cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Agulhas Eddies: A Synoptic View Using Geosat ERM Data

Abstract Warm core rings formed in the, Agulhas Retroflection transfer water from the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic. In an attempt to measure the strength of this exchange, a combination of satellite altimeter and hydrographic data are used to examine Agulhas eddy paths and decay rates in the South Atlantic. Because the surface dynamic height of a warm core eddy is higher than surrounding waters, the rings are visible in satellite altimeter measurements. Over 20 Agulhas eddies have been tracked from maps of anomalous sea surface height (SSH) derived from the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) dataset. The correlation (r2) of dynamic height referenced to 2000 dbar and anomaly SSH for one coincidentally sampled area is 97% within an Agulhas eddy, dropping to a fraction of that outside of it, indicating that the SSH anomaly signal is a reliable measure for strong features like Agulhas eddies. The sizes and distribution of the Agulhas eddies in the ERM record compare favorably with those in recent hydrogr...
The Mexican Balance of Payments, 1947-50

M EXICO offers a unique opportunity for studying the effects of devaluation on the international accounts of an underdeveloped country, as it is the only underdeveloped country without exchange restrictions in which there has been an exchange devaluation in the postwar period. The part played by the United States in every sector of the Mexican goods and services account is so predominant that a study confined to U.S.-Mexican transactions will give a fair enough picture of Mexico's international position as a whole. The present study necessarily stops short of a complete account of both the long-term and the shortterm effects of devaluation. Some of these long-term consequences undoubtedly had not become fully effective at the time when the outbreak of hostilities in Korea began a new series of price movements which became the dominant factor in the Mexican balance of payments in the second half of 1950 and in 1951. It is extremely difficult to distinguish statistically between the effects of devaluation and the effects of these other influences which were determining the course of world prices in the second half of 1950 and in 1951. Moreover, though attention is given to the hypothetical record of changes that would have developed if there had not been a devaluation, the statistical information needed for this purpose is necessarily inadequate for some of the major items in the Mexican balance of payments. During World War II, the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Mexico increased greatly, from $54 million at the end of 1941 to $344 million at the end of 1945. The rise was due primarily to a substantial expansion of tourist receipts and unilateral transfers; the value of imports increased by about the same amount as the value of exports. In 1946 the situation changed drastically. Though tourist receipts were still high, receipts from unilateral transfers fell and the increase in the value of imports far outstripped the increase in exports. Receipts from unilateral transfers came mainly from Mexican contract labor in the United States. With the end of the war and the demobilization of the U.S. armed forces, the demand for Mexican labor slackened and their transfers to Mexico fell correspondingly. Wartime shortages of both con-
A Greenland Shark from the Wreck of the SS Central America at 2,200 Meters

Abstract The three-masted, wooden-hulled steamship Central America sank in 1857 during a hurricane 370 km east of Savannah, Georgia. During a recovery project begun in 1988, the unmanned research submersible Nemo equipped with video and still cameras filmed a 6-m-long, male Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus at the 2,200-m-deep wreck site. The depth is 1,000 m deeper than the maximum reported depth for this species. The Savannah location is 440 km further south than the previously known North Carolina records for the Greenland shark.
Solid-phase microextraction of polychlorinated biphenyls.

The extraction and analysis of 21 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ranging from di- to decachlorobiphenyls in ocean, wetland and leachate water samples were achieved using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with a 100-micron poly(di-methylsiloxane) (PDMS) fiber and gas chromatography-electron-capture detection (GC-ECD). Severe carryover between samples (e.g., 20%) occurs on both stir bars and the SPME fibers demonstrating that it is important to use a new stir bar for each sample, as well as to perform SPME-GC blanks between samples to avoid quantitative errors. The equilibrium partitioning coefficients of individual PCB congeners between PDMS and water were found to be surprisingly different compared to their octanol-water partitioning coefficient (Kow), demonstrating that Kow cannot be used to estimate the partitioning behavior of PCBs in the SPME process. Using a 15-min SPME extraction, SPME analysis with GC-ECD was linear (r2 > or = 0.97) from approximately 5 pg/ml to the solubility limit of each congener. Concentrations in water samples obtained by 15-min SPME extractions compared favorably with those obtained by toluene extractions, demonstrating that SPME combined with GC is a useful technique for the rapid determination of PCBs in water samples.
Novel regenerable N‐halamine polymeric biocides. I. Synthesis, characterization, and antibacterial activity of hydantoin‐containing polymers

Two novel cyclic-amine monomers, i.e., 3-allyl-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (ADMH) and 7,8-benzo-3 allyl-1,3-diazasprio[4.5]decane-2,4-dione (BADDD) were synthesized with good yields by reacting allyl bromide with 5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DMH) and 7,8-benzo-1,3-diazasprio[4.5]decane-2,4-dione (BDDD), respectively. The synthesized monomers were characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR spectra, and copolymerized with acrylonitrile (AN), vinyl acetate (VAC), and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in a small monomer ratio of ADMH and BDDD, respectively. The copolymers were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, and DSC studies. The N-halamine derivatives of the corresponding copolymers were found to exhibit high antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, and the antibacterial properties were durable and regenerable. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 2460–2467, 2001
Carboplatin pharmacokinetics in young children with brain tumors

Purpose: The pharmacokinetic parameters and maximal tolerated systemic exposure were determined for carboplatin in young children given in combination with cyclophosphamide and etoposide. Patients and methods: Carboplatin was administered as part of a multiagent chemotherapy regimen to 21 pediatric patients less than 5 years of age with newly diagnosed, malignant central nervous system tumors. Patients received cyclophosphamide, 1.2 g/m2, on day 1 and carboplatin on day 2 followed by etoposide, 100 mg/m2, each day. Carboplatin doses were calculated to achieve a targeted area under the serum concentration versus time curve (TAUC) of 5, 6.5 or 8 mg/ml . min based on each patient’s measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Carboplatin pharmacokinetic parameters were determined after course 1 and then after every third course of therapy. Results: The median carboplatin clearance and GFR after course 1 were 118 and 98 ml/min per m2, respectively. Targeted doses based on measured GFR reliably achieved the TAUC for carboplatin. The median (range) carboplatin clearance for four children less than 1 year of age was 76 (66–84) ml/min per m2, significantly lower (P=0.05) than the value of 131 (80–158) ml/min per m2 for children from 1 to 4 years of age. The mean carboplatin clearance declined by 23% in 12 patients studied from course 1 to course 4 of therapy. The decrease was greater than 20% (range 20–53%) in 7 of the 12 patients studied. Conclusion: Carboplatin clearance for children aged between 1 and 4 years at diagnosis is approximately 45% higher than previously reported for pediatric patients, but declines after four courses of therapy. For children less than 1 year of age, carboplatin clearance per square meter is approximately 40% lower than patients 1 to 4 years of age. There are corresponding differences in GFR that provide a plausible explanation for the age and therapy-related changes in carboplatin clearance. Toxicity was acceptable for patients treated at a TAUC of 6.5 mg/ml . min for carboplatin given with etoposide and cyclophosphamide. The average carboplatin dose required for this AUC was 767 mg/m2.
Monitoring of the Flat‐Tailed Horned Lizard With Methods Incorporating Detection Probability

Abstract Difficulty in monitoring the flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) has led to controversy over its conservation status. The difficulty in detecting this species has discouraged large-scale estimates of abundance and led to uncertainty over whether the species exists in population sizes of sufficient size for long-term persistence. We incorporated detection probability into monitoring of this species using closed mark–recapture and distance-sampling methods. Density estimation from mark–recapture abundance estimates was improved using an estimate of the proportion of time lizards were on the plot. We estimated the probability of detection on the line for distance sampling and adjusted density estimates accordingly. We estimated the populations of the Yuha Basin Management Area in 2002 and the East Mesa Management Area, Imperial County, California, USA, in 2003 to be 25,514 (95% CI 14,444–38,970) and 42,619 (95% CI 23,161–67,639), respectively. Two estimates of detection probability on the...
Double-balloon ERCP in patients who have undergone Roux-en-Y surgery: a case series

Background ERCP is technically challenging in patients who have had a long-limb Roux-en-Y surgical procedure. The recent introduction of the double-balloon endoscope permits the examination of a much longer segment of the small bowel compared with a standard endoscope and may be used to perform ERCP in these patients. Objective To report successful use of double-balloon ERCP in patients who have had a Roux-en-Y surgical procedure. Patients Fourteen patients with a history of either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass weight-reduction surgery or Roux-en-Y pancreatobiliary surgery required diagnostic and/or therapeutic pancreatobiliary intervention. Design Case report. Intervention Double-balloon ERCP. Results Fourteen patients underwent a total of 20 ERCPs with the double-balloon endoscopy system. The ampulla was successfully reached in 85% of total cases (100% of patients who have had Roux-en-Y weight reduction surgery), with adequate cannulation of either the biliary or pancreatic duct in 80% (88% of patients for weight reduction). Therapeutic intervention, including stone removal, pancreatobiliary-duct dilation, sphincterotomy, stent placement, and removal of previously placed stents, was performed successfully in 6 cases. The mean age was 47 years old. The mean (± standard deviation) total duration of the procedure was 99 ± 48 minutes. There were no immediate or short-term complications. Conclusions The double-balloon endoscopy system permits diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP in patients who have had long-limb surgical procedures. Our experience demonstrated that this procedure is well tolerated, safe, and has a high success rate.
The Synthesis and Characterization of Some Derivatives of Anilinetricarbonylchromium Part IV

Abstract The tricarbonylchromium complexes of the following aniline derivatives have been prepared: N,2-dimethylaniline, N,4-dimethylaniline, N,N,3-trimethylaniline, 2,3,5,6-tetramethylaniline, N-isopropylaniline, 3-isopropylaniline, 2-n-propylaniline, N-sec-butylaniline, 2-t-butylaniline, 2-methyl-6-t-butylaniline, 2-ethyi-6-isopropyl-aniline and methyi 2-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzoate. Preparative, microanalytical, together with IR, NMR and UV spectral data are presented.
Femtosecond time-domain experimental characterization of ballistic transport in semiconducting nanostructures

We present sub-picosecond time-domain (THz bandwidth) characterization of novel ballistic transport electronic devices operated at room temperature, using a photoconductive switch for picosecond electrical pulse excitation and a femtosecond temporal resolution electro-optic sampling technique.
Rapid and direct effects of pH on connexins revealed by the connexin46 hemichannel preparation.

pH is a potent modulator of gap junction (GJ) mediated cell-cell communication. Mechanisms pro- posed for closure of GJ channels by acidification include direct actions of H 1 on GJ proteins and indirect actions mediated by soluble intermediates. Here we report on the effects of acidification on connexin (Cx)46 cell-cell channels expressed in Neuro-2a cells and Cx46 hemichannels expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Effects of acidifica- tion on hemichannels were examined macroscopically and in excised patches that permitted rapid ( , 1 ms) and uniform pH changes at the exposed hemichannel face. Both types of Cx46 channel were found to be sensitive to cytoplasmic pH, and two effects were evident. A rapid and reversible closure was reproducibly elicited with short exposures to low pH, and a poorly reversible or irreversible loss occurred with longer exposures. We attribute the former to pH gating and the latter to pH inactivation. Half-maximal reduction of open probability for pH gating in hemichannels occurs at pH 6.4. Hemichannels remained sensitive to cytoplasmic pH when excised and when cytoplasmic (Ca 2 1 ) was maintained near resting ( z 10 2 7 M) levels. Thus, Cx46 hemichannel pH gating does not depend on cytoplasmic intermediates or a rise in (Ca 2 1 ). Rapid application of low pH to the cytoplasmic face of open hemichannels resulted in a minimum latency to closure near zero, indicating that Cx46 hemichannels di- rectly sense pH. Application to closed hemichannels extended their closed time, suggesting that the pH sensor is accessible from the cytoplasmic side of a closed hemichannel. Rapid closure with significantly reduced sensitivity was observed with low pH application to the extracellular face, but could be explained by H 1 permeation through the pore to reach an internal site. Closure by pH is voltage dependent and has the same polarity with low pH ap- plied to either side. These data suggest that the pH sensor is located directly on Cx46 near the pore entrance on the cytoplasmic side.
Finding Middle Ground in Second Language Reading: Pedagogic Modifications That Increase Comprehensibility and Vocabulary Acquisition While Preserving Authentic Text Features

Using a quantitative approach, this study explores the use of textual elaboration as a modification option for literary texts in an intermediate-level Spanish as a second language (L2) course. The results suggest that, with elaborative modifications, literary texts could have an expanded role in L2 instruction for lower proficiency students, thus representing a compromise between those who advocate the exclusive use of authentic reading materials and those who suggest that pedagogically modified texts are more appropriate for this level student. The findings indicate that the L2 readers who read short literary texts that had been modified elaboratively were able to recall more information about the texts and could identify more vocabulary that appeared within the texts. However, the level of text difficulty played a pivotal role in relation to the effectiveness of elaborative modifications. In terms of comprehension, students who read unmodified texts that were relatively easy to comprehend benefited the least from these modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Anesthetic Considerations for Lung Volume Reduction Surgery and Lung Transplantation

Anesthetic considerations for lung transplantation and LVRS have been reviewed, with an emphasis on critical intraoperative junctures and decision points. Cognizance of these issues promotes coordinated and optimal care and provides the potential to improve outcome in this particularly high-risk population.
Predictors of life satisfaction among stroke survivors and spousal caregivers: a narrative review

Stroke is a major cause of disability and death worldwide. It affects 15 million people globally and 60% either die or are permanently disabled as a result of stroke. In a rapidly aging population, stroke is expected to continue to be a major concern for survivors, their families and health and social care providers. Most stroke survivors live in the community and are assisted by family caregivers, especially spouses. However, stroke-related impairments and poststroke depression interfere with recovery and result in impaired relationships and reduced life satisfaction for the survivors and their spouses. New interventions are needed to assist stroke survivors and their spouses to cope with the many physical, emotional and environmental changes that result after stroke and enable survivors to become reintegrated into the community.
Analysis of political conspiracy games: a case study

In this paper, a particular type of political game, one involving an attempt to hide a conspiracy, is analyzed. In classical game theory, parties or players have partly or completely conflicting interests. A game is developed, starting from an initial stage where the involved parties might not be in a conflict whatsoever. However with the development of the game, conflicts might arise and interests might diverge. This change can be reflected upon the game in subsequent stages with the introduction of fuzzy factors like global payoffs and motivation. The transition from an initial game to the final game using these fuzzy factors is demonstrated in this paper using the Watergate conspiracy affair as a case study.
Focusing in dialog

Abstract : When two people talk, they focus their attention on only a small portion of what each of them knows or believes. Both what gets said and how it gets interpreted depend on a shared understanding of this narrowing of attention to a small highlighted portion of what is known. One of the effects of understanding an utterance is to be focused on certain entities (both relationships and objects) from a particular perspective. A speaker provides a hearer with clues to what to look at and how to look at it -- what to focus on, how to focus on it, and how wide or narrow the focusing should be. These clues may be linguistic or they may come from knowledge about the relationships between entities in the domain. Linguistic clues may be either explicit, deriving directly from certain words, or implicit, deriving from sentential structure and from rhetorical relationships between sentences. This paper examines focusing in dialog, discusses focusing mechanisms based on domain structure clues, and, from this perspective, indicates future research problems entailed in modeling the focusing process more generally. The importance of focusing is illustrated by considering the problem of generating and understanding definite descriptions.
The impact of communication locality on large-scale multiprocessor performance

As multiprocessor sizes scale and computer architects turn to interconnection networks with non-uniform communication latencies, the lure of exploiting communication locality to increase performance become inevitable. Models that accurately quantify locality effects provide invaluable insight into the importance of exploiting locality as machine sizes and features change. This paper presents a framework for modeling the impact of communication locality on system performance. The framework provides a means for combining simple models of application, processor, and network behavior to obtain a combined model that accurately reflects feedback effects between processors and networks. We introduce a model that characterizes application behavior with three parameters that capture computation grain, sensitivity to communication latency, and amount of locality present at execution time. The combined model, we show that exploiting communication locality provides gains which are at most linear in the factor by which average communication distance is reduced when the number of outstanding communication transactions per processor is bounded. The combined model is also used to obtain rough upper bounds on the performance improvement from exploiting locality to minimize communication distance.
Complex Interplay of Factors in the Institutional Model of Decentralization: Theory and Application

The Institutional Model of Decentralization (IMD) is elaborated and used to explain two things: first, how the hypothesized improvements in efficiency and growth after decentralization may fail to materialize; second, how the interplay among economic, administrative and institutional factors affect the welfare outcome of decentralization, given the widespread local capture following political decentralization. Rather than exerting direct effects, however, the mechanism is complex, involving intangibles and feedback effects. When applied to actual cases in some regions, a particular method capable of capturing complex inter-relations and quantifying intangibles is therefore used. It is revealed that people’s participation plays the most critical role in reducing capture while simultaneously maximizing welfare. As the quality of local leaders is found to be decisive in influencing the outcome, a typology of leaders is subsequently constructed.
A picky palate? The host plant selection of an endangered June beetle

Precise information about endangered species, in particular identifying their resources requirements, is needed to identify areas that might support populations. Little is known about the endangered Mount Hermon June Beetle (Polyphylla barbata) found only within Zayante soils region of Santa Cruz County, California. We investigated the beetle’s host plant selection, habitat association and mating behavior between June 2004 and September 2005. We identified angiosperm and Pteridophyta phyla, and fungi within the frass pellets of Mount Hermon June Beetle larvae demonstrating that they are not specialist feeders but are microhabitat specialists. Larval species was confirmed by DNA analysis. Significant differences were found in vegetation assemblages between regions where the Mount Hermon June Beetle did and did not occur for Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegiana, and bare ground.
Social and Nonsocial Decentration in Hearing-Impaired and Normal Hearing Children.

Tweny-three hearing-impaired and 25 normally hearing children between 7 and 14 years of age were administered a social decentration task, a nonsocial decentration task (a set of conservation problems), and a test of nonverbal intelligence. Although the two groups did not differ with respect to nonverbal intelligence, the hearing-impaired children obtained significantlv lower scores than their normally hearing peers on both the social and nonsocial decentration measures. Within both groups, there was a significant positive correlation between social decentration and nonsocial decentration, which is consistent with Piaget's contention that centration-decentration is a cognitive dimension underlying the structuring of both social and nonsocial content. Within the hearing-impaired sample, degree of hearing loss was not associated with either social or nonsocial decentration.
A Field Evaluation of the Impact of Transfer Efficiency on Worker Exposure During Spray Painting

This paper presents a mathematical model to predict breathing-zone overspray concentrations produced during spray painting as a function of the overspray generation rate, ventilation and work practices. The overspray generation rate required an estimate of the spray gun transfer efficiency, which was provided by a previously developed mathematical model. These models were evaluated in the field under two different scenarios: first in a controlled environment that approximated the assumptions of models, and then under actual spray painting conditions. Results from the first test showed the model overestimated transfer efficiency, but the measured exposures and predicted exposures were not significantly different. During actual spray painting operations, all task exposures were within a factor of three of the model predictions, and there was no statistical difference between the measured and predicted values. The predicted average exposure of each worker was within the 95% confidence interval. The overall mean exposure was within one standard error of the model prediction. The current study expands on the original exposure model by including a transfer efficiency model to provide a better estimate of the overspray generation rate. The theoretical foundation between exposure and its primary determinants is established, and this knowledge can be applied to design and can evaluate optimal control interventions. Also, the general methodology presented here for developing an exposure model is applicable to operations other than spray painting.
Differences between European and American IPO Markets

This brief survey discusses recent developments in the European initial public offering (IPO) market. The spectacular rise and fall of the Euro NM markets and the growth of bookbuilding as a procedure for pricing and allocating IPOs are two important patterns. Gross spreads are lower and less clustered than in the USA. Unlike the USA, some European IPOs, especially those in Germany, have when-issued trading prior to the final setting of the offer price. Current research includes empirical studies on the valuation of IPOs and both theoretical and empirical work on the determinants of short-run underpricing.
Parallelizing Operational Weather Forecast Models for Portable and Fast Execution

This paper describes a high-level library (The Nearest Neighbor Tool, NNT) that has been used to parallelize operational weather prediction models. NNT is part of the Scalable Modeling System (SMS), developed at the Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL). Programs written in NNT rely on SMS's run-time system and port between a wide range of computing platforms, performing well in multiprocessor systems. We show, using examples from operational weather models, how large Fortran 77 codes can be parallelized using NNT. We compare the ease of programmability of NNT and High Performance Fortran (HPF). We also discuss optimizations like data movement overlap (in interprocessor communication and I/O operations), and the minimization of data exchanges through the use of redundant computations. We show that although HPF provides a simpler programming interface, NNT allows for program optimizations that increase performance considerably and still keeps a simple user interface. These optimizations have proven essential to run weather prediction models in real time, and HPF compilers should incorporate them in order to meet operational demands. Throughout the paper, we present performance results of weather models running on a network of workstations, the Intel Paragon, and the SGI Challenge. Finally, we study the cost of programming global address space architectures with NNT's local address space paradigm.
What Factors Control the Composition of Andesitic Sand

ABSTRACT The modal composition of andesitic sand and sandstone is not only a function of source-area climate and transport processes typically considered for nonvolcanic sediment but is also strongly controlled by volcanic fragmentation and pyroclastic-transport processes. Most volcaniclastic sediment deposited penecontemporaneously with active volcanism is not epiclastic, and therefore its composition is not dependent on climate. Crystal-rich andesite sand cannot simply be regarded as the product of weathering in a humid climate. In fact, there is no relationship between precipitation and the ratio of crystals to rock fragments. Fluvial-transport abrasion demonstrably generates crystal-rich sand only in the case of porphyritic glassy rock fragments that are not durable during transport; holoc ystalline pyroclastic fragments apparently do not disintegrate during transport to yield crystal-rich sand. Many sand-size primary volcanic deposits are crystal-rich as a result of eruptive processes that physically fractionate particles of different sizes and densities. Reworking of these deposits results in crystal-rich sand that is not a product of weathering or transport abrasion. The abundance of unaltered green hornblende is one measure of the importance of pyroclastic material in a volcanic sand because this mineral is not found in lava flows. Interpretation of volcaniclastic sandstone requires consideration of volcanic processes not typically considered by sedimentologists.
Hematopoietic gene promoters subjected to a group-combinatorial study of DNA samples: identification of a megakaryocytic selective DNA signature

Identification of common sub-sequences for a group of functionally related DNA sequences can shed light on the role of such elements in cell-specific gene expression. In the megakaryocytic lineage, no one single unique transcription factor was described as linage specific, raising the possibility that a cluster of gene promoter sequences presents a unique signature. Here, the megakaryocytic gene promoter group, which consists of both human and mouse 5 0 non-coding regions, served as a case study. A methodology for group-combinatorial search has been implemented as a customized software platform. It extracts the longest common sequences for a group of related DNA sequences and allows for single gaps of varying length, as well as double- and multiple-gap sequences. The results point to common DNA sequences in a group of genes that is selectively expressed in megakaryocytes, and which does not appear in a large group of control, random and specific sequences. This suggests a role for a combination of these sequences in cell-specific gene expression in the megakaryocytic lineage. The data also point to an intrinsic cross-species difference in the organization of 5 0 non-coding sequences within the mammalian genomes. This methodology may be used for the identification of regulatory sequences in other lineages.
Garbage collection scheduling for utility accrual real-time systems

Utility Accrual (UA) scheduling is a method of dynamic real-time scheduling that is designed to respond to overload conditions by producing a feasible schedule that heuristically maximizes a pre-defined metric of utility. Whereas utility accrual schedulers have traditionally focused on CPU overload, this dissertation explores memory overload conditions during which the aggregate memory demand exceeds a system's available memory bandwidth. Real-time systems are typically implemented in C or other languages that use explicit dynamic memory management. Taking advantage of modern type-safe languages, such as Java, necessitates the use of garbage collection (GC). The timeliness requirements of realtime systems, however, impose specific demands on the garbage collector. Garbage collection introduces a significant source of unpredictability in the execution timeline of a task because it unexpectedly interjects pauses of arbitrary length, at arbitrary points in time, with an arbitrary frequency. To construct a feasible schedule, a real-time scheduler must have the ability to predict the collector's activities and plan for them accordingly. We have devised CADUS (Collector-Aware Dynamic Utility Scheduler), a utility accrual algorithm that tightly links CPU scheduling with the memory requirements---and the corresponding garbage collection activities---of real-time tasks. By constructing and storing memory time allocation profiles, we address the problem of GC activation strategy. We estimate GC latency by using a real-time collector and modeling its behavior. We project GC frequency by planning, at schedule construction time, the memory bandwidth available to the collector. CADUS can point the collector's activities to any specific task in the system. The runtime system provides this ability by maintaining separate logical heaps for all tasks. We demonstrate the viability of CADUS through extensive simulation studies. We evaluated the behavior of CADUS under a wide range of CPU and memory load conditions and utility distributions. We compared its performance against an existing GC-unaware UA scheduler and found that CADUS consistently outperformed its GC-unaware counterpart. We investigated and identified the reasons for the superior performance of CADUS and quantified our results. Most significantly, we found that in an overloaded dynamic soft real-time system, a scheduler's preemption decisions have a highly significant impact on GC latency. A dynamic real-time scheduler therefore must predict the impact of its preemption decisions on GC latency in order to construct time-feasible schedules.
Why Place Matters: Exploring County Level Variations in Death Sentencing in Alabama

This article has two goals: the first is to document the presence of geographic disparities in the application of the death penalty in Alabama and the second is to explore the underlying mechanisms that contribute to these variations. The first sections of this article address this first goal. We will explore three related questions: first, were historical patterns of lethal punishment, both legal and extra-legal, geographically concentrated within the state and were those concentrations related to the county’s racial composition? Second, are the locations in which there were high numbers of incidents of lynching and historical executions the locations in which there are high levels of contemporary violence? Finally, to what extent are geographic disparities in modern death sentencing practices related to the modern racial composition and segregation of the county? Next, we will incorporate a more robust model to begin to explore the extent to which each of the variables identified in the previous sections explain county-level geographic disparities in death sentencing. From the results of these analyses, we will take the first steps to begin to understand how and why place matters in the application of capital punishment in Alabama. We found that while the prevalence of historical lethal punishment seems to be related to geographic concentrations of modern death sentences, the current racial composition of counties is not. In order to provide a clearer picture of the influence of county racial composition on death sentencing, we incorporated two measures of segregation (the Dissimilarity Index and the Moran’s I coefficient) and found that the level of racial segregation was significantly related to the number of capital sentences. Moreover, certain factors that we expected to be related to capital sentences, such as homicide rate, were unrelated. Taken together, our results highlight the importance of understanding local context and within-state variation in criminal justice policy and the ways in which justice is carried out.
The Government Speech Forum: Forbes and Finley and Government Speech Selection Judgments

The article explores the implications for First Amendment theory and doctrine -- especially public forum doctrine -- of the Supreme Court's 1998 decisions in Arksansas Educational Television Comm'n v. Forbes and Nat'l Endowment for the Arts v. Finley. Specifically, the article examines whether the two cases, viewed together, rest on a principle of government immunity from free speech restrictions when government acts in the capacity of a speaker; and if so, what limits should be placed on government claims of immunity. The article explores this issue through four more specific questions: (i) How can a line be drawn between government acting as regulator of speech and government acting as speaker? (ii) When, if ever, may the government speak in the form of editorial judgment? (iii) Is a government speech selection judgment about news or public affairs, as in Forbes, different from a judgment about artistic or aesthetic expression, as in Finley? (iv) Does a government's "freedom" to speak (directly or through selection of speech by others) itself justify limiting the freedom of others to speak? Do Forbes and Finley, in other words, announce the arrival of an entirely new constitutional idea, the "government speech forum," and with it presage the radical realignment of the public forum doctrine? The article concludes that this is precisely what Forbes and Finley imply.
Ebola at the National Institutes of Health Perspectives From Critical Care Nurses

Infectious disease events were in the headlines in 2014. West Africa experienced the worst Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak ever recorded. The world was stunned when the deadly virus began to spread to other countries. The health care system in the United States responded by designating specialized centers to care for patients with EVD. All health care workers must understand the isolation processes involved in caring for these patients. Using personal protective equipment is imperative and requires adjustments in how care is provided. Staffing patterns must be altered to provide safe care, while maintaining safety of health care workers. This article provides perspectives of the critical care nurse manager and bedside nurse who participated in the development of the care processes for patients with EVD at the National Institutes of Health to help health care colleagues better understand issues experienced and to help prepare them if they encounter patients with EVD.
Razonamiento casuístico en la ética médica

Since the 1980s there has been a re-birth of interest in Casuistry as a methodology for applied Ethics in bioethics. This contribution is a brief outline of the main features of this perspective.
Acrosome reaction inducibility predicts fertilization success at in-vitro fertilization.

We prospectively studied the ability of acrosome reaction (AR) inducibility to predict fertilization success in a group of 232 infertile patients presenting sequentially for in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The median percentage of eggs fertilized for the overall patient population was 25% (interquartile range 5-58%), with one to 29 oocytes available for insemination (median, five oocytes). The median percentage of eggs fertilized at IVF increased as the percentage of spermatozoa able to undergo AR became greater: spermatozoa with a failed AR ( 9% fertilized 50% of eggs. The assay had a specificity of 0.75, a sensitivity of 0.55 and an odds ratio of 2.9; thus, AR-positive patients are 2.9 times more likely to achieve fertilization than patients with a failed AR. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for AR, sperm concentration and percentage of normal forms in semen. All three parameters proved to be potentially useful in predicting the occurrence of fertilization, although AR and morphology appeared to be better than sperm concentration by ROC analysis. Patients were divided into four clearly defined subgroups according to their traditional semen characteristics, including morphology. The median percentage of eggs fertilized decreased as traditional semen characteristics deteriorated, from a median of 46% for patients with excellent sperm concentration, motility and morphology, to a median of 29% for patients with suboptimal semen quality and a median of 0% for patients with severely impaired semen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Cultivation of Pleuropneumonia-Like Organisms from Female Genital Organs.

The technic formerly described for staining bacterial cultures in situ on the surface of agar was employed in studying routine plates submitted for gonococcus examination.1 In the course of 2 month...
Is There a Role for the Edge-to-Edge Technique in Robotic Valve Mitral Repair?

In this chapter we describe indications, robot-assisted set-up, and approach for performing a leaflet edge-to-edge mitral valve repair. Although this method is not our primary repair technique, it has simplified robot-assisted repairs in patients with complex bileaflet disease and others with significant comorbidities.
The Clinical Application of Detection of Serum CRP,CER and AAT in EV71 Hand-foot-mouth Disease

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of serum CRP、CER and AAT detection in the disease monitoring of hand-foot-mouth disease( HFMD) through the analysis of the changes in CRP、CER and AAT of the serum in children with EV71 HFMD. Methods: The serum levels Of CRP、CER、AAT in 178 cases of EV71 infection of children and 40 cases of healthy children were detected. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: The serum level of CRP、CER and AAT in severe case group was significantly higher than that in both the general case group and the healthy group( P 0. 05). The difference was not statistically significant between the general case group and the healthy group( P 0. 05). The abnormal rate of CRP was the highest in severe case group,followed by that of AAT. Conclusion: The serum levels Of CRP、CER、AAT can be used as an indicator to monitor the inflammation degree of EV 71 infection and play an auxiliary role in assessing severe cases with EV71 infection. The positive rate of CRP and AAT is slightly superior to that of CER among three kinds of protein detection.
Cholesterol Emboli in Transurethral Curettings: Report of 4 Cases

AbstractCholesterol emboli were observed in tissue obtained by transurethral resection from 4 patients who were followed for 4 years. Two patients died of cardiovascular disease and 1 of failure of union of an ileal-ureterostomy in which cholesterol emboli were found in small submucosal arteries of the ileum.
A Single Movement Normal Form for Minimalist Grammars

Movement is the locus of power in Minimalist grammars MGs but also their primary source of complexity. In order to simplify future analysis of the formalism, we prove that every MG can be converted into a strongly equivalent MG where every phrase moves at most once. The translation procedure is implemented via a deterministic linear tree transduction on the derivation tree language and induces at most a linear blow-up in the size of the lexicon.
The End of World Religion

To begin with I would like to clarify the implications of my title. The word ‘end’ has at least two meanings: it means ‘limit’, ‘boundary’, or ‘ceasing to be’, and ‘aim’, ‘objective’, ‘purpose’, or ‘reason for being’. In the first sense, it is somewhat negative, referring to a spatial, temporal, or existential limit of some kind. The second, more positive, meaning signifies a direction to move toward, a final goal to be attained, or an ultimate reason to be realized. This double implication gives a dynamic ambiguity quite appropriate to the present purpose, for I wish to discuss the limitations of ‘world religions’ in their present forms and the authentic form of the ‘world religion’ to be realized in the future.
Misperceptions of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Within Racially and Ethnically Diverse Smokers

Underuse of evidence-based treatment for smoking cessation, including use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), is widespread, particularly among minority smokers. This paper examines perceptions of NRT among and between racially and ethnically diverse groups of smokers. Nine focus groups were held among homogenous groups of African American, European American, and Hispanic smokers (N = 70). Specific themes included perceptions of: (a) the mechanism by which NRT works; (b) NRT development and regulation (ie, purpose and methods of clinical trials, Food and Drug Administration oversight, etc); (c) efficacy; (d) safety; and (e) overall cost effectiveness. Across all groups, there was a general lack of knowledge of NRT effects and its efficacy, with only moderate knowledge of the mechanism by which NRT works. Concerns about NRT safety were expressed in all groups, with particular apprehension about addictive potential and possible interactions with other medications. Among African American smokers in particular, there was strong suspicion of pharmaceutical industry and government oversight, which coincided with the consensus view that there are too many unknowns about NRT. Among Hispanic smokers, there was less suspicion of NRT but a strong cultural belief in personal responsibility for smoking cessation. Results highlight enduring misperceptions about NRT that likely undermine usage. More education about NRT is needed, not only about its efficacy and safety, but also with regard to its development and regulation. Health care professionals, many of whom are viewed as trustworthy sources of health information, have a particularly important role to promote wider use of proven cessation strategies.
Power lost, power gained

Creativity, camaraderie, and common sense keep yeast cell biology conference alive during The Blackout.
Readmission following liver transplantation: an unwanted occurrence but an opportunity to act

Background Liver transplant (LT) patients are at high risk for readmission. This study sought to identify predictors of readmission following liver transplantation and to evaluate their impact on survival in a region with prolonged waiting list times.
The Constitution of Police Violence

Police force is again under scrutiny in the United States. Several recent killings of black men by police officers have prompted an array of reform proposals, most of which seem to assume that these recent killings were not (or should not be) authorized and legal. Our constitutional doctrine suggests otherwise. From the 1960s to the present, federal courts have persistently endorsed a very expansive police authority to make seizures – to stop persons, to arrest them, and to use force if the arrestee resists. This Article reveals the full scope of this seizure authority. Of particular importance are the concepts of resistance and compliance. Demands for compliance with officers, and a condemnation of resistance that authorizes police to meet resistance with violence, run throughout constitutional doctrine. Ostensibly race-neutral, the duty of compliance has in fact been distributed along racial lines, and may be contrasted with a privilege of resistance (also race-specific) elsewhere protected in American law. Tracing resistance and compliance helps reveal the ways in which the law distributes risks of violence, and it may help inspire proposals to reduce and redistribute those risks.
A neural system for qualitative mapping and navigation in visual environments

We describe a real-time, view-based neural system for unsupervised exploration, adaptive map-making, and navigation within 3D environments defined by a spatially distributed set of visual landmarks inspired by on analogy to learning aspect graphs of 3D objects, the system comprises two neurocomputational architectures which respectively model place learning and cognitive mapping in the rat hippocampus. The first architecture performs unsupervised place learning by combining the "What" with the "Where", namely through conjunctions of landmark identity, pose, and egocentric gaze direction within a local sensory view of the environment. The second associatively learns action consequences by incorporating the "When", namely through conjunctions of learned places and coarsely coded robot motions. Together, these networks approximate a Markovian decision process for an environment, and consequently provide a neural substrate for exploration, environment recognition, and behavioral route planning. Preliminary results from ongoing implementations on a mobile robot called MAVIN (the Mobile Adaptive VIsual Navigator) demonstrate the potential for these capabilities.