cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Communication between Corneal Epithelial Cells and Trigeminal Neurons Is Facilitated by Purinergic (P2) and Glutamatergic Receptors

Previously, we demonstrated that nucleotides released upon mechanical injury to corneal epithelium activate purinergic (P2) receptors resulting in mobilization of a Ca2+ wave. However, the tissue is extensively innervated and communication between epithelium and neurons is critical and not well understood. Therefore, we developed a co-culture of primary trigeminal neurons and human corneal limbal epithelial cells. We demonstrated that trigeminal neurons expressed a repertoire of P2Yand P2X receptor transcripts and responded to P2 agonists in a concentration-dependent manner. Mechanical injuries to epithelia in the co-cultures elicited a Ca2+ wave that mobilized to neurons and was attenuated by Apyrase, an ectonucleotidase. To elucidate the role of factors released from each cell type, epithelial and neuronal cells were cultured, injured, and the wound media from one cell type was collected and added to the other cell type. Epithelial wound media generated a rapid Ca2+ mobilization in neuronal cells that was abrogated in the presence of Apyrase, while neuronal wound media elicited a complex response in epithelial cells. The rapid Ca2+ mobilization was detected, which was abrogated with Apyrase, but it was followed by Ca2+ waves that occurred in cell clusters. When neuronal wound media was preincubated with a cocktail of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor inhibitors, the secondary response in epithelia was diminished. Glutamate was detected in the neuronal wound media and epithelial expression of NMDA receptor subunit transcripts was demonstrated. Our results indicate that corneal epithelia and neurons communicate via purinergic and NMDA receptors that mediate the wound response in a highly orchestrated manner.
AWGR-based optical topologies for scalable and efficient global communications in large-scale multi-processor systems

In large-scale multi-processor computing systems, global communications are typically supported by an auxiliary network (e.g., IBM Blue Gene) or with hardware support in the network (e.g., NEC Earth Simulator). We explore the potential for realizing efficient global communications that can scale beyond a million processors by harnessing the unique parallelism and wavelength routing properties of optical devices. Specifically, we use an arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR) device as the basic building block in realizing scalable global communication. The AWGR is a passive switch fabric (wavelength router) that uses multiple wavelengths to interconnect outputs and inputs by following a specific cyclic wavelength routing (permutation) pattern. We analyze different network topologies using AWGR devices for barrier synchronization and propose techniques to pick parameters of the network for a given number of processors. We compare the performance and energy consumption for barrier synchronization with what is achievable with state-of-the-art electrical networks.
The use of the Artelon CMC Spacer for osteoarthritis of the basal joint of the thumb

Abstract Introduction Favorable clinical outcomes have been reported with the Artelon CMC Spacer, however, several studies have documented complications with the device. Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to review a single surgeon's experience with the Artelon CMC Spacer for the treatment of basal joint arthritis of the thumb. Methods Five thumbs in 6 patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint were treated with the Artelon CMC Spacer. The mean age of the patients was 60.8 years old. Patients were followed for a mean of 39.3 months (6–63) post-operatively. Results Complications occurred in 4 of the 6 thumbs and half of the thumbs required at least one secondary operative procedure. A documented foreign-body reaction was present in 2 of the 6 thumbs. Discussion The Artelon CMC Spacer is an interposition material that acts as a biologic spacer for arthritic joints while maintaining mechanical strength. Conclusions Due to an unacceptably high complication rate, we no longer use the Artelon CMC Spacer for the management of basal joint arthritis of the thumb. Level of evidence 4
The effects of topical vitamin K on bruising after laser treatment

Abstract Background: Pulsed dye laser treatment and other cosmetic procedures result in significant bruising. Claims have been made regarding the efficacy of topical vitamin K in both preventing and speeding the clearing of bruising; however, well-controlled studies are lacking. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of topical vitamin K versus placebo in the prevention and clearing of laser-induced purpura. Methods: A total of 22 patients were enrolled in this double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study. The patients were divided into pretreatment and posttreatment groups; the 11 patients in the former group applied vitamin K cream to half of their face and vehicle alone to the other half of their face twice daily for 2 weeks before laser treatment. The latter group followed the same procedure for 2 weeks after laser treatment. On day 0, all subjects underwent laser treatment for facial telangiectases using a 585-nm pulsed dye laser. Bruising was rated by the both the patient and physician by means of a visual analogue scale on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 17. Results: The side of the face treated with topical vitamin K before laser therapy showed no significant difference in bruising as compared to placebo. However, the side of the face treated with vitamin K cream after laser treatment had significantly lower scores of bruising severity when compared with the side treated with placebo. Conclusion: Although pretreatment with vitamin K did not prevent bruising after laser treatment, use of vitamin K cream after laser treatment did reduce the severity of bruising, particularly in the initial days of application. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;47:241-4.)
Single crystal EPR studies of the T1 states of indene, indole, benzofuran and coumarin; systems with large |E|

Abstract Single crystal EPR and phosphorescence studies of indene, indole, benzofuran and coumarin were made using DBB host. It was shown unambiguously that D E | for these systems. ( Z axis is perpendicular to the molecular plane.) The directions of the magnetic axes were also determined. Spin densities at the 6 and 5 positions in indole were estimated and compared with those of other substituted benzenes. It is concluded that large spin density is located at the CC group.
Thermoregulatory modeling use and application in the military workforce.

Abstract Thermoregulatory models have been used in the military to quantify probabilities of individuals' thermal-related illness/injury. The uses of the models have diversified over the past decade. This paper revisits an overall view of selected thermoregulatory models used in the U.S. military and provides examples of actual practical military applications: 1) the latest military vehicle designed with armor and blast/bulletproof windows was assessed to predict crews' thermal strains levels inside vehicles under hot environment (air temperature [Ta]: 29–43 °C, dew point: 13 °C); 2) a military working dog (MWD) model was developed by modifying existing human thermoregulatory models with canine physical appearance and physiological mechanisms; 3) thermal tolerance range of individuals from a large military group (n = 100) exposed to 35 °C/40% relative humidity were examined using thermoregulatory modeling and multivariate statistical analyses. Model simulation results assist in the decisions for the strategic planning and preventions of heat stress.
Feeding ecology of the long-tailed macaque(Macaca fascicularis) in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia

I studied long- tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis)feeding behavior and ecology as part of a larger behavioral ecological study at the Natai Lengkuas Station, Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia. I collected data on feeding behavior via scan sampling of all visible individuals in the focal group (approximately 800 observation hours). I established vegetational plots and monitored them monthly to determine food availability and abundance. I found long- tailed macaques to be primarily frugivorous;leaves, flowers, insects and bark provided the remainder of the diet. They used at least 33 plant species as food sources, but >60% of the diet was provided by only 5 species. Based on previous vegetational analyses, these tree species were among the highest in relative density. However, selection ratios for 19 food species indicate that 13 of them were selected more often than expected. Long- tailed macaques appear to be selective feeders but can exploit a variety of food sources during periods of food scarcity.
β-VLDL-induced alterations in growth potentiating activity produced by mononuclear phagocytes

Abstract This report describes the enhancement of growth potentiating activity produced by mononuclear phagocytes that were incubated with β-migrating very low density lipoproteins (β-VLDL). Conditioned media harvested from cultured human peripheral blood monocytes incubated in the presence or absence of the lipoprotein were evaluated for their ability to stimulate DNA synthesis ([ 3 H]thymidine incorporation) of sparsely seeded quiescent BHK-21 (BHK) cells as well as neonatal rat aortic smooth muscle cells (NRSMC). Conditioned media from monocytes incubated in the presence of β-VLDL enhanced [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation into DNA of both BHK and NRSMC, when compared to conditioned media harvested from monocytes incubated in the absence of β-VLDL. Studying NRSMC, this effect was evident using media collected from monocytes incubated with lipoprotein for 2 days; however, a longer incubation of monocytes plus lipoprotein was necessary to induce changes in growth potentiating activity for BHK cells. Likewise, the effect of β-VLDL treatment of thioglycollate broth elicited BALB/c mouse peritoneal macrophages was evaluated. Conditioned media from lipoprotein-treated macrophages exhibited greater growth-stimulating activity for both BHK cells and NRSMC when compared to conditioned media from macrophages incubated in the absence of the lipoprotein. β-VLDL did not affect viability of the mononuclear cells. These findings further implicate the involvement of the monocyte-derived foam cell in the development of atherosclerosis.
Reprint of: Modeling Antarctic ice sheet and climate variations during Marine Isotope Stage 31☆

Abstract Marine Isotope Stage 31 (MIS-31) is one of the major interglacials of the early Pleistocene ~ 1.08 to 1.06 Ma. Data from proximal sediment cores around several sectors of Antarctica indicate strong sea surface warming and ice shelf and sea ice retreat. Benthic deep-sea-core δ 18 O values at this time are some of the lowest of the Pleistocene, indicating both deep sea warming and reduced global ice volume. A coeval alignment of orbital parameters produces one of the strongest high-latitude summer insolation anomalies of the last several million years. Here we use a 3-D ice sheet-shelf model to simulate the evolution of Antarctic ice sheets through the event, and a global climate model to simulate temperatures and sea ice during peak Antarctic warmth. The ice model predicts nearly complete collapse and subsequent recovery of marine ice in West Antarctica, and the ice and climate model results agree well with proximal sediment core data in the Ross Embayment recovered by the ANDRILL and Cape Roberts drilling projects. The dominant forcing is found to be variations in sub-ice-shelf oceanic melting, with insignificant surface melting of terrestrial ice flanks even during peak warmth. Implications are noted in light of other observations and theories of Pliocene–Pleistocene Antarctic ice sheet variability that do involve surface melt.
The Effects of Mitotic Inhibition on the Spinal Cord Response to the Superimposed Injuries of Spinal Cord Hemisection and Peripheral Axotomy

The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that dividing microglia are responsible for the depression of crossed phrenic nerve activity documented at 2 weeks postphrenicotomy in an injury model which superimposes the effects of spinal cord injury on peripheral axotomy. Crossed phenic nerve activity is defined as the respiratory activity recorded from the phrenic nerve during the crossed phrenic phenomenon (CPP) which is a respiratory reflex induced by respiratory stress following an ispsilateral spinal cord hemisection. Young adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to left intrathoracic phrenicotomies. Cytarabine (Cyt-A, a powerful antimitotic drug) or saline-filled miniosmotic pumps were then implanted into the cisterna magna and 2 weeks were allowed to pass at which time the CPP was induced by a left C2 spinal cord hemisection and transection of the contralateral phrenic nerve. Control studies including bromodeoxyuridine labeling of mitotic cells and a triple immunofluorescent protocol were carried out to verify that microglial cells were the primary cell type undergoing mitosis in the current injury model and that Cyt-A completely inhibited cellular proliferation. Quantitative electrophysiological analysis of crossed phrenic nerve activity showed that there is a statistically significant depression of activity at 2 weeks postphrenicotomy when animals were infused with saline compared to controls. Crossed phrenic nerve activity levels were not significantly different, however, from control levels when 2-week postphrenicotomized rats were infused with Cyt-A. Immunofluorescent studies showed that the majority of cells dividing in response to phrenicotomy were microglia. Furthermore, there were no astrocytes seen dividing at any time. From the results, we conclude that activated microglial cells may be responsible for the depression in crossed phrenic activity normally seen 2 weeks postphrenicotomy. Further, the activation of microglia may be related to the astrocytic response to injury. The activated microglial cell may be acting as a coordinator of various aspects of the injury response. Alternatively, the activation of microglia may be a necessary step in the cascade of multiple events that take place in the spinal cord after injury.
Role of Fluid Pressure in the Production Behavior of EnhancedGeothermal Systems with CO2 as Working Fluid

Numerical simulation is used to evaluate mass flow and heatextraction rates from enhanced geothermal injection-production systemsthat are operated using either CO2 or water as heat transmission fluid.For a model system patterned after the European hot dry rock experimentat Soultz, we find significantly greater heat extraction rates for CO2 ascompared to water. The strong dependence of CO2 mobility (=density/viscosity) upon temperature and pressure may lead to unusualproduction behavior, where heat extraction rates can actually increasefor a time, even as the reservoir is subject to thermaldepletion.
II. The Psychiatrist's Role in the Special Management Unit

This article presents a psychiatrist's clinical work over 20 months in the Oregon Department of Corrections Special Management Unit (SMU) for adult male criminal offenders. Included is a description of the population served, inmates' presenting problems, the evaluation process, final diagnoses, and the disposition and treatment decision process. This article concludes with a selected discussion of the mental disorders encountered, as well as the author's impressions of his prison work from his perspective as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
The Ohio Bicycle Injury Study

To understand bicycle injuries and determine how to prevent them, we designed prospectively a descriptive study of bicycle-crash-related admissions in July 1993 to 10 major Ohio hospitals that admit child trauma patients. All patients studied were under the age of 16. In the 52 cases (38 male, 73%), impact with another vehicle accounted for 23 (44%) crashes. Of these crashes, only three (13%) were caused by definite motor vehicle operator error, and all 20 (87%) of the remaining motor vehicle-bicycle collisions were caused by bicyclist error, including 10 (43%) caused by bicyclists failing to yield properly at an intersection. Head injuries were the primary cause of morbidity in 29 (56%) cases. No child was wearing a bicycle helmet at the time of the crash. Efforts to reduce childhood morbidity from bicycle-related crashes should focus on helmet education and safe riding skills.
Bootstrap Inference for Local Populations

The randomized available case study, in which a nonrandom set of cases (patients, animals, laboratory runs) is randomized among two or more treatments, is a staple of biomedical research. Traditionally, such studies have been analyzed as though the cases were a random sample from an infinitely large population (1). The resulting statistical inferences address incorrect populations. More importantly, in the presence of response measurement error these inferences are inappropriate for the correct populations, understating the differential impact of treatment (2). In this paper I develop and illustrate a nonparametric bootstrap approach to inference in such studies, an approach that is faithful to the local origins of the randomized cases and can account for the influence of measurement error.
Regulation of Myogenic Differentiation by Androgens: Cross Talk between Androgen Receptor/ β-Catenin and Follistatin/Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling Pathways

Androgens are important regulators of body composition and promote myogenic differentiation and inhibit adipogenesis of mesenchymal, multipotent cells. Here, we investigated the mechanisms by which androgens induce myogenic differentiation of mesenchymal multipotent cells. Incubation of mesenchymal multipotent C3H 10T1/2 cells with testosterone and dihydrotestosterone promoted nuclear translocation of androgen receptor (AR)/beta-catenin complex and physical interaction of AR, beta-catenin, and T-cell factor-4 (TCF-4). Inhibition of beta-catenin by small inhibitory RNAs significantly decreased testosterone-induced stimulation of myogenic differentiation. Overexpression of TCF-4, a molecule downstream of beta-catenin in Wnt signaling cascade, in C3H 10T1/2 cells significantly up-regulated expression of myoD and myosin heavy chain II proteins and of follistatin (Fst), which binds and antagonizes native ligands of the TGF-beta/Smad pathway. Gene array analysis of C3H 10T1/2 cells treated with testosterone revealed that testosterone up-regulated the expression of Fst and modified the expression of several signaling molecules involved in the TGF-beta/Smad pathway, including Smad7. Lowering of testosterone levels in mice by orchidectomy led to a significant decrease in Fst and Smad7 expression; conversely, testosterone supplementation in castrated mice up-regulated Fst and Smad7 mRNA expression in androgen-responsive levator ani muscle. Testosterone-induced up-regulation of MyoD and myosin heavy chain II proteins in C3H 10T1/2 cells was abolished in cells simultaneously treated with anti-Fst antibody, suggesting an essential role of Fst during testosterone regulation of myogenic differentiation. In conclusion, our data suggest the involvement of AR, beta-catenin, and TCF-4 pathway during androgen action to activate a number of Wnt target genes, including Fst, and cross communication with the Smad signaling pathway.
The Niagara Frontier Defense League's patriotic war on labor: the case of Curtiss Aeroplane, 1917–1918

This essay explores the Niagara Frontier Defense League (NFDL) and its effort at combating labor at the Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company during the Great War. Initially formed by Buffalo businessmen to monitor the region's sizeable German population, by Fall 1917, the NFDL turned its attention to tackling the region's labor problems, developing an array of covert mechanisms designed to stop unionization and regain control over Buffalo's wartime labor market. Yet, as NFDL activities at the Curtiss Aeroplane show, the League failed to accomplish its objectives and actually worked to the detriment of the company.
Sirena Dotada truss spar design for East Central Gulf of Mexico

A student team at Texas A&M University has designed a truss spar for producing oil and gas in East Central Gulf of Mexico for a 4000 ft (1219.2 m) water depth. The Spar was designed to withstand a 100 year storm. American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) rules and American Petroleum Institute (API) guidelines were used in the design. The Truss Spar, known as " Sirena Dotada", is located 176 miles southwest of Clearwater, FL. This area is located just off the continental shelf in an area known as "The Elbow". The reservoir is estimated to contain 300 million barrels of oil and have a field life of approximately 20 years. The total length of the Spar hull, from the top of the hard tank to the bottom of the soft tank, is 646 ft (196.9 m) and the diameter of the hard tank is 120 ft (36.6 m). There are three heave plates that are spaced 85 ft (25.9 m) apart. Full workover capabilities are implemented into the production facilities. The topsides have a three deck system with 30 ft (9.14 m) of spacing between the decks. Each deck is 170 ft (51.8 m)by 215 ft (65.5 m). There is a 55 ft (16.8) air gap between the first deck and the waterline to allow for large waves from extreme weather conditions. Since the Spar is located at a 4000 ft(1219.2m) water depth, there are several options that need to be considered when designing the mooring system using Orcina's mooring software "Orcaflex". Either a set of nine chain-polyester-chain or a chain-wire-chain mooring line can be used in this application, and a full analysis was performed to determine which is the better option. The chain-wire-chain mooring line provided the best results and was chosen to be used. The stability analysis was performed with the program Stab CAD. In this program, a model was created that accurately portrayed the overall shape of the Spar, to include a hard tank, topsides facilities, trusses, heave plates, and a soft tank. The model was analyzed for intact and damage stability. A structural analysis was used to analyze several key structural points during certain "high-stress" scenarios. The major critical joints include the topside to the hard tank, hard tank to the truss section, and the truss section to the soft tank. These areas are analyzed during hull self floating period, hull upending at 15 degrees, and the topsides and hull during a 100-year storm at the maximum inclination angle of 11 degrees. The maximum bending moments are used to determine the type of steel and connection needed. Also, a cost analysis showed how much individual components contributed to the total cost of 1.46 billion US dollars. The above topics are discussed and explained in further detail throughout the report.
Promoting Access to the General Curriculum Using Peer Support Strategies.

Promoting access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities has emerged as a central theme of recent legislative and policy initiatives. Ensuring that students with severe disabilities benefit fully from the myriad learning and social opportunities available through the general curriculum remains an important challenge, particularly at the secondary level. We discuss peer support interventions, a form of peer-mediated intervention, as an effective approach for engaging youth with severe disabilities more meaningfully in the general curriculum, as well as promoting academic success for classmates serving as peer supports. We describe the core elements of these interventions, review research pertaining to the academic and social benefits available to participating students, and discuss factors that may account for the effectiveness and social acceptability of this intervention approach.
Louse infestation (pediculosis) in pet animals

Although pediculosis in pet animals is less common than flea infestation in most parts of the United Kingdom, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pruritus, erythema, scaling, anaemia and irritability. It is a cause of miliary dermatitis in cats. Lice are easily killed by many commercially available insecticides. Transmission is usually by direct contact but indirect transmission is also possible and brushes, combs, bedding and the general environment should be kept clean.
Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome

This syndrome is a result of compression of the posterior tibial nerve in the lower extremity where the nerve passes beneath the flexor retinaculum, which forms a tunnel at the medial aspect of the foot. The nerve is the final continuation of the sciatic nerve, passing inferior to the medial malleolus just anterior to the Achilles tendon, at which point entrapment may occur. The neuropathy may involve the posterior tibial nerve proper or one of the branches distal to the tunnel. The plantar nerves will be considered separately. The tunnel has a bony floor with the flexor retinaculum as the roof, an ideal situation in which nerve compression may occur.
Interest points detection based on local frequency information of an image

In this paper we propose a novel technique for detecting rotation and scale invariant interest points from the local frequency representation of an image. Local or instantaneous frequency is the spatial derivative of the local phase, where the local phase of any signal can be found from its Hilbert transform. Local frequency estimation can detect edge, ridge, corner and texture information at the same time and shows high values at those dominant features of an image. For each pixel, we select an appropriate width of the window for computing the derivative of the phase. In order to select the width of the window for any given pixel, we make use of the measure of the extent to which the phases, in the neighborhood of that pixel, are in the same direction. The local frequency map, thus obtained, is then thresholded by employing a global thresholding approach to detect the interest or feature points. Repeatability rate, a performance evaluation criterion for an interest points detector, is used to check the geometric stability of the proposed method under different transformations. We present simulation results of the detection of feature points from an image and the repeatability rate as a function of image rotation and scale changes. The results prove the efficacy of the proposed feature points detection algorithm.
Optical effect of diffractive multifocal focusing of radiation on a bicomponent diffraction system.

It is shown for the first time, to our knowledge, that when a plane wave illuminates a certain type of bicomponent optical system, consisting of two plane screens with circular apertures on a given optical axis, a multifocal diffractive focusing effect can appear. Here the diffraction picture in the focal planes represents the circular nonlocal bands of the Fresnel zones with a bright narrow peak at the center, whose intensity can exceed by 6–10 times the value of the incident-wave intensity. The detected optical effect is observed across a wide range of wavelengths, λ = 0.4–103 µm, and ratios of the aperture diameters d1 ≥ 2d2 = 25–1000λ, and it is also insensitive to changes in the medium of the wave propagation. For the large diameters of input holes, d1 = 2d2 > 100λ, or for wavelengths in the radio-frequency region of the spectrum, the bicomponent diffraction system acts as a long-focus lens with a high-intensity Gaussian distribution of radiation, at times exceeding the initial intensity, persisting at large distances (z = 1–100 cm) from the diffraction system.
A methodology for studying cognitive groupings in a target-tracking task

In the present research, a special form of cluster analysis was successful in revealing cognitive groupings having appreciable influence on task performance in a target-tracking task designed to resemble ATC. The method of cluster analysis was derived from the "virtual associative network" model of memory organization and applied to the record of eye fixations in the course of task performance. Results using inexperienced subjects showed fixation clustering consistent with Gestalt factors. Task objectives did not seem to affect grouping as much. The subjects' recall was generally poor, except where direct manipulation of targets occurred. We conclude that: 1) cognitive grouping influences performance; 2) recall techniques may not be able to elicit subjects' cognitive groupings; and 3) such groupings can be determined via analysis of eye fixations. These findings have implications for studying workload assessment and information structuring in complex visual scanning tasks.
Polarization-switching D/A converter

This paper describes a novel digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion technique, which uses the analog quantity polarization as a D/A conversion medium. It can be implemented by CMOS capacitors or by ferroelectric capacitors, which exhibit strong nonlinearity in charge versus voltage behavior. Because a ferroelectric material inherently has spontaneous polarization and generally has a large dielectric constant, the effective capacitance of a ferroelectric capacitor is much larger than that of a CMOS capacitor of the same size. This ensures less influence of bottom-electrode parasitic capacitance on a ferroelectric capacitor. Furthermore, a data converter based on ferroelectric capacitors possesses the potential nonvolatile memory function owing to ferroelectric hysteresis. Along with the architecture proposed for polarization-switching digital-to-analog converter (PDAC), its circuit implementation is introduced. Described is implementation of two 9-bit bipolar PDACs: one is based on CMOS capacitors and the other on off-chip ferroelectric capacitors. Experimental results are presented for the performance of these two prototypes.
Recurrent Panniculitis in a Man With Asthma Receiving Treatment With Leukotriene-Modifying Agents

Leukotriene-modifying drugs are novel agents introduced recently to treat asthma. Both 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, such as zileuton, and leukotriene receptor antagonists, such as zafirlukast and montelukast, have proved effective in the treatment of asthma. To our knowledge, there have been no detailed reports regarding dermatoiogic manifestations of this class of drugs. This article describes an unusual case of erythema nodosum in a 46-year-old asthmatic man who received 2 different leukotriene modifiers.
Traumatized refugee children: the case for individualized diagnosis and treatment

The first 131 traumatized refugee children evaluated and treated in a child specialty clinic indicated a wide variety of trauma including war-related traumas (21%) for areas of recent conflict and domestic violence (28%) predominantly occurring in patients from Mexico and Latin America. Clinical diagnoses indicate PTSD was common (63%) in the war trauma group but was found less (25%) in the domestic violence group. Otherwise, the refugee clinic population showed a wide variety of diagnoses, including 20% having learning or cognitive disability or clear mental retardation. The traumatized refugee children had a similar prevalence of PTSD and depression to a comparable group of American child psychiatry patients. Refugee children have faced a variety of traumas and have a variety of diagnoses. All traumatized refugee children need an individualized evaluation and treatment plan. Trauma focused therapy is not appropriate for all refugee children.
Adrenal cortical and Leydig cell nodules in dysgenetic ovaries

Abstract A patient was studied and treated for gonadal dysgenesis. She was outwardly a slightly masculinized female who was found to have female sex chromatin in somatic cells. The gonads, removed surgically, were unusual in that they contained adrenal cortical nodules, well-preserved mesonephric structures, hyperplastic masses, and adenomas of Leydig cells. It is thought that high pituitary gonado-tropin hormone produced the growth of the Leydig cells. Two nodules contained both Leydig-like and adrenal cortical cells. Common origin of both cell types from the celomic epithelium in the respective primordia would explain this curious combination of elements.
Heidegger and Korsgaard on Death and Freedom: The Implications for Posthumanism

Prominent advocates of posthumanism such as Nick Bostrom and Ray Kurzweil make the case that a drastic increase in the human lifespan (or healthspan) would be intrinsically good. This question of the value of an extended lifespan has perhaps become more pressing as medical and scientific advances are seemingly bringing us closer and closer to being able to extend our lives in the way posthumanists envision. In this paper I intend to use Martin Heidegger’s work on death and freedom to develop a potential objection to the claim that an indefinite healthspan is intrinsically desirable. The basic plan will be to make the case that the structure of human agency is such that truly free action is possible only on the basis of the essential finitude of our existence. Assuming that we take this sort freedom to be an important good, we would lose something of crucial importance if we were to radically extend the human healthspan. I am not claiming to present an entirely conclusive argument against posthumanism, or even enhancing the human healthspan to posthuman proportions, but rather, I see my argument here as adding another currently valued dimension of human existence that could very well be lost if we move decisively in the posthumanist direction.
Forty-Eight Years of International Comparisons in Mathematics Education from a United States Perspective: What Have We Learned?

In 1963-64, the International Evaluation Association undertook the first international study of school mathematics performance. The mean score of United States students at grades 8 and 12 was at or near the bottom of all participating nations. On the second and third international studies undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s, U.S. students seem to have fared relatively better than before, a trend that seems to have continued into the TIMSS and PISA assessments over the past decade. Nevertheless, with few exceptions, at each announcement of results it is typical to point out how poorly U.S. students fare. In all these eras, results have been used by some to encourage reform in mathematics classrooms and by others to push back reform. This chapter displays and examines summary results from the IEA, TIMSS, and PISA studies to glean conclusions about performance of students in the United States over time and about the operation and interpretation of international comparisons in mathematics education in general.
Contiki Cooja simulation for time bounded localization in wireless sensor network

An attractive research topic in wireless sensor networks is the issue of localization -- that is localizing an entire wireless sensor network accurately and within a reasonable time frame. A newly developed algorithm in this area is Time Bounded Essential Localization (TBEL), which allows for rapid, network-wide distribution of essential location information with full localization to occur at a later time. In order to further develop this line of research, this study evaluates the implementation of a variant of TBEL (TBL) on the Cooja simulation platform as it enables not only the simulation of TBL, but the eventual implementation of this algorithm on real world motes. The Simulation results show that in a limited four rounds of communication, 76.67% of nodes would be localized with an average localization error of 0.5 meters in a 200m by 200m simulation area including 30 blind nodes and 50 anchors.
Nomadic pastoralism and irrigated agriculture in Somalia

The persistent interplay of food production problems, land degradation, and social and climatic difficulties on the Horn of Africa result in recurring famines in spite of vast sums of money spent on agricultural development. As land resources — which undergird both social and production systems in Africa — become increasingly degraded, development efforts, especially in problematic areas, need to become part of comprehensive resource use programs that take into account the existing regional land use ecology. Designs which disrupt the ecology of established land uses can lead to extensive degradation because such uses are linked to wider areas; and the effects of such disruption can ultimately threaten the viability of the proposed schemes themselves.
Variation In Accountable Care Organization Spending And Sensitivity To Risk Adjustment: Implications For Benchmarking

Spending targets (or benchmarks) for accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program must be set carefully to encourage program participation while achieving fiscal goals and minimizing unintended consequences, such as penalizing ACOs for serving sicker patients. Recently proposed regulatory changes include measures to make benchmarks more similar for ACOs in the same area with different historical spending levels. We found that ACOs vary widely in how their spending levels compare with those of other local providers after standard case-mix adjustments. Additionally adjusting for survey measures of patient health meaningfully reduced the variation in differences between ACO spending and local average fee-for-service spending, but substantial variation remained, which suggests that differences in care efficiency between ACOs and local non-ACO providers vary widely. Accordingly, measures to equilibrate benchmarks between high- and low-spending ACOs--such as setting benchmarks to risk-adjusted average fee-for-service spending in an area--should be implemented gradually to maintain participation by ACOs with high spending. Use of survey information also could help mitigate perverse incentives for risk selection and upcoding and limit unintended consequences of new benchmarking methodologies for ACOs serving sicker patients.
CR-Honeynet: A Learning & Decoy Based Sustenance Mechanism against Jamming Attack in CRN

Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) enables secondary users to borrow unused spectrum from the proprietary users in a dynamic and opportunistic manner. However, dynamic and open access nature of available spectrum brings a serious challenge of sustenance amongst CRNs which makes them vulnerable to various spectrum etiquette attacks. Jamming-based denial of service (DoS) attack poses serious threats to legitimate communications and packet delivery. A rational attacker targets certain transmission characteristics to find the highest impacting communication of CRN and causes maximum disruption. In this paper, inspired by the honey pot concept in cyber crime, we propose a honey net based defense mechanism, which aims to deter the attacker from jamming legitimate communications. The honey net passively learns the attacker's strategy from the past history of attacks and actively adapts pre-emptive decoy mechanisms to prevent attacks on legitimate communications. Simulation results show that the with help of honey net mechanism, CRN successfully avoids jamming attacks and thereby improves system performance in terms of packet delivery ratio.
Diffuse cavernous hemangioma of the rectum complicated by invasion of pelvic structures. Report of two cases.

PURPOSE: We present two cases of diffuse cavernous hemangioma of the rectum that invaded the pelvic structures. METHODS: Two young women suffering from intermittent rectal bleeding were studied using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Beside the rectal hemangioma, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the pelvic ureter and the iliac vessels were each eroded by the tumor that produced symptoms in these two patients. CONCLUSION: Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging permit direct visualization for tumor staging and also for recognition of any pelvic structure invasion, which facilitate preoperative assessment of diffuse cavernous hemangioma of the rectum.
Effect of Treatment for CHC on Liver Disease Progression and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in African Americans.

Background and Aims: African Americans (AA) historically have a low response rate to hepatitis C therapies, and there is limited information available for this patient population regarding the development and treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The aim of this study was to evaluate liver disease progression and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in AA with CHC. Methods: Between 1995 and 2008, 246 AA patients with CHC were identified from a database of patients and followed until 2012-2013 (average 8 years) or the development of HCC after 2008. Results: Viral clearance (intent to treat; sustained virus response (SVR)) was achieved in 15% of patients with interferon based therapies with or without ribavirin. AA patients who achieved an SVR (n=22) did not develop HCC or new onset cirrhosis, whereas the HCC incidence in untreated AA patients was 23% (51/203). Patients who achieved an SVR also had improved fibrosis, as defined by the AST Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score, relative to nonresponders and untreated patients. Conclusions: The severity of liver disease at the first visit (except for cirrhosis) correlated with the development of HCC, but because of the overlap in values between patients, these measurements were not useful for predicting individual risk. Since cirrhosis at the first visit was not a predictive factor, treatment with newer antiviral therapies is the best option for reducing the incidence of advanced liver disease and its harmful outcomes in the AA population.
Impacts of Constraint Relaxations on Power System Operational Security

Constraint relaxations by definition mean that certain constraints are allowed to be violated in energy market models for a pre-determined penalty price. System operators utilize this mechanism in an effort to impose a price-cap on shadow prices in the markets. In addition, constraint relaxations can serve as corrective approximations that help to reduce the occurrence of infeasible or extreme solutions in market models. This paper aims to capture the impact constraint relaxations have on AC operating conditions. Moreover, this analysis also provides a better understanding of the correlation between DC market models and AC systems, and analyzes how relaxations in market models propagate to system operations. This information can be used to assess the risk associated with constraint relaxations. The practice of constraint relaxations was replicated in this paper using a test case and a real-life large-scale system, while capturing both the energy market aspects and AC system performance. System performance investigation included static and dynamic security analyses for base-case and post-contingency conditions.
Critical Monodomain Size of Grains and the Energy Dissipation of Soft Ferrites

The measurement technique by neutron depolarization for the critical grain size between two- and mono-domain state, and its results: ～4μm (3.8±0.7μm) for MnZn ferrite, 3μm for NiZn ferrite (when D=2.8μm mono-domain grain occupies 90%), and 3μm (2.9±0.2μm) for MgZn ferrite, are reported. To the critical monodomain size of grains, the correction due to the soft-magnetic environment of the grain is also discussed. It is introduced that the energy dissipation (Ptot) of MnZn and NiZn power ferrites drops dramatically when the grain size D decreases cross the critical monodomain size of grains Dc, and the new idea about the losses mechanisms for power ferrites: except the known three contributions, i.e. eddy current lose Pe, magnetic ac-hysteresis lose Ph, residual lose Pr , there is a fourth origin, the lose due to intragranular domain wall.
Monitoring and Analysis of the Implementation Status of Water Defluorination for Controlling Endemic Fluorosis in a County

[Objective] To understand the present status of water defluorination project and the efficiency of controlling endemic fluorosis in a county.[Methods] During April through June,2009,8 towns were selected from the county by simple random sampling,32 water defluorination projects were investigated for their quality and water fluoride contents were monitored.A total of 1 059 children between 8 and 12 years old were examined for dental fluorosis,and 50 children in the same age group were randomly selected from each town to be examined for their urine fluoride content.[Results] Only 16 water defluorination projects were in normal use,the normal usage rate was 50.00%,5 projects were in intermittent use.All the projects benefitted 18 835 residents altogether.The fluoride contents showed statistically significant differences between source water and tap water(T=1.000,P=0.001).The medians of the urine fluoride content of children in the selected 5 towns were greater than 1.40 mg/L.The average dental fluorosis rate in the examined children was 48.91%,the defect rate was 14.92%,and the dental fluorosis index was 1.06.[Conclusion] The situation of the water defluorination projects was unacceptable,most of towns were threatened by the water with high fluoride content even started the defluorination project.The program of water defluorination has much work to do and long way to go.
Fabrication and Application of Conductive LaNiO_3 Oxide Thin Films

Several typical preparing conditions such as annealed temperatures,annealing atmosphere,and substrate effect on the microstructure and electronic properties were introduced emphatically.The LNO films as bottom electrode or transition layers of PLT,PZT,BST ferroelectric and BFO ferroelectromagnetic on the electronic and fatigue were introduced particularly.
Off to a cold start: New York University's 2013 knowledge base population systems

New York University submitted two runs this year: a KBP Slot Filling run and a Cold Start run. The Slot Filling run used the same system as last year (Min et al. 2012), with only the minimal changes needed to address the revised specifications. These included changes in the provenance information and collapsing employee_of and member_of slots. We included the confidence estimation step (Li and Grishman 2013) which had been implemented last year after the official run and was described in last year's proceedings (Min et al. 2012).
Early growth responses of naturally regenerated eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) to partial release from juvenile aspen and pathological pruning

Height, breast height diameter, and basal diameter growth responses of 7to 12-year-old naturally regenerated eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) to partial release from juvenile (15-year-old) trembling and bigtooth aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx. and Populus grandidentata Michx.) and pathological pruning were monitored over four growing seasons. Pathological pruning is the removal of disease-infected branches before the disease can reach the stem or the removal of lower branches that are most susceptible to infection. Results indicated that seedling growth responses to release and pruning depended strongly on the height stratum to which a seedling belonged. Whereas growth rates of small white pine up to 190 cm tall were significantly reduced by increasing aspen densities and by pruning, growth rates of white pine taller than 190 cm were not significantly affected by either aspen density or pruning. Effects of pruning on small white pine were restricted to the first 2 years after release, after which growth rates were similar between pruned and unpruned individuals. This likely was due to natural crown recession of unpruned white pine, which brought crown lengths and crown ratios closer to those of pruned individuals. Besides affecting natural crown recession rates and growth of small unpruned white pines, release intensity also affected upper stratum aspen, which responded vigorously to release. Findings of this study suggest that early release from upper stratum juvenile aspen should enable the conversion of an aspen cover type to a mixture of aspen and white pine, but may have to be followed up by repeated interventions into the upper canopy stratum. It is, however, questionable if the expense of pruning to prevent blister-rust infections under a partial canopy is warranted. North. J. Appl. For. 22(1):27–34.