cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Environmental Factors in Nosocomial Infection—A Selective Focus

For many years attempts to control nosocomial infection consisted of programs to measure and then reduce the number of microorganisms present in the hospital environment. Recently, however, investigation of documented episodes of infection in hospital patients or personnel has been emphasized, and the role of routine microbiologic monitoring has been minimized. Further improvements in infection control will require a better understanding of the relative importance of objects in the animate and inanimate environment as reservoirs and vectors for infection rather than development of newer and better ways to culture the environment.
Oral health correlates of captivity

The predominant diet fed to captive carnivores in North America consists of ground meat formulated to provide full nutritional requirements. However, this ground meat diet completely lacks the mechanical properties (i.e., toughness and hardness) of the foods these animals would consume in the wild. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of captivity on oral health by comparing the prevalence of periodontal disease and dental calculus accumulation in wild and captive lions and tigers (Panthera leo and Panthera tigris), and to also correlate oral health with cranial morphology in these specimens. To achieve this, 34 adult lion and 29 adult tiger skulls were scored for the presence and extent of dental calculus and periodontal disease. These oral health scores were also compared to cranial deformations examined in a previous study. We found that the occurrence and severity of calculus buildup and periodontal disease was significantly higher in captive felids compared to their wild counterparts. Further, higher calculus accumulation occurred on the posterior teeth when compared to the anterior teeth, while an opposite trend for periodontal disease was observed. We also found a significant correlation between oral health and cranial morphology of lions and tigers. The results suggest that food mechanical properties are significant factors contributing to oral health in felids.
The Three Chaste Ones of Ba: Local Perspectives on the Yellow Turban Rebellion on the Chengdu Plain

It is something of a truism in discussions of early imperial Chinese history that the so called Yellow Turban rebellion of the late second century c.e. played an important role in the demise of the Han dynasty.l With the court weakened by factions of bureaucrat-officials, eunuchs, and in-laws fighting over control of a series of young and ineffective emperors, an uprising centered in eastern China and led by Zhang Jue ^H? and his brothers Bao ff and Liang H? in c.e. 184 served as not only a theologically based outlet for pent-up peasant out rage against the state, but also provided a window for another type of opportunist to take control of the dying state. The various military men who were ordered by the court to put down the Yellow Turban rebellion, after completing their assigned tasks in relatively short order,2 then established themselves as regional warlords, later seizing control of the Han emperor, and eventually establishing three independent states, thus ushering in a four hundred year period of political disunion in China. This much of the story is well known, though to much of the world it is recognizable primarily from the fictional account of these events in the fifteenth-century novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong ?Hf^? the San guo yanyi HHiffll [Extended Meanings of the Records of the Three States]. While the stan dard dynastic histories covering the period, Fan Ye's ?Si| (398-445) Hou Han shu ??/Jlilf [Later Han History] and Chen Shou's ?J?HI (233-297) San guo zhi Hi?7? [Records of the Three States], mention the uprising,3 they tend to outline the rebellion and its impact mainly on the Han court and the lives of its major players, especially military officials. In both cases, the standard historical accounts focus on the rebellion at the imperial level and virtually ignore how the event played out in smaller locales across the "subcelestial realm." This focus is due largely to the particular set of concerns typically addressed by orthodox his toriography, and not because of the absence of local evidence. Similarly, the limited scholar ship on the uprising in Western languages appears focused on a few key issues, particularly the religious affiliation of the rebels and potential links between the Yellow Turbans in eastern
The Hypothetical Social Contract Theory

As we have seen, the traditional claim that individuals have consented to the state cannot plausibly be defended. Hypothetical social contract theorists turn instead to the claim that individuals would consent to the state under certain hypothetical conditions.1 These conditions may involve stipulations regarding the knowledge, degree of rationality, and motivations of the parties to the social contract, in addition to the stipulation that all members of a society be given a choice as to what sort of society they shall live in. The fact that we would have agreed to a given arrangement in a particular hypothetical scenario is thought to legitimize that arrangement and generate obligations to support it. This approach has the dialectical advantage of avoiding the sort of dependence on empirical facts about the actual world that proved the downfall of the traditional social contract theory.
Coronary artery disease and lunar catecholamine cardiomyopathy

Abstract Objective Show how lunar catecholamine cardiomyopathy alone, exemplified by Neil Armstrong's single space walk, prior to exposure to inhalation of fine particulate matter, can trigger " Neil Armstrong Syndrome" or by Irwin with coronary, possibly hypertensive heart disease, and catecholamine cardiomyopathy. With space flight, invariably magnesium ion deficits, catecholamine elevations, vicious cycles. Design Use lunar heart rates while configuring rover to show severe tachycardia component of the syndrome. Use Irwin's stress test-" cyanotic fingernails" to support Apollo 15 Space Syndrome. Use Irwin's autobiography to compensate for often incomplete data. Results Paper shows that both Irwin as well as Armstrong meet criteria of my 2nd. Space Syndrome: severe thirst, severe shortness of breath, severe tachycardia, the latter, corrected by replenishing plasma volume. Conclusions Irwin, with a history of hypertension prior to the Apollo 15 mission and classical angina during Earth reentry, may have had coronary as well as hypertensive heart disease whereas there was no evidence that Armstrong had these conditions prior or during his mission. However both, on return to Earth, had abnormal stress tests.
Axiomatic hierarchical clustering for intervals of metric distances

This paper considers metric spaces where distances between a pair of nodes are represented by distance intervals. The goal is to study methods for the determination of hierarchical clusters, i.e., a family of nested partitions indexed by a resolution parameter, induced from the given distance intervals of the metric spaces. Our construction is based on defining admissible methods to be those methods that abide to the axioms of value and transformation. Two admissible methods are constructed and are shown to provide upper and lower bounds in the space of admissible methods. Practical implications are explored by clustering networks representing brain structural connectivity using the lower and upper bounds of the network distance. The proposed clustering methods succeed in differentiating brain connectivity networks of patients from those of healthy controls.
Distributed Local Outlier Detection in Big Data

In this work, we present the first distributed solution for the Local Outlier Factor (LOF) method -- a popular outlier detection technique shown to be very effective for datasets with skewed distributions. As datasets increase radically in size, highly scalable LOF algorithms leveraging modern distributed infrastructures are required. This poses significant challenges due to the complexity of the LOF definition, and a lack of access to the entire dataset at any individual compute machine. Our solution features a distributed LOF pipeline framework, called DLOF. Each stage of the LOF computation is conducted in a fully distributed fashion by leveraging our invariant observation for intermediate value management. Furthermore, we propose a data assignment strategy which ensures that each machine is self-sufficient in all stages of the LOF pipeline, while minimizing the number of data replicas. Based on the convergence property derived from analyzing this strategy in the context of real world datasets, we introduce a number of data-driven optimization strategies. These strategies not only minimize the computation costs within each stage, but also eliminate unnecessary communication costs by aggressively pushing the LOF computation into the early stages of the DLOF pipeline. Our comprehensive experimental study using both real and synthetic datasets confirms the efficiency and scalability of our approach to terabyte level data.
A Meaningful Therapy to Reduce Ischemic Brain Injury

The evolution of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as an integral part of the treatment algorithm for severe aortic stenosis has been accelerated by the reduction of procedural complica...
Escape out of the 2D Electron Layer: Tunneling and Magneto-Tunneling

Most studies of two dimensional (2D) electron systems focus on the in-plane properties under conditions of frozen out-of-plane degrees of freedom. In this chapter we concentrate on the new physics that arises when electrons are allowed to escape out of the 2D plane. The escape can be initiated with an externally applied field which controls the potential barrier that binds the electrons to the surface. We will describe experiments where tunneling through this baxrier is the main escape mechanism.
Teaching client/server programming in the context of computing curricula 2001

This paper discusses a client/server programming course and its relationship to the knowledge units suggested by the draft proposal Computing Curricula 2001 [IEEE00]. First, the progression of concepts covered by this course is discussed. The course is then discussed in context of the overall motivation for curricular revision. Finally, the concepts of the course are related to the knowledge areas of Computing Curricula 2001. This client/server programming course also addresses societal needs. Since modern applications require computer professionals to conceptualize solutions built on multi-threaded and network-based programming constructs, educators have a duty to teach students material similar to that presented in this client/server programming course.
The Effect of Electronic Flight Bag Use on Pilot Performance during an Instrument Approach

For years, paper-based navigation aids have been an integral part of safely operating an aircraft. While these tools have served their purpose well, the technology to replace them with a more productive and efficient device may have arrived. Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) have quickly become popular for both commercial and private use. This study analyzed the effect EFBs have on pilot performance in a single pilot environment by evaluating the performance of instrument rated pilots at a large southeastern flight school. The participants (N=14) were asked to complete two instrument approaches in a flight training device. One approach was executed using an Apple iPad® equipped with ForeFlight™ software (the EFB), while paper charts were utilized during the other approach. Deviations in altitude, heading, airspeed, and localizer course from instrument pilot practical test standards were recorded, as was the time taken for each participant to configure the approach. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine if a difference existed between the two methods. The results showed a statistically significant increase in every analyzed performance metric when using the EFB. A survey of participants’ perceived workload during the approaches was also conducted, which revealed participants felt using the EFB decreased their workload.
Customer Service in Radiology: Satisfying Your Patients and Referrers

Radiology has long been a service-oriented specialty. Although physicians in other specialties have direct interactions with patients, radiologists' interactions with patients are often indirect, most often occurring as a direct result of another provider's order. As such, radiology practices have had to focus on two distinct groups, patients and ordering providers, to grow their businesses and retain their patients. One could argue that during the past 2 decades, many of the most visible customer service initiatives in radiology practices have been directed toward the ordering provider. These initiatives have included implementing picture archiving and communication systems to improve image distribution and availability, voice dictation systems to decrease report turnaround time, computerized order entry to ease the ordering process, and structured reporting to improve the readability of the radiology report. As the practice of radiology is evolving to become more patient oriented, it is clear that the specialty needs to pivot and implement more initiatives that directly benefit patients. In this article, the concepts of customer service and a radiology department's primary customer are defined and discussed, and the concept of service quality is introduced. In addition, the author highlights the five dimensions of service quality: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness. Each dimension is described in detail, first by using an archetypal business example and then by using an example of a project that has been successfully implemented in the author's radiology department. ©RSNA, 2018.
The collection of high-resolution electron diffraction data.

A number of atomic-resolution structures of membrane proteins (better than 3A resolution) have been determined recently by electron crystallography. While this technique was established more than 40 years ago, it is still in its infancy with regard to the two-dimensional (2D) crystallization, data collection, data analysis, and protein structure determination. In terms of data collection, electron crystallography encompasses both image acquisition and electron diffraction data collection. Other chapters in this volume outline protocols for image collection and analysis. This chapter, however, outlines detailed protocols for data collection by electron diffraction. These include microscope setup, electron diffraction data collection, and troubleshooting.
Voice of the Buddha: Buddhaghosa on the Immeasurable Words

Maria Heim’s Voice of the Buddha presents the reader with a philosophical exploration of the textual practices of the fifth-century Buddhist commentator Buddhaghosa. She describes in considerable d...
Outcomes of Surgically Treated Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome in Runners.

Background:Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is primarily seen in running athletes. Previous outcomes of surgical treatment with fasciotomy have suggested moderate pain relief, but evi...
A Novel Approach to Modeling Biomass Pyrolysis in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

A novel approach to simulating biomass pyrolysis in a fluidized bed of mostly inert material is presented. The bed is assumed to be externally heated, although simulation of autothermal operation w...
Femoral Head Osteonecrosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Total Hip Arthroplasty Outcomes and Considerations.

» Osteonecrosis of the femoral head disproportionately affects patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is the most frequent indication for total hip arthroplasty (THA) in these patients. » Patients with SLE are more likely to undergo THA than those without the disease, and they elect for the procedure at a younger age. More arthroplasty procedures are currently being performed on patients with SLE as the all-cause rate of arthroplasty is increasing similarly to that of the general population. » Postoperatively, patients with SLE report similar functional outcomes but lower physical quality of life compared with their peers. Sociodemographic factors should be considered as barriers to recovery and should be taken into account during patient counseling. » Past research regarding the postoperative infection risk following THA in patients with SLE has been unclear. Recent high-power data indicate that these patients have a higher risk of periprosthetic infection for unclear reasons. » SLE is an independent risk factor for perioperative medical complications, including the need for blood transfusion, genitourinary complications, sepsis, acute renal disease, deep venous thrombosis, and falls, among other adverse events. The current perioperative treatment guidelines were founded on low-to-moderate-quality studies.
Perception of Child Poverty in Southern Nigeria: Children’s Voices

Most of the existing surveys and poverty studies in Nigeria are, understandably, quantitative in approach, generating data and statistics that are currently guiding development planning. Issues tha...
Bandit based centralized matching in two-sided markets for peer to peer lending.

Sequential fundraising in two sided online platforms enable peer to peer lending by sequentially bringing potential contributors, each of whose decisions impact other contributors in the market. However, understanding the dynamics of sequential contributions in online platforms for peer lending has been an open ended research question. The centralized investment mechanism in these platforms makes it difficult to understand the implicit competition that borrowers face from a single lender at any point in time. Matching markets are a model of pairing agents where the preferences of agents from both sides in terms of their preferred pairing for transactions can allow to decentralize the market. We study investment designs in two sided platforms using matching markets when the investors or lenders also face restrictions on the investments based on borrower preferences. This situation creates an implicit competition among the lenders in addition to the existing borrower competition, especially when the lenders are uncertain about their standing in the market and thereby the probability of their investments being accepted or the borrower loan requests for projects reaching the reserve price. We devise a technique based on sequential decision making that allows the lenders to adjust their choices based on the dynamics of uncertainty from competition over time. We simulate two sided market matchings in a sequential decision framework and show the dynamics of the lender regret amassed compared to the optimal borrower-lender matching and find that the lender regret depends on the initial preferences set by the lenders which could affect their learning over decision making steps.
Taming the Unbounded for Hardware Synthesis

The difficulty with compiling software to hardware is one of finding a priori bounds on the potentially unbounded resources used by programs: memory and time. New approaches now allow us to synthesize bounds on these resources, leading to new high-level hardware synthesis tools.
Adolescents and their parents: a critical review of measures to assess their satisfaction with one another.

Abstract The importance of assessing the parent–adolescent relationship has been stressed in the literature. However, an integration of studies that have been conducted to assess satisfaction in the parent–adolescent relationship is warranted, including evaluation of measures to assess their satisfaction with one another. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a critical examination of the clinical utility and psychometric properties of such measures. Suggestions for future research are also provided.
Trypsin inhibitor from human pancreas and pancreatic juice.

Abstract Human pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor has been isolated in 55% yield from human pancreatic juice and in 45% yield from human post mortem pancreata by gel filtration on Sephadex G-75 in the presence of 10-4 m diisopropyl phosphofluoridate and by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and SP-Sephadex. The polypeptide inhibitor has a molecular weight of 6242 and contains 56 amino acid residues per molecule: Asp3, Asn5, Thr4, Ser3, Glu4, Gln2, Pro3, Gly5, Ala1, Cys6, Val2, Ile3, Leu4, Tyr3, Phe1, Lys4, and Arg3 and does not contain glucosamine or galactosamine. The inhibitor was isolated as five chromatographic forms with identical amino acid content, specific activity for trypsin inhibition and molecular weight on sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. All forms of the inhibitor are homogeneous by acrylamide gel electrophoresis, amino acid analysis, and on the basis of the stoichiometry of their interaction with trypsin. All of the three forms subjected to Edman degradation had Asx-Ser as their NH2-terminal residues. The multiple chromatographic forms could be distinguished on the basis of chromatographic behavior on ion exchange resins, by acrylamide gel electrophoresis and, for the three major forms, on the basis of amide content and susceptibility to enzymatic digestion. It is concluded that the multiple chromatographic forms differ in amide content. The inhibitor is secreted in the pancreatic juice in the free form (not combined with trypsin) in an amount equivalent to 0.1 to 0.8% of the total protein in pancreatic juice. The inhibitor is of the "Kazal" type and similar to the pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitors isolated from pancreatic juice of other species. The human inhibitor is the only pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor studied which effectively inhibits human cationic trypsin.
Shape of Beta Spectra of Once Forbidden Transitions in the Decays of Ga 72 , La 140 , Eu 152 , Eu 154 , and Sb 124

Magnetic spectrometer studies were made on the beta spectra of Ga/sup 72/ , La/sup 140/, E/sup 152/, Eu/sup 154/, and Sb/sup 124/. Th e highest energy beta group of each of these transitions has an abnormally long comparative half life and probably is a once forbidden decay from a 3-- initial state to a 2+ final state. The highest energy beta spectrum was found to have a nonstatistical, nonunique shape. On the assumption that the B/sub ij/ matrix element dominates the decay, the experimental shape factors were fitted empirically by C = q/sup 2/ + to 15, 10, 5, 20, and 15 for Ga/sup 72/, La/sup 140/ , Eu/sup 152/, Eu/sup 154/, and Sb/sup 124/, respectively. (auth)
Model-based safety analysis of simulink models using SCADE design verifier

Safety analysis techniques have traditionally been performed manually by the safety engineers. Since these analyses are based on an informal model of the system, it is unlikely that these analyses will be complete, consistent, and error-free. Using precise formal models of the system as the basis of the analysis may help reduce errors and provide a more thorough analysis. Further, these models allow automated analysis, which may reduce the manual effort required. The process of creating system models suitable for safety analysis closely parallels the model-based development process that is increasingly used for critical system and software development. By leveraging the existing tools and techniques, we can create formal safety models using tools that are familiar to engineers and we can use the static analysis infrastructure available for these tools. This paper reports our initial experience in using model-based safety analysis on an example system taken from the ARP Safety Assessment guidelines document.
Role of the Midbrain Periaqueductal Gray in Maternal Nurturance and Aggression: c-fos and Electrolytic Lesion Studies in Lactating Rats

the upright, crouched, or kyphotic, nursing posture of lactating rats is dependent on suckling stimulation from pups. Because of the neuroanatomical connections of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and its sensorimotor integration of the analogous lordosis posture displayed by sexually receptive female rats, the possible role of the PAG in kyphosis was investigated using c-fos immunocytochemistry and electrolytic lesions. Lactating rats interacting with and nursing a litter of suckling pups showed greater Fos-immunoreactive nuclei in the lateral and ventrolateral caudal PAG (cPAGl,vl) compared with dams receiving nonsuckling somatosensory, distal, or no stimulation from pups. In contrast, this pattern was not evident in the rostral PAG, where the highest Fos levels occurred in nonsuckled dams, or in five other brainstem sites with either no group differences (peripenduncular, dorsal raphe, and pontine nuclei) or negligible Fos (ventral tegmental area, spinal trigeminal nuclei). After bilateral electrolytic lesions of the cPAGl,vl during gestation or on day 7 postpartum, active maternal behaviors, such as retrieval and licking of pups, and total nursing time were essentially normal. Kyphotic nursing, however, was reduced by 85%, nursing in prone and supine postures increased substantially, and 24 hr litter weight gains were reduced, particularly early in lactation (by 26%). Furthermore, lesioned rats attacked a strange male twice as often as controls did, which is suggestive of reduced fearfulness. These results extend the known roles of the PAG in reproductive and defensive behaviors to the postural control of suckling-induced kyphotic nursing and the modulation of maternal aggression.
Interprofessional education: Lessons learned from conducting an electronic health record assignment

Ineffective collaboration and communication contribute to fragmented patient care and potentially increase adverse events, clinical errors, and poor patient outcomes. Improving collaboration and communication is essential; however, interprofessional education (IPE) supporting this cause is not a common practice. Most often healthcare profession students are educated in profession-centered silos limiting opportunities to develop effective communication and collaboration practices. Students from nursing, health informatics, and radiologic technology collaboratively populated an academic electronic health record (AEHR) using fictitious case study data. The assignment was designed to address the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses and IPE Collaborative competencies. The objective was to evaluate students' informatics competency, teamwork behaviors, and communication skills while exploring the different roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice after participating in an interprofessional case study assignment. Students gained experience using the AEHR for data entry, analysis, and application increasing their informatics competency. The assignment required students to communicate and actively collaborate as an interprofessional team to achieve the assignment objectives. Clinical errors often occur during care transitions, so simulating this process in the assignment was essential. Nursing and radiologic technology students had to analyze patient data and develop a hand-off communication template supporting patient safety and optimizing outcomes. The assignment required students to work as an interprofessional team and demonstrate how communication and collaboration is an essential component to quality and safe patient care.
Salvage chemotherapy with paclitaxel for recurrent oligodendrogliomas.

PURPOSEA prospective phase II study of paclitaxel was performed in adult patients with recurrent hemispheric oligodendrogliomas.PATIENTS AND METHODSTwenty adult patients (14 men and six women), ages 18 to 52 years (median, 40.5), with recurrent supratentorial hemispheric oligodendrogliomas were treated. All patients had previously been treated with surgery, involved-field radiotherapy (median dose, 55 Gy; range 54 to 55 Gy) and nitrosourea-based (procarbazine, lomustine [CCNU], and vincristine [PCV-3 regimen]) chemotherapy (median number of cycles, five; range, four to six). Fourteen patients were treated adjuvantly with radiotherapy and nitrosourea-based chemotherapy; six were treated at recurrence following initial gross total resection with reoperation (subtotal resection in all), radiotherapy, and nitrosourea-based chemotherapy. Paclitaxel was administered intravenously at a dose of 175 mg/m2 every 3 to 4 weeks with neurologic and neuroradiographic evaluation every 8 weeks.RESULTSA median of three cyc...
Diagnosis and management of salivary dysfunction.

Salivary gland dysfunction may occur as a result of common medications, cancer therapy, or Sjogren's syndrome. Affected patients may develop significant oral, dental, and upper gastrointestinal sequelae. This article reviews the basic elements in diagnosis of salivary dysfunction, including initial evaluation and specialized diagnostic procedures. Patient management depends primarily on the severity of salivary dysfunction. More severe permanent forms of dysfunction, such as radiation-induced and Sjogren's syndrome, require long-term care, with preventive measures to maintain the dentition and therapeutic attempts to increase oral fluids.
Vascular Rings and Their Effect on Tracheal Geometry

The major clinical impact of vascular rings in children is tracheal compression, which presents with recurrent symptoms of stridor, noisy breathing, and wheezing. This study tests the hypothesis that symptomatic patients have altered tracheal geometry compared to nonsymptomatic individuals. We retrospectively reviewed the tracheal dimensions (area and longest and shortest diameters) as visualized by magnetic resonance imaging from the cupola of the lung to the carina of 49 patients referred for evaluation of a vascular ring. The smallest dimension relative to the largest dimension (% of maximum) and the coefficient of variation (CoVar; standard deviation/mean) were assessed for each parameter. In all parameters measured (area and longest and shortest diameters), patients with symptoms due to vascular rings had significantly different values than patients without symptoms. The % of maximum was significantly smaller (area, 48.6 vs 62.1%; longest diameter, 41.0 vs 54.0%; shortest diameter, 45.0 vs 56.5%) and the CoVar was significantly greater (area, 0.26 vs 0.18; longest diameter, 0.31 vs 0.22; shortest diameter, 0.28 vs 0.19) in symptomatic individuals than in nonsymptomatic individuals. Patients with vascular rings who are symptomatic have significantly altered tracheal geometry compared to nonsymptomatic individuals. Magnetic resonance imaging is a useful tool for visualizing both the cardiovascular and the tracheal anatomy in patients with vascular rings and provides useful information for the management and care of these patients.
The effect of cyclodextrin modifiers on electrophoretic separation of aromatic hydrocarbons

Cyclodextrin-modified capillary electrophoresis has been developed for separation and analysis of benzene and its derivatives. The procedure used a mixture of negatively charged sulfobutyl ether-beta-cyclodextrin (SB beta CD) and neutral hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP beta CD) to effect differential distribution (partitioning) of the aromatic hydrocarbons between the buffer and CD phases. In 80 mM phosphate buffer, containing 15 mM SB beta CD and 5 mM HP beta CD, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and three xylene isomers (BTEXs) were well resolved with a number of theoretical plates well above 100,000, for 50 cm of effective length. Some halogenated benzenes were also observed to separate well from the BTEX components to indicate their suitability as an internal standard for BTEX analyses. Equilibrium complexation models were used for investigating the effect of the cyclodextrin(s) at different concentrations and temperature on the electrophoretic mobility.
Sterol Balance in Hypothyroidism

THE EXISTENCE of a relationship between thyroid II function and serum cholesterol level is well established. The writers have reported that the concentration of serum cholesterol of children with hypothyroidism before treatment varied from 145 to 660 mg. per cent, whereas in normal children it varied from 96 to 308 mg. per cent (1). The onset of thyroid treatment was followed by a marked drop in serum cholesterol of hypothyroid patients. With a daily dose of two grains (128 mg.) of desiccated thyroid the serum cholesterol of patients with hypothyroidism decreased in amounts varying from 117 to 385 mg. per cent (2). When thyroid medication was discontinued the serum cholesterol of patients with hypothyroidism increased greatly in the course of 4 to 20 weeks, reaching levels 98 to 411 mg. per cent above those of the period of treatment in 15 of 17 cases. In normal children the withdrawal of thyroid medication caused an increase of only 10 to 55 mg. per cent (3). No attempt has been made to our knowledge to ...
On decentralized estimation

A multilevel scheme is proposed to construct decentralized estimators for large linear systems. The scheme is numerically attractive since only observability tests of low-order subsystems are required. Equally important is the fact that the constructed estimators are reliable under structural perturbations and can tolerate a wide range of nonlinearities in coupling among the subsystems.
Mercury speciation and total trace element determination of low-biomass biological samples

Current approaches to mercury speciation and total trace element analysis require separate extraction/digestions of the sample. Ecologically important aquatic organisms—notably primary consumers such as zooplankton, polychaetes and amphipods—usually yield very low biomass for analysis, even with significant compositing of multiple organisms. Individual organisms in the lower aquatic food chains (mussels, snails, oysters, silversides, killifish) can also have very low sample mass, and analysis of whole single organisms is important to metal uptake studies. A method for the determination of both methyl Hg and total heavy metal concentrations (Zn, As, Se, Cd, Hg, Pb) in a single, low-mass sample of aquatic organisms was developed. Samples (2 to 50 mg) were spiked with enriched with 201MeHg and 199Hg, then leached in 4 M HNO3 at 55 °C for extraction of MeHg. After 16 h, an aliquot (0.05 mL) was removed to determine mercury species (methyl and inorganic Hg) by isotope dilution gas chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The leachate was then acidified to 9 M HNO3 and digested in a microwave at 150 °C for 10 min, and total metal concentrations were determined by collision cell ICP-MS. The method was validated by analyzing five biological certified reference materials. Average percent recoveries for Zn, As, Se, Cd, MeHg, Hgtotal and Pb were 99.9%, 103.5%, 100.4%, 103.3%, 101%, 97.7%, and 97.1%, respectively. The correlation between the sum of MeHg and inorganic Hg from the speciation analysis and total Hg by conventional digestion of the sample was determined for a large sample set of aquatic invertebrates (n = 285). Excellent agreement between the two measured values was achieved. This method is advantageous in situations where sample size is limited, and where correlations between Hg species and other metals are required in the same sample. The method also provides further validation of speciation data, by corroborating the sum of the Hg species concentrations with the total Hg concentration.
A Human Capital Approach to Discriminations: Matching Workers and Jobs

: Much of the research on discrimination in the labor force has focused on attainment for different groups, once differences in human capital had been accounted for. Unfortunately, this literature often uses proxies for human capital, like education and training, that may be already biased against certain groups who have limited access to quality developmental experiences. What is missing in this literature is a direct measure of individuals' capability such that the inefficiency of a biased market in allocating human capital to jobs can be more clearly identified. This piece will explore the role of a direct measure of human capital-cognitive ability-as one method to examine discrimination in the workplace. Bias is calculated by evaluating the match between worker ability and occupational complexity across different groups. The author highlights relevant literature on ability, occupational mobility, and occupational match and concludes with some propositions to guide future research.
Design of polydactyl zinc-finger proteins for unique addressing within complex genomes

Zinc-finger proteins of the Cys2-His2 type represent a class of malleable DNA-binding proteins that may be selected to bind diverse sequences. Typically, zinc-finger proteins containing three zinc-finger domains, like the murine transcription factor Zif268 and the human transcription factor Sp1, bind nine contiguous base pairs. To create a class of proteins that would be generally applicable to target unique sites within complex genomes, we have utilized structure-based modeling to design a polypeptide linker that fuses two three-finger proteins. Two six-fingered proteins were created and demonstrated to bind 18 contiguous bp of DNA in a sequence-specific fashion. Expression of these proteins as fusions to activation or repression domains allows transcription to be specifically up- or down-modulated within human cells. Polydactyl zinc-finger proteins should be broadly applicable as genome-specific transcriptional switches in gene therapy strategies and the development of novel transgenic plants and animals.
Contrasting the Overexpectation and Extinction Effects

After many target stimulus (X)-unconditioned stimulus (US) pairings, further conditioning of X in the presence of another well-established signal for the US (A) disrupts X's behavioral control. Some researchers have argued that the mechanism underlying this so-called overexpectation effect is similar to that underlying extinction (a reduction in X's behavioral control due to X-alone presentations). Three conditioned suppression experiments with rats as subjects compared overexpectation and extinction. Experiment 1 replicated the basic overexpectation effect by showing that A disrupts responding to X more than does a previously neutral stimulus. Experiment 2 found that posttraining context exposure disrupts extinction but not overexpectation. Experiment 3 suggested that overexpectation and extinction are differentially sensitive to the effects of overtraining (compound reinforced or nonreinforced, respectively), such that extinction is enhanced by increases in the amount of nonreinforced trials and overexpectation is unaffected. These results are inconsistent with the view that overexpectation and extinction are driven by a common mechanism.
The theory of ordered spans of unrestricted random walks

The spans of ann-step random walk on a simple cubic lattice are the sides of the smallest rectangular box, with sides parallel to the coordinate axes, that contains the random walk. Daniels first developed the theory in outline and derived results for the simple random walk on a line. We show that the development of a more general asymptotic theory is facilitated by introducing the spectral representation of step probabilities. This allows us to consider the probability density for spans of random walks in which all moments of single steps may be infinite. The theory can also be extended to continuous-time random walks. We also show that the use of Abelian summation simplifies calculation of the moments. In particular we derive expressions for the span distributions of random walks (in one dimension) with single step transition probabilities of the formP(j) ∼ 1/j1+α, where 0<α<2. We also derive results for continuous-time random walks in which the expected time between steps may be infinite.
The Energy Balance Microclimate of a Suburban Lawn

Abstract A suburban lawn was instrumented in order to study its energy balance components during summer conditions. Results indicate that substantial latent heat fluxes can be experienced with values exceeding net radiation during portions of some days. On average, the energy balance fluxes were similar to those found in previous studies for rural grass surfaces. Since lawns form a large portion of the suburban landscape, this implies that suburban evapotranspiration is an important and perhaps dominant term in the energy balance.
General Relativistic Red Shift and the Artificial Satellite

Singer's formula for the general relativistic red shift on an earth satellite is modified to take account of the diurnal rotation of the earth and the lack of spherical symmetry of its gravitational field. It is shown that the Singer rates of the earth and satellite clocks need slight modifications, but that these modifications tend to cancel each other except at large distances from the earth, so that when one uses a mean radius of the earth in Singer's formula the formula is adequate for present purposes.
The Vanishing Defibrillator Syndrome: Incidence, Mechanism, and Clinical Relevance

Intraperitoneal migration of an abdominally implanted cardioverter defibrillator is a complication not yet fully described. In a consecutive series of 195 patients, migration occurred between 1 and 20 months in 5 (8%) of the 63 patients in whom a subrectus abdomini placement of the generator was chosen. It was unrelated to the patients' clinical characteristics or the defibrillator model. Dysuria and inability to interrogate the device were present in every subject, and the diagnosis was confirmed by the characteristic abdominal x-ray appearance and the findings at the time of surgery. Adhesions involving the omentum, and in one case, the small bowels, were present in three patients and seem to be related to the length of intraabdominal permanence of the generator. Because this complication may be due to specific anatomical characteristics of the aponeurosis of the abdominal muscles, it is likely that its incidence will be unchanged by the use of smaller devices. A close follow-up of the generators implanted deep to the rectus fascia is therefore advisable.
Expression and purification of a recombinant peptide from the Alzheimer’s β-amyloid protein for solid-state NMR

Abstract Fibrillar protein aggregates contribute to the pathology of a number of disease states. To facilitate structural studies of these amyloid fibrils by solid-state NMR, efficient methods for the production of milligram quantities of isotopically labeled peptide are necessary. Bacterial expression of recombinant amyloid proteins and peptides allows uniform isotopic labeling, as well as other patterns of isotope incorporation. However, large-scale production of recombinant amyloidogenic peptides has proven particularly difficult, due to their inherent propensity for aggregation and the associated toxicity of fibrillar material. Yields of recombinant protein are further reduced by the small molecular weights of short amyloidogenic fragments. Here, we report high-yield expression and purification of a peptide comprising residues 11–26 of the Alzheimer’s β-amyloid protein (Aβ11–26), with homoserine lactone replacing serine at residue 26. Expression in inclusion bodies as a ketosteroid isomerase fusion protein and subsequent purification under denaturing conditions allows production of milligram quantities of uniformly labeled 13C- and 15N-labeled peptide, which forms amyloid fibrils suitable for solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Initial structural data obtained by atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, and solid-state NMR measurements of Aβ11–26 fibrils are also presented.
UHMWPE Wear Debris and Tissue Reactions Are Reduced for Contemporary Designs of Lumbar Total Disc Replacements

Background Lumbar total disc replacement (L-TDR) is a procedure used to relieve back pain and maintain mobility. Contemporary metal-on-polyethylene (MoP) L-TDRs were developed to address wear performance concerns about historical designs, but wear debris generation and periprosthetic tissue reactions for these newer implants have not been determined.
Postshock responding on appetitive schedules: Aggression or discrimination?

Data from a recent conditioned suppression experiment by Weiss & Strongman (1969) are reexamined to determine the basis for postshock response bursts. The present paper debates Weiss and Strongman’s conclusion that such responding represents “attack” or aggressive behavior. Using data from other conditioned suppression studies, it is argued that postshock responding is controlled, not by aversive stimuli, but by the appetitive baseline schedule of reinforcement. It is generated specifically by what are termed “second-order contingencies,” reliable experimental operations that emerge as artifacts of other features of the experimental procedure and often go undetected by E. A functional relationship is proposed between the degree of “safety” (absence of suppression) and presence of postshock-response bursts.
New SO(2) Iron-Containing Cluster Compounds [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(9)(m(3),eta(2)-SO(2))], [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(8)(m-SO(2))m(3)-S], [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(8)(m-SO(2))(m(3)-CCO)], and [PPN](2)[Fe(2)(CO)(6)(m-SO(2))(2)] from Heterometal Precursors.

Sulfur dioxide reacts with [PPN](2)[MFe(3)(CO)(14)] (M = Cr, Mo, W) (PPN = bistriphenylphosphonium iminium) to produce [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(9)(m(3),eta(2)-SO(2))] (I) and [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(8)(m-SO(2))m(3)-S] (II), which were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, (13)C NMR, and X-ray crystallography. Further reaction of I with sulfur dioxide results in the formation of II in 48% yield. Reaction of SO(2) with [PPN](2)[Fe(4)(CO)(13)] yields [PPN](2)[Fe(2)(CO)(6)(m-SO(2))(2)] (III) which was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, (13)C NMR, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography. One equivalent of sulfur dioxide with [PPN](2)[MFe(3)(CO)(14)C] (M = Cr, W) produces [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(8)(m-SO(2))(m(3)-CCO)] (IV), which on further reaction with SO(2) gives the known cluster [PPN](2)[Fe(3)(CO)(7)(m-SO(2))(2)(m(3)-CCO)] (V). An excess of sulfur dioxide with [MFe(3)(CO)(n)()C](x)()(-) (M = Cr, W: n =13, x = 2; M = Rh: n = 12, x = 1; M = Mn: n = 13, x = 1) produced V as the only identified product. Crystallographic data for I.0.5CH(2)Cl(2): monoclinic, Cc (no. 9), a = 29.7648(3) A, b = 14.6496(1) A, c = 21.7620(3) A, beta = 123.397(1) degrees, V = 7922.3 A(3); Z = 4. Crystallographic data for III.NCCH(3): monoclinic P2(1) (no. 4), a = 10.0295(5) A, b = 26.356(1) A, c = 14.1032(7) A, beta = 94.691 degrees, V = 3715.6(3) A(3); Z = 4.
Transient Analysis of Thermal Transport During Start-Up of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell in a Hybrid Arrangement

A one-dimensional, distributed solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model, capable of operating in real time, has been developed for integration into a direct-fired SOFC/gas turbine pilot scale hybrid facility using hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HiLS). Preliminary studies of the impact of the initial start-up of the hybrid system on transient thermal response in the SOFCs have been conducted. Further investigation of the impact of process parameters upon the fuel cells is also presented in this paper. Specifically, the influence of cathode airflow rate and inlet temperature upon thermal response during inert preheating is studied and analyzed in both the spatial and temporal regimes. Particular emphasis is placed upon the evolution of spatial and temporal temperature derivatives (possibly leading to undesirable thermally induced stresses) in the ceramic SOFC material.Copyright © 2010 by ASME