cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biotin and choline in foods—Nutritional importance and methods of analysis: A review

Abstract Biotin and choline are essential nutrients for many animals and man. Biotin has been shown to be an active component of several enzymes. The nutrient is involved in regulating fatty acid synthesis and also influences carbohydrate metabolism. Generally, the need for biotin in the human body is easily met through the dietary supply combined with endogenous synthesis by the gut microflora. Choline plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular membrane structure and permeability and in transporting fat in the bloodstream. The body can synthesise choline provided adequate amounts of precursors, folic acid and vitamin B12 are available. A choline deficiency is only possible when both the amount of choline in the diet and the supply of nutrients required for de novo synthesis are limiting. This review discusses the nutritional importance of biotin and choline and methods of analysis for these nutrients.
The ethics of sales: Finding an appropriate balance

I Salespeople can be ethically correct and successful at ’ the same time. N othing is of greater importance to any business than the selling of its products or services. However, it is difficult to find a more ambiguous area of contemporary life. Without sales, a company loses its reason for existing. Yet many people are unsure what to think about the practice of selling. Should they strive toward it or despise it? Should they accept selling as a necessary evil, a marginal good, or a praiseworthy activity requiring a high level of skill? Willy Loman in Death of a Saleman, who must make a living in a rough and tumble world where no quarter is given, is deeply pitied. The proverbial seller of used cars is distrusted, while “sales engineers” for large corporations are seen as belonging to a corporate elite who help strengthen the American economy. A century ago the seller of horses was distrusted, while employees of Great Britain’s East India Company, engaged in foreign trade on a grand scale, were admired. Some people joke about the “traveling salesman.” Many people look for ways to develop resistance to various sorts of sales pitches, while books such as The At-t of the Deul become best sellers. Especially within their own companies, successful sales people may be heroes, but they are just as often mistrusted. Employees may advise one another not to be taken in by their ‘sophisticated” sales colleagues, whose skills are equated with manipulative, self-serving strategies to achieve goals. When it comes to sales practices, people are fascinated, repulsed, envious, grateful, embarrassed, annoyed, indifferent. These attitudes should not be wholly unexpected: “selling,” in a
Family histories and multiple transitions among homeless young adults: Pathways to homelessness

Abstract This study explored the early family histories of homeless young adults, the types and number of transitions they experienced, and their pathways to the street. Intensive qualitative interviews were audio taped and transcribed with 40 homeless young adults 19 to 21 years of age in the Midwest. Findings show that family backgrounds were generally characterized by substance use, child maltreatment, and witnessing violence, all of which provide social context for understanding why so many of these young people opted to leave home in search of an alternative living situation. The current findings also reveal that while some young adults ran away from home as adolescents, others were “pushed out” (i.e., told to leave), or removed by state agencies. Current study findings illustrate that young adults' trajectories are marked by multiple living arrangements such as home, foster care, detention facility, and drug rehabilitation. Overall, study results show that young adults' family histories place them on trajectories for early independence marked by multiple transitions and numerous living situations, culminating in lack of a permanent residence to call home.
Comparing squaring and cubing units with multipliers

With power becoming a precious resource in current VLSI systems, performance per Watt has become a more important metric than chip area. With a large number of applications benefitting from support for complex functional units like squaring and cubing, it becomes imperative that such functions be implemented in hardware. Implementing these functions using existing general purpose multipliers in a design may result in area savings in some cases but results in power and latency penalties. We propose to use dedicated hardware accelerators like squaring and cubing units to perform squares and cubes, respectively. We study the trade-off for computing squares and cubes using a general purpose multiplier versus dedicated units from a software perspective. We compare area and power requirements for various widths. We are able to reduce power consumption per computation by more than 50% in squaring units and more than 40% in cubing units using dedicated units. Depending on the requirements of the applications, dedicated squaring and cubing units can also aid multipliers in improving the performance and latency of various applications.
Cerebrovascular complication associated with pulmonary vein ablation.

Stroke and PV Ablation.Introduction: Radiofrequency (RF) ablation has become an established treatment modality for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). A principal limitation of RF catheter ablation is the risk of thromboembolism. Stroke as a complication after ablation of triggers of AF has not been previously reported. Methods and Results: Fifty-six patients underwent RF ablation for a focal source of AF. Forty-nine patients (86%) had AF triggers in ≥1 pulmonary vein. Mean procedure time was 227 ± 74 minutes. Cerebrovascular event occurred in 3 (5%) patients, all >60 years old. Two of the three patients had a prior history of transient ischemic attacks. Conclusion: The risk of stroke from RF ablation may be higher in paroxysmal AF patients with prior transient ischemic attack.
Gas-phase fragmentation characteristics of benzyl-aminated lysyl-containing tryptic peptides

The fragmentation characteristics of peptides derivatized at the side-chain e-amino group of lysyl residues via reductive amination with benzaldehyde have been examined using collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry. The resulting MS/MS spectra exhibit peaks representing product ions formed from two independent fragmentation pathways. One pathway results in backbone fragmentation and commonly observed sequence ion peaks. The other pathway corresponds to the unsymmetrical, heterolytic cleavage of the Cζ-Ne bond that links the benzyl derivative to the side-chain lysyl residue. This results in the elimination of the derivative as a benzylic or tropylium carbocation and a (n − l)+-charged peptide product (where n is the precursor ion charge state). The frequency of occurrence of the elimination pathway increases with increasing charge of the precursor ion. For the benzylmodified tryptic peptides analyzed in this study, peaks representing products from both of these pathways are observed in the MS/MS spectra of doubly-charged precursor ions, but the carbocation elimination pathway occurs almost exclusively for triply-charged precursor ions. The experimental evidence presented herein, combined with molecular orbital calculations, suggests that the elimination pathway is a charge-directed reaction contingent upon protonation of the secondary e-amino group of the benzyl-derivatized lysyl side chain. If the secondary e-amine is protonated, the elimination of the carbocation is observed. If the precursor is not protonated at the secondary e-amine, backbone fragmentation persists. The application of appropriately substituted benzyl analogs may allow for selective control over the relative abundance of product ions generated from the two pathways.
Total Correction of Tetralogy of Fallot in Adolescents and Adults

Sixty-four cyanotic patients over 15 years of age with tetralogy of Fallot have undergone total correction. Fifty-one patients had previous shunting procedures. The established intracardiac technique for total repair was used throughout. In 11% (7 of 64) of patients reconstruction of the pulmonary outflow tract was required. Follow-up extends from six months to ten years. Operative mortality was 6.25% (4 of 64). There was one late death. All deaths were technically related and none could be correlated with patient age. Bilaterally functioning Blalock shunts and Potts anastomoses contributed significantly to operative mortality. Abundant collateral circulation exists in older patients with tetralogy of Fallot, and increased bleeding in this series was reflected in a 20.3% (13 of 64) reoperation rate. Survivors represent 92.2% (59 of 64) of the group and all are completely asymptomatic. Approximately one-half of the surviving patients have undergone postoperative catheterization. Of those patients studied, ...
Lack of Lung Hemorrhage in Humans After Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography with Ultrasound Exposure Conditions Similar to Those Causing Lung Hemorrhage in Laboratory Animals

Abstract This study investigated the phenomenon of ultrasonically induced lung hemorrhage in humans. Multiple experimental laboratories have shown that diagnostic ultrasound exposure can cause hemorrhage in the lungs of laboratory animals. The left lung of 50 patients (6 women, 44 men, mean age 61 years) was observed directly by the surgeon after routine intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was performed. From manufacturer specifications the maximum derated intensity in the sound field of the system used was 186 W/cm 2 , the maximum derated rarefactional acoustic pressure was 2.4 MPa, and the maximum mechanical index was 1.3. The lowest frequency used was 3.5 MHz. This exposure exceeds the threshold found for surface lung hemorrhage seen on gross observation of laboratory animals. No hemorrhage was noted on any lung surface by the surgeon on gross observation. We conclude that clinical transesophageal echocardiography, even at field levels a little greater than the reported thresholds for lung hemorrhage in laboratory animals, did not cause surface lung hemorrhage apparent on gross observation. These negative results support the conclusion that the human lung is not markedly more sensitive to ultrasound exposure than that of other mammals. (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1998;11:57-60.)
Flow Profiles in the Plates of a Milk Pasteurizer

Abstract Microbial lethality during the heating and cooling periods of ultra-high temperature pasteurization can be as much as 10 times that occurring in the holding tube. As a step in determining lethality in the heating and cooling sections of a pasteurizer, residence time profiles of milk in a single plate were determined at flow rates of from 500 to 2,000 liters/ h. The geometry of a typical flow passage was determined with a stainless steel plate and a duplicate clear plastic plate through which flow was observed. Dye was injected into the milk flow and photographed with a 16-mm camera. At the nominal flow rate of 1,100 liters/h, minimum residence time was .78s, whereas the average residence time was 2.08s. The ratios of minimum to average residence times for milk flowing at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 liters/h were .31, .38, and .46. Values were similar for both upward and downward flows. A high-velocity zone (short residence time) was observed along each side of the plate.
Hypothesis on the foundation of stochastic interpretations of quantum mechanics

Abstract The hypothesis that a particle exists in a cavity space in thermal equilibrium with photons and executes a Brownian motion is due to collisions with the photons leads to a realistic stochastic interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Effect of argon and non-argon ion impingement on the stress reduction of multilayers for extreme-ultraviolet lithography

We investigated the effects of oxygen and nitrogen atoms on stress reduction in low-stress multilayers developed by us. It was considered that the presence of non-argon atoms in molyndenum layers caused the stress change in the multilayers, because in the ion-beam polishing (IBP) of low-stress multilayers, we found that air was mixed with the argon gas for IBP with an assisting ion source. We analyzed the composition of the low-stress multilayer with oxygen- and nitrogen-mixed gas in the depth direction and detected oxygen and nitrogen atoms near the surface of the molybdenum layers. We also used an in situ stress monitoring system developed by us and investigated the contribution to stress reduction of each process with/without oxygen and nitrogen. We found that there were thresholds for both oxygen gas flow rate and thickness oxygen-doped molybdenum layers (i.e., molybdenum oxide layers) to suppress the compressive stress change in silicon layers. It was considered that the molybdenum oxide layers functioned as barrier layers to impede the formation of the interdiffusion layers causing strain, resulting in the suppression of the compressive stress change in subsequent silicon layers.
THE TRANSLATION OF TWO NAVAHO CHANT WORDS

T IS regrettable that the material in the hands of each of the numerous workers in a field as complicated as that of the Navaho is not available to the others, for, if it were, there would not be so much duplication of effort and so much misunderstanding. This situation cannot be remedied, but certain basic explanations may be of value even though they are incomplete or taken out of their setting. Drs. Clyde Kluckhohn and L. C. Wyman are interested in the classification
Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain and the Influence of the Sixties, by S. K. Farber

Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain and the Influence of the Sixties never quite defines ecstasy before warning the reader emphatically against it. “When we think of ecstasy,” Dr. Sharon Klayman ...
Thermal Modeling of a Reversing Valve in a Refrigeration System

A mathematical model of a reversing valve was developed in order to evaluate the losses and for determining the effects of a reversing valve, on the performance of a heat pump. This mathematical model of the reversing valve was tested using the experimental data of Fang and Nutter (1999). The theoretical predictions made by this model agreed with that of the experimental data. Further, the mathematical model isolated the pressure losses due to friction; pipe-fittings, mass-leakage and heat transfer from the total losses. The evaluation of constituent losses assisted in detecting a faculty reversing valve, and also determining the effect of mass leakage and heat leakage on the compressor work input and COP of the heat pump.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Collaboration and dialogue: video as an agent in extending and enriching learning and writing

In this paper I explore the use of video and multimedia technology in student writing as a method to facilitate students' critical reflection about their learning process and teachers' understanding of students' learning process. Use of video in instruction has become more available and popular. From a digital camera to a webcam and a mobile phone plus the Internet, our students are using video to express and communicate their thoughts and ideas with the world outside school. K-12 educators can also use video to communicate with and better understand students. When students need to write a paper or report that presents their understanding of a specific subject or topic, video and multimedia technology can enhance that learning experience, provide an opportunity for collaborative learning between students and their peers, and enable dialogues between a student and a teacher. Using this approach, students critically reflect on and talk about each other's paper development and video creation process. At several points in the process of organizing and presenting their learning about a subject (beginning, middle and end) or at certain important turning points, students may communicate their learning via reflective videos. Through collaborative learning, they study how to critique and reflect on their thinking and gain multimedia literacy by making and editing video clips. Then, they convert their papers into PDF files and choose the proper places to embed their video clips in their papers. As they read students' papers, teachers can click on these clips to gain background into the paper creation process and a deep understanding of the student's learning process. Furthermore, the new media-enriched paper not only records the student's learning process but also helps the student deepen their thinking about the presentation of knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, and helps the teacher aid the student in organizing learning and knowledge. Other benefits include stimulating students' motivation to participate in paper writing by recording a video.
Combustion of parallel fuel droplet streams

Abstract An analysis of the combined mechanisms of heat transfer, vaporization, ignition, and combustion of two parallel fuel droplet streams injected in a hot, oxidizing gas flow is presented. The analysis gives a qualitative understanding of the various complex phenomena involved in the vaporization and ignition of one stream of droplets followed by the propagation of the flame to a second stream and the establishment of diffusion flames surrounding each droplet stream. Some simplifications of the fluid mechanics of the flow are assumed, and the fuel droplet streams are represented as parallel droplet sheets injected at prescribed locations within the gas flow. Results are presented for three different stream arrangements as well as for two different fuel types and two different inlet droplet radii. For the various cases considered, comparisons are made in terms of droplet vaporization distances, droplet lifetimes, ignition delays, and flame propagation rates. Droplet lifetimes and ignition delays are shown to decrease as fuel volatility increases and as inlet droplet size and lateral stream spacing decrease.
Practical Process Applications Of A Commercially Available Electrical Overlay And Linewidth Measuring System

This paper deals with characterization of a pilot line photo process using an electrical linewidth measurement system.* A functional process for set up of the system is described, as well as the test structures used. Evaluations conducted include overlay stability of a Perkin-Elmer 542 and adjustment, overlay of a Perkin-Elmer 542 to three Perkin-Elmer 240s, overlay to a Perkin-Elmer 542 in another wafer fab, a daily linewidth evaluation on a Perkin-Elmer 542, and a comparison study of the electrical prober to other types of linewidth measuring systems. It will be shown that this tool, with precision in the .001 pm range (3 Q) is capable of providing correlation data for other types of quick feedback, smaller data base systems for linewidth measurement, as well as providing a data base for the proper evaluation of photolithographic processing.© (1985) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Actuator placement based on reachable set optimization for expected disturbance

This paper examines the role of the control objective and the control time in determining fuel-optimal actuator placement for structural control. A general theory is developed that can be easily extended to include alternative performance metrics such as energy and timeoptimal control. The performance metric defines a convex admissible control set which leads to a max-min optimization problem expressing optimal location as a function of initial conditions and control time. A solution procedure based on a nested genetic algorithm is presented and applied to an example problem. Results indicate that the optimal placement varies widely as a function of both control time and disturbance location. An approximate fitness function is presented to alleviate the computational burden associated with finding exact solutions. This function is shown to accurately predict the optimal actuator locations for a 6th-order system, and is further demonstrated on a 12th-order system.
Theory of algorithmic self-assembly

Self-assembly is the process by which small components automatically assemble themselves into large, complex structures. Examples in nature abound: lipids self-assemble a cell's membrane, and bacteriophage virus proteins self-assemble a capsid that allows the virus to invade other bacteria. Even a phenomenon as simple as crystal formation is a process of self-assembly. How could such a process be described as "algorithmic?" The key word in the first sentence is automatically. Algorithms automate a series of simple computational tasks. Algorithmic self-assembly systems automate a series of simple growth tasks, in which the object being grown is simultaneously the machine controlling its own growth.
Growth of 4 He films on graphite, krypton-plated graphite, magnesium oxide, and Mylar substrates

Adsorption isotherms of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ on graphite foam, uncompressed exfoliated graphite, krypton-plated graphite foam, MgO, and Mylar indicate type-II growth, i.e., uniform layer deposition up to a critical thickness, and bulk condensation thereafter. On graphite the critical thickness is about four atomic layers; plating with one monolayer of krypton reduces the critical thickness by more than one layer. The critical thickness on MgO is 1.5 layers, and on Mylar is between three and four layers. None of the vapor pressure isotherms obey the exponential ${d}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ Frenkel-Halsey-Hill equation within the range of the experiments.
The difficult hemodialysis access extremity : proximal radial arteriovenous fistulas and the role of angioscopy and valvulotomes

Abstract Background Native arteriovenous (AV) fistulas (NAVF) offer significantly lower risks than grafts or catheters. Individuals with a difficult access extremity (DAE) are often viewed as unsuitable for NAVFs. The proximal radial artery (PRA) NAVF offers a safe and reliable opportunity for a direct fistula in most patients, and we find it an important surgical option in the DAE. Methods Consecutive vascular access operations were reviewed to find individuals with DAE. We defined the DAE patient group as those individuals where a wrist (Cimino) or upper arm brachiocephalic NAVF was not possible or was predicted to fail. Results Preoperative physical and ultrasound examinations identified 58 individuals with DAE. Mean age was 56 years (range 11 to 87), 34 were female, 29 were diabetic, and 27 had previous access surgery. NAVFs were constructed in all patients. No grafts were utilized. Forty-six patients had a PRA NAVF constructed. NAVF patency was 91%. Twenty-three patients required retrograde angioscopy or passage of a valvulotome to gain forearm access. Twenty-one of these 23 individuals maintained an open NAVF segment in the forearm. Conclusion NAVFs were constructed in all patients. PRA NAVFs play an important role in extending hemodialysis by NAVF for this difficult patient group. Forearm access is often possible in these patients and may be successfully augmented by angioscopy or valvulotomes.
Blue-light-induced absorbance changes associated with carotenoids in Euglena

When treated with blue light, intact cells of Euglena gracilis Klebs var. bacillaris Cori, bleached strain W3BUL, show a series of positive peaks at 384, 411, and 440 nm in the blue-light-minus-dark difference spectrum; bleached strain 1224-5/24 shows a series of positive peaks at 386, 417, and 448 nm under the same conditions. The same changes are observed in a 27,000xg supernatant from darkgrown W3. The absorption change appears to be a consequence of shifts in the absorption of carotenoids; it is not seen in cells of W3BUL grown on SAN 9789 (4-chloro-5-(methylamino)-2-(α,α, α-trifluoro-m-tolyl)-3(2H)pyridazinone) to deplete the carotenoids or in cells of W10BSmL, a mutant lacking carotenoids. Inhibitors of flavin-mediated reactions, reductants and valinomycin had no effect on the activity of the system. The activity in the 27,000xg supernatant was associated with material of a molecular weight more than 2.5×106 and was insensitive to heating for 2 min at 100° C but was reduced or eliminated on longer heat treatment or addition of Triton X-100, indicating a possible association with membrane material. Photoactivity is enriched in the lower density fractions of a flotation gradient, and correlates with the ζ-carotene content in all fractions. Similar spectral changes can be obtained by comparing the iodine catalyzed cis-to-trans isomerization of ζ-carotene in a CS2-CHCl3 solvent. The action spectrum for the absorbance change shows effectiveness peaks in the 370–390 and 420–448-nm regions, with no marked effectiveness past 500 nm. Thus the photosensitizer may not be a carotenoid (at least not a normally-occurring C40 carotenoid). These blue-lightinduced absorption changes and their action spectra are discussed in relation to such blue-light-mediated responses as carotenogenesis, chloroplast development and phototaxis.
Statistical and fragmentation properties of the micrometeoroid flux observed at Arecibo

[1] The micrometeor observations performed using the 430 MHz Arecibo Observatory radar have proven to be crucial for the understanding of meteoric effects on the aeronomy of the upper atmosphere. Meteors observed during the February 2001, 2006, and 2007 campaigns have been analyzed with a fast Fourier transform periodic search algorithm that automatically and uniformly detects meteor events between altitudes of 80 and 142 km. We present a description of the new technique used to detect meteors as well as the meteoroid parameters: altitude profiles, radial speeds, and decelerations. We also note the expected correlation between the radar transmitted power and the observed meteor event rate. The large number of events has enabled us to statistically estimate the average mass density of the observed population indicating that our detected events are generally cometary (1 g/cm3) and not asteroidal (3 g/cm3) in origin. Additionally, many meteor events are observed in which the radar meteor disappears from one radar pulse to the next (i.e., in 1 ms). We interpret this as indicative of the catastrophic destruction of the meteoroid. Until destruction, these events appear to undergo only minor ablation of their volatile components over the observed trajectory. As with a major fraction of all events recorded, the meteoroids that disappear in a terminal event show linear decelerations before their abrupt disappearance. This apparently low ablative mass deposition process may play an important role in the composition (aeronomy) of the upper atmosphere, as it likely produces submicron-sized particles rather than the atom level products of ablation. First results on the altitude, speed, and mass distributions of terminal event meteoroids are given yielding some clues on the physics of the terminal event. Finally, the statistics of those events that yield no deceleration are compared statistically with those that exhibit deceleration with the conclusion that both groups are statistically the same. We further conclude that along with low signal-to-noise ratio and short echo duration, fragmentation of this group of particles is a primary cause of the inability to determine deceleration.
Relationship of headache to phase of the menstrual cycle among young women : a daily diary study

We investigated the relationship between headache occurrence and phase of the menstrual cycle in a 4-month daily diary study of 74 women, 22 to 29 years old, residing in Washington County, Maryland. We selected subjects from women reporting a history of migraine symptoms and at least two migraine headache attacks per month in a 1986 to 1987 population-based survey. Data collection was from March 1987 through April 1988. By using detailed headache symptom information collected daily, we classified headaches into four categories: migraine with aura, migraine without aura, tension-type, and all other headaches. Odds ratios were separately estimated for the individual headache types and all types combined during each of three phases of the menstrual cycle. Risk of migraine without aura was significantly elevated during the first 3 days of menstruation (odds ratio, 1.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.21 to 2.26), but headache risk was not significantly increased during the 2 days immediately preceding onset of menstruation or on the estimated day of ovulation (day 14 before the onset of menstruation). Participants reported headaches on 28% of the study days overall, suggesting that onset of menstruation is an independent but not exclusive precipitating factor for headache attacks among young adult women with migraine. Our data show that onset of menstruation only accounts for a small proportion of migraine attacks among young women with frequent episodes of migraine.
Asymptotic Capacity of Large Fading Relay Networks with Random Node Failures

To understand the network response to large-scale physical attacks, we investigate the asymptotic capacity of a half-duplex fading relay network with random node failures when the number of relays N gets infinitely large. In this paper, a simplified independent attack model is assumed where each relay node fails with a certain probability. The noncoherent relaying scheme is considered, which corresponds to the case of zero forward-link channel state information (CSI) at the relays. Accordingly, the whole relay network can be shown equivalent to a Rayleigh fading channel, where we derive the e-outage capacity upper bound according to the multiple access (MAC) cut-set, and the e-outage achievable rates for both the amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) strategies. Furthermore, we show that the DF strategy is asymptotically optimal as the outage probability e goes to zero, with the AF strategy strictly suboptimal over all signal to noise ratio (SNR) regimes. Regarding the rate loss due to random attacks, the AF strategy suffers a less portion of rate loss than the DF strategy in the high SNR regime, while the DF strategy demonstrates more robust performance in the low SNR regime.
Prolegomena to any future artificial moral agent

As artificial intelligence moves ever closer to the goal of producing fully autonomous agents, the question of how to design and implement an artificial moral agent (AMA) becomes increasingly pressing. Robots possessing autonomous capacities to do things that are useful to humans will also have the capacity to do things that are harmful to humans and other sentient beings. Theoretical challenges to developing artificial moral agents result both from controversies among ethicists about moral theory itself, and from computational limits to the implementation of such theories. In this paper the ethical disputes are surveyed, the possibility of a ‘moral Turing Test’ is considered and the computational difficulties accompanying the different types of approach are assessed. Human-like performance, which is prone to include immoral actions, may not be acceptable in machines, but moral perfection may be computationally unattainable. The risks posed by autonomous machines ignorantly or deliberately harming people ...
Hysterectomy or an alternative

Even though hysterectomy remains an appealing solution for a number of nonmalignant gynecologic conditions, patients are often scheduled for surgery without proper evaluation or consideration of an alternative. For symptoms associated with uterine fibroids or endometriosis, there are alternative treatments that cause less morbidity, are less costly, and often are equally effective. Conservative management may also be appropriate for selected patients with early gynecologic cancer.
Serial exercise testing and prognosis in selected patients considered for cardiac transplantation

Abstract Objectives This study sought to examine the predictive value of variables obtained from serial maximal exercise testing, echocardiography, and ejection fraction in patients referred as potential heart transplant candidates. Background Variables such as peak VO 2 , left ventricular dimensions, ejection fraction, and hemodynamic measurements are known to predict prognosis in heart failure, but there are few data on the impact of serial measurements of these variables on subsequent mortality. Methods and Results Two hundred sixty-three ambulatory patients with severe heart failure referred as potential candidates for heart transplantation who underwent two exercise tests (mean 7.8 months apart) after optimal medical treatment were identified. At the same two time points, echocardiography was performed in 106 (37%) and ejection fraction was measured in 84 (30%). During a mean follow-up period of 3.9 ± 0.1 years, 70 (25%) died and 45 (19%) underwent heart transplantation. Exercise capacity, peak exercise heart rate, and peak exercise systolic blood pressure achieved were all significantly higher among survivors compared with nonsurvivors. Among the survivors a slight increase in peak VO 2 and ejection fraction were observed, but there were no significant differences in the changes of any of the measured variables between survivors and nonsurvivors. There were no significant differences in survival between patients with increased versus those with decreased peak VO 2 , left ventricular dimensions, or ejection fraction. Conclusion Although peak VO 2 , left ventricular dimensions, and ejection fraction predict survival, changes in these parameters do not add any prognostic information in patients with severe heart failure who have been stabilized with optimal medical treatment. Routine use of these procedures therefore does not seem to be warranted and should be performed only in the context of a specific clinical situation. Serial measurements of these parameters do not appear to be useful in the risk stratification of patients referred for heart transplantation. (Am Heart J 1998;135:221-9.)
Rediscovery of Agarista bracamorensis (Ericaceae: Vaccinioideae)

Abstract Agarista bracamorensis has been rediscovered in the Peruvian Andes, near the village of El Espino, near Jaen, and the collections reported here represent the first since the type gathering by A. J. A. Bonpland in the early 1800s. A revised description of this species is presented, and it is compared with A. subcordata and A. albiflora, two putative relatives that also occur in northern Peru. The vegetation in which this species occurs is briefly described, including a list of common associated species.
An in vitro study of the comparative effectiveness of obturating curved root canals with gutta-percha cones, silver cones, and stainless steel files

The quality of apical seal obtained with gutta-percha cones, silver cones, and stainless steel files was assessed in 120 freshly extracted teeth with moderately or severely curved root canals. Teeth were coated with wax, except in the apical foramen area, and immersed in 2 percent methylene blue solution for 48 hours. Apical leakage was quantitated by a linear measurement of the distance that the dye penetrated along the root canal and by a volumetric measurement of the quantity of dye within the root. There was a highly significant (p less than 0.001) correlation between the two measurements. Root canals filled with silver cones showed significantly less apical leakage than those filled with gutta-percha or stainless steel files, regardless of degree of curvature. For both silver cones and stainless steel files, leakage was less in severely curved roots than in moderately curved roots.
Ethnic identity and political consciousness in different social orders

Socialization varies for Chicanos growing up in the social and political orders of different U.S. cities.
The Presence of Female Conveners Correlates with a Higher Proportion of Female Speakers at Scientific Symposia

ABSTRACT We investigated the hypothesis that the gender of conveners at scientific meetings influenced the gender distribution of invited speakers. Analysis of 460 symposia involving 1,845 speakers in two large meetings sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology revealed that having at least one woman member of the convening team correlated with a significantly higher proportion of invited female speakers and reduced the likelihood of an all-male symposium roster. Our results suggest that inclusion of more women as conveners may increase the proportion of women among invited speakers at scientific meetings. IMPORTANCE The proportion of women entering scientific careers has increased substantially, but women remain underrepresented in academic ranks. Participation in meetings as a speaker is a factor of great importance for academic advancement. We found that having a woman as a convener greatly increased women’s participation in symposia, suggesting that one mechanism for achieving gender balance at scientific meetings is to involve more women as conveners.
If you know b-splines well, you also nnow NURBS!

This paper presents our attempt in designing intuitive and interesting materials for teaching NURBS in an undergraduate course with the help of our tool DesignMentor. This approach does not require tedious mathematics and is based on learning-by-doing and visualization. Our approach was classroom tested and used world-wide in the last seven years.
Generalization of the Lambertian model and implications for machine vision

Lambert's model for diffuse reflection is extensively used in computational vision. It is used explicitly by methods such as shape from shading and photometric stereo, and implicitly by methods such as binocular stereo and motion detection. For several real-world objects, the Lambertian model can prove to be a very inaccurate approximation to the diffuse component. While the brightness of a Lambertian surface is independent of viewing direction, the brightness of a rough diffuse surface increases as the viewer approaches the source direction. A comprehensive model is developed that predicts reflectance from rough diffuse surfaces. The model accounts for complex geometric and radiometric phenomena such as masking, shadowing, and interreflections between points on the surface. Experiments have been conducted on real samples, such as, plaster, clay, sand, and cloth. All these surfaces demonstrate significant deviation from Lambertian behavior. The reflectance measurements obtained are in strong agreement with the reflectance predicted by the proposed model. The paper is concluded with a discussion on the implications of these results for machine vision.
Lower Inhibitor Development in Hemophilia A Mice following Administration of Recombinant Factor VIII-O-Phospho-L-serine Complex

Factor VIII is a multidomain protein composed of A1, A2, B, A3, C1, and C2 domains. Deficiency or dysfunction of factor VIII causes hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder. Administration of exogenous recombinant factor VIII as a replacement leads to development of inhibitory antibodies against factor VIII in 15-30% of hemophilia A patients. Hence, less immunogenic preparations of factor VIII are highly desirable. Inhibitory antibodies against factor VIII are mainly directed against immunodominant epitopes in C2, A3, and A2 domains. Further, several universal epitopes for CD4+ T-cells have been identified within the C2 domain. The C2 domain is also known to interact specifically with phosphatidylserine-rich lipid vesicles. Here, we have investigated the hypothesis that complexation of O-phospho-l-serine, the head group of phosphatidylserine, with the C2 domain can reduce the overall immunogenicity of factor VIII. The biophysical (circular dichroism and fluorescence) and biochemical studies (ELISA and size exclusion chromatography) showed that O-phospho-l-serine binds to the phospholipid-binding region in the C2 domain, and this interaction causes subtle changes in the tertiary structure of the protein. O-Phospho-l-serine also prevented aggregation of the protein under thermal stress. The immunogenicity of the factor VIII-O-phospho-l-serine complex was evaluated in hemophilia A mice. The total and inhibitory antibody titers were lower for factor VIII-O-phospho-l-serine complex compared with factor VIII alone. Moreover, factor VIII administered as a complex with O-phospho-l-serine retained in vivo activity in hemophilia A mice. Our results suggest that factor VIII-O-phospho-l-serine complex may be beneficial to increase the physical stability and reduce immunogenicity of recombinant factor VIII preparations.
Effects of dietary protein in patients with chronic renal transplant rejection

Effects of dietary protein in patients with chronic renal transplant rejection. Dietary protein restriction reduces proteinuria and slows the progression of renal failure in a variety of renal diseases in native kidneys. Such beneficial effects may be mediated by the multiple renal effects of dietary protein including those on glomerular capillary hemodynamics and the reninrangiotensin system. The role of dietary protein restriction in the management of chronic renal transplant rejection is, however, unclear. This study was therefore undertaken to examine the effects of dietary protein restriction in patients with chronic rejection. Fourteen patients with biopsy proven chronic rejection, who had been on a self-selected home diet of 1.0 ± 0.1 g protein/kg/day, were randomly assigned, using a crossover design to two 11-day periods, one on a low protein diet (0.55 g/kg/day) and the other on a high protein diet (2 g/kg/day). The effect of these diets on renal hemodynamics, proteinuria, plasma renin activity, and nutritional status was examined. The low protein diet was associated with a significant improvement in glomerular permselectivity in all patients as evidenced by a significant fall in the fractional clearance of albumin and IgG and reduction in 24-hour urinary excretion of total protein, albumin and IgG without any change in blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, or renal plasma flow. Compared to the proteinuria at the beginning of each diet, a high protein diet did not increase but a low protein diet significantly decreased the proteinuria. The low protein diet was also associated with a significant reduction in plasma renin activity, suggesting that part of the beneficial effect of protein restriction was related to the suppression of the renin-angiotensin system. Protein restriction was also associated with modest but significant falls in serum proteins. In conclusion, a low protein diet reduces proteinuria and lowers plasma renin activity in patients with chronic rejection. Dietary protein restriction may improve the course of renal failure in chronic rejection partly by suppressing the renin-angiotensin system. Studies are needed to establish the safe level of dietary protein restriction in these patients and to assess the efficacy of such restriction in slowing the progression of renal failure.
W3MCSim: an online and reconfigurable Monte Carlo simulator for interactive probabilistic/statistical modeling

We have implemented a Monte Carlo simulator (W3MCSim) as an Internet software tool, primarily for interactive use by students, educators, life and other physical scientists, as well as other practitioners of probabilistic and statistical modeling. Interested users download, install and run W3MCSim by visiting the application website. This application incorporates three freely available Microsoft web technologies, namely the Internet Explorer web browser, the Component Object Model software framework and the JScript web page script interpreter. We define the software architecture here, as a web application model, and show how incorporation of these technologies provides an efficient solution to W3MCSim software deployment. We demonstrate the usability and versatility of this simulator with three distinct tutorial examples: simulating the sum of six-sided dice, estimating intersection frequency in "Buffon's needle problem", and testing an animal experiment design model a priori. We also show how the program components can be reconfigured into other programs.
The legacy of ethnic cleansing: The international community and the returns process in post-Dayton Bosnia–Herzegovina

Abstract This paper examines the international community's post-war effort to promote the return of persons displaced by ethnic cleansing in Bosnia–Herzegovina. The war itself began as an extreme ethnonationalist project, seeking security through territorial separation. This created a massive displacement with more than half the country's population driven from their homes largely as a result of the terrorism of ethnic cleansing. The peace settlement at Dayton guaranteed the right to return for displaced persons but also effectively divided the country into ethnonationalist homelands. Thus, while the initial security dilemma for the international community was to separate the warring factions and keep the peace, they soon faced an added security dilemma created by the displaced exercising their right to return to homes in what had become hostile ethnonationalist territories. Faced with obstructions to returns put in place by local ethnonationalists who continued to run day-to-day government operations in places of return, the implementation of the right to return forced the international community to overcome its apolitical and accommodating stance. Changes in the international governance of Bosnia enabled a series of policies designed to promote returns—recognized as key to reconstruction—that employed localized spatial strategies of intervention in support of returnees. After a decade of displacement, the legacy of ethnic cleansing endures, forming limits to returns and persistent insecurity for returning communities, thus permanently altering Bosnia's human geography and political future.
Organization of extrinsic tectal connections in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Nonretinal sources of tectal afferents, the laminar and regional organization of the inputs, and the relation of the tectum with primary and secondary visual and motor centers in goldfish were studied following HRP injections in the optic tectum, orbit of the eye, cerebellum, pretectal area, and dorsolateral mesencephalic tegmentum. Ipsilateral tectal afferents include the area dorsalis centralis of the forebrain, the nucleus dorsalis lateralis of the thalamus, the area pretectalis, the nucleus pretectalis, a nucleus in the rostral mesencephalic tegmentum, the torus longitudinales, the torus semicircularis, a dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, the nucleus isthmi, and a rostral cell group of the nucleus motorius tegmenti. Comparison of results in a series of tectal HRP injections which differed in depth, tangential extent, and location indicated that projections from the area pretectalis, nucleus pretectalis, and nucleus isthmi terminate in the stratum fibrosum et griseum superficiale of the tectum. Terminals of the forebrain and nucleus dorsolateralis and contralateral tectum are sparse and widely branching. Projections from the area and nucleus pretectalis tend to terminate in the rostral tectum, and those from the contralateral tectum, torus semicircularis, dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, and nucleus motorius tegmenti terminate preferentially in the caudal tectum. Cells of origin of extrinsic tectal efferents were also identified following HRP injections in the pretectal area and mesencephalic tegmentum. Proximal dendrites and axons of these cells were labeled sufficiently to allow comparison with morphological types characterized in Golgi studies. HRP injections in the cerebellum labeled cells bodies in the area pretectalis, nucleus pretectalis, and the nucleus of the posterior commissure. Double label experiments with intraocular injection of tritiated proline demonstrated direct retinal input to these three areas. No indications of direct connections between the tectum and cerebellum were found following tectal or cerebellar HRP injections.