cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Smoking on Rotator Cuff and Glenoid Labrum Surgery A Systematic Review

Background:Several orthopaedic conditions have been reported to be adversely affected by smoking. Only a few studies have looked at outcomes related to smoking in shoulder surgery.Purpose/Hypothesis:To determine whether smoking has a negative influence on tendinous, ligamentous, and cartilaginous shoulder surgery. The hypothesis was that smoking has a negative influence from both a basic science and clinical outcomes perspective on soft tissue shoulder surgery.Study Design:Systematic review.Methods:A systematic review of multiple medical databases was performed evaluating clinical outcomes and basic science studies to determine the effects of smoking on tendinous, ligamentous, and cartilaginous shoulder surgery. The search strategy was based on “shoulder AND [smoke OR smoking OR nicotine OR tobacco].” English language clinical outcomes or basic science studies following soft tissue surgery of the shoulder were included. Studies excluded consisted of those with evidence level 5, partial or total shoulder a...
Xanomeline: A Potent and Selective M1 Muscarinic Agonist in Vitro

Xanomeline (3-(4-Hexyloxy-1,2,5-thiadiazole-3-yl)-1,2,5,6-tetrahydro-1- methylpyridine), (hexyloxy-TZTP) was discovered in the course of investigations on the structure activity relationship of a series of thiadiazole based analogs of the muscarinic agonist arecoline. The compound demonstrated functional selectivity for M1 receptors when tested in isolated tissue preparations and in cloned cell lines expressing specific muscarinic receptor subtypes.
A High-Performance Droplet Routing Algorithm for Digital Microfluidic Biochips

In this paper, we propose a high-performance droplet router for a digital microfluidic biochip (DMFB) design. Due to recent advancements in the biomicro electromechanical system and its various applications to clinical, environmental, and military operations, the design complexity and the scale of a DMFB are expected to explode in the near future, thus requiring strong support from CAD as in conventional VLSI design. Among the multiple design stages of a DMFB, droplet routing, which schedules the movement of each droplet in a time-multiplexed manner, is one of the most critical design challenges due to high complexity as well as large impacts on performance. Our algorithm first routes a droplet with higher by passibility which is less likely to block the movement of the others. When multiple droplets form a deadlock, our algorithm resolves it by backing off some droplets for concession. The final compaction step further enhances timing as well as fault tolerance by tuning each droplet movement greedily. The experimental results on hard benchmarks show that our algorithm achieves over 35 x and 20 x better routability with comparable timing and fault tolerance than the popular prioritized A* search and the state-of-the-art network-flow-based algorithm, respectively.
Toward substitution with no regrets

Vast numbers of synthetic chemicals are used in everyday consumer products. Many are safe, but some can have unintended biological or environmental effects. For example, phthalates are widely used to increase the flexibility of plastics but also disrupt hormonal balance ( 1 ). Organophosphates are highly effective insect repellents but cause severe neurotoxicity to mammals ( 2 ). In many cases, chemicals of concern have been replaced by other chemicals that are functionally equivalent and believed to be of less concern (see the photo). However, the need for expedient substitution can lead to the use of chemicals that are no less harmful than those they replace. How can such “regrettable substitutions” be avoided?
Monte Carlo simulation of electrodeposition of copper: a multistep free energy calculation.

Electrodeposition of copper (Cu) involves length scales of a micrometer or even less. Several theoretical techniques such as continuum Monte Carlo, kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC), and molecular dynamics have been used for simulating this problem. However the multiphenomena characteristics of the problem pose a challenge for an efficient simulation algorithm. Traditional KMC methods are slow, especially when modeling surface diffusion with large number of particles and frequent particle jumps. Parameter estimation involving thousands of KMC runs is very time-consuming. Thus a less time-consuming and novel multistep continuum Monte Carlo simulation is carried out to evaluate the step wise free energy change in the process of electrochemical copper deposition. The procedure involves separate Monte Carlo codes employing different random number criterion (using hydrated radii, bare radii, hydration number of the species, redox potentials, etc.) to obtain the number of species (CuCI 2 or CuSO 4 or Cu as the case may be) and in turn the free energy. The effect of concentration of electrolyte, influence of electric field and presence of chloride ions on the free energy change for the processes is studied. The rate determining step for the process of electrodeposition of copper from CuCl 2 and CuSO 4 is also determined.
An Optimization Study of the Ultrasonic Welding of Thin Film Polymers

In manufacturing industries, ultrasonic welding has established itself as one of the most effective techniques for fusing plastic assemblies due to its rapid performance and the absence of filler material. In this report, a thermoplastic polyurethane prototype of an orthopedics device that requires a hermetic seal is joined using ultrasonic welding. A robust design approach is used to study the manufacturing control factors that influence the process. The welding process factors and their interactions are used to characterize the resulting seal. Burst testing is used to assess weld strength. Optical microscopy in addition to SEM images, are used for a qualitative evaluation of the welded joint. Optimum process parameter settings from the robust design study deliver a strong and leak-proof weld.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Psychology and Globalization: Understanding a Complex Relationship

Within the last two decades, globalization has emerged as one of the most popular topics for study among the social sciences. In contrast, however, to other social science disciplines that immediately grasped the importance of globalization as a trans-disciplinary macro-level concept capable of describing, explaining, and predicting social phenomena, globalization has not yet achieved widespread popularity in psychology. This article discusses the concept of globalization, its emergence, definitions, meanings, consequences, and critical implications for psychology.
Computerized Physician Order Entry in U.S. Hospitals: Results of a 2002 Survey

Objective: To determine the availability of inpatient computerized physician order entry in U.S. hospitals and the degree to which physicians are using it. Design: Combined mail and telephone survey of 964 randomly selected hospitals, contrasting 2002 data and results of a survey conducted in 1997. Measurements: Availability: computerized order entry has been installed and is available for use by physicians; inducement: the degree to which use of computers to enter orders is required of physicians; participation: the proportion of physicians at an institution who enter orders by computer; and saturation: the proportion of total orders at an institution entered by a physician using a computer. Results: The response rate was 65%. Computerized order entry was not available to physicians at 524 (83.7%) of 626 hospitals responding, whereas 60 (9.6%) reported complete availability and 41 (6.5%) reported partial availability. Of 91 hospitals providing data about inducement/requirement to use the system, it was optional at 31 (34.1%), encouraged at 18 (19.8%), and required at 42 (46.2%). At 36 hospitals (45.6%), more than 90% of physicians on staff use the system, whereas six (7.6%) reported 51-90% participation and 37 (46.8%) reported participation by fewer than half of physicians. Saturation was bimodal, with 25 (35%) hospitals reporting that more than 90% of all orders are entered by physicians using a computer and 20 (28.2%) reporting that less than 10% of all orders are entered this way. Conclusion: Despite increasing consensus about the desirability of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) use, these data indicate that only 9.6% of U.S. hospitals presently have CPOE completely available. In those hospitals that have CPOE, its use is frequently required. In approximately half of those hospitals, more than 90% of physicians use CPOE; in one-third of them, more than 90% of orders are entered via CPOE. j J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2004;11:95-99. DOI 10.1197/jamia.M1427.
Negative Cross-Communication among Wheat Rhizosphere Bacteria: Effect on Antibiotic Production by the Biological Control Bacterium Pseudomonas aureofaciens 30-84

Phenazine antibiotic production in the biological control bacterium Pseudomonas aureofaciens 30-84 is regulated in part via the PhzR/PhzI N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) system. Previous work showed that a subpopulation of the wheat rhizosphere community positively affected phenazine gene expression in strain 30-84 via AHL signals (E. A. Pierson, D. W. Wood, J. A. Cannon, F. M. Blachere, and L. S. Pierson III, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 11:1078-1084, 1998). In the present work, a second subpopulation, one that negatively affected phenazine gene expression, was identified from this rhizosphere community. Strain 30-84 grown in conditioned medium (CM) from several strains produced lower levels of phenazines (1.5- to 9.3-fold) than control when grown in CM from the strain 30-84I(1)/I(2). Growth of the phzB::lacZ reporter strain 30-84Z in this CM resulted in decreased lacZ expression (4.3- to 9.2-fold) compared to growth of the control strain in CM, indicating that inhibition of phzB occurred at the level of gene expression. Preliminary chemical and biological characterizations suggested that these signals, unlike other identified negative signals, were not extractable in ethyl acetate. Introduction of extra copies of phzR and phzI, but not phzI alone, in trans into strain 30-84Z reduced the negative effect on phzB::lacZ expression. The presence of negative-signal-producing strains in a mixture with strain 30-84 reduced strain 30-84's ability to inhibit the take-all disease pathogen in vitro. Together, the results from the previous work on the positive-signal subpopulation and the present work on the negative-signal subpopulation suggest that cross-communication among members of the rhizosphere community and strain 30-84 may control secondary metabolite production and pathogen inhibition.
Changes in Memory for Stimulus Attributes: Implications for Tests of Morphine Tolerance

One major class of evidence indicating that associative processes contribute significantly to the development of morphine tolerance is based on the context specificity of the phenomenon: Changing the stimulus context correlated with drug administration diminishes tolerance. If this outcome is analogous to stimulus generalization decrement in traditional learning studies, then the flattening of generalization gradients over time may modulate the traditional test for tolerance. Accordingly, the effect of retention interval on context specificity of tolerance in rats was investigated. A hot-plate pain sensitivity test indicated that a context shift disrupted tolerance after a short, but not a long, retention interval. Methodological implications for assessment of learning processes in tolerance are noted.
In-situ monitoring of PMD and PDL in a traffic-carrying transatlantic fiber-optic system

We report the direct monitoring of PMD and PDL in a traffic-carrying transatlantic fibre-optic system (TAT-14). The impact of transmitter polarization scrambling in the measured results is analyzed and verified by the measured results.
The P9.1–P9.2 Peripheral Extension Helps Guide Folding of the Tetrahymena Ribozyme

We have previously proposed a hierarchical model for the folding mechanism of the Tetrahymena ribozyme that may illustrate general features of the folding pathways of large RNAs. While the role of elements in the conserved catalytic core of this ribozyme during the folding process is beginning to emerge, the participation of non-conserved peripheral extensions in the kinetic folding mechanism has not yet been addressed. We now show that the 34-terminal P9.1‐P9.2 extension of the Tetrahymena ribozyme plays an important role during the folding process and appears to guide formation of the catalytic core.
Transcriptional Regulation of Innate and Adaptive Lymphocyte Lineages

The lymphocyte family has expanded significantly in recent years to include not only the adaptive lymphocytes (T cells, B cells) and NK cells, but also several additional innate lymphoid cell (ILC) types. ILCs lack clonally distributed antigen receptors characteristic of adaptive lymphocytes and instead respond exclusively to signaling via germline-encoded receptors. ILCs resemble T cells more closely than any other leukocyte lineage at the transcriptome level and express many elements of the core T cell transcriptional program, including Notch, Gata3, Tcf7, and Bcl11b. We present our current understanding of the shared and distinct transcriptional regulatory mechanisms involved in the development of adaptive T lymphocytes and closely related ILCs. We discuss the possibility that a core set of transcriptional regulators common to ILCs and T cells establish enhancers that enable implementation of closely aligned effector pathways. Studies of the transcriptional regulation of lymphopoiesis will support the ...
Nitric oxide and attenuated reflex cutaneous vasodilation in aged skin.

Thermoregulatory cutaneous vasodilation is diminished in the elderly. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that a reduction in nitric oxide (NO)-dependent mechanisms contributes to the...
Clinical Decision Analysis

This condensed review of a complex method can provide only a general view of what clinical decision analysis is and why it might be useful. It also should help clarify, however, what decision analysis is not: This is not a practical method for making most decisions in everyday clinical practice. The process of carrying out all the steps in a full, formal analysis is much too time consuming to be applied to the dozens of important decisions clinicians make each day. The method should be used selectively to ensure that the time invested in analysis will pay off in a practical way in practice. Formal analyses should be attempted only for decisions that are made frequently, have important consequences, and provoke some sort of significant controversy, uncertainty, or discontent with the results less formal-decision making achieves. Decision analysis is not a substitute for all other methods of decision making. To suggest that this is the only tool clinicians need would be a little like suggesting that a balanced diet could consist exclusively of broccoli. Intuitive judgments, use of theoretical models, knowledge-problem coupling, and hypothesis-oriented algorithms for clinicians all provide important tools for improving patient care. Often these tools can be combined effectively with decision analysis, but at other times they will be superior on their own. Decision analysis is not an entirely unfamiliar method, and it does not always need to include all component steps to be useful.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The structure and some properties of the isolated mitotic apparatus.

The morphology of the isolated sea-urchin mitotic apparatus (MA) was examined by light and electron microscopy. With the polarization microscope and the Nomarski differential interference microscope, the isolated MAs appeared to be similar to in vivo MAs. Electron microscopy of the isolated MAs revealed the presence of microtubules, ribosome-like particles and vesicles. A close association between the ribosome-like particles and the MA microtubules resulted in the appearance of chains of particles running along the length of the microtubules. Isolated MAs washed two to three times in isolation medium showed fine-structural changes in the electron microscope, which were reflected by lower retardation values obtained with the polarization microscope. The addition of magnesium and calcium or sucrose to the washing medium prevented these structural changes. Varying the pH of the isolation medium also resulted in changes in birefringence and ultrastructure of unwashed MAs. Isolated MAs stored in the original isolation medium gradually became less birefringent and lost their microtubules. At pH 6.1 and pH 6.2 a residual birefringence was retained, even after several weeks of storage. Electron microscopy of these MAs revealed the presence of linear aggregates of ribosome-like particles oriented parallel to the long axis of the spindle. On the other hand, at pH 6.3and pH 6.4, MAs lost their birefringence completely, and the ribosome-like particles became more randomly dispersed. 2M sucrose or 0.003 M Mg 2+ greatly retarded the loss of birefringence in stored MAs. Glutaraldehyde-fixed MAs stained intensely with azure B bromide, demonstrating the presence of RNA. Treatment with RNase resulted in a loss of this staining. RNase-treated MAs examined with the electron microscope, revealed changes in the ribosome-like particles. The results are discussed in the light of recent biochemical analyses of the isolated MA, structural similarities to in situ MAs and the interpretation of the birefringence of the MA.
The role of prominence in determining the scope of boundary-related lengthening in Greek.

Abstract This study aims at examining and accounting for the scope of the temporal effect of phrase boundaries. Previous research has indicated that there is an interaction between boundary-related lengthening and prominence such that the former extends towards the nearby prominent syllable. However, it is unclear whether this interaction is due to lexical stress and/or phrasal prominence (marked by pitch accent) and how far towards the prominent syllable the effect extends. Here, we use an electromagnetic articulography (EMA) study of Greek to examine the scope of boundary-related lengthening as a function of lexical stress and pitch accent separately. Boundaries are elicited by the means of a variety of syntactic constructions. The results show an effect of lexical stress. Phrase-final lengthening affects the articulatory gestures of the phrase-final syllable that are immediately adjacent to the boundary in words with final stress, but is initiated earlier within phrase-final words with non-final stress. Similarly, the articulatory configurations during inter-phrasal pauses reach their point of achievement later in words with final stress than in words with non-final stress. These effects of stress hold regardless of whether the phrase-final word is accented or de-accented. Phrase-initial lengthening, on the other hand, is consistently detected on the phrase-initial constriction, independently of where the stress is within the preceding, phrase-final, word. These results indicate that the lexical aspect of prominence plays a role in determining the scope of boundary-related lengthening in Greek. Based on these results, a gestural account of prosodic boundaries in Greek is proposed in which lexical and phrasal prosody interact in a systematic and coordinated fashion. The cross-linguistic dimensions of this account and its implications for prosodic structure are discussed.
A Column-Row-Parallel ASIC Architecture for 3-D Portable Medical Ultrasonic Imaging

This paper presents a scalable column-row-parallel ASIC architecture for 3-D portable medical ultrasound. Through its programmable row-by-row or column-by-column operations for both transmit and receive beam-formation, linear scaling in interconnection, data acquisition complexity, power dissipation, and programming time is achieved. In addition, its per-element controllers can activate fine granularity aperture definition when more functionality is favored over the linear-scaling power and speed efficiency. This front-end architecture is backward compatible to implement existing widely used array aperture patterns, while supporting new imaging apertures and algorithms. It lends itself very well for the combination with integrated or external digital beamforming circuits. A $16 \times 16$ proof-of-concept ASIC is fabricated and flip-chip bonded to a $16 \times 16$ capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT). Each three-level pulsing transmitter (Tx) is 46% more power efficient than a traditional two-level version, with high-voltage (HV) multiplexers (MUXs) designed for flexible Tx parallelization. Each low-noise receiver (Rx) consumes 1.4 mW active power and $54\,\upmu\text{W}$ sleep power, with optimized source follower stages to combine analog outputs for improved SNR. The transceivers are also fault-tolerant to inevitable defects in transducers, greatly enhancing assembly yield. The system demonstrates 3-D plane-wave generation to implement the coherent compounding algorithm for fast volume rate (62.5 volume/s), high-quality 3-D ultrasonic imaging. An interleaved checker board pattern with $I$ and $Q$ excitations is also demonstrated for ultrasonic harmonic imaging, which reduces transmitted second harmonic distortion (HD2) by over 20 dB.
Factors Influencing the Perceived Urgency of Auditory Stimuli

The interaction among two spectral and two temporal dimensions that contribute to urgency was investigated by conducting a discrimination experiment. Discrimination performance for each dimension was evaluated when a second dimension (i.e., dimension not being discriminated) was subject to no variation, correlated variation, and uncorrelated variability. For the pair of spectral dimensions and the pair of temporal dimensions, variation on the second dimension produces facilitation in the correlated condition and interference in the uncorrelated condition. No influence occurs for other pairings.The implications of these results were confirmed in a multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) experiment examining the pitch, perceived repetition rate, and urgency of sounds. The data obtained from the pitch and perceived repetition rate conditions indicate that the spectral dimensions determine the pitch of sounds and the temporal dimensions determine the perceived repetition rate of sounds. The data obtained from the urg...
Studies of vibrational surface modes in ionic crystals: II. Surface enhancement of the thermal mean-squares amplitudes for the (001) face of LiF, MgO, NaF, NaCl, NaI, RbF, and RbCl

Abstract The mean-square amplitudes (MSA) and mean-square velocities (MSV) of thermal vibrations have been calculated for the (001) surface of LiF, MgO, NaF, NaCl, NaI, RbF, and RbCl, using shell models. The high-temperature maximum surface enhancement of the MSA, as expressed by the ratio 〈 u 2 ⊥ ( K )〉 surf /〈 u 2 ⊥ ( K )〉 bulk , ranges from a low of about 1.5 for O − in MgO to a high of about 1.9 for Cl − in RbCl. The calculated surface enhancement of MSA for F − in LiF is 1.65, in good agreement with the value 1.71 drawn from Goodman's analysis of the data on H/LiF scattering obtained by Hoinkes, Nahr, and Wilsch.
Developing a Comprehensive Model of Motivation and Performance: A Methodological Comment

The article presents a comment on “Developing a Comprehensive Model of Motivation and Performance,” by Kae H. Chung which appeared in the March 1968 issue of “The Academy of Management Journal.” Th...
The study of TCT and DNA quantitive cytology in the diagnosis of cervical lesions

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of cervical cytology combined with DNA quantitive cytology for cervical lesions.Methods From February 2006 to December 2007,2,800 patients were examined with liquid-based ThinPrep cytologic test(TCT) and DNA quantitative cytology.The patients with abnormal TCT or DNA quantitative cytology results were re-examined after three months.The patients with abnormal TCT results and atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance(ASCUS) were further examined by colposcopy and multi-site biopsy examinations.Results Abnormal TCT results were found in 302 patients(10.79%),ASCUS,low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions(LSIL),high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion(HSIL) and squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) were found in 194(6.93%),34(1.21%),18(0.64%) and 3 patients(0.10%),respectively.Pathological examination confirmed inflammation in 198 cases,accounting for 65.56%(198/302) of abnormal TCT.The difference in TCT and human papillomavirus(HPV) infection diagnosis was significant(P0.01).Conclusion The combined examinations of cervical cytology,DNA quantitative cytology and pathology can provide early detection of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.
Ex vivo biomechanical comparison of hydroxyapatite and polymethylmethacrylate cements for use with vertebroplasty.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Little is known about the mechanical stabilization afforded by new materials proposed for use with vertebroplasty. This comparative ex vivo biomechanical study was designed to determine the strength and stiffness of osteoporotic vertebral bodies (VBs) subjected to compression fractures and stabilized with bipedicular injections of Cranioplastic altered in a manner consistent with the practice of vertebroplasty or BoneSource cement. METHODS: VBs T8–T10 and L2–L4 from 10 fresh spines were harvested from female cadavers (aged 91.5 years ± 3.9 at death). These were screened for bone density (t score, −4.9 ± 1.4; bone mineral density, 0.61 g/cm2 ± 0.19), disarticulated, and compressed to determine initial strength and stiffness. The fractured VBs were stabilized with bipedicular injections of a predetermined quantity and type of cement and then re-crushed. RESULTS: At both the thoracic and lumbar levels, VBs repaired with altered Cranioplastic resulted in significantly greater strength (P CONCLUSION: Both materials in the volumes used either restored or increased VB strength, but none restored stiffness.
Recent developments in environmental sanitation and their role in the prevention of bilharziasis.

It has long been acknowledged that no programme of health improvement could be completely successful and long sustained unless the people themselves participated in the development. The WHO acknowledges that the promotion of health ill linked withi?½ the promotion of social and economic endeavours in which even the most backward people must play their part. Bilhariasis, which is largely socially determined, might more rapidly come underi?½ control if community development was allowed to play a more important role. Many community leaders are aware of the advantages improvements in hygiene offer, especially if these improvements lie within the scope of the people themselves. For the simple villager, confrontation with more sophisticated technology, familiar to those who have grown up with it, represents a bewildering experience. In the quest for health improvement in the less developed nations, the need for simple technology is essential. By considering the villagers point of view, by providing less sophisticated but effective hardware that is easy to install, understand and maintain, the chances of success in drawing community .interest and participation are far greater.
Three-Dimensional and Spatiotemporal Processing

This chapter extends the 2-D concepts of three-dimensional and spatiotemporal or multidimensional signal processing (MDSP) to the 3-D or spatiotemporal case of video. It also includes the rational system models and spatiotemporal Markov models culminating in a spatiotemporal reduced-update Kalman filter. The variety of spatiotemporal filters includes finite impulse response (FIR), infinite impulse response (IIR), statistically designed filters, and adaptive filters. Additionally, there can be hybrids of FIR and IIR (e.g., the filter can be IIR in time and FIR in space). This kind of hybrid filter has become very popular due to the need to minimize memory in the temporal direction, thus minimizing the use of frame memories. The frame predictor in a hybrid video coder is an FIR spatiotemporal filter. The decoder must run the inverse of this filter, which is thus an IIR spatiotemporal filter. It must therefore be 3-D multidimensionally stable.
A tokamak pilot plant at walmart prices

The recent development of high field (25 T at the coil), high temperature REBCO superconductors has been asserted, particularly by scientists and engineers at the MIT-PSFC, to be a potential game changer for the economic development of fusion power based on the tokamak concept. The goal of the present work is to test the validity of this assertion with respect to one main component along the development path. The path is assumed to consist of three components: a net energy reactor (Q = 2), a pilot plant reactor (Q = 10), and a commercial power reactor (Q = 50). Here Q = Pfusion/Pin is the fusion gain. By examining many previous reactor studies we have been able to derive a set of analytic criteria that determines the basic design parameters of a given fusion reactor application. The results include explicit scaling relations plus quantitative values for the multiplicative constants for each of the critical design parameters. As expected there are far more constraints than degrees of freedom in any given design application. However, by carefully defining the mission of the reactor under consideration (e.g. energy vs pilot vs commercial) we have been able to determine the specific subset of constraints that actually drive the design. As expected this subset is different for the three applications. We have found that high field does indeed lead to a very promising, relatively low cost, development path. Furthermore, the high field strategy results in substantial safety margins with respect to well-known tokamak operational limits, a major advantage after years of struggling with uncooperative plasma physics. The results to be presented focus on a pilot plant reactor (Q = 10), qualitatively similar to the high field ARC concept [1]. With respect to other more “standard” designs using modest magnetic fields (13 T at the coil) our design is far more compact. It is this compactness that justifies our assertion that high field leads to major reductions in cost, a highly desirable result for tokamak fusion.
Bayesian reconstruction of trichromatic images using Cauchy priors in the wavelet domain

We seek a method to reconstruct mosaiced trichromatic images, using Bayesian methods in conjunction with a multivariate Cauchy prior. The Cauchy distribution is able to model the heavy-tailed distribution of spatial subband coefficients. Furthermore, the marginals of a multivariate Cauchy distribution are also Cauchy, making it useful for the color case where we must also capture correlations across sensors of different spectral classes. As proof of concept, we developed a method for spatially one-dimensional trichromatic images. Compared to an image estimate obtained via linear interpolation, the Cauchy-based Bayesian method has greater signal-to-noise ratio and exhibits reduced aliasing artifacts.
Measuring gait symmetry in children with cerebral palsy using the SmartShoe

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of non-progressive neuro-developmental conditions occurring in early childhood that causes movement disorders and physical disability. Many affected children have impaired function in movement and limitations in mobility. Measuring gait symmetry is essential in assessing clinical outcomes of rehabilitation. Modern sensor technology has made it possible to measure gait unobtrusively in the community. However, no wearable systems that allow for gait symmetry measurement in free living have been investigated for children with CP. In this study, data was collected from three children with CP by a wearable shoe sensor system (SmartShoe) in a community environment and the gait symmetry ratio was estimated from the sensor data prior and post rehabilitation therapy. The sensor data were processed by algorithms including data preprocessing, posture and activity classification, and calculation of symmetry ratio of stance. The gait symmetry metrics extracted by the automatic algorithms closely match the metrics manually estimated on the sensor data with an average mean absolute error of 1.235%), suggesting that the proposed method may be an effective way to evaluate rehabilitation progress in the community setting.
HPE – Change Monitoring bei Transformationen mit Mitarbeiterübergang

Ohne Frage sind Post-Merger-Integration-Situationen geradezu idealtypische Situationen fur den Einsatz von Change-Management. Mit all den Anderungen, die sich bei einem Besitzubergang ergeben und all den Vorstellungen der neuen, gemeinsamen, besseren Zukunft sind solche Projekte pradestiniert fur den Einsatz von Change-Management-Methoden und -Masnahmen.
Shared decision-making following disclosure of coronary heart disease genetic risk: results from a randomized clinical trial.

Whether disclosure of genetic risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) influences shared decision-making (SDM) regarding use of statins to reduce CHD risk is unknown. We randomized 207 patients, age 45–65 years, at intermediate CHD risk, and not on statins, to receive the 10-year risk of CHD based on conventional risk factors alone (n=103) or in combination with a genetic risk score (n=104). A genetic counselor disclosed this information followed by a physician visit for SDM regarding statin therapy. A novel decision aid was used in both encounters to disclose the CHD risk estimates and facilitate SDM regarding statin use. Patients reported their decision quality and physician visit satisfaction using validated surveys. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the SDM score, satisfaction with the clinical encounter, perception of the quality of the discussion or of participation in decision-making and physician visit satisfaction scores. Quantitative analyses of a random subset of 80 video-recorded encounters using the OPTION5 scale also showed no significant difference in SDM between the two groups. Disclosure of CHD genetic risk using an electronic health record-linked decision aid did not adversely affect SDM or patients’ satisfaction with the clinical encounter. Trial registration number NCT01936675; Results.
Miniaturized Nanopore DNA Sequencing: Accelerating the Path to Precision Medicine.

On January 30, 2015, President Barack Obama announced the launch of a Precision Medicine Initiative—“a bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease” (1). The success of this bold new initiative depends upon continued improvements in the genomics space. Arguably, the key technological player in precision medicine is next generation sequencing (NGS),2 an extremely powerful technology for detection of genetic variation. NGS has enabled a multitude of impressive research discoveries that have been translated toward more rapid, cost-effective, and comprehensive analyses for inherited conditions and cancer. However, despite its achievements, NGS analysis is still too expensive and time-consuming of a process to be carried out routinely on all patients. The technological platform and the clinical-grade reagents themselves are both costly, as is the scientific know-how to perform the benchwork, bioinformatics, and variant interpretation. Reducing the time, cost, and effort to perform clinical NGS is essential to achieve further adoption of personalized medicine. Current NGS sequencing technologies generally use expensive and slow optic-based measurements of short copies of PCR-amplified DNA. Additionally, 3 major groups of genomic variation that are important for clinical diagnostics cannot be efficiently detected by de novo assembly of sequencing data from short DNA strands. The first of these, and closest to clinical optimization, are the copy number alterations that remove or add single or multiple exons, such as those commonly encountered in Duchene muscular dystrophy. The next major class is the trinucleotide repeat disorders. The classical example here is Fragile X, whereby a repeating CGG motif expansion (growing to over thousands of nucleotides in some cases) causes disease. Finally, regions of low sequence complexity, known as pseudogenes, or highly related gene family members, like members of the CYP family of genes, can be challenging to detect a real pathogenic change from …
Exploring a Modular Approach to Redesigning Interfaces for Physical Interactive Devices

Tools for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) hide implementation details associated with changing the position, size or shape of a widget. For example, a GUI designer can change the position of a button without explicitly reimplementing the code that determines if the button has been clicked. We seek to provide a similar experience for moving tangible widgets on physical interactive devices (PIDs). One reason that GUI design tools can hide implementation details is that widgets are modules. In this work in progress, we describe a system for leveraging modularity to hide implementation details associated with changing the position, size and shape of widgets in pid interfaces. We have used the system to design, redesign and fabricate 10 interfaces for 3 example applications. Fundamentaly, working with atoms to make pid interfaces is different than working with pixels to make GUI interfaces--but modularity in pid widgets appears to be a promising way to hide implementation details in pid interface redesign and fabrication.
The northern axis: discovery in the gardens of the Premier Versailles

This article is the fourth and final installment in a study of the north–south axis of the gardens of Versailles during the 1660s.1 The axis runs in a straight line in front of the château and is m...
Fluid Management in Lung Transplant Patients

Overall, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials examining the correlation between fluid volume delivery and outcomes in postoperative lung transplant patients. However, using thoracic surgery patients as a guide, the evidence suggests that hypervolemia correlates with pulmonary edema and should be avoided in lung transplant patients. However, it is recognized that patients with hemodynamic instability may require volume for attenuation of this situation, but it can likely be mitigated with the use of inotropic medication to maintain adequate perfusion and avoid the development of edema.
Intravenous Iron Sucrose for Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

ABSTRACTObjectives:Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a common complication of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), yet the effectiveness of oral iron supplementation is limited. Intravenous iron sucrose is an effective and safe alternative treatment for IDA in adults with IBD, but its role in t
Role of Substance P in Rat Carotid Body Responses to Hypoxia and Capsaicin

Substance P (SP) belongs to a family of structurally related peptides called tachykinins. In the peripheral nervous system, SP is associated with the processing of sensory signals1. In recent years, several studies have examined the role of SP in the chemosensory function of the cartid body. SP-like peptides have been demonstrated in the glomus tissue 2,3,4 and exogenous administration of the peptide stimulates the carotid body’s afferent activity 4,5,6,7. Futhermore, antagonists specific for tachykinin peptides, when given in doses sufficient to block the excitatory effects of SP, attenuate or abolish the chemoreceptor response to hypoxia, but not that caused by CO2 7. Thus far, studies on the cat carotid body suggest that SP is associated with the transmission of the hypoxic signal.
Tarski and Gödel: Between the Lines

I want to tell you something about the personal and scientific relationship between Alfred Tarski and Kurt Godel, more or less chronologically. This is part of a work in progress with Anita Feferman on a biography of Alfred Tarski, and in line with most of the things we do, we’ve talked a great deal about the subject together.
Flexibilisierung von Lebensarbeitszeit und Arbeitsort

Die langfristigen Ziele der Flexibilisierung von Lebensarbeitszeit und Arbeitsort sind die Auflosung der starren Lebensabschnitte von Ausbildung, Erwerbstatigkeit und Ruhestand sowie die Aufhebung der raumlichen Trennung von Arbeiten und Wohnen. Ein zusatzlicher Aspekt — der allerdings nicht direkt die Lebensarbeitszeit betrifft — ist die Flexibilisierung der Aufteilung des Erwerbslebens in Arbeitszeit und Freizeit.
Spectrographic Analysis of Inhaled Air Pollutants in Lung Tissue

The lungs of animals exposed to air pollutants in city air and animals exposed to clean filtered air only were analyzed and the results compared. A semiquantitative emission spectrographic method for the determination of 18 trace metallic elements and 5 major constituent elements of lung- tissue ash was used.
An Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Performance of a Continuous Counter-Current Adsorber

The performance of a simple counter-current adsorber based on the endless belt concept has been studied for vapor phase operation, using as a model system the adsorption of CO2 from N2 on a silicalite adsorbent. For this system the isotherm is essentially linear. The steady-state performance can be represented either by the Kremser equation or on a McCabe-Thiele operating diagram. The system is equivalent to 3–8 theoretical stages, depending on to the flow conditions, and both the steady-state and transient behavior are reasonably well predicted by this model. Under properly selected operating conditions it is possible to obtain a reduction in the CO2 concentration by a factor of 100.
Field Performance Evaluations of Sustainable Aggregate By-product Applications

Recent research efforts at the Illinois Center for transportation focused on evaluating new sustainable applications of quarry by-products (QBs) or QB mixed with other marginal, virgin, or recycled aggregate materials in pavements as unbound or chemically stabilized pavement layers. Sixteen full-scale test sections were constructed to evaluate the use of QB in base, subbase, and aggregate subgrade applications. The chemically stabilized test sections utilizing QB were stabilized with 3% cement or 10% Class ‘C’ fly ash, by dry weight and were constructed over a subgrade having an engineered unsoaked California bearing ratio (CBR) of 6% to study their effectiveness in low to medium volume flexible pavements. The unbound applications of QB investigated the use of QB to fill the voids between large rocks commonly used for rockfill applications on top of very soft subgrade soils, as well as using dense-graded aggregate subgrade layers with higher fines content up to 15% passing No. 200 sieve for soft subgrade remediation. These unbound test sections were constructed over a CBR = 1% subgrade soil to investigate their effectiveness in both construction platforms and low volume road applications. All the field test sections were then evaluated in rutting and fatigue by applying traffic loading using a super-single wheel in accelerated pavement testing. In general, the satisfactory results obtained from the field rutting performance evaluations indicate that the proposed QB applications can be successfully incorporated in standard pavement construction/rehabilitation practices.
A Modeling Study of Parameters ControIIing Local Concentration Processes in Pressurized Water Reactor Steam Generators

A detailed model of the transport processes that produce concentrated solutions locally in pressurized water reactor steam generators has been developed. The model describes the heat, mass, and momentum transfer processes that occur in porous deposits such as those found in tube support and tubesheet crevices and in the sludge pile on top of the tubesheet. The model is used to predict the concentration of a species in the pore solution as a function of time and at steady state, and the model predictions are compared to available experimental data. Several parametric studies were performed with the model to identify important design and operating parameters.
2015 Name of the Year Award

The eleventh annual Name of the Year vote was held at the American Name Society meeting in Washington, DC, on January 8, 2016. For 2015 we had 31 total nominees, beating the previous record of 30 f...
Spread the Magic: Second Grade Students Engage with the Community.

Second grade students learn about philanthropy by creating projects where they work through an inquiry process. Each student works with a group to create community-based projects that support exist...
Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source: A Population with Left Atrial Dysfunction

Abstract Background: Cryptogenic stroke, now defined as embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS), represents about a quarter of all ischemic strokes and the reoccurrence is high. Understanding this stroke subtype better would likely guide treatment recommendations. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that left atrial (LA) shape and function at rest, as well as with exercise, are abnormal compared to matched normal controls. Methods: The study design was prospective enrollment of ESUS subjects who underwent measurement of LA function at rest and exercise by 2D and 3D echocardiograms. The exercise portion of the study was conducted using a ramped supine bicycle protocol during which LA function was measured. Stroke subjects were matched with normal subjects by age, gender, and body surface area. Results: Over a 1-year enrollment period, 18 ESUS patients met inclusionary criteria and were studied. Their average age was 58 years old and 44% were female. ESUS subjects have larger LA end-diastolic volume at rest (14 versus 11 mL/m2, P = .04) and with exercise (11 versus 6 mL/m2, P = .001) compared to normal controls. In ESUS, there was a lack of response to maximal exercise of LA function as measured by the LA ejection fraction (61% versus 73% P = .001) and the LA function index (.68 versus .82, P = .02). The 3D analysis showed spherical remodeling of the LA in ESUS. This remodeling was documented by the sphericity index, which was increased in both diastole (.40 versus .32, P = .02) and systole (.63 versus .71 P = .03). Conclusions: In support of our hypothesis, we found that ESUS subjects have LA dysfunction and remodeling at rest and exercise in comparison to healthy, matched controls. Evaluation of the left atrium in this high-risk stroke subtype has potential to inform stroke prevention strategies and to suggest pathways for research.
Sexually Selected Sex Differences in Competitiveness Explain Sex Differences in Changes in Drinking Game Participation

Drinking games are a risk factor for behavioral and health problems among university students. Previous cross-sectional research by Hone, Carter, and McCullough (2013) replicated well-established s...
Editor’s Note A Full Choir, with Room to Grow

An examination of an iconic sports writer’s legacy, digital and social media’s impact upon research and journalism, and sociocultural ramifications of media populate the titles in this issue. Annie...
Terahertz-Driven Stark Spectroscopy of CdSe and CdSe-CdS Core-Shell Quantum Dots.

The effects of large external fields on semiconductor nanostructures could reveal much about field-induced shifting of electronic states and their dynamical responses and could enable electro-optic...