cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acoustic simulations of combined electric and acoustic hearing (EAS)

Objective: Our aim was to explore the consequences for speech understanding of leaving a gap in frequency between a region of acoustic hearing and a region stimulated electrically. Our studies were conducted with normal-hearing listeners, using an acoustic simulation of combined electric and acoustic (EAS) stimulation. Design: Simulations of EAS were created by low-pass filtering speech at 0.5 kHz (90 dB octave roll-off) and adding amplitude-modulated sine waves at higher frequencies. The gap in frequency between acoustic and simulated electric hearing was varied over the range 0.5 kHz to 3.2 kHz. Stimuli included sentences in quiet, sentences in noise, and consonants and vowels. Three experiments were conducted with sample sizes of 12 listeners. Results: Scores were highest in conditions that minimized the frequency gap between acoustic and electric stimulation. In quiet, vowels and consonant place of articulation showed the most sensitivity to the frequency gap. In noise, scores in the simulated EAS condition were higher than the sum of the scores from the acoustic-only and simulated electric-only conditions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that both deep and shallow insertions of electrodes could improve the speech understanding abilities of patients with residual hearing to 500 Hz. However, performance levels will be maximized if the gap between acoustic and electric stimulation is minimized.
The Chemical Reactivity of the Martian Soil and Implications for Future Missions

Possible interpretations of the results of the Viking Biology Experiments suggest that greater than 1 ppm of a thermally labile oxidant, perhaps H2O2, and about 10 ppm of a thermally stable oxidant are present in the martian soil. We reexamine these results and discuss implications for future missions, the search for organics on Mars, and the possible health and engineering effects for human exploration. We conclude that further characterization of the reactivity of the martian regolith materials is warrented-although if our present understanding is correct the oxidant does not pose a hazard to humans. There are difficulties in explaining the reactivity of the Martian soil by oxidants. Most bulk phase compounds that are capable of oxidizing H2O to O2 per the Gas Exchange Experiment (GEx) are thermally labile or unstable against reduction by atmospheric CO2. Models invoking trapped O2 or peroxynitrates (NOO2(-)) require an unlikely geologic history for the Viking Lander 2 site. Most suggested oxidants, including H2O2, are expected to decompose rapidly under martian UV. Nonetheless, we conclude that the best model for the martian soil contains oxidants produced by heterogeneous chemical reactions with a photochemically produced atmospheric oxidant. The GEx results may be due to catalytic decomposition of an unstable oxidizing material by H2O. We show that interfacial reaction sites covering less than 1% of the available soil surfaces could explain the Viking Biology Experiments results.
Internal sensor compensation for increased Ca test sensitivity

The development of state-of-the-art barrier films and encapsulation schema for displays and photovoltaics requires precise measurement of water vapor permeation as quickly as possible. We have demonstrated improvements to our electrical, Ca-trace-based water vapor transmission rate measurement technique without introducing any additional cost or sample handling concerns. Most importantly, the contacting scheme was changed so that the effective length of the sensor traces can be more precisely determined making the contact resistance between the Ca and Au/Ti films far less likely to affect the results. A 4-pt contacting pattern was also applied to the internal (non-data) witness trace. This expanded the potential utility of the witness trace from just an indicator for the integrity of the sample assembly, to also being used to compensate for measurement error. Lastly, we increased the relative precision of our resistance measurements by implementing a Ca sensor trace with significantly higher resistance. Principally, these changes produce significant measurement improvements for permeation rates less than 10−4 g/m2/day, by lowering the noise floor, reducing required measurement time, and increasing the reproducibility of this test method.
Active mitochondria do not produce ethylene.

Although numerous reports on ethylene evolution from subcellular preparations have appeared (2,3, 4,5,8,9,11, 18, 19,20), some of these works have been criticized by Burg and Burg (1) and by Meigh (17). and the question whether or not mitochondria produce ethylene remains unclear. It is known that ethylene can be evolved nonenzymically from methionine and its derivatives, mediated either by ICu2+-ascorbate-H202 (10) or by FMN-light (22,23). Enzymic systems of ethylene production were described recently by Mapson and Wardale (13), Ku et al. (7), and Meheriuk and Spencer (14, 15, 16). More recently, Yang (21) has demonstrated that ethylene can rapidly be formed aerobically from methional by an enzyme system consisting of horseradish peroxidase, Mn2+ and sulfite ions, and a monohydric phenol. We have been able to isolate very active, homogeneous, relatively uninjured mitochondria from various fruits (6). It is the purpose of this article to indicate that such active mitochondria do not directly produce ethylene; it appears more likely that ethylene is produced by a soluble enzyme. Tomato fruits (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., cv. VC 243-20) were harvested at various stages of maturity from greenhouse-grown plants (12). The fruits were washed with distilled water and chilled (0-4°) from 1 to 4 hours before processing by the method of Ku et al. (6). The flesh of the fruit wall was carefully removed, avoiding the inclusion of any skin, seeds, or the jelly-like tissue around the seeds.
Involvement of cytokines in normal CNS development and neurological diseases: Recent progress and perspectives

Cytokines have been recognized to play an important role both in normal development of the brain, when they act as neurotrophic factors, as well as following injury. While both the cytokines and their receptors are synthesized and expressed in the brain normally (albeit at low levels), it has become clear that elevated levels are associated with many neurological disorders. In this review, we have chosen to present the data for only a few of the cytokines, including interleukin-1beta, interleukin-3, interleukin-6, interferon-gamma, transforming growth factor-beta, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Data are presented that suggest roles they may play in human disorders, including stroke, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and several psychiatric disorders. The results in human disease are compared with results obtained in a variety of transgenic animal models. The mouse models have very different disorders depending on whether a cytokine is overexpressed either peripherally or in either astrocytes or neurons. The potential significance of this to the understanding of human disease is discussed.
High rate of placental infarcts in type 2 compared with type 1 diabetes.

Context: Timing and cause of pregnancy loss differ between type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Objective: The objective of the study was to determine whether placental histology corresponds to differing causes of pregnancy loss in T1DM and T2DM. We hypothesized that placentas from mothers with T2DM would be more likely to demonstrate vascular pathology than those from mothers with T1DM. Research Design/Setting/Participants: We reviewed medical histories, pregnancy outcomes, and placental histology of women with pregestational T1DM and T2DM with singleton pregnancies between 2001 and 2009 at a single tertiary care medical center. Main Outcome Measures: Placental weight, placental dysmaturity, villous maturation, villitis of unclear etiology, and histological evidence of placental infarction were measured. Results: Ninety-eight placentas were available for review, 53 from T1DM mothers (56%) and 45 from T2DM mothers (46%). Mean age and glycemic control each trimester did not differ between dia...
The Far Infrared Absorption Spectra of Ammonia and Phosphine Gases under High Resolving Power

A spectrometer of large aperture employing a reflection grating of the echelette type ruled to concentrate radiation in the region of the 1st order of 90\ensuremath{\mu} has been applied in the spectral range from 60 to 125\ensuremath{\mu}. The resolving power was several times that hitherto obtained in this region. The pure rotation absorption spectra of water vapor and of the gases N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ and P${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ have been investigated. In the case of N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ the absorption lines shown as single in the observations of Badger and Cartwright have been found under the higher resolution of the present work to be doublets with a doublet separation of 1.33 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. Despite the similarity of structure of the molecules P${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ and N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ the pure rotation lines of P${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ exhibit no trace of a doubling. The frequencies of the P${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ lines and the mid-frequencies of the N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ doublets have been shown to agree very accurately with formulas of the type ${{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{J}}^{J\ensuremath{-}1}=BJ\ensuremath{-}D{J}^{3}$. Determinations of the moments of inertia $A$ of N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ and P${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ have been made and in the case of N${\mathrm{H}}_{3}$ the measurement of the doublet separation has led to a slight revision of the values for the moment of inertia $C$ and for the molecular dimensions obtained by Dennison and Uhlenbeck.
Forearm blood flow response to acute exercise in obese and non-obese males

Chronic exercise is thought to improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation; however, few studies have evaluated the effects of acute exercise on microvascular vasodilatory capacity (MVC). Moreover, no studies have compared MVC responses in obese and non-obese individuals following acute exercise. To evaluate MVC, utilizing forearm blood flow (FBF) and excess blood flow (EBF) before and up to 48 h after a single exercise bout to elicit peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) in obese and non-obese males. Twelve obese (37.0 ± 1.1 kg/m(2)) and 12 non-obese (21.9 ± 0.3 kg/m(2)) males volunteered to participate. FBF measures, before and during reactive hyperemia (RH), were obtained prior to (PRE-E), immediately after (POST-E), and at 1 (POST-1), 2 (POST-2), 24 (POST-24), and 48 (POST-48) hours after exercise. EBF, was calculated as the difference between FBF, before and during RH. Blood samples were obtained to evaluate the response of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which are potential modifiers of MVC. FBF before and during RH were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in both groups POST-E. The EBF magnitude of change from PRE-E was significantly (P < 0.05) elevated in non-obese when compared with obese males. Although not related to MVC, concentrations of IL-6 significantly decreased between POST-2 and POST-24 in both groups. An acute bout of exercise designed to elicit VO2 peak significantly increased forearm MVC in non-obese and obese males, although the magnitude of change in EBF from PRE-E to POST-E was greater in non-obese males.
Spreading and recurrence in anharmonic quantum-mechanical systems

Abstract The dynamical evolution of gaussian wave packets initiating on the soft wall and on the hard wall of an anharmonic potential of one degree of freedom is studied. In particular, it is found that the coherent-state representation (CSR) is a unique representation for monitoring the spreading, the breaking-up, and the regrouping (recurrence) of these wave packets.
Stability and change in achievement goals.

The present research examined the nature of stability and change in achievement goal endorsement over time, using 4 complementary data-analytic approaches (differential continuity, mean-level change, individual-level change, and ipsative continuity). Three longitudinal studies were conducted in college classrooms; in each study, achievement goals were assessed prior to a series of 3 course examinations. All 3 studies yielded evidence for consistent patterns of both stability and change in each achievement goal under consideration. Fear of failure was linked to greater change in individuals' achievement goal clusters over time. Implications of the present findings for understanding the important and overlooked issue of achievement goal stability and change are discussed.
A new in situ technique for studying deformation and fracture in thin film ductile/brittle laminates

Abstract A new technique for studying deformation and fracture of thin film ductile/brittle laminates is described. The laminates are prepared by sputtering a brittle coating on top of an electropolished TEM thin foil. The composites are then strained in situ in the TEM. In this preliminary investigation, the composites consisted of a ductile aluminum substrate and a brittle silicon coating. Cracks in the brittle film grew discontinuously in bursts several micrometers in length. The crack opening displacement initiated plastic deformation in the ductile film, thus dissipating energy and allowing crack arrest. The interface was well bonded, and delamination was not observed. Due to the good interfacial bond and the crack opening behind the crack tip, it was possible to study very large plastic deformations and ductile fracture in the aluminum in situ, without buckling of the foil. The possibility of micromechanical modeling of the fracture behavior is briefly discussed.
A comparison of dual kV energy integrating and energy discriminating photon counting detectors for dual energy x-ray imaging

Dual energy imaging enables material decomposition and requires attenuation measurements with at least two different energies. Today's clinically available implementations use two separate exposures, at a low and high tube voltage (dual kV). Photon counting x-ray detectors (PCXDs) are an alternative technology that takes advantage of an x-ray source's broad spectrum by counting the number of transmitted photons at each energy from a single exposure. The richness of the information contained in these measurements can depend heavily on the detector's energy response, itself dependent on count rate. We compare the material decomposition precision of dual kV with energy integrating detectors to that of realistic PCXDs. We model the three primary effects that degrade PCXD performance: count rate limitations, energy resolution, and spectrum tailing. For example, the high flux rates required for clinical imaging pose a serious challenge for PCXDs. The Cram´er-Rao Lower Bound is used to predict the best possible material decomposition variance as a function of these detector imperfections. For dual kV and photon counting, we determined the optimal kV, mAs, and filtration for a broad range of imaging tasks, subject to dose and tube power constraints. We found that a well-optimized dual kV protocol performs on par with the estimated performance of today's PCXDs. For dual kV protocols, it is helpful to increase the energy separation between the spectra by increasing the kV separation and adding filtration. For PCXDs, the detector's count rate capabilities must be increased and the spectrum tailing reduced for photon counting to become a competitive technology at the high intensities of clinical imaging.
Mapped plant-macrofossil and pollen records of late quaternary vegetation change in Eastern North America

Abstract Macrofossil presence/absence maps and isopoll maps in 3000-year intervals show how ranges and abundance maxima for 12 eastern North American tree and shrub taxa (Picea, P. glauca, P. mariana, Larix laricina, Abies balsamea, Tsuga canadensis, Pinus strobus, P. resinosa, P. banksiana, Betula papyrifera, B. alleghaniensis, B. Series Humiles) have changed from the last glacial maximum to the present. The macrofossil maps corroborate patterns shown by the isopoll maps and provide spatial detail and taxonomic resolution. The macrofossils confirm the inference from pollen data that unglaciated southeastern North America was cooler during the last glacial maximum (18 and 15 ka) than simulated by the COHMAP experiments with the NCAR CCM0 general circulation model. The geographic distribution of macrofossil occurrences during the Late glacial (12 and 9 ka) indicate that migration lag of boreal species did not occur at regional to subcontinental scales, and that pollen assemblages lacking modern analogs resulted from climate gradients lacking modern analogs. Early Holocene (9 and 6 ka) macrofossil maps show rapid northward expansion of tree species ranges into deglaciated regions. The data also show modest contractions of northern range limits of temperate species and expansions of southern range limits of boreal species in response to cooling trends during the late Holocene (3 and 0 ka). Comparison of modern macrofossil maps of nine of these taxa with corresponding range maps confirm that the macrofossils record the geographic ranges accurately. Comparison of the modern macrofossil maps with maps of tree growing-stock volume shows that for some taxa (Abies, Tsuga) macrofossil occurrences were most frequent in regions of maximum tree abundance. Comparison of modern isopoll maps with the modern range and growing-stock volume maps indicate that, in contrast to the macrofossil data, the pollen data provide poorer resolution of range limits for most taxa, but better indications of abundance maxima and minima within the ranges.
Antibodies specific for purine and pyrimidine nucleosides: effect on in vitro priming ability of DNA.

Antibodies specific for thymine and guanine nucleosides react immunochemically with denatured but not with native DNA. These antibodies inhibit the ability of calf thymus DNA to serve as a primer for DNA polymerase extracted from chick embryos. No inhibition of DNA synthesis is observed with anti-bovine serum albumin or normal sheep globulin. Anti-T is more inhibitory than anti-G whether Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus lysodeikticus or calf thymus DNA preparations are used as primers. Purified anti-T inhibits the priming of DNA to the same extent, relative to antibody content, as the globulin fraction anti-T. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that binding of the anti-nucleoside antibodies to the exposed bases in denatured DNA prevents these masked regions from acting as templates for the DNA polymerase.
Thriving in the Classroom.

How do we engage our students in their own learning process? In the second of a three-part series, Laurie Schreiner shares practical, research-based suggestions for fostering the curiosity and mindfulness of all of our students.
Discrimination Begins in the Womb: Evidence of Sex-Selective Prenatal Investments

This paper investigates whether boys receive preferential prenatal treatment in a setting where son preference is present. Using micro health data from India, we highlight sex-selective prenatal investments as a new channel via which parents practice discriminatory behavior. We find that mothers visit antenatal clinics and receive tetanus shots more frequently when pregnant with a boy. Preferential prenatal treatment of males is greater in regions known to have strong son preference and among women whose previous children are female. We address other mechanisms such as selective recall, medical complications that might cause male fetuses to receive greater prenatal care in general, son preference-based fertility stopping rules and biases due to sex-selective abortions. Our calculations suggest that sex-selective prenatal care in maternal tetanus vaccination explains between 2.6–7.2 percent of excess female neonatal mortality in India.
A conceptual framework for the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) implementation

Abstract The paper focuses on presenting a proposed framework to effectively integrate the aggregated battery vehicles into the grid as distributed energy resources to act as controllable loads to levelize the demand on the system during off-peak conditions and as a generation/storage device during the day to provide capacity and energy services to the grid. The paper also presents practical approaches for two key implementation steps – computer/communication/control network and incentive program.
Comet: An open-source MS/MS sequence database search tool

Proteomics research routinely involves identifying peptides and proteins via MS/MS sequence database search. Thus the database search engine is an integral tool in many proteomics research groups. Here, we introduce the Comet search engine to the existing landscape of commercial and open-source database search tools. Comet is open source, freely available, and based on one of the original sequence database search tools that has been widely used for many years.
Statistical analysis of key comparisons with linear trends

A statistical analysis for key comparisons with linear trends is proposed. The approach has the advantage that it is consistent with the no-trend cases. The uncertainties for the key comparison reference value, which is time dependent in this case, and the degrees of equivalence are also provided. As an example, the approach is applied to key comparison CCEM-K2.
Practice Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Blastomycosis

Guidelines for the treatment of blastomycosis are presented; these guidelines are the consensus opinion of an expert panel representing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Mycoses Study Group and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The clinical spectrum of blastomycosis is varied, including asymptomatic infection, acute or chronic pneumonia, and extrapulmonary disease. Most patients with blastomycosis will require therapy. Spontaneous cures may occur in some immunocompetent individuals with acute pulmonary blastomycosis. Thus, in a case of disease limited to the lungs, cure may have occurred before the diagnosis is made and without treatment; such a patient should be followed up closely for evidence of disease progression or dissemination. In contrast, all patients who are immunocompromised, have progressive pulmonary disease, or have extrapulmonary disease must be treated. Treatment options include amphotericin B, ketoconazole, itraconazole, and fluconazole. Amphotericin B is the treatment of choice for patients who are immunocompromised, have life-threatening or central nervous system (CNS) disease, or for whom azole treatment has failed. In addition, amphotericin B is the only drug approved for treating blastomycosis in pregnant women. The azoles are an equally effective and less toxic alternative to amphotericin B for treating immunocompetent patients with mild to moderate pulmonary or extrapulmonary disease, excluding CNS disease. Although there are no comparative trials, itraconazole appears more efficacious than either ketoconazole or fluconazole. Thus, itraconazole is the initial treatment of choice for nonlife-threatening non-CNS blastomycosis.
Operator theoretic approach to the optimal two-disk problem

The nonstandard two-disk problem plays a fundamental role in robust feedback optimization. Here, it is shown via Banach space duality theory that its solutions satisfy an extremal identity, and may be viewed as a dual extremal kernel of a particular L/sup 1/-optimization problem. A novel operator theoretic framework to characterize explicitly its solutions is developed, in particular, the two-disk optimization is shown to be equal to the induced norm of a specific operator defined on a projective tensor product space involving a non-Hilbert version of a vector valued H/sup 2/ space. Moreover, this operator is shown to be a combination of multiplication and Toeplitz operators. Under certain conditions, existence of maximal vectors is established leading to an explicit formula for the optimal controller. An "infinite matrix" representation with respect to a canonical basis is derived, together with an algorithm to compute it. The norm of the relevant operator is approximated by special finite dimensional optimizations whose solutions lead to solving semi-definite programming problems involving the computation of a matrix projective tensor norm.
Closure mechanisms of laryngeal vestibule during swallow

This study examined the temporal effects of bolus volume on closure of the laryngeal vestibule at the arytenoid to epiglottic base and the mobile portion of the epiglottis, the temporal relationships between these levels of airway closure and cricopharyngeal opening for various bolus volumes, and the mechanisms responsible for these two levels of airway protection during deglutition. Closure of the laryngeal vestibule progressed inferiorly to superiorly at all bolus volumes. Duration of closure of the airway at the arytenoid to epiglottic base increased systematically with bolus volume, as did the duration of descent of the epiglottis below horizontal. Closure at the arytenoid to epiglottic base occurred earlier in relation to maximal laryngeal elevation as bolus volume increased. In contrast, descent of the epiglottis to horizontal and the temporal relationship between closure of the airway at the arytenoid to epiglottic base and cricopharyngeal opening were independent of bolus volume. These findings indicate a tightly organized neural program for some pharyngeal swallow events with systematic variability with volume in other pharyngeal events, possibly modulated by afferent input from the periphery. The neuromuscular mechanisms responsible for closure of the airway at the arytenoid to epiglottic base and at the mobile epiglottis appear to be quite different. Closure at the arytenoid to epiglottic base is apparently under direct neural control by active anterior tilting of the arytenoid cartilage and posterior projection of the epiglottic base as the larynx elevates, whereas epiglottic downward movement to closure is the biomechanical effect of hyolaryngeal movement, downward bolus movement, and tongue base retraction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Exploiting Cloud Utility Models for Profit and Ruin

This paper discusses an attack on the cloud computing model by which an attacker subtly exploits a fundamental vulnerability of current utility compute models over a sustained period of time. Internet-accessible cloud services expose resources that are metered for billing purposes. These resources are subject to fraudulent resource consumption that is intended to run up the operating expenses for public cloud service customers. The details and significance of this attack are discussed as well as two detection methodologies and there respective experimental results. This work investigates a potentially significant vulnerability of the cloud computing model that could be exploited from any Internet connected host. Well-crafted transactions that only differ in intent but not in content are challenging to differentiate and thus this attack may be difficult to detect and prevent.
Cesàro summation of series in boundary-value problems

Abstract It is shown that the Cesaro method of summing a series can be used to sum the non-convergent series resulting from the differentiation of a Fourier series representation of a function with a discontinuity. This procedure is contrasted with Lanczos method of σ-factors. The method is then applied in the solution of a standard boundary-value problem in electrostatics.
Effective field theory and unification in AdS backgrounds

This work is an extension of our previous work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 131601 (2002)] which showed how to systematically calculate the high energy evolution of gauge couplings in compact ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{5}$ (five dimensional anti--de Sitter) backgrounds. We first directly compute the one-loop effects of massive charged scalar fields on the low energy couplings of a gauge theory propagating in the AdS background. It is found that scalar bulk masses (which generically are of the order of the Planck scale) enter only logarithmically in the corrections to the tree-level gauge couplings. As we pointed out previously, we show that the large logarithms that appear in the AdS one-loop calculation can be obtained within the confines of an effective field theory, by running the Planck brane correlator from a high UV matching scale down to the TeV scale. This result exactly reproduces our previous calculation, which was based on AdS--conformal field theory duality. We also calculate the effects of scalar fields satisfying nontrivial boundary conditions (relevant for orbifold breaking of bulk symmetries) on the running of gauge couplings.
VACTERL associations in children undergoing surgery for esophageal atresia and anorectal malformations: Implications for pediatric surgeons.

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the frequency and nature of VACTERL associations between children who underwent surgery for esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) and anorectal malformation (ARM). Methods We identified all children who underwent surgery for EA/TEF and/or ARM at hospitals participating in the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database between 2004 and 2012. PHIS is an administrative database of free-standing children's hospitals managed by the Child Health Corporation of America (Overland Park, KS) that contains patient-level care data from 43 hospitals. The complete records of patients in this cohort were cross-referenced for diagnoses of vertebral, cardiac, renal and limb anomalies. Results 2689 children underwent repair of esophageal atresia. Mean gestational age was 36.5±3.2weeks and mean birth weight was 2536.0±758.7g. Associated VACTERL diagnoses included vertebral anomaly in 686 (25.5%), ARM in 312 (11.6%), congenital heart disease in 1588 (59.1%), renal disease in 587 (21.8%) and limb defect in 192 (7.1%). 899 (33.4%) had 3 or more anomalies and met criteria for a VACTERL diagnosis. 4962 children underwent repair of ARM. Mean gestational age was 37.4±2.7weeks and mean birth weight was 2895.2±765.1g. Associated VACTERL diagnoses included vertebral anomaly in 1562 (31.5%), congenital heart disease in 2007 (40.4%), EA/TEF in 348 (7.0%), renal disease in 1723 (34.7%) and limb defect in 359 (7.2%). 1795 (36.2%) had 3 or more anomalies and met criteria for a VACTERL diagnosis. Conclusion VACTERL associations are relatively common in children with EA/TEF and ARM and occur in specific clusters, with cardiac disease more common in EA/TEF and spinal and renal/urinary anomalies more common in ARM.
Seascape continuity plays an important role in determining patterns of spatial genetic structure in a coral reef fish

Detecting patterns of spatial genetic structure (SGS) can help identify intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to gene flow within metapopulations. For marine organisms such as coral reef fishes, identifying these barriers is critical to predicting evolutionary dynamics and demarcating evolutionarily significant units for conservation. In this study, we adopted an alternative hypothesis-testing framework to identify the patterns and predictors of SGS in the Caribbean reef fish Elacatinus lori. First, genetic structure was estimated using nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences. Next, clustering and network analyses were applied to visualize patterns of SGS. Finally, logistic regressions and linear mixed models were used to identify the predictors of SGS. Both sets of markers revealed low global structure: mitochondrial ΦST = 0.12, microsatellite FST = 0.0056. However, there was high variability among pairwise estimates, ranging from no differentiation between sites on contiguous reef (ΦST = 0) to strong differentiation between sites separated by ocean expanses ≥ 20 km (maximum ΦST = 0.65). Genetic clustering and statistical analyses provided additional support for the hypothesis that seascape discontinuity, represented by oceanic breaks between patches of reef habitat, is a key predictor of SGS in E. lori. Notably, the estimated patterns and predictors of SGS were consistent between both sets of markers. Combined with previous studies of dispersal in E. lori, these results suggest that the interaction between seascape continuity and the dispersal kernel plays an important role in determining genetic connectivity within metapopulations.
A new moment method for continuum radiative transfer in cosmological re‐ionization

We introduce a new code for computing time-dependent continuum radiative transfer and non-equilibrium ionization states in static density fields with periodic boundaries. Our code solves the moments of the radiative transfer equation, closed by an Eddington tensor computed using a long characteristics (LC) method. We show that traditional short characteristics and the optically thin approximation are inappropriate for computing Eddington factors for the problem of cosmological re-ionization. We evolve the non-equilibrium ionization field via an efficient and accurate (errors < 1 per cent) technique that switches between fully implicit or explicit finite differencing depending on whether the local time-scales are long or short compared to the time-step. We tailor our code for the problem of cosmological re-ionization. In tests, the code conserves photons, accurately treats cosmological effects and reproduces analytic Stromgren sphere solutions. Its chief weakness is that the computation time for the LC calculation scales relatively poorly compared to other techniques (t LC ∝- N ∼1.5 cells ); however, we mitigate this by only recomputing the Eddington tensor when the radiation field changes substantially. Our technique makes almost no physical approximations, so it provides a way to benchmark faster but more approximate techniques. It can readily be extended to evolve multiple frequencies, though we do not do so here. Finally, we note that our method is generally applicable to any problem involving the transfer of continuum radiation through a periodic volume.
The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument

This article critically reviews what is known about the ethical status of psychologists’ putative involvement with enhanced interrogations and torture (EITs). We examine three major normative ethical accounts (utilitarian, deontic, and virtue ethics) of EITs and conclude, contra the American Psychological Association, that reasonable arguments can be made that in certain cases the use of EITs is ethical and even, in certain circumstances, morally obligatory. We suggest that this moral question is complex as it has competing moral values involved, that is, the humane treatment of detainee competes with the ethical value/duty/virtue of protecting innocent third parties. We also suggest that there is an ethical duty to minimize harm by making only judicious and morally responsible allegations against the psychologists alleged to be involved in EITs. Finally, we make recommendations regarding completing the historical record, improvements in the professional ethics code, and the moral treatment of individuals...
Hormones and Vasoprotection

There is a strong link between menopause and increased cardiovascular disease incidence in women, and observational studies suggest that postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy reduces cardiovascular disease risk by about half. Observational studies suffer from important limitations, however, and the only published prospective controlled trial of the effects of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular outcomes, the Heart Estrogen-Progestin Replacement Study (HERS), showed no net benefit of continuous estrogen plus synthetic progestin treatment in women with established coronary disease. Fundamental mechanistic studies of the cellular and molecular events by which hormones protect (or fail to protect) blood vessels from damage are needed to define the role of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy in cardiovascular disease prevention. Most studies suggest that estrogen inhibits the neointimal response to acute injury in normal blood vessels, but this vasoprotective effect was not seen in vessels with preexisting atherosclerosis. Studies from our laboratory in the rat carotid injury model have shown that estrogen inhibits neointima formation via effects on all 3 layers of the vascular wall, including inhibition of medial smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation, stimulation of regrowth of endothelium, and inhibition of adventitial cell migration into neointima. Our laboratory is currently using transduced (lacZ) syngeneic fibroblasts as 'reporter' cells to delineate the factors that stimulate migration of adventitial cells into neointima after vascular injury and their modulation by estrogen and the other sex hormones. These fundamental studies will establish more rational strategies for therapeutic intervention in vascular diseases, including the basis for future gene therapy.
Recent advances and developments in the treatment of acute renal failure

Acute renal failure is commonly encountered in contemporary medical practice. The most severe form of acute renal failure is often referred to as acute tubular necrosis (ATN). The ATN syndrome results in loss of most kidney function for a period of several days to a few weeks. The current mortality rate of ATN is ~ 50% and has not changed significantly in recent decades. Most ATN results from either ischaemic or nephrotoxic damage to the kidney. Subsequently, either apoptosis or necrosis results in death of renal tubular epithelium and loss of most renal function. This review will focus on several patents that exhibit diverse strategies to prevent, attenuate or hasten recovery from ATN.
Dry battery operated radio equipment for forestry and emergency communications

Since this paper deals with the more generalized aspects of a rather large subject, a brief resume of the background of work against which it is drawn may be of interest. Soon after world War I a certain far-sighted forester by the name of D. L. Beatty envisioned the tremandous value of radio in forest fire detection and suppression.
Blowing the Whistle Off the Field of Play: An Empirical Model of Whistle-Blower Experiences in the Intercollegiate Sport Industry

Unethical behavior within collegiate sports departments appears to be commonplace. Athletic programs at a number of high-profile universities have been sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the past decade. When athletic departments participate in corrupt behavior, the possibility of whistle-blowing exists. Although organizational scholars have developed theoretical models describing whistle-blowing processes, it is unclear whether these models accurately depict whistle-blower’s experiences in the collegiate sports industry. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to generate a model describing the experiences of whistle-blowers operating in the intercollegiate sports industry. Thirteen whistle-blowers were interviewed for this study; analysis of case studies revealed that whistle-blowing occurred over five stages and was significantly affected by the collegiate athletics context. Of particular consequence was the hypermasculine, highly competitive collegiate sports environment.
Antioxidant and prooxidant effects of polyphenol compounds on copper-mediated DNA damage

Inhibition of copper-mediated DNA damage has been determined for several polyphenol compounds. The 50% inhibition concentration values (IC(50)) for most of the tested polyphenols are between 8 and 480 μM for copper-mediated DNA damage prevention. Although most tested polyphenols were antioxidants under these conditions, they generally inhibited Cu(I)-mediated DNA damage less effectively than Fe(II)-mediated damage, and some polyphenols also displayed prooxidant activity. Because semiquinone radicals and hydroxyl radical adducts were detected by EPR spectroscopy in solutions of polyphenols, Cu(I), and H(2)O(2), it is likely that weak polyphenol-Cu(I) interactions permit a redox-cycling mechanism, whereby the necessary reactants to cause DNA damage (Cu(I), H(2)O(2), and reducing agents) are regenerated. The polyphenol compounds that prevent copper-mediated DNA damage likely follow a radical scavenging pathway as determined by EPR spectroscopy.
Word Definition Skills in Spanish-Speaking Children with Language Impairment

Recent research has shown that children's formal definition skills correlate with school achievement. However, performance on word definition tasks may also relate to children's previous educational and language experiences. Available data are based mostly on monolingual English-speaking children and are not appropriate to identify the needs of children from other language or cultural backgrounds. This study compared the word definition skills of Spanish-speaking children with and without language impairment using a qualitative analysis. The results revealed great individual differences in the use of formal definitions within groups and specific language needs in the children with language impairment. Rather than focusing solely on children's lexical knowledge, which may be sensitive to differences in cultural and educational experience, clinicians should focus on assessing the communicative aspects of the task.
Teaching sustainable development in materials science and engineering

Preparing the next generation of materials scientists and engineers requires more than teaching them knowledge of material properties and behaviors. Materials science and engineering must also take into account materials sustainability in the context of society and the environment, as discussed throughout this issue. Including topics such as sustainability in a materials curriculum is not new. Issues of ethics, costs, and so on have long been an integral part of our education. Although detailed treatment of all such topics cannot be included in a general materials education curriculum, the concepts of sustainable development and the role of materials in a sustainable future can be introduced. Indeed, many materials science programs are beginning to include these topics in their curricula. This article discusses three such programs that the authors have helped design and implement in the United States, each taking a different approach to engaging students in these topics. The intention is not to provide an exhaustive overview of education in sustainable development, but rather to describe a range of strategies that are currently being applied and to raise pertinent issues in materials science education.
Integrated Self-Healing for mm-Wave Power Amplifiers

Self-healing as a technique for improving performance and yield of millimeter-wave power amplifiers (PAs) against process variation and transistor mismatch, load impedance mismatch, and partial and total transistor failure is described and investigated. A 28-GHz PA is presented with three types of sensors, two types of actuators, data converters, and a digital algorithm block that are all integrated on a single chip to show the validity of the technique. Two algorithms are implemented to either maximize output power or to minimize dc power for a desired output power. Measurements from 20 chips show increased RF output power up to 3 dB or reduced dc power by 50% in backoff with a 50-Ω load. Self-healing with up to 4-1 voltage standing-wave ratio load impedance mismatch is verified and linear operation under nonconstant envelope modulation is shown to improve with healing. Self-healing after laser cutter induced transistor failure is verified and increases RF output power by up to 5.4 dB. The aggregate yield of the PA across several representative specifications is increased from 0% to 80% with self-healing.
Efficient Fully Implicit Time Integration Methods for Modeling Cardiac Dynamics

Implicit methods are well known to have greater stability than explicit methods for stiff systems, but they often are not used in practice due to perceived computational complexity. This paper applies the backward Euler (BE) method and a second-order one-step two-stage composite backward differentiation formula (C-BDF2) for the monodomain equations arising from mathematically modeling the electrical activity of the heart. The C-BDF2 scheme is an L-stable implicit time integration method and easily implementable. It uses the simplest forward Euler and BE methods as fundamental building blocks. The nonlinear system resulting from application of the BE method for the monodomain equations is solved for the first time by a nonlinear elimination method, which eliminates local and nonsymmetric components by using a Jacobian-free Newton solver, called Newton--Krylov solver. Unlike other fully implicit methods proposed for the monodomain equations in the literature, the Jacobian of the global system after the nonlinear elimination has much smaller size, is symmetric and possibly positive definite, which can be solved efficiently by standard optimal solvers. Numerical results are presented demonstrating that the C-BDF2 scheme can yield accurate results with less CPU times than explicit methods for both a single patch and spatially extended domains.
Role of Type 1 Diabetes-Associated SNPs on Autoantibody Positivity in the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium: Overview

OBJECTIVE Type 1 diabetes (T1D) arises from the autoimmune destruction of the β-cells of the pancreas, resulting in dependence on exogenously administered insulin for survival. Key biomarkers of the autoimmune process in T1D are the occurrence of autoantibodies directed against β-cells and other antigens. The Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) assembled collections to 1 ) discover genes that modify the risk of T1D, 2 ) conduct phenotyping related to risk, and 3 ) make available biologic and genetic resources for research. The goal of the T1DGC Autoantibody Workshop was to use T1DGC phenotypic, genotypic, and autoantibody data on affected sibling pair (ASP) families to discover genes accounting for variation in presence of autoantibodies. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The T1DGC provided the working groups with autoantibody and genetic data on 9,976 subjects from 2,321 ASP families. Data were distributed to numerous working groups for analyses of specific autoantibody subsets and targets. RESULTS Seven groups analyzed the joint autoantibody and genetic data within the ASP families. Six reports are provided in this collection, ranging from candidate gene analyses of selected autoantibodies to evaluation of regions of genetic variants associated with autoimmunity on the collection of autoantibodies. CONCLUSIONS Although selected variants in the available genes remain important genetic predictors for prevalence of T1D, other genes and nongenetic factors are expected to contribute to the initiation of islet autoimmunity, the first step in the pathogenesis of T1D.
N-Polar GaN MIS-HEMTs on Sapphire With High Combination of Power Gain Cutoff Frequency and Three-Terminal Breakdown Voltage

Nitrogen polar SiN x /AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN metal– insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs) with 28.6-nm equivalent GaN channel thickness grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrate with a high combination of current/power gain cutoff frequencies ( $f_{T}/f_{\max }$ ) and three-terminal breakdown voltage (BVDS) are demonstrated. $f_{T}$ /BVDS of 103 GHz/114 V and $f_{\max }$ /BVDS of 248 GHz/114 V were achieved in devices with the gate widths of $2 \times 50\mu \text{m}$ and $2 \times 25\mu \text{m}$ , respectively, comparing well with recent reports of fully passivated and vertically scaled Ga-polar GaN HEMTs. Devices with a gate width of $2 \times 75 \mu \text{m}$ showed the peak output power densities of 5.74 W/mm at 4 GHz and 6.29 W/mm at 10 GHz obtained by load-pull measurements.