cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Technical description of the “LUAA” technique for robotic ureteric reimplantation

Abstract Introduction In todays era of minimally invasive surgery, the robotic assisted laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation (RALUR) is being popularly performed at many centres world-over in the pediatric age group. Gundeti et al. published the “LUAA” technique to optimize the results. Through this article, we share the step-by-step technical details of the “LUAA” (L-length of ureteric tunnel, U- the u stitch at UVJ, A- placement of the ureteral apical alignment suture and A- ensuring inclusion of adequate ureteral adventitia in detrusorrhaphy) for bilateral ureteric reimplantation. Methods A 4 years girl presented with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in spite of appropriate antibiotic chemoprophylaxis for one year. Her ultrasound of the renal system showed bilateral hydronephrosis. Her voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) was suggestive of bilateral vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR) with right grade 4 and left grade 3 reflux. The DMSA scan showed right side renal scars. For this, she underwent robotic assisted laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation- bilateral (RALUR-b) by the LUAA technique. After the usual port placement, ureteric identification and mobilization of the ureters on either side, certain steps during detrusorrhaphy have been protocolised. These included ensuring adequate length (L) by marking of the ureteric tunnels bilaterally. Secondly securing the ureter at the UVJ by the U stitch (U) taken at the inverted Y limb of the detrusor tunnel at the UVJ. This spares the dorso-medial neurovascular bundles at the UVJ. Thirdly placing the apical alignment stitch for the ureteric tunnel (A). Lastly ensuring adequate ureteric adventitia (A) being taken in alternate bites during continuous suturing from the proximal end (UVJ) to the apex of the ureteric tunnel. Results The surgery was performed in 150 min (incision to closure). The Foleys catheter was removed after 48 h. The patient was discharged once she passed urine after the catheter removal. Oral analgesic was continued for 4 days. Conclusion The “LUAA” technique allows us to follow the critical steps in stepwise fashion. It ensures uniformity and reproducibility of RALUR, especially in bilateral cases of VUR. It will allow us to standardize the procedure of RALUR, especially in the pediatric cases and ensure satisfactory results. However long term results of the LUAA technique would add weightage to this technique.
Temperature dependence of CIGS and perovskite solar cell performance: an overview

CIGS, with a tailorable direct band gap (of 1.04–1.68 eV), can serve as bottom cell with excellent band gap match with perovskite (1.6–2.3 eV) in the combined monolithic perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cell, that has the potential to exceed the Shockley–Queisser limit. Thus, an investigation of the operating temperature dependence of the performance of CIGS and perovskite solar cells (PSCs), in the temperature range of 80–380 K, based on studies in the literature, is presented. Besides the operating temperature, the influence of substrate temperature of CIGS solar cells, fabricated on soda-lime-glass, polyimide foil and stainless steel substrates are also investigated. The solar cell performance is assessed by considering several photovoltaic parameters such as short circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor and power conversion efficiency. By a detailed understanding of the dependence of solar cell parameters on temperature for CIGS solar cells and PSCs, with different characteristics or structures, it is anticipated that an effective pathway for the improvement in these cells, in adverse environments, can be accomplished.
Pediatric atypical choroid plexus papilloma: Clinical features and diagnosis.

Abstract Objective Atypical choroid plexus papilloma (aCPP) is a newly introduced subtype of choroid plexus tumors (CPTs) defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 and is characterized by intermediate characteristics between choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) and choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC). Currently, the available data describing the clinical features of aCPP in children are limited. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 24 pediatric patients with CPTs in our institute and focused on the clinical, radiological and histopathological features of 9 patients with aCPP. Results The median age of aCPP patients was 12 (3−144) months, which was younger than the age of CPP patients (36 (5−132) months, P 0.05), while T2WI slightly low signals were more common in CPPs (CPP41.7 % vs aCPP0%, P CPP25.0 %, P aCPP0%, P 0.05). Interestingly, 1 aCPP showed annular enhancement. For the pathological and immunohistochemical studies, the Ki67 proliferation index was significantly higher in aCPPs than in CPPs (13 % vs 6%, P Conclusions aCPP shows some distinctive clinical features compared with CPP, such as younger age, larger tumor size, more frequent necrosis and peritumoral edema, blurred borders, slightly low signals on T2WI and isointense signals on DWI, and a higher S-100(+)/Vim(+)/Syn(+) positive rate, which may provide more valuable evidence for differential diagnosis and clinical decisions surrounding aCPP.
Incidence and degrees of neurologic decline following thoracic costotransversectomy

Abstract Background Context Thoracic costotransversectomies (TCT) are amongst the most invasive spine procedures performed. Of greatest concern to the patient and surgeon is the risk of iatrogenic neurologic injury associated with these procedures. Most available studies limit their assessment of neurologic function to nonspecific scales such as the broader ASIA scoring system of A to E and have not comprehensively described the rates of iatrogenic injury following these procedures by looking more precisely with ASIA motor scoring (0–100) which allows for more in-depth analysis. Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the rates and degree of iatrogenic neurologic decline following TCT and subsequent rates and degree of motor recovery. Study Design/Setting Retrospective medical record review at a single institution. Patient Sample Around 116 consecutive patients undergoing TCT operations. Outcome Measures Neurological changes from preprocedure to final follow-up assessed by lower extremity motor score. Methods A retrospective chart review of patients undergoing TCT between May 2008 and April 2018 was carried out. Clinical, surgical, and intraoperative neuromonitoring data were collected. Patients who demonstrated an initial postoperative decline in lower extremity motor scores (LEMS) were followed through their final follow up to assess recovery. Results Around 116 patients underwent TCT between T2 and T12 between May 2008 and April 2018. Seven (6.0%) patients demonstrated an immediate postoperative decline as defined by a drop of more than 4 points (mean 15.1; range 5–50) in motor score. All patients who demonstrated an initial postoperative motor score decline returned to within 4 LEMS points of their preoperative LEMS by final follow up. IOMN changes were noted only in half of all monitored patients who were noted to have a decline. Conclusions In our series, 6.0% of patients undergoing TCT experienced an initial decline in motor score with 94.0% demonstrating an unchanged or improved examination compared to preoperative exam. In our series, all patients who exhibited a decline recovered to within 4 points of the preoperative motor score within the first year postoperatively.
Monitoring the Interaction between Thermally Induced Whey Protein and Anthocyanin by Fluorescence Quenching Spectroscopy.

The color stability of anthocyanins was shown to improve with addition of whey proteins (WP). The goal of this study was to investigate the binding mechanisms of purple corn, grape and black carrot anthocyanin extracts to native and preheated WP (40–80 °C, 3.6 μM) at a pH of 3 using fluorescence quenching spectroscopy. The fluorescence spectra were collected with an excitation wavelength of 280 nm at 25 °C, 35 °C and 45 °C. The quenching data were analyzed by using the Stern–Volmer equation. The fluorescence intensity of WP decreased (up to 73%) and its λmax increased (by ~5 nm) with increasing anthocyanin concentration (0–100 μM). The quenching data showed that the interaction between anthocyanin extracts and WP was a static quenching process. Thermodynamic analysis showed their binding was mainly through hydrophobic interactions. Their binding affinity was higher for preheated WP than native WP and decreased gradually with increasing preheating temperature. Black carrot anthocyanin extract had the lowest binding affinity with WP, likely due to the larger molecular structure. These results help better understand the protection mechanism of native and preheated WP on anthocyanin color stability, expanding the application of anthocyanins as food colorants that better withstand processing and storage.
The Role of Co-injected Helium on Swelling and Cavity Evolution at High Damage Levels in Ferritic-Martensitic Steels

Abstract The influence of helium co-injection at rates from 0 to 4 appm He/dpa on swelling in ferritic-martensitic alloys T91 and HT9 was explored. Irradiations with 5.0 MeV Fe++ ions and degraded He++ ions were performed at 445°C up to damage levels of 150 dpa and helium co-injection rates of 0, 0.02, 0.2 and 4 appm He/dpa in T91, and at 460°C to a damage level of 188 dpa and helium co-injection rates of 0, 0.06 and 4 appm He/dpa in HT9. Helium was observed to enhance cavity nucleation at low damage levels, resulting in the maximum swelling at the highest helium co-injection rate. As the damage level was increased, the helium content at which swelling was maximized shifted to lower helium concentrations, ultimately resulting in the highest swelling occurring with zero helium by 150 dpa. This behavior was due to the helium-stabilized bubble microstructure that increased the cavity sink strength and reduced both cavity growth rate and swelling relative to the helium-free condition.
How Do You Prepare for the Unexpected Cyber Attack

Last fall, in Northern California, the United States experienced its first ever deliberate large-scale and long-lasting blackout. Fueled by fears of increased devastating fires due to its century-old equipment, the region’s utility company shut off power to more than 1.5 million people forcing many evacuations. The impact was devastating; Michael Wara, a climate and energy expert at Stanford University, estimated the cost to California as up to $2.5 billion. For cybersecurity experts like myself, the blackout was a signal of just how precarious our reliance on electricity is, and how much we have to fear in cyberattacks. Think about what would happen if a cyberattack brought down the power grid in New York or even just a larger part of the country. As we saw in California, people could manage for a few hours -- maybe a few days -- but what would happen if the outage lasted for a week or more? If a larger population was targeted with a cyberattack on a utility, is an evacuation of millions of people feasible or desirable?
Corrective Justice and Reparations for Black Slavery

Over the last two decades, legal scholarship has been catching up with the more than century old calls by black Americans for reparations.1 Tax scholar Boris Bittker (in)famously launched the viability of black reparations into legal scholarship with his now classic monograph, The Case for Black Reparations.2 However, it would take more than twenty years for mainstream legal scholarship to take up the robust and wide-ranging set of questions raised by the possibility of reparations for American slavery.3 In the late 1990s private law scholars leapt into the debate, discussing unjust enrichment and torts-based models of black reparations.4 While these scholars made a variety of distinct arguments, collectively, their model rested on the contention that America had wrongfully expropriated the labor of generations of enslaved African Americans and the result had been systemic unjust enrichment, or a species of mass torts. Grounded in various conceptions of corrective justice, these models conceive black reparations as a set of claims that would be litigated through the courts. Over the ensuing two decades, the private law model has become somewhat of an outlier in reparations discussions, largely set aside in favor of broader, more explicitly political approaches.
Capturing the Essence of Practical Obfuscation

In the realm of protecting programs from illegitimate use, obfuscation offers a modicum of defense against malicious reverse engineering and tampering. As a field of study, obfuscation would benefit from a unifying framework that has solid theoretical foundation yet provides value in empirical study and implementation. The essence of obfuscation (in practice) is best described as a measurable loss of abstraction. We argue that mathematical frameworks such as abstract interpretation and Boolean algebras may provide an ideal marriage of theory and practice, providing focused direction for future research.
[Poster session - 8 abstracts]

Many modern sensor applications require the sensor to work in isolated environments on its own for extended durations. In most of these cases it is very hard to access the sensor and change the batteries. For instance, accessing the sensor requires surgery in the case of implanted biomedical sensors. Even very low power, low-leakage, and energy-efficient systems are limited by the finite energy stored on a battery. Therefore, it is desirable for the sensor system to harvest energy from the environment to assist the battery or completely remove the battery. Photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting is one viable source with high conversion efficiency and is also compatible with the standard CMOS process. [1,2,3]. The same pn-junction structures readily available in CMOS processes that are used to build the image sensing photodiodes can be used to build solar cells. Integrating energy harvesting capability into image sensors reduces system cost and volume and avoids many unnecessary energy conversions with energy loss and enables the sensor to use readily available energy in the environment. A number of CMOS image sensor designs with energy harvesting photodiodes have been reported with primary focus on the development of pixel cell structure to improve harvesting ability. [4-9] This work will review and compare the energy harvesting image sensor structures presented in literature and whether autonomous sensors might be possible with this technology solving the powering problem of isolated sensors.
A new infrared sensor for mud logging and formation evaluation

Summary form only given. Fast recognition of methane influx into the well and hydrocarbon composition evaluation in the circulated drilling fluid (mud) is of extreme importance for drilling safety and efficiency. FT-IR spectroscopy is now considered to be the best for oil "fingerprinting" in the laboratory environment. Recent progress in industrial applications of attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sampling technique for the online chemical process control together with the development of a fast computer controlled all-solid-state with no-moving-parts spectrograph based on the acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) principle allows the design of an IR chemical sensor capable of working in the hostile downhole environment. In this paper we address the problem of choosing an appropriate spectral region and report our experimental results on high pressure and elevated temperature testing of this new sampling technique.
Mentoring School-Based Careers in Graduate Education: Conceptual Considerations and Case Illustration

ABSTRACT Competition has increased in mental health practice. Still, while opportunities in private practice have lessened, school-based mental health practice has witnessed steady growth. Mentoring relationships can serve a critical role in fostering knowledge of school-based careers and about practitioner and higher education opportunities in school psychology. Defined as a process whereby a senior colleague guides, supports, and assists a less developed colleague, mentoring can be critical in fostering practitioner and training careers. This article examines positive contributions of mentoring and provides an example of one successful mentoring relationship involving a 38-year-old student pursuing a graduate program leading to credentialing as a Certified School Psychologist.
After the Honeymoon: The Evolution of Problem Issues in Utah LDS Marriages

The main objective of this study was to extend previous research in the area of longitudinal marital satisfaction by examining how marital issues, including decision-making, activities, affection, conflict, financial matters, stability, and values, changed over the first 5 years of marriage for 242 Utah, Latter-Day-Saint individuals. In addition, this study examined whether change occurs differently for husbands versus wives and for at-risk individuals versus non-risk individuals. The results showed that four marital issues worsened over time (activities, affection, conflict, and stability). Two of the six subscales (activities and affection) were found to differ significantly by gender. In addition, four subscales were significantly different for at-risk couples when compared with non-risk couples (decision-making, activities, conflict, and stability). Limitations and recommendations are discussed.
Binding Characteristics of Lectins Involved in the Trapping of Nematodes by Fungi

Seventeen saccharides were tested for their ability to bind to the trap lectins of three species of nematode-trapping fungi and prevent nematode capture. The lectin of Arthrobotrys conoides was found to be inhibited by α-d-glucose/d-mannose and similar saccharides. The lectins of Monacrosporium eudermatum and Monacrosporium rutgeriensis were inhibited by α-l-fucose and 2-deoxy-d-glucose, respectively. Human group O(H) erythrocytes agglutinated to traps of M. eudermatum but not A. conoides or M. rutgeriensis. There was no agglutination of group A or B to traps formed by all three fungi. Exposure of the traps to trypsin eliminated the ability to capture nematodes. The presence of d-glucose/d-mannose and l-fucose residues on the nematode cuticle was suggested through the use of commercially prepared lectin-peroxidase conjugates.
Vitamin D receptor activation: implications for daily practice.

Many clinical studies have focused on the relationship between outcome events and serum 25- OH vitamin D levels, despite the fact that most effects are mediated by vitamin D receptor (VDR) activation, the most proximate ligand for which is 1,25-OH2 vitamin D. Evaluation of the separate components of this axis are well described, but an integrated view of the components, and the distinctions between the effects and consequences of substrate deficiency (25-OH vitamin D), and the direct effects of VDR activation, is the center of focus and ultimately impacts on the clinical approach to patents with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The focus of this contribution is on the specially defined need for vitamin D treatment in patients with CKD, and the importance of VDR activation in CKD, especially in patients with proteinuria. With the addition of the fibroblast growth factor-23 loop, and the realization that albuminuria represents several critical integrated levels of renal function, there is an emerging emphasis on the proximal tubule, interstitial inflammation and fibrosis. These interacting factors reflect fundamental mechanisms that culminate in progressive loss of kidney function(s), with loss of the glomerular filtration rate the most prominent feature. New therapeutic approaches could potentially intervene along these pathways, but they will have to be rigorously evaluated with defined outcome studies and cost-benefit ratio analyses. The ultimate impact of chronic renal replacement therapy and cardiorenal death are the measures by which all such innovations must be judged.
Impaired Processing of Positive and Negative Facial Expressions in Right Hemisphere Stroke (P2.159)

OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that lesions in right amygdala and right anterior insula are associated with impaired recognition of emotional facial expressions, and that there are differences in which facial expressions are affected by distinct lesion sites. DESIGN/METHODS: Thirty patients with right hemisphere (RH) stroke (mean age = 52.8 + 12.1; 13 female; mean education = 14.4 + 2.5) completed a facial recognition task. Responses were compared to 12 hospitalized controls matched for age and education. Total lesion volume was also calculated. RESULTS: RH stroke patients significantly differed from controls on positive (83 vs. 95% correct; df 40; p = 0.008) and negative emotions (59 vs. 81% correct; df 40; p = 0.01). Patients with amygdala lesions differed from controls on positive (p = 0.01) and negative emotions (p < 0.0001). Patients with anterior insula lesions differed from controls on negative emotions only (p < 0.0001), including fear (p = 0.046), disgust (p = 0.003), angry (p = 0.002), and sad (p = 0.004). Patients with any right amygdala lesions had significantly lower scores on recognition of happy faces than those with other lesions (t = -3.236; df 28; p = 0.003); patients with right anterior insula lesions had significantly lower scores on recognition of angry faces than those with other lesions (t = -2.356; df 28; p = 0.026). Patients with frontal and parietal lesions were not disproportionately impaired compared to patients with other lesions. There was no significant association between total lesion volume and total percent correct or percent correct for any face type. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with RH stroke had impaired ability to process facial expressions relative to controls. Patients with lesions in the right amygdala and right anterior insula demonstrated particular difficulty processing specific facial expressions. Results suggest that these patients have difficulty recognizing the emotions of others which can impair social interactions, indicating a target for novel interventions. Study supported by: NINDS, R01NS047691. Disclosure: Dr. Tippett has nothing to disclose. Dr. Davis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gomez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Trupe has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hillis has received research support from Allon Pharmaceutical.
Intelligence of Apes and Other Rational Beings

What is animal intelligence? In what ways is it similar to human intelligence? Many behavioural scientists have realized that animals can be rational, can think in abstract symbols, can understand and react to human speech, and can learn through observation as well as conditioning many of the more complicated skills of life. Duane Rumbaugh and David Washburn have identified an advanced level of animal behaviour that reflects animals' natural and active inclination to make sense of the world. Rumbaugh and Washburn unify all behaviour into a framework they call Rational Behaviourism and present it as a new way to understand learning, intelligence and rational behaviour in both animals and humans. Drawing on years of research on issues of complex learning and intelligence in primates (notably rhesus monkeys, chimpanzees and bonobos), Rumbaugh and Washburn provide delightful examples of animal ingenuity and persistence, showing that animals are capable of very creative solutions to novel challenges. The authors analyse learning processes and research methods, discuss the meaningful differences across the primate order and point the way to further advances, enlivening theoretical material about primates with stories about their behaviour and achievements.
Case 218: Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome

Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome is a rare inherited syndrome, with hallmark manifestations consisting of renal cell carcinoma, fibrofolliculomata, and lung cysts.
Void swelling of Nb and Nb-1% Zr induced by 58Ni+ bombardment

Abstract The void swelling of Nb and a Nb-1 at % Zr alloy on 58Ni+ irradiation to approximately 50 atom displacements per atom at temperatures between 600 and 1150°C has been determined. The void swelling, determined from transmission electron microscopy observations, shows a ‘double peak’ in the temperature dependence of swelling. The existence of two swelling peaks was confirmed by step-height measurements on the irradiated specimens. The experimental results suggest that oxygen and nitrogen absorption during irradiation enhances the high-temperature swelling. It is shown that the calculated sink efficiencies for the observed irradiation-produced microstructural defects are consistent with the observed swelling peaks.
Femoral lengths and stature in Plio-Pleistocene hominids

This study reports the femoral lengths of 31 Plio-Pleistocene hominids dated between 3.1 and 0.7 million years ago, and uses those lengths to estimate stature by way of the femur-stature ratio reported by Feldesman et al. (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 78:219–220, 1989). By this method the average female Australopithecus afarensis is 105 cm and the average male is 151 cm. The respective values are 115 and 138 cm for A. africanus. As defined by Howell (In VJ Maglio and HBS Cooke (eds): The Evolution of African Mammals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978) and Johanson et al. (Kirtlandia 28:1–14, 1978), Homo habilis is a sexually dimorphic species, with females standing 118 cm and males 157 cm. Such apparently strong dimorphism may be due to the possibility that there are actually two species of nonrobust hominids between 2 and 1.7 m.y.a. The estimate for the female Austratopithecus boisei is 124 cm and for the male, 137 cm, but these estimates are especially difficult to be certain of because there are no femora that can be positively identified as male A. boisei. Australopithecus robustus is estimated to be 110 cm (female) and 132 cm (male). African Homo erectus stood 160 cm (female) and 180 cm (male). From these estimates several generalizations are apparent. First, there is apparently strong sexual dimorphism in stature in A. afarensis and H. habitis, but less in the other species. Second, the “robust” australopithecines were relatively small statured. Third, it is apparently not true that humans have been getting progressively taller throughout their evolutionary history. Some individuals were as tall as modern humans 3 m.y.a., by 2 m.y.a. one individual stood about 173 cm, and by 1.7 m.y.a. a stature of 180+ cm was not uncommon.
Deferasirox exposure induces reactive oxygen species and reduces growth and viability of myelodysplastic hematopoietic progenitors

We examined the effect of deferasirox (DFX) on CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors from MDS patients. Progressive, dose-dependent suppression of MDS progenitor proliferation in culture was observed with DFX concentrations ranging from 5 μM to 20 μM. This effect was more pronounced in MDS compared to CD34+ progenitors isolated from umbilical cord blood or normal peripheral blood. There was reduced viability of MDS progenitors but not normal progenitors at 20 μM DFX which increased with duration of exposure. Exposure to 20 μM DFX for 14 days markedly suppressed colony growth of MDS progenitors. Reactive oxygen species levels were elevated above control at concentrations of DFX above 5 μM. We conclude that exposure to DFX results in dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation, and survival in MDS progenitors.
Pulse power tests on nickel oxide electrodes for nickel—zinc electric vehicle batteries

Abstract In the development of non-sintered nickel oxide electrodes for NiZn electric vehicle (EV) batteries, maintaining adequate power performance was of particular concern. In the systems studied, the power output was limited by the nickel oxide electrodes. Simple pulse power tests were useful in characterizing the power performance in such cells. Although the cell impedance was not a simple resistance, the effective impedance at the end of a high rate discharge pulse had a resistive nature. This simplified the test procedures so that an accurate estimate of peak power could be obtained from one measurement. Measurements of the dependence on state of charge showed that the power output at 50% depth of discharge was representative of the power capability available during discharge. A method was devised to project power performance expected in a NiZn cell from NiCd cell tests. This was useful in testing the durabili
Thermal management of masks for deep x-ray lithography.

This paper addresses some options and techniques in the thermal management of masks used in deep x-ray lithography. The x-ray masks are thin plates made of low-atomic-number materials on which a patterned thin film of a high-atomic- number metal has been deposited. When they are exposed to an x-ray beam, part of the radiation is transmitted to replicate the pattern on a downstream photoresist, and the remainder is absorbed in the mask in the form of heat. This heat load can cause deformation of the mask and thus image distortion in the lithography process. The mask geometry considered in the present study is 100 mm X 100 mm in area, and about 0.1 to 2 mm thick. The incident radiation is a bending magnet x-ray beam having a footprint of 60 mm X 4 mm at the mask. The mask is scanned vertically about +/- 30 mm so that a 60 mm X 60 mm area is exposed. The maximum absorbed heat load in the mask is 80 W, which is significantly greater than a few watts encountered in previous systems. In this paper, cooling techniques, substrate material selection, transient and steady state thermal and structural behavior, and other thermo-mechanical aspects of mask design are discussed. It is shown that, while diamond and graphite remain attractive candidates, at present beryllium is a more suitable material for this purpose and, when properly cooled, can provide the necessary dimensional tolerance.
The role of justice in interdependent decision making

Abstract A motivational analysis of decision making in which payoffs are interdependent suggests that choices can be regarded as means of allocating rewards in accordance with certain ethical principles, which may not correspond to “rational” decision criteria of the sort proposed by statistical decision and game theorists—e.g., mazimizing expected utility. Specifically, individuals a and b appear to make maximizing choices with the frequency that is required to maintain or achieve justice in the distribution of rewards—a condition quantitatively defined as equality of the ratios of their perceived relative merit (X) to the amount of reward (R) felt to be deserved. Thus, X a R a = X b R b . Experiments designed to test hypotheses derived from this “exchange” theory of choice behavior yielded entirely affirmative results.
Improving surgical models through one/two class learning

Only a minority of patients undergoing in-patient surgical procedures experience complications. However, the large number of in-patient surgeries (over 48 million procedures each year in the U.S.) results in substantial overall mortality and morbidity due to these complications. This burden can be decreased through improvements in the ability to evaluate patients by the bedside, and to assess surgical quality and out-comes across hospitals. Unfortunately, the process of developing clinical models for surgical complications is made challenging by the availability of generally small datasets for model training, and by class imbalance due to the diminished prevalence of many important complications. In this paper, we address this issue and explore the idea of jointly leveraging the benefits of both supervised and unsupervised learning to model surgical complications that occur infrequently. In particular, we study an approach where the problems of supervised and unsupervised model development are treated as tasks that can be transferred. Focussing this work on support vector machine (SVM) classification, we describe a transfer learning algorithm that improves performance relative to both supervised (i.e., binary or 2-class SVM) and unsupervised (i.e., 1-class SVM) methods, as well as the use of cost-sensitive weighting techniques, for predicting different surgical complications within the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry.
Results of a Computer Prediction of After-Radiation Reliability

This paper describes the results of predicting the reliability of a circuit at different radiation levels. The conditional mean and variance of circuit output and the conditional reliability are predicted using Sceptre and test data on components exposed to different levels of radiation. These predictions are compared with the results of tests of the circuit. The difference between predictions and tests are examined and explained. The conclusions suggest a minor modification of the proposed method. We also suggest that this method of computer-aided reliability prediction can be a valuable design aid. This is especially true when there is a significant effect due to environmental variation, such as the effect of radiation on semiconductors.
Surface-Free Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Mechanical forces play key roles throughout biology. Most existing methods for probing forces in/between molecules and cells, such as the AFM, optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, traction force microscopy, etc., require molecules to be tethered to the surfaces of cover glasses or beads. However, surface tethering has a number of drawbacks. First, the conjugation chemistry for tethering can be challenging. Second, the spatial confinement and the nonspecific attraction from the surface can induce artifacts to the dynamics of the molecule. For semi-rigid objects, such as actin filaments, surface attachment could also induce bending and twisting of the filament, complicating the applied force profile. To overcome these issues, we present a surface-free force spectroscopy method that uses a high-speed cross-slot hydrodynamic trap, capable of stretching molecules and cells with hydrodynamic drag. The trap is based on a glass microfluidic cross-slot flow chamber. Buffer flows in from two opposite directions and exits via the two orthogonal outlets to create an elongational flow field with a stagnation point in the center. As a result, objects near the stagnation point are stretched by the viscous drag from the flow. In addition, the pressure in one of the outlet reservoirs is electronically controlled with a high-speed feedback algorithm to stabilize the object at the stagnation point. Thanks to the high-speed feedback, we can apply much higher flow rate and therefore much higher stretching force on the trapped object than with the cross slot alone. We demonstrate tension-dependent actin severing, extension of von Willebrand Factor (a key protein in haemostasis that changes conformation in response to hydrodynamic stress in blood stream), overstretching of double strand DNA, and stretching deformation of red blood cells. In summary, the high-speed cross-slot hydrodynamic trap can be a powerful, surface-free alternative to more commonly used force spectroscopy methods.
Improvement of soil properties using compost for optimum parsley production in sandy soils

Abstract In the warm and wet north Florida climate, growing Italian parsley (Petroselinum crispum [Mill.]) is gaining popularity with small producers as a short duration crop on sandy soil. Application of compost to agricultural land can benefit the low fertile sandy soils in Florida and subsequent crop production, while providing an outlet for recycling municipal solid wastes (MSW) and biosolids. A field study was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications to evaluate the effects of compost (75% MSW:25% biosolids) application in comparison to fertilizer, fertilizer + compost (50:50), and control treatments on: (a) parsley fresh weight (FW), (b) soil and plant tissue nutrient concentrations, and (c) soil bulk density and moisture retention in winter and spring seasons. Soil amended with fertilizer or compost + fertilizer doubled parsley FW from 15.02 Mg ha−1 in the non-amended control plot to 30.75 and 32.67 Mg ha−1 in soils that received fertilizer + compost or fertilizer alone, respectively. Significantly higher total soil carbon (C) levels of 2.16% and 1.95% and nitrogen (N) levels of 0.19% and 0.16% were recorded in compost and fertilizer + compost treatments, respectively. Addition of compost reduced soil bulk density significantly to 1.03 Mg m−3 and increased soil moisture retention in simulated drier conditions at 1500 kPa to 0.12 m3 m−3 in plots that received only compost at the end of winter growing season. Overall, addition of compost resulted in improvement of both physical and chemical properties as well as increased parsley yields.
Complete nucleotide sequences of plasmids pACK1 and pACK3 from Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus

Abstract Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus contains five plasmids designated pACK1–pACK5. The complete nucleotide sequences of pACK1 (55171 bp) and pACK3 (28613 bp) were determined and sequence comparison revealed that the entire pACK3 sequence is present on pACK1 (99.98% identical on the nucleotide level) with the sequence unique to pACK1 located between sin and blaZ, which are adjacent in pACK3. The common region contains the staphylococcal β-lactamase transposon Tn552 and ORFs with similarity to genes encoding a serine-recombinase, enzymes involved in pantothenate biosynthesis, and components of the secA2 region involved in bacterial adherence to host tissues. The common region also contains a cluster of six ORFs that share no significant similarity to sequences previously described in GenBank. The region unique to pACK1, in addition to the genes for lysostaphin and lysostaphin resistance, contains ORFs with similarity to genes encoding a toxin–antitoxin addiction system and proteins involved in plasmid partitioning. The unique region also contains several ORFs that are similar to genes typically found on the chromosome such as those encoding catalase, ferrochelatase, and an enzyme involved in pantothenate biosynthesis. In pACK1, the ends of the unique region contain IS431 elements with direct repeats marking the points where the two plasmid sequences diverge. Several observations suggest that pACK1 was derived by insertion of the unique region into pACK3.
Is family presence practical during emergency resuscitation

When family members ask to be present during the resuscitation of their loved ones, should health care providers grant their requests?
Categorical colour perception under low-pressure sodium lighting with small amounts of added incandescent illumination

Under monochromatic illumination, such as that produced by low-pressure sodium sources, only variations in lightness can be perceived. This paper investigates the degree to which the addition of small amounts of full-spectrum incandescent illumination can improve colour categorisation.
Towards a new kind of computational manipulative: children learning math and designing quilts with manipulatives that afford both

DigiQuilt is a software system intended to allow children to design patchwork quilt blocks in the context of learning about symmetry and fractions. It combines the benefits of virtual manipulatives and learning through design. In the following pages, we describe a new kind of manipulative environment with explicit support for design and math.
Cognitive development in macaques: Attentional set-shifting in juvenile and adult rhesus monkeys

In humans and nonhuman primates, the structure and function of frontal cortical regions of the brain are not completely developed until early adulthood. How this cortical development affects cognitive function continues to be elucidated. To that end, this experiment tested the ability of juvenile and adult rhesus monkeys to perform a cognitive task that is dependent upon intact frontal cortical function for optimal performance. Twenty-four juvenile (mean age 2.3 years) and 16 adult (mean age 10.3 years) rhesus monkeys were tested on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery intradimensional/extradimensional set-shifting (ID/ED) task. Performance on the ID/ED task has been shown to be dependent upon frontal cortical function in both humans and nonhuman primates. Compared with adults, juveniles were impaired on the reversal of simple discrimination, intradimensional shift, reversal of intradimensional shift, and the extradimensional shift stages of the task. These results indicate juveniles committed more perseverative errors and more errors on the set-formation and set-shifting components of the ID/ED task. The developmental stage of the juvenile monkeys corresponds to roughly 5 to 6-year-old children, and these results are consistent with performance of human children and adults on similar ID/ED tests and on several other tests of attentional set-shifting or attentional flexibility. Furthermore, these results are consistent with the ongoing development of frontal cortical structures relating to ongoing cognitive development in nonhuman primates.
Approximation of some NP-hard optimization problems by finite machines, in probability

We introduce a subclass of NP optimization problems which contains some NP-hard problems, e.g., bin covering and bin packing. For each problem in this subclass we prove that with probability tending to 1 (exponentially fast as the number of input items tends to infinity), the problem is approximable up to any chosen relative error bound ?>0 by a deterministic finite-state machine. More precisely, let ? be a problem in our subclass of NP optimization problems, let ?>0 be any chosen bound, and assume there is a fixed (but arbitrary) probability distribution for the inputs. Then there exists a finite-state machine which does the following: On an input I (random according to this probability distribution), the finite-state machine produces a feasible solution whose objective value M(I) satisfiesP|Opt(I)?M(I)|max{Opt(I),M(I)}???Ke?hn,when n is large enough. Here K and h are positive constants.
Effects of anxiety and stress on verbal mediation in children

Effects of test-defined anxiety and instruction-induced stress on verbal mediation were investigated in 58 fifth grade children, under the expectation that increases in drive level would enhance both mediated facilitation and interference. Both facilitation and interference were obtained, but anxiety and stress tended to increase errors on all types of word pairs, including non-mediational control pairs.
AFDC/TANF Exits and Re-entries for Families Raising Children with Educational Disabilities

Abstract Having a child with a disability is considered a barrier to self-sufficiency among welfare recipients. This study examines the impact of children's educational disability on single-mother families' welfare exits and re-entries for a cohort of children in a metropolitan region in Missouri, who were born between 1982 and 1994, and received AFDC/TANF at least once from 1990 through 2008 (N = 4928). A semiparametric proportional hazards model for recurrent events is used to analyze the relationship between a child's educational disability and family welfare exit and re-entry. Results show that families with children with disabilities (the disability group) are less likely to exit and more likely to re-enter the welfare system than families with children without disabilities (the nondisability group). After the 1996 welfare reform, the welfare exit rate increases more for the disability group than for the nondisability group, while the welfare re-entry rate decreases less for the disability group than for the nondisability group.
A supersonic molecular beam mass spectrometric study of hydrogen bonding in ammonia

Abstract A supersonic molecular beam expanding from ammonia vapor at various pressures and temperatures is ionized by vacuum ultraviolet radiation dispersed from an electron storage ring. The resulting photoions are detected with a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Ions belonging to the series (NH3)nH+ for 1 ⩽ n ⩽ 9 are detected in addition to monomer molecular and fragment ions, indicating the presence of several clusters larger than the dimer. Examination of the dependence of ion intensities on source temperature, on pressure, and on nozzle—skimmer distance, indicates complex interaction among these variables, especially at high source pressures (⩾200 torr). The temperature dependence of ion intensities at 100 torr provides estimates of the hydrogen bond energies for stepwise formation of ammonia clusters. These estimates (−4.61, −3.88, −5.22, and −3.84 ± 0.5 kcal mol−1 for dimer through pentamer, respectively) indicate cooperative enhancement of the stability of the neutral ammonia tetramer. This result is discussed in terms of a general model for hydrogen bonding, and is compared with results of other theoretical and experimental studies.
Composition Control and Formation Pathway of CZTS and CZTGS Nanocrystal Inks for Kesterite Solar Cells

The ability to reproducibly synthesize nanocrystal (NC) inks with precisely controlled compositions is essential for making efficient kesterite solar cells from NCs. Here we present the results of a study on Cu–Zn–Sn–S NCs in which different particle size fractions were collected over a range of reaction times from various starting reagents. From this we have determined the temporal evolution of the NC ink and identified at least two distinct particle populations that form following injection: large particles containing primarily Cu and Zn, and small particles of Cu and Sn. For short reaction times, the extreme compositional heterogeneity between these size fractions makes the average ink composition highly sensitive to changes in reaction time and precipitation procedure. Longer synthesis times produce more consistent inks, with higher yield, and compositions closer to that of the starting reagents. The choice of metal precursor was found to have a minor impact on the composition of the resulting ink com...
Intravenous histamine reduces bombesin-stimulated gastrin release in dogs

Abstract The effect of histamine on gastrin release was studied in 7 conscious mongrel dogs with chronic gastric and duodenal fistulas. Histamine-2 HCl was infused in doses of 0 (control), 20, 40, 80, and 160 μg/kg per h for 2 h on separate days. During the second hour, bombesin 500 ng/kg per h was infused intravenously. Intragastric pH was constantly kept at 2.5 by intragastric titration during each test. Leakage of gastric contents into the duodenum was prevented by a prepyloric balloon passed retrograde through a duodenal fistula. Gastrin release, as expressed by the integrated response during the last 50 min of the bombesin infusion was significantly ( P ) decreased by all doses of histamine, compared to control. The infusion doses of histamine studied, 20, 40, 80, and 160 μg/kg per h reduced bombesin-stimulated gastrin release 16%, 19%, 19%, and 30%, respectively. This effect was blocked by a histamine H-2 but not an H-1 receptor antagonist. We conclude that by an H-2 mechanism, exogenous histamine reduces bombesin-stimulated gastrin release in dog.
COMPUTER MODELING OF PROSTATE BIOPSY: TUMOR SIZE AND LOCATION-NOT CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE-DETERMINE CANCER DETECTION

AbstractPurpose: Sampling error is an inherent problem of prostate biopsy, and the determination of clinical significance based on biopsy results is problematic. We quantify the dimensions of these problems by computer simulation.Materials and Methods: We constructed 3-dimensional solid computer models of 59 autopsy prostates containing clinically undetected prostate cancer, and performed simulations of the standard prostate biopsy method.Results: Biopsy simulation detected 19 tumors from the 59 prostates, the majority of which were in the most accessible portion of the prostate, the posterior peripheral zone. Using 0.5 cc or greater tumor volume or less than 0.5 cc and Gleason sum 7 or greater as criteria of significance, the model detected 58% (11 of 19) significant tumors and 20% (8 of 40) insignificant tumors. With 0.25 cc or greater tumor volume or less than 0.25 cc and Gleason sum 7 or greater as criteria 15 of 29 significant (52%) and 4 of 30 insignificant (13%) tumors were detected. Among signific...