cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Comprehensive Assessment of Drugs and Chemical Toxins Excreted in Breast Milk

Inherent difficulties of opportunistic approaches have contributed to the existing paucity of information about drug excretion in human breast milk. This situation prevails for new drugs and also for post marketing surveillance of drugs. Most anecdotal or purely descriptive studies have offered too little understanding about fundamental mechanisms which in turn allow accurate quantitative estimations of the milk/plasma (M/P) drug concentration ratio after single and/or repeated doses or even during a dosing interval. Few studies have sufficient numbers of women to address this M/P ratio, or even amount of drug in milk, with regard to interindividual variation. The practical importance of an accurate, widely applicable but drug specific M/P ratio is recognized because it captures the net effect of maternal dose, dose interval, and drug disposition to give a ratio for calculation of dose delivered to the infant via breast milk.
Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics for Preterm Neonates

Probiotics have been extensively studied in neonates over the past several decades. Multiple meta-analyses have found probiotics to be effective at decreasing the number of necrotizing enterocolitis incidents. While relatively few NICUs in the United States are routinely using probiotics, many NICUs around the world have been doing so for more than a decade. The barriers to the routine use of probiotics include safety concerns and the lack of a clear consensus on the preferred formulation, dosage, and duration. Further research must be done to determine the safest and most effective formulation. This article discusses the history of probiotics, mechanisms of protection, available clinical evidence, and barriers to the use of probiotics in neonates. This review also addresses the current state of evidence regarding the naturally occurring substances called prebiotics, which can be added to formulas in the form of a supplement to promote intestinal colonization with commensal organisms, and synbiotics, which are combination products containing both probiotic cultures and prebiotic substrates.
Protocol for a longitudinal cohort study: determination of risk factors for the development of first venous leg ulcer in people with chronic venous insufficiency, the VEINS (venous insufficiency in South Florida) cohort

Introduction Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) affects up to one-third of the adult population yet venous leg ulcers (VLU), a significant complication of CVI, only affect 1%–2% of adults in the USA. Why some develop VLU and others do not is unclear. VLU have a significant impact on quality of life and are extremely costly and difficult to treat. Moreover, VLU prevalence is increasing, doubling in the last 20 years. In order to characterise the differences between people with CVI and those who ultimately develop VLU, we aim to set up the unique venous insufficiency in South Florida cohort. Methods and analysis Subjects will be recruited from the University of Miami Hospital and Clinic’s vascular laboratory database, which began in July 2011. Any adult age 18–95 who has had venous reflux detected on duplex ultrasound of the lower extremities is included. Approximately 2500 patients are already in the database that meet these criteria, with an estimated 2500 additional potential subjects to be recruited from the vascular laboratory database over the next 5 years. Subjects with a history of VLU prior to the duplex study date will be excluded. Data will be collected via review of the Doppler study report, patient phone interview and review of the electronic medical record. Subjects will be contacted for follow-up every 3 months for at least 5 years until the study endpoint, development of first VLU (fVLU), is reached. In order to estimate the time from reflux documentation to fVLU, Kaplan-Meier survival curves will be constructed. Cox proportional hazard regression models will be constructed to investigate possible risk factors. Ethics and dissemination This study is approved by the University of Miami’s Institutional Review Board. We hope to present the results of this study to the scientific community at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.
Past and Future of the Undergraduate Woman

If one looks only 20 years into the past, the changes in the aspirations of women undergraduates are substantial. Prof. Mabel Newcomer (1959), on the occasion of Vassar’s Centennial, quotes the following from applications to Vassar College indicating that many students viewed college as preparation for serving one’s future husband. “When I marry, I would like to converse with my husband’s friends and business acquaintances with a mature and confident manner that can only come from a thorough education” (p. 67). Looking at Radcliffe, Newcomer (1959) reports that “The first Radcliffe students had to obtain books from the library by messenger after the library closed in the evening, and the books were returned by messenger when the library opened in the morning. Whether the students stayed up all night to read them is not recorded. Library facilities have improved over the years, but the Radcliffe women are still excluded from the Harvard undergraduate men’s library. The explanation offered by the librarian, as late as the 1940s, was that the building had many alcoves and policing would be too expensive” (p. 198).
The density of the terms in an elliptic divisibility sequence having a fixed G.C.D. with their indices

Abstract Let D = ( D n ) n ≥ 1 be an elliptic divisibility sequence associated to the pair ( E , P ) . For a fixed integer k, we define A E , k = { n ≥ 1 : gcd ⁡ ( n , D n ) = k } . We give an explicit structural description of A E , k . Also, we explain when A E , k has positive asymptotic density using bounds related to the distribution of trace of Frobenius of E. Furthermore, we obtain an explicit density for A E , k using the Mobius function.
Quality of Life in Heart Failure Patients Differs Based on the Interaction between Depression and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition and one of the leading causes of hospitalization. It is critical to recognize risk factors impacting quality of life (QOL) in these patients. Both depression and cognitive dysfunction are prevalent in HF, and each independently have been shown to negatively impact QOL. While a relationship between depression and cognitive function is established, how depression and cognitive function interact to predict QOL in patients with HF is unknown. Further, prior studies have typically used full neuropsychological batteries used to assess cognition, which are time consuming and expensive to conduct in the context of routine outpatient appointments. We hypothesized that cognitive dysfunction and depression would lead to reduced QOL as measured using gold standard brief screening tools. As a part of a pilot program to incorporate cognitive and behavioral health screening into regular outpatient treatment, 23 patients completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), and provided demographic and medical information during a regular medical visit. Participants with and without symptoms of depression were compared on the subscales of the KCCQ-12 using a multivariate analysis of variance controlling for age and severity of HF as measured by New York Heart Class (NYHC). MANCOVA revealed that the interaction of PHQ-2 and MoCA score was related to decreased QOL (Pillai's Trace = 0.48, p = 0.047), adjusting for age and NYHC. Those endorsing symptoms of depression and lower cognitive function scored significantly worse on the Symptoms Frequency subscale of the KCCQ-12 (F = 9.55, p = 0.007) as compared to those with greater cognitive function or without symptoms of depression. A main effect of depression was also revealed (Pillai's Trace = 0.38, p = 0.027), such that those with depression symptomatology scored significantly worse on Symptom Frequency than those without (F = 11.27, p = 0.004), when controlling for age, NYHC and cognitive function. Our findings are consistent with research suggesting patients with HF who experience depressive symptoms or reduced cognitive function have decreased QOL regardless of age or severity of their illness. This are the first findings demonstrating an interaction effect using brief screening measures that can easily be incorporated into outpatient treatment. Further study is necessary to explore therapeutic strategies for patients with comorbid cognitive dysfunction and depression. This data demonstrates the need for routine cognitive and depressive screenings in outpatient settings to facilitate early intervention to improve QOL in patients with HF.
40. Posterior cervical fusion for fracture vs degenerative cervical spine disease: implications for a bundled payment model

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Current bundled payment models for cervical fusions, such as the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BCPI) revolve around the use of Diagnosis-Related-Groups (DRGs) to categorize patients for reimbursement purposes. Though a posterior cervical fusion (PCF) performed for a fracture may have a different postoperative course of care as compared to a fusion being done for degenerative cervical spine pathology, the current DRG system does not differentiate patients based on the indication/cause of surgery. PURPOSE Understand differences in 30-day outcomes between patients undergoing PCF for fracture vs degenerative cervical spine disease. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING Retrospective review of prospectively collected registry. PATIENT SAMPLE The 2012-2017 American College of Surgeons – National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) was queried using Current Procedural Terminology code 22600 to identify patients receiving elective posterior cervical fusions. Patients undergoing anterior fusions, combined anterior-posterior surgery, surgery for deformity and tumors were excluded to capture an isolated cohort of patients receiving fusion for fractures or degenerative cervical pathology. OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of 30-day adverse events, readmissions, length of stay and non-home discharge. METHODS Multivariate analyses were used to compare rates of 30-day severe adverse events (SAE), minor adverse events (MAE), readmissions, length of stay and non-home discharges between the two groups while controlling for differences in baseline clinical characteristics. RESULTS A total of 2,786 PCFs were included, out of which 2,546 (91.4%) were performed for degenerative cervical spine pathology and 240 (8.6%) for fracture. Following adjustment for differences in baseline clinical characteristics, patients undergoing a PCF for a fracture vs degenerative pathology had higher odds of severe adverse events (18.8% vs 10.6%, OR 1.65 [95% CI 1.10-2.46]; p=0.015), prolonged length of stay >3 days (54.2% vs 40.5%, OR 1.93 [95% CI 1.44-2.59]; p CONCLUSIONS Patients undergoing PCFs for fracture have significantly higher rates of postoperative adverse events and greater resource utilization as compared to individuals undergoing elective PCF for degenerative spine pathology. The study calls into question the need of risk-adjustment of bundled-prices based on indication/cause of the surgery to prevent the creation of a financial disincentive when taking care/performing surgery in spinal trauma patients. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.
Older Adults' Expectations about Mortality, Driving Life and Years Left without Driving.

ABSTRACTPeople are living and driving longer than ever before, with little preparation for transitioning to being non-drivers. We investigated driving expectations among drivers age 65 and older, i...
Abstract 716: 2D and 3D Assessment of Angiogenesis in Cardiac Engineered Tissues Implanted on Infarcted Rat Hearts

A lack of efficient vessel perfusion in cardiac engineered tissues affects cell viability and limits the success of implanted cardiac tissues. To address the need for vascular infiltration, we have...
A Study of Deep Learning Methods for De-identification of Clinical Notes at Cross Institute Settings

In this study, we examined a deep learning method for de-identification of clinical notes at UF Health under a cross-institute setting. We developed deep learning models using 2014 i2b2/UTHealth corpus and evaluated the performance using clinical notes collected from UF Health. We compared four pre-trained word embeddings, including two embeddings from the general domain and two embeddings from the clinical domain. We also explored linguistic features (i.e., word shape and part-of-speech) to further improve the performance of de-identification. The experimental results show that the performance of deep learning models trained using i2b2/UTHealth corpus significantly dropped (strict and relax F1 scores dropped from 0.9547 and 0.9646 to 0.8360 and 0.8870) when applied to another corpus from a different institution (UF Health). Linguistic features, including word shapes and part-of-speech, could further improve the performance of de-identification in cross-institute settings (improved to 0.8527 and 0.9052).
Malnutrition in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine: A Review of the Current Literature.

Context:Malnutrition is well-studied in various aspects of the orthopaedic literature, most commonly in relation to arthroplasty, spine surgery, and trauma. However, the management of nutritional d...
Multi-Objective Optimization of a Free-Form Surface Based on Generative Designs

With the improving of technology, many architects adopt curved panels as a type of free-form surfaces. Although these surfaces can be realized by utilizing curved panels including single-curved and double-curved panels, the use of more curved elements result in higher costs. Therefore, it is essential to seek an acceptable balance, in which not only the design intents are met but also the construction of such complex design at a reasonable cost in order to realize free-form surfaces as close to the original design as possible. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) approach which optimizes the process of free-form surface modeling and balances between the design intent and cost efficiency with a clear objective goal by reducing the use of curved panels. A generative and parametric design can facilitate the optimizing process, generate multiple design alternatives and assist architects to decide the optimal solution in the early stages of the design. In this paper, Project Refinery, which is a generative design plug-in for the AutodeskTM Dynamo-Revit environment, is used for this purpose.
Effects of Dark and Bright Timbral Instructions on the Production of Pitch and Timbre.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of timbral instructions on pitch and timbre production. High school (n = 28) and collegiate (n = 28) trumpeters played sustained tones at two oc...
Forests and the Global Biogeochemical Cycle of Mercury: The Importance of Understanding Air/Vegetation Exchange Processes

Atmospheric sources are recognized to be significant in the cycling of Hg in the biosphere, yet there are few reliable data on air/surface exchange rates of Hg in forests. We have developed a tower-based micrometeorological method for measuring gas-phase Hg fluxes over environmental surfaces, and have used this approach to measure Hg° fluxes over soils, vegetation, and water surfaces. These fluxes have been combined with modeling results based on measurements of atmospheric Hg concentrations and speciation to quantify the overall flux of Hg between the atmosphere and the ground. These results are compared with a study of the biogeochemical cycle of Hg in the temperate deciduous forest at Walker Branch Watershed in the southeastern United States. Our preliminary results suggest that the largest Hg fluxes in forests involve gas exchange at the air/vegetation interface. Given the magnitude of these fluxes and their level of uncertainty, this forest could act as a net source or sink for atmospheric Hg, indicating the importance of better understanding the role of Hg exchange at the vegetation surface.
Current State of the Evidence: Examining the Effects of Orton-Gillingham Reading Interventions for Students with or at Risk for Word-Level Reading Disabilities.

Over the past decade, parent advocacy groups led a grassroots movement resulting in most states adopting dyslexia-specific legislation, with many states mandating the use of the Orton-Gillingham ap...
Sporadic Malignant Perineurioma: A Rare Diagnosis Among Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors

Background Malignant perineurioma is a rare subset of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) with ultrastructural and immunohistochemical features of perineurial differentiation, distinguishing it from other MPNSTs, which typically demonstrate Schwannian features. The clinical course and prognosis of this rare tumor is not well defined. Methods The electronic medical records were searched for patients with a diagnosis of MPNST. Patients with a pathologic diagnosis of malignant perineurioma or MPNST with perineurial features were identified and further evaluated. Results Five patients with malignant perineurioma, or MPNST with perineurial features, were identified. Four patients (2 male and 2 female) were included with tumors associated with a common digital nerve, small muscular branch to the deltoid, sciatic nerve, and accessory nerve. One patient with the pathology diagnosis meeting inclusion criteria was excluded, as no clinical information was available for this patient. Conclusions Patients in our series presented at varied stages of disease. Clinical courses after diagnosis of malignant perineurioma, where follow-up was available, were largely uncomplicated with regard to recurrence and metastatic disease. Careful follow-up is indicated, and further work is needed to characterize the clinical course of these rare tumors.
Effects of Delayed Implanting on Feeder Cattle Health, Performance, and Carcass Quality

The time period in which cattle are initially received into a feeding facility can be a period of intense physiological stress that renders the animal vulnerable to infection by pathogens of the bovine respiratory disease (BRD) complex. Delaying the time at which cattle are given the initial implant may be a way to decrease arrival stress and therefore positively affect health status and performance.
Adolescent Binge Drinking is Associated with Accelerated Decline of Gray Matter Volume

The age- and time-dependent effects of binge-drinking on adolescent brain development have not been well characterized even though binge drinking is a health crisis among adolescents. The impact of binge drinking on gray matter volume development was examined using longitudinal data from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA). Non-binge drinkers (n=177) were matched to binge drinkers (n=164) on potential confounders. Number of binge drinking episodes in the past year was linked to decreased volumes for total gray matter, frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes (ps<.001). Interactions of binge drinking episodes and age demonstrated stronger effects in younger subjects for total gray matter, frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes (ps<.001). Subsequent models included binge drinking coded in multiple ways. Models sensitive to number of episodes and temporal proximity to outcomes provided the best fits. Declines in gray matter volume association with binge drinking are potentially related to changes in cognition frequently reported among binge drinking adolescents. Results underscore the potential importance of delaying initiation of binge drinking and provide evidence for a dose-response relationship of binge drinking to gray matter decline. Temporally proximal binge drinking was associated more strongly with gray matter decline, suggesting the potential for recovery.
Acoustic characteristics of Korean-English bilingual speakers' /l/ and the relationship to their foreign accent ratings.

Purpose The current study examined acoustic characteristics of English /l/ produced by Korean speakers who speak English as their second language (KE). Comparisons were made to patterns of their Korean /l/ and English /l/ produced by monolingual speakers of American English (AE). Vowel context and word position effects on acoustic differences among the three /l/ sounds were examined in relation to the degree of foreign accentedness of KE speakers. Methods Korean and English word-initial and -final /l/ in two vowel contexts (high front vs. low back) were produced by 12 KE female adult speakers in a carrier phrase. A comparison group of 10 AE speakers produced English /l/. F1 and F2 values of each /l/ production were extracted at the /l/ midpoint and were compared to each other. Euclidean distances across the productions were also examined in relation to the degrees of foreign accentedness of KE speakers. Results KE speakers' English /l/ showed significantly lower F2-F1 values than their Korean /l/ across word position and vowel context but significantly higher F2-F1 values than AE speakers' English word-initial /l/. Euclidean distance between KE speakers' English and Korean /l/, and KE and AE speakers' English /l/ correlated significantly with KE speakers' degree of foreign accentedness across word position and vowel context. Conclusion Results indicate that the influence of Korean on KE speakers' English /l/ productions varied by word position and vowel context, as well as the degree of their foreign accentedness ratings. This finding suggests the context-dependent nature of /l/ productions and highlights the need for considering a speakers' degree of foreign accent when exploring English /l/ patterns of KE speakers.
Theory and Practice of Hierarchical Data-driven Descent for Optimal Deformation Estimation

Real-world surfaces such as clothing, water and human body deform in complex ways. Estimating deformation parameters accurately and reliably is hard due to its high-dimensional and non-convex nature. Optimization-based approaches require good initialization while regression-based approaches need a large amount of training data. Recently, to achieve globally optimal estimation, data-driven descent (Tian and Narasimhan in Int J Comput Vis , 98:279---302, 2012) applies nearest neighbor estimators trained on a particular distribution of training samples to obtain a globally optimal and dense deformation field between a template and a distorted image. In this work, we develop a hierarchical structure that first applies nearest neighbor estimators on the entire image iteratively to obtain a rough estimation, and then applies estimators with local image support to refine the estimation. Compared to its non-hierarchical version, our approach has the theoretical guarantees with significantly fewer training samples, is faster by several orders, provides a better metric deciding whether a given image requires more (or fewer) samples, and can handle more complex scenes that include a mixture of global motion and local deformation. We demonstrate in both simulation and real experiments that the proposed algorithm successfully tracks a broad range of non-rigid scenes including water, clothing, and medical images, and compares favorably against several other deformation estimation and tracking approaches that do not provide optimality guarantees.
On synchronization and its specification

We introduce a very high level language for specifying synchronization properties. It is designed using the primitives of temporal logic which facilitates the specification of both invariant and time-dependent properties. The paper begins with a discussion of properties that affect synchronization. The specification language then introduced features constructs to express each of these in a fairly natural and modular fashion. Since the statements in the language have intuitive interpretations, specifications are humanly readable. Also, since they possess appropriate formal semantics, unambiguous specifications result.
Mitochondrial assembly in respiration-deficient mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Effect of nuclear mutations on mitochondrial protein synthesis.

Abstract Eighteen respiration-deficient yeast mutants were isolated from wild type cells after mutagenesis with ethylmethane sulfonate. Segregation analysis indicated that each mutant phenotype resulted from the mutation of a single nuclear gene. All mutants except one efficiently retained functional mitochondrial DNA as measured by ability to complement mitochondrial DNA-less tester strains. When the mutants were crossed pairwise and the resulting zygotes checked for functional respiration, the 18 strains could be classified into seven complementation groups. Three of these groups were characterized by a specific loss of cytochrome aa3. Another group included pleiotropic mutants which lacked cytochrome aa3, b, and c1, but not oligomycin-sensitive mitochondrial ATPase. Still another group was represented by a pleiotropic mutant that was not only deficient in cytochromes aa3, b, and c1 but in mitochondrial ATPase as well. The two remaining complementation groups included mutants that were completely deficient in cytochrome aa3 and partially deficient in other mitochondrial constituents. All of the mutants still exhibited mitochondrial protein synthesis. However, when the proteins synthesized by the mutant mitochondria in vivo were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, they usually lacked several species made by wild type mitochondria. These results show that nuclear mutations can affect either the synthesis of mitochondrial translation products or their integration into the mitochondrial inner membrane. Since mitochondrial protein synthesis can still be detected in single gene mutants with multiple mitochondrial deficiencies, we suggest that some nuclear genes may code for mitochondrial "organizer" proteins that control the correct assembly of the mitochondrial inner membrane.
Purification of a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase D from human plasma.

Abstract Mammalian plasma contains a phospholipase D, which is specific for the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor found on many eukaryotic cell surface proteins (Davitz, M. A., Hereld, D., Shak, S., Krakow, J., Englund, P. T., and Nussenzweig, V. (1987) Science 238, 81-84; Low, M. G., and Prasad, A. R. S. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 85, 980-984; Cardoso de Almeida, M. L., Turner, M. J., Stambuk, B. V., and Schenkman, S. (1988) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 150, 476-482). We have purified this phospholipase D to homogeneity by a four-step procedure involving a Mono Q and phenyl-5PW columns, followed by wheat germ lectin affinity chromatography and finally another Mono Q column. A 4,500-fold purification was achieved with a 5% yield. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the homogeneous enzyme has a Mr of 110,000 and appears to consist of a single polypeptide chain. It exhibits identical substrate specificity as compared with the crude preparation, is active over a broad pH range (4.0-8.5), inhibited by the thiol-blocking agent p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid and by 1,10-phenanthroline, and is partially heat-labile.
Dihydrolipoic acid--a universal antioxidant both in the membrane and in the aqueous phase. Reduction of peroxyl, ascorbyl and chromanoxyl radicals.

Thioctic (lipoic) acid is used as a therapeutic agent in a variety of diseases in which enhanced free radical peroxidation of membrane phospholipids has been shown to be a characteristic feature. It was suggested that the antioxidant properties of thioctic acid and its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid, are at least in part responsible for the therapeutic potential. The reported results on the antioxidant efficiency of thioctic and dihydrolipoic acids obtained in oxidation models with complex multicomponent initiation systems are controversial. In the present work we used relatively simple oxidation systems to study the antioxidant effects of dihydrolipoic and thioctic acids based on their interactions with: (1) peroxyl radicals which are essential for the initiation of lipid peroxidation, (2) chromanoxyl radicals of vitamin E, and (3) ascorbyl radicals of vitamin C, the two major lipid- and water-soluble antioxidants, respectively. We demonstrated that: (1) dihydrolipoic acid (but not thioctic acid) was an efficient direct scavenger of peroxyl radicals generated in the aqueous phase by the water-soluble azoinitiator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane)-dihydrochloride, and in liposomes or in microsomal membranes by the lipid-soluble azoinitiator 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile); (2) both dihydrolipoic acid and thioctic acid did not interact directly with chromanoxyl radicals of vitamin E (or its synthetic homologues) generated in liposomes or in the membranes by three different ways: UV-irradiation, peroxyl radicals of 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile), or peroxyl radicals of linolenic acid formed by the lipoxygenase-catalyzed oxidation; and (3) dihydrolipoic acid (but not thioctic acid) reduced ascorbyl radicals (and dehydroascorbate) generated in the course of ascorbate oxidation by chromanoxyl radicals. This interaction resulted in ascorbate-mediated dihydrolipoic acid-dependent reduction of the vitamin E chromanoxyl radicals, i.e. vitamin E recycling. We conclude that dihydrolipoic acid may act as a strong direct chain-breaking antioxidant and may enhance the antioxidant potency of other antioxidants (ascorbate and vitamin E) in both the aqueous and the hydrophobic membraneous phases.
Proportion estimation and classification of mixed pixels in multispectral data

Data from the LANDSAT satellite are being extensively utilized in a wide range of applications in agriculture, geology, hydrology, environmental monitoring, and other fields. The multispectral scanner aboard the satellite records the electromagnetic radiation at several wavelengths emanating from the objects within its field of view. Different materials reflect radiation differently at various wavelengths, enabling one to distinguish objects on the basis of their spectral responses recorded at several wavelengths. Whenever the objects being viewed by a multispectral scanner are not large relative to the size of a resolution element, a significant portion of the data recorded will consist of a mixture of the responses of two or more objects. To determine the percent of a region covered by each type of object accurately, it becomes necessary to estimate the proportions of objects within a resolution element. Two types of proportion estimators are examined and compared: an estimator based on maximum likelihood and a shortcut method. Both are tested under point-by-point estimation and estimation with data averaging. The assumption that the class covariance matrices are equal and the assumption that the classes follow normal distributions are also examined. Covariance matrices extracted from LANDSAT data are subjected to a likelihood-ratio testmore » for equality, and the effect of assuming equal covariance matrices when the actual covariances are unequal to various degrees is assessed. A classification procedure based on the L/sub 1/ norm is presented as an alternative to the usual least-squares procedure when normality does not hold. Tests are run to compare the accuracy of the two classification procedures using both normal and nonnormal data. 26 figures, 13 tables.« less
Grid scheduler with dynamic load balancing for parallel CFD

Publisher Summary This chapter describes a distributed job scheduler for grid computing. It is a software tool that provides support to many users who run parallel jobs concurrently on the clusters of heterogeneous computers while maintaining the load balance from both the user's and the system administrator's point of view. The scheduler has a self-healing feature that can recover parallel CFD computation from system and hardware related errors. The scheduler can work with Globus. The unique feature of this scheduler is that it can allocate a set of computers to a parallel job and lets the application do dynamic load balancing on the given computers. The schedulers on different clusters can request resources from one another to fulfill the request of the parallel jobs. The scheduler also provides a user-friendly environment that only requires the user to provide the specific information necessary for job execution. An experiment is described to demonstrate the applicability of the scheduler.
Using Bluetooth for short-term ad hoc connections between moving vehicles: a feasibility study

Bluetooth/sup TM/ is a promising wireless technology designed for short-range ad hoc connections, which has many potentially useful applications. One such use is the transfer of data between two fast-moving vehicles such as automobiles. In this paper we explore the suitability of Bluetooth to make connections in highly mobile environments. In particular, we have developed a hardware testbed to make an empirical analysis of the time it takes to establish Bluetooth connections and the range at which those connections can be established. We also explore, by means of simulation, ways in which to improve connection setup times and the impact this will have on any potential data transfer.
Young women's views on testing for sexually transmitted infections and HIV as a risk reduction strategy in mutual and choice-restricted relationships.

Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to identify relationship dynamics that influences the use of STI/HIV testing among young, urban African American women. Background Increasing STI/HIV testing is a key prevention strategy, but more research is needed to identify barriers to testing for young women such as intimate partner violence (IPV). Methods Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with African American women ages 18–24. Content analysis was used. Results Women in choice-restricted relationships were unable to negotiate safer sex practices and testing was viewed as the best option. Women in relationships where the desire to use condoms was mutual used STI and HIV testing as a sign of trust building that preceded unprotected sex. Conclusions STI/HIV testing must be viewed as one strategy within a package of possible risk reduction. For those in choice-restricted relationships, clinicians should screen patients for partner abuse and provide additional support and referrals as clinically appropriate.
The emergence of genomic psychology. Insights from genomic analyses might allow psychologists to understand, predict and modify human behaviour.

To say that psychology was born out of biology is not a huge overstatement. Many of the founders of modern psychology were trained in medicine, physiology or the natural sciences, and regarded psychology as the physiology of behaviour. Wilhelm Wundt, who founded modern experimental and cognitive psychology, and published the Principles of Physiological Psychology in 1874, studied medicine and worked as an assistant to the physicist Herrmann von Helmholtz. William James, who is widely regarded as a founder of psychology in the USA, earned a medical degree and, in 1890, published the influential Principles of Psychology , which starts with a chapter on brain function. Ivan Pavlov, whose work in the 1890s on the conditioning of reflexes in dogs gave rise to behaviourism, received his doctorate in the natural sciences. ![][1] Given its roots in the biological sciences, it is not surprising that psychology has absorbed many technical innovations from biological research, although their incorporation has been confined largely to the subfield of biological psychology. This has changed notably over the past 15 years, as investigators have begun to use non‐invasive functional neuroimaging technologies to study human behaviour and psychological processes. Today, this type of analysis cuts across all domains of psychology—clinical, cognitive, developmental and social/health—and represents the lowest level of the reductionist ladder, as it descends from behaviour to neurons. Here, I suggest that the field of psychology is about to undergo another transformation that will affect all of its subfields, and that will push analyses further down to the level of the genome. This transformation is inspired by genomics—defined as the molecular study of the entire genome, as opposed to the genetics of single genes—and by the interactions among genes, and those between genes and the environment. Genomics is more powerful than quantitative genetics—which has produced studies based on … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Quantum Monte Carlo simulation of the second layer helium film on graphite

Abstract Green's function Monte Carlo and variational methods are used to study the properties of the second layer 4 He adsorbed on a smooth graphite substrate. Realistic He–He and He–carbon interactions are used in the simulation. The densities at which condensation and crystalization occur are determined and compared with experiment.
Subjective probability and acceptance

L'A. defend l'importance du concept d'acceptation (croyance) au sein de la theorie bayesienne de la decision rationnelle, fondee sur l'attribution d'une probabilite subjective a une proposition. L'A. montre que la rationalite d'une strategie de la decision exprimee en termes bayesiens presuppose certaines affirmations empiriques et contingentes que l'agent rationnel doit accepter en vertu du principe de coherence
Coagulation of red mud suspensions with an inorganic coagulant

Abstract This paper deals with the coagulation of red mud (a waste product from the Bayer process to produce alumina) in water with an inorganic coagulant (FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O). The coagulative state is evaluated by measuring the transmittance of supernatant liquid and/ or the specific volume of the sediment in suspensions after standing for 24 h. It is found that the most important factor in coagulating red mud is maintaining the pH of solutions in suspensions within the range of 7 to 8 regardless of red mud concentration, because the zeta potential of red mud in this pH range is less than approximately |13| mV, which is already known as the potential range necessary to coagulate fine particles in general.
Social networks: a promising direction for research on the relationship of the social environment to psychiatric disorder.

Abstract The role of personal social networks in the occurrence and course of psychiatric disorder isconsidered. The social network concept is seen as providing the basis for an integrating framework in which to view the contribution of the social environment to psychiatric disorder. Evidence linking network variables to psychiatric disorder is reviewed in the following three areas: (1) network structure, (2) the supportiveness of network relationships, and (3) recent change or disruption of the network. Findings indicate that social networks may be particularly important in onset and course of depression. Issues raised by the literature are identified. Results from many of the studies reviewed are more suggestive than definitive. It is concluded that there is a need for systematic investigations of the relationship of social network characteristics to specific psychiatric disorders, particularly depression. A number of considerations in designing such research are discussed.
CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DOWNFLOW SECTION OF AN AIRLIFT COLUMN USING BUBBLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION MEASUREMENTS

Bubble size distributions in an airlift column were investigated with an emphasis on the downflow section. Measurements have been made using direct photographic techniques in conjunction with image analysis in a split cylinder airlift column. Information extracted from these measurements includes local gas hold-up, variation of Sauter mean bubble diameter with column length, and liquid circulation velocity. An air-tap water system was studied for purposes of comparison, while effects of electrolyte concentration and viscosity were studied using salt water, and two carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) concentrations in water, respectively. The effect of energy input was studied by varying air flow rate to produce superficial velocities ranging from 2·59 cm/s to 10·36 cm/s.
Comparative right and left ventricular volumes and pump function in the newborn lamb

A quantitative cineangiographic method is presented for studying neonatal lamb ventricular volumes and pump function without thoracotomy or surgical instrumentation of the heart. When this method was employed in lambs with a mean age of 24.4 hours it was found that the right and left ventricular end-diastolic volumes, ejection fractions and systolic outputs did not differ significantly at this early postnatal time. Restudy of these lambs at a mean age of 15.6 days showed that right and left ventricular end-diastolic volumes, normalized for body weight, and ejection fractions had not changed significantly. Although systolic outputs decreased, the difference was not significant. Thus there is early postnatal equalization of left and right heart volumes, and deviations from this relation should suggest abnormal hemodynamic function.
The effective spin dependent Debye temperature of Gd(0001)

Abstract The collective vibrational motions along the surface normal direction of the expansively strained Gd(0001) surface has been investigated. The effective Debye temperature, indicative of the dynamic motion of lattice normal to the surface, is 137±35 K from X-ray photoemission. With angle-resolved spin polarized photoemission spectroscopy, the Debye temperature is determined to be 79±35 K in spin majority, and 125±35 K for spin minority. Residual spin-mixing contributions to bands with Stoner like behavior as well as contributions from the spin dependent plasmon modes for Gd(0001) are implicated.
Mechanistic Pathways in the Catalysis of Olefin Hydrocarboxylation by Rhodium, Iridium, and Cobalt Complexes

Abstract Carboxylic acids can be synthesized by reacting olefins with carbon monoxide and water in the presence of a variety of transition transition metal catalysts: (1) Metals which have been employed as catalysts for this reaction include nickel, as first reported [1] by Reppe for the synthesis of acrylic and propionic acids from acetylene and ethylene, cobalt, iron, rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, and platinum [2]. The earlier studies of this reaction employed nickel, cobalt, and iron catalysts and required rather severe operating conditions, viz., 200-300 atm and 200-300°C. More recently the use of rhodium [3], iridium [4], platinum [5], palladium [6], and pyridine-promoted cobalt [7] catalysts has been reported. These latter systems all function at relatively mild reaction conditions (see Table 1).
Inbreeding of Wistar–Kyoto rat strain with hyperactivity but without hypertension

A genetic inbreeding program using Wistar–Kyoto rat strains as progenitors was used to combine the hyperactivity trait of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) with the normotensive trait of the WKY genetic control strain. From an SHR × WKY cross we produced a gene-assorting F2 population from which selected brother–sister matings were carried out through seven successive inbred populations. This program produced a new strain of hyperactive rats with normotensive mean systolic blood pressure levels, and we have designated the new strain as the Wistar–Kyoto hyperactive (WK/HA) rat. Another behavioral characteristic of the SHR rat, poor habituation in a nonreinforcing novel environment, did not appear as a characteristic trait of the new strain of WK/HA rats, suggesting a separate underlying genetic basis for the two traits that had been apparently fortuitously fixed in the SHR genotype as a result of intensive inbreeding of that strain. The new WK/HA strain, together with the WKY control strain, is considered as more suitable for subjects in studying hyperactivity in rats than the original SHR strain with its concomitant hypertension and poor habituation traits.
The role of monocarboxylate transporters in uptake of lactic acid in HeLa cells

This study was aimed to identify the monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) in HeLa cells and to delineate their role in transportation of L-lactic acid. The functional role of MCTs in lactic acid transport was evaluated at various mucosal pHs (4.5-7.4) or in the presence of various loading doses (0.2-2mM) of lactic acid, MCT substrates (nicotinic acid, n-butyric acid, etc.) and inhibitors (alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate and para-chloromercuribenzoic acid). The molecular properties of MCTs were characterized using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The uptake rate of lactic acid by HeLa cells significantly increased from 0.353+/-0.052 to 1.103+/-0.196 micromol/mg protein as the extra-cellular pH changed from 7.4 to 4.5, indicating that activities of MCT were mediated through H(+)-linked mechanism. The uptake profile of lactic acid followed the saturable process with the K(m) value of 0.53 mM. The uptake rate of lactic acid is concentration dependent and is reduced in the presence of MCT inhibitors. MCT isoforms 1, 5 and 6 in HeLa cells were identified by RT-PCR. HeLa cell line can be used as an effective screening tool for intravaginally administered drugs targeted toward MCT.
765 COMPARATIVE IMPACT OF SEMINAL VESICAL INVASION VERSUS LYMPH NODE METASTASES ON SURVIVAL FOR PATIENTS FOLLOWING RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

reproductive system were excluded. Mean age was 37 y and mean follow-up postoperatively 19,6 months. In 5 patients (14%) the varicocele was bilateral and they were subjected to bilateral varicelectomy. In the rest of the patients (n 30, 86%) the laparoscopic procedure was unilateral–29 on the left side (83%) and 1 on the right side (3%). The grade of varicocele was 3 in 17 patients (48.5%), 2 in another 17 (48.5%) and 1 in 1 patient (3%). The mean pre-op visual analogue score (VAS), was 2.39 in the scale of 0-5, and in all patients fertility was not an issue. All patients were followed up at 3 months and bi-annually thereafter. RESULTS: After the operation 32 patients (91%) had significant improvement in (VAS), two had partial improvement (6%), and one had no change (3%). In our cohort we haven’t observed post-op worsening of the symptoms. Mean VAS score post-op at 3 months was 0.4. During the follow-up period we observed 4 recurrences (12%) with 2 re-do procedures, performed by inguinal approach. In 3 of these recurrences (75%) the improvement in pain symptoms was significant, and in 1 (3%) it remained unchanged even after the re-do procedure. We have observed two cases of wound infection (6%). Post operatively three cases (9%) of de novo developed hydroceles were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic varicocelectomy is a highly successful option for surgical treatment of varicocele in our cohort, with significant improvement of symptoms in approximately 90% of the patients and minimal complications. We feel that this high success rate can be attributed to the careful selection of patients and by excluding those with sharp radiating scrotal pain. Another factor that possibly contributes to these results is the fact that our cohort doesn’t include small subclinical varicoceles, although this was not explicit excluding criteria.