cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improved continuity of care in a resident clinic.

Summary Background For residents in the out-patient clinic, continuity in patient care is an integral and vital aspect of internal medicine training, but is frequently compromised by resident in-patient schedules, the structure of the out-patient clinic and the need to comply with the increasing regulation of duty hours. Method In this study, we examined whether the creation and implementation of a new team approach, the Firms Model, would improve the continuity of patient care in the internal medicine resident out-patient clinic. Results Before the implementation of the Firms Model, an examination of a consecutive clinic sample indicated that patients were seen by their assigned resident providers 41.9 per cent of the time (n = 1319 clinic visits). After implementation of the Firms Model, an examination of a consecutive clinic sample indicated that patients were seen by their assigned Firm resident providers 88.9 per cent of the time (n = 1341 clinic visits). Conclusion Implementation of the Firms Model resulted in a statistically significant increase in the percentage of patients seen by assigned resident providers in an internal medicine out-patient clinic, culminating in a substantial improvement in continuity of care within our resident out-patient clinic. We discuss the implications of these findings. Continuity in patient care is an integral and vital aspect of internal medicine training, but is frequently compromised
Tillage, Cropping, and Insecticide Use Practice: Effects on Efficacy of Planting Time Treatments for Controlling Greenbug (Homoptera: Aphididae) and Chinch Bug (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) in Seedling Sorghum

Efficacy of carbofuran in controlling chinch bug. Blissus leucopterus leucopterus (Say), and greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani). in seedling sorghum was studied under three tillage systems in two crop rotations. No consistent pattern of lower or greater efficacy occurred under any tillage practice. However, lower efficacy was achieved where carbofuran was applied every year on continuous sorghum than where it was applied every other year when sorghum was grown in a sorghum/soybean rotation.
Lost in Transnation: Uncovering Asian Canada

This essay attempts to develop new ways to approach Asian Canada in an Asian North American comparative framework by surveying three existing modes of potential Asian Canadian intervention and inclusion. They are, in descending degree of influence in the field of Asian American studies: transnational, hemispheric, and most recently, "Asian North American." Below I provide a broad overview and analysis of their recent configurations, considering in particular the structural arrangements that constrain the visibility of Asian Canada.
Metabolic Mediators in Injury

Physiologic responses following injury are initiated by signals arising locally from the wound or inflammatory focus. Both neural and circulatory pathways are utilized in the transmission of these signals. The pathways to and integration of the signals in the central nervous system are essential for many of the responses to occur. For this reason, the myriad of mediators and physiologic mechanisms which are activated can be considered as part of a “reflex arc” with mediators and response pathways serving as afferent or efferent “limbs” in relation to the central nervous system. In addition, local or circulatory mediators may bypass the central nervous system and initiate responses directly. (Figure 1) Our understanding of these regulators and pathways is incomplete; some responses, for example synthesis of actue phase proteins, may occur without mediation via the central nervous system.
Sinonasal Inverted Papilloma: Prognostic Factors with Emphasis on Resection Margins

Objective We review our institution's experience with the treatment of inverted papilloma (IP) with emphasis on the implications of surgical margins for disease control. Design Retrospective chart review of patients with IP treated at the University of Michigan from 1996 to 2011. Setting Tertiary care center. Participants Patients undergoing surgical resection with curative intent for IP. Main Outcome Measures Overall survival, disease-specific survival, and locoregional control were used as main outcome measures. Results We studied 129 patients including 19 with carcinoma arising from IP. Disease-free rates at 2, 3, and 5 years were 79.7%, 77.9%, and 61%, respectively. Overall, 10 of 18 recurrences were detected > 2 years from follow-up, with recurrences detected up to 8 years from surgery. For benign disease, obtaining tissue margins outside of the primary specimen for margin control did not affect disease control rates. Conclusion IP is a disease that requires significant follow-up periods beyond 2 years. For IP without carcinogenesis, acquiring margins outside of the tumor specimen did not appear to affect disease control rates in this study. No clear predictors of malignancy were seen in this study, which highlights the need for further research to predict this phenomenon.
Ferroelectric Film Synthesis, Past and Present: A Select Review

A review of the history of ferroelectric (FE) thin film synthesis is given covering the period of the 1960's to the present. Early methods, materials and applications are discussed. An assessment of the recent upsurge in activity takes note of current targeted applications, including nonvolatile memory, piezoelectric actuators, capacitors, and electro-optic devices. Focus is placed on similarities and differences in the most common film deposition processes. Comparison of microstructure and composition variation seen in films deposited by sputtering, laser ablation, and solution deposition is made. More detailed understanding of process-microstructure relations is stressed as necessary for film property control. Also discussed are the roles of substrate interactions and interface layers in thin film growth.
The Probable Identity of Prociphilus (Pulvius) probosceus (Homoptera: Aphididae)

Prociphilus approximatus Patch is relegated to synonymy with Prociphilus (Pulvius) probosceus (Sanborn) (NEW SYNONYMY). All morphs are described and the possible biology of P. (P.) probosceus is discussed.
A rapid method for lipoprotein electrophoresis using cellulose acetate as support medium.

A method for electrophoretic analysis of lipoproteins on cellulose acetate is described. This method provides improved resolution of lipoproteins and, therefore, offers new parameters for the evaluation of patients who have abnormalities in lipid metabolism. In addition, this method permits recognition of a difference between plasma and serum. It permits analysis in a relatively short time and is simple and convenient. The transparency of the cellulose acetate facilitates reproducible analysis of the lipoprotein staining by optical scanning.
A Robotized Solution for Roughing the Uppers of Fashion Shoes

Currently, opposite to other manufacturing sectors like automotive, food or metal processing, robots are still out of Footwear industry; only technical shoe producers have introduced robots to assist in the injection moulding process but there are not other relevant applications in use. The described difficulties in shoe manufacturing ask for the use of state of the art robotic technology to reach the required degree of flexibility, autonomy and dexterity in order to make the robot a valuable resource for footwear companies. In this scenario, the paper describes an innovative robotic cell for robotized roughing operations. The robot controller has been designed to be easily integrated with standard industrial controller by exploiting the so-called sensor tracking option provided by many different robot suppliers. Experimental results are reported and demonstrate the feasibility of the solution proposed.
Why do neurotransmitters act like growth factors

It is now well established that neurotransmitters act as growth-regulatory signals for neuronal and non-neuronal cells of both primitive and higher organisms, where they control cell proliferation, motility, survival, growth, differentiation, and gene expression. Many of these actions are reminiscent of the actions of other growth-regulatory signals such as growth factors, neurotrophins, and proto-oncogenes. How, then, do neurotransmitters exert these effects? Although some information is available concerning second messengers activated by these neurotransmitters in developing cells, little is known about subsequent steps involving signal transduction cascades leading to their final outcomes. This review attempts to provide testable hypotheses regarding possible cellular and molecular mechanisms downstream of second messengers activated by neurotransmitters, based on recent insights into signal transduction cascades activated by classical growth-regulatory signals. In many cases, there are clear points of convergence between these pathways, raising the interesting possibility that neurotransmitters and other growth-regulatory signals may cooperate to regulate developmental functions of cells and tissues.
Physiologic role of the mitral apparatus in left ventricular regional mechanics, contraction synergy, and global systolic performance

In animal models, severing the chordae tendineae of the mitral valve reduces the maximum global left ventricular elastance (Emax,g), a load-independent measure of left ventricular systolic performance; moreover, chamber geometry is altered with systolic bulging in the region of the papillary muscle insertions. This suggests that forces transmitted by the mitral apparatus increase the regional volume elastance (Emax,r) of segments subtending the insertions of the papillary muscles, and these regions contribute substantially to overall left ventricular systolic function (Emax,g). To test this hypothesis, we developed a method to evaluate changes in the magnitude and uniformity of Emax,r as quantitated by the slopes (E'max,i) of regional left ventricular isovolumetric pressure-dimension relations. Such measurements were obtained before and after all chordal attachments of the mitral valve were surgically divided in seven open-chest swine preparations. Significant declines in E'max,i were limited to the region of the posteromedial papillary muscle insertion. Although the mean E'max,i of all ventricular regions (E'max,ave) was unchanged, regional left ventricular elastances were less uniform after the mitral chordae tendineae were severed, which indicated a less synergistic contraction, and Emax,g fell by 21% from 7.1 +/- 2.0 to 5.6 +/- 1.2 mm Hg/ml (p less than 0.05). These data demonstrate that the mitral apparatus contributes importantly to the magnitude and uniformity of regional left ventricular elastances and suggest that such alterations in regional mechanics underlie the deterioration in global left ventricular systolic performance (Emax,g) after excision of the mitral apparatus.
Technological Advances and Economic Progress: Short-Run and Long-Run Adjustments

Economists, historians, political scientists, and sociologists generally agree that technology and innovation have been major forces in shaping human destiny. The discovery of grain cultivation, for example, is responsible for agricultural surplus enabling the existence of urban society. The introduction of gun powder was a major factor in terminating feudalism in Europe. The printing machine helped Luther in the Reformation. While innovation may have been an unsystematic process in the past, the scientific revolution has changed all that. Studies on the relationship between scientific effort and technological innovation indicate that the creative scientific endeavors are increasingly being harnessed to serve productive activity.
Exploring Uncertainty and Movement in Categorical Perception Using Robots

Cognitive agents are able to perform categorical perception through physical interaction (active categorical perception; ACP), or passively at a distance (distal categorical perception; DCP). It is possible that the former scaffolds the learning of the latter. However, it is unclear whether ACP indeed scaffolds DCP in humans and animals, nor how a robot could be trained to likewise learn DCP from ACP. Here we demonstrate a method for doing so which involves uncertainty: robots are trained to perform ACP when uncertain and DCP when certain. We found evidence in these trials that suggests such scaffolding may be occurring: Early during training, robots moved objects to reduce uncertainty as to their class (ACP), but later in training, robots exhibited less action and less class uncertainty (DCP). Furthermore, we demonstrate that robots trained in such a manner are more competent at categorizing novel objects than robots trained to categorize in other ways.
Corona degradation of polyethylene under multiple stress conditions

The major volatile degradation products of polyethylene exposed to partial discharges are hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with lesser amounts of carbon monoxide and methane. The effect of temperature and voltage on the composition and amounts of degradation product gases has been investigated.
Chapter 40 - The Public Health Response to the HIV Epidemic in the United States

This chapter provides an overview of the public health response to meeting the challenges of HIV and AIDS prevention. The six major elements of this response are discussed. Surveillance provides comprehensive monitoring of the epidemic, which guides planning activities and can be used to gauge the combined effects of prevention efforts on HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality. Research provides in-depth information that is necessary for the development and testing of efficacious biomedical and behavioral interventions. Local health departments and community-based organizations are primarily responsible for implementing and delivering prevention services. The evaluation of these services provides feedback about the delivery and real-world effectiveness of HIV prevention programs and facilitates the continued improvement of these efforts. Policy guides and shapes the public health response to HIV at the local, state, and national level by setting standards, encouraging adoption of some prevention strategies, and discouraging the use of others. All these components are supported by capacity building and technical assistance activities that seek to improve the ability of public health officials, researchers, prevention programs, evaluators, and policy makers to make informed decisions and do their jobs effectively.
Sensorimotor outcomes in children with prenatal exposure to methadone.

Purpose To report the presentation and characteristics of strabismus in children with prenatal methadone exposure. Methods The medical records of children with prenatal methadone exposure were retrospectively reviewed. Those who were evaluated by pediatric ophthalmology were included. Information on the timing and types of prenatal exposure by trimester of pregnancy was then collected from the patients' mothers' charts. The children's perinatal histories and ophthalmologic findings were collected from their pediatric clinic charts and ophthalmology clinic charts, respectively. Results A total of 210 children with prenatal methadone exposure were identified, of whom 32 (15.2%) underwent eye examinations and 21 (10%) had strabismus. Five patients had esodeviations, with a mean age of onset of 11.6 months; 16 had exodeviations, with a mean age of onset of 6.8 months. Three patients with strabismus were born prematurely, and 2 had intracranial disease. Two patients underwent strabismus surgery. Conclusions The incidence of strabismus in patients with prenatal methadone exposure was higher than in the general population (10% vs 3%-4%). Intermittent exotropia was the most common type of strabismus and presented earlier than in the general population, with no association with other systemic disease. Prenatal exposure to methadone was likely confounded by exposure to other substances, environmental factors, and genetics. Poor compliance with follow-up reduced the power of the study.
The effect of prior knowledge and intelligibility on the cortical entrainment response to speech

Neural oscillations have been implicated in the parsing of speech into discrete, hierarchically organized units. Our data suggest that these oscillations track the acoustic envelope rather than mor...
Opportunities for Concrete and Formal Thinking on Science Tasks

Since science as process of inquiry makes demands on the reasoning ability of practitioners, science teaching makes such demands of students. It is interesting to examine science activities at various levels and in various scientific fields with the intention of identifying the type of reasoning that may occur. Consider the example in Figure 1, for instance, used with 8- and 9-year-old children in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) program (SCIS, 1970, p. 27). The students are to set up experiments that correspond to the pictured systems, thus translating these representations into reality. Because of the simple and direct correspondence of the pictures and the materials, it was concluded that this task requires concrete thought. A formal thinker would, it was thought, be impatient with this activity. Compare, now, another experimental activity (Figure 2), used with 11- to 12-year-olds (SCIS, 1971a, p. 21). In part B on this page, the students are invited to set up experiments, but this time they have to select the procedure and the materials themselves, with only the instruction to “investigate variables.” The lack of specific instructions—the need to consider alternatives and their relationship—led to the conclusion that this task invites formal reasoning patterns. It requires the student to accept lack of immediate closure (Lunzer, this volume) since several experiments must be carried out before a pattern emerges. This task is an optional activity in the SCIS program, a challenge to above-average sixth-graders. The activity outlined in Figure 1 and in part A of Figure 2 provides closure as soon as the student fulfills the explicit requirements of the task, a characteristic of concrete reasoning.
Stochastic Modeling of Spatiotemporal Distributions: Application to Sulphate Deposition Trends Over Europe

A joint spatiotemporal modeling approach, which capitalizes on the typically better informed time domain, is presented. The spatiotemporal process is modeled as a joint realization of a collection of spatially correlated time series. Temporal trends of known shape or period are modeled via deterministic functions of time, which are modulated by space-dependent coefficients. These coefficients are then regionalized in space, accounting for their cross-correlation. The proposed algorithm is applied for modeling the spatiotemporal trends of monthly averaged concentration values of sulphate deposition over Europe. The available data were recorded at the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) network and span a period of 9 years from January 1980 to December 1988. Stochastic simulation is performed for modeling joint space-time uncertainty regarding trend levels of sulphate concentration over Europe for that time period.
Divalent ions tune the kinetics of a bacterial GTPase center rRNA folding transition from secondary to tertiary structure.

Folding of an RNA from secondary to tertiary structure often depends on divalent ions for efficient electrostatic charge screening (nonspecific association) or binding (specific association). To measure how different divalent cations modify folding kinetics of the 60 nucleotide E coli rRNA GTPase center, we combined stopped-flow fluorescence in the presence of Mg2+, Ca2+, or Sr2+ together with time-resolved small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in the presence of Mg2+ to observe the folding process. Immediately upon addition of each divalent ion, the RNA undergoes a transition from an extended state with secondary structure to a more compact structure. Subsequently, specific divalent ions modulate populations of intermediates in conformational ensembles along the folding pathway with transition times longer than 10 msec. Rate constants for the five folding transitions act on timescales from submillisecond to tens of seconds. The sensitivity of RNA tertiary structure to divalent cation identity affects all but the fastest events in RNA folding, and allowed us to identify those states that prefer Mg2+ The GTPase center RNA appears to have optimized its folding trajectory to specifically utilize this most abundant intracellular divalent ion.
Neural Graph Matching Networks for Fewshot 3D Action Recognition

We propose Neural Graph Matching (NGM) Networks, a novel framework that can learn to recognize a previous unseen 3D action class with only a few examples. We achieve this by leveraging the inherent structure of 3D data through a graphical representation. This allows us to modularize our model and lead to strong data-efficiency in few-shot learning. More specifically, NGM Networks jointly learn a graph generator and a graph matching metric function in an end-to-end fashion to directly optimize the few-shot learning objective. We evaluate NGM on two 3D action recognition datasets, CAD-120 and PiGraphs, and show that learning to generate and match graphs both lead to significant improvement of few-shot 3D action recognition over the holistic baselines.
The association of 5FU-based chemotherapy with pathological response or survival compared to carbo/taxol with locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer.

165Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by esophagectomy is the standard of care in advanced EC. While 5FU based chemoradiation has been a common regimen in the past, its utilization has...
Understanding the physical activity needs and interests of inactive and active rural women: a cross-sectional study of barriers, opportunities, and intervention preferences

Despite the health benefits of physical activity, many women remain inactive and the needs of rural women are understudied. To understand access to physical activity barriers, opportunities, and intervention preferences in rural women and determine how these differ by self-reported activity level. A mailed questionnaire was distributed to 900 rural women and included measures of physical activity, health status, barriers, opportunities for exercise, and preferences for intervention type, components, and delivery. Questionnaires were completed by 507 women; 72.0% reported meeting the physical activity guideline. Inactive women reported greater barriers to activity (higher scores on 18 of 22 barriers; p < 0.05), less access to or usage of 8 of 9 places to exercise (p < 0.05), and less belief in the relevance of physical activity to personal health (p < 0.001). Both inactive and active women were most interested in programs that use walking, yoga, or strength training. Physical activity interventions for rural women need to address their specific needs, including barriers to physical activity and lower access to places in which to be physically active.
Patients with complex chronic conditions: Health care use and clinical events associated with access to a patient portal.

Background For patients with diabetes, many with multiple complex chronic conditions, using a patient portal can support self-management and coordination of health care services, and may impact the frequency of in-person health care visits. Objective To examine the impact of portal access on the number of outpatient visits, emergency visits, and preventable hospitalizations. Design Observational study comparing patients’ visit rates with and without portal access, using marginal structural modeling with inverse probability weighting estimates to account for potential bias due to confounding and attrition. Setting Large integrated delivery system which implemented a patient portal (2006–2007). Patients We examined 165,447 patients with diabetes defined using clinical registries. Our study included both patients with diabetes-only and patients with multiple complex chronic conditions (diabetes plus asthma, congestive artery disease, congestive heart failure, or hypertension). Measurements We examined rates of outpatient office visits, emergency room visits, and preventable hospitalizations (for ambulatory care sensitive conditions). Results Access to a patient portal was associated with significantly higher rates of outpatient office visits, in both patients with diabetes only and in patients with multiple complex conditions (p<0.05). In patients with multiple complex chronic conditions, portal use was also associated with significantly fewer emergency room visits (3.9 fewer per 1,000 patients per month, p<0.05) and preventable hospital stays (0.8 fewer per 1,000 patients per month, p<0.05). In patients with only diabetes, the results were directionally consistent but not statistically significantly associated with emergency room visits and preventable hospital stays. Limitations Observational study in an integrated delivery system. Conclusion Access to a patient portal can increase engagement in outpatient visits, potentially addressing unmet clinical needs, and reduce downstream health events that lead to emergency and hospital care, particularly among patients with multiple complex conditions.
Towards General Purpose Acceleration by Exploiting Common Data-Dependence Forms

With slowing technology scaling, specialized accelerators are increasingly attractive solutions to continue expected generational scaling of performance. However, in order to accelerate more advanced algorithms or those from challenging domains, supporting data-dependence becomes necessary. This manifests as either data-dependent control (eg. join two sparse lists), or data-dependent memory accesses (eg. hash-table access). These forms of data-dependence inherently couple compute with memory, and also preclude efficient vectorization -- defeating the traditional mechanisms of programmable accelerators (eg. GPUs). Our goal is to develop an accelerator which is broadly applicable across algorithms with and without data-dependence. To this end, we first identify forms of data-dependence which are both common and possible to exploit with specialized hardware: specifically stream-join and alias-free indirection. Then, we create an accelerator with an interface to support these, called the Sparse Processing Unit (SPU). SPU supports alias-free indirection with a compute-enabled scratchpad and aggressive stream reordering and stream-join with a novel dataflow control model for a reconfigurable systolic compute-fabric. Finally, we add robustness across datatypes by adding decomposability across the compute and memory pipelines. SPU achieves 16.5×, 10.3×, and 14.2× over a 24-core SKL CPU on ML, database, and graph algorithms respectively. SPU achieves similar performance to domain-specific accelerators. For ML, SPU achieves 1.8-7× speedup against a similarly provisioned GPGPU, with much less area and power.
Accellerating PRISM Validation of Vehicle Platooning Through Machine Learning

The paper deals with machine learning to accelerate model-checking of vehicle platooning. The idea is to simulate collision events and provide a set of data for using machine learning and obtain intelligible rules. From the set of rules, new simulations are made in order to trigger formal verification of border ranges between collision and safety. Using the PRISM tool, it is possible to obtain probability information on border region (hardly obtainable under clear box machine learning) and correct rules definition according to formal verification.
A Naturalistic Study of Carbon Monoxide, Heart Rate, Oxygen Saturation, and Perfusion Index in Hookah Lounge Patrons

Introduction: Waterpipe (also known as “hookah”) smokers are exposed to several toxicants, heavy metals, and carcinogens. This study assessed physiologic data from hookah bar participants in an urban area in Florida. We hypothesized that hookah lounge patrons would have a decreased oxygen saturation and perfusion index, as well as an increased heart rate and exhaled carbon monoxide levels upon exiting the bars. Methods: Exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) levels, heart rate, pulse oximetry for carboxyhemoglobin and perfusion index were obtained immediately before entering the hookah lounges and after exiting hookah lounges on a sample size of 200 patrons attending hookah lounges. Averages were then used for Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests to assess differences across means using data entered into SPSS statistical software. This study was approved by the IRB. Results: Combining both hookah smokers and concurrent smokers’ data, the mean CO (ppm) measurements went from 5.7 ppm pre-lounge entry to 66.5 ppm post-lounge visit (p Conclusion: U.S. hookah lounge smokers are exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide that have the potential for detrimental health effects evidenced by rapid negative changes in physiological parameters. Respiratory Therapists should be aware of potential cardiovascular changes in hookah lounge patrons who enter emergency rooms and health facilities due to recent exposures.
Embodiment Practice: Using Poi Spinning in the Healing Process

The authors examine the therapeutic practice of poi spinning. The Māori word “poi” refers to any singular or plural set of tethered weights that may be held in the hands and spun around the body. D...
Sagittal radiographic parameters in the presence of lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV): relationships between measurements using the upper vs lower transitional vertebra

Optimization of spinopelvic sagittal parameters in spinal deformity surgery have been shown to correlate with surgical outcomes. Commonly used parameters include pelvic incidence (PI), lumbar lordosis (LL) and PI–LL mismatch. Presence of lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV) introduces variability regarding which endplate is considered the sacral endplate. This study aimed to determine the mathematical relationships between measurements using the upper transitional vertebra (UTV) versus the lower transitional vertebra (LTV). The property that internal angles of a triangle sum to 180° was used to create a system of equations to resolve the relationship between the PI–LL mismatch of the UTV and of the LTV. The ultimate relationship was employed on a lateral radiograph of a patient with LSTV for validation. It is possible to compute the PI–LL mismatch using either UTV or LTV and convert to the corresponding PI–LL when using the other vertebra simply by measuring one additional angle (PI–LL)L = (PI–LL)U + X. This angle X is defined by segments connecting the center of the femoral head to the midpoints of the superior endplates of the UTV and LTV. Using the LTV yields a larger PI–LL mismatch value. In patients with LSTV, it is controversial whether the UTV or LTV should be used as the sacral endplate for sagittal measurements. With this mathematical relationship, rather than completing two sets of measurements, the surgeon would only need to measure one set and the additional angle X to determine the resultant PI–LL mismatch for the other transitional vertebra.
Smoking Cigarettes, Marijuana, and the Transition to Marriage among Cohabiters in the USA

Many studies have established that married people have lower rates of smoking than singles and cohabiters. However, there is still limited research showing whether this advantage also applies specifically to cohabiters before marriage. Hence, this study examines the association between cigarette and marijuana smoking and the transition to marriage among cohabiters in the USA. This study employs data from seventeen waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Discrete-time logistic regression models are used to test whether lower rates of cigarette and marijuana smoking among cohabiters are associated with the transition to marriage. Results indicate that lower levels of marijuana and cigarette smoking are associated with the transition to marriage among male and female cohabiters. Not smoking cigarettes and marijuana is associated with a significantly higher odds of transition to marriage for both sexes. The findings show that smoking status may play a significant role in the odds of getting married during cohabitation. Pro-marital policies can focus on addressing smoking habits among cohabiters.
Love in a Time of Globalization: Intimacy Re-imagined Across Cultural Flows

This chapter examines how love and intimate relationships are changing in a time of globalization. As it becomes exponentially simpler to connect with others around interest areas and inclinations, new conceptualizations of intimate relationships are becoming common place in near and far places in the world. As Naomi Quinn pointed out in 1992, love is socially constructed and interconnected with other domains of social life such as gender relations, family, and work life. While love is often presented as “natural” and immutable, it is however intimately tied to cultural systems of meaning. This presents the question of what is meant by love and intimate relationships in varying cultural and socio-economic contexts, contexts that are rapidly transforming due to social, political, economic and technological transformations.
Reinforced reconstruction: A technique for the treatment of periacetabular metastases.

Abstract Purpose To describe a single-stage reconstruction of intraarticular periacetabular metastases that utilizes a cemented acetabular liner reinforced with percutaneous screws oriented along various osseous fixation pathways. Methods A retrospective evaluation of all patients with intraarticular periacetabular metastases who underwent the procedure outlined. Results 16 procedures (1 bilateral) were included. There were no intraoperative complications or postoperative mechanical failures to date despite allowing the patients to immediately weight bear in the postoperative setting. Discussion Utilizing osseous fixation pathways to reinforce a cemented acetabular cup represents a safe and effective strategy to allow for immediate weightbearing in patients with periacetabular metastases.
Electrical and superconducting transport in topological insulator nanoribbons

Abstract In this chapter, we present recent progress in electrical and phase coherent superconducting transport in topological insulators (TIs) with an emphasis on TI nanoribbons (TINRs). We first overview signatures of topological transport in the surface states by analysing the temperature and axial magnetic field dependence of the electrical conductance in the TINRs. In particular, the Aharonov–Bohm effect is studied in more detail as it may provide insight into the exact quantisation of surface modes in one dimension. Finally, we discuss how topological surface states affect superconducting transport across a Josephson junction. We present the temperature and phase dependence of the critical current as powerful probes to investigate topological superconductivity and study the quantum interference patterns of the supercurrent in the axial magnetic field.
Distributed peer-to-peer smart cameras: algorithms and architectures

Summary form only given. Advances in VLSI allow us to make cheap cameras and to supply them with powerful processors. To harness these capabilities, we need to move to peer-to-peer networks of smart cameras. Such systems perform distributed video analysis without a central server. Peer-to-peer systems save bandwidth and energy, are cheaper to install, and are more fault-tolerant. The Embedded Systems Group at Princeton University is developing smart cameras and peer-to-peer networks. After describing the application demands, we briefly describe architectures for embedded real-time video processing in smart cameras. We then describe video algorithms and network architectures for peer-to-peer gesture recognition and tracking.
Advances in robust optimization approaches for scheduling under uncertainty

Abstract The problem of scheduling under uncertainty is addressed. We propose a novel robust optimization methodology, which when applied to Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problems produces “robust” solutions that are, in a sense, immune against uncertainty. The robust optimization approach is applied to the scheduling under uncertainty problem. Based on a novel and effective continuous-time short-term scheduling model proposed by Floudas and coworkers ( Ierapetritou and Floudas 1998a , 1998b ; Ierapetritou et al. 1999 ; Janak et al. 2004 ; Lin and Floudas 2001 ; Lin et al. 2002 , 2003 ), three of the most common sources of uncertainty in scheduling problems can be addressed, namely processing times of tasks, market demands for products, and prices of products and raw materials. Computational results on a small example with uncertainty in the processing times of tasks are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Music genre classification with Self-Organizing Maps and edit distance

We propose a method for music genre classification based on a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) - type network. Music pieces are viewed as sequences of pitch and timbre signals. We define a similarity measure between these sequences, derived from the Levenshtein (edit) distance. In contrast to the standard Levenshtein distance, our similarity measure is able to operate on a continuous vector space. Using this measure, we map the input music pieces on a SOM. The SOM is trained using a special string adjustment mechanism, which is determined by an algebraic equation. Our method turns out to achieve better classification accuracy than some other recent techniques. The feature set identified by SOM provides superior classifier accuracy compared to the same classifier applied on a random feature set of the same size. On standard benchmarks, two of our derived classifiers achieve accuracies of 97.32% (using a slow kNN learning algorithm), respectively 95.20% (using a SOM - type algorithm).
Reconstructing solid precipitation from snow depth measurements and a land surface model

[1] The amount and distribution of snowfall in the Arctic has significant effects on global climate. However, measurements of snowfall from gauges are strongly biased. A new method is described for reconstructing snowfall from observed snow depth records, meteorological observations, and running the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project Catchment Land Surface Model (NSIPP CLSM) in an inverse mode. This method is developed and tested with observations from Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed. Results show snowfall can be accurately reconstructed on the basis of how much snow must have fallen to produce the observed snow depth. The mean cumulative error (bias) of the reconstructed precipitation for 11 snow seasons is 29 mm snow water equivalent (SWE) for the corrected gauge measurement compared to ‒77 mm SWE for the precipitation from the corrected snow gauges. This means the root-mean-square error of reconstructed solid precipitation is 30% less than that of gauge corrections. The intended application of this method is the pan-Arctic landmass, where estimates of snowfall are highly uncertain but where more than 60 years of historical snow depth and air temperature records exist.
Losartan potassium lowers blood pressure measured by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

OBJECTIVES To determine the blood pressure lowering effect and safety of losartan potassium 50 mg once or twice daily, or 100 mg once daily, using 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and conventional trough clinic blood pressure. DESIGN Multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Nine sites in university hospitals and urban centers in the United States. PATIENTS 122 mild to moderate hypertensive adult non-black men and women, 21 years of age and older, who were within 30% of their ideal body weight. INTERVENTION Qualification required a mean 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurement of > or = 85 mmHg and a sitting diastolic blood pressure of 95-115 mmHg. Subjects were then randomized to placebo or losartan potassium in three different dose regimens. CLINIC BLOOD PRESSURE EVALUATIONS: Trough blood pressure was measured by trained observers using standardized methods, and ambulatory blood pressure measurements were obtained for 26 h using a SpaceLabs Model 90207 monitor. RESULTS All doses of losartan potassium significantly decreased mean systolic 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (range -9.4 to -14.2 mmHg; P < or = 0.01) and mean diastolic 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (range -5.6 to -9.0 mmHg; P < or = 0.01) compared with placebo. All decreases were significantly different from placebo. The 24-h blood pressure profiles revealed a smooth, sustained antihypertensive effect of losartan potassium at all doses. Similar reductions in blood pressure were observed using trough clinic measurements. There were no significant differences in overall clinical adverse experiences between treatment groups. There were no significant changes in heart rate, body weight, electrocardiograms or mean laboratory measurements. CONCLUSIONS Losartan potassium, the first of a new class of potent and specific AT1-selective, non-peptide, angiotensin II antagonists, significantly reduces mean 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and trough clinic sitting blood pressure, and is well tolerated.
Regulation of Fatty Acid Metabolism by Cell Autonomous Circadian Clocks: Time to Fatten up on Information?

Molecular, cellular, and animal-based studies have recently exposed circadian clocks as critical regulators of energy balance. Invariably, mouse models of genetically manipulated circadian clock components display features indicative of altered lipid/fatty acid metabolism, including differential adiposity and circulating lipids. The purpose of this minireview is to provide a comprehensive summary of current knowledge regarding the regulation of fatty acid metabolism by distinct cell autonomous circadian clocks. The implications of these recent findings for cardiometabolic disease and human health are discussed.
Design of ultrasonic transducers with improved lateral resolution for medical imaging

Ultrasonic transducers having curved radiating surfaces may offer a simple solution to maintaining good lateral resolution over the large depth of field required in medical imaging. In this paper the design considerations for such a transducer that consists of a cylindrical metal housing and an ultrasonic wave generating piezoceramic disc is presented. The mechanism of focusing the radiated ultrasonic wave is studied by changing the geometry of the front surface of the metal housing. The propagation of ultrasonic wave in the surrounding medium is analyzed using the impulse response approach for the near field region and Fraunhofer's approximation for the far field. In addition, modal analysis of the transducer structure is conducted using the finite element method. The results obtained show that the geometry of the transducer housing has significant effects on the radiation characteristics of the transducer.
Complex magnetohydrodynamic low-Reynolds-number flows.

The interaction between electric currents and a magnetic field is used to produce body (Lorentz) forces in electrolyte solutions. By appropriate patterning of the electrodes, one can conveniently control the direction and magnitude of the electric currents and induce spatially and temporally complicated flow patterns. This capability is useful, not only for fundamental flow studies, but also for inducing fluid flow and stirring in minute devices in which the incorporation of moving components may be difficult. This paper focuses on a theoretical and experimental study of magnetohydrodynamic flows in a conduit with a rectangular cross section. The conduit is equipped with individually controlled electrodes uniformly spaced at a pitch L. The electrodes are aligned transversely to the conduit's axis. The entire device is subjected to a uniform magnetic field. The electrodes are divided into two groups A and C in such a way that there is an electrode of group C between any two electrodes of group A. We denote the various A and C electrodes with subscripts, i.e., ${A}_{i}$ and ${C}_{i},$ where $i=0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2,\dots{}.$ When positive and negative potentials are, respectively, applied to the even and odd numbered A electrodes, opposing electric currents are induced on the right and left hand sides of each A electrode. These currents generate transverse forces that drive cellular convection in the conduit. We refer to the resulting flow pattern as A. When electrodes of group C are activated, a similar flow pattern results, albeit shifted in space. We refer to this flow pattern as C. By alternating periodically between patterns A and C, one induces Lagrangian chaos. Such chaotic advection may be beneficial for stirring fluids, particularly in microfluidic devices. Since the flow patterns A and C are shifted in space, they also provide a mechanism for Lagrangian drift that allows net migration of passive tracers along the conduit's length.
Development and Testing of a Partial Exfiltration Trench for In Situ Treatment of Highway Drainage

Urban roadway drainage often contains high concentrations of anthropogenic metal elements, solids, and organic compounds. Metal elements and solids accumulate on the pavement surface between precipitation events and are transported to surficial soils, receiving waters, and ground-water by pavement drainage. A report is provided on the design and performance of a bench-scale and prototype in situ control strategy, called a partial exfiltration trench (PET). The PET serves as a modification to the current practice of pavement underdrainage, providing a water quality function, in addition to water quantity control. The water quality modification functions by immobilizing infiltrated metal elements within the PET. The PET utilizes sand modified with an oxide coating (OCS). Bench-scale PET simulations were utilized to evaluate PET feasibility and breakthrough capacity. Results indicate OCS capacity for zinc, cadmium, lead, and copper was significantly improved as the pH increased from 6.5 to 8.0. Based on char...
Regulation of purine biosynthesis and turnover

The first specific precursor of purine biosynthesis de novo is β-5-phosphoribosyl-1-amine (PRA). There are no special regulatory mechanisms operating between PRA and IMP. Therefore, the amount of PRA produced per unit time will determine the rate of purine ribonucleotide biosynthesis de novo. PRA is synthesized from phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-ribose-P) and glutamine, by amidophosphoribosyltransferase. The enzyme will also accept NH3, and isotopic studies in man suggest that the NH3 pathway may be quantitatively significant. Km values for PP-ribose-P range from 0.06 to 0.48 mm, for glutamine from 0.5 to 5.0 mm in various systems. Concentrations of PP-ribose-P in liver appear to be well below Km values, whereas those of glutamine are about equal to Km values of rat liver and human placental enzymes. Amidophosphoribosyltransferase is allosterically inhibited by purine ribonucleotide end products. Mixtures of 6-amino- and 6-hydroxypurine ribonucleotide inhibit synergistically. The human enzyme exists in two forms with MWs of 133,000 and 270,000. Purine ribonucleotides convert the small form to the large form; PP-ribose-P stabilizes the enzyme in the small form. In mixtures of the two forms, activity is proportional to the amount of the small form present. Changes in rates of purine biosyntheses de novo can be analyzed in terms of effects upon substrate levels of PP-ribose-P or glutamine, effects on amounts or activities of the amidophosphoribosyltransferase (including its sensitivity to end-products), or effects upon concentrations of inhibitory ribonucleotides. PP-ribose-P levels in mouse liver vary over a 2–10 fold range with feeding or administration of certain drugs. The highest values approach Km values of PP-ribose-P. Formation of PP-ribose-P from R5P and ATP is dependent upon allosteric activation of PP-ribose-P synthetase by Pi. The synthetase is inhibited by three mechanisms, involving 1) PP-ribose-P and 2,3-DPG, 2) ADP, 3) nucleotides in general by “heterogeneous metabolic pool inhibition,” but with relatively high Ki values.