cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Where, Not When, Did the Cosmos ‘Begin’?

I examine a tension between temporal and spatial conceptualization of the genesis of the cosmos to show how chronological characterization of ‘beginnings’ occludes ontological interpretation of our existential orientations, to help my audience distinguish symbolic expressions of wonder that the cosmos exists from explanations for it. I bring together resources from multiple intellectual and religious traditions to perform a philosophy of religions that goes beyond the narrowness, intellectualism, and insularity of institutionalized (analytic) philosophy of religion. I turn to Ibn Rushd, Tillich, Pamela Sue Anderson, and Sara Ahmed to expose problems of confusing symbols with concepts. I bring Aristotle, Nagarjuna, Maimonides, Kant, Wittgenstein, and Nasr together in conversation about the notion of a ‘beginning.’ Through this, I seek to shift questions of cosmic linearity to questions of spatial symbols of inclusivity and suggest that our orientation toward chronology distracts us from inclusive ontologies, inadvertently getting us stuck in imagistic representation of a closed cosmos rather than critical conceptualization of open symbols for an inclusive cosmos.
Insecticide resistance and malaria control: A genetics-epidemiology modeling approach

Malaria, a deadly infectious disease caused by the protozoan Plasmodium, remains a major public health menace affecting at least half the human race. Although the large-scale usage of insecticides-based control measures, notably long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), have led to a dramatic reduction of the burden of this global scourge between the period 2000 to 2015, the fact that the malaria vector (adult female Anopheles mosquito) has become resistant to all currently-available insecticides potentially makes the current laudable global effort to eradicate malaria by 2040 more challenging. This study presents a novel mathematical model, which couples malaria epidemiology with mosquito population genetics, for assessing the impact of insecticides resistance on malaria epidemiology. Numerical simulations of the model, using data relevant to malaria transmission dynamics in the Jimma Zone of Southwestern Ethiopia, show that the implementation of a control strategy based on using LLINs alone can lead to the effective control of malaria, while also effectively managing insecticide resistance, if the LLINs coverage in the community is high enough (over 90%). It is further shown that combining LLINs with IRS (both at reduced and realistically-attainable coverage levels) can lead to the aforementioned effective control of malaria and effective management of insecticide resistance if their coverage levels lie within a certain effective control window in the LLINs-IRS coverage parameter space (this result generally holds regardless of whether or not larviciding is implemented in the community). The study identifies three key parameters of the model that negatively affect the size of the effective control window, namely parameters related with the coverage level of larviciding, the number of new adult mosquitoes that are females and the initial size of the frequency of resistant allele in the community. For the coverage of LLINs and IRS within the effective control window, an additional increase in the values of the aforementioned three parameters may lead to a shrinkage in the size of the effective control window (thereby causing the failure of the insecticides-based control).
Effect of volcanic emissions on clouds during the 2008 and 2018 Kilauea degassing events

Abstract. Volcanic eruptions in otherwise clean environments are “natural experiments” wherein the effects of aerosol emissions on clouds and climate can be partitioned from meteorological variability and anthropogenic activities. In this work, we combined satellite retrievals, reanalysis products, and atmospheric modeling to analyze the mechanisms of aerosol–cloud interactions during two degassing events at the Kilauea volcano in 2008 and 2018. The eruptive nature of the 2008 and 2018 degassing events was distinct from long-term volcanic activity for Kilauea. Although previous studies assessed the modulation of cloud properties from the 2008 event, this is the first time such an analysis has been reported for the 2018 event and that multiple degassing events have been analyzed and compared at this location. Both events resulted in significant changes in cloud effective radius and cloud droplet number concentration that were decoupled from local meteorology and in line with an enhanced cloud albedo. However, it is likely that the effects of volcanic emissions on liquid water path and cloud fraction were largely offset by meteorological variability. Comparison of cloud anomalies between the two events suggested a threshold response of aerosol–cloud interactions to overcome meteorological effects, largely controlled by aerosol loading. In both events, the ingestion of aerosols within convective parcels enhanced the detrainment of condensate in the upper troposphere, resulting in deeper clouds than observed under pristine conditions. Accounting for ice nucleation on ash particles led to enhanced ice crystal concentrations at cirrus levels and a slight decrease in ice water content, improving the correlation of the model results with the satellite retrievals. Overall, aerosol loading, plume characteristics, and meteorology contributed to changes in cloud properties during the Kilauea degassing events.
How the COVID-19 pandemic can teach educators a few lessons.

ABSTRACT: In this article, a nurse educator argues that the COVID-19 pandemic provides educators with an opportunity to refocus and include some essential concepts and hard lessons learned from the pandemic into their teachings.
Comparison of Long- and Short-term Outcomes in 845 Open and Minimally Invasive Gastrectomies for Gastric Cancer in the United States

Few Western studies have evaluated the long-term oncologic outcomes of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) approaches to gastrectomy for gastric cancer. This study aimed to compare the outcomes between minimally invasive and open gastrectomies and between laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomies at a high-volume cancer center in the United States. The study analyzed data for all patients undergoing curative gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma from January 2007 to June 2017. Postoperative complications and disease-specific survival (DSS) were compared between surgical approaches. The median follow-up period for the 845 patients in this study was 38.5 months. The stage-stratified 5-year DSS did not differ significantly between open surgery (n = 534) and MIS (n = 311). The MIS approach resulted in significantly fewer complications, as confirmed by adjusted comparison (odds ratio [OR], 0.70; range, 0.49–1.00; p = 0.049). After adjustment, the two groups did not differ in terms of DSS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.83; range, 0.55–1.25; p = 0.362). The robotic operations (n = 190) had fewer conversions to open procedure (p = 0.010), a shorter operative time (212 vs 240 min; p < 0.001), more dissected nodes (27 vs 22; p < 0.001), fewer Clavien-Dindo grade ≥3 complications (5.8% vs 13.2%; p = 0.023), and a shorter postoperative stay (5 vs 6 days; p = 0.045) than the laparoscopic operations (n = 121). The DSS rate did not differ between the laparoscopic and robotic groups. The study findings demonstrated the long-term survival and oncologic equivalency of MIS gastrectomy and the open approach in a Western cohort, supporting the use of MIS at centers that have adequate experience with appropriately selected patients.
Pinned-end moments in simple span multi-girder bridges

Abstract This paper demonstrates the potential for significant live load-induced moments at the pinned end of a simply supported, single span, straight composite girder bridge without skewed supports. When a simple span bridge model is subjected to asymmetric vertical loading, it produces differential girder end rotation. If the pinned boundary condition is eccentric to the girder, this rotation causes varying longitudinal displacements of the deck. This longitudinal movement produces in-plane shear in the composite deck, which must be balanced by a longitudinal force to maintain equilibrium. The eccentric longitudinal reaction results in an end moment at the pinned boundary, a pinned-end moment (PEM). Currently, the literature does not adequately address this phenomenon. To address this knowledge gap, a parametric study was conducted on 588 standard steel girder bridge designs to understand the relative magnitude of PEMs and the sensitivity of PEMs to critical bridge parameters. Live loads were found to induce end moments of up to 50% of the midspan moments and the pinned-end reactions (PERs) as high as eight times the design braking force. Moreover, the PEMs were found to be most sensitive to the deck aspect ratio (width/length), transverse expansion bearing restraint, and the longitudinal bearing and substructure stiffness at the pinned end. These research findings indicate that structures with the largest PEM values are those with a high deck width to length ratio, transverse restraint from guided bearings, and relatively high substructure stiffness.
Direct estimates of biomass burning NO x emissions and lifetimes using daily observations from TROPOMI

Abstract. Biomass burning emits an estimated 25 % of global annual nitrogen oxides (NO x ), an important constituent that participates in the oxidative chemistry of the atmosphere. Estimates of NO x emission factors, representing the amount of NO x per mass burned, are primarily based on field or laboratory case studies, but the sporadic and transient nature of wildfires makes it challenging to verify whether these case studies represent the behavior of the global fires that occur on earth. Satellite remote sensing provides a unique view of the earth, allowing for the study of emissions and downwind evolution of NO x from a large number of fires. We describe direct estimates of NO x emissions and lifetimes for fires using an exponentially modified Gaussian analysis of daily TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) retrievals of NO 2 tropospheric columns. We update the a priori profile of NO 2 with a fine-resolution (0.25 ∘ ) global model simulation from NASA's GEOS Composition Forecasting System (GEOS-CF), which largely enhances NO 2 columns over fire plumes. We derive representative NO x emission factors for six fuel types globally by linking TROPOMI-derived NO x emissions with observations of fire radiative power from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Satellite-derived NO x emission factors are largely consistent with those derived from in situ measurements. We observe decreasing NO x lifetime with fire emissions, which we infer is due to the increase in both NO x abundance and hydroxyl radical production. Our findings suggest promise for applying space-based observations to track the emissions and chemical evolution of reactive nitrogen from wildfires.
An elliptic adaptation of ideas of Carleman and Domar from complex analysis related to Levinson’s loglog theorem

Using the three ball inequality, we adapt the elegant ideas of Carleman and Domar from complex analysis to linear elliptic partial differentialequations and generalize the classical Levinson’s loglog theorem.
Crop Area Mapping in Southern and Central Malawi With Google Earth Engine

Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa consists primarily of smallholder farms of rainfed crops. Historically, satellite data were too coarse to account for the heterogeneity in these landscapes. Sentinel-2 data have improved spectral resolution and much higher spatial resolution (10 m) than previously available satellites with global coverage, such as Landsat or MODIS, making mapping smallholder farms possible. Spectral mixture analysis was used to convert the Sentinel-2 signal into fractions of green vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation, soil, and shade endmembers. Very high spatial resolution imagery in Google Earth Pro was used to identify locations of crop and natural vegetation classes, with over 20,000 reference points interpreted. The high temporal resolution of Sentinel-2 (five day repeat) allows for classification of landcover based on the phenological signal, with natural areas having smoothly varying amounts of photosynthetic vegetation annually, while cropped areas show more abrupt changes, and also the presence of bare soil due to agricultural activity at some point during the year. We summarized the endmember values using monthly medians, extracted values for the reference data points, randomly split them into training and test data sets, and input the training data into the random forests algorithm in Google Earth Engine to map crop area. We divided southern and central Malawi into six tiles, and found crop/no crop classification accuracies on the test data for each tile to be between 87% and 93%. The 10 m map of crop area was aggregated to the district level and showed an R2 of 0.74 with ground-based statistics from the Malawi government and 0.79 with a remotely sensed product developed by the USGS.
From facts to rules to decisions: an overview of the FRD-1 system

One of the central goals of knowledge discovery in databases is to produce knowledge useful for decision making. However, the form in which knowledge can be easily discovered is often different from the form in which its is most readily used for decision making. This paper describes a methodology in which knowledge is discovered in declarative form (decision rules). When it is needed for decision making, it is on-line transferred to a procedural form (a decision structure) optimized for the given decision making situation. The system FRD-1, which implements the methodology, is briefly described, and illustrated by its application to a problem in the area of construction engineering.
Institutions of Higher Education: Cornerstones in Building Ethical Organizations

Ethical organizations have a competitiveadvantage in the marketplace. The merepresence of a statement of ethics isinadequate. Deeds and actions are alsonecessary. A critical component in building anethical culture in organizations is therecruitment and retention of ethical employees. The best and most readily available sources ofsuch personnel are higher educationinstitutions that have strong ethical culturesand skilled graduates. This paper addresses indicators of highereducation institutions having strong ethicalcultures. The paper discusses the concepts ofpraxis and contrast experience and their role in education. The importance of andopportunities for service learning areconsidered to be a central theme in developingethical graduates. We conclude thatinstitutions of higher education that live theethics and values contained in their missionstatements produce graduates who are highlyvalued and sought by ethical organizations.
Dried poultry waste for cows grazing low-quality winter forage.

Two trials conducted in 1996-97 measured BW and body condition score changes of cows fed different sources of degradable intake protein, including dried poultry waste and soybean meal, while grazing low-quality winter forages. In Trial 1, 60 spring-calving cows (5 yr; 555 kg) were used in an individual supplementation trial. Cows were gathered three times a week, sorted into individual pens, and fed their respective supplement. Cows grazed dormant native Sandhills winter range (common pasture) and were assigned to one of six supplemental treatments: 1) no supplement, 2) urea, 3) 22% dried poultry waste + urea, 4) soybean meal, 5) 22% dried poultry waste + soybean meal, or 6) 44% dried poultry waste. All supplements were based on wheat middlings and soybean hulls and were formulated to contain 44% CP. Thirty-six cows were selected randomly (six per treatment) for a 5-d measurement of forage intake from December 16 through December 20, 1996. Cows receiving supplements gained more weight (P 0.10). In Trial 2, cows grazed corn residues. Forty-eight spring-calving cows were group-fed supplements in one of six 4-ha paddocks. Cows received supplements containing either soybean meal or dried poultry waste that were the same as the soybean meal and 44% dried poultry waste supplements fed in Trial 1; gains were not different (P > 0.10). Under the economic conditions that existed at the time of these experiments, the supplement containing dried poultry waste resulted in a savings of $.04 per cow per day and a total savings of $3.20 per cow over an 80-d period. Feeding a supplement containing dried poultry waste resulted in performance similar to that when feeding a more conventional supplement containing soybean meal.
Symbolic and Knowledge-Based Signal Processing

Signal representations for numerical processing computer-aided algorithm design and rearrangement symbolic analysis of signals and systems interactive signal processing documents the symbolic manipulation and analysis of morphological algorithms blackboard systems for knowledge-based understanding integrated processing and understanding of signals signal abstraction concept for signal interpretation knowledge-based signal processing applications.
HST FOS Observations of YY Dra

The UV continuum of YY Dra exhibits a sinusoidal modulation with 15.5% semi-amplitude and period 264.7 s, commensurate with one half the white dwarf spin period. The CIV line profile varies with spin phase, implying accretion onto, and visibility of, both magnetic poles. The line width is greatest at the phases of continuum pulsation maximum, when the wings extend out to ±3000 km s-1.This implies a minimum white dwarf mass of 0.62 M⊙, and constrains the angle between the line of sight and the magnetic axis.
Adenosine-Responsive wide QRS complex tachycardia: what is the mechanism?

A 45-year-old man presented with an acute anterior wall myocardial infarction and underwent successful percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Twenty-four hours later, a wide QRS tachycardia at a rate of 108 beats/min that had a QRS duration of 150 msec was noted by telemetric monitoring. There were no symptoms associated with the tachycardia. A 12-lead ECG was recorded (Fig. I). The tachycardia terminated after infusion of 12 mg of adenosine (Fig. 2). What is the mechanism of this adenosineresponsive wide QRS complex tachycardia?
Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?

Parental involvement at school offers unique opportunities for parents, and this school-based involvement has important implications for children's academic and behavioral outcomes. The authors used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001) to examine race and immigrant differences in barriers to parental involvement at school. Minority immigrant parents, compared with native-born parents, reported more barriers to participation and were subsequently less likely to be involved at school. Among immigrant parents, time spent in the United States and English language ability were positively associated with involvement, but these associations differed by race. Barriers to involvement serve as another source of disadvantage for immigrant parents and their children.
The Transformation of Uranyl Oxide Hydrates: The Effect of Dehydration on Synthetic Metaschoepite and Its Alteration to Becquerelite

The U(VI) solid phases schoepite, metaschoepite, and dehydrated schoepite are important reservoirs of mobile uranium in the environment. These simple uranyl oxide hydrates result from weathering of uranium minerals and the corrosion of anthropogenic uranium solids. We have studied the role of hydrational water among these phases and in subsequent tranformation to other secondary metal-U(VI) oxide hydrates. Synthetic metaschoepite (MS, UO3·2.0H2O), its dehydrated phases, and its secondary alteration products were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis (HRTGA). Drying MS at 105 °C resulted in the formation of a dehydrated phase (UO3·0.9H2O) that was structurally distinct from natural dehydrated schoepite (DS, UO3·0.75H2O) reported by others. Unlike natural DS, our dehydrated material was easily rehydrated, although crystallinity of the rehydrated phase was reduced. The ...
Small-Sample Behavior of Some Multisample Nonparametric Tests for Scale

Abstract Several nonparametric and parametric statistics for testing the equality of scale parameters are compared with respect to their power and stability of error rates. When the populations have mass confined to the positive axis, the c-sample analog of the sum of squared ranks test and the Kruskal-Wallis test are found to be very robust and powerful. When the populations are symmetrical, the c-sample analogs of the two-sample Mood and two-sample Ansari-Bradley tests are robust for small samples, and are more powerful than Box's test. Tables of exac probabilities and corresponding critical values of the nonparametric statistics are given for testing the equality of scales for small samples.
Modification of the noradrenergic cyclic AMP generating system in the rat limbic forebrain by amphetamine: role of its hydroxylated metabolites.

The cyclic AMP responses to norepinephrine (NE) in slices of the rat limbic forebrain after the administration of (S)-amphetamine and the role of its para- and β-hydroxylated metabolites were investigated. The chronic but not acute administration of (S)-amphetamine to rats causes a significant reduction in the sensitivity of the cyclic AMP generating system to NE without changing the basal level of the nucleotide. This change in the sensitivity of the system is not associated with a change in the EC50 value for NE but reflects mainly a decrease in the maximal response. After withdrawal of the drug, the cyclic AMP response to NE returned to control values within 4 days. In vitro, (S)-p-hydroxyamphetamine (POH) and all stereoisomers of p-hydroxynorephedrine (PHN) except (αS,βR)-PHN enhanced the cyclic AMP response to low concentrations of NE. Since (αS,βR)-PHN [like the other stereoisomers of PHN and (S)-POH] inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the high affinity uptake of 3H-NE into crude synaptosomal fractions of the limbic forebrain, the results might suggest that the presumably physiological enantiomer of PHN also exerts receptor blocking properties. The inhibition by (αS,βR)-PHN of the cocaine induced potentiation of the cyclic AMP response to NE supports this supposition. The results provide evidence that the hydroxylated metabolites of (S)-amphetamine, (S)-POH and (αS,βR)-PHN, modify the action of the parent drug on central noradrenergic function at the level of the NE receptor coupled adenylate cyclase system.
How Will HIPAA Affect Your Consumer Health Information Services

Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is forcing medical centers in the United States to scrutinize how individually identifiable patient information is kept and transferred. The jury is still out on whether medical-center-based consumer health information services are considered “covered entities” under HIPAA. However, the ethical codes of the American Library Association, the Medical Library Association, and many other professional organizations specify patron confidentiality as an important value of the library profession. Consumer health library staff should use the recent emphasis on privacy as a cue to determine where, and under what circumstances, patrons' personal and topical information is less secure than it should be.
Weak Copositive and Intertwining Approximation

It is known that shape preserving approximation has lower rates than unconstrained approximation. This is especially true for copositive and intertwining approximations. Forf?Lp, 1?p<∞, the former only has rate??(f,n?1)p, and the latter cannot even be bounded byC?f?p. In this paper, we discuss various ways to relax the restrictions in these approximations and conclude that the most sensible way is the so-calledalmostcopositive/intertwining approximation in which one relaxes the restriction on the approximants in a neighborhood of radius?n(yj) of each sign changeyj.
Effect of gravity on coupled convective and interfacial instabilities during directional solidification

Instabilities occurring during the directional constant-rate solidification of a dilute solution of tin in lead are investigated as a function of gravity with particular emphasis on small constant gravitational accelerations. Two types of instabilities have been identified: (1) convective type that corresponds to long wavelengths, and (2) morphological type that corresponds to short wavelengths. These instabilities are coupled but while the convective instabilities depend strongly on gravity, the morphological instabilities are practically independent of gravity. For low velocities, the convective instabilities occur at much lower solute concentrations than the morphological instabilities, whereas at high velocities the reverse is true.
Acceleration of fibrinolysis by ultrasound in a rabbit ear model of small vessel injury

High frequency ultrasound has been previously shown to accelerate fibrinolysis in vitro at intensities that are potentially applicable for noninvasive administration clinically. To extend these findings in vivo, we have investigated the effects of ultrasound on fibrinolysis induced by streptokinase in a rabbit model of small vessel injury. Full thickness puncture wounds were made in rabbit ears with a scalpel blade. The rabbits were rested for 2-3 hours after cessation of bleeding to allow maturation of hemostatic plugs. Saline or streptokinase was then infused intravenously, and ultrasound was applied to some lesions at 1 MHz with a 50% duty cycle at 1 W/cm2 net intensity. Ear lesions in rabbits treated with saline showed no bleeding after 30 minutes whether they were exposed to ultrasound or not. Streptokinase alone induced bleeding after 19.7 +/- 5.5 minutes. Application of ultrasound significantly reduced the time to bleeding in streptokinase treated rabbits to 7.5 +/- 3.9 minutes (p < .002). The times to bleeding with "sham" ultrasound (18.8 +/- 5.6 minutes) and heating of the ear (18.0 +/- 5.6 minutes) during streptokinase administration were not significantly different compared to streptokinase alone. Histologic examination revealed that application of ultrasound resulted in a mild increase in interstitial edema and accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes but did not cause vascular or other tissue damage. We conclude that the noninvasive, percutaneous application of ultrasound significantly accelerated streptokinase-induced fibrinolysis in this rabbit model of small vessel injury.
A Monte Carlo-Based Approach for Determining Traveltime-Related Capture Zones of Wells Using Convex Hulls as Confidence Regions

Determination of traveltime-related capture zones of wells in instances where there is a lack of adequate or reliable site-specific values of hydraulic parameters and/or the heterogeneous character of the geologic materials may lead to designation and management of wellhead-protection areas of dubious function. In these instances, Monte Carlo simulation can be used to determine traveltime-related capture zones that account for the uncertainty in values of hydraulic and geologic parameters that cannot be accounted for by deterministically based flow models. Monte Carlo simulations using 100 randomly generated values of hydraulic conductivity and effective porosity were used to determine one-year capture zones based on determination of percentile confidence regions from reverse-tracked flowpaths emanating from a well completed in a leaky-confined aquifer. The mean of the lognormal distribution used to generate the hydraulic-conductivity values was taken to be 3.89 ft/d, the log of the average value from an aquifer test, and a standard deviation of 1.0 ft/d was used. The normal distribution used to generate the effective porosity values had a mean of 25 percent and a standard deviation of 3.5 percent. The values of hydraulic conductivity and effective porosity were ordered and then paired to induce correlation. Other relevant hydraulic and geologic parameters were fixed at average or observed values from the available data. Simulations were made using an analytical flow model in conjunction with a particle-tracking program to obtain 100 sets of endpoint coordinates for 36 reverse-tracked, one-year flowpaths emanating from the well. Wellhead-protection areas based on the 90th- and 75th-percentile confidence regions of the distribution of 3,600 endpoints were determined by deleting the 10 and 25 most-extreme (distant) endpoints, respectively, from the 100 sets of flowpath endpoints of the 36 flowpaths. Delineation of the wellhead-protection areas was based on determination of the convex hull of the remaining endpoints. The distribution of remaining endpoints around the well also was used to determine optimum locations for construction of sentinel wells to detect contaminants moving toward the well along the most probable flowpaths.
Low incidence of intraspousal transmission of hepatitis C virus after liver transplantation

Although the incidence of spousal transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in chronic carriers is extremely low (1.4% to 8%), hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation is common with markedly increased serum HCV RNA levels. Thus, partners of these patients may be at higher risk of acquiring infection. This study evaluates the prevalence of spousal transmission of hepatitis C after liver transplantation. Twenty-two of 25 couples who were eligible agreed to the retrospective study. Twenty-two patients (17 males, 5 females) and spouses (5 males, 17 females) were studied with respective mean ages of 50.2 years (35 to 65 years) and 46.9 years (33 to 66 years). Liver enzymes, second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) and HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and branched DNA assay were performed. HCV-associated antibodies were detected in 1 of 22 (5%) spouses and 21 of 22 (95%) patients (P < 0.0001). Nineteen of 22 (86%) patients tested positive by PCR with a mean value of 16,218,100 Eq/mL (464,700 to 51,980,000). All spouses including the only ELISA anti-HCV positive spouse tested negative by PCR (P < 0.0001). Eight of 21 spouses tested negative for anti-HCV pretransplantation, (13 of 21 pretransplantation were not tested). Estimated mean duration of hepatitis C infection in patients was 14 years (3 to 40 years). Mean patient follow-up posttransplantation was 654.5 days (141 to 1,959 days). Mean duration of marriage was 22.6 years (2.5 to 46 years). No risk factors other than exposure to index patients were observed in spouses. The incidence of spousal transmission of HCV in liver transplantation remains low (5%) and similar to chronic carriers of HCV.
Investigation of arbitrage opportunities in the Eurodollar futures market using neural networks

Financial analysis is based on two opposing views: market efficiency theory and technical or fundamental analysis. There are three forms of market efficiency: weak form, semi-strong form and strong form. The weak form of market efficiency precludes the trends and patterns that technical analysis attempts to exploit. This work investigates whether it is possible to detect or predict patterns underlying Eurodollar futures trading. Multilayer perceptrons and radial basis functions were chosen to predict three time series based on different financial models. The findings challenge the existing efficient market theory in the case of Eurodollar futures trading.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Developing A Motivational Freshman Course In Using The Principle Of Attached Learning

This paper describes the development of a new, team-taught, interdisciplinary, design-oriented, introduction to engineering course that plays a role in the retention efforts of the engineering programs at our university. While the primary purpose of the new course has not changed from its original purpose, i.e., to introduce students to engineering as a field of study, the goals have been expanded to include motivating experiences to increase student retention. We discuss the rationale for the new course, the topics selected for the syllabus, the “attached learning” strategy that was developed for the selection of course materials, the teaching strategies selected for the course, the results of the assessment of student satisfaction, and the impact of the course on the curriculum and on minority and under represented groups.
Fictional Privacy among Facebook Users

The current study involved the creation of a fictional Facebook account with limited information and was designed to assess whether participants would accept the friendship of an ambiguous, unknown person. Results indicated that 325 Facebook members (72% of the sample) willingly accepted the friendship of the unknown individual. Results are discussed in relation to privacy concerns, norms of reciprocity, and allowing access to potentially embarrassing information and/or pictures.
Plantaris rupture: a mimic of deep venous thrombosis.

Abstract Background: The differential diagnosis of non-traumatic lower extremity pain and swelling runs the gamut from simple musculoskeletal injury to a possibly life-threatening deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Although evaluation and management are often guided by physical examination and history, a diagnostic study is often required. Institutional factors surrounding diagnostic imaging often lead physicians to empirically treat these patients for DVT with a plan for definitive diagnosis at a later time. Objectives: We discuss plantaris tendon rupture, the ability of the clinician to differentiate DVT from musculoskeletal injury, and the risks of anticoagulation in the setting of an undifferentiated, painful, swollen lower extremity. Case Report: We report the case of a 57-year-old transgendered woman who presented with left lower extremity pain and swelling and was found to have a rare cause of tennis leg: plantaris tendon rupture. Conclusions: Frequently, clinical examination and history are insufficient to distinguish DVT from musculoskeletal injury. In these instances, anticoagulation carries a risk of compartment syndrome and hemorrhage with uncertain benefit to the patient. A definitive diagnosis should be sought before initiation of anticoagulation of the swollen, painful lower extremity.
The role of imaging in children with suspected appendicitis: the UK perspective.

The diagnosis of uncomplicated acute appendicitis is often straightforward, allowing timely appendicectomy without the need for expensive tests or imaging. Repeated clinical examination by an experienced surgeon has traditionally been the key to making the diagnosis in both straightforward and difficult cases. Nonetheless, all surgeons will remove some normal appendices. Sometimes it can be particularly difficult to make the diagnosis, especially in the child under 5 years of age, in teenage girls, in young women and in the elderly. When difficult to make, the diagnosis may be significantly delayed and since the pathology is progressive, the patient may suffer potentially avoidable complications. This paper looks at two potential roles for imaging. Firstly, can imaging, applied selectively, help make the difficult diagnosis less difficult and so reduce delays and morbidity? Secondly, could imaging all patients with suspected appendicitis reduce the number of normal appendices removed from children who seem to have all the signs and symptoms of straightforward uncomplicated acute appendicitis but who actually have presumed self-resolving non-appendiceal pathology? The answer to these questions may depend on three factors that are not entirely independent: a surgical unit’s current audited negative appendicectomy rate, population base/case mix and the expertise of the examining surgeon. Individual surgeons and some surgical units, by policy, use modern imaging techniques with quite different frequencies that may be appropriate depending on these three factors. This article argues that a careful history and repeated clinical examination is the key to making the diagnosis, with imaging, primarily ultrasonography, being used in patients with a palpable mass or in those having had 48 h of hospital observation without progress. In Europe, imaging has played a limited role in the investigation of the child with suspected appendicitis with the diagnosis relying on repeated examination by an experienced clinician. Ongoing changes in surgical training in the UK may affect the acquisition of clinical expertise that is crucial to this clinical management. High-quality surgical training and surgical audit are needed to monitor the delivery of care and to ensure that the care pathway being used is appropriate for the local resources and population.
Irreducible recurrences and representation theorems for 3F2(1)

Abstract By examining the irreducibility of a certain recurrence, we show that the hypergeometric function of the title cannot be represented by gamma functions.
Nonlinearities in the Impact of Industry Structure: The Case of Concentration and Intra-Industry Variability in Rates of Return

This paper addresses the issue of industry concentration and intra-industry variability in rates of return. An inverted "U" relationship is hypothesized and tested in which one observed low levels of variability both at high and low levels of concentration, in one case as a result of collusion and the other as a result of competition. In the process, the paper highlights the benefits associated with combining both industry and firm levels of analysis. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.
Psoralen photo-cross-linking by triplex-forming oligonucleotides at multiple sites in the human rhodopsin gene.

Targeting DNA damage by triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) represents a way of modifying gene expression and structure and a possible approach to gene therapy. We have determined that this approach can deliver damage with great specificity to sites in the human gene for the G-protein-linked receptor rhodopsin, mutations of which can lead to the genetic disorder autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. We have introduced DNA monoadducts and interstrand cross-links at multiple target sites within the gene using TFOs with a photoactivatable psoralen group at the 5‘-end. The extent of formation of photoadducts (i.e., monoadducts and cross-links) was measured at target sites with a 5‘-ApT sequence at the triplex−duplex junction and at a target site with 5‘-ApT and 5‘-TpA sequences located four and seven nucleotides away, respectively. To improve psoralen reactivity at more distant sites, psoralen moieties were attached to TFOs with nucleotide “linkers” from two to nine nucleotides in length. High-affinity...
Asymmetric plasma potential fluctuation in an inductive plasma source

Time-averaged plasma potential in an inductive source with a ground wall has been measured by using an emissive probe. The inflection point method in the limit of zero emission is employed to determine the plasma potential. In this source, capacitive coupling results in a fluctuating plasma potential. The peak-to-peak value of the radiofrequency (RF) fluctuations, which is approximately given by the separation of the two peaks in the derivative of an I -V characteristic curve, has been reduced by introducing a gap between the antenna and the quartz window and by various electrostatic screens. Experimental data show that the lower potential peak, representing the lowest plasma potential, was approximately constant as the RF fluctuation level was reduced, while the higher potential peak, indicating the more positive plasma potential, changed and approached the lower potential peak. For very low fluctuation level, the lower potential peak becomes the dc plasma potential and only the higher potential peak responds to the RF fluctuation.
Trends in U.S., past-year marijuana use from 1985 to 2009: An age–period–cohort analysis

Abstract Background We present a formal age–period–cohort analysis to examine if the recent increase in past-year marijuana use among the young is specific to the younger generation or if, instead, it is part of a general increase present across cohorts of all ages. This is the first age–period–cohort analysis of past-year marijuana use that includes adult trends from 2001 to 09. Methods Data come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a series of annual, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population. The analysis focuses on the 25 year time span from 1985 to 2009 and uses the recently developed ‘intrinsic estimator’ algorithm to estimate independent effects of age, period, and cohort. Results The recent increase in past-year marijuana use is not unique to the youngest birth cohorts. An independent, positive influence of cohort membership on past-year marijuana use, net of historical period and age effects, is smaller for today's youngest cohorts than it was for the cohorts that came immediately before, and, in fact, is at its lowest level in three decades. The recent increase in marijuana use among the young is more consistent with a historical period effect that has acted across all cohorts. Period and cohort trends differ substantially for Hispanics. Conclusions The major forces that drive trends in past-year marijuana use are moving away from cohort-specific factors and toward broad-based influences that affect cohorts of all ages. Strategic public health and policy efforts aimed at addressing the recent increase in past-year marijuana use should do the same.
Ab Initio Classical Trajectory Calculations of Acetylene Dication Dissociation

Fragmentation of the acetylene dication on the 3Σg- surface has been studied by ab initio direct classical trajectory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. The C2H22+ → 2CH+ channel h...
Interactive phenomena in supersonic jet mixing problems

The interactive phenomena that occur in the plume flowfield produced by a supersonic jet exhausting into a supersonic or subsonic external stream are discussed. A spatial marching parabolized Navier-Stokes approach is used to analyze the coupled viscous/inviscid interactive processes in supersonic flow regions. A 'partially parabolic' spatial marching procedure is used to analyze embedded subsonic regions (viz. the flow behind Mach discs) and the subsonic portion of the plume mixing layer for subsonic external flows. Coupling between the two-regions utilizes viscous-characteristic techniques and appropriate iterative procedures. Applications to a variety of jet mixing problems are presented. The importance of accounting for compressibility effects on the turbulence is demonstrated via comparisons of predictions employing several two-equation turbulence models with detailed laboratory data.
Structures for M-channel perfect-reconstruction FIR QMF banks which yield linear-phase analysis filters

The authors develop structures for FIR (finite impulse response) perfect-reconstruction QMF (quadrature mirror filter) banks, which cover a subclass of systems that yield linear-phase analysis filters for arbitrary M. The parameters of these structures can be optimized to design analysis filters with minimum stopband energy which at the same time have linear phase and satisfy the perfect-reconstruction property. If there are M subbands, then depending on whether the coefficients h/sub k/(n) of each analysis filter are symmetric or antisymmetric, several combinations of filter banks are possible. Some of these permit perfect reconstruction and some do not. For a given M, the authors develop a formula for the number of combinations for a subclass of linear-phase perfect-reconstruction structures. As an example, they elaborate on a perfect-reconstruction linear-phase lattice structure for three channels. The lattice structure is such that, regardless of the parameter values, the QMF bank enjoys the perfect-reconstruction property while at the same time the analysis filters have linear phase. A design example is presented, along with tables of impulse response coefficients. >
Incorporation of 2'-deoxy-5-(trifluoromethyl)uridine and 5-cyano-2'-deoxyuridine into DNA.

Abstract In an attempt to synthesize DNA containing 2′-deoxy-5-(trifluoromethyl)uridine (1) using previously published protocols, we found that the trifluoromethyl group converted into a cyano group, resulting in DNA containing 5-cyano-2′-deoxyuridine (3). We show that nucleoside 1 can be incorporated into DNA using phosphoramidite 2 in combination with acetyl-protected deoxycytidine and phenoxyacetyl-protected purine phosphoramidites. Replacing thymidine in DNA with 1 caused a slight decrease in DNA duplex stability at pH 6.9.
Modeling and estimation of servo actuator dynamic variability with application to LTO-drives

Starting from multiple frequency domain measurements, this paper presents a procedure to formulate a dynamic model of a servo actuator that consists of a nominal model and an allowable model perturbation in the form of a parametric and unstructured uncertainty. A separation between parametric and unstructured uncertainty is achieved by first estimating low order linear parameter models via frequency domain curve fitting followed by a linear Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to bound the parametric variations on the estimated parameters. Remaining differences between the low order parametric models and the measured frequency responses are captured by a bounded unstructured uncertainty on a frequency dependent dual-Youla parameter that uses prior information on a stabilizing feedback controller. The resulting perturbation model is written in a standard Linear Fractional Transformation (LFT) form and the procedure is applied to experimental data obtained from several mechanically equivalent servo actuators in a Linear Tape Open (LTO) drive.