cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using social networking to improve student learning through classroom salon (abstract only)

This workshop introduces an innovative social collaboration tool called Classroom Salon (CLS). Developed at Carnegie Mellon University, CLS is a combination of electronic books, social networks, and analytic tools. With CLS, instructors can upload documents, create social groups, and monitor student activities. Students can annotate documents, answer questions, and communicate in a social networks context. Students learn through participation in social networks while instructors use the tools built into CLS to easily and effectively analyze their participation. The workshop covers extant social networks, introduces CLS web-based software (nothing to install) and demonstrates the use of CLS to help students master critical skills such as code review, debugging, and reading documentation. Participants will create Salons, learn how to use them in their courses, and learn how to use the built-in tools to analyze student activities. A laptop with wifi is mandatory.
Impact of cutback planning and management on the poor and minorities in New York City: The case of public education

It is argued that the plight of the dependent-poor is likely to get worse as New York City's fiscal crisis is transformed into a service crisis. Considerable emphasis is given to describing the politics of school closings. The school closure issue has profound implications for any attempts to improve the educational lot of urban schools due to the potential relationship between “white flight” and school closings. The common tendency to close small and old school facilities located in areas where densities are higher (which minimizes transportation costs) results in schools being closed that are predominantly attended by poor and minority students. Policymakers should be able to learn a great deal about cutback management and planning in general through a better understanding of retrenchment policies which school districts throughout the nation have adopted.
Australia in Asia: Comparing Cultures . Edited by Anthony Milner and Mary Quilty. Melbourne and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. xii, 300 pp. $35.00 (paper).

This work provides a sophisticated analysis of the cultural differences that exist between Australia and the various countries of the Asian region. Leading specialists in Australian and Asian studies have been brought together to produce this timely and provocative book. As much practical as it is theoretical in its approach, it includes chapters on issues that are of vital importance in Australian-Asian relations: business ethics, human rights, education, labor relations, democracy, national security, the media, citizenship and government. As Australia's engagement with Asia deepens, many Australians have taken comfort in the belief that the various value systems of the region are converging to produce a 'global' culture, in which liberal democracy, multiculturalism and the English language will dominate. Australia in Asia: Comparing Cultures reassesses this belief and illustrates the complexity of Australia's relationships with the countries of the Asian region. It both acknowledges the dangers of parochialism and warns against the tendency to stereotype, demonstrating that Australia's engagement with Asia is a process that requires Australians to look as closely at their own culture and values as at those of their Asian neighbours.
Increases in job strain are associated with incident hypertension in the CARDIA Study.

Background: Job strain, defined as high job demands and low decision latitude, has been associated with increased blood pressure levels in some studies, but most of these studies have been cross-sectional.Purpose: We sought to determine whether changes in job strain during young adulthood were associated with the development of hypertension, using the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults cohort.Methods: A total of 3,200 employed, initially normotensive participants, aged 20 to 32 in 1987–1988, were followed for 8 years; the Job Content Questionnaire was completed twice: initially and 8 years later. Hypertension at follow-up was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 160 or higher and diastolic blood pressure of 95 mmHg or higher, or reporting being on antihypertensive medication.Results: Job strain (based on job demands above the median and decision latitude below the median of the sample) was associated with hypertension incidence (ps < .05) for the entire cohort and among White women and men. Adjustment for baseline SBP, education, body mass index (BMI), change in BMI, and age did not alter these relations. The ratio of increasing demands relative to decreasing decision latitude was also associated with greater incidence of hypertension in the entire cohort in the multivariate model (odds ratio=2.06, 95% confidence interval=1.01–4.26).Conclusions:Anincrease in job strain is associated with incident hypertension, particularly among Whites.
Vitamin E succinate inhibits proliferation and migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro: therapeutic implication for proliferative vitreoretinopathy

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells play an important role in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Vitamin E succinate is an ester form of a potent biological antioxidant, vitamin E, and has unique effects on various cells. We examined the effect of vitamin E succinate on proliferation and migration of cultured bovine RPE cells, since these are critical steps in the development of PVR. Bovine RPE cells were cultured in minimal essential medium (MEM) containing 10% fetal calf serum (MEM-10). Cells were incubated with MEM-10 containing 25 μM vitamin E, vitamin E succinate, butylated hydroxytoluene BHT) or d-mannitol. Cell proliferation was assessed by counting cell numbers on days 2, 4 and 6. 3H-Thymidine uptake was also examined in RPE cells incubated with various forms of vitamin E — vitamin E, vitamin E succinate, Trolox, γ-tocopherol, vitamin E acetate, vitamin E phosphate, vitamin E nicotinate — or antioxidants — BHT or d-mannitol (25 μM each). RPE cell migration was studied as follows: small area (5×15 mm) of confluent cultured RPE cells was denuded using a straight razor blade and incubation was continued for 20 h with MEM-10 containing vitamin E, vitamin E succinate, γ-tocopherol or BHT. The number of cells that migrated into the denuded area from the wound edge in each microscopic field (×20) was counted and expressed as a percentage of control (MEM-10 alone). The antioxidants, vitamin E and BHT, stimulated RPE cell proliferation and 3H-thymidine incorporation compared with the control, while vitamin E succinate significantly inhibited both proliferation and 3H-thymidine uptake (IC50, 23 μM Other forms of vitamin E or d-mannitol had no effect. Neither vitamin E nor BHT had a significant effect on RPE cell migration (108.2% and 112.6% of control, respectively), but vitamin E succinate inhibited migration (58.3%). Cell viability, assessed by the trypan blue dye exclusion test, was not impaired by a 3-day incubation with 50 μM of vitamin E succinate. An ester form of a physiological antioxidant, vitamin E succinate, inhibits RPE cell proliferation and migration without causing cellular toxicity. These findings suggest its therapeutic potential for the pharmacological treatment of PVR.
Chilling rate effects on pork loin tenderness in commercial processing plants.

The present experiment was conducted to provide a large-scale objective comparison of pork LM tenderness and other meat quality traits among packing plants that differ in stunning method and carcass chilling rate. For each of 2 replicates, pigs were sourced from a single barn of a commercial finishing operation that fed pigs from a single terminal crossbred line. On each day, 3 trucks were loaded, with each of those trucks delivering the pigs to a different plant. Plant A used CO(2) stunning and conventional spray chilling; Plant B used CO(2) stunning and blast chilling; and Plant C used electrical stunning and blast chilling. The boneless, vacuum-packaged loin was obtained from the left side of each carcass (n = 597; 100 · plant(-1) · replicate(-1)). As designed, HCW, LM depth, and LM intramuscular fat percentage did not differ among plants (P > 0.05). By 1.67 h postmortem (1 h after the carcasses exited the harvest floor), the average deep LM temperature was >10°C warmer for Plant A than Plants B and C (32.1°C, 21.6°C, and 19.3°C, for Plants A, B, and C, respectively) and deep LM temperature continued to be >10°C warmer for Plant A until 4.17 h or 6.33 h postmortem than for Plants C and B, respectively. Both plants that used blast chilling produced loins with greater LM slice shear force at 15 d postmortem than did the plant that used conventional spray chilling (P 25 kg) LM slice shear force values was greater for Plant B than Plant A (14.7% vs. 1%; P < 0.01). Among all the traits studied, including visual and instrumental evaluations of LM color, ultimate pH, marbling score, and lean color stability, the only other difference between Plants A and B was that purge loss during 13 d (from d 1 to 14) of vacuum-packaged storage was greater for Plant B (P < 0.05). That is, with this sample of pigs and CO(2) stunning, no loin quality advantages were detected for blast chilling. Regardless of chilling method, CO(2) stunning resulted in darker LM lean color and greater LM water-holding capacity than did electrical stunning (P < 0.05). This research shows that differences in chilling systems among pork packing plants can have a strong influence on loin chop tenderness.
Vinyl bromide as a surrogate for determining vinyl chloride reductive dechlorination potential.

Site evaluation for bioremediation of chlorinated ethenes may need treatability studies to assess the reductive dechlorination potential of vinyl chloride (VC). Dehalogenation of vinyl bromide (VB)...
Glucose amino acid and urea insorption from the canine intestine.

SummaryGlucose and glycine insorption rates increased in similar curvilinear fashion when 20 to 280 mM concentration of each was perfused through isolated bowel loops in unanesthetized dogs. Lysine and histidine were insorbed at lower rates. Urea insorption rates exceeded those for glucose or glycine, but tended to decrease as total osmolarity of the perfusate increased. Glycine and urea interfered with glucose insorption when each was substituted for NaCl in the perfusion fluid, and glucose similarly reduced glycine insorption rates.
Folk Psychology of Mental Activities

A central aspect of people's beliefs about the mind is that mental activities--for example, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving-- are interrelated, with some activities being kinds or parts of others. In common-sense psychology, reasoning is a kind of thinking and reasoning is part of problem solving. People's conceptions of these mental kinds and parts can furnish clues to the ordinary meaning of these terms and to the differences between folk and scientific psychology. In this article, we use a new technique for deriving partial orders to analyze subjects' decisions about whether one mental activity is a kind or part of another. The resulting taxonomies and partonomies differ from those of common object categories in exhibiting a converse relation in this domain: One mental activity is a part of another if the second is a kind of the first. The derived taxonomies and partonomies also allow us to predict results from further experiments that examine subjects' memory for these activities, their ratings of the activities' importance, and their judgements about whether there could be "possible minds" that possess some of the activities but not others.
Early Identification of Retinal Angiomas in a Large Kindred with Von Hippel-Lindau Disease

We studied prospectively a large kindred afflicted with von Hippel-Lindau disease. Of 111 members examined ophthalmoscopically, 14 definite retinal angiomas were found and three lesions were thought to be angiomas. The lesions found could be divided into the following three groups: (1) classic angiomas, (2) atypical angiomas, and (3) lesions indicative of early angiomas. A correlation between increasing age, systemic evidence of disease, and size and appearance of angiomas was found.
Free energy and vibrational entropy difference between ordered and disordered Ni3Al

We have calculated free energy and vibrational entropy differences in Ni3Al between its equilibrium ordered structure and a disordered fcc solid solution. The free energy and entropy differences were calculated using the method of adiabatic switching in a molecular-dynamics formalism. The path chosen for the free-energy calculations directly connects the disordered with the ordered state. The atomic interactions are described by embedded-atom-method potentials. We find that the vibrational entropy difference increases with temperature from 0.14kB/atom at 300 K to 0.22kB/atom at 1200 K. We have calculated the density of states (DOS) of the disordered phase from the Fourier transform of the velocity-velocity autocorrelation function. The disordered DOS looks more like a broadened version of the ordered DOS. Analysis of the partial density of states shows that the Al atoms vibrations are most affected by the compositional disorder. The phonon partial spectral intensities along the 〈100〉 direction show that the vibrational spectrum of the disordered phase contains intensities at optical mode frequencies of the ordered alloy. We find that the volume difference between the ordered and disordered phases plays the most crucial role in the magnitude of the vibrational entropy difference. If the lattice constant of the two phases is set to the same value, the vibrational entropy difference decreases to zero.
Epidermal Wound Healing in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Significance: Healing of epidermal wounds is a fundamentally conserved process found in essentially all multicellular organisms. Studies of anatomically simple and genetically tractable model invertebrates can illuminate the roles of key genes and mechanisms in wound healing. Recent Advances: The nematode skin is composed of a simple epithelium, the epidermis (also known as hypodermis), and an associated extracellular cuticle. Nematodes likely have a robust capacity for epidermal repair; yet until recently, relatively few studies have directly analyzed wound healing. Here we review epidermal wound responses and repair in the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Critical Issues: Wounding the epidermis triggers a cutaneous innate immune response and wound closure. The innate immune response involves upregulation of a suite of antimicrobial peptides. Wound closure involves a Ca2+-triggered rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton. These processes appear to be initiated independently, yet, their coordinated ...
Relationships Between Na + /Glucose Cotransporter (SGLT1) Currents and Fluxes

The relationships between currents generated by the rabbit Na+/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1) and the fluxes of Na+ and sugar were investigated using Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing SGLT1. In individual voltage-clamped oocytes we measured: (i) the current evoked by 10 mmαMG and the 22Na+ uptake at 10 mm Na+; (ii) the currents evoked by 50 to 500 μm [14C]αMG and the [14C]αMG uptakes at 100 mm Na+; and (iii) phlorizin-sensitive leak currents in the absence of sugar and 22Na+ uptakes at 10 mm Na+. We demonstrate that the SGLT1 leak currents are Na+ currents, and that the sugar-evoked currents are directly proportional to both αMG and Na+ uptakes. The Na+/αMG coupling coefficients were estimated to be 1.6 at −70 mV and 1.9 at −110 mV. This suggests that the rabbit SGLT1 Na+/αMG stoichiometry for sugar uptake is 2 under fully saturating, zero-trans conditions. Coupling coefficients of less than 2 are expected under nonsaturating conditions due to uncoupled Na+ fluxes (slippage). The similarity between the Na+ Hill coefficients and the coupling coefficients suggests strong cooperativity between the two Na+ binding sites.
Low Temperature Heat Capacities of Several High Strength Materials

Abstract : Low temperature calorimetric measurements have been made on three metallurgically prepared high strength materials: NiAl, W-2 (a heavy tungsten alloy), and Al-Fe-Ce (a lightweight alloy with dispersion strengthening). To fit the heat capacity data between 3 and 10 K, not only the electronic and lattice contributions having T and T3 dependence, respectively, need to be considered, there is an additional temperature-independent term presumably associated with magnetic clusters. These results provide information on the fundamental characteristics, as well as the heterogeneous nature of the materials not always detectable by standard metallurgical techniques. Keywords: Low temperature, Heat capacity, Adiabatic calorimeter, Magnetic clusters, Nickel, Aluminum compounds, Iron, Cesium.
The attribution of somatic symptoms in psychiatric outpatients

The attribution of common somatic symptoms was investigated in 100 psychiatric outpatients. Subjects who were more depressed and alexithymic as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) tended to endorse a psychological attribution for somatic complaints. Somatosensory amplification, anxiety, and inability to express and report specific feelings predicted psychological attribution. The data support the role of alexithymia in somatization and further explain a possible role of psychological attribution of somatic symptoms in the underrecognition of physical disorders in psychiatric patients.
Volatility Management and Wealth Creation: A Long-Term Perspective

Investors may not understand the wealth-destroying implications of their investment decisions, because of the deleterious effect of volatility of returns on wealth creation. Managing the volatility of returns is integral to creating long-term wealth. The methodology presented quantifies the single-period risk-and-return tradeoff that investors need to be aware of to create long-term wealth. Practitioners can use it as a tool to educate clients about the wealth-creating benefits of diversification. Economic sector return data is used to demonstrate that underdiversified portfolios, as opposed to diversified portfolios, inhibit long-term wealth creation, because of the volatility drag associated with underdiversified portfolios.
Gained in Translation: Evidence-Based Medicine Meets Pediatric Psychopharmacology

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) represents a powerful model for clinicians to translate everyday clinical tasks of finding and applying scientific literature into explicit and systematic steps. This article uses a question about treating adolescent depression to illustrate this approach in the context of a particular patient and his family. By helping the clinician apply population data to the 'bedside', EBM can supplement information from individual patient narratives and can facilitate informed decisions.
Preliminary Report on a Joint U.S.-Yugoslavia Five-Year Comprehensive Health Education Research Project Carried Out in Yugoslavia*

A five-year effort has been planned to test the efficacy of health education integrated in primary care services for a rural area. Impacts on health care provider and study population behavior have been hypothesized. The evaluation design includes one study and one control health care district with pre- and post-program surveys conducted in each area. The study will be completed in 1978. Baseline and longitudinal results are reported. Specific change objectives have been achieved in early cancer detection and in maternal and child health.
ENTROPIC COLLOIDAL INTERACTIONS IN CONCENTRATED DNA SOLUTIONS

We explore the entropic interactions between a pair of micron-sized colloidal spheres in DNA solutions. By confining the particles in a line-scanned optical tweezer, we directly measured the functional form of the interaction potential with sub- kBT resolution in samples where the spheres and the polymer coils were of comparable size. The potential is well described by the Asakura-Oosawa depletion model even in the semidilute regime where DNA coils overlap strongly. Its range and depth increase with increasing concentration in a manner consistent with a crossover from a dilute solution of Gaussian coils to the weakly fluctuating semidilute regime dominated by two-point collisions which is unique to semiflexible polymers. [S0031-9007(98)07491-2] Colloidal suspensions and polymer solutions are two classic soft materials that have been the focus of decades of study, and yet their properties when mixed together are still only poorly understood. These colloid-polymer mixtures exhibit a rich phase behavior which is not only of fundamental interest [1 ‐ 10] but also of relevance to systems as diverse as motor oils and frozen desserts. The structural and dynamical properties of these complex fluids ultimately depend on the microscopic interactions between the suspension constituents. We present the first direct measurement of the functional form of the depletion interaction between two colloidal spheres in a nonadsorbing polymer background. Our measurements probe the variations in depth and range of the potential as a function of polymer concentration, spanning the dilute region where individual coils are noninteracting to the semidilute regime where they become entangled. Unlike other force measurements [3,5], our experiments probe a previously unexplored regime where colloid and polymer sizes are comparable. We find that the traditional hard-sphere depletion potential [8,9] for dilute solutions still applies and that it can be extended into the entangled region by rescaling the effective size of the polymer coils. We obtain quantitative measurements of the polymers’ osmotic pressure and correlation length above and below the overlap concentration. A dilute polymer solution can be modeled as an ideal gas of hard spheres [8] with a mean size given by the radius of gyration of the individual polymer coils. Unlike hard spheres, polymers in solution can interpenetrate, significantly reducing any effects due to liquid structure. The experimental situation is depicted in Fig. 1(a). The centers of the polymer “spheres” are excluded from a region of thickness Rg surrounding the colloidal particles. When the “depletion zones” surrounding the two spheres overlap, the total volume accessible to the polymer increases, leading to a gain in the system entropy. This produces an attractive interaction between the two spheres.
Ultraviolet Spectrum and Photochemistry of the Simplest Criegee Intermediate CH2OO

Ozonolysis of alkenes in the troposphere produces Criegee intermediates, which have eluded detection in the gas phase until very recently. This laboratory has synthesized the simplest Criegee intermediate within a quartz capillary tube affixed to a pulsed valve to cool and isolate CH2OO in a supersonic expansion. UV excitation resonant with the B 1A′ ← X 1A′ transition depletes the ground-state population of CH2OO, which is detected by single-photon ionization at 118 nm. The large UV-induced depletion (approaching 100%) near the peak of the profile at 335 nm is indicative of rapid dissociation, consistent with the repulsive B 1A′ potential along the O–O coordinate computed theoretically. The experimental spectrum is in very good accord with the absorption spectrum calculated using the one-dimensional reflection principle. The B ← X spectrum is combined with the solar actinic flux to estimate an atmospheric lifetime for CH2OO at midday on the order of ∼1 s with respect to photodissociation.
Synthesis and fungicidal activity of a series of novel aryloxylepidines

A series of novel (hetero) aryloxylepidine derivatives was devised as hybrid structures of the phenoxyquinoline and phenethoxyquin(az)oline fungicides. Synthesis of these targets required the development of several new routes to derivatised 4-hydroxymethylquinolines, and subsequent coupling with phenols or haloarenes. The aryloxylepidines generally showed moderate broad-spectrum fungicidal activity across several diseases of cereals. Substitution of the quinoline ring with chlorine at the 7- and/or 5-positions gave molecules with high levels of protectant activity against Erysiphe graminis f sp tritici (powdery mildew of wheat), but this did not improve the level of fungicidal activity against other diseases. In vitro activity against mitochondrial electron transport complex I (MET) derived from Ustilago maydis showed that 8-fluorolepidine analogues were moderately active at this target site, while the more fungicidally active 7- and 5,7-substituted compounds were inactive. This indicates that MET is not the primary target of these highly active powdery mildewicides.
Steerable Adaptive Bullet (StAB) piezoelectric flight control system

This paper outlines a new class of piezoelectric flight control actuators which are specifically intended for use in guided hard-launched munitions from under 5.56mm to 40mm in caliber. In March of 2011, US Pat. 7,898,153 was issued, describing this new class of actuators, how they are mounted, laminated, energized and used to control the flight of a wide variety of munitions. This paper is the technical conference paper companion to the Patent. A Low Net Passive Stiffness (LNPS) Post Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric actuator element for a 0.40 caliber body, 0.50 caliber round was built and tested. Aerodynamic modeling of the flight control actuator showed that canard deflections of just ±1° are more than sufficient to provide full flight control against 99% atmospherics to 2km of range while maintaining just 10cm of dispersion with lethal energy pressure levels upon terminal contact. Supersonic wind tunnel testing was conducted as well as a sweep of axial compression. The LNPS/PBP configuration exhibited an amplification factor of 3.8 while maintaining equivalent corner frequencies in excess of 100 Hz and deflection levels of ±1°. The paper concludes with a fabrication and assembly cost analysis on a mass production scale.
Paradoxical Roots of “Social Construction”

Nye locates the roots of the "social turn" (highlighting the importance of social communities, behavioral norms, and personal commitments) in the scientific culture and political events of 1930s Europe.
Overnight Social Activities for Residents of Special Care Units for Dementia

ABSTRACT Therapeutic activity programs on special care units (SCUs) for dementia support cognitive functioning, accommodate behaviors specific to dementia, and provide residents with important social outlets. This study examined the activities that were available to and utilized by residents during the overnight hours (from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.) on two SCUs. Using a qualitative, case-study approach, two themes emerged from the data: residents utilize activity outlets only if they are made available and accessible and “knowing the residents” is essential to anticipating activity needs and desires. Practice implications are also discussed to facilitate in the development of overnight activity programs.
Group treatment for dually diagnosed clients

Group treatment is a widely practiced intervention for persons with dual diagnoses. This chapter reviews the rationale for group treatment and discusses four different approaches to group intervention: twelve-step, educational-supportive, social skills, and stagewise treatment.
Villin, cytokeratin 7, and cytokeratin 20 expression in pulmonary adenocarcinoma with ultrastructural evidence of microvilli with rootlets

Villin (V) is a glycoprotein of microvilli associated with rootlet formation. Most colonic adenocarcinomas have a V positive (+), cytokeratin (CK) 20 (+), CK7-negative (-) immunophenotype; most lung adenocarcinomas have a CK20(-), CK7(+) immunophenotype. The reports of villin immunoreactivity in lung adenocarcinoma range from 6% to 68% in studies using various fixations and varied anti-villin antibodies. Some lung adenocarcinomas have microvilli with rootlets leading to possible diagnostic confusion with metastatic colonic adenocarcinoma to lung. Nine primary lung adenocarcinomas with rootlets on ultrastructure (including four bronchioloalveolar carcinomas [BAC]), four metastatic lung adenocarcinomas with rootlets, nine metastatic colon adenocarcinomas to lung, and 10 randomly selected lung adenocarcinomas without rootlets (including five BAC), were immunostained with monoclonal antibodies to villin (1D2C3), CK7 (OV-TL12/30), and CK20 (Ks20.8) using a streptavidin peroxidase technique with heat-induced epitope retrieval. All primary lung adenocarcinomas with rootlets were CK7(+) CK20(-), and six of nine (67%) were V(+). Cytoplasmic villin positivity occurred in a diffuse--five of nine (56%), focal--two of nine (22%), or brush border pattern--two of nine (22%). Two of four metastatic lung adenocarcinomas with rootlets were V(+). One metastatic lung adenocarcinoma had a CK7(+), CK20(+), V(-) phenotype. All metastatic colonic adenocarcinomas were V(+), CK20(+), CK7(-), and 1 of 10 (10%) lung adenocarcinomas without rootlets was V(+), and all 10 were CK20(-), and CK7(+). In summary, villin positivity is more common in lung adenocarcinoma with rootlets (67%) than those without rootlets (10%). AU primary lung adenocarcinomas were CK7(+), CK20(-). The combination of villin, CK 7, and CK 20 is helpful in differentiating metastatic colon adenocarcinoma from lung adenocarcinoma with rootlets.
Heart failure and abnormal ventricular function. Pathophysiology and clinical correlation (Part 2).

From the clinical standpoint, heart failure should be considered a symptom complex rather than a specific disease, and intelligent management dictates that its cause and pathophysiologic features be understood before therapeutic efforts are begun. It is the intent of this review to provide a diagnostic framework of heart failure and to integrate both new and old concepts of abnormal ventricular function in relation to heart failure states
Stimulation by a hydroxythiazolobenzimidazole of enhanced formation of antibodies to sheep erythrocytes in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract A hydroxythiazolobenzimidazole, a low molecular weight compound, was found to have an immunoenhancing effect on both the in vivo and in vitro antibody response of mouse spleen cells to an optimum immunizing dose of sheep red blood cells. At noncytotoxic concentrations the optimum range of 25 to 50 μg per 5 × 10 6 spleen cells was most effective in vitro. Concentrations greater than 100 μg per culture were toxic in vitro and reduced cell viability as well as antibody responsiveness. The compound enhanced to an even greater degree the antibody response of spleen cell cultures immunized with suboptimum doses of SRBC. The background PFC response, in the absence of SRBC, also was stimulated by the benzimidazole. These immunoenhancing responses were not related to mitogenic effects, since increased thymidine uptake did not occur when normal mouse spleen cells were incubated with graded doses of the compound. Therefore, the immunostimulatory properties of the compound, both in vivo and in vitro, were not due to mitogenic stimulation of lymphoid cells.
The role of ATP and glucose 6-phosphate in the regulation of glycogen synthetase D phosphatase.

Abstract Glycogen synthetase D phosphatase catalyzes the conversion of synthetase D to synthetase I. The phosphatase reaction has been found to be inhibited by ATP, ADP and UDP; however, only ATP inhibited at a physiological concentration. ATP inhibition was enhanced by glycogen. Glucose 6-phosphate (G 6-P) stimulated the phosphatase reaction and at least partially relieved the ATP inhibition. A possible physiological role for ATP, G 6-P and glycogen in the regulation of the synthetase D phosphatase reaction has been proposed.
Forced air cooling of volume Bragg gratings for spectral beam combination

ABSTRACT Volume Bragg gratings have been successfully used in spectr al beam combining of high po wer fiber lasers with narrow channel separationand in four channel passive coherent beam combining of fiber lasers. Future application of beam combining with kilowatt level lasers requires a more detailed understanding of how to cool the gratings without hurting beam quality. Forced air cooling blown across both surfaces of the grating is both easy and cheap, but has been avoided in the past due to concerns of how the air density fluctuations will hurt beam quality. It is now shown that forced air cooling has no adverse effect on the M 2 parameter due to density fluctuations in the air, and can efficiently cool VBGs such that no degradation in beam quality is seen due to thermal distortions. Volume Bragg gratings are routinely made with low absorption on the level of 10 -4 cm -1 . To model grating operation for kilowatt level lasers, absorption of the studied grating was artif icially increased by 140 times. Thus the use of 80 W fiber lasers enabled imitation of 11kW beams, and the effects of forced air cooling on the beam quality were measured. Without cooling, the M
Predictive factors for response to medical therapy in bacterial ulcerative keratitis

Background: Fifty-four consecutive cases of culture-positive bacterial ulcerative keratitis presenting at a major university hospital were reviewed to identify factors predictive of response to medical therapy for bacterial ulcerative keratitis (BUK). • Methods: Eleven patients (20%) failed medical therapy (defined as the need for surgical intervention or cyanoacrylate gluing). Using multivariate logistic regression, the following variables were evaluated: (1) predisposing ocular factors (e.g., contact lens wear), (2) pre-existing ocular diseases, (3) ulcer size, and (4) the number of topical ocular medications used at the time of presentation. • Results: We noted certain factors to be potentially predictive of medical therapy outcome. The average size of the ulcer at the time of presentation was 4.4±2.4 mm in the failure group but only 2.5±1.9 mm for the success group (P=0.027). In addition, patients in the medical failure group used more topical ocular medications at the time of presentation (P=0.0075). Further analysis of the individual topical ocular medications revealed that the use of corticosteroids was higher in the failure group (56% vs 12%, P=0.0005 by Fisher's exact test). Other factors such as patient age, the type of organism(s), and the time elapsed between the onset of symptoms and the beginning of definitive therapy were not statistically significant. • Conclusion: In this population, ulcer size at the onset of antibacterial treatment and the use of certain ocular medications, specifically corticosteroids, were significant predictive factors for failure of medical therapy for BUK.
Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition of III/V‐Nitrides Using Organometallics and Hydrazoic Acid Precursors

In and Ga nitride films have been deposited on various substrates using organometallics and hydrazoic acid (HN3) as nitrogen precursor. The film deposition was carried out under low pressure (10−510 −6 Torr) and low V/III ratios (1-10). XPS analysis indicated that the ln(Ga):N atomic ratio of unity can be easily achieved by adjusting the experimental conditions. For the growth of InN on Si(100) substrate, 308-nm photon beam is needed to speed up the film deposition rate. He(II) UPS spectra of InN films are in good agreement with the result of a pseudo-potential calculation for InN valence band, while the spectra of GaN compare favorably with a recent semi-ab-initio calculation and with the UPS results of GaN single crystal films. The bandgap of our GaN films is ∼ 3.3 cV as determined by photoluminescence and UV-VIS absorption spectra. Raman spectra taken from GaN Films showed peaks at 66 and 88 meV for TO and LO phonons, respectively, indicating a wurtzite structure of the GaN. In a corresponding X-ray diffraction spectrum, the (002) peak is about 400 times more intense than that of the (101) peak, suggesting that the GaN layers are highly oriented with the c-axis normal or nearly so to the Al2O3 substrate.
Fast adaptive kernel density estimator for data streams

The probability density function (PDF) is an effective data model for a variety of stream mining tasks. As such, accurate estimates of the PDF are essential to reducing the uncertainties and errors associated with mining results. The nonparametric adaptive kernel density estimator (AKDE) provides accurate, robust, and asymptotically consistent estimates of a PDF. However, due to AKDE's extensive computational requirements, it cannot be directly applied to the data stream environment. This paper describes the development of an AKDE approximation approach that heeds the constraints of the data stream environment and supports efficient processing of multiple queries. To this end, this work proposes (1) the concept of local regions to provide a partition-based variable bandwidth to capture local density structures and enhance estimation quality; (2) a suite of linear-pass methods to construct the local regions and kernel objects online; (3) an efficient multiple queries evaluation algorithm; (4) a set of approximate techniques to increase the throughput of multiple density queries processing; and (5) a fixed-size memory time-based sliding window that updates the kernel objects in linear time. Comprehensive experiments were conducted with real-world and synthetic data sets to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the approach.
BRAF V600E is also seen in unclassifiable splenic B-cell lymphoma/leukemia, a potential mimic of hairy cell leukemia

To the editor: The virtually 100% diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the BRAF V600E mutation for hairy cell leukemia (HCL), within the context of mature B-cell neoplasms, originally described by Tiacci et al,[1][1] was recently confirmed in Blood .[2][2],[3][3] We report this mutation in a
The semantics of answer literals

We describe a semantics for answer literals that is not tied to the specific detaisl of the resolution proof procedure. We also describe a number of applications of answer literals to mathematical theorem proving.
Premixed rapid-setting calcium phosphate composites for bone repair

Although calcium phosphate cement (CPC) is promising for bone repair, its clinical use requires on site powder-liquid mixing. To shorten surgical time and improve graft properties, it is desirable to develop premixed CPC in which the paste remains stable during storage and hardens only after placement into the defect. The objective of this study was to develop premixed CPC with rapid setting when immersed in a physiological solution. Premixed CPCs were formulated using the following approach: Premixed CPC = CPC powder + nonaqueous liquid + gelling agent + hardening accelerator. Three premixed CPCs were developed: CPC-monocalcium phosphate monohydrate (MCPM), CPC-chitosan, and CPC-tartaric. Setting time for these new premixed CPCs ranged from 5.3 to 7.9 min, significantly faster than 61.7 min for a premixed control CPC reported previously (p < 0.05). SEM revealed the formation of nano-sized needle-like hydroxyapatite crystals after 1 d immersion and crystal growth after 7 d. Diametral tensile strength for premixed CPCs at 7 d ranged from 2.8 to 6.4 MPa, comparable to reported strengths for cancellous bone and sintered porous hydroxyapatite implants. Osteoblast cells attained a normal polygonal morphology on CPC-MCPM and CPC-chitosan with cytoplasmic extensions adhering to the nano-hydroxyapatite crystals. In summary, fast-setting premixed CPCs were developed to avoid the powder-liquid mixing in surgery. The pastes hardened rapidly once immersed in physiological solution and formed hydroxyapatite. The cements had strengths matching those of cancellous bone and sintered porous hydroxyapatite and non-cytotoxicity similar to conventional non-premixed CPC.
Application of Bayesian Analysis Method in the Design Optimization of Permanent Casting Mold

This work is a case study of applying Bayesian analysis, a statistical data method, in the design optimization of permanent test-bar mold. The permanent test-bar mold is used in casting foundry to examine the metal quality. Since the current standard test-bar mold suffers from shrinkage porosity which detracts from best properties, a modified design is recently proposed to improve the mechanical properties. In order to validate the new design, Bayesian data analysis method is utilized to analyze the experimental data from the two designs. The effects of the mold designs and casting process operational parameters on the mechanical properties of castings are compared. Main effect to the mechanical properties is identified based on the Bayesian analysis.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Gas Dynamic Effects on Laser Cut Quality

Abstract The presence of a gas jet plays an important role in laser cutting. Both the cutting efficiency and cut quality are very sensitive to gas pressure and nozzle standoff distance because of the complex nature of shock fronts and associated phenomena in a supersonic gas jet impinging on a workpiece. An idealized case is considered first, where the cut is assumed to be a circular hole directly underneath and concentric with the gas jet nozzle. A more realistic case of an axisymmetric nozzle impinging on a plate with a linear cut is considered next. Unlike the idealized case, the problem now is three-dimensional. Simple experiments to measure the through-kerf mass flow rate were carried out for both geometries. The two important forces exerted by the gas jet for melt ejection, namely, shear force and pressure gradient, show the same trend as that of the mass flow rate with varying gas pressure and standoff. The mass flow rate for the three-dimensional case shows the same behavior as that of the axisymmetric case, indicating the basic shock structures of the axisymmetric case are applicable to the real cutting cases. Laser cutting of mild steels under the corresponding conditions was performed, and the cut quality characterized by roughness, dross attachment, and recast layer thickness was analyzed. The deterioration of cut quality with the gas pressure and standoff is found to closely match reductions in through-kerf mass flow rate. It is thus verified that the shock structure of the gas jet and the associated mass flow rate have a direct impact on laser cutting as predicted.
On the Cognitive Benefits of Cultural Experience: Exploring the Relationship between Studying Abroad and Creative Thinking

Summary Drawing from research that shows a positive relationship between multicultural experiences and creative cognition, the present study investigates creative thinking as a possible cognitive benefit gained from studying abroad. The domain generality and specificity of creative thinking is also explored. Undergraduate students completed a general measure and a culture specific measure of creative thinking. Performance on the two creative thinking tasks were compared between students who have studied abroad, students who are planning to study abroad, and students who have not and do not plan to study abroad. Results showed that students who studied abroad outperformed the two groups of students who did not study abroad on both the general and culture specific measures of creative thinking. Findings from this study provide evidence that studying abroad supports complex cognitive processes that underlie creative thinking in culture specific and domain general settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
As Time Goes By: From the Industrial Revolutions to the Information Revolution . By Chris Freeman and Francisco Louçã. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. viii, 407.

The goal of Christopher Freeman and Francisco Louca's book As Time Goes By is to provide an overarching treatment of economic development in the United States and Europe since 1750 within the framework of the “long wave” tradition. A subsidiary goal, which occupies the first part of the book, and prepares the ground for the second, is to criticize macroeconometric and cliometric methodologies in economic history and to promote an approach based on the writings of Joseph Schumpeter and Nikolai Kondratiev.
CMR RV size assessment should include RV to LV volume ratio.

Background The right ventricular (RV) size responds to many cardiopulmonary diseases characterized by chronic pressure and volume overload. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is considered the “gold-standard” for RV evaluation. The RV end-diastolic volume indexed to body surface area (RVEDVi) has been used for RV size assessment, but this parameter alone may not be sensitive enough to detect RV dilation due to its wide normal range and the lack of consideration of individual heart size. We sought to determine if the assessment of right to left ventricular end-diastolic volume ratio (RVEDV/ LVEDV) in addition to RVEDVi increased the detection of RV dilation in the RV CMR analysis. The application of this ratio is investigated in a control and a Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) population.
Ultrasonography-Guided Peripheral Intravenous Access Versus Traditional Approaches in Patients With Difficult Intravenous Access

Results: Sixty patients were enrolled, 39 on odd days and 21 on even days. Success rate was greater for the ultrasonographic group (97%) versus control (33%), difference in proportions of 64% (95% confidence interval [CI] 39% to 71%). The ultrasonographic group required less overall time (13 minutes versus 30 minutes, for a difference of 17 [95% CI 0.8 to 25.6]), less time to successful cannulation from first percutaneous puncture (4 minutes versus 15 minutes, for a difference of 11 [95% CI 8.2 to 19.4]), and fewer percutaneous punctures (1.7 versus 3.7, for a difference of 2.0 [95% CI 1.27 to 2.82]) and had greater patient satisfaction (8.7 versus 5.7, for a difference of 3.0 [95% CI 1.82 to 4.29]) than the traditional landmark approach. Conclusion: Ultrasonographic-guided peripheral intravenous access is more successful than traditional ‘‘blind’’ techniques, requires less time, decreases the number of percutaneous punctures, and improves patient satisfaction in the subgroup of patients who have difficult intravenous access. [Ann Emerg Med. 2005;46:456-461.]
Thermal decomposition of polysulfones

The thermal decomposition of the C4, C6, and C8 polymethylene sulfones has been investigated at 275°C. under reduced pressure. The gaseous decomposition products, collected and identified by infrared and mass-spectrometer analysis, were found to consist primarily of sulfur dioxide, olefins, alkanes, water, and hydrogen. A mechanism is proposed in which the rate-determining step consists of a concerted attack of the sulfone group on the β-hydrogen atom with elimination resulting in α-olefins and a sulfinic acid. The sulfinic acid rapidly decomposes to give sulfur dioxide, hydrogen, and alkyl free radicals. The final products are formed by transfer and termination reactions of the free radicals and isomerization of the olefins in the presence of sulfur dioxide. Experimental evidence confirming this mechanism consists of rate studies of polymer decomposition whose initiation was found to be independent of polymer purity and of added free-radical initiators. A further proof of the rate-determining step was obtained by comparison of the decomposition products of bis-1,4-(butanesulfonyl)butane with those of structurally comparable sulfinic acids: 1,4-butanedisulfinic acid and 1-butanesulfinic acid.