cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeted muscle reinnervation at the time of amputation in the management of complex regional pain syndrome of the lower extremity.

BACKGROUND Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic, posttraumatic condition defined by severe pain and sensorimotor dysfunction. In cases of severe CRPS, patients request amputation, which may cause phantom limb pain (PLP) and residual limb pain (RLP). Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) reduces the risk of PLP and RLP. This report describes the use of TMR at the time of amputation in a series of patients with CRPS. PATIENTS AND METHODS Four patients (ages 38-71 years) underwent TMR at the time of amputation for CRPS between April 2018 and January 2019. Three patients had a history of trauma and surgery to the affected limb. All patients attempted pharmacologic and interventional treatments for 1-7 years before requesting amputation. Three patients underwent below-knee amputations (BKA) and one had an above-knee amputation (AKA). Target muscles included the soleus, gastrocnemius, and flexor hallucis longus (BKA), and semitendinosus, biceps femoris, and vastus medialis (AKA). Postoperative phantom and residual limb pain symptoms were collected via a telephone survey adapted from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). RESULTS There were no complications related to the TMR procedure. Average follow-up time was 12.75 months. Patients reported varied outcomes: two had RLP and PLP, one had RLP only, and one had PLP only. All patients reported successful prosthetic use. CONCLUSION TMR may be performed at the time of amputation for CRPS. Further study is necessary to determine the effect of TMR on pain, pain medication use, prosthesis use, and other domains of function.
Human-Aware Robot Task Planning Based on a Hierarchical Task Model

When robots work with humans for collaborative task, they need to plan their actions while taking humans’ actions into account. However, due to the complexity of the tasks and stochastic nature of human collaborators, it is quite challenging for the robot to efficiently collaborate with the humans. To address this challenge, in this letter, we first propose an algorithm to automatically construct a hierarchical task model from single-agent demonstrations. The hierarchical task model explicitly captures the sequential and parallel relationships of the task at all levels of abstraction. We then propose an optimization-based planner, which exploits the parallel relationships and prioritizes actions that are parallel to the humans’ actions. In such a way, potential spatial interfaces can be avoided, task completion time can be reduced, and human's satisfaction level can be improved. We conducted simulations of a robot arm collaborating with a human for several collaborative tasks. The comparison results with several baselines proved that our proposed planner is better in terms of efficiency, safety and human satisfaction.
Organic electron donors and terminal electron acceptors structure anaerobic microbial communities and interactions in a permanently stratified sulfidic lake

The extent to which nutrients structure microbial communities in permanently stratified lakes is not well understood. This study characterized microbial communities from the anoxic layers of the meromictic and sulfidic Fayetteville Green Lake (FGL), NY, and investigated the roles of organic electron donors and terminal electron acceptors in shaping microbial community structure and interactions. Bacterial communities from the permanently stratified layer below the chemocline (monimolimnion) and from enrichment cultures inoculated by lake sediments were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results showed that anoxygenic phototrophs dominated microbial communities in the upper monimolimnion (21 m), which harbored little diversity, whereas the most diverse communities resided at the bottom of the lake (~52 m). Organic electron donors explained 54% of the variation in the microbial community structure in aphotic cultures enriched on an array of organic electron donors and different inorganic electron acceptors. Electron acceptors only explained 10% of the variation, but were stronger drivers of community assembly in enrichment cultures supplemented with acetate or butyrate compared to the cultures amended by chitin, lignin or cellulose. We identified a range of habitat generalists and habitat specialists in both the water column and enrichment samples using Levins index. Network analyses of interactions among microbial groups revealed Chlorobi and sulfate reducers as central to microbial interactions in the upper monimolimnion, while Syntrophaceae and other fermenting organisms were more important in the lower monimolimnion. The presence of photosynthetic microbes and communities that degrade chitin and cellulose much below the chemocline supported the downward transport of microbes, organic matter and oxidants from the surface and the chemocline. Collectively, our data suggest niche partitioning of bacterial communities by interactions that depend on the availability of different organic electron donors and terminal electron acceptors. Thus, light, as well as the diversity and availability of chemical resources drive community structure and function in FGL, and likely in other stratified, meromictic lakes.
Aliasing artifact reduction in spiral real-time MRI.

Purpose To mitigate a common artifact in spiral real-time MRI, caused by aliasing of signal outside the desired FOV. This artifact frequently occurs in midsagittal speech real-time MRI. Methods Simulations were performed to determine the likely origin of the artifact. Two methods to mitigate the artifact are proposed. The first approach, denoted as "large FOV" (LF), keeps an FOV that is large enough to include the artifact signal source during reconstruction. The second approach, denoted as "estimation-subtraction" (ES), estimates the artifact signal source before subtracting a synthetic signal representing that source in multicoil k-space raw data. Twenty-five midsagittal speech-production real-time MRI data sets were used to evaluate both of the proposed methods. Reconstructions without and with corrections were evaluated by two expert readers using a 5-level Likert scale assessing artifact severity. Reconstruction time was also compared. Results The origin of the artifact was found to be a combination of gradient nonlinearity and imperfect anti-aliasing in spiral sampling. The LF and ES methods were both able to substantially reduce the artifact, with an averaged qualitative score improvement of 1.25 and 1.35 Likert levels for LF correction and ES correction, respectively. Average reconstruction time without correction, with LF correction, and with ES correction were 160.69 ± 1.56, 526.43 ± 5.17, and 171.47 ± 1.71 ms/frame. Conclusion Both proposed methods were able to reduce the spiral aliasing artifacts, with the ES-reduction method being more effective and more time efficient.
NAMS: An Environment for Visualization of Hidden Structures in Neural Activities

Neural activity monitoring has gained the interest and the attention of researchers and scientists since 1875. Therefore, various tools, devices, and methods are developed to study at the various levels the changes in brain activities that may be useful in diagnosing different disorders. So, within the scope of this investigation, these activities are modeled in the complex domain and analyzed with a customized software tool called Neural Activity Monitoring System (NAMS). The NAMS is an interactive software environment to analyze and monitor the coordinated complex network structures of the neural communities.
Transparent MgO for back-contact passivation of CdTe-based solar cells

The passivating effects of MgO have been studied by integrating into an existing superstrate CdTe thin film solar cell device architecture. When implemented as an emitter to replace the typical MZO, the device performance was below par, but improved PL and TRPL was detected with significant carrier lifetimes in comparison to the MZO devices. However, when integrated at the back, the PL signal was detected upon the illumination of excitation laser from the back. This has opened the possibility of probing the back of the CdTe thin film solar cells with transparent back contact with improved back passivation and a bifacial device structure. Further, the TRPL measurements suggests that the MgO shows passivating effects to a CdTe surface irrespective of method of deposition implemented.
Head-mounted accelerometry accurately detects prey capture in California sea lions

Detecting when and where animals feed is key to understanding their ecophysiology, but our ability to collect these data in marine mammals remains limited. Here, we test a tag-based accelerometry method to detect prey capture in California sea lions. From synchronized underwater video and acceleration data of two trained sea lions, we isolated a combined acceleration and Jerk pattern that reliably indicated prey capture in training datasets. We observed a stereotyped feeding motion in underwater video that included (1) mouth opening while approaching prey; (2) head deceleration to allow initial suction or prey engulfment, and (3) jaw closure. This motion (1–3) was repeated if a prey item was not initially engulfed. This stereotyped feeding motion informed a signal pattern phrase that accurately detected feeding in a training dataset. This phrase required (1) an initial heave-axis Jerk signal surpassing a threshold based on sampling rate; (2) an estimated dynamic surge-axis deceleration signal surpassing −0.7 g beginning within 0.2 s of the initial Jerk signal; and (3) an estimated dynamic surge-axis acceleration signal surpassing 1.0 g within 0.5 s of the beginning of the prior deceleration signal. We built an automated detector in MATLAB to identify and quantify these patterns. Blind tests of this detector on non-training datasets found high true-positive detection rates (91%–100%) with acceleration sampled at 50–333 Hz and low false-positive detection rates (0%–4.8%) at all sampling rates (16–333 Hz). At 32 Hz and below, true-positive detection rates decreased due to attenuation of signal detail. A detector optimized for an adult female was also accurate at 32–100 Hz when tested on an adult male’s data, suggesting the potential future use of a generalized detector in wild subjects. When tested on the same data, a published triaxial Jerk method produced high true-positive detection rates (91–100%) and low-to-moderate false-positive detection rates (15–43%) at ≥ 32 Hz. Using our detector, larger prey elicited longer prey capture duration in both animals at almost all sampling rates 32 Hz or faster. We conclude that this method can accurately detect feeding and estimate relative prey length in California sea lions.
A STUDY OF FORENSIC IMAGING IN THE ABSENCE OF WRITE-BLOCKERS

Best practices in digital forensics demand the use of write-blockers when creating forensic images of digital media, and this has been a core tenet of computer forensics training for decades. The practice is so ingrained that the integrity of images created without a write-blocker are immediately suspect. This paper describes a research framework that compares forensic images acquired with and without utilizing write-blockers in order to understand the extent of the differences, if any, in the resultant forensic copies. We specifically address whether differences are superficial or evidentiary, and we discuss the impact of admitting evidence acquired without write blocking. The experiments compare the changes made to a hard drive and flash drive when imaged and examined with a Windows-based forensics workstation.
Funk, Casimir (1884–1967)

This article has no abstract. Keywords: Funk, Casimir (active factor in pure crystalline form); dietary deficiencies of “vital amines”
Chi‐Square Tests

A chi-square test investigates whether observed data are consistent with a proposed probability model. Best-known chi-square statistics are the Pearson statistic and the likelihood-ratio statistic. This article also mentions various other statistics that have limiting chi-square distributions, all of which are special cases of the power divergence statistic. The article begins by introducing simple goodness-of-fit tests, then discusses a variety of chi-square statistics. Chi-square tests are then presented that apply with fixed intervals or with random intervals. Applications are then discussed for categorical data, such as testing independence. Extensions are discussed for small samples and sparse tables, and for correlated responses and complex surveys. Keywords: categorical data; contingency tables; correlated responses; goodness of fit; likelihood-ratio statistic; Pearson statistic; randomization tests; sparse data
Optimal configuration of compute nodes for synthetic aperture radar processing

Embedded systems often must adhere to strict size, weight, and power (SWAP) constraints and yet provide tremendous computational throughput. Increasing the difficulty of this challenge, there is a trend to utilize commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components in the design of such systems to reduce both total cost and time to market. Employment of COTS components also promotes standardization and permits a more generalized approach to system evaluation and design than do systems designed at the applicatiospecific-integrated-circuit (ASIC) level. The computationally intensive application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is by nature a high-performance embedded application that lends itself to parallelization. A system performance model, in the context of SWAP, is developed based on mathematical programming. This work proposes an optimization technique using a combination of constrained nonlinear and integer programming.
Parametric verification of address space separation

The address translation subsystem of operating systems, hypervisors, and virtual machine monitors must correctly enforce address space separation in the presence of adversaries. The size, and hierarchical nesting, of the data structures over which such systems operate raise challenges for automated model checking techniques to be fruitfully applied to them. We address this problem by developing a sound and complete parametric verification technique that achieves the best possible reduction in model size. Our results significantly generalize prior work on this topic, and bring interesting systems within the scope of analysis. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach by modeling shadow paging mechanisms of Xen version 3.0.3 and ShadowVisor, a research hypervisor developed for the x86 platform.
Anomalous right ventricular muscles: A clinicopathologic study

Abstract Six cases of anomalous muscle bundles are reported and compared to 52 cases collected from the literature. A striking association of this anomaly with ventricular septal defect (56 per cent) and pulmonic stenosis (17 per cent) was noted in the previously reported cases. Four of the 6 cases in this report had a ventricular septal defect; none had pulmonic stenosis. None of the anomalous muscles was obstructive and none was diagnosed antemortem, although, in retrospect, the diagnosis could have been made from the selective right ventricular angiocardiogram. All patients but 1 were under 2 months of age, whereas in the earlier reports in which the muscles were obstructive, the patients were uniformly older. Gross pathologic examination showed large whorls of muscle that crossed the cavity of the right ventricle from apex to crista supraventricularis. Microscopically, the bundles were composed of normal myocardium with the minor degenerative changes often found in congenital heart disease. It is suggested that these muscles, by deranging flow through the primitive ventricle, may be a cause of the associated ventricular septal defect or pulmonic stenosis.
A novel CP patch antenna with a simple feed structure

A novel high gain circularly polarized (CP) patch antenna with a simple feed structure was developed. The CP antenna employs a circular patch with a slot and two stubs. A feed aperture was located on a ground plate at a 45/spl deg/ to the microstrip feed line. The antenna consists of three layers including a feed structure, a foam layer and a radiation patch. The measured results show that CP gain of the antenna is 10.28 dBi with 7.2% 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth.
Development and evaluation of public health informatics at University of Washington.

Public Health Informatics (PHI) education began at the University of Washington (UW) with a Summer Institute in 1995. The Biomedical and Health Informatics graduate program, which is housed in the School of Medicine, is an interdisciplinary, multi-school program. It demonstrates the UW's cooperative efforts in advancing informatics, encompassing the schools of public health, medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, information and graduate schools in computer science. This article provides an overview of the developmental milestones related to activities in PHI and describes the evaluation strategy and assessment plan for PHI training at the UW (http://phig.washington.edu).
Fluid mass sources and point forces in linear elastic diffusive solids

Abstract Solutions for the point force and line load suddenly applied in a linear elstic fluid-infiltrated porous solid are rederived in a manner that emphasizes the relation to solutions for the homogeneous diffusion equation. Specifically, the stress, displacement, and pore pressure due to instantaneous and continuous injection of fluid mass are obtained. These are differentiated to yield solutions for fluid mass dipoles. Finally, the desired solutions are obtained by adding a constant multiple of the continuous dipole solution to the pure elasticity solution based on the undrained (short-time) moduli.
Palaeomagnetic polarity in a 930-m core from Searles valley, California

Palaeomagnetic polarity to the base of the Mammoth subchron (3.15 Myr) has been determined in a core of lacustrine sediments from ancient Searles Lake. The magnetostratigraphy provides a chronological framework for palynological, tephrochronological and palaeoecological studies of the core. Five zones of inclination are found that are not in the polarity time scale of Mankinen and Dalrymple. Three of the zones may correlate with K–Ar-dated lava flows of that polarity elsewhere, and the other two may be new discoveries.
MEASUREMENTS OF THE VERTICAL GEOMAGNETIC FIELD GRADIENT BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN

Simultaneous measurements made on an ice island and about 1000 ft. below show that magnetic anomalies can be detected in the presence of large time variations of the magnetic field. Attenuation and phase lag of time variations at depth are measurable but do not limit the utilization of the vertical gradient of geomagnetic total intensity for defining crustal anomalies.
LEAF SURFACE AND HISTOLOGICAL PERTURBATIONS OF LEAVES OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS AND HELIANTHUS ANNUUS AFTER EXPOSURE TO SIMULATED ACID RAIN

Initial injury to adaxial leaf surfaces of Phaseolus vulgaris and Helianthus annuus occurred near trichomes and stomata after exposure to simulated sulfate acid rain. Lesion frequency was not correlated with density of either stomata or trichomes but was correlated with degree of leaf expansion. The number of lesions per unit area increased with total leaf area. Results suggest that characteristics of the leaf indumentum such as development of trichomes and guard cells and/or cuticle thickness near these structures may be involved in lesion development. Adaxial epidermal cell collapse was the first event in lesion development. Palisade cells and eventually spongy mesophyll cells collapsed after continued, daily exposure to simulated rain of low pH. Lesion development on Phaseolus vulgaris followed a specific course of events after exposure to simulated rain of known composition, application rate, drop size frequency, drop velocities, and frequency of exposures. These results allow development of further experiments to observe accurately other parameters, such as nutrient inputs and nutrient leaching from foliage, after exposure to simulated sulfate acid rain.
Fimbriae‐mediated outer membrane vesicle production and invasion of Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a keystone periopathogen that plays an essential role in the progress of periodontitis. Like other gram-negative bacteria, the ability of P. gingivalis to produce outer membrane vesicles is a strategy used to interact with, and survive within its biological niches. Here we compared the protein components associated with vesicles derived from a fimbriated strain (33277) and an afimbriated strain (W83) of P. gingivalis using proteomic analyses. Some well-known virulence factors were identified in vesicles from both strains, such as gingipains and hemagglutinin. In contrast, FimC, FimD, and FimE, minor components of long fimbriae were found exclusively in 33277 vesicles, while proteins with a tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain were unique to W83 vesicles. We found that significantly more 33277 than W83 vesicles were internalized into human oral keratinocytes and gingival fibroblasts. Interestingly, FimA, a well-known adhesin responsible for the attachment and invasion of P. gingivalis into host cells, was not essential for the invasive capabilities of P. gingivalis vesicles. Rather minor components of long fimbriae were required for an efficient invasive activity of vesicles. The most striking finding was that P. gingivalis strains lacking or having a reduced FimA expression showed a significant reduction in vesiculation. These results suggest that production and pathogenicity of P. gingivalis vesicles may largely depend on expression of the fim locus, and that the integration of vesicle production and pathogenicity with fimbrial expression may allow P. gingivalis to confer upon itself certain functional advantages.
Thermal helium clusters at 3.2 Kelvin in classical and semiclassical simulations

The thermodynamic stability of4He4–13 at 3.2 K is investigated with the classical Monte Carlo method, with the semiclassical path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) method, and with the semiclassical all-order many-body method. In the all-order many-body simulation the dipole-dipole approximation including short-range correction is used. The resulting stability plots are discussed and related to recent TOF experiments by Stephens and King. It is found that with classical Monte Carlo of course the characteristics of the measured mass spectrum cannot be resolved. With PIMC, switching on more and more quantum mechanics. by raising the number of virtual time steps results in more structure in the stability plot, but this did not lead to sufficient agreement with the TOF experiment. Only the all-order many-body method resolved the characteristic structures of the measured mass spectrum, including magic numbers. The result shows the influence of quantum statistics and quantum mechanics on the stability of small neutral helium clusters.
Integrating social capital into a park-use and active-living framework.

Background Parks have been proposed as a feature of the built environment that may promote increased physical activity. Little, if any, research has investigated the role of the park social environment in promoting physical activity within parks, however. Purpose To examine whether social capital is a collective feature of the park environment and whether it is associated with park use and park-based physical activity. Methods Adult park users ( n =222) were surveyed in 27 neighborhood parks in New Orleans LA in July–August 2008. Direct observation methods were used to count the numbers and activity levels of all park users in these parks on weekdays during the hours of 4:00–7:00 pm . Multilevel linear regression models were used to calculate the intraclass correlation (ICC), which measures the variation in perceived social capital attributable to differences among parks and to test whether park use and physical activity outcomes differed between parks with high versus low levels of social capital. Analyses were conducted in 2009–2010. Results In study parks, 27% of perceived social capital was attributable to differences among parks (ICC=0.27). Parks with higher levels of social capital had higher daily numbers of observed park users (42.5 vs 12.1, p =0.0044) and had more energy expended within the park (3200.3 vs 721.2 MET-minutes across all park users, p =0.0087). Conclusions Interventions to improve park social environments should be conducted to determine if they promote increased physical activity among park users.
Robust iterative methods for solution of transport problems with flow: a block two-level preconditioned Schwarz-domain decomposition method for solution of nonlinear viscous flow problems

Abstract Efficient parallel computation of complex flows is essential to bring modern computer power to bear on fluid calculations where complicated physical descriptions are required. We have developed an efficient, parallel computational method for solving generalized Stokes flow problems that arise when operator splitting of the velocity and pressure fields is used in Newton's method for solution of nonlinear, steady-state flow problems. The key to the parallelization is the incorporation of a preconditioned iterative matrix solution. The linear system that results from finite element discretization of the generalized Stokes problem is asymmetric, indefinite, and block singular. At each Newton step, this system is solved using an algorithm that combines a parallel preconditioner with a Krylov subspace method. The parallel preconditioner, called the block complement and additive levels method (BCALM) preconditioner, is based on treating pressure unknowns separately from the velocities and gradients. A pressure preconditioner is constructed from factorization of the Schur complement of the pressures using a Jacobi-type iteration. The viscous operator is preconditioned using the additive Schwarz method. The resulting iterative method is demonstrated to have high parallel efficiency, subject to effective domain decomposition. The iterative solver is developed in the context of simulation of natural convection modeled by the Boussnesq approximation. For natural convection in a rectangular cavity heated from the sides, in the limit of high Grashof number, the linear system that arises during solution for steady state using Newton's method is stiff, asymmetric and indefinite. For this model problem, the preconditioner is shown to be robust and the overall iterative solution is highly efficient relative to other solution methods.
Predicting time to threshold for initiating antiretroviral treatment to evaluate cost of treatment as prevention of human immunodeficiency virus

The goal of the paper is to predict the additional amount of antiretroviral treatment that would be required to implement a policy of treating all human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected people at the time of detection of infection rather than at the time that their CD4 T-lymphocyte counts are observed to be below a threshold-the current standard of care. We describe a sampling-based inverse prediction method for predicting time from HIV infection to attainment of the CD4 cell threshold and apply it to a set of treatment naive HIV-infected subjects in a village in Botswana who participated in a household survey that collected cross-sectional CD4 cell counts. The inferential target of interest is the population level mean time to reaching the CD4 cell-based treatment threshold in this group of subjects. To address the challenges arising from the fact that these subjects dates of HIV infection are unknown we make use of data from an auxiliary cohort study of subjects enrolled shortly after HIV infection in which CD4 cell counts were measured over time. We use a multiple-imputation framework to combine across the different sources of data and we discuss how the methods compensate for the length-biased sampling that is inherent in cross-sectional screening procedures such as household surveys. We comment on how the results bear on analyses of costs of implementation of treatment-for-prevention use of antiretroviral drugs in HIV prevention interventions.
Endosperm Type Effects on Biomass Production and on Stalk and Root Quality in Sweet Corn

In maize (Zea mays L.), a strong reproductive (grain) sink has been associated with increased stalk and root lodging. A weak reproductive sink may result in reduced production of photosynthate. Endosperm mutants sugary1 (su1) and shrunken2 (sh2) reduce the strength of the reproductive sink. Our objective was to examine stalk and root quality, biomass production, and reproductive sink size using su1 and sh2 in near-isogenic backgrounds. In 1989 and 1990, seed of two half-diallels made from six inbreds was planted
Introspection, Deduction, and Guesswork in Policy Evaluation

There is a need for more use of introspection, deduction, and guesswork in policy/pro gram evaluation to supplement the possible overemphasis on statistical/behavioral analysis. Introspective interviewing of knowledgeable insiders can often determine the magnitude of relations more meaningfully than statistical analysis can in view of reciprocal causation, spurious causation, multicollinearity, and other confounding factors. Deduction from empirically validated premises avoids the problem of lack of an experimental group, a control group, after-data, before-data, bureaucratic inertia, and damages from experimenting. Guesswork can be combined with sensitivity analysis to determine the effects of guesses and missing information on bottom-line conclusions where statistical analysis, introspective authority, or deduction is questionable.
A genetic technique to identify the diet of cownose rays, Rhinoptera bonasus: analysis of shellfish prey items from North Carolina and Virginia

Cownose rays are implicated in the consumption of commercially important shellfish on the U.S. East Coast. We tested this assumption by developing a molecular technique for species identification from cownose ray gut contents. Digestive tracts sampled from 33 rays in Pamlico Sound, NC and Chesapeake Bay, VA contained pieces of partially-digested tissue, well-digested tissue, fluid, and minute shell fragments which made visual identification to the species level nearly impossible. We sequenced the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) for seven locally acquired bivalve species, chosen for their commercial and ecological importance in NC and VA. Sequences were used to design species-specific primers for each bivalve species to amplify polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. We designed primers such that PCR products were sufficiently different in size to be distinguishable from one another when resolved on an agarose gel, and multiplexing of several species in one reaction was possible. Digestive tract sample testing revealed that cownose rays in Chesapeake Bay ate stout tagelus and soft shell clams. There was no evidence of the rays in the study consuming commercially important oysters, hard clams, and bay scallops. Further sampling over an extended period of time and additional locations is required to confirm these results. Our diagnostic tests could easily be expanded to elucidate the impact of cownose ray predation on prey populations.
Ciprofibrate in the therapy of type II hypercholesterolemia. A double-blind trial.

Abstract The hypolipidemic efficacy of ciprofibrate was evaluated in patients with type II hypercholesterolemia. Patients were randomized to placebo or ciprofibrate (50 mg or 100 mg/day) and, after a 6-week baseline period, received medication for a period of 12 weeks. Blood samples were analyzed every 2 weeks. Twenty patients completed the study (4 on placebo, 7 on 50 mg/day, and 9 on 100 mg/day ciprofibrate). The drug was well tolerated in all patients. Lipid values in the patients on active drug decreased and attained stable values after 4 weeks of treatment. Compared to baseline values, total and LDL cholesterol decreased 11% and 13% on the 50-mg dose whereas HDL increased 8%. Plasma triglyceride fell by 22%. In patients receiving 100 mg ciprofibrate, total and LDL cholesterol fell by 20% (334 → 269 mg/dl) and 24% (262 → 198 mg/dl), respectively. HDL increased 9.8% (51 → 56 mg/dl) and triglyceride decreased by 30% (102 → 69 mg/dl). Values in the placebo group remained stable. We conclude that once daily therapy with 100 mg ciprofibrate is effective in reducing LDL levels in patients with type II hypercholesterolemia (mainly heterozygous FH) and that this decrease is paralleled by small rises in HDL.
Knowledge versus ignorance as bargaining strategies: The impact of knowledge about other's information level☆

Abstract In negotiation, knowledge of another party's payoff information level affects the behavior of bargainers. Presumably, more information is an advantage. On the other hand, naive bargainers often do well. In this experiment bargainers got different levels of information. Sellers with either no information or information and a warning got higher prices than sellers with information only. These factors did not help buyers.
Transient co-expression of post-transcriptional gene silencing suppressors and β-glucuronidase in harvested lettuce leaf tissue does not improve recombinant protein accumulation in planta

Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer was used to co-express three virus-derived post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) suppressors, P19 from tomato bushy stunt virus and two species of helper component proteinase (HcPro) from tobacco etch virus (TEV) and turnip mosaic virus, with β-glucuronidase (GUS) in harvested lettuce leaf tissue to investigate whether GUS accumulation increases in the presence of PTGS suppressors. Co-expression incubations were 3-5 days at 4 and 22°C. GUS activity and leaf viability were measured after incubation. Co-expression of PTGS suppressors did not elevate GUS expression levels. Under certain incubation conditions, co-expression of TEV HcPro significantly lowered transient GUS expression and was detrimental to leaf viability, suggesting that expression of PTGS silencers may have a negative effect on transient expression levels that outweighs any effects of PTGS suppression in harvested leaf tissues.
Who’s asking the important questions? Sexual topics discussed among young pregnant couples

The aim was to examine gender differences in sexual risk communication among young couples and factors influencing communication. Sample consisted of 296 young pregnant couples. We assessed individual, interpersonal, and community factors on sexual risk communication. The Actor-Partner Independence Model was used to assess actor and partner effects on sexual risk communication. For actor effects, being female, older, not being Hispanic, and higher condom use self-efficacy was associated with sexual risk communication. The significant partner effect was avoidant romantic attachment. Gender interactions were significant for high risk behaviors and family functioning. High risk behaviors and family functioning were associated with sexual risk communication for females but not for males. The study emphasizes the need to promote sexual risk communication among young high risk couples, particularly for males. Family support could serve as a catalyst for sexual risk communication and other sexual protective behaviors among young couples.
A three-dimensional head-and-neck phantom for validation of multimodality deformable image registration for adaptive radiotherapy.

Purpose: To develop a three-dimensional (3D) deformable head-and-neck (H&N) phantom with realistic tissue contrast for both kilovoltage (kV) and megavoltage (MV) imaging modalities and use it to objectively evaluate deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms. Methods: The phantom represents H&N patient anatomy. It is constructed from thermoplastic, which becomes pliable in boiling water, and hardened epoxy resin. Using a system of additives, the Hounsfield unit (HU) values of these materials were tuned to mimic anatomy for both kV and MV imaging. The phantom opens along a sagittal midsection to reveal radiotransparent markers, which were used to characterize the phantom deformation. The deformed and undeformed phantoms were scanned with kV and MV imaging modalities. Additionally, a calibration curve was created to change the HUs of the MV scans to be similar to kV HUs, (MC). The extracted ground-truth deformation was then compared to the results of two commercially available DIR algorithms, from Velocity Medical Solutions and mim software. Results: The phantom produced a 3D deformation, representing neck flexion, with a magnitude of up to 8 mm and was able to represent tissue HUs for both kV and MV imaging modalities. The two tested deformation algorithms yielded vastly different results. For kV–kV registration, mim produced mean and maximum errors of 1.8 and 11.5 mm, respectively. These same numbers for Velocity were 2.4 and 7.1 mm, respectively. For MV–MV, kV–MV, and kV–MC Velocity produced similar mean and maximum error values. mim, however, produced gross errors for all three of these scenarios, with maximum errors ranging from 33.4 to 41.6 mm. Conclusions: The application of DIR across different imaging modalities is particularly difficult, due to differences in tissue HUs and the presence of imaging artifacts. For this reason, DIR algorithms must be validated specifically for this purpose. The developed H&N phantom is an effective tool for this purpose.
Thermolysis of Cp(CO)nM-CH(CH3)C6H5 (n =2, M Fe, Ru; n = 3, M Mo, W). Some vertical trends in transition metalalkyl bond dissociation energies

Abstract Elucidation of the products and kinetics of thermolysis of the series of compounds, CP(CO)nM-CH(CH3)C6H5 (n = 2, M  Fe, Ru; n = 3, M  Mo, W), in benzene, in the absence and presence of free radical traps, yielded the following values of ΔH‡ (kcal/mol) for the homolytic bond dissociation reactions, Cp(CO)nM-CH(CH3)C6H5 → Cp(CO)nM· + ·CH(CH3)C6H5: Fe, 29.6; Ru, 34.6; Mo, 26.6; W, 30.6. The corresponding M-CH(CH3)C6H5 bond dissociation energies were deduced to be 28, 33, 25 and 29 kcal/mol, respectively.
Comparison of muscarinic and beta adrenergic receptors between bovine peripheral lung and tracheal smooth muscles a striking difference in the receptor concentration

This study was undertaken to compare the activity of muscarinic and beta adrenergic receptors in bovine peripheral lung to the corresponding receptor activity in tracheal smooth muscle. We used [3H] quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) and [3H]dihydroalprenolol (DHA) to measure muscarinic and beta receptor activity, respectively. Binding to QNB and DHA at 25 degrees C was rapid, reversible, saturable and of high affinity. The order of potency for cholinergic and adrenergic agents competing for binding was compatible with muscarinic and beta 2 adrenergic potencies. We found that the concentration of muscarinic receptor binding sites was 37-fold greater in the tracheal muscle preparation (2805 +/- 309 fmol/mg protein) than in the peripheral lung preparation (76 +/- 28 fmol/mg protein). Unlike muscarinic receptors, the lung contained 8-fold higher concentration of the beta adrenergic receptors than did the tracheal muscle (1588 +/- 417 vs. 199 +/- 42 fmol/mg protein). The dissociation constant or the agonist's inhibitory constant (Ki) for either receptor binding site, however, was not significantly different between the two tissues. Furthermore, in vitro contraction studies showed that the response of tracheal muscle strips to methacholine was markedly greater than the response of peripheral lung strips, a finding consistent with the QNB binding result. The muscle but not the peripheral lung strip exhibited a relaxing response to epinephrine. Our data indicate a striking quantitative difference in muscarinic and beta adrenergic receptors between lung tissue and tracheal muscle, and that each receptor in the lung is qualitatively similar to the corresponding receptor in the muscle.
Psychiatric comorbidity in childhood post traumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychiatric comorbidity between children presenting with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatized children not developing this disorder. DESIGN: One-hundred and seventeen severely maltreated children were examined for evidence of PTSD. Analyses probed for diagnostic relationship, between PTSD and other formal diagnoses on The Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, Revised Version (DICA-CR). PARTICIPANTS: All children presented before a juvenile/family court due to severe child maltreatment and psychological trauma. These children had been ordered removed from parental custody due to the trauma suffered by the child. For the purposes of analyses, this entire group of maltreated and traumatized children were dichotomized into a PTSD group and a non-PTSD group. Thirty-five percent (41 of 117) of the children met strict DICA criteria for PTSD. MEASUREMENTS: The children were examined by means of a structured clinical interview. The Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, revised version (DICA-Child-R), along with a more general psychiatric interview. The DICA-Child-R responses provided the only determination of whether the children met formal PTSD criteria. Data gathering on the sample also included a comprehensive review of risk factors for the development of PTSD, including demographics, and type(s) of trauma suffered. RESULTS: Findings revealed that the PTSD diagnosis was significantly correlated with: 1. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 2. Other anxiety disorders 3. Brief Psychotic Disorder or Psychotic Disorder NOS 4. The presence of suicidal ideation 5. A trend toward mood disorders. There were no differences between the two samples on measures of age, race, and family income. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric PTSD is a severe psychiatric disorder. In this study, PTSD was statistically related to other formal psychiatric diagnoses. The investigators attended to the issues relating to true comorbidity versus inaccurate diagnosis secondary to symptom overlap between different conditions. Applying strict criteria, the results suggest that the presence of PTSD in children confers a substantial likelihood of other formal diagnosis. Moreover, the symptom of suicidal ideation was overrepresented among PTSD subjects. Given these additional conditions, more extensive evaluation and specialized, multi-modal treatment should be considered in children presenting with PTSD. Language: en
Vaccinia virus RNA helicase: an essential enzyme related to the DE-H family of RNA-dependent NTPases.

Abstract Three distinct nucleic acid-dependent ATPases are packaged within infectious vaccinia virus particles; one of these enzymes (nucleoside triphosphate phosphohydrolase II or NPH-II) is activated by single-stranded RNA. Purified NPH-II is now shown to be an NTP-dependent RNA helicase. RNA unwinding requires a divalent cation and any one of the eight common ribo- or deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. The enzyme acts catalytically to displace an estimated 10-fold molar excess of duplex RNA under in vitro reaction conditions. NPH-II binds to single-stranded RNA. Turnover of the bound enzyme is stimulated by and coupled to hydrolysis of NTP. Photocrosslinking of radiolabeled RNA to NPH-II results in label transfer to a single 73-kDa polypeptide. The sedimentation properties of the helicase are consistent with NPH-II being a monomer of this protein. Immunoblotting experiments identify NPH-II as the product of the vaccinia virus I8 gene. The I8-encoded protein displays extensive sequence similarity to members of the DE-H family of RNA-dependent NTPases. Mutations in the NPH-II gene [Fathi, Z. & Condit, R.C. (1991) Virology 181, 258-272] define the vaccinia helicase as essential for virus replication in vivo. Encapsidation of NPH-II in the virus particle suggests a role for the enzyme in synthesis of early messenger RNAs by the virion-associated transcription machinery.
Ideological pluralism and revisionism in small (and micro) states: the erection of the Caribbean education policy space

This paper focuses on the socialist underpinnings of education policies in three small (and micro) states: Guyana, Jamaica and Grenada. It explores the role of education underneath ideological pluralism in constructing socialist citizens through cooperative socialism in Guyana, democratic socialism in Jamaica and revolutionary socialism in Grenada. The successive disintegration of ideological pluralism in these three countries paved the way for post-socialist transformations regionally as CARICOM members found solace in regional integration and the creation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. With the demise of these socialist experiments, this paper considers how CARICOM, as a trans-regional regime, constructed the Caribbean Educational Policy Space premised upon the ideal Caribbean person to function within the Caribbean Single Market erected in 2006.
An Effective Deconvolution Algorithm for Time-Domain Near-Field ISAR Imaging

In this paper, we present a deconvolution algorithm for time-domain near-field ISAR imaging. Due to its impulse-like waveform, the backscattering waveform from an electrically large conducting sphere is adopted as the system response to restore the impulse response, and to reconstruct the images. The deconvolution is discretized into a matrix equation, and the least-squares solution is implemented by the conjugate gradient method. Furthermore, the Coifman wavelet (Coiflets) of the 6th order is employed to replace the system function of the 1st and 3rd derivatives of a Gaussian function. The resulting images are clean with most smearing removed. Owing to the orthogonality and compact support of the Coiflets, the deconvolution process is accelerated 22 times without sacrificing the image quality
Multiscale dislocation dynamics analyses of laser shock peening in silicon single crystals

Although laser shock peening (LSP) has been applied in metals for property enhancement for a long time, its application on brittle materials has not been investigated so far. The present work is the first computational attempt to show that strong dislocation activity can be generated in silicon crystal by a modified LSP process. Multiscale dislocation dynamics plasticity (MDDP) simulations are conducted to predict the dislocation structure and stress/strain distribution in silicon crystal during LSP. In the modified LSP process, dislocation mobility of silicon and shock pressure is sufficiently high to generate and transport dislocation. The relationships between dislocation activities, the laser processing conditions and ablative coating material are systematically investigated. It is found that dislocation density, dislocation multiplication rate, and dislocation microstructure strongly depend on LSP processing conditions. This LSP process can also be applied in other brittle materials.
Consciousness, self-organization, and the process-substratum relation: Rethinking nonreductive physicalism

Knowing only what is empirically knowable can't by itself entail knowledge of what consciousness "is like." But if dualism is to be avoided, the question arises: how can a process be completely empirically unobservable when all of its components are completely observable? The recently emerging theory of self-organization offers resources with which to resolve this problem: Consciousness can be an empirically unobservable process because the emotions motivating attention are experienced only from the perspective of the one whose phenomenal states are executed by the self-organizing processes which themselves constitute the consciousness. I argue that a self-organizing process can differ from the sum of its (empirically observable) substrata because, rather than just being realized by them, it actively rearranges the background conditions under which alternative component causal sequences can realize the self-organizing pattern into the future.