cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extendable Origami Multilayer Insulation Design and Thermal Performance Characterization

Spacecraft commonly use multilayer insulation (MLI) on fixed panels and bodies to assist with thermal management of the system. This paper describes the design of an origami pattern that allows MLI...
Building MedVenture - A mobile health application to improve adolescent medication adherence - Using a multidisciplinary approach and academic-industry collaboration.

ObjectiveMobile health (mHealth) tools are increasingly used to support medication adherence yet few have been designed specifically for the pediatric population. This paper describes the developme...
Using an Online Disturbance Rejection and Anticipation System to Reduce Hyperglycemia in a Fully Closed-Loop Artificial Pancreas System.

INTRODUCTION Hyperglycemia following meals is a recurring challenge for people with type 1 diabetes, and even the most advanced available automated systems currently require manual input of carbohydrate amounts. To progress toward fully automated systems, we present a novel control system that can automatically deliver priming boluses and/or anticipate eating behaviors to improve postprandial full closed-loop control. METHODS A model predictive control (MPC) system was enhanced by an automated bolus system reacting to early glucose rise and/or a multistage MPC (MS-MPC) framework to anticipate historical patterns. Priming was achieved by detecting large glycemic disturbances, such as meals, and delivering a fraction of the patient's total daily insulin (TDI) modulated by the disturbance's likelihood (bolus priming system [BPS]). In the anticipatory module, glycemic disturbance profiles were generated from historical data using clustering to group days with similar behaviors; the probability of each cluster is then evaluated at every controller step and informs the MS-MPC framework to anticipate each profile. We tested four configurations: MPC, MPC + BPS, MS-MPC, and MS-MPC + BPS in simulation to contrast the effect of each controller module. RESULTS Postprandial time in range was highest for MS-MPC + BPS: 60.73 ± 25.39%, but improved with each module: MPC + BPS: 56.95±25.83 and MS-MPC: 54.83 ± 26.00%, compared with MPC: 51.79 ± 26.12%. Exposure to hypoglycemia was maintained for all controllers (time below 70 mg/dL <0.5%), and improvement came primarily from a reduction in postprandial time above range (MS-MPC + BPS: 39.10 ± 25.32%, MPC + BPS: 42.99 ± 25.81%, MS-MPC: 45.09 ± 25.96%, MPC: 48.18 ± 26.09%). CONCLUSIONS The BPS and anticipatory disturbance profiles improved blood glucose control and were most efficient when combined.
An Enhanced Velocity multIpoint Flux Mixed Finite Element Method for Darcy Flow on Non-matching Hexahedral Grids

Abstract This paper proposes a new enhanced velocity method to directly construct a flux-continuous velocity approximation with multipoint flux mixed finite element method on subdomains. This gives an efficient way to perform simulations on multiblock domains with non-matching hexa- hedral grids. We develop a reasonable assumption on geometry, discuss implementation issues, and give several numerical results with slightly compressible single phase flow.
THE FOUR P'S OF DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE INTERNET ERA: PIRACY, PRICING, PIE-SPLITTING, AND PIPE CONTROL

The first decade of the new millennium has been the decade of digital distribution for media products. All products that can be digitized have either been affected, or will soon be. Since the early days of the Internet, piracy has emerged as an important threat to media firms. But new technology also brings an opportunity for firms to engage in new models of pricing. Many of these new forms of pricing produce revenue that is not readily attributed to particular owners, making it necessary for sellers to create new methods for sharing revenue, or pie-splitting. Affected industries have mobilized to enact a number of nonmarket responses, including recent efforts to induce Internet Service Providers to control the flow of unpaid content through their pipes. This essay reviews the threats, opportunities, and challenges to media firms that have emerged over the past decade, with attention to piracy, pricing, pie-splitting, and pipe control.
Toward knockout sheep.

The targeted disruption of two genes in sheep confirms the feasibility of gene targeting in large animals, but falls short of producing viable offspring.
Can Evidence Inform the Debate

Why Aren't More Women in Science? . Top Researchers Debate the Evidence. Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams, Eds. . American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2007. 274 pp. $59.95. ISBN 9781591474852. The contributors present evidence for a variety of explanations for the relative dearth of women in science.
Radiation Driven Instabilities

Various radiation driven instabilities have been shown to operate in the atmospheres and winds of early-type luminous stars. The strongest of these occur in the supersonic parts of the winds, where as many as one hundred e-folds of linear growth can occur during a typical outflow time. The nonlinear growth of such instabilities can possibly account for the observed superionization and X-ray emission in these stars. Developments in the linear theory of these instabilities is reviewed.
ROBEX: An Expert System for Robust Control Design

Process control engineers often experience difficulty in staying abreast of recent developments in control theory and are consequently unable to attain the expertise required to efficiently utilize most existing control design packages. This paper describes an interactive control design environment, the ROBEX system, in which users at all levels of expertise can benefit. Particular attention is paid to performance specification, which is potentially one of the more problematic aspects of control synthesis. ROBEX permits the specification of desired performance in a variety of formulations according to the user's sophistication and will update this by processing qualitative user-evaluation of the simulated time domain response. The current implementation allows the user to generate a SISO design for a plant and its associated uncertainty description. Extensions are forseen to include more general process descriptions. The long term goal is the development of a package addressing the MIMO problem.
Modeling biodegradation processes in porous media by the finite cell method

[1] In this paper, the finite cell method (FCM) presented by Sun [1999] is extended to the two-dimensional case and used to simulate complicated biodegradation processes in porous media. FCM is based on the direct simulation of various physical, chemical, and biological phenomena rather than solving advection-dispersion-reaction equations. The developed two-dimensional FCM is able to deal with heterogeneous structures and variable flow fields. Two test problems show that FCM can produce more accurate solutions than other numerical methods. It can keep both local and global mass conservation and avoid numerical dispersion even when the Peclet number becomes infinite. The biodegradation model formulated in this paper consists of five partial differential equations with five unknown concentrations when kinetic mass exchange and rate-limited attachment of microorganisms are considered. Using FCM to solve this problem, we define two sets of cells, the mobile fluid cells and the immobile solid cells. A mobile fluid cell may contain dissolved substrate, suspended microorganisms, and electron acceptor components, while an immobile solid cell may contain adsorbed substrate and attached biomass. When a mobile cell meets an immobile cell on its way, mass exchanges may occur between them and reactions may occur within them. By directly simulating these processes, all the five unknown concentrations can be obtained explicitly and simultaneously. A numerical example is given that shows the FCM solution of a biodegradation process in a randomly heterogeneous porous media. We expect that the FCM can serve as not only a powerful simulation tool but also a useful tool for mechanism study.
Isolation and Properties of an RNA Polymerase from Influenza Virus-Infected Cells

Structures with RNA polymerase activity were isolated from influenza virus-infected cells, and consisted of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes, similar in morphology to the viral internal component or nucleocapsid. The isolation procedure involved fractionation of infected cells in a discontinuous sucrose gradient, in which enzyme activity was concentrated in a fraction of intermediate density which contains both smooth and rough cytoplasmic membranes. The RNPs with polymerase activity were further purified in a velocity gradient, after which the peak fractions showed a 35-fold purification of the polymerase activity when compared with cytoplasmic extracts. The NP polypeptide, which is the subunit of the virion RNP, was the only virus-specific polypeptide detected in these RNP structures.
Removing Real-World Foregrounds from Cosmic Microwave Background Maps

Most work on foreground removal has treated the case where the frequency dependence of all components is perfectly known and independent of position. In contrast, real-world foregrounds are generally not perfectly correlated between frequencies, with the spectral index varying slightly with position and (in the case of some radio sources) with time. A method incorporating this complication is presented and illustrated with an application to the upcoming satellite missions MAP and Planck. We find that even spectral index variations as small as Δα ~ 0.1 can have a substantial impact on how channels should be combined and on attainable accuracy.
Solid phase synthesis of 1,3,4,7-Tetrasubstituted Perhydro-1,4-diazepine-2,5-diones

Abstract The solid phase synthesis of 1,3,4,7-Tetrasubstituted Perhydro-1,4-diazepine-2,5-diones is described. Starting from the resin-bound tBu ester of aspartic acid and employing reductive alkylation and amide formation, 40 diazepines have been synthesized in good yield and high purity. The general nature of this approach permits not only large numbers of individual diazepines to be prepared, but also combinatorial libraries.
Empirical Bayes predictive densities for high-dimensional normal models

Abstract This paper addresses the problem of estimating the density of a future outcome from a multivariate normal model. We propose a class of empirical Bayes predictive densities and evaluate their performances under the Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence. We show that these empirical Bayes predictive densities dominate the Bayesian predictive density under the uniform prior and thus are minimax under some general conditions. We also establish the asymptotic optimality of these empirical Bayes predictive densities in infinite-dimensional parameter spaces through an oracle inequality.
The Sustaining Relevance Of W. E. B. Du Bois To Health Disparities Research

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is considered one of the most prolific and brilliant scholars of our time. While his contributions to civil rights, sociology, history, African American studies, and urban studies are universally recognized, his legacy in the public health and epidemiology discourses is not as widely acknowledged by contemporary health researchers. His seminal work The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899) and his report “The Health and Physique of the Negro American” (1906) may be considered early harbingers in general of public health—and more specifically, social epidemiology—research. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Black and White differences in mortality and morbidity were largely attributed to notions of biological racial inferiority. Efforts by Du Bois to challenge these predominant notions resulted in the systematic empirical investigation of social factors contributing to Black health risk and health disparities. More than one hundred years after Du Bois’s pioneering scholarship, racial0ethnic and social disparities remain a central challenge for public health and medical professionals. Given the persistence of health disparities and the increasing focus on neighborhood social and physical environments as fundamental factors contributing to health inequalities, this paper seeks to historically situate Du Bois’s scholarship, describe the methodological and conceptual significance of his seminal studies, and articulate the importance of incorporating Du Bois’s legacy to advance the next generation of racial0ethnic health inequality research.
Monitoring shrubland habitat changes through object-based change identification with airborne multispectral imagery

Abstract An object-based approach to generating shrub cover change maps of potential use for monitoring shrubland habitat reserves was developed and tested. A high fidelity, bi-temporal airborne image data set was generated through frame-based image acquisition, precise image-to-image registration, radiometric normalization, and selection of near-anniversary image acquisition dates with similar precipitation conditions prior to both image acquisitions. Image segmentation and classification processes were applied to the bi-temporal layer stack of very high spatial resolution visible and near infrared (V/NIR) image data, such that shrub change objects were delineated and identified directly. Image segments derived from the bi-temporal V/NIR image data set having 1 m spatial resolution delineated most shrub change features in a qualitatively realistic manner. A Standard Nearest Neighbor classifier with segment mean and standard deviation measures of Red, NIR, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image features yielded the shrub change map that agreed more closely with reference data than the classifier based on fuzzy membership functions. The overall accuracy and kappa statistics for the optimal shrub change map were 0.83 and 0.64, respectively, with the predominant error being associated with “over-classification” of no-change objects as some type of shrub change. No statistical difference in accuracies of three- and five-class maps was found, suggesting that changes in true shrubs and sub-shrubs within coastal sage scrub vegetation communities can be differentiated reliably. A net 5% loss of shrub cover was determined for the 1998–2005 period from the shrub change map of the study area. The greatest decrease and net loss of shrub cover occurred within the urban edge zone and within flat-lying areas. Patterns of shrub loss appear to be more related to anthropogenic disturbance than effects of the severe seven-year drought that occurred between image acquisition dates.
AN IN VITRO APPROACH FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CYCLING B CELL RESPONSE

Because isolation of sufficient numbers of cycling, germinal center B cells from mice for biochemical characterization of BCR-derived signals can be problematic, we have designed an experimental approach for generating large numbers of cycling B cells for further study. In the experiments reported here, small, resting B cells were polyclonally stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and cycling B cells isolated as two bands on three-step Percoll gradients. Cycling B cells isolated at Days 2, 4, or 6 of preactivation showed an increased expression of Fas receptor and peanut agglutinin binding, with a concomitant decrease in sIgD positivity. These cells phenotypically resembled extrafollicular or early germinal center B cells. These cycling B cells were used to study the functional consequences of differential signaling through the BCR. Strong cross-linking of BCR, by restimulation of cycling normal B cells with either immobilized or soluble F(ab’)2 anti-μ and cycling hen egg lysozyme (HEL) transgenic B cells with either soluble or immobilized HEL, extended cellular proliferation by 2–3 d. In contrast, cycling B cells either restimulated with soluble, whole anti-μ (to mimic binding of soluble immune complexes) or cultured in the absence of restimulation (to mimic cycling B cells not competitive for antigen) resulted in the rapid exit of the cells from cycle. This system will enable the molecular and biochemical characterization of signal delivery to cycling B cells.
High assurance SPIRAL

In this paper we introduce High Assurance SPIRAL to solve the last mile problem for the synthesis of high assurance implementations of controllers for vehicular systems that are executed in today’s and future embedded and high performance embedded system processors. High Assurance SPIRAL is a scalable methodology to translate a high level specification of a high assurance controller into a highly resource-efficient, platform-adapted, verified control software implementation for a given platform in a language like C or C++. High Assurance SPIRAL proves that the implementation is equivalent to the specification written in the control engineer’s domain language. Our approach scales to problems involving floating-point calculations and provides highly optimized synthesized code. It is possible to estimate the available headroom to enable assurance/performance trade-offs under real-time constraints, and enables the synthesis of multiple implementation variants to make attacks harder. At the core of High Assurance SPIRAL is the Hybrid Control Operator Language (HCOL) that leverages advanced mathematical constructs expressing the controller specification to provide high quality translation capabilities. Combined with a verified/certified compiler, High Assurance SPIRAL provides a comprehensive complete solution to the efficient synthesis of verifiable high assurance controllers. We demonstrate High Assurance SPIRALs capability by co-synthesizing proofs and implementations for attack detection and sensor spoofing algorithms and deploy the code as ROS nodes on the Landshark unmanned ground vehicle and on a Synthetic Car in a real-time simulator.
An electrophoretic karyotype for Candida albicans reveals large chromosomes in multiples

Using field-inversion gel electrophoresis we defined an electrophoretic karyotype for the yeast, Candida albicans. The karyotype is distinct from other species of Candida and is species specific. A total of five distinct chromosomal mobility groups were observed, at least four of which are composed of a minimum of two fragments each. From the apparent sizes of these fragments relative to the large chromosomes of the morphologically related yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, together with the known genome size of this organism, we conclude that the karyotype is the result of the migration of intact chromosomes.
Is metabolic syndrome a mild form of Cushing’s syndrome?

The Metabolic Syndrome is a diagnosis of increasing prevalence that is noted to share multiple clinical features with Cushing’s syndrome. Several studies suggest abnormalities in the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis to be associated with this disease and tissue-specific hypercortisolemia is being investigated as a possible contributing factor. More research is needed to explore the relation between cortisol and the metabolic syndrome which, if confirmed, will have major therapeutic and public health implications.
On geomagnetic tail structure near the null sheet

Geomagnetic tail structure near null sheet, indicating decrease and/or dissipation of plasma sheet particle energy density at lunar distances
Checks and Balances: IL-23 in the Intestine

In this issue of Immunity, Ahern et al. (2010) show that IL-23R signaling in CD4+ T cells induces effector and suppresses regulatory CD4+ T cells, which is critical for the development of intestinal, but not systemic, inflammation.
Carbon nanotube self-doping: Calculation of the hole carrier concentration

The hole carrier concentration of semiconducting carbon nanotubes is calculated as a function of tube diameter based on a self-doping mechanism caused by curvature induced charge redistribution of the bonding orbitals. The results show that nanotube hole carrier concentration is inversely proportional to the tube diameter and agree well with field-effect measurements and Raman spectroscopy on pristine carbon nanotubes.
117 CHANGES IN LEFT VENTRICULAR (LV) CONTRACTION AND PULMONARY VASCULAR RESISTANCE AFTER INDOMETHACIN FOR PATENT DUCTUS AFTERIOSUS (PDA)

Fifteen infants(gest.age 27 wks.and birthweight 847g)were given indomethacin in 1-3 doses(total 0.39mg/kg)for PDA, at median age of 7 days(range 4-66).Echocardiograms were performed before and after indo(mean 1.67 days).Eleven infants responded clinically (Gp 1) and 4 did not (Gp 2).Both groups had similar pre-indo echo values but Gp 2 did not change significantly after therapy.
Noninvasive cortical imaging of epileptiform activities from interictal spikes in pediatric patients.

Improved non-invasive localization of the epileptogenic foci prior to epilepsy surgery would improve surgical outcome in patients with partial seizure disorders. A critical component for the identification of the epileptogenic brain is the analysis of electrophysiological data obtained during ictal activity from prolonged intracranial recordings. The development of a noninvasive means to identify the seizure onset zone (SOZ) would thus play an important role in treating patients with intractable epilepsy. In the present study, we have investigated non-invasive imaging of epileptiform activity in patients with medically intractable epilepsy by means of a cortical potential imaging (CPI) technique. Eight pediatric patients (1M/7F, ages 4–14 year) with intractable partial epilepsy were studied. Each patient had multiple (6 to 14) interictal spikes (IIS) subjected to the CPI analysis. Realistic geometry boundary element head models were built using each individual’s MRI in order to maximize the imaging precision. CPI analysis was performed on the IISs, and extrema in the estimated CPI images were compared with SOZs as determined from the ictal electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings, as well as the resected areas in the patients and surgical outcomes. The distances between the maximum cortical activities of the IISs reflected by the estimated cortical potential distributions and the SOZs were determined to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the CPI in localizing the epileptogenic zone. Ictal ECoG recordings revealed that six patients exhibited a single epileptogenic focus while two patients had multiple foci. In each patient, the CPI results revealed an area of activity overlapping with the SOZs as identified by ictal ECoG. The distance from the extreme of the CPI images at the peak of IIS to the nearest intracranial electrode associated with the onset of the ictal activity was evaluated for each patient and the averaged distance was 4.6 mm. In the group of patients studied, the CPI imaged epileptogenic foci were within the resected areas. According to the follow-up of the eight patients included, two were seizure free and six had substantial reduction in seizure frequency. These promising results demonstrate the potential for noninvasive localization of the epileptogenic focus from interictal scalp EEG recordings. Confirmation of our results may have a significant impact on the process of presurgical planning in pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy by dramatically reducing or potentially eliminating the use of intracranial recording.
Excitation of ion waves by charged dust beams in ionospheric aerosol release experiments

Ion waves excited by charged dust beams streaming across or along the geomagnetic field in the ionosphere may be generated by plasma instabilities during aerosol release experiments. The injection speed of the dust and gas is comparable to or larger than the ion thermal speed in the background plasma. The dust grains can get charged by plasma collection from the ambient ionosphere, and can thus act as a charged beam that excites instabilities in the background plasma. The theory is applied to relatively early time scales of the order of ∼0.1–1s in the dust–gas cloud expansion, with wave frequencies that are larger than the ion gyrofrequency, and collisions with neutrals are included.
A Comparison of Intraverbal and Listener Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The present investigation compared acquisition of intraverbals and listener behavior by function, feature, and class (FFC) for two children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We also measured tacts during listener training to evaluate whether higher levels of tacts predicted the emergence of intraverbal behavior following training. The results showed that intraverbal training required as many or fewer sessions to reach the mastery criterion than listener training by FFC, and intraverbal training consistently produced emergent listener behavior. In comparison, listener training by FFC did not consistently lead to the emergence of intraverbal behavior.
Multimedia Educational Software: A Radical New Era for Software Design and Authorship

THE DAYS are over for software authors being able to design and program text-based educational software adorned with a few simple graphics. Multimedia and video technology advances virtually mandate use of video imagery for present and future software projects, thus introducing the need for complex team authorship and Hollywoodesque production considerations. The author mourns the passage but describes award-winning EDUCOM multivideo projects showing how colleges and schools can play a key role in software development, perhaps preventing a slide into mass market ultra-slickness so often associated with commercial television productions. But the transition will be expensive and require authors to be multitalented, team players in an arena once dominated by inventive loners working on bare-bones equipment in cluttered offices and garages.
Financial Hardship, Unmet Medical Need, and Health Self-Efficacy Among African American Men

Background. Health self-efficacy (the confidence to take care of one’s health) is a key component in ensuring that individuals are active partners in their health and health care. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between financial hardship and health self-efficacy among African American men and to determine if unmet medical need due to cost potentially mediates this association. Method. Cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from a convenience sample of African American men who attended a 1-day annual community health fair in Northeast Ohio (N = 279). Modified Poisson regression models were estimated to obtain the relative risk of reporting low health self-efficacy. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, those reporting financial hardship were 2.91 times, RR = 2.91 (confidence interval [1.24, 6.83]; p < .05), more likely to report low health self-efficacy. When unmet medical need due to cost was added to the model, the association between financial hards...
Demographics and trends in overweight and obesity in patients at time of kidney transplantation.

Abstract Background: The epidemic of overweight and obesity is one of the most serious public health problems in the United States, although information regarding its effect on chronic kidney transplant patients is sparse. The authors describe the prevalence, demographics, and trends in overweight and obesity at the time of kidney transplantation. Methods: Data were obtained from a national transplant database that included all kidney transplants since 1987. Body mass indices (BMI) at time of transplantation were stratified by demographic categories and year. Trends of overweight and obesity between the general population and subjects undergoing kidney transplantation were compared. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify variables associated with increased likelihood of being obese. Results: The majority (60%) of subjects at time of transplantation currently are overweight or obese. Between 1987 and 2001, the proportion of obese transplant recipients rose by 116%. The rate of increase was grossly similar to that in the general population. The likelihood of being obese increased with age, female sex, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, black race, and the more recent the transplant year. Conversely, the proportion of recipients with lower BMI fell by approximately 50%. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are very prevalent at the time of kidney transplantation and are eclipsing protein-energy malnutrition as the more common nutritional illness. This may have profound negative effects on patient and allograft outcomes. Nephrologists may need to reexamine traditional notions of nutritional disease and therapeutic strategies to more effectively deal with this formidable challenge. Am J Kidney Dis 41:480-487.
Stabilizing bit-rates in networked control systems with decentralized event-triggered communication

In a decentralized event-triggered networked control system (NCS), an agent samples and transmits its local state information to the controller when some local event occurs. Such event-triggered NCSs were expected to be more efficient than traditional periodically sampled system in terms of communication channel usage. This paper studies the stability of decentralized event-triggered NCS in the presence of quantization and delays. We point out some potential issues in decentralized event-triggered design and propose an alternative decentralized event with a linear-affine threshold, which avoids infinitely fast data transmission. Conditions on quantizer and communication channel are derived, which, when satisfied, can guarantee stability of the resulting NCS. Based on these conditions, finite stabilizing bit-rates are provided.
Improved experimental line positions for the (1, 1) band of the b 1Σ+–X 3Σ− transition of O2

Abstract Improved experimental lines positions are presented for the (1, 1) band of the b 1 Σ + – X 3 Σ − transition of molecular oxygen, recorded by intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy.
Internal energy distributions in desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)

The internal energy distributions of typical ions generated by desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) were measured using the “survival yield” method, and compared with corresponding data for electrospray ionization (ESI) and electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI). The results show that the three ionization methods produce populations of ions having internal energy distributions of similar shapes and mean values (1.7–1.9 eV) suggesting similar phenomena, at least in the later stages of the process leading from solvated droplets to gas-phase ions. These data on energetics are consistent with the view that DESI involves “droplet pick-up” (liquid-liquid extraction) followed by ESI-like desolvation and gas-phase ion formation. The effects of various experimental parameters on the degree of fragmentation of p-methoxy-benzylpyridinium ions were compared between DESI and ESSI. The results show similar trends in the survival yields as a function of the nebulizing gas pressure, solvent flow rate, and distance from the sprayer tip to the MS inlet. These observations are consistent with the mechanism noted above and they also enable the user to exercise control over the energetics of the DESI ionization process, through manipulation of external and internal ion source parameters.
The Outsiders: Power Differentials between Roma and Non-Roma in Europe

AbstractSince the fall of the Berlin Wall, Romani/Gypsy political and social mobilization has intensified dramatically across Europe. Romani political parties have been created. A considerable number of Romani NGOs have been established. EU- and state-driven policies have been put in place to address ‘the Gypsy question’: meaning how to deal with the most discriminated ethnic minority of Europe. Yet, despite all these developments, the socio-economic situation of the Roma has remained very precarious, particularly in Eastern Europe, and a new wave of ‘anti-Gypsism’ has risen in Europe. This article seeks to answer the following question: why are the European Roma so discriminated against? I argue that discrimination against the Romani population is a function of power differentials between the Roma and the non-Roma majority. Historically, the balance of power between the two groups has been significantly tilted in the non-Roma's favor. Since the Roma's arrival in Europe, the non-Roma majority has held a c...
Candidate PET radioligands for cannabinoid CB1 receptors: [18F]AM5144 and related pyrazole compounds

Abstract Introduction The mammalian brain contains abundant G protein-coupled cannabinoid CB 1 receptors that respond to Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient of cannabis. The availability of a positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand would facilitate studies of the addictive and medicinal properties of compounds that bind to this receptor. Among the known classes of ligands for CB 1 receptors, the pyrazoles are attractive targets for radiopharmaceutical development because they are antagonists and are generally less lipophilic than the other classes. Methods A convenient high-yield synthesis of N -(4-[ 18 F]fluorophenyl)-5-(4-bromophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-1 H -pyrazole-3-carboxamide (AM5144) was devised by coupling the appropriate pyrazole-3-carboxyl chloride compound with 4-[ 18 F]fluoroaniline. The labeled precursor was synthesized from 1-[ 18 F]fluoro-4-nitrobenzene in 60% radiochemical yield for 10 min using an improved procedure involving sodium borohydride reduction with cobalt chloride catalysis. The product was purified by HPLC to give a specific activity >400 mCi/μmol and a radiochemical purity >95%, and a PET study was conducted in a baboon. Results Although the regional uptake of AM5144 in baboon brain was consistent with binding to cannabinoid CB 1 receptors, absolute uptake at Conclusions The relatively poor brain uptake of AM5144 and other pyrazole CB 1 receptor ligands is not surprising because of their high lipophilicity as compared with most brain PET radiotracers. However, for nine pyrazole compounds for which rodent data are available, brain uptake and calculated log P values are not correlated. Thus, high log P values should not preclude evaluation of radiotracers for targets such as the CB 1 receptor that may require very lipophilic ligands.
Syntheses and reactions of Saltren–Group 13 complexes

Neutral Group 13 combinations with the Saltren ligand (tris(((2-hydroxybenzyl)amino)ethyl)amine)) have been prepared and their reactivity explored. The majority of the compounds are of formula Saltren(MR 2 ) 3 where M=B; R=OMe ( 1 ), OEt ( 2 ), O n Pr ( 3 ); M=Al; R=Me ( 4 ), Et ( 5 ), i Bu ( 6 ) and R=Et for M=Ga ( 7 ) and In ( 8 ). Mono-, [SaltrenHAlMe] n ( 9 ), and tetra-metallic, Saltren(AlMe 2 ) 3 –AlMe 3 form when one and four equivalents of AlMe 3 are added to the ligand. Compound 9 can be converted to 4 by the addition of two or three additional molecules of AlMe 3 . Compounds 1 and 4 form unique zwitterionic compounds, [SaltrenH 3 {M(OSiPh 3 ) 3 } 3 ] (M=B ( 11 ) and Al ( 12 ) when combined with six equivalents of Ph 3 SiOH. Attempts to prepare those of formula Saltren{MR(OSiPh 3 )} 3 where M=B and Al led to an inseparable mixture of compounds. All of the compounds were characterized by standard techniques and, in the case of 1 , 4 , 7 and 12 , by X-ray crystallography.
A prospective study comparing standard laryngoscopy to the trachview videoscope system for orotracheal intubation by emergency medicine residents and medical students

Study objectives: Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is a skill that can be difficult for emergency physicians to use in the setting of an emergency intubation. The TrachView Videoscope (TV) consists of a narrow high-resolution fiberoptic cable whose tip is positioned at the distal end of the endotracheal tube. The image is displayed on a small portable bedside monitor. In this way, the TV does not alter the standard method of intubation but adds a second, possibly improved, view of the vocal cords. The TV has never been formally studied. We determine the ease of use and improvement in the percentage of glottic opening (POGO) score using the TV by individuals with various levels of intubation experience. Methods: The study was conducted in 2 phases on a mannequin model during an airway laboratory for emergency medicine residents and medical students in a university setting. Phase 1 consisted of a nonrandomized group sequential study design in which, after a 10-minute demonstration of the TV, emergency medicine residents assessed the POGO score using direct laryngoscopy (DL) and compared it with their observed POGO score using the TV. Part 2 consisted of a crossover study with first- and second-year medical students with no intubation experience. The students were randomized into 2 groups that differed by the method of intubation instruction given first: DL or TV. The students were given a 10-minute demonstration of each technique and had 2 attempts to return the demonstration. The POGO score noted by the student was recorded for each technique. The groups were then crossed and the process was repeated. Additional information collected from study subjects included ease of use of the TV and improvement in intubation using the TV. Results: In phase 1, the residents consisted of 4 postgraduate year (PGY)-1, 10 PGY-2, and 11 PGY-3 residents, and 3 participants whose level was not recorded, for a total of 28. Overall, the median POGO score for DL was 50%, and the median POGO score for TV was 100% ( P P =.004). The median difference in POGO scores (TV and DL) for the 2 groups was as follows: 75% for group 1 and 50% for group 2. Of all the participants, 67.6% (25) ranked the TV as "easy" to use, 21.6% (8) were undecided, and 10.8% (4) ranked the TV as "difficult" to use, whereas 56.8% percent (21) reported that the TV improved their intubation attempts, 27% (10) reported no difference, and 10.8% (4) reported that the TV made the intubation attempts more difficult. Conclusion: The Trachview Videoscope is easy to use and improves the POGO score and subjective evaluation of performance for intubation by individuals with various experience levels.
Fleas as Acceptable Intermediate Hosts of the Do Heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis.

The method of natural transmission of the dog heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis, is still incompletely elucidated. The larvae of this parasite have been shown to develop in many species of mosquitoes and, thus, mosquitoes have been believed to be incriminated in the natural transmission, but substantial proof of this is lacking. The possibility that other blood-sucking arthropods serve as transmitters was overlooked until 1921, when Breinl1 reported finding the micro-filarial embryos of Dirofilaria immitis in the fleas, Ctenocephalides canis and Ctenocephalides felis, collected from heartworm infected dogs in Australia. He also observed the advanced stages of development of this parasite in the Malpighian tubules of the fleas and the infective stage larvae in the hemocelic cavity. Recently, Brown2 has observed the microfilariae and partially developed larvae of this parasite in Ctenocephalides canis collected from heartworm-infected dogs in the eastern United States.In November of 1938, the writer, in examin...
Do the Paths to STEMM Professions Differ by Gender

In this article we examine gender differences in factors related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) education and employment between the ages of 36 and 39. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, we identified a STEMM high school talent pool. We found early gender differences in interest in engineering, although we found no such differences in entry into a general STEMM undergraduate major. Throughout the course of the study, we developed and tested structural equation models. We discovered that there were no major gender differences in family encouragement or precollege educational experiences, except that high school boys were slightly more likely to take calculus in high school. There were no significant differences in entrance into medicine and other health professions, but there were substantial gender differences in earned engineering degrees and employment in engineering. The completion of a graduate or professional degree was a stronger predict...
On a coupled reaction diffusion system with time delays

In a two-compartment model for cellular control by repression there arises a coupled system of reaction diffusion equations which governs the densities of the chemical species in the compartments. ...
Equilibrium Relative Humidity of Plant Tissue

Abstract Careful experimental evaluation of the equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of apples, carrots, poplar leaves and potatoes showed that the ERH was 99.5% or higher at 0–5°C, except for apples (99%). These ERH values were well above the ERH of the cell contents, and were fairly close to the ERH of water at the same temperature. Exact, mesured data on ERH are essential in understanding moisture loss and absorption in stored produce, in measuring heat and mass transfer during cooling and storage, and in evaluating mathematical models for temperature gradients and moisture loss in stored produce.
Statin Therapy Interacts With Cytomegalovirus Seropositivity and High C-Reactive Protein in Reducing Mortality Among Patients With Angiographically Significant Coronary Disease

Background— Seropositivity to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) may jointly predict increased mortality rates in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Therapy with statins reduces lipid levels but may also have other beneficial (eg, antiinflammatory) effects. This study prospectively evaluated the effect of statins on CMV-and CRP-associated death among patients with significant, angiographically defined CAD. Methods and Results— We monitored 2315 patients with angiographically significant CAD (stenosis ≥70%) for an average of 2.4 years (maximum, 5.8 years). Anti-CMV IgG antibody levels and CRP concentrations were measured at baseline, and statin prescription was recorded. As previously reported, mortality rate was higher for CMV seropositivity (+) with high CRP (hazard ratio [HR], 2.0) and lower for statins (HR, 0.50). Compared with CMV(−)/low CRP (mortality rate, 5% with statin versus 4% without statin), the protective effect of statin therapy was markedly greater for CMV...
Assent in pediatric research.

What do we mean by “assent” in the context of research involving children? Why do we obtain it? What is its purpose? Which children should be asked to assent? When should dissent be overridden? These are some of the questions regarding assent for pediatric research that remain under debate. In this month’s Pediatrics , Kimberly et al1 found wide variability in assent requirements, and perhaps such variability is expected when so many fundamental issues remain unresolved. In this commentary I present a brief review of the Kimberly et al findings, examine the foundation and justification for the assent requirement, summarize the debate over the appropriate age at which a child should be asked to assent, and illuminate controversies in both the information-delivery aspect of assent and the decision-making expectations. The commentary concludes with an assertion that our entire approach to assent is flawed and suggestions for the focus of future inquiry. Kimberly et al1 reviewed informed permission, assent, and consent documents for 3 multicenter clinical trials involving children. Standard informed-consent documents were submitted to institutional review boards (IRBs) at 55 separate institutions, and these IRBs required substantively different alterations. The Kimberly et al study focused on requirements for assent and the amount of compensation at participating institutions and found considerable variability in both arenas. As an example of the inconsistency seen in the assent requirements, the age at which IRBs required investigators to obtain assent varied greatly. For the hypertension study, the age at which assent was required ranged from 6 to 15 years; for the pain study, the range was 6 to 12 years; and for the respiratory-failure study, the range was 7 to 12 years (see Fig 2 in ref 1). Why some IRBs felt that it would be appropriate for a 6-year-old to provide assent … Address correspondence to Alexander A. Kon, MD, CM, FAAP, Department of Pediatrics and Bioethics, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, University of California, Davis, 2516 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817. E-mail: aakon{at}ucdavis.edu
Laser-excited fluorescence of diatomic lead in a glow discharge source

Abstract Glow discharge sources provide simple and convenient means for laser-excited atomic spectroscopic studies of atoms sputtered from the cathode material. Presence of molecular species was observed in the course of investigation on this source as an atom cell for the laser-excited atomic fluorescence spectroscopic studies of lead. Spectral studies revealed characteristic band spectra, indicating the presence of molecular species in the discharge. The spectra were identified as belonging to the lead dimer species (diatomic lead molecule). It is, therefore, essential to examine the presence and possibility of interferences from molecular species while using glow discharge sources as atomization cells in atomic spectroscopic applications.
The Neuroscience of Pain, and a Neuroethics of Pain Care

Neuroscience, together with a broadened concept of “mind” has instigated pragmatic and ethical concerns about the experience and treatment of pain. If pain medicine is to be authentic, it requires knowledge of the brain-mind, pain, and the relative and appropriate “goodness” of potential interventions that can and/or should be provided. This speaks to the need for an ethics that reflects and is relevant to the contemporary neuroscience of pain, acknowledgment and appreciation of the sentient being in pain, effects of environment and value(s), and the nature of healing. It may be that neuroethics provides this viable meta-ethic for pain care. This essay describes how an integrative neuroethics of pain care allows, if not obligates, alignment of facts, values, and moral attitudes as a continuing process of re-investigation, analysis, and revision of what we know (and don’t know) about brains, minds, selves, and how we regard and treat the painient.
Determination of subjective and objective similarity for pairs of masses on mammograms for selection of similar images

Presentation of images with known pathology similar to that of a new unknown lesion would be helpful for radiologists in their diagnosis of breast cancer. In order to find images that are really similar and useful to radiologists, we determined the radiologists' subjective similarity ratings for pairs of masses, and investigated objective similarity measures that would agree well with the subjective ratings. Fifty sets of images, each of which included one image in the center and six other images to be compared with the center image, were selected; thus, 300 pairs of images were prepared. Ten breast radiologists provided the subjective similarity ratings for each image pair in terms of the overall impression for diagnosis. The objective similarity measures based on cross-correlation of the images, differences in feature values, and psychophysical measures by use of an artificial neural network were determined. The objective measures based on the cross-correlation were found to be not correlated with the subjective similarity ratings (r 0.40). When several image features were used, the differences-based objective measure was moderately correlated (r = 0.59) with the subjective ratings. The relatively high correlation coefficient (r = 0.74) was obtained for the psychophysical similarity measure. The similar images selected by use of the psychophysical measure can be useful to radiologists in the diagnosis of breast cancer.