cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Imaging sequences in cardiovascular magnetic resonance: current role, evolving applications, and technical challenges

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has been established as a powerful and comprehensive imaging modality for studying the cardiovascular (CV) system. Shortly after invention of magnetic resonance imaging, CMR applications and developments started to emerge, and they continue to evolve up to the present day. CMR has the advantages of high spatial resolution, enhanced tissue contrast, superior safety profile, and the plethora of physiological parameters that can be obtained. In the near future, CMR is expected to be the gold standard modality for comprehensive CV imaging. Specifically, CMR imaging sequences are increasingly growing in parallel with advancements in scanner hardware. Not only do CMR imaging sequences provide detailed anatomical information, but they also provide functional, perfusion, viability, hemodynamic, and metabolic information about the CV system. In this article, an up-to-date review of different CMR imaging sequences is presented. Each sequence is described along with typical imaging parameters, necessary image processing steps, derived CV parameters, and potential applications. The article then addresses advanced CMR imaging techniques and emerging applications. Finally, the challenges facing CMR imaging are discussed along with its expected future role.
Effects of S-carboxymethylcysteine on Tracheal Mucus Velocity

The effects of S-carboxymethylcysteine on tracheal mucus velocity were assessed in a double blind crossover study between 2 grams S-carboxymethylcysteine and placebo. Subjects included six healthy non-smokers, eight smokers with small airway disease and chronic simple bronchitis, and eight subjects with chronic obstructive bronchitis. Tracheal mucus velocity was measured prior to and two and three hours after each subject had ingested S-carboxymethylcysteine or placebo. No significant change in tracheal mucus velocity occurred after placebo or S-carboxymethylcysteine in any of the groups, indicating that the drug has no acute effect on mucus transport.
On Matrices with Elliptical Numerical Ranges

It is known that for several classes of matrices, including quadratic and certain tridiagonal matrices, the numerical range is an ellipse. We prove this result for a larger class of matrices, encompassing these published results as well as providing other sufficient conditions for ellipticity. The proof gives an explanation for this phenomenon and, in certain cases, provides an explicit description of the numerical range.
The practice of empathy as a prerequisite for informed consent

The patient-physician relationship, as formulated in the traditional biomedical model of medicine, is inherently flawed. In entering this relationship, most patients seek simply to be delivered from illness back to normal psychosocial functioning. The physician, however, almost invariably responds with a purely biologic approach to diagnosis and treatment that often does not effectively address the patient's needs. This precludes the opportunity for a consensus between them, and may in fact lead to the physician manipulating the patient's decisions about the course of therapy. The relationship should be reshaped within a new scientific model of patient care that combines the biomedical analysis of disease with an empathic understanding of the patient's illness experience. Truly informed consent is viewed as a natural outcome of the application of this more comprehensive framework.
Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common and heterogeneous neurological disorder arising from biochemical and molecular events that are incompletely understood. To effectively manage epilepsies, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying both seizure-induced brain damage as well as seizure initiation. Oxidative stress is emerging as a mechanism that may play an important role in the etiology of seizure-induced neuronal death. Conversely, epileptic seizures are a common occurrence in mitochondrial diseases arising from defects in oxidative phosphorylation. This review focuses on the emerging role of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction both as a consequence and cause of epileptic seizures.
A path to universal access.

Grazia makes a strong case that single-payer national health insurance with managed competition in deliv ery is morally the preferred structure for universal ac cess: it best achieves the combination of universal ac cess, cost control, freedom of patient choice, and quality of care. If we account for the realities of American political and moral culture, however, is this the model for reform that people seriously com mitted to actually achieving universal access should be pushing? An example of the approach DeGrazia favors is Medicare. A single governmental entity pays for the care to which all persons within the programs scope are assured access, but the care is delivered by com peting private providers, for-profit ones included. The international health care landscape, and even the United States itself, provides other models of the public-private mix. In Switzerland and the Nether lands, not only the providing organizations but also the "health plans"?the insurers?are competing, privately owned entities.1 The government, to be sure, sets the framework for the competition: it con trols the cost and content of the basic benefits pack
Piezoelectric PZT/epoxy composites for sensing and actuating torsional motion

A pure PZT piezoceramic is unable to generate or sense twisting motion for applications including beams, plates, or shell panels because of its transverse isotropy (mm 6 symmetry), which permits only a bending motion. The design of a piezoceramic/polymer composite element which is orthotropic in the plane is the key to producing twisting motion, since this composite is stiff enough to provide actuation. The composite element can also sense twisting. With the requirement of orthotropy in mind, composites have been made by cutting rods from a PZT plate and placing them in an epoxy matrix. A plate theory analysis provides information on the optimum orientation angle of the PZT/epoxy composite to provide twisting actuation and sensing.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Benefits and burdens of placebos in psychiatric research.

Rationale The debate over the use of placebos in clinical trials when proven treatments exist continues to be lively, especially in psychiatric research. Current practice permits placebos in such settings, as long as the benefits outweigh the risks and burdens.
Grass competition and establishment of native species from forest soil seed banks

Abstract Three pioneer plant communities - a reclamation mix of Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue), Eragrostis curvula (weeping lovegrass), Lolium sp. (ryegrass) and Lespedeza cuneata (sericea lespedeza), a native species community derived from a forest topsoil seed bank, and a combination of native species plus the reclamation mix - were established on a thin layer of topsoil over mine spoils in microplots. The seed bank produced 84 taxa, including 5 tree species, 7 shrubs or woody vines, 14 grasses and 53 forbs identifiable at least to genus. The seedbank treatment produced the greatest aboveground biomass. Adding seed of reclamation species to the seed bank resulted in a community which had less total biomass, less total biomass in native species and fewer established native species with lower populations and biomass than the native species community without reclamation species. Forest topsoil seedbank materials as a propagule source could significantly increase the diversity and productivity of a pioneer community on surface mine spoils even in combination with reclamation species.
Slow-wave CPW slot-line transition

An inter-digital slow-wave coplanar waveguide (CPW) geometry on silicon is described and its use in a new, low-loss transition from CPW to slot-line is discussed. The example transitions are designed for the 10–30 GHz frequency range and are approximately two times smaller than typical slot-stub designs.
Adaptive design of Petri net controllers for automatic error recovery

The concept of Petri net controllers for automatic error recovery is discussed, and their adaptive design is studied. The Petri net controller aims at the control of a manufacturing system and execution of the error recovery plan. Four basic Petri net augmentation methods are investigated. When these methods are used to augment the Petri net controller, some important structural properties of the controller are guaranteed to be preserved by developing and proving four theorems. In the present Petri net controller, a place that represents an operation or a state of a machine is attached to two functions and a constant so that a system can work with both normal states and abnormal states. In addition, it is possible to detect an error with the controller. An example concerning a robotic assembly cell with two robots and two types of parts is given. A number of future research directions are indicated. >
From heart surgery to prevention

The evolution of the management of coronary artery disease over the last 30 years has been dramatic. Medical therapy, which often proved ineffective, was the mainstay of therapy until the mid-1960s. Then, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) revolutionized treatment, and the overall strategy became an invasive one. There was another shift to less invasive therapy with the advent of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Today, we have come nearly full circle with prevention becoming the cornerstone of management. Preventive intervention programs are evolving. They generally make extensive use of nurses and other nonphysician healthcare professionals. The experience of the preventive cardiology program at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation is reviewed.
Change in Nutrient Intakes, Number of Servings, and Contributions of Total Fat from Food Groups in 4- to 10-Year-Old Children Enrolled in a Nutrition Education Study

Abstract Objective To determine change in nutrient intakes, number of servings, and contributions of total fat from food groups in children who lowered their dietary fat intake. Design A research and demonstration study designed to lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. There were four study groups: two intervention and two control groups. All children had hypercholesterolemia except for those in one control group. Three 24-hour dietary recalls were collected on randomly assigned days over a 2-week period at baseline and 3 months after the intervention. Subjects Three hundred three 4- to 10-year old children from suburbs north of Philadelphia, Pa. Interventions One intervention involved a home-based, parent-child autotutorial program (PCAT group) with audiotaped stories and print materials for the children and their families; the other intervention involved one face-to-face counseling session with a registered dietitian (counseling group). Outcome measures Change in mean nutrient intakes compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA); change in number of servings and mean grams of total fat contributed from 10 different food groups. Statistical analyses performed Analyses of variance and χ 2 analyses. Results Children in every study group had mean intakes of all nutrients (except vitamin D) greater than 67% of the RDA 3 months after the baseline measurement. Several food groups (ie, meats, dairy products, fats/oils, and desserts) provided less total fat to the diets of children who reduced their dietary lipid intake after 3 months (ie, PCAT and counseling groups). These children also reduced the mean number of servings selected from these food groups. Within these same food groups, some children consumed fewer servings of higher fat foods and more servings of lower fat foods. Applications/conclusions Children who lowered their dietary fat intake after intervention reported both quantitative and qualitative changes in food choices from several food groups. These choices did not significantly reduce their nutrient intakes. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96:865-873 .
Mosaic Attenuation: Etiology, Methods of Differentiation, and Pitfalls.

Various causes of mosaic attenuation at chest CT are discussed in terms of clinical, radiologic, and histologic features, with emphasis on specific clues that are essential to narrowing the differential diagnosis.
Age-Related Levels of GABA/Benzodiazepine Binding Sites in Cerebrum of F-344 Rats: Effects of Exercise

Abstract We examined γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), benzodiazepine and convulsant sites of postsynaptic GABA/benzodiazepine receptors (GBZR) in cerebral membranes of inbred Fischer 344 male rats as a function of age. In aged rats (23 to 24 months), the benzodiazepine binding site as determined by [3H]flunitrazepam was 47% and 43% lower than corresponding values in young adult (3 to 4 months) and mature (10 to 12 months) rats, respectively. The decrease was due to the loss of binding density rather than a change in affinity. No statistically significant age-related changes in [3H]muscimol binding were observed when 5 nM or 40 nM labeled muscimol were used. GABA produced a dose-dependent stimulation of flunitrazepam binding in all age groups, but the maximum stimulation in aged animals was significantly higher (24%) than in young and mature animals. The [35S]TBPS binding site, the convulsant site of GABA/benzodiazepine receptors, was unaffected with age. We also studied the effects of exercise on GBZR binding sites of aged rats. The decline of flunitrazepam binding sites and the high sensitivity of flunitrazepam binding to regulation by GABA in aged animals were reversed by 8 to 10 weeks of endurance exercise. Endurance exercise did not have any significant effect on muscimol or TMPS binding sites. Results suggest that there are aged-related alterations of GBZR binding sites and that these modifications can be reversed by exercise.
Performance analysis of maximal ratio combining in the presence of multiple equal-power cochannel interferers in a Nakagami fading channel

The effect of cochannel interference on the performance of digital mobile radio systems in a Nakagami (1960) fading channel is studied. The performance of maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity is analyzed in the presence of multiple equal-power cochannel interferers and additive white Gaussian noise. Closed-form expressions are derived for the average probability of error as well as outage probability of both coherent and noncoherent (differentially coherent) binary frequency-shift keying and binary phase-shift keying schemes in an environment with cochannel interference and noise. The results are expressed in terms of the confluent hypergeometric function of the second kind, a function that can be easily evaluated numerically. The analysis assumes an arbitrary number of independent and identically distributed Nakagami interferers.
Calcium-calmodulin binding in ischemic rat neurons after calcium channel blocker therapy.

Calcium channel blockers such as nicardipine improve outcome after global cerebral ischemia and may attenuate ischemic neuronal injury by preventing calcium influx and binding to calmodulin. We followed the temporal and regional sequence of neuronal calcium-calmodulin binding in normal rats (n = 6), untreated ischemic rats (n = 15), and ischemic rats treated with 0.05 mg/kg/hr s.c. nicardipine (n = 13). After 30 minutes of four-vessel occlusion, 40-microns brain sections were incubated in an anti-calmodulin antibody specific for calmodulin not bound to calcium and brain protein. Light-microscopic sections were examined immediately after ischemia and after 2 and 24 hours of reperfusion. Extensive staining of unbound calmodulin was seen in all hippocampal regions and in the cortex in normal rats. In untreated ischemic control rats, staining was lost, indicating calcium-calmodulin binding immediately after ischemia in all regions. However, after 24 hours, staining returned to normal in the cortex and dentate, and minimal staining returned in CA1 and CA3. Nicardipine-treated animals had significantly less calcium-calmodulin binding in CA1 and in the dentate after 2 hours of reperfusion. This study demonstrates that in clinically relevant doses nicardipine has a limited effect on calcium-calmodulin binding in selectively vulnerable regions after severe ischemia.
Nanotopography Imaging using a Heated Microcantilever in Tapping Mode

This paper describes tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) using a heated AFM cantilever. Electrical and thermal characterization of the cantilever reveals that the cantilever is in thermal steady state in resonance oscillation, because its thermal time constant, around 300 mus, is much slower than the oscillation frequency of 70.36 kHz. Topographical imaging was performed on silicon calibration gratings of height 20 and 100 nm. The obtained topography sensitivity is as high as 200 muV/nm and the 1 /9 resolution is as good as 0.5 nm/Hzfrac12. As in conventional AFM, the tapping mode operation demonstrated here can suppress imaging artifacts and enable imaging of soft samples.
Surface Geometric Constraints for Stereo in Belief Propagation

Belief propagation has been shown to be a powerful inference mechanism for stereo correspondence. However the classical formulation of belief propagation implicitly imposes the frontal parallel plane assumption in the compatibility matrix for exploiting contextual information, since the priors perfer no depth (disparity) change in surrounding neighborhoods. This results in systematic errors for slanted or curved surfaces. To eliminate these errors we propose to use contextual information geometrically, and show how to encode surface differential geometric properties in the compatibility matrix for stereo correspondence. This enforces consistency for both depth and surface normal, extending the traditional formulation beyond consistency for (constant) depth. With such geometric contextual information, the belief propagation algorithm shows dramatic improvement on generic non-frontal parallel scenes. Several such examples are provided.
Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) improves inhibition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

AbstractBackground A novel exercise modality termed Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) has been used successfully in patients with Parkinson's disease, but its effects in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have not been investigated.Method The aim was to examine the acute effects of 2 modes of exercise on cognitive and motor functioning in adolescents with ASD. Participants (N = 10) randomly completed 3 interventions on nonconsecutive days. The interventions were (a) voluntary cycling (VC), in which participants cycled at their self-selected pedalling rate; (b) ACT, in which the participants’ voluntary pedalling rates were augmented with a motor to ensure the maintenance of 80 rpm; and (c) no cycling (NC), in which the participants sat and watched a video.Results Participants’ inhibition improved significantly and improvements in cognitive planning and set-switching approached significance after a single session of ACT; however, no improvements in inhibition, cognitive planning, or set-switching ...
Density evolution for two improved BP-Based decoding algorithms of LDPC codes

In this letter, we analyze the performance of two improved belief propagation (BP) based decoding algorithms for LDPC codes, namely the normalized BP-based and the offset BP-based algorithms, by means of density evolution. The numerical calculations show that with one properly chosen parameter for each of these two improved BP-based algorithms, performances very close to that of the BP algorithm can be achieved. Simulation results for LDPC codes with code length moderately long validate the proposed optimization.
AN IMPROVED OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR THERMOELECTRIC REFRIGERATION APPLIED TO PORTABLE ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

The electronics industry has relied heavily on air cooling to dissipate waste heat. Each new generation of technology is smaller and more powerful, pushing the limits of air-cooled heat sinks. A competing constraint is that the thermal solutions need to be smaller and lighter, particularly for portable devices. A viable strategy to extend the limits of air-cooled heat sinks in a mass effective way is thermoelectric (TE) cooling. In general, the limiting COP of currently available TE materials requires that TE modules be operated at near optimum conditions. The conventional approach for optimizing TE modules ignores external irreversibilities, such as the heat sink temperature drop between the TE hot side and the ambient. The current study reviews two schemes for optimizing the operating current and compares their performance. The comparison between the COP maximizing current and the junction temperature minimizing current identifies where the two approaches yield the exact same performance. Performance regimes are then identified where the junction temperature minimizing approach provides an advantage over the COP maximizing approach. A significant extension of the current modeling activity over previous studies is allowing the TE module geometry to be optimized in addition to the operating current. When the TE module geometry is allowed to be optimized, it is found that using TE refrigeration operating at the junction temperature minimizing current will always have a performance benefit relative to a heat sink alone. The way this performance is achieved at higher heat loads is that the TE module elements must be made very thin.© 2005 ASME
On the Enhancement of LDPC Codes in the IEEE 802.16 Physical Layer

In this paper we study low density party check (LDPC) codes used in the IEEE 802.16 physical layer standard. We introduce two novel techniques to enhance the performance of such codes. In the first technique, we use the binary parity check matrix proposed in the IEEE 802.16 standard, and propose a novel parity check matrix for LDPC codes over GF(4) with the non-zero entries chosen to maximize the entropy. We show that our proposed code outperforms the binary code proposed in the IEEE 802.16 standard over both AWGN and SUI-3 channel model. In our second technique, we use a high rate LDPC code, in a concatenated coding structure, as an outer code, with a convolutional code as an inner code. We compare the performance of such a concatenated code with the commonly used one utilizing Reed-Solomon codes over the standard SUI-3 channel model, and show better performance.
Development of a Home Chemotherapy Program for Pediatric Oncology Patients

Provision of home chemotherapy to pediatric oncology patients offers substantial advantages to children and their families, including improved scheduling and continuity of care and decreased disruption of the family unit. These advantages may positively impact upon both parental anxiety and quality of life for these children and their families. Establishing and maintaining a successful home chemotherapy program is a complex task, requiring a detailed orientation program along with an interdisciplinary team approach, a successful communication network, and close patient follow-up. Home chemotherapy delivery offers a unique practice setting with many professional growth opportunities for clinicians. A home chemotherapy program may also result in substantial monetary savings to patients and third-party payors, especially for protocols that require several days of inpatient admission to deliver.
Restorative Magical Adventure or Warcrack?: Motivated MMO Play and the Pleasures and Perils of Online Experience

Combining perspectives from the new science of happiness with discussions regarding “problematic” and “addictive” play in multiplayer online games, the authors examine how player motivations pattern both positive and negative gaming experiences. Specifically, using ethnographic interviews and a survey, the authors explore the utility of Yee’s three-factor motivational framework for explaining the positive or negative quality of experiences in the popular online game World of Warcraft (2004-2012). The authors find that playing to Achieve is strongly associated with distressful play, results that support findings from other studies. By contrast, Social and Immersion play lead more typically to positive gaming experiences, conclusions diverging from those frequently reported in the literature. Overall, the authors suggest that paying attention to the positive as well as negative dimensions of inhabiting these online worlds will provide both for more balanced portraits of gamers’ experiences and also potentia...
Mathematics in Context: Opening The Gates to Mathematics for All t the Middle Level

The implied challenge to teach new mathematics in a new way is as obvious as its potential to change the way both students and teachers view the learning of mathematics. It won't be easy, but then change never is. The only easy part is recognizing the need for change.
Educational attainment and the transition to first marriage among Japanese women.

I use data from a large nationally representative survey to examine the relationship between women’s educational attainment and the timing of first marriage in Japan. The results indicate that later marriage for highly educated women primarily reflects longer enrollment in school, that university education is increasingly associated with later and less marriage, and that the trend toward later and less marriage is occurring at all levels of educational attainment. These findings are consistent, albeit weakly, with the argument that higher education should be negatively associated with marriage only in countries in which gender relations make it particularly difficult for women to balance work and family.
LKB1 Controls Human Bronchial Epithelial Morphogenesis through p114RhoGEF-Dependent RhoA Activation

LKB1 is a Ser/Thr kinase that plays an important role in controlling both energy metabolism and cell polarity in metazoan organisms. LKB1 is also a tumor suppressor, and homozygous, inactivating mutations are found in a wide range of human cancers. In lung cancer, inactivating mutations are found in 10 to 50% of cases, but the consequences of functional loss in this context are poorly understood. We report here that LKB1 is required for the maturation of apical junctions in the human bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE14o- (16HBE). This activity is dependent on an interaction with the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor p114RhoGEF but is independent of LKB1 kinase activity. Together, LKB1 and p114RhoGEF control RhoA activity in these cells to promote apical junction assembly.
Maragheh Ungulate Mesowear: Interpreting Paleodiet and Paleoecology from a Diverse Fauna with Restricted Sample Sizes

This study explores the extent to which researchers might be able to interpret a fauna's paleoecology using mesowear analysis on ungulate maxillary molars when there are diverse taxa represented by few specimens. We compared our mesowear results on Maragheh ungulates with those of extant ungulates and with known mesowear score distributions of the two classical Greek Pikermian faunas of Samos and Pikermi, and with the late Miocene of China. The Maragheh equid and bovid species display a range of dietary abrasiveness, whereas the giraffids and chalicothere have fairly abrasive mesowear signals. Despite small sample sizes for some taxa, our results are consistent with long-held taxon-based interpretations of Maragheh paleoecology: a Pikermian woodland habitat. In addition, our results are consistent with climatic changes of the Paratethyan realm at the end of the Miocene.
Health, Safety, and Reliability: The Corporate Viewpoint

The key words of my discussion—health, safety, and reliability—refer to matters which intimately involve the welfare of each of us. Do we believe that the corporations which serve us invest proper thought and effort in our health and safety, in the reliability of the products we use? Or do we fear that indifference typifies the response of many executives?
Pharmacokinetics of Contraceptive Steroids in Humans

In contrast to our longstanding and enormous clinical experience with contraceptive steroids, most of our knowledge about the pharmacokinetics of these drugs in man has been obtained only in recent years, appears limited and, in many aspects, is quite inadequate. A major obstacle used to be the lack of reliable radioimmunoassays (RIAs) to determine the minute concentrations of contraceptive steroids in serum or plasma. This problem has been solved to a certain degree in recent years. Yet, a number of methodological problems and inadequacies remain, not only with regard to RIAs but also with regard to subject selection, dosing, sampling, conditions of study as well as data analysis. Meaningful pharmacokinetic studies of contraceptive steroids in humans are laborious and costly. However, such studies are essential for the selection and timing of drug doses, for evaluating the pharmacokinetic action and particularly for the selection of appropriate animal models and the design of animal toxicity studies. If the pharmacokinetics of a certain contraceptive steroid in a given animal model differ significantly from the human pharmacokinetics of this drug, then the particular animal model is unsuitable for pharmacokinetic and toxicologic studies of this contraceptive steroid.
Bipolar voltage amplitude: What does it really mean?

Atrial fibrosis plays an important role in the genesis and perpetuation of atrial arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation. It promotes arrhythmias by several mechanisms including abnormal automaticity, triggered ectopic activity, and conduction slowing predisposing to reentry. Detection of atrial fibrosis by imaging modalities is desirable, but clinically challenging. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with late gadolinium enhancement has been extensively studied for this purpose. While it can detect scar in the relatively thicker ventricular myocardium, the current CMR technology is suboptimal for the detection of scar in thin wall atria, resulting in significant center-to-center variability and nonreproducibility. Major shortcomings include limited spatial resolution for the detection of tissue fibrosis, cardiac rhythm, and contractile motion as well as respiratory-induced motion resulting in blurring, and high signal of neighboring blood that makes it difficult to distinguish scar from blood, resulting in inherent volumetric errors. In a previous issue of HeartRhythm, Ling et al 1 examined the utility of contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (CE-MDCT) for the detection of atrial scar. In 20 patients undergoing repeat left atrial ablation for atrial fibrillation, a preprocedural CE-MDCT was performed and an image attenuation index was compared to endocardial bipolar voltage amplitude obtained during electroanatomic mapping. The authors reported a linear correlation between atrial myocardial image attenuation on CE-MDCT and bipolar voltage amplitude in the left atrium, suggesting a new tool to assess atrial fibrosis. While these findings are novel, significant concerns about the study design, methodology, findings, and clinical implications warrant discussion.
Observations on the Mössbauer Effect in Fe 57

The magnitude of Mossbauer absorpiton ior sources and absorbers was measured at room temperature and when cooled with liquid nitrogen. The methods of preparing sources and absorbers are discussed. The transmission was measured as a function of the relative velocity between source and absorber. If the assumption is made that the fraction of nuclei in the source which emit without recoil is approximately equal to the fraction in the absorber which absorb without recoil. analysis of the curves obtained by the area method gives a value of 0.6. This number is in good agreement with the theoretical value of 0.7 calculated for room temperature. (B.O.G.)
Un testimonio ilustrado sobre "La ciudad de los Césares"

La mitica Ciudad de, los Cesares domino la fantasia colonial sudamericana desde el siglo XVI y cobro especial auge en tiempos de las exploraciones cientificas. Se afirmaba que alli se habian fundido expediciones espanolas perdidas con indios patagones y hastacon indios peruanos que huyeron de la dominacion espanola. Las ordenes para descubrir este lugar, que acabo por sonarse como otro de los muchos Dorados americanos, vinieron hasta del propio Rey. Tras cada sospecha, que se aclaraba, aparecian nuevas especulaciones que avivaban la leyenda. Sucesivas empresas frustradas debilitaron la veracidad de esos asertos.
Attitudes of Black Clergy toward Mental Health Professionals: Implications for Pastoral Care

Reports on research in which 27 pastors and 81 parishioners in a Michigan city responded to a Semantic Differential instrument in an attempt to measure attitudes of black clergy toward mental health professionals. Statistical analyses suggest that black clergy tend to hold favorable attitudes toward mental health workers, a propensity running counter to some popular notions. Postulates a variety of possible reasons for the finding and urges additional research to guide cooperate efforts of black clergy and mental health professionals in their common desire to foster the social, spiritual, and psychological well-being of persons in the black community.
Multi-phase robot logic

This abstract describes a two-phase assignment for an undergraduate programming logic course. It addresses the need to help entry level students learn problem solving concepts by utilizing different interfaces and platforms.
The prevalence of yeasts in clinical specimens from cancer patients.

Yeasts recovered from cancer patients during a 15-month period were speciated, and the prevalence of these isolates in various types of clinical specimens was determined. Five species, including Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei, and Torulopsis glabrata , accounted for 97.1% of the isolates. Eighteen different species were recovered. Respiratory and urine specimens yielded 75% of the organisms. C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis were recovered in about equal frequency from blood cultures. Certain species usually were recovered from one type of specimen: Candida quilliermondii from urine, Trichosporon cutaneum and Candida pseudotropicalis from respiratory sites, and Cryptococcus neoformans from spinal fluid. Pityrosporum orbiculare was isolated only from ear and urine cultures. Most of the yeasts (95.4%) were identified within 48 hours after isolation.
Inheritance of Dominant Tall Mutant of Indica Rice 9311HR

A tall mutant was found in the transgenic rice 9311HR resistant to herbicide Basta and bred by transferring the bar gene into the indica line 9311.Compared with the elite line 9311HR,the plant height of the mutant was 70-120 cm higher resulted from the elongated internodes.The plant height component(the percentage of an internode length to its plant height) of the uppermost internode was 5%-8% more than the elite line,but 5%-7% less than the elite line for the lowest internode.The mutant also had longer panicle,more spikelets and filled grains per panicle than the elite line.But there existed no difference in the number of primary branches and seed setting rate between the mutant and elite line.Genetic analysis revealed that the plant height of the mutant was controlled by a single dominant gene.
The cellular basis of limb regeneration in urodeles

Formation of a regeneration blastema on the amputated urodele limb involves changes in the gene activity of differentiated cells resulting in their histological dedifferentiation and their return to a proliferative state. This review summarizes studies in limb regeneration and in the related fields of tissue repair and limb development that provide new insights into regulatory mechanisms of likely importance in establishing the blastema. Factors required for epithelialization of the wound are briefly described, followed by what is known regarding the biochemistry of extracellular matrix remodeling in the regenerating limb. Cellular "dedifferentiation" is discussed, emphasizing variations in the process among major cell types that give rise to the blastema: fibroblasts, cells of skeletal tissue, muscle cells, Schwann cells, and vascular endothelial cells. Attention is drawn to evidence that cells of connective tissue have a special role in establishing the prepattern of the new limb in the early phase of blastema formation and that angiogenesis may be controlled differently during epimorphic regeneration than in the process of wound repair. Several possible sources of the mitogens which stimulate cell cycle re-entry during dedifferentiation are described, as well as evidence suggesting the importance in limb regeneration of one such class of mitogens, the fibroblast growth factors. The trophic effect of nerves required for cells of dedifferentiating tissues to progress through the cell cycle is summarized briefly, along with recent work suggesting how this neural influence is exerted. Finally, the critical role of the wound epithelium in the cellular events forming the blastema and factors that may mediate the epithelial effect are discussed.
Short-term efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant in vitrectomized eyes with recalcitrant diabetic macular edema and prior anti-VEGF therapy

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI) for diabetic macular edema (DME) in vitrectomized eyes. Methods: This interventional retrospective consecutive case series included vitrectomized eyes undergoing IDI placement for treatment of recalcitrant DME between June 2011 and June 2014. All patients had previously received anti-VEGF therapy (ranibizumab or bevacizumab). Primary endpoints were changes in visual acuity (VA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) from baseline values one month after device implantation. Secondary endpoints were VA and CRT changes at 3 months. Results: A total of 8 eyes of 8 patients met the inclusion criteria. One month after IDI placement, there was a significant (p = 0.01) improvement in VA from 0.79 ± 0.52 logMAR (20/123 Snellen equivalent) to 0.64 ± 0.55 logMAR (20/88), meanwhile CRT improved from 455.75 ± 123.19 to 295.00 ± 90.39 μm (p = 0.02). These findings persisted at 3 months. Conclusion: In vitrectomized eyes previously treated with anti-VEGF agents for recalcitrant DME, implantation of the IDI appears to be efficacious in improving VA and CRT at 1-month with the observed benefits persisting for at least for 3 months.
Identification on host animals for plague by DNA barcoding technology in Shaanxi province

Objective To apply the DNA barcoding technology for identification on host animal and to establish the host animal DNA bar code database on natural foci of plague in Shaanxi.Methods 139 host animals belonging to 3 orders,6 families and 12 genera and 62 residues belonging to 7 species from 8 different parts of the province,were detected.DNA barcoding technology was used to analyze the DNA CO Ⅰ gene sequence on the natural foci of plague in Dingbian county.Results The intra-specific genetic distance was less than 2％ while the inter-specific distance ranged from 8.9％ to 15.1％.Fourteen major clusters were apparently showed on a Neighbor-Joining tree.Residue samples could be detected regarding the objective gene.Alashan ground squirrel was previously noticed to carry 14 major clusters,which were previously mistakenly named as Citellus dauricus in Dingbian county.Conclusion DNA barcoding technology could overcome the shortcomings caused by the morphological identification so could be used to identify the host animal and residues in the natural focus of plague. Key words: Plague area; DNA barcoding; Mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit Ⅰ gene; Species identification; Residues identification
High Resolution Thermometry Using the Magnetic Penetration Depth of Superconducting Films

A Penetration Depth Thermometer (PDT) has been under development for potential use in microgravity critical point experiments. The active element is a superconducting film whose thickness is comparable to the magnetic penetration depth (5–20 nm). Field penetration is strongly temperature dependent just below the transition (~0.9 – 1.0 Tc). Fields are generated and sensed by using excitation and pickup coils located near the film. Using a dc SQUID sensor for readout, temperature resolution on the order of 0.1 nK/✓Hz can be obtained. Earlier work using aluminum films (Tc=1.69 K) demonstrated a maximum sensitivity of 1 nK/✓Hz. Improvements in coil design have since yielded a factor of 3 improvement. PDT’s have been made with aluminum films deposited on a planar sapphire substrate with transition temperatures greater than the lambda point in superfluid helium. For performance tests, a cryostat has been constructed where the PDT will be in an experimental cell filled with superfluid. This will provide thermal stability better than 0.1 nK/✓Hz . Results of the current design are presented.
The Profession of City Planning

As shrewd a participant observer as Nathan Glazer maintains that city planning—like divinity, social work, teaching, and other “minor” professions—is really not a “true” profession, for it has failed to develop a system of education comparable in quality to the “established” social-science disciplines (economics, political science, and sociology) or to the “major” professions (medicine and law);1 and he attributes this failure to the repeated shifts in aims and curriculum content, which hobble progress and manifest themselves in characteristic status conflicts—between practitioners and academics and between faculty and faculty—which eventually break out also as conflicts between students, and between students and faculty.2
Patient-derived xenografts from breast cancer patients before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: A prospective study.

11130 Background: Use of next generation sequencing (NGS) in the neoadjuvant setting results in identification of drug targets/pathways associated with chemotherapy resistance. PDX may be superior ...
Low mass RF power inverter for cubesat plasma thruster using 3D printed inductors

This paper presents the design of a low mass RF power inverter at moderate to high power levels (e.g. tens of watts and above) for weight critical applications such as cubesat plasma thrusters. Our approach for mass reduction includes resonant switching operation at tens of MHz, and the 3D printing of light-weight scaffolds that form air core inductors after plating with a thin layer of copper. Specifically, we present a 14.2 MHz 50 W resonant DC-RF power inverter implemented with 3D printed and plated air core toroidal inductors. As a demonstration of design flexibility of the 3D printing process, these toroidal inductors are designed and implemented with optimal cross sections [1] to improve quality factors. The weight of the proposed inverter is reduced by 50% when compared to a 40 W state-of-the-art counterpart in which all the inductors were implemented within the printed circuit board (PCB). The inverter achieves 90% electrical efficiency when operated on a 50 Ω resistive load at an input voltage of 50 V. Then the inverter was implemented with a low pass matching network to drive a helicon double layer (HDL) plasma intended for a cubesat thruster application. The combined inverter and matching network outputs 40 W and achieves 86% DC input to plasma efficiency at an input voltage of 40 V.
Seals, Craft, and Community in Bronze Age Crete

Generations of scholars have grappled with the origins of 'palace' society on Minoan Crete, seeking to explain when and how life on the island altered monumentally. Emily Anderson turns light on the moment just before the palaces, recognizing it as a remarkably vibrant phase of socio-cultural innovation. Exploring the role of craftspersons, travelers and powerful objects, she argues that social change resulted from creative work that forged connections at new scales and in novel ways. This study focuses on an extraordinary corpus of sealstones which have been excavated across Crete. Fashioned of imported ivory and engraved with images of dashing lions, these distinctive objects linked the identities of their distant owners. Anderson argues that it was the repeated but pioneering actions of such diverse figures, people and objects alike, that dramatically changed the shape of social life in the Aegean at the turn of the second millennium BCE.
The promise and the promises of Making in science education

AbstractMaking is a rapidly emerging form of educational practice that involves the design, construction, testing, and revision of a wide variety of objects, using high and low technologies, and integrating a range of disciplines including art, science, engineering, and mathematics. It has garnered widespread interest and support in both policy and education circles because of the ways it has been shown to link science learning to creativity and investigation. Making has taken root in out-of-school settings, such as museums, science festivals, and afterschool and library programmes; and there is now growing interest from primary and secondary educators in how it might be incorporated into the classroom. Making expands on traditions associated with Technology Education and Design-Based Learning, but differs in ways that can potentially broaden participation in science and STEM learning to include learners from communities historically underrepresented in STEM fields. STEM-Rich Making is centrally organised...
The Status of Deirochelys Floridana Hay with Comments on the Fossil History of the Genus

Hay_ (1908) described an extinct species of ch1ck~n turtle, Deirochelys f loridana, fr?m Pleistocene beds (formerly considered Pliocene), al?ng Peace Creek, Hillsborough County, Florida. His description is based upon a single, complete nuchal bone. A comparison of the type specimen with modern skeletal material demonstrates conclusively that this fossil is not Deirochelys, but should be consigned tO the genus Pseudemys Gray. On the basis of data presently available the fossil cannot be placed with certainty in the extant species Pseudemys nelsoni Carr or Pseudemys floridana Le Conte, although it is slightly closer to the mean v_alues of the former in some of its proportions. With D. floridana Hay referred to the genus P seudemys, Deirochelys would lack a fossil hisrory except that a partial nuchal element definitely referable to this genus recently has been found in a Pleisrocene deposit in Marion County, Florida.