cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Discovery of patterns in LZ-78 text discrimination

We continue studying a new context-free computationally simple stylometry-based text homogeneity test: the sliced conditional compression complexity (sCCC or simply CCC) of literary texts introduced in [10] and inspired by the incomputable Kolmogorov conditional complexity [7]. Other stylometry tools can occasionally almost coincide for different authors. Our CCC-attributor is asymptotically strictly minimal for the true author, if the query texts are sufficiently large but much less than the training texts, universal compressor is good and sampling bias is avoided. This classifier simplifies the homogeneity test [21] (partly based on compression) under insignificant difference of unconditional complexities of training and query texts verifiable via its asymptotic normality [25] for IID and Markov sources and empirical normal plots for real literary texts. It is consistent under large text approximation as a stationary ergodic sequence due to the lower bound for the minimax compression redundancy of piecewise stationary strings [22], our elementary combinatorial arguments in [11] and simulation in present paper for IID sources. The CCC is based on the t-ratio measuring how many standard deviations are in the mean difference of slices' CCC which enables evaluation of the corresponding P-value of statistical significance based on slices' CCC asymptotic normality empirically verified by their normal plots in all cases studied and expected to be proved soon for simplified statistical models of literary texts. While good CCC performance holds for a broad class of fast adapting universal compressors introduced in [13], the new application of one of them (LZ-78) is described in this paper (which was first outlined in [11] in less detail and without application results): the discovery of patterns contributed the most to the CCC discrimination of texts. We present an algorithm implemented in a PERL program by the second author (available by request) and results of its performance on simulated strings and on Federalist papers. A much shorter CCC program in PERL written by the second author is in our Appendix. We hope that experimenting with these two programs will help the CCC dissemination. The asymptotic CCC study was complemented so far by many literary case studies (see [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]), showing consistency in attributing all Madison Federalist papers to Madison, Brodsky's novels to Brodsky, etc., and a good discrimination between works of different authors in contrast to at least questionable performance of [5] on the same texts. Further testing and tuning CCC-methodology and pattern discovery seems appropriate. New areas of applications for the universal compressor - based nonparametric testing such as change-point detection for arbitrary stationary ergodic sources emerge recently.
A Psychometric Analysis of the Ross Educational Philosophical Inventory (REPI

This research was directed at an examination of the pyschometric properties of the Ross Educational Philosophical Inventory (REPI), an instrument designed to investigate underlying philosophical beliefs influencing teaching behaviors and policy decisions of educational administrators. The REPI claims to measure individual attitudes with respect to four philosophical systems—Idealism; Realism; Existentialism; Pragmatism. Content evaluation and second-order factor analyses resulted in the dimensionalizing of two higher-order factors empirically fitting the REPI categories of Idealism and Existentialism. Reliability estimates for these two dimensions suggest further research directed at improving these two scales.
A Multithreaded Message Passing Interface (MPI) Architecture

This paper discusses a multithreaded software architecture for message-passing interface (MPI) software specification. The architecture is thread-safe, allows for concurrent communication over several communications media (multifabric communication), efficiently utilizes available hardware concurrency over a wide range of target platforms, and allows for concurrent communication and computation within the limits imposed by the hardware. The architecture is developed in the framework of the MPICH software architecture, a well-known MPI implementation used worldwide. The proposed architecture adopts wide portability of the MPICH design and remedies some of its deficiencies such as inefficient multifabric communication and non-thread-safety. The paper also considers the issues concerning development of high-performance portable message-passing systems for general-purpose architectures. The contributions of the paper are improving architecture and addressing thread safety of modern reliable messaging software, as well as identifying and taking advantage of inherent concurrency in the message-passing software itself.
Alloreactivity of an antigen-specific T-cell clone

The apparent high frequency of alloreactive T cells has suggested that the two subpopulations—T cells specific for soluble protein antigens and alloreactive T cells—must overlap1–3. However, the existence of a set of germ-line genes encoding a family of anti-MHC (major histocompatibility complex) antigen-specific T-cell receptors has also been postulated to explain the high frequency of alloreactive clones4–7. In these latter models the two T-cell subpopulations are viewed as separate. Studies on whole T-cell populations have examined these two points of view by looking for cross-stimulation of alloreactive cells with antigen and vice versa8–11. Although significant cross-reactions have been reported, the problem of nonspecific recruitment made interpretation of results difficult. Recent developments in the cloning of antigen-specific T lymphocytes12–18 have finally allowed investigation at the single-cell level where the results should be unambiguous, von Boehmer et al.14 have isolated a cytotoxic clone specific for the H–Y antigen in conjunction with the syngeneic MHC antigens coded for by Db. This clone was also cytotoxic for spleen cells bearing the alloantigens coded for by Dd in the absence of the H–Y antigen. However, because cytotoxic clones only grow in the presence of T-cell growth factor (TCGF) and because von Boehmer et al. were unable to stimulate or enrich for Dd-specific cytotoxic activity from bulk cultures initially stimulated with H–Y and Db-bearing spleen cells14, they hesitate to conclude that the same cell can respond to both foreign and alloantigens. We show here that a (dinitrophenyl-ovalbumin)(DNP-OVA)-specific T-cell clone from a B10.A mouse can be stimulated to divide (and propagate) in vitro with B10.S allogeneic spleen cells in the absence of DNP-OVA and B10.A antigen-presenting cells. Extensive recloning strongly suggests that a single T-cell clone is responding to two separate stimuli, a specific alloantigen and a soluble antigen in conjunction with self-MHC products.
Dengue-2 virus infection of human mononuclear cell lines and establishment of persistent infections

Twenty three human mononuclear cell lines including ten myelomonocytic cell lines, eight B cell lines and five T cell lines, were examined to determine whether they could be infected with dengue-2 virus. All the cell lines were infected with dengue-2 virus as determined by immunofluorescent staining and by virus titration of culture supernatant fluids. K 562, Jiyoye and Jurkat, respectively, showed the highest percentage of infected cells of these myelomonocytic, B and T cell lines. Antibody to dengue-2 virus at subneutralizing concentrations augmented dengue-2 virus infection of myelomonocytic cell lines, but not of B cell lines or of T cell lines.
Current Trends in the Treatment of Hypertension: A Mixed Picture

It has been calculated that hypertension ranks as the fourth largest mortality risk factor in the world, predicting 6% of all deaths. Mild hypertension accounts for the largest proportion of cardiovascular deaths in the United States because of its high prevalence. Thus, mild hypertension should be the focus of treatment efforts. In addition, to achieve better results in the next century, we will have to refocus the treatment from the global goal of blood pressure lowering to exploration of specific effects of drugs on the diverse pathophysiologic aspects of hypertension including the complex metabolic and hemodynamic aberrations associated with human hypertension, as well as trophic factors. Another disconcerting feature of current hypertension management is the inadequate lowering of the blood pressure in those patients treated for hypertension. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) survey in United States shows that patients treated for hypertension have blood pressure values that are only slightly lower than in untreated hypertensives and remain higher than in normotensive subjects. Patient compliance with treatment is one major problem. The development of better tolerated drugs ought to bring improvement. Overall, an educational effort aimed at physicians, the general public, and health care providers is necessary to improve the treatment of hypertension and reverse the negative trends in cardiovascular mortality.
Arterial permeability dynamics and vascular disease

Abstract There is a growing consensus that regional susceptibility to atherosclerosis correlates topographically with an increased endothelial permeability to macromolecules such as low-density lipoprotein. Earlier research suggested that increases in arterial macromolecular permeability accompany the adaptation of the endothelial lining to changes in fluid dynamic shear stress, and that permeability might therefore be chronically increased where the endothelium is exposed to a shear stress environment that changes throughout the day. Thus the temporal variability of hemodynamic stresses at the vessel wall, with time constants of many minutes or a few hours, may affect local susceptibility to disease. Changes in the hemodynamic stresses on the endothelial surface (‘local’ stress) result from the normal variations in more ‘global’ hemodynamic variables such as blood flow rate, heart rate, and flow partition at branches, that occur throughout the day in response to changes in peripheral metabolic demand. Thus, at any given time, the permeability at a site is determined by: (1) the steady-state relationship between the local permeability and local shear stress; (2) the dynamics of the permeability change induced by changes in local shear; and (3) the extent to which the shear stress at the site is affected by changes in the global variables. Regional variations in any or all of these three factors can lead to corresponding variations in endothelial permeability, macromolecular uptake and, apparently, atherosclerotic risk. Among the three factors, the first may be relatively unimportant if most transport takes place while the endothelium is responding to hemodynamic changes. The last two factors suggest two ways in which hemodynamic variability can contribute to regional variations in uptake and disease: those sites that become more permeable in response to a given change in local hemodynamic stress, or are subject to larger changes, may be more susceptible to disease than sites that respond less strongly to a change in shear stress or are exposed to more stable hemodynamic environments. Since little is known about the dynamics of such changes in permeability, this is an important area for experimental exploration. To support such investigations, an initial phenomenological model is proposed relating the time course of vascular permeability changes to the associated response of the endothelium to changes in local wall shear.
Identification of C1 presympathetic neurons in rat rostral ventrolateral medulla by juxtacellular labeling in vivo

The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) contains barosensitive, bulbospinal neurons that provide the main supraspinal excitatory input to sympathetic vasomotor preganglionic neurons. However, the phenotype of the critical RVLM cells has not been conclusively determined. The goal of the current study was to identify the proportion of electrophysiologically defined, putative, presympathetic RVLM neurons that are C1 cells. We used a juxtacellular labeling technique to individually fill spontaneously active, barosensitive, bulbospinal RVLM neurons with biotinamide following electrophysiological characterization in chloralose-anesthetized rats. To determine whether these neurons could be classified as C1 cells, the biotinamide-labeled cells were processed for detection of tyrosine hydroxylase. The majority of barosensitive bulbospinal RVLM neurons were tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive (TH-ir; 28 of 39). All of the barosensitive bulbospinal RVLM neurons with axonal conduction velocities in the C fiber range (<1 m/second) were TH-ir (n = 16), whereas faster conducting cells (1 to 7 m/second) were either lightly TH-ir (n = 12) or not detectably TH-ir (n = 11). Adjacent respiratory-related RVLM units labeled with biotinamide were not detectably TH-ir (n = 10). To verify that TH-ir cells were indeed adrenergic, a subset of barosensitive bulbospinal cells labeled with biotinamide were examined for phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase immunoreactivity (PNMT-ir). Three slowly conducting cells had detectable PNMT-ir, and two fast-conducting cells had no detectable PNMT-ir. These results indicate that the majority of bulbospinal RVLM neurons with putative sympathoexcitatory function are C1 cells. J. Comp. Neurol. 387:524–536, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
High surface area microporous carbon materials for cryogenic hydrogen storage synthesized using new template-based and activation-based approaches.

High surface area microporous carbon materials were synthesized using new, simple, and innovative approaches based on traditional template and chemical activation methods. The resulting surface area and porosity were characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET)-type measurements and analysis, and the hydrogen storage capacity was determined using excess hydrogen adsorption measurements at 77 K and up to 40 bar hydrogen pressure. For our direct one-step aerosol-assisted template-based synthesis method of mixing the template precursor and carbon precursor solutions, a specific surface area value of up to nearly 2000 m2 g−1 and an excess hydrogen storage capacity of 4.2 wt% was observed. For our chemical activation-based synthesis method of homogeneously mixing the chemical activation reagent into the carbon precursor solution, a specific surface area value of nearly 3000 m2 g−1 and an excess hydrogen adsorption capacity of nearly 5.8 wt% were observed. The surface area and hydrogen uptake results varied systematically with the synthesis parameters, and we observed a strong correlation between the BET values of the specific surface area and the excess hydrogen adsorption capacity.
Synapses, scaling and homeostasis in vivo.

A recently identified plasticity mechanism—'synaptic scaling'—is now shown to operate in vivo to promote the stability of network function in the face of changing input activity.
A Cognitive Cul-de-Sac

Principle (A) is a cousin of the one used by Edmund Gettier to construct his well-known counterexamples. It has received its share of abuse, but no one seems prepared to abandon it.I Indeed, its poorer (I would say bankrupt) relatives (e.g., S knows everything implied by what he knowswhether or not he knows it is implied) have sometimes been taken as axiomatic in systems of epistemic logic. The second principle, though less precise, and more difficult to state in any crisp way, is taken for granted by all of us who believe that knowledge is transmissible. It is hard to see how something like this principle could fail to be true if communication is possible and education occurs. For the way we know much of what we know is by hearing it from others who know. The following example convinces me that both principles are false.2 This is not to say that they do not hold in special circumstances, only that to regain their status as principles their scope must be restricted. George loves Bordeaux wines and he is especially fond of those from the Medoc region of Bordeaux. He has quite a remarkable palate and unerringly identifies a genuine Medoc as a Bordeaux, and specifically as a Medoc, when he tastes one. Strangely enough, though, given his general knowledgeability about wines, George is confused about Chianti. He has
Three-way adjustable armrest for fluorescein angiography.

A three-way adjustable armrest mounted on a fundus camera facilitates intravenous injection of fluorescein and improves fluorescein transit time to the arterial circulation.
Holotranscobalamin is a useful marker of vitamin B12 deficiency in alcoholics.

Background. Measurement of serum cobalamin (Cbl) levels is the standard investigation for assessing vitamin B12 deficiency. Falsely increased values of Cbl can be caused by alcoholic liver disease. Measurement of total vitamin B12 serum levels might be misleading in alcoholics, because a tissue metabolic deficiency is possible even with normal serum Cbl levels. Holotranscobalamin (HoloTC), the Cbl metabolically active fraction, is considered as a better index of vitamin B12 deficiency. Methods. For assessing vitamin B12 status, we evaluated 22 adult alcoholic male patients by measuring in parallel serum Cbl, serum folate and red blood cell folate levels, HoloTC levels by the AxSYM assay. Results. HoloTC values were reduced in 3 alcoholics with borderline-low Cbl values. Significant positive correlations were found between serum Cbl and HoloTC levels, serum Cbl and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). Conclusion. HoloTC measurement is a useful option for assessing vitamin B12 status in alcoholics, particularly in the subjects with borderline Cbl values and may be considered an early marker of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics for some multiply bonded dirhenium complexes

Abstract Standard electrochemical rate constants k ex ob have been measured for the two sequential one-electron oxidations of triply-bonded dirhenium(II) complexes Re 2 X 4 (PR 3 ) 4 , where X = Cl or Br, and PR 3 = a monodentate tertiary phosphine, and also for allied complexes in methylene chloride, acetonitrile, and N , N -dimethylformamide at platinum electrodes. The objective is to explore the possible dependence of k ex ob upon the known differences in the structural changes accompanying electron transfer. Although significant and even substantial variations in k ex ob were observed for closely related redox couples, the reactivity trends appear to be chiefly a consequence of differences in electrostatic work terms at the metal/solution interface. Comparisons are made with recent results for mononuclear organometallic redox couples.
Reversing the speed–IQ correlation: Intra-individual variability and attentional control in the inspection time paradigm

Abstract Elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are simple tasks involving basic cognitive processes for which speed of performance typically correlates with IQ. Inspection time (IT) has the strongest IQ correlations and is considered critical evidence for neural speed underlying individual differences in intelligence. However, results from Bors et al. [Bors, D.A., Stokes, T.L., Forrin, B. & Hodder, S.L., (1999). Inspection Time and Intelligence: Practice, strategies, and attention. Intelligence, 27, 111–129.] suggest task consistency may underlie this shared variance. One possibility is that performance consistency reflects attentional mechanisms, as previous research has shown relationships between attentional control and cognitive performance. In study 1, participants were administered the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and performed an alternative version of the IT task to measure individual trial-by-trial consistency expressed as the standard deviation of IT (ITSD). The alternative procedure yielded IT–IQ correlations similar to those obtained in previous studies and ITSD accounted for the IT–IQ variance. A second experiment tested whether ITSD measures attentional control, as participants simultaneously performed the IT task and an attention-demanding verbalization task. Under these conditions, high IQ participants performed worse on IT. These results suggest IT performance may reflect individual differences in attentional control and that this variable may account for the variance shared between IT and IQ.
A novel assay based on fluorescence microscopy and image processing for determining phenotypic distributions of rod-shaped bacteria.

Cell population balance (CPB) models can account for the phenotypic heterogeneity that characterizes isogenic cell populations. To utilize the predictive power of these models, however, we must determine the single-cell reaction and division rates as well as the partition probability density function of the cell population. These functions can be obtained through the Collins–Richmond inverse CPB modeling methodology, if we know the phenotypic distributions of (a) the overall cell population, (b) the dividing cell subpopulation, and (c) the newborn cell subpopulation. This study presents the development of a novel assay that combines fluorescence microscopy and image processing to determine these distributions. The method is generally applicable to rod-shaped cells dividing through the formation of a characteristic constriction. Morphological criteria were developed for the automatic identification of dividing cells and validated through direct comparison with manually obtained measurements. The newborn cell subpopulation was obtained from the corresponding dividing cell subpopulation by collecting information from the two compartments separated by the constriction. The method was applied to E. coli cells carrying the genetic toggle network with a green fluorescent marker. Our measurements for the overall cell population were in excellent agreement with the distributions obtained via flow cytometry. The new assay constitutes a powerful tool that can be used in conjunction with inverse CPB modeling to rigorously quantify single-cell behavior from data collected from highly heterogeneous cell populations. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 598–615. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Acculturated Brain

Recent decades have been marked by a steadily increasing emphasis on neural determinants of behavior. Concerns with socio-cul- tural processes have simultaneously been diminished. Given the signifi- cance of this shift toward a cortical explanation of human behavior!in terms of both the direction of research in psychology and the implications of this research for social practices and policy!critical reflection is essential. In particular, when significant conceptual flaws are brought into focus, we find good reason to reconsider the significance of socio- cultural process. And, when we take into account major vistas of neu- ropsychological research, the conclusion becomes evident that not only is human action unintelligible in terms of neural activity, but the brain pri- marily functions in the service of cultural process. To be sure, cortical functioning may both enable and limit human activity. However, given the enormous variation in human conduct, and the dependency of such conduct on the generation of cultural meaning, the most promising con- clusion, both for research and for societal practice, is to view the brain chiefly as an instrument for achieving socially originated ends. This is not to argue against inquiry into brain functioning, but to be more judicious about the domains of its utility, and critical in terms of what it offers for understanding human action.
EFFICACY OF AIRCRAFT LANDING LIGHTS IN STIMULATING AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR IN BIRDS

Abstract Aircraft collisions with wildlife (primarily birds) are costly in terms of injury or loss of human life, loss of the animals involved, damage to property and business, and the use of lethal control of wildlife at airports worldwide. One potential nonlethal technique to reduce bird–aircraft collisions—pulsed white and wavelength-specific aircraft-mounted light—has been considered for nearly 3 decades, but the efficacy of the technique has not been evaluated quantitatively. We tested the hypothesis that during daylight, captive birds exposed to an approaching ground-based vehicle exhibiting pulsing 250-W white aircraft landing lights would initiate avoidance behavior more quickly than birds experiencing an oncoming vehicle with nonpulsing (steady) or no lights (control). In experiments involving captive brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), Canada geese (Branta canadensis), European starlings (Sturnis vulgaris), herring gulls (Larus argentatus), and mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), only cow-bir...
IC-P2-080: Brain structure change is associated with clinical decline of elderly controls: A longitudinal study using the ADNI dataset

Background: Automated segmentation and measurement of subregional brain volumes from MRI data has allowed high-throughput quantification of regional brain atrophy. Such measures predict subsequent clinical decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Quantitative analysis of brain structure change over time may be even more sensitive to the earliest effects of neurodegenerative disease, including that which may be present in elderly controls who have passed clinical screening. Methods: We examined whether longitudinal measures of brain change in healthy elderly controls is associated with decline on clinical and neuropsychological measures. We analyzed longitudinal MRI data from 70 control subjects of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) who had 6and 12-month follow-up imaging at the time of the analysis. 6and 12-month subregional change was quantified with automated anatomical segmentation using FreeSurfer software and non-linear image registration. Subjects were sorted based upon the degree of change in the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle and dichotomized at the median, creating a group with a high-degree of anatomical change and a group with a low-degree of anatomical change. In addition, atrophy was analyzed as a continuous measure, plotting change in the temporal horn against 12-month change in MMSE. Results: Healthy elderly control subjects showing a high degree of anatomical change in bilateral temporal horn of the lateral ventricle declined more on MMSE over 12 months. This effect was significant both for 6-month change and for 12-month change in temporal horn volumes (each p .01, two-tailed). Average age of the high atrophy group (76.6 4.9) did not differ from the age of the low atrophy group (75.9 5.1). Correlation between change in temporal horn volume and MMSE decline was significant at p .02 for 6-month change and at p .005 for 12-month change. Conclusions: Change in temporal horn volume is associated with clinical decline of healthy elderly controls. Such changes may reflect processes of normal aging, but the rate of atrophy may rather suggest the presence of subclinical neurodegenerative disease. No patients converted to MCI or Alzheimer’s disease. Continued follow-up of the high atrophy cohort will determine whether such measures predict later clinical conversion.
Perched water tables under an artificial ground‐water recharge system

Hydrostatic pressure measurements were made at fourteen depths below the surface of a large ground-water recharge system. These measurements show the nature of the growth of the perched water tables resulting from the spreading operation. They demonstrate the importance of knowing subsurface stratigraphy for a considerable depth on the value to be derived from treatment of the surface soil to improve permeability. These factors also limit the potential capacity of a recharge area.
Wild vegetables of the chinese in Manchuria

This paper is offered as a small contribution to the study of the vast problem of supplementary food plants of the Chinese in Manchuria. Of these plants, I plan to discuss only wild vegetables in the strict sense, excluding edible algae and fungi and those plants the fruits of which are used as a dessert by the Chinese. The vegetables to be discussed are traditionally termed "wild." This ternm should, however, be applied to them only in a very broad sense. This is because, as shown later, these vegetables are very heterogeneous from the standpoint of "wildness." Enumeration of these vegetables is not my main purpose. This has been done before by several authors. I shall attend to other aspects of the problem and describe the historical and economic background of the practice of gathering wild edible plants and the evolution of this custom in China and Manchuria. I shall offer a statistical classification of these plants with regard to different characters and shall discuss their economic and dietetic value and other properties. Previous authors have written very little or nothing on these topics. I propose to confine nmy remarks primarily to plants of the Harbin region in central Manchuria and adjacent parts of mountainous eastern Manchuria. The diversity of wild vegetables in Manchuria is very great, and it would be impossible to treat them fully in this brief article. Furthermore, the wild vegetables of these two regions are more fully studied than those of other areas.
Finite element analysis of plane-strain sheet bending

Abstract Sheet bending between the die and the punch is analyzed as a bulk deformation process under the plane-strain condition by the finite-element method. The two finite-element formulations used for the analysis are the rigid-plastic analysis using the incremental theory and the elastoplastic analysis with large-stain formulation. The two solutions are compared in terms of detailed mechanics during bending. Spring-back and residual stresses upon unloading are obtained by rigid-plastic loading and elastoplastic unloading calculations as well as by the elastoplastic calculations for loading and unloading. The solutions agree with each other very well with minor differences.
Trust and team performance in NCAA basketball

This article looks at a study on team performance and the importance of trust within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The study explored the effect of players' trust in their leader on team performance, with data being collected from Division I and Division III NCAA basketball teams. Team performance was found to be enhanced by the trust of players in their coach. The validity of theories suggesting trust is of extreme importance to team performance is questioned. A study of team performance within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) supports the theory that teams perform better when they trust their leader and teammates. Members may be more inclined to attribute the team performance to the actions of the leader due to their inability of attributing team performance to specific individuals.
Spontaneous second trimester uterine rupture after classical cesarean.

Abstract Background: Several cases of spontaneous second trimester uterine rupture have been reported, but none as early as 15 weeks’ gestation after classical cesarean and with placenta percreta. Case: A 23-year-old woman, gravida 5, para 3, at 15 3 7 weeks’ gestation with a history of classical cesarean incision presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain, hypotension, and tachycardia. Ultrasound showed a normal intrauterine pregnancy. She developed worsening pain, abdominal rebound, and abdominal distention. On exploratory laparotomy, a large uterine rupture was found and hysterectomy was done. Conclusion: Spontaneous uterine rupture after classical cesarean can occur as early as 15 weeks’ gestation. Uterine rupture must be considered in differential diagnoses of severe abdominal pain even in the early second trimester.
Angoumois Grain Moth: Grain Treatment and Infestation Level Effects on Rearing

The effect of 6 grain treatments and 2 infestation levels on percent infestation and emergence of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) was investigated. There was no significant interaction between infestation levels and grain treatments for either larval infestation or adult emergence. An increase from 1:1 to 2:1 viable eggs per kernel increased percent infestation 14%. There was no significant increase in larval infestation or adult emergence over untreated grain when the moisture content was raised about 10%. Dicofol, used to control Pyemoles spp mites, was not detrimental to S. cerealella .
Regional, three-dimensional assessment of the ozone formation potential of organic compounds

A direct sensitivity analysis technique was used for three-dimensional atmospheric ozone formation potential (also termed reactivity) assessment in central California. Spatially and temporally resolved absolute and relative reactivities of 31 organic compounds and CO were calculated. In order to compare different species, the emissions of all the targeted organic compounds were perturbed equally. This perturbation followed the same spatial distribution as the total anthropogenic VOC emissions. Despite the variability (both spatial and temporal) in the absolute values, relative reactivities were fairly constant. Different types of domain-wide reactivity metrics were considered. All the three-dimensional metrics showed a high level of inter-species consistency among them and had a low day-to-day variability. Domain-wide metrics were comparable with box model scales, but showed a less dynamic inter-species behavior. Ranking of the three-dimensional metrics was very similar to the box model scales. It was also found that including the biogenic VOC emissions in the perturbation pattern has little effect on the results. Finally, local relative reactivities for six sites were fairly consistent in ranking but more variable than the domain-wide metrics.
Imaging of the optic disk in caring for patients with glaucoma: Ophthalmoscopy and photography remain the gold standard

Optic disk imaging is integral to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with glaucoma. We discuss the various forms of imaging the optic nerve, including ophthalmoscopy, photography, and newer imaging modalities, including optical coherence tomography (OCT), confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (HRT), and scanning laser polarimetry (GDx), specifically highlighting their benefits and disadvantages. We argue that ophthalmoscopy and photography remain the gold standard of imaging due to portability, ease of interpretation, and the presence of a large database of images for comparison.
Postcolonial Nation-Making: Warfare, Jihad, Subjectivity, and Compassion in the Region of Kashmir

This is a review essay on Body of Victim, Body of Warrior: Refugee Families and the Making of Kashmiri Jihadists by Cabeiri Debergh Robinson and Counterinsurgency, Democracy, and the Politics of Identity in India: From Warfare to Welfare? by Mona Bhan. This review contains a succinct overview of the two books, followed by a discussion of the emergent subjectivities and incorporation of humanitarianism into militarism and jihad in the region of Kashmir.
Quantum-well perfection requirements for large-scale applications of exciton-base devices

Exciton-based devices have been shown to display remarkable properties that can find applications in optical information processing. However, if these devices are to be used in systems where many devices and chips involving the excitonic effect are to be used, there has to be stringent control over the quantum-well perfection. In this paper we examine the effect of exciton linewidth and well size fluctuations on a number of device-related effects based on the quantum-confined Stark effect. We find that for many applications a one-monolayer variation in structures fabricated in different runs will drastically diminish the system performance. >
Activity-guided isolation of novel norwithanolides from Deprea subtriflora with potential cancer chemopreventive activity

Activity-monitored fractionation of a CHCl3-soluble extract of Deprea subtriflora using a quinone reductase induction assay led to the purification of subtrifloralactones A−J (1−10), 10 novel C-18 norwithanolides based on a new C27 skeleton. These compounds were characterized by spectroscopic and chemical studies, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis was used to confirm the structures of 1 and 4. Compounds 1−10 were evaluated for their cancer chemopreventive activity in terms of their ability to induce quinone reductase activity with cultured murine hepatoma cells, and compounds 1 and 6 were found to be highly effective.
Clinical decision support tools: performance of personal digital assistant versus online drug information databases.

Study Objectives. To evaluate personal digital assistant (PDA) drug information databases used to support clinical decision-making, and to compare the performance of PDA databases with their online versions. Design. Prospective evaluation with descriptive analysis. Methods. Five drug information databases available for PDAs and online were evaluated according to their scope (inclusion of correct answers), completeness (on a 3-point scale), and ease of use; 158 question-answer pairs across 15 weighted categories of drug information essential to health care professionals were used to evaluate these databases. An overall composite score integrating these three measures was then calculated. Scores for the PDA databases and for each PDA-online pair were compared. Results. Among the PDA databases, composite rankings, from highest to lowest, were as follows: Lexi-Drugs, Clinical Pharmacology OnHand, Epocrates Rx Pro, mobileMicromedex (now called Thomson Clinical Xpert), and Epocrates Rx free version. When we compared database pairs, online databases that had greater scope than their PDA counterparts were Clinical Pharmacology (137 vs 100 answers, p<0.001), Micromedex (132 vs 96 answers, p<0.001), Lexi-Comp Online (131 vs 119 answers, p<0.001), and Epocrates Online Premium (103 vs 98 answers, p=0.001). Only Micromedex online was more complete than its PDA version (p=0.008). Regarding ease of use, the Lexi-Drugs PDA database was superior to Lexi-Comp Online (p<0.001); however, Epocrates Online Premium, Epocrates Online Free, and Micromedex online were easier to use than their PDA counterparts (p<0.001). In terms of composite scores, only the online versions of Clinical Pharmacology and Micromedex demonstrated superiority over their PDA versions (p<0.01). Conclusion. Online and PDA drug information databases assist practitioners in improving their clinical decision-making. Lexi-Drugs performed significantly better than all of the other PDA databases evaluated. No PDA database demonstrated superiority to its online counterpart; however, the online versions of Clinical Pharmacology and Micromedex were superior to their PDA versions in answering questions.
Novel Hemostatic Alternatives in Reconstructive Surgery

Congenital vascular lesions are classed as hemangiomas, vascular malformations, or vascular tumors according to their histology and etiology. The majority of hemangiomas are benign and often involute before the child reaches the age of 12. Severe hemangiomas and vascular malformations were historically viewed as effectively inoperable due to the high risk of potentially catastrophic bleeding during surgery. An effective system of classification and increasing range of therapeutic options have improved the prognosis for many patients, but surgical resection of these lesions remains a serious undertaking. Topical hemostatic agents are widely used and effective in many cases for the control of intraoperative bleeding. The main limitations of these agents are their variability and lack of efficacy in severe bleeding, or in coagulopathic or anticoagulant-treated patients. This paper reviews recent developments in this field, including the possible placental origin of hemangiomas, and discusses current approaches to hemostasis during reconstructive surgery. We also discuss the recent introduction of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) as a systemic hemostatic agent, including our own experience using this treatment.
Putative role of the NTS in alterations in neural control of the circulation following exercise training in rats

Exercise training (ExTr) has been associated with alterations in neural control of the circulation, including effects on arterial baroreflex function. The nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) is the pr...
CD27, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, induces apoptosis and binds to Siva, a proapoptotic protein

Members of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily are important for cell growth and survival. In addition to providing costimulatory signals for cell proliferation, ligation of both TNFR1 and Fas can result in programmed cell death or apoptosis. The underlying mechanism requires an intact 80-aa stretch present in the cytoplasmic tails of both TNFR1 and Fas, termed the death domain (DD). Here we show that CD27, a member of the TNFR family, expressed on discrete subpopulations of T and B cells and known to provide costimulatory signals for T and B cell proliferation and B cell Ig production, can also induce apoptosis. Co-crosslinking of surface Ig receptors along with ligation of CD27 augments CD27-mediated apoptosis. Unlike TNFR1 and Fas, the cytoplasmic tail of CD27 is relatively short and lacks the DD. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we have cloned a novel protein (Siva) that binds to the CD27 cytoplasmic tail. It has a DD homology region, a box-B-like ring finger, and a zinc finger-like domain. Overexpression of Siva in various cell lines induces apoptosis, suggesting an important role for Siva in the CD27-transduced apoptotic pathway.
Five-year biochemical outcome and toxicity with transperineal CT-planned permanent I-125 prostate implantation for patients with localized prostate cancer

Abstract Purpose: To report the 5-year prostate-specific antigen (PSA) relapse-free survival outcome and incidence of long-term morbidity for patients with localized prostate cancer treated with CT-planned permanent I-125 prostate implantation using a transperineal technique (TPI). Methods and Materials: Between 1989–1996, 248 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were treated with TPI. The median age was 65 years (range: 45–80 years). The clinical stage was T1c in 143 patients (58%), Stage T2a in 102 (41%), and T2b in 3 (1%). Thirty patients (12%) had Gleason scores 10 ng/mL and Gleason score >6) were classified as having intermediate and unfavorable risk disease, respectively. PSA relapse was defined according to the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology Consensus Statement, and toxicity was scored according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group morbidity scoring scale. The median follow-up was 48 months (range: 12–126 months). Results: Thirty-eight patients (15%) developed a PSA relapse, and the overall 5-year PSA relapse-free survival (PRFS) rate was 71%. The 5-year PRFS rates for favorable-risk ( n = 146), intermediate-risk ( n = 85), and unfavorable-risk ( n = 17) patients were 88%, 77%, and 38%, respectively ( p p = 0.03). Multivariate analysis identified pretreatment PSA > 10 ng/mL and Gleason score >6 as independent predictors for biochemical relapse after TPI. The 5-year actuarial likelihood of late Grade 2 urinary toxicity was 41%. The 5-year likelihood of urethral stricture development was 10%, and the median time to stricture development was 18 months. One patient (0.4%) in the early phase of this clinical experience developed a Grade 4 urethral complication. The actuarial incidence of late Grade 2 rectal bleeding was 9%. One patient (0.4%) developed a Grade 4 rectal complication. Conclusions: Especially for favorable risk disease, the 5-year biochemical outcome with this approach was excellent and appears to be comparable to other therapeutic interventions. Grade 2 urinary symptoms were common in these patients but gradually resolved in most. Improved treatment planning approaches that further constrain the urethral dose without compromising the target volume dose will likely decrease the incidence of Grade 2 and 3 urinary symptoms after TPI.
Market making and mean reversion

Market making refers broadly to trading strategies that seek to profit by providing liquidity to other traders, while avoiding accumulating a large net position in a stock. In this paper, we study the profitability of market making strategies in a variety of timeseries models for the evolution of a stock's price. We first provide a precise theoretical characterization of the profitability of a simple and natural market making algorithm in the absence of any stochastic assumptions on price evolution. This characterization exhibits a trade-off between the positive effect of local price fluctuations and the negative effect of net price change. We then use this general characterization to prove that market making is generally profitable on mean reverting time series --- time series with a tendency to revert to a long-term average. Mean reversion has been empirically observed in many markets, especially foreign exchange and commodities. We show that the slightest mean reversion yields positive expected profit, and also obtain stronger profit guarantees for a canonical stochastic mean reverting process, known as the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process, as well as other stochastic mean reverting series studied in the finance literature. We also show that market making remains profitable in expectation for the OU process even if some realistic restrictions on trading frequency are placed on the market maker.
Global economic burden of Chagas disease: a computational simulation model.

Summary Background As Chagas disease continues to expand beyond tropical and subtropical zones, a growing need exists to better understand its resulting economic burden to help guide stakeholders such as policy makers, funders, and product developers. We developed a Markov simulation model to estimate the global and regional health and economic burden of Chagas disease from the societal perspective. Methods Our Markov model structure had a 1 year cycle length and consisted of five states: acute disease, indeterminate disease, cardiomyopathy with or without congestive heart failure, megaviscera, and death. Major model parameter inputs, including the annual probabilities of transitioning from one state to another, and present case estimates for Chagas disease came from various sources, including WHO and other epidemiological and disease-surveillance-based reports. We calculated annual and lifetime health-care costs and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for individuals, countries, and regions. We used a discount rate of 3% to adjust all costs and DALYs to present-day values. Findings On average, an infected individual incurs US$474 in health-care costs and 0·51 DALYs annually. Over his or her lifetime, an infected individual accrues an average net present value of $3456 and 3·57 DALYs. Globally, the annual burden is $627·46 million in health-care costs and 806 170 DALYs. The global net present value of currently infected individuals is $24·73 billion in health-care costs and 29 385 250 DALYs. Conversion of this burden into costs results in annual per-person costs of $4660 and lifetime per-person costs of $27 684. Global costs are $7·19 billion per year and $188·80 billion per lifetime. More than 10% of these costs emanate from the USA and Canada, where Chagas disease has not been traditionally endemic. A substantial proportion of the burden emerges from lost productivity from cardiovascular disease-induced early mortality. Interpretation The economic burden of Chagas disease is similar to or exceeds those of other prominent diseases globally (eg, rotavirus $2·0 billion, cervical cancer $4·7 billion) even in the USA (Lyme disease $2·5 billion), where Chagas disease has not been traditionally endemic, suggesting an economic argument for more attention and efforts towards control of Chagas disease. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study.