cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Etiology and management of dyslipidemia in children with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.

Lipids are essential components of cell membranes, contributing to cell fuel, myelin formation, subcellular organelle function, and steroid hormone synthesis. Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) exhibit various co-morbidities, including dyslipidemia. The prevalence of dyslipidemias in children with CKD and ESRD is high, being present in 39-65 % of patients. Elevated lipid levels in children without renal disease are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), while the risk for CVD in pediatric CKD/ESRD is unclear. The pathogenesis of dyslipidemia in CKD features various factors, including increased levels of triglycerides, triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, apolipoprotein C3 (ApoC-III), decreased levels of cholesterylester transfer protein and high-density lipoproteins, and aberrations in serum very low-density and intermediate-density lipoproteins. If initial risk assessment indicates that a child with advanced CKD has 2 or more co-morbidities for CVD, first-line treatment should consist of non-pharmacologic management such as therapeutic lifestyle changes and dietary counseling. Pharmacologic treatment of dyslipidemia may reduce the incidence of CVD in children with CKD/ESRD, but randomized trials are lacking. Statins are the only class of lipid-lowering drugs currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the pediatric population. FDA-approved pediatric labeling for these drugs is based on results from placebo-controlled trial results, showing 30-50 % reductions in baseline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Although statins are generally well tolerated in adults, a spectrum of adverse events has been reported with their use in both the clinical trial and post-marketing settings.
Cretaceous basaltic phreatomagmatic volcanism in West Texas: Maar complex at Peña Mountain, Big Bend National Park

Abstract A structurally complex succession of basaltic pyroclastic deposits produced from overlapping phreatomagmatic volcanoes occurs within Upper Cretaceous floodplain deposits in the Aguja Formation in Big Bend National Park, West Texas. Together with similar basaltic deposits recently documented elsewhere in the Aguja Formation, these rocks provide evidence for an episode of phreatomagmatic volcanism that predates onset of arc magmatism in the region in the Paleogene. At Pena Mountain, the pyroclastic deposits are ≥ 70 m thick and consist dominantly of tabular beds of lapillistone and lapilli tuff containing angular to fluidal pyroclasts of altered sideromelane intermixed with abundant accidental terrigenous detritus derived from underlying Aguja sediments. Tephra characteristics indicate derivation from phreatomagmatic explosions involving fine-scale interaction between magma and sediment in the shallow subsurface. Deposition occurred by pyroclastic fall and base-surge processes in near-vent settings; most base-surge deposits lack tractional sedimentary structures and are inferred to have formed by suspension sedimentation from rapidly decelerating surges. Complexly deformed pyroclastic strata beneath a distinct truncation surface within the succession record construction and collapse of an initial volcano, followed by a shift in the location of the conduit and excavation of another maar crater into Aguja strata nearby. Preserved portions of the margin of this second crater are defined by a zone of intense soft-sediment disruption of pyroclastic and nonvolcanic strata. U–Pb isotopic analyses of zircon grains from three basaltic bombs in the succession reveal the presence of abundant xenocrysts, in some cases with ages > 1.0 Ga. The youngest concordant analyses for all three samples yield a weighted mean age of 76.9 ± 1.2 Ma, consistent with the presence of Late Campanian vertebrate fossils in the upper Aguja Formation. We infer that the volcanism is related to the intraplate Balcones igneous province, which was emplaced in the same time frame in a marine setting farther east.
Management of Complications of Cancer Chemotherapy

Although the use of anticancer agents can be associated with severe side effects, on a practical basis complications of therapy are minimal to nonexistent. The clinician usually learns to feel more comfortable with these drugs as he or she treats more patients, to the point where treating a cancer patient with chemotherapy will become routine practice.
Abstract 4066: Early assessment of the XL184 treatment by Diffusion-Weighted MRI in metastatic prostate cancer to the bone murine model

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Ninety percent of patients with advanced prostate cancer develop metastases to the bone1. At present, there is no definitive means for assessing response to therapy, with RECIST identifying tumors in the bone as “unmeasureable”. Cabozantinib (XL184) is an oral small molecular pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor of primarily MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). MET is known to play key roles in cellular proliferation, migration and invasion, which contribute to the survival and metastasis of cancer cells. XL184 is already in Phase 2 trials to evaluate the therapeutic benefit on castration-resistant prostate cancer metastatic to the bone. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) is highly sensitive to microscopic changes in tumor tissue. Our goal was to evaluate DW-MRI for detection and quantification of changes in tumor tissue following one-week XL184 treatment. MR experiments were performed on a 9.4T MRI. Human prostate cancer (PC3) cells were implanted by direct intra-tibial injection into male SCID mice, which serves as a model for prostate bone metastases2. Upon measuring tumor volume of ∼10mm3 on anatomical scans, mice were distributed into 2 groups: XL184 at 30 mg/kg (N=7) and vehicle (N=5). Treatments were delivered by oral gavage once a day for 7 days. DW-MRI was performed at days 0 (pre-treatment), 1, 4, 7, 11, 14 and twice a week after. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated analytically from DW-MR images acquired at b-value 120 and 1200 s/mm2. End point of the study was when tumor volume reached 5x the initial measure. Unpaired Student t-test was performed to compare MRI metrics. XL184 treated mice had smaller tumor volume growth rate than control mice. Significant differences in tumor volume were not observed until 14 days post-treatment initiation (p<0.05). In contrast, significantly higher ADC values (p<0.0.5) for the treated group compared to control were observed at day 7. These results demonstrate the use of DW-MRI as a early biomarker of tumor response to XL184 in a metastatic prostate cancer tumor model. DW-MRI may serve as a surrogate endpoint for assessing patient response to treatment in clinical trials. References: 1. Carlin BI et al. Cancer. 2000;88(12):2989-2994. 2. Lee KC et al. Cancer Res. 2007;67(8):3524-3528. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4066. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4066
The Race to Connect East Asia: An Unending Steeplechase

East Asia has become more integrated as a region over the past quarter century. In looking ahead, this article identifies five central obstacles to further regionalism. Three address the composition of any future East Asian region: the arenas in which cooperation is sought, the geographic scope of any future region, and the extent to which regional ties are formalized. The other two variables will influence the future regardless of how the first three are resolved: the structure and balance of domestic political forces, and leadership. The complex interactions of these five are then examined in the recent moves toward preferential trade pacts, increased regional monetary and financial cooperation, and security.
Phenotypic expression of primary hyperoxaluria: Comparative features of types I and II

Phenotypic expression of primary hyperoxaluria: Comparative features of types I and II. Background The primary hyperoxalurias are autosomal recessive disorders resulting from deficiency of hepatic alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (PHI) or D-glycerate dehydrogenase/glyoxylate reductase (PHII). Marked hyperoxaluria results in urolithiasis, renal failure, and systemic oxalosis. A direct comparison of PHI and PHII has not previously been available. Methods Twelve patients with PHI and eight patients with PHII with an initial creatinine clearance of greater than or equal to 50 mL/min/1.73 m 2 underwent similar laboratory evaluation, clinical management, and follow-up. Diagnosis of PHI and PHII was made by hepatic enzyme analysis ( N = 11), increased urinary excretion of glycolate or glycerate ( N = 7), or complete pyridoxine responsiveness ( N = 2). Six PHI and five PHII patients had measurements of calcium oxalate crystalluria, urine supersaturation, and urine inhibition of calcium oxalate crystal formation. Results PHI and PHII did not differ in age at the onset of symptoms, initial serum creatinine, or plasma oxalate concentration. Urine oxalate excretion rates were higher in PHI (2.19 ± 0.61 mmol/1.73 m 2 /24 hours) than PHII (1.61 ± 0.43, P = 0.04). Urine osmolality, calcium, citrate, and magnesium concentrations were lower in PHI than PHII ( P = 0.001, P = 0.019, P = 0.0002, P = 0.03, respectively). Crystalluria scores and calcium oxalate inhibitory activity of the urine did not differ between PHI and PHII. Calcium oxalate supersaturation in the urine was less in PHI (7.3 ± 1.9) compared with PHII (14.0 ± 3.3, P = 0.002). During follow-up of 10.3 ± 9.6 years in PHI and 18.1 ± 5.6 years in PHII, stone-forming activity and stone procedures were more frequent in PHI than PHII ( P P = 0.01, respectively). Four of 12 PHI compared with 0 of 8 PHII patients progressed to end-stage renal disease ( P = 0.03). Conclusion The severity of disease expression is greater in type I primary hyperoxaluria than in type II. The difference may be due to greater oxalate excretion and lower concentrations of urine citrate and magnesium in patients with PHI compared with PHII.
Viral, host and interferon‐related factors modulating the effect of interferon therapy for hepatitis C virus infection

The estimated prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in the US is approximately 1.8%. Although interferon monotherapy and combination therapy of interferon with ribavirin represent mainstay for treating HCV infection, the rate of sustained virologic response remains suboptimal. The growing evidence suggested that the clinical sequence and treatment response of chronic hepatitis C are determined by a dynamic, complex tripartite relationship among HCV infection, the host immune response, and the effect of different interferon regimens. The treatment response is associated with various viral factors including the pretreatment viral level, dynamic change of viral level during treatment, viral genotype quasispecies and nucleotide mutation in nonstructural protein 5A of hepatitis C virus. Host factors that may affect treatment response include age, gender, race, HLA alleles and the host immune responses. Interferon regimens, including type, dose, frequency and duration of treatment and combination of interferon with other anti-HCV agents also alter the therapeutic response. Understanding these complicated interaction may provide better insights into the mechanism(s) of interferon response, leading to more effective clinical application of interferon therapy.
A preliminary spectroscopic assessment of the Spacelab 1/shuttle optical environment

Attention is given to the Space Lab/Space Shuttle-borne Imaging Spectrometric Observatory's 1150-8000 A spectral data, which was gathered while this instrument package was looking tangentially away from the earth and into the velocity vector. The spectrum is noted to contain the expected atmospheric features, together with bright molecular bands between 6400 and 8000 A. These bands appear to be part of the N2 First Positive system. If most of the emission is due to this system, two excitation mechanisms are implied: direct collisional excitation of the local Shuttle atmosphere by the terrestrial atmosphere, or alternatively a surface interaction which generates metastable N2(A); this subsequently radiates via inverse first positive N2 transitions, followed by first positive transitions.
Su1467 Success of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Ethanol Ablation of Pancreatic Cysts: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Background Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided ethanol ablation has emerged as an efficacious and safe alternative management option for pancreatic cysts. We undertook a meta-analysis and systematic review to assess the overall safety and efficacy of EUS-guided ethanol ablation of pancreatic cysts.
Intersecting families of convex cover order two

Let S=cl(int S) be a subset of the plane, Q the set of points of local non-convexity of S, Qfinite, with p a point in (bdry S ⋂ ker S) ≈ Q. If ℳ denotes the collection of allmaximal families of wedges of S having convex cover order m, m≥1, then the members of ∩ ℳ are characterized in the following manner: For W o a wedge of S, W o is in ∩ ℳ if and only if for every w o in W o and every collection of points w 1, ...w m in S, then [w i, wj] S for at least one pair i, j, 0≤i<j≤m.
ECOSEL: Multi-objective optimization to sell forest ecosystem services

Abstract ECOSEL is a voluntary market mechanism that attempts to match willing sellers of forest ecosystem services with willing buyers. The goal of this paper is to show how multi-objective programming can be used to generate minimum-cost management alternatives for a real ECOSEL auction where optimal production plans for carbon sequestration, mature forest habitat and timber revenues are to be identified. The case study is suggestive of one of the most sophisticated uses of ECOSEL that might work for some but not all forest landowners. Examples of less involved uses are also given to illustrate low transaction cost applications both within and beyond forestry.
A phase III randomized, open-label, controlled trial of chemotherapy and bevacizumab with or without panitumumab in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

main approach for the treatment of CRC, but with the recent advent of targeted therapies, biologic treatments are becoming an area of intense interest. In the past 2 years alone, 2 molecularly targeted antibodies, bevacizumab and cetuximab, have been approved for CRC, targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR), respectively. The basic combination of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV) remains the backbone of therapy for metastatic CRC. In recent years, studies combining 5-FU/LV with irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) have demonstrated improvements in disease-free and overall survival (OS). 2,3 A recent comparison of FOLFOX6 followed by FOLFIRI versus the reverse order as first-line treatment found that both sequences achieved a median survival of approximately 20 months and were similarly efficacious. The overall response rate in the FOLFIRI arm was 56%, with a progression-free survival (PFS) time of 8.5 months, compared with an overall response rate of 54% and a PFS of 8 months with FOLFOX6. These results suggest that FOLFIRI and FOLFOX could be considered interchangeable for first- and second-line treatments of metastatic CRC.4 In 2004, the approval of bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF-A, introduced the first biologic therapy for the initial treatment of metastatic CRC. Several studies have shown that bevacizumab improves PFS and OS when combined with chemotherapy.5,6 The addition of bevacizumab to the irinotecan-based IFL (irinotecan/5-FU/LV) regimen increased median survival from 15.6 months to 20.3 months, with a 34% reduction in the hazard of death (P < 0.0001). The combination of FOLFOX and bevacizumab in the first-line treatment of CRC also results in an apparent improvement in response rates,7 whereas a similar regimen had a clear benefit in response rate, PFS, and OS in the second-line setting.8 Safety analyses have also been reported and do not suggest excessive increased toxicities. These data have led to the use of FOLFOX or FOLFIRI with bevacizumab as the standard initial therapy for patients with metastatic CRC.
Exact resultants for corner-cut unmixed multivariate polynomial systems using the Dixon formulation

Structural conditions on the support of a multivariate polynomial system are developed for which the Dixon-based resultant methods compute exact resultants. The concepts of a corner-cut support and almost corner-cut support of an unmixed polynomial system are introduced. For generic unmixed polynomial systems with corner-cut and almost corner-cut supports, the Dixon based methods can be used to compute their resultants exactly. These structural conditions on supports are based on analyzing how such supports differ from box supports of d-degree systems for which the Dixon formulation is known to compute resultants exactly. Such an analysis also gives a sharper bound on the complexity of resultant computation using the Dixon formulation in terms of the support and the mixed volume of the Newton polytope of the support.These results are a direct generalization of the authors' results on bivariate systems including the results of Zhang and Goldman as well as of Chionh for generic unmixed bivariate polynomial systems with corner-cut supports.
Arrythmias in Women: Diagnosis and Management

Cha Yong-Mei, Lloyd Margaret A., M. Ulrika 296 pages. Birgersdotter-Green. New York, NY: Mayo Clinic Scientific Press; 2014. $85.45. Sex differences in arrhythmias is not a new concept. Yet rarely do you see it mentioned in textbooks—even the comprehensive electrophysiology ones. A book devoted to this subject is certainly needed. In the foreword of Arrhythmias in Women: Diagnosis and Management , Sharonne Hayes points out that until recently there was a paucity of data to help physicians make clinical decisions when treating women with arrhythmias. More recently, sex-specific, evidence-based information has become available as a result of research initiatives. The purpose of this book is to get the message out, and it has succeeded in that regard. The editors are Yong-Mei Cha and Margaret Lloyd from Mayo Clinic, as well as Ulrika Birgersdotter-Green from UC San Diego. The authors are all women, with the exception of one. They are all leaders in the field of electrophysiology and have themselves made significant contributions to our knowledge of sex-based arrhythmia differences. Arrhythmias in Women is an easily readable and concise text, consisting of 15 chapters in 257 pages. The focus is on sex differences and how they impact the diagnosis and management of arrhythmias in women. In their preface to the book, the editors state that this …
Reply to Shafer-Landau, Mcpherson, and Dancy

It’s a great privilege to receive such intense, careful, and fruitful scrutiny for my work, and my first response is to agree with most of what my critics have said and thank them both for understanding the views articulated in the book so well, and for advancing the discussion. But with privilege comes responsibility, and my responsibility in this reply is to have something more substantive to say. So my goal here will be to agree where agreement is appropriate, to retract and qualify where retraction and qualification are appropriate, to tentatively explore an idea or two which might fruitfully be wedded to those in the book, to clarify or correct in the rare places where it is necessary, to introduce a problem or two of my own for the views in the book, and finally to emphasize what I think is important. My strategy will be to organize my remarks topically, moving through topics moreor-less in the same order as in the book.
Resource constrained project crashing

Abstract The resource constrained project crashing problem is reviewed. Models for two specific cases are developed by extending traditional project scheduling models. The development of the model for the resource critical crashing case is based on the Pritsker, Watters, and Wolfe model [16]. The model developed for the activity duration crashing case is based on Bowman's model [2]. The paper concludes with several suggestions for future research.
The Mitochondrion-Related Organelle of Cryptosporidium parvum

The mitochondrion-related organelle of Cryptosporidium parvum is structurally distinguished from the hydrogenosomes and mitosomes of anaerobic protists by its (1) close association with the crystalloid body, an organelle unique to this apicomplexan and the function of which is currently unknown; (2) close association with the outer nuclear membrane and possibly nuclear pores; (3) envelopment by rough endoplasmic reticulum and in some cases an apparent direct tethering to ribosomes; and (4) atypical internal membranous compartments that lack well-defined crista junctions with the mitochondrial inner membrane, a characteristic that defines most aerobic eukaryotic mitochondria. Like most hydrogenosome- and mitosome-bearing anaerobic protists, however, C. parvum lacks a mitochondrial genome, i.e. proteins are encoded by the nucleus and targeted back to the mitochondrion-like organelle. As a consequence of this reductive evolution, there are no genes for electron transport or oxidative phosphorylation, and the only function so far ascribed to this tiny organelle is one common to all eukaryotic mitochondria, the assembly and maturation of iron sulfur clusters. The ultrastructure and tomography of the relic mitochondrion and crystalloid body, as well as their probable functions, are the primary topics herein. An overview of iron sulfur cluster biosynthesis, the likely mechanisms for import into and export from the mitochondrion, as well as core carbohydrate and energy metabolism are discussed. Similarities and differences in the structure and function of both organelles with anaerobic protists in general, as well as with other apicomplexans specifically, are described.
FPGA Design Analysis of the Clustering Algorithm for the CERN Large Hadron Collider

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Trigger of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator at CERN selects potentially interesting particle collision data to process and archive for further study. The first stage of the trigger system, the hardware-based L1 Trigger, must sift through roughly 3 terabits/second of data describing the energy distribution of particles generated in the collisions, and reduce it to 100 megabits/second of event data that subsequent systems can handle. Without the CMS Trigger, the amount of experiment-generated data would quickly outstrip the archiving ability of the LHC system.Because of the sheer amount of input data and the rate at which it is generated, the hardware-based L1 Trigger is subject to stringent performance requirements. These will become even more severe as the LHC is upgraded over the next ten years, requiring a careful redesign of the L1 Trigger hardware. For example, future upgrades may introduce particle motion-tracking data into the L1 Trigger, resulting in an increased input data rate of up to 40 terabits/second. The need to modify the design as the LHC system is upgraded, the low-volume cost advantages of FPGAs, and a desire for a flexible and adaptable system all point toward the use of FPGAs as a hardware implementation solution.In this paper, we present several different FPGA implementations of the electron/photon identification module, a key part of the new Clustering Algorithm for the upgraded L1 Trigger. We analyze the resource requirements and performance tradeoffs, and present a qualitative discussion of flexibility to meet the changing needs of the CMS experiment. Finally, we narrow potential design choices to the top candidates and use one in a full Clustering Algorithm implementation.
Interactions of Nonaqueous Solvents with Textile Fibers : Part X: Effects of Thermal History on Polyester-Solvent Interactions

An investigation of the effects of prior heat treatments on the stabilization of the polyester structure towards subsequent treatments with dimethylformamide (DMF) has been carried out. The results indicate that a DMF treatment at 140°C can overcome changes in the polyester structure produced by prior heat treatment up to a temperature of about 180°C. Void formation and accompanying high dye uptake under atmospheric dyeing conditions are observed. Heat treatments around 200°C, however, stabilize the fiber structure, and subsequent solvent treatments do not produce irreversible swelling and void formation. A further increase in the heat-treatment temperature again permits void formation and high dye-uptake values to occur. A close correlation between dyeability and void volume calculated from density data is observed. A DMF treatment of a false-twist-set textured yarn leads to void formation and high dyeability, even though the heater temperatures used in the texturing process are near the critical temperature range at which stabilization to sub sequent solvent treatments has been observed. Evidence is presented suggesting that the yarns do not actually experience the temperature of the heaters but rather a significantly lower temperature.
GENETICS OF METALAXYL RESISTANCE IN PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS

Several sexual crosses involving isolates of Phytophthora infestans of diverse sensitivities to metalaxyl were studied. Metalaxyl sensitivity was determined by comparing the growth of an isolate on metalaxyl-amended agar medium (5 microg/ml) with growth on medium containing no metalaxyl. When both parents had the same phenotype for metalaxyl sensitivity (both resistant or both sensitive), all F1 progeny had the parental phenotype. In two crosses (75 and 76) each involving one sensitive and one resistant parent, however, the progeny segregated 1:1, suggesting that the common resistant parent (Bg8) was heterozygous for metalaxyl sensitivity. When an F2 progeny was constructed from resistant F1 isolates in cross 76, the progeny segregated 1:3 (sensitive:resistant), indicating that metalaxyl resistance in Bg8 is conferred by a single dominant gene. Variation in the progeny sensitivity appears to involve minor genes. A correlation study between metalaxyl resistance and fitness components did not reveal any association.
Meeting report: a workshop on Best Practices in Genome Annotation

Efforts to annotate the genomes of a wide variety of model organisms are currently carried out by sequencing centers, model organism databases and academic/institutional laboratories around the world. Different annotation methods and tools have been developed over time to meet the needs of biologists faced with the task of annotating biological data. While standardized methods are essential for consistent curation within each annotation group, methods and tools can differ between groups, especially when the groups are curating different organisms. Biocurators from several institutes met at the Third International Biocuration Conference in Berlin, Germany, April 2009 and hosted the ‘Best Practices in Genome Annotation: Inference from Evidence’ workshop to share their strategies, pipelines, standards and tools. This article documents the material presented in the workshop.
The Communication Dimensions of Commercial Space Tourism Websites Compared to Advocacy Organizations

Websites may well be the single most significant strategic communication tactic available to commercial space tourism firms and their nonprofit advocacy organization counterparts. The present study analyzed the communication potential of contemporary space tourism organizational websites by comparing site characteristics of for -profit vs. advocacy organizations. Both commercial and advocacy websites universally featured home pages and sections “about us” and an equal number discussed or ganizational history, while FAQs were relatively uncommon in both. Seldom -used communication tactics for both types of organizations included annual reports, e -newsletters, backgrounders, fact sheets, ‘zines and RSS audio feed. Commercial sites included in vestor information unlike advocacy sites, while only adv ocacy sites had information on b oards of advisors and provided salient links. Commercial sites used photograph galleries and audio, unlike advocacy sites which instead employed white papers, conferenc es and magazines. Both types of space tourism organizations used events, merchandising and speeches more than expected.
Integrated Autonomous Voltage Regulation and Islanding Detection for High Penetration PV Applications

This paper proposes an autonomous unified var controller to address the system voltage issues and unintentional islanding problems associated with distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation systems. The proposed controller features the integration of both voltage regulation (VR) and islanding detection (ID) functions in a PV inverter based on reactive power control. Compared with the individual VR or ID methods, the function integration exhibits several advantages in high PV penetration applications: 1) fast VR due to the autonomous control; 2) enhanced system reliability because of the capability to distinguish between temporary grid disturbances and islanding events; 3) negligible nondetection zone (NDZ) and no adverse impact on system power quality for ID; and 4) no interferences among multiple PV systems during ID. As the VR and ID functions are integrated in one controller, the controller is designed to fulfill the requirement of VR dynamic performance and ensure small ID NDZ simultaneously. The interaction among multiple PV systems during VR is also considered in the design procedure. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed controller and the controller design method is validated with simulation using a real-time digital simulator and a power hardware-in-the-loop testbed.
Estimation of longitudinal resolution in optical coherence imaging

The spectral shape of a source is of prime importance in optical coherence imaging because it determines several aspects of image quality, especially longitudinal resolution. Wide spectral bandwidth, which provides short coherence length, is sought to obtain high-resolution imaging. To estimate longitudinal resolution, the spectral shape of a source is usually assumed to be Gaussian, although the spectra of real sources are typically non-Gaussian. We discuss the limit of this assumption regarding the estimation of longitudinal resolution. To this end, we also investigate how coherence length is related to longitudinal resolution through the evaluation of different definitions of the coherence length. To demonstrate our purpose, the coherence length for several theoretical and real spectral shapes of sources having the same spectral bandwidth and central wavelength is computed. The reliability of coherence length computations toward the estimation of longitudinal resolution is discussed.
Structure and stability of solid Xe(H2)n

Mixtures of xenon and molecular hydrogen form a series of hexagonal, van der Waals compounds at high pressures and at 300 K. Synchrotron, x-ray, single crystal diffraction studies reveal that below 7.5 GPa, Xe(H2)8 crystallizes in a P3m1 structure that displays pressure-induced occupancy changes of two pairs of xenon atoms located on the 2c and 2d sites (while the third pair on yet another 2c site remains fully occupied). The occupancy becomes 1 at the P3m1 to R3 transition and all the xenon atoms occupy the 3d sites in the high-pressure structure. These pressure-induced changes in occupancy coincide with volume changes that maintain the average Xe:H2 stoichiometry fixed at 1:8. The synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman measurements show that this unique hydrogen-bearing compound that can be synthesized at 4.2 GPa and 300 K, quenched at low temperatures to atmospheric pressure, and retained up to 90 K on subsequent warming.
Ionic Composition of Vadose Zone Water in an Arid Regiona

The ionic composition of water in the vadose zone of the Salt River Valley in south central Arizona was studied for three different water regimes: desert, irrigated, and flooded by urban runoff. The desert area exhibited high salinity in the top 10 m, probably due to concentration of salts over several years. Below 15 m, the salinity decreased with depth and approached the salinity of the native ground water. For the irrigated area, the chemical composition of the soil water was similar to that of the applied water but concentrations were higher. The irrigation efficiency calculated from the salinities of the irrigation and soil water was 78%.The average NO3-concentration from five of six sites was 100 mg/l, but was as high as 24,000 mg/l at another. Soil water from the urban runoff site had an electrical conductivity that was about three times less than that from the irrigated site, showing the effect of leaching with rain water. The observed salt distributions in the vadose zone were reasonably correlated to land use at the sites sampled.
CPOL: high-performance policy evaluation

Policy enforcement is an integral part of many applications. Policies are often used to control access to sensitive information. Current policy specification languages give users fine-grained control over when and how information can be accessed, and are flexible enough to be used in a variety of applications. Evaluation of these policies, however, is not optimized for performance. Emerging applications, such as real-time enforcement of privacy policies in a sensor network or location-aware computing environment, require high throughput. Our experiments indicate that current policy enforcement solutions are unable to deliver the level of performance needed for such systems, and limit their overall scalability. To deal with the need for high-throughput evaluation, we propose CPOL, a flexible C++ framework for policy evaluation. CPOL is designed to evaluate policies as efficiently as possible, and still maintain a level of expressiveness comparable to current policy languages. CPOL achieves its performance goals by efficiently evaluating policies and caching query results (while still preserving correctness). To evaluate CPOL, we ran a simulated workload of users making privacy queries in a location-sensing infrastructure. CPOL was able to handle policy evaluation requests two to six orders of magnitude faster than a MySql implementation and an existing policy evaluation system. We present the design and implementation of CPOL, a high-performance policy evaluation engine, along with our testing methodology and experimental results.
Simulating the Effects of Fire Reintroduction Versus Continued Fire Absence on Forest Composition and Landscape Structure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Northern Minnesota, USA

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness of northern Minnesota, USA, ememplifies how fire management and natural disturbance determine forest composition and landscape structure at a broad scale. Historically, the BWCA (>400,000 ha) was subject to crown fires with a mean rotation period of 50–100 y. Fires often overlapped, creating a mosaic of differently aged stands with many stands burning frequently or, alternatively, escaping fire for several centuries. The BWCA may never have reached a steady-state (defined as a stable landscape age-class structure). In the early 1900s, a diminished fire regime began creating a more demographically diverse forest, characterized by increasingly uneven-aged stands. Shade-tolerant species typical of the region began replacing the shade-intolerant species that composed the fire-generated even-aged stands. Red pine (Pinus resinosa) stands are relatively uncommon in the BWCA today and are of special concern. The replacement of early-to-midsuccessional species is occurring at the scale of individual gaps, producing mixed-species multiaged forests. We used LANDIS, a spatially explicit forest landscape model, to investigate the long-term consequences of fire reintroduction or continuing fire absence on forest composition and landscape structure. Fire reintroduction was evaluated at three potential mean fire rotation periods (FRP): 50,100, and 300 y. Our model scenarios predict that if fire reintroduction mimics the natural fire regime (bracketed by FRP = 50 and 100 y), it will be most successful at preserving the original species composition and landscape structure, although jack pine (Pinus banksiana) may require special management. With limited fire reintroduction, all of the extant species are retained although species dominance and landscape structure will be substantially altered. If fire remains absent, many fire-dependent species will be lost as local dominants, including red pine. The landscape appears to be in a state of rapid change and a shift in management to promote fire may need to be implemented soon to prevent further deviation from historic, presettlement conditions.
Mechanical limitation of pulmonary blood flow facilitates heart transplantation in older infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Objectives: Progression of pulmonary vascular disease limits heart transplantation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) to early infancy. Our objective was to assess the impact of bilateral pulmonary artery banding (PAB) on the operative courses of HLHS infants transplanted at ages older than 4 months. Methods: Courses of all HLHS patients in our center who remained listed to age ≥ 120 days before heart transplantation were assessed. Patients undergoing transplantation after standard management (control group) were compared to patients having a prior pulmonary blood flow limiting procedure (PAB group). Results: Of 16 identified patients, one crossed over to stage I Norwood on day 185 and died post-operatively. Fifteen patients were transplanted at age ≥ 120 days (control group n = 9, PAB group n = 6). Four PAB patients had open PA band placement. Two PAB patients underwent experimental percutaneous bilateral internal pulmonary artery flow limiting device insertion. The PAB group mean age at banding was 141 ± 54 days, and mean interval from PAB to transplant was 35 ± 31 days (range 1.5-68 days). No differences in age at transplant, weight at transplant, warm graft ischemia time or total graft ischemia time were detected between groups. Mean times of mechanical ventilation (control 143 ± 69 h vs. PAB 44 ± 13 h), inhaled nitric oxide (control 126 ± 70 h vs. PAB 37 ± 9 h), inotropic support (control 171 ± 64 h vs. PAB 87 ± 17 h), intensive care unit (ICU) stay (control 8.3 ± 2.7 days vs. PAB 4.5 ± 1.4 days), and hospital stay (control 10.4 ± 3.9 days vs. PAB 7.0 ± 1.1 days) were all lower in the PAB group (P < 0.05 all comparisons). Two control patients died, three required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and six did not tolerate primary chest closure. No PAB patient died or required ECMO. All PAB patients tolerated primary chest closure. All PAB patients had widely patent branch pulmonary arteries with no re-interventions to date. All hospital survivors remain alive (mean follow-up, control 50.2 months, PAB 11.5 months). Conclusions: Pre-transplant mechanical limitation of pulmonary blood flow simplified management and reduced morbidity for HLHS patients undergoing heart transplantation at ages ≥4 months. This strategy extends the permissible transplant waiting time in older infants with HLHS.
Albuterol delivery via intrapulmonary percussive ventilator and jet nebulizer in a pediatric ventilator model.

BACKGROUND: In-line administration of bronchodilators is widely used in pediatric patients receiving mechanical ventilation. We compared the amount of albuterol captured at the end of the endotracheal tube (ETT) with an intrapulmonary percussive ventilator (IPV) versus a Salter 8900 jet nebulizer placed in-line in a pediatric ventilator model, under various operating conditions. We hypothesized that the type of aerosol generator, tidal volume (VT), and position in the ventilator circuit would influence the albuterol delivery. METHODS: We connected a ventilator to a heated-wire ventilator circuit (heated to 37°C), to a cuffed 5.5-mm inner-diameter ETT, to a lung model, and ran the ventilator at pediatric ventilation settings: pressure-regulated volume-control mode, respiratory rate 20 breaths/min, PEEP 5c m H2O, FIO2 0.4, inspiratory time 0.75 s, inspiratory rise time 0.15 s, and flow-triggering at 3 L/min. We collected aerosol with a filter at the distal end of the ETT (ie, between the ETT and the lung model). We tested 3 IPV units run on central O2 at 50-PSI, with a drive pressure of 25 cm H2O, and 3 Salter 8900 units run on central O2 at 6 L/min. We diluted 5 mg of albuterol in saline, and nebulized 3 mL with the jet nebulizer and 10 mL with the IPV. We studied VT (100 mL vs 200 mL), position in the circuit (at the humidifier vs at the Y-piece), and the IPV’s “easy” and “hard” percussion settings. RESULTS: When positioned at the humidifier, the IPV delivered significantly less albuterol than the jet nebulizer (3.1–3.9-fold difference, P .002). When the IPV was moved to the Y-piece, the albuterol delivery was similar to that of the jet nebulizer at either position. Neither increasing the V T nor increasing the IPV settings increased the albuterol delivery. CONCLUSIONS: The IPV delivered less albuterol than the jet nebulizer when placed at the humidifier. IPV was equivalent to jet nebulizer when placed at the Y-piece. Doubling the V T did not increase aerosol delivery. Key words: mechanical ventilation; albuterol; nebulizer; intrapulmonary percussive ventilator; IPV; position; pediatrics; aerosol. [Respir Care 2010;55(12):1699– 1704. © 2010 Daedalus Enterprises]
Diabetes mellitus: channeling care through cellular discovery.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) impacts a significant portion of the worlds population and care for this disorder places an economic burden on the gross domestic product for any particular country. Furthermore, both Type 1 and Type 2 DM are becoming increasingly prevalent and there is increased incidence of impaired glucose tolerance in the young. The complications of DM are protean and can involve multiple systems throughout the body that are susceptible to the detrimental effects of oxidative stress and apoptotic cell injury. For these reasons, innovative strategies are necessary for the implementation of new treatments for DM that are generated through the further understanding of cellular pathways that govern the pathological consequences of DM. In particular, both the precursor for the coenzyme s-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), nicotinamide, and the growth factor erythropoietin offer novel platforms for drug discovery that involve cellular metabolic homeostasis and inflammatory cell control. Interestingly, these agents and their tightly associated pathways that consist of cell cycle regulation, protein kinase B, forkhead transcription factors, and Wnt signaling also function in a broader sense as biomarkers for disease onset and progression.
Evaluation of the Child Who Has Hip Pain

Evaluation of children who have hip pain can be a diagnostic challenge. This article reviews pertinent history taking, physical examination, laboratory testing, and imaging studies that assist in reaching a correct diagnosis. It also reviews the diagnostic categories that are important in formulating a differential diagnosis to frame clinical decision making.
Electrical properties of the body wall of Hydra.

If the hydrostatic pressure in the enteron of Hydra is made more than 2–4 mm of water greater than the outside pressure, the animal becomes distended, indicating that the normal enteron pressure is less than this. Positive enteron pressure attenuates the spontaneous, negative-going electrical spikes across the body wall, which are called contraction pulses (CP's) because of their relation to column contraction. Pressure has little effect on the transepithelial resting potential. The low frequency electrical impedance of the column is nonlinear. The impedance tends to increase as the transepithelial potential is made more negative. The nonlinearity has both initial and delayed components. The DC impedance of the column near the resting potential averages 100 kohms (approximately 5 kohms-cm2). The phase between transepithelial potential and imposed sinusoidal current approaches -90° with increasing current frequency. Bode plots of the column impedance and the phase lag indicate that the column has three or more time constants. CP's show several unusual features: (a) their amplitude and frequency are essentially independent of the transepithelial potential when the latter is altered by imposed current; (b) there is practically no change in column impedance during CP firing; (c) when the transepithelial potential is clamped at zero, CP's continue to appear spontaneously as current spikes. These features are consistent with the hypothesis that the CP-generating membrane forms but a small fraction of the total transverse impedance of the column.
Stable isotope analyses reveal individual variability in the trophic ecology of a top marine predator, the southern elephant seal

Identifying individuals' foraging strategies is critical to understanding the ecology of a species, and can provide the means to predict possible ecological responses to environmental change. Our study combines stable iso- tope analysis and satellite telemetry to study the variability in individual foraging strategies of adult female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). Our hypothesis is that female elephant seals from the Western Antarctica Penin- sula (WAP) display individual specialization in their diets. We captured adult female elephant seals (n = 56, 2005-2009) at Livingston Island (Antarctica), and instru- mented them with SMRU-CTD satellite tags. We collected blood, fur, and vibrissae samples for d 13 C and d 15 N anal- yses. The mean values for all vibrissae were -21.0 ± 0.7% for d 13 C, and 10.4 ± 0.8%, for d 15 N. The individual variability of d 13 C (60%) was more important than the within-individual variability (40%) in explaining the total variance observed in our data. For d 15 N, the results showed the opposite trend, with the within-individual variability (64%) contributing more to the total variance than the individual variability (36%), likely associated with the effect that the fasting periods have on d 15 N values. Most individuals were specialists, as inferred from the low intra- individual variability of d 13 C values with respect to the population variability, with half the individuals utilizing 31% or less of their available niche. We found eight dif- ferent foraging strategies for these animals. Female ele- phant seals from the WAP are a diverse group of predators with individuals utilizing only a small portion of the total available niche, with the consequent potential to expand their foraging habits to exploit other resources or envi- ronments in the Southern Ocean.
Using Astrology to Confront & Discuss Pseudoscience in the Classroom

Abstract Surveys have shown that a proportion of the American public accepts pseudoscientific claims as scientific facts. The critical evaluation of these claims via classroom discussion about pseudoscience is important because instructors and students cannot test every pseudoscientific claim. Instructors can provide a framework to use in evaluating such claims both inside and outside the classroom, arming students with knowledge. I describe an activity that provides both an example of a pseudoscientific claim — astrology — and a framework for classroom discussion of pseudoscience as students work in groups to experimentally test predictions of horoscopes. The activity is appropriate for freshman college students in an online or classroom biology laboratory and can be adapted for high school students.