cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Somatic-Type Malignancy in Germ Cell Tumors

Somatic-type malignancies (STM) may occasionally develop in preexisting germ cell tumors (GCT). It is generally believed to result from transformation of teratomatous elements, although alternative mechanisms must exist, as not all STM develop in teratoma-containing GCT. The transformed histology includes sarcomas, carcinomas, primitive tumors, hematologic malignancies, and others. STM-GCT occurs across the spectrum of GCT, including type I, type II, type III, and type IV GCT, and in both gonadal and extragonadal sites. Derivation from the preexisting neoplastic germ cell has been supported by the presence of molecular signatures of GCT in the somatic component. The STM likely arises from the activation of oncogenes that normally play a role in the development of these tumors at their normal sites. Pathogenesis includes senescence of tissues in slow-growing, benign GCT or overgrowth of immature elements. The presence of STM renders worse outcome compared to conventional GCT without transformation. STM is generally resistant to chemotherapy targeted at GCT. Stage and feasibility of radical resection are the most important prognostic factors. The differential diagnosis of STM-GCT includes metastatic non-GCT-related malignancy, post-therapy changes, and other GCT elements.
Improving the Cultural Competency of Social Work Students with a Social Privilege Activity.

ABSTRACTThis article describes the development and utilization of an instructional activity created by the authors for the purposes of preparing social work students for culturally competent practice with members of historically oppressed populations. Experiential activities in the classroom provide an alternative approach to traditional pedagogical methods by positioning the learner at the center of an educational process that is grounded in reality. The activity is designed to highlight the social privileges of individuals and the inherent risks that are taken when deciding to challenge or confront oppressive structures, attitudes, and behaviors.
Safety of outpatient thyroidectomy: Review of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To investigate national trends in admission status after thyroidectomy in the United States and to evaluate the factors associated with 30-day unplanned readmission and reoperation. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review of American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) METHODS: The ACS-NSQIP database was queried for patients who underwent a partial or total thyroidectomy between 2005 and 2014. Outpatient surgery was defined as discharge on the day of surgery. Patient demographic information, unplanned hospital readmission, and reoperation were reviewed. Risk factors were identified using logistic regression modeling. RESULTS A total of 76,604 cases met inclusion criteria as described above. There were 1,473 (1.9%) patients who underwent reoperation and 477 unplanned 30-day readmissions (1.4%) for procedures performed since 2012. There was a significant positive trend in the percentage of thyroidectomy (partial and total) patients who underwent outpatient procedures by year of operation (P < .001). Outpatient procedures were not more likely to have unplanned readmissions or reoperations. Independent patient risk factors for unplanned readmission and reoperation included current dialysis, chronic steroid use, unintentional weight loss, American Society of Anesthesiologists class 3 to 4, and active bleeding disorders. CONCLUSIONS Over the past decade there has been a clear trend toward increasing outpatient thyroid surgery. Thyroidectomy performed as an outpatient was not found to be an independent risk factor for readmission or reoperation. Patients with serious medical comorbidities and active bleeding disorders are at increased risk of unplanned readmission or reoperation and should have their surgery performed on an inpatient basis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2c. Laryngoscope, 128:1249-1254, 2018.
The molecules of forgetfulness

Not everything that we learn is useful, so the brain needs a mechanism to prevent itself being burdened by unhelpful details. The molecular details of this mechanism are now being uncovered.
The Chameleon Effect: Characterization Challenges Due to the Variability of Nanoparticles and Their Surfaces.

Nanoparticles in a variety of forms are increasing important in fundamental research, technological and medical applications, and environmental or toxicology studies. Physical and chemical drivers that lead to multiple types of particle instabilities complicate both the ability to produce, appropriately characterize, and consistently deliver well-defined particles, frequently leading to inconsistencies and conflicts in the published literature. This perspective suggests that provenance information, beyond that often recorded or reported, and application of a set of core characterization methods, including a surface sensitive technique, consistently applied at critical times can serve as tools in the effort minimize reproducibility issues.
Origin and Early Radiation of the Metazoa

The complex of historical events encompassing the origin and early evolution of Metazoa is at once the salient feature and the most significant unresolved biohistorical phenomenon in the history of life. It has been the single most perplexing issue since paleontology emerged as a scientific discipline in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of paleontology’s heroic figures (W. Buckland, C. Lyell, C. R. Darwin, C. D. Walcott) and modern leaders (P. E. Cloud, B. Runnegar, S. M. Stanley, J. W. Valentine) have offered hypotheses or scenarios to explain or account for events of this critical juncture in the history of life. To date, none of these ideas are widely accepted.
Fetal magnetocardiogram waveform characteristics.

Background Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is the most direct and precise method of assessing fetal rhythm and conduction. Although the utility of fMCG for evaluation of fetuses with serious arrhythmia is generally acknowledged, many aspects of fetal rhythm and conduction are relatively unstudied. Objective To record fMCG in a large group of normal fetuses in order to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of fMCG waveform characteristics, including waveform intervals, amplitudes, and morphology. Methods The subjects were 132 healthy women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies, studied at 15.7-39.9 (mean 28.9) weeks' gestation in 259 sessions. The P, PR, QRS, QT, QTc, and RR intervals and the P/QRS and T/QRS amplitude ratios were measured. Main results The P, PR, QRS, and RR intervals increased with gestational age, but QT and QTc did not. U-waves were seen in 11% of fetuses. The T-waves were often flat with low T/QRS amplitude ratios. Equiphasic QRS complexes were associated with tall P-waves. The PR, QRS, and QT intervals showed a power law dependence on RR interval with power law exponents 0.445, 0.363, and 0.381, respectively. Significance The data establish prediction intervals for fMCG waveform intervals and amplitudes in normal fetuses. This is critical for identification of fetuses with abnormal rhythm. Our study is the first to document the incidence of U-waves and flat T-waves in the fetus, both of which are uncommon postnatally. The association of tall P-waves with equiphasic QRS complexes provides a useful means of improving the resolution of fetal P-waves.
Review: City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952–1982

City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952–1982 Collegi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya, Barcelona 10 July–13 September 2008 Casa Arabe, Madrid 9 October–9 November 2008 Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Murcia, Murcia 26 November–12 February 2009 American Institute of Architects, New York Center for Architecture 22 February–5 May 2012 Boston Society of Architects, Boston BSA Space 2 October 2012–10 January 2013 Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah Harb House 4 November–15 November 2012 After being inaugurated in Spain in 2008, the exhibition City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952–1982 , encompassing realized and unrealized architectural and urban schemes produced for that city by foreign architects, took its turn in the United States and Palestine in 2012–13 with installations in New York, Boston, and Ramallah. Much of the cast, with fourteen projects among them, form a parade of the modern and postmodern canon: Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Jose Luis Sert, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Gio Ponti, Alison and Peter Smithson, Constantinos Doxiadis, Ricardo Bofill, and Willem Marinus Dudok. Four of the exhibition’s projects were realized in full or in part. The exhibition’s title, City of Mirages , is not the facile orientalizing heading it may at first appear. It comes rather from a poem by Iraqi Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, whose style is credited with reifying free verse and mythology in Arabic-language poetry at midcentury. Sayyab’s poetry provides a useful interlocution to an underdeveloped understanding of later orientalism, the rich yet unfulfilled possibility of the exhibition. The curatorial goal made evident in both the exhibition’s design and text, rather than explicitly deconstructing this interpretive possibility from poetry in architectural terms, is a plainer unveiling of largely unfamiliar, fascinating projects. The unrealized synergy of this collection of projects has much to do with both its time (late capitalism) and place (the decolonizing and postcolonial domain, a milieu Sayyab’s poetry actively engages). After dabbling with Marxism, Sayyab embraced a tempered form of the capitalist nationalism that characterized much of Iraq after it overthrew the Hashemite crown and became a republic in 1958. The mythology to which he was attracted was not the stuff of heroic national origin myths, as it was elsewhere in the Middle East and the postcolonial world, …
Blocking transmembrane219 protein signaling inhibits autophagy and restores normal cell death

Autophagy plays a vital role in tumor therapy and survival of dormant tumor cells. Here we describe a novel function of a protein known as Transmembrane 219 (TM219) as an autophagy activator. TM219 is a small membrane protein expressed in all known human tissues except the thymus. We used biochemical approaches to identify calmodulin and calmodulin dependent protein kinase II as a part of TM219 protein complex. Then, we employed in vitro reconstitution system and fluorescence anisotropy to study the requirements of TM219 to bind calmodulin in vitro. We also used this system to study the effects of a synthetic peptide derived from the sequence of the short cytoplasmic tail of TM219 (SCTT) on calmodulin-TM219 receptor interactions. We conjugated SCTT peptide with a pH Low Insertion peptide (pHLIP) for optimal cellular delivery. We finally tested the effects of SCTT-pHLIP on triple negative human breast cancer cells in three dimension culture. Our data defined a novel function of TM219 protein and an efficient approach to inhibit it.
High Density Multicore Fibers Employing Small MFD Cores for Datacenters

Homogeneous single-mode multicore fibers (SM-MCFs) with simple step index profiles are attractive for low-cost and high-density datacenter optical networks. Low-crosstalk 12-core SM-MCFs with cladding diameters of less than 150 μm are proposed.
Scalp advancement for transgender women: Closing the gap

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Hairline advancement is a powerful procedure to shorten the forehead and eliminate areas of hair loss, especially along the temporal recesses. This study was undertaken to report the typical hairline advancement possible with the senior author's method for scalp advancement at the time of forehead feminization. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective chart review. METHODS A review was conducted of 29 consecutive cases that met inclusion criteria from January to March 2018 at an academic medical center. Sex, gender, age, whether galeatomy was performed, and additional variables were recorded. The distance of hairline advancement was measured in the midline and at the left and right midpupillary line. Galeatomies and rapid intraoperative tissue expansion were performed as per standard surgical protocol. RESULTS For the group of 29 individuals who underwent the specified method for scalp advancement, the average differences for the glabella to the trichion, the right midpupillary line, and the left midpupillary line were 1.90 cm, 2.07 cm, and 2.07 cm, respectively. These differences between the pre- and post-observations were statistically significant at the 0.1% level (P < .001). The overall average difference in scalp advancement was 2.01 cm (also significantly different pre- and post-measurements at the 0.1% level; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Our technique of hairline advancement provides a significant improvement in the hairline in patients seeking out advancement due to an elongated forehead while undergoing facial feminization. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 130:1431-1435, 2020.
Robust accessibility: Measuring accessibility based on travelers' heterogeneous strategies for managing travel time uncertainty

Abstract Uncertainties in travel times due to traffic congestion and delay are risks for drivers and public transit users. To avoid undesired consequences such as losing jobs or missing medical appointments, people can manage the risks of missing on-time arrivals to destinations using different strategies, including leaving earlier to create a safety margin and choosing routes that have more reliable rather than fastest travel times. This research develops a general analytical framework for measuring accessibility considering automobile or public transit travelers' heterogeneous strategies for dealing with travel time uncertainty. To represent different safety margin plans, we use effective travel time (expected time + safety margin), given specified on-time arrival probabilities. Heterogeneity in routing strategy is addressed using different Pareto-optimal routes with two main criteria: faster travel time vs. higher reliability. Based on various safety margin and routing strategy combinations, we examine how accessibility changes under varying safety margin plans and routing strategies. Also, we define and measure robust accessibility: geographic regions that are accessible regardless of the safety margin planning and routing strategy. Robust accessibility can provide a conservative and reasonable view of accessibility under travel time uncertainty. To demonstrate the applicability of the methods, we carry out an empirical study on measuring the impacts of new transit service on healthcare accessibility in a deprived neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Wonder with elinor: designing a socially contingent video viewing experience

Recognizing children's penchant for interacting with their loved media characters, we design a socially contingent video viewing experience where children are allowed to converse with the main character in a science animation series targeting preschool-aged children. The interaction is enabled by a conversational agent and is designed to prime children to engage in science inquiries with the main character as the story unfolds. A field testing suggests that this design concept is feasible, and children enjoyed the opportunities to become participants, beyond consumers, of the media experiences.
An Overview of Optimization Approaches for Operation of Hybrid Distributed Energy Systems with Photovoltaic and Diesel Turbine Generator

Abstract Humanity is presently confronting a global energy crisis this is due to an insufficiency in traditional energy sources while the energy demands are worldwide increased. In response to this crisis, improving energy efficiency and sustainability and are becoming significantly important. Therefore, distributed energy systems are extremely important in terms of having multiple energy sources to meet time-varying consumer demands. Recently, hybrid distributed energy system has become widely applied to raise system reliability and improve power quality instead of depending on one type of conventional energy sources such as diesel generators. Yet, it faces some challenges in its widespread deployment such as unpredictable nature and intermittently varying renewable energy sources like solar radiation. This issue can be overcome by integrating energy storage that manages the time mismatch between energy production and load requirements. Hence, it is important to review the recent promising approaches for the optimization of hybrid systems to reduce the operation cost and total network losses. This work encompasses a review of the recent optimization approaches for hybrid energy systems with PV, diesel turbine generators, and energy storage systems to give the basis for solving difficult and intricate real-world problems related to distributed energy system operation.
Should I leave this industry? The role of stress and negative emotions in response to an industry negative work event

Abstract The effects of subjective stress and negative emotions on work have been theorized and widely researched, but the literature has mostly focused on organization-specific contexts. The purpose of the current paper was to understand the impact of subjective stress and negative emotions associated with COVID-19 on employee attitudes and behaviors toward the hospitality industry. In Study 1, qualitative interviews showed that the COVID-19 pandemic is (1) perceived as a negative event affecting the industry, rather than only affecting a particular job or company, and (2) distressful, provoking negative emotions. In Study 2, a quantitative study examined subjective stress and negative emotions associated with COVID-19, as well as industry turnover intentions and industry negative word-of-mouth as responses to the stress and negative emotions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The current research underscores the importance of studying work events that impact an industry and attitudes and behaviors toward the industry.
Household Food Insecurity, Hair Cortisol, and Adiposity Among Tsimane' Hunter-Forager-Horticulturalists in Bolivia.

Objectives This study examined how household food insecurity (HFI) and chronic stress relate to adiposity among Tsimane' hunter-forager-horticulturalists in remote Bolivia with limited access to energy-dense processed foods that promote weight gain among industrialized populations. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional data on HFI (via the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale [HFIAS]), hair cortisol concentration (HCC), adiposity (BMI, body fat percentage [%BF]), and sociodemographics were collected from 171 men, 164 women, and 167 children. Linear mixed-effects models tested linear, quadratic, joint, and interactive relationships between adiposity measures and both the HFIAS score and HCC. Results Among children, each 3-point HFIAS score increase was associated with a 0.44-point higher %BF (SE = 0.22, P = 0.04). However, each 20% increase in HCC was associated with a -0.29-point difference in %BF (SE = 0.12, P = 0.01). Among men, a slight curvilinear relationship emerged between HFIAS and BMI. HFIAS and HCC were unrelated to adiposity measures among women. HCC did not modify relationships between HFIAS and adiposity in any subgroup. Conclusions These findings from a remote, small-scale population suggest that positive associations between HFI and adiposity are not isolated to contexts of industrialized food environments and heavy reliance on processed foods. However, these dynamics and the role of stress appear to differ by sex and age group.
Host and parasite traits predict cross-species parasite acquisition by introduced mammals

Species invasions and range shifts can lead to novel host-parasite communities, but we lack general rules on which new associations are likely to form. While many studies examine parasite sharing among host species, the directionality of transmission is typically overlooked, impeding our ability to derive principles of parasite acquisition. Consequently, we analysed parasite records from the non-native ranges of 11 carnivore and ungulate species. Using boosted regression trees, we modelled parasite acquisition within each zoogeographic realm of a focal host's non-native range, using a suite of predictors characterizing the parasites themselves and the host community in which they live. We found that higher parasite prevalence among established hosts increases the likelihood of acquisition, particularly for generalist parasites. Non-native host species are also more likely to acquire parasites from established host species to which they are closely related; however, the acquisition of several parasite groups is biased to phylogenetically specialist parasites, indicating potential costs of parasite generalism. Statistical models incorporating these features provide an accurate prediction of parasite acquisition, indicating that measurable host and parasite traits can be used to estimate the likelihood of new host-parasite associations forming. This work provides general rules to help anticipate novel host-parasite associations created by climate change and other anthropogenic influences.
Auditing the Information Quality of News-Related Queries on the Alexa Voice Assistant

Smart speakers are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in society and are now used for satisfying a variety of information needs, from asking about the weather or traffic to accessing the latest breaking news information. Their growing use for news and information consumption presents new questions related to the quality, source diversity, and comprehensiveness of the news-related information they convey. These questions have significant implications for voice assistant technologies acting as algorithmic information intermediaries, but systematic information quality audits have not yet been undertaken. To address this gap, we develop a methodological approach for evaluating information quality in voice assistants for news-related queries. We demonstrate the approach on the Amazon Alexa voice assistant, first characterising Alexa's performance in terms of response relevance, accuracy, and timeliness, and then further elaborating analyses of information quality based on query phrasing, news category, and information provenance. We discuss the implications of our findings for future audits of information quality on voice assistants and for the consumption of news information via such algorithmic intermediaries more broadly.
Enhanced dual plasmonic photocatalysis through plasmonic coupling in eccentric noble metal-nonstoichiometric copper chalcogenide hetero-nanostructures

The extension of plasmonics to materials beyond the conventional noble metals opens up a novel and exciting regime after the inspiring discovery of characteristic localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in doped semiconductor nanocrystals originating from the collective oscillations of free holes in the valence band. We herein prepare colloidal monodisperse eccentric dual plasmonic noble metal-nonstoichiometric copper chalcogenide (Au@Cu2−xSe) hybrid hetero-nanostructures with precisely controlled semiconductor shell size and two tunable LSPRs in both visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) regions associated with Au and Cu2−xSe, respectively. Through systematic evaluations of the photocatalytic performance of Au@Cu2−xSe upon sole NIR and dual VIS + NIR simultaneous excitations, we are capable of unambiguously elucidating the role of plasmonic coupling between two dissimilar building blocks on the accelerated photocatalytic reactions with greater rate constants from both experimental and computational perspectives. The significantly enhanced strength of the electromagnetic field arising from efficient plasmonic coupling under the excitation of two LSPRs results in the superior activities of dual plasmonic Au@Cu2−xSe in photocatalysis. The new physical and chemical insights gained from this work provide the keystone for the rational design and construction of high-quality dual- or even multi-plasmonic nano-systems with optimized properties for widespread applications ranging from photocatalysis to molecular spectroscopies.
Smart tree crop sprayer utilizing sensor fusion and artificial intelligence

Abstract Delivering the appropriate amount of chemicals for each plant based on their needs is essential for reducing costs, waste, and labor. Smart agricultural machinery can provide variable-rate technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine vision to optimize spraying applications. In this research, a low-cost smart sensing system for controlling airblast tree crop sprayers was designed and evaluated using citrus as a case study. The prototype comprised a LiDAR, machine vision, GPS, flow meters, sensor fusion, and AI to scan trees for tree height, tree classification, and fruit counting. Specifically, this smart sensing system can detect and classify objects to tree or non-tree (e.g., human, field constructions), measure tree height and canopy density, and detect and count fruit. Based on this information, it controls spraying nozzles to optimize spraying applications. A novel software was written in C++ and ran on an Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX embedded computer to process and control the data utilizing data fusion and AI techniques. The smart sensing system's results for tree height estimate indicated a relatively low average error of 6%. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to perform tree classification with an average accuracy of 84% in classifying the collected imagery into mature, young, dead, and non-tree objects. The fruit count module (also a CNN) had an F1 score of 89%, compared to ground-truth labeled images of mature and immature citrus fruits. Finally, the adoption of this new sensing method reduced spraying volume by 28%, compared to traditional spraying applications.
Toward Evaluation Techniques for Music Similarity

We describe and discuss our recent work developing a database, methodology and ground truth for the evaluation of automatic techniques for music similarity. Our database consists of acoustic and textual ‘Web-mined’ data covering 400 popular artists. Of note is our technique of sharing acoustic features rather than raw audio to avoid copyright problems. Our evaluation methodology allows any data source to be regarded as ground truth and can highlight which measure forms the best collective ground truth. We additionally describe an evaluation methodology that is useful for similarity. We have successfully used our database and techniques to evaluate a number of music similarity algorithms. *
Singular instantons with SO(3) symmetry

This article provides an explicit construction for a family of singular instantons on S^4 S^2 with arbitrary real holonomy parameter \alpha. This family includes the original \alpha = 1/4, c_2 = 3/2 solution discovered by P. Forgacs, Z. Horvath, and L. Palla, and our approach is modeled on that of their 1981 paper. Our primary tool is the ansatz due to Corrigan, Fairlie, Wilczek, and 't Hooft that constructs a self-dual Yang-Mills connection using a positive real-valued harmonic super-potential. Here we reformulate this harmonic function ansatz in terms of quaternionic notation, and we show that it arises naturally from the Levi-Civita connection of a conformally Euclidean metric. To simplify the construction, we introduce an SO(3)-action on S^4, and we show by dimensional reduction that the symmetric self-duality equation on S^4 is equivalent to the vortex equations over hyperbolic space H^2. We thus obtain a similar harmonic function ansatz for hyperbolic vortices, which we also derive using conformal transformations of H^2. Using this ansatz, we construct the vortex equivalents of the symmetric 't Hooft instantons, and we prove using the equivariant ADHM construction that they provide a complete description of all hyperbolic vortices. We also analyze when two vortices constructed by this ansatz are gauge equivalent, obtaining the surprising result that two such vortices are completely determined by the gauge transformation between them.
Russian Archives in Transition: Caught Between Political Crossfire and Economic Crisis

This article results from the author's experience in Russia during 1992, where, under IREX sponsorship, she was working collaboratively with the State Archival Service of the Russian Federation—Rosarkhiv (until the October 1992 presidential decree took effect in December 1992, the Committee for Archival Affairs of the Russian Federation—Roskomarkhiv), the State Public Historical Library (GPIB), and the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences establishing a computerized database (ArcheoBiblioBase) for a directory and bibliography of finding aids for archives and manuscript repositories throughout the Russian Federation. In addition to the sources cited, coverage of many issues comes from a multitude of discussions with Russian archival leaders. Particular appreciation is due to the several friends and colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic who critiqued earlier drafts.A slightly variant form of the present article appears as the introduction to Russian Archives 1993: A Bri...
The Mediating Effects of Verbal Skills in the Relationship Between Low Birth Weight and Childhood Aggressive Behaviour

Prenatal and perinatal risk factors, such as low birth weight, have been linked to higher levels of aggressive and destructive behaviours during childhood. Although low birth weight is associated with childhood externalizing behaviour, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain open to empirical investigation. The current study extends the current literature by examining whether verbal skills mediate the relationship between low birth weight and childhood externalizing behaviour. A longitudinal analysis of data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study reveals that verbal skills appear to mediate the influence of low birth weight on serious aggression and destructive behaviour at age 5. The implications of this research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Paclitaxel plus carboplatin in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: A phase II trial

PURPOSEStudies conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) indicate both paclitaxel and carboplatin are associated with an improvement in 1-year survival in patients with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Based on these findings, a phase II trial of these agents in combination was conducted in patients with advanced NSCLC.PATIENTS AND METHODSEligibility included previously untreated stage IIIB or IV NSCLC patients with a good performance status (PS). Paclitaxel (135 or 175 mg/m2) was administered by 24-hour infusion on day 1, followed by a 1-hour infusion of carboplatin on day 2 (300 mg/m2 or dosed to an area under the concentration-time curve [AUC] of 6 mg/mL.min). Treatment was repeated every 28 days for a total of six cycles. Hematopoietic growth factors were not routinely used.RESULTSAmong 51 eligible patients, there were no complete and 14 partial responses, for an overall response rate of 27% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17% to 41%). The median progression-free survival t...
Psychogenic intractable sneezing in children

Four preadolescent children had paroxysms of intractable sneezing. After days of hospitalization and numerous local and systemic drug treatments had failed, a psychogenic cause of their problem was entertained. This uncommon form of conversion reaction most often occurs between the ages of 9 and 15 years, and prognosis is good if the appropriate interventions are undertaken.
Radiance: the natural quantity for describing diffraction and propagation

The true nature of most physical phenomena, including the propagation of light, becomes evident when simple elegant theories and mathematical models conform to experimental observations. Often the simple nature of some natural phenomenon is obscured by applying a complex theory to model an inappropriate physical quantity in some cumbersome coordinate system or parameter space. In this paper, we integrate sound radiometric principles with scalar diffraction theory and show that diffracted radiance (not irradiance or intensity) is the natural quantity that exhibits shift-invariance if formulated in direction cosine space. Thus simple Fourier techniques can be used to predict a variety of wide-angle diffraction phenomena. These include the redistribution of radiant energy from evanescent diffracted orders to propagating ones, and the calculation of diffraction efficiencies with accuracy usually thought to require rigorous electromagnetic theory. In addition, an empirically modified Beckmann-Kirchhoff surface scatter theory has been shown to be more accurate than the classical Beckmann-Kirchhoff theory in predicting non-intuitive scatter effects at large incident and scattered angles, without the smooth-surface limitation of the Rayleigh-Rice scattering theory.
Acute alcohol administration and placebo effectiveness in older moderate drinkers: influences on cognitive performance.

Objective:Placebo effectiveness and subsequent influence on cognitive performance were investigated in older moderate drinkers (ages 50–69; N = 30; 15 men) following acute alcohol administration. Method:Double-blind, placebo-controlled alcohol administration techniques were designed to produce peak breath alcohol concentration levels consistent with an episode of social drinking (∼40 mg/100 ml). Cognitive performance, measured via a covert attentional processing task, was assessed. Participants were also asked to rate their perceived levels of intoxication and impairment. Results:The placebo beverage was effective in older moderate drinkers, with 63% of participants who received placebo reporting that they received alcohol. Placebo beverage effectiveness influenced cognitive performance. Participants who received placebo, but reported they received alcohol, demonstrated slower reaction times on the covert attentional processing task, similar to those receiving alcohol. Placebo effects did not influence ac...
Dual use of linguistic resources: evaluation of MT systems and language learners

Human translators working with "embedded machine translation (MT) systems" on the task of filtering text documents in a foreign language often have limited training in the foreign language they encounter. For our MT system users who are also language learners, we are developing a suite of linguistic tools that enable them, on the same laptop platform, to perform their foreign language filtering tasks using a combination of Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Machine Translation (MT), Information Retrieval (IR) and language sustainment tools. Thus we have begun constructing linguistic test suites that can serve the dual needs we have for the evaluation of MT systems and language learning.
5p-5d resonance in Gd

Abstract Photoemission measurements of Gd films in the photon energy range 16 to 45 eV indicate that a 5p - 5d intershell interaction results in an enhancement of the 5d emission above the 5p 3 2 and 5p 1 2 core level thresholds. This resonant behavior has been previously observed in Sm, Yb, and Lu. A constant kinetic energy feature that appears only above the 5p 3 2 threshold is tentatively identified as being due to autoionization following the creation of a 5p 3 2 hole with a locally collapsed 5d- screening orbital as an intermediate step.
Patronizing Speech to Older Adults

We measured the use of patronizing speech among young adults who were instructed to provide directions (via an internet connection) to a newcomer to campus described as 21 or 65 years old. As predicted, the acoustic properties used with older adults were moderated by the speakers’ history with older unrelated adults (no comparable effects were found for speakers’ history with grandparents). Participants with relatively low contact with unrelated older adults were more likely than those with high contact to be judged as sounding “patronizing” and to display acoustical properties associated with patronization (high vocal intensity, high pitch) with older newcomers. However, participants showed a shared tendency to speak more slowly to older than young adults. Findings inform our understanding of the circumstances under which ageist speech is amplified or attenuated.
Sequential Subcellular Localization of Cortisol in Cat Brain

The sequential subcellular localization of l,2-3H-cortisol in cat brain was determined at 10, 60, 120 and 240 min following a single injection. The cortisol was taken up, bound in and released from the nuclear fraction without concomitant changes in microsomal or mitochondrial fractions. Maximum uptake in the nuclear fraction took place 120 min after injection and this uptake (25% of the total counts) could be significantly reduced by pretreatment of the cat with unlabeled cortisone. Comparison of the cortisol binding in the various subcellular fractions at 120 min indicated that it was maximal in the nuclear fraction at this time. (Endocrinology 86: 1469, 1970)
The Lefschetz-Hopf theorem for q-simplicial maps

Abstract Two Lefschetz-type fixed point theorems are formulated in this paper. The second of these gives conditions which guarantee fixed points for maps from an inverse limit space to itself. Many of the standard fixed point results of the Lefschetz type are a consequence of these two theorems.
An essay on condensed matter physics in the twentieth century

When the 20th century opened, the fields of crystallography, metallurgy, elasticity, magnetism, etc., dealing with diverse aspects of solid matter, were largely autonomous areas of science. Only in the 1940s were these and other fields consolidated into the newly named discipline of “solid state physics” which, two decades later, was enlarged to include the study of the physical properties of liquids and given the name “condensed matter physics” (CMP). At Harvard, for example, J. H. Van Vleck had several times taught a graduate course on magnetism in the 1930s and 1940s. However, the first time a course called “solid state physics” was taught there was in 1949 (by the writer, at Van Vleck’s suggestion); it was based largely on the influential, comprehensive monograph Modern Theory of Solidsby F. Seitz, which had appeared in 1940. In the early 1950s only a handful of universities offered general courses on solids and only a small number of industrial and government laboratories, most notably Bell Telephone Laboratories, conducted broad programs of research in CMP.
Thin Films by Consolidation and Sintering of Nanocrystalline Powders

Abstract Nanocrystalline CeO2 and Y2O3-doped CeO2 powders (particle size of 10–15 nm) were prepared under hydrothermal conditions at temperatures between 100 and 300 °C. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the particles were crystalline. The particle size distribution followed approximately the Lifshitz-SlyozovWagner theory for Ostwald ripening controlled by the diffusion step. Powder compacts were sintered to nearly full density below 1350 °C. Thin adherent films (0.5 to 1 μm thick). on rigid substrates were prepared by spin-coating or dip-coating of stabilized suspensions, followed by drying and sintering. Dilute suspensions in aqueous solvents were stabilized electrostatically at pH values of 3.5 to 4. However, increasing particle concentration produced flocculation. Higher particle concentrations can be achieved without flocculation through the use of sterically stabilized suspensions with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a dispersant. With these suspensions, homogeneous films were deposited on porous or dense substrates. The shrinkage kinetics of the adherent films were approximately the same as those for the powder compacts. The use of nanocrystalline powders offers a unique advantage for the production of adherent films with controlled microstructures on dense or porous substrates at relatively low temperatures.
A new mixed integer program and extended look-ahead heuristic algorithm for the block relocation problem

Abstract This paper considers the block relocation problem (BRP), in which a set of identically-sized items is to be retrieved from a set of last-in-first-out (LIFO) stacks in a specific order using the fewest number of moves. The problem is encountered in the maritime container shipping industry and other industries where inventory is stored in stacks. After surveying the work done on the BRP, we introduce “BRP-III”—a new mathematical formulation for the BRP—and show that it has considerably fewer decision variables and better runtime performance than the other formulation in the literature. We then introduce a new look-ahead algorithm (LA-N) that is an extension of the algorithms from the literature and show that the new algorithm generally obtains better solutions than the other algorithms and has minimal CPU runtime.
RUNNING-WHEEL ACTIVITY OF INSULIN-INJECTED RATS

Summary.--On the basis of previous running-wheel activity, 48 rats were assigned to four experimental groups: (a) an Insulin Group, which received 2U/kg insulin 30 min. before testing; (b) a Saline Group, which received 2cc/ kg saline 30 min. before testing; (c) a Deprived Group, which was food deprived 24 hr. before testing; and (d) a Control Group, which was neither injected nor deprived. Tcsting consisted of recording the running-wheel activity of the four groups for 25 min. per day for eight days. A significantly higher level of activiry wa5 displayed by the Deprived Group, and a significantly lower level of activity was exhibited by the Insulin Group, in comparison with the Saline and Control Groups, which did not differ from each ocher The decreased activity of the Insulin Group was interpreted as being due to specific neuromuscular actions of the drug. Several investigators (Duda & Bolles, 1963; Finger, 1965; Finger, Reid, & Weasner, 1960; Treichler & Collins, 1965) have reported that running-wheel activity of food-deprived rats was greater than that of nondeprived conuols. Duda and Bolles ( 1963) and Treichler and Collins ( 1965) suggested that this increased wheel running was due to a general augmentation of locomotor activity, which resulted from the loss in weight associated with food deprivation. Evidence indicates that the behavioral effects of insulin may parallel the effects of food deprivation, in that insulin-injected rats displayed more bar pressing for food reward (Wentink, 1938) and an increased food intake (Jacobs, 1958) in comparison witk noninjected controls. Some evidence suggests, however, that the effects of insulin may be opposite those of food deprivation, since rats have been foond to become lethargic following an injection of insulin (Reiss, 1958). Evidence indicating that the effects of insulin may be opposice those of food deprivation mas also shown in an experiment conducted by Campbell and Fibiger (1970) in which food deprivation and insulin injections were combined in the same Ss. These investigators found the stabilimeter and running-wheel activity of insulin-injected, food-deprived rats were lower in comparison with deprived Ss which were not injected with the drug. Campbell and Fibiger (1970), however, did not include a noninjecced and nondeprived control group. Due to the lack of this control group, it was not demonstrated whether the locomotor activity of insulin-injected rats was, in
A new class of S sequences defined by a pollen recessive self-incompatibility allele of Brassica oleracea.

Self-incompatibility inBrassica oleracea is controlled by a single genetic locus (the S locus) with nearly 50 different alleles. In this paper, we report the characterization of the S2 allele, a pollen recessive self-incompatibility allele that exhibits weak DNA homology to the other previously sequenced S locus glycoprotein genes (SLG-6, -13,-14, -22 from alleles S6, S13, S14 and S22, respectively). Stigma cDNA clones with sequence homology to SLG-13 were isolated from two different S2 homozygous strains belonging to two differentB. oleracea cultivars, var.alboglabra (Chinese kale) and var.italica (broccoli). The two S2 cDNA sequences are 90% homologous to each other, but only 70% homologous to SLG-13. Using the Chinese kale S2 genetic background, we demonstrate that the isolatedalboglabra cDNA sequence is a transcript from a gene, designated SLG-2A that resides at the S locus, and propose that it is a putative determinant of S2 allelic specificity. Among the estimated 10–15 genomic copies of SLG-related genes detected in the S2 genome, we cloned and characterized the SLG-2A gene and another closely related and genetically linked gene copy, SLG-2B. A complete open reading frame that is 94% homologous to SLG-2A is located within SLG-2B. The existence of this intact duplicated S gene raises the possibility that SLG-2B may also be involved in the functioning of self-incompatibility inBrassica oleracea.
Eutectic Solidification and Marginal Stability

A simple model of eutectic solidification is used to illustrate the marginal-stability theory of pattern selection in nonequilibrium processes. The nonlinear equation of motion which describes this model suggests a mechanism for noise amplification at the marginally stable operating point of the system.
Color Stability of Clear and Opaque Titania Enamels Containing Various Color Oxides

A study was made of the spectrophotometric characteristics of a clear and an opaque titania-bearing enamel. Three and six per cent additions of green, blue, brown, and red oxides were made to the base enamels. After firing the enameled samples over a range of time and temperature, spectrcphotometric and X-ray data were obtained. The results indicate that the lack of stability of the opaque colored enamels is due to the change from a blue-white to a cream-white color on increased firing treatment. The addition of a cream component tends to shift the hue of the fired enamel toward the red end of the visible spectrum. The green and the blue colors were much less stable than the red. X-ray data show that the total anatase present decreases, which is evidence that a cream-white color developed. X-ray data did not indicate any change in crystal structure of the anatase, rutile, or color oxide. Titania present in the glass of the clear enamel did not cause color instability.
Ethnic Labeling in Mexican-Origin Youth: A Qualitative Assessment

Outcomes are reported from a qualitative investigation addressing ethnic label selection, meaning, use, and influences upon Mexican-origin youth. Participants selected multiple labels with distinct meanings and influences. Findings indicate a need for school counselors to honor student label selection and to advocate for variable label use by school professionals and in school documentation. School counselors can provide resources and venues to facilitate student exploration of ethnic labels, as one key component of ethnic identity development.
Nitric oxide: biosynthesis and biological significance

The recent discovery that mammalian cells can synthesize nitric oxide coincided with the identification of this simple gas as a factor involved in cellular communication. Nitric oxide has now been shown to be derived from L-arginine in macrophages, endothelial cells and possibly other cell types. Its physiological role in macrophages may be as a cytotoxic agent. However, nitric oxide produced by endothelial cells is thought to trigger vascular smooth muscle relaxation through activation of the enzyme guanylate cyclase.
Estimating non-metallic coating thickness using artificial neural network modeled time-resolved thermography: capacity and constraints

Current studies suggest that thermography-based measurements may provide a feasible solution for measuring the thickness of non-metallic coatings. The focus of this research was to build an artificial neural network model to predict coating thickness using active thermography and thickness samples that have not previously been seen by the model. Best results (7.5% error) were achieved when using an ANN model with the derivative of a temperature increment’s real part Laplace transform over the real axis as the input, the gradient descent with momentum back-propagation training algorithm, and 20 hidden nodes.