cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Political versus Administration Development What the Nigerian Experience Contributes

A conflict in political science of 25 years' duration revolves around the relationship of bureaucratic development to political development. One school argues that in the presence of weak political systems, it is necessary to strengthen the bureaucracy if economic development is to occur. Another school argues that while bureaucratic institutions must be strengthened to promote economic development, it is necessary also to strengthen political institutions to control the tendency of bureaucrats to promote their own interests in the absence of political control. Nigeria's period of military rule, 1966-1979, provides a test for the two positions. Under military rule, the civil service became extremely powerful. controlled only slightly by the uncertain policies of military rulers. Untrammeled by political control, and favored with a bonanza of oil money, the bureaucracy should have demonstrated considerable economic development, if one school is correct. The opposite school said an uncontrolled bureaucracy ...
Size characterization of selected food powders by five particle size distribution functions Caracterización del tamaño de partícula de alimentos en polvo mediante cinco funciones de distribuciones de tamaño

The properties of a food particulate system are highly dependent on its particle size distribution. The knowledge of this distribution is essential to the analysis of the handling, processing, and functionality of the food powder. Properly selected distribution functions are excellent tools with which to simplify and accurately describe the particle size distribution. The objectives of this study were to identify appropriate distribution functions for characterizing the particle size distribution of selected food powders. Granular sugar, corn meal and instant non-fat milk powder were clas sified into six or seven particle size cuts for each powder. The experimental data were fitted by five particle size distribution functions: (i) Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann (GGS); (ii) Rosin-Rammler (RR); (iii) Modified Gaudin-Meloy (MGM); (iv) Log-normal (LN); and (v) modified beta (MB). These models were selected for their mathematical simplicity, adequate statistical properties and usefulness in describing other particulat...
A proposal for a random Raman laser

The concept of a random Raman laser is investigated using a Monte Carlo simulation. Stimulated Raman scattering is taken into account by introducing an interaction between Raman and pump photons. Due to a lack of experimental data on the subject, validation of this model is accomplished via comparison to analytical solutions in the no scattering, no absorption limit. Random Raman lasing is discussed, and several distinctive properties are predicted.
Duodenal duplication with bile duct obstruction and keratinaceous casts

We report an unusual case of duodenal duplication presenting in a newborn with duodenal and bile duct obstruction. The duplication and biliary tract were filled with keratinaceous casts. To our knowledge, such an association has not been previously reported; this case demonstrates the importance of confirming bile duct patency during operations to remove duodenal duplications.
Reconstruction techniques of holograms from Spacelab 3

Fluid transport effects in a ground-based laboratory are fairly well known. Bouyancy driven transport occurs when there is a local density change in the fluid. In a low-g environment these density changes become less important, and other transport mechanisms dominate. To better understand fluid flows in a low-g environment, a fluid experiment system (FES) was designed to fly aboard the Shuttle orbiter in Spacelab. The FES is a holographic system designed for acquisition of the maximum amount of data from an experiment. The FES flew for the first time in May 1985 on Spacelab 3 for investigation of triglycine sulfate (TGS) crystal growth in low-g. This paper describes the FES optical system. The reconstruction techniques of the holograms are examined in detail, and the multiuser and reflight capabilities are discussed. Proposed future experiments are mentioned.
An Economic Model for the Maintenance of a Device Submitted to Minor and Major Repairs

Preventive maintenance has been a mainstream strategy to keep equipment and machinery going. In this paper a Markov model is used to characterize the performance of a continuously operating device that is subject to random failure as well as failure generated by deterioration. The optimum preventive maintenance of this device is based not only on its maximum availability but also on the consideration of the total cost of operation and maintenance against a backdrop of replacement cost. The economic model proposed in this paper provides a more complete decision process to determine when to replace it even while the device is maintained optimally.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Advancing Science through Mining Libraries, Ontologies, and Communities

Life scientists today cannot hope to read everything relevant to their research. Emerging text-mining tools can help by identifying topics and distilling statements from books and articles with increased accuracy. Researchers often organize these statements into ontologies, consistent systems of reality claims. Like scientific thinking and interchange, however, text-mined information (even when accurately captured) is complex, redundant, sometimes incoherent, and often contradictory: it is rooted in a mixture of only partially consistent ontologies. We review work that models scientific reason and suggest how computational reasoning across ontologies and the broader distribution of textual statements can assess the certainty of statements and the process by which statements become certain. With the emergence of digitized data regarding networks of scientific authorship, institutions, and resources, we explore the possibility of accounting for social dependences and cultural biases in reasoning models. Computational reasoning is starting to fill out ontologies and flag internal inconsistencies in several areas of bioscience. In the not too distant future, scientists may be able to use statements and rich models of the processes that produced them to identify underexplored areas, resurrect forgotten findings and ideas, deconvolute the spaghetti of underlying ontologies, and synthesize novel knowledge and hypotheses.
The Efficiency of Star Formation in Galaxies as a Function of Galaxy Size and Environment

The results of the FCRAO Extragalactic CO Survey are used to examine the trends in the global star formation efficiency among galaxies as a function of galaxy size and environment. For isolated spiral galaxies, Virgo cluster spiral galaxies, pairs, and field spiral galaxies, an intriguing new result indicates that the global star formation efficiency decreases as the galaxy size increases. The galaxies in these diverse environments all exhibit the same trend in that the mean global star formation efficiency is 4 times smaller in galaxies 100 kpc in diameter compared to those only 10 kpc across. This trend may result from a greater shear in the disks of large galaxies, in which flat rotation curves are found, in contrast to the disks of smaller galaxies, in which rotation curves are rising over most of the disk. This shear would be expected to increase the turbulent energy in molecular clouds and to possibly reduce the efficiency of star formation. In sharp contrast to this trend of decreasing star formation efficiency with increasing galaxy size, the galaxies that are independently recognized to be merger remnants all display a completely different behavior in the star formation efficiency variation with galaxy size. At every galaxy size, the merger remnants display the largest star formation efficiencies observed. Furthermore, there appears to be a maximum star formation efficiency that merger remnants can maintain.
A manometric actinometer for the ultraviolet spectrum.

Abstract A manometric ultraviolet actinometer has been described which is based on the measurement of CO and CO2 produced by the photochemical decomposition of oxalic acid as photosensitized by uranyl ion.
Cl- and membrane potential dependence of amino acid transport across the rat renal brush border membrane.

The relative roles of the anion present and the membrane potential in the operation of each of the seven amino acid transport systems in the renal tubular brush border membrane were explored by manipulating transmembrane potential and chemical gradients across the membrane. The effect of various external anions with different permeabilities of the membrane and of valinomycin-generated K+ diffusion potential on Na+-coupled amino acid accumulation by rat renal brush border membrane vesicles was examined. Accumulation of all amino acids examined, except for cystine, was membrane potential dependent. The highest voltage dependence was observed for taurine (equivalent to glucose) and l-methionine. Addition of taurine uptake values obtained under each electrical gradient (inside negative) and a chemical gradient (100 mM NaCl out) condition yielded markedly lower values than under conditions where there was a combined electrochemical gradient. Cl- gradient rather than merely imposing a voltage gradient was a specific mediator of Na+-coupled transport of l-proline, taurine, l-glutamic acid, and glycine across the brush border membrane. Cl- gradient alone under Na+-equilibrated conditions could energize an overshoot of taurine accumulation by vesicles providing evidence that taurine is energetically activated by and coupled to Cl- transport. These data suggest that Na+-linked transport of most amino acids across the tubular luminal membrane is an electrogenic positive process and for proline, taurine, glutamic acid, and glycine, a Cl--requiring process. A negative intracellular potential combined with luminal chloride is required for optimal Na+-coupled transport of these amino acids across the luminal membrane of the proximal tubule. The coupling of Cl- to the transport of these osmoprotective amino acids may enhance their volume regulatory effect in kidney cells and other mammalian cells.
Developing a partnership for HIV primary prevention for men at high risk for HIV infection in rural communities.

This paper identifies a collaborative approach used to access a difficult-to-reach population of men who have sex with men (MSM) at risk for HIV infection in a rural area of the US. To develop and implement an HIV prevention program the approach needed an HIV prevention educator networked through social political and institutional structures by emphasizing the involvement of a state government district health department a community-based AIDS agency MSM gatekeepers gay bars and informal groups of rural MSM. The goal of the intervention was to lower unnecessary HIV incidence through building HIV-related support and partnership. Several model approaches have been used by program planners to develop the goal of the planning process. These include the Program Evaluation and Review Technique the PRECEDE model the PROCEED model and the Planned Approach to Community Health model. Lastly project strategy included the seven principles such as planning the process planning with people planning with data planning for permanence planning for priorities planning for measurable outcomes and planning for evaluation.
Changes in length of the first ray with two different first MTP fusion techniques: a cadaveric study.

Background: First metatarsophalangeal joint (MTP) fusions are performed as salvage procedures for a variety of conditions ranging from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, hallux valgus, and faile...
A declarative approach to visualizing concurrent computations

The authors explore the graphical representation of objects and processes as a means for understanding programs consisting of large numbers of concurrent processes. Their goal is to establish a technical foundation for research into the monitoring and debugging of large-scale concurrent programs. They explain declarative visualization and introduce some shared-data-space concepts and notation by means of a simple, nondeterministic, parallel algorithm. They discuss visual abstraction and their visualization methodology, which they illustrate by applying it to region labeling. Thy examine the relaxation of nonintervention that visualization makes possible. >
The secretion of amyloid β-peptides is inhibited in the tacrine-treated human neuroblastoma cells

Abstract The amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is an approximately 4 kD secreted protein normally found in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Aβ is invariably deposited as insoluble amyloid fibrils in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and there is increasing evidence that Aβ deposition plays an important role in AD pathogenesis. Aβ is released from the larger β-amyloid precursor protein (βAPP) through cleavage on the amino and carboxyl side of Aβ by proteolytic activities referred to as β and γ secretase, respectively. βAPP is also cleaved at Aβ16 by a third protease, α secretase, which may prevent amyloid deposition by bisecting the Aβ peptide. Tacrine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, has been shown to improve memory and cognitive functions in some patients with AD, and we have previously demonstrated that it significantly reduces the levels of the secretion of soluble βAPP fragments (sAPP) in cultured cells. In this study, we extended our studies by analysis of Aβ40 and Aβ42 and report that in a human neuroblastoma cell line tacrine reduced the levels of total Aβ, Aβ40 and Aβ42 in addition to sAPP. These inhibitory results cannot be attributed to a reduction in total βAPP synthesis as tacrine treatment did not cause a significant change in the rate of βAPP synthesis. Furthermore, significant toxicity was not observed in tacrine-treated cultures as determined by analysis of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the conditioned media. Taken together, these results suggest that tacrine affects the processing of βAPP by alterations in βAPP trafficking and/or increased intracellular proteolysis. This study raises the possibility that tacrine may aid in the treatment of AD due to its effects on βAPP processing as well as by its effects on the cholinergic pathway.
Autonomous robotic palpation: Machine learning techniques to identify hard inclusions in soft tissues

Localizing tumors and measuring tissue mechanical properties can be useful for surgical planning and evaluating progression of disease. In this paper, supervised machine learning algorithms enable mechanical localization of stiff inclusions in artificial tissue after autonomous robotic palpation. Elastography is used to generate training data for the learning algorithms, providing a non-invasive, inclusion-specific characterization of tissue biomechanics. In particular, elastography was used to characterize the stiffness of artificial tissue with an embedded hard inclusion. Once the inclusion was identified on the elastographic image, machine learning methods identified the difference in stiffness between the inclusion and surrounding soft tissue and generated classifiers, which were used to label stiffness values as either part of the inclusion or soft tissue. Next, data acquired via autonomous robotic palpation of the artificial tissue created a map of the stiffness distributed over the surface of the tissue. The points in this map were thresholded against the classifiers trained by the machine learning algorithms, and points theorized to belong to the hard inclusion were labeled. Centroid approximations of the hard inclusion based on this labeling show that classifying stiffness data acquired by autonomous robotic palpation and labeled by a classifier trained from elastography data provides a more accurate method of localizing hard inclusions than using unclassified data.
A 20 Centimeter Survey of the Galactic Center Region. I. Detection of Numerous Linear Filaments

This is the first in a series of papers presenting a sensitive 20 cm VLA continuum survey of the Galactic center region using new and archival data based on multiconfiguration observations taken with relatively uniform uv coverage. The high dynamic range images cover the regions within -2° < l < 5° and -40' < b < 40' with a spatial resolution of ≈30'' and 10''. The wide field imaging technique is used to construct a low-resolution mosaic of 40 overlapping pointings. The mosaic image includes the Effelsburg observations filling the low spatial frequency uv data. We also present high-resolution images of 23 overlapping fields using DnC and CnB array configurations. These high-resolution images are sensitive to both compact and extended continuum features with a wide range of angular scales with rms noise of 0.2 mJy beam-1 in the outer parts of the Galactic center region. The survey has resulted in a catalog of 345 discrete sources as well as 140 images revealing structural details of H II regions, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and more than 80 linear filaments distributed toward the complex region of the Galactic center. These observations show the evidence for an order-of-magnitude increase in the number of faint linear filaments with typical lengths of a few arcminutes. Many of the filaments show morphological characteristics similar to the Galactic center nonthermal radio filaments (NRFs). The linear filaments are not isolated but are generally clustered in star-forming regions where prominent NRFs had been detected previously. The extensions of many of these linear filaments appear to terminate at either a compact source or a resolved shell-like thermal source. A relationship between the filaments, the compact and extended thermal sources, as well as a lack of preferred orientation for many RFs should constrain models that are proposed to explain the origin of nonthermal radio filaments in the Galactic center.
Bone Graft Substitutes

The current gold standard of bone grafts is the autograft since it possesses all the characteristics necessary for new bone growth, namely osteoconductivity, osteogenicity and osteoinductivity. However, the autograft has its limitations, including donor-site morbidity and supply limitations, hindering this as an option for bone repair. An extensive list of currently available alternatives to bone grafts is provided, along with a classification scheme that divides these bone graft substitutes into five groups depending on the primary material composition: allograft, cell, factor, ceramic and polymer. Of the bone graft substitutes listed, several are discussed in detail. Beyond the current state of the art, attention is paid to what lies ahead in the field of bone graft substitutes. Biodegradable composite structures and various new architectures are discussed, as are newly developed polymeric materials, with tissue engineering providing the platform for future directions within this discipline.
Alteration of Post‐Mortem Changes in Porcine Muscle by Preslaughter Heat Treatment and Diet Modificationa,b

SUMMARY Subjecting animals to elevated environmental temperatures immediately before slaughter resulted in increased muscle temperature and a rapid rate of post-mortem glycolysis as indicated by a rapid pH decline and decreased color intensity. A high-fat high-protein low carbohydrate ration improved the water-binding, color, and texture characteristics of the muscle. The detrimental influence of sugar feeding was less marked than in previous experiments, but muscle from animals receiving the high sucrose ration had the lowest pH and (except for the heat-treated lot) the highest percent reflectance of all lots at 24 hr post-mortem. Phosphofructokinase activity was not affected by ante-mortem treatments and did not appear to be related to glycolytic rate or physical properties of the muscle at 24 hr post-mortem. The time course of rigor mortis was markedly accelerated by heat treatment.
Modeling the Behavior of the KRW/USD Exchange Rate and Policy Implications

Abstract This paper examines the behavior of the KRW/USD exchange rate based on four major models. Using the mean absolute percent error (MAPE) as the criterion, the purchasing power parity (PPP) model using the relative producer price index (PPI) performs the best, followed by the extended investment saving-liquidity preference money supply (IS-LM) model, the Frankel model, the purchasing power parity model based on the relative consumer price index (CPI), the Dornbusch model, the Frenkel model, and the uncovered interest parity model. The generalized Box–Cox model indicates that the log-log form for the PPP model can be rejected.
Tepary bean starch. Part II. Rheological properties and suitability for use in foods

Rheological and organoleptic properties of starch from tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius var. latifolius) have been investigated. Gelatinization was determined to be a single-step process. The pasting properties were similar to those reported for other legume starches. It was stable when cooked at 95°C for 15 min and showed a progressive increase in viscosity when cooled to 50°C. At 4 and 6% concentrations (w/w) tepary starch pastes exhibited a type C viscosity pattern whereas at concentrations of 7% and above, pasting behavior resembled a type B pattern. Effects of pH and the influence of sucrose, salt and oil on pasting behavior were also examined. Sensory evaluation of vanilla pudding prepared with tepary starch established its potential consumer acceptance. Teparybohnen-Starke. Teil 2. Rheologische Eigenschaften und Eignung fur die Verwendung in Lebensmitteln. Die rheologischen und organoleptischen Eigenschaften von Teparybohnen-Starke (Phaseolus acutifolius var. latifolius) wurden untersucht. Die Verkleisterungseigenschaften waren ahnlich, wie sie fur andere Hulsenfruchtstarken berichtet wurden. Die Gelatinierung wurde als einstufiger Prozes ermittelt. Die Paste war stabil, wenn sie 15 min bei 95°C gekocht wurde, und beim Abkuhlen auf 50°C zeigte sie eine fortschreitende Viskositatserhohung. Bei einer Konzentration von 4 und 6% (w/w) zeigte Teparystarke ein dem Typ C ahnliches Viskositatsverhalten, wahrend dasselbe bei einer Konzentration von 7% und daruber dem Typ B entsprach. Der Einflus von pH, Saccharose, Salz und Ol auf das Verkleisterungsverhalten wurde ebenfalls untersucht. Die geschmackliche Beurteilung von Vanillepudding, der mit Teparystarke zubereitet war, fuhrte zu dem Ergebnis, das sie vom Verbraucher akzeptiert werden durfte.
Diabetic nephropathy: improving prognosis.

Diabetes is the disorder most often linked with development of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the USA, Europe, South America, Japan, India, and Africa. Kidney disease is as likely to develop in long-duration non-insulin dependent diabetes (type 2) as in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 1). Nephropathy in diabetes, if sub-optimally managed, follows a predictable course starting with microalbuminuria through proteinuria, azotemia and culminating in ESRD. The rate of renal functional decline in diabetic nephropathy is slowed by normalization of hypertensive blood pressure, establishment of euglycemia, and a reduced dietary protein intake. When compared with other causes of ESRD, the diabetic patient sustains greater mortality and morbidity due to associated systemic disorders especially coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease. A functioning kidney transplant provides the uremic diabetic patient better survival with superior rehabilitation than does either continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or maintenance hemodialysis. There are no reports, however, of prospective controlled studies of dialysis versus kidney transplantation in diabetic patients whose therapy was assigned randomly. Survival in treating ESRD of diabetes is continuously improving. This progress reflects multiple small advances in understanding of the pathogenesis of extrarenal micro- and microvasculopathy coupled with safer immunosuppression. Combined pancreas and kidney transplantation has so far been performed for a minority (<10%) of diabetic ESRD patients and has offered cure of the diabetes and full rehabilitation. No matter which ESRD therapy has been elected, optimal rehabilitation in diabetic ESRD patients requires that effort be devoted to recognition and management of co-morbid conditions.
Letter by Daniels Regarding Article ''Silent Aspiration Risk is Volume-Dependent''

Leder and Suiter [1] have proposed the 3-oz. water swallowchallenge as a screening tool for dysphagia in all patientpopulations. Their study was of a retrospective referral-based cohort, i.e., consecutive admissions were not tested.Studies on referral-based patients have the potential forbias. In addition, blinding was not part of this study as thesame investigator interpreted both the ﬁber-optic evalua-tion of swallowing (FEES) and the 3-oz water swallowchallenge. In their article it was stated that FEES wasperformed prior to the administration of the 3-oz. waterswallow challenge. In a most recent article [2], the sameauthors again studied a large cohort of referred patients,primarily the same patients in the previous study. As in theearlier study, FEES was conducted prior to the 3-oz. waterswallow challenge with the same examiner completingboth. This time, however, the authors reported that over400 patients were excluded from the 3-oz water swallowchallenge due to safety issues, e.g., aspiration of largeamounts of various consistencies on FEES. This detail callsinto question the authors entire body of work and raisesstrong safety concerns about the validity of the 3-oz. waterswallow challenge. When screening a patient, the potentialfor dysphagia and aspiration is unknown; this is the entirereason to screen. Given the information about the exclusionof patients from the 3-oz. water swallow challenge, howare clinicians to decide who is and is not a safety risk priorto actual screening? This methodological informationregarding patient exclusion begs the question: Werepatients excluded in initial study but not reported? Theauthors have not reported any negative consequences ofadministering the 3-oz. water swallow challenge. Theremay have been a lack of negative consequences due to thepreferential selection of patients who underwent thescreening. In order to clarify these issues, the authorsshould undertake a well-designed prospective study inwhich all patients, or a particular subpopulation of patients,are studied, not just referrals. Blinding must be in place;otherwise, the potential for bias will always exist. Lastly,the 3-oz. water swallow challenge MUST be administeredto all patients. In addition, morbidity of patients should bereported. Only after such a study is undertaken can health-care personnel be conﬁdent in using the 3-oz. water swal-low challenge as a screening tool.References
Frequency-modulated, single-molecule absorption detected by scanning tunneling microscopy

We image frequency-modulated single-molecule optical absorption using a scanning tunneling microscope as the detector (SMA−STM). As a first example of the technique, a semiconducting carbon nanotube adsorbed on a silicon surface is studied. Excitation is achieved using laser amplitude as well as frequency modulation, and these two complementary approaches are compared. Detection is achieved via the resulting change in tunneling current through the excited molecule. We distinguish three mechanisms, direct, relaxed, and bolometric, for detecting single-molecule absorption spectra. Kinetic models for these mechanisms as well as for surface heating are presented. The latter effect can be eliminated by frequency modulation, keeping the laser power density on the surface constant.
Two‐Dimensional Model for Water, Heat, and Solute Transport in Furrow‐Irrigated Soil: I. Theory

Because of salinity, many areas with irrigated farmland have suffered from reduced food and fiber production, especially where irrigation water or soil contains large amounts of soluble salts. In those areas, ridge-furrow tillage is a common practice and furrow irrigation is a popular irrigation method. Effects of water content, temperature, and solute concentration on transport phenomena in soil are hard to predict without complex models. The geometry of a ridge-furrow surface contributes to complexities in heat and vapor transport, and hence, in the distribution of water, temperature, and salt in soil. To improve understanding of water, heat, and solute transport in furrow-irrigated and salt-affected soil, we developed a two-dimensional mechanistic model using the Galerkin finite element method (FEM). The model was designed to consider interactive effects of water content, temperature, and solute concentration on water, heat, and solute transport. To simulate field conditions, an energy balance equation was applied to the ridge-furrow surface to provide boundary conditions for water and heat transport. To utilize a single FEM solver, equations governing transport of water, heat, and salt in soil were generalized as a diffusive-convective type equation. Numerical schemes for the model were tested by comparing simulated results with analytical or semianalytical solutions. Good agreements between FEM and analytically calculated soil water content, temperature, and solute concentration were obtained.
Impact of hospital volume and type on outcomes of open and endovascular repair of descending thoracic aneurysms in the United States Medicare population.

Objective Favorable outcomes of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) compared with open repair for descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (DTAs) have led to increasing TEVAR use. We evaluated the effect of case volume and hospital teaching status on clinical outcomes of intact DTA repair. Methods The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) data set (2004 to 2007) was queried to identify open repair or TEVAR for DTA. Hospitals were stratified by DTA volume into high volume (HV; ≥8 cases/y) or low volume (LV; Results We identified 763 hospitals performing 3554 open repairs and 3517 TEVARs. Overall DTA repair increased ( P P P P P P P P = .43). LV was independently associated with increased mortality after open repair (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1−1.8; P Conclusions The total number of DTA repairs has significantly increased. Operative mortality for TEVAR is independent of hospital volume and type, whereas mortality after open surgery is lower at HV hospitals, suggesting that TEVAR can be safely performed across a spectrum of hospitals, whereas open surgery should be performed only at HV hospitals.
A University Approach to Improving STEM Teacher Recruitment and Retention

The authors describe successful STEM teacher recruiting and training practices developed through the Talented Teachers in Training for Texas (T4) program. They discuss implementing three distinctiv...
Infections in Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Patients

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have been documented as an effective modality in reducing arrhythmic mortality. A serious complication associated with implantation of the device is infection. Few studies have addressed this issue. Two hundred seven patients with refractory ventricular arrhythmias underwent 207 ICD implantations, and 56 subcutaneous generator changes at our institution. Eight patients developed wound infections, four following ICD implantation (4 out of 207 or 1.9%), and four following a generator change (4 out of 56 or 7.1%). Wound cultures most commonly revealed Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Infections treated with antibiotics alone, or with only generator removal, frequently recurred (four out of five attempts). There were no recurrences following total patch/lead and generator system removal. In five patients, the same generator unit was successfully reimplanted following ethylene oxide sterilization without infection recurrence. We conclude that treatment of device-associated infection generally requires total generator and patch/lead system removal, and that generator units can be successfully reimplanted yielding substantial cost savings.
Dangerous crossroads: liminality and contested meaning in Krobo (Ghana) dipo girls’ initiation*

Abstract Every spring, groups of Krobo young girls are taken through initiation rites known as dipo. The perpetuation of dipo rests on the conviction that it transforms girls into women. Therefore, the rituals resonate with a powerful voice. But whose voice is it? Is it that of the leaders or the society's? Is there a disparity between the official and unofficial voices? Is the official version real or imagined? And is it shared by the initiands? Contending that dipo girls’ initiation rites exemplify van Gennep's concept of liminality, as reformulated and expanded by Turner, that is, marginality, statuslessness, and ambiguity, the essay details the ordered sequence of activities that progressively effect ritual transformation. Each media‐defined action, with its spatial and symbolic resonances, constitutes a specific moment both in itself and in the complex, processual orchestration toward ritual efficacy. However, the essay concludes by questioning cultural assumptions about dipo's transformative capacit...
An approach to nonparametric smoothing techniques for regressions with discrete data

This paper proposes nonparametric regression estimation techniques for small samples in situations where the dependent variable involves count data. Often the form of a kernel will not matter asymptotically. However, in small samples the kernel structure may play a more important role in approximating the small sample distribution especially for discrete random variables. In particular for count data we introduce a Poisson kernel regression estimator and a binomial kernel regression estimator. These new regression methods are applied to coal mine wildcat strike data. We use cross validation to evaluate out-of-sample performance.
Local times and random time changes

The purpose of this paper is to prove an integral representation theorem for continuous additive functionals (of a Hunt process satisfying hypothesis (F)) as integrals of local times (when they exist) with respect to certain measures. The effect of random time changes on the local times and on the integral representation is investigated.
WHY I WOULD NOT HAVE SIGNED THE YALE RESPONSE TO “A COMMON WORD”

Abstract Since the initial flurry of responses following its publication in November, 2007, more careful measure has been taken of “Loving God and Neighbor”. The document has received withering theological criticism. In terms of political theology, the greatest failure concerned the issue of religious liberty. The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute sponsored “A Common Word” and simultaneously posted several fatwas denouncing apostates on a website it sponsors. Evangelicals should have challenged participants to join them in a public endorsement—a different “common word”—asserting the right of individual human beings to choose, proclaim, and change their religion without fear of legal sanctions.
The ability to predict weight gain, individual organ weight, and corresponding food intake in the rat by the four‐parameter model for physiological responses

The applicability of the four-parameter model for physiological responses to the prediction of food intake and corresponding weight gain and individual organ weight gain was studied further in 40-day postpartum male rats. Seven groups of animals were maintained on diets in which protein content ranged from 0 to 23.54% casein. Food intake and weight gain were recorded every other day for each animal for 21 days. At the termination of the experiment the following organs were removed and weighed: liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, adrenals, and testes. When these weight values are fitted by use of the four-parameter model, food intake and total animal and organ weight gains can be predicted in relation to the amount of protein in the diet. It was found that liver, heart, lungs, spleen, and whole animal had similar K(0.5) values. However, it was also shown that there is variation in response of organs when relating organ weight as a percentage of body weight. For example, heart, lungs, and testes show an increased ratio on low protein diet while liver, kidneys, and adrenals maintain a fairly constant ratio and the spleen shows a decreased ratio. Additionally, it was noted that the animals on low protein diet consumed more food per gram body weight but did so at a slower rate. Possible future applications of the four-parameter model for physiological reponses are discussed.
Thermal denaturation of sheared and unsheared chromatin by absorption and circular dichroism measurements

Thermal denaturation of chromatin is observed by simultaneously monitoring absorption and circular dichroism at 276 nm as functions of temperature. Either observation indicates that sheared chromatins shows less thermal stability than native chromatin. The temperature-dependent ellipticities at 276 nm of these chromatins show features not seen in the absorption curves: the ellipticity of unsheared chromatin increases with temperature, while this increase is abolished or greatly reduced in the same chromatin after shearing. After its first thermal transition (prior to the helix-coli transition) the unsheared chromatin achieves the same ellipticity as sheared chromatin.
The Effects of Metergoline and Other Serotonin Receptor Antagonists on Serum Corticosterone in Rats

Metergoline antagonized the elevation of serum corticosterone by quipazine in rats. The ED50 of metergoline was less than 0.1 mg/kg, ip, and the effects of a 3 mg/kg dose persisted for more than 24 h. Metergoline did not antagonize the elevation of serum corticosterone by theophylline or ketamine {i.e. did not prevent corticosterone release nonspecifically) and did not affect the concentration of quipazineMn the brain. Since quipazine is a serotonin receptor agonist, the antagonistic effects of metergoline may have been due to competition with quipazine at serotonin receptor sites in the brain. Some other agents capable of blocking serotonin receptors also antagonized the elevation of serum corticosterone by quipazine. These included LY53857, which gave complete blockade at 3 mg/kg, and cyproheptadine and spiperone, which gave significant but incomplete antagonism at 1 mg/kg. Methysergide at 3 mg/kg did not alter the effect of quipazine. Metergoline did not antagonize the elevation of serum corticosterone...
Hypervelocity penetration of plate targets by rod and rod-like projectiles

Abstract This paper has summarized the results of experimental tests and analytical studies of the hypervelocity impact of rod and rod-like projectiles which were conducted at the Naval Research Laboratory. The results presented here provide relatively simple analytic expressions from which one can calculate the results of a hypervelocity impact of a rod or rod-like projectile even into complex targets under most impact configurations of interest. The methodology does require a knowledge of certain empirical constants which depend on the projectile and target materials. For those cases where the values of these constants have not been provided, they can easily be determined by performing a relatively few experimental impacts.
Simultaneous glycoproteomics on the basis of structure using ion mobility-mass spectrometry

Simultaneous glycoproteomic characterization using rapid (μs to ms) structural separations provided by ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) is described. Advantages from using both ESI and MALDI ion sources are presented with future implications toward high throughput glycan and glycoconjugate characterization.
VOCALIZATIONS, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE TWITE ACANTHUS FLAVIROSTRIS

Summary A seven-week study of breeding Twites at the mouth of the Trondheim fjord revealed that they are double brooded. The second clutch is started while the first nestlings are still dependent on both parents. Males defend a moving area around the female which becomes focused on the nest during incubation. Adult vocalizations recorded and analysed fall into seven basic categories. We believe this represents the entire repertoire, which is rather small, and may correlate with the visually open habitat. Nine measures of the tup-up-up flight call reveal that calls of a male and female that are paired match closely and differ from those of other birds in the area. This is taken as evidence that the Twite flight call is modifiable by learning, as in some other cardueline finches.
Reassessment of the incubation time in a controlled clinical comparison of the BacT/Alert aerobic FAN bottle and standard anaerobic bottle used aerobically for the detection of bloodstream infections

Abstract This study assessed the minimum incubation time required to detect bloodstream infections during a controlled clinical comparison of the performance characteristics of the BacT/Alert aerobic FAN bottle and the standard anaerobic bottle used aerobically except on a selective basis. Blood was collected from adults with suspected bloodstream infections and inoculated into each bottle, which was monitored in the BacT/Alert Microbial Detection System. The anaerobic bottle was vented before incubation except when cultures were obtained from patients on the colorectal and gynecologic surgical and emergency services. Statistical analysis was limited to those culture sets in which each bottle was inoculated with ≥8 mL of blood and bacterial growth was considered to be clinically significant. A total of 682 positive cultures from 243 patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. Significantly more isolates of Staphylococcus aureus ( p S. epidermidis ( p p Enterococcus spp. ( p = 0.04), Escherichia coli ( p = 0.03), all Enterobacteriaceae ( p Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( p = 0.001), and Candida spp. ( p S. aureus , S. epidermidis , other coagulase-negative staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae , P. aeruginosa , and Candida spp. were detected by the aerobic FAN bottle. Significantly more bacterial isolates were detected by the aerobic FAN whether or not antibiotics were being administered at the time of blood culture, whereas there were significantly fewer positive cultures in the vented standard anaerobic bottle when patients were receiving antimicrobial therapy than when they were not. All but 5% of positive cultures were detected within three days. Only six of the cultures requiring four or five days of incubation represented true misses, and only one of these six resulted in a change in therapy which, however, did not affect the patent's outcome.
Dendrimer−Silver Complexes and Nanocomposites as Antimicrobial Agents

Silver complexes of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers as well as different {silver−PAMAM} dendrimer nanocomposite solutions have been tested in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli bacteria, using the standard agar overlay method. Both PAMAM silver salts and nanocomposites displayed considerable antimicrobial activity without the loss of solubility and activity, even in the presence of sulfate or chloride ions.
Probability theory versus simulation of petroleum potential in play analysis

An analytic probabilistic methodology for resource appraisal of undiscovered oil and gas resources in play analysis is presented. This play-analysis methodology is a geostochastic system for petroleum resource appraisal in explored as well as frontier areas. An objective was to replace an existing Monte Carlo simulation method in order to increase the efficiency of the appraisal process. Underlying the two methods is a single geologic model which considers both the uncertainty of the presence of the assessed hydrocarbon and its amount if present. The results of the model are resource estimates of crude oil, nonassociated gas, dissolved gas, and gas for a geologic play in terms of probability distributions. The analytic method is based upon conditional probability theory and a closed form solution of all means and standard deviations, along with the probabilities of occurrence.
Derivation of breakup-fusion cross sections from the optical theorem

It is shown that the formula for the breakup-fusion cross section, used successfully to explain observed massive transfer cross sections, having been derived originally by Kerman and McVoy, can be rederived, based on the optical theorem involving a complex potential.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Breakup-fusion cross section.
Coupling Patterns in the Effective Reuse of Open Source Software

Albeit practical reuse approaches have been established in commercial environments, the open source software (OSS) communities have not yet taken full advantage of the reuse mechanism. Many OSS projects, sharing the same application domain and topic, duplicate effort and code, without fully leveraging the vast amounts of available code. In order to fill these gaps, this study focuses on source code folders of OSS projects: the objective is to investigate their potential as shareable and small-grained reusable software components in other OSS projects.
Contrasting multi‐site genotypic distributions among discordant quantitative phenotypes: the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 gene cluster and cardiovascular disease risk factors

Most tests of association between DNA sequence variation and quantitative phenotypes in samples of randomly chosen individuals rely on specification of genotypic strata followed by comparison of phenotypes across these strata. This strategy often succeeds when phenotypic differences are caused by one or two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the surveyed markers. However, when multiple-SNP haplotypes account for observed phenotypic variation, identification of the best partitioning requires examination of an inordinate number of SNP combinations. An alternative approach is to rank individuals by their phenotypic measures and ask whether attributes of the genotypic variation show a non-random distribution along this phenotypic ranking. One simple version of this strategy selects the top and bottom tails of the distribution, and then tests whether genotypes from these two samples are drawn from a single population. This framework does not require the recovery of phased haplotypes and allows contrasts between large numbers of sites at once. We use a method based on this approach to identify associations between plasma triglyceride level, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and multi-site genotypes located in the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 cluster of apolipoprotein genes in unrelated individuals (1,071 African-American females, 780 African-American males, 1,036 European-American females, and 930 European-American males) sampled from four US cities as part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Method performance is investigated using simulations that model genealogical variation and different genetic architectures. Results indicate that this multi-site test can identify genotype-phenotype associations with reasonable power, including those generated by some simple epistatic models.
Isometric results on a measure of non-compactness for operators on Banach spaces

For each λ ≥ 1 a class of Banach spaces φλ is defined. Isometric results are obtained on the equivalence between a measure of non-compactness and the essential norm of a linear operator defined on a φλ space. Best values of λ for the classical Banach spaces and for spaces with unconditional basis are investigated. For the space c of convergent sequences the non-existence of a λ-unconditional basis with λ < 2 is deduced.
A nonlinear vibration control design with a neural network realization

A novel type of nonlinear dynamic controller design is explored that was originally motivated by certain issues in the problem of vibration suppression in flexible structures. Because of the particular form of quadratic nonlinearities, the controller provides extremely efficient energy exchange mechanisms capable of rapidly draining energy away from the structural plant. In addition the controller is shown to consist of the interconnection of simple repetitive modules and its efficiency increases with the number of such modules. These features motivate the implementation of the nonlinear controller via a specified neural network architecture. >