cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of the relationship between NDVI and SWIR32 vegetation indices in southern Africa: implications for retrieval of fractional cover from MODIS data

Fractional cover of photosynthetic vegetation FPV, non-photosynthetic vegetation FNPV, and bare soil FBS has been retrieved for Australian tropical savannah based on linear unmixing of the two-dimensional response envelope of the normalized difference vegetation index NDVI and short wave infrared ratio SWIR32 vegetation indices VI derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer MODIS reflectance data. The approach assumes that cover fractions are made up of a simple mixture of green leaves, senescent leaves, and bare soil. In this study, we examine retrieval of fractional cover using this approach for a study area in southern Africa with a more complex vegetation structure. Region-specific end-members were defined using Hyperion images from different locations and times of the season. These end-members were applied to a 10-year time series of MODIS-derived NDVI and SWIR32 from 2002 to 2011 to unmix FPV, FNPV, and FBS. Results of validation with classified high-resolution imagery indicated major bias in estimation of FNPV and FBS, with regression coefficients for predicted versus observed data substantially less than 1.0 and relatively large intercept values. Examination with Hyperion images of the inverse relationship between the MODIS-equivalent SWIR32 index and the Hyperion-derived cellulose absorption index CAI to which it nominally approximates revealed: 1 non-compliant positive regression coefficients for certain vegetation types; and 2 shifts in slope and intercept of compliant regression curves related to day of year and geographical location. The results suggest that the NDVI–SWIR32 response cannot be used to approximate the NDVI–CAI response in complex savannah systems like southern Africa that cannot be described as simple mixtures of green leaves, dry herbaceous material high in cellulose, and bare soil. Methods that use a complete set of multispectral channels at higher spatial resolution may be needed for accurate retrieval of fractional cover in Africa.
Current and Emerging Therapies for Itch Management in Psoriasis

Pruritus is a common and significant symptom among patients with psoriasis. Pruritus is often present beyond the borders of psoriatic plaques, and frequently affects the scalp and genital regions. Psoriatic itch may be severe and can profoundly affect quality of life and sleep, even in the context of mild-to-moderate disease. These features often make the treatment of psoriatic pruritus challenging. However, there are a variety of effective topical and systemic treatment modalities available to address this symptom. While there remains a need for treatments that specifically target psoriatic itch, newly licensed therapies including secukinumab, ixekizumab and apremilast have been shown to rapidly and effectively mediate itch reduction.
Seven new species of the Neotropical electric fish Gymnotus (Teleostei, Gymnotiformes) with a redescription of G. carapo (Linnaeus)

Seven new species of Gymnotus are described, and a redescription of the type species G. carapo sensu-stricto Linnaeus ( G. carapo s.s.) is provided, from examination of populations from throughout tropical South and Middle America. The new species are described on the basis of unique combinations of characters. Five of the new species are members of the G. carapo species-group: 1, Gymnotus choco n. sp., from the Baudo and Atrato basins on the Pacific and Caribbean slopes of Colombia; 2, Gymnotus esmeraldas n. sp., from the Esmeraldas and Guayaquil basins on the Pacific Slope of Ecuador; 3, Gymnotus henni n. sp., from the Calima and Jurado basins on the Pacific Slope of Colombia; 4, Gymnotus paraguensis n. sp., from the Paraguay basin; 5, Gymnotustigre n. sp., from the Amazon basin of Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Two of the new species are members of the G. pantherinus species-group: 1, Gymnotus javari n. sp., from the Amazon, Napo, Javari, and Ucayali basins; 2, Gymnotus panamensis n. sp., from Atlantic slope of western Panama. Gymnotus carapo s.s. is restricted to the Amazon and Orinoco basins, the Island of Trinidad, the coastal basins of the Guianas, and the Brazilian state of Piaui. Six allopatric populations of G. carapo s.s are recognized from differences in the mean, modal or median values of morphometric and meristic traits: 1, Eastern Amazon; 2, Parnaiba and Itapicuru basins; 3, Branco basin; 4; Guiana Shield, Orinoco basin and Island of Trinidad; 5, Madeira basin of Brazil, Bolivia and Peru; 6, Western Amazon basin of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Four of the new species representing both the G. carapo and G. pantherinus species-groups inhabit waters to the west of the Andean Cordillera. The biogeographic distributions of these species-groups suggest origins and early diversification before the most recent Andean orogeny, c. 8–12 mya.
The Composite Strain Index (COSI) and Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI): methodologies for quantifying biomechanical stressors for complex tasks and job rotation using the Revised Strain Index.

AbstractThe Composite Strain Index (COSI) quantifies biomechanical stressors for complex tasks consisting of exertions at different force levels and/or with different exertion times. The Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI) further integrates biomechanical stressors from different tasks to quantify exposure for the entire work shift. The paper provides methodologies to compute COSI and CUSI along with examples. Complex task simulation produced 169,214 distinct tasks. Use of average, time-weighted average (TWA) and peak force and COSI classified 66.9, 28.2, 100 and 38.9% of tasks as hazardous, respectively. For job rotation the simulation produced 10,920 distinct jobs. TWA COSI, peak task COSI and CUSI classified 36.5, 78.1 and 66.6% jobs as hazardous, respectively. The results suggest that the TWA approach systematically underestimates the biomechanical stressors and peak approach overestimates biomechanical stressors, both at the task and job level. It is believed that the COSI and CUSI partially address these...
Myeloproliferative Disease in a Mouse Model of Down Syndrome.

Abstract Trisomy 21 causes human Down syndrome (DS), a heterogeneous group of phenotypes including marked predisposition to leukemia. Children with Down syndrome are 500 times more likely to develop acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) than other children. Furthermore, non-DS children with AMKL often have acquired trisomy 21 in their leukemic clones, suggesting that trisomy 21 in hematopoietic cells contributes to leukemic transformation. To better understand the impact of trisomy 21 on blood cell homeostasis and leukemia, we studied hematopoiesis in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. Ts65Dn mice harbor a segmental trisomy for mouse chromosome 16, homologous to human chromosome 21, and display many of the phenotypes associated with human DS, including craniofacial anomalies and learning deficits. To define the hematopoietic parameters for this strain, we performed monthly complete blood counts for a cohort of trisomic mice and their disomic littermates and discovered the development of progressive thrombocytosis and mild anemia in trisomic animals. Increased numbers of CD41+ megakaryocytes with lower modal ploidy were detected in the bone marrow and spleen of Ts65Dn mice as early as three months of age. Over time, expansion of the megakaryocyte population was accompanied by a decrease in TER119+ cells in the bone marrow, myelofibrosis, splenomegaly, and extramedullary hematopoiesis. Colony forming assays demonstrated increased colony forming ability in the spleens of trisomic mice along with variable decreased hematopoiesis in the bone marrow. Further, characterization of stem cells in the bone marrow indicated a hyperproliferative stem cell population. Importantly, the mice did not develop malignant leukemia by the age of 18 months and no mutations were found in the blood transcription factor GATA1, which is commonly affected in human AMKL. While Ts65Dn mice do not develop the AMKL seen in humans with DS, our results indicate that, trisomy 16 can cause hyperproliferation of the myeloid lineages, extramedullary hematopoiesis, and bone marrow fibrosis in mice. Additionally, these results suggest that trisomy 21 in humans may initiate a similar process in hematopoietic stem cells, which may contribute to leukemogenesis. Unexpectedly, this phenotype also bears significant resemblance to the human myeloproliferative disease chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis (CIMF). These findings may provide insight into the origins and progression of human myeloid diseases, including AMKL and CIMF.
Improving CAI Effectiveness with Attention to Instructional Design in Teaching Story Problems to Mildly Handicapped Students

This report summarizes the results of a study in which a computer-assisted tutorial was compared to a teacher-assisted group in teaching multiplication and division math story problems to mildly ha...
Attitutes in action. A causal account

This article aims to vindicate the commonsensical view that what we think affects what we do. In order to show that mental properties like believing, desiring and intending are causally explanatory, I propose a nonreductive, materialistic account that identifies beliefs and desires by their content, and that shows how differences in the contents of beliefs and desires can make causal differences in what we do.
Ethnographic X-files and Holbraad's double-bind: Reflections on an ontological turn of events

The ontological turn asks difficult questions and pushes conceptual boundaries both forward and against the grain, challenging our standard epistemological orientations. That it replaces epistemological with ontological concerns is a position I oppose in the following reflections, inspired by Martin Holbraad’s “double-bind,” one which frames a predicament that not only resonates with my own ethnographic experience but also represents something of an occupational hazard (our X-files) for many of us working on spirit-worlds. In an alternative solution to Holbraad’s double-bind, based on Moore’s paradox and my own exposure to Shango’s wrath in Nigeria, I propose a radical decoupling of Knowledge and Belief to obviate the ontological proliferation of worlds.
Do some epithelial ovarian cancers originate from a fallopian tube ciliate cell lineage

There is a general agreement that a large subpopulation of serous ovarian cancers arise from the fallopian tube mucosal epithelium. However, there is still some debate as to whether the cancers originate from a secretory or ciliate cell lineage. One well established method for determining the origin of a cell line is to document the expression of genes and proteins that are cell type specific. Lineage or tissue specific patterns of gene expression are evidence of direct decent from a given cell type within a tissue. It has recently been established that the Tumor Protein TAp73 gene (TP73) is expressed in basal epithelial cells that develop into multiciliate cells. TP73 expression is therefore a marker for basal stem cells that are predestined to differentiate into cells with motile cilia and its expression is maintained in fully differentiated multiciliate cells. Interestingly TP73 expression has also been observed in a high percentage of epithelial ovarian cancers. With this in mind, it is hypothesized that a high percentage of epithelial ovarian cancers which express TP73 originate from a ciliate cell lineage.
Towards A Positive Theory of the Determination of Accounting Standards

This article provides the beginning of a positive theory of accounting by exploring those factors influencing management's attitudes on accounting standards that are likely to affect a firm's cashflows and in turn are affected by accounting standards. These factors are taxes, regulation, management compensation plans, bookkeeping costs and political costs, and they are combined into a model that predicts that large firms that experience reduced earnings due to changed accounting standards favor the change. All other firms oppose the change if the additional bookkeeping costs justify the cost of lobbying. This prediction was tested using the corporate submissions to the FASB's Discussion Memorandum on General Price Level Adjustments. The empirical results are consistent with the theory.
A carrier synchronization technique using time-domain channel estimate for OFDM systems

This paper presents maximum-likelihood estimators (MLEs) for carrier frequency offset (CFO) using frequency-domain and time-domain channel estimates. Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) are derived and examined for the cases of same and different successive OFDM symbols. Furthermore, the MLE for the CFO, obtained using time-domain channel estimates, has high accuracy and features significantly reduced complexity, compared to conventional approaches.
Residents' Experiences with Mentorship in Academic Medicine.

Although mentorship is essential for the professional development of physicians, the literature on trainees’ mentorship experiences and perceptions of effective mentoring is more limited. This descriptive study examines residents’ experiences of mentoring and their perceptions about the impact of mentorship on professional development, comparing experiences in mentoring that is assigned versus self-initiated. A web-based self-administered cross-sectional survey of all senior residents (≥PGY-3) at a major urban academic medical center was conducted from March 27 to May 31, 2015. Of the 327 eligible senior residents, 204 (62%) responded and completed the survey. Most residents (82%) reported multiple mentors and 65% reported that their primary mentorship relationship was self-initiated. Residents who self-initiated their primary mentorship were significantly more likely to strongly/somewhat agree that their mentor had a positive impact on publications and scholarly projects (88 vs 44%, p = 0.0063) as well as research (88 vs 55%, p = 0.0001) compared to residents with assigned mentorship, with no significant differences measured by gender, race, or ethnicity. Forty-four percent of residents indicated they had unmet needs for mentoring in at least one of several professional areas. Most residents perceive mentoring relationships as important to many aspects of their career development. Still 44% of residents reported unmet needs for mentoring in one or more areas, a result that needs further exploration. Since the majority of residents’ primary mentoring relationships were self-initiated rather than assigned, and these were seen as more important for research and publications, programs should consider how to support the connection between residents and potential mentors.
Nonhuman Primate Personality and Immunity: Mechanisms of Health and Disease

There is growing recognition that consistent individual differences in behavioral dispositions, often referred to as personality, play an important role in primates’ adaptations to their environments. Studies are reviewed that suggest that the dispositions Sociability/Affiliation, Emotionality/Reactivity, and Behavioral Inhibition are associated consistently with variation in immune function. It is likely that personality influences immunity by affecting how individuals appraise and cope with situations, and by the physiological consequences of differences in appraisal and coping. The important physiological mechanisms involve the two major stress-response systems: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary system. While many statistically significant effects have been found, the biological significance of personality–immune relationships, as responses to pathogen challenge, is less clear.
Hypertension and other Risk Factors

My assignment is to discuss factors which increase the rate of atherogenesis and which, thereby, increase the frequency of infarctions in heart, brain or elsewhere.
In Vivo Chemical Monitoring at High Spatiotemporal Resolution Using Microfabricated Sampling Probes and Droplet-Based Microfluidics Coupled to Mass Spectrometry.

An essential approach for in vivo chemical monitoring is to use sampling probes coupled with analytical methods; however, this method traditionally has limited spatial and temporal resolution. To address this problem, we developed an analytical system that combines microfabricated push–pull sampling probes with droplet-based microfluidics. The microfabricated probe provides spatial resolution approximately 1000-fold better than that of common microdialysis probes. Microfabrication also facilitated integration of an extra channel into the probe for microinjection. We created microfluidic devices and interfaces that allowed manipulation of nanoliter droplet samples collected from the microfabricated probe at intervals of a few seconds. Use of droplet-based microfluidics prevented broadening of collected zones, yielding 6 s temporal resolution at 100 nL/min perfusion rates. Resulting droplets were analyzed by direct infusion nanoelectrospray ionization (nESI) mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination ...
Queer Social Counting and the Generational Transitions of Michael Field

Katherine Cooper and Edith Bradley, the poets who collaborated as Michael Field, occupied several generational thresholds as they were publishing work at the fin de siecle: they were two related wo...
Synthetic iron pyrite across length scales: interfacial defects and macroscopic properties

Iron pyrite (FeS2) has long represented a materials science challenge because of the immense sensitivity of its macroscopic behavior to defect structure. Research along this vein has primarily focused on the deleterious effects of sulfur vacancies on optical and electronic properties that prevent the material from being successfully integrated into photovoltaic devices. However, despite the well-established body of literature on semiconductor behavioral changes in the presence of grain boundaries, relatively little information exists addressing the existence of internal interfaces in FeS2 and their effect on macroscopic material properties. Here we use high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction to characterize the structure and composition of synthetic FeS2 particles. Particles range in size and degree of polycrystallinity to investigate the surface and interfacial effects frequently associated with an imperfect material. We assess the magnetic and optical responses using SQUID magnetometry and ultraviolet-visible light absorption spectroscopy to better understand the macroscopic effects of grain boundaries on system properties. All particle sizes, ranging from nanometer to micrometer scale, are stoichiometric and phase-pure, with grain boundary density increasing with size. Additionally, there is a correlation between increasing particle size, magnetism onset, and decreasing optical band gap, which are explained by the increased interface presence identified in our structural analysis. Magneto-optical responses provide insight on the potential defect structures present at interfacial boundaries within FeS2 solids.
Preparing Our Students

The Are You Ready? student online-learning readiness course is a self-paced course housed on the Blackboard learning-management system (LMS) with the goal of encouraging students’ success in the online environment by offering the opportunity to assess their readiness to enroll in online courses and learn the fundamental skills required to be an online learner. The course covers how to use the various technology and learning tools in the Blackboard LMS, as well as other essential skills such as time management and online netiquette. This chapter provides an overview of the challenges, research, and approach taken to develop the successful and award-winning Are You Ready? course. It also covers how this course has established a continuous improvement approach by forming a consortium with other CUNY colleges who have adopted the course.
How Morphologic Features Are Shaped By Underlying Somatic Genotype in MDS

Morphology has been the pillars of the MDS diagnosis. In the genetic era, the subjectivity of pathologic evaluation in the absence of integration with mechanistic correlations is a clear limitation of current diagnostic schemes. Well-known genotype/phenotype associations, including e.g., linking of SF3B1 mutations to RARS or JAK2/SF3B1 mutations to RARS-T, suggest that somatic events can shape morphologic features and vice versa. However, the complexity of morphologic and genetic changes precludes identification of many consequential genotype/phenotype associations. As objective image analytic tools are being developed, this project aims at determining the most mutually predictive relationships between combinations of morphologic features and genomic changes. We have analyzed 1,079 MDS patients for somatic CNVs and mutations in a targeted panel of 33 genes frequently mutated in myeloid cancers. Our stringent bioanalytic pipeline removed artifacts, SNPs and errors. We applied this pipeline to discovery (2/3) and validation (1/3) cohorts. Bone marrow morphological alterations were mapped to binary features called by an independent pathologist in a blinded fashion based on uniformly defined criteria occurring in >10% of cells. A total of 10 such features were investigated. For instance, myeloid, erythroid and megakaryocytic dysplasia occurred in 54%, 70% and 72% of patients, respectively. 89% had at least one cytopenia, 57% multiple cytopenias, and 50% had at least one myeloproliferative feature (e.g., monocytosis). In addition, all cases were partitioned in accordance with two risk groups defined by IPSS-R (lower risk 3.5). NGS analysis identified 1,929 somatic mutations, but for proper correlation with morphologic definitions only mutations with a clonal burden >10% were used. Our initial univariate analysis yielded 52 significant associations (q Download : Download high-res image (234KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures Nazha: Jazz Pharmacutical: Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy; MEI: Other: Data monitoring Committee; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Tolero, Karyopharma: Honoraria; Incyte: Speakers Bureau. Sekeres: Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millenium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Syros: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Hobbs: Amgen: Research Funding; SimulStat Inc.: Consultancy. Maciejewski: Novartis: Consultancy; Alexion: Consultancy.
"Machine Town": Panethnic Asian American Identity in Philadelphia Politics

This paper investigated the topic of panethnic Asian American political coalition-building in Philadelphia politics, to determine if efforts to forge such a coalition succeeded. This paper traced the scholarship accumulated across multiple spheres of Asian American studies ranging from the emergence of panethnic Asian American identity, Asian American involvement in American politics before and after the civil rights movement, and the continuing ethnic divisions within the Asian American community. Further research on urban politics and its intersection with ethnic identity was also investigated, yielding insights into the nature of the potential of and obstacles to successful panethnic political organizing across ethnic lines in the urban areas of the United States. Upon investigating data on the voting patterns of Asian Americans, the socioeconomic statistics on various Asian American ethnic groups, the organizational landscape of organizations--panethnic or ethnic--serving the Asian American community, and the political clout of Asian American political activists and groups in Philadelphia politics, the conclusion was reached that efforts to forge a panethnic Asian American coalition in Philadelphia politics have not succeeded. While the topic of panethnic Asian American politics in the urban context remains a relatively understudied topic in political science, the existing evidence points that there remain significant obstacles to panethnic political organizing in Asian American communities.
VIDEO OCR: A SURVEY AND PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE

This survey strives to present the core concepts underlying the different texture-based approaches to automatic detection, segmentation and recognition of visual text occurrences in complex images and videos. It emphasizes the different approaches to attack the many issues in this space. For each kind of approach only a few representative references are given. This survey does not try to give an exhaustive listing of all relevant work, but to help practitioners and engineers new in the field to get a thorough overview of the state-of-the-art principles, methods, and systems in Video OCR. To this end, the approaches of the various researchers are broken up into constituents and presented as a design choice in a hypothetical image and video OCR system.
Evaluating the Effects of Predicated Execution on Branch Prediction

As microprocessor designs move towards deeper pipelines and support for multiple instruction issue, steps must be taken to alleviate the negative impact of branch operations on processor performance. One approach is to use branch prediction hardware and perform speculative execution of the instructions following an unresolved branch. Another technique is to eliminate certain branch instructions altogether by translating the instructions following a forward branch into predicate form. Both these techniques are employed in many current processor designs. This paper investigates the relationship between branch prediction techniques and branch predication. In particular, we are interested in how using predication to remove a certain class of poorly predicted branches affects the prediction accuracy of the remaining branches. A variety of existing predication models for eliminating branch operations are presented, and the effect that eliminating branches has on branch prediction schemes ranging from simple prediction mechanisms to the newer more sophisticated branch predictors is studied. We also examine the impact of predication on basic block size, and how the two techniques used together affect overall processor performance.
A cryptic pocket in Ebola VP35 allosterically controls RNA binding

Protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions are often considered difficult drug targets because the surfaces involved lack obvious druggable pockets. Cryptic pockets could present opportunities for targeting these interactions, but identifying and exploiting these pockets remains challenging. Here, we apply a general pipeline for identifying cryptic pockets to the interferon inhibitory domain (IID) of Ebola viral protein 35 (VP35). VP35 plays multiple essential roles in Ebola′s replication cycle but lacks pockets that present obvious utility for drug design. Using adaptive sampling simulations and machine learning algorithms, we predict VP35 harbors a cryptic pocket that is allosterically coupled to a key dsRNA-binding interface. Thiol labeling experiments corroborate the predicted pocket and mutating the predicted allosteric network supports our model of allostery. Finally, covalent modifications that mimic drug binding allosterically disrupt dsRNA binding that is essential for immune evasion. Based on these successes, we expect our pipeline is equally applicable to other proteins.
Femoral-Femoral Bypass for Limb Salvage to Correct Common Iliac Occlusion after Lower Extremity Trauma.

BACKGROUND Roadway injuries are a leading cause of lower extremity vascular trauma. Treating these injuries involves controlling life-threatening hemorrhage and restoring distal perfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS We describe a unique presentation of chronic iliac artery occlusion in the setting of blunt trauma requiring extra-anatomic bypass for maximal limb salvage. RESULTS A 50-year-old male presented after a pedestrian versus auto accident. He had mangled bilateral lower extremities and was taken emergently for lower extremity amputations. He was found to have chronic left common iliac occlusion and a femoral-femoral bypass was performed to assist with healing his left below-the-knee amputation. DISCUSSION Lack of adequate perfusion can cause poor outcomes in limb salvage. This case demonstrated that lower extremity trauma can be complicated by chronic vascular disease. Reperfusion and adequate wound healing can be accomplished by using bypass grafting after more traditional reperfusion techniques fail.
Neuroscience-Based Formulation and Treatment for Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder: a Paradigm Shift

Treating pediatric bipolar disorder (BD) requires new knowledge based on emerging and consistent neuroscience findings. It entails recognition and addressing the deficits in eight domains such as emotion processing, executive function, attention, impulse control, working memory, reward and risk response, perspective taking, and, finally, the interface of emotion and cognition. Skillful integration of four components: (A) assessment (disorder and domain functions), (B) educating the families that it is early-onset brain dysfunction based on what we now know through research, (C) chemotherapy with the hope of reversing the brain dysfunction, and (D) addressing the individual dynamics specific to the family and through neuroscience informed psychological treatment such as RAINBOW therapy. Imaging findings in pediatric BD offered four major contributions: (1) prefrontal cortex regions improve in function with some pharmacological agents, while amygdala in the subcortical region does not reach normality till after longer-term treatment; (2) various medications differentially engage different brain circuitry regions, supporting why combined therapy is required in severely ill BD; (3) there is invariable interlink between affective and cognitive domain dysfunctions in pediatric BD, by the virtue of early-onset illness diathesis; and (4) consistent and strong evidence that negative stimuli impact both affect regulation and cognitive function argues towards not using negative “punishment” in psychological treatment, thereby leading to the construction and completion of the randomized controlled trial of RAINBOW therapy or child- and family-focused cognitive behavior therapy. Ultimately, translating the new research findings to clinically ill population and educating researchers on clinical challenges are both critical steps towards a determined advancement with a singular focus to help children and their families.
Reversed Kuznets Curves in the Caribbean: Linking Marine Biodiversity Endangerment with the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Assessed with Human Metrics (Life Expectancy, Infant Mortality, Population Growth Rate)

Islands and their surrounding waters are microcosms that can offer quasi-independent experiments and which allow to test for impacts. Charles Darwin for instance made great use of this concept, and so did the discipline of biogeography and environmental studies. The Caribbean ecosystem is a globally unique land- and seascape that consists of coral reefs and thousands of islands. The biggest reef area of the Caribbean is found in the greater Antilles and the Bahamas, but coral reefs do not conform well to national borders, e.g., Belize. The Caribbean and its reef ecosystem are directly affected by various watersheds reaching from Upper Canada to the Orinoco basin for instance. This region actually consists of over 30 nations and has one of the highest concentrations of nationally shared marine borders and exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the world. Solorzano et al. (2005) stated: “The basin includes the world’s largest concentration of small countries that represent the world’s major political systems.” Thus, the Caribbean makes for a great and complex natural, scientific, and conservation management test bed but that has rarely been used to its full potential, yet.
Nonlinearly Viscoelastic Behavior of Polycarbonate. I. Response under Pure Shear

The nonlinearly thermo-mechanical creep behavior of (bisphenol A)polycarbonate was investigated at different temperatures (0 to 140°C) under pure shear loading. The shear creep in the linearlyviscoelastic range was measured with a torsiometer for referencepurposes and a master curve, along with a shift factor curve, wasconstructed. While the master curve is well defined with no detectabledeviation, the shift factor can be represented by essentially twostraight lines and offset at the β transition temperature ofpolycarbonate. The shear creep tests in the nonlinearly viscoelasticrange were conducted on an Arcan specimen geometry at differenttemperatures and under different stress levels, utilizing digital imagecorrelation for recording the creep strains. The difference between thenominal stress and the actual stress distribution in the Arcan specimenwas explored via numerical simulations (ABAQUS) by assuming linearlyquasi-elastic and quasi-plastic analyses in place of the as yetuncertain material characterization. Isochronal plots were created fromthe creep data. Nonlinearly viscoelastic behavior starts to take effectnear 1% strain at the temperatures considered. The applicability of thestress-clock representation for material characterization has beenexplored and is found, at best, to be dubious for this material. The`yield-like' behavior of polycarbonate has been examined in terms of theisochronal stress-strain response and a corresponding `yield-like shearstress' has been determined to be a monotonically decreasing function ofthe temperature, but again with an interruption or `jog' at the βtransition temperature. Time-temperature trade-off as practiced for`time-temperature shifting' at small strains does not apply in thenonlinear domain. The results are generally in agreement with thosefound for Poly(Methyl Methacrylate), thus fostering the idea that thepresent results can be generalized – with additional work – to other amorphous polymers.
Glutathione status of isolated rabbit lungs: Effects of nitrofurantoin and paraquat perfusion with normoxic and hyperoxic ventilation

Abstract Thirty-minute perfusion of isolated rabbit lungs with a Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer containing 420 μM paraquat (PQ) or nitrofurantoin (NF) resulted in increases in lung oxidized glutathione (GSSG) content of 589 and 2656%, respectively, over control levels. The degree of glutathione efflux was also increased with both agents, i.e. 77 and 238% above control leakage for PQ and NF respectively. The pulmonary toxicity of both compounds is known to be heightened by conditions of hyperoxia(O2). Ventilation of lungs with 95% O2-5% CO2 did not, in itself, significantly alter glutathione efflux, GSH or GSSG levels. However, ventilation with 95% O2-5% CO2 increased lung GSSG levels in PQ-perfused lungs 225% over PQ-air-perfused lungs, a combined effect not observed with NF-O2, wherein mean GSSG levels were only 72% of that observed with NF-air. Glutathione efflux in PQ-O2-treated lungs declined somewhat (20%) compared to that observed with PQ-air, but a significant increase in the amount of glutathione efflux was seen with NF-O2-treated lungs, i.e. 120 and 310%, respectively, over that attributable to NF or O2 alone. Although the biochemical mechanisms of toxicity of these compounds are thought to be very similar, the disparate degree of GSH oxidation observed with equimolar levels of PQ and NF may indicate differences in reactivity towards glutathione and other lung sulfhydryl pools. The stimulation of the oxidative effects of PQ and NF on lung GSH due to hyperoxic ventilation may be related to the reported O2 enhancement of their toxicity.
About Present Cash Value

The major goal behind awarding damages in a personal injury action is to compensate a plaintiff for his or her actual loss. When judges and juries are asked to decide upon the amount of money that will compensate a plaintiff for his lost earning capacity, they are asked to decide two things: (1) Over the period of the disability, what is the dollar amount by which the plaintiff’s ability to earn income has been reduced. (2) How much money should be awarded to the plaintiff today to compensate fairly for this loss that will occur periodically over the terms of the disability. This article is about the second of those questions.
Text-based intelligent systems: current research and practice in information extraction and retrieval

Contents: P.S. Jacobs, Introduction: Text Power and Intelligent Systems. Part I:Broad-Scale NLP. J.R. Hobbs, D.E. Appelt, J. Bear, M. Tyson, D. Magerman, Robust Processing of Real-World Natural-Language Texts. Y. Wilks, L. Guthrie, J. Guthrie, J. Cowie, Combining Weak Methods in Large-Scale Text Processing. G. Hirst, M. Ryan, Mixed-Depth Representations for Natural Language Text. D.D. McDonald, Robust Partial-Parsing Through Incremental, Multi-Algorithm Processing. Corpus-Based Thematic Analysis. Part II:"Traditional" Information Retrieval. W.B. Croft, H.R. Turtle, Text Retrieval and Inference. K.S. Jones, Assumptions and Issues in Text-Based Retrieval. D.D. Lewis, Text Representation for Intelligent Text Retrieval: A Classification-Oriented View. G. Salton, C. Buckley, Automatic Text Structuring Experiments. Part III:Emerging Applications. C. Stanfill, D.L. Waltz, Statistical Methods, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Retrieval. P.J. Hayes, Intelligent High-Volume Text Processing Using Shallow, Domain-Specific Techniques. Y.S. Maarek, Automatically Constructing Simple Help Systems from Natural Language Documentation. M.A. Hearst, Direction-Based Text Interpretation as an Information Access Refinement.
Long-term outcomes in treatment of deformational plagiocephaly and brachycephaly using helmet therapy and repositioning: a longitudinal cohort study

Deformational plagiocephaly and/or brachycephaly (DPB) is a misshapen head presenting at birth or shortly thereafter, caused by extrinsic forces on an infant’s malleable cranium. There are two treatment methods available for DPB: helmeting and repositioning. Little is known about the long-term outcomes of these two treatment options. The purpose of this study was to examine children who received helmeting or repositioning therapy for DPB as infants and compare the long-term head shape outcomes of the two groups. A longitudinal cohort study design was used to evaluate change in head shape of the two groups. One hundred children (50 helmeted, 50 repositioned) were initially evaluated at 6 months or younger for DPB. Anthropometric skull measurements taken as infants before treatment were compared with measurements taken for this study. Inclusion criteria included initial clinic visit at age 6 months or younger, evaluation by the same practitioner, and current age 2–10 years. Cephalic index and cranial vault asymmetry were calculated based on caliper measurements. Data from 100 children were evaluated for this study. Significant differences between the treatment groups in the mean change in cephalic index (p = 0.003) and cranial vault asymmetry (p < 0.001) were found; the children that used helmet therapy demonstrated greater improvement. This is one of the larger published long-term outcome studies comparing children that used helmets and repositioning to treat their DPB as infants. The data suggest that infants will have more improvement in head shape with a helmet than with repositioning.
Public health situation awareness: toward a semantic approach

We propose a knowledge-based public health situation awareness system. The basis for this system is an explicit representation of public health situation awareness concepts and their interrelationships. This representation is based upon the users" (public health decision makers) cognitive model of the world, and optimized towards the efficacy of performance and relevance to the public health situation awareness processes and tasks. In our approach, explicit domain knowledge is the foundation for interpretation of public health data, as apposed to conventional systems where the statistical methods are the essence of the processes. Objectives: To develop a prototype knowledge-based system for public health situation awareness and to demonstrate the utility of knowledge intensive approaches in integration of heterogeneous information, eliminating the effects of incomplete and poor quality surveillance data, uncertainty in syndrome and aberration detection and visualization of complex information structures in public health surveillance settings, particularly in the context of bioterrorism (BT) preparedness. The system employs the Resource Definition Framework (RDF) and additional layers of more expressive languages to explicate the knowledge of domain experts into machine interpretable and computable problem-solving modules that can then guide users and computer systems in sifting through the most "relevant" data for syndrome and outbreak detection and investigation of root cause of the event. The Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Informatics Research is developing a prototype knowledge-based system around influenza, which has complex natural disease patterns, many public health implications, and is a potential agent for bioterrorism. The preliminary data from this effort may demonstrate superior performance in information integration, syndrome and aberration detection, information access through information visualization, and cross-domain investigation of the root causes of public health events.© (2004) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Identification of Hammerstein systems using input amplitude multiplexing

An amplitude multiplexing technique for identifying Hammerstein systems with static nonlinearities is presented in this paper. The input signal to the Hammerstein system is amplitude multiplexed, and the output of the Hammerstein nonlinearity is approximated by a continuous piecewise affine function. The Hammerstein nonlinearity is assumed to pass through the origin. Using this identification technique, we show that, in the presence of zero-mean, colored output noise, the estimates of the Hammerstein nonlinearity and the impulse response of the linear plant are asymptotically correct up to a scalar factor.
Interaction tensors and local dynamics in common structural motifs of nitrogen: a solid-state 14N NMR and DFT study.

14N solid-state NMR powder patterns have been obtained at high field (21.1 T) using broadband, frequency-swept pulses and a piecewise acquisition method. This approach allowed the electric field gradient (EFG) tensor parameters to be obtained from model organic and inorganic systems featuring spherically asymmetric nitrogen environments (CQ values of up to ca. 4 MHz). The advantages and limitations of this experimental approach are discussed, and the observation of 14N T2 relaxation anisotropy in certain systems is also reported, which can shed light on dynamic processes, allowing motional geometries and jump rates to be probed. In particular, we show that observable effects of dynamics on 14N spectra can be mediated by modulation of either the EFG tensor or heteronuclear dipolar couplings. It is demonstrated that the QCPMG protocol can be used to selectively enhance certain types of nitrogen environments on the basis of differences in T2. We also present the results of extensive density functional theory...
Spontaneous cervicomediastinal hematoma: Diagnostic imaging features of a rare clinical entity

We describe a case of spontaneous cervicomediastinal hematoma that presented in a 65-year-old woman with intractable coughing. This report illustrates the radiologic and clinical features of this rare entity.
Accuracy of self-reported tobacco use status among hematopoietic SCT patients

Tobacco use is a risk factor for adverse outcomes among hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) patients. Accurate identification of tobacco use offers a vital opportunity to treat this risk factor. The current study compared self-reported tobacco use status with serum cotinine levels among HSCT patients at the time of pre-transplant evaluation. A total of 444 participants completed both assessments; 44 participants (9.9%) were classified as tobacco users with serum cotinine concentrations >2 ng/mL vs 29 with self-reporting. Sensitivity and specificity of self-reporting were 65.9% and 100%, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 96.4%, respectively. Comparing tobacco use documented in the medical record with cotinine, sensitivity and specificity were 51.2% and 99.2%, respectively. Factors associated with tobacco use were male gender, single relationship status, less education and younger age. In summary, utilization of serum cotinine assays increased detection of tobacco use cases >50% over self-reporting. Results are discussed in the context of translation to care, including clinical and ethical implications, and current tobacco use treatment guidelines. When cotinine assays are not available, self-reporting of any tobacco use in the year before HSCT should trigger brief advice and cessation or relapse prevention counseling.
Echocardiography in Truncus Arteriosus The Value of Pulmonic Valve Detection

Nine patients with a clinical presentation suggestive of truncus arteriosus were examined by echocardiography. Subsequent intracardiac studies including cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography divided this group into five patients with truncus arteriosus and four patients with other congenital heart diseases. In all patients with proven truncus arteriosus, it was possible to identify only one semilunar valve with a large truncal vessel overriding the ventricular septum. In none of these patients could a second semilunar valve be found. This study indicates that echocardiography may provide a direct, yet noninvasive method to exclude the diagnosis of truncus arteriosus by finding the pulmonic valve. However, the diagnosis of truncus arteriosus is not tenable when based solely on the inability to demonstrate the pulmonic valve. The importance of the clinical application of this method is discussed.
Five-year follow-up of geriatric chronically ill mental patients in foster home care.

: A follow-up study of 12 geriatric chronically ill mental patients placed in foster homes as the result of an intensive ward rehabilitation program revealed that 8 (67 per cent) of these men remained out of the hospital at the end of five years. Six had been discharged from the hospital and 2 remained on trial visit status in foster homes. All but 1 of the 8 men were still in foster homes at the time of follow-up. Neither age, the severity of psychiatric disability nor the length of previous hospitalization was a deterrent to success in home care, as long as the patient was not extremely irritable or aggressive. Indeed, the older men in this study remained out of the hospital significantly longer than did the younger ones. Eight of the 12 patients required transfer to a new foster home, re-admission to the hospital, or new placement after rehospitalization—which shows the importance in such a program of having continuous supervision by a persistent social work staff. The number and proportion of geriatric chronically ill patients who reside in our mental hospitals have risen dramatically during the last few decades and will almost certainly continue to increase. By the usual channels of release from the hospital, this group of patients has the poorest prospects of all to remain out of the hospital. Foster home care is a humane and economical alternative for many of these patients. Our findings indicate that if patients are carefully selected, prepared and supervised after placement, the chances of long-term success in foster home care can be impressively good.