cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accelerated Life Tests: Nonparametric Approach

Many of today's products are capable of operating under extremes of environmental stress and for thousands of hours without failures. For a variety of reasons, manufacturers may wish to obtain reliability results for their products more quickly than they can with data obtained under normal operating conditions. Consequently, traditional life data analyses are no longer sufficient to identify design weaknesses or validate life prediction. Accelerated life testing (ALT) is an approach for obtaining more information from a given test time than would normally be possible. It does this by subjecting items to test environment that is more severe than those experienced during normal use. ALT uses a model relating reliability (a life) measured under high-stress conditions to that which is expected under normal operation to determine the reliability (or length of life). Various parametric and nonparametric models have been introduced to describe the relationship between the distribution functions of lifetimes for different stress levels. The parametric models assume a particular form of the distribution functions for different stress levels and the relationship between them. The approach in this article is nonparametric, where only a relationship between the distribution functions corresponding to any two different stress levels is assumed. Keywords: survival function; accelerated lifetime models; acceleration function
Calculation of population attributable risk for alcohol and breast cancer (United States)

Objectives: Because of increasing evidence that alcohol may be causally associated with breast cancer, we reconsider the population attributable risk (PAR) for alcohol and breast cancer for the US adult female population using an effect estimate from a meta- analysis and incorporating a revised perspective on measurement error correction. Methods: To estimate PAR, we employed a formula appropriate to use with an adjusted effect estimate. To estimate intermediate quantities needed to apply that formula, we used adjusted relative risk estimates from a previously published meta- analysis, as well as SEER cancer statistics and general population data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used relative risk estimates uncorrected for measurement error. Results: The estimated age-adjusted PAR for alcohol and breast cancer was 2.1%. Conclusions: Because of the modest association between alcohol and breast cancer and the generally moderate level of alcohol intake among US women, the proportion of breast cancer attributable to alcohol intake is small. Widespread efforts to reduce alcohol consumption would not have a substantial impact on breast cancer rates in this population. While selected subgroups of women might benefit from decreasing alcohol consumption, specific profiles for such women have yet to be defined and defended.
Building Operations: Balancing Energy Efficiency with Indoor Air Quality

Energy efficiency measures (ECMs) and indoor air quality (IAQ) have different goals, but often have overlapping results; sometimes good, sometimes bad. Many ECMs have potential IAQ complications; conversely many IAQ improvement measures increase energy use. The two are inseparable and competing, so the best overall outcome involves a careful balance. This article illustrates some examples of the overlap between energy and air quality, and provide examples of activities that can spoil the delicate balance between them.
Student-Teacher Interaction on Facebook: What Students Find Appropriate

Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook, a popular social networking site, provide educators with new possibilities for reaching their students. As these technologies are new, there is not a total understanding of how these technologies could best be used in education. This study helps to develop this understanding by investigating how appropriate students find student-teacher interactions on Facebook. The results indicate that students find passive behaviors more appropriate than active behaviors with no difference depending on whether students or teachers perform the behaviors. Additionally, men find student-teacher interactions on Facebook more appropriate than women while no difference exists between undergraduate and graduate students, and age was not related to finding the interactions more or less appropriate.
Telecommunication networks: protocols, modeling and analysis

1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Introduction to Queuing Theory. 3. Layered Architectures in Data Networks. 4. Data Link Layer. 5. Examples and Performance Analysis. 6. Network Layer: Flow Control and Congestion Control. 7. Network Layer: Routing Function Transport Layer. 8. Polling and Random Access in Data Networks. 9. Local Area Networks. 10. Introduction to Circuits Switching. 11. Call Processing in Digital Circuit-switching Systems. 12. The Evolution toward Integrated Networks.
Molecular imaging of EGFR kinase activity in tumors with 124I-labeled small molecular tracer and positron emission tomography.

Positron emission tomography (PET) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase-specific radiolabeled tracers could provide the means for noninvasive and repetitive imaging of heterogeneity of EGFR expression and signaling activity in tumors in individual patients before and during therapy with EGFR signaling inhibitors. We developed the synthesis and 124I-radiolabeling of the (E)-But-2-enedioic acid [4-(3-[124I]iodoanilino)-quinazolin-6-yl]-amide-(3-morpholin-4-yl-propyl)-amide (morpholino-[124I]-IPQA), which selectively, irreversibly, and covalently binds the adenosine-triphosphate-binding site to the activated (phosphorylated) EGFR kinase, but not to the inactive EGFR kinase. The latter was demonstrated using in silico modeling with crystal structures of the wild type and different gain-of-function mutants of EGFR kinases. Also, this was demonstrated by selective radiolabeling of the EGFR kinase domain with morpholino-[131I]-IPQA in A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells and Western blot autoradiography. In vitro radiotracer accumulation and washout studies demonstrated a rapid accumulation and progressive retention postwashout of morpholino-[131I]-IPQA in A431 epidermoid carcinoma and in U87 human glioma cells genetically modified to express the EGFRvIII mutant receptor, but not in the wild-type U87MG glioma cells under serum-starved conditions. Using morpholino-[124I]-IPQA, we obtained noninvasive PET images of EGFR activity in A431 subcutaneous tumor xenografts, but not in subcutaneous tumor xenografts grown from K562 human chronic myeloid leukemia cells in immunocompromised rats and mice. Based on these observations, we suggest that PET imaging with morpholino-[124I]-IPQA should allow for identification of tumors with high EGFR kinase signaling activity, including brain tumors expressing EGFRvIII mutants and nonsmall-cell lung cancer expressing gain-of-function EGFR kinase mutants. Because of significant hepatobiliary clearance and intestinal reuptake of the morpholino-[124I]-IPQA, additional [124I]-IPQA derivatives with improved water solubility may be required to optimize the pharmacokinetics of this class of molecular imaging agents.
Evaluating inventory turns for a hospital environment

Abstract This paper presents a unique approach, using a modified traditional EOQ model, to manipulate yearly inventory turns and generate optimal space requirements for the Stores operations at Georgetown University Hospital (GUH). The analysis used six months of material dispensed transaction data along with item cost and item size; it generated by item the economic order quantity, order point, safety stock, volume requirement and yearly turns. The advantage of this methodology is that a materiel management system can be configured for acceptable yearly turns such that space requirement can be reduced, avoiding the need for an external warehouse or internal facility construction. The modeling was developed on an IBM 4381 using SAS with transactional data transferred from a Data General (DG) mini computer.
Acquired drive strength as a joint function of UCS intensity and number of CS-UCS pairings: the effect of masses and distributed CS-UCS pairings.

Summary The empirical law relating acquired drive strength, as measured by the latency of a hurdle-jump response, to UCS intensity and number of CS-UCS pairings was investigated. The effect on acquired drive strength of varying the intervals between successive CS-UCS pairings was also investigated. Ss were 150 male albino rats, 125–160 days old. The apparatus was the classically conditioned fear apparatus. Acquired drive strength was found to be curvilinearly related to UCS intensity and number of CS-UCS pairings when a 10 minute intertrial interval was used. The relationships were monotonic and negatively accelerated. The effect of UCS intensity on acquired drive strength varied with the length of the intertrial interval. The findings of diverging functions relating UCS intensity to test trials support Spence's notion of a multiplicative relationship between habit strength (sHr) and drive (D) in the determination of performance in aversive conditioning.
Concise Review: Stem Cell Therapies for Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that is heterogeneous in nature and has different causes. Different from and more burdensome than nociceptive pain, neuropathic pain more severely affects people's quality of life. Understanding the various mechanisms of the onset and progression of neuropathic pain is important in the development of an effective treatment. Research is being done to replace current pharmacological treatments with cellular therapies that will have longer lasting effects. Stem cells present an exciting potential therapy for neuropathic pain. In this review, we describe the neuroprotective effects of stem cells along with special emphasis on the current translational research using stem cells to treat neuropathic pain.
Time: a new parameter for kinetic measurements in flow cytometry

The measure of time was used as an additional parameter on an existing flow cytometer to study the kinetics of enzyme activities and cell-stain interactions. By correlating all fluorescent signals from single cells with time, the dynamics of a reaction can be followed for several minutes. This advanced application of flow cytometry is easily implemented and can be incorporated into any flow cytometer that has two-parameter analysis capability.
Unfolding of cryogenic neutron spectra

Abstract We describe the simple unfolding procedure to recover the incident neutron energy spectrum from data measured with a 6LiF-based cryogenic neutron spectrometer. The simple response function combined with the excellent energy resolution greatly simplifies the recovery of the neutron energy spectrum. Unfolding methods for conventional neutron detectors such as 3He and NE-213 scintillator spectrometers are described and compared to the unfolding procedure for 6LiF-based cryogenic neutron spectrometers. The unfolding of a 252Cf spectrum measured with a cryogenic neutron detector is presented.
Bioactivation of procarcinogens to mutagens in human fetal and placental tissues.

Abstract Enzyme systems in homogenates of human fetal hepatic, pulmonary, adrenal, renal and placental tissues catalyzed the conversion of benzo(a)pyrene, 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and N-2-fluorenyl-acetamide to intermediary metabolites that produced mutations in Salmonella typhimurium . The mutagenic metabolites generated from the three procarcinogen/promutagens displayed specificity with respect to the auxotrophic strains, chemicals and tissues investigated.
Use of a sedimentation column to obtain uniformly sized populations of multicell spheroids

Multicell spheroids are useful as in vitro models for certain nodular tumors. Spheroids may contain subpopulations of cells that are necrotic, hypoxic, and redistributed through the cell cycle, and the relative fractions of these subpopulations can change as the spheroids grow. As a result, spheroids of different sizes may respond differently to any given treatment. For experimental studies it is important to use populations of spheroids of homogeneous size. Here we report the design and use of a sedimentation column that uses precision woven screen to obtain homogeneously sized populations of multicell spheroids quickly, accurately, aseptically, and reproducibly. This device may be applied in other biological fields also where separation of cell aggregates of a specific size is required.
Dual roles for the trimeric G protein Go in asymmetric cell division in Drosophila

During asymmetric division, a cell polarizes and differentially distributes components to its opposite ends. The subsequent division differentially segregates the two component pools to the daughters, which thereby inherit different developmental directives. In Drosophila sensory organ precursor cells, the localization of Numb protein to the cell's anterior cortex is a key patterning event and is achieved by the combined action of many proteins, including Pins, which itself is localized anteriorly. Here, a role is described for the trimeric G protein Go in the anterior localization of Numb and daughter cell fate specification. Go is shown to interact with Pins. In addition to a role in recruiting Numb to an asymmetric location in the cell's cortex, Go transduces a signal from the Frizzled receptor that directs the position in which the complex forms. Thus, Go likely integrates the signaling that directs the formation of the complex with the signaling that directs where the complex forms.
Grandparents as Family Caregivers: Lessons for Intergenerational Education

The number of grandparents who have responsibility for raising grandchildren has increased dramatically over the past several decades. From an educational perspective, content on custodial grandparents can promote an increased interest in, and understanding of the complexities of aging, by stressing the intergenerational aspects of this family form. This paper describes the growing population of custodial grandparents, and the larger socio-environmental contexts of these families. In addition, it highlights instructional approaches for including content on grandparent-headed families within didactic and experimental courses.
Advocating policy : Initiatives in mining and development

This paper shares my experience as an anthropologist in affecting policy makers in the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to recognize and institutionalize the term traditional small scale miners. The MGB then and now is predominantly staffed by personnel from technical fields related to mining with minimal staff from the social sciences.
Calculated response of a total liquid argon calorimeter to protons and electrons in the 0.5 5.0 GeV energy range

The calculated response of a 50 x 50 x 200 cm/sup 3/ total liquid argon calorimeter to protons and electrons in the 0.5- to 5.0-GeV energy range is presented. The device is segmented in alternating x and y planes (50 x 1 x 1 or 1 x 50 x 1 cm/sup 3/) so that spatial and angular resolution can be obtained for both coordinates. For 2-GeV incident electrons the calculated values (sigma) for the energy resolution and upper limit values for the spatial and angular resolutions are 2.0%, 1.5 cm, and 28 mrad, respectively. Sampling fluctuations is one method used to discriminate between incident electrons and protons. An electron acceptance level of > 95% with < 5% proton contamination is possible at the 2-GeV energy deposition level. The device is also analyzed by treating each of the small sampling sections as flash tubes. As expected, the energy resolution increased but the spatial and angular resolutions remained essentially unchanged.
Synthesis and structural characterization of a novel diosmium(III) compound: Os2(ap)4Cl2

The reaction between Os 2 (OAc) 4 Cl 2 and H ap (H ap is 2-anilinopyridine) under prolonged refluxing conditions resulted in a new Os 2 (III) compound, Os 2 ( ap ) 4 Cl 2 ( 1 ). The molecular structure of 1 was determined from a single crystal X-ray diffraction study, which revealed an Os–Os bond length of 2.396[1] A, and a cis- (2,2) arrangement of the ap ligands. Also reported are magnetic, electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of 1 .
Personal financial situation during unemployment and mental health

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the personal financial situation during unemployment and the connection between financial situation and mental health in a sample (n=213) of unemployed Norwegians. The results indicate that the unemployed suffered high financial deprivation compared with their own subjective standards, their situation when working, their neighbors and friends, and the average population. However, the unemployed did not constitute a homogeneous group in financial terms. In particular, the young unemployed experienced substantial financial problems. Among men, the reduction in income, few leisure facilities and many financial adjustments were closely related to mental health problems. Women who experienced that their income was substantially reduced compared with that of neighbors and friends and women who had carried out many financial adjustments were in poorer mental health than the other women in the sample. The findings are discussed in relation to relevant aspects of the life situation of the unemployed and other research results.
Improving mycoinsecticides for insect biological control

The desire for decreased reliance on chemical pesticides continues to fuel interest in alternative means for pest control including the use of naturally occurring microbial insect pathogens. Insects, as vectors of disease causing agents or as agricultural pests, are responsible for millions of deaths and significant economic losses worldwide, placing stresses on productivity (GDP) and human health and welfare. In addition, alterations in climate change are likely to affect insect ranges, expanding their access to previously constrained geographic areas, a potentially worrisome outcome. Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, two cosmopolitan fungal pathogens of insects found in almost all ecosystems, are the most commonly applied mycoinsecticides for a variety of insect control purposes. The availability of the complete genomes for both organisms coupled to robust technologies for their transformation has led to several advances in engineering these fungi for greater efficacy and/or utility in pest control applications. Here, we will provide an overview of the fungal-insect and fungal-plant interactions that occur and highlight recent advances in the genetic engineering of these fungi. The latter work has resulted in the development of strains displaying (1) increased resistance to abiotic stress, (2) increased cuticular targeting and degradation, (3) increased virulence via expression of insecticidal protein/peptide toxins, (4) the ability to block transmission of disease causing agents, and (5) the ability to target specific insect hosts, decrease host fecundity, and/or alter insect behaviors.
Immunization for the Elderly

The morbidity and mortality of vaccine-preventable diseases among older adults are high. Despite the benefits of elderly vaccination, vaccination rates remain low and especially among some minority groups. Specific strategies for improving the rate of vaccination have been developed for medical offices and clinics, hospitals, and other health care institutions. There are vaccines that are recommended routinely for the elderly while other vaccines are recommended in certain circumstances. Knowing the indications, contraindications, and adverse reactions to the recommended vaccines for the elderly is very important to the primary care physicians.
Design of Surveys for Residential and Personal Monitoring of Hazardous Substances

Abstract This paper reviews survey design methodology for large-scale residential and personal monitoring studies designed to make inferences to target populations. Four monitoring studies conducted recently in the United States that utilized two-phase sampling designs are cited as illustrations of the methodology. Recommendations for efficient statistical design of such monitoring studies are presented.
Kinetic resolution of tropic acid ethyl ester and its derivatives by lipase PS

Abstract The first kinetic resolution of tropic acid ethyl ester (TAEE) with lipase PS and vinyl acetate as an acylating agent is reported. The resulting (S)-(−)-3-acetoxy tropic acid ethyl ester and (R)-(+)-tropic acid ethyl ester are produced in high yields and in excellent ee (87–94%). The method has been extended to resolve a variety of tropic acid ester derivatives. In addition, an improved method for the preparation of racemic mixtures of tropic acid ethyl ester and its derivatives from 3-hydroxy-2-phenylacrylic acid ethyl ester using NaBH4 in methanol is reported. This procedure is better than the previous ones because it is cleaner, safer and can be worked up easily. An improved method of deacylating the chiral 3-acetoxy tropic acid ethyl ester without any loss of stereochemical integrity using HCl/CH3OH is also reported.
Complementary effects of resident natural enemies on the suppression of the introduced moth Epiphyas postvittana

Abstract Generalist predators may disrupt or complement biological control by parasitoids. Past studies have examined how predators and parasitoids interact to affect aphid suppression, but more information is needed from other host taxa. Here, we explore the interactive effects of a spider (Cheiracanthium mildei) and a generalist parasitoid (Meteorus ictericus) on the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana), a recent introduction to North America. The spider negatively affected adult parasitoids in a field experiment, and reduced numbers of parasitized larvae in the laboratory. Nonetheless, the combined effects of parasitoids and spiders on larval mortality of the moth were additive. Percent parasitism was not affected by the presence of the spider in field or laboratory experiments, and results were similar when single or multiple larval instars of the moth were included. The spider’s lack of prey preference for unparasitized or parasitized larvae likely precluded any disruptive effects on parasitism. Results suggest that resident generalist parasitoids and predators can work in conjunction to hinder the invasion success of a novel herbivore prey species.
Corrigendum to “The Evening Commute with Cars and Transit: Duality Results and User Equilibrium for the Combined Morning and Evening Peaks”

Abstract This paper extends Vickrey's (1969) commute problem for commuters wishing to pass a bottleneck for both cars and transit that share ﬁnite road capacity. In addition to this more general framework considering two modes, the paper focuses on the evening rush, when commuters travel from work to home. Commuters choose which mode to use and when to travel in order to minimize the generalized cost of their own trips, including queueing delay and penalties for deviation from a preferred schedule of arrival and departure to and from work. The user equilibrium for the isolated morning and evening commutes are shown to be asymmetric because the schedule penalty in the morning is the difference between the departure and wished curves, and the schedule penalty in the evening is the difference between the arrival and wished curves. It is shown that the system optimum in the morning and evening peaks are symmetric because queueing delay is eliminated and the optimal arrival curves are the same as the departure curves. The paper then considers both the morning and evening peaks together for a single mode bottleneck (all cars) with identical travelers that share the same wished times. For a schedule penalty function of the morning departure and evening arrival times that is positive deﬁnite and has certain properties, a user equilibrium is shown to exist in which commuters travel in the same order in both peaks. The result is used to illustrate the user equilibrium for two cases: (i) commuters have decoupled schedule preferences in the morning and evening, and (ii) commuters must work a ﬁxed shift length but have ﬂexibility when to start. Finally, a special case is considered with cars and transit: commuters have the same wished order in the morning and evening peaks. Commuters must use the same mode in both directions, and the complete user equilibrium solution reveals the number of commuters using cars and transit and the period in the middle of each rush when transit is used.
Suppressive Surrounds of Receptive Fields In Monkey Frontal Eye Field

A critical step in determining how a neuron contributes to visual processing is determining its visual receptive field (RF). While recording from neurons in frontal eye field (FEF) of awake monkeys (Macaca mulatta), we probed the visual field with small spots of light and found excitatory RFs that decreased in strength from RF center to periphery. However, presenting stimuli with different diameters centered on the RF revealed suppressive surrounds that overlapped the previously determined excitatory RF and reduced responses by 84%, on average. Consequently, in that overlap area, stimulation produced excitation or suppression, depending on the stimulus. Strong stimulation of the RF periphery with annular stimuli allowed us to quantify this effect. A modified difference of Gaussians model that independently varied center and surround activation accounted for the nonlinear activity in the overlap area. Our results suggest that (1) the suppressive surrounds found in FEF are fundamentally the same as those in V1 except for the size and strength of excitatory and suppressive mechanisms, (2) methodically assaying suppressive surrounds in FEF is essential for correctly interpreting responses to large and/or peripheral stimuli and therefore understanding the effects of stimulus context, and (3) regulating the relative strength of the surround clearly changes neuronal responses and may therefore play a significant part in the neuronal changes resulting from visual attention and stimulus salience.
The History of Economic Thought: A Survey of Undergraduate Textbooks

Five textbooks that could be used in a one-semester, undergraduate history of economic thought course are examined.
The pectoral girdle and forelimb of the basal theropod Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis

New specimens of Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis shed light on the structure and function of the pectoral girdle and forelimb in early theropod dinosaurs. As in tetanurian theropods, the scapulocor...
Coherent tunable far infrared radiation

Tunable, cw, far infrared (FIR) radiation has been generated by nonlinear mixing of radiation from two CO2 lasers in a metal-insulator-metal, (MIM) diode. The FIR difference-frequency power was radiated from the MIM diode antenna to a calibrated indium antimonide bolometer. Two-tenths of a microwatt of FIR power was generated by 250 mW from each of the CO2 lasers. Using the combination of lines from a waveguide CO2 laser, with its larger tuning range, with lines from CO2, N2O, and CO2 isotope lasers promises complete coverage of the entire far infrared band from 100 to 5000 GHz (3–200 cm−1) with stepwise-tunable cw radiation.
Applications Of Fast And Slow Streak Recording Cameras

This paper deals with two applications of streak photography in everyday industrial and biological research and development endeavors. In each instance, the simplicity and low cost with which the data could be reduced to useful information and the ease with which it could be communicated to other technical personnel was an important side benefit. In the first case, a laboratory built rotating drum streak camera with a 12" circumference, was used to study the performance of the new Olympus F280 flash on an Olympus 0M4-T camera. The strobing frequency, starting characteristics, duration under manual and camera control, flash relationship to shutter curtain position, flash initiation and curtain velocities were examined. In the second case, a standard oscilloscope recording camera was modified to study the growth characteristics of a fungus culture growing under controlled laboratory conditions for periods up to one full week. The streak photographs, taken at ultra slow rates, were correlated with 2-dimensional photographs taken at regular intervals to eliminate ambiguity in the growth cycle whe the photographs were included in a written report.
Chemotherapy-induced immunosuppression and reconstitution of immune function

In the cancer patient, there are a variety of factors that favor the suppression of the immune system, including the cancer itself (especially, malignancies of B and T lymphocytes), high dose chemotherapeutic agents, and corticosteroids. In addition, by its very nature, the myeloablative conditioning regimen used for stem-cell transplantation is immunosuppressive. It is important that immune function is restored so that the patient can resist infection, but it may be equally important to reconstitute immunity due to the potential added benefit of an anti-leukemic response. It is the intent of this commentary/review to discuss the effects of chemotherapy on selected immune cell populations and approaches to reconstitute immune function following chemotherapy. In this issue, Slater et al. [1] illustrate the double-edged sword of high dose chemotherapy. Their laboratory investigations demonstrate the cytotoxic efficacy, yet immunosuppressive effects, of high dose topoisomerase II inhibitor VP-16. As a result, treating L1210 tumor-bearing mice with 20 mg/kg VP-16 resulted in a relatively high 60 days survival rate, however, cured mice could not resist a L1210 tumor challenge. In contrast, when tumor-bearing mice were treated with 3 or 5 mg/kg VP-16, correspondingly fewer mice survived, but most survivors were able to reject a tumor challenge. Mitogenic assays revealed a suppressed proliferation potential of splenic lymphocytes treated with the higher dose of VP-16. These investigations exemplify the opposing effects of high dose chemotherapy, i.e. tumor cytotoxic efficacy coupled with immunosuppression. In discussing the effects of chemotherapy on immune function, it is important to differentiate between the terms immunosuppression and myelosuppression [2]. Many chemotherapeutic agents are myelosuppressive in that they inhibit bone marrow production of blood cells and platelets
Improving Measurement Methods in Rehabilitation: Core Concepts and Recommendations for Scale Development

Validated measurement scales are essential to evaluating clinical outcomes and conducting meaningful and reliable research. The purpose of this article is to present the clinician and researcher with a contemporary 8-stage framework for measurement scale development based on a mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative approach. Core concepts related to item response theory are presented. Qualitative methods are described to conceptualize scale constructs; obtain patient, family, and other stakeholder perspectives; and develop item pools. Item response theory statistical methodologies are presented, including approaches for testing the assumptions of unidimensionality, local independence, monotonicity, and indices of model fit. Lastly, challenges faced by scale developers in implementing these methodologies are discussed. While rehabilitation research has recently started to apply mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative methodologies to scale development, these approaches show considerable promise in advancing rehabilitation measurement.
A differential diagnostic criterion for Babesia major and Babesia bigemina vermicules from tick haemolymph.

Babesia major mature and immature vermicules in the haemolymph of Haemaphysalis punctata were measured and found to be significantly larger than vermicules of Babesia bigemina. Mature B. major vermicules had a mean length of 15.53 μm and mature B. bigemina vermicules had a mean length of 11.79 μm. This difference provides a new criterion for the differentiation of the two species.
AN EXAMINATION OF HOW VOTERS FORM IMPRESSIONS OF CANDIDATES' ISSUE POSITIONS DURING THE NOMINATION CAMPAIGN

There is increasing evidence that issues influence voter preferences during the nomination campaign (Bartels, 1985; Bartels, 1988); however, only Bartels (1988) and Conover and Feldman (1986, 1989) have examined how partisans forge perceptions of candidates' positions on issues prior to the general election campaign. The goal of this paper, then, is to examine how individuals develop perceptions of candidates' issue positions during the crucial months leading to the nominating conventions. Relying on theories developed in social-psychology, I tested five competing hypotheses known to influence individuals' perceptions of candidates' issue positions. An examination of the findings revealed that there is strong support for one of the hypotheses and modest support for three additional hypotheses. In summary, it appears that voters are quite ingenious in forming impressions of where candidates stand on the issues. They rely on stored information about politics, they actually adjust candidates' true positions to relieve cognitive inconsistencies, they evoke their own issue positions to assume candidates they like agree with them and candidates they dislike disagree with them, and finally they evoke their own issue positions to assume candidates agree with them even when they hold no sentiment toward the candidate.
Water-soluble mmp-9 inhibitor prodrug generates active metabolites that cross the blood-brain barrier.

MMP-9 plays a detrimental role in the pathology of several neurological diseases and, thus, represents an important target for intervention. The water-soluble prodrug ND-478 is hydrolyzed to the active MMP-9 inhibitor ND-322, which in turn is N-acetylated to the even more potent metabolite ND-364. We used a sensitive bioanalytical method based on ultraperformance liquid chromatography with multiple-reaction monitoring detection to measure levels of ND-478, ND-322, and ND-364 in plasma and brain after administration of ND-478 and the metabolites. ND-478 did not cross the blood–brain barrier, as was expected; however the active metabolites ND-322 and ND-364 distributed to the brain. The active compound after administration of either ND-478 or ND-322 is likely ND-364. ND-322 is N-acetylated in both brain and liver, but it is so metabolized preferentially in liver. Since N-acetyltransferases involved in the metabolism of ND-322 to ND-364 are polymorphic, direct administration of the N-acetylated ND-364 would ...
Distributed control of a swarm of buildings connected to a smart grid: demo abstract

Energy-efficient control mechanisms are necessary to manage the ever increasing energy demand. Recently several tools for building energy consumption control have been proposed for small (e.g. homes) [8] and large (e.g. offices) buildings [3][6][1]. The mechanism each tool uses is different, e.g. HVAC control [3] and appliance rescheduling [8], but they share the goal of improving consumption of the buildings with respect to a given cost function. Some examples of cost functions are reduced energy consumption, reduced electricity bill, lower peak power, and increased ancillary service participation. The tools however do not capture the impacts of their control actions on the grid. These actions can lead to supply/demand imbalance and voltage/frequency deviation and thus, threaten grid stability. Utilities can take protective actions against those who cause instability by increasing electricity price or even momentarily disconnecting them from the grid. The effects of these protective actions can be so severe that the savings obtained by building management tools might disappear.
Managing in the new millennium

The management theories that have defined the science of management are no longer effective for managers who are faced with a daily paradox. The problems which challenge managers often present two issues; both have some basis in truth, both are valid, and both present a contradiction when efforts are made to solve them. The option is not to choose one issue over the other, but rather search for a way to balance and integrate the truth and validity of each: to manage the paradox.
Altered divalent ion metabolism in early renal failure: role of 1,25(OH)2D.

Altered divalent ion metabolism in early renal failure: Role of 1,25(OH) 2 D. The present study evaluates the role of 1,25(OH) 2 D in the pathogenesis of abnormal mineral metabolism in patients with early renal failure (ERF). This was accomplished by examining the calcemic response to PTH and the handling of an oral phosphate load both before and after 6 weeks of therapy with 1,25(OH) 2 D. Twelve patients with ERF and six normal volunteers were studied. Patients with ERF as compared with normal subjects have low serum phosphate, low urinary calcium, low serum 1,25(OH) 2 D, and high plasma PTH and urinary cyclic AMP (cAMP). With EDTA infusion, an impaired calcemic response to PTH is observed in patients with ERF. The phosphate load test shows that these patients have an increased ability to excrete phosphate. After 1,25(OH) 2 D therapy a significant increase in serum phosphate, urinary calcium, and a decrease in urinary cAMP is observed only in ERF patients. In addition, the impaired calcemie response to PTH improves significantly, the renal handling of phosphate becomes normal, and the low baseline level of 1,25(OH) 2 D increases to normal. A significant correlation between levels of 1,25(OH) 2 D and creatinine clearance is observed in both patients and normals. In summary, the present data suggest that a mild deficiency of 1,25(OH) 2 D is present in ERF patients. The pathophysiological consequence of such a deficiency in patients with ERF may be important. Alteration du metabolisme des ions divalents lors de l'insuffisance renale precoce: Role du 1,25(OH) 2 D. Cette etude evalue le role du 1,25(OH) 2 D dans la pathogenie des anormalies du metabolisme mineral chez des malades en insuffisance renale precoce (ERF). Cela a ete accompli en examinant la reponse calcemique a la PTH et l'elimination d'une charge orale en phospates avant et apres 6 semaines de traitement avec le 1,25(OH) 2 D. Douze malades en ERF et six volontaires sains ont ete etudies. Par rapport aux normaux, les malades en ERF avaient une phosphatemie basse, une calciurie basse, un 1,25(OH) 2 D serique bas et une PTH plasmatique et un AMP cyclique (cAMP) urinaire eleves. Lors d'une perfusion d'EDTA, une reponse calcemique anormale a la PTH est observee chez les malades en ERF. Le test de charge en phosphates montre que ces malades ont une capacite accrue d'excreter des phosphates. Apres traitement par le 1,25(OH) 2 D, une augmentation significative de la phosphatemie, de la calciurie, et une diminution de cAMP urinaire sont observees chez les malades en ERF seulement. En outre, la reponse calcemique anormale a la PTH s'ameliore significativement, l'elimination renale des phosphates devient normale et le faible niveau de base de 1,25(OH) 2 D s'eleve a la normale. Une correlation significative entre les niveaux de 1,25(OH) 2 D et la clearance de la creatinine est observee chez les malades et les normaux. En resume, ces donnees suggerent qu'un deficit modere en 1,25(OH) 2 D existe chez les malades en ERF. La consequence physio-pathologique de ce deficit en ERF pourrait etre importante.
Catheter-induced urinary bladder rupture presenting with pneumoperitoneum

Abstract Neonatal bladder injury is rare and usually associated with umbilical artery catheterization. Patients may present with apparent renal failure, abdominal distension, and respiratory distress. Treatment involves operative closure of the perforation and bladder drainage. A case of Foley catheter-induced bladder rupture in a premature infant, not previously reported in the literature, is detailed.
Aliasing error in the design of multirate filters

A narrow-band filter is inherently of high order, and requires a high computation rate if implemented directly. A multirate implementation can offer the advantage of much reduced computation per output sample. This paper derives an expression for the system error of such an implementation. This error consists of two components, one due to the approximation of the desired filtering characteristics and the other due to aliasing. An expression for the fixed point multiplication roundoff error is also derived. Design rules are suggested which fix the aliasing error at a specified level. Examples are given.
Cracked Elastic Bi-Material Layer Under Compressive Loads

The boundary value problem of an elastic bi-material layer containing a finite length crack under compressive mechanical loadings has been studied. The crack is located on the bi-material interface and the contact between crack surfaces is frictionless. Based on Fourier integral transformation techniques the solution of the formulated problem is reduced to the solution of singular integral equation, then, with Chebyshev`s orthogonal polynomials, to infinite system of linear algebraic equations. The expressions for contact stresses in the elastic compound layer are presented.
Molecular modeling of a thin film of polybenzoxazine

Atomistic polybenzoxazine (PBO) thin films of thickness ∼28 A were constructed in a vacuum from the bulk amorphous PBO by increasing one edge (the z-axis) of the cubic cell enough, 100 A, so that the atoms cannot interact with periodic images in this direction. The density profile with respect to the distance from the center of mass was obtained. The density drops rapidly at the distance of ∼7 A from the surface, and the density in the interior (1.05 g/cm 3 ) is slightly lower than the bulk density (1.1 g/cm 3 ). The average location of chain ends is ∼5 A from the surface. In the composition distribution profile, polar atoms are rich in the interior of the film while the nonpolar atoms are slightly enriched near the surfaces. The fraction of hydrogen bonds in the thin film was found to be slightly higher than that in the bulk. The predicted surface tension from the internal energy contribution is 46 ± 6 dyn/cm.
Functionally lateralised information processing and its allocation to response: inferences from three measures of letter identification performance following lateralised visual input.

Identification errors were analysed for single letters presented in each visual hemi-field. The kinds of errors occurring reflected both how the letters were made difficult to see, and the informational relationships among the possible stimulus letters. The particular pattern of errors was different in the two hemifields, with the direction of that difference suggesting the letters were better differentiated following left half-brain input. But this left-sided superiority in letter differentiation was only sometimes reflected in faster or more accurate responses overall. Instead, the extent of left-sided performance superiority in RT and accuracy depended in a complex way on the degree of difficulty of the task. This influence of task difficulty on the RT and accuracy measures of functional laterality was considered to reflect a greater or lesser allocation to response of the lateralised letter-differentiation process revealed by the errors analysis. The author is now at the Department of Otolaryngology, ...
Web-based system for surgical planning and simulation

The growing scientific knowledge and rapid progress in medical imaging techniques has led to an increasing demand for better and more efficient methods of remote access to high-performance computer facilities. This paper introduces a web-based telemedicine project that provides interactive tools for surgical simulation and planning. The presented approach makes use of client-server architecture based on new internet technology where clients use an ordinary web browser to view, send, receive and manipulate patients' medical records while the server uses the supercomputer facility to generate online semi-automatic segmentation, 3D visualization, surgical simulation/planning and neuroendoscopic procedures navigation. The supercomputer (SGI ONYX 1000) is located at the Computer Vision and Image Processing Lab, University of Louisville, Kentucky. This system is under development in cooperation with the Department of Neurological Surgery, Alliant Health Systems, Louisville, Kentucky. The server is connected via a network to the Picture Archiving and Communication System at Alliant Health Systems through a DICOM standard interface that enables authorized clients to access patients' images from different medical modalities.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Influence of maternal anthropometric status and birth weight on the risk of cesarean delivery

Objective To determine whether greater weight gain during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of cesarean delivery, and, if so, whether this effect is explained by the positive influence of weight gain on birth weight and if there is a threshold of pregnancy weight gain above which the risk of cesarean delivery is increased differentially. Methods We analyzed live births at Johns Hopkins Hospital for the period 1987–1989. A multiple logistic regression model was used to evaluate the risk of cesarean delivery recorded in the hospital's perinatal data base. Results The study sample contained 4346 patients, 1086 of whom delivered by cesarean. Associated independently with an increased risk of cesarean delivery were the following: 1) greater weight gain during pregnancy, 2) older maternal age, 3) greater maternal prepregnant body mass index, 4) maternal height of 1.57 m or less, 5) the diagnosis of preeclampsia during current pregnancy, and 6) carrying a fetus weighing more than 3591 g at birth. An additional risk factor for cesarean delivery was a fetus less than 2847 g at birth, with the risk more marked the lower the gestational age. Maternal height of 1.73 m or more and a history of at least one previous viable pregnancy were associated independently with a decreased risk of cesarean delivery. Conclusion The risk of cesarean delivery increases linearly with pregnancy weight gain, independent of birth weight. No specific threshold of weight gain can be determined above which the cesarean risk climbs more rapidly.
Creating homepages on the Web: an annotated bibliography of sources

As Internet usage continues to grow, the desire of individuals to create Web sites has also increased. This has led to the publication of materials on the various uses of Web pages and how to develop them. This annotated bibliography is a sampling of items published concerning HTML and homepages. The audience ranges from educators to businessmen to individuals who want to create a homepage. Materials that were selected for inclusion are in both traditional paper formats and those available on the Web.
MR and conventional angiography: work in progress toward assessing utility in radiology.

Rationale and Objectives. The authors assessed health-related quality of life changes associated with peripheral x-ray angiography and magnetic resonance (MR) angiography. Materials and Methods. Utility (the desirability or preference that individuals exhibit for a particular health state) was assessed in 30 patients with peripheral vascular disease referred for angiography by using a rating scale, additional categoric scaling questions to separate preference from experience, a willingness-to-pay technique, functional and cognitive status questions, and a time trade-off technique. All patients underwent both MR angiography and x-ray angiography. Results. Patients reported significantly (P Conclusion. X-ray angiography has more profound short-term adverse effects on quality of life than does MR angiography. Preference-based measures can be adapted to elicit patient values for short-term health states as seen in radiology.