cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Access to the native atria following conduit total cavopulmonary anastomosis.

Objectives We describe the use of trans-thoracic and trans-conduit puncture to access the atria and perform interventional procedures in patients who have undergone conduit total cavopulmonary anastomosis. Background Catheter access to the atria following intra or extra-cardiac Fontan is desirable when there is a need for trans-atrial interventions. Methods Between 2009 and 2014, 5 patients ages 7 to 28 years underwent this approach; three trans-thoracic and 2 trans-conduit punctures. Various therapeutic aims were achieved. Included are: placement of pacing wire in the left atrial appendage, access to re-canalized left superior vena cava via the coronary sinus for device occlusion eliminating cyanosis, access with subsequent device closure of a dormant pulmonary valve thought to be the nidus of an embolic event, and access to the atria for ablation of an atrial tachycardia. Results Entry to the atria was successful in all five patients with either trans-thoracic access or trans-conduit puncture with subsequent intended intervention performed successfully. Conclusions Trans-conduit puncture and trans-thoracic access may allow therapeutic procedures which mitigate the need for further open heart surgery. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Inpatient Choledocholithiasis Requiring ERCP and Cholecystectomy: Outcomes of a Combined Single Inpatient Procedure Versus Separate-Session Procedures

Separate-session endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERCP) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the usual method for management of inpatient choledocholithiasis. Our goal was to compare single operative-session LC and ERCP to a multi-session approach for both the same hospitalization and within 30 days after; there is limited data comparing the three groups. A retrospective review on inpatients with choledocholithiasis that underwent ERCP and LC was performed. Single operative-session ERCP + LC (SOS group) and separate hospitalization ERCP + LC (DH group) were compared against the control cohort: separate-session ERCP + LC performed during the same hospitalization (SH group). Among the 214 cases, 37 (17%) had LC + ERCP performed under a single operative session (SOS), 130 (60.7%) cases had LC + ERCP performed in separate operative sessions during the same hospitalization (SH), and 47 (22%) cases had LC + ERCP performed in different hospitalizations, within 30 days (DH). There was no statistically significant difference in efficacy or adverse events. The SOS group had a statistically significant mean shorter length of hospital stay as compared to the SH and DH groups (5.46 vs 7.15 vs 9.38; p = 0.05 and 0.02). There was a statistically significant reduction in the total cost of care in the SOS group versus the SH group ($59,221 vs $75, 808; p = 0.007). The SOS approach is safe, efficacious, and cost-efficient when compared to separate operative sessions. This approach can be considered in situations where it is preferable for the patient to undergo a single session of anesthesia, without compromising technical success and safety.
Chromatin immunoprecipitation of HIF-α in breast tumor cells using wild type and loss of function models

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful method to determine whether a protein of interest binds to specific regulatory elements of the genome. Herein, we outline protocols optimized to detect binding of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1α or HIF-2α to putative hypoxia response elements (HREs) within HIF target genes expressed in breast tumor epithelial cells.
Near-surface soils: self-supported unconfined drained sand specimens

Knowledge about soil behaviour in the near surface is fundamental to a broad range of military strategic research efforts. The prevailing mathematical representations of near-surface shear strength...
Microsatellites in Shrimp Species

A review of microsatellites in shrimp is presented. Microsatellites are abundant and polymorphic and should be useful for molecular studies, particularly those involving population genetic structure. Microsatellites are likely to become an increasingly important tool to help in the understanding of shrimp species with applications to aquaculture, ecology, conservation, and genetics.
2-Acetyl­phenyl­boronic acid monohydrate

The title compound, C8H9BO3·H2O, displays extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding of mol­ecules of 2-acetyl­phenyl­boronic acid with each other and with mol­ecules of water, producing infinite, two-dimensional molecular layers. There is no intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the ortho C=O and (HO)2B substituents.
Correlation of Non-Linear Rheological Properties of Polymer Melts With Weld-Line Strength

Weld-lines are formed either by the direct impingement of two flowing fronts or by the rejoining of a melt stream previously separated by an obstacle, such as an insert. In both cases, the elongational flow field at the interface causes molecular orientation that is predominantly along, rather than across the weld region. In general, the presence of weld-lines reduces mechanical strength and affects surface appearance of the molded part. Although the reduction in strength of a part as the result of a weld-line is a widely recognized problem, a review of the literature reveals that there is very little fundamental understanding of the mechanism which accounts for the formation of a weld-line.
Strategies to Conserve and Enhance Sandy Barrier Habitat for Horseshoe Crabs ( Limulus polyphemus ) on Developed Shorelines in Delaware Bay, United States

The ability to successfully manage estuarine shorelines requires balancing ecological function with societal demands. The sandy barriers of Delaware Bay provide important spawning habitat for horseshoe crabs but they are modified for shore protection. This chapter provides a review of the sandy shoreline resources within Delaware Bay; describes the spatial and temporal scales of processes that govern their dimensions, location, morphology, and sedimentary characteristics; compares management programs in the state of Delaware and New Jersey for managing sandy shorelines in the estuary; and provides examples of the status of developed sandy barriers where high levels of horseshoe crab spawning occur.
Ethics Consultation, Professional Praxis, and What it Means to Be a “Consultant”

The situation described by Finder in “The Zadeh Scenario” is a very familiar one to those of us who work as ethicists in United States hospitals. The outcome he records, however, is unusually benign; indeed, and unfortunately, in many US hospitals the ultimately unresolved/unmediated conflict he describes would almost certainly result in the patient’s being subjected to futile attempts at life-prolongation and resuscitation. In this sense, the outcome of this ethics consultation might be considered “good” insofar as it did not result in such futile attempts. But that sense of “good” is fleeting given other concerns which serve as the focus of this chapter.
Forty Years of Progress in the Study of the Hydrogen Bond

The author looks back at developments over the last few decades concerning the H–bond. The list of atoms involved as proton donor and acceptor has broadened dramatically, including most electronegative atoms and even metals. The factors that control the transfer of the proton across the H–bond have been elucidated and show the importance of even minor changes in its geometry. Small stretches can shut down the transfer entirely, and certain bends can force a proton to transfer against a pK gradient. Along with the recognition that a CH..O interaction can represent a true H–bond, and one with strength comparable to more traditional H–bonds, has come an understanding of its contributions to protein structure and function. The replacement of the bridging of H by any of a litany of electronegative atoms leads to similarly strong interactions, with many features virtually indistinguishable from a true H–bond. These noncovalent interactions are typically referred to as halogen, chalcogen, pnicogen, and tetrel bonds, depending upon the identity of the substitute bridging atom.
A Visualization Tool for Cryo-EM Protein Validation with an Unsupervised Machine Learning Model in Chimera Platform.

Background: Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has become a major technique for protein structure determination. However, due to the low quality of cryo-EM density maps, many protein structures derived from cryo-EM contain outliers introduced during the modeling process. The current protein model validation system lacks identification features for cryo-EM proteins making it not enough to identify outliers in cryo-EM proteins. Methods: This study introduces an efficient unsupervised outlier detection model for validating protein models built from cryo-EM technique. The current model uses a high-resolution X-ray dataset (<1.5 A) as the reference dataset. The distal block distance, side-chain length, phi, psi, and first chi angle of the residues in the reference dataset are collected and saved as a database of the histogram-based outlier score (HBOS). The HBOS value of the residues in target cryo-EM proteins can be read from this HBOS database. Results: Protein residues with a HBOS value greater than ten are labeled as outliers by default. Four datasets containing proteins derived from cryo-EM density maps were tested with this probabilistic anomaly detection model. Conclusions: According to the proposed model, a visualization assistant tool was designed for Chimera, a protein visualization platform.
Pesticides in Agriculture and the Environment

Three decades of federal integrated pest management policy biological control economic issues of agricultural pesticide use and policy in the United States risk assessment environmental fate of pesticides pesticide residue procedures for rawagricultural commodities - an international view pest management issues on minor crops arthropod resistance to pesticides - status and overview new technologies for the delivery of pesticides in agriculture evolution of the crop protection industry.
Studying Shallow and Deep Convolutional Neural Networks as Learned Numerical Schemes on the 1D Heat Equation and Burgers' Equation

This paper examines the coincidence of neural networks with numerical methods for solving spatiotemporal physical problems. Neural networks are used to learn predictive numerical models from trajectory datasets from two well understood 1D problems: the heat equation and the inviscid Burgers' equation. Coincidence with established numerical methods is shown by demonstrating that a single layer convolutional neural network (CNN) converges to a traditional finite difference stencil for the heat equation. However, a discriminator-based adversarial training method, such as those used in generative adversarial networks (GANs), does not find the expected weights. A compact deep CNN is applied to nonlinear Burgers' equation, where the models' architecture is reminiscent of existing winding finite volume methods. By searching over architectures and using multiple recurrent steps in the training loss, a model is found that can integrate in time, recurring on its outputs, with similar accuracy and stability to Godunov's method.
The Tsiolkovskiy crater landslide, the moon: An LROC view

Abstract Evidence suggests that the lobate flow feature that extends ~72 km outward from the western rim of Tsiolkovskiy crater is a long runout landslide. This landslide exhibits three (possibly four) morphologically different parts, likely caused by local conditions. All of these, plus the ejecta of Tsiolkovskiy crater, and its mare fill are approximately of the same crater model age, i.e., ~3.55 ± 0.1 Ga. The enormous size of this landslide is unique on the Moon and is a result of a combination of several geometric factors (e.g., its location relative to Fermi crater), and that Tsiolkovskiy crater was an oblique impact that produced an ejecta forbidden zone on its western side (Schultz, 1976). The landslide formed in this ejecta free zone as the rim of Tsiolkovskiy collapsed and its debris flowed across the relatively smooth, flat floor of Fermi crater. In this location, it could be easily identified as a landslide and not ejecta. Its mobility and coefficient of friction are similar to landslides in Valles Marineris on Mars, but less than wet or even dry terrestrial natural flows. This suggests that the Mars landslides may have been emplaced dry. The high density of small craters on the landslide is likely an illusion caused by the effects of age related differences in regolith thickness on crater morphology, and the presence of the abundant young, circular secondary craters produce by debris ejected from distant fresh craters.
Host-based anomaly detection using Eigentraces feature extraction and one-class classification on system call trace data.

This paper proposes a methodology for host-based anomaly detection using a semi-supervised algorithm namely one-class classifier combined with a PCA-based feature extraction technique called Eigentraces on system call trace data. The one-class classification is based on generating a set of artificial data using a reference distribution and combining the target class probability function with artificial class density function to estimate the target class density function through the Bayes formulation. The benchmark dataset, ADFA-LD, is employed for the simulation study. ADFA-LD dataset contains thousands of system call traces collected during various normal and attack processes for the Linux operating system environment. In order to pre-process and to extract features, windowing on the system call trace data followed by the principal component analysis which is named as Eigentraces is implemented. The target class probability function is modeled separately by Radial Basis Function neural network and Random Forest machine learners for performance comparison purposes. The simulation study showed that the proposed intrusion detection system offers high performance for detecting anomalies and normal activities with respect to a set of well-accepted metrics including detection rate, accuracy, and missed and false alarm rates.
Integrative pathways: navigating chronic illness with a mind-body-spirit approach

It is a true pleasure to be asked to write a review of McGrady’s and Moss’s book, Integrative Pathways: Navigating Chronic Illness with a Mind-Body-Spirit Approach– a surprisingly rich, informative...
Tuning parameter selection for a penalized estimator of species richness.

Our goal is to estimate the true number of classes in a population, called the species richness. We consider the case where multiple frequency count tables have been collected from a homogeneous po...
Time-Varying Depressive Symptoms and Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality: Does the Risk Vary by Age or Sex?

Background Depressive symptoms are associated with mortality. Data regarding moderation of this effect by age and sex are inconsistent, however. We aimed to identify whether age and sex modify the ...
Data-Driven Assessment of Deep Neural Networks with Random Input Uncertainty.

When using deep neural networks to operate safety-critical systems, assessing the sensitivity of the network outputs when subject to uncertain inputs is of paramount importance. Such assessment is commonly done using reachability analysis or robustness certification. However, certification techniques typically ignore localization information, while reachable set methods can fail to issue robustness guarantees. Furthermore, many advanced methods are either computationally intractable in practice or restricted to very specific models. In this paper, we develop a data-driven optimization-based method capable of simultaneously certifying the safety of network outputs and localizing them. The proposed method provides a unified assessment framework, as it subsumes state-of-the-art reachability analysis and robustness certification. The method applies to deep neural networks of all sizes and structures, and to random input uncertainty with a general distribution. We develop sufficient conditions for the convexity of the underlying optimization, and for the number of data samples to certify and localize the outputs with overwhelming probability. We experimentally demonstrate the efficacy and tractability of the method on a deep ReLU network.
Exploring the determinants of choosing an academic destination under a short-term mobility: a cross-cultural comparison of Poland and Portugal

The present study attempts to propose a model integrating different factors that influence the decision-making process of choosing foreign academic destinations for short-term mobility. The theoret...
Repeated allergic asthma in early versus late pregnancy differentially impacts offspring brain and behavior development.

Abstract Background Stress during pregnancy and maternal inflammation are two common prenatal factors that impact offspring development. Asthma is the leading chronic condition complicating pregnancy and a common source of prenatal stress and inflammation. Objective The goal of this study was to characterize the developmental impact of repeated allergic asthma inflammation during pregnancy on offspring behavioral outcomes and brain inflammation. Methods Pregnant female C57BL/6 mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) or PBS vehicle control and then randomly assigned to receive daily aerosol exposures to the same OVA or PBS treatment during early, gestational days (GD) 2-GD9, or late pregnancy, GD10-GD17. Maternal sera were collected after the first and last aerosol induction regimen and measured for concentrations of corticosterone, anti-OVA IgE, and cytokine profiles. Juvenile male and female offspring were assessed for locomotor and social behaviors and later as adults assessed for anxiety-like, and marble burying behaviors using a series of behavioral tasks. Offspring brains were evaluated for region-specific differences in cytokine concentrations. Results In early gestation, both PBS and OVA-exposed dams had similar serum corticosterone concentration at the start (GD2) and end (GD9) of daily aerosol inductions. Only OVA-exposed dams showed elevations in cytokines that imply a diverse and robust T helper cell-mediated immune response. Male offspring of early OVA-exposed dams showed decreases in open-arm exploration in the elevated plus maze and increased marble burying without concomitant changes in locomotor activity or social interactions. These behavioral deficits in early OVA-exposed male offspring were associated with lower concentrations of G-CSF, IL-4, IL-7, IFNγ, and TNFα in the hypothalamus. In late gestation, both PBS and OVA-exposed dams had increased corticosterone levels at the end of daily aerosol inductions (GD17) compared to at the start of inductions (GD10). Male offspring from both PBS and OVA-exposed dams in late gestation showed similar decreases in open arm exploration on the elevated plus maze compared to OVA male offspring exposed in early gestation. No behavioral differences were present in female offspring across all treatment groups. However, females of dams exposed to OVA during early gestation displayed similar reductions as males in hypothalamic G-CSF, IL-7, IL-4, and IFNγ. Discussion The inflammatory responses from maternal allergic asthma in early gestation and resulting increases in anxiety-like behavior in males support a link between the timing of prenatal insults and sex-specific developmental outcomes. Moreover, the heightened stress responses in late gestation and concomitant dampened inflammatory response to allergic asthma suggest that interactions between the maternal immune and stress-response systems shape early life fetal programming.
Phase-field model of precipitation processes with coherency loss

A phase-field model is proposed to simulate coherency loss coupled with microstructure evolution. A special field variable is employed to describe the degree of coherency loss of each particle and its evolution is governed by a Ginzburg-Landau type kinetic equation. For the sake of computational efficiency, a flood-fill algorithm is introduced that can drastically reduce the required number of field variables, which allows the model to efficiently simulate a large number of particles sufficient for characterizing their statistical features during Ostwald ripening. The model can incorporate size dependence of coherency loss, metastability of coherent particles, and effectively incorporate the underlying mechanisms of coherency loss by introducing a so-called differential energy criterion. The model is applied to simulate coarsening of Al3Sc precipitates in aluminum alloy and comprehensively compared with experiments. Our results clearly show how the particle size distribution is changed during coherency loss and affects the coarsening rate.
Distributed control of linear multiagent systems with global and local objectives

Abstract In this paper, we consider distributed control problems for high-order linear time-invariant multiagent systems with not only global but also local objectives over fixed directed communication graph topologies. The former is either leaderless synchronization or synchronization to a leader. Local objectives for a subset of agents, on the other hand, are tasks determined around the global objective by agent-specific exosystems. First, we construct reference models for all agents via two existing synchronization results, introduce two classes of distributed controllers, and define the considered problems. We then solve them by utilizing the converging-input converging-state property for a class of linear systems and the feedforward design methodology from the linear output regulation theory. Finally, numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the problems and the theoretical results.
Analytical and Clinical Considerations in Implementing the Roche Elecsys Troponin T Gen 5 STAT Assay.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the analytical and clinical performance characteristics of the fifth-generation troponin T reagent. METHODS Troponin T was measured in 2,332 paired serum and plasma samples from emergency department and hospital patients using the fourth- and fifth-generation reagents. Testing was repeated after recentrifugation to determine the frequency of analytical outliers and percentage of patients with elevated values for each assay. We conducted separate experiments to determine the effects of biotin and hemolysis interference, as well as measure interinstrument variability, for fifth-generation troponin T. RESULTS Analytic outliers occurred more frequently using the fifth-generation reagent (3.4%) compared with the fourth-generation reagent (1.0%). The frequency of elevated troponin T above the 99th percentile upper reference limit was 26% for the fourth-generation reagent and 52% for the fifth-generation reagent. Clinically significant assay interference by biotin was observed at 20 ng/mL, but hemolysis interference was not observed until an H index of 150. Instrument-to-instrument variability between e411 and e601/602 instrument platforms is predicted to confound clinical interpretation of troponin changes. CONCLUSIONS Analytical outliers and instrument-to-instrument variability are the two analytical variables most likely to confound interpretation of changes in fifth-generation troponin T results over time.
A new amorphous Mo46Co54 alloy prepared by high-rate sputter deposition

An amorphous Mo/sub 46/Co/sub 54/ alloy was prepared, which assembled the amorphous W/sub 50/Fe/sub 50/ alloy. At low magnifications, the alloy showed a featureless microstructure with broad diffraction rings. At high magnification, the microstructures had the salt and pepper feature. The alloy has a high microhardness indicating a strong covalent bonding. Density, thermal effects, and fracture properties were measured. (FS)
Foucault Concept Communication: An Examination of Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of people who strive to work through and find a solution to their problems with alcohol. While previous research on the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous has covered a wide range of topics, there is a gap that exists in the discourse community. This gap can be best summed up as a lack of comprehensive and exhaustive discourse analysis to examine the 12-step program AA. The discourse analysis completed in this document aims to examine AA through the lens of how language use in multiple texts provided by Alcoholics Anonymous function or serve as mechanisms to members of the fellowship. Michel Foucault and his poststructuralist work explicate the concepts that most clearly reflect the mechanisms and functions of the language within the discourse of AA. This thesis uses discourse analysis to examine pieces of AA text in their entirety to draw connection between the concepts that Foucault sees as communicative of mechanisms and function in language and the language that Alcoholics Anonymous uses to help their members recover.
Cellular events in tolerance. VII. Decrease in tolerant spleens of PFC precursors stimulated in vitro by specific antigen or mitogen.

Abstract Spleen cells from adult mice rendered tolerant to the fluorescein (FL) hapten (as FL-sheep γ-globulin) were analyzed at limiting dilution for the numbers of precursors stimulatable either by specific antigen (FL-polymerized flagellin; FL-POL) or by a polyclonal B-cell activator (E. coli lipopolysaccharide; LPS). As expected, the number of PFC presursors activated by FL-POL was reduced more than fourfold in the spleens of FL-tolerant mice compared to normal controls. In contrast, LPS was able to trigger equivalent numbers of “FL-specific” PFC precursors in both normal and tolerant spleens. However, the clones stimulated by LPS were predominantly the “low-avidity” precursors in FL-tolerant spleens as shown by plaque inhibition studies. In addition, after FL-gelatin enrichment of normal or tolerant spleen cells, which contain equal numbers of antigen-binding cells, we found that purified cells from tolerant mice were in fact reduced in the numbers of clonable precursors upon LPS stimulation. Two other B-cell mitogens, POL and PPD, also failed to activate PFC precursors from FL-gelatin-purified tolerant spleen cells. Our results suggest that some high-avidity clones may be functionally deleted even in adult B-cell tolerance as previously noted for neonatal tolerance.
Latin American Economic Integration

During the past few months, Latin American countries have taken a number of initiatives in an effort to crystalize their frequently expressed desire for regional economic integration. Within the Andean Common Market (ANCOM), the Cartegena Agreement Commission approved the Arequipa Protocol, giving the group more time in which to meet its objectives. An Andean Reserve Fund was set up to help ANCOM member countries with any balance-of-payments problems they might have. Latin Americas newest integration group, the Amazon Pact, came into being with the signing of the Tratado de Cooperacion Amazonica. But, while these and other less publicized advances attest to the continued viability of the concept of regional economic cooperation within the Andean Common Market, the process of economic integration within other Latin American integrative groups appears to be in a state of lethargy, and, in the case of the Caribbean Community, disintegration.
Antagonism of the prostaglandin E2 EP1 receptor in MDCK cells increases growth through activation of Akt and the epidermal growth factor receptor (1012.6)

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays a number of roles in the kidney that are mediated by 4 classes of E-prostanoid (EP) receptors, including EP2 and EP4, which activate adenylate cyclase (AC), EP3 that inhibits AC, and EP1, that activates Phospholipase C. Each of these receptors contributes to a number of renal diseases. Here, the role of EP1, EP2 and EP4 in mediating the effects of PGE2 on MDCK cell growth is examined. The results indicate that EP2 and EP4 contribute to the growth stimulatory effect of PGE2, unlike EP1, which is growth inhibitory. Indeed, the EP1 antagonists ONO-8711 and SC51089 increase, rather than inhibit MDCK cell growth. Growth stimulatory effects of ONO-8711 and SC51089 were observed in the absence of exogenous PGE2. This latter effect was prevented by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor ibuprofen, indicating that EP1 mediated growth inhibition was dependent upon endogenous PGE2. Evidence was obtained that EP1 activation results in the inhibition of Akt signaling, including the observation that...
Flocculation, subsidence and filtration of phosphate slimes: VI. A quantitative theory of filtration of flocculated suspensions

Abstract A quantitative theory of filtration of suspensions flocculated with polymeric flocculants is developed. The theory, based upon a simple picture of the adsorption of the flocculant combined with considerations of floc geometry and the Kozeny-Carman permeability equation, explains the variations of filtration rate with flocculant concentration observed experimentally.
Two new kinds of stoicism

TWO NEW KINDS OF STOICISM by James Wallace Gray This thesis introduces two new kinds of Stoic ethics: Neo-Aristonianism and Common Sense Stoicism. Although Ancient Stoicism requires us to accept the existence of divine reason (God), the two new kinds of Stoicism were developed to avoid such a requirement. Ancient Stoic ethics insisted that everything that happens has equal value because everything is part of the divine plan. This theory of values coupled with a moral psychology that states that desires are caused by value judgments lead Ancient Stoics to reject passions. Anger, for example, is caused by the belief that someone has done something of negative value. Neo-Aristonianism and Common Sense Stoicism reject the fact that everything that happens has equal value, and will consequentially find that passions can be appropriate.
Facebooking It: Promoting Library Services to Young Adults through Social Media

With social media a normal part of the daily lives of young adults, librarians are using these sites to promote library services. This article investigates the perceptions and attitudes of librarians toward social media as a tool for libraries and explores the way librarians utilize social media to portray professional roles and responsibilities to young patrons. This author focuses on the pastoral role of librarians and discusses possibilities for performing this role through social media. Although presently under-researched, social media provides librarians with one more avenue to advocate for, engage with, and support young adults.
On the Use of LES with a Dynamic Subgrid-Scale Model for Optimal Control of Wall Bounded Turbulence

This paper presents techniques for optimal control of turbulent flows based on the dynamic subgrid-scale LES model. This control scheme has been implemented using a finite time-window approach where the flow sensitivity is computed from the adjoint LES equations. LES results for optimal control of terminal turbulent kinetic energy are compared to Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) under similar conditions. These comparisons indicate that optimal control based on LES can relaminarize low Reynolds number turbulent channel flow similar to results obtained using DNS but with significantly lower computational expense. Results are also presented for a novel hybrid LES/DNS scheme in which the optimization iterations are performed using LES while the flow is advanced in time using DNS. These hybrid simulations retain the computational efficiency of LES and the accuracy of DNS. Results from hybrid simulations clearly demonstrate that the controls computed based on LES optimization are also viable in the context of DNS. In all cases, the agreement between LES. DNS. and hybrid LES/DNS indicates that reliable turbulence control strategies can be efficiently developed based on LES.
3C-silicon carbide photoconductive switches

Photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) have unique advantages such as high breakdown field, high power, high speed, negligible time jitter and long lifetime. PCSS using conventional semiconductor materials such as silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) have limited application. At first, their breakdown fields are still not very high. For lateral Si and GaAs PCSS operating in linear mode, the breakdown electric field reported was only about 20 kV/cm/sup 2/. Secondly, owing to the thermal runaway effect as well as the lock-on effect, they can only operate in pulsed bias mode instead of continuous bias mode. Compared to Si and GaAs, silicon carbide (SiC), being a wide band gap material (2.2-3.3 eV), has a higher breakdown field (10 times higher than that of GaAs), higher thermal conductivity and higher electron saturated drift velocity. Furthermore, the high Si-C bonding energy of SiC makes it resistant to high temperature and radiation, and also results in high mechanical strength and chemical stability. All these properties of SiC are desired for PCSS devices. Therefore, better performances and more applications are expected for SiC PCSS. We report the results of PCSS devices fabricated on poly cubic SiC (3C-SiC), boron doped and unintentionally doped 3C-SiC materials. They were investigated by using the argon fluoride (ArF) excimer laser. The best results were obtained from the devices made of poly SiC materials. Their dark resistivity was as high as 10/sup 6/ /spl Omega/ cm. The highest breakdown field was at least 2.5/spl times/10/sup 5/ V/cm, which was limited by the surface flashover. The peak photocurrent density through the PCSS, when optically activated, was higher than 5 kA/cm/sup 2/. The ratio of the off-state resistance of the switches, i.e., without light shining on them, to the on-state resistance when illuminated with the pulsed laser of 1 MW (R/sub off//R/sub on/) was /spl sim/10/sup 5/. The lowest on-state resistance reached was 40 ohms. The width of the photocurrent pulse was /spl sim/15 ns, limited by the laser pulse width, indicating that the switches can operate at a frequency at least as high as 67 MHz. Neither lock-on nor thermal runaway effect was observed. The devices could operate in continuous bias mode at a voltage close to the breakdown voltage, which was 250 volts for 10 /spl mu/m gap devices.
Crosstalk reduction using nonuniform transmission lines

In this paper, a crosstalk reduction technique is proposed which utilizes nonuniform transmission lines. We investigate the effect of the nonuniform transmission line on the crosstalk reduction by simulation. We also present a comparison between coupled lines with uniform and nonuniform structures. Results show that using nonuniform guard line reduces crosstalk by more than 10db.
Quantification of native muskellunge nursery habitat: influence of body size, fish community composition, and vegetation structure

Habitat utilization of native young-of-the-year (YOY) muskellunge, Esox masquinongy, was quantified by the type and density of vegetation present, water depth, and fish communities associated with their presence and abundance in nursery bays of the Upper St. Lawrence River. We completed 441 seine hauls and captured 400 YOY muskellunge in 11 bays that were sampled each July and August over a 3-year period (2002–2004). We hypothesized a change in habitat utilization related to increasing body size, as YOY muskellunge doubled in total length from July to August. Fine-leafed submerged and emergent macrophytes and prey availability (cyprinids, Notropis sp., banded killifish, Fundulus diaphanous and tessellated darter, Etheostoma olmstedi), were positively related to muskellunge use in July, while in August coverage of broad-leafed submerged macrophytes and increased overall vegetation density were the best habitat descriptor. In both months, muskellunge were associated with moderate (20–60%) vegetation coverage and density, however, captures were in areas of significantly greater vegetation coverage and density than was generally available. A negative relation of muskellunge occurrence with water depth, yellow perch, Perca flavescens, and stonewort, Chara vulgaris, was observed in both months. The negative relationship between muskellunge and depth, plus their strong linkages to nearshore submerged vegetation and forage fish that inhabit the nearshore areas, highlights the importance of protecting the ecological integrity of nearshore habitats. Our findings should assist managers in protecting native stocks, planning restoration and enhancement initiatives, and in regulating riparian and nearshore development.
Experiential Avoidance in Individuals with Hoarding Disorder

Hoarding disorder (HD) has received increased research attention. A cognitive-behavioral model implicates dysfunctional beliefs about possessions in these problems. Although this model has received growing support, other perspectives are needed. A recent investigation in an undergraduate sample reported that experiential avoidance (EA) predicted hoarding symptoms above and beyond hoarding-specific beliefs. The present study attempted to replicate and extend those findings in a clinical sample. We compared individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for HD (N = 33) to matched healthy controls (N = 30), as well as other anxiety disorders (N = 32). Results revealed that the HD group experienced less EA compared to individuals with other anxiety disorders. Compared to healthy control individuals, those with HD experienced heightened EA, but this difference was attributable to group differences in the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Within the HD group, EA was not related to any domain of hoarding symptoms. In contrast, beliefs about possessions predicted hoarding behaviors (particularly excessive acquisition and difficulty discarding) above and beyond general distress. Implications for the role of EA in HD are discussed.
A Receptor for the Selective Uptake and Degradation of Proteins by Lysosomes

Multiple pathways of protein degradation operate within cells. A selective protein import pathway exists for the uptake and degradation of particular cytosolic proteins by lysosomes. Here, the lysosomal membrane glycoprotein LGP96 was identified as a receptor for the selective import and degradation of proteins within lysosomes. Specific substrates of this proteolytic pathway bound to the cytosolic tail of a 96-kilodalton lysosomal membrane protein in two different binding assays. Overexpression of human LGP96 in Chinese hamster ovary cells increased the activity of the selective lysosomal proteolytic pathway in vivo and in vitro.
Severe Obesity and Selected Risk Factors in a Sixth Grade Multiracial Cohort: The HEALTHY Study

The purpose of this study was to document the prevalence of severe obesity and associated risk in the HEALTHY cohort. A total of 6,365 students were assessed at school-based screenings. Results showed that 6.9% of students were severely obese. Severe obesity was associated with elevated cardiometabolic risk and race/ethnicity. Severe obesity is common and requires preventive intervention.
Content delivery and the natural evolution of DNS: remote dns trends, performance issues and alternative solutions

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) rely on the Domain Name System (DNS) for replica server selection. DNS-based server selection builds on the assumption that, in the absence of information about the client's actual network location, the location of a client's DNS resolver provides a good approximation. The recent growth of remote DNS services breaks this assumption and can negatively impact client's web performance. In this paper, we assess the end-to-end impact of using remote DNS services on CDN performance and present the first evaluation of an industry-proposed solution to the problem. We find that remote DNSusage can indeed significantly impact client's web performance and that the proposed solution, if available, can effectively address the problem for most clients. Considering the performance cost of remote DNS usage and the limited adoption base of the industry-proposed solution, we present and evaluate an alternative approach, Direct Resolution, to readily obtain comparable performance improvements without requiring CDN or DNS participation.
A case of simvastatin-associated pancreatitis and review of statin-associated pancreatitis.

Reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) concentration has become the primary goal and a standard of care in the practice of cholesterol management. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins, are the most frequently prescribed lipid-lowering agents on the market. As more information is learned through the results of clinical trials, LDL goals become more stringent and difficult to attain. Large doses of high-potency statins, sometimes given in combination with other lipid-lowering agents, are frequently necessary to achieve these goals. As a result, the frequency of adverse effects from statin therapy may be expected to increase, and less common adverse effects may occur more often. As statins are used more aggressively, rare and possibly dangerous adverse effects must be identified, especially those that are becoming more frequently encountered. Increased awareness may lead to earlier diagnosis and management of diseases that may be caused by the statins. We describe a 58-year-old man who was hospitalized with idiopathic pancreatitis 4 months after starting simvastatin therapy. His oral drug therapy was withheld, and he was treated with bowel rest. The patient was discharged on hospital day 5, and his oral drug regimen, including simvastatin, was resumed. He was admitted again 16 months later with a second diagnosis of acute pancreatitis and was discharged after 3 days of bowel rest with no oral drug therapy. Simvastatin was restarted on discharge, but the patient stopped taking it after experiencing muscle soreness and weakness in his arms. He recalled having similar arm pain that preceded the previous episode of acute pancreatitis. All other causes of the pancreatitis had been ruled out; thus, the correlation between simvastatin-induced myalgia and onset of acute pancreatitis on two separate occasions made simvastatin the suspected instigating agent. Pancreatitis is a rare adverse effect of statin therapy, but it has been documented in several case reports involving most of the statins. Continued reporting is necessary to increase awareness of this rare adverse effect of simvastatin so that it may be promptly managed or avoided in the future.
Sodium Absorption from the Exoplanetary Atmosphere of HD 189733b Detected in the Optical Transmission Spectrum

We present the first ground-based detection of sodium absorption in the transmission spectrum of an extrasolar planet. Absorption due to the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet HD 189733b is detected in both lines of the Na I doublet. High spectral resolution observations were taken of 11 transits with the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) on the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The Na I absorption in the transmission spectrum due to HD 189733b is (− 67.2 ± 20.7) × 10−5 deeper in the "narrow" spectral band that encompasses both lines relative to adjacent bands. The 1 σ error includes both random and systematic errors, and the detection is >3 σ. This amount of relative absorption in Na I for HD 189733b is ~3 times larger than that detected for HD 209458b by Charbonneau et al. (2002) and indicates that these two hot Jupiters may have significantly different atmospheric properties.
Global Model for Octanol‐Water Partition Coefficients from Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra

The ability to estimate chemical and physical properties from experimental spectra is highly desirable, as it eliminates the need for a priori knowledge of exact chemical structure and allows the property estimation of mixtures. Here we report the proof of principle that a predictive method for octanol-water partition coefficient (logP) based on 1H-NMR spectra in d3-chloroform is feasible and can yield accuracy comparable to in silico logP models. The Spectrometric Data-Activity Relationship (QSDAR) reported predicts logP of neutral organic chemicals using descriptors derived only from 1H-NMR chemical shifts, integrations and peak widths. Proton NMR spectra of 140 compounds with diverse structures were used to construct a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and a Partial Least Squares (PLS) model that predicts logP. The optimized models were internally validated by K-fold cross validation and leave-one-out validation, and externally with a test set of 28 chemicals. The squared regression coefficients of prediction for the MLR and PLS regression models were 0.970 and 0.971 respectively, showing that the method allows accurate prediction of logP values exclusively from predicted 1H NMR spectra.
Establishment and performance of an experimental green roof under extreme climatic conditions.

Abstract Green roofs alter the surface energy balance and can help in mitigating urban heat islands. However, the cooling of green roofs due to evapotranspiration strongly depends on the climatic conditions, and vegetation type and density. In the Southern Central Plains of the United States, extreme weather events, such as high winds, heat waves and drought conditions pose challenges for successful implementation of green roofs, and likely alter their standard performance. The National Weather Center Experimental Green Roof, an interdisciplinary research site established in 2010 in Norman, OK, aimed to investigate the ecological performance and surface energy balance of green roof systems. Starting in May 2010, 26 months of vegetation studies were conducted and the radiation balance, air temperature, relative humidity, and buoyancy fluxes were monitored at two meteorological stations during April–October 2011. The establishment of a vegetative community trended towards prairie plant dominance. High mortality of succulents and low germination of grasses and herbaceous plants contributed to low vegetative coverage. In this condition succulent diversity declined. Bouteloua gracilis and Delosperma cooperi showed typological dominance in harsh climatic conditions, while Sedum species experienced high mortality. The plant community diversified through volunteers such as Euphorbia maculate and Portulaca maculate . Net radiation measured at a green-roof meteorological station was higher than at a control station over the original, light-colored roofing material. These findings indicate that the albedo of the green roof was lower than the albedo of the original roofing material. The low vegetative coverage during the heat and drought conditions in 2011, which resulted in the dark substrate used in the green roof containers being exposed, likely contributed to the low albedo values. Nevertheless, air temperatures and buoyancy fluxes were often lower over the green roof indicating that higher evapotranspiration rates compensated for the higher net radiation at the green roof.
The predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale

This study assesses the predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale (PKRS) for later academic achievement and explores the utility of a domain-specific measure of kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten readiness scores were significantly correlated with both math and language arts achievement as measured by New York State fourth-grade assessments for 148 students in a suburban, northeastern public school. In addition, each of the PKRS domains (Verbal, Perceptual, and Auditory) was correlated with later academic achievement. Two simultaneously calculated regression analyses showed that language arts skills were best predicted by the Verbal and Auditory domains of the PKRS and that math achievement was more complexly determined by all three readiness domains. Structural equation modeling using AMOS-4 showed that the latent construct readiness, as measured by the PKRS domain scores, was positively and significantly related to the latent construct academic achievement. Finally, this relationship held when age, gender, and behavioral indices at the time of kindergarten screening were used as moderator variables. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 509–516, 2004.