cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of Posture and Ambulation With Function 30 Days After Hospital Discharge in Older Adults with Heart Failure.

Abstract Purpose The aim of this work was to investigate the predictive value of in-hospital posture and ambulatory activity for 30 days following discharge on functional status in older patients with heart failure. Methods and Results We undertook a prospective observational pilot study of 27 patients (78 ± 9.8 y, 51.8% female) admitted with heart failure. Participants wore 2 inclinometric accelerometers to record posture in-hospital and an ankle accelerometer to record ambulatory activity in-hospital and 30 days after discharge. Function was assessed on the day after discharge (Timed Up and Go [TUG], Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB], hand grip strength) and 30 days after discharge. Length of stay was 5.1 ± 3.9 days. Participants spent 63.0 ± 19.2% of their hospital time lying down, 30.2 ± 18.7% sitting, 5.3 ± 4.2% standing, and 1.9 ± 8.6% ambulating. Thirty-day mean post-discharge stepping was 4890 ± 2285 steps/day. Each 10% increase in hospital lying time was associated with 0.7 s longer TUG time (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.2–1.9) at 30 days. Each 1000 additional daily steps in the post-discharge period was associated with a 0.8-point higher SPPB score (95% CI 0.1–1.0) at 30 days. Handgrip strength was unchanged. Conclusions Older patients with heart failure were sedentary during hospitalization, which may contribute to decreased functional performance. Physical activity after discharge may minimize this negative effect.
NATIONAL TRENDS IN THE UTILIZATION, COST BURDEN AND OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH USE OF LONG-TERM MECHANICAL CIRCULATORY SUPPORT: 10-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Long term mechanical circulatory support (L-MCS) devices have emerged as an effective life prolonging modality among patients with advance heart failure awaiting cardiac transplant or deemed ineligible for transplant. Exploring trends of utilization, mortality and cost burden associated with use of
Thermal Performance of Two Indigenous Pupal Parasitoids Attacking the Invasive Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Pachycrepoideus vindemiae (Rondani) and Trichopria drosophilae (Perkins) are among a few indigenous parasitoids attacking the invasive Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in North America. Both parasitoid species occur in California, whereas only P. vindemiae has been reported from Oregon. We compared the thermal performance of the California populations of P. vindemiae and T. drosophilae, and the Oregon population of P. vindemiae at eight constant temperatures (12.6-32.8°C). Both P. vindemiae populations could develop at all tested temperatures. T. drosophilae failed to develop at or above 29.6°C. This species was, however, able to develop at a diurnal temperature regime of 15-32°C, and survival was higher in older developmental stages. T. drosophilae was less tolerant to both low and high temperatures than P. vindemiae, whereas the Oregon P. vindemiae population was more cold-tolerant but less heat-tolerant than the California population in terms of offspring survival, development, and reproduction. To develop storage strategies for mass-cultured parasitoids, we compared the cold tolerance of immature P. vindemiae and T. drosophilae of the California populations at 12°C for 1, 2, or 3 mo, followed by a 23°C holding period. Successful development to the adult stage decreased as cold storage duration increased. Successful development, however, increased when cold storage was initiated during the older developmental stages for 1-mo exposure for both parasitoid species. The results are discussed with regards to parasitoid thermal adaptation and the potential use of P. vindemiae and T. drosophilae for biological control of spotted-wing drosophila.
Local Times on Curves and Surfaces

Given a positive measure µ on R n , a continuous additive functional of an R n valued Levy process X can be defined (heuristically) by $$L_{t}^{\mu } = \mathop{{\lim }}\limits_{{\epsilon \to 0}} \int {\int_{0}^{t} {{{f}_{\epsilon }}(X(s) - x)dsd\mu (x)} }$$ (0.1) where f ∈ is an approximate δ function at zero. If the support ofµis a curve in R 2 or a surface in R n we can consider L t µ as the local time on the curve or surface. Given a family \(\mathcal{M}\) of such measures, endowed with a metric, some sufficient conditions for the continuity of \(\{ L_{t}^{\mu },(t,\mu ) \in {{R}_{ + }} \times \mathcal{M}\}\) are obtained. This problem is related, in part, to the continuity of certain second order Gaussian chaos processes indexed by the functions in M.
Family Therapy in Public Sector Settings

Family interventions improve outcome for patients with psychiatric illnesses (Heru 2006). This chapter identifies key aspects of evidence-based family interventions and shows, through case examples, how to implement family-based treatment in public sector settings. Family interventions develop family resilience, promote individual recovery, and prevent the development of illness. Resilient families have better outcomes for medical illness (Weihs et al. 2002) and psychiatric illness (Tienari et al. 2004; Miller et al. 2008; Keitner et al. 1995; Roberts et al. 2009).
Nucleation and Crystallization in Glass-Forming Systems

The present paper will attempt in a brief space to summarize the present state of knowledge and outstanding problems in the area of nucleation and crystal growth in glass-forming liquids. It is intended to provide background for the papers on crystallization phenomena to follow at-this meeting. Specifically, it will not address applications of controlled crystallization to form glass-ceramic materials, which will be considered by Beall; and it will not address the often-subtle effects of thermal history near and below the glass transition, which will be considered by Wright.
Mitochondrial Membranes, Structural Organization

The mitochondrion generates adenosine triphosphate via a chemiosmotic mechanism involving electrochemical gradients across the organelle's inner membrane. Since rapid fluxes of ions and metabolites occur between the mitochondrial interior and the cytosol, the shape of the energy-transducing inner membrane will affect mitochondrial function. The inner membrane invaginates to form cristae, pleiomorphic compartments with narrow openings. The topology of the inner membrane is determined by proteins that affect membrane fusion–fission and curvature, and appears to change in response to stresses and signals in ways that optimize mitochondrial function.
Retrospective Cost Subsystem Estimation and Smoothing for Linear Systems with Structured Uncertainty

Two algorithms for the combined state and parameter estimation (CSPE) of a linear, time-invariant system are presented. Retrospective cost subsystem estimation is formulated under the assumption that the initial state is known. A smoother algorithm based on this formulation is developed for the case in which the initial state is unknown. It is numerically demonstrated that these algorithms are more accurate for CSPE than the extended Kalman filter and the unscented Kalman filter.
Electrochemical Phosphate Sensors Using Silver Nanowires Treated Screen Printed Electrodes

Essential biomolecules of the human body and plant growth depend upon the proper amount of phosphate ions. Phosphorus has critical values in both agricultural and biomedical applications. There is a need for inexpensive, portable, repeatable, highly sensitive and field deployable sensors with wide detection range to monitor the health of water system and field soil. This work aims to develop an electrochemical phosphate sensor using novel ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate/silver nanowires (AMT/AgNWs) modified screen printed electrode (SPE) for phosphate detection to achieve simplicity, high sensitivity, wide detection range, and high repeatability and portability. The cyclic voltammetry measurements exhibited the sensitivities of AMT modified SPE without and with AgNWs are $0.1\ \boldsymbol{\mu}\mathbf{A}/\boldsymbol{\mu}\mathbf{M}$ and $0.71\ \boldsymbol{\mu}\mathbf{A}/\boldsymbol{\mu}\mathbf{M}$ , respectively. The use of highly conductive AgNWs significantly increased the sensitivities of the AMT/SPE. Besides, AgNWs and AMT modified SPE (AMT/AgNWs/SPE) showed a very wide detection range of $5\ \boldsymbol{\mu}\mathbf{M}-1\ \mathbf{mM}$ . Moreover, the proposed sensor demonstrated a good repeatability and recovery. Our work suggests that AMT/AgNWs/SPE is promising for simple, low-cost, and portable phosphate ion detection.
Power System Fault Detection and Classification Using Wavelet Transform and Artificial Neural Networks

Power system fault detection has been an import area of study for power distribution networks. The power transmission systems often operate in the kV range with significant current flowing through the lines. A single fault, even lasting for a fraction of a second, can cause huge losses and manufacturing downtime for industrial applications. In this research, we develop an approach to detect, classify, and localize different types of phase-to-ground and phase-to-phase faults in three-phase power transmission systems based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The multi-resolution property of wavelet transform provides a suitable tool to analyze the irregular transient changes in voltage or current signals in the network when fault occurs. An artificial neural network is employed to discriminate the types of fault based on features extracted by DWT. Computer simulation results show that this method can effectively identify various faults in a typical three-phase transmission line in power grid.
Development of a Two Triplex Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Rapid Detection of Six Carbapenemase Genes in Enterobacteriaceae.

Objectives Carbapenem resistance is a serious clinical and public health threat. Carbapenemase can confer carbapenem resistance, and most carbapenemase genes are plasmid encoded so resistance can easily spread. In this study, we aimed to develop a novel system based on the TaqMan platform for the rapid detection of 6 clinically prevalent carbapenemase genes: Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase, New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase, oxacillinase, imipenem-hydrolyzing, Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase, and Guiana extended-spectrum β-lactamase. Methods The triplex assay was verified by testing genomic DNA of 6 carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. It was validated with a blinded panel of 310 Enterobacteriaceae isolates, including 225 carbapenemase-producers and 85 non-producers, by direct colony triplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The real-time PCR was performed using the ABI 7500 fast instrument (Applied Biosystems, CA, USA) and specific primers for each carbapenemase target were designed to include modified peptide-nucleic acid oligonucleotides. Results No amplification was detected among the negative samples. The result showed 100% concordance with the genotypes previously identified. The entire assay, including DNA extraction and real-time PCR, was completed within 2 hours. Conclusion The newly developed triplex real-time PCR assay was useful for the rapid, accurate and simultaneous detection of 6 carbapenemase genes in Enterobacteriaceae, suggesting its potential to allow an early decision on the appropriate treatment, management, and prevention of the spread of resistant infections in hospitals.
Cra: A Generic Compression Ratio Adapter for End-To-End Data-Driven Image Compressive Sensing Reconstruction Frameworks

End-to-end data-driven image compressive sensing reconstruction (EDCSR) frameworks achieve state-of-the-art reconstruction performance in terms of reconstruction speed and accuracy. However, due to their end-to-end nature, existing EDCSR frameworks can not adapt to a variable compression ratio (CR). For applications that desire a variable CR, existing EDCSR frameworks must be trained from scratch at each CR, which is computationally costly and time-consuming. This paper presents a generic compression ratio adapter (CRA) framework that addresses the variable compression ratio (CR) problem for existing EDCSR frameworks with no modification to given reconstruction models nor enormous rounds of training needed. CRA exploits an initial reconstruction network to generate an initial estimate of reconstruction results based on a small portion of the acquired measurements. Subsequently, CRA approximates full measurements for the main reconstruction network by complementing the sensed measurements with resensed initial estimate. Our experiments based on two public image datasets (CIFAR10 and Set5) show that CRA provides an average of 13.02 dB and 5.38 dB PSNR improvement across the CRs from 5 to 30 over a naive zero-padding approach and the AdaptiveNN approach(a prior work), respectively. CRA addresses the fixed-CR limitation of existing EDCSR frameworks and makes them suitable for resource-constrained compressive sensing applications.
Comparison of statistical and machine learning models for healthcare cost data: a simulation study motivated by Oncology Care Model (OCM) data

The Oncology Care Model (OCM) was developed as a payment model to encourage participating practices to provide better-quality care for cancer patients at a lower cost. The risk-adjustment model used in OCM is a Gamma generalized linear model (Gamma GLM) with log-link. The predicted value of expense for the episodes identified for our academic medical center (AMC), based on the model fitted to the national data, did not correlate well with our observed expense. This motivated us to fit the Gamma GLM to our AMC data and compare it with two other flexible modeling methods: Random Forest (RF) and Partially Linear Additive Quantile Regression (PLAQR). We also performed a simulation study to assess comparative performance of these methods and examined the impact of non-linearity and interaction effects, two understudied aspects in the field of cost prediction. The simulation was designed with an outcome of cost generated from four distributions: Gamma, Weibull, Log-normal with a heteroscedastic error term, and heavy-tailed. Simulation parameters both similar to and different from OCM data were considered. The performance metrics considered were the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute prediction error (MAPE), and cost accuracy (CA). Bootstrap resampling was utilized to estimate the operating characteristics of the performance metrics, which were described by boxplots. RF attained the best performance with lowest RMSE, MAPE, and highest CA for most of the scenarios. When the models were misspecified, their performance was further differentiated. Model performance differed more for non-exponential than exponential outcome distributions. RF outperformed Gamma GLM and PLAQR in predicting overall and top decile costs. RF demonstrated improved prediction under various scenarios common in healthcare cost modeling. Additionally, RF did not require prespecification of outcome distribution, nonlinearity effect, or interaction terms. Therefore, RF appears to be the best tool to predict average cost. However, when the goal is to estimate extreme expenses, e.g., high cost episodes, the accuracy gained by RF versus its computational costs may need to be considered.
Sub-solid lung adenocarcinoma in Asian versus Caucasian patients: different biology but similar outcomes

Background Asian and Caucasian patients with lung cancer have been compared in several database studies, with conflicting findings regarding survival. However, these studies did not include proportion of ground-glass opacity or mutational status in their analyses. Asian patients commonly develop sub-solid lung adenocarcinomas that harbor EGFR mutations, which have a better prognosis. We hypothesized that among patients undergoing surgery for sub-solid lung adenocarcinomas, Asian patients have better survival compared to Caucasian patients. Methods We identified Asian and Caucasian patients who underwent surgical resection for a sub-solid lung adenocarcinoma from 2002 to 2015 at our institution. Sub-solid was defined as ≥10% ground-glass opacity on preoperative CT scan or ≥10% lepidic component on surgical pathology. Time-to-event multivariable analysis was performed to determine which characteristics were associated with recurrence and survival. Results Two hundred twenty-four patients were included with median follow up 48 months. Asian patients were more likely to be never smokers (76.3% vs. 29.0%, P<0.01) and have an EGFR mutation (69.4% vs. 25.6% of those tested, P<0.01), while Caucasian patients were more likely to have a KRAS mutation (23.5% vs. 4.9% of those tested, P<0.01). There was a trend towards Asian patients having a higher proportion of ground-glass opacity (38.8% vs. 30.5%, P=0.11). Time-to-event multivariable analysis showed that higher proportion of ground-glass opacity was significantly associated with better recurrence-free survival (HR 0.76 per 20% increase, P=0.02). However, mutational status and race did not have a significant impact on recurrence-free or overall survival. Conclusions Asian and Caucasian patients with sub-solid lung adenocarcinoma have different tumor biology, but recurrence-free and overall survival after surgical resection is similar.
The dynamics and stoichiometry of dissolved organic carbon release by kelp

Canopy-forming kelps are foundational species in coastal ecosystems, fixing tremendous amounts of carbon, yet we know little about the ecological and physiological determinants of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release by kelps. We examined DOC release by the bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, in relation to carbon fixation, nutrient uptake, tissue nitrogen content, and light availability. DOC release was approximately 3.5 times greater during the day than at night. During the day, N. luetkeana blades released an average of 16.2% of fixed carbon as DOC. Carbon fixation increased with light availability but DOC release did not, leading to a lower proportion of fixed carbon released as DOC at high light levels. We found no relationship between carbon fixation and DOC release rates measured concurrently. Rather, DOC release by N. luetkeana blades declined with marginal significance as blade tissue nitrogen content increased and with experimental nitrate addition, supporting the role of stoichiometric relationships in DOC release. Using a stable isotope (13 C) tracer method, we demonstrated that inorganic carbon is rapidly fixed and released by N. luetkeana blades as 13 DOC, within hours. However, recently fixed carbon (13 DOC) comprised less than 20% of the total DOC released, indicating that isotope studies that rely on tracer production alone may underestimate total DOC release, as it is decoupled from recent kelp productivity. Comparing carbon and nitrogen assimilation dynamics of the annual kelp N. luetkeana with the perennial kelp Macrocystis pyrifera revealed that N. luetkeana had significantly higher carbon fixation, DOC production and nitrogen uptake rates per unit dry mass. Both kelp species were able to perform light-independent carbon fixation at night. Carbon fixation by the annual kelp N. luetkeana is as high as 2.35 kg C·m-2 ·yr-1 , but an average of 16% of this carbon (376 g C·m-2 ·yr-1 ) is released as DOC. As kelp forests are increasingly viewed as vehicles for carbon sequestration, it is important to consider the fate of this substantial quantity of DOC released by canopy-forming kelps.
Panel Data Analysis: A Guide for Nonprofit Studies

The growing push in nonprofit studies toward panel data necessitates a methodological guide tailored for nonprofit scholars and practitioners. Panel data analysis can be a robust tool in advancing the understanding of causal and/or more nuanced inferences that many nonprofit scholars seek. This study provides a walk-through of the assumptions and common modeling approaches in panel data analysis, as well as an empirical illustration of the models using data from the nonprofit housing sector. In addition, the paper compiles applications of panel data analysis by scholars in leading nonprofit journals for further reference.
Power in Ideas: A Case-Based Argument for Taking Ideas Seriously in Political Communication

This Element develops an analytical framework for understanding the role of ideas in political life and communication. Power in Ideas argues that the empirical study of ideas should combine interpretive approaches to derive meaning and understand influence with quantitative analysis to help determine the reach, spread, and impact of ideas. This Element illustrates this approach through three case studies: the idea of reparations in Ta-Nehisi Coates's “The Case for Reparations,” the idea of free expression in Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook policy speech at Georgetown University, and the idea of universal basic income in Andrew Yang's “Freedom Dividend.” Power in Ideas traces the landscapes and spheres within which these ideas emerged and were articulated, the ways they were encoded in discourse, the fields they traveled across, and how they became powerful.
Quantifying and Maximizing the Benefits of Back-End Noise Adaption on Attention-Based Speech Recognition Models.

This work analyzes how attention-based Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) models adapt to noise-augmented speech. We identify crucial components for noise adaptation in BLSTM models by freezing model components during fine-tuning. We first freeze larger model subnetworks and then pursue a fine-grained freezing approach in the encoder after identifying its importance for noise adaptation. The first encoder layer is shown to be crucial for noise adaptation, and the weights are shown to be more important than the other layers. Appreciable accuracy benefits are identified when fine-tuning on a target noisy environment from a model pretrained with noisy speech relative to fine-tuning from a model pretrained with only clean speech when tested on the target noisy environment. For this analysis, we produce our own dataset augmentation tool and it is open-sourced to encourage future efforts in exploring noise adaptation in ASR.
EnTrance: Exploration of Entropy Scaling Ball Cover Search in Protein Sequences

Abstract Biological sequence alignment using computational power has received increasing attention as technology develops. It is important to predict if a novel DNA sequence is potentially dangerous by determining its taxonomic identity and functional characteristics through sequence identification. This task can be facilitated by the rapidly increasing amounts of biological data in DNA and protein databases thanks to the corresponding increase in computational and storage costs. Unfortunately, the growth in biological databases has caused difficulty in exploiting this information. EnTrance presents an approach that can expedite the analysis of this large database by employing entropy scaling. This allows scaling with the amount of entropy in the database instead of scaling with the absolute size of the database. Since DNA and protein sequences are biologically meaningful, the space of biological sequences demonstrates the structure exploited by entropy scaling. As biological sequence databases grow, taking advantage of this structure can be extremely beneficial for reducing query times. EnTrance, the entropy scaling search algorithm introduced here, accelerates the biological sequence search exemplified by tools such as BLAST. EnTrance does this by utilizing a two step search approach. In this fashion, EnTrance quickly reduces the number of potential matches before more exhaustively searching the remaining sequences. Tests of EnTrance show that this approach can lead to improved query times. However, constructing the required entropy scaling indices beforehand can be challenging. To improve performance, EnTrance investigates several ideas for accelerating index build time that supports entropy scaling searches. In particular, EnTrance makes full use of the concurrency features of Go language greatly reducing the index build time. Our results identify key tradeoffs and demonstrate that there is potential in using these techniques for sequence similarity searches. Finally, EnTrance returns more matches and higher percentage identity matches when compared with existing tools.
Safe Lane Change and Merging Gaps in Connected Environments

Abstract Humans sometimes choose less-than-safe lane change gaps, and this puts themselves and others at risk for brief periods of times. Autonomous vehicles supposed to operate in vehicle dense environments cannot replicate this risky behavior by design. On the contrary, they must guarantee collision-free operations under predefined worst-case scenarios. At the same time, overly conservative lane change gaps negatively impact traffic flow. In this paper, we adopt a worst-case scenario based on vehicles braking capabilities, and we use communications to decrease the safe vehicle following and lane changing gaps without compromising safety. The proposed safe gap is a linear function of the vehicle speed, which is an important feature in the design of stable and robust longitudinal vehicle following controllers. Simulations using realistic vehicle parameters are used to illustrate the approach.
From Quality to Utility: Adaptive Service Selection Framework

We consider an approach to service selection wherein service consumers choose services with desired nonfunctional properties to maximize their utility. A consumer’s utility from using a service clearly depends upon the qualities offered by the service. Many existing service selection approaches support agents estimating trustworthiness of services based on their quality of service. However, existing approaches do not emphasize the relationship between a consumer’s interests and the utility the consumer draws from a service. Further, they do not properly support consumers being able to compose services with desired quality (and utility) profiles.
Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of vascular changes induced by sunitinib in papillary renal cell carcinoma xenograft tumors.

To investigate further the antiangiogenic potential of sunitinib for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment, its effects on tumor vasculature were monitored by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) using an orthotopic KCI-18 model of human RCC xenografts in nude mice. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with various doses of sunitinib, and vascular changes were assessed by DCE-MRI and histologic studies. Sunitinib induced dose-dependent vascular changes, which were observed both in kidney tumors and in normal kidneys by DCE-MRI. A dosage of 10 mg/kg per day caused mild changes in Gd uptake and clearance kinetics in kidney tumors. A dosage of 40 mg/kg per day induced increased vascular tumor permeability with Gd retention, probably resulting from the destruction of tumor vasculature, and also caused vascular alterations of normal vessels. However, sunitinib at 20 mg/kg per day caused increased tumor perfusion and decreased vascular permeability associated with thinning and regularization of tumor vessels while mildly affecting normal vessels as confirmed by histologic diagnosis. Alterations in tumor vasculature resulted in a significant inhibition of KCI-18 RCC tumor growth at sunitinib dosages of 20 and 40 mg/kg per day. Sunitinib also exerted a direct cytotoxic effect in KCI-18 cells in vitro. KCI-18 cells and tumors expressed vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β molecular targets of sunitinib that were modulated by the drug treatment. These data suggest that a sunitinib dosage of 20 mg/kg per day, which inhibits RCC tumor growth and regularizes tumor vessels with milder effects on normal vessels, could be used to improve blood flow for combination with chemotherapy. These studies emphasize the clinical potential of DCE-MRI in selecting the dose and schedule of antiangiogenic compounds.
Renewing the link between communications and educational technology

William H. Allen (1971) recently reviewed long-term trends in instructional media research, concluding that the "broad field of communication research," in which social psychology played a key role, "'never became integrated with the mainstream of instructional media research, and to this day these two related disciplines are taking different routes" (pp. 6-7). Perhaps it was the temporary bond of common commitment to research in educational television that brought the two areas somewhat closer in the mid-fifties to mid-sixties than they are today. In the early sixties, programed instruction had a major impact on educational technology, but did not similarly influence the general communications area. The current trends and emphases in instructional media research cited by Allen seem to be evolutionary and interrelated spin-offs from
Standardized Achievement Tests Used with Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled Adolescent Boys1:

The characteristics of the KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test were examined and compared among samples of learning disabled and non-learning disabled boys. The Woodcock was found to be quite similar for both the learning disabled and the non-learning disabled samples with high reliability and a unidimensional factor structure. The KeyMath also was quite similar for the two samples. It was found to have very high reliability, although the assumption of a unidimensional math achievement was found to be less defensible for the learning disabled sample.
New Tools for Isotopic Analysis

The isotopic compositions of natural materials are affected by a variety of processes besides radiogenic decay. Isotopic differences can vary widely in magnitude, and may be inhomogeneous on small scales. Isotope geochemists interested in determining the age of geological samples now have an arsenal of techniques for isotopic analysis at their disposal, but it remains to be seen whether these tools will be sufficient for the ambitious analytical goals of the near future, especially with regard to the analysis of extraterrestrial samples.
Upgrade of the controls for the Brookhaven Linac

The control of the magnets, rf system, and other components at the Brookhaven Linac uses a system that was developed at Brookhaven in the late 1960's. This system will be retired in the summer of 1995. The Linac controls are being upgraded using modern VME-based hardware compatible with RHIC generation controls, and an existing serial field bus. The timing for the Linac will also be upgraded and will use components developed for RHIC. The controls in general, the timing for the Linac, and the modules developed are described.
A two-dimensional finite-difference solution for the transient thermal behavior of a tubular solar collector

A numerical procedure was established using the finite-difference technique in the determination of the time-varying temperature distribution of a tubular solar collector under changing solar radiancy and ambient temperature. Three types of spatial discretization processes were considered and compared for their accuracy of computations and for selection of the shortest computer time and cost. The stability criteria of this technique were analyzed in detail to give the critical time increment to ensure stable computations. The results of the numerical analysis were in good agreement with the analytical solution previously reported. The numerical method proved to be a powerful tool in the investigation of the collector sensitivity to two different flow patterns and several flow control mechanisms.
A Schur Method for Balanced Model Reduction

The calculation of the balancing transformation required in Moore's "balanced-transformation" model reduction procedure tends to be badly conditioned, especially for non-minimal models that stand to benifit the most from model reduction. In this paper it is shown that the Moore reduced model can be computed directly without balancing via projections defined in terms of arbitary bases for the left and right eigenspaces associated with the "large" eigenvalues of the product PQ of the reachability and controllablility grammians. Two methods for computing these bases are proposed, one based on the ordered Schur decomposition of PQ and the other based on the Cholesky factors of P and Q. The algorithms perform reliably even for non-minimal models.
Chitosan-based injectable hydrogels for biomedical applications

Chitosan is a natural polymer, which has similar structure and bioactivity with glycosaminoglycan, and is a potential material for use as injectable hydrogels. Authors elucidate structure–property relationship with particular focus on chitosan-based injectable hydrogels, and their application as biomaterials. The different gelation approach, including physical cross-link, chemical cross-link, ionic cross-link and supramolecular interaction, enable a variety of chitosan-based injectable hydrogels to be formed. These gelation methods have significant impact on the structure and properties of hydrogels, which governs their use as tissue engineering scaffold and drug delivery vehicle.
Capillary Electro-Chromatography and Pressurized Flow Capillary Electro-Chromatography: An Introduction. Ira S. Krull, Robert L. Stevenson, Kavita Mistry, and Michael E. Swartz. New York: HNB Publishing, 2000, 240 pp., $54.00. ISBN 0-9664286-2-5.

This modestly priced hardcover volume provides an excellent introduction to the emerging technologies of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and pressurized flow capillary electrochromatography (PEC). In the first technique, capillary electrophoresis is carried out by use of a capillary filled with packing, often a material used for HPLC. Because capillary electrophoresis and HPLC have complementary separation modes, the CEC separation has some of the advantages of both methods in terms of resolving power and sample capacity. In the second technique, PEC, pressurized flow of the capillary mobile phase …
The fuzzy shadowing property

Addresses the modeling of chaotic systems using fuzzy functional approximations. In numerical simulations of chaos, local modeling errors are cumulative. A natural question, therefore, arises in examining a numerically generated chaotic trajectory: is there a "true" trajectory of the chaotic system, starting from a nearby set of initial conditions, that shadows, for a certain /spl epsiv/ distance, the numerically generated one? This paper extends the literature on fuzzy chaos by introducing concepts from chaos theory, such as /spl delta/-pseudo-orbits and /spl epsiv/-shadowing, to the language of fuzzy approximation theory. It presents corollaries to the fuzzy approximation theorem and the SAM theorem (B. Kosko, 1997) that describe sufficiency conditions for additive fuzzy logic systems to generate /spl delta/-pseudo-orbits that are /spl epsiv/-shadowed by true orbits of the dynamic process.
German-Spanish bilingualism in two mennonite communities in Mexico

This study was conducted to determine the level and degree of stability of bilingualism (German-Spanish) in two German communities in Chihuahua, Mexico. The cornmunity of Colonia Capulin was selected because it was representative of the most fundamental and conservative Mennonite groups. A former Mennonite group in Colonia Swift Current was selected to provide a contrast because it was undergoing a significant degree of a cculturation and modernization.A household survey, interviews, and sustained observation yielded the salient sociolinguistic characteristics of selected societal domains in both communities. Only the obvious language use and preference pattems that emerged from the survey were included as preliminary findings. It was concluded that the fundamental community in Colonia Capulin had stable bilingualism, while the group in Colonia Swift Current was best characterized by transitional bilingualism.
7169 Tolerance and satisfaction of patients undergoing eus.

Background: EUS has become an accepted modality for the evaluation of the upper GI tract. However, little is known on patient satisfaction with EUS. Aim: To assess patient satisfaction and tolerance with EUS. Methods: Thirty consecutive pts agreed on filling a questionnaire in conjunction with EUS. Patient acceptance of EUS was evaluated by a questionnaire 24 hr to 4 weeks after EUS. The questionnaire included pre-EUS anxiety, pt's assessment of gagging, pain and discomfort, recollection of the EUS, overall difficulty and willingness to repeat EUS. Two assisting RNs judged the pt's discomfort during the EUS. After an overnight fasting, Olympus GF UM 130 and UC 30 P linear echoendoscopes were used to perform the procedures. Medications used for conscious sedation are summarized in table 1. Results: There were 14 males and 16 females (mean age 57 yrs, range 34- 87 yrs). Of the EUS performed, 6 were esophageal, 7 gastroduodenal and 17 pancreaticobiliary. Nine FNAs were done. No complications were associated with the EUS exams. Forty % of pts had moderate anxiety and an equal number had no anxiety prior to EUS. Nine pts (30%) were on narcotics for pain control. Under conscious sedation, 87% of pts remembered as having none to minimal gagging,10% had moderate gagging. Two pts (7%) remembered significant pain or discomfort during the EUS. Nineteen pts (63%) had no recollection of the test, 10 pts (33 %) had minimal recollection of the test. The willingness to repeat the test under the same level of conscious sedation was 97%. There was no effect of pretest anxiety on willingness to repeat the EUS. Conclusions: EUS under conscious sedation is a procedure with a low risk of complications that is well accepted and tolerated by patients despite moderate pre-procedure anxiety. Nonetheless, the vast majority of pts were willing to repeat EUS if clinically indicated. Efforts must be made to reduce pre-procedure anxiety through assurance and patient education prior to EUS. Table 1. Medications used for conscious sedation Patient Average dose Range Drugs (n) (mg) (mg) Midazolam 30 6.5 4-13 Meperidine 29 75 25-150 Morphine 1 4 4 Droperidol 6 2.3 1.25-2.5
Increased astrocyte expression of IL-6 or CCL2 in transgenic mice alters levels of hippocampal and cerebellar proteins.

ABSTRACT Emerging research has identified that neuroimmune factors are produced by cells of the central nervous system (CNS) and play critical roles as regulators of CNS function, directors of neurodevelopment and responders to pathological processes. A wide range of neuroimmune factors are produced by CNS cells, primarily the glial cells, but the role of specific neuroimmune factors and their glial cell sources in CNS biology and pathology have yet to be fully elucidated. We have used transgenic mice that express elevated levels of a specific neuroimmune factor, the cytokine IL-6 or the chemokine CCL2, through genetic modification of astrocyte expression to identify targets of astrocyte produced IL-6 or CCL2 at the protein level. We found that in non-transgenic mice constitutive expression of IL-6 and CCL2 occurs in the two CNS regions studied, the hippocampus and cerebellum, as measured by ELISA. In the CCL2 transgenic mice elevated levels of CCL2 were evident in the hippocampus and cerebellum, whereas in the IL-6 transgenic mice, elevated levels of IL-6 were only evident in the cerebellum. Western blot analysis of the cellular and synaptic proteins in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the transgenic mice showed that the elevated levels of CCL2 or IL-6 resulted in alterations in the levels of specific proteins and that these actions differed for the two neuroimmune factors and for the two brain regions. These results are consistent with cell specific profiles of action for IL-6 and CCL2, actions that may be an important aspect of their respective roles in CNS physiology and pathophysiology.
Condition of the Quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, from Polluted and Unpolluted Waters

The meat volume-shell length regressions and the relationship of the meat volume to shell length in the formula, K=meat volume/shell lengthn, were used to compare the condition of quahogs,Mercenaria mercenaria, from polluted and unpolluted waters in Point Judith Pond, Rhode Island. Quahogs were collected in November, 1961 from adjacent waters on each side of the pollution line set by the state and from the cleaner waters near the mouth of the estuary.
Student Success: Institutional and Individual Perspectives.

This article examines measures of student success, with a focus on how they apply to community colleges. A conceptual framework is presented as a way of facilitating thinking about and accurately grounding discussions of student success. The article closes with an examination of emerging concepts related to the measurement of student success in higher education generally and at community colleges particularly.
Surgery: independent prognostic factor in curable and far advanced gastric cancer.

The hospital records of 639 patients affected by primary gastric cancer who were consecutively admitted to our unit during the period 1981–1995 were reviewed. Overall 220 underwent total gastrectomy (38 palliative), 12 had resection of the gastric stump, 195 had distal subtotal gastrectomy (55 palliative), 78 had bypass procedures, 72 had explorative laparotomy, and 62 had no operation. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate 5-year survival with respect to the main clinical, pathologic, and treatment variables after both curative and palliative treatments. Overall the 5-year survival after curative treatment (320 patients—operative mortality excluded) was 55.5%: 91.1% for stage IA, 71.5% IB, 62.4% II, 37.5% IIIA, 31.5% IIIB. Among patients who underwent palliative treatment 5-year survival was 13.1% after gastric resection (total or distal subtotal), 4.9% after the bypass procedures, 0 after explorative laparotomy, and 0 after no operation. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses showed that variables independently associated with poor survival were advanced stage, upper location and D1 lymphadenectomy after curative treatment, tumor spread to distant sites, and nonresectional surgery after palliative treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that even though survival with gastric cancer depends on predetermined factors, the type of surgery can have a significant effect on prognosis after both curative and palliative treatment.
Stereochemical trends for complexes of cobalt(II) halides and thiocyanate with a series of mono-, di- and tri-methyl-pyridines

Abstract The electronic and vibrational spectra of the cobalt(II) complexes of methy-substituted pyridines have been systematically investigated in an effort to establish a general relationship between the electronicsteric requirments of the ligands and the stoichiometry, stereochemistry, and stability of the complexes. Some sixty complexes were examined, in which the anions were chloride, bromide, iodide and thiocyanate. The ligands included all possible isomers of the mono- and di-methyl-pyridines, as well as two of the isomeric tri-methyl-pyridines. In the course of this study some twenty new complexes were obtained and characterized, and of special interest among these was an unusual series of square pyramidal cationic species.
Magnetic field seed generation in plasmas around charged and rotating black holes

Previous work by the authors introduced the possibility of generating seed magnetic fields by spacetime curvature and applied it in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild black hole. It was pointed out that it would be worthwhile to consider the effect in other background geometries and particularly in the vicinity of a rotating black hole, which is generically to be expected, astrophysically. In this paper that suggestion is followed up and we calculate generated magnetic field seed due to Reissner–Nordstrom and Kerr spacetimes. The conditions for the drive for the seed of a magnetic field is obtained for charged black holes, finding that in the horizon the drive vanishes. Also, the ψN-force produced by the Kerr black hole is obtained and its relation with the magnetic field seed is discussed, producing a more effective drive.
Amine Production During Associative Growth of Gram-Negative Bacteria in Tuna Fish Infusion Broth

Summary Associative growth of Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus morganii , and Klebsiella pneumoniae with Pseudomonas putida and of K. pneumoniae with Pseudomonas fluorescens occurred in tuna fish infusion broth at 10°C and 20°C. Tests for presence of histamine, cadaverine, and putrescine were made after incubation of broths for various times from 4 h to 14 d. Amines were derivatized with dansyl chloride, selected by high-performance liquid chromatography and detected spectrophotometrically. Ratios of histamine: cadaverine and of histamine: putrescine ranged from 15: 1 to 20:1 and from 50:1 to 200: 1, respectively. These ratios were not affected appreciably by the presence of P. putida or P. fluorescencens in the cultures with the other test bacteria.
Effects of hormones and nucleotides on ciliary beating in frog esophagus and guinea pig trachea.

Abstract The in vivo effects of various hormones, nucleotides and related substances on the rate of ciliary beating in frog esophagus and guinea pig trachea were studied using both particle transport and photoelectric methods. Frog esophageal ciliary beating in vitro was greatly accelerated by acetycholine, eserine, prostaglandin A1 and E2, N6- 2′-0-dibutyryl-adenosine--3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate, all tri- and di-phosphonucleotides (ATP, ADP, UTP, UDP, etc.), EDTA, EGTA, and calcium-free medium. Adenosine monophosphate, epinephrine, serotonin at low concentrations, 3,3′5-L-triiodothyronine, creative phosphate, and phosphoenolpyruvate were inactive or only minimally stimulatory in the frog. All substances tested, including those trachea. Furthermore, guinea pig ciliary activity was unaffected by hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism induced in the intact animal before testing.
Equilibria among the species present in aqueous solutions containing the manganese(III) complex with 4,4′,4″,4‴ - tetrasulfophthalocyanate ion

Abstract A salt which has previously been reported to be a sulfophthalocyanine complex of manganese(II) has been prepared and found to be Na4Mn(SPc)(OH)(H2O), where SPc is the 4,4′,4″, 4‴-tetrasulfophthalocyanate ion. Magnetic susceptibilities of the solid were measured at three temperatures and the moment is 3·83 BM at room temperature with θ = 31°K. Solutions of the complex in water contain an equilibrium mixture of the Mn(SPc)(OH)(H2O)4− and Mn(SPc)(OH)25− ions in 1 : 1:: DMF : H2O and in acidic aqueous solutions. About pH = 9 further hydrolysis occurs at a measurable rate and a dinuclear species, believed to be (H2O)Mn(SPc)-O-(SPc)Mn(OH)9− is formed. The dinuclear complex can be reconverted to the monomers by acidification of the solution. In water the pK for the monodihydroxo equilibrium is 10·3. The rate equations for teh formaiton of dinuclear complex are complicated, but have been determined and a mechanism has been proposed.
The “Dance” of Communication: Counseling Families and Children with Asperger’s Syndrome

Counselors are trained to deal with many issues within the realm of human experience; many specialize in helping families cope with a variety of internal and external stressors. However, counselors...