cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Phase I Trial of Combination Chemotherapy Employing Carboplatin, Vinca Alkaloids, with or without Bleomycin in Patients with Advanced Malignant Tumors

AbstractA Phase I trial of three carboplatin-based combination chemotherapy regimens was conducted. These included: carboplatin plus vindesine; carboplatin, vindesine, plus bleomycin; and, carboplatin plus vinblastine. Carboplatin was administered every 28 days as an intravenous bolus. The initial dose was 150 mg/m2 and doses were escalated by 50 mg/m2 in each successive group of patients. Vindesine was given at a dose of 3 mg/m2 weekly for 5 doses, then every other week thereafter. Bleomycin, 10 units/m2 IV bolus, was followed by 10 units/m2/day infusion for 4 days (3–7 and 31–35). Vinblastine was given at 5 mg/m2 every other week. Doses of vindesine, vinblastine, and bleomycin were not escalated. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of the carboplatin, vindesine bleomycin regimens was reached at a carboplatin dose of 250 mg/m2 and the MTD was influenced by the weekly vindesine in the initial 4 weeks of therapy. The MTD of the carboplatin and vinblastine regimen was reached at a carboplatin dose of 500 mg/m2...
Autonomous microfluidic capillary system.

The transport of minute amounts of liquids using microfluidic systems has opened avenues for higher throughput and parallelization of miniaturized bio/chemical processes combined with a great economy of reagents. In this report, we present a microfluidic capillary system (CS) that autonomously transports aliquots of different liquids in sequence: liquids pipetted into the service port of the CS flow unidirectionally through the various sections of the CS, which comprises a 15-pL reaction chamber, into the capillary pump. A CS can thus be operated by simply delivering the different samples to its service port. The liquid transport concept presented here is advantageous because the pumping and valving functions are integrated into the device by means of capillary phenomena, and it therefore does not require any external power supply or control device. Thus, arrays of CSs can easily be formed by cloning a functional CS. Alternatively, the flow of liquids in CSs can also be interactively tuned if desired by ...
Left atrial myxoma associated with severe calcific aortic valve stenosis.

Abstract The rare association of an atrial myxoma and calcific aortic valve stenosis in a 59 year old man is described. The mitral valve was normal apart from slight dilation of the annulus. Excision of the tumor and homograft replacement of the aortic valve produced relief of his symptoms. The clinical features and management of atrial myxomas are discussed, and the importance of early diagnosis is emphasized. No previous description of this combination is known.
Pyruvate dehydrogenase E1α isoform in rat testis: cDNA cloning, characterization, and biochemical comparison of the recombinant testis and liver enzymes

Abstract Previous data indicated a tissue-specific regulation of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex, especially in the brain and testis. The lack of biochemical data on the rat testis PDH limits comparative analysis between testis and liver enzymes. Therefore, we have isolated a cDNA clone encoding rat testis PDH E1 α isoform, determined its nucleotide sequence, studied the tissue-specific expression, and characterized the recombinant protein produced in bacteria, compared to the liver counterpart. Our cDNA clone (2.2 kb) contained the identical open reading frame (from nt 974 to 2149) with that previously reported (Cullingford et al., 1993 Biochim Biophys Acta 1216:149–153) but contained a long 5′ untranslated region, which has little identity to the other clone. Northern blot confirmed testis-specific expression of this isoform. Genomic DNA analyses by PCR amplification suggested this clone is a gene product distinct from its X-linked somatic counterpart. Our biochemical and kinetic analyses revealed that the purified recombinant rat testis PDH E1 (containing both E1 α and E1 β subunits) was enzymatically active and phosphorylated in vitro by purified PDH-kinase p48 or p45, similar to the recombinant human liver enzyme. Our current data thus indicate that the differential regulation of testis PDH observed in the animal model may result from differential modulation of PDH-kinase or -phosphatase in this tissue rather than the presence of functionally different PDH E1 subunit.
Validity of DIBELS Early Literacy Measures with Korean English Learners.

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of two Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) early literacy measures with first-grade Korean speaking English Learners (ELs). A total of 30 first-grade Korean ELs were screened three times during the year using early literacy measures from DIBELS. A sample of students was provided an empirically supported phonological awareness (PA) intervention to determine whether DIBELS measures were sensitive to growth caused by an intervention. Results suggest screening measures of phoneme segmentation fluency (phoneme segmentation fluency, PSF) were not predictive of reading performance at the middle and end of first grade. Measures of alphabetics (nonsense word fluency, NWF) were predictive of reading skills for this sample of first-grade Korean ELs. PSF and NWF were sensitive to change caused by an intervention, and appear to be able to be used to monitor the impact of a PA intervention. Implications and recommendations for the use of DIBELS with Korean speaking ELs are provided.
Fenton's oxidation of pentachlorophenol

The combination of H(2)O(2) and Fe(II) (Fenton's reaction) has been demonstrated to rapidly degrade many organics via hydroxyl radicals. However, few studies have related hydroxyl radical generation rates with measured organic chemical degradation data. The goals of this work were to investigate the kinetics, stoichiometry, and intermediates of pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation in the Fenton's reaction and to develop a mathematical model of this reaction system. Batch reaction experiments were performed to assess both initial transients and steady states, and special attention was given to the analysis of intermediates. Solutions of PCP (55 microM) and Fe(II) (200 microM) were treated with variable levels of H(2)O(2) (<850 microM), and the concentrations of these reactants and their products were measured. Partial PCP degradation and near stoichiometric dechlorination were observed at low initial H(2)O(2) concentrations. Higher H(2)O(2) doses achieved at most 70% dechlorination even though nearly all of the PCP was degraded. The reaction intermediates tetrachlorohydroquinone and dichloromaleic acid accounted for up to 5% of the PCP degraded. Organic carbon mineralization (transformation to CO(2)) was not observed. The ()OH scavenging effects of the PCP-by-products mixture were characterized as a lumped parameter in the reaction kinetics model, which provided reasonable predictions of experimental results at different oxidant concentrations and reaction time.
Mapping urban land cover types using object-based multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis

Spectral mixture analysis has been frequently applied in various fields to solve the mixed pixel problem in remote sensing. So far, all the research in mixture analysis has focused on the sub-pixel analysis, i.e., selecting endmembers and conducting mixture analysis at the pixel level. Research efforts in mixture analysis at the object level are very scarce, even though the object-based image analysis (OBIA) techniques have been well developed. In this study, we examined the applicability of object-based mixture analysis in an urban environment using a Landsat Thematic Mapper image. Informative and accurate object-based fraction maps (vegetation, impervious surface, and water) were produced by combining the OBIA and multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) techniques. A new approach to identifying the spectral representatives of a specific class for MESMA was developed. The accuracy of the object-based fraction maps were assessed using manual interpretation results of a 1-m digital aerial phot...
Designing object-oriented synchronous groupware with COAST

This paper introduces COAST, an object-oriented toolkit for the development of synchronous groupware, which enhances the usability and simplifies the development of such applications. COAST offers basic and generic components for the design of synchronous groupware and is complemented by a methodology for groupware development. Basic features of the toolkit include transaction-controlled access to replicated shared objects, transparent replication management, and a fully optimistic concurrency control. Development support is provided by a session concept supporting the flexible coupling of shared objects’ aspects between concurrent users and by a fully transparent updating concept for displays which is based on declarative programming.
Self-assembly of nanorods in ternary mixtures: promoting the percolation of the rods and creating interfacially jammed gels

Using a hybrid computational model, we simulate the self-assembly of nanorods in phase-separating A:B:C ternary melts, where C constitutes the minority phase. We assume that the rods are coated with C ligands and thus have a preferential affinity for the C phase. Due to the preferential wetting interaction, the steric repulsion between the coated rods and the phase separation within the mixture, the rods are driven to form percolating networks at very low volume fractions. Furthermore, since the minority C phase localizes at the interface between the A and B components, the C-like rods also lie at the boundaries between the A and B. We find that by decreasing the volume fraction of C or increasing the number of nanorods, the domain growth of the A and B phases can be dramatically curtailed. In other words, the coarsening of these domains is arrested by nanorods that are spatially constrained to lie at the A/B interfaces; this gives rise to an interfacially jammed gel. Because the structural evolution of the composite depends on the volume fraction of rods and the amount of C, our findings point to effective means of controlling the dynamic behavior and morphology of this system. The latter ability opens the path to tailoring the optoelectronic and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite.
Planelike minimizers in periodic media

We show that given an elliptic integrand in ℝd that is periodic under integer translations, and given any plane in ℝd, there is at least one minimizer of that remains at a bounded distance from this plane. This distance can be bounded uniformly on the planes. We also show that, when folded back to ℝd/ℤd, the minimizers we construct give rise to a lamination. One particular case of these results is minimal surfaces for metrics invariant under integer translations. The same results hold for other functionals that involve volume terms (small and average zero). In such a case the minimizers satisfy the prescribed mean curvature equation. A further generalization allows the formulation and proof of similar results in manifolds other than the torus provided that their fundamental group and universal cover satisfy some hypotheses. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Repeat Uterine Artery Embolization: Indications and Technical Findings

PURPOSE To determine the indications and technical aspects of procedures in patients undergoing repeat uterine artery embolization (UAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS At a single center, 24 patients underwent repeat embolization for recurrent or persistent symptoms. The magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings before repeat embolization were compared with those of earlier studies. The extent of tumor infarction after the first procedure was determined, and the status of existing or new tumors before the second procedure was assessed. The angiographic studies from the initial and repeat embolization studies were reviewed and summarized. These findings were assessed with the use of summary statistics. RESULTS Twenty-four patients underwent repeat embolization 6–66 months after the initial embolization. The most common symptom at representation was pressure and/or bulk symptoms ( n = 15), followed by recurrent heavy bleeding ( n = 12) and pelvic pain or cramping ( n = 7). MR imaging studies before repeat embolization revealed incomplete infarction of tumors present before the first embolization in 22 of 24 patients. New tumors were identified in 12 patients, two of whom had new tumors only. During repeat embolization, nine patients (37%) required ovarian artery embolization to occlude ovarian supply to the uterus. Among 21 women with clinical follow-up after the second embolization, 19 (90%) had symptom control. CONCLUSIONS Repeat embolization prompted by recurrent uterine leiomyomas usually occurs in the setting of regrowth of incompletely infarcted tumors. Although ovarian embolization was often needed, on the basis of this limited experience, symptoms appear to respond well to repeat embolization.
Signals for composite-W+/- production in gamma p collisions.

We examine the possibility of observing the composite structure of ${W}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ bosons photoproduced in \ensuremath{\gamma}p collisions at high energies through form-factor effects. We find that such processes are sensitive to ${W}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ compositeness scales as high as 3\char21{}5 TeV if sufficiently high luminosities are obtainable. Such reactions can be most easily studied by extracting a photon beam of energy \ensuremath{\simeq}10 TeV from the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) for collisions with a fixed target. This serves to indicate that new physical results are obtainable from the SSC even when used in a fixed-target mode.
Comparison of a novel passive sampler to standard water-column sampling for organic contaminants associated with wastewater effluents entering a New Jersey stream

Four water samples collected using standard depth and width water-column sampling methodology were compared to an innovative passive, in situ, sampler (the polar organic chemical integrative sampler or POCIS) for the detection of 96 organic wastewater-related contaminants (OWCs) in a stream that receives agricultural, municipal, and industrial wastewaters. Thirty-two OWCs were identified in POCIS extracts whereas 9–24 were identified in individual water-column samples demonstrating the utility of POCIS for identifying contaminants whose occurrence are transient or whose concentrations are below routine analytical detection limits. Overall, 10 OWCs were identified exclusively in the POCIS extracts and only six solely identified in the water-column samples, however, repetitive water samples taken using the standard method during the POCIS deployment period required multiple trips to the sampling site and an increased number of samples to store, process, and analyze. Due to the greater number of OWCs detected in the POCIS extracts as compared to individual water-column samples, the ease of performing a single deployment as compared to collecting and processing multiple water samples, the greater mass of chemical residues sequestered, and the ability to detect chemicals which dissipate quickly, the passive sampling technique offers an efficient and effective alternative for detecting OWCs in our waterways for wastewater contaminants. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Exciton-induced photoconductivity in Cu2O

Abstract Structure in the photoconductivity spectrum of Cu 2 O has been observed which corresponds to the “yellow” exciton series observed in optical absorption. From the fact that the photoconductivity in the exciton peaks is initially stimulated by illumination and then quenched, it is concluded that distinct electronic processes are associated with the exciton-induced photoconductivity. The most likely mechanism is excitation of localized carriers by excitons. The experimental evidence is insufficient to establish that the excitons are mobile. A comparison of d.c. and microwave conductivity measurements of Cu 2 O establishes that the conductivity is limited by barriers.
The shape memory mechanism and related phenomena in Ag-45at.%Cd

Abstract The shape memory behavior of an internally twinned 2H martensite has been investigated in detail. As with the untwinned R martensites, the AgCd martensite forms in self-accommodating groups of four variants. Upon application of a stress below the M f temperature (−85°C) the following processes, not necessarily exclusive of each other, occur: rearrangement of twins within each variant (detwinning); variant-to-variant coalescence within a given group; and group-to-group coalescence. The end result of these processes is always a single variant orientation; the martensite becomes a single crystal of the variant most favorably disposed with respect to the applied tensile stress. This result is always obtained even though different types of within-group deformation processes occur. Pseudoelastic behavior occurring above the A f temperature (− 50°C) was also investigated and found to be associated with two different stress-induced martensitic transformations, a β 1 to β 1 ′ transformation well above the A f and a β 1 to γ 1 ′ transformation closer to the A f temperature. This can be explained on the basis of a temperature stress-phase diagram.
Failure of the libertarian approach to reducing poverty

A libertarian movement (often referred to as ‘bottom of the pyramid’ or BOP strategies in the business literature) that emphasizes free markets to reduce poverty has grown strong in recent years. It views the poor as ‘resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers’. This romanticized view of the poor is far from the truth and harms the poor in two ways. First, it results in too little emphasis on legal, regulatory and social mechanisms to protect the poor who are vulnerable consumers. Second, it results in overemphasis on microcredit and under-emphasis on fostering modern enterprises that would provide employment opportunities for the poor. More importantly, the libertarian proposition grossly under-emphasizes the critical role and responsibility of the state in poverty reduction.
The effect of thermal diffusion in multicomponent gas absorption

The contribution of thermal diffusion to interfacial mass transfer rates is examined in multicomponent gas absorption systems. Each interfacial flux is expressed as the product of the isothermal expression corresponding to the bulk temperature of the liquid and a dimensionless correction factor that includes the pure heat effects in multicomponent absorption and the contributions of thermal diffusion. It is shown that when the influence of thermal diffusion is to increase the interfacial mass flux, it is opposite to the heat effect and that the two effects may cancel within a realistic range of values of the thermal diffusion coefficient. A monotonic trend to greater significance of thermal diffusion with the number of components being absorbed is illustrated. This trend is shown to be very rapid for the more dilute species in the mixture. Examples based on the absorption of propane, n-pentane, and n-hexane by paraffin oil are treated. The error induced in the correction factor for the flux of n-pentane by neglecting thermal diffusion when adding propane and n-hexane is less than 6·1 per cent, but the corresponding result for propane is 59·2 per cent for a thermal diffusion coefficient of 1· X 10−7 g/(cm sec °K) for each species.
Experimental study of chiral composites

Reflection and transmission characteristics of chiral composites are obtained for a normally incident, linearly polarized plane wave by employing a free-space measurement system in the frequency range of 8-40 GHz. The artificial chiral composites are fashioned by embedding chiral inclusions (metallic helices) into an epoxy medium (Eccogel) (Guire et al. 1990). One reflection measurement is made for each sample since the reflected field is linearly polarized as the incident wave. Two transmission measurements at different polarization directions are needed in order to fully characterize the transmitted polarization ellipse. The rotation angle and ellipticity of the transmitted polarization ellipse are calculated from these two transmission measurements. By examining the characteristics of the ellipticity and rotation angle, the Cotton effect is observed in the frequency range where the maximum power absorption occurs. This ensures that the left- and right-handed chiral composites can be represented as left- and right-handed electromagnetically active media, respectively, in the frequency range of interest. From one reflection and two transmission measurement data, the electromagnetic properties of chiral composites are for the first time computed numerically using a suitable inverse algorithm.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The effect of bladder training, pelvic floor muscle training, or combination training on urodynamic parameters in women with urinary incontinence

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of three conservative interventions: pelvic floor muscle training, bladder training, or both, on urodynamic parameters in women with urinary incontinence. Two hundred four women with genuine stress incontinence (GSI) or detrusor instability with or without GSI (DI +/- GSI) participated in a two-site trial comparing pelvic floor muscle training, bladder training, or both. Patients were stratified based on severity of urinary incontinence, urodynamic diagnosis, and treatment site, then randomized to a treatment group. All women underwent a comprehensive standardized evaluation including multi-channel urodynamics at the initial assessment and at the end of 12 weeks of therapy. Analysis of covariance was used to detect differences among treatment groups on urodynamic parameters. Post-treatment evaluations were available for 181 women. No differences were found among treatments on the following measurements: maximum urethral closure pressure, mean urethral closure pressure, maximum Kegel urethral closure pressure, mean Kegel urethral closure pressure, functional urethral length, pressure transmission ratios, straining urethral axis, first sensation to void, maximum cystometric capacity, and the MCC minus FSV. The effect of treatment did not differ by urodynamic diagnosis. Behavioral therapy had no effect on commonly measured urodynamic parameters. The mechanism by which clinical improvement occurs remains unknown. Neurourol. Urodynam. 18:427-436, 1999.
Testing for seasonality in reported crime data

Abstract In spite of the apparent importance of crime statistics to policy-makers and the public, these data are not often analyzed or refined in the same manner as other social series such as unemployment. In this paper, seasonal variation in FBI index crimes is investigated for a major urban area. Using Miami data for 1949–1970, a test for seasonality is developed and seasonal indices are constructed for a number of crime types. A definite seasonal pattern in Miami crime data is found to exist, although its importance seems to be declining in recent years. Some applications of seasonally adjusted data to public information and operations are also briefly discussed.
The Attention Deficit Disorder Syndrome Current Knowledge, Future Needs

Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) is one of the best studied of child psychiatric disorders. In the past 20 years a great deal of information has been accumulated regarding the clinical picture of the disorder, its relationship to other psychiatric disorders, proposed etiological factors (especially biological ones), natural history, and response to treatment. However, there still remain areas of controversy. The articles in this Special Section provide pertinent information in several of these areas. The Edelbrock et al. article and the Lahey article address the issue of ADDH and attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD). These subtypes were first proposed with the publication of DSM-III in 1980. The great bulk of the literature has dealt with ADDH. When DSM-III was being formulated it was recognized that there are children who are inattentive and impulsive but do not have the symptom of motor activity. The Edelbrock article provides some ,empirical validation for the ADDH and ADD syndromes as described in DSM-III. Factor analysis of the Teacher Child Behavior Profile for clinically referred boys ages 6-11 revealed a factor labeled "inattentive" and a factor labeled "nervous, overactive." These ,factors appeared to correspond to the symptom clusters of ADD as described in DSM-III. Boys diagnosed as ADD, either with or without hyperactivity, were compared to clinically referred boys who had non-ADD diagnoses. A second comparison was of boys with ADDH and boys with ADD. Case histories were used to make categorical diagnoses of ADD with and without hyperactivity. ;Edelbrock et al. did find that ADD and ADDH boys scored significantly higher on the inattentive scale than non-ADD boys. In addition, boys who had ADDH an~ boys with ADD obtained very
The effect of the perflubron emulsion Oxygent™ on the calibration characteristics of polarographic oxygen electrodes

Abstract The perfluorocarbon emulsion Oxygent improves normal tissue oxygenation. A clinical trial is planned to evaluate this effect in tumors. Polarographic oxygen electrodes were calibrated in solutions of saline ± perflubron to assess whether Oxygent influenced probe behavior. Calibrations were linear under both conditions. There were no major differences in estimated oxygen tensions.
Odd-Even Reduction for Banded Linear Equations

The method of odd-even reduction for tridiagonal systems is generalized to banded systems. The method is developed so that it can be easily implemented on a vector processor such as the CDC STAR-100. Results are presented which describe when this odd-even reduction can be performed on a pentadiagonal system. A computational example is given. 1 table.
Lateral organization of cholesterol molecules in lipid-cholesterol assemblies.

We present results of an off-lattice simulation of a two-component planar system, as a model for lateral organization of cholesterol molecules in lipid-cholesterol assemblies. We explore the existence of ``superlattice'' structures even in fluid systems, in the absence of an underlying translational long-range order, and study their coupling to hexatic or bond-orientational order. We discuss our results in context of geometric superlattice theories and ``condensation complexes'' in understanding a variety of experiments in artificial lipid-cholesterol assemblies.
A Quantitative Regularity Estimate for Nonnegative Supersolutions of Uniformly Parabolic Equations

This note establishes an interior quantitative lower bound for nonnegative supersolutions of fully nonlinear uniformly parabolic equations. The result may be interpreted as a quantitative version o...
Knowledge base applications with software engineering: a tool for requirements specifications

The development of proper system specifications provides a foundation for the entire software development process. The effectiveness of the overall system is influenced greatly by the quality of the specifications produced during this phase of the life cycle. Furthermore, this phase acts as a “bridge” between the user and the software development team.A tool is presented for improving the environment in which specifications are constructed. The bridge between the user and software team is enhanced, improving the interaction between these two groups. By enhancing the user's role within the specification processes, the overall quality of the requirements specifications documents can be improved.
The Biological and Functional Significance of the Sperm Acrosome and Acrosomal Enzymes in Mammalian Fertilization

The mammalian spermatozoon undergoes continuous modifications during spermatogenesis, maturation in the epididymis, and capacitation in the female reproductive tract. Only the capacitated spermatozoa are capable of binding the zona-intact egg and undergoing the acrosome reaction. The fertilization process is a net result of multiple molecular events which enable ejaculated spermatozoa to recognize and bind to the egg's extracellular coat, the zona pellucida (ZP). Sperm-egg interaction is a species-specific event which is initiated by the recognition and binding of complementary molecule(s) present on sperm plasma membrane (receptor) and the surface of the ZP (ligand). This is a carbohydrate-mediated event which initiates a signal transduction cascade resulting in the exocytosis of acrosomal contents. This step is believed to be a prerequisite which enables the acrosome reacted spermatozoa to penetrate the ZP and fertilize the egg. This review focuses on the formation and contents of the sperm acrosome as well as the mechanisms underlying the induction of the acrosome reaction. Special emphasis has been laid on the synthesis, processing, substrate specificity, and mechanism of action of the acid glycohydrolases present within the acrosome. The hydrolytic action of glycohydrolases and proteases released at the site of sperm-zona binding, along with the enhanced thrust generated by the hyperactivated beat pattern of the bound spermatozoon, are important factors regulating the penetration of ZP. We have discussed the most recent studies which have attempted to explain signal transduction pathways leading to the acrosomal exocytosis.
MAN OF SCIENCE, MAN OF FAITH: PIERRE DUHEM'S “PHYSIQUE DE CROYANT”

. The essay “Physique de croyant” is an important statement of Pierre Duhem's position on the relation between his science and his religion. Duhem trod a difficult path, some might say an impossible one, in Republican France because he was both a physicist and a devout Catholic. In this essay, using “Physique de croyant” as a touchstone, I explore the way in which he tried to reconcile his conflicting allegiances. There are several strands in Duhem's strategy that need to be teased out. First, Duhem sought to defend his science against the charge that it was materialist and atheist. He did this with his claim, usually called the autonomy thesis, that physics and metaphysics are fundamentally different enterprises—that physics, properly conducted, has no metaphysical implications and requires no metaphysical support. This did not deny metaphysics its rightful territory. Second, Duhem used his segregationist position to defend the Roman Catholic Church against the assaults of the positivist scientism then in favor with the Republicans. Third, he also sought to protect his science against fellow Catholics who wanted to use it for polemical purposes. I develop and evaluate these lines of defense.
Changing Epidemiology of Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Infants without Localizing Signs

Objective Historically, management of infants with fever without localizing signs (FWLS) has generated much controversy, with attempts to risk stratify based on several criteria. Advances in medical practice may have altered the epidemiology of serious bacterial infections (SBIs) in this population. We conducted this study to test the hypothesis that the rate of SBIs in this patient population has changed over time.
Optimization and scaling of CMOS-bipolar drivers for VLSI interconnects

In this paper, rules are presented for the optimized design of CMOS-bipolar drivers for large capacitive loads typical of VLSI interconnects. Simulations and closed-form solutions show that the n-p-n bipolar transistors have to be operated in the high-level injection mode, and that their sizes have to be tailored to the two-thirds power of the load, and it scales with the two-thirds power of the base width of the n-p-n transistor and with the one-third power of the channel length of the MOS transistor. For comparison, the CMOS cascade with a tailored second stage is shown to have competitive potential at the expense of an area being approximately 2.5 times larger than that of a CMOS-bipolar stage.
The Krüppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) network in HEC-1-A endometrial carcinoma cells suggests the carcinogenic potential of dys-regulated KLF9 expression

Background Kruppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) is a transcriptional regulator of uterine endometrial cell proliferation, adhesion and differentiation; processes essential for pregnancy success and which are subverted during tumorigenesis. The network of endometrial genes controlled by KLF9 is largely unknown. Over-expression of KLF9 in the human endometrial cancer cell line HEC-1-A alters cell morphology, proliferative indices, and differentiation, when compared to KLF9 under-expressing HEC-1-A cells. This cell line provides a unique model for identifying KLF9 downstream gene targets and signaling pathways.
The Constitutional Rights of Private Government

This paper explores the theoretical justification for providing "private governments" with constitutional rights. Private governments are any private organizations or institutions (parents, churches, non-profits, unions, for-profit firms, etc.) that can use their control over property, membership, or employment to influence their members. The paper argues that conventional wisdom in constitutional theory regards constitutional rights as protections for individuals' self-regarding acts. Such a theory of rights is incapable of generating a persuasive justification for why private organizations should enjoy constitutional rights. This paper argues that rights can better be understood in an "institutionalist" way, as allocations of governmental power to institutions that are, because of their internal structure, incentives, or culture, likely to exercise that power in ways appropriate for the social setting that they govern. The considerations that ought to define the rights of private governments (and, the paper maintains, rights more generally speaking) are identical to the "structural" considerations that determine whether and how to enforce constitutional principles like separation of powers and federalism. The critical consideration should be whether the private organization has the level of decentralization, democratic accountability, internal incentives, etc., that make it an appropriate government for its assigned area of social life. To illustrate how institutionalist reasoning might affect the way in which courts evaluate the constitutional rights of private government, the paper explores two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions (Troxel v. Granville dealing with parental rights to control the upbringing of children) and Boy Scouts v. Dale (dealing with rights of private non-profit recreational clubs to control their membership).
The role of animacy and thematic relationships in processing active English sentences: evidence from event-related potentials.

Recent event-related potential studies report a P600 eVect to incongruous verbs preceded by semantically associated inanimate noun– phrase (NP) arguments, e.g., “eat” in “At breakfast the eggs would eatƒ”. This P600 eVect may reXect the processing cost incurred when semantic–thematic relationships between critical verbs and their preceding NP argument(s) bias towards diVerent interpretations to those dictated by their sentences’ syntactic structures. We have termed such violations of alternative thematic roles, ‘thematic role violations.’ Semantic–thematic relationships are inXuenced both by semantic associations and by more basic semantic features, such as a noun’s animacy. This study determined whether a P600 eVect can be evoked by verbs whose thematic structures are violated by their preceding inanimate NP arguments, even in the absence of close semantic–associative relationships with these arguments or their preceding contexts. ERPs were measured to verbs under four conditions: (1) non-violated (“At breakfast the boys would eatƒ”); (2) preceded by introductory clauses and animate NPs that violated their pragmatic expectations but not their thematic structures (“At breakfast the boys would plantƒ”); (3) preceded by semantically related contexts but inanimate NPs that violated their thematic structures (“At breakfast the eggs would eatƒ”); (4) preceded by semantically unrelated contexts and inanimate NPs that also violated their thematic structures (“At breakfast the eggs would plantƒ”). Pragmatically non-thematic role violated verbs preceded by unrelated contexts and animate NPs evoked robust N400 eVects and small P600 eVects. Thematically violated verbs preceded by inanimate argument NPs evoked robust P600 eVects but no N400 eVects, regardless of whether these inanimate arguments or their preceding contexts were semantically related or unrelated to these verbs. These Wndings suggest that semantic-thematic relations, related to animacy constraints on verbs’ arguments, are computed online and can immediately impact verb processing within active, English sentences.
Sensitivity analysis for an optimal routing policy in an ad hoc wireless network

We examine the sensitivity of optimal routing policies in ad hoc wireless networks with respect to estimation errors in channel quality. We consider an ad hoc wireless network where the wireless links from each node to its neighbors are modeled by a probability distribution describing the local broadcast nature of wireless transmissions. These probability distributions are estimated in real-time. We investigate the impact of estimation errors on the performance of a set of proposed routing policies.
Visualizing Regional Myocardial Blood Flow in the Mouse

Rationale: The spatial distribution of blood flow in hearts of genetically modified mice is a phenotype of interest as derangements in blood flow may precede detectable changes in organ function. However, quantifying the regional distribution of blood flow within organs of mice is challenging because of the small organ volume and the high resolution required to observe spatial differences in flow. Traditional microsphere methods in which the numbers of microspheres per region are indirectly estimated from radioactive counts or extracted fluorescence have been limited to larger organs for two reasons; to assure statistical confidence in the measured flow per region and to be able to physically dissect the organ to acquire spatial information. Objective: We sought to develop methods to quantify and statistically compare the spatial distribution of blood flow within organs of mice. Methods and Results: We developed and validated statistical methods to compare blood flow between regions and to the same regions over time using 15 µm fluorescent microspheres. We then tested this approach by injecting fluorescent microspheres into isolated perfused mouse hearts, determining the spatial location of every microsphere in the hearts and then visualizing regional flow patterns. We demonstrated application of these statistical and visualizing methods in a coronary artery ligation model in mice. Conclusions: These new methods provide tools to investigate the spatial and temporal changes in blood flow within organs of mice at a much higher spatial resolution than currently available by other methods.
Power dissipation and magnetic forces on MAGLEV rebars

Concrete guideways for proposed MAGLEV vehicles may be reinforced with electrically conducting and magnetizable steel rebars. Transient magnetic fields due to passing MAGLEV vehicles will then induce transient currents in the rebars leading to power dissipation and temperature rise as well as Lorentz and magnetization forces on the rebars. In order to evaluate if this heating and force on the rebars affects concrete life and performance, analysis is presented for an infinitely long conducting and magnetizable cylinder in imposed uniform axial or transverse magnetic fields. Exact and approximate solutions are presented for sinusoidal steady state and step transient magnetic fields inside and outside the cylinder, the induced current density, the vector potential for transverse magnetic fields, the time average dissipated power in the sinusoidal steady state, and the total energy dissipated for step transients. Forces are approximately calculated for imposed magnetic fields with a weak spatial gradient. The analysis is applied to representative rebar materials.
The ‘open-earedness’ hypothesis and the development of age-related aesthetic reactions to music in elementary school children

This study investigates age-related changes in musical preference in elementary school children. The tolerance towards unconventional musical styles has been called ‘open-earedness’ (Hargreaves, 1982a), and it is assumed to decline with increasing age. Musical preferences of 186 students from grade 1 to 4 (age range: 6–10 years) were measured by using a 5-point iconographic rating scale. Eight sound examples were presented in a sound questionnaire. Results showed a decline of open-earedness for unconventional music (classical, ethnic and avant-garde music) from grade 1 to 2 (age: 7–8 years). However, this effect disappeared when classical music was excluded from data analysis. Only a few absolute rejections of unconventional musical styles were found, and the mean preference ratings did not exceed the neutral mean range. Future studies will have to consider additional factors of influence to make clear predictions about the point in time when this transition occurs.
Cardinal characteristics on graphs

A cardinal characteristic can often be described as the smallest size of a family of sequences which has a given property. Instead of this traditional concern for a smallest realization of the given property, a basically new approach, taken in [4] and [5], asks for a realization whose members are sequences of labels that correspond to 1-way infinite paths in a labelled graph. We study this approach as such, establishing tools that are applicable to all these cardinal characteristics. As an application, we demonstrate the power of the tools developed by presenting a short proof of the bounded graph conjecture [4].
A unique eclipsed 2-D coordination polymer with removable iodine molecules in the open-channel structure

The first removable solid-state iodine inclusion eclipsed two-dimensional coordination polymer with an unusually stable open-channel structure has been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction technique.
Using clinical trial data to tailor adjuvant treatments for individual patients.

Abstract The 2005 St. Gallen Consensus Panel provided recommendations for the treatment of early breast cancer which rely on target identification first. The foremost advance since 2005—demonstration of trastuzumab efficacy for patients with HER2-positive disease—was realized because an effective treatment was being evaluated and because the trial patients had the targeted disease as determined by quality-controlled assessment prior to study entry. The BIG 1-98 trial provides a striking reminder of patients’ benefit from reliable pathological tumor assessment so that targeted therapies are effectively utilized. Several statistical methods facilitate use of clinical trial data for individualizing treatment. Subgroup analyses summarized using forest plots are essential for better understanding the disease and its treatment. The HERA trial illustrates the interpretation of relative and absolute treatment effects and estimating hazard rates over time as means to distinguish relevant differences across subgroups. Overview analyses, joint analyses, the STEPP (subpopulation treatment effect pattern plot) method and recursive partitioning are valuable tools.
High-Pressure Peridotites in Southwestern Oregon

Several peridotites in coastal southwestern Oregon contain the high-pressure mineral assemblage, forsterite, aluminous enstatite and diopside, and spinel. Textural relations and mineral chemistry indicate that the peridotites were recrystallized at high temperatures (1100° to 1200° C) over a range of pressure decreasing from 19 to 5 kbars. It is proposed that the peridotites represent upper mantle material brought from depth beneath a Mesozoic ocean ridge system, transported eastward by a spreading oceanic plate, and then emplaced by thrust faulting in the western margin of the Cordillera during late Mesozoic time.
Building classifiers using Bayesian networks

Recent work in supervised learning has shown that a surprisingly simple Bayesian classifier with strong assumptions of independence among features, called naive Bayes, is competitive with state of the art classifiers such as C4.5. This fact raises the question of whether a classifier with less restrictive assumptions can perform even better. In this paper we examine and evaluate approaches for inducing classifiers from data, based on recent results in the theory of learning Bayesian networks. Bayesian networks are factored representations of probability distributions that generalize the naive Bayes classifier and explicitly represent statements about independence. Among these approaches we single out a method we call Tree Augmented Naive Bayes (TAN), which outperforms naive Bayes, yet at the same time maintains the computational simplicity (no search involved) and robustness which are characteristic of naive Bayes. We experimentally tested these approaches using benchmark problems from the U. C. Irvine repository, and compared them against C4.5, naive Bayes, and wrapper-based feature selection methods.
Weighted limits and colimits

“Weighted” notions of limits and colimits are necessary to describe a comprehensive theory of limits and colimits in enriched categories. Weighted limits extend classical limits in two ways. First, the universal property of the representing object is enriched: an isomorphism of sets is replaced by an isomorphism in the base category for the enrichment. Second, and most interestingly, the shapes of cones that limits and colimits represent are vastly generalized. To build intuition, we begin our journey by examining the role played by weighted limits and colimits in unenriched category theory. In the unenriched context, weighted limits reduce to classical ones. Despite this fact, this perspective can be conceptually clarifying, as we see in the examples presented in this chapter and in Chapter 14. After first gaining familiarity in the unenriched case, we define internal hom-objects for ν- Cat , which will be necessary to encode the enriched universal properties of weighted limits and colimits. We then introduce the general theory of weighted limits and colimits in a ν-category, also called ν- limits and ν- colimits ; describe an important special case; and discuss ν-completeness and ν-cocompleteness. We close this chapter with applications to homotopy limits and colimits, establishing their previously advertised local universal property. Weighted limits in unenriched category theory The limit of a diagram F : C → M is an object of M that represents the functor M op → Set that maps m ∈ M to the set of cones over F with summit m .
Characteristics of New Jersey Agritourism Farms

Agritourism is an important alternative farm enterprise strategy in the U.S., especially for farms operating under urban influence. This paper develops a logit model to identify the characteristics of farms engaged in agritourism using 2007 Census of Agriculture respondent-level records. New Jersey, which ranks first nationally in the proportion of farm income derived from agritourism, provides the geographic context. We find that fruit/vegetable farms, rural residential/retirement farms, and intermediate-scale farms are more likely to offer agritourism. We also find that the likelihood of engaging in agritourism is significantly higher for farms employing organic production techniques and farm conservation practices.