cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oviposition of the Cayenne Tick, Amblyomma cajennense (F.), in the Laboratory

Some female Cayenne ticks, Amblyomma cajennense (F.), engorged on bovines and held at 27°C, >80% RH, and in 12 h light: 12 h dark oviposited undisturbed; others were disturbed daily by removal of eggs. The average preoviposition period was 6.3 days. For undisturbed females, the avg no. eggs/♀ (6009.9) was significantly correlated with the avg weight/♀ (0.639 g) ; the same was true for disturbed females, 6375.9 and 0.681 g, respectively. A newly laid egg averaged 66 μg; an egg weighed after oviposition averaged 56 μg. Average daily oviposition peaked (>530 eggs/day) at days 4–6 after oviposition began. The oviposition period averaged 28.5 days. The average minimum incubation period was 32 days.
Breeding of CMS line JingfulA with large-panicle-type indica rice and screening of its combination

JingfulB was got by cross breeding of female parent V20B and male parent D297B. Then Jingfu1B as male parent was backcrossed successively with female parent BobaiA, and the new CMS line Jingfu 1A was obtained. Jingfu1A had larger panicles, more grains, better quality, more stable male sterility, complete abortion, better stigma exsertion and higher outcrossing rate. The F] hybrids which derived from the combinations of JingfulA with restorer lines, existed better combining ability. According to the method of grey judgement, the screening result showed that Jingfu1A/Minghui67. JingfulA/Jianghuil55 and JingfulA/Shuhui527 were good combinations.
Models of the Saccadic and Smooth Pursuit Systems

Saccadic and smooth pursuit movements are among several eye movements that we make as we visually attend to objects in our environment. An important function of these two movements is to shift the direction of gaze (i.e., an imaginary line directed outward from the central fovea) to clearly view an object of interest. Both movements are concerned with the horizontal-vertical coordinates of objects. This is in contrast to vergence movements that deal with the proximal location of objects (see Chapter 11: Models of Saccadic-Vergence Interactions). A saccade is a rapid movement, perhaps the fastest of skeletal muscle movements, that quickly takes our direction of gaze from an initial point in space to some other point or target. A smooth pursuit movement is a slow to medium velocity movement that allows us to visually follow a moving target, and thus maintain our gaze on or near the target. It is generally thought that the stimulus for a saccade is target position with respect to the fovea, whereas the stimulus for smooth pursuit is target velocity relative to the retina. Saccades can occur without pursuit, and vice versa, but in many circumstances, the two types of movement act conjointly. For example, during visual following of a target moving at moderate to high velocity, smooth pursuit is typically supplemented by saccades. These saccades quickly reduce target offset from the fovea that develops when pursuit velocity is less than target velocity.
A microculture method for assessing nutrient uptake: the effect of phosphate on manganese uptake and toxicity

Using standard microculture techniques for propagating potato (Solatium tuberosum), the effects of several P and Mn treatments were investigated. Foliar yields were affected by both the P ...
Leucine-Enriched Essential Amino Acids Augment Mixed Protein Synthesis, But Not Collagen Protein Synthesis, in Rat Skeletal Muscle after Downhill Running

Mixed and collagen protein synthesis is elevated for as many as 3 days following exercise. Immediately after exercise, enhanced amino acid availability increases synthesis of mixed muscle protein, but not muscle collagen protein. However, the potential for synergic effects of amino acid ingestion with exercise on both mixed and collagen protein synthesis remains unclear. We investigated muscle collagen protein synthesis in rats following post-exercise ingestion of leucine-enriched essential amino acids. We determined fractional protein synthesis rates (FSR) at different time points following exercise. Mixed protein and collagen protein FSRs in skeletal muscle were determined by measuring protein-bound enrichments of hydroxyproline and proline, and by measuring the intracellular enrichment of proline, using injections of flooding d3-proline doses. A leucine-enriched mixture of essential amino acids (or distilled water as a control) was administrated 30 min or 1 day post-exercise. The collagen protein synthesis in the vastus lateralis was elevated for 2 days after exercise. Although amino acid administration did not increase muscle collagen protein synthesis, it did lead to augmented mixed muscle protein synthesis 1 day following exercise. Thus, contrary to the regulation of mixed muscle protein synthesis, muscle collagen protein synthesis is not affected by amino acid availability after damage-inducing exercise.
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement is a relatively new procedure that is commonly performed at the bedside in critically ill patients requiring long-term enteral access. Often utilized in cases of trauma, brain injury, or chronic illness, it is a much safer alternative for enteral feeding than the previously prescribed open surgical gastrostomy tube and superior to long-term use of a nasogastric tube. This procedure can be performed at the bedside, often in the intensive care unit (ICU), and requires at least two proceduralists. This positions the advanced care practitioner (ACP) working in the ICU as the ideal candidate to function in either the endoscopist or the operator role. Complication rates of the procedure are overall low and can be associated with either the endoscopy or the placement of the tube itself. With proper patient selection, education, and experience, beside PEG placement can be safely performed in ICUs making it a popular alternative to open gastrostomy tube when long-term enteral feeds are prescribed.
Parameterizable FPGA-Based Kalman Filter Coprocessor Using Piecewise Affine Modeling

The Kalman Filter is a robust tool often employed as a plant observer in control systems. However, in the general case the high computational cost, especially for large system models or fast sample rates, makes it an impractical choice for typical low-power microcontrollers. Industry trends towards tighter integration and subsystem consolidation point to the use of powerful high-end SoCs, but this complicates the ability for a controls engineer to verify correct behavior of the system under all conditions, which is important in safety-critical systems. Dedicated FPGA hardware can provide computational speedup, in addition to firmer design partitioning in mixed-criticality systems and fully deterministic timing, which helps ensure a control system behaves as close as possible to offline simulations. We introduce and compare two variants of a software-configurable FPGA-based implementation of a Kalman Filter. The first is an implementation of an Extended Kalman Filter, while the second is a novel approach -- the Piecewise-Affine Kalman Filter -- which may offer significant advantages for certain types of applications. The state estimate update time and resource requirements are analyzed for plant models up to 28 states. For large models, the designs provide a speedup of 7-12x compared to reference ARM9020T software implementations. An application-agnostic performance analysis demonstrates how the Piecewise-Affine Kalman Filter reduces the software workload and the communication overhead compared to the standard mixed hardware-software Extended Kalman Filter approach.
Stream thermal heterogeneity prolongs aquatic-terrestrial subsidy and enhances riparian spider growth

Emerging aquatic insects from streams are important food sources for riparian predators, yet their availability is seasonally limited. Spatial heterogeneity in stream water temperature was found to spatially desynchronize the emergence timing of aquatic insects, and prolong their flight period, potentially enhancing consumer growth. While a mayfly Ephemerella maculata emergence lasted for 12-22 days in local sites along a river, mayflies emerged 19 days earlier from warmer than cooler sites. Therefore, the overall emergence of E. maculata from the river lasted for 37 days, and adult swarms were observed over that same period in an adjacent reproductive habitat. A feeding experiment with the riparian spider Tetragnatha versicolor showed that a prolonged subsidy, as would occur in a heterogeneous river, led to higher juvenile growth than a synchronous pulsed subsidy of equal total biomass, as would typify a more homogeneous river. Since larger female adult spiders produce more eggs, spiders that received prolonged subsidy as juveniles should achieve higher fecundity. Restoring spatial heterogeneity in streams may benefit not only stream communities but also riparian predators. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Memory as a Subject of Evaluative Inquiry

When we study, discuss, analyze a reality, we analyze it as it appears in our mind, in our memory. We know reality only in the past tense. We do not know it as it is in the present, in the moment when it's happening, when it is . The present moment is unlike the memory of it. Remembering is not the negative of forgetting. Remembering is a form of forgetting. – Milan Kundera, Testaments Betrayed ELEMENTS OF A MORALITY OR ETHICS OF MEMORY This is a book about memory and our relations to the past – our individual pasts and our collective pasts – written from the standpoints of the moral, social, and political branches of philosophy. The subject of memory has a long history within certain branches of philosophy, of course. In epistemology and metaphysics, philosophers going back to Plato have been intrigued by a phenomenon at once so familiar and yet mysterious. They have addressed such questions as: is memory a form or source of knowledge? What sort of link with the past does memory establish? Can skepticism about memory be avoided? Is our concept of the past derived from memory, or does memory presuppose a concept of the past? Since Locke, memory has also played a central role in philosophical discussions of the unity and continuity of the self. However, evaluative inquiry about memory has been curiously neglected by philosophers, at least those working within the analytic, or the Anglo-American, tradition.
Cryosurgery of Common Warts

Common warts occur commonly and although they may be mostly a banal problem, they may cause functional and quality of life issues for patients. Cryosurgery is a very effective modality in the treatment of most warts. LN spray is the most efficient means to deliver the LN onto a wart. Paring increases the efficiency of wart cryosurgery.
Performing, Representing, and Archiving Belief: Religious Expressions among Jazz Musicians

The archives of African American jazz musicians demonstrate rich sites for studying expressions of religious belief and daily religious practice in public and private arenas, in professional and personal capacities. Highlighting print material from the archives of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899–1974) and Mary Lou Williams (1910–1981), this article examines the ways that these musicians worked to articulate their beliefs in print and to make meaning of their routine practices. Ellington and Williams produced written records of their aspirations for non-clerical religious authority and leadership, novel notions of religious community, and conceptions of quotidian writing tasks as practices with devotional value in the middle decades of the twentieth century. In preparation for his Sacred Concert tours of American and Western European religious congregations, Ellington theologized about the nature of God and the proper language to address God through private hotel stationery. Following her conversion to Roman Catholicism, Williams managed a Harlem thrift shop and worked to create the Bel Canto Foundation for musicians struggling with substance abuse and unemployment. This study of the religious subjectivity of African Americans with status as race representatives employs archival historical methods in the effort to vividly approximate complex religious interiority.
TCT-377 Safety of Ultra-Low Contrast Coronary Angiography in Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease

Historically, patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) have avoided coronary angiography due to concerns of precipitating the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). The objective of this study was to establish the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and need for RRT in patients
Multi-leads, two-color, ZnCdSe/ZnCdMgSe based quantum well infrared photodetectors

An independently controllable, two-color ZnCdSe/ZnCdMgSe quantum well infrared detector spanning 4.3–5.4 μm and 6.7–8.2 μm is experimentally demonstrated with a dark current limited detectivity of 2.9×108 cm√Hz/W and 2.7×107 cm√Hz/W at 80 K, respectively.
Graphene films as transparent electrodes for photovoltaic devices based on cadmium sulfide thin films

Abstract Graphene films were synthesized and characterized to demonstrate their potential applications as the transparent electrodes in photovoltaic devices. Graphene films were prepared by chemical vapor deposition of graphene on copper substrates followed by transferring them onto the desired substrates. The quality and uniformity of graphene transferred onto different substrates were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and UV–VIS–NIR reflectance as well as transmission spectroscopy. The results showed that the films synthesized contained 1–3 layers of graphene with the sheet resistance and optical transparency in the ranges of 50–350 Ω / s q and 85–95%, respectively. Thin films of cadmium sulfide (CdS) were deposited on different substrates by chemical bath deposition method to study the optoelectronic behavior at the interface of graphene/CdS. The results showed that transient response time and the magnitude of photocurrent were enhanced by the graphene electrodes. The order of photocurrent merit was found to be CdS/graphene /Glass >CdS/ITO/glass, indicating that the CdS/graphene stack is to be the most efficient electron transport matrix for the separation of photo excited carriers in the CdS films.
Lithium Niobate for M/NEMS Resonators

Piezoelectric Radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators are chip-scale components embedded in the modern RF front ends to carry out the function of frequency selection and interference rejection. They are the building blocks of RF filters and oscillators. Their working principle leverages piezoelectric thin films to covert resonance phenomenon from the mechanical to the electrical domain. Piezoelectric MEMS resonators are still being extensively researched with the main focus placed on attaining the optimal combination of electromechanical coupling, higher Q, and wafer-level frequency agility. The intense development of piezoelectric MEMS resonators was triggered in the past decade by the demand for high-precision timing sources and high-performance filtering devices to address telecommunication needs in an already-crowded RF spectrum. Particularly, fueled by the fast growth of consumers and services in the mobile marketplace, the demand for bandwidth has resulted in increasingly stringent performance specifications for front-end filters and duplexers. In order to accommodate the emerging standards in the RF spectrum, the development of piezoelectric MEMS resonators faces many new challenges, including lower loss, wider bandwidth performance, better temperature stability, high power handling and linearity, and most important of all, frequency tunability and agility.
Individual bone structure segmentation and labeling from low-dose chest CT

The segmentation and labeling of the individual bones serve as the first step to the fully automated measurement of skeletal characteristics and the detection of abnormalities such as skeletal deformities, osteoporosis, and vertebral fractures. Moreover, the identified landmarks on the segmented bone structures can potentially provide relatively reliable location reference to other non-rigid human organs, such as breast, heart and lung, thereby facilitating the corresponding image analysis and registration. A fully automated anatomy-directed framework for the segmentation and labeling of the individual bone structures from low-dose chest CT is presented in this paper. The proposed system consists of four main stages: First, both clavicles are segmented and labeled by fitting a piecewise cylindrical envelope. Second, the sternum is segmented under the spatial constraints provided by the segmented clavicles. Third, all ribs are segmented and labeled based on 3D region growing within the volume of interest defined with reference to the spinal canal centerline and lungs. Fourth, the individual thoracic vertebrae are segmented and labeled by image intensity based analysis in the spatial region constrained by the previously segmented bone structures. The system performance was validated with 1270 lowdose chest CT scans through visual evaluation. Satisfactory performance was obtained respectively in 97.1% cases for the clavicle segmentation and labeling, in 97.3% cases for the sternum segmentation, in 97.2% cases for the rib segmentation, in 94.2% cases for the rib labeling, in 92.4% cases for vertebra segmentation and in 89.9% cases for the vertebra labeling.
The Sign-Sign Algorithm: Checking Persistent Excitation for Periodic Inputs

Abstract The Sign-Sign (SS) algorithm is a computationally efficient adaptive identifier, often used in signal processing tasks. It is obtained by introducing signum functions on both the regressor and the prediction error multiplicands in the update kernel of the well known LMS algorithm. This paper discusses how a persistent excitation condition related to this algorithm can be checked for periodic regressors through a finite amount of computations.
Hip Arthroplasty After Surgical Treatment of Intertrochanteric Hip Fractures.

Abstract Background Although use of intramedullary hip screws (IMHS) for intertrochanteric (IT) hip fractures has become more common, limited data have suggested difficulties in conversion to hip arthroplasty. The present study investigates whether conversion of failed IT fracture fixation with an intramedullary vs extramedullary device leads to different rates or types of complications or decreased arthroplasty survivorship. Methods One hundred eleven patients were converted to hip arthroplasty after previous surgical treatment of an IT fracture from 2000 to 2010. Seventy hips had been treated with an extramedullary fixation device (EFD) and 41 with an IMHS. Results Length of hospital stay and operative times were similar (6 days and 206 minutes for EFD vs 6 days and 208 minutes for IMHS; P > .7). The presence of a Trendelenburg gait at last clinical follow-up was similar between groups (37% in EFD group and 38% in IMHS group). Five-year survivorship free of revision was 95% in the EFD group and 94% in the IMHS group (P = 1.0). The overall complication rate was similar (21% for EFD vs 27% for IMHS; P = .51) between groups. The most common complication was late periprosthetic fracture in the EFD patients (6% vs 0% in IMHS; P = .29) and intraoperative femoral fracture in the IMHS patients (12% vs 1% in EFD; P = .02). Conclusion The short-term survivorship of conversion hip arthroplasty after surgical treatment of an IT fracture is excellent regardless of original fracture fixation method. If early complications, particularly periprosthetic fractures, can be minimized, the likelihood of a successful outcome is high. The risk of intraoperative femoral fracture was greater during conversion from an IMHS compared to an EFD.
Hydrogen Storage in Formic Acid: A Comparison of Process Options

Formic acid (53 g H2/L) is a promising liquid storage and delivery option for hydrogen for fuel cell power applications. In this work we compare and evaluate several process options using formic acid for energy storage. Each process requires different steps, which contribute to the overall energy demand. The first step, i.e. production of formic acid, is thermodynamically unfavorable. However, the energy demand can be reduced if a formate salt is produced via a bicarbonate route instead of forming the free acid from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This bicarbonate/formate approach also turns out to be comparatively more efficient in terms of hydrogen release than the formic acid route even though less energy efficient, catalytic decomposition of formic acid has the advantage of reaching higher volumetric power densities during hydrogen release. Efficiencies of all process options involve aqueous media and are dependent on concentration. Heating water leads to additional energy demand for hydrogen release and...
Aleukemic mast cell leukemia associated with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

![Figure][1] An 88-year-old man presented with anemia (hemoglobin, 10.3 g/dL) and thrombocytopenia (platelets, 74 × 109/L). Peripheral blood smear showed prominent leukocytosis (white blood cells, 37.3 × 109/L) with dysplastic granulocytes, monocytosis (4.1 × 109/L), eosinophilia (4.5 ×
Oral Contraceptive Management in Aesthetic Surgery: A Survey of Current Practice Trends.

Background Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are currently used by approximately 16% of all women aged 15 to 44 in the United States and have been used by 80% of all sexually active women at some point in their lives. However, no guidelines exist for discontinuation of OCP therapy before or after elective cosmetic surgery. Objectives The aim of this study is to establish current practice trends regarding perioperative OCP management in aesthetic surgery. Methods An eight-item online survey was distributed to members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Survey results were analyzed to determine if surgeons' practice setting, years of experience, annual cosmetic volume, or types of cosmetic procedures performed affected their perioperative management of OCPs. Results A total of 220 questionnaires were collected (11.9% response rate). Only 31.8% of surgeons reported any discontinuation of OCPs pre- or postoperatively. Among physicians, 7.3% reported only preoperative discontinuation, 24.5% reported OCP discontinuation both pre- and postoperatively, and 0.0% of physicians reported discontinuation of OCPs only postoperatively. There was no statistically significant difference between the percentage of surgeons in academic practice who discontinue OCPs perioperatively (P = 0.335). There was no statistical significance towards overall years in practice (P = 0.152). There were no significant differences between the three groups in the number of cosmetic procedures performed annually or percentage breakdown of procedures performed. Conclusions Despite OCP therapy being a known risk factor for venous thromboembolic events, a majority of surgeons performing cosmetic surgery do not routinely recommend perioperative cessation.
Continuous Linear Programming and Piecewise Bilinear Systems

Linear programming is one of the most useful applied mathematical tools developed in the last thirty years. The problem of extremizing a linear functional over a convex subset of Rn defined by a set of linear inequalities arises naturally in many diverse fields. Such problems admit both elegant mathematics (the duality theory) and an efficient algorithm for their solution (the simplex method).
Enhanced Monte Carlo Methods for Modeling Proteins Including Computation of Absolute Free Energies of Binding.

The generation of a complete ensemble of geometrical configurations is required to obtain reliable estimations of absolute binding free energies by alchemical free energy methods. Molecular dynamics (MD) is the most popular sampling method, but the representation of large biomolecular systems may be incomplete owing to energetic barriers that impede efficient sampling of the configurational space. Monte Carlo (MC) methods can possibly overcome this issue by adapting the attempted movement sizes to facilitate transitions between alternative local-energy minima. In this study, we present an MC statistical mechanics algorithm to explore the protein-ligand conformational space with emphasis on the motions of the protein backbone and side chains. The parameters for each MC move type were optimized to better reproduce conformational distributions of 18 dipeptides and the well-studied T4-lysozyme L99A protein. Next, the performance of the improved MC algorithms was evaluated by computing absolute free energies o...
CrF2 solubility in 2LiF-BeF2: Comment on “An integrated model of tritium transport and corrosion in Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactors (FHRs) – Part I: Theory and benchmarking”

Abstract The solubility of CrF2 in 2LiF-BeF2 (FLiBe) at 650 °C reported in Stempien et al. (2016) as 1670 ppm was based on an incorrect value in Sohal et al. (2010). This value is likely an underestimate of CrF2 solubility (Blood, 1964; Jordan et al., 1956b). Experimental measurements of CrF2 solubility in 2LiF-BeF2 (67 mol% LiF) are needed. The incorrect value of solubility in no way detracts from the value of the Stempien article in the modeling approach and benchmarking of the TRIDENT code. Cr2+ concentrations reported to date from use of the TRIDENT code have been below 1670 ppm. If this CrF2 solubility is reached in future studies, the corrosion rate and the partial pressures ratio P HF 2 / P H 2 will be underestimated. It is therefore important to note that the CrF2 solubility limit built into TRIDENT is a place-holder. Bringing original data from technical reports and progress reports of the molten salt reactor experiment into data compilations in archival journal publications is needed to facilitate their application to new problems of interest.
Repair of truncus arteriosus in the neonate.

From September 1986 through December 1991, 63 patients with truncus arteriosus underwent surgical repair. The management approach evolved over the period of the study from elective primary repair at 3 months of age to elective primary repair in the early neonatal period. Thirty variables were examined as potential risk factors for the outcome events of death, reoperation, and presence of pulmonary vascular morbidity. According to both univariate and multivariate techniques, severe truncal valve regurgitation, interrupted aortic arch, coronary artery anomalies, and age at repair greater than 100 days were important risk factors for perioperative death. In the 33 patients without these risk factors, early survival was 100 %. In the 30 patients with one or more of these risk factors, survival was 63%. Pulmonary hypertensive episodes were fewer, and duration of ventilator dependence and pulmonary artery pressure were significantly less in patients undergoing the operation before 30 days of age. Seven patients required reoperation for right ventricular outflow tract obstruction at a mean follow-up time of 23.4 months, with no deaths. In conclusion, interrupted aortic arch, severe truncal valve insufficiency, coronary anomalies, and repair later than 100 days of age were risk factors for death after repair of truncus arteriosus. In the absence of these associations, truncus arteriosus can be repaired with excellent surgical outcome in the neonatal and early infancy period. Repair in the early neonatal period reduces the prevalence of postoperative pulmonary vascular morbidity. (J T horac C ardiovasc S urg 1993;105:1047-56)
Old Myth/New Science

I think it was about six, maybe eight, years ago that I started intuiting that myth was saying in metaphor some of the language I was reading about in new science. When I first taught myth and studied it in graduate school, the focus was on classical myth from Greece and Rome. Not even Egypt was a consideration, nor Babylonia. Subsequently, teaching at an art college that draws international students, I decided to expand my study for my students and myself to include the myths of Asia, old Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Even more recently, I have been delving into Celtic mythology.
Remote Sensing Change Detection in Urban Environments

Timely and accurate change information in the urban environment is essential for successful planning and management. The change detection may range from 1) monitoring general land cover/land use found in multiple dates of imagery, to 2) anomaly (e.g., subsidence) detection on hazardous waste sites. Remote sensing approaches to change detection have been widely used due to its cost-effectiveness, extensibility, and temporal frequency. Since the advent of high-spatial resolution satellite imagery, it has become increasing popular to detect, analyze, and monitor detailed changes such as new buildings, roads, and even patios in the urban environment. Basically, there are two types of change detection methods: 1) detection of the change using various image enhancement methods, and 2) extraction of detailed types of land-cover change based on the use of classification techniques (Chan et al. 2001; Jensen 2005)
Impact of Prior Bariatric Surgery on Perioperative Liver Transplant Outcomes

Bariatric surgery (BS) is effective in treating morbid obesity, but the impact of prior BS on candidacy for liver transplantation (LT) is unclear. We examined 78 patients with cirrhosis with prior BS compared with a concurrent cohort of 156 patients matched by age, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, and underlying liver disease. We compared rates of transplant denial after evaluation, delisting on the waiting list, and survival after LT. The median time from BS to LT evaluation was 7 years. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was the most common BS procedure performed (63% of cohort). Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was the leading etiology for liver cirrhosis (47%). Delisting/death on the waiting list was higher among patients with BS (33.3% versus 10.1%; P = 0.002), and the transplantation rate was lower (48.9% versus 65.2%; P = 0.03). Intention-to-treat (ITT) survival from listing to 1 year after LT was lower in the BS cohort versus concurrent cohort (1-year survival, 84% versus 90%; P = 0.05). On adjusted analysis, a history of BS was associated with an increased risk of death on the waiting list (hazard ratio [HR], 5.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-15.1), but this impact was attenuated (HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 1.8-13.4) by the presence of malnutrition. When limited to matched controls by sex, mortality attributed to BS was no longer significant for females (P = 0.37) but was significant for males (P = 0.046). Sarcopenia, as captured by skeletal muscle index, was calculated in a subset of patients (n = 49). The total skeletal surface area was lower in the BS group (127 [105-141] cm2 versus 153 [131-191] cm2 ; P = 0.005). Rates of sarcopenia were higher among patients delisted after listing (71.4% versus 16.7%; P = 0.04). In conclusion, a history of BS was associated with higher rates of delisting on the waiting list as well as lower survival from the time of listing on ITT analysis. Presence of malnutrition and sarcopenia among patients with BS may contribute to worse outcomes.
Clinical and Laboratory Profiles of Small Fiber Neuropathy In Children: Case Series (P5.133)

Objective: To describe the clinical and laboratory findings of idiopathic small fiber neuropathy in children. Background: In idiopathic small fiber neuropathy (SNF), autoimmune processes could be the etiologic mechanism. Serum IgM binding to IdoA2S-GlcNS-6S, a trisulfated heparin disaccharide (TS-HDS) and IgG binding to FGFR3, have been shown to be associated with sensory-motor polyneuropathies and sensory neuronopathy among others. Previous studies reported early involvement of the hands as a distinctive feature in some cases of small fiber neuropathy associated with these antibodies, suggesting non-length-dependent axonal injury. Design/Methods: Retrospective case review. Results: Eight children were confirmed to have SFN by history, clinical exam and low intraepidermal nerve fiber density (INFD). No involvement of the large fiber was confirmed by clinical exam and electrophysiological tests. Six patients had non-length dependent pattern. Possible triggering factors were identified to be infectious mononucleosis in four patients and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination in one patient. Autonomic dysfunctions were noted in six patients. Six patients had positive autoimmune markers including four patients with IgM binding to TS-HDS. Non-length dependent pattern was found in two out of the four patients with IgM against TS-HDS. Conclusions: High proportion of patients had laboratory evidence of immune-mediated SFN in our small cohort. Disclosure: Dr. Al Balushi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kim has nothing to disclose. Dr. Krause has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kafaie has nothing to disclose.
The role of geophysics in Oxy’s Permian Basin unconventional resource play appraisal and development workflow

Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s (Oxy’s) US business is focused on the Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. With nearly 2.5 million net acres, Oxy produces hydrocarbons from every producible formation in the Permian Basin. To efficiently unlock value from this extensive acreage and operating position, Oxy has developed an unconventional resource play appraisal and development workflow within which geophysics plays an integral role. This is notable given that just a couple of years ago geophysical data and analysis played a very minor role in our industry’s unconventional resource play business decision-making process in this basin. Our Permian Basin appraisal and development workflow starts with a regional basin overview to identify the most likely rich source rocks and production analogs. We then develop an understanding of the geochemistry of the source rocks by means of cuttings and core analyses. Next, individual benches are appraised using pilot holes and state-of-the-art 3D pre-stack seismic data, conditioned in-house to meet the requirements for quantitative interpretation. All available data are integrated through multi-disciplinary studies to yield a thorough understanding of the petrophysical, geophysical, and geomechanical properties that impact well performance. Pre-stack depth-migrated 3D seismic attributes, including estimated pore-pressure and geomechanical flow units, are used extensively for planning the well’s landing zone and trajectory, and also during operations to steer the well through the target zone. Microseismic data are used with tracer and pressure data to confirm our hydraulic fracture models. Recently, production data have confirmed the value of our interpreted seismic attributes, confirming the guidance that interpreted seismic data need to be an integral part of new well planning in the basin.
Speaking emissaries: Lebanese women’s rights NGO KAFA and its media use for audience mobilization

Focusing on a women’s rights group in Lebanon, KAFA, this article offers a discursive reading of the NGO’s campaign strategies that transform discussions of gender-based violence from a private fam...
The Benefits and Pitfalls of Using Satellite Data for Causal Inference

AbstractThere has been growing interest in using satellite data in environmental economics research. This is because satellite data are available for any region across the globe, provide frequent d...
Benign Tremulous Parkinsonism

Background Benign tremulous parkinsonism has never been precisely defined nor has the long-term course been studied. Objective To report the clinical features and longitudinal course of patients with benign tremulous parkinsonism encountered in our movement disorders practice. Design Computer search of medical records database. Setting Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Patients Of 116 patients identified, 16 (10 male and 6 female) had at least an 8-year history of this disease, had been examined by a senior movement disorders specialist, and had ultimately been diagnosed as having benign tremulous parkinsonism after an initial diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD). Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures Age at onset of disease, response to levodopa therapy, tremor characteristics, and family history. Results Mean disease duration was 11 years (range, 8-25 years) at last follow-up. Mean age at onset, 58.5 years, was younger than in most PD series, and most patients had a poor levodopa response (although levodopa trials were inadequate in some). A moderate to marked postural tremor was noted in 13 of the 16 patients, including 6 with a kinetic tremor. A family history of PD and/or tremor was reported in 10 (63%) of our patients. Three patients required thalamic deep brain surgery to treat their tremor. Conclusions Benign tremulous parkinsonism may be a distinct clinical entity characterized by tremor predominance plus minimal progression of other aspects of parkinsonism. The tremor is often not very responsive to levodopa therapy. In this series, most patients had immediate family members with a diagnosis of tremor or PD.
TUSX: an accessible toolbox for transcranial ultrasound simulation

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWNormally, the complicated nature of acoustic simulation makes it infeasible for most research groups doing individual transcranial ultrasound studies, hindering interpretation of results and complicating the determination of safety limits. We present here an open-source MATLAB toolbox to perform acoustic simulations using subject-specific medical images for transcranial ultrasound experiments. This toolbox, Transcranial Ultrasound Simulation Toolbox (TUSX), consists of an integrated processing pipeline that takes in structural MR or CT images, processes them for accurate simulation, and runs the simulations using k-Wave, an existing open-source acoustics package. We describe here the processing TUSX performs, along with its reasoning. We also validate its output using real-world pressure measurements in a water tank.
Random Processes for Engineers

This engaging introduction to random processes provides students with the critical tools needed to design and evaluate engineering systems that must operate reliably in uncertain environments. A brief review of probability theory and real analysis of deterministic functions sets the stage for understanding random processes, whilst the underlying measure theoretic notions are explained in an intuitive, straightforward style. Students will learn to manage the complexity of randomness through the use of simple classes of random processes, statistical means and correlations, asymptotic analysis, sampling, and effective algorithms. Key topics covered include:Calculus of random processes in linear systemsKalman and Wiener filteringHidden Markov models for statistical inferenceThe estimation maximization (EM) algorithmAn introduction to martingales and concentration inequalities.Understanding of the key concepts is reinforced through over 100 worked examples and 300 thoroughly tested homework problems (half of which are solved in detail at the end of the book).
A Modified Lallemand Image Tube

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of a modified Lallemand image tube. An electronographic type of image tube that operates on the Lallemand principle has been built and operated experimentally at the Lick Observatory. The appearance of the tube is considerably different from the Lallemand prototype. The tube is constructed around the valve unit, which is, in fact, the anode. The focusing and cathode electrodes are contained in a bottle-shaped pyrex glass unit that is attached to the valve unit by means of a heavy Kovar flange which, in turn, is sealed to the glass. The several metal-to-metal joints in the valve unit are sealed with annealed gold wire compression seals where permanent, and with lead wire compression seals where the seal is to be temporary. The photocathodes are prepared with a probe tool temporarily fastened to the anode end of the tube. The probe reaches through the opened valve for evaporating the antimony, and later for transporting the cesium into the tube. The new tube is being prepared now for use with one of the telescopes of the Lick Observatory.
Kinematics of earthflows in the Northern California Coast Ranges using satellite interferometry

Abstract Slow-moving landslides exhibit persistent downslope motion with variations in velocity driven by transient stress perturbations along the sliding surface. Here, we use satellite InSAR and high-resolution topographic data to identify 50 slow-moving landslides in the Northern California Coast Ranges, and monitor their seasonal kinematics over 4 years. These landslides have similar mechanical properties and are subject to the same external forcings, which allows us to explore geometrical controls on kinematics. To overcome errors associated with large deformation gradients we incorporate a deformation model in the InSAR processing that enables us to generate deformation time series. We test our novel methodology using a synthetic deformation time series, confirming our ability to resolve seasonal velocity patterns. Time series analysis of four representative landslides reveals that seasonal velocity changes are characterized by comparatively rapid acceleration and gradual deceleration. Each slide displays distinct kinematic zones with different mean velocities, although velocity changes appear to occur synchronously along the landslide body over seasonal timescales. Because these deformation patterns are sensitive to subsurface geometry, we employ a commonly used non-Newtonian viscous flow law to infer slide thickness and find that these slides likely exhibit a highly variable thickness and an irregular (i.e. rough and non-planar) basal sliding surface. Our results suggest that slide geometry controls long-term motion, but does not strongly regulate their response to seasonal stress perturbations.
Non-rigid Registration of Serial Intra-operative Images for Automatic Brain Shift Estimation

Measurement of intra-operative brain motion is important to provide boundary conditions to physics-based deformation models that can be used to register pre- and intra-operative information. In this paper we present and test a technique that can be used to measure brain surface motion automatically. This method relies on a tracked laser range scanner (LRS) that can acquire simultaneously a picture and the 3D physical coordinates of objects within its field of view. This reduces the 3D tracking problem to a 2D non-rigid registration problem which we solve with a Mutual Information-based algorithm. Results obtained on images of a phantom and on images acquired intra-operatively that demonstrate the feasibility of the method are presented.
Affirmative Action in American Law Schools: A Critical Response to Richard Sander's "A Reply to Critics"

Richard Sander's Stanford Law Review article, A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools, has generated considerable attention and criticism. This included a critical essay in the May 2005 Stanford Law Review by the four of us, as well as others in the same issue by Professors Ian Ayres and Richard Brooks, Michele Landis Dauber, and David Wilkins. Sander's A Reply to Critics also appeared in the same issue. For those following this empirical debate about the costs and benefits of affirmative action, we provide this working paper as a response to Sander's A Reply to Critics. We show the weaknesses in the logic that underlies many of Sander's assumptions and arguments and show that his reply does not salvage the case against affirmative action that he claimed to have made in his Stanford article. Rather, Sander's reply explicitly or implicitly repudiates much of the methodology and many of the claims he made in Systemic Analysis, even as he clings firmly to its conclusion and compounds earlier analytic mistakes with new ones. NOTE: Also see The Real Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in American Law Schools: An Empirical Critique of Richard Sander's Study, Chambers et al, Stan. L. Rev. 57, no. 6 (2005): 1855-98.
Interaction between G proteins and tyrosine kinases upon T cell receptor.CD3-mediated signaling.

Abstract Engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR)·CD3 complex results in the induction of multiple intracellular events, with protein tyrosine kinases playing a pivotal role in their initiation. Biochemical studies also exist suggesting the involvement of heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins); however, the functional consequence of this participation in TCR·CD3-mediated signaling is unresolved. Here, we report TCR·CD3-mediated guanine nucleotide exchange among the 42-kDa G protein α subunits of the Gαq/11 family, their physical association with CD3 ϵ, and the Gα11-dependent activation of phospholipase C β. Protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors, however, abrogate TCR·CD3-mediated G protein activation. Quite interesting is the observation that cells transfected with a function-deficient mutant of Gα11 display diminished tyrosine phosphorylation of TCR·CD3 ζ and ϵ chains, as well as ZAP-70, upon anti-CD3 antibody triggering. These data indicate the involvement of the Gαq/11 family in TCR·CD3 signaling at a step proximal to the receptor and suggest a reciprocal regulation between tyrosine kinases and G proteins in T cells.
Centralized digital control of accelerators

In contrasting the title of this paper with a second paper to be presented at this conference entitled Distributed Digital Control of Accelerators, a potential reader might be led to believe that this paper will focus on systems whose computing intelligence is centered in one or more computers in a centralized location. Instead, this paper will describe the architectural evolution of SLAC's computer based accelerator control systems with respect to the distribution of their intelligence. However, the use of the word centralized in the title is appropriate because these systems are based on the use of centralized large and computationally powerful processors that are typically supported by networks of smaller distributed processors.
Glucose Transporters in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Development

The retina relies on glucose for metabolic energy, but unlike systemic endothelia, the endothelia and epithelia of the blood–brain barrier allow little glucose to diffuse across their paracellular spaces. To compensate, these cells express high levels of glucose transporters to facilitate transcellular transport. One region, the outer blood–retinal barrier, has an unusual structure. The choroidal capillaries are fenestrated, and the barrier is formed by the overlying retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The development of RPE is closely coordinated with the development of the neural retina and the choriocapillaris. Early in development, the RPE expresses basal levels of various members of the GLUT family of glucose transporters. Then, tight junctions begin to form and start to restrict paracellular diffusion. Late in development, as tight junctions become tighter still, the expression of GLUT1, GLUT11, and SGLT1 increases. This suggests that, early in development, a collection of GLUT family members serves the needs of the RPE for metabolic energy, but certain members are better suited for the level of transepithelial transport required to serve the needs of the neural retina. This change in expression also correlates with increased infolding of the RPE basal plasma membrane and the formation of fenestrae in the choriocapillaris.