cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of structural relaxation in As2Se3 for analysis of lens shape change in glass press mold cooling and post-process annealing

This study explores the structural relaxation behavior of As 2 Se 3 by thermo mechanical analysis in order to characterize and eventually predict volume change in As 2 Se 3 upon relaxation during cooling after precision glass molding (PGM) and annealing. A vertical beam of As 2 Se 3 was placed in a thermo mechanical analyzer (TMA) and fully relaxed at a given temperature. The temperature was then quickly changed a given amount and the 1-D relaxation of the beam was measured until it reached equilibrium at the new temperature. The resultant curve was then fit with a Prony series which captured the relaxation data. The mathematical representation of the relaxation is then analyzed as a function of time, temperature, and quench rate and can be used to predict one dimensional (1-D) length change upon relaxation. A maximum of three terms is needed to describe the relaxation behavior and that number declines with an increase in temperature. This decay of the number of Prony terms needed to describe relaxation points to a structure that relaxes with less complexity as it approaches T g . These trends can be converted to 3-D due to the amorphous and therefore typically isotropic nature of As 2 Se 3 glass. This volume change information as a function of vital processing parameters can then be used to predict the change in shape of a work piece during cooling or post process annealing within a precision molding cycle. The mathematical representation of volume relaxation can then be applied to finite element models (FEM) of As 2 Se 3 lenses or other optical elements.
Flebectasia Congénita de la Vena Yugular: Descripción del Caso y Revisión de los Estudios Publicados

La dilatacion fusiforme de la vena yugular, o flebectasia venosa yugular, es una entidad clinica insolita con una etiologia relacionada con inflamacion del cuello. Presentamos el caso de un joven de 15 anos de edad sin antecedentes de traumatismo y una masa que aumentaba de tamano, localizada en el lado derecho del cuello. Se revisan los estudios publicados pertinentes y las modalidades diagnosticas y terapeuticas de interes. Aunque suele indicarse tratamiento conservador, cuando esta justificada una intervencion, pueden efectuarse sin riesgo su ligadura y reseccion.
Polypyrazoles from aromatic dipropynones and aromatic dihydrazines

Two types of polypyrazoles, unsubstituted and phenylated, were prepared by a novel synthetic route involving the cyclopolycondensation of aromatic dihydrazines and aromatic dipropynones. The polymers had inherent viscosities as high as 1.05 dL/g and were soluble in N, N-dimethylacetamide, chloroform (phenylated polypyrazoles only), and sulfuric acid. The polymers exhibited glass transition temperatures ranging from 202 to 266°C and polymer decomposition temperatures (10% weight loss) as measured by thermogravimetric analysis of 400–500°C in air and 465–512°C in nitrogen. The synthesis and characterization of several polypyrazoles are discussed.
In vivo function of Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase specifically requires a functional lipid binding site.

The pyruvate oxidase of Escherichia coli is a peripheral membrane flavoprotein that is dramatically activated by lipids. The enzyme strongly binds to phospholipid vesicles in vitro. In vivo, in addition to enzyme activation, binding is thought to be important to provide access of the enzyme to ubiquinone dissolved in the lipid bilayer. It was unclear if both or either of these attributes is needed for enzyme function in vivo. To differentiate between activation and lipid binding, we have constructed, using recombinant DNA techniques, a mutant gene that produces a truncated protein. The truncated protein lacks the last 24 amino acids of the C-terminus of the oxidase (due to introduction of a translation termination codon) and thus is closely analogous to the activated species produced in vitro by limited chymotrypsin cleavage [Recny, M.A., Grabau, C., Cronan, J.E., Jr., & Hager, L.P. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 14287-14291]. The truncated protein (like the protease-derived species) is fully active in vitro in the absence of lipid, and its activity is not further increased by addition of lipid activators. Moreover, the truncated enzyme fails to bind Triton X-114, a detergent that binds to and activates the wild-type oxidase. Strains producing the truncated protein were devoid of oxidase activity in vivo. This result indicates that binding to membrane lipids is specifically required for function of the oxidase in vivo; activation alone does not suffice.
Similarities Of Fourier Spectra From Random Edge Variations

Fourier spectra of images with zero-one transmission characteristics are analyzed, assuming their boundaries to be described by random functions. The effect on recognition using different correlation functions and correlation coefficients to characterize the boundaries is presented. In one case a closed-form solution is found.
Chromosome jumping from D4S10 (G8) toward the Huntington disease gene.

Abstract The gene for Huntington disease (HD) has been localized to the distal portion of the short arm of human chromosome 4 by linkage analysis. Currently, the two closest DNA markers are D4S10 (G8), located approximately equal to 3 centimorgans centromeric to HD, and D4S43 (C4H), positioned 0-1.5 centimorgans from HD. In an effort to move closer to the HD gene, with the eventual goal of identifying the gene itself, we have applied the technique of chromosome jumping to this region. A 200-kilobase jumping library has been constructed, and a jump from D4S10 has been obtained and its approximate distance verified by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Two restriction fragment length polymorphisms have been identified at the jump locus, which is denoted D4S81. Linkage analysis of previously identified recombinants between D4S10 and HD or D4S10 and D4S43 shows that in two of five events the jump has crossed the recombination points. This unequivocally orients D4S10 and D4S81 on the chromosome, provides additional markers for HD, and suggests that recombination frequency in this region of chromosome 4 may be increased, so that the physical distance from D4S10 to HD may not be as large as originally suspected.
On twofold triple systems and their automorphism groups

Abstract A general construction of 2 − (v, 3, 2) designs (twofold triple systems) is used to produce simple indecomposable designs for all admissible v ≠ 3, 7. Such systems with cyclic automorphism groups are directly constructed. Also indecomposable designs with dihedral automorphism groups are constructed.
Sensorineural and conductive hearing loss associated with lateral semicircular canal malformation.

Objective: Lateral semicircular canal (LSCC) malformation is one of the most common radiological inner ear malformations. Traditionally, inner ear malformations are thought to be associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Recent experience with patients with LSCC malformation suggested that LSCC malformation may be associated with both SNHL and conductive hearing loss (CHL). The auditory phenotype associated with LSCC malformation is not well delineated. The objective of this study is to define the nature of the hearing loss associated with LSCC malformation. Study Design: Retrospective review Methods: Retrospective review of clinical records, audiological evaluation, and imaging studies. Results: Two patients with unilateral and 13 patients with bilateral LSCC malformation were identified. LSCC malformation was associated with CHL in 14% (4 ears), SNHL in 71% (20 ears), normal hearing in 11% (3 ears) and CHL due to atresia in one ear. Hearing loss varied from mild to profound but did not correlate with the severity of LSCC malformation. In bilateral malformation, the hearing loss was asymmetric in half of the cases. Malformation of the posterior limb of the LSCC was always associated with a large vestibular aqueduct. An absent or rudimentary LSCC was invariably associated with a cochlear abnormality. Conclusions: LSCC malformation, like other inner ear malformations such as large vestibular aqueduct and X-linked mixed deafness with perilymph gusher, can be associated with CHL, SNHL, or normal hearing. Children with unexplained conductive hearing loss often undergo exploratory surgery to improve hearing. Given that inner ear malformations may be associated with a pure CHL, it is critical that children undergo computed tomography scan of the temporal bone prior to undergoing exploratory surgery.
Part three: Saints, scholars, and schizophrenics—madness and badness in western Ireland

Abstract Schizophrenia is a major health‐care problem in the “Isle of Saints and Scholars.” This paper analyzes the particularly high vulnerability of the rural Irish to psychiatric hospitalization within the framework of “labeling theory"—that is, through an examination of community definitions of normal and abnormal behavior, variations in diagnostic preference and usage, and cultural and historical attitudes toward treatment and hospitalization in the Republic.
A module generator for high performance CMOS circuits

The authors describe a timing driven approach to the problem of generating fast, area-efficient CMOS modules consisting of static combinational logic. This approach has its foundation in a unique CMOS layout style which offers good electrical properties suitable for implementing fast circuits. Circuit delays are optimized by the reduction of parasitic capacitance along the critical paths and by transistor reordering. By using a hybrid cost function in the simulated annealing optimization process, the layout area is optimized as well. Preliminary experimental results are presented. >
Is reliability obsolete? A commentary on "Are simple gain scores obsolete?"

Williams & Zimmerman (1996) provided much- needed clarification on the reliability of gain scores. This commentary translates these ideas into recogniz able patterns of change that tend to produce reliable or unreliable gain scores. It also questions the relevance of the traditional idea of reliability to the measurement of change. Index terms: change scores, classical test theory, difference scores, gain scores, intraindividual differences, measurement of growth, reliability, test theory, validity.
Spontaneous haemopericardium with subacute cardiac tamponade in a patient with lung cancer receiving coumadin.

A 74-year-old woman with a history of stage IIIb non-small cell lung carcinoma undergoing concomitant chemoradiation therapy presented to the emergency centre with a 2-day history of dyspnea and chest tightness. The patient had a pulmonary embolism 1 month earlier, because of which she was receiving a therapeutic dosage of coumadin. On physical examination, she was …
A simple neural framework for bandwidth reservation of VoIP communications in cost-effective devices

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a widely recognized killer application of the Internet and it has been integrated within many services (for instance to enrich the on-line gaming experience). In addition, such feature is often natively supported by mobile devices equipped with IEEE 802.11-based communications, or by standard UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) cellular phones. Nevertheless, Beyond 3rd Generation (B3G) telephony is expected to fully support IP-based communications. In this perspective, this paper analyzes the feasibility of adopting a simple framework, based on neural networks, to reserve bandwidth, when in presence of VoIP communications. The framework has been designed to be simply embeddable within a wide range of cost-effective consumer devices (e.g., xDSL modems, cellular phones and network appliances).
Congenital generalized lipodystrophy: significance of triglyceride biosynthetic pathways

Congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by marked lack of body fat since birth, which results in striking muscular appearance. Patients develop extreme insulin resistance and its complications, such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia and fatty liver. Mutations in the BSCL2 (which encodes seipin, a protein of unknown function) and AGPAT2 (which encodes 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase 2) genes have been reported in patients with CGL. AGPAT2 is a key enzyme involved in triglyceride and phospholipid biosynthesis and, thus, the discovery of AGPAT2 mutations has heightened interest in the biochemical pathways of triglyceride synthesis and their implications in human physiology and in the pathophysiology of obesity, lipodystrophies and other adipose tissue disorders. All enzymes involved in triglyceride synthesis, including AGPAT, have several known isoforms encoded by different genes. Assuming different substrate specificities of these enzymes, the human body might have many forms of triglycerides and phospholipids. Here, we discuss the significance of these in energy storage, in addition to the normal functioning of cell membranes.
Comparison and Integration: A Path toward a Comparative Politics of Gender

Moving from a “gender and comparative politics” to a “comparative politics of gender” is a challenging proposition. In this essay, I offer two mechanisms for doing this—emphasizing the comparative nature of gender politics research and encouraging greater integration of gender research into the subfield of comparative politics. I illustrate how current research generally uses a “gender and comparative politics” approach that is insufficient for advancing the field and then describe how scholars can work to emphasize greater comparison and integration in the literature. This will help to move the gender and politics literature toward a comparative politics of gender.
Higher-hazard, no benefit research involving children: parental perspectives.

OBJECTIVES: US regulations allow local institutional review boards to approve greater than minimal risk, no-benefit research when the research enrolls children with the condition under study but not when it enrolls healthy children. We aim to describe the opinions of parents regarding higher-hazard, no-benefit research METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative interviews with parents of children without heart disease or chronic medical conditions (no heart disease [noHD], n = 30), children with fully correctable heart disease (FCHD, n = 30), and children with life-altering heart disease (LAHD, n = 30). RESULTS: Parents of children with heart disease endorse higher-hazard, no-benefit heart disease research more strongly than noHD parents. Eight of 30 noHD parents, 19 of 30 FCHD parents, and 26 of 30 LAHD parents reported willingness to enroll their children in a heart disease research study involving an otherwise unnecessary chest radiograph ( P P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Parental opinions regarding higher-hazard, no-benefit research align with federal regulations. Parental willingness to enroll their children in higher-hazard, no-benefit research is driven in part by a sense of obligation to a community of families affected by childhood heart disease.
FDA Policy on Unapproved Drug Products: Past, Present, and Future

OBJECTIVETo review the history of drug regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as it relates to unapproved drugs and FDA policy, along with the FDA's efforts to avoid future incidents by amending and enforcing those policies that are already in place.DATA SOURCESData from FDA history documents, FDA guidances, Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, and presentations by the FDA's Office of Compliance were gathered.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTIONAll information identified from the data sources was evaluated, and all information deemed relevant was included for this review.DATA SYNTHESISContrary to popular belief, there are drugs on the market that have not been evaluated for safety or efficacy by the FDA. For almost a century, the FDA has taken action against public health threats posed by unapproved drug products, and today's drugs and vaccines are required to demonstrate both safety and efficacy prior to marketing. The FDA has taken great strides to ensure the welfare of Americans by reacti...
Time-Lagged Effects of Exporting and Importing on Economic Development: Replication and Extension of Mullen's (1993) Model

A new model of how exporting and importing affect two dimensions of economic development was recently developed and empirically tested by Mullen (1993) with cross-sectional data. This study replicates and extends the model and analysis in several important ways. To broaden the conceptual scope, additional theoretical approaches are discussed and incorporated into the model. Then an empirical evaluation is made using new data with time-lagged export and import variables. The results support the belief that international trade affects both dimensions of economic development positively. Although the results are most pronounced with a five-year lag, the study shows that trade not only raises the aggregate economic activity of nations, but also helps satisfy basic human needs.
Thermal Conductivity of Li2O·Al2O3·nSiO2 Glass-Ceramics between 5 and 100 K

The thermal conductivity of Li2O·Al2O3·nSiO2 glass-ceramics is studied for n= 4, 6, 8, 10 between 5 and 100 K. A monotonic increase in conductivity is observed for all samples. This behavior is different from that of glassy counterparts which exhibit a plateau in thermal conductivity between 10 and 20 K. It is also observed that while the conductivity of glass-ceramics is lower than that of glasses at low temperatures, the situation is reversed at higher temperatures. A crossover occurs around 40 K for all studied samples. The glass-ceramic behavior is interpreted in the light of the acoustic mismatch theory of Little. At low temperatures, the thermal boundary resistance that exists at the crystalline-amorphous mismatch is high and the thermal conductivity is low. At higher temperatures, the boundary resistance is very small and the high conductivity is mainly due to the crystalline region within the amorphous structure.
Robust data-centric storage for underwater acoustic sensor networks

The unique features of underwater environments and recent advances in storage devices render data-centric storage (DCS) a promising solution for underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASN). However, existing DCS protocols were designed for terrestrial environments and face new challenges underwater: the well-known doubly selective channel limits the data rate while inducing high communication cost, and the harsh sea environment can lead to high failure probability of the unattended sensors. To address these issues, we design in this paper a robust (R-)DCS protocol with Raptor coding, which is tailored for UASN. Our proposed protocol is tested by ns2 simulations with underwater NSMiracle modules. Comparisons confirm that our R-DCS improves the robustness and reduces the communication overhead in comparison with existing DCS alternatives, and results in reduced energy consumption and improved storage uniformity.
Selectivity in regeneration of the oculomotor nerve in the cichlid fish, Astronotus ocellatus

It has long been considered a general rule for nerve regeneration that the reinnervation of skeletal muscle is nonselective. Regenerating nerve fibers are supposed to reconnect with one skeletal muscle as readily as another according to studies covering a wide range of vertebrates (Weiss, 1937; Weiss & Taylor, 1944; Weiss & Hoag, 1946; Bernstein & Guth, 1961; Guth, 1961, 1962, 1963). Similarly, in embryogenesis proper functional connexions between nerve centers and particular muscles are supposedly attained, not by selective nerve outgrowth but rather through a process of ‘myotypic modulation’ (Weiss, 1955) that presupposes nonselective peripheral innervation. Doubt about the general validity of this rule and the concepts behind it has come from a series of studies on regeneration of the oculomotor nerve in teleosts, urodeles, and anurans and of spinal fin nerves in teleosts (Sperry, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1965; Sperry & Deupree, 1956; Arora & Sperry, 1957 a , 1964).
Reconstructing tumor amplisomes

Motivation: Duplication of genomic sequences is a common phenomenon in tumor cells. While many duplications associated with tumors have been identified (e.g. via techniques such as CGH), both the organization of the duplicated sequences and the process that leads to these duplications are less clear. One mechanism that has been observed to lead to duplication is the extraction of DNA from the chromosomes and aggregation of this DNA into small, independently replicating linear or circular DNA sequences (amplisomes). Parts of these amplisomes may later be reinserted back into the main chromosomes leading to duplication. Although amplisomes are known to play an important role in tumorigenesis, their architecture and even size remain largely unknown. Results: We reconstruct the structure of tumor amplisomes by analyzing duplications in the tumor genome. Our approach relies on recently generated data from End Sequence Profiling (ESP) experiments, which allow us to examine the fine structure of duplications in a tumor on a genome-wide scale. Using ESP data, we formulate the Amplisome Reconstruction Problem, describe an algorithm for its solution, and derive a putative architecture of a tumor amplisome that is the source for duplicated material in the MCF7 breast tumor cell line.
Symmetries and discriminability in feedforward network architectures

This paper investigates the effects of introducing symmetries into feedforward neural networks in what are termed symmetry networks. This technique allows more efficient training for problems in which we require the output of a network to be invariant under a set of transformations of the input. The particular problem of graph recognition is considered. In this case the network is designed to deliver the same output for isomorphic graphs. This leads to the question of which inputs can be distinguished by such architectures. A theorem characterizing when two inputs can be distinguished by a symmetry network is given. As a consequence, a particular network design is shown to be able to distinguish nonisomorphic graphs if and only if the graph reconstruction conjecture holds. >
Destruction and survival of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in active galaxies

Infrared spectra of dusty galactic environments often contain emission features attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, which can be considered to be very small grains or very large molecules. Although IR spectra of starburst galaxies almost always show these emission features, similar spectra of active galaxies are usually featureless. Even in those active galaxies that do exhibit PAH emission, the PAHs still appear to be eradicated from the nuclear region. This dichotomy suggests that PAHs are destroyed by the intense hard radiation field from an AGN. Laboratory experiments show that certain PAHs are, in fact, so effectively destroyed by individual EUV and X-ray photons that they cannot survive even at kiloparsec distances from active nuclei. Regions within active galaxies that do show PAH emission must therefore be shielded from the central X-ray source by a substantial column density of X-ray absorbing gas.
The Differences between the Optimal Perturbations of Coupled Models of ENSO

The optimal perturbations (singular vectors) of a dynamical coupled model, a hybrid coupled model, and a linear inverse model of ENSO are compared. The hybrid coupled model consists of a dynamical ocean model and a statistical atmospheric model. The dynamical ocean model is identical to that used in the dynamical coupled model, and the atmospheric model is a statistical model derived from long time series of the dynamical coupled model. The linear inverse model was also derived from long time series from the dynamical coupled model. Thus all three coupled models are very closely related and all produce similar ENSO oscillations. The dynamical model and hybrid model also possess similar levels of hindcast skill. However, the optimal perturbations of the tangent linear versions of each model are not the same. The hybrid and linear inverse models are unable to recover the SST structure of the optimal perturbations of the dynamical model. The SST structure of the dynamical coupled model is a result of nonnormality introduced by latent heating of the atmosphere by deep convection over the west Pacific warm pool. It is demonstrated that standard statistical techniques remove the effects of the latent heating on the nonnormality of the hybrid and linear inverse models essentially rendering them more normal than their dynamical model counterpart. When the statistical components of the hybrid coupled model and the linear inverse models were recomputed using SST anomalies that are appropriately scaled by the standard deviation of SST variability, nonnormality was reintroduced into these models and they recovered the optimal perturbation structure of the dynamical model. Even though the hybrid and linear inverse model with scaled SSTs can recover the large-scale features of the correct optimal structure, state space truncation means that the dynamics of the resulting optimal perturbations is not the same as that governing optimal perturbation growth in the dynamical model. The consequences of these results for observed estimates of optimal perturbations for ENSO are discussed.
p-SCN-Bn-HOPO: A Superior Bifunctional Chelator for 89Zr ImmunoPET

Zirconium-89 has an ideal half-life for use in antibody-based PET imaging; however, when used with the chelator DFO, there is an accumulation of radioactivity in the bone, suggesting that the (89)Zr(4+) cation is being released in vivo. Therefore, a more robust chelator for (89)Zr could reduce the in vivo release and the dose to nontarget tissues. Evaluation of the ligand 3,4,3-(LI-1,2-HOPO) demonstrated efficient binding of (89)Zr(4+) and high stability; therefore, we developed a bifunctional derivative, p-SCN-Bn-HOPO, for conjugation to an antibody. A Zr-HOPO crystal structure was obtained showing that the Zr is fully coordinated by the octadentate HOPO ligand, as expected, forming a stable complex. p-SCN-Bn-HOPO was synthesized through a novel pathway. Both p-SCN-Bn-HOPO and p-SCN-Bn-DFO were conjugated to trastuzumab and radiolabeled with (89)Zr. Both complexes labeled efficiently and achieved specific activities of approximately 2 mCi/mg. PET imaging studies in nude mice with BT474 tumors (n = 4) showed good tumor uptake for both compounds, but with a marked decrease in bone uptake for the (89)Zr-HOPO-trastuzumab images. Biodistribution data confirmed the lower bone activity, measuring 17.0%ID/g in the bone at 336 h for (89)Zr-DFO-trastuzumab while (89)Zr-HOPO-trastuzumab only had 2.4%ID/g. We successfully synthesized p-SCN-Bn-HOPO, a bifunctional derivative of 3,4,3-(LI-1,2-HOPO) as a potential chelator for (89)Zr. In vivo studies demonstrate the successful use of (89)Zr-HOPO-trastuzumab to image BT474 breast cancer with low background, good tumor to organ contrast, and, importantly, very low bone uptake. The reduced bone uptake seen with (89)Zr-HOPO-trastuzumab suggests superior stability of the (89)Zr-HOPO complex.
Symmetric functions capture general functions

We show that the set of all functions is equivalent to the set of all symmetric functions (possibly over a larger domain) up to deterministic time complexity. In particular, for any function f, there is an equivalent symmetric function fsym such that f can be computed from fsym and vice-versa (modulo an extra deterministic linear time computation). For f over finite fields, fsym is (necessarily) over an extension field. This reduction is optimal in size of the extension field. For polynomial functions, the degree of fsym is not optimal. We present another reduction that has optimal degree "blowup" but is worse in the other parameters.
Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences: An Introduction by Guido W. Imbens and Donald B. Rubin

A classic is born! The label classic tends to be overused and sometimes its significance as a moniker is devalued. This devaluation will not be the case with Imbens and Rubin’s Causal Inference for...
Soups 2006

A report of the second annual Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2006) held at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) 12-14 July 2006.
Effects of propranolol on marihuana-induced cognitive dysfunctioning

Paid male volunteers were allowed to smoke marihuana cigarettes calibrated to deliver a dose of 25 µg per kilogram of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-9-THC). All subjects were given propranolol or placebo (administered in a double-blind fashion), in 4 divided doses beginning 24 hours before and ending 2 hours prior to smoking. Marihuana smoking resulted in significant disruption in the recall of narrative material and moderate impairment in performance on a modified version of the Reitan Trail Making test. Stroop-Color Word performance was not affected by marihuana. Propranolol, a beta adrenergic blocking agent, failed to interact with marihuana to reduce its disruptive effects on any of the tests.
MYCing progress against immunosuppression-associated cancers

It has been known for years that immune suppression increases the risk of cancer. Chronically immunosuppressed populations, including individuals with HIV/AIDS and solid organ transplant recipients, face heightened risks of numerous malignancies. Although the association is strongest for infection-related cancers such as lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cervical cancer, there is also a clear association with several noninfection-associated cancers such as lung cancer, thyroid cancer, and kidney cancer. For most of these cancers, immunosuppression also conveys a worse prognosis. Even after matching for stage and histologic subtype, these patients face lower response rates, shorter duration of disease control, and worse overall survival. These inferior outcomes reflect multiple factors. Reduced immune function not only contributes to tumor development, but also to locoregional progression and metastatic potential. Furthermore, concurrent immunosuppression substantially complicates and increases the toxicity of chemotherapy administration. Moving beyond these clinical observations, Chao et al. have compared the molecular characteristics of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) from patients with and without HIV infection. Pulling from more than 10 years of data from the Kaiser Permanente registry in California, they matched 80 HIV-infected DLBCL patients 1:1 with 80 HIV-uninfected DLBCL patients by age, gender, and race. They used immunohistochemistry to examine 23 markers in such categories as cell cycle regulators, B-cell activators, and antiapoptotic proteins. The researchers found that, compared with HIV-uninfected cases, HIV-related DLBCL was more likely to express cMYC (87% versus 56%), BCL6 (45% versus 10%), PKC-beta2 (61% versus 4%), MUM1 (59% versus 14%), and CD44 (87% versus 56%), whereas expression of p27 was reduced (39% versus 75%). cMYC expression was also independently associated with increased 2-year mortality in the HIV-infected cohort (RR 3.09). This study provides molecular insights into the more aggressive clinical course of HIV-related DLBCL. In particular, increased cMYC may partly account for this trend and may even serve as a therapeutic target for this disease in the future. C. Chao et al ., A comparative study of molecular characteristics of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma from patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection. Clin. Cancer Res. 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-2083 (2015). [[Abstract]][1] [1]: http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2015/01/13/1078-0432.CCR-14-2083.abstract
A Structural Study of Some Caterpillars.

Although the Lepidoptera have been studied for a long time little attention has been paid as yet to the minute description of their caterpillars. In describing a caterpillar most authors have contented themselves with the colors and markings, adding an occasional note on the structure if especially striking.
Prevention of infective endocarditis: the view from the United States

The American Heart Association's recommendations for the prevention of infective endocarditis were first published in February, 1955, and the most recent (fifth revision) in December, 1984. The somewhat controversial nature of these recommendations reflects several issues, including the degree to which infective endocarditis in man is preventable and the relative safety of alternative regimens. Nevertheless, it is apparent that a reasonable fraction of cases are preventable and that antibiotics for this purpose are appropriate. It is also clear that certain patient groups, i.e. those with prosthetic valves or surgically constructed systemic-pulmonary shunts, are at greatest risk and warrant more intensive, primarily parenteral antibiotic regimens. Particularly controversial are recommendations related to the very large group of patients with mitral valve prolapse. The latest American Heart Association recommendations are presented in detail.
Elementary school generalist teachers’ perceived competence to deliver Ontario’s daily physical activity program

The objective of this study was to examine the perceived competency of elementary school generalist teachers to deliver the government-mandated Daily Physical Activity (DPA) program. An e-survey was circulated to 20 elementary schools in a southern Ontario school board district. One hundred and thirty-six generalist teachers completed the survey from an initial pool of approximately 261 (response rate = 69%). Multiple linear regression was used to establish model fit and the prediction of participants’ perceived competence (dependent variable) to deliver DPA based on their motivation, school environment, and skills (independent variables). The most significant finding of this research is that nearly half of teachers surveyed (46%) reported that this mandatory program is not active in their schools. Additional analysis suggests that a majority of elementary teachers in this district lack specific DPA training and the motivation to teach the DPA program. The results not only suggest that the DPA program is ...
Determination of vitamin K1 in powdered infant formulas, using supercritical fluid extraction and liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Abstract Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is extracted from commercial soy protein-based and milk-based powdered infant formulas by using supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 at 8000 psi and 60 degrees C. Quantitative extraction requires only 15 min, and does not suffer from the problems associated with conventional solvent extraction of lipophilic materials from media such as formulas. Vitamin K1 is determined in the extracts by using reverse-phase liquid chromatography (LC) with reductive mode electrochemical detection at a silver electrode polarized at -1.1 V vs SCE. LC run time is 9 min. The minimum detectable quantity is 80 pg, and response is linear over at least 5 orders of magnitude. Recovery of vitamin K1 from a milk-based powdered formula was 95.6% with RSD of 7.4%, and from a soy protein-based product, 94.4% recovery with RSD of 6.5%.
The Study of Spatial and Temporal Distribution Characteristics of Internal Waves in the South China Sea from Multi-satellite Data

More than 300 satellite images including SAR(ERS1/2,Radarsat and Envisat),SPOT,Landsat,IRS and NOAA AVHRR images from 1995 to 2005 were analyzed to obtain spatial and temporal distribution of internal waves in the South China Sea(SCS).The amplitude and speed are calculated based on the KdV equation and Levitus' historical mix-layer depth data.The statistical analysis showed that three areas including Luzon Strait,Dongsha Island and the Northeastern Hainan Island were found to have regular internal wave activity.Most of the internal waves travel westly.Near the Luzon Strait,the phase speed can reach 3 m/s,the amplitude can exceed 100 m;near the Dongsha Island,the phase speed is in 1.5~2 m/s around,the amplitude is in 20~80 m around;in the western and northern part of Dongsha Island,the phase speed is in 1~1.5 m/s around,the amplitude is in 5~20 m around;in the northeastern of Hainan,the phase speed is in 0.4~0.8 m/s around,the amplitude is in 2~4 m around.The temporal distribution characteristics of internal waves are: the internal waves occur mostly from Apr.to Sept.,little internal waves are observed from Jun.to Mar.and Nov.to Dec.;in every month the internal waves have highly activities from 16 to 19th day.
Ghanaian Woman and Dutch Wax Prints: The Counter-appropriation of the Foreign and the Local Creating a New Visual Voice of Creative Expression

This essay explores the role of textiles, particularly Dutch wax prints, in the lives of women in Ghana, West Africa. Wax prints are colorful message-bearing printed cloths produced in Holland, based on Indonesian batik designs that express meaningful messages. Central to this discussion is the practice of counter-appropriation, that is, how women as individuals are in dialogue with culture by transferring the foreign, in this case Dutch wax prints, into the local in a culturally appropriate way. It positions women not only as cloth distributors and consumers, but also as producers of knowledge through the phenomenon of naming.This paper builds on the work of Professor George Clement Bond who, over a 20-year period, explored the impact of the movement of rural Yombe men of northern Zambia in search of wage employment and how this migration challenged their kin-based cults. Instead of rejecting capitalism, Yombe society members adjusted it to coexist with the ancestor cult. However, Yombe laborers did not ...
Humanoid Robots Discovering Creative Concepts Through Social Interaction.

Psychologists and social scientists have been researching creativity in humans for several years, and it has gained the attention of artificial intelligence and robotics researchers as well. In this abstract, we discuss the emotional and conversational interface required for a humanoid robot to socially interact with children in order to learn new creative concepts. We briefly describe the approach we are taking to develop such a humanoid robot that can collaborate with children to discover creative concepts.
Analyses of 20 Major Snowstorms: 1955–1985

As noted throughout this monograph, the evolution of the surface and tropospheric conditions prior to and during the snowstorms cannot be generalized because of the case-to-case variability that characterizes these storms. Palmen and Newton (1969, p. 273) emphasize this problem by stating: “Cyclonic disturbances appear in such diverse forms that it is impossible to give a description that is uniformly applicable to all cases.” Detailed examinations of one or two cases, although they can provide many important insights, have limited applicability in other situations with only superficial similarity. Problems with compositing antecedent conditions for East Coast storms have also been cited (Brandes and Spar 1971). Therefore, a set of conventional map analyses is presented in this chapter for each of the 20 storms to describe the unique aspects of each event as well as the similarities to the other cases.
Crystal Fields in Y2-xErxFe14B from Magnetic Torque Measurements

In the preceding chapter we presented detailed results which showed that for the rare earth Laves phase (RFe2) intermetallic compounds a rather accurate description of the magnetic anisotropy and spin orientations could be obtained from a mean field treatment of the the exchange and crystal fields. In that case, because of the small number of atoms in the primitive cell and the high degree of symmetry of the lattice, the number of crystal field parameters was small (two) and could be determined, at least in principle, from magnetic data. For more complex systems, such as the R2Fe14B compounds, it is not always possible, even in principle, to completely determine all the parameters of the exchange and crystal field from magnetic data. Nevertheless, it is possible to obtain a good description of the complex magnetic behavior using an appropriately chosen subset of parameters, as we show in this chapter for Y2-xErxFe14B.
Reducing handover latency and improving tcp performance in wireless networks

Modern network technologies first evolved in wired networks and subsequently entered the wireless network field. Applications may work in pure wired network, pure wireless network or hybrid network. Improving performance in these network infrastructures has been a continuous effort for decades. In this dissertation, we tackle two important challenges: (1) improving handover performance in heterogeneous wireless network, and (2) improving TCP performance in multi-hop wireless network. In heterogeneous network, users expect uninterrupted services moving from one network to another. IEEE proposed Media Independent Handover (MIH) to make it possible to achieve better handover performance. Currently, Mobile IPv4 (MIP) is the dominant mechanism for mobility management and is expected to persist into the future. However, when multiple interfaces of a mobile client are connected to a Foreign Agent (FA), MIP and its existing improvements do not perform well when the active interface fails unexpectedly. In this dissertation, we propose novel mechanism and MIP extension with MIH support. We prove experimentally that the new approach eliminates the FA-HA latency and achieves much faster handover, compared with existing mechanism. Our method also allows FA-bicasting, which can improve transmission reliability by combining traffic from different links, through the same FA. In multi-hop wireless networks, the main network factor that affects TCP performance is the medium-access contention, complicated by other factors like hidden terminal. We analyze the TCP congestion window and provide a more accurate estimate of its optimal value than those reported in the prior work. We also show that the much shorter TCP-ACK packets consume comparable channel capacity as the much longer data packets. We therefore propose two methods to improve TCP throughput, as follows. (1) Segregate the flows of data and ACK using static routing in grid wireless network, (2) Develop an improved variant of delayed TCP ACK by minimizing the number of ACK packets. Our evaluation validates the effectiveness of the proposed method, which can enhance TCP performance significantly. In terms of throughput, it achieves up to 204% improvement over the regular TCP in chain-topology wireless networks, and about 35% improvement in a complex grid wireless network. We also propose a new architecture to achieve higher throughput when multiple TCP connections exist.
Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return: Correlation of Hemodynamic Observations and Surgical Mortality in 58 Cases

One hundred twenty-five patients undergoing surgical correction of total anomalous pulmonary venous return were studied. The overall mortality was 37% and was related to age at the time operation was required. Mortality was 57% during the first year of life, 29% in patients between 13 and 24 months, and 15% in those between 2 and 10 years; no deaths occurred in those over 10 years. Mortality was highest in patients with infracardiac lesions (62%), and lowest in those with cardiac defects (30%). The major cause of death was pulmonary edema, and survival was closely related to the degree of increased pulmonary vascular resistance. Surgical treatment should be delayed until at least 6 months of age, but the development of congestive heart failure may necessitate earlier operation. mong cyanotic congenital cardiac defects that require operation during the first year of life, total anomalous pulmonary venous return A (TAPVR) ranks fourth in frequency at the Texas Heart Institute, following transposition of the great vessels, tetralogy of Fallot, and tricuspid atresia. The anomaly continues to represent a challenging problem to both the cardiologist and the cardiovascular surgeon. Despite recent advances in treatment, this severe malformation in its various anatomical forms has a high surgical mortality during early infancy. Because of the high natural mortality in the untreated infant, and the surgical risk in the first year of life, timing of the operation remains important for optimal results. The clinical findings in patients with TAPVR have been well described [7,9, 10, 12, 17, 19,20,23,24], with the major hemodynamic abnormalities consisting of volume overload of the right ventricle, leading to cardiac failure, and severe arterial desaturation. Muller [21] in 1950 first undertook a palliative procedure by performing a closed side-to-side anastomosis between the common pulmonary venous trunk and the left atrium. The first successful correction of TAPVR, however, was reported from this surgical unit in 1957 [6]. Prior and subsequent to that time, various techniques for repair have been described [ l , 3, 1416,25,26]. In 1.962 From the Division of Surgery of the Texas Heart Institute, St. Luke’s Episcopal and Texas Presented at the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, Address reprint requests to Dr. Wukasch, Texas Heart Institute, P.O. Box 20345, Houston, Children’s Hospitals, Houston, Tex. Williamsburg, Va., Nov. 7-9, 1974.
Abstract TP407: Implementation of Standardized Charting for Level 1 Stroke Cases in the Operating Room

Introduction: Appropriate documentation impacts patient care and quality monitoring. The required documentation elements for level 1 stroke cases varies and does not yet have a standardized format. Mounting evidence supports endovascular stroke treatment, decreasing time to treatment initiation will also likely be critical to improving patient outcomes. However, there is no clear way or format to document the various important time points during a case. We sought to provide a template for operating room nurses to be prompted to assess and record important patient and team information. Methods: We evaluated the closed charts from 2013 for patients who underwent Level 1 acute stroke surgical intervention. Charts for all patients who received acute stroke interventions in 2014 and 2015 were also reviewed. Review focused on seven key items; pre and post neurological assessment in the operating room, time puncture, to clot, to revascularization, of groin seal, and TICI score. These items were important based on patient care and the ability to review the efficiency of the team in starting a case. Results: There were 36 charts reviewed from 2013 for patients who underwent Level 1 acute stroke surgical intervention. There was no documentation of the seven key items in any of the 2013 charts. The standardized form was initiated in 2014 after an educational campaign. This method was continually evaluated and did show overall improvement. A deeper dive showed 23% of the Level 1 acute stroke surgical intervention charts were still missing all seven key items. Conclusions: The documentation of Level 1 acute stroke surgical intervention cases still remains a challenge. The current results demonstrate that further automation may be needed to ensure to proper care and documentation of these patients. The development of documentation should not be a burden, but rather aid in enhancing the quality of care for patients.