cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Compiler-based approach to reducing leakage energy of instruction scratch-pad memories

In this paper, we study a compiler-based approach to reducing the instruction SPM leakage energy efficiently, which can also minimize the performance overhead. Our evaluation indicates that the compiler-based approach is superior to periodical or bank-based methods. On average, the compiler-based method can reduce the SPM leakage energy by nearly 89.82%, with only 0.25% performance overhead.
Evidence and falsification: Challenges to Gregory Peterson

. In this reply to Gregory Peterson's essay “Maintaining Respectability,” which itself is a response to my “Is Theology Respectable as Metaphysics?” I elaborate upon my claims that theology treats God's existence as an absolute certainty immune to refutation and that modern science constitutes the canons of respectable reasoning for metaphysical disciplines. I conclude with some comments on Peterson's “In Praise of Folly? Theology and the University.”
Women with hip fracture experience greater loss of geometric strength in the contralateral hip during the year following fracture than age-matched controls.

This study examined femur geometry underlying previously observed decline in BMD of the contralateral hip in older women the year following hip fracture compared to non-fractured controls. Compared to controls, these women experienced a greater decline in indices of bone structural strength, potentially increasing the risk of a second fracture. This study examined the femur geometry underlying previously observed decline in BMD of the contralateral hip in the year following hip fracture compared to non-fractured controls. Geometry was derived from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan images using hip structural analysis from women in the third cohort of the Baltimore Hip Studies and from women in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. Change in BMD, section modulus (SM), cross-sectional area (CSA), outer diameter, and buckling ratio (BR) at the narrow neck (NN), intertrochanteric (IT), and shaft (S) regions of the hip were compared. Wider bones and reduced CSA underlie the significantly lower BMD observed in women who fractured their hip resulting in more fragile bones expressed by a lower SM and higher BR. Compared to controls, these women experienced a significantly greater decline in CSA (−2.3% vs. −0.2%NN, −3.2% vs. −0.5%IT), SM (−2.1% vs. −0.2%NN, −3.9% vs. −0.6%IT), and BMD (−3.0% vs. −0.8%NN, −3.3% vs. −0.6%IT, −2.3% vs. −0.2%S) and a greater increase in BR (5.0% vs. 2.1%NN, 6.0% vs. 1.3%IT, 4.4% vs. 1.0%S) and shaft outer diameter (0.9% vs. 0.1%). The contralateral femur continued to weaken during the year following fracture, potentially increasing the risk of a second fracture.
Synthesis and Characterization of Hindered Polyphosphazenes via Functionalized Intermediates: Exploratory Models for Electro-optical Materials

Several cosubstituent polyphosphazenes were synthesized that incorporate the nonlinear optical chromophore, disperse red 1 (DR-1), linked covalently to the polymer backbone through spacer groups. These polymers have a high chromophore loading (one DR-1 per repeat unit), have glass transition temperatures near 100 °C, and are high refractive index materials (n = ∼1.71). The syntheses were achieved via unconventional reactions that involve functionalized poly(organophosphazenes). Disperse red-1 was linked to the polymers by two different methods that generate either an ester- or an ether-linked system. Techniques such as 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, UV−vis spectroscopy, and optical birefringence were used to monitor the structures.
LAPAROSCOPY IN UROLOGY

During the past decade, we have witnessed exponential advances and applications of laparoscopy in all fields of surgical practice. Perhaps in no other surgical subspecialty have these advances been more prevalent than in urology. Previous surgical procedures recognized as the "gold standards" of practice are being replaced by procedures that promise equivalent success rates with the added benefits of reduced postoperative pain, hospital stay, and return to full activity. As instrumentation and the skill of minimally invasive surgeons have improved, the limits of laparoscopy have continued to expand. The list of procedures that are now performed laparoscopically spans the entire realm of urology, including diagnostics, cancer staging, extirpation, and reconstruction. This article focuses on surgeries that are part of accepted treatment practice in the year 2000. Transperitoneal and extraperitoneal (or retroperitoneal) approaches have been described for all of these procedures. This article primarily discusses transperitoneal techniques but provides references, when appropriate, for alternative approaches.
Reflections on Northern Rock: The Bank Run That Heralded the Global Financial Crisis

In September 2007, television viewers and newspaper readers around the world saw pictures of what looked like an old-fashioned bank run—that is, depositors waiting in line outside the branch offices of a United Kingdom bank called Northern Rock to withdraw their money. The previous U.K. bank run before Northern Rock was in 1866 at Overend Gurney, a London bank that overreached itself in the railway and docks boom of the 1860s. Bank runs were not uncommon in the United States up through the 1930s, but they have been rare since the start of deposit insurance backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In contrast, deposit insurance in the United Kingdom was a partial affair, funded by the banking industry itself and insuring only a part of the deposits—at the time of the run, U.K. bank deposits were fully insured only up to 2,000 pounds, and then only 90 percent of the deposits up to an upper limit of 35,000 pounds. When faced with a run, the incentive to withdraw one’s deposits from a U.K. bank was therefore very strong. For economists, the run on Northern Rock at first seemed to offer a rare opportunity to study at close quarters all the elements involved in their theoretical models of bank runs: the futility of public statements of reassurance, the mutually reinforcing anxiety of depositors, as well as the power of the media in galvanizing and channeling that anxiety through the power of television images. However, the storyline of the Northern Rock bank run does not fit the conventional narrative. On September 13, 2007, the BBC’s evening television news broadcast first broke the news that Northern Rock had sought the Bank of England’s support. The next morning, the Bank of England announced that it would provide emergency liquidity support. It was only after that announcement—that is, after the
Modeling mobility in the Dutch context: current issues and dilemmas.

The author assesses recent research on modeling residential mobility. "The review and analysis in this article are designed to...examine the question of the trade off between theoretical concerns and policy relevance. The review emphasizes recent research in the Dutch housing market context....[Three critical issues are highlighted.] The first is the link between the aggregate and micro approaches. The second is the role of the interface between the studies of mobility and the larger demographic processes. And the third is the nature of the modeling strategies themselves. The last will lead quite naturally into the concluding remarks--the usefulness of modeling for policy makers." (EXCERPT)
Beam steering by chi (2) trapping

We show numerically the mutual dragging and locking together of intense fundamental and second-harmonic light beams propagating in second-order nonlinear media, and we discuss the potential applications of such effects for the steering of beams by spatial phase modulation of the input signals.
Feasibility and observed safety of interactive video games for physical rehabilitation in the intensive care unit: a case series

Abstract Background Early rehabilitation in the intensive care unit (ICU) improves patients' physical function. Despite reports of using commercially available interactive video game systems for rehabilitation, there are few data evaluating feasibility and safety as part of routine in-patient rehabilitation, particularly in the ICU. Methods We conducted an observational study from September 1, 2009, to August 31, 2010, of adults admitted to a 16-bed medical ICU receiving video games as part of routine physical therapy (PT), evaluating use and indications and occurrence of 14 prospectively monitored safety events. Results Of 410 patients receiving PT in the medical ICU, 22 (5% of all patients; male, 64%; median age, 52 years) had 42 PT treatments with video games (median [interquartile range] per patient, 1.0 [1.0-2.0]). Main indications for video game therapy included balance (52%) and endurance (45%), and the most common activities included boxing (38%), bowling (24%), and balance board (21%). Of 42 treatments, 69% occurred while standing and 45% while mechanically ventilated. During 35 hours of PT treatment, 0 safety events occurred (95% upper confidence limit for safety event rate, 8.4%). Conclusions Novel use of interactive video games as part of routine PT in critically ill patients is feasible and appears safe in our case series. Video game therapy may complement existing rehabilitation techniques for ICU patients.
Aids and Social Networks: HIV Prevention Through Network Mobilization

Abstract Whereas many infectious diseases are spread through casual contact and contagion, HIV transmission results from risk behaviors that involve close and often intimate contact. As a result, the transmission of HIV is structured by the social relationships within which these contacts are embedded. Hence, social network analysis is especially suitable for understanding the AIDS epidemic. This paper reports the results of a field experiment that compares a network-based HIV prevention intervention, termed a “Peer-Driven Intervention” (PDI), with the standard form of street-based outreach intervention. The results suggest that the network intervention outperforms the standard approach with respect to number of people accessed, reductions in self-reported levels of HIV risk behavior and cost. Finally, the analysis focuses on the network structure of drug injectors and discusses the implications of these structures for understanding both the spread of HIV through social networks and the design of HIV-prev...
ON THE GEOTROPIC ORIENTATION OF HELIX.

The snail Helix nemoralis in negatively geotropic creeping orients upward upon an inclined surface until the angle of the path of progression (θ) is related to the tilt of the surface (α) as (Δ sin θ) (Δ sin α) = – const.; θ is very nearly a rectilinear function of log sin α. The precision of orientation (P.E.θ) declines in proportion to increasing sin α, P.E.θ/θ in proportion to θ. These facts are comprehensible only in terms of the view that the limitation of orientation is controlled by the sensorial equivalence of impressed tensions in the anterior musculature.
Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Response to Proton Radiation

In the interest of developing a highly sensitive, low power radiation dosimeter, a series of tests were performed on single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-based nanomaterials to monitor their respons...
Analytical Solutions to General Orthotropic Plates under Patch Loading

Orthotropic plates are widely used in bridge deck systems. However, these are not commonly treated as such within design specifications, and semianalytical solutions are not presently available for all deck types. This paper develops deflection equations for infinitely wide and simply supported thin plates considering each of the three cases of orthotropy: (1) relatively torsionally stiff, flexurally soft; (2) uniformly thick plate; and (3) torsionally soft, flexurally stiff; subjected to arbitrary patch loading. These are common boundary and loading conditions encountered for bridge deck applications. The reported analytical solutions enable rapid evaluation of multiple moving patch loads to determine maximum design load effects and permit validation of numerical and finite-element methods. Application of the solutions will produce guidelines that can prescribe design demands and establish practical design simplifications for treatment of different bridge deck and slab systems in a uniform and consistent manner.
Structures and Comparative Characterization of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters for Cyanosporasides, Enediyne-Derived Natural Products from Marine Actinomycetes

Cyanosporasides are marine bacterial natural products containing a chlorinated cyclopenta[a]indene core of suspected enediyne polyketide biosynthetic origin. Herein, we report the isolation and characterization of novel cyanosporasides C–F (3–6) from the marine actinomycetes Salinispora pacifica CNS-143 and Streptomyces sp. CNT-179, highlighted by the unprecedented C-2′ N-acetylcysteamine functionalized hexose group of 6. Cloning, sequencing, and mutagenesis of homologous ∼50 kb cyanosporaside biosynthetic gene clusters from both bacteria afforded the first genetic evidence supporting cyanosporaside’s enediyne, and thereby p-benzyne biradical, biosynthetic origin and revealed the molecular basis for nitrile and glycosyl functionalization. This study provides new opportunities for bioengineering of enediyne derivatives and expands the structural diversity afforded by enediyne gene clusters.
Urinary PCA3 as a predictor of prostate cancer in a cohort of 3,073 men undergoing initial prostate biopsy.

Purpose: PCA3 is a urinary marker that has shown promise in predicting the presence of prostate cancer in men undergoing repeat prostate biopsy. We studied PCA3 before initial prostate biopsy.Materials and Methods: Records from a single organization were retrospectively reviewed. The predictive value of PCA3 was explored using nonparametric receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC) and multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results: A total of 3,073 men underwent PCA3 analysis before initial prostate biopsy sampling of 12 to 14 areas. Mean PCA3 was 27.2 and 52.5 for patients without and with cancer, respectively. Prostate cancer was identified in 1,341 (43.6%) men. Overall 54.5% had Gleason 6 disease and 45.5% had Gleason 7 or greater (high grade prostate cancer). Mean PCA3 was 47.5 and 58.5 for the patients with Gleason 6 and 7 or greater disease, respectively. On multivariable logistic analysis PCA3 was statistically significantly associated with prostate cancer and high grade prostate ...
Rural North Dakota's Oil Boom and Its Impact on Social Services

Over the last five years, North Dakota has experienced an oil boom based on high oil prices and hydraulic fracturing technologies. This has brought economic expansion and population growth to rural communities that had previously experienced decades of depopulation and economic struggle. Although the state has enjoyed many benefits--especially in juxtaposition to a sluggish national economy--the boom has also meant the arrival of economic refugees and dramatic impacts on largely rural social service systems. In the midst of a rapidly changing situation, available information tends to swing between euphoria over economic success and hysteria about rising crime and shifting cultures. In response, the authors used a primary focus group with county social service directors from across the state and a followup focus group with social workers operating on the edge of oil activity. Grounded in resilience theory, qualitative analysis of the primary focus group, and triangulation of data from other sources, this study provides a more objective report of the housing and social challenges, the benefits of the boom, and the challenges to solutions.
Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy for the Neurologic Veterinary Patient

A comprehensive physiotherapy plan for neurology patients manages pain, prevents secondary complications, and supports the health and function of musculoskeletal tissues during recovery. Neurologically impaired patients range in ability from complete immobility (tetraplegia/paraplegia), partial mobility (tetraparesis/paraparesis), mild ataxia, to pain only. Important considerations for the design of a physiotherapy program include access to the patient, level of staff support, and safety of staff, patient, and client during treatments. A thorough overview of the treatment plan and expected outcome should be discussed with the client at the onset of therapy and should be reviewed frequently, particularly as the patient's status changes.
When to choose an ensemble classifier model for data mining

This study empirically explores the use of a group, or ensemble, of classifiers to support managerial decision making in domains characterised by asymmetric misclassification costs. The approach developed in this study is intended to assist a decision maker in determining whether a current situation warrants the choice of an ensemble over an individual classifier. The decision is based primarily on misclassification costs in the decision context and the associated basis on which performance is assessed. We show that the criteria for evaluating classifier performance are fundamentally dependent on the symmetry or asymmetry of misclassification costs. The result of this study is a set of heuristics for identifying highly- and poorly-performing ensembles.
A Modal Temporal Logic for Reasoning about Change

We examine several behaviors for query systems that become possible with the ability to represent and reason about change in data bases: queries about possible futures, queries about alternative histories, and offers of monitors as responses to queries. A modal temporal logic is developed for this purpose. A completion axiom for history is given and modelling strategies are given by example.
Observer pole placement limitations for a class of offset-free model predictive controllers

Model predictive control (MPC) algorithms achieve offset-free control by augmenting the nominal system model with a disturbance model. The disturbance vector is used to predict the mismatch between the measured and predicted output vectors. In this paper, we consider an offset-free MPC framework that includes an output disturbance model and a Kalman filter to estimate the state and disturbance vectors. Using root locus techniques, we identify sufficient conditions for a class of nominal systems with at least one real positive pole for which the closed loop estimator poles cannot be arbitrarily selected. We present several examples illustrating the limitations of the closed loop estimator pole locations.
Recognition of Nucleic Acid Junctions Using Triptycene‐Based Molecules

The modulation of nucleic acids by small molecules is an essential process across the kingdoms of life. Targeting nucleic acids with small molecules represents a significant challenge at the forefront of chemical biology. Nucleic acid junctions are ubiquitous structural motifs in nature and in designed materials. Herein, we describe a new class of structure-specific nucleic acid junction stabilizers based on a triptycene scaffold. Triptycenes provide significant stabilization of DNA and RNA three-way junctions, providing a new scaffold for the development of nucleic acid junction binders with enhanced recognition properties. Additionally, we report cytotoxicity and cell uptake data in two human ovarian carcinoma cell lines.
Minimization of extracellular space as a driving force in prokaryote association and the origin of eukaryotes

Following the publication of this article [1] it was noticed that, due to an error on the part of the publisher, the 2nd round of comments submitted by Reviewer 1, Dr. Lopez-Garcia, were unintentionally omitted during the peer review process. As a consequence of this error, the authors were unable to reply to Dr. Lopez-Garcia’s comments and subsequently revise their manuscript accordingly (where appropriate).
Modeling charitable contributions of time and money

Abstract Public goods theory predicts that government spending on charity can perfectly crowd-out charitable contributions. Empirical research has found little support for the perfect crowd-out hypothesis. However, the empirical work only measures part of a contributor's total contribution: gifts of money. Contributors also volunteer labor. This article extends the public goods model to the case in which individuals contribute both time and money to a charity that in turn produces a public good. The model suggests that charitable contributions of time and money are perfectly substitutable in equilibrium. This result offers new interpretations for existing empirical observations, and suggests a new test of the crowd-out hypothesis. The implications of the model are empirically tested using a national survey of charitable activity.
Calcium buffer injections delay cleavage in Xenopus laevis blastomeres

Microinjection of calcium buffers into the two-cell Xenopus laevis embryo delays cell division in a dose-dependent manner. Four calcium buffers in the BAPTA series with different affinities for calcium were used to distinguish between a localized calcium gradient regulating cleavage and the global calcium concentration regulating this event. DibromoBAPTA (Kd = 1.5 microM) was found to delay cleavage at the lowest intracellular concentration (1.3 mM) of the four buffers tested. The effectiveness of the calcium buffers was dependent upon the buffer dissociation constant but not in a linear fashion. The concentration of buffer required to delay cleavage increased as the buffer's dissociation constant shifted above or below that of the optimum buffer, dibromoBAPTA. This relationship between a calcium buffer's effectiveness at delaying cleavage and its calcium affinity provides support for the hypothesis that a calcium concentration gradient is required for normal cell cycle progression (Speksnijder, J. E., A. L. Miller, M. H. Weisenseel, T.-H. Chen, and L. F. Jaffe. 1989. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 86:6607-6611). DibromoBAPTA was also injected with two different amounts of coinjected calcium to test the possibility that the free calcium concentration of the buffer solution is the important parameter for delaying cleavage. However, we found that changes in buffer concentration have a much stronger effect than changes in the free calcium concentration. This observation supports the hypothesis that BAPTA-type buffers exert their effect by shuttling calcium from regions of high concentration to those of lower concentration, reducing any calcium concentration gradients present in the Xenopus embryo.
Privacy, public safety, and medical research

The increasing storage of vast amounts of information on computers and the rapidly increasing size of the databases stored on-line has the population and even many politicians worried about invasion of privacy. This paper examines some possible ways in which privacy may be invaded by the use of medical databases particularly during analysis and publication of results. The current literature is examined to reveal current practices.
Implementation of 3D spatial indexing and compression in a large-scale molecular dynamics simulation database for rapid atomic contact detection.

Background: Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations offer the ability to observe the dynamics and interactions of both whole macromolecules and individual atoms as a function of time. Taken in context with experimental data, atomic interactions from simulation provide insight into the mechanics of protein folding, dynamics, and function. The calculation of atomic interactions or contacts from an MD trajectory is computationally demanding and the work required grows exponentially with the size of the simulation system. We describe the implementation of a spatial indexing algorithm in our multi-terabyte MD simulation database that significantly reduces the run-time required for discovery of contacts. The approach is applied to the Dynameomics project data. Spatial indexing, also known as spatial hashing, is a method that divides the simulation space into regular sized bins and attributes an index to each bin. Since, the calculation of contacts is widely employed in the simulation field, we also use this as the basis for testing compression of data tables. We investigate the effects of compression of the trajectory coordinate tables with different options of data and index compression within MS SQL SERVER 2008. Results: Our implementation of spatial indexing speeds up the calculation of contacts over a 1 nanosecond (ns) simulation window by between 14% and 90% (i.e., 1.2 and 10.3 times faster). For a ‘full’ simulation trajectory (51 ns) spatial indexing reduces the calculation run-time between 31 and 81% (between 1.4 and 5.3 times faster). Compression resulted in reduced table sizes but resulted in no significant difference in the total execution time for neighbour discovery. The greatest compression (~36%) was achieved using page level compression on both the data and indexes. Conclusions: The spatial indexing scheme significantly decreases the time taken to calculate atomic contacts and could be applied to other multidimensional neighbor discovery problems. The speed up enables on-the-fly calculation and visualization of contacts and rapid cross simulation analysis for knowledge discovery. Using page compression for the atomic coordinate tables and indexes saves ~36% of disk space without any significant decrease in calculation time and should be considered for other non-transactional databases in MS SQL SERVER 2008.
Fuzzy variable structure control for MIMO systems

This paper presents a fuzzy variable structure controller for MIMO systems. Motivated by the principle of variable structure control strategy, a systematic design procedure is proposed. The proposed fuzzy controller is constructed to approximate the unknown system and to reduce the chattering phenomenon. The controller parameters can also be adapted online to utilize the control energy more efficiently. The simulation results show that the proposed control algorithm exhibits strong robustness against model uncertainties and external disturbances.
Transcolonic endoscopic cholecystectomy: a NOTES survival study in a porcine model (with video).

Background Transgastric cholecystectomy is a natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) procedure that has been reported in 2 nonsurvival studies. Both studies detail substantial technical limitations, with only a 33% success rate when limited to 1 gastric incision site, despite the use of a multichannel locking endoscope. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and technical limitations of transcolonic cholecystectomy in a survival model. Design Animal feasibility study. Interventions Five pigs, under general anesthesia, were prepared with tap-water enemas, a peranal antibiotic lavage, and a Betadine rinse. A dual-channel endoscope was advanced into the peritoneum through an anterior, transcolonic incision 15 to 20 cm from the anus. After cystic duct and artery ligation, dissection of the gallbladder was achieved by using grasping and cutting instruments. After removing the gallbladder, the colonic incision was closed by using Endoloops and/or endoclips. The animals lived for 2 weeks after the procedure, then they were euthanized, and a necropsy was performed. Results All 5 gallbladders were successfully resected. Four of the 5 animals flourished in the postoperative period, with appropriate weight gain. In 1 animal, complete closure of the colonic incision was not possible, and it was euthanized at 48 hours for suspected peritonitis. Conclusions This study reports the first transcolonic organ resection and demonstrates the first successful NOTES cholecystectomy in a survival model. The transcolonic approach provided improved endoscope stability and biliary exposure compared with the transgastric route, and complete incision closure appeared critical for procedural success.
Evolvability of Real Functions

We formulate a notion of evolvability for functions with domain and range that are real-valued vectors, a compelling way of expressing many natural biological processes. We show that linear and fixed-degree polynomial functions are evolvable in the following dually-robust sense: There is a single evolution algorithm that, for all convex loss functions, converges for all distributions. It is possible that such dually-robust results can be achieved by simpler and more-natural evolution algorithms. Towards this end, we introduce a simple and natural algorithm that we call wide-scale random noise and prove a corresponding result for the L2 metric. We conjecture that the algorithm works for a more general class of metrics.
Materialized views in probabilistic databases: for information exchange and query optimization

Views over probabilistic data contain correlations between tuples, and the current approach is to capture these correlations using explicit lineage. In this paper we propose an alternative approach to materializing probabilistic views, by giving conditions under which a view can be represented by a block-independent disjoint (BID) table. Not all views can be represented as BID tables and so we propose a novel partial representation that can represent all views but may not define a unique probability distribution. We then give conditions on when a query's value on a partial representation will be uniquely defined. We apply our theory to two applications: query processing using views and information exchange using views. In query processing on probabilistic data, we can ignore the lineage and use materialized views to more efficiently answer queries. By contrast, if the view has explicit lineage, the query evaluation must reprocess the lineage to compute the query resulting in dramatically slower execution. The second application is information exchange when we do not wish to disclose the entire lineage, which otherwise may result in shipping the entire database. The paper contains several theoretical results that completely solve the problem of deciding whether a conjunctive view can be represented as a BID and whether a query on a partial representation is uniquely determined. We validate our approach experimentally showing that representable views exist in real and synthetic workloads and show over three magnitudes of improvement in query processing versus a lineage based approach.
Enthesopathy of the Distal Biceps Femoris Tendon Insertion: An Unusual Case of Posterolateral Knee Pain: A Case Report.

To the best of our knowledge, insertional tendinopathy (enthesopathy) of the distal biceps femoris tendon insertion has not been described in the literature. We present a patient with this condition who experienced pain in the posterolateral part of the knee. After an unsuccessful course of physical therapy, surgical debridement of the degenerative tendon led to complete resolution of the symptoms and a return to full sporting activities. The patient was informed that data concerning his case would be submitted for publication, and he provided consent. A thirty-four-year-old man presented to our clinic with two months of posterolateral right knee pain. The pain had started abruptly after a full day of playing in the surf at the beach. The pain was localized to the posterolateral part of the knee and worsened with deep knee flexion. There were no mechanical symptoms or instability on knee examination, and there was no effusion. Several courses of anti-inflammatory medication did not relieve the pain. ### Medical History The medical history included hypertension, dyslipidemia, and intermittent low back pain. The only prior surgery was an inguinal hernia repair. The musculoskeletal history included a diagnosis of iliotibial band tightness, which had been treated with stretching exercises at home. Three years earlier, he had sustained a torsional injury to the right knee while skiing. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study at that time showed minor lateral meniscal fraying, but no substantial intra-articular pathology. He had been treated with a course of anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy and had completely recovered. ### Physical Examination The patient was 175 cm tall and weighed 73 kg, with a body mass index of 23.8. The right knee had full active and passive knee motion from 5° of hyperextension to 135° of flexion. There was no knee effusion. The results of Lachman, anterior drawer, and posterior drawer tests were …
Analytical Verification of a PCR Assay for Identification of Bordetella avium

Bordetella avium is the etiologic agent of turkey coryza or bordetellosis, a respiratory disease responsible for substantial economic losses to the turkey industry. At present, identification of this bacterium relies on isolation and biochemical testing. Although a PCR for the detection of B. avium was proposed a number of years ago (P. H. Savelkoul, L. E. de Groot, C. Boersma, I. Livey, C. J. Duggleby, B. A. van der Zeijst, and W. Gaastra, Microb. Pathog. 15:207-215, 1993), lack of analytical verification precludes its use as a diagnostic tool. Furthermore, a number of details pertaining to the reaction conditions used are missing or unclear. In the present study we have identified an optimal set of PCR conditions for use with the previously described primer pair and determined the limit of detection under these conditions to be approximately 20 pg. Assay sensitivity is 100%, based on an analysis of 72 B. avium isolates from diverse geographic locations and covering a time span of at least 25 years. Evaluation of a separate group of 87 bacterial isolates from poultry, comprising both gram-positive and gram-negative commensals and pathogens representing 11 genera, demonstrated an assay specificity of 98.8%. Reproducibility is 100% using either purified genomic DNA or boiled cell lysates less than 3 days old. Sequence analysis of the B. avium PCR amplicons identified only three occasional sequence polymorphisms. These data indicate the B. avium PCR assay can provide clinically significant results.
Red cell immune adherence (RCIA): its application in cancer and autoimmune disease.

A rosette technique is described which measures the relative activity of the red cell immune adherence (RCIA) receptor. Antibody-coated sheep red cells, in the presence of complement, adhere to human red cells and thus form mixed human-sheep red cell aggregates (RR-rosettes). The percentage of human red cells adhering to one or more sheep red cells is used as the parameter of RCIA activity.The RCIA receptor activity of 23 cancer patients, 13 patients with autoimmune diseases, and 39 age-matched control was compared by investigating the ability of human red cells to adhere to antibody and complement coated sheep red cells and thus form RR-rosettes. We noticed a decrease in the percentage of RR-rosettes forming cells in cancer patients (p < 0.0005). In contrast, patients with autoimmune disease showed a significant increase in RR-rosettes when compared to age-matched controls (p < 0.05). Thus malignancy and autoimmune disease are associated with surface changes of erythrocytes, specifically those of the rec...
Correlates of the Rate of Decline of CD4+ Lymphocytes among Injection Drug Users Infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Changes in the level of CD4-bearing T-lymphocytes in injection drug users infected with the human immunodeficiency virus were evaluated in a sample of 318 subjects enrolled from a methadone program in the Bronx, New York, from 1985 through 1989. Follow-up continued through 1990. The percentage of CD4+ T-lymphocytes (CD4%) was used to maximize the stability of measurements. The rate of decline of the CD4% was determined using a random-effects assumption, and predictors of rate of decline were evaluated using an autoregressive model. The rate of CD4% decline was approximately 1.2 CD4% lost per 6 months, with a higher rate in recent seroconverters (2.2 CD4% lost). The most important predictors of decline of the CD4% in autoregressive models were current pyogenic bacterial infection (CD4% reduced by 2.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42-5.08), current report of a second constitutional symptom (CD4% reduced by 2.16, 95% CI 0.03-4.29), and history of bacterial infection (CD4% reduced by 1.49, 95% CI 0.09-2.89; proportion of prior CD4% lost increased by 0.14, 95% CI 0.01-0.27). Oral thrush was not related to an accelerated rate of CD4% decline.
Effect of organomodified layered silicates on the properties and structure of polytetrafluoroethylene

The physicomechanical and triboengineering properties and the structures of polymer composite materials based on polytetrafluoroethylene and layered silicates are studied. The triboengineering characteristics are substantially improved by the introduction of a small amount of layered silicates (2–5 wt %). It is found that the introduction of organomodified layered silicates leads to a considerable reduction in the friction coefficient, by an order of magnitude, and causes an increase in wear resistance (2000-fold). With the use of X-ray structural analysis and scanning electron microscopy, it is shown that, during friction loading, filler particles are localized on the friction surface, thereby hampering wear of the material.
Saturated fat and heart disease: The latest evidence

In recent years, many nutrition news headlines exclaimed that saturated fat was not linked to heart disease, leaving the public confused about whether to limit intake, as has been the dietary recommendation for several decades. However, a more nuanced look at the evidence indicates that high saturated fat diets are in fact not benign with respect to heart disease risk. Dietary recommendations should emphasize replacing saturated fats typical in red and processed meats, and certain tropical oils and dairy forms, with healthier polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat-rich foods, such as nuts, olive oil, and fatty fish, as well as healthy sources of carbohydrates, such as fiber-rich whole-grain foods, rather than refined-grain and sugar-laden foods.
Retribution and Revenge in the Context of Capital Punishment

Several Supreme Court opinions that reject capital punishment specifically or retributive punishment generally as inconsistent with the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution characterize those practices as vengeance or as revenge. These opinions apparently reflect the premise that vengeance is self-evidently evil. Non-judicial participants in the legal, political, and public debates regarding capital punishment specifically or retributive punishment generally sometimes demonstrate a similar tendency to repudiate capital punishment or retributive punishment as revenge without further justification, suggesting that the mere characterization of behavior or of an institution as revenge is sufficient to establish that it is illegitimate. This Article examines the relevant passages in these opinions and the central notions at issue in order to distinguish several possible interpretations of the positions asserted. It then evaluates the broader interpretations in the context of one traditional moral theory. Finally, it clarifies the significance of this analysis for the underlying debate regarding the justification (or lack thereof) of retributive punishment generally or of capital punishment specifically.
GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS OF VARIABLE SEX RATIOS IN LABORATORY STRAINS OF POECILIOPSIS LUCIDA.

Skewed sex ratios are common among several species of Poeciliopsis, a viviparous fish from northwestern Mexico. Since previous, unrelated studies from this laboratory (Angus and Schultz, 1983) suggested that deviation from a 1:1 sex ratio might be influenced by temperature, two inbred strains of P. lucida were tested for temperature-dependent sex determination by comparing sex ratios of offspring from pregnant females held at different water temperatures. Different sex ratios were produced by the two strains at the same temperature: one strain produced almost all-male offspring at 30°C and female-biased sex ratios at 24°C, while the other strain produced a 1:1 sex ratio at both temperatures. At intermediate temperatures, the labile strain produced sequentially fewer males with decreasing temperatures. The other strain produced a consistent sex ratio regardless of temperature. Poeciliopsis lucida apparently has a genetic polymorphism for temperature-influenced sex determination. An hypothesis is offered for the evolutionary origin of environmental sex determination.
Patient-Doctor Communication: Implications for the Clinician

A review of the literature shows that social science rises visibly above the level of common sense in contributing to our understanding of communication in the patient-physican relationship. Specific questions considered include: Why and how do people become patients? What factors within patient, physician, disease, or environment affect the patient’s compliance with the physician’s advice? What is the role of other health professionals, particularly nurse-practitioners, in the process of patient-physician interaction?
Secondary pancreatic infections.

Infectious complications account for 80 per cent of the deaths resulting from acute pancreatitis. Future progress in the mortality of severe acute pancreatitis requires that we turn our attention toward the management of secondary pancreatic infections--abscess, infected pseudocyst and IPN. Review of 1,100 reported instances of secondary pancreatic infections reveals a pressing need for precise definitions of the individual infectious complication. In view of the marked discrepancy in definitions of disease between previous investigators, prior data must be seriously questioned, and doubt is cast upon long-standing recommendations for treatment. Recent advances in knowledge of the physiopathologic nature and diagnosis of secondary pancreatic infections promise improved surgical results. In particular, current diagnostic methods offer opportunities for more timely surgical intervention, avoiding the excessive mortality rate attendant upon delayed recognition. Furthermore, the use of condition-specific procedures, such as transcutaneous drainage for infected pseudocysts, debridement and sump drainage for pancreatic abscess and open drainage for IPN, may prove useful in combating the excessive morbidity and mortality rates caused by these conditions.
Consumer Markets in Closed-Loop Supply Chains

Though product reuse through closed-loop supply chains has many benefits for firms, as outlined throughout this book, consumers may not fully appreciate the benefits of buying previously used products. This conjecture led to a series of studies related to how consumers perceive reused products produced in a closed-loop supply chain. Specifically, this chapter summarizes the results from a series of studies that examined how consumers perceive remanufactured and refurbished products. The studies ranged from measuring simple reactions to remanufactured products through experimental manipulation of discount levels and brand equity as a means to determine the appeal of remanufactured products in the general U.S. consumer market. The findings breakdown into multiple levers that prompt consumer interest in remanufactured products including the usually assumed consumer greenness, quality perceptions, discounts, and brand equity. However, the studies also revealed the issue of aversion toward remanufactured products through both disgust and a segment of consumers who only desire new products.
Self-adjoint integral operator for bounded nonlocal transport.

An integral operator is developed to describe nonlocal transport in a one-dimensional system bounded on both ends by material walls. The "jump" distributions associated with nonlocal transport are taken to be Levy α-stable distributions, which become naturally truncated by the bounding walls. The truncation process results in the operator containing a self-consistent, convective inward transport term (pinch). The properties of the integral operator as functions of the Levy distribution parameter set [α,γ] and the wall conductivity are presented. The integral operator continuously recovers the features of local transport when α=2. The self-adjoint formulation allows for an accurate description of spatial variation in the Levy parameters in the nonlocal system. Spatial variation in the Levy parameters is shown to result in internally generated flows. Examples of cold-pulse propagation in nonlocal systems illustrate the capabilities of the methodology.
Elevated light levels reduce hemlock woolly adelgid infestation and improve carbon balance of infested eastern hemlock seedlings

Abstract The rapid loss of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) due to infestation with hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae, HWA) has greatly altered structure and function of eastern forests. Numerous control strategies including local pesticide use and biocontrol with predator beetles have been implemented with considerable cost and varying success. Silviculture treatments that increase incident light on surviving hemlock trees to reduce infestation and ameliorate carbon starvation have been proposed as another possible conservation strategy, yet no controlled studies have evaluated the coupled plant-insect responses to increased light. We conducted a nursery experiment on artificially infested eastern hemlock seedlings under varying levels of ambient light, ranging from 0 to 90% shade. We measured HWA infestation (ovisac density), short- and long-term indicators of carbon balance (leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, net photosynthesis, total nonstructural carbohydrate content, and shoot growth), and nutrition (leaf N content). We hypothesized that higher light would result in reduced HWA densities, higher C assimilation rates, and improved tissue non-structural carbohydrate balance; and these effects would ameliorate the effects of infestation on C balance and lead to improved seedling growth. HWA density decreased with increasing light, and was highest in the 90% shade treatments. However, photosystem II efficiency and net assimilation were also lower under the higher light treatment. Despite tradeoffs between reduced infestation and reduced leaf function from higher light, and little variation in sugar content among treatments, both leaf and root starch content and seedling growth were higher under the higher light treatment. Increasing light levels improves long-term carbon balance for hemlock seedlings in the presence of HWA. Although hemlock typically occurs in deeply shaded forests, our results suggest that silvicultural treatments such as forest thinning that increase light exposure may reduce HWA abundance and lead to better tree C balance, and may be an effective component of large-scale conservation and restoration strategies.
Minimal Meaningful Propositions Alignment in Student Response Comparisons

In an intelligent educational system, automatic sentence alignment has a pivotal role in determining a foundation for clustering, comparing, summarizing and classifying responses. In this paper, we go beyond sentence alignment by splitting the reference and the student responses into single clauses, which are then aligned using fine-grained semantic components (facets). This detailed analysis will enable automated educational systems to become highly scalable, domain-independent and to enrich the classroom experience. The results are very promising, showing a significant increase in terms of \(F_1\)-score, compared to the best performing baseline.