cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Understanding molecular recognition of promiscuity of thermophilic methionine adenosyltransferase sMAT from Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) is a family of enzymes that utilizes ATP and methionine to produce S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), the most crucial methyl donor in the biological methylation of biomolecules and bioactive natural products. Here, we report that the MAT from Sulfolobus solfataricus (sMAT), an enzyme from a poorly explored class of the MAT family, has the ability to produce a range of differentially alkylated AdoMet analogs in the presence of non-native methionine analogs and ATP. To investigate the molecular basis for AdoMet analog production, we have crystallized the sMAT in the AdoMet bound, S-adenosylethionine (AdoEth) bound and unbound forms. Notably, among these structures, the AdoEth bound form offers the first MAT structure containing a non-native product, and cumulatively these structures add new structural insight into the MAT family and allow for detailed active site comparison with its homologs in Escherichia coli and human. As a thermostable MAT structure from archaea, the structures herein also provide a basis for future engineering to potentially broaden AdoMet analog production as reagents for methyltransferase-catalyzed ‘alkylrandomization’ and/or the study of methylation in the context of biological processes. Databases PDB IDs: 4HPV, 4L7I, 4K0B and 4L2Z. EC 2.5.1.6 Structured digital abstract • sMAT and sMAT bind by x-ray crystallography (View interaction)
Conformal antenna applicator for Traumatic Brain Injury assessment

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major cause is defined as the trauma caused by the injury to the head and according to Center for Disease Control (CDC), TBI is the major cause of death worldwide. Most TBI injuries are related to traumas sustained at the battle field therefore males experience more TBIs than females. Other major causes of TBI include falls and vehicle accidents. Depending on the severity of the TBI, the effects can be behavioral, physical, social, cognitive, and emotional. The injury can be fatal or can leave the person disable for life. The most effective way of diagnosing TBI is through Magnetic Resonant Imaging since MRI provides excellent soft tissue contrast. Different treatment options are followed based on the severity of the TBI ranging from medication to emergency surgery. Because TBI can be fatal, the early diagnosis and treatment is the key to save lives. According to CDC, a significant percentage of the people are not killed instantly but after a period of time if they do not receive proper assessment and treatment. Although MRI is the most effective technology for assessment, unfortunately, it is very expensive and the bulkiness of the equipment prevents it to be used in many different setting such as battlefield. In order to provide a quick and cost effective assessment technology, in this study, we investigate conformal microwave arrays. We consider different frequencies to study the sensitivity and efficacy of the antenna array. We also provide ex vivo measurement using pig brain and skull phantoms.
Distribution of Carboxyl Groups in Carboxymethylated Cotton Fibers

Cotton cellulose was partially carboxymethylated by a one-bath method using monochloroacetic acid and sodium hydroxide. A method was developed to study the extent of the carboxymethylation of cellulose within the cotton fibers using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Uranyl nitrate was used as a stain. Scanning electron photomicrographs revealed that the carboxymethylation of cellulose occurred throughout the cotton fiber cross section. However, the X-ray microanalysis data indicated a variation in the extent of the reaction among the morphological regions that have different chemical accessibility. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 203–207, 1999
The effects of non-uniform density and stagnation pressure on the breakdown characteristics of a vortex

This paper is concerned with the extension of the theory of vortex breakdown, that was presented in previous publications by the present author and others, to cases of non-uniform density and non-uniform stagnation pressure outside the vortex core. The effects of radial density and velocity variations play an essential role for the layout of modern low-emission burners for premixed combustion. Furthermore, these effects turn out to be important with respect to an improved understanding of the formation of zones of flow recirculation in tornado-like vortices. With the help of the extension of a variational principle for axisymmetric flow to the case of non-uniform density it is possible to discuss inviscid flows of non-uniform density and stagnation pressure in great generality. A numerical solution method is given for general axisymmetric vortex flows, including flows that undergo vortex breakdown. The influences of density and stagnation pressure variations on vortex breakdown are analyzed in detail, for the special case of a generalized Rankine vortex. It is found that a radially increasing density leads to a reduction of the swirl number at which vortex breakdown occurs, whereas a radially decreasing axial velocity component in the approach flow of a vortex breakdown bubble leads to a substantially enlarged bubble. Finally, a Richardson number criterion is proposed for the scaling of a vortex breakdown bubble in a tornado.
A cost-plus trap: Pricing heuristics and demand identification

Cost plus pricing is a common pricing heuristic. We investigate whether a firm, following cost plus pricing in a simple environment, will eventually have enough information about demand conditions to switch to an optimization-based pricing approach. We find that with unsophisticated statistical approaches this is unlikely, and even with a Bayesian decision theoretic approach there can be what we call a “cost plus trap.”
3D bronchial tree model and fractal analysis as tools for the performance evaluation of different CT acquisition/reconstruction schemes

We present an algorithm for the construction of a 3D bronchial tree representation based on an asymmetric dichotomy model proposed by Weibel. The model has a total of ten branch generations and three independent parameters for each branch. The bronchial tree model is constructed by dividing each branch of a generation into two subbranches, except for the first few generations where some branches divided into three subbranches. The bronchial tree model is used as a testground to simulate different CT acquisition/reconstruction schemes and examine the role of CT parameters, such as slice thickness and overlap/spacing, on the measurement of fractal properties of the lung. A digital version of the model with high resolution (0.2 mm/pix) is created first. Acquisition schemes are then simulated by dividing this high resolution version of the model into cross-sections and summing one or more cross- sections to form a series of 2D slices. Three acquisition schemes are simulated by choosing different ways to generate these 2D slices. To reconstruct the 3D bronchial tree structure from a series of 2D slices, interpolation is applied between the 2D slices to recover the original volume. Two types of interpolations are used here: (1) slice repetition (2) linear interpolation. Fractal measures of the 3D bronchial tree structure are estimated from the reconstructed images and compared with the same measures from the high resolution model.
Synchrony of Diurnal Cortisol Pattern in Couples

Cortisol is a biomarker of stress reactivity and its diurnal pattern is an indicator of general neuroendocrine health. Despite theories conceptualizing marital dyads as dynamic systems wherein spouses are interdependent in their physiology and stress coping, little is known about the daily processes in which spouses possibly influence each other in biological stress. Nineteen heterosexual couples provided saliva samples containing cortisol 4 times a day for 4 consecutive days. We used multilevel modeling to examine whether one’s cortisol awaking response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) predict those of the spouse’s on the same day and/or on the next day. We found that spouses synchronize their DCS, such that on days when one experiences faster or slower decline in diurnal cortisol than usual, the spouse also experiences faster or slower decline than usual. For CAR, positive synchrony was only observed in couples reporting high levels of marital strain and disagreement. Cross-lagged regression analysis reveals stability in diurnal cortisol pattern. A steeper cortisol slope on a particular day predicts a steeper slope on the next day within an individual, but no significant cross-lagged relation was found between spouses. Couples reporting more spousal support tend to have stronger stability in CAR. These findings provide evidence that spouses are interdependent in their diurnal cortisol patterns on a day-to-day basis, and that these daily dynamics are associated with marital relationship quality. The study contributes to our understanding of marital processes and biobehavioral health. It also contributes methodologically to the advancement of longitudinal dyadic analysis.
Scintillator light source for chemical sensing in the near-ultraviolet

A novel chemical sensor based on a light source composed of a radionuclide and a scintillator is experimentally evaluated. Proper selection of a radionuclide/scintillator combination permits fabrication of a practical light source emitting in the ultraviolet (UV). Such a UV light source is critical for chemical sensors which utilize UV-excitable chromophores or fluorophores. Unlike conventional gas-filled discharge lamps, the developed UV source is compact, inexpensive, simple in design, stable, and highly reliable, and it does not require an external power source. The utility of the new source was demonstrated through construction of sensors for oxygen. This application was selected for experimental evaluation of the new light source since oxygen sensors have been characterized well with conventional light sources. Although the scintillator light source is less intense than conventional sources, its excellent short- and long-term stability provides a reproducibility of fluorescence measurements of about 0.35% RSD. The stability of the scintillator light source suggests its utility in simple single-beam detection configurations.
A surface complexation model for sulfate and selenate on iron oxides consistent with spectroscopic and theoretical molecular evidence

Abstract Sulfate and selenate adsorption on iron oxides are important reactions in natural systems under a very wide range of pH values, ionic strengths, and electrolyte compositions. Under such conditions, spectroscopic and theoretical calculations have demonstrated the potential importance of a variety of surface species. Understanding the variations in the surface speciation of these oxyanions is fundamental to prediction of their partitioning between minerals and aqueous solutions. In the present study, published experimental spectroscopic and theoretical molecular evidence of the identity of sulfate/selenate surface species are integrated with a surface complexation model consistent with a wide variety of experimental adsorption, surface titration, and proton coadsorption data to define the surface speciation of sulfate and selenate on iron oxides under a wide range of conditions. The analysis was carried out with the extended triple layer model (ETLM) taking into account the electrostatics of water dipole desorption during ligand exchange reactions. On seven out of eight goethites studied, sulfate and selenate surface reactions can be represented by the formation of a monodentate-mononuclear inner-sphere and a bidentate-binuclear outer-sphere (or H-bonded) species according to > FeOH + H + + AO 4 2 - = > FeOAO 3 - + H 2 O and 2 > FeOH + 2 H + + AO 4 2 - = ( > FeOH 2 + ) 2 _ AO 4 2 - respectively, where A stands for S or Se. The model predicted changes in the proportions of the species with pH, ionic strength and surface coverage consistent with independently derived experimental evidence from in situ Raman, ATR-FTIR and EXAFS studies. In contrast to goethite, the ETLM analysis of sulfate and selenate adsorption on hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) required an additional outer-sphere (or H-bonded) surface species represented by, > FeOH + 2 H + + AO 4 2 - = > FeOH 2 + _ HAO 4 - Equilibrium constants for sulfate and selenate adsorption based on site-occupancy standard states (Kθ) for > FeOAO 3 - and ( > FeOH 2 + ) 2 _ AO 4 2 - on HFO are systematically higher than those on goethite, indicating that HFO has a greater affinity for sulfate and selenate than goethite.
Decoupled Current Control of Sensorless Induction-Motor Drives by Integral Sliding Mode

This paper discusses the problems of current decoupling control and controller tuning associated with sensorless vector-controlled induction-motor (IM) drives. In field-oriented control, the d-q synchronous-frame currents should be regulated to have independent dynamics such that the torque production of the IM resembles that of a separately excited dc motor. However, these currents are not naturally decoupled, and decoupling compensators should be used. Current loop tuning is an additional problem, since controller gains obtained by theoretical methods or simulation, quite often, do not work well on the real system. This paper proposes a new approach for current control that uses integral-sliding-mode (ISM) controllers to achieve decoupling. The synchronous-frame control voltages are synthesized as the sum of two controller outputs: a traditional one (PI) that acts on an ideal plant model and an ISM controller. The ISM controller decouples the d-q currents and compensates the parameter variations in the current loops of the machine. Simulations and experimental tests on a 0.25-hp three-phase induction machine show satisfactory results.
Soil organic matter in a ponderosa pine forest with varying seasons and intervals of prescribed burn

Abstract Prescribed burning is used to reduce fuel loads and return ponderosa pine forests of the Western U.S. to their historical structure and function. The impact of prescribed burning on soil is dependent on fire severity which is largely managed by burning in the fall or the spring; frequency of fire will also regulate long-term fire impacts. The objective of this study was to determine if soils and soil organic matter (SOM) were affected by prescribed burning in the fall or the spring using singular or multiple prescribed burns. Prescribed burning was initiated in the spring of 1997 and fall of 1997 at 5-year intervals and once during a 15-year period on a study site located within the Malheur National Forest of the southern Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. Soils were sampled by major genetic horizon in 2004. The 5-year interval plots had burned twice with 1–2 years of recovery while the 15-year interval plots had burned only once with 6–7 years of recovery. Samples were analyzed for pH, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), C/N ratio, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, water repellency, and humic substance composition by alkali extraction. Fall burning decreased C and N capital of the soil (O horizon +30 cm depth mineral soil) by 22–25%. Prescribed burning did not have an effect on fulvic or humic acid C concentration (FA and HA, respectively) of the mineral soil and only a minor effect on FA and HA concentration of the O horizon. One or two fall burns decreased humin and the alkali non-soluble C (NS) content of O horizon by 15 and 30%, respectively. Initiating fall burning in fire-suppressed stands may not preserve soil C, N, humin, and NS content, but may replicate the natural fire regime. Spring burning using a return interval of 5 or more years reduces the fuel load while having little impact on soil C, N, and SOM composition and may be used to prepare a site for subsequent fall burns.
An algorithm-architecture co-design framework for gridding reconstruction using FPGAs

Gridding is a method of interpolating irregularly sampled data on to a uniform grid and is a critical image reconstruction step in several applications which operate on non-Cartesian sampled data. In this paper, we present an algorithm architecture co-design framework for accelerating gridding using FPGAs. We present a parameterized hardware library for accelerating gridding to support both arbitrary and regular trajectories. We further describe our kernel automation framework which supports several kernel functions through look-up-table (LUT) based Taylor polynomial evaluation. This framework is integrated using an in-house multi-FPGA development platform which provides hardware infrastructure for integrating custom accelerators. Design-space exploration is enabled by an automation flow which allows system generation from an algorithm specification. We further provide several case studies by realizing systems for nonuniform fast Fourier transform (NuFFT) with different parameter sets and porting them on to the BEE3 platform. Results show speedups of more than 16X and 2X over existing CPU and FPGA implementations respectively, and up to 5.5 times higher performance-per-watt over a comparable GPU implementation.
Current Progress Toward Natural Phenomena Hazards Mitigation for Aging DOE Structures, Systems, and Components

This paper outlines a program under development to establish requirements, develop criteria and guidance for systematically evaluating the behavior of structures, systems, and components (SSC) in existing Department of Energy (DOE) facilities located across the United States when subjected to natural phenomena hazards (NPH). The requirements have been established in DOE Order 5480.28. Criteria are summarized in the implementing standards which accompany the order. An approach to implement the requirements for existing systems and components is currently being developed. 6 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.
Poloxamer 188 Reduces Axonal Beading Following Mechanical Trauma to Cultured Neurons

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI), a major component of traumatic brain injury, is a progressive event that may lead to secondary neuronal death. DAI is thought to be initiated by mechanically-induced increases in axolemmal permeability resulting in disruption of the cytoskeleton and blockade of axonal transport. We report an in vitro model that mimics important features of DAI observed in vivo. We induced fluid shear stress injury (FSSI) on cultured primary chick forebrain neurons and characterized the resulting structural and morphological changes. In addition, we tested the post-injury effect of Poloxamer 188 (P188), a tri-block co-polymer that is known to promote resealing membrane pores. We found that FSSI induces axonal beading, the ";hallmark"; morphology of DAI. Furthermore, beads co-localized with microtubule disruption, also characteristic of DAI. P188 reduced axonal beading to control levels indicating that axolemma integrity is an excellent target for therapeutic interventions.
Interactions of corporate financing and investment decisions: The effects of agency conflicts

Abstract We examine interactions between flexible financing and investment decisions in a model with stockholder–bondholder conflicts over investment policy. We find that financial flexibility encourages the choice of short-term debt thereby dramatically reducing the agency costs of under- and overinvestment. However, the reduction in agency costs may not encourage the firm to increase leverage, since the firm's initial debt level choice depends on the type of growth options in its investment opportunity set. The model has a number of testable predictions for the joint choice of leverage and maturity, and how these choices interact with a firm's growth opportunities.
Management of blood shortages in a tertiary care academic medical center: the Yale‐New Haven Hospital frozen blood reserve

Threats to national and local blood supplies in America mandate development of an effective blood management system for emergency preparedness and efficient blood inventory management. Seasonal or acute blood shortages could be compounded by the unavoidable distribution inefficiencies of the blood pipeline during an emergency. The Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) Blood Bank has developed a comprehensive emergency blood management plan, which includes maintenance of a tactical, limited frozen blood supply. A computer spreadsheet-based disaster prediction model has been designed to guide the use of the frozen reserve by testing various emergency scenarios. The frozen blood reserve can likely support normal hospital red blood cell (RBC) demands during typical (3-4 days) seasonal shortages, provide a reduced supply for up to 10 days, or meet an unexpected transient increased RBC demand without requiring intensive support from the regional blood center. However, the frozen blood supply is not designed to meet the massive transfusion demand associated with extreme or sustained disasters. Rather, it serves as a short-term bridge-over supply until blood center support can be reestablished. We review the reasons for initiating a blood management plan and describe how YNHH has implemented and sustains a frozen blood reserve as part of a comprehensive disaster management plan. Despite the operational complexity, the benefits of self-sufficiency, the ability to support routine hospital requirements, and the security of having a backup supply justify the expense and difficulty of maintaining a frozen blood reserve.
Stochastic kernel temporal difference for reinforcement learning

This paper introduces a kernel adaptive filter using the stochastic gradient on temporal differences, kernel TD(λ), to estimate the state-action value function Q in reinforcement learning. Kernel methods are powerful for solving nonlinear problems, but the growing computational complexity and memory size limit their applicability on practical scenarios. To overcome this, the quantization approach introduced in [1] is applied. To help understand the behavior and illustrate the role of the parameters, we apply the algorithm on a 2-dimentional spatial navigation task. Eligibility traces are commonly applied in TD learning to improve data efficiency, so the relations of eligibility trace λ and step size and filter size are observed. Moreover, kernel TD (0) is applied to neural decoding of an 8 target center-out reaching task performed by a monkey. Results show the method can effectively learn the brain-state action mapping for this task.
Increased Cardiac Output as a Contributory Factor in Experimental Renal Hypertension in Dogs

It has been suggested, but not established, that renal hypertension is initiated by increase incardiac output. Recent refinements in electromagnetic flowmeter technology allowed a critical reevaluation of this possibility. Flowmeters were implanted around dogs' ascending aortas and arterial catheters inserted; measurements were made daily before and after production of hypertension by the cellophane perinephritis method. Eight to 15 days after wrapping one kidney in cellophane, with the opposite kidney untouched, group averages for both stroke volume and cardiac output rose significantly (P < 0.005) though there was no change in arterial pressure. Both heart rate and peripheral resistance decreased slightly. Following these measurements, the contralateral normal kidney was removed and measurements were recommenced 24 hours later. After 4 to 7 days, mean arterial pressure rose progressively in all dogs, reaching a plateau 77 ± 8 (SE) mm Hg above control after 14 to 25 days. Hypertension was associated init...
Performance analysis of AF cooperative networks with time-varying links: Error rate and capacity

In this paper, we consider an M-relay amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative system with maximal ratio combining (MRC) at the destination and investigate the effects of both the mobile cooperating-nodes speeds and the receivers' channel state information (CSI) estimation rates on the system performance. By CSI estimation rates we mean how much the receivers' tracking loops are fast to estimate the channel gains over the individual time slots. The fading links are considered to be frequency-flat time-varying Rayleigh fading and modeled by a first-order autoregressive process (AR1). General closed-form approximate expressions are derived for the bit error rate and the system Shannon capacity, which are further verified through Monte Carlo simulations. These expressions are valid for time-varying as well as quasi-static fading links for both low and high CSI estimation rates. Furthermore, we analytically show that, due to high speeds of the cooperating-nodes and/or constrained CSI estimation rates, both of the error rate and the capacity suffer from asymptotic limits. These limits could be completely eliminated by a well-designed fast tracking loops at the receivers even though the speeds of the mobile nodes are relatively high.
A Large-Sample Study of Sex Differences in Functional Cerebral Lateralization

For practitioners, the importance of sex differences in lateralization lies in their potential prediction of susceptibility to and recovery from hemispheric damage. However, previous literature reviews suggest that sex accounts for only 0.1-1% of the variance in asymmetry scores. Here a large-sample, single-laboratory approach uses tasks requiring the recognition of bargraphs, dichotic words, facial emotions, locations, and visual words, and visual line bisection, each sensitive to lateralization of a separate mental module. The results agree with previous reviews, with sex accounting for a maximum of 0.9% and an average of 0.09% of the variance, suggesting that sex has little predictive clinical utility. However, the strength of relationship between sex and laterality depends on the nature of the lateralized task, presumably because of differences between tasks in underlying lateralized modules.
A Return to Governance in the Law of the Workplace (and the Question of Worker Participation)

Governance-based strategies of regulation, which seek to channel regulatory resources inside regulated entities, often with the help of non-state actors, toward the accomplishment of public objectives, are supplanting “command-and-control” strategies across many areas of regulation in much of the world. But governance-based regulatory strategies are not especially new in the labor field. Indeed, collective representation and bargaining in the workplace within a publicly administered legal framework – let us call it “Old Governance” – has many features associated with “New Governance.” In the U.S., which is the main focus of this article, the decline of Old Governance has coincided with the rise of new forms of governance-based workplace regulation, or “regulated self-regulation.” But the latter defy key prescriptions of New Governance theory, in which “good governance” means participatory governance; for they have mostly failed to incorporate any organized, collective voice for affected workers. Labor unions might supply that voice for some workers, but are unlikely to do so for the large majority of workers who need representation (for reasons that would be only partly addressed by labor law reform). Yet the labor unions’ attachment to collective bargaining and the goal of labor law reform, coupled with abiding employer resistance to any form of robust worker representation, has inhibited exploration of alternative forms of representation. The institutions and habits of Old Governance may thus be impeding the emergence of participatory forms of New Governance in the workplace.
The efficiency of enhanced biological phosphorus removal from real wastewater affected by different ratios of acetic to propionic acid

The effect of different ratios of propionic to acetic acid on the efficiency of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) from real wastewater supplemented with volatile fatty acids (VFAs) was investigated. Two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were used to acclimate two types (SBR1 and SBR2) of biomass. They were cultured and studied using real wastewater with an average propionic to acetic acid carbon molar ratio of 0.16 and 2.06, respectively. The laboratory results showed that for a given long-term cultured biomass the more the soluble ortho-phosphate (SOP) was released in the anaerobic stage, the higher the SOP was taken up in the aerobic phase. However, the SBR2 biomass had a much greater SOP uptake to release ratio than SBR1, which resulted in a higher SOP removal efficiency than SBR1 (average 87.3% versus 76.9% in SBRs experiments, and 93.5% against 68.1% in batch tests). The SBR2 biomass therefore had a higher SOP uptake ability than the SBR1 for a given amount of SOP release. In addition, the SBR1 had a higher secondary SOP release following VFAs uptake. It was found that the SBR2 biomass synthesized and utilized less observable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) during the anaerobic and aerobic stage respectively than SBR1. The apparent PHAs utilization efficiency for SOP uptake with the SBR2 biomass was much greater than with the SBR1, and the SBR2 biomass synthesized less glycogen during aerobiosis than SBR1, which might mean a higher PHAs fraction was used for SOP removal, resulting in the increased efficiency with the long-term cultured SBR2 biomass. Higher propionic acid content led to superior EBPR in long-term cultivation, but was transiently detrimental in the short term.
iShopFloor: an Internet-enabled agent-based intelligent shop floor

Global competition is driving manufacturing companies to change the way they do business. New kinds of shop floor control systems need to be implemented for these companies to respond quickly to changing shop floor environments and customer demands. This paper presents a new concept called iShopFloor-an intelligent shop floor based on the Internet, web, and agent technologies. It focuses on the implementation of distributed intelligence in the manufacturing shop floor. The proposed approach provides the framework for components of a complex control system to work together as a whole rather than as a disjoint set. It encompasses both information architecture and integration methodologies. The paper introduces the basic concept of iShopFloor, a generic system architecture, and system components. It also describes the implementation of eXtensible Markup Language message services in iShopFloor and the application of intelligent agents to distributed manufacturing scheduling. A prototype environment is presented, and some implementation issues are discussed.
Measuring Angles and the Protractor Postulate

In 1733 a geometry book by a Jesuit priest named Saccheri appeared. Although the book caused some stir at the time, soon it was almost completely forgotten. We shall learn a great deal about this book later. In 1832 there appeared a geometry text containing a short appendix written by the son of the author of the text. This appendix has been described by G. B. Halsted as “… the most extraordinary two dozen pages in the whole history of thought!201C The author of the Appendix was John Bolyai, a name that will live as long as any advanced form of human civilization exists. It is Bolyai and Lobachevsky that are recognized as the cofounders of non-Euclidean geometry. More on Bolyai and Lobachevsky later. We now jump one more century to 1932. That year saw the publication of A Set of Postulates for Plane Geometry Based on Scale and Protractor written by George David Birkhoff. Although nobody would suggest this paper is as important as Bolyai’s Appendix, the paper is significant to the reader of this book. Our approach to axiomatizing plane geometry is based on BirkhofFs axiom system as given in that paper.
Techniques in Laparoscopic and Intraoperative Ultrasound Guidance

The use of intraoperative ultrasound is beneficial for many abdominal surgical procedures. While used for other purposes, intraoperative ultrasound is an essential tool for the hepatobiliary surgeon to localize tumors and define vascular anatomy in the liver and pancreas. It is useful during resection and is essential for all but the most superficial liver tumor ablation. Ablation and biopsy of tumors requires facile use of intraoperative ultrasound guidance techniques to achieve reproducible and effective ablations with minimal chance of incomplete ablation and local tumor recurrence. Ultrasound can be utilized in both open and laparoscopic surgery with the use of a variety of transducers.
Long-term outcomes of high-dose therapy using busulfan, etoposide, and cyclophosphamide followed by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for patients with high-risk or advanced stages of myeloid malignancies

7033 Patients (pts) with high risk (HR) or advanced myeloid malignancies have limited effective treatment options. These include high-dose therapy followed by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transpla...
Bladder Pressure Measurements in Patients Admitted to a Medical Intensive Care Unit

Abstract: Background Intra-abdominal hypertension is identified as an independent risk factor for death. However, this pathophysiological state is not always considered in patients in medical intensive care units and is frequently underdiagnosed. Methods Serial bladder pressure measurements were recorded in patients admitted to the medical intensive care units to determine the frequency of intra-abdominal hypertension. Results This study included 53 patients with a mean age of 59.0± years. The average admission intra-abdominal pressure was 10.0 ± 5.4mm Hg with a range of 0 to 28mm Hg. Eleven patients (21%) had an initial pressure reading above normal (>12mm Hg). Peak airway pressures were higher, and PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratios were lower in patients with an initial pressure >12mm Hg. Conclusions Bladder pressure measurements provide an easy method to estimate intra-abdominal pressures and provide an additional tool for the physiologic assessment of critically ill patients.
Infant Development in Fragile X Syndrome: Cross-Syndrome Comparisons

This study examined the developmental profile of male infants with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and its divergence from typical development and development of infants at high risk for autism associated with familial recurrence (ASIBs). Participants included 174 boys ranging in age from 5 to 28 months. Cross-sectional profiles on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning indicated infants with FXS could be differentiated from typically developing infants and ASIBs by 6 months of age. Infants with FXS displayed a trend of lower developmental skills with increasing age that was unique from the typically developing and ASIB groups. Findings suggest infants with FXS present with more significant, pervasive and early emerging delays than previously reported with potentially etiologically distinct developmental profiles.
Does the Stock Market Fully Value Layoff Announcements? Employee Downsizing versus Reorganizing

Although layoff announcements are typically assumed to lead to employment shrinkage, in reality this is frequently not the case. Using hand-collected data on layoff announcements for S&P 500 firms, I show that 32% of layoffs announced do not lead to employment downsizing. While the market, in the short run, does not appear to react differently to announcements that do and do not lead to downsizing, firms exhibit significantly higher buy-and-hold abnormal returns in the following year when their announcement leads to downsizing. I create a real-time index to predict the probability of a layoff not leading to employment shrinkage. Using this index, I show that a simple long-short strategy will generate abnormal returns of 5.15% per year. My results suggest that layoff decisions, depending on their type, have important implications for long term performance and corporate policy.
Whole-body Mass Spectrometry Imaging by Infrared Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization (IR-MALDESI)

Ambient ionization sources for mass spectrometry (MS) have been the subject of much interest in the past decade. Matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (MALDESI) is an example of such methods, where features of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) (e.g., pulsed nature of desorption) and electrospray ionization (ESI) (e.g., soft-ionization) are combined. One of the major advantages of MALDESI is its inherent versatility. In MALDESI experiments, an ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR) laser can be used to resonantly excite an endogenous or exogenous matrix. The choice of matrix is not analyte dependent, and depends solely on the laser wavelength used for excitation. In IR-MALDESI experiments, a thin layer of ice is deposited on the sample surface as an energy-absorbing matrix. The IR-MALDESI source geometry has been optimized using statistical design of experiments (DOE) for analysis of liquid samples as well as biological tissue specimens. Furthermore, a robust IR-MALDESI imaging source has been developed, where a tunable mid-IR laser is synchronized with a computer controlled XY translational stage and a high resolving power mass spectrometer. A custom graphical user interface (GUI) allows user selection of the repetition rate of the laser, number of shots per voxel, step-size of the sample stage, and the delay between the desorption and scan events for the source. IR-MALDESI has been used in variety of applications such as forensic analysis of fibers and dyes and MSI of biological tissue sections. Distribution of different analytes ranging from endogenous metabolites to exogenous xenobiotics within tissue sections can be measured and quantified using this technique. The protocol presented in this manuscript describes major steps necessary for IR-MALDESI MSI of whole-body tissue sections.
Retroperitoneal Biopsy: Indications and Imaging Approach

The contents of the retroperitoneum are defined by the boundaries of the potential space behind the posterior abdominal parietal peritoneum and the fascia investing the lumbar musculature. Primary retroperitoneal neoplasms are a rare group of tumors which do not arise from a specific organ but rather originate from tissues or rests of embryonic cells which exist in the retroperitoneum (Rodriguez et al., Arch Esp Urol, 63[1], 13–22, 2010). The most common variety is sarcoma, which accounts for up to 90 % of lesions after lymphoma is excluded. Liposarcomas and leiomyosarcomas are the next most common types, accounting for up to 15 % of tumors. The average age of presentation is during the fifth to seventh decades, and the tumors are often large in size at diagnosis due to the paucity of symptoms associated with growth of retroperitoneal tumors in general. Excluding lymphomas, the most frequent primary retroperitoneal malignancies in decreasing order include liposarcoma, MFH, leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and malignant nerve sheath tumors (Nishino et al., Radiographics, 23[1], 45–57, 2003). Both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma may also occur in the retroperitoneum. Epithelial tumors may rise from the kidney, adrenal gland, and pancreas, and metastatic disease from germ cell tumors, primary carcinomas, or melanomas can also occur. Benign tumors may have neurogenic origins as well (schwannomas, neurofibroma, paraganglioma).
Scanning-beam electron microscopy of selected microorganisms.

nifera [1], actinomycetes [2], soil microorganisms [3], protozoa [4], bacterial spores [5, 6], and streptomyces [7]. In addition, Greenwood and O'Grady studied the effect of ampicillin on the surface structures of staphylococci and streptococci [8]. Further application to the study of microorganisms has been Umited, in part because of an impression that the presently available resolution of about 100 A would be insufficient to resolve the
Analysis of laser-induced incandescence and novel soot measurement approaches

We used a time-dependent, numerical model of the soot particle heating and cooling processes to calculate signals from laser-induced incandescence (LII). Various laser sources were studied in order to compare their suitability for measurements of soot volume fraction and primary particle size. For modeling of LII imaging, each laser was assumed to produce a laser sheet, and each was assumed to have Gaussian spatial and temporal intensity profiles. The solutions show that substantial errors in volume fraction measurements resulting from changes in primary soot particle diameter and local gas temperature can be reduced with proper choice of detection wavelength, gate, laser source, and laser intensity. In addition, the ratios of LH images from two detection wavelengths, e.g., red (700 nm) versus blue (400 nm), can be used to determine primary particle diameter. This method of measuring soot size is valid even if the local gas temperature is unknown, because of the low temperature dependence of this ratio. While ratios from two tune gates, each with a different delay with respect to the laser pulse, provide a more sensitive measure of primary particle diameter, they are also much more dependent on the local gas temperature.
Conducting Engineering Research Experiments in a Senior Mechanical Engineering Instructional Laboratory

Engineering teaching laboratory experiments often suffer from being too deterministic. While this can allow students to predictably observe and measure various engineering phenomena, the students may doubt the real world application or significance of the experiment. On the other hand, engineering research experiments can often be tedious and repetitive. Research assistants, both graduate and undergraduate, can grow bored while collecting data, leading to mistakes and reduced quality of the data. This paper will present preliminary results from using a laboratory section of a senior mechanical engineering elective course, “Introduction to Microtechnology,”, to conduct a series of experiments for a research problem in the instructor’s research laboratory.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Color Atlas of Cosmetic Dermatology

Zeina Tannous, Mathew M. Avram, Sandy Tsao, Marc R Avram. Color Atlas of Cosmetic Dermatology. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. ISBN-10: 0071635033 In the second edition of the Color Atlas of Cosmetic Dermatology , the authors, well-respected authorities in their own right, have undertaken the Herculean task of condensing cosmetic medicine into a solitary atlas. It is the aesthetic companion to the Color Atlas of Dermatology , the pocket reference favored by most medical students and dermatology residents. In a format that is divided into 12 sections and 62 chapters, the book offers a consistent outline, contains up-to-date references, and highlights many of the areas that pertain to the practicing clinician, making it primarily indicated as a quick office reference and a refresher for those interested in cosmetic medicine. The wide scope of general dermatology may be less useful to the practicing plastic surgeon but will be more useful to those surgeons still in training. The chapter on “Analysis of the Aging Face” is …
Landscape Quality and the Price of Single Family Houses: Further Evidence from Home Sales in Greenville, South Carolina

In this study, the contribution of the quality of landscaping to house prices was estimated for a sample of 218 home sales in Greenville, SC, from 1996 to 1997. The estimates were made using regressions of house price on house characteristics, location and landscape quality. The results obtained in this research were similar to an earlier study of Greenville home sales, from 1991 to 1993. For homes with the same square footage and other house characteristics, selling prices were 6% to 7% higher if landscaping quality was judged excellent rather than good. The price premium obtained by upgrading landscaping from average to good was approximately 4% to 5%.
Controlling the costs of antibiotic resistance.

Excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance and to increased hospital costs. Denver's three major teaching hospitals have developed a multifaceted approach that has curbed inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and reduced costs for antibiotic purchases. A joint antibiotic-use committee with representatives from each hospital's pharmacy and therapeutics committee developed a single antibiotic formulary for systemically active antibacterial agents, based on simplicity, clinical efficacy, previous use patterns, local resistance patterns, and relative cost. This formulary includes primary agents, ordered at the prescriber's discretion; secondary agents, ordered only for an approved condition; and restricted agents, which had been used excessively or inappropriately in the past, and are now dispensed only after consultation with infectious disease specialists. A computerized antibiotic order-entry program at the Denver V.A. Medical Center requires all physicians to enter antibiotic requests through a centralized computer system. Drug utilization is evaluated using data collected from the computer data base and in vitro data from the microbiology laboratory. In addition, appropriate antibiotic prescribing and infection control practices are taught in an education program for physicians, nurses, and other health care workers.
Increasing Patient Acceptance and Adherence Toward Insulin

Because of the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the majority of patients will need insulin to achieve and maintain glycemic control. By maintaining glycemic control, patients will avoid acute osmotic symptoms of hyperglycemia, instability in plasma glucose (PG) over time, and prevent or delay the development of diabetes complications without adversely affecting quality of life. Despite recommendations for initiating insulin therapy, both patient and health system barriers stand in the way. To develop confidence in individualizing patient therapy and maximize outcomes for patients with T2DM, healthcare practitioners (HCPs) were updated on recommendations and clinical evidence supporting when to initiate insulin therapy, strategies for overcoming provider and patient barriers for initiating insulin therapy, and the safety and efficacy of current and emerging insulin therapy and delivery technology for patients with T2DM.