cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Obstruction of the Biliary and Urinary System

Biliary and urinary obstructions can be managed endoscopically or cystoscopically, surgically or by percutansous intervention or drainage. If the obtructed system is infected, emergent decompression is needed. Early recognition and treatment is paramount in both conditions. Acute cholangitis can present many different ways, from mild symptoms to fulminant sepsis. It is usually a result of ascending bacterial colonization and biliary obstruction resulting in bacterial overgrowth. Therefore, those patients with recent biliary instrumentation or previous biliary modification are at higher risk. Charcot's triad of fever, right upper quadrant abdominal pain, and jaundice is only seen in 50%-70% of patients. Fever is seen in over 90% of cases, pain is seen in 70% of cases, and jaundice is seen in 60% of cases. Altered mental status and hypotension are associated with severe cases. All 5 symptoms of fever, right upper quadrant abdominal pain, jaundice, altered mental status, and hypotension are referred to as Reynold's Pentad. Acute pyonephrosis can also present many different ways, from minimal symptoms to fulminant sepsis. Fever, chills, and flank pain are the classic symptoms, although some patients may be relatively asymptomatic. Pyonephrosis may present with a classic triad of fever, flank pain, and hydronephrosis, or simply hydronephrosis and sepsis. Pyonephrosis usually occurs as a result of urinary obstruction with either an ascending infection of the urinary tract or hematogenous spread of a bacterial pathogen as the culprit. Up to 75% of cases are related to urinary stone disease. Patients are at increased risk for pyonephrosis when they haven anatomic urinary tract obstruction, certain chronic diseases (diabetes meliitus and AIDS), or are immunosuppressed due to immunodeficiency or medications, (chronic steroid therapy).
Esthesioneuroblastoma with distant metastases: Systematic review & meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical outcomes and review the management strategies for metastatic esthesioneuroblastoma. METHODS We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. RESULTS Forty-eight studies totaling 118 patients met inclusion criteria. Chemotherapy in combination with surgery and/or radiation exhibited the best overall survival when compared to monotherapy and no treatment (P < .001). However, most patients (66%) received either monotherapy or no therapy. The number and location of metastases among the 3 treatment groups did not significantly differ (P = .85). Treatment modality remained significantly associated with overall survival on multivariable analysis (P < .001). Platinum-based chemotherapy was most commonly utilized but did not provide a survival benefit when compared with all other regimens (P = .88). CONCLUSION Distant metastases with esthesioneuroblastoma portend a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy in combination with surgery and/or radiation was associated with improved overall survival. Further research into the optimal systemic therapeutic regimen for patients with distant metastases is critical.
Exponentially time decaying susceptible-informed (SIT) model for information diffusion process on networks

Modeling information diffusion on networks is a timely topic due to its significance in massive online social media platforms. Models motivated by disease epidemics, such as the Susceptible-Infected-Removed and Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS), ones have been used for this task, together with threshold models. A key limitation of these models is that the intrinsic time value of information is not accounted for, an important feature for social media applications, since "old" piece of news does not attract adequate attention. We obtain results pertaining to the diffusion size across the diffusion's evolution over time, as well as for early time points that enable us to calculate the phase transition epoch and the epidemic threshold, using mean field approximations. Further, we explicitly calculate the total probability of getting informed for each node depending on its actual path to the single seed node and then propose a novel approach by constructing a Maximum Weight Tree (MWT) to approximate the final fraction of diffusion, with the weight of each node approximating the total probability of getting informed. The MWT approximation is a novel approach that is exact for tree-like network and is specifically designed for sparse networks. It is also fast to compute and provides another general tool for the analyst to obtain accurate approximations of the "epidemic's" size. Extensive comparisons with results based on Monte Carlo simulation of the information diffusion process show that the derived mean field approximations, as well as that employing the MWT one, provide very accurate estimates of the quantities of interest.
Phase I dose escalation of ibrutinib and buparlisib in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and follicular lymphoma (FL).

7544Background: In vitro studies of BTK and PI3K inhibitors demonstrate synergy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We embarked on a phase I/Ib investigator-initiated clinical trial evaluating the combi...
Community socioeconomic status to identify higher-risk patients with malignant glioma.

2060Background: Patients living in rural areas face barriers to accessing optimal, guideline driven care including proximity to tertiary centers and lower socioeconomic status. We sought to examine...
Parental influence and private school enrollment among children in blended families.

Abstract In this study, the analysis examines how variations in parental influence shape private school enrollment among children in blended families. The results show that investment in private schooling for children is higher in families with notable parental income differences than in families with parents with similar incomes. Net of these factors, however, parents in nuclear families are more likely to invest in the provision of private schooling compared to parents in blended families. In blended families, the analysis underscores the significance of two dimensions of biological relatedness for developing nuanced understandings of inequalities among children. On average, parents in these families make greater investments in the provision of private schooling for their shared biological children than for their stepchildren, broadly defined. Disaggregating stepchildren based on their own biological ties with parents, however, reveals substantially higher investments in private schooling for stepchildren biologically related to household heads than for either shared biological children or other stepchildren. The advantage of stepchildren with biological ties to household heads is more pronounced in families where household heads earn more than their spouses. However, it remains statistically significant even when the opposite is true.
Photoregeneration of Biomimetic Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Analogues via a Dye-Sensitized Approach

Two-step photochemical reduction of an acridinium-based cation 2O+ to the corresponding anion 2O– was investigated using a dye-sensitized approach involving 2O+–COOH attached to the surface of a wi...
Quantification of Positron Emission Tomography Data Using Simultaneous Estimation of the Input Function: Validation with Venous Blood and Replication of Clinical Studies

To determine if one venous blood sample can substitute full arterial sampling in quantitative modeling for multiple positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers using simultaneous estimation of the input function (SIME). Participants underwent PET imaging with [11C]ABP688, [11C]CUMI-101, and [11C]DASB. Full arterial sampling and additional venous blood draws were performed for quantification with the arterial input function (AIF) and SIME using one arterial or venous (vSIME) sample. Venous and arterial metabolite-corrected plasma activities were within 6 % of each other at varying time points. vSIME- and AIF-derived outcome measures were in good agreement, with optimal sampling times of 12 min ([11C]ABP688), 90 min ([11C]CUMI-101), and 100 min ([11C]DASB). Simulation-based power analyses revealed that SIME required fewer subjects than the AIF method to achieve statistical power, with significant reductions for [11C]CUMI-101 and [11C]DASB with vSIME. Replication of previous findings and test-retest analyses bolstered the simulation analyses. We demonstrate the feasibility of AIF recovery using SIME with one venous sample for [11C]ABP688, [11C]CUMI-101, and [11C]DASB. This method simplifies PET acquisition while allowing for fully quantitative modeling, although some variability and bias are present with respect to AIF-based quantification, which may depend on the accuracy of the single venous blood measurement.
Instrumental investigation of oxygen isotopes in human dental enamel from the Bronze Age battlefield site at Tollense, Germany

Abstract Oxygen isotopes were analyzed in human teeth dating to approximately 1250 BC from a Bronze Age battlefield along the Tollense River in northwestern Germany. Tooth enamel was sectioned, prepared, and analyzed using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) and Confocal Laser Fluorescence Microscopy (CLFM). The results of the study indicate that diagenesis has locally altered the tooth enamel. Brightly luminescing domains seen by confocal laser fluorescent microscopy are chemically changed in oxygen isotope ratios and elemental [Cl] concentrations. Values of δ18O are up to 2.7‰ lower in altered domains. Thus, diagenetic changes are observed in enamel that is 3250 years old and has been waterlogged for most of its depositional history. We recommend that studies of enamel in human teeth routinely evaluate the possibility of diagenesis.
Mechanisms of Exceptional Grain Growth and Stability in Formamidinium Lead Triiodide Thin Films for Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract Pure formamidinium lead triiodide (α-FAPbI3) organic-inorganic halide perovskite (OIHP) semiconductor is very attractive for use as light absorber in the new thin-film perovskite solar cells (PSCs) technology. This is primarily because of its superior thermal stability, more suitable bandgap, and compositional simplicity. However, the existence of the photo-inactive non-perovskite δ-FAPbI3 polymorph (‘yellow’ phase) is a major hurdle in the path towards the development of α-FAPbI3-based PSCs. Also, there is general consensus that the fine-grained nature of OIHP thin films is detrimental to the environmental stability and performance of the resulting PSCs. In this context, here we take advantage of the polymorphism in FAPbI3, and use solvent-vapor-assisted δ-to-α phase transformation to induce exceptional grain coarsening (up to 50-fold) in 0.3-μm thickness FAPbI3 thin films, resulting in an unprecedented average grain size of up to ~9 μm. The underlying mechanisms are elucidated based on the results from a combination of some key experiments, which involve studying systematically the effects of time, temperature, initial grain size, and solvent polarity index (PI). The ultra-coarse-grained α-FAPbI3 thin films show dramatically improved environmental stability over their medium-grained counterparts, which is explained based on grain-boundary density arguments. PSCs made using the ultra-coarse-grained α-FAPbI3 thin films have improved photovoltaic (PV) performance, but it is somewhat modest. This is attributed to the underestimation of the effective grain size relevant to photocarrier dynamics.
Resilience to mental health problems and the role of deployment status among U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers

Research suggests that interpersonal and intrapersonal resiliency factors protect against poor post-deployment mental health outcomes among Reserve/Guard soldiers who have been deployed. There is increasing awareness that never-deployed soldiers are also at risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between resiliency factors and a range of mental health outcomes among a sample of United States Army Reserve and National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers who have and have not experienced deployment. A subset of data was drawn from Operation: SAFETY (N = 360), an ongoing study examining the health and well-being of USAR/NG soldiers. We used a multivariate path analysis approach to examine the simultaneous effects of unit support, marital satisfaction, and psychological hardiness on the following mental health outcomes, concurrently: anger, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. We also examined interaction effects between resiliency factors and deployment status on mental health outcomes. Greater unit support (ps < 0.01), marital satisfaction (ps < 0.001), and psychological hardiness (ps < 0.001) were associated with less anger, anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptomatology. Psychological hardiness had significant interactions with deployment status on anxiety, depression, and PTSD, such that the protective effects of psychological hardiness were even stronger among never-deployed soldiers than previously deployed solders. Resiliency factors can be targeted for intervention to prevent poor mental health outcomes among USAR/NG soldiers, regardless of deployment status. Further, psychological hardiness may be an even more important protective factor among soldiers who have never been deployed.
Design and Printing of a Low-Cost 3D-Printed Nasal Osteotomy Training Model: Development and Feasibility Study.

Background: Nasal osteotomy is a commonly performed procedure during rhinoplasty for both functional and cosmetic reasons. Teaching and learning this procedure proves difficult due to the reliance on nuanced tactile feedback. For surgical simulation, trainees are traditionally limited to cadaveric bones, which can be costly and difficult to obtain. Objective: This study aimed to design and print a low-cost midface model for nasal osteotomy simulation. Methods: A 3D reconstruction of the midface was modified using the free open-source design software Meshmixer (Autodesk Inc). The pyriform aperture was smoothed, and support rods were added to hold the fragments generated from the simulation in place. Several models with various infill densities were printed using a desktop 3D printer to determine which model best mimicked human facial bone. Results: A midface simulation set was designed using a desktop 3D printer, polylactic acid filament, and easily accessible tools. A nasal osteotomy procedure was successfully simulated using the model. Conclusions: 3D printing is a low-cost, accessible technology that can be used to create simulation models. With growing restrictions on trainee duty hours, the simulation set can be used by programs to augment surgical training.
VISCOUS EVOLUTION AND PHOTOEVAPORATION OF CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS DUE TO EXTERNAL FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FIELDS

This paper explores the effects of FUV radiation fields from external stars on circumstellar disk evolution. Disks residing in young clusters can be exposed to extreme levels of FUV flux from nearby OB stars, and observations show that disks in such environments are being actively photoevaporated. Typical FUV flux levels can be factors of ~102-104 higher than the interstellar value. These fields are effective in driving mass loss from circumstellar disks because they act at large radial distance from the host star, i.e., where most of the disk mass is located, and where the gravitational potential well is shallow. We combine viscous evolution (an α-disk model) with an existing FUV photoevaporation model to derive constraints on disk lifetimes, and to determine disk properties as functions of time, including mass-loss rates, disk masses, and radii. We also consider the effects of X-ray photoevaporation from the host star using an existing model, and show that for disks around solar-mass stars, externally generated FUV fields are often the dominant mechanism in depleting disk material. For sufficiently large viscosities, FUV fields can efficiently photoevaporate disks over the entire range of parameter space. Disks with viscosity parameter α = 10–3 are effectively dispersed within 1-3 Myr; for higher viscosities (α = 10–2) disks are dispersed within ~0.25-0.5 Myr. Furthermore, disk radii are truncated to less than ~100 AU, which can possibly affect the formation of planets. Our model predictions are consistent with the range of observed masses and radii of proplyds in the Orion Nebula Cluster.
Paliperidone induced neutropenia in first episode psychosis: a case report.

Neutropenia, a decrease in total number of neutrophils below 1500/mm3 and particularly severe neutropenia, defined as neutrophils less than 500/mm3, is a potential adverse effect of antipsychotic medications that can lead to increased risk of infections and death. However, much of the attention on the potential adverse effect is centered exclusively on clozapine, which remains the only antipsychotic medication in the United States requiring standardized monitoring of blood work. We demonstrate here that paliperidone can also cause neutropenia and therefore clinicians should be aware of this possibility especially during initiation of treatment. The following report presents the case of a 23-year-old African American male with first episode psychosis who developed neutropenia after initiation of paliperidone. Neutropenia resolved after discontinuation of paliperidone and initiation of an alternative antipsychotic, haloperidol. This case report demonstrates an example of paliperidone induced neutropenia which resolved with a switch to haloperidol. We conclude that when initiating paliperidone, clinicians should be more aware of the risk of neutropenia. Moreover, neutropenia may be a more common and overlooked issue in patients on antipsychotic medications other than clozapine and increased awareness of comparative risk across antipsychotics could help direct treatment.
Prediction of Graphene Oxide Functionalization Using Gradient Boosting: Implications for Material Chemical Composition Identification

Graphene oxides have exhibited alluring potential for state-of-the-art applications such as biomedical devices and functional nanocomposites. The types and concentrations of oxygen-containing funct...
Identification of slow magnetic relaxation and magnetocoolant capabilities of heterobimetallic lanthanide-manganese metallacrown-like compounds

Abstract Two types of 3d-4f compounds are presented, [DyIII4MnIII4(OH)2(O2C2H3)3(shi)4(H2shi)4(Hsal)3(DMF)4].3DMF (Dy-1) and [LnIII6MnIII2MnIV2(shi)6(Hshi)4(H2shi)2(Hsal)4(DMF)8].4H2O (Ln-2) (Ln = Dy or Gd, H3shi = salicylhydroxamic acid, H2sal = salicylic acid). While neither Dy-1 and Dy-2 demonstrated a significant barrier to magnetization relaxation, out-of-phase ac magnetic susceptibility was observed in both cases. Gd-2 showed potential as a magnetocoolent with gravimetric entropy changes reaching a maximum of 18.89 J.kg−1.K−1 at 3 K and ΔH = 7 T. This value represents approximately 53% of the theoretical maximum.
Effect of Hydrogels Containing Nanosilica on the Properties of Cement Pastes

The effect of hydrogels containing nanosilica (NSi) on the autogenous shrinkage, mechanical strength, and electrical resistivity of cement pastes was studied. The interaction between the hydrogels and the surrounding cementitious matrix was examined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The addition of hydrogels decreased autogenous shrinkage in the cement pastes and this reduction showed a dependence on the concentration of NSi in the hydrogels. Compressive strength and electrical resistivity were reduced in the cement pastes with hydrogels and this reduction was decreased with increased concentration of NSi in the hydrogel. A change in the phase composition of the cement paste in the region close to the hydrogel was noted, compared to the region away from the hydrogel. In a lime solution with increased pH and temperature, Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 were found to form within the hydrogels; evidence of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) formation in the hydrogels with NSi was obtained, indicating the possible pozzolanic potential of the hydrogels with NSi.
Microplasma synthesis of titanium dioxide nanowires

Abstract In this work we developed a process to produce titanium dioxide nanowires through microplasma synthesis in atmospheric conditions. The titanium dioxide nanowires grow on the surface of the titanium anode. During initial synthesis, free chlorine anions form and migrate to the Ti anode creating various Ti-Cl complexes (TiCl4). H2O2 molecules are decomposed at the titanium anode to form OH species that react with the Ti-Cl complexes forming TiO2 nanowires. The microplasma environment is ideal for creating titanium dioxide nanowires through the creation of several reactive species that typically require reaching high temperatures (>300 °C). The anode and cathode materials were varied along with the liquid electrode composition for determining the reaction mechanisms involved and analyzed through EDS and XRD techniques.
ASQ: Automatically Generating Question-Answer Pairs using AMRs.

In this work, we introduce ASQ, a tool to automatically mine questions and answers from a sentence, using its Abstract Meaning Representation (AMR). Previous work has made a case for using question-answer pairs to specify predicate-argument structure of a sentence using natural language, which does not require linguistic expertise or training. This has resulted in the creation of datasets such as QA-SRL and QAMR, for both of which, the question-answer pair annotations were crowdsourced. Our approach has the same end-goal, but is automatic, making it faster and cost-effective, without compromising on the quality and validity of the question-answer pairs thus obtained. A qualitative evaluation of the output generated by ASQ from the AMR 2.0 data shows that the question-answer pairs are natural and valid, and demonstrate good coverage of the content. We run ASQ on the sentences from the QAMR dataset, to observe that the semantic roles in QAMR are also captured by ASQ.We intend to make this tool and the results publicly available for others to use and build upon.
Meshfree modeling of concrete slab perforation using a reproducing kernel particle impact and penetration formulation

Abstract A meshfree formulation under the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) was introduced for modeling the penetration and perforation of brittle geomaterials such as concrete. RKPM provides a robust framework to effectively model the projectile-target interaction and the material failure and fragmentation behaviors that are critical for this class of problems. A stabilized semi-Lagrangian formulation, in conjunction with a multiscale material damage model for brittle geomaterials and a kernel contact algorithm, were introduced for penetration modeling. In this work, the accuracy of the meshfree impact and penetration formulation was studied using a series of large-caliber projectile concrete slab perforation experiments with impact velocities in the ballistic regime. These experiments were selected due to the challenging nature of concrete perforation, and the results were used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method to model the penetration processes and the concrete target failure. Simulation results confirm the formulation's accuracy for this type of high-rate ballistic problem and establish a basis for extension to other types of impact problems. The results show the importance of properly formulating the method of domain integration to maintain accuracy in the presence of concrete fragmentation, and also highlight the method's ability to capture the fragmentation response without a need for non-physical treatments commonly used in conventional methods.
Calorie-induced ER Stress Silences the Guanylin-GUCY2C Paracrine Axis Underlying Colorectal Cancer in Obesity

Despite a well-characterized epidemiological association, mechanisms linking colorectal cancer with obesity remain incompletely defined. An emerging paradigm suggests that colorectal cancer arises ...
Best Practices in Broadband: Lessons from Canada, Japan, Korea and the United States

Critics across the political and social spectrum have criticized the state of United States broadband network development and refer to the great success achieved by nations such as Canada, Japan and Korea. The International Telecommunication Union reports that in 2002 the five top nations for broadband network market penetration were: Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan and Denmark. The ITU ranks the United States eleventh in broadband penetration. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that in middle 2003 the top market penetration for member nations occurred in: Korea, Canada, Iceland, Denmark and Belgium with the United States ranked tenth. Aside from the obvious geographical and demographic advantages accruing to small nations with large urban populations, broadband development has become a national priority for many nations. Both developed and developing nations have stimulated capital expenditures for infrastructure in ways United States public and private sector stakeholders have yet to embrace. Such investments have accrued ample dividends including the lowest broadband access costs in the world. For example, the ITU reports that in 2002 Japanese consumers paid $0.09 per 100 kilobits per second of broadband access compared to $3.53 in the United States. Economic policies do not completely explain why some nations offer faster, better cheaper and more convenient broadband services while other nations do not. This paper will examine the success stories in broadband network development with an eye toward determining the optimal mix of legislative, regulatory and investment initiatives. The paper will track development in Canada, Japan and Korea as these nations have achieved success despite significantly different geographical, political and marketplace conditions.
Do I Have More Free Will Than You Do? An Unexpected Asymmetry in Intuitions About Personal Freedom

The present research explores the relationship between moral evaluations and intuitions about the causes of human behavior, in particular freedom of the will. Two studies test for a self-serving bias in intuitions about free will. Study 1 explores whether individuals may seek to exculpate themselves from wrongdoing by denying free will, while justifying blame of others by endorsing free will. Study 2 explores whether individuals may justify personal failures by denying free will, while taking credit for personal successes by endorsing free will. In neither study do the data show the predicted differences between conditions. However, an unexpected finding is reported. By pooling the data from both experiments and collapsing across conditions, it is shown that participants give greater endorsement of free will whenever actions are described from a first-person, instead of third-person, perspective—a tentative “I have more free will than you do” effect. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, as are avenues for further research on this topic.
Organizational characteristics of dental schools associated with research productivity

The purpose of this study was to identify organizational characteristics of dental schools that relate to research productivity. Published data on 53 U.S. dental schools comprised the seven predictor variables. The criterion variable of school research productivity (SRP) was defined as the aggregate number of faculty publications generated by each dental school. Using stepwise multiple regression, it was found that three of the variables predicted 34 percent of the variance in SRP: (1) level of NIDR funding, R2 = .28; (2) student/faculty ratio, R2 = .31, and (3) number of library books, R2 = .337. An ANOVA was conducted between source of basic science instruction and SRP and revealed that the use of medical school faculty to teach basic science courses for dental students had the strongest positive relationship to SRP. The "ideal" combination of dental school characteristics associated with research productivity was $420,000 or more in NIDR funds, a student/faculty ratio of 4.75 or less, a dental library with at least 10,000 dental-related books, and the use of medical school faculty to teach basic science courses.
Moral Hazard in Campaigns: Do Political Candidates Keep Hiring Their Consultants?

Political consultants play an integral role in modern political campaigns. When candidates hire consultants to assist with their campaign they create a principal-agent relationship with attendant risks of moral hazard. We argue that the promise of a repeated relationship between a consultant and a candidate is a market-based mechanism that can help to align the consultant’s incentives with those of the candidate. We utilize an original dataset of nearly 20,000 matches between candidates and consultants over a ten-year period to understand how candidates take actions designed to reduce agency loss. We find that while a significant number of relationships last for more than one election cycle, the aggregate rate of rehiring never exceeds 50%, and few relationships endure over the long-term. The frequency of re-matching increases with the centrality of consultant services where the potential for and costs of moral hazard are highest. Our paper is the first that focuses on agency costs in the consultant-candidate relationship, and that utilizes longitudinal data to examine how this relationship evolves.
Neurocognitive Profile of a Woman with Susac’s Syndrome: Further Evidence of Cognitive Variability

Objective: Susac’s syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by encephalopathy, retinal artery occlusions, hearing loss, and lesions to the corpus callosum. To date, only four papers (five cases) have described the neuropsychological effects of the syndrome. Extant case reports of Susac’s syndrome have documented varying levels of cognitive impairment; some studies have identified diffuse cerebral dysfunction, while others describe more focal impairments in attention, memory, and executive functioning. Method: The goal of this case study was to provide comprehensive neurocognitive data obtained from another case of confirmed Susac’s syndrome. As such, we present the case of a 42-year-old woman with a two-year history of Susac’s syndrome. At the time of the neuropsychological evaluation, the patient described ongoing difficulties with memory, word-finding problems, problems with math, and poor problem-solving. Physical/sensory changes included hearing loss, tinnitus, and migraines. Results: Neuro...
Star formation in collisional ring galaxies and the circumnuclear regions of active galactic nuclei

This dissertation contains multiwavelength observational projects on collisional ring galax­ ies. active galactic nuclei (AGNs). and neutral hydrogen observations of the collisional ring galaxy Arp 118 (an interacting pair NGC 11-14/1143). I have demonstrated in my dissertation research that: starburst knots of individual colli­ sional ring gala.xies cluster around the same, very young age suggesting that their formation was recently triggered by a coherent event all around the ring and strongly supports their pro­ duction as a result of the passage of a radial density wave: the atomic and molecular emission in the strongly interacting gala.xy .\rp 118 appears to be very asymmetrically distributed such that the .WV region of the gala.xy is mainly atomic hydrogen, whereas the SE region has an interstellar medium which is ~94% molecular hydrogen. One possiblity is that in the SE region there is a rapid conversion of HI to H). which may be a result of the highly off-center collision between .\GC 1144 and .\GC 1143: and the global far-infrared colors of Seyfert galaxies may be linked to their radio morphologies.
Nitrogen and Sulfate Export from High Elevation Catchments of the Sierra Nevada, California

Based on studies of high-elevation, Sierra Nevada catchments during the period from 1983 through 1996, we describe temporal variations in the concentrations of NO 3 − and SO 4 2− in surface waters. During snowmelt, some catchments had a pattern of NO 3 − increase to a plateau between the start of snowmelt and some weeks before runoff peaked, and a decline as runoff increased to its maximum. In other catchments, NO 3 − concentrations peaked during the autumn and winter. Long-term trends in surface water chemistry were evident in only two catchments: an increase in SO 4 2− concentrations in surface waters of the Ruby Lake basin, and a lowering of annual maxima and minima of NO,− concentrations at Emerald Lake. From October 1987 through April 1994, SO 4 2− concentrations increased from about 6 µeq L−1 to about 12 µeq L−1 in Ruby Lake, and in Emerald Lake, NO 3 − maxima declined by 25–50%.
CROSSOVER FROM LOCALIZED TO MOBILE ELECTRONS IN Qn(TCNQ)2

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation measurements are reported for Qn(TCNQ)/sub 2/ over the magnetic field range 10 Oe to 120 kOe at temperatures between 4.2 K and 100 K. They indicate that a crossover from localized to mobile 1-d electrons occurs near 20 K. The distance an electron diffuses before confinement by a barrier or jumping to another chain varies from 30 A at 19 K to 155 A at 100 K. The observed behavior is consistent with diffusion among random barriers.
Single-incision laparoscopic myomectomy

Laparoscopic myomectomy is a minimally invasive surgical option for the treatment of uterine leiomyomas. Single-incision laparoscopy is a relatively new concept that has potential in gynaecological surgery although the technical challenges of single-incision access have limited the widespread use of the technique. The use of intracorporeal suturing is a significant component of the learning curve for laparoscopic myomectomy and presents an even greater challenge with single-incision laparoscopic myomectomy. This article describes a surgeon's approach to single-incision laparoscopic myomectomy.
Ferromagnetic III-Mn-V semiconductors: basic issues and prospects for spintronic applications

Interest in the properties of ferromagnetic alloys of the type III 1-x Mn x V is primarily fueled by the promise which they hold of spin-electronic (“spintronic”) applications. Although this promise is presently tempered by the fact that the Curie temperatures of III 1-x Mn x V alloys are still below 200K, progress in understanding the fundamental physics of these materials has been made on many fronts, which can in turn lead to breakthroughs toward hightemperature ferromagnetism in III 1-x Mn x V alloys. In this paper we review the issues which determine the incorporation of Mn into the III-V lattice and of achieving high doping levels of the resulting material, both of which limit the Curie temperature. We then discuss mechanisms for controlling and manipulating the magnetic anisotropy of these materials, an issue that is of particular importance for the design of spininjection- based devices; and we use our recent results on Ga 1-x Mn x As films grown on vicinal (tilted) GaAs substrates as an illustration of the wide range of spinbased device opportunities that can be based on III 1-x Mn x V alloys as further progress is made in understanding and optimizing their properties.
Target noise in overlay metrology

We have developed a method for calculating the statistical effects of spatial noise on the overlay measurement extracted from a given overlay target. The method has been applied to two kinds of overlay targets on three process layers, and the new metric, Target Noise, has been shown to correlate well to the random component of Overlay Mark Fidelity. A significant difference in terms of robustness has been observed between AIM targets and conventional Frame-in-Frame targets. The results fit well into the spatial noise hierarchy presented in this paper.
Estradiol treatment increases viability of glioma and neuroblastoma cells in vitro.

The present study provides evidence that 17-β-estradiol (E2) exerts cytoprotective effects on both glial and neuronal cell lines. In C6 rat glioma cells, the addition of E2 to serum free media enhances live cell number by 40% at 24 h and 75% at 96 h when compared to serum free media conditions. E2 treatment of C6 cells in serum free medium did not increase thymidine uptake at any sampling time, indicating that the observed effect of E2 on C6 cell number was not due to a mitogenic effect of the steroid hormone. The addition of E2 to SK-N-SH cells in serum free media maintained both total and live cell number at a level comparable to the fetal bovine serum (FBS) treated cells at both 24 and 48 h. At 96 h after treatment with E2, total and live cell numbers were diminished relative to the 48-h sample and the 96-h FBS group, but were still more than twice the number observed in serum free media. Associated with the reduced effects of E2 at 96 h was an increase in the ratio of dead to total cells, although it remained about 50% less than the serum free group. Through 48 h, E2 exposure did not increase thymidine uptake in SK-N-SH cells, indicating that the effect of E2 on SK-N-SH cells was cytoprotective rather than mitogenic. Collectively, these data support a cytoprotective action of E2 on neuronal or glial cell types in vitro.
Roles of Target Cells and Virus-Specific Cellular Immunity in Primary Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

There is an ongoing debate on whether acute human immunodeficiency virus infection is controlled by target cell limitation or by virus-specific cellular immunity. To resolve this question, we developed a novel mathematical modeling scheme which allows us to incorporate measurements of virus load, target cells, and virus-specific immunity and applied it to a comprehensive data set generated in an experiment involving rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus. Half of the macaques studied were treated during the primary infection period with reagents which block T-cell costimulation and as a result displayed severely impaired virus-specific immune responses. Our results show that early viral replication in normal infection is controlled to a large extent by virus-specific CD8 + T cells and not by target cell limitation.
The impact of erosive esophagitis on HRQL

Purpose: In a recent effectiveness trial of rabeprazole 20 mg once daily in over 2500 patients with endoscopically confirmed erosive esophagitis, we used the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF 36) to assess health related quality of life (HRQL) and the degree of impairment in HRQL relative to the US norm. The objective: to extend results from previous studies on HRQL impairment in GERD to an erosive GERD sample larger and more representative of this subset of GERD sufferers in the US population.
High risk of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy presenting with syncope.

It is not entirely clear whether the presentation of syncope in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDC) is an ominous prognostic indicator, because randomized controlled implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) trials generally exclude such patients. This study compared 108 consecutive patients with NIDC presenting with syncope with 71 consecutive patients with NIDC who presented with sustained ventricular arrhythmias, with regard to freedom from any ventricular arrhythmias or life-threatening arrhythmias and all-cause mortality. There was no significant difference between the groups in the 3 outcomes during the follow-up of 43.5 ± 32.1 months. Male gender and ICD therapy predicted increased risk for any ventricular arrhythmias. A reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and increased age were predictive of increased mortality. In conclusion, patients with NIDC presenting with syncope are a high-risk group, with event rates similar to patients with NIDC presenting with sustained arrhythmias, and should be considered for ICD therapy.
Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis and Bacteremia due to Leuconostoc Species in a Patient with End-Stage Liver Disease: A Case Report

This report describes a case of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in a patient with end stage liver disease in whom Leuconostoc spp. was isolated from blood and ascitic fluid. In common with several previously described patients with cultures positive for Leuconostoc from other body sites, this patient had recently received vancomycin. The antibiotic susceptibilities and mechanism of vancomycin resistance of this Gram-positive bacteria are reviewed.
Social conservatism: Determinants and structural stability over time

Abstract The decade of the 1970s is generally regarded as one of increasing conservatism in attitudes and lifestyle. Using general social survey data from the period 1972–1980 the paper describes and explains some of the fundamental shifts in socially conservative attitudes (i.e. attitudes concerning civil liberty, abortion, racial segregation) which occurred during the 1970s. Findings suggest the following: (1) attitude structures changed little over time; (2) levels of conservatism showed a statistically significant increase over the decade; (3) the overall explanatory structure (both slopes and intercepts) changed over the time period investigated. However, levels of education and levels of church attendance had consistent (but inverse) impacts on degree of conservatism; (4) size of place of current residence was conspicuously absent as an important predictor. Since this is the most often used proxy for rural vs urban milieu, we encourage caution in interpreting much of the literature on rural-urban differences.
Are there differential relationships between different types of childhood maltreatment and different types of adult personality pathology

While considerable data support the relationship between childhood trauma and adult personality pathology in general, there is little research investigating the specific relationships between different types of childhood maltreatment and adult personality disorders. The present study tested a model incorporating five a priori hypotheses regarding the association between distinct forms of childhood maltreatment and personality pathology in 231 psychiatric patients using multiple self-report measures (Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4th Edition, Child Trauma Questionnaire, Conflict in Tactics Scale Parent-Child Child-Adult, and Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale). Step-wise linear regressions supported three out of five hypotheses, suggesting independent relationships between: physical abuse and antisocial personality disorder traits; emotional abuse and Cluster C personality disorder traits; and maternal neglect and Cluster A personality disorder traits after controlling for co-occurring maltreatment types and personality disorder traits. Results did not support an independent relationship between sexual abuse and borderline personality traits nor between emotional abuse and narcissistic personality disorder traits. Additionally, there were three unexpected findings: physical abuse was independently and positively associated with narcissistic and paranoid traits and negatively associated with Cluster C traits. These findings can help refine our understanding of adult personality pathology and support the future development of clinical tools for survivors of childhood maltreatment.
LIGHT REFLEcTION FROM A SEA ICE COVER DURING THE ONSET OF SUMMER MELT

A knowledge of the reflection of light from a sea ice cover is important for both the interpretation of remote sensing imagery at visible and near-infrared wavelengths and for climatological studies involving the energy balance of the polar regions. Spectral measurements of albedo, bidirectional reflectance function (BDRF), and polarized reflectance were made for sea ice conditions found during the onset of melt in the Canadian Arctic. The wavelength region studied was from the ultraviolet to the near infrared (370 - 1000 nm). Results for five surface types are presented: (1) dry snow, (2) dry snow with a glazed surface, (3) bare ice, (4) blue ice, and (5) a melt pond. Results indicate that spectral albedos decrease at all wavelengths as the melt season progresses and the surface conditions evolve from (1) through (5), and that the decrease is most pronounced at longer wavelengths. Reflectance data suggest that (1) at most angles reflectance has the same spectral shape as albedo, (2) at 30 degree(s) elevation reflectance is for the most part azimuthally isotropic and (3) at 60 degree(s) elevation a significant specular component was evident at 0 degree(s) azimuth, especially for the bare ice case.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Diffraction dissociation and Coulomb dissociation of high-energy neutrons by nuclei

We present the results of a spark chamber experiment in which we studied the reac- tion n +A --, (p + ¢r-) +A' , where the (p,r-) pair is coherently produced off carbon, copper, and lead nuclei. Between 5000 and 55 000 good events were collected with each target. Incident neutrons in the mo- mentum range 10 to 28 GeV/c were used. Forward-going (pTr-) pairs from the above reac- tion were detected in a wire spark chamber spectrometer which measured the momentum and angles of each particle. The observation of a sharp forward peak (of width appropriate to the nuclear radius) indicated that a large fraction of the events were coherently produced. There is no evidence for any appreciable production of the well-established 1 = ½ nucleon isobars; our limits appear to be inconsistent with estimates based on a straightforward ex- trapolation of pp data. The lead data show evidence for coulomb production of the A(1236). 3 The carbon data indicate a spin J/> i for the coherently produced (p~r-) states with pure 3 J - ~- possible. We cannot draw any firm conclusions about helicity conservation. The DreU- Hiida-Deck model does not adequately fit the data, nor is the double-Regge-pole model completely satisfactory.
Study on the mechanisms of glucocorticoid-induced hypertension: Glucocorticoids increase transmembrane Ca2+ influx in vascular smooth muscle in vivo

Blood pressure (BP) and ex vivo influx rate of Ca2+ in excised aortae were measured in rabbits implanted with silastic rubber strips impregnated with glucocorticoids (GC) [dexamethasone (DEX) or cortisol (FK)], or carbenoxolone (CX) [inhibitor of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11-HSD), in a large (lg) or a small (sm) (10 times smaller) concentration], or FK plus CX (sm), or DEX plus RU 38486 (a specific GC-receptor blocker). After 4-6 weeks rabbits implanted with DEX, CX (lg), and FK + CX (sm) developed hypertension. Those implanted with FK alone (yielding physiological serum concentration of FK), CX (sm), and DEX + RU 38486 did not develop hypertension. Rates of unidirectional influx of Ca2+ measured in rings of excised aortae were in all hypertensive rabbits more than twice those in the control rabbits (implanted with silastic strips not containing any steroids). In all normotensive rabbits, Ca2+ influx rates remained normal. We conclude that, in analogy with the in vitro findings in cultured vascula...
Constant region IgG allotypes in hares: Group e allelic polymorphism☆

Abstract Alloantisera prepared against domestic rabbit IgG allotypes were used in hemagglutination-inhibition and direct radioimmune binding tests to detect the Cγ region allotypes in hares from several geographical locations. The d11, d12 and e14 allotypes were absent in all the hare samples tested. The hemagglutination-inhibition and the radioimmune binding tests gave differing results in the classification of hares with respect to the e15 allotype. The apparent enigma was resolved by taking into consideration the concept of multiple antigenic determinants comprising the e15 allotypic system. The results are presented and discussed in terms of possible allelic genetic variants of the Cγ gene in hares.