cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spin and orbital angular momenta of light reflected from a cone

We examine several retro-reflecting optical elements, each involving two reflections. In the case of a hollow metallic cone having an apex angle of 90 deg., a circularly polarized incident beam acquires, upon reflection, the opposite spin angular momentum. However, no angular momentum is transferred to the cone, because the reflected beam picks up an orbital angular momentum that is twice as large but opposite in direction to that of its spin. A 90 deg. cone made of a transparent material in which the incident light suffers two total internal reflections before returning may be designed to endow the retro-reflected beam with different mixtures of orbital and spin angular momenta. Under no circumstances, however, is it possible to transfer angular momentum from the light beam to the cone without either allowing absorption or breaking the axial symmetry of the cone. A simple example of broken symmetry is provided by a wedge-shaped metallic reflector having an apex angle of 90 deg., which picks up angular momentum upon reflecting a circularly polarized incident beam.
An approach to the action of the cardiac glycosides at a cellular level.

T HERE are few drugs in the physician’s armamentarium that have withstood the ever-increasing keenness of nearly two centuries of the pruning knife of time. Digitalis is one of these. The voice of the astute clinician, William Withering, rings clearly through the ever-lengthening past as he asserts, “It has a power over the motion of the heart, to a degree yet unobserved by any other medicine, and that this power may be converted to salutary ends.” Withering’s original directions for the use of digitalis were exacting, and prevail today, when he declared, “Let the medicine be continued until it acts on the kidneys, the stomach, the pulse, or the bowels: let it be stopped upon the appearance of any one of these effects.” For more than a century after the work of Withering, digitalis was believed to contain diuretic and cardiac principles. The diuretic principles were presumably extracted by water, and the infusion of digitalis was used in edema other than that of cardiac origin. The tincture containing a high alcoholic menstruum was used in arrhythmias. In 1911 the distinguished English clinician, Sir James Mackenzie, and the pharmacologist, A. R. Cushny, rediscovered the action of digitalis. They attached electrodes to the beating auricles of the heart of a dog. By means of a mild tetanizing current they disturbed auricular rhythm and produced a condition comparable to the clinical picture of auricular fibrillation. This disordered auricular rhythm affected the beat of the ventricles and their beat became rapid and less effective. Digitalis was given ; the tetanizing current was continued. The auricles continued in their state of fibrillation, but the ventricles were C.C. and JOHNSON S. L. LING, PH.D.
Orbital metastasis in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma: case series and review of the literature

We present 3 cases of children who developed recurrent rhabdomyosarcoma with metastases to the orbit and review the medical literature. Eight additional cases have previously been reported. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma was diagnosed in 7 cases. All 11 patients had stage 3 or 4 tumors at diagnosis, but none had orbital involvement initially. The mechanism of orbital recurrence is hematogenous in nature. Ten of the patients died; 7 of them succumbed with progressive disease within 6 months of the orbital recurrence.
Biologic Gastric Emptying Time Using Tc-99m TETA Polystyrene Resin in Various Clinical Conditions

In 82 subjects 82 gastric emptying studies using Tc-99m triethylene tetramine polystyrene resin were retrospectively evaluated. All six patients with diabetic gastroenteropathy (GE) had delayed biologic gastric emptying time (BGET) that responded well to metoclopramide (MP) injection. In 11 diabetics without GE, only two had prolonged BGET with good response to MP. All 11 patients with gastric outlet obstruction also had prolonged BGET, but no significant response to MP was found in 7 studies. Five of 7 patients with active gastric ulcer had delayed BGET. Three of ten patients with previous Billroth I or II operation had accelerated BGET, and 3 of 9 patients with previous vagotomy had delayed BGET with good response to MP. Markedly prolonged BGET with significant response to MP was also observed in 3 patients with disordered gastric motility. Delayed BGET was found in one patient with bile reflux gastritis and in 2 of 6 patients with reflux esophagitis. No prolongation of BGET was observed in 6 symptomatic patients whose radiographic and endoscopic examinations were negative. BGET studies with this agent appear to be reliable and very helpful in the management of patients with gastric symptoms and for obtaining an objective measurement of the response to therapy.
Slab gel analysis of the polypeptide components of rat brain subcellular organelles.

Abstract Electrophoresis on polyacrylamide slab gels containing SDS with a discontinuous buffer ( Laemmli (1970) Nature 227 , 680–685) has been modified for analysis of the polypeptides in subcellular fractions of rat brain cortex, with attention to sample preparation (delipidation, ratio of SDS to protein, presence of EDTA and mercaptoethanol, storage under N 2 , pH), electrophoresis conditions, and staining technique. With these modifications, subcellular fractions (nuclei, mitochondria, microsomes, synaptic membranes) gave reproducible electrophoretograms having sharp, well-resolved bands, On 10% acrylamide slab gels, over 50 polypeptide bands were resolved and, on 9% to 25% gradient slabs, over 70: ranging in molecular weight from 200.000. Banding patterns showed substantial differences among subcellular fractions, including microsomes and synaptic membranes. Gradlent slab-gel electrophoresis has sufficient sensitivity and resolving power to be the method of choice for comparing subcellular fractions prepared by different procedures and for establishing new criteria of purity.
Big spleens and hypersplenism: Fix it or forget it?

Hypersplenism is a common manifestation of portal hypertension in the cirrhotic. More than half of cirrhotics will have low platelet counts, but neutropenia is much less common. Despite being common in the cirrhotic population, the presence of hypersplenism is of little clinical consequence. The presence of hypersplenism suggests more advanced liver disease and an increase in risk of complications, but there is no data showing that correcting the hypersplenism improves patient survival. In most series, the most common indications for treating the hypersplenism is to increase platelet and white blood cell counts to allow for use of drugs that suppress the bone marrow such as interferon alpha and chemotherapeutic agents. There are several approaches used to treat hypersplenism. Portosystemic shunts are of questionable benefit. Splenectomy, either open or laparoscopically, is the most effective but is associated with a significant risk of portal vein thrombosis. Partial splenic artery embolization and radiofrequency ablation are effective methods for treating hypersplenism, but counts tend to fall back to baseline long-term. Pharmacological agents are also effective in increasing platelet counts. Development of direct acting antivirals against hepatitis C will eliminate the most common indication for treatment. We lack controlled trials designed to determine if treating the hypersplenism has benefits other than raising the platelet and white blood cell counts. In the absence of such studies, hypersplenism in most patients should be considered a laboratory abnormality and not treated, in other words forget it.
Cost-savings from Repackaging of Expensive Commercial Drugs: An Example Using an Exogenous Surfactant Preparation

Cost-savings from Repackaging of Expensive Commercial Drugs: An Example Using an Exogenous Surfactant Preparation
Dielectric properties of solid molecular hydrogen at high pressure.

We present experimental data on the dielectric behavior of solid molecular hydrogen to pressures up to 220 GPa. To complement these measurements, a calculation of the interband dielectric response was done for two prototype structures of hcp molecular solid hydrogen. It is shown that this theoretical approach allows a more complete analysis of the experimental data on compressed solid molecular hydrogen than previously possible.
Mechanisms Underlying Desynchronization of Cholinergic-Evoked Thalamic Network Activity

Synchronous neuronal activity in the thalamocortical system is critical for a number of behaviorally relevant computations, but hypersynchrony can limit information coding and lead to epileptiform responses. In the somatosensory thalamus, afferent inputs are transformed by networks of reciprocally connected thalamocortical neurons in the ventrobasal nucleus (VB) and GABAergic neurons in the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). These networks can generate oscillatory activity, and studies in vivo and in vitro have suggested that thalamic oscillations are often accompanied by synchronous neuronal activity, in part mediated by widespread divergence and convergence of both reticulothalamic and thalamoreticular pathways, as well as by electrical synapses interconnecting TRN neurons. However, the functional organization of thalamic circuits and its role in shaping input-evoked activity patterns remain poorly understood. Here we show that optogenetic activation of cholinergic synaptic afferents evokes near-synchronous firing in mouse TRN neurons that is rapidly desynchronized in thalamic networks. We identify several mechanisms responsible for desynchronization: (1) shared inhibitory inputs in local VB neurons leading to asynchronous and imprecise rebound bursting; (2) TRN-mediated lateral inhibition that further desynchronizes firing in the VB; and (3) powerful yet sparse thalamoreticular connectivity that mediates re-excitation of the TRN but preserves asynchronous firing. Our findings reveal how distinct local circuit features interact to desynchronize thalamic network activity.
Controlled crack arrest in brittle thin films: The effect of embedded voids

Controlled crack arrest is useful for controlling self-assembled crack paths in micro-fabrication, as well as limiting crack length in toughening composites. Compliant inclusions and voids can effectively attract and arrest cracks, thereby controlling the crack pattern. Analytical stress solution indicates that when the inclusion is about 10 times more compliant than its matrix, it may be effectively modeled as a void. The crack arrest capability is expressed in terms of the critical angle of the initial crack path, as the inclusion size, shape, crack origin and film properties are varied. Simple criteria are established to maximize the crack arrest ability and to determine the critical crack angle. The effectiveness of using different void patterns to arrest cracks is also explored. The results are useful for both controlling and restricting cracks in brittle thin films, through the utilization of compliant or void-like inclusions as crack arrestors.
Effect of Delayed Payments (Trade Credit) on Order Quantities

We address the problem of determining the economic order quantity when the vendor permits delay in payment. Some early researchers argued that the best order quantity is invariant with respect to the trade credit. Others argued that the order quantity should increase as the delay in payment increases. We analyse this problem using the discounted cash-flow approach, and provide clarification on the inconsistencies between these approaches. First, we show that the best order quantity is an increasing function of the permitted delay in payment. We also show that an approach suggested by Chand and Ward not only yields an upper bound on the optimum, but also provides robust results. Though the classical square-root formula disregards trade-credit information, under some circumstances, it will yield better results than the formulation taking into account that information. We illustrate this anomaly with an example, and provide analytical explanation for it. We also discuss some potential conceptual pitfalls in using the average cost analysis as an approximation to the discounted cash-flow approach.
Predictive Correlation Between the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM): Implications for Calculating a Derived SHIM for Clinical Use

ABSTRACT Introduction Validated questionnaires are used to assess postoperative continence, sexual function, and other quality-of-life issues after radical prostatectomy. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) is one such well-tested inventory that is routinely used. However, some centers use the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) or the IIEF-6 to record erectile function, and comparison between the three can be difficult. Aims To define if there was a predictive correlation between IIEF (or IIEF-6) and SHIM, and to explore a strategy for the use of an abbreviated and rapid functional assessment of erectile function in patients. Materials and Methods Preoperative and postoperative IIEF questionnaires from the robotic prostatectomy program at our institution were included in the study. The total IIEF, IIEF-6, and SHIM scores were calculated and correlations between the three were sought. We also looked at the feasibility of using only two questions from the IIEF with an aim of calculating both the SHIM and IIEF scores. Main Outcome Measures The power to differentiate between patients with SHIM ≥22 from those with SHIM ≤21 for (i) the ratio allowing direct conversion of IIEF (or IIEF-6) to SHIM; and (ii) a two-question-based recalculation of SHIM. Results Two hundred seventy-five questionnaires were available for review. If the total IIEF score is known, the IIEF-derived SHIM score can be calculated by dividing the total IIEF score by a factor of 2.8 and then rounding off to a whole number. Furthermore, we have shown that an abbreviated questionnaire using Q5 and Q15 of the IIEF can be used to calculate the SHIM scores (two-question-SHIM). Conclusions We described an easy way to calculate the SHIM score when the IIEF (or IIEF-6) score alone is known. The two-question model can be used for a rapid assessment of the patients' sexual function. Ramanathan R, Mulhall J, Rao S, Leung R, Salamanca Martinez JI, Mandhani A, and Tewari A. Predictive correlation between the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM): Implications for calculating a derived SHIM for clinical use.
Exploring the effectiveness of an Internet-based program for reducing caregiver distress using the iCare Stress Management e-Training Program

Objective: Determine if the online iCare Stress Management e-Training Program reduces stress, bother, depression, and poor life quality for dementia family caregivers (CGs). Method: CGs (N = 150) were randomly assigned to the iCare Condition (ICC) or to the Education/Information-Only Condition (EOC) for a 3-month period. Change in self-report measures of stress (PSS) (primary outcome), caregiver bother(RMBPC), depression (CES-D), and quality of life (PQOL) (secondary outcomes) was determined, along with usage of new information in one's own caregiving. Results: A mixed ANOVA revealed that change in perceived stress was significant for the ICC but not the EOC (p = .017). Changes in the other measures were not significant. More caregivers in the ICC used the materials in their own caregiving situation than those in the EOC. Roughly one-third of the caregivers enrolled in the study dropped prior to completion. Conclusion: Results are promising, but the high dropout is a concern. Future efforts to improve dro...
Flash photolysis resonance fluorescence study of the reaction Cl + O3 → ClO + O2 over the temperature range 213–298 K

Abstract Rate constants for the removal of Cl atoms in the reaction Cl + O3 → ClO + O2 were measured by the flash photolysis resonance fluorescence technique over the temperature range 213–298 K. The rate constant is given by the Arrhenius expression (2.94 ± 0.49) × 10−11 exp[−(298 ± 39)/T] in units of cm3 molecule−1 s−1. Comparison with recent results from other laboratories are presented.
Endoscopic mucosal resection for lesions with endoscopic features suggestive of malignancy and high-grade dysplasia within Barrett's esophagus.

Abstract Background: Endoscopic mucosal resection has been used in the treatment of superficial squamous cell cancers and gastric malignancies. Our aim was to determine whether endoscopic mucosal resection can be used in the diagnosis of lesions within Barrett's esophagus whose endoscopic appearances raise suspicion of carcinoma or high-grade dysplasia. Methods: Twenty-five patients with such lesions within Barrett's esophagus underwent endoscopic mucosal resection for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. All patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound to determine the feasibility of endoscopic resection. Only lesions found to be uT0 or uT1 underwent EMR. The lift and cut technique was used in 23 patients and a variceal ligating device was used on 2 patients. Results: Endoscopic mucosal resection was performed because of a nodule or polyp within Barrett's esophagus in 11 patients (44%) and suspected superficial cancer or high-grade dysplasia in 14 patients (56%). Endoscopic mucosal resection diagnosed superficial adenocarcinoma in 13 patients (52%) and high-grade dysplasia in 4 (16%); it confirmed lesions in 8 patients (40%) to be of lower neoplastic risk. No complications occurred due to the procedure itself. Conclusions: Endoscopic mucosal resection is a technique with low morbidity and mortality. It has led to a change in diagnosis in patients with Barrett's esophagus and lesions with endoscopic features that suggest neoplasia. Its major advantages include simplicity and retrieval of the specimen en bloc. (Gastrointest Endosc 2000;52:328–32.)
Stimulation by caffeine of the calcium efflux in barnacle muscle fibers

Die Befunde ergeben, dass einzelne Muskelfasern der Entenmuschel durch Mikroinjektion mit45Ca aufgeladen werden konnen. Eine Umspulung der Muskelfasern mit einer coffeinhaltigen Losung bewirkt ein starkeres Ausstromen des Calciums als eine Mikroinjektion des Coffeins in die Fasern direkt.
The Diagnostic Conference Planning Questionnaire for Speech-Language Pathology

This article presents a tool developed to increase professional effectiveness in supervisory conferencing in speech-language pathology based on the dual areas of role expectations for clinicians an...
Motion of Red Blood Cells in Capillaries With Variable Cross-Sections

Red blood cells undergo continual deformation when traversing microvessels in living tissues. This may contribute to higher resistance to blood flow observed in living microvessels, compared with that in corresponding uniform glass tubes. We use a theoretical model to simulate single-file motion of red cells though capillaries with variable cross-sections, assuming axisymmetric geometry. Effects of cell membrane shear viscosity and elasticity are included, but bending resistance is neglected. Lubrication theory is used to describe the flow of surrounding plasma. When a red cell encounters a region of capillary narrowing, additional energy is dissipated, due to membrane viscosity, and due to narrowing of the lubrication layer, increasing the flow resistance. Predicted resistance to cell motion in a vessel with periodic constrictions (diameter varying between 5 microns and 4 microns) is roughly twice that in a uniform vessel with diameter 4.5 microns. Effects of transient red cell deformations may contribute significantly to blood flow resistance in living microvessels.
On the MSE robustness of batching estimators

Variance is a classical measure of a point estimator's sampling error. In steady-state simulation experiments, many estimators of this variance---or its square root, the standard error---depend upon batching the output data. In practice, the optimal batch size is unknown because it depends upon unknown statistical properties of the simulation output data. When optimal batch size is estimated, the batch size used is random. Therefore, robustness to estimated batch size is a desirable property for a standard-error estimation method. We consider only point estimators that are a sample mean of steady-state data and consider only mean squared error (mse) as the criterion for comparing standard-error estimation methods. Like previous authors, we measure robustness as a second derivative. We argue that a previous measure---the second derivative of mse with respect to estimated batch size---is conceptually flawed. We propose a new measure, the second derivative of the mse with respect to the estimated center of gravity of the non-negative autocorrelations of the output process. With the previous robustness measure, optimal mse and robustness yielded different rankings of estimation methods. A property of the new robustness measure is that both criteria yield identical rankings.
Charged particle periodicity in the Saturnian magnetosphere

The present investigation is concerned with the first definitive evidence for charged particle modulations near the magnetic rotation period at Saturn. This periodicity is apparent in the ratios (and spectra) of low energy charged particles in the Saturnian magnetosphere. Most of the data presented were taken during the Voyager 2 outbound portion of the Saturn encounter. During this time the spacecraft was at high latitudes (approximately 30 deg) in the southern hemisphere of the Saturnian magnetosphere. The probe's trajectory was approximately along the dawn meridian at an essentially constant local time. The observation that the charged particle modulation is consistent with the Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR) period provides a basic input for the resolution of a puzzle which has existed ever since the discovery of the SKR modulation. The charged particle periodicity identified suggests that a basic asymmetry must exist in the Saturnian magnetosphere.
CUGH Global Health Program Advisory Service

development of a differential diagnosis, and integration of epidemiologic and clinical data in estimating the disease probabilities that guide cost-effective, empiric therapy. Laboratory reports are few, restricted to those available in resource-poor settings in the developing world. Outcomes & Evaluation: The cases have been the clinical focus of a global health course taught at Montefiore/Einstein in the Bronx for the past 8 years: 50 cases, edited for the classroom, are dissected during 15 interactive workshops by 20 senior Medicine residents divided into 4 discussion teams. Evaluations (with 100% response rates) reflect their success in this setting: 5.7 mean, 6.0 median on a scale with 61⁄4outstanding. Voluntary (and therefore very selected) feedback about Cases posted on the CUGH website has been very positive. Going Forward: The cases may too closely reflect the clinical reality of district hospitals in rural Africa where “gold standards” are rare and diagnoses often uncertain. (Hopefully such presumed diagnoses do not detract from the pedagogical value of the discussions.) Funding: None. Abstract #: CUGH005
Facial Expression Recognition using Encoded Dynamic Features

In this paper, we propose a new approach of facial expression recognition. In order to capture the temporal characteristic of facial expressions, we design dynamic haar-like features to represent the facial images, and code them into binary patterns for the further analysis. Based on the encoded features, Adaboost is employed to learn the combination of optimal discriminant features to construct the classifier. The experiments carried on the CMU database show the promising performance of the proposed method.
Determination of the absolute efficiency of an organic scintillator for neutrons with energies between 0.5 and 800 MeV

Abstract We have determined the absolute efficiency of an NE-213 scintillator for neutrons with energies from 0.5 to 800 MeV. The detector was 5.1 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm deep. The efficiencies were obtained for detector thresholds of 0.011, 0.48, 1.12, and 4.48 MeVee. Our results are compared to predictions of the STANTON computer code.
Afterthoughts on mass terms

Since the publication of ‘An Analysis of Mass Terms and Amount Terms’ (hereafter ‘MT & AT’) there have appeared various criticisms of the theory it presented, as well as various alternative theories. I have little to say about many of the issues that have been raised (e.g., ‘how’ mass terms ‘divide their reference’), but I will here comment briefly on four issues that are particularly relevant to the theory proposed in MT & AT.
Educating and Developing Leaders of Racially Diverse Organizations.

This article discusses the need to address issues emerging from racial differences in the workplace under the heading of leadership development. Traditionally leadership development centers on creating models of leadership, describing what constitutes effective leadership, and identifying skills and competencies that will improve the capacity to be a good leader. However, in the real world, relationships among people of different races are often sources of conflict, friction, and discord. Effective leadership is necessary to mediate and resolve issues stemming from these racially induced differences.
Scents and Nonsense: Olfactory Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Among the sensory modalities, olfaction is most closely associated with the frontal and temporal brain regions that are implicated in schizophrenia and most intimately related to the affective and mnemonic functions that these regions subserve. Olfactory probes may therefore be ideal tools through which to assess the structural and functional integrity of the neural substrates that underlie disease-related cognitive and emotional disturbances. Perhaps more importantly, to the extent that early sensory afferents are also disrupted in schizophrenia, the olfactory system—owing to its strategic anatomic location—may be especially vulnerable to such disruption. Olfactory dysfunction may therefore be a sensitive indicator of schizophrenia pathology and may even serve as an ‘‘early warning’’ sign of disease vulnerability or onset. In this article, we review the evidence supporting a primary olfactory sensory disturbance in schizophrenia. Convergent data indicate that structural and functional abnormalities extend from the cortex to the most peripheral elements of the olfactory system. These reflect, in part, a genetically mediated neurodevelopmental etiology. Gross structural and functional anomalies are mirrored by cellular and molecular abnormalities that suggest decreased or faulty innervation and/or dysregulation of intracellular signaling. A unifying mechanistic hypothesis may be the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. With the opportunity to obtain olfactory neural tissue from live patients through nasal epithelial biopsy, the peripheral olfactory system offers a uniquely accessible window through which the pathophysiological antecedents and sequelae of schizophrenia may be observed. This could help to clarify underlying brain mechanisms and facilitate identification of clinically relevant biomarkers.
Changing orientations of medical students to patients' care: biomedical versus biopsychosocial models.

The instructional effectiveness of a new biopsychosocial medicine curriculum model was evaluated using criterion-based measures of medical students' patient-history taking. Students (n = 63) who received the new biopsychosocial curriculum were significantly more skilled in identifying, documenting and translating patients' psychosocial data and predisposing risk, factors than students (n = 56) receiving the prior biomedical, disease-oriented curriculum. Implications for medical education and practice are also discussed.
Conflict resolution education: The field, the findings, and the future

Over the past two decades, conflict resolution education (CRE) programs have educated children about constructive approaches to managing conflict in their schools and communities. CRE provides critical life skills necessary for building caring communities and establishing constructive relationships (Jones and Compton, 2003). Educators, administrators, and parents advocate CRE as a critical component to the development of safe and drug-free schools (Heerboth, 2000; King, Wagner, and Hedrick, 2001; Oppitz, 2003). To sustain program development and funding of CRE, questions of efficacy are paramount. This is truer now more than ever before given the emphasis in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which dictates that all instruction in academic and nonacademic areas (including prevention interventions) must be theoretically based and rigorously evaluated. To what extent does CRE make the differences so hoped for by educators and parents? To what extent are CRE programs meeting the standards set under No Child Left Behind, and therefore worthy of federal support dollars? This article provides an answer within certain parameters. First, CRE is defined and distinguished from related efforts to clarify the nature of program evaluation research that should be included in this review. Second, structural elements that are expected to influence CRE effectiveness are detailed as a framework for the presentation of research. And third, the overall assessment of CRE field research is used as a foundation for discussion of needed future research.
Antimicrobial activity of a novel aminoglycoside, ACHN-490, against Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa from New York City

Methods: The activity of aminoglycosides and ACHN-490 was determined against a contemporary collection of A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa. Selected aminoglycoside-resistant isolates were screened for the presence of genes encoding common aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes and methylases. Results: Resistance to the traditional aminoglycosides was common in the collection of A. baumannii. ACHN-490 possessed superior activity against these isolates, with an MIC50 value of 8 mg/L. In P. aeruginosa, the activity of ACHN-490 was similar to that of amikacin (MIC50 value of 8 mg/L for both agents). For both A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa, the MICs of ACHN-490 did not correlate with the presence of commonly encountered aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes. Conclusions: For A. baumannii, the MICs of ACHN-490 were lower than those of traditional aminoglycosides. For P. aeruginosa, the activity of ACHN-490 was similar to that of amikacin.
The isolation of anionic phosphoproteins from bovine cortical bone via the periodate solubilization of bone collagen.

Abstract Purified, decalcified bovine bone matrix was partially solubilized by prolonged oxidative degradation with sodium metaperiodate. Fractionation of a portion of the solubilized bone matrix on DEAE-cellulose led to the isolation of two anionic components (0.55 and 0.75 M NaCl elutions). Analysis showed each component to be a protein characterized by a high content of aspartic and glutamic acids, serine and glycine. A substantial portion of the serine was present as serine phosphate in both compounds. Galactosamine was found in the component eluted with 0.55 M NaCl and this fraction probably represents degraded protein-polysaccharide. The other component, eluted with 0.75 M NaCl, contained no hexosamine but did contain hydroxylysine. Disc electrophoresis showed this component to be similar to a phosphoprotein isolated from dentin collagen. The possible relationship between the bone and dentin phosphoproteins and their role in mineralization is discussed.
Facilitating Optimal Motivation and Psychological Well- Being Across Life's Domains

Self-determination theory (SDT) differentiates motivation, with autonomous and controlled motivations constituting the key, broad distinction. Research has shown that autonomous motivation predicts persistence and adherence and is advantageous for effective performance, especially on complex or heuristic tasks that involve deep information processing or creativity. Autonomous motivation is also reliably related to psychological health. Considerable research has found interpersonal contexts that facilitate satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to enhance autonomous motivation, which comprises intrinsic motivation and well-internalized extrinsic motivation. SDT has been applied in varied cultures and in many life domains, and research is reviewed that has related autonomous and controlled motivation to education, parenting, work, health care, sport, and close relationships.
Correlation between beta‐lipoprotein levels and outcome of hepatitis C treatment

The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) has been proposed as a candidate receptor for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Competitive inhibition of HCV binding to the LDLR by low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been shown in vitro. If similar inhibition occurs in vivo, an elevated serum concentration of beta- lipoproteins may reduce the efficiency of infecting hepatocytes with HCV by competitively inhibiting HCV viral receptor binding. We investigated the role of baseline lipid values in influencing the outcome of HCV treatment. We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients treated with an interferon-based regimen at our liver and gastroenterology clinics between 1998 and 2004. Of 99 patients enrolled in the study, 49 (49.5%) had HCV genotype 1 (LDL 100.2 ± 30.2 mg/dL [mean ± SD]), and 50 patients (50.5%) had genotype 2 or 3 (LDL 110.1 ± 40 mg/dL) infection. Early viral response (EVR), end-of-treatment response (ETR), and sustained viral response (SVR) were documented in 99, 88, and 77 patients, respectively. LDL and cholesterol levels prior to treatment were found to be higher in patients with positive EVR, ETR, and SVR. This difference remained significant independent of age. Multivariate analysis controlling for genotype and age showed that the higher the cholesterol and LDL levels prior to treatment, the greater the odds of responding to treatment. In conclusion, having higher serum LDL and cholesterol levels before treatment may be significant prognostic indicators for treatment outcome of those with chronic hepatitis C infection, particularly in genotypes 1 and 2. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;44:335–340.)
Contact neodymium : yttrium-aluminum-Garnet laser ablation of the external sphincter in spinal cord injured men with detrusor sphincter dyssynergia

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of contact neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser external sphincterotomy as an alternative treatment of detrusor-external sphincter dyssynergia (DESD). Methods Twenty-two spinal cord injured men with video-urodynamically verified DESD underwent external urinary sphincter ablation using the contact Nd:YAG laser. Three patients with bladder neck obstruction required concurrent contact laser bladder neck incision. Preoperative urodynamic parameters of voiding pressure, bladder capacity, and residual urine were compared with those obtained 1 year postoperatively. Results Each procedure was performed with the Nd:YAG contact laser set at 40 to 50 W, with a total accumulated energy of 23,800 to 60,000 J for each patient. The mean duration of surgery was 45 ± 21 minutes. Bladder voiding pressure decreased from 87 ± 23 preoperatively to 47 ± 11 cm H 2 O at 12 months ( P P P = 0.57). Three patients were found to have recurrent sphincter obstruction 1 year after laser sphincterotomy. Two patients experienced complications associated with condom catheter urinary drainage and returned to the use of an indwelling catheter. One patient experienced diminished reflex erectile function postoperatively. No patient required blood transfusion. No deleterious effects on renal function or symptoms of autonomie dysreflexia were noted. Conclusions External urinary sphincter ablation using the contact Nd:YAG laser compares favorably with electrosurgical techniques.
Experience with a hospital policy on not offering cardiopulmonary resuscitation when believed more harmful than beneficial

Abstract Purpose This study investigated the impact of age, race, and functional status on decisions not to offer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) despite patient or surrogate requests that CPR be performed. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of all ethics committee consultations between 2007 and 2013 at a large academic hospital with a not offering CPR policy. Results There were 134 cases of disagreement over whether to provide CPR. In 45 cases (33.6%), the patient or surrogate agreed to a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order after initial ethics consultation. In 67 (75.3%) of the remaining 89 cases, the ethics committee recommended not offering CPR. In the other 22 (24.7%) cases, the ethics committee recommended offering CPR. There was no significant relationship between age, race, or functional status and the recommendation not to offer CPR. Patients who were not offered CPR were more likely to be critically ill (61.2% vs 18.2%, P Conclusions There was no association between age, race, or functional status and the decision not to offer CPR made in consultation with an ethics committee. Orders to withhold CPR were more common among critically ill patients.
An efficiency comparison of analog and digital spike detection

Many applications in science and medicine that use neurophysiology require on-chip spike detection. Since implantable electronics have strict requirements on area and power, spike detection must be as power- and area-efficient as possible. In this paper, we examine whether analog or digital spike detection is more efficient. The motivation behind an analog implementation for detection is to save the power spent to quantize the input samples, which has an exponential dependence on the bit resolution. From our analysis using 90-nm technology, we find that digital implementations are more efficient for lower resolutions (up to 8 or 9 bits), whereas analog implementations are more power-efficient for higher resolutions. This conclusion is found to be valid across a wide range of SNRs and neuronal firing rates.
Pressure-mediated effects on thermal dendrites

We subjected succinonitrile dendrites growing under steady-state conditions to a rapid change in thermal driving force through a step-change in pressure. This change in pressure caused a corresponding change in the equilibrium melting temperature due to the Clapeyron effect, and a shift in the temperature field due to an adiabatic temperature change in both the solid and its melt. The new thermal conditions caused the dendrites to transition from well-characterized initial steady states to states appropriate for the new operating conditions. The initial and final states are clearly discernable, but the onset of the change in tip radius lags behind the change in tip velocity even though the total transition times appear to be similar. During the transition, a fast growing, small dendrite emerges out of the tip of a slow growing, large dendrite. Lastly, the pressure changes appear to destabilize the interface, which leads to the initiation of a dominant side branch. This work constitutes evidence that pressure changes quantifiably change growth behavior and can be used as a perturbation to influence interfacial morphology in a well-characterized free dendritic growth system. This hints at how such a mechanism may be used to control growth microstructures.
Detecting Humans in Dense Crowds Using Locally-Consistent Scale Prior and Global Occlusion Reasoning

Human detection in dense crowds is an important problem, as it is a prerequisite to many other visual tasks, such as tracking, counting, action recognition or anomaly detection in behaviors exhibited by individuals in a dense crowd. This problem is challenging due to the large number of individuals, small apparent size, severe occlusions and perspective distortion. However, crowded scenes also offer contextual constraints that can be used to tackle these challenges. In this paper, we explore context for human detection in dense crowds in the form of a locally-consistent scale prior which captures the similarity in scale in local neighborhoods and its smooth variation over the image. Using the scale and confidence of detections obtained from an underlying human detector, we infer scale and confidence priors using Markov Random Field. In an iterative mechanism, the confidences of detection hypotheses are modified to reflect consistency with the inferred priors, and the priors are updated based on the new detections. The final set of detections obtained are then reasoned for occlusion using Binary Integer Programming where overlaps and relations between parts of individuals are encoded as linear constraints. Both human detection and occlusion reasoning in proposed approach are solved with local neighbor-dependent constraints, thereby respecting the inter-dependence between individuals characteristic to dense crowd analysis. In addition, we propose a mechanism to detect different combinations of body parts without requiring annotations for individual combinations. We performed experiments on a new and extremely challenging dataset of dense crowd images showing marked improvement over the underlying human detector.
Peer Tutors' Effects on Activity Levels of Deaf Students in Inclusive Elementary Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of trained peer tutors on the physical activity levels of deaf students1 in inclusive elementary physical education classes. A single subject delayed multiple baseline design across 8 deaf participants (4 boys and 4 girls) ages 10 to 12 was used. Eight typically developing, trained peers of the same age and gender served as peer tutors following training in use of sign language and basic teaching strategies. The dependent variable was moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) determined by McKenzie, Sallis and Nader’s (1991) System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT). The study included 3–4 sessions of baseline, 11–14 sessions of intervention, and 1–3 sessions of maintenance. Results revealed that after the introduction of peer tutoring, deaf students increased their MVPA from to 22% to 41.5%, and peer tutors increased their MVPA from 19% to 37.9%.
Variola Virus Topoisomerase: DNA Cleavage Specificity and Distribution of Sites in Poxvirus Genomes

Topoisomerase enzymes regulate superhelical tension in DNA resulting from transcription, replication, repair, and other molecular transactions. Poxviruses encode an unusual type IB topoisomerase that acts only at conserved DNA sequences containing the core pentanucleotide 5'-(T/C)CCTT-3'. In X-ray structures of the variola virus topoisomerase bound to DNA, protein-DNA contacts were found to extend beyond the core pentanucleotide, indicating that the full recognition site has not yet been fully defined in functional studies. Here we report quantitation of DNA cleavage rates for an optimized 13 bp site and for all possible single base substitutions (40 total sites), with the goals of understanding the molecular mechanism of recognition and mapping topoisomerase sites in poxvirus genome sequences. The data allow a precise definition of enzyme-DNA interactions and the energetic contributions of each. We then used the resulting "action matrix" to show that favorable topoisomerase sites are distributed all along the length of poxvirus DNA sequences, consistent with a requirement for local release of superhelical tension in constrained topological domains. In orthopox genomes, an additional central cluster of sites was also evident. A negative correlation of predicted topoisomerase sites was seen relative to early terminators, but no correlation was seen with early or late promoters. These data define the full variola virus topoisomerase recognition site and provide a new window on topoisomerase function in vivo.
Taking (and Sharing Power): How Boards of Directors Can Bring About Greater Fairness for Dependent Stakeholders

One of the ways in which scholars have sought to broaden the discussion of the social responsibilities of corporations and their managers is through the development of the stakeholder concept. The primacy of shareholder interests in corporate-governance processes and managerial action is, however, a myth that justifies all sorts of managerial self-interest seeking and exploitation of particular stakeholder groups. What makes this myth particularly problematic—from the standpoint of fairness and corporate governance—is that not all nonshareholder stakeholders are equally situated with regard to their ability to secure fair treatment. In this article, I explore the ethical dimensions of board responsibilities to dependent stakeholder groups by first describing the differences between shareholders and nonshareholder stakeholders with regard to risk, examining why dependent stakeholders (stakeholders with legitimate and urgent claims, but no power) are particularly important from the standpoint of stakeholder risk, and discussing how stakeholder consultation might provide a partial fix to such problems. I will conclude with proposals for how boards can more faithfully discharge their ethical responsibilities to dependent stakeholder groups, and in so doing facilitate stakeholder involvement in corporate governance in ways that promote fairness in organization–stakeholder relationships.
Noncompaction in the fetus and neonate: An autopsy study

Noncompaction refers to an uncommon structural abnormality of the heart's ventricular myocardium characterized by an abnormally thick layer of left ventricular trabeculations, as well as hypoplastic papillary muscles. The condition is associated with a variable clinical phenotype including heart failure, thromboembolism, and sudden death. In this retrospective study of fetal and neonatal autopsy hearts with noncompaction, clinical profiles were correlated with gross and histologic findings and compared with a set of age-matched controls. Pathologic criteria for noncompaction included hypoplastic left ventricular papillary muscles, abnormal trabecular architecture and greater than 50% penetration of the left ventricular wall thickness by intertrabecular recesses. Among eight fetuses and full-term neonates with pathologic features of noncompaction, all had evidence of severe heart failure, including four with complete heart block and two others with bradycardia. None experienced sudden death. Seven of eight hearts had associated heart malformations-four with left atrial isomerism, two with aortic and/or pulmonary valve dysplasia consistent with stenosis and, one with atrial septal defect. One heart with noncompaction had no associated malformations. With characteristic excessive trabeculation in the left ventricle, noncompaction also included biventricular endocardial fibroelastosis that denoted right ventricular involvement in all hearts. Thus, (1) among autopsied fetuses and neonates with noncompaction, heart failure including heart block is a common cause of death, (2) noncompaction is often associated with various cardiovascular malformations, but even in isolation it can be the basis for severe cardiac failure, and (3) biventricular endocardial fibroelastosis in noncompaction suggests a global pathologic process.
Piezoresistivity in continuous carbon fiber cement-matrix composite

Abstract Piezoresistivity was observed in cement-matrix composites with 2.6–7.4 vol% unidirectional continuous carbon fibers. The direct-current electrical resistance in the fiber direction increased upon tensile loading in the same direction, such that the effect was mostly reversible when the stress was below that for the tensile modulus to decrease. The gage factor was up to 60. The resistance increase was due to fiber-matrix interface degradation, which was mostly reversible. Above the stress at which the modulus started to decrease, the resistance increased with stress/strain abruptly, due to fiber breakage. The tensile strength and modulus of the composites were 88% and 84%, respectively, of the calculated values based on the rule of mixtures.