cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Magnetic fluctuations and heavy electron superconductivity

A magnetic fluctuation self-energy based on neutron scattering data is used to calculate mass renormalizations, and superconducting critical temperatures and order parameters, for various heavy electron metals.
Effect of increasing doses of estrogen and progesterone on mammary carcinogenesis in the rat

Virgin female Sprague-Dawley rats age 50 days received 20 mg 7 12-dimethyl-benz-alpha-anthracene (DMBA) by stomach tube to develop mammary tumors in order to test the effect of increasing doses of estrogen and progesterone on mammary carcinogenesis in the rat. 15 days following DMBA each rat received daily injections of estradiol benzoate (EB) and progesterone (P) either alone or in combination for 21 days. Doses of EB were as follows: low incremental (LIEB) high incremental (HIEB) low constant (LCEB) and high constant (HCEB). 2 doses of P were used: incremental (IP) and constant (CP). Dose schedules are listed. Tumors were detected by daily palpation a majority of which were adenocarcinoma with a few fibroadenoma and mixed types. Rats were observed for 5 months after DMBA. The mean time of appearance (MTA) of the first palpable tumor was 68.6 plus or minus 5.1 days for controls and mean number of active center (MNAC) was 3.0 plus or minus .37. LIEB and HIEB increased MTA and reduced the number of rats with tumors (7/8 and 5/8 respectively) and the MNAC (2.13 and 1 respectively). HIEB plus CP depressed all parameters. There was no effect of IP on tumor formation but first palpable tumor was within the 21 days of treatment in 7/9 rats. HCEB plus IP decreased tumor incidence to 60% with a decrease in MNAC. LIEB plus IP had a reduced tumor incidence of 85.7% lower MNAC and increased MTS. HIEB plus IP showed only 38.5% of the rats with tumors MNAC decreased to .69 plus or minus .3 and MTA increased to 112.4 plus or minus 10.1 days. The only treatments which stimulated tumor appearance similar to that seen in pregnancy was IP plus LCEB or IP alone. It is suggested that increased secretion of progesterone during gestation stimulates the appearance of palpable tumors.
New Precision Orbits of Bright Double-lined Spectroscopic Binaries. IV. 66 Andromedae, HR 6979, and HR 9059

We have determined improved spectroscopic orbits for three double-lined binaries, 66 And (F4 V), HR 6979 (Am), and HR 9059 (F5 IV) using radial velocities from the 2.1 m telescope at McDonald Observatory, the coude feed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, and 2 m telescope at Fairborn Observatory. The orbital periods range from 11.0 to 14.3 days, and all three systems have eccentric orbits. The new orbital dimensions (a 1 sin i and a 2 sin i) and minimum masses (m 1 sin3 i and m 2 sin3 i) have accuracies of 0.2% or better. All six components of the three binary systems are rotating more slowly than their predicted pseudosynchronous rotational velocities. Hipparcos photometry of HR 9059 shows that this system has partial eclipses. Its components are nearly identical in mass and are at the very end of their main-sequence lifetimes or perhaps have just begun to traverse the Hertsprung gap.
A new approach to vaccination : polymorphic vaccines for RNA viruses

Conventional vaccines consist of a very large number of virtually identical molecules. While these have been extremely effective for prevention against viral diseases, development of vaccines against rapidly changing pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus has proved to be more difficult. We propose a new approach to vaccination against these rapidly mutating pathogens by the use of vaccines consisting of a set of highly polymorphic recombinant molecules.
Educational differentials in mortality: United States, 1979-85.

The paper examines educational differentials in adult mortality in the United States within a multivariate framework using data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Survey (NLMS). As a preliminary step we compare the magnitude of educational mortality differentials in the United States to those documented in Europe. At ages 35-54, the proportionate reductions in mortality for each one year increase in schooling are similar in the United States to those documented in Europe. The analyses further reveal significant educational differentials in U.S. mortality among both men and women in the early 1980s. Differentials are larger for men and for working ages than for women and persons age 65 and above. These differentials persist but are reduced in magnitude when controls for income, marital status and current place of residence are introduced.
Crisis and consent, change and compromise: Dilemmas of Italian communism in the 1970s

(1979). Crisis and consent, change and compromise: Dilemmas of Italian communism in the 1970s. West European Politics: Vol. 2, Italy in Transition: Conflict and Consensus, pp. 110-132.
Numerical study of the two-species Vlasov-Ampère system

In this paper, we propose energy-conserving Eulerian solvers for the two-species Vlasov-Ampere (VA) system and apply the methods to simulate current-driven ion-acoustic instability. The two-species VA systems are of practical importance in applications, and they conserve many physical quantities including the particle number of each species and the total energy that is comprised of kinetic energy for both species and the electric energy.The main goal of this paper is to generalize our previous work for the single-species VA system 9 and Vlasov-Maxwell (VM) system 8 to the two-species case. The methodologies proposed involve careful design of temporal discretization and the use of the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) spatial discretizations. We show that the energy-conserving time discretizations for single-species equations 9,8 can also work for the two-species case if extended properly. Compared to other high order schemes, we emphasize that our schemes can preserve the total particle number and total energy on the fully discrete level regardless of mesh size, making them very attractive for long time simulations. We benchmark our algorithms on a test example to check the one-species limit, and the current-driven ion-acoustic instability. To simulate the current-driven ion-acoustic instability, a slight modification for the implicit method is necessary to fully decouple the split equations. This is achieved by a Gauss-Seidel type iteration technique. Numerical results verified the conservation and performance of our methods. Finally, we remark that the schemes in this paper can be readily extended to applications when the models take more general form, such as the multi-species VM equations.
Some remarks on uniformly bounded Markov chains: multimodality analysis

Abstract Since 1975 when Carleial and Hellman [ IEEE Trans. Commun . COM-23 , 401–410 (1975)] published their paper, it has been known that the bistable behavior of the ALOHA system is associated with a bimodal shape of the backlog steady-state distribution. In this paper, we generalize the problem and ask under what conditions a one-dimensional Markov chain possesses a multimodal steady-state distribution. We restrict our analysis to uniformly bounded Markov chains. In this class we distinguish so called near birth and death processes and prove that under some additional assumptions a shape of the distribution is determined by the transition probabilities located on the principal diagonal, subdiagonal and supdiagonal of the transition matrix. This provides a theoretical explanation for the bistable behavior of the ALOHA system. In addition, we establish conditions under which some Markov chains can be approximated by a birth and death process.
Emission Spectrographic Determination of Americium in Curium Oxide

Emission spectrographic procedures were developed for determining americium in high-purity oxide and in mixed americium–curium oxide containing 33%–60% americium.
91 DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN VENTRICULAR FUNCTION IN THE CHICK EMBRYO

How ventricular function changes during embryonic development is unknown. We correlated measures of ventricular physiology with ventricular dry weight and myocyte myofibril and mitochondrial volume in stage 18 (3 day), 21 (3½ day), 24 (4 day), 27 (5 day) and 29 (6 day) chick embryos. In ovo measurements of ventricular pressure and dorsal aortic blood velocity were made with a servo null system and 20 MHz pulsed-Doppler respectively. dP/dt and dV/dt were electronically derived. Percent cell volume of mitochondria and myofibrils were determined from electron micrographs of the ventricular wall. From stage 18 to 29, ventricular weight increased from 28±2 μg (x±SEM) to 140±6 μg while embryo weight increased from 1.02±.05 mg to 15.36±.30 mg. Ventricular systolic and end-diastolic pressure, and dP/dt increased from 1.31±.05 mmHg, .23±.03 mmHg and 23±1 mmHg/s respectively to 3.45±.10 mmHg, .82±.03 mmHg.and 80±4 mmHg/s. Dorsal aortic dV/dt increased from 878±17 mm/s2 to 2076±65 mm/s2. Relative myofibril volume increased from 17% at stage 18 to 24% at stage 27 but decreased to 18% at stage 29, while mitochondria volume remained constant at 11%. With development, heart:embryo weight ratio and function measures indexed for myocardial weight or myofibril percent decreased as much as 50%. We speculate that the decrease in indexed function may be due to changes in energy utilization, available energy, or geometric shape of the developing heart.
Photoluminescence of Zn‐implanted GaN

The photoluminescence spectrum of Zn‐implanted GaN peaks at 2.87 eV at room temperature. The emission efficiency decreases linearly with the logarithm of the Zn concentration in the range 1–20×1018 Zn/cm3.
Update on the Management of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe childhood epilepsy disorder characterized by encephalopathy and multiple, often intractable, seizure types. The drop attack is the most frequently recognizable seizure type in this patient population, and is also the most dangerous physically, thus severely limiting quality of life. The diagnosis is confirmed by electroencephalography, for which the classic pattern is a slow 2.5 Hz generalized spike-and-wave. Newer pharmacologic treatments include rufinimide and clobazam. However, antiepileptic drugs are often exhausted in pursuit of seizure control requiring nonpharmacologic interventions. These include dietary therapies, vagus nerve stimulation, and epilepsy surgery, including corpus callosotomy and focal curative resection. Although large lobar resections are often required, very localized, discrete resections may be possible, as in symptomatic Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (specifically, hypothalamic hamartoma). We review the history of the disease and current management options.
Why is the correlation between gene importance and gene evolutionary rate so weak

One of the few commonly believed principles of molecular evolution is that functionally more important genes (or DNA sequences) evolve more slowly than less important ones. This principle is widely used by molecular biologists in daily practice. However, recent genomic analysis of a diverse array of organisms found only weak, negative correlations between the evolutionary rate of a gene and its functional importance, typically measured under a single benign lab condition. A frequently suggested cause of the above finding is that gene importance determined in the lab differs from that in an organism's natural environment. Here, we test this hypothesis in yeast using gene importance values experimentally determined in 418 lab conditions or computationally predicted for 10,000 nutritional conditions. In no single condition or combination of conditions did we find a much stronger negative correlation, which is explainable by our subsequent finding that always-essential (enzyme) genes do not evolve significantly more slowly than sometimes-essential or always-nonessential ones. Furthermore, we verified that functional density, approximated by the fraction of amino acid sites within protein domains, is uncorrelated with gene importance. Thus, neither the lab-nature mismatch nor a potentially biased among-gene distribution of functional density explains the observed weakness of the correlation between gene importance and evolutionary rate. We conclude that the weakness is factual, rather than artifactual. In addition to being weakened by population genetic reasons, the correlation is likely to have been further weakened by the presence of multiple nontrivial rate determinants that are independent from gene importance. These findings notwithstanding, we show that the principle of slower evolution of more important genes does have some predictive power when genes with vastly different evolutionary rates are compared, explaining why the principle can be practically useful despite the weakness of the correlation.
Photoelectric Weft-Straightener Control

THE PROCESS of weaving consists of interlacing spun threads at right angles on a loom, figure 1. In the woven material thus formed, of which cotton cloth is a very common example, the lengthwise threads are designated as the “warp” and the crosswise or filling threads are designated as the “weft,” figure 2.
Does intersystem crossing in triplet biradicals generate singlets with conformational memory

Abstract The effect of temperature, concentration, external magnetic fields and paramagnetic quenchers on the lifetime of biradicals produced in the Norrish Type II reaction has been examined. Analysis of this data and that available from earlier reports leads to the conclusion that in addition to controlling the biradical lifetimes, intersystem crossing in triplet-derived biradicals plays a critical role in determining the behaviour and products which result from singlet biradical reactions. The effect is attributed to conformational memory in the singlet biradical which reflects its short lifetime.
The development of communication: Attribute variation leads to contrast failure

Abstract Groups of 5-year-olds in two experiments described multidimensional triangles for a listener. The attribute differentiating referent triangles from nonreferent triangles in Experiment I was constant across trials for the simple condition group, while any one of three attributes was distinctive on a given trial for the complex condition group. One-adjective messages by subjects in the simple condition were virtually always informative; in the complex group, such messages were predominantly ambiguous. The boundaries of the variation effect were assessed in Experiment II. In addition to the simple-complex variation of the relevant attributes, the values of the irrelevant attributes either varied across trials in the diverse groups or remained constant in the constant groups. One-adjective messages were informative only in the simple-constant group; in the other groups, such messages were predominantly ambiguous. Thus, young children can base their communications on a comparative analysis of stimulus arrays, but performance deteriorates when there is any variation in relevant or irrelevant attributes. These results were discussed in relation to various theories of the development of meaning and communication: the cognitive overload theory, the broad context theory, and the perceptual saliency theory.
User identification through command history analysis

As any veteran of the editor wars can attest, Unix users can be fiercely and irrationally attached to the commands they use and the manner in which they use them. In this work, we investigate the problem of identifying users out of a large set of candidates (25–97) through their command-line histories. Using standard algorithms and feature sets inspired by natural language authorship attribution literature, we demonstrate conclusively that individual users can be identified with a high degree of accuracy through their command-line behavior. Further, we report on the best performing feature combinations, from the many thousands that are possible, both in terms of accuracy and generality. We validate our work by experimenting on three user corpora comprising data gathered over three decades at three distinct locations. These are the Greenberg user profile corpus (168 users), Schonlau masquerading corpus (50 users) and Cal Poly command history corpus (97 users). The first two are well known corpora published in 1991 and 2001 respectively. The last is developed by the authors in a year-long study in 2014 and represents the most recent corpus of its kind. For a 50 user configuration, we find feature sets that can successfully identify users with over 90% accuracy on the Cal Poly, Greenberg and one variant of the Schonlau corpus, and over 87% on the other Schonlau variant.
Sensor selection for target localization in a network of proximity sensors and bearing sensors

The work considers sensor fusion in a heterogeneous network of proximity and bearings-only sensors for multiple target tracking. Specifically, various particle implementations of the probability hypothesis density filter are proposed that consider two different fusion strategies: 1) the traditional iterated-corrector approach, and 2) explicit fusion of the multitarget density. This work also investigates sensor type (proximity or bearings-only) selection via the Renyi entropy criteria. The simulation results demonstrate comparable localization performances for the two fusion methods, and they show that sensor type selection usually outperforms single sensor type performance.
Risk factors for anastomotic leak following colorectal surgery: a case-control study.

Objective To assess anastomotic leak (AL) risk factors in a large patient series. Design Case-control study. Setting The Mount Sinai Hospital. Patients Ninety patients with AL following colorectal resection and 180 patients who underwent uncomplicated procedures. Main Outcome Measures Risk factors associated with development of AL. Results The AL rate was 2.6%. Five risk factors for AL were identified: (1) preoperative albumin level lower than 3.5 g/dL (odds ratio [OR] 2.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-5.1) (P = .03); (2) operative time of 200 minutes or longer (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.0-5.8) (P = .01); (3) intraoperative blood loss of 200 mL or more (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.9-5.3) (P = .01); (4) intraoperative transfusion requirement (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.2-4.5) (P = .02); and (5) histologic specimen margin involvement in disease process in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.4-6.1) (P = .01). Patients with all 3 intraoperative risk factors had an OR of 22.1; 95% CI, 2.8-175.4 (P Conclusions Histologic resection margin involvement in disease process in patients with IBD, preoperative albumin levels lower than 3.5 g/dL, intraoperative blood loss of 200 mL or more, operative time of 200 minutes or more, and/or intraoperative transfusion requirement increased AL risk. Enteral nutritional optimization prior to elective surgery is essential. Proximal diversion should be considered for patients with all 3 intraoperative risk factors because they are at high risk for AL.
Polyhedral approximation approach to molecular orbital graphics

Abstract Interactive molecular orbital display and manipulation system is developed under the concept of polyhedral approximation of equivalued surfaces of orbital and density functions. Two new methods for generating polyhedral data, lscell-based’ and ‘propagation’ methods, are presented. The use of stored polyhedral data largely simplifies the shaded-image synthesis, direct manipulation, and animation display of molecular orbitals. Manual overlay of frontier orbitais is useful to estimate the geometries of chemically reacting molecules.
Investigation of individual and group variability in estrous cycle characteristics in female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at the Oregon Zoo

Evaluating ovarian cycle activity through longitudinal progestagen monitoring is important for optimizing breeding management of captive elephants and understanding impact of life events (births, deaths, and transfers) on reproductive function. This study summarized serum progestagen profiles for eight Asian mainland elephants (Elephas maximus indicus) and one Bornean elephant (E. maximus borneensis) at the Oregon Zoo over a 20-yr interval, and represents the longest longitudinal dataset evaluated to date. Estrous cycle characteristics were more varied than previously reported for this species, with an overall duration of 12 to 19 wk, luteal phase duration of 4 to 15 wk, and follicular phase duration of 2 to 12 wk. In general, there was more cycle variability across than within individual elephants. Compared with other elephants in the group, the Borneo female exhibited consistently longer cycle lengths, higher progestagen concentrations, and greater cycle variability; however, it is not known if this represents a subspecies or an individual difference. Cycle durations did not appear to change over time or with age, and the first pubertal cycle was similar to subsequent cycles. Variability in duration of the follicular phase was greater than that of the luteal phase. In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between luteal and follicular phase durations, suggesting a possible regulatory role of the follicular phase in maintaining a relatively consistent cycle duration within individuals. Overall, we found these elephants to be highly resilient in that major life events (births, deaths, and changes in herd structure) had minimal effect on cycle dynamics over time. In conclusion, the higher range in cycle phase characteristics is likely because of the larger number of elephants studied and longer duration of longitudinal monitoring, and may be more representative of the captive population as a whole. Furthermore, identification of significant interanimal variability suggests that understanding the complexities of herd reproductive characteristics could facilitate development of more effective institution-specific breeding management strategies.
A lymph node metastatic mouse model reveals alterations of metastasis-related gene expression in metastatic human oral carcinoma sublines selected from a poorly metastatic parental cell line.

BACKGROUND Greater than 40% of patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity have lymph node metastasis at the time of diagnosis and a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. Changes in gene expression that regulate metastasis of SCC to lymph nodes have not been identified. METHODS To study metastasis of oral SCC, highly metastatic oral SCC cell lines from a poorly metastatic oral SCC cell line were established by in vivo selection using a lymph node metastatic mouse model. The metastatic potential of the cells was studied using Matrigel invasion and cell surface protein adhesion assays. mRNA and protein encoded from metastasis-related genes in the metastatic derivatives and in their parental cells were examined using Northern blot analysis, immunoblotting, rapid analysis of gene expression, and a cDNA microarray technique. RESULTS The in vivo selected metastatic cells showed much higher Matrigel invasion capability than the parental cells. They also showed alterations in their adhesion properties to three cell surface proteins. Comparison of metastatic and nonmetastatic cells revealed several significant alterations in the expression of metastasis-related genes, including up-regulation of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, integrin β1, membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase, and down-regulation of protease-activated receptor-1. CONCLUSONS To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first to report on gene expression analysis using a lymph node metastatic mouse model of human oral SCC. The data suggest that certain alterations of metastasis-related gene expression favor invasion of oral SCC and that cell surface proteins may play major roles in the metastasis of oral SCC to the lymph nodes. Cancer 2002;95:1663–72. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10837
Free-space components for microwave transmission☆

Abstract The ability to guide, manipulate, and process radio- and microwave-frequency radiation is limited by two major factors. From a fundamental viewpoint, the intensity and width of a beam propagating in a free space, as well as the angular and range resolution of radar systems, are limited by diffraction. From a practical viewpoint, free-space beam processing is hindered by a lack of free-space instrumentation for beam focusing, steering, or (de)-multiplexing. As a result, modern radar systems often employ advanced signal processing and detection techniques aimed at enhancing target and feature estimation. Here, we propose several new structures founded upon the emerging plasma filament-based approach to metamaterial design that are aimed at addressing such problems and providing tools for greater capability in microwave transmission than has been possible in the past. In particular, we have designed new structures formed from arrays of plasma filaments in air that leverage the anisotropic behavior of such arrays to address the limits of angular and range resolution, as well as the lack of free-space components for processing radiation in wireless communications.
Evidence for Fluctuation Effects above T c in Isotopically and Metallurgically Pure Bulk Type-I Superconductors

Magnetic measurements of superconducting transitions of very pure isotopically separated bulk samples of Ga and Zn reveal a large "paraconductive" effect. This is contrary to the prediction for such systems by Aslamazov and Larkin based on corrections to first order in the fluctuations in the system. It is suggested that this discrepancy may be explained by increased electron pair lifetimes due to the absence of isotopic and other scattering of phonons allowing higher order processes to be significant.
Job Characteristics, Managerial Attitudes, and Self-Designing Jobs

\Summary.-In a study of 100 managers in a large manufacturing organization, multiple regression analyses indicated several empirical relationships between seven job characteristics and five attitude variables such as need fulfillment. Results suggest a metastrategy that fosters self-designing jobs. . Employees' perceptions of job characteristics affect outcomes such as job satisfaction and performance (Brief & Aldag, 1975; Dubin, Porter, Stone, & Champoux, 1974; Hackman & Lawler, 1971; Hulin & Blood, 1968; Kdeberg, 1977; Sims & Szilagyi, 1976; Stone & Porter, 1975; Turner & Lawrence, 1965; Umstot, Bell, & Mitchell, 1976). Some of these researchers considered the implications of differential job perceptions for job redesign while others focused on how individual differences moderate the outcomes of job-enrichment programs. This article presents part of a larger study concerning a goal-setting program known as management-by-objectives. The job characteristics examined here are particularly relevant to managerial jobs requiring the use of management-by-objectives. Speculation about how a management-by-objectives program may affect these seven job characteristics is reserved for the discussion section. Empirical analyses focus on relationships between the seven job characteristics and several variables measuring managerial attitudes. For instance, are managers' perceptions of their jobs related to fulfillment of their needs? Are their evaluations of management-by-objectives related to perceived job characteristics!
Contribution of Different Anatomical and Physiologic Factors to Iris Contour and Anterior Chamber Angle Changes During Pupil Dilation: Theoretical Analysis

Purpose. To investigate the contribution of three anatomical and physiologic factors (dilator thickness, dynamic pupillary block, and iris compressibility) to changes in iris configuration and anterior chamber angle during pupil dilation.
Uterine leiomyomata with deletions of Ip represent a distinct cytogenetic subgroup associated with unusual histologic features.

Cytogenetic analysis of uterine leiomyomata (UL) shows that about 40% of these benign tumors have simple, clonal chromosomal rearrangements. In contrast, their presumed malignant counterpart, leiomyosarcomas (LMSs), typically has complex numerical and structural abnormalities. Several variants of benign uterine smooth-muscle tumors are defined by histologic phenotypes intermediate between typical UL and LMS, and currently, little is known about their cytogenetic and molecular genetic features. From a subset of more than 800 karyotyped ULs, we identified a group of nine cases exhibiting near-diploid karyotypes with loss of almost the entire short (p) arm of chromosome 1 [i.e., del(1)(p11p36)]. Loss of 1p was often associated with other aberrations, particularly loss of chromosomes 19 and/or 22. Of eight UL for which the histologic diagnosis was known, four were diagnosed as cellular UL; one displayed both hypercellularity and nuclear atypia. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis for chromosomal regions 1p36.23 and 1p21.1 demonstrated allelic loss for either a portion or the majority of 1p in 5 of 10 additional archival UL diagnosed with either cellular or atypical histology. RNA from two UL with loss of 1p was profiled using Affymetrix GeneChips, and those profiles were compared to our previously reported smooth-muscle tumor expression profile. The transcriptional profiles of tumors with 1p deletion were more similar to those of leiomyosarcoma than to profiles of myometrium and UL, as determined by hierarchical cluster analysis. Comparison of the transcriptional profiles for UL with and without 1p− revealed 53 genes with differential regulation. Loss of 1p appears to define a subgroup of UL distinct from those previously recognized. Furthermore, 1p− appears to be associated with a specific histologic phenotype. The similarity between the transcriptional profiles of LMS and UL with 1p− suggests the possibility of a common pathogenetic mechanism. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Near-infrared spectroscopy measurement of abdominal tissue oxygenation is a useful indicator of intestinal blood flow and necrotizing enterocolitis in premature piglets

Abstract Purpose A major objective of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) research is to devise a noninvasive method of early detection. We hypothesized that abdominal near-infrared spectroscopy (A-NIRS) readings will identify impending NEC in a large animal model. Methods Piglets were prematurely delivered and received parenteral nutrition followed by enteral feedings. Serial A-NIRS readings were obtained for 5 days, and animals were monitored for NEC. Separately, A-NIRS readings were obtained in healthy piglets to validate the correlation of A-NIRS with splanchnic oxygen delivery. Results Of 29 piglets, 3 developed NEC. Eleven piglets without NEC died prematurely. Fifteen piglets remained healthy, had normal histologic assessment of their intestines, and served as controls. Abdominal near-infrared spectroscopy readings within 12 hours of birth were significantly lower in animals that developed NEC compared with healthy littermates (4% vs 33%, P = .02). For all time-points measured, A-NIRS readings were significantly lower in the NEC group compared with controls (21% vs 55%, P r = 0.96) and increased superior mesenteric artery flow in response to glucagon-like peptide 2 ( r = 0.67). Conclusion Abdominal near-infrared spectroscopy is capable of detecting alterations in intestinal oxygenation and perfusion in neonatal piglets and may allow early detection of neonates at risk for NEC.
A calorimeter for relativistic heavy-ion experiments

Abstract An iron-scintillator sampling calorimeter is described for measurement of the energy of projectile-like fragments and forward reaction products from interactions of 13.6 GeV/nucleon heavy ions with complex nuclei. Studies of the response of this device to charge- and mass-identified ions from 1 H to 28 Si indicate good linearity over the range 14–381 GeV with a resolution, σ E of 0.73 GeV 1 2 . Some factors that influence the resolution of heavy-ion calorimeters are discussed.
Biomarkers and the measurement of fatty acids.

Objective:To review the various biomarkers of dietary intakes of fatty acids in human populations, their measurement, limitations and analytical considerations.Design:Review of the literature.Results:Although there is no good biomarker of intake of total fat, a number of alternatives exist for assessing the intakes of exogenously produced fatty acids that are consumed. Adipose tissue, erythrocyte membrane concentrations and serum or plasma levels can reflect prior intakes over the past few hours to the past few years. The concentrations of individual fatty acids in these media generally reflect relative levels, and are influenced by a number of factors. Although relatively expensive to analyse, a single analysis by gas chromatography or high-performance liquid chromatography provides information on multiple fatty acids, and is superior to attempting to measure specific fatty acids using traditional dietary assessment methods.Conclusions:Biomarkers of fatty acids that reflect long-term intake are available for nutritional epidemiology purposes. Analytical methods have become very accurate and able to detect and quantify smaller families, such as trans-fatty acids.
A new diatomics-in-molecules study of Li3 and Li4

Abstract The diatomics-in-molecules method, with an improved triplet diatomic curve for Li 2 , is employed in a reexamination of the stability of Li 3 and Li 4 species. Results are compared to other theoretical and experimental values.
Cocaine-sensitive, ATP-dependent dopamine uptake into striatal synaptosomes.

Abstract The synaptic action of biogenic amines, in the central and peripheral nervous systems, is terminated by reuptake of the amine transmitters into the presynaptic nerve terminals (1). This neuronal uptake is temperature-dependent and exhibits saturation kinetics and stereospecificity for substrates and inhibitors (2). Striking properties of neuronal amine uptake are its complete dependency on Na+ (1–3) and its sensitivity to the cardiac glycoside ouabain (3).Thus, it was hypothesized that neuronal amine uptake was a Na+-dependent active transport process like uptake of sugars and amino acids (1) and that Na+,K+-ATPase provided the energy to drive amine transport. This model prevailed for the last 20 years despite serious challenges early on (4, 5), and ATP-dependent uptake was never observed. Neuronal amine transporters are the pharmacological receptors for tricyclic antidepressants and central stimulants (e.g. cocaine). Although cocaine inhibits uptake of norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine as well as dopamine (DA), it is the last effect which correlates best with cocaine's behavioral actions (6–8). In this study, we provide evidence that the cocaine-sensitive uptake of DA into striatal synaptosomes is regulated by ATP.
Intravascular Ultrasound Analysis of Infarct-Related and Non–Infarct-Related Arteries in Patients Who Presented With an Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background— Previous studies have reported diffuse destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods and Results— We used intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to assess 78 coronary arteries (38 infarct-related arteries [IRAs] with culprit and nonculprit lesions and 40 non-IRAs) from 38 consecutive AMI patients. IVUS analysis included qualitative and quantitative measurements of reference and lesion external elastic membrane (EEM), lumen, and plaque plus media (PM P=0.0011). Culprit lesions were predominantly hypoechoic (63.2% versus 37.9% of nonculprit IRA plaques and 28.1% of non-IRA plaques; P=0.0022). Culprit l...
Atmospheric pressure air plasma treatment of human blood plasma: a kinetic model of coagulation

Summary form only given. We observe that floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) electric plasma is able to significantly hasten human blood plasma clot formation and influence normal blood protein concentrations. Here, a better understanding of influence of FE-DBD is needed and we propose a first step in this direction - an explanation of influence of FE-DBD on ion concentrations in blood plasma. The presented model compares normal blood coagulation rate with blood undergoing e-plasma treatment by assuming linear relationship between ion concentrations in blood plasma and positive radical production by e-plasma at the surface of blood. Electric plasma is effective in increase of Ca2+ concentration through a redox mechanism: [Ca2+R2-]+H(H2O) - harrkCa|k-Ca[H-R2-] (H2O) -+Ca(H2O) 2-. This mechanism is provided by hydrogen ions generated in air plasma through a sequence of ion-molecular processes
THE ETHICS OF FETOCIDE

The purpose of this article is to provide an ethical framework for fetocide in the practice of obstetrics. Ethically responsible clinical management of pregnancy and its complications requires ethical justification: the giving of reasons that derive from an ethical framework and that together support a conclusion about what ought or ought not to be done in the care of pregnant patients. An ethical framework provides an account of the concepts that are relevant to clinical practice and identifies the clinical implications of these concepts. In this chapter we will present an ethical framework for fetocide based on the ethical concepts of moral status and of the fetus as a patient and identify the clinical implications of this concept for fetocide both before and after fetal viability.
Sexual abuse today: present and pervasive.

Sexual abuse continues to have a pervasive presence in our society, seriously affecting victims and their non-offending family members. Sexual abuse can be present in many different situations, whether within the family or the greater community, while the child is at school or participating in extra curricular activities, such as sports or arts. Furthermore, access to and exploitation of children seems to have endless potential in the relatively new world of electronics and the internet, as seen in the production of child pornography and child sex trafficking. Protecting children from these harmful scenarios remains at the heart of caring for the pediatric patient. Conclusion - Without doubt, sexual abuse persists, unthreatened and covert through traditional and now nontraditional venues. It is essential that health care providers are aware of the family, community and world conditions that so readily promote sexual abuse, and be ready to advocate and protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
Neighbor list collision-driven molecular dynamics simulation for nonspherical hard particles. I. Algorithmic details

In this first part of a series of two papers, we present in considerable detail a collision-driven molecular dynamics algorithm for a system of non-spherical particles, within a parallelepiped simulation domain, under both periodic or hard-wall boundary conditions. The algorithm extends previous event-driven molecular dynamics algorithms for spheres, and is most efficient when applied to systems of particles with relatively small aspect ratios and with small variations in size. We present a novel partial-update near-neighbor list (NNL) algorithm that is superior to previous algorithms at high densities, without compromising the correctness of the algorithm. This efficiency of the algorithm is further increased for systems of very aspherical particles by using bounding sphere complexes (BSC). These techniques will be useful in any particle-based simulation, including Monte Carlo and time-driven molecular dynamics. Additionally, we allow for a non-vanishing rate of deformation of the boundary, which can be used to model macroscopic strain and also alleviate boundary effects for small systems. In the second part of this series of papers we specialize the algorithm to systems of ellipses and ellipsoids and present performance results for our implementation, demonstrating the practical utility of the algorithm.
Implementing an API for distributed adaptive computing systems

Many applications require the use of multiple, loosely-coupled adaptive computing boards as part of a larger computing system. Two such application classes are embedded systems in which multiple boards are required to physically interface to different sensors/actuators and applications whose computational demands require multiple boards. In addition to the adaptive computing boards, the computing systems for these application classes typically include general-purpose microprocessors and high-speed networks. The development environment for applications on these large computing systems is not unified. Typically, a developer uses VHDL simulation and synthesis tools to program the FPGAs on the adaptive computing boards. External control for the board, such as downloading new configurations or setting clock speeds, is provided through a vendor-specific API. This API is typically accessed in a C host program that the developer must write in a high-level language environment. Finally, the developer is responsible for writing the networking code that allows interaction between the separate adaptive computing boards and general-purpose microprocessors. No tools are available for either debugging or performance monitoring in this agglomerated system. Development on these systems is time-consuming and platform-specific. A standard ACS API is proposed to provide a developer with a single API for the control of a distributed system of adaptive computing boards, including the interconnection network.
Comparison of optical coherence tomography and ultrasound biomicroscopy for detection of narrow anterior chamber angles.

Objective To assess the accuracy of classification of narrow anterior chamber (AC) angles using quantitative imaging by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM). Design Observational comparative study. Methods A high-speed (4000 axial scans/s) anterior segment OCT prototype was developed using a 1.3-μm light source. Seventeen normal subjects (17 eyes) and 7 subjects (14 eyes) with narrow angle glaucoma were enrolled. All subjects underwent gonioscopy, OCT, and UBM. Quantitative AC angle parameters (angle opening distance, angle recess area, and the trabecular-iris space area [a new parameter we have defined]) were measured from OCT and UBM images using proprietary processing software. Main Outcome Measures Specificity and sensitivity in identifying narrow angles with image-derived AC angle parameters. Results Eight of 31 eyes were classified as having narrow angles (Shaffer grade ≤1 in all quadrants). The AC angle parameters measured by both OCT and UBM had similar mean values, reproducibility, and sensitivity-specificity profiles. Both OCT and UBM showed excellent performance in identifying eyes with narrow angles. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for these parameters were all in the range of 0.96 to 0.98. Conclusions Optical coherence tomography was similar to UBM in quantitative AC angle measurement and detection of narrow angles. In addition, it was easier to use and did not require contact with the eye. Optical coherence tomography is a promising method for screening individuals at risk for narrow angle glaucoma.
Total laryngectomy and T3-T4 laryngeal cancer without other adverse histopathology:

ObjectiveWe sought to determine the postoperative management, incidence of tumor recurrence in the neck, and outcome in laryngeal cancer patients whose risk for tumor relapse is not clear.Study Des...
Understanding the Peer Assisted Learning Model: "Student Study Groups in Challenging College Courses".

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program at the University of Minnesota is a primary academic support program for historically difficult, introductory college courses that serve as gatekeepers to academic degree programs. Based upon operating principles of other academic support programs and educational theories, PAL is integrated into the courses it serves. The PAL groups review essential course content, model cognitive learning strategies to deepen understanding, and promote metacognitive awareness so students are autonomous learners in courses without academic support services. The PAL approach operates at the confluence of collaborative learning, cooperative learning groups, and learning communities. This article provides a detailed overview of the PAL model, educational theories upon which it is based, and how variations of it are implemented at the institution. Quantitative and qualitative studies reveal academic and personal benefits for participating students and those serving as PAL facilitators. The studies validate the role of PAL with closing the achievement gap between students of different ethnicities and levels of academic preparedness for rigorous college courses in mathematics and science.
Using Address Independent Seed Encryption and Bonsai Merkle Trees to Make Secure Processors OS- and Performance-Friendly

In today's digital world, computer security issues have become increasingly important. In particular, researchers have proposed designs for secure processors which utilize hardware-based mem- ory encryption and integrity verification to protect the privacy and integrity of computation even from sophisticated physical attacks. However, currently proposed schemes remain hampered by prob- lems that make them impractical for use in today's computer sys- tems: lack of virtual memory and Inter-Process Communication support as well as excessive storage and performance overheads. In this paper, we propose 1) Address Independent Seed Encryption (AISE), a counter-mode based memory encryption scheme using a novel seed composition, and 2) Bonsai Merkle Trees (BMT), a novel Merkle Tree-based memory integrity verification technique, to elim- inate these system and performance issues associated with prior counter-mode memory encryption and Merkle Tree integrity veri- fication schemes. We present both a qualitative discussion and a quantitative analysis to illustrate the advantages of our techniques over previously proposed approaches in terms of complexity, feasi- bility, performance, and storage. Our results show that AISE+BMT reduces the overhead of prior memory encryption and integrity ver- ification schemes from 12% to 2% on average, while eliminating critical system-level problems.
Temperature dependence of VOC in CdTe and Cu(InGa)(SeS)2-based solar cells

The temperature and intensity dependence of VOC in CdTe and Cu(InGa)(SeS) 2 polycrystalline thin film solar cells was examined. VOC was measured from 100–330K and from 0.1 to 1 sun illumination. Two distinct regimes of temperature dependence are commonly observed: a linear regime at higher temperatures with slope −0.5 to −3 mV/K and a logarithmic intensity dependence; and a saturation regime at lower temperatures, with little intensity or temperature dependence. The T=0 K intercept extrapolated from the linear regime around 300K is related to the activation energy of the dominant recombination mechanism and is equal to the absorber bandgap for Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, or in some cases, from heterojunction interface recombination, which is less than the absorber bandgap. In this work, the temperature dependence of VOC will be characterized for CdTe and Cu(InGa)Se 2 devices with differences in composition and processing conditions. Analysis will focus on the activation energy of the recombination mechanism and saturation at lower temperatures which indicates a maximum separation of the quasi Fermi levels as thermally activated SRH recombination is frozen out. The saturation voltage is ∼1 V for a typical CdTe device (E g =1.45 eV), ∼1V for low bandgap Cu(InGa)Se 2 (E g =1.15), and ∼1.1 V for wider bandgap Cu(InGa)Se 2 (E g =1.38 eV).