cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vector Competence of Geographical Populations of Ornithodoros turicata for the Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia turicatae

ABSTRACT Vector competence refers to the ability of an arthropod to acquire, maintain, and successfully transmit a microbial pathogen. Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) spirochetes are globally distributed pathogens, and most species are transmitted by argasid ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. A defining characteristic in vector competence is an apparent specificity of a species of TBRF spirochete to a given tick species. In arid regions of the southern United States, Borrelia turicatae is the primary cause of TBRF. Interestingly, there are two populations of the tick vector distributed throughout this region. Ornithodoros turicata is a western population that ranges from California to Texas. There is a gap through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama where the tick has not been identified. An isolated eastern population exists in Florida and was designated a subspecies, O. turicata americanus. A knowledge gap that exists is the poor understanding of vector competence between western and eastern populations of ticks for B. turicatae. In this study, we generated uninfected colonies of O. turicata that originated in Texas and Kansas and of O. turicataamericanus. B. turicatae acquisition, maintenance through the molt, and subsequent transmission were evaluated. Our findings revealed significant differences in murine infection after feeding infected O. turicata and O. turicataamericanus ticks on the animals. Interestingly, the salivary glands of both tick populations were colonized with B. turicatae to similar densities. Our results suggest that the salivary glands of the tick colonies assessed in this study impact vector competence of the evaluated B. turicatae isolates. IMPORTANCE Several knowledge gaps exist in the vector competence of various geographical populations of O. turicata that transmit B. turicatae. A western population of this tick is distributed from California to Texas, and an eastern population exists in Florida. Utilizing western and eastern populations of the vector, we studied acquisition and transmission of two B. turicatae isolates. Regardless of the isolate used, infection frequencies were poor in mice after the eastern population feeding on them. Since salivary gland colonization is essential for B. turicatae transmission, these tissues were further evaluated. Interestingly, the salivary glands from the two populations were similarly colonized with B. turicatae. These findings suggest the role of tick saliva in the establishment of infection and that the salivary glands may be a bottleneck for successful transmission.
Rehabilitation Services Use of Older Adults According to Fall-Risk Screening Guidelines.

Objectives To characterize rehabilitation services use of older adults according to fall‐risk classification based on screening guidelines. Design Cross‐sectional analysis of 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study. Setting Study participants' homes. Participants National sample of 7,440 community‐dwelling Medicare beneficiaries. Measurements In‐person interviews and functional assessments. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries criteria, participants were classified as low, moderate, or high fall risk. Results Twenty‐three percent of older adults classified as moderate fall‐risk (n = 2602) and 40.6% of those at high fall‐risk (n = 940) reported rehabilitation services use in the past year. Among older adults who reported rehabilitation services in the past year (n = 1,505), treatment to address falls was reported by 2.8%, 12.6%, and 34.7% of those classified with low, moderate, and high fall‐risk, respectively (p 0.05) relative to those who received rehabilitation. Conclusion Older adults at high risk for falls were significantly more likely to report rehabilitation services use compared to those with low and moderate risk of falling. The findings also indicate that there is low adherence to national clinical recommendations for rehabilitation services use in older adults vulnerable to falls‐related injury. Among the high fall‐risk group, those who did not receive rehabilitation services had similarly low physical function as compared with those who received rehabilitation, indicating potential unmet need to address physical impairments related to fall‐risk. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:100–107, 2019.
A conceptual framework and metrics for evaluating multicomponent interventions to increase colorectal cancer screening within an organized screening program.

Background Multicomponent, evidence-based interventions are viewed increasingly as essential for increasing the use of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening to meet national targets. Multicomponent interventions involve complex care pathways and interactions across multiple levels, including the individual, health system, and community. Methods The authors developed a framework and identified metrics and data elements to evaluate the implementation processes, effectiveness, and cost effectiveness of multicomponent interventions used in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Colorectal Cancer Control Program. Results Process measures to evaluate the implementation of interventions to increase community and patient demand for CRC screening, increase patient access, and increase provider delivery of services are presented. In addition, performance measures are identified to assess implementation processes along the continuum of care for screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Series of intermediate and long-term outcome and cost measures also are presented to evaluate the impact of the interventions. Conclusions Understanding the effectiveness of multicomponent, evidence-based interventions and identifying successful approaches that can be replicated in other settings are essential to increase screening and reduce CRC burden. The use of common framework, data elements, and evaluation methods will allow the performance of comparative assessments of the interventions implemented across CRCCP sites to identify best practices for increasing colorectal screening, particularly among underserved populations, to reduce disparities in CRC incidence and mortality.
Children’s Right to Personal Security: the Foundation for a New Journal

Building on the seminal work of pediatrician Henry Kempe and his successors in developing the modern field of child protection, The Kempe Center, The Kempe Foundation, and The Haruv Institute are sponsoring the publication of a new journal: International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy, and Practice. Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary in scope and reader-friendly in style, IJCM is intended to advance the global development of a human rights perspective on the nature of childhood and the requisites for preservation and enhance children’s dignity as persons. More specifically, the articles in IJCM are designed to improve policy and practice related to the fulfillment of children’s right to personal security, including their physical safety, their sense of psychological security, and their access to resources sufficient to enable their survival and development. Because such interests are critical to protection of children’s personality (personhood), they have fundamental ethical and legal significance not only for children themselves but also for the promotion of community at all levels of society.
Decreased Neuron Density and Increased Glia Density in the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (Brodmann Area 25) in Williams Syndrome

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion of 25⁻28 genes on chromosome 7 and characterized by a specific behavioral phenotype, which includes hypersociability and anxiety. Here, we examined the density of neurons and glia in fourteen human brains in Brodmann area 25 (BA 25), in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), using a postmortem sample of five adult and two infant WS brains and seven age-, sex- and hemisphere-matched typically developing control (TD) brains. We found decreased neuron density, which reached statistical significance in the supragranular layers, and increased glia density and glia to neuron ratio, which reached statistical significance in both supra- and infragranular layers. Combined with our previous findings in the amygdala, caudate nucleus and frontal pole (BA 10), these results in the vmPFC suggest that abnormalities in frontostriatal and frontoamygdala circuitry may contribute to the anxiety and atypical social behavior observed in WS.
A Loaded Label: Intricacies of Being a Fan in Henrik and Sara Linden’s Fans and Fan Cultures

In Fans and Fan Cultures, Henrik and Sara Linden examine what it means to be a fan in an increasingly globalized, digitized, and capitalized world. In an age when personal information is easily searchable in the Internet era, people can now become fans immediately with the click of a “like,” “follow,” or “subscribe” button. The ideal fan is not an obsessive fanatic who claims ownership of the product, but rather one who is balanced and has a following of their own, thus making them not only a fan, but also an influencer and a brand advocate. As worldwide media is largely controlled by an exclusive number of corporations that determine what kind of media we consume, fandom and fan communities offer a compromise: Though corporations and brands shape and control the majority of media content, fandom serves as an opportunity for people with shared interests to come together, forge connections, and find a sense of value and belonging that exists outside the mundane. My analysis will concentrate on a selection of Linden and Linden’s topics and explore how fandom has become a manifestation of the need for authentic, meaningful connections in a time when technological development effectively renders authenticity as a bargaining chip in a much larger marketing ploy.
Unsupervised Kernel Learning for Correlation Based Clustering

Successful clustering of multiple objects using kernels, heavily relies on the proper selection of kernel parameters. This can be a computationally complex process and may necessitate prior knowledge of label information. In this paper, a novel method has been introduced that is computationally efficient and requires no prior information. The method relies on the eigenvalues of each kernel matrix to determine a proper linear combination of kernels among a dictionary of kernels that results in good clustering. A difference of convex functions formulation is proposed and solved via an algorithmically simple method which is extremely cost-effective in implementation. Comparisons using various forms of real-world data with two popular supervised methods show its superior performance.
Squaring the Circle in Descartes' Meditations: The Strong Validation of Reason

Descartes' Meditations is one of the most thoroughly analyzed of all philosophical texts. Nevertheless, central issues in Descartes' thought remain unresolved, particularly the problem of the Cartesian Circle. Most attempts to deal with that problem have weakened the force of Descartes' own doubts or weakened the goals he was seeking. In this book, Stephen I. Wagner gives Descartes' doubts their strongest force and shows how he overcomes those doubts, establishing with metaphysical certainty the existence of a non-deceiving God and the truth of his clear and distinct perceptions. Wagner's innovative and thorough reading of the text clarifies a wide range of other issues that have been left unclear by previous commentaries, including the nature of the cogito discovery and the relationship between Descartes' proofs of God's existence. His book will be of great interest to scholars and upper-level students of Descartes, early modern philosophy and theology.
Presentation Attack Detection Using Wavelet Transform and Deep Residual Neural Net

Biometric authentication is becoming more prevalent for secured authentication systems. However, the biometric systems can be deceived by the imposters in several ways. Among other imposter attacks, print attacks, mask-attacks, and replay-attacks fall under the presentation attack category. The biometric images, especially iris and face, are vulnerable to different presentation attacks. This research applies deep learning approaches to mitigate the presentation attacks in a biometric access control system. Our contribution in this paper is two-fold: first, we applied the wavelet transform to extract the features from the biometric images. Second, we modified the deep residual neural net and applied it on the spoof datasets in an attempt to detect the presentation attacks. This research applied deep learning technique on three biometric spoof datasets: ATVS, CASIA two class, and CASIA cropped image sets. The datasets used in this research contain images that are captured both in a controlled and uncontrolled environment along with different resolution and sizes. We obtained the best accuracy of 93% on the ATVS Iris dataset. For CASIA two class and CASIA cropped datasets, we achieved test accuracies of 91% and 82%, respectively.
Effectiveness of nervousness reduction policies when capacity is constrained

A number of studies have examined a variety of solutions for overcoming master production schedule nervousness which is a major cause of cost increase and material flow disruption throughout the su...
Demonstration of 30 GHz OIP3/PDC > 10 dB by mm-wave N-polar Deep Recess MISHEMTs

Nitrogen-polar gallium nitride deep recess high electron mobility transistors have recently demonstrated exceptional mm-wave power density and efficiency when measured at 30 and 94 GHz. In addition to power and efficiency, linear operation with low DC power consumption is important because nonlinearities generate distortion and interference in both transmitters and receivers. This work presents the first measurements and analysis of the OIP3 and OIP3/P DC for an N-polar GaN deep recess device. An OIP3/P DC of up to 11.4 dB is demonstrated at 30 GHz using a vector receiver load pull system, and the linearity studied as a function of the bias current density.
RBSP-ECT Combined Spin-Averaged Electron Flux Data Product

We describe a new data product combining the spin-averaged electron flux measurements from the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Energetic Particle Composition and Thermal Plasma (ECT) suite on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Van Allen Probes. We describe the methodology used to combine each of the data sets and produce a consistent set of spectra for September 2013 to the present. Three-minute-averaged flux spectra are provided spanning energies from 15 eV up to 20 MeV. This new data product provides additional utility to the ECT data and offers a consistent cross calibrated data set for researchers interested in examining the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere across a wide range of energies.
Statistical Validation of Crowdsourced Pavement Ride Quality Measurements from Smartphones

AbstractAdvances in computing capabilities, image processing, and sensing technologies have permitted the development of specialized vehicles equipped with the capability to assess pavement conditi...
Fuzzy Observer-Based Transitional Path-Tracking Control for Autonomous Vehicles

This study addresses the path-tracking control issue of autonomous vehicles (AVs) when the GPS measurement is temporarily unavailable. In such a case, the vehicle states, location or the curvature of the reference path might be unobtainable, while the camera can be potentially used to detect the path-tracking states. To this end, this paper proposes a fuzzy-observer-based composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) controller with a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) vehicle lateral dynamic model to guarantee the normal path-tracking maneuver and improve the transient performance. A parallel distributed compensation (PDC)-based CNF control method is developed to realize the control objective with the T-S vehicle model considering the transient performance and actuator saturation. The closed-loop stability and ${H} _{ \boldsymbol {\infty }}$ index performance integrating the tracking and estimation errors have been proved with a Lyapunov approach. The observer-based controller design has been implemented based on the formulation of the linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). High-fidelity simulations using CarSim-Matlab/Simulink have demonstrated the validity of the proposed approach in terms of enhancing the tracking performance under the input saturation and disturbances in GPS-denied environments.
Weaning children from temporary tube feeding: Staff survey of knowledge and practices.

Aim To explore the understanding of and practices of health-care workers in weaning children from feeding tubes.Methods An electronic survey of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals at Children's Health Queensland obtained demographic information and awareness of various areas of tube feeding management particularly tube weaning.Results The 155 health-care providers formed three well-matched groups in terms of number and years of experience. Only 18 had formal training in tube weaning. Participants had high levels of knowledge regarding reasons for commencing and possible complications associated with tube feeding. However, health-care providers generally were found to have limited to no knowledge of tube weaning practices. Nearly half of participants (46%) did not know the best time to plan for a tube wean and only 16 indicated that they or their work units documented tube exit plans, regardless of type of feeding tube, in children's medical charts. Time frames were rarely included as part of tube exit plans. Participants ranked medical stability and presence of a safe swallow most highly as important indicators for successful tube weaning. Multidisciplinary management was also identified as valuable. Tube weaning was predominately managed by children's primary health unit/service and largely involved a medical officer and dietician.Conclusions Poor awareness of tube weaning practices such as tube exit strategies may be impacting on the quality of care received by children who are tube fed. Future research should be directed towards developing and evaluating guidelines accompanied by educational resources to further advance tube weaning practices.
Emotional Intelligence: Affective Computing in Architecture and Design

What if material interfaces could adapt physically to the user’s emotional state in order to develop a new affective interaction? By using emotional computing technologies to track facial expressions, material interfaces can help to regulate emotions. They can serve either as a tool for intelligence augmentation or as a means of leveraging an emphatic relationship by developing an affective loop with users. This paper explores how color and shape-changing can be used as an interactive design tool to convey emotional information, and is illustrated by two projects, one at the intimate scale of fashion, and one at a more architectural scale. By engaging with design, art, psychology, computer and material science, this paper envisions a world where materials can detect the emotional responses of a user and reconfigure themselves in order to enter into a feedback loop with the user’s affective state and influence social interaction.
Optimizing displacement-based seismic design of mass timber rocking walls using genetic algorithm

Abstract This paper presents a rational procedure to optimize design for mass timber rocking wall systems utilizing a genetic algorithm (GA) beyond typical displacement-based design metrics for wood buildings. Traditional displacement-based design is limited to simple displacement targets, with optimization techniques (GA), it is feasibly to consider more performance chrematistics (e.g. costs, serviceability, etc.). By formulating drift targets and other structural design limit states within an elimination step of the GA optimization process, the method proposed here optimizes rocking wall design with multiple criteria that factor much more than lateral displacement targets in the seismic analysis. This type of optimization is difficult to perform using traditional manual trial-and-error approaches. An existing simplified nonlinear time-history simulation model (validated through full-scale shake table test data) of a wood rocking wall is employed in this process. The design for an example building in Seattle with a six-story rocking wall is presented using the proposed procedure. The results revealed that the optimization of the mass timber rocking wall lateral system can be achieved in a reasonable time frame using the proposed method. Even though the same drift limits were applied, final designs produced by GA varied, depending on the other optimization objectives. This demonstrates how the seismic design of wood rocking wall systems could be readily improved with computerized optimization tools that factor in other aspects of the design including cost.
Tag Primer-Nested / Multiplex PCR for Detectionof Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax

Objective To establish a sensitive, simple to use and low noise nested/multiplex PCR for simultaneously detection of Plasmodium falciparum (P.f) and Plasmodium vivax (P.v). Methods The tag primer amplification technique, software Primer Premier 5.0, NCBI-BLAST web resources and the matrix test were used to optimize the nested / multiplex PCR for detection of P.f and P.v with filter paper blood samples taken from malaria patients diagnosed by microscopy, and the results of the optimized nested/multiplex PCR and microscopy were evaluated. Results The sensitivity of the optimized PCR, determined by the examination of imitative filter paper blood samples, was about 1-2 parasites / μl for P.f and 5-10 parasites / μl for P.v. Primer-dimer and other PCR noise were removed. When 71 field filter paper blood samples taken from microscopically diagnosed patients (24 P.f, 47 P.v) were examined, the concordance between the optimized PCR and microscopy was 87.5% for P.f and 100% for P.v. Conclusion The nested/multiplex PCR optimized by tag primer amplification technique is simple, with low noise and being able to detect P.f and P.v simultaneously. It is more sensitive in detecting cases with low parasitaemia and more accurate in identifying Plasmodium species than microscopy. [
Perspectives from the Society for Pediatric Research: pharmacogenetics for pediatricians

This review evaluates the pediatric evidence for pharmacogenetic associations for drugs that are commonly prescribed by or encountered by pediatric clinicians across multiple subspecialties, organized from most to least pediatric evidence. We begin with the pharmacogenetic research that led to the warning of increased risk of death in certain pediatric populations ("ultrarapid metabolizers") who are prescribed codeine after tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy. We review the evidence for genetic testing for thiopurine metabolism, which has become routine in multiple pediatric subspecialties. We discuss the pharmacogenetic research in proton pump inhibitors, for which clinical guidelines have recently been made available. With an increase in the prevalence of behavioral health disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we review the pharmacogenetic literature on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and ADHD medications. We will conclude this section on the current pharmacogenetic data on ondansetron. We also provide our perspective on how to integrate the current research on pharmacogenetics into clinical care and what further research is needed. We discuss how institutions are managing pharmacogenetic test results and implementing them clinically, and how the electronic health record can be leveraged to ensure testing results are available and taken into consideration when prescribing medications. IMPACT: While many reviews of pharmacogenetics literature are available, there are few focused on pediatrics. Pediatricians across subspecialties will become more comfortable with pharmacogenetics terminology, know resources they can use to help inform their prescribing habits for drugs with known pharmacogenetic associations, and understand the limitations of testing and where further research is needed.
A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF AMOEBIASIS IN REPTILES IN A ZOOLOGICAL INSTITUTION

Amoebiasis is a significant protozoal disease of reptiles causing nonspecific clinical signs including diarrhea, anorexia, and lethargy. It frequently results in acute death. Investigation of the pathophysiology of amoebiasis in reptiles has been hampered by the inability to accurately identify amoeba to the species level using conventional techniques. This study reviewed reptile medical records from the Wildlife Conservation Society's archives from 1998 to 2017. Amoebae were identified histologically in 54 cases in 31 different species. Of these, amoebiasis was the cause of death in 32 (18 chelonians, 7 lizards, and 7 snakes), a significant co-morbidity in 14 (six chelonians, two lizards, and six snakes), and seen incidentally in eight cases (one chelonian, six lizards, and one snake). Relocation from one enclosure to another was also evaluated and 65% of cases had been moved within 180 days of death (median 46 days). Frozen tissue samples from 19 of these cases were tested via an Entamoeba (genus-specific) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. PCR products were sequenced and Entamoeba species were identified. Six individuals were positive for Entamoeba invadens (three chelonians, two snakes, one lizard), two for Entamoeba ranarum (both snakes), and one for Entamoeba terrapinae (chelonian); the other 10 cases were negative via PCR. Entamoeba ranarum has typically been considered a disease of amphibians with only one report of disease in a snake. Entamoeba terrapinae has only been reported without associated disease in chelonians. These results suggest that amoebiasis is a complicated and nuanced disease of reptiles, and warrants additional study.
Assessment of solid tumor oncology perception and knowledge gain in internal medicine (IM) residents through oncology video library: Educational intervention in progress.

e23000Background: ACGME and internal surveys performed at the University of North Carolina (UNC) demonstrate that IM residents have historically been dissatisfied with their inpatient oncology expe...
Low-Dose Parenteral Soybean Oil for the Prevention of Parenteral Nutrition–Associated Liver Disease in Neonates With Gastrointestinal Disorders

Background: Neonates with gastrointestinal disorders (GDs) are at high risk for parenteral nutrition–associated liver disease (PNALD). Soybean-based intravenous lipid emulsions (S-ILE) have been associated with PNALD. This study’s objective was to determine if a lower dose compared with a higher dose of S-ILE prevents cholestasis without compromising growth. Materials and Methods: This multicenter randomized controlled pilot study enrolled patients with GDs who were ≤5 days of age to a low dose (~1 g/kg/d) (LOW) or control dose of S-ILE (~3 g/kg/d) (CON). The primary outcome was cholestasis (direct bilirubin [DB] >2 mg/dL) after the first 7 days of age. Secondary outcomes included growth, PN duration, and late-onset sepsis. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between the LOW (n = 20) and CON groups (n = 16). When the LOW group was compared with the CON group, there was no difference in cholestasis (30% vs 38%, P = .7) or secondary outcomes. However, mean ± SE DB rate of change over the first 8 ...
Urokinase (u-PA) and the u-PA Receptor

Background Urokinase (u-PA) and the u-PA receptor (u-PAR) influence tumor invasion and metastasis.
A Study of Touch Football Rules

(1933). A Study of Touch Football Rules. The Journal of Health and Physical Education: Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 40-60.
Growth regulation by macrophages.

Macrophages play an important role in several aspects of immune regulation, as verified by the articles within this volume. In recent years it has become clear that macrophages play a pivotal regulatory role by influencing the rates of proliferation of multiple cell types. This article is a review focusing on the products secreted by macrophages which alter cell growth.
Food Manufacturing Activities of the Largest Agricultural Cooperatives: Market Power and Strategic Behavior Implications

Agricultural cooperatives are often described as vertical extensions of the farm enterprise. Their primary purpose is to provide services to their member-users on a nonprofit basis. These services range from the provision ofproduction inputs through the entire set of assembling, processing, and marketing services required to deliver their agricultural products to final consumers. Of course, cooperatives are not the only providers of either farm inputs or marketing services. Typically they compete with noncooperative firms and in some cases with other cooperatives.
Applications of Transition Metal Compounds in the Preparation of Useful Silicon‐Containing Ceramics

Abstract : There have been many studies of the reactions of organosilicon compounds with diverse transition metal complexes. The original impetus for this research activity was given by the discoveries that heterogeneous platinum and palladium catalysts and chloroplatinic acid were effective hydrosilylation catalysts. In the year that followed, many other transition metal complexes have been found to catalyze the addition of silicon hydrides to organic multiple bonds. Also, transition metal complexes have been found to catalyze other reactions of organosilicon compounds, such as the insertion of acetylenes and other unsaturated organic compounds into reactive Si-Si bonds and reactions of the Si-C bonds of strained cyclic organosilicon compounds. A different focus on silicon-transition metal chemistry was found in Aylett's preparation of H3Si- transition metal compounds. These were found to be effective precursors for transition metal silicides by chemical vapor deposition. This potentially useful application in materials processing led to further work by others on the synthesis of transition metal complexes containing metal-silicon bonds.
Task force on network storage architecture: Internet-attached storage devices

Networks such as HiPPI, SSA and Fibre Channel are becoming the access technology of choice for peripherals such as disk drives, tape drives and disk arrays. These networks scale better than traditional I/O channels, connecting more devices over greater distances and providing greater aggregate bandwidth. More complex protocols are required for network interfaces than for channels. In most cases, specially developed protocols are used, rather than existing standards such as TCP/IP, due to perceived differences in functionality, focus, complexity and especially performance. We reason that most of these concerns either reflect misunderstanding of the IP suite or are being met as the suite evolves. We further argue that the benefits of using IP, including wide area connectivity, cross media bridging and reduced R&D, are substantial. Therefore, we feel that IP is an appropriate choice for a storage device and should be the protocol of choice for systems implementers.
Conjunctival Advancement for Late-Onset Filtering Bleb Leaks: Indications and Outcomes

Objective To determine the indications and outcome of conjunctival advancement surgery for late-onset filtering bleb leaks. Patients and Methods Retrospective medical record review of a consecutive case series of all patients who underwent conjunctival advancement surgery for persistent late-onset glaucoma filtering bleb leaks at a tertiary referral center between December 1, 1985, and April 30, 1997. Main Outcome Measures Indications for surgery, preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), visual acuity, status of bleb leak, and need for reinstitution of medical therapy or reoperation for glaucoma. Results Twenty-six eyes of 26 patients were analyzed. Complications from bleb leaks that necessitated surgical intervention included chronic ocular hypotony (n=21), decreased visual acuity (n=9), bleb-related infection (n=11), hypotony maculopathy (n=4), corneal edema with folds (n=7), choroidal effusion (n=3), and persistent shallow anterior chamber (n=3). The mean±SD preoperative IOP was 5.7±4.9 mm Hg (range, 0-16 mm Hg). After a follow-up of 19.6±22.6 months, the IOP was 14.2±4.1 mm Hg for patients taking 1.1±1.3 glaucoma medications (all data given as mean±SD). Twelve patients (46%) had early-onset bleb leaks after revision, of which 7 (27%) closed spontaneously and 5 (19%) required resuturing. Two patients (8%) had a persistent bleb leak throughout the follow-up period. Thirteen patients (50%) required reinstitution of medical therapy during the follow-up period, and 2 (8%) required a reoperation for glaucoma for uncontrolled IOP. Conclusions Conjunctival advancement is a successful procedure for closing late-onset filtering bleb leaks. Some patients require suturing in the early postoperative period, but most patients eventually obtain permanent closure of the leak. Patients should be counseled of the possibility of requiring medical or surgical intervention for IOP control after revision.
Spatial variation of the electron mean free path near a surface

Abstract The electron plasmon-emission-mean-free-path in semi-infinite Jellium is evaluated as a function of position, and of electron emergence angle. The usual assumption that this free path is spatially non-varying inside the “metal” is found to be a reasonable approimation to reality by virtue of the fact that the surface plasmon emission probability increases where that of the bulk plasmon decreases (and vice-versa). The inverse mean free path, however, does not fall to zero for an appreciable distance (on the order of angstroms) outside the surface defined by the vanishing of the electron density.
Advanced conformational energy surfaces for cellobiose

Energy surfaces imply which molecular shapes are more likely and which are less likely. Therefore, they are valuable for assisting the understanding of the structures involved in biosynthesis and many practical post-harvest exploitations of cellulose. Although usually calculated with molecular mechanics, energy surfaces for the cellobiose fragment of cellulose can now be based on quantum mechanics. This paper presents three sets of energy surfaces. One set is for three analogs of cellobiose that lack hydroxyl groups, calculated based on geometries minimized at the HF/6-31G(d) or B3LYP/6-31G(d) levels. Larger basis sets were also used without further atomic movement. Predictions of experimental crystal structures of cellobiose and related compounds by these gas-phase analogs improved as the analog became sterically more like cellobiose. The second set of maps, for cellobiose itself, gave low HF energies for some experimental structures that had higher energies on the other sets of maps, but they were generally less predictive of the small molecule crystal structure shapes. Finally, AMBER*, a trial version of MM4, and a hybrid B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)::MM3(96) method all gave similar results, increasing the promise of modeling. These analyses suggest that folding conformations depend on hydrogen bonding to overcome intrinsic strain, and that there may be intrinsic strain for 2-fold shapes in crystalline cellulose, with a maximum of about 1.0 kcal for each mole of cellobiose.
Boston children’s hospital and the origin of pediatric neurosurgery

The Department of Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) has had a rich and sustained tradition of excellence over the years. This review traces the history of neurosurgery at BCH and the seminal role the department has played in advancing the field of pediatric neurosurgery worldwide (Fig. 1).
Enhancement of second-order nonlinear-optical signals by optical stimulation.

Second-order nonlinear optical interactions such as sum- and difference-frequency generation are widely used for bioimaging and as selective probes of interfacial environments. However, inefficient nonlinear optical conversion often leads to poor signal-to-noise ratio and long signal acquisition times. Here, we demonstrate the dramatic enhancement of weak second-order nonlinear optical signals via stimulated sum- and difference-frequency generation. We present a conceptual framework to quantitatively describe the interaction and show that the process is highly sensitive to the relative optical phase of the stimulating field. To emphasize the utility of the technique, we demonstrate stimulated enhancement of second harmonic generation (SHG) from bovine collagen-I fibrils. Using a stimulating pulse fluence of only $3\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nJ}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, we obtain an SHG enhancement $g{10}^{4}$ relative to the spontaneous signal. The stimulation enhancement is greatest in situations where spontaneous signals are the weakest---such as low laser power, small sample volume, and weak nonlinear susceptibility---emphasizing the potential for this technique to improve signal-to-noise ratios in biological imaging and interfacial spectroscopy.
Inversion vs retention of configuration in gas-phase ammonium ion/alcohol reactions.

The potential energy surface for gas-phase reactions of ammonium ion with alcohols was examined by ab initio and DFT methods. Transition structures for inversion (SN2) and retention (SNF) mechanisms were located for 2-propanol and exo-2-norbornanol. The SNF (retention) process was found to be 6−8 kcal/mol higher in energy than the inversion SN2 counterpart for the 2-propanol system. The retention process in the 2-exo-norbornanol/ammonium ion system was favored by 1.3 kcal/mol.
Modulation of growth gene expression by selective alteration of polyamines in human colon carcinoma cells.

Abstract The biosynthesis of the polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, is temporally linked with expression of many growth related genes. Our previous studies have shown that generalized polyamine depletion of the human colon cancer cell line COLO 320 by 2-difluoromethylornithine is associated with decreased transcription of the c-myc, c-fos, and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) genes. In the current study, the role of individual polyamines was further defined by the use of a specific inhibitor of spermidine synthase, S-adenosyl-1,8, diamino-3-thio-octane (AdoDATO), and a spermine analogue, N1, N12 bis(ethyl)spermine. Our data demonstrate that depletion of spermidine results in a 60–90% decrease in c-myc mRNA steady state levels. In contrast, c-fos mRNA levels are decreased only when both spermidine and spermine are diminshed. Furthermore, ODC mRNA levels are increased when all polyamines are decreased by DFMO, but are unaffected by a selective reduction in intracellular spermidine levels by AdoDATO. These studies suggest that individual polyamines may have a selective role in the expression of specific growth related genes.
Pavlovian‐conditioned changes in body temperature induced by alcohol and morphine

Several theoretical analyses of drug-taking behavior posit an important mediating role for Pavlovian-conditioned drug responses that develop as a result of stimulus-drug pairings imbedded within the self-administration paradigm. Some of these analyses focus attention on the learning of physiological responses that appear to counteract or compensate for the direct effects of a drug, thereby producing tolerance and encouraging increased drug taking. Others place greater emphasis on the learning of responses that mimic the drug's effect and presumably increase drug taking through a positive incentive mechanism. Our laboratory has been especially interested in the determinants of drug-induced conditioned changes in body temperature and the roles that such responses might play in drug tolerance, sensitization, and self-administration. Our research has involved both alcohol and morphine, drugs that produce a similar conditioned thermal response despite the fact that the direct thermal effects of these drug are completely different. In the case of alcohol, our initial studies showed that environmental (cage) cues paired with intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of the drug acquire the ability to evoke a conditioned hyperthermic response that reduces the hypothermic reaction to ethanol (i.e., tolerance). More recent studies have explored the nature of the events capable of serving as conditioned stimuli (CSs) for such learning. These studies show that interoceptive thermal cues can mediate tolerance to alcohol's thermal effect, but taste cues cannot. The inability of taste cues to mediate tolerance may have special implications for the study of responses that are conditioned during oral self-administration of alchol, a procedure that offers very salient gustatory cues. In the case of morphine, we have developed an experimental preparation that permits precise temporal control over the CS (a noise-light compound) and unconditioned stimulus (intravenous morphine) while using techniques that minimize the stress that is induced by drug administration or temperature measurement. These studies show development of a conditioned hyperthermic response that summates with morphine-induced hyperthermia, resulting in sensitization. The similarity in the conditioned thermal responses induced by alcohol and morphine has encouraged us to consider the possibility that these responses are not directly related to specific drug effects on the thermoregulatory system but instead reflect a nonspecific anticipatory “arousal” response. This notion receives some support from recent studies in our laboratory showing that environmental cues associated with non-drug reinforcers differing in hedonic value (i.e., shock and sucrose) also acquire the ability to elicit conditioned hyperthermia. It could well be that drug-induced conditioned changes in body temperature index the acquired motivational processes that maintain drug-taking and encourage relapse.
The second-order backward differentiation formula is unconditionally zero-stable

Abstract Previous studies of the stability of the second-order backward differentiation formula have concluded that stability is possible only if restrictions are placed on the stepsize ratios, for example, limiting the ratio to some value less than 1 + 2 . However, actual implementations of the BDFs differ from the usual theoretical models of such methods; in particular, practical codes use scaled derivatives (e.g. EPISODE) or backward differences to represent current information about the solution. The representation makes no difference to truncation errors, but it has an important effect of the propagation of roundoff errors and of errors in the solution of the implicit equations. In this paper it is shown that the divided difference implementation of the variable coefficient (variable stepsize extension of the) second-order BDF is zero-stable for unrestricted stepsize ratios.
Time-domain measurements of Rydberg doublet splittings using microwave half-cycle pulses

We observe transitions between Rydberg states driven by intense 500-ps-wide half-cycle electric-field pulses in a microwave transmission line. Using two identical temporally spaced pulses we can perform spectroscopic measurements. We have measured fine-structure intervals between the ${d}_{3/2}$ and ${d}_{5/2}$ states in Na and K using this technique. The frequency measurements span two orders of magnitude and are an order of magnitude more accurate than previous direct measurements of these transitions and more than a factor of 2 more accurate than previous high-precision microwave measurements.
Polymer flip-chip bonding of pressure sensors on a flexible Kapton film for neonatal catheters

In this paper, we describe the development of a new approach to mounting silicon pressure microsensors inside a 5 French (1.67 mm outer diameter) neonatal catheter tube for intravascular blood pressure measurements. Kapton film was used as a low-cost, flexible interface between the flip-chip bonded sensors at one end and wires to external electronics at the other end. Conductive polymer paste was used to flip-chip bond sensors to the flexible Kapton substrate at low temperature, while gold traces were used to form electrical interconnects on the film surface. Conductivity and bonding strength of the resulting polymer bumps were on the order of 100 m? and 4.43 mN mm?2, respectively. Piezoresistive pressure microsensors were successfully mounted on Kapton carriers, packaged inside catheter tubes, and characterized in both gas and liquid environments. The sensors exhibited sensitivity of approximately 60 ?V mmHg?1 over the target pressure range of 0?350 mmHg. Two-week tests in water at 27 ?C and 36 ?C showed only slight variations in contact resistances, indicating that the developed approach to packaging microsensors was sufficiently robust for the target application.
X band c.w. TRAPATT oscillators using ring diodes on diamond heat spreaders

TRAPATT diodes for X band c.w. operation have been made using both double-epitaxy and diffusion techniques. These p+nn+ devices are fabricated in ring configurations and mounted on type-IIA diamond heat spreaders. A c.w. TRAPATT performance of 3.3 W and 18.5% efficiency has been achieved at 8 GHz using these diodes.
Western Pacific tropospheric ozone and potential vorticity: Implications for Asian pollution

Tropospheric ozone (03) cross sections measured with lidar from a DC-8 aircraft over the western Pacific correspond closely with potential vorticity (PV). Both are transported from the middle latitude stratosphere, although this is not the only source of 03, and both have sinks in the tropical boundary layer. 03 and PV are good indicators of photochemical and transport process interactions. In summer, some Asian pollution, raised by convection to the upper troposphere, passes southward into the tropics and to the Southern Hemisphere. In winter, subsidence keeps the pollution at low altitudes where it moves over the ocean towards the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), with photochemical destruction and secondary pollutant generation occurring en route. Convection raises this modified air to the upper troposphere, where some re may enter the stratosphere. Thus winter Asian pollution may at have a smaller direct influence on the global atmosphere than it would if injected at other longitudes and seasons.
The Evolving Debate on Unions and Productivity

It has recently been argued in an influential literature that unions typically improve productivity by providing workers with an internal 'voice' at the workplace. The alleged efficiency gains accrue through a reduction in quits as unions collect information about the preferences of all workers, and through a union governance or job-regulatory apparatus that better monitors labour's effort input while encouraging co-operation between workers. The assumptions underpinning this new view of unionism and the methodology employed to isolate the union productivity differential are critically evaluated in this paper. It is further argued that the unions and efficiency question is fundamentally one pertaining to the long run. Empirical evidence showing a deleterious effect of unions on productivity growth and profitability, coupled with material assembled from the economics of politics literature, is deployed to substantiate this argument. It is concluded that the productivity gains attributed to unionism are, at...
γδ T cells — innate immune lymphocytes?

It is unclear what the antigen recognition determinants of γδ T-cell receptors (TCRs) are. Compared with immunoglobulin and αβ TCRs, γδ TCRs have the highest potential CDR3 diversity generated by VDJ recombination. However, γδ T-cell reactivities seem to segregate with V gene usage, which has been taken to suggest that rearrangement has little role in generating different antigen specificities. During the past year, the CDR3 regions were found to determine the antigen specificities of T10- and T22-reactive γδ TCRs, a surface protein complex was identified as a ligand for human phosphoantigen-reactive γδ T cells, and the first co-crystal structure of a γδ TCR bound to its ligand was reported. These advances warrant a fresh look at γδ T-cell antigen recognition.