cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia†

Disease assessment in WM is dependent on the quantification of the IgM monoclonal protein and percent involvement of the bone marrow. There is a need for imaging studies that objectively measure tumor load in these patients. In this study, we sought to examine the role of combined FDG-PET/CT imaging in the detection of tumor load and in the assessment of response to therapy. Thirty-five patients were enrolled on a prospective study using bortezomib and rituximab therapy and were included in this study because they completed a pre- and post-treatment FDG-PET/CT imaging at one facility (12 newly diagnosed and 23 relapsed/refractory). The use of combined FDG-PET/CT imaging showed positive findings in 83% of patients with WM, unlike prior studies using conventional imaging that indicate that only 20% of patients have lymphadenopathy or hepatosplenomegaly. Moreover, 43% of patients had abnormal bone marrow uptake on FDG-PET imaging that can potentially help in the assessment of their tumor load, especially with heterogenous sampling of the bone marrow. There was no statistical correlation between EORTC response criteria for FDG-PET/CT and response by monoclonal protein. This is the first study to examine the role of FDG-PET/CT imaging in WM. Future studies should examine the role of FDG-PET/CT in conjunction with monoclonal protein response in the assessment of progression-free survival in patients with WM.
Simple Cu(I) complexes with unprecedented excited-state lifetimes.

This report describes new, readily accessible copper(I) complexes that can exhibit unusually long-lived, high quantum yield emissions in fluid solution. The complexes are of the form [Cu(NN)(POP)]+ where NN denotes 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmp) or 2,9-di-n-butyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dbp) and POP denotes bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether. Modes of characterization include X-ray crystallography and cyclic voltammetry. The complexes each have a pseudotetrahedral coordination geometry and a Cu(II)/Cu(I) potential upward of +1.2 V vs Ag/AgCl. In room-temperature dichloromethane solution, charge-transfer excited states of the dmp and dbp derivatives exhibit respective emission quantum yields of 0.15 and 0.16 and corresponding excited-state lifetimes of 14.3 and 16.1 μs, respectively. Despite the fact that coordinating solvents usually quench charge-transfer emission from copper systems, the photoexcited dmp (dbp) complex retains a lifetime of 2.4 μs (5.4 μs) in methanol.
Water relations of tetrapod integument

The vertebrate integument represents an evolutionary compromise between the needs for mechanical protection and those of sensing the environment and regulating the exchange of materials and energy. Fibrous keratins evolved as a means of strengthening the integument while simultaneously providing a structural support for lipids, which comprise the principal barrier to cutaneous water efflux in terrestrial taxa. Whereas lipids are of fundamental importance to water barriers, the efficacy of these barriers depends in many cases on structural features that enhance or maintain the integrity of function. Amphibians are exceptional among tetrapods in having very little keratin and a thin stratum corneum. Thus, effective lipid barriers that are present in some specialized anurans living in xeric habitats are external to the epidermis, whereas lipid barriers of amniotes exist as a lipid-keratin complex within the stratum corneum. Amphibians prevent desiccation of the epidermis and underlying tissues either by evaporating water from a superficial aqueous film, which must be replenished, or by shielding the stratum corneum with superficial lipids. Water barrier function in vertebrates generally appears to be relatively fixed, although various species have ;plasticity' to adjust the barrier effectiveness facultatively. While it is clear that both phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation can account for covariation between environment and skin resistance to water efflux, studies of the relative importance of these two phenomena are few. Fundamental mechanisms for adjusting the skin water barrier include changes in barrier thickness, composition and physicochemical properties of cutaneous lipids, and/or geometry of the barrier within the epidermis. While cutaneous lipids have been studied extensively in the contexts of disease and cosmetics, relatively little is known about the processes of permeability barrier ontogenesis related to adaptation and environment. Advances in such knowledge have didactic significance for understanding vertebrate evolution as well as practical application to clinical dermatology.
Evolution of concepts and models for quantifying resiliency and flexibility of chemical processes

Abstract This paper provides a historical perspective and an overview of the pioneering work that Manfred Morari developed in the area of resiliency for chemical processes. Motivated by unique counter-intuitive examples, we present a review of the early mathematical formulations and solution methods developed by Grossmann and co-workers for quantifying Static Resiliency (Flexibility). We also give a brief overview of some of the seminal ideas by Manfred Morari and co-workers in the area of Dynamic Resiliency. Finally, we provide a review of some of the recent developments that have taken place since that early work.
Beyond the examination room: primary care performance and the patient-physician relationship for low-income women.

A growing body of research is defining the most effective components of patient-physician interactions.1–3 Common to most conceptualizations of the patient-physician relationship are essential elements of trust,2,4,5 compassion,5,6 communication,5–8 and clinical competence.1–3 These elements have been rated as particularly important among lower income and minority women,9 for whom a strong patient-physician relationship is crucial to obtaining needed health care services.10,11 In addition to being important to patients, having a strong sustained relationship with a physician5,12,13 is correlated with patient outcomes such as satisfaction.8,14–16 Specific components of the patient-physician relationship, such as communication, also influence health outcomes, measured as both self-assessed health status and functional status.17–22 Better communication,23 trust,14,24,25 and more humane interpersonal treatment,26,27 are associated with adherence to recommended behavior changes. Yet it is still not clear which features of the structure and process of primary care delivery impact on these important components of the patient-physician relationship. Studies of specific attributes of primary care, especially for vulnerable populations, are few in number.28 Goold and Lipkin noted that while much empirical work has been done on the patient-physician relationship, “…it has not yet been demonstrated that an emphasis, in principle, on primary care leads to stronger (patient-physician) relationships, and to what extent countervailing forces such as lack of continuity counter this.”10 Primary care is characterized and distinguished from other types of care (specialty, in-patient hospital, emergency care, etc.) by several essential attributes.29–32 These attributes include accessibility, comprehensiveness of services, coordination, continuity, and accountability.30,32 Yet there is wide variation in the performance of “primary care” sites with respect to these attributes.33 Ideally, primary care is the point of first contact in the health service system and provides person-focused, (rather than disease-oriented) care over time.32 Thus, we hypothesized that systems structured to emphasize these primary care principles would be more amenable to the establishment of a strong patient-physician relationship than would systems with less emphasis on these principles. For this study, a strong patient-physician relationship is defined as one having the highest levels of trust in, communication with, and compassion from a physician. To avoid the bias of sampling only high users of primary care, who might be more likely to be satisfied with their patient-physician relationships, we chose to use a community-based sample rather than a clinic-based sample. This also allowed us to evaluate women receiving care from a variety of ambulatory care settings. In sum, this paper assessed whether there is an association between the performance of women's primary care sites and the strength of their patient-physician relationships.
Relations between ventricular refractoriness and regional myocardial blood flow after acute coronary occlusion

Myocardial ischemia has been associated with dispersion of ventricular refractory periods and this dispersion has been related to the ventricular arrhythmias seen with coronary occlusion. This study relates the degree of change in measured ventricular refractory period with the degree of regional myocardial blood flow abnormality after coronary occlusion. When regional myocardial blood flow is less than 70 percent of that of nonischemic areas, refractory periods are significantly (P < 0.001) shortened. The greatest change in refractory periods occurs in areas with a regional myocardial blood flow that is 21 to 40 percent of that of non-ischemic areas. Marked (less than 20 percent) and minimal (61 to 80 percent) reductions in regional myocardial blood flow are associated with less, but still significant, shortening of ventricular refractory periods. Thus dispersion of refractoriness can be related to the inhomogeneity of regional myocardial blood flow after acute coronary occlusion. Interventions designed to salvage ischemic myocardium by increasing regional myocardial blood flow may affect dispersion of ventricular refractory periods in complex and divergent ways.
Changes in Functional Status in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Over a Decade: Do Age and Gender Matter?

AbstractObjective: Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have substantial deficits in functional capacity, but the course of these deficits over time has not often been studied. This study measured functional capacity on three occasions over a decade, in patients with CFS.Methods: The study was a longitudinal cohort study, and employed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) instrument to assess physical and mental/emotional functional status.Results: Physical function, as reflected in several different scales, improved modestly but significantly over time, particularly for patients aged 18-60 years and for women. Mental/emotional function was not substantially impaired at the outset of the study, and did not change over time.Conclusion: This study found that physical function tended to improve formany patients over time, despite the fact that they were aging. Physical function did not deteriorate with time.
Study of Ion Stripping and Charge Exchange for Heavy Ion Fusion

To accurately model transport in the heavy ion fusion chamber, it is necessary to know the evolution of beam charge state due to ionization or recombination. At present there is no accurate or complete information for electron loss and capture from these fast, low-charge heavy ions, and the theoretical model in the simulation codes, such as LSP is not accurate enough to describe the processes, especially multi-electron ionizations. Thus, it is very important to explore better theoretical approaches to calculate cross sections of multi-electron losses especially ion stripping, charge exchange for near-term and driver scale HIF research. Based on the investigation of different approaches on the heavy ion-atom collisions, with emphasis on the features related with low-charged heavy ions, especially multi-electron processes and correlation effects, an improved classic trajectory Monte Carlo simulation model will be set up to solve the n-body ion-atom ionization problem in HIF's interest. The calculation results will be benchmarked with the data obtained through finished experiments from the literature as well. Finally, the improved code will be implemented into LSP code as a subroutine to become an integral part of the code. In current stage, a subroutine with a database of typical ionization stripping cross sections and change exchange for low-charge-state, heavy ions mainly in the experimental energy level will be developed for LSP code to serve ongoing experiments and simulations in current heavy ion beam fusion project, which is shown in this paper. More data including for the energy in drive scale can be integrated into the subroutine in the future expecting to be used in HIF and high energy density physics as well
Surgical and Nonsurgical Treatment of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients

Purpose Few studies have investigated the presence or treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome in pediatric or adolescent patients. We conducted this retrospective investigation to quantify success rates of nonsurgical care and to assess patient outcomes after surgical intervention. Methods We identified 39 extremities treated for cubital tunnel syndrome between 2000 and 2009 at one institution. We documented patient demographic data, precipitating events, symptomatology, physical examination findings, and treatment for all patients. We assessed patient-rated outcomes with validated measures including the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire and the visual analog scale (VAS). Results Subjective complaints at the time of presentation included 16 extremities with ulnar nerve instability at the elbow, 21 extremities with pain at the elbow, and 15 extremities with numbness and tingling in the ring and small fingers. Physical examination revealed 33 extremities with a positive Tinel sign and 20 extremities with a positive elbow flexion–compression test. In the nonsurgical group (9), pretreatment DASH scores averaged 32 and posttreatment DASH scores averaged 11. Pretreatment recall VAS pain scores had a median of 7, and were similar to posttreatment scores, which had a median of 3. In the surgical group (30), DASH scores averaged 46 before surgery and improved to 7 at final follow-up. The VAS pain scores improved from a median of 8 before surgery to 2 after surgery. A total of 30 patients (from both groups) were treated with a trial of nonsurgical care without symptom resolution. Conclusions Cubital tunnel syndrome in pediatric or adolescent patients is rare. It can be treated successfully with surgical intervention. Although nonsurgical treatment is unlikely to relieve symptoms in this patient population, a trial of nighttime splinting, activity modification, and anti-inflammatory medications remains appropriate for most patients. Surgical intervention is effective for symptom relief if nonsurgical care fails. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic III.
Experimental modal analysis for microelectromechanical systems

The structural dynamics behavior of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), which include moving, overhung, and compliant subcomponents, plays a pivotal role in determining their performance and reliability. Traditionally, experimental modal analysis is used to characterize the dynamic behavior of structures, as well as to derive, validate, update, and correct analytical and numerical models. Due to their small size, however, conventional modal testing methods cannot be directly applied to microstructures. In this paper we provide an overview of modal testing techniques for microsystems. A particular experimental modal analysis methodology that includes base excitation via a piezoelectric shaker and measurement through a laser interferometer is then described and evaluated. A distinguishing characteristic of the methodology is its simplicity, including its simple setup and off-the-shelf components. The modal model is derived for the base excitation of microcantilever beams. The effectiveness of the methodology is illustrated through various experiments on polysilicon microcantilevers for different geometries and ambient pressures. Analysis of the damping data for different pressures has confirmed the well-documented fact that the structural damping in microsystems can be considerably less than damping arising from interaction with the ambient gases.
Parents’ first concerns about toddlers with autism spectrum disorder: Effect of sibling status

Symptoms of autism spectrum disorders may appear as early as 6 months, but parent concern, which can precipitate evaluation, often lags significantly. The presence of typical or atypical older siblings can change parents' sensitivity to departures from typical development. This study investigated type and age of parent's first concerns in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder, prior to diagnosis. Participants had (1) at least one older sibling with autism spectrum disorder (Sibs-ASD); (2) only typically developing older siblings (Sibs-TD), or (3) were only/oldest (No-Sibs). Specific autism spectrum disorder diagnoses and symptom severity were similar among groups. Developmentally, No-Sibs showed the largest delays, followed by Sibs-TD, followed by Sibs-ASD. Mean age of first concern was 16 months for No-Sibs, 14 months for Sibs-TD, and 10 months for Sibs-ASD. Age of first concern differed significantly by group, even after controlling for mother's age and education. Concern about language was prevalent in all groups. Thus, the presence of an older child with typical or, especially, atypical development was associated with earlier concerns for the affected child, despite milder developmental delays. These findings underscore the importance of encouraging parents to report concerns to pediatricians, routine standardized screening for autism spectrum disorder, and the need for pediatrician vigilance, especially for only or oldest children.
Efavirenz-Associated QT Prolongation and Torsade de Pointes Arrhythmia

OBJECTIVE:To report a case of acquired long QT syndrome that, after exclusion of all other possible causes, was probably related to therapy with efavirenz, a novel nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.CASE SUMMARY:This patient presented with recurrent syncope and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, which was treated with overdrive ventricular pacing and was eliminated by discontinuation of the offending drug.DISCUSSION:This is the first reported case of QT prolongation and severe ventricular arrhythmia associated with the use of efavirenz. The temporal relationship between the initiation of treatment and the onset of electrocardiographic abnormalities, the absence of other apparent precipitating factors, as well as the normalization of QT interval and the resolution of the arrhythmia after discontinuation of the drug, strongly suggest a causal relationship between efavirenz and this adverse clinical event.CONCLUSIONS:Our case shows that any new pharmaceutical compound introduced in clinical prac...
Small mobile sequences in bacteria display diverse structure/function motifs

Small repeat sequences in bacterial genomes, which represent non-autonomous mobile elements, have close similarities to archaeon and eukaryotic miniature inverted repeat transposable elements. These repeat elements are found in both intergenic and intragenic chromosomal regions, and contain an array of diverse motifs. These can include DNA sequences containing an integration host factor binding site and a proposed DNA methyltransferase recognition site, transcribed RNA secondary structural motifs, which are involved in mRNA regulation, and translated open reading frames found fused to other open reading frames. Some bacterial mobile element fusions are in evolutionarily conserved protein and RNA genes. Others might represent or lead to creation of new protein genes. Here we review the remarkable properties of these small bacterial mobile elements in the context of possible beneficial roles resulting from random insertions into the genome.
Combined Use of Labetalol and Nifedipine in Controlling the Cardiovascular Response From ECT

Serious cardiac complications have been reported to occur in elderly depressed patients during a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). As a result, cardiac medications are being used more often to dampen the cardiovascular response that occurs during an ECT treatment. Specifically, labetalol (a mixed alpha- and beta-blocker) has been shown to effectively control the heart rate during ECT. However, on occasion, patients may still exhibit sustained elevations of blood pressure during ECT when receiving labetalol. The optimum clinical management of these patients is unclear. The authors report on the safety and efficacy of combining nifedipine with labetalol to control blood pressure during ECT in ten elderly patients whose blood pressures were not adequately controlled by labetalol alone. No adverse effects were noted, nor did nifedipine appear to shorten seizure duration.
Mutations in the aph(2)-Ic gene are responsible for increased levels of aminoglycoside resistance

Random PCR mutagenesis of the enterococcal aph(2")-Ic gene followed by selection for mutant enzymes that confer enhanced levels of aminoglycoside resistance resulted in mutants of APH(2")-Ic with His-258-Leu and Phe-108-Leu substitutions, all of which conferred rises in the MICs of several aminoglycosides. The mutated residues are located outside conserved regions of aminoglycoside phosphotransferases.
Impact of sodium and ultrafiltration profiling on haemodialysis-related hypotension

Background. Symptomatic hypotension is the most frequent complication in patients receiving haemodialysis (HD). Previous studies have reported that the use of modulating dialysate sodium concentration or ultrafiltration (UF) rates, or the combination use of sodium profile and UF profile may better preserve blood volume and reduce the incidence of hypotensive episodes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of sodium balance-neutral sodium profile and UF profile and their combination on preservation of blood volume, cardiac function and occurrence of hypotensive episodes. Methods. Using Fresenius MC 4008S, eight stable HD patients underwent four treatments: (1) control, constant dialysate sodium concentration of 138 mmol/l with constant UF; (2) sodium profile, a linearly decreasing dialysate sodium concentration (148–131 mmol/l) with constant UF; (3) UF profile, a linearly decreasing UF rate with dialysate sodium concentration of 138 mmol/l; (4) sodium + UF profile, combination of sodium and UF profile. Each treatment was applied in 10 dialysis sessions. Relative blood volume (RBV), mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), interior vena cava diameter (IVCD), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), plasma sodium concentration and the frequency of symptomatic hypotension were monitored. Results. There were no significant differences in the IVCD, MBP, SV, CO and body weight before dialysis between the three profiles and the control. The total plasma protein, haemoglobin, and intradialytic sodium mass removal showed similar results. Compared with the control, better preservation of RBV and MBP at 4 and 5 h and a higher stability in SV variation, but larger UF volume were achieved during sodium + UF profile (P < 0.05, respectively), the incidence of intradialytic hypotension was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Conclusions. With the similar intradialytic sodium removal, during sodium balance-neutral linearly decreasing sodium profile combined with linearly decreasing UF profile, greater intradialytic stability of the blood volume, blood pressure and cardiac function could be obtained, and hypotensive episodes were significantly reduced.
An unusual presentation of immersion foot

We report a case of “green foot” in a child with a plaster cast applied for a fractured metatarsal who subsequently re-presented with circulatory compromise. The foot was green and smelly and profuse Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cultured. The infection cleared with simple exposure to air. Perhaps this diagnosis should be considered in patients presenting with circulatory compromise in a cast as severe infection can result in amputation.
The cuticular proteins of Tenebrio molitor: I. Electrophoretic banding patterns during postembryonic development

Abstract Buffer-soluble cuticular proteins of the abdomen of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Since the abdominal epidermis of Tenebrio persists throughout the insect's life, these cuticular proteins reflect the secretory history of a continuous line of cells during its entire metamorphic developmental program. Twenty-two to thirty-eight bands were detected in extracts of larval cuticle, 11 to 35 in pupal cuticular extracts, and 30 to 41 in extracts from adults. No population polymorphism was apparent, nor was there any sexual dimorphism, in these cuticular proteins. At each metamorphic stage, the cuticular proteins formed a unique banding pattern. Bands unique to the larval and to the adult exocuticular extracts were observed. Extracts from cuticles of freshly ecdysed animals (exocuticle) differed from extracts from animals in which sclerotization and postecdysial (endocuticle) deposition had occurred, both in number of hands and in their molecular weight distributions. Some proteins became less soluble during sclerotization. The majority of the exocuticular bands from all three stages had molecular weights below 25,000; higher-molecular-weight proteins were extracted from postecdysial animals of each stage.
A Simple, Rapid Gas-Liquid Chromatographic Procedure for the Determination of Valproic Acid in Serum

A simple, rapid method for the gas-liquid chromatographic (GLC) determination of valproic acid in serum without prior derivatization on a Nukol wide-bore capillary column is presented. The method was determined to have a lower limit of detection (LOD) of 5 mg/L and a lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 10 mg/L; the method was linear up to 6000 mg/L. Within-run precision (expressed as percent coefficient of variation [CV]) for control specimens containing 60 mg/L and 120 mg/L was 4.3% CV (n = 10) and 3.0% CV (n = 10), respectively. The between-run precision of control sera analyzed over four week yielded 8% at 25 mg/L, 5% at 60 mg/L, and 3% at 120 mg/L. The absolute, uncorrected, analytical recoveries of valproic acid at 10, 32, and 120 mg/L were 97% (n = 5), 101% (n = 5), and 84% (n = 5), respectively. The absolute recovery of the internal standard was 97% (n = 9). Drugs commonly indicated for therapeutic monitoring and other serum constituents were found not to interfere with the procedure. The results of an intermethod comparison study of serum specimens analyzed by TDx immunoassay versus the presented GLC method demonstrated good correlation. At 95% confidence limits, no statistically significant differences were observed between results (p < 0.05). The method is particularly advantageous to toxicology laboratories because chromatography is performed on a polar GLC column that can be modified readily for the routine clinical analysis of other polar compounds such as ethylene glycol and other glycols.
Global organization of terrestrial plant–nutrient interactions

The global extent of earth system change is challenging plant ecologists and physiologists to understand the organization of plant–nutrient relations across scales of observation, from leaf physiology to biosphere feedbacks. Central to this concern are the roles of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) as the major growth-limiting nutrients for plant communities worldwide (1, 2) and as determinants of key physiological processes such as photosynthetic CO2 fixation (N-rich enzymes; refs. 3 and 4) and cellular biosynthesis (P-rich RNA and ATP; ref. 5). Thus far, terrestrial ecologists and physiologists have largely focused on local and site-specific insights, with few attempts to understand geographically broad variations in plant–nutrient interactions (however, see refs. 4, 6, and 7), or the factors that may give rise to such trends. On page 11001 of this issue of PNAS, Reich and Oleksyn (8) analyze data from plant species worldwide to document dramatically broad variations in leaf N and P vs. carbon (C) contents as functions of latitude and mean annual temperature (MAT; both factors are highly correlated worldwide). This paper constitutes one of three current and complementary efforts (refs. 8, 9, and A. J. Kerkhoff, B. J. Enquist, J. J. Elser, and W. F. Fagan, unpublished work) to document such global-scale variations in plant nutrient investment, and to search for the factors that govern their origin and maintenance. Reich and Oleksyn (8) identify two fundamental and geographically broad trends in leaf N and P investment: ( i ) decreasing leaf P content, and to a lesser degree N content, with decreasing latitude (increasing MAT), and ( ii ) increasing leaf N:P ratio with decreasing latitude (increasing MAT). The strength of this analysis comes from their use of an extraordinarily rich and diverse data set (cf., ref. 10): 1,280 plant species in 704 genera, across 452 locations …
The Idea of the Systematic Unity of Nature as a Transcendental Illusion

The Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic of Kant's first Critique is notorious for two reasons. First, it appears to contradict itself in saying that the idea of the systematic unity of nature is and is not transcendental. Second, in the passages in which Kant appears to espouse the former alternative, he appears to be making a significant amendment to his account of the conditions of the possibility of experience in the Transcendental Analytic. I propose a solution to both of these difficulties. With regard to the first, I argue that Kant does not contradict himself. With regard to the second, I argue that Kant is not making any change to his view of the conditions of the possibility of experience espoused in the Transcendental Analytic. The underlying cause of these apparent problems is also their solution: the transcendental illusion that nature is necessarily systematic.
System-Level Performance Estimation for Application-Specific MPSoC Interconnect Synthesis

We present a framework for development of streaming applications as concurrent software modules running on multi-processors system-on-chips (MPSoC). We propose an iterative design space exploration mechanism to customize MPSoC architecture for given applications. Central to the exploration engine is our system-level performance estimation methodology, that both quickly and accurately determine quality of candidate architectures. We implemented a number of streaming applications on candidate architectures that were emulated on an FPGA. Hardware measurements show that our system-level performance estimation method incurs only 15% error in predicting application throughput. More importantly, it always correctly guides design space exploration by achieving 100% fidelity in quality-ranking candidate architectures. Compared to behavioral simulation of compiled code, our system-level estimator runs more than 12 times faster, and requires 7 times less memory.
Stator-flux-based vector control of induction machines in magnetic saturation

In many variable-torque applications of induction machines, it is desirable to operate the machine at high flux levels, thus allowing the machine to produce higher torques. This can lead to saturation of the main flux path, introducing cross-coupling effects which can severely disrupt the performance of controllers dependent on knowledge of the machine's magnetic parameters. Stator flux-oriented torque-control schemes need not depend on the magnetic parameters of the machine and, hence, are potentially more robust and easier to implement in magnetic saturation than rotor-flux-oriented control. In this paper, the authors present and analyze a stator-flux-oriented torque-control scheme. This controller only requires knowledge of the stator voltage, stator current, and stator resistance. An analytical expression for the maximum achievable torque output of the machine using a linear magnetics model is compared with values calculated using a nonlinear magnetics model incorporating saturation of the main flux path and is shown to be a good approximation at high flux levels, when the main flux path is heavily saturated. Experiments carried out on a 3 hp 1800 RPM wound-rotor induction machine show smooth operation of the control scheme at torque levels up to at least four times rated torque.
Sperm and oocyte cryopreservation: comprehensive consent and the protection of patient autonomy

Sperm cryopreservation and increasingly oocyte cryopreservation are common forms of fertility preservation for oncology patients facing gonadotoxic therapy. Both procedures present challenging ethical issues with regard to informed consent, given that the context for these procedures is a disease that carries a significant risk of mortality. We argue that the current consent process does not allow for adequate collection of information about a patient's wishes for the custody of cryopreserved gametes in the case of premature death. After review of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine guidelines we propose that a new, comprehensive consent procedure for sperm and oocyte cryopreservation including a 'roll-down' option is imperative to protect the autonomy of these oncology patients. This 'roll-down' option should allow for the transfer of custody of gametes to a pre-selected alternative recipient(s) if the original recipient no longer intends to use the gametes to create a child. We also demonstrate that objections over non-spousal custody of gametes can be overcome with sound ethical arguments. Clinical Vignette: A 28-year-old male with a new diagnosis of cancer elected to store his sperm for fertility preservation prior to the onset of cancer therapy. The consent form the patient signed during the cryo- preservation process allowed him to transfer custody of the sperm to his wife in the event of his death. One year later, despite aggressive treat- ment, the patient passed away. After the patient's death, his 26-year-old wife decided that she did not want to use his sperm to conceive their child. After discussing her decision with her former in-laws, the deceased patient's parents requested custody of the sperm. The wife agreed to the transfer of custody. The would-be grandparents planned to have a grand- child conceived using their son's sperm: they procured an unrelated egg donor, and the patient's sister agreed to be the gestational surrogate. The patient's sister also agreed to be the future child's guardian, should her parents not be able to raise the child into adulthood. When the parents requested the sperm, the hospital storing it refused to grant their request. The case went before the hospital's ethics committee, which ruled that because the patient had not been consented about a pos- sible transfer of custody to his parents, the patient's wishes could not be known and the request could not be granted. The patient's wife, parents, and sister all testified that the patient would have wanted the transfer of custody to his parents.
Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of the Genus Platanus as Inferred From Nuclear and Chloroplast DNA

Abstract Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences of six species of Platanus were conducted to estimate species relationships and analyze biogeographic history. On the basis of a broader analysis of the third exon of the nuclear gene LEAFY, the root node for the genus was confirmed to fall between subg. Castaneophyllum (P. kerrii) and the species of subg. Platanus. Separate phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region, the 3′ region of the second intron of LEAFY, and the chloroplast region trnT-trnL intergenic spacer provided various levels of resolution, and the combined data yielded a fully resolved set of relationships within subg. Platanus. Two major clades were identified: one with species from Europe (EUR) and western North America (WNA) (P. orientalis, P. racemosa s.l.), the other with species from eastern North America (ENA; US and Canada) and eastern Mexico (EMEX) (P. mexicana, P. occidentalis, and P. rzedowskii). Within subg. Platanus, six subclades corresponded to previously recogniz...
Hindu Developments in Bioethics

The contemporary trend in ethical writing is to concentrate on issues, especially when the subject is bioethics. The present emphasis attempts to correct the earlier preoccupation of traditional textbooks with theoretical analysis to the exclusion of practical issues.
Effect of sex hormones on ethanol induced fatty infiltration of liver in rats.

SummaryFemale rats showed a more severe fatty infiltration of the liver than did male rats following ethanol intoxication. Administration of estradiol to male rats, or ovariectomy of female rats, prior to such intoxication, did not affect this fatty infiltration. On the other hand, administration of testosterone to female rats reduced the liver lipid concentrations to values similar to those obtained with males, while castration of males increased the liver lipid concentrations to those obtained with females. Castrated male rats, when treated with testosterone however, no longer showed liver lipid values that were higher than those of intact males. These results suggest that testosterone exerts a lipotropic action on ethanol-induced fatty infiltration of the livers in rats, while the estrogens do not influence this process.
Iliopsoas abscess: an unexpected sequela of dilation and evacuation.

Objective This study aimed to report the case of a patient who developed an iliopsoas abscess after a dilation and evacuation for a midtrimester fetal demise. Materials and methods This is a case report of a 35-year-old woman who underwent a dilation and evacuation at 17 weeks' gestation because of a preterm premature rupture of membranes and fetal demise. Four days later, she presented with fevers, chills, malaise, and right lower back, hip, and thigh pain. Magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a 2.3 × 1.6-cm right iliopsoas abscess. Results The patient underwent computed tomography-guided drainage of the abscess and made an uneventful recovery after completion of an antibiotic course and physical therapy. Conclusions An iliopsoas abscess should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any woman presenting with fevers, chills, and unilateral lower back, hip, and thigh pain in a radicular pattern after a recent dilation and evacuation.
Thermal-oxidative Aging of Nitrile Rubber 5171 Sealing Element

Thermal oxidative aging test of nitrile rubber 5171 was carried out.The thermal oxidative aging behaviors were studied combining with macro and micro performance analysis before and after aging.The results showed that the physical and mechanical properties of nitrile rubber 5171 declined greatly during earlier stage;relative content of oxygen at surface and the crosslink density increases apparently,indicating that the crosslink reaction is the main reactions of nitrile rubber 5171 during aging;relative content of carbon at surface increases with the extension of aging time,while oxygen and nitrogen decreasing,indicating that the antioxidant D and dibutyl sebacate diffuses and migrates from inside to the outside of nitrile rubber 5171.
Meinhof, Carl Friedrich Michael (1857–1944)

Carl Meinhof was perhaps the best-known Africanist linguist in Europe during the first half of the 20th century. He trained as a teacher and pastor, and spent many years as minister to a Lutheran congregation in the Pomeranian village of Zizow. Meinhof was swept up in the nationalist fervor of the 1870s and 1880s and resolved to dedicate himself to the study of Africa in service of his country, Germany, a new colonial power. His earliest interest was in Bantu languages, and in 1899 he published his comparative Bantu phonology, which quickly became a standard text for students of Bantu. Meinhof's fascination with African languages extended well beyond Bantu, however, as he attempted to study languages from all of the continent's major language families. His most controversial work was on the now-discredited ‘Hamitic’ language group, which he described both in linguistic and racial terms.
Influence of the initial angular distribution on strong-field molecular dissociation

We study few-cycle, strong-field dissociation of aligned ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation including rotation. We examine the dependence of the final angular distribution, the kinetic energy release spectrum, and the total dissociation yield on the initial nuclear angular distribution. In particular, we look at the dependence on the relative angle ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{0}$ between the laser polarization and the symmetry axis of a well-aligned initial distribution, as well as the dependence on the delay between the ``pump'' pulse that prepares the alignment and the few-cycle probe pulse. Surprisingly, we find the dissociation probability for ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{0}={90}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ can be appreciable even though the transitions involved are purely parallel. We therefore address the limits of the commonly held ``ball-and-stick'' picture for molecules in intense fields as well as the validity of the axial recoil approximation.
A local measure of community change in dynamic graphs

In this work we present a new local, vertex-level measure of community change. Our measure detects vertices that change community membership due to the actions (edges) of a vertex itself and not only due to global community shifts. The local nature of our measure is important for analyzing real graphs because communities may change to a large degree from one snapshot in time to the next. Using both real and synthetic graphs, we compare our measure to an alternative, global approach. Both approaches detect community switching vertices in a synthetic example with little overall community change. However, when communities do not evolve smoothly over time, the global approach flags a very large number of vertices, while our local method does not.
Goal orientation and well-being in college athletes: The importance of athletic social connectedness

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the ability of an interpersonal construct called athletic connectedness to mediate the relationship between task and ego goal orientations and well-being. We operationalised athletic social connectedness as a sense of social belonging and sense of connection with teammates. We hypothesised that athletic social connectedness would be positively associated with task goals, negatively associated with ego goals, and would at least partially mediate the relationship between achievement goals and well-being. We administered questionnaires to female (N = 106; mean age = 20.47, SD = 1.12) and male (N = 100; mean age = 20.95, SD = 1.21) NCAA Division III college athletes. We tested our hypothesised model using structural equation modelling, which included testing a measurement model that specified four latent variables and then comparing the estimates generated by our hypothesised model with our data. We also tested three alternative models and found our hypothesised model to fit...
Password reinforcement leveraging social media

With an increasing population, social media is a trendy form of sharing information, which can be a massive pitfall for unwary users. With a number of users that are largely untrained in proper password creation methodologies, this influx of information can be damaging. This paper aims to describe current measures of password strength, the current user mindset of password generation and how social media could be used to generate stronger passwords and prevent users from selecting weaker passwords. This paper puts forth an algorithm to aid in the password creation process.
Attenuation of Synaptic Potentials in Dendritic Spines

Dendritic spines receive the majority of excitatory inputs in many mammalian neurons, but their biophysical properties and exact role in dendritic integration are still unclear. Here, we study spine electrical properties in cultured hippocampal neurons using an improved genetically encoded voltage indicator (ArcLight) and two-photon glutamate uncaging. We find that back-propagating action potentials (bAPs) fully invade dendritic spines. However, uncaging excitatory post-synaptic potentials (uEPSPs) generated by glutamate photorelease, ranging from 4 to 27 mV in amplitude, are attenuated by up to 4-fold as they propagate to the parent dendrites. Finally, the simultaneous occurrence of bAPs and uEPSPs results in sublinear summation of membrane potential. Our results demonstrate that spines can behave as electric compartments, reducing the synaptic inputs injected into the cell, while receiving bAPs are unmodified. The attenuation of EPSPs by spines could have important repercussions for synaptic plasticity and dendritic integration.
Experiences on Clustering High-Dimensional Data using pbdR

Motivation: Software engineering for High Performace Computing (HPC) environments in general [1] and for big data in particular [5] faces a set of unique challenges including high complexity of middleware and of computing environments. Tools that make it easier for scientists to utilize HPC are, therefore, of paramount importance. We provide an experience report of using one of such highly effective middleware pbdR [9] that allow the scientist to use R programming language without, at least nominally, having to master many layers of HPC infrastructure, such as OpenMPI [4] and ScalaPACK [2]. Objective: to evaluate the extent to which middleware helps improve scientist productivity, we use pbdR to solve a real problem that we, as scientists, are investigating. Our big data comes from the commits on GitHub and other project hosting sites and we are trying to cluster developers based on the text of these commit messages. Context: We need to be able to identify developer for every commit and to identify commits for a single developer. Developer identifiers in the commits, such as login, email, and name are often spelled in multiple ways since that information may come from different version control systems (Git, Mercurial, SVN, ...) and may depend on which computer is used (what is specified in .git/config of the home folder). Method: We train Doc2Vec [7] model where existing credentials are used as a document identifier and then use the resulting 200-dimensional vectors for the 2.3M identifiers to cluster these identifiers so that each cluster represents a specific individual. The distance matrix occupies 32TB and, therefore, is a good target for HPC in general and pbdR in particular. pbdR allows data to be distributed over computing nodes and even has implemented K-means and mixture-model clustering techniques in the package pmclust. Results: We used strategic prototyping [3] to evaluate the capabilities of pbdR and discovered that a) the use of middleware required extensive understanding of its inner workings thus negating many of the expected benefits; b) the implemented algorithms were not suitable for the particular combination of n, p, and k (sample size, data dimension, and the number of clusters); c) the development environment based on batch jobs increases development time substantially. Conclusions: In addition to finding from Basili et al., we find that the quality of the implementation of HPC infrastructure and its development environment has a tremendous effect on development productivity.
The Power of Assessment

Community college libraries continue to thrive in a changing environment. College administrations are talking about completion agendas, pathways to success, and closing the skills gaps. The America...