cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Finding sparse, equivalent SDPs using minimal coordinate projections

We present a new method for simplifying SDPs that blends aspects of symmetry reduction with sparsity exploitation. By identifying a subspace of sparse matrices that provably intersects (but doesn't necessarily contain) the set of optimal solutions, we both block-diagonalize semidefinite constraints and enhance problem sparsity for many SDPs arising in sums-of-squares optimization. The identified subspace is in analogy with the fixed-point subspace that appears in symmetry reduction, and, as we illustrate, can be found using an efficient combinatorial algorithm that searches over coordinate projections. Effectiveness of the method is illustrated on several examples.
A deployable Vivaldi-fed conical horn antenna for CubeSats

The advent of CubeSats has revolutionized the space research industry. The small physical size and constraints owing to outer space applications present significant challenges for antenna engineers to come up with innovative solutions. This paper presents a novel wide band antenna high gain antenna which is capable of deploying from a CubeSat platform.
The effect of ethionine on metabolism of adenosine triphosphate.

SummaryWhen adult female rats are treated with ethionine, the metabolism of adenine nucleotides is changed as follows: (a) both ATP and ADP levels fall after 4 hr; (b) ATP remains at a low level for at least 18 hr; and (c) the turnover of P in the nucleotides is reduced.
Clinical Pathology and Bacteriological Study of Non-erupted Mandibular Molars.

This report suggests a classification of the various lesions of soft tissues produced by the difficult eruption of mandibular third molars. In addition it presents a bacteriological study of dental pulps dissected from embedded teeth which were extracted.Unerupted teeth are classified as either impacted or embedded depending upon their relation to adjacent teeth and overlying bone. Both types may produce neuralgia and other lesions of nerve, muscle or organs of special sense. The local inflammatory reactions are classified under 4 general heads: (1) Simple pericoronitis; (2) Supurative pericoronitis (acute and chronic); (3) Diffuse pericoronitis; (4) Hypertrophic or hyperplastic pericoronitis. These several conditions require certain precautions in preliminary treatment but call ultimately for the removal of the tooth.The bacteriological study of the vital pulps of unerupted third molars is a virgin field. The organisms of dental caries and pyorrhea have been extensively studied but no report has been pub...
Residual Nature of Endosulfan in Burley Tobacco

Burley tobacco harvested immediately after treatment with 0.5 Ib/acre of endosulfan and cured for four months contained average total endosulfan residues of 23.2 ppm. Residue levels in the top, middle, and bottom leaves were 49.6, 13.2, and 6.7 ppm, respectively. On the top leaves, endosulfan I comprised 13 percent, endosulfan II 78 percent and endosulfan sulfate 9 percent of the total. The sulfate accounted for approximately 20 percent of the total residues on the middle and bottom leaves, with a corresponding decrease in the concentration of endosulfan II. When the time between treatment and harvest was increased to 28 days, the average total residues on the cured tobacco was 2.2 ppm, with almost equal quantities on top, middle, and bottom leaves. Treatment at 42 and 70 days prior to harvest resulted in 0.64 and 0.34 ppm total residues and 1.15 and 0.41 ppm highest residues in the bottom leaves. Comparing the levels of residues in freshly harvested tobacco with those in cured tobacco showed that the loss during curing decreased as the time between treatment and harvest increased to 14 days (53 percent loss), but remained constant thereafter.
Photographic Evidence and Chronology of Nest Parasitism by a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Abstract.— Accounts of obligate nest parasitism (e.g., Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater) are common in the literature; however, reports of facultative nest parasitism are less frequent. Nest parasitism has been documented only rarely in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). We obtained photographic evidence of a female Wild Turkey parasitizing an artificial ground nest in Lincoln County, Arkansas, in June 2013. A series of photographs show the turkey finding the nest, moving the eggs 0.3 m from the original nest location, returning twice the following day, and parasitizing the nest by laying a single egg. The actual parasitism event occurred 33–55 hrs after the turkey discovered the nest. We are unaware of other published photographs documenting nest parasitism by Wild Turkeys and this series of photographs provides information on the chronology of nest parasitism by Wild Turkeys.
Stem Cells in the Treatment of Myocardial Infarction and Cardiomyopathy

Cardiovascular investigators are currently investigating adult bone marrow stem cells, cardiac stem cells, and adipose stem cells as potential new regenerative cell treatments for patients with acute myocardial infarctions and cardiomyopathies. The initial ten-year experience with autologous, unfractionated bone marrow aspirates, which contain hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), suggested that patients with myocardial infarctions who receive these cells demonstrate 2–3 % increases in the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction of the heart, 4.8 ml decreases in the left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), and approximately 5 % reductions in infarction size without experiencing significant side effects from these cells. The bone marrow stem cells are thought to act by releasing biologically active factors that limit myocardial inflammation, injury, and necrosis. The LateTIME, the TIME, and the Swiss Myocardial Infarction trials have recently addressed the questions of the optimal time for autologous, unfractionated bone marrow cell administration after acute myocardial infarction and coronary angioplasty and whether these cells limit myocardial damage in comparison with the patients treated with percutaneous coronary angioplasty and current medical care without cell transplantation. In these studies, the myocardial infarction sizes and the left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEFs) were not significantly different between the cell-treated patients with standard medical care and patients treated with standard medical care without bone marrow cells (BMCs). The lack of differences between treatments may have been due to the performance of coronary angioplasty within 4–5 h of the onset of patient’s symptoms of myocardial infarction, but may also have been due to heterogeneous patient bone marrow cell populations, red blood cell contamination of stem cells, heparin inhibition of stem cell migration, and expulsion of the stem cells from the contracting heart shortly after injection. Current trials of patients with myocardial infarction are examining specific bone marrow stem cells including MSCs and CD34+ endothelial stem cells. In addition, cardiac stem cells isolated from human hearts are being investigated in the treatment of patients with infarcted hearts. Cardiac stem cell treatments in patients with infarcted hearts have reportedly decreased left ventricular infarct scar sizes by 11.9–15.7 g and increased left ventricular viable mass by 17.9–22.6 g. Successful cell-based therapy for patients with heart disease requires the close cooperation and interaction of basic scientists and clinicians throughout the world. In this manner, the cell-based therapy in the twenty-first century will offer new hope to the millions of patients with heart disease throughout the world who would otherwise suffer from the inexorable downward progression of heart disease, heart failure, and death.
Shangzhi-shimen Synclinorium Rservoir Forming Conditions

In consideration of the factors of hydrocarbon source rock, reservoir, caprock and (conserving conditions) and trap etc, the characteristics of Sinian-Silurian oil and gas reservoir forming in Shangzhi-Shimen synclinorium area are studied. It is considered that the studied area has good hydrocarbon generating conditions and good reservoir conditions and oil and gas conserving conditions in undeveloped fault block areas are good. The tithologic traps are formed in Palaeozoic era before Triassic period, and structural traps are influenced by Yanshan movement. In combination of hydrocarbon generating history with regional structure evolution rules, it is thought that the north-east part of studied area is a beneficial area of oil and gas accumulation.
A Systematic Review of Bright Light Therapy for Eating Disorders.

Objective Bright light therapy is a noninvasive biological intervention for disorders with nonnormative circadian features. Eating disorders, particularly those with binge-eating and night-eating features, have documented nonnormative circadian eating and mood patterns, suggesting that bright light therapy may be an efficacious stand-alone or adjunctive intervention. The purpose of this systematic literature review, using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, was (1) to evaluate the state of the empirical treatment outcome literature on bright light therapy for eating disorders and (2) to explore the timing of eating behavior, mood, and sleep-related symptom change so as to understand potential mechanisms of bright light therapy action in the context of eating disorder treatment. Data sources A comprehensive literature search using PsycInfo and PubMed/MEDLINE was conducted in April 2016 with no date restrictions to identify studies published using bright light therapy as a treatment for eating disorders. Keywords included combinations of terms describing disordered eating (eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, binge, eating behavior, eating, and night eating) and the use of bright light therapy (bright light therapy, light therapy, phototherapy). After excluding duplicates, 34 articles were reviewed for inclusion. Study selection and data extraction 14 published studies of bright light therapy for eating disorders met inclusion criteria (included participants with an eating disorder/disordered-eating behaviors; presented as a case study, case series, open-label clinical trial, or randomized/nonrandomized controlled trial; written in English; and published and available by the time of manuscript review). Results Results suggest that bright light therapy is potentially effective at improving both disordered-eating behavior and mood acutely, although the timing of symptom response and the duration of treatment effects remain unknown. Conclusions Future research should systematically control for placebo response, assess symptom change frequently and across a broad range of systems, and evaluate the longer-term efficacy of bright light therapy for eating disorders.
Pyloric obstruction secondary to epicardial pacemaker implantation: a case report.

A 10-year old Lhasa Apso dog was presented for an acute history of exercise intolerance and hind limb weakness. High grade second degree atrioventricular block with an atrial rate of 200 beats per minute, ventricular rate of 40 beats per minute and an intermittent ventricular escape rhythm, was diagnosed on electrocardiograph. A transdiaphragmatic, unipolar, epicardial pacemaker was implanted without immediate surgical complications. Severe vomiting was noted 12 h post-operatively. Abdominal ultrasound and a barium study supported a diagnosis of pyloric outflow obstruction and exploratory abdominal surgery was performed. The pyloric outflow tract appeared normal and no other causes of an outflow obstruction were identified. The epicardial generator was repositioned from the right to the left abdominal wall. Pyloric cell pacing was presumed to be the cause for the pyloric obstruction and severe vomiting, and this was thought to be due to close proximity of the pacemaker generator to the pylorus situated in the right abdominal wall. Repositioning of the pulse generator to the left abdominal wall resulted in resolution of vomiting.
Happily Ever After: How Ending Valence Influences Narrative Persuasion in Cautionary Stories

Narratives are a persuasive platform that evokes processing distinct from other message formats. Story-ending valence is a component common to all stories and can influence how individuals respond to and are persuaded by the story. The current work examines how ending valence of a cautionary story, a popular type of narrative that delivers a warning to the audience, influences story-consistent beliefs through a process of global reflection or understanding of the overall story message. Across three studies, we find a positive story ending enhances reflection on the message meaning and, subsequently, enhances story-consistent beliefs.
Landscape of Microsatellite Instability Across 39 Cancer Types.

PurposeMicrosatellite instability (MSI) is a pattern of hypermutation that occurs at genomic microsatellites and is caused by defects in the mismatch repair system. Mismatch repair deficiency that leads to MSI has been well described in several types of human cancer, most frequently in colorectal, endometrial, and gastric adenocarcinomas. MSI is known to be both predictive and prognostic, especially in colorectal cancer; however, current clinical guidelines only recommend MSI testing for colorectal and endometrial cancers. Therefore, less is known about the prevalence and extent of MSI among other types of cancer.MethodsUsing our recently published MSI-calling software, MANTIS, we analyzed whole-exome data from 11,139 tumor-normal pairs from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments projects and external data sources across 39 cancer types. Within a subset of these cancer types, we assessed mutation burden, mutational signatures, and somatic variants ...
Association of Enrollment in an Aerodigestive Clinic With Reduced Hospital Stay for Children With Special Health Care Needs.

Importance Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have disproportionate health care utilization. Previous studies have demonstrated that a primary medical home improves health care outcomes for this population. Objective To elucidate if enrollment in a multidisciplinary aerodigestive clinic improves outcomes and reduces health care costs by decreasing admissions and inpatient days. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective medical record review of 113 patients with aerodigestive disorders enrolled in a pediatric multidisciplinary clinic from June 2009 to December 2013 was performed. Of the 113 particpants, 58 (51.3%) were male, 59 (52.2%) had a tracheostomy, and 90 (80.5%) had a gastrostomy tube during their enrollment period. Patient ages at enrollment ranged from 0 to 20 years, with 59 (52.2%) ranging from 0 to 5 years, 23 (20.4%) ranging from 6 to 10 years, 18 (15.9%) ranging from 11 to 15 years, and 13 (11.5%) being 16 years or older. Admissions data before and after enrollment in a pediatric multidisciplinary clinic were examined. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcomes studied were changes in admissions and inpatient days before and after enrollment. Financial data were also examined to determine the reduction in technical direct cost. Results The admissions data for 113 children were analyzed. No significant difference in number of admissions per year was seen with enrollment with a median difference of −0.30 admissions per year (range, –10.6 to 6.7 admissions per year; 95% CI, −3.5 to 2.9). However, there was a significant decrease seen in inpatient days per year following enrollment, with a median decrease of 4.1 inpatient days per year (range, –80 to 283.3 inpatient days per year; 95% CI, 0.33 to 91.0). When examining aerodigestive admissions alone, the median number of aerodigestive hospital days avoided per patient was 0.57 days per month, or 6.8 days per year, representing a 70% reduction in technical direct cost. Conclusions and Relevance These findings indicate that for children with special health care needs, enrollment in a multidisciplinary aerodigestive clinic may improve health care outcomes by decreasing technical direct cost by 70% and significantly decreasing patient hospital days by an estimated 1 week per year. Furthermore, coordinated aerodigestive care in a medical home setting may lower health care expenditures from a systems-based perspective.
Semantic Modeling and Inference with Episodic Organization for Managing Personal Digital Traces

Many individuals generate a flood of personal digital traces (e.g., emails, social media posts, web searches, calendars) as a byproduct of their daily activities. To facilitate querying and to support natural retrospective and prospective memory of these, a key problem is to integrate them in some sensible manner. For this purpose, based on research in the cognitive sciences, we propose a conceptual modeling language whose novel features include (i) the super-properties “who, what, when, where, why, how” applied uniformly to both documents and autobiographic events; and (ii) the ability to describe prototypical plans (“scripts”) for common everyday events, which in fact generate personal digital documents as traces. The scripts and wh-questions support the hierarchical organization and abstraction of the original data, thus helping end-users query it. We illustrate the use of our language through examples, provide formal semantics, and present an algorithm to recognize script instances.
California Ballot Initiative to Raise Earmarked Funds for the Foster Care System

While recent proposals in the California legislature have been successful in adding nominal dollars to the foster care system, a more radical and comprehensive initiative must be undertaken to address the issue of inadequate foster care funding in the state. Perhaps the only issue more disconcerting than the lack of resources is the looming threat to existing resources. The federal mechanisms which provide the bulk of funding for foster care services are exceedingly vulnerable to curtailment. Consequently, the resource problem afflicting the foster care system is two-fold: (1) An under funded system is providing limited and substandard care to foster youth and (2) the federal funding mechanisms providing the bulk of existing funds will soon face challenges. Work must be undertaken to provide additional and stable sources of funding to ensure the viability of existing services and to facilitate the implementation of new services for this underserved community. The long-standing “scattered” and “reactive” nature of policy making in this field makes it imperative that advocates take an aggressive grassroots posture to proactively improve and protect foster care services before they are completely crippled.This proposal seeks to introduce a ballot initiative to impose a 3.5% monthly internet access fee for all high-speed data lines servicing businesses and residences in California. The funds raised would be earmarked for new foster care services and programs in the state. Unused funds would be placed in a reserve account earmarked for future foster care services.
Drawing and understanding recursive functions

Sifflet is a visual, functional programming language and environment, developed as an aid for understanding recursive functions. Sifflet's explanations of recursive computations provide visual reinforcement of the copies model of recursion. They are driven by student demand, supporting active learning and avoiding information overload.
"We Are Not Entirely Replacing Paper": Understanding Paper Persistence in Emergency Medical Settings

The introduction of an electronic flowsheet for documenting resuscitations at an urban, pediatric teaching hospital provided a unique opportunity to study the transition from paper to electronic documentation. We examine the persistent use of paper as a workaround by nurse documenters during the adoption of new technology and how these workarounds become routinized in their work practices. We discuss the effects of paper persistence on aspects of documentation and nurses' workload.
In Vivo Monitoring of Rare Circulating Tumor Cell and Cluster Dissemination in a Multiple Myeloma Xenograft Model

Abstract We recently developed ‘Diffuse in vivo Flow Cytometry’ (DiFC), a new pre-clinical research tool for enumerating extremely rare fluorescently-labeled circulating cells directly in vivo. In this paper, we developed a green fluorescent protein (GFP) compatible version of DiFC, and used it to non-invasively monitor the circulating tumor cell (CTC) burden over time in a multiple myeloma disseminated xenograft model. We show that DiFC allowed counting of CTCs at estimated concentrations below 1 cell per mL in peripheral blood with a negligible false alarm rate. DiFC also revealed the presence of CTC clusters in circulation to our knowledge for the first time in this model, and allowed us to calculate their size, kinetics, and frequency of shedding. We anticipate that the unique capabilities of DiFC will have many applications in the study of hematogenous metastasis, and as a powerful complementary methodology to liquid biopsy assays.
Educación y política en el norte del sur: Una experiencia de formación en gestión social comunitaria, by D.Q. Nedelcu

“Educacion popular es el proceso continuo y sistematico, que implica momentos de reflexion y estudio sobre la practica del grupo o de la organizacion; es la confrontacion de la practica sistematiza...
Pumps and Controllers

This chapter is divided into two parts, pumps and controllers, because each device serves a distinct purpose and generally operates on different principles to manage fluid flow rates.
What’s a Woman to Do?

I first met Pam when she was 55 years old and moved from her small southern town to the big city. Pam was helping my colleague and I evaluate a bladder management decision aid we had developed for persons with a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). While evaluating the decision aid, Pam retold her story about her injury and the many decisions she had to make, or, rather, her clinicians made for her, about how to manage and live with a SCI.
Weight loss supplement causing acute heart block in a child

A 16-year-old male was admitted to the paediatric ICU with acute onset of vomiting, somnolence, and chest pain, and electrocardiogram showing 2nd degree heart block after ingesting an Aleurites moluccana (Candlenut) seed as a herbal weight loss supplement. Electrocardiogram showed progressively worsening heart block with down-sloping of the ST segments, resembling digoxin toxicity. After 2 days of ICU observation, his symptoms began to improve and eventually resolved. The side effects of herbal supplements are often unknown but by analysing cases such as these, physicians can develop a better understanding of these substances to help guide management.
FM-Track: A fiducial marker tracking software for studying cell mechanics in a three-dimensional environment.

Abstract Tracking the deformation of fiducial markers in the vicinity of living cells embedded in compliant synthetic or biological gels is a powerful means to study cell mechanics and mechanobiology in three-dimensional environments. However, current approaches to track and quantify three-dimensional (3D) fiducial marker displacements remain ad-hoc, can be difficult to implement, and may not produce reliable results. Herein, we present a compact software package entitled “FM-Track,” written in the popular Python language, to facilitate feature-based particle tracking tailored for 3D cell micromechanical environment studies. FM-Track contains functions for pre-processing images, running fiducial marker tracking, and post-processing and visualization. FM-Track can thus aid the study of cellular mechanics and mechanobiology by providing an extensible software platform to more reliably extract complex local 3D cell contractile information in transparent compliant gel systems.
He’s ready for his closeup: Peter the Anteater’s guide to the library

The scene opens with a laptop kiosk. In the foreground, a furry head comes into focus with the text: “With an essay to write, a laptop would come in handy!” Meet Peter, the anteater puppet who discovers a laptop kiosk in the library and learns to check one out and return it. In the past year, the libraries at the University of California-Irvine have created several videos with Peter to raise awareness of library services and resources.
Midterm oncologic outcomes after robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

e16084 Background: The robotic surgery has been extensively adopted in many surgical areas, especially in Urology. It's proven benefits (less blood loss, shorter recovery and reduced complication r...
Biologic therapies versus surgical management for aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease: A review of preliminary data, efficacy, and cost.

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) patients with CRSwNP suffer from reduced quality of life, reduced economic productivity, and higher risk of depression and sleep dysfunction. These patients often require frequent medical and surgical therapy, including functional endoscopic sinus surgery for recalcitrant disease. Given this severity, anti-type 2 biologic treatments are being investigated for use in this subgroup of patients with CRSwNP, including Omalizumab and Dupilumab. Preliminary data suggests that SNOT-22 related quality of life improvements following treatment with biologics are comparable to the current standard of care in the short term, but there is a lack of long-term data and standardized regimen that makes direct comparison difficult. Biologic therapies additionally require continuous use to avoid recurrence, and currently cost many times more than existing medical or surgical therapies.
What is the role of PARP inhibitors in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is on track to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States by 2030 and has an overall 5-year survival rate of 10% [1]. Although multi-a...
Uncertainty quantification in digital image correlation for experimental evaluation of deep learning based damage diagnostic

As the temporal and spatial resolution of monitoring data drastically increases by advances in sensing technology, structural health monitoring applications reach the thresholds of big data. Deep n...
Quantitative analysis of the sequential initiation and simultaneous propagation of multiple fractures in shale gas/oil formations

Abstract The excessive reach of new fractures during hydraulic fracturing can interact with the pre-existing fracture system during reservoir stimulation. This phenomenon is known as Frac Driven Interaction (FDI), which can greatly compromise the production performance of the wells. The key to minimizing the impact of FDI is to effectively control the length of fractures through a proper fracturing design. This study provides a computer program that outputs the length and initiation time of each fracture to quantitively analyze the sequential initiation and propagation of multiple fractures. Parametric analysis results show that increasing the injection rate, apparent viscosity, and the dilatancy of the fluid can help shorten fracture length and increase fracture count, which ultimately mitigate fracture interaction. Higher dilatancy mainly contributes to the resultant populated length of fractures, while a higher injection rate mainly contributes to the resultant number of fractures. The results also show that a better estimation of critical fracture width is critical to improving the accuracy of the simulation. The effect of various parameters on the FDI index is analyzed i.e. decreasing the injection time from 2h to 1h has led to a 46% decrease of fracture length while the number of fractures is only reduced from 10 to 8. It is found that factors that lead to a higher energy dissipation rate can result in shorter fractures and higher fracture counts. The methodology and results of this paper can deepen our understanding of the fracture interaction mechanism, which may also be used as a guideline and tool to control fracture length and count to mitigate FDI issues.
A Survey of Notification Designs in Commercial mHealth Apps

Mobile health (mHealth) apps can support users’ behavioral changes towards healthier habits (e.g., increasing activity) through goal setting, self-monitoring, and notifications. In particular, mHealth app notifications can aid in behavioral change through increasing user app engagement and adherence to health objectives. Previous studies have established empirically-derived notification design recommendations; however, prior work has shown that few mHealth apps are grounded in advised health behavior theories. Therefore, we wanted to examine if there was also a gap between recommendations and practice for mHealth notifications. We surveyed 50 mHealth apps and found a disconnect in several areas (e.g., tailoring, interactivity). Our findings show that mHealth apps can be improved to further support users’ health goals. We discuss open research questions in the context of mHealth notifications.
Participation in muscle-strengthening activities as an alternative method for the prevention of multimorbidity.

Abstract Objective Participating in muscle-strengthening activities (MSA) has been shown to reduce the risks associated with many individual chronic diseases; however, the impact of MSA on multimorbidity remains unexplored. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the association between MSA and multimorbidity. Methods Data from the 2003–2006 NHANES were used including 4587 adults (≥ 20 years old). Participation in MSA was defined as self-reported involvement within the last 30 days. Multimorbidity was deemed as having ≥ 2 of the 14 chronic diseases. Results After adjustments (including accelerometry-assessed physical activity), individuals participating in MSA had a 26% reduced odds of having multimorbidity (OR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62–0.88; p = 0.001) and each 2 day/week increase in MSA was associated with an 8% reduced odds of being multimorbid (OR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.84–1.00; p = 0.05). Conclusion Independent of accelerometry-assessed physical activity, the participation in MSA may reduce the odds of being multimorbid, with evidence of a dose–response relationship.
Steady-State and Transient Thermal Hydraulics of a Breeder-in-Tube Blanket Design

A new pin-type solid breeder blanket for tokamak reactors has been developed. Detailed engineering analyses have been performed and include configuration, neutronics, structural analysis, tritium transport, materials issues and thermal hydraulics. Steady-state and transient thermal problems have been addressed and are reported. Particular attention is given to the issues of start-up, shutdown and fractional power operation. This study complements a previous report which examined the start-up, shutdown and fractional power operation of a liquid metal cooled tandem mirror reactor blanket.
Empirical support for the critical assumptions of empowerment theory.

This exploratory case study provides empirical support for three critical assumptions of empowerment theory. Many empowerment theorists have argued that empowerment takes on multiple forms across people, is contextually embedded, and shifts over time (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1990, 1995). To better understand the implications of these assumptions for empowerment theory and the research and intervention methods we employ, the empowerment experiences of 49 employees within a large human service delivery organization were explored. A method well suited to investigate empowerment's assumptions of multiplicity and dynamism—a constructivist approach to inquiry—was employed. Content analyses of interview and observational data revealed that the process of empowerment may be more complex than originally conceived. Not only did multiple meanings and desires for empowerment emerge across employees and between employees and leaders, but several shifting ecologies impacted the employees' lives, causing the employees' empowerment experiences to fluctuate. Empowerment emerged as a dynamic, highly individualistic, contextually layered process. Multiple forms, contexts, and dynamics that influenced employee empowerment are described. Implications of these findings for empowerment research and intervention are discussed.
“Making Birth Control Respectable”: The Birth Control Review, 1917–1928

In this examination of Margaret Sanger's the Birth Control Review, we discuss the themes of the eugenics and neo-Malthusian (overpopulation) movements that helped Sanger reach two important audiences (legislators and the medical community) during the effort to push birth control into the national spotlight. We show how Sanger and her editors used these themes and a mix of information sources to raise awareness, change attitudes, and build support for legal and behavioral change.
The Effects of Instructional Rubrics on Learning to Write

This study examines the impact of instructional rubrics on eighth grade students' writing and on their knowledge of the qualities of effective writing. Students in the treatment group were given instructional rubrics that articulated the criteria and gradations of quality for three assigned essays. Students in the control group wrote the same three essays but did not receive the rubric. Students in the treatment group received, on average, higher scores on one of the three essays. Questionnaires administered at the end of the study revealed that students in the treatment group tended to identify more of the criteria by which their writing was evaluated.
Hierarchical Delaunay triangulation for meshing

This paper discusses an elliptical pad structure and its polygonal approximation. The elliptical pad is a part of via model structures, which are important and critical components on today's multilayered Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and electrical packaging. To explore meshing characterization of the elliptical pad helps mesh generation over 3D structures for electromagnetic modeling (EM) and simulation on PCB and electrical packaging. Because elliptical structures are often key PCB features, we introduce a hierarchical mesh construct and show that it has several useful Delaunay quality characteristics. Then we show experimentally that Computational Geometry Algorithm Library's (CGAL) meshing of an elliptical structure at different resolution levels and with various aspect ratios produces patterns similar to our construct. In particular, our experiment also shows that the result of meshing is not only constrained Delaunay triangulation but also Delaunay triangulation.
Population status, habitat dependence, and reproductive ecology of Bahama Orioles: a critically endangered synanthropic species

ABSTRACT Recent elevation of critically endangered Bahama Orioles (Icterus northropi) to species status prompted us to evaluate their population status, habitat use, and breeding ecology. From surveys, we estimated that at least 141 to 254 individuals remain globally, with 90 to 162, 24 to 44, and 27 to 48 individuals remaining on North Andros Island, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros Island, The Bahamas, respectively. Orioles were observed nesting exclusively in anthropogenic habitat (residential and agricultural land), but home ranges also included nearby pine forest and coppice (dry broadleaf forest). Most nests (40 of 46, or 87%) were in nonnative coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), with native Sabal palmetto and Thrinax morrisii, and an introduced Brassaia actinophylla also used. Trees selected by orioles for nesting were significantly taller, less likely to have shrubs underneath, further from cover, and had more palm trees nearby than randomly selected palm trees. Three of eight nests with known contents were parasitized by Shiny Cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis). Lethal yellowing disease recently devastated coconut palms and reduced the number of orioles on North Andros, but palms on Mangrove Cay and South Andros remain healthy. The juxtaposition of anthropogenic habitat to suitable native habitats may be more important than any single factor for Bahama Orioles, especially for breeding adults and fledged young. Conservation of coppice habitat, at high risk for agricultural and residential development, is crucial for survival of this critically endangered synanthropic species.
Hot water and dilute acid pretreatment of high and low specific gravity Populus deltoides clones

Populus sp. are hardwood feedstocks that grow in forest management areas that are logged for softwoods; however, they are also being considered as an energy-destined feedstock. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of xylose yield from dilute acid and hot water pretreatments performed in unstirred batch stainless steel reactors at temperatures ranging from 140 to 200°C. Populus deltoides clones S13C20 and S7C15 used in this study originated from Eastern Texas and were cultivated for 14 years in Pine Tree, AR. P. deltoides clones S13C20 and S7C15 had specific gravities of 0.48 and 0.40, respectively. Bark and wood were examined separately. As expected, hot water pretreatments, in the tested temperature range, resulted in very little direct xylose recovery. However, the 140°C dilute acid pretreatment of the lower specific gravity clone, S7C15, wood yielded the highest average xylose recovery of 56%. This condition also yielded the highest concentration of furfural, 9 mg/g sample, which can be inhibitory to the fermentation step. The highest xylose recovery from bark samples, 31%, was obtained with clone S7C15, using the 160°C dilute acid pretreatment for 60 min.
Growth and metabolism of rodents exposed to 60-Hz electric fields

There have been a number of reports in the literature concerning growth-related changes in various animal species exposed to high-strength electric fields. Many of the laboratories reporting such effects have not documented and controlled for the secondary factors that are associated with generating high-strength electric fields (ie, corona, ozone, harmonic distortion, cage vibration, spark discharge). We have designed an exposure system in which we eliminated or minimized these secondary factors, therefore enabling us to examine only the effects of electric fields per se. Sprague-Dawley rats and Swiss-Webster mice were exposed to 60-Hz electric fields at kV/m for up to four months. In 17 individual experiments, we found a greater number of experiments in which the exposed rats had lower body weights than controls. This trend was not evident in data obtained from 14 individual mouse experiments. In more exhaustive growth studies, we found no significant differences in body weights, organ weights, or O2 consumption between exposed and sham-exposed controls. Our failure to detect any major changes in growth was probably the result of eliminating or minimizing the secondary factors associated with electric field exposure.
Imaging optical diffuse reflectance in beef muscles for tenderness prediction.

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of a novel optical reflectance imaging method to predict beef tenderness. Two-dimensional (2D) optical reflectance in beef muscles induced by a point incident light was acquired. A set of five parameters were extracted from each reflectance image to describe quantitatively the reflectance profiles. Two parameters, q and B , were derived by numerically fitting the equi-intensity contours of the reflectance pattern. Two spatial gradients were calculated along the directions parallel and perpendicular to muscle fibers and total scattering intensity was obtained by excluding the specular reflectance. This method was applied to analyze 2D images of optical diffuse reflectance in 336 beef samples obtained from 14 steers in which large variations in tenderness were generated by altering animal genetics, suspension method and aging time as well as utilizing muscles varying in their inherent tenderness. Tenderness was evaluated using Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF). The effects of animal breed, muscle, types of suspension, and aging were investigated and results indicate that the scattering intensity measured at 1-d was correlated ( R 2 = 0.50 at λ = 720 nm) with 10-d WBSF in M. longissimus dorsi muscles; and the q parameters measured at 1-d was correlated ( R 2 = 0.46 at λ = 720 nm) with 10-d WBSF in M. psoas major muscles. These results show analyzing 2D reflectance images of meat surfaces provides valuable information regarding the physical characteristics of meat that are responsible for beef tenderness.
The man who loved drunken crabs. A case of pulmonary paragonimiasis.

Observation chez un homme de 46 ans presentant des douleurs thoraciques et une dyspnee depuis 6 heures
Solubilities and Thermodynamic Properties of Gases in the Ionic Liquid 1-n-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Hexafluorophosphate

This work presents the solubility of nine different gases in 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate. The gases considered include carbon dioxide, ethylene, ethane, methane, argon, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen. We also report the associated Henry's constants and enthalpies and entropies of absorption. We found carbon dioxide to have the highest solubility and strongest interactions with the ionic liquid, followed by ethylene and ethane. Argon and oxygen had very low solubilities and immeasurably weak interactions. Carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen all had solubilities below the detection limit of our apparatus. Our results suggest that the mass transfer of gases into ionic liquids likely will be an important issue for reactions involving these gases. We also determined that ionic liquids show good potential for use as a gas-separation medium.
Anatomic Restoration Technique of Continence Mechanism and Preservation of Puboprostatic Collar: A Novel Modification to Achieve Early Urinary Continence in Men Undergoing Robotic Prostatectomy

Objectives The puboprostatic ligaments, puboperinealis muscle, and arcus tendineus are all recognized as important for continence in men and women. This complex of ligaments, muscles, and tendineus aponeurosis acts in unison to provide continence and can be disrupted during robotic prostatectomy. We propose that preservation of the puboprostatic collar during robotic surgery will help to restore early continence in men undergoing robotic prostatectomy. Methods We performed cadaveric studies in 10 fresh cadavers to devise strategies to leave intact the puboprostatic ligaments, muscular collar, and arcus tendineus supporting the continence mechanism. We developed reconstructive strategies to reconnect the ligaments to the urethrovesical anastomosis, reapproximated the muscles, and fixed the distal bladder to the arcus tendineus. These modifications were then attempted in 50 consecutive patients who underwent robotic prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. The patient-reported outcomes were then used to assess the efficacy of this procedure. Results The technique was reproducible, and the average additional time taken for the final reconstruction was only 2 to 5 minutes. The continence rate was 29% in the first week, 62% at 6 weeks, 88% at 12 weeks, and 95% in 16 weeks after catheter removal. No other differences were found in the operative, oncologic, or perioperative outcomes. Conclusions This modification helped in the early return of continence. It is unlikely that the long-term results will be any different, but shortening the recovery time will have psychological, financial, and health-related quality-of-life benefits for the patients.
Parathyroid hormone regulates the distribution and osteoclastogenic potential of hematopoietic progenitors in the bone marrow

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) increases both the number of osteoclast in bone and the number of early hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in bone marrow. We previously characterized the phenotype of multiple populations of bone marrow cells with in vitro osteoclastogenic potential in mice. Here we examined whether intermittent administration of PTH influences these osteoclast progenitor (OCP) populations. C57BL/6 mice were treated with daily injections of bPTH(1–34) (80 μg/kg/day) for 7 or 14 days. We found that PTH caused a significant increase in the percentage of TN/CD115+CD117high and TN/CD115+CD117int cells ( p <.05) in bone marrow on day 7. In contrast, PTH decreased the absolute number of TN/CD115+CD117low cells by 39% on day 7 ( p <.05). On day 14, there was no effect of PTH on osteoclast progenitor distribution in vivo. However, PTH treatment for 7 and 14 days did increase receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)– and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF)–stimulated in vitro osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in TN/CD115+ cells. In the periphery, 14 days of treatment increased the percentage and absolute numbers of HSCs (Lin−CD117+Sca-1+) in the spleen ( p <.05). These data correlated with an increase in the percent and absolute numbers of HSCs in bone marrow on day 14 ( p <.05). Interestingly, the effects on hematopoietic progenitors do not depend on osteoclast resorption activity. These results suggest that in vivo PTH treatment increased in vitro osteoclastogenesis and resorption without altering the number of osteoclast precursors. This implies that in vivo PTH induces sustained changes, possibly through an epigenetic mechanism, in the in vitro responsiveness of the cells to M-CSF and RANKL.
Performance Characteristics and Quality Assurance Aspects of Kilovoltage Cone-Beam CT on Medical Linear Accelerator

A medical linear accelerator equipped with optical position tracking, ultrasound imaging, portal imaging, and radiographic imaging systems was installed at University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute for the purpose of performing image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and image-guided radiosurgery (IGRS) in October 2005. We report the performance characteristics and quality assurance aspects of the kilovoltage cone-beam computed tomography (kV-CBCT) technique. This radiographic imaging system consists of a kilovoltage source and a large-area flat panel amorphous silicon detector mounted on the gantry of the medical linear accelerator via controlled arms. The performance characteristics and quality assurance aspects of this kV-CBCT technique involves alignment of the kilovoltage imaging system to the isocenter of the medical linear accelerator and assessment of (a) image contrast, (b) spatial accuracy of the images, (c) image uniformity, and (d) computed tomography (CT)-to-electron density conversion relationship were investigated. Using the image-guided tools, the alignment of the radiographic imaging system was assessed to be within a millimeter. The low-contrast resolution was found to be a 6-mm diameter hole at 1% contrast level and high-contrast resolution at 9 line pairs per centimeter. The spatial accuracy (50 mm +/- 1%), slice thickness (2.5 mm and 5.0 mm +/- 5%), and image uniformity (+/- 20 HU) were found to be within the manufacturer's specifications. The CT-to-electron density relationship was also determined. By using well-designed procedures and phantom, the number of parameter checks for quality assurance of the IGRT system can be carried out in a relatively short time.