cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using a real-time location system to measure patient flow in a radiation oncology outpatient clinic

Abstract Purpose Common performance metrics for outpatient clinics define the time between patient arrival and entry into an examination room as “waiting time.” Time spent in the room is considered processing time. This characterization systematically ignores time spent in the examination room waiting for service. If these definitions are used, performance will consistently understate total waiting times and overstate processing times. Correcting such errors will provide a better understanding of system behavior. Methods and materials In a radiation oncology service in an urban academic clinic, we collected data from a patient management system for 84 patients with 4 distinct types of visits: consultations, follow-ups, on-treatment visits, and nurse visits. Examination room entry and exit times were collected with a real-time location system for relevant care team members. Novel metrics of clinic performance were created, including the ratio of face time (ie, time during which the patient is with a practitioner) to total cycle time, which we label face-time efficiency. Attending physician interruptions occurred when the attending is called out of the room during a patient visit, and coordination-related delays are defined as waits for another team member. Results Face-time efficiency levels for consults, follow-ups, on-treatment visits, and nurse visits were 30.1%, 22.9%, 33.0%, and 25.6%, respectively. Attending physician interruptions averaged 6.7 minutes per patient. If these interruptions were eliminated, face-time efficiencies would rise to 33.2%, 29.2%, 34.4%, and 25.6%, respectively. Eliminating all coordination-related delays would increase these values to 41.3%, 38.9%, 54.7%, and 38.7%, respectively. Conclusions A real-time location system can be used to augment a patient management system and automate data collection to provide improved descriptions of clinic performance.
Independence of drug-induced damage in sarcoma 37 and carotid blood pressure in mice.

Thirty-seven drugs of various pharmacologic types were examined in CAF1 mice for: a) capacity to induce hemorrhagic-necrosis in Sarcoma 37; and b) the changes induced in systemic blood pressure as continuously recorded with a technic devised for the direct measurement of carotid blood pressure in mice.
The yin and yang of adaptive immunity in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: donor antigen-presenting cells can either augment or inhibit donor T cell alloreactivity.

The immunoregulatory activity of different donor bone marrow (BM) cell subsets has not yet been fully addressed in allogeneic transplantation. We studied whether manipulation of donor antigen-presenting cells (APC) can affect posttransplant immunity using a mouse model of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). CD11b is a marker present on mature monocytes, granulocytes, and a subset of dendritic cells (DC). In order to manipulate the content of APC, we enriched or depleted CD11b+ cells from BM grafts using immuno-magnetic cell sorting. The effect of CD11b depletion on graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) was studied in a MHC fully mismatched model of allogeneic BMT using C57BL/6 → B10.BR transplants and LBRM cells, a B10.BR T cell leukemia cell line. Transplantation with CD11b partially or fully depleted BM and low-dose donor splenocytes conferred 40% long-term leukemia- free survival with minimal GvHD when supralethal doses of LBRM were administered before transplant, or 75 days after BMT. Higher levels of serum gamma interferon and expansion of spleen-derived CD4+ memory T cells were seen among recipients of CD11b-depleted BM compared to recipients of unmanipulated BM. Expansion of donor-spleen-derived T cells was inversely proportional to the content of CD11b+ cells in the BM graft. Thus, manipulating the content of APC subsets in donor BM by enriching or removing CD11b+ cells had a direct effect on post-transplant immunity and the balance between donor T cell activation (Yang) and donor T cell tolerance/anergy (Yin).
Social Welfare Interest Groups: An Underutilized Resource

This paper addresses the need for increased political activity by the professional social work community in order to enhance its own status and to promote the growth of the social welfare institutions required by our clientele. It is not a polemic but an attempt to bare the relationship between social welfare bureaucracies and the political system. The results of a study on interest group behavior are reported. Social workers, as an interest group, can be more effective in advancing the goals of the profession if they have a better understanding of the political process and thereby maximize the impact of their limited resources. Form has noted that there has been an impressive growth in welfare institutions in America, despite the political reticence of welfare professionals and the political apathy of their clientele. He attributes the growth to worldwide and domestic pressures articulated by many poorly organized groups that recognized that the existing mechanisms could not address the problems facing society. Once the bureaucracies were created to administer the programs, professional social workers validated the services by training their personnel in schools of social work and by staffing the agencies but then proceeded to "strike a neutral pose" in line with traditional norms governing professional behavior. 2 A contemporary view of social services in an industrial society equates expanded programs with productivity
Immunopathology of M. lepremurium (MLM) infection in B6 C3AN and (C3HxB6) F1 mice.

Experimental studies of infection with M. lepremurium have revealed the existence of differences in the cellular reaction to lesions of murine leprosy in outbred and inbred strains of mice differing at the H-2 locus (1–6).
Monster metaphors in media coverage of the 2016 U.S. presidential contest

This article offers an exploratory look at the use of the monster metaphor in the political rhetoric surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Drawing on a unique qualitative archive of online m...
Economic Policies and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention: Emerging Complexities in the Literature:

Although the question of whether economic policies serve to reduce rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) has long been raised, rigorous tests of this question have only begun to take place recently. Given the mixed evidence to date, much remains unknown about the circumstances in which a positive or negative relationship holds between changes in financial well-being and IPV. We describe an empirically based theoretical model that may link economic empowerment to IPV and that highlights research questions for further testing. This model reflects two theoretical pathways through which economic policies may reduce IPV: A program may activate social and psychological empowerment as protective factors and a program may deactivate cognitive and behavioral risk factors such as stress and substance abuse. We then consider the relevance of each of a range of economic policies and review existing experimental evidence regarding the effect of such programs on IPV. We discuss unconditional and conditional cash transfers, savings programs, microfinance and income generation programs, and economic programs combined with relationship-related training. Gaps in research on this topic and emerging complexities in the literature suggest the following three key areas that would benefit from greater research and evaluation: comparison across programs based on size and design, assessment of the returns to economic empowerment of young adults, and more evaluations in high-income countries.
IMPLEMENTING A NURSE RUN ANNUAL WELLNESS VISIT

The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is a free service offered to Medicare Part B beneficiaries annually to promote preventive care and reduce unnecessary utilization of health care services. The Centers for Medicare Services allows registered nurses to conduct the AWV and generate similar revenue to when a physician conducts the visit. Through the Northern New England Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), we engaged twelve practices to implement the AWV as a nurse run visit. By implementing the nurse run AWV, a practice could increase utilization of AWV, increase employee and patient satisfaction, and increase revenue. One site was able to increase billing (non-facility price) by 212% and Relative Value Units (RVU) by 190% by implementing the Nurse Run AWV.
Multimodality Imaging for the Assessment of Pericardial Diseases

The diagnosis of pericardial syndromes, while occasionally straightforward, includes a wide range of pathologies and is often a well-recognized clinical challenge. The aim of this review is to highlight the key role of the various imaging modalities for the diagnosis and management of the spectrum of pericardial diseases. Cardiac imaging has become an integral part of the diagnostic process often beginning with echocardiography and supported by advanced imaging modalities including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positive emission tomography. These modalities go beyond the simple identification of the pericardium, to identifying increased pericardial thickness, active pericardial edema and inflammation, and its effect on cardiac hemodynamics. Multimodality imaging has significantly facilitated the diagnosis and long-term management of patients with pericardial diseases. The role of these imaging modalities in overall prognosis and prevention remains to be investigated.
A Review on Material and Antimicrobial Properties of Soy Protein Isolate Film

In twenty first century, there is an increasing demand for packed food which requires packaging films. At present, these packaging films are processed from synthetic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene and many other synthetic polymers. But we need to start using soy protein as sustainable antimicrobial film that can be used for packaging purposes. There is abundance and high availability of soy protein isolate (SPI) as by-product from industries, such as food processing or biodiesel production. Soy based films from renewable resources can offer a more suitable alternative to films fabricated from synthetic materials. Soy based films in presence of additives such as acidic compounds, nanoparticles and natural compounds have good mechanical properties and are transparent in nature. In addition, soy based film in presence of 2,2-diphenyl-2-hydroxyethanoic acid and copper phosphate can give lotus-like structure as evidenced from morphological studies. Also the manufacturing process (solution casting and compression molding) of SPI film in the presence or absence of additives is very easy and commercially feasible. It is worth noting that SPI films can be produced at laboratory scale by both casting and compression molding methods. In this review paper, we have focused on the material properties as well as antimicrobial properties of SPI based films in the presence of natural and synthetic additives as reported in the last 20 years.
Revisiting Parker & ogilvie’s African American Women Executive Leadership Model

This conceptual paper addresses a unique niche. We summarize the qualitative, quantitative and theoretical research specific to African American women in leadership. Using an intersectional lens of race, gender and leadership identity, we revisit the seminal work of Parker and ogilvie’s (1996) model of African American Women Executive Leadership to determine support for the model in theory and practice. We conclude by suggesting updates to Parker and ogilvie’s model and discuss the future research needed to address this neglected demographic. This enhances leadership and diversity research and provides much needed recommendations on how to support diversity leadership in organizations
ADAPTIVE WING CAMBER OPTIMIZATION: A PERIODIC PERTURBATION APPROACH

Available redundancy among aircraft control surfaces allows for effective wing camber modifications. As shown in the past, this fact can be used to improve aircraft performance. To date, however, algorithm developments for in-flight camber optimization have been limited. This paper presents a perturbational approach for cruise optimization through in-flight camber adaptation. The method uses, as a performance index, an indirect measurement of the instantaneous net thrust. As such, the actual performance improvement comes from the integrated effects of airframe and engine. The algorithm, whose design and robustness properties are discussed, is demonstrated on the NASA Dryden B-720 flight simulator.
An outlook on the global development of renewable and sustainable energy at the time of COVID-19

The outbreak of the novel COVID-19 has dominated the world stage, and its consequences, both direct and indirect, are expected to prove to be even more pervasive over time. The COVID-19 pandemic has struck the renewable energy manufacturing facilities, supply chains, and companies and slowed down the transition to the sustainable energy world. The global decline in economy-driven demand could damage the positive trend of green and low-carbon energy progress. Although it is too early to judge how profound the negative effects of the pandemic on the global renewable and sustainable energy systems will be, a significant short-run contraction to the development of renewables is inevitable. Therefore, the energy and climate policies may require to be restructured based on the new circumstances. In this context, several beneficial stimuluses should be offered by the governments to persuade the private sectors and society to invest on renewables. Undoubtedly, intelligent policies could convert the menaces of COVID-19 to the great opportunities for renewables and ultimately the world's sustainable energy scenario could return to its long-term trajectory toward green power generation and utilization over the next few years.
Androgen receptor-induced integrin α6β1 and Bnip3 promote survival and resistance to PI3K inhibitors in castration-resistant prostate cancer

The androgen receptor (AR) is the major driver of prostate cancer growth and survival. However, almost all patients relapse with castration-resistant disease (CRPC) when treated with anti-androgen therapy. In CRPC, AR is often aberrantly activated independent of androgen. Targeting survival pathways downstream of AR could be a viable strategy to overcome CRPC. Surprisingly, little is known about how AR drives prostate cancer survival. Furthermore, CRPC tumors in which Pten is lost are also resistant to eradication by PI3K inhibitors. We sought to identify the mechanism by which AR drives tumor survival in CRPC to identify ways to overcome resistance to PI3K inhibition. We found that integrins α6β1 and Bnip3 are selectively elevated in CRPC downstream of AR. While integrin α6 promotes survival and is a direct transcriptional target of AR, the ability of AR to induce Bnip3 is dependent on adhesion to laminin and integrin α6β1-dependent nuclear translocation of HIF1α. Integrins α6β1 and Bnip3 were found to promote survival of CRPC cells selectively on laminin through the induction of autophagy and mitophagy. Furthermore, blocking Bnip3 or integrin α6β1 restored sensitivity to PI3K inhibitors in Pten-negative CRPC. We identified an AR driven pathway that cooperates with laminin and hypoxia to drive resistance to PI3K inhibitors. These findings can help explain in part why PI3K inhibitors have failed in clinical trials to overcome AR-dependent CRPC.
Synonymy of Paraphetea Sakakibara and Creão-Duarte and Flynnia McKamey (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Smiliinae), with a Reinstated Combination, New Distribution Records, and a Key to All Species of Thuridini

Flynnia McKamey is placed in new synonymy under Paraphetea Sakakibara and Creao-Duarte, which is referred to the tribe Thuridini, new placement. The combination Paraphetea fascipennis (Funkhouser) is reinstated as valid. The species Paraphetea gibbula (Fairmaire) is known from the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso. Peru is added to the country records for Paraphetea fascipeninis (Funkhouser). A key is provided to the four species of the tribe Thuridini.
The Legacy of Hermann Staudinger: Covalently Linked Macromolecules

In 1920, at age 39 and the peak of his professional carrier, one of the most distinguished organic chemists of his generation, Hermann Staudinger, claimed that natural and synthetic polymers are covalent macromolecules rather than colloidal aggregates. This idea initiated chain reactions supporting and dismissing the covalent macromolecular concept. The story of his 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is reported here.
Experimental Measurement of Self-Diffusion in a Strongly Coupled Plasma

Abstract : We present a study of the collisional relaxation of ion velocities in a strongly coupled, ultracold neutral plasma on short time scales compared to the inverse collision rate. The measured average velocity of a tagged population of ions is shown to be equivalent to the ion-velocity autocorrelation function. We thus gain access to fundamental aspects of the single-particle dynamics in strongly coupled plasmas and to the ion self-diffusion constant under conditions where experimental measurements have been lacking. Nonexponential decay towards equilibrium of the average velocity heralds non-Markovian dynamics that are not predicted by traditional descriptions of weakly coupled plasmas. This demonstrates the utility of ultracold neutral plasmas for studying the effects of strong coupling on collisional processes, which is of interest for dense laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.
Graph Convolutional Networks with Kalman Filtering for Traffic Prediction

Traffic prediction is a challenging task due to the time-varying nature of traffic patterns and the complex spatial dependency of road networks. Adding to the challenge, there are a number of errors introduced in traffic sensor reporting, including bias and noise. However, most of the previous works treat the sensor observations as exact measures ignoring the effect of unknown noise. To model the spatial and temporal dependencies, existing studies combine graph neural networks (GNNs) with other deep learning techniques but their equal weighting of different dependencies limits the models' ability to capture the real dynamics in the traffic network. To deal with the above issues, we propose a novel deep learning framework called Deep Kalman Filtering Network (DKFN) to forecast the network-wide traffic state by modeling the self and neighbor dependencies as two streams, and their predictions are fused under the statistical theory and optimized through the Kalman filtering network. First, the reliability of each stream is evaluated using variances. Then, the Kalman filter is leveraged to properly fuse noisy observations in terms of their reliability. Experimental results reflect the superiority of the proposed method over baseline models on two real-world traffic datasets in the speed prediction task.
Journal of Agromedicine "Peer Reviewer of the Year" 2021: Stephen Waring.

Stephen Waring, DVM, PhD, brings depth and breadth across multiple disciplines to his role as Journal of Agromedicine Associate Editor. His willingness to share this expertise for the advancement o...
A Tissue-Bioengineering Strategy for Modeling Rare Human Kidney Diseases In Vivo

The lack of animal models for certain human diseases precludes our understanding of disease mechanisms and our ability to test new therapies in vivo. Here we generated kidney organoids from Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) patient-derived-hiPSCs to recapitulate a rare kidney tumor called angiomylipoma (AML). Organoids derived from TSC2-/- hiPSCs but not from isogenic TSC2+/- or TSC2+/+ hiPSCs shared a common transcriptional signature and a myomelanocytic cell phenotype with kidney AMLs, and developed epithelial cysts, replicating two major TSC-associated kidney lesions driven by genetic mechanisms that cannot be robustly and consistently recapitulated with transgenic mice. Transplantation of multiple TSC2-/- kidney organoids into the kidneys of immunodeficient rats allowed us to recapitulate AML and cystic kidney disease in vivo, in a scalable fashion and with fidelity, and to test the efficiency of rapamycin-loaded nanoparticles as a novel approach to ablate AMLs by inducing apoptosis triggered by mTOR-inhibition. Collectively, these methods represent a novel tissue-bioengineering strategy for rare disease modeling in vivo.
Chapter 1. Analgesics

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the progress in opioid and nonopioid analgesia along with selected clinical highlights. Opioid peptide biosynzhesis was summarized previously and additional overviews of the biosynthesis and distribution of endogeneous opioids have appeared. Several inhibitors of enkephalin convertase, a carboxypeptidase that may liberate enkephalins from immediate precursors, are described in the chapter. Thiorphan was reported to reduce postmyelographic side effects when administered to patients prior to myelography. Oral administration of D-phenylalanine, a carboxypeptidase inhibitor, was found to be of benefit in patients with certain chronic pain complaints; the drug was most effective after 3 - 5 weeks of therapy. The number of endogenous opioid peptides continues to grow rapidly. Several fragments of proenkephalin A have received recent attention. A μ-selective octapeptide fragment has been designated both as metorphamide and as adrenorphin. Several studies indicate that opioids acti ate erotonergic neurons and increase 5-HT turnover in the spinal cord. Intrathecal 5-HT produced anti-nociception in mice. The role of serotonergic neurons in opioid analgesia may be modek-dependent. Central cholinergic fibers may also mediate analgesia, and both musscarinic and nicotinic agonists produce analgesia in rodents by central mechanisms. There is evidence that cholinergic connections mediate the expression of both endogenous and exogenous opioid analgesia. The analgesic properties of cannabinoid derivatives are well known, though no such drugs have yet been demonstrated to be substantially free from the CNS side effect to which Cannabis sativa owes its popularity as a substance of abuse. Discussion on several clinical highlights of various analgesics has enriched the content of the chapter to a great extent.
Monarchism VS. Republicanism: Political Institutions under the Dictatorship of Yüan Shih-K’ai

Yuan Shih-k’ai’s succession to the Provisional Presidency was only a stepping stone to his eventual dictatorship. However, his ambition could not be materialized immediately because Parliament was then controlled by people with republican convictions. Thus the policical institutions described in the previous chapter were still based on democratic principles, Yuan’s predominance in the government notwithstanding. The murder of Sung Chiao-jen was the signal of Yuan’s decision to abolish the constitutional rule. Afterwards, he had gradually developed his schemes and intensified his efforts toward the eventual change of the republican polity into monarchy. A brief examination of the successive events will show the Machiavellian character of the steps he undertook to carry out his plans.
Perspective: Oxide molecular-beam epitaxy rocks!

Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is the “gold standard” synthesis technique for preparing semiconductor heterostructures with high purity, high mobility, and exquisite control of layer thickness at the atomic-layer level. Its use for the growth of multicomponent oxides got off to a rocky start 30 yr ago, but in the ensuing decades, it has become the definitive method for the preparation of oxide heterostructures too, particularly when it is desired to explore their intrinsic properties. Examples illustrating the unparalleled achievements of oxide MBE are given; these motivate its expanding use for exploring the potentially revolutionary states of matter possessed by oxide systems.
Locating facilities in three-dimensional space by convex programming

We consider the problem of simultaneously locating any number of facilities in three-dimensional Euclidean space. The criterion to be satisfied is that of minimizing the total cost of some activity between the facilities to be located and any number of fixed locations. Any amount of activity may be present between any pair of the facilities themselves. The total cost is assumed to be a linear function of the inter-facility and facility-to-fixed locations distances. Since the total cost function for this problem is convex, a unique optimal solution exists. Certain discontinuities are shown to exist in the derivatives of the total cost function which previously has prevented the successful use of gradient computing methods for locating optimal solutions. This article demonstrates the use of a created function which possesses all the necessary properties for ensuring the convergence of first order gradient techniques and is itself uniformly convergent to the actual objective function. Use of the fitted function and the dual problem in the case of constrained problems enables solutions to be determined within any predetermined degree of accuracy. Some computation results are given for both constrained and unconstrained problems.
Abstract W P227: Cerebral Hyperperfusion Syndrome after Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) is a recognized complication after surgical revascularization of a chronically atherosclerotic artery. However, this phenomenon is unexpected when an acutely occluded artery is recanalized by IV-TPA for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).In patients with discrepant neuroimaging and clinical findings, our multimodal evaluations revealed CHS in a series of 7 patientsmafter IV- TPA therapy. Methods: Patients in whom the occluded ICA or MCA in pre-TPA CT-angiogram (CTA) showed recanalization in the day-2 CTA, were observed for any new unexpected neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs. If these were present they underwent multimodal evaluation including serial transcranial Doppler (TCD), quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) and HMPAO-SPECT. Patients with considerable mismatch between clinical and neuroimaging findings were also included. CHS was deemed to have occurred if the unexpected neuropsychiatric signs corresponded with TCD flow velocity >100% of the contralate...
Molecular cloning of an Escherichia coli plasmid determinant than encodes for the production of heat-stable enterotoxin.

A conjugative plasmid, ESF0041 was isolated from an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli from calves. ESF0041 was found to be 65 x 10(6) daltons in mass of a member of the F incompatibility complex. Acquisition of ESF0041 by E. coli K-12 was invariably associated with the capacity to produce heat-stable (ST) enterotoxin. ESF0041 and pSC101 deoxyribonucleic acids were cleaved with EcoRI, and the fragments were ligated with polynucleotide ligase. Transformation of E. coli K-12 with the ligation mixture led to the isolation of an ST+ clone. Further analysis of the plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid from this clone showed that a structural gene(s) associated with ST biosynthesis had been isolated as a 5.7 x 10(6)-dalton ESF0041 fragment in pSC101. In turn, 5.7 x 10(6)-dalton fragment was ligated to a multicopy COLE1 derivative, RSF2124, so that toxin synthesis was amplified about threefold. Images
Ridge regression in two-parameter solution: Research Articles

We consider simultaneous minimization of the model errors, deviations from orthogonality between regressors and errors, and deviations from other desired properties of the solution. This approach corresponds to a regularized objective that produces a consistent solution not prone to multicollinearity. We obtain a generalization of the ridge regression to two-parameter model that always outperforms a regular one-parameter ridge by better approximation, and has good properties of orthogonality between residuals and predicted values of the dependent variable. The results are very convenient for the analysis and interpretation of the regression. Numerical runs prove that this technique works very well. The examples are considered for marketing research problems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mechanical effects of fine-wire climbing on the hindlimb skeleton of mice

High-impact exercise (running/jumping) can stimulate multiple anabolic responses (increased trabecular bone volume, BV/TV) in the skeleton, but is also linked to an increased incidence of skeletal ...
Serotonergic and catecholaminergic influence on thyroid function in the vervet monkey

Vervet monkeys were pharmacologically treated acutely and with repeated dose loading to alter serotonergic systems to assess the role of serotonin in the regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis. Acute L-tryptophan administration failed to alter basal levels of thyroid hormones but did decrease the TRH-induced TSH response. Repeated dose loading of tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan increased blood serotonin and plasma T3 and decreased plasma TSH. The tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine yielded decreased blood serotonin, but did not affect plasma TSH, T4 or T3. The monoamine oxidase inhibitor chlorgyline also resulted in increased blood serotonin, but increased plasma TSH and T4 and decreased T3. These data may be explained by a unitary hypothesis involving central catecholaminergic, rather than serotonergic, control of TRH release. Chlorgyline may produce its effects predominantly by facilitating catecholaminergic stimulation of TRH release resulting in increased TSH and a consequent increase in T4. It is suggested that the effects of tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan result from increases in serotonin levels in the thyroid gland to produce an increase in T3 with a compensatory decrease in TSH via negative feedback. The differences observed between the acute and repeated dose loading studies stress the need for both types of studies before drawing conclusions about the effects of pharmacological manipulations on hormonal levels.
Pancreatic cancer: radiologic imaging.

Each year in the United States, more than 40,000 patients are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and a nearly equal number will die from their disease. Pancreatic cancer is now the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the United States. In recent years, there have been impressive gains in our knowledge of both the underlying risk factors and the molecular biology of this disease. In addition, refinements in surgical management have led to considerable reduction in overall postoperative mortality. Nevertheless, there are few long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer because of the preclinical dissemination of this disease via lymphatic and perineural spread. The only treatment that has been shown to prolong survival is surgical resection with negative margins (R0 resection); with this treatment, a mean survival of 24 months can be anticipated, compared to 12 months for patients with disease deemed unresectable. It is important to stress, however, that even surgery with negative argins fails to result in long-term survival: only 3% to 16% of patients undergoing R0 esection are alive after 5 years. There are many reasons for this; one often-cited actor is the propensity of pancreatic carcinoma to spread via the celiac and esenteric neural plexi. Perineural invasion often results in dissemination of tumor efore the onset of clinical symptoms. Standard surgical resection will fail to eliminate erineural spread of ductal adenocarcinoma, and this most likely contributes to the verall poor prognosis of the disease. Despite the dismal outlook for patients with pancreatic carcinoma, radiologic imaging plays a critical role in selecting either medical or surgical therapy for patients, depending on the likelihood of resectability. Accurate preoperative staging is therefore a crucial step in identifying the small number of patients who may potentially benefit from pancreaticoduodenectomy. Conversely, identifying patients with either
Comparison of Turbulent Thermal Entrance Regions for Pipe Flows With Developed Velocity and Velocity Developing From a Sharp-Edged Inlet

The thermal entrance region for turbulent flow in circular tube has been analytically investigated for two types of velocity distributions. In one case, the flow is hydrodynamically developed throughout the entire length of the thermal entrance region. In the other, the velocity is uniform at the inlet of the heated section, so that there is a hydrodynamic development of the flow which occurs simultaneously with the thermal development. The latter situation is rarely, if ever, encountered in practice and is, in fact, difficult to achieve in a laboratory experiment. The effect of various types of velocity distributions on the turbulent heat transfer coefficients in the thermal entrance region of an isothermal-walled tube was investigated experimentally by Boelter et al. The different velocity distributions were attained by use of different configurations of the inlet of the heated section. As noted in Kays and Crawford, the insufficiencies of the experimental technique used by Boelter et al. suggest that the results be regarded as qualitative rather than quantitative. The objective of the present research is to provide definitive thermal entrance region heat transfer results for an isothermal-walled tube for two types of turbulent velocity distributions that are of practical relevance. The two setsmore » of results will be compared to yield the quantitative response of the thermal entrance region to the nature of the velocity condition at the tube inlet. The work to be reported here is experimental and covers the Reynolds number range from approximately 5,000 to 85,000.« less
Design, development, and testing of the DCT Cassegrain instrument support assembly

The 4.3m Discovery Channel Telescope delivers an f/6.1 unvignetted 0.5° field to its RC focal plane. In order to support guiding, wavefront sensing, and instrument installations, a Cassegrain instrument support assembly has been developed which includes a facility guider and wavefront sensor package (GWAVES) and multiple interfaces for instrumentation. A 2-element, all-spherical, fused-silica corrector compensates for field curvature and astigmatism over the 0.5° FOV, while reducing ghost pupil reflections to minimal levels. Dual roving GWAVES camera probes pick off stars in the outer annulus of the corrected field, providing simultaneous guiding and wavefront sensing for telescope operations. The instrument cube supports 5 co-mounted instruments with rapid feed selection via deployable fold mirrors. The corrected beam passes through a dual filter wheel before imaging with the 6K x 6K single CCD of the Large Monolithic Imager (LMI). We describe key development strategies for the DCT Cassegrain instrument assembly and GWAVES, including construction of a prime focus test assembly with wavefront sensor utilized in fall 2011 to begin characterization of the DCT primary mirror support. We also report on 2012 on-sky test results of wavefront sensing, guiding, and imaging with the integrated Cassegrain cube.
A Novel Pose Estimation Algorithm Based on Points to Regions Correspondence

A novel pose estimation algorithm is put forward in this paper. Given the points on an object and the convex regions in which the correspondent image points lie, the concrete values of position and orientation (t and R) between the object and the camera are found based on a points to regions correspondence. The unit quaternion representation of rotation matrix and convex Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) optimization methods are used to estimate the pose. By loosening the requirement of precise point to point correspondence and using convex LMI formulations, this algorithm provides a more robust and faster pose estimation method. The effect of this method is verified by simulation and laboratory experiment results.
What are sculptured thin films

Sculptured thin films (STFs) are nanoengineered materials with columnar morphology tailored to elicit desired optical responses upon excitation. The identical nanowires comprising a STF are oriented (nominally) parallel to each other, and possess two-- and/or three--dimensional shapes. Two canonical forms of STFs have been formalized. Linear constitutive relations for general STFs as unidirectionally nonhomogeneous (continuously or piecewise uniformly) and locally bianisotropic continuums are presented, along with a 4 x 4 matrix ordinary differential equation for wave propagation therein. A nominal model for the macroscopic properties of linear STFs has been devised from using local homogenization. Several advanced as well as emerging applications of STFs are also discussed.
Vantage Theory formulations of ethnicities: the case of overseas Japanese

Abstract How do people define ethnicity and its membership? Primordialists argue that people group themselves using “primal” or permanent characteristics like physical similarity or a common language, religion, or history. Social mobilizationists, however, see ethnicity as more situational social phenomena, as an informal organization whereby people group themselves in order to strengthen their political power, especially under conditions of class and stratification. Although these approaches seem incommensurate, I argue that for “minority” populations, both perspectives are valid. In other words, both the ethnic image that mainstream society holds and ethnic identity of the minority groups themselves influence the formation of ethnic categories and their memberships. I will show how the perspective of Vantage Theory can elucidate much that is often overlooked in the study of ethnicity. In this paper I look at how Japanese Brazilians, Japanese Brazilian dekasegi returnees, and Okinawans form their notions of ethnicity. In particular, this paper explores the lexical semantics of the terms: Nihon-jin , Nihon no hito , returnee , Japones , Brasirelo / a , dekasegi , Yamato-nchu , and Uchinaa-nchu to extract the meaning and the understandings held by members of these various groups in their socially-embedded contexts, using the formal mechanisms of Vantage Theory. In all three cases, as Vantage Theory explains how various properties become more-emphasized and less-emphasized, we can better understand the dynamics of ethnic category construction and the way they are used by participants. That is, by both (1) examining what formal linguistic and lexical vantages are constructed by members of these groups and finding what the entailments ensure, and (2) exploring the less formal social vantages and perspectives held – and under what contexts – we can offer not only a more robust ethnographic and linguistic analysis, but one that is more theoretically sound as well.
Non-Markovian equilibration controlled by symmetry breaking

We study the effects of symmetry breaking on non-Markovian dynamics in various system-bath arrangements. It is shown that by breaking certain symmetries, features signaling non-Markovian time evolution disappear within a finite time ${t}_{g}$. We demonstrate numerically that the scaling of ${t}_{g}$ with the symmetry breaking strength is different for various types of symmetry. We provide a mathematical explanation for these differences related to the spectrum of the total system-bath Hamiltonian and provide arguments that the scaling properties of ${t}_{g}$ should be universal.
Factors enhancing the reliability of touch-mode electrostatic actuators

This paper discusses the failure modes frequently encountered in touch-mode electrostatic actuators (TMEA) and reports on practical ways of increasing the time to failure. Humidity is identified as the main source of anomalies in the behavior of TMEA and charge trapping in the dielectric as the main cause of stiction. A method for direct charge measurement is derived and the measurements show good agreement with the calculated data. A new driving scheme is proposed that, together with surface treatments based on self-assembled monolayer, desensitizes the actuator to environmental conditions. In this way, actuators working without failure in room air for over 40 million cycles were obtained.
A pH Electrode Based on Melt-Oxidized Iridium Oxide

Fabrication and characterization of a novel potentiometric pH electrode based on melt-oxidized iridium oxide film is presented. The oxide film produced in a lithium carbonate melt has the composition of and shows high chemical stability. The electrode based on this oxide film exhibits very promising pH sensing performance, with an ideal Nernstian response in the tested pH range of 1 to 13. The potential response is fast, with a 90% response time obtained in less than 1 s for all pH changes. The open-circuit potential of the electrode is almost drift-free, with an average variation over time in a pH 6.6 solution as small as 0.1 mV/day. Furthermore, the potential/pH slopes and the apparent standard electrode potentials show excellent agreement among electrodes from the same batch. A comparison is made of the present electrode and those reported in the literature with respect to fabrication method and pH sensing characteristics. © 2001 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.
A New Simplified Assay for the Quantitation of Theophylline and Its Major Metabolites in Urine by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic technique is presented for the simultaneous determination of theophylline, 3-methyixanthine, 1-methyluric acid, 1,3-dimethyluric acid, and caffeine in urine using β-hydroxyethyl theophylline (BHET) as an internal standard. Following centrifugation of the sample, 2 mL of urine was placed onto a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge (Waters Associates, Milford, MA, USA) that was prepared with 5 mL of methanol followed by 10 mL of distilled water. The compounds were eluted with 2.5 mL of a methanol:water (50:50) mixture. An aliquot of the filtered urine sample (100 µL) was added to 40 µL of an internal standard solution (BHET; 100 µ/mL). Distilled water (60 µL) was added to yield a volume of 200 µL. The mixture was vortexed and centrifuged, and 100 µL. was injected onto a C8 column maintained at 55°C. Inter- and intraday variability of the assay for all compounds was < 5.7%. Sensitivity ranged from 0.10 µg/mL for caffeine to 0.68 µg/mL for 1-methyluric acid. Drugs commonly coadministered with theophylline did not interfere with the assay.
Spatial and temporal interaction of direct cortical responses.

Abstract Negative wave direct cortical responses (DCR) were elicited by stimulation of the cortex at two different sites while recording at a point between them. Spatiotemporal interaction showed a diminution of the second response followed by a gradual recovery within 15 to 30 msec. An early period of summation which was small and often missing, was found and was considered to be caused by subliminal synaptic activation and summation of the responding cells. The temporal summation expected from a PSP mechanism was not found in most cases. Cortical cuts produced between stimulated and responding sites did not block transmission of these negative wave DCR. These results verified a previous conclusion that excitation passes from the stimulated site to the responding site via a subcortical element (corticocortical axons). The variations in latency found suggests one or more interneurons between the stimulated and responding neurons. The nonsummating interaction found is more like the behavior expected of an all-or-none or a nonsummating type of PSP.
The Meaning, Development, and Career Outcomes of Breadth of Vocational Interests

Abstract Breadth of vocational interests (BVI) denotes the diversity of an individual's vocational interests. Not much is known about the meaning and development of BVI or its career outcomes. The authors' framework for conceptualizing the development of BVI includes three individual difference domains (i.e., life experiences, cognitive ability, and personality) related to the development of BVI and three possible outcomes (i.e., career commitment, job involvement, and stability of occupational classification). The framework is tested longitudinally. It appears that life experiences are more instrumental in the development of women's BVI, whereas academic achievement is more important for men. These findings have practical implications for counselors, career clients, and researchers alike. In light of the suggested changes in career management and the dynamic work environment, understanding BVI should prove insightful to all. BVI may be associated with adaptability to a changing economy and shifting job demands.
Bilingualism and cognitive development.

IANCO-WORRALL, ANITA D. Bilingualism and Cognitive Development. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1972, 43, 1390-1400. Limited to one definition of bilingualism, namely, dual-language acquisition, in a one-person, one-language home environment, experiments were designed to test Leopold's observations on the earlier separation of word sound from word meaning by bilingual compared to matched unilingual children. Attention to meaning or to sound of words was tested with the semantic and phonetic preference test, a two-choice test in which similarity between words could be interpreted on the basis of shared meaning or shared acoustic properties. The notion that bilingualism leads to the earlier realization of the arbitrary nature of name-object relationship was tested with the questioning technique described by Vygotsky. This called for the explanation of names, whether names can be interchanged and, when names are interchanged in play, whether the attributes of the objects change along with their names. The results support Leopold's observation on the earlier separation of sound and meaning by bilingual children.
The End of Alliances? Not So Fast

Alliances will look and act differently, but they are not dead yet. The reality is that we are currently seeing a change in emphasis among the many U.S. alliances with new partners and relationships emerging to confront new strategic challenges.
Deeper Affinities: Fundamental Resonances Between Psychoanalysis and Religion

This essay considers how we “create meaning” in the interplay of “felt sense” and “symbols,” and examines the direct and immediate interplay between some common everyday experiences and a series of concepts from psychoanalytic perspectives to reveal how this interplay has affinities with religion. Psychoanalysis and religion are overlapping projects. Psychoanalytic symbolizing of experience facilitates our knowing features of religion not previously known, as well as knowing features previously known, in new ways.