cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Upper Extremity Injuries in the National Football League Part I: Hand and Digital Injuries

BackgroundVery little has been published regarding the incidence of and duration of time lost after hand injuries in professional American football players.Hypotheses(1) Hand, first ray, and finger injuries in professional American football players represent a common cause of missed time from practice and game participation. (2) The effect of upper extremity injuries differs as a function of the anatomic site involved, injury type, and athlete's position.Study DesignDescriptive epidemiologic study.MethodsA retrospective review of all documented injuries to the hand, first ray, and fingers sustained by American football players in the National Football League over a 10-year period (1996–2005) was performed using the League's injury surveillance database. The data were analyzed from multiple perspectives, with emphasis on the type of injury, athlete position, and activity at the time of injury.ResultsA total of 1385 injuries occurred to the hand, first ray, and fingers over the 10 seasons studied. Of these ...
A pilot study of interpersonal psychotherapy for alcohol-dependent women with co-occurring major depression.

ABSTRACT. Background: Co-occurring major depression is prevalent among alcohol-dependent women and is a risk factor for poor treatment outcomes. This uncontrolled pilot study tested the feasibility, acceptability, and initial effects of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for women with co-occurring alcohol dependence and major depression (AD-MD) in an outpatient community addiction treatment program. Methods: Fourteen female patients with concurrent diagnoses of alcohol dependence and major depression participated. Assessments were conducted at baseline, midtreatment (8 and 16 weeks), posttreatment (24 weeks), and follow-up (32 weeks). Results: Participants attended a mode of 8 out of 8 possible sessions of IPT in addition to their routine addiction care, and reported high treatment satisfaction on the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8. Women's drinking behavior, depressive symptoms, and interpersonal functioning improved significantly over the treatment period and were sustained at follow-up. Conclusion...
Fluctuating flow angles and anisotropic flow measurements

Event-by-event fluctuations in the initial density distributions of the fireballs created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions lead to event-by-event fluctuations of the final anisotropic flow angles, and density inhomogeneities in the initial state cause these flow angles to vary with the transverse momentum of the emitted particles. It is shown that these effects lead to characteristically different transverse momentum dependencies for anisotropic flow coefficients extracted from different experimental methods. These differences can be used to experimentally constrain flow angle fluctuations in the final state of heavy-ion collisions which, in turn, are sensitive to the initial-state density fluctuations and the shear viscosity of the expanding fireball medium.
Popping phenomena with the hydrazine nitrogen-tetroxide propellant system.

The propellant spray resulting from the impingement of liquid jets of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide has been studied at atmospheric pressure by means of streak photography. The streak photographs show periodic small explosions that originate near the impingement point and propagate through the propellant spray at velocities of 3000 to 5000 fps, consuming all propellant droplets over a distance of up to 6 in. Typical streak photographs are presented. The frequency of the explosions or pops ranged up to several hundred cps, and could be controlled by varying the contact time in the liquid phase. Below a minimum threshold contact time, popping did not take place. At high values of contact time, the popping rate was controlled by the transit time of the free jet before impingement. Flashing of the oxidizer prior to impingement prevented popping under certain conditions. It is postulated that popping is initiated by liquid phase reactions. A mechanism for the occurrence of popping and its relation to reactive stream separation is suggested.
A COMPARISON OF POLITICAL ATTITUDE AND ACTIVITY PATTERNS IN CENTRAL CITIES AND SUBURBS

This study indicates that urban and suburban attitude and activity patterns may not be as different as previously suspected and that there may be greater differences among people from separate metropolitan areas than among people from the central city and suburbs of the same metropolitan area. Joseph Zikmund is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Temple University.
WASTE MINIMIZATION IN BATCH VESSEL CLEANING

Although the cleaning of processing vessels has always been a significant source of waste, only recently have fundamental studies been undertaken to understand the cleaning process. The study described here began with a review of the literature on industrial cleaning practices. The literature was found to be mainly empirical. In order to provide a practical direction for research into the cleaning process, observations were made of a commercial batch processing facility. Based on these observations, short-term process improvements are suggested, and a new area for fundamental research is identified. @KEYWORDS Waste minimization Reflux cleaning Reactor Batch vessel.
Myocardial protection by retrograde cardioplegia in arterial switch operation

Abstract Retrograde coronary sinus perfusion of cold cardioplegic solution was evaluated in infants undergoing an arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries. To assess myocardial injury during ischemia, hemodynamic measurements were conducted at weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass and a postoperative assay of creatine kinase isoenzyme MB was performed. In 22 infants with retrograde coronary sinus perfusion, the initial cardioplegic infusion was performed through the aortic root and additional infusion was repeated every 30 minutes by retrograde coronary sinus perfusion. The other 11 infants received additional solution by antegrade selective coronary artery perfusion. The aortic cross-clamp time in the retrograde coronary sinus perfusion group was significantly shorter than that in the antegrade selective coronary perfusion group (128 ± 19 versus 143 ± 21 minutes, p
Multi-Platform Analysis of MicroRNA Expression Measurements in RNA from Fresh Frozen and FFPE Tissues

MicroRNAs play a role in regulating diverse biological processes and have considerable utility as molecular markers for diagnosis and monitoring of human disease. Several technologies are available commercially for measuring microRNA expression. However, cross-platform comparisons do not necessarily correlate well, making it difficult to determine which platform most closely represents the true microRNA expression level in a tissue. To address this issue, we have analyzed RNA derived from cell lines, as well as fresh frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues, using Affymetrix, Agilent, and Illumina microRNA arrays, NanoString counting, and Illumina Next Generation Sequencing. We compared the performance within- and between the different platforms, and then verified these results with those of quantitative PCR data. Our results demonstrate that the within-platform reproducibility for each method is consistently high and although the gene expression profiles from each platform show unique traits, comparison of genes that were commonly detectable showed that detection of microRNA transcripts was similar across multiple platforms.
Failure diagrams for unidirectional fiber metal-matrix composites

Pertinent failure processes in unidirectional fiber metal-matrix composites (MMCs) have been identified and analyzed. The critical conditions for interface delamination in several composites are compared with the theoretical delamination diagram proposed by He and Hutchinson, in which interface delamination and fiber fracture are delineated on the basis of their relative tough-ness values. It is shown that the delamination diagram does not provide information about the extent of interface cracking or the onset of fiber bridging. An alternative failure diagram that depicts composite fracture processes, such as matrix yielding followed by fiber fracture, inter-face cracking, and fiber bridging, is proposed. Development of the composite failure diagramvia micromechanical modeling of individual mechanisms is presented together with experimental results from the literature. Good correlation between theory and experiment suggests that the composite failure diagram might be used for tailoring composite properties through control of the dominant fracture mechanism.
The Effect of Dietary Fat, Antioxidants, and Pro-Oxidants on Blood Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Atherosclerosis

A number of primary and secondary prevention trials, including angiographic studies, have indicated that a decrease in dietary saturated fat and cholesterol produces a decrease in the blood levels of cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, leading to a decrease in coronary artery disease (CAD). Increasing evidence indicates that the oxidation of LDL in human beings is atherogenic. Of the three major antioxidants, vitamin E, beta carotene, and vitamin C, the evidence is strongest that vitamin E (at a minimum dose of 100 IU/day) has a strong and independent inverse association with CAD. Selenium and flavonoids also have antioxidant properties, but their association with CAD in human beings is equivocal. Two prooxidants, homocysteine and iron, have been found to be associated with CAD. Blood homocysteine levels can be lowered significantly by an increase in dietary folic acid. Clinical trials are needed to assess expeditiously the effect of antioxidants, particularly vitamin E, and of folic acid on CAD and atherosclerosis. The substitution of monounsaturated fat for saturated fat lowers LDL and makes it less susceptible to oxidation without decreasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Studies in transgenic mice indicate that apolipoprotein A-I, the major protein of HDL, may inhibit the oxidation of LDL. Dietary trans fatty acids at the level consumed by many Americans can increase LDL cholesterol and may decrease HDL cholesterol. Individuals who have CAD or have family members who have premature CAD have delayed clearance of dietary fat, as judged by studies of postprandial triglyceride metabolism. The importance of decreasing dietary saturated fat and cholesterol is well established, but a number of other factors appear to influence the risk of CAD significantly and provide important areas for future investigation to improve prevention and treatment through better nutrition.
Carnivores and carotenoids are associated with adaptive behavioural divergence in a radiation of gall midges

1. Adaptive divergence in sympatry is supposed to be inhibited by the homogenizing role of gene flow. However, studies continue to uncover examples of sympatric divergence. In this study, two divergent phenotypes in a complex of four syntopic gall midge morphotypes [nominally Asteromyia carbonifera Osten Saken, Diptera: Cecidomyiidae: Alycaulini] are characterised. The first is a behavioural phenotype governing within-host tissue preference and the second is a trait governing accessory-gland carotenoid quality and quantity. 2. One gall morphotype (crescents) lay most of their eggs on mature tissue whereas the other three gall morphotypes oviposit only on young emerging leaves. Ecological maintenance of this divergent trait appears to be driven by enemy-reduced space. That is, nearly 40% of the crescent morphotype galls that develop high on the plant are attacked by the egg parasitoid Platygaster solidaginis Ashmed, whereas those low on the plant are relatively protected. 3. All morphotypes contain carotenoids in their accessory glands, but the quality and quantity of these pigments differs significantly between the morphotypes and is positively associated with the probability of parasitism by P. solidaginis. 4. Larval salivary glands also contain carotenoids and the plant hormone abscisic acid, which in plants is synthesized from carotenoid precursors and is involved in regulating plant defences. This hormone may facilitate gall development and influence gall morphology. 5. Ecological fitness trade-offs between carotenoids, parasitoid attack, and plant resistance may be fostering adaptive divergence in ovipositional phenotypes and sympatric speciation in this complex of gall midge morphotypes.
On the mechanism by which dopamine inhibits prolactin release in the anterior pituitary.

Abstract An in vitro perfusion system was used to assess the effects of chloride channel blockers, dopamine (DA) receptor agonists and antagonists, and GABA receptor agonists and antagonists on prolactin release from the mouse anterior pituitary. Dopamine and muscimol inhibited prolactin release ( IC 50 ∗ = 6 × 10 −8 M and 10 −5 M respectively). The GABA receptor antagonist bicuculline blocked the inhibition of prolactin release by muscimol but not dopamine. The dopamine receptor antagonist chlorpromazine blocked the dopamine- but not muscimol-induced inhibition of prolactin release. Haloperidol, however, reversed both the muscimol and dopamine induced inhibition of prolactin release. Furthermore, the chloride channel blocker picrotoxinin blocked the inhibition of prolactin release elicited by both dopamine and muscimol. These later results suggest that the anterior pituitary dopamine receptor which mediates the inhibition of prolactin release may be coupled to a picrotoxinin sensitive chloride ionophore and that haloperidol may affect the function of both DA and GABA receptors in the anterior pituitary.
Using the motor drive as a sensor to extract spatially dependent information during servo operation

This paper presents a methodology for extracting useful spatial signals using the motor drive as the sensor during servo operation. Spatially dependent phenomena yield non-stationary frequency content during servo operation. With variable frequency and frequency dependent amplitude in the current and torque signals, the underlying, valuable spatial information is difficult to extract using conventional frequency domain approaches. The methodology presented uses the motor drive to estimate the spatially dependent disturbance torque information during servo operation using spatial domain re-sampling of temporal domain signals internal to the motor drive. Spatial domain information is speed invariant, making it accessible even during servo operation. Additionally, this paper develops a framework to operate through varying speeds to help isolate the systematic, spatially dependent content using spatial synchronous averaging. These methods and concepts are evaluated through simulation as well as experimentation. This methodology can be utilized to provide robust control of machines through identification of spatial components, as well as improve diagnostics of machine and load degradation.
Inhibition of cell proliferation with an HLA-A-specific monoclonal antibody

A new mouse IgG2A monoclonal antibody--JD 12--is described, which was selected for its ability to inhibit peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation. Serologic, immunoprecipitation and immunoelectrophoretic studies showed JD12 to be monomorphically reactive with HLA-A molecules with an affinity of 10(9) M-1. JD12 was capable of inhibiting growth in resting or stimulated PBMC with an ID50 of 300 ng/ml in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity. IgG, F(ab)2 and F(ab) were active. Growth stimulation by phorbol ester was not inhibited, suggesting that JD12 action occurred prior to protein kinase C activation. DNA and RNA synthesis were both slowed with a resulting G0/G1 block. Analysis of separated PBMC components showed that adherent cells displayed increased activity (clumping and RNA synthesis) upon JD12 binding. In addition, the inhibitory activity of JD12 could be transferred to new cultures by cell-free, IgG-free supernatant from JD12-treated PBMC, suggesting that the antiproliferative effects could be mediated, at least in part, in an indirect manner through an inhibitory factor. Therefore, potent, noncytotoxic inhibition of cell proliferation, DNA and RNA synthesis via MHC molecules can be mediated specifically through effects initiated by binding to HLA-A molecules alone.
A Reflectionless Sponge Layer Absorbing Boundary Condition for the Solution of Maxwell's Equations with High-Order Staggered Finite Difference Schemes

We develop, implement, and demonstrate a reflectionless sponge layer for truncating computational domains in which the time-dependent Maxwell equations are discretized with high-order staggered nondissipative finite difference schemes. The well-posedness of the Cauchy problem for the sponge layer equations is proved, and the stability and accuracy of their discretization is analyzed. With numerical experiments we compare our approach to classical techniques for domain truncation that are based on second- and third-order physically accurate local approximations of the true radiation condition. These experiments indicate that our sponge layer results in a greater than three orders of magnitude reduction of the lattice truncation error over that afforded by such classical techniques. We also show that our strongly well-posed sponge layer performs as well as the ill-posed split-field Berenger PML absorbing boundary condition. Being an unsplit-field approach, our sponge layer results in ~25% savings in computational effort over that required by a split-field approach.
Papillary thyroid cancer with an initial presentation of abdominal and flank pain.

Abstract Purpose Well-differentiated thyroid cancer typically presents as a thyroid mass. Common sites of metastases upon presentation include cervical lymph nodes, lung, and bone. Well-differentiated thyroid cancer with clinically apparent kidney metastases is rare, with fewer than 20 cases reported in the literature. In the vast majority of these cases, the patients had known thyroid neoplasms at the time the renal metastases were identified. We report a case of papillary thyroid carcinoma that presented with abdominal pain in a 25-year-old woman with no previous history of thyroid disease. Study design This study is a case report. Results The patient underwent radical nephrectomy for a right renal mass, which was diagnosed as papillary thyroid carcinoma follicular variant. During subsequent evaluation, metastatic disease was also identified in the patient's lungs. The patient was treated with total thyroidectomy and iodine 131. Conclusions Papillary cancer, which ordinarily behaves in an indolent manner, can have unusual presentation, including disseminated metastasis on presentation. Renal metastases are extremely rare.
Without Wages of Benefits Disconnected TANF Recipients' Struggles to Achieve Agency

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 allowed states to impose sanctions, that is, to revoke cash assistance for nonpregnant women on welfare as punishment for noncompliance with the new work requirements. In addition, the law called for women's benefits from Temporary Assistance for Needy Family benefits to be terminated after 5 years. This article, which reports on an ethnographic study of 29 women in two Philadelphia neighborhoods during an 18-month period, illuminates the women's struggles with the receipt of welfare and a new law that compelled them to find work, even when it meant earning wages that were below the poverty level. It examines how the women attempted to achieve agency after they were sanctioned or had their benefits terminated.
A novel cone beam breast CT scanner: system evaluation

The purpose of the study is to characterize the imaging performance of the recently built novel cone beam breast CT (CBBCT) scanner. This CBBCT scanner system has one x-ray source and one flat panel detector (Varian's PaxScan 4030CB) mounted on a rotating assembly. A patient table is mounted above the rotating tube/detector assembly. The table has a hole through it that allows a woman's breast to hang pendant in the imaging volume at the rotation axis. The tube/detector assembly rotates around the rotation axis and acquires multiple 2D projection images of the uncompressed breast located at the rotation axis in 10 seconds. Slip ring technology allows continuous rotation of the x-ray tube/detector assembly concentric to the opening in the table to achieve multiple circle scans. Also, it has a controlled vertical motion during the rotation to perform a spiral scan over 20 cm of travel. The continuous 360° rotation is designed to have speeds up to 1 rev/sec. This system was validated through a series of breast-imaging phantom studies and and patient studies. The results show that the image quality of the CBBCT scanner is excellent and all phantom masses (tissue-equivalent carcinomas) and calcifications as well as human subjects' masses, calcifications and abnormalities can be detected faithfully using the CBBCT technique with a glandular dose level less than or equal to that of a single two-view mammography exam. The results indicate that the CBBCT imaging system has much better detectability of small breast tumors compared to the conventional mammography system.
State‐to‐state dynamics of the hydrogen exchange reaction

Nascent product quantum state distributions have been measured for reactive, H + D2 HD + D, and inelastic, H + D2 D2‡ + H, collisions of H with D2, at collision energies of 0.98 eV, 1.1 eV, and 1.3 eV. These distributions are extracted from coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectra of HD and D2 (recorded under single-collision conditions) following laser photodissociation of HI to generate translationally hot H atoms in a D2/HI gas mixture. Variation of the photolysis wavelength allows selection of the H atom translational energy. These rotational and vibrational state distributions are compared with those obtained from quasiclassical trajectory calculations on an ab initio potential energy surface. The agreement between the calculated and measured distributions is extremely good. TheHD and D2 product quantum state distributions are well represented by simple linear surprisal functions, with large positive vibrational and rotational surprisal.
Claiming Equality: Puerto Rican Farmworkers in Western New York

In July of 1966, a group of Puerto Rican migrant workers protested against police brutality and discrimination in North Collins, a small farm community of western New York. Puerto Rican farmworkers made up a substantial part of the population, and had transformed the ethnic, racial, and gender landscape of the town. Local officials and residents produced and reproduced images of Puerto Ricans as inferior subjects within US racial and ethnic hierarchies. Those negative images of Puerto Ricans shaped the way in which local authorities elaborated policies of social control against these farmworkers in North Collins. At the same time, Puerto Rican farmworkers challenged those existing images and power relations that attempted to stigmatize them as inferior. They affirmed their presence in western New York and, in effect, stood up for their rights as citizens, as Puerto Ricans, and as Latinos.
Update on the US National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education

It has been nearly a year since United States Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) would award a $4 million, ...
Investigation of a Cluster of Pediatric Cardiac [PC] Surgical Site Infections [SSI] Leads to Discovery of Significant Difference in PC SSI Rates by Specific Procedure [SP]

ISSUE: Pediatric cardiac surgery is becoming increasingly complicated and involving more compromised children. In our 160 bed Children's Center, we perform 200 PC surgeries annually. For the past 2 years, we have tracked SSI rates among high-risk PC patients. SSI are defined using NNIS criteria. Because no national benchmarks for PC SSI rates exist, we compare our SSI rate to those in the past. In July 2005, we investigated a cluster of PC SSI which did not increase our mean infection rate [5%]. The cluster was identified because patients had their surgery during the same week. PROJECT: An outbreak investigation was undertaken and included a literature search, a line list that encompassed potential risk factors [type of hardware, underlying diagnosis, age, length of surgery] and potential commonalities [infecting organism, operating room (OR) number] for the cluster cases, and direct observation in the OR. In addition, PC cases for the past 18 months were re-analyzed. As part of the re-analysis, we examined our SSI rates by SP as defined by NNIS ICD9 procedure codes. RESULTS: We were unable to detect any commonalities that would account for the SSI cluster. There were no digressions from best practices noted during our OR observation. However, the analysis of our infection rates by SP using the NNIS ICD9 codes revealed that our infection rate for children having cardiac vascular surgery [CVS] was significantly higher [10.4%] compared to those having surgery on the valves or septum of the heart [2.6%] [P = 0.03]. LESSONS LEARNED: Even though our PC SSI rate [5.49%] for the first 6 months of 2005 was comparable to our cummulative mean infection rate [5%], looking at the data in a different way revealed a problem we were not aware of. Now that we are aware of the increased rate in our CVS patients, we can work with our Cardiac Surgery Team to develop appropriate interventions. This may suggest that risk stratification methods for children are different and needs further validation. As we strive to achieve zero tolerance for SSI, we review data in a variety of ways to assure that potential risk factors are not overlooked.
A mixed integer program to model spatial wildfire behavior and suppression placement decisions

Wildfire suppression combines multiple objectives and dynamic fire behavior to form a complex problem for decision makers. This paper presents a mixed integer program designed to explore integrating spatial fire behavior and suppression placement decisions into a mathematical programming framework. Fire behavior and suppression placement decisions are modeled using nodes associated with cell centers from raster landscapes. The nodes at which suppression is located are determined by control variables. Response variables include fire spread paths, arrival times, and fireline intensities for each node. Both fire arrival times and fireline intensities are necessary to address ecological objectives and fire control. Test cases for this model provide examples of fire behavior interacting with suppression placement to achieve multiple objectives.
Regeneration of plants from callus tissue of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Abstract Hypocotyl and cotyledonary axil explants of aseptically grown okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seedlings were induced to form callus when cultured on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) basal medium supplemented with cytokinins or auxin-cytokinin combinations. The presence of kinetin (KN) or zeatin (Z) in the induction medium stimulated callus formation on hypocotyl explants. The cotyledonary axil explants failed to yield callus when cultured on media containing KN or Z or the combination of either of these two cytokinins with indoleacetic acid (IAA) or naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Rapid callus induction resulted from all explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with benzyladenine (BA) (1.0 mg·1−1). The hypocotyl-derived callus remained non-organogenic, when subcultured on fresh BA-supplemented MS medium, whereas, cotyledonary-axil-derived callus produced number of buds. The transfer of the organogenic calli to BA-enriched MS media containing various concentrations of silver nitrate (0–40 mg·1−1) stimulated multiple shoot development within 2–3 weeks. The presence of 10 and 20 mg·1−1 of silver nitrate significantly increased the number of calli producing multiple shoots when myo-inositol and casein hydrolysate were omitted from the growth medium. Roots developed quickly when regenerated shoots were subcultured on MS medium containing BA (1.0 mg·1−1) and NAA (1.0 mg·1−1. The plantlets, on transfer to soil, grew normally.
Headache in the elderly

Abstract Although the prevalence is lower in the elderly than in young adults, headache is a common complaint in the aged population. A broad differential diagnosis and unique diagnostic considerations must be considered for the elderly patient with a complaint of headache. In addition, the evaluation and management of headache in older individuals must be considered in the context of comorbid conditions and polypharmacy, which are common in the elderly. As with children and young adults, headache classification in the elderly can be divided into primary and secondary headache disorders. The primary headache disorders consist of free-standing conditions such as migraine, cluster headache, and tension-type headache. Secondary headache disorders reflect underlying organic diseases such as giant cell arteritis, intracranial mass lesion, or metabolic abnormality. This article provides a review of the various etiologies, both primary and secondary, as well as guidelines for the treatment of headache in the elderly.
Effects of changing needles prior to administering heparin subcutaneously

Abstract Objectives: To determine if changing needles before administering subcutaneous heparin would cause less ecchymosis at the injection site. Design: A quantitative study. Setting: A large northeastern, urban, nonprofit, tertiary medical center. Outcome Measures: A measurement of ecchymosis was obtained 48 hours after injection of heparin on the right side of the abdomen, where the needle was changed before injection. A second measurement was obtained 48 hours after injection on the left side of the abdomen, where the needle was not changed before injection. A comparison was then made of the two measurements. Results: The Student t test for related samples was used, and the significance was set at P P =.87). Conclusion: Changing the needle before the administration of subcutaneous heparin did not decrease the size of ecchymoses as compared with the size to the size of ecchymoses when the investigator did not change the needle. (Heart Lung ® 2000;29:70-5)
Update in oculoplastic imaging.

Imaging in oculoplastics garners considerable in ophthalmology due to the combination of well established modalities and burgeoning technology. This issue focuses on recent advances, the latest indications and the available technology for ophthalmic imaging. International and local experts have contributed to this issue and their timely, cogent articles that promote the advances in ophthalmic care and their clinical applications in the Middle East region. We greatly appreciate the contributions that highlight the range of applications of oculoplastic imaging.
An exercise in computer file management

This paper and the five following summarize the material presented at a session on file management systems at the ASIS Annual Meeting in October 1969. The term file management refers to computer systems that address the full range of processing activities associated with files, not only retrieval, but also file formatting, updating, and maintenance. To provide a common basis for reporting recent work in this area, an exercise in computer processing of document reference material was defined and distributed to those interested in participating. The exercise consisted of file building, updating, and correction processes, as well as a variety of sample inquiries and reports. Seventy articles on data processing were used as the data base.
Spatial and temporal mapping of pacemaker activity in interstitial cells of Cajal in mouse ileum in situ

Spontaneous electrical pacemaker activity occurs in tunica muscularis of the gastrointestinal tract and drives phasic contractions. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are the pacemaker cells that ge...
Statistics of Medical Imaging by LEI, T.

EDITOR: GUILHERME J. M. ROSA Statistics of Medical Imaging (T. Lei) Hongtu Zhu Bayesian Smoothing and Regression for Longitudinal, Spatial and Event History Data (L. Fahrmeir and T. Kneib) Renato Assuncao Targeted Learning (M. van der Laan and S. Rose) Andrea Rotnitzky
Precise phase control of short pulses

Summary form only given. We will discuss the strong impact of precision phase control of optical pulses to fields ranging from ultrafast science Io precision metrology.
Prenatally diagnosed hypoplastic left heart syndrome with intact atrial septum and ventriculocoronary arterial fistula

Intact atrial septum (IAS) and left ventriculocoronary arterial fistula (LVCAF) are the significant risk factors of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), and when they are present, prognosis is grim. We report a case of prenatally diagnosed HLHS with IAS and LVCAF that was treated with surgical atrial-septostomy and bilateral pulmonary arterial banding (BPAB) immediately after birth. The Doppler flow pattern of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) with dominant retrograde flow was normalized after atrial-septostomy with decompression of left atrial (LA) hypertension. This is the first report showing the influence of atrial-septostomy on coronary flow in HLHS patient with LVCAF.
Typed graph models for semi-supervised learning of name ethnicity

This paper presents an original approach to semi-supervised learning of personal name ethnicity from typed graphs of morphophonemic features and first/last-name co-occurrence statistics. We frame this as a general solution to an inference problem over typed graphs where the edges represent labeled relations between features that are parameterized by the edge types. We propose a framework for parameter estimation on different constructions of typed graphs for this problem using a gradient-free optimization method based on grid search. Results on both in-domain and out-of-domain data show significant gains over 30% accuracy improvement using the techniques presented in the paper.
Infrared Emission Spectroscopy of Solids Using Dispersion Instruments

Infrared emission spectra of carboxylic acids on metal surfaces and of various solids were measured with Perkin-Elmer Model 112 and Model 521 spectrometers. The exploratory experiments indicate that emission methods could be applied in special cases for the examination of the surfaces of opaque bulk solids.
The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, nabumetone, differentially inhibits β-catenin signaling in the MIN mouse and azoxymethane-treated rat models of colon carcinogenesis

The mechanisms through which β-catenin signaling is inhibited during colorectal cancer chemoprevention by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents is incompletely understood. We report that nabumetone decreased uninvolved intestinal mucosal β-catenin levels in the MIN mouse with a concomitant increase in glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β levels, an enzyme that targets β-catenin for destruction. However, in the azoxymethane-treated rat, where β-catenin is frequently rendered GSK-3β-insensitive, nabumetone failed to alter β-catenin levels but did decrease β-catenin nuclear localization and transcriptional activity as gauged by cyclin D1. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the differential mechanisms for β-catenin suppression may be determined, at least partly, by GSK-3β.
Adaptation in Skate Photoreceptors

Receptor potentials were recorded extracellularly from the all-rod retina of the skate after the application of sodium aspartate. This agent suppresses the responses of proximal elements, but leaves relatively unaffected the electrical activity of the photoreceptors (a-wave) and pigment epithelium (c-wave). Since the latter develops too slowly to interfere with the receptor response, it was possible to isolate receptor potentials and to compare their behavior in light and dark adaptation with earlier observations on the S-potential, b-wave, and ganglion cell discharge. The results show that the photoreceptors display the full complement of adaptational changes exhibited by cells proximal to the receptors. Thus, it appears that visual adaptation in the skate is governed primarily by the photoreceptors themselves. Of particular interest was the recovery of sensitivity in the presence of background fields that initially saturate the receptor potential. Analysis of this recovery phase indicates that a gain-control mechanism operates within the receptors, at a distal stage of the visual process.
The effect of atmospheric drag on position and velocity errors of orbiting spacecraft

A model, in closed form, of position and velocity changes due to atmospheric drag of a spacecraft in orbit about a planetary body is presented, considering primarily the effects of a two-body force field. Calculations for both elliptical and circular geometries indicate that the simplifying assumptions in the analysis make the theory more accurate (to less than 1 percent error) for lengthier mappings, when the drag effect becomes quite significant. The downtrack error demonstrates a quadratic growth, while the radial error demonstrates a linear growth.
The Autism MEAL Plan: A parent-training curriculum to manage eating aversions and low intake among children with autism

Feeding problems represent a frequent concern reported by caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders, and growing evidence suggests atypical patterns of intake may place this population at risk of nutritional and/or related medical issues, including chronic vitamin and mineral deficiencies, poor bone growth, and obesity. This combination of factors emphasizes a clear need to identify and disseminate evidence-based treatment of feeding problems associated with autism spectrum disorders. Behavioral intervention represents an effective treatment for chronic feeding concerns in this population; however, evidence has largely been established with trained therapists working in highly structured settings. This pilot study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by describing and evaluating the Autism MEAL Plan, a behaviorally based parent-training curriculum to address feeding problems associated with autism spectrum disorders. We assessed the feasibility of the intervention in terms of program content and study protocol (e.g. recruitment and retention of participants, assessment procedures), as well as efficacy in terms of changes in feeding behaviors. A total of 10 families participated in the treatment condition, and the program was evaluated using a waitlist control design (n = 9), representing the first randomized-control study of a feeding intervention in autism spectrum disorders. Results provide provisional support regarding the utility of the program, including high social validity, parent perception of effectiveness, and reduced levels of caregiver stress following intervention. Implications, limitations, and future directions for this line of research are discussed.
Fiber-optic transmission of microwave 64 QAM signals and applications

Experimental results from fiber-optic transmission of microwave 64 quadrature-amplitude-modulated signals at 1.3 mu m wavelength at a 90 Mb/s transmission rate are presented. Two important methods of improving the system performance are discussed and demonstrated: laser intensity noise minimization, and error-correction coding using a self-orthogonal convolutional code. The applicability of this transmission technique to the distribution of digital TV services is assessed. The preliminary results are encouraging. >
Ownership Volatility and Firm Performance: Evidence from the Korean Firms

This paper investigates the relationship between ownership volatility and firm performance in Korea. Using the five year ownership volatility variables from 2005 till 2009, the paper shows a positive relationship between foreign ownership volatility and the firm performance of sample firms in Korea. Further, we perform a factor analysis out of ownership volatility variables and investigate the relationship between the common factors of ownership volatility variables and the firm performance of sample firms in Korea. We find a positive relationship between the common factors and the firm performance. The paper contributes to the prior literature by investigating the role of ownership volatility on firm performance.
A study of p stopper effect on 30V-gate/80V-dram bi-directional NMOSFET and 80V ESD protection BJT

This paper describes the impact of the introduction of a p stopper to a 30V-gate bi-directional NMOSFET and an ESD protection BJT fabricated using our 80V-class HV-MOS process. We found that the p stopper that selectively formed below the channel region of the NMOSFET not only helped to prevent the S-D punch-through but also caused some important effects: (i) alleviated the electric field crowding without sacrificing the optimized resurf breakdown voltages at high drain bias, and (ii) intensified the crowding near the channel surface with increasing the channel length at a high common-G/S/D bias. We confirmed that the former effect improved both the current and the on/off-breakdown performance while the latter did not decrease the usable source bias, which equals the rated gate voltage of 30V. The p stopper applied to the core base edge of the BJT also made some snapback current evade from flowing near the surface, which increased the secondary breakdown current by over 30%. These p stoppers did not require an extra mask step in our 80V-MOS process.
Marine Catfish Sting Causing Fatal Heart Perforation in a Fisherman

Many marine catfish have serrated bony stings ("spines"), which are used in defense against predators, on the dorsal and pectoral fins. While catfish-induced injuries are generally characterized by the pain associated with envenomation, the stings in some species are sufficiently long and sharp to cause severe penetrating trauma. Most injuries are to the hands of victims, commonly fishermen. We report the death of a fisherman caused by myocardial perforation from a catfish sting. To our knowledge, this is the first such description in the medical literature.
Maximizing the motivational impact of feedback of lung cancer susceptibility on smokers' desire to quit.

This two-by-two factorially designed study evaluate approaches for communicating feedback of lung cancer susceptibility to smokers as a method for motivating smoking cessation. The study factors were: method of communicating feedback (by mail with telephone follow-up or in-person) and carbon monoxide feedback (yes or no). One-hundred-forty-four smokers were stratified on race and randomized to one of four conditions. Participants were surveyed at baseline and 2-month follow-up. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for the absence of the glutathione S transferase mu (GSTM1) gene was the susceptibility marker. Regardless of counseling method or carbon monoxide (CO) feedback, the majority (90%) of smokers accurately recalled the test result and 66% accurately interpreted the meaning of the test result. Smokers who received their result in person were significantly less likely to have read the result booklet than those in the telephone counseling group (OR = .28, 95%; CI .12-.62; p < .05). Neither counseling method nor CO feedback increased smokers' perceived risks for lung cancer. However, at the counseling session those who received in-person counseling were significantly less frightened by the test result than those who received telephone counseling (OR = .42, 95%; CI .20-86; p < .05) and at the 2-month follow-up those who received a CO test were significantly less frightened by their susceptibility result (OR = .40, 95%; CI .17-.92; p < .05) than those who did not have a CO test. Evaluation of further refinements in communicating the meaning of susceptibility results to motivate smoking cessation is warranted.
A novel approach for automatic generation control of a multi-area power system

This paper deals with artificial neural network (ANN) based ANFIS approach for automatic generation control (AGC) of a multi-area hydro-thermal system. The proposed ANFIS controller combines the advantages of fuzzy controller and quick response and adaptability nature of ANN. Appropriate generation rate constraints (GRC) have been considered for the thermal and hydro plants. The hydro area is considered with an electric governor and thermal area is considered with reheat turbine. The design objective is to improve the frequency deviations of the interconnected system. 1% step load perturbation has been considered occurring either in any individual area or occurring simultaneously in all the areas. Simulation results are presented to show the improved performance of ANFIS controller in comparison with an optimized conventional integral controller.
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Decade following Implementation of an Active Detection and Isolation Program

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a frequent source of infection in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), often associated with significant morbidity. Active detection and isolation (ADI) programs aim to reduce transmission. We describe a comprehensive analysis of the clinical and molecular epidemiology of MRSA in an NICU between 2003 and 2013, in the decade following the implementation of an MRSA ADI program. Molecular analyses included strain typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, mec and accessory gene regulator group genotyping by multiplex PCR, and identification of toxin and potential virulence factor genes via PCR-based assays. Of 8,387 neonates, 115 (1.4%) had MRSA colonization and/or infection. The MRSA colonization rate declined significantly during the study period from 2.2 to 0.5/1,000 patient days (linear time, P = 0.0003; quadratic time, P = 0.006). There were 19 cases of MRSA infection (16.5%). Few epidemiologic or clinical differences were identified between MRSA-colonized and MRSA-infected infants. Thirty-one different strains of MRSA were identified with a shift from hospital-associated to combined hospital- and community-associated strains over time. Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive USA300 strains caused 5 of the last 11 infections. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types II and IVa and agr groups 1 and 2 were most predominant. One isolate possessed the gene for toxic shock syndrome toxin; none had genes for exfoliative toxin A or B. These results highlight recent trends in MRSA colonization and infection and the corresponding changes in molecular epidemiology. Continued vigilance for this invasive pathogen remains critical, and specific attention to the unique host, the neonate, and the distinct environment, the NICU, is imperative.
Selective transport of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant from the lung to the blood facilitates pulmonary neutrophil recruitment

The CXC chemokines cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC) and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) are potent neutrophil chemoattractants in rats. We have previously shown that CIN...