cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pinhole Camera For Hot Environment Viewing Of Electron Beam Materials Processing

A very rugged, compact (3x3x10 inches), gas purged "PINHOLE CAMERA" has been developed for viewing electron beam materials processing (e.g. melting or vaporizing metal). The video image is computer processed, providing dimensional and temperature measurements of objects within the field of view, using an IBM PC. The "pinhole camera" concept is similar to a TRW optics system for viewing into a coal combustor through a 2 mm hole. Gas is purged through the hole to repel particulates from optical surfaces. In our system light from the molten metal passes through the 2 mm hole "PINHOLE", reflects off an aluminum coated glass substrate and passes through a window into a vacuum tight container holding the camera and optics at atmospheric pressure. The mirror filters out X-rays which pass through the AL layer and are absorbed in the glass mirror substrate. Since metallic coatings are usually reflective, the image quality is not severely degraded by small amounts of vapor that overcome the gas purge to reach the mirror. Coating thicknesses of up to 2 microns can be tolerated. The mirror is the only element needing occasional servicing. We used a telescope eyepiece as a convenient optical design, but with the traditional optical path reversed. The eyepiece images a scene through a small entrance aperture onto an image plane where a CCD camera is placed. Since the iris of the eyepiece is fixed and the scene intensity varies it was necessary to employ a variable neutral density filter for brightness control. Devices used for this purpose include PLZT light valve from Motorola, mechanically rotated linear polarizer sheets, and nematic liquid crystal light valves. These were placed after the mirror and entrance aperture but before the lens to operate as a voltage variable neutral density filter. The molten metal surface temp being viewed varies from 4000 to 1200 degrees Kelvin. The resultant intensity change (at 488 nm with 10 nm bandwidth) is seven orders of magnitude. This surface intensity variation is contrast reduced if the observation wavelength is a narrow band as far red as high intensity blooming will allow an observable picture. A three eyepiece camera allows an image plane where photo gray glass functions as a neutral density filter only over the high intensity portion of the image, thus reducing blooming. This system is enclosed in a water-cooled housing which can dissipate 15 watts/cm2, keeping the camera below 40 degrees Celsius. Single frames of video output are acquired for feature enhancement and location by a Data Translation DT2803 image processing board housed in an IBM PC.
High-impedance control source for saturable reactor

THIS ANALYSIS is based on core materials whose magnetic property can be approximated by a rectangular flux-density field-intensity curve. The control source is considered of high impedance when alternating currents are practically nonexistent in the control circuit. This condition is encountered in practice in saturable reactors used for the measurement of large directcurrents, and also in the constant-current standard where the d-c control winding is replacedby a permanent magnet.
Medication Adherence, Depressive Symptoms, and Cardiac Event–Free Survival in Patients With Heart Failure

Abstract Background Medication nonadherence and depressive symptoms predict hospitalization and death in patients with heart failure (HF). Depressed patients have lower medication adherence than nondepressed patients. However, the predictive power of the combination of medication adherence and depressive symptoms for hospitalization and death has not been investigated in patients with HF. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the combined influence of medication adherence and depressive symptoms for prediction of cardiac event–free survival in patients with HF. Methods and Results We monitored medication adherence in 216 HF patients who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9) at baseline. Medication adherence was measured objectively with the use of the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS). Patients were followed for up to 3.5 years to collect data on cardiac events. Survival analyses were used to compare cardiac event–free survival among groups. The risk of experiencing a cardiac event for patients with medication nonadherence and depressive symptoms was 5 times higher than those who were medication adherent without depressive symptoms. The risk of experiencing a cardiac event for patients with only 1 risk factor was 1.2–1.3 times that of those with neither risk factor. Conclusions Medication nonadherence and depressive symptoms had a negative synergistic effect on cardiac event–free survival in patients with HF.
Kallman's Bipolar Negative Resistor

KALLMAN has described a bipolar negative resistance element using a few grains1,2 or thin layers2 of semiconductor material. Later2 he describes a technique using “plain iron wire”. The purpose of this communication is to emphasize the elegant simplicity of the latter method; it is found possible to demonstrate many of his results in less than 1 h, using only readily available materials.
Invited Paper Beam Diagnostics and Instrumentation

Methods of cyclotron beam development and diagnostics are described. Techniques for measuring the space, time and energy distributions of both internal and external beams are included. Emphasis is on the more recent methods commonly used at many laboratories.
An expanding universe of the non-coding genome in cancer biology

Neoplastic transformation is caused by accumulation of genetic and epigenetic alterations that ultimately convert normal cells into tumor cells with uncontrolled proliferation and survival, unlimited replicative potential and invasive growth [Hanahan,D. et al. (2011) Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell, 144, 646–674]. Although the majority of the cancer studies have focused on the functions of protein-coding genes, emerging evidence has started to reveal the importance of the vast non-coding genome, which constitutes more than 98% of the human genome. A number of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) derived from the ‘dark matter’ of the human genome exhibit cancer-specific differential expression and/or genomic alterations, and it is increasingly clear that ncRNAs, including small ncRNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), play an important role in cancer development by regulating protein-coding gene expression through diverse mechanisms. In addition to ncRNAs, nearly half of the mammalian genomes consist of transposable elements, particularly retrotransposons. Once depicted as selfish genomic parasites that propagate at the expense of host fitness, retrotransposon elements could also confer regulatory complexity to the host genomes during development and disease. Reactivation of retrotransposons in cancer, while capable of causing insertional mutagenesis and genome rearrangements to promote oncogenesis, could also alter host gene expression networks to favor tumor development. Taken together, the functional significance of non-coding genome in tumorigenesis has been previously underestimated, and diverse transcripts derived from the non-coding genome could act as integral functional components of the oncogene and tumor suppressor network.
Evidence for cyclic bromonium ion transfer in electrophilic bromination of alkenes: Reaction of ω-alkenyl glycosides with aqueous N-bromosuccinimide

Abstract Evidence is provided to support the theory that intermolecular Br+ transfer from a cyclic bromonium ion to an alkene occurs readily and can indeed overwhelm alternative reaction pathways. In the course of a study to determine which ω-alkenyl glycosides could serve as glycosyl donors, it was found that upon treatment with N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) in aqueous acetonitrile, under conditions in which an n-pentenyl glycoside underwent oxidative hydrolysis to the corresponding hemi-acetal, allyl, butenyl, and hexenyl analogs gave bromohydrin addition products. It was further found that when pentenyl and hexenyl analogs were made to compete for an insufficient amount of NBS, the former reacted while the latter was apparently recovered unchanged. However, both reacted independently at similar rates. In addition, the phenomenon was found to be concentration dependent. These results are consistent with the intermolecular, non-degenerate transfer of Br+ from cyclic bromonium ion to alkene.
Model for predicting risk in scheduling proposed R&D tasks

This paper develops a model that can be used to predict a potential variance from planned schedule for a given R&D task. The task is defined as the net increase in knowledge required to move from the initial level of basic knowledge about the problem to the level specified for its accomplishment. Variables are identified that affect the time required for attainment of successive knowledge- state levels, assuming that an adequate technical solution is feasible and adequate funds are available. The variables are defined and evaluated for sixteen historical R&D tasks from an industrial laboratory through use of comparative value estimation techniques, and a correlation-regression analysis is performed with time as the dependent variable. This information is used to structure a predictive model for time to attain intermediate knowledge states given values for the variables associated with these subactivities. Total task time is obtained by addition of predicted times to attain the intermediate knowledge states. The predicted task time is normally distributed with variance including variance and covariance of the intermediate knowledge-state times. The validity of the model is tested on a task representative of a laboratory activity beginning in its planning stage and continuing through the knowledge states of design concept, design, unit assembly, and developing the unit. Faced with evaluation of a new R&D task, management can then determine the optimum method to lower the risk commensurate with its goals/objectives by reassignment of resources or developing alternative technical approaches.
Expression of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Gene in Cultured Hypothalamic Cells: Roles of Protein Kinase A and C

: In hypothalamic cells cultured in serum-free medium, the quantity of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA increases after treatment with an activator of the protein kinase A pathway (8-bromoadenosine cyclic AMP, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, or forskolin) or an activator of protein kinase C (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate or sn-1,2-diacylglycerol). The tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA level decreases in the cells after inhibition of protein kinase C with calphostin C or after depletion of protein kinase C by extended phorbol ester treatment. These data suggest that both protein kinase pathways regulate tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression in hypothalamic cells. As simultaneous activation of both pathways has less than an additive effect on the tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA level, they appear to be interrelated. Compared with the rapid and dramatic increase of the tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA level in pheochromocytoma cells, activation of the protein kinase A or protein kinase C pathway in the cultured hypothalamic cells induces slow changes of a small magnitude in the amount of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA. The slow regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression in hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons corresponds to the relatively high stability of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA (half-life = 14 ± 1 h) in these cells.
Making the "new American workplace" safe and healthy: a joint labor-management-researcher approach.

The American workplace is now in the midst of the most significant change since the advent of mass production. Whether these changes will lead to improvements in worker health and safety is not clear. This paper describes an approach to intervention and research—participatory action research (PAR)—that has the potential to redesign work organizations to improve performance while also improving health and safety. In the PAR method, researchers, managers, workers, and unions collaborate in a process of data-guided problem solving intended both to improve the system's performance and to contribute to general scientific knowledge. A case study example illustrates the use of a PAR approach in an automobile parts facility where labor, management, and researchers jointly conducted a longitudinal project aimed at reducing the major sources of stress and enhancing employee well-being. Results from the 6 year project suggest that, properly implemented, PAR has the potential to both lead to improved intervention and contribute to theoretical advances in occupational safety and health. The PAR approach to intervention research is contrasted with the total quality approach (TQA), and some suggestions are made for improving PAR research designs. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Highly sensitive radioimmunoassay for chorionic gonadotropin in human urine

The value of RIAs that measure hCG levels in human urine has been limited principally because of cross-reactivity with human LH. Recently, antisera generated to antigenic determinants on the intact hCG beta subunit and its carboxyl-terminal peptide have been shown to exhibit substantially reduced human LH cross-reactivity. To take maximal advantage of these antisera and to minimize interference by nonspecific substances in urine, a procedure for extracting and concentrating hCG from 24-h urine samples was developed. The procedure involves preparation of a standard kaolin-acetone urine concentrate and adsorption of the hCG in the concentrate to Concanavalin A covalently linked to agarose for purification and subsequent RIA. In urine samples obtained from patients with gestational trophoblastic disease, there was a direct correlation between hCG levels measured by RIA and those estimated by mouse uterine weight bioassay. In individual subjects, hCG levels were determined in serum and urine obtained the same day. When hCG was clearly detectable in the serum at levels greater than 1 ng/ml, the quantity of hCG measured in the urine concentrate exceeded 500 ng/24 h. The concentrates prepared from the urine of normal persons contained an hCG-like glycoprotein substance with antigenic determinants similar to those of the carboxyl-terminal peptide of hCG beta. As the range of hCG immunoreactivity measured in the urine concentrates of normal subjects was 6-52 ng/24 h, specific and sensitive detection of urinary hCG could be accomplished in patients whose sera contained hCG undetectable by conventional RIA. Partial purification and concentration of urinary hCG by this procedure with subsequent RIA provides a sensitive and reliable method for detecting hCG in urine.
Central Nervous System Correlates of Behavioral Deficits Following Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Despite the high incidence of cognitive and motor impairment in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, the mechanisms of AIDS-related central nervous system (CNS) pathology are not completely understood. Infection with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in macaques provides an excellent model of AIDS, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-induced CNS pathology and cognitive/behavioral impairment. Co-inoculation with two SIV strains, SIV/17E-Fr and SIV/DeltaB670, accelerates SIV CNS disease, producing SIV encephalitis in over 90% of pig-tailed macaques within 3 months. In the present study, this SIV model was employed to identify cellular and viral correlates of behavioral impairment following SIV infection. Measures of psychomotor speed (simple reaction time), fine motor control (bimanual motor task), and general motor activity (home cage movement) were all adversely affected by SIV disease. Prior to euthanasia, performance was significantly impaired in both a simple reaction time task in 6 of 12 monkeys and a bimanual motor task in 5 of 6 monkeys. All monkeys evaluated (11 of 11) showed significant reductions in spontaneous motor activity. Significant correlations were found between impaired performance on the bimanual motor test and axonal damage (accumulation of β-amyloid precursor protein in the corpus callosum) as well as increased microglial activation and macrophage infiltration (levels of CD68 and Ham56 immunostaining). These results suggest that axonal damage is related to the behavioral impairment induced by infection with SIV. The axonal damage may result from neuroimmune responses, including microglial and macrophage activation. Therefore, axonal damage may be a morphologic manifestation of neuronal dysfunction that underlies development of behavioral impairment in HIV/SIV CNS infection.
Natural talents: An argument for the extremes

The existence of natural talent becomes easier to see at extremes in performance. Practice alone could not account for the differences in performance that exist at the highest levels. Practice and other factors are no doubt important contributors to outstanding performance, but not enough to explain great creative works. Talent is essential.
Precise positioning of tachistoscopic stimuli with Scientific Prototype slide changers

An easily made device for eliminating horizontal movement of stimuli in Scientific Prototype slide changers is described. This device does not permanently alter the tachistoscope and does not interfere with normal operation of the slide changer.
Correlations and Problems in Belt Series Stratigraphy, Northern Idaho and Western Montana

A continuous strip of geologic maps has recently been completed along the Idaho-Montana state line between Clark Fork, Idaho, and Superior, Montana. New stratigraphic and petrographic information provides the basis for stratigraphic correlations and for the interpretation of facies changes in this part of the basin of deposition of the Precambrian Belt Series. Identification of facies changes is aided by the recognition of siltite (low-grade metamorphosed siltstone) as a valid rock type, in addition to quartzite and argillite, to classify most of these rocks and to establish mappable units. The older Belt rocks (Prichard through Wallace Formations) were deposited in a trough whose axis trended northwestward, perhaps approximately through Libby, Montana. Subtle facies changes suggest an ancient shore line southwest of the Coeur d9Alene district, Idaho, perhaps near the present exposed edge of the Idaho batholith. The younger Belt formations of the Missoula Group, however, thicken markedly southeastward toward Superior. Thus, the younger Belt rocks were deposited in a trough whose main axis was about at right angles to that of the older trough and perhaps was near Missoula, Montana. Deposition in the Clark Fork area was scant and often interrupted in Missoula time. The young major cross-warp in the old Belt geosyncline undoubtedly has contributed complexities to Belt correlation farther north. Detailed petrographic studies indicate that the Belt rocks from the Pend Oreille area, Idaho, are remarkably uniform in the mineralogic composition of similar rock types throughout 40,000 feet of strata. Further mineralogic studies are required to determine whether this uniformity is local or widespread.
Ergosterol, the unusual dominant sterol of the pythiaceous fungus Zoophagus insidians

Abstract The pythiaceous fungus, Zoophagus insidians synthesizes ergosterol as its dominant sterol. This observation is unusual because the Pythiaceae were previously throught to be incapable of sterol synthesis and the pantonemic fungi in general to not produce ergosterol.
Mircea Eliade's Understanding of Religion and Eastern Christian Thought

This article introduces Mircea Eliade. His biography and his understanding of religion are outlined and the possibly formative influence of Eastern Orthodoxy is considered, as are recent publications on the issue. His early essays present Orthodoxy as a mystical religion in which, without some experience of the sacred, profane existence is seen as meaningless and he later identified this same basic schema in all religion. Orthodox theologians Vladimir Lossky and Dumitru Staniloae are inspected for similarities to Eliade. Ten consonances between Eliade’s thought and Orthodox theology are considered. However, dissonances are also noted, and for every potential Orthodox source of Eliade’s theories there is another equally credible source, causing a controversy over the formative influences of his Romanian youth as opposed to his later Indian experience. It is suggested that Eliade gained insight from Orthodoxy, but that this was brought to consciousness by his sojourn in India. Theology in the form of categorical propositions is present in the Eastern Church but exists alongside other equally important expressions in the visual, dramatic, and narrative arts. The Eastern Church as a multi-media performative theater prepared Eliade to apprehend religion as inducing perceptions of the “really real”—creative poesis exercising a practical influence on its audience’s cognitions. Orthodoxy is a tradition in which categorical propositions had never come to dominate the expression of the sacred, and Eliade wrote from a vantage point on the border, not only between East and West, but also between the scholar and the artist.
Quantum and classical information processing with a single quantum dot in photonic crystal cavity

Quantum dots (QDs) coupled to photonic crystal cavities are interesting both as a testbed for fundamental cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) experiments, as well as nano-scale devices for optical quantum and classical information processing. In addition to providing a scalable, robust, on-chip, semiconductor platform, this coupled system also enables very large dipole-field interaction strength, as a result of the field localization inside of sub-cubic wavelength volume (vacuum Rabi frequency is in the range of 10s of GHz). In this paper, we describe some of the recent experiments performed on this system in our group.
Age-Specific Incidence Data Indicate Four Mutations Are Required for Human Testicular Cancers

Normal human cells require a series of genetic alterations to undergo malignant transformation. Direct sequencing of human tumors has identified hundreds of mutations in tumors, but many of these are thought to be unnecessary and a result of, rather than a cause of, the tumor. The exact number of mutations to transform a normal human cell into a tumor cell is unknown. Here I show that male gonadal germ cell tumors, the most common form of testicular cancers, occur after four mutations. I infer this by constructing a mathematical model based upon the multi-hit hypothesis and comparing it to the age-specific incidence data. This result is consistent with the multi-hit hypothesis, and implies that these cancers are genetically or epigenetically predetermined at birth or an early age.
Collaborative spectrum sensing for cognitive networks - Factors for optimal decision points

One of the ultimate requirements of a Cognitive Radio Network is that it must have a high likelihood of correctly detecting other users in its environment. To support this, improvements can be made in the spectrum sensing capabilities of individual nodes, but the final goal may only be achieved by taking advantage of collaborative spectrum sensing mechanisms. Although further cases need to be evaluated, as well as Pd models need to be developed for individual nodes, we have shown in this paper that incorporating spectrum information from other nodes in decision making can indeed result in increased performance.
Incomplete double frequency sweeps to select small quadrupolar coupling static powder patterns

Difference spectra based on the magnitude of the quadrupolar coupling of a site has been observed under static conditions utilizing a double frequency sweep pulse sequence to enhance the central transition of a small electric field gradient (EFG) environment. Through the use of convergent sweeps that only cover the inner satellite transitions of the smaller EFG site, an echo spectrum results that favors the smaller site, which can then be used in conjunction with normal echo spectra to create a difference spectrum that consists primarily of the smaller site. The simplification of the static lineshape data permits simulation for the extraction of chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) information for the site. The method is demonstrated using (93)Nb NMR for samples with multiple niobium environments due to mixtures of compounds, MgNb(2)O(6)/LiNbO(3), or due to crystallographic structure, KCa(2)Nb(3)O(10).
Hydraulic control of a highly stratified estuarine front

Abstract Observations at the mouth of the Fraser River (British Columbia, Canada) indicate an abrupt frontal transition between unstratified river outflow and a highly stratified river plume with differences in salinity greater than 25 psu across a few meters in the vertical direction and several hundred meters in the horizontal direction. The front roughly follows a natural break in the bathymetry, crossing the channel at an angle of approximately 45°, and is essentially stationary for a period of approximately 3.5 h centered on the low tide following the larger of two daily ebbs. The location of the front is coincident with observations of significantly supercritical internal Froude numbers at the front, based on velocities in the along-flow direction. This observation contradicts the one-dimensional theory, which indicates that the Froude number should be 1. However, because the front is oriented obliquely to the outflow, a coordinate system can be selected that is normal to the front and for which a c...
Photoluminescence-Based Correlation of Semiconductor Electric Field Thickness with Adsorbate Hammett Substituent Constants. Adsorption of Aniline Derivatives onto Cadmium Selenide

Adsorption of ring-substituted aniline derivatives, presumably through the amino group, onto the (0001) face of single-crystal n-CdSe or n-CdS [CdS(e)] profoundly affects the semiconductor's photoluminescence (PL) by effecting charge transfer between surface states and the bulk semiconductor. The variations in PL intensity of etched samples are well fit by a dead-layer model, allowing estimation of the adduct-induced changes in depletion width
Evaluation of infection and nutritional status as determinants of cellular immunosuppression

While an association between severe protein-energy malnutrition and diminished cellular immunity has been documented, the impact of lesser grades of malnutrition on cellular immunosuppression is less clear. This study emphasizes that the relationship between mild-to- moderate malnutrition and cellular immune function, assessed through delayed-type hypersensitivity testing, is often obscured by the immunosuppressive effects of concurrent infection. Results from an 18-month prospective field study of nutritional status, cellular immune function and morbidity among 62 nomadic Turkana children ages 8 months to 10 years were used to quantify the immunosuppressive effects of mild-to-moderate malnutrition and infection. When controlling for infection at the time of DTH testing, children below -2 s.d. of the reference median weight- for-height or weight-for-age were at least 3 times as likely to be anergic (non-responsive) as children at the reference median. At the same time, infected children experienced a 4.9 times higher risk of being anergic compared to uninfected children. These findings suggest that mild-to-moderate malnutrition and infection are significant independent risk factors for impaired cellular immune function among Turkana children. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:381-390, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Analytical bias of cross-reactive polyclonal antibodies for environmental immunoassays of Alternaria alternata

Background Alternaria alternata is recognized as an important aeroallergen indoors and outdoors, and exposure to the fungus has been identified as a risk factor for asthma. Two recent publications concluded that 95% to 99% of American homes contained detectable amounts of Alternaria antigens when analyzed with a polyclonal antibody (pAb)–based ELISA. Objectives We investigated the cross-reactivity of the commercially available pAbs that were used in those studies. Methods Reactivity to 24 fungal species commonly found in indoor environments was analyzed by inhibition ELISA by using solid-phase A alternata antigen. The pAbs were also tested by immunoblotting and halogen immunoassay for a subgroup of fungi. Results Spores of 7 fungi including species of Alternaria , Ulocladium , Stemphylium , Epicoccum , Drechslera , and Exserohilum strongly inhibited the binding of the pAbs when tested by ELISA. Six other fungi reacted in the ELISA at a lower level, and 11 fungal species including several Penicillium , Aspergillus , Fusarium , and Cladosporium species failed to show inhibition. The immunoblots and the halogen immunoassay staining confirmed the cross-reactivity patterns of the ELISA. Conclusion The pAbs against A alternata were found to cross-react broadly with related and nonrelated fungi. The prevalence data previously reported for A alternata should be considered to be fungal-reactive rather than A alternata –specific.
The reativistic heavy ion program at Brookhaven

Abstract The current heavy ion program at the AGS is reviewed. The schedule and characteristics of the Booster which will allow Au beams to be accelerated is presented. A call is made for Letters of Intent for RHIC experiments.
Topoisomerase II inhibition differentially modulates Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cell phenotype.

Abstract Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells differentiate spontaneously after confluence when contact inhibition slows proliferation. We hypothesized that such reversible differentiation might be dependent on DNA synthesis and repair. We studied the effects of the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide on Caco-2 proliferation and on the differentiation markers alkaline phosphatase and dipeptidyl dipeptidase specific activity, as well cell motility. Etoposide (0.3–10 μM) dose-dependently inhibited proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity. However, etoposide (0.7–3 μM) dose-dependently stimulated dipeptidyl dipeptidase activity. Above this concentration, dipeptidyl dipeptidase was also inhibited. Similar effects on enzyme activity were observed when proliferation was blocked with mitomycin C. Etoposide (1–10 μM) also dose-dependently inhibited cell motility. The selective stimulation of dipeptidyl dipeptidase activity by etoposide may offer a clue to the regulation of intestinal brush border enzyme expression at the molecular level.
A 77-year-old female with a giant hepatic cyst

A 77-year-old female presented with high blood pressure noted at home. She was having abdominal pain and distension for several years but attributed it to old age and ignored the symptoms. CT scan revealed a giant hepatic liver cyst. The cyst was subsequently excised via laparoscopic unroofing. The patient did well post op and her symptoms were alleviated.
A Polynomial Time Algorithm For Fault Diagnosability

We present the first polynomial time algorithm for testing t-diagnosability. This is a significant advance in system level fault diagnosis. We also presented part of our analysis of t/s-diagnosability, including the fact that it is co-NP-complete and that there are polynomial algorithms for t/t and t/(t+1)-diagnosability.
An empirical analysis of joint residential electricity efficiency gains within and across end uses: Implications for demand-side management

To better understand the observed performance of demand-side approaches on residential electricity use, we develop and apply a mixed regression model of electricity consumption that includes marginal, joint technical change for multiple residential electricity end-uses (air conditioning, appliances, devices, and electric vehicles). Results indicate that the relative technical state of a home can significantly influence the performance of demand-side interventions, particularly the presence of a programmable thermostat. Within air conditioning, we generally find that “enough” consistent technical improvement is needed to realize energy savings, which could be due to engineering building performance or a declining marginal rebound effect as householders become thermally comfortable. Results indicate that homeowners do not leverage efficiency gains for appliance services but demonstrate mixed results when considering the expansion of electricity services. Householders may rebound into device loads, albeit such results are not statistically significant. However, results indicate that householders do not leverage efficiency gains for electric vehicles. These results demonstrate that the net effect of technological change in households is relative to a home's baseline technical efficiency and the degree to which homeowners seek new and existing energy services, challenging empirical assessments that do not control for the technical state of multiple end uses.
Three sequential chemotherapy doublets for the treatment of newly diagnosed advanced müllerian malignancies: The modified triple doublet regimen

Abstract Objective. Previously, we reported the use of three sequential doublets (Triple Doublets) in the treatment of women with newly diagnosed and advanced stage mullerian malignancies. The surgically defined negative second look operation (SLO) rate to Triple Doublets was 38%. Modifications were made to this treatment regimen that were predicted to reduce toxicity and possibly increase efficacy. Methods. Open label two-cohort study. Patients with a new diagnosis of Stages II–IV mullerian malignancy were eligible. After cytoreductive surgery, patients were treated with three sequential doublets including 3 cycles of carboplatin and gemcitabine, and 3 cycles of carboplatin and paclitaxel, and 3 cycles of doxorubicin and topotecan. After therapy, all women were clinically staged and evaluated at SLO if clinical staging was negative for residual disease. Primary endpoints were toxicity and negative SLO rate with rates of 60% and 40% defined a priori in optimally cytoreduced (cohort 1) and suboptimally cytoreduced or Stage IV (cohort 2), respectively. Results. Eighty-five eligible patients were enrolled with a median age of 52 years. Forty-seven and thirty-eight women were in cohorts 1 and 2, respectively. 723 cycles of chemotherapy were delivered with no toxic deaths. Grades 3 and 4 toxicities included neutropenia in 75% of patients and thrombocytopenia in 65% of patients during at least one cycle of therapy. Fever and neutropenia were seen in 3.5% of patients. All Grades 3 and 4 non-hematologic toxicities were seen at a frequency of Conclusions. Treatment with the modified triple doublet regimen is tolerable with an encouraging pathologic CR rate.
Factors related to postpartum depressive symptoms in low-income women.

ABSTRACT Objective: This study examined the relationship of depressive symptoms to psychosocial and lifestyle variables in postpartum women. Design: The Mothers' Overweight Management Study (MOMS) was a randomized, weight-gain prevention trial. Baseline data are presented on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Perceived Stress Scale, Social Support Questionnaire, smoking status, body weight, waist circumference, and step counts. Subjects/Setting: The study was conducted at the Special Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Women (N = 151) had to be over the age of 18 years and have a child under two years of age to participate. Results: Fifty-one percent of the women (mean age = 27 years; mean of 30 weeks postpartum) reported depressive symptoms (27% mild, 21% moderate, and 3% severe). Overall, stress scores were high (Mean = 27.2) and activity levels low (Mean steps = 5984). Mean body mass index was 30.2. Neither body weight nor steps walked were related to depressive sympt...
Automated Test Generation from Vulnerability Signatures

Web applications need to validate and sanitize user inputs in order to avoid attacks such as Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and SQL Injection. Writing string manipulation code for input validation and sanitization is an error-prone process leading to many vulnerabilities in real-world web applications. Automata-based static string analysis techniques can be used to automatically compute vulnerability signatures (represented as automata) that characterize all the inputs that can exploit a vulnerability. However, there are several factors that limit the applicability of static string analysis techniques in general: 1) undesirability of static string analysis requires the use of approximations leading to false positives, 2) static string analysis tools do not handle all string operations, 3) dynamic nature of the scripting languages makes static analysis difficult. In this paper, we show that vulnerability signatures computed for deliberately insecure web applications (developed for demonstrating different types of vulnerabilities) can be used to generate test cases for other applications. Given a vulnerability signature represented as an automaton, we present algorithms for test case generation based on state, transition, and path coverage. These automatically generated test cases can be used to test applications that are not analyzable statically, and to discover attack strings that demonstrate how the vulnerabilities can be exploited.
The Role of Nano-technology in Data Storage Devices and Systems

As data storage technologies evolve, the balance among electronic, magnetic, and optical modes of storage shifts in unpredictable ways. Commercial success is tied to the ability to continually shrink the individual bit's spatial dimensions.
Young adult outcome of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a controlled 10-year follow-up study.

Background Our objective was to estimate the lifetime prevalence of psychopathology in a sample of youth with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) through young adulthood using contemporaneous diagnostic and analytic techniques. Method We conducted a case-control, 10-year prospective study of ADHD youth. At baseline, we assessed consecutively referred male, Caucasian children with (n=140) and without (n=120) DSM-III-R ADHD, aged 6-18 years, ascertained from psychiatric and pediatric sources to allow for generalizability of results. At the 10-year follow-up, 112 (80%) and 105 (88%) of the ADHD and control children, respectively, were reassessed (mean age 22 years). We created the following categories of psychiatric disorders: Major Psychopathology (mood disorders and psychosis), Anxiety Disorders, Antisocial Disorders (conduct, oppositional-defiant, and antisocial personality disorder), Developmental Disorders (elimination, language, and tics disorder), and Substance Dependence Disorders (alcohol, drug, and nicotine dependence), as measured by blinded structured diagnostic interview. Results The lifetime prevalence for all categories of psychopathology were significantly greater in ADHD young adults compared to controls, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of 6.1 (3.5-10.7), 2.2 (1.5-3.2), 5.9 (3.9-8.8), 2.5 (1.7-3.6), and 2.0 (1.3-3.0), respectively, for the categories described above. Conclusions By their young adult years, ADHD youth were at high risk for a wide range of adverse psychiatric outcomes including markedly elevated rates of antisocial, addictive, mood and anxiety disorders. These prospective findings provide further evidence for the high morbidity associated with ADHD across the life-cycle and stress the importance of early recognition of this disorder for prevention and intervention strategies.
The analysis of ensembles of moderately saturated interstellar lines

It is shown that the combined equivalent widths for a large population of Gaussian-like interstellar line components, each with different central optical depths tau(0) and velocity dispersions b, exhibit a curve of growth (COG) which closely mimics that of a single, pure Gaussian distribution in velocity. Two parametric distributions functions for the line populations are considered: a bivariate Gaussian for tau(0) and b and a power law distribution for tau(0) combined with a Gaussian dispersion for b. First, COGs for populations having an extremely large number of nonoverlapping components are derived, and the implications are shown by focusing on the doublet-ratio analysis for a pair of lines whose f-values differ by a factor of two. The consequences of having, instead of an almost infinite number of lines, a relatively small collection of components added together for each member of a doublet are examined. The theory of how the equivalent widths grow for populations of overlapping Gaussian profiles is developed. Examples of the composite COG analysis applied to existing collections of high-resolution interstellar line data are presented.
Risks and benefits of physical activity among breast cancer survivors who have completed treatment

Worldwide, over 1 million cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. In the USA, approximately 185,000 women are newly diagnosed annually. Nearly 90% of newly diagnosed cancer patients in the USA will live for 5 years beyond diagnosis and there are estimated to be 2.4 million breast cancer survivors currently living in the USA. There are unique challenges in meeting the medical needs of these survivors. Persistent impairment and increased medical risks can occur as a result of treatment, including changes to the cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal, neurological and lymphatic systems. Physical activity can cause positive changes in each of these body systems. However, physiologic impairments and altered risks for cardiopulmonary, bone health, neurosensory and other outcomes among breast cancer survivors can cause confusion regarding the safety of returning to exercise after treatment. In this article, we review the adverse effects of cancer treatments on the body systems affe...
Timber Management Decision Making under Imperfect Capital Markets

Capital market imperfections seldom have been considered in the choice of financial criteria for making timber management decisions. A forest planning model for evenaged timber management is developed to evaluate criterion selection under imperfect markets. Some investment rules are shown to be equivalent to maximizing the firm's liquidation value for certain capital market conditions. Although imperfect capital markets severely limit wealth accumulation, small deviations from the optimal harvesting schedules do not severely affect the firm's value. Much concern about criterion selection would evaporate if the firm's investing and financing functions were integrated into a single process.
Cross-coupled iterative learning control of systems with dissimilar dynamics: design and implementation

Cross-coupled iterative learning control has previously been applied to contour tracking problems with planar manufacturing robots in which both axes can be characterised as similar systems; having similar dynamics and identical hardware. However, there are many repetitive applications in which dynamically dissimilar systems cooperate to pursue a primary performance objective. This article introduces a novel framework to couple dynamically dissimilar systems while applying iterative learning control, showing the ability to noncausally compensate for a slow system with a fast system. In this framework, performance requirements for a primary objective can more readily be achieved by emphasising an underutilised fast system instead of straining a less-capable slow system. The controller is applied to a micro-robotic deposition manufacturing system to coordinate a slow extrusion system axis and a fast positioning system axis to pursue the primary performance objective, dimensional accuracy of a fabricated par...
Molecular analysis of porin gene transcription in heterogenotypic multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from scouring calves

Background: Despite evidence that altered membrane porins may impair microbial drug uptake thereby potentially compounding efflux pump-mediated multidrug resistance, few studies have evaluated gene transcription to identify multidrug-resistance-associated porins and other potential drug targets. Methods: Genes that encode six membrane porins (fadL, lamB, ompC, ompF, ompW and yiaT) and two membrane proteins (tolC and ompT) were assessed by PCR and by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT ‐PCR) analysis of 10 multidrug-resistant (MDR) and 10 antibiotic-susceptible (AS) Escherichia coli isolates. The mean DDCt values for the study E. coli genes were analysed by the Wilcoxon test (P ¼ 0.05). Results: All 20 E. coli isolates tested positive for tolC, lamB, ompC, ompF genes, while 10 MDR and 9/10 (90%) AS isolates were positive for the fadL gene. Seven out of 10 (70%) MDR and 7/10 (70%) AS isolates were positive for the yiaT gene, while 7/10 (70%) MDR and only 4/10 (40%) AS isolates were positive for the ompT gene. The mean DDCt values for the tolC and yiaT genes were significantly higher in MDR than in AS isolates (Wilcoxon test; P,0.05). No significant difference was seen with respect to fadL, lamB, ompC, ompF, ompT and ompW gene transcription (Wilcoxon test; P .0.05). Conclusions: Findings suggest up-regulated transcription of tolC and yiaT genes in the MDR E. coli isolates. These results indirectly suggest that TolC and YiaT proteins may play some role(s) in multidrug resistance, but proteomic studies are needed before the two proteins are considered potential drug targets.
Transient and impulse responses of a one-dimensional linearly attenuating medium — II. A parametric study

We investigate one-dimensional waves in a standard linear solid for geophysically relevant ranges of the parameters. The critical parameters are shown to be T*= t_u/Q_m where t_u is the travel time and Q_m the quality factor in the absorption band, and τ^(-1)_m, the high-frequency cut-off of the relaxation spectrum. The visual onset time, rise time, peak time, and peak amplitude are studied as functions of T* and τ_m. For very small τ_m, this model is shown to be very similar to previously proposed attenuation models. As τ_m grows past a critical value which depends on T*, the character of the attenuated pulse changes. Seismological implications of this model may be inferred by comparing body wave travel times with a ‘one second’ earth model derived from long-period observations and corrected for attenuation effects assuming a frequency independent Q over the seismic band. From such a comparison we speculate that there may be a gap in the relaxation spectrum of the Earth's mantle for relaxation times shorter than about one second. However, observational constraints from the attenuation of body waves suggest that such a gap might in fact occur at higher frequencies. Such a hypothesis would imply a frequency dependence of Q in the Earth's mantle for short-period body waves.
From texting app to braille literacy

We report the results of a pilot study that explores potential uses for BrailleTouch in the instruction of braille literacy for the visually impaired. BrailleTouch is an eyes-free text entry application for smart phones. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews and a focus group with four domain expert participants.
Improving classification based off-topic search detection via category relationships

The illegitimate access of documents by insiders (also known as off-topic search) is an increasingly prevalent and largely ignored problem. We propose an approach that uses text classification for off-topic search detection. Our empirical results indicate that off-topic search detection effectiveness improves by considering only a subset of documents that are retrieved for a given user query. Furthermore, we also show that the effectiveness of off-topic search detection improves by using the ontological information of document categories. Our empirical results demonstrate that utilizing sibling relationship information and relationships derived from misclassification information statistically significantly improves the results over the baseline in most cases.