cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Outcome of thyroglossal duct cyst excision is independent of presenting age or symptomatology.

Summary Background Thyroglossal duct cysts (TGDCs) are the most common form of congenital neck cyst, accounting for up to 70% of such lesions. There has been no consensus on which factors predict outcome of thyroglossal duct cyst excision. The objective of the current study is to evaluate the relevance of symptomatology and age at presentation with outcome of TGDCs. Methods Retrospective review of patients with TGDC at a tertiary care children's hospital. Data collected included patient's age, gender, clinical presentation, presence or absence of preoperative infection, imaging modality, type of procedure performed, size and location of the lesion, postoperative infection, complications, and recurrence of disease. Results Twenty-nine patients were identified (59% female, 41% male). Age of presentation was bimodal and ranged from 18 months to 14 years. The most common presenting symptom was the presence of an asymptomatic midline neck mass (76%). A history of preoperative TGDC infection was present in 22% of patients ≤2 years of age and in 43% of patients ≥5 years of age. Recurrence rate after the Sistrunk procedure was 3.4%. Conclusions The finding of a midline neck mass is the most common presentation of TGDCs in toddlers, whereas infection is the most common presenting symptoms in school-aged children. The incidence of preoperative infection was 41% in our series, much higher than previously reported. Independent of presenting age and symptomatology, recurrence of TGDC remains low when the Sistrunk procedure is employed.
Current laboratory studies pertaining to earthquake prediction

Abstract Laboratory studies in three areas may prove useful in earthquake prediction. These studies deal with the source mechanism, with microfracturing and with changes in rock properties under stress. Of the various processes which produce sudden stress drops in rocks, brittle fracture and frictional stick-slip are being currently studied. Both are accompanied by numerous small elastic shocks which begin at stresses well below the fracture or sliding stress. Although the shocks in both cases are due to microfracturing, the pattern of microfracturing prior to brittle fracture differs in a characteristic way from that before frictional sliding. Just before fracture the number and intensity of shocks increases markedly, and the locations from which the larger shocks emanate cluster along the eventual fault plane. Neither feature has been observed prior to frictional stick-slip. Large changes in sound velocity have been observed at certain phase changes. Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility are strongly affected by stress: in rocks partially saturated with water, electrical resistivity may decrease rapidly at low stress; in fully saturated rocks, it may decrease rapidly at high stress, just before fracture. Very little change takes place just before frictional sliding of saturated rocks.
Transcription-coupled DNA repair: two decades of progress and surprises

Expressed genes are scanned by translocating RNA polymerases, which sensitively detect DNA damage and initiate transcription-coupled repair (TCR), a subpathway of nucleotide excision repair that removes lesions from the template DNA strands of actively transcribed genes. Human hereditary diseases that present a deficiency only in TCR are characterized by sunlight sensitivity without enhanced skin cancer. Although multiple gene products are implicated in TCR, we still lack an understanding of the precise signals that can trigger this pathway. Futile cycles of TCR at naturally occurring non-canonical DNA structures might contribute to genomic instability and genetic disease.
Scapular fracture in a high school football player.

Scapular fractures are rare in brief athletes, but they have been reported in professional football players who play high-collision positions. This case report of a painful, nondisplaced scapular fracture in a 17-year-old high school offensive and defensive lineman shows that these fractures can happen even in amateur athletes. A scapular fracture may mimic a rotator cuff injury, as happened initially in this case. Conservative treatment is usually appropriate for these fractures unless there is severe displacement.
Effect of Gradual and Abrupt Lengthening of Photoperiod on Reproductive Response of Turkeys

Abstract IN LIGHTING turkeys for winter egg production in the United States, it is common practice to increase the length of light day from the naturally occurring short photoperiods to 13, 14, or more hours of combined artificial and natural light. The increase, almost always applied only through morning lights, is administered abruptly, as from 91/2 to 14 hours, or it may be built up gradually, for example, by daily increments of 15 to 60 minutes, starting at sunrise. After the desired initial photoperiod is established, the starting hour remains constant but, as the season advances, the later occurring sunsets gradually extend the daylength to its maximum in June. Authors of practical treatises vary considerably in their recommendations relating to the method of lengthening the photoperiod. Many authors, among them Gooding et al. (1951), Winner and McDougle (1952), Smith et al. (1955), and Moreng and Hartung (1959), do not specify the …
Takayasu arteritis: utility and limitations of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and treatment.

Objective Previous studies have confirmed the poor correlation of symptoms, signs, and levels of acute-phase reactants with disease activity in ∼50% of all patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA). Invasive angiographic studies demonstrate vessel lumen anatomy, but do not provide qualitative information about the vessel wall. Moreover, sequential invasive angiographic studies expose patients to high-dose ionizing radiation and catheter/procedure-related morbidity. The aim of the present study was to determine the utility of new developments in vascular magnetic resonance (MR) technology in patients with TA. Methods Electrocardiogram-gated “edema-weighted” MR was used to evaluate the aorta and its primary branches with regard to the vascular lumen, vessel wall anatomy, and vessel wall edema in 24 TA patients (77 studies). Inclusion criteria were age <50 years and features of TA on both clinical examination and invasive angiographic studies. Patients were stratified based on clinical and laboratory indications of having either unequivocally active disease, inactive disease, or uncertain disease status. Results MR revealed vessel wall edema in 94% (17 of 18), 81% (13 of 16), and 56% (24 of 43) of studies obtained during periods of unequivocally active disease, uncertain disease activity, and apparent clinical remission, respectively. Westergren erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein values did not correlate with either the clinical assessment of disease activity or MR evidence of vascular edema. The frequency of presumed vascular inflammation (edema), as assessed by MR, in patients who appeared to be in remission was similar to the reported frequency of new angiographic lesions and histopathologic evidence of active disease in surgical specimens from patients thought to be in remission. However, the presence of edema within vessel walls did not consistently correlate with the occurrence of new anatomic changes found on subsequent studies. Conclusion Inconsistencies in the presence or absence of vessel edema and subsequent anatomic changes have cast doubt on the utility of edema-weighted MR imaging as a sole guide to disease activity and treatment in TA. In this study, the greatest utility of MR was in providing a safe, noninvasive means of assessing changes in vascular anatomy.
Syntactic frame and verb bias in aphasia: plausibility judgments of undergoer-subject sentences

This study investigates three factors that have been argued to define "canonical form" in sentence comprehension: Syntactic structure, semantic role, and frequency of usage. We first examine the claim that sentences containing unaccusative verbs present difficulties analogous to those of passive sentences. Using a plausibility judgment task, we show that a mixed group of aphasics performed significantly better on unaccusatives than on passives. We then turn to the observation that passives are generally harder than actives for aphasics. We show that this effect is modulated by lexical bias, i.e., the likelihood that a verb appears in a given syntactic structure: Passives of passive-bias verbs were significantly easier than passives of active-bias verbs. More generally, sentences whose structure matches the lexical bias of the main verb are significantly easier than sentences in which structure and lexical bias do not match. These findings suggest that "canonical form" reflects frequency and lexical biases.
Density- and Hardness-optimized Pressureless Sintered and Post-hot Isostatic Pressed B4C

Pressureless sintered B4C relative densities as high as 96.7% were obtained by optimizing the soak temperature, and holding at that temperature for the minimum time required to reach terminal density. Although the relative densities of pressureless sintered specimens were lower than that of commercially produced hot-pressed B4C, their (Vickers) hardness values were comparable. For 4.45-cm-diameter, 1.35-cm-high disk-shaped specimens, pressureless sintered to at least 93.0% relative density, post-hot isostatic pressing resulted in vast increases in relative densities (e.g., 100.0%) and hardness values significantly greater than that of commercially produced hot-pressed B4C.
Miscible displacements in Hele-Shaw cells: three-dimensional Navier–Stokes simulations

Three-dimensional Navier–Stokes simulations of viscously unstable, miscible Hele-Shaw displacements are discussed. Quasisteady fingers are observed whose tip velocity increases with the Peclet number and the unfavourable viscosity ratio. These fingers are widest near the tip, and become progressively narrower towards the root. The film of resident fluid left behind on the wall decreases in thickness towards the finger tip. The simulations reveal the detailed mechanism by which the initial spanwise vorticity of the base flow, when perturbed, gives rise to the cross-gap vorticity that drives the fingering instability in the classical Darcy sense. Cross-sections at constant streamwise locations reveal the existence of a streamwise vorticity quadrupole along the length of the finger. This streamwise vorticity convects resident fluid from the wall towards the centre of the gap in the cross-gap symmetry plane of the finger, while it transports injected fluid laterally away from the finger centre within the mid-gap plane. In this way, it results in the emergence of a longitudinal, inner splitting phenomenon some distance behind the tip that has not been reported previously. This inner splitting mechanism, which leaves the tip largely intact, is fundamentally different from the familiar tip-splitting mechanism. Since the inner splitting owes its existence to the presence of streamwise vorticity and cross-gap velocity, it cannot be captured by gap-averaged equations. It is furthermore observed that the role of the Peclet number in miscible displacements differs in some ways from that of the capillary number in immiscible flows. Specifically, larger Peclet numbers result in wider fingers, while immiscible flows display narrower fingers for larger capillary numbers. Furthermore, while higher capillary numbers are known to promote tip-splitting, inner splitting is delayed for larger Peclet numbers.
Colon ischemia accompanying ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Abstract Myocardial, cerebral, and renal ischemia are recognized as serious sequelae in patients surviving repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. Colonic ischemia, though a documented consequence of aortic reconstruction, has received less emphasis in these patients. In a 5-year review of a single hospital's experience, 50 patients underwent an emergency operation for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Ninety-six percent of the patients were in shock preoperatively. Of the 37 patients who survived the initial surgical procedure, 12 (32%) were subsequently found to have colon ischemia diagnosed by proctoscopy, repeat laparotomy, or autopsy. Among 20 of the initial survivors who later died at intervals up to 6 weeks after aneurysm repair 8 (40%) had colon ischemia as the sole or major contributing cause of death. Because of the high incidence of this serious but remediable problem in patients undergoing emergency operation for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, we now routinely perform: (a) intraoperative Doppler examination of the colonic arterial tree, with consideration of mesenteric revascularization if necessary, (b) daily postoperative sigmoidoscopy and examination of the stool for blood, and (c) aggressive “second-look” laparotomy in patients exhibiting any signs or symptoms suggesting colonic infarction. Our experience suggests that large bowel infarction is a common, lethal, and underemphasized complication following successful repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.
A geometric study of diversity.

A study of Gini's diversity function is undertaken from a geometric point of view. All values of this function that may be assumed by distributions in an n -species population are given geometric meaning with the use of four ranges. These results are used to classify the types of sets of equidiversity. A notion of higher order diversity is given and an estimate of the order which distinguishes populations with respect to diversity is derived.
Novel inversion method for land mine imaging and detection

We have developed, using both partial differential equation approaches and integral equation formulations, a precise method to invert acoustic or electromagnetic scattering data from macroscopic concealed objects. Our approach makes use of the ideas associated with our exact solution of partial differential equations as described in our paper where we were able to collapse the number of equations by elimination of transcendentals therefore preserving the absolute mathematical precision inherent in the partial differential equation formulation. Our mathematical method, as a consequence, has not encountered the traditional loss of precision when inverting the scattered data. The unrestricted wavelength range allows us to penetrate any material which may surround the object and differentiate between the object and the media. For this reason we have applied our inversion scheme to landmine detection as we can penetrate and differentiate under both wet and dry conditions. Also, we are able to account, under certain conditions, for dielectric nonlinearities of material in the concealed object. Therefore, we are able to build in density dependent false colors a 3D grid representative of both the media and of the embedded object including the internal structure of the object. We have surveyed the literature on the subject of recovery of physical location of concealed objects and we have found that most of the present applications such as land mine detection, and we have found that most of the present applications have shortcomings due to the physical changes that are present in the surrounding media or the discontinuities of physical properties of the media. For all the above reasons we believe that we may have the most versatile and mathematically precise approach to the solution of this problem.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Cardiac ryanodine receptor phosphorylation: target sites and functional consequences.

A study by Xiao and co-workers in this issue of the Biochemical Journal demonstrates PKA (protein kinase A)-dependent phosphorylation of Ser-2030 on the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) that is activated by β-adrenergic agonists. They show that RyR2 phosphorylation at this site is not appreciably altered in heart failure samples, but retains PKA-dependence of phosphorylation. They contrast this with RyR2 phosphorylation at Ser-2808, a site previously reported to be the key and only PKA target site on RyR2. Here Ser-2808 phosphorylation was found to be relatively insensitive to either PKA activation or inhibition. These results add important new information to a highly controversial field. This issue is important because it is increasingly clear that altered regulation of the gating of the RyR2 sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-release channel (e.g. by phosphorylation) is critically important in mediating altered diastolic sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release. This may contribute to both reduced cardiac function and arrhythmogenesis in humans carrying mutations in the RyR2 gene and with acquired heart failure of varied aetiology. This study brings some new answers, but also raises additional new questions that will require further investigation.
The giant dipole resonance in 16O observed with the polarized proton capture reaction

Abstract The giant E1 resonance of 16 O has been studied with the polarized proton capture reaction 15 N ( p ,γ o ) 16 O . The asymmetry produced in the angular distribution by the proton polarization was large and remarkably constant over the structure of the giant resonance. Combined with unpolarized measurements the polarized results provide additional information on the configuration of the giant E1 resonance in 16 O.
A Technique for Determining Solar Irradiance Deficits

A novel analytic technique, involving the use of computer-assisted data-reduction techniques, has been developed to determine the variation of solar irradiance from long-term averages. The objective of the study was to develop a tool that would enable solar system designers to assess and improve overall system reliability by determining the amount of backup and/or storage capability required to supplement a baseline system sized according to long-term averages. The technique allows the determination of variations for intervals of time up to 60 days. This paper presents results of the analysis of 13 sites in the continental USA. Cost-effective accommodation of solar irradiance deficits includes both increasing the collector area by about 15% to cover long-term year-to-year variations from the average, and adding energy storage or backup to cover short-term deficits such as those caused by local storms. Site-to-site dependency exists, causing a range of required short-term storage capacities of 1 to 7 no-sun days to accommodate the weather-caused deficits for this broad variety of sites.
MFSK--The Basis for Robust Acoustical Communications

Subsea acoustic control and communications systems based on FSK modulation have been used in the offshore industry for the past few years. Prerequisites for reliable link operation included frequency and spatial diversity, signal coding, and channel equalization. These prerequisites limited previous systems to very low data rates. In this paper, an acoustic modem capable of an order of magnitude increase in data rates is discussed. This improved acoustic modem achieves higher data rates by simultaneous transmission of multiple tones using FSK modulation. While not new, until now this technique has been impractical because of the hardware constraints imposed by multitone signal processing. Rapid advancements in the areas of charge transfer devices and Fast Fourier Transform processors removed these constraints. Tradeoffs discussed in this paper include the various signal-processing alternatives available and the use of error correcting or detecting codes to reduce the system undetected-error rate to acceptable values.
Earth history at the century mark of the U.S. Geological Survey

Abstract Earth history involves all aspects of geological and biological evolution, especially paleontology and stratigraphy. Early paleontological exploration of the western United States by and before the U.S. Geological Survey featured the dramatic discoveries and rivalries of the great vertebrate paleontologists Leidy, Cope, Marsh, and Osborn. Invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany in the U.S. Geological Survey blossomed with emphasis on practical missions. The most illuminating and useful earth history, nevertheless, emerges where there is a high degree of interaction with academic scholars. Despite a good knowledge of its broad features, the drama of earth history remains obscure in detail. Whereas it speaks conclusively for the reality of organic evolution, it is less conclusive about mechanisms and many important transitions. Current investigations, however, especially in pre-Phanerozoic, mammalian, and human paleontology, promise improved insights. New techniques in collecting, sample preparation, and research are revealing previously unknown kinds of fossils and exquisite details of preservation. Plate tectonic theory provides a new framework for historical geography and biogeography. Emerging techniques in geochronology—matching paleopolarity sequences, for example—promise to resolve old problems of the synchroneity or heterochroneity of different biotal provinces. As it splits into subfields, the teaching and practice of paleontology expand to cover all of them. The fossils themselves, however, remain the basic objective evidence. All hypotheses about them must answer to this court of appeal. But nature rarely responds in an either-or way. The most probable hypotheses are those that have repeatedly confronted objective reality and survived all opportunity for disproof.
Calculation of mean excitation energy and stopping cross section in the orbital local plasma approximation

Extension of the kinetic theory of stopping, in the Oddershede-Sabin (OS) (At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 31, 275 (1984)) orbitally decomposed form, from gas phase to films and crystals generates the need for orbital mean excitation energies calculated within the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA) to density-functional theory (DFT), the preeminent theoretical model for such extended systems. In LSDA, the orbitals and orbital energies used in the construction of the electron density {rho} have no standing for estimation or calculation of excitation energies. As an alternative we propose an orbital density generalization of the local plasma approximation (LPA) of Lindhard and Scharff (K. Dan. Vidensk. Selsk. Mat. Fys. Medd. 27, No. 15 (1953)) that we test by calculation of mean excitation energies {ital I}{sub {ital k}} for each atomic orbital {ital k} within the LSDA for all atoms with {ital Z}{lt}37. Stopping cross sections for a representative sample (about half) of these elements have been calculated using these {ital I}{sub {ital k}} values. The results do not differ substantially from those of OS (who used {ital I}{sub {ital k}} values from Dehmer, Inokuti, and Saxon (Phys. Rev. A 12, 102 (1975)); Inokuti, Baer, and Dehmer ({ital ibid}. 17, 1229 (1978)); Inokuti, Dehmer,more » Baer, and Hanson ({ital ibid}. 23, 95 (1981))), with the discrepancy generally less than 15%.« less
Assessing the Utility of Thermodynamic Features for microRNA Target Prediction under Relaxed Seed and No Conservation Requirements

Background Many computational microRNA target prediction tools are focused on several key features, including complementarity to 5′seed of miRNAs and evolutionary conservation. While these features allow for successful target identification, not all miRNA target sites are conserved and adhere to canonical seed complementarity. Several studies have propagated the use of energy features of mRNA:miRNA duplexes as an alternative feature. However, different independent evaluations reported conflicting results on the reliability of energy-based predictions. Here, we reassess the usefulness of energy features for mammalian target prediction, aiming to relax or eliminate the need for perfect seed matches and conservation requirement. Methodology/Principal Findings We detect significant differences of energy features at experimentally supported human miRNA target sites and at genome-wide sites of AGO protein interaction. This trend is confirmed on datasets that assay the effect of miRNAs on mRNA and protein expression changes, and a simple linear regression model leads to significant correlation of predicted versus observed expression change. Compared to 6-mer seed matches as baseline, application of our energy-based model leads to ∼3–5-fold enrichment on highly down-regulated targets, and allows for prediction of strictly imperfect targets with enrichment above baseline. Conclusions/Significance In conclusion, our results indicate significant promise for energy-based miRNA target prediction that includes a broader range of targets without having to use conservation or impose stringent seed match rules.
Cardiac Structure and Function Across the Glycemic Spectrum in Elderly Men and Women Free of Prevalent Heart Disease The Atherosclerosis Risk In the Community Study

Background—Individuals with diabetes mellitus and pre–diabetes mellitus are at particularly high risk of incident heart failure or death, even after accounting for known confounders. Nevertheless, the extent of impairments in cardiac structure and function in elderly individuals with diabetes mellitus and pre–diabetes mellitus is not well known. We aimed to assess the relationship between echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function and dysglycemia. Methods and Results—We assessed measures of cardiac structure and function in 4419 participants without prevalent coronary heart disease or heart failure who attended the Atherosclerosis Risk In the Community (ARIC) visit 5 examination (2011–2013) and underwent transthoracic echocardiography (age, 75±6 years; 61% women, 23% black). Subjects were grouped across the dysglycemia spectrum as normal (39%), pre–diabetes mellitus (31%), or diabetes mellitus (30%) based on medical history, antidiabetic medication use, and glycated hemoglobin levels. Gl...
Effect of the core hole potential on the K-edge absorption and emission spectra of silicon and oxygen atoms in a quartz crystal

The K-edge absorption and emission spectra of silicon and oxygen atoms in a quartz crystal have been calculated by the full multiple scattering method. Clusters containing more than 100 atoms and the model muffin-tin potential were used. Good agreement with the experimental data was obtained. The effect of a core hole on the absorption spectrum was investigated.
Epitaxy of folds in polyethylene crystals: molecular mechanics investigation

In the prevailing thermodynamics associated with Gibbsian surface physics of a century ago, the surface of a crystal has an associated surface energy and surface stress that influences properties and morphology. This work uses molecular mechanics to investigate the surface energy and epitaxial packing of chain folds on the surfaces of adjacent crystals. It is shown that there are lower energy juxtapositions of the crystals resulting from energetically favorable epitaxial arrangements. These lower the excess surface energy with respect to the melt, but do not completely eliminate the discrepancy between the values of the surface energy from computational results and analysis of experimental data. The epitaxial arrangements are consistent with the experimentally observed rotational displacement of successive layers in multi-layer polyethylene crystals. Thus, they might influence the rotation of the successive layers resulting from screw dislocations.
Channel-adaptive relaying in mobile ad hoc networks with fading

This paper describes an approach for relaying in multihop networks that adapts to the time-varying channel and exploits spatial diversity to mitigate multipath fading. Ignored in some performance analyses, fading arises from multipath propagation and causes fluctuations in the signal strength in mo- bile networks, adversely affecting communication performance. Our approach uses limited cross-layer interactions between the physical, link and routing layers to provide adaptivity to both large and small-scale channel effects and to achieve spatial diversity gain without the use of multiple antennas. The routing layer uses long-term measurements of link quality in the form of the average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to opportunistically select next-hop relays on a hop-by-hop basis. Small-scale variations are overcome at the MAC layer through efficient multicast polling of multiple next-hop candidate relays prior to data transmission. A performance analysis for networks employing geographic routing and an IEEE 802.11-based MAC (i) demonstrates significant improvements in network capacity and end-to-end delay achieved with these channel-adaptive techniques in Rayleigh and Ricean fading environments, (ii) shows that most of the small-scale diversity gain is obtained through the use of only two next-hop relay choices, and (iii) assesses the practical limit of the short- term adaptive component in terms of maximum node velocity.
Boosting lazy decision trees

This paper explores the problem of how to construct lazy decision tree ensembles. We present and empirically evaluate a relevance-based boosting-style algorithm that builds a lazy decision tree ensemble customized for each test instance. From the experimental results, we conclude that our boosting-style algorithm significantly improves the performance of the base learner. An empirical comparison to boosted regular decision trees shows that ensembles of lazy decision trees achieve comparable accuracy and better comprehensibility. We also introduce a novel distance-based pruning strategy for the lazy decision tree algorithm to address the problem of over-fitting. Our experiments show that the pruning strategy improves the accuracy and comprehensibility of both single lazy decision trees and boosted ensembles.
Weight Loss Strategies Associated With BMI in Overweight Adults With Type 2 Diabetes at Entry Into the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Trial

OBJECTIVE —Intentional weight loss is recommended for those with type 2 diabetes, but the strategies patients attempt and their effectiveness for weight management are unknown. In this investigation we describe intentional weight loss strategies used and those related to BMI in a diverse sample of overweight participants with type 2 diabetes at enrollment in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) clinical trial. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —This was a cross-sectional study of baseline weight loss strategies, including self-weighing frequency, eating patterns, and weight control practices, reported in 3,063 women and 2,082 men aged 45–74 years with BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 . RESULTS —Less than half (41.4%) of participants self-weighed ≥1/week. Participants ate breakfast 6.0 ± 1.8 days/week, ate 5.0 ± 3.1 meals/snacks per day, and ate 1.9 ± 2.7 fast food meals/week. The three most common weight control practices (increasing fruits and vegetables, cutting out sweets, and eating less high-carbohydrate foods) were reported by ∼60% of participants for ≥20 weeks over the previous year. Adjusted models showed that self-weighing less than once per week ( B = 0.83), more fast food meals consumed per week ( B = 0.14), and fewer breakfast meals consumed per week ( B = −0.19) were associated ( P R 2 = 0.24). CONCLUSIONS —Regular self-weighing and breakfast consumption, along with infrequent consumption of fast food, were related to lower BMI in the Look AHEAD study population.
Retrieved pressure field and its influence on the propagation of a supercell thunderstorm

An analysis of the observed propagation of the Garden City supercell storm based on data collected by an airborne Doppler radar is presented. The environmental wind profile was characterized by a straight hodograph. Wind syntheses were used to retrieve the perturbation pressure fields in order to isolate the important dynamical processes controlling storm movement. The pressure perturbations produced by the linear and nonlinear effects were comparable in magnitude. The rightward bias in storm motion was primarily a result of the forcing produced by the vertical gradients of perturbation pressure. This finding is consistent with the results based on numerical simulations. The vertical gradients of the linear perturbation pressure were important in determining storm motion early in its life cycle; subsequently, the nonlinear effects dominated. A decomposition of the nonlinear forcing into contributions from cyclostrophically balanced flow and nonlinear shear was also presented. This partitioning revealed that both the forcing produced by the mesocyclone and the horizontal shear that was baroclinically produced by the gradient of buoyancy along the flanks of the updraft were important effects to consider.
Safe Fault Collapsing Based on Dominance Relations

For fault models with large numbers of faults, such as bridging faults, fault collapsing based on dominance relations can be effective in reducing the test generation time by reducing the number of target faults. When dominance relations are used for fault collapsing, a fault fj is excluded from the set of target faults F if it dominates a fault fi in F. However, if fi remains undetected after test generation, fj may remain undetected as well. We define safe fault collapsing to address this issue. For safe fault collapsing with a parameter s, fj is excluded from the set of target faults F only if fj dominates at least s faults fi1, fi2, hellip ,f is in F. In this way, if any of the s faults dominated by fj is detected, fj will be detected as well. A higher value of s increases the likelihood of detecting fj without targeting it. We describe a procedure for computing safe collapsed fault sets, and present experimental results of test generation for four-way bridging faults.
Neurotoxic unc-8 mutants encode constitutively active DEG/ENaC channels that are blocked by divalent cations

Ion channels of the DEG/ENaC family can induce neurodegeneration under conditions in which they become hyperactivated. The Caenorhabditis elegans DEG/ENaC channel MEC-4(d) encodes a mutant channel with a substitution in the pore domain that causes swelling and death of the six touch neurons in which it is expressed. Dominant mutations in the C. elegans DEG/ENaC channel subunit UNC-8 result in uncoordinated movement. Here we show that this unc-8 movement defect is correlated with the selective death of cholinergic motor neurons in the ventral nerve cord. Experiments in Xenopus laevis ooctyes confirm that these mutant proteins, UNC-8(G387E) and UNC-8(A586T), encode hyperactivated channels that are strongly inhibited by extracellular calcium and magnesium. Reduction of extracellular divalent cations exacerbates UNC-8(G387E) toxicity in oocytes. We suggest that inhibition by extracellular divalent cations limits UNC-8 toxicity and may contribute to the selective death of neurons that express UNC-8 in vivo.
Disens: scalable distributed sensor network simulation

Simulation is widely used for developing, evaluating and analyzing sensor network applications, especially when deploying a large scale sensor network remains expensive and labor intensive. However, due to its computation intensive nature, existent simulation tools have to make trade-offs between fidelity and scalability and thus offer limited capabilities as design and analysis tools. In this paper, we introduce DiSenS (DIstributed SENsor network Simulation) -- a highly scalable distributed simulation system for sensor networks. DiSenS does not only faithfully emulates an extensive set of sensor hardware and supports extensible radio/power models, so that sensor network applications can be simulated transparently with high fidelity, but also employs distributed-memory parallel cluster system to attack the complex simulation problem. Combining an efficient distributed synchronization protocol and a sophisticated node partitioning algorithm (based on existent research), DiSenS achieves greater scalability than even many discrete event simulators. On a small to medium size cluster (16-64 nodes), DiSenS is able to simulate hundreds of motes in realtime speed and scale to thousands in sub-realtime speed. To our knowledge, DiSenS is the first full-system sensor network simulator with such scalability.
Career Satisfaction of Physical Therapy Faculty During Their Pretenure Years

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compile information about and define variables that are influential in the career satisfaction of tenure-track, full-time physical therapy faculty who have been employed in academia for 5 years or less but who do not yet have tenure. Subjects and Methods. An investigator-developed instrument was used to collect the data. The self-report instrument contained 80 items in four categories: demographics, social supports, teaching, and scholarly activity. Questionnaires were sent to junior physical therapy faculty at the 127 physical therapist schools in the United States and Puerto Rico listed by the American Physical Therapy Association in 1993. There were 163 responses to the survey, representing an estimated 85% of the population of junior faculty as defined by this survey. Results. Eighty-three percent of junior faculty surveyed were satisfied with having taken an academic position, despite feelings of loneliness, tenure anxiety, heavy work loads, and the desire for more guidance from colleagues. Conclusion and Discussion. Social and collegial supports such as relationships with senior faculty and experienced colleagues are key elements influencing faculty satisfaction. Information is given that could be utilized by directors and faculty who are planning to guide the professional development of new faculty.
Automatic Term Ambiguity Detection

While the resolution of term ambiguity is important for information extraction (IE) systems, the cost of resolving each instance of an entity can be prohibitively expensive on large datasets. To combat this, this work looks at ambiguity detection at the term, rather than the instance, level. By making a judgment about the general ambiguity of a term, a system is able to handle ambiguous and unambiguous cases differently, improving throughput and quality. To address the term ambiguity detection problem, we employ a model that combines data from language models, ontologies, and topic modeling. Results over a dataset of entities from four product domains show that the proposed approach achieves significantly above baseline F-measure of 0.96.
Altitude and fertility: the confounding effect of childhood mortality--a Bolivian example.

Abstract Demographic studies undertaken in several Andean countries have found that women residing at high altitudes have significantly fewer live births than do their low altitude counterparts. This reduction has been explained as being due to various factors: the debilitating effects of hypoxia upon the reproductive system; the effects of sociocultural factors which vary with altitude and which affect reproductive behavior; and errors in data collection. In order to examine the validity of some of these hypotheses, the fertility of a group of 906 Bolivian women residing at low, medium, and high altitudes was examined. The women were selected from the lower socioeconomic strata and reported never having used any method of contraception. A detailed analysis of the fertility of these women showed no significant altitude‐related differences in the number of live births. However, as a result of significantly higher childhood mortality rates at altitude, there was a significant reduction in numbers of living ...
Hematopoietic Recovery and Amelioration of Radiation-Induced Lethality by the Vitamin E Isoform δ-Tocotrienol.

Abstract δ-Tocotrienol (DT3), a vitamin E isoform, is associated with strong antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties. We confirmed the potent antioxidant activity in membrane systems and showed that DT3 is an effective radiation protector and mitigator. DT3 (4 μM, P < 0.001) inhibited lipid peroxidation in mouse liver microsomes and nitric oxide (NO) formation (20 μM DT3, P < 0.01) in RAW264.7 cells, a murine alveolar macrophage line. In CD2F1 mice exposed to lethal total-body radiation from a 60Co γ-radiation source, a single subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of DT3 before or after irradiation produced a significant increase in 30-day survival. DT3 was effective from 18.75 to 300 mg/kg (−24 h, P < 0.001). A single dose of 150 or 300 mg/kg DT3 given 24 h before irradiation (radioprotection) resulted in dose reduction factors (DRFs) of 1.19 and 1.27, respectively (P < 0.001). Further, DT3 reduced radiation lethality when administered 2, 6 or 12 h after irradiation, and 150 mg/kg DT3 administered 2 h after ...
Ponzo’s Illusion in 3D: Perspective Gradients Dominate Differences in Retinal Size

A common form of the Ponzo illusion involves two test probes of equal size, embedded in a planar linear perspective painting depicting a three-dimensional (3D) scene, where the probe perceived to be farther is judged to be larger than the probe perceived closer to the viewer. In this paper, the same perspective 3D scene was painted on three surfaces: (a) A 2D surface incongruent with the 3D painted scene (flat perspective). (b) A 3D surface with a geometry congruent with the 3D scene (proper perspective). (c) A 3D surface with an opposite depth arrangement to the 3D scene (reverse perspective). This last stimulus was bistable and could be perceived veridically, as it physically existed, or as a depth-inverting illusion. For all experiments, observers relied on perspective gradients to estimate the size of a test probe placed within the scene; objects placed in a ‘far’ position as defined by perspective cues were perceived to be larger regardless of their physical distance. Further, illusion strength was tied to retinal size; small retinal-size differences (Experiments 1 and 2) did not affect illusion strength, whereas larger retinal-size differences (Experiment 3) did play a minor role.
Caged White Pine Seedlings Attacked by White-Pine Weevil, Pissodes strobi,at Five Population Densities

Caged 3-year-old seedlings of eastern white pine, Pinus strobus L., from 80 range-wide provenances were exposed 17 days to attack by 5 population densities of Pissodes strobi (Peck). The insects exhibited normal behavior on the seedlings, and adult feeding and larval damage were proportional to population density. Analyses of variance of number of trees fed on and number of trees with larval development revealed significant differences among population densities. Provenances differed significantly in number of feeding cavities at 2 of the population densities. No differences were found among provenances in the number of larvae. Multiple regression analyses of seedling characteristics and measures of insect attack showed that variation in feeding and larval development was not primarily caused by seedling size. The results show that screening small trees in cages for weevil resistance may be feasible.
Robust Model-based Execution of Critical Spacecraft Sequences

For robotic spacecraft, robust plan execution is essential during time-critical mission sequences, due to the very short time available for recovery from anomalies. Traditional approaches to encoding these sequences can lead to brittle behavior under off-nominal execution conditions, due to the high level of complexity in the control specification required to manage the complex spacecraft system interactions. This paper describes timed model-based programming, a novel approach for encoding and robustly executing mission-critical spacecraft sequences. Time is central to the execution of mission-critical sequences; a robust executive must consider time in its control and behavior models, in addition to reactively managing complexity. In timed model-based programming, control programs express goals and constraints in terms of both system state and time. Plant models capture the underlying behavior of the system components, including nominal and off-nominal modes, probabilistic transitions, and timed effects such as state transition latency. In this paper, the execution semantics of a timed model-based program are defined in terms of legal state evolutions of a physical plant, represented as a factored Partially Observable Semi-Markov Decision Process. The paper also includes the definition of graphical languages for encoding timed control programs and plant models. It describes the design of a Timed Model-based Execution architecture, which takes as input a timed control program and executes it, using timed plant models to track states, diagnose faults and generate control actions. Finally, it illustrates the execution of a timed model-based program on a simple Mars entry scenario.
A Serendipitous Application of the Pythagorean Triplets

(1992). A Serendipitous Application of the Pythagorean Triplets. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 312-314.
Current Effect of Sedentary Screen Time on Child-Adolescent Health Outcomes

Copyright: © 2012 Gulledge BD. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The advent of a more technological society has contributed to an increase in sedentary screen time activity (a spectrum of behaviors such as television watching, video gaming, texting, and computer activity). The proliferation of media available to children and adolescents warrants discussion as to effects of screen time exposure on health. The presence of screen time, beginning early in childhood, is a common reality for many children. As technology continues to become increasingly more complex, accessible, and a component of everyday life, so does the potential for adverse effects associated with too much screen time, too soon. Although moderated screen time may have some learning benefit, the issue of health outcomes is of particular concern to the health care provider. With meteoric advancements in technology, examining the effects of increased sedentary screen time becomes a priority.
A Comparative Study of the Satisfaction of American and Mexican Operations

This study compared the perceptions of need satisfaction and importance for blue-collar workers in the USA and Mexico. Organizational and technological differences were controlled to isolate cultur...
Arbeitsweise und Einsatzmöglichkeiten von SCERT

SCERT (Systems and Computers Evaluation and Review Technique) is a data processing, evaluation and planning tool. SCERT makes use of the computer to generate by simulation information about computers. This discourse gives an overview over input and output data of SCERT and areas where to use SCERT can be of great benefit. These areas are especially equipment selection, feasibility analysis, system design, implementation planning and system tuning.
Positive and negative effects of distance on export prices

Abstract In a model of international trade with non-homothetic preferences and endogenous product quality where some firms choose common quality for all destinations, we find a novel effect of distance on quality and export prices. This effect is either positive or negative depending on whether the importer is, respectively, poor or rich relative to the other export destinations. Interestingly, the effect goes against the well-documented Alchian–Allen effect if the importer is relatively rich. This is because greater distance to relatively rich countries decreases the demand for quality. The estimated effects of distance in a sample of product-level imports to nine Latin American countries and the United States support our theory.
Application of Non-thermal Sterilization Technology in the Preservation of Meat

Consumers demand high quality,natural,nutritious,fresh and convenient meat products,also called meat products with natural flavor and long shelf storage life.To achieve these requirements,irradiation,high hydrostatic pressure,natural anti-bacterial material and active packaging have been emerged and developed.These types of sterilization methods in the preservation of meat products are reviewed in this paper.