cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-resolution and energy-filtered TEM imaging of Ag segregation to planar precipitate-matrix interfaces in an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy

Abstract This paper examines the parameters that yield optimal compositional contrast in both high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) images of planar interfaces, which contain two atomie layers of segregated Ag. It is demonstrated that the compositional contrast due to Ag segregation at the interface is highest for on-axis HRTEM images when the sample is less than 5nm, and that above this thickness the compositional contrast becomes difficult to interpret directly. It is then demonstrated that for samples with a wide range of thicknesses an off-axis orientation can be used that produces HRTEM images with more directly interpretable compositional contrast than on-axis images. Both the on-axis HRTEM images of samples thinner than 5 nm thickness and the off-axis HRTEM images show no contrast reversal at the interface containing the segregated Ag, within reasonable defocuses. EFTEM images of planar interfaces acauired in an off-axi...
Weighted Polynomials on Discrete Sets

For a real interval I of positive length, we prove a necessary and sufficient condition which ensures that the continuous L p (0 < p ⩽ ∞) norm of a weighted polynomial, P n w n , deg P n ⩽ n, n ⩾ 1 is in an nth root sense, controlled by its corresponding discrete Holder norm on a very general class of discrete subsets of I. As a by product of our main result, we establish inequalities and theorems dealing with zero distribution, zero location and sup and L p infinite–finite range inequalities.
A field study of the effects of soil structure and irrigation method on preferential flow of pesticides in unsaturated soil

Abstract A large number of field plot experiments were performed to characterize the downward flow of three pesticides (atrazine, napropamide and prometryn) and a water tracer (chloride) under various soil water regimes and soil surface conditions. Each experiment consisted of the uniform application of a 0.4-cm pulse of a solution containing a mixture of the four chemicals to the surface of a 1.5 × 1.5-m plot. The plot was then irrigated with 12 cm of water and soil samples were collected and analyzed to a depth of 150 cm. In all, 64 different plots were employed to study individual as well as interactive effects of such variables as irrigation method (continuous or intermittent sprinkling or ponding), pesticide formulation method (technical grade dissolved in water, wettable powder, or emulsifiable concentrate), and tillage (undisturbed or tilled and repacked surface layer) on pesticide transport. While all three pesticides were expected to be retained in the top 10–20 cm, there was considerable movement below this zone. When averaged over all the treatments, 18.8% of the recovered mass of atrazine, 9.4% of the prometryn and 16.4% of the napropamide were found between 30- and 150cm depth. Moreover, all pesticides were highly mobile in the surface 30 cm regardless of their adsorption coefficient. There were occureences of extreme mobility or “preferential flow” of pesticide under every experimental condition except where the pesticides were applied in wettable powder form to plots which had their surface tilled and repacked. This finding implies that there may be fine preferential flow pathways through which solution may move but particulates may not.
Epigenetic changes in beta cells related to high glucose

Background & Objectives: Epigenetic changes include two types of changes DNA methylation and Histone modifications. These modifications are influenced by the change in various environmental factors resulting in a stable form of gene expression changes. Type II Diabetes incidence keeps rising with so little understanding of the actual cause at gene expression level despite the massive amount of research around the subject. Which is why we chose to capture a closer image of what happens at the genome level when environmental factors such as high glucose intake can influence healthy cells into change their gene expression to adapt and how is that related to Diabetes. Methods: Mouse Beta cells are grown for several generations at various glucose concentrations in two groups, each group consisting of three biological replicates, each replica of glucose concentration (High vs. Normal) is devoted for one histone modification marker (H3K4me2, H3K27me2). The treated cells are further processed by chromatin-immuoprecipitation followed by next generation Sequencing (ChIP-Seq). Results: Data analysis was performed to identify enriched affected pathways. Significant differences in gene expression between high levels of glucose versus normal glucose were found using ChIP-Seq and confirming what was previously obtained by ChIP on Chip. Conclusion: The results of this experiment shed some light on the matter of surrounding environment effect on gene expression. Evidence of environmental elements affecting blood glucose levels was seen predecting difference in gene expression, e.g. type II diabetes risk factors. Genes involved in several pathways showing evidence of cardiac muscle diseases, kidney damage and changes in the calcium channel signaling were observed, all of which are related to type II diabetes complications.
Issues Concerning the Oxidation of Ni(Pt)Ti Shape Memory Alloys

The oxidation behavior of the Ni-30Pt-50Ti high temperature shape memory alloy is compared to that of conventional NiTi nitinol SMAs. The oxidation rates were ~1/4 those of NiTi under identical conditions. Ni-Ti-X SMAs are dominated by TiO2 scales, but, in some cases, the activation energy diverges for unexplained reasons. Typically, islands of metallic Ni or Pt(Ni) particles are embedded in lower scale layers due to rapid selective growth of TiO2 and low oxygen potential within the scale. The blocking effect of Pt-rich particles and lower diffusivity of Pt-rich depletion zones are proposed to account for the reduction in oxidation rates.
A test for stabilizability by constant output-feedback

An elementary test is developed to check the stabilizability of linear, time-invariant, single-input single-output plants using static output-feedback. The test is applied to the plant's transfer-function and requires finding roots of certain polynomials.
Cardiac Amyloidosis Mimicking Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy With Obstruction: Treatment With Disopyramide

A 71-year old-man presented with 4 posturally related syncopal episodes. He carried a diagnosis of asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) without obstruction based on an echocardiogram 7 years earlier. Echocardiography at the time of syncope evaluation demonstrated a hyperdynamic left ventricle with a septal thickness of ≈20 mm (an increase of 4 mm from an earlier echocardiogram), newly present systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve, and a peak left ventricular (LV) outflow tract gradient of 42 mm Hg at rest and 120 mm Hg with Valsalva maneuver (Figure 1). He was referred for septal myectomy, and cardiac catheterization demonstrated nonobstructive coronary artery disease. An ECG showed low-voltage limb leads, unusual in HCM (Figure 2), and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed delayed gadolinium enhancement in the papillary muscles, transmural enhancement involving the basal lateral walls, and subendocardial enhancement of the basal, mid, and distal anterior walls. There was also extensive gadolinium uptake in the atrial walls (Figure 3). Because the cardiac MRI suggested an infiltrative process, a cardiac biopsy was performed. This demonstrated extensive amyloid infiltration (Figure 4). Immunohistochemistry was positive for transthyretin, but negative for amyloid A and κ/λ light chains. Genetic testing for common mutations associated with HCM was negative, and no transthyretin mutations were detected. A diagnosis …
Sexual development and reproductive seasonality of hogfish (Labridae: Lachnolaimus maximus), an hermaphroditic reef fish

The seasonality, size, age, colour phases and sexual dimorphism of 13 reproductive classes of hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus are described. Analysis of histological sections of gonads (n = 1662) confirmed earlier conclusions that L. maximus is a monandric, protogynous hermaphrodite. Sex change was initiated at the end of the spawning season and over a broad range of sizes and ages. It occurred after a functional female phase (postmaturation) and proceeded more slowly (months) than previously believed. Eventually all individuals changed sex to a terminal male phase. Females were batch spawners, spawning as often as every day during winter and spring. There was no evidence of precocious sperm crypts in active females, sperm competition or other alternative male sexual strategies. Mating has been reported elsewhere to be haremic. The sexual development of L. maximus appears to be adaptive in terms of Ghiselin’s size-advantage model, which links monandric protogyny and polygyny. The slow rate of sex change, however, poses problems when fishing pressure is high because harvest of a single male has the potential to reduce the reproductive output of an entire harem.
Mild Depletion of Dietary Folate Combined with Other B Vitamins Alters Multiple Components of the Wnt Pathway in Mouse Colon

Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that diminished folate status increases the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis. However, many biochemical functions of folate are dependent on the adequate availability of other 1-carbon nutrients, including riboflavin, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12. Aberrations in the Wnt pathway are thought to play an important role in human colorectal cancers. This study therefore investigated if mild depletion of folate combined with depletion of riboflavin, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12 could induce alterations in the Wnt pathway in the colonic mucosa. Ninety-six mice were pair-fed diets with different combinations of B vitamin depletion for 10 wk. Genomic DNA methylation and uracil misincorporation were measured by LC/MS and GC/MS. Gene-specific methylation, strand breaks, and expressions were measured by real-time PCR and immunoblotting. Proliferation and apoptosis were determined by immunohistochemistry. DNA strand breaks within the Apc mutation cluster region were induced by folate depletion combined with inadequacies of riboflavin, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12 (P < 0.05), but such effects were not induced by folate depletion alone. Similarly, minor changes in the expression of Apc, beta-catenin, and cyclin D1 produced by mild folate depletion were significantly magnified by multiple vitamin depletion. Apoptosis, which can be suppressed by increased Wnt-signaling, was attenuated by the combined deficiency state (P < 0.05) but not by singlet or doublet deficiencies. These findings indicate that a mild depletion of folate that is of insufficient magnitude by itself to induce alterations in components of the Wnt pathway may produce such effects when present in conjunction with mild inadequacies of other 1-carbon nutrients.
Heuristics for a runway-queue management problem

Reducing the delays of the departing aircraft can potentially lead to improving the efficiency of surface operations at airports. This article addresses a runway-queue management problem that aims ...
An experimental evaluation of the efficacy of four multi-objective linear programming algorithms

Four multi-objective linear programming algorithms are implemented on microcomputer software packages and a large field experiment is conducted using the implemented algorithms. Two new algorithms which incorporate formal models of decision maker behavior are tested along with two established algorithms which include no formal models of decision maker behavior. The new algorithms are shown to outperform the established algorithms.
Design Engineers' Responses to Safety Situations

How a consulting design civil engineer would respond to 2 site safety situations would depend on the decision criterion the engineer chooses. One situation is observing a site condition that poses a hazard to construction workers. A second situation is choosing during the design process between a traditional component and one that is more expensive but inherently less risky for the construction workers. Potential decision criteria determining the engineer's responses to these situations include maximizing the firm's profits, complying with the firm's contract with the client, complying with federal safety standards, complying with ASCE's policy on construction site safety, and complying with ASCE's Code of Ethics. This paper also discusses how the responses to these situations would be slightly different for an engineering manager and if the engineer was part of a design-build team. The results of this theoretical analysis suggest that engineering firms should establish site safety-related policies and that changes may be warranted in ASCE's Code of Ethics and the federal safety standards.
Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think?

Without the benefit of paralinguistic cues such as gesture, emphasis, and intonation, it can be difficult to convey emotion and tone over electronic mail (e-mail). Five experiments suggest that this limitation is often underappreciated, such that people tend to believe that they can communicate over e-mail more effectively than they actually can. Studies 4 and 5 further suggest that this overconfidence is born of egocentrism, the inherent difficulty of detaching oneself from one's own perspective when evaluating the perspective of someone else. Because e-mail communicators "hear" a statement differently depending on whether they intend to be, say, sarcastic or funny, it can be difficult to appreciate that their electronic audience may not.
The area monotonic solution in dynamic negotiations

The area monotonic solution is examined, when the utilities of the players as well as the Pareto frontier change in time. A divert method is introduced to characterize the change in the solution of the conflict which is based on deriving a special ordinary differential equation such that its trajectory follows the solution in time. This method can be used to determine the optimal timing of agreements.
The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Children's Anger‐related Reactions

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of emotionality (intensity and negative emotion) and regulation (attentional control, mode of coping) to preschoolers' naturally occurring anger reactions. School personnel's ratings of 4–6-year-olds' constructive coping and attentional control were associated with boys' constructive anger reactions whereas their ratings of acting out versus avoidant coping, emotional intensity, and anger intensity generally were correlated with low levels of constructive reactions to anger. Mothers' reports of children's constructive coping and low emotional intensity were associated with children's use of nonabusive language to deal with anger, whereas aggressive coping and negative emotionality were associated with escape behavior when angered. The findings are consistent with the conclusion that individual differences in emotionality and regulatory skills are associated with children's constructive versus nonconstructive anger reactions.
Evaluation of idealized adaptive routing on k-ary n-cubes

The topology of a k-ary n-cube interconnection network provides multiple paths between a given source and destination pair. Adaptive routing algorithms exploit this feature by allowing messages to choose from among the different paths, in response to changes in system conditions. In this paper, we investigate the performance of an idealized adaptive router on a k-ary n-cube. Using a discrete event network simulator, we characterize and measure the communication speedup of a high bandwidth, fully adaptive algorithm, in order to evaluate the performance gains that can be achieved by any adaptive router. In addition, we develop an analytic queueing model which approximates the behavior of the system. Message latencies are compared to that of e-cube routing, and the impact of various network parameters on system performance is discussed. >
Male fertility in Drosophila melanogaster: Lesions of spermatogenesis associated with male sterile mutations of the vermilion region

Of the four male sterile, ms, loci that have been identified in the vermilion region, 9F4 to 10C2, of Drosophila melanogaster, one specifically affects male fertility, whereas three influence male and female fertility and viability. Mutations at a testis-specific locus (10A2-5; 1-33.44) blocked postmeiotic spermatid maturation at or before the coiling stage. Improper associations of the axonemal sheath with the axoneme and with the mitochondrial derivatives were common to spermiogenesis in adult ms (l)v3/Y and ms (l)v 6/Y males representing the locus. Abnormalities in premeiotic events of spermatogenesis were detected in the testes of ms (l) v7/Y (9F4 to 9F8-9; 1-32.82), ms (l) v1/Y (1-B4-5 to 10B16; 1-34.61), and ms (l) v22/Y and l (l) v73/Y males (10B4-5 to 10B16; 1-35.31). Differences in the characteristics of the premeiotic ms mutations suggested that each influences spermatogenesis in a unique way.
Two private, perceptual data-hiding games

Perceptual watermarking methods are designed to be transparent and robust to attacks. A perceptual model based on just noticeable difference levels introduces amplitude constraints on the watermark and the noise generated by an attacker. Two problems are considered: (1) detection performance for embedding a single bit in n data; (2) Shannon capacity. In both cases, the original host data are known to the receiver. Both problems are formulated as games involving a suitable cost function (Bhattacharyya distance and mutual information, respectively). The watermarker and the attacker design probability distributions in order to maximize and minimize, respectively, the cost function. The optimal distributions are quite different from the uniform distributions that have been previously used in the watermarking literature.
A Hyperspectral Method for Remotely Sensing the Grain Size of Snow

Abstract We have developed a robust, accurate inversion technique for estimating the grain size in a snowpack's surface layer from imaging spectrometer data. Using a radiative transfer model, the method relates an ice absorption feature, centered at λ=1.03 μm, to the optically equivalent snow grain size. Because the interpretation is based on the area—not depth—of the absorption feature scaled to absolute reflectance, the method is insensitive to instrument noise and does not require a topographic correction. We tested the method using Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer data over the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and we validated it with a combination of ground-based spectrometer data and grain size measurements.
Cardiovascular and renal nerve responses to static muscle contraction of decerebrate rabbits

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the biphasic arterial blood pressure responses elicited by static muscle contraction of decerebrate rabbits are mediated, at least in part, by an initial decrease and a subsequent increase in sympathetic outflow. Renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) was used as an index of sympathetic outflow. Static contraction of the triceps surae muscle (n = 14) initially decreased mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) -20 +/- 3 mmHg and heart rate (HR) -15 +/- 5 beats/min (nadir values). After this initial decrease, MAP increased 12 +/- 2 mmHg (peak increase) above baseline and there was a tendency for HR to be elevated (6 +/- 3 beats/min). The changes in RSNA during muscle contraction (n = 6) mirrored the nadir and peak responses of MAP (-50 +/- 9 and 32 +/- 11%). Muscle stretch (n = 11) also evoked similar nadir and peak responses of MAP (-20 +/- 5 and 9 +/- 1 mmHg), HR (-17 +/- 7 and 3 +/- 3 beats/min), and RSNA (-43 +/- 9 and 46 +/- 15%). These data suggest that the initial depressor and subsequent pressor responses elicited by skeletal muscle contraction and stretch are mediated, at least in part, by biphasic changes in sympathetic outflow.
The Best and Brightest for Science

Scientific research is exacting work, requiring not only long years of training but also high intellectual ability. Beyond this, one widely subscribed theory holds that within the scientific enterprise it is less the many worker bees than the few genuinely creative minds who make the most critical contributions (Kuhn 1962). In any case, few would argue but that the health of the enterprise requires a steady inflow of top-flight talent.
I Capture the Castle: directed by Tim Fywell, with screenplay by Heidi Thomas, Culver City, CA: 50 Cannon Entertainment, 2003.

The producers of Shakespeare in Love deliver another complex romance in I Capture the Castle, a film that considers the impact of an individual's sex and class on the institution of marriage. The d...
The Origins of the Ecuadorian Bourgeoisie: Its Implications for Democracy, Challenges and Limits to Latin America's Democratic Revolution

AbstractBased on interviews with 83 Ecuadorian business leaders, this article finds that many of the most prominent members of the bourgeoisie were of recent foreign origin while another large group came from families of landowners. Sons of landowners tended to be strongly anti-statist, while sons of industrialists tended to be relatively more statist. But only children of public employees and politicians had a positive view of state economic activity. All business leaders favoured military over civilian governments. The sons of landowners and professionals were most partial to military regimes, and they were also the most anti-union. These results support previous research that finds the Ecuadorian business elite to be conservative, anti-statist, and weakly committed to democracy, but also traces attitudinal different within this orientation to the social origins of the bourgeoisie. While a variety of factors have contributed to the weakness and instability of democracy in Ecuador in recent decades, this...
Isolation of Human Thrombin.

SummaryDetailed procedures are described for isolation of human thrombin from plasma Fraction III in 40–50% yield. Average specific activities of these preparations are 10,300 “Iowa”units per mg protein, 69,000 units per mg nitrogen, and 99,400 units per mg tyrosine. The higher activity of human thrombin indicates that it is either a smaller molecule or more active than bovine or equine thrombin.
A Solvent-Free Coarse Grain Model for Crystalline and Amorphous Cellulose Fibrils

Understanding biomass structure and dynamics on a range of time and length scales is important for the development of cellulosic biofuels. Here, to enable length and time scale extension, we develop a coarse grain (CG) model for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of cellulose. For this purpose, we use distribution functions from fully atomistic MD simulations as target observables. A single bead per monomer level coarse graining is found to be sufficient to successfully reproduce structural features of crystalline cellulose. Without the use of constraints the CG crystalline fibril is found to remain stable over the maximum simulation length explored in this study (>1 μs). We also extend the CG representation to model fully amorphous cellulose fibrils. This is done by using an atomistic MD simulation of fully solvated individual cellulose chains as a target for developing the corresponding fully amorphous CG force field. Fibril structures with different degrees of crystallinity are obtained using force fields derived using a parameter coupling the crystalline and amorphous potentials. The method provides an accurate and constraint-free approach to derive CG models for cellulose with a wide range of crystallinity, suitable for incorporation into large-scale models of lignocellulosic biomass.
Efficiency of Workerson the Four-Day Workweek

This article presents information on a study analyzing the efficiency of workers within a a four-day workweek. There has been favorable reaction to the concept of a four-day workweek schedule, lead...
Pancreaticoduodenectomy in a community general surgery residency program.

The morbidity and mortality of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) has been well documented. A retrospective review was performed to determine the morbidity and mortality of PD performed within the genera...
The surgical implication of broncholithiasis.

A calcified hilar or mediastinal lymph node can compress or erode the tracheobronchial tree and cause a variety of problems, including the “spitting of stones,” hemoptysis, pneumonia, atelectasis, and bronchoesophageal fistula. From 1955 to 1975, 43 patients were evaluated for broncholithiasis. Nonsurgical management was carried out in 10 patients, whereas the remaining 33 underwent thoracotomy for the pathological process. Five patients had bronchoesophageal fistula as a result of the broncholith. Segmentectomy was the surgical resective procedure most commonly used. Conservation of pulmonary tissue is recommended when dealing with this problem. Surgical complications were minimal and no deaths occurred. The surgeon must be versatile in his technical approach and be prepared to carry out bronchoplastic procedures when indicated. A clinical awareness of the symptomatology of broncholithiasis leads the examiner to carry out the appropriate diagnostic studies of laminagraphy, bronchoscopy, bronchography, and esophagography. Early diagnosis and treatment will prevent the severe complications that can occur from continued observation.
Arterial Access/Monitoring (Line Placement)

Cannulation of an artery for the purpose of monitoring a patient’s hemodynamic status is a common procedure in the critical care environment (Tiru and McGee, Anesth Clin Res 3(5):1000209, 2012; Mignini et al., Crit Care 10(2):R43, 2006; Cousins and O'Donnell, Aana J 72(4):267-71, 2004; Bowdle, Anesthesiol Clin North America 20(3):571-88, 2002). Continuous measurement of blood pressure through an arterial line is considered to be the most accurate measurement of systemic blood pressure and is the most common form of invasive monitoring (Tiru and McGee, Anesth Clin Res 3(5):1000209, 2012; Bowdle, Anesthesiol Clin North America 20(3):571-88, 2002). Advanced practice clinicians working in the ICU commonly perform arterial cannulation (Nyberg et al., JAAPA 23(1):35-7, 41, 2010) and therefore should have knowledge of indications and contraindications, relevant anatomy, technique, and potential complications from the procedure (Tiru and McGee, Anesth Clin Res 3(5):1000209, 2012; Tegtmeyer et al., N Engl J Med 354(15):e13, 2006).
Differing Clot Distribution in Black Compared to White Patients Presenting with Acute Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis

Abstract Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. There is growing evidence that VTE incidence and mortality rates differ among ethnic/racial groups. Specifically, it has been demonstrated previously that blacks with VTE have a higher proportional rate of pulmonary embolism (PE), as well as a higher case fatality rate from PE compared to whites (Arch Int Med 2003; 163(15):1843–8). We therefore compared the location of DVT (proximal vs. distal) in blacks and whites at the time of diagnosis. The null hypothesis was that there is no difference in the location of DVT between white and black patients at the time of diagnosis. We reviewed all lower extremity Doppler ultrasound studies that were positive for acute DVT at our Institution over a 3-year period to create a retrospective case series of 941 patients. Subjects were further classified by self-reported race (black or white), disposition at diagnosis (inpatient or outpatient), and clot location (proximal or distal). Distal DVT was defined as thrombus in one or more deep veins distal to – but not including – the popliteal vein. Results were analyzed using Stata version 10. We found that the rate of any proximal (proximal or both proximal and distal) DVT compared with distal only was significantly higher in black patients (OR = 1.4; 95%CI: 1.03, 1.8; P = 0.032), both for 637 inpatients (OR = 1.3; (0.94, 1.9); P = 0.11) and for 304 outpatients (OR = 2.0; (1.01, 3.8); P = 0.048). These differences persisted after controlling for sex and age. We conclude that blacks with acute lower extremity DVT are more likely to present with proximal DVT than whites. These results confirm earlier suggestions that the proportion of proximal lower extremity DVT is higher in blacks, which might account in part for the higher rate of PE (Arch Int Med 2004; 164(12):1348–9). We are further examining the possible causes of this disparity. Possibilities include genetic factors (such as factor V Leiden which is associated with more distal DVT presentation and is rare in blacks), co-morbid conditions (such as diabetes which is more prevalent in blacks), and access to healthcare and diagnostic services, which may lead to more delayed evaluation. Efforts will also be made to determine rates of idiopathic and provoked DVT in these sub-groups.
SynMap2 and SynMap3D: web-based whole-genome synteny browsers

Summary Current synteny visualization tools either focus on small regions of sequence and do not illustrate genome-wide trends, or are complicated to use and create visualizations that are difficult to interpret. To address this challenge, The Comparative Genomics Platform (CoGe) has developed two web-based tools to visualize synteny across whole genomes. SynMap2 and SynMap3D allow researchers to explore whole genome synteny patterns (across two or three genomes, respectively) in responsive, web-based visualization and virtual reality environments. Both tools have access to the extensive CoGe genome database (containing over 30 000 genomes) as well as the option for users to upload their own data. By leveraging modern web technologies there is no installation required, making the tools widely accessible and easy to use. Availability and implementation Both tools are open source (MIT license) and freely available for use online through CoGe ( https://genomevolution.org ). SynMap2 and SynMap3D can be accessed at http://genomevolution.org/coge/SynMap.pl and http://genomevolution.org/coge/SynMap3D.pl , respectively. Source code is available: https://github.com/LyonsLab/coge . Contact ericlyons@email.arizona.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Qualitative Analysis of Student Pharmacists’ Response after an Auditory Hallucination Simulation

Objectives: The goal of this research was to evaluate pharmacy students’ experiences and reactions when exposed to an auditory hallucination simulator. Methods: A convenient sample of 16 pharmacy students enrolled in the Advanced Psychiatry Elective at a private, faith-based university in the southeastern United States was selected. Students participated in an activity in which they listened to an auditory hallucination simulator from their personal laptop computers and completed a variety of tasks. Following the conclusion of the simulator, students composed a reflection guided by a five-question prompt. Qualitative analysis of the reflections was then completed to identify and categorize overarching themes. Results: The overarching themes identified included: 1) students mentioned strategies they used to overcome the distraction; 2) students discussed how the voices affected their ability to complete the activities; 3) students discussed the mental/physical toll they experienced; 4) students identified methods to assist patients with schizophrenia; 5) students mentioned an increase in their empathy for patients; 6) students reported their reactions to the voices; 7) students recognized how schizophrenia could affect the lives of these patients; and 8) students expressed how their initial expectations and reactions to the voices changed throughout the course of the simulation. Overall, the use of this simulator as a teaching aid was well received by students. Summary: In conclusion, pharmacy students were impacted by the hallucination simulator and expressed an increased awareness of the challenges faced by these patients on a daily basis. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties. Type: Original Research
Weakening of the North American monsoon with global warming

Future changes in the North American monsoon, a circulation system that brings abundant summer rains to vast areas of the North American Southwest, could have significant consequences for regional water resources. How this monsoon will change with increasing greenhouse gases, however, remains unclear, not least because coarse horizontal resolution and systematic sea-surface temperature biases limit the reliability of its numerical model simulations. Here we investigate the monsoon response to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO_2) concentrations using a 50-km-resolution global climate model which features a realistic representation of the monsoon climatology and its synoptic-scale variability. It is found that the monsoon response to CO_2 doubling is sensitive to sea-surface temperature biases. When minimizing these biases, the model projects a robust reduction in monsoonal precipitation over the southwestern United States, contrasting with previous multi-model assessments. Most of this precipitation decline can be attributed to increased atmospheric stability, and hence weakened convection, caused by uniform sea-surface warming. These results suggest improved adaptation measures, particularly water resource planning, will be required to cope with projected reductions in monsoon rainfall in the American Southwest.
Eastern European Studies: Politics

The political and economic transformation in Eastern Europe means the transformation of political and economic thought about the region. Studying how the several somewhat marginal satellites of a superpower become independent nations has become a growth industry. Tracing the contributions of area studies to ‘Transitology’—and vice versa—requires reviewing the theoretical and methodological issues central to comparative analysis. One finds in this voluminous new literatue both grand theorizing and ethnographic detail. although analysts have been caught up by the ‘refolutionary’ tempo and forced to follow events too closely for systematic research or analysis, burgeoning interest in the region promises a veritable deluge of competing perspectives and a large demand for new and updated textbooks.
Effects of Local Moment Magnetism on The Superconducting Properties of RNi2B2C Compounds

The appeal of magnetic superconductors is that they offer the possibility of examining how two nominally antagonistic properties (local moment magnetism and magnetic order on one hand and superconductivity on the other) interact with each other. After about half a decade of work on the heavy RNi2B2C (R1221 from now on) materials (R = Gd—Lu, Y) several clear examples of such interactions have emerged [1]. Two of the clearest experimental features are associated with (i) the near ubiquitous q ~ 0.55a* wave vector associated with magnetic ordering and phonon softening and (ii) the extreme crystalline electric field (CEF) anisotropy of the local moment sublattice. Both of these features have profound effects on the normal and superconducting properties of these materials. In addition, dramatic changes in the pinning of the flux line lattice [2,3] have recently been associated with changes in the nature of the local moment ordering. In this paper we will review the basic experimental manifestations of these features and discuss some of their implications that must still be addressed theoretically.
Toward a Research Instrument for the Assessment of Preterm Infants’ Behavior (APIB)

Recent advances in the care of premature infants have led to rapid increases in survival rates. This in turn has led to a growing demand for intervention at earlier and earlier stages aimed at preventing developmental dysfunction and supporting optimal development. The demand for support and intervention necessitates early assessment procedures on which to base appropriate intervention and with which to assess individual progress. This demand, as Thoman and Becker (1979) point out, reflects a profound change in the assumptions about early infancy, namely that assessment and support at this early stage of life can effect significant changes in the developmental course of the infant. This assumption is confronted at present with a remarkable lack of predictive success associated with many of the present assessment procedures (see McCall’s review, 1976; Lewis’s review, 1973). As one might expect, prediction at the extreme low end of the continuum is most reliable (Honzik, 1976); yet even with complex statistical procedures applied to comprehensive and cumulative batteries of assessments the diagnostic measures at best have been able to account for one tenth of the variance in the major outcome measures at two years, as, for instance, reported in the UCLA Infant Project (Sigman & Parmelee, 1979). Sigman and Parmelee conclude from their extensive study of preterm infants that the “nature of the outcome measurements should be broadened to include social, motivational, and personal qualities of the infant as well as more stable intellectual assessment” (p. 215), and they conclude that predictions which do not take into account the ongoing transactions between child and environment are bound to be weak, since early diagnosis is complicated by the responsiveness of the environment and the adaptability of the human infant.
The Confessor as Experienced Physician: Casuistry and Clinical Ethics

Bioethics was born as a distinct field of study in the 1960’s. A range of topics, such as abortion, research with human subjects, selection of patients for scarce life saving treatments and, above all, the appropriate use of “extraordinary” measures of life saving therapy attracted the attention of theologians and philosophers. A literature on these subjects that benefited from the methodologies of these disciplines began to appear. Research centers were founded, conferences held, courses initiated. A cadre of scholars called “bioethicists” took places in medical school and college faculties. The nature of bioethics was, however, not entirely clear, even to its practitioners. In the early 1980’s, a spate of articles appeared in the bioethics literature that attempted to explain the relationship between ethical theory and practice. These articles were a reflection of a more general problem that moral philosophy had encountered in the 1970’s as it struggled to disengage itself from the remote abstractions of analytic and linguistic philosophy and return to “real moral problems.” But the writing of the bioethicists was different: it exposed not only the more general problem of the relation between theory and practice (which, after all, had plagued moral philosophy since Plato), but the perplexity of persons attempting to provide some guidance in ethical dilemmas faced by those actually working in clinical settings.
Shared Risk Factors for Anticoagulation in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: A Dilemma in Clinical Decision Making∗

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac rhythm disorder [(1)][1] and can result in negative cardiovascular outcomes such as stroke and mortality, especially in patients with cardiovascular morbidities [(2,3)][2]. AF also contributes substantially to the cost of medical care [(4)][3], of
Abstract 11442: Continued ACE Inhibition Alters the Inflammatory and Fibrinolytic Response to Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Children

Background: Many children with a congenital heart defect undergo surgical correction requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). One sixth of these patients take an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibi...
The 2-Level Experience of Interlaminar Stabilization: 5-Year Follow-Up of a Prospective, Randomized Clinical Experience Compared to Fusion for the Sustainable Management of Spinal Stenosis

ABSTRACT Background: To alleviate the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis, widely accepted methods of surgical treatment include decompression alone and decompression with fusion. As an alternative to these methods, interlaminar stabilization (ILS) devices with decompression were introduced. There is a large amount of research dedicated to examining the efficacy of ILS devices in single-level procedures, but fewer studies focus on their efficacy in 2-level procedures. The purpose of this study was to compare decompression with instrumented posterolateral fusion to decompression with interlaminar stabilization in patients who require surgical treatment at 2 levels for lumbar spinal stenosis at 5 years postoperation. Methods: Of the 322 patients enrolled in the Investigational Device Exemption clinical trial, 116 required surgical treatment at 2 levels. The ILS group consisted of 77 patients, and the fusion group consisted of 39 patients. Efficacy was measured using composite clinical success (CCS). Patients achieve CCS if they achieve all 4 of the following outcomes: ≥15-point improvement from baseline Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); no reoperation or epidural injections; no persistent, new, or increasing neurological deficits; and no major device-related complications. Results: There was a 91% rate of follow-up within the participant population in the 5-year data. There was a difference trending toward significance between groups for the absence of reoperation or epidural injection, with 68.8% of ILS patients and only 51.3% of fusion patients meeting this criteria (P = .065); 13.0% of ILS patients and 25.7% of fusion patients required secondary surgery. The percentage of patients achieving overall CCS was much greater in the ILS group than the fusion group, with 55.1% (38/69) of ILS patients and only 36.4% (12/33) of fusion patients achieving CCS at month 60 (P = .077). With regard to the ODI, the visual analog scale back and worse leg pain, the Short Form-12, and the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire, both groups had significantly better results at every follow-up time point when compared to their respective baseline scores. Conclusions: The 2-level ILS patient group performed as well as, if not better than, the 2-level fusion group across almost all outcome measures, demonstrating both clinical outcome success and favorably low reoperation rates in patients who received ILS surgery. Clinical Relevance: This is the first 5-year analysis of the 2-level ILS experience, which supplements previous studies that describe the advantages of ILS by extending such advantages to 2-level cases.
System State Variable Discovery Counter Example

The stability of an existing non-linear system model of a Dubins vehicle is investigated. The discovery of the system state variables and their dynamics from simulation data is attempted, using machine learning (ML) techniques. The results show that there is at least one case in which system state-space discovery through a ML approach is unsuccessful. Technology which relies upon state abstraction from inferential learning techniques may be vulnerable to failure if the cases are not well understood.
Coordination of Voluntary Residual Muscle Contractions in Transtibial Amputees: a Pilot Study

Recently there has been considerable interest in the use of electromyography (EMG) for the control of powered, lower-limb prostheses. However, little is understood regarding amputee residual muscle, specifically the ability for lower-limb amputees to coordinate previously antagonist residual muscles for different control tasks. In this study, we aimed to investigate the capability of transtibial amputees in coordinating residual gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior for performing a high-level task. Specifically, we examined how three transtibial amputees and one ablebodied subject used residual and intact ankle muscles to balance a virtual inverted pendulum. Subjects controlled the pendulum by modulating stiffness of the base joint proportional to the level of EMG signal exerted. We conducted ten trials for each subject and quantified success of task performance by area of overall sway and number of falls (termed failure). Amputees successfully reduced number of failures, though not to the extent of able-bodied subjects. Interestingly, while able-bodied subjects reduced overall pendulum sway, amputees did not. EMG coordination patterns that preceded failure for amputees were different than that of able-bodied subjects. These results suggest that amputees have altered ability to coordinate muscle post-amputation; however, all subjects can improve the task performance and learn to reduce EMG coordination patterns that led to task failure. Further study is required to investigate the limit of amputees in learning of coordination between antagonist residual muscles in order to inform future neural control of prosthetic legs
Near-unity ultra-wideband thermal infrared emission for space solar power radiative cooling

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of ultrathin metasurfaces that exhibit wideband 300 K thermal emissivity. The emissive behavior of these structures is almost independent of the emission angle. Our ultralight subwavelength-thickness metasurfaces can be fabricated relatively easily and are excellent candidates for radiative cooling in space applications.
Toward a Theory of Black Deaf Feminism: The Quiet Invisibility of a Population:

This article considers ways to enhance the conceptualization of Black deaf women’s lived experiences through an intersectional lens. An intersectional framework places emphasis on how social constr...
Water-Heating Pool Boiling of Different Refrigerants on the Outside Surface of a Horizontal Smooth Tube

Heat transfer coefficients during pool boiling of five different refrigerants (R123, R245fa, R236fa, R134a, and R22) on the outside surface of a smooth copper tube were measured at the saturation temperature 6.7°C. Water flows inside the tube and provides heat to the refrigerants to boil. Measurements showed that the refrigerant of a higher vapor pressure has a higher heat transfer coefficient with the exception that R22 performs nearly the same as R134a. Compared with the predictions by the correlation developed from the data of electric-heating pool boiling on cylindrical tubes, the boiling heat transfer coefficients of the five refrigerants measured in this work are 30–46% higher. Among the pool boiling correlations reviewed in this work, the Cooper correlation (for pool boiling on cylindrical tubes) predicts the boiling heat transfer coefficients of R22 and R245fa reasonably well (within ±8.5%), but not as well for the other three refrigerants (R123, R236fa, and R134a). It is found that the predicted boiling heat transfer coefficients of the five refrigerants by the modified Gorenflo correlation (simply adding a constant multiplier of 1.47 to the correlation) are in excellent agreement with their respective measurements.Copyright © 2011 by ASME