cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The biology of the marine sponge Microciona prolifera (Ellis and Solander) II. Temperature-related, annual changes in functional and reproductive elements with a description of larval metamorphosis

Abstract Annual changes in the structure, cell types, and reproductive elements of the marine sponge Microciona prolifera have been investigated in intertidal colonies in Long Island Sound. During the winter months flagellated chambers, subdermal spaces, canals, dermal membrane, fiber cells, endopinacocytes, choanocytes, and active growth areas are absent. The onset of overwintering is associated with a drop in water temperature to and below 10 °C. The overwintering tissue becomes re-organized and fully functional in the spring when water temperatures are rising above 10 °C. During the spring re-organization the choanocytes, fiber cells and endopinacocytes arise anew. Experimental data have shown that a temperature of 10 °C inhibits growth while temperatures of 15, 20 and 25 °C are all equally conducive to growth. The production of eggs by nucleolate cells (= archeocytes) occurs simultaneously with tissue re-organization in the spring and is also associated with a rise in water temperature. Spermatozoa production does not begin until water temperatures are approximately 15 °C. Larval production is completely inhibited at 10 °C and is strongly retarded at 15 °C. The metamorphosis of larvae involves the activity of the larval flagellated cells and the nucleolate cells which produce, respectively, the flagellated chambers and epithelial linings during metamorphosis. Mature larvae contain the same major cell types as do adult colonies and thus appear not to be developmentally distinct from adult tissue.
ICT for small and medium enterprises

The intense global competition, technology advances, and rapid changes in the business environment are forcing enterprises to become agile. Corporate agility is about firm’s ability to adapt quickly to change, constantly innovate across the value chain, engage the customer to create new value, and be integrated to the global market. Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a critical role in improving corporate agility, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs need to maintain the competitive edge that they traditionally have over their larger counterparts: their resiliency and agility to adapt while sustaining innovation and strengthening customer relationships. Having access to and adopting ICT, which were not available to previous generations, are helping SMEs not only to achieve and sustain their traditional edge, but also to enable them to expand across customers, products, and geographies, thus growing their market share and expanding globally. Through ICT, SMEs can compete with larger players on a more level playing field and also participate in extended supply chains more effectively. ICT and the Internet are enabling SMEs to be as competitive and successful as large businesses not only at the local, but also at the global level. The impetus with which ICT has rooted itself in the business world has brought about a veritable revolution whose true consequences and scope are yet to be seen. Effective ICT management is particularly important for SMEs not only because they have much less financial resources to invest in IT and training, but also because they operate differently from large companies. Countries where they operate also have an impact on IT and SMEs, because of differences in technological status and available infrastructure, economic development, government regulations, and cultures. This special issue ‘‘The impact and use of ICT in SMEs’’ deals with the important issue of improving agility and global competitiveness of SMEs through
Surface reconstruction from scattered measurements

Given scattered measurements from a surface, a method for reconstruction of the surface using rational Gaussian surfaces is described. Rational Gaussian surfaces are globally defined parametric surfaces that adapt well to local data. Examples demonstrating reconstruction of 3- D scenes from scattered depth measurements obtained from stereo disparity, reconstruction of 3-D shapes from noisy range data, and segmentation of volumetric images for the extraction of generalized cylinders are described.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Teaching Jewish Values

*Address delivered at Pedagogic Conference of Jewish Education Committee of New York, February 1953.
Psychometric Properties of the Working Memory Rating Scale for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners

The Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS) was designed as a behavioral rating tool to assist teachers in identifying students at risk of working memory difficulties. The instrument was originally norm...
Passive Smoking and Croup

• The relationship between croup and the presence of household cigarette consumption was assessed in a matched-pair case control study. Fifty subjects with a primary hospital discharge diagnosis of croup were paired with children with a primary hospital discharge diagnosis of abdominal hernia. The results yielded an estimated relative risk of 0.82. The power of this study to detect a relative risk of 2.0 was 38%. This study fails to show a relationship between passive smoking and croup in early childhood. (Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg1987;113:866-868)
Reconstructed bone end loads on the canine forelimb during gait

The objective of this work was to determine bone loading conditions that, when applied to a finite element model, would best reproduce the in vivo strain field as measured by surface-mounted strain rosettes. The present study adopts the basic mathematical approach to load reconstruction introduced by Weinans and Blankevoort (J. Biomech. 28 (1995) 739) who determined the relationship between applied loads and bone strain distribution using ex vivo calibration testing. Our method eliminates the need for subsequent ex vivo calibration tests by instead substituting a computational calibration procedure. This first application of the method is with in vivo strains on the canine forelimb during gait (Coleman et al., J. Biomech. 35 (2002) 1677), but with further refinements the method could be used to reconstruct the in vivo loading conditions in living subjects.
Model-Based Estimation of Forest Canopy Height in Red and Austrian Pine Stands Using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and Ancillary Data: A Proof-of-Concept Study

In this paper, accurate tree stand height retrieval is demonstrated using C-band Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) height and ancillary data. The tree height retrieval algorithm is based on modeling uniform tree stands with a single layer of randomly oriented vegetation particles. For such scattering media, the scattering phase center height, as measured by SRTM, is a function of tree height, incidence angle, and the extinction coefficient of the medium. The extinction coefficient for uniform tree stands is calculated as a function of tree height and density using allometric equations and a fractal tree model. The accuracy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated using SRTM and TOPSAR data for 15 red pine and Austrian pine stands (TOPSAR is an airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar). The algorithm yields root-mean-square (rms) errors of 2.5-3.6 m, which is a substantial improvement over the 6.8-8.3-m rms errors from the raw SRTM minus National Elevation Dataset Heights.
The impact of partially scaled metal barrier shunting on failure criteria for copper electromigration resistance increase in 65 nm technology

Previous technology nodes employing Cu interconnects have shown an abrupt increase in resistance (R), in excess of the conventional /spl Delta/R/R/sub 0/=20% R increase for the failure criteria (FC). We have observed a different behavior for 65 nm technology electromigration (EM) testing, in which the R increase is sloped after the initial step increase in R. The R step (R-step) increase is less than 20%, so that the sloped region (R-slope) occupies a portion of the 20% FC. We explain the two regions based on the full span void formation (R-step), followed by void growth along the length direction (R-slope). For the first time, we use this sloped region to obtain values for the EM activation energy (Q) and current exponent (n) of dual-damascene Cu interconnects, which agree very well with values obtained from the failure time associated with the initial R step. We propose a new FC corresponding to the time of the initial R-step increase. The increased importance of the R-slope region (RSR) arises from the partially scaled metal barrier thickness, which allows for increased current shunting in the barrier layer. These RSR effects will become even more evident in technology nodes beyond 65 nm.
Surface Waves on Symmetrical Three-Layer Sandwiches (Correspondence)

The theory of surface waves on plane dielectric slabs has been presented by Plummer and Hansen. Additional numerical results are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for the lowest order TM and TE modes that can exist on a grounded dielectric slab. The slab has thickness d, and a relative dielectric constant of 4. It is separated by an air gap of thickness a from the ground plane. c/v represents the ratio of the velocity of light in free space and the phase velocity of the surface wave. By image theory, these modes (TM/sub 0/ and TE/sub 1/) can also exist on a symmetrical, three-layer, air-core sandwich to which the given numerical data also apply.
Coherent Echo Modulation and Detection

Coherent echo modulation and detection (CEMAD) is a broadband modulation and detection scheme for the transmission of binary data. In CEMAD each data bit is transmitted and then enters a signal selection process to be retransmitted or echoed for a period of time with the echoing used to advantage in a multidecision process. The scheme can provide 1) transmitter power savings, compared to, e.g., coherent PSK, 2) in effect, both time and frequency diversity reception, and 3) secure communication. It appears to also have a good signal acquisition capability. The scheme is described, and both analytical and simulation results are presented.
ESTIMATING DETECTION PROBABILITY AND DENSITY FROM POINT-COUNT SURVEYS: A COMBINATION OF DISTANCE AND DOUBLE-OBSERVER SAMPLING

Abstract Point counts are the method most commonly used to estimate abundance of birds, but they often fail to account properly for incomplete and variable detection probabilities. We developed a technique that combines distance and double-observer sampling to estimate detection probabilities and effective area surveyed. We applied this paired-observer, variable circular-plot (POVCP) technique to point-count surveys (n = 753) conducted in closed-canopy forests of southeast Alaska. Distance data were analyzed for each species to model a detection probability for each observer and calculate an estimate of density. We then multiplied each observer's density estimates by a correction factor to adjust for detection probabilities <1 at plot center. We compared analytical results from four survey methods: single-observer fixed-radius (50-m) plot; single-observer, variable circular-plot (SOVCP); double-observer fixed-radius (50-m) plot; and POVCP. We examined differences in detection probabilities at plot center,...
Newsgroup Crowds and AuthorLines: visualizing the activity of individuals in conversational cyberspaces

We discuss the design, implementation and evaluation of two related visualizations of authors' activities in Usenet newsgroups. Current Usenet news browsers focus on messages and thread structures while disregarding valuable information about the authors of messages and the participants of the various discussions. Newsgroup Crowds graphically represents the population of authors in a particular newsgroup. Authors are displayed according to the number of messages they contribute to each thread and the number of different days they appear in the space, illustrating and contrasting the interaction patterns of participants within the newsgroup. AuthorLines visualizes a particular author's posting activity across all newsgroups over a period of one year. This visualization reveals temporal patterns of thread initiation and reply that can broadly characterize the roles authors play in Usenet. We report the results of a user study that explored the value of these interfaces for developing high-level awareness of the activity and population in these conversational spaces. We suggest that interfaces that convey information about the social histories of populations and individuals may support better selection and evaluation of newsgroup content.
Algorithm refinement for stochastic partial differential equations: I. linear diffusion

A hybrid particle/continuum algorithm is formulated for Fickian diffusion in the fluctuating hydrodynamic limit. The particles are taken as independent random walkers; the fluctuating diffusion equation is solved by finite differences with deterministic and white-noise fluxes. At the interface between the particle and continuum computations the coupling is by flux matching, giving exact mass conservation. This methodology is an extension of Adaptive Mesh and Algorithm Refinement to stochastic partial differential equations. Results from a variety of numerical experiments are presented for both steady and time-dependent scenarios. In all cases the mean and variance of density are captured correctly by the stochastic hybrid algorithm. For a nonstochastic version (i.e., using only deterministic continuum fluxes) the mean density is correct, but the variance is reduced except in particle regions away from the interface. Extensions of the methodology to fluid mechanics applications are discussed.
Stripper-foil scan studies of the first-turn beam loss mechanism in the LAMPF proton storage ring (PSR)

First-turn beam losses in the LAMPF proton storage ring were measured as a function of the left-right position of the carbon foil used to strip neutral hydrogen atoms to H/sup +/ for proton injection into the PSR. Two foil thicknesses, 200 and 300 /spl mu/g/cm/sup 2/, were tested. Results indicated that first-turn loss is caused predominately by magnetic field stripping of a small fraction of the H/sup 0/ atoms that pass through the stripper foil without being stripped to protons, and the results were not consistent with a mechanism involving protons originating from atoms in the halo of the neutral beam incident on the stripper foil. >
Rethinking Race in Brazil

Introduction: the Repudiation of the Centenario13 May 1988 was the 100th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil. In honour of that date, various official celebrations and commemorations of the centenario, organised by the Brazilian government, church groups and cultural organisations, took place throughout the country, even including a speech by President Jose Sarney.This celebration of the emancipation was not, however, universal. Many Afro—Brazilian groups staged actions and marches, issued denunciations and organised cultural events repudiating the ‘farce of abolition’. These were unprecedented efforts to draw national and international attention to the extensive racial inequality and discrimination which Brazilian blacks – by far the largest concentration of people of African descent in any country in the western hemisphere – continue to confront. Particular interventions had such titles as ‘100 Years of Lies’, ‘One Hundred Years Without Abolition’, ‘March for the Real Liberation of the Race’, ‘Symbolic Burial of the 13th of May’, ‘March in Protest of the Farce of Abolition’, and ‘Discommemoration (Descomemoracāo) of the Centenary of Abolition’.1 The repudiation of the centenario suggests that Brazilian racial dynamics, traditionally quiescent, are emerging with the rest of society from the extended twilight of military dictatorship. Racial conflict and mobilisation, long almost entirely absent from the Brazilian scene, are reappearing. New racial patterns and processes – political, cultural, economic, social and psychological – are emerging, while racial inequalities of course continue as well. How much do we know about race in contemporary Brazil? How effectively does the extensive literature explain the present situation?
A Thermodynamic Approach to PCR Primer Design

We developed a primer design method, Pythia, in which state of the art DNA binding affinity computations are directly integrated into the primer design process. We use chemical reaction equilibrium analysis to integrate multiple binding energy calculations into a conservative measure of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) efficiency, and a precomputed index on genomic sequences to evaluate primer specificity. We show that Pythia can design primers with success rates comparable with those of current methods, but yields much higher coverage in difficult genomic regions. For example, in RepeatMasked sequences in the human genome, Pythia achieved a median coverage of 89% as compared with a median coverage of 51% for Primer3. For parameter settings yielding sensitivities of 81%, our method has a recall of 97%, compared with the Primer3 recall of 48%. Because our primer design approach is based on the chemistry of DNA interactions, it has fewer and more physically meaningful parameters than current methods, and is therefore easier to adjust to specific experimental requirements. Our software is freely available at http://pythia.sourceforge.net.
Phase-controlled CLL resonant converter

Two identical CLL resonant inverters are paralleled to form a phase-controlled resonant inverter. A voltage-driven rectifier is used as an AC load of the inverter which results in a phase-controlled CLL resonant DC-DC power converter. A frequency domain analysis of the inverter is performed, and design equations are derived. The converter can be operated at a constant switching frequency, which reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems. The converter is capable of regulating the output voltage in the range of load resistance from full load resistance to infinity. An experimental prototype of the phase-controlled CLL resonant and converter with a center-tapped rectifier is built and extensively tested at an output power of 48 W and a switching frequency of 147 kHz. >
The effect of texture and porosity on seismic reflection amplitude in granular sediments: Theory and examples from a high-resolution shallow seismic experiment

Sediment properties such as grain shape, sorting, porosity, and the effective stress applied on the grains affect the elastic behavior of granular aggregates and, with it, the propagation of seismic waves. Seismic reflections from boundaries within granular sedimentary packs such as sands carry information about variation in the sediment properties. In this paper we analyze elastic contact mechanics models of granular media to show that within mineralogically uniform, homogeneously saturated sediments, the reflection strength can be theoretically related to variations in texture and porosity. The theoretical formulation indicates that in dry, mineralogically uniform sediments, seismic reflection amplitude depends strongly on changes in textures (such as angularity or sorting). In saturated sediments at low confining pressures, the reflection amplitude is primarily related to changes in porosity. Shallow seismic field data are interpreted quantitatively within the context of the theory. The field seismic data and supportive evidence from a nearby well are consistent with our interpretation of reflections arising from changes in textural properties of the sediment above the water table. This analysis can be used to quantify texture and porosity changes within sedimentary packets from measurements of seismic reflection strength and, thus, spatially map sedimentary properties in aquifers.
Detection of the Staphylococcal Toxins

The staphylococci are one of the most common of microorganisms and are common inhabitants of most animals. They probably have been around almost since the beginning of time, but were not recognized as important organisms until 1880 when Ogston (1880) demonstrated that they caused many types of purulent infections in humans. Rosenbach (1884) gave them the name Staphylococcus. These organisms formed both yellow and white colonies which were given the names Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus albus, but later classification by pigmentation was discontinued and all were called S. aureus. A second species, S. epidermidis, was added in 1908 by Winslow and Winslow (1908); the major difference in the two species was that the latter species did not produce coagulase. It was not until 1974 that a third species, S. saprophyticus, was added, and from that time forward the addition of new species proceeded on a regular basis until at this writing 31 species, along with several subspecies, have been identified.
Observation of ωo → πo + γ

Abstract In a spark chamber experiment measuring π− + p → n + 3γ at 10 GeV/c a peak which we interpret as ωo → πo + γ decay is observed in the πoγ mass spectrum at 800 ± 30 MeV.
1.1-Watt Visible Upconversion Laser Modelling and Experiment

An upconversion laser pumped at 797 nm produces up to 1.1 watts at 55 1 nm. A me equation analysis for the state populations and a Gaussian mode description for the laser and the pump beams accurately predicts threshold and slope efficiency for the device with one free parmeter that describes the overall quantum efficiency of the upconversion processes.
Neutral and Cationic Zirconium Benzyl Complexes Containing Bidentate Pyridine−Alkoxide Ligands. Synthesis and Olefin Polymerization Chemistry of (pyCR2O)2Zr(CH2Ph)2 and (pyCR2O)2Zr(CH2Ph)+ Complexes

The reaction of Zr(CH2Ph)4 with the pyridine alcohols 6-pyCR1R2OH (2a, R1 = R2 = CF3; 2b, R1 = R2 = Me; 2c, R1 = H, R2 = CF3) yields dibenzyl complexes (pyCR1R2O)2Zr(CH2Ph)2 (3a−c). These species adopt distorted octahedral structures with a trans-O, cis-N, cis-C ligand arrangement but undergo rapid inversion of configuration at Zr on the NMR time scale, with racemization barriers in the range from 8.6 (3b) to 10.1 (3c) kcal/mol. 3a and 3b react with B(C6F5)3 to yield [(pyCR1R2O)2Zr(CH2Ph)][PhCH2B(C6F5)3] (6a,b) and with [HNMe2Ph][B(C6F5)4] to yield [(pyCR1R2O)2Zr(CH2Ph)][B(C6F5)4] (7a,b). NMR spectra indicate that 6a,b and 7a,b are not strongly ion-paired in CD2Cl2. 6a polymerizes ethylene and 1-hexene to low molecular weight polymers. [{pyCH(CF3)O}2Zr(CH2Ph)][PhCH2B(C6F5)3] (6c, generated in situ) is much less active for ethylene polymerization than 6a, and 6b is inactive.
Adaptive Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Subject to Structural Changes and External Disturbances

This paper presents a robust adaptive control design methodology for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), guaranteing asymptotic tracking of a given smooth reference trajectory. The proposed controller is based on conventional model reference adaptive control architecture, augmented with online parameter estimation for function approximations and adaptive bounding technique. The reference model to be tracked is constructed from the UAV nominal dynamics using conventional linear design methods to achieve desired performance specifications. It is shown that the controller is capable of compensating unknown parameters, resulting from structural changes and actuator failures, as well as for modeling uncertainties and external disturbances, which are assumed to be bounded and sufficiently smooth, but otherwise unknown functions of the state and time respectively. The performance of the control algorithm is demonstrated on a simulation example.
The OCO-2 Validation Matrix: A Systematic Approach to Mission Validation

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) mission was launched on July 2nd 2014 on the first of the last set of Delta II rockets from Vandenberg Air force Base. It is currently operating in the A-train and collecting data that will help scientists to understand the global carbon cycle. As with all NASA missions the OCO-2 mission went through a rigorous V&V (Verification and Validation) program. The program used the DOORS (Dynamic Object Oriented Requirements System) tool to implement a verification matrix complete with detailed verification activities that were used to accept the associated requirements as verified. On the other side of V&V is validation, and there are several methods that can be taken to construct a validation plan, unfortunately, few provide the ease and simplicity of the verification matrix used on OCO-2. In addition it is almost impossible to know conclusively that your system is fully validated until it is operating in space. In order to better prioritize the validation program of the OCO-2 mission the OCO-2 project V&V team developed and utilized a “validation matrix”. This matrix was used to help focus the OCO-2 ORTs (Operational Readiness Tests) and other validation testing on specific objectives and to optimize other tests as needed. While not all of the objectives identified in the matrix were closed during the ORTs it did provide the V&V team a method by which they could feel confident that the operations team, processes and procedures and the spacecraft observatory were ready for launch & operations. In this paper we will discuss the process used for developing the OCO-2 validation matrix, and how it was used in practice during the OCO-2 testing program. INTRODUCTION Validation is often describe as a method for ensuring that the mission that was built/designed will meet the objectives of the people who originally conceived the mission. Unfortunately it is difficult to determine what constitutes a good validation test, and determine when enough validation testing has been completed in order to demonstrate that the mission has been fully validated. On OCO-2 we attempted to answer both of these questions with a validation matrix, crafted and used by the team to make sure the right validation tests were being performed and that they covered the full scope of the OCO-2 mission.
Femtosecond terahertz radiation pulses

We describe a new mechanism of generating relatively powerful and extremely short pulses of freely propagating THz radiation. After propagating 88 cm in free space, these pulses were measured to have a full-width-at-half-maximum pulsewidth of 370 fsec with no deconvolution. These are the shortest directly-measured, freely-propagating THz pulses in free space to date.
Efficacy of a mixed formulation of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ZT( Heilongjiang isolate) and Steinernema carpocapsae All against Bradysia odoriphaga

The root maggot,Bradysia odoriphaga Yang et Zhang,is one of the most important insect pests of Chinese chives in northern China. To find alternatives to chemical pesticides for the insect,we have evaluated 3 isolates of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora,Hb-ZT( Heilongjiang),Hb-LG( Liaoning),and Hb-NJ( New Jersey,USA),and Steinernema carpocapsae All( Sc-All) against 3rd instars and pupae of B. odoriphaga in petri dish,pot and greenhouse assay. We found that the mixed formulation of Hb-ZT and Sc-All achieved 100%,80. 6%,and 100% host mortality in petri dish,pot,and greenhouse assay respectively,which is more effective than using each species alone. In both pot assay and greenhouse assay,the mixed formulation achieved better results with a dose of 0. 5 million IJs / m2than each species alone at doses of 1 million IJs / m2. Our results also shown that the best time for application of entomopathogenic nematodes is 5 to 10 days after the first adults are detected.
Effects of enzymatic degradation on the subunit composition and biologic properties of human factor VIII.

Human factor VIII was purified from cryoprecipitate and subjected to enzymatic degradation with plasmin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and thrombin. The reactions were monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by measurement of four biologic properties, namely, procoagulant activity, ristocetin cofactor activity, precipitation by heterologous antibody, and neutralization of a human factor VIII inhibitor. The electrophoretic patterns of reduced digests showed a reproducible sequence of degradation of the 215,000 molecular weight subunit by plasmin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin, each with well-defined intermediate and enzyme-resistant chain remnants. There were striking similarities in the sizes of several intermediate chain remnants produced by these three enzymes, suggesting the presence of regions on the factor VIII molecule that are especially susceptible to enzymatic degradation, but each enzyme also produced distinctive proteolytic derivatives. The most obvious differences included (1) a single-chained 40,000 molecular weight remnant cleaved by plasmin and trypsin which was either absent or degraded in chymotryptic digests, (2) large intermediate chain remnants of 176,000 and 157,000 molecular weight which were produced only by trypsin, and (3) differences in size and content of nonreduced fragments in the final digests. Thrombin caused no detectable change in electrophoretic patterns. The immunoprecipitation reaction was sensitive to minor degrees of proteolytic cleavage, showing a marked increase in rocket size even when the SDS-treated subunit chains showed virtually no change in electrophoretic mobility. Procoagulant and inhibitor neutralizing activities were rapidly destroyed by trypsin and plasmin, but this destruction did not correlate with specific changes in electrophoretic patterns. Both thrombin and chymotrypsin caused an increase in procoagulant activity prior to destruction of activity; changes in this property were therefore unrelated to changes in the protein visualized by gel electrophoresis. Ristocetin cofactor activity was considerably more resistant to plasmin than to trypsin or chymotrypsin, and roughly paralleled the persistence of highly aggregated forms in the digests.
Esophageal atresia: long-term interdisciplinary follow-up

Background: We provide protocolized interdisciplinary follow-up to babies born with Esophageal Atresia (EA). There are few reports in Argentina about follow-up of EA patients. Objective: To describe outcomes in follow-up of EA patients at 1, 3 and 6 years old and to compare outcomes at age 1 with those at age 6. Methods: Prospective, longitudinal, analytic study of the cohort of babies born with EA, admitted to the follow-up program from 11/01/03 to 10/31/14. Follow-up includes: growth (weight > 10 th centile, WHO), neurology-psychomotor development, audiology, vision, genetic, mental health, surgical reintervention, phonostomatology, language, pulmonology, re-hospitalization for clinical causes, lost to follow-up. Outcomes were described at age 1, 3 and 6. We included all EA patients who had reached age 1 at the start of this study. Results: 27 babies were admitted; 30% had long-gap EA; 18% presented VACTERL association; 23 children met inclusion criteria. Genetics was assessed in 18 newborns (78%); a chromosomal map was performed in 11 babies; 3 had an abnormal karyotype. Mental health: 5/14 of the assessed children showed problems. Phonostomatology: 11 newborns checked (6 required treatment, 4 recovered at age 1). Pulmonologist evaluated 18 babies (7 with recurrent wheezing, 6 with moderate tracheomalacia). Gastroenterology and endoscopy: 80% presented gastroesophageal reflux (GER) grade 3-4, and 50% showed a pathologic pHmetry. Lost to follow-up: age 1, 2 (8%); age 3, 3 (17%); age 6, 3 (23%). Normal outcomes observed are the following. Age 1 – growth: 81%; neurologic-psychomotor developmental index (NPDI): 76%; audiology: 95%; vision: 85%; language: 62%; re-hospitalization for clinical causes: 38%; surgical reinterventions: 47%. Age 3 – growth: 78%; NPDI: 50%; audiology: 93%; vision: 93%; language: 43%; re-hospitalization: 35%; surgical reinterventions: 14%. Age 6 – growth: 50%; NPDI: 30%; audiology: 90%; vision: 40%; language: 50%; re-hospitalization for clinical causes: 0; surgical reinterventions: 7%. Conclusions: Patients with EA are at risk for long-term morbidity and impairments. Long-term follow-up should be warranted for them.
Limited value of routine iron studies prior to initiation of erythropoietin therapy in patients with ovarian cancer

19677 Background: Anemia is a common consequence of cancer which significantly impacts patient quality of life. The mainstay of treatment for cancer- and chemotherapy-related anemia is erythropoiet...
Aggressive Electrolytes Replacement in Multiple Myeloma (MM) Patients Receiving Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) Containing Regimens Alleviates the Need for Frequent Electrocardiogram (ECG) Monitoring.

Abstract Background: Arsenic trioxide (ATO) has shown activity in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM). An uncommon but life-threatening side effect of ATO is arrhythmia such as torsade de pointes (TdP), especially when QT or QTc (heart-rate corrected) intervals >500 milliseconds (ms). We evaluated the incidence and predictors of QT and QTc prolongation in MM patients treated with ATO. Methods: We reviewed prospectively collected demographic, laboratory and 766 weekly-ECG data on 48 patients treated in phase II trials with ATO. Patients received a median of 1.7 cycles (range 1–8) of 0.1–0.25 mg/Kg of IV ATO. Cycles consisted of 12 weeks of ATO (5-days/week for 1 week, then twice weekly for 11 weeks). Electrolytes were aggressively repleted to keep serum electrolytes as follows: K > 4 mEq/L, Mg > 2 mg/dL and Ca > 8.5 mg/dL. Endpoints included number of patients with QT and QTc prolongation (> 450 ms in males and > 470 ms in females), percentage of QT and QTc > 500 ms, and arrhythmia incidence. Predictors for QT and QTc prolongation were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Results: Median patient age was 67.4 years. 85% were Caucasians, 64 % were males, and 37% achieved a response to ATO (CR or PR). Throughout the study, median values for K, Mg, Ca were 4.3 (4.0, 4.5), 2.1 (1.9, 2.2), and 9.1 (8.6, 9.4), respectively. Prolonged QT and QTc intervals at any time during the study occurred in 6/48 patients (12.5%) and in 25/48 patients (52%), respectively. ATO therapy was held based on ECG changes in 2 patients. One of whom had both QT and QTc > 500 ms and was found to be on a phenothiazine derivative; the other patient had only QTc > 500 ms and was found to have severe hypomagnesemia and hypocalcemia. After discontinuing the offensive drug and correcting electrolytes, therapy was restarted without any further QT or QTc prolongation. Overall, QT and QTc intervals returned to baseline with subsequent doses indicating the absence of a cumulative dose-effect. The factors influencing QT and QTc considered in the statistical analyses were age, race, gender, and response. In univariate and multivariate analyses, the only variable associated with QT and QTc prolongation was male gender (p Conclusion: ATO can result in prolongation of QT and to a higher degree QTc interval. QT and QTc are rarely prolonged > 500 ms. Males were more likely to develop QT and QTc prolongation. With repeated administration, a dose-cumulative effect does not seem to further prolong QT or QTc. ATO can be safely administered to patients with MM when electrolytes and concomitant medications are appropriately managed. Decisions based on ECG occurred in two patients during the first 12 weeks of therapy, utilizing 2/766 ECG's (0.003%). Weekly ECG's may therefore not be warranted in this clinical setting.
Ophthalmic artery chemosurgery for eyes with advanced retinoblastoma.

ABSTRACTBackground: Surgical removal of one or both eyes has been the most common way to treat children with retinoblastoma worldwide for more than 100 years. Ophthalmic artery chemosurgery (OAC) was introduced 10 years ago and it has been used as an alternative to enucleation for eyes with advanced retinoblastoma. The purpose of this report is to analyze our 9-year experience treating advanced retinoblastoma eyes with OAC.Materials and methods: Single-arm retrospective study from a single center of 226 eyes with eyes of retinoblastoma patients with advanced intraocular disease defined as both Reese-Ellsworth (RE) “Va” or ”Vb” and International Classification Retinoblastoma (ICRb) group “D” or ”E” (COG Classification). Ocular survival, patient survival, second cancers, and electroretinography (ERG) were assessed.Results: Ocular survival at five years for these advanced eyes was 70.2% (95% confidence interval, 57.3%–79.8%). When eyes were divided into groups either by RE classification or ICRb, no signific...
Beyond the ivory tower: The impacts of university-business partnerships on competitive rivalry

This study examines the impacts of the announcement of university-business partnerships on the stock market’s valuation of partnering firms and their rivals. We posit that university-business partn...
Purchasing and the Small Firm

A study of 81 small businesses in the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) shows a strong relationship between the boundary spanning activities of the owner/operators of these firms and their profitability...
Down but Not Out: The National Education Association in Federal Politics:

This research provides new evidence on the political activity and policy-setting agenda of the largest national teachers’ union during a time of political change. Using a longitudinal dataset compr...
Do Bank Regulations Have Uniform Effects? Evidence from Changes in Deposit Insurance

Do banks’ responses to changes in deposit insurance vary across countries even if the countries have comparable institutions? The uniform-effects hypothesis says the responses are not country specific. In contrast, Kane’s hypothesis states that because enforcement of regulations differs across countries so too will banks’ responses to changes in regulations. Using data on the financial performance of large banks in 16 financially and economically developed countries, we find that, in line with Kane’s hypothesis, if deposit insurance has an effect, the effect varies depending on the level of economic freedom, rule of law and corruption in the bank’s home country.
Broadening the scope of multi-objective optimizations in physical synthesis of integrated circuits

In modern VLSI design, physical synthesis tools are primarily responsible for satisfying chip-performance constraints by invoking a broad range of circuit optimizations, such as buffer insertion, logic restructuring, gate sizing and relocation. This process is known as timing closure. Our research seeks more powerful and efficient optimizations to improve the state of the art in modern chip design. In particular, we integrate timing-driven relocation, retiming, logic cloning, buffer insertion and gate sizing in novel ways to create powerful circuit transformations that help timing-critical paths satisfy setup-time constraints. State-of-the-art physical synthesis optimizations are typically applied at two scales: i) global algorithms that affect the entire netlist and ii) local transformations that focus on a handful of gates or interconnections. The scale of modern chip designs dictates that only near-linear-time optimization algorithms can be applied at the global scope — typically limited to wirelength-driven placement and legalization. Localized transformations can rely on more time-consuming optimizations with accurate delay models. Few techniques bridge the gap between fully-global and localized optimizations. This dissertation broadens the scope of physical synthesis optimization to include accurate transformations operating between the global and local scales. In particular, we integrate groups of related transformations to break circular dependencies and increase the number of circuit elements that can be jointly optimized to escape local minima. Integrated transformations in this dissertation are developed by identifying and removing obstacles to successful optimizations. Integration is achieved through mapping multiple operations to rigorous mathematical optimization problems that can be solved simultaneously. We achieve computational scalability in our techniques by leveraging analytical delay models and focusing optimization efforts on carefully selected regions of the chip. In this regard, we make extensive use of a linear interconnect-delay model that accounts for the impact of subsequent repeated insertion. Our integrated transformations are evaluated on high-performance circuits with over 100,000 gates. Integrated optimization techniques described in this dissertation ensure graceful timing-closure process and impact nearly every aspect of a typical physical synthesis flow. They have been validated in EDA tools used at IBM for physical synthesis of high-performance CPU and ASIC designs, where they significantly improved chip performance.
Search for Mutual Benefits

The American military was considerably preoccupied with the security of Northeast Brazil when the war began in 1939. The region was not sufficiently garrisoned and Brazil did not have arms and equipment to place new units there. The Americans pursued various subterfuges to get their troops into the area, but the Brazilians were uncertain that they would leave when the danger passed. The chapter follows the often twisted path of negotiations. The American planners developed elaborate ideas, proposals, and even invasions to secure the region. Such plans could not be put into effect because of the lack of troops, shipping, and extra equipment. The effort led to the rise and fall of the American Military Attache and Mission Chief L. Miller who went from being a friend of the Brazilian leaders to being declared persona non grata. The chapter discusses the secret role of Pan American Airways and its Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brasil, under US Army contract, to obtain land and develop a string of air bases that connected north to Florida and east to Africa, which made the air force’s transport system possible.
Predicting burn patient mortality with electronic medical records

Abstract Background Although there exists robust literature on mortality-associated factors in burn patients, it is not known how electronic medical records affect outcomes. Using burn injury as a surgical care model of information and communication, we hypothesized that functionality and interoperability of the electronic medical record could serve as determinants of outcome. Methods We used the state inpatient databases for New York, Washington, California, and Florida for the years 2009 and 2010 for all states, with the additional years of 2012 and 2013 for New York (n = 6,002), and the respective data from the American Hospital Association Information Technology survey. Using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes, we included burn patients and characterized total body surface area burned. We summed the binary answers to questions 1 and 2 and question 3 from the American Hospital Association Information Technology survey to make continuous functionality and interoperability scores. Mortality was predicted using extreme gradient boosting in Python. Results In each state in which our models had an accuracy and area under the curve of more than 0.90, electronic medical record functionality but not interoperability was a significant predictor in New York, California, and Florida. Important predictors in each state were, age, duration of stay, total body surface area burned/severity, and total charges. Electronic medical record functionality was more important than all comorbidities except for coagulopathies and electrolyte disorders. Higher functionality scores were associated with mortality (P Conclusion Our data support our hypothesis that electronic medical records may be associated with mortality in burn patients; however, electronic medical records are not having the intended impact on outcomes, and further research needs to elucidate exactly how electronic medical records are being used in clinical settings.
Characterization of Donor-Specific Alloreactive CD4+ and CD8+ Cellular Immune T Cell Responses in the Lung Allograft and Blood in Lung Transplant Recipients

Purpose Lung transplantation remains the only therapeutic option for select patients with end-stage lung diseases, however chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) significantly limits long-term survival in lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Episodes of acute cellular rejection (ACR) are common and the major risk factor for developing CLAD, however little is known about donor-specific cellular T cell responses, as these have not been previously characterized in LTRs. Methods We used a novel ex vivo flow cytometric assay to assess donor-specific alloimmune responses from LTRs cells in lung allograft resident effector T cells (BAL-derived) and PBMC. Using a 6h in vitro re-stimulation protocol with either irradiated donor cells or donor lysate, we measured the frequencies of effector responses (IFN-γ, TNF-α, the cytotoxic marker CD107a, IL-17a, IL-13, IL-2 and the costimulation surface molecule, CD154) from CD4+ and CD8+ lung resident or blood compartment T cells. Results Overall the predominant alloreactive effector responses were donor-specific CD154 surface expression following in vitro re-stimulation with donor lysate in lung resident CD4+ T cells compared to the PBMC compartment, with minimal to absent expression on CD8+ T cells. Expression of surface CD154 was highly co-expressed with allospecific CD4+ T cells producing the Type-1 cytokines IFN-γ, TNF-α and CD107a suggesting CD154 as a marker for Type-1 effector function, but not Type-2 or Type-17 responses. In fact, donor-specific IL-13 and IL-17 responses were detectable in some patients but at significantly lower frequencies compared to Type-1 effector responses, suggesting a hierarchy of alloeffector immune responses. Comparison between the lung resident T cells and blood T cells revealed consistently increased donor-specific alloreactive frequencies in the lung allograft versus the periphery. Ongoing experiments are assessing the proliferative capacities of donor-specific alloreactive T cell populations in the blood compartment. Conclusion Together, these data indicate donor-specific alloreactive effector CD4+CD154+ lung resident T cells activated via the indirect allorecognition pathway are present in high frequencies in LTRs with histologic evidence or history of ACR and segregate to Type-1 effector cytokine responses.