cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Cannabis Use Disorders: A Review of the Literature

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. Despite the fact that there are large numbers of people with cannabis dependence, relatively little attention has been paid to the treatment of this condition. This article seeks to critically review the existing literature about the various psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments of cannabis dependence. We begin with a discussion of the early treatment literature which draws primarily from anecdotal experience and open, uncontrolled trials and proceed through two recent, large, randomized controlled trials of psychotherapies for the treatment of cannabis dependence. We conclude that while a number of psychotherapies have been found to be effective in treating this disorder, with the exception of adding vouchers to reinforce negative urine toxicology screens, no form of psychotherapy has been found to be more effective than any other. In addition, we review the only two clinical pharmacotherapy trials for cannabis dependence as well as the pre-clinical laboratory pharmacotherapy trials in cannabis dependent individuals. We also review pertinent dual-diagnosis pharmacotherapy trials and discuss potential future directions in treatment research for the pharmacotherapy of cannabis dependence.
Navy Fiber Optic Standards and Specifications

Fiber optics is a new, rapidly developing technology that has the potential for improving the survivability and combat effectiveness of the Navy's ships and aircraft. Fiber optics is quickly finding potential application in almost every type of military weapon system, and the number of applications is growing daily. The Navy's requirements for fiber optics cover a wide range of applications, including data transfer, guidance and control, machinery control, damage control, communication, and sensing. This paper will discuss why fiber optics is important to the Navy, how the technology is being used, the status of fiber optic standards, and the mission of the Navy's new Fiber Optics Standardization Office.
Vascular endothelial growth factor-stimulated actin reorganization and migration of endothelial cells is regulated via the serine/threonine kinase Akt

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and actin reorganization, all necessary components of an angiogenic response. However, the distinct signal transduction mechanisms leading to each angiogenic phenotype are not known. In this study, we examined the ability of VEGF to stimulate cell migration and actin rearrangement in microvascular endothelial cells infected with adenoviruses encoding beta-galactosidase (beta-gal), activation-deficient Akt (AA-Akt), or constitutively active Akt (myr-Akt). VEGF increased cell migration in cells transduced with beta-gal, whereas AA-Akt blocked VEGF-induced cell locomotion. Interestingly, myr-Akt transduction of bovine lung microvascular endothelial cells stimulated cytokinesis in the absence of VEGF, suggesting that constitutively active Akt, per se, can initiate the process of cell migration. Treatment of beta-gal-infected endothelial cells with an inhibitor of NO synthesis blocked VEGF-induced migration but did not influence migration initiated by myr-Akt. In addition, VEGF stimulated remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton into stress fibers, a response abrogated by infection with dominant-negative Akt, whereas transduction with myr-Akt alone caused profound reorganization of F-actin. Collectively, these data demonstrate that Akt is critically involved in endothelial cell signal transduction mechanisms leading to migration and that the Akt/endothelial NO synthase pathway is necessary for VEGF-stimulated cell migration.
Dual Enrollment in the Broader Context of College-Level High School Programs.

What are the considerations when offering Advanced Placement or dual enrollment courses? In this chapter, researchers examine the history, structure, benefits, and challenges of each program in order to encourage schools and communities to think about the right fit when selecting a college-level transition program.
Quantitative Approach to Humic Acid Associations.

An association index based on the fluorescence anisotropy of a diphenyloxazole probe is introduced as a quantitative parameter for the estimation of the associations of humic acid with nonpolar organic compounds. The variations of the index were consistent with the behavior of dissolved humic acids in response to solution conditions. These included salt concentration, pH, humic acid concentration, probe concentration, and type of humic acid. The evidence provided further support for the formation of humic pseudomicelles that have the ability to sequester hydrophobic species in the solution environment. The molecular parameters governing this behavior include size and flexibility. The association indices of humic acid size fractions suggest the existence of an intermolecular component in the association process, leading to pseudomicellar behavior that depends on the polydispersity of the humic acid solution.
51-year-old man with tinnitus.

51-year-old man with a history of hyperlipidemia presented to the outpatient internal medicine clinic with a 3-week history of tinnitus. He described a “whoosh-whoosh” sound in his right ear that was constant and that increased in intensity with exertion. It was increasing in severity duringtheprevious3weeksandwasassociated with a new-onset, progressive, right-sided headache.Theheadachewasstabbinginnature and occasionally awakened him from sleep. He denied hearing loss, vertigo, vision changes, syncope, and recent illness or trauma. His medications included acetaminophen and naproxen as needed. He had a smoking history of10pack-years,withcessation13yearsbefore presentation; acknowledged drinking 1 to 2 alcoholic beverages per day; denied illicit drug use; and worked as a salesman driving 250 miles per day. On examination, the patient was afebrile, with a blood pressure of 129/82 mm Hg, a pulse rate of 68 beats/min, and a respiratory rate of 18 breaths/min. He appeared comfortable and in no acute distress. He had no scleral injection, and results of funduscopic examination were normal. The external auditory canals and tympanic membranes were visualized and normal bilaterally. Results of Weber and Rinne testing were normal. Cranial nerves II to XII were otherwise intact bilaterally, and the results of the remainder of the neurologic examination were within normal limits. No carotid bruits were auscultated. Heart, lung, abdominal, and lymphatic examination findings were unremarkable.
A library to assist in the development of academic faculty in emergency medicine.

Abstract Faculty development is a training process that strives continually to improve the creativity, productivity, and longevity of individuals committed to the practice of academic medicine. Information pertinent to faculty development is contained in textbooks scattered throughout the medical literature. From a more than 80-volume personal library, a list of 15 recommended texts in 11 major topics is given. The cost of this library is $333.50. This library was designed to assist emergency physicians in obtaining useful sources of information as part of their continuing education as academic faculty.
Limitations of transesophageal echocardiography in the risk assessment of patients before nonanticoagulated cardioversion from atrial fibrillation and flutter: An analysis of pooled trials

Recent studies have proposed that the exclusion of an atrial thrombus by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) would allow for the safe cardioversion from atrial fibrillation or flutter without the need of prophylactic anticoagulation. Because all of the TEE trials have been small and descriptive and have lacked randomized, conventionally treated control groups, the pooled risk of embolic events from TEE trials was compared with that of a control group pooled from the literature on cardioversion both with and without conventional anticoagulation. Studies were identified from a MEDLINE search, references in review articles, and recent cardiology abstracts and were included if there were > 10 patients and if atrial fibrillation or flutter was of > 48 hours' duration. Where > 1 study had been published by the same group only the largest study was used. Studies were not selected by cause of arrhythmia, by predisposing risk factors for atrial fibrillation and flutter, or by method of cardioversion. The only patients excluded from TEE reports were those with atrial thrombi diagnosed on the precardioversion TEE or those documented to have adequate standard precardioversion anticoagulation. Seven TEE and 18 control studies met the inclusion criteria. More patients in the control studies had rheumatic valvular disease. Embolic events were significantly more frequent in the TEE group than in the anticoagulated control group (1.34% vs 0.33%, respectively; p = 0.04), whereas there was no significant difference between the TEE group and the nonanticoagulated control group (2.00%; p = 0.26). Thus the use of TEE screening to exclude patients with atrial thrombi before cardioversion does not identify patients who can safely undergo this procedure without anticoagulation.
Value of information on preference heterogeneity and individualized care.

Background . Cost-effectiveness analysis traditionally focuses on identifying when treatments are cost-effective based on their average benefits and costs in the population. However, there may be considerable value in identifying when treatments are cost-effective for individual patients given their preferences or other personal attributes.Objectives. To present a theoretical framework to assess the potential value of identifying cost-effective treatments for individual patients given their preferences and to compare the value of individualized treatment decisions with the value of treatment decisions based on traditional population-level cost-effectiveness analysis.Methods . The authors calculate the expected value of individualized care (EVIC), which represents the potential value of providing physicians information on the preferences of individual patients, such as quality-of-life (QOL) weights, so as to make individualized treatment decisions. They also show how EVIC varies with insurance structures t...
Accelerating SIFT on hybrid clusters

We describe an approach to parallelizing SIFT and other scale-space-based feature transformation algorithms. By partitioning the workload in a novel fashion, our approach can take advantage of all forms of parallelism: the shared-memory parallelism of threaded programming, the distributed-memory approach of cluster programming, and GPU-based acceleration. Also described is an implementation of this approach called SOHC, or SIFT on hybrid clusters, which can take advantage of hybrid clusters to accelerate the transformation of arbitrarily large images into sets of features. SOHC is both portable and scalable: it can run on systems ranging from a desktop without any GPU hardware, to a cluster of multi-GPU nodes, with the only difference being time to complete the extraction. It is the only implementation of SIFT capable of operating directly (i.e. without dropping features at tile boundaries) on gigapixel-sized images often encountered in geospatial applications.
Analytic Methods of Digital Speech Interpolation

Digital Speech Interpolation (DSI) is a computationally efficient method of transmitting packetized speech in a data environment. Advantages of DSI are seen to be an apparent gain in channel capacity of approximately two over unprocessed speech sources.
Influence of the 7×7-1×1 phase transition on the sticking of oxygen on Si(111)

Abstract The effect of the 7×7 to 1×1 phase transition on the sticking coefficient S0 of oxygen on Si(111) surfaces was studied at different energies and angles of incidence of the O2 molecules. For O2 molecules with kinetic energy less than 0.08 eV, adsorption is precursor mediated and S0 on the 1×1 surface is two times higher than on the 7×7 surface. For O2 molecules with normal energy above 0.08 eV, adsorption is a direct process with an activation barrier. However, in this region, S0 and the barrier to dissociative adsorption are not sensitive to the surface reconstruction.
Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) for Parapharyngeal and Retromolar Trigone Tumors

 Robotic console time for the first resection was 40 minutes and 54 minutes for the second TORS. The traditional approaches to the parapharyngeal space allow for a maximum of two-handed surgery within the narrow operative field. TORS affords an approach in which the retraction/dissection carried out by the patient side assistant translates into four-handed surgery. Although the majority of dissection in the parapharyngeal space is carried out bluntly, the patient side assistant provides the exposure and tension required for precise electrocautery. Additionally the magnified view also allows for placement of surgical clips for hemostasis.
Permeability of silicone polymers to hydrogen

Permeability coefficients, P, for H2 in 10 different types of silicone polymer membranes were measured in the temperature range of 10.0–55.0°C and at pressures up to 100 psig (∼6.8 atm). The values of P decrease slightly with increasing Δp, the pressure difference across the membranes. The permeability of silicone polymers to H2 increases with an increase in temperature; the values of the energy of activation for permeation are in the range of 1.4–4.3 kcal/mol. The substitution of different functional groups in the backbone and side chains of silicone polymers has similar effects on the permeability of the polymers to H2 as observed in earlier studies with other light gases. P for H2 decreases with an increase in the bulkiness of the substituted functional groups. The substitution of SiO bonds with stiffer SiC bonds in the backbone chains also results in a considerable decrease in permeability.
Density estimation using spline projection kernels

Density estimation is considered using a kernel derived from an L2 projection onto certain spline spaces. The projection can be written as fp(x) = ∊ K(x, y) f(y)dy. An estimate based on asample X1,…,Xn, from f is given by p(x)=n−1∑iK(x,Xi). The pointwise asymptotic bias and variance are derived. It is found that a quadratic spline projection kernel estimator has the same asymptotic bias as a histospline does, and it outperforms the histospline in the asymptotic variance.
Oscillations in magnetocaloric effect and magnetic properties of RE2Al3Si2 (for RE=Dy, Ho and Er) and REAlSi (for RE=Ce and Pr)

Abstract We present the magnetic and thermal properties of a series of compounds RE 2 Al 3 Si 2 for RE=Dy, Ho, Er, and REAlSi for RE=Pr, Ce. The 2–3–2 family crystallizes with themonoclinic Y 2 Al 3 Si 2 -type structure while the 1–1–1 family crystallizes in the body-centered tetragonal α-ThSi 2 -type structure. The measurements were done on single crystals, grown using high-temperature flux technique and molten Al as a solvent . Susceptibility and heat capacity data were taken from 1.8 to 200 K, from the heat capacity data, the isothermal magnetic entropy change was obtained. Our results indicate signal oscillations in magnetocaloric properties for those compounds, in particular, Dy 2 Al 3 Si 2 that shows an anomaly that can be associated with a spin reorientation. Similar results are known for some Dy discilicides and dialluminades.
Evolution of cosmic strings

Results of numerical simulations of the evolution of a network of interacting cosmic strings in an expanding universe are presented and compared with a simple model. The results lend weight to earlier speculations about the evolution of cosmic strings.
The Distribution of Dye and Inorganic Ions Between Solid Polymers and Solutions Part II. Conventional Descriptions of Ion-Binding

The basic equations of a simple theoretical model for the sorption equilibria in ionic dyeing systems have been extended to include the "binding" of cations other than hydrogen ion to the acidic groups in the fiber. Computations based on the resultant equations are compared with existing ideas on "site-adsorption mechanisms" of cationic dyeing.
Monolithic photolithographically patterned Fluorocur™ PFPE membrane valves and pumps for in situ planetary exploration

Photolithographically defined monolithic membrane valves utilizing Fluorocur™ perfluoropolyether (PFPE) were fabricated and characterized to be essentially unaltered after one million actuations and exposure to the environmental stresses associated with in situ exploration of Mars.
A more explicit estimate for the "implications of athlete's bradycardia on lifespan".

Abstract L. A. Kuehn has estimated the dependence of lifespan on exercise, based upon the hypothesis of a fixed total number of heartbeats, and upon a reduction in resting heart rate (“bradycardia”) due to exercise. He did not, however, assign an explicit dependence of resting heart rate decrease upon duration and intensity of exercise. With introduction of such a dependence, Kuehn's result is made more explicit. The dependence also eliminates results which can be viewed as paradoxical, viz. increased lifespan resulting from finite bradycardia with zero time spent on exercise. The extended theory suggests a lifespan increase for moderate amounts of exercise, and a decrease for very large amounts.
STRESS AND DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY: VEGETATION REMOVAL CAUSES INCREASED FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY IN SHREWS

Environmental stress can increase phenotypic variation in populations by affecting developmental stability of individuals. While such increase in variation results from individual differences in ability to buffer stress, groups of individuals and different traits may have different sensitivity to stressful conditions. For example, the sex that is under stronger directional selection for faster growth may be more sensitive to stressful conditions during development. On an individual level, stress-induced variation in a trait may be related to the strength of stabilizing selection that acts on the trait. We experimentally examined sensitivity of mandibular development to stress in a free-living population of common shrews (Sorex cinereus), a short-lived insectivore mammal with very limited dispersal and nearly continuous foraging activity. We found a strong increase in asymmetry in shrews born under stressful conditions. Increased asymmetry was associated with lower physiological condition in both control a...
Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Two Options for MSW Management in New York City: Modern Landfilling vs. Waste to Energy

The U.S. generates about 370 million short tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) each year. In 2002, an average of 26.9% of this material was either recycled or composted. Of the remainder, an estimated 242 million short tons were disposed of in landfills and about 29 million short tons were combusted in Waste to Energy (WTE) facilities to produce electricity and scrap metal. Effective management of MSW is becoming increasingly challenging, especially in densely populated regions, such as New York City, where there is little or no landfill capacity and the tipping fees have doubled and tripled in recent years. There is also a growing appreciation of the environmental implications of landfills. Even with modern landfill construction, impacts remain from the need for transfer stations to handle putrescible wastes, their transport to distant landfills, and finally landfill gas emissions and potential aqueous run-off. Environmental impacts of concern associated with disposal in WTEs include air emissions of metals, dioxins and greenhouse gases. In the U.S., there is also a strong negative public perception of WTE facilities. Decisions about waste management should be influenced by a consideration of the overall, quantified life-cycle environmental impacts of different options. In this paper we therefore develop a methodology to assess these impacts for landfilling and WTE waste management options. Specifically we attempt to compare these two options for New York City, a large urban area.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Asymmetries in intermanual transfer of maze learning in right- and left-handed adults

This study examined asymmetries in transfer learning on a finger maze as a function of handedness, hand at acquisition and maze orientation at transfer. In both handedness groups, right-hand acquisition enhanced opposite hand performance on an identical and a vertically reversed maze at transfer, relative to a mirror-reversed maze; left-hand acquisition, in turn, enhanced opposite hand transfer on the spatially reversed mazes relative to the identical maze. The findings suggest that different strategies (i.e. verbal versus spatial/motoric) come into play in maze learning depending on the hand used at acquisition (right versus left, respectively) rather than on overall hand dominance.
Designing a comprehensive strategy to improve one core measure: discharge of patients with myocardial infarction or heart failure on ACE inhibitors/ARBs.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEs/ARBs) have proven benefit for patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure; their use is a core measure of hospital quality for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The authors’ urban medical center has lower-than-average performance on this measure. The authors used published best practices to design and implement a comprehensive strategy to improve ACE/ARB performance with existing decision support and human resources. Chart reminders were targeted to providers of patients eligible for ACEs/ARBs but not receiving them. ACE/ARB performance increased 8.5% in postintervention patients compared with historical controls. The increase was 20.7% among patients not on ACEs/ARBs on admission (P =.03). Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was inversely associated with the effectiveness of the intervention. A comprehensive strategy can be effective in narrowing the performance gap even for populations with a high prevalenc...
Direct measurement of intense field ionization rates in sapphire and water during short pulse laser propagation

We describe a pump-probe experiment that directly measures electron ionization rates via plasma-induced blue-shifting during filamentation of a short laser pulse. We compare to Keldysh and Thornber theory.
Reactive pectus carinatum in patients treated for pectus excavatum

Purpose The Ravitch and minimally invasive Nuss procedures have brought widespread relief to children with pectus excavatum, chest wall deformities, over the last half century. Generally accepted long-term complications of pectus excavatum repair are typically limited to recurrence of the excavatum deformity or persistent pain. This study examines the authors' experience with patients who develop a subsequent carinatum deformity within 1 year of pectus excavatum repair. Methods The authors retrospectively assessed the charts of all patients diagnosed as having a carinatum deformity subsequent to treatment for pectus excavatum at a tertiary urban hospital. We noted age at original correction of pectus excavatum, time from original correction to diagnosis of carinatum deformity, age at correction of carinatum deformity, complaints before correction, methods of repair, postoperative complications, and we reviewed relevant radiography. Results Three patients who underwent pectus excavatum repair between January 2000 and August 2007 developed a subsequent carinatum deformity. Two patients initially underwent minimally invasive Nuss correction of pectus excavatum; 1 patient underwent the Ravitch procedure. Within 1 year of original correction and despite intraoperative achievement of neutral sternal position, a protruding anterior chest deformity resembling de novo pectus carinatum emerged in each patient; we term this condition reactive pectus carinatum. The mean age of patients undergoing initial pectus excavatum repair was 13 years (range, 11-16 years). The pathophysiology of this reactive lesion is not well understood but is thought to originate from reactive fibroblastic stimulation as a result of sternal manipulation and bar placement. Patients who underwent Nuss correction initially were managed with early bar removal. Two of the patients eventually required surgical resection of the carinatum deformity at a time interval of 3 to 6 years after initial excavatum repair. In one patient, the carinatum deformity resolved spontaneously. Neutral chest position and absence of dyspenic symptoms were achieved in all patients. Conclusions Reactive pectus carinatum is functionally encumbering and a poor cosmetic complication of either the Ravitch or minimally invasive Nuss procedures. Our experience with reactive pectus carinatum introduces the importance of postoperative vigilance even in patients without underlying fibroelastic disease. Examination of the chest with attention to the possibility of an emerging carinatum deformity, particularly in the first 6 postoperative months, is paramount. A telephone call to the patient at 3 months may be a useful adjunct to clinic visits. An optimal long-term result may be achieved through a combination of early Nuss bar removal or postpubertal pectus carinatum repair.
Polymer Tube Embedded In-Plane Micropump: Design, Analysis and Fabrication

This paper presents the design, analysis, and fabrication of a novel polymer tube embedded in-plane micropump. The key component of the proposed micropump is a Parylene polymer tube that is embedded into a silicon micromachined actuation structure. The advantages of embedding a Parylene polymer tube are biocompatibility, leakage free flow, and insulation from electrical and thermal contacts. The tube works as a diaphragm, which transfers the pumping motion from the silicon electrothermal actuators to fluid. In order to guide the design of the pump, FEM simulation was performed for structural analysis on Parylene tube and evaluation of the electrothermal actuator. Parylene was conformally deposited on the nickel coated DRIE processed silicon mold, and peeled off and two Parylene layers were bonded together to form a tube. The maximum deflection achieved from the Parylene diaphragm is 5.4μm and the computed flow rate of the pump is 160nl/min.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Extent of Pancreatic Fibrosis as a Determinant of Symptom Resolution After the Frey Procedure: A Clinico-pathologic Analysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of histopathologic features of chronic pancreatitis and pain relief after the Frey procedure. We retrospectively analyzed 35 patients who underwent the Frey procedure for chronic pancreatitis over a 5-year period (November 2005 to February 2011). Thirty-five patients with varied etiologies of chronic pancreatitis and persistent symptoms were referred to a multi-disciplinary pancreatitis clinic where a consensus decision to recommend surgery was established. The Frey procedure was then performed. We compared symptomatic outcomes with the degree of pancreatic fibrosis, duct dilatation, and presence of pancreatic duct stones based on a blinded evaluation of resected pancreatic tissue. Symptom resolution was associated with severe or extensive (>75 %) fibrosis and absence of symptom resolution was associated with mild or minimal ( 4 mm and absence of symptom resolution was associated with pancreatic duct ≤4 mm (chi-squared, p value < 0.05). There was no difference in outcomes for patients with and without pancreatic duct stones. Symptom resolution after the Frey procedure is more likely in the setting of severe or extensive fibrosis due to chronic pancreatitis.
Influence of insulin on sodium efflux in barnacle muscle fibers.

The efflux of radiosodium in single muscle fibers from the barnacleBalanus nubilus was irresponsive to internal or external application of insulin. However, this was not the case with fibers isolated from a barnacle specimen pre-exposed overnight to a large dose of insulin. External application of insulin to pre-exposed fibers caused a decrease in the rate of decline of the radiosodium efflux and stopped the decline in the fractional rate constant for Na efflux. Such kinetics were interpreted as indicating that insulin acts either by releasing sequestered Na or abolishing the process of sequestration. Internal application of saline slowed the rate of decline but failed to completely abolish the mechanism of sequestration. Only in the presence of insulin was the fractional loss of Na each second constant. Internal application of insulin caused a prompt step-up in the rate of Na efflux, followed by a reduced efflux rate constant. This meant that injected insulin caused the release of sequestered Na, leading to partial saturation of the efflux. The response of the Na efflux to injected denatured insulin, though resembling that to native insulin was much smaller in size. Internal application of lysozyme produced a transitory step-up in the rate of Na efflux but failed to produce the kinetics observed with native or denatured insulin. Overnight exposure of the barnacle to a dose of denatured insulin failed to render the fiber sensitive to external and internal application of denatured or native insulinin vitro. Experiments with ouabain-poisoned fibers showed that external or internal application of native insulin caused stimulation of the remaining Na efflux. They also showed that a 10-fold increase in the concentration of ouabain failed to further reduce the ouabaininsensitive Na efflux. Microinjection of GTP into ouabain-poisoned fibers pre-exposed to insulin resulted in a striking rise in the remaining Na efflux. The magnitude of this effect was considerably greater than that in unexposed fibers. The response which was dose-dependent could be blunted by prior injection of CaCl2. Similarly, the response to CaCl2 injection could be blunted by prior injection of GTP. The evidence brought forward is compatible with the view that insulin acts by abolishing the mechanism of internal Na sequestration and by increasing the activity of the guanylate cyclase system.
Investigation of the potential use of human eye pupil sizes to estimate visual sensations in the workplace environment

Abstract Building occupants' environmental comfort and physiological health conditions are significantly affected by workplace environmental quality, such as lighting, thermal, air, and acoustic conditions. Of all of these factors, lighting quality is the most significant in relation to the occupants' visual comfort and health, since its effect is almost instantaneous, and it is vulnerable due to its immediate sensitivity. This research investigated the possibility of using human eye pupil sizes to estimate visual sensations in office workplace environments. The human body, as a biological mechanism, naturally makes unconditioned responses using the parasympathetic nervous system in multiple physical organs, including pupils in human eyes. Based on this physiological principle, a human body automatically reacts to ambient conditions to minimize any environmental stressful condition. This study adopted this principle as a key factor for analyzing pupil sizes and their change patterns to assess each individual subject's visual sensations while generating various ranges of ambient lighting conditions in an environmental chamber. The chamber is located at the University of Southern California where researchers conducted a series of human subject experiments. The collected data were analyzed using statistical tools for interpreting research findings. The data were grouped by the subjects' gender, age, glasses-worn, eye color, in order to identify any differences in pupil sizes and change rates, depending on the physical characteristics of each individual. These research findings indicated that the use of pupil sizes to assess a subject's visual sensations has potential and would be applicable to individuals, regardless of their physical characteristics.
Improved Method of Measuring Lengths of Large Samples of Fish

Abstract A new method to record fish lengths is described. Its advantages include quick recording of large numbers of fish by one person, accurate measurements by inexperienced personnel, easy transmission of data, low expense, usability under harsh field conditions, and easy transportability.
Intramolecular potential function and methyl—methyl coupling of crystalline dimethyl sulfide

Abstract Raman spectra of both polycrystalline and dilute solid solutions of dimethyl sulfide-d0 and dimethyl sulfide-d6 were observed at liquid nitrogen temperatures using argon ion laser excitation. Mixed isotopic crystals of the unique molecular species were prepared in molar ratios of 3/100. Liquid phase Raman spectra of the -d6 isotopic species were also determined. The solid solution frequency data for both isotopic species provided the basis for a detailed vibrational assignment from which various model internal valence force fields were developed. The final 14 parameter force field, representative of the vibrations of dimethyl sulfide in a static crystal field, emphasizes the contribution to the potential function of a small, but significant methyl—methyl coupling term between the anti HCS angular displacement coordinates.
On some presentations of completely regular semigroups

In this paper we consider three types of presentations of completely regular semigroups. In each of the considered cases the solution of the word problem can be reduced to the solution of the word problem for a corresponding group presentation. As a consequence, in each of these cases the one relator presentation has a solvable word problem.
Campylobacter fetus infections

Summary C. fetus ss jejuni is an important cause of gastroenteritis in humans. Simple methods for isolation of the organism have been developed, and laboratories should seriously consider the possible presence of this organism when culturing stool specimens.
Role of Nannochloropsis salina for the recovery and persistence of MS2 virus in wastewater

Abstract Re-use of wastewater nutrients may enhance sustainability of algal biofuels. However wastewaters harbor complex microbial consortia including enteric viruses. Appropriate evaluation protocols are required to understand and monitor associated health risks. Commonly, virus viability is assessed by host specific plaque assays. Assays' accuracy is critically dependent on the assumption that viral particles are uniformly distributed in samples. Complex charged and hydrophobic loci on algal cells may affect this assumption. We verified the likelihood for Nannochloropsis salina to affect partitioning of viruses between planktonic and attached compartments by employing a common test surrogate for enteric viruses, the MS2 bacteriophage. Firstly, we verified the immediate (within 30 min) partitioning of spiked virus between supernatant (planktonic) and centrifuged algal pellet (fixed compartment) for algae of variable ages, and thus physiological states, grown in standard medium, f/2, or in sterilized advanced secondary treated wastewater. Secondly, co-incubation tests estimated MS2 persistence during algal growth. Both infective (plaque assay) and total MS2 (quantitative PCR) were quantified. Little immediate partitioning occurred with most of MS2 recovered in supernatant. Incubation in wastewater or f/2 drastically reduced MS2 viability (
An investigation into beef calf mortality on five high-altitude ranches that selected sires with low pulmonary arterial pressures for over 20 years:

Producer reports from ranches over 2,438 meters in southwest Colorado suggest that the mortality of preweaned beef calves may be substantially higher than the national average despite the selection...
Properties of practical oral liposome-Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase vaccines for effective induction of caries protection

Here we report the effectiveness of various liposome vaccines containing Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase (GTF) in protecting against dental caries after oral immunization. Rats were immunized by gastric intubation of the appropriate liposome vaccine at weaning and boosted 3 times. Rats were infected with S. mutans following initial immunization and fed cariogenic diet (Diet 305). Saliva and serum were collected during the study and assessed for antibody activity by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Mandibles were removed on day 47 and assessed for S. mutans levels and then for caries. Animals immunized with sonicated, filtered and microemulsified GTF liposome preparations had decreased levels of dental caries compared with control animals given empty liposomes. Rats given dehydrated/rehydrated or purified liposomal GTF also had significantly less caries than control group (GTF alone). Because of economy, ease of preparation and efficiency in amount of antigen used, filtered, dehydrated/ rehydrated and purified liposomal GTF preparations are most practical for use in further assessing the efficacy of liposomal GTF in oral immunization.
Patterning of Carbon Nanotubes by Material Assisted Laser Ablation Process

Carbon nanotubes were patterned by a nonphotolithographic, low energy, large area, and high-throughput laser patterning process [material-assisted laser ablation (MALA)]. In this process, a residue layer was observed after the patterning process, requiring an additional cleaning process for the fabrication of electronic devices. In this paper, we investigated the mechanism of the residue layer formation, and optimized the MALA process so that no residue layer is formed after the patterning of carbon nanotubes. We demonstrated patterning of carbon nanotubes on 100 mm diameter silicon wafers, and the patterns of carbon nanotubes were sufficiently clean and sharp to be applicable in high-volume fabrication of electronic devices.
Folding of a single‐chain, information‐rich polypeptoid sequence into a highly ordered nanosheet

The design and synthesis of protein-like polymers is a fundamental challenge in materials science. A means to achieve this goal is to create synthetic polymers of defined sequence where all relevant folding information is incorporated into a single polymer strand. We present here the aqueous self-assembly of peptoid polymers (N-substituted glycines) into ultrathin, two-dimensional highly ordered nanosheets, where all folding information is encoded into a single chain. The sequence designs enforce a two-fold amphiphilic periodicity. Two sequences were considered: one with charged residues alternately positive and negative (alternating patterning), and one with charges segregated in positive and negative halves of the molecule (block patterning). Sheets form between pH 5 and 10 with the optimal conditions being pH 6 for the alternating sequence and pH 8 for the block sequence. Once assembled, the nanosheets remain stable between pH 6 and 10 with observed degradation beginning to occur below pH 6. The alternating charge nanosheets remain stable up to concentrations of 20% acetonitrile, whereas the block pattern displayed greater robustness remaining stable up to 30% acetonitrile. These observations are consistent with expectations based on considerations of the molecules' electrostatic interactions. This study represents an important step in the construction of abiotic materials founded on biological informatic and folding principles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 96: 586–595, 2011.
Transient characteristics of alloy junction transistors using a generalized charge storage model

A generalized charge storage model for characterizing the transient behavior of asymmetrical alloy junction transistor bases is presented. The model enables one to study quantitatively not only the various transient waveforms encounted in switching from one region to another under diversified circuit conditions, but also provides a means for evaluating the transient parameters of the device analytically from a knowledge of the base geometry, surface recombination velocity of the free base surface and bulk lifetime of the base semiconductor. A sample calculation is presented illustrating the use of the generalized charge storage model.
Appendiceal Disease in Women with Endometriosis and Right Lower Quadrant Pain

Study Objective. To evaluate the frequency and range of appendiceal disease in women with endometriosis and right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain, and to estimate the value of preoperative gastrograffin enema (GGE) as a screen for the disease. Design. Nonrandomized clinical trial (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). Setting. University-affiliated hospital with a private practice setting. Patients. A subpopulation of 65 women from a group of 337 patients undergoing laparoscopy for symptomatic endometriosis. Interventions. Preoperative GGE was performed whenever possible in these women. At laparoscopy, the appendix was removed if it appeared abnormal or if the preoperative GGE was positive. Measurements and Main Results. Of 65 women (19%) with symptomatic endometriosis and preoperative RLQ pain, 52 (80%) underwent appendectomy as part of surgery. Of these 52 excised appendixes, 39 (75%) had histologically confirmed pathology including appendicitis or periappendicitis, endometriosis, fibrous obliteration, lymphoid hyperplasia, and carcinoid tumor. Preoperative GGE had sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 83% for appendiceal disease. Its positive predictive value was 95% and negative predictive value was 42%. No complications from laparoscopic appendectomy occurred. Conclusion. Disease of the appendix is common in women with endometriosis and RLQ pain. Appendectomy is particularly likely if preoperative GGE is positive.
Teachers as Telecollaborative Project Designers: A Curriculum-Based Approach

Note: Judi Harris is noted for expertise on telecollaborative uses of the Internet in schools. She contributes to a continuing column in Learning and Leading with Technology and has authored three texts on curriculum-based e-Learning, most recently Virtual Architecture: Designing and Directing Curriculum-Based Telecomputing. In 1996, Judi received ISTE's SIGTel Educational Telecomputing Outstanding Achievement Award "for pioneering vision and development of innovative curricular design and K-12/University collaboration models that stimulate and showcase cooperative telecomputing activities in classrooms worldwide."
Pressure dependence of the pair breaking parameter of superconductors with Ce impurities

Abstract The Abrikosov-Gor'kov pair breaking parameter is shown as a function of pressure (P) for superconducting La3−χCeχIn and La1−χCeχ alloys. This gives an estimate of the quantity [ dln N (E F ) J 2 eff / d P] P=0 (where N (EF) is the density of states at the Fermi level and Jeff is the effective s-f exchange parameter), and suggests that the transition of the Ce impurities from a magnetic to a nonmagnetic state begins at lower pressures for higher Ce concentrations. Measurements of the pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of Th1−χCeχ alloys indicate that the Ce impurities are nearly nonmagnetic in Th.
Constructing language processors with algebra combinators

Modular Monadic Semantics (MMS) is a well-known mechanism for structuring modular denotational semantic definitions for programming languages. The principal attraction of MMS is that families of language constructs can be independently specified and later combined in a mix-and-match fashion to create a complete language semantics. This has proved useful for constructing formal, yet executable, semantics when prototyping languages. In this work we demonstrate that MMS has an additional software engineering benefit. Rather than composing semantics for various language constructs, we can use MMS to compose various differing semantics for the same language constructs. We describe algebra combinators, the principal vehicle for achieving this reuse, along with a series of applications of the technique for common language processing tasks.
How can you do it?: Dirty work and the challenge of constructing a positive identity

The identity literature suggests that the stigma of “dirty work” threatens the ability of occupational members to construct an esteem-enhancing social identity. However, research indicates much the opposite, creating a puzzle we attempt to answer. We argue that the stigma of dirty work fosters development of a strong occupational or workgroup culture, which fosters (1) ideological reframing, recalibrating, and refocusing and (2) selective social comparisons and differential weighting of outsiders' views. These defense mechanisms transform the meaning of “dirt” and moderate the impact of social perceptions of dirtiness.
Variational method for finding periodic orbits in a general flow.

A variational principle is proposed and implemented for determining unstable periodic orbits of flows as well as unstable spatiotemporally periodic solutions of extended systems. An initial loop approximating a periodic solution is evolved in the space of loops toward a true periodic solution by a minimization of local errors along the loop. The "Newton descent" partial differential equation that governs this evolution is an infinitesimal step version of the damped Newton-Raphson iteration. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated by its application to the Henon-Heiles system, the circular restricted three-body problem, and the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky system in a weakly turbulent regime.
A Comparative Analysis of Iridium Oxide Nanowires in Electrical Detection of Biochemical Reactions

Pt, Ir, Au and few other precious metals have highly conducive electrical and chemical properties; hence have been widely used in pH sensors and bimolecular sensing applications. The chief objective of this research is to highlight and demonstrate the advantages that Iridium Oxide (IrOx) nanowires offer over these competing metals in improving the performance metrics of biomolecular sensing. Iridium oxide has very good conductivity and very high charge storing capacity, and hence has an ability to detect very small changes in the surface charge. Nanowires have an ideal morphology to crowd protein molecules and highly increase the surface area of interaction. Higher area of interaction along with iridium oxide’s high intrinsic physical adsorption rate, strongly enhance the rate of immobilization of biomolecules and hence enabling high sensitivity detection. Inflammatory protein, C-Reactive protein (CRP) that is a biomarker for cardiovascular disease was used as the model biomolecule for this study.
Role of imbalance between neutrophil elastase and α1-antitrypsin in cancer development and progression

Summary Neutrophil elastase and α1-antitrypsin are a pair of protease and protease inhibitor counterparts. The imbalance between the two counterparts is generally thought to cause tissue damage, which could create a favourable tissue environment for carcinogens and tumour progression. Laboratory research and clinical findings have indicated that a deficiency in α1-antitrypsin is associated with increased risk of liver cancer, bladder cancer, gall bladder cancer, malignant lymphoma, and lung cancer. Conversely, raised concentrations of neutrophil elastase might promote the development, invasion, and metastasis of many cancers. Several mechanisms of carcinogenesis have been postulated. Excess neutrophil elastase might facilitate cancer development by causing tissue damage and air trapping, which foster longer carcinogen exposure, might promote cancer progression by degrading the intercellular matrix barrier, and might directly lead to cancer development through the tumour-necrosis-factor signalling pathway