cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of non-MHC loci on resistance to retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency in mice.

Mice of certain strains are highly sensitive to development of a severe immunodeficiency disease following inoculation as adults with LP-BM5 murine leukemia viruses (MuLV) whereas others are extremely resistant. These strain-dependent differences in response to infection have been shown to be genetically determined with resistance to disease being, in general, associated with homozygosity for Fv-1nand H-2 haplotypes a and d and sensitivity with homozygosity for Fv-1band other H-2 haplotypes including b, s, and q. The Fv-1b, H-2rstrain RIIIS/J (RIIIS) was found to be highly resistant to disease even though B10.RIII(71NS)/J (B10.RIII), also H-2r, was very sensitive, thus excluding a role for H-2 in the resistance of RIIIS. The characteristics of RIIIS resistance were evaluated in studies of infected (B10.RIII×RIIIS) F1, F2 and reciprocal backcross mice. Resistance to disease was shown to be semidominant and determined by more than one gene, although a preponderant influence of a single gene was suggested. Studies of segregating populations showed that resistance was not associated with or linked to polymorphisms of the V\complex or genes in proximity to the Emv-2 locus on chromosome 8. However, there was almost complete concordance between absence of disease in infected mice and inhibition of ecotropic virus spread. These results demonstrate that genes other than Fv-1 or H-2 can profoundly influence the development of retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency and replication of ecotropic viruses.
An Automatic MRI Brain Volume Alignment Tool

The location, size and shape of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) lesions are often used to diagnose and track disease progression. In order to effectively compare lesions in MRI stacks for the same patient imaged at intervals, these stacks must be aligned. This automatic alignment method was designed to minimize modification of segmented pixel values. The aligned lesion stacks can be browsed independently or in tandem. This should provide a valuable tool for computer-aided diagnosis and disease tracking.
Assessment of structures and stabilities of defect clusters and surface energies predicted by nine interatomic potentials for UO2

Abstract The irradiation in nuclear reactors creates many point defects and defect clusters in uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) and their evolution severely degrades the thermal and mechanical properties of the nuclear fuels. Previously many empirical interatomic potentials have been developed for modeling defect production and evolution in UO 2 . However, the properties of defect clusters and extended defects are usually not fitted into these potentials. In this work nine interatomic potentials for UO 2 are examined by using molecular statics and molecular dynamics to assess their applicability in predicting the properties of various types of defect clusters in UO 2 . The binding energies and structures for these defect clusters have been evaluated for each potential. In addition, the surface energies of voids of different radii and (1 1 0) flat surfaces predicted by these potentials are also evaluated. It is found that both good agreement and significant discrepancies exist for these potentials in predicting these properties. For oxygen interstitial clusters, these potentials predict significantly different defect cluster structures and stabilities; For defect clusters consisting of both uranium and oxygen defects, the prediction is in better agreement; The surface energies predicted by these potentials have significant discrepancies, and some of them are much higher than the experimentally measured values. The results from this work can provide insight on interpreting the outcome of atomistic modeling of defect production using these potentials and may provide guidelines for choosing appropriate potential models to study problems of interest in UO 2 .
New method permits the detection of alpha emitters at a distance

A novel method is described that permits the detection of alpha-emitting materials, such as plutonium, at substantial distance. This method may permit the development of new instruments for monitoring equipment and personnel at entrances to facilities where alpha-emitting contaminants are a potential hazard. The technique uses detection of the secondary effects of alpha particles interacting in air (production of ions) to detect their presence. This technique is simple and requires no expensive equipment or exotic detectors. It is applicable to rapid automatic monitoring of personnel or equipment exiting hazardous areas. Experimental results obtained with this method are discussed. >
Electrical engineering and the computer: A look at the practical uses of computer modeling in industry and academe

The use of computer simulation in engineering education are discussed. The notions of discretization, sampling, and approximation are defined. The use of matrix descriptions and numerical analysis is examined. Some modeling applications in electrical engineering are described.
ARCHER - a prototype expert system for identifying some meteorological phenomena

Abstract ARCHER is a computer expert system that attempts to identify meteorological phenomena from their signatures on Doppler radar. Probabilities that phenomena under study could be any one of a number of possible meteorological archetypes (i.e., stereotyped phenomena such as convective cells of gust fronts) are determined by comparing current evidence with stored meteorological knowledge.
Optimal pricing and ordering policies for perishable commodities

Abstract In the pricing problem considered, a seller must determine the price for several units of a perishable or seasonal product to be sold for a limited period of time. The list price should be posted in advance of the sale and is not negotiable with potential buyers. Any product not sold by the end of the sales period will be disposed at a lower price. Assuming that the customer's demand is represented as a negative binomial distribution, we determine the optimal product price based on the demand rate, buyers' preferences, and length of the sales period. Because the seller's average revenue decreases as the number of items for sale increases, we also consider the optimal-order quantity that maximizes the seller's total expected profit. For the case where the seller can divide the sales period into several short periods, we finally propose a multi-period pricing model.
Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Mg∕SiC Nanocomposites Fabricated by Ultrasonic Cavitation Based Nanomanufacturing

Magnesium, the lightest structural metal, is of significance to improve energy efficiency in various applications. Mg/SiC nanocomposites were successfully fabricated by ultrasonic cavitation based dispersion of SiC nanoparticles in Mg melts. As compared to pure magnesium, the mechanical properties including tensile strength and yield strength of the MglSiC nanocomposites were improved significantly, while the good ductility of pure Mg was retained. The grain size of the pure magnesium was refined significantly when SiC nanoparticles were dispersed in the Mg matrix. In the microstructure of MglSiC nanocomposites, while there were still some SiC microclusters, most of the SiC nanoparticles were dispersed very well. Transmission electron microscopy study of the interface between SiC nanoparticles and magnesium matrix indicates that SiC nanoparticles bond well with Mg without forming an intermediate phase.
Preliminary Steps in Assimilating SSM/I Brightness Temperatures in a Hurricane Prediction Scheme

Different aspects of assimilating satellite-observed microwave radiances (brightness temperatures) into the initial vortex of a hurricane prediction model are discussed. The tangent linear and adjoint observation operators were developed from a computationally inexpensive and reasonably accurate radiative transfer model. These models have the advantage of being able to perform in all types of weather, including rain. The adjoint radiative transfer model was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis of brightness temperatures to different atmospheric and surface variables. The sensitivities computed by the model compare favorably with physical understandings of how brightness temperatures are affected by the atmosphere and the surface. The errors associated with some of the approximations in the radiative transfer model were estimated from comparisons with a more accurate model. These errors were found to be smaller than estimates from previous studies. The random errors associated with brightness temperature observations were also estimated from statistical structure function calculations and were found to be in line with estimates previously used. The models developed and the errors calculated for this study will be used in future work to assimilate brightness temperatures in hurricane initializations and to evaluate the performance of different microphysical schemes in hurricane prediction.
Unintended Consequences of Professionalizing Youth Work: Lessons From Teaching and Social Work

In this article, the authors use a comparative historical approach to examine the consequences of professionalization within teaching and social work and to answer the following questions: What are the unintended consequences of professionalization? Has professionalization in these fields supported higher quality practice, increased working conditions and salary, and improved social standing for these professions? What did each of these occupations lose when they professionalized? Did practice change as a result of professionalization? How or how not?
A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF POLYMNIA (COMPOSITAE)

elsewhere. Polymnia is placed in the tribe Heliantheae and in the subtribe Melampodinae. The genus is endemic to the western hemisphere, and for the most part, is restricted to temperate regions. Near the equator some species are found as high as 3000 m in elevation, whereas other species are found at altitudes of 130 m. Its species are believed to occur in every country on the two continents, although no collections were examined from British, Dutch, or French Guiana. Only P. uvedalia occurs spontaneously outside the continental limits of North and South America, although reports of occasional transplants to Europe can be found. More extensive collections have been made in the United States than in any other country. In this country no species have been reported west of central Texas and Oklahoma. Collection data support the idea of a disjunct distribution between species occurring in the United States and those in Mexico. Any formerly continuous distribution between these two countries probably preceded the occurrence of arid lands in the southwest. In Table 1 are listed chromosome counts from several species and varieties. All chromosome counts attributed to Wells were made during this investigation. The microsporocytes were fixed in 3:1 ethanol-acetic acid and maintained at ca 3?C for 24 hrs, changed to 70 per cent ethanol, and stored at 3?C. Squashes were stained with acetocarmine.
Conformational distributions of protease-serpin complexes: a partially translocated complex.

Serpins regulate serine proteases by forming metastable covalent complexes with their targets. The protease docks with the serpin and cleaves the serpin's reactive center loop (RCL) forming an acylenzyme intermediate. Cleavage triggers insertion of the RCL into β sheet A, translocating the attached protease ∼70 A and disrupting the protease active site, trapping the acylenzyme intermediate. Using single-pair Forster resonance energy transfer (spFRET), we have measured the conformational distributions of trypsin and α1-proteinase inhibitor (α1PI) covalent complexes. Bovine trypsin (BTryp) complexes display a single set of conformations consistent with the full translocation of BTryp (EfullI*). However, the range of spFRET efficiencies is large, suggesting that the region around the trypsin label is mobile. Most complexes between α1PI variants and the more stable rat trypsin (RTryp) also show a single set of conformations, but the conformational distribution is narrower, indicating less disruption of RTryp....
An experimental study of the effectiveness of attitude change techniques for enhancing self‐esteem

A frequent goal in psychotherapy is the modification of low self-esteem. While such modification is accomplished most often in an indirect manner, it is possible to apply attitude change techniques directly to this purpose. In this study, 36 college students who had scored poorly on a standardized measure of self-esteem were exposed to a videotaped counter-attitudinal message under conditions of either high or low credibility; controls did not view the videotape. Results were consistent across several esteem measures and demonstrated significant positive changes in esteem for Ss exposed to the high credibility communication. The possibilities of adapting attitude change techniques to psychotherapy are considered.
Measurements of diffusion thickness at polymer interfaces by nanoindentation: A numerically calibrated experimental approach

The interfacial fracture toughness and the adhesion strength of two dissimilar materials are governed by the diffusion interfacial thickness and its mechanical characteristics. A new testing methodology is implemented here to estimate the actual interfacial thickness from a series of nanoindentations across the interface, under the same applied load, with tip radius and indentation depth many times larger than the interface thickness. The bimaterial system used is a semicrystalline polymer interface of isotactic polypropylene and linear low-density polyethylene. The laminate is prepared under a range of diffusion temperature to yield diffusion interfaces of 0 to 50 nm. A numerical relationship is developed using two-dimensional (2D) finite element simulation to correlate the true interfacial thickness, measured by transmission electron microscopy, with the experimentally estimated apparent interfacial thickness, derived from the transition domain of a series of indents across the interface. A range of material-pairs property combinations are examined for Young’s modulus ratio E1/E2 = 1 to 3, yield strength ratio σY1/σY2 = 1 to 2.5, and interfacial thickness of 0 to 100 nm. The proposed methodology and the numerically calibrated relationship are in good agreement with the true interfacial thickness.
3 P 2 pairing near the transition temperature in neutron-star matter

We first find the minima of the general Ginzburg-Landau functional for $^{3}P_{2}$ pairing. The BCS functional lies in a region of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter space where the free energy is minimized by any unitary order parameter. We next estimate the strong-coupling corrections to the BCS functional for dense neutron matter. Using current theoretical values for the transition temperature and Landau parameters, we find that the strong-coupling functional remains in the same region of parameter space as the BCS functional.
Spectroscopic Approach to Triplet Exciton Dynamics in Anthracene

The singlet-triplet delayed fluorescence excitation spectrum for anthracene crystals in polarized light has been investigated at room temperature. For the first peak (0-0 transition), the observed Davydov splitting $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ is 17\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The half-width at quarter-maximum $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ of this peak is 70\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The value of $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ implies a value of 3.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{4}$ cm ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ for the rms exciton velocity in the a crystal direction, when reasonable assumptions are made regarding the importance of various transfer matrix elements, or, equivalently, on the exciton band shape. With $\frac{\ensuremath{\hbar}}{2\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ interpreted as the exciton scattering time (4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$ sec), the component ${D}_{\mathrm{aa}}$ of the diffusion tensor is then estimated as about 0.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, in reasonable agreement with the directly measured value of 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The calculation of ${D}_{\mathrm{aa}}$ from the room-temperature data does not involve the necessity of making a choice between a band or a hopping model for the motion of the excitons. However, the data make possible the assertion that any theoretical evaluations of quantities measured in this experiment would best be carried out within a hopping model.
Transportation — A Vehicle or Roadblock to Cancer Care for VA Patients With Colorectal Cancer?

Abstract Background Patients must have transportation to the treatment site before they can access appropriate cancer care. This article describes factors associated with patients experiencing transportation-related barriers to accessing cancer care. Patients and Methods The Cancer Care Assessment & Responsive Evaluation Studies (C-CARES) questionnaire was mailed to Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) during the fall of 2009. Eligible patients were diagnosed at any VA facility in 2008, they were men, and alive at the time of the mailing. A total of 1409 surveys were returned (approximately 67% response rate). To assess transportation barriers, patients were asked how often it was difficult to get transportation to or from treatment. Symptoms were assessed using validated Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scales for fatigue, pain, and depression. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine determinants of transportation barriers. Results A minority of respondents (19%) reported transportation barriers. Patients experiencing pain (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.06) had greater odds of transportation barriers than patients without this symptom. Patients who reported no primary social support (OR, 6.13; 95% CI, 3.10-12.14) or nonspousal support (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.40-2.87) were more likely to experience transportation barriers than patients whose spouses provided social support. Discussion Patients with uncontrolled pain or less social support have greater odds of transportation barriers. The directional association between social support, symptoms, and transportation cannot be determined in this data. Conclusion Inquiring about accessible transportation should become a routine part of cancer care, particularly for patients with known risk factors.
On the dynamics of Czochralski crystal growth

Abstract The linear and nonlinear dynamics of Czochralski (CZ) crystal growth are analyzed by a thermal-capillary model which accounts for transients caused by energy transport, by changes in the shapes of the phase boundaries, and by the batchwise decrease of the melt volume in the crucible. Solutions are computed by a finite-element/Newton method and fully implicit time integration. Solutions for a quasi-steady-state model (QSSM) are calculated for long crystals with the melt volume held. Linear stability analysis of the dynamic model shows that the QSSM solutions are stable to random small disturbances, thereby confirming the inherent stability of the CZ process. Proportional and integral feedback control strategies are tested for on-line control of the crystal radius by integration of the dynamic model augmented with a servo-control equation. Integral control leads to oscillations in the crystal radius that are not present when the controller has a proportional element.
Influence of hormones on NADH-dehydrogenase in mouse liver plasma membrane.

Abstract Highly purified mouse liver plasma membranes have been used to define the properties of an NADH dehydrogenase activity associated with plasma membrane. The NADH indophenol reductase activity is two-fold stimulated at 5 × 10−8 M glucagon and the stimulation is inhibited by atebrin. Corresponding activity in endoplasmic reticulum is not stimulated by glucagon. The NADH indophenol reductase is 90% inhibited by insulin at 7 × 10−11M and shows a return to the original activity at higher insulin concentrations. NADH dehydrogenase activity in endoplasmic reticulum is inhibited up to 50% by insulin at a similar concentration. Triiodothyronine at 10−7M also inhibits the plasma membrane dehydrogenase whereas thyroxine has little effect. The response of this dehydrogenase to hormones suggests a role in regulation of cellular function.
Incorporation of Molecular Oxygen in Aflatoxin B1 Biosynthesis

The final steps in the biosynthesis of the potent environmental carcinogen aflatoxin B1 (7) involve the oxidative cleavage of the xanthone O-methylsterigmatocystin (6, R = Me) and rearrangement to the substituted coumarin skeleton of the mycotoxin itself. This process has been determined to require loss of a xanthone nuclear carbon at the oxidation state of carbon dioxide and argues for the intervention of at least two oxidative reactions in this poorly understood transformation. The incorporation of 18O-labeled molecular oxygen in the biosynthesis of aflatoxin B1 is reported and allows a minimal mechanism to be proposed where a monooxygenase activation of the xanthone is followed by a dioxygenase-mediated aryl cleavage to initiate the final rearrangement and decarboxylation to aflatoxin B1. Similarly, two other sites of heavy oxygen incorporation are consistent with proposed Baeyer−Villiger-like reactions taking place earlier in the pathway.
Elementary abelian p -groups as automorphism groups of infinite groups. I

If G is a group we will write Aut G for the group of all automorphisms of G and Inn G for the normal subgroup of all inner automorphisms of G. Many authors have studied the relationship between the structure of G and that of Aut G, in particular when the latter is finite. This paper is a further contribution to this study. The first results on groups whose automorphism groups are finite were published by Baer in a paper [2] in which he proved that a torsion group has finite automorphism group only if it is finite. Baer also proved that a group with only a finite number of endomorphisms is finite. In 1962 Alperin [1] characterized finitely generated groups with finitely many automorphisms as finite central extensions of cyclic groups. Nagrebeckil [9] discovered in 1972 the important result that in any group with finitely many automorphisms the elements of finite order form a finite subgroup. This of course generalizes Baer's original result. Robinson El0] has given another proof of Nagrebeckfi's Theorem as well as obtaining information on the primes dividing the order of the maximal torsion subgroup. He also characterized the center of a group whose automorphism group is finite and gave a general method for constructing examples. On the other hand there seems to be little hope of obtaining a useful classification of groups whose automorphism groups are finite, even in the abelian case. Indeed, it has been shown be several authors that torsion-free abelian groups with only one non-trivial automorphism the involution x F--~x~ are relatively common (de Groot [5], Fuchs [4], Corner [3]). However, Hallett and Hirsch have adopted a different approach, asking which finite groups can occur as the automorphism groups of torsion-free abelian groups. They have established the following definitive result [-7, 8]:
An ID-based Framework Achieving Privacy and Non-Repudiation in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Security requirements should be integrated into the design of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), which bear unique features like road-safety and life-critical message dissemination. In this paper, we propose a security framework for VANETs to achieve privacy desired by vehicles and non-repudiation required by authorities, in addition to satisfying fundamental security requirements including authentication, message integrity and confidentiality. The proposed framework employs an ID-based cryptosystem where certificates are not needed for authentication. It increases the communication efficiency for VANET applications where the real-time constraint on message delivery should be guaranteed. We also briefly review the requirements for VANET security and verify the fulfillment of our proposed framework against these requirements.
Alternatives to Sodium Amobarbital in the Wada Test

Objective:To review the literature and identify alternatives to sodium amobarbital for use in the Wada test.Data Sources:A search of PubMed (1960-October 2010) was performed using the following key words alone or in combination: Wada test, intracarotid amobarbital procedure, intracarotid, intraarterial, sodium amobarbital, methohexital, Brevital, pentobarbital, etomidate, propofol, and alternative anesthetics. References of the identified articles were reviewed for relevant information.Study Selection and Data Extraction:All articles in English identified from the data sources were evaluated. Review included comparative, prospective, and retrospective studies along with case series and case reports.Data Synthesis:Methohexital, pentobarbital, etomidate, and propofol have all been studied as alternatives to sodium amobarbital in the Wada test. Four controlled experimental trials, 1 uncontrolled experimental trial, 6 retrospective chart reviews, and 2 case reports were reviewed. Methohexital, pentobarbital, ...
Diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a primary care clinic.

Chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and internationally. The purpose of this study was to describe spirometry use in the diagnosis of COPD and to evaluate the management of COPD occurring in a primary care clinic. Methods: Two hundred patients with a diagnosis of COPD attending a university-based family medicine clinic were randomly chosen for a retrospective medical record review. Pulmonary function testing, provision of smoking cessation advice and pharmacological management were compared to the recommendations of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Results: Mean age was 65.4 years, 48% were male and 72% were Caucasian. Overall, 58.5% (n = 117) of patients had pulmonary function testing, with 60.7% acknowledged in the outpatient record; 55% (n = 110) were receiving medications in combinations that are recommended; and 40% of patients were receiving stage appropriate medications. 67.8% of current smokers were offered smoking cessation advice or treatment. Conclusions: Overall there was low use of recommended medication combinations and stage appropriate treatment, with better observance of diagnostic and risk factor reduction guidelines. In order to improve COPD care for patients, physicians need education about the recommended stepwise treatment options and office systems that promote integration of pulmonary function testing findings into care.
Some comments on ‘forming new physics communities: Australia and Japan, 1914–1950’, by R. W. Home and M. Watanabe

Summary The broad analysis made by Home and Watanabe of the development of physics in Australia during the period from 1914 to 1945 is generally accepted; however, details relating to the backgrounds of certain of these developments are questioned.
Aspirin and clopidogrel resistance: an emerging clinical entity

Antiplatelet therapy is a cornerstone of cardiovascular medicine. Aspirin and clopidogrel have emerged as critical therapies in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Despite their efficacy, patients on these medications continue to suffer complications. Millions of patients are currently on low-dose antiplatelet therapy but it is unknown how many of these patients are under-treated or on the wrong medication. Aspirin and clopidogrel resistance are emerging clinical entities with potentially severe consequences such as recurrent myocardial infarction, stroke, or death. The mechanism of resistance remains incompletely defined, but there are specific clinical, cellular, and genetic factors that influence therapeutic failure. These factors range from physicians who fail to prescribe these medications despite appropriate indications to polymorphisms of platelet membrane glycoproteins. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of antiplatelet resistance also remains an issue as new bedside tests are developed. By understanding the mechanism of therapeutic failure and by improving the diagnosis of this clinical entity, a new era of individualized antiplatelet therapy may arise with routine measurements of platelet activity in the same way that cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar are followed, thus improving the care for millions of people.
Transcatheter patent foramen ovale closure versus medical therapy for cryptogenic stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

There is an association between cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale (PFO). The optimal treatment strategy for secondary prevention remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to analyze aggregate data examining the safety and efficacy of transcatheter device closure versus standard medical therapy in patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke. A search of published data identified 3 randomized clinical trials for inclusion. The primary outcome was a composite end-point of death, stroke and transient-ischemic attack (TIA). Pre-defined subgroup analysis was performed with respect to baseline characteristics including age, sex, atrial septal aneurysm and shunt size. Data was synthesized using a random effects model and results presented as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A cohort of 2,303 patients with a history of cryptogenic stroke and PFO were randomized to device closure (n = 1150) and medical therapy (n = 1153). Mean follow-up was 2.5 years. Transcatheter closure was not superior to medical therapy in the secondary prevention of stroke or TIA in intention-to-treat analysis (HR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.43 to 1.01; p = 0.056). However, the results were statistically significant using per-protocol analysis (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.98; p = 0.043). Males had significant benefit with device closure (HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.96; p = 0.038). In this meta-analysis, using intention-to-treat analysis, transcatheter device closure of PFO was not superior to standard medical therapy in the secondary prevention of cryptogenic stroke. Transcatheter closure was superior using per-protocol analysis.
Spatial Organization and Signal Transduction in Cell Membranes

Cellular signal transduction reactions are largely confined to membrane surfaces. This environment amplifies tendencies towards inhomogeneous spatial organization and patterning. In recent years, these phenomena have been recognized to play important functional roles in signaling as well. The use of supported membrane technology to observe, control, and study the spatial aspects of cellular signal transduction chemistry will be discussed.
A data analysis model for business intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) has become an integral part of e-business activities of companies. The success of such effort is dependent on integration and management of terabytes of transactional data in a large-scale data warehouse to support various analyses. In the last two years, web-oriented BI and outsourcing have led to more challenging problems of integrating these new types of data with the internal transactional data. Furthermore, recent trends in enabling the real-time company have placed new performance demands on BI software. Significant research has been carried out in optimising multidimensional aggregation in data warehousing that serves as the base data for BI analysis software. However, virtually all of this work has focused on either simple aggregates or on specialised analysis such as in human genome and other scientific applications. In this paper, we focus on statistical analysis models and techniques to reduce the volume of base data and enable real-time BI analysis. We introduce a new data aggregation model, referred to as the multivariate and multidimensional aggregated data model (M 2 AD), for supporting statistical computing in a data warehouse environment.
Visual Control of Steering without Course Information

An analysis and experimental evidence are presented that the visual control of steering in following a straight demarcated path is possible even when information about the direction of one's travel (course) is not available. Two likely sources of optical information available to observers are considered, bearing and splay, that might be used for steering under these conditions. In an experiment involving a computer-driven driving simulator, observers attempted to steer a straight path while subjected to lateral perturbing forces. When only bearing and its time derivative, motion parallax, were available, performance fell off as expected with the optical gain of motion parallax as the preview distance of the viewing aperture was varied. When splay angle and its time derivative, splay rate, were added to the display, performance generally improved and remained relatively constant with changing distance of the viewing aperture, as expected because of the constant optical gain of splay rate. Making course information available by adding point features to both displays improved steering performance only in the motion-parallax conditions.
Surface Bioanalysis of Human Dental Enamel Using Infrared Internal Reflection Spectroscopy

Dental enamel is the hard, protective tissue that normally surfaces the crowns of vertebrate teeth. Although enamel is the hardest of living tissues, (roughly 97 per cent inorganic mineral) it is relatively easily degraded (demineralized) in acid. Extensive degradation produces cavitation with subsequent rapid destruction of underlying more vulnerable dentin and eventual tooth loss. The disease, dental caries (in vivo, tooth destruction by acid demineralization) is in fact responsible for virtually all premature tooth loss prior to age thirty.
Design consideration of semiconductor optical amplifier linearity

Summary form only given. High linearity semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are important for 1.3 /spl mu/m single-channel CATV amplifiers in (WDM) system applications. The amplification nonlinearity or crosstalk between channels are caused by gain nonlinearity generated from the gain compression effect. We have considered important design factors which can affect the gain linearity of an SOA. Device concepts based on current injection profile are proposed and numerically demonstrated to achieve gain and less crosstalk.
Verbal ability and cooperative learning: Transfer of effects

This study examined the relationship of verbal ability and heterogeneous versus homogeneous pairing of students on cooperative learning tasks (i.e., two students interacting over textbook passages) to the students' performance after engaging in cooperative learning and to their performance on a subsequent individual learning task (transfer). As expected, individuals' scores on a vocabulary test, serving as an indication of verbal ability, were strongly related to performance after engaging in cooperative learning and on the individual learning task. More importantly, it was found that cooperative partners with dissimilar vocabulary scores recalled significantly more main ideas from the passage used in the individual learning task than did partners with similar vocabulary scores. Cooperative learning has been shown to be an effective technique for learning academic material (Spurlin, Dansereau, Larson, & Brooks, in press). Cooperative learning generally refers to two students interacting as partners with a cooperative goal of mastering academic material. This type of learning has been explored primarily in field studies conducted in grade school, high school, and college classrooms (see recent reviews by Sharan, 1980, and Slavin, 1980, 1983). Many of these studies have evaluated particular cooperative learning strategies (general procedures for interacting and processing the target material) in comparison with traditional teaching tehniques (e.g., lecture). Evaluations of strategies such as the Jigsaw classroom (Aronson, Stephan, Sikes, Blaney, & Snapp, 1978), Teams-Games-Tournaments
Susceptibility of Mycoplasma pneumoniae to several new quinolones, tetracycline, and erythromycin.

Abstract Mycoplasma pneumoniae (39 strains) was most susceptible to two quinolones, WIN 57273 and sparfloxacin, with MICs for 90% of the strains (MIC90S) of 0.125 and 0.25 micrograms/ml, respectively. It was susceptible to ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin at 2 micrograms/ml and to lomefloxacin and fleroxacin at 4 micrograms/ml. The MIC90 of erythromycin was 0.062 microgram/ml, and that of tetracycline was 1 microgram/ml.
Cross-linguistic variation and the acquisition of pronominal reference in L2 Spanish

The current investigation tested two predictions regarding second language (L2) processing at the syntax—discourse interface: (1) that L2 performance on measures of interface phenomena can differ from that of native speakers; and (2) that cross-linguistic influence can be a source of such divergence. Specifically, we examined the offline interpretation of ambiguous subject pronouns with intrasentential antecedents in Spanish and English, including discourse—syntactic constraints that are active in pro-drop Spanish and principles of discourse structure that affect pronominal reference in English. Two participant groups of English-speaking learners of L2 Spanish — an intermediate group and an advanced group — failed to show categorically native-like differentiation between null and overt pronouns in Spanish. Both groups, however, did show marginal effects for Discourse Structure (coordination or subordination of clauses), an effect that was also present in their native English. Furthermore, there was a sign...
Mechanisms and functional implications of social buffering in infants: Lessons from animal models.

Social buffering, which is the attenuation of stress hormone release by a social partner, occurs in many species throughout the lifespan. Social buffering of the infant by the caregiver is particularly robust, and animal models using infant rodents are uncovering the mechanisms and neural circuitry supporting social buffering. At birth, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress system is functional but is suppressed via extended social buffering by the mother: the profound social buffering effects of the mother can last for 1–2 hours when pups are removed from the mother. At 10 days of age, pups begin to mount a stress response immediately when separated from the mother. The stimuli from the mother supporting social buffering are broad, for tactile stimulation, milk, and an anesthetized mother (no maternal behavior) all sufficiently support social buffering. The mother appears to produce social buffering by blocking norepinephrine (NE) release into the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), whi...
THE EFFECTS OF FOREARM ROTATION ON THREE WRIST MEASUREMENTS: RADIAL INCLINATION, RADIAL HEIGHT AND PALMAR TILT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and quantify the effects of forearm rotation on radial inclination, radial height and palmar tilt. Seventeen arms, nine cadaveric and eight volunteer, were examined using a radiolucent device that allowed for the controlled rotation of each arm. Lateral and posterior-anterior X-rays were taken at 5 degrees increments which were then measured by two physicians using standardised protocol. The results revealed that all three measurements were significantly affected by forearm rotation with forearm supination increasing the apparent measurements and forearm pronation decreasing the apparent measurements. This relationship was well characterised by linear trend modelling such that forearm pronation of 10 degrees decreased the apparent radial inclination, radial height and palmar tilt by 2.8 degrees , 1.6 mm and 4.4 degrees , respectively. This study demonstrates that forearm rotation is an important factor in the accurate evaluation of wrist measurements, and that slight rotation of the wrist during radiographic imaging may significantly alter management decisions given established surgical criteria.
Risk factors for nosocomial infection during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

An increasing number of patients receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for life support. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors for nosocomial infection in adult patients receiving ECMO. We reviewed the medical records of adult patients who received ECMO support for more than 72h at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital from 2001 to 2007. ECMO-related nosocomial infections were defined as infections occurring from 24h after ECMO initiation until 48h after ECMO discontinuation. There were 12 episodes of nosocomial infection identified in 10 of the 114 (8.77%) patients on ECMO, including four cases of pneumonia, three cases of bacteraemia, three surgical site infections and two urinary tract infections. The incidence of ECMO-related nosocomial infection was 11.92 per 1000 ECMO-days. The length of ECMO use and intensive care unit (ICU) stay were significantly different between patients with, and without, nosocomial infection (P<0.001). More than 10 days of ECMO use was associated with a significantly higher nosocomial infection rate (P=0.003). Gram-negative bacilli were responsible for 78% of the nosocomial infections. In the univariate analysis, the duration of ICU stay and duration of ECMO use were associated with nosocomial infection. In the multivariate analysis, only the duration of ECMO was independently associated with nosocomial infection (P=0.007). Overall, the only independent risk factor for ECMO-related nosocomial infection identified in this study was prolonged ECMO use.
Estimating the causal effect of zidovudine on CD4 count with a marginal structural model for repeated measures

Even in the absence of unmeasured confounding factors or model misspecification, standard methods for estimating the causal effect of a time-varying treatment on the mean of a repeated measures outcome (for example, GEE regression) may be biased when there are time-dependent variables that are simultaneously confounders of the effect of interest and are predicted by previous treatment. In contrast, the recently developed marginal structural models (MSMs) can provide consistent estimates of causal effects when unmeasured confounding and model misspecification are absent. We describe an MSM for repeated measures that parameterizes the marginal means of counterfactual outcomes corresponding to prespecified treatment regimes. The parameters of MSMs are estimated using a new class of estimators - inverse-probability of treatment weighted estimators. We used an MSM to estimate the effect of zidovudine therapy on mean CD4 count among HIV-infected men in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. We estimated a potential expected increase of 5.4 (95 per cent confidence interval -1.8,12.7) CD4 lymphocytes/l per additional study visit while on zidovudine therapy. We also explain the theory and implementation of MSMs for repeated measures data and draw upon a simple example to illustrate the basic ideas.
Learning actions from human-robot dialogues

Natural language interactions between humans and robots are currently limited by many factors, most notably by the robot's concept representations and action repertoires. We propose a novel algorithm for learning meanings of action verbs through dialogue-based natural language descriptions. This functionality is deeply integrated in the robot's natural language subsystem and allows it to perform the actions associated with the learned verb meanings right away without any additional help or learning trials. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm in a scenario where a human explains to a robot the meaning of an action verb unknown to the robot and the robot is subsequently able to carry out the instructions involving this verb.
Pilot and controller workload and situation awareness with three traffic management concepts

This paper reports on workload and situation awareness of pilots and controllers participating in a human-in-the-loop simulation using three different distributed air-ground traffic management concepts. Eight experimental pilots started the scenario in the en-route phase of flight and were asked to avoid convective weather while performing spacing and merging tasks along with a continuous descent approach (CDA) into Louisville Standiford Airport (SDF). Two controllers managed the sectors through which the pilots flew, with one managing a sector that included the Top of Descent, and the other managing a sector that included the merge point for arrival into SDF. At 3-minute intervals in the scenario, pilots and controllers were probed on their workload or situation awareness. We employed one of three concepts of operation that distributed separation responsibility across human controllers, pilots, and automation to measure changes in operator workload and situation awareness. We found that when pilots were responsible for separation, they had higher levels of awareness, but not necessarily higher levels of workload. When controllers are responsible and actively engaged, they showed higher workload levels compared to pilots and changes in level awareness that were dependent on sector characteristics.
EVALUATING CANCER PATIENTS FOR METASTASES: AN APPROACH USING BAYES' THEOREM

Before patients with apparently localized cancer are offered potentially curative surgery or radiation therapy, physicians often order a battery of imaging studies to exclude metastases. The yield of radionuclide liver and bone scans and computed tomography of the brain in breast, colorectal, and lung carcinomas was examined as follows: the literature was reviewed to obtain the autopsy prevalences of brain, liver and bone metastases in breast, colorectal and all histologies of lung carcinoma, to estimate the sensitivities and specificities of radionuclide liver and bone scans and computed tomography of the brain. Using Bayes' theorem, the predictive accuracies of positive and negative clinical evaluations and imaging studies were computed. For most of the examples analyzed, the imaging studies do not provide information beyond that obtained by the history, physical examination, and inexpensive laboratory tests and radiographs that would alter the physician's decision to offer curative treatment directed towards local disease. This method is presented as a model for clinical decision making where the information gained by an additional study is evaluated for its use in altering therapeutic decisions.
Third World Approaches to International Economic Governance

This chapter traces three approaches to international economic governance: the National Economic Control (NEC), the New International Economic Order (NIEO), and the Regime Bias approach adopted by the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) network.None of these approaches exists independently, but all are centered around how to understand and address the imbalances between developed and Third World economies. The NEC approach provided Third World countries the power to assert their right to exercise control over foreign investors under their own laws so foreign investors did not have more rights than local investors. The NIEO permits Third World countries to enact interventions to address the gaps in economic resource allocation in order to provide fairness and equity since the free market in these countries does not address the needs of the impoverished. Last, the Regime Bias approach shows how the international trading regime disempowers those who it seeks to help.