cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transfer and Cost Effectiveness as Guides to Simulator/Flight Training Device Use

As fuel prices climb and aircraft operating expenses follow suit, the training costs incurred by aviation students continue to rise. Responsible aviation programs must seek ways to provide safe and effective training while minimizing their students’ training costs. To accomplish this, many aviation programs utilize flight simulation of some form as a complement to training in the aircraft. Simulation can be offered at greatly reduced per hour costs when compared to the aircraft, and as studies have shown, provides positive transfer of training from the simulated environment to the aircraft. Positive transfer of training implies that students will benefit from training in the simulated environment. This is only the case when the transfer effectiveness ratio (TER) is above a given value. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate a method of evaluating the cost effectiveness of a training device by using the TER and the cost effectiveness ratio (CER.) By using these tools, the use of simulation will be of maximum benefit, i.e. reduced training costs, to aviation programs and their students.
LinkSO: a dataset for learning to retrieve similar question answer pairs on software development forums

We present LinkSO, a dataset for learning to rank similar questions on Stack Overflow. Stack Overflow contains a massive amount of crowd-sourced question links of high quality, which provides a great opportunity for evaluating retrieval algorithms for community-based question answer (cQA) archives and for learning to rank such archives. However, due to the existence of missing links, one question is whether question links can be readily used as the relevance judgment for evaluation. We study this question by measuring the closeness between question links and the relevance judgment, and we find their agreement rates range from 80% to 88%. We conduct an empirical study on the performance of existing work on LinkSO. While existing work focuses on non-learning approaches, our study results reveal that learning-based approaches has great potential to further improve the retrieval performance.
Cancer Prevention and Therapy of Two Types of Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication⁻Deficient "Cancer Stem Cell".

Early observations showed a lack of growth control and terminal differentiation with a lack of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). Subsequent observations showed that epigenetic tumor promoters and activated oncogenes, which block gap junction function, provide insights into the multi-stage, multi-mechanism carcinogenic process. With the isolation of embryonic induced pluri-potent stem cells and organ-specific adult stem cells, gap junctions were linked to early development. While tumors and tumor cell lines are a heterogeneous mixture of “cancer stem cells” and “cancer non-stem cells”, the cancer stem cells seem to be of two types, namely, they express (a) no connexin genes or (b) connexin genes, but do not have functional GJIC. These observations suggest that these “cancer stem cells” originate from normal adult stem cells or from the de-differentiation or re-programming of somatic differentiated cells. This “Concept Paper” provides a hypothesis that “cancer stem cells” either originate from (a) organ-specific adult stem cells before the expression of the connexin genes or (b) organ-specific adult stem cells that just express gap junction genes but that the connexin proteins are rendered dysfunctional by activated oncogenes. Therefore, cancer prevention and therapeutic strategies must account for these two different types of “cancer stem cell”.
QUICr: A Reusable Library for Parametric Abstraction of Sets and Numbers

This paper introduces QUICr, an abstract domain combinator library that lifts any domain for numbers into an efficient domain for numbers and sets of numbers. As a library, it is useful for inferring relational data invariants in programs that manipulate data structures. As a testbed, it allows easy extension of widening and join heuristics, enabling adaptations to new and varied applications. In this paper we present the architecture of the library, guidelines on how to select heuristics, and an example instantiation of the library using the Apron library to verify set-manipulating programs.
Brief Amici Curiae of Intellectual Property Professors in Support of Appellees, Regents of the University of Minnesota v. LSI Corp., Nos. 2018-1559, -1560, -1561, -1562, -1563, -1564, -1565 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 7, 2018)

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may, in inter partes review, reconsider its decision to grant a state’s patent application without implicating that state’s sovereign immunity. State sovereign immunity limits the federal government’s “judicial power” under Article III of the Constitution. But the Patent Office does not exercise such Article III power when it reconsiders a decision to grant a patent. State sovereign immunity also limits the ability of private complainants to hale a state into a federal proceeding that closely resembles an ordinary lawsuit. But private complainants do not institute inter partes review: Rather, it is the Patent Office that decides whether to institute review. And inter partes review differs from ordinary litigation in several other relevant respects. Inter partes review and federal litigation differ because their primary purposes differ. Patent litigation typically resolves cases or controversies among private disputants. But inter partes review is instead primarily designed to allow the Patent Office “a second look at an earlier administrative grant of a patent” — one that ensures “that patent monopolies are kept within their legitimate scope.” The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the government’s continuing jurisdiction over such federal grants — including those conferred on the states — to ensure that they remain within lawful bounds. So too with state-owned patents and inter partes review. Indeed, the government’s power to check the scope of such patents helps to assure an ongoing balance between public and private patentees.
Cutting through the fat: a retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes, cost, and quality of life with the addition of panniculectomy to ventral hernia repair in overweight patients

Due to the increased prevalence of overweight patients with ventral hernia, abdominal wall reconstruction combining ventral hernia repair (VHR) with panniculectomy (VHR-PAN) in overweight patients is increasingly considered. We present a retrospective comparison between VHR-PAN and VHR alone in overweight patients by examining costs, clinical outcomes, and quality of life (QoL). Patients with body mass index (BMI) > 25.0 kg/m2 underwent VHR-PAN or VHR alone between September 2015 and May 2017 with a single surgeon and were matched into cohorts by BMI and age (n = 24 in each cohort). QoL was assessed using the Hernia-related Quality of Life Survey (HerQLes). Cost was assessed using billing data. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher’s exact tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and regression modeling. Hernia defect size (p = 0.127), operative time (p = 0.140), mesh placement (p = 0.357), and recurrence rates (p = 0.156) did not vary significantly between cohorts at average follow up of one year. 60% of patients completed QoL surveys, with 61% net improvement in VHR-PAN postoperatively (p = 0.042) vs 36% in VHR alone (p = 0.054). Mean total hospitalization costs were higher for VHR alone (p = 0.019). Regression modeling showed no significant independent contribution of procedure performed due to differences in cost, wound complications, or hernia recurrence. At mean follow up of 2 years, VHR-PAN patients reported a comparable increase in QoL to those who received VHR alone without significantly different cost and complication rates. Concurrent VHR-PAN may therefore be a safe approach for overweight patients presenting with hernia and excess abdominal skin.
A comparison of hippocampal microglial responses in aged and young rodents following dependent and non-dependent binge drinking.

Abstract Alcoholism is a highly visible and prevalent issue in the United States. Although binge-drinking is assumed to be a college-age problem, older adults (ages 65 +) consume binge amounts of alcohol and have alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Moreover, individuals with alcohol dependence in their youth often continue to drink as they age. As such, this study tested the hypothesis that the effects of alcohol on hippocampal microglia are exacerbated in aged versus younger rodents in two AUD models. Briefly, adult (2–3 months) and aged (15 + months) Sprague-Dawley rats were administered alcohol or control diet using the Majchrowicz model to study alcohol-induced neurodegeneration. To study the effects of non-dependent binge consumption on microglia, adolescent (6–8 weeks) and aged (18 + months) C57/BL6N were subjected to the Drinking in the Dark paradigm. Microglia number and densitometry were assessed using immunohistochemistry. Hippocampal subregional and model/species-specific effects of alcohol were observed, but overall, aging did not appear to increase the alcohol-induced microglia reactivity as measured by Iba-1 densitometry. However, analysis of microglial counts revealed a significant decrease in the number microglia cells in both the alcohol-induced neurodegeneration and DID model across age groups. In the dentate gyrus, the loss of microglia was exacerbated by aging, particularly in mice after DID, non-dependent model. Using qRT-PCR, the persistence of alcohol and aging effects was assessed following the DID model. Allograft Inflammatory Factor 1 mRNA was increased in both young and aged mice by alcohol exposure; however, only in the aged mice did the alcohol effect persist. Overall, these data imply that the microglial response to alcohol is complex with evidence of depressed numbers of microglia but also increased reactivity with advanced age.
Tourniquet Use for Short Hand Surgery Procedures Done Under Local Anesthesia Without Epinephrine

Purpose Wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) is an increasingly popular surgical technique. However, owing to surgeon preference, patient factors, or hospital guidelines, it may not be feasible to inject patients with solutions containing epinephrine the recommended 25 minutes prior to incision. The purpose of this study was to assess pain and patient experience after short hand surgeries done under local anesthesia using a tourniquet rather than epinephrine for hemostasis. Methods Ninety-six consecutive patients undergoing short hand procedures using only local anesthesia and a tourniquet (LA-T) were assessed before and after surgery. A high arm pneumatic tourniquet was used in 73 patients and a forearm pneumatic tourniquet was used in 23. All patients received a local, unbuffered plain lidocaine injection. No patients received sedation. Pain related to local anesthesia, pneumatic tourniquet, and the procedure was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS). Patient experience was assessed using a study-specific questionnaire based on previous WALANT studies. Tourniquet times were recorded. Results Mean pain related to anesthetic injection was rated 3.9 out of 10. Mean tourniquet related pain was 2.9 out of 10 for high arm pneumatic tourniquets and 2.3 out of 10 for forearm pneumatic tourniquets. Patients rated their experience with LA-T favorably and 95 of 96 patients (99%) reported that they would choose LA-T again for an equivalent procedure. Mean tourniquet time was 9.6 minutes and only 1 patient had a tourniquet inflated for more than 20 minutes. Tourniquet times less than 10 minutes were associated with less pain than tourniquet times greater than 10 minutes (P Conclusion Short wide-awake procedures using a tourniquet are feasible and well accepted. Local anesthetic injection was reported to be more painful than pneumatic tourniquet use. Tourniquets for short wide-awake procedures can be used in settings in which preprocedure epinephrine injections are logistically difficult or based on surgeon preference. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.
Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma

This chapter will focus on pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma syndromes. Other causes of endocrine hypertension that occur in hyperaldosteronism, severe cases of hyperthyroidism, Cushing syndrome, hyperdeoxycorticosteronism, apparent mineralocorticoid excess syndrome, and acromegaly are reviewed elsewhere.
Nanostructured Films of Oppositely Charged Domains from Self-Assembled Block Copolymers

The exploration of poly(tert-butyl methacrylate)-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine), PtBMA-b-P4VP, as a precursor material for the creation of nanostructured films with oppositely charged domains is repor...
Backlund Transformations and Deformations of Linear Differential Equations with Applications to Diophantine Approximations

We examine here some new methods borrowed from mathematical physics that are used in analytic number theory and especially in the study of diophantine approximations. Our final product is summarized in a few new results on measures of irrationality of the constants of classical analysis.
Religion, Prejudicial Beliefs toward Sexual Minorities and Same-Sex Relations, and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage: Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner

This study employs data from the NORC General Social Surveys to assess the extent, if any, to which the effects of both religious affiliation and personal religiosity on opposition to same-sex marr...
Poor blastocyst formation from good quality day three embryos is associated with asthenospermia

Objective Prolonged embryo culture to day 5 or 6 with subsequent transfer of blastocysts is slowly becoming common in IVF cycles. Despite having good quality embryos on Day 3, not all embryos develop into blastocysts. It is well known that late paternal effect and embryonic genome activation occur around day 3 of embryo development. Our objective was to study whether an association exists between asthenospermia and subsequent poor blastocyst quality on day 5 or 6 in previously good quality embryos on day 3. Design Retrospective chart analysis was performed of all IVF cycles conducted in 2016 and 2017 at a single tertiary care academic center. Materials and methods Good quality embryos on day 3 was defined as 7- or 8-cell embryos with morphological grade A and B. Day 3 embryos which met criteria for good quality only were included in the study. Good quality blastocysts on day 5 or 6 were defined as having a blastocoel cavity expansion of ≥ 3 and grade AA, AB, BA, BB per Gardner's criteria. Bad quality embryos were defined as ones with a blastocoel cavity expansion Results From a total of 1,362 good quality Day 3 embryos, 517 (37.95%) formed good quality blastocysts on day 5 or 6. The asthenospermic group had a significantly lower good blast development rate per good quality day 3 embryo (13.1% vs 24.8%; p Conclusions Poor sperm motility was associated with a poor blast development rate and formation of poor quality of blasts. Male factor infertility might contribute to poor blastocyst formation in extended embryo culture. Since the Disclosures Nothing to disclose Funding None
Louisa May Alcott's Age

This essay draws attention to how the institutionalization of childhood studies in American literary criticism unwittingly privileges youth over all other ages and reifies the stages of life themselves as essential categories rather than as cultural constructs. Given that age emerged as a primary identity category between 1820 and 1900, this essay argues that age offers an especially pertinent lens for nineteenth-century literary scholars. Louisa May Alcott's 1873 novel Work makes the political and social significance of age its central subject. Work acknowledges age as a newly meaningful coordinate of identity in the mid-nineteenth century, but it denaturalizes the seeming inevitability of gendered age norms and the developmental teleology that under-writes them. Ultimately, Work envisions alternative versions of female maturity that depart from linear models of aging as decline
MO‐FG‐210‐00: US Guided Systems for Brachytherapy

Ultrasound (US) is one of the most widely used imaging modalities in medical practice. Since US imaging offers real-time imaging capability, it has becomes an excellent option to provide image guidance for brachytherapy (IGBT). (1) The physics and the fundamental principles of US imaging are presented, and the typical steps required to commission an US system for IGBT is provided for illustration. (2) Application of US for prostate HDR brachytherapy, including partial prostate treatments using MR-ultrasound co-registration to enable a focused treatment on the disease within the prostate is also presented. Prostate HDR with US image guidance planning can benefit from real time visualization of the needles, and fusion of the ultrasound images with T2 weighted MR allows the focusing of the treatment to the specific areas of disease within the prostate, so that the entire gland need not be treated. Finally, (3) ultrasound guidance for an eye plaque program is presented. US can be a key component of placement and QA for episcleral plaque brachytherapy for ocular cancer, and the UCLA eye plaque program with US for image guidance is presented to demonstrate the utility of US verification of plaque placement in improving the methods and QA in episcleral plaque brachytherapy. Learning Objectives: 1. To understand the physics of an US system and the necessary aspects of commissioning US for image guided brachytherapy (IGBT). 2. To understand real time planning of prostate HDR using ultrasound, and its application in partial prostate treatments using MR-ultrasound fusion to focus treatment on disease within the prostate. 3. To understand the methods and QA in applying US for localizing the target and the implant during a episcleral plaque brachytherapy procedures.
Regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in hepatoma tissue culture cells by serum lipoproteins.

Abstract The rate of 3β-hydroxysterol synthesis in hepatoma tissue culture (HTC) cells can be modified by the quality and quantity of serum lipoprotein in the culture medium. Cells maintained in medium which contained lipoprotein-poor serum have a steady state rate of 3β-hydroxysterol synthesis which is 3- to 4-fold greater than cells grown in medium containing unfractionated dialyzed serum. This increase is also reflected by a similar change in the catalytic activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for sterol biosynthesis (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34)). The addition of serum lipoproteins to medium containing lipoprotein-poor serum led to a rapid decrease in catalytic activity of HMG-CoA reductase; a t1/2 for decay of 1½ to 2 hours was calculated from steady state kinetics analysis. Cells incubated in media which contained dialyzed or lipoprotein-poor sera plus cycloheximide showed the same rate of decay in HMG-CoA reductase activity (t1/2: 4 to 5 hours). Also, cycloheximide prevented the increase in catalytic activity of HMG-CoA reductase in cells transferred from medium with whole serum to medium which contained lipoprotein-poor serum. Actinomycin D did not block the effect of added serum lipoprotein on the decay of reductase activity in cells grown on medium poor in lipoprotein, but it did block the increase in catalytic activity of HMG-CoA reductase by cells transferred from medium with unfractionated serum to lipoprotein-poor medium. These results suggest that the regulatory site of action of serum lipoproteins is at a post-transcriptional level and that their net effect is to decrease the rate of synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase.
Subscriber access made easy The road to multimedia services

Research conducted by Bell Northern Research (BNR) in the US over the past few years indicates that one major reason for the limited success of new services is the poor user interface available to subscribers. Results of this research, and the subsequent display-based telephones and services recently developed and under trial, indicate higher acceptance of display-based services delivered via extensions to current analog access. The most recent research indicates that caller identification service is the highest-valued service of those initially trialed. The inter-dependence of the telephone set and the service implementations has been shown to be very high in determining user acceptance and willingness to pay. The initial success of these new display based services indicates that service for the subscriber and revenue opportunities for the provider will soon be realized. >
Switchable optical image adder/subtractor

We demonstrate a switchable, parallel optical image adder/subtractor, using a Michelson interferometer configured with a phase-conjugating mirror. With the path difference of the interferometer legs within the coherence length of the laser, coherent image subtraction is obtained. By electronically switching the beam in one of the legs in the interferometer into an extra length, beyond the coherence length of the laser, incoherent image addition is performed. Two simple experiments showing the switching characteristics and the arithmetic operations are described. This kind of device should find applications in image processing and optical computing.
Designing persuasion: health technology for low-income African American communities

In the United States, African Americans face a disproportionate amount of diet-related health problems. For example, African American adults are 1.6 times more likely to have diabetes than their Caucasian counterparts. Individuals in low-income communities may face a greater risk because they typically have less access to healthy foods. Due to the significant diet-related problems within the African American community, public health researchers call for approaches to health promotion that take into account the relationship between culture and dietary habits. In this paper, we discuss three important considerations for the design of technologies that address the diet-related health disparities in low-income African American communities. These considerations include designing for cultural relevancy, modeling health behavior, and encouraging healthy behavior through the use of social psychological theories of persuasion. We use a game design example to illustrate how each of these considerations can be incorporated into the development of new technology.
Brachial plexus involvement in familial pressure‐sensitive neuropathy: Electrophysiological and morphological findings

Two family members with hereditary pressure-sensitive neuropathy are reported. One patient presented atypically with acute brachial plexus neuropathy following transaxillary removal of the first rib. Electrophysiological studies showed slowing of motor nerve conduction in clinically affected and unaffected nerves. In vitro recording of the compound action potential of the subclinically involved sural nerve showed pronounced slowing in conduction of large and small myelinated fiber groups. These alterations correlated with morphological studies of the sural nerve that showed tomacula with acute and healed segmental demyelination. An inherited, generalized neuropathy manifested by a morphological abnormality of myelination may render peripheral nerves unduly susceptible to mechanical trauma, including positional pressure or traction effects during general anesthesia.
Inhibition of photosystem II by formate. Possible evidence for a direct role of bicarbonate in photosynthetic oxygen evolution.

Abstract In broken chloroplasts the presence of 100 mM sodium formate at pH 8.2 will specifically lengthen the Photosystem II relaxation times of the reactions S′ 2 → S 3 and S′ 3 → S 0 . Rates of reactions S′ 0 → S 1 and S′ 1 → S 2 remain unaffected. Evidence is presented which indicates the discrimination among S-states by formate cannot be attributed to a block imposed on the reducing side of Photosystem II. The results are interpreted in context of the known interaction of formate and CO 2 which is bound to the Photosystem II reaction center complex. It is proposed that those S-state transitions which show extended relaxation times in the presence of formate must result in the momentary release and rebinding of CO 2 . Furthermore since formate is acting on the oxygen-evolving side of Photosystem II, it would seem that CO 2 is released in reactions that occur there. A chemical model of oxygen evolution is presented. It is based on the hypothesis that hydrated CO 2 is the immediate source of photosynthetically evolved oxygen and explains why, under certain conditions formate slows only the S-state transitions S′ 2 → S 3 and S′ 3 → S 0 .
The Role of Mid-urethral Slings in 2014: Analysis of the Impact of Litigation on Practice

Over 90,000 legal claims for complications related to transvaginal mesh have been filed to date. Safety issues specifically related to the use of transvaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse have not been appropriately differentiated from the use of mesh for stress urinary incontinence by either attorneys or the media. This litigious environment and nebulous communication on the safety issues have led to patient and physician concern regarding mesh slings for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. The ultimate result is likely to be a decrease in use of the gold standard of care for stress urinary incontinence—the mid-urethral synthetic sling.
Long-term decline in the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa in central Chesapeake Bay, USA: An indirect effect of eutrophication?

Abstract A long-term abundance record of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa in the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay was compiled from 1966 to 2002. A significant downward trend in the summertime abundance of Acartia tonsa was found in central Chesapeake Bay. We propose that environmental and food web changes occurred as the Chesapeake Bay became increasingly impacted by human activity which eventually led to the overall decline of A. tonsa. Environmental changes included a long-term rise in water temperature and the volume of hypoxic water during the summer. These changes occurred during the same time period as increases in chlorophyll a concentration, declines in the landings of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, and declines in abundance of the sea nettle Chrysaora quinquecirrha. A CUSUM analysis showed that each time-series experienced a change point during over the past 50 years. These changes occurred sequentially, with chlorophyll a concentration increasing beginning in 1969, water temperature and hypoxic volume increasing beginning in the early 1980s, more recent Maryland C. virginica landings begin declining in the early 1980s and A. tonsa and C. quinquecirrha declining starting in 1989. A stepwise regression analysis revealed that the reduction in A. tonsa abundance appeared to be most associated with a decreasing trend in C. quinquecirrha abundance, though only when trends in the two time-series were present. The drop in C. quinquecirrha abundance is associated with reduced predation on the ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, a key predator of A. tonsa. The long-term decline of A. tonsa has likely impacted trophic transfer to fish, particularly the zooplanktivorous bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli). A time-series of bay anchovy juvenile index showed a negative trend and the CUSUM analysis revealed 1993 as its starting point. Total fisheries landings, excluding menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), in Chesapeake Bay have also declined during the same period and this also began in 1993, further suggesting a potential fisheries impact from the decline in A. tonsa abundance.
Value based home automation for todays' market

The author discusses the reasons why home automation has failed to date. The perception that home automation systems are unreliable is addressed. The potential of the home automation market is explored. It is argued that the reason why home automation has not succeeded is still mostly cost. The cost threshold has not been reached for the most important market segment, which is upper-middle income people. High-income homeowners have achieved this cost threshold and other reasons explain their disinterest. Contributors are not only the manufacturing cost of the product, but also the development, installation, service, and support costs. Another factor is poor user interfaces. Developments in a number of areas which help to address these failings are discussed. In particular, utility automation is considered to affect this market significantly. >
Costly optimization: an experiment

Abstract An experimental technique is developed and used to examine how human subjects make choices when optimization is costly. The total cost of making a choice is defined to include two parts: (1) the direct cost of making the decision, and (2) the indirect cost of making a choice that is not best among the available alternatives. The total cost of choice for subjects in the experimental economy ranged from 15 to 42 percent of the economy's resources. The hypothesis that agents are rational on average was strongly rejected, while the hypothesis that agents are rational in the long run fared better.
Stability of minimal periodic orbits

Abstract Symplectic twist maps are obtained from a Lagrangian variational principle. It is well known that nondegenerate minima of the action correspond to hyperbolic orbits of the map when the twist is negative definite and the map is two-dimensional. We show that for more than two dimensions, periodic orbits with minimal action in symplectic twist maps with negative definite twist are not necessarily hyperbolic. In the proof we show that in the neighborhood of a minimal periodic orbit of period n , the n th iterate of the map is again a twist map. This is true even though in general the composition of twist maps is not a twist map.
A reconfigurable ΔΣ modulator with up to 100 MHz bandwidth using flash reference shuffling

A reconfigurable 65nm continuous-time low-pass ΔΣ modulator operates with a sampling frequency from 491 MHz to 1536 MHz, a signal bandwidth from 10MHz to 100 MHz, and a dynamic range of 75.4dB to 62.8 dB, respectively. Reference shuffling in the flash ADC is used to improve the linearity of the flash and DAC, while also increasing the highest sampling rate and bandwidth of the modulator.
Predictors, therapeutic options and long-term outcome of abrupt reclosure.

To ascertain the clinical and procedural factors that relate to the occurrence and management of abrupt reclosure, data on 1,160 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angioplasty between December 1981 and December 1986 were analyzed. Abrupt reclosure occurred in 54 patients (4.7%), developing during the dilatation procedure in 43 patients (80%) and delayed by 11 ± 2 hours after the procedure in 11 patients (20%). Patients were divided into 3 groups based on subsequent management: (1) 22 patients (40%) in whom the involved vessel was reopened by additional dilatation, (2) 14 patients (26%) in whom the involved vessel was not reopened but the patient was treated medically, and (3) 18 patients (33%) in whom abrupt reclosure was managed by emergency bypass surgery, yielding an overall emergency surgery rate of 1.6%. Patients whose abrupt reclosure was reopened were more likely to have luminal thrombus (54 vs 28%) and less likely to have extensive local dissection after dilatation (14 vs 61%; p
Effect of temperature shock and elevated incubation temperature on androgenic embryo yield of diploid potato

Using three diploid tuber-bearing Solanum clones as anther donors, experiments were conducted on the effect of high temperature shock and elevated incubation temperature during anther culture on androgenic embryo production. Five incubation treatments were tested on two clones and three treatments were repeated in a second experiment on one of the same clones and an additional one. In the first experiment, temperature treatment, genotype, date of culture initiation, and their interactions were all significant sources of variation. A treatment combining a high temperature shock (35 °C for 12 h) with elevated incubation temperature (30/20 °C) yielded 11 times as many embryos (44 per flask) as the control 20 °C (4 per flask). By conducting several replications per day of bud collection, the significant variation due to experimental dates was separated from experimental error to provide a more sensitive test of treatment effects. Temperature shock (35 °C 12h) during anther culture did not appear to influence the subsequent conversion rate of androgenic embryos.
Changes of the pattern of biliary bile acids during isolated rat liver perfusion.

In spite of the extensive use of isolated perfused liver systems for bile acid related studies, the composition of biliary bile acids during liver perfusion is not well known. Using recently developed bioluminescence assays for 3α-OH-, 7α-OH-, and 12α-OH- bile acids we studied the hydroxylation pattern of bile acids in bile during 90 minutes perfusion of isolated rat liver without added bile acid load. At the beginning 7α-hydroxylated bile acids comprised more than 50% of total bile acids from male livers and more than 90% from female livers, this percentage declined rapidly during the first 40–50 minutes of perfusion to values between 10 and 20%. 12α-hydroxylated bile acids comprised between 15 and 30% of the total at beginning of the perfusion and decreased to about 10% after 40 minutes. Sex differences as well as the influence of the duration of perfusion should be considered when the isolated perfused rat liver is used for bile acid related studies.
The yin and yang of copyright and technology

Examining the recurring conflicts between copyright and technology from piano rolls to domain-name filtering.
Imaging of cardiopulmonary diseases

Clear physiologic adaptations to endurance and resistance training occur in the myocardium. These morphologic changes have been identified primarily by echocardiography. In the evaluation of the symptomatic athlete, imaging is a valuable tool. To differentiate athletic hypertrophy from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, echocardiography, or MRI may be used, although the latter may be superior in the accurate assessment of wall thickness. Either imaging modality may be used to differentiate athletic dilatation from dilated cardiomyopathy in which systolic dysfunction always accompanies the dilatation. To exclude anomalous coronary arteries, either MRI or CT is a reasonable examination, although the latter requires x-ray exposure and iodinated contrast dye. Chest radiograph continues to be the standard imaging modality for athletic lung disease, whereas fluoroscopy and laryngoscopy are useful for identifying vocal cord dysfunction. Knowledge of the utility of these different imaging modalities is crucial to the practitioner of sports medicine.
The relationship of partial metric varieties and commuting powers varieties II

In this article, we give a positive answer to the open problem of whether $${\mathcal{L}_n \cap \mathcal{A}^2 = \varepsilon_n}$$ holds for every n.
Spatial analysis of farming viability and its contributing factors in California

California is the leading agricultural state in the United States. Agricultural production is being threatened by many factors: loss of agricultural land, water shortage, among others. In this paper, we employed an ordinary least square regression (OLS) model and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to examine the relationship between farming viability in California and three contributing factors: energy intensification, product diversity, and government support by county. The OLS model revealed that energy intensification and product diversity were significantly related overall to farming viability. Locally, the GWR model demonstrated the significant spatial variation in the relationship between farming viability, product diversity and government support across counties. By taking into account the spatial variation, the GWR model presented a higher explanatory power than the OLS Model. These findings will provide farmers and policy makers a better understanding of the influence of local factors and the variation across space.
Electrostatic Effects on the Phase Behavior of Aqueous Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide and Sodium Octyl Sulfate Mixtures with Added Sodium Bromide

Electrostatic interactions play a prominent role in setting the phase behavior of mixtures of oppositely charged surfactants and lead to the formation ofa variety of microstructures, including a novel equilibrium vesicle phase. Addition of a monovalent salt alters the electrostatic contribution to the free energy of aggregation and thus changes the equilibrium phase behavior and aggregate properties. Here we present observations for the catanionic mixture cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium octyl sulfate (SOS) with added sodium bromide (NaBr). The phase behavior ofthis surfactant system changes markedly when electrolyte is added. At certain compositions, there is a vesicle-to-micelle transition with increasing salt concentration, and surface charge density measurements, deduced from electrophoretic light scattering experiments, show that aggregate composition changes with added electrolyte. A thermodynamic cell model has been developed, supported by a new method of calculating vesicle electrostatic free energy, to quantify the various free energy contributions to aggregation. The cell model provides insight into how solution conditions such as composition and ionic strength affect phase behavior and related properties.
Shipboard relations between Pacific Island women and Euroamerican men 1767–1887

contact, have added a fresh perspective to Pacific Islands studies. New research has shown that chiefesses could hold more real power than was previously acknowledged and that female status generally in Island societies was less tainted by 'impurity' than supposed.1 Modern Island women have sometimes asserted their wills in new ways, such as prohibition campaigns against mostly male alcohol-abusers.2 Yet the historical literature on their relations with Euroamer
Group discussion on technical applications

The group discussion involved about 60 individuals representing both manufacturers and users of computing equipment.
Variable Selection via A Combination of the L0 and L1 Penalties

Variable selection is an important aspect of high-dimensional statistical modeling, particularly in regression and classification. In the regularization framework, various penalty functions are used to perform variable selection by putting relatively large penalties on small coefficients. The L1 penalty is a popular choice because of its convexity, but it produces biased estimates for the large coefficients. The L0 penalty is attractive for variable selection because it directly penalizes the number of non zero coefficients. However, the optimization involved is discontinuous and non convex, and therefore it is very challenging to implement. Moreover, its solution may not be stable. In this article, we propose a new penalty that combines the L0 and L1 penalties. We implement this new penalty by developing a global optimization algorithm using mixed integer programming (MIP). We compare this combined penalty with several other penalties via simulated examples as well as real applications. The results show ...
Reactive Silver and Cobalt Nanoparticles Modified with Fatty Acid Ligands Functionalized by Imidazole Derivatives

Novel nucleophilic ligands were synthesized from oleic acid conjugated with 2-mercaptoimidazole via a UV-initiated thiol−ene reaction, and by a condensation of trans-9,10-epoxystearic acid with 4(5)-imidazoledithiocarboxylic acid. Nanoparticles (NPs) with 10−100 nm Ag(0) or Co(0) cores were obtained by reduction of Ag+ or Co2+ by borohydride in N,N-dimethylformamide or aqueous solutions respectively. The NPs capped with oleic acid or 9,10-epoxystearic acids were further covalently bound to 2-mercaptoimidazole or 4(5)-imidazoledithiocarboxylic acid. The ligands and NPs functionalized with nucleophilic imidazole moieties enabled facile hydrolysis of paraoxon (O,O-diethyl O-(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate) by NPs in their aqueous media. The NPs acted as recoverable semiheterogeneous catalysts. The paraoxon hydrolysis was accelerated 10- to 50-fold by the formation of complexes between the imidazole-containing ligands or NPs with Co2+.
An estrogen receptor-selective coregulator that potentiates the effectiveness of antiestrogens and represses the activity of estrogens

The action of nuclear hormone receptors is tripartite, involving the receptor, its ligands, and its coregulator proteins. The estrogen receptor (ER), a member of this superfamily, is a hormone-activated transcription factor that mediates the stimulatory effects of estrogens and the inhibitory effects of antiestrogens such as tamoxifen in breast cancer and other estrogen target cells. To understand how antiestrogens and dominant negative ERs suppress ER activity, we used a dominant negative ER as bait in two-hybrid screening assays from which we isolated a clone from breast cancer cells that potentiates the inhibitory activities of dominant negative ERs and antiestrogen-liganded ER. At higher concentrations, it also represses the transcriptional activity of the estradiol-liganded ER, while having no effect on other nuclear hormone receptors. This clone, denoted REA for “repressor of estrogen receptor activity,” encodes a 37-kDa protein that is an ER-selective coregulator. Its competitive reversal of steroid receptor coactivator 1 enhancement of ER activity and its direct interaction with liganded ER suggest that it may play an important role in determining the sensitivity of estrogen target cells, including breast cancer cells, to antiestrogens and estrogens.
Obituary: Lev A. Shuvalov (1923-2004)

It is with great sadness that the international ferroelectrics community bids farewell to Professor Lev Shuvalov who died in Moscow in December 2004 in his eighty-first year. Lev Alexandrovitch, as...
Rapid molecular weight estimation and separation of selected immunoglobulin chains by high speed gel filtration

Abstract Rapid and reliable molecular weight estimations of reduced and alkylated immunoglobulin heavy or light chains were performed by high speed gel filtration in 6 M guanidinium chloride using a short (30 cm × 7.5 mm) TSK 3000 SW type column. Molecular weight estimations based on K av values of eluted polypeptides and glycopolypeptides were generally unaffected by protein bound carbohydrate. Rapid separation of immunoglobulin H and L chains was also achieved during high speed gel filtration.
Data link communication equipment approved by USAF for civil air traffic control

Operations within civil airspace will transition from traditional ground-based air traffic control (ATC) to air traffic management (ATM), a concept that requires aircrews and ground managers to share responsibility of aircraft separation assurance. Increased levels of information exchange will be necessary for this concept to work safely; therefore, air-ground communications will transition from voice to data link communications. The nature of data link communications procurement requires that avionics suppliers not only verify their products meet contractual performance requirements, but also demonstrate that their products are compatible with civil communication networks and ATC. In addition, the USAF needs to demonstrate that their crew-training program is adequate to maintain the required level of aircrew proficiency and equipment can be maintained for the required level of system performance, integrity, and interoperability with the civil environment. This paper outlines some of the certification issues facing the USAF with respect to the "Approval for Use" of data link equipment to be used for communication with ATC. It will also suggest a methodology for the avionics supplier and USAF to obtain the approvals required to ensure the installation of data link communications equipment on military aircraft will remain interoperable with civil ATC.
Determination of actinide and fission-product isotopes in very-high-burnup spent nuclear fuel

A work plan was desired that would produce data for a wide array of actinide and fission-product isotopes with reasonably good accuracy and relatively low cost. An analysis scheme involving a fairly small number of separations, dilutions, and measurement methods was used to generate information on 74 isotopes in two spent-fuel samples of >70 GWd/MTU burnup. Some of the measured isotopes are of high interest for burnup-credit evaluations and had not been reported previously for high-burnup fuels.
Phase associations of barium in marine sediments

Abstract Barium (Ba) is associated with various phases in marine sediments, including carbonates, organic matter, opal, ferromanganese oxyhydroxides, terrestrial silicates and other detrital material, and barite. Using samples representing sediments from a wide variety of sedimentary environments and export production regimes, we show that there is a considerable range in Ba concentrations associated with five operationally defined phases using a sequential extraction procedure (acetic acid, sodium hypochlorite, hydroxylamine hydrochlorite, hydrofluoric–nitric acid mixture, and a final residue dissolution). Distinct regional relationships between the relative abundance of Ba associated with different phases are observed. Since sedimentary Ba is widely used in algorithms to determine past export production, the variability in phase associations of sedimentary Ba shown here should be considered when reconstructing paleo-export productivity.
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Induces Neuronal Differentiation of PC12 Cells through Activation of Stably Expressed Lutropin/Choriogonadotropin Receptor

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and LH play an important role in reproductive physiology. Both hCG and LH bind to the same LH/choriogonadotropin receptor (LH/CG-R). Recent reports documented the temporal and spatial expression of LH/CG-R in the developing and mature mammalian brain. Administration of hCG promoted nerve regeneration in vivo and neurite outgrowth and survival of primary neurons in vitro. The function of hCG/LH and LH/CG-R in the nervous system remains unclear. In this study, we report that hCG/LH induced distinct morphological and biochemical changes, characteristic of neuronal differentiation, in PC12 cells stably expressing LH/CG-R and that the differentiation effect is ligand dose and time dependent. Western blot analysis revealed that both the ERKs and p38 MAPK are activated after hCG treatment. Inhibitor studies showed both the ERK and p38 MAPK signal transduction pathways are required for this differentiation process, which is cAMP dependent and protein kinase A independent. These findings imply a potential role for hCG/LH and LH/CG-R in the development, maintenance, and regeneration of the mammalian nervous system, and in the neuropathogenesis of genetic diseases caused by a mutated LH/CG-R.