cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of peripheral and peritoneal lymphocytes from continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients

The role of peritoneal lymphocytes in host immunity for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients is just beginning to be understood. CAPD therapy increases the proportion of peritoneal lymphocytes, most of which demonstrate signs of activation. There are decreased peritoneal T cells and increased peritoneal B cells as compared to the patients' peripheral blood. When studies examine immunophenotypes of peripheral and peritoneal lymphocytes over time, no significant changes are found. Although changes in peritoneal lymphocyte subsets occur during peritonitis episodes, there are no changes in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief review of research that has studied lymphocytes in CAPD patients.
Detection of Impending Graft Rejection and Relapse by Lineage-Specific Chimerism Analysis

Molecular surveillance of hematopoietic chimerism has become part of the routine diagnostic program in patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Chimerism testing permits early prediction and documentation of successful engraftment, and facilitates early detection of impending graft rejection. In patients transplanted for treatment of malignant hematological disorders, monitoring of chimerism can provide an early indication of incipient disease relapse. The investigation of chimerism has therefore become an indispensable tool for the management of patients during the posttransplant period. Growing use of nonmyeloablative conditioning, which is associated with prolonged duration of mixed hematopoietic chimerism, has further increased the clinical importance of chimerism analysis. At present, the most commonly used technical approach to the investigation of chimerism is microsatellite analysis by PCR. The investigation of chimerism within specific leukocyte subsets isolated from peripheral blood or bone marrow samples by flow-sorting or magnetic beads-based techniques provides more specific information on processes underlying the dynamics of donor/recipient chimerism. Moreover, cell subset-specific analysis permits the assessment of impending complications at a significantly higher sensitivity, thus providing a basis for earlier treatment decisions.
Kossuth, Lajos (1802–94)

Lajos (Louis) Kossuth, who was governor-president of Hungary for four months in 1849, came from an old but poor noble family in what was then northern Hungary and is now part of Slovakia. He succeeded through sheer effort to become first a professional journalist and then a leading reformist politician in the Austrian-dominated kingdom of Hungary. In 1848–49, he acted as leader of the Hungarians' struggle for an independent, nationalist liberal, and modernizing country. He and his armies lost the war against Habsburg Austria and tsarist Russia, yet he himself achieved world fame as a “champion of liberty.” During his visit to the United States in 1851–52, he seemed to have conquered a nation's heart with his magnificent English language oratory. Kossuth died in exile. Although historians and even the public disagree greatly about his achievements and shortcomings, he is still celebrated as one of the greatest Hungarian statesmen. Keywords: ethnicity; nationalism; state
Solar Energy Variations as a Possible Cause of Anomalous Weather Changes

This article is concerned only with the possible relationships existing between anomalous changes of weather and the variations, in one form or another, of the output of solar energy. There can be no question that the sequence of weather change which is represented by the normal diurnal and seasonal sequences of weather over the globe is to be explained entirely by the corresponding diurnal and seasonal variation of the sun’s distance and position in the sky, whether or not the quantitative explanation of this normal variation is entirely satisfactory. There is no suggestion of any normal diurnal or seasonal variation of the output of solar energy which would account for any part of the normal variation of global weather. This is entirely a question of the regularly variable distribution of the solar energy.
On the feasibility of real-time cyber attack attribution on the Internet

The capability to reliably and accurately identify the attacker has long been believed as one of the most effective deterrents to an attack. Ideally, the attribution of cyber attack should be automated from the attack target all the way toward the attack source on the Internet in real-time. Real-time, network-wide attack attribution, however, is every challenging, and many people have doubted whether it is feasible to have practical attack attribution on the Internet. In this paper, we look into the problem, challenges of real-time attack attribution on the Internet, and analyze what it takes to have the real-time attack attribution on the Internet. We show that it is indeed feasible and practical to attribute certain cyber attacks on the Internet in real-time. We build such a real-time attack attribution system upon the malware immunization and packet flow watermarking techniques we have developed. We demonstrate the unprecedented real-time attack attribution capability via live experiments on the Internet and Tor nodes all over the world.
Early planting dates maximize winter annual field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) yield and oil content

Abstract Pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense L.), a common winter annual weed species in North America, has received attention in recent years as a potential oilseed feedstock for biofuel production but little is known about best practices for its production as a managed crop. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine optimum sowing date to maximize pennycress yield, oil content, and crude protein. Four field experiments with 10 unique sowing and harvest dates over 3 crop years were conducted in Morris, MN, USA. Pennycress was no-till seeded from late August to late October at a rate of 6.7 kg ha −1 . Seed yield averaged between 99 and 1109 kg ha −1 when sown in late October and early September, respectively, while oil content for the same sowing period averaged between 26.8 and 36.3%, respectively. Yield was not related to in-season environmental variables, such as cumulative precipitation, soil temperature at planting, or accumulated photohydrothermal time. However, oil content was maximized under greater precipitation ( r 2 = 0.86), warmer soil temperatures ( r 2 = 0.62) and greater photohydrothermal time when modeled at 2, 4, 6, 8, 25, 50 and 100 cm soil depths (between r 2 = 0.53 to r 2 = 0.85). Results indicate that environment conditions favoring a long maturation period increased oil accumulation in seeds. Conversely, a longer growth period reduced seed crude protein. Although pennycress protein is expected to have industrial uses, managing for yield and oil content is preferred. Therefore sowing pennycress in late August through September in the northern Corn Belt will maximize yields and oil content.
Do Organizational Culture Attributes Matter? For Small to Medium Sized Enterprises It Enhances or Acts in Place of Entrepreneurial Orientation

Small to medium sized firms are an important yet remain an understudied context of business in the US. Most research on smaller firms centers on the entrepreneurial aspects of such firms and ignore other possible explanation for small firm success. Organizational culture has been shown in separate studies to positively impact firm outcomes but the combination of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm culture has rarely been tested. We conducted an inquiry into the effects of both EO and cultural attributes on small firms by surveying 220 individuals working in small firms in a variety of capacities. What we confirmed was that EO does play a role; however organizational learning has significant explanatory power as to why firms innovate even when EO is absent and combined with cultural attributes of play and empowerment increase the predictive power of small firm innovation when EO is present. This contributes to the literature in extending small firm inquiry beyond EO and linking it with firm culture and conveys the message for practitioners that small firms need not be entrepreneurial in order to innovate provided they inspire organizational culture building such as playfulness, empowerment, and learning.
Defending Kenya: Looking from Within

This chapter provided the first detailed analysis of the secret defense agreements that Kenyatta signed with the British. One of these agreements, the Bamburi Understanding, was known to a very select few people in the government: Kenyatta, McKenzie, and Njonjo. Kenyatta regarded this agreement to be the cornerstone of his relationship with the British and sought it renewed with every new British Prime Minister. This chapter covers the direct roles played by the British in providing Kenyatta’s personal security. For the first time, there is a detailed analysis of the role played by Bruce McKenzie, a white settler politician, who emerges as one of Kenyatta’s closest advisors. He was also a British spy. This dual role enabled him to not only influence state policies but actually determine the country’s course. This is as close as one can come to pointing to neo-colonialism in practice. Also covered is the central role played by Charles Njonjo [the Attorney General] in Kenyatta’s government. Unelected, he was the most powerful Minister in the government. He was also especially close to the British and through him and McKenzie (among others), the British were able to exercise decisive influence on Kenyatta’s government especially as he became senile toward the end of his rule.
Connecting product development and supply chain sub-processes to improve new product introductions: the impact of connection intensity and timing

This study examines the intersections between Product Development (PD) and the Supply Chain (SC) and their impact on the performance of New Product Introductions (NPI). We employ a PD/SC interface ...
Readers' Demanded Hyperlink Prediction in Wikipedia

In this paper, we describe our on-going research on the problem of predicting needed hyperlinks between pairs of Wikipedia pages (u,v) that are not connected, yet show readers' search navigation from u to v. We propose a solution that first estimates how long will these searches last and then predicts new hyperlinks according to descending order of duration. Our initial experimental results show that our best solution achieves an AUROC of 0.77 on the Wikipedia Clickstream dataset and a precision@20% of 1.0 and significantly beats the baselines.
False reactivity in GTI Pak Plus ELISA kits due to the presence of anti-mouse antibody in patients' samples.

The development of commercially available ELISA kits (GTI, Inc., Waukesha, WI) that use antigens adhered to microtiter plate wells by the use of mouse monoclonal antibodies made it possible for hospital transfusion service laboratories to test for platelet- and/or HLA-specific antibodies without reliance on reference laboratories. However, human anti-mouse antibodies (HAMAs) may cause false reactions in ELISAs. We designed a study to determine the impact of HAMAs on these ELISAs. Samples from 210 patients were evaluated from January 1995 to April 2002; 79 (38%) were found to be positive for HLA- and/or platelet-specific antibodies. Thirty (38%) of these positive samples,as well as ten negative samples that served as controls, underwent HAMA neutralization/inhibition procedures before being retested by ELISA. One (10%) of the control samples was reactive after treatment. When the samples that were positive in routine testing were treated to neutralize/inhibit HAMAs, reactivity was unchanged in 20 (67%); reactivity was eliminated in eight (27%) of the samples tested. All of the specimens that showed a reduction or elimination of their reactivity after neutralization/inhibition had an initial optical density (OD) ratio 7.0 (p < 0.05). Reactivity present only in the treated samples was observed in three (10%) of the positive samples tested;one was additionally reactive with HLA antigen only and two with glycoprotein Ia/IIa. The presence of HAMAs should be considered when antibodies against more than one platelet-specific glycoprotein are detected and if the optical density ratio is < 3.0.
Leader as a Coach

So far we have discussed the parallels between the innovation leader and ­architects and ships’ captains. Now, to complete our discussion, we examine the parallels between the innovation leader and a sports team’s coach. We do this because of the need to create a culture for the innovation firm that nurtures maneuver-driven competition while avoiding the worst aspects of the principle of providential behavior. Doing so requires the nurturing of a set of norms and values that build upon a shared “love-of-problem solving,” yet places the success of the firm as a whole above that of its component teams or individual members. It is no coincidence that individuals who display such behavior are often referred to as “team-players” or “good sports.” The earliest experience most of us have with working in teams occurs within the venue of sports, and many of us follow the exploits of our favorite teams through good times and bad for the rest of our lives. Many authors of organizational science have effectively used sports metaphors to illustrate organizational truths. For example, Peter Senge illustrated his discussion of effective team learning in the Fifth Discipline with examples from Basketball.
The Challenge of Democratic Lawyering

This essay, written for the Fordham Law Review's symposium on The Lawyer's Role in a Contemporary Democracy, argues that a diverse movement of social-change lawyering that has emerged over the past two decades is united by a commitment to fostering robust democratic participation in collective action by low-income and working-class people and people of color. The essay describes the democratic vision that unites these lawyers, with its focus on enhancing ordinary citizens' abilities to act in concert with others in self-government broadly construed. This vision challenges the long-prevailing, thinner conception, which limits democracy to a political process that provides a say in selecting one's representatives and an incentive structure to encourage representatives to act wisely. This essay argues that these democratic lawyers and their partners challenge deep-seated individualistic, aristocratic, and formalistic cultural predispositions in the United States and its legal profession. These prevailing - but contested - predispositions relate to: what democracy means and how we practice it; how we understand individuals and groups, intelligence and expertise; and the relative importance we place on formal rights or on the power of people and groups to change their living conditions.
Spatial modeling of litter and soil carbon stocks on forest land in the conterminous United States.

Abstract Forest ecosystems contribute substantially to carbon (C) storage. The dynamics of litter decomposition, translocation and stabilization into soil layers are essential processes in the functioning of forest ecosystems, as these processes control the cycling of soil organic matter and the accumulation and release of C to the atmosphere. Therefore, the spatial distribution of litter and soil C stocks are important in greenhouse gas estimation and reporting and inform land management decisions, policy, and climate change mitigation strategies. Here we explored the effects of spatial aggregation of climatic, biotic, topographic and soil variables on national estimates of litter and soil C stocks and characterized the spatial distribution of litter and soil C stocks in the conterminous United States (CONUS). Litter and soil variables were measured on permanent sample plots (n = 3303) from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) within the United States from 2000 to 2011. These data were used with vegetation phenology data estimated from LANDSAT imagery (30 m) and raster data describing environmental variables for the entire CONUS to predict litter and soil C stocks. The total estimated litter C stock was 2.07 ± 0.97 Pg with an average density of 10.45 ± 2.38 Mg ha−1, and the soil C stock at 0–20 cm depth was 14.68 ± 3.50 Pg with an average density of 62.68 ± 8.98 Mg ha−1. This study extends NFI data from points to pixels providing spatially explicit and continuous predictions of litter and soil C stocks on forest land in the CONUS. The approaches described illustrate the utility of harmonizing field measurements with remotely sensed data to facilitate modeling and prediction across spatial scales in support of inventory, monitoring, and reporting activities, particularly in countries with ready access to remotely sensed data but with limited observations of litter and soil variables.
Replacing the “Word Gap” With Nonstigmatizing Approaches to Early Literacy and Language Building

Pediatricians, who are at the frontlines of caring for children growing up in low-income households, are dedicated to promoting language acquisition. Early literacy is incorporated into pediatric care with a number of successful programs, including the well-known program Reach Out and Read, which provides free books to families at children’s well visits.1 Much of the support and scientific backing for these interventions and concerns about lags in language development are couched in terms of closing the “word gap” between children from low-income families and their more privileged counterparts.2 Recent studies, however, have not replicated these word gap findings and show substantial variations in sociolinguistic environments even within socioeconomic strata. This suggests that there is no singular gap. We question the use of the word gap concept and the reliance on an approach in which the deficits, rather than strengths, of low-income and minority families are highlighted. We argue instead for a universal, nonstigmatizing approach to enhancing childhood literacy and propose using a positive framework of language building to replace the concept of a word gap. Numerous language acquisition programs are focused on increasing the number of words spoken to children from low-income families in an attempt to address what is termed the word gap. In an often-cited 1995 study, Hart and Risley3 found that young children from low-income homes were exposed to ∼600 words per hour. This was considerably fewer than the 2100 words per hour heard by children from high-income families. Extrapolating, Hart and Risley3 suggested that by … Address correspondence to Mical Raz, MD, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 1310 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: mraz{at}ur.rochester.edu
THE IMPACT OF NON-ADHERENCE TO ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUG THERAPY

Medication non-adherence is a major healthcare barrier, especially among diseases that are largely asymptomatic such as hypertension. The impact of poor medication adherence ranges from patient specific adverse health outcomes to broader strains on health care system resources. The CDC Wonder
Geometric network comparisons

Network analysis needs tools to compare networks and assess the significance of differences between networks. We propose a principled statistical approach to network comparison that approximates networks as probability distributions on negatively curved manifolds. We outline the theory, as well as implement the approach on simulated networks, where its accuracy can be confirmed.
Self‐esteem, cultural identification, and substance use among American Indian youth

Objectives Determine potential mediating and moderating effects of self-esteem on the relationship between cultural identification and substance use among American Indian (AI) youth. Methods Anonymous surveys were administered to middle and high school AI students assessing levels of last month alcohol and marijuana use, cultural identification, and self-esteem. Structural equation modeling assessed potential mediating and moderating effects of self-esteem on the relationship between AI and white identification on alcohol and marijuana use. Results No mediating effects were found for middle school students. Among high school students, no mediating effects were found for alcohol. Among female high school students, a small mediating effect was found between AI identification and marijuana use, with AI identification protecting against use. Across all students, no moderating effects of self-esteem were found. Conclusions The literature on cultural identification and substance use among minority youth is unclear. It was anticipated that consideration of self-esteem as a potential mediator or moderator might help clarify some of the confusion. However, no moderating effects were found and mediating effects were limited to female high school students for marijuana. Consideration should be given to assessing other measures of cultural identification and subscales of self-esteem to confirm that these findings are robust.
Empirical Prediction of Short-Term Annual Global Temperature Variability

Global mean surface air temperature (T) variability on subdecadal timescales can be of substantial magnitude relative to the long-term global warming signal and such variability has been associated...
Chapter 3 – Structure Characterization in the Science and Technology of Elastomers

Early structural characterization of polymers focused on solution properties and their relationship to molecular weight. Subsequently spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques were developed. This chapter describes various characterization techniques, including discussion of the classical methods of analysis, as well as NMR, SANS, and some newer methods and results.
Hybrid de novo genome assembly of red gromwell ( Lithospermum erythrorhizon ) reveals evolutionary insight into shikonin biosynthesis.

Lithospermum erythrorhizon (red gromwell; zicao) is a medicinal and economically valuable plant belonging to the Boraginaceae family. Roots from L. erythrorhizon have been used for centuries based on the antiviral and wound-healing properties produced from the bioactive compound shikonin and its derivatives. More recently, shikonin, its enantiomer alkannin, and several other shikonin/alkannin derivatives have collectively emerged as valuable natural colorants and as novel drug scaffolds. Despite several transcriptomes and proteomes having been generated from L. erythrorhizon, a reference genome is still unavailable. This has limited investigations into elucidating the shikonin/alkannin pathway and understanding its evolutionary and ecological significance. In this study, we obtained a de novo genome assembly for L. erythrorhizon using a combination of Oxford Nanopore long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing technologies. The resulting genome is ∼367.41 Mb long, with a contig N50 size of 314.31 kb and 27,720 predicted protein-coding genes. Using the L. erythrorhizon genome, we identified several additional p-hydroxybenzoate:geranyltransferase (PGT) homologs and provide insight into their evolutionary history. Phylogenetic analysis of prenyltransferases suggests that PGTs originated in a common ancestor of modern shikonin/alkannin-producing Boraginaceous species, likely from a retrotransposition-derived duplication event of an ancestral prenyltransferase gene. Furthermore, knocking down expression of LePGT1 in L. erythrorhizon hairy root lines revealed that LePGT1 is predominantly responsible for shikonin production early in culture establishment. Taken together, the reference genome reported in this study and the provided analysis on the evolutionary origin of shikonin/alkannin biosynthesis will guide elucidation of the remainder of the pathway.
When COVID Goes Undetected

Introduction: COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. The gold standard for diagnosis relies heavily on clinical suspicion along with PCR based assays of respiratory swabs. This nucleic acid study is highly sensitive and specific, however, there are faults, especially during the incubation period, during which the virus is hard to detect. Here we present a case of a patient, presenting with signs and symptoms of pneumonia, with serial negative viral swabs spaced out over time, who was ultimately diagnosed with COVID-19 infection via more invasive means. Case: A 49-year-old female with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department with cough and shortness of breath for 2 days which developed when she returned to New York from Florida. Her personal history was significant for her occupation as an ER nurse and a history of vaping for 5-6 years.After arrival to the emergency department, the patient was febrile to 103.3 F, tachycardic, and hypoxic, saturating 89% on room air. Her laboratory work was significant for a mildly elevated D-dimer level, elevated CRP (11.23), normal procalcitonin level, and two negative COVID-19 swabs over 2 days. Her initial chest X ray showed multifocal pneumonia and a CT chest showed ground glass opacities amid dense consolidation. The patient was empirically treated for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia with antibiotics. The patient's respiratory and hemodynamic status started to decline, despite treatment. Ultimately, the patient required further investigation - a bronchoalveolar lavage was ultimately found to be positive for the COVID-19 virus, and the patient was immediately started on Remdesivir. Discussion: In this day and age, countries are increasingly utilizing the COVID-19 reverse-transcriptase PCR and are pushing for widespread testing for case detection, but how sensitive and specific is this test, really? Serial testing with swabs performed at intervals should be the answer as the viral load of the COVID RNA steadily rises and peaks over 0-9 days after onset of symptoms. However, this may not be the case in a majority of patients and more invasive testing using bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage may be the only way to truly diagnose COVID-19 pneumonia. The delay in confirmation, however, could prove to be truly fatal, subjecting patients to painful measures like intubation. This case brings to light the realization that nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs may not be sufficient to detect the virus with full certainty.
Specular and Diffuse Phonon Reflection Processes at a Crystal Interface

We have performed high resolution phonon reflection experiments in sapphire using the heat pulse technique. Our results1 show as many as eight sharp specular peaks; this structure in the reflection signal cannot be explained using isotropic elastic theory. This is somewhat surprising since the phase velocities of sapphire vary with direction by only 15%.
Acute Toxicant Identification in Whole Bodies and Baits Without Chemical Analysis

We propose a system utilizing small color-coded plastic particles to identify acute toxicants in digestive tracts and baits without chemical analysis. Test results show that the coded particle is suitable for incorporation into various baits, does not cause bait aversion, and is readily recovered from digestive tracts and fecal samples without loss of code integrity. Toxicant identification in coyotes poisoned secondarily after eating rodents is demonstrated. The proposed concept of toxicant identification is feasible. We suggest that the identification system be included in the manufacture of toxic baits.
Evaluation of the Caprini Model for Venothromboembolism in Esophagectomy Patients.

Background Patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer are in the highest-risk group for venous thromboembolism, with a 7.3% incidence reported by the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Venothromboembolism (VTE) doubles esophagectomy mortality. The Caprini risk assessment model (RAM) is a method to stratify postoperative thromboembolism risk for consideration of prolonged preventive anticoagulation in higher-risk patients. Our aim was to examine the potential use of this model for reducing the VTE incidence in esophagectomy patients. Methods The records of patients who underwent an esophagectomy by the thoracic surgery service at our institution between June 2005 and June 2013 were reviewed. The inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of esophageal cancer treated with esophagectomy (any approach) and with available 60-day postoperative follow-up. Exclusion criteria were the presence of an inferior vena cava filter or chronic anticoagulation therapy. The Caprini risk score and the number of VTE events were recorded retrospectively for each patient. Results Seventy patients satisfied eligibility criteria. The VTE incidence was 14.3%. Patients with esophageal thromboembolism had a higher Caprini score distribution than patients without thromboembolism ( p p Conclusions In this first report examining the Caprini model categories in an esophagectomy population, the VTE incidence in true high-risk patients was high. From this retrospective calculation of risk and events, patients in the highest-risk Caprini group may benefit from an enhanced course of postoperative anticoagulation.
Refractory megaloblastic anemia associated with excretion of orotic acid.

A case is presented of a child who had a megaloblastic anemia which was not responsive to vitamin B 12 nor to folic acid. The erythrocytes were hypochromic and microcytic, but there was no response to iron or to pyridoxine. Neither parent and no siblings had evidence of thallassemia. The autopsy did not reveal evidence of Di Guglielmo’s disease. A striking feature was the excretion of large amounts of orotic acid in the urine. Improvement followed administration of adrenal steroid hormones without reversal of the megaloblastic marrow nor striking reduction in orotic acid excretion. A seemingly complete hematologic remission and a remarkable reduction in orotic acid excretion followed the administration of a crude mixture containing uridylic acid and cytidylic acid while steroid hormones were continued. Before further studies could be made the child died of severe varicella.
Measuring Arg($V_{ub}$) in $B\to Kπ$

It has previously been shown that a measurement of Arg$(V_{ub})=\gamma$ can be obtained from a triangle construction using ${\cal B}(B^0\to K^+\pi^-)$, ${\cal B}(\bar{B^0}\to K^-\pi^+)$, ${\cal B}(B^\pm\to K^0_s\pi^\pm)$, and ${\cal B}(B^\pm\to \pi^\pm\pi^0)$. We evaluate experimental as well as theoretical uncertainties in this measurement. We find that a measurement of $\gamma $ with the next generation of B-factories (BaBar, BELLE, CLEO III) is statistics rather than theory limited if soft rescattering effects are small.
Victim Impact Testimony in New Jersey Capital Cases: A Case Study in Criminal Justice Policy Development:

This is a case study in the development of a statutory policy concerning victims' rights in the death penalty phase of capital trials in New Jersey. It employs the case method in the analysis of criminal justice policy development. It initially examines the historic roots of policy development as a field of study and then examines the factors leading to a new policy on victim impact testimony. It focuses on the key positions taken by the major stakeholders in the policy debate in the state legislature as well as the subsequent court challenge. Legislative testimony and legal briefs are examined. The study concludes that policy development is a rational process reflecting a careful balancing of political and legal interests.
Potential medication dosing errors in outpatient pediatrics

Potential medication dosing errors in outpatient pediatrics . McPhillips H.A., Stille C.J., Smith D., Hecht J., Pearson J., Stull J., Debellis K.P., Andrade S., Miller M., Kaushal R., Gurwitz J. & Davis R.L. ( 2005 ) Journal of Pediatrics , 147 , 761 – 767 . Objective To determine the prevalence of potential dosing errors of medication dispensed to children for 22 common medications. Study design The investigators used automated pharmacy data from three health maintenance organizations. Children were eligible if they were less than 17 years old at the time of dispensing. The investigators randomly selected up to 120 children with a new dispensing prescription for each drug of interest, giving 1933 study subjects. Errors were defined as potential overdoses or potential under-doses. The error rate in two health maintenance organizations that use paper prescriptions was compared with one health maintenance organization that uses an electronic prescription writer. Results Approximately 15% of children were dispensed a medication with a potential dosing error: 8% were potential overdoses and 7% were potential under-doses. Among children weighing less than 35 kg, only 67% of doses were dispensed within recommended dosing ranges, and more than 1% were dispensed at more than twice the recommended maximum dose. Analgesics were most likely to be potentially overdosed (15%), whereas anti-epileptics were most likely potentially under-dosed (20%). Potential error rates were not lower at the site with an electronic prescription writer. Conclusions Potential medication dosing errors occur frequently in outpatient paediatrics. Studies on the clinical impact of these potential errors and effective error prevention strategies are needed.
Reliability of fiber optic datacom modules at Agilent Technologies

We discuss a number of measures taken by Agilent Technologies to ensure the reliability of our fiber optic transceivers. Our procedures for reliability qualification testing, identifying theoretical failure mechanisms, and controlling production are briefly discussed. The second half of the paper describes in some detail the corrosion failure mechanism observed in unprotected oxide VCSELs, and its dependence on environmental parameters. This mechanism is a potential source of concern in new non-hermetic fiber optic parallel transceivers when operated under high-humidity conditions. A number of potential avenues for future improvement, and recommended cautions in reliability testing, are detailed.
Efficient On-Line Traffic Policing for Confidence Level based Traffic Model

On-line traffic, such as conversational call, live video, serves a large group of applications in the internet now days. An important feature of on-line traffic is that they are not pre-recorded and no exact information about each session’s traffic is known before the traffic happens. S-BIND (Confidence-level-based Statistical Bounding Interval-length Dependent) traffic model was proposed to characterize such traffic for QoS admission (GammaH-BIND) and policing purpose. A state-dependent token bucket based statistical regulator was proposed to police the traffic using S-BIND parameters. However, the proposed regulator can output traffic within the expected S-BIND parameters if the input traffic is random or is just trying to transmit large amount of traffic without exploiting the regulator’s token bucket design. In this paper, the author shows that if the source of the traffic understands the bucket’s behavior, it can tune the traffic and cause significant violations in the regulator’s output traffic. A new design of state-dependent token bucket for the regulator is proposed in this paper to remove such potential problem and an optimization algorithm is given to improve the regulator’s efficiency by removing redundant token buckets in the regulator.
Abstract 5615: Global DNA methylation by LUMA predicts breast cancer risk in a population-based study

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Global methylation dysregulation is a hallmark of cancer cells. Global methylation measurement in peripheral blood may be a predictor of cancer risk and prognosis. In this study, we used two independent assays, LUminometric Methylation Assay (LUMA) and LINE-1 methylation by pyrosequencing, to assess the global methylation content in the peripheral blood DNA from the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project, a population-based case-control study. We examined the association between global methylation levels and: 1) the risk of developing breast cancer among 1055 cases and 1101 controls using logistic regression models; 2) the risk of mortality among breast cancer cases using Cox proportional hazards models; and 3) one-carbon metabolism genetic polymorphisms and dietary intake among controls using ANOVA. LUMA methylation levels were higher among cases (mean: 57.3%) than among controls (mean: 52.4%; p<0.001). Compared to women in the lowest quintile of LUMA methylation, those in the highest quintile had a 2.41-fold increase in the risk of developing breast cancer (95% CI: 1.83-3.16; p for trend < 0.0001). Risk was strongest for in situ breast cancer (OR: 6.18; 95% CI: 3.34-11.43), although the estimate is based on small numbers; but the association did not vary by other tumor characteristics, life-style or several established breast cancer risk factors. Among cases, there was an indication that high LUMA levels were associated with reduced breast cancer-specific mortality. Among controls, LUMA levels were associated with two SNPs in the one-carbon metabolism pathway, MTHFR C677T (p=0.001) and MTRR A66G (p=0.018), but not with dietary intake of one-carbon related nutrients. No association was observed between LINE-1 methylation and breast cancer risk, breast cancer-specific mortality, one-carbon metabolism SNPs or nutrients, or LUMA methylation. Our results suggest that LUMA methylation levels in peripheral blood DNA are associated with breast cancer development and progression. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5615. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5615
Multiphonon model for absorption in diamond

Diamond is a covalent material with no fundamental infrared active vibrational modes. Intrinsic diamond is completely transparent below the band gap except for two-, three-, and higher-order multiphonon absorption bands located in the mid-IR. Multiphonon absorption band models have been successfully developed for ionic materials; this paper reports the first application of this model to a purely covalent material. To obtain a fit to the experimental data, the phonon density-of-states function required considerable modification relative to the other ionic materials studied. The Gaussian density-of-states parameters were significantly modified relative to typical values for ionic materials. However, the two-phonon red wing is poorly modeled by this density-of-states function. Diamond absorptance near 10 micrometers is of particular interest because many infrared sensors operate at this atmospheric window. Evidence indicates that the absorption in this region is caused by two-phonon acoustic-acoustic interactions. In most materials, pure acoustic multiphonon absorption is not measurable because it is obscured by strong one-phonon optical mode absorption. Diamond has very high acoustic frequencies owing to its strong bonds, and the lack of fundamental absorption unmasks the pure acoustic contribution. This acoustic contribution is modeled by applying a Debye acoustic phonon density-of-states distribution function. Good agreement with experimental data is obtained.
Vascular reactivity and high dietary eicopentaenoic acid

Epidemiologic studies suggest that high dietary intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a precursor of the trienoic prostaglandins, is associated with a low incidence and reduced extent of myocardial infarction. Vascular reactivity of isolated aortic strips from rats maintained for 3 weeks on a control diet or on a diet supplemented with menhaden fish oil (17% EPA) was examined with norepinephrine, sodium arachidonate, KC1, PGF2 alpha and nitroprusside. Aortic strips from rats fed the fish oil diet were significantly less responsive to the contractile effects of norepinephrine and arachidonate compared to those from control diet rats. Treatment of aortic strips with indomethacin decreased responsiveness to norepinephrine. The magnitude of the decrease was greater in control rats resulting in a similar vascular response between the 2 groups after blockade. Contractions to arachidonate were abolished by indomethacin. There were no differences in vascular responses to KC1, PGF2 alpha and nitroprusside in aortic strips from control diet rats and those from the fish oil diet rats. Aortic strips from the fish oil diet rats contained more EPA than those from the control diet rats. Thus, the contractile effect of norepinephrine in isolated rat aortic strips is normally augmented by intrinsic prostaglandins, and this augmentation is diminished by dietary intake of EPA.
The importance of surface treatment on the amount of light detected from BaF2

Abstract The effect of the exposure to room air on the light output in the “short” component at 220 nm of BaF 2 crystals is presented. We also show that the light output in this component can be predicted from the measurement of the transmission at two wavelengths.
Linear Quadratic Tracking Control of Partially-Unknown Continuous-Time Systems Using Reinforcement Learning

In this technical note, an online learning algorithm is developed to solve the linear quadratic tracking (LQT) problem for partially-unknown continuous-time systems. It is shown that the value function is quadratic in terms of the state of the system and the command generator. Based on this quadratic form, an LQT Bellman equation and an LQT algebraic Riccati equation (ARE) are derived to solve the LQT problem. The integral reinforcement learning technique is used to find the solution to the LQT ARE online and without requiring the knowledge of the system drift dynamics or the command generator dynamics. The convergence of the proposed online algorithm to the optimal control solution is verified. To show the efficiency of the proposed approach, a simulation example is provided.
Diving and pregnancy

Scuba diving during pregnancy has increased in incidence as a result of substantial growth in the number of young females attracted to sport diving. This review summarizes the physiological changes induced by immersion, diving and decompression, on male and female divers. Furthermore, it extends to literature review, in animal models, of the susceptibility of a pregnant animal to diving decompression injury. Publications regarding reports of diving injury in pregnant humans are also reviewed, comprising very recent material from the sport diving community. It is concluded that there is no countraindication to diving for the normal, healthy, nonpregnant female. However, pregnant females should refrain from diving, because the fetus is not protected from decompression problems and is at risk of malformation and gas embolism after decompression disease. It is prudent to advise pregnant patients of the increased risk of diving problems for the fetus during pregnancy. However, should a woman have completed a dive during early pregnancy because she was unaware she was pregnant, the present evidence is not to recommend an abortion, because several normal pregnancies have been documented even if diving is continued. Snorkeling can still be practiced during pregnancy, but scuba diving should be discontinued until after the birth period.
Evaluation of Wet and Dry Weight Bases for Expression of Respiratory Rate in vitro.

SummaryIt has been shown in the case of the post-pubertal albino rat that: 1. The variability of Qo2, based upon wet weight determinations, is no greater than when based upon determination of dry weight. 2. Organs and tissues differ significantly in respect to mean value of wet/dry weight ratio.
Neural network for reconstructing the cross sections of coronary arteries from biplane angiograms

In this paper we describe a new approach for approximately reconstructing a 2D binary pattern from its two orthogonal 1D projections, under the constraint that the shape of the reconstructed binary pattern must represent a typical cross section of a partially occluded coronary artery. Our method consists of two parts: classification by a neural network, which selects the basic shape and orientation of the cross section from a low resolution version of the projections; and a heuristic search which reconstructs the cross sectional shape from the high resolution projection data.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Extended-chain crystals. VI. Annealing of polyethylene under elevated pressure

Abstract : Polyethylene crystals of different degree of perfection were annealed at 5.1 kb pressure for 20 hours at varying temperatures and analyzed by electron microscopy, thermal analysis, and density determination. No annealing took place until the temperature of annealing was close to the melting point of the starting material. Up to 235C increasing solid state annealing was observed. Mixed crystals of up to 0.989 g/cu cm density and 1,500 A thickness in the chain direction could be produced. At slightly higher temperature recrystallization to extended chain crystals rather than annealing occurred. Annealing at atmospheric pressure seems to be similar in nature, but takes much longer times for comparable perfection. From a comparison of annealing and crystallization it is concluded that polymer crystallization goes through a stage of internally imperfect order during which most of the observed chain extension occurs. Estimates of this outer imperfect layer of a growing crystal place its depth at 30,000 A. (Author)
Isolation and mass spectrometric characterization of dimeric adenine photoproducts in oligodeoxynucleotides.

UVC irradiation of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) at 254 nm generates two types of DNA photoproducts, AA and (AA)*, at adjacent adenine sites in DNA. Kumar et al. previously proved the structure of these adducts in dinucleoside monophosphates [Kumar, S., et al. (1987) Nucleic Acids Res. 15, 1199−1216; Kumar, S., et al. (1991) Nucleic Acids Res. 19, 2841−2847]. Product-ion spectra of ESI-produced [M − 2H]2- ions of the ODNs containing the dimeric adenine photoproducts show distinctive fragmentation that is informative of the structures of the photoproducts. The gas-phase cleavages of ODNs at sites of those photoproducts and thymine thymine or thymine adenine ((TA)*) photoproducts are analogous to cleavages induced by hot alkaline treatment. Nuclease-P1 digestions of ODNs containing dimeric adenine photoproducts give shorter pieces of ODNs bearing the photoproducts, which fragment under collisional activation conditions in a similar way to the large ODNs containing the photoproducts. The tandem mass spectrome...