cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The NICHD neonatal research network: changes in practice and outcomes during the first 15 years

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network was founded in 1986 to perform trials that, because of their size and complexity, were beyond the scope of a single center and required the expertise and resources of many collaborating centers. This report briefly documents changes in mortality, selected morbidities, and therapies amongst Network centers. The Network registry incorporating perinatal and neonatal data on all infants with a birth weight 501-1500 g cared for at participating centers served as the database. Mortality and selected morbidities were compared for 3 time periods, 1987/1988, (7 centers 1,765 infants, presurfactant); 1993/1994 (12 centers, 4,593 infants, postsurfactant and moderate antenatal corticosteroid utilization); and 1999/2000 (15 centers, 5,848 infants, postsurfactant and widespread corticosteroid use). Detailed outcomes for infants with birth weights between 501 and 800 g, and gestational ages of 23 to 25 weeks are also presented because they dramatically document the changes over time. Mortality for the entire cohort decreased from 23% in 1987/1988 to 17% in 1993/1994 and 14% in 1999/2000. Between 1987/1988 and 1999/2000 mortality prior to discharge, decreased from 66% to 45% for infants weighing 501-750 g; from 34% to 12% for birth weight between 751 to 1000 g, and from 13% to 7% for infants between 1001 and 1500 g. Mortality was higher in boys. Survival free of major morbidity (chronic lung disease/bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis or grade III/IV intraventricular hemorrhage) did not change significantly over time. Since the inception of the Network, multiple births have increased from 18% to 26%; deliveries by Cesarean section from 47% to 57%, and antenatal corticosteroid use increased from 16% to 79%. Surfactant, which was not used prior to 1990, is now given to 57% of the infants, including 87% with birth weights between 501 and 750 g. There have been significant decreases in the incidence of grade III-IV intraventricular hemorrhage from 18% in 1987/1988 to about 11% since 1993/1994, and periventricular leukomalacia from 8% to 3%. However, other morbidities, including necrotizing enterocolitis, patent ductus arteriosus, and late onset sepsis, have not changed substantially. Advances in perinatal care within NICHD Network centers have resulted in marked improvements in survival. Further advances are required to increase survival free of neonatal morbidity or neurodevelopmental impairment.
Healthy patients who perceive poor health and their use of primary care services.

Objective:To determine what proportion of patients who have poor health perceptions are physically healthy and to explore why some patients perceive a healthy state while others perceive illness.
Clot busting in kids: less PTS?

Goldenberg and colleagues' retrospective analysis of pediatric patients with high-risk, occlusive lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) suggests that thrombolytic therapy with tPA (with or without mechanical thrombolysis) may decrease the risk of postthrombotic syndrome (PTS). Though still
Effect of dimensionality on the percolation thresholds of various d-dimensional lattices

We show analytically that the $[0,1]$, $[1,1]$, and $[2,1]$ Pad\'e approximants of the mean cluster number $S(p)$ for site and bond percolation on general $d$-dimensional lattices are upper bounds on this quantity in any Euclidean dimension $d$, where $p$ is the occupation probability. These results lead to certain lower bounds on the percolation threshold ${p}_{c}$ that become progressively tighter as $d$ increases and asymptotically exact as $d$ becomes large. These lower-bound estimates depend on the structure of the $d$-dimensional lattice and whether site or bond percolation is being considered. We obtain explicit bounds on ${p}_{c}$ for both site and bond percolation on five different lattices: $d$-dimensional generalizations of the simple-cubic, body-centered-cubic, and face-centered-cubic Bravais lattices as well as the $d$-dimensional generalizations of the diamond and kagom\'e (or pyrochlore) non-Bravais lattices. These analytical estimates are used to assess available simulation results across dimensions (up through $d=13$ in some cases). It is noteworthy that the tightest lower bound provides reasonable estimates of ${p}_{c}$ in relatively low dimensions and becomes increasingly accurate as $d$ grows. We also derive high-dimensional asymptotic expansions for ${p}_{c}$ for the 10 percolation problems and compare them to the Bethe-lattice approximation. Finally, we remark on the radius of convergence of the series expansion of $S$ in powers of $p$ as the dimension grows.
NONLOCAL SYSTEMS OF BVPS WITH ASYMPTOTICALLY SUBLINEAR BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

In this paper we consider a system of nonlocal boundary value problems with nonlinear boundary conditions. In particular, we consider the existence of at least one positive solution to the system x 00 (t) = −�1a1(t)g1(x(t);y(t)), t 2 (0;1) y 00 (t) = −�2a2(t)g2(x(t);y(t)), t 2 (0;1) x(0) = H1 �1(x) + " 1 x � 1 0
Biplane transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography for assessment of mitral valve area with mitral inflow jet widths.

Biplane transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography can image the mitral valve orifice in two orthgonal views. If the maximal stenotic jet width through the mitral valve obtained with the vertical transducer represents the major axis, the stenotic jet width dissected by the horizontal transducer should be the minor axis of the mitral orifice. Thus the mitral valve area can be calculated assuming an oval shape of mitral orifice. Nineteen patients with mitral stenosis were investigated. Maximal mitral stenotic jet width (JW 1 ) was searched on a vertical plane and the jet width from the orthogonal view (JW 2 ) was obtained on a horizontal plane. Mitral valve areas from the color Doppler jet widths were calculated by: π·JW 1 /2·JW 2 /2 and compared with those derived from Gorlin's formula. Adequate quality of echocardiographic images could be obtained in all patients for transesophageal color Doppler jet width measurements or Doppler pressure half-time determinations and in 16 of 19 patients for transthoracic planimetery of the mitral orifice at the parasternal short axis. Mitral valve areas derived from biplane transesophageal color Doppler imaging (1.31±0.53 cm 2 ) were not different from those calculated according to Gorlin's formula from the catheterization data (1.25±0.50 cm 2 ), those determined by transthoracic echocardiographic planimetery (1.38±0.5 cm 2 ), or those calculated from the Doppler pressure half-time method (1.32±0.41 cm 2 ) (difference not significant by analysis of variance). There was a very strong correlation between transesophageal echocardiographic mitral valve areas and those derived from catheterization data ( r =0.94; standard error of the estimate=0.13 cm 2 ). A similar correaltion was obtained for the planimetric echocardiographic method ( r =0.94; standard error of the estimate=0.14 cm 2 ). A slightly less strong correlation was found between mitral valve areas derived from the Doppler pressure half-time method and those derived from Gorlin's formula ( r =0.83; standard error of the estimate=0.24 cm 2 ). The pressure half-time method accurately predicted the mitral valve area in most (15/19) patients, but it significantly (>0.4 cm 2 ) overestimated mitral valve area in two patients with aortic regurgitation and underestimated ( 2 ) mitral valve area in two patients with left ventricular hypertrophy. Determination of mitral valve area by color Doppler biplane transesophageal echocardiography is an alternative for accurate estimation of mitral valve area and may be most useful in intraoperative monitoring during surgical or balloon mitral commissurotomy or in the case of inadequate imaging quality of transthoracic echocardiography.
Buoyancy-and gravity-powered underwater robots

This paper presents a new concept for driving underwater robots that is based on the interaction between the natural forces of buoyancy and gravity present in the underwater environment.Mathematical models are developed to simulate the static and dynamic characteristics of a single-link arm as in fltcenced by its design parameters and operating conditions. A computer-controlled prototype of the arm is designed, built, and tested to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept. The effect of varying the control gains, sample interval, and con trol law on the dynamic performance of the arm is presented for different payloads.The obtained results suggest the potential of this type of robot in handling objects underwater with minimal external energy.
Use Case-Based Modeling and Analysis of Failsafe Fault-Tolerance

Explicitly addressing fault-tolerance during the requirements analysis phase facilitates the early detection of inconsistencies between functional and fault-tolerance requirements, which could potentially reduce the overall development costs. Most existing approaches use redundancy of services as a means to mask faults, where it is difficult to provide a systematic approach for modeling and analyzing the effect of faults on functional requirements during use case analysis. Moreover, providing masking fault-tolerance could be costly or impractical. This paper overviews a systematic approach for use case-based modeling of faults and failsafe fault-tolerance, where a failsafe fault-tolerant system at least meets its safety requirements when faults occur.
5-Hydroxytryptamine Induces Mast Cell Adhesion and Migration

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) is implicated in enhancing inflammatory reactions of skin, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. To determine whether 5-HT acts, in part, through mast cells (MC), we first established that mouse bone marrow-derived MC (mBMMC) and human CD34(+)-derived MC (huMC) expressed mRNA for multiple 5-HT receptors. We next determined the effect of 5-HT on mouse and human MC degranulation, adhesion, and chemotaxis. We found no evidence that 5-HT degranulates MC or modulates IgE-dependent activation. 5-HT did induce mBMMC and huMC adherence to fibronectin; and immature and mature mBMMC and huMC migration. Chemotaxis was accompanied by actin polymerization. Using receptor antagonists and pertussis toxin, we identified 5-HT(1A) as the principal receptor mediating the effects of 5-HT on MC. mBMMC from the 5-HT(1A) receptor knockout mouse (5-HT(1A)R(-/-)) did not respond to 5-HT. 5-HT did induce accumulation of MC in the dermis of 5-HT(1A)R(+/+) mice, but not in 5-HT(1A)R(-/-) mice. These studies are the first to demonstrate an effect of 5-HT on MC. Furthermore, both mouse and human MC respond to 5-HT through the 5-HT(1A) receptor. Our data are consistent with the conclusion that 5-HT promotes inflammation by increasing MC at the site of tissue injury.
A Conceptual Framework for Viewing Responses to Family Planning Programs

When individuals are first presented with information intended to transform them from non-users to users of modern contraception, they are thrust into decision-making situations. Observations of the residents of a small North Indian village before, during, and after their initial exposure to a formal family planning program led to the development of a cross-cultural conceptual framework intended to help identify the kinds of structural components and processes involved in responses to family planning programs. The basic units are seen as cultural and idiosyncratic cognitions, and an inventory of classes of these "response determinants" is suggested. The processes are explained by a synthesis of Janis's conflict theory and Festinger's dissonance theory.
Mechanism of ketanserin-induced sympatho-inhibition.

Abstract Experiments were undertaken to determine if sympatho-inhibition produced by ketanserin is due to antagonism of central nervous system α 1 -adrenoceptors rather than central 5-HT 2 receptors and if (like prazosin) it produces sympatho-inhibition indirectly via a central (presynaptic) α 2 -adrenoceptor mechanism. Administration of ketanserin (0.03–3.0 mg/kg i.v.) caused a dose-related depression of sympathetic-cholinergic electrodermal responses evoked by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus in pentobarbital anesthetized cats. No effect of ketanserin was observed on electrodermal responses evoked by preganglionic sympathetic nerve stimulation nor did the more specific 5-HT 2 receptor antagonist, cinanserin, produce a central sympatholytic effect at dosages up to 3 mg/kg i.v. Pretreatment with α 2 -adrenoceptor blockers yohimbine, idazoxan, or rauwolscine significantly antagonized ketanserin-induced sympatho-inhibition. Depletion of central nervous system (CNS) monoamines totally prevented ketanserin-induced sympatho-inhibition although clonidine (30 μg/kg i.v.) continued to be effective. These results suggest that ketanserin acts in the CNS to reduce sympathetic reactivity by blocking α 1 -adrenoceptors and not 5-HT 2 receptors. In this regard, ketanserin appears to act in a manner similar to other α 1 -adrenoceptor antagonists (e.g. prazosin and indoramin) by an apparent presynaptic facilitation of α 2 -adrenoceptor mediated tonic inhibition descending from the lower brainstem.
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of a Low-Volume Road Bridge Alternative

Life-cycle cost models offer engineers a means to evaluate the anticipated long-term economic performance of prospective design and construction alternatives. Traditionally, only initial investment costs and past experience were used to economically evaluate possible bridge designs. A more logical approach requires that all short- and long-term costs be considered in relation to project location, purpose, and performance specifications. The primary objective of life-cycle cost analysis is to evaluate the total ownership cost of all suitable alternatives. Recent reports indicate that a significant number of the nation's bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. In Iowa, a large portion of these types of bridges are on the secondary road system and fall under the jurisdiction of county engineers. Typically, Iowa county engineers have limited resources. In response to this, a bridge-replacement system was developed that county engineers can design and build with limited staff. The system, which is made up of precast (PC) double T units, involves the fabrication of PC units that consist of two steel beams connected by a thin concrete deck. To illustrate that this bridge system may be an economically viable bridge-replacement alternative for use on low-volume county roads, a life-cycle cost analysis was completed for an actual replacement-repair-rehabilitation project. Various alternatives were economically analyzed and compared with the steel beam PC unit bridge alternative. This analysis indicates that, when lower-cost salvaged steel beams and county work forces are used, the steel beam PC unit bridge can be a viable low-volume road bridge alternative.
Sociology and Demography: Perspectives on Population

Sociology and demography, as distinct although related disciplines, should have different perspectives on matters concerning population. A review of sociological published material and organizational practices indicates that sociologists have not been true to their discipline where population topics are dealt with. Suggestions are given for altering this tendency and sociologists (especially those whose prior interests have not included population) are encouraged to contribute to a real sociology of population. At least since the time of August Comte, learned men and women have attempted to define the scope and content of various scientific endeavors. Tracing the boundaries of the human sciences and making significant distinctions among them has been a difficult task and one which has created scholarly conflicts and may sometimes have impeded scientific progress. American universities act as if the matter is fairly clearcut, although organizational differences appear. For example, the biological sciences generally have departmental status within a larger college or division that covers the natural and physical sciences. The social sciences are accorded a separate place in the structure, and disciplines such as economics, sociology, and political science fall neatly within. Other acknowledged disciplines, whose concerns may span across these broader rubrics, are frequently assigned to one or another college or division on the basis of the discipline's principal interests, the slant of the department's programs, or the predilection of some key faculty members. Thus, anthropology may be found in the humanities division rather than the social sciences, psychology may be treated as a natural science instead of a social or behavioral science, geography may be joined to the earth sciences rather than be located in the soclal sciences, and so on. The institutional base of these traditional disciplines becomes firmly entrenched. Their stability lies not so much in the constancy of their subject *Presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, 1982.
Radiation-induced cancer as a factor in clinical decision making (the 1989 ASTRO Gold Medal Address)

1. Ionizing radiations are weak carcinogens. Under certain conditions they can induce cancers in experimental animals and humans. 2. This potential carcinogenicity has been a deterrent to the use of radiation therapy despite its many advantages in the management of patients with cancers. 3. In a range of clinical situations, such as the irradiation of cancers arising in the head and neck, breast, prostate and skin, an increase of second cancers can not be detected above the natural frequency of additional cancers. In the curative treatment of patients with Hodgkins disease, ionizing radiations are not associated with an increased frequency of leukemias and induced second tumors are no more frequent than following the use of alkylating agents. 4. All second tumors attributed to radiation therapy occur after a latent period of many years and except for leukemia usually are potentially curable. 5. The risks of radiation-induced second cancers are no greater than the risks of operative or anesthetic deaths and these catastrophes are immediate and non-remedial. 6. Therefore, at this time, the potential of radiation-induced cancers should not be a factor in the selection of treatment for patients with cancer.
Simple yet effective replication for FPGA partitioning

This paper deals with the partitioning of large digital designs for multiple FPGA based implementation. Partitioning for FPGAs is very constrained problem due to severe pin limitations. The approach described here uses efficient heuristics for replicating logic blocks. It is shown through experimentation that utilization can greatly be improved by replicating very small number of logic blocks. In addition, the effect of replication on fanout, board level design, and performance is also studied. It is found that replication of logic blocks using our approach does not lead to excessive load due to increased fanout. In some cases, replication of input/output blocks can result in enhanced utilization. The tool has been integrated with XILINX APR tools. Thus feasibility is established not by counting the logic blocks and I/O pins but by actually being able to place and route a given circuit. >
The effect of promoter strength, supercoiling and secondary structure on mutation rates in Escherichia coli

Four mutations resulting in opal stop codons were individually engineered into a plasmid-borne chloramphenicol-resistance (cat) gene driven by the lac promoter. These four mutations were located at different sites in secondary structures. The mutations were analysed with the computer program mfg, which predicted their relative reversion frequencies. Reversion frequencies determined experimentally correlated with the mutability of the bases as predicted by mfg. To examine the effect of increased transcription on reversion frequencies, the lac promoter was replaced with the stronger tac promoter, which resulted in 12- to 30-fold increases in reversion rates. The effect of increased and decreased supercoiling was also investigated. The cat mutants had higher reversion rates in a topA mutant strain with increased negative supercoiling compared with wild-type levels, and the cat reversion rates were lower in a topA gyrB mutant strain with decreased negative supercoiling, as predicted.
Continuous Phase Modulated Halftones and Their Application to Halftone Data Embedding

We propose a generalization of periodic clustered-dot halftones, wherein the phase of the halftones is modulated using a secondary signal. The process is accomplished using an analytic halftone threshold function and allows halftones to be generated with different phase variation in different regions of the printed page. We demonstrate that ensuring continuity of the phase assures that the resulting halftone images are free from visible artifacts despite the modulation in phase. We present, applications of the proposed method to halftone data embedding, wherein the changes in phase or in frequency encode the embedded information. For the frequency embedding, using continuous phase modulation, we also consider the limitations on signals that are embedded within our framework. For both applications, we demonstrate how the embedded signals may be recovered from the printed halftones either using the image as a self-reference which reveals the watermark when it is shifted and overlaid with itself or by employing a separate transparency mask.
Interval estimation of the attributable risk for multiple exposure levels in case-control studies with confounders.

The attributable risk (AR) is one of the most important and commonly-used epidemiological indices to assess the public health importance of an association between a risk factor and a disease. When the underlying risk factor has multiple exposure levels in the presence of confounders, we consider the case-control studies using random sampling to collect the cases and controls here. We develop four asymptotic interval estimators for AR, including the interval estimator using Wald's statistic, the interval estimator using the logarithmic transformation, the interval estimator using the logit transformation, and the interval estimator derived from a quadratic equation. We apply Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the finite-sample performance of these interval estimators in a variety of situations. We demonstrate that given an adequately large sample size, all the estimators developed here can actually perform reasonably well. We note that the interval estimator using the logit transformation may be of limited use when the number of studied subjects is not large. We also note that the interval estimator using the logarithmic transformation can lose efficiency compared to the interval estimator using Wald's statistic or the interval estimator derived from a quadratic equation developed in this paper. Finally, we use the data taken from a case-ontrol tudy of the oral contraceptive use in myocardial nfarction patients with various smoking levels to illustrate he practical usefulness of these estimators. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Images of the Antiferromagnetic Structure of a NiO(100) Surface by Means of X-Ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism Spectromicroscopy

We present the first images of a surface showing clear antiferromagnetic contrast. The images were obtained for 10[endash]80thinspthinspnm thick NiO(100) films grown on Mg(100) by means of x-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy in conjunction with high resolution photoelectron emission microscopy. The surface sensitive images with a lateral resolution of better than 50thinspthinspnm reveal surface line defects that exhibit antiferromagnetic order with a reduced N[acute e]el temperature (455thinspthinspK) relative to the rest of the film surface and the bulk (523thinspthinspK). Analysis of the temperature dependent images allows us to separate the spin and charge components of the linear dichroism effect. [copyright] [ital 1999] [ital The American Physical Society ]
External Cue Effects on Memory for Spatial Location within a Rotated Task Field

Abstract Fitting, Wedell and Allen (2007) demonstrated that although memory for location within a small two-dimensional task field is largely independent of cues when orientation is fixed, it is highly dependent on cues when orientation varies by rotating the task field on a majority of trials. Their analysis focused only on 0° rotation trials. The current investigation aimed to understand the spatial estimation process under conditions of actual rotation and thereby analyzed the cue effects for the 30°, 90°, and 160° rotation trials of that experiment. Results indicated strong cue-based angular bias effects, which were modeled as resulting from use of cues as category prototypes. Unique to rotation trials, the number of inferred protypes did not generally correspond to the number of cues. In the one-cue condition, there was evidence that an additional prototype was generated at a location opposite the single cue, representing a “phantom” prototype. In the three-cues condition, there was evidence that onl...
Children's Search for Gender Cues Cognitive Perspectives on Gender Development

Young children search for cues about gender—who should or should not do a particular activity, who can play with whom, and why girls and boys are different. From a vast array of gendered cues in their social worlds, children quickly form an impressive constellation of gender cognitions, including gender self-conceptions (gender identity) and gender stereotypes. Cognitive perspectives on gender development (i.e., cognitive developmental theory and gender-schema theory) assume that children actively search for ways to make sense of the social world that surrounds them. Gender identity develops as children realize that they belong to one gender group, and the consequences include increased motivation to be similar to other members of their group, preferences for members of their own group, selective attention to and memory for information relevant to their own sex, and increased interest in activities relevant to their own sex. Cognitive perspectives have been influential in increasing understanding of how c...
Progress by the electronics industry on protection of stratospheric ozone

In addition to the Montreal Protocol's controls on CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), the US Congress has placed an excise tax on chemicals which deplete the ozone layer, based on their ozone depletion potential. It is pointed out that, desiring to protect the stratospheric ozone layer and responding to restrictions placed on CFC production, the electronics industry and their suppliers worldwide have made many important technological breakthrough in eliminating CFC-113 from their manufacturing processes. As a result of industry/government cooperation, CFC-113 may be eliminated faster and at lower financial and business disruption cost than if governments were forced to implement a set of command and control rules. A description of recent progress in this area, both domestic and international, is given. >
Power-aware task motion for enhancing dynamic range of embedded systems with renewable energy sources

In this paper we propose a novel scheduling framework for a dynamic real-time environment that experiences power consumption constraints. This framework is capable of dynamically adjusting the voltage/ speed of the system, such that no task in the system misses its deadline and the total energy savings of the system are maximized. Each task in the system consumes a certain amount of energy, which depends on a speed chosen for execution. The process of selecting speeds for execution while maximizing the energy savings of the system requires the exploration of a large number of combinations, which is too time consuming to be computed on-line. Thus, we propose an integrated heuristic methodology which executes an optimization procedure and an approximate greedy algorithm in a low computation time. This scheme allows the scheduler to handle power-aware real-time tasks with low cost while maximizing the use of the available resources and without jeopardizing the temporal constraints of the system. Simulation results show that our heuristic methodology achieves a performance with near-optimal results.
Experiencing Hate Speech: Perceptions and Responses to Anti‐Semitism and Antigay Speech

This study examines how people experience hate speech. Specifically, it assesses people’s perceptions regarding both the antecedents and outcomes of such expression targeted at Jews and homosexuals. One hundred twenty university students read (and in some cases also supplied) real-life epithets aimed at their social identity and then provided an assessment of their (a) perceived short- and long-term consequences, (b) understanding of the motive behind the message, (c) response to the sender, and (d) response to the message in terms of soliciting social support. A content analysis of the accounts produced the following patterns: (a) short- and long-term consequences mirrored a three-stage sequence found within other traumatic experiences; (b) respondents described motives as enduring, not situational, states; (c) the most common response strategies were passive; and (d) participants often sought support. The discussion focuses on implications for interventions that may mitigate negative consequences of hate speech.
Communicating science in social settings

This essay examines the societal dynamics surrounding modern science. It first discusses a number of challenges facing any effort to communicate science in social environments: lay publics with varying levels of preparedness for fully understanding new scientific breakthroughs; the deterioration of traditional media infrastructures; and an increasingly complex set of emerging technologies that are surrounded by a host of ethical, legal, and social considerations. Based on this overview, I discuss four areas in which empirical social science helps clarify intuitive but sometimes faulty assumptions about the social-level mechanisms of science communication and outline an agenda for bench and social scientists—driven by current social-scientific research in the field of science communication—to guide more effective communication efforts at the societal level in the future.
Health related quality of life of elderly patients with end-stage heart failure

(77% vs. 65%, p .001) and exercise (67% vs. 55%, p .021) than younger patients. There was no difference in other compliance behaviors (keeping appointments, medication, smoking/alcohol use). Of the 70 elderly patients, 51% reported difficulty complying with exercise while 37%, 24%, and 23% had difficulty with diet, keeping appointments, and medication use, respectively. Nine percent and 18% continued to smoke and drink. Common barriers that led to noncompliance with keeping appointments and taking medications were lack of transportation, time and money. Lack of motivation, self-control, and support led to poor compliance with diet and smoking/alcohol use, while physical symptoms and lack of energy accounted for poor exercise compliance. We found a strong association (p .01) between degree of difficulty and actual compliance with each of the medical regimens in elderly HF patients. Conclusion: Elderly HF patients report low compliance behaviors that are associated with degree of difficulty following prescribed regimens. Interventions that target the common barriers cited by elderly patients may be key to improved compliance behaviors in this vulnerable population.
Effect of Platelet-Rich Plasma on Chondrogenic Differentiation inThree-Dimensional Culture

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) may have the potential to enhance articular cartilage regeneration through release of growth factors including transforming growth factor isoforms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for PRP to stimulate chondrogenic differentiation in three-dimensional PRP hydrogel constructs. Allogenic PRP was prepared using a double centrifugation protocol which resulted in a platelet concentration approximately 250% above baseline. Canine marrow stromal cells were encapsulated at 6.8×10(6) cells/ml in either 2% sodium alginate or in a 3:1 mixture of freshly prepared PRP and 2% alginate. PRP and alginate beads were cultured in chemically defined chondrogenic medium with and without 10 ng/ml TGF-β3. PRP cultures were additionally supplemented with frozen-thawed PRP. In the absence of TGF-β3, PRP had a mild stimulatory effect on cell proliferation. PRP did not stimulate cell proliferation in the presence of TGF-β3. Cells exposed to TGF-β3 accumulated significantly more GAG/DNA than those which were not, but there was not a statistically significant difference between alginate and PRP. Total collagen content was greater in PRP than in alginate, regardless of TGF-β3. Chondrogenesis in PRP was qualitatively and spatially different than that which occurred in conventional alginate beads and was characterized by isolated centers of intense chondrogenesis. Overall the results demonstrate that PRP alone weakly promotes chondroinduction of marrow stromal cells, and the effect is greatly augmented by TGF-β3.
Digital curvelet transform: strategy, implementation, and experiments

Recently, Candes and Donoho introduced the curvelet transform, a new multiscale representation suited for objects which are smooth away from discontinuities across curves. Their proposal was intended for functions f defined on the continuum plane R2. In this paper, we consider the problem of realizing this transform for digital data. We describe a strategy for computing a digital curvelet transform, we describe a software environment, Curvelet 256, implementing this strategy in the case of 256 X 256 images, and we describe some experiments we have conducted using it. Examples are available for viewing by web browser.
Chaos-based image assessment for THz imagery

Multiscale image processing is a powerful technique that can determine image characteristics (e.g. clutter), provide denoising, and determine object features. Imagery is highly nonstationary (i.e. mean and variance change with location and time) and multiscaled (i.e. dependent on the spatial or temporal interval lengths). In this paper, we utilize the scale-dependent Lyapunov exponent (SDLE), which unifies the principles of fractal and chaos theory, to characterize the different signal behaviors on a wide range of scales simultaneously. Commonly used complexity measures, including those from information theory, chaos theory, and random fractal theory, can all be related to the values of the SDLE at specific scales, and therefore, SDLE can act as the basis for a unified theory of multiscale analysis of complex imagery data. We describe the power-law and singular-value decomposition (SVD) for image processing and demonstrate a SDLE example using TeraHertz (THz) imagery for concealed target image fusion.
Office Based Transrectal Saturation Biopsy Improves Prostate Cancer Detection Compared to Extended Biopsy in the Repeat Biopsy Population

Purpose: Multiple studies have shown significant prostate cancer detection for repeat biopsy. However, the best approach regarding core number and location remains controversial. Transrectal saturation biopsy is believed to increase cancer detection but to our knowledge no studies comparing it to 12 to 14-core extended biopsy have been published. We compared saturation and extended repeat biopsy protocols after initially negative biopsy.Materials and Methods: A total of 1,056 men underwent prostate biopsy after initially negative biopsy. The extended biopsy group included 393 men with 12 to 14-core repeat biopsy. The saturation biopsy group included 663 men with 20 to 24-core repeat biopsy. We analyzed demographics and prostate cancer between the 2 groups. We compared prostate cancer detection in patients with previous atypical small acinar proliferation and/or high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia as well as the risk of detecting clinically insignificant tumors.Results: Prostate cancer was detec...
In Between Cultures

Going through a protracted period of transition since the end of the Cold War, the world order in the making is neither what was nor what it is yet to become. It is in “the middle of the future.” To get our bearings in this uncertain transition, we explore the two grand post-Cold War narratives—“The End of History” as posited by Francis Fukuyama and “The Clash of Civilizations” posited by the late Samuel Huntington. Mikhail Gorbachev looks back at his policies that brought the old order to collapse. The British philosopher John Gray critiques the supposed “universality” of liberalism and, with Homi Bhabha, sees a world of hybrid identities and localized cultures. The Singaporean theorist Kishore Mahbubani peels away the “veneer” of Western dominance. Amartya Sen, the economist and Nobel laureate, assesses whether democratic India or autocratic China is better at building “human capacity” in their societies.
Weight-teasing and emotional well-being in adolescents: Longitudinal findings from Project EAT

Abstract Purpose To determine if weight-teasing predicts subsequent low self-esteem, poor body image, and depressive symptoms; and to examine two mechanisms through which early teasing may influence later emotional health. Methods A racially and socio-economically diverse sample of 2516 adolescents completed surveys for both Wave 1 (1998–99) and Wave 2 (2003–04) of the Project EAT study. Approximately one third of these were early adolescents who transitioned into middle adolescence, and two thirds were middle adolescents who transitioned into young adulthood. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted in three stages to test Model A: the total effect of Time 1 teasing on Time 2 emotional health; Model B: Model A, mediated by Time 2 teasing and body mass index (BMI); and Model C: Model B, also mediated by Time 1 emotional health. Results Approximately one third of males and slightly under half of females reported that they had been teased about their weight at Time 1. Time 1 teasing predicted lower self-esteem, lower body image, and higher depressive symptoms at Time 2 for males and females in the older and younger age groups. This relationship was fully mediated, however, by Time 2 teasing and BMI, and by Time 1 emotional health. Adjusted R 2 statistics for the final models ranged from .11 to .36. Conclusions Weight-teasing in adolescence affects emotional well-being at 5-year follow-up, and appears to function through two mechanisms. Reducing early teasing and its concurrent damages to emotional health may prevent longer-term emotional health consequences.
Writability of perpendicular recording heads

A comparative analysis of the writability of trailing pole (TP) and leading pole (LP) writers on double-layer perpendicular media was done by three-dimensional finite-element method modeling. The writability of the writers was estimated by a maximal strength of effective write field that was defined by the Stoner-Wohlfarth model. The LP writer revealed a weaker perpendicular but stronger longitudinal component of the write field and bigger write angle. The longitudinal component and write angle minimize the difference in writability between the two writer designs. The writers showed a different writability dependence on initial permeability and saturation flux density of a soft magnetic keeper. An increase of the keeper permeability improves the writability of the TP writer but marginally affects performance of the other. Modeling results suggest that the LP writer might outperform the writer with the TP if the keeper permeability is below 100. The TP writer did not show a noticeable sensitivity to the saturation flux density of the keeper in a range from 10 to 24 kG. The writability of the LP writer decreases monotonically with the saturation flux density of the keeper. Received results imply that the TP and LP writers might have different requirements to properties of the keeper material.
Effect of Carvedilol on the Morbidity of Patients With Severe Chronic Heart Failure Results of the Carvedilol Prospective Randomized Cumulative Survival (COPERNICUS) Study

Background— β-Blocking agents improve functional status and reduce morbidity in mild-to-moderate heart failure, but it is not known whether they produce such benefits in severe heart failure. Methods and Results— We randomly assigned 2289 patients with symptoms of heart failure at rest or on minimal exertion and with an ejection fraction <25% (but not volume-overloaded) to double-blind treatment with either placebo (n=1133) or carvedilol (n=1156) for an average of 10.4 months. Carvedilol reduced the combined risk of death or hospitalization for a cardiovascular reason by 27% (P=0.00002) and the combined risk of death or hospitalization for heart failure by 31% (P=0.000004). Patients in the carvedilol group also spent 27% fewer days in the hospital for any reason (P=0.0005) and 40% fewer days in the hospital for heart failure (P<0.0001). These differences were as a result of both a decrease in the number of hospitalizations and a shorter duration of each admission. More patients felt improved and fewer pat...
Navigating the Biomedical Research System as a Full Participant: Strategies and Opportunities for the Nuclear Medicine Technologist

After a quick look at the New England Journal of Medicine , Radiology , or for that matter, The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) , one is inundated with research reports. These range from esoteric and highly specialized methods to more broadly applied and clinically useful findings. Despite daily
Precise Measurement of the K + K - Lifetime Ratio

In this paper the details of a previously reported precise measurement of the $\frac{{K}^{+}}{{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}}$ lifetime ratio are described. Using a separated beam at the Brookhaven AGS, we have counted the fraction of 1.6- and 2.0-GeV/c $K$ mesons surviving at distances up to 2000 in. The result of the measurement yields $\frac{\ensuremath{\tau}({K}^{+})}{\ensuremath{\tau}({K}^{\ensuremath{-}})}\ensuremath{-}1=\ensuremath{-}0.00090\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.00078$, indicating no violation of the $\mathrm{CPT}$ theorem. No evidence for deviations from an exponential decay law or for the existence of long-lived $K$ mesons was found. The upper limit for any long-lived $K$ mesons in the beam is 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ at the 90% confidence level.
La función del himno a Apolo, Artemisa y Dionisos (vv. 151-215) en Edipo Rey de Sófocles

A partir de la relacion entre el himno como composicion poetica y el contexto ritual de las Grandes Dionisias, se analiza la funcion del himno a Apolo, a Artemisa y a Dionisos en Edipo Rey . Dentro de la ficcion dramatica, los ancianos tebanos, buscando la salvacion de su ciudad, entonan este pean apotropaico. En el contexto de la performance , los miembros del coro son ciudadanos atenienses que participan del ritual tragico con la intencion de alabar y de aplacar a deidades veneradas en Atenas. Starting from the relation between the hymn as poetic composition and the ritual context of the Great Dionysia, it analyze the function the Hymn to Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus in Oedipus Tyrannus . In the dramatic fiction, the elders want to save to city and sing this apotropaic paean. In the performance, the chorus is composed of Athenians citizenry that take part in the tragic ritual to praise and appease gods worshipped in Athens.
Chewing sandpaper: grit, plant apparency, and plant defense in sand-entrapping plants

Sand entrapment on plant surfaces, termed psammophory or sand armor, is a phylogenetically and geographically widespread trait. The functional significance of this phenomenon has been poorly investigated. Sand and soil are nonnutritive and difficult for herbivores to process, as well as visually identical to the background. We experimentally investigated whether this sand coating physically protected the plant from herbivores or increased crypsis (e.g., decreased apparency to herbivores). We tested the former hypothesis by removing entrapped sand from stems, petioles, and leaves of the sand verbena Abronia latifolia and by supplementing natural sand levels in the honeyscented pincushion plant Navarretia mellita. Consistent with a physical defensive function, leaves with sand present or supplemented suffered less chewing herbivory than those with sand removed or left as is. To test a possible crypsis effect, we coated some sand verbena stems with green sand, matching the stem color, as well as others with brown sand to match the background color. Both suffered less chewing herbivory than controls with no sand and herbivory did not significantly differ between the colors, suggesting crypsis was not the driving resistance mechanism. Strong tests of plant apparency are rare; this experimental approach may be possible in other systems and represents one of few manipulative tests of this long-standing hypothesis.
Murmur study

Murmur Study is an art installation that examines the rise of micro-messaging technologies such as Twitter and Facebook's status updates. One might describe these messages as a type of digital small talk. But unlike face to face conversations, these fleeting thoughts are accumulated, archived and digitally indexed by corporations, governments and research institutions. While the long-term impact of these archives remains to be seen, the sheer volume of publicly accessible, personal, and often emotional expressions should give us pause.
The suburban bias of American society

ABSTRACTPast research has characterized countries as displaying the traits of urban or rural bias. Neither concept fits the United States well. We propose, as a hypothesis for research, that it may better be understood as displaying a suburban bias vis-a-vis both urban and rural populations. Drawing on the urban and rural bias literatures, we discuss two forms that suburban bias might take, allocational and dispositional, and the ways in which they might be identified. We offer initial evidence of a prevailing suburban bias in the United States in two spheres, those of judicial interpretation and American planning history, and conclude with suggestions for further research on the hypothesis.
Excretion of Carbon-14 by Man after Administration of Morphine-N-Methyl-C14

Summary1. Therapeutic doses of morphine-N-methyl-C14 have been administered to 5 human subjects. The major portion of the radioactivity is excreted in 24 hours. Urinary excretion accounted for most of the recovered activity, and there was some correlation between urine volumes and carbon-14 excretion when these volumes were abnormally high or low. 2. Fecal excretion accounted for 7 to 10% of the dose and the possibility that this material originates in the bile as “bound” morphine with subsequent hydrolysis in the intestine is discussed. Intestinal excretion is not as important in man as in rats. 3. Pulmonary excretion of C14O2 ranged from 31/2 to 6% of the injected dose in 24 hours. There was no sex difference in excretion by this route, as has been observed in the rat. 4. The carbon-14 excretion pattern for the one addict was similar to the nontolerant subjects, except in the case of the feces. 5. It has been shown that it is feasible to do tracer studies in normal subjects using less than a microcurie ...