cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A novel heart rate monitoring method using a smartphone

Accurate heart rate detection is important in healthcare and exercise monitoring. Recently, heart rate monitoring using a smartphone has been highlighted due to its convenience and accuracy. In this paper, we hypothesize that our smartphone-based heart rate detection algorithm reliably detects heart rate based on fingertip image changes. Here, we have used successive video camera fingertip images with edge detection and smoothing techniques to process the fingertip images and to find out the heart rate of the subject. To investigate the capability of our proposed algorithm, we recruited 3 subjects and collected 2-min video data from each subject. We evaluated the performance of our proposed method by comparing it to the previous average intensity-based method [1]. Test results show that our proposed and previous methods give similar heart rate detection performance.
On a Class of General Hybrid Dynamical Systems

Abstract Complex systems typically possess a hierarchical structure, characterized by continuous-variable dynamics at the lowest level and logical decision-making at the highest. Virtually all control systems today perform computer-coded checks and issue logical as well as continuous-variable control commands. Such are "hybrid" systems. We introduce "general hybrid dynamical systems" as interacting collections of dynamical systems, evolving on continuous-variable state spaces, and subject to continuous controls and discrete phenomena. We discuss modeling issues, giving conditions for trajectories and providing a taxonomy for hybrid systems models. We review our hybrid systems analysis results, including topology, complexity/computation, stability tools, and examples. We summarize our hybrid control results, including optimal control theory, control algorithms, and examples.
Interpreting Provenance Relations from Detrital Modes of Sandstones

Detrital modes of sandstone suites primarily reflect the different tectonic settings of provenance terranes, although various other sedimentological factors also influence sandstone compositions. Comparisons of sandstone compositions are aided by grouping diverse grain types into a few operational categories having broad genetic significance. Compositional fields associated with different provenances can then be displayed on standard triangular diagrams.
Significance of the Tearing of the Temple Curtain

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. "Through-out the course of this paper we will explore the importance of the tearing of the curtain after Jesus’ death. This topic is of great interest because, although it is only mentioned briefly in the gospels of the New Testament, many theologians and scholars claim it holds great importance and symbolism to the Christian faith. This question is also intriguing because in order to understand and formulate an answer one must also explore aspects of Judaism, including what Jews thought of this event." This research paper is available in Verbum: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol10/iss1/14
The Operative Course

The operative course, including pre-, intra-, and postoperative periods, is essential to the long-term success of intraspinal drug therapy. Because many patients and their caregivers are quite anxious about the surgical procedure, extensive education is necessary. Teaching related to the operative course will vary since some institutions will implement the screening (see Chapters 6 and 7) and operative procedure during the same hospital admission, whereas other institutions may do these procedures during separate hospital admissions. Also, to keep health care costs at a minimum, the surgical implant may be done on an outpatient basis; although this is not yet common owing to lack of monitoring at home and fears of a potential postoperative overdose. In any case, clinicians must be knowledgeable about the operative course to provide optimal care and to better educate patients.
Using Recombinant Inbred Lines to Monitor Changes in the Race Structure of Phytophthora capsici in Chile Pepper in New Mexico

ABSTRACT Since 2008, 11 races of Phytophthora capsici have been identified in New Mexico based on their reactions to a set of host differentials, the New Mexico Recombinant Inbred Lines (NMRILs) de...
How Horizontal Shareholding Harms Our Economy - And Why Antitrust Law Can Fix It

Empirical evidence that horizontal shareholding has created anticompetitive effects in airline and banking markets have produced calls for antitrust enforcement. In response, others have critiqued the airline and banking studies and argued that antitrust law cannot tackle any anticompetitive effects from horizontal shareholding. I show that new economic proofs and empirical evidence, ranging far beyond the airline and banking studies, show that horizontal shareholding in concentrated markets often has anticompetitive effects. I also provide new analysis demonstrating that critiques of the airline and banking market-level studies either conflict with the evidence or, when taken into account, increase the estimated adverse price effects from horizontal shareholding. Finally, I provide new legal theories for tackling the problem of horizontal shareholding. I show that when horizontal shareholding has anticompetitive effects, it is illegal not only under Clayton Act §7, but also under Sherman Act §1. In fact, the historic trusts that were the core target of antitrust law were horizontal shareholders. I further show that anticompetitive horizontal shareholding also constitutes an illegal agreement or concerted practice under EU Treaty Article 101, as well as an abuse of collective dominance under Article 102. I conclude by showing that horizontal shareholding not only lessens the market concentration that traditional merger law can tolerate, but also means that what otherwise seem like non-horizontal mergers should often be treated as horizontal. Those implications for traditional merger analysis become even stronger if we fail to tackle horizontal shareholding directly.
Proceedings of the sixteenth annual international conference on Mobile computing and networking

On behalf of the organizing committee, I welcome you to the 2010 ACM MobiCom and MobiHoc. These two conferences were brought together for the first time in 2007 in Montreal. The 2010 edition is the sixteenth in its series for MobiCom and eleventh for MobiHoc. Over the years, both conferences have established themselves as premier forums for presentation of research on mobile computing and wireless networking. I hope that you will attend the exciting paper presentations at both the conferences, which are being scheduled as parallel tracks this year. The papers included in the conference proceedings reflect the outstanding research performed by our authors, and also the conscientious and dedicated efforts of the two technical program committees, ably led by Suman Banerjee and Dina Katabi for ACM MobiCom, and Christoph Lindemann and Jitendra Padhye for ACM MobiHoc. The program committee chairs devoted substantial effort, working with the respective program committees, to ensure that the review process resulted in fair and timely decisions. In addition to the refereed papers, this year's program also includes poster and demo sessions. I am sure that you will enjoy the diversity of research being presented in these sessions. We also have several workshops scheduled this year on a wide range of emerging topics of interest to the conference attendees.
Medical Practice Consolidation and Physician Shared Patient Network Size, Strength, and Stability.

Background:Properties of social networks and shared patient networks of physicians are associated with important outcomes, including costs, quality, information exchange, and organizational effectiveness.Objectives:To determine whether practice consolidation affects size, strength, and stability of
Sarcopenia and osteosarcopenia in seriously injured motor vehicle crash occupants

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of sarcopenia (low muscle mass) and osteosarcopenia (low bone density and muscle mass) in older motor vehicle crash (MVC) occupa...
Multiscale progressive damage analysis of CFRP composites using a mechanics based constitutive relation

Abstract A continuum damage mechanics-based material model for the constituent phases of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite material is presented. This constitutive model is applied to Eigenstrain based Reduced-order Homogenization framework for multiscale modeling. A key contribution is that all model parameters are directly or indirectly calibrated using experimental data and these model parameters can be readily updated by describing the evolution of damage as a function of the strain state. The constitutive model for polymer matrix captures mixed mode from pure uniaxial to pure shear loading without using any conventional failure criterion. The accuracy of the constitutive model is demonstrated by comparing experimental results of unnotched and open-hole laminates. In addition, a demonstration is presented to alleviate spurious residual stiffness appearing from the reduction of model order of the microstructure.
Macroscopic Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional Granular Materials

Abstract We review a theory that is successful in predicting a first order phase transition between solid and fluid states of identical rigid disks and examine its relevance to the mechanics of granular materials.
Improving Visual Recognition using Ambient Sound for Supervision

Our brains combine vision and hearing to create a more elaborate interpretation of the world. When the visual input is insufficient, a rich panoply of sounds can be used to describe our surroundings. Since more than 1,000 hours of videos are uploaded to the internet everyday, it is arduous, if not impossible, to manually annotate these videos. Therefore, incorporating audio along with visual data without annotations is crucial for leveraging this explosion of data for recognizing and understanding objects and scenes. Owens,this http URL suggest that a rich representation of the physical world can be learned by using a convolutional neural network to predict sound textures associated with a given video frame. We attempt to reproduce the claims from their experiments, of which the code is not publicly available. In addition, we propose improvements in the pretext task that result in better performance in other downstream computer vision tasks.
Predictors of Clostridioides difficile Infection-Related Complications and Treatment Patterns among Nucleic Acid Amplification Test-Positive/Toxin Enzyme Immunoassay-Negative Patients.

ABSTRACT The addition of toxin enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to nucleic acid amplification tests, including PCR, creates challenges in the diagnosis and management of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). There are limited data in large cohorts, with discordant results, that is, PCR-positive/EIA-negative (PCR+/EIA−) results. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on all PCR+/EIA− adult inpatients and assessed CDI-related complications and clinical failure. We identified 240 individuals. Twenty-three (9.6%) patients experienced a CDI-related complication, including 2 cases of megacolon, 1 colectomy, and 22 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, baseline severe disease by Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) criteria (odds ratio [OR], 5.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.88 to 18.1; P = 0.002), baseline fulminant colitis (OR, 84.7; 95% CI, 14.3 to 500; P 38.5°C (OR, 4.61; 95% CI, 1.42 to 15.0; P = 0.011), and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use (OR, 3.50; 95% CI, 1.19 to 10.3; P = 0.023) were associated with increased odds of CDI-related complications. For 67 PCR+/EIA− patients who did not receive complete treatment, clinical failure was observed in 10 (15%) patients. A comparison of PCR+/EIA− patients who received complete treatment to all 112 PCR+/EIA+ patients showed no differences in CDI-related complications (11% and 13% for PCR+/EIA− and PCR+/EIA+ patients, respectively), 60-day all-cause mortality (17% and 18% for PCR+/EIA− and PCR+/EIA+ patients, respectively), or recurrent CDI (7% and 9% for PCR+/EIA− and PCR+/EIA+ patients, respectively). Predictors of CDI-attributable complications among PCR+/EIA− patients include baseline severe disease by IDSA criteria, baseline fulminant colitis, and fever of >38.5°C. Identifying the subgroup of PCR+/EIA− patients who could have true disease, and therefore allowing them to be targeted for treatment, is critical.
Quasi-experimental Study of Exertion, Recovery, and Worker Perceptions Related to Passive Upper-Body Exoskeleton Use During Overhead, Low Force Work.

This study aimed to identify the effects of an application of a passive upper-body exoskeleton (EXO) during an overhead, low force, simulated task. Participants were volunteer assembly workers, who performed a simulated work task without and with a commercially available EXO. Their heartrate was recorded at different times during the task, as well as their heartrate recovery time. Frequency of participant-initiated rest breaks was documented. The EXO was also assessed for its perceived usefulness and ease of use by the participants. Findings indicated some potential benefits associated with the adoption of this passive exoskeleton model during an overhead, low-force, simulated work task. Heartrate range and recovery time were reduced in a majority of instances. Participants perceived the EXO to be very easy to use and its usefulness to be average or above average for real-world application.
Identification of ponatinib and other known kinase inhibitors with potent MEKK2 inhibitory activity.

Abstract The kinase MEKK2 (MAP3K2) may play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis for several cancer types. Thus, targeting MEKK2 may represent a novel strategy for developing more effective therapies for cancer. In order to identify small molecules with MEKK2 inhibitory activity, we screened a collection of known kinase inhibitors using a high throughput MEKK2 intrinsic ATPase enzyme assay and confirmed activity of the most potent hits with this primary assay. We also confirmed activities of these known kinase inhibitors with an MEKK2 transphosphorylation slot blot assay using MKK6 as a substrate. We observed a good correlation in potencies between the two orthogonal MEKK2 kinase activity assay formats for this set of inhibitors. We report that ponatinib, AT9283, AZD7762, JNJ-7706621, PP121 and hesperadin had potent MEKK2 enzyme inhibitory activities ranging from 4.7 to 60 nM IC50. Ponatinib is an FDA-approved drug that potently inhibited MEKK2 enzyme activity with IC50 values of 10–16 nM. AT9283 is currently in clinical trials and produced MEKK2 IC50 values of 4.7–18 nM. This set of known kinase inhibitors represents some of the most potent in vitro MEKK2 inhibitors reported to date and may be useful as research tools. Although these compounds are not selective for MEKK2, the structures of these compounds give insight into pharmacophores that potently inhibit MEKK2 and could be used as initial leads to design highly selective inhibitors of MEKK2.
Research approaches to problems in mental illness: brain neurohumor-enzyme systems and behavior.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the research approaches for problems in mental illness. It discusses acetylcholine–acetylcholinesterase system and behavior and serotonin–monoamine oxidase system and behavior. While studying the lethality of di-isopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) with different sites of injection, it was reported that brain is very sensitive to this enzyme inhibitor. When DFP is injected into one common carotid artery, the animal exhibits forced circling movements or compulsive turning toward the side opposite the injection. It was suggested that DFP inhibited the brain enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is the enzyme that destroys the neurohumor acetylcholine (ACh). With this enzyme inhibited, ACh was thought to accumulate on the side of the brain in which the injection was made resulting in stimulation of that side. As evidence has accumulated that neurohumoral agents—such as 5-HT, norepinephrine (NE), as well as Ach—have major effects on the behavior of living organisms by their action on the central nervous system, it was decided to continue the research program by studying the serotonin–monoamine oxidase (MAO) system and then the NE–MAO system. In the past few years, considerable data have been reported on brain serotonin levels. This interest initially came about when it was shown in pharmacological studies on smooth muscle that D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25), a compound that provokes schizophrenic-like states in man, is a serotonin antagonist at certain doses but acts synergistically at lower doses.
Demographics of Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds, as both a concept and an industry, has changed radically over the past 10 years, from a toy for the technological elite, to an over-hyped marketing phenomenon, to a needed reexamination of the uses and utility of virtual world technologies and experiences, as provided in this paper. Within academia there are a number of issues that require further examination. The academic community appears to be divided into four camps: 1. those who embrace virtual worlds; 2. those who ignore the shifting use of technology; 3. those who are aware but have not yet explored the technology; and 4. those who are entirely unaware that virtual worlds exist. There is an overwhelming focus of research, publications and funding on a single virtual world: Second Life, which does not serve more than a fraction of the entire population utilizing virtual worlds or similar technologies. An overview of the size, shape and forms of virtual worlds may have a positive impact on both of these issues. This paper presents an in-depth survey and analysis of virtual worlds and related technologies.
A smart data logger for enhancing data communication in Wi-Fi based mobile systems

Accurate and complete data acquisition is a key challenge for mobile systems that use wireless sensor network (WSN) for communication. In a WSN system, data may be lost due to communication errors among receivers and the data processor. Such a system should be monitored to avoid any data loss (and/or inaccuracy) due to any system failures including wireless signal fading. In this work, a smart data logger is introduced in a wireless local area network (WLAN) based data transmission and reception system to enhance the accuracy of data acquisition. A monitoring mechanism is added to the proposed system to check if any receiver is not functioning properly. If a receiver is detected unexpectedly inactive, corresponding data should be stored in the newly proposed data logger and should be sent to the receiver at a later time. A system with the proposed data logger is implemented by using advanced RISC (reduced instruction set computing) machines (ARM) processor and Wi-Fi technology. Experimental results show that data loss is drastically reduced due to the addition of the data logger. In addition, the proposed system is flexible and helps save power, enhance security, and reduce cost.
The Political Economy of Remittances: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

Private remittances are becoming an increasingly important part of the financial landscape of many developing countries. Indeed, for some such countries, these flows are the single most important type of international capital inflow—public or private--and they have become an importance source of purchasing power and foreign exchange. The growing importance of remittances has stimulated a great deal of discussion among scholars and policymakers. However, most studies tend to be rather narrow and microeconomic in scope, and fail to understand remittances within a broader political economy context. This contrasts with studies of other international capital flows such as official development assistance, direct foreign investment, private bank loans, and portfolio investment where political economy concerns have long been a central concern. This paper draws together findings from the rapidly growing multi-disciplinary study of remittances; identifies what we know, what we do not yet know, and what we still need to know about their economic, political and social consequences; and argues that there are a range of important political economy concerns raised by these flows. The paper concludes that the political economy effects of remittances are complex, contradictory, and not amenable to generalizations across the developing world, and that there is still much that we need to know about them.
Automatic Integration of Digital System Requirements using Schemata

Natural language and diagrams of various types are commonly used for specifications on digital systems containing descriptions and requirements. The objective of the research reported here is to develop an algorithm for the automatic integration of requirements using schemata to aid in the automatic detection and joining of common references (coreferences) to objects in natural language and other specifications. This paper describes a rule-based algorithm for the integration of requirements which are expressed as conceptual graphs. The algorithm uses design knowledge in the form of schemas to detect coreferences and perform joins. The algorithm is demonstrated by a small example.
Virtual reality lead extraction as a method for training new physicians: a pilot study.

Background It is estimated that the demand for transvenous lead extraction (TLE) has reached an annual extraction rate of nearly 24,000 patients worldwide. Despite technologic advances, TLE still has the potential for significant morbidity and mortality. Complication rates with TLE directly parallel operator experience. However, obtaining adequate training during and postfellowship can be difficult. Given the potential for catastrophic complications and the steep learning curve (up to 300 cases) associated with this procedure, we sought to validate a virtual reality (VR) lead extraction simulator as an innovative training and evaluation tool for physicians new to TLE. Methods We randomized eight electrophysiology fellows to VR simulator versus conventional training. We compared procedural skill competency between the groups using simulator competency, tactile measurements, markers of proficiency and attitudes, and cognitive abilities battery. Results Practical skills and simulator complications differed significantly between the VR simulator and conventional training groups. The VR simulator group executed patient preparation and procedure performance better than the conventional group (P < 0.01). All four fellows randomized to conventional training experienced a simulator complication (two superior vena cava [SVC] tears, three right ventricle [RV] avulsions) versus one fellow in the VR simulator group (one SVC tear) (P = 0.02). Tactile measurements revealed a trend toward excess pushing versus pulling forces among the conventionally trained group. The time for lead removal was also significantly higher in the conventional training group (12.46 minutes vs 5.54 minutes, P = 0.02). There was no significant difference in baseline or posttraining cognitive ability. Conclusions We contend that the implementation of alternative training tools such as a VR simulation model will improve physician training and allow for an innovative pathway to assess the achievement of competency.
Conducting Business in Eastern Europe:: Risk–Return Perspectives of Senior Financial Executives

Abstract Ten years ago we published an article that documented the views of chief financial officers about doing business in Eastern Europe. Since then there has been progress toward economic stabilization and the development of market economies in the region. These changes and other significant events in the last decade have affected the conduct of business in Eastern Europe. In this present paper, we update the findings of our earlier study and add new perspectives. A mail survey targeting senior US financial executives and follow up interviews were utilized. It appears the risk–return tradeoff for US firms of investment in Eastern Europe has changed. The classic tradeoff now seems to exist in product and service markets: for a variety of reasons risk is perceived to be lower than a decade ago, but so are returns. However, the same does not appear to hold true for financial markets in Eastern Europe where financial executives still perceive market inefficiencies and ineffectiveness. EU accession and adoption of the Euro by Eastern European countries are viewed very positively by US financial executives, and these events may serve to improve the functioning of financial markets there as well.
Abstract 19807: Pre-Superior Cavopulmonary Anastomosis Cardiac Catheterization at Altitude

Introduction: Infants with single ventricle physiology typically undergo cardiac catheterization prior to superior cavopulmonary anastomosis (SCPA) to assess operative suitability. Predictors of poor outcome at sea level include elevated central venous pressure (CVP), transpulmonary gradient (TPG), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and pulmonary artery (PA) size. Living at higher altitude has vasoconstrictive effects on the pulmonary vasculature, and a prior study suggested that higher PA pressure may predict worse outcomes. The goal of this study was to determine which elements of the pre-SCPA catheterization were useful in predicting successful Fontan operation at altitude. Methods: A retrospective review revealed 150 patients who underwent pre-SCPA catheterization over a 10-year period. Pre-SCPA catheterization data were abstracted and subjects were grouped by progression to Fontan vs. aborted palliation, heart transplant or death. Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests, uni-variable logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Differences between groups at cardiac catheterization are summarized in Table 1. Logistic regression showed that larger PA diameter was protective; left PA: OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.6-0.9, p = 0.01; right PA: OR:0.73, 95% CI: 0.6-0.9, p = 0.02. ROC analysis defined thresholds for minimum left PA and right PA diameter of <4mm for poor outcome (area under the curve of 0.68 and 0.67, respectively). Conclusions: Our data suggest that pulmonary arterial size, more so than measured pressure or resistance, influences ability to achieve Fontan palliation at higher altitude. We hypothesize that this may be a feature of differences in pulmonary arterial growth. An alternative approach to evaluating pulmonary arterial morphology during palliation, such as cross-sectional imaging, may help optimize individual patient hemodynamics and provide better predictors of outcome. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Lessons from the JML Project

To have impact, a grand challenge should provide a way for diverse research to be integrated in a synergistic fashion. Synergy in the JML project comes from a shared specification language, and thus holds several lessons for the verifying compiler grand challenge. An important lesson is that the project should focus considerable resources on specification language design, which still contains many open research problems. Another important lesson is that, to support such a specification language, the project needs to involve groups doing research on extensible compilers and integrated development environments.
CD133 initiates tumors, induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition and increases metastasis in pancreatic cancer

// Alice Nomura 1 , Sulagna Banerjee 1 , Rohit Chugh 1 , Vikas Dudeja 1 , Masato Yamamoto 1 , Selwyn M. Vickers 1 , Ashok K. Saluja 1 1 Division of Basic and Translational Research, Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA Correspondence to: Ashok K. Saluja, e-mail: asaluja@umn.edu Keywords: CD133, pancreatic cancer, invasion, metastasis, NF-kB Received: October 28, 2014 Accepted: January 27, 2015 Published: March 16, 2015 ABSTRACT CD133 has been implicated as a cancer stem cell (CSC) surface marker in several malignancies including pancreatic cancer. However, the functional role of this surface glycoprotein in the cancer stem cell remains elusive. In this study, we determined that CD133 overexpression induced “stemness” properties in MIA-PaCa2 cells along with increased tumorigenicity, tumor progression, and metastasis in vivo . Additionally, CD133 expression induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and increased in vitro invasion. EMT induction and increased invasiveness were mediated by NF-κB activation, as inhibition of NF-κB mitigated these effects. This study showed that CD133 expression contributes to pancreatic cancer “stemness,” tumorigenicity, EMT induction, invasion, and metastasis.
Histopathological correlates with survival in reoperated glioblastomas

The addition of concomitant and adjuvant chemotherapy to radiation therapy after surgical resection has increased significantly the survival of patients with glioblastoma (GB). In conjunction, there has been an increasing fraction of patients who present with new enlarged areas of contrast enhancement and edema on post-treatment imaging that improve without further treatment. It remains to be established how this phenomenon, commonly termed pseudoprogression, can be distinguished from true tumor recurrence defined as the histological presence of active high-grade tumor, as well as its prognostic significance. Data for over 500 patients undergoing surgery for recurrent GB were reviewed. Pathological specimens were categorized as those that contained active high-grade glioma in any amount, and those that did not. Patient survival was compared between these two groups, and independent associations were assessed using Cox proportionate hazards regression analysis. 59 patients met the study criteria including complete pathological and follow-up data. Mean age was 53 ± 11 years. Median survival from suspected recurrence and initial diagnosis were 8 [5–14] and 20 [12–30] months. Seventeen patients (29 %) had no evidence of active high-grade tumor and 42 (71 %) had at least focal active high-grade glioma. Pathologic pseudoprogression at re-operation (p = 0.03) and gross total resection (p = 0.01) were independently associated with survival. The histopathological features defined here and used to assess the tumor at reoperation were independently associated with survival. These findings may be important in designing treatment strategies and clinical trial endpoints for patients with GB.
Nonperturbative study of hadronization with heavy sources. II. Effects of flavor mutual screening in the two-species Schwinger model

We continue our study of the screening length ${L}_{0}$, the distance at which the interaction between heavy quarks begins to be screened as a result of light-quark pair production. We compute ${L}_{0}$ in the two-flavor Schwinger model and compare its mass dependence with the one-flavor case. Since the screening length is related to the binding energy of the dynamical fermions to the sources (heavy quarks), we use one-dimensional MIT bag ideas to discuss the effects of adding one more flavor to the problem. The results reported here have been obtained via a numerical simulation of the lattice Hamiltonian (ensemble projector Monte Carlo).
Prototype tests of a high resolution electromagnetic calorimeter using undoped cesium iodide crystals

Abstract A prototype detector for a high resolution electromagnetic calorimeter for the PHENIX experiment at RHIC has been built and tested. The detector consists of a 6 × 5 array of undoped cesium iodide crystals read out with photomultiplier tubes or vacuum phototetrodes. The response for electrons and pions was measured in the momentum range from 50 MeV/ c to 4 GeV/ c in several beam tests at Brookhaven and TRIUMF. The energy resolution for electrons can be parameterized as σ ( E )/ E = 1.8%/√ E ⊕ 0.3%/ E ⊕ 0.8%, where E is in GeV, and the position resolution as σ x (mm) = 4.7/√ E + 0.5. The π/e separation was determined to be in the range from 10 −2 at 100 MeV/ c to a few times 10 −3 at 4 GeV/ c . The time resolution was measured to be 127 ps for 150 MeV/ c electrons after correcting for start counter timing. A laser calibration system is also described, along with the expected performance of the detector in the high multiplicity environment anticipated for relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC.
Cyclic GMP relaxes the internal anal sphincter in Hirschsprung's disease☆

Abstract In Hirschsprung's disease (HD), the aganglionic colon and internal anal sphincter (IAS) fail to relax. Aganglionic colon of HD patients relaxes in response to exogenous nitric oxide (NO), whereas the IAS from HD patients does not relax. The authors hypothesized that the failure of IAS relaxation is caused by a local deficiency of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), the final metabolite in NO-mediated smooth muscle relaxation. To test this hypothesis, the authors measured the isometric tension of smooth muscle strips taken from the IAS and aganglionic colon of patients with HD before and after exposure to cGMP and compared this with ganglionic colon and IAS from normal controls. In HD patients both the IAS and aganglionic colon relaxed in response to cGMP ( P
A simple, rapid method for detecting the efflux of small quantities of adenosine triphosphate from biological tissues

Abstract 1. 1. The entire light emission reaction that occurs upon injection of physiological saline solutions of nucleoside phosphates into commercial firefly lantern extract (FLE) was monitored, using a specially constructed reaction chamber fitted with a sensitive photomultiplier tube. 2. 2. Nucleoside phosphates were readily distinguished by the characteristic time course of their emission patterns, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) being the only nucleotide to give a sharply defined peak. ATP-adenosine diphosphate (ADP) mixtures were also distinguishable from pure solutions of either nucleotide. 3. 3. The first event that occurred after injection of ATP-saline was an immediate inhibition of the resting luminescence of the FLE, due predominantly to the chloride content of the saline. It is demonstrated that for accurate results this post-injection inhibition must be taken as the baseline for measurements of luminescence. 4. 4. Equations for precisely quantitating pure ATP solutions, pure ADP solutions and ATP-ADP mixtures are presented. 5. 5. Approximately 2 × 10−13 moles/ml of ATP can be repeatably and reliably detected.
Patient-assigned health state utilities for depression-related outcomes: differences by depression severity and antidepressant medications

Background: Major depressive disorder is a prevalent psychiatric disorder in primary care associated with impaired patient functioning and well-being. We compared patient utilities for hypothetical depression-related and current health states and to examine differences in utilities by patient demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods: Seventy patients with DSM-III-R major depressive disorder or dysthymia who completed at least 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment were recruited from primary care practices. Patients assessments included the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), SF-36 Health Survey, and standard gamble interviews to obtain utilities for 11 hypothetical depression-related states, varying depression severity and antidepressant treatment, and the patient's current health state. Results: The mean utility for severe depression was 0.30 and 25% of patients rated this state as worse than or equivalent to death. Utilities varied from 0.55 to 0.63 for moderate depression, 0.64 to 0.73 for mild depression, and 0.72 to 0.83 for antidepressant maintenance therapy. Statistically significant differences were observed in mean utilities by level of disease severity and by tricyclic antidepressants compared with the newer antidepressants (i.e., fluoxetine, nefazodone). There were no significant differences in utilities for hypothetical states by demographic variables. Mean patient-assigned utilities for current health varied by depression severity and presence of medication side effects. Conclusions: Health state utility scores can be provided by patients with depression and the utility scores provided by patients for hypothetical states demonstrate differences by disease severity and antidepressant treatment. Limitations: The sample size was small which may limit generalizability and statistical power for detecting important differences. The study findings are limited to patients who have successfully completed 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment. Clinical Relevance: Understanding patient preferences for depression outcomes is important for economic evaluations of new antidepressants and for understanding patient behavior and adherence to antidepressant treatment regimens.
Diesters of alkane diols and 2-hydroxy fatty acids: identification and discrimination of isomers with the aid of NMR spectroscopy.

Abstract High resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been shown to be extremely useful for the identification and discrimination of naturally occurring diesters of 1,2- and 2,3-alkanediols as well as for fatty alkyl esters of acylated 2-hydroxy fatty acids. A comparison of 220 MHz spectra of 1,2 and erythro- 2,3-alkanediol diesters exhibits the following distinguishing features: (1) two non-equivalent methylene protons from the glycol group of 1,2-alkanediol diesters resonate at 3.87 ppm and 4.17 ppm respectively while these resonances are completely absent in the spectrum of 2,3-isomer; (2) methylene protons adjacent to ester carbonyl groups appear as two overlapping triplets at 2.22 ppm in 1,2-alkanediol diesters while the corresponding protons in the 2,3-isomer are displayed as two partially overlapping triplets centered at 2.15 ppm and 2.2 ppm respectively; and (3) methyl protons adjacent to glycol group in 2,3-isomer appear as downfield doublet at 1.13 ppm; this downfield doublet is not shown by 1,2-alkanediol diesters. Erythro- and threo-2,3-alkanediol diesters have also been distinguished from each other; two α-methylenes in erythro isomers appear as partially overlapping triplets while these protons in threo isomer display an apparent quartet centered at 2.22 ppm. Fatty alkyl esters of acylated 2-hydroxy fatty acids display a triplet at 4.79 for 2-position methylene proton, a distinguishing feature not shown by diacyl alkanediols. A distinction between diester lipids and other classes of neutral lipids has also been achieved by the study of nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, particularly in the region of 3–6 ppm.
Stereoselective Synthesis of Four Stereoisomers of β-Methoxytyrosine, a Component of Callipeltin A

Callipeltin A is a novel cyclic depsipeptide that selectively inhibits the cardiac sodium/calcium exchanger and is therefore of interest as a regulator of myocardial contractility. The stereochemistry of β-methoxytyrosine, one of the amino acids contained within the marine natural product, could not be determined. In an effort to elucidate the stereochemistry of this moiety, a stereoselective synthesis of four stereoisomers of β-methoxytyrosine from (S)- and (R)-serine was accomplished.
Sedimentation velocity of DNA in isokinetic sucrose gradients: calibration against molecular weight using fragments of defined length

The relationship between sedimentation coefficient and molecular weight for DNA sedimenting in preformed alkaline and neutral sucrose gradients was determined using absolute molecular weight standards (restriction fragments of plasmid pBR322 and phage lambda DNA). The range of calibration for alkaline gradients was extended to small DNA fragments (652 base-pairs) for the first time. The exponent b in the equation S20 degrees, w = aMb was found to be 0.380 in neutral gradients and 0.410 in alkali. The latter value differs significantly from previous estimates. The gradients were isokinetic, and the distance sedimented was shown to be directly proportional to the sedimentation coefficient at all times.
Early Man in the New World

Figure 1 of the meeting report, "Early man in the New World" by George A. Agogino et al. [ Science 143, 1351 (20 Mar. 1964)] contained editorial errors and lacked details on the cross sections of the paleo point types. The corrected figure is reproduced below: "Paleo point types. ( A ) Angostura; ( B ) and ( C ) Agate Basin; and ( D ) Frederick. [Drawings by Shirley East]"
Prequential analysis of complex data with adaptive model reselection

In Prequential analysis, an inference method is viewed as a forecasting system, and the quality of the inference method is based on the quality of its predictions. This is an alternative approach to more traditional statistical methods that focus on the inference of parameters of the data generating distribution. In this paper, we introduce adaptive combined average predictors (ACAPs) for the Prequential analysis of complex data. That is, we use convex combinations of two different model averages to form a predictor at each time step in a sequence. A novel feature of our strategy is that the models in each average are re-chosen adaptively at each time step. To assess the complexity of a given data set, we introduce measures of data complexity for continuous response data. We validate our measures in several simulated contexts prior to using them in real data examples. The performance of ACAPs is compared with the performances of predictors based on stacking or likelihood weighted averaging in several model classes and in both simulated and real data sets. Our results suggest that ACAPs achieve a better trade off between model list bias and model list variability in cases where the data is very complex. This implies that the choices of model class and averaging method should be guided by a concept of complexity matching, i.e. the analysis of a complex data set may require a more complex model class and averaging strategy than the analysis of a simpler data set. We propose that complexity matching is akin to a bias-variance tradeoff in statistical modeling. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 2: 000-000, 2009 This work was partially supported by National Institutes of Health Grant 5K25CA111636.
Irradiation of carcinoma of the esophagus containing a tracheoesophageal fistula.

Background. For patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma, tracheal involvement is common, and the formation of a tracheoesophageal fistula is a frequent complication of the disease, with or without treatment. However, the presence of a tracheoesophageal fistula has historically been considered a relative contraindication to radiation therapy. Therefore, we are presenting a case report whereby irradiation was continued despite the presence of such a fistula. Methods. A 60-year-old white man diagnosed with Stage III, T4NOMO, moderately well-differentiated invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus was initially treated with four courses of chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and cisplatin) and had an excellent tumor response. He was then referred for consolidative radiation therapy (XRT). At 600 cGy, he had symptoms consistent with a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), which was documented by barium swallow at 3000 cGy. Radiation treatments were continued, but at a reduced fraction size that was gradually increased over several days. Results. Upon completion of the radiation therapy, the TEF persisted but had completely disappeared 2 months post-XRT. However, at 4 months post-XRT, the fistula recurred due to tumor recurrence. At 6 months post-XRT, he died with metastatic disease, 16 months after initial diagnosis and 8.5 months after the first TEF occurred. Conclusions. The presence of a TEF may not be an absolute contraindication to radiation therapy. Radiation therapy may be initiated or continued in the presence of a TEF, and eventual resolution of the fistula may occur. Recurrence of a healed TEF may indicate recurrence of a tumor.
Mitral Regurgitation: A New Clinical Perspective

Mitral regurgitation is a common valvular heart disease, particularly in the elderly population. The timing of surgical repair is controversial, but recent literature suggests a new clinical perspective on the management of this disease. Despite receiving medical treatment and having few initial symptoms, patients with mitral regurgitation due to flail leaflets have an excess mortality rate (6.3% per year) and high morbidity. Ten years after mitral regurgitation has been diagnosed, 90% of the patients have either died or undergone an operation. After surgical correction of mitral regurgitation, left ventricular dysfunction is a frequent complication and is the cause of excess heart failure and mortality. This complication is due to preoperative left ventricular dysfunction but is incompletely predictable with use of current methods. Conversely, considerable progress in surgery has resulted in an extremely low operative mortality rate (about 1% in patients younger than 75 years of age) and high feasibility of valve repair, even in patients with anterior leaflet prolapse. These facts have led to the new perspective that early surgical correction (before occurrence of overt symptoms or left ventricular dysfunction) should be considered when patients are diagnosed with severe mitral regurgitation.
Homeowners Associations as Private Governments: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and Why It Matters

Homeowners associations (HOAs) are private governments that are reshaping urban governance and service delivery in large parts of the United States. Despite the fact that millions of Americans are HOA members, the field of public affairs has paid scant attention to these new governance entities. The essays in this symposium call attention to HOAs’ potential effects on urban services and civic life in the hope of sparking interest among scholars and public managers to include HOAs in our understanding, research, and teaching of contemporary urban governance.
Lateral implantation homogeneity of wedge-shaped samples treated by plasma immersion ion implantation

Abstract Plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is a rapidly developing technique for ion implantation in metallurgical and semiconductor applications. In contrast to conventional beam-line ion implantation, the treatment of three-dimensional samples does not require complicated workpiece and ion beam manipulation. However, recent results have shown that, in addition to the shape of the workpiece, treatment homogeneity is strongly dependent on process parameters such as ion density and gas pressure. Knowledge of homogeneity is of great importance for the further development of PIII. In the present paper, homogeneity measurements of a model system are discussed. Wedge-shaped silicon specimens with different angles (30 ° to 90 °) were treated by plasma immersion ion implantation with argon ions with 45 kV high-voltage pulses. The samples were analyzed for lateral implantation concentration by Rutherford backscattering measurements. The implanted concentration, the projected range and their gradient are a strong function of the edge angle. The results show that for acute angles (30 °), gradients in implantation concentration up to a factor five develop.
Evaluation of integrals of the Compton scattering cross-section

Abstract Exact formulae are derived for various integrals of the Compton scattering cross-section. The interaction kernel is integrated over outgoing photon frequency and direction, and over a relativistic Maxwellian distribution for the electrons. The total Compton cross-section, the energy exchange rate, and the transport mean free path are thereby expressed in terms of single integrals of analytic functions. In addition, these integrals produce simple analytic expressions in the limiting cases of either small or large frequency or electron temperature. A numerical method based on Gaussian quadrature is used to compute the transport mean free path. A comparison with previously published results is presented.