cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Urethral Lengthening and Reimplantation: Incidence and Management of Catheterization Problems

AbstractPurpose: Creation of a 1-way catheterizable valve has resulted in dryness for a large group of children with intractable urinary incontinence. We document the incidence, time course and management of catheterization problems in 49 children who underwent urethral lengthening and reimplantation for intractable incontinence.Materials and Methods: We reviewed the records of 21 boys and 28 girls who underwent urethral lengthening and reimplantation between 1982 and 1995. Catheterization problems were defined as the inability of the patient or a family member to pass the catheter, and divided into early only, late only, recurrent and persistent problems.Results: Of the 49 patients 46 had neurogenic incontinence secondary to myelomeningocele and 35 (72%) never had difficulty catheterizing. Of the 14 children (28%) who had difficulty 7 (50%) were boys and 7 (50%) were girls. Two children (4%) with early only difficult catheterization have had no further difficulties during the last 14 and 6 years, respect...
Enhancing and maintaining chondrogenesis of synovial fibroblasts by cartilage extracellular matrix protein matrilins

Summary Objective Cartilage-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins have been proposed to play key roles in modulating cellular phenotypes during chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells. Matrilin (MATN)1 and MATN3 are among the most up-regulated ECM proteins during chondrogenesis. The aim of this study was to analyze their roles in chondrogenesis of mesenchymal fibroblasts from synovium. Methods Primary synovial fibroblasts (SFBs) were purified from porcine synovium and incubated in pellet culture for 18 days. Chondrogenesis of SFB was analyzed by histological staining with safranin-O/fast green, and by quantifying glycosaminoglycans (GAG) with dimethylmethylene blue assay. The mRNA levels of chondrogenic markers including collagen II, aggrecan, and Sox 9 were quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, while the protein levels of Col II and MATNs were determined by western blot analysis. Results SFBs underwent chondrogenesis after incubation with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) for 3 days; however, this process was attenuated during the subsequent incubation period. Expression of a Matn1 or Matn3 cDNA maintained and further enhanced chondrogenesis of SFBs as shown by increased cartilaginous matrix areas, elevated amount of GAG, and stimulated expression of chondrogenic markers. Conclusion Our findings suggest a novel function for MATN1 and MATN3 to maintain and enhance chondrogenesis of mesenchymal fibroblasts initiated by TGF-β. Our results also support a critical role of cartilage-specific ECM proteins to modulate cellular phenotypes in the microenvironment during chondrogenic differentiation.
Correlates of Case Managers' Advance Care Planning Practices

Advance care planning is an increasingly important aspect of professional practice with older adults. Community-based geriatric case managers handle growing caseloads of frail older adults with future care needs that can be anticipated in advance. However, practice in this area is not well understood. A model of factors contributing to health professionals' practice behavior is used as a conceptual framework to study whether advance care planning practices are influenced by professional attributes and experiences, and perceptions of role, knowledge, skills, and barriers in this area. This study surveyed community-based case managers (n = 148) in the state of Florida to examine factors associated with their advance care planning practices. Factors that predicted advanced care planning practice included years of experience, the amount of advance care planning training experiences, perceived skill in geriatric practice competencies, perceived barriers to practice, and experience in advance care planning of a...
The balance of kinetic and total energy simulated by the OSU two-level atmospheric general circulation model for January and July

A three-year simulation which prescribes seasonally varying solar radiation and sea surface temperature is the basis of the present study of the horizontal structure of the balances of kinetic and total energy simulated by Oregon State University's two-level atmospheric general circulation model. Mechanisms responsible for the local energy changes are identified, and the energy balance requirement's fulfilment is examined. In January, the vertical integral of the total energy shows large amounts of external heating over the North Pacific and Atlantic, together with cooling over most of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere. In July, an overall seasonal reversal is found. Both seasons are also characterized by strong energy flux divergence in the tropics, in association with the poleward transport of heat and momentum.
Performance of a Charring Ablator under Transient and Steady-State Convective and Radiative Heating

Behavior of phenolic nylon under stepwise-varied heating conditions was investigated experimentally. Arbitrary transient heating pulses were generated by major variations in radiative heating and minor variations in enthalpy and pressure. Three rates of change of applied heating r = (Aq/Ar) from 11 to 44 w/cm-sec were provided by varying pulse times. Mass of material pyrolyzed rnp char interface recession Xc and surface recession Xs were determined over partial and complete pulses. The average degradation rates (rnp/T or XC/T) increased with increasing r, but the average surface recession rates (Xc/r) were approximately the same for all pulses. The measured transient heating results were compared with material performance calculations based on steady-state heating test results. For minimum and maximum r, respectively, measured degradation (ntp or Xc) was about 15% less and 30% more than calculated. The measured and calculated surface recession agreed within ±10% over all pulses. Although the quantitative results apply only to the phenolic nylon material and the transient test conditions of the present investigation, the effects are expected to be applicable to charring ablators under flight conditions. It is concluded that transients in material response in an increasing heating environment result in accelerated material degradation.
Intravenous leiomyomatosis presenting as acute Budd-Chiari syndrome

Intravenous leiomyomatosis is a rare condition that has been described as being associated with venous occlusion by direct intravascular tumor extension, typically from a pelvic organ. We report an exceedingly rare case of intravenous leiomyomatosis extending into the inferior vena cava, leading to pulmonary embolism, hepatic venous outflow obstruction, and an acute Budd-Chiari syndrome. This is the second reported patient with intravenous leiomyomatosis with Budd-Chiari syndrome and, to our knowledge, the first reported patient who survived with surgery. Correlative images, illustrating computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings characteristic of intravenous leiomyomatosis with secondary Budd-Chiari syndrome, are presented and discussed.
New lagged product test for random number generators

Abstract In simulation modeling, it is important that random number generators be thoroughly tested to preclude any statistical bias that may affect the simulations outcome. One such test is for serial correlation which determines if there exists a relationship between pairs of pseudo-random numbers. In a serial test pseudo-random numbers are mapped onto arbitrary intervals to determine the frequency of the recurrence of interval pairs. Unfortunately, the size of the arbitrary intervals can bear upon the success or failure of the test. A more direct approach is to calculate the product of these pairs of pseudo-random numbers and determine if the resulting observed distribution agrees with the theoretical. This test is known as the lagged product test and eliminates the need to assign arbitrary intervals for serial correlation. However, several practical problems exist in utilizing the accepted test method for the lagged product, as it is relatively difficult to program and requires much computer time to reach a satisfactory solution. For this reason the serial test is more commonly used. This article proves that the existing lagged product test is invalid because it fails to establish that the observed and theoretical product distributions are identical. A new valid test method for the lagged product is proposed which is easier to program and requires far less computer time to run. It is hoped that this practical test will become the standard method for determining serial correlation for pairs of pseudo-random numbers.
Performance Evaluation of I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes in Minnesota

In 2005 the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented the state's first optional toll lane project, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes. Located in the western half of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, the MnPASS Express Lanes project converted underperforming high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 394 into high-occupancy toll lanes that allowed solo drivers the opportunity to pay an electronic fee to bypass congestion. After more than 5 years of operational experience, Minnesota DOT conducted an evaluation to determine whether MnPASS Express Lanes have met performance expectations and goals. The results of this analysis indicate that the lanes are performing efficiently, are continuing to ensure free-flow speeds for all users, and are enhancing vehicle and person throughput. In addition, the lanes generate sufficient revenue to cover operational costs. A recent survey indicates that MnPASS Express Lanes are providing users with value for their money in time savings and overall c...
Accurate CMOS current mode control and processing for a VCSEL array

Summary form only given. Application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) based on CMOS can perform a variety of signal processing tasks and act as an efficient interface between optoelectronic chips and the more traditional electronic circuits. This paper deals with the design of a CMOS chip that includes several basic blocks for demonstration of analog current mode processing functionalities with digital accuracy. The chip was fabricated through the MOSIS service with the AMI 1.2 technology and was tested with an optoelectronic array chip consisting of 16 VCSELs and 16 metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) detectors to implement an optoelectronic feedback loop.
MOOSE: architecture of an object-oriented multimodeling simulation system

MOOSE (multimodel object oriented simulation environment) is an enabling environment for modeling and simulation, under construction at University of Florida, based on OOPM (object oriented physical modeling). OOPM extends object-oriented program design with visualization and a definition of system modeling that reinforces the relation of model to program. OOPM is a natural mechanism for modeling large-scale systems, and facilitates effective integration of disparate pieces of code into one simulation. Components of MOOSE are modeler, translator, engine, and scenario: (1) Modeler interacts with model author via GUI to capture model design; (2) Translator is a bridge between model design and model execution, reading Modeler output, building structures representing model, and emitting C++ (or potentially other) code for model; (3) Engine is a C++ program, composed of translator output plus runtime support, compiled and linked once, then repeatedly activated for model execution; (4) Scenario is a visualization-enabling GUI which activates and interacts with engine, and displays engine output in a form meaningful to user. Dynamic model types supported include finite state machine, functional block model, and equational constraint models; alternatively, model authors may create their own C++ 'code models;' model types may be freely combined; class libraries facilitate reuse. MOOSE emphasizes multimodeling, which glues together models of the same or different types, produced during model refinement, reflecting various abstraction perspectives, to adjust model fidelity, during development and during model execution. Underlying multimodeling is 'block' as fundamental object. Every model is built from blocks, expressed in a modeling assembly language.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Isolation of HLA locus-specific DNA probes from the 3'-untranslated region

Abstract When human class I cDNA clones containing coding sequences are used to probe genomic DNA, 15-20 fragments, each containing a complete class I gene or pseudogene, are seen. Identification of which genomic DNA segments encode the HLA-A and -B antigens has to date required transfection of mouse L cells with cloned class I genes or analysis of HLA loss mutants. In this report we show that under high-stringency conditions, probes constructed from the 3'-untranslated region can be used to specifically identify the segments of DNA that encode the HLA-A and -B antigens in the human lymphoblastoid cell line 721. Examination of DNA from unrelated individuals indicates that these probes are locus specific and will permit identification of HLA-A and -B genes in the population.
Test of IR Arrays on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory

NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory, which is a C-141 transport aircraft equipped with a 90-cm, all-reflective altazimuth telescope, has been engaged in the Kuiper Infrared Technology Experiment. Attention is presently given to the Experiment's flight series for state-of-the-art two-dimensional, 500-element arrays that use either blocked impurity band or bulk silicon devices. The switched FET readout scheme used on the three arrays flown thus far yields exceptionally low crosstalk. System sensitivities are found to be sufficient for the detection of both pointlike and extended sources; several of each type have been used in staring and scanning experiments.
SmartTots: a public–private partnership between the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS)

Summary A history of the public–private partnership ‘SmartTots’ between the IARS and FDA is presented. In order to raise money for research to better understand the relationship between sedative and anesthetic agents and neurotoxicity in the developing brain, the FDA approached the IARS in 2008. A partnership was developed over the following 2 years, then a Scientific Advisory Board was created to develop a research agenda. The IARS contributed $200 000 in 2011 to provide initial funding; 33 proposals were submitted in response to a request for proposals in late 2011 and resulted in the awarding of two, $100 000 grants in 2012. An Executive Board was appointed under the leadership of Michael Roizen to spearhead additional fund-raising efforts, and a director of development is working with Dr. Roizen and the Board to raise funds from individuals and organizations. Dr. Roizen has personally committed to a matching grant for anesthesiologists, up to $50 000 per year for 20 years ($1 million). Readers of the journal are encouraged to go to the website www.smarttots.org in order to better understand the issue, to contribute to the research fund themselves, and to encourage their own professional organizations to partner with SmartTots in fund-raising.
Towards a More Sustainable Production of Fish as an Important Protein Source for Human Nutrition

Copyright: © 2014 Sampels S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Fish and seafood products, including aquatic plants are not only tasty constituents of meals and food products, but they also have a high nutritional valuable and contain beneficial amounts of protein, lipids as well as essential minerals and vitamins. Nowadays, aquaculture is the fastest growing sector in livestock production around the world. An annual increase of production during last 30 years is ± 8% [1]. In a recent review it has also been shown that fish and seafood have a major impact on global food supply [2]. Already today, the internationally traded amount of aquatic animal food products is higher than the total traded amount of beef, pork and poultry combined (26.85-27.45 compared to 20.38-21.99 million tons in 2009 respectively) [3,4]. In addition in several Asian and African countries the major animal protein source are aquatic animals [3,5].
Distinct characteristics of the basal activities of adenylyl cyclases 2 and 6.

Regulation of basal activities of adenylyl cyclase (AC) 2 and 6, expressed in Sf9 cells by infection with recombinant baculovirus, was studied. An antipeptide antibody that recognizes AC2 and AC6 with equal sensitivity was used to establish that equivalent levels were expressed. Basal activities of AC2 and AC6 were compared at varying concentrations of Mg2+ or Mn2+ ions; AC2 had 15- and 10-fold greater activity than AC6, respectively. At 20 mM Mg2+, the Km values for ATP were 88 and 39 μM for AC2 and AC6, respectively, whereas their Vmax values were 281 and 11 pmol/mg protein•min. With 100 μM forskolin and either Mg2+ or Mn2+, the difference in activities between AC2 and AC6 was reduced to approximately 2-fold. Forskolin stimulated AC6 greater than 40-fold at 0.5-2 mM Mg2+, whereas AC2 was stimulated 4-6-fold. At 20 mM Mg2+, AC2 was stimulated 2-fold by forskolin, whereas AC6 was stimulated 18-fold. With Mg2+ alone, activities of AC2 and AC6 were not saturable up to 20 mM and yielded curvilinear Hofstee transformations. With forskolin, activities of both AC2 and AC6 were saturable by 10 mM Mg2+ and yielded linear Hofstee transformations. These data indicate that there are substantial differences in the basal enzymatic activities of adenylyl cyclase isoforms, due to differential regulation by Mg2+ ions rather than intrinsic catalytic capabilities. Thus the presence and relative abundance of adenylyl cyclase subtypes could greatly affect the resting cellular cAMP levels with consequent effects on important biological functions, such as differentiation and proliferation.
Continuity through Change: The Return of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, 1967-1972

In 1972, the United States returned the Ryukyu island chain to Japa nese sovereignty, ending negotiations over the status of this chain and the Bonin islands. The return of these two island chains, which in cluded Okinawa and Iwo Jima, was an example of diplomacy at its very best. The United States and Japan reached a settlement through negotiations that met the minimum needs of both nations. Japan re gained lost territory, while the United States maintained an alliance critical to an international system that made it the predominate power in the Pacific. The return of these islands brought continuity through change. Previous writers working on this topic have focused only on the changes Okinawa reversion brought about. The failure to mention continuity is present in studies exploring this event from either a bi lateral or international perspective. Two scholars examined U.S.-Japa nese relations in light of the war in Vietnam. Walter LaFeber contends that Okinawa, trade, China, and the war wrecked relations between the two countries, invoking a new era. This new relationship resembled the 1920s more than the time between 1945 and 1960. While Japan was strong, it was hardly capable of or interested in pursuing a course totally independent of the United States, because of Okinawan rever sion. Thomas H. R. Havens argues that the war forced the United States to return Okinawa, and Japan to expand its defense commit ment to include South Korea. Havens gives too much credit to the war. Even if there had there been no Vietnam War, Okinawa still would have been returned. There were a number of bilateral factors, sepa rate from the war, that compelled the United States to do so. Given that fact, studies examining the return of the island solely from Japa nese and American perspectives are more likely to give a more accu rate account. Even then, these works only discuss the changes reversion brought. In a doctoral dissertation published as a book in 1970, Akio
Simplified operational procedures for the appraisal of rural roads

This paper provides (i) simplified operational procedures for the appraisal of rural roads (RRs) in transportation, rural development and agricultural projects, and (ii) issues often encountered in the preparation and implementation of projects with rural road components. This paper was originally presented at the PTRC Summer Annual Meetings, July, 1984.
Automatic axis generation for virtual bronchoscopic assessment of major airway obstructions

Virtual bronchoscopy (VB) has emerged as a paradigm for more effective 3D CT image evaluation. Systematic evaluation of a 3D CT chest image using VB techniques, however, requires precomputed guidance data. This guidance data takes the form of central axes, or centerlines, through the major airways. We propose an axes-generation algorithm for VB assessment of 3D CT chest images. For a typical high-resolution 3D CT chest image, the algorithm produces a series of airway-tree axes, corresponding airway cross-sectional area measurements, and a segmented airway tree in a few minutes on a standard PC. Results for phantom and human airway-obstruction cases demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm. Also, the algorithm is demonstrated in the context of VB-based 3D CT assessment.
A projection approach for robust adaptive beamforming

It is well known that calibration errors can seriously degrade performance in adaptive arrays, particularly when the input signal-to-noise ratio is large. The effect is caused by the perturbation of the presumed steering vector from its optimal value. Although it is not as widely known, similar degradation occurs in sampled matrix inversion processing when the covariance matrix is estimated while the desired signal is present in the snapshot data. Under these conditions, performance loss is due to errors in the estimated covariance matrix and occurs even when the steering vector is known exactly. In the paper, a new method based of modification of the steering vector is proposed to overcome both the problems of perturbation and of sample covariance errors. The method involves projection of the presumed steering vector onto the observed signal-plus-interference subspace. An analysis is also presented illustrating that the sample covariance errors can be viewed as a particular type of perturbation error and a simple approximation is derived for the expected beamformer performance as a function of the number of data snapshots. Both analytical and experimental results are presented that illustrate the advantages of the proposed method. >
Chromosomal Rearrangement Inferred From Comparisons of 12 Drosophila Genomes

The availability of 12 complete genomes of various species of genus Drosophila provides a unique opportunity to analyze genome-scale chromosomal rearrangements among a group of closely related species. This article reports on the comparison of gene order between these 12 species and on the fixed rearrangement events that disrupt gene order. Three major themes are addressed: the conservation of syntenic blocks across species, the disruption of syntenic blocks (via chromosomal inversion events) and its relationship to the phylogenetic distribution of these species, and the rate of rearrangement events over evolutionary time. Comparison of syntenic blocks across this large genomic data set confirms that genetic elements are largely (95%) localized to the same Muller element across genus Drosophila species and paracentric inversions serve as the dominant mechanism for shuffling the order of genes along a chromosome. Gene-order scrambling between species is in accordance with the estimated evolutionary distances between them and we find it to approximate a linear process over time (linear to exponential with alternate divergence time estimates). We find the distribution of synteny segment sizes to be biased by a large number of small segments with comparatively fewer large segments. Our results provide estimated chromosomal evolution rates across this set of species on the basis of whole-genome synteny analysis, which are found to be higher than those previously reported. Identification of conserved syntenic blocks across these genomes suggests a large number of conserved blocks with varying levels of embryonic expression correlation in Drosophila melanogaster. On the other hand, an analysis of the disruption of syntenic blocks between species allowed the identification of fixed inversion breakpoints and estimates of breakpoint reuse and lineage-specific breakpoint event segregation.
Data Quality: An Attribute Framework for Large Systems

In previous work we examined a process for cleaning data from a single source. We proposed a framework with three attribute categories— critical, logical, irrelevant— that enables users to interpret the effect of dirty data on operational decisions. To extend the framework to large systems, we suggest adding a fourth category “ used” as a set of tags. The metadata on the tags describes the usage— how users modified the attributes to meet their requirements. One database we examined contains data feeds multiple sources within an international firm plus external feeds containing financial market information. As the data flows through the corporation to the users, additional attributes are added and multiple databases are integrated. At each stage users endeavor to maintain clean data for attributes important to their function. Downstream analysts, however, do not know which attributes have been used. This paper describes the framework extension and the metadata tags.
A water-powered osmotic microactuator

This paper presents a microactuator that utilizes osmosis to produce mechanical actuation without consuming any electrical energy. The microactuator is made of cellulose acetate with cylindrical chamber of 500 to 2000 /spl mu/m in diameter and of 200 to 1000 /spl mu/m in depth. Sodium chloride is chosen as the osmotic driving agent to be placed inside the chamber. A semipermeable diaphragm made of cellulose acetate is processed at the bottom of the chamber to control the water flow. Either a cellulose acetate diaphragm or an impermeable diaphragm made of vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile copolymer is spin-coated on top of the chamber as the actuation diaphragm. Using the principle of osmosis, this water-powered, osmotic microactuator can employ high osmotic pressure (a chemical potential) up to 35.6 MPa to provide hydrostatic pressure for mechanical actuation. Experimental measurements show that up to 800 /spl mu/m vertical diaphragm movement (diaphragm size of 800 /spl mu/m in diameter) and constant volume expansion rate of 4.5 to 11.5 nL/h can be achieved. When integrated with other microfluidic devices, this osmotic microactuator could serve as a clean, compact and inexpensive fluidic actuation source.
The Application of Adiabatic Film Cooling Effectiveness to Non-Adiabatic Blade Cooling Design

The effect of heat transfer on film cooling has been studied analytically. The proposed model shows that the non-adiabatic film cooling effectiveness will increase with increasing of the heat transfer parameter, Ū / (ρVCp)2, on the convex, the flat and the concave walls over the entire range of film cooling parameter, X/MS. On the convex wall with a blowing rate, M, of 0.51 and a heat transfer parameter of 10−3 at the typical engine conditions, the non-adiabatic effectiveness can be higher than the adiabatic effectiveness by 45% at a film cooling parameter of 103; while the film temperature can be lower than the adiabatic wall by 18°C (32°F) at a dimensionless distance of 500. The model can be extended and applied to the heat transfer analysis for any kind of turbine blade with film cooling.© 1983 ASME
The Impact of Early New England Missionaries on Women's Roles in Zulu Culture

As missionaries from New England made initial forays into Zululand and Natal in the 1830s, the Zulu people were in a state of considerable stress. Dingan had come to power in 1828 after participating in the assassination of his brother Shaka, the notorious warrior king whose conquests after 1816 brought people from dozens of clans and chieftanships into a Zulu state. Ecological crises caused by drought and competition for scarce resources contributed to Shaka's ability to exert unprecedented authority, as did the predatory incursions of European traders seeking ivory, skins, and slaves in various parts of southeast Africa. Expanding on a tradition of religious initiation and military ranking known as ambutho, Shaka crated a system of loyalty to the state that built on but also compromised the loyalties to particular clans commanded by lesser chiefs.
The diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography angiography for traumatic or atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid and vertebral arteries: a systematic review.

Abstract Introduction: Helical computed tomography angiography (CTA) has become an established technique for evaluating atherosclerosis of the cerebrovascular arteries. However, the role of CTA in penetrating and blunt trauma to the carotid and vertebral arteries is not well defined. We conducted a systematic literature review to determine the diagnostic accuracy of CTA for atherosclerotic, penetrating and blunt lesions in the carotid and vertebral arteries. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of CTA of the carotid and vertebral arteries published between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 2002. Two reviewers independently assessed abstracts and full text to determine study eligibility. Information on methodological quality, imaging technique and diagnostic accuracy was abstracted from all eligible studies by three independent reviewers. We pooled sensitivity and specificity data from diagnostic accuracy studies of high methodological quality. Results: Forty-three articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Thirty studies examined atherosclerotic disease, two blunt trauma, two penetrating trauma and nine examined patients with other pathology. Pooled data from 15 higher quality studies demonstrated that CTA had a sensitivity of 95% (91–97% CI) for detecting severe (>70%) atherosclerotic stenosis of the carotid artery. The specificity of CTA for severe stenosis was also high 98% (96–99% CI). CTA remained a sensitive technique (95%; 93–97% CI) when the criterion for a positive result is relaxed to moderate or greater (>30%) stenosis. Two studies raised concerns about the use of CTA in the blunt trauma setting, suggesting that CTA may not be sensitive for detecting small intimal injuries, although both of these studies used older technologies for either obtaining or viewing images. Conversely, two penetrating trauma studies concluded that the sensitivity of CTA was high. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that CTA is both a sensitive and specific imaging technique for identifying severe atherosclerotic stenosis and occlusion of the carotid arteries. However, there is currently not enough high quality evidence to accurately estimate the sensitivity and specificity of CTA in the setting of blunt or penetrating trauma.
Interaction of Bartonella henselae with endothelial cells promotes monocyte/macrophage chemoattractant protein 1 gene expression and protein production and triggers monocyte migration.

Bacillary angiomatosis (BA), one of the many clinical manifestations resulting from infection with the facultative intracellular bacterium Bartonella henselae, is characterized by angiogenic lesions. Macrophages have been identified as important effector cells contributing to the angiogenic process during B. henselae infection by infiltrating BA lesions and secreting vascular endothelial growth factor. Monocyte-macrophage chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) recruits macrophages to sites of inflammation. In this study, we investigated the ability of B. henselae to upregulate MCP-1 gene expression and protein production in the human microvascular endothelial cell line HMEC-1. MCP-1 mRNA was induced at 6 and 24 h after treatment with bacteria, whereas protein production was elevated at 6, 24, and 48 h. This induction was not dependent on the presence of bacterial lipopolysaccharide or endothelial cell toll-like receptor 4. However, MCP-1 production was dependent on NF-κB activity. Outer membrane proteins of low molecular weight were able to upregulate MCP-1 production. Furthermore, supernatants from B. henselae-infected HMEC-1 were able to induce chemotaxis of THP-1 monocytes. These data suggest a mechanism by which the macrophage effector cell is recruited to the endothelium during B. henselae infection and then contributes to bacterial-induced angiogenesis.
Healthy Kids Out of School: Using Mixed Methods to Develop Principles for Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Out-of-School Settings in the United States

Introduction Widespread practices supporting availability of healthful foods, beverages, and physical activity in out-of-school-time (OST) settings would further obesity prevention efforts. The objective of this article was to describe principles to guide policy development in support of healthy eating and physical activity practices in out-of-school settings to promote obesity prevention. Methods The Institute of Medicine's L.E.A.D. framework (Locate Evidence, Evaluate it, Assemble it, and Inform Decisions) was used to identify practices relevant to children's healthful eating in most OST settings: 1) locate and evaluate information from a national survey of children's perceptions of healthful-food access; published research, reports, policies and guidelines; and roundtables with OST organizations' administrators; 2) assemble information to prioritize actionable practices; and 3) inform programmatic direction. Results Three evidence-informed guiding principles for short-duration OST resulted: 1) drink right: choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages; 2) move more: boost movement and physical activity in all programs; and 3) snack smart: fuel up on fruits and vegetables. Conclusion Healthy Kids Out of School was launched to support the dissemination and implementation of these guiding principles in short-duration OST settings, complementing efforts in other OST settings to shift norms around eating and physical activity.
German Ethnic Theatre in Texas: The Nineteenth Century

When “the floodgates of emigration from Europe were opened by the political upheavals on the continent in 1848 … Texas was the goal of the thousands of refugees who fled from the turmoil.” Throughout the following decade, waves of German immigrants were thrust onto the shores of the Texas Gulf Coast at Indianola and eventually spread over much of Southwestern and Central Texas.
Simultaneous Electronic and Ionic Conduction in a Block Copolymer: Application in Lithium Battery Electrodes†

Charging ahead: separate values for the simultaneous electronic and ionic conductivity of a conjugated polymer containing poly(3-hexylthiophene) and poly(ethylene oxide) (P3HT-PEO) were determined by using ac impedance and dc techniques. P3HT-PEO was used as binder, and transporter of electronic charge and Li(+) ions in a LiFePO(4) cathode, which was incorporated into solid-state lithium batteries.
Development of a Patient Classification System for Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

The purpose of this project was to develop a patient classification system that could indicate the caregiver time required by chronic hemodialysis patients during one dialysis treatment session. A patient acuity tool that used a condition indicator model was developed and validated. Initial indicator weights were established by an expert panel of 12 center directors. An experimental design was formulated that permitted evaluation of the influence of independent factors, such as type of ownership and cost-per-treatment environment on the acuity-time relationship. Acuity-time data were collected on more than 600 individual treatments performed in 12 different centers across the country. Results indicate that patient acuity, measured by The American Nephrology Nurses' Association (ANNA)/MECON acuity tool, is a strong predictor of the caregiver time that will be required by the patient during that treatment session (P < 0.0001) and that centers differ in the amount of time that caregivers spend with patients who are rated at the same level of acuity (P = 0.001). The overall average time spent by caregivers ranged from 61 minutes per treatment for level I patients to 97 minutes per treatment for level 5 patients. Ownership and cost-per-treatment effects were not significant as independent factors. However, some combinations of ownership and cost-per-treatment data may be significant.
Phase-Shift Controlled Multilevel Bidirectional DC/DC Converter: A Novel Solution to Battery Charge Equalization in Fuel Cell Vehicle

Series-connected battery pack is one of the most economic and significant element within a fuel cell vehicle energy storage system. It provides fast dynamic response for electric drive train and handles regenerative power efficiently. Battery charge equalization has to be considered in the battery management system design because of its important influence on the battery life, uniform state of charge of battery packs can also enhance the battery-string performance. In urban drive cycles, battery string need to be frequently discharged and charged, which brings up another challenge for battery charger in fast charging. This paper presents a novel multi-level bi-directional DC/DC converter with phase-shifted charging control algorithm, which is capable of providing balanced fast charging of battery string in fuel cell vehicle applications. The basic operation mode of the converter/charger is presented, charge equalization and fast charging algorithm is discussed and simulated.
Clinical characteristics of alcoholism in alcohol-dependent subjects with and without a history of alcohol treatment.

Background: Most clinical alcohol research is carried out on alcoholics who are in treatment, usually inpatients. However, most alcohol-dependent men and women never enter treatment, and even fewer ever receive inpatient care. Thus, some generally accepted data on the clinical course of alcoholism, derived from treatment samples, might not generalize to the entire population of alcohol-dependent individuals. This article characterizes the clinical characteristics of alcohol dependence in three groups of alcoholics, based on their histories of treatment for alcohol problems: those without prior rehabilitation; those with only outpatient approaches or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA); and subjects with an inpatient experience. Methods: Semistructured interviews were administered to 3572 DSM-III-R-defined alcohol-dependent subjects from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. The clinical patterns were compared across the three groups of alcoholics: Group 1, never-treated (n= 1582; 44%); Group 2, histories of outpatient or AA only (n= 399; 11%); and Group 3, at least one inpatient experience (n= 1591; 45%). Results: A progression was shown from Groups 1 to 3 for more general life problems (e.g., unemployment, marital instability); higher rates of additional drug dependencies and psychiatric disorders; and more alcohol-related adverse events. Logistic regression analyses revealed that those with no prior treatment were more likely to be women, Caucasian, and employed, and to report a lower rate of divorce/separation, lower levels of alcohol intake, and fewer alcohol problems. Among those who received help, inpatient care was predicted by an opposite profile. Conclusions: These results indicate that studies using data from inpatient populations may give a skewed picture of the clinical characteristics of alcohol dependence.
Measurement of low frequency current from a fixed platform

Currents measured from large fixed platforms have errors caused by flow interference from the platform members. Such errors are studied by analyzing measurements made at the Ocean Test Structure (OTS) where current meters were mounted on all four corner legs of the platform, each oriented radially outward from the platform. The measurement errors are found to be dominated by flow interference. The errors have a consistent relation to the relative angle of attack of the steady flow, are approximately linearly proportional to the steady flow speed and are roughly doubled by marine growth on the structure. Because the errors are consistent, the measurements are repeatable and therefore platforms are useful vehicles for current measurement.
Construction of multiply fixed n-valued maps

Abstract A self-map, either single-valued or multi-valued, is multiply fixed if every map homotopic to it has at least two fixed points. Let p : X ˜ → X be a finite covering space, of degree n , of a connected finite polyhedron, and let f : X → X be a map. We lift f to an n -valued map ϕ p , f : X ˜ ⊸ X ˜ and prove that it is multiply fixed if the Nielsen number of f is greater than or equal to two. We obtain a formula for the Nielsen number of ϕ p , f in terms of the Nielsen number of f , the induced fundamental group homomorphism of f , and the monodromy action of the covering space. We describe specific constructions of the n -valued maps ϕ p , f on graphs, orientable double covers, handlebodies, free G -spaces and nilmanifolds.
A Womb That Is (Not Always) One's Own

AbstractThe global diffusion of technology has spurred growth across a variety of sectors and increased linkages among actors in the global political economy. Advances in communication and travel technologies connect disparate regions around the world, while advances in medical technologies have increased the opportunities and options for both extending and creating life. Together these advances have led to the globalization of medical tourism and the rise of reproductive tourism. Reproductive tourism covers a variety of services, including surrogacy. As a result of such technological advances, not only is surrogacy increasing, it is increasingly transnational and commercialized. One of the top destinations for reproductive tourism is India, and Indian surrogates are becoming a hot commodity for western individuals looking to enlarge their families. Hailed by advocates as beneficial to all parties involved, critics are quick to point out the potential for exploitation and abuse in transnational commercial...
Najas Flexilis (Hydrocharitaceae) in Alaska: A Reassessment

Abstract Fifteen Najas flexilis collections were made in Alaska during the summer of 2012, with 13 of the stations representing either new or formerly undocumented localities for this imperiled Alaskan species. These field collections characterize the Alaskan habitats of N. flexilis as shallow water sites (<1.5 m) with sand-dominated substrates (71% of sites) and have documented an additional 28 species associates (a 300% increase). However, the additional collections have not extended the elevational, latitudinal, or longitudinal extent of N. flexilis from the limits indicated by previous Alaskan collections. Najas flexilis remains rare in Alaska as evidenced by a low specimen recovery rate (10%) from potentially suitable sites, and a total of only 12 geographically distinct localities known across the entire state. The new collections have furnished valuable study material for morphological and genetic analyses, which have confirmed the identity of Alaskan populations as N. flexilis, rather than N. cana...
Epidemiologic investigations of mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infections in Ohio dairy herds

ii Dedication iv Acknowledgments v Vita vii List of Tables xiii List of Figures xvii List of Abbreviations xviii Chapters:
Reality unbound: The politics of fragmentation in the experimental productions of kinema ikon

ABSTRACTThe article analyses the experimental films produced by a semi-professional workshop, kinema ikon, in Arad, Romania between 1970 and 1989. Employing a socially contextualized reading of the film workshop as an informal institution, the author argues that the workshop's members were interested in intermedia art as a means of producing unconventional representations and autonomous aesthetic objects. At the same time, the workshop focused on the incorporation and expansion of the vocabulary of avant-garde film through a strategic fragmentation of vision. Finally, the article advances a reading of kinema ikon's films as socially subversive practices, given that the notion of ideology critique is related not to their actual representational content, but rather to their particular modes of production and forms of visuality.
Evaluation of Vinyl Garment Bags as Chambers for Paradichlorobenzene Fumigation of Fabric-Insect Pests

Twelve brands of vinyl garment bags were evaluated for effectiveness as chambers for paradichlorobenzene (PDB) fumigation of larvae of the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hummel), and the black carpet beetle, Attagenus megatoma (F.), by using 340.2 g of PDB in every test bag for each fumigation. Mortality of the webbing clothes moth larvae within the bags was 100% in 10-28 days at 26.6±1.1°C and 50± 5% RH and was dependent upon type of bag. Under similar conditions, 100% kill of the black carpet beetle larvae occurred in 14-28 days only in 4 samples in some tests, whereas in the rest of the samples ca. 11-67% kill occurred during the 28-day period. A similar PDB fumigation of both species in an airtight metal box gave 100% kill within 3-6 days. Lower temperatures greatly reduced the efficacy of the bags as fumigation chambers, especially for black carpet beetle larvae. At 21.1±1.6°C and 35±5% RH, 100% kill of the webbing clothes moth larvae was not achieved in any of the bags earlier than 21 days. In a 28-day period, mortality of the black carpet hectic larvae ranged from 13 to 90%, dependent upon the type of bag. Under similar conditions, in an airtight box 100% kill of t he larvae of the webbing clothes moth and black carpet beetle larvae was achieved in 10 and 6 days, respectively. Permeability of representative vinyl films to PDB vapors was not proportionate to their thickness. Use of 680.4 g of PDB /bag improved the percent kill of test insects, whereas use of different floor liners, presence or absence of garments in the bags, and different schedules for opening and closing the bags during exposure did not alter effectiveness. However, when 340.2 g of PDB were used in a widerthan-normal receptacle in the bag, initial percent kill was improved. Of 340.2 g of PDB placed in a medium-quality bag, only 27.38 g remained at the end of the 28-day testing period. At lower temperatures of 21.1±1.6°C, buildup of PDB vapor concentration in the bags inhibited feeding activity but did not kill all insects.