cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intraperitoneal chemotherapy in older women with epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract Objective Advancing age is a risk factor for survival in ovarian cancer. Gynecologic Oncology Group protocol 172 showed survival advantages and higher toxicity with intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in women with optimally debulked, stage III ovarian cancer. Our objective was to explore the tolerance of IP therapy in older patients. Methods We performed a descriptive analysis of ovarian cancer patients aged 65 years or older who had an IP catheter placed for either first-line IP chemotherapy or consolidation following intravenous (IV) carboplatin/paclitaxel. An intention-to-treat analysis of 100 ovarian cancer patients younger than 65 years was performed for comparison. Results Between 1994 and 2008, 100 patients ≥ 65 years of age had an IP catheter inserted at our institution. Median age was 70 (range, 65–83). Median Karnofsky performance status was 90% (range, 70–90), and median number of comorbidities was 2 (range, 0–6). Twenty-four patients had first-line IP/IV cisplatin-paclitaxel, and 76 had IP cisplatin consolidation after completion of IV treatment. In the IP/IV cohort, 13 women (54%) completed all 6 planned cycles of IP therapy; 18 (75%) completed at least 4 cycles. Of all 100 patients, 13 had treatment delays, and 37 required dose reductions (21% at baseline). Median number of IP cycles was 3 (range, 0–6). There was no significant difference in the number of grade ≥ 3 toxicities between younger and older patients. Conclusions IP chemotherapy can be safely administered in selected older patients with adequate support and dose modifications either as first-line treatment or as a consolidation therapy. Efforts to include older patients in future prospective trials should be emphasized.
ADIABATIC GAS ABSORPTION AND STRIPPING WITH CHEMICAL REACTION IN PACKED TOWERS

Abstract In the design of adiabatic gas absorption, the temperature distribution within the column is an important consideration. Temperature influences the degrees of heat and mass transfer through the thermodynamic phase equilibrium relationships and reaction rates. The capacity of an absorber is limited through the formation of a temperature plateau. Gas absorption in a chemically reactive solvent in an adiabatic packed column is modelled rationally for the first time taking into account the major heat effects. An iterative computational method for computing packed bed height is presented. The design procedure is illustrated by sample calculations for carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption in monoethanolamine (MEA).
Cutaneous findings in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension receiving long-term epoprostenol therapy

Abstract Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare debilitating disease characterized by an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance and progressive right ventricular failure. PAH may be primary or associated with other conditions such as collagen vascular disease, portal hypertension, and HIV. Intravenous epoprostenol improves the survival, exercise tolerance, hemodynamics, and quality of life in patients with PAH and is believed to work through multiple pathways including vasodilation, opposition of smooth-muscle hypertrophy, and inhibition of platelet aggregation. Common dose-limiting side effects are flushing, jaw pain, arthralgias, myalgias, and headache, which are attributed to the vasodilatory effects of epoprostenol. In clinical practice, patients often develop persistent rash that is distinct from the flushing associated with epoprostenol. The specific findings both on physical examination and on dermatopathology have not, however, been well described. This report describes the cutaneous and dermatopathologic findings of 12 patients who developed persistent rash while receiving long-term prostacyclin for PAH.
Farblose Euglenalen aus dem Hypolimnion des Hausersees

1. The colourless Eugleninae hitherto known to live in the Hausersee (near Andelfingen, Kanton Zurich, Switzerland), except some too little studied forms, are enumerated. 2. The comparatively very eutrophic Hausersee is facultatively meromictic and has a true hypolimnion, rich in ammonia, phosphate, CO2, SiO2, H2S but without any oxygen. The upper hypolimnion and the lower metalimnion are the biotopes preferred by a lot of colourless flagellates. 3. There are some new species described:Astasia taeniata, A. bacillifera, A. recta, A. agilis, A. pisciformis; Rhabdomonas torta; Gyropaigne minima; Distigma tremens, D. rigidum, D. breviciliatum, D. tenue, D. glabrum; Petalomonas regularis. Astasia Dangeardii var.parva is separated fromA. Dangeardii typ. under the new nameA. vulgaris. 4. The systematics of the genusAstasia are discussed.Astasia is divided in the two subgeneraEuastasia andEuglenoidea according to the formation of the front end and the mouth of the gullet. The variety of forms is arranged in swarms of species grouped around a typical species. 5. The systematic and phylogenetic interrelations betweenDistigma, greenEugleninae andAstasia are briefly discussed.Distigma tremens, an interesting species, may be specially mentioned.
Spectrophotometric determination of traces of palladium after coprecipitation with tellurium

A spectrophotometric method for the determination of microgram amounts of palladium in the presence of much iron, copper, nickel, cobalt and other common elements (~ 0.5 g) is described. Palladium is separated by stannous chloride precipitation with tellurium as collector. p-Nitroso-diphenylamine is used as the colorimetric reagent, and diethyl oxalate as extradant for the palladium complex (sensitivity = 0.0015 μg Pdcm2 ≡ log {I0/I} = 0.001). Silver, selenium and tungsten lead to low results and should not exceed ~ 0.1 mg. The weight ratio Au/Pd should not exceed 10, else results for palladium are high. For Pd > 1 μg, recoveries average 90% or. better.
Human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis testing and prevalence among surgical patients in an urban university hospital.

Abstract Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C represent significant public health problems in an urban community. Early diagnosis and treatment of these infections can improve survival and allow for preventive strategies to reduce further transmission within a community. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical setting as a potential opportunity for early diagnosis of HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C among trauma and non-trauma patients. Methods We performed a retrospective review of patients presenting for surgery over a 10-year period (July 1994 to July 2004) in an urban, university-based general surgical practice that includes all trauma services, as well as emergency department, inpatient, and outpatient surgical consultations. Data collected included diagnosis, operation, age, race, history of intravenous drug abuse, and HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C test results. Results Among 2876 patients presenting for surgery, testing for blood-borne pathogens was less likely among trauma patients (21%, 79/380) compared to non-trauma patients (47%, 1183/2496) ( P P Conclusion HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C are common in an urban community among both trauma and non-trauma surgical patients, although testing is less common among trauma patients. Testing of patients during a surgical admission may represent an excellent opportunity for early disease-specific services and preventive interventions.
Brain angiotensin receptor subtypes in the control of physiological and behavioral responses

This review summarizes emerging evidence that supports the notion of a separate brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS) complete with the necessary precursors and enzymes for the formation and degradation of biologically active forms of angiotensins, and several binding subtypes that may mediate their diverse functions. Of these subtypes the most is known about the AT1 site which preferentially binds angiotensin II (AII) and angiotensin III (AIII). The AT1 site appears to mediate the classic angiotensin responses concerned with body water balance and the maintenance of blood pressure. Less is known about the AT2 site which also binds AII and AIII and may play a role in vascular growth. Recently, an AT3 site was discovered in cultured neoblastoma cells, and an AT4 site which preferentially binds AII(3-8), a fragment of AII now referred to as angiotensin IV (AIV). The AT4 site has been implicated in memory acquisition and retrieval, and the regulation of blood flow. In addition to the more well-studied functions of the brain RAS, we review additional less well investigated responses including regulation of cellular function, the modulation of sensory and motor systems, long term potentiation, and stress related mechanisms. Although the receptor subtypes responsible for mediating these physiologies and behaviors have not been definitively identified research efforts are ongoing. We also suggest potential contributions by the RAS to clinically relevant syndromes such as dysfunctions in the regulation of blood flow and ischemia, changes in cognitive affect and memory in clinical depressed and Alzheimer's patients, and angiotensin's contribution to alcohol consumption.
Variations in Mixed-Layer Depths Arising from Inhomogeneous Surface Conditions

Abstract Current approaches to parameterizations of sub-grid-scale variability in surface sensible heat fluxes in general circulation models normally neglect the associated variability in mixed-layer depths. Observations and a numerical mesoscale model are used to show that the magnitude of such variability can be significant. Over a domain of (41 km)2, the standard deviation of simulated mixed-layer depths was found to be 21%–24% of the mean noontime values on three days, and the mean depths were not simply related to the mean sensible heat fluxes. Results obtained with two-dimensional simulations over idealized distributions of warm, dry and cool, or moist surfaces show that as the characteristic sizes of individual patches increase, the distributions of mixed-layer depths tend to assume a bimodal nature. under these conditions, the mean mixed-layer depth may have little physical relevance. Finally, the use of domain-averaged values of wind and temperature to compute surface fluxes is shown to be anothe...
Production System Development for Expert Systems Using a Recursive Partitioning Induction Approach: An Application to Mortgage, Commercial, and Consumer Lending

The concepts of expert systems and decision support systems have received considerable attention recently. While systems have been proposed for various problem areas in business, difficulties still exist in the knowledge acquisition phase of development. This paper presents a recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) approach to knowledge acquisition. The RPA production system approach was applied to data sets representing the mortgage, commercial, and consumer lending problems. Comparison of the classification rates across these problems to the results of a generalized inductive inference production system (Quinlan's ID3 algorithm) and across the mortgage and commercial lending problems to traditional statistical modeling approaches indicated that the RPA approach provided superior results while using fewer variables.
Hazards of the health care sector: looking beyond infectious disease

Abstract Background Possessing every hazard class, the health care sector poses significant health threats to its workforce in both high-resource settings and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Objectives The aim of this paper was to examine the applicability of the classical hierarchy of hazard control technologies in resource-constrained health care settings. Methods Using a biologic and chemical hazard example, the hazard control hierarchy was applied for risk mitigation. Findings Even when resource constraints force a reordered selection of hazard control elements, risk reduction can be achieved across a variety of hazard classes. Conclusion For LMICs with limited resources, the hazard control hierarchy can be effectively employed, although the selection of methods may be reordered, to achieve significant hazard control. Such prevention strategies can thereby strengthen and sustain a critical pillar of the health system, its workforce.
Flexible Ureteroscopy: Washington University Experience With the 9.3F and 7.5F Flexible Ureteroscopes

AbstractPurpose: Recent advances in the design of flexible ureteroscopes have resulted in smaller caliber instruments. We review our experience with the smaller flexible ureteroscopes, and compare the efficacy and efficiency of the newer 7.5F to the standard 9.3F flexible instruments.Materials and Methods: Between January 1991 and 1995, 69 male and 41 female patients (mean age 57 years, range 16 to 91) underwent 116 retrograde flexible ureteroscopic procedures for a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic indications. A 9.3F ureteroscope (group 1) was used in 71 patients and a 7.5F instrument (group 2) was used in 39.Results: Patients in group 2 received sedation analgesia significantly more often than those in group 1 (56 versus 35%, p = 0.04). Active dilation of the ureteral orifice was required less often in group 2 (22.5%) than in group 1 (58%, p <or= to 0.05). The total success rate for stone management, and diagnosis and/or treatment of an upper urinary tract lesion was 98.3 and 100%, respectively, in...
The effect of design modifications on the torsional and compressive rigidity of U-shaped palatal major connectors.

Abstract Statement of Problem. Rigidity is a requirement of removable partial denture frameworks. Although commonly used by dentists, the U-shaped (horseshoe) maxillary major connector lacks the rigidity of other maxillary major connector designs. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of changing width, thickness, and shape on the rigidity of U-shaped maxillary major connectors. Material and Methods. Five nickel-chrome alloy frameworks were fabricated from the same master cast for each of 4 different U-shape removable partial denture designs. The designs were an 8-mm wide U-shaped strap with a 6-mm posterior strap (A-P strap), a 13-mm-wide U-shape strap (Wide), an 8-mm-wide U-shape strap that widened to 13 mm at the midline (Notch), and an 8-mm-wide U-shaped strap that was twice the thickness of the other straps (Thick). A fifth group of 5 frameworks was made by removing the posterior strap from the A-P strap frameworks (A strap). Two testing points were marked on each framework corresponding to the first premolar and second molar positions. The frameworks were mounted in a universal testing machine, and vertical (torsional) and horizontal (compressive) loads were applied using a 10-kN load cell at a cross-head speed of 2 mm/min until a deflection of 1 mm occurred. A force-deflection curve was generated for each test, and slope of the curves (N/mm) was compared with analysis of variance and Scheffe's F test (α=0.05). Results. The Thick group was found to be significantly more rigid ( P P ≤.05) than the other designs when a compressive load was applied to the molar (69.56 N/mm) area. Both the Thick and A-P strap groups were significantly more rigid ( P Conclusion. Doubling the thickness of the anterior strap of a U-shaped maxillary major connector improved the rigidity of the framework to torsional loads. A posterior strap became more effective in maintaining framework rigidity to compressive forces as the length of the arch increased. (J Prosthet Dent 2003;89:400-7.)
Warping of unsymmetric cross-ply graphite/epoxy laminates

Warping in unsymmetric graphite/epoxy laminates was studied with particular attention given to the change of residual stresses resulting from long term environmental exposure. Square, cured prepreg sheets were measured for edge deflection with a cathetometer, then quartered and remeasured. Two postcuring durations were then used, 7.5 and one hr at 177 C; varying cooldown rates after curing were used for other samples, and one set was stored in vacuum at 75 C. Maximum deflections and weight changes were measured periodically at room temperature. Average curvatures, the effect of postcure, and the effect of long-term exposure were determined. Larger panels exhibited cylindrical warping and smaller panels underwent anticlastic warping. The deflections were related to weight changes, i.e. moisture absorption, and the lower the moisture content, the higher the deflection. Relaxation of residual stresses at 75 C was neglibible after 220 days.
A RAPID EXTRACTOR FOR URINARY ANDROGENS FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE PREPARATION OF EXTRACTS FOR COLORIMETRIC ASSAY11

THE PURPOSES of this communication are, first, to describe a modified extraction apparatus, and second, to show that a significant loss of androgenic hormones occurs in the preparation of extracts for colorimetric assay. The current literature contains numerous reports on various methods and types of apparatus for extracting urinary hormones. All of these require two or more hours for extraction. The apparatus described by Gallagher, Koch and Dorfman (i) is, so far as we know, the most rapid one. The space required, however, makes it too cumbersome for the average clinical laboratory. The apparatus described here is conveniently small and permits extras tion of about 90% of the androgenic hormones from 1 liter of urine in 1 hour. During the course of testing the apparatus for completeness of extraction it was discovered that much less than 90% of a known amount of added synthetic androgen could be recovered even.
The translational inhibitor cycloheximide represses growth factor depletion-induced apoptosis in an alb-SV40T transgenic rat liver cell line

Abstract A transgenic rat line carrying the alb-SV40A transgene has been described by this laboratory. Several cell lines have been established from the livers of two of these rats. One of these cell lines, L37, exhibits a large nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio and a well-differentiated cytoplasm containing numerous organelles. When L37 cells are placed into culture medium lacking necessary growth factors, cellular proliferation continues for 48 hours after medium change. Subsequent to the initial 48 hours, cells begin to shrink and lose contact with adjacent cells, eventually sloughing off the culture plate surface, with most cell deaths occurring between 48 and 96 hours after medium change. Microscopic examination of sloughing cells indicates they possess highly convoluted and blebbed plasma membranes, a morphological characteristic of apoptosis. Ultrastructural studies demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of apoptotic bodies. When DNA isolated from growth factor-depleted cells is resolved on agarose gels, DNA fragmentation ladders are observed at times of maximum apoptotic change. Quantitative analysis of L37 cells between 48 and 96 hours after the removal of the culture medium shows that 59% +/- 2% of the cells undergo apoptosis. When cycloheximide, puromycin, or actinomycin D is added to the L37 cultures, only cycloheximide is able to repress apoptosis, indicating that the mechanism of apoptosis in the L37 liver-derived cell line requires a cycloheximide-sensitive translational event. The extremely high rate of apoptosis, together with the maintenance of hepatocellular characteristics, indicates the usefulness of this cell line as a model in which to study the mechanisms of hepatocellular apoptosis. (Hepatology 1996 Jun;23(6):1591-601)
University of Texas mobile library search

This demonstration will showcase a prototype Mobile application we built for accessing the library catalog at the University of Texas. The demonstration complements our corresponding short paper, "Mobile Phone Search for Library Catalogs", also appearing at ASIS&T 2010. In particular, we will provide attendees a hands-on experience seeing and using our interface, as well as an opportunity to discuss design alternatives and tradeoffs with us in person. We will show how MUT can provide library patrons with a faster and easier access via a customized mobile application.
Chymotrypsin inhibitor I from potatoes: a transient protein component in leaves of young potato plants

PLANT proteins which inhibit various animal, bacterial and fungal proteolytic enzymes, although apparently not ubiquitous in plants, are common in the storage organs of a large number of species. It is not clear whether the ability to form complexes with proteolytic enzymes is related to physiological phenomena in the intact plant, but this question has generated considerable interest and some speculation1.
Separation of water-soluble vitamins via highperformance capillary electrophoresis

A standard sample and method for performance evaluation in capillary zone electrophoresis is defined. The sample, containing thiamine, nicotinamide and nicotinic acid, was analysed in a 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 7. The impact of pH, buffer type and ionic strength on electroosmotic flow, electrophoretic mobility, and peak shape was investigated. The separation of several water-soluble vitamins in phosphate buffer pH 7 was developed in order to analyse an over-the-counter vitamin preparation. Spectral analysis and peak purity tests were applied on-line for peak identification.
Do implantable cardioverter-defibrillators benefit patients immediately after acute myocardial infarction?

Do implantable cardioverter-defibrillators benefit patients immediately after acute myocardial infarction?
Some mechanisms for subtle influences of stereochemical composition on the physical properties of macromolecules

Coarse-grained chains can be designed so that they successfully capture subtle effects arising from the local covalent structure of real chains. Constraining the conformations of the coarse-grained chains with an appropriate rotational isomeric state model can achieve this objective. This claim has been documented by simulations of the dependence of the mixing behavior of polypropylene melts on the stereochemical composition of the chains; atactic polypropylene and isotactic polypropylene are miscible, but the replacement of either component with syndiotactic polypropylene can lead to immiscibility. This has also been documented by a comparison of simulations and infrared–visible sum frequency generation spectroscopy studies of the surface structures of atactic polystyrene and random copolymers of ethylene and propylene. The success of this method when the stereochemical composition is defined by side chains as small as CH3 suggests that it should also be applicable to other problems in which the influence of the stereochemical composition is less subtle because the stereochemistry is defined by larger side chains. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 1271-1282, 2005
Determination of the Degree of Nitration of Cellulose Nitrates via GPC/FT-IR Using an On-Line Flow Cell

Lo-line Gel Permeation Chromatography/Fourier Transform Infrared (GPC/FT-IR) spectroscopy has been used to develop a method for the determination of the nitrogen content of cellulose nitrates. The method is based upon the solution infrared spectrum of the cellulose derivative in tetrahydrofuran. Making use of the second derivative of the spectra, wherein antisymmetric ONO stretches for both primary and secondary carbon nitration are discernible, has eliminated the relative concentration dependence of the absorption. This feature has permitted the determination of the nitrogen content of cellulose nitrates throughout their molecular weight distribution.
Assessment and management of delirium in the older adult with cancer.

Abstract Recognizing delirium and its impact on older patients and their caregivers is an important aspect of oncology nursing. Delirium is the most common complication of hospital admissions for older adults and is associated with a significant amount of morbidity and mortality, prolonged hospital stays, functional decline, and decreased quality of life. Oncology nurses caring for older patients with cancer have the opportunity to recognize the onset of delirium, provide ongoing patient assessment and monitoring, and implement pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions.
An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Quality of Children's Relationships with Their Father Following Divorce

Abstract Recent interest has been given to the relationship between nonresidential fathers and their children following divorce. Much of this research has focused on exploring rates of contact, and factors that influence ongoing father-child contact. Little attention has been paid to the “quality” of the father-child relationship after divorce. The current project reports the findings of a study of 101 nonresidential fathers and the factors that influenced the quality of their relationship. A multifactor model was tested, and three factors were found to have the highest influence on relationship quality. These factors were: father role clarity, father parenting ability, and perceived mother parenting ability. The implications of these findings are discussed. Nonresidential fathers
Duration criteria and long-term outcome in affective disorder and schizophrenia☆

This paper attempts to see whether the shorter duration criteria for affective disorders may naturally result in selecting patients who would show a better long-term outcome than that of schizophrenic patients. Follow-up of 298 patients with mania or depression revealed that those with 6 months or more of symptoms still had a better outcome than the outcome of schizophrenics. Furthermore, their outcome was similar to that of manics and depressives with less than 6 months of symptoms. Therefore, factors other than the shorter duration criterion for affective disorders should be sought to explain their better outcome than that of schizophrenics.
Autonomy and the Struggle for Female Identity: Implications for Counseling Women

Many feminist writers have seen autonomy as a male developmental issue rather than as one appropriate for women. When a woman strives to become an equal member of society, however, her internal programming often gets in the way. Whether dealing with inequity in the workplace, with friends, or with family, many women find themselves giving up their autonomy to accommodate others. This article discusses different views of autonomy and some cognitive behavioral approaches that can help women raise their self-esteem and overcome dependency. Other methods are suggested for helping women become more autonomous without giving up such attributes as being caring and showing compassion.
Moonlight in Miami: a field study of human-robot interaction in the context of an urban search and rescue disaster response training exercise

This article explores human-robot interaction during a 16-hr, high-fidelity urban search and rescue disaster response drill with teleoperated robots. This article examines operator situation awareness and technical search team interaction using communication analysis. It analyzes situation awareness, team communication, and the interaction of these constructs using a systematic coding scheme designed for this research. The findings indicate that operators spent significantly more time gathering information about the state of the robot and the state of the environment than they did navigating the robot. Operators had difficulty integrating the robot's view into their understanding of the search and rescue site. They compensated for this lack of situation awareness by communicating with team members at the site, attempting to gather information that would provide a more complete mental model of the site. They also worked with team members to develop search strategies. The article concludes with suggestions for design and future research.
Staff knowledge and perceptions of sexuality and dementia of older adults in nursing homes.

Objectives: Adults hold negative attitudes toward sexual expression in late life. We investigated knowledge and attitudes about older adult sexuality and dementia among staff in nursing homes (NHs). Method: We acquired staff demographics, knowledge of dementia and sexuality, and attitudes of sexuality. Staff participated in focus groups and received continuing education credit. Results: The three NHs had an average census of 178 beds. Participants’ (N = 100) mean age was 38.53. The most common type of sexual contact reported was nondemented male with nondemented female (67.5%), followed by demented male with demented female (53.6%). Participants endorsed neutral attitudes about late-life sexuality. Focus groups revealed a need for more training and effective interventions to balance resident safety and autonomy. Discussion: Staffs’ knowledge of sexuality and dementia, desire for guidance in “managing” sexual expression, and neutral attitudes toward late-life sexuality supports the need for educational int...
Photodissociation of Li+2 ions

Abstract Calculations are presented of the effective cross sections for the photodissociation of Li+2 ions in vibrational levels populated by absorption from the B1Πu state of Li2.
Comment on a sum rule for vibrational raman optical activity

Abstract The expressions for the sum of vibrational Raman optical activity (ROA) intensities indicate that the ROA intensity sum for chiral molecules is non-zero for those with an anisotropic electric dipole polarizability. The non-zero sum depends upon the electric dipole, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole polarizability components and moments of inertia at equilibrium geometry.
Vertical Bearing Capacity Properties Study of Punched Cast-in-Place Pile Based on Field Test in Driving Analysis Test on Piles of a Thermal Power Plant

Through the vertical static load test of pile, studied and demonstrated the applicability of cast-in-place piles in the construction of a thermal power plant’s in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, china. By testing the internal force of pile shaft, obtained the distribution of axial force, side friction and tip resistance, and ascertained the vertical bearing capacity of punched cast-in-place piles in the engineering geological conditions of this project. This research provides the important quality control standards and design basis for the follow-up pile foundation construction of large area of this project, and also provides reference for other projects in this area.
Replacing incomplete markets with a complete mess: Katrina and the NFIP

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the stated goals of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and then demonstrate that in practice those goals have not been achieved, and at significant cost to US taxpayers.Design/methodology/approach – The objectives are achieved by describing statements of the NFIP and the legislation behind it, and then providing an analysis of the NFIP in practice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.Findings – The NFIP flood insurance primarily shelters lending institutions rather than flood victims. At subsidized rates, premiums covered little of the Katrina‐based claims, and future premiums cannot realistically be expected to repay off the resulting debt to the US Treasury.Research limitations/implications – If the findings are accepted they lead one to conclude that government attempts to complete incomplete markets are fraught with inherent and exceptional difficulties.Practical implications – The NFIP should be eliminated, allowing private insurance to be offe...
The 'My Mission Viejo' Project: Investigating the Potential of Photovoice Methods in Place Identity and Attachment Research

In 2008, the City of Mission Viejo enlisted residents to photograph places and events that best illustrated the city's place identity. Inspired by the notion that pictures act as simulacra of reality, the research team content-analyzed them for evidence of the city's place identity: its social imageability, its emotional values, its imageability and satisfaction. The bond between residents and their neighborhood places is key to the creation of stronger, more democratic and sustainable communities, and decisions made during their planning stage become critical in shaping the future of a community. ‘My Mission Viejo’ illustrates how planning and design affected the community's place identity, people's attachment and its livelihood. The project offers a methodological precedent for future research aimed at creating more sustainable and imageable communities.
AN INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Modern organizations are increasingly seen as knowledge-based enterprises in which proactive knowledge management is important for competitiveness. This paper introduces a descriptive framework for understanding factors that influence the success of knowledge management (KM) initiatives in an organization. It identifies three main classes of influencing factors (managerial, resource, and environmental) and characterizes the individual factors in each class. A Delphi process was used to develop and assess the framework. The Delphi panel was comprised of 31 recognized researchers and practitioners in the KM field. The resultant framework can be used by researchers for KM issue and hypothesis generation, by practitioners for benchmarking KM practices, and by educators for helping organize the study of KM.
The Importance of Spirituality in the Lives of Domestic Violence Survivors

Women with abusive partners utilize a variety of coping strategies to deal with and heal from the violence and sense of betrayal they have experienced. For many women, their trust in a higher power and the support they receive from their faith community is integral to their healing. Of 151 women interviewed for this study, the majority (97%) noted that spirituality or God was a source of strength or comfort for them. Extent of religious involvement predicted increased psychological well-being and decreased depression. For women of color, greater religious involvement was also related to increased social support. Implications for research and direct services are discussed.
Rod and cone disc shedding in the rhesus monkey retina: a quantitative study.

Abstract Four Rhesus monkeys were maintained for several months on a daily lighting schedule of 12 hr light and 12 hr darkness (12L:12D). The animals were then fixed by intracardiac perfusion at 1 and 5 hr following the onset of light, and at 1 and 5 hr after the offset of light. The number of phagosomes/mm of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was counted in the light microscope for both foveal and extrafoveal locations. At extrafoveal sites, phagosomes within the RPE cell bodies and those within the ensheathing processes bordering cone outer segments were counted separately. Counts at foveal and extrafoveal locations suggest that the rate of disc shedding, and therefore the rate of membrane replacement, is probably less for foveal cones than it is for rods. The number of phagosomes above the rod tips 1 hr following light onset and their diminution several hours later suggests that an increase in rod shedding, similar to the “burst” of rod shedding reported for other species, also exists in the monkey retina. The number and location of phagosomes 5 hr after the offset of light indicates that there could be another phase of increased rod shedding somewhere around the middle of the dark period. Phagosome counts in the foveal RPE were highest 5 hr after light offset, however the counts at 1 and 5 hr following light onset were nearly as high. The number of RPE phagosomes at both foveal and extrafoveal locations was lowest 1 hr after light offset. Counts of phagosomes within the sheaths of extrafoveal cones showed that about 20% contained one or more phagosomes within their sheaths. Of those sheaths that did contain phagosomes, approximately 25% had multiple phagosomes. There appears to be a considerable period of time during which extrafoveal cone phagosomes remain within the ensheathing processes, moving from the cone tips toward the apical RPE surface. Rod and cone disc shedding in the monkey retina are probably cyclic processes—although the temporal pattern of shedding may be different than that reported for other species.
Design of Radix 4 SRT Dividers for Single Precision DSP in Deep Submicron CMOS Technology

This paper presents a proposal for design of radix 4 SRT dividers for single precision DSP in deep submicron CMOS technology. Radix 4 dividers with minimal redundancy were used widely in the previous technologies where minimizing the die area was the top priority. This was done because these dividers only require simple multiples of divisor, and quotient conversion was typically done by on-the-fly conversion without the need for an adder. On the other hand, in the current deep submicron CMOS technology where many millions of transistors are available in a relatively small silicon area, it is attractive to use an adder and maximum redundancy to simplify quotient selection and conversion. Replacing the on-the-fly conversion that operates on every cycle by an adder that operates only one cycle reduces the switching factor by the order of 6x. This is significant because the on-the-fly conversion can consume 30% of the total energy of a divider. Furthermore, thanks to the elimination of the big lookup table intrinsic in minimally redundant SRT dividers, the quotient computation is sped up. To illustrate this concept of trading a little extra hardware for reduced power and increased speed in the deep submicron CMOS technology, a number of single precision radix 4 dividers with maximal redundancy are designed and implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology using an ASIC flow and triple VT devices. Clock and data gating and data recirculating techniques are used to save power. High VT devices are introduced to reduce leakage power. Finally, a novel method to evaluate different alternatives for energy efficiency is described along with the implementation results
Acoustoelectric convolvers for programmable matched filtering in spread-spectrum systems

Acoustoelectric convolvers for a spread-spectrum communication application age described with a 100-MHz bandwidth. The use of convolvers as programmable matched filters provides the ability to change the coding waveform from bit-to-bit, thus offering improved multipath performance, security against decoding, and protection against repeat jamming. In this paper, we describe design and performance details of a prototype convolver which processes signals of 10-µs duration with a 100-MHz bandwidth. A dynamic range of 50 dB is obtained, and error signals are 30 dB below the output signal with input signal levels of +14 dBm. A test circuit is described which creates typical spread-spectrum signals in which each bit is encoded into 512 chips and data is encoded by inverting the phase of an entire bit at a data rate of 100 kbits/s.
Detection of Phospholipidosis Induction A Cell-Based Assay in High-Throughput and High-Content Format

Drug-induced phospholipidosis is characterized by the accumulation of intracellular phospholipids in cells exposed to cationic amphiphilic drugs. The appearance of unicentric or multicentric multilamellar bodies viewed under an electron microscope (EM) is the morphological hallmark of phospholipidosis. Although the EM method is the gold standard for detecting cellular phospholipidosis, this method has its drawbacks, including low throughput, high cost, and unsuitability for screening a large chemical library. In this study, a cell-based phospholipidosis assay has been developed using the LipidTOX Red reagent in HepG2 cells and miniaturized into a 1536-well plate format. To validate this assay for high-throughput screening (HTS), the LOPAC library of 1280 compounds was screened using a quantitative HTS platform. A group of known phospholipidosis inducers, such as amiodarone, propranolol, chlorpromazine, desipramine, promazine, clomipramine, and amitriptyline, was identified by the screen, consistent with previous reports. Several novel phospholipidosis inducers, including NAN-190, ebastine, GR127935, and cis-(Z)-flupentixol, were identified in this study and confirmed using the EM method. These results demonstrate that this assay can be used to evaluate and profile large numbers of chemicals for drug-induced phospholipidosis.
Impact of Varying Stages of Endometriosis on the Outcome of In Vitro Fertilization–Embryo Transfer

Purpose: The impact of severity of endometriosis on the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was analyzed in an uncontrolled, retrospective study in an academic IVF program. Methods: Sixty-one patients with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis undergoing 85 cycles of IVF were included in the study. Patients were divided according to the severity of disease based on the revised American Fertility Society (AFS) classification into groups A (stages I/II, or minimal/mild) and B (stages III/IV, or moderate/severe). Group A included 32 patients undergoing 45 IVF-embryo transfer (ET) cycles; group B included 29 patients undergoing 40 IVF cycles. Exclusion criteria were age older than 40 years, basal day 3 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) greater than 20 IU/L, male-factor infertility, assisted hatching, and gamete intrafallopian transfer cases. Stimulation for IVF cycles was standard using pituitary down-regulation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in a midluteal protocol. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) was achieved using a combination of FSH and human menopausal gonadotropin. Outcomes assessed included response to COH and number, maturity, and quality of oocytes retrieved. Fertilization, implantation, and pregnancy rates after IVF-ET were also analyzed. Results: The response to COH and the number, maturity, and quality of the oocytes was comparable between patients with varying severity of endometriosis. Fertilization rates for oocytes of patients in group B (stages III/IV) were significantly impaired compared to those in group A (stages I/II) (P = 0,004). The rates for implantation, clinical pregnancy, and miscarriage were comparable between the two groups. Conclusions: The reduced fertilization potential of the oocytes obtained from patients with severe endometriosis in the absence of male-factor infertility suggests an adverse biological impact of the advanced disease on the oocytes. The outcome of IVF-ET, however, is unaffected by increasing severity of endometriosis. This suggests that IVF may compensate for or overcome this reduction in the biological potential of the oocytes associated with severe disease, thus accounting for a comparable outcome irrespective of the severity of endometriosis.
Fresh and Frozen Egg Yolk Protein Fractions: Emulsion Stabilizing Power, Viscosity, and Electrophoretic Patterns

Abstract INTRODUCTION THE protein and lipoprotein complexes present in the egg yolk are responsible for its ability to function as an excellent emulsifier in many food products (Snell et al., 1935). The two primary lipoprotein fractions of the yolk are lipovitellin (Alderton and Fevold, 1945) and lipovitellenin (Fevold and Lausten, 1946); livetin and phosvitin (Mecham and Olcott, 1949) are the water soluble egg yolk proteins. Vincent et al. (1966) found that the livetin and lipoprotein fractions of the yolk contribute to its low surface energy which in turn is necessary for emulsion formation but may not influence the emulsion stability. The use of frozen egg yolk increases efficiency in commercial emulsion production. However, the utility of freezing pure egg yolk is limited by the irreversible gelation reaction (Moran, 1925) which egg yolk undergoes as a result of freezing and thawing, resulting in a product of greatly increased viscosity which is difficult…
Fast and High Accuracy Numerical Methods for Solving PDEs in Computational Finance

We develop a new W-cycle multiscale multigrid method that can use the existing multilevel (different scale) grid hierarchy to approximate the sixth order solution of Poisson equation based on the fourth order discretization schemes. Richardson extrapolation procedure is used on the fine grid level in multigrid method. Numerical results are conducted to show the solution accuracy and the computational efficiency of our new method, compared to Wang-Zhang's sixth order multiscale multigrid method using V-cycle.
Theta oscillations and sensorimotor performance

Performance and cognitive effort in humans have recently been related to amplitude and multisite coherence of alpha (7-12 Hz) and theta (4-7 Hz) band electroencephalogram oscillations. I examined this phenomenon in rats by using theta band oscillations of the local field potential to signify sniffing as a sensorimotor process. Olfactory bulb (OB) theta oscillations are coherent with those in the dorsal hippocampus (HPC) during odor sniffing in a two-odor olfactory discrimination task. Coherence is restricted to the high-frequency theta band (6-12 Hz) associated with directed sniffing in the OB and type 1 theta in the HPC. Coherence and performance fluctuate on a time scale of several minutes. Coherence magnitude is positively correlated with performance in the two-odor condition but not in extended runs of single odor conditional-stimulus-positive trials. Simultaneous with enhanced OB-HPC theta band coherence during odor sniffing is a significant decrease in lateral entorhinal cortex (EC)-HPC and OB-EC coherence, suggesting that linkage of the olfactory and hippocampal theta rhythms is not through the synaptic relay from OB to HPC in the lateral EC. OB-HPC coupling at the sniffing frequency is proposed as a mechanism underlying olfactory sensorimotor effort as a cognitive process.
Fox Tales: Regulation of Gonadotropin Gene Expression by Forkhead Transcription Factors

Luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are produced by pituitary gonadotrope cells and are required for steroidogenesis, the maturation of ovarian follicles, ovulation, and spermatogenesis. Synthesis of LH and FSH is tightly regulated by a complex network of signaling pathways activated by hormones including gonadotropin-releasing hormone, activin and sex steroids. Members of the forkhead box (FOX) transcription factor family have been shown to act as important regulators of development, homeostasis and reproduction. In this review, we focus on the role of four specific FOX factors (FOXD1, FOXL2, FOXO1 and FOXP3) in gonadotropin hormone production and discuss our current understanding of the molecular function of these factors derived from studies in mouse genetic and cell culture models.
Shape reconstruction of the left ventricle: Accuracy of limited-plane three-dimensional echocardiography

Objective To assess the accuracy of left ventricular cavity shape reproduction from 8 spatially related, apical two-dimensional ultrasonographic images. Methods We scanned 6 dog heart specimens. Left ventricular cavity casts were reconstructed from 48-tomogram (high-density), 8-tomogram (octaplane), and 2-tomogram (low-density biplane) apical data sets. The 48-plane left ventricular cast served as the reference. Spatial shape resolution of 3 mm in radial distance from the rotational axis to the interpolated endocardium was used as the criterion of shape accuracy. Results The adjusted limits of agreement for the octaplane and biplane left ventricular casts were +/-2.31 and +/-6.84 mm, respectively. Conclusions The three-dimensional left ventricular cavity shape can be accurately reproduced by using a low-data density apical octaplane echocardiographic examination.