cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Iodine-131-labeled meta-iodobenzylguanidine therapy of children with neuroblastoma: program planning and initial experience.

Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma have a poor prognosis, especially in cases of recurrent or relapsed disease. Iodine-131–labeled meta-iodobenzylguanidine ( 131 I-MIBG) can be an effective and relatively well-tolerated agent for the treatment of refractory neuroblastoma. Establishing an MIBG therapy program requires a great deal of planning, availability of hospital resources, and the commitment of individuals with training and expertise in multiple disciplines. Providing 131 I-MIBG therapy requires physical facilities and procedures that permit patient care in compliance with the standards for occupational and community exposure to radiation. Establishment of a successful 131 I-MIBG therapy program also requires a detailed operational plan and appropriate education for caregivers, parents, and patients.
Complications of Hartmann takedown in a decade of preferred primary anastomosis

KEYWORDS: Diverticulitis; Surgery; Colostomy; Anastomosis Abstract BACKGROUND: Primary anastomosis with or without proximal diversion is increasingly applied to patients requiring urgent colectomy for complicated disease of the left colon. As such, the Hartmann procedure is now often restricted to patients who are unstable or otherwise poor candidates for primary anastomosis. We sought to define the complication rate of Hartmann takedown in a contemporary set- ting. METHODS: Consecutive adult patients undergoing colostomy takedown with colorectal anastomosis at an academic teaching hospital from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2010, were included in the study. Complications were captured prospectively by a single trained nurse practitioner. Demographics, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, interval between Hart- mann procedure and subsequent takedown, surgical indication, duration of surgery, surgeonvolume and specialty, length of stay, and complications were recorded. RESULTS: One hundred three patients underwent Hartmann reversal by 16 different surgeons; 7 of these surgeons performed 4 or fewer procedures during the study period. During the same time period, 334 patients underwent a Hartmann procedure at our institution. Seventy-seven of 104 patients (74%) had their index resection for complicated diverticulitis; an anastomotic leak was the second most com- mon indication. The median age was 61 years (range 31 to 84 years), and the interval from Hartmann procedure to reversal ranged from 87 to 1,489 days. Only 8 patients (7.7%) had an ASA of 1. Thirty patients (29.1%) had postoperative complications, and 12 (11%) had 2 or more complications. There were 2 deaths and 4 anastomotic leaks, and 7 patients had inadvertent enterotomies. Only ASA status predicted postoperative complications (P 5 .01). CONCLUSIONS: Hartmann takedown is a morbid operation with a substantial risk of inadvertent en- terotomy and serious complications. Excluding cases referred from elsewhere, there were more than 5-fold the number of Hartmann procedures than takedowns performed during the study period. This suggests that Hartmann procedures are typically restricted to patients who are also poor candidates for takedown and that their colostomy is likely to be permanent.
An operational semantics of Java 2 access control

Java 2 Security enhanced with the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) provide sophisticated access control features via a user-configurable authorization policy. Fine-grained access control, code-based as well as user-based authorization, and implicit access rights allow the implementation of real-world policies, but of the cost of increased complexity. We provide a formal specification of the Java 2 and JAAS access control model that helps remove ambiguities of the informal definitions. It defines Java 2 access control in terms of an abstract machine, whose behavior is determined by a small set of transition rules. We illustrate the power of Java 2 access control by showing how commonly encountered authorization requirements can be implemented in Java 2.
The Meta-Analysis of Clinical Judgment Project: Effects of Experience on Judgment Accuracy

Clinical and educational experience is one of the most commonly studied variables in clinical judgment research. Contrary to clinicians' perceptions, clinical judgment researchers have generally concluded that accuracy does not improve with increased education, training, or clinical experience. In this meta-analysis, the authors synthesized results from 75 clinical judgment studies where the experience of 4,607 clinicians was assessed in relation to the accuracy of their judgments about mental health (e.g., diagnosis, prognosis, treatment) and psychological issues (e.g., vocational, personality). The authors found a small but reliable effect, d = .12, showing that experience, whether educational or clinical, is positively associated with judgment accuracy. This small effect was robust across several tested moderator models, indicating experienced counselors and clinicians acquire, in general, almost a 13% increase in their decision-making accuracy, regardless of other factors. Results are discussed in lig...
Somatic Surveillance: Corporeal Control through Information Networks

Somatic surveillance is the increasingly invasive technological monitoring of and intervention into body functions. Within this type of surveillance regime, bodies are recast as nodes on vast information networks, enabling corporeal control through remote network commands, automated responses, or self -management practices. In this paper, we investigate three developments in somatic surveillance: nanotechnology systems for soldiers on the battlefield, commercial body-monitoring systems for health purposes, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) implants for identification of hospital patients. The argument is that in present and projected forms, somatic surveillance systems abstract bodies and physiological systems from social contexts, facilitating hyper-individualized control and the commodification of life functions.
Technical support for a slip-resistance standard

In the spring of 1975, ASTM Subcommittee F15.03.01 on Specifications and Test Methods for Slip Resistance of Bathing Facilities, requested technical assistance from the Building Safety Section (BSS) of the National Bureauof Standards (NBS) in developing a performance test for establishing quantitatively an acceptable level of slip resistance for bathtubs and shower bases. Close cooperation between the subcommittee members and the BSS staff, coupled with financial support from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), resulted in the development of a performance test which approximates the conditions that are likely to occur on bathtub or shower base surfaces, is reliable and repeatable, and discriminates adequately between currently available bathtub and shower base materials.
Designing Bessel filters based on coupled-resonator optical waveguides for dispersion-free slow light

We have developed a formalism for designing Bessel filters based on coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs). The CROWs feature maximally flat group delay and can be realized on different types of resonators.
Beyond Orientalist, Colonial and Nationalist Models: a critical mapping of Maghribi studies (1951–2000)

It should be known that the differences of conditions among people are the result of different ways in which they make their living. Ibn Khaldun, a 14th century North African historian It is now po...
The ultrastructure of rat type II pneumocytes: effects of age, sex, and strain.

The morphology of type II pneumocytes was investigated in Fischer 344 and Sprague-Dawley rats to determine whether differences in age, sex, and/or genetic strain influence type II cell ultrastructure. In Fischer 344 rats the type II pneumocytes increased in size with age due to an increase in the cytoplasmic component of the cell. Although mitochondrial volume density increased with age no significant changes in lamellar body volume density or lamellar body size were detected. No ultrastructural differences were observed between the type II cells in 6-week-old male and female Fischer 344 rats. However, substantial ultrastructural differences were found to exist among type II cells from the Fischer and Sprague–-Dawley strains. Lamellar body volume density was 60% greater, P < 0.001, in the Fischer rats due to the larger size of individual lamellar bodies. While mitochondrial volume density was also 22% greater in the Fischer rats, P < 0.01, type II cell size was similar in the two strains. These results in...
Human detection using depth information by Kinect

Conventional human detection is mostly done in images taken by visible-light cameras. These methods imitate the detection process that human use. They use features based on gradients, such as histograms of oriented gradients (HOG), or extract interest points in the image, such as scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT), etc. In this paper, we present a novel human detection method using depth information taken by the Kinect for Xbox 360. We propose a model based approach, which detects humans using a 2-D head contour model and a 3-D head surface model. We propose a segmentation scheme to segment the human from his/her surroundings and extract the whole contours of the figure based on our detection point. We also explore the tracking algorithm based on our detection result. The methods are tested on our database taken by the Kinect in our lab and present superior results.
Stochastic Optimization Model and O(N2) Solution Algorithm for Highway Investment Decision Making under Budget Uncertainty

One of the key tasks in highway investment decision making is to conduct project selection. The existing optimization models for project selection concerning an entire highway system do not address the issue of budget uncertainty, limiting their ability to produce truly optimal results. This paper presents a stochastic optimization model that explicitly addresses budget uncertainty in highway investment decision making. The model is formulated as the stochastic multichoice multidimensional Knapsack problem with Ω -stage budget recourses that facilitates the selection of a subset of candidate highway projects, proposed to address the needs of a highway system across a multiyear project selection and programming period, in the most cost-effective manner. An efficient solution algorithm with the computational complexity of O ( N2 ) is developed for the proposed model. A computational study is performed to compare the investment decision outcomes by applying the proposed model with and without budget uncertai...
Interchange instability in railgun arcs.

Plasma arcs used to accelerate projectiles in railguns are examined to determine their susceptibility to the Rayleigh-Taylor interchange instability. The model used is similar to that developed by Tsai, Liskow, and Wilcox, although a number of modifications are made and discussed. Numerical solutions of the appropriate eigenvalue problem suggest that the plasma is unstable for any nonzero acceleration of the projectile. Furthermore, for the dispersion curves calculated the growth rates of the short-wavelength modes are accurately approximated by the well-known expression \ensuremath{\omega}= \ensuremath{\surd}${\mathrm{ka}}_{0}$ , where k is the wave number of the perturbation and ${a}_{0}$ is the acceleration. Growth rates calculated for typical experimental parameters indicate that the instability should be seen in experiments of interest. Some effort to reconcile the results with existing experimental data is made but the need for more work, both theoretical and experimental, is indicated.
A distributed reputation approach to cooperative Internet routing protection

The security of the Internet's interdomain routing system hinges on whether autonomous systems (ASes) can trust the information they receive from each other via the border gateway protocol (BGP). Frequently, this trust has been misguided, resulting in wide-spread outages and significant concerns about future attacks. Despite the seriousness of these problems, proposals for a more secure version of BGP have been stymied by serious impediments to practical deployment. Instead, we argue that the existing trust relationships between network operators (and the institutions they represent) are a powerful force for improving the security of BGP, without changing the underlying routing protocol. Our approach leverages ideas from online reputation systems to allow ASes to form a peer-to-peer overlay that integrates results from local network-management tools for detecting attacks and configuration errors. The proposed architecture is incrementally deployable, protects against shilling attacks, and deters malicious operator behavior.
Thermoreflectance CCD imaging of self heating in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility power transistors at high drain voltage

Thermoreflectance CCD imaging with sub-micron spatial resolution was used to characterize self heating nonuniformity in two finger AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility power transistors at equivalent power (1.27 W) for different combinations of drain and gate voltage. Thermoreflectance images of device surface temperature revealed formation and redistribution of local hotspots as transistor drain voltage increased from V D =10.7 V to 50 V. For all bias points, heating between the two fingers was not fully uniform. At high drain voltage, heating migrated toward the drain side of the channel and increased thermal nonuniformity was observed along symmetric drain and source fingers. Direct microthermocouple measurements confirmed the spatial temperature nonuniformity that was observed in thermoreflectance images. Results demonstrated the usefulness of fast thermoreflectance imaging to inspect self heating in GaN thin film power devices with high with high spatial resolution.
Scheduling in packet radio networks-a new approach

In the broadcast schedule construction problem in a radio network, a frame of minimum length provides every transceiver an opportunity for transmission after least amount delay. However, such a frame does not necessarily maximize the network throughput. The network throughput can be increased by choosing a frame of suboptimal length, although in this situation the throughput of some of the individual transceivers might decrease. We present a schedule construction scheme that takes into account the interests of the network as well as the individual transceivers and finds a balance between the two conflicting interests. The objective of this scheme is to maximize the network throughput without a significant adverse impact on the performance of individual transceivers. This scheme guarantees a network throughput that is at least as large as in the traditional scheduling schemes using the minimum length frame.
Effect of Chlorinated Wash Water on Vibrio cholerae in Oyster Meats

Live oysters exposed to seawater artificially contaminated with Vibrio cholerue, El Tor, Inaba, in a closed system for 18 hr were harvested, shucked, sampled and placed into blower tanks containing 25 and 50 ppm chlorine for 5- and 10-min intervals in each tank. Regardless of chlorine concentrations encountered during the blowing process, V. cholerae MPNs of oyster meats sampled after the prescribed contact period were essentially equivalent to those of oysters sampled at the end of the 18-hr exposure period. Chlorination of the water used in blower tanks did not eliminate V. cholerae, El Tor, Inaba, organisms from oyster meats.
Edge-based traffic engineering for OSPF networks

This paper proposes and evaluates a novel, edge-based approach, which we call the k-set Traffic Engineering (TE) method, to perform traffic engineering in OSPF networks by partitioning traffic into uneven k-traffic sets. The traffic partitioning and splitting takes place only at network edges, leaving the core simple. We theoretically prove that if k is large enough, the k-set TE method achieves the general optimal traffic engineering where full-mesh overlaying and arbitrary traffic splitting, such as in MPLS, have to be used. We give an upper bound of the smallest k that achieves such a general optimum. In addition, we provide a constant worst case performance bound if k is smaller than the optimal k. Finding the optimal traffic splitting and routing for a given k is NP-hard. Therefore, we present a heuristic algorithm to handle the problem. The performance of the k-set TE method together with the proposed heuristic algorithm is evaluated by simulation. The results confirm that a fairly small k (2 or 4) can achieve good near-optimal traffic engineering. Overall, the k-set TE method provides a simple and efficient solution to achieve load balancing in OSPF networks. It follows the ''smart edge, simple core'' design rule of the Internet. It is also able to keep ''the same path for the same flow,'' which is desirable and beneficial to TCP applications.
Fast-Fourier-domain delay line for in vivo optical coherence tomography with a polygonal scanner

We demonstrate in vivo optical coherence tomography using a Fourier-domain optical delay line constructed with a commercially available polygonal scanner. The 20-faceted polygonal mirror array, capable of scanning at rates up to 15 kHz, is implemented at 4 kHz to acquire 500 500 pixel images at 8 framess with a signal-to-noise ratio of 80 dB. Features of this delay line include scalability to high repetition rates, 98.6% linearity in group delay over 2 mm, and bandwidth support exceeding 150 nm. Images are obtained in an animal model Xenopus laevis, and limitations due to phase-delay nonlinearity and polygon asymmetry are discussed. © 2003 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 110.4500, 120.3180, 120.5800, 170.4500.
Attention-Experience Disparities and the Influence of Idea Visibility on Idea Integration in Electronic Brainstorming: A Computational Model

Despite the pervasive use of electronic media for group brainstorming, research and practice show that electronic brainstorming systems (EBSs) may have created an illusion of productivity as they seem to offer limited benefits in terms of quantity or quality of the ideas generated by individuals during brainstorming. An underpinning thesis for losses during electronic brainstorming is associated with the lack of idea integration and use. This paper introduces and computationally examines a model of idea integration that formulates the joint influence of (1) idea visibility as an electronic media feature, (2) attention to partners' ideas as a cognitive attribute, and (3) individual's experience with idea integration as a decision-making factor on idea integration in EBS. Idea visibility and attention influence the opportunity for idea integration and individual's experience influences motivation for performing idea integration. From the best of our knowledge, this study is the first that examines the interacting effects of the above three factors on idea integration, and the model provides a theoretical basis for future empirical research. Results from our computational experiments suggest that the influence of idea visibility cannot be expressed in terms of simple effects of either attention or experience. Rather, the effect of visibility on idea integration is moderated by partners' attention-experience disparities.
Self-tuning PI rate controller for AQM router supporting best-effort traffic

In this paper, we propose a self-tuning PI (proportional-integral) rate controller for an AQM (active queue management) router that would support best-effort traffic in the Internet. Our design employs classical control theory that allows the users to achieve good stability robustness of AQM control system by assigning a proper interval of gain and phase margins. Our self-tuning PI controller will self-tune only when the gain margin or phase margin drifts outside the specified interval. Every controlled source node always sends the data to the network at the maximum allowed transmission rate, thus maximizing the utilization of network resources. The self-tuning PI controller located in the router can calculate the advertised transmission rate for source nodes based on the instantaneous queue length of the buffer. Our simulations demonstrate good stability robustness of AQM control system with our self-tuning PI controller.
The Geometric Model of Crystal Growth — An Overview

The geometric model is a phenomenological model of growing dendritic crystals. It is too simple to be accurate physically, but it has played an important role in identifying some of the delicate mathematical issues in the problem. The purpose of this overview is to explain: (a) what the model is; (b) how to interpret its results physically; and (c) its significance in a workshop on Asymptotics Beyond All Orders.
The supplementary effect of QRS changes on the inverse relationship between ST changes and salvage: testing the Sclarovsky/Birnbaum clinical method in the basic Jennings/Reimer model.

Abstract Acute complete occlusion of a major epicardial coronary artery typically causes sufficient ischemia in the dependent myocardial cells to produce the electrocardiogram change called “epicardial injury”. There is sufficient shift of the ST baseline toward, and of the TP/PR baseline away from the involved region to provide the clinical diagnosis. Relationships between the quantities of this baseline shift and etiologic ischemia have previously been shown to provide clinical value. However, it has now become apparent that potentially reversible ischemia can be so severe, in the absence of protection from collaterals and/or ischemia preconditioning, that it alters myocardial conduction and the resultant QRS complexes. This report presents highlights from two studies in progress to determine the relative abilities of ST segment and QRS changes during coronary occlusion to predict salvage following reperfusion; and the relative effects of collaterals and ischemia preconditioning to produce each of these electrocardiogram changes.
Finite Element Shallow Lake Circulation Analysis

A finite element formulation is given for the analysis of the wind-driven circulation of homogeneous variable-depth shallow lakes. The method of weighted residuals is used to transform the governing differential equation to an integral form which in turn is approximated by linear stream function fields in triangular elements. Numerical results are presented for a rectangular basin and for Lake Ontario.
ICT interventions impacting big societal challenges: an electronic healthcare approach to homelessness

This paper investigates how electronic healthcare technology can address a pervasive societal problem: homelessness. Mental illness, a leading cause of homelessness, can be treated successfully with proper medication. Few psychiatric patients, however, adhere to the medication regimen prescribed by their doctors. We employ a systems thinking approach to model the multi-dimensional decision system by which patients choose whether or not to take medication. We identify that interventions raising patients' self-efficacy will significantly improve medication adherence among mentally ill patients and that it can translate into a reduction of homelessness. This paper makes two key research contributions: it calls attention to the study of medication adherence within electronic healthcare research and it proposes a systems dynamics model that highlights how, when addressing complex societal challenges, affordances during one time period can become constraints in another.
Hypersplenism in the uremic hemodialyzed patient: pathology and proposed pathophysiologic mechanisms.

Fourteen of 172 uremic chronically hemodialyzed patients developed pancytopenia and significant increases in transfusion requirements which were corrected by splenectomy. Histologic examination of the spleens showed a striking degree of lymphoid hyperplasia not seen in spleens from two control groups. Bone marrows in the study group were hypocellular before splenectomy and did not differ in cellularity after surgery, or when compared with a control group. There was a significant drop in serum IgM levels after splenectomy. Chronic non-negated antigenic stimulation manifested by the high incidence of chronic, persistently HAA(+) hepatitis is probably responsible for the heightened splenic lymphoid reactivity. These patients are marginally able to maintain circulating blood levels, and we postulate that a slightly increased degree of splenic sequestration resulting from the heightened abnormal lymphoid activity produces a hypersplenic syndrome by altering the delicate hematologic balance. Splenectomy decreases peripheral blood cell destruction not only by removing a site of relatively normal sequestration, but also by removing a major site of immunoglobulin production.
Addressing Suspected Labor Trafficking in the Office.

An estimated 18,000 persons are trafficked into the United States for labor each year. They most commonly originate from Latin America (31%), Southeast Asia (26%), and South Asia (13%), and 71% of persons enter on lawful visas. Health care may be one of the few fields in which professionals are likely to interact with persons who are enslaved. About 30% of trafficked persons are exposed to the health care system at some point during their captivity, yet their situation is seldom recognized.
Legal Implications of Proposed GM/UAW VEBA

This research note provides an initial exploration of the potential securities law implications of the proposed Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) of General Motors and the UAW.
Research of Visual Simulation Platform for Consensus Protocol of Multiagent System

In this study,ageneral visual simulation platform was designed for large-scale multiagent system.The platform was introduced including the architecture,workflow,detailed design and implement.Finally a simulation and analysis of the platform were showed by the evolution of a krause consensus model.The definition of the system performance according to different properties was designed.The platform can finish the analysis and evaluation of the system performance.The simulation of platform shows the evolution of system rapidly by setting the system parameters and loading different consensus algorithms.The main method including the designs of agent,topology,task,consensus algorithm was introduced.The evolution of system can be showed by graphical display,and the statistical information of the resources consumed can be got.
Analysis of Drinking Water Quality of Rural Residents in Jilin Province in 2012

Objective To analyze the city in accordance with the "national rural drinking water safety of the eleventh fiveyear plan" policy, new Wells water quality situation, grasp the subsequent problems of rural drinking water engineering, put forward the solution, make sure the huimin engineering can bring benefit to the masses. Methods Collect the city in 2007 the new deep water Wells 120 samples of water quality in accordance with the national standards for sampling, testing and evaluation of water quality test results. Results 120 samples, percent of pass is 85.83%. Conclusion Our city rural drinking water quality is better, in order to guarantee rural drinking water quality, need to further strengthen the protection of water source and water supply pipe network of repair and maintenance, to establish and perfect the system and supervision mechanism, and let the people drink water on health and safety.
Present Situation of Utilization on Rice Dwarf Gene Resources and Its Research Advances in Molecular Biology

Evolvement of rice dwarfing conception and the present utilization situation of dwarfing resources were recommended,and its research advances of molecular biology foundation on dwarf gene were also summarized.Further more,conceptions of rice dwarfing were redefined in this paper,and the future research direction in this field was put forward.
Intestinal trefoil factor (TFF-3) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in cholangiocarcinoma.

Background/Aims: The mucin-associated trefoil factor (TFF) peptides are integral to cytoprotection. TFF-3 is aberrantly expressed in colorectal and hepatocellular cancer and associated with an invasive phenotype. TFF-3 is also expressed in normal biliary epithelium. However, its role in biliary cancers is unknown. The biological effects of TFFs may result from EGFR, PI3 kinase, COX-2 and STAT-mediated signaling. We investigated the expression of TFF-3, Erk, Akt, EGFR and COX-2 in biliary cancer. Methodology: Twenty-four consecutive cases of cholangiocarcinoma treated from 1996-2002 were studied. Immunohistochemistry was performed using monoclonal antibodies to TFF-3, EGFR, pEGFR, Erk, pErk, Akt, pAkt and COX-2 using validated techniques. Kendall's tau (exact method) and Pearson correlation test were employed to investigate the associations between biomarkers. Results: Median age was 67 years. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) stage was local in 1, regional in 15 and distant in 8. TFF-3 expression was detected in 19 cases. There were no significant associations between TFF-3 expression and sex, stage, grade, survival or SEER score. Erk expression in the tumor showed a borderline, negative correlation with TFF-3 (Pearson'sp= -0.3988, p=0.0588). Conclusions: TFF-3 is commonly expressed in biliary cancers and may have a negative reciprocal relationship with Erk expression.
Viral interactions with receptors in the central nervous system and on lymphocytes.

Publisher Summary Reoviruses are double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses whose genome consists of 10 segments named according to size classes; three large segments (L1 , L2, L3), three medium segments (M1 , M2, M3), and four small segments (S 1, S2, S3, S4). The dsRNA is surrounded by a double capsid shell. The outer capsid consists of three polypeptides derived from genome segments S l, S4, and M2. Using recombinant clones derived from crosses between reovirus types 1 and 3 and consisting of genome segments derived from both parents, it has been shown that the hemagglutinin of reovirus is the a 1 outer capsid polypeptide encoded by the S 1 genome segment. This chapter discusses natural biologic polymorphism of reovirus types 1 and 3 in the study of reovirus interactions both in vivo and in vitro with the central nervous system and the immune system. This chapter proposes a biologically relevant model for the study of viral-receptor interactions both in the nervous system and the immune system. The approach involves the generation of anti-idiotype antibodies directed against the hemagglutinin of type 3, which may serve as a probe for the structure to which the virus binds. The investigation of viral receptor interactions has important implications for determining specificity of viral injury and explaining possible mechanisms of autoimmunity. In addition, the varying natural specificities of viruses may make them powerful biologic probes for the study of cell surface receptors.
Erratum to: Haematospirillum jordaniae gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from human blood samples.

Haematospirillum (Hae.ma.to.spi.ril’lum. Gr. n. haima -atos, blood; L. n. spira, a spiral; N.L. neut. dim. n. spirillum, a small spiral; N.L. dim. neut. n. Haematospirillum, a small spiral from blood). Cells are Gram-negative, oxidase positive, and catalase positive. Cells are motile, helical in shape and exhibit bipolar flagella. Major fatty acids are C16:0, C16:1x7c and C18:1x7c. The predominant ubiquinone is Q-10. The major polar lipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and aminolipids. The DNA G?C content of the type strain of the type species is 49.9 %. A member of the order Rhodospirillales, family Rhodospirillaceae. The type species is Haematospirillum jordaniae.
Low-temperature-optimized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

To reduce thermal loading and on-chip power dissipation, optical links have been proposed for information transfer to and from cryogenic environments. In previous work we have shown that VCSELs designed for room-temperature operation are able to work at 77 K. However, the high device currents and voltages needed to align the blue-shifted gain peak with the cavity mode were drawbacks. In this work VCSELs optimized to operate in the temperature range of 77 to 200 K are reported. Submilliampere lasing thresholds, low voltage drops across the mirrors, and high modulation bandwidths are observed.
Micro-scale polarimetry

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the existing micro-scale polarimetry methods and the progress toward the high throughput (HT) micro-scale screening of compounds for optical activity. One application of conventional polarimetry could benefit from smaller volumes and a higher throughput is enantioselective enzyme production monitoring. While enzymes are useful tools, many lack selectivity, and produce poor yields or low enantiomeric excess (ee). In directed evolution of enantioselective enzymes, thousands of mutants are created to find an enzyme that produces superior selectivity for a desired reaction. Enantioselectivity needs to be analyzed in a HT fashion for the directed evolution to be practical. While other techniques show promise along with the progress made toward HT screening, there is still a need of HT polarimeter. The ability to minimize effects of RI changes, reduction of the amount of sample required, and performance of multiple measurements has presented problems for polarimetry for many years. However, there have been improvements made in polarimetry methodologies. The capillary polarimetric detector represents the first polarimeter that allows optical activity determinations to be performed in sample volumes down to the tens of nanoliters. It is also important to note that the sensitivity is not greatly sacrificed by the decrease in volume, which has been a previous limitation in polarimetry methodologies. The system is insensitive to the refractive index(RI) changes, which can also be a hindrance for some polarimeters. Measurements of optically active molecules on a small scale is now possible, providing opportunities for analyses to be performed that were previously impossible because of sample size. An array of capillaries would provide a unique multiplexed nanoliter polarimeter.
A Comparison of Hypnotic Induction, Task Motivation, and a "Cold Start" Control Group on Hypnotizability.

Groups of participants (N = 164) were randomly assigned to three conditions: Group 1 received a trance induction, Group 2 received task-motivational instructions, and Group 3—“cold start” control—was simply told, “We will begin the hypnosis procedure now.” All participants received the Creative Imagination Scale suggestions and then completed the Creative Imagination Scale and Inventory Scale of Hypnotic Depth. The three conditions did not differ significantly either on the Creative Imagination Scale or in reported hypnotic depth. These results are consistent with prior studies which show that trance induction and task-motivational yield similar results, but they are inconsistent inasmuch as the trance induction and task-motivational groups did not differ from the control group. These results, however, are predictable from socio-cognitive perspectives that the context of hypnosis itself can elicit hypnotic behaviors.
Preparing 4-Ethoxyphenylurea Using Microwave Irradiation: Introducing Students to the Importance of Artificial Sweeteners and Microwave-Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS)

In today’s world of instant coffee, instant meals, and instant messaging, undergraduate students prefer not to have to wait 30–60 min for an organic reaction to take place. Heating with microwaves is rapidly becoming more commonplace due to dramatically reduced reaction times and higher product yields. Students appreciate the short reaction times and like working with advanced technology by means of the commercial microwave reactors available today. Furthermore, undergraduate organic students like being able to relate an experiment to something that they see every day. For these reasons, the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, extracting caffeine from tea, and isolating trans-cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon sticks are popular experiments. One such experiment is the synthesis of the artificial sweetener dulcin (4-ethoxyphenylurea), which can be prepared from the reaction of p-phenetidine and urea. Artificial sweetening agents are extremely important to the food industry because of the national concern with diet and...
Sinc Convolution Approximate Solution of Burgers’ Equation

Let R denote the real line, and let u 0 denote a given function defined on R. We shall illustrate an integral equation procedure for solving the Burgers’ equation problem $$ \eqalign{ & {\partial \over {\partial t}}u(x,t) -\varepsilon {{{\partial ^2}} \over {\partial {x^2}}}u(x,t){\rm{ = }} -{1 \over 2}{\partial \over {\partial x}}{u^2}(x,t),{\rm{ }}x \in R,{\rm{ }}t >0, \cr & {\rm{ }}u(x,0){\rm{ = }}{u_0}(x). \cr} $$ (1.1)
Unprecedented (μ-1,1-Peroxo)diferric Structure for the Ambiphilic Orange Peroxo Intermediate of the Nonheme N-Oxygenase CmlI

The final step in the biosynthesis of the antibiotic chloramphenicol is the oxidation of an aryl-amine substrate to an aryl-nitro product catalyzed by the N-oxygenase CmlI in three two-electron steps. The CmlI active site contains a diiron cluster ligated by three histidine and four glutamate residues and activates dioxygen to perform its role in the biosynthetic pathway. It was previously shown that the active oxidant used by CmlI to facilitate this chemistry is a peroxo-diferric intermediate (CmlIP). Spectroscopic characterization demonstrated that the peroxo binding geometry of CmlIP is not consistent with the μ-1,2 mode commonly observed in nonheme diiron systems. Its geometry was tentatively assigned as μ-η2:η1 based on comparison with resonance Raman (rR) features of mixed-metal model complexes in the absence of appropriate diiron models. Here, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and rR studies have been used to establish a refined structure for the diferric cluster of CmlIP. The rR experiments carried out with isotopically labeled water identified the symmetric and asymmetric vibrations of an Fe-O-Fe unit in the active site at 485 and 780 cm-1, respectively, which was confirmed by the 1.83 A Fe-O bond observed by XAS. In addition, a unique Fe···O scatterer at 2.82 A observed from XAS analysis is assigned as arising from the distal O atom of a μ-1,1-peroxo ligand that is bound symmetrically between the irons. The (μ-oxo)(μ-1,1-peroxo)diferric core structure associated with CmlIP is unprecedented among diiron cluster-containing enzymes and corresponding biomimetic complexes. Importantly, it allows the peroxo-diferric intermediate to be ambiphilic, acting as an electrophilic oxidant in the initial N-hydroxylation of an arylamine and then becoming a nucleophilic oxidant in the final oxidation of an aryl-nitroso intermediate to the aryl-nitro product.
Chapter 6.1 - Six-Membered Ring Systems: Pyridine and Benzo Derivatives

The syntheses and reactions of the pi-deficient heterocycles, pyridines, quinolines, isoquinolines, and the corresponding N-oxides, reported during 2015 are covered.
Distortion of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) Displacements and Strains from Heat Waves

“Heat waves” is a colloquial term used to describe convective currents in air formed when different objects in an area are at different temperatures. In the context of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and other optical-based image processing techniques, imaging an object of interest through heat waves can significantly distort the apparent location and shape of the object. There are many potential heat sources in DIC experiments, including but not limited to lights, cameras, hot ovens, and sunlight, yet error caused by heat waves is often overlooked. This paper first briefly presents three practical situations in which heat waves contributed significant error to DIC measurements to motivate the investigation of heat waves in more detail. Then the theoretical background of how light is refracted through heat waves is presented, and the effects of heat waves on displacements and strains computed from DIC are characterized in detail. Finally, different filtering methods are investigated to reduce the displacement and strain errors caused by imaging through heat waves. The overarching conclusions from this work are that errors caused by heat waves are significantly higher than typical noise floors for DIC measurements, and that the errors are difficult to filter because the temporal and spatial frequencies of the errors are in the same range as those of typical signals of interest. Therefore, eliminating or mitigating the effects of heat sources in a DIC experiment is the best solution to minimizing errors caused by heat waves.
Case 3: Fever, Vomiting, and Altered Mental Status in a 17-year-old Boy

1. Jonathan Pelletier, MD* 2. Kathleen Bartlett, MD* 1. *Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center, Durham NC A 17-year-old boy with a history of restrictive eating disorder and orthostatic hypotension presents via emergency medical services from an eating disorder facility with 1 week of dizziness and confusion and 1 day of fever. He also reports months of daily first-morning, nonbloody, and nonbilious vomiting. On presentation to the emergency department he is febrile (temperature, 102.9°F [39.4°C]), tachycardic (heart rate, 112 beats/min), and hypotensive (blood pressure, 91/46 mm Hg) and requires oxygen via nasal cannula. His weight is 114.2 lb (51.8 kg) (3rd percentile), height is 64.6 in (164 cm) (5th percentile), and BMI is 19.3 (15th percentile). General physical examination findings are normal. Shortly after arrival, the patient develops a brief episode of upper extremity tonic extension, unresponsiveness, and desaturation. He recovers spontaneously without an apparent postictal period. Repeated neurologic examination reveals slowed but appropriate responses to questioning. Cranial nerves, strength, sensation, and reflexes are normal. Upper extremity coordination is normal, but he has right greater than left ataxia with heel-to-shin testing. The patient is unable to stand for gait and Romberg testing due to dizziness. Laboratory tests before fluid therapy are remarkable for a serum sodium concentration of 149 mEq/L (149 mmol/L) (reference range, 135–145 mEq/L [135–145 mmol/L]), a serum chloride concentration of 118 mEq/L (118 mmol/L) (reference range, 96–108 mEq/L [96–108 mmol/L]), leukocytosis, and normocytic anemia. Urinalysis results are normal, …
Modeling and Analysis of a Hydrogen Reformer for Fuel Cell Applications

Fuel cells that utilize hydrogen and oxygen to produce energy are promising power sources. However, there are operational difficulties in storing hydrogen. One way to alleviate this problem is to g...
Determination of thyroid gland mass using the scintillation camera and computer

A scintillation camera-computer method for determining thyroid gland mass prior to /sup 131/I therapy for Graves' disease is described. The method was developed to replace an older rectilinear scanner technique previously used. The two methods were compared and the scintillation camera-computer method was found to have a small standard error of the estimate and a high degree of correlation with the rectilinear method.
Ideals in H(G)

We use the results of the previous section to derive some descriptive results on ideals of holomorphic functions.
Helically wound soft actuators for torsion control

Individual soft actuators have been developed for elongation, contraction, bending and twist, but these actuators and their combinations have yet to demonstrate the range and flexibility of motion seen in common sources of biological inspiration, such as cephalopods. This paper presents a method for torsion control via sets of opposing contracting actuators wound helically around a cylindrical structure. By shortening one set of actuators, twist is developed, similar to the oblique muscles within octopus arms. The addition of helical actuators to systems with longitudinal and transverse actuators will enable control over orientation of the arm and antagonistic stiffening. A geometric model is used to quantify best-case developed twist, representing application to a constant dimension cylinder. This model is validated experimentally using a cable-driven prototype on a rigid cylinder with no torsional stiffness. To evaluate the interaction with a system of actuators, a mechanics model of the torsion actuators wrapped around a deformable center is proposed. This model is used to extend the solution given by W.M. Kier [Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 83, No. 4, 307-324, 1985], and shows that while significant twist can be lost to deformations of the internal structure, those with a Poisson's ratio approaching v = 0.5 mitigate this loss. Finally, the feasibility of the concept is demonstrated with McKibben actuators wound around foam.
Characterization of Brackish Groundwater Desalination Concentrate Discharge Impacts on Water Quality in a Texas Coastal Area

Management of concentrate streams is one of the major environmental concerns for desalination operations. This study characterized the impacts of concentrate discharge on receiving waters downstream of the Southmost Regional Water Authority (SRWA) brackish groundwater desalination plant, which is located close to the Gulf Coast near Brownsville, Texas. Water quality was characterized with respect to dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, total and ortho-phosphorus (P), and arsenic (As). The study also generated baseline water quality data as an initial step for evaluating the potential impacts that could occur if the concentrate stream were used as supplement water for the re-flooding and restoration of the Bahia Grande wetland area, which is located within the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The study showed that the concentrate stream did not appear to have a significant adverse impact on downstream receiving waters and contributed to dilution of salinity in San Martin Lake. However, given projections that brackish groundwater desalination will meet 20 % of the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s municipal water supply within the next 50 years, a critical assessment of the potential cumulative impacts of region-wide brackish groundwater desalination on surface water quality in the region is needed.
Referral, intake, and assessment

Abstract Assistive technology service provision needs to follow a systematic process in order to ensure high-quality outcomes and user realization of benefit from the services and supports obtained. This chapter presents such a process and is meant to be adjustable to varying circumstances and needs.
Trends in centralization of surgical care and compliance with National Cancer Center Network guidelines for resected cholangiocarcinoma.

Abstract Background A retrospective study was performed to characterize trends in centralization of care and compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for resected cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and their impact on overall survival (OS). Methods Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB) 2004–2015 we identified patients undergoing resection for CCA. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses identified time periods and hospital volume groups for comparison. Propensity score matching provided case-mix adjusted patient cohorts. Cox hazard analysis identified risk factors for OS. Results Among the 40,338 patients undergoing resection for CCA, the proportion of patients undergoing surgery at high volume hospitals increased over time (25%–44%, p Conclusions Both centralization of surgery for CCA to high volume hospitals and increased compliance with NCCN guidelines were associated with significant improvements in overall survival.