cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Why are (some) Platonists so insouciant

Some platonists truly agonize over the ontological commitments which their platonism demands of them. Peter van Inwagen, for example, confesses candidly, I am happy to admit that I am uneasy about believing in the existence of ‘causally irrelevant’ objects. The fact that abstract objects, if they exist, can be neither causes or [sic] effects is one of the many features of abstract objects that make nominalism so attractive. I should very much like to be a nominalist, but I don't see how to be one …
Mono-belly and beyond: spectrum of imaging manifestations of EBV infection in the abdomen

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a DNA virus from the herpes virus group affecting only humans. More than 90% adults are infected by the virus, but very few ever have symptoms. Within the abdomen, both solid and hollow viscera can be involved in symptomatic disease. Awareness of the spectrum of imaging findings, high index of suspicion, and appropriate clinical and laboratory information can help in the early and accurate diagnosis in these cases.
Seminal vesiculography: limited value in vesiculitis.

Abstract Seminal vesiculograms were performed on 44 men being evaluated for chronic perineal pain consistent with seminal vesiculitis. The vesiculograms were performed prior to antibiotic instillation into the vas deferens. Vesiculograms were abnormal in 32 of the 44 patients (73%). The most common abnormality was the presence of multiple small diverticula producing a feathery appearance of the vas deferens (64 %), a finding present in only 19 per cent of patients being evaluated for infertility and 20 per cent of normal patients. Asymmetry and incomplete filling of the seminal vesicles were less common abnormalities. Seventeen of these patients had seminal vesiculectomies for persistent or recurrent pain, and 15 have been followed long enough to assess the results. The histologic examination of the excised seminal vesicles was abnormal in only 3 patients (20%), despite radiographic abnormalities in 10 (67%) and improvement after surgery in 12 (80%). Seminal vesiculography may be useful to exclude anatomic abnormalities prior to instillation, but does not appear sufficiently specific to warrant use as the primary diagnostic examination for patients suspected of having seminal vesiculitis.
Do abnormal Starling forces cause fetal hydrops in red blood cell alloimmunization

OBJECTIVE : The purpose of the current investigation was to ascertain whether derangements in umbilical venous pressure and plasma colloid osmotic pressure are involved in the pathophysiologic condition of immune hydrops fetalis. STUDY DESIGN : Umbilical venous pressure (corrected for ambient amniotic fluid pressure) and colloid osmotic pressure were measured during intravascular transfusion. Fetal hydrops was defined as the presence of ascites by ultrasonography. The Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison of groups; a value of p RESULTS : Fifteen hydropic fetuses were matched for gestational age with 15 nonhydropic fetuses also undergoing intrauterine transfusion for anemia. On comparison with their nonhydropic counterparts, hydropic fetuses had a statistically lower colloid osmotic pressure. Umbilical venous pressure was higher and the colloid osmotic pressure – umbilical venous pressure gradient was lower in association with fetal hydrops although these differences did not achieve statistical significance. CONCLUSION : Mild abnormalities of intravascular Starling forces may play a role in the formation of hydrops in anemic fetuses. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1992;167:907–12.)
In situ gas permeability measurements to delineate damage in rock salt

In situ gas permeability measurements can be used to distinguish regions within rock salt formations which have experienced disturbance or damage. High-resolution hydrologic testing reveals rock salt well removed from an excavation (i.e. undisturbed) is a low permeability, low porosity, porous medium with a significant pore (brine) pressure. In this region, rock salt is effectively impermeable to gas due to threshold capillary pressures which preclude gas from displacing the resident brine. In a region confined to a depth of less than about one effective radius of an excavation, rock salt is typically permeable to gas. The measured gas permeabilities are consistent with a partially saturated, dilated zone developing adjacent to the excavation. The extent and nature of the damaged region interpreted from gas permeability measurements is consistent with other measurements and analyses. Thus, gas permeability measurements serve as effective means for detecting and delineating the damaged region.
Some issues in measuring and reporting solution quality of interactive multiple objective programming procedures

Issues in measuring and reporting solution quality are examined when value functions are used in computational experiments of interactive multiple objective programming procedures. They include value functions used, weights assigned to the objective functions in the value functions, the size of the efficient set, and the number of objective functions. The feasibility and existence of the ideal and nadir points are also discussed. Detailed examples are presented to demonstrate these issues. Neither the users nor, in fact, the researchers may discern these issues even though they have strong impacts on the reported solution qualities. Common practices in the computational experiments of interactive multiple objective programming procedures are reviewed.
Issues in General Residency Training Pertinent to Recruitment of Child Psychiatrists: Can We Identify the Problems?

General psychiatry residency processes can influence the recruitment of child and adolescent psychiatry fellows at many levels through a variety of subtle events. General residencies differ in the extent to which they welcome and accommodate students with early interests in child and adolescent psychiatry, provide child and adolescent rotations during the general program that are likely to encourage rather than discourage additional interest in child and adolescent psychiatry, respect and enhance the professional status of child and adolescent psychiatry relative to general psychiatry, and facilitate or impede the transition from general residency to child and adolescent fellowships. Systematic study of these issues may provide directions for fruitful interventions at the level of the general residency likely to increase recruitment into child and adolescent psychiatry.
Endonuclease-sensitive regions in SV40 chromatin from cells infected with duplicated mutants.

Abstract Genetic information required for the presence of an endonuclease-sensitive region in SV40 chromatin has been investigated by use of viral mutants duplicated for some or all of the sequences which are nuclease sensitive in wild-type SV40 chromatin. Nuclear extracts were prepared from mutant-infected BSC-1 cells, endogenous nuclease present in the nuclear extract was allowed to introduce double-strand cuts into viral chromatin, and the distribution of preferential cutting sites was determined by restriction enzyme mapping. ev -1114, ev -1119, in (Or)-1412, and mutant 1415 exhibited nuclease-sensitive regions corresponding to each duplicated segment. Hence, it is likely that the genome segment between map positions 0.65 and 0.69 provides sufficient cis -information to organize the nuclease-sensitive chromatin configuration. A functional origin for viral replication is not required. The duplicated segments of ev -1114 differ substantially in their susceptibility to cleavage by endogenous endonuclease and Bgl I. From this it is concluded that genetic information between map positions 0.71 and 0.75 contributes substantially to the degree of accessibility throughout the nuclease-sensitive region.
Simultaneous utilization of glucose and D-xylose by Candida shehatae in a chemostat

The kinetics of biomass formation, D-xylose utilization, and mixed substrate utilization were determined in a chemostat using the yeast Candida shehatae. The maximum growth rate of C. shehatae grown aerobically on D-xylose was 0.42 h−1 and the Monod constant, K s, was 0.06 g L−1. The biomass yield, Y {X/S}, ranged from 0.40 to 0.50 g g−1 over a dilution rate range of 0.2–0.3 h−1, when C. shehatae was grown on pure D-xylose. Mixtures of D-xylose and glucose (∼1 : 1) were simultaneously utilized over a dilution rate from 0.15 to 0.35 h−1 at pH 3.5 and 4.5, but pH 3.5 reduced μmax and reduced the dilution rate range over which D-xylose was utilized in the presence of glucose. At pH 4.5, μmax was not reduced with the mixed sugar feed and the overall or lumped K s value was not significantly increased (0.058 g L−1 vs 0.06 g L−1), when compared to a pure D-xylose feed. Kinetic data indicate that C. shehatae is an excellent candidate for chemostat production of value added products from renewable carbon sources, since simultaneous mixed substrate utilization was observed over a wide range of growth rates on a 1 : 1 mixture of glucose and D-xylose.
Reversible renal insufficiency and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy.

Excerpt To the Editors:Toto and colleagues (1) reported a relatively high incidence of reversible renal insufficiency (19%) in patients with hypertensive nephrosclerosis and chronic renal insuffici...
Molecular weight development in constant‐rate styrene emulsion polymerization

Continuously uniform latices were applied in an experimental study of molecular weight development in constant-rate styrene emulsion polymerization. The formulation around which this study centered exhibited Smith-Ewart, case II kinetics from zero to about 60% conversion with a constant conversion rate of 13 ± 2%/hr and a final particle diameter of 2300 A. By utilizing an inhibitor perturbation technique, we directly confirmed that free radicals are generated from K2S2O8 by a first-order process with 100% efficiency. We further confirmed that, in contrast to current theories for constant rate polymerization, both the instantaneous values of Mn and Mv may increase 6- to 9-fold. Little or no chain branching is evidenced. We interpret these findings to mean that radicals are not utilized with 100% efficiency in emulsion polymerization.
Route of Contact Sensitization and in Vitro Lymphocyte Transformation

A guinea pig skin extract conjugate with dinitrofluorobenzene elicited significant in vitro transformation of cultured lymphnode lymphocytes from 19 of 27 guinea pigs sensitized by footpad injection of dinitrochiorobenzene in Freund's complete adjuvant, as compared to only 1 of 26 guinea pigs topically sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene. Topically sensitized guinea pigs appear to be more appropriate models for contact allergy in man than guinea pigs sensitized by other methods. Other sensitization procedures are likely to produce more heterogeneous forms of sensitization, with features of contact allergy, tuberculin-type allergy, antibody-mediated hypersensitivity and cutaneous basophile hypersensitivity.
Comment and further evidence on ‘implicit interest on demand deposits’

in a recent article, Startz (1979) has made an interesting contribution to the literature concerning the payment of implicit interest on demand deposits by banks. Startz usefully distinguishes between three competing propositions. The first, called the "traditional hypothesis' describes the commonly held view that banks pay no interest (explicit or implicit) on demand deposits. The second position is the "modified traditional hypothesis'. This proposition holds that banks pay some implicit interst on demand deposits, although the amount paid is less (50'~o is Startz" estimate) than what would be paid if the legal prohibition on the payment of interest was lifted. The third view, that banks pay a rate of implicit interest fully equal to the rate which would be paid in the absence of the legal prohibition, is called the 'competitive hypothesis'. As Startz notes, most work (implicitly) accepts the traditional hypothesis. Startz, though, supports the modified traditional view, while Klein (1974) provides evidence in favor of the competitive hypothesis [see however, Carlson and Frew (1978) for some penetrating criticisms of Klein's work]. The issue of whether banks pay implicit interest and if so, how much they pay, is gaining in importance. There appears to be growing momentum in Congress to pass legislation ending the legal sanction about paying interest on demand deposits. The legislation would either directly repeal the prohibition or else indirectly accomplish the same goal by legalizing the nation~wide offering of interest bearing NOW (negotiable orders of withdrawals) or ATS (automatic funds transfer service) accounts, if the traditional hypotheses, or, to a lesser degree, the modified traditional hypotheses is true, the regulatory changes being considered by Congress would have a large. negative impact on the banking system because competition would force banks to incur substantial amounts as explicit interest. The specter of widespread banking failures and increased riskiness to the public brought
Re-engineering protein interfaces yields copper-inducible ferritin cage assembly

The ability to chemically control protein-protein interactions would allow the interrogation of dynamic cellular processes and lead to a better understanding and exploitation of self-assembling protein architectures. Here we introduce a new engineering strategy--reverse metal-templated interface redesign (rMeTIR)--that transforms a natural protein-protein interface into one that only engages in selective response to a metal ion. We have applied rMeTIR to render the self-assembly of the cage-like protein ferritin controllable by divalent copper binding, which has allowed the study of the structure and stability of the isolated ferritin monomer, the demonstration of the primary role of conserved hydrogen-bonding interactions in providing geometric specificity for cage assembly and the uniform chemical modification of the cage interior under physiological conditions. Notably, copper acts as a structural template for ferritin assembly in a manner that is highly reminiscent of RNA sequences that template virus capsid formation.
Performance and energy evaluation of data prefetching on intel Xeon Phi

There is an urgent need to evaluate the existing parallelism and data locality-oriented techniques on emerging manycore machines using multithreaded applications. Data prefetching is a well-known latency hiding technique that comes with various hardware- and software-based implementations in almost all commercial machines. A well-tuned prefetcher can reduce the observed data access latencies significantly by bringing the soonto- be-requested data into the cache ahead of time, eventually improving application execution time. Motivated by this, we present in this paper a detailed performance and power characterization of software (compiler-guided) and hardware data prefetching on an Intel Xeon Phi-based system. Our main contributions are (i) an analysis of the interactions between hardware and software prefetching, showing how hardware prefetching can throttle itself in response to software; (ii) results on the power and energy behavior of prefetching, showing how performance and energy gains outweigh the increased power cost of prefetching; and (iii) an evaluation of the use of intrinsic prefetch instructions to prefetch for applications with difficult-to-detect access patterns.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) up-regulates epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) in cervical cancer in vitro: this action is mediated through HPV-E6 in HPV-positive cancers.

Abstract Objectives Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGF-R) up-regulation in cervical cancer cells leads to an increase in cell proliferative Insulin-like Growth Factor II (IGF-II) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and a decrease of the anti-proliferative IGF-binding protein-3 (IGF-BP3). The objectives for this study are: (a) to find if VEGF, in turn, up-regulates EGF-R and down-regulates IGF-BP3; (b) to determine if human papilloma virus (HPV-E6) mediates this action of VEGF in HPV-positive cells; and (c) to verify if these effects are reflected in changes in cell proliferation Methods We used HPV-positive HeLa (Black), ME-180 and CaSki (Caucasian) and HPV-negative HT-3 (Caucasian) cell lines. (a) Levels of HPV-E6 in the HPV-positive cells were enumerated after treating the cells for 24 h with 20 ng/ml of VEGF using our semi-quantitative immunofluorescent antibody assay. (b) Cellular levels of EGF-R, HPV-E6, IGF-II and IGF-BP3 were enumerated in ME-180 and CaSki cells incubated for 24 h with 5, 10 and 20 ng/ml of VEGF. (c) HPV-negative HT-3 and HPV-positive ME-180 and CaSki cells were incubated with 20 ng/ml VEGF alone or in combination with antibodies to HPV-E6 and EGF-R. HPV-E6 (measured only in HPV-positive cells), EGF-R, IGF-II and IGF-BP3 levels were measured. (d) Cell proliferation was determined using cell proliferation Bradykinine-U colorimetric assay, in HT-3, HeLa and ME-180 cell lines in the presence of VEGF alone and with HPV-E6 antibodies. Results (a) In all the HPV-positive cell lines, 20 ng/ml VEGF significantly increased (30-50%; P P P Conclusions In cervical cancer, VEGF up-regulates EGF-R and down-regulates IGF-BP3, thus amplifying the cell proliferative activity of EGF-R. This action of VEGF seems to be mediated, directly through EGF-R or indirectly through HPV-E6 in the HPV-positive cancers, while EGF-R up-regulation appears to play a major role in the HPV-negative cervical cancers.
A 44-year experience with tuberculous enterocolitis.

Thirty-one eases of intestinal tuberculosis, diagnosed from 1932 through 1975 at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, were reviewed with particular reference to the impact of antituberculous chemotherapy on the outcome of the disease and to the role of surgery in diagnosis and treatment. The chest X-ray was 90% effective in demonstrating evidence of tuberculosis in this series. However, since even on gross examination differentiation of intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn's disease or neoplasia may be impossible, surgical exploration is indicated when diagnosis is in doubt and biopsy and culture of intra-abdominal tissue should be performed for diagnostic purposes. The importance of instituting immediate therapy is emphasized by a 67% mortality rate in the prestreptomycin era and a 21% mortality rate in patients receiving appropriate drug therapy. Because of the success of chemotherapy, intestinal resection is seldom indicated, except in those cases in which scarring and stricture formation demand surgical relief of intestinal obstruction, or in which the complications of fistula, hemorrhage, or perforation may occur.
Anti-oxidant enzymes in the brain of newborn piglets during ischemia followed by reperfusion.

Abstract The activity of anti-oxidant enzymes in the brains of newborn piglets were studied under the condition of ischemie hypoxia followed by reperfusion. The activity of Superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, was determined in the brain tissue of control animals and animals exposed to 60 min of hypoxia followed by 30 min of normoxia. The results showed that the activities of these enzymes were not significantly affected by hypoxia and subsequent reperfusion, suggesting that under these conditions the anti-oxidant system is not a target for, nor is its inhibition a cause of, cellular damage. It is proposed that the anti-oxidant enzyme system in the brain is non-responsive to and may not play a role during hypoxia/ischemia and subsequent reperfusion.
Reduction of a covalent porphyrin dimer and its metal complexes

Abstract a.c. voltammetric studies on a covalent edge-to-edge porphyrin dimer, H 2 -P-P-H 2 , two of its metallated forms, VO-P-P-H 2 and VO-P-P-Cu, and related porphyrin monomers indicated that the two halves of the dimer behaved as non-interacting units; a result in accord with e.p.r. work.
Potential non-glycoprotein IIb/IIIa effects of abciximab

Abstract The antithrombotic effect of abciximab is believed to be primarily due to its blockade of platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptors, leading to the inhibition of platelet aggregation. Studies have, however, identified that antibody 7E3, the parent molecule of abciximab, and/or abciximab itself, binds to both “activated” αMβ2 receptors and αVβ3 receptors. Because αMβ2 receptors are present on granulocytes and monocytes, cells that have been implicated in contributing to atherosclerosis, intimal hyperplasia after vascular injury, reperfusion injury, and thrombin generation, it is possible that some of abciximab’s effects relate to this reactivity. Similarly, because αVβ3 has been implicated in platelet adhesion to osteopontin, intimal hyperplasia after vascular injury, and platelet-mediated thrombin generation, it is possible that some of abciximab’s beneficial effects relate to this reactivity. Blockade of αVβ3 receptors may also be beneficial in other disease states because, in animal models, such blockade inhibits tumor angiogenesis and sickle cell adhesion to blood vessel endothelium. Despite these intriguing observations, there are no direct data to support any beneficial roles or any unwanted side effects related to the reactivities of abciximab with “activated” αMβ2 or αVβ3 receptors. (Am Heart J 1999;138:S1-S5)
Preliminary X-ray diffraction studies on the hemoprotein subunit of Escherichia coli sulfite reductase

Abstract Crystals of the hemoprotein subunit of Escherichia coli sulfite reductase have been grown and analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The crystals grow as needles with cell dimensions of a = 69.7 A , b = 77.4 A , c = 88.8 A , space group P212121, and one monomer per asymmetric unit.
Studies of molybdena-alumina catalysts: VI. Kinetics of thiophene hydrogenolysis

Abstract The kinetics of thiophene hydrogenolysis over a presulfided Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was determined using a stirred microbalance reactor. Steady state conversions as well as attendant catalyst weight changes were measured. Separate adsorption studies were made of reversible H2S adsorption over the sulfided catalyst. The hydrogenolysis rate was found to be first order in thiophene and first order in H2, with appreciable inhibition in thiophene, H2S and H2. Mechanisms are considered which give good correlation with the kinetic data. Based on these results and other information, it was concluded that the slow step in thiophene reaction was due to a surface reaction and involved dual sites, one upon which thiophene and H2S competitively adsorbed and one upon which H2 adsorbed. The former was associated with vacancies on the catalyst under thiophene-reaction conditions, and the latter with terminal sulfide anion sites. The active hydrogen specie was judged to be reversibly adsorbed, but it could not be unequivocally established whether the H2 was molecularly or atomically adsorbed.
Insomnia in the Elderly: Cause, Approach, and Treatment

Insomnia is a prevalent problem in late life. Sleep problems in the elderly are often mistakenly considered a normal part of aging. Insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, is a subjective report of insufficient or nonrestorative sleep despite adequate opportunity to sleep. Despite the fact that more than 50% of elderly people have insomnia, it is typically undertreated, and nonpharmacologic interventions are underused by health care practitioners. This article will review the causes of insomnia in the elderly, the approach to patient evaluation, and the nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic treatment of insomnia.
Presenting signs and clinical diagnosis in individuals referred to rule out Marfan syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate presenting signs and clinical diagnosis in a cohort of patients referred to rule out Marfan syndrome. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on patients referred to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation between November 1993 and July 2001 to rule out Marfan syndrome. Clinical findings necessary for the diagnosis of the disorder according to current criteria (De Paepe et al., Am J Med Genet. 1996;62:417-426) were determined through complete physical examination and testing, including an echocardiogram and a slit-lamp examination. Information regarding age, sex, reason for evaluation, family history, symptoms, and ultimate clinical diagnosis were extracted from the charts. Results: Seventy-five patients averaging 23.5 years of age completed a comprehensive evaluation to rule out Marfan syndrome. A clinical diagnosis of this condition was made in 28 (37%) patients (12 males, 16 females). Reasons for referral included one or more of the following: (1) the finding by a physician o...
Beginning Teachers' Knowledge of Classroom Events:

Certaines recherches sur la formation des enseignants se sont tournees vers les connaissances des enseignants sur leur classe et les circonstances dans lesquelles ils les ont acquises. L'analyse des experiences de deux eleves-enseignants d'ecole elementaire montre leurs perceptions et interpretations des reactions d'une classe. Cet exercice est pour eux, une methode de formation a la profession d'enseignant
Local cerebral glucose utilization in the adult cretinous rat.

Abstract Local rates of cerebral glucose utilization were determined in 5-month-old neonatally radiothyroidectomized and control (littermate) rats. Virtually all 48 brain regions examined in the thyroidectomized rats exhibited lower rates of glucose utilization than those of the controls with differences ranging from −24 to −58%. The decreases were particularly large in the cerebral cortex and throughout the auditory system. Altered patterns in the intrastructural distribution of rates of glucose utilization were seen in a number of regions and were particularly prominent in the hippocampus and inferior colliculus. Lesser changes were seen in hypothalamic regions involved in the synthesis of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH). The results indicate that the many structural, functional and biochemical abnormalities of cretinism are associated with widespread reductions in energy metabolism throughout the brain.
Anti-partyism in the USA and support for Ross Perot

This article provides an initial exploration into the phenomenon of anti-sentiment in the USA. It explores the meaning and measurement of anti-partyism, and introduces a series of empirical measures which tap three distinct dimensions of anti-partyism - dissatisfaction with the existing political parties, a preference for third party alternatives, and a desire to diminish the role of parties in the American political process. After using survey data to establish the basic trends in citizens’ feelings about parties, we probe the current nature and level of anti-partyism in the American system. As a final step, we show how in the 1992 presidential election anti-party sentiment was associated with support for Ross Perot and his grassroots political movement.
Neutron irradiation effects in LSA oscillators

Four high peak power LSA diode oscillators were exposed to high-energy neutron flux in successive steps. Oscillator failure resulted from a decrease in the diode breakdown voltage to the point that breakdown occurred at threshold for fluences of the order of 1014neutrons/cm2. The reduction in breakdown voltage and an observed frequency increase at a fixed bias can be related to an increase in the diode low field resistance which results primarily from neutron induced carrier removal.
Teacher Licensing in U.S. Public Schools: The Case for Simplicity and Flexibility.

Discussions of teacher quality in U.S. public schools have tended to focus on teacher licensing. Reformers from diverse perspectives have proposed "raising the bar" for licensing by various means (e.g., harder licensing exams, more coursework, graduation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education teacher-training programs, elimination of emergency or provisional licensing). However, all of these proposals assume that teacher licensing plays an important role in determining teacher quality and performance. In this article I argue the contrary. Raising the bar for teacher licensing in ways that have been proposed is unlikely to have any significant short- or long-term effects on student achievement. Moreover, by shrinking the applicant pool for vacancies, these restrictive proposals may have the perverse effect of lowering average teacher quality, particularly for high-poverty or rural districts that already face thin applicant pools. A preferred approach is to swap regulation of input...
Cost-effectiveness of short-term tests for carcinogenicity

Most chemicals to which we are exposed are not properly tested for carcinogenicity. The latest methods of in vitro testing provide a way of screening with sufficient accuracy to remedy this situation.
Proton Beam Therapy and Accountable Care: The Challenges Ahead

Purpose Proton beam therapy (PBT) centers have drawn increasing public scrutiny for their high cost. The behavior of such facilities is likely to change under the Affordable Care Act. We modeled how accountable care reform may affect the financial standing of PBT centers and their incentives to treat complex patient cases. Methods and Materials We used operational data and publicly listed Medicare rates to model the relationship between financial metrics for PBT center performance and case mix (defined as the percentage of complex cases, such as pediatric central nervous system tumors). Financial metrics included total daily revenues and debt coverage (daily revenues − daily debt payments). Fee-for-service (FFS) and accountable care (ACO) reimbursement scenarios were modeled. Sensitivity analyses were performed around the room time required to treat noncomplex cases: simple (30 minutes), prostate (24 minutes), and short prostate (15 minutes). Sensitivity analyses were also performed for total machine operating time (14, 16, and 18 h/d). Results Reimbursement under ACOs could reduce daily revenues in PBT centers by up to 32%. The incremental revenue gained by replacing 1 complex case with noncomplex cases was lowest for simple cases and highest for short prostate cases. ACO rates reduced this incremental incentive by 53.2% for simple cases and 41.7% for short prostate cases. To cover daily debt payments after ACO rates were imposed, 26% fewer complex patients were allowable at varying capital costs and interest rates. Only facilities with total machine operating times of 18 hours per day would cover debt payments in all scenarios. Conclusions Debt-financed PBT centers will face steep challenges to remain financially viable after ACO implementation. Paradoxically, reduced reimbursement for noncomplex cases will require PBT centers to treat more such cases over cases for which PBT has demonstrated superior outcomes. Relative losses will be highest for those facilities focused primarily on treating noncomplex cases.
Distinctions in completives: The relevance of resistance in Korean V-a/e pelita and V-ko malta and Japanese V-te shimau

Abstract This study will provide an in-depth examination and analysis of the use of the Korean auxiliary constructions V-a/e pelita and V-ko malta as markers of completive aspect and will point out the semantic and pragmatic overlap of both with the Japanese completive marker V-te shimau. The fact that all three constructions are markers of completive aspect in two seemingly related languages allows us to critically examine the similarities and differences in how these constructions are used by native speakers of each language. It will be shown that, while typologically very similar, Japanese and Korean can actually pattern quite differently from each other, particularly with respect to how the various processes and circumstances leading up to the completion of a particular event are perceived and expressed in each language. Moreover, by analyzing these three auxiliary constructions, we will be able to gain new insight into the interface between temporal aspect, event perception, emotion, and cognition and how these are encoded in language.
A Context-Aware Approach for Enhanced Security and Privacy in RFID Electronic Toll Collection Systems

RFID Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems have been deployed worldwide to improve toll collection efficiency, reduce road congestion, increase road safety and traveler satisfiability. However, the use of such systems raises a number of security and privacy issues due to unauthorized reading and relay attacks. Unfortunately, currently deployed or proposed solutions targeting these attacks often fail to satisfy the constraints and requirements of the underlying RFID toll road application in terms of (one or more of) efficiency, security, and usability. In this paper, we report our initial work toward a new approach, one that utilizes sensing technologies, to tackle the problems of unauthorized reading and relay attacks in RFID ETC systems by considering efficiency, security, and usability simultaneously. In our approach, on-board tag sensors are used to collect contextual information (location, speed) about the tag. Such contextual information is then used to design context-aware selective unlocking mechanisms for toll cards such that they can selectively respond to reader interrogations and thus minimize the likelihood of unauthorized reading and relay attacks. The premise of our work is a current technological advancement that enables many RFID tags with sensing capabilities.
A Chaos-Based Predictive Algorithm for Continuous Aggregate Queries over Data Streams

It is very important to predict the future value or trend of continuous aggregate queries over data streams. But so far, many research works over data streams, especially from database field, have been focusing mainly on the approximate query processing. Although there are a few literatures to discuss the prediction issues of continuous aggregate queries over data streams, none of them allow for the effect that inherent characteristics of stream data itself imposed on prediction. The chaotic property shows some inherent principle, which would influence the stream's future behaviors. Based on this, a novel chaos-based online predictive algorithm for continuous aggregate queries is proposed in this paper. This algorithm borrows local approximation prediction of chaotic time series to forecast the future values of stream data. The extensive experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has higher performance and provides better prediction of aggregate values over data streams.
Acetaminophen safety and hepatotoxicity – where do we go from here?

Acetaminophen has been widely used for > 50 years in the treatment of pain and fever and provides for the safe and effective relief of these symptoms. In a small minority of patients, however, acetaminophen is responsible for life-threatening liver injury and accounts for up to 50% of all adult cases of acute liver failure in the US. Although approximately two-thirds of adult overdoses are associated with suicide attempts, many are inadvertent, often due to the use of multiple acetaminophen formulations over many days. Additionally, some individuals appear to experience acetaminophen toxicity at 'therapeutic' doses of < 4 g/day, for reasons unknown. In pediatric populations, the overwhelming majority of acetaminophen overdoses are due to unintentional overdoses, except for the predominance of suicidal ingestions in the teenage population. This article seeks to review the mechanism and metabolism of acetaminophen and the features of toxicity in adults, pediatric and special populations. Additionally, expert opinion is presented herein to aid in reducing the frequency and severity of liver injury from acetaminophen.
SYMBOLIC SEVERITY IN THE LAND OF EASY VIRTUE: NEVADA'S HIGH MARIHUANA PENALTY*

Nevada is the only state where first-offense possession of the slightest amount of marihuana is a felony, punishable by up to six years imprisonment; ironically the state permits casino gambling and prostitution. News reports, government records, and interviews with public officials show that in Nevada marihuana and other drug use is continually, but incorrectly, blamed on tourists, and high penalties are thought necessary to control these outsiders. While it is recognized that the high penalties are seldom enforced, respondents said that their existence gives the state a more respectable image.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF POST-MORTEM CHANGES IN THE RAT MYOCARDIUM.

An electron microscopic study was made on specimens of rat myocardium taken at various intervals after death, in order to determine the extent and character of autolytic change occurring during the first ten hours. Specimens were taken immediately after death and at 15 minutes, one hour, three hours, five hours and ten hours after death, fixed in 1% phosphate-buffered osmium tetroxide and examined with the electron microscope. The first noticeable change was a rapid depletion of glycogen. The specimens taken one hour or more after death show a longer sarcomere length indicating a more relaxed state. This is believed to reflect the inability of these fibers to contract upon stimulation by the initial contact with the fixative. Nuclei, when encountered, showed more chromatin clumping than in fresh tissue, but the nuclear membranes were intact. Very little change was noted in the mitochondria, sarcoplasmic reticulum, or other cellular components.
Utility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance to predict left ventricular recovery after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for patients presenting with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has been shown to predict left ventricular (LV) recovery in patients after acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative values of infarct transmurality and microvascular obstruction (MVO) using delayed enhancement CMR to predict LV recovery. We studied 17 patients (mean age 60 ± 10 years, 14 men) presenting with first acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention who underwent CMR within 6 days after presentation and again at 6 months. In total 680 myocardial segments were evaluated, of which 267 (39%) demonstrated delayed hyperenhancement (DHE) and 116 (18%) demonstrated MVO. Unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for any improvement in regional LV function with increasing DHE category ( 75% transmurality) was 0.20 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13 to 0.30, p 50th percentile). However, when coadjusted together, the relation remained robust with regard to degree of transmurality of DHE (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.36, p
Precise reasoning for programs using containers

Containers are general-purpose data structures that provide functionality for inserting, reading, removing, and iterating over elements. Since many applications written in modern programming languages, such as C++ and Java, use containers as standard building blocks, precise analysis of many programs requires a fairly sophisticated understanding of container contents. In this paper, we present a sound, precise, and fully automatic technique for static reasoning about contents of containers. We show that the proposed technique adds useful precision for verifying real C++ applications and that it scales to applications with over 100,000 lines of code.
Functional Evaluation of the Results of Hypospadias Surgery with Uroflowmetry

To determine the role of uroflowmetry in the evaluation of the functional results of hypospadias repair we retrospectively reviewed the records of 32 patients who underwent hypospadias repair with urethral reconstruction (mean age 2.4 years and mean followup 3.6 years). Patients with a plateau pattern and a maximum flow rate 2 standard deviations below the mean for age, body surface and voided volume on more than 1 determination were considered to have urethral obstruction. Urethroplasty had been performed with a meatal based flap in 11 cases, an onlay preputial flap in 5 and a tubularized preputial island flap in 16. Two of 11 patients with a meatal based flap, 5 of 16 with a tubularized preputial island flap and none with an onlay preputial flap had uroflow evidence of urethral stenosis. The 2 patients in the meatal based flap group responded to dilation with a normal flow. Of the tubularized preputial island flap group 3 patients required urethroplasty to correct a stricture and 2 had improvement with dilation alone. Three patients in the tubularized preputial island flap group had normal flow after treatment and 2 had improvement. Only 2 of the 7 patients with strictures were symptomatic. We conclude that uroflow examination is an important noninvasive tool to evaluate the functional results of urethroplasty in children and detect asymptomatic strictures.
Enhancement of Human Natural Killer Cytotoxic Activity by Vitamin C in Pure and Augmented Formulations

The antitumor activity of ascorbic acid has been reported by different investigators. In this study, we determined the in vivo effects of ascorbic acid and its modified formulation (Ultra Potent-C) on human natural killer (NK) cell activity. Twenty-two healthy subjects were given either ascorbic acid or Ultra Potent-C orally at a concentration of 60 mg kg - 1. Vitamin C uptake was measured in the plasma and by peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). The uptake of vitamin C by PBLs was maximized at 2-4 h and was maintained at a high level up to 24 h. At the maximal point the uptake of Ultra Potent-C was higher by 18-25% than plain ascorbic acid. In addition, PBL-NK activity was measured by a 4-h 51Cr release assay using K562 as targets. The results demonstrated that ascorbic acid has a biphasic pattern of NK function; an early transient depression in NK activity (29%) at 1-4 h that is subsequently followed by a significant enhancement (200-400%) between 8 and 24 hours. However, the pattern of NK activity in t...
Diffusion Tensor Imaging White Matter Endophenotypes in Patients With Schizophrenia or Psychotic Bipolar Disorder and Their Relatives

ObjectiveBoth schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are hypothesized to involve disordered brain connectivity. Prior studies show low white matter integrity, measured with diffusion tensor imaging, for both disorders. The authors studied disease specificity and endophenotypic status of these abnormalities by examining patients and their unaffected relatives.MethodThe 513 participants included probands with schizophrenia, probands with psychotic bipolar disorder, their first-degree relatives, and healthy comparison subjects. Fractional anisotropy measures of white matter integrity were collected at two sites as a part of the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes project. Relatives with cluster A or B personality characteristics were further examined.ResultsBoth the probands with schizophrenia and those with psychotic bipolar disorder showed lower fractional anisotropy than the comparison subjects in multiple white matter regions; differences were more marked in schizophrenia. No significant...
Glucose Controls Nuclear Accumulation, Promoter Binding, and Transcriptional Activity of the MondoA-Mlx Heterodimer

Maintenance of energy homeostasis is a fundamental requirement for organismal fitness: defective glucose homeostasis underlies numerous metabolic diseases and cancer. At the cellular level, the ability to sense and adapt to changes in intracellular glucose levels is an essential component of this strategy. The basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLHZip) transcription factor complex MondoA-Mlx plays a central role in the transcriptional response to intracellular glucose concentration. MondoA-Mlx complexes accumulate in the nucleus in response to high intracellular glucose concentrations and are required for 75% of glucose-induced transcription. We show here that, rather than simply controlling nuclear accumulation, glucose is required at two additional steps to stimulate the transcription activation function of MondoA-Mlx complexes. Following nuclear accumulation, glucose is required for MondoA-Mlx occupancy at target promoters. Next, glucose stimulates the recruitment of a histone H3 acetyltransferase to promoter-bound MondoA-Mlx to trigger activation of gene expression. Our experiments establish the mechanistic circuitry by which cells sense and respond transcriptionally to various intracellular glucose levels.
Accuracy of 10 m winds from satellites and NWP products near land‐sea boundaries

Microwave/Imager. Large biases (e.g., >3 m s 1 ) may exist in NWP products near the land-sea boundaries, because wind speeds from the uniformly gridded global fields are generally at a spatial scale too coarse to appropriately define the contrast between water and land grid points. This so-called land contamination of ocean-only winds varies, and typically depends on the extent of the land-sea mask. A creeping sea-fill methodology is introduced to reduce errors in winds. It is based on the elimination of land-corrupted NWP grid points and replacement by adjacent, purely over-ocean values. In comparison to winds from many moored buoys, the methodology diminishes RMS errors (from >4 m s 1 to <1 m s 1 ) for NOGAPS and ERA-40. The creeping sea-fill is not advised for NCEP winds which have low contrast between land and sea points, thereby resulting in little impact from the land contamination.
Some Observations on the Semen Production of the Male Fowl

Abstract SOMEWHAT more than 6,000 samples of semen have been collected from cocks and cockerels of various breeds and crosses at the National Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, during the past three years. Records were kept on 3,046 collections from 32 crossbred males which were the progeny of White Leghorn males and crossbred females, the latter of which resulted from a mating of Barred Rock females to Rhode Island Red males. The first 2,676 collections were made from 22 of these crossbred males as cockerels and the other 370 collections were made from the other 10 as cocks. The data presented in this report are from the records of the 32 crossbred males. Various other observations which were made on other males during a study of artificial insemination are taken into consideration and commented on. THE EFFECT OF FREQUENCY OF COLLECTIONS ON SEMEN PRODUCTION Within certain limits, the more frequently collections . . .
SEA: A Striping-Based Energy-Aware Strategy for Data Placement in RAID-Structured Storage Systems

Many real-world applications need to frequently access data stored on large-scale parallel disk storage systems. On one hand, prompt responses to access requests are essential for these applications. On the other hand, however, with an explosive increase of data volume and the emerging of faster disks with higher power requirements, energy consumption of disk-based storage systems has become a salient issue. To achieve energy-conservation and prompt responses simultaneously, in this paper we propose a novel energy-aware strategy, called striping-based energy-aware (SEA), which can be integrated into data placement in RAID-structured storage systems to noticeably save energy while providing quick responses. Next, to illustrate the effectiveness of SEA, we implement two SEA-powered striping-based data placement algorithms, SEA0 and SEA5, by incorporating the SEA strategy into RAID-0 and RAID-5, respectively. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that compared with traditional non-stripping data placement algorithms, our algorithms significantly improve performance and save energy. Further, compared with an existing stripping-based data placement scheme, the two SEA-powered strategies noticeably reduce energy consumption with only a little performance degradation.
Preparation and Characterization of IgG-Coated Membranes for Possible Use as Solid Phases in Enzyme Immunosensors

Abstract The preparation and characterization of rabbit and bovine IgG-coated membranes is discussed. The performance of these membranes in a competitive binding assay for rabbit IgG and in a sandwich assay for rabbit anti-bovine IgG were used to judge the potential usefulness of these membranes as solid phases for enzyme immunosensors. In particular, these membranes were intended for use in enzyme immunosensors based on the ammonia gas-sensing electrode which employed urease labeled immunoreagents.