cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Bayesian ANN estimates of ideal observer decision variables by comparison with identity functions

Bayesian artificial neural networks (BANNs) have proven useful in two-class classification tasks, and are claimed to provide good estimates of ideal-observer-related decision variables (the a posteriori class membership probabilities). We wish to apply the BANN methodology to three-class classification tasks for computer-aided diagnosis, but we currently lack a fully general extension of two-class receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to objectively evaluate three-class BANN performance. It is well known that "the likelihood ratio of the likelihood ratio is the likelihood ratio." Based on this, we found that the decision variable which is the a posteriori class membership probability of an observational data vector is in fact equal to the a posteriori class membership probability of that decision variable. Under the assumption that a BANN can provide good estimates of these a posteriori probabilities, a second BANN trained on the output of such a BANN should perform very similarly to an identity function. We performed a two-class and a three-class simulation study to test this hypothesis. The mean squared error (deviation from an identity function) of a two-class BANN was found to be 2.5x10E-4. The mean squared error of the first component of the output of a three-class BANN was found to be 2.8x10-4, and that of its second component was found to be 3.8x10-4. Although we currently lack a fully general method to objectively evaluate performance in a three-class classification task, circumstantial evidence suggests that two- and three-class BANNs can provide good estimates of ideal-observer-related decision variables.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Statistical models for failure modes of polymeric materials for HV outdoor insulation

In this paper, a methodology to build the required models for the performance comparison of materials that usually pass the standard inclined plane tracking and erosion tests, is presented. Samples made of silicone rubber and cycloaliphatic epoxy resin were evaluated to present the practical aspects of the proposed methodology. Factorial experiments, using the modified version of the inclined plane test method, were conducted to obtain the response variable. Generalized linear models provided the base for the proposed statistical models since the selected response variable was not normally distributed.
Protective effects of maternal buspirone treatment on serotonin reuptake sites in ethanol-exposed offspring.

Previous work in this laboratory demonstrated that in utero ethanol exposure is associated with abnormal development of the serotonergic system. Specific abnormalities included deficiencies of serotonin (5-HT) and its metabolites, and cortical 5-HT reuptake sites. The concentration of 5-HT1A receptors was also altered. The serotonin deficit was detected in the fetal ethanol-exposed brain, at an age when 5-HT would normally function as an essential trophic factor. Thus, it was hypothesized that the early 5-HT ethanol-associated deficit of an essential trophic factor (e.g. 5-HT) could contribute to subsequent developmental abnormalities in serotonergic neurons. In the present investigation we used quantitative autoradiography (QAR) to more fully characterize the developmental abnormalities in 5-HT reuptake sites in developing offspring of ethanol-fed rats. In addition, we attempted to overcome the potential negative impact of the ethanol-associated deficit of fetal 5-HT, by administering a 5-HT1A agonist, buspirone, to pregnant rats. These investigations demonstrated that postnatal (PN) 19 and/or 35 day ethanol-exposed offspring had a significant decrease in [3H]citalopram binding to 5-HT reuptake sites in the frontal cortex, parietal cortex, lateral hypothalamus, substantia nigra, medial septum, and striatum. In contrast, [3H]citalopram binding was increased in the dorsal raphe on PN5 and in the median raphe on PN19. No significant ethanol-associated changes were detected in the hippocampus CA3 region or in the amygdala. When [3H]citalopram binding was compared in the offspring of saline- and buspirone-treated dams, it appeared that maternal treatment with buspirone prevented or reversed most of the ethanol-associated developmental abnormalities in 5-HT reuptake sites. Buspirone prevented the decline in binding of [3H]citalopram in the frontal cortex, lateral hypothalamus, substantia nigra and medial septum. Similarly, buspirone treatment prevented the ethanol-associated increase in binding in the dorsal and median raphe. Additional experiments are needed to elucidate the impact of maternal buspirone treatment on the development of other neurotransmitter systems in offspring.
Scoping analyses of geochemical sealing of early cracks in a waste container and associated drip shield, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Early after final emplacement of the nuclear waste containers at the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada, high-level-waste repository, tiny cracks (less than 200 μm wide, 1 to 2 cm deep, and a few centimeters long at most) could appear in the containers and in the drip shield protecting them. Modeling calculations were performed to understand how fast those cracks could be sealed. Under dripping conditions, they are expected to be bridged with water. If cracks are located in the drip shield, any further dripping on the waste containers located underneath will be limited. If cracks are located in a container, potentially harmful radionuclides could only travel by diffusion. In addition, water-bridged cracks will be sealed through at least two processes: precipitation of calcite with minor silica following evaporative concentration of the water residing in the cracks and continuous corrosion of the crack walls. The sealing rate is calculated as the intersection of the time of emergence of the cracks, the water dripping rate, and the decreasing evaporation rate. The evaporative driving force declines as short-lived radioactive elements, having given up much of the heat affecting the repository, are progressively depleted from the waste. Depending on the crack initiation time and environmental conditions, crack sealing varies from a few tens of years to a few thousand years. Because environmental conditions in the vicinity of the cracks and at the crack scale have not been produced, a parametric method scaling drift scale conditions is used.
Targeting cancer with small molecule kinase inhibitors

Deregulation of kinase activity has emerged as a major mechanism by which cancer cells evade normal physiological constraints on growth and survival. To date, 11 kinase inhibitors have received US Food and Drug Administration approval as cancer treatments, and there are considerable efforts to develop selective small molecule inhibitors for a host of other kinases that are implicated in cancer and other diseases. Herein we discuss the current challenges in the field, such as designing selective inhibitors and developing strategies to overcome resistance mutations. This Review provides a broad overview of some of the approaches currently used to discover and characterize new kinase inhibitors.
Geomorphology of Reef Complexes: ABSTRACT

Quaternary reef complexes are primarily Darwinian oceanic or shelf reefs on slowly subsiding foundations. "Glacial control" of reef morphology has been important, but not in the sense that Daly visualized. Corals dated by the uranium-series method prove that many, perhaps most, reefs were not truncated at the low sea levels of the last glacial age. Dates from such scattered and classic reef localities as Western Australia, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Eniwetok Atoll, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Barbados demonstrate that reef limestones and eolianites can be emerged for 100,000 years or more, several hundred feet above the glacially lowered sea, without being dissolved away. The permeability of reef frameworks is the major reason for their durability under subaerial tro ical weathering. Although Pleistocene and older reefs were not eroded to sea level during glacial ages, the extensive drowned karst topography on them, as identified from Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Marshall Islands, probably has been a primary control in the post-glacial evolution of modern reef complexes. Reef growth probably was not suppressed, in the tropical Pacific at least, during glacial low sea levels. Recent calculations of the change in O18 isotopic composition of seawater by continental ice sheets minimize the effect attributable to cooling of the sea surface. The central Pacific was neither too cold nor too turbid for coral-reef development even during a full glacial age. Pelagic carbonate productivity in the equatorial Pacific actually increased during glacial ages, and it is likely that reefs flourished on the exposed flanks of emerged atolls. The steep flanks of reef-rimmed Pacific islands and atolls may provide evidence by which we can measure the true Pleistocene fluctuations of sea level, and thereby infer the amount of Quaternary warping of continental shel es. The concept that postglacial sea level higher than the present is necessary to cause modern reef morphology needs to be rigorously reexamined. Rather than being relict from a "10-ft stand of the sea" a few thousand years ago, modern reefs show every indication of being in dynamic equilibrium with the forces that now act on them. Modern reef-building organisms have reoccupied the weathered surfaces of reef limestones that have been exposed for nearly 100,000 years and have veneered the tops of ancient atolls or eolianite dune fields. As the postglacial rise of sea level has approached its present level, upward growth has slowed and reefs have expanded laterally to resharpen the precipitous upper slopes of eroded ancient platforms. Primary productivity by reef builders is generally adeq ate to keep pace with rising sea level but, at several localities, atolls were "drowned" and have not reached present sea level and may be in the process of being preserved. End_of_Article - Last_Page 836------------
Hippocampal influence on amygdala unit activity in awake squirrel monkeys

Abstract The influence of hippocampal electrical stimulation on amygdala extracellular unit activity was studied in the awake squirrel monkey. Hippocampal influence was topographically organized. Stimulation elicited responses in 20% of 476 units tested. Ipsilateral anterior stimulation was more effective than posterior or contralateral stimulation. In the 6 areas with more than 25 tested units, the basomedial nucleus had the highest percentage of responsive units (39%), followed by the accessory basolateral (33%), central (22%), basolateral (21%), and lateral (5%) nuclei, and the anterior amygdala area (4%). Initial excitation (E) was more prevalent than initial inhibition (I) in the central (90% E vs 10% I) and basomedial (82% E vs 18% I) nuclei; but initial inhibition was more common in basolateral (37% E vs 63% I) and accessory basolateral (33% E vs 67% I) nuclei. The mean response latency was 30.8 msec, ranging from 12 to 130 msec. The basomedial nucleus appears to receive the most potent hippocampal influence. Response characteristics are consistent with a hypothesized relay of nonfornix hippocampal influences on basal forebrain and hypothalamus via the basomedial nucleus. Possible pathways of hippocampal influence and the implications of our results for concepts of hippocampal and amygdala function are discussed.
Sites of action of naloxone in precipitating withdrawal jumping in morphine-dependent mice: investigations by the ED50 value and CNS content of naloxone

The sites of action of naloxone and the possible interaction between supraspinally and spinally administered naloxone in precipitating withdrawal jumping were investigated by comparing the ED50 value and central nervous system (CNS) content of naloxone after three different administration routes in morphine-dependent mice. ED50 values of naloxone for i.c.v., i.t. and s.c. routes were 18.8 nmol, 1.95 nmol and 50.6 nmol/kg, respectively. Jumping occurred most often within 5 min after i.t administered naloxone, but it took more than 10 min to reach the most frequent jumping after s.c. and i.c.v. administered naloxone. After equi-effective doses (ED50) of naloxone were administered i.c.v., i.t. or s.c., the content of naloxone in the brain was 70 times lower after s.c. than that after i.c.v. injection. The concentration of naloxone in the spinal cord was 37 times lower after s.c. than that after i.t. injection. The ED50 values of naloxone and the time courses of jumping suggest that spinal sites appear to be more important than the supraspinal sites and comparison of naloxone-content suggest that there is a synergistic interaction between supraspinal- and spinal-naloxone after systemic administration.
Overcoming confounding of race with socio-economic status and segregation to explore race disparities in smoking.

Aims We examined the nature of racial disparities in smoking status within a sample that accounts for two major confounding factors in health disparities research—racial segregation and socio-economic status. Also, we sought to determine the generalizability of our sample. Design and setting Cross-sectional study based on data from the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities Study in south-west Baltimore, MD (EHDIC-SWB) and a subsample of respondents in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) that was matched to EHIDC-SWB. The final matched data set sample size was 2948 adults (1474 EHDIC-SWB; 1474 matched NHIS). Measurements Our outcome variables were life-time and current smoking status and number of cigarettes smoked daily. Independent variables include race, age gender, educational attainment and income. Findings In the adjusted models, whites had greater odds than blacks of current smoking and reported smoking more cigarettes in the EHDIC-SWB sample, but there were no race differences in current smoking status or in the number of cigarettes smoked per day in the NHIS. The prevalence rates for both life-time and current smoking were substantially greater in the EHDIC-SWB sample, but in comparisons of blacks and whites across samples we found that the magnitude of the difference between the samples was greatest for whites. Conclusions Unadjusted national estimates of race disparities as reported in national reports may be biased because of differential risk exposure among people of different race groups. Race differences in social and environmental contexts account partially for racial differences in smoking patterns.
Atomized non-equilibrium two-phase flow in mesochannels: Momentum analysis

Two-phase pressure drop measurements are very difficult to make while the fluid is in non-equilibrium condition, i.e. while phase change is taking place. This is further complicated when an atomized liquid is introduced in the system at much higher velocity than other components such as liquid layer, vapor core, and entrained droplets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to predict the two-phase pressure characteristics in a mesochannel under various heat flux and liquid atomization conditions. This model includes the momentum effects of liquid droplets from entrainment and atomization. To verify the model, an in-house experimental setup consisting of a series of converging mesochannels, an atomization facility and a heat source was developed. The two-phase pressure of boiling PF5050 was measured along the wall of a mesochannel. The one-dimensional model shows good agreement with the experimental data. The effects of channel wall angle, droplet velocity and spray mass fraction on two-phase pressure characteristics are predicted. Numerical results show that an optimal spray cooling unit can be designed by optimizing channel wall angle and droplet velocity.
Absence of local energy in elementary spin systems at low temperature

Local energy in a component of a multipartite quantum system is the maximum energy that can be extracted by a general (Kraus, operator-sum) local operation on just that component. A component’s local energy is greater or less, or even completely absent, depending on extant correlations with the system’s other components. This is illustrated in different cases of quantum systems of spin-1/2 particles. These cases include a class of two-particle systems with different degrees of coupling anisotropy, three-particle systems, and systems of N particles, generally, with ring and star coupling topologies. Conditions are given in each case for zero local energy. Th3ese conditions establish for each case that, fir systems with a non-degenerate entangled ground state, local energy is absent when the system state is anywhere in a neighborhood of the ground state when the temperature is below critical value in a Gibbs thermal state even systems of many particles.
Determination of binding properties of low molecular weight substances to proteins using ultracentrifugation.

Abstract A method is described for the determination of the binding properties of low molecular weight (LMW) components using the analytical ultracentrifuge and a Tiselius-type partition cell. The applicability of the method is shown for two examples of protein binding: 1. 1. The interaction of manganous ion with bovine serum albumin over a wide range of manganese concentration. 2. 2. The binding of the competitive inhibitor ornithine to arginase. Binding constants as well as the number of binding sites were determined for each ligand and the values obtained compared to results by other independent methods. The applicability and accuracy of the method are discussed in comparison with other techniques and the advantages and disadvantages enumerated.
Quantitative Determination of Buckwheat Flavonoid Substances by Direct Absorptiometry of Paper Chromatograms.

Analytical methods developed for flavonoid compounds have in general not been adequate for complex mixtures of these substances. A gravimetric procedure for rutin in plant materials (12) is timeconsuming and unsatisfactory when the rutin concentration is small. Various non-specific methods (5, 20) and spectrophotometric techniques (18, 19) are applicable only to substances occurring singly or at most in pairs. Since the number of such described methods is large, only representative examples are cited here.
2-D system identification from bispectrum samples

The problem of modeling 2-D system transfer functions given only bispectrum samples of the noisy output is considered. This identification procedure is a three-step process. First, the output bispectrum samples are calculated along a 2-D slice in the 4-D bispectrum frequency region. Next, these samples are used to obtain a rational model of the bispectrum slice via a 2-D divided difference approach. Finally, two methods for finding the underlying system transfer function parameters from this rational model are developed. This system identification procedure is general in that it does not impose causality, recursibility, or minimum phase restrictions on the system to be identified. >
Black-White Disparities in Life Expectancy: How Much Can the Standard SES Variables Explain?

This article quantifies the extent to which socioeconomic and demographic characteristics can account for black-white disparities in life expectancy in the United States. Although many studies have investigated the linkages between race, socioeconomic status, and mortality, this article is the first to measure how much of the life expectancy gap remains after differences in mortality are purged of the compositional differences in socioeconomic characteristics between blacks and whites. The decomposition is facilitated by a reweighting technique that creates counterfactual estimation samples in which the distribution of income, education, employment and occupation, marital status, and other theoretically relevant variables among blacks is made to match the distribution of these variables among whites. For males, 80% of the black-white gap in life expectancy at age 1 can be accounted for by differences in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. For females, 70% percent of the gap is accounted for. Labor force participation, occupation, and (among women only) marital status have almost no additional power to explain the black-white disparity in life expectancy after precise measures for income and education are controlled for.
An efficient routing protocol to increase the communication reliability of multi-hop cellular networks

Reliable routing is important to the reliable communication between end users in wireless networks. However, the infrastructure wireless networks and ad-hoc wireless networks suffer from channel congestion in routings, failing to guarantee high transmission reliability. Multi-hop cellular networks integrating the two type of networks increase the communication reliability by combining the infrastructure routing protocol and multi-hop protocol, but are still prone to congestion at the mobile gateway nodes. This paper presents an Efficient Routing Protocol (ERP) to increase the communication reliability of multi-hop cellular networks. This routing protocol chooses a node with higher channel capacity to forward data to a base station, and the routing path length is adaptive to the channel condition of the forwarding nodes. When a nodepsilas channel quality to a base station is not sufficiently high or the buffer size of the node is almost filled in, it chooses a relay node with higher capacity to forward the data to a base station. Thus, the routing protocol guarantees that a message is reliably transmitted to a base station. Simulation results show the superiority of the ERP in comparison with other routing scheme in terms of scalability, throughput and overhead.
You Must Remember This: A Test of the On-Line Model of Voting

Milton Lodge and his colleagues at Stony Brook have argued that voters process campaign information on-line, summarizing their affect toward candidates as campaign information is encountered. Consequently, recall of campaign information and vote choice are believed by Lodge to be a weak predictor of actual vote decision, which is determined almost solely by the on-line tally. The claims made by the on-line model have not been tested in a dynamic election context, however, in which two or more candidates compete for the vote. This study uses a new experimental methodology that more accurately depicts the realities of a campaign environment to assess the relative importance of memory and the on-line tally in predicting both the direction and accuracy of the vote choice. Findings do not support the pure Stony Brook on-line model, as they show that in all cases voter memory plays an important role in decision making and suggest that a mixed decision-making model is more appropriate.
Intraneural fibroma of the median nerve at the wrist

Distal median neuropathy from carpal tunnel syndrome is the most well known lesion affecting the median nerve. Mass lesions may affect the nerve at the wrist. We present to our knowledge the first histologically confirmed case of an intraneural fibroma.
Data Compression for Multi-Parameter Estimation for Emitter Location

Because a primary task of multi-sensor systems is to make estimates based on the data collected and shared throughout the sensor system, it is important to design data compression methods that reduce the volume of data to be shared, while causing only a minimal degradation of the quality of these estimates. An important aspect, not specifically considered previously in compression research for sensor systems, is that sensor systems generally have to make multiple estimates from the data. Furthermore, it is unrecognized in the literature that these multiple estimates generally have conflicting compression requirements and that finding the right way to balance these conflicts is crucial. The key tools we bring to bear on this area are: 1) the use of a Fisher-information-based distortion measure that is designed specifically for multiple estimates, and 2) the use of numerical optimization methods to achieve desired compression trade-offs among the multiple estimates. We first develop results that support using the trace of the Fisher information matrix (FIM) as a distortion measure for the simultaneous multiple-parameter estimation problem. We then apply these results to the problem of time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and-frequency-difference-of-arrival- (FDOA) based location estimation of an RF emitter. We show that within this problem there is a fundamental trade-off between the impact of compression on TDOA estimation and the impact of compression on FDOA estimation; furthermore, we show that this trade-off can be addressed by adapting the compression scheme to the sensor-emitter geometry using a geometry-adaptive compression scheme.
Laboratory Investigation and Analysis of a Ground‐Water Flowmeter

The ground-water flowmeter system, model 3OL, manufactured by K-V Associates Inc., Falmouth, Massachusetts was tested under controlled laboratory conditions. The influence of slotted pipe schedule, slot orientation, backfill materials, endcap bags, isolated regions of high hydraulic conductivity, and channelization near the slotted pipe wall was measured. The physical concept of the flow-meter in an ideal configuration was analyzed, and with the aid of an analytical model, the significance of the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer and backfill materials is clarified. Results indicate that the basic instrument response is linear, consistent, and predictable qualitatively in a laboratory environment. Analysis and measurements show clearly that very small channelization around a slotted pipe casing or between the slotted pipe and the probe endcap can invalidate the instrument response. Additional potential complications arise due to unknown permeability contrasts between the aquifer matrix and the material used to backfill around the probe.
Evaluation of Transmit's communication system

The System for Managing Incidents and Traffic (Transmit) is a traffic surveillance and incident detection system utilizing existing electronic toll traffic management technology of the E-ZPass system. Its communication system consists of the hardware installed at the roadside terminal (RST) readers to detect E-ZPass tag equipped vehicles (probes), telephone and radio links to transmit corresponding probe data and the computers and related peripherals at the operations information center (OIC) for real time processing of this data. The evaluation of the Transmit's communication system was carried out to assess its transmission capability and reliability in terms of data transmission and detection rates. The transmission rates were determined based on the data collected at the RSTs and the corresponding data received at the OIC. The Transmit's communication system exhibited excellent performance in terms of the transmission rates system wide, which was found to be near 100%. Only the radio link at Tappan Zee Bridge exhibited a lower transmission rate. A limited probe vehicle test was conducted to determine the detection rate at individual RSTs. The lower detection rates observed were site specific, rather than system wide. However, due to the high number of tag equipped vehicles that are expected in the future, the lower detection rates would not have any significant impacts on the determination of the traffic flow parameters (link travel time and space mean speed) as well as the incident detection capability.
The Long‐Term Effect of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act on Cross‐Listing Premia

This paper uses a triple difference approach to assess whether the adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act predicts long-term changes in cross-listing premia of affected foreign firms. I measure cross-listing premia as the difference between the Tobin's q of a cross-listed company and a non-cross-listed company from the same country matched on propensity to cross-list (first difference). I find that average premia for firms cross-listed on levels 2 or 3 (subject to SOX) declined in the year of SOX adoption (2002) and remained significantly below their pre-SOX level through year-end 2005 (second difference). Firms listed on levels 2 or 3, which are subject to SOX, experienced larger declines in premia than firms listed on levels 1 or 4, which are not subject to SOX (third difference). The estimated decline is 0.15–0.20 depending on specification. Riskier firms and firms from high-disclosing and high-GDP countries suffered larger post-SOX declines. Firm size predicts smaller declines in premia in well-governed countries. Faster-growing firms in poorly-governed countries experienced smaller declines in premia. The results are robust to the use of different before-and-after periods; the use of annual, quarterly, or monthly data; the use of individual companies' Tobin's q's instead of matched pairs, and different regression specifications. The overall evidence is consistent with the view that SOX negatively affected cross-listed premia, and particularly hurt riskier firms and firms from well-governed countries, while perhaps helping high-growth firms from poorly-governed countries. At the same time, after-SOX, level-23 firms continue to enjoy a substantial premium, estimated at about 0.32.
Three-Dimensional Tomosynthesis Reconstruction from 1D and 2D X-ray Source Arrays

We study the effects of geometric design on the reconstruction of 3D images from an X-ray tomosynthesis system using microfabricated discrete X-ray sources. Carbon-nanotube-based field-emission X-ray sources can be fabricated in arrays; however, little is known about the effects of the geometry of such a system on reconstruction of tomosynthesis data. We produced simulated X-ray projection data for several source array geometries including a 1 times 11 array, and a 3 times 11 array. The phantom simulates a mammography task, with seven 400 mum spheres embedded in a uniformly-absorbing background. Data from both geometries was reconstructed using the ordered-subset convex (OSC) algorithm specially implemented for these array geometries. Reconstruction was performed on an 800 times 800 (lateral) times 20 (depth) array of noncubic voxels of size 200 mum times 200 mum (lateral) times 2.5 mm (depth). Contrast, resolution, and noise measurements on the reconstructed spheres were used to compare results from the different geometries. The reconstruction from the 2D array had higher contrast than that from the 1D array, but the 2D array image also suffered from higher levels of noise for the same total exposure. The contrast-to-noise ratio for the 2D array, was 5-17% higher than the 1D array. Other studies showed that staggering a 2D array is beneficial, and that increasing the density of sources is detrimental after a certain optimal density is reached We conclude that, in a tomosynthesis system such as that described here, a 2D source array will outperform a 1D array in terms of contrast-to-noise and resolution, while also increasing the usable field-of-view, and that further studies encompassing the effects of scatter will be needed to optimize such systems.
Hospice and primary care physicians: attitudes, knowledge, and barriers.

Underuse of hospice services is a significant problem in the United States. Primary care physicians constitute an increasing referral base and have been hypothesized to be important barriers to increased use. We conducted a mail survey of 131 primary care physicians (overall response rate of 72 percent), examining their attitudes toward, knowledge about, and perceived benefits and barriers to hospice care. Physicians demonstrated very favorable attitudes towards hospice. They had correct knowledge about most aspects of hospice, and, where they did not, they were far more likely to be uncertain than erroneous. Primary care physicians perceived many benefits to hospice care and identified patient and family readiness as the major barrier to earlier hospice referrals. A significant subgroup had concerns about problems in interacting with hospices. There were very few differences between family practitioners and general internists. These findings have many implications for directing collaborative efforts betw...
Comparison of Point-of-Use Technologies for Emergency Disinfection of Sewage-Contaminated Drinking Water

Four point-of-use disinfection technologies for treating sewage-contaminated well water were compared. Three systems, based on flocculant-disinfectant packets and N-halamine chlorine and bromine contact disinfectants, provided a range of 4.0 to >6.6 log(10) reductions (LR) of naturally occurring fecal indicator and heterotrophic bacteria and a range of 0.9 to >1.9 LR of coliphage.
Function of Filaggrin and Caspase-14 in Formation and Maintenance of the Epithelial Barrier

Stratifi ed epithelia line all external and internal body surfaces of mammals and function to protect us from water loss, environmental insults, chemical damage, and infection. This protective barrier is composed of a complex mixture of structural proteins and specialized lipids that together form the anuclear squames of the stratum corneum. Filaggrin and caspase-14 are two genes expressed in the granular layer of epidermis and other stratified keratinizing epithelia. Filaggrin is a keratin-binding protein present in the lower layers of the stratum corneum which plays a key role in barrier function. Filaggrin is synthesized as a large precursor, profi laggrin, that undergoes specific processing during keratinocyte differentiation to produce filaggrin. In the middle and upper layers of the stratum corneum, fi laggrin is degraded to free amino acids which have several functions including water adsorption. Recent work has shown that loss-offunction mutations in the fi laggrin (FLG) gene cause the dry skin disease ichthyosis vulgaris. Similar FLG variants are strongly associated with the common infl ammatory skin disease atopic dermatitis (eczema). Current studies suggest that~50% of European patients with moderate to severe eczema carry one or more FLG null alleles. Caspase-14 is a member of the caspase family of aspartate-specifi c proteases that is co-expressed with fiwithin the epidermis. Recent work has shown that it functions both as a profi laggrin protease and protects against UV irradiation. These studies emphasize the importance of proteases in regulating profi laggrin/fi laggrin and caspase-14 function, and their common and overlapping roles in epithelial barrier homeostasis. (Dermatol Sinica 27: 1-14, 2009)
Neuronal nitric oxide signaling regulates erection recovery after cavernous nerve injury.

Purpose: Nitric oxide is the major neuronal mediator of penile erection but its role in erectile function status after cavernous nerve injury is uncertain. We determined the function of neuronal nitric oxide signaling in the pathobiology of erectile function recovery after partial cavernous nerve injury using genetic and pharmacological mouse experimental paradigms.Materials and Methods: Erectile function was evaluated in 5 to 7 wild-type and neuronal nitric oxide synthase-α knockout mice per group 1, 3 and 7 days after unilateral crush or sham injury, at day 7 in wild-type mice treated with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME (l-nitro arginine methyl ester) (Sigma-Aldrich®) at baseline and for 6 days after unilateral crush injury. Apoptosis in the penis was evaluated by Western blot analysis of p-Akt-S473, 3-nitrotyrosine and caspase-3 after bilateral crush injury.Results: Intracavernous pressure was significantly decreased at 1, 3 and 7 days in wild-type mice but only at day 1 in knockout mice af...
An intersubunit salt bridge near the selectivity filter stabilizes the active state of Kir1.1.

ROMK (Kir1.1) potassium channels are closed by internal acidification with a pKa of 6.7 ± 0.01 in 100 mM external K and a pKa of 7.0 ± 0.01 in 1 mM external K. Internal acidification in 1 mM K (but not 100 mM K) not only closed the pH gate but also inactivated Kir1.1, such that realkalization did not restore channel activity until high K was returned to the bath. We identified a new putative intersubunit salt bridge (R128-E132-Kir1.1b) in the P-loop of the channel near the selectivity filter that affected the K sensitivity of the inactivation process. Mutation of either R128-Kir1.1b or E132-Kir1.1b caused inactivation in both 1 mM and 100 mM external K during oocyte acidification. However, 300 mM external K (but not 200 mM Na + 100 mM K) protected both E132Q and R128Y from inactivation. External application of a modified honey-bee toxin, tertiapin Q (TPNQ), also protected Kir1.1 from inactivation in 1 mM K and protected E132Q and R128Y from inactivation in 100 mM K, which suggests that TPNQ binding to the outer mouth of the channel stabilizes the active state. Pretreatment of Kir1.1 with external Ba prevented Kir1.1 inactivation, similar to pretreatment with TPNQ. In addition, mutations that disrupted transmembrane helix H-bonding (K61M-Kir1.1b) or stabilized a selectivity filter to helix-pore linkage (V121T-Kir1.1b) also protected both E132Q and R128Y from inactivation in 1 mM K and 100 mM K. Our results are consistent with Kir inactivation arising from conformational changes near the selectivity filter, analogous to C-type inactivation.
Temporal Shaping Of Nanosecond CO2 Laser Pulses In Multiphoton Saturable Absorbers

It was shown that substantial temporal distortion of nanosecond 10.6 ..mu..m laser pulses occurs in traversing multiphoton saturable absorbers. The risetime and pulse delay effects appear to depend both on fluence and wavelength, and to be qualitatively consistent with predictions of a simple two-level absorption model.
Risk Factors Associated with the Diagnosis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Patients Screened at a Regional Veterans Affairs Health Care System

Background An active abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening program at a regional Veterans Affairs (VA) health system identifies patients at risk for AAA. The purpose of this study is to evaluate unique risk factors associated with the AAA diagnosis upon AAA screening examination to identify the most at risk patients for AAA. Methods Data were extracted from a regional VA health care system to identify patients who underwent AAA screening within a 3-year period. An aortic diameter ≥3.0 cm was defined as an AAA. Patient risk factors included age, body mass index, total cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), statin use, and active smoking status; the presence of hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or peripheral vascular disease (PVD) was also evaluated. Risk factors were compared in a multivariate analysis between patients with AAA and patients with a normal aorta. Results A total of 6,142 patients (mean ± SD age: 72.7 ± 5.3 years) were screened for AAA between January 2007 and December 2009. A total of 469 patients (7.6%) with AAA were identified. The following risk factors were significantly associated with a diagnosis of AAA: age >75 years (39.6% vs. 28.9%; P P P P P P P P = 0.04). Conclusions The diagnosis of AAA in a large screening study is typically identified in patients who are at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The presence of diabetes is a major cardiovascular risk factor that is more associated with normal aorta when compared to patients with the AAA diagnosis. Total cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL was associated with decreased AAA risk, and renal insufficiency was associated with increased AAA risk.
How Do We Apply Science

Until recently, philosophers have either denied that there is such a thing as philosophy of technology or have held it in contempt. A philosophy of technology would be as absurd as a philosophy of sport, they scoffed. Nowadays philosophers pay more attention to this crucial area We recognize that technology raises economic, moral, and social problems that demand philosophical attentioa But we still tend to overlook that applied science has conceptual problems — problems for the philosopher of science — independent of the moral, social, and aesthetic problems of technology. It is the need for philosophical study of these conceptual problems that I want to stress.
Meta-Design: A Framework for the Future of End-User Development

In a world that is not predictable, improvisation, evolution, and innovation are more than a luxury: they are a necessity. The challenge of design is not a matter of getting rid of the emergent, but rather of including it and making it an opportunity for more creative and more adequate solutions to problems. Meta-design is an emerging conceptual framework aimed at defining and creating social and technical infrastructures in which new forms of collaborative design can take place. It extends the traditional notion of system design beyond the original development of a system to include a coadaptive process between users and a system, in which the users become co-developers or codesigners. It is grounded in the basic assumption that future uses and problems cannot be completely anticipated at design time, when a system is developed. Users, at use time, will discover mismatches between their needs and the support that an existing system can provide for them. These mismatches will lead to breakdowns that serve as potential sources of new insights, new knowledge, and new understanding. This paper is structured in four parts: conceptual framework, environments, applications, and findings and challenges. Along the structure of the paper, we discuss and explore the following essential components of meta-design, providing requirements, guidelines, and models for the future of end-user development: (1) the relationship of meta-design to other design methodologies; (2) the Seeding, Evolutionary Growth, Reseeding (SER) Model, a process model for large evolving design artifacts; (3) the characteristics of unselfconscious cultures of design, their strengths and their weaknesses, and the necessity for owners of problems to be empowered to engage in end-user development; (4) the possibilities created by meta-design to bring co-creation alive; and (5) the need for an integrated design space that brings together a technical infrastructure that is evolvable, for the design of learning environments and work organizations that allow endusers to become active contributors, and for the design of relational settings in which users can relate, find motivations and rewards, and accumulate social capital.
Thermal Properties and Three-Phase Structure of cis-1,4-Polybutadiene

The thermal properties of cis-1,4-polybutadiene (cis-PBD) were investigated in dependence of content of cis units and of linearity of the main chain. cis-PBD grades containing a fraction of cis-segments ranging from 93 to 98 %, and with linear or branched chains, were analyzed. Upon isothermal crystallization from the melt at -26 °C for 1 h, fol- lowed by cooling to below the glass transition temperature, cis-PBD develops a three-phase structure, where the mobile amorphous phase is equal to 0.41, independently of chain structure, crystallinity ranges from 0.23 to 0.28, and the rigid amorphous fraction varies from 0.31 to 0.35. Up to three main endotherms can be evidenced by calorimetry at slow heat- ing rate, depending on chain regularity. The multiple melting behavior was discussed on the basis of the three-phase struc- ture, as well as of crystallization kinetics.
Improbable Oppositions: Personalist Rule, Privatization, and Elite Defection in the Post-Soviet Autocracies

This article presents the results of a in-depth study of opposition leaders in five Soviet successor states that have followed markedly different economic paths: market-rejecting Belarus and Turkmenistan, market-reforming Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, a reluctant reformer that falls somewhere in between. Bolstering a growing body of research linking market reforms to the erosion of authoritarian rule, I find that privatizations can inadvertently foster constituencies within the ruling coalition that are willing to publicly oppose rulers who wield extensive formal and personal powers. In sharp contrast to Belarus and Turkmenistan, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and, surprisingly, Uzbekistan, defectors from the business elite have openly engaged in contentious politics, injecting money and other resources into the opposition (albeit with varying degrees of success). Although privatization decentralizes ownership and enriches a broad swath of elites, all too often a particular group of elites closest to the president hoards the choicest assets. The contradictory processes by which resources are dispersed and yet concentrated have led to open confrontation between ambitious “outsider” elites who have benefited from privatization and “insider” elites set on expanding their assets and maintaining their privileged positions at any cost. Conflict has forced some outsider elites into the opposition, but only after continued loyalty to the regime fails to secure their economic interests.
Cardiorespiratory fitness and cognition in the elderly: Can you outrun cognitive impairment?

The identification of lifestyle choices that reduce dementia risk remains of considerable interest.1 Both exercise and nonexercise physical activity have been associated with better cognition and reduced dementia risk.2–4 One hypothesis for this association relates to the cardiovascular benefits on reduction of cerebrovascular disease, but few studies have generated data on cardiovascular fitness, neuroimaging, and cognition from a sufficiently large number of persons to test this theory. In this issue of Neurology ®, Freudenberger et al.5 present such data from a community-based study of nearly 900 participants.
Supracerebellar infratentorial sitting craniotomy for a pinealoblastoma

Pinealoblastomas are WHO grade IV tumors of the pineal region and comprise up to 50% of all pineal parenchymal tumors. They are highly aggressive tumors that spread along the craniospinal axis and are most commonly seen in children. The standard of care involves maximal surgical resection and chemoradiation following tissue diagnosis. We present the rare case of a large pinealoblastoma in an 18-year-old girl who presented with headaches and Parinaud's syndrome from tectal compression. An attempt was made at endoscopic transventricular biopsy of the tumor at an outside hospital, but it was aborted given bleeding at the biopsy site. We performed a supracerebellar infratentorial approach in a sitting position to achieve a gross-total resection of the tumor. This video case illustrates techniques for setting up a sitting craniotomy and approaching a previously biopsied hemorrhagic pinealoblastoma. The venous conglomerate at the tentorial incisura was found to be enveloped by the tumor and a thickened arachnoid scar. Surgical anatomy of the third ventricle and the pineal region is illustrated in this case through the process of surgical dissection and tumor resection. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/CzB0lFQ7AyI .
Understanding macroscopic human behavior

The Web has changed the way we live, work, and socialize. Web-thinking has been influencing how we understand, design, and solve important societal problems and build complex systems. For centuries, emergence has been considered an essential property underlying the way complex systems and patterns emerge out of relatively simple interactions among different components. The Web has compellingly demonstrated results of emergence in understanding human behavior not at an individual level but at different macro levels ranging from social networks to global levels. Recent rapid advances in sensor technology, Web 2.0, Mobile devices, and Web technologies have opened further opportunities to understand macroscopic human behavior. In this talk, we will discuss our approach to build a framework for studying macroscopic human behavior based on micro-events including Tweets and other participatory sensing approaches.