cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reliability assessment for self-repairing flight control systems

It is pointed out that by using aerodynamically redundant control surfaces a flight control system can be reconfigured in the event of actuator failure and/or surface damage. This feature is usually implemented through the use of an impairment detection, isolation, and accommodation (IDIA) scheme. The authors report two aspects of new development in reliability assessment for such self-repairing flight control systems. The first is the incorporation of the IDIA performance through coverage into the system reliability computation. The second is the establishment of a simple theory for obtaining accurate reliability predictions without having to use Markov chain models. As a result of applying these methods to an aircraft model, one can recommend how much improvement is needed in designing its reconfigurable control system, and where its hardware reduction can be further made. >
Mortgage Contract Choice in Subprime Mortgage Markets

The boom in the subprime mortgage market yielded many loans with high LTV ratios. From a large proprietary database on subprime mortgages, we find that choice of mortgage rate type is not linear in loan sizes. A fixed rate mortgage contract is a popular choice when loan size, measured by LTV ratio, is small. As LTV ratio increases, borrowers become more likely to choose adjustable rate mortgage contracts. However, when LTV reaches a certain level, borrowers start to switch back to fixed rate contracts. For these high LTV loans, fixed rate mortgages dominate borrowers' choices. We present a very simple model that explains this "nonlinear" pattern in mortgage instrument choice. The model shows that the choice of mortgage rate type depends on two opposing effects: a "term structure" effect and an "interest rate volatility" effect. When the loan size is small, the term structure effect dominates: rising LTV ratios making ARM loans less costly, and more attractive. However, when the loan size is large enough, the interest volatility effect dominates: rising LTV ratios making FRM loans less costly and preferable. We present strong empirical evidence in support of the model predictions.
A Catholic Campus in Reflective Action: A Co-Curricular Event Highlighting Identity and Mission.

A campus-wide program to highlight Catholic identity and mission, Community Day has been celebrated at Notre Dame of Maryland University every year since 1993. Featuring a keynote speaker, followed by an array of thematic workshops led by faculty, staff, and students, the event invites participants to reflect on Catholic Social Teaching, embedded in the Church’s intellectual tradition, the liberal arts, and the professions. This article describes the origins, goals, and operational principles of the event, which together offer a simple but effective model readily adapted to other campuses. A selection of relevant scholarship on mission engagement frames the case study, which includes analysis of multi-year evaluative data, both quantitative and qualitative.
Resistance and Adaptation to Technological Change: Some Anthropological Views1

The significance of anthropological views for assessing the probabilities of acceptance or rejection of technological change are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the role of technology as a part of integrated socio-cultural systems. The significance of differences in cognitive structures and the possible relations between different kinds of social structures and the acceptance or rejection of technological changes are examined.
Plasma Free, Erythrocyte Free and Plasma Peptide Amino Acid Exchange of Calves in Steady State and Fasting Metabolism

Arteriovenous differences in plasma free, erythrocyte free and plasma peptide amino acids were measured across the hindlimbs of growing Holstein steer calves (147 kg) surgically fitted with abdominal aorta and caudal vena cava cannulae. Animals were maintained in a near "steady state" metabolism by feeding at hourly intervals in a continuously lighted environment. The "steady state" blood samples were obtained 10 days post-surgery; then the animals were fasted for 72 hours and resampled. In the fed animal most amino acids were removed from the plasma free and plasma hindlimbs. Glutamine was the only amino acid released by the hindlimbs into the plasma free pool of fed animals. The branched-chain and acidic amino acids were removed by the hindlimbs from the plasma peptide pool while the basic amino acids exhibited nominal involvement. Alanine and lysine were removed while glycine, aspartate and glutamate were added to the erythrocyte as the tissue was traversed. Fasting resulted in a release from the hindlimbs of most amino acids into all pools monitored. Serum total proteins and glutathione were removed from blood in fed animals and added to the blood of fasted animals. Several pools transport amino acids to tissues and the relative importance of a particular pool varies with amino acid and nutritional status.
Linear Matrix Inequalities Approach to Input Covariance Constraint Control With Application to Electronic Throttle

In this paper, the input covariance constraint (ICC) control problem is solved by convex optimization subject to linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) constraints. The ICC control problem is an optimal control problem that is concerned to obtain the best output performance subject to multiple constraints on the input covariance matrices. The contribution of this paper is the characterization of the control synthesis LMIs used to solve the ICC control problem. Both continuousand discrete-time problems are considered. To validate our scheme in real-world systems, ICC control based on convex optimization approach was used to control the position of an electronic throttle plate. The controller performance compared experimentally with a well-tuned base-line proportional-integralderivative (PID) controller. Comparison results showed that not only better performance has been achieved but also the required control energy for the ICC controller is lower than that of the base-line controller. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4030525]
Observations of low-frequency magnetic oscillations in the Martian magnetosheath, magnetic pileup region, and tail

[1] Observations are presented of low-frequency magnetic oscillations in the Martian magnetosheath, magnetic pileup region, and tail as observed by the Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer experiment on board Mars Global Surveyor. Within the dayside magnetosheath the oscillations are found to be predominantly compressional, elliptically polarized waves with wave vectors that have large angles relative to the mean field and dominant frequencies that are significantly below the local proton gyrofrequency. On the basis of these observations we identify these oscillations as mirror mode instabilities. In the nightside magnetosheath the oscillations are predominantly transverse and elliptical, and they propagate at smaller angles relative to the mean field at frequencies within a factor of 2–10 less than the local proton gyrofrequency. These characteristics lead us to associate these oscillations with ion/ion-resonant instabilities that arise from counterstreaming plasma populations such as the solar wind and pickup ions of planetary origin. Within the magnetic pileup region and tail the oscillations have considerably smaller amplitudes and are linearly polarized, obliquely propagating, ultralow-frequency oscillations which may be a mix of multiple wave modes.
Type 1 Diabetes in Young Rats Leads to Progressive Trabecular Bone Loss, Cessation of Cortical Bone Growth, and Diminished Whole Bone Strength and Fatigue Life

People with diabetes have increased risk of fracture disproportionate to BMD, suggesting reduced material strength (quality). We quantified the skeletal effects of type 1 diabetes in the rat. Fischer 344 and Sprague-Dawley rats (12 wk of age) were injected with either vehicle (Control) or streptozotocin (Diabetic). Forelimbs were scanned at 0, 4, 8, and 12 wk using pQCT. Rats were killed after 12 wk. We observed progressive osteopenia in diabetic rats. Trabecular osteopenia was caused by bone loss: volumetric BMD decreased progressively with time in diabetic rats but was constant in controls. Cortical osteopenia was caused by premature arrest of cortical expansion: cortical area did not increase after 4–8 wk in diabetic rats but continued to increase in controls. Postmortem μCT showed a 60% reduction in proximal tibial trabecular BV/TV in diabetic versus control rats, whereas moments of inertia of the ulnar and femoral diaphysis were reduced ∼30%. Monotonic bending tests indicated that ulna and femora from diabetic animals were ∼25% less stiff and strong versus controls. Estimates of material properties indicated no changes in elastic modulus or ultimate stress but modest (∼10%) declines in yield stress for diabetic bone. These changes were associated with a ∼50% increase in the nonenzymatic collagen cross-link pentosidine. Last, cyclic testing showed diminished fatigue life in diabetic bones at the structural (force) level but not at the material (stress) level. In summary, type 1 diabetes, left untreated, causes trabecular bone loss and a reduction in diaphyseal growth. Diabetic bone has greatly increased nonenzymatic collagen cross-links but only modestly reduced material properties. The loss of whole bone strength under both monotonic and fatigue loading is attributed mainly to reduced bone size.
Community Antenna Television Systems and Local Television Station Audience

I. Nature and significance of the problem, 227. â€” II. The audience-revenue relation, 231. â€” III. The determinants of station audience: the form of the model, 232. â€” IV. The variables, 234. â€” V. Off-the-air potential audience and the measurement of overlap, 238. â€” VI. The results and their interpretation, 242. â€” VII. Effect of CATV duplication on study station audience, 245. â€” VIII. Conclusions: the economic impact of CATV, 247.
System Integration and Design Optimization of Passenger Airbag Shapes

Passenger airbag is an important vehicle passive safety device to protect occupant safety. The shape of a passenger airbag plays an important role in determining how well the device is capable of protecting occupants. Traditionally, the airbag shape is designed manually, using a trial and error method. The lines of a passenger airbag shape are first drawn. After meshing the airbag, it is inserted into multiple occupant restraint system models. Then, run the multiple occupant models for different crash scenario and evaluate the occupant injury numbers. The process is iterated until a design meets all occupant injury criteria. The manual process is not only time-consuming, but also has little chance to find the optimal solutions if any. This paper first automates the whole design process using an advanced integration tool. Advanced optimization method is then used to find the optimal airbag shape systematically. A real-world frontal impact application with different dummies, belted and/or unbelted, at different impact speeds is used to demonstrate the methodology.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Complete intersection dimension

A new homological invariant is introduced for a finite module over a commutative noetherian ring: its CI-dimension. In the local case, sharp quantitative and structural data are obtained for modules of finite CI-dimension, providing the first class of modules of (possibly) infinite projective dimension with a rich structure theory of free resolutions.
Detection of Packet Dropping in Wireless Sensor Networks

Selective forwarding attacks may corrupt the transfer of data for both sensitive and non-sensitive applications. In selective forwarding attacks, malicious nodes behave like normal nodes and selectively drop packets. The selection of dropping nodes may be random. Identifying such attacks is very difficult and sometimes impossible. In this research we studied two problems. First, we designed a simulated environment with n nodes placed randomly to observe the disconnected nodes using algorithm-H; the disconnected nodes may hinder the transfer of data. Secondly, properly connected nodes were tested with packet transfer from source node to the destination node (base station). The algorithm-F detects the random dropping of nodes as part of the forward approach.
Influence of Physical Factors on Trichloroethylene Evaporation from Surface Water

Evaporation of trichloroethylene (TCE) is a viable option in the remediation of TCE contaminated water. In this study, laboratory batch experiments were conducted to understand the evaporation kinetics of TCE in surface water, with further extension of this knowledge to field application. Experiments were set up for 15, 30, 60, and 90 min time intervals in open glass containers with initial concentration of 10 mgl−1 TCE in 100 ml water. The containers were either exposed to wind or were placed on an orbital shaker to produce constant water motion. A reference study carried out in absence of wind and water-motion showed much slower rate of TCE evaporation, compared to other studies done with wind or orbital shaker. Experiments with water turbulence at 150 rpm yielded a higher volatilization coefficient, Kv = 4.36 h−1 for TCE. The wind at a flow rate of 0.7 m/s also gave rise to 2.24 h−1 coefficient for TCE evaporation. The volatilization coefficient for the reference study yielded a smaller value of 0.23 h−1, with corresponding half-life of 3 h, indicating the importance of wind and water motion in TCE evaporation. Experiments conducted at 150rpm and 0.7 m/s wind velocity showed consistent evaporation trend, and were in better agreement with the extrapolated rate of evaporation obtained through the first order rate equation.
Direct Instruction: Integrating Curriculum Design and Effective Teaching Practice

This article outlines the underlying instructional design principles that are at the heart of the Direct Instruction Model and illustrates the application of those principles to a variety of conten...
Response to letter to editor regarding "visceral sensitization in postural tachycardia syndrome".

I thank Dr. Farmer, Dr. Fikree, and Dr. Aziz [1] for their thoughtful input. The authors propose abnormal gastric myoelectric activity as another form of visceral hypersensitivity. They believe that joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) is an important confounding variable that should have been controlled for in our study. The authors cite data from various studies to support their contention. Seligman et al. [2] found enhanced variability of gastric myoelectric activity in PoTS patients and attributed gastrointestinal dysfunction to splanchnic hyperemia, anxiety, or abnormal connective tissue matrix in the gastrointestinal tract. Fikree et al. [3] used validated questionnaires in patients with JHS and gastrointestinal symptoms to conclude that this association may result from autonomic dysmotility and/or hypersensitivity factors. I concur with Dr. Farmer and co-authors that gastrointestinal symptoms in PoTS patients may be another possible manifestation of visceral hypersensitivity despite the fact that cited studies only allude to this issue. Regarding JHS and PoTS, Gazit et al. [4] found PoTS in 4 of 27 (15 %) JHS patients but did not demonstrate causeand-effect relationship specifically pertaining to PoTS. With the prevalence of JHS at about 20 % [3] and the heterogeneous nature of PoTS [5], we await definitive proof that JHS is a confounding variable in studies of visceral hypersensitivity in PoTS. The goal of our simple study was to use an objective correlate (heartbeat) of a disabling symptom (palpitation) to demonstrate visceral sensitization in PoTS and to provide a nidus for more sophisticated studies in this area.
Bacterial Stem Rot of Poinsettia Caused by a Dickeya sp. (Pectobacterium chrysanthemi) in China

In December 2006, a rot symptom of unknown etiology was observed on stems of plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima cv. Fu-xing) at a flower nursery in the Zhejiang Province of China where we had previously reported leaf spot of poinsettia caused by Xanthomonas campestris (2). Chlorotic spots anywhere along the stem and purplish black petioles were the first noticeable symptoms. The spots rapidly coalesced, forming large irregular chlorotic areas. Petioles turned black and shriveled and affected leaves wilted. Infected tissues were soft and water soaked. Ten bacterial strains were isolated from the diseased samples and five were selected for identification. They were similar to those of the standard reference strains of Pectobacterium chrysanthemi (Dickeya sp.), LMG 2804 from Belgium and ZUPB20056 from China, in phenotypic tests based on the Biolog Microbial Identification System, version 4.2 (Biolog Inc., Hayward, CA), pathogenicity tests, gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) using the Microbial Identification System (MIDI Inc, Newark, DE) with aerobic bacterial library (TABA50), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM,KYKY-1000B, Japan). All strains tested were gram-negative facultative anaerobic rods measuring 1.5 to 3.6 × 0.6 to 1.1 μm, with peritrichous flagella. Colonies were gray-white and slightly raised with smooth margins on nutrient agar. They were negative for trehalose and positive for phosphatase production and reducing substances from sucrose. A hypersensitive reaction was observed on tobacco cv. Benshi, 24 h after inoculation. All five isolates, LMG 2804, and ZUPB20056 were identified as P. chrysanthemi (Dickeya sp.) with a Biolog similarity index of 0.58 to 0.83, 0.68, and 0.72 and a FAME similarity index of 0.52 to 0.80, 0.59, and 0.70, respectively. Identification as P. chrysanthemi (Dickeya sp.) was confirmed by PCR with specific primers used by Nassar et al (3). Koch's postulates were completed with the inoculation of 12 4-month-old intact poinsettia plants of cv. Fu-xing with cell suspensions containing 108 CFU/ml by a pinprick at the base of the stem. All five strains induced stem infection similar to those observed in natural infections. No symptoms were noted on the two control plants inoculated with sterilized distilled water by the same method. The bacterium was reisolated from symptomatic stems of poinsettia plants. P. chrysanthemi (Dickeya sp.) was first reported in United States as the cause of bacterial stem rot of poinsettia in 1972 (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of poinsettia stem rot caused by P. chrysanthemi (Dickeya sp.) in China. The disease cycle and the control strategies of the bacterial stem rot of poinsettia in the regions are being further studied. References: (1) H. A. J. Hoitink et al. Plant Dis. Rep. 56:480, 1972. (2) B. Li et al. Plant Pathol. 55:293, 2006. (3) A. A. Nassar et al. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2228, 1996.
The erotic anatomies of Charles Estienne and Annie Sprinkle

This paper explores the intersections between medical and pornographic visuality as they appear in the works of two trans-historical, innovative visual practitioners: sixteenth-century medical illustrator Charles Estienne (1504–1564), and twentieth/twenty-first-century porn star turned performance artist Annie Sprinkle (1954–present). Both Estienne and Sprinkle adopt pornography as a representational strategy for re-imagining and re-presenting bodies that have been penetrated, opened, or altered by medical acts. By combining scientific modes of looking with pornographic imagery, they visualize dissected anatomical figures as sexual collages while questioning whether medicalized bodies remain sexual ones. Ultimately, their erotic anatomies illustrate how pornography can function as a type of visual strategy that allows for new ways to see human bodies and come to terms with medical interventions.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the “Eradication of Feudalism” in Pakistan

Early in his tenure in office, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced that his agrarian reforms would affect the lives of the common people of Pakistan more than any other measure contemplated by his avowedly socialist and populist regime. Almost seven years later, the martial law regime of Zia-ul-Haq issued a White Paper on the performance of Bhutto's government (which Zia ended with a coup in July of 1977), charging that the land reforms were in practice yet another example of that Government's cynical posturing, sinister manipulation, favoritism and victimization, corruption and abuse of power. The irony is that a centerpiece of Bhutto's program for the “salvation” of Pakistan should appear in a White Paper which attempted to add legitimacy to the execution of the popular ex-Prime Minister. A further irony is that Bhutto himself came from a background which could only be called “feudal” in the terms of Pakistani political discourse, and surrounded himself politically with scions of similar families. What was meant by Bhutto's pledge to eradicate feudalism via land reform and what are we to make of it?
Effects of Maturity, Skin Contact and Carbonation on the Quality of Sterile‐Filtered White Muscadine Grape Juice

The effects of grape maturity, skin contact and carbonation on the quality of sterile-filtered muscadine grape juice were investigated. A sensory panel preferred the late maturity juices that had a higher degree of muscadine character and lower total phenolics. Tartaric and malic acid levels decreased with increasing maturity, with malic decreasing to a greater extent. A 24 hr skin contact. at 2°C had no significant effect on sensory results, but increased color intensity, phenolic and organic acid levels as compared to immediate pressing. Carbonated juices were lighter in color and were preferred equally to non-carbonated juices. Juice obtained from a hard pressing regime had slightly higher levels of organic acids than free run juice at the early harvest only.
Comment on “A note on a study on an integrable system of coupled KdV equations”

Abstract We analyze the note by Muraved [A note on A study on an integrable system of coupled KdV equations [1] , Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat. doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2010.06.018 ]. Author tried to show that our approach is curious. We demonstrate that, author has not shown any error and presented a curious note.
Physiological substrate for antidromic reciprocating tachycardia. Prerequisite characteristics of the accessory pathway and atrioventricular conduction system.

BACKGROUNDAlthough the anatomic "substrate" for the occurrence of antidromic reciprocating tachycardia (ART) has been previously examined, the underlying physiological substrate for this unusual arrhythmia in patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome has not been thoroughly characterized.METHODS AND RESULTSThe electrophysiological properties of the accessory pathway and normal ventriculoatrial conduction system in 30 patients with ART and a single accessory pathway were compared with those observed in a control group of 36 patients without this arrhythmia to elucidate the critical physiological substrate essential for the development and maintenance of ART. Inducible ART had a mean cycle length of 286 +/- 31 msec. The average retrograde ventriculoatrial conduction system effective refractory period in ART patients was significantly less than that in the control group (244 +/- 32 versus 291 +/- 46 msec, p = 0.0002). All of the ART patients showed retrograde conduction over the normal conduction syst...
Effect of nucleus tractus solitarius lesions on fever produced by interleukin-1β

Partial elimination of vagal sensory afferents by subdiaphragmatic vagal section has variously been reported to eliminate, to reduce, or to have no effect on fever produced by peripheral lipopolysaccharide and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). However, to adequately test the idea that vagal afferents convey immune information to the brain, all vagal input to the central nervous system must be eliminated. This was accomplished by bilateral electrolytic lesions of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). Reflex bradycardia evoked by intravenous phenylbiguanide was eliminated in NTS-lesioned rats, verifying the lesion's effectiveness. IL-1beta (2 microg/kg) was given to conscious, unrestrained rats via an indwelling intraperitoneal catheter and produced rapid fever (approximately 1 degree C) with an onset latency of 15 min and peak response at 30 min, with a second, smaller peak at 130 min. NTS lesions attenuated the first fever peak, with a lesser, non-significant effect on the second peak. The thermogenic capacity of NTS-lesioned rats was evaluated using 3 different strategies: (1) thermogenesis evoked by CNS injections of prostaglandin E2, (2) 3 h exposure to a 4 degrees C environment, and (3) heat production of intrascapular brown fat produced by intravenous infusion of the beta3-adrenergic agonist BRL 37344. NTS-lesioned rats were equivalent, or even superior to control animals in their thermogenic response to these non-immune-related stimuli. Therefore, the impaired febrile response of NTS-lesioned rats to IL-1beta cannot be attributed to reduced thermogenic capacity. Finally, these results suggest that fever elicited by intraperitoneal IL-1beta is, at least in part, dependent on the integrity of NTS neurons, but also that mechanisms independent of vagal afferent projections to the NTS must also play a role in immune-to-brain signaling.
Parafoveal information is not sufficient to produce semantic or visual priming

Marcel (1978) has shown that semantic priming can occur in the lexical-decision task even if the prime is masked to the point at which its presence cannot be detected. The purpose of the present experiments was to determine if primes that begin four or five spaces to the right of fixation can also produce semantic facilitation even though they are very difficult to recog­ nize. Experiment 1 showed that facilitation did occur when the parafoveal primes used in the subsequent experiments were presented foveally. In Experiment 2, the primes were moved to the parafovea, but the task demands directed the subject's attention toward the fovea. When subjects were ignoring the information presented to the parafovea (an allocation pat­ tern that should correspond to that used during normal reading), neutral primes were just as effective as either semantically related or identical primes. In Experiment 3, the task demands were altered so that subjects were actively attending to the parafoveal primes. Although subjects were trying to process the primes, there was still no evidence that benefits could be derived from parafoveal primes. A final experiment showed that subjects given extensive practice with the materials will produce large amounts of identity and semantic priming. The results support the conclusion that readers can benefit little from the pre­ processing of information in the parafovea unless that information can be supplemented with contextual expectations.
Reversible pulmonary hypertension and isolated right-sided heart failure associated with hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism may present with signs and symptoms related to dysfunction of a variety of organs. Cardiovascular pathology in hyperthyroidism is common. A few case reports describe isolated right heart failure, tricuspid regurgitation, and pulmonary hypertension as the prominent cardiovascular manifestations of hyperthyroidism. Although most textbooks do not mention hyperthyroidism as a cause of pulmonary hypertension and isolated right heart failure, the literature suggests that some hyperthyroid patients may develop reversible pulmonary hypertension and isolated right heart failure. We report a case of hyperthyroidism presenting with signs and symptoms of isolated right heart failure, tricuspid regurgitation, and pulmonary hypertension, which resolved with treatment of hyperthyroidism.
General Strain Theory and the Relationship Between Early Victimization and Drug Use

This study uses general strain theory to examine the direct and indirect relationship between early victimization and drug use. Few previous studies measure strain as victimization. Also, past studies tend to combine drug use measures with delinquency measures. This study expands this research by operationalizing strain as early victimization and using measures of both frequency and onset of drug use. National Survey of Adolescents data is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that when youth are victimized they will use drugs more frequently and use drugs at a younger age. These relationships were only partially mediated by social bonds and negative emotions.
Icy martian mysteries

Both Mars and Earth have experienced ice ages in geologically recent times. Coincidence of the phenomenon on two planets will further the scientific quest to answer the question of how ice ages originate.
Halohydrocarbon Synthesis by Bromoperoxidase

An enzyme extracted from marine red algae, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, is capable of incorporating bromine into a number of organic substrates in the pH range 5 to 8. At pH 7.3, incubation of partially purified preparations of bromoperoxidase with hydrogen peroxide, bromide ion, and 3-oxooctanoic acid leads to the formation of three volatile brominated hydrocarbons: dibromomethane, bromoform, and 1-pentyl bromide. The presence of significant quantities of halometabolites including volatile halohydrocarbons in marine organisms, ocean waters, and the upper atmosphere may result from peroxidase-catalyzed halogenation reactions.
Tension in a bicubic surface patch

Methods of introducting local tension into a bicubic surface patch are discussed. Tension, the reduction of are length, in the scalar valued case is achieved by a change of basis, and for the vector-value patch, by the convex hull property. The ability to reduce are length along boundary curves allows the user to change the surface area of a patch. This change does not affect the derivative at the corners of the patch. Thus, this gives to the user a very natural handle on the patch.
Changing patterns of septic tenosynovitis of the distal extremities

The medical literature reports that human pyogenic tenosynovitis occurs almost exclusively in flexor tendons of distal extremities with only rare case reports in extensor compartments. We report a series of patients with septic extensor compartment tenosynovitis of the extremity. Twenty cases of septic tenosynovitis tendons of the wrist, hands, feet, and ankles were presented to our emergency department over a 4.17-year period, 15 men (one, twice over a 2.5-year span) and 4 women with an average age of 39 years. Diagnosis was made using CT (n = 6), MRI (n = 14), and in one case ultrasound (US). All cases were confirmed surgically. During the data collection period, no case of flexor septic tenosynovitis were presented. All patients were intravenous drug users. All imaging modalities showed fluid within the infected tendon sheaths and evidence of enhancement after contrast administration where contrast was administered. The single US showed hypervascularity on Doppler imaging. All wrist and hand infections (n = 15) occurred in the non-dominant hand, and all cases involved the fourth and next most commonly (n = 9 each) in the second and third extensor compartments. In the ankle and foot (n = 5), the extensor digitorum longus tendon was most commonly infected. Twelve patients (60 %) had soft tissue abscesses adjacent to infected tendon sheaths. The most common organism cultured from the tendon sheaths was Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin sensitive and resistant and often admixed with other flora. Common use of intravenous drugs now makes extensor septic tenosynovitis an important clinical diagnosis and likely now more common than flexor septic tenosynovitis.
SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF AROMATIC POLYETHER-ESTERS DERIVED FROM HYDROXY ACID-TYPE MONOMERS

Aromatic polyether-esters were synthesized from hydroxy acid-type monomers, in order to obtain melt-processable, crystalline aromatic polymers. Poly (oxy-1, 4-phenyleneoxy-1, 3-phenylenecarbonyl) had a melting temperature of 292°C and poly (oxy-1, 4-phenyleneoxy-1, 4-phenyleneoxy-1, 4-phenylenecarbonyl) had those of 307, 326°C (double peaks). Both polymers could be melt-spun to yield fibers having moderate tensile properties and fairly good heat durability at 220°C.
Active commuting to school: an overlooked source of childrens' physical activity?

The assessment and promotion of children's healthful physical activity is important: (i) to combat the international obesity epidemic that extends to childhood; and (ii) to establish an early habit of lifestyle physical activity that can be sustained into adolescence and adulthood. The primary focus of both assessment and promotion efforts has been on in-school physical education classes and, to a lesser extent, out-of-school structured exercise, sport and play. A potential source of continuous moderate activity, active commuting to school by means of walking or by bicycle, has been largely ignored in surveys of physical activity. Suggestive evidence of steep declines in the amount of children's destination walking can be gleaned from national transportation surveys. At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase in the reported use of motorised vehicles, including the use for chauffeuring children. There is very little evidence to support or refute active commuting to school as an important source of children's physical activity; however, this is largely because it has been overlooked in the stampede to assess time in more vigorous activities. The promotion of active commuting to school must be considered in the context of parents' real and perceived concerns for their children's personal and pedestrian safety. We certainly do not have a full understanding at this time of all the factors related to decisions about transportation mode, whether by child, parent, community, or school. Such information is necessary if successful and sustainable interventions can be implemented, important transport policy decisions can be made, and community and school designs can be modified. Practice rarely waits for research, however, and there are numerous examples of innovative programming, policies and environmental designs occurring internationally that can serve as natural experiments for enterprising researchers willing to push the envelope of our understanding of active commuting and children's physical activity. Since we know so little, there is much to learn. KW: SR2S Language: en
Case Report: Testicular failure possibly associated with chronic use of methylphenidate.

Methylphenidate is a commonly prescribed treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, little is known about its adverse effects on the male reproductive system. We report a 20-year-old male patient whose chief complaint was of delayed puberty. He spoke in a high-pitched voice and complained of lack of body hair, impaired libido, inadequate erectile function, chronic fatigue, and low energy. He had been treated with methylphenidate as an infant and had continued treatment for 17 years. On examination, the patient was lean and visibly lacked facial or body hair. He further explained that he had never been able to grow underarm or facial hair and that he was often mistakenly considered a young teenager rather than a 20-year-old. The patient’s genitalia were categorized as Tanner Stage 2. Laboratory studies confirmed low serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone levels. The patient was given exogenous testosterone supplementation with pellets and human chorionic gonadotropin to maintain testicular size. After 4 months his symptoms improved and he demonstrated signs of puberty. Our goal is to further elucidate the possible impact of methylphenidate on the male reproductive system.
High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of morphine and its 3- and 6-glucuronide metabolites by two-step solid-phase extraction.

Abstract To provide more accurate measurement of morphine and its metabolites for a study of the genetic differences on morphine response, a method for the analysis of morphine and its metabolites is described which has the advantages of increased sensitivity and specificity by using a cleaner extraction. The new extraction method involves both the hydrophobic isolation on a carbon cartridge and ion-exchange isolation on ion-exchange resin which has not preliminary been described for morphine analysis. The combination of these two steps successfully purified drugs from human plasma with maximum removal of interfering substance comparing with a conventional C 18 cartridge alone. The analytes are quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography on a reversed-phase C 18 column employing a mobile phase consisting of 25% acetonitrile in 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 2.1), and 2.5 m M sodium dodecyl sulfate as the pairing ion with a combination of electrochemical and fluorometric detections. The recoveries for morphine (M), morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G), morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) and hydromorphone after the SPE procedure were 86±7.1%, 82±6.9%, 79±6.0% and 85±6.0%, respectively. Limits of detection for this method are 0.1 ng/ml for M, and 0.18 ng/ml for M3G and M6G. Limits of quantitation were approximately 0.25 ng/ml for M, and 0.45 ng/ml for M3G and M6G. The present assay was applied to measure M, M3G and M6G content in human plasma to test the applicability and suitability of this method for clinical and research use.
Management of preterm premature rupture of membranes: a Lack of a national consensus

A questionnaire concerning the management of women with preterm premature rupture of membranes was sent to the members of the Society of Perinatal Obstetricians. Expectant management was recommended by 97% of the respondents. There was no consensus about the role and frequency of steroids, blood work, ultrasound examination, and fetal monitoring in the follow-up of these patients.
Are Corruption Indices a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? A Social Labeling Perspective of Corruption

Rankings of countries by perceived corruption have emerged over the past decade as leading indicators of governance and development. Designed to highlight countries that are known to be corrupt, their objective is to encourage transparency and good governance. High rankings on corruption, it is argued, will serve as a strong incentive for reform. The practice of ranking and labeling countries “corrupt,” however, may have a perverse effect. Consistent with Social Labeling Theory, we argue that perceptual indices can encourage the loss of needed investment and, thus, contribute to higher rates of corruption within unfavorably ranked countries. In effect, corruption indices may inhibit foreign direct investment, the effect of which is to encourage the status quo in terms of corruption ranking. Using an experimental study design, we test the effects of country corruption rankings on the assessment of country investment desirability and find ranking exposure causes shifts in country investment desirability for 10 of 12 countries studied. These findings suggest that corruption rankings, which are based on perceptions of corruption, may cause country isolation and a reduction in legitimate means of investment.
Chimerism and tolerance in rat recipients of intestinal allografts from ALS-treated donors with and without adjunct naïve-donor-strain bone-marrow cells.

Background. BN → LEW small-intestine transplantation (SITx) given a 28-day course of tacrolimus results in partial tolerance and prolonged alloengraftment despite the development of indolent chronic rejection (CR). We determined whether the CR was associated with the quantity or quality of passenger leukocytes contained in the unmodified or antilymphocyte serum (ALS)-depleted BN intestine at the time of transplantation, and with the subsequent migration and persistence of these donor leukocytes in the LEW recipients (chimerism). Methods. Four experimental cohorts were defined by differences of the BN allografts and by the infusion (or not) of naive donor (bone marrow cells [BMC]) on the day of the BN → LEW SITx. All LEW recipients were treated with the same 28-day course of tacrolimus. The LEW animals received: (1) unaltered intestine; (2) intestine from ALS-treated donor; (3) intestine from ALS-treated donor plus BMC from naive BN donor on day 0; and (4) unaltered intestine and BMC from unmodified (naive) BN donor. Results. Blood chimerism during the first 2 weeks after transplantation was lowest in the recipients of intestine from ALS-treated donors (groups 2 and 3), apparently because of the nearly complete elimination from the bowel of αβTCR + passenger leukocytes. After 2 weeks posttransplant to 5 months, greater than 2% of circulating donor cells were seen in animals given adjunct BMC from naive BN donors (groups 3 and 4); this was associated with the absence of CR in the intestinal allografts. With lower levels of chimerism, moderate CR including arteritis and fibrosis in the Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes was found in the intestinal grafts of all group 1 and group 2 animals. Nevertheless, the CR-prone recipients in groups 1 and 2 had equivalent weight gain for greater than or equal to 150 days as in the CR-free groups 3 and 4. Detailed tissue chimerism studies in groups 1 to 3 showed that most of the donor cells in the gut-associated lymphoid tissues were rapidly replaced, but that the residual donor constituency of up to 6% in the allografts of group 3 was nearly 10-fold greater at 150 days than in groups 1 and 2 and closely reflected the findings in blood. Conclusion. The development of CR in intestinal allografts to which the recipients are partially tolerant is associated with a decline with time of donor-leukocyte chimerism. Multilineage chimerism in the recipient, and a similar profile of donor cells in the allografts, is better achieved with infused donor BMC than with the normal intestinal passenger leukocytes of the intestine. The difference may be because of a higher number of precursor and pluripotent stem cells in BMC.
Hippocampal long-term depression: Arachidonic acid as a potential retrograde messenger

Long-term depression (LTD) was studied in hippocampal slices from neonatal rats at the synapse between CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons. The induction of LTD requires the pairing of Ca2+ influx into the postsynaptic CA1 neuron through voltage-gated calcium channels with activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors. The expression of this LTD is at least partly presynaptic, implying the need for a retrograde messenger. We present evidence that arachidonic acid might serve such a function. Thus, arachidonic acid applications simulate LTD whereas blockade of arachidonic acid release inhibits LTD.
On assessing treatment in multiple sclerosis

For many neuroscientists statistics are of little importance. It is assumed that provided the experiment is designed carefully the differences between test and control values will be beyond dispute, and, by altering one variable at a time, it is hoped that the interpretation of the data will be uncomplicated. Yet this is the complete antithesis of the complex biological problem facing the clinician trying to assess the marginal effects of some new drug or treatment. Indeed, the very idea of a controlled experiment is unethical to some. In this article John Kurtzke examines some of the problems associated with the assessment of treatment in multiple sclerosis.
Stock Returns, Aggregate Earnings Surprises, and Behavioral Finance

We study the stock market reaction to aggregate earnings news. Previous research shows that, for individual firms, stock prices react positively to earnings news but require several quarters to fully reflect the information in earnings. We find that the relation between returns and earnings is substantially different in aggregate data. First, returns are unrelated to past earnings, suggesting that prices neither underreact nor overreact to aggregate earnings news. Second, aggregate returns are negatively correlated with concurrent earnings; over the last 30 years, stock prices increased 6.5% in quarters with negative earnings growth and only 1.9% otherwise. This finding suggests that earnings and discount rates move together over time, and provides new evidence that discount-rate shocks explain a significant fraction of aggregate stock returns.
Wetting of francolite and quartz and its significance in the flotation of phosphate rock

Abstract Water contact angles in the air/water/francolite, fuel oil/water/francolite and fuel oil/water/quartz systems were measured to describe the wetting characteristics of these minerals. It was found that white francolite is more hydrophilic than black and tan francolite both in the absence and presence of fatty acid addition. Further, experimental data showed that francolite has a natural affinity for fuel oil in an aqueous environment, as indicated by advancing and receding oil contact angles of 130–140° and 0–10°, respectively. In contrast, the clean quartz surface did not show such affinity. Fatty acids dissolved in the aqueous phase further improved the hydrophobicity of francolite and enhanced the spreading of fuel oil over the francolite surface. On the other hand, fatty acids had a negligible effect on the wetting properties of the quartz surface. Based on these experimental results, the significance of high solids conditioning for effective phosphate flotation in the presence of fatty acid and fuel oil is discussed including the mechanisms of oil transfer from quartz particles to francolite particles. A new concept on the oil transfer from quartz particles to francolite particles is supported with high-speed video images of film phenomenon captured under stagnant conditions for a model system.
Tunneling asymmetry: A test of superconductivity mechanisms

Abstract Within the conventional electron-phonon mechanism of superconductivity, normal-insulator-superconductor (N-I-S) tunneling characteristics are expected to be symmetric with respect to the sign of the bias voltage. A recently proposed mechanism of superconductivity based on pairing of hole carries predicts an asymmetry of universal sign: the tunneling current should be larger for a negatively biased sample. We suggest a search for this asymmetry in conventional superconductors, as well as in “hole” and “electron” oxide superconductors: its systematic observation would provide direct evidence in favor of the hole pairing mechanism of superconductivity.
Improving healthcare warehouse operations through 5S

Typically, Lean strategies in healthcare aim at improving patient throughput, reducing medication errors, redesigning work flow, improving patient safety, and reducing cycle time. Documented studies to improve healthcare's warehouse operations are not common in the literature. Managing types of medical supplies has always been a priority due to demand uncertainties and the risk of shortages that would profoundly affect patient safety. This study showcases two implementation approaches of the Lean tool 5S (Hybrid and Traditional) conducted in three different hospitals’ central warehouses at Ochsner Health System. These warehouses store similar medical products with over 1,000 types of supplies (e.g., syringes, gloves, primary IV) that supply different departments within hospitals and clinics. The objective was to compare the impact of implementing Hybrid 5S (integrated with inventory management techniques and process improvement tools) with Traditional 5S to improve healthcare warehouse operations. Both ap...