cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Averting extinction in autothermal catalytic reactor operations

A multiloop control system and an on-line reactor operability analysis were developed for the purpose of detecting and averting extinction of the autothermal state of a laboratory catalytic reactor. The reactor system consisted of a feed-effluent heat exchanger and two packed beds in which the exothermic reaction between hydrogen and oxygen occurred. The strategy of control was based on the preservation of the relative stability of the autothermal steady state when the reactor experienced large changes in feed concentration and flow rate. Such a strategy involved a model-based prediction of reactor conditions that so preserved stability, and a procedure to guide the process rapidly and smoothly to those new conditions. Experiments demonstrated the successful avoidance of extinction and the orderly attainment of new operating conditions in about three reactor-system time constants. The procedures developed could serve as a component of an on-line expert system for safe reactor operations.
Accelerator mass spectrometry at the university of Rochester

Abstract The accelerator mass spectrometry program at Rochester is at present based on measurements of the long-lived radioisotopes 36Cl and 129I, and on the determination of osmium isotope ratios in sub-ppb level samples. This paper describes the present configuration of the instrument and gives a brief overview of the current research program.
Phase Modulation of Ultrashort Light Pulses using Molecular Rotational Wave Packets

We demonstrate experimentally how the time-dependent phase modulation induced by molecular rotational wave packets can manipulate the phase and spectral content of ultrashort light pulses. Using impulsively excited rotational wave packets in ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$, we increase the bandwidth of a probe pulse by a factor of 9, while inducing a negative chirp. This chirp is removed by propagation through a fused silica window, without the use of a pulse compressor. This is a very general technique for optical phase modulation that can be applied over a broad spectral region from the IR to the UV.
HALO 3 Pedagogy and Christian Ministry: A Curriculum and Context Relationship for Preservice Teachers

When that day comes and I have to stand in front of Jeebus (sic) and tell him what I've done, I will point to all the video games that I beat. Then he will give me a thumbs up, a high five, and let...
Glycyl-d-threonine dihydrate

Glycyl-d-threonine dihydrate, C6H12N2O4 · 2H2O, is orthorhombic, with space groupP212121,a = 9.6211(3),b = 10.0313(2),c = 10.6642(4) A,Z = 4. Crystals were grown from a solution of the racemic mixture glycyl-d,l-threonine. The structure was refined toR = 0.025 for 2140 reflections of the typehkl and¯hkl; the absolute configuration of the sample crystal was determined from the anomalous scattering of CuKα radiation by C, N, and O. The N-H and O-H bond distances and, especially, bond angles seem to be strongly influenced by the positions of the hydrogen-bond acceptors.
101 Comparison of ascertainment of congenital cardiac defects using active medical record review and state administrative files

Abstract PURPOSE: Tracking birth prevalence of cardiac defects is essential to determining time and space clusters, and identifying potential associated factors. Limitations (e.g. budget) on birth defects surveillance programs sometimes require that files already available to the state be used for ascertaining such defects. This study evaluated the efficacy of using three types of state administrative files for ascertaining congenital heart defects (CHD). METHODS: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (CHW) medical records for children born 1997–1999 and treated for CHD (n = 374) were abstracted by an experienced pediatric research nurse, and each case was assigned one to seven literal diagnoses for 30 different conditions. This diagnostic information was linked to administrative records from the Wisconsin BHI, including birth and death records, and birth and postnatal (up to one year of age) hospital discharge summaries. One to one comparisons were made between the diagnoses from the CHW record abstraction and the state files. RESULTS: A total of 1,229 state records were linked to the 374 CHW cases. Using the full range of cardiac ICD9 codes (424 to 429, 745–747) and the birth record check box for CHD, 216 of 374 (58%) of cases were identified as having a cardiac defect. Postnatal hospital discharges identified the largest numbers of cases with cardiac defects (N = 181, 48%), whereas birth hospital discharges identified 27%, birth files identified 9% and the death file identified only 4% (among the 15 or 68% of the 22 subjects with a death record). Of the 378 specific diagnoses assigned to the 216 cases, 78% and 23% of matching diagnoses were found in the postnatal and birth hospital discharge records respectively. In combination, these two files had exact matches for nearly 90% of cases. CONCLUSION: State administrative files miss about 40% of cases with CHD. However, in those records in which cardiac codes appear, up to 89% ascertain the correct CHD diagnosis.
A secure dynamic cryptographic and encryption protocol for wireless networks

With the fast growth of wireless networking in population, security became an essential issue for data privacy. Encryption mechanisms relying on static key structure, such as WEP (802.11) and TKIP (802.1x), are vulnerable to key cracking by capturing wireless packets. Although new standards have been developed to fulfill this gap, there is still a lack of a stable security protocol. In this paper, we present a light-weight and solid i-key encryption protocol to enhance the security of wireless communication. With this dynamic re-keying mechanism, only valid clients can decrypt the ciphertext and reveal the message by using the unique secret i-key they have to prevent the sensitive data from being accessed by unauthorized recipients. In addition, test results indicate that i-key protocol can perform efficiently in different wireless environment.
ELIMINATING POLLUTION FROM THE GREAT LAKES AND ST. LAWRENCE WATERWAYS : THE GREAT LAKES.

THE Public Health Engineering z3ection of the American Public Health Association devoted an entire session at the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting in Buffalo, October, 1996, to a discussion of "Progress in Eliminating Pollution from the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Waterways." An introduction by Allan J. McLaughlin and a paper on "Lake Erie and the Niagara River," by J. W. Ellms, appeared in the May JOURNAL. This issue carries papers by Langdon Pearse and George H. Ferguson.
Upright Bicycle and Treadmill Stress Echocardiography Techniques and Technical Hints for the Sonographer

Summary In summary, stress echocardiography is an extremely valuable diagnostic tool that has gained widespread acceptance and popularity. The methods described here are by no means the only way to carry out stress echocardiography. The intent of this paper is to describe the way we accomplish stress echocardiography at Indiana University. Our methods have worked quite well and to date, and we do not plan to significantly change our protocols. One should not be discouraged when first learning how to perform stress echocardiography. Do not expect that stress echo will be easy to master. As with other echocardiographic modalities, a learning curve exists for the sonographer as well as for the interpreting physician; however, with practice, stress echocardiography will become another invaluable examination in your echocardiographic repertoire.
Young Women's Science/Mathematics Career Goals From Seventh Grade to High School Graduation

The author examined changes in the educational and career goals of 66 young women who completed surveys in Grades 7 and 12. Participants identified desirable versus undesirable aspects of mathematics- and science-based careers to better understand the characteristics that do or do not attract women from these fields. Over time, participants' degree aspirations and interest in science, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers decreased. Young women liked the learning and discovery and using mathematics, and they reported enjoying STEM careers. Conversely, some of the women disliked doing the mathematics and the hard work required and reported a lack of interest in STEM fields.
Some comments on the morphotropic phase boundary and property diagrams in ferroelectric relaxor systems

Abstract Morphotropic phase boundary compositions are very attractive for designing various electronic sensors, capacitors and piezoelectric transducers. Therefore, highly reliable and accurate structure–property diagrams in relaxor ferroelectric systems are desirable. This paper comments on, and draws attention to, certain important points which researchers should take into consideration while drawing structure–property diagrams.
Personal contacts and earnings: It is who you know!☆

Abstract The principal purpose of this study is to derive the equilibrium effects of different mixes of the two information sources that workers most commonly use — direct application to employers and indirect contact through friends and relatives. In a labor market in which identical employers post wage rates once and for all and equally productive workers search for wage offers, workers with a higher probability of obtaining wage information through employed contacts earn more in equilibrium. The result holds regardless of whether offers are contingent on the worker type or not. The proposition also holds in both the case in which types are mixed in a single market and the case in which separate non-competing markets are populated by different types. The implications of the model are consistent with existing empirical findings.
Role Of Adaptive Operators In Image Understanding

A system that hopes to accomplish robust automatic Image Understanding (IU) clearly needs techniques which can reason about what it is seeing and what it is trying to see. One need for reasoning is found in the ubiquitous operator parameter problem: the problem of setting parameters for low-level image computations. This paper explores this problem in the context of a complete IU system and presents an approach by which parameters are tuned with respect to high level features. Adaptive Operators accomplish this tuning by using 1) evaluations derived from specific object level features that rate the "goodness" of a segmented region; and 2) search methods which adaptively search for segmentation parameters producing the best region according to the evaluation. Adaptive Operators represent reasoning which ties together both the high-level, generally a-priori knowledge of an IU system and the lowest, purely computational level. Examples of Adaptive Operators and their performance are given in the context of a system to recognize buildings in aerial photographs.© (1982) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Theoretical interpretation of atomic-force- microscope images of graphite

We have developed an empirical graphite potential function and applied molecular relaxation techniques to study the deformation of a graphite surface in the presence of an AFM tip. It is shown that for forces stated in the experimental literature a monoatomic tip would cause huge relaxations of the graphite solid, with the eventual penetration of the surface at ~ 5×10−8 N. Furthermore, for this monoatomic tip the inequivalence of the surface atoms in relation to their underlying structure is small, and one should see the hexagonal lattice. By assuming that the AFM tip carries a graphite flake, we reproduce a wide variety of images seen by the atomic force microscope and resolve the issue of large tip forces.
Genetic predictors of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis

Risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) decreases with increasing plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. If this association reflected a protective effect of vitamin D, MS risk should be lower among individuals carrying genetic variants that predict high 25(OH)D levels. The aim of the study was to determine whether individuals with genotypes predicting higher 25(OH)D levels have decreased MS risk. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with 25(OH)D levels and MS risk in 1,655 cases and 6,349 controls. Analyses were further stratified by HLA-DR15 status, assessed by genotyping a single SNP strongly correlated with the HLA DRB1*1501 risk haplotype, and complemented by considering a SNP near CYP27B1. SNPs in GC were predictors of 25(OH)D levels, but not MS risk, in either HLA-DR15 negative or HLA-DR15 positive individuals. In contrast, there was a suggestion of a difference in the effect of a CYP2R1 allele dependent on HLA-DR15 genotype. The ‘A’ allele of CYP2R1 rs10741657 was associated with increased 25(OH)D levels and a non-significant reduced MS risk among HLA-DR15 negative (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.01) that was not apparent in HLA-DR15 positive individuals. The ‘C’ allele of CYP27B1 rs703842 was inversely associated with MS risk; this association appeared stronger among HLA-DR15 negative (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.69, 0.90) compared to HLA-DR15 positive individuals (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.80, 1.04). This preliminary finding suggests the possibility that the putative beneficial effect of vitamin D on MS risk maybe attenuated in individuals carrying the HLA-DR15 MS risk allele.
Vertical Tracer Concentration Profiles Measured during the Joint Urban 2003 Dispersion Study

An atmospheric tracer dispersion study known as Joint Urban 2003 was conducted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during July of 2003. As part of this field program, vertical concentration profiles were measured at approximately 1 km from the downtown ground-level tracer gas release locations. These profiles showed that the urban landscape was very effective in mixing the plume vertically. In general, the lowest concentration measured along the profile was within 50% of the highest concentration in any given 5-min measurement period. The general slope of the concentration profiles was bounded by a Gaussian distribution with Briggs’s urban equations (stability classes D and E/F) for vertical dispersion. However, measured concentration maxima occurred at levels above the surface, which would not be predicted by Gaussian formulations. Variations in tracer concentration observed in the time series between different release periods were related to changes in wind direction as opposed to changes in turbulence. This was demonstrated using data from mobile analyzers that captured the width of the plume by traveling east to west along nearby streets. These mobile-van-analyzer data were also used to compute plume widths. Plume widths increased for wind directions at larger angles to the street grid, and a simple model comprising adjusted open-country dispersion coefficients and a street channeling component, were used to describe the measured widths. This dispersion dataset is a valuable asset not only for developing advanced tools for emergency-response situations in the event of a toxic release but also for refining air-quality models.
Simplified Formula for Mean Cycle-Slip Time of Phase-Locked Loops With Steady-State Phase Error

Previous work has shown that the mean time from lock to a slipped cycle of a phase-locked loop is given by a certain double integral. Accurate numerical evaluation of this formula for the second-order loop has proved extremely vexing because the difference between exponentially large quantities is involved. This article simplifies the general formula to avert this problem, provides a useful approximation to a needed conditional expectation, and produces an asymptotic formula for the mean slip time that is moderately accurate even at low loop SNR (less than 7 dB) and small steady-state phase errors (less than 0.3 rad). The approximations extend to higher order loops, as well.
The human amygdala plays a stimulus specific role in the detection of novelty

The primary focus of research on the amygdala has been on the detection of and response to emotion but the amygdala also sometimes responds to new or unexpected stimuli without specific emotional content. Very little is currently known about why the amygdala responds to some new stimuli but not to others. Here we investigated the conditions that are necessary and sufficient for the expression of novelty specific amygdala responses by presenting novel and repeated images to human participants and varying the content of these images while measuring blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses. In Experiment 1 we presented novel and repeated emotional and neutral images. Both emotional and neutral images of humans evoked more amygdala activity when novel than when repeated. In Experiment 2 we presented novel and repeated images of humans and scenes. Images of humans but not scenes evoked more amygdala activity when novel than when repeated. Our results suggest that the amygdala plays a stimulus-specific role in the brain's novelty detection network. Surprisingly, emotion was not necessary for amygdalar novelty responses, but the presence of a human representation was important. Amygdala responses evoked by novel faces may reflect our need to use others' faces as clues for important events in the environment.
Effect of retinal image motion on contrast thresholds for maintained vision.

Contrast thresholds for maintained vision were determined under varying conditions of retinal image motion. The “stopped image” technique was used to eliminate normal image motion. Controlled motion at various frequencies and amplitudes was introduced by rotating one of the mirrors in the optical system. Low-frequency vibrations (1, 2, and 5 cps) of the retinal image were found to be beneficial to maintained vision while high-frequency vibrations (10, 20, and 50 cps) were found to be detrimental to maintained vision when compared to vision in the absence of normal retinal image motion.
A basic introduction to supportive and palliative care: Supportive and Palliative Care in Cancer. An Introduction By Claud Regnard and Margaret Kindlen Published by Radcliff Medical Press, Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom, 2002 193 pages, $27.00 (softcover)

Supportive and Palliative Care in Cancer is an introductory book written in response to the Calman-Hine report and National Health Service (NHS) Cancer Plan recommendations in the United Kingdom (UK). The recommendations included the improvement of care through a supportive and palliative care strategy providing guidance and services through a variety of NHS functions. Claud Regnard and Margaret Kindlen, both from St. Oswald’s Hospice, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, have written Supportive and Palliative Care in Cancer to provide a common core of information for health care workers entering this rapidly expanding sector of clinical services. They have succeeded only partially in achieving their goal. Supportive and Palliative Care in Cancer is a softcover text of 193 pages composed of five
Incremental learning using the time delay neural network

The time delay neural network (TDNN) is one of the neural network architectures that give excellent performance in tasks involving classification of temporal signals, such as phoneme classification, on-line gesture and handwriting recognition, and many others. One particular problem that occurs in on-line recognition tasks is how to deal with input patterns that are incorrectly recognized because they are totally dissimilar to anything the network has seen during training. The author presents an algorithm to add incremental, one-shot learning capability to the TDNN by creating extra hidden units to perform template matching on incorrectly recognized inputs and influence the output units via excitatory or inhibitory connections. In a simple handwritten digit recognition task, the addition of a single extra unit increases recognition rate for a new digit variation from 0% to 99%, while decreasing the performance on the old data by only 0.6%. Thus this incremental TDNN (ITDNN) can in fact learn a new pattern from one example and perform reasonably well on similar inputs without forgetting what it already knew, thereby enabling it to deal effectively with the on-line misrecognition problem. >
Colorimetric determination of tobramycin in parenteral solutions.

Summary A colorimetric method based on a reaction between tobramycin and alkaline copper sulphate solution has been proposed to quantify tobramycin in injections. The excipients present and normal saline did not interfere with the assay procedure. A tobramycin sample which was decomposed using either sulphuric acid or sodium hydroxide solution indicated fairly good stability on both sides of the pH scale.
SPFD-based global rewiring

This paper presents the theory and algorithm for SPFD-based global rewiring (SPFD-GR). SPFD-GR allows us to globally replace a target wire with some alternative wire possibly far away from the target. It successfully overcomes the limitations of the existing SPFD-based local rewiring algorithm (SPFD-LR), which can only replace a wire with another wire that has the same destination node. In order to perform SPFD-based global rewiring, we developed the theory and algorithm for solving a fundamental problem in SPFD-based rewiring: Given the in-pin functions of a node and the SPFD at the node's out-pin, is there a way to modify the node's internal function so that the SPFD at the node's out-pin can be satisfied? Combined with a state-of-the-art partitioning algorithm, SPFD-GR scales well to large circuits with good synthesis quality. Our SPFD-based rewiring algorithm is ideal for LUT-based FPGAs, where the node's internal function can be changed freely without any area or delay penalty. Extensive experimental results show that for LUT-based FPGAs, the rewiring ability of SPFD-GR (in terms of the number of wires that have alternative wires) is 1.45, and 3 times that of SPFD-LR and an ATPG-based rewiring algorithm (with a preliminary experimental flow), respectively, while the run time is quite acceptable. When applied to the post-mapping area reduction for large LUT-based FPGAs under circuit depth restriction, SPFD-GR achieves 17.1% average area reduction, with no or little delay increase.
The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds

The American professoriate is enormously differentiated by discipline and type of institution on such primary dimensions of professionalism as patterns of work, identification, authority, career, and association. Integration across the professoriate no longer comes primarily from similarity of function and common socialization, but from the overlap of subcommunities and the mediating linkages provided by the ties of discipline and institution.
An Overview of Stem Cell Research and Regulatory Issues

Stem cells are noted for their ability to self-renew and differentiate into a variety of cell types. Some stem cells, described as totipotent cells, have tremendous capacity to self-renew and differentiate. Embryonic stem cells have pluripotent capacity, able to form tissues of all 3 germ layers but unable to form an entire live being. Research with embryonic stem cells has enabled investigators to make substantial gains in developmental biology, therapeutic tissue engineering, and reproductive cloning. However, with these remarkable opportunities many ethical challenges arise, which are largely based on concerns for safety, efficacy, resource allocation, and methods of harvesting stem cells. Discussing the moral and legal status of the human embryo is critical to the debate on stem cell ethics. Religious perspectives and political events leading to regulation of stem cell research are presented and discussed, with special attention directed toward the use of embryonic stem cells for therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Adult stem cells were previously thought to have a restricted capacity to differentiate; however, several reports have described their plasticity potential. Furthermore, there have been close ties between the behavior of stem cells and cancer cells. True eradication of cancer will require a deeper understanding of stem cell biology. This article was written to inform medical scientists and practicing clinicians across the spectrum of medical education about the research and regulatory issues affecting the future of stem cell therapy.
BTEX removal from contaminated groundwater by a co‐culture of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens immobilized in a continuous fibrous‐bed bioreactor

A fibrous-bed bioreactor with immobilized cells of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens was used to treat groundwater contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (collectively know as BTEX). The kinetics of BTEX biodegradation in the fibrous-bed bioreactor operated under continuous well-mixed conditions was studied at room temperature. Aeration was not used in the process fed with groundwater samples with an average total BTEX concentration of 2.75 mg dm−3. All BTEX compounds present in the groundwater feed were concurrently and completely biodegraded even under oxygen-limited or hypoxic conditions. Nearly 100% removal efficiency was obtained when the retention time was greater than 1 h. BTEX removal efficiency decreased with decreasing the retention time, with p- and o-xylenes showed up first in the treated groundwater, followed by benzene and then other BTEX compounds. Biodegradation rates of BTEX generally increased with increasing BTEX concentration and loading rate. The maximum BTEX biodegradation rate was 5.76 mg h−1 dm−3 at the loading rate of 6.54 mg dm−3 h−1. The bioreactor had a stable performance, maintaining its ability for efficient BTEX degradation without requiring additional nutrients for more than 1 month. The good performance of the fibrous-bed bioreactor was attributed to the high cell density (∼15 g dm−3 reactor volume) in the fibrous matrix. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry
A large-signal GaAs MESFET model for nonlinear circuit simulation

A GaAs MESFET large-signal model suitable for use in time-domain circuit simulation CAD tools such as PSPICE has been developed. The improved model includes accurate analytic representation of the transconductance and conductance dependence upon the operating voltages. The new model gives better fit to GaAs MESFET I-V characteristics over a wider bias voltage range compared with the Curtice quadratic model. It also provides a simpler and more efficient parameter acquisition procedure in comparison to the TriQuint model. The procedure for extracting the model parameters using the bias dependence of the small-signal elements is also described. >
How HIV treatment advances affect the cost-effectiveness of prevention.

Objective. The cost-effectiveness of an HIV prevention program depends, in part, on its potential to avert HIV-related medical care costs. Recent advances in antiretroviral therapy have made HIV/AIDS treatment both more effective and more costly, which might make HIV prevention either more or less cost-effective. The objective of the present study was to explicate the relationship between the effectiveness and costs of HIV treatment and the cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention programs. Methods. A basic analytic framework was used to compare the cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions with respect to different HIV/AIDS medical care scenanos. Algebra was used to calculate a cost-effectiveness threshold that distinguishes prevention programs that become more cost-effective when therapeutic advances simultaneously increase or decrease the cost and effectiveness of treatment from those that become less cost-effective. Recent estimates of the costs and consequences of combination antiretroviral ther...
Complex Image Method Analysis of a Plane Wave-Excited Subwavelength Circular Aperture in a Planar Screen

A complex image method is presented for the analysis of a subwavelength circular aperture in a perfectly conducting screen of inflnitesimal thickness illuminated by a plane wave. The method is based on the Bethe-Bouwkamp quasi static model of the aperture fleld and uses the spectral domain formulation as the point of departure. Closed-form expressions are obtained for the electromagnetic flelds valid for all observation points. Sample numerical results demonstrate the accuracy and e-ciency of the method for both normal and oblique illuminations, including an evanescent wave. In the latter case, the results show a circulating power ∞ux and enhanced fleld conflnement near the aperture.
Synergism Between Platelets and Neutrophils in Provoking Cardiac Dysfunction After Ischemia and Reperfusion Role of Selectins

Background—Neutrophils (PMNs) are known to contribute to both cardiac dysfunction and myocardial necrosis after reperfusion of an ischemic heart. Moreover, platelets are also important blood cells that can aggravate myocardial ischemic injury. This study was designed to test the effects of PMNs and platelets separately and together in provoking cardiac dysfunction in isolated perfused rat hearts after ischemia and reperfusion. Methods and Results—Control rat hearts not subjected to ischemia were perfused without blood cells for 80 minutes. Additional control rat hearts were perfused with 75×106 PMNs, with 100×106 platelets, or with 75×106 PMNs+100×106 platelets over a 5-minute perfusion followed by a 75-minute observation period. No significant reduction in coronary flow, left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), or the first derivative of LVDP (dP/dtmax) was observed at the end of the observation period in any nonischemic group. Similarly, global ischemia (I) for 20 minutes followed by 45 minutes of re...
Comparing Different Strategies for Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient options; both dispense with the necessity of reflection . — —Jules Henry Poincare Opportunities for progress in clinical medicine often follow contradiction of previously accepted data. The impact of the first study comparing circumferential pulmonary vein (PV) ablation (left atrial catheter ablation) and segmental PV isolation was sweeping. The finding by Oral and colleagues that left atrial ablation improved outcomes over PV isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF)1 was immediately accepted. This acceptance was based on the respect due these investigators, as well as on the consistency of these results with those reported using the separate techniques via different programs; previous reports of circumferential PV ablation2 and PV isolation3 estimated single-procedure success rates of 85% and 56%, respectively, in patients with mostly paroxysmal AF. Many practitioners “waiting in the wings” were convinced to begin AF ablation programs using the left atrial ablation technique on the basis of this information. This reaction was reinforced because most viewed this technique as easier, requiring a single transseptal puncture and avoiding the complexities of interpreting PV electrogram end points. See p 2875 The study by Karch and coworkers, presented in this issue of Circulation , takes on even greater importance when viewed through this perspective.4 The authors compared circumferential PV ablation and segmental PV vein isolation in 100 patients with frequent, drug-refractory, and mostly (89%) paroxysmal AF. Their hypothesis, in line with conventional wisdom, was that circumferential ablation would reduce the relative risk of recurrent AF by 66% as compared with PV isolation. The authors held to the conceptual standards developed by the respective founders of each technique.2,3 Circumferential ablation was guided by electroanatomic mapping using separate right and left PV circles, 5 mm from the …
Turbo multiuser detection: an overview

Turbo multiuser detection refers to joint channel decoding and multiuser detection using an iterative exchange of soft information between the two processes. This technique has been examined by several authors, with very promising results. This paper provides an introduction to this area.
Comparing validation results for two DIME/PMESII models: understanding coverage profiles

Coverage profiles help in visualizing what is modeled and how well it is modeled. Two DIME/PMESII models with initial validation results for their conceptual models are compared. The differences in their coverage profiles are examined and related to the differences in the purposes of the models. These results are used to draw conclusions about general models.
Validation of computer self-administered screening and assessment tools to identify unhealthy substance use in medical patients

Methods We developed a four-item screener called the Substance Use Brief Screen (SUBS), and a brief assessment that is an audio computer-assisted self-interview version of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ACASI ASSIST). Adult patients were recruited consecutively from a safety net primary care clinic. Participants completed the SUBS and ACASI ASSIST in English using a touchscreen tablet computer, followed by interviewer-administered reference standard measures. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the SUBS for detecting past-year unhealthy substance use, and the concordance of ACASI ASSIST responses with the previously validated interviewer-administered ASSIST.
The thickness and chromatic number of r-inflated graphs

A graph has thickness t if the edges can be decomposed into t and no fewer planar layers. We study one aspect of a generalization of Ringel's famous Earth-Moon problem: what is the largest chromatic number of any thickness-2 graph? In particular, given a graph G we consider the r-inflation of G and find bounds on both the thickness and the chromatic number of the inflated graphs. In some instances, the best possible bounds on both the chromatic number and thickness are achieved. We end with several open problems.
PD-1 blockade in renal cell carcinoma: to equilibrium and beyond

The past several years have witnessed a resurgence of interest in cancer immunotherapy. The development of blocking antibodies against the inhibitory programmed death-1 (PD-1) pathway represents a clinical breakthrough in the treatment of solid tumors such as melanoma, and these agents show great promise in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The early data have been surprising in that they demonstrate that blockade of a single immune checkpoint can elicit objective responses in patients with RCC, despite the recognized complexity of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Reinvigorating the patient's own immune cells to reactivate and to target the tumor has the potential advantages of more selective killing and thus decreased toxicity. In addition, checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has the advantage of inducing a memory response that is unattainable with our current cytotoxic and targeted therapies. This Crossroads overview will highlight the emerging investigation of PD-1 blockade in RCC and how this T cell-targeted strategy may thwart the tumor's escape mechanisms and shift the immune system/tumor balance back to a state of equilibrium and even to tumor elimination.
Estimating Animal-Related Outages on Overhead Distribution Feeders Using Boosting

Abstract Faults on overhead distribution feeders have significant impact on the distribution reliability. Literature review on outages shows that overhead lines are highly susceptible to environmental factors such as weather, trees and animal. Historical analysis of outage data recorded by utility in Kansas showed that the occurrences of animal-caused outages are dependent on weather conditions and time of the year. This paper proposes models based on neural network combined with boosting algorithms based on AdaBoost to estimate weekly animal-related outages. Effectiveness of the proposed models is evaluated using actual data for four cities of different sizes in Kansas. Performance of the proposed models are compared with each other and with neural network without boosting, and previously implemented models. The results clearly show that boosting reduces mean square error and mean absolute error, and increases correlation between the estimated outages and observed outages. Additionally, AdaBoost+ performs better than AdaBoost.RT with lower errors and higher correlations.
Fiber and Microbially Generated Active Components

1. Dietary fiber is a heterogeneous group of compounds consisting of the remnants of plant cells resistant to hydrolysis by human alimentary enzymes.
Associations between heterozygosity and morphological variance

Recent studies have contrasted the expression of phenotypic traits, such as variance in morphological characters, with levels of genetic variation (heterozygosity) as determined by electrophoretic analysis of protein-coding loci. The theoretical basis for interpreting significant covariation stems in part from Lerner's work on genetic homeostasis, which predicts that within populations increased heterozygosity will produce decreased morphological variance, owing to a buffering effect of heterosis during development. However, the prediction for the relationship between genic heterozygosity and the variance of morphological traits among populations is unclear. To determine if a relationship existed between heterozygosity and morphological variance, we compared estimates of heterozygosity and morphological variance across 15 population samples of the fox sparrow and 17 samples of the pocket gopher. The estimates of morphological variance included coefficients of variation for each character and the variance of individual scores about the population mean in a principal components analysis. Although several recent studies have reported a significant relationship between heterozygosity and morphological variance, we found that the two measures do not covary significantly.
Primary care of the adolescent patient.

When examining an adolescent, clinicians should look beyond the presenting complaint and ask questions designed to illuminate such problems as social and emotional adjustment, nutrition, sexual health, smoking, and possible use of mood-altering substances. In addition, a number of adult chronic diseases that make their first appearance in the second decade of life should be diagnosed. Language: en
Alito's Discrimination Problem

This essay/comment, well traveled on the internet during the confirmation hearings of Justice Samuel Alito, focuses on aspects of his opening statement that were not examined during the hearings. Alito emphasized his formative student years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which he characterized in terms of "turmoil" he blamed on "irresponsible" students. The era-defining struggle to end racial segregation and second class citizenship for women go unmentioned, as do other turmoil-inducing events such as the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy and the loss of 50,000 American lives in the Vietnam War. In his opening statement and hearings, Alito never expressed any regret about his membership in a group at Princeton that balked at reversing the university's tradition of discrimination against minorities and women, nor did he repudiate the group's offensive positions. The essay/comment examines what conservative meant in that period, and how a seemingly decent person whose family suffered discrimination came to be so hostile to the earliest moves toward equality and, later, as a judge, to the legal claims of people who experience race or sex discrimination.
Hydromechanical Modeling of Unsaturated Flow in Double Porosity Media

AbstractGeomaterials with aggregated structure or containing fissures often exhibit a bimodal pore size distribution that can be viewed as two coexisting pore regions of different scales. The double-porosity concept enables continuum modeling of such materials by considering two interacting pore scales satisfying relevant conservation laws. This paper develops a thermodynamically consistent framework for hydromechanical modeling of unsaturated flow in double-porosity media. With an explicit treatment of the two pore scales, conservation laws are formulated incorporating an effective stress tensor that is energy-conjugate to the rate of deformation tensor of the solid matrix. A constitutive framework is developed on the basis of energy-conjugate pairs identified in the first law of thermodynamics, which is then incorporated into a three-field mixed finite-element formulation for double-porosity media. Numerical simulations of laboratory- and field-scale problems are presented to demonstrate the impact of d...
Marketing - A Tool to Create Public Value

This note provides an overview of the elements of marketing strategy, and explains how they can be applied in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Elements necessary for a successful marketing strategy (segmentation, pricing (including price discrimination), product design, place/distribution, and promotion) are examined, and then applied to public sector examples, such as: NYC's Municipal Identification Card program, a hypothetical needle exchange program, and mass transit systems. This note concludes with practical advice for implementing a marketing strategy.Learning objective:This note provides a primer, for public sector and not-for-profit leaders, about how governmental and nonprofit entities can utilize marketing concepts to better serve the public interest.
THE HISTORIAN'S ROLE IN THE MAKING OF PUBLIC POLICY

Some eight or nine years ago, David Nixon-a political scientist from Penn State University-was struck by the open dumping of industrial wastes into Pittsburgh's rivers. Research on the topic indicated that under terms of the River and Harbor Refuse Act of 1899, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintained responsibility for issuing permits to private concerns for the discharge of wastes into the nation's waterways. The Act had also been successfully employed by the Justice Department in prosecuting a handful of past offenders. When the Corps' district office in Pittsburgh denied any knowledge about such permits, David and a biologist friend began taking water samples from the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. Subsequent chemical analyses of more than 400 samples verified the polluted condition of the stream caused by certain industrial sources. Upon taking his evidence to the district U.S. Attorney's office, David Nixon persuaded Richard Thornburgh to file charges which were upheld by the federal district court in 1971-although final resolution would not come until years later. The suit eventually involved the Pennsylvania Chemical Corporation, U.S. Steel, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, and Jones & Laughlin Steel, but David Nixon's goal was to induce the government to enforce clear violations of existing law. In that regard, President Richard Nixon revived enforcement of the 1899 Refuse Act by Executive Order in December, 1971, and the "permit program" became the basis of enforcement for compliance with the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. For more than 20 years prior to 1971, federal efforts to abate water pollution struggled to find some means to enforce compliance and in the process expended well over a billion dollars, without any apparent knowledge of the 1899 law. While the episode of the Refuse Act might be construed as an indication of government's ability to teach an old law new tricks, it also serves to illustrate the lack of professionalized historical inquiry in public policy making and review. Traditionally, the policy community-those people who formulate, effect, and evaluate governmental policies-has not included historians; nor have historians done much to gain admittance to the policy community. One is hard-pressed to find examples where historical scholarship has made relevant contributions to either the formation of public policy or to any operational critique aimed at policy reform. Likewise, participants in the policy process see no apparent reasons to include historians. The result has been a paucity of useful historical assessments concerning major policy issues such as energy, urbanism, welfare, the environment, public works, water resources, population shifts, land management, governmental accountability, etc. Of course, many historians have examined various policy issues and the governmental/societal processes involved-yet the results of such research rarely affect policy making and generally do not account for
What Is Prior Art

s of United States Applications. Under order of January 25, 1949, 60 provision was made for the publication of abstracts upon the request of the applicant. The abstracts contain a figure of the application drawing and a brief description of the subject matter. Again, the Practice Manual instructs the Examining Corps to use the publication of the abstract. However, in the Practice Manual, 711.06(f) this statement appears: "If properly prepared, it should not be necessary to refer to the complete application file, but in any case in which material in the application file is used as a reference it should only be used as evidence of matters of public knowledge on the date of the publication of the abstract." What has been said above with respect to the Alien Property Custodian publications, of course, applies here. The practice of publishing abstracts was discontinued as of August 3, 1953. Manuals and Instruction Books issued as "Restricted," "Classified" or "Confidential". We are all familiar with the multitude of printed matter issued under World War II statutes allowing material to be classified as "Secret", "Confidential" or "Restricted." Is such printed matter acceptable as evidence of prior invention? The Patent Office Manual of Practice, Paragraph 707.05 (f) says that it is although it cannot be used for that purpose until it is declassified. The Manual says: "For the purpose of anticipation predicated upon prior knowledge under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) the above noted declassified material may be taken as prima facie evidence of such prior knowledge as of its printing date even though such material was classified at that time. When so used the material does not constitute a statutory bar and its printing date may be antedated by an affidavit under Rule 131. (Notice of Feb. 24, 1947, revised)." The Manual also says that the classified material becomes a printed publication after declassification and "when the material was made available to the public." This date, if not on the material, is to be determined by reference to the Office of Technical Services, Commerce Department. 6' Here is an illustration of a single document to which 60. 619 O.G.U.S. PAT. OFF. 258. 61. Ex Parte Harris, 79 U.S.P.Q. 439 (Comm'r of Patents 1948). [VOL. 3: p. 255 20 Villanova Law Review, Vol. 3, Iss. 3 [1958], Art. 1 http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol3/iss3/1
An Epidemiological Analysis of Hypertension of Coal Miners of Gongxian County,Yibin City

Objective To know the hypertenstion morbidity and awareness rate on relative knowledge in coal miners,so as to provide basis for control strategies.Methods All the male coal miners(3 834)in Gongxian County were investigated.Questionnaire and physical examination on blood pressure,heartbeat,body height and weight were conducted in all the coal miners working on the ground(756 miners) or underground(3 078 miners).Results Hypertension morbidity was 37.62% in miners working underground but 12.57% in miners working on the ground(P0.05).Hypertension cases increased along with the increase of working years(P0.05).The hypertension morbidity in undergound miners with factors of smoking,wine drinking,obesity,hyperlipemia,hypokalemia or hypertention family history was 65.16%,but 17.24% in those without above factors(P0.05).The awareness rate of hypertension related knowledge in miners over junior middle school education was 87.43%,but 39.49% in miners under junior middle school education(P0.05).Conclusion Coal miners working underground are at a greater risk to contract hypertension than those working on the ground,and the contraction of the disease is not only related with the length of the miners' working underground,but also related with smoking,wine drinking,obesity and the history of hypertension in their families.