cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Advanced Maillard Reaction End Products, Free Radicals, and Protein Oxidation in Alzheimer's Diseasea

Evidence that free-radical production and oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease is increasing. Our laboratory recently found two advanced glycosylation end products associated with the pathological neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques of Alzheimer’s disease. These glycation-related posttranslational modifications are known to be initiated and potentiated during periods of oxidative stress. Further, we have also demonstrated that heme oxygenase-1, an enzyme induced during oxidative stress and involved in the production of antioxidant molecules, is found in close association with the pathological lesions; being almost completely absent in control brains. We present evidence that the seminal features of Alzheimer’s disease, including amyloid-P deposition, neurofibrillary tangle formation, degeneration of specific neuronal populations, and the persistence of the pathological lesions in vivo and their relative insolubility in vitro may all be related to specific oxidative stress-type mechanisms.
A comparative molecular field analysis study of N-benzylpiperidines as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

A series of 1-benzyl-4-[2-(N-benzoylamino)ethyl]piperidine derivatives and of N-benzylpiperidine benzisoxazoles has been investigated using the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) approach. These compounds have been found to inhibit the metabolic breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and hence alleviate memory deficits in patients with Alzheimer's Disease by potentiating cholinergic transmission. Development of the CoMFA model considered two separate alignments: (i) alignment I which emphasized the electrostatic fitting of the subject compounds and (ii) alignment II which emphasized their steric fitting. In addition, the inhibitor compounds were considered both as neutral species and as N-piperidine-protonated species. The resulting 3D-QSAR indicates a strong correlation between the inhibitory activity of these N-benzylpiperidines and the steric and electronic factors which modulate their biochemical activity. A CoMFA model with considera...
The surface and interfacial chemistry of polyimide films

The surfaces of polyimide films and the structure just below the surfaces have been extensively studied as people have sought to improve and understand the key factors controlling adhesion. Treatments of all types from primers to plasma etching to sand blasting have been evaluated with varying efforts depending on the application. In recent years, the emphasis has been on understanding the chemical and morphological changes effected by these treatments and then correlating chemistry and morphology with adhesion. The picture that emerges is that surface energy alone, as is the case with most polymers, usually is insufficient to predict adhesion to polyimides. Instead, initial bond strength and bond durability, whether with adhesives or metals directly deposited on the film, depend on chemical bonding, diffusion between deposited layers and the polyimide, formation of a micro composite region controlled in part by topography and the viscoelastic properties of the polymer below the surface. Poor viscoelastic behavior frequently is characterized as a weak boundary layer. Recent work has shown that small amounts of organometallics that diffuse to the surface during the film forming process can significantly affect bondability both to adhesives and to vacuum deposited metals. The possible effect of these additives on bond formation, viscoelastic properties, diffusion and topography is under investigation and will be discussed along with an over view of the primary film forming steps that might affect surface chemistry and structure.
The development of an aligned microstructure during melt processing of Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox (BSCCO-2212) doctor-bladed films

Abstract Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O x (2212) thick films have been made by the doctor-blade technique and melt processed on Ag, Au, and MgO substrates. The growth and alignment of the 2212 phase have been investigated using quenched samples. The 2212 grains appear to grow directly from the liquid with random orientation, not preferentially at the substrate/oxide interface or at second phases. The free surface of the film plays an important role in 2212 alignment. Within about 25 μm of the free surface the 2212 grains were found to be well aligned with the free surface and the second-phase particles were small. Beyond about 25 μm from the free surface, the 2212 was not as well aligned and the second phases were larger. Well-aligned 2212 films (
Effect of electric field (2.45 GHz) on sintering behavior of fully stabilized zirconia

Abstract Numerous reports presented in the literature have shown that microwave sintering results in reduction of processing temperature/time required for densification in some materials when compared to conventional sintering. While faster sintering regimes may look promising, it is important to understand why microwaves appear to enhance the sintering phenomena. It is speculated that the electric field associated with microwave energy is enhancing flux, leading to accelerate densification. Enhancement in flux is a result of an increase in driving force, in the transport coefficient, or both. This study examines the sintering behavior of 8 mol% yttria-zirconia at various values of electric field intensity (frequency being constant, 2.45 GHz) to understand whether the driving force or transport coefficient terms in the flux equation lead to enhanced densification. The transport coefficient term shows an increasing trend with an increase in electrical field intensity. These results indicate that the underlying reason for the increase in the transport coefficient term is due to a shift in diffusion path, from volume to grain boundary diffusion.
A 40-mW 7-bit 2.2-GS/s Time-Interleaved Subranging CMOS ADC for Low-Power Gigabit Wireless Communications

A 7-bit, 2.2-GS/s time-interleaved subranging CMOS analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for low-power gigabit wireless communication system-on-a-chip (SoC) is presented. A time-splitting subranging architecture is invented to significantly boost the speed of individual ADC channels. In addition, a low-power and fast-settling distributed resistor array for reference voltages is proposed to mitigate gain mismatches within channels. Moreover, the channel offset mismatches are calibrated through the digital- controlled corrective current sources embedded in the track-and-hold amplifiers of each sub-ADC. The prototype is implemented in 65 nm CMOS, occupying only 0.3 mm2 chip area and consuming 40 mW at 2.2 GS/s from a 1 V supply. Measured signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) are 38 dB and 46 dB, respectively, with a 1.08 GHz input at 2.2 GS/s sampling rate. The effective number of bits (ENOB) is 6.0 bits at Nyquist rate, and the figure-of-merit (F.O.M.) is 0.28 pJ/conv.-step. This prototype has also been integrated into a gigabit self-healing wireless transceiver SoC.
Negative temperature of vortex motion

It is shown that the well-known Onsager paradox of negative temperature of point vortices can be resolved by adopting a proper formula for entropy. We also provide an interpretation of vortex temperature in terms of the geometry of vortex trajectories.
Origin of cementing calcite in “carbonatite” tuffs

Many tuffs contain crystal, glass, and rock fragments that are supported by calcite cement, and some of these have recently been classified as carbonatites, i.e., igneous rocks dominated by magmatic carbonate minerals. In samples studied here, the cementing calcite has lower Sr and higher Mg concentrations, and higher 18O/16O but lower 13C/12C, than magmatic calcite. These chemical data, together with textural evidence, indicate that the cementing calcite in these tuffs was precipitated as coatings on the pyroclastic fragments by meteoric water. A single thin section of a calcite-cemented tuff (whether it holds carbonatite or silicate lapilli) can contain as many as five texturally and chemically distinct kinds of carbonate, precipitated sequentially, and never in equilibrium with each other. The secondary calcite in some occurrences may have formed by reaction of lime calcined by hot silicate magma from limestone wall rocks. Pyroclastic deposits that contain calcite only in pore-filling cement or replacing silicates should not be called carbonatites.
Progress report: Brown university instructional computing laboratory

An instructional computing laboratory, consisting of about 60 high-performance, graphics-based personal workstations connected by a high-bandwidth, resource-sharing local area network, has recently become operational at Brown University. This hardware, coupled with an innovative courseware/software environment, is being used in the classroom in an attempt to radically improve the state of the art of computer science pedagogy. This paper describes the current state of the project. The hardware and courseware/software environments are described and their use illustrated with detailed descriptions, including sample screen images. Some comments are included on our initial reactions to our experience to date with the environment and on our future plans.
Medical Experimentation in the Elderly

Participation in human experimental research constitutes a major problem for the geriatric subject. Because there is a high incidence of noncontagious disease in the elderly, they are the group most useful for the study of new therapeutic agents or procedures. However, normal aging processes, often coupled with disease of the central nervous system, render elderly persons less able to comprehend the nature and risks of such studies. These factors permit easy exploitation of geriatric subjects in medical experimentation, with possible exposure to a significant risk of serious drug reactions and unnecessary hospitalization. Recent federal regulations have given "special protections" to children, prisoners, and the mentally infirm in experimental research, to guard against abuse of their human rights. A basic requirement is that informed consent be carefully obtained and documented. Such "special protections" should now be extended to geriatric subjects so that there will be no further exploitation in the course of valid clinical research.
Immunotherapy decreases skin sensitivity to cat extract

In 22 patients with cat asthma who were highly sensitive to cat, we compared, double-blind, the effects of immunotherapy with cat-hair and dander extract (11 patients) with effects of placebo (11 patients). Patients matched by intradermal skin test titration, leukocyte histamine release, and the doses of both cat extract and methacholine required for 20% fall in FEV1 were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups. Immunotherapy doses were increased to a maintenance dose of 4.56 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) units of Fel d I or if maintenance dose was less, to the highest tolerated dose. Before and during immunotherapy, we measured by intradermal titration the dose of cat extract, in FDA units of Fel d I equivalents, required for (1) 2+ end point (wheal diameter, greater than or equal to 10 mm; erythema diameter, 20 to 30 mm) and (2) 20 mm end point (erythema diameter, 20 mm). By prick skin test, we measured (1) the dose of cat extract that produced a wheal equal in area to that produced by histamine, 1 mg/ml, (2) the doses of cat extract that produced a wheal 22 mm2 in area, and (3) the sum of the wheal areas produced by five prick tests to 23.8, 7.1, 2.4, 0.7, and 0.2 FDA units per milliliter of Fel d I, respectively. After 1 year of treatment, in comparison to control patients, treated patients had significant increases in the ratio 1 year value/pretreatment value for the doses of cat extract required for intradermal test end points 1 and 2 (p less than 0.01), for prick test end point 1 (p less than 0.01), for end point 2 (p = 0.015), and significant decreases in this ratio for prick test end point 3 (p = 0.015). Treated patients also had significant increases in cat extract required for a 20% fall in FEV1 (p less than 0.01), in IgG antibodies toward whole cat extract, Fel d I and cat albumin (p less than 0.001), and in IgE antibodies toward whole cat extract, (p less than 0.01). Thus, a decrease in skin sensitivity to cat extract demonstrated by both intradermal and prick methods occurred in patients after 1 year of immunotherapy with cat extract at a time when bronchial sensitivity to cat extract was decreased and IgG and IgE antibodies toward cat extract were increased.
Adolescent Work Experience and Family Relationships

According to Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1986), each individual simultaneously participates in several “microsystems” that influence development, for example, the family, school, peer group, and workplace. Of central concern here is how the increasing prevalence of “youth work” may affect parent-adolescent relationships. The findings of a 3-year study of adolescents (n = 1,000) and their parents (925 mothers, 650 fathers) indicate that youth work has some significant effects on familial relationships. The findings also suggest gender differences in the linkage of youth work and family life.
ITP: time to “bug off”?

In this issue of Blood , Emilia and coworkers report durable responses in a high proportion of patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who are treated for infection with Helicobacter pylori . They propose that differences in expression of the cagA gene and other bacterial virulence factors contribute to the considerable variation in the effectiveness of bacterial eradication among similar studies of ITP patients drawn from different countries.
ADDISON'S DISEASE PRESENTING AS ‘STEMI’

Hyperkalemia is reported to cause Brugada pattern EKG. But Brugada pattern EKG due to hyperkalemia secondary to Addison's disease is extremely rare. A 63 y/o African American woman was flown in by EMS from an outreach ER for ST elevation on EKG. She had abdominal pain and diarrhea for 1 week and
SYMBOLIC ALGEBRA AND THEOREM PROVING FOR FAILURE CRITERIA REDUCTION

The present paper reports on recent efforts of utilizing symbolic computing for identifying failure criteria cross reducibility from the perspective of theorem proving. Utilizing equational theorem proving algorithms and Grobner Basis polynomial theorem provers implemented in Mathematica we have proven a number of interesting theorems related to the area of structural failure criteria for anisotropic and particularly orthotropic materials. The main contribution of this work is the demonstration of the tremendous utility of symbolic algebra for engineering applications as well as the demonstration of the idea that all failure criteria presented in the literature up to know can be proven under certain conditions to be special forms of general criteria relating to the strain energy density function associated with material continua. Two specific examples are presented and discussed along with a theorem proving the existence of a dual form of all stress space based criteria to equivalent one expressed in strain space.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Complex spherical modulation for noncoherent communications

We examine the problem of designing complex, equal energy, signal constellations for the noncoherent additive white Gaussian noise communication channel. We derive an asymptotic performance criterion that may be used as a constraint in building correlated signals set for use with the maximum likelihood noncoherent detector. We present an iterative update design procedure for obtaining bandwidth-efficient signal sets under a constraint on the dimension of the signal space.
Black–White Differences in Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults Over Time

This study examines racial differences in depressive symptoms among older adults over time. The subjects were 4,275 community-dwelling persons aged 65 and older (62% Black) who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) during a period of 9 years. Depression was measured using a summary score of the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D). We modeled depressive symptoms using the method of General Estimating Equations and a Poisson error structure. We found a significant race effect at baseline with Blacks reporting approximately 60% more symptoms than Whites (beta = 0.467 on the log scale, p < .001). The differences were larger for men than for women. After controlling for age, sex, time, education, income, and related interaction terms, the baseline race effect was reduced by almost half (beta = 0.225, p < .001) but remained robust. The racial differences increased slightly over time. Our findings support heightened awareness of depression in older Black populations.
Digital filter realizations using a special-purpose stored-program computer

A special-purpose computer is organized to realize a second-order digital filter in a choice of 11 programming forms. Instructions for the forms are stored in a fast-access READ-ONLY memory. Also, a hard-wired multiplier is employed in the Arithmetic Unit to decrease computation time. The multiplier is organized into uniform functional blocks that are suitable for large-scale integration (LSI). A computer-aided design (CAD) program may be used to select the best filter programming form for a given filter transfer function D(z) . The CAD program also aids in the location of the binary point in the data registers of the computer.
RAPiD: An indirect rogue access points detection system

Rogue wireless access points (RWAPs) bypass physical endpoint security of local area networks and present significant security threats by creating network attack vectors behind firewalls, exposing confidential information, and allowing unauthorized utilization of network resources. A family of more promising methods detects RWAPs indirectly by identifying unauthorized wireless hosts through using temporal TCP/IP characteristics of SYN, FIN, and ACK local round trip times (LRTT). Thus any unauthorized wireless hosts found indicate the presence of a RWAP. With these session-based temporal characteristics, traffic from wireless and wired nodes can be differentiated by exploiting the fundamental differences between Ethernet and 802.11b/g/n. In this work, we empirically analyzed extensive LRTT data and designed a light system — RAPiD with several algorithms for effective wireless hosts detection. Ultimately, SYN, FIN, and ACK LRTTs can be compared against each other to discover wireless hosts regardless of network speeds. The results show first time how merging 802.11n wireless technology can still be accurately separated from Ethernet hosts, even as it continues to improve.
Memcached Design on High Performance RDMA Capable Interconnects

Memcached is a key-value distributed memory object caching system. It is used widely in the data-center environment for caching results of database calls, API calls or any other data. Using Memcached, spare memory in data-center servers can be aggregated to speed up lookups of frequently accessed information. The performance of Memcached is directly related to the underlying networking technology, as workloads are often latency sensitive. The existing Memcached implementation is built upon BSD Sockets interface. Sockets offers byte-stream oriented semantics. Therefore, using Sockets, there is a conversion between Memcached's memory-object semantics and Socket's byte-stream semantics, imposing an overhead. This is in addition to any extra memory copies in the Sockets implementation within the OS. Over the past decade, high performance interconnects have employed Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) technology to provide excellent performance for the scientific computation domain. In addition to its high raw performance, the memory-based semantics of RDMA fits very well with Memcached's memory-object model. While the Sockets interface can be ported to use RDMA, it is not very efficient when compared with low-level RDMA APIs. In this paper, we describe a novel design of Memcached for RDMA capable networks. Our design extends the existing open-source Memcached software and makes it RDMA capable. We provide a detailed performance comparison of our Memcached design compared to unmodified Memcached using Sockets over RDMA and 10Gigabit Ethernet network with hardware-accelerated TCP/IP. Our performance evaluation reveals that latency of Memcached Get of 4KB size can be brought down to 12 µs using ConnectX InfiniBand QDR adapters. Latency of the same operation using older generation DDR adapters is about 20µs. These numbers are about a factor of four better than the performance obtained by using 10GigE with TCP Offload. In addition, these latencies of Get requests over a range of message sizes are better by a factor of five to ten compared to IP over InfiniBand and Sockets Direct Protocol over InfiniBand. Further, throughput of small Get operations can be improved by a factor of six when compared to Sockets over 10 Gigabit Ethernet network. Similar factor of six improvement in throughput is observed over Sockets Direct Protocol using ConnectX QDR adapters. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such memcached design on high performance RDMA capable interconnects.
Final-value ODEs: stable numerical integration and its application to parallel circuit analysis

While solving initial-value ODEs is the de facto approach to time-domain circuit simulation, the opposite act, solving final-value ODEs, has been neglected for a long time. Stable numerical integration of initial-value ODEs involves significant complications; the application of standard integration methods simply leads to instability. We show that not only practically meaningful applications of final-value ODE problems exist, but also the inherent stability challenges may be addressed by recently proposed numerical methods. Furthermore, we demonstrate an elegant bi-directional parallel circuit simulation scheme, where one time-domain simulation task is sped up by simultaneously solving initial and final-value ODEs, one from each end of the time axis. The proposed approach has unique and favorable properties: the solutions of the two ODE problems are completely data independent with built-in automatic load balancing. As a specific application study, we demonstrate the proposed technique under the contexts of parallel digital timing simulation and the shooting-Newton based steady-state analysis. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7.2 [Integrated Circuits]: Design Aids-simulation General Terms Algorithms, Design, Performance
THE EARLY SOCIAL SCIENCE OF W. E. B. DU BOIS

Using the critical tools of social science, W. E. B. Du Bois challenged the White supremacism of his era. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he presented his views on social inquiry in various programmatic pieces (e.g., “The Study of the Negro Problems” and “The Atlanta Conferences”), all the while conducting empirical research on the conditions and experiences of African Americans. This essay examines the ways in which Du Bois's programmatic statements were elaborated in his early works of social science, notably: his goal of scientific truth, the specificity of his research scope, and the research topics for investigation. Three of Du Bois's projects—The Philadelphia Negro; The Negroes of Farmville, Virginia; and the Atlanta University Publications—are detailed. In addition, this essay derives several insights from Du Bois that address issues common to debates in the philosophy of social science, such as the controversies over researcher neutrality and the rigor of politically engaged scholarship.
Decoupled flux control for molecular beam epitaxy

Improvement of the manufacturing capability for the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) process is demonstrated with respect to the consistent achievement of effusion cell flux stability of 1% of setpoint values. This performance was obtained by decoupling the principal sources of flux variability from each cell temperature control system including: cell shutter opening flux disturbances with implementation of a feedforward compensator that precisely cancels evaporant mass enthalpy transients; electric power frequency-correlation flux disturbances with substitution of heater DC drivers for the standard AC triac drivers; and flux process disorder resulting from coupled temperature controller proportional-integral-derivative (PID) tuning values with identification of decoupled trapezoidal PID tuning values. >
Measuring Transistor Large-Signal Noise Figure for Low-Power and Low Phase-Noise Oscillator Design

This paper presents an experimental method for determining additive phase noise of an unmatched transistor in a stable 50-Omega environment. The measured single-sideband phase noise is used to determine the large-signal noise figure of the device. From the Leeson-Cutler formula and a known oscillator circuit with the characterized transistor, the phase noise of the oscillator can be predicted. The method is applied to characterization of several bipolar devices around 3.4 GHz, the frequency of interest for miniature rubidium-based atomic clock voltage-controlled oscillators.
Comparison of necrotizing fasciitis and sepsis caused by Vibrio vulnificus and Staphylococcus aureus

Background: Vibrio vulnificus can cause a rapidly progressive fatal soft-tissue infection. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of skin and soft-tissue infections reported worldwide, and, in particular, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has emerged as the most common isolate in emergency departments. The purposes of the present study were to compare the specific characteristics of Vibrio vulnificus and Staphylococcus aureus infections and to compare the clinical outcomes of Vibrio vulnificus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing infections. Methods: One hundred and fifteen patients with necrotizing fasciitis caused by Vibrio vulnificus (sixty patients) or Staphylococcus aureus (fifty-five patients) were retrospectively reviewed over a six-year period. Differences in mortality, patient characteristics, clinical presentations, laboratory data, and hospital course were compared between the Vibrio vulnificus and Staphylococcus aureus groups. Results: Nineteen patients (including eleven in the Vibrio vulnificus group and eight in the Staphylococcus aureus group) died, resulting in a mortality rate of 16.5%. We found significant differences between the two groups with regard to hypotension, fever, the interval between contact and admission, the interval between the diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis and the first operation, and admission to the intensive care unit. The patients in the Vibrio vulnificus group had significantly lower total white blood-cell counts, higher banded white blood-cell counts, and lower platelet counts as compared with those in the Staphylococcus aureus group. The proportion of patients who were hypotensive (as indicated by a systolic blood pressure of ≤90 mm Hg) was significantly greater in the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus subgroup than in the methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus subgroup. Patients with hepatic dysfunction were significantly more likely to have Vibrio vulnificus infection, and those with diabetes mellitus were significantly more likely to have Staphylococcus aureus infection. Conclusions: Necrotizing fasciitis caused by Vibrio vulnificus and Staphylococcus aureus is a surgical emergency. Vibrio vulnificus infection progresses more rapidly and the clinical characteristics are more fulminant than either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infection. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The Party System in North Vietnam

The Geneva Agreement of 1954 in effect divided Vietnam into two mutually independent states, aligned internationally with hostile power blocs owing allegiance to competitive ideological systems. In the North a fully committed Communist regime has maintained political and administrative hegemony, entrusting con trol of the governing process and of social change and economic planning to the Dang Lao Dong, the Workers' (Communist) Party of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV).
Performance of low loss synchronous rectifiers in a series-parallel resonant DC-DC converter

The functionality of efficient synchronous rectifier components, specially developed for resonant DC-DC converter topologies designed to operate at high frequency, has been demonstrated in a series-parallel converter circuit operating at 420 kHz and 85 W. Conduction losses for these components are three times lower than for Schottky diodes. Switching conditions for efficient operation have been identified both experimentally and using accurate multilevel modeling. >
Silica nanoparticles densely grafted with PEO for ionomer plasticization

A method for densely grafting poly(ethylene oxide) chains to the surface of silica is presented. The PEO-grafted nanoparticles (PEONPs) are dispersed in a PEO single-ion conductor to accelerate ion transport with an additive that is not molecular, oligomeric, or ionic. Grafting high molecular weight brushes to nanoparticles suppresses PEO crystallinity and lowers the glass transition temperature of the nanocomposite ionomers. Ionic conductivity can be improved by up to an order of magnitude at room temperature with increasing PEONP content while viscosity is reduced. Dielectric spectra corroborate the enhanced ionic conductivity as ion relaxation times decrease with PEONP content. The PEONPs are compared with bare silica nanoparticles (SNPs), which demonstrate more homogenous dispersion in the PEO ionomer than PEONPs. Good dispersion in the SNP nanocomposite ionomers results in viscosity improvements by up to 3 orders of magnitude, but reduces ionic conductivity by one order magnitude. PEONPs show potential as additives to other solid electrolytes, while SNPs enable a more robust electrolyte with modest conductivity penalty.
Diagnosis of Fournier’s Gangrene on Bedside Ultrasound

A previously healthy 48 year-old male presented to the hospital with a 4-week history of “pimples” on his scrotum. This condition had progressively worsened, resulting in increased pain, swelling and redness to the genital region and buttocks. On physical examination, the patient was persistently tachycardic. The scrotum, penis, perineum and left buttock were erythematous, swollen and markedly tender to palpation. Furthermore, the patient’s suprapubic region contained an area of necrotic tissue. As part of the initial assessment, the patient received a bedside ultrasound (US) that demonstrated marked thickening of the scrotal fascia with edema, as well as discrete areas of subcutaneous gas (Video). Based on these ultrasound findings, in conjunction with the clinical evaluation, the patient was diagnosed with Fournier’s Gangrene and intravenous antibiotics were started. He was then emergently transferred to the operating room without further advanced imaging, where he received aggressive surgical therapy with a good outcome. Video Ultrasound of scrotum demonstrating thickening of scrotal fascia. Fournier’s Gangrene is defined as “an infective fasciitis of the perineal, genital or perianal regions”.1 The bacterial etiology is typically a synergistic polymicrobial infection, defined as a form of type 1 necrotizing fasciitis. 2–3 This case demonstrates that Fournier’s Gangrene remains a clinical diagnosis and that while many patients receive confirmatory advanced imaging with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, an expedited bedside US can allow for the diagnostic certainty to proceed rapidly with appropriate therapy.4–5
Continuous intravenous insulin infusion reduces the incidence of deep sternal wound infection in diabetic patients after cardiac surgical procedures.

Abstract Background . Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for deep sternal wound infection after open heart surgical procedures. We previously showed that elevated postoperative blood glucose levels are a predictor of deep sternal wound infection in diabetic patients. Therefore, we hypothesized that aggressive intravenous pharmacologic control of postoperative blood glucose levels would reduce the incidence of deep sternal wound infection. Methods . In a prospective study of 2,467 consecutive diabetic patients who underwent open heart surgical procedures between 1987 and 1997, perioperative blood glucose levels were recorded every 1 to 2 hours. Patients were classified into two sequential groups: the control group included 968 patients treated with sliding-scale–guided intermittent subcutaneous insulin injections (SQI); the study group included 1,499 patients treated with a continuous intravenous insulin infusion in an attempt to maintain a blood glucose level of less than 200 mg/dL. There were no differences between these groups with respect to age, sex, procedure, bypass time, antibiotic prophylaxis, or skin preparation methods. Results . Compared with subcutaneous insulin injections, continuous intravenous insulin infusion induced a significant reduction in perioperative blood glucose levels, which led to a significant reduction in the incidence of deep sternal wound infection in the continuous intravenous insulin infusion group (0.8% [12 of 1,499]) versus the intermittent subcutaneous insulin injection group (2.0% [19 of 968], p = 0.01 by the χ 2 test). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that continuous intravenous insulin infusion induced a significant decrease in the risk of deep sternal wound infection ( p = 0.005; relative risk, 0.34), whereas obesity ( p p = 0.1; relative risk, 2.0) increased the risk of deep sternal wound infection. Conclusions . Use of perioperative continuous intravenous insulin infusion in diabetic patients undergoing open heart surgical procedures significantly reduces major infectious morbidity and its associated socioeconomic costs.
Combustion kinetics of coal chars in oxygen-enriched environments

Oxygen-enhanced and oxygen-fired pulverized coal combustion is actively being investigated to achieve emission reductions and reductions in flue gas cleanup costs, as well as for coal-bed methane and enhanced oil recovery applications. To fully understand the results of pilot scale tests and to accurately predict scale-up performance through CFD modeling, accurate rate expressions are needed to describe coal char combustion under these unconventional combustion conditions. In the work reported here, the combustion rates of two pulverized coal chars have been measured in both conventional and oxygen-enriched atmospheres. A combustion-driven entrained flow reactor equipped with an optical particle-sizing pyrometry diagnostic and a rapid-quench sampling probe has been used for this investigation. Highvale subbituminous coal and a high-volatile eastern United States bituminous coal have been investigated, over oxygen concentrations ranging from 6 to 36 mol% and gas temperatures of 1320–1800 K. The results from these experiments demonstrate that pulverized coal char particles burn under increasing kinetic control in elevated oxygen environments, despite their higher burning rates in these environments. Empirical fits to the data have been successfully performed over the entire range of oxygen concentrations using a single-film oxidation model. Both a simple nth-order Arrhenius expression and an nth-order Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic equation provide good fits to the data. Local fits of the nth-order Arrhenius expression to the oxygen-enriched and oxygen-depleted data produce lower residuals in comparison to fits of the entire dataset. These fits demonstrate that the apparent reaction order varies from 0.1 under near-diffusion-limit oxygen-depleted conditions to 0.5 under oxygen-enriched conditions. Burnout predictions show good agreement with measurements. Predicted char particle temperatures tend to be low for combustion in oxygen-depleted environments.
Parametric and semi-parametric estimation of the effect of firm attributes on efficiency: the electricity generating industry in India

A stochastic frontier cost function is estimated using panel data for the electricity generating industry in India. The impact of distributional and functional form assumptions on technical inefficiency and the sources of inefficiency are investigated by using maximum likelihood, GLS and semi-parametric-GLS approaches and by incorporating firm-specific inefficiency effects in the cost function itself. Average inefficiency in the electricity generating industry in India is found to be high by all three methods. The estimate predicted by the maximum-likelihood approach is, however, lower than that predicted by the other two methods. This could be due to the distributional assumptions made under the maximum likelihood method. Public ownership and low capacity utilization are found to be significant determinants of inefficiency in the electricity generating industry in India.
The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation

Summary How have recent changes in U.S. family structure affected the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the nation’s children? Paul Amato examines the effects of family formation on children and evaluates whether current marriage-promotion programs are likely to meet children’s needs. Amato begins by investigating how children in households with both biological parents differ from children in households with only one biological parent. He shows that children growing up with two continuously married parents are less likely to experience a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems, not only during childhood but also in adulthood. Although it is not possible to demonstrate that family structure causes these differences, studies using a variety of sophisticated statistical methods suggest that this is the case. Amato then asks what accounts for the differences between these two groups of children. He shows that compared with other children, those who grow up in stable, two-parent families have a higher standard of living, receive more effective parenting, experience more cooperative co-parenting, are emotionally closer to both parents, and are subjected to fewer stressful events and circumstances. Finally, Amato assesses how current marriage-promotion policies will affect the well-being of children. He finds that interventions that increase the share of children who grow up with both parents would improve the overall well-being of U.S. children only modestly, because children’s social or emotional problems have many causes, of which family structure is but one. But interventions that lower only modestly the overall share of U.S. children experiencing various problems could nevertheless lower substantially the number of children experiencing them. Even a small decline in percentages, when multiplied by the many children in the population, is a substantial social benefit.
Very Fast Wetting In The Presence Of Soluble Gases

An integro-differential equation is derived that describes the flow of a soluble gas in the half cusp formed at a 1800 high-speed wetting line. Calculations made using this equation show that diffusion of the gas into the liquid is a significant mechanism for alleviating stresses. The ameliorating effects of slip and Knudsen diffusion are also considered. Results suggest that bathing a wetting line with high-solubility gas will allow significantly faster wetting speeds.
Brief Exposure to Boiling Water Combined with Cold-moist Stratification Enhances Seed Germination of New Jersey Tea

Although there is increasing interest in propagating prairie plants native to the midwestern United States for managed and natural landscapes, several species, including new jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), are difficult to germinate from seeds. New jersey tea, which is an attractive, compact woody shrub, is found in high-quality prairie remnants throughout the tallgrass prairie region. Developing a protocol to increase the uniformity of seed germination in this species would allow for more widespread horticultural cultivation of this stress-resistant, nitrogen-fixing species. We hypothesized that the germination response of seeds of new jersey tea would be enhanced by replicating conditions that mimic their natural environment, which included treatments under controlled conditions exposing seeds to chilling temperatures, sulfuric acid, and boiling water. Two minutes of exposure to boiling water followed by 60 days of cold-moist stratification at 4 C resulted in the highest germination percentage (48%) and mean daily germination (2.18 seeds/day). Scarification with 98% sulfuric acid for 15 min followed by 60 days of cold-moist stratification resulted in significant, but lower levels of germination percentage than seeds exposed to boiling water and cold-moist stratification. Cold-moist stratification in darkness and in an 18-hour photoperiod at 4 C did not stimulate germination to a level suitable for production purposes. However, tetrazolium tests indicated that 79% of the seeds were viable. We conclude that cold-moist stratification should be used with boiling-water or acid-scarification to uniformly produce germinated seedlings of new jersey tea. However, nonresponsive seeds should not be discarded because they may germinate in later years if kept under appropriate conditions.
Implementation of Advanced Inventory Management Functionality in Automated Dispensing Cabinets.

BackgroundAutomated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) are an integral component of distribution models in pharmacy departments across the country. There are significant challenges to optimizing ADC invent...
Population Evolution: The Pollination Game

To teach the most central concepts in evolutionary biology, we present an activity in pollination biology. Students play the role of either pollinator or flower and work through a set of scenarios to maximize plant fitness. This “Pollination Game” facilitates critical and inquiry-based thinking, and we accompany each round of the exercise with a set of discussion questions and answers. We have piloted and fine tuned this exercise with high school students, and improved the exercise with the input of high school teachers at a teaching conference. The activity could easily be adapted for freshman undergraduate students.
Global Mental Health: Five Areas for Value-Driven Training Innovation

In the field of global mental health, there is a need for identifying core values and competencies to guide training programs in professional practice as well as in academia. This paper presents the results of interdisciplinary discussions fostered during an annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture to develop recommendations for value-driven innovation in global mental health training. Participants (n = 48), who registered for a dedicated workshop on global mental health training advertised in conference proceedings, included both established faculty and current students engaged in learning, practice, and research. They proffered recommendations in five areas of training curriculum: values, competencies, training experiences, resources, and evaluation. Priority values included humility, ethical awareness of power differentials, collaborative action, and “deep accountability” when working in low-resource settings in low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries. Competencies included flexibility and tolerating ambiguity when working across diverse settings, the ability to systematically evaluate personal biases, historical and linguistic proficiency, and evaluation skills across a range of stakeholders. Training experiences included didactics, language training, self-awareness, and supervision in immersive activities related to professional or academic work. Resources included connections with diverse faculty such as social scientists and mentors in addition to medical practitioners, institutional commitment through protected time and funding, and sustainable collaborations with partners in low resource settings. Finally, evaluation skills built upon community-based participatory methods, 360-degree feedback from partners in low-resource settings, and observed structured clinical evaluations (OSCEs) with people of different cultural backgrounds. Global mental health training, as envisioned in this workshop, exemplifies an ethos of working through power differentials across clinical, professional, and social contexts in order to form longstanding collaborations. If incorporated into the ACGME/ABPN Psychiatry Milestone Project, such recommendations will improve training gained through international experiences as well as the everyday training of mental health professionals, global health practitioners, and social scientists.
Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of ZnGeN 2

The electronic band structure, structural and bonding, and some linear and nonlinear optical properties are calculated for a new ternary nitride compound ZnGeN2 using first-principles methods. Good agreement is obtained with crystallographic data and with absorption data on the band gap. The prospects for use as nonlinear optical material are discussed.
Investigation of the Seismic Behavior and Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structural Walls Using the UIUC NEES Facility

Reinforced concrete structural walls are commonly used as the primary lateral-load resisting system in buildings. The research presented here represents the first-phase of a multi-year research effort aimed at developing tools to enable performance-based design of structural walls. The first-phase of the research effort focused on the seismic behavior and analysis of slender planar walls. To design the experimental investigation, including a reference specimen and test matrix: 1) drawings for 18 walls from 10 buildings designed for construction on the west coast since 1991 were reviewed to determine representative design details, 2) practicing engineers were consulted to establish the wall design process for the test specimens, 3) the results of previous experimental studies were reviewed to determine the parameters that control response, and 4) elastic, effective-stiffness analyses of a representative 10-story building were conducted to determine representative load patterns. These results are used to support experimental testing of wall sub-assemblages which will be conducted using the MUST-SIM NEES facility. Data generated from testing and analysis will provide for an improved understanding of wall behavior, provide a basis for advancing simulation and design of walls, and be used to support the subsequent phases of the research effort, and address different wall configurations.