cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studies of normal and ectopic atrial excitation

Abstract P loops and waves resulting from excitation originating in the S-A node and four ectopic sites have been derived. The methods were based on representing the spread of excitation as lines on molds of the interior of human atria, and the application of appropriate principles of analysis for waves propagating on a surface. P waves resulting from excitation originating in the S-A node were derived by two methods. One of these assumed the limb electrodes to be equidistant from all portions of the atria and the other took into account the actual distances between atria and the effective position of the limb electrodes. Waves derived by these methods were similar, indicating that the assumption of equidistance of limb electrodes is reasonably valid for normal atria. The derived waves were similar to those in ECG's recorded prior to death, which supports the validity of methods employed. Excitation originating in the left atrial appendage yielded P waves which were negative or diphasic and of low voltage in Lead I, upright, negative, or diphasic and of low voltage in Lead II, and upright in Lead III. The P loops had a characteristic form with marked irregularity in their midportions. Activation originating near the inferior vena cava resulted in P waves of a distinctive form with an initial portion of low voltage in Lead I. With excitation originating in the body of the left atrium near the A-V groove, negative waves in I and II and diphasic waves or waves with a terminal portion of low voltage in Lead III resulted. P waves and loops resulting from excitation beginning in the right atrial appendage were more nearly like those resulting from normal activation than those derived from other ectopic sites. All P loops and waves derived from ectopic activation were of longer duration than those derived from normal excitation. Le excitation atrial, normal e ectopic, ha essite studiate per medio de modulos del interior de cinque normal atrios human. Le progresso del excitation esseva representate per lineas equidistante circa le sito de formation del impulsos. Spiras P in the plano frontal e undas P in le derivationes extremital standard e unipolar esseva derivate ab photographias del modellos. Le excitation que comenciava al capite del nodo sino-auricular resultava in undas P que esseva simile a illos exhibite inver electrocardiogrammas registrate ante le morte del patientes. Le excitation que comenciava a quatro sitos ectopic resultava in undas P e in spiras P con certe characteristicas distinctive.
A Finite Element Model of Self-Resonating Bimorph Microcantilever for Fast Temperature Cycling in A Pyroelectric Energy Harvester.

A self resonating bimorph cantilever structure for fast temperature cycling in a pyroelectric energy harvester has been modeled using finite element method. Effect of constituting material properties and system parameters on the frequency and magnitude of temperature cycling and the efficiency of energy recycling using the proposed structure has been investigated. Results show that thermal contact conductance and heat source temperature play a key role in dominating the cycling frequency and efficiency of energy recycling. Studying the performance trend with various parameters such as thermal contact conductance, heat source temperature, device aspect ratio and constituent material of varying thermal conductivity and expansion coefficient, an optimal solution for most efficient energy scavenging process has been sought.
Tools for Biomolecular and Cellular Analysis

This PDF file contains the editorial “Special Section Guest Editorial: Tools for Biomolecular and Cellular Analysis” for JBO Vol. 7 Issue 04
A Deweyan Perspective on Democracy and Inquiry in the Field of Special Education

On what basis do special educators working in the area of severe disabilities make decisions? This article provides an exploration of the practice of social inquiry in professional work that draws ...
Quantum information processing in optical fibers

We will review recent progress in generating high fidelity quantum correlated and entangled photons via spontaneous four-wave mixing in standard optical fiber. We will also present applications of such photons in quantum information processing tasks.
Evidence on economies of scale in software development

Abstract Researchers and practitioners have found it useful for cost estimation and productivity evaluation purposes to think of software development as an economic production process, whereby inputs, most notably the effort of systems development professionals, are converted into outputs (systems deliverables), often measured as the size of the delivered system. One central issue in developing such models is how to describe the production relationship between the inputs and outputs. In particular, there has been much discussion about the existence of either increasing or decreasing returns to scale. The presence or absence of scale economies at a given size are important to commercial practice in that they influence productivity. A project manager can use this knowledge to scale future projects so as to maximize the productivity of software development effort. The question of whether the software development production process should be modelled with a non-linear model is the subject of some recent controversy. This paper examines the issue of non-linearities through the analysis of 11 datasets using, in addition to standard parametric tests, new statistical tests with the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology. Results of this analysis support the hypothesis of significant non-linearities, and the existence of both economies and diseconomies of scale in software development.
Aggregation quenching in thin films of meh-ppv studied by near-field scanning optical microscopy and spectroscopy

Aggregates in thin films of conjugated polymers form excimer states and significantly reduce the photo- and electroluminescence efficiency in devices produced from these materials. We have studied the aggregate formation in thin films of poly(2-methoxy,5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenylene-vinylene) (MEH-PPV) by near-field scanning optical microscopy and spectroscopy. Local photoluminescence spectroscopy and photo-bleaching experiments have been used to show that thin films of MEH-PPV are homogeneously aggregated and do not form aggregated domains. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
State-funded health insurance: impact on utilization and quality of care among uninsured and underinsured children. ♦ 544

State-funded health insurance: impact on utilization and quality of care among uninsured and underinsured children. ♦ 544
An electron microscopic study of erythrophagocytosis.

The present study describes a submicroscopic surface fragmentation of erythrocytes which occurs in the ascitic fluid of rats bearing the Novikoff ascites hepatoma. The resulting fragments attach to the surface of macrophages and are phagocytized by pseudopod formation. Plasma membrane in the region of these phagocytosis vacuoles appears to condense into electron-opaque material, suggesting an alteration in its physicochemical state. Stages in intracellular digestion of intact erythrocytes or small fragments within the phagocytosis vacuoles are illustrated; no particles resembling ferritin are observed. The phagocytosis vacuoles possess high levels of acid phosphatase activity. They may be called phagosomes, a type of lysosome. There is no indication of a connection between phagosomes and other formed cytoplasmic organelles. Small vacuoles of the order of 80 mµ in diameter, which may represent pinocytosis vacuoles, are present in the cytoplasm and some appear to be in contact with the phagosome membrane, reminiscent of observations of Rose with HeLa cells.
Dynamic imaging with MRI contrast agents: quantitative considerations

Time-resolved MRI has had enormous impact in cognitive science and may become a significant tool in basic biological research with the application of new molecular imaging agents. In this paper, we examine the temporal characteristics of MRI contrast agents that could be used in dynamic studies. We consider “smart” T1 contrast agents, T2 agents based on reversible aggregation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles and sensors that produce changes in saturation transfer effects (chemical exchange saturation transfer, CEST). We discuss response properties of several agents with reference to available experimental data, and we develop a new theoretical model that predicts the response rates and relaxivity changes of aggregation-based sensors. We also perform calculations to define the extent to which constraints on temporal resolution are imposed by the imaging methods themselves. Our analysis confirms that some small T1 agents may be compatible with MRI temporal resolution on the order of 100 ms. Nanoparticle aggregation T2 sensors are applicable at much lower concentrations, but are likely to respond on a single second or slower timescale. CEST agents work at high concentrations and temporal resolutions of 1–10 s, limited by a requirement for long presaturation periods in the MRI pulse sequence.
Intercloud Networks Performance Analysis

Continued growth in cloud IaaS adoption motivates greater transparency into IaaS network performance to effectively leverage intra and intercloud service and data migration needs of a global consumer base. In this work, we produce a baseline set of network performance measurements for cloud WANs both internal to individual IaaS provider's globally distributed datacenters and in between those provider's private infrastructures. Standard virtual machine instances provided by major IaaS vendors were utilized along with traditional open source operating systems and latency/bandwidth testing toolsets. The measurements provide insights into bandwidth and latency bottlenecks relative to global data transit between commercial production cloud resources. This data provides network engineers, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS providers, cloud service consumers, and intercloud testbed developers essential reference data upon which to set performance and QoS expectations and propose next generation cloud network infrastructure and software enhancements. Further, the evolution of baseline network metrics for cloud services helps provide uniformity and clarity to IaaS vendor performance and capability comparisons.
TRANSFER PENALTIES: ANOTHER LOOK AT TRANSIT RIDERS' RELUCTANCE TO TRANSFER

Two on-board surveys were conducted to determine how transit riders perceive transfers. The surveys were conducted before and after the imposition of a transfer in the middle of an existing bus route. Results of the surveys showed that riders perceive bus transit trips as significantly worse when the trip requires a transfer, even if transfer time is neglibible.
High-latitude influence on the eastern equatorial Pacific climate in the early Pleistocene epoch

Many records of tropical sea surface temperature and marine productivity exhibit cycles of 23 kyr (orbital precession) and 100 kyr during the past 0.5 Myr (refs 1–5), whereas high-latitude sea surface temperature records display much more pronounced obliquity cycles at a period of about 41 kyr (ref. 6). Little is known, however, about tropical climate variability before the mid-Pleistocene transition about 900 kyr ago, which marks the change from a climate dominated by 41-kyr cycles7 (when ice-age cycles and high-latitude sea surface temperature variations were dictated by changes in the Earth's obliquity8,9) to the more recent 100-kyr cycles of ice ages. Here we analyse alkenones from marine sediments in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean to reconstruct sea surface temperatures and marine productivity over the past 1.8 Myr. We find that both records are dominated by the 41-kyr obliquity cycles between 1.8 and 1.2 Myr ago, with a relatively small contribution from orbital precession, and that early Pleistocene sea surface temperatures varied in the opposite sense to local annual insolation in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. We conclude that during the early Pleistocene epoch, climate variability at our study site must have been determined by high-latitude processes that were driven by orbital obliquity forcing.
Dietary Fiber, Hispanics, and Breast Cancer Risk?

The cancer rates of immigrant populations in the United States must be taken into account when looking at the importance of diet and culture as it relates to cancer prevention. Unfortunately, some nutrition studies targeted toward nontraditional white populations have not adequately confronted the issue of cultural meaning in efforts to gather dietary data accurate enough to support nutritional analyses, identify marginal diets, or relate risk to dietary patterns. The study presented here resolves many of the culturally specific issues utilizing awareness, attention, and judicious combination of culturally sensitive qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The importance of such a study in an Hispanic population is based on the fact that the age-adjusted rate of breast cancer in countries such as Mexico is among the lowest in the world. In addition, although one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the United States, Hispanic women living in this country have been shown to have the lowest incidence of the mortality rates from this disease across most geographic regions of the United States. Therefore, one might speculate that dietary factors, which have been shown to play a role in breast cancer prevention, may account for this difference. It is well recognized that the traditional Hispanic diet is rich in protective nutrients such as dietary fiber. It is known that through complex mechanisms, dietary fiber works to reduce the amount of estrogens in the body. Research also indicates that it is the level of endogenous estrogen in the body that may influence the onset of breast cancer. In order to better understand how dietary factors may be associated with breast cancer in Hispanic women, it is important that one develop the proper tools to discern any potential differences. Therefore, we developed an approach to obtaining dietary fiber information from a small cohort of 22 Houston-area Hispanic women as a vanguard study for a larger breast cancer prevention trial. Two separate dietary assessment instruments were utilized, a three-day food record and the Southwest Food Frequency Questionnaire. The mean intake of dietary fiber was 16 g/day according to the food record and 21 g/day according to the SWFFQ. Fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, and beans provided for most of the participants' dietary fiber intake. These results support evidence that the Hispanic population's dietary fiber intake is higher than that for other groups, and this may help explain the lower incidence of breast cancer among some Hispanic populations.
Signal Transduction by the Receptor with High Affinity for IgE

Since the last International Congress of Immunology in 1989, there has been a gratifyingly productive burst of activity in the field of Fc receptors. Advances in two aspects that have particularly interested our own laboratory are the relationship of the structure of the receptors to their function, and on the molecular phenomena that account for the early cellular events that are stimulated by these receptors. Here we describe our own research on these two subjects and review briefly the work of others. We focus on the receptor with high affinity for IgE (FceRI), but where appropriate consider other Fc receptors also.
Walter Isard’s Evolving Sense of the Scientific in Regional Science

Toward the end of his life, a shift occurred in Walter Isard’s thinking about how graduate study in regional science should proceed. This shift and its implications for the discipline itself have led me to problematize Walter’s sense of the scientific in regional science. In this article, I offer a highly stylized characterization of what Walter thought regional science should be about at various points of his life and relate the evolution of his thinking to recent work in the philosophy of science. I shall argue that Walter’s view of what made regional science a science did not change much, nor did his view of what in general regional scientists needed to study. I shall also argue that his view of what constituted adequate scholarship did change considerably, as did his views of what regional science should encompass in the way of theory and methods and what future progress in the field will entail.
A rare sequela after a case of early bariatric surgery tourism

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is awell-established, safe procedure that may be an effectivetreatment of morbid obesity, although many surgeons are nolonger performing this procedure because of its comparativeinadequate weight loss [1]. LAGB is associated with fewercomplications and a lower mortality rate compared withsleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass [2,3]. However,because of the presence of a foreign body, unique compli-cations may arise involving any of the components of thedevice. Complications resulting from the access port orconnecting tube, such as port infection, are largely consid-ered to be minor complications and range from 4.3% to24% [4,5].We present a rare case of jejunal perforation and intra-luminal migration caused by the tip of the catheter left free-ﬂoating in the peritoneal cavity after surgery to remove aninfected port. The surgeon who removed the port wasunfamiliar with the patient’s non FDA-approved gastricband, which had been originally placed abroad, causing themajor complications of this case. This rare LAGB compli-cation might be considered a consequence of one of theearliest cases of bariatric tourism so far described.Case presentationA 43-year-old female presented to the emergency depart-ment with a 2-year history of abdominal pain thathad increased in severity 2 weeks before presentation.The patient’s surgical history was signiﬁcant for LAGBplacement in France 12 years earlier. She developed asevere infection at the port site 1 year before presentation tous, requiring port removal. The surgeon who removed theport, based on the patient’s report, did not plan to follow-upwith port replacement or band removal as “he did not feelcomfortable enough to handle a device [MIDBAND,Medical Innovation Development, Dardilly, France] forwhich he had received no speciﬁc training and one thathad not been approved for use in the United States.”ManagementThe patient underwent a computerized tomographic scanof the abdomen and pelvis that showed erosion of thecatheter into the small bowel without evidence of free air orintestinal leak (Fig. 1). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
Regulation of the Gene‐Encoding Angiotensin II Receptor in Vascular Tissue

Specific angiotensin (Ang)-dependent mechanisms significantly contribute to vascular development and function, and to the pathophysiology of hypertension. The effects of Ang II are mediated by binding to specific receptors. The focus of most studies has been changes in vascular function and structure in response to Ang II. Relatively little is known regarding the molecular basis of changes in the vascular Ang II receptor. We have recently found that, without altering blood pressure, Ang II infusion at a dose of 25 ng.kg.min-1 decreases expression of the gene-encoding Ang II type 1 (AT1) receptor in both the aorta and resistant arteries. This suggests that exogenous Ang II negatively regulates AT1 mRNA expression in these tissues. Furthermore, hypertension induced by reduced renal mass plus high salt intake upregulates AT1 mRNA expression in the hypertrophied aorta and heart. In this model, the reduction of Ang II formation by captopril without decreasing blood pressure prevents the increase in AT1 mRNA in the aorta but not in the heart. This suggests that the regulation of AT1 gene expression in the heart may be pressure-dependent while there is an Ang II-dependent mechanism operant in the aorta. The precise tissue-specific control mechanisms for AT1 gene expression remain to be defined.
Fine-scale volume heterogeneity measurements in sand

As part of the effort to characterize the acoustic environment during the high frequency sediment acoustics experiment (SAX99), fine-scale variability of sediment density was measured by an in situ technique and by core analysis. The in situ measurement was accomplished by a newly developed instrument that measures sediment conductivity. The conductivity measurements were conducted on a three-dimensional (3-D) grid, hence providing a set of data suited for assessing sediment spatial variability. A 3-D sediment porosity matrix is obtained from the conductivity data through an empirical relationship (Archie's Law). From the porosity matrix, sediment bulk density is estimated from known average grain density. A number of cores were taken at the SAX99 site, and density variations were measured using laboratory techniques. The power spectra were estimated from both techniques and were found to be appropriately fit by a power-law. The exponents of the horizontal one-dimensional (1-D) power-law spectra have a depth-dependence and range from 1.72 to 2.41. The vertical 1-D spectra have the same form, but with an exponent of 2.2. It was found that most of the density variability is within the top 5 mm of the sediment, which suggests that sediment volume variability will not have major impact on acoustic scattering when the sound frequency is below 100 kHz. At higher frequencies, however, sediment volume variability is likely to play an important role in sound scattering.
GPI-1046 protects dorsal root ganglia from gp120-induced axonal injury by modulating store-operated calcium entry

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) occurs in a large fraction of patients infected with HIV. Viral components, including the coat protein gp120, are thought to exert toxic actions on dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons that can be further exacerbated by treatment of HIV infection with some antiretroviral agents. In a tissue culture model of HIV-SN, we found that gp120-induced axonal degeneration in DRG sensory neurons was prevented by treatment with the immunophilin ligand GPI-1046. Gp120 induced a rapid and large release of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium in DRG neurons that was attenuated by treatment with GPI-1046. Further experiments suggested that GPI-1046 reduced the total ER calcium load by attenuating store-operated calcium (SOC) entry. Together, these results suggest that GPI-1046 protects DRG from gp120-induced axonal damage by decreasing the entry of calcium through SOC, thus reducing the total volume of ER calcium that is available to be released by gp120.
Evolutionary significance of phenotypic accommodation in novel environments: an empirical test of the Baldwin effect

When faced with changing environments, organisms rapidly mount physiological and behavioural responses, accommodating new environmental inputs in their functioning. The ubiquity of this process contrasts with our ignorance of its evolutionary significance: whereas within-generation accommodation of novel external inputs has clear fitness consequences, current evolutionary theory cannot easily link functional importance and inheritance of novel accommodations. One hundred and twelve years ago, J. M. Baldwin, H. F. Osborn and C. L. Morgan proposed a process (later termed the Baldwin effect) by which non-heritable developmental accommodation of novel inputs, which makes an organism fit in its current environment, can become internalized in a lineage and affect the course of evolution. The defining features of this process are initial overproduction of random (with respect to fitness) developmental variation, followed by within-generation accommodation of a subset of this variation by developmental or functional systems (‘organic selection’), ensuring the organism's fit and survival. Subsequent natural selection sorts among resultant developmental variants, which, if recurrent and consistently favoured, can be inherited when existing genetic variance includes developmental components of individual modifications or when the ability to accommodate novel inputs is itself heritable. Here, I show that this process is consistent with the origin of novel adaptations during colonization of North America by the house finch. The induction of developmental variation by novel environments of this species's expanding range was followed by homeostatic channelling, phenotypic accommodation and directional cross-generational transfer of a subset of induced developmental outcomes favoured by natural selection. These results emphasize three principal points. First, contemporary novel adaptations result mostly from reorganization of existing structures that shape newly expressed variation, giving natural selection an appearance of a creative force. Second, evolutionary innovations and maintenance of adaptations are different processes. Third, both the Baldwin and parental effects are probably a transient state in an evolutionary cycle connecting initial phenotypic retention of adaptive changes and their eventual genetic determination and, thus, the origin of adaptation and evolutionary change.
Green tea: a new option for the prevention or control of osteoarthritis

IL-1β is a major cytokine driving the inflammatory processes leading to the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Blockade of IL-1β activity using substances such as the naturally occurring IL-1 receptor antagonist or anti-IL-1β monoclonal antibody are currently being used or tested as therapy. However, such treatments are ineffective in osteoarthritis. In a recent study, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a green tea polyphenol, was found to be effective in reducing IL-1β-induced inflammatory cytokines, TNFα, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and several chemokines from human chondrocytes. The use of green tea polyphenols may be beneficial as a therapeutic addition to biologics that control IL-1β activity by increasing effectiveness and/or reducing dosage.
THERMODYNAMIC ASPECTS OF CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITIONS IN SYNTHETIC POLYPEPTIDES

The helix-coil transition of organic solvent soluble homopolypeptides has been discussed from a largely thermodynamic view-point. The present state and the future prospects are considered.
General Strain Theory for LGBQ and SSB Youth: The Importance of Intersectionality in the Future of Feminist Criminology

This study applies an intersectional general strain theory (GST) framework to understand the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning (LGBQ) youth, and youth involved in same-sex sexual behavior (SSB). Using a statewide probability sample of LGBQ and SSB youth (N = 539) in grades 9 to 12, results show that understanding LGBQ and SSB youths' experiences with victimization (feeling unsafe, threatened/injured, property stolen) and negative outcomes (poor academic performance, substance use, suicidality) must be underscored with the significance of and intersections between gender, sexual identity, and sexual behavior. Implications for the importance of intersectionality in GST and the future of feminist criminology are offered. Language: en
Oesophageal clearance of small amounts of equal or less than one millilitre of acid

The oesophageal acid clearance time was evaluated in 10 healthy volunteers of 'small' boluses of 0.5 and 1 ml and 'minute' boluses of 0.05 and 0.1 ml 0.1 N HCl, as well as 0.1 and 1 ml 0.01 and 0.001 N HCl. Swallow rate was normalised at q 60 seconds. For 0.1 ml 0.1 N HCl, acid clearance time was also measured for swallow intervals of q 30 and 120 seconds. Acid clearance time to restore pH to 4.0 was significantly longer (p less than 0.01) for the 0.5 and 1 ml 0.1 N HCl (210 and 273 seconds, respectively) than for the 0.05 and 0.01 ml acid boluses (83 and 94 seconds, respectively). The minimum acid clearance time was 18 seconds (0.05 ml 0.1 N HCl). Acid clearance time for 0.1 N HCl was less than one minute on only two occasions. The acid clearance times were comparable when the subjects sat upright. A longer interswallow interval--that is, 120 seconds, resulted in a significantly longer acid clearance time than shorter swallow intervals (p less than 0.05). Oesophageal acid clearance time for small acid volumes averaged more than three minutes and for minute acid volumes was generally more than one minute; and acid clearance times were comparable for the supine and upright postures, while gastrooesophageal reflux episodes causing pH drops to 3-4 may last for less than 15 seconds, substantial oesophageal pH drops to less than or equal to 1.5 that persists less than 15 seconds are difficult to be attributed to true gastrooesophageal reflux.
Nonresident fathers' social networks: The relationship between social support and father involvement

Literature and research examining non-resident fathers’ involvement with their chidren has focused primarily on the fathers’ relationship with their child’s mother. Receiving limited attention in the literature has been the inclusion of examining non-resident fathers’ social support networks, the function of these social networks—perceived and received social support, and how these social support networks affect non-resident fathers’ involvement with their children. Using data from Wave One of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, this study examined the social support networks non-resident fathers (n = 895) utilized in their involvement with their children. Results of the regression analyses indicate that non-resident fathers’ relationship with their child’s mother and perceived social support from their social networks contributed positively to their involvement with their children. Policy and practice implications are discussed.
Measuring knee compliance to facilitate post-op ligament rehabilitation

Using novel sensor technology to monitor a knee's health, one can measure the state of a post-op patient's knee unobtrusively, quickly, and accurately. A pair of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) is coupled with a modern microcontroller, with the goal of the project being to create a device to use in an office setting. The device provides a quantitative output that can be used for plotting ligament recovery over time without the use of x-rays, thereby allowing a physician to prescribe and dynamically modify a rehabilitation schedule based on the individual needs of the patient.
A new dendrophylliid coral genus Cairnsipsammia from the Lower Cretaceous of western Austria (Anthozoa; Scleractinia; Vorarlberg; Schrattenkalk Formation [upper Barremian-lower Aptian])

Abstract The new colonial dendrophylliid coral genus Cairnsipsammia is described from the Lower Cretaceous Schrattenkalk Formation (upper Barremian–lower Aptian) of western Austria (Vorarlberg). The new genus is characterized by plocoid to submeandroid types of polyp integration, compact to porous costosepta, and corallites that are united by their perithecal walls or embedded in a narrow (up to 2 mm wide) porous, reticulate and costate coenosteum with granular surfaces. It represents the oldest colonial genus of the family Dendrophylliidae. The occurrence of Cairnsipsammia in a shallow-water, reefal environment (Schrattenkalk Formation), in combination with both the relatively high degree of corallite integration (submeandroid) and massive growth form points to the hypothesis that Cairnsipsammia may have been zooxanthellate.
A Market for Reliability for Electricity Scheduling inDeveloping World Microgrids

The lack of reliable electricity is one of the problems most hindering human development, affecting over 1.3 billion people worldwide. We are developing a bottom-up approach to electrification that creates a peer-to-peer electricity sharing marketplace. The electricity sharing network poses a problem in multi-agent power scheduling that is not solved by current approaches. The scheduling algorithm must be able to explicitly deal with uncertainty in generation, take into account users' competing demands for power and reliability, and be computationally feasible for a distributed network of extremely low-cost microcontrollers. Our advancement is creating a Market for Reliability (M.f.R.) algorithm similar to tatonnement but, unlike traditional tatonnement, we explicitly price reliability. This allows us to account for uncertainty and provide users with a probabilistic guarantee on achieving their desired activities.
Sources of Soybean Rust Resistance Challenged with Single-Spored Isolates of Phakopsora pachyrhizi

Soybean rust, caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd., is a potentially devastating disease that can cause significant yield losses. Resistance in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] germplasm, both qualitative and quantitative, may be effective in providing at least partial control of soybean rust. A number of soybean genotypes have resistance to soybean rust, but few of these have been challenged with the recently recovered U.S. isolates. The objective of this study was to evaluate known sources of soybean rust resistance against U.S. isolates of P. pachyrhizi. Twenty-eight soybean genotypes that either contained known major-genes for resistance or had been reported as new sources of soybean rust resistance, along with two susceptible checks, were challenged with six P. pachyrhizi isolates collected in the U.S. All six isolates produced similar phenotypic reactions within each of the genotypes. Five genotypes, including the Rpp1 source and the isoline of 'Williams 82' with Rpp1, had no visible lesions. Eleven genotypes produced red-brown lesions with few uredinia, including the sources of Rpp2 and Rpp3, and the remainder had susceptible tan lesions, including the source of resistance for Rpp4. Uredinial counts from genotypes producing red-brown lesions on live and fixed leaflets showed significant variation in the number of uredinia with a genotype x isolate interaction. Uredinial counts from genotypes producing tan lesions on live and fixed leaflets showed significant variation in the number of uredinia among genotypes, but there was no genotype x isolate interaction. There were significant correlations (r = 0.8, P < 0.0001; and r = 0.4, P < 0.0001) between uredinial counts based on live and fixed leaflets within genotypes producing red-brown lesions and those producing tan lesions, respectively.
VFR Into IMC: Using Simulation to Improve Weather-Related Decision-Making

Safety-related training policies restrict pilots from encountering challenging weather during flight training. This potentially inhibits the development of critical decision-making skills. To identify gaps in weather-related flight training, high-fidelity weather-simulation was developed to re-create historical weather events. Sixteen visual-only pilots and 16 instrument-rated pilots flew a simulated cross-country flight under visual flight rules in marginally visual weather that encountered instrument conditions. Procedural performance and experience-related demographic factors were analyzed to identify key flight skills and experience that contributed to safe weather-related decisions. Previous experience with actual instrument weather was found to be the only statistically significant demographic predictor of safe performance. Pilots who performed more safely were more likely to use in-cockpit weather information during the flight to detect and avoid instrument weather. Implications of this study and o...
Four-Component Synthetic Food Bait for Attracting Both Sexes of the Melon Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

A nine-component synthetic mixture was developed to replace protein hydrolysates as food bait for melon flies, Dacus cucurbitae Coquillett , based on likely breakdown products of protein fermentation and on nutritional considerations. The nine-component mixture was found to be as attractive as a standard hydrolyzed protein bait. Subsequent research showed that only four of the nine components were important. The four-component mixture, made up of ammonium bicarbonate, linolenic acid, putrescine, and pyrrolidine, was as effective as the standard food bait.
Split-care patients and their caregivers: how collaborative is collaborative care?

This study assessed the experiences of patients receiving split-care treatment, focusing on communication between the two treating professionals and its impact on patient satisfaction. Studies have documented that for more than 20% of patients, no communication occurs between providers, and the present study provides further data. Split-care patients completed a 23-item questionnaire on SurveyMonkey via Mechanical Turk, a crowd-sourcing Website, assessing patients’ split-care experiences, including whether their providers had communicated and the impact of communication on patients’ satisfaction with treatment. Of respondents who knew if their providers communicated, 30% reported that no communication occurred. Similarly, 30% and 36% of respondents were never asked by their psychotherapist or psychopharmacologist, respectively, for permission to speak to the other professional. Non-communication yielded significantly lower patient satisfaction with treatment. This study replicates the high frequency of non-communication between providers of split care and has great implications for the impact of communication on treatment compliance and outcome.
Atlantoaxial Synovial Cyst: Case Report and Literature Review.

Background Degenerative cystic lesions of atlantoaxial joints are rare and generally believed to be due to mechanical instability. There is currently no consensus on the management of such lesions in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Both conservative and surgical strategies have been described. Surgery may involve anterior or posterior approaches with and without decompression and instrumentation. Methods We present a case report of a 45-year-old man who presented with new onset weakness and ataxia. Physical examination revealed decreased motor function in all extremities as well as positive Hoffman sign and ankle clonus bilaterally. An MRI of cervical spine showed a large atlantoaxial, T-2 hyperintense cystic lesion with cord compression and cord signal changes. Results A C1 partial laminectomy was performed with resection of the cyst and C1-2 instrument fusion. Intra-operatively, the cystic lesion was found to be anatomically connected to the right C1-2 atlantoaxial joint with pathology showing fibroconnective tissue and chronic inflammatory changes. Post-operatively there were no complications and the patient was discharged to a rehabilitation facility. The patient was regaining gait and hand function by 3 months after surgery. Conclusions Atlantoaxial synovial cysts are rare and the optimal surgical approach has not been determined. We further conducted a literature review and found a total of 70 other cases of atlantoaxial synovial cysts reported to date in the literature. We attempt to analyze available data and evaluate anterior versus posterior approaches and the need for decompression, amount of cyst resection, and instrumentation.
Integrating the normative with the positive dimension of the new science for cities: A geodesign-based framework for Cellular Automata modeling

Cellular Automata (CA) models are powerful simulation tools to study complex urban systems. Although there has been considerable amount of CA-based modeling work reported in the literature, few hav...
The health implications of unconventional natural gas development in Pennsylvania

We investigate the health impacts of unconventional natural gas development of Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania between 2001 and 2013 by merging well permit data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with a database of all inpatient hospital admissions. After comparing changes in hospitalization rates over time for air pollution-sensitive diseases in counties with unconventional gas wells to changes in hospitalization rates in nonwell counties, we find a significant association between shale gas development and hospitalizations for pneumonia among the elderly, which is consistent with higher levels of air pollution resulting from unconventional natural gas development. We note that the lack of any detectable impact of shale gas development on younger populations may be due to unobserved factors contemporaneous with drilling, such as migration.
The Construction of a Macro Element for use in Three Dimensional Fracture Mechanics

The stiffness derivative technique is used to compute stress intensity factors. The crack region is modelled by means of a macro element which contains, a priori, a high density of nodes in the vicinity of the crack front and is compatible with standard 20 node elements that it abutts.
Alpers Syndrome with Hepatic Cirrhosis

Four children, from two families, with fatal degeneration of the cerebral grey matter and terminal hepatic dysfunction are reported from the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, Northern Ireland.
Advertising Restrictions and the Size Distribution of Firms: The Case of the US Retail Drug Industry

Previous research indicates that prices of prescription drugs in the United States are higher in states that prohibit retail advertising. This paper examines whether states that do not permit advertising have a higher percentage of low-volume/high-cost stores. The data suggest that advertising restrictions generally increase the percentage of suboptimal stores and prohibitions against discount ads increase the percentage of suboptimal multi-unit operations.
Differential medial temporal lobe morphometric predictors of item- and relational-encoded memories in healthy individuals and in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract Introduction Episodic memory processes are supported by different subregions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In contrast to a unitary model of memory recognition supported solely by the hippocampus, a current model suggests that item encoding engages perirhinal cortex, whereas relational encoding engages parahippocampal cortex and the hippocampus. However, this model has not been examined in the context of aging, neurodegeneration, and MTL morphometrics. Methods Forty-four healthy subjects (HSs) and 18 cognitively impaired subjects (nine mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and nine Alzheimer's disease [AD] patients) were assessed with the relational and item-specific encoding task (RISE) and underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging. The RISE assessed the differential contribution of relational and item-specific memory. FreeSurfer was used to obtain measures of cortical thickness of MTL regions and hippocampus volume. Results Memory accuracies for both item and relational memory were significantly better in the HS group than in the MCI/AD group. In MCI/AD group, relational memory was disproportionately impaired. In HSs, hierarchical regressions demonstrated that memory was predicted by perirhinal thickness after item encoding, and by hippocampus volume after relational encoding (both at trend level) and significantly by parahippocampal thickness at associative recognition. The same brain morphometry profiles predicted memory accuracy in MCI/AD, although more robustly perirhinal thickness for item encoding (R 2 = 0.31) and hippocampal volume and parahippocampal thickness for relational encoding (R 2 = 0.31). Discussion Our results supported a model of episodic memory in which item-specific encoding was associated with greater perirhinal cortical thickness, while relational encoding was associated with parahippocampal thickness and hippocampus volume. We identified these relationships not only in HSs but also in individuals with MCI and AD. In the subjects with cognitive impairment, reductions in hippocampal volume and impairments in relational memory were especially prominent.
Non-conceptualism and Knowledge in Lucy Allais's Manifest Reality

Lucy Allais’s Manifest Reality presents a systematic discussion of the role that Kant assigns to concepts in making knowledge of objects possible. In this paper, I ascribe to Allais a version of non-conceptualism, according to which knowledge is a ‘hybrid’ or loose unity of concept and intuition; concept relates to intuition as form relates to matter in an artefact. I will show how this view has trouble accommodating the distinction between knowledge and accidentally true belief, and how it leads to objectionable forms of idealism.
The effect of therapeutic hypothermia on heart rate variability

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects integrity of the autonomic nervous system. However, no study has investigated the impact of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) on HRV measures in infants with hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). In this study, we evaluate the influence of temperature on measures of HRV for a group of infants with favorable outcomes, as compared with a control group of infants with unfavorable outcomes. Term-born infants with moderate-severe HIE underwent standard TH treatment and prospective electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. Infants with favorable outcome (no seizures, normal/mild EEG scores at 96 h, no magnetic resonance imaging brain injury and normal neurodevelopmental scores at 18 to 24 months) were matched on gestational age, sex and worst encephalopathy score to a group of infants with unfavorable outcomes. Time- and frequency-domain HRV measures were calculated from 60 min of ECG data obtained at three time points: 24 h (hypothermia), 48 h (hypothermia) and 96 h (normothermia). The effect of time and temperature were evaluated using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Sixteen infants were included (8 favorable, 8 unfavorable). For both groups of infants, an increase in the HR, RR and HF power was associated with an increase in temperature, but was not associated with any other HRV measure. In contrast, measures of HRV increased over time, as encephalopathy decreased, for infants with favorable outcomes (reflecting increased cortical-autonomic integration), but not for those with unfavorable outcomes. In general, the effect of hypothermia on measures of HRV is limited to changes in heart rate (bradycardia) and respiratory rate, as opposed to changes in true variability. This supports the hypothesis that persistent changes in HRV are driven by the underlying brain injury and not by the process of TH.
Towards next generation 3D cameras

We are in the midst of a 3D revolution. Robots enabled by 3D cameras are beginning to autonomously drive cars, perform surgeries, and manage factories. However, when deployed in the real-world, these cameras face several challenges that prevent them from measuring 3D shape reliably. These challenges include large lighting variations (bright sunlight to dark night), presence of scattering media (fog, body tissue), and optically complex materials (metal, plastic). Due to these factors, 3D imaging is often the bottleneck in widespread adoption of several key robotics technologies. I will talk about our work on developing 3D cameras based on time-of-flight and active triangulation that addresses these long-standing problems. This includes designing `all-weather’ cameras that can perform high-speed 3D scanning in harsh outdoor environments, as well as cameras that recover shape of objects with challenging material properties. These cameras are, for the first time, capable of measuring detailed (<100 microns resolution) scans in extremely demanding scenarios with low-cost components. Several of these cameras are making a practical impact in industrial automation, being adopted in robotic inspection and assembly systems.