization, dissection, and suturing in small spaces [1]. Introduction of robotic technology into modern day surgery has removed many of these technical barriers and has the potential to facilitate the broad-based adoption of complex laparoscopic procedures. There are more than 400 robotic systems in the USA and over 30,000 robotic procedures have been performed (communication with Intuitive Surgical). Although, initially, the equipment was conceived for use in cardiac surgery, adoption has been strongest in urology. It seems that robotic surgery has been uniquely adapted to urology, especially prostatectomy, because of the unique advantage of miniature instruments in the pelvis. Although prostatectomy is the main use of robotic surgery in urology its use in other urologic procedures is expanding rapidly as surgeons become more adept with its use. We review the current status of robotic technology, the constraints to its use and the surgical applications of robotic technology in urology.
Active control experiments for large-optics vibration alleviation

Many future space missions involving flexible structures for large optics may require active vibration control to satisfy mission objectives. Thus, it is important for active control of flexible structures to be practically demonstrated in ground based experiments. These experiments can validate (or invalidate) existing theories and technology and provide directions for future research. This paper discusses three experiments conducted by Harris which successfully demonstrate control of flexible structures. The paper concludes with some remarks on the lessons learned from conducting these experiments.
Bystander Response to Rape: Can A Victim Attract Help?1

The present study was designed to sugest sounds a woman might make that may attract the greatest amount of help. In the context of a simulated rape, the sounds that were tested were (1) a woman screaming "Help, rape, call the police"; (2) a woman screaming "fire"; (3) the sound of a whistle; and (4) a control consisting of the sounds of the struggle without one of the above messages. We concluded that when the situation provides little information bystanders help more frequently to "Help, rape" than to the "Fire" message. Under conditions of high information, Fire is the least successful message in attracting indirect help and we concluded that Fire is not statistically superior at attracting direct help. For logistical and other reasons, we feel that the "Help Rape" message is superior to the whistle sound. In addition, we found only a few people who would try to help directly by putting themselves at physical risk. These individuals were male, and felt assured that they could handle the physical conflict as a result of prior training (physical defense, varsity athletics, etc.). We concluded that direct help is not probable when environmental or sociological factors lead bystanders to expect a physical confrontation with the perpetrator of the attack as a cost of interfering. Thus we feel that further research should focus efforts at causing bystanders to contact the police, as recent evidence demonstrates that the police respond to "crime in progress" calls within 3 minutes in at least two major cities.
Cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) following probenecid in unipolar depressives treated with amitriptyline

Lumbar cerebrospinal fluid 5-HIAA, HVA, and the ratio 5-HIAA/HVA were measured followed probenecid administration in eleven patints with unipolar depression before and during treatment with amitriptyline (AMI). Control values were obtained from a group of inmate volunteers. Prior to treatment CSF 5HIAA formation in the depressives was not different from controls. During treatment with AMI, CSF 5-HIAA formation decreased. One patient with psychotic symptoms prior to AMI and two patients who developed psychotic reactions on AMI showed relatively low CSF 5HIAA formation prior to antidepressant therapy. Compared to controls CSF HVA values were higher in the depressives prior to AMI therapy.
Rare-Earth-Iron-Boron permanent magnets by rapid solidification processing

Abstract The development of a light-rare-earth-iron-based permanent magnet has been a long standing goal of the permanent magnet industry. The first successful attempts at magnetically hardening these materials employed rapid solidification techniques. This work culminated in the discovery of the NdFeB-based permanent magnet materials, the properties of which have been shown to derive from the Nd 2 Fe 14 B intermetallic phase. This class of magnets has received considerable scientific and commercial interest stemming from the fact that energy products already significantly exceed those of the SmCo-based materials. Moreover, owing to the relative abundance of neodymium, the cost of these materials is potentially much lower. Processing these magnets is carried out by two distinctly different techniques. These include the conventional powder metal-sinter process and consolidation of rapidly solidified materials. This paper discusses the preparation of these materials by the latter method. Included are the properties of the rapidly solidified ribbons themselves, methods for consolidating these materials into monolithic magnet shapes, microstructural data, and long-term thermal aging characteristics.
Perception of a Haptic Jamming display: Just noticeable differences in stiffness and geometry

This work characterizes aspects of human perception of a Haptic Jamming device, a tactile display capable of simultaneously and independently controlling its stiffness and geometry via particle jamming and pneumatic actuation. A single Haptic Jamming cell is filled with coarse coffee grounds, connected to vacuum, and placed over a pressure-regulated air chamber. Increased vacuum level in the cell increases cell stiffness, and increased pressure in the chamber beneath the cell balloons the cell upward. Single-cell devices were manufactured and tested to determine the relationships between the vacuum and air pressure levels and the device outputs, stiffness and geometry, respectively. Using these relationships, reference and comparison values were selected for each output, and psychophysical experiments were conducted to determine the Weber Fraction for rigidity (an alternate terminology for nonlinear stiffness, used in the experiment prompt) and geometry, represented by the eccentricity of the elliptical profile of the cell. The Weber Fractions for stiffness and geometry were 16.0% and 14.3%, respectively. No significant correlation was found between human perception of these stimuli and the forces/torques applied to the devices during haptic exploration. These results will enable more accurate representations of virtual environments using an array of haptic jamming cells under development for medical training and simulation.
Nanoelectronic atomization for atomic emission spectroscopy on a chip

We report electrically-induced, explosive atomization of metals and analytes at nanoscale. The phenomenon involves formation of highly-localized nanoscale leakage channels in the oxide layer of a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure under pulsed drive, ballistic transport of injected electrons in the nanoscale void channels, impact ionization of metal atoms, and explosive atomization of metal and adjacent analyte materials. The fragmented atoms produce atomic luminescence from radiative transitions in the relaxation process. This electrically induced explosive atomization through nanochannels offers a potential for nanoscale elemental/trace analysis on a chip.
New Alleles of SIR2 Define Cell-Cycle-Specific Silencing Functions

The establishment of transcriptional silencing in yeast requires cell-cycle progression, but the nature of this requirement is unknown. Sir2 is a protein deacetylase that is required for gene silencing in yeast. We have used temperature-sensitive alleles of the SIR2 gene to assess Sir29s contribution to silencing as a function of the cell cycle. When examined in vivo , these conditional alleles fall into two classes: one class exhibits a loss of silencing when raised to the nonpermissive temperature regardless of cell-cycle position, while the second class exhibits a mitosis-specific silencing defect. Alleles of the first class have a primary defect in protein deacetylase activity, while the alleles of the second class are specifically defective in Sir2–Sir4 interactions at nonpermissive temperatures. Using a SIR2 temperature-sensitive allele, we show that silencing can be established at the HML locus during progression through the G 2 /M–G 1 interval. These results suggest that yeast heterochromatin undergoes structural transitions as a function of the cell cycle and support the existence of a critical assembly step for silent chromatin in mitosis.
Implications of Microscopic Satellites of the Primary and Extracapsular Lymph Node Spread in Patients With High-Risk Melanoma: Pathologic Corollary of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Trial E1690

PURPOSE: To correlate the presence of extracapsular spread (ECS) of regional nodal metastases, and micrometastasis near the primary tumor, with disease outcome in the intergroup study E1690 in relation to the impact of recombinant interferon-alfa (rIFNα)-2b. PATIENTS AND METHODS: E1690 included 642 patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IIB or III cutaneous melanoma. Patients were randomized into high- and low-dose rIFNα-2b treatment arms and an observation arm. Pathologic slides were reviewed for selected parameters from at least half of the subjects in all three arms. Evaluation of the primary tumor included notations regarding ulceration, mitotic activity, thickness, microscopic satellites (MS), and nodal ECS on a standardized pathology form. These data were collated in relation to relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) at 50 months’ follow-up and studied using Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Ulceration, mitotic activity, thickness, and size of tumor-bearing lymph nodes...
Identification of functional information subgraphs in cultured neural networks

This paper accompanies an oral presentation on the identification of functional information subgraphs in cultured neural networks.
A hierarchical O(N log N) force-calculation algorithm

Until recently the gravitational N-body problem has been modelled numerically either by direct integration, in which the computation needed increases as N2, or by an iterative potential method in which the number of operations grows as N log N. Here we describe a novel method of directly calculating the force on N bodies that grows only as N log N. The technique uses a tree-structured hierarchical subdivision of space into cubic cells, each of which is recursively divided into eight subcells whenever more than one particle is found to occupy the same cell. This tree is constructed anew at every time step, avoiding ambiguity and tangling. Advantages over potential-solving codes are: accurate local interactions; freedom from geometrical assumptions and restrictions; and applicability to a wide class of systems, including (proto-)planetary, stellar, galactic and cosmological ones. Advantages over previous hierarchical tree-codes include simplicity and the possibility of rigorous analysis of error. Although we concentrate here on stellar dynamical applications, our techniques of efficiently handling a large number of long-range interactions and concentrating computational effort where most needed have potential applications in other areas of astrophysics as well.
Adaptive resolution refinement for pseudospectral simulations of isotropic homogeneous turbulence

Pseudospectral simulations of homogeneous turbulence provide an important class of benchmark flow problems used for fundamental studies of turbulence and for numerical validation purposes. Depending on the numerical resolution, fully resolved computations of homogeneous turbulence can consume large amounts of central processing unit CPU time. Here, we present an approach analogous to adaptive mesh refinement for computations performed in physical space to adaptively refine the spectral resolution for pseudospectral computations of isotropic homogeneous turbulent flows. The method is applied to simulations of two-dimensional and three-dimensional isotropic homogeneous turbulence, and the results are compared with direct numerical simulations DNS performed using a fixed fine mesh. Significant savings in computational time are found in each case, with little to no compromise in the accuracy of the solutions.
Edge damage distribution at the assemblage level on Middle Stone Age lithics: an image-based GIS approach

Lithic artifacts represent the most abundant cultural remains from Middle Stone Age sites in southern Africa. Of these, pointed forms (under a variety of names), blades, and flakes have long been recognized as the three most abundant general types, and retouch on all three is rare relative to similar forms of equivalent age elsewhere. Here we offer a new technique for documenting concentrations of edge damage on an assemblage level to infer taphonomic processes and to record usewear and retouch. This approach is specifically aimed at patterning on the assemblage scale, rather than on individual artifacts. We use points from a Middle Stone Age assemblage from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, near Mossel Bay, South Africa, to illustrate the technique. Combining GIS, rose diagrams, and polar statistics, we were able to visually and statistically summarize lithic artifacts for patterns of edge damage. For the points made on quartzite in this assemblage, edge damage was found to be significantly patterned and taphonomic causes of the damage were rejected. The technique also opens avenues for many other quantitative analyses that are either impossible or difficult with current non-visual systems of recording, such as measurements of distance, angle, and area of edge damage.
On the application of rate theory to complex multibarrier flow co-ordinates: membrane permeability.

Abstract Zwolinski, Eyring & Reese (1949) , considering a cellular membrane as a succession of equal energy barriers, used absolute rate theory to derive a general expression for the steady-state flux. This theory is further generalized and adapted to complex flow co-ordinates more typical of actual solution membrane systems. The reciprocal of the permeability constant for very general flow co-ordinates is simply and intuitively expressed as a sum of linear terms, each term proportional to the product of a unique rate constant and an equilibrium constant. These are related to distribution and diffusion constants in the usual way and the influence of the various components of inhomogeneous membranes on the steady-state permeability (at zero volume flow) may be easily estimated. Applied to the simple lipid membrane the standard expression for the permeability constant is reclaimed. A similar treatment of the protein-lipid bilayer results in a clear illustration of the relative importance of various sublayers on permeability as a function of the water: lipid distribution ratio. The linear form of the equations makes them adaptable to the approximate solution of more general diffusion problems. A semi-imperical calculation of the average self diffusion constant for water within a pore in which the activation energy is a function of pore radius is described.
Monte Carlo simulation of film growth in a phase separating binary alloy model

Abstract Using a kinetic Monte Carlo method, we simulate binary film ( A 0.5 B 0.5 / A ) growth on an L × L square lattice with the focus on the domain growth behaviour. We compute the average domain area, A ( t ) , as a measure of domain size. For a sufficiently large system, we find that A ( t ) grows with a power law in time with A ( t ) ∼ t 2 / 3 after the initial transient time. This implies that the dynamic exponent for domain growth with non-conserved order parameter is z = 3 , a value which was theoretically predicted for the conserved order parameter case. Further analysis reveals that such a power-law behaviour emerges because the order parameter is approximately conserved after the early stage of growth.
Checklist of the cicadas (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of Costa Rica including new records for fourteen species

A current checklist of the Costa Rican cicada fauna is provided. The first Costa Rican records of Zammara calochroma Walker, 1858, Diceroprocta pusilla Davis, 1942, Diceroprocta ruatana (Distant, 1891), Ollanta modesta (Distant, 1881), Pacarina puella Davis, 1923, Pacarina schumanni Distant, 1905, Majeorona truncata Goding, 1925, Procollina medea (Stal, 1864), Carineta verna Distant, 1883, Carineta viridicollis (Germar, 1830), Herrera ancilla (Stal, 1864), Calyria cuna (Walker, 1850), Selymbria pluvialis Ramos & Wolda, 1985, and Conibosa occidentis (Walker, 1858) are provided. Diceroprocta digueti (Distant, 1906) and D. vitripennis (Say, 1830) are removed from the Costa Rican cicada fauna. The new records increase the known cicada diversity 45% bringing the total number of cicada species reported in Costa Rica to 45 species in 17 genera representing nine tribes and two subfamilies of the family Cicadidae.
Nonintrusive cloning garbage collection with stock operating system support

It is well accepted that automatic garbage collection simplifies programming, promotes modularity, and reduces development effort. However it is commonly believed that these advantages do not counteract the perceived price: excessive overheads, possible long pause times while garbage collections occur, and the need to modify existing code. Even though there are publically available garbage collector implementations that can be used in existing programs, they do not guarantee short pauses, and some modification of the application using them is still required. In this paper we describe a snapshot-at-beginning concurrent garbage collector algorithm and its implementation. This algorithm guarantees short pauses, and can be easily implemented on stock UNIX-like operating systems. Our results show that our collector performs comparable to other garbage collection implementations on uniprocessor machines and outperforms similar collectors on multiprocessor machines. We also show our collector to be competitive in performance with explicit deallocation. Our collector has the added advantage of being non-intrusive. Using a dynamic linking technique and effective root set inferencing, we have been able to successfully run our collector even in commercial programs where only the binary executable and no source code is available. In this paper we describe our algorithm, its implementation, and provide both an algorithmic and a performance comparison between our collector and other similar garbage collectors. ©1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inactivation of the Type IV Secretion System Reduces the Th1 Polarization of the Immune Response to Brucella abortus Infection

The Brucella abortus type IV secretion system (T4SS), encoded by the virB operon, is essential for establishing persistent infection in the murine reticuloendothelial system. To gain insight into the in vivo interactions mediated by the T4SS, we compared host responses elicited by B. abortus with those of an isogenic mutant in the virB operon. Mice infected with the B. abortus virB mutant elicited smaller increases in serum levels of immunoglobulin G2a, gamma interferon (IFN-γ), and interleukin-12p40 than did mice infected with wild-type B. abortus. Despite equal bacterial loads in the spleen, at 3 to 4 days postinfection, levels of IFN-γ were higher in mice infected with wild-type B. abortus than in mice infected with the virB mutant, as shown by real-time PCR, intracellular cytokine staining, and cytokine levels. IFN-γ-producing CD4+ T cells were more abundant in spleens of mice infected with wild-type B. abortus than in virB mutant-infected mice. Similar numbers of IFN-γ-secreting CD8+ T cells were observed in the spleens of mice infected with B. abortus 2308 or a virB mutant. These results suggest that early differences in cytokine responses contribute to a stronger Th1 polarization of the immune response in mice infected with wild-type B. abortus than in mice infected with the virB mutant.
Acoustic Spreading In Multichannel Bragg Cells

In some applications,the performance of multichannel Bragg cells is compromised by the spreading of the acoustic waves as they propagate; the spreading causes the signals in the channels to overlap. The overlapping can be significantly reduced by a spatial filter in a Fourier/image plane; the spatial filter is shown to be equivalent to a cylindrical lens whose power is .a function of the distance from the transducer.
Explanation of the barrier-depression effect in ceramics undergoing microwave heating.

Thermal runaway observations on a variety of materials including strontium titanate, zinc oxide, iron oxide, and alumina, have been explained successfully in terms of a recent theory, which involves absorbing entities such as vacancies, bivacancies, or interstitials, which have to overcome an energy barrier in order to absorb microwaves to a significant extent. However, there is a tendency, unexplained so far, for the energy-barrier values extracted in this fashion to be slightly smaller than those obtained from diffusion measurements. The source of this systematic discrepancy is discovered through the application of a stochastic analysis of the mobility of the ceramic materials. New barrier values are obtained from the thermal runaway observations and found to be in better agreement with diffusion experiments.
Eigenvalue estimates for minimal hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space

Abstract Recently Candel [A. Candel, Eigenvalue estimates for minimal surfaces in hyperbolic space, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 359 (2007) 3567–3575] proved that if M is a simply-connected stable minimal surface isometrically immersed in H 3 , then the first eigenvalue of M satisfies 1 / 4 ⩽ λ ( M ) ⩽ 4 / 3 and he asked whether the bound is sharp and gave an example such that the lower bound is attained. In this note, we prove that the upper bound can never be attained. Also we extend the result by proving that if M is compact stable minimal hypersurface isometrically immersed in H n + 1 where n ⩾ 3 such that its smooth Yamabe invariant is negative, then ( n − 1 ) / 4 ⩽ λ ( M ) ⩽ n 2 ( n − 2 ) / ( 7 n − 6 ) .
Performance Characterization of a Microscale Integrated Combustor Recuperator Oil Heat Exchanger

A two-dimensional numerical model of an integrated microscale hydrogen-air combustor, recuperator, and oil heat exchanger is presented. The recuperator is used to preheat the incoming reactant gases entering the combustor. Heterogeneous catalytic combustion occurs on the walls of the microchannel in the presence of platinum catalyst. The maximum oil temperature was constrained based on the properties of the fluid used. The recuperator gas outlet temperature was constrained to be larger than the saturation temperature for water to avoid condensation in the exhaust gas stream. The performance of the combustor is documented for variations in geometric and fluidic parameters. The geometric parameters include the length and location of the catalyst bed, and the length of the device. Varied fluidic parameters include the oil inlet temperature, flow rates of oil and reactants, and the equivalence ratio of the reactants. For the range of parameters studied, results indicate that increasing the catalytic surface length as well as the channel length increases the efficiency.© 2011 ASME
The Relation between Blood Organic Acid Soluble Phosphate Fractions, Citric Acid, Protein Fractions, and Lipid Fractions in Atherosclerotic Heart Diseases and in Lipemias

Blood organic acid soluble phosphate fractions and serum citric acid determinations were performed on 39 carefully chosen cases of atherosclerosis, in order to determine whether any abnormalities might be detected in the oxidative phosphorylation of glucose or in the Krebs tricarboxylic acid cycle, respectively. No differences were observed between a series of normal individuals and atherosclerotic patients. Likewise, serum protein fractionations determined chemically revealed no differences. Only the serum lipid fractions, the total lipids and total cholesterol in particular, were elevated in 60 per cent of the atherosclerotic patients as compared with the normal subjects.
Anaplastic spindle-cell squamous carcinoma arising in association with tall-cell papillary cancer of the thyroid: A potential pitfall.

Transformation of a differentiated thyroid carcinoma is an infrequent occurrence and is usually associated with a dismal prognosis. Following a long-standing history of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, the patient in the present report developed anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. The anaplastic component initially arose in the setting of papillary carcinoma with tall-cell features, represented a very small proportion of the tumor, and was overlooked at the time of the original diagnosis. Several years later, the patient developed a recurrent neck mass. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of this mass revealed a population of atypical spindle cells arranged singly and in papillary clusters which lacked the classical cytologic features of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Histology of the resected mass revealed an unusual and recently described subtype of thyroid carcinoma, termed "anaplastic spindle-cell squamous carcinoma," which has been reported as occurring in association with tall-cell papillary carcinoma. The FNA findings of this unusual subtype of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma are presented. Diagn. Cytopathol. 1999;21:413-418.
Strategies for comparing treatments on a binary response with multi-centre data.

This paper surveys methods for comparing treatments on a binary response when observations occur for several strata. A common application is multi-centre clinical trials, in which the strata refer to a sample of centres or sites of some type. Questions of interest include how one should summarize the difference between the treatments, how one should make inferential comparisons, how one should investigate whether treatment-by-centre interaction exists, how one should describe effects when interaction exists, whether one should treat centres and centre-specific treatment effects as fixed or random, and whether centres that have either 0 successes or 0 failures should contribute to the analysis. This article discusses these matters in the context of various strategies for analysing such data, in particular focusing on special problems presented by sparse data.
Transcatheter management of neonates with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum

This report describes a 1 day-old infant with valvar pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum in whom we were successful in performing transcatheter guidewire perforation and balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty to establish right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery continuity and flow. Also described is implantation of a 4 mm coronary stent into ductus arteriosus in lieu of surgical aortopulmonary shunt to treat pulmonary oligemia and systemic arterial hypoxemia. Details of transcatheter guidewire perforation are presented and it is suggested that this method be used as an alternative to Laser/radio frequency wires, especially in the absence of approval of the latter wires by the regulatory agencies. Stenting of the ductus may be considered an alternative to surgical aortopulmonary shunt. Role of transcatheter technology in the management of selected patients with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum is discussed.
Preferential homologous recombination of H and L chains from mouse myeloma proteins which bind DNP ligands

Abstract Homologous chain recombinants are formed preferentially when the heavy chains of the murine myeloma proteins 315 and 460 are placed in competition with a mixture of the light chains of both proteins during renaturation and recombination. Both the molar ratio of homologous to heterologous light chains and the high specific binding to DNP-lysine-sepharose demonstrate this preference. It is suggested that the small magnitude of the preference may correlate with the similarity of the 315 and 460 proteins with respect to binding specificity.
The Sox2 high mobility group transcription factor inhibits mature osteoblast function in transgenic mice

We have previously shown that in osteoblasts Sox2 expression can be induced by Fgfs, and can inhibit Wnt signaling and differentiation. Furthermore, in mice in which Sox2 is conditionally deleted in the osteoblastic lineage, bones are osteopenic, and Sox2 inactivation in cultured osteoblasts leads to a loss of proliferative ability with a senescent phenotype. To help understand the role of Sox2 in osteoblast development we have specifically expressed Sox2 in bone from a Col1α1 promoter, which extended Sox2 expression into more mature osteoblasts. In long bones, trabecular cartilage remodeling was delayed and the transition from endochondral to cortical bone was disrupted, resulting in porous and undermineralized cortical bone. Collagen deposition was disorganized, and patterns of osteoclast activity were altered. Calvarial bones were thinner and parietal bones failed to develop the diploic space. Microarray analysis showed significant up- or downregulation of a variety of genes coding for non-collagenous extracellular matrix proteins, with a number of genes typical of mature osteoblasts being downregulated. Our results position Sox2 as a negative regulator of osteoblast maturation in vivo.
The Gentle Giant: Kenneth Daniel Blackfan and his contributions to pediatric neurosurgery

Kenneth Daniel Blackfan’s medical career spanned several disciplines. After initially working as a bacteriologist in Albany immediately after graduating medical school, he joined his father in general practice in New York. Blackfan subsequently underwent pediatric residency training at three different hospitals: (1) The St. Vincent’s Foundling Hospital in Philadelphia, (2) Washington University in St. Louis, and (3) Johns Hopkins Hospital. He subsequently was appointed Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati from where he moved on to become Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Thomas Morgan Rotch Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. A common theme throughout Blackfan’s career was his acumen for scientific research and its application to the practice of pediatrics. From his work on the clinical detection of thrombosis of the cerebral venous sinuses to his legendary experiments on CSF flow, Blackfan’s contributions to neurosurgery came at a time when neurosurgery was evolving into a specialty in itself. Also notable are his personal friendships withWalter Dandy and Harvey Cushing, the two leading neurosurgeons of his era.
Efficient Analysis of Single Molecule Spectroscopic Data via MATLAB

A MATLAB program is developed to help analyze single molecule spectroscopic data obtained with a standard inverted optical microscope. The described software has provisions to mitigate the effects of high background signals present in such data sets and greatly streamlines their analysis. Efficient single molecule image analysis and statistical blinking analysis are enabled with these programs to support single molecule imaging in an inverted configuration.
Contemporary Assessment and Pharmacotherapy of Tourette Syndrome

To develop a guide to clinical assessment and pharmacotherapy for children and adults with Tourette syndrome (TS), we reviewed published literature over the past 25 years to identify original articles and reviews on the assessment and pharmacological treatment of Tourette syndrome, attention—deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive—compulsive disorder (OCD). The literature search also included a survey of reviews published in book chapters. The assessment section was compiled from several reviews. Pharmacological treatments were classified into those with strong empirical support (as evidenced by two positive placebo-controlled studies for tics, OCD, or ADHD in TS samples); modest empirical support (one positive placebo-controlled study), or minimal support (open-label data only). We conclude that accurate diagnosis, including identification of comorbid conditions, is an essential step toward appropriate treatment for patients with TS. In many patients with TS, symptom management requires pharmacotherapy for tics or coexisting conditions. The evidence supporting efficacy and safety for medications used in patients with TS varies. But this evidence offers the best guide to clinical practice.
Making abstract engineering course content computer generated graphics and video tutorials: The development process

A description is given of the process involved in developing course materials to improve a course, nuclear engineering 405 (NE-405), in nuclear science and radiochemistry at Pennsylvania State University, College of Engineering. The five-stage course development process, including the required time and financial support, and the rationale for each stage of the process are discussed. The five stages considered are: identification of problems in the original NE-405; front-end analysis and problem specification in which a detailed analysis of the course content, an analysis of previous teaching evaluation data, classroom observations of the instructor, and the development of a customized evaluation measure are conducted, leading to the specification of three problems that were causing the teaching and learning difficulties in NE-405: solutions and developed instructional materials; implementation of the solutions into the course; and a summative evaluation leading to conclusions regarding the process. >
Context-dependent classification of medical images in the absence of complete class definitions

A method is developed to automatically classify multispectral medical images using context-dependent methods. The model is built with the knowledge that clusters of tissue features will overlap in feature space. The goal is to correctly classify pixels in these overlapping regions. The model also allows for the possibility that there may be no match for a particular pixel. Initialization of the likelihood of a pixel belonging to a tissue class can take advantage of a priori class distributions if such knowledge exists. Otherwise, the model can resort to modeling each class with a Gaussian distribution. These likelihoods can then be iteratively updated using the relaxation labeling algorithm. Once the model converges, iterations cease and each pixel is classified using the maximum likelihood for all classes. >
The failure of biological accounts of parenthood

Intuitively, parenthood is a relation in which a person has certain special rights and special obligations with respect to at least one child. We will consider whether the biological ties that exist between parents and their offspring are necessary or sufficient to generate parental rights and parental obligations. None of the biological accounts of the grounds of parenthood we will examine can be used to ground either parental rights or parental obligations. In order to evaluate biological accounts of parenthood, it is useful to distinguish between genetics and gestation as types of biological parenthood.
Monoclonal antibody to neurofilament protein (SMI-32) labels a subpopulation of pyramidal neurons in the human and monkey neocortex

A monoclonal antibody that recognizes a nonphosphorylated epitope on the 168 kDa and 200 kDa subunits of neurofilament proteins has been used in an immunohistochemical study of cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) and human neocortex. This antibody, SMI-32, primarily labels the cell body and dendrites of a subset of pyramidal neurons in both species. A greater proportion of neocortical pyramidal neurons were SMI-32 immunoreactive (ir) in the human than in the monkey. SMI-32-ir neurons exhibited consistent differences in the intensity of their immunoreactivity that correlated with cell size. The cellular specificity of SMI-32 immunoreactivity suggests that a subpopulation of neurons can be distinguished on the basis of differences in the molecular characteristics of basic cytoskeletal elements such as neurofilament proteins. The size, density, and laminar distribution of SMI-32-ir neurons differed substantially across neocortical areas within each species and between species. Differences across cortical areas were particularly striking in the monkey. For example, the anterior parainsular cortex had a substantial population of large SMI-32-ir neurons in layer V and a near absence of any immunoreactive neurons in the supragranular layers. This contrasted with the cortical area located more laterally on the superior temporal gyrus, where layers III and V contained substantial populations of large SMI-32-ir neurons. Both areas differed significantly from the posterior inferior temporal gyrus, which was distinguished by a bimodal distribution of large SMI-32-ir neurons in layer III. Differences across human areas were less obvious because of the increase in the number of SMI-32-ir neurons. Perhaps the most notable differences across human areas resulted from shifts in the density of the larger SMI-32-ir neurons in deep layer III. A comparison between the species revealed that isocortical areas exhibited greater differences in their representation of SMI-32-ir neurons than primary sensory or transitional cortical areas. A comparison of distribution patterns of SMI-32-ir neurons across monkey cortical areas and data available on the laminar organization of cortical efferent neurons suggests that a common anatomic characteristic of this chemically identified subpopulation of neurons is that they have a distant axonal projection. Such correlations of cell biological characteristics with specific elements of cortical circuitry will further our understanding of the molecular and cellular properties that are critically linked to a given neuron's role in cortical structure and function.
Unstated Features of the Cultural Context of Learning

(1990). Unstated Features of the Cultural Context of Learning. The Educational Forum: Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 21-34.
Fluid Dynamics of Dissolved Polymer Molecules in Confined Geometries

The past decade has seen a renaissance in the study of polymer solutions flowing in confined geometries, the renaissance driven in part by advances in visualization of large DNA molecules and the desire to manipulate DNA for genomic applications. This article summarizes the features of the fundamental polymer physics and fluid dynamics that are relevant to the flow of confined polymer solutions, then reviews the recent literature on the topic. Experiments have clarified and extended prior work showing that diffusion of confined flexible polymers is substantially altered by confinement and that, during flow, polymers exhibit substantial cross-stream migration. Simulation methods have been developed that have the capability of capturing both polymer and fluid motion in confined geometries and yield results that are in semiquantitative agreement with experiments in dilute solutions. Kinetic-theory treatments of simple polymer models have led to analytically tractable models that qualitatively encompass the k...
Reversing a conspicuous absence: Mindful inclusion of emotion in structuration theory

As the concept of emotion in organizations gains popularity in both research and practice, the danger of atheoretical application grows. Scholars of emotion in organizations have begun to refer to Giddens’ (1979) structuration theory as potentially relevant for the phenomenon of emotion. This article demonstrates how existing research on emotion can be framed in the context of emotion structuration that depicts how emotions both structure and are structured by social systems. Unlike Giddens’ structuration theory, which does not address the role of emotion in social systems and structures, emotion structuration explicitly focuses on emotion. Essentially, emotion structuration is an attempt to reframe Giddens’ work to describe the process of how emotions and social contexts interact and, as a result, modify each other.
Making database systems usable

Database researchers have striven to improve the capability of a database in terms of both performance and functionality. We assert that the usability of a database is as important as its capability. In this paper, we study why database systems today are so difficult to use. We identify a set of five pain points and propose a research agenda to address these. In particular, we introduce a presentation data model and recommend direct data manipulation with a schema later approach. We also stress the importance of provenance and of consistency across presentation models.
The Clinical Significance of the pH of Ophthalmic Solutions

Abstract The clinical significance of the p H of ophthalmic solutions was determined by intrasubject comparison of the pharmacologic effects of drug solutions differing only with regard to their p H. For pilocarpine and ephedrine the conclusion was reached that the clinical significance of the p H of the vehicle was small unless the vehicle was highly neutralization‐resistant and introduced in large quantity.
Construction of tissue microarrays using pre-existing slides as source of tissue when paraffin blocks are unavailable

Aim To develop and validate a technique for construction of intermediate density tissue microarray (TMA) slides based on the transfer of tissue from pre-existing routine slides provided for pathology diagnosis with validation to show preservation of morphology and antigenicity of the transferred tissue. Methods Prostate cancer patch TMAs were constructed using 20 cores acquired from radical prostatectomy histology slides. The preservation of morphology and antigenicity of these patch TMAs were tested with immunohistochemistry (IHC) in comparison to a traditional TMA. Results After IHC staining, 35 of 39 cores (89.7%) on the patch TMA were intact compared with 39 of 40 cores (97.5%) on the traditional TMA. Expression patterns and density of the antigens (34BE12, p63 and AMACR) on the patch TMA were almost identical to the traditional TMA. Conclusions Patch TMA represents a viable alternative for tissue-based IHC studies when paraffin blocks are unavailable. This may be a valuable tool for allowing use of archival slide material for IHC and enable a standardized TMA platform to be used when the slides sent for review from other institutions are the only source of tissue available.
Cation-Exchange Purification of Mutagenized Bovine β-Casein Expressed in Transgenic Mouse Milk: Its Putative Asn68-Linked Glycan Is Heterogeneous

Bovine beta-casein (A2 genetic variant) was mutagenized to (L70S/P71S) and expressed in transgenic mouse milk. This protein now carries the signal (N68S69S70S71) that mimics a consensus eukaryotic glycosylation signal (N-X-S/T) (3). Hypothetically this protein should be glycosylated at N68 by any eukaryotic organism producing it. This novel protein was purified from transgenic mouse milk by Mono-S cation-exchange fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). The novel beta-casein was separated without cross contamination from mouse caseins by using acetate buffer (pH 5.0) in the presence of 6 M urea, octyl-glucopyranoside and 2-beta-mercaptoethanol. The purified (L70S/P71S) beta-casein showed an N-linked oligosaccharide attached to Asn68 and different lectin binding profiles compared with the same protein expressed in yeast. The mouse-expressed beta-casein (L70S/P71S) was specific to Concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, Erythrina cristagalli agglutinin, and Ulex europaeus, indicating its oligosaccharide structure is different in the mammary gland of mouse than the reported glycosylated beta-casein expressed in Pichia pastoris (4). In addition, the five serine residues located at amino terminus of wild type bovine beta-casein were shown to be normally phosphorylated as in native bovine beta-casein.
Twelve tips for teaching with concept maps in medical education

Background: Concept maps have been used as a learning tool in a variety of educational setting and provide an opportunity to explore learners’ knowledge structures and promote critical thinking and understanding. Concept mapping is an instructional strategy for individual and group learning that involves integration of knowledge and creation of meaning by relating concepts.Aims: The following tips outline an approach to foster meaningful learning using concept maps.Methods: A total of 12 tips on the use and applications of concept mapping based on the authors’ experiences and the available literature.Results: The 12 tips provide an overview of the theoretical framework and structure of concept maps, suggesting specific uses, and applications in medical education.Conclusions: We describe different types of concept maps based on learners’ task, and how they can be utilized in different educational settings. We provide ideas for educators to integrate this novel educational resource in their teaching and edu...
Blind channel equalization via multiobjective optimization

Blind equalisation has the potential to improve the efficiency of communication systems by eliminating training signals. Difficulties of its application in wireless communications, however, are due largely to the characteristics of the propagation media-multipath delays and fast fading. The challenge is achieving blind equalisation using only a limited amount of data. We present a multiple objective optimization approach to fast blind channel equalization. By investigating first the performance (mean-square error) of the standard fractionally spaced constant modulus algorithm (CMA) equalizer in the presence of noise, we show that the CMA local minima exist near the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) equalizers. Consequently, the CMA may converge to a local minimum corresponding to a poorly designed MMSE receiver with a considerably large mean-square error. Based on the multiple objective optimization techniques, we propose next a blind channel estimator by exploiting simultaneously the second-order cyclostationary statistics and the constant modulus of QAM-type communication signals. Such a channel estimation-based blind equalization scheme has the advantage of designing FIR minimum mean-square error equalizer with the optimal delay.