cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Delivering energy proportionality with non energy-proportional systems: optimizing the ensemble

With power having become a critical issue in the operation of data centers today, there has been an increased push towards the vision of "energy-proportional computing", in which no power is used by idle systems, very low power is used by lightly loaded systems, and proportionately higher power at higher loads. Unfortunately, given the state of the art of today's hardware, designing individual servers that exhibit this property remains an open challenge. However, even in the absence of redesigned hardware, we demonstrate how optimization-based techniques can be used to build systems with off-the-shelf hardware that, when viewed at the aggregate level, approximate the behavior of energy-proportional systems. This paper explores the viability and tradeoffs of optimization-based approaches using two different case studies. First, we show how different power-saving mechanisms can be combined to deliver an aggregate system that is proportional in its use of server power. Second, we show early results on delivering a proportional cooling system for these servers. When compared to the power consumed at 100% utilization, results from our testbed show that optimization-based systems can reduce the power consumed at 0% utilization to 15% for server power and 32% for cooling power.
Patient-centered consumer health social network websites: a pilot study of quality of user-generated health information.

The quality of user -generated health information on consumer health social network ing websites has not been studied. We collected a set of postings related to Diabetes Mellitus Type I from three such sites and classified them based on accuracy, error type, and clinical significance of error. We found 48 % of postings contained medical content , a nd 54% of these were either incomplete or contained errors. About 85% of the incomplete and erroneous messages were potentially clinically significant.
Examining Age Inequalities in Operationalized Components of Advance Care Planning: Truncation of the ACP Process With Age.

Abstract Context Opportunities for patients to receive unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful care near the end of life abound. Advance care planning (ACP) can help to make this vulnerable period better for patients, caregivers, and providers. Objective The objective of this study was to determine whether older age predicted the presence of certain forms of retrievable ACP documentation in the electronic health record (EHR) in a large sample of hospice-referred patients. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of medical-record data on 3595 patients referred to hospice between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015. EHR documentation of an ACP note in the problem list, presence of a scanned advance directive, and the presence of a verified do-not-resuscitate order were the outcome measures. Logistic regression was used to assess the effect of age, education, race, gender, cancer diagnosis, dementia diagnosis, palliative encounter, and death on the outcome variables. Results Our results suggest that when we control for prognosis, patients over age 70 years may experience gaps in ACP communication. We found that as patients age, the odds of having documentation of a conversation (odds ratio [OR] = 0.56; P Conclusion The results of this study may imply some degree of unilateral and physician-driven decision making for end-of-life care among older adults. Collaborative efforts between an interdisciplinary medical team should focus on developing policies to address this potential disparity between younger and older adults at the end of life.
Visualizing technocratic power: a cyber-archaeological analysis of the US National Education Technology Plan

Situated in an understanding of contemporary US education as heavily influenced by a neoliberal technocracy we conducted a Critical Discourse Analysis of the 2010 and 2016 National Education Techno...
Methods to Assess the Processing of Speech Sounds by Animals

Here are described some procedures designed to assess the capacities of animals to detect, discriminate, and identify human speech sounds. All procedures use a go/no-go response, which is taught to animals using operant conditioning techniques based on positive (food) reinforcement. All procedures are easily learned by animals, and allow for direct comparisons with human subjects, who can be tested with the same methods.
Choosing Wisely Campaign: Report Card and Achievable Benchmarks of Care for Children’s Hospitals

Purpose In 2013 the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) responded to the 2012 Choosing Wisely Campaign (CWC) by releasing five recommendations to decrease overuse in common inpatient pediatric conditions. Our goals were to develop a Report Card (RC) based on those recommendations, calculate Achievable Benchmarks of Care (ABCs), and analyze performance among hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database of the Children’s Hospital …
Relative Age and Incarceration: Born on the Wrong Side of the Calendar.

Using public information from birth certificates and prison records from Florida, we adopt a reduced-form approach to estimate the effect of relative age on the probability of incarceration in adul...
Nitroalkanes as Versatile Nucleophiles for Enzymatic Synthesis of Noncanonical Amino Acids

C–C bond-forming reactions often require nucleophilic carbon species rarely compatible with aqueous reaction media, thus restricting their appearance in biocatalysis. Here we report the use of nitr...
Completing the Economic and Monetary Union: Wisdom Come Late?

This paper provides a critical stocktaking of the debate on completing the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and an evaluation of the main reform priorities to strengthening its institutional architecture. In response to the sovereign debt crisis, reforms of the EMU have resulted in significant progress towards greater integration, as best epitomised by the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the first two pillars of a Banking Union. In addition, the fiscal governance framework has been overhauled, with stricter rules and more powers at the supranational level to affect national budgetary policies. Because of these reforms, as well as of other policy measures at the national level, risks in the sovereign and banking sectors have been substantially reduced. The paper argues that major advances in risk reduction have not been matched by parallel progress in risk sharing: this asymmetry leaves the EMU incomplete and vulnerable. The paper contributes to the debate in three main ways: it examines the reforms proposed for the ESM, evaluates the role of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme—Banking Union’s missing third pillar—and reviews the case for establishing a central fiscal capacity for countercyclical manoeuvre. The paper emphasises that making progress in each of these architectural components of the EMU would go a long way toward closing the gap between risk sharing and risk reduction and ensuring the longer-term viability of the EMU.
Improving the Thermal Stability of CIGS Photovoltaic Devices

Photovoltaic devices based on the copper–indium–gallium–selenium (CIGS) materials system are limited to thermal cycles below 350 °C. This is an obstacle for making higher performance devices and a significant barrier to building multi-junction CIGS devices. High anneal temperatures lead to the diffusion of Cd from the CdS buffer layer into the CIGS absorber. Cd counterdopes the absorber causing the space charge region to extend to the back contact, dramatically reducing the power conversion efficiency. This article studies the effect of a silicon oxynitride diffusion barrier placed between the absorber and buffer layers. The oxynitride film was deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. Capacitance–voltage and drive-level-capacitance methods were used to extract the carrier profile in the absorber as a function of anneal condition and barrier layer thickness. Both measurement techniques showed that the barrier significantly retards diffusion, leading to intact devices at anneal temperatures as high as 450 °C. The barrier conducts current through the Poole–Frankel mechanism and did not increase the device series resistance if it was 4.4 nm or thinner. The deposition of the barrier layer, however, remains a significant obstacle. Exposure of the CIGS absorber to a plasma introduced moderate damage, but exposure to a hydrogen-containing plasma led to severe loss of Se near the absorber surface. Such devices were nearly ohmic, suggesting a high concentration of deep states in the space charge region.
Decay of 51 Mn

We have investigated theγ-rays from the decay of 46-min51Mn produced by the50Cr (d, n) reaction. Twelveγ-rays were observed. Theseγ-rays have been incorporated into a level scheme of51Cr with levels at 0, 749.1, 1164.4, 1353.3, 1557.4, 1899.4, 2001.4, 2312.5 and 2829.7 keV. Branching ratios, logft values, and jπ assignments are discussed for these levels. The lifetime of the 749.1 keV level was measured to be T1/2=7.6 ± 0.3 ns by utilizing the51V(p, n γ 51Cr reaction produced by a 3.8 MeV pulsed proton beam. The 749 keV,E2 transition is hindered by a factor of 34 compared to the Weisskopf estimate.
Teacher-child interaction quality moderates social risks associated with problem behavior in preschool classroom contexts

Abstract Guided by an ecological model, the study examined the extent to which domains of teacher-child interaction quality moderated associations between early problem behavior within preschool classroom contexts and social competence. A series of multilevel models were estimated using data from a sample of ethnically and linguistically diverse children from low-income backgrounds (N = 937, children across 53 classrooms). Findings from multilevel models supported direct associations between problem behavior within classroom structured learning, teacher, and peer contexts, and social competence outcomes. Higher classroom organization was directly associated with reductions in disruptive peer play in the classroom at the end of the year. However, cross-level interactions indicated that both higher organizational and instructional support were beneficial in buffering the risks to social competence for children entering preschool exhibiting problem behavior within the peer context. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.
Treading water at the Shark Café: a memoir of the Yugoslav wars: by Lyndon Back, Bloomington, IN, Open Books Press, 2018, 247 pp., $17.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-941799-57-4

As I read Lyn Back’s book, I kept thinking about the life of Viola Liuzzo, a homemaker and mother, who left a comfortable existence in Detroit, to head to Alabama to heed the call of Civil Rights M...
Improved eigenvectors for Pulliam-Chaussee diagonalized approximate-factorization algorithm

Abstract The eigensystem of the Pulliam-Chaussee diagonalized form of the approximate-factorization algorithm for the three-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is revisited to remove an apparent dimensional inconsistency. The original set of eigenvectors in curvilinear coordinates were derived systematically and has been widely used and referenced. Although mathematically correct, the original eigenvectors for the advected modes appear dimensionally inconsistent and yield a set of matrices with large condition numbers for some flows. A new set of eigenvectors is presented that remove the inconsistency and improves the robustness of the diagonalized scheme.
New Assumption of Regenerative Electric Heating Market Model from the Perspective of Transaction Cost

At present, the demand response resources of large users are gradually full, and the existing ternary market model of thermal storage electric heating is difficult to manage scattered small and medium-sized loads and guide users to participate in the power market. In this study, by introducing a load aggregator, the original ternary market model was transformed into a quaternary market transaction model of new energy enterprises — grids — load aggregators — regenerative electric heating users. Based on the transaction cost theory, the analysis introduced load aggregators The mechanism of the new post-business model on the electricity trading market. It proved that the new model can help reduce transaction costs and promote electricity market transactions.
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes Based on Race of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in a New Orleans Cohort

Background In Louisiana, deaths related to COVID-19 have disproportionately occurred in Black persons. Granular data are needed to better understand inequities and develop prevention strategies to mitigate further impact on Black communities. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of patients admitted to an urban safety net hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, with reactive SARS-CoV-2 testing from March 9 to 31, 2020. Clinical characteristics of Black and other racial/ethnic group patients were compared using Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Fisher exact tests. The relationship between race and outcome was assessed using day 14 status on an ordinal scale. Results This study included 249 patients. The median age was 59, 44% were male, and 86% were age ≥65 years or had ≥1 comorbidity. Overall, 87% were Black, relative to 55% Black patients typically hospitalized at our center. Black patients had longer symptom duration at presentation (6.41 vs 5.88 days; P = .05) and were more likely to have asthma (P = .008) but less likely to have dementia (P = .002). There were no racial differences in initial respiratory status or laboratory values except for higher lactate dehydrogenase in Black patients. Patient age and initial oxygen requirement, but not race (adjusted proportional odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.70-1.20), were associated with worse day 14 outcomes. Conclusions Our results demonstrate minor racial differences in comorbidities or disease severity at presentation, and day 14 outcomes were not different between groups. However, Black patients were disproportionately represented in hospitalizations, suggesting that prevention efforts should include strategies to limit SARS-CoV-2 exposures and transmission in Black communities as one step toward reducing COVID-19-related racial inequities.
Leveraging public data to offer online inquiry opportunities

Inquiry activities have become increasingly common in Ecology and Evolution courses, but the rapid shift to remote instruction for many faculty members in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for maintaining these student-centered activities in a distance learning format. Moving forward, many instructors will be asked to create flexible course structures that allow for a mix of different teaching modalities and will be looking for resources to support student inquiry in both online and in-person settings. Here, we propose the use of data-driven inquiry activities as a flexible option for offering students experiences to build career-relevant skills and learn fundamental ecological concepts. We share lessons learned from our experiences teaching a two-semester course-based research experience in global change ecology that leverages publicly available datasets to engage students in broadly relevant scientific inquiry.
Dyslipidemia in the Pediatric Population

Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death. This chapter provides a brief overview of cholesterol metabolism and focuses on the genetic disorders of dyslipidemia. It explains the common causes and mechanisms of acquired dyslipidemia, addressing the impact of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Current dietary recommendations and pharmacological options are reviewed. Primary prevention strategies are of utmost importance because abnormalities of lipid metabolism are associated with premature atherosclerotic changes in childhood that can track into adulthood.
Broadband Noise Reduction of a Low-Speed Fan Noise Using Trailing Edge Blowing

An experimental proof-of-concept test was conducted to demonstrate reduction of rotor-stator interaction noise through the use of rotor-trailing edge blowing. The velocity deficit from the viscous wake of the rotor blades was reduced by injecting air into the wake from a continuous trailing edge slot. Hollow blades with interior guide vanes create flow channels through which externally supplied air flows from the blade root to the trailing edge. A previous paper documented the substantial tonal reductions of this Trailing Edge Rotor Blowing (TERB) fan. This report documents the broadband characteristics of TERB. The Active Noise Control Fan (ANCF), located at the NASA Glenn Research Center, was used as the proof-of-concept test bed. Two-component hotwire data behind the rotor, unsteady surface pressures on the stator vane, and farfield directivity acoustic data were acquired at blowing rates of 1.1, 1.5, and 1.8 percent of the total fan mass flow. The results indicate a substantial reduction in the rotor wake turbulent velocity and in the stator vane unsteady surface pressures. Based on the physics of the noise generation, these indirect measurements indicate the prospect of broadband noise reduction. However, since the broadband noise generated by the ANCF is rotor-dominated, any change in the rotor-stator interaction broadband noise levels is barely distinguishable in the farfield measurements.
Impact of COVID-19-induced rural-rural migration on agricultural productivity in Delta State, Nigeria

This study was embarked on to unveil the impact of COVID-19-induced migration on agricultural productivity in Delta State, Nigeria. This survey study involved rural arable crop farmers. Data were collected from households and community survey of 517 families through structured interview schedule (questionnaire administered by face to face interview). It was found that 41% and 30% of the present and second generations respectively, in receiving communities were immigrants. In receiving communities, 68% of the households were of the largest ethnic group compared to 95% fraction in sending communities. Households in sending communities had smaller farm sizes than those in receiving communities. In sending communities, 41% and 65% of the migrant and indigenous populations, respectively, contacted the disease, while there was no recorded case in receiving communities. The mean yield in receiving communities was higher than that in the sending communities. COVID-19 incidents and other factors influenced immigration to receiving communities. The soil and land factors in receiving communities also contributed to decision on migration. Migration increased agricultural productivity in receiving communities, while productivity was reduced in sending communities. However, other factors such as distance to farm, farm size, age of household head and assets also affected yields in sending and receiving communities. The policy implications are that government ought to have considered the fact that, naturally, farm families work while giving distances to themselves in farms. Communities need to participate in decisions on issues like this in the future to collectively, fathom a way out especially in rural communities.
Key Factors for Successful Implementation of HIV Prevention Services by THRIVE Community Collaboratives.

ObjectiveThe Targeted Highly Effective Interventions to Reverse the HIV Epidemic (THRIVE) demonstration project created collaboratives of health departments, community-based organizations, and clin...
Evidence of Nasal Cooling and Sensory Impairments Driving Patient Symptoms With Septal Deviation.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS About 260,000 septoplasties are performed annually in the US to address nasal septal deviation (NSD). Yet, we do not consistently understand what aspects of NSD result in symptoms. STUDY DESIGN Blinded cohort study. METHODS Two fellowship-trained surgeons blindly reviewed computerized tomography (CTs) of 10 confirmed NSD patients mixed with 36 healthy controls. All patients were correctly identified, however, 24/36 controls were falsely identified by both surgeons as patients (33.3% specificity), which were grouped as asymptomatic NSD (aNSD), while the remaining controls as non-NSD (healthy). Acoustic rhinometry, rhinomanometry, individual CT-based computational fluid dynamics and nasal sensory testing were applied to address the puzzling questions of why these aNSD had no symptoms and, more fundamentally, what caused symptoms in sNSD patients. RESULTS aNSD reported no nasal symptoms - Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation score (sNSD: 60.50 ± 13.00; aNSD: 5.20 ± 5.41; non-NSD: 6.66 ± 7.17, P < .05); 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test score (sNSD: 32.60 ± 14.13; aNSD: 10.04 ± 10.10; non-NSD: 9.08 ± 12.42, P < .001). No significant differences in measured nasal resistance, minimum cross-sectional area (MCA), degree of septal deviation, and nasal airflow distributions were found between sNSD and aNSD groups. Only three variables differentiate sNSD versus aNSD: anterior averaged heat flux on deviated side, inferior turbinate peak heat flux on non-deviated side, and nasal cool sensitivity measured by menthol lateralization threshold, with no significant differences among these variables found between the two healthy groups (aNSD vs. non-NSD). These variables by themselves or combined can differentiate sNSD from controls with higher specificity than the physicians (ROC area under the curve = 0.84 with 70% sensitivity and 91.6% specificity). CONCLUSIONS This study sheds light on the potential mechanisms of NSD symptomatology: distorted nasal cooling due to NSD exacerbated by poorer nasal mucosal sensitivity. It further supports our previous hypothesis that nasal obstruction complaints do not result directly from obstruction, rather from the capacity of our nose to subjectively sense airflow cooling. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 Laryngoscope, 2021.
Evolution of transcriptional control of antigenic variation and virulence in human and ape malaria parasites.

Background The most severe form of human malaria is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This unicellular organism is a member of a subgenus of Plasmodium called the Laverania that infects apes, with P. falciparum being the only member that infects humans. The exceptional virulence of this species to humans can be largely attributed to a family of variant surface antigens placed by the parasites onto the surface of infected red blood cells that mediate adherence to the vascular endothelium. These proteins are encoded by a large, multicopy gene family called var, with each var gene encoding a different form of the protein. By changing which var gene is expressed, parasites avoid immune recognition, a process called antigenic variation that underlies the chronic nature of malaria infections. Results Here we show that the common ancestor of the branch of the Laverania lineage that includes the human parasite underwent a remarkable change in the organization and structure of elements linked to the complex transcriptional regulation displayed by the var gene family. Unlike the other members of the Laverania, the clade that gave rise to P. falciparum evolved distinct subsets of var genes distinguishable by different upstream transcriptional regulatory regions that have been associated with different expression profiles and virulence properties. In addition, two uniquely conserved var genes that have been proposed to play a role in coordinating transcriptional switching similarly arose uniquely within this clade. We hypothesize that these changes originated at a time of dramatic climatic change on the African continent that is predicted to have led to significant changes in transmission dynamics, thus selecting for patterns of antigenic variation that enabled lengthier, more chronic infections. Conclusions These observations suggest that changes in transmission dynamics selected for significant alterations in the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that mediate antigenic variation in the parasite lineage that includes P. falciparum. These changes likely underlie the chronic nature of these infections as well as their exceptional virulence.
Epigenetic modulation of selected immune response genes and altered functions of T lymphocytes and macrophages collectively contribute to autoimmune diabetes protection

We have previously demonstrated that treatment of female NOD mice with the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A (TSA) bestowed irreversible protection against autoimmune diabetes. Herein we show that drug treatment diminished the infiltration of the pancreas with CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and Ly-6C+ monocytes. Significantly, TSA administration selectively repressed the expression of a set of genes exaggerated during diabetes and constitutively expressed primarily in the spleen and rarely in the pancreas. These genes encode lymphokines, macrophage-associated determinants, and transcription factors. Although the copy numbers of many histone deacetylases increased during diabetes in the spleen and pancreas, only those upregulated in the spleen were rendered sensitive to repression by TSA treatment. The T lymphocytes derived from drug-treated donors displayed diminished diabetogenic potential following transfer into immunodeficient NOD.scid mice. In the immunocompromised recipients, diabetes caused by the transfer of activated T lymphocytes from untreated diabetic mice was hampered by the co-transfer of highly purified splenic Ly-6C+ macrophages from drug-treated mice. However, the transfer of Ly-6C+ macrophages from drug-treated mice failed to block ongoing diabetes in wild-type NOD mice. These data demonstrate that the modified gene expression and functional alteration of T lymphocytes and macrophages collectively contribute to diabetes protection afforded by the histone modifier in female NOD mice.
Multiplex Target-Redundant RT-LAMP for Robust Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using Fluorescent Universal Displacement Probes

The increasing prevalence of variant lineages during the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to disrupt molecular diagnostics due to mismatches between primers and variant templates. Point-of-care molecular diagnostics, which often lack the complete functionality of their high throughput laboratory counterparts, are particularly susceptible to this type of disruption, which can result in false negative results. To address this challenge, we have developed a robust Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification assay with single tube multiplexed multi-target redundancy and an internal amplification control. A convenient and cost-effective target specific fluorescence detection system allows amplifications to be grouped by signal using adaptable probes for pooled reporting of SARS-COV-2 target amplifications or differentiation of the Internal Amplification Control. Over the course of the pandemic, primer coverage of viral lineages by the three redundant sub-assays has varied from assay to assay as they have diverged from the Wuhan-Hu-1 isolate sequence, but aggregate coverage has remained high for all variant sequences analyzed, with a minimum of 97.4% (Variant of Interest: Eta). In three instances (Delta, Gamma, Eta), a high frequency mismatch with one of the three sub-assays was observed, but overall coverage remained high due to multi-target redundancy. When challenged with extracted human samples the multiplexed assay showed 100% sensitivity for samples containing greater than 30 copies of viral RNA per reaction, and 100% specificity. These results are further evidence that conventional laboratory methodologies can be leveraged at the point-of-care for robust performance and diagnostic stability over time.
Perioperative Airway Management

Airway management remains the fundamental part of anesthesia practice. Over the past two decades, many advances in technology, devices, and techniques for airway management have been made. It is extremely important for the clinician to be proficient in basic techniques and become familiar with new developments since airway management literally remains a “life or death” issue.
Cellular Response to Heat Shock and Cold Shock

This chapter reviews the molecular response of bacteria to shifts in either high or low temperatures. It discusses the inputs to each response, the outputs needed to cope with the sudden stress, and the molecular circuitry that controls these stress responses, and reviews the strategies utilized to cope with sudden heat stress or cold shock by mesophilic bacteria, focusing on Escherichia coli, the most completely studied bacterial species. The chapter talks about the relationship between temperature and the steady-state growth rate for this organism, and considers how E. coli responds to shift to both high and low temperatures, with a goal of integrating our knowledge about each response. Although the focus is on E. coli, the strategies used by E. coli with those used by Bacillus subtilis, are compared. When cells are shifted within the normal growth range, there is little or no lag in adaptation to the new growth rate and neither a heat shock response (HSR) nor a cold shock response (CSR) is elicited. The demonstration that overproduction of a variety of unfolded proteins triggers the HSR without temperature shift solidified the idea that such molecules serve as a signal controlling the response. Molecular understanding of this signaling mechanism is described in the circuitry section. RhlB is present during cold shock and it is not clear whether degradosomes contain both helicases or whether different populations of degradosomes contain one or the other. More DnaK is associated with the degradosome during cold shock.
An acoustic study of coarticulatory resistance in “dark” and “light” alveolar laterals

Abstract This study reports on the results of an acoustic investigation on the effects of contextual vowels on alveolar laterals in two languages, Spanish and Catalan. In particular, two contact varieties of these languages, those spoken on the island of Majorca, are compared. Catalan /l/ has been described as “dark” and Spanish /l/ as “light” or “clear,” and these characterizations have been confirmed with acoustic and articulatory data. Furthermore, it has been suggested that pharyngealization (or velarization) degree in the laterals affects their degree of coarticulatory resistance, with pharyngealized laterals being more resistant to coarticulation than non-pharyngealized ones. This is attributed to tighter articulatory control of the tongue body in pharyngealized than non-pharyngealized laterals. This study tests this hypothesis with acoustic data from 10 (Majorcan) Catalan and 10 (Majorcan) Spanish male speakers, and it shows that coarticulatory resistance is indeed modulated by the degree of pharyngealization of the laterals. Importantly, in addition to finding a difference in coarticulatory resistance between the two language varieties, the study finds that by-speaker average pharyngealization in the laterals is a significant linear predictor of by-speaker coarticulatory resistance in these sounds.
Real Points on Shimura Curves

Let B be a quaternion algebra over Q, i.e., a central simple alegbra of dimension 4 over Q. We assume that, B is indefinite, and fix an identification of B ∞ = B⊗R with M 2(R). The discriminant D of B is then the product of an even number of distinct primes. The completion B p = B ⊗ Q p , is a skew field if p | D and is isomorphic to M 2(Q p ) if p × D, and D = 1 if and only if B is isomorphic to M 2(Q), i.e., B is not a skew field.
Lithium as an Alternative Option in Graves Thyrotoxicosis.

A 67-year-old woman was admitted with signs and symptoms of Graves thyrotoxicosis. Biochemistry results were as follows: TSH was undetectable; FT4 was >6.99 ng/dL (0.7–1.8); FT3 was 18 pg/mL (3–5); TSI was 658% (0–139). Thyroid uptake and scan showed diffusely increased tracer uptake in the thyroid gland. The patient was started on methimazole 40 mg BID, but her LFTs elevated precipitously with features of fulminant hepatitis. Methimazole was determined to be the cause and was stopped. After weighing pros and cons, lithium was initiated to treat her persistent thyrotoxicosis. Lithium 300 mg was given daily with a goal to maintain between 0.4 and 0.6. High dose Hydrocortisone and propranolol were also administered concomitantly. Free thyroid hormone levels decreased and the patient reached a biochemical and clinical euthyroid state in about 8 days. Though definitive RAI was planned, the patient has been maintained on lithium for more than a month to control her hyperthyroidism. Trial removal of lithium results in reemergence of thyrotoxicosis within 24 hours. Patient was maintained on low dose lithium treatment with lithium level just below therapeutic range which was sufficient to maintain euthyroid state for more than a month. There were no signs of lithium toxicity within this time period. Conclusion. Lithium has a unique physiologic profile and can be used to treat thyrotoxicosis when thionamides cannot be used while awaiting elective radioablation. Lithium levels need to be monitored; however, levels even at subtherapeutic range may be sufficient to treat thyrotoxicosis.
Neutrino generation by high field lasers

Generation of relativistic protons in high laser fields provides a source of muon neutrinos with fluxes of /spl sim/ 10/sup 19/ /spl nu//sub /spl mu// s/sup -1/ sr/sup -1/ and energies /spl sim/ 20 MeV. The source is proposed for neutrino oscillation experiments. This paper presents a new concept for a pulsed neutrino source: an Optically Driven Emitter of Neutrinos (ODEN). The generation of neutrinos concludes a chain of events, starting with electron acceleration in laser field, leading in turn to the emission of a proton beam in relativistic regime. The protons generate charged pions, which decay into muon neutrino pairs.
Measuring the Value of Communication

In the past several years, determining the effectiveness of communications activities has become increasingly important both to communications professionals and to the greater business community. In 2004, the Communications Executive Council (CEC) conducted a survey of hundreds of chief communication officers in major corporations; 79 percent of the respondents stated they believed communication performance measurement was more important than it had been three years earlier. Survey respondents also ranked Measuring and Communicating Effectiveness of the Function as the second most important issue facing the communications industry. Not everyone in the communications industry views measurement in the same light, though. While some embrace the science of measurement as it relates to communications, others look at communications as an art outside the realm of formal measurement. Quotations from two corporate communications professionals illustrate this dichotomy: You can't manage what you can't measure. Everyone's looking for a seat at the table, and they ought to be looking at measurement for getting to the table and staying there. Bill Margaritis, SVP Worldwide Communications and IR, Fed Ex I cringe at the idea of return on investment because that sounds like what we do ought to be so predictable when it's not. Bill Nielsen, former Corporate VP of Public Affairs, Johnson & Johnson Despite the naysayers, however, most communications professionals are increasingly recognizing the truth in Margartis' words; without data on the effectiveness of their activities, communications professionals cannot gain the credibility they desire from senior management. In this article, we examine the importance of measurement to the communications industry, the insufficiency of measurement in communications, how communications professionals' measurement needs are changing, obstacles to meeting measurement needs, and the potential benefits from understanding the link between communications and business value, and, a new possible solution. This discussion is essential to understanding that the communications industry needs a way to add meaning to the data it already has; to link existing data to business outcomes; and to demonstrate that effective communications activities move organizations toward their business objectives. In many cases, companies do not require more or better measurement, only better use of existing measurement data. And once the communications industry has the ability to understand how its activities affect business outcomes, communications professionals can have a greater effect on business outcomes going forward rather than simply justifying what they have done in the past. To that end, we also discuss what we believe are the keys to measuring the contribution of communications activities.
Domain growth in the field-theoretic version of the Potts model.

We present a numerical study of the domain growth kinetics of the continuous, two-dimensional, q-state Potts model with a nonconserved order parameter. After the system is quenched from a high-temperature disordered state to a finite temperature in the ordered region of the phase diagram, the development of ordered domains in time is analyzed by direct numerical solution of the associated Langevin equations. We find that the domain growth in the model, after a short initial transient time, is well described by a characteristic length L(t) which increases with time as L(t)\ensuremath{\propto}${t}^{n}$. The kinetic exponent n is determined to be (1/2 for both q=4 and 15. The quasistatic structure factor S(k,t) obeys dynamical scaling during the growth process, as expected. Our results are in agreement with those obtained from recent Monte Carlo studies of the discrete Potts model with stochastic dynamics, and indicate that the domain growth kinetics of the two-dimensional q-state Potts model is characterized by a Lifshitz-Allen-Cahn kinetic exponent n=(1/2, independent of q for a nonconserved order parameter.
SKED systems: Paper tape, Tennecomp, and OS/8

The SKED system has been developed at different levels of complexity and power for differing hardware configurations. The simplest of these, and the least expensive, is the paper-tape SKED system. Some of the drawbacks associated with the use of paper tape are absent in the Tennecomp magnetic tape cartridge system. Users with mass storage capabilities can make use of the OS/8 operating system (copyright DEC) to speed up all aspects of the SKED system (especially editing, compilation, and loading of programs), and take advantage of a file-oriented system structure for data storage and analysis.
Uniaxial extensional flow for a viscoelastic model that displays thixotropic yield stress behavior

Homogeneous uniaxial extensional flow of a viscoelastic fluid, namely, the partially extending strand convection model combined with a Newtonian solvent, is investigated for large relaxation time. Initial value problems are addressed, for prescribed constant tensile stress. The limit of large relaxation time introduces a slow time scale of evolution, in addition to a fast time scale for flow. Numerical solutions of the original equations show distinct stages of evolution, which are mathematically analyzed with asymptotic analyses for multiple time scales. We discuss the stages of evolution from equilibrium, as well as unloading the applied stress from a yielded solution. The overall picture which emerges captures a number of features which are usually associated with thixotropic yield stress fluids, such as delayed yielding, and hysteresis for up and down stress ramping. Even at large applied tensile stress, there is persistence of an interval of parameters where the deformation rate increases quickly, only after a delayed response.
Feasibility of gadodiamide compared with dilute iodinated contrast material for imaging of the abdominal aorta and renal arteries.

PURPOSE To determine the quality of digital abdominal angiograms obtained with use of full-strength, intra-arterial gadodiamide compared with similar volumes of half-strength iodinated contrast material for evaluating the abdominal aorta and renal vessels. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-five consecutive patients underwent digital subtraction arteriography of the abdominal aorta performed with equal volumes (32 mL) of either half-strength (300 mg/mL iodine) iodinated contrast material or full strength gadodiamide (0.11–0.25 mmol/kg) to evaluate the abdominal aorta and renal arteries. The contrast agent used was not known to the image readers. The abdominal aorta, left and right renal main renal artery, and first and second order segmental branches were graded separately as diagnostic or nondiagnostic by four angiographers. RESULTS Images of the abdominal aorta were diagnostic 100% of the time for iodine and gadodiamide, 76% and 80% diagnostic for iodine and gadodiamide in the left main renal artery, respectively; and 100% and 80% diagnostic for iodine and gadodiamide in the right main renal artery, respectively. The first order segmental branches of the right and left renal arteries were graded diagnostic 72% and 56% of the time, respectively, for dilute iodinated contrast material, and 40% and 28% of the time, respectively, for gadodiamide. The second order segmental branches of the right and left kidney were graded diagnostic 24% of the time for iodinated contrast and 8% and 4% of the time, respectively, for gadodiamide. CONCLUSION Full-strength, intra-arterial gadodiamide at doses smaller than 0.3 mmol/kg can produce diagnostic images of the abdominal aorta and main renal arteries. However, images of the intrarenal branches are usually not diagnostic.
Basic Traits Predict the Prevalence of Personality Disorder Across the Life Span The Example of Psychopathy

Personality disorders (PDs) may be better understood in terms of dimensions of general personality functioning rather than as discrete categorical conditions. Personality-trait descriptions of PDs are robust across methods and settings, and PD assessments based on trait measures show good construct validity. The study reported here extends research showing that basic traits (e.g., impulsiveness, warmth, straightforwardness, modesty, and deliberation) can re-create the epidemiological characteristics associated with PDs. Specifically, we used normative changes in absolute trait levels to simulate age-related differences in the prevalence of psychopathy in a forensic setting. Results demonstrated that trait information predicts the rate of decline for psychopathy over the life span; discriminates the decline of psychopathy from that of a similar disorder, antisocial PD; and accurately predicts the differential decline of subfactors of psychopathy. These findings suggest that basic traits provide a parsimonious account of PD prevalence across the life span.
Spectral Diffusion in Proteins: A Simple Phenomenological Model

Previous experimental studies on a modified cytochrome c have shown that optical hole widths have a power-law dependence on waiting time. We show that a phenomenological model, which assumes Gaussian random frequency fluctuations whose two-point time-correlation function is a stretched exponential, is consistent with the experimental data.
Stereotaxic atlas of the brainstem of the muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus

The muskrat is an aquatic rodent of moderate size and possesses dramatic respiratory and cardiovascular behaviors in response to submersion, stimulation of the upper respiratory tract, or environmental cues. This report provides a stereotaxic atlas of the muskrat's brainstem in the transverse plane to facilitate studies requiring an accurate localization of discrete brain structures. Plates are presented of brainstem sections between the obex and superior colliculus separated by 450 microns. Each figure shows a Nissl stained hemisection complemented by a line drawing. Our data shows mature muskrats have relatively uniform craniometric dimensions promoting their use for stereotaxic placements in their brains.
Truth and Reconciliation: Irreconcilable Differences? an Ethical Evaluation of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

This article is a theologico-ethical evaluation of the five-volume Report, published in October 1998, of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It comprises two major parts, the first a summary of the principles and political decisions that led to the formation of the commission and focusing primarily on the first volume, which deals with the TRC's mandate, method, structure and methodology, and on the fifth, which deals with the broader ethical, philosophical and religious principles which underlay that mandate. The second part is a theological and ethical evaluation which draws on the experiences of other such commissions, contemporary South African theologians and ethicists. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is found to have begun the process of bringing truth and reconciliation together, a process that requires, in addition, constructive action by the state, civil society, particularly churches (and other religions) and individuals, as the bearers of a moral order.
Bridle Sling Lifting of Elastic Beam

The bridle sling lifting of a flexible beam is analyzed. For a given sling length, the optimum attaching locations for minimal maximum bending are found.
Hypoxia limits inhibitory effects of Zn2+ on spreading depolarizations.

Spreading depolarizations (SDs) are coordinated depolarizations of brain tissue that have been well-characterized in animal models and more recently implicated in the progression of stroke injury. We previously showed that extracellular Zn2+ accumulation can inhibit the propagation of SD events. In that prior work, Zn2+ was tested in normoxic conditions, where SD was generated by localized KCl pulses in oxygenated tissue. The current study examined the extent to which Zn2+ effects are modified by hypoxia, to assess potential implications for stroke studies. The present studies examined SD generated in brain slices acutely prepared from mice, and recordings were made from the hippocampal CA1 region. SDs were generated by either local potassium injection (K-SD), exposure to the Na+/K+-ATPase inhibitor ouabain (ouabain-SD) or superfusion with modified ACSF with reduced oxygen and glucose concentrations (oxygen glucose deprivation: OGD-SD). Extracellular Zn2+ exposures (100 µM ZnCl2) effectively decreased SD propagation rates and significantly increased the initiation threshold for K-SD generated in oxygenated ACSF (95% O2). In contrast, ZnCl2 did not inhibit propagation of OGD-SD or ouabain-SD generated in hypoxic conditions. Zn2+ sensitivity in 0% O2 was restored by exposure to the protein oxidizer DTNB, suggesting that redox modulation may contribute to resistance to Zn2+ in hypoxic conditions. DTNB pretreatment also significantly potentiated the inhibitory effects of competitive (D-AP5) or allosteric (Ro25-6981) NMDA receptor antagonists on OGD-SD. Finally, Zn2+ inhibition of isolated NMDAR currents was potentiated by DTNB. Together, these results suggest that hypoxia-induced redox modulation can influence the sensitivity of SD to Zn2+ as well as to other NMDAR antagonists. Such a mechanism may limit inhibitory effects of endogenous Zn2+ accumulation in hypoxic regions close to ischemic infarcts.
Cleaning polystyrene latexes for surface characterization

Abstract The removal of last traces of carbon dioxide or impurities from the titration medium during the conductometric titration of ion-exchanged latex system are difficult to achieve, and can cause false surface characterization. To remedy this problem, two approaches are recommended. Clean, carbon dioxide-free water is used, and rigorous sparging with nitrogen is applied during titration. However, in cases where this rigorous treatment is not possible, it is recommended to titrate an equal amount of the same quality water as a blank and subtract the results from the latex titration results.