cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Number of bids, number of bidders and bidding behavior in outer-continental shelf oil lease auction markets

Abstract Theoretical models of auction bidding markets typically treat number of bids and number of bidders as equivalent measures. When joint bidding opportunities exist, this assumption will often not hold. In cases such as offshore oil auctions, joint bidding is an extremely common occurrence. Our analysis of these auctions suggests that the actual number of bidding participants is more closely related with variables of interest (winning bids, average bid per acre, etc.) than is the simple number of bids. We argue that analyses such as that presented here are important in developing theoretical models that are useful in explaining or predicting actual bidding auction outcomes.
Metoclopramide and homicidal ideation: a case report and literature review.

Background Metoclopramide is an anti-emetic and gastrointestinal pro-motility agent associated with well-known neuropsychiatric adverse effects, such as dyskinesia, akathisia, and depression. It has never been reported to be associated with homicidal ideation. Objective The authors review the literature on metoclopramide-induced adverse neuropsychiatric reactions and the mechanisms by which these may occur. Methods The authors present a case report of a patient who developed anxiety, agitation, suicidal and homicidal ideation following brief exposure to metoclopramide. Results The adverse effects of agitation and homicidal ideation were temporally related to the starting and stopping of metoclopramide. The patient subsequently developed agitation without homicidal ideation when given a serotonergic antidepressant a week later, suggesting that serotonin handling may have played a significant role in causing the patient's symptoms. Conclusions Although metoclopramide is well-known for its side effects related to dopamine blockade, its action at 5-HT 3 and 5-HT 4 receptors may also be clinically significant in the genesis of neuropsychiatric side effects, especially related to mood and behavior.
APACHE II scoring in the injured patient

The purpose of this study was to measure the predictive power of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) with respect to mortality in a group of seriously injured patients and to compare this predictive power with that of the Trauma Score (TS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Six hundred ninety-one helicopter-transported patients were studied. Individual logistic regressions demonstrated that all three scores had significant predictive power when considered individually (TS chi 2 = 136, p less than .0001; APACHE II chi 2 = 171, p less than .0001; ISS chi 2 = 109, p less than .0001). In addition, each severity score added significantly to the predictive power in a stepwise logistic regression (TS chi 2 = 15, p less than .0001; APACHE II chi 2 = 45, p less than .0001; ISS chi 2 = 15, p less than .0001). Areas under the receiver operating curves for the three scores were not significantly different (TS 0.8116, SD 0.0245; APACHE II 0.8515, SD 0.0204; ISS 0.7967; SD 0.0223). APACHE II is a good predictor of mortality, and its predictive power is complemented by TS and ISS. Language: en
When Beliefs Yield to Evidence: Reducing Biased Evaluation by Affirming the Self

People often cling to beliefs even in the face of disconfirming evidence and interpret ambiguous information in a manner that bolsters strongly held attitudes. The authors tested a motivational account suggesting that these defensive reactions would be ameliorated by an affirmation of an alternative source of self-worth. Consistent with this interpretation, participants were more persuaded by evidence impugning their views toward capital punishment when they were self-affirmed than when they were not (Studies 1 and 2). Affirmed participants also proved more critical of an advocate whose arguments confirmed their views on abortion and less confident in their own attitudes regarding that issue than did unaffirmed participants (Study 3). Results suggest that assimilation bias and resistance to persuasion are mediated, in part, by identity-maintenance motivations.
Benefits of laparoscopic-assisted colectomy for colon polyps: a case-matched series.

Objective To clarify the true benefits of laparoscopic assisted colectomy by comparing clinical outcomes from a series of laparoscopic right colectomies with matched open colectomies, all performed for the singular indication of polyp not amenable to colonoscopic removal. Patients and Methods A retrospective case-matched study was performed of consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy for polyps between January 1992 and July 1997. Each case was matched to a control undergoing the equivalent open procedure for the same indication during the same time period. Results Thirty-eight patients undergoing laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy for polyps were identified, and matches were found. The conversion rate was 18.4% (7/38), 21.4% early in the series and 10% in later experience. Operative times were longer for laparoscopic-associated colectomy (median, 208 minutes vs 150 minutes, P P P P P P Conclusions Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy has significant patient benefits. These benefits are apparent when procedures of equal complexity and equivalent indications are compared. Laparoscopic-assisted resection has become our preferred approach for polyps not amenable to colonoscopic polypectomy.
Pathlistings applied to data flow analysis

In this paper the pathlisting mechanism is developed as a new tool useful in performing efficient data flow analysis of programs for a wide variety of problems. An algorithm using this tool for forward flow, code improvement problems is presented. It is shown that for all practical purposes this algorithm is linear in the size of the input which is, generally speaking, a reducible flow graph modeling the given program. Pathlistings generalize the nodelisting approach, introduced by Kennedy, for solving data flow problems. The efficiency of the pathlisting algorithm is due to the reuse of intermediate values and due to the fact that the cycles of a reducible flow graph can be ordered. Other advantages of the approach are also discussed.
AnyType: creating typography from anything, anywhere

AnyType is a creative application that lets people transform elements and objects in the physical world into novel digital typefaces. The portability, computational power and network capabilities of AnyType allow the user to take design into the wild so that they can create and share in the same moment in which they are inspired. With AnyType, we invite people to reinterpret their everyday environment and transform it into a set of possible creative inputs.
Decreased Neuronal and Increased Oligodendroglial Densities in Huntington's Disease Caudate Nucleus

Decreased density of neurons was found throughout the head of the caudate nucleus in Huntington's disease (HD), with the most severe neuronal loss early in the disease in the medial region. The density of reactive astrocytes is inversely proportional to the neuronal loss. In cases of mild Huntington's disease which had no identifiable abnormality on conventional neuropathologic evaluation (grade 0), there is a reduction in neuron density without an accompanying reactive astrocytosis. The pattern for decrease in neurons and accompanying astrocytosis suggests that the earliest changes occur in the most medial portion of the head of the caudate nucleus and subsequently sweep laterally across the caudate nucleus to the internal capsule. An increased density of oligodendrocytes is observed in the head of the caudate nucleus for the lower grades (0, 1 and 2). The decreased neuronal and increased oligodendroglial densities may be of significance in understanding the pathogenesis of HD. These altered densities, observed in the absence of reactive astrocytosis, suggest that these changes may not represent recent effects of disease, but rather that HD gene expression may influence brain cell densities from early in the life of the gene carrier.
The War on Terror, Crime and the Shadow Economy in the MENA Countries

This paper discusses the impact of the ‘global war on terror’ on crime and the shadow economy in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries. It focuses more specifically on the contradictions, dysfunctions and unintended consequences of that ‘new kind of war’. The first part discusses the ‘national security fundamentalism’ introduced in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and its uneasy interaction with ‘market fundamentalism’, the other major structuring principle of the global economy. The second part discusses the internationalization of ‘money laundering and terrorist financing’, a paradigm that grew out of a specifically American context and was uncritically transposed to an entirely different environment. The third part of the paper considers the impact of the war on terror on crime and the shadow economy in the MENA region. The central argument is that the war on terror has created ‘gated economic communities’ and broadened the scope of the shadow economy. Heavy-handed regulation, arbitrary and select...
Cognitive Processes in Visual Search

This approach to visual search introduces the concepts of organization, variable field of view and congratulation. It builds upon ideas developed in glimpse/detection lobe models of visual search. It suggests experiments that go beyond an assessment of variables that affect visual search performance, in the hope that these will eventually lead to a comprehensive cognitive theory of visual search.
The Many Faces of Chromatin Remodeling: SWItching beyond Transcription

Here, we have presented a handful of examples of chromatin remodeling in processes other than transcription. These studies are likely to be the proverbial “tip of the iceberg” of an exciting and important area of chromatin research. One of the key challenges for the future will be to devise chromatin remodeling assays that accurately reflect the specific functions of the factors in the cell. In this manner, the activities of different chromatin remodeling factors could be distinguished and characterized. It will also be a significant challenge to identify the biochemical and biological activities of yet-to-be-characterized proteins that are related to SWI2/SNF2. In this regard, genetic data will likely provide key insights. In addition, the purification of the native forms of the proteins will reveal whether or not they are present in a multisubunit complex (and the identification of other associated proteins, if they exist, would likely provide clues on the functions of the factors). From the mechanistic standpoint, it would be interesting to investigate whether chromatin remodeling factors function by the same basic mechanism in transcription, replication, repair, and recombination, or if different remodeling complexes possess unique activities that specifically facilitate each of the separate processes in the context of chromatin. Thus, in the future, these efforts should lead to the replacement of the somewhat vague activity that we currently call “chromatin remodeling” by more specific descriptive terms of the rich and diverse functions of these ATP-driven chromatin-reorganizing factors.
The effects of Penicillium waksmani growth on American foulbrood infected combs and adult honeybee activity

Penicillium waksmani was found capable of growing on the scales left by American foulbrood disease (AFB). The scale thus became loosened from the cell wall in a wax comb and was easier for the adult worker honeybees, Apis mellifera, to remove. Also, the bees were stimulated to remove the mold, and consequently, the loosened scales. This cell cleaning and removal of scale was further evidenced by a reduction in cell wall height and in the number of viable Bacillus larvae spores in the cells.
Energy coupling in liver mitochondria from dystrophic mice: differential sensitivity of oxidative phosphorylation and Ca2+ uptake to K+.

Abstract Studies were carried out to examine oxidative phosphorylation, cation uptake, and electrokinetic properties of liver mitochondria from genetically dystrophic mice in comparison with those from livers of littermate controls. While no differences were seen with respect to the rates of substrate oxidation, ADP/oxygen ratio, and RCI and cytochrome content, the mitochondria from the dystropic group were characterized by an elevate basal ATPase activity in the presence of NaCl. Additionally, these mitochondria were highly sensitive to high concentrations of exogenously added K+ that, besides stimulating state 4 respiration, caused uncoupling in the mitochondria. These mitochondria accumulated Ca2+ at a higher rate, and unlike the controls, Ca2+ uptake was not sensitive to exogenously added K+. It was also observed that the net negative charge on mitochondria decreased significantly in the dystrophic state. It is thus apparent that muscular dystrophy manifests itself also in terms of alteration in the membrane properties of liver mitochondria.
Low-order modeling of wind farm aerodynamics using leaky Rankine bodies

We develop and characterize a low-order model of the mean flow through an array of vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs), consisting of a uniform flow and pairs of potential sources and sinks to represent each VAWT. The source and sink in each pair are of unequal strength, thereby forming a “leaky Rankine body” (LRB). In contrast to a classical Rankine body, which forms closed streamlines around a bluff body in potential flow, the LRB streamlines have a qualitatively similar appearance to a separated bluff body wake; hence, the LRB concept is used presently to model the VAWT wake. The relative strengths of the source and sink are determined from first principles analysis of an actuator disk model of the VAWTs. The LRB model is compared with field measurements of various VAWT array configurations measured over a 3-yr campaign. It is found that the LRB model correctly predicts the ranking of array performances to within statistical certainty. Furthermore, by using the LRB model to predict the flow around two-turbine and three-turbine arrays, we show that there are two competing fluid dynamic mechanisms that contribute to the overall array performance: turbine blockage, which locally accelerates the flow; and turbine wake formation, which locally decelerates the flow as energy is extracted. A key advantage of the LRB model is that optimal turbine array configurations can be found with significantly less computational expense than higher fidelity numerical simulations of the flow and much more rapidly than in experiments.
Acute digitalis toxicity during turp

Water entrainment into opened prostate venous sinuses during transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) may lead to dilution of serum electrolytes. Dilutional hypokalemia may precipitate digitalis toxicity in the digitalized patient. Successful resuscitation of such a patient is reported.
A Utility Theoretic Examination of the Probability Ranking Principle in Information Retrieval.

We challenge the probability ranking principle in information retrieval from the perspectives of (1) signal detection-decision theory and (2) utility theory. If three conditions are not met by an IR system that is producing predictive probabilities of relevance, then inquirers may incur costs that are too great by selecting first those documents that the system predicts have the highest probabilities of relevance. These three conditions are that predictive probabilities are well calibrated (predictively ccurate); that they are reported with certainty; and that an inquirer independently assesses the relevance of all documents he or she retrieves. When these conditions are met,signal detection analysis with fixed decision-theoretic costs shows that the probability ranking principle is advisable.
Quantitative analysis of exogenous peptides in plasma using immobilized enzyme cleavage and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with negative ion chemical ionization

Abstract A method is presented for the analysis of peptides in plasma at picomole to femtomole levels. Peptides are isolated from plasma by solid-phase extraction, the peptide of interest is purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and selectively digested using immobilized trypsin or chymotrypsin to yield specific di- or tripeptides. These di- and tripeptides are esterified using heptafluorobutyric anhydride, alkylated with pentafluorobenzyl bromide, then quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with negative ion chemical ionization. This method has been evaluated for a model synthetic heptapeptide, using a deuterium labeled analog as an internal standard. The half-life of the heptapeptide in human plasma was found to be 2 min. Extraction efficiencies of a tritiated peptide of similar size to the heptapeptide, [3H]DSLET, from plasma using either C18 or strong cation-exchange columns were 85±3 and 70±2%, respectively. Quantitation of fragments from the heptapeptide indicated that the analysis was linear from 1–50 ng of the heptapeptide per ml of plasma. This method was subsequently employed for pharmacokinetic studies of the biologically active peptide Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu, where linearity was obtained from 50 to 1000 ng/ml in rat plasma. This method demonstrated negligible side reaction by-products due to autolysis, and has potential for extensive use given the wide availability of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
All-pole and all-zero models of human and cat head related transfer functions

Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) are generally measured at finite locations, so models are needed to synthesize HRTFs at all other locations and at finer resolution than the measured data to create complete virtual auditory displays (VADs). In this paper, real Cepstrum analysis has been used to represent minimum phase HRTFs in the time domain. Minimum-phase all-pole and all-zero models are presented to model DTFs, the directional components of HRTFs, with Redundant Wavelet Transform used for spectral smoothing. Modeling the direction dependent component of the HRTFs only and using suitable smoothing technique help modeling with low-order filters. Linear predictor coefficients technique was used to find all-pole models coefficients while the coefficients of the all-zero models were obtained by using a rectangular window to truncate the original impulse response of the measured DTFs. These models are applied and evaluated on human and cat HRTFs. Models orders were chosen according to error criteria comparison with previous published studies that were supported by human subjective tests and to their ability to preserve the main spectral features that provide the critical cues to sound source location. All-pole and all-zero models of orders as low as 25 were successful to model DTFs. Both models presented in this study showed promising tractable systematic movements of the model poles and zeros with changes in sound source direction that may be used to build future models.
Degradation of glycogen in tissues from generalized glycogen storage disease.

Abstract Glycogen in homogenates of tissues from children suffering from generalized glycogen storage disease can be completely degraded. Under favorable circumatances, the enzymes of the tissue itself are sufficient for complete glycogen degradation. It is therefore concluded that the defect which leads to this type of disease is not to be found in abnormalities of the structure of the stored glycogen nor in abnormalities of the enzymes which catalyze the degradation.
Habitat variability in the effects of predation and microclimate on mycophagous fly communities

Ant predation and soil moisture have direct and interactive effects on the abundance and community structure of mycophagous flies. Here, we replicated an experiment across three climatically different habitat types to describe how these small-scale processes (microclimate and predation) are affected by macroclimatic variability at a larger spatial scale (among habitats). Each week for eight weeks during the summer of 1993, 18 Agaricus bisporus mushrooms were placed on dry, moist, or wet potting soil, within predator access or predator exclusion treatments cups, at six sites in the piedmont of South Carolina, USA. Two sites were moist hemlock ravines and four sites were dry ridgetops. Mushrooms and soil were collected after one week and fly metamorphs were counted and sorted by species. We described the effects of ant predation, soil moisture, site and week on the frequency of host use, metamorph abundance, and Simpson's diversity. All three measures were affected by macroclimatic differences among sites and across weeks. At wet sites and during rainy weeks, more mushrooms were used, more metamorphs emerged, and the communities were more diverse than at dry sites or during dry periods. The small-scale effect of soil moisture was strongly affected by large-scale macroclimatic conditions. In dry ridgetop sites and in dry weeks, abundance and diversity increased with increasing soil moisture. In moist sites or during rainy weeks, however, soil moisture was unimportant and had no effect on abundance or community structure. Predation was unaffected by large-scale differences in climate, but was affected by small-scale differences in soil moisture; becoming more intense as soil moisture increased. This research demonstrates that the effect of climate on predation is a scale-dependent phenomenon, and that microclimatic effects are mediated by climatic conditions at larger spatial scales. We relate these findings to hierarchical theory and hypotheses concerning the relative effects of tolerances, competition, and predation under different levels of environmental stress.
HPV vaccines: now that they're here, how do we maximize their benefit?

Recently the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil (Merck) a vaccine targeted against HPV types 6 and 11 which account for 90% of genital warts and HPV types 16 and 18 which account for 70% of cervical cancer. Shortly after this approval the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice added Gardasil to its list of recommended vaccines. GlaxoSmithKline has a similar vaccine Cervarix targeted against HPV 16 and 18 in late Phase III with submission to the FDA anticipated some time next year. In Phase II and III trials both a monovalent vaccine against HPV 16 alone as well as Gardasil have been shown to be remarkably safe and effective and preliminary data for Cervarix suggest that it too will be highly effective. Now with the availability of highly effective vaccines for the prevention of the most common sexually transmitted infection as well as the leading cause of gynecological cancer in women worldwide the next step should be to ensure maximal coverage. (excerpt)
Design and Implementation of Extended Boolean and Comparison Operators for Time-Oriented Query Languages

Standard Boolean and comparison operators are based on the True/False logic and are therefore not quite suitable for handling events/activities defined over periods of time. In this paper, we generalize the Boolean and comparison operators by allowing their input and output operands to be sets of time intervals. Efficient algorithms for the implementation of the extended operators are presented. The generalized operators can be used to enhance the user interface of time-oriented query languages and allow application users to express their time-related qualifications more succinctly and elegantly. The paper is concluded by examples showing the flexibility of the extended operators in expressing time- related requirements
Self-supervised learning based on discriminative nonlinear features for image classification

For learning-based tasks such as image classification, the feature dimension is usually very high. The learning is afflicted by the curse of dimensionality as the search space grows exponentially with the dimension. Discriminant-EM (DEM) proposed a framework by applying self-supervised learning in a discriminating subspace. This paper extends the linear DEM to a nonlinear kernel algorithm, Kernel DEM (KDEM), and evaluates KDEM extensively on benchmark image databases and synthetic data. Various comparisons with other state-of-the-art learning techniques are investigated for several tasks of image classification. Extensive results show the effectiveness of our approach.
Human metabolism of the experimental cancer therapeutic agent d -limonene

d-Limonene has efficacy in preclinical models of breast cancer, causing > 80% of carcinomas to regress with little host toxicity. We performed a pilot study on healthy human volunteers to identify plasma metabolites of limonene and to assess the toxicity of supradietary quantities of d-limonene. Seven subjects ingested 100 mg/kg limonene in a custard. Blood was drawn at 0 and 24 h for chemistry-panel analysis and at 0, 4, and 24 h for limonene-metabolite analysis. On-line capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis indicated that at least five compounds were present at 4 h that were not present at time zero. Two major peaks were identified as the rat limonene metabolites dihydroperillic acid and perillic acid, and two minor peaks were found to be the respective methyl esters of these acids. A third major peak was identified as limonene-1,2-diol. Limonene was a minor component. At a dose of 100 mg/kg, limonene caused no gradable toxicity. Limonene is metabolized by humans and rats in a similar manner. These observations and the high therapeutic ratio of limonene in the chemotherapy of rodent cancers suggest that limonene may be an efficacious chemotherapeutic agent for human malignancies.
The Financial Crisis of 2008-2009: Capitalism Didn't Fail, but the Metaphors Got a "C"

This is a paper for the Minnesota Law Review's October 15, 2010 symposium, "Government Ethics and Bailouts: Past, Present, and Future." The panel topic is "The Past: Did Capitalism Fail?" The paper addresses not the merits and demerits of modern global financial systems, but instead how those of us who are not financial professionals might make sense of them, particularly when they are in catastrophic mode. The thesis is that the question itself reveals the extent to which the financial crisis has not been so much about whether an economic system succeeds or fails, but the meaning human beings draw from natural and man-made catastrophes. When the world discombobulates our sense of order, our expectations of cause-and-effect, we seem either (a) to question our most fundamental assumptions about science, progress, and social order, or (b) to look for someone to blame. The paper considers whether the verb "fail" in the question is transitive or intransitive. Is the question whether capitalism failed intransitively, as in "died," or is whether capitalism failed transitively, as in "flunked the test"? I argue that the question itself, in syntax and meaning, reveals our ambivalent relationship with telos, the extent to which order and regularity in nature and human affairs reflect purposes or ends. Relying on Steven Pinker's insights about verb usage, I tie the ambivalent syntax of the question to its equivalent ambivalent meaning in connection with the financial crisis itself. In the frame of the atelic (or intransitive) metaphor, capitalism failed in the sense of getting sick or dying, and the real problem was the perception that the professionals did not know how to cure the patient. In the frame of the telic (or transitive) metaphor, a well-engineered modern society hums along smoothly, operated and regulated by well-trained professionals. In that case, either the machine or its operators failed our expectations. I conclude by suggesting that if we understand the source of the metaphoric frames themselves, we may not solve the financial crisis, but we may be able to calm the troubled waters of our fundamental assumptions and our concomitant desire to find human or divine villains to blame.
Making transport protocols fast

An international group of researchers, led by Dr. G. Chesson at Silicon Graphics Inc., has developed a new transport+network protocol for modern distributed computing systems. Extant protocols (e.g. TCP, TP4, Delta-t, NETBLT, GAM-T-103, VMTP, URP) were first examined to understand their solutions to common data transfer problems. Then, a new protocol called XTP (Xpress Transfer Protocol) was developed which both reuses ideas known to be good and breaks new ground in the definition and delivery of communications services. XTP is specifically designed for implementation in hardware as the Protocol Engine which will connect to a commercial FDDI chipset. The author reports first on the philosophy underlying XTP's design, and then on his experiences in producing a software implementation. >
Potentiation by angiotensin II of the vasopressin response to an increasing plasma osmolality.

An investigation was made of the effect of angiotensin II on the release of ADH in response to an osmotic stimulus. Dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital were hydrated initially by the infusion of 4% glucose iv, in order to bring the plasma concentrations of ADH and renin to low levels. Subsequent infusion of 2.5M NaCl iv, 1.38 ml/kg per min, resulted in a progressive increase in the plasma ADH concentration in response to the increasing plasma osmolality. The relationship between the plasma ADH concentration and plasma osmolality appeared to be rectilinear over the range studied. When the hypertonic saline infusion was accompanied by an infusion of angiotensin II, 10 ng/kg per min, into a common carotid artery, the increase in the plasma ADH concentration was significantly greater. Infusion of angiotensin II alone in the dose tested and under the reported experimental conditions was without a significant effect on the plasma ADH level. It is concluded that angiotensin II can potentiate the release of ADH ...
Anti-JC Virus (JCV) Antibody Index Differentiates Risk of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) in Natalizumab-Treated Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Patients with No Prior Immunosuppressant (IS) Use: An Updated Analysis (P4.031)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations of anti-JCV antibody index with PML risk in natalizumab-treated MS patients without prior IS use (no-IS patients), using a recent data set. BACKGROUND: PML risk factors include the presence of anti-JCV antibodies, prior IS use, and duration of natalizumab treatment, especially beyond 2 years. In previous analyses of 71 natalizumab-treated PML patients and 2522 non-PML patients, anti-JCV antibody index differentiated PML risk in anti-JCV antibody positive no-IS patients. DESIGN/METHODS: Analyses involved data from clinical studies and postmarketing sources as of March 2014. Predictive probabilities of having an anti-JCV antibody index above/below a range of thresholds were calculated and used to update PML risk estimates for no-IS patients. RESULTS: Data were available for 101 natalizumab-treated PML patients with serum/plasma samples collected 蠅6 months prior to PML diagnosis and 8112 non-PML anti-JCV antibody-positive patients, including 68 and 6745 no-IS patients, respectively. Anti-JCV antibody index was significantly higher in the 68 PML no-IS patients than in the 6745 non-PML no-IS patients (P 1.5, PML risk was approximately 1.2 per 1000 patients during the first 2 years of natalizumab treatment, 8.8 per 1000 patients from month 25 to 48, and 10.1 per 1000 patients from month 49 to 72. Longitudinal index data will also be presented. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous findings, this updated analysis suggests the anti-JCV antibody index may differentiate PML risk in anti-JCV antibody positive no prior IS patients. Study Supported by: Biogen Idec Disclosure: Dr. Kuesters has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Plavina has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Lee has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Campagnolo has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Richman has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Belachew has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Subramanyam has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee.
The Universal Enveloping Algebra

The universal enveloping algebra of a Lie algebra is the analogue of the usual group algebra of a group. It has the analogous function of exhibiting the category of Lie algebra modules as a category of modules for an associative algebra. This becomes more than an analogy when the universal enveloping algebra is viewed with its full Hopf algebra structure. By dualization, one obtains a commutative Hopf algebra which, in the case where the Lie algebra is that of an irreducible algebraic group over a field of characteristic 0, contains the algebra of polynomial functions of that group as a sub Hopf algebra in a natural fashion. This theme is developed in Section 3.
The Experience of Dying An Ethnographic Nursing Home Study

Purpose This article reviews the literature on "The Experience of Dying" and presents data from a larger, ongoing study of an ethnography of dying in nursing homes. The purpose of the ethnographic study was to investigate the process of providing end-of-life care to residents who were dying in nursing homes. Design and methods Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and event analysis were used to obtain data in three nursing facilities. Results The review of the literature disclosed that research on the experience of dying is limited; most of the studies have been conducted in acute care hospitals among people who were dying of cancer. The ethnographic study found that lack of attention to cultural needs, cognitive status, inadequate staffing, and inappropriate and inadequate communication between health care providers and nursing home residents and their families were the predominant factors that influenced the experience of dying. Implications Future research is needed on: The experience of dying for patients with dementia, for people in a comatose state, and for non-English speaking patients; symptom management; health care provider/patient-family interaction; the burden of caregiving for families; and the consequences of the constraints within our health care system for people who are dying in various settings.
Preadolescent Girls' and Boys' Virtual MUD Play

Same and opposite-sex pairs of preadolescents interacted twice in a MUD, a virtual domain where they created characters known as avatars and socially interacted with one another. Boys interacted primarily through rapid scene shifts and playful exchanges; girls interacted with one another through written dialogue. Opposite-sex pairs lagged behind same-sex pairs in playful exchanges in part because the forms they used to interact with one another were somewhat incompatible with playful exchanges. Gender bending, defined as children creating an avatar of a different sex than one's own, occurred about 13% of the time. Even so, children still acted much the same way as they did when presenting themselves as an avatar of their own sex. The results suggest that MUDs are a useful virtual space for researchers to examine classic developmental questions about sex differences in play styles, social interaction patterns, identity expression, and modes of thought. At an applied level, MUDs can provide a virtual play space for preadolescent children to discover who they are, as well as a 21st century place to interact with their friends.
An Application of a Bayesian Approach in Diagnostic Testing Problems in the Absence of a Gold Standard

A number of methods have been proposed to estimate the parameters of diagnostic tests in the absence of a perfect gold standard. However, these approaches require at least three diagnostic tests to estimate the parameters and most of these methods are inapplicable in point estimation problems involving nonidentifiable parameters. In this article, we describe a method to estimate the properties of various tests for Chlamydia trachomatis. A general approach has been presented to select a range of suitable prior distributions for the diagnostic testing situation required by the Bayesian approach, and the results from this method are compared with those obtained from other methods in context to the Chlamydia example. The effects of different classes of prior distribution such as skeptical, optimistic, and clinical priors on the estimates of the parameters are demonstrated.
Changing Output Quality for Thermal Management

A growing number of embedded computing systems are used outside of environmentally controlled locations. In locations such as remote parts of deserts, deep ocean floors, and outer space, it is not only difficult to predict environmental effects on a system, they also allow very limited accessibility once a system is deployed. Therefore, it is often necessary for system parameters to be over provisioned to guarantee correct functionality under worst case environmental conditions. This often leads to an end system that is suboptimal for typical conditions.
Temporal Link Signature Measurements for Location Distinction

We investigate location distinction, the ability of a receiver to determine when a transmitter has changed location, which has application for energy conservation in wireless sensor networks, for physical security of radio-tagged objects, and for wireless network security in detection of replication attacks. In this paper, we investigate using a measured temporal link signature to uniquely identify the link between a transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX). When the TX changes location, or if an attacker at a different location assumes the identity of the TX, the proposed location distinction algorithm reliably detects the change in the physical channel. This detection can be performed at a single RX or collaboratively by multiple receivers. We use 9,000 link signatures recorded at different locations and over time to demonstrate that our method significantly increases the detection rate and reduces the false alarm rate, in comparison to existing methods. We present a procedure to estimate the mutual information in link and link signature using the Edgeworth approximation. For the measured data set, we show that approximately 66 bits of link information is contained in each measured link signature.
Omnidirectional Vest-Mounted Body-Worn Antenna System for UHF Operation

We present an omnidirectional UHF body-worn antenna specifically designed for vests worn by law enforcement agencies. Typically, body-worn antennas suffer from pattern nulling that decreases communication reliability. The proposed antenna system consists of a compact diversity module (79 × 41 × 28 mm3) and four antennas mounted on a typical body-worn vest to achieve an omnidirectional pattern. Each antenna element is carefully designed for body-worn mounting onto fitted vests and can operate at UHF frequencies with reasonable on-body gain. Radiation patterns are calculated and validated via measurements. Performance is also evaluated in an indoor environment for several realistic human activities. Comparison to a simple whip monopole antenna is also provided.
Finite Element Modeling Of Grain Aspect Ratio And Strain Energy Density In A Textured Copper Thin Film

We have modeled the effects of grain aspect ratio on strain energy density in (100)-oriented grains in a (111)-textured Cu film on a Si substrate. Minimization of surface energy, interface energy, and strain energy density (SED) drives preferential growth of grains of certain crystallographic orientations in thin films. Under conditions in which the SED driving force exceeds the surface- and interface-energy driving forces, Cu films develop abnormally large (100) oriented grains during annealing. In the elastic regime the SED differences between the (100) grains and the film average arise from elastic anisotropy. Previous analyses indicate that several factors (e.g. elimination of grain boundaries during grain growth) may alter the magnitude of the SED driving force. We demonstrate, using finite element modeling of a single columnar (100) grain in a (111) film, that changes in grain aspect ratio can significantly affect the SED driving force. A minimum SED driving force is found for (100) Cu grains with diameters on the order of the film thickness. In the absence of other stagnation mechanisms, such behavior could cause small grains to grow abnormally and then stagnate while large grains continue to grow. This would lead to a bimodal grain size distribution in the (100) grains preferred by the SED minimization.
Deprived of a Good Stroke Outcome

See related article, p 800. Although the decline in poststroke mortality is a cause for celebration,1 we must remain mindful that substantial poststroke disability is considered a worse outcome than death for many people.2 Thus, an increased focus on stroke survivors, in particular, their cognitive and physical function, is needed. Stroke survivors face many of the same challenges as cancer survivors, and perhaps stroke survivorship could be modeled after the ongoing extensive survivorship care and research done by our oncology colleagues.3 In this issue of Stroke , Chen et al4 used 16 years of data from the South London Stroke registry to explore the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and poststroke disability. In this well-done article, the authors found that SES was associated with 90-day and 3-year functional impairment as measured by the Barthel Index. When compared with the least deprived group of stroke survivors, the most deprived group of stroke survivors had over a 75% increase …
Evaluating moral reasoning in nursing education

Evidence-based practice suggests the best approach to improving professionalism in practice is ethics curricula. However, recent research has demonstrated that millennium graduates do not advocate for patients or assert themselves during moral conflicts. The aim of this article is the exploration of evaluation techniques to evaluate one measurable outcome of ethics curricula: moral reasoning. A review of literature, published between 1995 and 2013, demonstrated that the moral orientations of care and justice as conceptualized by Gilligan and Kohlberg are utilized by nursing students to solve ethical dilemmas. Data obtained by means of reflective journaling, Ethics of Care Interview (ECI) and Defining Issues Test (DIT), would objectively measure the interrelated pathways of care-based and justice-based moral reasoning. In conclusion, educators have an ethical responsibility to foster students' ability to exercise sound clinical judgment, and support their professional development. It is recommended that educators design authentic assessments to demonstrate student's improvement of moral reasoning.
Experimentally Observed Instability of a Laminar Ekman Flow in a Rotating Basin

In studying the axi-symmetric flow induced by source-sink distributions in a rotating cylindrical basin in the absence of radial barriers, a highly organized pattern of instability has been observed in the laminar Ekman layer along the bottom of the basin. The instability manifests itself in the form of almost perfectly concentric cylindrical sheets or curtains of water which rise as sharply defined vertical jets from the Ekman layer and penetrate the entire depth of fluid. A less sharply defined downward motion between the curtains completes the circulation celis thus developed. At some maximum critical radius, the curtains usually disappear, and the flow at larger radii is a stable, laminar Ekman flow. Quantitative observations of ring spacing and critical radius are reported for experiments in which angular velocity, flow rate, viscosity and total depth of water were varied over experimentally available ranges.
Robust Nonlinear Control Design for a Hypersonic Aircraft Using Sum–of–Squares Method

In recent years, Sum–Of–Squares (SOS) method has attracted increasing interest as a new approach for stability analysis and controller design of nonlinear dynamic systems. This paper utilizes SOS method to design a robust nonlinear controller for longitudinal dynamics of a hypersonic aircraft model. Specifically, the searching of the nonlinear robust controller is reformulated as a robust SOS/robust LMI problem, and then solved via a stochastic iterative algorithm. As the simulation results show, the designed controller is capable of stabilizing the aircraft and following pilot commands in presence of parametric uncertainties in the aircraft model.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Logrolling Gets Logrolled: Same Sex Marriage, Direct Democracy, and the Single Subject Rule

Single subject rules limit bills, referendums, and initiatives to one subject. Because courts first addressed the single subject rule in the legislative context before applying it to direct democracy, they tended to adopt the test for initiatives and referendums directly from their legislative analogues. The analogy between representative and direct legislation is flawed. This article uses the conflict over same sex marriage to explain how structural differences between direct and representative democracy alter the effect of strict enforcement of the single subject rule. Part I describes the Georgia same sex marriage amendment and demonstrates how the single subject rule has failed to achieve its historic purposes of preventing logrolling and reducing voter confusion. Georgia's experience will facilitate this article's examination of the single subject rule by serving as a recurring example of how logrolling and voter confusion operate in direct democracy. Part II reviews the historical development and purpose of both single subject rules and direct democracy. The fact that states adopted single subject rules prior to the spread of direct democracy helps to explain why courts applied their tests for legislative compliance with the single subject rule to initiatives and referenda. Part III analyzes the limitations of the analogy between representative and direct democracy. First, it employs public choice theory to demonstrate that while logrolling produces a balance of benefits and costs in the legislature, logrolling predominantly incurs costs in direct democracy. Second, this Part examines the heightened possibility of voter confusion in plebiscites. Third, it considers how structural differences between representative and direct democracy alter the role of the single subject rule. Each inquiry suggests that an effective test for compliance with the single subject rule in the legislature may prove insufficient for direct democracy. Part IV considers the effectiveness of the predominant test for compliance with the single subject rule - the reasonable germaneness test - which imposes a lax requirement of relatedness on drafters of legislation. It finds that the reasonable germaneness test performs well in the legislative context, but that direct democracy requires a stricter test more faithful to the historical goals of the single subject rule.