cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The presence of bicuspid aortic valve does not predict ventricular septal defect type.

Previous studies have identified an increased incidence of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) in patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD). Because endocardial cushion remodeling contributes to both the formation of semilunar valves and ventricular septation, we hypothesized that examination of humans with BAV and VSD would identify a specific VSD type. We evaluated VSD type in pediatric patients diagnosed with BAV and VSD (n=82) and compared findings to patients diagnosed with VSD and normal aortic valve morphology (n=429). VSD type was described as conoventricular, muscular, inlet or conoseptal using a clinical taxonomy. Based on the contribution of the outflow tract endocardial cushions to the membranous ventricular septum, we expected patients with BAV to have conoventricular VSD. In both patient groups, conoventricular VSD was most common; however, the prevalence was not significantly different when BAV patients were compared to those with normal aortic valve morphology (67% vs. 57%, p=0.11). The primary finding of this study is that despite a developmental link between semilunar valve formation and ventricular septation during cardiogenesis, there is no clear association between BAV and VSD type. This may be due to phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of BAV and VSD, other modifying factors as manifested by differences in associated CVM, as well as limitations of the clinical taxonomy of VSD.
Caste determination and differentiation with special reference to the genus reticulitermes (Isoptera)

The results of recent investigations concerning caste determination among termites have been briefly reviewed with emphasis upon the work of Thompson ('17). From examination of new data upon the development of Reticulitermes arenincola Goellner, R. flavipes (Kollar), and R. tibialis Banks, and of Thompson's original R. flavipes material, I am unable to substantiate her claim that the sterile and reproductive castes are separable into two distinct groups at the time of hatching. I could distinguish them first in stadium three and suggest that the second stadium may be a critical period in differentiation. From evidence to date, it must be granted that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors may play a role in the production of castes. The delay in appearance of demonstrable caste differences until the third stadium in the genus Reticulitermes at least admits of an opportunity for extrinsic factors to be effective. Growth and metamorphosis of various structures which ultimately lead to the three differentiated castes have been followed through successive stadia. Gynandromorphs and intercastes among social insects give indication of the physiological and genetic factors influencing both morphological and behavior differences among castes.
On cost allocation in networks with threshold based discounting

We consider network design in which each pair of nodes can communicate via a direct link and the communication flow can be delivered through any path in the network. The cost of flow through each link is discounted if and only if the amount of flow exceeds a certain threshold. This exploitation of economies of scale encourages the concentration of flows and use of a relatively small number of links. We will call such networks hub-like networks. Applications include telecommunications, airline traffic flow, and mail delivery networks. The cost of services delivered through a hub-like network is distributed among its users who may be individuals or organizations with possibly conflicting interests. The cooperation of these users is essential for the exploitation of economies of scale. Consequently, there is a need to find a fair distribution of the cost of providing the service among users of such a network. In order to describe this cost allocation problem we formulate the associated cooperative game, to be referred to as the hub-like game. In this game special attention is paid to users' contribution to economies of scale. We then demonstrate that a certain cost allocation solution (the core of hub-like game), which provide users with the incentive to cooperate, can be efficiently characterized.
A low-voltage low-power sigma-delta modulator with improved performance in overload condition

A 4/sup th/-order sigma-delta modulator is presented that offers significantly improved stability and SNR when the input is overloaded, compared to conventional single-bit modulators. The circuit combines the high linearity of a single-bit architecture with the increased stability of a multi-bit converter. Fabricated in a 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS logic process, it draws 208 /spl mu/A from a 1.25 V nominal supply. Clocked at 1.5 MHz, the input bandwidth is 150 Hz-11 kHz, with an SNR of 84 dB.
The pressure drop along rectangular microchannels containing bubbles.

This paper derives the difference in pressure between the beginning and the end of a rectangular microchannel through which a flowing liquid (water, with or without surfactant, and mixtures of water and glycerol) carries bubbles that contact all four walls of the channel. It uses an indirect method to derive the pressure in the channel. The pressure drop depends predominantly on the number of bubbles in the channel at both low and high concentrations of surfactant. At intermediate concentrations of surfactant, if the channel contains bubbles (of the same or different lengths), the total, aggregated length of the bubbles in the channel is the dominant contributor to the pressure drop. The difference between these two cases stems from increased flow of liquid through the “gutters”—the regions of the system bounded by the curved body of the bubble and the corners of the channel—in the presence of intermediate concentrations of surfactant. This paper presents a systematic and quantitative investigation of the influence of surfactants on the flow of fluids in microchannels containing bubbles. It derives the contributions to the overall pressure drop from three regions of the channel: (i) the slugs of liquid between the bubbles (and separated from the bubbles), in which liquid flows as though no bubbles were present; (ii) the gutters along the corners of the microchannels; and (iii) the curved caps at the ends of the bubble.
Percutaneous Nephroscopic Removal of Obstructing Fungal Bezoars and Endopyelotomy in an Infant

A full-term neonate with right prenatal and postnatal hydronephrosis was found to have complete duplication of the right renal collecting system with upper pole ureteral ectopia and lower pole reflux. The patient was treated with daily amoxicillin. At age 2 months she presented with fever and candiduria. Renal sonography demonstrated a fungal bezoar in the left (nonduplex) renal pelvis with severe pyelocaliectasis (fig. 1). The patient was treated with intravenous amphotericin B for 4 weeks without sonographic or culture improvement. Nuclear renography revealed impaired drainage and function (23%). A nephrostomy catheter was placed, and an antegrade nephrostogram showed multiple filling defects and narrowing at the ureteropelvic junction (fig. 2). Two additional weeks of antifungals and nephrostomy drainage did not improve the sonographic appearance of the bezoars or the candiduria. Renal irrigation was not attempted due to the obstructive lesion. At age 4 months the patient underwent percutaneous endoscopic removal of the bezoars and correction of the obstruction. A 12Fr vascular peel away sheath was positioned into a middle calix. A 10.5Fr pediatric rigid cystoscope was used for nephroscopy, and multiple fungal balls were visualized and extracted with flexible grasping forceps. A 7.5Fr flexible pediatric endoscope was used to inspect the entire collecting system. The ureteropelvic junction was laterally incised with a holmium laser (200 .) placed through the rigid cystoscope. A nephrostomy tube and ureteral catheter were left indwelling. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 2. Ten days later the ureteral catheter was removed. An antegrade nephrostogram performed 2 days later demonstrated no filling defects, no extravasation and prompt contrast drainage into the distal ureter. At 1-year followup the patient was free of infection and without evidence of hydronephrosis or filling defect by excretory urography and sonography.
Magnetically induced nonlinear diagnostic features of fe-co-si-B metallic glasses.

We investigate the influence of an external magnetic field on optical photoinduced second-harmonic generation (PISHG) in Fe18Co60Si9B13 metallic glass. A correlation between the output PISHG signal and degree of crystallinity (varied by thermoannealing) is observed. The applied magnetic field essentially suppresses the relaxation time of the PISHG. Strong angular dependence of the output PISHG signal reflects the peculiarities of phase synchronism conditions that exist in certain types of glass as a result of light scattering on grains. Saturation of the PISHG at magnetic fields higher then 0.75 T indicates correlation between the magnetically induced ordering and noncentrosymmetry electron-charge density appearance. Comparison of PISHG with x-ray diffraction results indicates that the PISHG results have higher sensitivity to hyperfine magnetic ordering. A possible origin of the observed phenomena is explained on the basis of phenomenological and microscopic approaches.
Back-action limit of linewidth in an optomechanical oscillator

Laser cooling and amplification of mechanical modes in an optical cavity are now possible with several device geometries. Quantum back action sets the fundamental limit to cooling. It has, however, not been considered in the regenerative oscillator, wherein mechanical amplification overcomes loss, leading to self-sustained, coherent oscillations at rf and microwave rates. In these devices, the spectral purity, as measured by the phase noise, has a back-action contribution that is herein derived and evaluated in recently characterized systems. Beyond its importance as a fundamental stability limit, it can provide a way to observe quantum back action within the context of cavity optomechanics. The analysis is also applied to the case of cooling, and a pump contribution to the cooling limit is derived.
Nematode parasites of some reptiles (Sauria: Testudines: Ophidia) from the Northern and Western Cape Provinces, South Africa.

One hundred and seven reptiles (11 families, 32 species) from the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa were examined for helminths. Twenty-three (22%) individual reptiles were found to harbor at least 1 species of nematode; 3 (7%) reptiles harbored multiple infections of 2 nematode species. Eight species within 5 families of Nematoda were found in the reptiles surveyed including 1 atractid, 1 diaphanocephalid, 1 heterakid, 3 pharyngodonids, and 2 physalopterans. Ten new host records are reported. A summary of the nematode parasites identified from South African reptiles is provided.
Recovering building structures from stereo

Addresses the problem of extracting polyhedral building structures from a stereo pair of aerial intensity images. The authors describe a system that computes a hierarchy of descriptions such as segments, junctions, and links between junctions from each view, and matches these features at the different levels. Such high level features not only help reduce correspondence ambiguity during stereo matching, but also allow us to infer surface boundaries even though the boundaries may be broken because of noise and weak contrast. The authors hypothesize surface boundaries by examining global information such as continuity and coplanarity of linked edges in 3-D, rather than merely by looking at local depth information. When the walls of the buildings are visible, they also exploit the relationship among adjacent surfaces in a polyhedral object to help confirm the different levels of descriptions. The authors give some experimental results for aerial images taken from overhead views and oblique views. >
Parent and Adolescent Distribution of Responsibility for Diabetes Self-care: Links to Health Outcomes

Objective To examine the relation of adolescent and parent responsibility distribution for diabetes self-care to psychological and physical health. Methods We interviewed children (mean age 12 years) annually for 3 years and asked parents to complete a questionnaire. Both reported how diabetes self-care was distributed in the family. Amount of responsibility held by the child only, the parent only, and shared between child and parent was calculated. Psychological distress, competence, and diabetes outcomes were assessed at each wave. Results In both cross-sectional and longitudinal (lagged) analyses, multilevel modeling showed that shared responsibility was consistently associated with better psychological health, good self-care behavior, and good metabolic control, whereas child and parent responsibility were not. In some cases, links of shared responsibility to health outcomes were stronger among older adolescents. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of shared responsibility for diabetes self-care through early to middle adolescence.
DECISION ANALYSIS THROUGH GOAL PROGRAMMING

In recent years, decision making based on systematic analysis has been greatly emphasized. Yet, decision analysis is often carried out without analyzing the limitations of certain quantitative techniques. This paper presents the concept, solution method, and application potential of goal programming which eliminates many limitations of conventional linear optimization models.
Testing the hypothesis of the Earth's magnetosphere behaving like an avalanching system

Abstract. The global auroral dissipation power as observed by the imager on the Polar spacecraft is used as a proxy for the power dissipation of the Earth's magnetosphere to examine whether or not the magnetosphere is an avalanching system. It is found that the probability density distributions for the area and power of auroral activity sites have a power law component within a finite scale range, suggestive of a scale-free nature in this finite-size system. This property is robust, prevailing with variations in the threshold used to define auroral activity sites and in the strength of the external driver, namely, the solar wind. The statistical characteristics on the temporal evolution of auroral sites are then examined, which leads to a criterion that can be used to predict about 42min in advance the total energy dissipation during the lifetime of an auroral activity site. The scale-free characteristics of auroral activity appears to be an intrinsic feature of the magnetosphere based on a comparison of the probability density distribution in the total auroral brightness power with that of the solar wind power input parameters in the same period as the auroral observations. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of the magnetosphere behaving like an avalanching system.
Aromatic Acid Metabolites of Escherichia coli K-12 Can Induce the marRAB Operon

MarR is a key regulator of the marRAB operon involved in antibiotic resistance and solvent stress tolerance in Escherichia coli. We show that two metabolic intermediates, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate and anthranilate, involved in enterobactin and tryptophan biosynthesis, respectively, can activate marRAB transcription. We also found that a third intermediate involved in ubiquinone biosynthesis, 4-hydroxybenzoate, activates marRAB transcription in the absence of TolC. Of the three, however, only 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate directly binds MarR and affects its activity.
Surface melt dominates Alaska glacier mass balance

Mountain glaciers comprise a small and widely distributed fraction of the world's terrestrial ice, yet their rapid losses presently drive a large percentage of the cryosphere's contribution to sea level rise. Regional mass balance assessments are challenging over large glacier populations due to remote and rugged geography, variable response of individual glaciers to climate change, and episodic calving losses from tidewater glaciers. In Alaska, we use airborne altimetry from 116 glaciers to estimate a regional mass balance of −75 ± 11 Gt yr−1 (1994–2013). Our glacier sample is spatially well distributed, yet pervasive variability in mass balances obscures geospatial and climatic relationships. However, for the first time, these data allow the partitioning of regional mass balance by glacier type. We find that tidewater glaciers are losing mass at substantially slower rates than other glaciers in Alaska and collectively contribute to only 6% of the regional mass loss.
Always up-to-date: scalable offline patching of VM images in a compute cloud

Patching is a critical security service that keeps computer systems up to date and defends against security threats. Existing patching systems all require running systems. With the increasing adoption of virtualization and cloud computing services, there is a growing number of dormant virtual machine (VM) images. Such VM images cannot benefit from existing patching systems, and thus are often left vulnerable to emerging security threats. It is possible to bring VM images online, apply patches, and capture the VMs back to dormant images. However, such approaches suffer from unpredictability, performance challenges, and high operational costs, particularly in large-scale compute clouds where there could be thousands of dormant VM images.This paper presents a novel tool named Nuwa that enables efficient and scalable offline patching of dormant VM images. Nuwa analyzes patches and, when possible, converts them into patches that can be applied offline by rewriting the patching scripts. Nuwa also leverages the VM image manipulation technologies offered by the Mirage image library to provide an efficient and scalable way to patch VM images in batch. Nuwa has been evaluated on freshly built images and on real-world images from the IBM Research Compute Cloud (RC2), a compute cloud used by IBM researchers worldwide. When applying security patches to a fresh installation of Ubuntu-8.04, Nuwa successfully applies 402 of 406 patches. It speeds up the patching process by more than 4 times compared to the online approach and by another 2--10 times when integrated with Mirage. Nuwa also successfully applies the 10 latest security updates to all VM images in RC2.
A Treatment Model for Sexually Abused Preschoolers

This article describes a structured, short-term treatment model for sexually abused preschool children (ages 3-6 years) and their primary (nonperpetrator) caretakers. The theoretical basis for this model is discussed. The general structure and format of this approach are presented, and specific interventions for the child and parent are described. Although empirical data regarding the efficacy of this approach are not yet available, a clinical instrument for monitoring the progress of symptomatic change is presented. The need for empirical treatment outcome studies for this and other therapeutic interventions for sexually abused children is also addressed.
Reproducing Movement in the Lower Extremity Using Kinesthetic Cues of Distance and Location

The purpose of this study was to determine if kinesthetic cues of distance or location serve as references in motor memory for reproducing movement in the lower extremity. Thirty normal subjects randomly reproduced criterion movements of 30, 60, and 90 degrees of knee flexion. Starting positions of the criterion and reproduction movements were varied. Reproducing distance required that subjects move the same amplitude as the criterion movement, while reproducing location involved moving to the end position of the criterion movement. Results showed that reproductions based on location were significantly (p less than .05) more accurate than those based on distance cues. Reproductions of 30 and 60 degrees were found to be significantly (p less than .05) less variable than 90-degree reproduction movements. The results were explained according to the theories that have been proposed for retention of kinesthetic distance and location cues in motor memory.
Microbial Protease and Phospholipase C Stimulate Lipolysis of Washed Cream

Abstract The effect of extracellular protease from a Pseudomonas sp. and phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus on lipolysis of washed cream incubated at 37 and 7°C was determined. Preincubation of the washed cream with protease at pH 9.0 and 37°C increased the subsequent rate of lipolysis. Rate of lipolysis was associated with the extent of proteolysis of the washed cream (r 2 = .89). Preincubation of washed cream with phospholipase C at pH 7.35 and 37°C did not affect subsequent lipolysis. Incubation of washed cream with protease and lipase as well as with phospholipase and lipase at pH 6.65 and 37°C resulted in an increase in the initial rate of lipolysis. However, rate of lipolysis decreased after 2h of incubation when microbial protease was present; this probably resulted from proteolytic inactivation of the lipase. Microbial protease and phospholipase C exhibited a synergistic effect in enhancing lipolysis for up to 4h of incubation at 37°C, but this effect decreased with additional incubation. When cream was incubated at 7°C, protease and phospholipase decreased the rate of lipolysis.
License plate Character Segmentation using horizontal and vertical projection with dynamic thresholding

Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) is an integral component of modern day road transportation networks. Identification of vehicles is one of the most important challenges to be addressed in the design of any intelligent traffic system. License plate being a unique identity for any registered vehicle, License Plate Recognition (LPR) systems have been used as the means to resolve the issue of identification of vehicles. Intelligent systems involving LPR has been widely applied in several applications such as intelligent traffic rule enforcement, prevention of car theft, intelligent traffic emergency/accident handling, monitoring of vehicle traffic and flow control, intelligent parking, automated toll payment, intelligent surveillance and security enforcement etc. A typical LPR process consists of three stages viz; License Plate Extraction, Character Segmentation and Character Recognition. This paper address the Character Segmentation problem. The character segmentation method using horizontal and vertical projection and with dynaic thresholding is proposed in this paper. From the experimental studies made, it is learned that the proposed technique works reasonably well in real world scenarios.
Stability of Men’s Interracial First Unions: A Test of Educational Differentials and Cohabitation History

Using the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, this study examines how cohabitation and education affect marital dissolution for White, Black and Latino heterosexual males (N = 1,395) in their first same-race or interracial union. This research suggests that a history of cohabitation, plans of marriage and education may help explain the divergent divorce patterns of interracial and same-race unions. Life table analyses and hazard modeling reveal that cohabitation and education have independent effects on marital dissolution, but neither explains the difference between interracial and same-race unions. Measures traditionally associated with divorce attenuate this difference. Subsequent analyses by racial union pairing suggest that Black men with White women and Latino men with Black women have significantly high risks of divorce.
Methylamine tungstate and tannic acid in fixation for high contrast and preservation of fine structure: application to myxomycete plasmodia

SUMMARY The effects of several fixation methods for electron microscopy were compared, using macro-plasmodia of Badhamia utricularis (myxomycete) as test objects. A brief osmium tetroxide (Os) exposure followed by a mixture of glutaraldehyde (GA) and tannic acid (TA) with subsequent treatment with methylamine tungstate (MAT) overcame most commonly encountered difficulties in fixing these structures. Lead staining of the sections was necessary to bring out the range of densities inherent in the delicate detail of ground cytoplasm, membranes, and organelle structure retained by Os/GA-TA/MAT. Microfilaments were well preserved with good contrast and little evidence of breakage. Although GA as the initial fixative gave good organelle preservation, Os pretreatment was required to prevent artefactual changes in plasmodial strand morphology. The several fixation procedures tested gave pronounced differences in mitochondrial appearance, in some cases giving a negative stained appearance to the cristae. Some advantages in interpretation may result from such reversed contrast. The high contrast and range of densities achieved following the Os/GA-TA/MAT schedule permitted routine use of thin (silver-grey) sections, thereby potentially increasing the resolution.
Development: it's about time

Traditionally, research has been defined as being about development if it focuses on behaviors that occur during development, without reference either to what precedes or follows, or ‐ more importantly ‐ the mechanisms that drive change. This perspective has been challenged by two new approaches: dynamical systems, and connectionism, both of which have as core goals the explanation of change. Interestingly, these approaches have also been seen by many as being at odds with one another, for reasons that are in part valid, and in part superficial. Recent developments in both approaches suggest that a convergence is occurring, although much remains to be done before a true unification can take place.
Albumin Dialysis for Liver Failure: A Systematic Review.

Albumin dialysis is the best-studied extracorporeal nonbiologic liver support system as a bridge or destination therapy for patients with liver failure awaiting liver transplantation or recovery of liver function. We performed a systematic review to examine the efficacy and safety of 3 albumin dialysis systems (molecular adsorbent recirculating system [MARS], fractionated plasma separation, adsorption and hemodialysis [Prometheus system], and single-pass albumin dialysis) in randomized trials for supportive treatment of liver failure. PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE, Cochrane's Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched. Two authors independently screened citations and extracted data on patient characteristics, quality of reports, efficacy, and safety end points. Ten trials (7 of MARS and 3 of Prometheus) were identified (620 patients). By meta-analysis, albumin dialysis achieved a net decrease in serum total bilirubin level relative to standard medical therapy of 8.0 mg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI], −10.6 to −5.4) but not in serum ammonia or bile acids. Albumin dialysis achieved an improvement in hepatic encephalopathy relative to standard medical therapy with a risk ratio of 1.55 (95% CI, 1.16-2.08) but had no effect survival with a risk ratio of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.84-1.07). Because of inconsistency in the reporting of adverse events, the safety analysis was limited but did not demonstrate major safety concerns. Use of albumin dialysis as supportive treatment for liver failure is successful at removing albumin-bound molecules, such as bilirubin and at improving hepatic encephalopathy. Additional experience is required to guide its optimal use and address safety concerns.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Levels in Young Healthy Females Display Day and Night Variations and Are Increased in Response to Short-Term Energy Deprivation Through a Leptin-Independent Pathway

OBJECTIVE Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is an endocrine factor with potent metabolic effects. Its day–night patterns of secretion and/or its physiological response to energy deprivation and relationship to free fatty acids (FFAs) and/or leptin remain to be fully elucidated. We aim to elucidate day–night pattern of FGF-21 levels and its relationship to FFA, to assess whether energy deprivation alters its circulating patterns, and to examine whether leptin may mediate these changes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Six healthy lean females were studied for 72 h in a cross-over interventional study under three different conditions: on isocaloric diet and in a fasting state with administration of either placebo or metreleptin in physiological replacement doses. Blood samples were obtained hourly from 8:00 a.m. on day 4 until 8:00 a.m. on day 5. RESULTS FGF-21 exhibited day–night variation pattern during the isocaloric fed state. Fasting significantly increased FGF-21 levels ( P CONCLUSIONS A day–night variation in the levels of FGF-21 exists in young lean females in the fed state. Energy deprivation increases FGF-21 levels via a leptin-independent pathway. The interaction between FGF-21 and starvation-induced lipolysis, as indicated by its close cross-correlations with FFA in both fed state and energy deprivation, needs to be studied further.
High Range Resolution Radar Measurements of the Speed Distribution of Breaking Events in Wind-Generated Ocean Waves: Surface Impulse and Wave Energy Dissipation Rates

Abstract A set of X-band radar measurements, backscattered from the sea surface at near grazing incidence with very high spatial and temporal resolution (30 cm in range and 2000-Hz pulse repetition frequency) in moderate wind conditions, are dominated by moving discrete events (sea spikes). They have radar cross sections of up to about 1 m2 and are found to possess the characteristics of breaking wave fronts. Contributions from Bragg backscattering appear to be at least two orders of magnitude smaller. The number of events detected per unit area per unit time was of the same order as found by Ding and Farmer at almost the same wind speed, but the distribution of event speeds was narrower—the fastest breaking wave events observed had line-of-sight speeds of about 0.6 of the dominant wave speed. The measured histograms of number of events versus event speed c suggested that the smaller events with c < 3 m s−1 were only incompletely counted so that the characteristics of only the faster events (3–6 m s−1) we...
Medial Femoral Condyle Cartilage Defect Biomechanics Effect of Obesity, Defect Size, and Cartilage Thickness

Background:Medial femoral condyle (MFC) chondral defects cause knee pain. Clinical studies have shown worse functional outcomes and cartilage defect fill rates after microfracture in obese patients (BMI ≥30) and for defects with size ≥2 cm2.Purpose:To determine the effect of obesity, defect size, and cartilage thickness on the force sustained at the base of full-thickness MFC cartilage defects during weightbearing.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Methods:Eight human cadaveric knees were loaded in 15° of flexion. A sensor measured force across the medial compartment. The area at the base of the defect protected from load, termed the “area of containment,” was quantified, and loads simulating weightbearing for BMIs of 20, 30, and 40 were applied. A full-thickness cartilage defect was created on the MFC. Cycles of loads were applied for defect sizes with diameters of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 mm. A second sensor recorded force at the base of the defect for defects with diameters of 14, 16, 18,...
Mechanism of specific RASSF1A tumor suppression through C19ORF5

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 5317 Isoform-specific epigenetic silencing of RASSF1A (3p21.3) by promoter-specific CpG-island hypermethylation occurs at high frequency in human tumors while the closely related product of the same gene, RASSF1C, continues to be expressed. Both isoforms in isolation exhibit tumor suppressor properties and we show here similar cellular locations on mitochondria and microtubules, paclitaxel-like microtubule hyperstabilization and disruption of mitosis. C19ORF5 is a sequence homologue of microtubule-associated protein MAP1B and binds specifically with paclitaxel or RASSF1A-hyperstabilized microtubules. When A or C isoforms of RASSF1 are co-expressed with C19ORF5 the unique N-terminal sequence of RASSF1C prevents it from hyperstabilizing microtubules although both A and C equally interact with C19ORF5. When overexpressed in mammalian cells the 393-amino acid residue C-terminus of C19ORF5 (C19ORF5C) that is homologous to the light chain of MAP1B, induced and associated with perinuclear aggregates of cytochrome c-deficient and membrane potential-reduced mitochondria that caused gross degradation of DNA. We refer to this distinct mode of cell death as mitochondrial aggregation and genome destruction (MAGD). The accumulation of C19ORF5 and resultant MAGD signalled by hyperstabilized microtubules may be involved in the tumor suppression activity of both RASSF1A and the taxoid drug family.
Readmissions To New York Hospitals Fell For Three Target Conditions From 2008 To 2012, Consistent With Medicare Goals

The Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), an initiative of the Affordable Care Act, imposes considerable financial penalties on hospitals with excess thirty-day readmissions for patients with selected high-volume conditions. We investigated the intended impact of the program by examining changes in thirty-day readmissions among Medicare patients admitted for three conditions targeted by the program in New York State, compared to Medicare patients with other conditions and with privately insured patients, before and after the program’s introduction. We also examined potential unintended strategic responses by hospitals that might allow them to continue to treat target-condition patients while avoiding the readmission penalty. We found that thirty-day readmissions fell for the three conditions targeted by the HRRP, consistent with the goals of the program. Second, there also was a substantial fall in readmissions for a comparison group although not as large as for the target group, which ...
Spatial Distribution of Pre-Warm Front Rainfall in the Mediterranean Area

Evidence is given of the distribution of pre-warm front rainfall at the meso-γ scale, together with a discussion of the main mechanisms producing this variability. An inland region in the Mediterranean area is considered. The selected rainfall type is commonly considered the most regular inasmuch as it is usually unaffected by extended convective motions. Despite this, within a storm a large variability in space was observed. For 90% of measurements, the typical deviations from the area-average total depth ranged from - 40 to 60 % and the storm ensemble-average rainfall rate over an hilly zone was 60 % greater than that in a contiguous low-land zone generally placed upwind. This variability is largely explained in terms of forced uplift of air mass over an envelope type orography. For a few storms smaller orographic effects were found in locations influenced by an orography with higher slopes and elevations. This feature is ascribed to the compact structure of these mountains which probably determines a deflection of air mass in the boundary layer. The importance of this type of analysis in the hydrological practice is also emphasized.
Erratum to: Analysis of a sugar maple tree core for monitoring environmental uranium contamination

In the original publication of the article, the soil leachate (L1, L2, L3) concentrations and Fig. 2 was published erroneously. The Supplemental Information 1 and Supplemental Information 2 also published with incorrect values. The corrected version of Fig. 2 is provided in this erratum. Within the first paragraph of Results section, the sentence that reads ‘‘The total anthropogenic soil leach (L3) contained 425 ppb U relative to ashed sample weight, whereas the weaker leaches simulating the bioavailable U fraction (ultrapure H2O, L1; and 0.05 N HNO3, L2) were 1.9 and 1.2 ppb, respectively, relative to dry sample weight’’ should be modified to ‘‘The total anthropogenic soil leach (L3) contained 4451 ppb U relative to ashed sample weight, whereas the weaker leaches simulating the bioavailable U fraction (ultrapure H2O, L1; and 0.05 N HNO3, L2) were 18.1 and 12.2 ppb, respectively, relative to dry sample weight.’’ Additionally, the sentence in the second paragraph of the Discussion section currently reads: ‘‘The lower concentrations observed in tree core sections are likely due to (1) low abundances of bioavailable U in the surrounding soil (\2 ppb in soil leachates) and (2) selective root uptake and continued deposition of U in the cell structure whereas tree bark is the primary depositional surface for airborne particulates [8].’’ It should read ‘‘The lower concentrations observed in tree core sections are likely due to (1) low abundances of bioavailable U in the surrounding soil (\18 ppb in soil leachates) and (2) selective root uptake and continued deposition of U in the cell structure whereas tree bark is the primary depositional surface for airborne particulates [8].’’ The corrected version of Supplemental Information 1 and Supplemental Information 2 is provided in this erratum.
The Cost Burden of Complications after Major Surgery for Urological Cancer: Opportunities for Value Creation in Urology

Abstract Introduction While improving patient outcomes and controlling costs have become primary pursuits in health care, priority areas for value creation remain unclear. In urology operative morbidity serves as a major barrier to high value care. To guide improvement efforts we assessed the prevalence and cost of inpatient complications among patients undergoing major surgery for urological cancer. Methods Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2009 to 2011 we identified hospital admissions for cancer related prostatectomy, nephrectomy and cystectomy among adults age 18 years or older. We then measured the occurrence of inpatient complications, medical and surgical, and used multivariable, mixed effect models to estimate the associated marginal cost. Results Among weighted samples of 229,743 prostatectomies, 111,683 nephrectomies and 31,213 cystectomies, inpatient complications occurred in 9.4% (95% CI 8.6–10.2), 32.0% (95% CI 30.7–33.4) and 57.7% (95% CI 54.7–60.6) of hospital admissions, respectively. For these respective samples an adverse event added $4,947 (95% CI 4,523–5,454), $6,782 (95% CI 6,336–7,293) and $10,756 (95% CI 9,999–11,759) to the cost of inpatient care. While surgical events occurred most frequently, medical complications generated $1,699 (95% CI 994–2,423), $2,052 (95% CI 1,545–2,662) and $4,852 (95% CI 3,519–6,531) more in expense per episode for prostate, kidney and bladder cancer cases, respectively. Conclusions Many patients undergoing major surgery for urological cancer experience a complication, adding substantially to health care costs. As urologists seek to generate value in urological cancer care, the prevention and management of complications, especially medically driven events, represent an immediate opportunity for quality improvement and cost savings.
Moderators of Remission in Patients With Late-Life Depression: Where Do We Go Next?

vestigators tested for the moderating effects of executive dysfunction (specifically, measures of set shifting and response inhibition), comorbid anxiety, and medical burden. All of these factors have been implicated in contributing to poor antidepressant responses in late-life depression, 3,4 but they have not previously been examined in second-line therapies and often not in the context of placebo-controlled trials. The study team found that neither medical morbidity nor response inhibition was related to remission. A higher severity of anxiety predicted an overall lower remission rate but did not specifically moderate aripiprazole efficacy. In contrast, set-shifting performance measured with the Trail Making Test moderated aripiprazole efficacy; participants who performed better were more likely to remit with aripiprazole than with placebo. For participants performing poorly, aripiprazole did not demonstrate a benefit over placebo. These findings have several implications and raise many questions.
Age, Anxiety, and Self-Reported Health

A sample of 472 normal males ranging in age from twenty-five to eighty-two was divided into anxious and adjusted groups on the basis of a cluster analysis of the Cattell 16PF test, and compared for scores on a self-report measure of health. While the anxious men reported more symptoms than the adjusted in the young and middle age groups, there was no difference in the old group. Although anxiety was found to be unrelated to health as evaluated by physicians' examinations, the anxious men indeed reported more health problems in eight major areas of health concern than was warranted by their actual physical health status. This relation also did not hold in the old group. Anxious men seemed to be more vagilant about their health in young and middle age groups, but not in the old group. This was interpreted as a defensive denial of symptoms in the old anxious group; for a person with trait anxiety, anxiety about approaching death and increasing health problems is just too much to bear, and he resorts to denying symptoms in an effort to diminish his anxiety.
The Measurement of Systemic Blood Flow.

SummaryA technic of measuring total aortic flow has been presented which essentially reestablishes cardiovascular continuity, limits vascular dead space to less than 100 cc, and is accomplished by connections with intrathoracic arteries. The use of the Potter electro-turbinometer has eliminated the pressure buffer bottle, since it follows pulsatile flow accurately.
Screening Sputum Specimens for Mycobacterial Culture

We investigated whether the rejection policy used in our laboratory for sputum specimens submitted for routine bacterial culture could be applied to sputum specimens submitted for mycobacterial culture. We compared the quality of sputum specimens, based on quantity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and squamous epithelial cells observed in a Gram-stained smear, with mycobacterial culture results. Of the 391 specimens evaluated, 173 (44.2%) would have been rejected by our criteria. A mycobacterium was recovered from 42 (24.3%) of these specimens. Of the 218 specimens that would have been accepted, 66 (30.3%) grew a mycobacterium. We concluded that our policy for rejection of sputum specimens submitted for routine bacterial culture should not be applied to those submitted for mycobacterial culture, unless it is possible to timely collect a subsequent sample from patients whose initial specimen is found to be contaminated with saliva.
FPGA-Based Model Predictive Controller for Direct Matrix Converter

Recently, there has been an increase in the use of finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) for power converters. Model predictive control (MPC) uses the discrete-time model of the system to predict future values of control variables for all possible control actions and computes a cost function related to control objectives. This control technique can provide fast dynamic response. However, MPC method implementation imposes a very high computational burden and causes significant hardware requirements for real-time implementation. In this paper, a fully field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based real-time implementation of MPC is proposed for direct matrix converter (DMC). In the proposed method, all control calculations and the safe commutation scheme for DMC are fully implemented in the FPGA and the need for another digital control platform, such as digital signal processors (DSP) or dSPACE, is eliminated. The proposed scheme takes full advantages of the parallel computation capability of FPGAs.
Imaging Specific to Cartilage Injury

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used for morphological joint imaging, allowing visualization of abnormalities in cartilage, ligaments, bone, and other anatomical features. Quantitative MRI sequences provide noninvasive or minimally invasive means to assess proteoglycan and collagen integrity. These sequences vary in sensitivity to macromolecular content and differences between native and repair cartilage. When these standard MR sequences are used to image repaired cartilage, the presence of implanted metallic objects interferes and causes artifacts in the images affecting the clinical outcomes. Different types of artifacts, pulse sequences currently used, and emerging techniques to minimize these artifacts are discussed.
The Sleeping Sovereign: The Invention of Modern Democracy

Le 4e de couverture indique : "Richard Tuck traces the history of the distinction between sovereignty and government and its relevance to the development of democratic thought. Tuck shows that this was a central issue in the political debates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and provides a new interpretation of the political thought of Bodin, Hobbes and Rousseau. Integrating legal theory and the history of political thought, he also provides one of the first modern histories of the constitutional referendum, and shows the importance of the United States in the history of the referendum. The book derives from the John Robert Seeley Lectures delivered by Richard Tuck at the University of Cambridge in 2012, and will appeal to students and scholars of the history of ideas, political theory and political philosophy."
Evolution of Ancient and Modern Amphibians and Reptiles

This chapter introduces some extinct amphibian and reptilian taxa and discusses the history of the clades that compose the modern herpetofauna. The origin of terrestriality was quickly followed by an eruption of new species with new lifestyles and body forms. Although amphibian (anamniote) diversification began earlier, amniotes were the dominant group by the mid-Permian in terms of number of species and individuals, based on the fossil record. Tetrapods largely disappeared from the fossil record at the end of the Devonian. They next appeared en masse in the Upper Mississippian and Lower Pennsylvanian when fossils representing lowland lake and swamp assemblages reappeared. More than a dozen clades are recognized, and they include several groups of anthracosaurs, at least three amphibian groups, and the enigmatic Crassigyrinus. Unlike subsequent tetrapods, all known early tetrapods had more than five digits; Acanthostega had eight digits on its forefeet. In the Pennsylvanian, many new tetrapod groups appeared: geophyrostegid and limnoscelid anthracosaurs, eryopoid amphibians, and nectrideans and three groups of microsaurs. This fauna lived predominantly in the lowlands.