cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Continuous fiber rearrangements during the molding of fiber composites. II. Flat cloth to a rounded cone

This report is the second in a series in which we attempt to develop rapid computational procedures for determining the rearrangement of continuous fibers that occurs during the molding of fiber composite components from flat precursors. This report considers the shaping of a balanced cloth into a cone with a rounded top. The numerical procedure developed predicts that a cloth can be shaped into rounded cones with all but the smallest cone angles without wrinkling. The predictions are compared with experiment for a particular cone angle, and various parameters connected with the shaping calculation are discussed.
Monkeying with Motives: Agent-Basing Virtue Ethics*

Virtue ethics has generated a great deal of excitement among ethicists largely because it is seen as an alternative to the traditional theories – utilitarianism and Kantian ethics – which have come under considerable scrutiny and criticism in the past 30 years. Rather than give up the enterprise of doing moral theory altogether, as some have suggested, others have opted to develop an alternative that would hopefully avoid the shortcomings of both utilitarianism and Kantian ethics. Several writers, such as Jorge Garcia and Michael Slote, have tried to develop this alternative of virtue ethics, or at least sketch out ways such a theory could be developed.
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Assessment Feedback Models in Reducing Career Indecision

We examined the relative effectiveness of information giving (IG) and therapeutic assessment (TA) models of career assessment feedback in reducing career indecision. Clients initiating career couns...
Software process improvement experience in the DP/MIS function: experience report

This experience report outlines Corning Incorporated's experience in successfully using Software Process Assessment as part of their Information Services Division's (ISD) software process improvement program. Improvement actions executed as indicated and prioritized by our self-assessment findings resulted in largely eliminating the cost and schedule overruns on projects in ISD's Systems Engineering group. Descriptive Keywords- Software process improvement. personnel management, capability maturity model, software process assessment, management information systems development, quality improvement, customer sm'sfactwn measurement. informatwn services, data processing. L Introduction
Psychiatric and cognitive manifestations of hypothyroidism.

Purpose of reviewOvert hypothyroidism has major effects on neuropsychiatric function, but patients with mild hypothyroidism may attribute unrelated neuropsychiatric symptoms to their thyroid condition. This review will summarize data on neuropsychiatric effects of hypothyroidism, and provide guideli
Intuitive Interactive Human-Character Posing with Millions of Example Poses

The authors present a data-driven algorithm for interactive 3D human-character posing. They formulate the problem in a maximum a posteriori (MAP) framework by combining the user's inputs with the priors embedded in prerecorded human poses. Maximizing the posterior probability lets them generate a most-likely human pose that satisfies the user constraints. The system can learn priors from a huge, heterogeneous human-motion-capture database (2.8 million prerecorded poses) and use them to generate a wide range of natural poses. No previous data-driven character-posing system has demonstrated this capability. In addition, the authors present two intuitive interfaces for interactive human-character posing: direct-manipulation interfaces and sketching interfaces. They show their system's superiority compared to standard inverse-kinematics techniques and alternative data-driven techniques.
Study on the Fabrication and Properties of Ni-P Composite Coating

In this paper, the method of electroless deposition of nickel-phosphorous composite coating on the sample surface is employed. The effect of the complexing agent ratio on the surface morphology and phase composition of nickel-phosphorus coating when the main salt and reducing agent concentration unchanged has been studied. The influence of heat treatment on properties and microstructure of coatings are also investigated. Experimental results show that in the case of salt and reducing agent concentration unchanged, complexing agent concentration has strong effect on the morphology of the coatings and the crystal structure of the composite coating. During heat treatment, the morphology of the composite coating changed significantly, and the hardness was improved a certain degree for all the samples, which is related to the precipitation of Ni3P.
A systematic review of valerian as a sleep aid: Safe but not effective

Valerian is an herb that is widely available in a variety of commercial preparations and is commonly used as a sleep aid. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of valerian concluded that evidence in support of the effectiveness of the herb was inconclusive. Therefore, in an effort to more closely examine this issue, a systematic review was conducted to examine the evidence on the efficacy of valerian as a sleep aid with specific attention to the type of preparations tested and the characteristics of the subjects studied. A comprehensive search of studies investigating valerian was conducted through computerized databases and hand searches of reference lists. Standardized forms were used to summarize findings and standardized criteria were used to assess study quality. Out of 592 articles initially identified, a total of 36 articles describing 37 separate studies met criteria for review: 29 controlled trials evaluated for both efficacy and safety, and eight open-label trials evaluated for safety only. Most studies found no significant differences between valerian and placebo either in healthy individuals or in persons with general sleep disturbance or insomnia. None of the most recent studies, which were also the most methodologically rigorous, found significant effects of valerian on sleep. Overall, the evidence, while supporting that valerian is a safe herb associated with only rare adverse events, does not support the clinical efficacy of valerian as a sleep aid for insomnia.
Test automation and safety assessment in rapid systems prototyping

This paper addresses the need for automatic generation of executable environment models to facilitate the testing of real-time reactive systems under development (SUD) in rapid system prototyping. We present an approach that allows users to model the environment in which the SUD will operate in the terms of attributed event grammar (AEG). The AEG provides a uniform approach for automatically generating, executing, and analyzing tests. The approach is supported by a generator that creates test cases from the AEG models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach with using as a case study a prototype of the safety-critical computer-assisted resuscitation algorithm (CARA) software for a casualty intravenous fluid infusion pump.
Retinoblastoma presenting as strabismus and leukocoria.

Figure 2. Close-up examination showing total retinal detachment in an eye filled with white tumor. A 22-month-old otherwise healthy girl presented for evaluation of an inturned left eye of 3 months duration. She had been followed approximately every 6 months via red-reflex evaluation by her pediatrician, who noted a dramatic change over a 4-month period. External examination revealed a left esotropia with leukocoria (Figure 1). Ophthalmologic examination revealed a normal right eye and total retinal detachment in a tumor-filled left eye (Figure 2). Magnetic resonance imaging showed a large heterogeneous mass filling the left globe with extension into the left optic nerve head, but no metastases or secondary lesions. Further questioning disclosed that the child’s mother had bilateral retinoblastoma requiring enucleation of both eyes 38 years earlier at 4 months of age. Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy of childhood. It is caused by a mutation to the retinoblastoma tumor-suppressor gene on the long arm of chromosome 13. Affected children often present with strabismus, leukocoria, and amblyopia. Patients with bilateral disease are presumed to have germline mutations and have a 45% chance of having a child with retinoblastoma. Genetic counseling is an important part of the management of patients with retinoblastoma. Treatment varies depending on tumor size, number, and location. Current treatments include laser photocoagulation, thermotherapy, cryotherapy, local or systemic chemotherapy, external-beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and enucleation. Historically, treatment for survival involved enucleation, but current treatments have trended toward vision and globe-sparingmodalities. In de-
Effects of geminal methyl groups on the tunnelling rates in the ring opening of cyclopropylcarbinyl radical at cryogenic temperature.

CVT + SCT calculations on the rate of tunnelling at 20 K in the ring opening of cyclopropylcarbinyl radical, substituted with geminal methyl groups at a ring carbon (1b), have been performed. The calculations predict that, contrary to expectations based on the effect of mass on the rate of tunnelling, the geminal methyl substituents in 1b should make the rate of ring opening to 1,1-dimethyl-3-butenyl radical (2b) 104 times faster than the rate of ring opening of unsubstituted cyclopropylcarbinyl radical (1a) to 3-butenyl radical (2a) and almost 106 times faster than the rate of ring opening of 1b to 2,2-dimethyl-3-butenyl radical (2c). The reasons for these unexpected findings are discussed.
Traffic at the tmRNA Gene

A partial screen for genetic elements integrated into completely sequenced bacterial genomes shows more significant bias in specificity for the tmRNA gene ( ssrA ) than for any type of tRNA gene. Horizontal gene transfer, a major avenue of bacterial evolution, was assessed by focusing on elements using this single attachment locus. Diverse elements use ssrA ; among enterobacteria alone, at least four different integrase subfamilies have independently evolved specificity for ssrA , and almost every strain analyzed presents a unique set of integrated elements. Even elements using essentially the same integrase can be very diverse, as is a group with an ssrA -specific integrase of the P4 subfamily. This same integrase appears to promote damage routinely at attachment sites, which may be adaptive. Elements in arrays can recombine; one such event mediated by invertible DNA segments within neighboring elements likely explains the monophasic nature of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. One of a limited set of conserved sequences occurs at the attachment site of each enterobacterial element, apparently serving as a transcriptional terminator for ssrA . Elements were usually found integrated into tRNA-like sequence at the 3′ end of ssrA , at subsites corresponding to those used in tRNA genes; an exception was found at the non-tRNA-like 3′ end produced by ssrA gene permutation in cyanobacteria, suggesting that, during the evolution of new site specificity by integrases, tropism toward a conserved 3′ end of an RNA gene may be as strong as toward a tRNA-like sequence. The proximity of ssrA and smpB , which act in concert, was also surveyed.
A large private university hospital system the johns hopkins oncology center

Clinical trials are a major commitment for a university based comprehensive cancer center. In 1992, The Johns Hopkins Hospital registered 3508 new patients with cancer and, from this large population, 2880 patients were entered in clinical trials (many patients participated in more than one protocol). The Oncology Center, one of many departments at Johns Hopkins that conducts clinical research, participates in phase I and II new drug trials, phase III comparative studies, and, increasingly, in epidemiologic and prevention research. This calls for much broader participation by community hospitals and for many more patients who normally would not come to Johns Hopkins for their care
An analytical comparison of a neural network and a model-based adaptive controller

A neural network inverse dynamics controller with adjustable weights is compared with a computed-torque type adaptive controller. Lyapunov stability techniques, usually applied to adaptive systems, are used to derive a globally asymptotically stable adaptation law for a single-layer neural network controller that bears similarities to the well-known delta rule for neural networks. This alternative learning rule allows the learning rates of each connection weight to be individually adjusted to give faster convergence. The role of persistently exciting inputs in ensuring parameter convergence, often mentioned in the context of adaptive systems, is emphasized in relation to the convergence of neural network weights. A coupled, compound pendulum system is used to develop inverse dynamics controllers based on adaptive and neural network techniques. Adaptation performance is compared for a model-based adaptive controller and a simple neural network utilizing both delta-rule learning and the alternative adaptation law. >
Carbon dioxide concentration at night affects translocation from soybean leaves.

Studies have indicated that the concentration of carbon dioxide [CO2] during the dark period may influence plant dry matter accumulation. It is often suggested that these effects on growth result from effects of [CO2 ]o n rates of respiration, but responses of respiration to [CO2] remain controversial, and connections between changes in respiration rate and altered growth rate have not always been clear. The present experiments tested whether translocation, a major consumer of energy from respiration in exporting leaves, was sensitive to [CO2]. Nineteen-day-old soybean plants grown initially at a constant [CO2] of 350 mmol mol ‐1 were exposed to three consecutive nights with a [CO2] of 220‐1400 mmol mol ‐1 , with a daytime [CO2] of 350 mmol mol ‐1 . Change in dry mass of the individual second, third and fourth trifoliate leaves over the 3-d period was determined, along with rates of respiration and photosynthesis of second leaves, measured by net CO2 exchange. Translocation was determined from mass balance for second leaves. Additional experiments were conducted where the [CO2] around individual leaves was controlled separately from that of the rest of the plant. Results indicated that low [CO2] at night increased both respiration and translocation and elevated [CO2] decreased both processes, to similar relative extents. The effect of [CO2] during the dark on the change in leaf mass over 3 d was largest in second leaves, where the change in mass was about 50 % greater at 1400 mmol mol‐1 CO2 than at 220 mmol mol‐1 CO2. The response of translocation to [CO2] was localized in individual leaves. Results indicated that effects of [CO2] on net carbon dioxide exchange rate in the dark either caused or reflected a change in a physiologically important process which is known to depend on energy supplied by respiration. Thus, it is unlikely that the observed effects of [CO2] on respiration were artefacts of the measurement process in this case. a 2002 Annals of Botany Company
The control of pepsinogen secretion.

Summary The peptic cell makes and secretes a protein (pepsinogen) and the cellular mechanisms governing the rate of synthesis and its relation to secretion are described and schematically illustrated. The peptic cell as a system secreting protein exists side by side with the parietal cell transporting H+, Cl, water and electrolytes. The functions of these two systems are usually closely integrated with each other and with the gastric musculature, but, under several well-defined conditions, each system may be stimulated or inhibited separately from the other. The actions of cholinergic stimuli, histamine and gastrin and some of the characteristics of inhibition are described herein.
Hepatocytes: a key cell type for innate immunity

Hepatocytes, the major parenchymal cells in the liver, play pivotal roles in metabolism, detoxification, and protein synthesis. Hepatocytes also activate innate immunity against invading microorganisms by secreting innate immunity proteins. These proteins include bactericidal proteins that directly kill bacteria, opsonins that assist in the phagocytosis of foreign bacteria, iron-sequestering proteins that block iron uptake by bacteria, several soluble factors that regulate lipopolysaccharide signaling, and the coagulation factor fibrinogen that activates innate immunity. In this review, we summarize the wide variety of innate immunity proteins produced by hepatocytes and discuss liver-enriched transcription factors (e.g. hepatocyte nuclear factors and CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins), pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g. interleukin (IL)-6, IL-22, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α), and downstream signaling pathways (e.g. signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 3 and nuclear factor-κB) that regulate the expression of these innate immunity proteins. We also briefly discuss the dysregulation of these innate immunity proteins in chronic liver disease, which may contribute to an increased susceptibility to bacterial infection in patients with cirrhosis.
Decentralized sensor placement and mobile localization on an underwater sensor network with depth adjustment capabilities

Over 70% of our planet is covered by water. It is widely believed that the underwater world holds ideas and resources that will fuel much of the next generation of science and business. Unfortunately, underwater operations are fraught with difficulty due to the absence of an easy way to collect and monitor data. In this thesis we propose a novel underwater sensor network designed to mitigate the problems of underwater sensing and communication. A key feature of this system is the ability of individual nodes to control their depth in water. This single degree of freedom allows the network to cooperatively optimize placement for communication and data collection while minimizing time and energy use. The sensor network also enables a GPS-like system for localizing underwater robots to aid in data retrieval and sensing. We develop a gradient-based decentralized controller that dynamically adjusts the depth of a network of underwater sensors to optimize sensing for modeling 3D properties of the water. We prove that the controller converges to a local minimum, and implement the controller on our underwater sensor network, where each node is capable of adjusting its depth. We verify the algorithm through simulations and in-water experiments. Most applications require that we associate a location with the sensed data. We have developed an underwater mobile robot localization algorithm that allows underwater robots to act as mobile sensors in the sensor network by using ranging information. The algorithm is a minimalist, geometric-based algorithm that only relies on knowing an upper bound on the robot speed and known static node locations. We prove that the algorithm finds the optimal location of the robot and analyze the algorithm in simulation and in water with our underwater sensor network. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Potential false positives myocardial perfusion studies from non attenuation correction resolution recovery algorithm - A pictoral review

1263 Learning Objectives Review discordant MPI cases processed with half time OSEM RR and relavant literature. Many studies have have described similar or superior image quality with half time (HT) resolution recovery (or similar) algorithms, compared to full time (FT). Improved image quality including increasing defect extent or severity were attributed to improved image contrast. But few have validated these studies with angiograms or PETs. We present a pictoral review of discordant/ false positive cases by RR, mostly secondary to exaggeration of artifact on stress imaging, that was at times worsened by other limiting factors such as bowel activity. Attenuation Correction (AC), with or without scatter correction(SC), has been described to improve specificity and accuracy of RR studies. It is also recommended to review both OSEM and OSEM +RR sets of images. 1. Ali et al: FT OSEM/HT RR vs Rb PET: discordant cases resolved/improved by CT AC; 2. Tashiro et al: FT OSEM/HT RR vs angiogram: sensitivity increased but specificity decreased with overall decreased accuracy with RR; accuracy improved with review of both OSEM and OSEM +RR 3. Qutub et al: FT OSEM/ FT RR vs Rb PET: OSEM +AC +RR was similar to PET, did not compare OSEM vs RR+AC or OSEM + RR; 4. Vanero et al: FBP/ RR( astonish) vs angiogram: increased sensitivity, decreased specificity of RR; but AC +SC increased sensitivity, normalcy and specificity 5. Druz RS et al: FBP/RR(WBR) vs angio: similar sensitivity, accuracy, with slightly higher specificity for RR 6. Wells et al: only HT RR vs PET: AC improves accuracy Method: Tc sestamibi rest/stress 10/30mCi ( or 30/30mCi for 2 day >250lb pts) was used. These were acquired with half time 15s/frame and butterworth filter (10/0.4) for both stress and rest images. No attenuation correction or scatter correction was applied. The low count images were processed with OSEM alone and OSEM + GE Evolution Resolution Recovery algorithm. These were correlated to >8 month followup or cath.
Electronic Disks

The term electronic disks has become associated with memory systems that are electronic devices–i.e., not involving mechanical movement, but possessing memory capacities and cost per bit which compete with rotating memories. Many technologies are being investigated that have the potential of being used for electronic disks. These include charge-coupled devices (CCD), magnetic bubbles, domain tip (DOT), and electron beam addressed memories (EBAM).
Do Intraclass Correlation Coefficients Index Interrater Agreement

Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) often are used to index the level of interrater agreement for job analysis ratings. Typically, ICCs are calculated from a one-way ANOVA design for each of several rated job characteristics in which multiple job analysts rate multiple jobs. ICCs are highest when between mean square (BMS) is large relative to within mean square (WMS), but they can be low either when (a) WMS is large, in which case ICCs appropriately indicate low interrater agreement, or (b) BMS is small, in which case ICCs reflect the attenuating influence of range restriction on the grouping factor (i.e., jobs). Using two job analysis data sets, we found that (a) ICCs covaried significantly and negatively with WMS components and (b) ICCs covaried significantly and positively with BMS. These restults indicate that ICCs cannot be interpreted unambiguously as indices of interrater agreement because they are substantially affected by the level of between-group variance. Interpretational confounding fo...
Design, Integration, and Initial Testing of an Integrated System for Thermal Conductivity Measurement of Insulation Materials at High Pressure

A hyperbaric chamber integrated with thermal conductivity measurement apparatus has been designed and constructed. The apparatus was designed using the ASTM c177 – the guarded hot plate method. The apparatus is a steady-state thermal conductivity measuring device with an operational pressure range up to 100 bar. This newly-constructed pressure vessel has the capability of containing pressures up to 100 bar. The thermal conductivity measurement method and the chamber are designed together, allowing a much improved measurement system over previous high-pressure measurements. The thermal conductivity of a calcium silicate block insulation has been measured at pressures up to 60 Bar. High pressure measurements are performed in a nitrogen gas environment. The hermal conductivity of the material shows a dependence on pressure. The thermal conductivity curve shows a rising trend for increasing pressure. There is a significant increase in the thermal conductivity when the nitrogen gas is in the supercritical thermodynamic state.
Reoperation of congenital mitral regurgitation

Objective:To review the surgical results of congenital mitral regurgitation after reoperation.Methods:Of 438 consecutive patients with congenital mitral regurgitation(total and partial atrioventricular canal defect were not included) after surgical repair 15 patients(3.4%) were underwent reoperation from 2002 to 2009.Mitral valve reconstruction were performed in 12 cases(group 1) and the mitral valve were replaced with mechanical prosthetic valve in the other 3 patients(group 2).The main causes of reoperation include:sever haemolysis and residual or recurrent mitral regurgitation.Ring annuloplasty,chordal transposition,double-orifice mitral valve shaping and mitral valve replacement were performed based on the pathological changes of the valve.The severity of the mitral regurgitation were evaluated with echocardiogram during and after the reoperation.Results:There were no early and later death during the follow-up.Tearing of suture line were found during the operation in 2 cases,ring dilation in 4 cases and valve leaflet cleavage in 3 cases.Mitral regurgitation was diminished significantly after reconstruction in group 1.Mechanical mitral valve replacement were performed in 3 patients.Conclusion:Reconstruction is still the first choice during the reoperation in congenital mitral regurgitation even in the presence of severe regurgitation.Valve replacement is a wise choice if the heart function is seriously compromised and the pathological changes of the valve is critically severe.
Comparing the brainʼs representation of shape to that of a deep convolutional neural network

Hierarchical neural nets are currently the highest performing general purpose image recognition computer algorithms. Their design is loosely inspired by the neural architecture of the ventral visual pathway in the primate brain, which is believed to underlie the perception of form and the ability to recognize objects. The exact tuning of artificial neural units within an HNN, however, is not prescribed from known biology, but is trained using a performance-based learning algorithm. In evaluating whether HNNs are ripe for further bio-inspired performance improvements, it is of interest to test whether the response properties in the intermediate layers of the HNN approximate those of the ventral visual stream. We therefore characterized units within a popular HNN with a set of visual stimuli that has been employed by neurophysiologists to successfully characterize the shape-tuning properties of neurons in the intermediate visual cortical area V4 of the ventral stream. We found that the tuning and fits of a small but significant number of units in the HNN were strikingly similar to those of some V4 neurons for our simple set of test shapes. There tended to be more such units in the deeper layers of the HNN. We discuss implications of our results to the encoding of curvature in the primate brain and propose ways to further characterize V4-like shape tuning in HNNs.
New function for age-related stability element in conferring strict tissue-specific expression of human factor IX and protein C genes.

New Function for Age-Related Stability Element in Conferring Strict Tissue-Specific Expression of Human Factor IX and Protein C Genes -
Sales Force Satisfaction and Planning Activity

Considerable previous research indicates that salespeople are generally dissatisfied with their jobs, and that at least some, if not most of this dissatisfaction occurs as a result of job or role-related issues. This article proposes that one way the individual salesperson may attempt to moderate the negative effects of role characteristics on satisfaction is through active participation in the process of planning.
A new paradigm for collaborating distributed query engines

In this work we focus on using Distributed Caching Platform (DCP) to scale out database applications and to support relational data communication of multiple individual query-engines in a general graph-structured SQL dataflow process. While the use of DCP has gained popularity lately, transferring query results from one query-engine to another tuple-by-tuple through DCP is often inefficient; this is because the granularity of cache access is too small, and the overhead of data conversion and interpretation is too large. To deal with these issues, we leverage DCP's binary protocol and query engine's buffer management to deliver query results at the storage level directly. We extend the database buffer pool over multiple memory nodes to enable low-latency access to large volumes of data, and introduce the novel page-feed mechanism to allow the query results of the collaborative query engines to be communicated as data pages (blocks), namely, the producer query puts its result relation as pages in the DCP to be got by the consumer query. In this way, data are transferred as pages directly under DCP's binary protocol, where the contained tuples are exactly in the format required by the relational operators, and the use of pages, as mini-batches of tuples, provides the balanced efficiency of query processing and DCP access. Pushing relation data communication down to the storage (buffer pool) level from the application level offers significant performance gain, and is naturally consistent with the SQL semantics. We have implemented these specific mechanisms on a cluster of PostgreSQL engines. Our experiment results are documented in this paper.
Intelligent interfaces for universal access: challenges and promise.

This article outlines some challenges and opportunities in the area of universal access to intelligent interfaces. Technological advances in computing and communication together with increasingly available connectivity provide both new challenges and new opportunities for disadvantaged individuals to become more full participants in society. It is also the case that careful exploitation of these advances can make advantaged workers that much more efficient or effective, for example, when they find themselves in communications and/or computing disadvantaged environments such as while mobile or in remote areas. 1. UNIVERSAL INTERFACES Growing volumes of information, shrinking product creation cycles, and increasing global competition demand optimal utilization of scare expert human resources. Effective human machine interfaces and information services promise to increase access and productivity for all. Furthermore, governments are moving more actively to promoting universal access. For example, in the United States, Section 508 of the Workforce Reinvestment Act, passed in November 1998, requires that people with disabilities have equity in use of electronic and information technology (Peet 2001). Figure 1. Medium, Mode and Code To frame our intelligent user interface analysis, we first define some terminology (see Figure 1). Following Maybury and Wahlster (1998) we distinguish the terms medium mode and code By Input Processing Output
Comparison of neoadjuvant vs concurrent/adjuvant androgen deprivation in men with high-risk prostate cancer receiving definitive radiation therapy.

PURPOSE It is unknown whether there is a benefit to starting androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) prior to rather than concurrently with definitive radiation therapy in men with high-risk prostate cancer. We studied the National Cancer Data Base to determine whether the timing of ADT impacts survival. METHODS Men diagnosed with high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma who received external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to a dose of 70-81 Gy along with ADT from 2004-2011 were included. Those who started ADT 42-90 days before EBRT were identified as having received neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (N-HT) and those who received ADT from 14 days before their radiation until 84 days after the start of EBRT were categorized as receiving concurrent/adjuvant treatment (C-HT). We used the log-rank test to compare Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariable Cox regression to assess the impact of covariables on overall survival (OS). RESULTS Among 11,491 included patients, those receiving N-HT were 1 year older (p<0.001) and more likely to have Gleason 8-10 disease (p = 0.01) and cT3-4 disease (p = 0.002). Men receiving N-HT had a 5-year and median OS of 80.6% and 111.4 months, respectively, compared to 78.3% and 108.9 months, respectively, in those receiving C-HT (p = 0.03). This benefit remained significant on multivariable analysis (hazard ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.77-0.96, p = 0.008). Duration of ADT was not available to report. CONCLUSIONS External beam radiation therapy with N-HT was associated with improved overall survival compared to C-HT. This study is hypothesis-generating and further studies are needed to best qualify the sequencing of hormone therapy with the duration of treatment.
Rules versus Principles

Rules are objective criteria that define what is legal or procedurally correct. They have the benefit of being prescriptive and limiting misinterpretation. Because rules can be operationalized as n...
Statistical Analysis Relating to Recent Federal Standard 209 (Cleanrooms) Revisions

The recent revisions of Federal Standard 209 regarding clean-rooms include two statistical tests for the concentration data obtained from sampling airborne particles: a) that none of the location a...
Inhomogeneous structure of the solar chromosphere from Lyman-continuum data.

A new model of the chromosphere is described that is based on Lyman-continuum observations by Harvard spectrometers aboard the satellites OSO 4 and OSO 6. The temperature, gas pressure, electron pressure, particle densities, and hydrogen ground-state departure coefficient are calculated as a function of height in the chromosphere. The model reproduces the observed quiet-region intensities in the Lyman continuum. The inhomogeneous structures, believed to be spicules, are inferred to be optically thick in the Lyman continuum and to have a source function below that of the mean chromosphere.
Ethics and the Medicalization of Death

End-of-life care is not based on research-tested, evidence-based protocols because that research does not yet conclusively guide physicians to withhold care with absolutely certainty of the burden. According to Scott D. Halpern in the New England Journal of Medicine, the announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding reimbursement rates for EOL care planning is a step in the right direction. However, the published research setting absolute standards for artificial support might change the culture dramatically. To determine which interventions actually improve outcomes, “more frequent and rapid conduct of large randomized trials and quasi-experimental studies” are necessary (p. 2001). A consensus needs to be reached about which outcome measures should be used in the studies to measure EOL intervention success. The urge to “do something” is leading healthcare organizations to implement policies and approaches that have not been tested. Slowing down and pursuing education and research before implementation can help achieve more successful outcomes in EOL care. EOL communication needs to allow patients and families to make fully informed treatment decisions that will lead to more successful long-term efforts and more telling results about quality outcomes.
Increased Expression of a Constrictor Mechanism Mediated by 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic Acid in Renal Interlobular Arteries of Rats Fed a K Deficient Diet.

P91 Renal preglomerular vessels metabolize arachidonic acid (AA) to 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), an eicosanoid that amplifies vasoconstrictor responsiveness. This study examines (a) the effect of variations in dietary K intake on renal 20-HETE synthesis, and (b) the significance of 20-HETE synthesis in relation to the regulation of renal interlobular artery (ILA) internal diameter (ID) in rats fed a diet with a low (0.004 mmol/g) or high (1.351 mmol/g) K content (LK and HK rats) for 10-12 days. Metabolism of 14 AA to 20-HETE by renal microsomes from LK rats exceeded values by renal microsomes from HK rats (800±140 versus 263±29pmol/mg/min); P
The use of a developmental continuum in early childhood clinical experiences: building preservice teachers’ knowledge of cognitive development

ABSTRACTThe quality of early caregiving and educational environments has a significant effect on children’s later cognitive outcomes. Early childhood teachers are an important determining factor in the quality of these environments and therefore they need appropriate professional preparation. The purpose of this study was to describe the ways in which early childhood preservice teachers learn about children’s cognitive development and developmentally appropriate pedagogical practices at three select universities. Participants included preservice teachers and faculty members. The researcher collected and analysed data from interviews, documents, and surveys. Participants from this study proposed preservice teachers gained knowledge about children’s cognitive development as well as learned how to use this knowledge in their pedagogical practices by participating in clinical experiences that targeted a developmental continuum approach.
Analysis and Design of Bang-Bang PD-Based Phase Noise Filter

In this paper, we present a bang-bang phase detector (BBPD) and a delay-line frequency discriminator-based phase noise filter (PNF). With a larger phase detection gain, the BBPD-based PNF enhances the sensitivity by suppressing the charge pump noise. A time-amplifier and a five times voting machine are introduced together with the sense-amplifier-flip-flop to minimize the BBPD noise to make its effects negligible in the PNF sensitivity. At 1-MHz offset, the PNF demonstrates 15-dB phase noise suppression with −120.2-dBc/Hz sensitivity. Its phase noise suppression offset frequency is from 100 kHz to 8 MHz with 10–10.1-GHz input frequency range. The circuit is fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS technology, and dissipates 98-mW power.
Slow-time waveform design for MIMO GMTI radar using CAZAC sequences

In multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar, different waveforms are used for each transmitter in order to isolate the signals. Slow-time phase encoding can be used to isolate the transmitters. Current slow-time phase codes focus on separating the returns into non-overlapping sections of the Doppler spectrum of the GMTI radar. We investigate slow-time phase codes that share the full Doppler spectrum. We propose using CAZAC sequences for slow-time phase encoding. Three CAZAC sequence sets are evaluated for their potential in this application. Chu and P sets are found to have good performance.
Cirmtuzumab inhibits ibrutinib-resistant, Wnt5a-induced Rac1 activation and proliferation in mantle cell lymphoma

Cirmtuzumab may enhance the therapeutic activity of ibrutinib by inhibiting ROR1-dependent signaling pathway in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is B-cell malignancy that also expresses ROR1. In this study, we found that the plasma of patients with MCL had high levels of Wnt5a, a ROR1 ligand, that were comparable to those found in patients with CLL; in contrast Wnt5a was virtually undetectable in the plasma of age-matched healthy adults. We also found that Wnt5a induced Rac1 activation in the primary MCL cells. Cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, could inhibit the capacity of Wnt5a to induce primary MCL cells to activate Rac1. Addition of exogenous Wnt5a in vitro significantly enhanced the numbers of MCL cell divisions and the proportion of dividing MCL cells entering S/G2 in MCL cells over time in the presence of CD154 and IL-4/10. Treatment of the MCL cells with cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, blocked Wnt5a-enhanced proliferation of MCL cells. This study indicates that cirmtuzumab and ibrutinib may have complementary activity in the treatment of patients with MCL.
FUNCTIONALITY, VALUES ORDERING AND DECISION IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT Quality of life issues require explicit consideration of criteria of evaluation. The concepts of function and functionality have been employed for this purpose. Not all values systems and institutional configurations are compatible with long-term social survival. Level of community integration is amenable to systematic analysis and it appears that adequate adjustive and adaptive capabilities require some degree of pluralism in a generally integrated and mutually supportive institutional structure. Realistic analysis requires recognition of living systems' continuous dynamic response to environmental challenge. Irreversible growth in the extension and import of global communications and interdependencies has produced a condition of continuing social challenge for all social groupings. To maintain the long-term viability of the global system provision must be made for the preservation of diversity, multiplicity of institutional and cultural forms, and the reasonably peaceful ordering of the temporal succession of communities and institutions as they prove more or less effective.
The effects of inspection error on double sampling by attributes

(This paper was presented at the Journal of Quality Technology Session of the 28th Annual Fall Technical Conference of the Chemical and Process Industries Division of the American Society for Quality Control and the Section on Physical and Engineering S..
Serologische Diagnose und immunologische Aufklärung von Virusinfektionen

Im typischen Fall ist eine Virusinfektion durch eine Immunantwort charakterisiert, die gegen ein oder gegen mehrere Virusantigene gerichtet ist. Es entwickeh sich sowohl eine cellulare als auch eine humorale Immunantwort und die Bestimmung beider Reaktionen kann zur Diagnostik einer Virusinfektion herangezogen werden. Die cellulare Immunitat kann durch einen entsprechenden Hauttest nachgewiesen werden; dieser Test wird am Ende dieses Kapitels beschrieben, er hat eine begrenzte Anwendbarkeit. Eine grosere Bedeutung hat der Nachweis der humoralen Immunreaktion. Anfanglich bilden sich Antikorper der IgM-Klasse, spater folgen IgG-Antikorper. Die IgM-Antikorper verschwinden innerhalb weniger Wochen, wahrend die IgG-Antikorper jahrelang bestehen bleiben. Die serologische Diagnosestellung einer Virusinfektion erfolgt demnach durch den Nachweis eines Titeranstieges der Antikorper gegen das Virus oder den Nachweis antiviraler Antikorper in der IgM-Klasse.
Modeling and equalization of nonlinear bandlimited satellite channels

The problem of modeling and equalization of a nonlinear satellite channel is considered. The channel is assumed to be bandlimited and exhibits both amplitude and phase nonlinearities. A discrete time satellite link is modeled under both uplink and downlink white Gaussian noise. Under conditions of practical interest, a simple and computationally efficient design technique for the minimum mean square error linear equalizer is presented. The bit error probability and some numerical results for a binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) system demonstrate that the proposed equalization technique outperforms standard linear receiver structures.
Reducing Migration Costs and Maximizing Human Development

Migration has financial and social costs, which if too high can place migrants at risk and reduce their development potential. The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) has consistently sought to identify which costs are critical for the development outcomes of migration, and where governments, employers, recruiters, and other intermediaries can make a difference, both to their own benefit and that of the migrants and their families (See RT Session 2.1 on “Reducing the costs of migration and maximizing human development,” GFMD 2010, Puerto Vallarta; and Cluster I Subtheme 2 on “Lowering the Costs of Migration for Higher Development Gains,” GFMD 2011, Geneva). Governments can influence recruitment costs directly through the fees they charge for services associated with international migration, such as passports and visas, and in three other major ways: regulating private recruiters, educating workers about the recruitment process and its costs, and establishing low-cost state-run recruitment agencies to compete with private recruiters. This chapter proposes unilateral and joint actions between countries that combine information and education for migrants, regulations with incentives for recruiters, and a range of flanking options from competition between recruiters to government recruitment monopolies to lower migration-related recruitment costs and increase the development associated with international labor migration.
Effect of Reducing Mean Particle Size of Corn DDGS Using a Roller Mill or a Hammermill on Apparent Total Tract Digestibility of DM, GE, Nitrogen and NDF in Growing and Finishing Pigs

The aim of this study was to test if further grinding of corn DDGS is advantageous in terms of apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, GE, nitrogen (N), and NDF in growing and finishing pigs. It was also tested to determine if ATTD was different between hammermill and roller mill grinding methods. There were 3 diets. Each diet consisted of 51% corn ground at 500 microns with a roller mill, and 45% of corn DDGS ground at 450 microns using a hammermill, or 45% corn DDGS ground at 450 microns using a roller mill, or 45% of corn DDGS not further ground (unprocessed) at 650 microns. Results show that particle size reduction either with a roller mill or a hammermill (from 650 to 450 microns) increased ATTD of GE and DM of corn DDGS, tended to increase ATTD of N, but had no effect on ATTD of NDF. Finishing pigs had grater ATTD of GE and CP than growing pigs (tended to be greater for ATTD of DM). There were no effects of growth stage in ATTD of NDF. There were no interactions between particle size reduction and growth stage. In conclusion, reduction of particle size of corn DDGS (650 to 450 microns) either with a roller or with a hammermill has a beneficial effect on digestibility of valuable dietary components in growing and finishing pigs.
They Pay People to Work Here? The Role of Volunteering on Nonprofit Career Awareness and Interest

Individuals have several possible points of introduction into the nonprofit sector, including parental socialization, volunteering, and academic engagement. However, little is known in regard to how individuals learn about the nonprofit sector as a place of employment and become interested in nonprofit careers. Individuals are often exposed to nonprofit “work” for the first time as a volunteer. This research examines the particular experiences nonprofit employees had prior to their entry into the sector that may have influenced their selection of a nonprofit career. Results of this mixed-methods inquiry indicate that volunteering is an important conduit, as it allows people to see that paid employment exists in the nonprofit sector and allows them to better understand the various career options and career trajectories available to them. Finally, this paper discusses the practical implications for nonprofit practitioners and academic advisors, and their roles in connecting service to career.