cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining the Magnetic Signal Due To Gravity and Plasma Pressure Gradient Current With the TIE‐GCM

Accurate magnetic field measurements at ground and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) are crucial to describe Earth's magnetic field. One of the challenges with processing LEO magnetic field measurements to study Earthâ's magnetic field is that the satellite flies in regions of highly varying ionospheric currents which needs to be characterized accurately. The present study focuses on ionospheric current systems due to gravity and plasma pressure gradient forcing, and aims to provide guidance on the estimation of their magnetic effect at LEO altitudes with the help of numerical modeling. We assess the diamagnetic approximation which estimates the magnetic signal of the plasma pressure gradient current. The simulations indicate that the diamagnetic effect should not be removed from LEO magnetic observations without considering the gravity current effect, as this will lead to an error larger than the magnetic signal of these currents. We introduce and evaluate a method to capture the magnetic effect of the gravity driven current. The diamagnetic and gravity current approximations ignore the magnetic effect from currents set up by the induced electric field. The combined gravity and plasma pressure gradient magnetic effect tends to cancel above the F-region peak, however between approximately 300 km and the peak it exhibits a significant height and latitudinal variation with magnitudes up to 8nT. During solar minimum the combined magnetic signal is less than 1nT above 300 km. In addition to the solar cycle dependence, the magnetic signal strength varies with longitude (approximately by 50%) and season (up to 80%) at solar maximum.
Explaining Contextual Effects on Vote Choice

How are individual voters influenced by their social surroundings? Though numerous studies establish that voting behavior can be influenced by the social context, we lack a full understanding of how the actions of individual voters can be influenced by the composition of their social environment. In this paper, I develop and test a micro-level model of the operation of contextual influences on political behavior. The model specifies the effects of both personal contact and individual perception of the partisan nature of the local environment. The data show little support for personal contact as a mechanism of contextual influence, but reveal that perception of partisan dominance markedly enhances the impact of partisan identification on vote choice.
Cryopreserved bone allograft for the treatment of shoulder instability with glenoid defect.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine outcomes after cryopreserved tri-cortical iliac crest allograft reconstruction for glenoid bone loss in patients with shoulder instability. 10 patients completed the required assessments at a mean follow up of 4.5 years. At final follow up, mean ASES was 92 ± 12, mean WOSI was 315 ± 319, with good range of motion. None of the final radiographs demonstrated graft resorption or failure of hardware. The data demonstrated that patients who were treated with glenoid bone grafting with cryopreserved tri-cortical iliac crest allograft can expect good range of motion and functional capacity.
Libraries, Information, and the Right of the City 2013 LACUNY Institute Introduction

Introduction to the special issue from the 2013 LACUNY Institute "LIBRARIES, INFORMATION, AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY"
Orthostatic heart rate changes in patients with autonomic failure caused by neurodegenerative synucleinopathies

OBJECTIVE Blunted tachycardia during hypotension is a characteristic feature of patients with autonomic failure, but the range has not been defined. This study reports the range of orthostatic heart rate (HR) changes in patients with autonomic failure caused by neurodegenerative synucleinopathies. METHODS Patients evaluated at sites of the U.S. Autonomic Consortium (NCT01799915) underwent standardized autonomic function tests and full neurological evaluation. RESULTS We identified 402 patients with orthostatic hypotension (OH) who had normal sinus rhythm. Of these, 378 had impaired sympathetic activation (ie, neurogenic OH) and based on their neurological examination were diagnosed with Parkinson disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, pure autonomic failure, or multiple system atrophy. The remaining 24 patients had preserved sympathetic activation and their OH was classified as nonneurogenic, due to volume depletion, anemia, or polypharmacy. Patients with neurogenic OH had twice the fall in systolic blood pressure (SBP; -44 ± 25 vs -21 ± 14 mmHg [mean ± standard deviation], p < 0.0001) but only one-third of the increase in HR of those with nonneurogenic OH (8 ± 8 vs 25 ± 11 beats per minute [bpm], p < 0.0001). A ΔHR/ΔSBP ratio of 0.492 bpm/mmHg had excellent sensitivity (91.3%) and specificity (88.4%) to distinguish between patients with neurogenic from nonneurogenic OH (area under the curve = 0.96, p < 0.0001). Within patients with neurogenic OH, HR increased more in those with multiple system atrophy (p = 0.0003), but there was considerable overlap with patients with Lewy body disorders. INTERPRETATION A blunted HR increase during hypotension suggests a neurogenic cause. A ΔHR/ΔSBP ratio < 0.5 bpm/mmHg is diagnostic of neurogenic OH. Ann Neurol 2018;83:522-531.
Online learning classifier based behavioral biometrie authentication

In this paper, we implement a behavioral biometric-based smartphone authentication technique with online training methods. The most obvious difference between online and traditional classification is that online methods allow model training and data collection to be in progress simultaneously. Therefore, our proposed authentication system is superior when dealing with time series data and its model can be updated to adapt the change of user's habit. To verify the feasibility of online training methods used in behavioral biometric authentication, three online algorithms and four traditional classification algorithms are tested with collected dataset. They all achieved an accuracy over 96%. Two additional experiments are designed to test the stability of this authentication system. The results show that the system has the ability to prevent targeted attack, such as shoulder surfing. Furthermore, it keeps high performance that accuracy greater than 95% when user holds smartphone in different scenarios, sitting and walking. Finally, we conclude that online training methods based behavioral biometric smartphone authentication system is very stable with targeted attack and different unlock scenarios.
Case Study: Using Transactions in Memcached

To synthesize the topics in previous chapters of this book, we now turn to the question of how to use transactions in real-world code. We use a concrete example, transactionalization of the memcached application, as a vehicle for exploring the challenges and benefits that arise from using transactions instead of locks. Specific topics that receive attention in this chapter include irrevocability, contention management, language-level semantics and privatization, write-through and write-back algorithms, and condition synchronization.
Brain Tumors; Clinical Aspects

Modern diagnosis and management of brain tumors have developed considerably in recent years. Advances in diagnostic imaging, neuropharmacology, and surgical treatment paradigms have enabled the neurosurgical oncologist to approach these patients with a better understanding of the disease entity and the efficacy of treatment. Diagnostic strategies previously considered reliable for many patients, including structural magnetic resonance imaging and stereotactic biopsy, have more recently been shown to vary substantially with regard to specificity, sensitivity, and sampling error. Surgical management paradigms are also shifting, as mounting evidence now highlights the predictive value of volumetric tumor burden for patient survival, the role of greater extent of resection in reducing transformation rates, and the importance of eloquence in determining tumor resectability. Seizure control is increasingly considered a key determinant of quality of life, with electrocorticography being used as an effective surgical adjunct when seizures are refractory to medical treatment. Adjuvant therapies are also under renewed scrutiny. Together, these new innovations define the contemporary era of brain tumor diagnosis and management. The current literature is synthesized to highlight valuable practice paradigms when confronted with a newly diagnosed brain tumor.
Bioinspired Sensors for Underwater Geolocalization

We have mimicked the visual system of the mantis shrimp by monolithically integrating pixelated spectral-polarization filters with an array of vertically stacked photodetectors. These sensors are used for underwater geolocalization with 30km sensitivity by recording the in-water polarization field.
How to mobilize group intelligence.

Beth Simone Noveck enjoys a seasoned wonk’s analysis of the potential and pitfalls of large-scale collaboration. Beth Simone Noveck enjoys a seasoned wonk’s analysis of the potential and pitfalls of large-scale collaboration.
Acoustic remote sensing for source localization and atmospheric tomography: Applications of the cross-correlation Green's function retrieval method

In this work, the application of the cross-correlation Green's function retrieval method for source localization and atmospheric acoustic tomography is presented. Open field experimental measurements of an acoustic source, with an impulsive waveform, are conducted for the evaluation of an array system. Of particular interest are the source localization and sound speed estimation capabilities of the array system. The cross-correlation delay-and-sum beamformer is used to estimate source directivity and sound speed. This beamformer inherently employs the cross-correlation Green's function retrieval method between a pair of receivers. The beamforming results adequately identify the various source directions as well as the scatterers along the propagation path. Reasonable sound speed estimates are obtained at the peak frequency of the retrieved Green's functions. In the case of atmospheric acoustic tomography, the estimated sound speed from the array system can serve as an average background sound speed in a tomographic inversion algorithm. Utilizing a tomographic inversion algorithm with radial basis functions and the estimated sound speed, the reconstruction of temperature and wind velocity profiles are demonstrated.
Trajectories of Discrimination across the College Years: Associations with Academic, Psychological, and Physical Adjustment Outcomes

Despite growing evidence that racial-ethnic discrimination has a critical impact on college students of color, there is a shortage of longitudinal studies investigating such discrimination across the course of students’ college careers. The present study examined trajectories of professor- and peer-perpetrated ethnic-racial discrimination across the first three years in college and the correlations between these trajectories and academic, psychological, and physical adjustment outcomes during students’ fourth year in a sample of 770 Black, 835 Asian American, and 742 Latino college students (total n = 2347; 60.1% female) at elite colleges and universities in the United States. Latent growth modeling revealed stability in reported peer discrimination over the first three years of college and an increase in reported discrimination from professors. Discrimination from peers and professors equally predicted unfavorable grades, a lower likelihood of on-time graduation, and less school satisfaction. Perceived discrimination from peers (but not from professors) during students’ first year predicted higher rates of depressive symptoms and more health problems in their fourth year. Although initial levels and trajectories of discrimination varied as a function of students’ ethnicity-race, the correlates between discrimination and adjustment outcomes did not vary between ethnic-racial groups. The present findings suggest that ethnic-racial discrimination is a complex, ecologically-based stressor that presents a constellation of challenges for students of color attending elite colleges and universities.
Acoustically Excited Micro Mass Transport for Remotely Dose-Controlable Drug Releasing

Remotely activated drug release strategy with controllable dosage is the key factor of various targeting drug delivery methods as minimal invasive treatment. This article describes mass transport in liquid in microscale with a controllability of releasing amount, which is wirelessly excited by an external acoustic excitation. A liquid droplet (releasing agent, or drug in application) is trapped in the middle of a one-end open microtube which has a ratchet-structure on its inner wall. The droplet is trapped in the tube and neighbored by two gaseous air bubbles on both sides. In the presence of acoustic wave, the air bubbles oscillate and resonate. The air bubble near the tube opening segregates the liquid droplet into smaller ones and transport them on the ratchet-surface wall of the microtube. This mass transport occurs in both directions at similar rates: from the surrounding fluid to the trapped droplet and vice versa. As a result, the overall mass of droplet remains similar. Meanwhile, the other bubble positioned back in the tube sealing side enhances mixing between incoming mass from the surrounding and existing mass in the droplet. This mass transport is significant only when the inner wall of the tube has rachets. The exchanging mass between the surrounding and droplet is monotonically proportional to the excitation period, showing high controllability of mass transport. This mass transport phenomenon possibly provides a new mechanism of in vivo, on-demand, dose controllable drug delivery.
Delayed Enumeration and Limiting Recursion

This chapter provides two major tools, our uniform enumeration theorems (Theorems 7.1 and 7.2) and our uniform limit theorem (Theorem 7.4), each of which is of some independent interest.
More Unnecessary Imaginary Worlds - Part 4: The ICER Evidence Report for Crizanlizumab, Voxelotor and L-Glutamine for Sickle Cell Disease

A number of commentaries have been published over the past 4 years by the present author on the manifest flaws in the reference case value assessment framework of the Institute for Economic and Clinical Review. The recent release of the evidence report on sickle cell disease continues ICER's commitment to what has been described as the creation of imaginary worlds to support value assessment. The purpose of the present commentary is to continue the critiques that have been presented for earlier evidence reports. This is important because of the apparent willingness to take ICER's recommendations at face value rather than a critical review of the value assessment framework. The case presented here points to a number of weaknesses in the ICER framework: (i) the fabrication of imaginary constructs with a lifetime cost-per-incremental QALY framework; (ii) the consequent failure to meet the standards of normal science; (iii) the illogical reliance of assumptions drawn from the literature to create future scenarios; (iv) the rejection of hypothesis testing in favor of 'approximate information' and (v) a belief that in the construction of QALYS that the EQ-5D-3L utility scale has ratio properties. This last point is demonstrably false which means that the ICER value assessment framework collapses. It is impossible mathematically, a failure to meet the axioms of fundamental measurement, for an ordinal utility scale to be combined with time spent in a disease state. The result is that the pricing and access recommendations for Crizanlizumab, Voxelotor and L-glutamine in sickle cell disease (SCD) are complete nonsense and should be rejected.
Low Power Hardware-In-The-Loop Neuromorphic Training Accelerator

The training process for spiking neural networks can be very computationally intensive. Approaches such as evolutionary algorithms may require evaluating thousands or millions of candidate solutions. In this work, we propose using neuromorphic cores implemented on a Xilinx Zynq system on chip to accelerate and improve the energy efficiency of the evaluation step of an evolutionary training approach. We demonstrate this can significantly reduce the required energy to evolve a network with some cases showing greater than 10 times improvement as compared to a CPU-only system.
Strategic Planning for Private Higher Education

Contents Preface Chapter 1. Planning Perspectives Chapter 2. Overview of Strategic Planning Chapter 3. Defining Your Mission and Vision Chapter 4. Determining the Internal Culture "Core Values and Philosophy" Chapter 5. Analysis and Assumptions Chapter 6. Establishing Objectives and Key Result Areas Chapter 7. Developing Strategy and Action Plans Chapter 8. Evaluation and Control Procedures References Appendix A. Case Study. Strategic Planning at Thorndyke College Appendix B. Strategic Plan Outline Appendix C. Sample Strategic Plan for Department of Business
/spl gamma/-ray-induced optical attenuation in Ge-doped-silica fiber image guides

Optical attenuation in fiber optic image guides comprising germanium-doped-silica-core/pure-silica-clad picture elements was investigated in situ (wavelength range 420-1100 nm) during /sup 60/Co /spl gamma/ irradiation at dose rates of 1.1, 6.6, 36, and 180 Gy/h.
Ecohydrology of Water-Controlled Ecosystems: Soil Moisture and Plant Dynamics

Foreword Gabriel Katul Preface 1. Introduction 2. Stochastic soil moisture dynamics and water balance 3. Crossing properties of soil moisture dynamics 4. Plant water stress 5. Applications to natural ecosystems 6. Coupled dynamics of photosynthesis, transpiration and soil water balance: from hourly to growing-season time scale 7. Plant strategies and water use 8. Seasonal and interannual fluctuations in soil moisture dynamics 9. Spatial scale issues in soil moisture dynamics 10. Hydrologic controls on nutrient cycles 11. Hydrologic variability and ecosystem structure References Species index Subject index.
Contribution Evasion and Expected Survival: Evidence from Bulgaria

This paper analyzes the evasion of social security contributions and its relationship with individual characteristics such as subjective survival expectations and perceptions on the link between contributions and benefits. In the theoretical framework, a representative worker maximizes expected intertemporal utility by choosing the optimal fraction of evaded contributions. The model predicts that under the assumption of liquidity constraints evasion may be optimal even when it has negative implications on the budget constraint, because it provides a way of weakening the liquidity constraint. In particular, evasion is decreasing in the individual's survival probability and in the Bismarckian factor characterizing the pension system. Results from the empirical analysis, carried out using data from a pilot survey in Bulgaria, show that the evasion of social security contributions is less likely among individuals with higher subjective survival probabilities and who perceive a strong link between contributions and pension benefits.
Analysis of protein-DNA interactions using surface plasmon resonance.

Protein–DNA interactions are required for access and protection of the genetic information within the cell. Historically these interactions have been studied using genetic, biochemical, and structural methods resulting in qualitative or semiquantitative interaction data. In the future the focus will be on high quality quantitative data to model a huge number of interactions forming a specific network in system biology approaches.
Current Issues Facing North Atlantic Right Whales and Stakeholders

At the beginning of the Symposium sessions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Boston College Law School, Dr. Michael Moore provided a narrative and photographic introduction to current threats to whale survival, with particular reference to North Atlantic waters off the eastern coast of the United States and the most endangered whale species, the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis. The conditions experienced by North Atlantic right whales reflect conditions faced by all the great whales of the North Atlantic. Given the 1935 absolute moratorium on hunting right whales in any waters, there are three major areas of current concern for whale conservation and survival noted in Dr. Moore’s presentation and addressed in legal terms by subsequent contributors to the Symposium: (1) entanglement in commercial fishing gear; (2) vessel strikes; and (3) ambient and episodic marine noise. Each of these is generated by human activities on the oceans.
A constraint-based graphics library for B-Prolog

CGLIB is a high-level graphics library for B-Prolog, a constraint logic programming system. The library provides primitives for creating and manipulating graphical objects and a set of constraints including non-overlap, grid, table, and tree constraints that facilitates the specification of the layouts of objects. The library adopts a construct called action rules available in B-Prolog for creating agents and programming interactions among agents or between agents and the user. The library is a fully working system implemented in B-Prolog, Java and C. It can be used in many areas such as drawing editors, interactive user interfaces, document authoring, animation, information visualization, intelligent agents, and games. The high-level abstraction of the library and the use of constraints and action rules in the specification of layouts and behaviors can significantly enhance the productivity of the development of graphics. We demonstrate through several examples the effectiveness of the library as a tool for developing graphics-rich and interactive user interfaces. The system is available from www.bprolog.com and the details of the library can be found in [1].
Electoral Institutions, Political Competition and De Facto Judicial Independence

The importance of the judiciary in consolidating and sustaining a robust democracy and, an attractive business environment has led scholars to study the conditions which allow judiciaries to function with genuine or de facto independence. One of the most influential theories in the current literature argues that high levels of political competition, whether for office or among branches of government, create conditions supportive of high levels of de facto judicial independence (DFJI). However, comprehensive data over a 20-year period from 103 developing country democracies reveal a puzzle: under conditions of high political competition political elites in 56% of countries did indeed increase de facto judicial independence (DFJI) but fully 44% reduced the independence their judiciaries enjoyed. We explain this puzzle by arguing that in order to understand when political elites have incentives to support de facto judicial independence, it is essential to consider not just the effect of the magnitude but also the nature of political competition created by a country’s electoral institutions. Only in countries with electoral institutions which create high levels of electoral particularism do legislators and weak parties from both government and opposition have incentives to support DFJI when strategic time horizons shrink and, judges facing low risks and costs of political retaliation make a bid for DFJI. In countries with low levels of particularism however well-disciplined parties and their legislators do not find an independent judiciary attractive and, judges facing high political costs and certainty of retaliation choose to be subservient leading to low levels of DFJI. These claims are assessed using a comprehensive TSCS data of 103 developing countries observed as democracies anytime from 1985 to 2004. The statistical results corroborate our claims and remain robust when we control for alternative explanations, employ different estimation techniques, and use different measures of de facto judicial independence.
Organizing for successful DFE: lessons from winners and losers

Organization is arguably the most critical success factor in DFE. Recent experience with DFE provides some useful lessons in organizing DFE to meet its ultimate objectives-producing more competitive products and sustainable EH&S measures, lowering manufacturing costs, and reducing and managing EH&S risk-by integrating EH&S management into overall product designs and locating the DFE function in the operating units. These lessons include: DFE should be organized as a business management issue supported by the EH&S functions. DFE should produce more competitive products-not green products-and be owned by the product management team in each business unit. DFE programs should start small, expand incrementally. Management must recognize that development, integration, and growth of DFE organizations will almost certainly be uneven across the company.
Antidepressant-like cognitive and behavioral effects of acute ketamine administration associated with plasticity in the ventral hippocampus to medial prefrontal cortex pathway

Acute low-dose administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, ketamine, produces rapid and sustained antidepressant-like effects in humans and rodents. Recently, we found that the long-lasting effect of ketamine on the forced swim test requires ventral hippocampal (vHipp) activity at the time of drug administration. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a target of the vHipp dysregulated in depression, is important for cognitive flexibility and response strategy selection. Deficits in cognitive flexibility, the ability to modify thoughts and behaviors in response to changes in the environment, are associated with depression. We have shown that chronic stress impairs cognitive flexibility on the attentional set-shifting test (AST) and induces a shift from active to passive response strategies on the shock-probe defensive burying test (SPDB). In this study, we tested the effects of ketamine on chronic stress-induced changes in cognitive flexibility and coping behavior on the AST and SPDB, respectively. Subsequently, we investigated vHipp-mPFC plasticity as a potential mechanism of ketamine’s therapeutic action. Ketamine reversed deficits in cognitive flexibility and restored active coping behavior in chronically stressed rats. Further, high frequency stimulation in the vHipp replicated ketamine’s antidepressant-like effects on the forced swim test and AST, but not on the SPDB. These results show that ketamine restores cognitive flexibility and coping response strategy compromised by stress. Activity in the vHipp-mPFC pathway may represent a neural substrate for some of the antidepressant-like behavioral effects of ketamine, including cognitive flexibility, but other circuits may mediate the effects of ketamine on coping response strategy.
A study of zero-out auctions: testbed experiments of a process of allocating private rights to the use of public property

This paper applies an experimental testbed methodology to the evaluation of a proposed mechanism for allocating the right to land at the New York airports. The mechanism is called a “zero-out auction” because it is supposed to allocate the rights efficiently like an auction while leaving all of the consumer's surplus with the buyers (as opposed to allocating some to the seller as would be the case with an ordinary auction). A new behavioral hypothesis is introduced to account for limited rationality of individuals and unusual behaviors of the process. The axiom, called the unbiased expectations hypothesis, does a good job of modeling individual behavior in the context of a game model.
Investigation of the ν5 band of methylacetylene by infrared laser Stark and microwave spectroscopy

Abstract Microwave spectra have been studied in the ground and v 5 = 1 (CC stretching mode) states of methylacetylene. From these data, dipole moments and rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been determined, as follows: μ D (0) = 0.7839 ± 0.0010 D, μ D (5) = 0.7954 ± 0.0010 D, B 5 = 8508.119 ± 0.003 MHz, D J (5) = 1.8 ± 0.2 kHz, and D JK (5) = 169 ± 1 kHz. Laser Stark spectra have been obtained for the ν 5 band of this molecule and from these spectra the following vibration-rotation parameters have been determined: ν 5 0 = 93.27540 ± 0.00007 cm −1 , A 5 - A 0 = −227.0 ± 2.3 MHz and D K (5) - D K (0) = −0.05 ± 0.50 MHz. The higher- J and - K states of the v 5 = 1 state appear to be purturbed.
Chronic effects of amiodarone in patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia

We examined the chronic electrophysiologic, systemic, and pharmacologic effects of chronic oral amiodarone therapy in 24 patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia and organic heart disease. Chronic amiodarone therapy resulted in significant increases in R-R interval (from 798 ± 182 msec to 912 ± 100 msec; P < 0.01), P-R interval (from 205 ± 66 msec to 221 ± 87 msec; P < 0.02), QRS duration (from 103 ± 24 msec to 115 ± 28 msec; P < 0.001), and Q-Tc interval (from 413 ± 48 msec to 470 ± 46 msec; P < 0.001). Significant increases were also noted in P-A interval (from 36 ± 14 msec to 45 ± 13 msec; P < 0.05), A-H interval (from 119 ± 61 msec to 141 ± 87 msec; P < 0.02), and H-V interval (from 52 ± 12 msec to 64 ± 11 msec; P < 0.001). Electrophysiologic parameters showing changes included corrected sinus node recovery time (from 271 ± 140 msec to 425 ± 122 msec; P < 0.01), the effective refractory period of the atrium (from 263 ± 32 msec to 321 ± 47 msec; P < 0.01), the effective refractory period of the atrioventricular node (from 348 ± 109 msec to 478 ± 157 msec; P < 0.001), the effective refractory period of the ventricle (from 253 ± 21 msec to 291 ± 28 msec; P < 0.001), the atrial pacing cycle length producing A-V nodal Wenckebach (from 436 ± 109 msec to 531 ± 95 msec; P < 0.001), and the functional refractory period of the A-V node (from 422 ± 68 msec to 499 ± 95 msec; P < 0.001). Programmed electrical stimulation performed after 21–88 (mean 31) days of treatment was highly predictive of long-term results if suppression of arrhythmia induction was demonstrated (12 patients) or if the spontaneous arrhythmia was reinduced (5 patients). Induction of morphologically new ventricular tachyarrhythmias was frequent (42%) but had a low spontaneous recurrence rate (10%) during follow-up. Systemic parameters on chronic amiodarone therapy showed significant increases in total T4 and reverse T3, with no change in pulmonary function tests or left ventricular ejection fraction. Serum amiodarone levels at chronic electrophysiologic study ranged from 0.44–4.10 (mean 1.3) μg/ml. Long-term follow-up (2.5 to 20 months) demonstrated a marked improvement in clinical symptoms and mortality, but a significant recurrence rate of a well-tolerated slower arrhythmia persisted. Adverse effects on chronic amiodarone therapy were frequent (10 patients) and often disabling but required drug discontinuation in only 1 patient.
Human β-interferon gene expression is regulated by an inducible enhancer element

We have localized the regulatory sequence required for viral or poly([)-poly(C) activation of human β-interferon gene expression to a region located between −37 and −77 from the mRNA cap site. This sequence has the characteristics of an inducible enhancer element: it can act upstream or downstream of the β-interferon gene regardless of its orientation, and at distances up to approximately 1 kilobase from its normal location. Moreover, this element can confer inducibility on a heterologous promoter. Further analysis has identified a minimal regulatory element of 14 base pairs within this enhancer. Sequences closely related to this element are present five times within the 5′-flanking regions of both the α- and β-interferon genes. The number of these minimal regulatory elements required for maximal β-interferon gene expression appears to differ in different cell lines.
Downsizing the Hydrated Electron's Lair

A new model for free electrons in water suggests that they are localized in regions of enhanced rather than depleted water density.
A pattern analysis of Clear Lake phytoplankton 1

Using results from synoptic measurements we developed a statistical frequency distribution more suitable for aquatic plankton than existing ones. We analyzed the synoptic data with this distribution and used the results to quantify phytoplankton spatial relations and to investigate controlling physical and ecological factors. We analyzed 43 sets of data (about 32 samples per set) representing 18 freshwater phytoplankton genera and obtained reliable results using three fitted parameters per set. We explicitly separated local and regional variability, thus avoiding overestimates of regional variability (patchiness) caused by counting individual cells of colonial or locally associated species as independent units. Patchiness estimates showed significant between-species variations related to nutrient variability, relative species dominance, and species sensitivity. Pooling cell frequencies for related species reduced patchiness estimates. This implies that comparisons of spatial relations between biotic and abiotic parameters underestimate phytoplankton (biotic) spatial organization when several species are present.
Contraction of protoplasm. IV. Cinematographic analysis of unfertilized sea urchin eggs stimulated with continuous direct current.

The response of unfertilized sea urchin eggs stimulated with continuous D.C. was studied using cinematographic techniques. As reported by previous workers, the initiation of the response was anodal in polarity and followed a typical strength-duration curve. However, the anodal response may be swelling and/or contraction, depending on the amplitude of the applied stimulus, i.e., the magnitude of the contraction is directly related to the applied stimulus and is a graded response. It is suggested that the phenomena of anodal swelling and anodal contraction represent a continuum of responses based on ion exchange.
The antiviral drug amantadine has a direct inhibitory effect on T-lymphocytes

We investigated the effect of the antiviral drug amantadine (AmTd) on polyclonal activation of thymic-dependent (T) and thymic-independent (B) lymphocytes from normal mice. In the present studies, T-lymphocytes are defined by their response to concanavalin A (Con A) and B-lymphocytes by their response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Polyclonal activator-induced lymphocyte proliferation was assessed by quantifying cellular incorporation of tritiated thymidine. The results show that, in a dose-dependent manner, AmTd exhibits at least 2-fold greater inhibitory activity against Con A-responding T-cells than against LPS-responding B-cells. Further, several findings demonstrate that AmTd has a direct inhibitory effect on T-lymphocytes. First, AmTd pulse treatment of isolated T-cells, but not accessory cells, abolished the T-cell response to Con A. Second, AmTd pulse treatment of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte line, CTLL-2, markedly reduced their ability to undergo IL-2-induced proliferation. Third, proliferation of T-cells which had already undergone activation by ConA was inhibited by AmTd. Further, the finding that addition of IL-1, IL-2 or both to cultures failed to reverse inhibition of the response to ConA argues that AmTd did not interfere with endogenous production of these lymphokines. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.
An Ihara formula for partially directed graphs

Abstract Ihara’s formula expresses the Ihara zeta function of a finite undirected graph as a rational function with a particularly nice form. In 2001 Mizuno and Sato showed that the Ihara zeta function of a fully directed graph has a similar expression, and in 2005, Sato generalized Ihara’s formula to connected, simple, partially directed graphs. (Sato proved his formula for the more-general two-variable Bartholdi zeta function.) This paper provides a new proof of Ihara’s formula for the Ihara zeta function of any finite graph, not necessarily connected or simple, no matter whether it is undirected, fully directed, or partially directed.
Reliability of assigning correct current procedural terminology-4 E/M codes.

Abstract Study objectives: We determine the degree of interagency and intra-agency agreement on Current Procedural Terminology-4 (CPT-4) coding levels for emergency department medical records. We hypothesized that the level of agreement among coding agencies would be poor, but the distribution of codes would be similar and not significantly different. Methods: We performed a prospective observational study consisting of 3 separate randomized, blinded trials: 2 interagency comparisons and 1 intra-agency comparison. The setting was 2 suburban academic EDs. In the 2 interagency audits, 4 coding agencies were used. In the intra-agency comparison, we used 5 individual coders from within our own internal agency. The main outcome measures were the level of agreement not due to chance estimated with the multiple-rater weighted κ statistic and the Kendall τ-b. We measured the distribution of codes by agency or by individual coders with the χ 2 test. Results: Our sample for the 2 interagency audits consisted of 194 and 195 records, respectively. We observed poor agreement in the level of coding assigned to individual charts among the 4 coding agencies, with κ values of 0.28 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.275 to 0.285) and 0.287 (95% CI 0.283 to 0.291). Our intra-agency comparison consisted of 100 records. The agreement in the intra-agency review was significantly better but still fair (κ=0.436; 95% CI 0.428 to 0.444). The distribution of CPT-4 codes was significantly different for all 3 comparisons ( P Conclusion: For our patient population, group of physicians, and methods of documentation, we identified poor-to-fair agreement in coding of emergency charts between coding agencies. Only fair agreement was measured in the intra-agency sample. The distribution of assigned CPT-4 codes was significantly different in each comparison. These findings have important financial and legal implications regarding the reliability of coding methods. [ Ann Emerg Med. 2002;40:269-274.]
Is pH test paper as accurate as the electronic measurement of thepH of vaginal secretions

Summary A comparison was made of two brands of pH test paper and electronic instrumentation for measuringthe pH of vaginal secretions. When the pH of vaginal secretions was >4.5 (abnormal), there was no significant difference between the methods, showing that pH test paper is reliable for pH determination of vaginal secretions
Short run core equivalence in an overlapping generations model

Abstract This essay establishes the equality between the set of competitive equilibrium allocations and the set of allocations which belong to the cores of a sequence of short run economies for an overlapping generations model. A short run economy is a finite period economy obtained by truncating the original economy so that the truncated economy is irreducible.
Wireless Tissue Palpation for Intraoperative Detection of Lumps in the Soft Tissue

In an open surgery, identification of precise margins for curative tissue resection is performed by manual palpation. This is not the case for minimally invasive and robotic procedures, where tactile feedback is either distorted or not available. In this paper, we introduce the concept of intraoperative wireless tissue palpation. The wireless palpation probe (WPP) is a cylindrical device (15 mm in diameter, 60 mm in length) that can be deployed through a trocar incision and directly controlled by the surgeon to create a volumetric stiffness distribution map of the region of interest. This map can then be used to guide the tissue resection to minimize healthy tissue loss. The wireless operation prevents the need for a dedicated port and reduces the chance of instrument clashing in the operating field. The WPP is able to measure in real time the indentation pressure with a sensitivity of 34 Pa, the indentation depth with an accuracy of 0.68 mm, and the probe position with a maximum error of 11.3 mm in a tridimensional workspace. The WPP was assessed on the benchtop in detecting the local stiffness of two different silicone tissue simulators (elastic modulus ranging from 45 to 220 kPa), showing a maximum relative error below 5%. Then, in vivo trials were aimed to identify an agar-gel lump injected into a porcine liver and to assess the device usability within the frame of a laparoscopic procedure. The stiffness map created intraoperatively by the WPP was compared with a map generated ex vivo by a standard uniaxial material tester, showing less than 8% local stiffness error at the site of the lump.
Design and Implementation of a Nulling Microellipsometer

We report the design and implementation of a radially symmetric microellipsometer using an electro-optical pure polarization rotator. The use of such a circular retarder allows a nulling detection scheme for more accurate measurements.
TU‐EE‐A1‐05: External Beam Radiotherapy Boosts to Reduce the Impacts Caused by Edema in Prostate Permanent Seed Implants

Purpose: In prostate permanent seed implants, it has been shown that edema caused by the surgical procedure decreases dose coverage and hence may reduce treatment efficacy. External beam boosts can be utilized to neutralize the negative impact of edema so that originally desired treatment efficacy can be achieved. This study is to investigate the number of fractions needed in these external beam boosts. Method and Materials: The reduction in treatment efficacy can be characterized with an increase in tumor cell survivals and biomathematical models have been developed to calculate the tumor cell survival increases in seed implanted prostates of different edema sizes and durations. A linear quadratic radiobiological model was used to derive the number of fractions needed in the external beam boosts with which the tumor cell survival fractions will be reduced to the desired levels. Prostate edema of different durations and sizes was taken into consideration in tumor cell survival fraction calculations. Results: As edema duration and size increased, the fraction number needed in the external beam boosts increased for both 125 I and 103 Pd seed implants. For edema of same duration and size, the needed number of fractions was higher in 103 Pd implants than in 125 I implants. External beam boost is needed for all the edemas investigated in 103 Pd implants while in 125 I implants the boost can be avoided for edemas of relatively short duration (3 days) and sizes (less than 20%). Conclusion: In conclusion, fractionation sizes have been determined for the external beam boosts that are needed to neutralize the negative impacts caused by edema in both 125 I and 103 Pd prostate seed implants. The number of fractions needed is larger in 103 Pd implants than in 125 I implants. The fractionation sizes are also influenced by various radiobiological parameters, and these influences increase as edema size increases.
Somnogenic and pyrogenic effects of interleukin-1β and lipopolysaccharide in intact and vagotomized rats

The vagus nerve appears to serve a role in mediating peripheral immunologic influences on CNS processes. Previous work demonstrates that subdiaphragmatic vagotomy prevents or attenuates many of the behavioral and physiological responses to exogenous interleukin-1 (IL-1) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We determined whether the somnogenic effects of IL-1 and LPS were altered in vagotomized rats, and whether the effects of vagotomy on IL-1- and LPS-induced alterations in sleep would vary as a function of circadian phase. The data indicate that vagotomy does not influence the normal circadian patterns of sleep and wakefulness in untreated rats, or modify the pyrogenic or somnogenic effects of intracerebroventricular administration of IL-1. However, in unchallenged animals vagotomy reduces basal brain temperatures, increases delta wave amplitudes during slow-wave sleep (SWS), and induces a reduced rate of weight gain, gastric distension, and adrenal hypoplasia. Vagotomy attenuates the febrile effects of IL-1 during both light and dark phases, attenuated IL-1-induced sleep enhancement during the dark phase, and attenuated IL-1-induced increases in delta wave amplitudes within SWS during the light period. In LPS-treated rats, vagotomy attenuates the febrile and SWS responses to LPS after administration at light onset, but not after administration at dark onset. These results indicate that subdiaphragmatic vagotomy attenuates several of the somnogenic and pyrogenic effects of IL-1beta and LPS, although the effectiveness of the vagal transection in modulating these responses is influenced by circadian factors.
Socially Induced Synchronization of Every-Other-Day Egg Laying in a Seabird Colony

ABSTRACT. Spontaneous oscillator synchrony has been documented in a wide variety of electrical, mechanical, chemical, and biological systems, including the menstrual cycles of women and estrous cycles of Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus). In temperate regions, many colonial birds breed seasonally in a time window set by photoperiod; some studies have suggested that heightened social stimulation in denser colonies can lead to a tightened annual reproductive pulse. It has been unknown, however, whether the analog of menstrual synchrony occurs in birds—that is, whether avian ovulation cycles can synchronize on a daily timescale within the annual breeding pulse. We report every-other-day clutch-initiation and egg-laying synchrony in a breeding colony of Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) and show that the level of synchrony declined with decreasing colony density. We also pose a mathematical model based on the hypothesis that preovulatory luteinizing hormone surges synchronize through social stimulation....
Effects of Cα-oxidation in the fungal metabolism of lignin

Abstract Cα-Oxidation (benzyl alcohol oxidation) is a prominent reaction in the degradation of lignin by white-rot fungi. This study showed that such oxidation markedly retards metabolism of a nonphenolic β-O-4 model compound, 1-(3-methoxy-4-ethoxyphenyl)-2-(o-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,3-diol, by cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium Burds. Surprisingly, however, selective chemical Cα -oxidation of spruce lignins enhanced their depolymerization by the cultures. Thus the decrease in intrinsic degradability of substructures is more than compensated by another effect of Cα-oxidation in lignin. One possibility is that the oxidation increases the accessibility of the lignin to enzymes by decreasing its steric complexity. This study also revealed that the β-O-4 model, like lignin in wood, is degraded in part via Cα-oxidation by P. chrysosporium. Reduction of the α-carbonyl groups thus formed does not occur. Addition of L-glutamate to ligninolytic cultures completely suppresses their competence to degrade the m...
Energy transfer to a morse oscillator

The vibrational excitation of a Morse oscillator in a collinear collision is determined analytically using a new dynamical algebra. The dependence of V → T processes on the initial vibrational state is examined. At finite coupling strengths the decline of Pn → n−1/n with n is faster than that derived for weak coupling.