cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cause of death in patients with end-stage renal disease: death certificates vs registry reports.

OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this study was to assess agreement on cause of death reporting in end-stage renal disease patients by comparing death certificates and reports to an end-stage renal disease registry. METHODS. Death certificates and registry reporting forms were retrieved for a random sample of 335 treated end-stage renal disease patients who died between 1980 and 1986 in Maryland. On the registry form, patient death was ascribed to 1 of 22 precoded causes by the patient's nephrologist of record. Corresponding death certificates were coded, according to rules of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, by a trained observer unaware of the registry report. Agreement was measured by the kappa statistic. RESULTS. Overall cause of death agreement was poor (31%), and varied by the following categories: renal disease (40% on death certificates vs 0% on registry reports), cardiovascular disease (26% vs 47%), infectious disease (16% vs 22%), cancer (7% vs 5%), and withdrawal from therap...
Review : Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure on Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Health in Adults: Update 1997

Eighteen epidemiology studies have examined the relationship between chronic environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and pulmonary function. A statistically significant relationship between chronic ETS exposure and a specific spirometric endpoint was reported in 5 of 17 studies that measured forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), 2 of 9 studies that measured forced vital capacity (FVC) and 3 of 5 studies that measured mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the FVC. Fourteen of 24 epidemiological studies report a statistically significant association between chronic ETS exposure and a clinical endpoint, although there is little consistency from one report to the next when a specific endpoint is considered. A statistically significant association was reported in 2 of 9 studies for cough, 3 of 9 studies for phlegm and expectoration, 6 of 10 studies for dyspnea and shortness of breath, 3 of 6 studies for bronchitis, and 8 of 18 studies dealing with asthma incidence, exacerbation, or symptoms. The inconsistency of association in the foregoing functional and clinical epidemiology studies could either reflect absence of such an association or methodology problems such as reliability of spirometric measurement, lack of verification of clinical endpoint, errors in classification of smoking and ETS exposure status and inappropriate control of confounding variables. The effects of acute ETS exposure (at levels equivalent to or exceeding real-life smoke-polluted environments) have been examined in experimental studies in which spirometric measures were obtained prior to, during, and after exposure of subjects to machine-generated tobacco smoke. Six of seven studies suggest that acute ETS exposure, while serving as an irritant to the upper respiratory tract, fails adversely to affect pulmonary function of normal adults. The effect of acute ETS exposure in asthmatic subjects has been examined in 15 studies. These studies suggest that acute exposure to ETS does not consistently evoke adverse pulmonary effects in most asthmatics. Several studies from a single research group suggest that a small sub-set of asthmatics may respond to acute ETS exposure with a ≥20% decrement in FEV1 as well as an increased responsiveness to bronchoconstrictors. The mechanism for this responsiveness does not appear to be allergic in nature and is subject to speculation.
THE USE OF STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL AND DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS IN PRODUCT AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Quality and productivity improvement has become an essential element of the overall strategic plan for most organizations. This has sparked renewed interest in statistical methods for quality improvement. This paper reviews some recent developments in statistical methodology that have application in product and process improvement, concentrating on statistical process control and design of experiments. Some directions for future research are identified.
Excitation Functions for Alpha-Induced Reactions on Zinc-64

Eleven excitation functions for alpha-induced reactions on Zn/sup 64/ were messured up to incident energies of 41 Mev. The values of sigma ( alpha ,p)/ sigma ( alpha ,n) and sigma ( alpha ,pn)/ sigma ( alpha ,2n) in the region of maximum yield were found to be 1.7 and 9, respectively. Reactions involving alpha-particle emission account for about 20% of the total inelastic cross section at 40 Mev. The total inelastic cross section was found to agree with calculated values for r/sub 0/ = 1.6 x 10/sup -13// cm. The competition between different reactions was analyzed in terms of the statistical theory by use of a level density expression of the form W(E) = C exp {2STAa(E- delta )! /sup 1/2}. Values of a ranging from 0.8 to 2.8 were required to fit the experimental results, indicating that the statistical theory is not completely applicable. (auth)
Three Reflections upon the Catholic Medical Tradition and Hospice and Palliative Care.

I am often struck at the similarities of caring for older, chronically ill patients, and the long Christian tradition caring for the needy, the poor, and the sick. Particularly when challenged by the scope and size of the task of ministering to this truly underserved population, I find that a spiritual re-focusing provides meaning and comfort. Viewed from the perspective of eternity, end-of-life care occurs in that space between the present and the afterlife. What is the place of spirituality in the care of patients receiving hospice and palliative care? How do Catholic healthcare personnel respond to their patients’ needs? I propose three reflections addressing (1) The Church and human suffering, (2) Catholic framing of goals of care, and (3) Christian stewardship of the cycle of life.
Does TV Viewing Cultivate Meritocratic Beliefs? Implications for Life Satisfaction

The purpose of this article was to explore the cultivation effects of television viewing on meritocratic belief systems (particularly, system justification) and ultimately on perceived life satisfaction. Results of a cross-sectional survey (N = 276) reveal that genre-specific TV viewing cultivates system-justifying beliefs. More specifically, findings suggest that heavy viewing of competition-based reality TV viewing shapes viewers' economic system-justifying beliefs (i.e., the belief that the economic system is fair and legitimate, rewarding those who put in the effort and hard work). Economic system justifying beliefs, in turn, were shown to enhance viewers' perceived life satisfaction.
Health related quality of life assessment after radical cystectomy: comparison of ileal conduit with continent orthotopic neobladder.

Purpose: Health related quality of life after urinary diversion has been increasingly recognized as an important outcome measure. However, few studies have directly compared patients with an ileal conduit with those with a continent orthotopic neobladder and even fewer have used validated quality of life instruments. Therefore, we compared health related quality of life in patients who underwent neobladder versus ileal conduit creation using validated questionnaires.Materials and Methods: We mailed 2 validated questionnaires that are measures of health related quality of life, namely the RAND 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), to patients who underwent radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma between January 1995 and December 1999. Statistical analysis was performed, including univariate and multivariate analysis.Results: A total of 112 patients were available for assessment. A total of 72 (64%) questionnaires were returned, including 23 (32%) an...
Storage management operations in linked uniform shift-register loops

A new storage structure, called a uniform ladder, consists of a linear array of equal shift-register loops, each holding one record and linked by flow-steering switches. Data exchange across a loop boundary is mandatory if the controlling switch is on and forbidden if off. For MRU (Most Recently Used) storage management, the most important operation is the climbing of data to the top of the ladder from a depth of D loops, which takes only (D + 1)/2 record periods in the uniform ladder. Program switching is enhanced by efficient schemes for partial environmental exchanges and also by internal block transfers. A pushdown stack can be efficiently implemented by a change in the record storing technique.
Interface shear properties and toughness of NiAl/Mo laminates

Mechanical properties at the interface between NiAl intermetallic and Mo ductile phase in sandwich laminates have been studied under a variety of stress states involving primarily shear. A shear/compression test for laminates of NiAl/Mo/NiAl has been used in which a double-notched specimen with cut-through metal interlayer is loaded to failure in compression. Because of the large elastic mismatch between NiAl and Mo, a primarily shear loading generates a significant amount of normal stress in this test. Interface shear response and toughness obtained using this technique are compared for NiAl/Mo laminates with interfacial segregant, Cr, Re and C layers fabricated by high temperature diffusion bonding. A microstructural investigation of the interfacial reaction zone and the shear failure path is conducted to identify failure mechanisms. Failure strength and related interfacial toughness is examined using an FEM model of local stress state close to the notch in the bimaterial shear/compression specimen geometry. A trend of increasing bond strength with reducing notch spacing is identified and analyzed in terms of local stress state, the onset of microyielding and crack shielding. Thus, a new fracture stress locus has been developed for bimaterial interfaces. Residual stress due to CTE thermal expansion mismatch is measured and the contribution of thermal residual stress to the failure behavior of the laminate is explored. The combined effect of stress concentration at crack tip, residual stress and slip discontinuity across interface have been used to explain the apparently brittle loading response and easy debonding of Mo fibers in eutectic NiAl/Mo alloys.
Development and use of genetic system to identify genes required for efficient low-temperature growth of Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4

We describe the development of genetic tools (electroporation, conjugation, vector for targeted gene replacement) for use in the psychrophile Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4 to test hypotheses about cold adaptation. Successful electroporation only occurred with nonstandard parameters, such as: electrocompetent cells freshly prepared from stationary-phase cultures, high field strengths (25 kV cm−1), long recovery times (16–24 h), and selection with low concentrations of antibiotics. Transformation frequencies were greatly affected by a methylation-dependent restriction barrier homologous to DpnI. The vector pJK100 (which was self-transmissible and contained a Pir-dependent R6K origin of replication) proved effective as a suicide plasmid that could be used to recombine mutations into the P. arcticus 273-4 genome. We used this vector for targeted replacement of dctT, the substrate-binding periplasmic subunit of a TRAP (tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic) transporter (which we have named dctTUF), as it was more highly expressed at cold temperatures. The replacement of dctT (with kan) decreased the rate of growth at low temperatures in mineral medium with glutamate, acetate, butyrate, and fumarate, but not with pyruvate suggesting that DctTUF participates in the transport of glutamate, acetate, butyrate, and fumarate at cold temperatures. This is the first report to demonstrate the creation of site-specific mutants in the genus Psychrobacter, their affect on low-temperature growth, and a substrate range for TAXI proteins of TRAP transporters.
Cobalt-Based Alloys for High Temperature Applications

The isothermal oxidation behavior and thermal stability of a cobalt base alloy was investigated up to a period of 312 hr in air from 1000 to 1200°C. A comparison of oxidation behavior of this alloy with a conventional nickel-base superalloy (Inconel 713C) has been conducted in detail. This experimental alloy oxidizes by forming layers of Al2O3, Cr2O3, TiO2, CoO and traces of SiO2 with WO2 oxides on the surface of the specimen in contact with air. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the microstructure, morphology and compositions of oxides formed after the exposure. Thermal stability of the alloy after extended periods of exposures to air at 1000, 1100 and 1200°C was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Facile Synthesis of Thiol-terminated Poly(styrene-ran-vinyl phenol) (PSVPh) Copolymers via Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) Polymerization and Their Use in the Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles with Controllable Hydrophilicity

A facile approach to prepare thiol-terminated poly(styrene-ran-vinyl phenol) (PSVPh) copolymers and PSVPh-coated gold nanoparticles is reported with the goal of creating stabilizing ligands for nanoparticles with controlled hydrophilicity. Dithioester-terminated poly(styrene-ran-acetoxystyrene) copolymers were synthesized via RAFT polymerization using cumyl dithiobenzoate as a chain transfer agent. These copolymers were converted to thiol-terminated PSVPh copolymers by a one step hydrazinolysis reaction using hydrazine hydrate to simultaneously convert dithioester-terminal and acetoxy-pendant groups to thiol-terminal and hydroxyl-pendant groups, respectively. Spectroscopic observations including NMR and IR confirm end- and pendant-group conversion. PSVPh-coated gold nanoparticles were synthesized in the presence of a mixture of thiol-terminated PSVPh and PSVPh copolymers containing disulfides as stabilizing ligands in a water/toluene, two-phase system. The size and size distribution of core gold nanoparticles were determined by TEM and image analysis. The hydrodynamic radius of PSVPh-coated gold nanoparticles was also determined by dynamic light scattering experiment, which confirms the particle analysis by TEM. This procedure provides a facile technique to control the polarity and hydrophilicity of metal nanoparticle surfaces and could prove critical in advancing the control of nanoparticle placement in biological and hierarchically ordered systems, such as diblock copolymers.
Is the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) a hibernator? Continued studies on opioids and hibernation.

Abstract Polar bear behavior and biochemistry suggest they may have the ability to hibernate year-round, even though this species is not considered to be a true hibernator. This observation, plus the discovery of a hibernation-induced trigger (HIT) in the blood of black bears, prompted the examination of polar bear blood collected thoughout the year for evidence ofr HIT, and to determine if it displayed opioid activity, as black bear blood does. A bioassay was conducted by injected summer 13-lined ground squirrels with serum collected from polar bears at different seasons. One group of squirrels was previously implanted with osmotic pumps containing naloxone. The rest had pumps containing saline. Squirrels with saline pumps all hibernated significantly more than those with naloxone, except the group receiving blood from a November polar bear, observed to be highly active and hyperphagic. An in vitro study, using guinea pig ileum, showed that 400 nM morphine inhibited induced contractions and 100 nM naloxone reversed the inhibition. Ten mg of winter polar bear serum albumin fraction (to which HIT binds in ground squirrels and woodchucks) had a similar inhibiting effect, but naloxone, even at 4,000 nM, didn't reverse it. It is concluded that polar bear contains HIT, that it has an opioid effct, but may not itself be an opioid.
Search for a Permanent Electric Dipole Moment on the 129 Xe Atom

A measurement of a permanent electric dipole moment on xenon atoms has yielded the null result $d(^{129}\mathrm{Xe})=(\ensuremath{-}0.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}26} e\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}$ cm, achieved by use of spin exchange with optically pumped rubidium atoms to determine the precession frequency of the xenon nuclear spins as a function of applied electric field. This measurement improves the limit on an atomic dipole moment by over four orders of magnitude. It is sensitive to time-reversal-asymmetric forces within the atom, setting a new upper limit of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}{G}_{\mathrm{F}}$ on a short-range tensor-pseudotensor electron-nucleon coupling.
A Novel Approach to Introducing Parallel Algorithms in Undergraduate Computer Science Courses

We describe a method for introducing parallel algorithms in undergraduate computer science courses, by having the students play the role of processors and act out the algorithms. In doing this, students will see the power of concurrent computation and begin to “think parallel.” We present a number of algorithms that can be acted out, together with suggestions as to how they may be implemented. Students will see that efficient solutions to problems can be vastly different in the parallel (many steps at a time) case than in the usual serial (one step at a time) case. The type of algorithms we consider are those in which the processors are homogeneous and synchronous. The measure of efficiency is the count of the number of time steps that are needed to conclude the algorithm for a given size input.
Many Sources, One Message: Political Blog Links to Online Videos During the 2008 Campaign

Political bloggers occupy a unique and influential position in determining whether an online political video attracts attention from Internet users, journalists, and politicians. Despite the central role that bloggers play in the process of filtering online videos, however, there have been no systematic empirical studies of the kinds of videos that political bloggers choose to link to on their blogs. Using the data derived from 100 randomly selected political blogs during the last 2 months of the 2008 campaign, this article presents evidence that political bloggers are willing to post videos produced by a diverse array of sources, ranging from highly polished advertisements filmed by interest groups to footage recorded by ordinary citizens using cell phone cameras. Perhaps more importantly, the author finds strong support for the hypothesis that political bloggers will avoid posting videos that challenge their ideological predispositions and, instead, link only to those videos that confirm what they alrea...
A Time-Series, Multinational Analysis of Democratic Forecasts and Internet Diffusion

This study examines the democratic effects that the Internet has shown using macro-level, cross-national data in a sequence of time-series statistical tests. The democratic potential of the Internet may be inestimable, but its national level democratic effects were startlingly limited through 2003. Forecasting models generated in this study demonstrate that the actual democracy level of nearly every country in this study was not greater than its corresponding statistically-predicted democracy level for the years 1994 – 2003. These results are consistent even in countries where the Internet was more widely diffused, which suggests that Internet diffusion was not a specific causal mechanism of national-level democratic growth during the timeframe analyzed. Thus, based on the results of the 72 countries reported here, the diffusion of the Internet should not be considered a democratic panacea, but rather a component of contemporary democratization processes.
FlexDex™: A Minimally Invasive Surgical Tool With Enhanced Dexterity and Intuitive Control

This paper presents a new minimally invasive surgical (MIS) tool design paradigm that enables enhanced dexterity, intuitive control, and natural force feedback in a low-cost compact package. The paradigm is based on creating a tool frame that is attached to the surgeon's forearm, making the tool shaft an extension of the latter. Two additional wristlike rotational degrees of freedom (DoF) provided at an end-effector that is located at the end of the tool shaft are manually actuated via a novel parallel-kinematic virtual center mechanism at the tool input. The virtual center mechanism, made possible by the forearm-attached tool frame, creates a virtual two-DoF input joint that is coincident with the surgeon's wrist, allowing the surgeon to rotate his/her hand with respect to his/her forearm freely and naturally. A cable transmission associated with the virtual center mechanism captures the surgeon's wrist rotations and transmits them to the two corresponding end-effector rotations. This physical configuration allows an intuitive and ergonomic one-to-one mapping of the surgeon's forearm and hand motions at the tool input to the end-effector motions at the tool output inside the patient's body. Moreover, a purely mechanical construction ensures low-cost, simple design, and natural force feedback. A functional decomposition of the proposed physical configuration is carried out to identify and design key modules in the system—virtual center mechanism, tool handle and grasping actuation, end-effector and output joint, transmission system, tool frame and shaft, and forearm brace. Development and integration of these modules leads to a proof-of-concept prototype of the new MIS tool, referred to as FlexDex ™ , which is then tested by a focused end-user group to evaluate its performance and obtain feedback for the next stage of technology development.
Effects of carbon dioxide, temperature and ultraviolet-B radiation and their interactions on soybean (Glycine max L.) growth and development

Genetic modifications of agronomic crops will likely be necessary to cope with global climate change. Projected changes in global climate include increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]), temperatures (T) and ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation which have significant effects on plants, however, their interactions are not clearly known to date. In this study we tested the hypothesis that soybean genotypes differ in growth and physiology with exposure to treatments of [CO2] [360 and 720mol mol −1 (+[CO2])], temperature [30/22 and 38/30 ◦ C( +T)] and UV-B radiation [0 and 10 kJ m −2 d −1 (+UV-B)] and their interactions. Six soybean genotypes (D 88-5320, D 90-9216, Stalwart III, PI 471938, DG 5630 RR, and DP 4933 RR) representing five maturity groups were grown in eight sunlit, controlled environment chambers in which control treatment had 360mol mol −1 [CO2] at 30/22 ◦ C temperatures and 0 kJ UV-B. Results showed that elevated CO2 levels compensated the damaging effects caused by negative stressors such as high temperature and high UV-B radiation levels on most of the growth and physiological parameters studied. Total stress response index (TSRI) for each genotype was developed from the cumulative sum of response indices of vegetative and physiological parameters such as plant height, leaf area, total biomass, net photosynthesis, total chlorophyll content, phenolic content, relative injury and wax content. Based on TSRI, the genotypes were classified as tolerant (PI 471938 and D 88-5320), intermediate (DG 5630 RR and D 90-9216) and sensitive (DP 4933 RR and Stalwart III). The disruption of growth and physiology was significantly reduced in tolerant genotypes compared to sensitive genotypes. Strong correlations between total response of relative injury (RI), an indicator of cell membrane thermo stability and TSRI developed in this study show that RI could be used to predict the overall vegetative performance of the crop. However, the total response of RI did not show any linear correlation with TSRI of our previous study (which was developed with responses of reproductive traits). This suggests that there is a need to develop better screening tools and/or breeding strategies in developing genotypes suitable to cope future climates at both vegetative and reproductive stages.
Genome-Wide Search for Asthma Susceptibility Loci in a Founder Population

Founder populations offer many advantages for mapping genetic traits, particularly complex traits that are likely to be genetically heterogeneous. To identify genes that influence asthma and asthma-associated phenotypes, we conducted a genome-wide screen in the Hutterites, a religious isolate of European ancestry. A primary sample of 361 individuals and a replication sample of 292 individuals were evaluated for asthma phenotypes according to a standardized protocol. A genome-wide screen has been completed using 292 autosomal and three X-Y pseudoautosomal markers. Using the semi-parametric likelihood ratio chi2 test and the transmission-disequilibrium test, we identified 12 markers in 10 regions that showed possible linkage to asthma or an associated phenotype (likelihood ratio P < 0.01). Markers in four regions (5q23-31, 12q15-24.1, 19q13 and 21q21) showed possible linkage in both the primary and replication samples and have also shown linkage to asthma phenotypes in other samples; two adjacent markers in one additional region (3p24.2-22) showing possible linkage is reported for the first time in the Hutterites. The results suggest that even in founder populations with a relatively small number of independent genomes, susceptibility alleles at many loci may influence asthma phenotypes and that these susceptibility alleles are likely to be common polymorphisms in the population.
SNP-SIG 2013: from coding to non-coding--new approaches for genomic variant interpretation.

Overview The last few years have seen an explosion in genomic sequencing and, consistently, exponential growth in the number of known variants [1]. One of the variant repositories, the dbSNP database [2], currently contains over 62 million human single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and many other short genomic variants. These variants are interesting as both markers of evolution and for their phenotypic effects (e.g. characteristic traits and diseases). However, due to the high count of variants per-genome, an even larger number of potential variant set interactions, and relatively low levels of experimental annotation, variant interpretation is still severely limited. In line with the continued strong interest of the computational biology community in genetic variation, the 3 SNP Special Interest Group (SNP-SIG) meeting [3,4] was held on July 19 at the ISMB/ECCB 2013 in Berlin (Germany). The meeting aimed to summarize the relevant (computational) research advances in the fields of “Annotation and prediction of structural/functional impacts of coding SNPs” and “SNPs and Personal Genomics: GWAS, populations and phylogenetic analysis”. The SNP-SIG is a venue for the development of a research network of scientists, necessary for facilitating the exchange of ideas and establishing new collaborations. The 2013 SNP-SIG attracted over 100 participants, with seven research talks and five presentations from the leading scientists in the field. The SIG topics covered in this proceedings issue address: the SNP annotation [5] from functional [6,7] and structural [8,9] perspectives, the prediction of pharmocogenomic variants [10] and new drug targets [11], the visualization of transcriptome genetic variants [12], and human population models to predict the rate of private variants [13]. [The complete program of SNP-SIG meeting 2013 with presentation and poster abstracts is available at http:// snpsig.biofold.org/2013/docs/snp-sig-2013-programme.pdf].
Effects of sampling teams and estimation methods on the assessment of plant cover

We evaluated variability in cover estimation data obtained by (1) two sampling teams who double sampled plots and (2) one team that used two methods (line intercepts and visual estimation of cover classes) to characterize vegetation of herbaceous wetlands. Species richness and cover estimates were similar among teams and among methods, but one sam- pling team scored cover higher than the other. The line inter- cept technique yielded higher cover estimates but lower spe- cies richness estimates than the cover class method. Cluster analyses of plots revealed that 36% and 11% of plots sampled consecutively by two teams or using two methods, respec- tively, were similar enough in species composition and abun- dance to be paired together in the resulting clustering tree. Simplifying cover estimate data to presence/absence increased the similarity among both teams and methods at the plot scale. Teams were very similar in their overall characterization of sites when cover estimation data were used, as assessed by cluster analysis, but methods agreed best on their overall characterization of sites when only presence/absence data were considered. Differences in abundance estimates as well as pseudoturnover contribute to variability. For double sam- pled plots, pseudoturnover was 19.1%, but 57.7% of pseudo- turnover cases involved taxa with ≤ 0.5% cover while only 3.4% involved taxa with > 8% cover. We suggest that vegeta- tion scientists incorporate quality control, calibrate observers and publish their results.
History of Multiple Myeloma

Multiple Myeloma has been recognized since Ancient Times. The first well-documented case was reported in 1844 by Samuel Solly. The most commonly recognized case is that of Thomas Alexander McBean, a highly respectable tradesman from London in 1850. Mr. McBean excreted a large amount of protein that was described by Henry Bence Jones in the middle of the 19th century. Jones was a well-known physician and made many contributions to medicine. One of the best known cases of multiple myeloma was that of Dr. Loos that was reported by Otto Kahler. The recognition of plasma cells and subsequently their product, a monoclonal protein has been described in detail. The authors have reviewed the treatment of multiple myeloma including the novel agents, thalidomide, bortezomib and lenalidomide.
Advances in rete pattern matching

A central algorithm in production systems is the pattern match among rule predicates and current data. Systems like OPS5 and its various derivatives use the RETE algorithm for this function. This paper describes and analyses several augmentations of the basic RETE algorithm that are incorporated into an experimental production system, YES/OPS, which achieve significant improvement in efficiency and rule clarity.
Bootstrapping and the financial condition of small firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate relationships between financial condition and the use of bootstrapping in small firms.Design/methodology/research – A total of 901 manufacturing firms were selected from a comprehensive financial database containing income statement and balance sheet records. Surveys were sent to each of these firms and 186 firms returned usable surveys. Survey responses on bootstrapping techniques were compared with financial data for these 186 firms. Both the initial financial status and the financial status of these firms two years later were analyzed.Findings – The results indicate that highly levered, illiquid, and underperforming firms were more likely to use certain bootstrapping methods than other firms, and that the methods they used may have been detrimental to future firm performance.Research limitations/implications – The findings support a resource dependence model and raise questions as to why financially constrained firms chose to use particular bootstra...
Why more male pedestrians die in vehicle-pedestrian collisions than female pedestrians: a decompositional analysis

Objective Pedestrians account for a third of the 1.2 million traffic fatalities annually worldwide, and men are overrepresented. We examined the factors that contribute to this male-female discrepancy: walking exposure (kilometres walked per person-year), vehicle-pedestrian collision risk (number of collisions per kilometres walked) and vehicle-pedestrian collision case fatality rate (number of deaths per collision). Design The decomposition method quantifies the relative contributions (RCs) of individual factors to death rate ratios among groups. The male-female ratio of pedestrian death rates can be expressed as the product of three component ratios: walking exposure, collision risk and case fatality rate. Data sources included the 2008–2009 US Fatality Analysis Reporting System, General Estimates System, National Household Travel Survey and population estimates. Setting USA. Participants Pedestrians aged 5 years and older. Main outcome measures Death rate per person-year, kilometres walked per person-year, collisions per kilometres walked and deaths per collision by sex. Results The pedestrian death rate per person-year for men was 2.3 times that for women. This ratio of male to female rates can be expressed as the product of three component ratios: 0.995 for walking exposure, 1.191 for collision risk and 1.976 for case fatality rate. The RCs of these components were 1%, 20% and 79%, respectively. Conclusions The majority of the male-female discrepancy in 2008–2009 pedestrian deaths in the US is attributed to a higher fatality per collision rate among male pedestrians.
Wet Strength of Kevlar 29 Ribbon Parachute Fabrics

The effect of moisture on the strength of Kevlar 29 ribbon parachute fabrics was investigated. Individual yarn samples and various fabrics were soaked in water for periods of 15-60 min. Yarn strength did not change; however, fabric strength was reduced. The reductions ranged 3-13% depending upon the fabric construction. Additional experiments eliminated factors such as the weaving process, yarn swelling, and increased abrasion in the presence of moisture as possible mechanisms. Other tests demonstrated that increased interyarn friction occurs when moisture is present. These results suggest that the moisture-enhanced friction restrains highly loaded filaments from adjusting their position and relieving stress concentrations. Specific construction parameters governing the amount of strength reduction were not defined in this study. However, it is evident that wet strength should be considered in parachute material selection and design.
A simple matrix model of intramolecular vibrational redistribution and its implications

Abstract A multiple-range local matrix model for IVR is applied to systems with up to 100000 active states. Applications include calculation of IVR transients and high-resolution spectra of molecular models for vibrationally excited 1-propyne and trihalomethanes. The model bridges recent statistical theories and detailed quantum simulations on specific systems, and several different IVR regimes can be qualitatively distinguished. In many cases, characteristic deviations from exponential decay behaviour and/or the Golden Rule are observed.
Consequences of hoxb1 duplication in teleost fish.

SUMMARY Vertebrate evolution is characterized by gene and genome duplication events. There is strong evidence that a whole-genome duplication occurred in the lineage leading to the teleost fishes. We have focused on the teleost hoxb1 duplicate genes as a paradigm to investigate the consequences of gene duplication. Previous analysis of the duplicated zebrafish hoxb1 genes suggested they have subfunctionalized. The combined expression pattern of the two zebrafish hoxb1 genes recapitulates the expression pattern of the single Hoxb1 gene of tetrapods, possibly due to degenerative changes in complementary cis-regulatory elements of the duplicates. Here we have tested the hypothesis that all teleost duplicates had a similar fate post duplication, by examining hoxb1 genes in medaka and striped bass. Consistent with this theory, we found that the ancestral Hoxb1 expression pattern is subdivided between duplicate genes in a largely similar fashion in zebrafish, medaka, and striped bass. Further, our analysis of hoxb1 genes reveals that sequence changes in cis-regulatory regions may underlie subfunctionalization in all teleosts, although the specific changes vary between species. It was previously shown that zebrafish hoxb1 duplicates have also evolved different functional capacities. We used misexpression to compare the functions of hoxb1 duplicates from zebrafish, medaka and striped bass. Unexpectedly, we found that some biochemical properties, which were paralog specific in zebrafish, are conserved in both duplicates of other species. This work suggests that the fate of duplicate genes varies across the teleost group.
Stretching and compressing of short laser pulses by chirped volume Bragg gratings: analytic and numerical modeling

The theory of stretching and compression of short light pulses by chirped volume Bragg gratings (CBGs) is reviewed based on spectral decomposition of short pulses and on wavelength-dependent coupled wave equations. Analytic theory of diffraction efficiency of CBG with constant chirp and approximate theory time- delay dispersion is presented. Comparison of approximate analytic results with exact numeric coupled-wave modeling shows excellent agreement for smooth heterogeneities of CBGs. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. (DOI: 10.1117/1.OE.53.5.051509)
Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of the Richmond Group in Southeastern Indiana

The Richmond Group (Upper Ordovician) in southeastern Indiana is subdivided into rock-stratigraphic units (formations and members) and biostratigraphic units (assemblage zones). The formations and members established by earlier workers on the basis of faunal zones are either redefined as mappable rock units or discarded. A newly proposed formation replaces the lower three “formations,” Arnheim, Waynesville, and Liberty, which are based on paleontologic criteria and are lithologically indistinguishable. The new unit consists of thin layers of fossiliferous and barren limestone alternating with layers of calcareous shale. Two barren shale beds in conjunction with silicified fossil and pyritic limestone horizons are used to subdivide the new unit for a quantitative study of its lithologic variation. The Whitewater Formation above is redefined and subdivided into five rock units on the basis of lithology: (1) a lower unnamed member of massive earthy limestone, (2) a black carbonaceous shale bed, (3) the lower Saluda Member, which is a northward thinning wedge of mud-cracked slabby limestone with layers of massive dolomitic limestone at the base and top, (4) the upper Saluda Member, lithologically similar to the lower wedge but separated from it by a layer of massive dolomitic limestone, and (5) an upper unnamed member of massive earthy limestone. Four faunal assemblage zones are recognized in the newly proposed unit: (1) Resserella meeki, (2) Leptaena richmondensis, (3) Sowerbyella rugosus, and (4) Strophomena planumbona. The assemblage zones become thin and pinch out to the south, and their boundaries cross lithologic marker horizons within the newly proposed rock unit. The Homotrypa wortheni and Tetradium minus assemblage zones within the Whitewater Formation are split into upper and lower parts by the barren Saluda Member. The numbers of individuals in each species are counted in small unit areas and are statistically analyzed to determine the distribution of species within the assemblage zones and the geographic extent of the zones. The following interpretation of depositional environments is based on the distribution of the rock types and faunal assemblage zones. The lower unit of the Richmond Group was deposited in a shallow, inner sub-littoral, marine environment. The Whitewater Formation was formed during the regression and transgression of a shoal area with the lower and upper unnamed members representing the submerged mud flats, and the Saluda Member, the exposed mud flats.
Severe Hypertriglyceridemia Induced Pancreatitis in Pregnancy

Acute pancreatitis caused by severe gestational hypertriglyceridemia is a rare complication of pregnancy. Acute pancreatitis has been well associated with gallstone disease, alcoholism, or drug abuse but rarely seen in association with severe hypertriglyceridemia. Hypertriglyceridemia may occur in pregnancy due to normal physiological changes leading to abnormalities in lipid metabolism. We report a case of severe gestational hypertriglyceridemia that caused acute pancreatitis at full term and was successfully treated with postpartum therapeutic plasma exchange. Patient also developed several other complications related to her substantial hypertriglyceridemia including preeclampsia, chylous ascites, retinal detachment, pleural effusion, and chronic pericarditis. This patient had no previous family or personal history of lipid abnormality and had four successful prior pregnancies without developing gestational hypertriglyceridemia. Such a severe hypertriglyceridemia is usually seen in patients with familial chylomicronemia syndromes where hypertriglyceridemia is exacerbated by the pregnancy, leading to fatal complications such as acute pancreatitis.
The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the vertical distribution and mortality of estuarine zooplankton

The effect of UV-B radiation on the vertical distribution of three calanoid copepod species (Tortanus dextrilobatus, Acartiura spp. and Acanthacartia spp.) and three larval stages of Pacific herring, Clupea pallasi (1-, 7-, and 14-day-old larvae) was investigated. A series of 2 m high columnar tanks equipped with infra-red light and video-microscopy was used to investigate the vertical distribution of zooplankton in the presence and absence of UV-B radiation. In the presence of UV-B radiation, T.dextrilobatus and 1-day-old C.pallasi resided about 50 cm deeper than in the absence of UV-B, while Acartiura spp. and Acanthacartia spp. showed no (or only minimal) change in vertical distribution. Mortality experiments were also conducted outdoors in which each copepod species was exposed to full or reduced natural radiation levels. Only T.dextrilobatus showed an increase in mortality when exposed to full radiation. Our results showed that T.dextrilobatus and 1-day-old C.pallasi larvae were sensitive to UV radiation (UVR), and to reduce or eliminate UV-induced stress, they avoided the surface of the water column when UV-B radiation was present. Copepod species were chosen to span a range of pigmentation: T.dextrilobatus (heavily pigmented), Acartiura spp. (moderately pigmented) and Acanthacartia spp. (not pigmented). The pigmentation did not appear to play a role in UVR tolerance of the copepods, but may be a factor determining UV tolerance of C.pallasi.
Modeling Cone-Beam Tomographic Reconstruction Using LogSMP: An Extenced LogP Model for Clusters of SMPs

The tomographic reconstruction for cone-beam geometries is a computationally intensive task requiring large memory and computational power to investigate interesting objects. The analysis of its parallel implementation on widely available clusters of SMPs requires an extension of the original LogP model to account for the various communication channels, called LogSMP. The LogSMP model is used in analyzing this algorithm, which predicts speedup on a cluster of 4 SMPs using 10 Mbps, 100Mbps, and ATM networks. We detail the measurement of the LogSMP parameters and assess the applicability of LogSMP modeling to the cone-beam tomography problem. This methodology can be applied to similar problems involving clusters of SMPs.
Temporality, stance ownership, and the constitution of subjectivity

Abstract This article examines the constitution of subjectivity through the analytic lens of John Du Bois' notion of stance. Understanding subjectivity requires taking into account longer timescales in order to better capture 1) the embeddings of stances and 2) the play of stances one with another across time. Attending to these longer timescales points to a further trouble with Du Bois' conception of stance and its relationship to subjectivity – what Du Bois calls stance ownership. Based on a consideration of an example in which a participant's stance is transformed across time, I propose three means of characterizing stance ownership: intersubjective recognition, embodied indexical icons, and the stance of things.
Bristle formation controlled by the achaete locus in genetic mosaics of Drosophila melanogaster.

IN D. melanogaster, the genetic control of differentiation at specific sites is conveniently studied by the use of genetic mosaics. In wild-type flies, a definite number of macrochaetae or bristles is formed at specific sites of the thorax. Certain mutant genes are quite specific in their effects on bristle formation. The effect of achaete (ac) , for example, is primarily restricted to removal of two bristles, the anterior and posterior dorsocentrals. Earlier studies (STERN 1954a,b) have shown that bristle development is cell autonomous in mosaics. That is, in gynandromorphs in which the site of a posterior dorsocentral bristle is in ac tissue, a bristle will usually not differentiate even when most of the surrounding tissue is ac+. Conversely, when the site of the bristle is ac+, differentiation is always initiated regardless of the amount and distribution of surrounding ac tissue. This was interpreted by STERN as indicating that the hypodermal layer of the imaginal disc possesses regions in which the site of bristle formation is predetermined. A cell with the wild allele is competent to respond to this “prepattern,” but a cell with the ac allele lacks this competence. The present study of bristles affected by the ac locus uses a technique of mosaic production different from the one employed by STERN, one which produces a comparatively high proportion of mosaics thus permitting a quantitative breakdown of the various types of mosaics recovered.
Considering a New Information Architecture for the City of Houston

In summer 2011, Rice University undergraduates Vivas Kumar and Robyn Moscowitz interned at the City of Houston, under the supervision of information technology policy fellow Christopher Bronk and Tory Gattis. This report details information technology and policy recommendations for the city.
A finite element head and neck model as a supportive tool for deformable image registration.

A finite element (FE) head and neck model was developed as a tool to aid investigations and development of deformable image registration and patient modeling in radiation oncology. Useful aspects of a FE model for these purposes include ability to produce realistic deformations (similar to those seen in patients over the course of treatment) and a rational means of generating new configurations, e.g., via the application of force and/or displacement boundary conditions. The model was constructed based on a cone-beam computed tomography image of a head and neck cancer patient. The three-node triangular surface meshes created for the bony elements (skull, mandible, and cervical spine) and joint elements were integrated into a skeletal system and combined with the exterior surface. Nodes were additionally created inside the surface structures which were composed of the three-node triangular surface meshes, so that four-node tetrahedral FE elements were created over the whole region of the model. The bony elements were modeled as a homogeneous linear elastic material connected by intervertebral disks. The surrounding tissues were modeled as a homogeneous linear elastic material. Under force or displacement boundary conditions, FE analysis on the model calculates approximate solutions of the displacement vector field. A FE head and neck model was constructed that skull, mandible, and cervical vertebrae were mechanically connected by disks. The developed FE model is capable of generating realistic deformations that are strain-free for the bony elements and of creating new configurations of the skeletal system with the surrounding tissues reasonably deformed. The FE model can generate realistic deformations for skeletal elements. In addition, the model provides a way of evaluating the accuracy of image alignment methods by producing a ground truth deformation and correspondingly simulated images. The ability to combine force and displacement conditions provides flexibility for simulating realistic anatomic configurations.