cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Same-Day Discharge After Minimally Invasive Sacrocolpopexy Is Feasible, Safe, and Associated With High Patient Satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare the incidence of adverse events and postoperative health care resource utilization, as well as to determine satisfaction in patients after a same-day discharge (SDD) protocol compared with routine care (discharge ≥postoperative day 1). METHODS This is a prospective cohort study of SDD after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy. Eligibility criteria included age younger than 80 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade I/II, caretaker for ≥24 hours postoperatively, and surgical start before 1 pm. Perioperative data were obtained through the medical record and direct patient inquiry. A satisfaction survey was administered at the postoperative visit. A historical control group was used to compare outcomes. RESULTS Forty-seven women met the eligibility criteria. Mean age was 62 (±9) years. Most were White (95.7%), were overweight (body mass index, 27.7 ± 5.5 kg/m2), and had stage 3 prolapse (63.8%). Same-day discharge was achieved for 37 patients (78.7%). Patient characteristics of the SDD cohort were similar to the routine-care cohort, with the exception of previous hysterectomy (57.5% vs 100.0%, P < 0.001) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists score (2 [1-2] vs 2 [1-3], P = 0.002). There were significantly fewer postoperative telephone calls in the SDD cohort but no other differences in health care resource utilization. Adverse events did not differ between groups. The SDD cohort reported high satisfaction and would recommend SDD to family or friends independent of whether or not SDD was achieved (91.9% vs 80.0%, P = 0.29). CONCLUSIONS Nearly 80% of women undergoing minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy on an SDD protocol went home as planned. Compared with routine care, there was no increase in adverse events or postoperative health care resource utilization. Patient satisfaction in the SDD cohort was high. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION Same-day discharge after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03730103?term=same+day+dischargec NCT03730103.
Teaching Edith Wharton’s The Children in the Anarchist Tradition in Literature Course

This chapter implements the collectivist and individualist anarchist theories to teach Wharton’s and Le Guin’s novels with a twofold objective: to illuminate the enactment of Wharton’s progressive political perspective in The Children and to render plausibility to Le Guin’s imaginary universe in The Dispossessed. Students are guided to detect similarities between such incidents as attraction between older men and young women or runaway children in the cultural moment of Wharton’s novel and their own social environment. Through these similarities, they are able to attain affinity with the cultural milieu of the novel, be convinced to the veracity of the incidents in it, and readily implement the tenets of the anarchist theories to explore both the incidents of the novel and their own society. When they perceive the viability of application of the similar anarchist principles to the futuristic components of Le Guin’s novel, they grasp Wharton’s liberal politics lucidly and project their cultural experiences with Wharton’s novel on the future readers of The Dispossessed, envisioning this novel’s fanciful universe to be achievable to prospective readers as the incidents in The Children have proved to be realistic to them.
Elastic Properties of Random Systems

Recently there has been growing interest in the elastic properties of random systems. Since various elastic model Hamiltonians produce different predictions1–3 for the effective elastic moduli, it is important to realize that they usually apply to distinct physical systems, or treat different aspects of the same system. Our model Hamiltonian primarily aims to explain the elastic properties of macroscopically disordered systems, such as porous solids or colloidal aggregates in which the size of an elementary grain is at least several atomic radii. However, in certain cases it may also be applicable to disorder on the atomic level.
The rise of financial capitalism: Historical background for the rise of financial capitalism: commercial revolution, rise of nation-states, and capital markets

The decade of the 1980s saw the emergence of international capital movement as a dominant feature of the economic relations among nation-states. The resulting pressures on exchange rates, balances of payments, and trade patterns have disconcerted all participants – those who make national economic policy, as well as international financiers and ordinary citizens. Perhaps the most striking episode was the collapse of the world's stock markets during the week of 19 October 1987, the suddenness, sharpness, and inclusiveness of which took all observers by surprise. Some, trying to determine if computer-driven sales in New York or in Tokyo had led to the collapse of international stock markets in 1987, were disoriented on finding that Tokyo prices for 20 October preceded, rather than followed, New York quotes for 19 October. They were forced by this circumstance to confront once again the mystery of the international date line, a phenomenon first detected by the chronicler of Magellan's voyage to circle the earth. Antonio Pigafetta recorded his amazement that, according to the Portuguese inhabitants of the Cape Verde Islands, it was Thursday, 10 July 1522, when his ship returned to the European settlement there, not Wednesday, 9 July, as indicated in his diary. He finally reasoned correctly what had happened, but nearly two centuries later the English buccaneer and explorer William Dampier remarked on the discrepancy of dates in East Asia. The Portuguese, Dutch, and English who settled in the Pacific islands by going east from Asia were a day ahead of the Spanish settlers who arrived by going west from the Americas.
Material Recycling in OECD Countries

Material recycling occurs naturally when there are market incentives. When the economics of recycling is only marginal, government and institutional incentives are required. Here a simple framework for graphically representing the “cost-quality” dynamics of recycling is presented. Examples of policy and technology approaches are outlined based upon a recent study of several OECD countries1) In addition large scale trends for these countries show the complex effects of wealth (GNP per capita) on recycling.
COMPUTATION OF THE ACOUSTIC RADIATION FROM BOUNDED HOMOGENEOUS FLOWS

A numerical study of the problem of sound radiation from isotropic turbulence is carried out. The hybrid DNS approach which combines direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulence with an acoustic analogy for the far-field sound is used as the computational tool. The feasibility of the hybrid DNS approach for the computation of the instantaneous acoustic pressure is demonstrated. Preliminary results indicate that the sound is predominantly associated with the energy-containing scales of motion. Furthermore, it appears that the acoustic output of isotropic turbulence is less than that of subsonic jets.
An ecological survey of the Royal Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: Part III: Ungulate populations

Abstract Population density and biomass estimates for wild and domestic ungulates in the Royal Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve, Nepal, are presented and compared with values obtained from other reserves in South Asia. Wild ungulate population densities varied in relation to habitat diversity; large herbivores were most numerous where early and intermediate successional stages intergraded with one another and only sparsely distributed in continuous climax sal Shorea robusta forest. Chital Axis axis was the most abundant wild ruminant in the reserve. It and the nilgai Boselaphus trago-camelus constituted 88% of the total wild herbivore biomass in the southwestern corner of Karnali-Bardia, where an intensive study was carried out. The biomass of domestic stock utilising the same study area in 1975 was computed to be 15–17 times higher than the levels attained by wild ungulates in April of 1977, nearly two years after the reserve borders had been closed to domestic grazing. Observations during the hot-dry season indicated that both wild and domestic ruminants competed for the same forage species. Among the wild ungulates, chital were decidedly the most gregarious, commonly associating in feeding aggregations of over 20 individuals on the open savannahs. Nilgai and wild boar Sus scrofa formed smaller groups while barking deer Muntiacus muntjak and hog deer Axis porcinus were primarily solitary. Chital exhibited a peak in rutting activity during the late hot-dry season and a subsequent birth peak in February. Nilgai exhibited a different pattern, breeding in January and calving during the monsoon, when optimum foraging conditions prevailed.
Practical Reasoning: Philosophical Aspects

Practical reasoning is reasoning that aims to resolve the question of what an agent is to do. This article considers the theoretical commitments of reasoning of this kind, as well as the motivational constraints to which it is subject. How is it possible for reasoning to engage the will? Can we make sense of practical reasoning within a broadly naturalistic conception of agents and the world? What are the distinctive forms that practical reasoning can take?
The causes of famine

Abstract This article argues that Sen's theory of famine will lead to the wrong diagnosis and the wrong remedies for famine and will therefore worsen the situation. His analysis of the Bengal famine is a case in point. It is based on unreliable and inaccurate statistics. Even the statistics he does use contradict his thesis. His explanatory hypotheses are shown to be theoretically and factually wrong. The actions of the Bengal government of 1943 are looked at in the light of Sen's recommendations.
Brief Communication: Quantitative- and molecular-genetic differentiation in humans and chimpanzees: implications for the evolutionary processes underlying cranial diversification.

Estimates of the amount of genetic dif- ferentiation in humans among major geographic regions (e.g., Eastern Asia vs. Europe) from quantitative-genetic analyses of cranial measurements closely match those from classical- and molecular-genetic markers. Typically, among-region differences account for ! 10% of the total variation. This correspondence is generally interpreted as evidence for the importance of neutral evolutionary processes (e.g., genetic drift) in generating among-region differences in human cranial form, but it was initially surprising because human cranial diversity was fre- quently assumed to show a strong signature of natural selection. Is the human degree of similarity of cranial and DNA-sequence estimates of among-region genetic differentiation unusual? How do comparisons with other taxa illuminate the evolutionary processes underlying cranial diversification? Chimpanzees provide a useful starting point for placing the human results in a broader comparative context, because common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are the extant species most closely related to humans. To address these questions, I used 27 cranial measurements collected on a sample of 861 humans and 263 chimpanzees to estimate the amount of genetic differentiation between pairs of groups (between regions for humans and between spe- cies or subspecies for chimpanzees). Consistent with pre- vious results, the human cranial estimates are quite similar to published DNA-sequence estimates. In con- trast, the chimpanzee cranial estimates are much smaller than published DNA-sequence estimates. It appears that cranial differentiation has been limited in chimpanzees relative to humans. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:615-620, 2014. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
p -adic power series

Recall that in a metric space whose metric comes from a non-Archimedean norm ∥ ∥, a sequence is Cauchy if and only if the difference between adjacent terms approaches zero; and if the metric space is complete, an infinite sum converges if and only if its general term approaches zero. So if we consider expressions of the form $$ f(X) = \sum\limits_{{n = 0}}^{\infty } {{a_n}{X^n},\,\,\,\,{a_{{n\,}}}\, \in \,\,\Omega } $$ we can give a value \( \sum\nolimits_{{n = 0}}^{\infty } {{a_n}{x^n}} \) a n x n to f(x) whenever an x is substituted for X for which |a n x n | p → 0.
Tourist Word of Mouth and Revisit Intentions to Rural Tourism Destinations: a Case of North Dakota, USA

Destination managers in rural states, like North Dakota, understand the benefits of tourism and, thus, the importance of studying visitors' intentions. This study investigated visitors' perceptions of destination image, value and satisfaction and those variables’ relationship with future behaviors, with a specific focus on their intent to return and make recommendations to others. The results showed that destination image directly affects visitors' perception of value and revisit intentions, and it indirectly affects satisfaction and recommendation intentions. The results also demonstrate how tourism practitioners can apply past models to their destination. The overall findings support the concept that a positive image is important to attracting repeat visitors. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation of ungrounded shipboard power systems in PSpice

Navy shipboard power systems (SPSs) have different characteristics when compared to utility power systems. To conduct system studies on SPSs, an effective simulation tool is required. PSpice is a very robust analog/digital circuit simulator, but it is rarely used in power system studies. This paper presents a PSpice methodology for modeling SPSs. Transient simulation results are also presented.
Making Sense of the Senses: Individuating Modalities in Humans and Other Animals

Soulignant l'existence de modalites sensorielles distinctes dans l'experience perceptive humaine, l'A. developpe une approche neuroethologique de l'information sensible sur le monde physique transmise au systeme nerveux par la sensation. D'Aristote a H. P. Grice, l'A. etudie la difference entre les sens de l'homme et ceux de l'animal.
Preclinical Efficacy of Ron Kinase Inhibitors Alone and in Combination with PI3K Inhibitors for Treatment of sfRon-Expressing Breast Cancer Patient-Derived Xenografts

Purpose: Recent studies have demonstrated that short-form Ron (sfRon) kinase drives breast tumor progression and metastasis through robust activation of the PI3K pathway. We reasoned that upfront, concurrent inhibition of sfRon and PI3K might enhance the antitumor effects of Ron kinase inhibitor therapy while also preventing potential therapeutic resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). Experimental Design: We used patient-derived breast tumor xenografts (PDX) as high-fidelity preclinical models to determine the efficacy of single-agent or dual Ron/PI3K inhibition. We tested the Ron kinase inhibitor ASLAN002 with and without coadministration of the PI3K inhibitor NVP-BKM120 in hormone receptor–positive [estrogen receptor (ER) + /progesterone receptor (PR) + ] breast PDXs with and without PIK3CA gene mutation. Results: Breast PDX tumors harboring wild-type PIK3CA showed a robust response to ASLAN002 as a single agent. In contrast, PDX tumors harboring mutated PIK3CA demonstrated partial resistance to ASLAN002, which was overcome with addition of NVP-BKM120 to the treatment regimen. We further demonstrated that concurrent inhibition of sfRon and PI3K in breast PDX tumors with wild-type PIK3CA provided durable tumor stasis after therapy cessation, whereas discontinuation of either monotherapy facilitated tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Our work provides preclinical rationale for targeting sfRon in patients with breast cancer, with the important stipulation that tumors harboring PIK3CA mutations may be partially resistant to Ron inhibitor therapy. Our data also indicate that tumors with wild-type PIK3CA are most effectively treated with an upfront combination of Ron and PI3K inhibitors for the most durable response. Clin Cancer Res; 21(24); 5588–600. ©2015 AACR .
A practical guide to MaxEnt for modeling species' distributions: what it does, and why inputs and settings matter

The MaxEnt software package is one of the most popular tools for species distribution and environmental niche modeling, with over 1000 published applications since 2006. Its popularity is likely for two reasons: 1) MaxEnt typically outperforms other methods based on predictive accuracy and 2) the software is particularly easy to use. MaxEnt users must make a number of decisions about how they should select their input data and choose from a wide variety of settings in the software package to build models from these data. The underlying basis for making these decisions is unclear in many studies, and default settings are apparently chosen, even though alternative settings are often more appropriate. In this paper, we provide a detailed explanation of how MaxEnt works and a prospectus on modeling options to enable users to make informed decisions when preparing data, choosing settings and interpreting output. We explain how the choice of background samples reflects prior assumptions, how nonlinear functions of environmental variables (features) are created and selected, how to account for environmentally biased sampling, the interpretation of the various types of model output and the challenges for model evaluation. We demonstrate MaxEnt’s calculations using both simplified simulated data and occurrence data from South Africa on species of the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Throughout, we show how MaxEnt’s outputs vary in response to different settings to highlight the need for making biologically motivated modeling decisions.
Ecological and genetic assessment of spatial structure among replicate contact zones between two topminnow species

The spatial structure of contact zones is often described as disjunct, diffuse or mosaic and presumed to be related to underlying ecological gradients. However, the ecology of contact zones, how they are structured, and if that structure is predictable based on the strength and nature of ecological gradients is unknown. Large spatial scales and the unreplicated nature of many of the best studied contact zones has made it difficult to codify broader ecological patterns. Freshwater stream fish contact zones have the advantage of being potentially replicated with well defined boundaries and predictable linear gradients (river continuum concept). We sampled four replicate topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus and F. notatus) contact zones in Gulf of Mexico drainages. In each, we quantified contact zone spatial structure and the strength of ecological gradients (habitat, physicochemical variables and fish community functional traits). All three types of contact zone structure were represented. Systems with weaker gradients had diffuse contact zones, low species richness and were numerically dominated by generalist species. Rates of hybridization were also variable among systems. There was no hybridization detected in the mosaic zone while hybrids were found at most of the co-occurrence sites in the diffuse and disjunct zones. Overall, local ecology clearly influences contact zone structure and the two species interact in fundamentally different ways in these four systems.
Wanderers on the face of Africa

nnHERE are more than 1-2 million refugees in Africa. This gives Africa the A highest ratio of refugees to total population of any continent in the world. With one out of every 360 persons on the continent a refugee, the problem is of enormous consequence, and in 1976 the burden to individual African countries has become considerable. Most governments in Africa and over sixty international agencies and private organizations are engaged in efforts to alleviate the situation. Yet despite the obvious importance of the topic there have been relatively few studies dealing with the refugee problem in Africa. Moreover, most observers have concentrated on either the political, ecological or economic upheavals that have led to the mass movements of persons across international frontiers, or have focused on the ethnic clashes which have spawned not only refugee movements but continuing intra-national tensions and dislocations. Few have explored the complex nature of the problem or identified the various reasons why solutions are so hard to find. This study focuses on the current refugee situation in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana and in particular on those refugees who have come from southern Africa, including South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Rhodesia and Lesotho. In 1975 there were approximately 38,000 refugees in Zambia, including 22,000 from Angola, 10,000 from Mozambique and 6,000 from Namibia, South Africa and Rhodesia. This total included nearly 2,000 new refugees from Namibia who arrived in 1974 and early 1975. There were nearly 100,000 refugees in Tanzania, including 45,000 from Burundi, 14,000 from Rwanda and the rest from Mozambique, South Africa and Rhodesia. In Botswana, there were 4,500 refugees, 4,000 of them from Angola and the rest from South Africa,
Elementary particles of conventional field theory as Regge poles. III

It is shown that an elementary particle of conventional field theory may, under certain conditions, lie on a Regge trajectory. These conditions are that the system contain a "nonsense" channel at the angular momentum of the particle and that the Born approximation scattering amplitude factor in a well-defined way. They are satisfied by a spin \textonehalf{} fermion interacting through a conserved current with a spin one neutral boson. The particle in question is the fermion.
Misapplications Reviews: Jail Terms

I have had several opportunities in recent months to serve as a statistical "expert" in judicial proceedings. Some people, of course, believe that such proceedings get even more incomprehensible and farcical as their quantitative content grows. But with regulations and requirements now routinely expressed in numerical terms, it is hard to see how statistics can be absent from accusations that the standards have been violated. And if one side in a case plays an absurd numbers game, then the other is as free to attack the analysis as it is to rebut any other form of evidence.
Classroom Acoustics for Children With Normal Hearing and With Hearing Impairment.

Past investigations demonstrate that the acoustical environment of a classroom is a critical factor in the academic, psychoeducational, and psychosocial achievement of children with normal hearing ...
Discriminatory effects of gold compounds and carriers on mitochondria isolated from different tissues

Abstract Four different gold compounds and three gold carriers were used to study the toxicity of gold salts on mitochondria isolated from different tissues. Each of the following compounds—aurothiomalate (ATM), thiomalate (TM), aurothiosulfate (ATS), thiosulfate (TS), aurothioglucose (ATG), thioglucose (TG), and gold chloride (GC)—was tested with mitochondria extracted from rabbit (RbLM) or rat liver (RLM), and from rabbit bone marrow (RbMM) or chloroma tumor (CM). The toxicity of these compounds and carriers on mitochondria was evaluated by determining the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation as measured by oxypolarography. With glutamate as substrate, mitochondria from hematopoietic tissues (e.g. RbMM and CM) showed a very high sensitivity to low concentrations of ATM, while liver mitochondria (RbLM and RLM) were slightly or not at all affected by those concentrations. Such difference of sensitivity was not observed when ATS, ATG or GC was used. Thus, identical concentrations of ATS or GC were needed to inhibit the oxidative phosphorylation in all mitochondria, and concentrations up to 2500 μM ATG were without effect on any of the mitochondria studied. While with glutamate ATM and TM primarily inhibited transition state 4/state 3, suggesting the involvement of site 1 in the respiratory chain, ATS, ATG and GC appeared to have the same effect on mitochondria oxidizing either glutamate or succinate. Furthermore, whereas the inhibitory effect of ATS and GC could be prevented or released by cysteine, inhibition by ATM could not. The interaction of the gold compounds and carriers with the highly reactive thiol groups involved in the energy conservation mechanism is discussed.
Using dual-antenna nanosecond pulse near-field sensing technology for non-contact and continuous blood pressure measurement

Long-term and continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring has shown that it is the most important to clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and personal home health care. Currently, there are many preferable non-invasive methods, including optical sensor, pressure-sensitive transducers, and applanation tonometry, to get insight of blood pressure and flow signal detection. However, the operation of traditional monitors is cuff accessories needed, and also the sensing probes needed to exert pressure to the user directly. The measurement procedure is limited by long-term, continuous measurement and also easy to cause discomfort. To improve these issues, the non-pressurized and non-invasive measuring method will become an important innovation improvement. In this paper, the novel nanosecond pulse near-field sensing (NPNS) based screening technology with dual-antenna, which includes radio frequency (RF) pulse transmission and two combined flat antenna connected to transceiver of miniature radar, is proposed to derive relative blood pressure parameters from measured blood flow activity (Pulse Wave Velocity, PWV). A dedicated analysis software is also provided to calculate cardiovascular parameters, including PWV, average systolic time, diastolic and systolic pressure, for clinical and homecare applications. To evaluate the performance, the proposed method was applied on blood pressure measurement at the body site of limbs (brachial and leg). As a result, it shows error of DBP and SBP is 5.18±1.61 and 4.09 ± 1.69 mmHg in average compared with the measurement result from commercial product, and performs the capability of continuous long-term monitoring in real-time.
Vibrational isotope effect and molecular structure of M-Xy type molecules

Abstract A general theory on the vibrational isotope effect of linear MXY type molecules is presented. Here, XY denotes diatomic species such as CO and CN, while M typically represents a metal atom such as Li and Pt. It is shown that the MXY and MYX structures can be distinguished by comparing the isotope shift of the MXY (or MYX) molecule with that of free XY. Applications of the theory to problems of structure determination and band assignments are made to demonstrate its utility.
Stability with file arrivals and departures in multichannel cellular wireless networks

This paper studies scheduling in multichannel wireless networks with flow-level dynamics. We consider a downlink network with a single base station, M channels (frequency bands), and multiple mobile users (flows). We also assume mobiles dynamically join the network to receive finite-size files and leave after downloading the complete files. A recent study van de Ven et al. (in Proc. IEEE Infocom., pp. 1701---1709, 2009) has shown that the MaxWeight algorithm fails to be throughput-optimal under these flow-level dynamics. The main contribution of this paper is the development of joint channel-assignment and workload-based scheduling algorithms for multichannel downlink networks with dynamic flow arrivals/departures. We prove that these algorithms are throughput-optimal. Our simulations further demonstrate that a hybrid channel-assignment and workload-based scheduling algorithm significantly improves the network performance (in terms of both file-transfer delay and blocking probability) compared to the existing algorithms.
“You Lie—That's Not True”: Immigration and Preservice Teacher Education

ABSTRACT In this article, the authors provide a theoretical model for developing a discourse on immigration in teacher education courses. The model is built upon two essential questions: “How do we responsibly teach the controversial issues surrounding immigrant rights?” and “To what extent can structured dialogue of this topic deepen teacher candidates' understanding of the complexity of citizenship in the 21st century?” The authors propose a scaffolding archetype to guide these queries. First, they recognize the importance of understanding the historical context of current immigration. Second, they posit that teacher educators should expose learners to historical perspective taking, whereby current immigration motives are compared and analyzed with examples from the past. In the final step, the authors recommend utilizing meaningful discussion as a tool for perpetuating a democratic dialogue on controversial issues surrounding immigration. The authors contend that this model can serve as a catharsis for...
Crystallization studies of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) using thermal analysis and far‐infrared spectroscopy

Crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) by annealing was examined using density measurement, differential scanning calorimetry, and far-infrared spectroscopy (FIR). Crystallinity, measured by density, increased slowly up to the T a of 185 °C and increases rapidly once T a exceeds 185 ° C. It was found that thermally induced crystallization is mainly temperature-dependent above T a = 185 °C and temperature-and time-dependent below T a = 60 °C. Two melting transitions, T 1 m and T 2 m , were observed for those samples annealed above 120 °C. No significant change in T 1 m was observed as a function of T a while T 2 m showed strong dependency on T a . Digital subtraction of the amorphous contribution from the semicrystalline FIR spectra provided characteristic spectra of amorphous and crystalline PTT. The bands at 373, 282, and 92 cm -1 were assigned to the crystalline phase, while the bands at 525, 406, and 351 cm -1 were attributed to the amorphous phase. It was shown that FIR spectroscopy can be used as a means to estimate the degree of crystallinity of PTT. The band ratio of 373 and 501 cm - 1 was plotted against crystallinity measured by density and reasonably good correlation was obtained.
Calf muscle hemoglobin oxygen saturation characteristics and exercise performance in patients with intermittent claudication.

Purpose This study was conducted to determine the association between the characteristics of calf muscle hemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO 2 ) and exercise performance in patients with intermittent claudication. Methods The study comprised 39 patients with peripheral arterial disease limited by intermittent claudication. Patients were characterized on calf muscle StO 2 before, during, and after a graded treadmill test, as well as on demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, ankle-brachial index (ABI), ischemic window, initial claudication distance (ICD), and absolute claudication distance (ACD). Results Calf muscle StO 2 decreased 72%, from 55% ± 18% (mean ± SD) saturation at rest to the minimum value of 17% ± 19% saturation attained 459 ± 380 seconds after the initiation of exercise. After exercise, recovery half-time of calf muscle StO 2 was attained at 129 ± 98 seconds, whereas full recovery to the resting value was reached at 225 ± 140 seconds. After adjusting for sex, race, and grouping according to the initial decline constant in calf muscle StO 2 during exercise, the exercise time to minimum calf muscle StO 2 was correlated with the ischemic window ( r = −0.493, P = .002), ICD ( r = 0.339, P = .043), and ACD ( r = 0.680, P 2 was correlated with the ischemic window ( r = 0.531, P r = −0.598, P r = −0.491, P = .003). Conclusion In patients limited by intermittent claudication, shorter ICD and ACD values are associated with reaching a minimum value in calf muscle StO 2 sooner during treadmill exercise and with having a delayed recovery in calf muscle StO 2 after exercise.
Color in Natural Diamonds: The Beauty of Defects

IN ITS PURE FORM, DIAMOND IS COLORLESS. However, in nature (or even when made in laboratories), diamonds are never composed of 100 percent carbon atoms. Even colorless diamonds will contain some de...
ZrO2 and ZrO2SiC particle reinforced MoSi2 matrix composites

Abstract ZrO 2 MoSi 2 and (ZrO 2 SiC)MoSi 2 composites were fabricated by hot pressing-hot isostatic pressing at 1700 °C. No reactions between ZrO 2 , SiC and MoSi 2 were observed. An amorphous silica glassy phase was present in all composites. Composites with unstabilized ZrO 2 particles exhibited the highest room temperature fracture toughness, reaching a level three times that of pure MoSi 2 . Both the room temperature toughness and 1200 °C strength of (ZrO 2 SiC)MoSi 2 composites were higher than those of ZrO 2 MoSi 2 composites, indicating beneficial effects of combined reinforcement phases. Low strength levels were observed at 1400 °C as a result of the presence of the silica glassy phase. Elimination of glassy phases and refinements in microstructural homogeneity are processing routes important to the optimization of the mechanical properties of these types of composites.
Naturally small seesaw neutrino mass with no new physics beyond the TeV scale.

If there is no new physics beyond the TeV energy scale, such as in a theory of large extra dimensions, the smallness of the seesaw neutrino mass, i.e., ${m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}{\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}m}_{D}^{2}/{m}_{N}$, cannot be explained by a very large ${m}_{N}$. In contrast to previous attempts to find an alternative mechanism for a small ${m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}$, I show how a solution may be obtained in a simple extension of the standard model, without using any ingredient supplied by the large extra dimensions. It is also experimentally testable at future accelerators.
The mechanical and tribological behavior of Cu-Nb in situ composites

Abstract The mechanical and tribological properties of Cu-Nb in situ composites were studied. The composites were prepared by consumable arc melting of Cu and Nb electrodes, by casting, and by successive deformation of the cast ingot. Dry sliding friction and wear tests were performed in a pin-on-disk set-up, with the composite pin rubbing under atmospheric conditions against a hardened tool steel disk surface. The effect of Nb proportion on the tribological behavior of Cu-Nb composites was studied. It was found that the coefficient of friction decreased with increasing Nb proportion in the composite and that Cu-20vol.%Nb composite had the best wear resistance. The effect of prior deformation strain on the coefficient of friction and wear of Cu-15vol.%Nb composites was also investigated. The micromechanisms of wear were studied by scanning electron microscopy. It was concluded that cracking in the severely work hardened regions led to the generation of wear particles.
Faculty perceptions of students' information literacy skills competencies

This research study investigates academic faculty perceptions of information literacy at eight New Jersey higher educational institutions. The study examines the value and importance faculty place on information literacy (IL), the infusion of IL into curricular learning outcomes and an assessment of the competency levels students achieve in mastering IL skills. This study adds to the research in the field as a multi-institutional study conducted at both two-year and four-year institutions, investigating full-time and part-time faculty perspectives. Findings are based on results from an online survey, with a total of 353 usable responses. Overall, faculty familiarity with IL concepts was high; faculty are overwhelmingly supportive of IL and are incorporating these skills into learning outcomes for their courses; and there are strong expectations of students’ achieving IL skills by graduation, but faculty perceptions are that students fall short of mastering those skills by the end of their programmes.
Inhibition of rat brain microsomal na+/k+-atpase and ouabain binding by mercuric chloride

Abstract This study concerned the effects of mercuric chloride on Na+/K+-ATPase and [3H]ouabain binding in rat brain microsomes in vitro. The data showed that HgCl2 inhibited Na+/K+-ATPase effectively at micromolar concentrations. The degree of inhibition was decreased with increases in enzyme concentration and incubation time. Variations in the ionic strength of Na+ and K+ did not alter the percent inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase activity by HgCl2. Repeated washings partially restored enzyme activity. The binding of [3H]ouabain to microsomal membranes was inhibited by HgCl2 in a concentration-dependent manner. Cumulative inhibition studies with HgCl2 and ouabain indicated that these inhibitors did not act concurrently and independently on Na+/K+-ATPase.
XML and computational science

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a specification for document interchange that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed in 1998. In many ways, XML is the lingua franca among programming language enthusiasts, and proponents argue that it could potentially solve the multitude of data management and analysis problems the entire computing industry currently faces. XML might make a real difference, especially in computing, engineering, and the mathematical sciences, in part because we can use it with different languages. The author presents some background and lightweight examples of XML usage, describes some XML component frameworks along with their purpose and applicability to computational science, and discusses some technical obstacles to overcome for the language to be taken seriously in computational science.
Copolymers at surfaces and interfaces

Copolymers have grown in importance owing to their unique interfacial activity. Recently, significant advances have been made in understanding the influence of the architecture of the copolymer chain on its interfacial activity and on the use of chemical reactions to form copolymers in situ at interfaces. The unique microstructures of copolymers have also led to novel uses of block copolymers for pattern formation on surfaces. Finally, by confinement between two hard walls and by variation of the interfacial interactions, control over the orientation of the microdomain structure of copolymers is being achieved.
Wake collapse in stratified fluid: experimental exploration of scaling characteristics.

Passage of a submerged self-propelled body or other mixing device produces a region of more or less homogeneous fluid, in a fluid having a stable vertical density gradient (stratified), which initially expands vertically and then falls back (collapses). Maximum expansion Z2 at time t2 after the start of mixing are dependent variables related to the diameter Z1 of propeller or mixer and to the Vaisala-Brunt period T by T/t2 = 2.5 and Z2t2/Z1T = 1.3. These scaling relations are first-order approximations.
Posttraumatic distal ulnar physeal arrest: a case report and review of the literature

We report the case of a 12-year-old male who sustained a Salter–Harris (SH) type IV physeal fracture of the distal ulna and a SH type II fracture of the distal radius. At 34 months later, he presented with activity-related wrist pain and ulnar variance of −17 mm. He successfully underwent ulnar distraction osteogenesis with radial closing wedge osteotomy. At 16-month follow-up, the patient denied wrist pain with activity, and imaging demonstrated ulnar variance of −3 mm. Epiphyseal fracture separations of the distal radius and ulna have the potential to cause early growth arrest and may become symptomatic as a result. High-energy mechanism, open fracture, number of reduction attempts, and age at injury can all increase the risk of premature closure. Therefore, we recommend longitudinal follow-up of patients with these injuries as earlier intervention may improve outcomes. When premature physeal closure is discovered early, treatment may include resection of the physeal bar, osteotomy with or without epiphysiodesis, and distraction osteogenesis.
When Good Enough Is Best

In this issue of Neuron, Rinberg et al. show that mice use a speed-accuracy tradeoff in odor discrimination. Shorter sampling results in high performance for easy problems, and enforced longer sampling results in higher accuracy for difficult problems, but mice freely choose intermediate sampling durations and accuracy varies with difficulty. Reward value and task requirements may determine sampling time choice and performance levels.
The Battle for Internet Openness

Preserving an open Internet is a challenge given potential harms that might come to Internet users. This article suggests some directions and actions that might lead to preservation of Internet users' freedoms to speak and hear while also offering them protection from harm.
Pathology of small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Small cell carcinoma of the lung is one of the major subtypes of primary lung cancer. It is a highly aggressive lethal neuroendocrine carcinoma. It is closely related to other neuroendocrine carcinomas of the lung, including carcinoid, atypical carcinoid, and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. This article discusses the classification of small cell carcinoma of the lung, identifies its cytologic and histologic characteristics, and places it in context with the other neuroendocrine carcinomas of the lung.
Content externalism and phenomenal character: a new worry about privileged access

Some philosophers argue that the thesis of content externalism, according to which the contents of a subject’s thoughts are in part individuated by environmental factors, threatens the standard idea that a subject can know the contents of her thoughts without empirical investigation. It is typically assumed, however, that this thesis does not threaten another common idea about privileged access: that a subject can know the phenomenal character of her experience–its “what it’s like” aspect–without empirical investigation. That is, even if content externalism is true and does imply that a subject cannot know without empirical investigation the contents of some of her thoughts (e.g., her thoughts about water), surely she can know without empirical investigation what it’s like for her to be having whatever experience she is having. I argue that if content externalism threatens privileged access to content (I do not discuss whether it does), then it also threatens privileged access to phenomenal character. My argument does not involve claiming that phenomenal character is itself externally individuated. Rather, it depends on two other claims: (1) that introspective access to phenomenal character is conceptual; and (2) that standard arguments for content externalism suggest that some phenomenal concepts are externally individuated.
Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: Clinical Characteristics in Diabetic Patients Versus Nondiabetic Patients

Objective To investigate various aspects of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION) in patients with diabetes mellitus and to compare them with those in patients without diabetes mellitus. Design Cohort study. Participants A total of 655 consecutive patients (931 eyes) with NA-AION, first seen in the clinic from 1973 to 2000. Methods At the first visit, all patients had a detailed ophthalmic and medical history and comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation, including color fundus photography and fluorescein fundus angiography. Visual evaluation was done by recording visual acuity with the Snellen visual acuity chart and visual fields with a Goldmann perimeter. The same ophthalmic evaluation was performed at each follow-up visit, except for fluorescein fundus angiography. Of this cohort, 528 eyes (345 patients) were treated with systemic corticosteroid therapy during the initial stage. Main Outcome Measures Demographic and clinical differences between diabetic patients and nondiabetic patients with NA-AION. Results Comparison of various clinical features of NA-AION in diabetic and nondiabetic patients showed no significant difference in age, but slightly more women than men (45% vs 38%; P = 0.078) were diabetic and had a higher prevalence of hypertension ( P P = 0.0001), transient ischemic attacks ( P = 0.0003), and second eye involvement by NA-AION ( P = 0.003). Initial visual acuity did not differ significantly between diabetic and nondiabetic patients; however, of those seen within 2 weeks of onset of NA-AION, diabetic patients had less severe visual field defect ( P = 0.010). At 6 months from onset, there was no significant difference in visual acuity and visual field improvement between diabetic and nondiabetic patients. Time to optic disc edema resolution in NA-AION was ( P = 0.003) longer in diabetic patients than in nondiabetic patients. The optic disc of diabetic patients usually has characteristic diagnostic dilated telangiectatic vessels during the early stages of NA-AION. Conclusions Diabetic patients with NA-AION show several demographic and clinical differences from nondiabetic patients, which has led to controversy about its diagnosis and management. Financial Disclosure(s) The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Extrinsic regulation of T‐type Ca2+ channel expression in chick nodose ganglion neurons

Functional expression of T-type Ca2+ channels is developmentally regulated in chick nodose neurons. In this study we have tested the hypothesis that extrinsic factors regulate the expression of T-type Ca2+ channels in vitro. Voltage-gated Ca2+ currents were measured using whole-cell patch clamp recordings in E7 nodose neurons cultured under various conditions. Culture of E7 nodose neurons for 48 h with a heart extract induced the expression of T-type Ca2+ channels without any significant effect on HVA currents. T-type Ca2+ channel expression was not stimulated by survival promoting factors such as BDNF. The stimulatory effect of heart extract was mediated by a heat-labile, trypsin-sensitive factor. Various hematopoietic cytokines including CNTF and LIF mimic the stimulatory effect of heart extract on T-type Ca2+ channel expression. The stimulatory effect of heart extract and CNTF requires at least 12 h continuous exposure to reach maximal expression and is not altered by culture of nodose neurons with the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin, suggesting that T-type Ca2+ channel expression is regulated by a posttranslational mechanism. Disruption of the Golgi apparatus with brefeldin-A inhibits the stimulatory effect of heart extract and CNTF suggesting that protein trafficking regulates the functional expression of T-type Ca2+ channels. Heart extract- or CNTF-evoked stimulation of T-type Ca2+ channel expression is blocked by the Jak/STAT and MAP kinase blockers, AG490 and U0126, respectively. This study provides new insights into the electrical differentiation of placode-derived sensory neurons and the role of extrinsic factors in regulating the functional expression of Ca2+ channels. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007
Optimal Space Distributed Order-Preserving Lists

A move-to-front list is a distributed data object that provides an abstraction of a temporal ordering on a set of processes in a distributed system. We present a lower bound and a matching upper bound of ?(log2n) bits on the space per processor needed to implement such a list using single-writer multiple-reader registers. A generalization is also discussed.