cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contemporary comparison of supra-aortic trunk surgical reconstructions for occlusive disease.

Objective Open surgical reconstruction for supra-aortic trunk occlusive disease persists despite advances in endovascular therapy. Although extrathoracic reconstructions developed as a safer alternative to transthoracic reconstructions, contemporary national data evaluating relative rates of operative outcomes are lacking. Methods With use of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2005-2011), patients who underwent transthoracic or extrathoracic reconstruction were evaluated. Patients with nonocclusive indications were excluded. The primary outcome was a composite end point of stroke/myocardial infarction (MI)/death. Secondary outcomes were 30-day postoperative complications. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed. Results Overall, 83 patients (10.7%) underwent transthoracic reconstructions and 692 patients (89.3%) underwent extrathoracic reconstructions. Vascular surgeons performed most transthoracic (96%) and extrathoracic (97%) reconstructions. The most common extrathoracic reconstructions were carotid-subclavian bypass (68%), carotid-carotid bypass (14%), and subclavian transposition (7%). Less commonly, axillary-axillary bypass (6%), subclavian-axillary bypass (2%), subclavian-subclavian bypass (1%), and carotid transposition (1%) were performed. At the time of operation, 10% (transthoracic reconstructions) and 8% (extrathoracic reconstructions) of patients had a concurrent carotid endarterectomy ( P P > .99), MI (0% vs 1.3%; P = .61), death (2.4% vs 1.3%; P = .33), and stroke/MI/death (3.6% vs 3.8%; P > .99). Transthoracic reconstruction patients had longer hospital stays (6.3 days vs 4.0 days; P P P P P P = .001), and postoperative return to the operating room (OR, 4.75; 95% CI, 1.67-13.54; P = .004). Conclusions At U.S. hospitals, extrathoracic reconstruction is the more common reconstruction for supra-aortic trunk occlusive disease. Both approaches carry acceptably low rates of death, MI, and stroke. Transthoracic reconstruction results in more resource utilization because of its postoperative complications and greater complexity.
Multi-Institution Study of Student Demographics and Outcomes in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the USA

Electrical Engineering (EE) and Computer Engineering (CpE) programs have similar curricula, but different demographics and student outcomes. This paper extends earlier longitudinal studies to a larger and more diverse dataset with 90 $\,$ 000 first-time-in-college and 26 $\,$ 000 transfer students who majored in engineering at USA institutions, including students who started in first-year engineering programs, those switching majors, and those transferring from other institutions. Black men and women and Asian men in engineering are strongly attracted to EE when they start in college. Black students and Asian and Hispanic men are attracted to CpE more than other engineering disciplines, but at lower rates than EE. Asian students have the highest graduation rates in EE. EE students are much more likely to graduate than CpE students. Compared to other engineering disciplines, CpE graduation rates are low for women of all races/ethnicities and Black men. Both EE and CpE lose many of those starting the programs, but switchers and transfers compensate for some of the loss. Considering Asian students and White men, switching to EE accounts for the high attrition rate from CpE, but attrition in other populations cannot be explained so easily. Trajectories of student enrollment differ by race/ethnicity. The approach used here could serve as a model for other fields studying their own demographic distributions.
Age, sex, and religious background as determinants of interpersonal perception among Dutch children: A cross-cultural validation

Summary An investigation was conducted to determine the effects of age, sex, and religious background on interpersonal perceptions by 150 Dutch Calvinist and 150 Dutch Catholic boys and girls from three different age groups. The S s were asked to describe themselves, their father, mother, best male and female friends, teacher and most- and least-preferred co-workers. Interpersonal perception tests consisted of 24 bi-polar adjective scales with six-point intervals. The investigation was a cross-validation and extension of a previous study of American S s. The results indicated considerable similarities between the Dutch Catholics and Calvinists as well as between the Dutch and American S s. Males in both studies perceptually differentiated more among afult figures than did females. In both Dutch and American S s age significantly affected the perception of others and while the perceptual differentiation indices of the American S s increased as a monotonic function of age, the indices of the Dutch S s exhibited complex interactions. As in the American sample, Dutch females had higher esteem for self and others and they tended to assume more similarity to others. The differences in religious background led to very few significant findings which are interpretable at this time. The present investigation is of interest primarily in terms of the cross-cultural comparisons between Calvinists and Catholics and between Dutch and American S s. Both comparisons indicate the importance of the age and sex factors as determinants of interpersonal perception.
Weakly nonlinear stability analyses of one-dimensional Turing pattern formation in activator-inhibitor/immobilizer model systems

The development of one-dimensional Turing patterns characteristic of the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid/starch reaction as well as analogous Brussellator/immobilizer and Schnackenberg/immobilizer model systems is investigated by means of a weakly nonlinear stability analysis applied to the appropriately scaled governing equations. Then the theoretical predictions deduced from these pattern formation studies are compared with experimental evidence relevant to the Turing diffusive instabilities under examination in order to explain more fully the transition to such stationary symmetry-breaking spatial structures when the temperature or pool species concentrations vary.
A GRADIENT IN BENTHIC INTERTIDAL ALGAL ASSEMBLAGES ALONG THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST1

Based on an analysis floristic data, a gradient appears to exist in the composition of intertidal algae along the 450 km of southern California coastline immediately south of Point Conception. Reciprocal averaging ordination of the algal flora at 51 sites in this area suggests that the gradient is not strictly latitudinal. Variation from a latitudinal gradient occurs ca. 60-80 km south of Point Conception. An ordination of frequently occurring species indicated that compositional changes are substantial when sites at the extreme north and south are compared, but that the changes are gradual and continuous. Possible explanations for the gradient are discussed, and these include: sea temperature, upwelling, sand movement, human disturbance (i.e., pollution, trampling), and wave action.
Republication of The Journal of Physiology (2009) 587, 2855: Expressions of gratitude to The Journal of Physiology, to our colleagues and students, and to the fates that placed us in such a great time to be scientists

Torsten and I obviously feel it an immense honour to be celebrated in this way by The Journal of Physiology. It was there that we published our first papers, in many ways still our farourite ones. We found J Physiol a wonderful place to publish: among other things the figures were beautifully done, the reviews were always fair (i.e. laudatory). Our 1959 paper’s submission was accepted by a letter, written we think by William Rushton, that began ‘Congratulations upon a very fine paper…’, and made no suggestions at all for changes. We were pleased because that paper had gone through 11 drafts and had even passed muster by Ed Furshpan, our fiercest critic. Above all, The Journal didn’t follow the bizarre American style of ordering periods and closing quotation marks at ends of sentences. We hated to change journals, but felt forced to because at that time the strictly alphabetical order of authors’ names in JP, though perhaps an advantage for me, was hard on Torsten. One could hardly expect Harvard deans or promotion committees to know the ways of the British. The problem came to a climax in the case of Ed Furshpan and Taro Furukawa, who had to change journals so Taro could get promoted in Japan. We have always felt that any success we had over the years was a matter of sheer and consistent good luck, at every turn. We were roughly the same age, our abilities were complementary, and our scientific outlooks were similar. We started at a time when single cell recording from CNS was just taking off, and at first we had the field of visual cortex more or less to ourselves, aided by the myth that our kind of research was difficult and tedious. We did nothing to dispel that myth and so had little competition for over a decade. NIH support was generous and we never had to spend more than a few days every half-decade writing grant proposals. Animals were cheap, and there were fewer hoops to jump through – no long, detailed animal-use protocols to write or gloves or masks to wear during experiments. Above all we worked in a wonderful setting, with the huge benefit of the wisdom and gentle guidance of Steve Kuffler (our leader, and later the head of our department), and the company of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who were so good that we could ignore them and let them get on with their work.
Variations in the Relationship Between Maternal Depression, Maternal Sensitivity, and Child Attachment by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity: Findings from a Nationally Representative Cohort Study

This study uses data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort to examine the relationship between maternal depression, maternal sensitivity, and child attachment, specifically among Hispanic and Asian American mothers and their young children, and to explore the role of cultural variation and nativity in the associations between these variables. Data used in this study were collected from biological mothers on two occasions, when their children were approximately 9 and 24 months of age. Trained observers completed a direct assessment of child attachment security and an observational measure of maternal sensitivity, data on maternal depression was obtained via maternal report. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used to predict odds of child insecure attachment. The risk of child insecure attachment associated with chronic maternal depression was found to be much higher for Hispanic mothers than for Asians. In contrast, mothers' foreign-born status was a stronger risk factor than depression for insecure child attachment among Asian Americans. Maternal sensitivity significantly reduced the odds of Asian American children being insecurely attached by more than half. Among the full sample of mothers, which included U.S.-born non-Hispanic White mothers and U.S.-born non-Hispanic Black mothers, decreased maternal sensitivity mediated the association between chronic depression and child insecure attachment. However, this mediation was not found in stratified analyses of Hispanic and Asian mothers. Finally, mothers' nativity did not influence the extent to which maternal depression or sensitivity was associated with child attachment. These findings suggest that the associations between maternal depression, sensitivity, and child attachment are culturally specific, and that mothers' immigrant status may be a risk factor in some racial/ethnic groups but protective in others.
Bisexuality in Education: Exploring the Experiences, Resourcing, and Representations of Bisexual Students, Bisexual Parents, and Educators in Educational Systems—A Discussion

Dr. Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli of the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University (Burwood, Victoria, Australia) has undertaken a very important project in guest editing this special...
Spin eigenstate-dependent Hartree—Fock molecular dynamics

Abstract For the first time we present a fully ab initio molecular dynamics scheme for the treatment of many-electron ground and excited electronic states at the Hartree—Fock level using traditional Gaussian basis sets. The method is designed to simulate dynamics with first principles forces and to find global potential energy minima. Our first test examples concern the dynamics of singlet and triplet Na 4 . We find this cluster to exhibit strongly state-dependent dynamical behaviour that would not be observed in classical simulations.
Viscometry and light scattering on moderately concentrated solutions of poly(vinyl chloride)

Moderately concentrated solutions (0.015–0.10 g/mL) of poly(vinyl chloride) have been studied in three different solvents by light scattering and viscometry. It is concluded that intermolecular association occurs in all solutions studied, including data over the temperature interval 25–110°C. The data can be interpreted in terms of a model with loci of association holding chains together in an aggregate that has an overall configuration similar to that of a randomly branched polymer.
Spinning-disk laser interferometers for immuno-assays and proteomics: the BioCD

Spinning-disk self-referencing laser interferometers are being developed as high-speed high-sensitivity platforms for immunoassay and proteomics applications. Their compact disc (CD) formats have the potential for ultra-high-throughput multianalyte assays as well as for binding kinetics and quantitative analysis. Self-referencing interferometers are immune to mechanical variations, enabling interferometric sensitivities and speeds that are several orders of magnitude larger than for their counterpart fluorometric techniques. This paper defines for the first time three classes of the BioCD that differ in their method of self-referencing and reviews their relative merits and sensitivities. Each uses a near-field probe with far-field detection. The three classes are: microdiffraction, adaptive optical, and photonic cavity.
Deep nulling of laser light in a rotational shearing interferometer

There is great interest in techniques that potentially enable the direct detection of light from planets orbiting nearby stars. In one technique, nulling interferometry, the light from two or more separate telescopes can be destructively interfered to cancel the light from the star, allowing detection of the faint off-axis light from an orbiting planet or circumstellar disc. At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, broadband white light nulls limited by dispersion effects have been previously reported. In this paper, we investigate other limiting effects using a monochromatic laser source. We report transient laser nulls as deep as 1 part in 106 at a wavelength of 633 nm in a nulling interferometer operated in air. We discuss the techniques used to obtain these nulls and the residual sources of stray light and other null limitations.
The chicken soup effect: The role of recreation and intramural participation in boosting freshman grade point average

Abstract Freshman grade point average, in particular first semester grade point average, is an important predictor of survival and eventual student success in college. As many institutions of higher learning are searching for ways to improve student success, one would hope that policies geared towards the success of freshmen have long term benefits reflected in eventual graduation. In this paper, we look at whether participation in Intramural and Recreation programs is associated with freshman grade point average at a mid-sized public institution with extensive recreational opportunities. We find a strong positive association between freshman grade point average and participation in recreation. Our results suggest that investments in recreational opportunities for students are complementary to the institution's academic mission rather than a distraction from it.
Regional and local patterns of soil nutrients at Rocky Mountain treelines

Abstract The soils across treeline should vary because of direct effects of biological differences of coniferous subalpine forest and the herbaceous alpine tundra in Colorado. In addition, the change in life form may indirectly affect soils because of interactions of the vegetation and wind-driven deposition processes. This is particularly important as nitrogen (N) saturation is a growing concern in high elevation ecosystems, and treeline is predicted to be a deposition hotspot. The vegetation transition at treeline provides an opportunity to test the effects of vegetation, topography, and external inputs on soils at three spatial scales. First, a regional evaluation of soils at eleven abrupt treeline sites was made comparing sites on east and west aspects both east and west of the Continental Divide (CD). Second, soils were compared in the adjacent forest and tundra. Finally, edge effects were assessed along transects spanning treeline. At the regional scale, total soil N was higher east of the CD and on east aspects while exchangeable calcium was higher on east aspects and at sites west of the CD. Higher lead (Pb) concentration in the forest organic horizon was associated with lower 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ratios, an indication of greater anthropogenic Pb inputs. However, the spatial pattern in soil Pb suggests a different source area or transport mechanism than N. Within individual sites, the soils differed between the forest and tundra in almost every measured variable, but edge effects were minimal on both sides of these abrupt treelines. While a direct link between the observed soil patterns to deposition of external inputs cannot be made based on the study design, the observed soil patterns suggest that the impacts of acid deposition are amplified or attenuated by processes such as dust deposition.
Action of the intercostal muscles on the rib cage

Recent studies suggest that the parasternal muscles (PA) are primarily responsible for rib cage expansion during eupneic breathing with a much lesser role played by the interosseous external intercostals (EI). The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the capacity of the EI to expand the rib cage during spontaneous breathing in the absence of coincident ipsilateral PA activation. In 9 anesthetized dogs, we measured PA EMG and length in the 3rd interspace and EI EMG and length in the 3rd and 4th interspaces. During resting breathing, each muscle was electrically active and shortened to a similar degree, approximately 3% of resting length. Following ipsilateral PA denervation (1st through 6th interspaces), the level of EI shortening in the 3rd and 4th interspaces was maintained, but with an increase in neural drive to these muscles. The parasternal muscle in the 3rd interspace lengthened during inspiration. Subsequent sequential denervation of EI in the 3rd and 4th interspaces resulted in their lengthening. In 4 additional animals, axial motion of the 4th rib was measured in the mid axillary line. Ipsilateral PA denervation had no significant effect on rib motion. External intercostal denervation (3rd interspace), on the other hand, had a substantial impact on rib motion, causing the 4th rib to move in the caudal direction during inspiration. Our results indicate that: (a) the EI of the lateral rib cage are capable of elevating the ribs during inspiration independent of PA contraction; (b) PA contraction contributes to EI shortening during eupneic breathing and (c) regional loss of muscle activation results in local rib cage distortion, suggesting that the upper rib cage has multiple degrees of freedom.
Formation of chiral quaternary carbon stereocenters using silylene transfer reactions: enantioselective synthesis of (+)-5-epi-acetomycin.

Chiral quaternary carbon stereocenters can be established with high diastereoselectivity by a silylene transfer/Ireland−Claisen rearrangement. The utility of this method was demonstrated by application to a synthesis of (+)-5-epi-acetomycin.
Screening for Suicide Risk in the College Population

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in college students, but there is limited consensual evidence to guide clinicians’ assessment and management of suicide. The aim of the current study was to assess the capability of a simple and practical measure, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) suicide item, to identify college students at high risk of suicide. Exploration of this research question could have important implications in this vulnerable population for identifying those at risk for suicide. Six-hundred-and-fifty-seven college students participated in a mental health screening and completed the BDI and the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), which is a detailed measure of suicide risk. We dichotomized the BDI suicide item, which measures suicidal ideation within the past week (presence vs. absence of suicidal ideation) as well as the SBQ-R total score (low vs. high risk of suicide). We computed the kappa statistic for the examination of agreement between these two measures. The kappa coefficient for the BDI suicide item and the SBQ-R was 0.57 for dichotomized scores. The BDI suicide item had a positive predictive value of 74 %, and a negative predictive value of 93 %. In a hierarchical linear regression, the BDI suicide item alone significantly predicted elevated scores on the SBQ-R [Chi square (1) = 128.427, p < 0.001]. These results suggest that affirmative responses on the single BDI suicide item indicate elevated suicide risk. However this single item screening approach will miss some at-risk students.
Prototype Personality Diagnosis in Clinical Practice: A Viable Alternative for DSM-V and ICD-11

Several studies suggest that a prototype-matching approach yields diagnoses of comparable validity to the more complex diagnostic algorithms outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Furthermore, clinicians prefer prototype diagnosis of personality disorders to the current categorical diagnostic system or alternative dimensional methods. An important extension of this work was to investigate the degree to which clinicians are able to make prototype diagnoses reliably. The aim of this study was to assess the interrater reliability of a prototype-matching approach to personality diagnosis in clinical practice. Using prototypes derived empirically in prior research, outpatient clinicians diagnosed patients’ personality after an initial evaluation period. External evaluators independently diagnosed the same patients after watching videotapes of the same clinical hours. Interrater reliability for prototype diagnosis was high, with a median r .72. Cross-correlations between disorders were low, with a median r .01. Clinicians and clinically trained independent observers can assess complex personality constellations with high reliability using a simple prototype-matching procedure, even with prototypes that are relatively unfamiliar to them. In light of its demonstrated reliability, efficiency, and versatility, prototype diagnosis appears to be a viable system for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, with exceptional utility for research and clinical practice.
Enhancing the IMF’s Regulatory Authority

In the wake of the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (the Fund) is considering changes to its regulatory authority that are designed to make it a more effective crisis-prevention body. Among the changes being contemplated is the integration of in-depth analysis of financial sector regulatory weaknesses into its annual assessment of each member's overall economic policies. In addition, given the important linkages among the economies of its members, consideration is being given to measures that will enhance the Fund's capacity to identify and address risks on a multilateral basis. Finally, in light of the important role of international capital movements, the Fund will be discussing options that are designed to give it a more robust role in this area. Oxford University Press 2010, all rights reserved, Oxford University Press.
On the structure of varieties with equationally definable principal congruences III

The notion of apseudo-interior algebra is introduced; it is a hybrid of a (topological) interior algebra and a residuated partially ordered monoid. The elementary arithmetic of pseudo-interior algebras is developed leading to a simple equational axiomatization. A notion ofopen filter analogous to the open filters of interior algebras is investigated. Pseudo-interior algebras represent, in algebraic form, the logic inherent in varieties with acommutative, regular ternary deductive (TD) term p(x, y, z), which is defined by the conditions: (1)p(x,y,z) ≡ z (modΘ(x, y)); (2) for fixed elementsa, b of an algebra A, {p(a, b, z):z ∈ A} is a transversal of the set of equivalence classes of Θ(a, b); (3)p(a, b, z) andp(a′,b′,z) define the same transversal wheneverΘ(a,b)=Θ(a′,b′); (4)Θ(p(x, y, 1), 1)= Θ(x, y) for some constant term 1. The TD term generalizes the (affine) ternary discriminator. Varieties with a commutative, regular TD term include most of the varieties of traditional algebraic logic as well as all double-pointed affine discriminator varieties andn-potent hoops (residuated commutative po-monoids in which the partial ordering is inverse divisibility). The main theorem:A variety has a commutative, regular TD term iff it is termwise definitionally equivalent to a pseudo-interior algebra with additional operations that are compatible with the open filters in a natural way.
A Simple Procedure for Modifying High-Speed Cam Profiles for Vibration Reduction

Unwanted vibration in cam-follower systems causes increased forces, noise, wear, and operating costs. This paper investigates the use of input shaping on cam profiles to reduce vibration. Input shaping is a real-time command modification algorithm developed for computer-controlled machines. In order to apply the concept to cam design, some modifications to the algorithm must be made. To test the validity of high-speed input-shaped cam profiles, an experimental apparatus was constructed with variable operating speeds and follower dynamics. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Resolving the database sequence discrepancies for the Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage ϕ 11 amidase

There are two conflicting primary nucleotide sequences of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage φ 11 amidase gene in Genbank. Nucleotide sequence differences as well as alternative translational start site assignments result in three non-identical protein sequence predictions for this amidase. Therefore, it is prudent to verify the correct phi11 amidase protein sequence, especially since multiple versions of the amidase gene have been subcloned, deletion analysis performed, and their experimental use described. There is also a resurgence of interest in the expression and use of bacteriophage lytic proteins as bactericidal agents and the φ 11 amidase has a high antimicrobial potential. The correct amidase sequence is identified through a combination of DNA sequence analysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of the recombinant purified phi11 amidase protein. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Bond Dissociation Energies of the Tungsten Fluorides and Their Singly-Charged Ions: A Density Functional Survey

The dissociation of WF6 and the related singly-charged cations and anions into the lower fluorides and fluorine atoms has been investigated theoretically using density functional theory (B3LYP) and relativistic effective core potentials, with estimates of spin-orbit effects included using a simple model. The inclusion of spin-orbit is essential for a correct description of the thermochemistry. The total atomization energy of the neutral and anionic WF6 is reproduced to within 25 kcal/mol, but comparison of individual bond dissociation energies with available experimental data shows discrepancies of up to 10 kcal/mol. The results are nevertheless useful to help resolve discrepancies in experimental data and provide estimates of missing data.
Process synthesis concepts for supercritical gas extraction in the crossover region

A procedure is presented for designing supercritical gas extraction processes using a pure solvent fluid to effect the separation. The necessary conditions for the procedure to be applicable are the existence of crossover behavior and separable crossover pressures in the fluid phase mixture. Data are presented to support the existence of such phenomena in ternary systems, and an actual separation process has been designed and operated based upon the data. For systems exhibiting this behavior, process synthesis principles are developed to illustrate the evolution of a process flowsheet for the separation of a mixture into its pure components.
“The Nation as an Economic Unit”: Keynes, Roosevelt, and the Managerial Ideal

In a penetrating essay written in 1979, Robert Skidelsky directed attention to the political dimension ofJohn Maynard Keynes's achievement and located its historical significance in the fundamental tension between this century's two great paradigms of social organization "Freedom" and "Planning."' The Great Depression, he argued, starkly exposed the vulnerability of the industrial democracies to impersonal market forces, producing unemployment and misery that challenged the legitimacy of democratic political institutions. To many who were drawn to the radical solutions of planners of both the Right and the Left, it seemed that the West's economic agony would yield only to a thoroughgoing reconstruction of its political order; if Adolf Hitler would preserve capitalism by destroying liberty and democracy, then Joseph Stalin premised the achievement of democracy on the destruction of liberty and capitalism. But if the friends of freedom shrank from these extremes, they remained paralyzed by the apparent incompatibility of effective measures to end the distress with the preservation of traditional liberties that the vast majority still cherished. It is in this context that Skidelsky measures Keynes's greatness. Aware that improvement in economic technique was the only alternative to political change whose consequences he despised, Keynes so defined the economic problem that its solution required neither the substantial diminution of personal liberty nor a reordering of the property relationships at the foundation of democratic capitalism. He thus postponed the day of reckoning between freedom and planning by offering a technical solution to the political problem, a solution that promised not only economic stability but also the preservation of both the price mechanism and the institutions of liberal democracy. But with the Keynesian consensus now in tatters, Skidelsky argued, in a world of new economic problems that urgently pose the old alternatives of freedom and planning, "we return to the original question. Can we look once more to an improvement in economic technique to solve the political problem? Or must we rely on political and social change to solve the economic problem?"2
The Interaction of Planetary-Scale Tropical Easterly Waves with Topography: A Mechanism for the Initiation of Tropical Cyclones

Abstract The interaction of a basic state flow consisting of a planetary-scale easterly wave superimposed on a uniform easterly zonal wind with an isolated topographic feature is examined by numerical integration of the shallow water equations in an equatorial beta-plane channel. The topographic parameters are chosen to represent the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. The zonal wavelength and phase speeds of the basic state easterly waves are chosen to correspond with previously published observations. The topographic modification of a slow Rossby mode in which the basic state vorticity maximum is located near 15° latitude is characterized by the generation of a cyclonic vorticity maximum in the lee of the mountain, which extends the entire length of the ridge, and a secondary maximum which propagates downstream. A fast mixed Rossby–gravity mode in which the vorticity maximum is located at the equator interacts less strongly with the mountain, with a lee vorticity maximum that is confined near the southern...
703-4 Second Harmonic Imaging Enhances Contrast Echocardiography in Patients with Cardiac Disease: Demonstration of Feasibility

The fact that contrast microbubbles suspended in blood resonate results in the ability to alter the frequency of sound energy reflected by these targets. Therefore, preferential recording of reflected energy at frequencies which are harmonics of the carrier frequency offers the potential to selectively enhance contrast signals. We tested the clinical value of this concept during standard transthoracic echocardiography in 5 pts with organic heart disease (CAD, cardiomyopathy, other). Echo imaging was performed in the apical 4chamber view using a prototype instrument engineered to perform imaging focused about 2.5 or 5.0 megaHertz. Contrast signals were produced by injecting 3000–4000 mg of SHU508 (Levovist) into the brachial vein. For each injection, images were obtained at both 2.5 MHz and its second harmonic. Pts tolerated the injections well without change in BP or heart rate. Contrast echoes were analyzed qualitatively (1 + weak and incomplete opacification, 2+ complete LV filling, 3+ dense and complete filling) and with videointensity measurements. All pts manifested 1+ opacification during regular imaging except for one who showed no LV contrast. With 2nd harmonic imaging all pts were judged to have 2+ signals. Analysis of the ratio of LV cavity to myocardial intensity (gray levels) revealed a ratio of 0.7 ± 0.09 with regular imaging and 5.0 ± 2 with 2nd harmonics. Thus, second harmonic imaging can substantially enhance the relative signal from microbubbles as compared to tissue in patients with cardiac disease. This selective contrast amplification enables more dense and complete opacification of the LV. Second harmonic imaging should prove of value in the clinical application of contrast echocardiography
Safety and efficacy of staged pelvic osteotomies in the modern treatment of cloacal exstrophy.

Abstract Introduction and objective Staged pelvic osteotomy (SPO) prior to bladder closure has been shown to be a safe and effective method for achieving pubic approximation in cloacal exstrophy (CE) patients with extreme diastasis. However, SPO outcomes have never been compared to those for combined pelvic osteotomy (CPO) at the time of closure in CE patients. Methods A prospectively maintained database of 1208 exstrophy–epispadias complex patients was reviewed for CE patients treated with pelvic osteotomies. Inclusion criteria were osteotomy at the authors' institution and closure within two months of osteotomy. After inclusion, patients were separated into four groups depending on osteotomy procedure (SPO vs. CPO) and whether their osteotomy occurred with primary closure or re-closure. Patient demographics, closure history, pre-operative diastasis measurement, most recent post-operative diastasis measurement, and outcomes were recorded and compared by chi-squared tests and ANOVA. Results Among 116 CE patients reviewed, 46 met inclusion criteria. With primary closure or re-closure, 27 had SPO and 19 had CPO. No SPO re-closure patients had previous osteotomy; 4 CPO re-closure patients had a previous osteotomy with closure. Median time between osteotomy and closure in SPO patients was 14 days. Median follow-up after SPO and CPO were 4 and 11 years, respectively. SPO significantly reduced the pre-operative diastasis compared to CPO on most recent diastasis measurement (3.5 cm vs. 0.4 cm, p = 0.003). There were no significant differences in the overall complication rate, or the rates of each specific complication, between the SPO and CPO groups. No patients had wound dehiscence or prolapse. One CPO patient was able to intermittently catheterize per urethra while all other patients required continent urinary diversion to achieve continence. Conclusions To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study comparing SPO and CPO outcomes in CE patients. SPO reduces pre-operative diastasis more than CPO, and does not appear to incur increased rates of complication, closure failure, or incontinence. Due to its apparent safety and greater efficacy, SPO should be considered in all CE patients with extreme diastases undergoing primary closure or re-closure.
Asymptotic solution of lower-hybrid wave propagation in two-dimensional inhomogeneous plasma

An asymptotic expansion for the electrostatic potential in cold plasma due to excitation near the lower-hybrid frequency is developed which is valid in the presence of two-dimensional field and density inhomogeneities. The lowest-order terms of the expansion yield the resonance cone surfaces and WKB amplification factors associated with finite-sized sources. The technique is applied to investigate phased waveguide array excitation.
Effect of pregastric food stimuli on meal size and intermeal interval in the rat

Abstract After 3 hr food deprivation, rats with gastric fistulas ate liquid food with the fistula closed (normal feeding) or open (sham feeding). On the first sham feeding test, meal size (MS) was larger and intermeal interval (IMI) was shorter than during normal feeding. The collection of ingested food and phenol red labelled diet through the fistula was complete during sham feeding under these conditions. These experiments show that pregastric food-contingent stimuli -alone (sham feeding) are sufficient for the termination of a meal, appearance of postprandial resting behavior and for a measurable IMI under conditions resembling those of normal feeding for laboratory rats in the light phase of a diurnal cycle. Pregastric stimuli alone are not sufficient for normal satiety, however, because sham-fed MS is larger and IMI is shorter than normal. This sham feeding paradigm may serve as a useful behavioral assay for postprandial satiety.
Processing and Characterization of Functionally Gradient Ceramic Materials

Tape casting of ceramic materials offers the flexibility of gradually altering the electronic or structural properties of two dissimilar systems in order to improve their compatibility. This research outlines the processing and fabrication of two systems of functionally gradient materials. The systems are both electronic ceramic composites consisting of Ba1-xSrxTiO3 (BSTO) and alumina or a second oxide additive. These composites would be used in phased array antenna systems, therefore, the electronic properties of the material have specific requirements in the microwave frequency regions. The composition of the tapes are varied to provide a graded dielectric constant, which gradually increases from that of air (dielectric constant equals 1) to that of the ceramic (dielectric constant equals 1500). This allows maximum penetration of incident microwave radiation as well as minimum energy dissipation and insertion loss into the entire phase shifting device.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
GaAlAs/GaAs heterostructure bipolar transistors: Experiment and theory

Important to the ultimate usability and scalability of the heterostructure bipolar transistor (HBT) are our understanding of such physical and technological factors as: (a) primary parasitic effects such as surface and bulk recombination, (b) transport and storage of carriers in extrinsic and intrinsic regions, (c) secondary parasitic effects such as offset voltage, (d) effects of choice of technology and processes such as implantation etc.; and (e) device design issues such as single and double heterostructures and the key speed determining factors of a given design. This extended abstract describes experimental and theoretical understanding related to there issues by correlating measurements on self-aligned (refractory ohmic contacts) and non-self-aligned micrometer size device structures with simulations using two-dimensional heterostructure drift-diffusion models, and Ebers-Moll based circuit models. We also summarize our technologies for shallow and small junctions that address the above factors and which will be important in scaled device.
Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in the United States.

OBJECTIVE.: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between U.S. mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN.: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 139 European American, Latin American, and African American families. RESULTS.: Interactions between parent gender and ethnicity emerged for adult-controlled failure and perceived control over failure. Fathers reported higher adult-controlled failure and child-controlled failure attributions than did mothers, whereas mothers reported attitudes that were more progressive and modern than did fathers; these differences remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Ethnic differences emerged for five of the seven attributions and attitudes examined; four remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Medium effect sizes were found for concordance between parents in the same family for attributions regarding uncontrollable success, child-controlled failure, progressive attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS.: This work elucidates ways that parent gender and ethnicity relate to attributions regarding U.S. parents' successes and failures in caregiving situations and to their progressive versus authoritarian parenting attitudes.
Photoinitated charge separation in a hybrid titanium dioxide metalloporphyrin peptide material

Peptides can be used as templates for the synthesis of dye-sensitised semiconducting materials. Here, the authors design two peptides that give excellent and sequence specific control over the spatial arrangement of the semiconducting materials with respect to the dye molecule.
Establishing a liquid-phase IEF in combination with 2-DE for the analysis of Leishmania proteins

The recent completion of genome sequencing projects for Leishmania major and near completion for two other species, L. infantum and L. braziliensis, has provided the needed genomic information for investigating the proteomes of Leishmania parasites. However, the design of effective 2-DE-based proteome mapping for complex protozoan parasites like Leishmania has proven to be severely compromised due to extensive overcrowding of spots especially in the acidic regions, coupled to a relatively low representation of basic proteins. In the present study, we optimized a liquid-phase IEF in combination with 2-DE for L. amazonensis promastigote as a way of reducing protein complexity and enhancing representation for low-abundance proteins on gels. Of 20 pH-based fractions eluted from Rotofor cells, 5 representative fractions selected from acidic, basic or neutral regions of the proteome and with adequate protein concentration were further analyzed by 2-DE using medium-range IPG strips. On this basis, we were able to generate high-resolution 2-DE maps encompassing both the acidic and basic ends of the proteome with enhanced spot representation.
Characterization and factorization results for FIR biorthonormal filter banks

In a maximally decimated filter bank with identical decimation ratios for all channels, the perfect reconstructibility (PR) depends on the determinant of the polyphase matrix. We point out that CAusal Fir matrices with AntiCAusal Fir inverses (abbreviated cafacafi) have a key role in the characterization of FIR filter banks. Essentially all FIR PR filter banks can be characterized by causal FIR polyphase matrices having anticausal FIR inverses. In this paper we introduce the most general degree-one cafacafi building block, and consider the problem of factorizing cafacafi systems into these building blocks. Factorizability conditions are developed. A special class of cafacafi systems called the biorthonornal lapped transform (BOLT) is developed, and shown to be factorizable. This is a generalization of the well-known lapped orthogonal transform (LOT). Examples of unfactorizable cafacafi systems are also demonstrated. >
Obtaining Fish for Stocking

Two possible sources of fish for growing out are: (A) wild juveniles and (B) domestic juveniles reared in a hatchery.
Speculations on performance models

The publication of Syntactic Structures in 1957 stimulated a much-needed re-evaluation among linguists as to the goals of linguistic theory and the nature of language. Part of the discussion which has ensued has centred around the question of linguistic competence versus performance. Competence has been related to performance as ‘langue’ is to ‘parole’. ‘Competence’ thus refers to the ‘underlying system of rules that has been mastered by the speaker-hearer’ (Chomsky, 1965) and ‘performance’ to the way the speaker-hearer utilizes this ‘internalized grammar’ when he actually produces and understands utterances. Despite the continued controversy about this distinction, little can be added to the justifications for it put forth over many decades (cf. Chomsky, 1957, 1964, 1965; Katz, 1964, 1966; Postal, 1966; Sapir, 1933; Levin, 1965; de Saussure, 1916; etc.). Yet there remains much vagueness as to the limits of each and the relationship between the two. For many years the confusion was due to the influence of Bloomfield who centred his attention on the speech act; his aim was the classification of the OUTPUT of performance, i.e. the utterances, and led to no theory about the dynamic process of performance itself (Bloomfield, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1933). While giving lip service to a concern for ‘langue’, his own mechanistic approach negated any possibility for the rules of ‘langue’ to be anything more than lists of recurrent patterns found in ‘parole’. And since he was of the opinion that ‘the physiologic and acoustic description of acts of speech belongs to other sciences than ours’ (Bloomfield, 1926: 153) he did not direct himself to those aspects of ‘parole’ which could explain speech performance.
Implications of Tropical Deforestation for Climate: A Comparison of Model and Observational Descriptions of Surface Energy and Hydrological Balance

Quantitative estimates of the impacts of tropical deforestation on climate can only be considered through use of models of climate that contain adequate treatments of both the land and atmospheric components. Recent global climate model (GCM) calculations by Dickinson & Henderson-Sellers of the effect of removing the Amazon forest attempted to include a detailed canopy model of the forest and the assumed grass replacement. An important role for the structure of the forest canopy was suggested by this study. However, data of Shuttleworth on the seasonal variation of Amazon evapotranspiration show much lower values during the wet season than were obtained in the GCM study and, consequently, much less seasonal variation. The reason for this discrepancy is examined by using results both from the GCM used in the deforestation study and a three-year simulation with a more recent version. The major source of the discrepancy is found to be a large excess of net surface radiation in the GCM simulations, and an excess rainfall interception loss, which is a consequence of this excess radiation. The modelled transpiration appears to agree with the observations.