cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Band model analysis of the H2O2 /nu/6/b/ band

A Mayer-Goody random band model with a Voigt line profile is used to derive interval absorption coefficients, mean line spacings, and pressure-broadening coefficients for the ν6(b) H2O2 band centered at 1265 cm−1 at 285°K.
Reflections: Ethnographic content analysis

An ethnographic approach to document analysis is offered based on principles of qualitative data collection and analysis. It is proposed that numeric as well as narrative data be collected when studying such documents as TV new and movies. Ethnographic content analysis is briefly contrasted with conventional modes of quantitative content analysis to illustrate the usefulness of constant comparison for discovering emergent patterns, emphases and themes in an analysis of TV news coverage of the Iranian hostage situation. It is suggested that an ethnographic perspective can help delineate patterns of human action when document analysis is conceptualized as fieldwork.
Mutual fund distribution fees: An empirical analysis of the impact of deregulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 12b-1 ended a 40-year prohibition on the payment of distribution fees by mutual funds. The fees have the potential to create conflicts between fund managers and shareholders. This study examines the characteristics of funds implementing the plans, and assesses costs and benefits. Findings reveal that there is a growing tendency of funds, particularly load funds, to adopt the plans. The costs have begun to increase dramatically in recent years though some load funds with plans have begun reducing their loads. However, 12b-1 plans do not seem to contribute to the expense ratios of funds oriented toward capital gains. The plans offer the intangible benefit of spreading load charges across time, thus increasing a fund's attractiveness to a broader range of investors.
Collisional detachment of negative ions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the process of collisional detachment of negative ions, in which negative ion collides with a neutral atom or molecule producing a free electron. This process is a principal mechanism for the destruction of negative ions and is frequently the dominant inelastic collision channel for negative ions. The chapter presents the examples of various mechanisms that can lead to the collisional detachment of negative ions for energies ranging from below the threshold for detachment up to several hundred kilo-electron volts. A qualitative discussion of these experimental observations for low collision energies has been based primarily on the features of the intermolecular potentials for the negative ion-atom reactants. For the simpler reactants, there are several theoretical approaches that have been used to describe the dynamics of the discrete-continuum interaction associated with direct detachment. The chapter demonstrates that direct detachment almost always dominates the inelastic scattering in collisions of the negative ions with atoms or molecules.
Current concepts in inguinal hernia in infants and children

Trends are changing in the management of infants and children with indirect inguinal hernias. Advances in neonatal intensive care have resulted in the survival of many small premature infants who have a high incidence of inguinal hernia. The rate of incarceration, strangulation, and gonadal infarction in these babies is twice that of the general pediatric age group. Respiratory immaturity, apnea, bradycardia, and associated neonatal conditions require special management at the time of hernia repair, usually performed just before discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit. New information concerning volume loss and depletion of germ cells beginning at 6 months of age in boys with undescended testes has stimulated the performance of orchiopexy when the patient is 1 year of age. More than 90% of boys with cryptorchid testes at the age of 1 year have an associated hernia that requires concomitant repair at the time of orchiopexy. The use of the peritoneal cavity for fluid absorptive purposes in hydrocephalus treated by venticuloperitoneal shunts or of peritoneal dialysis for renal failure and metabolic diseases such as hyperammonemia and lactic acidosis causes increased intraabdominal pressure and results in the appearance of a previously unrecognized hernia. Recognition of these and other conditions associated with a high incidence of hernial occurrence should allow early diagnosis and treatment before the development of complications. Most elective repairs of hernias are safely performed in the outpatient setting; however, some infants and children with concurrent illnesses are best managed in a "morning admissions" program, in which hospital admission occurs postoperatively.
A comparison of propofol, midazolam, and methohexital for sedation during retrobulbar and peribulbar block

Abstract Study Objective: To compare the efficacy of propofol, methohexital, and midazalom in providing adequate sedation during administration of retrobulbar block and satisfactory postoperative amnesia. Design: Retrospective chart review over a 4-month period. Setting: Ambulatory patients in the main operating room of a university-affiliated hospital. Patients: One hundred forty-seven ambulatory patients undergoing ophthalmologic surgery of less than 2 hours' duration under regional anesthesia consisting of retrobulbar or peribulbar block and intravenous (IV) sedation. Interventions: One of three drugs—propofol 0.47 ± 0.06 mg/kg, midazolam 0.02 ± 0.005 mg/kg, or methohexital 0.45 ± 0.16 mg/kg—was administered IV. Patients were observed for a minimum of 60 seconds or until adequate sedation was achieved, after which a retrobulbar or peribulbar block was performed. Measurements and Main Results: Blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and oxygen saturation were monitored and recorded. Patients were observed for apnea, hiccups, pain on injection, excitement, tremor, grimacing, or verbal response during the block. The requirement for additional sedation intraoperatively was noted. Patients were questioned postoperatively in the ambulatory recovery room for recall of needle insertion or discomfort during the block, as well as about their satisfaction with the overall experience. Conclusions: Grimacing or verbal response during retrobulbar or peribulbar block did not predict or correlate with patient recall. Propofol was equal to both midazolam and methohexital in providing adequate sedation and postoperative amnesia but possesses the added advantages of reduced postoperative vomiting, lower intraocular pressure, and earlier return-to-home readiness.
Gendered patterns in adolescents' school attachment

A substantial literature documents a gender reversal in many aspects of social psychological functioning during adolescence, in which girls fall below boys in domains in which they once enjoyed advantages. This study elaborates upon recent research from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health suggesting that this phenomenon may occur in school attachment, an aspect of educational adjustment. Our analysis of grade 7 through 12 students revealed a gender reversal in school attachment only among whites; although gender differences at each grade level were quite small, the larger differences among girls produced the reversal pattern. Self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and relationships with parents appear to be key factors tied to this reversal but ultimately do not account for grade level differences among girls. We also found that the paradoxical coupling of girls' higher achievement with lower attachment in the upper grades resulted from a weaker association between attachment and achievement a...
Non-Gaussian optical field statistics in a long-haul soliton-based DPSK transmission system

We demonstrate with importance-sampled Monte-Carlo simulations that the tails of the optical field's probability distribution at the end of a long-haul soliton-based DPSK transmission system are strongly non-Gaussian.
Public-Sector Context Versus Private-Sector Context as a Mediator of Financial Allocation Decisions

This study hypothesized that financial decision makers who felt responsible for previous monetary losses in public-sector conditions would allocate less to their specific projects than their nonresponsible counterparts would. The subjects were 320 undergraduate psychology students; 46% were male and 54% were female. Subjects were given a scenario involving a state agency's employability program with a declining placement rate, and asked to determine which of two sponsors would be the recipient of additionalfunds. The factor of responsibility was manipulated and the experiment was repeated in a private-enterprise setting. Results indicated that in public-context conditions, responsible subjects allocated significantly less money than did nonresponsible subjects, although this was not the case in private-context conditions. The findings suggest differential strategies for guiding allocation behavior in different contexts.
Structural synthesis capability for integrally stiffened waffle plates

Structural synthesis has been denned as the rational directed evolution of a structural configuration, which in terms of a denned criterion, efficiently performs a set of specified functional purposes. An automated, minimum weight, optimum design capability for rectangular, simply supported waffle plates subjected to a multiplicity of inplane load conditions is presented. The synthesis involves six design parameters (total depth, back-up sheet thickness, stiffener thickness in the x and y directions, and stiffener spacing in the x and y directions). The behavior constraints are provided primarily by elastic stability failure modes. In particular, gross instability of the waffle plate, buckling of the back up sheet panel, and stiffener buckling are prevented in each of several load conditions while seeking a minimum weight design configuration. Side constraints in the form of upper and lower bounds on the design parameters due to external considerations (such as space limits and manufacturing capabilities) are provided. The mathematical programming problem to which this structural synthesis problem leads has the following characteristics: 1) relative minima; 2) nonlinear inequality constraints; 3) a multitude of side constraints; and 4) nonlinear merit function. Numerical results for several symmetric as well as unsymmetrical waffle-plate optimum designs are presented. The results of the waffle-plate synthesis study support the contention that structural synthesis capabilities for complex structural configurations of current and future importance are feasible. Amn a b bx by Ca DI Z>2
Low-power baseband processing for wireless multimedia systems using unequal error protection

This paper presents a low-power baseband-video joint decoder design using a novel unequal error protection (UEP) scheme for wireless telecommunications. This method is developed for H.264 layered (data partitioned) video transmission over low density parity check (LDPC) codec. We exploit the fact that not all transmitted data require the same level of error protection; this is known as unequal error protection. In particular, we use a variable iteration LDPC decoding scheme along with H.264 data partitioning (DP). In this scheme, we determine and use variable iterations that are needed by the LDPC baseband decoder to achieve pre-specified image qualities at the receiver and apply power gating to minimize energy consumption.
Daily Self-Disclosure and Sleep in Couples

Objective: An emerging literature provides evidence for the association between romantic relationship quality and sleep, an important factor in health and well-being. However, we still know very little about the specific relationship processes that affect sleep behavior. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine how self-disclosure, an important relational process linked to intimacy, relationship satisfaction, and health, is associated with sleep behavior. Method: As part of a larger study of family processes, wives (n 46) and husbands (n 38) from 46 cohabiting families completed 56 days of daily diaries. Spouses completed evening diaries assessing daily self-disclosure, relationship satisfaction, and mood and morning diaries assessing the prior night’s sleep. Multilevel modeling was used to explore the effects of both daily variation in and average levels across the 56 days of self-disclosure on sleep. Results: Daily variation in self-disclosure predicted sleep outcomes for wives, but not for husbands. On days when wives self-disclosed more to their spouses than their average level, their subjective sleep quality and sleep efficiency that night improved. Furthermore, daily self-disclosure buffered the effect of high negative mood on sleep latency for wives, but not husbands. In contrast, higher average levels of self-disclosure predicted less waking during the night for husbands, but not for wives. Conclusion: The association between self-disclosure and sleep is one mechanism by which daily relationship functioning may influence health and well-being. Gender may play a role in how self-disclosure is associated with sleep.
Progesterone inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in cancer cells through modulation of reactive oxygen species.

Objective. Progesterone (P4) has been implicated as a protective factor for ovarian and endometrial cancers, yet little is known about its mechanism of action. We have shown apoptosis in ovarian and endometrial cancer cells with high doses of P4. Increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an altered redox status have long been observed in cancer cells. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of P4 on cell growth, ROS generation, oxidative stress markers, and the expression of antioxidant proteins.Methods. All experiments were performed in vitro using cancer cell lines. Cell proliferation was determined using MTS proliferation assay. Production of ROS in cells was measured with the ROS indicator dye, aminophenyl fluorescein. Alterations in expression of antioxidant and apoptotic proteins were assessed by Western blotting.Results. The exposure of ovarian and endometrial cancer cell cultures to various doses of P4 caused a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability and the activation of...
Fatigue Fracture of an Alumina Ceramic at Several Temperatures

Specimens of a polycrystalline alumina ceramic (96% Al2O3) weire subjected to static and cyclic loading to fracture at several tejmperatures in a dry argon atmosphere containing less than one part per million each of water vapor and oxygen. A set of specimens also was tested in humid air (50% relative humidity) at room temperature under static loading as a reference. All the specimens were notched, and were loaded in four-point bending fixtures so as to produce 94% of the nominal fracture stress in static loading and a peak stress of 94% of the nominal fracture stress in cyclic loading.
Solvent screening for a hard-to-dissolve molecular crystal

Materials with a high-degree of inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonding generally have limited solubility in conventional organic solvents. This presents a problem for the dissolution, manipulation and purification of these materials. Using a state-of-the-art density-functional-theory based quantum chemical solvation model we systematically evaluated solvents for a known hydrogen-bonded molecular crystal. This, coupled with direct solubility measurements, uncovered a class of ionic liquids involving fluoride anions that possess more than two orders of magnitude higher solvation power as compared with the best conventional solvents. The crystal structure of one such ionic liquid, determined by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, indicates that F− ions are stabilized through H-bonded chains with water. The presence of coordinating water in such ionic liquids seems to facilitate the dissolution process by keeping the chemical activity of the F− ions in check.
Determination of Sodium p-Aminosalicylate in the Presence of m-Aminophenol

The p-aminosalicylic acid content in mixtures containing m-aminophenol is determined by a modification of the official assay procedure. The m-aminophenol is removed by passing a solution of the mixture in dimethylformamide through a column containing a strong cation-exchange resin. The eluate is then treated according to the official method.
Acetaminophen Injection: A Review of Clinical Information

Acetaminophen injection is an antipyretic and analgesic agent recently marketed in the United States as Ofirmev. Five published trials directly compare acetaminophen injection to drugs available in the United States. For management of pain in adults, acetaminophen injection was at least as effective as morphine injection in renal colic, oral ibuprofen after cesarean delivery, and oral acetaminophen after coronary artery bypass surgery. In children (3 to 16 years old), single-dose acetaminophen injection was similar to meperidine intramuscular (i.m.) for pain after tonsillectomy; readiness for discharge from the recovery room was shorter with acetaminophen injection (median 15 minutes) compared with meperidine i.m. (median 25 minutes), P = .005. In children (2 to 5 years old) postoperative adenotonsillectomy or adenoidectomy, the time to rescue analgesia was superior with high-dose acetaminophen rectal suppository (median 10 hours) compared with acetaminophen injection (median 7 hours), P = .01. One published trial demonstrated acetaminophen injection is noninferior to propacetamol injection for fever related to infection in pediatric patients. Dosing adjustments are not required when switching between oral and injectable acetaminophen formulations in adult and adolescent patients. Acetaminophen injection represents another agent for multimodal pain management.
Geologic evidence for Archean atmospheric and climatic evolution: Fluctuating levels of CO2, CH4, and O2 with an overriding tectonic control

The 3.5-3.2 Ga sedimentary record shows evidence of surface temperatures of 70 ′ 15 °C, nahcolite (NaHCO 3 ) as a primary evaporitic mineral, and an aggressive weathering regime even in the absence of land vegetation. These features are best explained by a mixed CH 4 and CO 2 atmospheric greenhouse in which CH 4 /CO 2 ratios were «1 and pCO 2 was at least 100-1000 times the present value and perhaps as high as several bars. The formation of large areas of continental crust at 3.2-3.0 Ga, including the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons, resulted in the gradual depletion of atmospheric CO 2 through weathering. By 2.9-2.7 Ga, declining pCO 2 was associated with climatic cooling and siderite-free soils. Transitory CH 4 /CO 2 ratios of ∼1 may have resulted in the sporadic formation of organic haze from atmospheric CH 4 , reflected in one or more isotopic excursions involving global deposition of abnormally 1 3 C-depleted organic C. Surface temperatures of <60 °C after 2.9 Ga may have also increased the distribution and productivity of oxygenic photosynthetic microbes. Eventual lowering of new continental blocks by erosion, reduced loss of atmospheric CO 2 due to weathering, and continued long-term tectonic recycling of CO 2 resulted in rising pCO 2 and decreasing CH 4 /CO 2 ratios in the later Archean and eventual reestablishment of a mainly CO 2 greenhouse. Similar events may have been repeated in the latest Archean and earliest Proterozoic, but gradually rising production of O 2 effectively kept CH 4 /CO 2 ratios to «1 at this time.
Medial injury in knee dislocations: what are the common injury patterns and surgical outcomes?

Background When associated with a knee dislocation, management of the medial ligamentous injury is challenging, with little literature available to guide treatment.
Hardness of Flip-Cut Problems from Optical Mapping

ABSTRACT Optical mapping is a new technology for constructing restriction maps. Associated computational problems include aligning multiple partial restriction maps into a single "consensus" restri...
Satan's War against the Covenant in Salem Village, 1692

Using maps to plot the locations of church members, accusers, and accused witches in Salem village, the essay concludes that the belief that Satan had targeted village church members significantly influenced both accusers and magistrates and thereby produced the unprecedented number of witchcraft accusations and executions.
Simplified method for optimizing round-rotor synchronous machines for operation on non-sinusoidal voltages

The paper describes a simplified method for optimizing some design parameters of round-rotor synchronous machines fed by static converters. The proposed method can be applied to machines fed with arbitrary voltage waveforms, which are imposed by the power converter. It is based on a description of the machine and converter by means of space vectors, allowing the inclusion of the effects of higher space and time harmonics. It aims to optimize the steady state mean torque, keeping the same amount of losses in the machine and converter. The method was successfully implemented in a MATHCAD file taking as example a machine of 10 kW fed by an inverter with six pulse voltage waveform. The obtained design curves, as well other results, are presented and discussed. The method has proved helpful in choosing the best design parameters for machines intended to be fed by inverters.
Nickel Mediated Transformation of Amorphous Carbon to Graphite

Reactions between Ni and amorphous carbon (a-C) below 600°C have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in situ annealing in a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of Ni/a-C layered films deposited by DC sputtering. DSC data show that there are two exothermic peaks in the temperature range around 200-600°C. One is a weak and broad peak below 500°C and the other is a strong and sharp peak at around 530°C. In situ heating in the TEM revealed that the low temperature peak corresponds to a series of reactions for nickel carbide (Ni 3 C) formation and decomposition into Ni and carbon, most likely in a glassy state. The higher temperature peak was found to correspond to graphitization of a-C by a solution-precipitation mechanism. Graphite formed in this process is strongly textured with the (0002) graphite basal planes parallel to the original Ni/a-C interface.
The Domestic Use of Military Troops

What began as state militias are now state National Guard units. The National Guard is a uniformed service that governors can use to keep and restore order and protect lives and property. Although governors have the authority to call out the National Guard when needed, the Constitution forbids states from maintaining standing armies. In turn, however, it makes the federal government responsible for protecting states against invasion and insurrection. Certainly, in the event of a foreign attack on American soil or a domestic rebellion, the President can deploy military units to respond. The President has the power to “call forth” National Guard units for assignment either in the United States or elsewhere, if needed. Since the founding of the Republic, the use of active duty military forces against Americans on American soil has been a contentious issue. There is a strong tradition in the United States of civilian control of the military and of concern about the presence of a large standing army. One can see the framers' response to these concerns in the architecture of the Constitution. The Constitution provides that the President and Congress share control over the uniformed armed services by virtue of the different responsibilities assigned to each. In addition, the federal government shares with the states control over the militia (now the National Guard).
Insulin release at physiologic potassium concentrations.

While high concentrations of potassium directly stimulate pancreatic insulin release, it has not: been shown whether potassium ions within the physiologic range produce the same effect. Rats fed a low potassium diet were given KC1 intraperitoneally. Insulin levels measured in the portal vein were significantly elevated (172.9 17 vs 76.5 14.9 μU/ml, p <. 05) at 30 minutes, compared to peripheral insulin levels in which the increase did not reach significance. Thus insulin, when measured in portal vein blood samples, is significantly released by potassium increments within the normal range in the absence of exogenous glucose loads.
Nonadiabatic Dynamics May Be Probed through Electronic Coherence in Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy

We present a hierarchy of Fermi golden rules (FGRs) that incorporate strongly coupled electronic/nuclear dynamics in time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) signals at different levels of theory. Expansion in the joint electronic and nuclear eigenbasis yields the numerically most challenging exact FGR (eFGR). The quasistatic Fermi Golden Rule (qsFGR) neglects nuclear motion during the photoionization process but takes into account electronic coherences as well as populations initially present in the pumped matter as well as those generated internally by coupling between electronic surfaces. The standard semiclassical Fermi Golden Rule (scFGR) neglects the electronic coherences and the nuclear kinetic energy during the ionizing pulse altogether, yielding the classical Condon approximation. The coherence contributions depend on the phase-profile of the ionizing field, allowing coherent control of TRPES signals. The photoelectron spectrum from model systems is simulated using these three levels of t...
Increase in utilization of dental sealants.

AIM The purpose of this review is to explore how to increase utilization of dental sealants to reach the national 50% sealant objective as stated in the Healthy People 2010 document. BACKGROUND Dental decay is the most common chronic childhood disease. A simple, cost-effective preventive measure to manage this disease is through sealant application. REVIEW Although dental sealants are effective in reducing the risk of having dental decay, their rate of utilization among children and adolescents is below the objective set forth by the Healthy People 2010 document. This is related to the lack of public awareness, patient education, and inadequate reimbursement for sealants served by third-party insurers. CONCLUSION Dental decay is the most common chronic childhood disease. Dental sealants are a simple, cost-effective preventive measure to manage this disease. In order to meet the national 50% sealant objective of the Healthy People 2010 document, public awareness and the education of consumers about the benefit of having dental sealants must be improved. Third-party insurers must improve the benefits for subscribers seeking dental sealant services. Using these approaches, the utilization of dental sealants will improve the oral health among the next generation of Americans.
South Asian Prehistoric Human Skeletal Remains and Burial Practices

South Asia is assuming a frontier position with respect to recent advances in human paleontology, skeletal biology, paleodemography, and paleoecology. For many years the exclusive preserve of archaeological investigation, the Indian subcontinent is now yielding a prehistoric skeletal record that promises to answer many questions of a biological and demographic nature that the study of the artifactual and stratigraphical record does not supply. Not only have the numbers of prehistoric skeletal specimens increased through recent excavations, but many skeletal specimens and series collected in earlier times are being reinvestigated. Furthermore, the information derived from modern morphometric analyses of skeletal remains extends far beyond a preoccupation with racial identification and discernment of biological affinities. Reorientation of research designs means a closer association of anatomical and statistical analyses of skeletal materials to specific archaeological issues as well as the application of these data to the broader spectrum of world prehistory and human evolution. In his or her search for comparative skeletal data, the biological anthropologist is discovering the richness of research materials available in South Asia, a skeletal record that has a considerable, if discontinuous, antiquity of some 9 to 15 million years for hominoids.
A mathematical formalization of data parallel operations

We give a mathematical formalization of ‘generalized data parallel’ operations, a concept that covers such common scientific kernels as matrix-vector multiplication, multi-grid coarsening, load distribution, and many more. We show that from a compact specification such computational aspects as MPI messages or task dependencies can be automatically derived.
Nutrient availability and flooding stress interact to affect growth and mercury concentration in Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich. seedlings

Abstract Plant growth can be limited by nutrient availability and/or flooding stress but their relationship is understood too poorly to predict when they act independently or to predict which dominates the relationship. Nutrient availability also reduces uptake of toxic metals under some conditions but enhances uptake under others. We studied how flooding stress and nutrient availability affected growth and mercury uptake by Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich., which is a tree that dominates freshwater wetlands in the southeastern United States. We hypothesized that nutrients would negate flooding stress and enhance mercury uptake. We also hypothesized that leaf chemistry could serve as an indicator of factors limiting growth. We planted 432 one-year old seedlings in soil with one of four nutrient availabilities (no enhancement, or enhanced with 57, 283, or 1132 g N m−2 and other nutrients) and allowed the seedlings to grow for two seasons with one of six flooding regimes ranging from
The utilization of glucose by normal glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and by glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase Mediterranean.

SummaryThe utilization of glucose and other nonphosphorylated sugars by partially purified normal G-6-PD and G-6-PD Mediterranean was investigated. Both enzymes have the capacity to oxidize glucose with a Km of approximately 0.8 M. The utilization of glucose by both enzymes was markedly stimulated by the presence of bicarbonate, and the activity with Mediterranean enzyme was greater than that of normal G-6-PD. The pH optimum of utilization of glucose by the two enzymes was very similar. Galactose, 2-deoxyglucose, fructose, mannose, and ribose did not serve as substrate for either type of G-6-PD.
A Token Economy Made Easy through ClassDojo.

Students with behavioral and emotional disabilities spend less time on academic instruction due to their behavioral disruptions, contributing to the academic difficulties these students face. Class...
44 Can the principles of aortic root surgery in adults be safely applied to children

Objective Surgical algorithms for aortic root disease are established in adults. The root of children needs to have a potential for somatic growth, therefore a spectrum of techniques can be used to reconstruct the root. This study reviews a national experience in 50 consecutive paediatric patients requiring aortic root repair, and evaluates the efficacy of our treatment algorithm in this age group. Methods All aortic root procedures at our institution from 2001–2014 were reviewed. Follow-up was 100% complete. Patients undergoing aortic valve repair only (n = 7) or Ross/Konno procedures (n = 5) were excluded. Results There were 27 male patients. Mean age at surgery was 14.5 years (range: 4 weeks-18 years); mean weight was 46.1 kg (range: 3.5–105 kg). The predominant pathology was mixed disease of aortic stenosis (AS) / aortic incompetence (AI) in 28 /50, (AI) in 13/50 and (AS) in 1 /50. Aortic root dilatation (6 Marfan’s + 2 Loeys-Dietz syndrome) was the dominant pathology in 8/50 patients. 30/50 patients underwent a Ross procedure; 12/50 patients underwent aortic root replacement (ARR) with aortic homograft/biocomposite graft; 8/50 patients underwent David valve-sparing aortic root replacement (VSARR). There was 1 perioperative death (2%) with a 5 year actuarial survival of 98%. Mean follow up was 3.96 years (range: 0.1–11.6 years). There were no late mortalities. Re-intervention was required in 4/50 (8%); 1 Ross patient required (VSARR) for autograft dilatation, 2 required redo (ARR) with a composite graft for acute homograft failure, and 1 (VSARR) patient required mechanical AVR for AI. Conclusion Aortic root surgery in children can be accomplished with low rates of early-mid term re-intervention and mortality. Our experience confirms the applicability of adult treatment principles, and highlights the need for versatility in surgical technique in children.
Neurologic Complications of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Purpose of review Neurologic complications of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remain common, despite effective antiretroviral treatment (ART). Neurologic manifestations may be due to opportunistic infection, immune reconstitution, or the virus itself, posing diagnostic challenges for the neurologist. Neurologists are also asked to comment on the use of immunomodulatory agents in these patients and to manage long-term complications, such as neurocognitive disorders and peripheral neuropathy or the associated comorbidities. Recent findings HIV enters the central nervous system (CNS) soon after infection and can cause atrophy of the brain within 3 months of infection. As patients are living longer, comorbidities such as stroke associated with metabolic syndrome, hepatitis C, and drug abuse are important contributory factors to the neurologic and neuropsychiatric manifestations of HIV infection. Immune-mediated syndromes are increasingly being recognized in patients with HIV infection on antiretroviral therapy. This includes a subacute T-cell-mediated encephalitis called CNS-immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, fulminant multiple sclerosis-like lesions, and unmasking of underlying opportunistic infections with profound inflammatory reaction. Our understanding of the most appropriate antiretrovirals for treating or preventing CNS HIV replication continues to improve. Major efforts are being made to understand how the CNS reservoirs are established and maintained, and new approaches are being developed to develop a functional cure or eradicate the virus. Summary This article reviews the neurologic complications caused by HIV infection, associated comorbidities, or antiretroviral drugs that are commonly encountered by neurologists.
IBM: emerging technologies for a smarter planet

The majority of this presentation will focus on a few key areas that are important to IBM, such as Big Data, Analytics, and Smarter Planet. In reality all three of these are tied together and by focusing on any one of them, the other two come into play as well. I will be providing many real work examples where Predicative Analytics are used. In addition to these key areas, I will spend a few minutes towards the end to highlight what I IBM is doing in Columbia, MO and what opportunities are available.
Tolerance of infection: A role for animal behavior, potential immune mechanisms, and consequences for parasite transmission

Infected organisms can resist or tolerate infection, with tolerance of infection defined as minimizing per-parasite reductions in fitness. Although tolerance is well studied in plants, researchers have only begun to probe the mechanisms and transmission consequences of tolerance in animals. Here we suggest that research on tolerance in animals would benefit from explicitly incorporating behavior as a component of tolerance, given the importance of behavior for host fitness and parasite transmission. We propose two distinct manifestations of tolerance in animals: tissue-specific tolerance, which minimizes fitness losses due to tissue damage during infection, and behavioral tolerance, which minimizes fitness losses by maintaining normal, fitness-enhancing behaviors during infection. Here we briefly review one set of potential immune mechanisms underlying both responses in vertebrate animals: inflammation and its associated signaling molecules. Inflammatory responses, including broadly effective resistance mechanisms like the production of reactive oxygen species, can incur severe costs in terms of damage to a host's own tissues, thereby reducing tissue-specific tolerance. In addition, signaling molecules involved in these responses facilitate stereotypical behavioral changes during infection, which include lethargy and anorexia, reducing normal behaviors and behavioral tolerance. We consider how tissue-specific and behavioral tolerance may vary independently or in conjunction and outline potential consequences of such covariation for the transmission of infectious diseases. We put forward the distinction between tissue-specific and behavioral tolerance not as a definitive framework, but to help stimulate and broaden future research by considering animal behavior as intimately linked to the mechanisms and consequences of tolerance in animals.
Relational wellbeing following traumatic interpersonal events and challenges to core beliefs.

OBJECTIVE Prior research has found that the degree to which a traumatic event challenges core beliefs is associated with adjustment problems; however, how such experiences impact relational wellbeing has received little attention. The current study examined whether negative posttraumatic cognitions mediated the relation between examination of core beliefs and relational wellbeing in young adults following experiences of interpersonal trauma. METHOD A moderated parallel mediation model investigated the relation between core beliefs and relational wellbeing through negative cognitions about the self, the world and others, self-blame, and depressive symptoms, following interpersonal violence (IPV; n = 168) and violent loss (VL; n = 102), with ego-resilience moderating the paths from examination of core beliefs to each mediator and relational wellbeing. RESULTS For individuals with IPV experiences, greater examination of core beliefs was associated with increased depressive symptoms and negative cognitions about the self and about the world and others, each of which was associated with decreased relational wellbeing. For those reporting VL and lower ego-resilience, only negative cognitions about the self emerged as a mediator. Self-blame did not emerge as a mediator whereas ego-resilience emerged as both promotive and protective. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest distinct pathways to relational difficulties following IPV and VL. Following IPV, it was not the process of examining core beliefs that impacted relational functioning, but rather the conclusions drawn about the self, others, and the world. Findings suggest that targeting specific posttraumatic cognitions may enhance relational functioning and possible interventions for addressing such cognitions and fostering ego-resilience are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record
Thermodynamics of dissolution of urea in water, alcohols, and their mixtures

Abstract A study has been carried out by making use of published data for the solubility of urea to evaluate the thermodynamic quantities associated with the dissolution of urea in water, alcohols, and mixture of these solvents. The Δ G values show an increase with the nature of the solvent in the order water, − 1.75; methanol, + 2.46; ethanol, + 5.74; and 2-propanol, + 7.26 kJ mol − 1 , respectively. For mixtures containing 33.3, 50, or 66.7% water, there is little difference in the thermodynamic parameters regardless of the identity of the alcohol or the composition of the mixture. In the case of the pure alcohols, values for Δ S and Δ G show that dissolution is most favorable in methanol and least favorable in 2-propanol. For mixtures containing methanol/ethanol, ethanol/2-propanol, and methanol/2-propanol, the solubility data show that the mixture containing ethanol and 2-propanol is the least favorable to dissolution of urea whereas that containing methanol and ethanol is most favorable on the basis of values for Δ S and Δ G . These trends in thermodynamic properties are considered with regard to the nature of the solute-solvent interaction, the expected degree of aggregation of urea in the solvents, and the characteristics of the solvents.
Spatiotemporal changes of seismic attenuation caused by injected CO2 at the Frio-II pilot site, Dayton, TX, USA

A continuous active source seismic monitoring (CASSM) dataset was collected with crosswell geometry during CO2 injection at the Frio-II brine pilot, near Liberty, TX. Previous studies have shown that spatio-temporal changes in the P-wave first arrival time reveal the movement of the injected CO2 plume in the storage zone. To further constrain the CO2 saturation, particularly at higher saturation levels, we investigate spatial-temporal changes in the seismic attenuation of the first arrivals. The attenuation changes over the injection period are estimated by the amount of the centroid frequency shift computed by local time-frequency analysis. We observe that: (1) at receivers above the injection zone seismic attenuation does not change in a physical trend; (2) at receivers in the injection zone attenuation sharply increases following injection and peaks at specific points varying with distributed receivers, which is consistent with observations from time delays of first arrivals; then, (3) attenuation decreases over the injection time. The attenuation change exhibits a bell-shaped pattern during CO2 injection. Under Frio-II field reservoir conditions, White's patchy saturation model can quantitatively explain both the P-wave velocity and attenuation response observed. We have combined the velocity and attenuation change data in a cross-plot format that is useful for model-data comparison and determining patch size. Our analysis suggests that spatial-temporal attenuation change is not only an indicator of the movement and saturation of CO2 plumes, even at large saturations, but also can quantitatively constrain CO2 plume saturation when used jointly with seismic velocity.
Precision genome-editing with CRISPR/Cas9 in human induced pluripotent stem cells

Genome engineering in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent an opportunity to examine the contribution of pathogenic and disease modifying alleles to molecular and cellular phenotypes. However, the practical application of genome-editing approaches in human iPSCs has been challenging. We have developed a precise and efficient genome-editing platform that relies on allele-specific guideRNAs (gRNAs) paired with a robust method for culturing and screening the modified iPSC clones. By applying an allele-specific gRNA design strategy, we have demonstrated greatly improved editing efficiency without the introduction of additional modifications of unknown consequence in the genome. Using this approach, we have modified nine independent iPSC lines at five loci associated with neurodegeneration. This genome-editing platform allows for efficient and precise production of isogenic cell lines for disease modeling. Because the impact of CRISPR/Cas9 on off-target sites remains poorly understood, we went on to perform thorough off-target profiling by comparing the mutational burden in edited iPSC lines using whole genome sequencing. The bioinformatically predicted off-target sites were unmodified in all edited iPSC lines. We also found that the numbers of de novo genetic variants detected in the edited and unedited iPSC lines were similar. Thus, our CRISPR/Cas9 strategy does not specifically increase the mutational burden. Furthermore, our analyses of the de novo genetic variants that occur during iPSC culture and genome-editing indicate an enrichment of de novo variants at sites identified in dbSNP. Taken together, we propose that this enrichment represents regions of the genome more susceptible to mutation. Herein, we present an efficient and precise method for allele-specific genome-editing in iPSC and an analyses pipeline to distinguish off-target events from de novo mutations occurring with culture.
Environmental Fluctuations, Agricultural Production and Collapse: A View from Bronze Age Upper Mesopotamia

The relationship between human settlements, their associated land use zones and changing climate, is not straightforward. Following a summary of the relationship between present day land-use and environment, this paper describes how land-use productivity (and therefore the population that potentially could be supported) can vary with crop management practices. In a climate characterized by high inter-annual variability, agricultural production will fluctuate thereby influencing potential carrying capacity of the land. Simple models that employ fluctuating levels of production indicate that population levels will also vary unless necessary steps are taken to store and import food, as well as to intensify production. As population increases and greater reliance is placed on such strategies the system becomes more stressed and shows a greater propensity to collapse. It is suggested that Bronze Age settlement and land-use systems of upper Mesopotamia were brittle systems and were therefore vulnerable to collapse. Under conditions of maximum production it is likely that even a short-term dry period may have resulted in collapse, but certainly a significant run of dry years would have resulted in considerable production deficits which in turn could precipitate collapse.
Enabling aircraft-based observation of winds in the U.S. and Europe: Progress and benefits

It has been known for decades that aircraft, with appropriate provisioning, have the capability to measure and report meteorological data at a high resolution, under all weather conditions, and over areas of operational interest to a wide audience within the aviation community. Significant progress has been made in collaborative standards definition that will enable these data to be downlinked to ATM ground automation and increase NextGen and SESAR efficiencies. This paper reviews this progress and its ramifications. It examines possible coverage in time/space, illustrating how rich a source of information this avenue can provide. A sample NextGen wake turbulence mitigation application is discussed, along with analysis of its wind requirements and beneficial impact of access to near real-time aloft wind observations. Findings show the potential for a substantial increase in procedure availability at a challenging site when aircraft-based observations are available.
Association of ambulatory blood pressure variability with coronary artery calcium

Blood pressure (BP) variability is associated with progression to clinical atherosclerosis. The evidence is inconclusive if BP variability predicts cardiovascular outcomes in low-risk populations. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of 24-hour BP variability with coronary artery calcium (CAC) among a group of individuals without coronary artery disease. The Masked Hypertension Study targeted patients with borderline high BP (120-149 mm Hg systolic and/or 80-95 mm Hg diastolic). Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was performed at two time-points, 8 days apart. CAC was measured at exit visit via cardiac CT and reported as Agatston Score. Weighted standard deviations and average real variability were calculated from ABPM. Of the 322 participants who underwent cardiac CT, 26% (84) had CAC present, 52% (168) were female, and 21% (64) were black. BP variability did not differ by CAC group. In this low cardiovascular risk group, CAC was not associated with 24-hour ambulatory BP variability.
Virus and Bacterial Galls

Viruses give rise to diverse growth abnormalities in plants, such as leaf curling, leaf crinkling, fasciation, bunching, etiolation, swelling, etc. in addition to various other structural and functional disturbances. Whether any of the growth abnormalities should be included under galls depends partly on the limitations of the customary definitions of galls and partly on the vagueness of our concept of virus. It does not seem to have been satisfactorily decided whether a virus is an organism in the ordinary sense or only a giant proteid molecule.