cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preprocedural imaging in patients with transposition of the great arteries facilitates placement of cardiac resynchronization therapy leads.

Objective The purpose of this study is to review a series of patients with complex congenital heart disease in whom preprocedural imaging was used to assist placement of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) leads. Background CRT may be beneficial in patients with a failing systemic ventricle and transposition of the great arteries (TGA). However, complex coronary venous anatomy can be challenging for placement of CRT leads. Methods Between October 2006 and June 2012, seven patients with either dextro-TGA (d-TGA) or levo-TGA (l-TGA) underwent preprocedural imaging prior to placement of CRT leads (three, d-TGA and four, l-TGA). Three patients underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) and four underwent coronary angiography, which included levophase imaging of the coronary sinus (CS) or direct contrast injection of the CS. Where CS anatomy was appropriate with drainage into the systemic venous circulation, a transvenous approach was planned. In all other cases, the patient was referred for surgical placement of epicardial leads. Results Seven patients were identified with either d-TGA or l-TGA who had undergone preprocedural imaging prior to placement of CRT leads (three, d-TGA and four, l-TGA). Three patients underwent cardiac CT and four underwent coronary angiography, which included levophase imaging of the CS or direct contrast injection of the CS. All seven patients had successful CRT lead placement guided by preprocedure imaging. Three patients required surgical placement whereas four were able to undergo transvenous placement. There were no complications. The majority of patients (four of seven) had improvement in New York Heart Association class as well as subjective improvement in exercise tolerance and energy. The majority of patients also had subjective improvement in systemic right ventricular function by echocardiogram and objective improvement in fractional area change of the right ventricle. The follow-up period ranged from 13 months to 55 months with a mean follow-up of 39 months. Conclusions Placement of biventricular leads for CRT in patients with l-TGA or d-TGA is feasible. Preprocedural imaging of the CS allows for better assessment of its anatomy and helps determine procedural approach for CRT placement, thereby limiting unnecessary procedures. In the majority of patients, there was subjective improvement in functional status and right ventricular function; in addition, there was objective improvement in echocardiographic parameters of right ventricular function after CRT placement.
Agent-Based control of spatially distributed chemical reactor networks

Large-scale spatially distributed systems provide a unique and difficult control challenge because of their nonlinearity, spatialdistribution and generally high order. The control structure for these systems tend to be both discrete and distributed as well and contain discrete and continuous elements. A layered control structure interfaced with complex arrays of sensors and actuators provides a flexible supervision and control system that can deal with local and global challenges. An adaptive agent-based control structure is presented whereby local control objectives may be changed in order to achieve the global control objective. Information is shared through a global knowledge environment that promotes the distribution of ideas through reinforcement. The performance of the agent-based control approach is illustrated in a case study where the interaction front between two competing autocatalytic species is moved from one spatial configuration to another. The multi-agent control system is able to effectively explore the parameter space of the network and intelligently manipulate the network flow rates such that the desired spatial distribution of species is achieved.
Liquid-cooling technology for gas turbines - Review and status

A review of research related to liquid cooling of gas turbines was conducted and an assessment of the state of the art was made. Various methods of liquid cooling turbines were reviewed. Examples and results with test and demonstrator turbines utilizing these methods along with the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are discussed.
THORACIC PHYSIOTHERAPY IN PAEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE1

Intensive care is the only area in paediatric physiotherapy in which the parents play little active part in treatment. In nearly every disease, whether thoracic, neurological or orthopaedic, the parents themselves carry out the treatment at home, and the therapist acts as teacher, supervisor and assessor. With inpatients, the parents must be taught to continue on discharge where the therapist leaves off. But in intensive care, the parents' role is to support the child emotionally while the therapist conducts the treatment.
A kinetic model for the competitive reactions of ozone with amino acid residues in proteins in reverse micelles.

Lysozyme and 10 other proteins are solubilized in reverse micelles formed by 0.1 M sodium di-2-ethyl-hexylsulfosuccinate and 2.0-2.5 M water (pH 7.4) in isooctane solvent. Exposure of the protein-containing reverse micellar solutions to ozone causes oxidative damage to the proteins, as assessed by the oxidation of tryptophan residues. The oxidation product of the protein-bound tryptophan has a molar absorption coefficient of 3275 +/- 81 M-1 cm-1 (mean +/- S.D., n = 6) at 320 nm. The product is suggested to be a Criegee ozonide or a tautomer of the Criegee ozonide and not N-formylkynurenine. Ozonation of lysozyme in reverse micelles results in the formation of hydrogen peroxide in yields of only approximately 0.07 mol/mol of tryptophan residues oxidized. The recovery of hydrogen peroxide added as an internal standard to the lysozyme-containing reverse micellar solutions ranges from 84 to 88%, whether or not the samples are subjected to ozonation. This suggests that hydrogen peroxide is neither destroyed during the process of ozonation nor consumed by the protein to a significant extent in an adventitious reaction. A kinetic model for the overall reaction of ozone with the proteins is developed, taking into account the concentrations and the reactivities of individual amino acid residues toward ozone. The model predicts the fractional reaction of ozone with tryptophan residues in the proteins, despite differences in amino acid composition, molecular weight, and tertiary structures. The lack of influence of protein structure is confirmed further by the observation that the native lysozyme (with and without external S-carboxymethylcysteine) and S-carboxymethylated lysozyme give identical values of the fractional reaction of ozone with tryptophan residues. The kinetic equations for the competitive reactions of ozone with amino acid residues in proteins, with some minor modification, are applicable to ozonations on complex mixtures of lipids, proteins, and antioxidants.
Effects of chlorpromazine on biological membranes--I. Chlorpromazine-induced changes in liver mitochondria.

Abstract The swelling of rat liver mitochondria suspended in isotonic sucrose at pH 7.4 was measured spectrophotometrically and by water and sucrose entry. Chlorpromazine at concentrations of 5 × 10 −6 to 10 −4 M inhibited such swelling to the same degree, as measured by all three methods. Higher concentrations also caused agglutination of the mitochondria suspended in either isotonic sucrose or KCI. In the KCI medium chlorpromazine at 5 × 10 −6 to 10 −4 M did not inhibit swelling whether measured spectrophotometrically or by water entry; the reason for this has not yet been elucidated. Chlorpromazine sulfoxide had no effect on mitochondria suspended in either isotonic sucrose or KCI.
Legislative Process and the Mirroring Principle

At the center of all democratic governments are legislatures. In all legislatures, members compete for access to a variety of valuable resources, such as floor time and committee or cabinet positions. The internal distribution of these resources fundamentally shapes the legislative process, and by extension, determines which individuals or coalitions can influence legislative outcomes. In this paper, I argue that, within a given legislature, the distribution of legislative influence tends to mirror the external checks and balances in the polity as a whole. In other words, as Lijphart (1984) has argued, just as polities with little separation of purpose (i.e., with limited diversity of interests and factions) tend to have more unitary governmental institutions than do polities with greater separation of purpose (which tend toward institutions that create separation of powers), so too will internal legislative institutions reflect the separations of purpose and power within a polity.1 This law of organization is referred to as the mirroring principle.2 In making my argument, I consider legislatures generally and use examples from a wide range of parliamentary and non-parliamentary bodies. I argue that many elements of legislatures, as well as the ways that we think about them, are common across most (and perhaps all) legislatures. Thus, a goal of this paper is to present a general analytic framework within which many aspects of the world’s diverse legislative bodies can be considered. I proceed as follows: In the next section, I discuss the nature of legislative resources, and briefly review the various arguments about how they are allocated. The section after that deals with control over the legislative agenda. In the third section, I discuss two cases that illustrate the mirroring principle. I end with a brief conclusion.
Complications and Sequelae of Chronic Ulcerative Colitis

Excerpt Every serious disease entails dangerous consequences, either during the progress of the illness or as a result of nature's effort to restore destroyed tissue. Particularly is this true of s...
Reducing unnecessary Pap smears in a community clinic: Is the U.S. still over-screening for cervical cancer?

Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether an educational intervention would result in an increased willingness of health care providers to extend the time intervals of cervical cancer screening (Papanicolau [Pap] test) among women who meet guideline criteria. Background: The changes required of clinicians for performing appropriate Pap testing, initially introduced by American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologist to decrease unnecessary Pap testing, have encountered some translational difficulties among community clinics. When audited in January 2012, adherence to the changed guidelines by clinicians in a community clinic was only 60%. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was designed to determine if multi-modal education would encourage adoption of the changes, as measured by increased adherence to guideline recommendations. Clinic personnel were divided into two groups for educational sessions; one consisting of providers/clinicians (N = 6) and the other consisting of medical assistants (N = 28). Fifty-two charts of patients who came to the clinic for well-woman examinations including Pap tests were reviewed to determine adherence to the guidelines to establish a baseline prior to the intervention. Fifty charts of patients who came to the clinic for well-woman examinations including Pap tests three months after the intervention were reviewed to determine the extent to which clinicians were adhering to the guidelines. Results: After the intervention, adherence significantly improved to 90% ( p = .016). Educational sessions accounted for the majority of variance occurring in the increase of appropriate and decrease in inappropriate Pap testing ( p = .003). Conclusions: This research was focused on the steps used to increase providers’ adherence to current guidelines in a community clinic setting. Eliminating unnecessary Pap smears for women who meet the criteria is cost effective, less invasive, and reduces procedures that lead to reproductive risks, complications and anxiety.
A Qualitative Study of Supervisors' Reflections on Providing Sanctioned Supervision

Sanctioned supervision, sometimes referred to as mandated supervision or professional monitoring, is intended to protect the public, reduce further counselor ethical/legal violations, and improve the professional practice of the counselor adjudicated for unprofessional behavior. Sanctioned supervision is a common remediation intervention required by state regulatory boards. However, there is a lack of research on the practice of sanctioned supervision and the perceptions of sanctioned supervisors. A qualitative research approach was used to better understand the experiences of four supervisors who provided sanctioned supervision within the past year as part of a state regulatory board remediation process. The main themes from the qualitative study included the following: supervisors finding the supervision process to be unique from traditional supervision, and supervisors experiencing ambivalence about the sanctioned supervision process. Practice considerations for supervisors providing sanctioned supervi...
What was wrong with the Abercrombie and empirical cell counting methods? A review

When a tissue volume is sectioned, cells or other objects are cut into segments by the sectioning process. The Abercrombie and empirical methods count object segments in histological sections and then apply a correction formula to convert the segment count to object number. There has been considerable recent controversy over whether these methods should be abandoned (in favor of the disector). Although both methods appear unbiased as thought experiments on paper, regardless of variation in object size, shape, or orientation, in practice two problems are inherent in the segment-counting approach: the practical problem of lost caps and a conceptual flaw that becomes apparent only when a need for unbiased estimation of certain factors in the correction formulae is seriously addressed. The Abercrombie method is inevitably biased by lost caps, whereas in the empirical method, this potential bias can be avoided. In the Abercrombie formula, the relevant factor to be estimated (aside from section thickness) is H, mean object height in the axis perpendicular to the section plane, and in the empirical method, it is the ratio of segment number to object number. In both methods, the factor in question should be estimated from an unbiased sample of the total population of objects. But unbiased selection of a statistically adequate number of objects for this estimation constitutes an unbiased, statistically adequate count. Once this is done, there is no reason to complete the steps for estimation of the factor; the count in this specimen is finished. It is shown that the empirical method's serial section procedure can be used to estimate H. This estimate is more sensitive to lost caps than the Abercrombie equation, but, when the formula for H is substituted into the Abercrombie equation, the lost caps error disappears. However, this approach is useless, as making this substitution transforms the Abercrombie equation into the empirical method equation.
Assisted reproductive technologies and children's neurodevelopmental outcomes

Initial reports suggested that children conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) may be at increased risk for a spectrum of developmental disabilities. Evolving evidence suggests that some of the early risks may have been overstated when not taking plurality of birth or gestational age at delivery into consideration, as both are independent risk factors for neurodevelopmental disabilities arising from alterations in structure and function or limitations in activities. Continued research is needed to overcome lingering data gaps in light of the equivocal literature for many neurodevelopmental disabilities relative to ART, increasing utilization of services, and changes in the clinical management of infecund couples such as the adoption of natural cycles or in vitro maturation treatment options. Population-based cohorts with longitudinal assessment of the multifaceted nature of neurodevelopment across critical and sensitive windows is paramount for the development of empirically based guidance for clinical and population health.
Dielectronic recombination rate coefficients for hydrogen-like ions

Abstract We present rate coefficients for dielectronic recombination for 9 hydrogen-like ions ranging from Ne 9+ to Xe 53+ . In this work, relativistic multi-configuration wavefunctions are used to calculate energy levels as well as the Auger and radiative matrix elements. Results are compared with recent calculations for ions in the helium-like sequence.
A computational study of the discretization error in the solution of the Spencer-Lewis equation by doubling applied to the upwind finite-difference approximation

Abstract A detailed and systematic study of the nature of the discretization error associated with the upwind finite-difference method is presented. A basic model problem has been identified and based upon the results for this problem, a basic hypothesis regarding the accuracy of the computational solution of the Spencer-Lewis equation is formulated. The basic hypothesis is then tested under various systematic single complexifications of the basic model problem. The results of these tests provide the framework of the refined hypothesis presented in the concluding comments.
Decentralized reduced-order filters

Continuous and discrete methods of designing simple reduced-order local filters within a large-scale network are suggested. The filters are designed to estimate only the local variables of interest and not the entire state vector. The method has the advantage that one need not know the mathematical models of the subsystems generating the interconnection variables. The order of the filter can be small enough so that there is no computational burden associated with the filter. The disadvantage of the method is that performance is lost by using a reduced-order filter instead of a full-order filter. An example that demonstrates one application in the aerospace industry is presented. >
Applications of least-squares FIR filters to virtual acoustic space.

Abstract A virtual acoustic space (VAS) employs the localization cues specified by the direction-dependent 'free-field to eardrum transfer function' (FETF) to synthesize sound-pressure waveforms present near the tympanum. The combination of a VAS and the earphone delivery of synthesized waveforms is useful to study parametrically the neural mechanisms of directional hearing. The VAS-earphone procedure requires accurate FETF estimation from free-field measurements and appropriate compensation for the undesirable spectral characteristics of the closed-field earphone sound delivery and measurement systems. Here we describe how specially designed finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters improve these two operations. The coefficients of an FIR filter arc determined using a least-squares error criterion. The least-squares FIR filter is implemented entirely in the time domain and avoids the usual problems with division inherent in a frequency domain approach. The estimation of an FETF by a least-squares FIR filter is veracious since its impulse response can recover signals that were recorded near the eardrum in the free field with a very high fidelity. The correlation coefficient between recorded and recovered time waveforms typically exceeds 0.999. Similarly, least-squares FIR filters prove excellent in compensating closed-field sound systems since comparisons of waveforms delivered by a compensated earphone to their corresponding predistorted signals yield correlation coefficients that exceed 0.99 on average.
Investigation of the nature of electrodeposited neutral viologens formed by reduction of the dications

Abstract Reduction of four viologens was studied in aqueous media at glassy carbon working electrodes. The viologens were the methyl (MV 2+ ), ethyl (EV 2+ ), benzyl (BV 2+ ) and heptyl (HV 2+ ) derivatives. The neutral two-electron reduction product of each viologen forms an insoluble deposit on the electrode surface. The formation of these deposits was studied by cyclic voltammetry, rotating ring-disk electrode voltammetry (RRDE) and double potential step chronocoulometry (DPSC). RRDE studies of MV 2+ reveal that the neutral form becomes supersaturated in solution near the disk surface. The deposition is initiated by a nucleation and growth phenomenon. As the deposit grows, blockage of the disk surface occurs and the disk current decreases. Reaction of MV 2+ with the deposit (conproportionation) becomes increasingly important and the amount deposited shows a net decrease followed by an approach to a steady state. The steady state amounts deposited have been determined by step and open circuit experiments with RRDE and, at early stages, by DPSC.
The user interfaces for the NRAO-Green Bank Telescope

The NRAO-Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest, fully steerable radio telescope, is now in routine use by visiting astronomers. The telescope is unique because of its offset optical design and its complex suite of state-of-the-art instruments. To exploit the full powers of the system, observers and staff members require intuitive user interfaces. We will demonstrate one of the various graphical user interfaces that have been built for the telescope. The interface, written in Tcl/Tk and used predominately by staff engineers, telescope operators, and programmers, is designed for very detailed monitoring and debugging of telescope components. The interface lies on top of an object-oriented control system that provides the GUI builder a set of software methods that is the same for every GBT device, from receivers to detectors. The uniform set of methods reduces the work normally needed in creating a high-level user interface and allows for the creation of interfaces in a range of programming languages.
Computational modeling of STED microscopy through multiple biological cells under one- and two-photon excitation

While superresolution optical microscopy techniques afford enhanced resolution for biological applications, they have largely been used to study structures in isolated cells. We use the FDTD method to simulate the propagation of focused beams for STED microscopy through multiple biological cells. We model depletion beams that provide 2D and 3D confinement of the fluorescence spot and assess the effective PSF of the system as a function of focal depth. We compare the relative size of the STED effective PSF under one- and two-photon excitation. PSF calculations suggest that imaging is possible up to the maximum simulation depth if the fluorescence emission remains detectable.
Electropolymerized tyrosine-based thin films: selective cell binding via peptide recognition to novel electropolymerized biomimetic tyrosine RGDY films.

Abstract We have created thin films by cyclic voltammetry (CV) electropolymerizations of the following phenolic functional group-based monomers: phenol; tyrosineamide; the tetrapeptide RGDY-containing the integrin membrane adhesion protein recognition tripeptide RGD; RDGY, a nonsense control tetrapeptide; and 1:3 mixtures of tyrosineamide with the two tetrapeptide monomers. The film formation process and description of the film properties were obtained by repetitive CV cycling using the oscillating quartz frequency shift, Δ f , and motional resistance shift, Δ R , parameters obtained with the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance technique. Only the poly(phenol) film exhibited close chain packing-based self-limiting behavior, where all film synthesis ceased after approximately 7 CV cycles. All other films continued to form by electropolymerization with successive CV cycles out to the maximum cycle number (30 cycles) we measured. All of the films exhibited little energy dissipation behavior. Using the quartz crystal microbalance, we next compared the time course of cell attachment with the washed films and demonstrated that cells bound best to films in the following order: RGDY sense peptide:tyrosineamide films > RDGY nonsense peptide:tyrosineamide films = tyrosineamide films > phenol films. Cell enumeration after washing and trypsinization revealed firm protein-based cell attachment to the underlying extracellular matrix for the RGDY-containing films. These sense peptide films bound and retained two- to fivefold as many cells as the other films, with cells exhibiting a normal morphology. These results suggest the operation of specific cell attachment to the electropolymerized films via the RGD binding site for cellular integrin membrane proteins. The electropolymerization method we studied here forms a cassette system for creating electropolymerized films tailored to specific attachment of different cell types by varying the electropolymerized Y(tyrosine)-containing recognition peptide.
Follicle-Stimulating Hormone-Enhanced Fibronectin Production by Chicken Granulosa Cells is Influenced by Follicular Development

Experiments were conducted in vitro to examine the effect of ovine follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on various fractions of fibronectin (deposited, secreted in medium, and cell-associated) resulting from culture (12 or 24 h) of chicken granulosa cells isolated from the largest (F1) and third largest (F3) preovulatory follicles as well as from a pool of immature small yellow follicles (SYF). Fibronectin in each fraction was quantified with a specific ELISA. The amount of fibronectin deposited in culture wells containing unstimulated cells increased with time and was greatest in wells containing F1 cells. Follicle-stimulating hormone increased the quantity of fibronectin deposited within 12 h by F3 and SYF cells, but not by F1 cells. The magnitude of FSH-enhanced fibronectin deposition was greatest in cells derived from immature SYF. Fibronectin secreted in the medium by unstimulated cells also increased with the stage of follicular maturation. Follicle-stimulating hormone increased the amount of fibronectin secreted in the medium by F3 and SYF cells. The quantity of fibronectin associated with cells was increased by FSH in all cell types. Total (deposited plus medium plus cell-associated) fibronectin production was elevated in a dose- and time-dependent manner when FSH was added to F3 and SYF granulosa cells, but the gonadotropin was without effect in F1 cells. The magnitude of FSH stimulation (fold increase) of total fibronectin production was calculated as a multiple of the unstimulated (control) value for each cell type. The relative change in total fibronectin production resulting from addition of FSH (after 24 h incubation) was .02- to .24-fold in F1 cells as compared with .33- to .92-fold in F3 cells and 2.75- to 4.38-fold in SYF cells. These results indicate that FSH stimulates fibronectin production by chicken granulosa cells, and this stimulatory effect decreases as the follicle matures.
A multivariate time series approach to modelling macroeconomic sequences

In this paper we discuss a multivariate generalization of autoregressive integrated moving average models. A methodology for constructing multivariate time series models is developed and the derivation of forecasts from such models is considered. A bivariate model for Austrian macroeconomic sequences is constructed. Furthermore it is discussed whether multivariate time series methods can be expected to lead to a significant increase in prediction accuracy when forecasting macroeconomic series.
Microbial secondary metabolites and their impacts on insect symbioses

All insects host communities of microbes that interact both with the insect and each other. Secondary metabolites are understood to mediate many of these interactions, although examples having robust genetic, chemical and/or ecological evidence are relatively rare. Here, I review secondary metabolites mediating community interactions in the beewolf, entomopathogenic nematode and fungus-growing ant symbioses, using the logic of Koch's postulates to emphasize well-validated symbiotic functions mediated by these metabolites. I especially highlight how these interaction networks are structured by both ecological and evolutionary processes, and how selection acting on secondary metabolite production can be multidimensional.
Dynamics during holographic exposure in photopolymers for single and multiplexed gratings

Under the assumption that at low recording intensity the grating formation process is much slower than the free monomer diffusion, we present a model that describes the dynamics of the holographic grating formation in photopolymers. The model indicates how the beam intensity modulation influences the saturation value of the grating modulation, while the average recording intensity is related in a nonlinear fashion to the process time constant. An extension of this model describes and predicts the recording of a single grating in the presence of an additional mutually incoherent light beam, and the simultaneous recording of angularly mutliplexed gratings. The model is validated by comparing with experimental results obtained using DuPont HRF-150-38 photopolymer.
Thoracic target volume delineation using various maximum-intensity projection computed tomography image sets for radiotherapy treatment planning.

Purpose: Four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) is commonly used to account for respiratory motion of target volumes in radiotherapy to the thorax. From the 4D-CT acquisition, a maximum-intensity projection (MIP) image set can be created and used to help define the tumor motion envelope or the internal gross tumor volume (iGTV). The purpose of this study was to quantify the differences in automatically contoured target volumes for usage in the delivery of stereotactic body radiation therapy using MIP data sets generated from one of the four methods: (1) 4D-CT phase-binned (PB) based on retrospective phase calculations, (2) 4D-CT phase-corrected phase-binned (PC-PB) based on motion extrema, (3) 4D-CT amplitude-binned (AB), and (4) cine CT built from all available images. Methods: MIP image data sets using each of the four methods were generated for a cohort of 28 patients who had prior thoracic 4D-CT scans that exhibited lung tumor motion of at least 1 cm. Each MIP image set was automatically contoured on commercial radiation treatment planning system. Margins were added to the iGTV to observe differences in the final simulated planning target volumes (PTVs). Results: For all patients, the iGTV measured on the MIP generated from the entire cine CT data set (iGTVcine) was the largest. Expressed as a percentage of iGTVcine, 4D-CT iGTV (all sorting methods) ranged from 83.8% to 99.1%, representing differences in the absolute volume ranging from 0.02 to 4.20 cm3; the largest average and range of 4D-CT iGTV measurements was from the PC-PB data set. Expressed as a percentage of PTVcine (expansions applied to iGTVcine), the 4D-CT PTV ranged from 87.6% to 99.6%, representing differences in the absolute volume ranging from 0.08 to 7.42 cm3. Regions of the measured respiratory waveform corresponding to a rapid change of phase or amplitude showed an increased susceptibility to the selection of identical images for adjacent bins. Duplicate image selection was most common in the AB implementation, followed by the PC-PB method. The authors also found that the image associated with the minimum amplitude measurement did not always correlate with the image that showed maximum tumor motion extent. Conclusions: The authors identified cases in which the MIP generated from a 4D-CT sorting process under-represented the iGTV by more than 10% or up to 4.2 cm3 when compared to the iGTVcine. They suggest utilization of a MIP generated from the full cine CT data set to ensure maximum inclusive tumor extent.
The (p, t) reaction on 12C, 54Fe and 208Pb at 80 MeV

Abstract Angular distributions have been measured for the low-lying levels of the residual nuclei for the 12 C, 54 Fe and 208 Pb(p, t) reactions at E p = 80 MeV. The shapes of these angular distributions are generally well reproduced by the zero-range distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA). Enhancement factors extracted from the data show that the DWBA predicts relative strengths consistent with those observed at lower bombarding energies. However, the overall empirical DWBA normalization at E p = 80 MeV is observed to be 1 12 ( 1 4 ) of that required at 40 MeV for 208 Pb ( 54 Fe).
Diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol causes hypertriglyceridemia in guinea pigs

Abstract Treatment of rats, monkeys and man with diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol causes phospholipid storage in liver and other tissues. However, this drug has not been reported to alter plasma lipoprotein levels. When guinea pigs were treated with diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol, the fasting plasma triacylglycerol levels increased dramatically, from 43 to 1281 mg/dl, after only five doses of 12.5 mg/kg. Diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol-treated guinea pigs had reduced postheparin lipoprotein lipase activity. In addition, in vitro assays showed that this agent inhibited guinea pig postheparin lipoprotein lipase. It is hypothesized that diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol causes hypertriglyceridemia in guinea pigs because these animals are known to have low levels of serum activator for lipoprotein lipase and may be unusually susceptible to agents that inhibit lipoprotein lipase activity. The ability to produce hypertriglyceridemia in guinea pigs provides an animal model in which the metabolic consequences of hypertriglyceridemia can be studied.
The American Put Option and Its Critical Stock Price

We derive an expression for the critical stock price for the American put. We start by expressing the put price as an integral involving first-passage probabilities. This approach yields intuition for Merton's result for the perpetual put. We then consider the finite-lived case. Using (1) the fact that the put value ceases to depend on time when the critical stock price is reached and (2) the result that an American put equals a European put plus an early-exercise premium, we derive the critical stock price. We approximate the critical-stock-price function to compute accurate put prices. KIM (1990), JACKA (1991), AND CARR, JARROW, AND MYNENI (1992) showed that the American put price is equal to the corresponding European put price plus an integral representing the early-exercise premium. However, to use their approach one needs to know the critical stock price, which may be defined in three equivalent ways. 1. It is the value of the stock price at which one is indifferent between exercising and not exercising the put.
Electroweak sphaleron for effective theory in the limit of large Higgs boson mass.

Theoretical arguments suggest that the Higgs sector of the standard model is an effective theory. We parametrize the new physics by means of an effective Lagrangian technique and study its effect on the energy of the electroweak sphaleron. We find that in the presence of a certain class of higher dimension operators the sphaleron energy becomes arbitrarily large as the Higgs boson mass ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{H}}$ increases. The physical meaning of this result and its implications to electroweak baryogenesis in the dynamical symmetry-breaking models are discussed.
Early and long-term effects of acute caloric deprivation in obese diabetic patients

Abstract Purpose : It is generally assumed that diet therapy can ameliorate the metabolic derangements experienced by obese type 2 diabetic patients, thereby leading to discontinuation of insulin or oral sulfonylurea drug therapy. We decided to retrospectively investigate which clinical and biochemical parameters affect therapeutic responses. Patients and methods : Sixty-four poorly controlled obese diabetic patients were hospitalized and placed on a precisely defined, hypocaloric diet. Known duration of diabetes, type of pharmacologic therapy, body weight, weight loss, fasting plasma glucose concentrations, C-peptide levels, hemoglobin A1C, and plasma lipid levels were assessed, as were nitrogen and electrolyte balances. Results : Average weight loss was 13 pounds in a mean of 23 days. During hospitalization, the mean fasting plasma glucose value for the group fell from 221 ± 10 to 122 ± 5 mg/dl. In 45 patients (73 percent), the final fasting plasma glucose level was less than 125 mg/dl (mean: 102 ± 2 mg/dl). Oral glucose tolerance even in those patients in whom fasting plasma glucose levels normalized was still grossly diabetic at the end of the hospital stay, deteriorating further after three days of liberalized caloric intake. In part this may have been due to decreased insulin secretory reserve as reflected by blunted plasma C-peptide response. Forty of 42 patients who entered the study taking insulin were able to discontinue the drug within one to seven days of hospitalization. After a mean follow-up period of 19 months, only 10 of 50 patients continued to maintain fasting euglycemia; five were on diet alone, and five were receiving oral hypoglycemic agents. Thirteen patients were receiving insulin therapy. Conclusion : Diet therapy in these patients resulted in short-term improvement of glycemic control and, in the majority, normalization of fasting plasma glucose levels. However, long-term outpatient follow-up revealed that relapse occurred in most patients.
A meta-analysis of FDG-PET for the evaluation of breast cancer recurrence and metastases

Objective. To evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in the evaluation of breast cancer recurrence and metastases.
Acceleration of Bilateral Filtering Algorithm for Manycore and Multicore Architectures

Bilateral filtering is an ubiquitous tool for several kinds of image processing applications. This work explores multicore and many core accelerations for the embarrassingly parallel yet compute-intensive bilateral filtering kernel. For many core architectures, we have created a novel pair-symmetric algorithm to avoid redundant calculations. For multicore architectures, we improve the algorithm by use of low-level single instruction multiple data (SIMD) parallelism across multiple threads. We propose architecture specific optimizations, such as exploiting the unique capabilities of special registers available in modern multicore architectures and the rearrangement of data access patterns as per the computations to exploit special purpose instructions. We also propose optimizations pertinent to Nvidia's Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), including utilization of CUDA's implicit synchronization capability and the maximization of single-instruction-multiple-thread efficiency. We present empirical data on the performance gains we achieved over a variety of hardware architectures including Nvidia GTX 280, AMD Barcelona, AMD Shanghai, Intel Harper town, AMD Phenom, Intel Core i7 quad core, and Intel Nehalem 32 core machines. The best performance achieved was (i) 169-fold speedup by the CUDA-based implementation of our pair-symmetric algorithm running on Nvidia's GTX 280 GPU compared to the compiler-optimized sequential code on Intel Core i7, and (ii) 38-fold speedup using 16 cores of AMD Barcelona each equipped with a 4-stage vector pipeline compared to the compiler-optimized sequential code running on the same machine.
West Germany's efforts to escape its current technological stagnation

Abstract In 1982 the Federal Republic of Germany has had about two million unemployed; it has become enmired in stagflation; it suffers from declining industrial productivity; and it faces loss of markets from rising import restrictions abroad. These are the symptoms of the prevailing economic malaise. The causes are several: first, the shortage of engineers was probably caused by the implementation of the school reform of the 1970s, which permitted youngsters to avoid taking mathematics, physics and sciences and still graduate from the gymnasium and qualify for university. Second, labor unions, on account of high unemployment, advocate slowing down the technological advance. Third, W German industry did not computerize its machine-building industry rapidly enough and is failing to compete in world markets. Finally, the anti-business milieu has become a suppressive force.
Pattern formation in driven coupled map lattices

Abstract We use a coupled map lattice as a model for convected temperature fluctuations in the atmosphere above an ocean surface. We introduce a simple model for spatio-temporal bursting in a two-dimensional coupled map lattice. Diffusion is controlled by the strength of the nearest-neighbor coupling of the lattice elements. This diffusion is modified to take into account spatially preferential directions, and this spatial preference is used to capture possible buoyancy effects. As diffusion and buoyancy are varied, convective spatio-temporal patterns are observed in the lattice.
“Okay, I will say in Korean and then in American”: Translanguaging practices in bilingual homes:

Building on the research on translanguaging practices in classrooms (e.g. Garcia, 2009; Sayer, 2011) and immigrant families’ literacy practices (e.g. Gregory et al., 2004; Li, 2006), this qualitative study explores the nature of translanguaging practices of four Korean bilingual children and their families in home literacy events. Participant observation with video recordings and field notes was used to gather data, and the data analysis focused on the literacy events defined by Heath (1982) and types of language use. The findings demonstrated that bilingual children and their family members used their two languages flexibly and strategically to create and negotiate meaning. Using both languages contributed to clarifying meaning in communication and expanding children’s linguistic repertoires in their heritage language as well as in English. This study takes a particularized look at bilingual children’s language experience in out-of-school contexts by focusing on families’ ways of using their two language...
Derivative discontinuities in density functional theory

Fifty years after the original formulation of density functional theory (DFT), subtle consequences of the mathematical mappings underlying its formalism continue to merit new views. In this article, we discuss the origin, the importance, and the challenges associated with finding the derivative discontinuity of the exchange-correlation (XC) energy of DFT at integer–electron numbers. We show how even the energy of a quantum electron gas with finite volume and number of electrons displays such derivative discontinuities, but continuous density functional approximations to the XC functional miss them entirely. We discuss some of the practical problems that arise due to this lack of derivative discontinuities in standard functionals, and explain new ways to recover them.
Nephrotoxicity of inorganic mercury co-administered with l-cysteine

Abstract In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that co-administration of low nephrotoxic doses of inorganic mercury (Hg ++ ) with l -cysteine (in a 1:2 mol ratio of inorganic mercury to l -cysteine), alters significantly the nephropathy induced by inorganic mercury. In the first experiment, the effect of co-administering l -cysteine on the nephropathy induced by a 1.8 or 2.0 μmol/kg dose of inorganic mercury was evaluated in rats 24 h after the administration of inorganic mercury. According to histopathological assessment of sections of kidney and evaluation of the urinary excretion of lactate dehydrogenase, total protein and inorganic mercury (which were used as indices of renal injury), the severity of renal injury in rats co-administered the l -cysteine with the inorganic mercury was significantly greater than that in corresponding rats injected with only inorganic mercury. In a second experiment, the disposition of mercury was evaluated l h after the administration of 1.8 /tmol inorganic mercury/kg with or without 3.6 μmol l -cysteine/kg. The renal accumulation of mercury, specifically in the cortex and outer stripe of the outer medulla, was significantly greater the rats co-administered the inorganic mercury and l -cysteine than in the rats given only inorganic mercury. In addition, the content of mercury in the blood and liver was significantly lower, and the fraction of mercury in the blood present in the plasma was significantly greater, in the rats co-administered inorganic mercury and l -cysteine than in the rats given only inorganic mercury. On the basis of the findings from this study, the nephropathy induced by low nephrotoxic doses of inorganic mercury is made more severe when the inorganic mercury is co-administered in a 1:2 mol ratio with l -cysteine. Moreover, it appears that the enhanced severity in the nephropathy induced by the coadministration of inorganic mercury and l -cysteine is linked to an increase in the tubular uptake of mercury in the cortex and outer stripe of the outer medulla.
Household energy consumption in the People's Republic of China

Abstract Results are presented of a study of household energy consumption in the People's Republic of China, focusing on fuel utilization for home cooking and heating and on electricity consumption by household appliances. Our analysis is based on some published data and on new data collected specifically for this study during 1981 on energy use by 343 families in four different regions of China: Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangdong, and Jiangsu. We characterize present Chinese household energy consumption, identify trends in energy use and lifestyle, and identify opportunities for increased efficiency of energy utilization in households.
Pedagogical techniques supported by the use of student devices in teaching software engineering

This paper describes our experiences in promoting a learning environment where active student involvement and interaction, as well as openness to diversity of ideas are supported through innovative uses of technology in the classroom. In the context of an undergraduate course in software engineering, for two consecutive terms we have experimented with an existing software system for Tablet PCs that supports a set of classroom interaction styles. Our goal has been to determine if the use of the technology can increase the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques that naturally fit our instructional needs.We have found that student submissions -- a style of interaction whereby the instructor poses a question written on a slide and displayed on a tablet in front of each student, then students write their answers in digital ink and submit back to the instructor -- are a powerful tool for supporting the learning environment we aim to create in the classroom. We show that student submissions can help the instructor to engage all students, not merely the vocal ones, and to emphasize the value of diversity of opinions. They also enable immediate feedback from students to instructor -- something difficult in an environment without technological enhancements but which contributes to an improved understanding of everyone's needs and expectations.The discussion of how we used student submissions to support these pedagogical techniques may be relevant to educators interested in fostering student learning through creative uses of technology, as well as to instructors looking to expand their repertoires of teaching methods in software engineering and in other similar subjects.
Simulation of a distributed database system incorporating a routing optimizer

The Distributed System Simulator (DSS) is a computer simulation of a database system distributed across a computer network. The system incorporates an “Optimizer” program which develops an optimal routing strategy for incoming transactions. The DSS accepts test transactions and alternative processing strategies from the Optimizer, and simulates these in the context of network traffic to determine processing times which are fed back to the Optimizer for evaluation. This DSS model is seen as a prototype for an actual DSS to be employed with a real Optimizer in a network application. The model is programmed in GPSS/H.