cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Managing Disruptive Change in Channel Relationships

While extant research on relationship development suggests relationships evolve through incremental change over long periods of time, a single event between exchange partners can ignite dramatic (positive or negative) transformational change. Evidence of transformational relationship events (TREs) is presented to support this premise. Related research streams are identified and integrated (1) to uniquely define TREs against other critical relationship events and (2) to create a model of disruptive relationship change. We identify three underlying transformational mechanisms (customer gratitude/betrayal, customer reciprocity, and relational sensemaking) that facilitate relationship change (customer-company identification, loyalty behavior, relationship velocity) and impact financial performance. We test the conceptual model on on-going, channel relationships and identify several implications for relationship marketing theory and practice. While the majority of relationship marketing initiatives are grounded in lifecycle theories of development, integrating the TRE perspective provides a much richer understanding of relationship change that can inform relationship marketing strategy.
Phosphorylation-Induced Motor Shedding Is Required at Mitosis for Proper Distribution and Passive Inheritance of Mitochondria

While interphase mitochondria associate with microtubules, mitotic mitochondria dissociate from spindle microtubules and localize in the cell periphery. Here, we show that this redistribution is not mediated by mitochondrial active transport or tethering to the cytoskeleton. Instead, kinesin and dynein, which link mitochondria to microtubules, are shed from the mitochondrial surface. Shedding is driven by phosphorylation of mitochondrial and cytoplasmic targets by CDK1 and Aurora A. Forced recruitment of motor proteins to mitotic mitochondria to override this shedding prevents their proper symmetrical distribution and disrupts the balanced inheritance of mitochondria to daughter cells. Moreover, when mitochondria with bound dynein bind to the mitotic spindle, they arrest cell-cycle progression and produce binucleate cells. Thus, our results show that the regulated release of motor proteins from the mitochondrial surface is a critical mitotic event.
What Everyone Wanted to Know About Tight Binding and Enzyme Catalysis, but Never Thought of Asking

The notions that an enzyme increases the reaction rate of substrates by bringing them together at the active site and by destabilizing them are among the earliest hypotheses for explaining the extraordinary catalytic power of enzymes toward their specific substrates (Haldane 1930; Pauling 1946). These ideas were eclipsed in recent years by advances in our understanding of chemical mechanisms of catalysis and by the elucidation of the three-dimensional structures of enzymes and enzyme-substrate complexes by X-ray diffraction. However, they have received renewed attention in the last few years as it has become apparent that ordinary chemical mechanisms do not provide an adequate explanation for the observed magnitude of enzymic catalysis An important role for physical interactions that are mediated through utilization of the binding energy of specific substrates is suggested, in particular, by the large increases in reaction rate of up to 1010–1013 that are brought about by nonreacting portions of substrates, such as the sugar ring and phosphate of glucose-1-phosphate with phosphoglucomutase and the coenzyme A moiety of succinyl-CoA with coenzyme A transferase (Ray and Long 1976; Ray et al. 1976; Moore 1978; Jencks 1980a).
Government Recognition and International Humanitarian Law Applicability in Post-Gaddafi Libya

This article explores the relationship between the issue of government recognition and the applicability of international humanitarian law. Using the existence of competing governments in post-Gaddafi Libya as a case study, the article re-examines the meaning of the term “government” under public international law and proposes a distinct reading of what it means to be an effective government. It then considers how effectiveness can be used to differentiate between a de jure and a de facto government, and the international legal obligations of these two types of entities. Finally, the article applies this framework to the realm of the laws of war. In particular, it analyses how the existence of competing governments affects the scope of application of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions and the possible existence of an international armed conflict.
Heat transfer analysis of CNT suspended nanofluid through annulus sector duct

Abstract In this paper, we have numerically analysed the effects of single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the base fluid water through the vertical annulus sector duct, under the influence of Buoyancy force. A discretized form of governing dimensionless momentum and energy equation obtain with the help of finite volume based method and uses strongly implicit procedure (SIP) to solve the algebraic system. It has been observed that volume fraction of carbon nanotubes has direct relationship with the heat transfer coefficient and friction factor. Furthermore, limiting case results obtained in this study, are comparable with the published data in the absence of carbon nanotubes and Buoyancy force.
Brief Announcement: Certified Multiplicative Weights Update: Verified Learning Without Regret

The Multiplicative Weights Update method (MWU) is a simple yet powerful algorithm for learning linear classifiers, for ensemble learning a la boosting, for approximately solving linear and semidefinite systems, for computing approximate solutions to multicommodity flow problems, and for online convex optimization, among other applications. In this brief announcement, we apply techniques from interactive theorem proving to define and prove correct the first formally verified implementation of MWU (specifically, we show that our MWU is no regret). Our primary application -- and one justification of the relevance of our work to the PODC community -- is to verified multi-agent systems, such as distributed multi-agent network flow and load balancing games, for which verified MWU provides a convenient method for distributed computation of approximate Coarse Correlated Equilibria.
Direct Contact Sorptive Extraction: A Robust Method for Sampling Plant Volatiles in the Field.

Plants produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with diverse structures and functions, which change in response to environmental stimuli and have important consequences for interactions with other organisms. To understand these changes, in situ sampling is necessary. In contrast to dynamic headspace (DHS), which is the most often employed method, direct contact sampling employing a magnetic stir bar held in place by a magnet eliminates artifacts produced by enclosing plant materials in glass or plastic chambers. Direct-contact sorptive extraction (DCSE) using polydimethylsiloxane coated stir bars (Twisters) coated stir bars is more sensitive than DHS, captures a wider range of compounds, minimizes VOC collection from neighboring plants, and distinguishes the effects of herbivory in controlled and field conditions. Because DCSE is relatively inexpensive and simple to employ, scalability of field trials can be expanded concomitant with increased sample replication. The sensitivity of DCSE combined with the...
Abstract 16690: Multi-modality Imaging With 18-fluoro-d-glucose (fdg) Pet and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (cmr) Imaging to Identify Metabolical Remodeling in Patients With Ischemic Ventricular Tachycardia Substrate

Introduction: Both late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) CMR scar as well as FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) have been independently validated for the assessment of ischemic ventricular scar. We hypothesized that by combining both imaging technologies (i.e. extracellular fibrosis by CMR and metabolism of surviving myocardial cells), it is possible to detect abnormal remodeling processes within the ischemic scar characterized by preferential for cytosolic glycolysis, which provide a pathophysiological basis for possible proarrhythmic adaptions within the cellular ischemic VT substrate. Methods: Pre-ablation LGE-CMR and FDG-PET images of the left ventricle in 9 patients undergoing ablation for drug-refractory, ischemic ventricular tachycardia were reconstructed using SEGMENT (Medviso) and PCARD (pMOD) software. Using high resolution 757-segment polar plots, the presence and transmural extent of LGE CMR defined scar as well as the FDG uptake of surviving myocardial cells (normalized to perfusion) in each segment were determined. Additionally, in each segment, relative metabolic activity per mm of surviving, non-LGE myocardium was calculated and analyzed in corresponding 2D polar plots. Results: All patients had regions of decreased FDG uptake, located inferiorly (n=4), infero-laterally (n=3), antero-apically (n=1) and laterally (n=1). The location of decreased tracer uptake matched CMR fibrosis in all patients. Overall, CMR scar was not significantly different from PET scar (187±103 segments vs 142±85 segments, p=0.3). However, significant CMR/PET mismatch pattern (differences of >20% in segmental scar area) was seen in 3 patients, with CMR>PET in all three. Quantitative segmental analysis of those mismatching areas demonstrated a >3-fold increase in relative FDG uptake (per mm 3 of living tissue) compared to remote myocardium, suggesting significant metabolic remodeling. Conclusions: This is the first-in-human demonstration that multi-modality scar imaging using high resolution CMR and molecular, metabolic PET imaging has the potential to detect regional cellular remodeling and provide new pathophysiological insights into the possible proarrhythmic cellular adaptation within the ischemic scar substrate.
Shifting Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs and Understandings to Support Pedagogical Change in Mathematics

Many preservice teacher (PST) programs throughout the world are preparing students to implement the Core Standards, which require deeper conceptual understandings of mathematics and an informed approach for teaching. In this qualitative multi-case study, researchers explored the teaching methods for two university instructors and changes in PSTs beliefs previously formed by personal elementary experiences. Results of the pre- and postcourse analysis demonstrate notable shifts in beliefs, understandings, and personal philosophies. A situated context and a social constructivist approach coupled with critical reflective exercises created an environment for PSTs to reflect upon and change their personal conceptual frameworks.
Initial Assessments of E-learning modules in cytotechnology education

Background: Nine E-learning modules (ELMs) were developed in our program using Articulate software. This study assessed our cytotechnology (CT) students' perceptions on the content of the ELMs, and the perceived influence of the ELMs on students' performance during clinical rotations. Subjects and Methods: All CT students watched nine ELMs before the related classroom lecture and group discussion. Following that, students completed nine preclinical rotation surveys. After their clinical rotations, students completed nine postclinical rotation surveys. Results: Statements on the content of the ELMs regarding the quality of the video and audio, duration, navigation, and the materials presented, received positive responses from the majority of the students. While there were a few disagreements and neutral responses, most of the students responded positively saying that the ELMs better prepared them for their role, as well as helped them to better perform their roles during the clinical rotation. The majority of the students recommended developing more EMLs for cytology courses in the future Conclusions: This study has given hope that the ELMs have potential to enhance our online curriculum and benefit students, within the United States and internationally, who have no easy access to cytology clinical laboratories for hands-on training.
Designing and Implementing a General Purpose Halfedge Data Structure

Halfedge data structures (HDS) are fundamental in representing combinatorial geometric structures, useful for representing any planar structures such as plane graphs and planar maps, polyhedral surfaces and boundary representations (BREPs), two-dimensional views of a three dimensional scene, etc. Many variants have been proposed in the literature, starting with the winged-edge data structure of Baumgart[2], the DCEL of [15,9], the quad-edge data structure [11], the halfedge data structure [18,12, and refs. therein]. They have been proposed in various frameworks (references too many to give here): Plane structures: including planar maps for GIS, 2D Boolean modeling, 2D graphics, scienti.c computations, computer vision. The requirements on HDS are that that some edges may be in.nite (e.g., Voronoi diagrams), or border edges (e.g., for bounded polygonal domains), it may include holes in the facets (planar maps), and that if so, one of the connected boundary cycle is distinguished as the outer boundary (the others are inner holes). Boundary representation of three-dimensional solids: including Brep representation, solid modeling, polyhedral surfaces, 3D graphics. The requirements here vary slightly: holes may still be allowed, but there is no need to distinguish an outer boundary, in.nite edges are not always useful but border edges might need to be allowed.
Radical Cystectomy for Stages TA, TIS and T1 Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

AbstractBetween January 1969 and January 1990, 531 patients underwent bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection and radical cystectomy for the management of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Of these procedures 220 were performed for clinical stage Ta (31 patients), Tis (23) or T1 (166) disease, which was either high grade or recalcitrant to transurethral resection and/or intravesical chemotherapy. This subgroup of patients was studied to evaluate the outcome of recurrent or chemotherapy resistant superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder after radical cystectomy. The operative mortality rate for the group was 2.3% and the overall complication rate was 20.4%. The pelvic recurrence rate was 5.9%. The 5-year cancer-specific survival rates for patients with pathological stage Ta (11), Tis (19), TO (43) and T1 (91) disease were 88%, 100%, 80% and 76%, respectively. The 10-year cancer-specific survival rates were 75%, 92%, 66% and 62%, respectively. A total of 74 patients received preoperat...
Thiamine Deficiency: A Model of Metabolic Encephalopathy and of Selective Neuronal Vulnerability

Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency (TD) is a unique example of a nutritional deficit that produces a generalized impairment in oxidative metabolism and leads to metabolic encephalopathy or delirium, memory deficits and selective neuronal death in particular brain regions. Experimental TD is a classical model of a nutritional deficit associated with a generalized impairment of oxidative metabolism and selective cell loss in the brain. The response to TD is altered by the genetic background (i.e., strain) and the age of the animal. Changes in thiamine-dependent processes have also been implicated in ischemia (stroke), diabetes and multiple neurodegenerative disorders. An understanding of the mechanism by which TD leads to brain dysfunction and eventually to selective neuronal death is likely to facilitate our understanding of the role of thiamine in all these disorders. In addition, the results are likely to help our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms leading to altered neuronal functions and neuronal death in these other disorders.
Breast Cancer Survivorship Management

Owing to improvements in screening and adjuvant therapy, survival following the diagnosis of breast cancer has improved markedly over the past three decades. This chapter will focus on MD Anderson’s recommendations for surveillance and treatment in breast cancer survivors. Because randomized trials have not demonstrated a survival benefit with intensive monitoring, current guidelines support the use of medical history review, physical examination, and annual mammograms as the bedrock of breast cancer surveillance. In addition, given the multidisciplinary approach to breast cancer treatment and surveillance, it is essential to monitor for and treat long-term effects of breast cancer treatment, including lymphedema, cardiac toxicity, ovarian failure, bone disorders, and secondary malignancies.
Improving infection control practices of nurse anesthetists in the anesthesia workspace

Background Anesthesia providers commonly cross-contaminate their workspace and subsequently put patients at risk for a health care–acquired infection. The primary objective of this project was to determine if education and implementation of standardized infection control guidelines that address evidence-based best practices would improve compliance with infection control procedures in the anesthesia workspace. Methods Patient care–related hand hygiene of nurse anesthetists was observed in 3 areas of anesthesia practice before and 3 weeks and 3 months after staff education, placement of visual reminders, and the implementation of infection control guidelines. After the observation periods, the percent compliance on the part of the providers was calculated for each of the 3 areas of anesthesia practice, and the results were compared using the Fisher exact test. Results There were a total of 95 observations performed during the 3 observation periods. When compared with preimplementation baseline data, there was a 26.2% increase in the number of providers compliant with hand hygiene practices after airway instrumentation (P = .029) and a 71.9% increase in the number of providers who separated clean from contaminated items in the workspace (P = .0001). Conclusions Education, visual reminders, and standardized infection control guidelines were shown to improve compliance with infection control best practices in a group of nurse anesthetists.
Overcoming Leukemia-Induced Immune Suppression in BCR-ABL+ Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

BCR-ABL+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients have transient responses to current therapies. However, the fusion of BCR to ABL generates a potential leukemia-specific antigen that could be a target for immunotherapy. Herein we demonstrate that the immune system can limit BCR-ABL+ leukemia progression although ultimately this immune response fails. To address how BCR-ABL+ leukemia escapes immune surveillance, we developed a peptide: MHC-II tetramer that labels endogenous BCR-ABL-specific CD4+ T cells. Naive mice have a small population of BCR-ABL-specific T cells that proliferate modestly upon immunization with the BCR-ABL fusion peptide (referred to as BAp hereafter). In response to BCR-ABL+ leukemia, BCR-ABL specific T cells proliferated and converted into regulatory T cells (Treg cells), a process that was dependent on MHC-II antigen presentation by leukemic cells. Treg cells were critical for leukemia progression in C57Bl/6 mice, as transient Treg cell ablation led to extended survival of leukemic mice. Leukemic B cells produced significantly more TGb1, IL10 and PDL1 than control non-transformed B cells. We are currently extending these studies to determine if leukemia-specific production of TGFb, IL10, or PDL1 plays a critical role in driving tolerance induction. Thus, BCR-ABL+ leukemia actively suppresses the anti-leukemia immune responses by converting cross-reactive leukemia-specific T cells into Treg cells. To determine if we could reverse tolerance we examined whether checkpoint blockade or therapeutic vaccination with BAp peptide could improve survival in mice with pre-established BCR-ABL+ leukemia. Consistent with the low mutation load in our leukemia model, we found that checkpoint blockade with anti-PDL1 and CTLA-4 alone had only modest effects on survival. In contrast, robust heterologous vaccination using LCMV, Listeria, and VSV infection plus a peptide derived from the BCR-ABL fusion (BAp), a key driver mutation, resulted in a small population of mice that survived long-term. Checkpoint blockade strongly synergized with heterologous vaccination to enhance overall survival in mice with leukemia. Enhanced survival did not correlate with numbers of BAp:I-Ab-specific T cells, but rather with increased expression of IL10, IL17, and GrzmB and decreased expression of PD1 on these cells. Our findings demonstrate that vaccination to key driver mutations cooperates with checkpoint blockade and allows for immune control of cancers with low non-synonymous mutation loads. We are currently examining whether we can further improve survival via combination chemotherapy (using Nilotinib which typically only induces transient remission) and immunotherapy (using checkpoint blockade with anti-PD1 or anti-PDL1). Disclosures Farrar: Merck: Research Funding.
Production of sediment from the running surface of unpaved legacy roads in southeast Ohio, USA

Unpaved, or unbound aggregate, roads are thought to be one of the largest anthropogenic sources of fine sediments in the stream channels of small watersheds. Sedimentation can reduce water quality ...
Strong Effects of Population Density and Social Characteristics on Distribution of COVID-19 Infections in the United States

ABSTRACT Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has devastated global populations and has had a large impact in the United States. The objective of this manuscript is to study the relation of population demographics, social characteristics, and social distancing on the number of infections and deaths in the US. Methods Data came from publicly available sources. Social distancing was measured by the change in the rate of human encounters per km2 relative to the pre-COVID-19 national average. A smooth generalized additive model for counts of total infections and deaths at US county-level included population demographics, social characteristics, and social distancing. Results The model strongly predicted the geo-spatial variations in COVID-19 infections and deaths, 97.2% of variation in infections and 99.3% of variation in deaths from March 15, 2020. US counties with higher population density, poverty index, civilian population, and minorities, especially African Americans, had a higher rate of infections and deaths, and social distancing was associated with a slower rate of infections and deaths. The number of people infected was increasing; however, the rate of increase of new infections was showing signs of plateauing from the second week of April. Our model estimates that 1,865,580 US residents will test positive for infections and 117,246 fatalities by June 1, 2020. Importantly, our model suggests significant social differences in the infections and deaths across US communities. Areas with a larger African American population and a higher poverty index are expected to show higher rates of infections and deaths. Conclusion Preventive steps, including social distancing and community closures, have been a cornerstone in slowing the transmission and potentially reducing the spread of the disease. Crucial knowledge of the role of social characteristics in disease transmission is essential to understand and predict current and future disease distribution and plan additional preventive steps.
Resistant Transparency and Nonprofit Labor: Challenging Precarity in the Art + Museum Wage Transparency Campaign:

Drawing upon contemporary academic debates about nonprofit worker precarity combined with needed theoretical re-orientations toward transparency, this paper explicates the situated communication pr...
How does Teach For America engage its alumni politically? A case study in Detroit

We describe the alumni engagement efforts by Teach For America (TFA) in Detroit as a case study of the specific ways that the organization works to influence its alumni’s involvement in educational politics and disposition towards particular types of educational reform. During the 2019-20 school year, TFA Detroit facilitated a series of “policy workshops” for its alumni, intended to inspire TFA corps members and alumni to engage in political and policy advocacy. Combining field notes and other artifacts from the policy workshops with a social network analysis of the featured participants and central organizations, we show that TFA Detroit drew upon its local, state, and national policy networks to construct workshops that in turn would politically mobilize alumni to support their networks’ preferred city and state policies and reforms.
Consistent Answers of Aggregation Queries using SAT Solvers.

The framework of database repairs and consistent answers to queries is a principled approach to managing inconsistent databases. We describe the first system able to compute the consistent answers of general aggregation queries with the COUNT(A), COUNT(*), and SUM operators, and with or without grouping constructs. Our system uses reductions to optimization versions of Boolean satisfiability (SAT) and then leverages powerful SAT solvers. We carry out an extensive set of experiments on both synthetic and real-world data that demonstrate the usefulness and scalability of this approach.
Complete Approximations with Multivariate Generalized Picard Singular Integrals

This research and survey chapter deals exclusively with the study of the approximation of generalized multivariate Picard singular integrals to the identity-unit operator. Here we study quantitatively most of their approximation properties.
Advancing the Accuracy of Computational Models for Double-Sided Incremental Forming

Double-Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF) is a rapid-prototyping manufacturing process for metal forming that, for low-volume production, is competitively energy-efficient. However, controlling the DSIF process in terms of accuracy and formability is an ongoing challenge. These control challenges arise due to a lack of understanding of the underlying deformation mechanisms in DSIF, which finite element simulations can help to unravel. However, DSIF pushes the limits of modern finite element formulations due to true strains that approach one, finite rotations, nonlinear contact, and triaxial stress states that range across multiple length scales. To confidently develop a finite element model of DSIF, an extensive verification process must be considered, which is the objective of this study. In this work, different finite element types and varying amounts of artificial acceleration are investigated, and recommendations based on efficiency and accuracy are summarized. A simplified, axisymmetric geometry was considered to reduce simulation time. For this geometry, accelerating the explicit finite element simulation by a mass factor of 105 or greater affected the stress triaxiality in the sheet by as much as 40% in some locations with respect to the quasi-static case. Additionally, the ratio of the kinetic energy to internal energy of the sheet was not a reliable indicator of whether a DSIF simulation is approximately quasi-static.
Influence of Rule and Reward-based Strategies on Inferences of Serial Order by Monkeys

Knowledge of transitive relationships between items can contribute to learning the order of a set of stimuli from pairwise comparisons. However, cognitive mechanisms of transitive inferences based on rank order remain unclear, as are contributions of reward magnitude and rule-based inference. To explore these issues, we created a conflict between rule- and reward-based learning during a serial ordering task. Rhesus macaques learned two lists, each containing five stimuli, that were trained exclusively with adjacent pairs. Selection of the higher-ranked item resulted in rewards. "Small reward" lists yielded 2 drops of fluid reward, while "large reward" lists yielded 5 drops. Following training of adjacent pairs, monkeys were tested on novels pairs. One item was selected from each list, such that a ranking rule could conflict with preferences for large rewards. Differences in associated reward magnitude had a strong influence on accuracy, but we also observed a symbolic distance effect. That provided evidence of a rule-based influence on decisions. Reaction time comparisons suggested a conflict between rule and reward-based processes. We conclude that performance reflects the contributions of two strategies, and that a model-based strategy is employed in the face of a strong countervailing reward incentive.
Radiation tolerance of neutron-irradiated model Fe-Cr-Al alloys

Abstract The Fe–Cr–Al alloy system has the potential to form an important class of enhanced accident-tolerant cladding materials in the nuclear power industry owing to the alloy system's higher oxidation resistance in high-temperature steam environments compared with traditional zirconium-based alloys. However, radiation tolerance of Fe–Cr–Al alloys has not been fully established. In this study, a series of Fe–Cr–Al alloys with 10–18 wt % Cr and 2.9–4.9 wt % Al were neutron irradiated at 382 °C to 1.8 dpa to investigate the irradiation-induced microstructural and mechanical property evolution as a function of alloy composition. Dislocation loops with Burgers vector of a/2〈111〉 and a〈100〉 were detected and quantified. Results indicate precipitation of Cr-rich α′ is primarily dependent on the bulk chromium composition. Mechanical testing of sub-size-irradiated tensile specimens indicates the hardening response seen after irradiation is dependent on the bulk chromium composition. A structure–property relationship was developed; it indicated that the change in yield strength after irradiation is caused by the formation of these radiation-induced defects and is dominated by the large number density of Cr-rich α′ precipitates at sufficiently high chromium contents after irradiation.
SU-E-J-232: Feasibility of MRI-Based Preplan On Low Dose Rate Prostate Brachytherapy

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using MRI-based preplan for low dose rate prostate brachytherapy. Methods: 12 patients who received transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostate brachytherapy with Pd-103 were retrospectively studied. Our care-standard of the TRUS-based preplan served as the control. One or more prostate T2-weighted wide and/or narrow-field of view MRIs obtained within the 3 months prior to the implant were imported into the MIM Symphony software v6.3 (MIM Software Inc., Cleveland, OH) for each patient. In total, 37 MRI preplans (10 different image sequences with average thickness of 4.8mm) were generated. The contoured prostate volume and the seed counts required to achieve adequate dosimetric coverage from TRUS and MRI preplans were compared for each patient. The effects of different MRI sequences and image thicknesses were also investigated statistically using Student’s t-test. Lastly, the nomogram from the MRI preplan and TRUS preplan from our historical treatment data were compared. Results: The average prostate volume contoured on the TRUS and MRI were 26.6cc (range: 12.6∼41.3cc), and 27.4 cc (range: 14.3∼50.0cc), respectively. Axial MRI thicknesses (range: 3.5∼8.1mm) did not significantly affect the contoured volume or the number of seeds required on the preplan (R2 = 0.0002 and 0.0012, respectively). Four ofmore » the MRI sequences (AX-T2, AX-T2-Whole-Pelvis, AX-T2-FSE, and AXIALT2- Hi-Res) showed statistically significant better prostate volume agreement with TRUS than the other seven sequences (P <0.01). Nomogram overlay between the MRI and TRUS preplans showed good agreement; indicating volumes contoured on MRI preplan scan reliably predict how many seeds are needed for implant. Conclusion: Although MRI does not allow for determination of the actual implant geometry, it can give reliable volumes for seed ordering purposes. Our future work will investigate if MRI is sufficient to reliably replace TRUS preplanning in patients where preplan TRUS may be technically challenging.« less
Self, Soul, and Psyche

As we have postulated in the previous three chapters, man used his skill in differentiation to divide the world into two major blocks—the me block, or internal world, and the not-me block, or external world. By use of his word tools he constructed concepts of the external world that reflected his internal world. He anthropomorphized the external world and populated it with spirits, demons, and gods. By a curious twist he then postulated that his internal world was a reflection of his concept of the external world—that he was a creature like the gods or created by God in God’s image. It is a bit confusing as to whether God was manlike or man was godlike. This “image of God” concept was particularly prominent in the Christian paradigm that dominated Western thinking of several centuries.
Overview of Key Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Action in Italy

This research paper offers an overview of expected climate change impacts, vulnerabilities, and the main policy actions undertaken in Europe to adapt to such changes. Regional and sectoral challenges that European countries expect to tackle with regard to climate change impacts and vulnerabilities are presented in the first section. The second section shows estimated costs of climate change impacts and costs to adapt, according to the available studies. The third section contains a synthesis of adaptation policy frameworks in place at international, European, national and regional level. The research paper is based on key technical and policy documents focusing on Europe.
Solid state: 100 000+ gates on a chip: Mastering the minutia: The submicron geometries needed for VLSI have put IC makers on a new learning curve; object, to perfect feature delineation techniques

Established process technology and manufacturing techniques will no longer do; the 64 kbit RAM demands a quantum jump beyond them. It is a prelude to very large-scale integration (VLSI), or the placing of more than 100000 logic gates on a single chip. Primarily facing obsolescence is the present technique of photolithography as it affects feature delineation, because the wavelength of light used to expose IC mask patterns has become a significant percentage of the line width being printed. And after photolithography, conventional wet-chemical etching must also go; it also contributes to insufficient feature delineation. Meanwhile airborne particles that can become tiny topological defects in the finished water surface must now be virtually eliminated. All of these problems were encountered in the development of the 64-kbit RAM, and they were overcome by breaking new ground in processing techniques.
Which Call Parameters Signal Threat to Conspecifics in White‐Throated Magpie‐Jay Mobbing Calls?

Variation in signals often encodes additional information beyond that provided by the main signal. Many species communicate degree of threat using such signal variation. However, multiple signal parameters often covary with threat level, and it is unclear whether receivers are using variation along one or more parameters when assessing threat level. White-throated magpie-jays (Calocitta formosa) vary several call parameters when mobbing, and here I report on an experiment testing whether such variation contains information used by conspecific receivers, and which parameters are salient to receivers. I collected data on natural mobbing sequences in two threat contexts and found that mobbing calls were highly variable in both length and inter-call interval, but on average, both parameters were shorter in high threat contexts, while call frequency did not differ. To determine how jays respond to such between-context variation, I conducted a playback experiment in which call length and inter-call interval were independently varied in a factorial design. This is one of the first studies to my knowledge to deconstruct and independently test covarying signal parameters in an anti-predator signaling system. Magpie-jays responded more often to treatments with either short call lengths or short inter-call intervals, in concordance with the natural calling data. However, the two parameters did not appear to act independently; responses were not additive, and short calls at short inter-call intervals elicited no stronger of a response than short calls at long intervals or long calls at short intervals. Receivers can use either parameter when assessing threat level. These data demonstrate that mobbing can signal threat level, that call length and call rate are redundant, and that receivers need not use both to determine whether to approach.
What are we trying to prove? reflections on experiences with proof-carrying code

Since 1996 there has been tremendous progress in developing the idea of certified code, including both proof-carrying code (PCC) and typed assembly language (TAL). In a certified code framework, each program (which is usually in machine-code binary form) comes equipped with a certificate that "explains", both rigorously and in a manner that is easily validated, why it possesses a formally specified security property. A substantial amount of the research work in this area has been directed towards the problem of how to make certified code a practical technology--what one might call "proof engineering". Thus, many of the advances have been in methods for representing the certificates in the most compact and efficiently checkable way. For example, early on George Necula and I used LF encodings of loop invariants and safety proofs, which were then validated by a process of verification-condition generation and LF type checking. Later, we adopted the so-called "oracle-based" representation, resulting in certificates that imposed a much smaller overhead on the size of the object files, usually much less than 20%. This made us optimistic enough about the prospects for a practical realization of certified code that we devoted considerable effort in developing the Special J system for certified Java. And very recently, many researchers (led initially by Andrew Appel and Amy Felty) have been developing various "foundational" approaches to certified code. These hold out the promise of making PCC and TAL even more trustworthy and easier to administer in practical settings, and in some instances may also open PCC to verification of temporal properties. In this talk, I will start with an overview of these and other current state-of-the-art concepts in certified code. Then, I will consider a very different but equally practical question: Just what is it that we are trying to prove? In contrast to the concept of translation validation, a certified code system does not prove the semantic equivalence between source and target programs. It only proves a specified safety property for the target program, independent of any source program. So then what is the right safety property to use? Is it necessary to prove that the target programs preserve all of the typing abstractions of a particular source program, or is simple "memory safety" enough? While I have yet to claim an answer to this question, I am able to relate specific situations from practical applications that may help to shed some light on the situation.
Perturbation of a nonionic microemulsion by the introduction of charged surfactant: II. Potentiometric titrations

Abstract A nonionic microemulsion which was perturbed by the addition of a small fraction of ionic surfactant, oleic acid, was studied by means of potentiometric titrations. The data were analyzed by a simple Debye-Hu¨ckle model for the electrolyte. The titrations gave a value of 6.6 for the intrinsicp K which implies that at the start of the titrations the car☐yl was in a region of low dielectric strength. Plots of the effectivep K vs the degree of ionization as a function of added electrolyte were analyzed to give an apparent radius of about 69A˚compared to the 50A˚found by classical light scattering.
Activity of deoxyribonucleic acid fragments of defined size in Bacillus subtilis transformation.

The transforming activity of Bacillus subtilis deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that had been sheared and purified with respect to size by sucrose gradient sedimentation is given as a function of the DNA molecular weight. It is shown (i) that fragments of median molecular weight 1.2 × 106 have finite activity (10−4), (ii) that the shape of the activity-versus-molecular weight function is qualitatively similar to that observed previously for Diplococcus pneumoniae, and (iii) that this shape precludes interpretation in terms of critical size models.
A modification to the Huffman coding of JPEG's baseline compression algorithm

Summary form only given. In a DCT block of a compressed image, the density of non-zero AC coefficients and their size decrease as the block is scanned in the zigzag order. This paper presents a minor modification to the Huffman coding phase of the JPEG baseline algorithm to exploit this redundancy for further compression. Our encoder divides each block into two roughly equal halves (bands) and codes each band using a separate code table. It moves the EOB (end-of-block) marker to the middle of the sequence of non-zero AC coefficients and then replaces it by one of two split markers, whose selection depends on whether the number of non-zero AC coefficients is even or odd. No marker is needed at the end of a block. The major difference between this approach and the spectral selection method of the JPEG progressive mode is that the band boundary is flexible in our approach (i.e., it can vary from block to block).
Using ensembles of binary case-based reasoners

An ensemble of case-based reasoning systems was created to diagnose unplanned shutdowns of large gas turbines. One case-based reasoning system was created for each of the four most common causes of the shutdowns. Each of these reasoners determines its confidence that the root cause it diagnoses is the actual root cause or not. A fusion module combines these confidence values into a single diagnosis for the shutdown.
Reviewing the Relationship Between School Factors and Substance Use for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

This paper provides a summary of school-related variables that have been shown to relate to substance use in elementary, middle, and high school populations. Forty-one empirical studies and two review articles, published from 1972 to 1996, were reviewed to determine time-ordered and concomitant relationships between school factors and substance use. Grade point average, absenteeism, educational plans, year in school, and high school noncompletion were among the most frequently studied variables. Studies found correlational and antecedent relationships between school-related factors and substance use among the population of interest. The causal and mediational nature of these relationships is discussed.
Recombinant factor VIIa as an adjunct in nonoperative management of solid organ injuries in children.

Abstract Background Ongoing bleeding after blunt solid organ injury in children may require invasive therapy in the form of either angiographic or operative control. We report our experience in the use of a procoagulant, recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa), for controlling persistent bleeding in blunt abdominal trauma in children. Methods After institutional review board approval, the records of 8 children with blunt abdominal trauma, persistent bleeding, and managed nonoperatively with rFVIIa were reviewed. Results All 8 patients presented to our institution after sustaining blunt abdominal trauma and solid organ injury. All children had evidence of persistent bleeding with a drop in hematocrit and elevation in heart rate. Patients received a single dose of rFVIIa at 75 to 90 μ g/kg (1 patient had 24 μ g/kg) and had successful control of their bleeding without any further therapeutic intervention. Only 3 patients required a blood transfusion after rFVIIa administration—2 who had subarachnoid hemorrhages and the third during pelvic fixation. There were no cases of thromboembolic events after treatment with rFVIIa. Conclusions Recombinant factor VIIa is a useful adjunctive therapy in pediatric patients with evidence of ongoing hemorrhage from blunt abdominal injury and may reduce the need for invasive therapeutic procedures and transfusions.
Echocardiographic manifestations of Glycogen Storage Disease III: Increase in wall thickness and left ventricular mass over time

Purpose: Glycogen Storage Disease Type III, glycogen debranching enzyme deficiency, causes accumulation of glycogen in liver, skeletal, and cardiac muscle. Some patients develop increased left ventricular thickness by echocardiography, but the rate of increase and its significance remain unclear. Methods: We evaluated 33 patients with Glycogen Storage Disease Type III, 23 with IIIa and 10 with IIIb, ages 1 month to 55.5 years, by echocardiography for wall thickness, left ventricular mass, shortening and ejection fractions, at 1 time point (n = 33) and at 2 time points in patients with more than 1 echocardiogram (13 of the 33). Results: Of 23 cross-sectional patients with type IIIa, 12 had elevated left ventricular mass, 11 had elevated wall thickness. One type IIIb patient had elevated left ventricular mass but four had elevated wall thickness. For those with multiple observations, 9 of 10 with type IIIa developed increased left ventricular mass over time, with three already increased at first measurement. Shortening and ejection fractions were generally normal. Conclusion: Elevated left ventricular mass and wall thickness is more common in patients with type IIIa but develops rarely in type IIIb, although ventricular systolic function is preserved. This suggests serial echocardiograms with attention to left ventricular thickness and mass are important for care of these patients.
Influence of ethanol on ethylene biosynthesis and flower senescence of cut carnation

Abstract Ethanol in the holding-solution inhibited climacteric ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) biosynthesis and decreased the respiration rate 60% during a 7-day period in cut carnation flowers. Conversion of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) to C 2 H 4 was inhibited by adding ethanol to the holding-solution. Simultaneously, ACC-induced senescence in carnation flowers was inhibited by ethanol. Ethanol was the most effective alcohol in delaying carnation flower senescence of the tested series methanol, ethanol, propanol, tert-butanol and n-butanol. Ovary development was also inhibited in carnation flowers by ethanol. The senescence of Easter lily flowers ( Lilium longiflorum ) and tulip flowers ( Tulipa gesneriana ) was not delayed by ethanol.
New carrier-current equipment for telemetering

THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING USE of telemetering by power companies is made possible largely by carrier-current channels. Anticipating the requirements of present-day telemetering needs, a narrow-band frequency-shift type of equipment was developed; this equipment has received wide acceptance.
Gaussian reciprocal processes and self-adjoint stochastic differential equations of second order

We show that under suitable conditions the covariance of a Gaussian reciprocal process satisfies a self-adjoint linear differential equation of second order. We also give a revised definition of a linear stochastic differential equation of second order and necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions of such equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We close with a series of examples of the theory applied to the scalar stationary Gaussian Reciprocal processes which have been completely classified.