cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute Coronary Syndromes Presenting with Transient Diffuse ST Segment Depression and ST Segment Elevation in Lead aVR not Caused by “Acute Left Main Coronary Artery Occlusion”: Description of Two Cases

Background Diffuse ST-segment depression in the inferior + anterolateral leads with ST-segment elevation in lead aVR has been described as characteristic of diffuse circumferential subendocardial ischemia caused by acute subtotal occlusion of the left main coronary artery. Methods Here we describe two patients admitted for acute neurological disorders who developed transient diffuse ST-segment depression in the inferior + anterolateral leads with ST-segment elevation in lead aVR, associated with elevation of cardiac troponin-I. Results In both cases subsequent coronary angiography did not show significant left main stenosis or “left main equivalent” narrowings. Conclusions As both patients had acute neurological disorders, a possible association between the two conditions is discussed.
Residual Checking of Safety Properties

Program analysis and verification techniques have made great strides, yet, as every researcher in the field will admit it is easy to find a program and property for which a given technique is not cost-effective. Investigating the conventional wisdom that programs are mostly correct, we have observed that even failed program analyses usually produce a wealth of information about the parts of the program that operate correctly. Leveraging this information can help focus subsequent analysis and verification activities to make them more cost-effective.
The regulation of tyrosine aminotransferase synthesis. Studies in HTC cells with inhibitors of ribonucleic acid synthesis.

Abstract The effect of mercaptopyridethyl benzimidazole on glucocorticoid-mediated tyrosine aminotransferase induction in cultured hepatoma cells was examined and compared with the action of actinomycin D. In this system mercaptopyridethyl benzimidazole rapidly inhibits RNA synthesis as judged by diminished rates of RNA precursor incorporation, and when administered at the same time as the steroid inducer, inhibits the glucocorticoid induction of tyrosine aminotransferase. Upon removal of inducer (deinduction) from a previously induced culture, mercaptopyridethyl benzimidazole, like actinomycin D, prevents the fall in the concentration of the induced enzyme. If mercaptopyridethyl benzimidazole or actinomycin D is administered at various intervals after deinduction, the synthesis of the induced enzyme can be reactivated. Mercaptopyridethyl benzimidazole has no discernible effect on the rate of turnover of the induced enzyme. These results are interpreted in terms of a model involving a labile post-transcriptional repressor of the translation of the messenger RNA for tyrosine aminotransferase.
Auditory cortical responses in the cat to sounds that produce spatial illusions

Humans and cats can localize a sound source accurately if its spectrum is fairly broad and flat, as is typical of most natural sounds. However, if sounds are filtered to reduce the width of the spectrum, they result in illusions of sources that are very different from the actual locations, particularly in the up/down and front/back dimensions. Such illusions reveal that the auditory system relies on specific characteristics of sound spectra to obtain cues for localization. In the auditory cortex of cats, temporal firing patterns of neurons can signal the locations of broad-band sounds. Here we show that such spike patterns systematically mislocalize sounds that have been passed through a narrow-band filter. Both correct and incorrect locations signalled by neurons can be predicted quantitatively by a model of spectral processing that also predicts correct and incorrect localization judgements by human listeners. Similar cortical mechanisms, if present in humans, could underlie human auditory spatial perception.
A Review of: “Framing Terrorism: The News Media, the Government and the Public, edited by Pippa Norris, Montague Kern, and Marion Just”

This book grew out of a conference held at Harvard in 2002 and was obviously inspired by the 9/11 attacks, since almost all of the chapters deal with this and related topics, such as the invasion o...
Structural hashing: efficient three dimensional object recognition

An approach for the recognition of multiple three-dimensional object models from three-dimensional scene data is presented. The authors work on dense data, but neither the models nor the scene data have to be complete. The problem is addressed in a realistic environment: the viewpoint is arbitrary, the objects vary widely in complexity, and no assumptions about the structure of the surface are made. The approach is novel in that it uses two different types of primitives for matching: small surface patches, where differential properties can be reliably computed, and lines corresponding to depth or orientation discontinuities. These are represented by splashes and 3-D curves respectively. It is shown how both of these primitives can be encoded by a set of super segments, consisting of connected linear segments. These super segments are entered into a hash table, and provide the essential mechanism for fast retrieval and matching. >
Characterization of Rhesus Macaque B-Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines Infected with Simian Type D Retrovirus

A simian type D retrovirus designated SRV induces a fatal immunosuppressive disease in rhesus macaques. This syndrome shows many clinical similarities to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals. To investigate the mechanisms of immune dysfunction in SRV infection, we have focused on the interactions of SRV serotype 1 (SRV-1) with macaque B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCL). Procedures were optimized for establishing B-LCL by immortalization of macaque B lymphocytes with rhesus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). These cell lines express B-cell surface markers, secrete immunoglobulins of the IgG or IgM isotypes, and release EBV which transforms monkey B cells. In vitro cultures of B-LCL supported replication of SRV-1. Several B-LCL infected with SRV-1 showed downregulation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigen expression whereas levels of MHC class I antigen remained unchanged. Infection of B-LCL with SRV-1 did not alter the level of secreted immunoglobulin. Rhesus EBV was also used to obtain B-LCL from macaques infected with SRV-1; these cell lines were found to release infectious SRV-1. Investigations on the interactions of SRV-1 with B cells will be useful for elucidating mechanisms involved in the immunopathogenesis of primate retroviruses.
A high average power beam dump for an electron accelerator

Abstract The electron beam dump for Cornell University's Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) prototype injector was designed and manufactured to absorb 600 kW of electron beam power at beam energies between 5 and 15 MeV. It is constructed from an aluminum alloy using a cylindrical/conical geometry, with water cooling channels between an inner vacuum chamber and an outer jacket. The electron beam is defocused and its centroid is rastered around the axis of the dump to dilute the power density. A flexible joint connects the inner body and the outer jacket to minimize thermal stress. A quadrant detector at the entrance to the dump monitors the electron beam position and rastering. Electron scattering calculations, thermal and thermomechanical stress analysis, and radiation calculations are presented.
Total Hip Arthroplasty for the Sequelae of Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease

Background The durability and risks associated with total hip arthroplasty (THA) for patients with a history of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (LCPD) are not well known.
A Self-Administering Assessment of Personal Meanings of Death: Report on the Revised Twenty Statements Test.

This article reports on a scale revision of the Twenty Statements Test (R-TST)1; a measure designed to uncover multidimensional, personal reactions to death. Data were collected from six samples to develop the final scale revision and investigate some of its psychometric properties. The revised instrument is a self-administering, open-ended questionnaire eliciting twenty responses to the probe question; “What does your death mean to you?” Seven mutually exclusive, content categories and three summary-affective categories were developed through content-analysis procedures to assess favorable and unfavorable religious, personal, and social reactions to death. Interjudge agreement and two-week test-retest reliabilities were satisfactory for all scoring categories. Data indicate that the R-TST is a useful instrument to measure the multidimensionality of death attitudes and yields information on several death-related dimensions that are not assessed by other self-report measures.
Isolation of Viable Toxoplasma gondii from Tissues and Feces of Cats from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract: Cats are important in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii because they are the only hosts that excrete environmentally resistant oocysts in feces. In the present study, hearts, serum, and feces from 36 feral cats from Addis Ababa area, Ethiopia, were examined for T. gondii infection. Antibodies to T. gondii were determined with the modified agglutination test (MAT, cutoff 1:25); 33 cats were seropositive. Hearts of all 36 cats were homogenized, digested in pepsin, and bioassayed in mice. Feces were examined for T. gondii oocysts by bioassay in mice. Viable T. gondii was isolated from heart of 26 by bioassay in mice and from 25 seropositive and 1 seronegative cats. Toxoplasma gondii was isolated from feces (oocysts) by bioassay in mice. In total, viable T. gondii was isolated from 27 of the 36 cats, and these isolates were designated TgCatEt1 to TgCatEt27. The high prevalence of T. gondii oocysts in feces of 8 (19.4%) of 36 cats is of high epidemiologic significance. This is the first report o...
Flying Height Modulation Due to Disk Waviness of Sub-5 nm Flying Height Air Bearing Sliders

Two new air bearing slider designs are presented for storage densities greater than 100 Gb/n 2 in hard disk drive (HDD) applications. Their dynamic frequencies and mode shapes are characterized, and they are used to study the flying height modulation (FHM) over wavy disks due to geometric effects as opposed to dynamic effects. It is found that low pitch designs experience large FHM at wavelengths on the order of the length of the sliders to one-eighth the length of the sliders due to a complex phase shift in the sliders trailing edge response as compared to the disk waviness. FHM due to disk waviness wavelengths from 2 mm to 0.16 mm was found to be a function of the sliders' attitude (pitch angle) and the air bearing surface (ABS) geometry (pressure distribution over the ABS). The results presented suggest that the pitch should be greater than 100 μrad for the ABS designs presented and attention needs to be focused on the ABS design and disk morphology to avoid unacceptable FHM. An ABS design was introduced to reiterate the findings on geometric FHM showing an 83 percent decrease in geometric FHM. The FHM due to geometric effects of the slider designs studied in this paper could possibly be predicted by the disk morphology alone.
“You May Not Give It Away”: How Social Norms Shape Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesian Jurisprudence

A recent Indonesian Islamic law compilation presents an apparent anomaly in restricting the right to give away wealth as hiba to one-third of an estate — whereas the trend in Indonesian law reform has been to bring Islamic law closer to local inheritance practices. By means of a narrative analysis of a recent court decision, I identify a discourse of justifying the new restrictions in terms of general religious and social norms of fairness and agreement among heirs. Examination of local debates over law and property in two Sumatran societies, Gayo and Minangkabau, suggests that hiba is regarded as an impediment to Islamization of social life, and as introducing elements of unfairness and discord. Thus the new rule can be explained as having been motivated by local social processes and social norms.
Improved macroblock mode selection for H.264/AVC in wireless environments

An improved macroblock mode selection method based on the ROPE algorithm is proposed for the H.264/AVC encoder. The proposed method avoids the recursive calculation of second moment values by using the standard deviation. Simulation results show much improved performance over the method in the current H.264/AVC reference encoder.
The Economics of EBIPM on Great Basin Rangelands

Ecologically Based Invasive Plant Management (EBIPM) has been shown to be more effective at rehabilitating sagebrush rangeland degraded by invasive plants than standard invasive plant man- agement practices.1,2,3 The improvements in ecosystem func- tion that result from implementing EBIPM on sagebrush rangelands have numerous economic bene ts, from increased forage productivity for domestic livestock to enhancements in ecosystem goods and services (EGS), such as wild re habi- tat and hydrological function. In this article, we describe how the economic bene ts of EBIPM can be measured as the change in the ow of EGS resulting from improvements in ecosystem function, and highlight three recent research proj- ects that have quanti ed the economic bene ts of EBIPM on sagebrush rangelands using this approach. DOI: 10.2458/azu_rangelands_v34i6_rollins
Vapor−Liquid Equilibria Data for Methanol + 2-Propanol+ 2-Methyl-2-butanol and Constituent Binary Systems at 101.3 kPa

Isobaric vapor−liquid equilibria (VLE) were measured at atmospheric pressure for the ternary system methanol + 2-propanol + 2-methyl-2-butanol and its constituent binary system 2-propanol + 2-methyl-2-butanol. Parameters for the Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC equations were determined from the binary VLE data, and the prediction for ternary VLE system was compared with experimental results. For both binary and ternary systems, the NRTL and UNIQUAC models gave good predictions.
Ranking of polyp candidates for CAD in CT colonography

We investigated the application of optimized ranking schemes in the analysis of polyp candidates detected from CT colonography datasets by our CAD scheme. CT colonography was performed for 28 patients in supine and prone positions with a standard pre-colonoscopy preparation and air distension. There were 42 colonoscopy-confirmed polyps 5-25 mm in size. The colons were extracted by use of a centerline-based colon segmentation technique. Polyp candidates were detected from the extracted region of colonic wall by use of geometric features sensitive to polypoid shapes. The by-polyp detection sensitivity was 98%. The detected polyp candidates were ranked based on a ranking function constructed from a linear combination of polyp features. The feature weights were optimized by a downhill simplex method by maximizing the rank of the lowest-ranking true-positive polyp candidate. We considered two types of ranking: by-dataset ranking and global ranking. The most effective ranking functions included multiple features and could reduce the amount of initially detected polyp candidates by 56% without compromising the high by-polyp detection sensitivity. The ranking schemes may be useful in optimizing the performance of CAD schemes for the detection of polyps in CT colonography.
Comparative hematology: Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)☆

Abstract 1. 1. Coagulation and fibrinolytic tests on rhesus monkey compared to human blood showed long Russell Viper Venom and thrombin times and higher levels of factors VII and XIII. 2. 2. Platelets were smaller than human but similar in ultrastructure. Monkey platelets aggregated with ADP, collagen and ristocetin but not with epinephrine. 3. 3. Streptokinase and urokinase activated monkey plasminogen. 4. 4. Erythrocytes were similar to human in numbers, hemoglobin content, and appearance on scanning electron microscopy. 5. 5. Biochemical tests showed calcium, sodium, BUN, alkaline phosphatase, CPK. LDH and SGOT to be higher than the upper limits for normal humans.
Scalable personalized medicine with active learning: detecting seizures with minimum labeled data

Existing research on personalized medicine has tended to focus on customizing patient care based on genetic data. In contrast, despite the large volumes of physiological data collected from patients in different settings, this information has found only limited use in personalized diagnosis and therapy. This trend can be attributed in part to the difficulty in reviewing the information that is collected. In many cases, clinical applications require the patient-specific behavior to be characterized by an expert before it can be used to develop automated decision-support systems. For large volumes of data, this has proven to be challenging due to demands on human time and skills. In this paper, we explore the use of active learning to allow for scalable personalized medicine based on physiological data. We hypothesize that active learning can substantially reduce the amount of data that must be analyzed by experts while creating automated decision-support systems that are both personalized and highly accurate. We focus our work on a specific clinical application: the detection of epileptic seizures. While patient-specific detectors based on observations of seizures for each patient in long-term electroencephalographic signals has been shown to substantially improve performance over patient-non-specific detectors, this improvement is associated with the need to manually label seizure and non-seizure activity in large amounts of data for each patient. We describe how this present approach can be improved and made more scalable by using a support vector machine-based active learning algorithm. When evaluated on continuous intracranial data from ten patients, our approach was able to reduce the amount of data reviewed by a skilled expert by nearly 95% without any noticeable effect on performance.
Evaluation of Early Life Stage Fall Chinook Salmon Exposed to Hexavalent Chromium from a Contaminated Groundwater Source

We conducted a laboratory evaluation to assess the risk to early life stage (i.e., eyed egg to swim up) fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) for exposure to hexavalent chromium from a contaminated groundwater source. Local populations of fall Chinook salmon were exposed to Hanford Site source groundwater that was diluted with Columbia River water. Specific endpoints included survival, development rate, and growth. Tissue burdens of fish were also measured to estimate uptake and elimination rates of chromium. Survival, development, and growth of early life stage fall Chinook salmon were not adversely affected by extended exposures (i.e., 98 day) to hexavalent chromium ranging from 0.79 to 260 μg/l. Survival for all treatment levels and controls exceeded 98% at termination of the test. In addition, there were no differences among the mean lengths and weights of fish among all treatment groups. Whole-body concentrations of chromium in early life stage fall Chinook salmon had a typical dose-response pattern; i.e., those subjected to highest exposure concentrations and longest exposure intervals had higher tissue concentrations. Given the spatial extent of chromium concentrations at the Hanford Site, and the dynamics of the groundwater–river water interface, the current cleanup criterion of 10 μg/l chromium appear adequate to protect early life stage fall Chinook salmon. These findings, together with previous research indicate low risk to these populations.
The history of the application of mathematical programming to menu planning

Abstract The classic diet model inspired the least cost meals model and software developed for mainframe computers in the early sixties. During the seventies, techniques were introduced for incorporating food preferences into menu planning systems. Software for preference maximized menu planning emerged. Further research in the eighties produced a new approach to menu planning using mathematical programming and related microcomputer software.
A probabilistic problem arising in economics

Abstract Let v be a market game derived from an l-glove market with population measure μ. That is, v=min(λ1,λ2,…,λl), where λ1,λ2,…,λl are mutually singular probability measures which are absolutely continuous w.r.t. μ. It is proved that when l≧3 the μ-asymptotic value of v,oμv, exists iff at most one of the measures λ1,…,λl is not in L2(μ). A formula for oμv is given whenever it exists. In addition, a complete characterization of the range of the μ-values of v (where μ varies) is given.
A simple, solid-phase binding assay for the nuclear import receptor karyopherin α. Part 1: direct binding

Abstract The nuclear import receptor karyopherin α recognizes nuclear localization signals (NLSs), peptides that direct the transport of proteins into the nucleus. A simple, colorimetric assay has been developed to facilitate the identification and comparison of karyopherin ligands by direct and competitive binding using NLSs immobilized on the solid phase (TentaGel® resin).
Pre-operative renal function predicts development of chronic renal insufficiency after orthotopic heart transplantation.

Abstract Background Risk factors for the development of chronic renal insufficiency after solid-organ transplantation remain unclear. Methods We conducted a 5-year retrospective analysis of all adult patients ( n = 160) who survived >1 year after orthotopic heart transplantation at our institution from 1985 through 1992. Study subjects were classified into 3 groups based on peri-operative renal function: (1) pre-operative creatinine concentration n = 75); (2) pre-operative creatinine of 2.0 mg/dl ( n = 47); (3) pre-operative creatinine of >1.5 mg/dl ( n = 38). The association between development of chronic renal insufficiency and peri-operative renal dysfunction was evaluated using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results A total of 47 (29.4%) patients experienced chronic renal insufficiency (serial serum creatinine >2.0 mg/dl on 2 or more monthly examinations). The mean pre-operative serum creatinine was 1.6 mg/dl in patients who experienced chronic renal insufficiency, whereas it was 1.3 mg/dl in patients who did not ( p p Conclusion Pre-operative serum creatinine concentration predicts development of renal insufficiency after heart transplantation.
The subventricular zone continues to generate corpus callosum and rostral migratory stream astroglia in normal adult mice

Astrocytes are the most abundant cells in the CNS, and have many essential functions, including maintenance of blood–brain barrier integrity, and CNS water, ion, and glutamate homeostasis. Mammalian astrogliogenesis has generally been considered to be completed soon after birth, and to be reactivated in later life only under pathological circumstances. Here, by using genetic fate-mapping, we demonstrate that new corpus callosum astrocytes are continuously generated from nestin+ subventricular zone (SVZ) neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in normal adult mice. These nestin fate-mapped corpus callosum astrocytes are uniformly postmitotic, express glutamate receptors, and form aquaporin-4+ perivascular endfeet. The entry of new astrocytes from the SVZ into the corpus callosum appears to be balanced by astroglial apoptosis, because overall numbers of corpus callosum astrocytes remain constant during normal adulthood. Nestin fate-mapped astrocytes also flow anteriorly from the SVZ in association with the rostral migratory stream, but do not penetrate into the deeper layers of the olfactory bulb. Production of new astrocytes from nestin+ NPCs is absent in the normal adult cortex, striatum, and spinal cord. Our study is the first to demonstrate ongoing SVZ astrogliogenesis in the normal adult mammalian forebrain.
Fiber formation by dehydration‐induced aggregation of albumin

Many proteins are capable of forming fibrils in vitro, suggesting that the propensity for fiber formation is a generic property of polypeptides. Pathways leading to fibril assembly, however, still remain elusive. In this research, dehydration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions was found to result in spontaneous and organized formation of densely packed fibrils with the majority of proteins converted to parallel β-sheets. BSA aggregation was investigated in regard to drying conditions (airflow, temperature, and humidity) and the influence of pH, presence of anions, and protein concentration. Aggregates were prepared at large scale and crosslinked to produce water-insoluble fibers with mechanical properties comparable to those of silk. Interactions between BSA and salts suggest that removing the inner water shell surrounding globular proteins leads to protein unfolding and aggregation at the water/air interface. BSA fibers can be formed into larger assemblies such as yarns, and dyed with acid dyes, thus showing great potential for future industrial-scale applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013
Velocity effect of vehicle rolling resistance in sand

Abstract Vehicle rolling resistance is important to vehicle and aircraft ground movement in loose soil and sand conditions, especially in military operations. Off-road rolling resistance measurements have been taken at relatively low velocities, 2.1–4.6 m/s (meters per second) (7–15 ft/s) (4–9 knots), which has precluded studying any potential velocity effect on rolling resistance. With the emergence of aircraft designed to be used on unimproved soil runways and the military’s proposed new vehicles, especially the lighter-weight, 23–500-kg (50–1100-lbs) robotics, capable of high-velocity off-road movement, it is important that the rolling resistance be measured at velocities closer to the expected operating conditions. This paper presents data from rubber tire rolling resistance measurements in three depths of uniform-density dry sand at velocities from 2.1 up to 18 m/s (7–58 ft/s) (4–34 knots) and three load ranges from 4534 to 10,266 N (1020–2308 lbs). In dry sand the rolling resistance increases with velocity until the tire starts to “plane,” where it levels off or decreases and it is modified by load. Limited past work in this area is presented along with some existing analytical descriptions of rolling resistance versus velocity. Limited agreement between the published equations and the test data, along with contradictory published results, indicate that additional work on this topic is needed.
A similarity strategy for decisions involving sequential events

Abstract When providing users with data, accountants often must choose the proper level of aggregation. Research in accounting has shown that the level of aggregation can effect the behavior of decision makers. For example, decision maker's choices between alternatives, each of which involves the occurence of two independent events, often are made on the basis of the probabilities associated with the separate events rather than a comparison of the joint probabilities as prescribed by normative theory. Most evidence from prior studies in consistent with the sequence effect hypothesis, which suggests that people prefer the alternative with the higher probability of success for the first of the two events. This study provides the first evidence that people often use a different strategy which we call the “similarity strategy” to choose between two alternatives. This strategy involves choosing the alternative for which the event probabilities are more similar (i.e. the alternative for which the difference between the probability of success for the two independent events is small relative to the other alternative). The similarity strategy applies to a much broader set of managerial accounting and investment decision settings than the choice strategies identified in previous studies. Thus, an important contribution of this study is that it expands considerably the potential scope of accounting research in the area.
A groundwater management model for Salt Lake County, Utah with some water rights and water quality considerations

Abstract A deterministic optimization model is presented for analyzing groundwater development and use options in an urban setting for a multi-year planning period. Water quality management issues are considered through aquifer flow control. Groundwater rights of individual water supply agencies are handled by accounting for groundwater flow across agency boundaries and by restricting well drawdowns. A response matrix formulation is used to develop a compact, nonlinear optimization model. Penalty Successive Linear Programming (PSLP) is used for model solutions. Example applications of the model to Salt Lake County, UT are made for various demand scenarios — uniform demand, demand growth and drought conditions. The results from these applications show that economics, water quality and water rights considerations, as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of demand are important factors in determining optimal groundwater development.
Upper sternal depression following Lorenz bar repair of pectus excavatum

An upper sternal depression following Lorenz bar repair of pectus excavatum (PE) represents a partial recurrence and poses a difficult problem for the surgeon. There is no published experience detailing the management options or best course of therapy for this complication. This study presents our institutional experience in treating eight patients with this specific subtype of recurrence and we discuss intraoperative considerations which aid in the identification and better management of this deformity. A retrospective review (1997–2006) of patients undergoing primary repair of PE with a Lorenz bar procedure identified eight patients who experienced upper sternal depression with the bar still in place following initial repair of PE. All patients were revised with the insertion of a second bar to elevate the upper sternal depression. Data collected for each patient included demographics, preoperative symptoms, operative characteristics, and postoperative outcomes. The mean age at the time of Lorenz bar repair and surgical revision was 20.8 ± 9.5 and 21.5 ± 10.1 years, respectively. A majority of patients (87.5%) were male. The mean time to reoperation was 23.8 ± 11.8 months. Following this second procedure, no patient has experienced bar displacement, recurrence of the upper sternal depression, or has required a third procedure. Our limited experience supports the use of a second Lorenz bar in the treatment of upper sternal depression after bar correction of a PE deformity. Appropriate recognition and treatment of this entity will advance patient outcomes and satisfaction after surgery for PE deformities.
An S-plus implementation of hidden markov models in continuous time

Abstract Hidden Markov models (HMM) can be applied to the study of time varying unobserved categorical variables for which only indirect measurements are available. An S-Plus module to fit HMMs in continuous time to this type of longitudinal data is presented. Covariates affecting the transition intensities of the hidden Markov process or the conditional distribution of the measured response (given the hidden states of the process) are handled under a generalized regression framework. Users can provide C subroutines specifying the parameterization of the model to adapt the software to a wide variety of data types. HMM analysis using the S-Plus module is illustrated on a dataset from a prospective study of human papillomavirus infection in young women and on simulated data.
Error-specific medial cortical and subcortical activity during the stop signal task: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

The ability to detect errors and adjust behavior accordingly is essential for maneuvering in an uncertain environment. Errors are particularly prone to occur when multiple, conflicting responses are registered in a situation that requires flexible behavioral outputs. Previous studies have provided evidence indicating the importance of the medial cortical brain regions including the cingulate cortex in processing conflicting information. However, conflicting situations can be successfully resolved, or lead to errors, prompting a behavioral change in the observers. In particular, how does the brain use error signals specifically to adjust behavior on the fly? Here we employ a stop signal task (SST) to elicit errors approximately half of the time in high-conflict trials despite constant behavioral adjustment of the observers. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show greater and, sequentially, less activation in the medial cortical regions when observers made an error, compared with when they successfully resolved high-conflict responses. Errors also evoked greater activity in the cuneus, retrosplenial cortex, insula, and subcortical structures including the thalamus and the region of the epithalamus (the habenula). We further showed that the error-related medial cortical activities are not correlated with post-error behavioral adjustment, as indexed by post-error slowing (PES) in go trial reaction time. These results delineate an error-specific pattern of brain activation during the SST. The results also suggest that the relationship between error-related activity and post-error behavioral adjustment may be more complicated than has been conceptualized by the conflict monitoring hypothesis.
Programming language concepts for multiprocessors

Abstract It is currently possible to build multiprocessor systems which will support the tightly coupled activity of hundreds to thousands of different instruction streams, or processes. This can be done by coupling many monoprocessors, or a smaller number of pipelined multiprocessors, through a high concurrency switching network. The switching network may couple processors to memory modules, resulting in a shared memory multiprocessor system, or it may couple processor/memory pairs, resulting in a distributed memory system. The need to direct the activity of very many processes simultaneously places qualitatively different demands on a programming language than the direction of a single process. In spite of the different requirements, most languages for multiprocessors have been simple extensions of conventional, single stream programming languages. The extensions are often implemented by way of subroutine calls and have little impact on the basic structure of the language. This paper attempts to examine the underlying conceptual structure of parallel languages for large-scale multiprocessors on the basis of an existing language for shared memory multiprocessors, known as the Force, and to extend the concepts in this language to distributed memory systems.
Diverse peer selection in collaborative web search

Effective peer selection for intelligent query routing is a challenge in collaborative peer-based Web search systems, especially unstructured networks that do not have any centralized control of peer document collections. In particular, routing a query to multiple peers that provide the same results is a waste of resources. To deal with overlapping document collections we propose a diverse peer selection approach for adaptive query routing. This approach takes into account not only which neighbors are the best resource providers for a given query, but also which combinations of neighbors can provide the least redundant results. We validate the feasibility of our proposed algorithm by presenting several simulation experiments conducted with different configurations of peer network environments. Two novel evaluation measures, distributed precision and distributed recall, are also introduced to provide an effective comparison of different peer network systems. These two performance measures extend the well known IR measures of precision and recall by integrating network costs, namely bandwidth and latency. Our algorithm finds results of equivalent quality using less time and generating less traffic in the presence of varying amounts of document duplication.
Electromechanical modeling of hybrid piezohydraulic actuator system for active vibration control

Electromechanical modeling of a hybrid piezohydraulic actuator system for active vibration control was developed. The transfer function of piezoelectric actuator was derived from the electromechanical potential energy law. This transfer function represents the dynamic relationship between input electric voltage and piezoelectric actuator displacement. The hydraulic actuator was characterized by impedance matching in which its transfer functions were experimentally determined. The transfer functions were transformed into a state-space representation, which is easily assembled into an active vibration control (AVC) closed-loop simulation. Good correlation of simulation and test was achieved for the hybrid system. A closed-loop dynamic simulation for imbalance response with/without AVC of a spinning rotor test rig at NASA Lewis was performed and showed excellent agreement with test results. The simulation couples the piezoelectric, hydraulic, and structural (rotor) components.
Correlation of High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Calcific Aortic Valve Disease

OBJECTIVE To determine whether a difference exists in the levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) in patients with and without calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD). PATIENTS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study consisted of 110 patients who had undergone echocardiographic examination from January 2005 to February 2006 at our institution. Information on demographic variables, coronary risk factors, and medications was obtained. More than 200 patients were excluded on the basis of any evidence of infection, active connective tissue disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, recent episodes of bleeding, acute fractures, bowel obstruction, or acute coronary syndrome or use of corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or antibiotic treatment. The values of Hs-CRP, total cholesterol, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were included. RESULTS Of the 110 study subjects, 38 patients had aortic sclerosis, 36 patients had aortic stenosis, and 36 were controls. The mean Hs-CRP level in the control group was significantly lower (4.84±6.9 mg/L) compared with the levels in the groups with aortic sclerosis (14.9±19.6 mg/L) and aortic stenosis (13.6±17.3 mg/L) ( P =.01). No statistically significant difference was found between the patients in the aortic sclerosis and aortic stenosis groups. Among the patients with aortic stenosis, no significant correlation existed between Hs-CRP levels and aortic stenosis severity. CONCLUSIONS The Hs-CRP seems to have a significant association with CAVD during its early stage. The study findings did not have sufficient evidence to suggest the use of Hs-CRP as a marker of progression of calcific aortic stenosis. The Hs-CRP may have a role in identifying patients in the early stages of CAVD and in whom medical treatment may be beneficial to halt the progression to irreversible aortic valvular calcification and stenosis.
Recent RNA structures

Three new RNA structures appeared during 1992, the most interesting of which is that of the TAR region of HIV RNA. Useful additions were made to the body of thermodynamic data on the interactions that stabilize RNA conformations, and a number of important new methods appeared for determining RNA conformations by NMR.
Investigation on the Performance of Fire Detection Systems for Tunnel Applications––Part 1: Full-Scale Experiments at a Laboratory Tunnel

A two-year international road tunnel fire detection research project (Phase II) was completed recently. As part of this project, a series of fire tests were conducted in a laboratory tunnel facility under minimum and longitudinal airflow conditions. In addition, fire tests were also conducted in the Carre-Viger tunnel in Montreal. This paper presents the results of the full-scale experiments conducted in the laboratory tunnel under minimum airflow conditions. The performance of nine fire detection systems representing five types of fire detection technologies was investigated using representative tunnel fire scenarios. Test results showed that the response of fire detection systems to a tunnel fire was dependent on the size, location and growth rate of the fire, the type of fuel as well as the method of detection.
RV fibrosis in pulmonary hypertension impact on prognosis; does formal quantitation augment prognosis?

Background Right ventricular (RV) function predicts prognosis in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients (pts) and right ventricular (RV) failure. Prior studies evaluating of 3D RV ejection fraction (EF) have yielded inconsistent prognostic information. Here we explore the prognostic value of contrast enhanced Cardiac MRI (CMR) in PH (WHO group 1-5) pts.We hypothesize that CMR-Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE), a marker for myocardial fibrosis when present in RV or RV insertion points (RVIP), is a predictor of adverse prognosis in PH pts and remains more so when a quantitative analysis is incorporated. Methods A retrospective chart review of PH pts (n=42) who underwent clinically indicated CMR were analyzed. Demographic data: mean age 61 yrs; 26% male; WHO group 1 (55%) group 2 (21%), group 3 (5%) group 4 (14%) group 5 (5%). RV volumetric data were indexed to BSA, and along with RV LGE information (Binary and Manual Quantitation: 5 SD threshold analysis) were correlated with MACE including hospitalization, death, referral/need for lung transplantation and addition/ increase in inotropic therapy. Results LGE was positive (+) in 18 pts (43%) and negative (-) in the remaining 24 pts (57%). The predominant MACE events occur in the LGE+ group (78%). Specifically, in LGE+ group, 7 pts (39%) had MACE while 11 pts (61%) did not have MACE. In comparison, the LGE- group had only 2 pts (8%) who had MACE and 22 pts (92%)who did not have MACE, <0.03 for all). The results were similar when WHO group 1 were sub analyzed. In WHO 1 subgroup, 11 pts (48%) were LGE+ and 12 pts (52%) were LGE-. In the LGE+ group 4 pts (36%) had MACE while 7 pts (64% did not. In the LGE- there were no MACE, (<0.04). Fisher’ se xact test was used for group comparisons. Univariate analysis revealed only RVESVI, RVEF, RVEDVI and MRI LGE predicts MACE. However, via multivariable logistic regression analysis only RVESVI (OR: 1.1, 95%; CI 1.0-1.2) and MRI LGE (OR: 7.0,95%;CI 1.2-39.5) predict MACE.(c2=22.5,df=2, n=42, p<0.001). In a subset of those +LGE pts who had none-zero fibrosis after threshold quantitiation, no additive value was demonstrable.
Continuous clinical monitoring using fiber optic sensors

Optical sensors are a new type of device that employ the ability of optical fibers, also known as fiber optics, to transmit light very efficiently over long distances. The operating principles behind these sensors and their applications are the subject of the initial sections of this paper. We will first consider the properties of optical fibers and then move to a discussion of how these fibers can be c0nverted into sensors. A more practical discussion of medical applications for continuous clinical monitoring will follow along with a discussion of the issues that are of particular concern for medical applications.
Commonalities in the time trends of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: The analysis of the time trends of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a powerful research tool to assess the contribution of environmental factors to its etiology and to gain insights about possible causative mechanisms. A previous study revealed a characteristic relationship between the time trends of mortality from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The present study aimed to test whether the most recent temporal patterns still corroborate the hypothesis of two interacting risk factors in the development of IBD. The time trends of IBD from six countries were checked for common features. METHODS: Mortality data from Australia, Canada, England and Wales, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States were analyzed. Age- and sex-specific death rates, as well as total death rates, from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis were plotted against the period of death. RESULTS: Mortality from ulcerative colitis decreased continuously during the past 40 years. Mortality from Crohn’s disease increased between 1950 and the mid-1970’s until reaching a similar level as mortality from ulcerative colitis. Since then the death rates of both diseases have followed a parallel time course. A similar behavior was found, if male and female data were analyzed separately. It could be also discerned in the time trends of each age group. The data from all six countries revealed identical temporal patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The similar time trends of IBD from different countries support the hypothesis that identical causative mechanisms are responsible for the mortality and the occurrence of IBD among populations characterized by different political history and health care systems. The rapidity of the temporal changes implicates environmental agents in the etiology of both diseases. The relationships between the temporal changes of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis point at the existence of a shared risk factor responsible for the occurrence of both diseases, and at the existence of at least one additional factor, responsible for the expression of Crohn’s disease alone.
Sedimentology and tectonic significance of Wolfcampian (Lower Permian) conglomerates in the Pedregosa basin: Southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico

A single interval of red chert-clast conglomerate and associated strata (RCC/CRCC interval) occurs within the Earp Formation (Pennsylvanian-Lower Permian) at many localities in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico; this interval records a middle Wolfcampian erosional event in the northern Pedregosa basin and adjacent shelf. The RCC and CRCC intervals are probably proximal and distal braided-stream deposits, respectively, consisting of conglomeratic longitudinal and transverse bar deposits; fluvial-channel sandstone; and interfluvial fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, and shale, and they are interstratified within a much thicker sequence of shallow-marine deposits. The RCC/CRCC interval is uniformly thin (average 5 m thick), yet it is characterized by sheet-like lateral continuity, indicating that deposition occurred on an extensive, low-lying surface on which fluvial channel migration and channel switching were important processes. Paleoflow directions were generally southeastward. Biostratigraphic evidence suggests that middle and lower Wolfcampian strata below the RCC/CRCC interval were beveled northward. Much clastic material of the RCC/CRCC interval may be composed of reworked residuum of the beveled strata, with additional contributions possibly from regions north and northwest of the Pedregosa shelf. Middle Wolfcampian emergence of the northern Pedregosa basin and shelf and accompanying deposition of the RCC/CRCC interval were probably caused by tectonics. Other less important factors, such as eustatic sea-level fluctuations, may have amplified the regression. Evidence favoring a tectonic cause of regression are synchronous timing of tectonism and synorogenic sedimentation throughout a wide area in the Ouachita foreland. The RCC/CRCC interval was probably deposited on a forebulge peripheral to the Pedregosa foreland basin. Stratigraphic evidence indicates that the southern Pedregosa basin evolved rapidly from a slowly subsiding platform to a deep foreland basin during early or middle Wolfcampian time. Subsidence of the Pedregosa foreland basin was presumably caused by downflexure under northward-verging thrust sheets in the Chihuahua region during the Ouachita orogeny. Downflexure of the Pedregosa foreland basin evidently caused flexural forebulging and subaerial exposure of large areas cratonward. Flexural models predicting deflection of lithosphere under isostatic thrust and sediment loads agree satisfactorily with the forebulge concept for the origin of the RCC/CRCC interval.