cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
P53 and Ki-67 as outcome predictors for advanced squamous cell cancers of the head and neck treated with chemoradiotherapy

Hypothesis P53 and Ki-67 status will predict response to treatment, organ preservation, and survival in patients with advanced squamous cell cancers of the head and neck treated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Study Design Retrospective analysis of p53 and Ki-67 status from the CRT arm of a randomized, controlled trial (n = 50) and from patients receiving the same treatment but not enrolled in the trial (n = 55). Methods P53 and Ki-67 status were established from archived tissue samples using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Tumors were positive for p53 (p53+) when more than 2% of cells stained for p53 and were positive for Ki-67 (Ki-67+) when any cell stained for Ki-67. End points were tumor response, tumor recurrence, survival status, and organ preservation at last follow-up, and time to events. Predictive models were calculated for each outcome. Results Neither marker predicted tumor response to treatment. P53+ status was associated with tumor recurrence (P = .003) and locoregional recurrence (P = .003). Adjusting for time to event, p53+ status was significantly related to a lower recurrence-free survival (P = .004), lower disease-specific survival (P = .04), lower overall survival with primary site preservation (P = .03), and lower disease-specific survival with primary site preservation (P = .003). Multivariate analysis revealed that p53+ status was significantly related to a lower recurrence-free survival (P = .01, risk ratio [RR] = 3.65) and lower disease-specific survival with organ preservation (P = .02, RR = 3.41). Ki-67+ status was not related to any variables. However, multivariate analysis revealed that Ki-67+ was significantly related to a lower overall survival (P = .05, RR = 2.03). The combination of both markers negative (p53-/Ki-67-) was associated with a lower incidence of tumor recurrence (P = .02), lower locoregional recurrence (P = .01), and fewer second primary lesions (P = .04). Adjusting for time to event, p53-/Ki-67- status was significantly related to a higher recurrence-free survival (P = .02), higher disease-specific survival with primary site preservation (P = .02), and higher overall survival with primary site preservation (P = .02). Multivariate analysis revealed that p53-/Ki-67- status was significantly related to a higher overall survival with site preservation (P = .01, RR = 2.78). Conclusions P53 and Ki-67 status appear to be related to the various survival end points considered in this study. However, this relation does not seem to be sufficient to warrant treatment modifications. Closer follow-up may be justified in both p53+ and Ki67+ patients to detect recurrence or a second primary at an earlier stage, possibly improving survival.
The Role of Mentoring in Spiritual Transformation: A Faith-Based Approach to Recovery from Substance Abuse

Little research in the psychology of religion has been directly concerned with spiritual mentoring. This study centers on spiritual mentoring and relates it to the spiritual transformation of substance abusers in a Pentecostal-based recovery program called the Lazarus Project (LP). We interviewed six of the most effective mentors from the LP about various aspects of their mentoring relationships and present in this paper the results. We also included in each interview a phenomenological question that asked for detailed descriptions of the participant’s most successful mentoring relationships. From a hermeneutic-thematic analysis, we found that a pattern of five themes emerged across all six protocols to collectively describe the meaning of the experience of a successful mentor-mentee relationship: (1) Connection, (2) Compassion, (3) Encouragement, (4) Spiritual Change, and (5) Parental Pride. We discuss our findings in relation to psychological and Evangelical literature on spiritual mentoring and to common existential grounds that provide a context for the experience.
Understanding Creativity Judgments of Invented Alien Creatures: The Roles of Invariants and Other Predictors*

Participants imagined, drew, and wrote about novel alien creatures (cf. Ward, 1994). Judges rated the creativity of the drawings alone, paragraphs alone, or drawings and paragraphs together. Much prior research has examined how participants rely on available exemplars and categorical knowledge in this task; here we focus on understanding why some creatures are judged as more creative than others. We hypothesized that judges would assess creativity reliably, that instructions to avoid common invariants (two eyes, four limbs, and bilateral symmetry) would increase creativity, and that some common attributes coded from the drawings and paragraphs would emerge as reliable predictors of creativity. Hypotheses were largely supported, though the effect of instructions was rather mild. Numerous drawing and paragraph attributes were significantly correlated with creativity; these varied depending on the dependent measure of creativity. Finally, participants' own evaluations of their creatures were reliably correlated with other raters' judgments.
Radiation Hardening of Thermal Oxides on Silicon via Ion Implantation

Implantation of thermal oxide on silicon with 1016 N2+ cm-2 at an energy of 50 keV reduces the space charge buildup observed in the oxide when exposed subsequently to ionizing radiation. The component of radiation-induced charge buildup in the oxide attributable to the increase in fast surface states at the oxide-silicon interface is largely unaffected.
Haploidentical Transplantation Using T Cell Replete Peripheral Blood Stem Cells and Myeloablative Conditioning in Patients with High-Risk Hematologic Malignancies Who Lack Conventional Donors is Well Tolerated and Produces Excellent Relapse-Free Survival: Results of a Prospective Phase II Trial

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) provides an opportunity for nearly all patients to benefit from HSCT. We conducted a trial of haploidentical T cell replete allografting using a busulfan-based myeloablative preparative regimen, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) as the graft source, and posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (Cy). Eligibility was limited to patients at high risk of relapse after nonmyeloablative haploidentical bone marrow transplant (BMT). Twenty patients were enrolled in the study (11 with relapsed/refractory disease and 9 who underwent transplantation while in remission and considered standard risk). Donor engraftment occurred in all 20 patients with full donor T cell and myeloid chimerism by day +30. The cumulative incidence of grades II-IV and III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) was 30% and 10%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 35%. Nonrelapse mortality (NRM) at 100 days and 1 year was 10% for all patients and 0% for standard-risk patients. With a median follow-up of 20 months, the estimated 1-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) was 69% and 50%, respectively, for all patients, and 88% and 67% for standard-risk patients. Myeloablative haploidentical HSCT is associated with excellent rates of engraftment, GVHD, NRM, and DFS, and is a valid option in patients with high-risk malignancies who lack timely access to a conventional donor.
Energy spectrum of individual γ-rays at balloon altitude

The absolute intensity and the energy spectrum of gamma rays of energies greater than 10/sup 12/ ev were obtained from a study of the electromagnetic cascades in a stack of pure nuclear emulsion exposed at 106,000 feet. The experimental gamma spectrum before and after detection probability corrections is displayed and compared with Kidd's results. Spectra above and below 10/sup 12/ ev were normalized at this energy. (auth)
Quantitative analysis of fretting fatigue degradation in 7075-T6 aluminum alloy

Fretting fatigue failures are commonly observed in the aviation industry. The objective of this study was to understand the fretting fatigue mechanism by characterization of fretting fatigue degradation to gain insight into the process of crack formation from pits in 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of fretting fatigue degradation in terms of pit depths and dominant crack formation. For 60 percent of the specimens, the dominant crack nucleated from a pit other than the maximum-depth pit observed on the fracture surface.
Effect of a lipid extract of frog skin on short-circuit current and sodium transport of isolated frog skin.

Abstract Lipid extracts obtained from frog skin and shown by thin-layer chromatography to contain materials with RF values of cholesterol, cholesteryl linoleate, lecithin, palmitic acid, tripalmitin, and a number of methylated fatty acids stimulated short-circuit current and net sodium isotope flux of isolated frog skin. In contrast to the delayed response to adrenal steroids, the rise in short-circuit current was almost immediate. Change in net sodium flux was due entirely to rise in sodium influx. Sodium outflux was not stimulated, as it is by catecholamines. Treatment with the extract rendered the skins almost completely refractory to a second dose of extract but did not impair responsiveness to acetylcholine. Similarly, treatment of the skins with acetylcholine rendered them insensitive to a second dose of acetylcholine but not to the extract. Atropine failed to block the stimulatory action of the extract. These observations suggest that the extracts contained an agent or agents which are part of the natural sodium transport mechanism, which are not unaltered adrenal steroids, catecholamine, nor acetylcholine and whose actions are not mediated by these substances.
QR code antennas for WiFi/WLAN/Bluetooth applications

This paper demonstrates the suitability and successful implementation of QR (Quick Response) code structures as antennas for wireless communication applications. QR code antennas can have different visual shape for the same URL, based on different error correction level. These antennas can be engineered to radiate at the same frequency. Here, the simulations of three QR code antennas are presented. The antennas have low return loss at 2.4 GHz and omnidirectional pattern, ideal for receivers. These antennas can also be used as an advanced and hard-to-replicate security feature for WiFi/WLAN/Bluetooth applications or other.
Long-lived near-infrared MLCT emitters.

A series of near-infrared emitters based on metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states has been prepared. In the series, systematic variation of the coordinated ligands in polypyridyl complexes of RuII and OsII are used to vary the excited-to-ground-state energy gap. Emission energies are shifted by a combination of electron donor ligands and ligands with low-energy π* acceptor orbitals. Excited-state lifetimes are enhanced by use of acceptor ligands which are rigid and extensively delocalized. Emission from [(Ru(bpy)2)2(dpop)]4+ in acetonitrile is illustrated, along with a spectrum calculated by using a standard Franck−Condon analysis of the spectral profile.
The use of tacrolimus in renal transplantation

Tacrolimus (FK 506) is a novel immunosuppressive agent that has been in clinical use for solid organ transplantation since 1989. Early clinical trials of tacrolimus in liver, heart, kidney, lung, and intestinal transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated it to be a safe and effective agent with several potential advantages over existing immunosuppressive drugs. More recently, phase I and II multicenter trials of tacrolimus for renal transplantation have been performed; however, data are not yet available from these trials. Our experience with this drug has demonstrated excellent 1- and 2-year actuarial graft survival rates of 89% and 83%, respectively, in adult renal transplantation and 1- and 3-year graft survival rates of 98% and 85%, respectively in pediatric renal transplantation. A major advantage of tacrolimus noted in these trials was the ability to discontinue steroid therapy in approximately 50% of the patients. Tacrolimus has also shown efficacy as a rescue agent for renal allograft rejection failing conventional therapy in 74% of cases. This paper expands on these observations and focuses on the experience we have gained with the use of tacrolimus at our institution over the last 6 years.
Stretch-induced excitation and action potential changes of single cardiac cells

Abstract Mechanoelectric coupling (MEC) has been studied extensively in the heart at the tissue and organ levels, but to only a limited extent in single cells because of the technical challenges. New results are presented in which MEC was studied in 57 single frog ventricular myocytes that were held on both ends by glass holding pipettes. Axial stretch was applied either by displacement of the pipettes, or by a glass fiber around which the cell was wrapped, that was displaced in a pulsatile or sinusoidal fashion. Electrical activity of the cell was monitored either by active contraction, by intracellular action potentials, or by focal extracellular potentials. Of more than 350 stretches applied to 57 cells with amplitudes ranging from 3% to 35%, only 4 cases of mechanically induced stimulation were observed. In 252 stretches applied to 32 cells in which action potential duration (APD) was measured, no change >20% was observed, except in 3 cells in which APD increased by >100%, and in 2 cells with extended triggered activity. Thus, in contrast to studies in intact tissue, single frog ventricular myocytes are generally insensitive to direct axial stretch. However, robust mechanosensitive responses were observed in 7 of 57 (∼12%) cells. The results of other single cell studies are reviewed, and the significance of differences in tissue-level and single cell results is discussed.
Computing the spatial structures of cellular textures

Abstract An important aspect of describing cellular image textures is computing a description of the spatial arrangement of the texture elements. A procedure is described for determining if the arrangement is regular or random, and its application to a real texture analysis problem is presented.
The grand challenge to operationalize landscape sustainability and the design-in-science paradigm

As a concept, landscape sustainability is becoming an increasingly important topic in landscape ecology; yet it remains not clearly defined in theory, methodology, or application (Musacchio 2009a, b). For example, the synthesis article by Wu and Hobbs (2002) identified landscape sustainability as one of ten key topics for landscape ecology in the 21st century. Sustainability science emerged at about the same time as their article and seemed to be highly compatible with landscape sustainability, but sustainability science’s potential has never been fully realized in landscape ecology because it too remains undefined and abstract. Yet, the debate about the role of the sustainability paradigm and sustainability science in this discipline has intensified in the past several years with the publication of numerous articles (Potschin and Haines-Young 2006; Nassauer and Opdam 2008; Wu 2008, 2010; Musacchio 2009a, b; Termorshuizen and Opdam 2009; Wiens 2009; Pearson and McAlpine 2010. One of the grand challenges of landscape ecology in the coming decades will be how to leverage sustainability science and sustainable design to improve knowledge and innovation about ecology and culture of landscapes, the basis of landscape sustainability. The importance of the relationship between ecology and culture to the future of landscape ecology cannot be overstated, and this editorial is inspired by Wu’s recent editorial (2010) about this issue. The central issue is that a more unified and comprehensive knowledge base is needed for better science and practice. In addition, its theory and practice needs to be more pluralistic and ecumenical approaches to reach its transdisciplinary goals (Wu 2006, 2010). The special issue The Ecology and Culture of Landscape Sustainability: Emerging Knowledge and Innovation in Landscape Research and Practice (see Musacchio 2009a, b) begins the process of conceptually framing the scope and boundaries of key concepts, mental maps, and research priorities with the six Es of landscape sustainability (Fig. 1). Figure 2 is the next L. R. Musacchio (&) Landscape Architecture, Conservation Biology, Urban and Regional Planning, and Water Resources Science Programs, University of Minnesota, 89 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA e-mail: musac003@umn.edu
Mobilization of community resources to work with abusive and neglectful families: Community organization in New York state

Abstract This article describes the community organization experience of the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University in connection with the federally financed Resource Center on Child Abuse and Neglect which it has operated since 1975. Early on, the Center decided to concentrate its efforts on organizing local task forces on child abuse and neglect which would work at the community level to improve services for families and children afflicted with the problem. As a result, over 50 such groups were organized and they have stimulated creation of over 100 new services including Parents Anonymous chapters, parent aides, multidisciplinary teams and parenting education projects. In short, the local community organization approach enabled a small state level staff to stimulate a major mobilization of resources for child abuse and neglect at the community level throughout the state. The process began with several “trial and error” experiences in rural New York. This led to technical assistance in task force formation for a dozen more counties and finally to regional workshops on task force organizations. The process culminated with formation of a statewide federation of the local groups. The Center is now implementing the approach in New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
When celebrities talk, children listen: An experimental analysis of children's responses to TV ads with celebrity endorsement

Abstract Two studies tested the effects of TV ads with celebrity endorsement on the product preference and understanding of 8- to 14-year-old boys. Study 1 compared two ads for a model racer. One had celebrity endorsement (by a famous race driver) and footage of real automobile racing featuring the celebrity (live action); the second had neither feature. Study 2 employed one ad for a different brand of model racer edited to generate a 2 (endorser presence) by 2 (inclusion of live racetrack action) factorial design. A total of 415 boys were exposed to one of the experimental ads or a control ad, embedded in a new animated children's adventure program. Preference for the advertised brand of model racer (pre- and postviewing) and a number of cognitive variables were assessed. Exposure to endorsement led to increased preference for the toy and belief that the celebrity was expert about the toy. Live action led to exaggerated estimates of the physical properties of the toy and the belief that the ad was not staged. The 8- to 10-year-olds associated the glamour of the endorser with the toy and were more reliant on his advice than were 11- to 14-year-olds. However, the two age groups were not differentially affected by the ads. Contrary to the speculation of many researchers, understanding about advertising intent and techniques and cynicism about ads had almost no influence on product preference after viewing.
Antiarrhythmic Efficacy, Pharmacokinetics and Clinical Safety of Tocainide in Convalescent Myocardial Infarction Patients

The antiarrhythmic efficacy and pharmacokinetics of tocainide, an oral analog of lidocaine, was evaluated in 18 hospitalized convalescing myocardial infarction patients. Holter ECG tapes were recorded daily during two-day placebo therapy preceding and succeeding two days of tocainide treatment. Left ventricular function was characterized from prior or subsequent arteriographic studies (ten cases) or from radionuclide scanning (eight cases). Tocainide dosage was 17.7 ± 4.9 SD mg/kg/day. Plasma half-time of elimination was 19.1 ± 6.8 hours ( r = 0.9). Tocainide had no significant effect on heart rate, pulse rate, or QT C intervals and did not worsen chronic heart failure, even in patients with ejection fraction 3.5 μ g/ml.
A Haptic Teleoperation Approach Based on Contact Force Control

This paper presents a new teleoperation approach using a virtual spring, and local contact force control on the slave robot. The operational space framework provides the control structure needed to achieve decoupled task dynamics. A virtual spring connects the master and slave systems and a closed-loop force controller compensates for the dynamics of the slave system, rendering transparent the effector of the slave robotic system. The active force control approach allows the desired motion and contact forces to be combined in a single force command. The required performance and robustness of force control are achieved by a full state reconstruction using a modified Kalman estimator, which addresses disturbances and modeling uncertainties. The performance of both telepresence and force control are further improved by on-line stiffness estimation of the object in contact with the effector. The redundancy of the mobile manipulation system is addressed through a decoupled decomposition of task and posture dynamics.
Effects of Air-Acetylene Flame Parameters on Simultaneous Multielement Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The effects of the air-acetylene ratio and the observation height on the detection limits and analytical accuracy of 11 elements (Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, and Zn) determined by simultaneous multielement atomic absorption spectrometry with a continuum source (SIMAAC) were investigated. Determinations were made at four observation heights and five air-acetylene ratios evenly spaced over normal ranges for these variables. For the 11 elements, detection limits and characteristic concentrations varied by factors of 1.5 to 25. The best compromise detection limits were obtained at observation heights low in the flame and with richer flames. The variations of the analytical recoveries for Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, and Zn determined in a National Bureau of Standards (NBS) standard reference material (SRM) and two United States Geological Survey (USGS) standard rocks as a function of the flame parameters were relatively insignificant. Significant variations were observed for Ca and Mg, whereas the concentration of Ni was too low to permit any conclusions. The optimal, compromise flame parameters, for analytical accuracy, were the two lowest observation heights in lean flames when all elements except Ca and Mg were determined. Inclusion of Mg shifted the optimal parameters to a higher observation height. Four NBS SRM's and three USGS standard rocks were analyzed weekly, over a 7-week period, at a low observation height in a lean air-acetylene flame. In general, accuracies within ±5% of 100% and precisions of ±5% were obtained for Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Na, and Zn. Acceptable recovery (100% ± 5%) for Ca could only be obtained with a large dilution of the sample into a 0.5% La matrix.
Statistical Uncertainty and the Estimation of Log Law Parameters

It is experimentally demonstrated that fitting the log law to the mean velocity profile in turbulent open-channel flow to determine the friction velocity, roughness length, and zero-plane displacement, can lead to relatively high standard errors in these parameters. It is also demonstrated that this approach, where the log law alone is used to estimate these parameters, may yield values of these parameters that are significantly different from those obtained when the friction velocity is determined independently of the log law. Although the statistical estimation of the three log law parameters from mean velocity data alone is frequently necessary, this procedure can lead to inaccurate and imprecise estimates of these quantities.
A Binary Stock Event Model for stock trends forecasting: Forecasting stock trends via a simple and accurate approach with machine learning

The volatile and stochastic characteristics of securities make it challenging to predict even tomorrow's stock prices. Better estimation of stock trends can be accomplished using both the significant and well-constructed set of features. Moreover, the prediction capability will gain momentum as we build the right model to capture unobservable attributes of the varying tendencies. In this paper, we propose a Binary Stock Event Model (BSEM) and generate features sets based on it in order to better predict the future trends of the stock market. We apply two learning models such as a Bayesian Naive Classifier and a Support Vector Machine to prove the efficiency of our approach in the aspects of prediction accuracy and computational cost. Our experiments demonstrate that the prediction accuracies are around 70–80% in one day predictions. In addition, our back-testing proves that our trading model outperforms well-known technical indicator based trading strategies with regards to cumulative returns by 30%–100%. As a result, this paper suggests that our BSEM based stock forecasting shows its excellence with regards to prediction accuracy and cumulative returns in a real world dataset.
Throwing Away the Key: Measuring Prison Reform Attitudes1

The American prison system is larger than ever and ranks among the largest in the world. Yet, prisons have received little research attention relative to other issues in forensic psychology. In an effort to study one facet of the prison system, a scale for measuring attitudes toward prison reform was developed. The 12-item scale has a single factor measuring whether people feel prisons should be tougher or softer on inmates. Several studies with diverse samples found that 1he scale has a consistent factor structure, good reliability, and a coherent pattern of relationships to other psychological variables. The scale appears to be a promising tool for studying how people want to treat those who have been officially rejected by society.
Design of unipolar intersubband lasers for terahertz emission

Abstract Design results are presented for quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) of either GaN-based or Si-based system. The n–i–n GaN/AlGaN QCL offers the advantage of room temperature operation, while the p–i–p SiGe/Si QCLs offer the potential for monolithic integration of Si photonics with Si electronics. Population dynamics analysis shows that both systems are capable of reaching sufficient optical gain for lasing at wavelengths in the tetrahertz range.
Distribution of collagens and fibronectin in the subepicardium during avian cardiac development.

The development of the layer of connective tissue between ventricular epicardium and myocardium was studied during chick morphogenesis using electron microscopy, light microscopy and immunohistochemical techniques. This layer, called the subepicardium, increases rapidly in volume from embryonic day 6 to 11 (E6–E11) during mesenchymal cell invasion. Fibrous, matrix components are initially apparent at E11 to E16, and as fibrous connective tissue structures accumulate, subepicardial volume decreases. Antibody labeling shows that fibronectin is an early, prominent constituent of the subepicardium, and by E8, the subepicardium is the cardiac site most enriched in fibronectin. Collagen type III is present in circumferentially-oriented fibers at E8. During subsequent cardiac growth, collagen type III fibers become broadly distributed in the subepicardium, with some fibers appearing to attach myocardium to epicardium. Collagen type I fibers are not apparent until E10. At E12 collagen type I fibers are distributed circumferentially around the heart in bundles crimped into waves of low amplitude. Other collagen type I fibers are oriented radially in the subepicardium. During late cardiac morphogenesis and in fully-differentiated hearts, fibronectin and collagen types I and III are more concentrated in the subepicardium than within the myocardium. These observations suggest that the composition and organization of the subepicardial connective tissue may make important contributions to cardiac mechanics from the latter half of embryonic development through adulthood.
NCAM in the organ of Corti of the developing mouse.

During development in the cochlea, NCAM is present on all neuronal systems — radial fibres, inner spiral bundle, inner pillar bundle (described by Sobkowicz & Emmerling, 1989), and outer spiral fibres. In cochleae from E17 mice, NCAM-positive puncta, possibly associated with growth cones, dot the area of the inner spiral bundle. The region overlying the basilar membrane is also NCAM positive. Until about P7, NCAM immunoreactivity surrounds the inner and outer hair cells. During the second postnatal week, NCAM no longer covers the hair cell surfaces. At this time, NCAM is present on the inner spiral and inner pillar bundles. In the outer hair cell region, immunoreactivity concentrates in neuronal endings with ‘Y’-like or ‘dot’-like appearances typical of cholinergic efferents. At a time when neuronal fibres are regenerating in the cochlea of the Bronx waltzer mutant mouse, many NCAM-positive puncta dot the regions of the inner spiral bundle and inner spiral sulcus, suggesting that these puncta correspond to growth cones. In organotypic culture, hair cells and nerve fibres retain their immunoreactivity up to 7 days. In conclusion, NCAM is present on the surfaces of neurons and on their cochlear targets at the time when nerve-target recognition is proceeding. NCAM disappears from targets during the time of maturation of efferent synapses. NCAM is also present along the growth path of the nerve fibres. These studies suggest that NCAM is properly positioned in the cochlea for possible roles in axon guidance and nerve-target interactions.
Identifying trouble patterns in complex IT services engagements

What causes complex information technology services engagements to fail? The root cause for the failure may derive from several sources, including unclear requirements, poor project management practices, underestimation of technical complexity, not accounting for the overhead in using global labor arbitrage, and rapid scope or schedule changes. In this paper, we explore how quantifiable measures of project progress gathered at several important stages of the life cycle of a project can aid in early identification of troubled projects. Specifically, we define derived statistical measures that can be used to predict the eventual outcome of a project. These predictions are used to initiate accelerated risk mitigation plans. In addition to the discussion surrounding the prediction models, we also discuss the importance of the "packaging" and presentation of the statistical data that result in the successful use of our system. Our work has been adopted and used in a project health management system that is deployed worldwide by IBM Global Business Services.
Electron motion in tuned fields I. The algebra

Abstract We consider the motion of electrons in regions containing a uniform magnetic field and a uniform electrostatic field. Four distinct configurations are studied, and the solutions to the equations of motion are given as first-order solutions with third-order and chromatic aberrations. It is shown that these four elementary forms provide a simple and pleasing pattern, giving both positive and negative aberration coefficients.
Model Analysis of Thermal Lance Combustion

The thermal lance process represents the oldest commercial use of oxygen cutting or piercing of massive objects (metallic materials and concrete). The thermal lance combustion model described in this paper has been developed on the basis of heat and mass transfer associated with iron (s)−oxygen (g) combustion reaction. The model includes metallic tube heat conduction and radiation, heat transfer by free convection to the external environment, and forced convection caused by the flowing gas in the lance body. The gas phase is described by a forced convection term and heat transfer from the metallic tube. The reaction term is included in boundary conditions. Experimental measurements have been carried out on an industrial size unit. A comparison with lance burning experimental data has been performed. The model shows lance temperature drops rapidly along the lance. The lance burning temperature has been predicted by the model, and the reaction kinetics of the iron combustion in oxygen has been discussed.
Dynamic weathering model: Constraints required by coupled dissolution and pseudomorphic replacement

Abstract In lateritic weathering parent mineral grains are partly replaced by oxides and oxyhydroxides and partly congruently dissolved. The replacement of a parent grain by an oxide at a site results from the physical coupling of oxide growth and parent-grain dissolution: the stress between the growing oxide and an adjacent parent grain makes the volumetric rates of the two “half-reactions” equal to each other, which yields the constant volume characteristic of pseudomorphic replacement. The congruent dissolution at a site and the replacement at another site a few grain lengths below also are coupled, by aqueous ions carried from the former to the latter. The reaction-transport model herein takes account of this coupling and of the constant volume characteristic to replacement, plus continuity, diffusion, and flow. Numerical solutions for anorthite weathering predict the (petrographically) observed spatial association of textures—that is, from top to bottom, partial congruent dissolution of plagioclase, partial plagioclase replacement by gibbsite, and fresh rock. Influx of H+ in rainwater drives partial dissolution of a grain. Dissolution releases aqueous Al, which infiltrates downward and drives partial replacement of a second grain by gibbsite. About 1 cm of anorthite is partly dissolved and partly replaced in a few hundred years, depending on boundary conditions such as rainfall and rain pH, and initial conditions such as plagioclase grain size. The role of grain/grain stress in deciding when and where in the system replacement takes place is carried out in the model by artificial kinetic switches.
Transformation-based error-driven learning and natural language processing: a case study in part-of-speech tagging

Recently, there has been a rebirth of empiricism in the field of natural language processing. Manual encoding of linguistic information is being challenged by automated corpus-based learning as a method of providing a natural language processing system with linguistic knowledge. Although corpus-based approaches have been successful in many different areas of natural language processing, it is often the case that these methods capture the linguistic information they are modelling indirectly in large opaque tables of statistics. This can make it difficult to analyze, understand and improve the ability of these approaches to model underlying linguistic behavior. In this paper, we will describe a simple rule-based approach to automated learning of linguistic knowledge. This approach has been shown for a number of tasks to capture information in a clearer and more direct fashion without a compromise in performance. We present a detailed case study of this learning method applied to part-of-speech tagging.
The Going‐Public Decision and the Development of Financial Markets

This paper explores the linkages between stock price efficiency, the choice between private and public financing, and the development of capital markets in emerging economies. Generally, the advantage of public financing is high if costly information is diverse and cheap to acquire, and if investors receive valuable information without cost. The value of public firms generally depends on public market size, which implies that there can be a positive externality associated with going public, so that an inferior equilibrium can exist where too few firms go public. The model is consistent with empirical observations on financial market development.
Area Array Solder Joints for Passive Alignment

Passive alignment techniques using area array solder joints are currently under investigation as a cost effective method of achieving electro-optical interconnects in electronic packages. Several investigators have developed models that describe the shapes of and forces produced by the liquid solder drops during reflow. These models are reviewed to provide a scientific basis for the application of such techniques.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound: Seeing the Future

Practitioners other than radiologists and certified sonographers are increasingly using ultrasound at the bedside to facilitate immediate patient management from both procedural and diagnostic standpoints. This editorial provides a brief overview of the use of point-of-care ultrasound in clinical practice, its potential to improve patient care, and some of the unanswered questions surrounding issues of training, scope of practice, and quality assurance.
Environmental Chauvinism in the Prussian East: Forestry as a Civilizing Mission on the Ethnic Frontier, 1871–1914

The Tuchel Heath (Tucheler Heide, Bory Tucholskie) and Kashubia (Kassubei, Kaszuby), the two regions comprising the geographical region known as Pomerelia (roughly the area of the “Polish Corridor”), came into Prussian possession with annexations from Poland in 1772, when Friedrich II seized most of what would become the provinces of Poznania and West Prussia from the ailing Polish Republic. These territories, some liked to imagine, resembled the North American frontier. Friedrich II apparently compared it to Canada and “jokingly named the inhabitants his Iroquois.” Gustav Freytag immortalized Friedrich's arrival on the frontier in his work Bilder aus der deutschen Vergangenheit, characterizing the place as “an abandoned land, without law, without authority; it was a wasteland.” Certainly, the harsh climate, the sprawling pine forests and barrens, and the impoverished populace suggested a certain affinity. In one description of the region from 1879, the author depicted the Slavic game poacher “as a red Indian on the warpath.”
Aerobic fitness enhances relational memory in preadolescent children: the FITKids randomized control trial.

It is widely accepted that aerobic exercise enhances hip- pocampal plasticity. Often, this plasticity co-occurs with gains in hippo- campal-dependent memory. Cross-sectional work investigating this rela- tionship in preadolescent children has found behavioral differences in higher versus lower aerobically fit participants for tasks measuring rela- tional memory, which is known to be critically tied to hippocampal structure and function. The present study tested whether similar differ- ences would arise in a clinical intervention setting where a group of preadolescent children were randomly assigned to a 9-month after school aerobic exercise intervention versus a wait-list control group. Performance measures included eye-movements as a measure of mem- ory, based on recent work linking eye-movement indices of relational memory to the hippocampus. Results indicated that only children in the intervention increased their aerobic fitness. Compared to the control group, those who entered the aerobic exercise program displayed eye- movement patterns indicative of superior memory for face-scene rela- tions, with no differences observed in memory for individual faces. The results of this intervention study provide clear support for the proposed linkage among the hippocampus, relational memory, and aerobic fitness, as well as illustrating the sensitivity of eye-movement measures as a means of assessing memory. V
Eugene R. Wittkopf

Eugene R. Wittkopf, professor emeritus of political science at Louisiana State University, passed away suddenly on September 18, 2006. He was 63 years old. Gene was a native of Algona, Iowa and received his B.A. from Valparaiso University in 1965, and his M.P.A and his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1966 and 1971, respectively. He started his academic career at the University of Florida, where he taught for 17 years. In 1987, he moved to Louisiana State University, where he taught until his retirement in 2005. Gene Wittkopf was an extraordinary scholar and teacher and a wonderful colleague and mentor.
Sleep states differentiate single neuron activity recorded from human epileptic hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and subiculum.

Animal models of epilepsy have shown that synchronous burst firing is associated with epileptogenesis, yet the evidence from human studies linking neuronal synchrony and burst firing to epileptogenesis remains equivocal. Sleep‐wake states have been shown to differentially modulate the generation of epileptiform EEG spikes between brain regions of greater and lesser seizure-generating potential, providing information that helps to identify the primary epileptogenic region. Using these statedependent mechanisms to assist us in identifying neuronal correlates of human epilepsy, we recorded interictal neuronal activity from mesial temporal lobe (MTL) areas in epileptic patients implanted with depth electrodes required for medical diagnosis during polysomnographically defined sleep‐wake states. Results show that single neurons recorded ipsilateral to seizure-initiating MTL (“epileptic”) areas had significantly higher firing rates ( p 0.01) and burst propensity ( p 0.01) and greater synchrony of discharges ( p 0.003) compared with neurons recorded from contralateral non-seizure-generating MTL (“non-epileptic”) areas. In particular, during episodes of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, epileptic hippocampal neurons had significantly higher burst rates compared with non-epileptic hippocampal neurons (both p 0.01). In contrast, during episodes of wakefulness (Aw), no difference in burst firing between epileptic and non-epileptic hippocampal neurons was observed. Furthermore, synchronous firing was significantly higher between epileptic MTL neurons compared with non-epileptic MTL neurons during SWS ( p 0.04) and REM sleep ( p 0.02), but no difference in neuronal synchrony was found between epileptic and nonepileptic neurons during Aw. These results provide evidence that sleep states differentially modulate abnormal epileptogenic neuronal discharge properties within human MTL and confirm that neuronal burst firing and enhanced neuronal synchrony observed in experimental animal models of epilepsy characterizes human epilepsy as well.
Cytokines and Alcohol

Cytokines are multifunctional proteins that play a critical role in cellular communication and activation. Cytokines have been classified as being proinflammatory (T helper 1, Th1) or antiinflammatory (T helper 2, Th2) depending on their effects on the immune system. However, cytokines impact a variety of tissues in a complex manner that regulates inflammation, cell death, and cell proliferation and migration as well as healing mechanisms. Ethanol (alcohol) is known to alter cytokine levels in a variety of tissues including plasma, lung, liver, and brain. Studies on human monocyte responses to pathogens reveal ethanol disruption of cytokine production depending upon the pathogen and duration of alcohol consumption, with multiple pathogens and chronic ethanol promoting inflammatory cytokine production. In lung, cytokine production is disrupted by ethanol exacerbating respiratory distress syndrome with greatly increased expression of transforming growth factor b (TGFb). Alcoholic liver disease involves an inflammatory hepatitis and an exaggerated Th1 response with increases in tumor necrosis factor a (TNFa). Recent studies suggest that the transition from Th1 to Th2 cytokines contribute to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis. Cytokines affect the brain and likely contribute to changes in the central nervous system that contribute to long-term changes in behavior and neurodegeneration. Together these studies suggest that ethanol disruption of cytokines and inflammation contribute in multiple ways to a diversity of alcoholic pathologies.
NORTH CAROLINA EMPLOYEE PERCEPTIONS IN THE EVALUATION OF SUPERVISORS: PUTTING THE SUPER IN SUPERVISOR

Assuming a capable and willing workforce, most organizations succeed or fail due to the quality of the direction provided by their leaders and managers. The first-line supervisor is a major linking pin in the chain of organizational outputs. Using a random sample of North Carolina state employees, this paper explores dimensions of supervisory effectiveness. Employing regression analysis with cross-sectional data, it examines employee attitudes linked to the evaluation of their supervisor. Eliminated as important predictors of supervisory effectiveness were numerous extraneous factors—education, paygrade level, race, and gender. The remaining job and work characteristics (job satisfaction, degree of political interference, and efforts at team building), variables over which supervisors indeed exercise some degree of direct control, were clearly related to evaluation of supervisory effectiveness. This research, focused on public sector workers, underscores that in terms of supervisory evaluations employees take pains to link authority and responsibility.
Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life

Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life. By Katherine Cramer Walsh. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. 264p. $57.00 cloth, $19.00 paper. Casual conversations that take place among groups of acquaintances can have significant implications for political identity formation. The core thesis of this impressive study by Katherine Cramer Walsh maintains that small groups work collectively to create social contexts that influence members' understanding of politics. Individuals develop perspective through their identification and experiences with a group. She argues that people's ability to engage in “oppositional processing” by juxtaposing their own social position to that of others shapes their political outlook. Race, not political ideology, is the most salient influence on political judgment.
Geographic Information Systems for Transportation in the 21st Century

Geographic Information Systems for Transportation: Principles and Applications (Miller and Shaw 2001) remains the only major authored text on the interdisciplinary field of Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T). However, Miller and Shaw (2001) is a product of the 20th century, and the fields of GIS, transportation and GIS-T have changed dramatically in the early 21st century. We are witnessing a revolution in transportation and urban sciences, fueled by a stunning advancement in capabilities to capture, store and process data, as well as communicate information and knowledge derived from these data. This paper is a review of GIS-T in the 20th and 21st centuries. Using Miller and Shaw (2001) as a touchstone, we discuss elements of GIS-T that have stood the test of time as well as new technologies and ideas that an updated GIS-T canon should include.