cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multimodality Imaging of the Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are uncommon pancreatic masses which arise from amine precursor and uptake decarboxylation cells. They are classified as functional or nonfunctional based on the associated clinical symptoms. Insulinomas and gastrinomas are the most common functional tumors. PNETs are also classified based on their biologic behavior as benign or malignant. While most PNETs are sporadic, a small percentage are associated with syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, and are usually multiple in those cases. On imaging, most PNETs are circumscribed and hypervascular masses; however, larger tumors are often heterogeneous. The presence of calcification, cystic degeneration, and necrosis increases the likelihood of malignancy and carries a poor prognosis. Metastases have similar imaging appearance to the primary lesion and are most commonly seen in the liver, locoregional lymph nodes, and bone. This article reviews the pathologic and radiologic features of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors as well as imaging mimics and their distinguishing features.
‘We’re gonna be addressing your Pepsi use’: How Recovery limits Methadone Maintenance Treatment’s ability to help people in the era of overdose

Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) in the United States has recently adopted an approach based on the principles of the Recovery movement — a view of treatment informed by addiction-as-disease models but also incorporating social, psychological, and spiritual components. Although organizations that administer drug treatment services claim that the shift represents a more client-centered, individualistic approach, it may not meet the needs of the many individuals who use MMT to reduce the harms of drug use, like overdose, rather than as a way to become abstinent. In this article, I use interview data from treatment providers to argue against institutional claims of Recovery as an individualistic model. My research demonstrates how — despite the wide variety of treatment goals among people on MMT — the Recovery discourse positions and organizes treatment strictly as abstinence-based, self-help. Moreover, I show how the Recovery model serves as the justification for an expansion of clinics’ ability to surveil and intervene in aspects of people’s lives which had previously been seen as outside of MMT’s purview, including nutrition, public service, and spirituality. In conclusion, I argue that Recovery restricts MMT’s ability to reduce harms, like overdose, in the lives of people who use drugs, and recommend that MMT adopt a more open-ended, low-threshold approach to treatment.
Case Study: Using a Combined Laboratory, Field, and Modeling Approach to Assess Oil Spill Impacts

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill was the largest oil spill in US history, requiring an assessment of injuries to nearshore habitats and estuarine organisms. Developing a model of appropriate complexity is critical in an environmental assessment; models should be complex enough to adequately address the assessment objectives without being more complex than is needed. We present an approach that starts with a sensitivity analysis of an initial assumption-based model to prioritize model parameters and focus research efforts to reduce model uncertainty. We then develop a targeted research strategy that utilized laboratory, field, and intermediate modeling efforts to parameterize a final set of models of varying complexity to evaluate risk. We demonstrate this process in a case study of the small estuarine fish, the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), exposed to weathered oil in Barataria Bay, LA, following the DWH oil spill.
Monitoring the economy

This article argues that individuals should monitor the economy most during times of economic and political uncertainty or hardship. To test the argument, we investigate macrolevel factors that sha...
The dimensions of episodic simulation.

Abstract Human adults possess the extraordinary ability to produce mental imagery about a wide variety of non-occurrent events. We can, for example, simulate the perception of different places, different times, different possibilities, or others’ perspectives. Findings from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience suggest that all of these capacities rely on the same neuro-cognitive mechanism: episodic simulation. This ability produces mental imagery by constructively recombining elements of past experiences to simulate event representations. However, if episodic simulation indeed produces mental imagery, it remains unclear how the non-imagistic aspects of its outputs become cognitively determined. In this article, I argue that there are (at least) four such non-imagistic ‘dimensions’ of episodic simulation: specificity, temporal orientation, subjectivity, and factuality. Further, I propose an account of the mechanisms which might be responsible for determining where a given output of episodic simulation falls within this dimensional space. According to this view, episodic simulation relies on propositional ‘scope-operators’ either deployed as inputs to the simulation process itself or produced by post-hoc monitoring processes operating over its outputs. This view has consequences for how we should view the operation, development, and evolution of episodic simulation.
Monitoring Narrow Mangrove Stands in Baja California Sur, Mexico Using Linear Spectral Unmixing

Small stands of mangrove trees are difficult to detect and monitor using satellite remote sensing because the width of the narrow strips of vegetation are typically much smaller than the spatial re...
Palliative Care in a Death-Denying Culture: Exploring Barriers to Timely Palliative Efforts for Heart Failure Patients in the Primary Care Setting.

Context:Heart failure (HF) is a complex, life-limiting disease that is prevalent and burdensome. All major cardiology societies and international clinical practice guidelines recommend the integrat...
11 – Motor Synergy

Synergy means “work together” in Greek. Hence, two requirements have to be met in order for this word to be applicable to an action. First, more than one element has to take part in any synergy. Second, the elements have to do something together, act towards a common goal. The concept of “‘synergy”’ is used in many fields of knowledge. We limit our discussion to motor synergies, that is, to the synergetic action of elements within the system for movement production such as limbs, joints, digits, muscles, motor units, etc. In motor control, the first of the above requirements links the word synergy to such concepts as redundancy and abundance described in the previous chapter ( Chapter 10). The second requirement implies that motor synergies are always task-specific or intention-specific: They work towards an identifiable goal (although the term synergy is sometimes used in a meaning that does not imply a goal, see Synergy-A in Section 11.2.1).
On properties of the spherical mixed vector p-spin model

This paper studies properties of the mixed spherical vector p-spin model. At zero temperature, we establish and investigate a Parisi type formula for the ground state energy. At finite temperature, we provide some properties of minimizers of the Crisanti-Sommers formula recently obtained by Justin Ko. In particular, we extend some of the one-dimensional Parisi measure results of Auffinger-Chen to the vector case.
Digital Storytelling Project for Language Teachers: Using Personal Narratives and Technology for Authentic Learning Experience

This chapter will present a model of a digital storytelling project that is designed to help language teachers experience what their students would go through in the digital storytelling process. The model will give teachers an opportunity to reflect on the experience and plan for the implementation of the digital storytelling in their teachings. The chapter discusses concepts of new literacy, semiotics, and technology for language learning, and importance of teacher perspectives in relation to the presented model. The discussion also reminds readers that the ultimate goal of the teacher digital storytelling project is to support authentic and meaningful learning of their students, including English language learners (ELLs) and bilingual students. The digital storytelling approach is used to acknowledge diversity and promote culturally responsive teaching in a language class. Reading, writing, and sharing personal narratives in the digital storytelling offer opportunities to ELLs or bilingual students to understand the context, make voices, and contribute to a learning community
Eigenvalues of the sum and product of anticommuting matrices

Improving on a recent result of Zhong, we characterize the eigenvalues of AB and A+B for square matrices A, B satisfying AB+BA=0.
Changes in Persistence of Performance Over Time

Research Summary I revisit a research tradition laying out trends in persistence of performance, to create shared facts to inform theory development. I build on prior work in Strategy by: (a) bringing together two distinct measures of persistence of performance and explaining how they complement each other and help distinguish theories, (b) extending the time series from those prior studies and applying modern statistical improvements to demonstrate new patterns. Specifically, while I find ordinal persistence increased monotonically since the 1980s, autocorrelation of performance was not monotonic and is now approaching lows from the mid‐1990s. These patterns are inconsistent with mechanisms raised in the debate about declining competition. I suggest that these facts can inspire Strategy theory, which would contribute to that debate. Managerial Summary A central concern of managers is how precarious is their position, or for new ventures, whether they will be able to displace current leading firms. Even within the same year, management writing and the media might claim that it is both: a) a time of faster‐than‐ever turnover, b) or that large firms have become unassailable. This manuscript tracks two measures of performance persistence over time. I find that persistence of rank has increased roughly steadily since the 1980s. How associated are performance measures year‐to‐year was actually at its peak in the mid 1980s, potentially explaining the debate. The final patterns are consistent with top firms separating from followers in performance so much that increasing volatility in their performance does not lead to changes in rank.
Lenin and His Controversy over Philosophy: On the Philosophical Significance of Materialism and Empiriocriticism

This chapter discusses the philosophical importance of Lenin’s thought. It reevaluates Lenin’s philosophical legacy by examining his major and perhaps most controversial philosophical work, Materialism and Empiriocriticism. A sympathetic yet critical assessment of the work offered in this chapter reveals important details about Lenin’s version of Marxism, bringing into light his contributions to philosophical thought, such as the defense of materialism against idealism, the rigorous advocacy of dialectical approach to reality, and the ability to identify and, to some extent, overcome problems of previous philosophy, particularly positivism. This chapter also reconstructs the historical context, in which Lenin’s book was written, and discusses the political and social situation to which it responds.
Harnessing electronic clinical data to report adult and prenatal immunization quality measures.

OBJECTIVE To explore the use of health plan quality measures specified for electronic clinical data to monitor immunizations. MATERIALS AND METHODS We analyzed 2018 data submitted by health plans reporting 2 new Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures assessing receipt of clinically recommended vaccines among pregnant women and adults. We analyzed the number of plans reporting a valid performance rate and electronic data source used. We consulted expert panels and reviewed coverage rates from other sources to understand the results. RESULTS We received 136 data submissions across commercial, Medicaid and Medicare plans and 87 submissions across commercial and Medicaid plans for the adult and prenatal immunization measures, respectively. These submissions represent approximately 15% of possible submissions. Plans used claims, registries and electronic health records. Mean performance rates for adult immunizations were 21.2 (commercial), 14.0 (Medicaid) and 19.5% (Medicare). Mean rates for prenatal immunizations were 33.1 (commercial) and 16.7% (Medicaid). DISCUSSION Results from the first year of reporting 2 electronic clinical data measures suggest health plans can feasibly report these measures and are seeking electronic data to supplement claims. Comparison of rates to other national results showed lower than expected rates for the adult immunization measure. However, prenatal immunization rates were on par with those from a national survey, suggesting this measure is closer to use for quality improvement. CONCLUSION Quality measure reporting that encourages connection to electronic data sources is a step forward in performance monitoring and improvement. The use of electronic sources may advance health information exchange for patient care.
The Influence of Hospital Urbanicity on Mortality in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure: A National Cohort Retrospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The primary objective of this study was to employ a national database to evaluate the association of hospital urbanicity, urban versus rural, on mortality and length of hospital stay in patients hospitalized with acute respiratory failure. METHODS: We used the 2014 National Inpatient Sample database to evaluate the association of hospital urbanicity with (1) mortality and (2) prolonged hospital stay, defined as ≥ 75th percentile of the study population. We conducted a mixed-effects logistic regression analysis adjusting for sociodemographic variables and medical comorbidities. The random effect was hospital identification number (a unique value assigned in the NIS database for a specific institution). The odds ratio (OR), 95% CI, and P values were reported for each independent variable. RESULTS: The odds of inpatient mortality were significantly higher among urban teaching (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.39–1.66, P CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the current body of literature that there are significant differences in patient populations among hospital type. Differences in health outcomes among different types of hospitals should be considered when designing policies to address health equity as these are unique populations with specific needs.
Sequential Stochastic Network Structure Optimization with Applications to Addressing Canada's Obesity Epidemic.

In this work, we introduce a novel mathematical network model for community level preventative health interventions. We develop algorithms to approximately solve this novel formulation at large scale and we rigorously explore their theoretical properties. We create a realistic simulation environment for interventions designed to curb the prevalence of obesity occurring in the region of Montreal, Canada, and use this environment to empirically evaluate the performance of the algorithms we develop. We find that our algorithms significantly outperform all baseline interventions. Moreover, for fixed computational resources, our algorithms address problems of significantly greater size than the best existing alternative algorithm.
Asymptotic Analysis and Perturbation Theory

Introduction to Asymptotics Basic Definitions Limits via Asymptotics Asymptotic Series Inverse Functions Dominant Balance Asymptotics of Integrals Integrating Taylor Series Repeated Integration by Parts Laplace's Method Review of Complex Numbers Method of Stationary Phase Method of Steepest Descents Speeding Up Convergence Shanks Transformation Richardson Extrapolation Euler Summation Borel Summation Continued Fractions Pade Approximants Differential Equations Classification of Differential Equations First Order Equations Taylor Series Solutions Frobenius Method Asymptotic Series Solutions for Differential Equations Behavior for Irregular Singular Points Full Asymptotic Expansion Local Analysis of Inhomogeneous Equations Local Analysis for Nonlinear Equations Difference Equations Classification of Difference Equations First Order Linear Equations Analysis of Linear Difference Equations The Euler-Maclaurin Formula Taylor-Like and Frobenius-Like Series Expansions Perturbation Theory Introduction to Perturbation Theory Regular Perturbation for Differential Equations Singular Perturbation for Differential Equations Asymptotic Matching WKBJ Theory The Exponential Approximation Region of Validity Turning Points Multiple-Scale Analysis Strained Coordinates Method (Poincare-Lindstedt) The Multiple-Scale Procedure Two-Variable Expansion Method Appendix: Guide to the Special Functions Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems Bibliography Index
Coagulopathies and pediatric stroke

Pediatric stroke is a heterogeneous disorder and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in children. The role of thrombophilia is becoming increasingly important in the pathogenesis of stroke but its effect on clinical outcome and recurrence is not yet well defined. This review provides a summary of current knowledge of thrombophilia in pediatric stroke.
Signal Transduction Pathways

Most filamentous fungi are exquisitely sensitive to changes in their environment. Sensing and integration of signals from multiple sources require a complex web of signal transduction pathways. This chapter covers major signal transduction pathways that have been characterized in multiple species of filamentous fungi. The signaling pathways included are monomeric and heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), protein kinase A/cyclic AMP (PKA/cAMP) signaling, two-component regulatory systems, calcium signaling, target of rapamycin (Tor) pathways and pH regulatory mechanisms. With the exception of two-component systems, related pathways are found in animals, where they also play fundamental roles. In general, the elements of these systems are found in all fungal species that have been sequenced; however, the number of genes representing each signaling protein class often varies. In spite of this conservation, several interesting variations in how pathway components are arranged or regulated have also emerged. Furthermore, accumulating evidence indicates that multiple pathways often cooperate to regulate the same function in the same species, resulting in more complex signal transduction networks. The response regulators from two-component regulatory systems have also been shown to regulate Hog1p-like cascades in filamentous fungi. Two-component regulatory systems are major signal transduction pathways in filamentous fungi.
The fast nearfield method applied to axisymmetric radiators

A fast nearfield method (FNM) was developed for pistons that have a spatially uniform velocity. This fast nearfield method was implemented and compared with the standard Rayleigh integral approach. The Rayleigh-Sommerfield integral representing the apodized pressure field was also evaluated using the point source method. It was found that speedup on the order of 4 is achieved at 10 and 1% peak errors.
Obtaining Confessions: From Arrest to Court Commissioner

This 12-page 2007 article is titled “Obtaining Confessions: From Arrest to Court Commissioner.” It was published in The Trooper magazine. The article assumes that, in a given case, both Miranda v. Arizona and general Fifth Amendment voluntariness standards have been satisfied. The article then analyzes the federal and state constitutional and statutory requirements for “prompt presentment” before a judicial officer as a predicate to the admissibility of a statement that otherwise complies with Miranda and voluntariness.
Are Archaea inherently less diverse than Bacteria in the same environments

Like Bacteria, Archaea occur in a wide variety of environments, only some of which can be considered 'extreme'. We compare archaeal diversity, as represented by 173 16S rRNA gene libraries described in published reports, to bacterial diversity in 79 libraries from the same source environments. An objective assessment indicated that 114 archaeal libraries and 45 bacterial libraries were large enough to yield stable estimates of total phylotype richness. Archaeal libraries were seldom as large or diverse as bacterial libraries from the same environments. However, a relatively larger proportion of libraries were large enough to effectively capture rare as well as dominant phylotypes in archaeal communities. In contrast to bacterial libraries, the number of phylotypes did not correlate with library size; thus, 'larger' may not necessarily be 'better' for determining diversity in archaeal libraries. Differences in diversity suggest possible differences in ecological roles of Archaea and Bacteria; however, information is lacking on relative abundances and metabolic activities within the sampled communities, as well as the possible existence of microhabitats. The significance of phylogenetic diversity as opposed to functional diversity remains unclear, and should be a high priority for continuing research.
Conformational changes in aspartate transcarbamylase. II. Circular dichroism evidence for the involvement of metal ions in allosteric interactions.

Abstract Replacement of Zn(II) by Cd(II) in aspartate transcarbamylase from Escherichia coli gives rise to an intense circular dichroism difference spectrum with a maximum ellipticity at 259 nm of 44,000 deg cm2 per dmole of Cd(II). This Cotton effect can be assigned to the Cd(II) chromophore and used as a sensitive spectral probe of metal site conformational changes. When circular dichroism difference spectra for carbamyl phosphate and succinate binding to Cd(II)-aspartate transcarbamylase are compared with the corresponding circular dichroism difference spectra for Zn(II)-aspartate transcarbamylase, perturbations of the Cd(II)-chromophore are apparent. Thus, conformational changes at metal ion binding sites in the regulatory subunits occur when substrate or substrate analogue molecules bind at active sites in the catalytic subunits. Conversely, replacement of Zn(II) by Cd(II) slightly alters the kinetic and binding parameters of native aspartate transcarbamylase. Thus, alteration of the metal ion binding site structure alters the conformation of the active site. These observations show that a coupling exists between conformational changes at metal ion sites in regulatory subunits and active sites in catalytic subunits. Consequently, conformational changes at metal ion binding sites may be involved in the allosteric mechanism of homotropic interactions. The binding of the feedback inhibitor, CTP, either to Cd(II)-regulatory subunit or to Cd(II)-aspartate transcarbamylase causes no change in the circular dichroism of the Cd(II)-chromophore. Thus, the metal ion does not seem to be directly involved either in the binding of CTP or in the mechanism of communicating heterotropic interactions. Since the metal ion sites are implicated in homotropic interactions, but not in heterotropic interactions, the allosteric mechanisms of these two effects must involve different sets of conformational changes. To assess the linkage between conformational changes at different loci in aspartate transcarbamylase, circular dichroism changes at different wave lengths were monitored during ligand titrations. For Cd(II)-aspartate transcarbamylase, the apparent carbamyl phosphate concentration required for half-maximal change is 0.32 mm at 280 nm (tyrosyl chromophore) but 0.10 mm at 256 nm (Cd(II)-chromophore). The succinate concentration required for half-maximal change is 0.20 mm at 256 nm (Cd(II)-chromophore) but 0.40 mm at 290 nm (tryptophanyl chromophore). These results demonstrate the existence of multiple conformational equilibria for the binding of these substrate ligands and suggest that allosteric interactions of aspartate transcarbamylase cannot adequately be described by a two-state model.
Islamic Organizations and the Provision of Education: Evidence from the D.R. Congo

Political scientists have repeatedly demonstrated that several states on the African continent fall into the category of failed, quasi, or weak states. Though these distinctions are useful, for the most part they neglect to acknowledge how and by whom governance functions, such as the provision of public goods, are being carried out in the context of state weakness. Increasingly the provision of such goods has become the work of non-state actors, such as religious, international, and rebel organizations. I argue that the reality of public goods provision in African weak states is extremely complex, and that we need to examine how faith based organizations are stepping in to either collaborate with or fill the void left by states unable to perform such tasks. In the particular case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the state has a long history of relegating the good of education to religious organizations, primarily Catholic and Protestant. The paper explores the changing role of Islamic organizations in the Congo from primarily spiritual institutions to collaborators with the central state and other religious communities in the provision of education. This paper not only examines empirical evidence from comparative fieldwork in four Congolese towns, but also discusses the impact Muslim non-state organizations are having both on the authority of the formal Congolese state and the provision of public goods in this post-conflict setting. In conclusion, the data provide a basis from which to extrapolate to the larger scholarly discussions of public goods, faith based organizations, state capacity and reconstruction, and the role of Muslim minorities in contemporary politics.
Measurements and predictions of the precombustion fluid motion and combustion rates in a spark ignition engine

Laser Doppler velocimeter results are presented for the mean velocity and turbulence intensity measured in a motored research engine. The compression of complex bulk motions created during induction produces turbulence as the piston approaches top dead center. The turbulence field is shown to be isotropic but nonhomogeneous. A zero-dimensional computer simulation based on an averaged k-epsilon model is shown to adequately predict the decay of turbulence at a point in the flow after the production phase is completed. Cylinder pressure measurements were recorded for homogeneous stoichiometric combustion for a range of engine speeds and ignition locations. A two-zone (burned and unburned gases) thermodynamic model accurately predicts the measured pressure histories when the turbulence results determined from the motored tests are used to establish initial conditions for the combustion model.
The effect of the 135.6 nm emission originated from the ionosphere on the TIMED/GUVI O/N2 ratio

[1] The column number density ratio of atomic oxygen to molecular nitrogen (O/N2 ratio) provided by the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) onboard the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite has been used as a diagnostic of the thermospheric neutral composition. However, a recent study claimed that the GUVI O/N2 ratio is not a pure thermospheric parameter in low latitudes during periods of low geomagnetic activity. This study quantifies the O/N2 ratio contamination by the ionosphere using the GUVI observations and model ionosphere acquired from 31 August to 2 September 2002. During this period, the local time of the GUVI observation was near 1500 and the average Kp index was 2°. The 135.6 nm emission originated from the ionosphere is estimated using the electron density profiles provided by the Utah State University-Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements model. Our results show that the 135.6 nm emission originated from the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) contributes 5 ~ 10% to the total 135.6 nm intensity and O/N2 ratio. The EIA feature and longitudinal wave patterns in the GUVI 135.6 nm intensity maps are identified above an altitude of 300 km and show a good agreement with those in the F region plasma density. However, the EIA feature and longitudinal wave patterns do not appear in the GUVI 135.6 nm intensity maps below an altitude of 300 km and in the GUVI N2 Lyman-Birge-Hopfield band intensity maps in any altitude. These observations indicate that the longitudinal wave patterns in the GUVI O/N2 ratio represent the ionospheric phenomenon.
Optimal logarithmic adder structures with a fanout of two for minimizing the area-delay product

We address the need for high performance adders and the desire to minimize area within the realm of logarithmic adders with a fanout of two. The area-delay product is chosen as the metric for defining the optimal logarithmic adder. Restricting the fanout to two gives rise to log/sub 2/ N possible logarithmic adder structures, where N is the adder width. We propose a first-order model to quickly analyze the general characteristics of the area-delay product. Furthermore, we present an algorithm to construct an abstract structure for any logarithmic adder with a fanout of two. Finally, we introduce a second-order model that complements the first-order model by allowing a more detailed analysis of area and delay.
Quantification of sweat gland volume and innervation in neuropathy: Correlation with thermoregulatory sweat testing

Introduction: No study has correlated thermoregulatory sweat testing (TST) with histopathologic study of sweat glands (SGs) and SG nerve fibers (SGNFs). Methods: We studied 10 neuropathy patients in whom anhidrosis was found by TST and 10 matched controls. Skin biopsies were taken from both anhidrotic and sweating skin and immunohistochemical staining was done for nerves and basement membrane. For each biopsy, total tissue volume, total SG volume, and total SGNF length were measured. SGNF length per biopsy volume, SG volume per biopsy volume (SG%), and SGNF length per SG volume were calculated. Results: SGNF length per biopsy volume was reduced in anhidrotic site biopsies of patients compared with controls. SG% was decreased and SGNF length per SG volume increased in patients compared with controls. Conclusions: The results suggest a concomitant loss of SG volume and SGNF length in neuropathy, with greater loss of SGNFs in anhidrotic skin, possibly exceeding collateral reinnervation. Muscle Nerve 50: 528–534, 2014
Editorial comment: Guest commentary spectral observations: Reading then and now

In 1908 the “author” of this manuscript criticized much of what was happening in reading instruction during his time. He has returned for a short visit and finds much to his dismay, that many of his suggestions offered in a previous work are still being ignored by reading practitioners. What follows is the result of his persistent haunting of the three ghostwriters. He offers “spirited” criticism of some present‐day practices but remains optimistic about the future of reading instruction. Most importantly, he promises to continue to haunt professionals in the field of reading education until more of his recommended changes are implemented.
Spatial distribution of regeneration patches in an old-growth Pinus jeffreyi-mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico

Abstract Question: What are the shape, abundance, size, and structural characteristics of sapling patches in an old-growth Pinus jeffreyi-mixed conifer forest with a relatively intact disturbance regime? Location: Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California, Mexico. Methods: Regeneration was quantified by sampling sapling patches on seven 1200 m permanently marked line transects. For all patches intersected, tree size, species, age, and patch canopy cover were recorded. Patch structural characteristics were statistically compared to data from unbiased forest inventory plots. The minimum regeneration patch was defined as three saplings in a 49-m2 area. Results: We sampled 54 sapling regeneration patches. Patch size varied from 6.6 to 674.8 m2. A small portion of the forest was in patches (patch fraction = 3.8%, patch abundance = 8.5 per ha). The majority of the patches were small; 64.8% were less than the mean patch area of 100.1 m2. Patches were shaped as a rhombus. For all forest characteristics, mean value...
Radiolocation Experiments in an Urban Environment

Many new urban applications of radiolocation technology in both cooperative and noncooperative forms are anticipated in law enforcement and urban planning fields. Until recently, virtually no data were available regarding passive radiolocation of urban targets by conventional techniques such as direction finding. Recent radiolocation experiments performed at 165 kHz and 100 MHz were used to measure transmitter locations with increasing urbanization. Urban radiolocation errors in range and azimuth as a function of urbanization are given for the downtown area of San Antonio, Tex., showing increasing error with increasing urbanization. Procedures to improve urban radiolocation performance are suggested.
Synthesis and Characterization of Discrete Nickel Phosphide Nanoparticles: Effect of Surface Ligation Chemistry on Catalytic Hydrodesulfurization of Thiophene

Discrete, unsupported nanoparticles of Ni2P have been prepared by using a solution-phase method with bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel(0) [Ni(COD)2] as the nickel source and trioctylphosphine (TOP) as the phosphorus source in the presence of the coordinating solvent trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO). Ni2P nanoparticles prepared at 345 °C have an average crystallite size of 10.2 ± 0.7 nm and are capped with TOP and/or TOPO coordinating agents. The surface of the Ni2P nanoparticles can be modified by washing with CHCl3 or by exchanging TOP/TOPO groups with mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA). The surface areas of these nanoparticles are on the order of 30–70 m2 g–1. As-prepared and MUA-capped nanoparticles undergo a phase transformation at 370 °C under reducing conditions, but CHCl3-washed Ni2P nanoparticles retain the Ni2P structure. CHCl3-washed and MUA-capped nanoparticles exhibit higher HDS catalytic activity than as-prepared nanoparticles or unsupported Ni2P prepared by temperature-programmed reduction of a phosphate precursor. The surface modifications have a clear effect on the catalytic activity as well as the thermal stability of Ni2P nanoparticles under reducing conditions.
Intermediate mass fragment emission in heavy-ion collisions: Energy and system mass dependence

Nucleus-nucleus collisions can lead to highly excited systems that form hot compressed nuclear matter @1#. These systems expand due to thermal pressure @2#. The expansion can cause density fluctuations which recover to normal density @3# or expand indefinitely, leading to the onset of multifragmentation. This behavior is governed by the incompressibility of nuclear matter, which is determined by the lowdensity nuclear equation of state @4#. With increase in available energy, the system can develop from evaporation to multifragmentation to vaporization, signifying the liquid-gas phase transition of nuclear matter @5‐8#. Several experimental and theoretical investigations of the liquid-gas phase transition and critical phenomena of nuclear matter have been carried out @9‐15#. The process of multifragmentation has been successfully treated in terms of equilibration hypotheses and statistical approaches @14‐16#. To investigate the critical region of phase transition experimentally, one must study the decay from a single source over a wide range of beam energies. One way to achieve this goal is to study central collisions of symmetric systems. Emissions from such collisions are expected to be isotropic, supporting the idea that central collision events can be regarded as ‘‘singlesource’’ events. The formation of the various phases of nuclear matter in heavy-ion collisions has been investigated by measurements of nuclear species emitted from the excited systems. Theoretical studies indicate that it is most feasible to study the liquid-gas phase transition by observing multifragment emission from nucleus-nucleus collisions @17‐20#. Statistical nuclear multifragmentation is a signature of the transition of nuclear matter from a liquid phase into a phase of several nuclear fragments with a broad mass distribution. Numerous investigations of multifragment emission from excited nuclear systems have been carried out @21‐30#. The probability of multifragment emission is expected to increase as the excitation energy increases because of available phase
The subunit proportions and kinetic properties of 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase isozymes from rat heart atria and ventricle progressively change during aging.

Relative to 2–3 month rats, total 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFK) activity in heart atria from 12 month rats declined 31%; but, by 24 months it was decreased by only 13%. PFK activities from 12 and 24 month ventricles relative to the 2–3 month rat were decreased by 40% and 30%, respectively. This change in PFK activity in each heart region was associated with alterations of subunit composition. In heart atria from 12 and 24 month rats when compared to 3 month rats, the levels of L-type subunit were not significantly different; but the levels of the M-type subunit were decreased by 43% and 38%, respectively. With respect to levels in 2–3 month atria, the C-type subunit in 12 month atria decreased by 27%; and at 24 months it increased by 31%. Making the same comparison for the heart ventricle at 12 and 24 months, L-type subunit decreased by 30% and 24% respectively; M-type subunit decreased by approximately 47%; and the C-type subunit increased 1.9 and 4.7 fold, respectively. These age-related changes of subunit composition in atrial and ventricular PFK isozyme pools led to changes in their kinetic and regulatory properties suggesting that the aged rat could exhibit a diminished capacity to produce ATP from glucose.
A note on the spectral theorem

We give necessary and sufficient conditions to prove a spectral theorem and a functional calculus for certain nonselfadjoint operators, H. Our method is non-perturbative: the conditions are given in terms of the resolvent (z-H)−1. We give an example of an operator satisfying these conditions. This operator is not a spectral operator of scalar type. Its spectral projections are unbounded operators defined on a common dense domainD.
Using knowledge building to support deep learning, collaboration and innovation in engineering education

Knowledge building is a potentially transformative approach to engineering education. In knowledge building students participate in an interactive discourse in which they work together to broaden ideas, reform problems and share knowledge-the result being a deeper level of understanding and the collaborative production of new knowledge. In 2009 we conducted a knowledge building pilot study in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College. In this study students worked together to formulate a question about the potential for a conscious machine and then engaged in an intensive knowledge building discourse. Assessment data showing the effectiveness of the approach and research questions arising from the study are presented.
Physiological Responses During Graded Treadmill Exercise in Chemical-Resistant Personal Protective Equipment

Background. As the likelihood of terrorist acts increases, prehospital personnel have been forced to train in the proper use of chemical-resistant personal protective equipment (PPE). This protecti...
The Morphing of Property Rules and Liability Rules: An Intellectual Property Optimist Looks at Article 9 and Bankruptcy

The thesis of this paper is that the legal regime protecting copyright and trademark is in conflict with the legal regime protecting secured credit arrangements both from the perspective of allocation of property rights and the means in which property rights are protected. The point of this thesis is not to show that intellectual property and secured credit are irreconcilable. Rather the point is to isolate the conflicts and suggest ideas for reform. Although many individuals have written about reforming Article 9 and or Bankruptcy Law from the perspective of the secured creditor or the debtor, this Article is one of the few that addresses the question from the perspective of the goals of intellectual property. From the perspective I have adopted, I have demonstrated that one's attitudes towards Article 9 and Bankruptcy as well as relevant reform proposals, hinge on whether one is an intellectual property optimist or an intellectual property pessimist. An optimist would advocate for stronger protection ofthe rights of the intellectual property owner and less for creditors and licensees. A pessimist would advocate the opposite position, heralding a strong, coherent system for perfecting security interests, for clear rules in determining priority disputes between assignees and secured creditors, and for property protection for licensees against licensors. The current system has much to encourage and much to upset optimists and pessimists alike. Although in this paper I have attempted to address the perspectives of pessimists and optimists equally, in this concluding section I adopt the optimist perspective exclusively in order to assess reform proposals and to suggest how intellectual property law and the law of secured credit can be reconciled. Current reform proposals focus solely on amending the Article 9 filing requirements to conform with federal law. I demonstrate that such proposals will be ineffective and counterproductive without an accompanying change in the treatment of intellectual property under Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code.
THE ICA COMMUNICATION AUDIT AND PERCEIVED COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS CHANGES IN 16 AUDITED ORGANIZATIONS

This study brings to light evidence on the benefits of a methodology for evaluation of organizational communication processes and outcomes—the ICA Communication Audit. The audit procedure was developed and tested by ICA (International Communication Association) Division IV, between 1974–1974. Sixteen field tests of the audit have been conducted from 1974–1977. This study undertook an “after” survey of the 16 audited organizations to determine the degree to which the audit was perceived to improve organizational communication effectiveness as well as overall organizational effectiveness. The findings confirmed the ICA Communication Audit as a valid diagnostic methodology and organization development intervention technique which improved both communication awareness and processes in a majority of audited organizations.
CD58 Expression Decreases as Nonmalignant B Cells Mature in Bone Marrow and Is Frequently Overexpressed in Adult and Pediatric Precursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

We used flow cytometry to determine the CD58 expression on nonmalignant B cells at different stages of maturation in the bone marrow and compared it with that of blasts in adult and pediatric precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD58 expression decreased significantly as nonmalignant B cells differentiated in the bone marrow from an early to a mature stage. Few nonneoplastic B cells at a mid or mature stage of development expressed CD58 MFI values comparable to those seen in leukemic cases. Early-stage nonneoplastic B-cell precursors expressed relatively higher CD58 levels, which frequently overlapped with the variable level of CD58 expression observed among leukemic blasts. As a group, however, the malignant precursor B-ALL cells showed significantly higher expression of CD58 than nonmalignant B-cell populations at any maturational stage. These findings support the potential usefulness of CD58 expression in the diagnosis and monitoring of precursor B-ALL, but only when blasts express high levels of CD58.
Shocks: A comment

This paper presents a broad indictment of the state of our knowledge in macroeconomics. It argues that we do not know the source of most of the fluctuations in GNP. There is a sense in which the paper must be right as a description of our field as a whole. Our obvious lack of consensus on the sources of GNP fluctuations shows that, whether particular individuals know a lot about these issues or not, our collective knowledge is paltry. But Cochrane goes much farther. He argues that he can prove that the two principal suspects, namely technology and monetary shocks, cannot be very important. He then goes on to say that the shocks that really matter may be ones that we will never be able to identify with an observable exogenous variable because they simply represent “news” about the future that is reflected first in current endogenous variables. In the process of making these points, Cochrane amasses a vast amount of evidence about the aggregate U.S. time series. I learned a great deal from this and expect others to do so as well. My discussion, however, will concern itself first with asking whether the evidence really supports the view that technology and monetary shocks must be unimportant. Then I will talk about the effect of the “news” shock that Cochrane proposes in this paper. Finally, I will close with a general discussion of what sort of model is needed to rationalize the relationship between variables such as C/Y and subsequent movements in output. There is a vast literature that uses aggregate U.S. data to study whether monetary disturbances have any effect on economic activity. This literature has long grappled with the issue of how to measure monetary disturbances. For a variety of reasons, innovations in standard monetary aggregates are unlikely to be perfect measures of such shocks. One reason for this is that the Fed accommodates changes in money demand. Another reason is that aggregates such as M2, whose components have very different time series
Nonlinear A-Dirac Equations

This paper is a study of solutions to nonlinear Dirac equations, in domains in Euclidean space, which are generalizations of the Clifford Laplacian as well as elliptic equations in divergence form. A Caccioppoli estimate is used to prove a global integrability theorem for the image of a solution under the Euclidean Dirac operator. Oscillation spaces for Clifford valued functions are used which generalize the usual spaces of bounded mean oscillation, local Lipschitz continuity or local order of growth of real-valued functions.
Do black patients with chronic kidney disease benefit equally from all blood pressure lowering agents

The Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration performed a rigorous and insightful analysis of the impact of antihypertensive agents on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with and without chronic kidney disease.1 However, we believe the study’s conclusion that “there is little evidence to support the preferential choice of particular drug classes for the prevention of cardiovascular events in people with chronic kidney disease” should be treated with …
The influence of daylength and environment on reproduction, broodiness, and mortality of turkeys.

Abstract LENGTH OF photoperiod, or daylength, appears to be the most important but not necessarily the only feature of artificial lighting practice that can influence the reproductive response of turkeys to light stimulation. With white light derived from an incandescent source supplementing natural daylight, initial photoperiods of 13 to 15 hours are widely used in connection with morning lights in the range of 1I/2 to 5 foot-candles at bird height. The usual hour to start lights appears to be 4 a.m. local standard, or zone time, turning them off after full daylight arrives. The same starting hour is maintained, as a rule, throughout the winter-spring breeding season in the northern hemisphere. Evening lights are not generally used. Depending on the latitude, the distance from the standard time-zone meridian, and the date lighting is initiated, the 4 a.m. starting hour will produce initial photoperiods of varying length. Measured from the hour lights …