cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Topical therapies for management of chronic rhinosinusitis: steroid implants.

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) causes severe symptoms that lead to poor quality of life. When optimal medical therapy does not improve CRS symptoms, then endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) can be used in patients with persistent symptoms and radiographic evidence of CRS to improve patients' symptoms and quality of life. Despite appropriate and complete sinus surgery, there can be issues after sinus surgery such as synechiae formation and recurrence of polyps in certain CRS patients that can decrease long-term outcomes. Corticosteroids are used to decrease postoperative scarring and edema as well as prevent recurrence of nasal polyp formation after sinus surgery. However, the use of oral or systemic steroid can lead to serious short-term and long-term complications. Therefore, a safer alternative would be the topical delivery of steroid via steroid-eluting sinus implants. Methods A literature review was performed to identify clinical studies evaluating steroid-eluting implants. Two forms of steroid-eluting implants were identified, Propel family products and Sinuva. The research findings from clinical studies using various steroid-eluting sinus implants are reviewed and discussed. Results Four prospective randomized clinical studies were identified for the Propel family products. Two prospective randomized clinical studies were identified for Sinuva. The results from the clinical studies showed that the use of the various steroid-eluting sinus implants can improve postoperative results after ESS as well as treat the recurrence of nasal polyps after sinus surgery without the need for additional sinus surgery. Conclusion The novel steroid-eluting implants appear to be beneficial for CRS patients immediately post-operatively as well as for nasal polyps patients. Interestingly, these implants could be used as a substitute for the beneficial effect of systemic steroid use for CRS patients.
A single-institution, randomized, pilot study evaluating the efficacy of gabapentin and methadone for patients undergoing chemoradiation for head and neck squamous cell cancer

Background The objective of the current study was to compare the safety and efficacy between 2 analgesic regimens for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing definitive chemoradiation (CRT). Methods The current study was a prospective, single-institution, 2-arm, randomized pilot study. Patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer seventh edition stage II to stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were undergoing CRT were randomized to either arm 1, which entailed high-dose gabapentin (2700 mg daily) with the institutional standard of care (hydrocodone and/or acetaminophen progressing to fentanyl as needed), or arm 2, which comprised low-dose gabapentin (900 mg daily) with methadone. The primary endpoints were safety and toxicity. Secondary endpoints were pain, opioid requirement, and quality of life (QOL). Differences between the treatment arms at multiple time points were compared using a generalized linear mixed regression model with Sidak correction. Results A total of 60 patients (31 in arm 1 and 29 in arm 2) were enrolled from April 2015 to August 2017. There was no difference between the treatment arms with regard to adverse events or serious adverse events. Pain was not found to be different between the treatment arms. More patients in arm 1 did not require an opioid during treatment (42% vs 7%; P = .002). Patients in arm 2 experienced significantly better QOL outcomes across multiple domains, including overall health (P = .05), physical functioning (P = .04), role functioning (P = .01), and social functioning (P = .01). Conclusions High-dose prophylactic gabapentin increased the percentage of patients who required no opioid during treatment. Methadone may improve QOL compared with a regimen of short-acting opioids and fentanyl. However, pain was found to significantly worsen throughout treatment regardless of treatment arm, necessitating further studies to identify a more optimal regimen.
Evaluating the Performance of Augmented Reality in Displaying Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Derived Three-Dimensional Holographic Models.

Abstract Introduction/Background Establishing accuracy and precision of magnetic resonance (MR)–derived augmented reality (AR) models is critical before clinical utilization, particularly in preoperative planning. We investigate the performance of an AR application in representing and displaying MR-derived three-dimensional holographic models. Methods Thirty gold standard (GS) measurements were obtained on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) phantom (six interfiducial distances and five configurations). Four MRI pulse sequences were obtained for each of the five configurations, and distances measured in Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). Digital imaging and communications in medicine files were translated into three-dimensional models and then loaded onto a novel AR platform. Measurements were also obtained with the software's AR caliper tool. Significant differences among the three groups (GS, PACS, and AR) were assessed with the Kruskal–Wallis test and nonsample median test. Accuracy analysis of GS vs. AR was performed. Precision (percent deviation) of the AR-based caliper tool was also assessed. Results No statistically significant difference existed between AR and GS measurements (P = .6208). PACS demonstrated mean squared error (MSE) of 0.29%. AR digital caliper demonstrated an MSE of 0.3%. Three-dimensional T2 CUBE AR measurements using the platform's AR caliper tool demonstrated an MSE of 8.6%. Percent deviation of AR software caliper tool ranged between 1.9% and 3.9%. Discussion AR demonstrated a high degree of accuracy in comparison to GS, comparable to PACS-based measurements. AR caliper tool demonstrated overall lower accuracy than with physical calipers, although with MSE Conclusion There was no statistically significant difference between GS measurements and three-dimensional AR measurements in MRI phantom models.
High retention rate NCA cathode powders from spray drying and flame assisted spray pyrolysis using glycerol as the solvent

Abstract This paper reports the synthesis of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) cathode powders using a simple flame assisted spray pyrolysis (FSP) and a spray drying (SD) processes, in which metal salt precursors dissolved in glycerol were used for spraying. X-ray diffraction confirms that the NCA powders have a layered structure, with a low order of cationic mixing. Electron microscopy shows that the particles produced by FSP have a relatively smaller size and a smoother surface than that produced by SD. The NCA powder from the FSP process has an initial discharge capacity of 200.2 mAh/g in voltage range of 3.0–4.3 V at 0.1C. It shows very good capacity retention of 91.5% at 1C and 89.4% at 5C after 200 cycles. These results demonstrate that glycerol can replace water and be used as a solvent in spray processes to make cathode powders, promising a new environmentally-friendly synthesis route for battery powder materials production.
Anisotropic pore structure of shale and gas injection-induced nanopore alteration: A small-angle neutron scattering study

Abstract Gas transport in the shale matrix is controlled by pore structure, which can ultimately influence natural gas production potential and carbon sequestration in shale gas reservoirs. In this study, in situ small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements under methane and CO2 injections were employed to investigate two Marcellus Shale thin section samples cut parallel and perpendicular to the bedding. Marcellus Shale nanopores show intrinsic anisotropy over the detected length scale of 5–2000 A. Microscopic gas transport could be inhibited due to the decrease of accessible porosity with increasing gas pressure. The degree of inhibition may be higher for CO2 than for methane, and for the direction normal to the bedding than in the bedding direction. In addition, under the condition of liquid CO2, higher porosity reduction for the direction normal to the bedding may insight into nanoscale anisotropic wettability in the shale matrix.
Cache Efficient Value Iteration

Value Iteration (VI) is a powerful, though time consuming, approach to solve Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). Exisitng algorithms for VI incur a large number of cache misses. Motivated by the observation that, on modern computers, the cost of a cache miss is two to three orders of magnitude more than that of an arithmetic operation, we explore the possibility of improving the performance of VI by reducing the number of cache misses, possibly at the expense of increasing the number of backups. We demonstrate experimentally that the strategies proposed by us, in this paper, to improve the cache efficiency of VI result in speedups of up to a factor of 3.7 when incorporated into state-of-the-art VI software.
PERIVALVULAR ABSCESS PRESENTING AS REDUCTION IN DEGREE OF AORTIC STENOSIS

Perivalvular abscess and acute valve dysfunction are serious complications of infective endocarditis (IE). A 71 year old with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and prior E. faecalis bacteremia presented with recurrent decompensated heart failure. An echocardiogram (TTE) two months prior showed a
Aging and Dementia

Dementia is characterized by progressive deterioration of cognitive and functional abilities, leaving people unable to care for themselves. The burden of care typically falls on family members, who may experience high levels of stress trying to meet the demands of care that are placed on them. Interventions made directly with patients in the early stages of the illness appear promising. As the disease progresses, the goal of treatment is relieving stress on family caregivers. Cognitive-behavioral strategies play an important part in helping caregivers manage stressors more effectively, and in examining their role and involvement in providing care.
Effects of network structures on the fracture of hydrogel

Abstract The polymer network structures and topologies in hydrogels can significantly affect their mechanical properties. The network structures can vary dramatically with different synthetic conditions of hydrogels. Herein, we study the effects of the polymer network structures on mechanical properties of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) hydrogels synthesized through free radical polymerizations. We focus on investigating how the initial monomer concentration ϕ 0 during the synthesis influences the network structures and thus their mechanical properties. Specifically, we measure the swelling capability of the polymer network, the elasticity and fracture of swollen hydrogels with a fixed volume fraction of polymer. Our results have revealed that for PAAm hydrogels with the same volume fraction of polymer, their elasticity, stretchability, work of rupture and fracture toughness can vary significantly if ϕ 0 during the synthesis is different. Our study may provide important guideline for synthesizing hydrogels with tailorable mechanical properties without changing the chemistry and synthesis procedure.
Islamist Terrorism in Europe: A History

The rise of Islamist terrorism in Europe since the 1990s has attracted a great deal of commentary and analysis from a wide array of authorities. Petter Nesser, a senior research fellow with the Nor...
PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESSES Athlete Agents: Regulate

The Act creates the Georgia Athlete Agent Regulatory Commission to administer the registration of athlete agents and to promulgate rules and standards of conduct. The Act requires disclosure of professional qualifications, training, and experience and allows denial of registration for certain reasons. The Act also requires a $100,000 surety bond which may be forfeited to the athletic association of any state university if an agent fails to notify the commission of his intent to sign an athlete with remaining eligibility to a representation contract, compensates a college athlete, or otherwise jeopardizes an athlete's college eligibility.
The Psychological Investigation of Art: Theoretical and Methodological Implications1

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses psychological investigation of art. Psychological investigations have maintained a continual but nonetheless distant intrigue with so formidable a task as explaining art and the activities that surround it. Art is among the most pervasive of human activities and the continual interest is certainly justified. However, it is also among the most complex of activities and has been approached with caution. It seems that art as a topic of study defies definition as a theoretical object and easily evades any one methodological attempt to study its workings. Traditional approaches to the study of art often reveal more about the workings of psychological investigations than they do about art. The chapter examines an approach to the study of art that is represented by the philosophic works of Goodman and Cassirer, and considers the implications of this approach for psychological investigations. Both Goodman and Cassirer use the concept of symbol for discussing the nature of human activity. Symbol, in the broadest sense, is a relational term that allows for the consideration of the relationship between a symbol and its significance or meaning.
Trends and indications in international business Topics for future research

Forecasting changes in business environments is critical for appropriate responses by policy makers and corporate decision makers. This article reports on a Delphi study which features three rounds of interchanges between experts on possible changes in the international business environment and practice in the next years. Results indicate that terrorism and corruption issues have risen in importance while trade negotiations have declined. Corporate strategies are seen to need significant reform to deliver on the promise of globalization. As trends are becoming more multidimensional, regular solicitation of stakeholder perspectives becomes more important.
Learning old tricks from new viruses.

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is linked to the development of Kaposi sarcoma and certain lymphoproliferative malignancies. The main immunogenic latent nuclear antigen of KSHV can form a complex with retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein and transform cells, indicating that the oncogenic activities of KSHV are mechanistically related to the transforming functions of the small DNA tumor viruses (pages 1121–1127 ).
Spectral element/smoothed profile method for turbulent flow simulations of waterjet propulsion systems

We have developed fast numerical algorithms [1] for flows with complex moving domains, e.g. propellers in free-space and impellers in waterjets, by combining the smoothed profile method (SPM, [2, 3, 4]) with the spectral element method [5]. The new approach exhibits high-order accuracy with respect to both temporal and spatial discretizations. Most importantly, the method yields great computational efficiency as it uses fixed simple Cartesian grids and hence it avoids body-conforming mesh and remeshing. To simulate high Reynolds number flows, we incorporate the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and solve the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations. We present verification of the method by studying the turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate. We show that both the eddy viscosity and velocity fields are resolved very accurately within the boundary layer. Having developed and validated our numerical approach, we apply it to study transitional and turbulent flows in an axial-flow waterjet propulsion system. The efficiency and robustness of our method enable parametric study of many cases which is required in design phase. We present performance analysis and show the agreement with experimental data for waterjets.
An improved parallel disk scheduling algorithm

We address the problems of prefetching and I/O scheduling for read-once reference strings in a parallel I/O system. Read-once reference strings, in which each block is accessed exactly once, arise naturally in applications like databases and video retrieval. Using the standard parallel disk model with D disks and a shared I/O buffer of size M, we present a novel algorithm, red-black prefetching (RBP), for parallel I/O scheduling. The number of parallel I/Os performed by RBP is within 0(D/sup 1/3/) of the minimum possible. Algorithm RBP is easy to implement and requires computation time linear in the length of the reference string. Through simulation experiments we validated the benefits of RBP over simple greedy prefetching.
Optimizing large-scale Semi-Naïve datalog evaluation in hadoop

We explore the design and implementation of a scalable Datalog system using Hadoop as the underlying runtime system. Observing that several successful projects provide a relational algebra-based programming interface to Hadoop, we argue that a natural extension is to add recursion to support scalable social network analysis, internet traffic analysis, and general graph query. We implement semi-naive evaluation in Hadoop, then apply a series of optimizations spanning fundamental changes to the Hadoop infrastructure to basic configuration guidelines that collectively offer a 10x improvement in our experiments. This work lays the foundation for a more comprehensive cost-based algebraic optimization framework for parallel recursive Datalog queries.
Host resistance and fungicide control of leaf rust (Puccinia hordei) in barley (Hordeum vulgare) and effects on grain yield and yield components

Abstract The effectiveness of varying levels of host resistance in five barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes and three fungicide application protocols on the control of leaf rust (caused by Puccinia hordei G. Otth) and losses in grain yield, test weight, and 1000-kernel weight was evaluated in field experiments at two locations over four crop years. Fungicide treatments applied to all barley entries at each location and each year included a non-treated control, a single threshold-based application of triadimefon (140 g a.i. ha−1), and a complete control treatment comprised of multiple applications of triadimefon to emulate a disease-free environment. Leaf rust severity was assessed using the James [1971. A Manual of Assessment Keys for Plant Diseases. Canada Dep. Agric. Publ. 1458. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.] scale (0–25%) at three to four plant growth stages and data were used to calculate mean rust severity (MRS) and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Leaf rust epidemics were severe in 1 (1995) of the 4 years of the study, and the treatment effect on grain yield was significant at one location (Warsaw). The susceptible cv. Wysor had a grain yield loss of 33% and MRS was 9.25% (34.23% in modified Cobb scale) at this location. In 2 (1995 and 1997) of 4 years of study, significant ( P ⩽ 0.05 ) negative correlations were obtained between MRS and grain yield, test weight, and 1000-kernel weight of cv. Wysor at both locations. In the other 2 years (1994 and 1996) when leaf rust epidemics were mild, these correlations were mostly non-significant. In general, fungicide treatment significantly ( P ⩽ 0.05 ) reduced MRS and AUDPC and reduced losses in grain yield, test weight, and 1000-kernel weight for the susceptible and moderately susceptible cultivars compared with the non-treated control. The cv. Starling, possessing adult-plant resistance, did not consistently benefit from fungicide application. There was no benefit from fungicide application for control of leaf rust in the resistant line VA92-42-46. In general, the complete-control fungicide treatment did not result in further significant reduction in leaf rust or losses in grain yield compared to threshold-level fungicide applications.
Contrasts and Commonalities: Hispanic and Anglo Farming in Conejos County, Colorado

The San Luis Valley farming systems' project sought to identify improved technologies and better decision-making capabilities for modest-sized and limited-resource farms. Characteristics of limited-resource farms operated by Hispanic and Anglo families, which may or may not be associated with differential rates of social participation and/or institutional discrimination, were examined. To determine characteristics of client farms, data were collected and stratified on farm resources, farm operations, goal hierarchies, and operational management strategies. Hispanic and Anglo farmers differed significantly in several respects. Key among these differences were crop and livestock enterprise mixes and the importance of off-farm income to households. For many farming parameters, farm size, age of farmer, and full-time/part-time characteristics overshadowed ethnicity as a determinant of decision-making. However, an important subset of the farm population is composed of Hispanic farmers who operate below median farm acreage on a part-time basis and for whom few technological developments or assistance programs are specifically designed or delivered.
Multi-enzyme complexes on DNA scaffolds capable of substrate channelling with an artificial swinging arm

Swinging arms are a key functional component of multistep catalytic transformations in many naturally occurring multi-enzyme complexes. This arm is typically a prosthetic chemical group that is covalently attached to the enzyme complex via a flexible linker, allowing the direct transfer of substrate molecules between multiple active sites within the complex. Mimicking this method of substrate channelling outside the cellular environment requires precise control over the spatial parameters of the individual components within the assembled complex. DNA nanostructures can be used to organize functional molecules with nanoscale precision and can also provide nanomechanical control. Until now, protein-DNA assemblies have been used to organize cascades of enzymatic reactions by controlling the relative distance and orientation of enzymatic components or by facilitating the interface between enzymes/cofactors and electrode surfaces. Here, we show that a DNA nanostructure can be used to create a multi-enzyme complex in which an artificial swinging arm facilitates hydride transfer between two coupled dehydrogenases. By exploiting the programmability of DNA nanostructures, key parameters including position, stoichiometry and inter-enzyme distance can be manipulated for optimal activity.
Algorithms for automated meshing and unit cell analysis of periodic composites with hierarchical tri‐quadratic tetrahedral elements

Unit cell homogenization techniques together with the finite element method are very effective for computing equivalent mechanical properties of composites and heterogeneous materials systems. For systems with very complicated material arrangements, traditional, manual mesh generation can be a considerable obstacle to usage of these techniques. This problem is addressed here by developing automated meshing techniques that start from a hierarchical quad-tree (in 2D) or oc-tree (in 3D) mesh of pixel or voxel elements. From the pixel/voxel mesh, algorithms are presented for successive element splitting and nodal shifting to arrive at final meshes that accurately capture both material arrangements and constituent volume fractions, and the material-scale stress and strain fields within the composite under different modalities of loading. The performance and associated convergence behaviour of the proposed techniques are demonstrated on both densely packed fibre and particulate composites, and on 3D textile-reinforced composites. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, mucoidy and the chronic infection phenotype in cystic fibrosis

During chronic infections in cystic fibrosis, persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with conversion into forms that are associated with conversion into forms that are characterized by a mucoid colony morphology, rough lipopolysaccharide and, paradoxically, decreased systemic virulence. The mutations underlying these changes occur in global regulators, such as alternative sigma factors and their accessory elements.
Improved Apparatus for Rapid Measurement of Viscosity of Glass at High Temperatures

An apparatus is described for measuring the viscosity of glass in the range 6.5 to 13,000 poises. About 15 minutes per point are required to establish a viscosity-versus-temperature curve. About 75 gm. of glass are required for a determination. Precision is good, repair is simple, and maintenance is low. The apparatus is suitable for either research or control purposes.
Cloning, developmental regulation and neural localization of rat ε-sarcoglycan

Abstract Mutations in the gene for epsilon sarcoglycan (e-SG) are associated with a disorder of the central nervous system, the myoclonus-dystonia syndrome (MDS; DYT11). In contrast, mutations of other sarcoglycan family members lead to limb-girdle muscular dystrophies. To establish the framework for functional studies of e-SG, we cloned rat e-SG cDNA, quantified e-SG mRNA levels in neural and non-neural tissues at different developmental time points with relative quantitative multiplex real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), and characterized the distribution of e-SG mRNA in brain with in situ hybridization. Rat e-SG cDNA contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1311 bp that encodes a 437-amino acid (aa) protein with 95.9% and 98.2% identity to human and mouse e-SG amino acid sequences, respectively. Using real-time RT-PCR, e-SG was detected in both neural (cerebellar cortex, striatum, cerebral cortex, thalamus, hippocampus) and non-neural (muscle, liver, kidney, heart) tissues at each developmental time point tested [Embryonic Day 20 (E20), Postnatal Day 1 (P1), P7, P14, P36, 6 months, 1.5 years). Levels of e-SG mRNA were highest at E20 in all tissues. The developmental regulation of e-SG mRNA expression was most striking in muscle with E20 and early postnatal e-SG mRNA levels over 10 times higher than those seen in adult rats. In adult rats, e-SG mRNA levels were several-fold higher in brain, particularly cerebellar cortex, than in muscle. Radioactive in situ hybridization showed that e-SG mRNA was widely distributed in rat brain. Robust hybridization signal was obtained from regions with dense neuronal packing such as the hippocampus, cerebellar molecular layer, and cerebral cortex. Our results suggest that e-SG participates in the development of both neural and non-neural tissues and contributes to neuronal structure in the adult central nervous system.
Effect of stress reductions on the creep behaviour and subgrain size in aluminum deformed at 573 K

Abstract The effect of stress reductions, during steady state creep deformation, on the strain-time and subgrain size behaviour in high purity aluminum was studied. Stress reductions during steady state creep at 573 K produce a reduced strain rate which slowly increases, approaching the steady state rate which would be obtained at the reduced stress. This change in strain rate is accompanied by an increase in subgrain size as measured by optical techniques. The subgrain size, after deformation at the reduced stress, approaches the steady state subgrain size at the reduced stress.
System-based component-test plans and operating characteristics: binomial data

Component-test plans are often designed by allocating system reliability among the system's components, then choosing individual component plans suitable for demonstrating achievcment of each component's reliability goal. This approach does not consider how much information relative to the system reliability goal is provided by the ensemble of component tests. We consider the notion of system reliability operating characteristic (OC) curves, based on the component tests, and illustrate their use in designing or evaluating an overall test program. By specifying OC values (akin to producer's and consumer's risks), optimum, system-ortented component-test plans can be derived. These ideas are illustrated for a series system, and for a simple series-parallel system, with binomial data.
DNA methylation in lymphoma: an opportunity?

Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, play an important role in not only the development and maturation of normal cells, but also the development and progression of malignant cells.1 In this edition of Blood, Arribas et al show that DNA methylation profiling identifies 2 subtypes of splenic marginal zone lymphoma with different clinical and genetic features.2 These findings provide an opportunity to better understand the biology of marginal zone lymphoma and optimize therapy by using demethylating agents to reverse the high-methylation phenotype and thereby target malignant B cells.
Surface Chemistry and Durability of Borosilicate Glass

Preliminary results show that glass durability is dependent on reactions occurring at the glass-solution interface. CSG glass (18.2 wt. % Na2O,5.97 wt. % CaO, 11.68 wt. % Al2O3, 8.43 wt. % B2O3, and 55.73 wt. % SiO2) dissolution and net surface H+ and OH- adsorption are minimal at near neutral pH. In the acid and alkaline pH regions, CSG glass dissolution rates are proportional to 2 to , respectively. In contrast, silica gel dissolution and net H+ and OH" adsorption are minimal and independent of pH in acid to neutral solutions. In the alkaline pH region, silica gel dissolution is proportional 0.9 to . Although Na adsorption is significant for CSG glass and silica gel in the alkaline pH regions, it is not clear if it enhances dissolution, or is an artifact of depolymerization of the framework bonds.
Are ECG Premature Complexes Induced by Ultrasonic Cavitation Electrophysiological Responses to Irreversible Cardiomyocyte Injury

Abstract The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between premature complexes (PCs) in the electrocardiogram (ECG) and lethal injury of cardiomyocytes induced by ultrasound exposure of the heart with contrast-agent gas bodies in the circulation. Anesthetized rats were exposed in a heated water bath to 1.55 MHz focused ultrasound with bursts triggered at end systole during contrast agent infusion. PCs were detected in ECG recordings and cardiomyocyte necrosis was scored by identifying Evans blue–stained cells in multiple frozen sections. With 0.1 μL/kg/min infusion of contrast agent for 5 min, both effects increased strongly for 2-ms bursts with increasing peak rarefactional pressure amplitude >1 MPa. At 8 MPa, statistically significant effects were found even for no agent infusion relative to sham tests. For 2-ms bursts at 2 MPa, the highly significant bioeffects seen for 10-, 1- and 0.1-μL/kg/min infusion became marginally significant for 0.01 μL/kg/min, which indicated a lower probability of cavitation nucleation. Burst duration variation from 0.2–20 ms produced no substantial trends in the results. Overall, the two effects were well correlated ( r 2 = 0.88). The PCs occurring during contrast-enhanced ultrasound therefore appear to be electrophysiological responses to irreversible cardiomyocyte injury induced by ultrasonic cavitation. (E-mail: douglm@umich.edu )
BULK CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN THE OCEAN

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the largest reservoir of reduced carbon in the oceans. The nature of DOM is poorly understood, in part, because it has been difficult to isolate sufficient amounts of representative material for analysis. Tangential-flow ultrafiltration was shown to recover milligram amounts of >1000 daltons of DOM from seawater collected at three depths in the North Pacific Ocean. These isolates represented 22 to 33 percent of the total DOM and included essentially all colloidal material. The elemental, carbohydrate, and carbon-type (by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance) compositions of the isolates indicated that the relative abundance of polysaccharides was high (∼50 percent) in surface water and decreased to ∼25 percent in deeper samples. Polysaccharides thus appear to be more abundant and reactive components of seawater DOM than has been recognized.
Isothermal and nonisothermal dielectric relaxation studies on polycarbonate

Dielectric relaxation measurements at very low frequency were carried out on polycarbonate. Two prominent peaks were resolved from the broad β-relaxation peak with activation energies of 0.28 and 0.52 eV, respectively. Thermally stimulated discharge current was also studied and compared to the results obtained from the dielectric relaxation measurements.
Spontaneous Changes of Neocortical Code for Associative Memory During Consolidation

After learning, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) gradually comes to modulate the expression of memories that initially depended on the hippocampus. We show that during this consolidation period, neural firing in the mPFC becomes selective for the acquired memories. After acquisition of memory associations, neuron populations in the mPFC of rats developed sustained activity during the interval between two paired stimuli, but reduced activity during the corresponding interval between two unpaired stimuli. These new patterns developed over a period of several weeks after learning, with and without continued conditioning trials. Thus, in agreement with a central tenet of consolidation theory, acquired associations initiate subsequent, gradual processes that result in lasting changes of the mPFC's code, without continued training.
Neuronal correlates of classically conditioned bradycardia in the rabbit: studies of the medial prefrontal cortex.

Abstract Multiple-unit activity (MUA) in the agranular medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) was recorded in conscious rabbits during a classical conditioning procedure involving repeated pairings of a 4-s tone conditioned stimulus (CS) with eye shock. Prior to behavioral training, significant tone-evoked increases in prefrontal MUA were observed; the magnitude of this evoked cortical discharge declined with repeated presentations of the tone alone. However, the first few paired presentations of tone with eye shock served to rapidly re-establish the evoked activity, and subsequent pairings resulted in a significant enhancement of CS-evoked discharge, relative to pretraining response levels. These associative training-induced changes in prefrontal MUA appeared to parallel the development of bradycardiac conditioned responses (CRs), and, in fact, significant correlations between the neuronal and behavioral responses were observed. In contrast to these associative effects, non-associative training procedures involving either unpaired presentations of tone and eye shock or repeated presentations of the tone alone resulted in progressive attenuation of tone-evoked MUA, relative to pretraining levels. We had previously reported that bilateral destruction of the medial PFC seriously compromises the development of discriminative heart rate CRs in the rabbit. In light of this finding, our present results lend further support to the suggestion that associative training-induced changes in CS-evoked neuronal activity in this cortical region contribute, at least in part, to the development of learned cardiovascular adjustments in this animal.
The association between metformin use and oncologic outcomes among surgically treated diabetic patients with localized renal cell carcinoma

Abstract Introduction Metformin inhibits renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo; however, clinical data regarding the effect of metformin in patients with RCC are lacking. We evaluated the association of metformin use with outcomes among patients with surgically treated localized RCC. Materials and methods We identified 283 consecutive diabetic patients treated surgically for localized RCC between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 2008. Clinicopathologic features were compared between patients exposed to metformin (n = 83, 29%) and those who were not (n = 200, 71%). Progression-free, cancer-specific, and overall survival rates were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox models were used to evaluate the association of metformin use with outcomes. Results and conclusions Patients receiving metformin had a better renal function (median estimated glomerular filtration rate = 65 vs. 55 ml/min/1.73 m2, P 0.05 for all). At a median postoperative follow-up of 8.1 years, patients exposed to metformin had similar 5-year progression-free (80% vs. 75%, P = 0.6) and cancer-specific survival rates (91% vs. 81%, P = 0.16), but significantly improved overall survival rate (79% vs. 62%, P = 0.01). However, metformin was not independently associated with the risks of progression, RCC-specific mortality, or all-cause mortality on multivariable analyses. In this surgical cohort of diabetic patients with M0 RCC, preoperative metformin exposure was associated with improved overall survival on unadjusted analysis. Although metformin was not independently associated with oncologic or survival outcomes, future studies appear warranted.
A PARTICLE TRACKING TECHNIQUE FOR THE LAGRANGIAN-EULERIAN FINITE ELEMENT METHOD IN MULTI-DIMENSIONS

SUMMARY This paper presents a multi-dimensional particle tracking technique for applying the Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element method to solve transport equations in transient-state simulations. In the LagrangianEulerian approach, the advection term is handled in the Lagrangian step so that the associated numerical errors can be considerably reduced. It is important to have an adequate particle tracking technique for computing advection accurately in the Lagrangian step. The particle tracking technique presented here is designed to trace fictitious particles in the real-world flow field where the flow velocity is either measured or computed at a limited number of locations. The technique, named ‘in-element’ particle tracking, traces fictitious particles on an element-by-element basis. Given a velocity field, a fictitious particle is traced one element by one element until either a boundary is encountered or the available time is completely consumed. For the tracking within an element, the element is divided into a desired number of subelements with the interpolated velocity computed at all nodes of the subelements. A fictitious particle, thus, is traced one subelement by one subelement within the element. The desired number of subelements can be determined based on the complexity of the flow field being considered. The more complicated the flow field is, the more subelements are needed to achieve accurate particle tracking results. A single-velocity approach can be used to efficiently perform particle tracking in a smooth flow field, while an average-velocity approach can be employed to increase the tracking accuracy for more complex flow fields.
Design of lidar-based sensors and algorithms for determining the relative motion of an impaired spacecraft

In recent years, NASA's interest in autonomous rendezvous and docking operations with impaired or non-cooperative spacecraft has grown extensively. In order to maneuver and dock, a servicing spacecraft must be able to determine the relative 6 degree-of-freedom (6 DOF) motion between the vehicle and the target spacecraft. One method to determine the relative 6 DOF position and attitude is through lidar imaging. A flash lidar sensor system can capture close-proximity range images of the target spacecraft, producing 3-D point cloud data sets. These sequentially collected point-cloud data sets can be compared to a point cloud image of the target at a known location using a point correspondence-less variant of the Iterative Closest Points (ICP) algorithm to determine the relative 6 DOF displacements. Simulation experiments indicate that the MSE, angular error, mean, and standard deviations for position and orientation estimates did not vary as a function of position and attitude. Furthermore, the computational times required by this algorithm were comparable to previously reported variants of the point-to-point and point-to-plane based ICP variants.
CULTURE POTENTIAL OF SPINY LOBSTER

It is possible to raise the spiny lobster (Panulirusargus) in captivity from the late pueruli stage to cmercial size (790 to 900 g) in approximately 3 to 4 years. The pueruli collected in inshore waters usually undergo two moltings and metamorphose into postlarvae. The postlarvae, young, and juvenile lobster collected from shallow waters readily feed on molluskan flesh. The Caribbean beach clam (Donaxdenticulatus) is ideal food for the lobster. The mortality of the lobsters can be kept at a minimum level if they are kept separated in individual compartments or cages. It is doubtful that the commercial culture of the lobster can be undertaken at this time; maintaining a large number of lobsters in captivity requires a large space and manpower, and the time required for the lobster to reach marketable size is exceedingly long. The cost of the operation is prohibitive at the current price structure.
Structural consequences of individual position in nondyadic social networks

Abstract The pattern of dyadic relationships among members of a population has often been used to obtain important information on the way that social structure can further or constrain social action. More recently, it has been proposed that nondyadic relationships can play a similar role. In this paper, a formalism is proposed that allows the dyadic structure and the nondyadic structure to be considered simultaneously. If this formalism is applied to the study of the structure arising from attendance at significant social events, it becomes possible to identify potential loci for social action. Still further, it is shown that information on individuals' structural perspectives with respect to such potential loci can be translated into conclusions about the individuals' positions in the dyadic structure. Such considerations can be used to evaluate the relative potential of these loci for social action.
On the Spectrum of a Class of Second Order Periodic Elliptic Differential Operators

Under an additional symmetry condition, we prove that the spectrum of a second order self-adjoint elliptic differential operator with periodic coefficients is purely absolutely continuous.
An association in honey bees between autogrooming and the presence of migrating tracheal mites

Il a ete suggere que l'auto-toilettage jouait un role cle en permettant aux abeilles (Apis mellifera L.) de resister a l'infestation par l'Acarien des trachees, Acarapis woodi (Rennie). Nous avons mesure la difference d'infestation entre deux classes d'abeilles dans une ruche d'observation : celles qui s'auto-toilettaient activement et celles qui ne le faisaient pas. Lorsqu'on observait des abeilles de la premiere classe, elles etaient immediatement saisies (avec une pince) par le bout de l'aile ou par une patte, sorties de la ruche, anesthesiees et l'on examinait la presence d'acariens sur leur thorax. Les abeilles voisines qui ne faisaient pas d'auto-toilettage etaient examinees de la meme facon. Au total 50 paires d'abeilles ont ete evaluees. On a trouve une forte association entre l'acte d'auto-toilettage et la presence d'acariens des trachees (P < 0,001): la frequence des acariens sur les thorax des abeilles qui se toilettaient etait 4 fois superieure (72 % avaient des acariens) comparee aux abeilles qui ne se toilettaient pas. Les acariens ont ete trouves le plus souvent sur le metatergum et le propodeum et pres de la base des ailes (Tab. 1). Dans les 34 cas d'auto-toilettage effectue sur un seul cote du corps, on a trouve un acarien sur le cote qui etait toilette. Ces donnees confirment l'existence d'un lien positif existe entre l'auto-toilettage et l'infestation par l'Acarien des trachees.
Microstructural changes in confined submicrometer aluminum films

The stress effect on microstructure evolution in submicrometer Al dots in confinement has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. Direct observation of grain growth and void formation in the dots, unconfined as well as confined by sputtered quartz, was investigated. In the as‐deposited state, most of the grains were larger than the film thickness of 300 A, indicating that the grains have grown during the Al deposition and/or the quartz deposition. Voids were only found in the confined samples. Grain growth was retarded in the confined samples upon a stepwise annealing from room temperature to 400 °C, yet secondary grain growth occurred at temperatures above 500 °C. For the unconfined samples, abnormal grain growth occurred at 200 °C. The retardation of grain growth in the confined sample was attributed to the lack of stress gradient and vacancy sources and the hinderance of dislocation motion. The mechanism of secondary grain growth in the confined samples was observed to be the coalesence of ad...
Testing types: A review and test of police types

Abstract This paper offers a review and comparison of five major typologies of individual police officers, concluding with the suggestion that the five typologies contain a total of four major distinct types. An independent data set is then used in a secondary analysis to test empirically the existence of the four generic types. The test results provide nothing to support the notion that the four types actually exist; no empirical counterpart was found for any of the hypothesized generic types.
Application specific architectures: a recipe for fast, flexible and power efficient designs

The general purpose processor has long been the focus of intense optimization efforts that have resulted in an impressive doubling of performance every 18 months. However, recent evidence suggests that these efforts may be faltering as pipelining and ILP processing techniques experience diminishing returns. Application specific architectures hold great potential as an alternative means to continue scaling application performance. The approach works by specializing a design to a small domain of important applications, and it benefits from improved performance, greater power efficiency, and reduced area costs. This technique is well matched to embedded targets, where application domains are typically narrowIn this paper we present a case study of an application specific processor design. Our design, called the CryptoManiac processor, is an architecture specialized to efficiently execute cryptographic ciphers. We carefully highlight the domain specific application characteristics we identified and their accompanying optimizations in the CryptoManiac design. Detailed analyses of the design makes a strong case for application specific optimization. The CryptoManiac processor runs popular ciphers at twice the speed of a high-end general purpose processor, and the design renders nearly two orders-of-magnitude reduction in power consumption and area costs. Finally, we identify two key challenges that stand as barriers to wide spread adoption of application specific architectures.
Toward the behavioral assessment of biological aging in the laboratory mouse: Concepts, terminology, and objectives

The thesis is presented that much of the controversy and confusion concerning the measurement of biological aging stems from the lack of agreement on clearly defined objectives, constructs, and methods to validate measures. To alleviate some of the confusion, basic terminology borrowed from psychometrics is offered to provide a conceptual framework within which such issues can be discussed. This psychometric nomenclature is subsequently applied to the development and evaluation of a test battery designed to assess biological aging in laboratory mice at a behavioral level of analysis. Reference is made to the assessment of reliability, content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity of tests of biological aging.