cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Cancer Center Variation in Textbook Oncologic Outcomes Following Colectomy for Adenocarcinoma

Traditional metrics may inadequately represent rates of attaining optimal oncologic care. We evaluated a composite “textbook oncologic outcome” (TOO) to assess the incidence of achieving an “optimal” clinical result after colon adenocarcinoma (CA) resection. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried to identify patients undergoing colectomy for non-metastatic CA between 2010 and 2015. TOO was defined as a margin negative resection with an AJCC compliant lymph node evaluation, no prolonged length of stay (LOS) or 30-day readmission/mortality, as well as receipt of stage appropriate adjuvant chemotherapy. Among 170,120 patients who underwent colectomy at 1315 hospitals, 93,204 (54.8%) achieved TOO with large variations observed among facilities. While certain factors were achieved nearly universally (R0 margin, 95.6%; no 30-day mortality, 97.2%), avoidance of prolonged LOS (77.3%) and appropriate adjuvant chemotherapy (83.0%) were achieved less consistently. On multivariable analysis, Black race/ethnicity (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.80–0.85), Medicaid insurance (OR 0.64, 0.61–0.68), and low-volume facility (< 50/year) (OR 0.83, 0.77–0.89) were associated with decreased likelihood of TOO. Achievement of TOO was associated with improved long-term survival (HR 0.45; 95% CI 0.44–0.46). Roughly one-half of patients undergoing resection of CA achieved an optimal clinical outcome. TOO may be a more useful quality metric to assess patient-centric composite outcomes following surgical procedures.
The Effects of Ivacaftor on Bone Density and Microarchitecture in Children and Adults with Cystic Fibrosis.

Context Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance (CFTR) dysfunction may play a role in CF-related bone disease (CFBD). Ivacaftor is a CFTR potentiator effective in improving pulmonary and nutritional outcomes in patients with the G551D-CFTR mutation. The effects of ivacaftor on bone health are unknown. Objective To determine the impact of ivacaftor on bone density and microarchitecture in children and adults with CF. Design Prospective observational multiple cohort study. Setting Outpatient clinical research center within a tertiary academic medical center. Patients or other participants Three cohorts of age-, race-, and gender-matched subjects were enrolled: 26 subjects (15 adults and 11 children) with CF and the G551D-CFTR mutation who were planning to start or had started treatment with ivacaftor within three months (Ivacaftor cohort); 26 subjects with CF were not treated with ivacaftor (CF Control cohort); and 26 healthy volunteers. Interventions All treatments, including ivacaftor, were managed by the subjects' pulmonologists. Main outcome measures Bone microarchitecture by high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT), areal bone mineral density (aBMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bone turnover markers at baseline, 1, and 2 years. Results Cortical volume, area, and porosity at the radius and tibia increased significantly in adults in the Ivacaftor cohort. No significant differences were observed in changes in aBMD, trabecular microarchitecture, or estimated bone strength in adults or in any outcome measures in children. Conclusions Treatment with ivacaftor was associated with increases in cortical microarchitecture in adults with CF. Further studies are needed to understand the implications of these findings.
On the Curved Patterns Seen in the Graph of PPTs

Dr. Ron Knott constructed a graph of all Primitive Pythagorean Triples (PPTs) with legs up to length 10,000, using Mathematica. The patterns are very interesting, suggesting conic sections. We show that they indeed are parabolic curves which follow in a natural way from the mathematics of the subject matter.
Influence of musical preferences and intraoperative questions on suturing speed.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of music and surgeon-directed questions on suturing speed. STUDY DESIGN Randomized observational study. SAMPLE POPULATION Fifty-five faculty veterinarians, residents, interns, and fourth-year veterinary students. METHODS Experience, gender, and favorable and unfavorable music choices were self-declared by participants. Each person performed four timed suture trials, which required them to complete a simple 10 cm continuous suture pattern on a model. The initial trial served as practice and did not include music or questions. The order of the three remaining trials was randomized, and consisted of one trial each with favorable music, unfavorable music, and required the participant to answer 2 questions. Trial duration was compared using a mixed effects linear model. Influence of gender and experience on participants' categorical responses to 2 different questions was evaluated using a Pearson χ2 test and Fisher's exact test, respectively. Stratified analysis was used to evaluate further the effect of experience and gender. RESULTS Question trials were on average 8.1 s longer than favorable music trials (P = .008), with no notable difference found between unfavorable and favorable music or unfavorable music and question trials. Experience (P = .021) and gender (P = .033) influenced participants' response to question 1 but not question 2 (P = .267 and P = .839, respectively). CONCLUSION Listening to favorable music, rather than answering questions, may result in decreased closure times. This influence was greater for less experienced individuals and less experienced male veterinarians and veterinary students. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE The absence of questions may increase suturing speed, particularly for minimally experienced surgeons or when instruction is taking place in a surgical laboratory setting.
SU-F-BRB-10: A Statistical Voxel Based Normal Organ Dose Prediction Model for Coplanar and Non-Coplanar Prostate Radiotherapy

Purpose: Knowledge learned from previous plans can be used to guide future treatment planning. Existing knowledge-based treatment planning methods study the correlation between organ geometry and dose volume histogram (DVH), which is a lossy representation of the complete dose distribution. A statistical voxel dose learning (SVDL) model was developed that includes the complete dose volume information. Its accuracy of predicting volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and non-coplanar 4π radiotherapy was quantified. SVDL provided more isotropic dose gradients and may improve knowledge-based planning. Methods: 12 prostate SBRT patients originally treated using two full-arc VMAT techniques were re-planned with 4π using 20 intensity-modulated non-coplanar fields to a prescription dose of 40 Gy. The bladder and rectum voxels were binned based on their distances to the PTV. The dose distribution in each bin was resampled by convolving to a Gaussian kernel, resulting in 1000 data points in each bin that predicted the statistical dose information of a voxel with unknown dose in a new patient without triaging information that may be collectively important to a particular patient. We used this method to predict the DVHs, mean and max doses in a leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV) test and compared its performance against lossy estimators including mean, median, mode, Poisson and Rayleigh of the voxelized dose distributions. Results: SVDL predicted the bladder and rectum doses more accurately than other estimators, giving mean percentile errors ranging from 13.35–19.46%, 4.81–19.47%, 22.49–28.69%, 23.35–30.5%, 21.05–53.93% for predicting mean, max dose, V20, V35, and V40 respectively, to OARs in both planning techniques. The prediction errors were generally lower for 4π than VMAT. Conclusion: By employing all dose volume information in the SVDL model, the OAR doses were more accurately predicted. 4π plans are better suited for knowledge-based planning than the VMAT plans that are strongly biased in its dose gradient orientation. This project is supported by Varian Medical Systems.
Trust and Technology

This chapter contains sections titled: Main Difference Between Security and Trust Trust Models and Technology Concluding Remarks References
Studies on receptor-mediated activation of adenylyl cyclases. I. Preparation and description of general properties of an adenylyl cyclase system in beef renal medullary membranes sensitive to neurohypophyseal hormones.

Abstract With use of a discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation in the presence of 1 mm EDTA and 10 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, membrane particles were prepared from beef renal medulla that are 4- to 6-fold enriched in fluoride- sensitive and 8- to 12-fold enriched in neurohypophyseal hormone (NHH)-sensitive adenylyl cyclase activity. Average yield of the NHH-sensitive adenylyl cyclase activity was 30 to 35%; average yield of membrane protein, starting with 80 g of beef renal medulla, was 200 to 250 mg. These membranes also contain a prostaglandin-sensitive adenylyl cyclase system, the activity of which is additive to that sensitive to NHH. Arginine-vasopressin, lysine-vasopressin, and oxytocin stimulate enzyme activity half-maximally at 10-9, 10-9, and 10-7 m, respectively. The response of the renal medullary adenylyl cyclase activity to NHH is extremely dependent on the concentrations of magnesium and ATP used in the assay. Response is maximal at low concentrations of magnesium and at concentrations of ATP varying from 0.07 to 0.10 mm. Increasing the concentration of magnesium results in selective stimulation of basal activity with concomitant loss of the relative stimulation by NHH. Increasing or decreasing the concentration of ATP results in selective loss of activity due to NHH stimulation, also leading to reduced relative stimulation by NHH. GTP at 10-5 m inhibits stimulation of the beef renal medullary adenylyl cyclase by NHH. 5'-Adenylyl-imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), an analogue of ATP that is not hydrolyzed by membrane ATPases, was evaluated as substrate for renal adenylyl cyclase. Depending on the concentration of the analogue and magnesium used, AMP-PNP yields activities that are between 10 and 25% of those obtained with ATP. Maximal hormonal stimulation requires higher concentrations of AMP-PNP than ATP; excess AMP-PNP does not result in inhibition of hormonal stimulation. Activities with the analogue exhibit higher pH optima than with ATP. The possibility that these differences in activity are due to a different exit rate of inorganic imidodiphosphate as compared to PPi or to the different divalent cation binding properties of AMP-PNP and ATP, or both, is discussed. The extreme sensitivity of hormonal stimulation to variations of nucleotide concentration, be it ATP or GTP, coupled to the relatively high yield of activity from beef renal medulla, make this preparation useful for the study of modes of regulation of hormonal stimulation of adenylyl cyclase systems. In addition, several minor modifications of the procedure of Krishna et al. (Krishna, G., Weiss, B., and Brodie, B. B. (1968) J. Exp. Ther. Pharmacol. 163, 379–385) for isolation and determination of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP) formed during incubations for adenylyl cyclase are described. They result in higher yields of cAMP (60 to 65%) and in lower reaction blanks (0.0005 to 0.0010% of initially added ATP).
Inductive eddy current sensing as a displacement sensing mechanism for large piston/rotation micromirrors

This paper serves to demonstrate inductive eddy current based sensing as a promising piston position and tilt angle sensing mechanism for large vertical displacement micromirrors that exhibit piston scan ranges above 100 µm. The sensor consists of two microfabricated coils packaged under the mirror plate, and supports both amplitude and frequency detection modes. Amplitude detection is achieved by sensing the coupling change between the coils when the mirror plate moves, and a piston sensing range of 1 mm with 306 nm resolution (or 130 µm with 20 nm resolution) could be obtained. Frequency detection is achieved by sensing the inductance change of both coils, and can simultaneously monitor piston position and tilt angle over a 500 µm range.
Making long-range planning work: the case of the US Army's 30-year strategic modernization plan

The extensive timespan of evolving assumptions about future adversaries, US military engagements, and technology inherent in the US Army's 30-year modernization strategy can overwhelm the management capacity of planners, and misdirect acquisition investments. Some military scholars have argued that long-range planning is futile due to the complexities of the global security environment. So how can the US Army manage the evolving assumptions inherent in its 30-year modernization strategy to ensure it remains a superior global force? This study will answer the above question by arguing that the US Army's 30-year modernization strategy, while emulative of a similar modernization approach in the threat-based planning environment of the Cold War, is viable if supported by a method and a tool that manage investments and planning assumptions.
Federalism and Capitol Punishment: New England Stories

Application of the federal death penalty to crimes committed in states that have abolished capital punishment is a tiny problem with a disproportionately powerful scholarly impact. Federal death sentences represent only 0.53% of death sentences imposed in the United States. Even more striking, only six individuals, out of 3,242 on death row nationwide, currently await execution on federal capital charges for crimes committed in states that have abolished capital punishment. Yet, in an era of alarmism over the federal government’s role in enforcing criminal laws, an increasing body of scholarly literature has focused on the federalism concerns posed by this rare capital punishment practice. Overwhelmingly, scholars have argued that federal death sentences should be constitutionally impermissible for crimes committed within the borders of abolitionist states strictly on federalism grounds. This Article examines the prevailing scholarly view that federalism concerns trump Supremacy Clause arguments and render the federal death penalty unconstitutional when applied within the boundaries of abolitionist states and offers a different view. It argues that, contrary to prevailing scholarly wisdom, courts have correctly permitted the federal government to dictate its own sentencing practices given prevailing Supremacy Clause precedent; and moreover that there are two major policy advantages in having federal authorities bring capital charges when particularly egregious cases arise in abolitionist states. First, federal capital prosecution can serve as a “safety valve,” insulating local communities from political pressures that might otherwise lead to more widespread application of capital punishment or derail state abolitionist movements. And second, federal capital charges provide opportunities for uniformity of application that may address longstanding concerns regarding racial inequities in the imposition of death sentences.
Effects of growth and insulin treatment on the levels of insulin receptors and their mRNA in Hep G2 cells

Abstract We have studied the variations in the number of insulin receptor and insulin receptor mRNA levels in (Hep G2) cells in response to growth and insulin treatment. The levels of insulin receptors are relatively low in growing cells. After approximately 5 days in culture, if cells are not refed they cease to divide and the number of receptors/cell increases, reaching 4 times the initial values by the 9th day. Refeeding the cells completely prevented both growth arrest and the increase in insulin receptor number. Insulin added daily to cells at 0.33 microM caused receptor down-regulation but did not prevent a 3-fold increase in binding with growth arrest. Pulse-chase studies of metabolically labeled ([35S]methionine) cells showed that the receptor degradation rate (apparent t 1/2, 18-20 h) was comparable in rapidly growing versus growth-arrested cells. The increased receptor level in non-refed cells is not due to generation of a soluble factor by confluent cells, nor is it caused by depletion of insulin, glucose, or insulin-like growth factor I from the culture medium. The levels of insulin receptor mRNA measured on Northern blots increased in growth-arrested cells in parallel to the increase in receptor number. The mRNA value begins to increase from the 3rd day in culture and by the 9th day reaches a level 6.0 times that on the 3rd day. Chronic insulin-induced receptor down-regulation did not alter insulin receptor mRNA levels at any time point studied. These data demonstrate that the increase in insulin receptor number/cell in growth-arrested cells is paralleled by an increase in insulin receptor mRNA content with no change in the receptor degradation rates. This suggests that the increase in the number of insulin receptors is due to enhanced receptor synthesis due to increased receptor mRNA content. Conversely, down-regulation of the insulin receptor does not affect the level of insulin receptor mRNA and thus must be due to increased receptor degradation.
INFLUENCE OF SUBSTRATE-COFACTOR RATIOS ON PARTIALLY PURIFIED INORGANIC PYROPHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES

Mathemeier, Paul F. (Oregon State University, Corvallis), and Richard Y. Morita. Influence of substrate-cofactor ratios on partially purified inorganic pyrophosphatase activity at elevated temperatures. J. Bacteriol. 88:1661-1666. 1964.-Inorganic pyrophosphatase of Bacillus stearothermophilus was studied for optimal substrate-cofactor ratios at 60 to 100 C. Mg(++) was the primary cofactor, and Co(++) resulted in 50% enzyme activity at 60 C. The pH optima differed for the Mg(++) activated and Co(++) activated pyrophosphatase. At 80 C and above, Co(++) replaced Mg(++) as the optimal cofactor in the enzyme reaction. The optimal ratio of pyrophosphate to Mg(++) varied from 2 to 0.25, dependent on enzyme concentration. The optimal pyrophosphate-cobalt ratio was constant at 1.0. The enzyme catalyzed appreciable pyrophosphate hydrolysis at 95 C.
Lhermitte-Duclos disease and Cowden's syndrome in an adolescent patient: Case report

Recent reports of seven cases of Lhermitte-Duclos disease occurring in adult patients with Cowden's syndrome (multiple hamartoma syndrome) strongly suggest that Lhermitte-Duclos disease is one of the types of neoplasia that characterize this syndrome. A case of Lhermitte-Duclos disease is reported in a 16-year-old girl with craniomegaly, choroidal hamartoma, and conjunctival papilloma of the right eye, and a history of bilateral multinodular adenomatous goiter and cystic hygroma. These findings strongly suggest a diagnosis of Cowden's syndrome. Although the syndrome traditionally has been defined by mucocutaneous criteria, it typically also involves hamartomas and neoplasia of internal organs, most commonly in the thyroid, breast, and female genitourinary tract. Because the mucocutaneous features may develop several decades after birth, the present case both supports the previously reported association between Lhermitte-Duclos disease and Cowden's syndrome and highlights the need for long-term follow-up monitoring of a pediatric patient with Lhermitte-Duclos disease because of the risk of malignancies associated with Cowden's syndrome.
Parents' Talk About Letters With Their Young Children.

A literacy-related activity that occurs in children’s homes—talk about letters in everyday conversations—was examined using data from 50 children who were visited every 4 months between 14 and 50 months. Parents talked about some letters, including those that are common in English words and the first letter of their children’s names, especially often. Parents’ focus on the child’s initial was especially strong in families of higher socioeconomic status, and the extent to which parents talked about the child’s initial during the later sessions of the study was related to the children’s kindergarten reading skill. Conversations that included the child’s initial were longer than those that did not, and parents presented a variety of information about this letter. Learning to read is crucial for success in school and life. Consequently, researchers, educators, and policy makers are interested in finding out why some children learn to read more easily than others. Part of the answer may lie in the literacy-related activities that children participate in at home, before formal reading instruction begins. These activities may include being read to by their parents, learning to spell their names, and playing with magnets in the shapes of letters. Children who are reported by their parents to engage in such activities infrequently are on average less successful in learning to read than children who are reported to engage in them often (e.g., Burgess, Hecht, & Lonigan, 2002; Christian, Morrison, & Bryant, 1998). Shared book reading is the most studied aspect of the home literacy environment, but researchers have suggested that the construct of home literacy be expanded to include other activities (e.g., Phillips & Lonigan, 2009). Here, we focus on one potentially important but understudied activity—parents’ talk about letters of the alphabet with their young children—and how this varies across families and relates to children’s later reading performance.
THE CHEMISTRY OF IRREGULAR GALAXIES

I review the current data on abundances in irregular galaxies, with special emphasis on recent results on C/O and Si/O from observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. The abundance data for He, C, N, and O in irregular galaxies is discussed in the context of models for the evolution of dwarf galaxies.
The cytoskeleton: from regulation to function

The European Cytoskeleton Forum (formerly the European Cytoskeleton Club) was established 20 years ago by G. Gabbiani (chair), W.W. Franke, B. Geiger, B.M. Jockush, U. Lindberg, M. Osborn, F. Ramaekers, J.V. Small, J. Vandekerckhove and K. Weber. The Forum now has an annual meeting in an attractive European location to highlight the latest progress in cytoskeleton research. The 15th Meeting of the European Cytoskeleton Forum, held in Blankenberge on the Belgian coast at the end of August, was attended by about 160 participants from Europe, with a sprinkling of speakers form the USA and Japan. The outstanding program was superbly organized by joel Vandekerckhove, Christophe Ampe and Jan Gettemans (Ghent, Belgium). The meeting was sponsored by Euroconference grant No. ERBFMMACT980455, and by grant WO.028.00N from the Fund for Scientific Research‐Flanders (Belgium). ![][1] How the field has changed! In the early days of cytoskeletal research, intense interest was generated by the identification and cataloging of new cytoskeletal proteins, and their grouping into functional classes, which now number >60. While this important first step continues, and will surely be expanded as mammalian genomes are completed, the field has also advanced to other levels. This has resulted in the emergence of an integrated view of how signal transduction pathways regulate cytoskeletal elements that participate in cell structure, motility and membrane traffic. Since no meeting can cover such a large area in great depth, it is necessary for the organizers to select an area for emphasis, preferably spiced with major advances in related topics. The 15th Meeting of the Cytoskeletal Forum did this admirably, with an emphasis on microfilament regulation and function. Here I attempt to provide an overview of the central focus of the meeting, rather than provide a comprehensive account, so many interesting contributions are not mentioned. ### Regulation by Rho GTPases The central theme of the meeting … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
When infrastructures attack: The workings of disrepair in China

Residents fighting eviction in China often come into intimate knowledge of the insidious workings of infrastructure. This is especially true as redevelopment disputes are increasingly mediated through Chinese reforms emphasizing “rule by law.” Such reforms have worked to attune citizens, as well as city developers, to more distributed forms of agency in what could be termed the “infrastructuralization” of state power. I suggest that it is through the ambiguous signs of infrastructural disrepair that disputes over redevelopment increasingly play themselves out in contemporary China. By tracking the mundane and material effects of disrepair in citizen-state struggles, I ultimately show how infrastructures operate not only in support of state projects of legibility but also to condition some surprising political sensibilities. [infrastructure, urban development, China, law, sensibility, materiality, state violence]
Integrated Theory for Predicting the Hygrothermomechanical Response of Advanced Composite Structural Components

A theory is developed for predicting the hydrothermomechanical response of advanced composite structural components. The combined hydrothermal effects on the mechanical properties of unidirectional composites loaded along the material axis and off-axis, and of angleplied laminates are also evaluated. The materials investigated consist of neat PR-288 epoxy matrix resin and an AS-type graphite fiber/PR-288 resin unidirectional composite.
Contrasting response to salt stress of two salinity tolerant creeping bentgrass clones

Abstract Two creeping bentgrass clones having contrasting salinity tolerance collected from a salinity tolerant population were examined for growth responses and ion uptake under NaCl stressed conditions. The two clones showed differences in dry weight partitioning and morphological changes under salt stress. The clone with greater salt tolerance has greater ion partitioning differences in Na, Na/K and Cl levels between organ tissues.
The Political Fight Over Comparative Effectiveness Research

The creation of a public-private institute to direct new comparative effectiveness research represents a challenging new chapter in America’s on-again, off-again support for determining what works ...
A novel calcium binding site in the galactose-binding protein of bacterial transport and chemotaxis

The refined 1.9-A resolution structure of the periplasmic D-galac-tose-binding protein (GBP) reveals a calcium ion surrounded by seven ligands, all protein oxygen atoms. A nine-residue loop (amino-acid positions 134–142), which is preceded by a /β-turn and followed by a β-strand, provides five ligands from every second residue. The last two ligands are supplied by the carboxylate group of Glu 205. The entire GBP Ca2+-binding site adopts a conformation very similar to the site in the 'helix-loop-helix' or 'EF-hand' unit commonly found in intracellular calcium-binding proteins1, but without the two helices. Structural analyses have also uncovered the sugar-binding site some 30 A from the calcium and a site for interacting with the membrane-bound trg chemotactic signal transducer ∼45 A from the calcium. Our results show that a common tight calcium binding site of ancient origin can be tethered to different secondary structures. They also provide the first demonstration of a metal-binding site in a protein which is involved in bacterial active transport and chemotaxis.
Calcium Regulation of Exocytosis in PC12 Cells

The calcium (Ca(2+)) regulation of neurotransmitter release is poorly understood. Here we investigated several aspects of this process in PC12 cells. We first showed that osmotic shock by 1 m sucrose stimulated rapid release of neurotransmitters from intact PC12 cells, indicating that most of the vesicles were docked at the plasma membrane. Second, we further investigated the mechanism of rescue of botulinum neurotoxin E inhibition of release by recombinant SNAP-25 COOH-terminal coil, which is known to be required in the triggering stage. We confirmed here that Ca(2+) was required simultaneously with the SNAP-25 peptide, with no significant increase in release if either the peptide or Ca(2+) was present during the priming stage as well as the triggering, suggesting that SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor) complex assembly was involved in the final Ca(2+)-triggered event. Using this rescue system, we also identified a series of acidic surface SNAP-25 residues that rescued better than wild-type when mutated, due to broadened Ca(2+) sensitivity, suggesting that this charged patch may interact electrostatically with a negative regulator of membrane fusion. Finally, we showed that the previously demonstrated stimulation of exocytosis in this system by calmodulin required calcium binding, since calmodulin mutants defective in Ca(2+)-binding were not able to enhance release.
The Discontinuous Nature of Kriging Interpolation for Digital Terrain Modeling

Kriging is a widely employed method for interpolating and estimating elevations from digital elevation data. Its place of prominence is due to its elegant theoretical foundation and its convenient practical implementation. From an interpolation point of view, kriging is equivalent to a thin-plate spline and is one species among the many in the genus of weighted inverse distance methods, albeit with attractive properties. However, from a statistical point of view, kriging is a best linear unbiased estimator and, consequently, has a place of distinction among all spatial estimators because any other linear estimator that performs as well as kriging (in the least squares sense) must be equivalent to kriging, assuming that the parameters of the semivariogram are known. Therefore, kriging is often held to be the gold standard of digital terrain model elevation estimation. However, I prove that, when used with local support, kriging creates discontinuous digital terrain models, which is to say, surfaces with "r...
Determination of silage face surface area on commercial California dairy farms

Analysis of exposed silage face surface area was conducted to better understand and provide feed management recommendations as well as evaluate potential compliance needs related to volatile organic compound emissions. Policy was developed by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (District) to restrict exposed surface area of silage piles to 199·7 m2 per farm if only one pile was exposed or 399·5 m2 per farm if more than one pile was exposed. Exposed surface area on piles of silages at 20 dairies was quantified to determine impacts of these surface area restrictions. Herd size ranged from 490 to 7,200 milking cows, and the number of exposed piles ranged from one to four per farm as maize and/or wheat silage. Surface area of piles was quantified based on pile measurements and geometric shapes. The measured value was compared to the estimated value using the District ‘online calculator’. The District calculator used inputs for base length and height with assumed constant relationships between base and top lengths. Five of 43 piles had >199·7 m2 of exposed surface area. Sixteen of 20 dairies with more than one exposed surface complied with the exposed surface area restriction. On average, the District calculator overestimated surface areas by 11·6% ± 14·8 (range −57·7 to 38·4%). Pile measurements and use of geometric shapes provide a more precise method to quantify exposed surface area. This will be of particular use for those operators who utilize the District calculator and find their exposed areas out of compliance.
Matching patterns in networks with multi-dimensional attributes: a machine learning approach

Assortative matching is a network phenomenon that arises when nodes exhibit a bias towards connections to others of similar characteristics. While mixing patterns in networks have been studied in the literature, and there are well-defined metrics that capture the degree of assortativity (e.g., assortativity coefficient), the latter deal only with single-dimensional enumerative or scalar features. Nevertheless, various complex behaviors of network entities—e.g., human behaviors in social networks—are captured through vector attributes. To date, no formal metric able to cope with similar situations has been defined. In this paper, we propose a novel, two-step process that extends the applicability of the assortativity coefficient to multi-dimensional attributes. In brief, we first apply clustering of the vertices on their vector characteristic. After clustering is completed, each network node is assigned a cluster label, which is an enumerative characteristic and we can compute the assortativity coefficient on the cluster labels. We further compare this method with an alternative baseline, which is an immediate extension of the assortativity coefficient, namely, the assortativity vector. The latter treats each element of the node’s attribute vector separately and then combines the independent results in a single value. Finally, we apply our method and the baseline on two different social network datasets. We also use synthetic network data to delve into the details of each metric/method. Our findings indicate that while the baseline of assortativity vector performs satisfactory when the variance of the elements of the vector attribute across the network population is kept low, it provides biased results as this variance increases. On the contrary, our approach appears to be robust in such scenarios.
Vocal Fold Epithelial Response to Luminal Osmotic Perturbation

Purpose Dry-air challenges increase the osmolarity of fluid lining the luminal surface of the proximal airway. The homeostasis of surface fluid is thought to be essential for voice production and l...
Regulation of dihydrofolate reductase synthesis in Escherichia coli.

Two clones from the Clarke-Carbon Escherichia coli colony bank were resistant to inhibition by trimethoprim, a potent inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase. Both clones had elevated levels of dihydrofolate reductase. Furthermore, trimethoprim resistance and elevated enzyme levels were associated with ColE1 plasmids that carried DNA from the trkC ksgA pdxA region of the E. coli chromosome. Plasmid pLC1437a was shown by two criteria to carry the structural gene for dihydrofolate reductase: 1) A partial diploid containing plasmid pLC1437a produced a kinetically-recognizable dihydrofolate reductase that was not present in the parent haploid strain. 2) Plasmid pLC1437a coded for dihydrofolate reductase in vitro. A 1,000 base pair fragment of plasmid pLC1437a containing fol was used as a probe to measure fol mRNA in a mutant strain isolated by Sheldon and Brenner (Molec. gen. Genet. 147, 91–97, 1976). The mutation in this strain, which results in constitutively-high levels of dihydrofolate reductase and in the inability of the strain to grow at 42° C, is cis dominant (Sheldon and Brenner, 1976). The results of kinetic hybridization and pulse-labeling experiments indicated that the regulatory mutant produced elevated levels of dihydrofolate reductase in response to an increased rate of synthesis of fol mRNA.
A simplified guide to capital investment risk analysis

What's the best way to evaluate and select projects with uncertain returns? Do you simply rely on the best estimate of profits or expected values to guide you to the projects with the highest returns? If so, what do you do when you're faced with a choice between project A, which has an expected value of $100,000 but which also has a 25 percent risk of bankrupting the firm, and project B, which has a negligible .003 percent risk but only offers a return of $50,000?
Respirator cartridge efficiency studies: VIII. summary and conclusions

The theory of solvent vapor adsorption on activated carbon is reviewed. Calculated and experimental cartridge service life values are compared using various breathing rates, relative humidities, concentrations and solvent vapors. Cartridge service life (the 10% breakthrough time) can be estimated from the emperical expression: t10% = 2.4 × 106Wc(a + bt)/C2/3MQ Carbon weight (wc), relative solvent volatility (a, b and t) concentration (C), molecular weight (M) and breathing rate (Q) all play a vital role in cartridge performance predictions.
The effects of varying dissolved oxygen concentrations on the hemoglobin levels of the polychaetous annelid Neanthes arenaceodentata

Hemoglobin compensation in the polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata was induced experimentally by lowered dissolved oxygen concentrations under laboratory and field conditions. Hemoglobin concentrations were measured colorimetrically and compared to the C57BL/6 strain of the house mouse. Compensation was initiated at about 4.2 mg/l dissolved oxygen, significantly increased at 3.0 mg/l, and continued to increase down to lethal levels.
Exploiting Lexical Regularities in Designing Natural Language Systems

This paper presents the lexical component of the START Question Answering system developed at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. START is able to interpret correctly a wide range of semantic relationships associated with a alternate expressions of the arguments of verbs. The design of the system takes advantage of the results of recent linguistic research into the structure of the lexicon, allowing START to attain a broader range of coverage than many existing systems while maintaining modular organization.
Serotonin S2and thromboxane A2-prostaglandin H2receptor blockade provide protection against epinephrine-induced cyclic flow variations in severely narrowed canine coronary arteries

The object of this study was to test the hypothesis that administration of both serotonin S2 and thromboxane A2-prostaglandin H2 (PGH2) receptor antagonists provides significant protection against epinephrine-induced cyclic coronary artery flow variations in open chest, anesthetized dogs with severe proximal coronary artery stenosis and endothelial injury. Three groups of dogs were studied. In Group 1 (n = 7) and Group 2 (n = 6), cyclic coronary flow variations were initiated after placement of a concentric constrictor around the left anterior descending coronary artery and were abolished by administration of either a thromboxane A2-prostaglandin H2 receptor antagonist, SQ29,548 (SQ) (Group 1), or a serotonin S2 receptor antagonist, LY53,857 (LY) (Group 2). Cyclic flow variations were restored with an epinephrine infusion and the second antagonist (LY for Group 1; SQ for Group 2) was administered to abolish epinephrine-induced cyclic flow variations. The rate of epinephrine infusion was increased until cyclic coronary flow variations returned (n = 8) or significant hemodynamic changes occurred. Plasma epinephrine concentrations were determined during a control period of cyclic coronary flow variations, after epinephrine restored cyclic flow variations in the presence of either SQ or LY, and again after epinephrine restored cyclic flow variations in the presence of both SQ and LY. A third group of dogs (Group 3, n = 9) required both SQ and LY to eliminate the initial cyclic coronary flow variations and infused epinephrine restored cyclic flow variations (n = 8). Plasma epinephrine concentrations were determined during a control period and after cyclic coronary flow variation restoration with epinephrine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Strain‐coupling effects in steady flows

Predictions are carried out using strain-coupling theory for four steady flows: steady shear, steady planar extension, steady uniaxial extension, and steady equibiaxial extension. The general features of the steady flow predictions are compared with the general characteristics of experimental steady flow data.
Surgical removal of an intrauterine device perforating the sigmoid colon: a case report.

Abstract Background Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are among the most common contraceptive methods in the world, but have been associated with extrauterine dislocation and bowel perforation. We report a case of an IUD perforation of the sigmoid colon. Case report A 35-year-old woman with complaints of abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea underwent exploratory laparotomy. During the procedure, a left tubo-ovarian abscess was found as well as an IUD extruding through the uterine cavity with the two wings of the device entirely in the lumen of the sigmoid colon. The patient had total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with resection of the sigmoid colon. Conclusion This is a report of a symptomatic perforation by an IUD into the sigmoid colon after a period of 10years in situ.
Geomagnetic Polarity Epochs: Pribilof Islands, Alaska

A comparison was made between geologic, radiometric, and paleomagnetic methods of dating and stratigraphic correlation on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. Age relationships based on geomorphology and paleontology agree with those determined using potassium-argon dating and paleomagnetic reversals, permitting the following synthesis of the geologic and geomagnetic history of the Pribilofs: The two islands formed during two pulses of volcanism separated by about 1 m.y. St. George Island was formed during the earlier pulse, which lasted from 2.2 to at least 1.6 m.y. ago. During this short interval of 0.6 m.y. the geomagnetic field changed polarity from an initial reversed direction to a normal direction and then back again to a reversed direction. The normal flows, which are both underlain and overlain by reversed flows, have ages between 2.0 and 1.8 m.y. They were extruded during the Olduvai normal event, a relatively brief interval of worldwide normal geomagnetic polarity within the otherwise reversed Matuyama polarity epoch, which lasted from 2.5 to 0.7 m.y. ago. A second pulse of volcanism, which began about 1 m.y. after the first, produced St. Paul Island. This pulse has continued for the past one third m.y., an interval of normal polarity. Fossiliferous marine sedimentary rocks deposited during the Beringian marine transgression are covered on St. George Island by a reversely magnetized pillow lava 2.14 ± 0.08 m.y. old. Fossiliferous marine sedimentary rocks deposited during a transgression younger than the Anvilian and older than the Kotzebuan transgressions are bracketed at the Einahnuhto Bluffs, St. Paul, between normally magnetized lava flows and are less than 0.4 and more than 0.1 m.y. old.
Mapping urban land uses in the United States by census zone using nationally available data

Accurate identification of urban land use is essential for many applications. However, as physical surfaces of land-cover types are not necessarily related to their use and economic function, differentiating among thematically detailed urban land uses (single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) using remotely sensed imagery is a challenging task, particularly over large areas. Few thematically detailed urban land-use mapping products have successfully been created via automated means at regional scales, and no such product currently exists for the entire United States. This study demonstrates an approach that uses US census block groups (BGs) as the basic unit of geography and predicts the percentages of 10 urban land uses for each BG. Predictors are based on a number of national-scale and publicly available data sources, including census data, point locations of land-use features, and historical land cover. Results indicate the importance of accounting for contextu...
Optimal borrowing constraints and growth in a small open economy

Abstract Chinese high growth has been accompanied by government restrictions on international borrowing (capital controls). In this paper, we ask: are such restrictions a useful policy tool to facilitate growth? We provide a theory of borrowing constraints on households as a tool to correct a learning-by-doing externality. Borrowing constraints operate as a policy tool through two channels: (i) increasing labor supply and (ii) reallocating labor towards traded goods. We find that welfare gains are closest to that of the First-Best Planner allocation when the externality is not too large. We compute the sequence of optimal constraints along the growth path and show how the use of this policy tool contributes to repressed wages, current account balance, and slow real exchange rate appreciation.
assignFAST: An Autosuggest based tool for FAST Subject Assignment

Subject assignment is really a three-phase task. The first phase is intellectual—reviewing the material and determining its topic. The second phase is more mechanical, identifying the correct subject heading(s). The final phase is retyping or cutting and pasting the heading(s) into the cataloging interface along with any diacritics, and potentially correcting formatting and subfield coding. If authority control is available in the interface, some of these tasks may be automated or partially automated. A cataloger with a reasonable knowledge of FAST [i] , [ii] or even LCSH [iii] can quickly get to the proper heading, but usually needs to confirm the final details—was it plural? Am I thinking of an alternate form? Is it inverted? Etc. This often requires consulting the full authority file interface. assignFAST is a Web service that consolidates the entire second phase of the manual process of subject assignment for FAST subjects into a single step based on autosuggest technology. [i] Chan, Lois Mai and Edward T. O'Neill. FAST: Faceted Application of Subject Terminology, Prnciples and Applications Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, 2010. http://lu.com/showbook.cfm?isbn=9781591587224 . [ii] OCLC Research Activities associated with FAST are summarized at http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/fast/ [iii] Chan, Lois M. Library of Congress Subject Headings : Principles and Application: Principles and Application . Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, 2005.
SUCCESSFUL STEPFAMILY THERAPY: CLIENTS' PERSPECTIVES

This study examined responses from 267 adults who sought therapy because of stepfamily issues. Concerns identified at the initiation of therapy and those aspects of therapy found to be helpful or unhelpful to stepfamily adjustment were investigated. Results indicated that issues around parenting/stepparenting and stepfamily functioning were of greatest concern at the initiation of therapy. Affective support, clarification of issues, and the process and structure of therapy were most frequently reported as helpful. The therapist's perceived lack of training and skill in treating stepfamily issues was reported most frequently as unhelpful in therapy.
The Effects of Enhanced Milieu Teaching and a Voice Output Communication Aid on the Requesting of Three Children with Autism

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of enhanced milieu teaching when combined with a voice output communication aid on the requesting skills of three children with autism. The research design was a multiple probe across participants. All sessions were conducted during 5-min play sessions in the child’s classroom. All three children learned to use the voice output communication aid to request items during play. Additionally, all three children increased their total requesting during play.
On the estimation of parameters for linear stochastic differential equations

The estimation of arbitrary number of parameters in linear stochastic differential equation (SDE) is investigated. The local asymptotic normality (LAN) of families of distributions corresponding to this SDE is established and the asymptotic efficiency of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is obtained for the wide class of loss functions with polynomial majorants. As an example a single-degree of freedom mechanical system is considered. The results generalize [8], where all elements of the drift matrix are estimated and the asymptotic efficiency is proved only for the bounded loss functions.
Estimation-theoretic performance bounds for certain integrated imaging systems

Integrated imaging systems are designed to maximally exploit system trade-offs for enhanced image quality. Application of Fisher information to characterize the performance upper bounds of three specific integrated imaging systems will be presented.