cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spirits in the Material World: Spectral Worlding in David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas

The breathless itineraries of David Mitchell’s novels Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas position them as books offering a globalized perspective. The novels both employ multiple narratives that—through a range of first person narrators, focalizers, and textual forms—proliferate stories encompassing myriad places and moments. The tales in these works intertwine and nest in one another, their formal links paralleled by spiritual bonds between characters: ghosts, reincarnations, and migrating spirits help bridge disparate story lines. These connections mean their individual stories cannot be read in isolation as an accumulation of different global viewpoints but must be seen as embedded within one another. If globalization views the planet as if from afar and stresses equivalence and exchange (especially through international markets), spirit, conceived here as the capability of some matter to transform itself, allows the world to be seen and surveyed from within. Moreover, the transfer of spirit between characters highlights their interconnections, even if these characters never meet. Consequently, these novels construct the concept of ‘world’ as a complex and dynamic phenomenological production, one echoing Jean-Luc Nancy’s account of ‘mondialisation’. In Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas, world is thus discovered only through a confrontation with other beings. As this encounter cannot be staged through merely subsuming the other’s viewpoint, it is dependent on spiritual projection, on endeavoring to inhabit the perspective of another. Through this worldly panorama, Mitchell’s novels rework both the traditional association of novel and nation, as well as invocations of the spirit of a nation, so they can present a world that can only be known from inside material and located bodies, through spiritually entwined perspectives and stories.
Hepatic Encephalopathy is a Strong Predictor of Early Hospital Readmission Among Cirrhosis Patients.

Background & aims Cirrhosis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Early readmission to the hospital after discharge increases the clinical and economic burden of cirrhosis patients. We aim to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of early hospital readmission among cirrhosis patients among an underserved safety-net health system. Methods All consecutive adults with cirrhosis seen at the gastroenterology clinics at our safety-net health system from 2014 to 2016 were retrospectively evaluate to determine rates of 30-day readmission after hospital discharge. Comparison of readmission rates between groups used chi-square testing. Overall predictors of 30-day hospital readmission were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression models, with variables included in the model selected a priori based on clinical significance to the outcome. Results Among 230 cirrhosis patients (63.5% men, 80.6% were nonwhite minorities), 27.1% had chronic hepatitis C virus; 16.0%, chronic hepatitis B virus; 34.2%, alcoholic cirrhosis; and 8.0%, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Overall 30-day hospital readmission rates were 31.3%. There was a trend towards higher rates of 30-day readmission in men than in women (23.9% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.075) and trend towards higher readmission in Hispanics than in non-Hispanic whites (35.3% vs. 14.3%, P = 0.093). On multivariate regression, hepatic encephalopathy was the strongest positive predictor of early 30-day hospital readmission (odds ratio 4.40, 95% confidence interval 1.25–7.28, P = 0.02). Conclusions Among underserved safety-net cirrhosis patients, 30-day hospital readmission rates were over 30%. Given that presence of hepatic encephalopathy was most strongly correlated with readmissions, targeted interventions to improve management of hepatic encephalopathy may have the greatest impact on improving cirrhosis-related outcomes.
Black spot gill syndrome in the northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, caused by the parasitic ciliate Synophrya sp.

Abstract Black spot gill syndrome in the northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, is caused by an apostome ciliate, Synophrya sp., found within the gill lamellae. Whole mount staining, thin section histology, electron microscopy, and molecular studies were carried out on infected gills. The Synophrya 18S rRNA from Pandalus borealis (Genbank accession no. KX906568) and from two portunid crab species, Achelous spinimanus (Genbank accession no. MH395150) and Achelous gibbesii (Genbank accession no. MH395151) was sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the identity of these ciliates as apostomes. The 18S rRNA sequence recovered from P. borealis shared 95% nucleotide similarity with the sequences recovered from the portunid crab species suggesting that it is a different species of Synophrya. The invasive hypertrophont stages, with a distinctive macronuclear reticulum, ranged in size from 300 to 400 µm with as many as 5 large forms/mm2 of gill tissue. Histotrophic hypertrophont stages and hypertomont stages were observed in these studies. The presence of the parasite was linked to the formation of melanized nodules (up to 9 nodules/mm2 of gill tissue) by the host and in some cases to extensive necrosis. Other studies have reported Synophrya sp. infections in P. borealis from Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland, but further studies are necessary to determine the prevalence of this parasite in the dense schools of northern shrimp in the North Atlantic. Questions remain as to the possibility of epizootics of this pathogen and its impact on northern shrimp populations.
The asymmetry of landscape: Aesthetics, agency, and material reuse in the Reserva Ecológica de Buenos Aires

Situated on the edge of Buenos Aires, perched on the mudflats between downtown and the river, the Reserva Ecologica is 864 acres (350 ha) of public landscape. In the 1980s, at the end of the milita...
Contribution to the development of an energy management solution in a green smart home (EMSGSH)

This document offers a smart solution for managing green energy for a home (EMSGSH). It offers services such as optimizing the energy consumed while assuming green energy available at home. However, the random nature of this type of energy in the power generation, we require using a hybrid energy system (HES) accompanied by energy storage in the form of a battery. The home is considered a distributed system, it is composed of a set of elements that are geographically distributed and in permanent interaction. Following all its features, we chose two approaches for this solution, the multi-agent systems (MAS) for the control of the elements and the domain ontology to ensure a good formal representation of the data associated with the system. We propose a master-slave architecture. A slave agent is proposed for each device to control its local consumption and a single master agent is proposed to control all agents. The objective is to optimize the use of green energy and minimize consumption costs by exploiting the offers of electric power suppliers. The last part of this work was reserved to present the agents (tasks and responsibilities, interactions ...) and to model the agent's society using a unified modeling language (UML), also the ontology elements are presented and edited in the Protege software.
Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Secondary to Cigarette Smoking in a 40‐Year‐Old Man: A Case Report

Background and objectives Carbon monoxide is one of the most common causes of fatal intoxications in the United States, and multiple previous studies have demonstrated that cigarette smokers have higher levels of carbon monoxide in their blood. However, the potential negative effects due to acute carbon monoxide poisoning from excessive cigarette smoking have not been well established. Methods This is a single patient case report. Results In this case report, a 40-year-old male with a past medical history of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and substance use disorder developed symptomatic, acute carbon monoxide poisoning secondary to heavy cigarette smoking in a confined space. In this patient, the cessation of clonazepam therapy coincided with increasing anxiety and panic disorder with agoraphobia triggering an escalation in his cigarette smoking. The patient smoked three packs of cigarettes in 3 hours and developed worsening of his symptoms. He required inpatient treatment with benzodiazepines and hyperbaric oxygen. Discussion and conclusions Therefore, it is important to recognize cigarette smoke as a significant source of carbon monoxide exposure. Scientific significance While the negative effects of cigarette smoking are often perceived as being chronic and only coming to fruition after numerous years of exposure, it is important for both physicians and patients to recognize the possibility for potentially life-threatening acute toxicity secondary to carbon monoxide exposure. (Am J Addict 2019;28:413-415).
Improv: Teaching Programming at Scale via Live Coding

Computer programming instructors frequently perform live coding in settings ranging from MOOC lecture videos to online livestreams. However, there is little tool support for this mode of teaching, so presenters must now either screen-share or use generic slideshow software. To overcome the limitations of these formats, we propose that programming environments should directly facilitate live coding for education. We prototyped this idea by creating Improv, an IDE extension for preparing and delivering code-based presentations informed by Mayer's principles of multimedia learning. Improv lets instructors synchronize blocks of code and output with slides and create preset waypoints to guide their presentations. A case study on 30 educational videos containing 28 hours of live coding showed that Improv was versatile enough to replicate approximately 96% of the content within those videos. In addition, a preliminary user study on four teaching assistants showed that Improv was expressive enough to allow them to make their own custom presentations in a variety of styles and improvise by live coding in response to simulated audience questions. Users mentioned that Improv lowered cognitive load by minimizing context switching and made it easier to fix errors on-the-fly than using slide-based presentations.
Preservice Teachers' Community-Based Field Experiences

There exists much potential for the use of community-based partnerships to support preservice teachers’ learning and development. These opportunities can also expand preservice teachers’ understanding of when and where teaching and learning take place. This paper reports the results of a qualitative, yearlong pilot study focused on secondary preservice teachers’ (N=42) weekly community-based field experiences at a newly opened secondary public museum school, located in a large Midwestern urban area. Specifically, preservice teachers worked weekly with sixth grade students in an urban public museum setting as part of a required undergraduate content area literacy teacher education course. This study highlights ways this community-based field experience served as an important clinical component for preservice teacher learning. Working in this community-based setting provided expanded and varied opportunities for preservice teacher learning, including practice using and facilitating small group instruction and opportunities to support adolescents’ learning through accessing, exploring, and examining museum artifacts and exhibits. Therefore community-based field experiences, when and where feasible, may serve as an important clinical component for preservice teacher learning.
Acute Hepatocellular Injury Associated With Azithromycin

Purpose:A report of acute azithromycin-induced hepatocellular injury is described.Summary:An 83-year-old male was admitted with possible community-acquired pneumonia and received azithromycin and c...
CRT-400.01 An Investigation of Plant-Based, Mediterranean, Paleolithic, and DASH Diets Study (The VA Beach Diet Study)

The rising incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the last 25 years has become a public health priority, especially its prevention through lifestyle interventions. Many studies have reported that higher adherence to Mediterranean, vegan or whole-food, plant based (WFPB) diets may decrease
Predicting post-experiment fatigue among healthy young adults: Random forest regression analysis.

The current study utilized a random forest regression analysis to predict post-experiment fatigue in a sample of 212 healthy participants (mean age = 20.5, SD = 2.21; 52% women) between the ages of 18 and 30 following a mildly stressful experiment. We used a total of 30 features of demographic variables, lifestyle variables, alcohol and other drug use behaviors and problems, state anxiety and depressive symptoms, and physiological indicators that were lab assessed or self-reported. A random forest regression analysis with 10-fold cross-validation resulted in accurate prediction of post-experiment fatigue (R2 equivalent = 0.93) with the average "out-of-bag" (OOB) R2 = 0.52. Not surprisingly, self-reported pre-experiment fatigue was the most important variable (54%) in the prediction of post-experiment fatigue. Feeling anxious (state anxiety) pre- and post-experiment (3%, 7%), feeling less vigorous post experiment (3%), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (3%, 2%) and LF HRV (2%) assessed at baseline, and self-reported alcohol-related problems (3%) and sleep (2%) additionally contributed to the prediction of post-experiment fatigue. Other remaining input variables had relatively minimal importance. Substantively, this study suggests that complex interactions across multiple systems domains that support regulation may be linked to fatigue. A random forest regression analysis can relatively easily be implemented with a built-in cross-validation function and reveal a web of connections undergirding health behavior and risks.
A Cooperative Physical Layer Scene-Awareness Scheme for Visible Light Communications

In this paper, we develop an object detection method that takes advantage of the blockage status of line-of sight (LOS) links between the user devices and transceivers on the ceiling to locate an object. The target objects are modeled as cylinders with random radii. Simulation results show that the root-mean-squared error can be less than 2 cm and 1 cm for estimating the center and the radius of the object, respectively.
Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy with pneumatic and ultrasonic power for treatment of pediatric renal calculi

Objective To assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous nephrolithotripsy with pneumatic and ultrasonic power in pediatric renal calculi.Methods The clinical data of 60 patients treated with combination of pneumatic and ultrasonic power during percuhaneous nephrolithotripsy were retrospectively analyzed.The 60 patients had 66 renal calculi.The patients were all under 13 years old.The average age was 4.1 years(range 1-13 years).There were 54 unilateral and 6 bilateral calculi.Results The access was successfully established in all patients.Complete stone clearance was achievedin 57 kidneys in phase Ⅰ,stones from 3 kidneys were completely removed with second lithotripsy.The operative time ranged from 60-165 min,average time was 105 min.The renalfunction was not worsened and hydronephrosis was not aggravated in these patients.Conclusions The percutaneous nephrolithotripsy with pneumatic and ultrasonic power is a safe,effective treatment for pediatric renal calculi. Key words: Kidney calculi; Lithotripsy; Endoscopy
Is late bedtime an overlooked sleep behaviour? Investigating associations between sleep timing, sleep duration and eating behaviours in adolescence and adulthood.

Objective: To examine whether bedtime is associated with usual sleep duration and eating behaviour among adolescents, emerging adults and young adults. Design: Cross-sectional multivariable regression models, stratified by developmental stage, to examine: (1) association between bedtime and sleep duration and (2) associations between bedtime and specific eating behaviours at each developmental period, controlling for sleep duration. All models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms and screen time behaviours. Setting: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, waves I–IV, USA. Participants: A national probability sample surveyed in adolescence (aged 12–18 years, wave I: 1994–1995, n 13 048 and wave II: 1996, n 9438), emerging adulthood (aged 18–24 years, wave III: 2001–2002, n 9424) and young adulthood (aged 24–34 years, wave IV: 2008, n 10 410). Results: Later bedtime was associated with shorter sleep duration in all developmental stages, such that a 1-h delay in bedtime was associated with 14–33 fewer minutes of sleep per night (Ps < 0·001). Later bedtime was also associated with lower odds of consuming healthier foods (i.e. fruits, vegetables; range of adjusted OR (AOR), 0·82–0·93, Ps < 0·05) and higher odds of consuming less healthy foods and beverages (i.e. soda, pizza, desserts and sweets; range of AOR, 1·07–1·09, Ps < 0·05). Later bedtime was also associated with more frequent fast-food consumption and higher sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (Ps < 0·05). Conclusions: Later bedtime was associated with shorter sleep duration and less healthy eating behaviours. Bedtime may be a novel behaviour to address in interventions aiming to improve sleep duration and dietary intake.
Biochemical Timekeeping Via Reentrant Phase Transitions

Appreciation for the role of liquid-liquid phase separation in the functional organization of cellular matter has exploded in recent years. More recently there has been a growing effort to understand the principles of heterotypic phase separation, the demixing of multiple proteins and nucleic acids into a single functional condensate. A phase transition is termed reentrant if it involves the transformation of a system from one state into a macroscopically similar or identical state via at least two phase transitions elicited by variation of a single parameter. Reentrant liquid-liquid phase separation can occur when the condensation of one species is tuned by another. Reentrant phase transitions have been modeled in vitro using protein and RNA mixtures. These biochemical studies reveal two features of reentrant phase separation that are likely important to functional cellular condensates: (1) the ability to generate condensates with layered functional topologies, and (2) the ability to generate condensates whose composition and duration are self-limiting to enable a form of biochemical timekeeping. We relate these biochemical studies to potential cellular examples and discuss how layered topologies and self-regulation may impact key biological processes.
Changes in Initial Opioid Prescribing Practices After the 2016 Release of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

Importance The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the “Guideline For Prescribing Opioids For Chronic Pain” (hereafter,CDC guideline) in 2016, but its association with prescribing practices for patients who are opioid naive is unknown. Objective To estimate changes in initial prescribing rates, duration, and dosage practices to patients who are opioid naive after the release of the CDC guideline. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study used 6 sequential cohorts to estimate preguideline trends in prescribing among patients who were opioid naive, project that trend forward, and compare it with postguideline prescribing practices. Participants included commercially insured adults without current cancer or hospice care diagnoses and with no past-year opioid claims in the US from 2011 to 2017. All adjusted models were controlled for patient demographics and state-fixed effects. Data were analyzed from January 2020 to May 2021. Exposures The release of the CDC guideline. Main Outcomes and Measures Indicators of any opioid prescription fills during a 9-month period, the number of days’ supply of the initial prescription, and the binary indicator of whether the initial prescription was for 50 or more morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) per day. Results There were 12 870 612 eligible unique patients across cohorts (mean [SD] age in 2016, 51.2 [18.7] years; 6 553 458 [50.9%] women); and the mean (SD) age of the cohorts increased annually, from 48.7 (17.9) years in the April 2011 to December 2012 cohort to 51.9 (19.2) years in the April 2016 to December 2017 cohort. The postguideline prescribing prevalence was 532 962 of 5 834 088 individuals (9.1%), which exceeded that projected from the preguideline trend, estimated at 9.0% (95% CI, 9.0%-9.1%). Among patients receiving prescriptions during follow-up, adjusted mean days’ supply was 4.7% (95% CI, 4.3%-5.1%) lower in the first year after release of the guideline and 9.8% (95% CI, 9.3%-10.3%) lower in the second year after release, compared with the expected rate from the preguideline trend. The adjusted odds of receiving a high-dose (ie, ≥50 MME/d) initial prescription were lower in the first year (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.98) and in the second year (odds ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.93-0.96) after the release of the CDC guideline compared with the odds expected from the preguideline trend. Conclusions and Relevance This cohort study found that patients who were opioid naive continued to initiate opioid therapy after the release of opioid prescribing guidelines by the CDC, but trends in prescribing duration reversed and decreased, after increasing in each of 4 preguideline cohorts examined. High-dose prescribing rates were already decreasing, but those trends accelerated after the CDC guideline release. These results suggest that nonmandatory, evidence-based guidelines from trusted sources were associated with prescribing practices. Guideline-concordant care has potential to improve pain management and reduce opioid-related harms.
"Jittered" Oculomotor Sensing Concomitant with Hypoactive Dorsal Parietal Systems during Live Eye-Contact in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Reluctant eye contact and reduced social interactions characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are consistent with deficits in oculomotor and face processing systems. We test the hypothesis that these deficits are interrelated ASD. Eye-tracking and hyperscanning with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were used to acquire neuroimaging data during live, dynamic eye-to-eye contacts in 17 ASD and 19 typically-developed (TD) adults. Real eye contact conditions were contrasted with conditions where eye gaze was directed at a comparable dynamic face video. These findings were regressed with eye-contact dwell-time, i.e., times when gaze of both partners was in the eye-box of the other, to confirm the relationship between visual sensing and neural coding. Visual fixations and positional variance were also determined. Average gaze dwell-times in the "eye-box" did not vary between ASD and TD participants but were longer for the Real Eye than Video Eye condition for both groups. However, positional gaze variability, "jitter", was higher for ASD in both conditions. Neural findings for TD [Real Eye > Video Eye] were consistent with previous findings for interactive face-gaze with activity in right temporal and dorsal parietal regions. However, in ASD ventral temporal regions were observed for this contrast without evidence for dorsal parietal activity. This neural difference was enhanced when regressed by eye-contact dwell-times. Together findings are consistent with the hypothesis that unstable bottom-up oculomotor signals contribute to deficits in live face processing and reduced dorsal stream activity in ASD.
Desorption Stimulated by Ion Impact

The interactions of energetic ions with surfaces produce effects that have much in common with electron- and photon-stimulated desorption. Three distinct mechanisms for desorption stimulated by ion impact are reviewed here.
Legislative Action, Market Reaction and Interstate Commerce: Results of Virginia's Natural Experiment with Direct Wine Shipment

We investigate the impact of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution on market competition by focusing on recent changes in state laws governing interstate direct shipment of alcohol. In 2003, Virginia legalized direct wine shipping to consumers from out-of-state sellers. By 2004, the average price difference between online sellers and bricks-and-mortar stores in Northern Virginia was approximately 26-40 percent lower than in 2002. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that removal of the interstate shipping ban increased competition in the bricks and mortar world, contributing to lower prices. More broadly, they illustrate how the elimination of interstate trade barriers, consistent with the intent of the commerce clause, facilitates efficient markets. Our findings serve as a guidepost to policymakers in various states who need to make their laws conform to the Supreme Court's 2005 ruling striking down discriminatory direct shipment bans.
Stable tumbling motions of a dual-spin satellite subject to gravitational torques.

The motion of a dual-spin or gyrostat satellite subject to gravitational torques is governed by a set of nonlinear equations. In general, the equilibrium solutions (solutions keeping one side of the satellite facing the Earth at all times) for a satellite in a circular orbit are isolated in the state space. However, for a critical value of the spin rate two continua (or one-parameter families) of equilibria suddenly appear. This paper presents a stability analysis of these families of equilibrium solutions. A satellite in any one of these orientations cannot have any resistence to perturbations sending it along the continuum, since each orientation it passes through is an equilibrium, and cannot supply any restoring torques. Thus, tumbling motions result. The topology of the dynamic potential surface is investigated in the parameter space in order to determine stability properties. It is shown that if the spin axis is aligned with the axis of least moment of inertia, the families of equilibria are stable and tumbling motions will closely follow the continuum. It is also shown that the critical spin rate forms a point of bifurcation in the stability behavior of many of the isolated equilibria.
Book review: Unveiling the Whale: Discourses on Whales and Whaling

Whaling represents one of the most internationally controversial and highly polarized environmental issues of recent times. Arne Kalland, in Unveiling the Whale: Discourses on Whales and Whaling, e...
Thermal Interface Material Resistance Measurement Apparatus

It is well known that as the size of microprocessors decreases with respect to Moore's law, cooling issues have become more predominant and critical for the electronics industry. One source of thermal resistance requiring more characterization is Thermal Interface Materials, TIMs. Thermal interface materials, such as greases, elastomeric pads, thermal tapes, phase change materials, gels, thermally conductive adhesives and solder, are used in a variety of electronic and microelectronic engineering applications. Currently in industry, TIM testers are modeled after ASTM D 5470, "Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties of Thermally Conductive Solid Electrical Insulation Material". ASTM D 5470 uses two metal blocks, one heated and one cooled, between which a TIM is placed. Temperature sensors are placed within the metal blocks. Since the temperature distribution is linear, the temperature of surface of the metal blocks in contact with the specimen can be calculated using the sensor-given temperatures and the distance between the sensors. The concept of ASTM D 5470 is very simple; however, there are many problems with the standard including repeatability issues, contamination problems, pressure concerns and measurement inaccuracies (Gwinn Reference). In fact, the thermal characteristics or properties of TIMs vary significantly from a "standardized" environment based on ASTM D 5470 to a real application situation, in-situ. A new device is designed which modifies the ASTM standard for an industry environment taking into account both high and low pressures as well as the concerns expressed above.
Synthetic Resins and Plastics

The emergence of the synthetic resins and plastics industry from primitive beginnings a century ago to an international multibillion dollar per year industry today has profoundly changed the way people live. Plastics can perform in ways that are not possible with traditional materials and therefore have become an essential component in our technologically based society. For many applications, such as videotape and heart valves, plastics are the only feasible material. In the United States alone, 61.5 billion lb of resins were sold in 1990.1 The upward trend in U.S. production of resins is illustrated in Fig. 19.1.2 The expectation of continued consumer demand, as well as industry profits, supports a large research and development effort that promises even better materials for the future.
The New Era of Cancer Immunotherapy: Manipulating T-Cell Activity to Overcome Malignancy

Using the immune system to control cancer has been investigated for over a century. Yet it is only over the last several years that therapeutic agents acting directly on the immune system have demonstrated improved overall survival for cancer patients in phase III clinical trials. Furthermore, it appears that some patients treated with such agents have been cured of metastatic cancer. This has led to increased interest and acceleration in the rate of progress in cancer immunotherapy. Most of the current immunotherapeutic success in cancer treatment is based on the use of immune-modulating antibodies targeting critical checkpoints (CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1). Several other immune-modulating molecules targeting inhibitory or stimulatory pathways are being developed. The combined use of these medicines is the subject of intense investigation and holds important promise. Combination regimens include those that incorporate targeted therapies that act on growth signaling pathways, as well as standard chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In fact, these standard therapies have intrinsic immune-modulating properties that can support antitumor immunity. In the years ahead, adoptive T-cell therapy will also be an important part of treatment for some cancer patients. Other areas which are regaining interest are the use of oncolytic viruses that immunize patients against their own tumors and the use of vaccines against tumor antigens. Immunotherapy has demonstrated unprecedented durability in controlling multiple types of cancer and we expect its use to continue expanding rapidly.
Assessment of Task and Peak Exposures to Solvents in the Microelectronics Fabrication Industry

Abstract Short-term exposures to six solvents used in microelectronic fabrication clean rooms were assessed. The solvents measured were: 2-ethoxyethylacetate, n-butyl acetate, xylene, isopropanol, acetone, and propylene glycol monomethylether acetate. Short-term exposures during production and maintenance tasks were measured using both charcoal tubes to obtain average task exposures and direct reading instrumentation to obtain real-time peak levels. All measured samples were considerably below current government or consensus standards for short-term exposures. Pharmacokinetic modeling was used to evaluate the toxicological significance of the highest real-time peaks measured, which in these clean rooms were to the solvent acetone. The model suggested that the peaks measured were below acetone levels associated with reproductive health risks in animals. Hallock, M.F.; Hammond, S.K.; Kenyon, E.; Smith, T.J.; Smith, E.R.: Assessment of Task and Peak Exposures to Solvents in the Microelectronics Fabrication I...
THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE Merce Cunningham and Bill T. Jones

What is it that we value in a human image? One priority—evidenced by the work of home videographers—is to create a sense of nearness to loved ones and events by capturing as much information about people and their actions as possible. Other image-makers, particularly portraitists, hope to draw in the viewer, allowing her to flesh out an image with her own associations and imagination. To do this, portraitists pare away human attributes and environment to arrive at a representation of something essential, something telling about a person. I'm used to seeing spare images of human faces and bodies in sketches and black and white photographs. But what possibilities exist for portraits in which people are identified only by motion? Motion capture and animation technologies make it possible to create portraits of people that consist primarily of human motion, replacing identifiable bodies with more generic forms. Do these images work as portraits? What is the impact of leaving the body behind?
Evaluation of automatic priced based thermostat control for peak energy reduction under residential time-of-use utility tariffs

Abstract This research study examines the peak energy reduction potential and avoided cost from using an automatic thermostat set point control strategy in a residential home which responds to the price variation in a time-of-use tariff. Twelve benchmark homes, composed of three different home sizes in four different geographical locations, are each evaluated under twelve unique control scenarios with systematically varied peak period length, rate ratio, and set point offset. All time-of-use tariffs are designed to be cost neutral with the existing flat rate tariff assuming the same base case operating scenario. Historical real time prices for 2008 and regional specific construction features were used. The total savings potential as well as the additional benefit from increased set point offsets were found to be highly dependent on the climate. For a particular location, savings on a percentage basis were very consistent across home sizes for similar control strategies, meaning the same tariff may be applied to all residential customers without disadvantaging customers in smaller homes. Finally, the utility cost savings varied from $225 to $9 per home with many time-of-use tariffs resulting in more money given to the homeowner than actually saved by the utility.
Synthesis of Commercial Phosphodiesterase(V) Inhibitors

The literature syntheses (including patents) of three commercial phosphodiesterase(V) (PDE5) inhibitors (sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil) are reviewed with particular emphasis on large-scale manufacture. For each of these compounds, some impressive chemical development work has been reported.
The Politics of Resource Recovery, Energy Conservation, and Solid Waste Management:

Environmental and political factors are driving up the cost of traditional solid waste disposal methods. Some cities are considering new refuse disposal technology which partially offsets disposal costs through the sale of energy and recovered materials. After reviewing municipal solid waste problems and the new disposal technology, we consider the many political and economic difficulties which local governments are likely to encounter in attempting to use new disposal methods. Finally, we describe the federal policies regulating commodity produc tion which, if unchanged, will make it more difficult for these new disposal technologies to be economically successful.
A correlation between membrane glycopeptide composition and losses in concanavalin a agglutinability induced by db-cAMP in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Abstract A double-label method, employing [14C] l - and [3H] l -fucose, has been used to compare the carbohydrate components of surface glycoproteins from four different sub-clones of Chinese hamster ovary cells grown in the presence or absence of either 3′: 5′-dibutyryl cyclic AMP (db-cAMP), 3′: 5′-cyclic AMP (cAMP) or a phosphodiesterase inhibitor SQ 20009. Following growth in one or more of these drugs, a number of these sub-clones showed a fairly small, but consistent reduction in the amount of the more rapidly eluting fucopeptides that could be isolated from the plasma membrane and a corresponding increase in lower molecular weight components as determined by Sephadex G-50 chromatography. This apparent decrease in the size of surface fucopeptides was related to a reduced sialic acid content of a class of surface glycopeptides isolated from the treated cells. This surface change was always correlated with a loss of concanavalin A (ConA)-mediated agglutinability. However, this surface change was not invariably associated with the drug-induced morphological transition towards a more fibroblast-like form. More-over, the sialic acid-rich glycopeptides bound only poorly to ConA affinity columns and were probably not therefore the lectin receptors. Double-label experiments have shown that upon addition of db-cAMP to the cells, existing glycopeptides are apparently unmodified but rather new components reaching the cell surface have a reduced amount of sialic acid associated with them. We propose that the loss in lectin-induced agglutinability and the reduction in glycopeptide size are related phenomena resulting from a primary change in cell surface chemistry.
Strength Mechanisms of Dental Solder Joints

Derivations of the triaxial state of stress and relative strain rate within the solder agree with the types of strengthening found in soft lead-tin solder butt joints. But for the dental gold casting alloys and hard gold solders tested, joint strengths were only influenced by porosity and not by size or rate of testing.
Survey of i.v. paracetamol (acetaminophen) use in neonates and infants under 1 year of age by UK anesthetists.

Summary Background: The license for i.v. paracetamol has recently been extended to include term neonates and infants aged 1 year, at a uniform dose across this age range of 7.5 mg·kg−1, total daily dose 30 mg·kg−1·day−1. We were interested to survey current i.v. paracetamol prescribing practices of anesthetists in the UK, in neonates and infants under 1 year of age. Methods: We conducted an online survey of 94 linkmen of the Association of Pediatric Anesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Linkmen representing both general and specialist hospitals and 90 members of the British Pediatric Pain Travelling Club representing the pediatric acute pain teams throughout the UK and Ireland. Results: A total of 105/184 (57%) responded to the survey on behalf of 78 regions and 27 pediatric acute pain teams. Over half (54%) of the respondents indicated i.v. paracetamol use in infants under 1 year of age. A wide range of loading and maintenance doses were used. Total daily doses exceeded the license for age 1–12 months in 70% of cases; for the 36 week postconceptional age (PCA)-1 month age range the proportion was 50%. Over 80% of total daily dosing from age 36 weeks PCA to 1 year fell within dosing suggested by pharmacokinetic studies. Close to 40% of respondents who used i.v. paracetamol in infants, also indicated use in preterm age groups. The total daily dose used in preterm neonates was within the range suggested by pharmacokinetic studies, in over 90% of cases in the age range 32–36 weeks PCA, and for 60% in the under 32 weeks PCA age group. Conclusions: This survey demonstrates i.v. paracetamol dosing in infants in the UK and Ireland is frequently above the licensed dose and outside the licensed age range but is in keeping with doses suggested by pharmacokinetic studies.
Dynamics of optical limiting in heavy-atom-substituted phthalocyanines

Picosecond and nanosecod nonlinear transmission measurements were used to determine the excited singlet-and triplet-state absorption across sections at 532 nm for group IVA metalloid phthalocyanines.
The Construction of the Digital City

In this paper I discuss the digital city as a comprehensive, web-based representation, or reproduction, of several aspects or functions of a specific real city, open to nonexperts. Much more than a...
A New Stochastic Equivalent Linearization Implementation for Prediction of Geometrically Nonlinear Vibrations

In this paper the problem of random vibration of geometrically nonlinear MDOF structures is considered. The solutions obtained by application of two different versions of a stochastic linearization method are compared with exact (F-P-K) solutions. The formulation of a relatively new version of the stochastic linearization method (energy-based version) is generalized to the MDOF system case. Aslo a new method for determination of nonlinear stiffness coefficients for MDOF structures is demonstrated. This method in combination with the equivalent linearization technique is implemented in a new computer program. Results in terms of root-mean-square (RMS) dsplacements obtained by using the new program and an existing in-house code are compared for two examples of beam-like structure.
Algorithm for unified modular division in GF(p) and GF(2n) suitable for cryptographic hardware

A unified algorithm to compute modular division in both GF(p) and GF(2/sup n/) fields is presented. It uses a counter variable to keep track of the difference between two field elements, and in this way eliminates the need for comparisons which are usually expensive and time-consuming. The computations in both fields are performed using additions/subtractions and bit shifts, besides using a simple control flow, which makes it suitable for hardware implementation.
The urban heat island in winter at Barrow, Alaska

The village of Barrow, Alaska, is the northernmost settlement in the USA and the largest native community in the Arctic. The population has grown from about 300 residents in 1900 to more than 4600 in 2000. In recent decades, a general increase of mean annual and mean winter air temperature has been recorded near the centre of the village, and a concurrent trend of progressively earlier snowmelt in the village has been documented. Satellite observations and data from a nearby climate observatory indicate a corresponding but much weaker snowmelt trend in the surrounding regions of relatively undisturbed tundra. Because the region is underlain by ice-rich permafrost, there is concern that early snowmelt will increase the thickness of the thawed layer in summer and threaten the structural stability of roads, buildings, and pipelines. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a strong urban heat island (UHI) during winter. Data loggers (54) were installed in the ∼150 km2 study area to monitor hourly air and soil temperature, and daily spatial averages were calculated using the six or seven warmest and coldest sites. During winter (December 2001–March 2002), the urban area averaged 2.2 °C warmer than the hinterland. The strength of the UHI increased as the wind velocity decreased, reaching an average value of 3.2 °C under calm (<2 m s−1) conditions and maximum single-day magnitude of 6 °C. UHI magnitude generally increased with decreasing air temperature in winter, reflecting the input of anthropogenic heat to maintain interior building temperatures. On a daily basis, the UHI reached its peak intensity in the late evening and early morning. There was a strong positive relation between monthly UHI magnitude and natural gas production/use. Integrated over the period September–May, there was a 9% reduction in accumulated freezing degree days in the urban area. The evidence suggests that urbanization has contributed to early snowmelt in the village. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society
Stool DNA testing for the detection of pancreatic cancer: assessment of methylation marker candidates.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer (PanC) presents at late stage with high mortality. Effective early detection methods are needed. Aberrantly methylated genes are unexplored as markers for noninvasive detection by stool testing. The authors aimed to select discriminant methylated genes and to assess accuracy of these and mutant KRAS in stool to detect PanC. METHODS: Nine target genes were assayed by real-time methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) in bisulfite-treated DNA from microdissected frozen specimens of 24 PanC cases and 30 normal colon controls. Archived stools from 58 PanC cases and 65 controls matched on sex, age, and smoking were analyzed. Target genes from fecal supernatants were enriched by hybrid capture, bisulfite-treated, and assayed by MSP. KRAS mutations were assayed using the QuARTS technique. RESULTS: Areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUCs) for tissue BMP3, NDRG4, EYA4, UCHL1, MDFI, Vimentin, CNTNAP2, SFRP2, and TFPI2 were 0.90, 0.79, 0.78, 0.78, 0.77, 0.77, 0.69, 0.67, and 0.66, respectively. The top 4 markers and mutant KRAS were evaluated in stool. BMP3 was the most discriminant methylation marker in stool. At 90% specificity, methylated BMP3 alone detected 51% of PanCs, mutant KRAS detected 50%, and combination detected 67%. AUCs for methylated BMP3, mutant KRAS, and combination in stool were 0.73, 0.75, and 0.85, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that stool assay of a methylated gene marker can detect PanC. Among candidate methylated markers discriminant in tissue, BMP3 alone performed well in stool. Combining methylated BMP3 and mutant KRAS increased stool detection over either marker alone. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Human prostatic acid phosphatases: III. Counterimmunoelectrophoresis for rapid identification.

When serial dilution of standard prostatic acid phosphatases (PAP) was reacted with constant amounts of anti-PAP serum by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP), the detection end point of enzyme concentration was 0.25 ng in a 10 μl sample volume. The PAP concentrations in unknowns can be quantitated by comparing the dilution end points of reference PAP with the testing samples. Serum PAP levels were determined by a radioimmunoassay (RIA) and CIEP using normal male and female sera and serum samples from patients with prostatic cancer and nonprostatic tumors. An excellent correlation was observed between the two assay results. According to RIA data, the concentration of PAP higher than 0.4 ng per 10 μl (or 4.0 ng per 100 μl) signify the elevation of serum or bone marrow PAP level beyond normal range (normal value 1.6 ± 0.8 ng/100 μl). Thus, the CIEP assay will be a simple and reliable screening method for the serum PAP levels in the clinical diagnosis of prostatic cancer.
The biophysical environment and human health: Toward understanding the reciprocal effects

This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities related to the empirical examination of the relationship between the multidimensional concepts of “biophysical environment” and “human health.” The challenge at hand is the adoption of a holistic, less fragmented approach to conceptualizing health and the environment. Inherent in such an approach is the consideration of issues along a continuum of levels of organization ranging from the cell, to the individual, to the community, to the ecosphere. Such a holistic approach represents an important opportunity for social scientists. Social scientists provide a crucial set of perspectives and a methodological tool kit that can and should be used in concert with the other closely involved sciences to enhance our understanding of the relationship between the biophysical environment and the health of human populations.
A Profile of Newspaper and Television Reporters in a Metropolitan Setting.

Twin Cities reportersfeel restricted by ‘straight’ news concept, but many confess to weaknesses in their performance