cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sonolocation during submandibular sialolithotomy

Objectives/hypothesis Ultrasound is a proven tool for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes for treatment of salivary gland pathology. It is also useful for localization of calculi during submandibular gland transoral sialolithotomy when calculi cannot easily be palpated. Our objective was to determine the efficacy of sialolith localization using ultrasound during submandibular gland sialolithotomy. Study design Retrospective case series. Methods A study performed utilizing data compiled from 2009 through 2016 in a tertiary academic center. Treatment was completed in 164 patients with sialadenitis and sialolithiasis by submandibular gland transoral sialolithotomy in either the office (81%) or the operating room (19%). Ultrasound was used for localization of sialoliths during submandibular gland sialolithotomy. Main treatment outcomes studied were success of the procedure, complications, and follow-up. Results Successful sialolithotomy was performed in (147 patients) 90% of cases. Complications were minimal and included stricture formation, which occurred in 3% (five patients) of cases, followed by ranula formation in 1.8% (three patients) of cases. There were no incidences of lingual nerve injury. Conclusions Ultrasound can be used effectively for precise sialolith localization intraoperatively. Level of evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 129:2716-2720, 2019.
Comparing inequality in adolescents’ reading achievement across 37 countries and over time: outcomes versus opportunities

This paper assesses two approaches to the measurement of educational inequality in international comparisons between countries and over time. We analyse reading literacy performance of 15-year-old ...
MSNET-Blockchain: A New Framework for Securing Mobile Satellite Communication Network

In this paper, the security problem for mobile satellite communication networks (MSNET) has been investigated. With the rapidly growth of communication needs, mobile satellite systems represent a significant solution to provide high-quality communication services to mobile users in under-populated regions, in emergency areas, on planes, trains and ships. However, lacking an effective framework to secure mobile satellite communication networks seriously limited the practicality of satellite services. Therefore, a new security framework have been developed in this paper to address the security challenges in mobile satellite communication network. Firstly, the mobile satellite communication networks have been formulated as delay-tolerance network (DTN). Then, the blockchain technique has been adopted and used in two aspects, i.e. 1) integrating with DTN structure to secure the data communication, 2) combing with the practical satellite constellation management algorithm to defend the unexpected cyber attacks physically. Through integrating emerging blockchain techniques with both communication and physical aspects, the developed framework cannot only effectively detect the cyber attacks, but also better defend the mobile satellite communication networks through communication and satellite management aspects. Eventually, the numerical simulation and experimental tests have been provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of developed MSNET-Blockchain framework.
Ripping our hearts: three counterstories on terror, threat, and betrayal in U.S. universities

This article includes three essays to explore how U.S. universities engage in practices that terrorize, threat, and betray women of color in academia. Drawing from personal narratives to illuminate...
Evaluation and management of pulmonary hypertension in the emergency department setting

Abstract Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Objective This narrative review evaluates PH, outlines the complex pathophysiologic derangements, and addresses the emergency department (ED) management of this patient population. Discussion Approximately 10–20% of individuals in the United States suffer from PH. Each year nearly 12,000 PH patients seek care in the ED for a variety of symptoms which may or may not be related to PH. There are 5 classes of PH, some of which respond to particular therapies outlined in this review. As presenting complaints are frequently vague and non-specific, emergency physicians must recognize manifestations of PH and complications related to PH to deliver appropriate care. Early imaging with chest radiograph, bedside echocardiogram, and computed tomography can assist in determining the underlying etiology of PH exacerbation. Restarting oral or intravenous PH medications that may have been discontinued is crucial in initial management. Immense care should be taken to avoid hypoxia and hypercarbia as well as maintaining right ventricular preload support. In addition to correction of underlying precipitants, judicious vasopressor and inotrope use can help to correct pathophysiology and avoid further airway intervention. Conclusions An understanding of the pathophysiology of PH and available emergency treatments can assist emergency clinicians in reducing the immediate morbidity and mortality associated with this disease. Restarting maintenance PH medications and proper selection of vasopressors and inotropes will benefit decompensating patients with PH.
Effect of control program of human intestinal parasitic diseases in Nanping City

OBJECTIVE To understand the epidemic status of human intestinal parasitic diseases and evaluate the effect of the control program in Nanping City, so as to provide an evidence for improving the disease control. METHODS The villages were selected by the stratified cluster sampling method and the residents in these villages were surveyed for human intestinal parasitic diseases, and kindergartens were also selected and the children in these kindergartens were surveyed for Enterobius vermicularis infection. RESULTS In 2007, before the control program, 9 851 residents of Nanping City were surveyed, with the parasitic infection rate of 9.10% (896 infection cases), and the infection rate of E. vermicularis of children was 18.56% (328/1 767). From 2011 to 2014, when the control program was performed, 4 679 residents were surveyed, with the infection rate of 4.06% (190 infection cases), and the infection rate of E. vermicularis of children was 3.87% (33/853). After the control program was launched, the infection rates of human intestinal parasites were decreased. The overall parasitic infection rate and hookworm infection rate showed increasing trends by age (χ2 = 49.03 and 53.58 respectively, both P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The infection situation of human intestinal parasites is decreased after the implementation of the control program but the infection rate is still at a high level, and the control work should be strengthened.
Overcoming the COVID-19 Crisis and Planning for the Future.

> If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me… > —William Shakespeare’s Macbeth In late 2019, a new virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, China, causing an infectious disease ([1
Reinforcement Learning for Placement Optimization

In the past decade, computer systems and chips have played a key role in the success of artificial intelligence (AI). Our vision in Google Brain's Machine Learning for Systems team is to use AI to transform the way in which computer systems and chips are designed. Many core problems in systems and hardware design are combinatorial optimization or decision making tasks with state and action spaces that are orders of magnitude larger than that of standard AI benchmarks in robotics and games. In this talk, we will describe some of our latest learning based approaches to tackling such large-scale optimization problems. We will discuss our work on a new domain-transferable reinforcement learning (RL) method for optimizing chip placement [1], a long pole in hardware design. Our approach is capable of learning from past experience and improving over time, resulting in more optimized placements on unseen chip blocks as the RL agent is exposed to a larger volume of data. Our objective is to minimize power, performance, and area. We show that, in under six hours, our method can generate placements that are superhuman or comparable on modern accelerator chips, whereas existing baselines require human experts in the loop and can take several weeks.
Inflammatory arthritis-associated pyoderma gangrenosum: a systematic review

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare, rapidly progressive neutrophilic dermatosis commonly associated with systemic inflammatory diseases. We aimed to characterize the association of PG and inflammatory arthritis, as little is known outside of case reports and small cohort studies. We performed a systematic review in PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus from inception to present using the terms arthritis and pyoderma gangrenosum. Patient demographics, clinical presentation, and treatment outcomes were recorded. Descriptive statistics and stratified analysis were used to compare factors of interest by type of arthritis. A total of 1399 articles were screened, and 129 patients with inflammatory arthritis and PG were included in the review. The most common types of arthritis were rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (50.4%), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)–associated arthritis (10.9%), and psoriatic arthritis (8.5%). In the vast majority of cases, joint symptoms preceded PG, by a median of 10 years (inter-quartile range [IQR] 5–16). Corticosteroid monotherapy and biologic therapies, used alone or in combination, resulted in improvement or complete resolution of ulcers 71.4% and 67.3% of the time, respectively. Within the latter, infliximab, adalimumab, and anakinra were most successful in inducing remission overall. RA and non-RA did not differ significantly in treatment success or healing time. This study shows that PG is frequently preceded by inflammatory arthritis, most commonly RA. Clinicians used a wide variety of treatment regimens with variable outcomes. While larger studies are needed to standardize the treatment of inflammatory arthritis-associated PG, this study suggests that in addition to systemic corticosteroids, biologic medications can be effective treatment options for these patients.
Convenient Syntheses of Trivalent Uranium Halide Starting Materials without Uranium Metal

Low-valent uranium coordination chemistry continues to rely heavily on access to trivalent starting materials, but these reagents are typically prepared from uranium turnings, which are becoming increasingly difficult to acquire. Here we report convenient syntheses of UI3(THF)4 (THF = tetrahydrofuran) and UBr3(THF)4 from UCl4, a more accessible uranium starting material that can be prepared from commercially available uranium oxides. UCl3(THF)2 (1), UBr3(THF)4 (2), and UI3(THF)4 (3) were prepared by single-pot reductions from UCl4 using KH and KC8 and converted to 2 or 3 by halide exchange with the corresponding Me3SiX (where X = Br or I). Reduction of UI4(Et2O)2 (4; Et2O = diethyl ether) and UI4(1,4-dioxane)2 (5) was also shown to cleanly yield 3. Complex 1 was also synthesized separately by the addition of anhydrous HCl to U(BH4)3(THF)2, which was prepared by thermal reduction of U(BH4)4. All three trivalent uranium halide complexes were isolated in high crystalline yields (typically 85-99%) and their formulations were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, and 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy. Elemental analysis conducted on triplicate samples of 1-3 exposed to vacuum for different time intervals revealed significant THF loss for all three complexes in as little as 15 min. Overall, these results offer expedient entry into low-valent uranium chemistry for researchers lacking access to uranium turnings.
Bayesian variable selection for understanding mixtures in environmental exposures

Social and environmental stressors are crucial factors in child development. However, there exists a multitude of measurable social and environmental factors-the effects of which may be cumulative, interactive, or null. Using a comprehensive cohort of children in North Carolina, we study the impact of social and environmental variables on 4th end-of-grade exam scores in reading and mathematics. To identify the essential factors that predict these educational outcomes, we design new tools for Bayesian linear variable selection using decision analysis. We extract a predictive optimal subset of explanatory variables by coupling a loss function with a novel model-based penalization scheme, which leads to coherent Bayesian decision analysis and empirically improves variable selection, estimation, and prediction on simulated data. The Bayesian linear model propagates uncertainty quantification to all predictive evaluations, which is important for interpretable and robust model comparisons. These predictive comparisons are conducted out-of-sample with a customized approximation algorithm that avoids computationally intensive model refitting. We apply our variable selection techniques to identify the joint collection of social and environmental stressors-and their interactions-that offer clear and quantifiable improvements in prediction of reading and mathematics exam scores.
Non-normal errors or nonlinearity? performance of unit root tests

This paper investigates how unit root tests that are designed for non-normal errors perform in the presence of unknown forms of nonlinearity. This allows us to examine whether any neglected nonline...
Predictors of Airway Intervention in Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor-Induced Angioedema.

ObjectivesIdentify factors associated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor–induced angioedema (AIIA), including (1) time of presentation, (2) clinical symptoms, and (3) anatomical regions i...
Minimum Efficient Scale

The concept of minimum efficient scale is presented. Keywords: long-run cost curves; economies of scale; barriers to entry
Complexes of polypyrazolylborate ligands : I. Conformational isomerism in [tetrakis(1-pyrazolyl)borate] h5-cyclopentadienyl)dicarbonylmolybdenum

Abstract Studies on the structure of [B(pz) 4 ](C 5 H 5 )(CO) 2 Mo, where B(pz) 4 represents the tetrakis(pyrazolyl)borate group, have shown that the B(pz) 4 ligand is bidentate, while the cyclopentadienyl group is pentahapto . The interesting six-membered metallocyclic ring can exist in two conformers in solution, and these interconvert, with an activation energy of the order of 10 kcal/mol, thus giving rise to extensive variations in the proton NMR spectrum as the temperature is varied.
Risk shifting and long-term contracts : evidence from the Ras Gas Project

Risk shifting and incomplete contracting lie at the heart of the agency relationship inherent in the procurement and financing of large-scale projects such as power plants, oil and gas pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. Resolving this agency problem is critical in structuring the nexus of long-term contracts--construction, operating, output sale, and financial contracts--commensurate with the project's underlying tehcnological and market organization. By investigating the Ras Gas bonds--the largest and most liquid global project bonds ever issued in an emerging market economy--the authors provide empirical evidence of the risk-shifting consequences of contractual incompleteness. They relate the credit spreads of Ras Gas bonds to the bond spreads of the Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco), the major customer, in the context of a 25-year supply agreement, the oil price index used to price the LNG, emerging debt market returns, and various systematic and unsystematic risk variables. Consistent with theoretical predictions, they find that the risk factors affecting the sales and purchase agreements drive perceptions of market risk for Ras Gas bonds. In particular, Ras Gas yield spreads reflect the market's risk assessment of Kepco. Other priced risks are energy price and foreign currency exposure (which influence Ras Gas credit spreads through their impact on Kepco), Korean economic variables, and spillovers from turbulence in European and Latin American emerging debt markets. The authors' analysis shows that the design of each contractual arrangement is not independent, because risk factors relevant to one contract determine the price and risk premium of the other. Despite heavy capitalization and partial guarantees by the parent companies of Ras Gas, the off-take agreement essentially determines the riskiness of the bonds. The authors interpret this as evidence of the nexus-of-contracts view of the firm in the presence of contractual incompleteness: Investors bear all residual risks and price their financial claims accordingly.
Extracellular matrix stiffness modulates VEGF calcium signaling in endothelial cells: individual cell and population analysis

Vascular disease and its associated complications are the number one cause of death in the Western world. Both extracellular matrix stiffening and dysfunctional endothelial cells contribute to vascular disease. We examined endothelial cell calcium signaling in response to VEGF as a function of extracellular matrix stiffness. We developed a new analytical tool to analyze both population based and individual cell responses. Endothelial cells on soft substrates, 4 kPa, were the most responsive to VEGF, whereas cells on the 125 kPa substrates exhibited an attenuated response. Magnitude of activation, not the quantity of cells responding or the number of local maximums each cell experienced distinguished the responses. Individual cell analysis, across all treatments, identified two unique cell clusters. One cluster, containing most of the cells, exhibited minimal or slow calcium release. The remaining cell cluster had a rapid, high magnitude VEGF activation that ultimately defined the population based average calcium response. Interestingly, at low doses of VEGF, the high responding cell cluster contained smaller cells on average, suggesting that cell shape and size may be indicative of VEGF-sensitive endothelial cells. This study provides a new analytical tool to quantitatively analyze individual cell signaling response kinetics, that we have used to help uncover outcomes that are hidden within the average. The ability to selectively identify highly VEGF responsive cells within a population may lead to a better understanding of the specific phenotypic characteristics that define cell responsiveness, which could provide new insight for the development of targeted anti- and pro-angiogenic therapies.
Elective Pediatric Amputation

SUMMARY Couples who enter into the deliberation process regarding elective amputation of an infant's limb face an enormous challenge and can experience a myriad of emotions. Such emotions can disrupt the couple's typical interactional pattern, strain their relationship and hinder parenting efforts. If preventative or remedial action is not taken to resolve contentious or anxiety producing issues that arise during the decision making process, conflict can emerge and threaten the intimate relationship. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe congenital pseudarthrosis and discuss intrapsychic, interpersonal, and ecological factors that couples typically encounter while grappling with decisions that have major ramifications for their infant. Along with case vignettes, recommendations that are designed to assist couples during the deliberation process are provided.
Predictors of implantable pulse generator placement after sacral neuromodulation: who does better?

Objectives Numerous studies have documented a relationship between provider variables, including surgeon volume and specialty, and outcomes for surgical procedures. In this study we analyzed claims data from a Medicare database to analyze outcomes of sacral neuromodulation (SNM) with respect to both provider and patient factors. Materials and Methods A 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 1997 to 2007 was the data source. Data retrieved included demographic information, ICD-9 diagnosis codes, and CPT procedure codes. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of progression to implantable pulse generator (IPG) implantation. Results After stage I testing, urologists were more likely than gynecologists to proceed to IPG placement (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 49% vs. 43%, p < 0.0001). After percutaneous testing, gynecologists were more likely than urologists to proceed to battery placement (63% vs.44%, p = 0.005). Among the patient variables analyzed, women were more likely than men to progress to battery placement. Patients treated by high-volume providers had higher rates of IPG placement after formal stage I trials (71% vs. 33%, p < 0.0001). Conclusions The rate of IPG implantation after SNM was greater among high-volume providers. Women had better outcomes than men. Further research may better define the relationship between outcomes of sacral neuromodulation and specific etiology of voiding dysfunction.
D'Alembert versus Euler on the precession of the equinoxes and the mechanics of rigid bodies.

It was Isaac Newton who first proposed a quantifiable cause for the precession of the equinoxes: namely, the gravitational action of the Sun and Moon on the equatorial bulge of the Earth. When Newton attempted a strict quantitative derivation of the precession, however, he fell into serious errors, above all by supposing that finite rotations could be superimposed on one another by simple addition. The first to give an essentially correct derivation was d'Alembert, in his Recherches sur la Precession des Equinoxes, published in July 1749. Twenty-four years later, Laplace, in the first memoir that he submitted to the Academie des Sciences, in introducing "the general equations of movement of a body of any figure, acted upon by any forces", wrote as follows:
Conformal multi-symplectic integration methods for forced-damped semi-linear wave equations

Conformal symplecticity is generalized to forced-damped multi-symplectic PDEs in 1+1 dimensions. Since a conformal multi-symplectic property has a concise form for these equations, numerical algorithms that preserve this property, from a modified equations point of view, are available. In effect, the modified equations for standard multi-symplectic methods and for space-time splitting methods satisfy a conformal multi-symplectic property, and the splitting schemes exactly preserve global symplecticity in a special case. It is also shown that the splitting schemes yield incorrect rates of energy/momentum dissipation, but this is not the case for standard multi-symplectic schemes. These methods work best for problems where the dissipation coefficients are small, and a forced-damped semi-linear wave equation is considered as an example.
Behavioral and Electroencephalographic Arousal to Contrasting Novel Stimulation

Three-second interruptions of continuous auditory stimulation, as well as 3-second periods of stimulation from the same sound source, were effective in producing behavioral arousal and electrocortical desynchronization in sleeping cats. Thus, stimulus offset as well as onset may serve an arousal function. Some differences in behavioral response and electrocortical desynchronization latency were noted.
Performance analysis of 802.11b networks in the presence of interference-aware Bluetooth devices

IEEE 802.11b Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) and Bluetooth Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) provide complimentary services using the same unlicensed radio frequency band of operation. As the benefits of utilizing these services become increasingly apparent, the likelihood of mutual interference may also increase. In this paper an algorithm called Interference-Aware Adaptive Frequency Hopping (IAFH) is proposed and implemented on Bluetooth devices to mitigate the interference between WLAN and WPAN. An analytical channel model of IAFH based on the standard path loss-log normal shadowing-AWGN and Rayleigh multi-path fading channel model is developed to evaluate the performance of the 802.11b devices in the presence of Bluetooth devices. Numerical analysis of the model is done in MATLAB to calculate the throughput of the system using the existing algorithms and the proposed algorithm and the results are compared.
An Alternate Mechanism of Abortive Release Marked by the Formation of Very Long Abortive Transcripts

The EU 70 -dependent N25 promoter is rate-limited at promoter escape. Here, RNA polymerase repeatedly initiates and aborts transcription, giving rise to a ladder of short RNAs 2 -11 nucleotides long. Certain mutations in the initial transcribed sequence (ITS) of N25 lengthen the abortive initiation program, resulting in the release of very long abortive transcripts (VLATs) 16 -19 nucleotides long. This phenomenon is completely dependent on sequences within the first 20 bases of the ITS since altering sequences downstream of +20 has no effect on their formation. VLAT formation also requires strong interactions between RNA polymerase and the promoter. Mutations that change the -35 and -10 hexamers and the intervening 17 base pair spacer away from consensus decrease the probability of aborting at positions +16 to +19. An unusual characteristic of the VLATs is their undiminished levels in the presence of GreB, which rescues abortive RNAs (e15 nucleotides) associated with backtracked initial transcribing complexes. This suggests that VLATs are produced via a mechanism distinct from backtracking, which we propose entails polymerase molecules hyper forward translocating during the promoter escape transition. We discuss how certain features in the ITS, when combined with the N25 promoter, may lead to hyper forward translocation and abortive release at VLAT positions.
An accumulation-based, closed-loop scheme for expected minimum rate and weighted rate services

Abstract Traditionally QoS capabilities have been constructed out of open-loop building blocks such as packet schedulers and traffic conditioners. In this paper, we consider closed-loop techniques to achieve a range of service differentiation capabilities. We use an accumulation-based congestion control scheme [Y. Xia, D. Harrison, S. Kalyanaraman, K. Ramachandran, A. Venkatesan, An accumulation-based congestion control model, in: IEEE International Conference on Communications, Anchorage, Alaska, May 2003] as a data-plane building block to provide an expected minimum rate service that is similar to ATM ABR, Frame Relay CIR/PIR and DiffServ assured service and a weighted rate service that achieves a significantly larger range than the loss-based approaches that extend TCP [ACM Computer Communication Review 28 (3) (1998); T. Nandagopal et al., Scalable service differentiation using purely end-to-end mechanisms: features and limitations, IPQoS'00, June 2000]. The central theme is to allocate router buffer space among competing flows in a distributed manner to meet the rate differentiation objectives. Be cause both services are provided using congestion control mechanisms, they are meaningful in steady state and can be modelled as moving the equilibrium in Kelly's nonlinear optimization framework [Journal of the Operational Research Society 49 (1998) 237]. This scheme needs no admission control; instead, during oversubscription it degrades to a well-defined, policy-controlled bandwidth allocation. It does not require Active Queue Management (AQM) at bottlenecks with sufficient buffer. However, with AQM, we achieve near zero queue with high utilization at bottlenecks. We use ns-2 simulations and Linux kernel implementation experiments to demonstrate the performance of the services. Some practical issues and open questions are also discussed.
Eddy current disruption: Effect on nuclear magnetic resonance coil impedance and power loss

We present a theoretical development and experimental verification of a description of power loss and sample resistance for a lossy sample in a nuclear magnetic resonance radio frequency coil for a sample geometry where the eddy current streamlines are disrupted from their usually assumed circular paths. Specifically treated is the case of a lossy hemisphere. The problem is solved for two orientations; with the induction parallel and perpendicular to the flat surface of the hemisphere. Results of this analysis as well as those for the full sphere as presented by Hoult and Lauterbur are compared with observation for a variety of sample conductivities and orientation.
The effect of extracellular sodium concentration on α-methyl-d-glucoside transprot by rat kidney cortex slices

The kinetics of α-methyl-d-glucoside accumulation by rat kidney cortex slices under conditions of varying extracellular sodium concentration were investigated. Extracellular sodium reduction below 144 mequivi/l resulted in a diminished initial uptake and reduced influx calculated by steady-state analysis of a two-compartment system. At 72 mequiv/l extracellular sodium efflux was decreased to the same extent as influx resulting in the same steady state concentration that was observed at 144 mequiv/l sodium. At 36 mequiv/l the steady state concentration was below that observed at 144 mequiv/l sodium because of a disproportionate decrease of influx. In the complete absence of extracellular sodium, no concentration gradient was achieved and efflux had become increased. Low extracellular sodium was associated with an increase in the apparent Km of transport without affecting the V. The apparent Ki for sodium appeared to be in th e 40 to 59 mequiv/l range. The presence of 20 mM α-methyl-d-glucose prompted the accelerated efflux of the sugar from the tubule cells in a normal fashion despite a low extracellular sodium concentration.
Alizarin sulphonate complexes of zirconium and hafnium

Abstract The reaction of alizarin S with dilute (10 −4 M) zirconium and hafnium solutions in 0·1 M HClO 4 was studied amperometrically. An insoluble compound formed initially but redissolved upon the addition of excess metal ion. The stoichiometry for these two species depended upon the age of the metal ion solution. The mole ratio of zirconium to alizarin S at the first end point increased from 0·8 to 1·0 as the solution aged and for hafnium from 0·81 to 0·88 over the same period. For the second end point, the ratio ranged from 1·2 to 1·75 for zirconium and remained constant at 1· for the hafnium solutions. The ultra-violet and visible absorption spectra of aqueous solutions of these two compounds were the same. From the amperometric and spectral data it was concluded that the metal was chelated by a quinoid oxygen and the alpha phenolic oxygen. Solubilization of the initial precipitate probably involves the reaction of additional metal ions with the chelated metal.
EUS 2008 Working Group document: evaluation of EUS-guided pancreatic-cyst ablation.

Pancreatic cysts encompass a wide spectrum of morphologic and histopathologic types. 1 Broadly, they are classified into 2 main types, mucinous and nonmucinous, which differ in natural history and clinical characteristics. The nonmucinous lesions include serous cystadenomas and cystic endocrine tumors. Mucinous cystic lesions may be benign, borderline, or malignant in nature and include benign mucinous cystic neoplasms and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN). Mucinous cysts are unique in their predisposition toward malignant transformation. The traditional therapy of cystic neoplasms, particularly mucinous lesions, has been surgical resection. There is now evidence to support clinical monitoring of low-risk mucinous lesions, such as side-branch IPMN lesions or in those patients who are poor surgical candidates. Although small, incidental simple pancreatic cysts 2 cm or smaller may enlarge over a prolonged time. Morbidity or mortality because of these small simple cysts is extremely unlikely, and observation appears to be a safe management option. 2 Sahani et al 3 reported on 86 patients with cystic lesions less than 3 cm in diameter that were resected after EUS-guided FNA. The majority (n = 75) of small pancreatic cysts were benign. Thirty-six cysts were unilocular, and virtually all of these (n = 35) were benign. The presence of septa was associated with borderline or "in situ" malignancy in 20% of cases (10 of 50). Low-risk IPMNs in the elderly are probably best managed with periodic imaging. 4 A report of a recent task force also recommended periodic imaging for cysts less than 3 cm in diameter.5 A general schema for management of pancreatic-cyst neoplasm is shown in Table 1. As an alternative to surgical resection or monitoring, EUS-guided ethanol ablation of pancreatic-cystic lesions may have a role in carefully selected patients. This section of the EUS 2008 Working Group Proceedings will evaluate the current role of EUS-guided ethanol ablation in the management of pancreatic cyst neoplasms and provide recommendations for future research in this area.
Macroscope: end-point approach to networked application dependency discovery

Enterprise and data center networks consist of a large number of complex networked applications and services that depend upon each other. For this reason, they are difficult to manage and diagnose. In this paper we propose Macroscope, a new approach to extracting the dependencies of networked applications automatically by combining application process information with network level packet traces. We evaluate Macroscope on traces collected at 52 laptops within a large enterprise and show that Macroscope is accurate in finding the dependencies of networked applications. We also show that Macroscope requires less human involvement and is significantly more accurate than state of the art approaches that use only packet traces. Using our rich profiles of the application-service dependencies, we explore and uncover some interesting characteristics about this relationship. Finally, we discuss several usage scenarios that can benefit from Macroscope.
Internal Hernias: Clinical Findings, Management, and Outcomes in 49 Nonbariatric Cases

Internal hernia, the protrusion of a viscus through a peritoneal or mesenteric aperture, is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction. We report the clinical presentation, surgical management, and outcomes of one of the largest series of nonbariatric internal hernias. Ten-year retrospective review of patients at our institution yielded 49 cases of internal hernias. Majority of patients presented with symptoms of acute (75%) or intermittent (22%) small bowel obstruction. While 16% of CT scans were suspicious for internal hernia, in no cases the preoperative diagnosis of internal hernia was made. The most frequent internal hernias were transmesenteric (57.0%) and 34 hernias (69%) were caused by previous surgery. All internal hernias were reduced and the defects were repaired. Compromised bowel was present in 22 cases and 11 patients underwent small bowel resection. The mean postoperative hospitalization was 10.9 days. The overall mortality rate from our series is 2%, and the morbidity rate is 12%. Transmesenteric hernias, as complications of previous surgeries, are the most prevalent internal hernias. Preoperative diagnosis of internal hernia is extremely difficult because of the nonspecific clinical presentation. However, if discovered promptly, internal hernias can be repaired with acceptable morbidity and mortality.
Extrusion of pectin/starch blends plasticized with glycerol

Abstract The microstructural and thermal dynamic mechanical properties of extruded pectin/starch/glycerol (PSG) edible and biodegradable films were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal dynamic mechanical analysis (TDMA). SEM revealed that the temperature profile (TP) in the extruder and the amount of water present during extrusion could be used to control the degree to which the starch was gelatinized. TDMA revealed that moisture and TP during extrusion and by inference the amount of starch gelatinization had little effect on the mechanical properties of PSG films. Furthermore, TDMA revealed that PSG films underwent a glass transition commencing at about −50°C and two other thermal transitions above room temperature. Finally, it was concluded that the properties of extruded PSG films were comparable to those cast from solution.
A symmetric hysteresis smoothing algorithm that preserves principal features

Hysteresis smoothing of waveforms has the advantage over linear filtering that it can remove small waveform fluctuations without reducing resolution. The standard hysteresis smoothing algorithm, however, distorts a waveform and shifts it in the direction in which it, is being processed. A more sophisticated algorithm is presented which, though eomputationally more expensive, preserves exactly the large waveform structures that are not removed by the hysteresis cursor while removing smaller fluctuations in the same way as the standard algorithm.
The effect of redundant cues on comprehension of spoken messages by aphasic adults

Aphasic adults with severe auditory comprehension impairment responded to redundant and nonredundant spoken and/or gestured messages by pointing to pictures. Messages of two types (pantomime and emblem) were presented under four conditions (spoken message alone, spoken message repeated, gestured message alone, and spoken message plus redundant gesture). Though spoken messages repeated and spoken messages with gestures were comprehended significantly more often than gestures alone, neither of these stimulus conditions was reliably superior to spoken messages alone. This finding casts doubt on the clinical strategy of supplementing spoken messages with redundant gestures when auditory comprehension is severely impaired, and raises questions about the ability of severely aphasic individuals to utilize semantically redundant message content. Pantomimes were consistently comprehended more frequently than emblems, regardless of stimulus condition. This finding was attributed to a depictability factor: the pictures associated with pantomimes were relatively direct representations of item content, while those associated with emblems were necessarily less direct representations. For this group of subjects, whose range of comprehension deficit was deliberately restricted, neither auditory nor reading comprehension at the single-word level was found to correlate with comprehension of symbolic gestures.
Do trauma scores accurately predict outcomes for patients with burns

A highly refined quality assurance program relies on accurate outcome evaluations and the identification of patients who are truly worthy of peer review. In our hospital, the Glasgow Coma Score, the Trauma Score, and the Injury Severity Score are used to monitor patients with burns. A retrospective
Effect of sterol incorporation on head group separation in liposomes

Abstract Electrophoretic mobilities of multilamellar liposomes of varying composition have been measured to determine the effect of incorporated sterols on surface charge density. Liposomes made from mixtures of zwitterionic egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) and anionic egg phosphatidylglycerol (PG) in varying proportions were shown to have electrophoretic mobilities consistent with the anticipated surface charge density. Incorporation of cholesterol up to 50 mole per cent in the bilayer produced no detectable change in surface charge density. Similar results were obtained for lanosterol and epicoprostanol. These results are interpreted to mean that incorporation of the sterols into the bilayers produced no detectable change (
Deregulation and the Racial Composition of Airlines

Economic theory suggests that the enhanced product market competition of deregulation reduces employers' ability to discriminate when hiring. Recent studies of the effect of deregulation on racial employment in the naturally competitive trucking industry find that deregulation increased minority employment. This study examines the effect of deregulation on racial employment in the airline industry. Because deregulation transformed airlines from wasteful service competition to rigorous price competition, deregulation's effect on racial hiring in this continuously competitive industry is not apparent. This study finds that deregulation only modestly changed the racial composition of major airline occupations, which suggests that the change in market structure as a result of deregulation may largely determine the effect of regulatory reform on the racial composition of an industry. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Friendly dress: A disciplined use

(1999). Friendly dress: A disciplined use. Rhetoric Society Quarterly: Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 25-45.
Increased insensible water loss in feline retrovirus-infected cats

Abstract Feline retroviruses such as feline leukemia virus (FeLV) adversely affect the regulation of many vital host systems such as the immune response, erythropoiesis, and nutrient metabolism. In this paper, we describe the disruption of an additional homeostatic mechanism — evaporative water loss — by FeLV. Viremic cats had greater evaporative water losses (24.0 ± 1.4 gm water/kg per day) at low relative humidity levels (19% to 25% relative humidity) when compared to age- and sex-matched control cats (19.7 ± 1.4 gm of water/kg per day [P
Human rights in emergencies

Rights theorists tend to take tempi pacifici for granted, but it is precisely in emergencies that rights are most difficult to protect and most in need of protection. Two remedies are: first, to be successful in emergencies and second, to establish a free government capable of handling emergencies. These remedies play no role in the thinking of the ACLU, which has increasingly come to define the public's understanding of rights. For the ACLU, a right is not a right unless it can be carried to an extreme and used irresponsibly. A better liberal theory, with instruction from Machiavelli, will seek to combine our interest in security with our assertion of rights.
Developments In The Application of Earth Observation Satellites To Geographic Problems

(1967). Developments In The Application of Earth Observation Satellites To Geographic Problems. The Professional Geographer: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 130-132.
Sexual Health Attitudes, Knowledge, and Clinical Behaviors Implications for Counseling

This article explores the impact of practitioners’ attitudes and knowledge of sexual health on clinical behaviors. Sexual health topics are often areas of concern for clients of any age in counseli...
Holographic study of vibrations of a wing section

Vibrational characteristics of a model of NASA's GAW-2 airfoil are studied computationally and experimentally. The computational procedures are based on the Finite Element Method. The experimental procedures are based on the Laser Hologram Interferometry methods; more specifically, the methods of stroboscopic Heterodyne Hologram Interferometry and time- average Electro-Optic Holography are used. Comparison of the computational results with the experimental results shows good correlation.
The coalescence instability in collisionless plasmas

The process whereby magnetic island structures tend to merge into larger units is known as magnetic island coalescence. This coalescence process is investigated for the case of a collisionless plasma by means of two‐dimensional particle simulations. The pairwise merging of a preformed island chain leads to a gentle redistribution of the density and current density profiles. The linear growth rates substantially exceed the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) values for ρ/λ≥0.1, where ρ is the asymptotic ion gyroradius and λ is the current sheet half‐thickness. The nonlinear evolution of the collisionless tearing instability in a long system is found to lead to a much more violent coalescence process resulting in the formation of a vacuum X region. This stage is characterized by enhanced growth rates for the long‐wavelength modes that exceed the maximum linear tearing growth rate, super‐Alfvenic flows away from the reconnection X line, substantial bulk heating in the parallel direction, and the formation of energetic particle tails in the direction of the inductive electric field.
Approximations of set skeletons

ABSTRACT This paper studies approximation properties of set skeletons. The first result is about objects for which imageinformation is given. Namely, we show that the medial axis by an arbitrary disk with a given radius is a one - side Hausdorif approximation of the skeleton. The second result is about boundary - represented objects. It concernsthe approximate construction of the skeleton of an object using the Voronoi diagram of a discrete sample set onits boundary. A new non-standard approach for solving this problem is presented. Meanwhile, a non-standardgeneralization of Delaunay and Voronoi graphs for hyperfinite point sets is introduced.Keywords: skeleton, medial axis, Voronoi diagram, Delaunay triangulation, non-standard analysis. 1 INTRODUCTION The skeleton of an object is a powerful shape descriptor that captures both boundary and region information ofan object. The skeleton of a shape is a representation composed of thin lines that preserve the connectivity ortopology of the original shape. Although the literature contains a large number of skeletonization techniques, manyopen problems remain. Most algorithms for skeleton computation operate in discrete domain. But as mentioned in
Interaction of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi with Brain Parenchyma Elicits Inflammatory Mediators from Glial Cells as Well as Glial and Neuronal Apoptosis

Lyme neuroborreliosis, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, often manifests by causing neurocognitive deficits. As a possible mechanism for Lyme neuroborreliosis, we hypothesized that B. burgdorferi induces the production of inflammatory mediators in the central nervous system with concomitant neuronal and/or glial apoptosis. To test our hypothesis, we constructed an ex vivo model that consisted of freshly collected slices from brain cortex of a rhesus macaque and allowed live B. burgdorferi to penetrate the tissue. Numerous transcripts of genes that regulate inflammation as well as oligodendrocyte and neuronal apoptosis were significantly altered as assessed by DNA microarray analysis. Transcription level increases of 7.43-fold (P = 0.005) for the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α and 2.31-fold (P = 0.016) for the chemokine interleukin (IL)-8 were also detected by real-time-polymerase chain reaction array analysis. The immune mediators IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, COX-2, and CXCL13 were visualized in glial cells in situ by immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy. Concomitantly, significant proportions of both oligodendrocytes and neurons undergoing apoptosis were present in spirochete-stimulated tissues. IL-6 production by astrocytes in addition to oligodendrocyte apoptosis were also detected, albeit at lower levels, in rhesus macaques that had received in vivo intraparenchymal stereotaxic inoculations of live B. burgdorferi. These results provide proof of concept for our hypothesis that B. burgdorferi produces inflammatory mediators in the central nervous system, accompanied by glial and neuronal apoptosis.
Ship Shadow Effects On Apparent Optical Properties

Results of an experimental study of ship shadow effects are presented. Spectral upwelling and downwelling irradiance, and upwelling radiance were measured at 2 distances from the ship on an overcast day and sunny day. On the clear sky day it was found that while the apparent properties and derived properties of reflectance showed only negligible affects, the derived diffuse attenuation coefficients varied measurably. On the overcast day the apparent properties varied, with Ed showing the most variation. All of the derived properties on this day exhibited large variations (on the order of 40%) between casts at 0 and 9 meters.
Confinement-Dependent Below-Gap State in PbS Quantum Dot Films Probed by Continuous-Wave Photoinduced Absorption

We have measured continuous-wave (cw) photoinduced absorption (PA) spectra of PbS quantum dot (QD) films with four different sizes over a spectral range of 0.25−0.5 eV at T = 10 K. The PA spectrum ...