cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nine-Month Evaluation of Runoff Quality and Quantity from an Experiential Green Roof in Missouri, USA

Abstract A better understanding of green roof stormwater performance is needed to assess and predict benefits of proposed green roof projects. A nine-month green roof pilot study was conducted in mid-Missouri to evaluate runoff quantity and quality under field conditions for two different media, both tested under planted and unplanted conditions. Water quantity results showed a ∼40% reduction in runoff from the unplanted growing media and a ∼60% reduction in runoff from the planted growing media. A water balance model was developed that incorporated water storage in the media and evapotranspiration (ET) from the media based upon local weather conditions using the Penmen–Monteith ET method. Water quality monitoring showed a first-order decline of excess nutrients in the first few months of green roof operation. Total phosphorus >30 mg-P/L and total nitrogen concentrations >60 mg-N/L were observed in green roof runoff initially, with concentrations decreasing over nine months to ∼5 mg-P/L and ∼10 mg-N/L, respectively. In addition, elevated total organic carbon concentrations were observed, with concentrations of 500 mg/L initially, decreasing after a few weeks to below 50 mg/L. Media type and age were the largest influences on carbon and nutrient loading from the green roof media tested.
Is Henoch-Schönlein Purpura the Systemic Form of IgA Nephropathy?

Despite different clinical features, IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) are indistinguishable by histopathology, leading to the suggestion that HSP is a systemic form of IgAN. This review compares and contrasts the clinical, pathologic, and experimental similarities and differences of these two disorders. Many patients with HSP have minimal extrarenal disease, while up to 30% of patients with IgAN will subsequently have systemic symptoms. Although patients with HSP are usually much younger than those with IgAN, the age distributions often overlap. Both may have recurrent macroscopic hematuria associated with pharyngitis, a similar risk of developing renal insufficiency, and recurrent disease after kidney transplantation. Although the pattern of IgA subclass and complement component deposition are similar, monocytic and T lymphocytic infiltrates have been observed only in HSP. Dermal blood vessels of many patients with IgAN have IgA immunofluorescence similar to that in HSP, supporting a systemic process in IgAN. Although the pathogenesis is not clearly understood for either disease, investigations of potential disease mechanisms have revealed striking similarities. These include an upregulated in vitro IgA immune response, circulating IgA-containing immune complexes and autoantibodies, and decreased Fc receptor-mediated immune clearance. Finally, immunogenetic studies suggest that patients with both conditions inherit a predisposition for disease.
Dorsal Diaphragmatic Hernias in the Dog: Surgical Repair

SUMMARY Three cases of tearing of the dorsal aspect of the diaphragm are described. Comparisons have been drawn between dorsal diaphragmatic hernias. In all three cases the right dorsal aspect of the diaphragm was involved in the tear. Two cases also had the right diaphragmatic crus torn. The paracostal abdominal approach is recommended to enable adequate visualization and repair of the dorsal aspect of the diaphragm.
Instabilities in line-driven stellar winds. III: Wave propagation in the case of pure line absorption

The spatial and temporal evolution of small-amplitude velocity perturbations is examined in the idealized case of a stellar wind that is driven by pure line absorption of the star's continuum radiation. It is established that the instability in the supersonic region is of the advective type relative to the star, but of the absolute type relative to the wind itself. It is also shown that the inward propagation of information in such a wind is limited to the sound speed, in contrast to the theory of Abbott, which predicts inward propagation faster than sound. This apparent contradiction is resolved through an extensive discussion of the analytically soluble case of zero sound speed.
Millstone Hill coherent-scatter radar observations of electric field variability in the sub-auroral polarization stream

[1] Coherent backscatter observations with the Millstone Hill UHF radar (MHR) are used to investigate spatial/temporal variations in the ionospheric sub-auroral polarization stream (SAPS) electric field. For the 440 MHz MHR, coherent amplitude is on average linearly proportional to electric field strength. The use of both main-beam and sidelobe returns and the great sensitivity of the MHR system permits observations spanning 3° of the SAPS region with 1-sec temporal and 10-km spatial resolution. For a moderately disturbed event on May 25, 2000, the SAPS channel moved steadily equatorward. Large-scale (30 mV/m peak to peak) wave-like oscillations in the electric field magnitude (200s–300s periodicity) were seen to propagate across the SAPS channel throughout the hour-long event. It is suggested that such localized electric field intensifications, which exhibit many of the characteristics of the narrow SAID features described in the literature, arise as wavelike perturbations within the SAPS channel.
Principles of high current electron beam acceleration

Abstract High current pulsed electron accelerators operate with beam currents exceeding 1 kA, pulse lengths from 20 ns to 1 μs, and output energies up to 50 MeV. Potential applications include pulsed radiography, intense microwave generation, free electron laser drivers, directed energy for defense, and industrial radiation processing applications. This paper gives a tutorial on the principles of high current electron accelerators. It is divided into four sections: (a) high current sources, (b) space charge dominated extractors, (c) beam transport with strong self-fields, and (d) methods of high power acceleration. In addition to discussions of conventional technology, such as the linear induction accelerator, promising new approaches to beam generation and acceleration are outlined. These include laser driven photocathodes, ion channel focusing, and high power rf accelerators.
Method to improve the accuracy of membrane osmometry measures of protein molecular weight

Abstract Membrane osmometry provides a simple method to determine protein molecular weight but accuracy is limited behavior. Recent studies (Fullerton et al., Biochem. Cell. Biol., in press) show that non-ideal osmotic response of protein solutions is described by the empirical equation, Msv/Ms = RTϱ/As × 1 /π + I, where Ms = mass of solute, Msv = mass of solvent, R = The Universal gasconstant, T= absulute temperature, ϱ = solvent density, As = solute molecular mass, π = osmotic presute and I = the nonideality parameter. This linear relation is used in this paper to demonstrate that measurement of molecular weight from the slope simplifies such measures and improves the accuracy relative to classical methods. The molecular weight of bovine serum albumin is measured with error less than 0.9%. The single dimensionless nonideality parameter, I = 4.05 + 0.07, describes non-ideal curvature in the typical πV = nRT diagram better than the customary second power virial expansion requiring 3 fitting constant. Analysis of eight data sets on four proteins from the literature shows that molecular weight calculated from the slope of the new equation agress with chemical molecular weight within an RMS error of only 1.9%.
The divisor class group of surfaces of embedding dimension 3

Abstract Using techniques of linear algebra and a theorem of Eisenbud, we prove that k〚x,y,z〛/(x 2 + y 3 , z 5 ), (k any field), R 〚x,y,z〛/(x 2 + y 2 , z m ), m⩾2 , Z /3 Z 〚x,y,z〛x 2 + y 3 + z 4 ) and Z /7 Z 〚x,y,z〛/(x 2 + y 3 + 2z 3 ) are factorial. Moreover applying the Hilbert-Burch Theorem, we prove that the divisor class group Cl(R) of a normal local domain (R, M) is generated by the classes [P]of height 1 primes P which are not contained in Me(R) where R is a normal local domain of embedding dimension 3.
Cost-effectiveness of staging computed tomography of the chest in patients with T2 soft tissue sarcomas.

BACKGROUND. Published practice guidelines recommend routine chest computed tomography (CT) scanning as part of the staging evaluation for patients with T2 soft tissue sarcomas (STS), although there is no direct evidence to support this practice. The objective of this study was to determine the yield and cost-effectiveness of routine versus selective chest CT scanning for the staging of patients with T2 STS and to identify any subgroups for whom a more selective approach to chest CT scanning could be considered. METHODS. Six hundred consecutive patients with primary, nonthoracic, T2 (> 5 cm) STS underwent both chest X-ray (CXR) and chest CT scanning to evaluate the presence of pulmonary metastatic disease (M1). The authors constructed a decision tree that modeled the outcomes of diagnostic testing for two hypothetical diagnostic strategies: 1) routine chest CT (rCT) or 2) CXR and selective chest CT (sCT). The yield and cost of each strategy were determined; the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated as the cost per additional patient with pulmonary metastases identified by rCT versus sCT. RESULTS.The yield of rCT was higher than that of sCT (M1 disease identified in 19.2% vs. 16.0% of patients, respectively), but rCT was more costly ($1301 vs. $418 per patient, respectively). The ICER of rCT compared with sCT was $27,594 per patient identified with pulmonary metastasis. The expected yields, costs, and ICERs of the diagnostic strategies varied across patient subgroups based on grade, anatomic site, and tumor size. CONCLUSIONS. For patients with T2 STS, rCT was most cost-effective in patients with high-grade lesions or extremity lesions. The findings of this study do not support the routine use of chest CT scanning in all patients with T2 STS.
Subsurface geological investigation of a Pleistocene braided stream in the northern Coastal Plain, Delaware (U.S.A.)

Primary sedimentary structures and sedimentary textures of the Pleistocene fluvial sediments of the Columbia Formation were investigated both in the outcrops and in the subsurface. Three hundred and thirty-one subsurface samples, taken from forty holes, and fifty-six outcrop samples were analysed in the laboratory and the results were statistically treated. Unknown sedimentary structures were recognized in the subsurface by correlating some textural parameters (mean grain size, skewness, and kurtosis) of the drilling (subsurface) samples with those of the outcrop samples where the sedimentary structures were known. The utilization of both the sedimentary structures and the textures made it possible to recognize major morphologic elements of a Pleistocene stream system (channels, channel bars, floodbasins, and channel-fills) in the subsurface and to reconstruct, in a general way, the events that occurred during the existence of the stream system. It seems that in the initial stages of the Columbia deposition, the streams were confined to the valleys in the underlying surface made up of the Palaeocene-Eocene glauconitic greensands. After the valleys were filled with the Pleistocene sediments, the streams were able to shift their channels freely throughout the study area; at least two new tributary streams were added to the system and a major flood occurred during that time. Although the technique of the recognition of primary sedimentary structures in the subsurface employed in this study has shown useful in the interpretation of the fluvial sedimentary bodies, it needs further testing before it can be accepted as a new geologic tool.
Multiscale mapping of aggregated signal features to embedded time–frequency localized operations using wavelets

Aggregated signals are referred to as the measurements of system-level responses generated by the multiple operations embedded in a system. While an extensive literature exists on the analysis of general signal profiles, limited research has been performed on the topic of how to map features of the aggregated signals to the responses of individual operations, which is important for individual operation performance monitoring and assessment. In this paper, a two-step mapping algorithm is developed to obtain those mapping features using a mutiscale wavelet analysis integrated with statistical hypothesis testing and engineering knowledge. It is shown that multiscale wavelet analysis is effective for mapping aggregated signals to the embedded individual operations that generate localized time–frequency responses. This algorithm is further demonstrated in a stamping process, in which the extracted wavelet coefficients of aggregated press tonnage signals are explicitly mapped to individual or a few contributing...
A dynamic perspective on the impact of process innovation upon competitive strategies

The paper lays the foundation for building a dynamic theory of the impact of process innovation upon competitive strategies. An innovation is tracked over two and a half decades to observe changing patterns in competition resulting from ongoing innovation development, emerging complementary technologies, and expanding use. The study finds that the innovation created competitive opportunities and threats for both firms that adopted it and those that did not.
On unitary properties of Grunsky's matrix

or one of its rotations.This was proved for the second and third coefficients byBIEBERBACH [1] and LOEWNER [2] respectively. The proof for the fourth coefficient was first obtained by GARABEDIAN and SCmFFER [3] and was later simplified by CHARZYNSKI and SCmFFER [4]. Their proof was based on the GRUNSI(Y inequality, which gives necessary and sufficient conditions that an analytic function be univalent in the unit disk. Recently, a streamlined proof for n--4 was given by GARABEDIAN, ROSS and SCHIFFER [5] in which even more striking use was made of GRUNSKY'S inequality. In the latter paper the authors also proved a local BIEBERBACH theorem, namely that there exists an e. > 0 such that if
Fields without spin structures and their applications in differential geometry and physics

Abstract Spin structures are not necessary to construct and make use of physically useful fields on pseudo-Riemannian manifolds. All that is needed is a smooth choice of one component of the space of isotropic tangent elements of maximal degree at each point on the manifold. Assuming M has this property, we may define four fundamental types of field on M. Using the algebraic operations possible with these fields the concepts of covariant differentiation, curvature and the gradient operator may be developed easily. The fact that these fields are related in a natural way to certain vector valued forms can be used to relate the methods used here to the equations of structure on M and to show how exterior differentiation and the gradient operator are connected. The Maxwell, Einstein, Lorentz and Dirac equations can be simply expressed in terms of these fields and operators. Finally, Stokes theorem combined with these equations yields integral identities for the fields of the Maxwell and Dirac theories.
Rotation and scale invariant hyperspectral classification using 3D Gabor filters

We use a bank of three-dimensional Gabor filters to represent the spectral/spatial properties of hyperspectral data. The orientation and scale selective properties of the filters allow the development of new algorithms that are invariant to rotation and scale. Since a large set of three-dimensional filters can be defined, we develop methods for reducing the number of features that are used to represent a region. The data reduction process is defined to optimize the features for classification. We demonstrate the efficacy of the approach using a large set of AVIRIS hyperspectral data.
Some exact solutions for nonlinear desorptive diffusion

The existence is pointed out of a class of exact solutions for desorption which can be obtained by means of a simple inversion method. This method is related to that proposed by Philip (1960) for sorption and redistribution and it consists of the inversion of the diffusivity equation of Matano (1933) and Bruce and Klute (1952). Some of the exact solutions can be useful in the study of problems encountered in flow in porous media.
Perturbed Gibbs Samplers for Generating Large-Scale Privacy-Safe Synthetic Health Data

This paper introduces a non-parametric data synthesizing algorithm to generate privacy-safe ``realistic but not real'' synthetic health data. Our goal is to provide a systematic mechanism that guarantees an adequate and controllable level of privacy while substantially improving on the utility of public use data, compared to current practices by CMS, OSHPD and other agencies. The proposed algorithm synthesizes artificial records while preserving the statistical characteristics of the original data to the extent possible. The risk from ``database linking attack'' is quantified by either an l-diversified or an ϵ-differentially perturbed data generation process. Moreover its algorithmic performance is optimized using Locality-Sensitive Hashing and parallel computation techniques to yield a linear-time algorithm that is suitable for Big Data Health applications. We synthesize a public Medicare claim dataset using the proposed algorithm, and demonstrate multiple data mining applications and statistical analyses using the data. The synthetic dataset delivers results that are substantially identical to those obtained from the original dataset, without revealing the actual records.
Hypertension in patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus and hypertension each confer increased cardiovascular risk. That risk is much greater when the diseases coexist and is further magnified by their frequent association with dyslipidemia and central obesity. Insulin resistance appears to be an important common component to these four entities, whether or not the relationship is truly cause and effect. Increased renal tubule absorption of sodium and increased sympathetic nervous system stimulation from insulin have been said to be the mechanisms by which elevated levels of insulin cause hypertension. However, animal experiments suggest that these are short-term effects only and that long-term insulin may actually increase peripheral blood flow and reduce blood pressure. Experiments in humans suggest that the insulin resistant state in obese patients and type II diabetics is associated with a decrease of the usual vasodilatory effect of insulin. Antihypertensive drugs have differing effects on insulin resistance. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, alpha-adrenergic blockers, and dihydropyridines appear to improve insulin sensitivity. Other calcium channel blockers appear to be neutral, as is furosemide. Thiazide diuretics, spironolactone, and beta-adrenergic blockers impair insulin sensitivity. The drugs that increase insulin sensitivity also tend to improve dyslipidemia or remain lipid neutral. In contrast, those drugs that tend to impair insulin sensitivity also tend to worsen dyslipidemia.
Stress on campus: An interactional perspective

Faculty stress was investigated with the use of an interactional model of stress including roles, personal characteristics, coping strategies, and environmental characteristics. A random sample of 191 faculty members and 67 student-affairs staff members completed standardized measures of stress, strain, and coping resources and open-ended questions regarding sources of stress. Significant differences were found among faculty from different academic disciplines, between genders, and across semester time periods. Major stressors included time pressures, work overload, and interpersonal relationships. Body signals and poor interpersonal relationships were primary indicators of stress, and taking specific action and exercising were frequent coping behaviors. These findings have implications for administrative policy and faculty development programs.
Coronary artery disease in adult congenital heart disease: outcome after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease may be seen during repair of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). There are few data outlining outcomes of concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in these patients. Methods Between February 1972 and August 2009, 122 patients (77 men) underwent concomitant CABG at the time of ACHD repair; median age was 64 years (range 40 to 85 years). Thirty patients (25%) had preoperative angina, 7 patients (6%) had previous myocardial infarction (MI), and 6 patients (5%) had previous percutaneous intervention. Most common primary cardiac diagnoses included secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) in 73 patients (60%), Ebstein's anomaly in 14 patients (11%), and partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection in 8 patients (7%). Results Operations included ASD repair in 78 patients (64%), tricuspid/pulmonary valve procedures in 23 patients (19%), and ventricular septal defect repair in 10 patients (8%). One bypass graft procedure was performed in 69 patients (57%), 2 bypass graft procedures were performed in 32 patients (26%), 3 bypass graft procedures were performed in 14 patients (11%), 4 bypass graft procedures were performed in 5 patients (4%), and 5 bypass graft procedures were performed in 2 patients (2%). There were 4 early deaths (3.3%). During a median follow-up of 6 years (maximum follow-up, 32 years), actuarial survival was 76% at 5 years and 56% at 10 years. In patients with left anterior descending (LAD) artery disease, survival was higher when a left internal mammary graft (LIMA) was used (5 years, 86% versus 66%; 10 years, 66% versus 36%; p Conclusions Concomitant CABG may be required at the time of correction of ACHD. Survival is higher when a LIMA graft is used, and late functional outcome is good, with a low incidence of late angina and need for reintervention.
Structural description of acid-denatured cytochrome c by hydrogen exchange and 2D NMR.

Hydrogen exchange and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR) techniques were used to characterize the structure of oxidized horse cytochrome c at acid pH and high ionic strength. Under these conditions, cytochrome c is known to assume a globular conformation (A state) with properties resembling those of the molten globule state described for other proteins. In order to measure the rate of hydrogen-deuterium exchange for individual backbone amide protons in the A state, samples of oxidized cytochrome c were incubated at 20 {degree}C in D{sub 2}O buffer for time periods ranging from 2 min to 500 h. The exchange reaction was then quenched by transferring the protein to native conditions. The extent of exchange for 44 amide protons trapped in the refolded protein was measured by 2D NMR spectroscopy. The results show that this approach can provide detailed information on H-bonded secondary and tertiary structure in partially folded equilibrium forms of a protein. All of the slowly exchanging amide protons in the three major helices of native cytochrome c are strongly protected from exchange at acid pH, indicating that the A state contains native-like elements of helical secondary structure. By contrast, a number of amide protons involved in irregular tertiarymore » H-bonds of the native structure are only marginally protected in the A state, indicating that these H-bonds are unstable or absent. The H-exchange results suggest that the major helices of cytochrome c and their common hydrophobic domain are largely preserved in the globular acidic form while the loop region of the native structure is flexible and partly disordered.« less
Speed-accuracy tradeoffs in specialized keyboards

Patients with locked-in syndrome are perceptually and cognitively aware of their environment but are unable to speak and have very limited motor capabilities. These patients frequently use a virtual keyboard with a cursor that moves over different items. The user triggers a selector when the cursor is over the desired item. For text entry such a method is excruciatingly slow, but is critical for patients who otherwise cannot communicate. We show how such keyboards can be optimally designed to maximize text entry speed while simultaneously controlling the entry error rate. The described method quantifies how different factors in keyboard design influence both entry speed and accuracy and demonstrates that different keyboard designs can greatly alter the efficiency of keyboard use. For a given text corpus and allowable average entry error proportion, the method identifies the cursor duration and character layout that minimizes average entry time. The method can easily be adapted to a variety of keyboard designs and selection devices and thereby improve the communication of locked-in syndrome patients.
PUBLIC-ATTITUDES AND ECONOMIC VALUES FOR WETLAND PRESERVATION IN NEW-ENGLAND

Wetland preservation produces two types of economic value: use value and nonuse (existence) value. Previous studies have focused almost exclusively on use value, yet nonuse value is becoming increasingly important, in part because it is now considered by the courts in natural resource damage assessments. This study uses the contingent valuation survey technique to estimate thetotal economic value of wetland preservation in New England. Respondents were willing to pay an average of between 74 and 80 dollars per year (over a five-year period) for wetlands providing flood protection, water supply, and water pollution control and between 81 and 96 dollars per year for wetlands containing rare species of plants. Aggregate value estimates ranged between 242 and 313 million dollars per year. Survey results suggest that most of this value is nonuse value—failure to consider nonuse values in decision making can therefore understate the value of preservation by a substantial margin.
Apoptosis in Coxsackievirus B3‐induced Myocarditis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Group B coxsackieviruses (CVB), which infect the myocardium, cause myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy. However, not all infections of the myocardium result in disease. In the mouse model, CVB infection stimulates autoimmune T cell response to cardiac antigens, and these autoimmune effectors cause myocyte necrosis and cardiomyopathy. Induction of pathogenic autoimmunity depends upon CD4+ Th1 (interferon-gamma positive) cells while Th2 (IL-4 positive) cell responses promote disease resistance. T lymphocytes expressing the gamma-delta T cell receptor (gamma delta +) constitute up to 12% of the inflammatory cells in the heart and are crucial to maintaining a dominant Th1 response phenotype. gamma delta + lymphocytes modulate T cell responses by selectively lysing CD4+ Th2 cells. Th1 cells are not killed by gamma delta + cells. Lysis requires direct cell:cell interaction between the gamma delta + cell and CD4+ Th2 target and is most likely mediated through Fas:FasL interaction. These studies demonstrate a novel mechanism for immune modulation of cytokine responses in vivo.
Adequacy of Dialysis

Adequate dialysis is not easily defined. The concept tjhat there is a relationship between dialysis dose and survival is gradually gaining acceptance. Nutritional status and possibly the type of dialyzer membrane used also influence survival in hemodialysis patients. The roles of physicians, patient care staff, technicians, nutritionists, and social workers in assuring adequacy can be clearly delineated in practice. Until recently, health status and quality of life evaluations have received less attention than clinical and laboratory parameters of adequacy. Instruments used to assess quality of life must be further developed and integrated with survival and morbidity data to improve the level of care provided for dialysis patients. The tools are available to enhance adequacy; they need to be utilized.
Practical application of HgI2 detectors to a space-flight scanning electron microscope

Mercuric iodide X-ray detectors have been undergoing tests in a prototype scanning electron microscope system being developed for unmanned space-flight. The detector program has met with considerable success, although not all goals have yet been met. This success has been the result of carefully addressing the issues of geometric configuration in the SEM, compact packaging that includes separate thermoelectric coolers for the detector and FET, X-ray transparent hermetic encapsulation and electrical contacts, and a clean vacuum environment.
Immediate postabortion access to IUDs, implants and DMPA reduces repeat pregnancy within 1 year in a New York City practice

Abstract Objective The objective was to evaluate whether having intrauterine devices (IUDs), contraceptive implants and injections immediately available to women undergoing abortion, compared to requiring an additional visit for these methods, leads to fewer pregnancies and fewer abortions in the following 12 months. Methods We conducted a historical cohort study using health records of Medicaid-insured women obtaining a first-trimester surgical abortion within a single practice in New York City. Women in Cohort 1 (2007–2008) needed an additional visit to initiate the IUD or injection. Women in Cohort 2 (2008–2009) were able to initiate these contraceptives and implants during the abortion visit. Women in both cohorts received these methods without additional cost, and all could receive a pill, patch or ring prescription. We compared the proportions of each cohort who experienced a pregnancy that began in the 12 months following the index abortion and also evaluated the outcomes of those pregnancies. Results Cohorts 1 and 2 consisted of 407 and 405 women, respectively. The proportions with pregnancy beginning over the following 12 months were substantially greater in Cohort 1 than Cohort 2 (27.3% versus 15.3%, p Conclusions Among women insured by Medicaid, offering immediate comprehensive contraceptive access — including IUDs and implants — on the same day as an induced abortion, compared to requiring an additional visit, increased uptake of IUDs and implants and decreased repeat pregnancies in the next 12 months and abortions.
Business Services as a New Operational Model for Enterprises and Ecosystems

Enterprises continue to face the challenge of cost effective operations and thus, standardization and openness are becoming an imperative for operational efficiencies at a much higher business level than information systems and related IT infrastructure. Business processes have governed enterprise operational modeling for several decades and have provided the basis for many business transformation approaches. Business processes have thus become an early form of standardization and their continuous maturity has given rise to a very important outsourcing market that has helped companies produce substantial savings by T. Davenport (2005). However, there is a clear need for new ways of modeling enterprise operations that exploit deeper levels of industry-specific commonalities across companies, thus realizing further economies of scale while yielding more savings and enhanced resilience. This paper introduces the concept of business service-based modeling of companies and related ecosystems as an innovative approach for attaining these goals. The concept of "services" is not new. Service oriented architectures (SOA), related Web services and other service standardization efforts are well-known today. However, the focus of existing service models is primarily integration of IT systems based on interoperability. These models, which are targeted towards solution implementers, do not adequately address the needs of higher level, business-oriented modeling within the context of a service-oriented operation and corresponding service-oriented ecosystems. Companies are beginning to recognize the importance of business-level service orientation as a pre-requisite to becoming competitive. For on demand interaction with their customers, suppliers, partners, and employees, companies are actively exploring what business services to provide and how to develop them rapidly in order to be responsive and grow margins. Hence, there is a need for proper operational modeling constructs and corresponding SW tools that support design, representation, and analysis of services that are required by service-oriented, on demand businesses. Business Services provide such a new paradigm for extended business-level standardization and componentization. In this paper, the concept of business services is introduced and illustrated with several examples. A new metamodel exposing the different aspects of company operations comprised by these business services were presented. Traditional functional modeling approaches including business processes will be related to business services
Genetic testing in cancer therapeutics.

A major challenge to physicians administering drugs with a low therapeutic index, such as chemotherapeutic agents, is the variability in drug disposition and clearance. This variability accounts for the wide interpatient response to conventional doses of antineoplastic agents. Currently, most dosing
CD8+ T Cells Sabotage Their Own Memory Potential through IFN-γ–Dependent Modification of the IL-12/IL-15 Receptor α Axis on Dendritic Cells

CD8 + T cell responses have been shown to be regulated by dendritic cells (DCs) and CD4 + T cells, leading to the tenet that CD8 + T cells play a passive role in their own differentiation. In contrast, by using a DNA vaccination model, to separate the events of vaccination from those of CD8 + T cell priming, we demonstrate that CD8 + T cells, themselves, actively limit their own memory potential through CD8 + T cell-derived IFN-γ–dependent modification of the IL-12/IL-15Rα axis on DCs. Such CD8 + T cell-driven cytokine alterations result in increased T-bet and decreased Bcl-2 expression, and thus decreased memory progenitor formation. These results identify an unrecognized role for CD8 + T cells in the regulation of their own effector differentiation fate and a previously uncharacterized relationship between the balance of inflammation and memory formation.
Dental Management of the Geriatric Head and Neck Cancer Patient1

The geriatric patient presenting with cancer of the head and neck region constitutes slightly less than half of all oral cancers diagnosed. Cancers of this region are generally treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combinations of these three. These patients not only present with special problems due to their age but also with challenging ones resulting from treatment of their disease. The dentist plays an important role in evaluating the patient's oral health and providing necessary services prior to any curative treatment. The dental diagnosis and treatment protocol practiced at Memorial Hospital are discussed for each therapeutic modality along with the measures taken for follow up care.
Design and investigation of frequency capability of 15kV 4H-SiC IGBT

15kV 4H-SiC n-channel asymmetric and symmetric IGBTs were designed to minimize the on state and switching power loss. A Current Enhancement Layer was adopted to reduce the forward voltage drop for each IGBTs. For the asymmetric IGBT, it was found that the frequency capability of the device was affected most by adjusting the buffer region parameters such as doping concentration, thickness, and lifetime. For the symmetric IGBT, the p+ substrate doping concentration and drift region lifetime were investigated to obtain maximum switching frequency capability. A comparison of frequency capabilities between power MOSFETs, asymmetric, and symmetric IGBTs has been made. IGBTs provide lower power loss than power MOSFETs up to approximately 7 kHz.
Examining the Role of Expectations and Perceived Job Demand Stressors for Field Instructors in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare

One career option available to those seeking outside work exists in outdoor behavioral healthcare programs for adolescent youth. However, there is a growing number of evidence that the job demands are often too challenging to be sustainable and lead to high turnover rates of employees. One possible reason is that field instructors have unrealistic expectations about their job demands. Using a retrospective pretest, this study examined current and expected job demand stressors in relation to newcomers' expectations specific to outdoor behavioral healthcare programs and the relationship these variables have to instructors' job satisfaction. Results indicated that instructors who had underestimated their job demand stressors generally had lower job satisfaction. The practical implications of this research are discussed, including alleviating stress and increasing tenure, which could result in better services to youth.
Isotype-restricted corepressor recruitment: A constitutively closed helix 12 conformation in retinoic acid receptors β and γ interferes with corepressor recruitment and prevents transcriptional repression

Retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are ligand-regulated transcription factors that play multiple roles in vertebrate development and differentiation. RARs as a class are capable of both repressing and activating target gene expression. Transcriptional repression is mediated through the recruitment of corepressor proteins such as SMRT. Notably, vertebrates encode three major forms of RARs, α, β, and γ, and these distinct RAR isotypes differ in the ability to recruit a corepressor. RARα strongly interacts with SMRT and can repress target gene transcription, whereas RARβ and -γ interact with SMRT only weakly and fail to repress. We report here the use of a genetic suppressor approach, based on a yeast two-hybrid interaction assay using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for the isolation of RARβ mutants that have gained the RARα-like corepressor phenotype, i.e., a strong interaction with SMRT and the ability to repress gene expression in vertebrate cells. Analysis of these gain-of-function mutants indicates that the different corepressor interaction properties of RARα, -β and -γ are determined by a gating mechanism through which amino acid differences in the helix 3 region of these receptors influence the position of the receptor C-terminal helix 12 domain. As a consequence, the RARβ and RARγ receptors appear to adopt a constitutively closed helix 12 conformation in the absence of hormone that may approximate the conformation of RARα when bound to hormone agonist. This closed helix 12 conformation in RARβ and RARγ blocks corepressor binding, prevents repression, and permits significant levels of target gene activation even in the absence of hormone. We refer to this phenomenon as a “gate-latch” model of corepressor regulation.
Lack of extracellular slime effect on treatment outcome of Staphylococcus epidermidis experimental endocarditis

We studied the response of two slime negative Staphylococcus epidermidis strains (NS1 and NS2) and one slime producing strain (S1) to treatment with vancomycin in the rabbit catheter-induced endocarditis model. All micro-organisms had vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration of 4 mg/l. Three days after infection, treatment with vancomycin 25 mg/kg every 12 h was begun and continued for 4 days. Cardiac valve vegetations were harvested 12 h after the last dose of vancomycin and cultured quantitatively. In treated animals the mean +/- S.D. log10 colony forming units per g of cardiac valve vegetation were 1.6 +/- 0.1 for NS1, 4.4 +/- 1.9 for NS2, and 2.3 +/- 1.2 for S1. Slime production did not influence the results of vancomycin therapy of S. epidermidis experimental endocarditis. Other factors may cause strain-dependent variability in response to antimicrobial treatment in this model.
An Automated Approach to Estimating Hardness Assurance Issues in Triple-Modular Redundancy Circuits in Xilinx FPGAs

The Xilinx Virtex family of static random access memory (SRAM) based field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices have made inroads into space-based computational platforms over the past decade. These devices are well-suited for digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms that are often used on orbit, providing the speedup of custom hardware without the cost of fabricating an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). SRAM FPGAs store the circuit in radiation-tolerant SRAM and SEUs can affect both the circuit functionality and the circuit state. Triple-modular redundancy (TMR) can be used to mask SEUs so that malfunctioning circuitry will not affect the output data. Unfortunately, applying TMR to a user circuit is difficult and unprotected cross-section is possible due to problems with the circuit design, device constraints, or the implementation of the user circuit on the FPGA. Given the complexity of these designs, estimating hardness assurance issues is not simple. This paper will present a tool, called the scalable tool for the analysis of reliable circuits (STARC), that can automatically estimate unprotected cross-section and other hardness assurance issues for TMR-protected circuits.
Optimization of frequency-shifted reference ultrawideband systems

Recently, there has been significant interest in developing ultrawideband (UWB) radio techniques. A transmitted reference (TR)-UWB technique is often considered for low-to-moderate data rate applications. However, the TR-UWB technique is limited by the difficulty in building the required highly accurate wideband analog delay line in the receiver. Frequency-shifted reference (FSR)-UWB avoids this analog delay by shifting the reference signal from the data signal in frequency, and FSR-UWB has been shown to outperform the standard TR-UWB scheme. The performance of the FSR-UWB system has been further improved in succeeding work by sending multiple data signals that share a common reference carrier, referred to as multi-differential (MD) FSR, but this comes with a significant increase in the peak-to-average power (PAPR) of the pulses. In this paper, three improvements are proposed for the FSR-UWB system: the front-end filter and the integration time at the receiver are optimized, and a PAPR minimization scheme for the MD-FSR scheme is introduced. After describing and characterizing these approaches, simulation results are provided to consider the varying degrees of improvement offered through the proposed techniques.
The Ideology of Learning Organisations in Africa: A Critical Analysis.

Organisations worldwide have acknowledged the connection between corporate learning, development and business sustainability. Emphasis is being laid on creating and designing a learning organisation "that is skilled at creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring and retaining knowledge" [Garvin, (2000), p.32]. Extensive literature exists about the successful implementation of the learning organisation design by numerous companies globally. However, the appropriateness of the ideology of learning organisation and its concepts globally, has so far been neglected [with the exception of Jackson (2004)]. This paper investigates the appropriateness and effectiveness of the learning organisation model in the African continent. The paper explores the various dimensions and characteristics of the learning organisation model to provide insights on any problematic concerns relating to the effective governance of these contemporary models. The paper bases its critical discussion and analysis of learning organisations including its negative consequences on empirical evidence obtained from a case study in Botswana.
Cigarette Smoking Motives: Factorial Structure and Gender Differences in a Longitudinal Study

Research investigating the factorial structure of cigarette smoking motives (based on the Horn-Waingrow Smoking Survey) suggests considerable similarity in factor structure across different samples as well as stability of structure in repeated assessments. This study evaluates the replicability of six commonly found Horn-Waingrow factors in a sample of 109 men and women from three longitudinal studies and also reports on gender and other psychosocial differences. Principal component analyses exactly replicated previously reported factors, separately for each gender. Significant gender differences in level are shown for two smoking motives (Reduction of Negative Affect and Pleasure): Women more than men report that they smoke for these reasons. Also, there are significant differences in motives between current and former smokers and between smokers with and without smoking spouses.
Higher Health Care Quality And Bigger Savings Found At Large Multispecialty Medical Groups

The belief that integrated delivery systems offer better care at lower cost has contributed to growing interest in accountable care organizations. These provider-led delivery systems would accept responsibility for their primary care populations and would have financial incentives for improving care and reducing costs. We investigated this belief by comparing the costs and quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries in twenty-two health care markets by physicians who did and did not work within large multispecialty group practices affiliated with the Council of Accountable Physician Practices. In most markets, and after adjustment for patient factors, group physicians affiliated with the council provided higher-quality care at a 3.6 percent lower annual cost ($272 per patient).
A recursive filter for phase velocity assisted shape-based tracking of cardiac non-rigid motion

A framework for tracking pointwise periodic non-rigid motion of the heart's left ventricular (LV) wall is presented which incorporates information from two different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. New developments in phase-contrast cine MR imaging have produced spatial maps of instantaneous velocity that heave proven accuracy within the myocardium, or wall, of the heart. This information is combined with shape-based matching techniques to provide improved estimates of trajectories, especially in regions where shape information is limited. These raw trajectories act as input to a recursive least squares (RLS) filter which applies the constraints of temporal periodicity and spatial smoothness for the final estimate. The results of the RLS filter are compared with the motion of actual implanted markers. Comparisons are also made between exclusively shape-based filtered and phase-contrast enhanced trajectory estimates using both phantom and actual canine heart MR images. >
Body or Mind: Children's Categorizing of Pretense

Researchers studying early social cognition have been particularly interested in pretend play and have obtained evidence indicating that young children do not understand that pretending involves mental representation. The present research investigates whether children think of pretending as a mental state at all, by looking at whether they cluster it with other mental states or with physical processes when making certain judgments. The results from 5 experiments suggest that most children under 6 years of age see pretending as primarily physical. Further, when asked about pretending as a 2-part process entailing planning and execution, even 8-year-olds claim that execution of pretense does not involve the mind, although the planning aspect of pretense does.
Early complications with the holmium laser

The purpose of this study is to report early complications in our initial experience with the holmium laser in 133 patients. A retrospective study of patients undergoing endourological procedures with the holmium laser was performed. Complications included urinary tract infection (3), post-operative bradycardia (1), inverted T-waves (1), intractable flank pain (1), urinary retention (1), inability to access a lower pole calyx with a 365 micron fiber (9), stone migration (5), termination of procedure due to poor visualization (2). No ureteral perforations or strictures occurred. The holmium laser was capable of fragmenting all urinary calculi in this study. In our initial experience, the holmium laser is safe and effective in the treatment of genitourinary pathology. Use of laser fibers larger than 200 microns occasionally limit deflection into a lower pole or dependent calyx.