cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Women who experience detrusor overactive at lower bladder volumes report greater bother.

Aims To explore the relationship of cystometric volume at the time of first detection of detrusor overactive incontinence (DOI) to condition-specific quality of life (QOL). Methods We reviewed consecutive charts of women diagnosed with pure DOI during urodynamic testing. DOI volume was defined as the cystometric volume at the first detection of DOI. Responses to the Urine Distress Inventory (UDI6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ7) were recorded. Spearman correlations were used to compare independent groups with respect to continuous variables. Results Eighty-nine women were included in this analysis. DOI volume was inversely correlated with UDI6 and IIQ7 scores (Spearman's ρ = −0.514, P < 0.001 and Spearman's ρ = −0.611, P < 0.001). Maximal cystometric capacity was also inversely correlated with UDI6 and IIQ7 scores (ρ = −0.458, P < 0.0001 and Spearman's ρ = −0.43, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Women who experience DOI at lower volumes during urodynamics report greater bother and QOL impact from incontinence than women who leak at higher volumes. Neurourol. Urodynam. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Black Lesion on the Tongue

A term female newborn presents with a solitary, well-circumscribed black lesion on the dorsum of the tongue that measures 0.5 × 0.5 cm (Figure 1). Figure 1. ### Prenatal history: ### Birth History: ### Vital Signs: ### Physical Examination:
Estimated fetal weights versus birth weights: should the reference intrauterine growth curves based on birth weights be retired?

Perspective on the paper by Cooke ( see page F189 ) Presentation of intrauterine or fetal growth in the form of centile curves based on birth weight was first reported by Lubchenco and her co-workers in 1963.1 In that publication, data on the birth weights of 5635 live born Caucasian infants 24 to 42 weeks of gestation were analyzed. The data were presented in figures and tables that displayed smoothed 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles for males and females together and separately. The authors acknowledged several limitations to their analysis, including: “The sample has an undeterminable bias because premature birth itself is probably related to unphysiological states of variable duration in either mother or fetus. Since the weight of fetuses who remain in utero cannot be measured, the curves presented herein are submitted with these reservations as estimates of intrauterine growth.” Nonetheless, the authors felt that the curves would be useful at birth, providing information about the infant’s intrauterine environment and revealing whether he was large or small for his gestational age, and useful after birth to monitor and compare postnatal growth to intrauterine growth. A subsequent paper2 introduced the terms small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and large for gestational age (LGA) into our lexicon. Publication of the Lubchenco curves1,3 was followed by the publication of a number of body weight by gestational age curves that described fetal growth for various populations, ethnic groups, and geographic locations, including North America, Europe, and Australia.4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 In addition to the concerns noted above, the influence of two other limitations on body weight means, standard deviations, and percentile values has been acknowledged: (a) inaccurately determined …
Gas targets for the production of 15O, 11C and 18F for pet studies

Production of 15 O, 11 C and 18 F is achieved with particle irradiation of gaseous targets. Design features for generalized targets include characterization of window materials and cooling, target size and shape, beam size and profile, and chamber cooling and operating pressure. A cylindrical design is employed that utilizes a C-ring for sealing the target window to the target body. Ultrapure materials are required for fabrication of 11 C and 18 F targets. Use of welded joints are to be limited on all targets and climinated on 18 F systems. Tomographic techniques will be used to determine the cross-sectional temperature profile of target gases during bombardment. Mass species are measured with a sector focused mass spectrometer while the target undergoes particle irradiation for production of clinical agents. This diagnostic information is useful for tailoring the bomardment conditions to achieve optimal precursor production and the highest specific activity that may be obtained from the target.
Ocular and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in an African American man with epidermodysplasia verruciformis resulting in blindness and death

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a hereditary disease that has served as a model for viral-induced carcinogenesis. Patients with EV have an increased susceptibility to infection with human papillomavirus, which results in the development of benign lesions in childhood. The lesions may resemble tinea versicolor in appearance and distribution, and usually remain benign. However, later in life cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma may develop on sun-exposed areas, such as the forehead. Radiation therapy may not only result in the malignant conversion of EV lesions, but may also increase the risk of metastases. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with EV in whom squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva developed. His clinical course was complicated by ocular invasion causing blindness, metastasis, and eventually death.
Recruiting college students for the salesforce

Abstract Recruiting college students is a problem because of their negativism towards selling. To overcome student negativism towards selling as a career, recruiters—in their recruitment messages—could present selling in a favorable light by indicating to students that a sales job can satisfy their vocational needs. The article provides several suggestions for improving sales recruitment programs directed at male and female college students.
Decentralization and alienation

Researchers and policymakers alike have made the reduction of citizen alienation one of the important goals for decentralizing public services. Decentralization is thought to bring government closer to the public being served, and therefore to improve public attitudes toward government. No existing research fully tests this hypothesis. However, several national surveys provide sufficient data to examine the relationships between various types of citizen activity linked with decentralization and the two dimensions of political alienation, powerlessness/efficacy and distrust/trust. A review of these surveys reveals that decentralized activity, whether taking the form of citizen participation, citizen awareness of decentralized facilities, or service improvements, is consistently associated with people's sense of efficacy, but not to their sense of trust. The results thus suggest that decentralization may affect alienation in terms of reducing sense of powerlessness, but that it has no impact on people's trust in government. Decentralization of public services may therefore be one of many steps taken to reduce citizen alienation toward government, but it will not, contrary to expectations, significantly impact on alienation by itself.
Thermomechanical stress fields in high-temperature fibrous composites. II: Laminated plates

Abstract The results of Part I of this work are extended to laminated plates. It is assumed that the plates are, at most, macroscopically orthotropic, and that they are subjected to a uniform change in temperature and to in-plane mechanical loads. Average stresses and microstress fields are evaluated in each layer of the plate. Failure envelopes based on critical magnitudes of interface and axial matrix stresses are constructed for one of the SiC/TiAlNb systems of Part I.
PMA Inhibits the Growth of Human Fibroblasts after the Induction of Immediate-Early Genes

WS-1 cells, human fibroblasts derived from embryonic skin, become quiescent in serum-free medium. Addition of serum or thrombin stimulates incorporation of 3H-labeled thymidine 16-40 h later. The tumor promoter phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) inhibited this response in quiescent cells stimulated with serum or thrombin. PMA also inhibited thymidine incorporation in rapidly growing WS-1 cells. Since the inhibition caused by PMA could result from activation of protein kinase C (PKC) or the down-regulation of PKC, the effect of the PKC inhibitor, GF 109203X, was tested. GF 109203X did not affect thymidine incorporation induced by serum. GF 109203X prevented the inhibition caused by PMA, suggesting that the activation of PKC is required for the inhibition of DNA synthesis. A prolonged activation of PKC is probably required, since a single treatment of a synthetic diacylglycerol does not inhibit and addition of GF 109203X 2 to 8 h after PMA reverses the inhibition. One possible target for PMA activity is the induction of immediate-early response genes. Thrombin or serum treatment of quiescent WS-1 cells induced protooncogenes c-fos and c-jun. PMA also induced c-fos and c-jun with a time course similar to that of serum or thrombin. The induction of c-fos by PMA was sensitive to staurosporine or GF 109203X. A time course of PMA addition indicated that maximal inhibition of DNA synthesis occurred when PMA was added 4 h after stimulation with serum. These results suggest that the PMA-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis occurs through an activation of PKC that inhibits DNA synthesis at a point after the induction of c-fos and c-jun.
Thalidomide for rheumatic disease: the best of both worlds?

Thalidomide was widely disparaged following recognition of its teratogenicity; however, its immunomodulatory activities have become increasingly apparent. At present, thalidomide is approved by the FDA only for use in the treatment of multiple myeloma and erythema nodosum leprosum. In this Viewpoint, Dr Lehman discusses reports in the literature which indicate that thalidomide is effective for a wide variety of immune-mediated conditions.
Heat Transfer in Rotating Rectangular Channels (AR = 4:1) With V-Shaped and Angled Rib Turbulators With and Without Gaps

An experimental study was performed to measure the regionally averaged heat transfer distributions in a rotating ribbed channel with an aspect ratio of 4:1. The Reynolds number, based on a hydraulic diameter, varies from 5,000 to 40,000. The rotation number ranges from 0 to 0.3, and the inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ) is maintained around 0.122. Six different configurations of ribs, oriented at an angle of 45° to the direction of flow, are placed on both the leading and trailing surfaces: parallel and staggered V-shaped ribs without gaps, parallel and staggered angled ribs without gaps, parallel V-shaped ribs with gaps, and parallel angled ribs with gaps are considered. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio (e/Dh ) is 0.078, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) is 10. The channel orientation with respect to the plane of rotation is 135°. The results show that V-shaped rib configuration produces more heat transfer enhancement than the angled rib configurations. It is also shown that there is only negligible difference between the heat transfer enhancement due to the staggered V-shaped ribs without gaps and the enhancement due to the parallel V-shaped ribs without gaps. The same is true for the staggered and parallel angled ribs without gaps. Also, the parallel V-shaped ribs without gaps produce more heat transfer enhancement than the V-shaped ribs with gaps, while the parallel angled ribs with gaps experience overall greater heat transfer enhancement than the angled ribs without gaps. Finally, all surfaces undergo heat transfer enhancement by rotating the channel compared to the stationary channel for all cases.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Oxidation and methylation status determine the effects of arsenic on the mitotic apparatus

We investigated the spindle inhibitory properties of six arsenicals differing in their methylation or oxidation state. Human lymphoblasts were exposed for 6 h to either sodium arsenate (NaAsV), sodium arsenite (NaAsIII), monomethylarsonic acid (MMAV), monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII), dimethylarsinic acid (DMAV), or dimethylarsinous acid (DMAIII). After exposure slides were prepared, and the mitotic indices (MI) were assessed. We also exposed tubulin directly to each arsenical and spectrophotometrically measured its effect on polymerization. NaAsV caused a small but significant increase in MI. MMAV also caused only a slight increase in MI that just reached statistical significance. In contrast, DMAV caused a significant increase in MI, producing ∼75% the MI of demecolcine and ∼4 times the MI of the control. NaAsIII had no significant effect on MI and was quite toxic. MMAIII induced more than a twofold increase in MI compared to the control, which was about 40% that caused by demecolcine. On a micromolar basis, MMAIII was the most potent of the arsenicals tested. DMAIII gave inconsistent results. None of the pentavalent arsenicals had a substantial effect (either inhibition or enhancement) on GTP-induced polymerization of tubulin. In contrast, NaAsIII inhibited polymerization at concentrations of 1 mM and above and MMAIII and DMAIII at 10 μM and above. Taken together, these results present a complex picture of how arsenicals may affect cells. These studies demonstrate that the metabolites of arsenic are active not only as chromosome breaking and DNA damaging agents but can also interfere with cell division via tubulin disruption.
Clinton advocates for Law of the Sea treaty

The Obama administration recently reiterated its call for the United States to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who expressed strong support for the Law of the Sea treaty during her Senate confirmation hearing in 2009, again called for passage of the treaty during 15 December remarks at a business roundtable in Washington, D. C., sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. “Signing on to the convention is critical to protecting American security and enhancing our economic strength,” she said, noting that the U.S. ratification of the treaty would protect American business interests by providing “legal certainty and predictability that businesses can rely on.” The treaty—which also touches on a wide range of other issues including navigation, conservation and management of resources, and scientific research—is opposed by some who are concerned about the undermining of national sovereignty.
Pneumocystis infection masquerading as diffuse alveolar damage. A potential source of diagnostic error

The nonspecific histopathologic changes of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) were the only findings in nine of 17 lung biopsy specimens containing Pneumocystis carinii infection. Because of the frequent absence of the classically described intra-alveolar frothy material, special stains for organisms should be performed on all biopsy specimens from immunocompromised patients that show DAD, and the diagnosis of Pneumocystis infection should not be discarded unless careful search for organisms using special stains is negative.
In utero sonographic diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux by percutaneous vesicoinfusion

Vesicoureteral reflux affects approximately 1% of newborns. Although most affected children show only sonographic evidence of renal pelvic dilatation, others may show overt hydronephrosis, indistinguishable from that seen in fetuses with obstructive uropathy. Hydronephrosis secondary to fetal vesicoureteral reflux cannot be differentiated on ultrasound examination from that resulting from lower obstructive uropathy with or without reflux. As renal damage from vesicoureteral reflux may occur in up to 70% of cases, early identification and possible in utero treatment of these fetuses may be warranted. We report a sonographic technique, vesicoinfusion, for diagnosis of vesicoureteric reflux in utero. The accurate identification of vesicoureteral reflux in utero may have important diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic implications. Copyright © 1995 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Bounds on decoherence and error

When a confined system interacts with its walls (treated quantum mechanically), there is an intertwining of degrees of freedom. We show that this need not lead to entanglement, hence decoherence. However, it will generally lead to error. The wave-function optimization required to avoid decoherence is also examined.
Recent Advances in Metabolic Profiling And Imaging of Prostate Cancer

Cancer is a metabolic disease. Cancer cells, being highly proliferative, show significant alterations in metabolic pathways such as glycolysis, respiration, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Metabolites like peptides, nucleotides, products of glycolysis, the TCA cycle, fatty acids, and steroids can be an important read out of disease when characterized in biological samples such as tissues and body fluids like urine, serum, etc. The cancer metabolome has been studied since the 1960s by analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Current research is focused on the identification and validation of biomarkers in the cancer metabolome that can stratify high-risk patients and distinguish between benign and advanced metastatic forms of the disease. In this review, we discuss the current state of prostate cancer metabolomics, the biomarkers that show promise in distinguishing indolent from aggressive forms of the disease, the strengths and limitations of the analytical techniques being employed, and future applications of metabolomics in diagnostic imaging and personalized medicine of prostate cancer.
Assumed Similarity of Attitudes About AIDS Among Gay and Heterosexual Physicians

Heterosexual and gay physicians indicated their own attitudes on several issues related to the AIDS epidemic and attributed a position on each issue to the target group “most people.” The heterosexual physicians' attitudes were more negative than the gay physicians' attitudes. Both groups judged that “most people” hold attitudes more negative than their own. The distance between own and attributed position as much greater for the gay individuals. This distance effect was due primarily to differences in self-ratings between the two groups. Own and attributed position correlated positively for each group of physiaans. Additionally, the tendency to assume similarity was marginally stronger for heterosexuals with high than low homophobia. Theoretical interpretation is presented.
Performance Testing of a Multimetals Continuous Emissions Monitor

ABSTRACT A prototype instrument, designed for continuous monitoring of hazardous air pollutant metal emissions in the stack gases of waste incinerators and industrial furnaces, has undergone a performance evaluation that included a relative accuracy test audit. The test results confirmed the instrument's ability to accurately measure stack gas metal concentrations and thus validate the applicability of the candidate technique for compliance assurance monitoring for the specific source involved. The analytical accuracy of this system, documented during the recent test exercise, represents a significant improvement in performance relative to that previously achieved, and can be attributed with certainty to the recent implementation of a shrouded nozzle sampling system. By reducing deposition losses of particulate matter in the extracted stack gas stream to acceptable levels, presentation of a more representative sample stream to the elemental analyzer has been accomplished. The present paper discusses the d...
Phase Equilibria Related to Supercritical-Fluid Solvent Extractions (Invited Lecture)

Process concepts for supercritical-fluid solvent extraction are discussed with emphasis on the fluid-phase equilibria for ternary and multicomponent mixtures. Experimental data for well-characterized model systems are presented to illustrate important equilibrium phase behavior. Several existing processes are described to demonstrate the utility of supercritical-fluid solvents in separation and extraction processes.
Mortality amenable to healthcare in Louisiana: results from a cross-sectional study

Evaluating disparities in healthcare outcomes is not an easy task for policy makers. This requires access to outcome indicators at the patient level. Patient level data are not easily available because of privacy considerations and costs of collection. One approach to assess health disparities is to examine variations in mortality from conditions known to be amenable to medical care. Mortality amenable to healthcare (MAHC) is defined as deaths before the age of 75 from selected causes that should not occur in the presence of timely and effective medical care (Nolte ad McKee, 2004). This study describes the differences in age-adjusted standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) from all cause MAHC and ASMRs for diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease separately, by parish, in Louisiana; and estimates the Spearman correlation between ASMR from all cause MAHC and socio-economic factors.
Pharmacological stress with adenosine for myocardial perfusion imaging

Adenosine is a ubiquitous purine base that has many physiological actions in the body, including arterial vasodilation in all vascular beds, with the exception of the kidneys. Myocardial ischemia causes an immediate breakdown of adenosine triphosphate and generates adenosine, thereby producing coronary vasodilation and restoring flow. Adenosine produces vasodilation by interacting with the adenosine receptors in the cell wall. Exogenously administered adenosine has a very short half-life ( 201 TI scintigraphy shows high sensitivity and specificity for coronary artery disease (CAD) detection, comparable with those of exercise or dipyridamole scintigraphy. Thus, adenosine-induced coronary vasodilation, in combination with 201 TI or the new technetium 99m perfusion agents, is a promising new test for assessment of patients with CAD.
Enteral stents for the management of malignant colorectal obstruction

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 3rd most common cancer in the United States with more than 10000 new cases diagnosed annually. Approximately 20% of patients with CRC will have distant metastasis at time of diagnosis, making them poor candidates for primary surgical resection. Similarly, 8%-25% of patients with CRC will present with bowel obstruction and will require palliative therapy. Emergent surgical decompression has a high mortality and morbidity, and often leads to a colostomy which impairs the patient's quality of life. In the last decade, there has been an increasing use of colonic stents for palliative therapy to relieve malignant colonic obstruction. Colonic stents have been shown to be effective and safe to treat obstruction from CRC, and are now the therapy of choice in this scenario. In the setting of an acute bowel obstruction in patients with potentially resectable colon cancer, stents may be used to delay surgery and thus allow for decompression, adequate bowel preparation, and optimization of the patient's condition for curative surgical intervention. An overall complication rate (major and minor) of up to 25% has been associated with the procedure. Long term failure of stents may result from stent migration and tumor ingrowth. In the majority of cases, repeat stenting or surgical intervention can successfully overcome these adverse effects.
Configuration of manufacturing software through capability specification and selection

Abstract In this paper a mathematical programming approach to the configuration of manufacturing planning and control software is presented. A generalized zero-one nonlinear integer programming model is developed for this purpose. The approach is illustrated for the configuration of software that would support activities at the tactical level in a manufacturing environment.
Catabolite repression of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase synthesis in E. coli K12.

Abstract The specific activity of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) in R + E. coli K 12 . strains grown on glucose was 3–5 fold lower than when grown on glycerol. This decrease was eliminated completely when the cells were grown in the presence of cyclic 3′5′ AMP but not 5′ AMP. When an adenyl cyclase-defective mutant and its parent strain, both harboring the R factor, were grown on glucose plus 5′ AMP, the level of CAT was 3–4 fold lower in the mutant than in the parent. Replacing 5′ AMP with cyclic AMP increased the CAT level 20–30 fold.
Self-healing materials: Get ready for repair-and-go.

Computer simulations have shown that hydrophobic nanoparticles encapsulated in a deformable shell can repair surfaces in a manner that is similar to the way white blood cells work in the body.
Dynamic loading during running on various surfaces

Abstract The amplitude of the shock waves propagating through the human locomotor system while running along three various surfaces were evaluated using a small accelerometer externally attached to the runners' tibial tuberosity. Nine runners participated in this study. It was found that the running generates shock waves an order of magnitude higher than that during walking. The amplitudes of the shock waves generated during running were dependent on the surface. Running on the grass surface resulted in nearly 25 percent higher shock wave amplitude when compared with asphalt, while running on the artificial track resulted in only 5 percent higher shock waves amplitude than running on the asphalt surface. The described technique for acquiring data on the heel strike generated shock waves can be useful for the evaluation and comparison of different types of running track surfaces.
Structured syntax diagrams

PASCAL syntax diagrams have been used as a convenient notation for displaying pictorially the context free grammar of a programming language, especially PASCAL. This paper defines a notation which is both more restrictive and easier to read than PASCAL Syntax Diagrams. The restrictions are analogous to the restrictions in structured programming which replace the general goto by several constructs such as the while and the if-then-else.
A model to forecast airport-level General Aviation demand

Abstract General Aviation (GA) demand forecast plays an important role in aviation management, planning and policy making. The objective of this paper is to develop an airport-level GA demand forecast model. The GA demand at an airport is modeled as a function of social-economic and demographic factors, the availability of supply factors, the competition from the commercial aviation, the number of based aircraft, and the presence of a flight school. Our models suggest that the relative fuel price – fuel price compared with personal income – is a significant determinant of airport level GA demand. The elasticity of itinerant and local GA demand with respect to the relative fuel price is −0.43 and −0.52, respectively. Our results are compared with those reported in other studies. Furthermore, we made projections of GA demand for the airports in the Terminal Area Forecast (TAF) using three fuel price scenarios from the Energy Information Administration. Our projections under the “business-as-usual” fuel price scenario are close to those in the TAF. Our models could prove useful, for example, for the Federal Aviation Administration and airport planners to prepare airport-level GA demand forecast.
Mechanism of staurosporine-induced decrease in acetylcholine receptor recovery from desensitization

1. Previously, we showed in voltage-clamped snake twitch muscle fibres that the extent of recovery of the nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor from carbachol-induced desensitization is reduced by pretreatment with the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine. The present studies were undertaken to determine the mechanism underlying the staurosporine-induced inhibition of recovery. 2. Pretreatment with 0.5 microM staurosporine significantly decreased the extent of recovery of spontaneous miniature endplate current (m.e.p.c.) amplitudes in preparations exposed to 540 microM carbachol. The decrease in recovery of m.e.p.c. amplitude by staurosporine was dependent on the duration of carbachol exposure. No significant decrease in m.e.p.c. amplitude was observed with a 1 min exposure to agonist, whereas a significant decrease in recovery was seen with agonist exposures between 5-10 min. Further, the effect of staurosporine pretreatment on ACh receptor recovery was long-lasting such that m.e.p.c. amplitude remained decreased for at least 60 min. 3. Estimation of mean channel conductance by noise analysis during local perfusion of 20 microM carbachol demonstrated a decrease in conductance from 52 pS to 23 pS in staurosporine-treated preparations following recovery from desensitization. Staurosporine treatment in the absence of desensitization did not alter the mean channel conductance. 4. A single population of ACh-activated single channel currents with a conductance of 45-49 pS was recorded in cell-attached patches from enzymatically cleaned endplates in control and staurosporine-treated preparations not exposed to carbachol. 5. At staurosporine-treated endplates exposed to carbachol and then allowed to recover, a population of small conductance (23 pS) channels was observed. These channels were not normally seen in control preparations which had undergone carbachol-induced desensitization and recovery.6. We suggest that the decrease in m.e.p.c. amplitude observed following recovery from desensitization in staurosporine-treated endplates results from the activation of a mixture of small and large conductance ACh receptor channels.
Impact of obesity in the critically ill trauma patient: a prospective study.

Background Obesity has risen at an epidemic rate over the past 20 years in the US. To our knowledge, there is an absence of data evaluating the impact of obesity in the critically ill trauma patient. Methods Prospective data were collected on 1,167 patients admitted to the ICU over a 2-year period. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (calculated as weight [kg]/height [m 2 ]) of 30 or higher. Outcomes analyzed included infection rate, hospital and ICU length of stay, and mortality. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate outcomes between obese and nonobese patients for infection (infection versus noninfection) and mortality (deceased versus not deceased). Continuous outcomes such as hospital and ICU lengths of stay were evaluated using multiple linear regression analyses. Results Sixty-two of 1,167 (5.3%) patients were obese. The majority (71%) of injuries in the study cohort were blunt. Although the majority of patients were men (76%), women (10% versus 4%) were more likely to be obese (p Conclusions Obesity is associated with a substantial increase in morbidity and mortality in the critically ill trauma patient. Future studies are warranted in both the prevention of infection and intensive care management of the obese trauma patient.
Thiamine and the carotenoid pigments of Corynebacterium poinsettiae

Abstract Qualitative and quantitative changes in the carotenoid pigments of Corynebacterium poinsettiae are observed when in the basal medium the level of the required growth factor, thiamine, is altered. In the red cells which grow under conditions of low thiamine concentration, two major pigments are produced: spirilloxanthin and lycoxanthin. In the orange-yellow cells formed under conditions of high thiamine concentrations, three major pigments are produced: lycoxanthin, cryptoxanthin, and a small amount of spirilloxanthin.
Approximation of transient response from frequency response data

A relatively short method yielding the time response to an impulse-input from the Nyquist or Bode presentation of the real frepuency open-loop response is outlined. This method has been found to give good agreement for linear feedback systems up to and including those having fifth-order closed-loop transfer functions.
Bayesian analysis of stochastic volatility models with mixture-of-normal distributions

Stochastic volatility (SV) models usually assume that the distribution of asset returns conditional on the latent volatility is normal. This article analyzes SV models with a mixture-of-normal distributions in order to compare with other heavy-tailed distributions such as the Student-t distribution and generalized error distribution (GED). A Bayesian method via Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques is used to estimate parameters and Bayes factors are calculated to compare the fit of distributions. The method is illustrated by analyzing daily data from the Yen/Dollar exchange rate and the Tokyo stock price index (TOPIX). According to Bayes factors, we find that while the t distribution fits the TOPIX better than the normal, the GED and the normal mixture, the mixture-of-normal distributions give a better fit to the Yen/Dollar exchange rate than other models. The effects of the specification of error distributions on the Bayesian confidence intervals of future returns are also examined. Comparison of SV with GARCH models shows that there are cases that the SV model with the normal distribution is less effective to capture leptokurtosis than the GARCH with heavy-tailed distributions.
Developmental consequences of abnormal folate transport during murine heart morphogenesis

BACKGROUND Folic acid is essential for the synthesis of nucleotides and methyl transfer reactions. Folic acid–binding protein one (Folbp1) is the primary mediator of folic acid transport into murine cells. Folbp1 knockout mouse embryos die in utero with multiple malformations, including severe congenital heart defects (CHDs). Although maternal folate supplementation is believed to prevent human conotruncal heart defects, its precise role during cardiac morphogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we examined the role of folic acid on the phenotypic expression of heart defects in Folbp1 mice, mindful of the importance of neural crest cells to the formation of the conotruncus. METHODS To determine if the Folbp1 gene participates in the commitment and differentiation of the cardiomyocytes, relative levels of dead and proliferating precursor cells in the heart were examined by flow cytometry, Western blot, and immunohistostaining. RESULTS Our studies revealed that impaired folic acid transport results in extensive apoptosis-mediated cell death, which concentrated in the interventricular septum and truncus arteriosus, thus being anatomically restricted to the two regions of congenital heart defects. Together with a reduced proliferative capacity of the cardiomyocytes, the limited size of the available precursor cell pool may contribute to the observed cardiac defects. Notably, there is a substantial reduction in Pax-3 expression in the region of the presumptive migrating cardiac neural crest, suggesting that this cell population may be the most severely affected by the massive cell death. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate for the first time a prominent role of the Folbp1 gene in mediating susceptibility to heart defects. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Near-field and timing effects in simulation of focused array radar signals from a mine in subsurface clutter

In previous paper we discussed a frequency-domain simulation of GPR returns from buried mines in clutter due to random permittivity inhomogeneities, using a focused array radar systems. 3D image plots of the illuminated volume resulting from this simulation were presented and showed that mine buried a few inches deep in clay loam or sandy soil appears distinguishable from the clutter if the rms deviation of the permittivity from its mean is less than ten percent of the mean permittivity. The simulation is designed to be a forward model for signal processing algorithms for mine detection and location. Hence, both accuracy and running speed are important considerations. The code discussed in our previous paper is very fast, but contains approximations that compromise the accuracy of the electromagnetic modeling. The recent work on which the present paper is based addresses improvements in accuracy, emphasizing inclusion of near-field effects and more accurate depiction of the timing algorithm that is the basis of the focused array system. The result obtained from the more accurate algorithms require more running time to obtain but are still sufficiently fast for use as a forward model for signal processing.
Application of Mott-Gurney law to model the current-voltage relationship of PPV/CN-PPV with a thin-metal anode buffer

In this paper, we derive the Mott-Gurney Law for space-charge-limited current and model the current density characteristics for a bilayer polymer light emitting diode (ITO/PPV/CN-PPV/Al). The organic material is assumed to be trap free and the influence of electric field on the carrier mobilities is neglected. Since the hole energy barrier between the ITO and PPV is less than 0.60 eV, the bottleneck for current flow is bulk-limited, resulting in space-charge-limited current. We discuss future plans for interposing a thin-layer of metal (Au, Pt, Pd, or AuPd) between the ITO and PPV. Experimental data will be compared to the J-V curve produced in this model, providing insight on how the metal buffer influences the range of potentials for which the current is space-charge-limited. Finally, the emissive spectrum is modeled with consideration of phonon-exciton coupling.
Genetic algorithm for disassembly process planning

When a product reaches its end of life, there are several options available for processing it including reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, and disposing (the least desirable option). In almost all cases, a certain level of disassembly may be necessary. Thus, finding an optimal (or near optimal) disassembly sequence is crucial to increasing the efficiency of the process. Disassembly operations are labor intensive, can be costly, have unique characteristics and cannot be considered as reverse of assembly operations. Since the complexity of determining the best disassembly sequence increases with the increase in the number of parts of the product, it is extremely crucial that an efficient methodology for disassembly process planning be developed. In this paper, we present a genetic algorithm for disassembly process planning. A case example is considered to demonstrate the functionality of the algorithm.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Individual and social determinants of winning bids in online auctions

Online auctions have grown in popularity since the inception of eBay in 1995. Yet despite the phenomenal growth, little is understood about the individual and collective motivations of consumers that lead to higher bids and ultimately, higher profits. This research reframes auction theory in terms of consumer behavior theory and uses observational data to assess bidder-generated behavior in response to seller-generated decisions. Results suggest that an increased number of visual cues (pictures) influences bids placed early in the auction and that those early bids generate activity among other bidders, subsequently resulting in higher winning bids. In addition, our findings indicate that the starting price, as determined by the seller, also impacts the final winning bid. Research and seller implications are offered, as are future directions for research in studying this still new phenomenon. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nano-Manipulation Device With Parallel Kinematic Micro-Positioning Stage and Integrated Active Cantilever

This paper discusses the design, analysis, fabrication and characterization of a MEMS device for nano-manufacturing and nano-metrology applications. The device includes an active cantilever as its manipulator that is integrated with a high-bandwidth two degree-of-freedom translational (XY) micro positioning stage. The cantilever is actuated electrostatically through a separate electrode that is fabricated underneath the cantilever. Torsion bars that connect the cantilever to the rest of the structure provide the required compliance for cantilever’s out-of-plane rotation. The active cantilever is carried by a micro-positioning stage, which enables high-bandwidth scanning to allow manipulation in three dimensions. The design of the MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) stage is based on a parallel kinematic mechanism (PKM). The PKM design decouples the motion in the X and Y directions and restricts rotations in the XY plane while allowing for an increased motion range with linear kinematics in the operating region (or workspace). The truss-like structure of the PKM also results in increased stiffness and reduced mass of the stage. The integrated cantilever device is fabricated on a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer using surface micromachining and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) processes. The actuation electrode of the cantilever is fabricated on the handle layer, while the cantilever and XY stage are at the device layer of the SOI wafer. Two sets of electrostatic linear comb drives are used to actuate the stage mechanism in X and Y directions. The cantilever provides an out-of-plane motion of 7 microns at 4.5V, while the XY stage provides a motion range of 24 microns in each direction at the driving voltage of 180V. The resonant frequency of the XY stage under ambient conditions is 2090 Hz. A high quality factor (∼210) is achieved from this parallel kinematics XY stage. The fabricated stages will be adapted as chip-scale manufacturing and metrology devices for nanomanufacturing and nano-metrology applications.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Oxygen isotopes in deep sea spherules

Oxygen isotopic compositions have been measured on several size fractions of deep-sea spherules of extraterrestrial origin. The silicate spherules have an isotopic composition unlike that of any known macrometeorite. Their pre-terrestrial compositions may have been similar to those of C3 chondrites or the anhydrous component of C2 chondrites, the latter being preferred on chemical grounds. Metallic particles oxidize in the upper atmosphere, and sample a region for which no previous oxygen isotope data exist. This part of the atmosphere, above about 100 km, is apparently strongly enriched in the heavy isotopes of oxygen.
Proton exchange of nucleic acids: the amino protons of 5'-AMP and poly A.

Abstract Approximate values of the hydronium and hydroxyl second order rate constants for the exchange of the amino protons of 5′-AMP and Poly A were obtained from the observed variation with pH of the 100 MHz PMR resonance signal line width for the amino protons. These values are several orders of magnitude lower than corresponding rate constants for amino protons and purine hydrogens, which may resolve some important interpretative difficulties that are encountered both in the hydrogen exchange of helical polynucleotides and in recent data on the exchange of the non-hydrogen bonded amino protons of DNA.
Numerical solutions of a non‐linear density current: A benchmark solution and comparisons

A comparison between solutions from simulations of a non-linear density current test problem was made in order to study the behaviour of a variety of numerical methods. The test problem was diffusion-limited so that a grid-converged reference solution could be generated using high spatial resolution. Solutions of the test problem using several different resolutions were computed by the participants of the ‘Workshop on Numerical Methods for Solving Nonlinear Flow Problems’, which was held on 11–13 September 1990 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). In general, it was found that when the flow was adequately resolved, all of the numerical schemes produced solutions that contained the basic physics as well as most of the flow detail of the reference solution. However, when the flow was marginally resolved, there were significant differences between the solutions produced by the various models. Finally, when the flow was poorly resolved, none of the models performed very well. While higher-order and spectral-type schemes performed best for adequately and marginally resolved flow, solutions made with these schemes were virtually unusable for poorly resolved flow. In contrast, the monotonic schemes provided the most coherent and smooth solutions for poorly resolved flow, however with noticeable amplitude and phase speed errors, even at finer resolutions.
Correcting bulk in-plane motion artifacts in MRI using the point spread function

A technique is proposed for correcting both translational and rotational motion artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging without the need to collect additional navigator data or to perform intensive postprocessing. The method is based on measuring the point spread function (PSF) by attaching one or two point-sized markers to the main imaging object. Following the isolation of a PSF marker from the acquired image, translational motion could be corrected directly from the modulation transfer function, without the need to determine the object's positions during the scan, although the shifts could be extracted if desired. Rotation is detected by analyzing the relative displacements of two such markers. The technique was evaluated with simulations, phantom and in vivo experiments.
Influence of visibility out of the vehicle cabin on lane-change crashes

The influence of lateral visibility from the vehicle cabin on safety was evaluated by examining the differences in lane-change crashes of four-door and two-door body styles of the same vehicle models. These two vehicle styles were used because B-pillars (the pillars between the front and rear seats) on four-door models are farther forward, and thus nearer the fore-aft position of the driver. (Furthermore, the B-pillars on two-door models can be narrower, and some two-door models have no B-pillars at all.) To control for driver differences between these two body styles, going-straight-ahead crashes were used for comparison. The analysis used 2000–2003 North Carolina crash data, and considered the crash experience of four-door and two-door body styles for the same 10 vehicles for model years 1995 and newer. The main finding is that four-door body styles are more likely to be involved in lane-change crashes than are two-door body styles of the same vehicle models. This finding suggests that lateral visibility out of the vehicle cabin affects safety.
A statistical determination of the shape and position of the geomagnetic neutral sheet

Using 2.5-minute average field values from Imp 6, 7, and 8 magnetic field measurements, the standard magnetotail neutral sheet (MNS) model is examined. The best representation for the MNS is found to be an arched surface which crosses the solar magnetospheric equatorial plane on the flanks of the tail about 18 earth radii (ER) from the tail axis; the surface is anchored to the geomagnetic dipole at a hinging distance of 10.5 ER. In addition, the shape and position of the neutral sheet (NS) do not vary significantly with distance down the tail, but the NS is anchored somewhat closer to the earth during disturbed geomagnetic conditions.
Hewlett-Packard Combined OR and Expert Knowledge to Design Its Supply Chains

Although one can eliminate human bias from scenario definitions when modeling supply chain networks by using a pure operations research approach, the resources, data, and time needed for this approach may prohibit its use in fast-paced business environments. Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) strategic planning and modeling (SPaM) team refined an approach using true optimization coupled with scenario analysis, selectively focused on the most critical parameters of the design equation, and used this approach to solve a complex supply chain design problem for HP's imaging and printing group. The clear and easily demonstrable results helped management to understand their derivation and act confidently. The combined approach gave equal emphasis to optimization and to scenario analysis.
Psychosexual implications of breast and gynecologic cancer.

(1999). Psychosexual Implications of Breast and Gynecologic Cancer. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 17, No. 8, pp. 631-636.