cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distribution transformer models for branch current based feeder analysis

This paper proposes a new method to include distribution transformers in feeder analysis. The proposed method tailors the transformer models specifically for the branch current based feeder analysis method. The approach is general in that it can be used to represent any type of transformer. The analysis method is computationally very efficient and the paper shows that the proposed transformer models preserve the computational efficiency of this method. Transformer models in the branch current based method enables one to analyze distribution systems in more detail.
Ignoring individual differences in times of assessment in growth curve modeling

Researchers often collect longitudinal data to model change over time in a phenomenon of interest. Inevitably, there will be some variation across individuals in specific time intervals between assessments. In this simulation study of growth curve modeling, we investigate how ignoring individual differences in time points when modeling change over time relates to convergence and admissibility of solutions, bias in estimates of parameters, efficiency, power to detect change over time, and Type I error rate. We manipulated magnitude of the individual differences in assessment times, distribution of assessment times, magnitude of change over time, number of time points, and sample size. In contrast to the correct analysis, ignoring individual differences in time points frequently led to inadmissible solutions, especially with few time points and small samples, regardless of the specific magnitude of individual differences that were ignored. Mean intercept and slope were generally estimated without bias. Igno...
The Bacillus subtilis Conjugative Transposon ICEBs1 Mobilizes Plasmids Lacking Dedicated Mobilization Functions

Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs, also known as conjugative transposons) are mobile elements that are found integrated in a host genome and can excise and transfer to recipient cells via conjugation. ICEs and conjugative plasmids are found in many bacteria and are important agents of horizontal gene transfer and microbial evolution. Conjugative elements are capable of self-transfer and also capable of mobilizing other DNA elements that are not able to self-transfer. Plasmids that can be mobilized by conjugative elements are generally thought to contain an origin of transfer (oriT), from which mobilization initiates, and to encode a mobilization protein (Mob, a relaxase) that nicks a site in oriTand covalently attaches to the DNA to be transferred. Plasmids that do not have both an oriTand a cognatemobare thought to be nonmobilizable. We found that Bacillus subtiliscarrying the integrative and conjugative element ICEBs1can transfer three different plasmids to recipient bacteria at high frequencies. Strikingly, these plasmids do not have dedicated mobilization-oriTfunctions. Plasmid mobilization required conjugation proteins of ICEBs1, including the putative coupling protein. In contrast, plasmid mobilization did not require the ICEBs1conjugative relaxase or cotransfer of ICEBs1, indicating that the putative coupling protein likely interacts with the plasmid replicative relaxase and directly targets the plasmid DNA to the ICEBs1conjugation apparatus. These results blur the current categorization of mobilizable and nonmobilizable plasmids and indicate that conjugative elements play a role in horizontal gene transfer even more significant than previously recognized.
Spectral representation of fractional Brownian motion in n dimensions and its properties

Fractional Brownian motion (fBm) provides a useful model for processes with strong long-term dependence, such as 1/f/sup /spl beta// spectral behavior. However, fBm's are nonstationary processes so that the interpretation of such a spectrum is still a matter of speculation. To facilitate the study of this problem, another model is provided for the construction of fBm from a white-noise-like process by means of a stochastic or Ito integral in frequency of a stationary uncorrelated random process. Also a generalized power spectrum of the nonstationary fBm process is defined. This new approach to fBm can be used to compute all of the correlations, power spectra, and other properties of fBm. In this paper, a number of these fBm properties are developed from this model such as the T/sup H/ law of scaling, the power law of fractional order, the correlation of two arbitrary fBm's, and the evaluation of the fractal dimension under various transformations. This new treatment of fBm using a spectral representation is extended also, for the first time, to two or more topological dimensions in order to analyze the features of isotropic n-dimensional fBm. >
Mild Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Long-Term Child Health

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether treatment of mild gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) confers sustained offspring health benefits, including a lower frequency of obesity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Follow-up study of children (ages 5–10) of women enrolled in a multicenter trial of treatment versus no treatment of mild GDM. Height, weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol were measured. RESULTS Five hundred of 905 eligible offspring (55%) were enrolled. Maternal baseline characteristics were similar between the follow-up treated and untreated groups. The frequencies of BMI ≥95th (20.8% and 22.9%) and 85th (32.6% and 38.6%) percentiles were not significantly different in treated versus untreated offspring ( P = 0.69 and P = 0.26). No associations were observed for BMI z score, log waist circumference, log triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, or log HOMA estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The effect of treatment was different by sex for fasting glucose and log HOMA-IR ( P for interaction = 0.002 and 0.02, respectively) but not by age-group (5–6 and 7–10 years) for any outcomes. Female offspring of treated women had significantly lower fasting glucose levels. CONCLUSIONS Although treatment for mild GDM has been associated with neonatal benefits, no reduction in childhood obesity or metabolic dysfunction in the offspring of treated women was found. However only female offspring of women treated for mild GDM had lower fasting glucose.
A note on the TE/TM decomposition of electromagnetic fields in three dimensional homogeneous space

Conditions on the metric coefficients are derived in order for a three-dimensional electromagnetic field in a source free homogeneous space to be decomposed into transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) parts. The relationship between scalar and vector potentials and the equation satisfied by the vector potential component are also given.
The Time of Metabolism: NAD+, SIRT1, and the Circadian Clock

The mammalian cell contains a molecular clock that contributes, within each organism, to circadian rhythms and variety of physiological and metabolic processes. The clock machinery is constituted by interwined transcriptional-translational feedback loops that, through the action of specific transcription factors, modulate the expression of clock-controlled genes. These oscillations in gene expression necessarily implicate events of chromatin remodeling on a relatively large, global scale, considering that as many 10% of cellular transcripts oscillate in a circadian manner. CLOCK, a transcription factor crucial for circadian function, has intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity and operates within a large nuclear complex with other chromatin remodelers. CLOCK directs the cyclic acetylation of the histone H3 and of its own partner BMAL1. A search for the histone deacetylase (HDAC) that counterbalanced CLOCK activity revealed that SIRT1, a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+))-dependent HDAC, functions in a circadian manner. Importantly, SIRT1 is a regulator of several metabolic processes and was found to interact with CLOCK and to be recruited to circadian promoters in a cyclic manner. As many transcripts that oscillate in mammalian peripheral tissues encode proteins that have central roles in metabolic processes, these findings establish a functional and molecular link among energy balance, chromatin remodeling, and circadian physiology.
Bringing CLARITY to gray matter atrophy

Gray matter atrophy has been shown to be a strong correlate to clinical disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its most commonly used animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, the relationship between gray mater atrophy and the spinal cord pathology often observed in EAE has never been established. Here EAE was induced in Thy1.1-YFP mice and their brains imaged using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The brains and spinal cords were subsequently optically cleared using Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridized Rigid Imaging-compatible Tissue-hYdrogel (CLARITY). Axons were followed 5mm longitudinally in three dimensions in intact spinal cords revealing that 61% of the axons exhibited a mean of 22 axonal ovoids and 8% of the axons terminating in axonal end bulbs. In the cerebral cortex, we observed a decrease in the mean number of layer V pyramidal neurons and a decrease in the mean length of the apical dendrites of the remaining neurons, compared to healthy controls. MRI analysis demonstrated decreased cortical volumes in EAE. Cross-modality correlations revealed a direct relationship between cortical volume loss and axonal end bulb number in the spinal cord, but not ovoid number. This is the first report of the use of CLARITY in an animal model of disease and the first report of the use of both CLARITY and MRI.
Public Service Motivation (PSM) and Support for Citizen Participation: A Test of Perry and Vandenabeele’s Reformulation of PSM Theory

This article examines how public service motivation (PSM) relates to public managers’ attitudes toward citizen participation. Perry and Vandenabeele suggest that PSM effects are moderated and/or mediated by self-regulation and by the salience of an activity to self-identity. Using data from Phase IV of the National Administrative Studies Project, latent model results suggest a direct, positive relationship between PSM and citizen participation evaluation. The relationship is not mediated by value congruence but rather is moderated by the perceived importance of the organization’s citizen participation efforts. The moderating effect has three interpretations: (1) PSM has a stronger relationship to evaluation as citizen participation becomes more important in the agency; (2) at low and medium PSM levels, the greater the importance of citizen participation, the lower its evaluation; or (3) at high PSM levels, the greater the importance of citizen participation, the higher its evaluation. This suggests that PSM is more germane for activities such as citizen participation, invoking relevant values as perceived organizational commitment increases.
Le Club Med: L’idéalisme d’une époque

Cet article montre que la creation des villages du Club Med dans le pourtour mediterraneen est due a la philosophie d’un homme visionnaire Gerard Blitz aide du genie pratique de Gilbert Trigano. Le Club proposa une nouvelle maniere de vivre ses vacances et faconna un etat d’esprit « club », qui privilegiait les relations humaines. Ces societes ephemeres, produits de l’apres guerre, relevaient d’un modele rousseauiste conforte d’images vehiculees en France de Tahiti et ses habitants. Nous verrons comment les villages de vacances du Club Med fonctionnaient et j’etablirai un lien, certes superficiel, avec les kibboutzim, ces communautes collectivistes populaires a cette epoque, qui avait aussi vu la creation de l’etat juif d’Israel.
A retrospective analysis of the management of parapneumonic empyemas in a county teaching facility from 1992 to 2004.

Objectives: To characterize how patients with empyemas are managed initially at our facility and to determine how “less aggressive” treatments ( eg , no drainage, repeat thoracentesis, or tube thoracostomy) affect short-term outcomes ( ie , inpatient mortality and the need for a second intervention) compared to “more aggressive” treatments ( eg , intrapleural fibrinolytic agents, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, or other surgery). We will also assess whether earlier diagnosis, earlier antibiotic treatment, fewer patient comorbidities, and consulting appropriate services improve mortality. Design: Retrospective chart analysis. Setting: County teaching hospital in Los Angeles, CA. Patients: Seventy-two adult inpatients with parapneumonic empyemas. Interventions: Mortality and the need for second intervention rates were calculated and compared with data published in the 2000 American College of Chest Physicians consensus statement on the management of parapneumonic effusions using the Fisher exact test. Comparisons were made between empyema survivors and nonsurvivors using t tests and χ 2 tests. Results: All 72 patients were managed with less aggressive initial treatments. There were no differences in mortality when our patients were compared to the less aggressive group from the literature (6% vs 9%, respectively; p = 0.40; relative risk, 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23 to 1.62) or the more aggressive group from the literature (6% vs 3%, respectively; p = 0.29; relative risk, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.64 to 5.23). There was no difference between the second intervention rate of our patients and that of the less aggressive group from the literature (47% vs 43%, respectively; p = 0.47; relative risk, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.42), although there was a difference when compared to the more aggressive group (47% vs 11%, respectively; p Conclusions: Patients with empyemas at our hospital are treated with less aggressive initial treatments and have a higher second intervention rate when compared to patients described in the literature who were initially managed with more aggressive treatments.
Mechanical Properties of Cotton Fibers and Their Response to Mercerization1

Fifty fibers from twelve widely different cottons were mercerized by a single fiber mercerization treatment at 0.1 g. tension. The changes in the fiber extensibility prop erties brought about by this treatment were related to the degree of fibrillar orientation as estimated by the initial Young's modulus of elasticity. Although the fiber strength was increased by this treatment, no relationship was found between the magnitude of this increase and the degree of orientation.Three of the cottons were mercerized at several tension levels ranging from no tension to 1.0 g. tension. The changes in fiber mechanical properties due to mercerization were found to be highly dependent upon the tension exerted on the fiber during the treatment. A tension of 0.1-0.2 g. appears to be the proper restraining force to overcome the tendency of cotton fibers to shrink during mercerization.
GaAs planar-doped barrier vacuum microelectronic electron emitters

A novel vacuum microelectronic electron emitter has been demonstrated in GaAs by using a planar-doped-barrier (PDB) structure. Emitted electrons are collected in high vacuum by a tantalum anode placed approximately 1 mm away from the emitter surface. Surface passivation with (NH/sub 4/)/sub 2/S/sub x/ followed by in situ heating in vacuum has been used to obtain an atomically clean surface. An emission current density of 0.42 A-cm/sup -2/ and an efficiency of 0.3% have been obtained from a 60 mu m*60 mu m emission region with an anode bias of 100 V. >
Tim23, a Protein Import Component of the Mitochondrial Inner Membrane, Is Required for Normal Activity of the Multiple Conductance Channel, MCC

We previously showed that the conductance of a mitochondrial inner membrane channel, called MCC, was specifically blocked by peptides corresponding to mitochondrial import signals. To determine if MCC plays a role in protein import, we examined the relationship between MCC and Tim23p, a component of the protein import complex of the mitochondrial inner membrane. We find that antibodies against Tim23p, previously shown to inhibit mitochondrial protein import, inhibit MCC activity. We also find that MCC activity is altered in mitochondria isolated from yeast carrying the tim23-1 mutation. In contrast to wild-type MCC, we find that the conductance of MCC from the tim23-1 mutant is not significantly blocked by mitochondrial presequence peptides. Tim23 antibodies and the tim23-1 mutation do not, however, alter the activity of PSC, a presequence-peptide sensitive channel in the mitochondrial outer membrane. Our results show that Tim23p is required for normal MCC activity and raise the possibility that precursors are translocated across the inner membrane through the pore of MCC.
Performance enhancement of EDCA access mechanism of IEEE 802.11e wireless LAN

IEEE 802. lie has a new coordination function, which has both contention-based and contention-free medium access methods, in order to support applications with Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. The contention-based MAC protocol, Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) supports QoS; however, it cannot guarantee strict QoS required by real-time applications without proper tuning of QoS parameters and network control mechanisms. In this paper we adjust QoS parameters trading off between call admission control and rate control to enhance the EDCA access mechanism of IEEE 802.11e wireless LAN. Performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed using an OPNET modeler 12.0.
Toward improved characterization of remotely sensed precipitation regimes with MODIS/AMSR-E blended data techniques

The multispectral sensing capabilities afforded by the 36-channel Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua satellites have the potential to improve satellite-derived cloud and precipitation products. Included in this channel suite are spectral bands having particular sensitivity to both cloud vertical distribution and near cloud-top microphysics. EOS Aqua, the local afternoon crossing satellite, carries in addition to MODIS the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E), a conically scanning passive microwave (PMW) instrument with 12 channels between 6.9 and 89 GHz. While limited by revisit time from low-earth orbit, Aqua provides an ideal test bed for investigating high refresh-rate, geostationary-based blended PMW/optical-spectrum techniques related to improved cloud characterization and precipitation. As the need for improved subdaily quantitative precipitation analysis has grown in recent years, blended-satellite techniques have taken on added relevance. In this paper, we present an application of the MODIS/AMSR-E sensor combination related to potential improvements to the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)-developed blended-satellite precipitation technique, involving the characterization of cirrus clouds. The presence of cirrus clouds above and nearby to both convective and stratiform precipitation imposes a limit to the utilization of longwave (>10 /spl mu/m wavelength) thermal infrared channels for precipitation techniques. The established "split window" technique involving the 11-12-/spl mu/m brightness temperature difference (BTD) perform well for thin cirrus. We demonstrate that the 1.38- /spl mu/m channel (and the 3.7-11-/spl mu/m BTD at night) on MODIS, when combined with additional channels, is capable of decoupling thin surrounding cirrus from thicker ice clouds. This information may be useful for screening thin cirrus that is often falsely interpreted as light precipitation. Radiative transfer simulations are used to demonstrate the theoretical basis for the selected multispectral channel combinations, and examples involving daytime and nighttime Aqua overpasses are presented.
Reticuloendotheliosis virus nucleic acid sequences in cellular DNA.

Abstract Reticuloendotheliosis virus 60S RNA labeled with 125I, or reticuloendotheliosis virus complementary DNA labeled with 3H, were hybridized to DNAs from infected chicken and pheasant cells. Most of the sequences of the viral RNA were found in the infected cell DNAs. The reticuloendotheliosis viruses, therefore, replicate through a DNA intermediate. The same labeled nucleic acids were hybridized to DNA of uninfected chicken, pheasant, quail, turkey, and duck. About 10% of the sequences of reticuloendotheliosis virus RNA were present in the DNA of uninfected chicken, pheasant, quail, and turkey. None were detected in DNA of duck. The specificity of the hybridization was shown by competition between unlabeled and 125I-labeled viral RNAs and by determination of melting temperatures. In contrast, 125I-labeled RNA of Rous-associated virus-O, an avian leukosis-sarcoma virus, hybridized 55% to DNA of uninfected chicken, 20% to DNA of uninfected pheasant, 15% to DNA of uninfected quail, 10% to DNA of uninfected turkey, and less than 1% to DNA of uninfected duck.
Design and analysis of product networks

In this paper a unified theory of Cartesian product networks is developed. Product networks (PN) include meshes, tori, and hypercubes among others. This paper studies the fundamental issues of topological properties, cost-performance ratio optimization, scalability, routing, embedding, and fault tolerance properties of PNs. In particular, the degree, diameter, average distance, connectivity, and node-symmetry of PNs are related to those of their constituent factor networks. Cost/performance analysis and comparison between different PNs, especially n-dimensional meshes/tori and n-dimensional r-ary hypercubes, are conducted, and the optimal trade-off between the number of dimensions and the size along each dimension are identified. Fast generic algorithms for point-to-point routing, broadcasting and permuting on PNs are designed, making use of the corresponding algorithms of the factor networks. Finally, efficient embeddings on PNs are constructed for linear arrays, rings, meshes, tori and trees. >
Influence of ribose on adenine salvage after intense muscle contractions

The influence of ribose supplementation on skeletal muscle adenine salvage rates during recovery from intense contractions and subsequent muscle performance was evaluated using an adult rat perfuse...
RN-MSN admission practices and curricula in the mid-Atlantic region.

Abstract Nurse educators are increasingly sensitive to the differences in learning needs of adult students in comparison to the traditional generic student and to the demand for advanced practice nurses. For these reasons, the number and type of accelerated programs has increased. There is very little in the literature related to RN-MSN programs. To determine the state of RN-MSN education, a descriptive exploratory study was conducted to examine admission and curricular requirements for RN-MSN nursing programs in the mid-Atlantic region. The findings reveal a wide variety of educational practices. Over 74 percent of responding programs indicated that challenge exams are used to accelerate students' progress; 59 percent reported participating in statewide articulation agreements. Credit requirements for core and major courses were found to vary dramatically, as do credits required to earn the BSN-MSN credential; the average number of credits for program completion was 127. GPA requirements for admission ra...
No reflow and the quest to achieve optimal perfusion during the acute phase of myocardial infarction

Improved survival in the acute phase of myocardial infarction (MI) is directly related to the speed at which the occluded infarct-related epicardial artery can be recanalized after symptom onset, the degree of patency achieved, and the quality of restoration of blood flow to the microcirculation and
PMSG Induction of C-Fos and C-Myc Proteins Within Granulosa Cells of Immature Rat Ovaries

In order for gonadotropins to stimulate granulosa cells, they must first bind to their respective receptors which are located on the surface membrane (1). This binding initiates a cascade of yet undefined events which ultimately leads to a signal being sent to the nucleus which, in turn, induces mitosis and steroidogenesis. These two physiological processes could be the result of differential activation of “mitogenic” and “steroidogenic” gene systems.
Hackl V. Commissioner - Right Answer, But Unclear Reasoning

Professor Jerry A. Kasner reviews a recent Tax Court opinion, Hackl v. Commissioner, involving present interests and concludes that while the court reached the right result, the reasoning was somewhat perplexing.
Do Smoking Bans Improve Neonatal Health

Research Objective To estimate the effects of smoking bans on neonatal health outcomes and maternal smoking behavior during pregnancy. Data Sources Restricted-use 1991–2009 Natality Detail Files, a Clean Air Dates Table Report, and the Tax Burden of Tobacco. Study Design A quasi-experimental study using difference-in-differences estimation based on legislative history of smoking restrictions or bans by type/place/county/state level. Dependent variables included average monthly percentage of healthy neonates, of term neonates born with low and very low birth weight, of premature births, of maternal smokers, and average number of cigarettes smoked daily during pregnancy. The analyses were restricted to singleton births and those that occurred in the same county as mother's county of residence. Data Collection/Extraction Methods The data from three data sources were combined using Federal Information Processing Standard codes. Principal Findings Results of the overall and stratified by maternal smoking status, educational level, and age regression analyses suggested no appreciable effect of smoking bans on neonatal health. Smoking bans had also no effect on maternal smoking behavior. Conclusion While there are health benefits to the general population from smoking bans, their effects on neonatal health outcomes and maternal smoking during pregnancy seem to be limited.
From substituent effects to applications: enhancing the optical response of a four-component assembly for reporting ee values

High-throughput screening for asymmetric catalysts has stimulated an interest in optically-based enantiomeric-excess (ee) sensors, primarily for their improved time and cost efficiency when compared to the standard HPLC analysis. We present herein substituent-effect studies on a recently reported Zn(II) multicomponent assembly that is used for chiral, secondary alcohol ee determination. The systematic altering of assemblies formed from select substituted pyridyl ligands pointed to the conclusion that steric effects dominate the mode of interaction at the pyridyl 3- and 6-positions. From these results we identified a new Zn(II)-centered multicomponent assembly with a higher dynamic range than previously reported. Calibration curves of the CD signals resulting from the new assembly led to an ee assay with a 1.7% error. To further the utility of the new assembly, a correlation was developed between alcohol substituent size to the respective enantiopure CD value.
ARAPrototyper: Enabling Rapid Prototyping and Evaluation for Accelerator-Rich Architecture (Abstact Only)

Compared to conventional general-purpose processors, accelerator-rich architectures (ARAs) can provide orders-of-magnitude performance and energy gains. In this paper we design and implement the ARAPrototyper to enable rapid design space explorations for ARAs in real silicons and reduce the tedious prototyping efforts. First, ARAPrototyper provides a reusable baseline prototype with a highly customizable memory system, including interconnect between accelerators and buffers, interconnect between buffers and last-level cache (LLC) or DRAM, coherency choice at LLC or DRAM, and address translation support. To provide more insights into performance analysis, ARAPrototyper adds several performance counters on the accelerator side and leverages existing performance counters on the CPU side. Second, ARAPrototyper provides a clean interface to quickly integrate a user?s own accelerators written in high-level synthesis (HLS) code. Then, an ARA prototype can be automatically generated and mapped to a Xilinx Zynq SoC. To quickly develop applications that run seamlessly on the ARA prototype, ARAPrototyper provides a system software stack and abstracts the accelerators as software libraries for application developers. Our results demonstrate that ARAPrototyper enables a wide range of design space explorations for ARAs at manageable prototyping efforts and 4,000 to 10,000X faster evaluation time than full-system simulations. We believe that ARAPrototyper can be an attractive alternative for ARA design and evaluation.
The Revival of the Rule of Law in the Wake of Civil War

Post-conflict governance poses particular challenges to governments and foreign assistance providers. We focus on the question of how — and whether the rule of law is reconstituted in the wake of civil conflict. We find evidence that the state of the rule of law prior to and during a conflict substantially predicts the reconstitution of the rule of law post conflict. We further find that foreign intervention has a positive influence on the rule of law post conflict and that wars which end with a truth or settlement are associated with better rule of law post conflict than those resolved through victories by either government or rebel forces.
Distribution-free confidence intervals for a parameter of Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney type for ordered categories and progressive censoring

Halperin, Gilbert, and Lachin (1987, Biometrics 43, 71-80) obtain confidence intervals for Pr(X less than Y) based on the two-sample Wilcoxon statistic for continuous data. Their approach is applied here to ordered categorical data and right-censored continuous data, using the generalization zeta = Pr(X less than Y) + 1/2Pr(X = Y) to account for ties. Deviations from nominal coverage probability for various sample sizes and values of zeta are obtained via simulation of either three or six ordered categories based on underlying Poisson or exponential distributions. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method performs quite well, and it is apparently superior to the approach of Hochberg (1981, Communications in Statistics--Theory and Methods A10, 1719-1732) for values of zeta far from 1/2.
Oxcarbazepine in Paroxysmal Dyskinesia

Four unrelated children (ages 8, 9, 16 and 17 years) with idiopathic paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia responding to low dose oxcarbazepine are reported from the Department of Pediatric Neurology, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI.
Omalizumab: a recombinant humanized anti-IgE antibody for allergic asthma.

PURPOSE: The pharmacology, efficacy, dosage, adverse events, and economics of omalizumab are discussed. SUMMARY: Omalizumab, a recombinant DNA-derived humanized monoclonal antibody, binds to the C epsilon3 domain of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and forms complexes that inhibit the immune system's response to allergens by averting IgE-mediated inflammatory changes. Omalizumab exhibits a similar pharmacokinetic profile in adults, adolescents, and children. Omalizumab is indicated for adults and adolescents with moderate to severe persistent asthma who have a positive skin test or in vitro reactivity to a perennial aeroallergen and whose symptoms are inadequately controlled with inhaled corticosteroids. Because of the limited data regarding the safety and effectiveness of omalizumab in children, the drug is indicated for patients 12 years of age or older. The recommended starting dosage is 150-375 mg s.c. every two or four weeks. Dosages and frequency of dose administration are determined by total serum IgE level, measured before the start of treatment, and body weight. Omalizumab is generally well tolerated in adults and children with allergic asthma. Adverse events most commonly observed are injection-site reaction, viral infection, upper-respiratory-tract infection, sinusitis, headache, and pharyngitis. Three large phase III clinical trials demonstrated that omalizumab is more effective than placebo in controlling moderate to severe allergic asthma in patients who have poor disease control or exacerbations despite recommended therapy. Currently, there are no clinical comparisons of omalizumab with other standard treatments for asthma; therefore, it is difficult to determine its overall place in therapy. CONCLUSION: Omalizumab should be considered as a second-line therapy for patients with moderate to severe persistent allergic asthma.
Dyspnea and cough in keeper of pet pigeon.

(1984). Dyspnea and Cough in Keeper of Pet Pigeon. Hospital Practice: Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 204-222.
Academic performance in the 1st year and its relationship with admission variables in medical schools. Comparative study

Chilean universities employ a common admission scoring system for students, based on high school grades, mathematic and verbal academic aptitude tests, and specific biology and social sciences tests. Aiming to know the predictive values of these tests, the standardized scores obtained in the selection tests and academic performance of 1094 first year medical students, admitted in 1989 and 1990 to six universities, were analyzed. These students obtained high admission scores and their academic performance during the first year was low (mean grades ranged from 4.6 +/- 0.6 to 5.28 +/- 0.5 in different universities for a scale from 1 to 7). In all, except one university there was a correlation between admission scores and academic performance. Multiple regression analysis showed that admission scores explained a 13% of performance and that the parameters with better predictive value were high school grades, biology test and mathematics academic aptitude test. Verbal academic aptitude test did not have a predictive value.
Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside

The cryosphere offers access to preserved organisms that persisted under past environmental conditions. In fact, these frozen materials could reflect conditions over vast time periods and investigation of biological materials harbored inside could provide insight of ancient environments. To appropriately analyze these ecosystems and extract meaningful biological information from frozen soils and ice, proper collection and processing of the frozen samples is necessary. This is especially critical for microbial and DNA analyses since the communities present may be so uniquely different from modern ones. Here, a protocol is presented to successfully collect and decontaminate frozen cores. Both the absence of the colonies used to dope the outer surface and exogenous DNA suggest that we successfully decontaminated the frozen cores and that the microorganisms detected were from the material, rather than contamination from drilling or processing the cores.
Money Matters: How Red Versus Black Prices Impact Savings Perception Under Financial Scarcity

Recent research shows that the impact of red (vs. black) prices on store savings perception is moderated by gender. This paper investigates the interaction between colored prices (red vs. black) and financial scarcity (high vs. low) on perception of savings. With about 50 % of consumers having less than 3 months worth of funds to cover their monthly expenses, further investigation on the moderating effect of financial scarcity is important since bias in price evaluations could cause adverse financial consequences for those already experiencing financial hardship. This research reports findings from two experiments that assessed the relationship between colored prices and financial scarcity. These studies revealed that high financial scarcity individuals perceived greater savings with red prices relative to black prices, whereas low financial scarcity individuals did not (studies 1 and 2). High financial scarcity participants appeared to use the associations they had with red prices as a heuristic such that associations related to sales/discounts resulted in higher perception of savings.
Effects of Acidification and Processing Variables on Thermal Inactivation of Bacillus Coagulans Spores in Meat Particulates

The effects of fat content, degree of emulsification and pH on the thermal inactivation of Bacillus coagulans spores dispersed in discrete frankfurter particulates within suspending media were evaluated using retort processing with agitation. Frankfurter particulates with fat contents of 12 and 26% displayed no significant differences (p>0.25) in spore inactivation rates when retort processed at 105°C. Emulsification levels differing by the amount of time the fatty pork was chopped into the lean meat portion also produced no significant differences (p>0.25) in spore inactivation rates. Preacidification of the particulates suspended in acidic pectin solutions did significantly increase the rate of spore inactivation (p 0.10) when preacidified frankfurter particulates were suspended in slower heating tomato sauces.
Right Hemicolectomy and Ileocecectomy: Laparoscopic Approach

In this chapter, we will review the laparoscopic technique to perform a right hemicolectomy and ileocecectomy. There are many variations to this technique, and we will simplify the operation by dividing it into seven basic steps. A laparoscopic medial to lateral approach will be utilized to illustrate the seven steps of a right hemicolectomy. Alternatives to the medial to lateral approach including inferior to superior approach and lateral to medial approach will also be reviewed. Hand-assisted laparoscopy, single-port laparoscopy, and robotic surgery will be covered here but will be reviewed in more detail in other chapters of this book. In closing, a few difficult scenarios and complications will be discussed, and tips and tricks for dealing with them will be reviewed.
Improving land use inference by factorizing mobile phone call activity matrix

ABSTRACTLand use is shaped by human activities. Traditional methods of measuring land uses (e.g. surveys and remote sensing techniques) often have difficulties in capturing human activities. The near-ubiquitous coverage of mobile phones opens up a new way to investigate land use through human activities. We propose to analyze land use by characterizing human activity patterns based on the aggregated call volume, and apply non-negative matrix factorization to identify fundamental behavioral classes. Using tower-based call data from Dakar, Senegal, we discover two fundamental land use patterns: commercial/business/industrial (C/B/I) and residential. Then, the land use of the reception area of each cell tower can be inferred based on the weights obtained for each basis vector. To evaluate the proposed approach, the results are compared with two points-of-interest (POI) data sets obtained from OpenStreetMap and Facebook’s Graph API. We have found that a majority of POIs like embassies, offices, and hotels are...
A new way to estimate the direct and indirect rebound effect and other rebound indicators

Abstract Some progress has been done during the last years on the methods and provision of empirical evidence on the direct and indirect rebound effect. However, these methods are complex, and sometimes require some specific economic knowledge. The development of risk and vulnerability rebound indicators for economies can be a useful tool to help the research community, policy-makers and other practitioners to understand and tackle the rebound effect. This research shows a new analytical way to obtain the direct and indirect rebound effect from the direct rebound effect and the use of energy input-output coefficients, and proposes three risk and vulnerability rebound indicators to show the effects of energy efficiency improvements in households on overall energy consumption. An estimation of these indicators has been conducted for the EU-27 countries.
Mitochondrial antiviral signaling molecule-mediated mitochondrial calcium regulates CD8 T cell function during acute virus infection (VIR6P.1163)

MAVS is a crucial adaptor molecule through which RIG-I-like receptors (RLR)s signal to mediate downstream innate antiviral and inflammatory responses. However a role for MAVS in directly programming adaptive immunity has not been defined. Here we identified a cell-intrinsic role for MAVS in programming CD8 T cells following virus infection. We utilized a mouse model of acute Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection to define the actions of adoptively transferred WT or MAVS deficient CD8 T cells. Lack of MAVS lead to defects in CD8 T cell expansion as well as function as measured by cytokine and cytotoxic T cell effector molecule production but these parameters were not deficient in double knockout mice lacking the RLRs MDA5 and RIG-I. We identified defects in total cytoplasmic calcium, mitochondrial calcium as well as mitochondrial membrane potential in MAVS-/- CD8 T cells in vivo . We found that the inflammatory conditions of LCMV -induced cell proliferation place a metabolic load on CD8 T cells and their mitochondria such that the absence of MAVS lead to defects in mitochondrial calcium independently of the RLRs. Importantly, the MAVS defect associated with defective nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 (NFATc1) activation and consequently decreased IL-2 production. Our study assigns a cell-intrinsic role for MAVS in regulating adaptive immunity following viral infection by means of regulating mitochondrial calcium and thereby affecting T cell fitness.
Nanotechnology Strategies To Advance Outcomes in Clinical Cancer Care

Ongoing research into the application of nanotechnology for cancer treatment and diagnosis has demonstrated its advantages within contemporary oncology as well as its intrinsic limitations. The National Cancer Institute publishes the Cancer Nanotechnology Plan every 5 years since 2005. The most recent iteration helped codify the ongoing basic and translational efforts of the field and displayed its breadth with several evolving areas. From merely a technological perspective, this field has seen tremendous growth and success. However, an incomplete understanding of human cancer biology persists relative to the application of nanoscale materials within contemporary oncology. As such, this review presents several evolving areas in cancer nanotechnology in order to identify key clinical and biological challenges that need to be addressed to improve patient outcomes. From this clinical perspective, a sampling of the nano-enabled solutions attempting to overcome barriers faced by traditional therapeutics and di...
Propagation of Free-Interface Substructure Uncertainty into System Test-Analysis Correlation

As space structures become larger and more complex, ground based vibration tests of the entire spacecraft become either problematic or impossible. Instead, the spacecraft is tested and validated only at the substructure level. The substructure tests are usually performed in a simulated free-free configuration for simplicity and accuracy. A methodology is presented for studying the effects of uncertainty on metrics used for test-analysis correlation of complex spacecraft that are validated on a substructure-by-substructure basis. The objective is to quantify the level of accuracy required at the substructure level to produce acceptable accuracy at the system level. This is done by propagating uncertainty in test-analysis correlation metrics from free-free substructure vibration tests into uncertainty in synthesized system correlation metrics. The correlation uncertainty in each substructure can either be prescribed, for the purpose of numerical experimentation, or it may be available from existing substructure test data. Linear covariance propagation is used to propagate the substructure modal matrix uncertainty into the uncertainty in the corresponding Craig-Bampton substructure representations. Linear covariance propagation is then used again to propagate the substructure uncertainties into the full system modal matrices. The uncertainties in the system correlation metrics are then extracted from the modal matrix uncertainties to determine the impact of uncertainty at the substructure level. Organizations, such as NASA and the Air Force make critical decisions on spacecraft performance and survivability based on the results of test-analysis correlation metrics. In order to ensure the success of finite element model validation where there is no system level test, uncertainty in the substructures must be propagated into the system level correlation metrics. It is believed that the method presented in this paper offers a unique and efficient approach for the required uncertainty propagation.
Nutritional Challenges of Girls and Women

Physical demands of females with regard to reproductive function and child-bearing affect nutrition, appetite, and weight regulation. Nutrition and reproductive interactions may have both acute and long-lasting affects on female health that are distinct from that of men. Cultural and social factors emphasizing gender-specific roles, body shape, and weight in females increase risk of disordered eating, eating disorders, and likelihood that women will seek medical and nonmedical management of weight. Neural and hormonal regulation of appetite varies between males and females and within females at different stages in the lifespan; it may affect success of nutritional and medical management of weight and appetite. The female “athlete” triad, a condition involving amenorrhea, disordered eating (usually restrictive), and osteoporosis, is most often recognized in female athletes due to activity-associated pain and stress fractures, but also occurs in more sedentary girls and women. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition often associated with overweight and obesity, insulin resistance and resulting glucose intolerance, carbohydrate craving, and eating disorders. This condition may benefit from nutrition-related lifestyle changes along with drug treatment (sibutramine, metformin, etc.). Women may seek advice regarding nutritional supplements for relief of peri- and postmenopausal symptoms in addition to or as surrogate for hormone replacement therapy.
Numerically Optimized Coronagraph Designs for the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) Concept

The primary science goal of the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx), one of four candidate flagship missions under investigation, is to image and spectrally characterize Earth-like exoplanets. It is well known that pupil obscurations degrade coronagraphic performance and complicate coronagraph design, so HabEx is planned to have an off-axis, unobscured primary mirror. We utilize the circular symmetry of the aperture to investigate 1D-radial coronagraph optimization methods that are prohibitively time-consuming or intractable in 2D, such as diffractive pupil remapping and concurrent, multi-plane optimization. We also directly constrain sensitivities to dynamic, low-order Zernike aberrations, which are separable in polar coordinates and can thus be propagated as 1D-radial integrals. The mask technologies in our designs claim heritage from the extensive modeling and testbed experiments performed by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) project. In this paper, we detail our optimization methods and outline future work to complete our design survey.