cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Revealed preferences of a state bureau: Case of New Mexico's underground storage tank program

Leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) are a pervasive national environmental problem. Cleanup of leaking USTs is largely publicly financed and under the control of state agencies. In the transition to new compliance standards, individual states have taken advantage of provisions in federal regulations to implement their own programs. This raises the policy question of environmental federalism and the appropriate locus of government control. The objectives of this study are to examine the revealed preferences of a state UST bureau. New Mexico was one of the first state programs to use risk assessments in setting funding priorities. We analyze the statistical determinants of funding decisions and find strong evidence that risk information is used. Although our case study provides a measure of support for state control, the argument is strengthened if public financing is limited to the cleanup of historical pollution, rather than a means for providing insurance for prospective pollution. ©1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
The logic of competing information campaigns: Conflict over old growth and the spotted owl

This qualitative case study examines the nature of the competing information campaigns offered by environmental and timber industry groups as they conflict over the Northern spotted owl and “old growth” forests in the Pacific Northwest. Environmental advocacy literature is reviewed and background of the debate is provided. The competing information campaigns are shown to comprise a synchronous, spiral‐like logic of interaction in which antagonists mirror or match each other's rhetorical and communicative strategies. The study suggests that even in the absence of direct communication between disputants, the opposing political information campaigns are co‐created within a system characterized by necessity and constraint.
The effects of repeated amphetamine exposure on multiple measures of human behavior

Abstract Two groups of three healthy adult male volunteers (n=6) participated in 15-day residential studies. Each study day was divided into a private work period (1000 to 1630), during which subjects had access to four work tasks, and a social period (1700 to 2330), during which subjects had access to a number of recreational activities available under social or private conditions. Occasionally during the study, access to high-probability activities was made contingent upon participating in low-probability activities. Tobacco cigarettes and food were available throughout each day (0900 to 2330). Each subject received active and placebo d-amphetamine doses (0 or 10 mg/70 kg) twice daily during two, three-consecutive-day intervals. Active and placebo dose intervals were presented in an alternating fashion, with order of exposure counterbalanced between groups. Amphetamine consistently decreased food intake, improved accuracy of performance on some work tasks, and increased verbal interaction and cigarette smoking. No tolerance to these effects was observed. Increases in VAS ratings of dose “potency” and “liking,” as well as “stimulated” and “anxious,” and decreases in “sedated” were observed during initial amphetamine exposure, but tolerance to these effects developed rapidly. The simultaneous measurement of multiple dimensions of human behavior establishes a profile of amphetamine's effects which is useful for comparison with the behavioral profiles of other drugs, such as marijuana.
Current status of thoracic aortic endograft repair

The optimal approach for the surgical repair of diseases of the thoracic aorta poses a challenging problem for vascular and cardiothoracic surgeons. Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs), Stanford type B dissections, penetrating ulcers, and traumatic aortic tears can all present in the acute or chronic setting. The majority of these pathologies excluding trauma occur more commonly in the elderly and medically debilitated. Frequent conditions in patients with aneurysms and dissections include hypertension, coronary artery disease, obstructive pulmonary disease, and congestive heart failure. These comorbidities can significantly worsen surgical outcomes or even preclude conventional open repair. Because of the often prohibitive operative risks involved with open thoracotomy and with the advent of endoluminal technology, thoracic endografting has emerged over the last decade as a viable alternative. Due to the aging population in most countries of the world and the increasing prevalence of thoracic aortic diseases with age, physicians will encounter these conditions with higher frequency. The incidence of TAAs is estimated to be as high as 10 cases per 100,000 people per year, with aortic dissection affecting 9000 patients per year in the United States alone [1–4]. Penetrating ulcers of the thoracic aorta are a much more rare clinical entity, and may develop into a chronic dissection or aneurysm at high risk for rupture if left untreated [5,6]. Traumatic aortic tears, a disease typically of younger patients, are encountered in up to 18% of motor vehicle accidents, with mortality rates of 90% in the field, and 40% to 70% in those who survive the transport to a trauma center [7,8]. For each of these clinical
Coordinated Self-Configuration of Virtual Machines and Appliances Using a Model-Free Learning Approach

Cloud computing has a key requirement for resource configuration in a real-time manner. In such virtualized environments, both virtual machines (VMs) and hosted applications need to be configured on-the-fly to adapt to system dynamics. The interplay between the layers of VMs and applications further complicates the problem of cloud configuration. Independent tuning of each aspect may not lead to optimal system wide performance. In this paper, we propose a framework, namely CoTuner, for coordinated configuration of VMs and resident applications. At the heart of the framework is a model-free hybrid reinforcement learning (RL) approach, which combines the advantages of Simplex method and RL method and is further enhanced by the use of system knowledge guided exploration policies. Experimental results on Xen-based virtualized environments with TPC-W and TPC-C benchmarks demonstrate that CoTuner is able to drive a virtual server cluster into an optimal or near-optimal configuration state on the fly, in response to the change of workload. It improves the systems throughput by more than 30 percent over independent tuning strategies. In comparison with the coordinated tuning strategies based on basic RL or Simplex algorithm, the hybrid RL algorithm gains 25 to 40 percent throughput improvement.
Chemistry and functional role of the invariant chain

The invariant chain has two critical properties that regulate the function of the class II glycoproteins with which it associates. It prevents class II molecules from binding antigenic peptides during the early stages of their assembly and transport, and it contains a signal that drives the assembled class II-invariant chain complex to an endocytic compartment. Dissociation of the invariant chain in this compartment is believed to generate class II molecules capable of binding antigenic peptides.
Fraternity and Sorority Involvement, Social Influences, and Alcohol Use Among College Students: A Prospective Examination

This study used latent growth curve modeling to investigate whether the effects of gender and Greek involvement on alcohol use and problems over the first 2 years of college are best characterized by selection, socialization, or reciprocal influence processes. Three social influences (alcohol offers, social modeling, and perceived norms) were examined as potential mediators of these effects. Undergraduate participants (N = 388) completed self-report measures prior to enrollment and in the spring of their freshmen and sophomore years. Male gender and involvement in the Greek system were associated with greater alcohol use and problems prior to college. Both gender and Greek involvement significantly predicted increases in alcohol use and problems over the first 2 years of college. Cross-domain analyses provided strong support for a mediational role of each of the social influence constructs on alcohol use and problems prior to matriculation, and prematriculation social modeling and alcohol offers mediated relations between Greek involvement and changes in alcohol use over time. Findings suggest that students, particularly men, who affiliate with Greek organizations constitute an at-risk group prior to entering college, suggesting the need for selected interventions with this population, which should take place before or during the pledging process.
Solutions of the Ideal Fluid Thermocline with Continuous Stratification

Abstract From an examination of possible ways to satisfy the essential upper boundary conditions, a general way to solve the ideal fluid thermocline is proposed. Through specifying the functional relation between the potential vorticity, the density, the Bernoulli functional [fρz = F(ρ, B)], and the sea surface pressure on the western/eastern walls, the problem is reduced to one of repeatedly integrating two first-order ordinary differential equations. The present model is essentially a diagnostic model. With appropriate choice of F, this model produces three-dimensional thermocline and current structures in a continuously stratified wind-driven ocean that are quite realistic. It also emphasizes the importance of diffusion and upwelling/downwelling in the western/eastern boundary currents and diffusion in the abyssal ocean. The model confirms the conjecture that to solve the ideal fluid thermocline problem, information is needed wherever fluid moves into (or out of) the domain. The calculated results are ...
Models and Documents: Artefacts of International Legal Knowledge

This article draws upon one year of ethnographic research at United Nations conferences to challenge some common academic assumptions about what it means to "do" international law. The article compares the work of academic international lawyers ? founded in making models of an international system ? to the work of practitioners ? exemplified by the work of making documents, and demonstrates the particular, peculiar nature of each kind of knowledge, from the point of view of the observer. This leads to a set of conclusions concerning how an academic study of international law influenced by an appreciation of the particularity of its own aesthetics might be transformed to accommodate other understandings of what it means to practice international law.
It's All in the Plans: Maximizing the Benefits and Minimizing the Impacts of DERs in an Integrated Grid

Distribution planners are facing a new reality: the vast majority of new generation currently being connected to the grid is through the distribution system. This ?edge? of the grid, where utilities have the least amount of visibility and controllability, is also where most of the change is occurring. The result is a new set of challenges associated with further integrating these ever increasing levels of distributed energy resources (DERs). To meet these challenges, an integrated approach for planning is needed.
LEONARDO DA VINCI'S TENSILE STRENGTH TESTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DISCOVERY OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Abstract In one of Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, an experiment is described where strengths in tension are measured for various lengths of wire. The notebook indicates that the results of these experiments were that longer wires were weaker than shorter wires. This result defies classical mechanics of materials. This conflict has been explained as a note-taking failure by Leonardo. This short note develops an alternative explanation, based on the likely heterogeneity of the mechanical properties of the wire and elementary probability theory. This latter explanation has implications for the difficulty and delays experienced by early investigators into the mechanics of materials.
Dynamics near Unstable, Interfacial Fluids

We study three examples of unstable interfacial fluid motions: vortex sheets with surface tension, Hele-Shaw flows with surface tension, and vortex patches. In all three cases, the nonlinear dynamics of a large class of smooth perturbations is proven to be characterized by the corresponding fastest linear growing mode(s) up to the time scale of $$log \frac{1}{\delta }$$ , where $$\delta $$ is the magnitude of the initial perturbation. In all three cases, the analysis is based on an unified analytical framework that includes precise bounds on the growth of the linearized operator, given by an explicit solution formula, as well as a special sharp nonlinear energy growth estimate. Our main contribution is establishing this nonlinear energy growth estimate for each interface problem in certain high energy norms.
Accelerated thymocyte maturation in IL-12Rβ2-deficient mice contributes to increased susceptibility to autoimmune inflammatory demyelination.

Abstract IL-12Rβ2 −/− mice, which are unresponsive to IL-12, develop severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The mechanisms for enhanced autoimmunity are incompletely understood. We report that in IL-12Rβ2 −/− mice, thymocytes undergo markedly accelerated maturation. This occurs at the transition from a double positive (DP) to a single positive (SP) phenotype, resulting in higher numbers of CD4 and CD8 SP cells, and to a lesser extent at the transition from double negative (DN) to DP cells. Accelerated maturation is observed in mice injected with anti-CD3 to mimic pre-T-cell receptor stimulation, and also in mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide to induce EAE.
Fiscal Restraint and Social Expenditure: Israel's Experience in the 1980s

The development of Israel's government social expenditures during the economic stabilization period of the mid-1980s is analyzed, with specific reference to the changing needs for such expenditure arising from demographic changes. The results reveal a real cut in direct services. The implicit strategy relied, for some two to three years, on restraint of total expenditures on direct services in real terms, with real erosion in services arising from growth in the size of beneficiary groups.
Effect of Intravitreal Dexamethasone on Ocular Histopathology in a Rabbit Model of Endophthalmitis

Abstract The histologic and clinical effect of intravitreal dexamethasone was studied in a rabbit model of experimentally induced gentamicin sensitive Staphylococcal epidermidis endophthalmitis. The study compared four treatment groups: vitrectomy alone (group I), vitrectomy plus intravitreal gentamicin (group II), vitrectomy plus intravitreal gentamicin and dexamethasone (group III), and intravitreal gentamicin and dexamethasone without vitrectomy (group IV). All eyes treated with dexamethasone, with or without vitrectomy, exhibited less clinical and histologic manifestations of inflammation. This study suggests that suppression of inflammation through the use of intravitreal dexamethasone leads to preservation of ocular architecture with potentially improved retinal function and visual benefit.
Development of periodic tension in the contractile vacuole complex membrane of paramecium governs its membrane dynamics.

Abstract The contractile vacuole complex is a membrane-bound osmoregulatory organelle of fresh water protozoa such as Paramecium. In Paramecium it consists of a central vacuole (the contractile vacuole) and 5–10 arms that radially extend from the vacuole into the cytosol (the radial arms). Excess cytosolic water, acquired osmotically, is segregated by the radial arms and enters the vacuole, so that the vacuole swells (the fluid-filling phase). The vacuole then rounds (the rounding phase) and the radial arms sever from the vacuole. The vacuole membrane then fuses with the plasma membrane at the pore region and the pore opens. The vacuole shrinks as its fluid is discharged through the pore (the fluid-discharging phase). The pore closes when the fluid has been discharged. The radial arms then reattach to the vacuole, so that the vacuole swells again as the fluid enters from the arms (the next fluid-filling phase). We found that the vacuole continued to show rounding and slackening even after it together with a small amount of cytosol had been isolated from the cell. Using a microcantilever placed on the surface of the vacuole the tension of the in vitro vacuole increased to 5×10−3 N m−1 as the vacuole rounds, and its lowest value was 1×10−4 N m−1 during slackening. We propose a hypothesis that an increase in the spontaneous curvature of the organelle's membrane leads to an increase in membrane tension and thus to the vacuole's rounding, severing of the radial arms from the vacuole, and opening of the pore. Conversely, a decrease in the spontaneous curvature accompanied by a decrease in membrane tension could lead to the closing of the pore and reattachment of the radial arm at the start of the fluid-filling phase.
Classic Whipple versus pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy in the ACS NSQIP

Abstract Background The classic Whipple operation carries substantial risk of complications. A pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy might confer the benefit of decreased perioperative morbidity, but existing data comparing both techniques are inconclusive. Methods Using a propensity score model to adjust for potentially confounding differences in patient characteristics, 30-d mortality, operative time, red blood cell transfusion requirements, major complications, and length of hospital stay were compared between both techniques in the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Separate analyses were carried out for underlying malignancy or benign disease, as defined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. Results A total of 6988 pancreaticoduodenectomies from 2005 through 2010 were included. In 5424 patients (77.6%) with underlying malignancy, there were no significant differences for 30-d mortality (2.4% versus 2.8%, P = 0.33) and major organ system complications (all P > 0.10). Patients undergoing the classic Whipple operation had a significantly longer operative time (389 versus 366 min, P Conclusions Short-term outcomes after classic and pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy in this large, multicenter database are excellent, without significant differences in postoperative mortality and most major organ system complications. However, small advantages in resource and blood utilization may be accomplished with the pylorus-preserving technique.
Apprehending deaf culture

(1995). Apprehending deaf culture. Journal of Applied Communication Research: Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 156-162.
Workshop - elementary engineering education: Engineering Teaching Kits for K-5 students

Engineering education interventions are increasingly commonplace at the middle and high school levels; witness the popularity of activities such as FIRST Lego League, FIRST Robotics, and Project Lead the Way. Less common, though, are interventions at the elementary school level, and we offer a promising one in this workshop: Engineering Teaching Kits (ETKs). Currently, ETKs provide age-appropriate engineering activities at the middle school level, and are overwhelmingly popular among middle school math and science instructors for two reasons: the kits are based on relevant Virginia Standards of Learning, and are self-contained units built on the principles of guided inquiry and active learning. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to ETKs; work through activities from two ETKs scaled for elementary grades, Buoyancy (Archimedespsila Law) and Simple Machines; and design their own ETKs for K-5 students.
Compliant control of robotic manipulators with resolved acceleration

In this paper we present a conceptually simple, computationally affordable and accurate algorithm to control both position/orientation and contact force/torque of industrial manipulators. The algorithm is derived by extending and then combining the control architecture by Raibert and Craig [1] and the resolved acceleration control by Luh et. al [2]. The constraint space is used for specifying the desired position/orientation as well as the desired force/torque[1]. Under the assumption that the desired trajectories of position and force are provided by an off-line task planner, we have developed the control algorithm to resolve the error signals between the desired and actual position and force into joint accelerations. In order to show its computational simplicity and practical usability, we present (i) simulation results of the control algorithm for a PUMA 600 series manipulator on the DEC VAX-11/780, and (ii) analysis of its computational requirements.
Advances and Challenges in Flip-Chip Packaging

The role of semiconductor packaging has evolved from space transformation and environmental protection, to becoming an important enabler for silicon and system performance. This paper will examine some of the advances in flip-chip packaging as an enabler of power delivery and power removal using a microprocessor as an example. In addition, the role of the package as an enabler of system I/O performance and silicon back-end reliability will be examined.
Assessment of tobacco dependence curricula in U.S. Dental hygiene programs

Tobacco dependence education (TDE) continues to be a vital component of dental hygiene curricula-made even more important by the fact that tobacco cessation in adults in the United States has stagnated over the past ten years. This study was undertaken to assess the salient characteristics of TDE in U.S. dental hygiene programs. A fifty-one question survey was mailed to the program directors of all 283 accredited dental hygiene programs during the 2007-08 school year (this number does not include the programs in Illinois, which were excluded since they had participated in a previous study). A total of 187 schools returned the survey for a return rate of 66 percent. Curricular content, minutes spent on each topic, existing level of clinical competence measured, expected level of clinical competence, and resources used were assessed. Respondents reported an average of 6.7 hours spent on all identified components of tobacco education. While 77 percent of respondents reported formally assessing whether a student asked if a patient used tobacco, only 26 percent indicated having a formal competency utilizing all of the U.S. Public Health Service's Clinical Practice Guideline 5 As and 5 Rs. In contrast, 72 percent of program directors reported expecting their graduates to be competent in a moderate intervention that included all 5 As. Though there is a clear commitment to TDE among dental hygiene programs in the United States, we recommend training to a more intensive level of TDE in order to facilitate broader adoption of comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines.
Bacillus thuringiensis-derived Cry5B Has Potent Anthelmintic Activity against Ascaris suum

Ascaris suum and Ascaris lumbricoides are two closely related geo-helminth parasites that ubiquitously infect pigs and humans, respectively. Ascaris suum infection in pigs is considered a good model for A. lumbricoides infection in humans because of a similar biology and tissue migration to the intestines. Ascaris lumbricoides infections in children are associated with malnutrition, growth and cognitive stunting, immune defects, and, in extreme cases, life-threatening blockage of the digestive tract and aberrant migration into the bile duct and peritoneum. Similar effects can be seen with A. suum infections in pigs related to poor feed efficiency and performance. New strategies to control Ascaris infections are needed largely due to reduced treatment efficacies of current anthelmintics in the field, the threat of resistance development, and the general lack of new drug development for intestinal soil-transmitted helminths for humans and animals. Here we demonstrate for the first time that A. suum expresses the receptors for Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein and novel anthelmintic Cry5B, which has been previously shown to intoxicate hookworms and which belongs to a class of proteins considered non-toxic to vertebrates. Cry5B is able to intoxicate A. suum larvae and adults and triggers the activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway similar to that observed with other nematodes. Most importantly, two moderate doses of 20 mg/kg body weight (143 nM/kg) of Cry5B resulted in a near complete cure of intestinal A. suum infections in pigs. Taken together, these results demonstrate the excellent potential of Cry5B to treat Ascaris infections in pigs and in humans and for Cry5B to work effectively in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Knowledge-Based Modeling and Simulation of Diseases with Highly Differentiated Clinical Manifestations

This paper presents the cognitive model of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) developed for the Maryland Virtual Patient simulation and mentoring environment. GERD represents a class of diseases that have a large number of clinical manifestations. Our model at once manages that complexity while offering robust automatic function in response to open-ended user actions. This ontologically grounded model is largely based on script-oriented representations of causal chains reflecting the actual physiological processes in virtual patients. A detailed description of the GERD model is presented along with a high-level description of the environment for which it was developed.
The Advantages of Molecular Diagnostics in the Surveillance of Health Care-Associated Infections

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. An HAI is defined as an infection acquired in a hospital by a patient admitted for another reason and, as such, the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. 1 In addition, infections manifesting at >48 hours after admission may also be defined as hospital acquired. 2 Annual HAIs account for an estimated 1.7 million infections, 99,000 associated deaths, and $4 billion to $6 billion in health care costs in the United States. 3-5 The leading causes of HAIs are urinary tract infections (32%), surgical site infections (22%), pneumonia (15%), and bacteremia (14%). 6
A Vector Field Approach to Mapping Class Actions

We present a vector field method for showing that certain subgroups of the mapping class group $\Gamma$ of a Riemann surface of infinite topological type act properly discontinuously. We apply the method to the group of homotopy classes of quasiconformal self-maps of the complement $\Omega$ of a Cantor set in $\mathbb{C}$. When the Cantor set has bounded geometric type, we show that $\Gamma(\Omega)$ acts on the Teichmuller space $T(\Omega)$ properly discontinuously. Also, we apply the same method to show that the pure mapping class group $\Gamma_0(\Omega \cup \{\infty\})$ acts properly discontinuously on $T(\Omega \cup \{\infty\})$.
Helix propensities calculations for amino acids in alanine based peptides using Jarzynski's equality

Jarzynski's equality (Jarzynski, Phys Rev E 1997; 56:5018 and Jarzynski, Phys Rev Lett 1997; 78:2690) relates equilibrium free energy differences between two states A and B to the work done when the system is driven repeatedly and irreversibly from an equilibrium state A to equilibrium state B. We present calculations of helix propensities using a novel procedure based on this equality. In particular, a work probability distribution is built based on combinations of multi-step trajectories that give representative work distributions without requiring computing an unreasonable large number of trajectories between states. A small number of trajectories (15) are used to construct a distribution that contains millions of work values. This distribution is used to calculate DeltaG(AB) using Jarsynski's equation. To apply and test this method, we used as a model system a dodeca-alanine helix, analyzing its extension using mechanical force. This helix was used as the basis of a host guest system in which two of the 12 residues are substituted by some other amino acid (as the guests). The differences between the unfolding free energies of the substituted peptides and the all-alanine peptide provided values for DeltaDeltaG that can be interpreted as the helix propensities of each amino acid. Results show good correlation with the experimental measurements of Baldwin and coworkers (Chakrabartty et al., Protein Sci 1994; 3:843-852).
Breast milk feeding rates of mothers of multiples compared to mothers of singletons.

Objective.— Over 3% of infants born annually in the United States are from a multiple gestation pregnancy, yet there is little data published about the feeding practices of their mothers. The objectives of this study were to determine and compare the rates of breast milk feeding of mothers of multiples and mothers of singletons. Methods.— Stratified random sampling (n = 686) on the basis of plurality of pregnancy and gestational age at delivery was performed on a 1999 birth certificate database in the greater Cincinnati area. We collected information about infant feeding during the first 6 months of life using a retrospective, self-administered questionnaire and phone interview from mothers of term singletons (TS), preterm singletons (PS), term multiples (TM), and preterm multiples (PM). Data were analyzed using chi-square and logistic or multiple regression. Results.— We obtained feeding information from 346 mothers (n = 81 TS, 80 PS, 90 TM, and 95 PM). By 3 days postpartum, PM provided breast milk less often than all other groups: TS=69%, PS=66%, TM=73%, PM=57% ( P = .035). Among mothers who initiated breast milk feeding, the geometric mean duration of at least some breast milk feeding was significantly shorter for PM than for all other groups: TS=23 weeks, PS=19 weeks, TM=24 weeks, and PM=12 weeks ( P = .002). Conclusions.— Further evaluation of the potential causes for the lower breast milk feeding rates among PM is needed to develop effective intervention strategies and increase the number of preterm multiple gestation infants receiving breast milk.
Modulating effects of L-arginine on cytokine-stimulated lymphocyte migration in vitro

Elective microsurgical transplants have become routine. Yet there remains a 1–5% rate of complete flap necrosis among these surgical reconstructions. This rate is much higher in emergent replantations. Despite technically accurate surgery, perfusion fails in this group. This lack of perfusion, or no-reflow, has been attributed to ischemic-reperfusion injury. The exact nature of this phenomenon remains poorly characterized, though it is clear that significant changes occur in such situations at the endothelial vascular interface. In an effort to understand the biomolecular events involved in ischemic-reperfusion injury we investigated the modulation of leukocyte transendothelial migration. Using a chemotactic chamber model with a cytokine stimulate mono-layer of umbilical vein endothelium, we evaluated the migration rate of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of exogenous L-arginine and/or the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME. Levels of INF-γ and TNF-α production were also determined. It was found that in the face of cytokine pre-stimulation and L-arginine, mononuclear cell trans-endothelial migration increased dramatically. There were also parallel increases in inflammatory cytokine output. These responses were sharply decreased by L-NAME. The results of this study suggest that in vitro nitric oxide augments transendothelial migration of inflammatory cells. Modulation of this response may provide a clinically useful method of minimizing ischemic-reperfusion injury. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. MICROSURGERY 23:262–267 2003
Wound sepsis following Ramstedt pyloromyotomy

Wound sepsis is common following pyloromyotomy in children and in a retrospective study of 178 cases the incidence of wound infection was 21 (11.8 per cent). On preliminary analysis, three variables were associated with wound sepsis: age, duration of projectile vomiting and surgical technique. Only surgical technique was found to be statistically significant on sequential multivariate analysis. Mass closure with polydioxanone was associated with a 1 per cent (one of 70) wound sepsis rate. Wound sepsis after pyloromyotomy is dependent on technique, and mass closure with polydioxanone is recommended. The routine use of tension sutures should be abandoned.
Snowflake degeneration of polymethyl methacrylate posterior chamber intraocular lens optic material: a newly described clinical condition caused by unexpected late opacification of polymethyl methacrylate.

Abstract Objective To report 25 cases of gradual, but sometimes progressive, late-postoperative degeneration of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) optics of posterior chamber (PC) intraocular lens (IOL) implants, often resulting in a clinically significant visual decrease long after the implantation, sometimes to a severity that required IOL explantation/exchange. Design Analysis of explanted PC IOLs, clinical histories, and photographs. Participants We analyzed 25 case histories/photographs and/or explants from 18 patients implanted in the 1980s to mid-1990s with three-piece PC IOLs with PMMA optics and with polypropylene or PMMA haptics. The IOL optic from each case had characteristic snowflake or crystalline opacifications. This condition occurred with more than one manufacturer and in some cases was restricted to certain lot numbers. Methods The explanted IOLs (n = 10) were studied by gross inspection and by light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as confocal and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Main outcome measures The snowflake lesions were noted within the IOL optics. The nature of these lesions was investigated. Results Assimilation of clinical information with pathologic and morphologic profiles of all cases suggested that the snowflake opacification was a small spherical lesion surrounded by an outer pseudocapsule composed of compressed, degenerated PMMA, with a central core containing convoluted fragments of PMMA. The lesions were classified into four clinical and pathologic grades according to their density and severity. Conclusions This is the first clinicopathologic correlative report on this complication. We postulate that manufacturing variations in some IOL models fabricated in the 1980s and early 1990s are responsible. The snowflake lesions seem to represent a destruction of the PMMA material. The cluster of lesions in implanted lenses manufactured by Surgidev was less progressive than some other models, including lenses made by IOPTEX Research Corporation. This identification of a condition previously unreported is important to alert clinicians regarding these perplexing lesions that may otherwise be considered idiopathic, with no obvious clinical hint as to their origin. The prevalence noted thus far is still too low to in any way suggest that this condition would occur in 100% of PMMA IOLs from these manufacturers. However, these late-occurring lesions, present in lens models that were implanted in hundreds of thousands of patients in the last decade or so, could have constituted a true epidemic, except that many of the patients are now deceased.
Ex Vivo Analysis of Thymic CD4 T Cells in Nonobese Diabetic Mice with Tetramers Generated from I-Ag7/Class II-Associated Invariant Chain Peptide Precursors

The MHC determines susceptibility and resistance to type 1 diabetes in humans and nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. To investigate how a disease-associated MHC molecule shapes the T cell repertoire in NOD mice, we generated a series of tetramers from I-Ag7/class II-associated invariant chain peptide precursors by peptide exchange. No CD4 T cell populations could be identified for two glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 peptides, but tetramers with a peptide mimetic recognized by the BDC-2.5 and other islet-specific T cell clones labeled a distinct population in the thymus of young NOD mice. Tetramer-positive cells were identified in the immature CD4+CD8low population that arises during positive selection, and in larger numbers in the more mature CD4+CD8− population. Tetramer labeling was specific based on the use of multiple control tetramers, including one with a single amino acid analog peptide in which a critical TCR contact residue was substituted. The T cell population was already present in the thymus of 2-wk-old NOD mice before the typical onset of insulitis and was detected in B10 mice congenic for the NOD MHC locus, but not B10 control mice. These results demonstrate that a T cell population can expand in the thymus of NOD mice to levels that are at least two to three orders of magnitude higher than estimated for a given specificity in the naive T cell pool. Based on these data, we propose a model in which I-Ag7 confers susceptibility to type 1 diabetes by biasing positive selection in the thymus and later presenting peptides from islet autoantigens to such T cells in the periphery.
Adaptive Bolus-chasing Computed Tomography Angiography in the Cases of Symmetric and Asymmetric Arterial Flows in Peripheral Arteries

Synchronization of the contrast bolus peak and CT imaging aperture is a crucial issue for computed tomography angiography (CTA). It affects the CTA image quality and the amount of contrast dose. A whole-body CTA procedure means to scan from the abdominal aorta to pedal arteries. In this context, the synchronization is much more difficult with the asymmetric arterial flow in lower extremities than in the case of symmetric arterial flow. In this paper, we propose an adaptive optimal controller to chase the contrast bolus peak while it propagates in the aorta and lower extremities with symmetric flow. In the case of asymmetric flow after the contrast bolus splitting into two lower limbs, we propose a dynamic programming approach to cover the lower limbs optimally. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed methods outperform the current constant-speed method substantially.
RSAP - A Code for Display of Neutron Cross Section Data and SAMMY Fit Results

RSAP is a computer code for display of neutron cross section data and selected SAMMY output. SAMMY is a multilevel R-matrix code for fitting neutron time-of-flight cross-section data using Bayes' method. RSAP, which runs on the Digital Unix Alpha platform, reads ORELA Data Files (ODF) created by SAMMY and uses graphics routines from the PLPLOT package. In addition, RSAP can read data and/or computed values from ASCII files with a format specified by the user. Plot output may be displayed in an X window, sent to a postscript file (rsap.ps), or sent to a color postscript file (rsap.psc). Thirteen plot types are supported, allowing the user to display cross section data, transmission data, errors, theory, Bayes fits, and residuals in various combinations. In this document the designations theory and Bayes refer to the initial and final theoretical cross sections, respectively, as evaluated by SAMMY. Special plot types include Bayes/Data, Theory--Data, and Bayes--Data. Output from two SAMMY runs may be compared by plotting the ratios Theory2/Theory1 and Bayes2/Bayes1 or by plotting the differences (Theory2-Theory1) and (Bayes2-Bayes1).
Time lens for ultrafast signal measurements based on four-wave mixing in silicon

We demonstrate a novel time lens based on four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowaveguide. The lens is used for 20times temporal magnification of a signal with 3-ps features, which permits measurement by a 20-GHz detector.
Scheduling job shops with transfer lots

For the production of mid to high volume products with long setups, products are generally grouped into production lots. Previously, lot splitting techniques were used to split a lot into multiple smaller transfer lots, and each transfer lot can be transferred to its successor operation immediately upon completion. This paper presents a novel integer programming formulation for scheduling job shops with transfer lots without introducing excessive decision variables relating to transfer lots. A combined Lagrangian relaxation and dynamic programming algorithm is used to solved the problem. After coupling constraints are relaxed by using Lagrange multipliers, the problem is decomposed into lot-level subproblems, and an efficient dynamic programming algorithm is developed to solve these subproblems. The multipliers are updated at the high level by using the previously developed reduced complexity bundle method. Numerical testing results show that the algorithm can be effectively used to schedule job shops with transfer lots.
Choose your words Wisely: Delay Discounting of Differently titled Social Policy Issues

The present study investigated whether altering how certain social policies were framed would alter how many participants valued and/or discounted those policies and also whether discounting of the policies would be related to several measures of the participants’ religiousness and their political party affiliation. Five hundred ninety seven university undergraduates were randomly divided into two groups and completed a delay-discounting task that involved one monetary and five social-policy outcomes. The phrasing of the policies differed between groups (e.g., affirmative action vs. equal rights). Results showed that framing the policies in different ways altered A) the number of participants who indicated that the policy held value and B) how participants discounted the policies. Levels of discounting were also related to measures of religiousness and/or political party affiliation for all but one outcome. The present results highlight the potential value of studying how individuals discount delayed outcomes pertaining to social issues.
From White Count to White Out

We present a 6-month-old boy with failure to thrive who was referred to the emergency department by his primary care doctor for leukocytosis and was found to be hypoxic with diffuse infiltrates on chest radiograph. Our patient was admitted and eventually diagnosed with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia secondary to hyper immunoglobulin M syndrome. Even though P jirovecii pneumonia is an uncommon cause of hypoxia in infants, this case illustrates the need for pediatric emergency physicians to be cognizant of this rare but life threatening cause of hypoxia.
Selective Incentives and Generalized Information Exchange

The goal of this research is to understand how generalized exchange systems emerge when information, as the object of exchange, produces a collective good. When individuals contribute information for a collective benefit, it can create a group-generalized exchange system that involves a social dilemma. I argue that two properties of information, replication and high jointness of supply, are crucial for understanding the nature of the social dilemma in these exchange systems. Combined with low-cost contributions, these special features of information can allow social psychological selective incentives to significantly encourage cooperation. Experiments were conducted to examine the independent effects of two social psychological selective incentives (social approval and observational cooperation) on sharing behavior in a generalized information exchange system. The results indicate that observing high levels of cooperative behavior is beneficial in the short run, but ultimately it only leads to moderately higher levels of cooperation than when individuals cannot observe cooperative behavior. On the other hand, when individuals receive either high or low levels of social approval, it has a very positive, significant impact on cooperative behavior. This research has implications for real-world generalized information exchange systems such as those found on the Internet. In addition, the theory and results in this study can also be extended to public goods that share the features of low-costs contributions, replication, and high jointness of supply.
Keynote: Automatic Test Data Generation : Who, When and Where ?

The past decade has seen exciting changes in how we develop and test software. Researchers have invented numerous techniques and criteria that are now mature enough to be ready for industrial use. During this time, the need for reliable software has grown enormously. The user base is expanding, technological advances put software into more mission-critical locations, software continues to grow in complexity, and secure software must be correct software. However, many of the strongest testing ideas invented by researchers have not yet been adopted by industry. In particular, one of the hardest problems in software testing is automatic generation of test inputs; a problem with many sophisticated solutions from the research community but for which industry tools only have primitive solutions. This talk will discuss automatic test data generation in the context of the model-driven test design process, then discuss mismatches between testing in industry and techniques from the research community. The talk will discuss why industry needs to improve testing, explore some of the difficulties in transitioning testing research results to industrial use, and close with a description of practical, usable engineering tools that can incorporate the best automatic test data generation ideas in pragmatic ways.
A Windows-NT virtual collaboratory for technical computing

Abstract Virtual Collaborative Environment (VCE) addresses enabling technologies to support collaborative, distributed, computer-based problem solving for engineering applications. The goal is to simulate a virtual laboratory, based on cooperative computing substrate, that integrally supports a shared workspace, high performance computing, distributed data management, as well as graphical scientific communication. In this study we present the design and development of a Windows-NT based VCE for technical computing.
Initialization and Simulation of Three-Dimensional Aircraft Wake Vortices

This paper studies the effects of axial velocity profiles on vortex decay, in order to properly initialize and simulate three-dimensional wake vortex flow. Analytical relationships are obtained based on a single vortex model and computational simulations are performed for a rather practical vortex wake, which show that the single vortex analytical relations can still be applicable at certain streamwise sections of three-dimensional wake vortices.
Using Technology to Examine the Entity‐Choice Decision

The AICPA Model Tax Curriculum (AICPA 1996a) stresses the importance of entity taxation throughout the first two undergraduate tax courses and a master's of accounting program. This paper provides instructors with a case that uses a simplified example of the Boston Celtics, a publicly traded partnership, to highlight the tax and nontax considerations that must be evaluated when making a choice of entity decision. The case also incorporates technological tools including CD‐ROM or Internet‐based tax research, Excel spreadsheets for preparing tax and cash flow projections, word‐processing software, and an optional PowerPoint presentation. The case is designed to be completed in stages throughout the semester.
Public Opinion about the Environment: Testing Measurement Equivalence across Countries

Environmental issues and opinions are increasingly recognized as topics of importance to a global audience. Scholars in the social sciences seek to describe trends in public opinion about environmental concerns cross-nationally, yet use a variety of measures and analytical techniques for such work. Although an understudied topic, the question of measurement comparability across contexts is important for this line of inquiry. This research examines public opinion on the environment in a cross-national context using the 2010 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Environment data. I use structural equation modeling with latent variables to construct a latent measure of environmental risk perception across 32 countries. I examine the composition, level, and distribution of the latent construct environmental risk perception cross-nationally, with comparisons across regional groups. Particular attention is given to how structural equation modeling can be used as a tool for testing measurement equivalence i...