cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics and Value of Nature-Based Recreation, Estimated via Social Media

Conserved lands provide multiple ecosystem services, including opportunities for nature-based recreation. Managing this service requires understanding the landscape attributes underpinning its provision, and how changes in land management affect its contribution to human wellbeing over time. However, evidence from both spatially explicit and temporally dynamic analyses is scarce, often due to data limitations. In this study, we investigated nature-based recreation within conserved lands in Vermont, USA. We used geotagged photographs uploaded to the photo-sharing website Flickr to quantify visits by in-state and out-of-state visitors, and we multiplied visits by mean trip expenditures to show that conserved lands contributed US $1.8 billion (US $0.18–20.2 at 95% confidence) to Vermont’s tourism industry between 2007 and 2014. We found eight landscape attributes explained the pattern of visits to conserved lands; visits were higher in larger conserved lands, with less forest cover, greater trail density and more opportunities for snow sports. Some of these attributes differed from those found in other locations, but all aligned with our understanding of recreation in Vermont. We also found that using temporally static models to inform conservation decisions may have perverse outcomes for nature-based recreation. For example, static models suggest conserved land with less forest cover receive more visits, but temporally dynamic models suggest clearing forests decreases, rather than increases, visits to these sites. Our results illustrate the importance of understanding both the spatial and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services for conservation decision-making.
Segmentation of PET/SPECT images by using sensor-array-signal processing technique

A new signal processing method is developed for PET and SPECT image region detection and segmentation. The proposed technique formulates the region detection problem in a multidimensional signal processing framework such that a signal structure similar to sensor-array-processing signal presentation is created and the advanced sensor-array-signal processing techniques are employed. Following the region detection, the segmentation is completed by region parameter estimation and pixel classification. The developed method is an unsupervised, non-model-based, eigenstructure approach. It properly utilizes the spatial correlations among the pixels and eliminates the ad-hoc assumptions in image modeling. It possesses extensive computation speed superiority over existing model-based approaches. Details of this technique and several examples are presented. >
Impact of Harvest Time and Cultivar on Conversion of Switchgrass to Bio-oils Via Fast Pyrolysis

The study of the effects of harvest time on switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) biomass and bioenergy production reported herein encompasses a large study evaluating the harvest of six switchgrass cultivars grown at three northern US locations over 3 years, harvested at upland peak crop (anthesis), post-frost, and post-winter. Delaying harvest of switchgrass until after frost and until after winter has resulted in decreased yields of switchgrass and reduced amounts of minerals in the biomass. This report examines how changes in biomass composition as a result of varying harvest time and other factors affect the distribution of products formed via fast pyrolysis. A subset (50) of the population (n = 864) was analyzed for fast pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis (zeolite catalyst) product yields using a pyrolysis-GC/MS system. The subset was used to build calibrations that were successful in predicting the pyrolysis product yield using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), and partial least squares predictive models were applied to the entire sample set. The pyrolysis product yield was significantly affected by the field trial location, year of harvest, cultivar, and harvest time. Delaying harvest time of the switchgrass crop led to greater production of deoxygenated aromatics improving the efficiency of the catalytic fast pyrolysis and bio-oil quality. The changes in the pyrolysis product yield were related to biomass compositional changes, and key relationships between cell wall polymers, potassium concentration in the biomass, and pyrolysis products were identified. The findings show that the loss of minerals in the biomass as harvest time is delayed combined with the greater proportion in cellulose and lignin in the biomass has significant positive influences on conversion through fast pyrolysis.
A Diagnostic Marker to Discriminate Childhood Apraxia of Speech From Speech Delay: II. Validity Studies of the Pause Marker

Purpose The purpose of this 2nd article in this supplement is to report validity support findings for the Pause Marker (PM), a proposed single-sign diagnostic marker of childhood apraxia of speech ...
Consuming Women in Blackface: Racialized Affect and Transnational Femininity in Japanese Advertising

In 2014, ASTIGU – a Japanese pantyhose brand – launched ‘ashi wa, kao’ (legs are face), a new series of advertisements featuring a female model whose face is painted black. Although scholars have p...
Atrial fibrillation patients with isolated pulmonary veins: Is sinus rhythm achievable?

Background: The cornerstone of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is isolation of the pulmonary veins (PVs). Patients with recurrent AF undergoing repeat ablation usually have PV reconnection (PVr). The ablation strategy and outcome of patients undergoing repeat ablation who have persistent isolation of all PVs (PVi) at the time of repeat ablation is unknown.Methods and results: We studied consecutive patients with recurrent AF undergoing repeat ablation and compared patients with PVi to those with PVr. One hundred fifty-two patients underwent repeat ablation, and of these, 25 patients (16.4%) had PVi. Patients with PVi underwent ablation targeting any isoproterenol induced AF triggers, atrial substrate, or inducible atrial tachycardias or flutters. Patients with PVi compared to PVr were more likely to have a history of persistent AF (64% vs. 26%; P < 0.0001), obesity (BMI 30.4 vs. 28.2; P = 0.05), and prior use of contact force sensing catheters (28% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.0001). After a mean follow-up of 19 +/- 15 months, 56% of PVi patients remained in sinus rhythm compared to 76.3% of PVr patients (P = 0.036). In a multi-variable model, PVi patients and those with cardiomyopathy had a higher risk of recurrent atrial tachyarrhythmias (HR = 3.6 95%, CI 1.6-8.3, P = 0.002 and HR = 6.2, 95% CI 2.3-16.3, P < 0.0001, respectively).Conclusion: In patients who have all PVs isolated at the time of the redo AF ablation, a strategy of targeting non-PV AF triggers and inducible flutters can still lead to AF freedom in more than half of patients. Patients with PVr, however, have a better long-term outcome.
God and Human Destiny: A Jewish Perspective

Why does God permit so much suffering and evil in the world has perplexed scholars, clergy, and laypersons over the millennia. This essay offers a nuanced view of the Eternal, as one who is all-good, caring and sharing in our suffering, but not all-powerful to overcome evil resulting from human freedom. The essay urges humans to be active partners with God, not passively accepting suffering and evil.God invites us to be the Eternal's companions in transforming suffering and evil. Out of the maze of our existence, we can fashion a life of beauty and goodness, within the tragedy of broken dreams and an awareness of the brevity of our existence. Accepting our own responsibilities and taking an active stance to help heal ourselves and assist our loved ones and those we encounter achieve inner peace of mind, we become God's partners on a personal level. By confronting evil, we support the Eternal in bringing order out of chaos in the Divine quest for harmony and global healing.
New Insights in Pediatric Urology: Highlights From the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology Meeting, October 2-4, 2010, San Francisco, CA.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Urology annual meeting was held in San Francisco, CA, on October 2–4, 2010. About 70 papers and posters were presented on a wide range of topics including cryptorchidism, genitourinary (GU) tumors, varicocele, exstrophy, sexual differentiation, reflux, hypospadias, neurogenic bladder, hydronephrosis, valves, and voiding dysfunction. There were several panels including Pediatric Trauma, Clinical Research Updates, and an Update on Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR) that provided an overview of the recently published American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines on VUR.
Knowledge Mechanics and the Neuroscholar Project: A New Approach to Neuroscientific Theory

Publisher Summary Neuroscience literature has intrinsic complications because its subject matter is both broad and deep. It involves many different scientific subdisciplines ranging from animal behavior and psychology, through cellular anatomy and physiology, to studies of molecular biophysics and biochemistry. This chapter describes how knowledge mechanics will examine the philosophical basis of the concept of theory in neuroscience and how a knowledge mechanical approach may address key issues. It discusses the high-level software requirements and the fundamental design concepts of the neuroscholar system, neuroscholar, and the significance of knowledge mechanics in detail. The process of building a representation of user knowledge in neuroscholar is accomplished by placing a computational structure on the data that adequately captures the concepts of neuroscience theory. The retrieval of knowledge from the system may rely on the structured, interconnected nature of the ontology to give the user the capability to query data and information or knowledge in a combinatorial way. The strength of neuroanatomical connections is often used to prioritize how different connections influence the global organization of the system.
Retold: African Fables Conceptualized into Fashion Artwork

Unfortunately, there is still a"profound ambivalence" in the true historiography of Africa; much of what we understand is the â€œvictimhood and romanticismâ€ of the people (Beinart, 2000). The purpose of this research is to divulge the benefits and methodologies of using fables in fashion artwork. The conceptualization of African fables into the apparel and textiles industry aims to bring a deeper understanding of the rich cultural heritage of peoples. The perspective of the "anthropology of art" was used to frame a concept of "creative flow" by means of African fables. Four successful artworks were created and these works help break down barriers for other artists/designers looking to incorporate anthropological art in their work. These garments offer inventive ways of using unique forms of media to accomplish the goal of storytelling and designing successful fashion artwork.
Regulation, Institutional Disruption and Choice of Telecommunications Sector Capital Structure

The impact of transition from a rate of return to incentive regulation on choice of firm leverage levels in the United States telecommunications industry has been examined for the years 1988 to 200...
Commentary: Passive Investing and Market Efficiency

In a stock market dominated by passive investors, an interesting question arises as to how the equilibrium level of market efficiency will be maintained. This short article argues that the critical agents in this regard must be the companies that issue the shares, not active investment managers.
Mepivacaine Spinal Anesthesia Facilitates Rapid Recovery in Total Knee Arthroplasty Compared to Bupivacaine

Abstract Background Mepivacaine as a spinal anesthetic for rapid recovery in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has not been assessed. The purpose of this study is to compare spinal mepivacaine vs bupivacaine for postoperative measures in patients undergoing primary TKA. Methods Retrospective review of a prospectively collected single-institution database was performed on 156 consecutive patients who underwent primary TKA. Fifty-three patients were administered mepivacaine and 103 patients were administered bupivacaine. Primary outcomes were urinary retention, length of stay, pain control, opioid consumption, and distance associated with physical therapy. Statistical analysis with univariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the effect of anesthetic with primary outcomes. Results Patients undergoing TKA with mepivacaine had a shorter length of stay (28.1 ± 11.2 vs 33.6 ± 14.4 hours, P = .002) and fewer episodes of straight catheterization (3.8% vs 16.5%, P = .021) compared to bupivacaine. Patients administered mepivacaine exhibited slightly higher VAS pain scores and morphine consumption in the postanesthesia care unit (1.3 ± 1.9 vs 0.5 ± 1.3, P = .002; 2.2 ± 3.3 vs 0.8 ± 2.1 equivalents/h, P = .002), but otherwise exhibited no difference in VAS scores or morphine consumption afterwards. There was no need to convert to general anesthesia or transient neurologic symptom complication in either group. Conclusion Mepivacaine for spinal anesthesia with TKA had adequate duration to complete the surgery and facilitated a more rapid recovery with less urinary complications and a shorter length of stay. Patients administered mepivacaine did not display worse pain control or transient neurologic symptoms afterwards.
Constitutional Method and the Path of Precedent

This chapter argues that methodologies of constitutional interpretation and questions of constitutional stare decisis are inextricably connected, such that courts cannot commit to a complete theory of stare decisis without also committing to a theory of interpretation. The author contends that while some components of the stare decisis inquiry are independent of interpretive theories, others—in particular the questions of whether and to what extent following an incorrect precedent is harmful—depend for their answers on which interpretive methodology one adopts. The author traces this dependent relationship to the existence of divergent normative underpinnings for various interpretive theories. And he suggests that the fact of methodological pluralism on the U.S. Supreme Court, and indeed within the jurisprudence of individual Justices, is likely to frustrate the development of a coherent, comprehensive approach to stare decisis in constitutional cases.
de Rham Cohomology

The plane ℝ2 and the punctured plane ℝ2 -{(0,0)} are not diffeomorphic, nor even homeomorphic. There are various means by which one can prove this, but the most instructive among these detect the “hole” in the punctured plane (and none in ℝ2) by distinguishing topologically certain “types” of circles that can live in the two spaces. One way of formalizing this idea is to show that ℝ2 and ℝ2 - {(0,0)} have different fundamental groups (see pages 107 and 133 of [N4]). Fundamental groups (and their higher dimensional gener- alizations) are notoriously difficult to calculate, however. In this chapter we will investigate another method of attaching to any smooth manifold certain algebraic objects which likewise “detect holes”.
Computer description of textured surfaces

This work deals with computer analysis of textured surfaces. Descriptions of textures are formalized from natural language descriptions. Local texture descriptions are obtained from the directional and non-directional components of the Fourier transform power spectrum. Analytic expressions are derived for orientation, contrast, size, spacing, and in periodic cases, the locations of texture elements. The local descriptions are defined over windows of varying sizes.
Constructing services with interposable virtual hardware

Virtual machine monitors (VMMs) have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, since VMMs can help to solve difficult systems problems like migration, fault tolerance, code sandboxing, intrusion detection, and debugging. Recently, several researchers have proposed novel applications of virtual machine technology, such as Internet Suspend/Resume [25, 31] and transparent OS-level rollback and replay [13]. Unfortunately, current VMMs do not export enough functionality to budding developers of such applications, forcing them either to reverse engineer pieces of a black-box VMM, or to reimplement significant portions of a VMM. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of µDenali, an extensible and programmable virtual machine monitor that has the ability to run modern operating systems. µDenali allows programmers to extend the virtual architecture exposed by the VMM to a virtual machine, in effect giving systems programmers the ability to dynamically assemble a virtual machine out of either default or custom-built virtual hardware elements. µDenali allows programmers to interpose on and modify events at the level of the virtual architecture, enabling them to easily perform tasks such as manipulating disk and network events, or capturing and migrating virtual machine state. In addition to describing and evaluating our extensible virtual machine monitor, we present an application-level API that simplifies writing extensions, and we discuss applications of virtual machines that we have built using this API.
Effects of needle gauge and syringe size on small intestinal leakage at injection sites

Objective To determine the influence of needle gauge, syringe volume, and syringe size on needle tract leakage after injection in porcine jejunum. Study design Ex vivo experiment. Sample population Three hundred sixty jejunal segments from 20 feedlot pigs. Methods Fresh porcine intestines were divided into 5-cm or 10-cm segments and randomly assigned to the one of nine treatment groups: 25-gauge, 22-gauge, and 20-gauge needles attached to full 12-mL, half-full 20-mL, and full 20-mL syringes (n = 20/group). The jejunal segments were occluded with Rochester-Carmalt forceps prior to injection of diluted India ink. Injection time and leakage were noted by a blinded observer. Multivariate analysis was used with segment size, needle gauge, volume infused, time to inject per milliliter, and syringe size as variables. Results Leakage occurred in 36% of 5-cm and 15% of 10-cm segments and was immediate without palpation in 33.8% and 11% of segments, respectively. Protective effects were seen for 22-gauge needles in both 5-cm (P = .002) and 10-cm (P = .001) segments, whereas injection of 20 mL had a higher odds ratio of leakage compared with injection of 10 mL and 12 mL in 5-cm segments (P = .003). Conclusion Injections with 22-gauge needles reduced the frequency of leakage, while 20 mL instilled in 5-cm segments increased the frequency of leakage in intact segments of porcine jejunum. Clinical significance Injection with a smaller syringe size attached to a 22-gauge needle through a 10-cm segment of small intestine may lower the frequency of leakage from the injection site, but influence on the detection of surgical site leakage remains unknown.
Automated gradient-based electrical properties tomography in the human brain using 7 Tesla MRI.

Abstract Electrical properties of the brain tissues may yield useful biomarkers for neurological disorders and diseases, as well as contribute to safety assurance of ultra-high-field MRI. It has been reported that using B1 maps from a multi-channel RF coil, the spatial variation of the electrical properties can be robustly retrieved. The absolute electrical property values can then be obtained by spatial integration, given that an integration seed point is assigned. In this study, we propose to exploit automatically detected seed points based on tissue piece-wise homogeneity (Helmholtz equation) for spatial integration. Numerical simulations of a numerical brain model and experiments involving 12 healthy volunteers were performed to demonstrate its feasibility and robustness in various noisy conditions and head positions. For in vivo imaging, we consistently observed higher conductivity and permittivity values in the white and gray matter compared to tabulated ex vivo probe measurement results found in the literature, a discrepancy that may be attributed to ex vivo experimental constraints. Our results suggest that the proposed technique produces consistent brain electrical properties in vivo that may contribute to improving diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.
Heat Shrinking DNA Nanoparticles for In Vivo Gene Delivery

The particle size of a PEG-peptide DNA nanoparticle is a key determinant of biodistribution following i.v. dosing. DNA nanoparticles of <100 nm in diameter are sufficiently small to cross through fenestrated endothelial cells to target hepatocytes in the liver. In addition, DNA nanoparticles must be close to charge-neutral to avoid recognition and binding to scavenger receptors found on Kupffer cells and endothelial cells in the liver. In the present study, we demonstrate an approach to heat shrink DNA nanoparticles to reduce their size to <100 nm to target hepatocytes. An optimized protocol heated plasmid DNA at 100 °C for 10 min resulting in partial denaturation. The immediate addition of a polyacridine PEG-peptide followed by cooling to room temperature resulted in heat-shrunken DNA nanoparticles that were ~70 nm in diameter compared with 170 nm when heating was omitted. Heat shrinking resulted in the conversion of supercoiled DNA into open circular to remove strain during compaction. Heat-shrunken DNA nanoparticles were stable to freeze-drying and reconstitution in saline. Hydrodynamic dosing established that 70 nm heat-shrunken DNA nanoparticles efficiently expressed luciferase in mouse liver. Biodistribution studies revealed that 70 nm DNA nanoparticles are rapidly and transiently taken up by liver whereas 170 nm DNA nanoparticles avoid liver uptake due to their larger size. The results provide a new approach to decrease the size of polyacridine PEG-peptide DNA nanoparticles to allow penetration of the fenestrated endothelium of the liver for the purpose of transfecting hepatocytes in vivo.
Effects of mTOR inhibitor–related proteinuria on progression of cardiac allograft vasculopathy and outcomes among heart transplant recipients

We have previously described the use of sirolimus (SRL) as primary immunosuppression following heart transplantation (HT). The advantages of this approach include attenuation of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), improvement in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and reduced malignancy. However, in some patients SRL may cause significant proteinuria. We sought to investigate the prognostic value of proteinuria after conversion to SRL. CAV progression and adverse clinical events were studied. CAV progression was assessed by measuring the Δ change in plaque volume (PV) and plaque index (PI) per year using coronary intravascular ultrasound. Proteinuria was defined as Δ urine protein ≥300 mg/24 h at 1 year after conversion to SRL. Overall, 137 patients were analyzed (26% with proteinuria). Patients with proteinuria had significantly lower GFR (P = .005) but similar GFR during follow-up. Delta PV (P < .001) and Δ PI (P = .001) were significantly higher among patients with proteinuria after adjustment for baseline characteristics. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 3.8; P = .01) with proteinuria but similar risk of CAV-related events (P = .61). Our results indicate that proteinuria is a marker of baseline renal dysfunction, and that HT recipients who develop proteinuria after conversion to SRL have less attenuation of CAV progression and higher mortality risk.
The impact of a cancer diagnosis on sibling relationships from childhood through young adulthood: a systematic review

Cancer is a serious, life-threatening illness that impacts the entire family system, with implications for patients themselves, their siblings, parents, and extended family. Given increasing identi...
Modeling Dynamic ACL Loading During Running in Post-ACL Reconstruction Individuals: Implications for Regenerative Engineering

Neuromuscular deficits in post-anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) individuals result in the adoption of compensatory movement strategies that alter how the knee and ACL are loaded. While it is understood that post-ACLR individuals load the knee and ACL differently than healthy controls, the challenge is quantifying the loading in the ACL as it can provide insight regarding secondary ACL tears. Computational modeling is advantageous because it provides a way to compute the forces in the ACL in individuals during dynamic tasks. Thus, this study sought to employ computational modeling to investigate differences in how the ACL is loaded during running in healthy controls and post-ACLR individuals. Sixteen post-ACLR individuals and twelve healthy controls performed a running protocol where they were instructed to run at a self-selected speed. Subject-specific computational models were generated for each participant, and joint kinematics, joint kinetics, and muscle and ACL forces were extracted from the simulations. Despite the post-ACLR individuals exhibiting significantly lower peak knee flexion angles and peak knee extensor moments than the controls, the peak ACL forces were marginally higher in post-ACLR individuals than in healthy controls (p = 0.33). These findings suggest that secondary ACL tears may be more of a reflection of the challenges faced in mimicking the structural and functional roles of the ACL with transplanted tissues rather than the effects of elevated ligament loading. The knowledge gained from this study will have significant implications for regenerative engineering and the design of more robust tissues. Individuals after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) suffer from diminished muscle function that causes them to adopt new movement patterns. A consequence of these new movement patterns is a change in the forces that are placed on the newly transplanted ACL. This study used computational modeling to compare the forces experienced by the ACL in healthy controls and post-ACLR individuals during running. No differences in ACL forces were measured between the two groups, suggesting that secondary ACL tears may be due to the altered structural integrity of the newly transplanted grafts.
92741 Racial differences in patient-reported distress among women with endometrial cancer

ABSTRACT IMPACT: This work will inform and improve the way we assess and treat distress in women with endometrial cancer. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Distress from cancer is associated with worse processes of care. Differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity in endometrial cancer (EC) are well documented, but differences in distress have not been previously explored. Here we characterize the association between race/ethnicity, distress scores, and stressors reported by patients with EC. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Patients presenting to a single academic outpatient gynecologic oncology practice for initial evaluation of known EC from January 2013-May 2020 were included. The electronic health record was used to abstract demographics, National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer and Problem List (NCCN DT) scores and stressor categories (physical, emotional, spiritual, practical, and family) from the initial encounter. Referral to support services occurs at NCCN DT score ≥4. We excluded women who received prior cancer-directed therapy and those without an initial NCCN DT score. Summary statistics were tabulated for demographics. Mann-Whitney U tests were used for inter-group difference on continuous variables and 2-sample tests for equality of proportions were used for binary variables. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: 412 non-Hispanic White (NHW, mean age 63) and 149 non-Hispanic Black (NHB, mean age 65) women were included in our analysis. More NHB women presented with high-grade EC (53.7%) vs NHW women (21.9%) and fewer NHB women were privately insured (32% vs 52%). Median distress scores were higher in NHW women compared to their NHB counterparts (4 vs. 2, p 30% more high-risk histology cancers in this cohort. This difference leads to disparities in referral to additional support services, which may affect quality of care and quality of life.
Gestión del cuidado en enfermería desde una reflexión epistemológica

Care Management is based on universal values and knowledge that emerge from other sciences and from the discipline and science of Nursing itself, supported by strategic processes that seek quality, continuity, integrality of care and welfare of people. Objective. Through epistemological analysis of the concept of Nursing Care Management, it is intended to understand its origin, how it is articulated with the discipline and science of Nursing, difficulties in its application and pending challenges within the discipline and profession. The theoretical-practical conflict continues to be a constant concern for Nursing Science, a scenario that is intertwined with Care Management. There are great pending challenges so that this construct is recognized and valued not only by Nursing, but also by other disciplines to articulate itself with other sanitary professions and to objectively evidence the benefits in the action of taking care; crucial positioning that would allow it to be immersed in the public policy of health and to enter operationally to the public and private services; work that should emerge jointly from the union activity, academy, investigation and legislative action.
Optimizing the methodology for saphenous nerve somatosensory evoked potentials for monitoring upper lumbar roots and femoral nerve during lumbar spine surgery: technical note.

The demand for intraoperative monitoring (IOM) of lumbar spine surgeries has escalated to accommodate more challenging surgical approaches to prevent perioperative neurologic deficits. Identifying impending injury of individual lumbar roots can be done by assessing free-running EMG and by monitoring the integrity of sensory and motor fibers within the roots by eliciting somatosensory (SEP), and motor evoked potentials. However, the common nerves for eliciting lower limb SEP do not monitor the entire lumbar plexus, excluding fibers from L1 to L4 roots. We aimed to technically optimize the methodology for saphenous nerve SEP (Sap-SEP) proposed for monitoring upper lumbar roots in the operating room. In the first group, the saphenous nerve was consecutively stimulated in two different locations: proximal in the thigh and distal close to the tibia. In the second group, three different recording derivations (10–20 International system) to distal saphenous stimulation were tested. Distal stimulation yielded a higher Sap-SEP amplitude (mean ± SD) than proximal: 1.36 ± 0.9 µV versus 0.62 ± 0.6 µV, (p < 0.0001). Distal stimulation evoked either higher (73%) or similar (12%) Sap-SEP amplitude compared to proximal in most of the nerves. The recording derivation CPz–cCP showed the highest amplitude in 65% of the nerves, followed by CPz–Fz (24%). Distal stimulation for Sap-SEP has advantages over proximal stimulation, including simplicity, lack of movement and higher amplitude responses. The use of two derivations (CPz–cCP, CPz–Fz) optimizes Sap-SEP recording.
Advances in Testing and Design-for-Test Solutions for M3D Integrated Circuits*

Monolithic 3D (M3D) integration has the potential to achieve significantly higher device density compared to TSV-based 3D stacking. Sequential integration of transistor layers enables high-density vertical interconnects, known as inter-layer vias (ILVs), However, high integration density and aggressive scaling of the inter-layer dielectric make M3D integrated circuits especially prone to process variations and manufacturing defects. We explore the impact of these fabrication imperfections on chip-performance and present the associated test challenges. We introduce two M3D-specific design-for-test solutions - a low-cost built-in self-test architecture for the defect-prone ILVs and a tier-level fault localization method for yield learning. We describe the impact of defects on the efficiency of delay fault testing and highlight solutions for test generation under constraints imposed by the 3D power distribution network.
Interferon receptor-deficient mice are susceptible to eschar-associated rickettsiosis.

Tick bites allow disease-causing microbes, including multiple species of Rickettsia bacteria, to pass from arthropods to humans. Being exposed to Rickettsia parkeri, for example, can cause a scab at the bite site, fever, headache and fatigue. To date, no vaccine is available against any of the severe diseases caused by Rickettsia species. Modelling human infections in animals could help to understand and combat these illnesses. R. parkeri is a good candidate for such studies, as it can give insight into more severe Rickettsia infections while being comparatively safer to handle. However, laboratory mice are resistant to this species of bacteria, limiting their use as models. To explore why this is the case, Burke et al. probed whether an immune mechanism known as interferon signalling protects laboratory rodents against R. parkeri. During infection, the immune system releases molecules called interferons that stick to ‘receptors’ at the surface of cells, triggering defense mechanisms that help to fight off an invader. Burke et al. injected R. parkeri into the skin of mice that had or lacked certain interferon receptors, showing that animals without two specific receptors developed scabs and saw the disease spread through their body. Further investigation showed that two R. parkeri proteins, known as OmpB or Sca2, were essential for the bacteria to cause skin lesions and damage internal organs. Burke et al. then used R. parkeri that lacked OmpB or Sca2 to test whether these modified, inoffensive microbes could act as ‘vaccines’. And indeed, vulnerable laboratory mice which were first exposed to the mutant bacteria were then able to survive the ‘normal’ version of the microbe. Together, this work reveals that interferon signalling protects laboratory mice against R. parkeri infections. It also creates an animal model that can be used to study disease and vaccination.
Is There an Optimal Antiplatelet Strategy after Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Gastrointestinal bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a not too uncommon clinical situation and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. After initial treatment, a number of clinical decisions must be made weighing the risks of ischemic events and future bleeding. In particular, healthcare providers must carefully balance the effectiveness of antiplatelet therapy in the secondary prevention of coronary events, primarily future spontaneous myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis, against the risk of major, most commonly gastrointestinal bleeding. The first question is whether a dual antiplatelet therapy strategy is required or if a single antiplatelet agent will suffice. Then, if a single antiplatelet agent is adequate, which agent should be continued. Although there is some guidance to answer some of these questions, there are inadequate evidence-based data for others. Below, we review the various considerations and summarize our approach and rationale to manage patients who had gastrointestinal bleeding after PCI.
Isolation of Campylobacter from Feral Swine (Sus scrofa) on the Ranch Associated with the 2006 Escherichia coli O157:H7 Spinach Outbreak Investigation in California

We report the isolation of Campylobacter species from the same population of feral swine that was investigated in San Benito County, California, during the 2006 spinach-related Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak. This is the first survey of Campylobacter in a free-ranging feral swine population in the United States. Campylobacter species were cultured from buccal and rectal-anal swabs, colonic faeces and tonsils using a combination of selective enrichment and antibiotic-free membrane filtration methods. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS, Bruker Daltonics, Inc., Billerica, MA, USA) was used to identify species followed by confirmatory multiplex PCR or 16S rRNA sequencing. Genetic relatedness of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains was determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and porA allele sequencing. Altogether, 12 (40%) of 30 feral swine gastrointestinal and oral cavity specimens were positive, and six species were isolated: Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter fetus, Campylobacter hyointestinalsis, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter lanienae and Campylobacter sputorum. Campylobacter jejuni subtypes were closely related to MLST sequence type 21 (ST-21) and had identical porA sequences. Campylobacter coli subtypes were unrelated to isolates in the pubMLST/porA database. This feral swine population lived in close association with a 'grassfed' beef cattle herd adjacent to spinach and other leafy green row crop fields. The findings underscore the importance of protecting raw vegetable crops from faecal contamination by wild or feral animals. The study also illustrates a potential risk of Campylobacter exposure for hunters during handling and processing of wild swine meat.
Studies on vaccinia virus plaque formation and its inhibition by interferon. II. Dynamics of plaque formation by vaccinia virus in the presence of interferon.

Abstract The effect of interferon on the dynamics of vaccinia virus plaque formation in chick embryo cell monolayers was investigated. Preincubation of cells with interferon only slightly affected inhibition as compared to simultaneous addition of interferon and challenge virus. Within limits, a linear relationship was found when the following parameters were plotted against log interferon concentration: (a) Plaque counts; (b) average plaque diameters; (c) logarithm of total plaque area. Plaques in interferon-treated cultures emerged at a slower rate into visibility and took longer to reach a plateau in numbers than did controls. As a consequence, the amount of inhibition as estimated from plaque counts decreased after primary control plaques had reached their maximum number. The growth rate of treated plaques was reduced but remained independent of plaque size or time. Some of the infected cells seemed to be permanently prevented from yielding plaques.
Two-phase electron emission radiation detectors

A new class of two-phase electron emission detectors has been introduced in experimental practice recently. The detectors employ effect of effective extraction of excess electrons from some condensed nonpolar dielectrics into equilibrium gas phase under influence of external electric field. This approach allows combination of massive working media for detection of rare events with gas-discharge or electroluminescence of rarefied media used for amplification of signals originated from a few or even singular electrons. Properties of working media suitable for emission detectors are discussed. Applications of two-phase dielectrics for detection of radiation and exotic particles are reviewed.
A new method of applying randomised control study data to the individual patient: A novel quantitative patient-centred approach to interpreting composite end points.

Abstract Background Modern randomised controlled trials typically use composite endpoints. This is only valid if each endpoint is equally important to patients but few trials document patient preference and seek the relative importance of components of combined endpoints. If patients weigh endpoints differentially, our interpretation of trial data needs to be refined. Methods and results We derive a quantitative, structured tool to determine the relative importance of each endpoint to patients. We then apply this tool to data comparing angioplasty with drug-eluting stents to bypass surgery. The survey was administered to patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation. A meta-analysis comparing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to percutaneous coronary interventuin (PCI) was then performed using (a) standard MACE and (b) patient-centred MACE. Patients considered stroke worse than death (stroke 102.3±19.6%, p Conclusions Patients do not consider the constituent endpoints of MACE equal. We derive a novel patient-centred metric that recognises and quantifies the differences attributed to each endpoint. When patient preference data are applied to contemporary trial results, there is no significant difference between PCI and CABG. Responses from individual patients in clinic could be used to give individual patients a recommendation that is truly personalised.
Quantum Cryptanalysis of Hidden Linear Functions

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in the power of “Quantum Computers” [4, 15, 18]. The driving force is the recent beautiful result of Shor that shows that discrete log and factoring are solvable in random quantum polynomial time [15]. We use a method similar to Shor’s to obtain a general theorem about quantum polynomial time. We show that any cryptosystem based on what we refer to as a ‘hidden linear form’ can be broken in quantum polynomial time. Our results imply that the discrete log problem is doable in quantum polynomial time over any group including Galois fields and elliptic curves. Finally, we introduce the notion of ‘junk bits’ which are helpful when performing classical computations that are not injective.
Change in waist-hip ratio with weight loss and its association with change in cardiovascular risk factors

We investigated whether weight loss decreases the waist-hip ratio (WHR) in overweight men and women, and whether changes in WHR relates to change in cardiovascular risk factors, independent of change in weight. Weight loss correlated significantly with decreases in the circumference of the waist and hips, and decreases in WHR in men and women. At comparable levels of weight loss, men had greater decreases in the waist, and smaller decreases in the hips than women, resulting in greater decreases in WHR. Cardiovascular risk factors improved significantly with weight loss. However, after controlling for weight loss, there was no evidence that change in WHR or change in circumference measures were related to change in risk factors. These data suggest that WHR is modifiable by weight loss, especially in men, but that change in WHR may not be independently related to changes in cardiovascular risk factors.
Judicial Specialization and Ideological Decision Making in the US Courts of Appeals

We investigate the influence of subject matter expertise, opinion specialization, and judicial experience on the role of ideology in decision making in the courts of appeals in a generalized, as opposed to specialized, setting. We find that subject matter experts and opinion specialists are significantly more likely to engage in ideological decision making than their nonspecialist counterparts and that opinion specialization is a particularly potent factor in ideological decision making. Further, increased judicial experience has no effect on the conditional use of ideology. We discuss the potentially wide-ranging implications of our findings for both theory and policy.
Today's need for balanced urban transit systems

Cities must have freeway systems in order to facilitate the movement of traffic. After a city reaches a certain size, however, it soon becomes apparent that freeways alone cannot solve the transportation problem. The only solution to this problem is to provide a system of balanced transit. Thus every large city that has expanded very rapidly?Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, and many others?should be planning or building a balanced transit system, with railroad rapid transit (including suburban railroad service) as the core, augmented by freeways for buses and private automobiles.
Density Functional Theory Study of Surface Carbonate Formation on BaO(001)

Periodic density functional theory calculations were used to study the formation and stability of surface carbonate on BaO(001) at CO2 exposure. CO2 adsorbs at Lewis basic Os sites, forming anionic surface carbonate (CO3−δ) species. Upon adsorption, a portion of electrons is transferred from the surface to CO2. Although the adsorption strength of CO2 decreases with the increasing coverage (θCO2), the surface carbonate overlayer in the perpendicular pattern is stable up to one monolayer (1 ML). Dramatic surface reconstruction is found for the surface carbonate overlayer in the parallel pattern at θCO2 > 0.75 ML. The BaO(001) surface is reconstructed such that the surface Ba atoms are actually pulled out of the surface plane into the carbonate overlayer, suggesting a possible onset of phase transition from surface carbonate to crystalline bulklike carbonate when the coverage is higher than 0.75 ML. At ambient CO2 pressure, the calculated surface free energies indicate that the surface carbonate monolayer be...
Safety and efficacy of intramuscular propofol administration in rats

Abstract Objective To determine the safety and efficacy of intramuscularly (IM) injected 100% propofol and propofol–dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixtures. Study design Blinded, controlled study. Animals Twenty-five Sprague–Dawley adult female rats weighing 307 ± 4 g. Methods Three different study protocols were used. In the first set of experiments, rats were injected with 100% propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) ranging from 0 to 490 mg kg−1 into one biceps femoris and equivolume 0.9% saline controls were injected into the contralateral limb. In the second set of experiments, rats were injected with 0 or 262 mg kg−1 propofol that was dissolved in 10–40% DMSO (by weight); 0.9% saline was used for contralateral limb control injections. In the third experiment protocol, one rat received 293 mg kg−1 propofol intraperitoneally (IP) to verify potency of the pure compound. Rats were evaluated every 2 minutes for signs of sedation and anesthesia. After 24 hours, all rats were killed, and tissue samples from saline and propofol injection sites were evaluated by veterinary histopathologists who were blinded to drug treatment (propofol versus control) and dose. Results Most rats did not exhibit substantial sedation with IM propofol, and no rat became anesthetized even when propofol was administered in excess of the lethal IP dose. Histology of injection sites demonstrated significant tissue inflammation and necrosis associated with propofol injections, but not with saline injections. Conclusions and clinical relevance One hundred percent propofol is neither safe nor effective when administered via the IM route; presumably as a result of poor systemic uptake of the hydrophobic drug. Newer, water-soluble propofol formulations may circumvent these pharmacokinetic problems, yet local tissue injury might still be possible if high concentrations of free propofol drug are liberated.
Crossed dominance and its relationship to intelligence and academic achievement

Measures of handedness have long been utilized as part of the neuropsychological assessment due to evidence that hand preference is related to cerebral dominance for language. Many lateral dominance examinations also include measurement of eye, ear, and/or foot preference, presumably for assessment of crossed laterality. Although a reliable relationship between crossed laterality and intelligence or achievement has not been demonstrated, the assumption that crossed eye/foot or eye/hand dominance predicts poor intelligence or achievement persists. In the present study, a group of 93 normal children between the ages of 2 and 8 years old were followed longitudinally. No relationship was found between crossed laterality and intelligence or achievement.
Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices

This book traces the continuous history of the faith from the time it was preached by Zoroaster down to the present day - a span of about 3,500 years. First taught among nomads on the Asian steppes, Zoroastrianism became the state religion of the three great Iranian empires and had a remarkable influence on other world faiths: to the east on northern Buddhism, to the west on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. With the conquest of Iran by the Muslim Arabs, Zoroastrianism lost its secular power, but continued to survive as a minority faith. Despite its antiquity, it remains a living religion.