cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predictors of survival in patients undergoing post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection

4593 Background: The majority of patients with testicular cancer have a favorable prognosis yet a subset of patients will succumb to this disease. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical...
Team Composition for Perimeter Defense with Patrollers and Defenders

We study team composition in the context of a multi-player pursuit-evasion game between intruders and defenders. The game has been previously studied assuming full state information on both teams. We extend this problem by requiring defenders to detect intruders using a limited sensor footprint before pursuit can begin. We simplify the policy synthesis for a heterogeneous team by decomposing the perimeter defense task into patrol and defense subtasks each performed by a homogeneous team. We derive a nonlinear relationship between the robot capabilities, the team sizes, and the overall defensive team performance. This interaction is then used to consider how to select the robots for each subtask when various types of robots with heterogeneous capabilities are available. We present how to accommodate parameter uncertainties and the coupling between the two subtasks in the team composition.
X-linked diseases: susceptible females

The role of X-inactivation is often ignored as a prime cause of sex differences in disease. Yet, the way males and females express their X-linked genes has a major role in the dissimilar phenotypes that underlie many rare and common disorders, such as intellectual deficiency, epilepsy, congenital abnormalities, and diseases of the heart, blood, skin, muscle, and bones. Summarized here are many examples of the different presentations in males and females. Other data include reasons why women are often protected from the deleterious variants carried on their X chromosome, and the factors that render women susceptible in some instances.
Optimal age for genetic cancer predisposition testing in hereditary SMARCA4 Ovarian Cancer Families: How young is too young?

Small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type is a rare, aggressive, and typically fatal ovarian cancer that primarily affects young women less than 40 years of age. It is caused by a pathogenic variant in the SMARCA4 gene, with nearly half of patients found to have germline pathogenic variants and the remainder demonstrating somatic SMARCA4 pathogenic variants. This case report discusses an illustrative case and explores the existing data and potential recommendations to optimize timing of genetic testing in family members, given the presence of a familial germline pathogenic variant.
Maximizing robustness of point-set registration by leveraging non-convexity

Point-set registration is a classical image processing problem that looks for the optimal transformation between two sets of points. In this work, we analyze the impact of outliers when finding the optimal rotation between two point clouds. The presence of outliers motivates the use of least unsquared deviation, which is a non-smooth minimization problem over non-convex domain. We compare approaches based on non-convex optimization over special orthogonal group and convex relaxations. We show that if the fraction of outliers is larger than a certain threshold, any naive convex relaxation fails to recover the ground truth rotation regardless of the sample size and dimension. In contrast, minimizing the least unsquared deviation directly over the special orthogonal group exactly recovers the ground truth rotation for any level of corruption as long as the sample size is large enough. These theoretical findings are supported by numerical simulations.
On Steady State Neutrino-heated Ultrarelativistic Winds from Compact Objects

We study steady state winds from compact objects in the regime where the wind velocity at infinity is ultrarelativistic. This may have relevance to some models of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Particular attention is paid to the case in which neutrinos provide the heating. Unless the neutrino luminosity is very large, L > 1054 ergs s-1, the only allowed steady state solutions are those where energy deposition is dominated by neutrino-antineutrino annihilation at the sonic point. In this case, the matter temperature near the neutron star surface is low, less than 1 MeV for typical neutrino luminosities. This is in contrast to the case for subrelativistic winds discussed in the context of supernovae, where the matter temperature near the neutron star approximates the temperature characterizing the neutrinos. We also investigate the setting of the neutron-to-proton ratio (N/P) in these winds and find that only for large (>10 MeV) electron-neutrino or electron-antineutrino temperatures is N/P entirely determined by neutrino capture. Otherwise, N/P retains an imprint of conditions in the neutron star.
Academic Brands as Geographical Indications

Modern university brand enforcement strategies have never fit comfortably within the theoretical justifications for trademark law. This book chapter argues that university brands fit much more comfortably within the theoretical justifications for geographical indications, and explores the implications of a GI-based conception of university brands, using the transformation of the Bordeaux GI for wines as a cautionary example. Among the dangers of a GI-based university brand is that such brands may be used as a means to attract a form of charity from university community members who have succeeded in market-based competition for resources, thereby subjecting their missions to those boosters' (perhaps idiosyncratic) priorities and preferences. Thus, in using branding to attract material resources in the hopes of insulating the productive work of the university from market forces, the university may end up surrendering control over that work to individuals who already command an outsized share of such resources--precisely the form of bias that markets tend to amplify.
Trends and Health Care Outcomes Among Living Liver Donors: Are We Ready to Expand the Donor Pool With Living Liver Donations?

We studied the trends and various outcomes, including the readmission rates, health care utilization, and complications among living liver donors (LLDs) in the United States. We queried the National Database for data from 2010 to 2017 for all LLDs. The primary outcomes were 30-day and 90-day readmission rates. The secondary outcomes included health care use (length of stay [LOS], cost of care), index admission, and calendar-year mortality. Logistic regression models were fit for various outcomes. A total of 1316 LLDs underwent hepatectomy during the study period. The median donor age was 35.0 years (interquartile range, 27.4-43.6), and donors were predominantly women (54.2%). The trend of LLD surgeries remained stable at large medical centers (85.3%). The 30-day and 90-day readmission rates were low at 5% and 5.9%, respectively. Older age (50 years and older; 8%; confidence interval [CI], 0.6%-15.9%; P = 0.03) and hepatectomy at small to medium-sized hospitals were associated with increased index LOS (13.4%; 95% CI, 3.1%-24.7%; P = 0.01). Moreover, older age of donor (-11.3%; 95% CI, -20.3% to -1.4%; P = 0.03), Elixhauser score ≥3 (17%; 95% CI, 1.2%-35.3%; P = 0.03), and Medicaid insurance (24.5%; 95% CI, 1.2%-53.1%; P = 0.04) were also associated with increased cost. The overall rate of any complications during index admission was 42.8%. Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.63; 95% CI, 1.19-2.23) was an independent predictor of post-LLD complications. There was no index admission or calendar-year mortality reported during the study period. This is the largest national report of LLDs to date, showing that the trend of LLD surgeries is stable in the United States. With established safety, fewer complications, and less health care utilization, LLDs can be a potential source of continuation of liver transplantation in the context of changing liver allocation policies in the United States.
On the exact R charge for \mathcal{N} = 2 CS theories

Recently it was argued that the exact R charge for three dimensional $ \mathcal{N} = 2 $ supersymmetric field theories extremizes the partition function localized on S 3. In this paper we check this conjecture by computing the R charge for SU(N) k YM CS gauge theories at large k for many representations, and we test the agreement with the perturbative results.
Potentiometric methods for determination of autoprotolysis constants of amphiprotic nonaqueous solvents: Part II. Titration of a weak protolyte with another weak protolyte

Abstract A method for the determination of autoprotolysis constants of nonaqueous amphiprotic solvents is proposed, which makes use of the data of a potentiometric titration of a weak acid with a weak base. The method is based on a least-squares treatment of the data combined with the “pit-mapping” procedure developed by Sillen. The acid-base constants of the two weak protolytes along with the autoprotolysis constant are obtained simultaneously. The method is checked by determination of the autoprotolysis constant of the classical amophiprotic solvent-water. The pKWT-values as well as the acid-base constants of acetic. acid, ammonia, monochloroacetic acid, triethylamine and potassium biphthalate obtained by the proposed method are in a good agreement with the data reported by other authors.
Secure hop-by-hop aggregation of end-to-end concealed data in wireless sensor networks

In-network data aggregation is an essential technique in mission critical wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for achieving effective transmission and hence better power conservation. Common security protocols for aggregated WSNs are either hop-by-hop or end-to-end, each of which has its own encryption schemes considering different security primitives. End-to-end encrypted data aggregation protocols introduce maximum data secrecy with in-efficient data aggregation and more vulnerability to active attacks, while hop-by-hop data aggregation protocols introduce maximum data integrity with efficient data aggregation and more vulnerability to passive attacks. In this paper, we propose a secure aggregation protocol for aggregated WSNs deployed in hostile environments in which dual attack modes are present. Our proposed protocol is a blend of flexible data aggregation as in hop-by-hop protocols and optimal data confidentiality as in end-to-end protocols. Our protocol introduces an efficient O(1) heuristic for checking data integrity along with cost-effective heuristic-based divide and conquer attestation process which is O(ln n) in average -O(n) in the worst scenario- for further verification of aggregated results.
Efficiency Wages, Tournaments, and Discrimination: A Theory of Employment Discrimination Law for 'High-Level' Jobs

This paper analyzes the effects of discrimination law on discrimination in allocating "high-level" jobs. These are jobs characterized by substantial periods of training, high skill levels, and discretion (low or moderate monitoring). The analysis considers the incentives that an employer's hiring and promotion discrimination would create job applicants and workers who choose various career "strategies," based on preferences, skills and perceived opportunities. Applicants or workers who face discrimination alter their career strategies in ways that support the rationality of continued firm discrimination and that lead to an under-investment in human capital. The current legal rules against discrimination are largely ineffective in dealing with discrimination of this type; the analysis suggests, therefore, that the legal regime as applied to "high-level" jobs should be abandoned or substantially modified.
Presidential Popularity in a Hybrid Regime: Russia under Yeltsin and Putin

In liberal democracies, the approval ratings of political leaders have been shown to track citizens’ perceptions of the state of the economy. By contrast, in illiberal democracies and competitive autocracies, leaders are often thought to boost their popularity by exploiting nationalism, exaggerating external threats, and manipulating the media. Using time-series data, I examine the determinants of presidential approval in Russia since 1991, a period in which leaders’ ratings swung between extremes. I find that Yeltsin's and Putin's ratings were, in fact, closely linked to public perceptions of economic performance, which, in turn, reflected objective economic indicators. Although media manipulation, wars, terrorist attacks, and other events also mattered, Putin's unprecedented popularity and the decline in Yeltsin's are well explained by the contrasting economic circumstances over which each presided.
Design and Implementation of A T : a real-time action description language

Real world applications of action description languages involve systems that have real-time constraints. The occurrence of an action is just as important as the time at which the action occurs. In order to be able to model such real-time systems, the action description language A is extended with real-time clocks and constraints. The formal syntax and semantics of the extended language are defined, and the use of logic programming as a means to an implementation of real-time A is discussed.
The anthropology of the credit crisis : magical thinking, irrationality and the role of inequality

In 2005 I wrote a letter to the Financial Times describing the unsustainable nature of the financial instruments (derivatives) then being sold as insurance to protect investors from losses in other assets, failure of institutions and other untoward events. The complexity of these instruments and the magical nature of their acceptance by investors led me to an examination of modern economic practice from an anthropological perspective.The flight from risk that derivatives represent is an ancient component of vertebrate life and is embedded in the caching of many animals. Other aspects of modern economics are residues of the history of human survival in simple exploitation of resources. The problem with the financial foundations of modern capitalism is that they are rooted in trends of social ideology that have come to be a structural component of economic and political entities since the development of economic systems in the late Neolithic. We have been a genus, that of Homo, for about 2.5 million years, and a species, that of sapiens, for perhaps as much as 200,000 years, but over either period, the type of means by which we made a living was hunting and gathering. This strategy required continuous mobility and cooperation between band members. The nature of our current survival strategy, that of complex society only began about 10,000 years ago in the earliest sedentary communities. So one might say that our current life style is new, adapting and tenuous. I described the central aspects of this ideology in my 2004 book, Sustainability, Human Ecology and the Collapse of Complex Societies, published by the Edwin Mellen Press. The purpose of this present book is to clarify the mechanisms by which this ideology has come to permeate most all religious as well as political belief systems and create conditions for financial booms, busts and economic hardship.
The market for audit services: Evidence from voluntary auditor changes

Abstract This paper argues that audit firms achieve competitive advantages through specialization, and that clients purchase audit services from the least cost supplier. Client-auditor realignments thus represent efficient responses to changes in client operations and activities over time. Results obtained from analyzing the financial characteristics and share price performance of corporations that changed auditors between 1973 and 1982 support the view that realignments can generally be attributed to cross-temporal changes in client characteristics and differences in audit firm cost structures.
Molecular simulations of diffusion and association in multimacromolecular systems.

Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes the molecular simulations of diffusion and association in multimacromolecular systems. The purpose of Brownian dynamics (BD) is, like any other dynamic simulation method, to model the time-dependent behavior of a system of molecules. The most well-known molecular simulation method is molecular dynamics (MD), which in its usual form is used to simulate the internal dynamics of macro-molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids in water. The hydrophobic effect naturally arise in MD simulations that include explicit water molecules and simple hydrocarbons, such as methane or ethane show a pronounced affinity for one another in aqueous phase MD simulations. A common approach is to model the magnitude of hydrophobic interactions as being proportional to the amount of solvent-accessible surface area that becomes buried when the molecules contact each other. It is suggested that simulating the diffusion and association of three or more proteins is feasible with BD and, in principle, would be as simple as placing all the proteins in a box and letting them diffuse until they form stable complexes.
Synthesis and structure of an imido-tethered Schrock carbene of molybdenum

An 8-membered molybdenum azametallacycle, where a MoC bond and a MoN bond are linked, incorporating two triflate co-ligands has been synthesized and structurally characterized.
Women, Families, and HIV/AIDS: Women, Families, and HIV/AIDS

Five weeks ago I started with this 6-month study and it's showing great results. My viral load was 33,700 on the first tests, and today is showing 27,000. It's great news for me. Praise God. I've been going through some grieving time. I have an appointment to legally sign guardianship with my sister. That really hit me hard. Today I had an appointment at 8 A.M. with Larry, the official from court. He came to investigate the family. He's one of the persons working on the legal guardianship or joint custody of my children. He stayed a couple of hours and asked to see my children's bedrooms, etc. I'm surprised of the details he went through. I guess it's just the normal thing to do. After all, it's my children's custody. Giving up my children, it's not that I'm giving them up at present but it reminds me. I have the feeling that I have been cheated because my children are so special to me – the ones that I hold on to. – Leticia I got to see my kids last week for the first time in 6 months. I got to spend 2 hours with them. My ex-husband is deteriorating real fast with this disease. He told the DCS worker that he wanted to put them in foster care and have them adopted out. She says that as soon as he dies, I will get my kids back with no strings attached. – Denise
Tightly confining waveguide for cold atom interferometry

Summary form only given. The integration of atom optics components on a small surface may lead to many new experiments exploring the boundaries of quantum mechanics. Coherent transport of atoms is a key ingredient, and for this reason many groups are developing magnetic waveguides for cold atoms. So far the confinement in these guides is rather poor, resulting in the population of many transverse modes. Typically 10 Gauss over 100 /spl mu/m gives a mode spacing of 40 kHz for Cs atoms. We have developed a new magnetic waveguide, based on ferromagnetic material. At saturation the surface-field is 1 Tesla, which can be applied over a 10 /spl mu/m distance corresponding to a mode spacing of 18 MHz. We use a sandwich of mu-metal and copper sheets to generate a magnetic field. An electrical current of up to 5 A is running through the copper, encircling the mu-metal sheet. This induces an upward or downward field in the mu-metal, similar to a solenoid with a ferromagnetic core. Thin kapton sheets are used to provide electrical isolation.
Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Hypertension Produced by Reduced Uterine Perfusion in Pregnant Rats

Preeclampsia is a major obstetric problem and a significant source of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.1 Despite its position as a prominent disorder of pregnancy, the incidence of preeclampsia (PE) continues to increase and has risen 40% in the past decade.2 The preeclamptic syndrome has been described in detail with numerous studies indicating that poor placental perfusion along with endothelial cell dysfunction and a disturbed balance of angiogenic factors may all contribute to this disorder.3 Nevertheless, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this condition remain unresolved. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are physiologically important signaling molecules and are typically generated at low amounts in a controlled manner.4 In hypertension, an accumulation of ROS may disturb the balance of cellular oxidative status and results in endothelial dysfunction. Recent studies have identified several markers of oxidative stress in preeclamptic women including 8-isoprostane, malondialdehyde (MDA), and increased myeloperoxidase activity. Although recent studies have postulated that a perturbation in the balance of oxidants and antioxidants may be involved in the pathogenesis of PE, the underlying mechanisms connecting placental ischemia and increased ROS to hypertension have not been clearly identified.5–8 Although there is evidence that oxidative stress occurs in PE, it remains unclear whether poor placental perfusion is a stimulus that increases ROS or whether oxidative stress is a contributing factor in the reductions of uterine perfusion observed in PE. Further, the importance of ROS in mediating the renal and cardiovascular abnormalities associated with placental ischemia is unknown. We have recently reported that chronic reductions in uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) in pregnant rats results in cardiovascular and renal abnormalities similar to those found in preeclamptic women.3,9–11 Because of these robust similarities between RUPP in the rat and PE in the human, we used our well-characterized model of placental ischemia to test the following hypotheses: (1) chronic placental ischemia results in elevated oxidative stress and (2) treatment with a superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic would attenuate the hypertension associated with placental ischemia.
Interfacial water structure on the (012) surface of hematite : Ordering and reactivity in comparison with corundum

Abstract Many geochemical reactions that control the composition of natural waters, contaminant fate and transport, and biogeochemical element cycling take place at the interface between minerals and aqueous solutions. A fundamental understanding of these important processes requires knowledge of the structure of mineral–water interfaces. High-resolution specular X-ray reflectivity was used to determine the structure of the hematite (0 1 2)–water interface. Relaxation of the surface was observed to be minor, and water was found to order near the hematite surface. Two sites of adsorbed water are inferred to be ordered laterally, one bridging between triply coordinated functional groups and the other bridging between the singly coordinated functional groups on the surface, as steric constraints limit the possible arrangements of water molecules occurring at the observed heights above the hematite surface. Relaxations of the hematite and corundum (0 1 2) surfaces, which are isostructural, are similar and limited primarily to the top most layer of the structures. No significant changes to the interfacial stoichiometry (i.e., partial occupancy of surface species) are observed in either case. The structure of interfacial water is similar on the hematite and corundum (0 1 2) surfaces as well, although water appeared to be less well ordered on the hematite surface. This may be due to expected differences in the oxygen exchange rates from surface functional groups or the apparent better matching of the corundum oxygen lattice to the natural structural ordering in water, and suggests that the dielectric constant gradients of interfacial water may differ on the two surfaces. Similar charging behavior is expected for these surfaces as similar types of surface functional groups are exposed. Although generally similar, subtle differences in the reactivity of hematite and corundum (0 1 2) surfaces to arsenate adsorption, and possibly the adsorption of other species, may be related to the difference in ordering of interfacial water observed in this study.
Effect of context on ratings of personality traits

Ss rated 1 personality trait in the context of 2 other traits. With ordinary judgment instructions, no context effect was found. But if the set of traits was said to describe a person, the rating of the test trait was displaced toward the value of the context. This positive context effect cannot be explained in perceptual assimilation-contrast terms because of the lack of effect with ordinary judgment instructions. Other interpretations are discussed.
The Busy Period of a Queue with Batch Service

In this paper, we study the distribution of the busy period for a queue with Poisson input, in which the customers are served m at the time if there are m or more present and all at once if there are less than m present. We show that the busy period is equal to the time between successive visits to the state 0 in an imbedded semi-Markov process, associated with the queuing process. Extending an argument of L. Takacs for the M/G/1 queue, we obtain the transform of the distribution of the busy period. Explicit expressions in real time may in principle be obtained, using Lagrange's expansion.
The Significance of Audit Decision Aids and Precase Jurists' Attitudes on Perceptions of Audit Firm Culpability and Liability*

. During the past decade, public accounting firms have found themselves targets of litigation. The legal costs associated with the “expectations gap” have been observed to be nontrivial. Among the responses made by some firms in the profession is the increased use of auditor decision aids in an effort to improve auditor adherence to a “standard” that these firms believe they can defend in court. However, once implemented, these “standards,” if not adhered to, may have profound legal ramifications. This paper reports on a behavioral study of these issues. The subjects were 82 U.S. general jurisdiction judges. Findings indicate that the jurists did rely on internal firm guidance when evaluating injured-party claims. Resume. Depuis une dizaine d'annees, les cabinets d'experts-comptables ont ete la cible de poursuites en justice. Les observations effectuees demontrent que les frais juridiques associes au « deficit par rapport aux attentes » sont appreciables. Certains cabinets de la profession reagissent, entre autres, en recourant davantage aux aides a la decision concues pour les verificateurs, de facon a favoriser chez leurs employes le respect de « normes » que ces cabinets estiment pouvoir defendre devant les tribunaux. Or, une fois etablies, ces « normes ≫, si elles ne sont pas respectees, peuvent avoir de serieuses consequences juridiques. Les auteurs rendent compte d'une etude de comportement relative a ces questions. Dans le cadre de cette etude, 82 juges americains de competence generale ont ete interroges. Les resultats de l'etude indiquent que les juristes se sont appuyes sur les directives internes du cabinet dans l'evaluation des griefs des parties lesees.
Memory strategies used by young normal and retarded children in a directed forgetting paradigm

Abstract Two experiments were reported investigating the possibility that normal children (6- to 7-years old) and retarded children (9- to 10-years old) equated for immediate memory performance may not use effective strategies to eliminate interference from irrelevant information in memory. In both experiments a directed forgetting paradigm was used in which the children were presented with two sets of four pictures, and recalled only one set on each trial. On some trials, there was a cue to forget the first four and to remember only the last four pictures. In the first experiment both groups adopted a passive-active strategy in which the to-be-remembered items were processed actively only after a forget cue. Experiment 2 replicated this pattern of results. The use of sophisticated directed forgetting strategies seemed to be beyond the immediate abilities of these children. Two possible interpretations of the passive-active strategy were offered: (a) The strategy was an attempt to cope with the presence of occasionally irrelevant information and (b) The strategy was an attempt to cope with memory overload.
Kurt Lewin: The Tough‐Minded and Tender‐Hearted Scientist

This paper presents a personal account of my experience with Kurt Lewin and attempts to characterize why he was such an efective scientific leader. Key points are Lewin’s personal leadership style, his approach to theorizing and research, the substantive and methodological innovativeness of the research done by Lewin and his students, his intense commitment to developing psychological knowledge that would be relevant to important human concerns, and his persistent attempt to develop ways of applying psychological knowledge to make the world a more humane habitat. The paper concludes by summarizing how my career in social psychology has been affected by Kurt Lewin. This paper, which is in honor and remembrance of Kurt Lewin, gives a personal account of my impression of him. He was an extraordinary, creative scientist whose fertile mind and enthusiasms ignited the imagination of his fortunate students in a way that opened up many new areas in psychology to scientific investigation. However, Lewin was not only an original, tough-minded theorist and researcher with a profound interest in the philosophy and methodology of science; he was also a tender-hearted psychologist who was deeply involved with developing psychological knowledge that would be relevant to important human concerns. In short, Lewin was both tough-minded and tender-hearted; he provided a scientific role model that is still worth emulating. I first heard of Lewin’s work when I was an undergraduate psychology major at the City College of New York during the period of 1935-1939. It was a time of much intellectual ferment and social turmoil. The ideas of Marx, Freud,
Fe+- and Mg+-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon complexes

The interactions of Fe+ and Mg+ with coronene (C24H12) and Fe+ with circumcoronene (C54H18) are studied. The binding energies are more than an eV. The IR spectra of the complexes are compared with those of the parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), both neutral and cationic. The 3.3 μm C–H stretching band and the 11.2 μm out-of-plane C–H bending band are more similar to the parent PAH cation than to the neutral molecule, while the 6.2 μm C–C stretching band and the 7.7 μm in-plane C–H bending bands are more similar to the neutral PAH parent than to the cation. The allowed electronic transitions in the Mg–coronene+ complex are at lower energies than for neutral coronene, but not as low as those found for coronene+. The total UV cross section for all excitations below 4.8 eV is similar for coronene, coronene+, and the Mg–coronene+ complexes.
Maturation of coronary responsiveness to exogenous adenosine in the rabbit.

Previous studies have indicated that some cardiac control systems, such as autonomic innervation, are incomplete in the newborn and undergo postnatal maturation. However, relatively little is known of maturational changes which will affect the ability of the coronary circulation to regulate blood flow during various interventions. We tested the hypothesis that the coronary circulation of the rabbit develops a progressive, age related increase in responsiveness to exogenous adenosine during the first 16 weeks of life. We examined the response of coronary circulation to exogenous adenosine in four age groups (6–10 days, 3–4 weeks, 7–8 weeks, 16 weeks) of rabbits by using an isolated heart preparation. Coronary flow was measured during an control period, during reactive hyperemia (following release of a 2 min coronary flow interruption), and during infusions of exogenous adenosine. All age groups had similar levels of control coronary blood flow, with a large increase in flow observed during reactive hyperemia. The volume of coronary flow was higher during reactive hyperemia (P<0.001) in the 6–10-day-old animals than in the other age groups. However, the 6–10-day-old age group showed a smaller (P<0.01) flow response to exogenous adenosine than the other age groups. In addition, the 6–10-day-old animals required higher adenosine concentrations to produce an initial detectable coronary flow increase and to produce the maximal flow response. Additional studies demonstrated a significant reduction in percentage flow debt repayment after theophylline administration in adult rabbit hearts. However, neonatal rabbit hearts showed no change in flow debt repayment following theophylline. We conclude that the rabbit heart requires a period of maturation after birth before demonstrating an adult level of coronary responsiveness to exogenous adenosine.
A stable geotomography technique for refractive media

The application of tomographical techniques to geophysical monitoring and exploration has been extended to media where refraction and reflection effects may be significant. The result is an iterative refinement scheme which is unstable in its original formulation. This paper presents the stability improvements of selective smoothing and path elimination which enable the reconstruction process to converge to an accurate solution. By use of the objective error measures of Euclidean distance and boundary definition by minimum variance partitioning, tomograms produced by this improved technique are shown to be superior to those obtained by traditional straight-line geotomography. Guidelines for practical application are presented.
Comparative stability, sensitivity and specificity studies with different lots of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast and mycelial lysate antigens

Comparative studies were performed to assess the stability and lot-to-lot variation of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast and mycelial phase lysate antigens. Four lots were prepared from each growth phase of B. dermatitidis strain T-58 (canine isolate) during a 14-month period. Serum specimens from dogs with blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis and aspergillosis were assayed for antibody content using an alkaline phosphatase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The four lots of the yeast phase reagents were similar with respect to sensitivity and specificity, and the absorbance readings were approximately four times greater with sera from dogs with blastomycosis than with histoplasmosis or coccidioidomycosis. Even less cross-reactivity was evidenced when the sera from dogs with cryptococcosis and aspergillosis were assayed. In contrast, the four lots of the mycelial lysate reagents were considerably less reactive and more cross-reactive than the yeast phase antigens and, as above, the four reagents retained their activity after prolonged storage. Therefore the results indicated that the lysate antigens exhibited a great deal of stability and lot-to-lot variations in activity were not observed.
Protecting people and property: the influence of land-use planners on flood hazard mitigation in New Urbanist developments

Research suggests that characteristics of local government land-use planners help determine the priority that local communities place on flood hazard mitigation. However, research has not examined the significance of land-use planners' values and role orientations for flood hazard mitigation. Multiple regression analysis is used to examine the influence that land-use planners' values and role orientations have on flood hazard mitigation in a national sample of New Urbanist development projects. Findings indicate that land-use planners' values and role orientations have significant implications for flood hazard mitigation in these projects. The paper recommends that local governments adopt a land-use planning approach to flood hazard mitigation that relies on land-use planners to help direct development away from hazardous portions of development sites.
Fluorinated nanodiamond as a wet chemistry precursor for diamond coatings covalently bonded to glass surface.

The chemical reaction between fluoro−nanodiamond (F−ND) powder, solubilized in o-dichlorobenzene, and a glass surface, functionalized with the silane coupling agent, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), was found to proceed under heating at 130 °C for 24−40 h and to result in covalent bonding of F−ND particles to a glass substrate, forming a 10−40 nm thick nanocrystalline film. The observed process presents a novel and cost-effective approach to fabrication of diamond coatings on glass by using wet chemistry instead of CVD and can be extended to other materials.
Sexuality in neurologic disability: An overview

Sexuality concerns commonly arise in individuals with both acquired and congenital neurologic disabilities. As health care professionals it is critical to have an understanding of the potential consequences of neurologic impairment on sexuality as well as sexual function. Psychologic, latrogenic, and secondary medical issues must all be taken into consideration when addressing the primary sexuality concerns. An understanding of “normal” neuroanatomy and neurophysiology is critical if one is to propose interventional strategies in this patient population. Basic concepts regarding sexual functioning in specific neurologic conditions including spinal cord injury, cerebral vascular accidents, traumatic brain injury, peripheral neuropathies and multiple sclerosis will be reviewed. The General Rehabilitation Assessment Sexuality Profile will be reviewed as it pertains to the sexual history, sexual physical exam, and clinical sexual diagnostic testing. Lastly, treatment options for both genital and nongenital sexual dysfunction in neurologic disability will be examined.
Muscarinic cholinergic binding sites on rat lymphocytes

Receptors for neurotransmitters in blood cells could serve as useful markers for the same receptors in solid tissues. Muscarinic receptors have been identified in human, rat and mouse lymphocytes by binding of [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H-QNB); however, the biochemical and pharmacological characterization of such binding sites has not been complete. Spleen lymphocytes were isolated on a histopaque gradient and incubated in Hank's buffer with 3H-QNB. Binding of 3H-QNB was linear with increasing protein concentrations and was saturable. Binding constants were Bmax = 111 ± 10.5 fmol/106 cells, and Kd = 29.7 ± 3.9 nM (n = 7). An extensive pharmacological analysis of these binding sites indicated that several cholinergic muscarinic drugs were capable of inhibiting 3H-QNB binding. Muscarinic antagonists were more potent than agonists, and lipophilic drugs were more potent than hydrophilic drugs. Several non-cholinergic drugs were also capable of inhibiting 3H-QNB binding; however, they did so also in brain membranes, while a third group of non-cholinergic drugs and neurotransmitters were inactive. Similar results were also obtained in circulating lymphocytes and in lymphocyte membranes. These results suggest that lymphocytes possess muscarinic receptors which share several, although not all, characteristics of the same receptors in brain and other tissues. Measurement of these binding sites could be useful to monitor the status of muscarinic receptors in solid tissues.
An examination of stress hardiness, dysphoria, and anger among police recruits exposed to stressful police academy training

This study examined whether stress hardiness moderates the relationship between stress and anger during stressful police academy training. It was hypothesized that stress hardiness alters the strength of the relationship between stressful circumstances and anger. The study of stress resistance is an important area of study as stress has been linked to behavioral problems (e.g., absenteeism from work), emotional problems (e.g., depression), and physical problems (e.g., coronary heart disease).
Complementary Principle, Algorithm, and Complete Solutions to Phase Transitions in Solids Governed by Landau-Ginzburg Equation

The complementary variational principles and associated algonrthm are presented in this paper for solving a class of nonconvex mechanics problems governed by the Landau-Ginzburg equation. The method used here is the canonical dual transfonnation developed recently in nonconvex analysis by the author. It is shown that, by this method, certain very difficult nonconvex potential variational problems can be converted into a coupled quadratic mixed variational problem. The extremality conditions of these complementary variational problems are controlled by the triality theory discovered recently. Therefore, a complementary energy principle (i.e. the canonical duality theorem with zero duality gap) is established, which leads to a potentially useful primal-dual algorithm. Applications in finite-dimensional problems are discussed. Results show that the discretized nonconvex potential variational problems in n-dimensional space can be converted into certain simple canonical (either convex or concave) dual problem...
Characterization of Delamination in Laser Microtransfer Printing

Micro transfer printing is rapidly emerging as an effective method for heterogeneous materials integration. It transfers prefabricated micro- and nanoscale structures referred to as ‘inks’, from growth or fabrication donor substrates to functional receiver substrates. Laser Micro Transfer Printing (LMTP) is a laser-driven version of the micro transfer printing process, developed at the University of Illinois to enable non-contact release of the microstructure, thus making the transfer printing process independent of the properties or preparation of the receiving substrate. In this paper, an extensive study is conducted to investigate the capability of the LMTP process. Using square shaped silicon inks and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps, and varying the lateral dimensions and thickness of the ink, the power absorption by the ink is measured to estimate the total energy stored in the ink-stamp system to initiate and propagate delamination at the interface. The delamination time for each size and thickness is experimentally observed at different laser beam powers using a high speed camera. Further, an axisymmetric thermo-mechanical FEM is developed to estimate the delamination temperatures at the interface utilizing the delamination time and power absorption for different ink sizes and thickness.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Analyzing Opera Attendance: The Relative Impact of Managerial Vs. Environmental Variables

A forecasting model of opera attendance was used to assess the relative importance of two categories of predictor variables: performance attributes and environmental characteristics. Separate analyses for subscribers and nonsubscribers yielded insight into the differences between the two groups concerning the impact of repertory and scheduling on attendance. While subscribers were most heavily influenced by timing, nonsubscriber attendance was also influenced by the familiarity of the opera. The predictive validity of the model was evaluated using data from the most recent season's performances.
Modest effect of temperature on the porcine oxygen dissociation curve

It has been generally assumed that normally endothermic mammals have hemoglobins with greater temperature sensitivity than ectotherms or hibernating mammals. We found the pig to be an exception to this rule. We measured 101 dissociation curves using biotonometry on fresh heparinized blood from 9 pigs at 4 temperatures. The partial pressures of O2 at 50% saturation (P50 +/- SE) were 27.8 +/- 1.2, 30.0 +/- 1.3, 35.7 +/- 0.6 and 41.6 +/- 1.8 mm Hg at 30, 33, 37, and 41 degrees C, respectively. The temperature coefficient d log P50/dT was 0.016 +/- 0.002, about two-thirds that of human and dog blood. It was also saturation dependent, being significantly greater at lower saturations than at high saturations. This saturation dependence causes an increase in heme-heme cooperativity in binding oxygen at higher temperatures. The fixed acid Bohr coefficient was -0.441 +/- 0.005 at 37 degrees C and was not temperature sensitive. We conclude that the effect of temperature on the porcine dissociation curve is significantly lower than that reported for other endotherms, and is similar to that previously reported for hibernating mammals and some ectotherms.
Nanomaterial-based therapy: a new generation of cancer treatment

Dean Ho1,2 1Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Robert R McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA 2Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, 303 East Superior St., Chicago, IL 60611, USA Tel.: +1 847 467 0548 Fax: +1 847 491 3915 d-ho@northwestern.edu Nanomaterial-based therapy: a new generation of cancer treatment
Evidence-based validation and improvement of electronic health record systems

A program of research on methodology for "evidence-based" validation and improvement of electronic health record systems and related health information systems is proposed. This program would integrate existing ideas from software engineering and health informatics with new techniques for analyzing a combination of usage data, clinical data, and execution data, to support scientifically sound methods for measuring and enhancing the safety and efficacy of EHR systems.
Use of puffers for disruption of sex pheromone communication of codling moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in walnut orchards.

Codlemone, ( E,E )-8,10-dodecadienol, the female sex pheromone of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), was released at 30-min intervals into the air of square, 16-ha walnut, Juglans regia L., orchards from puffers, machines designed for the dispensing of aerosols from pressurized canisters. The puffers were arrayed at 44-m intervals along the borders of the orchards. A codlemone release rate of 254 mg/ha per day caused a 9.5–98% disruption in pheromone communication. as measured by a reduction in the numbers of males that oriented to codlemone lure–baited or female-baited traps in the centers of the orchards.
DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF SMALL LIGAND-INDUCED CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN THE ASPARTATE CHEMORECEPTOR USING EPR

Ligand-binding-induced conformational changes in the Salmonella typhimurium aspartate receptor were studied using spin-labeling electron paramagnetic resonance. Cysteine residues, introduced by site-directed mutagenesis at several positions in the aspartate receptor periplasmic domain, were used to attach covalently a thiol-specific spin label. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of these labeled proteins were obtained in the presence and absence of the ligand aspartate, and used to calculate the distance change between spin labels. The results support a model in which transmembrane signaling is executed by a combined movement of alpha helix 4 (which leads into transmembrane domain 2) relative to alpha helix 1 (connected to transmembrane domain 1), as well as a coming together of the two subunits. Ligand binding causes spin labels at position 39 and 179 (within one subunit) to move further from each other and spin labels at position 39 and 39' (between two subunits) to move closer to each other. Both of these changes are very small-less than 2.5 A. No similar changes were detected in any aspartate receptor samples solubilized in detergent, suggesting that the membrane is required for these conformational changes. This is the first case of physically measured ligand-induced changes in a full-length 1-2 transmembrane domain receptor, and the results suggest that very small ligand-induced movements can result in large effects on the activity of downstream proteins.