cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coherent point drift peak alignment algorithms using distance and similarity measures for two‐dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry data

The peak alignment is a vital preprocessing step before downstream analysis, such as biomarker discovery and pathway analysis, for two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry (2DGCMS)-based metabolomics data. Due to uncontrollable experimental conditions, e.g., the differences in temperature or pressure, matrix effects on samples, and stationary phase degradation, a shift of retention times among samples inevitably occurs during 2DGCMS experiments, making it difficult to align peaks. Various peak alignment algorithms have been developed to correct retention time shifts for homogeneous, heterogeneous or both type of mass spectrometry data. However, almost all existing algorithms have been focused on a local alignment and are suffering from low accuracy especially when aligning dense biological data with many peaks. We have developed four global peak alignment (GPA) algorithms using coherent point drift (CPD) point matching algorithms: retention time-based CPD-GPA (RT), prior CPD-GPA (P), mixture CPD-GPA (M), and prior mixture CPD-GPA (P+M). The method RT performs the peak alignment based only on the retention time distance, while the methods P, M, and P+M carry out the peak alignment using both the retention time distance and mass spectral similarity. The method P incorporates the mass spectral similarity through prior information and the methods M and P+M use the mixture distance measure. Four developed algorithms are applied to homogeneous and heterogeneous spiked-in data as well as two real biological data and compared with three existing algorithms, mSPA, SWPA, and BiPACE-2D. The results show that our CPD-GPA algorithms perform better than all existing algorithms in terms of F1 score.
CHAPTER 12 – Methods of Analysis of Drugs and Drug Metabolites

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses methods of analysis of drugs and drug metabolites. Pharmacokinetics (PK) requires the determination of a concentration of a drug, its metabolite, or an endogenous targeted substance in physiological fluids or tissues with respect to time. Chromatography refers to the separation of materials using their relative solubility and absorption differences in two immiscible phases: one stationary and the other mobile. When a component is more soluble in the mobile phase than in the film on the particle, it will elute from the column and will be detected with respect to a characteristic chemical property, such as ultraviolet (UV) absorption. An antigen, such as a drug, can be labeled with a fluorescent tag, and the fluorescent emission of polarized light is measured in a competitive antibody-binding assay. Immunoaffinity-based assays are routinely developed for new biologicals and products of the biotechnology industry as a part of their characterization as new agents. Selection of a suitable assay method for these compounds began with the consideration of the chemical characteristics of the drug and the determination of the likely range of blood and tissue concentration required for pharmacological effect.
Circulating Tumor Cells as Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer

Metastatic disease is the cause of mortality in most patients with pancreatic cancer. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) play an important role in the establishment of metastases, can be subcategorized and correlated with patient outcomes, and offer an opportunity to view the course of disease in real time. This chapter gives an overview of the merit of CTCs as a biomarker and reflects on the potential these cells may have to both contribute to novel, precision therapies for pancreatic cancer and serve as a form of liquid biopsy.
Cross-section of electrical impact excitation in bulk n-type monocrystalline Al:Cr:ZnSe

Middle-infrared luminescence of bulk Al:Cr:ZnSe crystal under direct electrical excitation of Cr2+,5E− 5T2 transition, is reported. Effective cross-section of electrical excitation was estimated based on comparative luminescence measurements under electrical and optical (1560 nm) excitations. Calculation of the threshold current density for lasing under electrical excitation of this material was also performed.
Characterizing light leakage and spatial variation of illuminance in commercial broiler houses during tunnel ventilation

Summary Providing a suitable lighting environment for commercial poultry is essential for physiological processes, ensuring welfare, and achieving production goals. Recent research has shown that poultry house illuminance (intensity) is dependent on ambient sunlight conditions and that control of light leakage can improve live performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of fan shades for reduction of light leakage and spatial variation of illuminance in commercial broiler houses. Data collection systems were developed to measure whole house illuminance at a fixed point in time (static) and over a 24-h period (temporal) in a house with and without fan shades. Results from static and temporal testing indicate that fan shades significantly reduce light ingress through tunnel exhaust fans and result in reduced whole-house mean illuminance. Whole-house illuminance uniformity was significantly lower (P = 0.0024) in houses with fan shades (CV = 137.4) than those without (CV = 280.8), and an additional 1.25 h of target illuminance levels (≤10 lx) were gained on the day of testing in houses with fan shades installed. Overall, results indicate fan shades are an effective strategy to mitigate light ingress through fans and improve illuminance uniformity within commercial broiler houses.
Comparison of Patterns of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Heart Failure by Cardiac Amyloidosis Status

Abstract Background/purpose The aim of this study is to characterize the pattern and the severity of coronary artery lesions in cardiac amyloidosis . Methods We retrospectively compared patients with heart failure who tested positive (i.e., biopsy or gene tests – HF/CA+) against those who tested negative (HF/CA−) for cardiac amyloidosis. Groups were compared demographically and angiographically for qualitative and quantitative variables to determine patterns of involvement in the major epicardial coronary vessels . Results The study included 110 heart failure patients, of whom 55 patients (88 lesions) were in the HF/CA+ group, and 55 patients (66 lesions) were HF/CA−. Despite the advanced age of HF/CA+ patients (74.5 ± 11.0 years vs. 54.1 ± 15.0 years; p = 0.05), no severe calcification was found in the HF/CA+ group (0.0% vs. 4.5%; p = 0.018). The HF/CA+ group also had fewer ostial lesions (3.4% vs. 15.1%; p = 0.0095) and a higher, albeit not significant, Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction frame count (30.4 ± 12.6 vs. 26.6 ± 11 frames; p = 0.06). In the HF/CA+ group, men had a significant number of tandem lesions compared to women (14.5% vs 0.0%, p = 0.02). Conclusions Overall, heart failure patients with cardiac amyloidosis were older but were found to have less calcified lesions, less ostial involvement, and a reduced anterograde coronary blood flow . This is the first report examining coronary lesions in heart failure patients with cardiac amyloidosis.
Monitoring the global COVID-19 impact on tourism: The COVID19tourism index

The COVID-19 virus is highly transmittable, wreaking havoc on the world's economy with the travel and tourism industry one of the most ravaged sectors. Given the impacts of COVID-19 and the intricacies of the global tourism economy, it is critical for policymakers to monitor recovery across numerous destinations. In this research note, we describe the development and calibration of an analytical tool named the “COVID19tourism index” to monitor the pandemic's tourism effects. As a powerful numerical and visual tool, the index provides important information related to the potential travel and tourism recovery at the global, regional, and country levels. Compared to a benchmark of “normal” levels (equal to 100 in this case), the COVID19tourism index offers insight into the tourism industry's recovery process along with the pandemic's impacts on numerous aspects of tourism.
Big data analytics on flash storage with accelerators

Complex analytics of the vast amount of data collected via social media, cell phones, ubiquitous smart sensors, and satellites is likely to be the biggest economic driver for the IT industry over the next decade. For many “Big Data” applications, the limiting factor in performance is often the transportation of large amount of data from hard disks to where it can be processed, i.e. DRAM. We will present BlueDBM, an architecture for a scalable distributed flash store which overcomes this limitation by providing a high-performance, high-capacity, scalable random-access flash storage, and by allowing computation near the data via a FPGA-based programmable flash controller. We will present the preliminary results for two applications, (1) key-value store (KVS) and (2) sparse-matrix accelerator for graph processing, on BlueDBM consisting of 20 nodes and 20TB of flash.
Utility of plasma cell-free DNA for de novo detection and quantification of clonal hematopoiesis.

Although cell-free DNA (cfDNA) tests have emerged as a potential non-invasive alterative for bone marrow biopsies in monitoring of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in hematologic diseases, whether commercial cfDNA assays can be implemented for de novo CH detection and quantification in place of blood cells is uncertain. In this study, peripheral plasma cfDNA samples available from patients with aplastic anemia (AA; n=25), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; n=27) and a healthy cohort (n=107) were screened for somatic variants in genes related to hematologic malignancies using a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified panel. Results were further compared to DNA sequencing of matched blood cells. In reported results, 85% of healthy subjects, 36% of AA patients and 74% of MDS patients were found to have somatic cfDNA variants, most frequently in DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1 and SF3B1. However, concordance between cfDNA and blood cells was poor for CH detection when variants were at variant allele frequency.
Autotrophic Picoplankton in Narragansett Bay and Their Interaction With Microplankton

There is abundant evidence that picoplankton (approximately 0.2–2.0 μm; Sieburth et al., 1978) [or ultraplankton, approximately 0.5–8.0 μm; Murphy and Haugen, 1985] are present in northeastern U.S. coastal waters continually at 106–109/L depending on season, with cyanobacteria (primarily Synechococcus) and eucaryotic algae at typical concentrations of 104–106 and 103–105/L respectively (Carpenter and Campbell, 1988; Glover et al., 1985; Johnson and Sieburth, 1979, 1982; Murphy and Haugen, 1985; Waterbury et al., 1986). Moreover, these tiny autotrophs have caused extensive blooms in estuaries and coastal waters sporadically for many years, particularly under conditions of eutrophication (Malone, 1977; Ryther, 1954; and pers. obs.). Until about ten years ago the occurrence of these organisms in Narragansett Bay was based primarily on anecdotal observations. In 1979 and 1982 Johnson and Sieburth presented evidence that extensive populations of cyanobacteria and eucaryotic cells were continually present, and in 1985 a major “brown tide” of Aureococcus anophagefferens Hargraves and Sieburth (in Sieburth et al., 1988) significantly altered the normal summer phytoplankton pattern and caused extensive mortality in some filter-feeding invertebrates (Durbin and Durbin, 1989; Smayda, 1989; Tracey et al., 1988)
Your Culture, My Classroom, Whose Pedagogy? Negotiating Effective Teaching and Learning in Brazil

This article explores the cross-cultural teaching and learning environment of a graduate course in a master’s degree programin teaching English to speakers of other languages (MA-TESOL) offered by a U.S. university in Brazil. The authors analyze the experience of a U.S. professor teaching diverse adult students in Brazil to illustrate and further illuminate what is known about teacher immediacy, communication accommodation, and cross-cultural adjustment. They also raise ethical and pedagogical concerns related to international education endeavors. In this case study of teacher praxis, critical and feminist pedagogical theories are used in conjunction with intercultural communication theory in the development of a culturally flexible pedagogy appropriate to cross-cultural learning environments like this one. Although the context is Brazil and the professor and researcher are from the United States, the broad conceptual strokes of the analysis may be applicable to other intercultural teaching and learning c...
TCR selection and allelic exclusion in RAG transgenic mice that exhibit abnormal T cell localization in lymph nodes and lymphatics.

RAG-1 and RAG-2 are developmentally regulated genes that are essential for V(D)J recombination and lymphocyte development. Expression of RAG-1 and RAG-2 by thymocytes is normally limited to cells that have not completed selection. We have previously documented that persistent expression of the recombinase activating genes (RAG) in transgenic mice results in aberrant thymic development, altered lymphatic microanatomy, and a profound immunodeficiency. Here we further document the pathologic changes found in TG.RAG-1,2 mice and examine the role of TCR recombination and positive and negative thymic selection, as well as allelic exclusion, in the etiology of the phenotype. We find that neither selection nor TCR allelic exclusion can be overcome by transgenic expression RAG-1 and RAG-2 under the control of an lck promoter.
Tet protein domains interact productively to mediate tetracycline resistance when present on separate polypeptides.

Abstract Both domains, alpha and beta, of the cytoplasmic membrane-localized Tet proteins encoded by the tet gene family (classes A through E) are required for resistance to tetracycline (Tcr) in gram-negative bacteria. Two inactive proteins, each containing a mutation in the opposite domain, are capable of complementation to produce Tcr. Similarly, inactive hybrid proteins expressed by interdomain gene hybrids constructed between tet(B) and tet(C) [tet(B) alpha/(C) beta and tet(C) alpha/(B) beta] together produce significant Tcr via trans complementation (R.A. Rubin and S. B. Levy, J. Bacteriol. 172:2303-2312, 1990). A derivative of tet(B) was constructed to express the two domains of Tet(B) as separate polypeptides, neither containing intact the central, hydrophilic interdomain region. Cells harboring this tet(B) mutant expressed Tcr at about 20% the level conferred by intact tet(B). As expected, no detectable amount of a full-length Tet protein was expressed. A polypeptide corresponding to the alpha domain was observed. Interdomain hybrids between tet(B) and tet(C) containing a frameshift at the fusion junction, designed to result in expression of each of the four domains on separate polypeptides, showed trans complementation without production of detectable full-length proteins. Levels of Tcr were greater than or equal to those previously observed in complementations using full-length hybrid proteins. These results strongly suggest that polypeptides harboring individual alpha and beta domains, lacking an intact interdomain region, can interact productively in the cell to confer Tcr.
Homeless youth: drug use patterns and HIV risk profiles according to peer group affiliation.

Research was conducted to identify subcultural peer groups within a homeless youth population and determine whether these groups differ with respect to drug use patterns and HIV risk. Using systematic sampling methods, 309 homeless youth (ages 13–23 years) were recruited from street and service sites. Drug use patterns and HIV risk profiles were found to vary according to group affiliation. Respondents in the punks and gay/bisexual groups were more likely to have a substance abuse disorder. Respondents in the “punker” group also were at increased risk for having unprotected sex and sharing needles. Respondents in the “gay/bisexual” and “hustler” groups were at increased risk for having survival sex. Yet, unlike the “gay/bisexual group,” the “hustler” group was more likely to report being tested for HIV. These findings suggest that outreach and intervention strategies may need to be tailored to the specific norms, values, and behavioral risk profiles of each peer group.
The Power of Crowding for the Origins of Life

Molecular crowding increases the likelihood that life as we know it would emerge. In confined spaces, diffusion distances are shorter, and chemical reactions produce fewer and more regular products. Crowding will occur in the spaces between Muscovite mica sheets, which has many advantages as a site for life's origins.
Medical causation analysis heuristics.

Medical causation analysis determines whether or not a specific patient's illness is the result of a work site or an environmental exposure. In the past, this has been conducted implicitly with little analysis of the process per se. Our review suggests that there are several distinct heuristics that may be utilized ; these include probability-based models, application of group-based data (epidemiology) to individuals, Bayesian analysis, a priori assumptions about which conclusions are better, and others. Some methods consider only work causes, whereas others explicitly consider alternative explanations. There are considerable differences among the methods in process, outcome, and fundamental assumptions. Formal assessment of the medical causation analysis process can provide insight and may ultimately lead to its standardization and improvement.
Early stages in the reaggregation of embryonic chick neural retina cells.

Abstract A study of the initial phases of the aggregation of trypsin-dissociated embryonic neural retina reveals three major stages: (1) initial, apparently non-specific adhesions of the cells into small clusters with no definable organization; (2) orientation of cells; (3) formation of composite aggregates by accretion of the smaller cell clusters. The morphological polarity of cells is retained after dissociation but appears to play no discernible role in the location of the initial cell adhesions. Two hours after the onset of aggregation the cells within the clusters have become oriented with respect to each other in accordance with their original polarities to form concentric structures with the mitochondria-containing portion of the cell directed towards the center of the cluster. These concentric cell configurations are retained following the fusion of the small clusters into the larger, composite aggregates.
Building America’s First Offshore Oil Port: LOOP

June 2012 The Journal of American History 187 The 1970s marked a turning point in the history of oil in the United States when two national imperatives—the need to increase energy supplies and the desire to protect the environment—collided. Plans to build the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (loop) to carry foreign crude oil supplies offloaded in the Gulf of Mexico and pumped through a seventy-five mile pipeline corridor across the Louisiana wetlands to shore centered on these two competing priorities. loop addressed the urgent need to accommodate expanding volumes of imported crude oil, while at the same time recognizing that wetlands were a valuable resource that needed to be protected rather than exploited. loop was the first major facility in the Gulf of Mexico that included environmental scientists and environmental planning in its overall design, construction, and operation. Scientific knowledge outside of the oil industry thus reoriented the ways American society valued wetlands and shaped the development of America’s first and only offshore oil port. Throughout the twentieth century, the oil and gas industry transformed the Louisiana Gulf Coast—an area dominated by more than 5 million acres of wetlands—into a corridor for national energy production and delivery.1 Billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas have been produced onshore and offshore and transported across Louisiana’s tidal marshlands through an intricate network of pipelines. These pipelines today handle roughly one quarter of the nation’s petroleum supplies. loop—originally built as a terminal for unloading supertankers offshore—connects to this existing pipeline infrastructure and provides a critical link between American energy consumers and global oil supplies. Since the mid-1990s, loop has also been an important pipeline link for bringing in domestic oil production from the deepwater (greater than 1,000-foot depths) Gulf of Mexico. loop represented a departure from an earlier era when the industry and its permitting authorities viewed the wetland environment as a hazard to be overcome. With national environmental reforms and new cultural attitudes in the 1970s, industrial developers in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Louisiana wetlands and the Alaskan tundra for Building America’s First Offshore Oil Port: loop
Decoupling of Undamped Vibration Systems

Decoupling of a multimass vibration system from a large structure is investigated. First the dynamic influence on the foundation (or floor) response spectra of the inertia of the subcomponent system is studied using time-history input. Secondly, the affect of coupling on the natural frequencies of both the structure and subcomponent system are studied using formulas developed from normal mode theory. Results of these studies show that equipment-structure interaction cannot be neglected if the subcomponent is in resonance with the structure. The foundation (or floor) response spectra is significantly reduced at original peaks in these curves. Shifts in frequency of the system are also more pronounced at this resonant condition. Estimates of frequency changes of both the structure and subcomponent are related to a ratio of the modal masses of the subcomponent and the mass of the structure.
Ureterocutaneous Fistula and Urostomy Exclusion with Use of a Covered Wallstent

The present report describes a case of urostomy breakdown and failed urinary diversion with bilateral nephrostomy drainage treated with transrenal placement of a covered stent. Covered stents can be used successfully for the exclusion of ureterocutaneous fistulas and urostomies with the potential for ureteric occlusion.
Waste Water Recycling in Steamflood Operations

A pilot waste water recycling project was conducted at Conoco's Cat Canyon Field, Santa Barbara County, California. The project developed a process to treat the field's high silica produced water for reuse in steam generation. The treatment of produced water was found to be more complex than conventional fresh water treatment techniques currently employed in the field. Oil, solids, and iron were each removed from the process stream before softening the water. Softening was then conducted in a two-stage process consisting of strong acid primary softeners followed by a weak acid polisher. Continuous operation of this pilot recycling plant virtually eliminated scale deposition inside a test steam generator.
From medical images to multiple-biomarker microarrays.

A favorite cliche, often attributed to Yogi Berra, is “Prediction is difficult, especially about the future!” In this brief review, we shall recall some historical difficulties in predicting the future of diagnosticmedicalimaging—in particular, the modern technologies of CT and MRI—and examine the analogous situation in the emerging technology of diagnosticmicroarrays for the multiple-biomarker problem. All of these technologies began their lives as ill-conditioned problems, i.e., there was insufficient data to solve the central problem at hand.
DNA- and RNA-dependent DNA polymerases

Abstract A catalytic subdomain of HIV reverse transcriptase has the same structure as that of E. coli Klenow fragment, including three conserved carboxylates whose mutation destroys activity. The structures of Klenow fragment complexed with DNA and with divalent metal ions, taken together with mutagenic studies, are consistent with a two-metal-ion mechanism of phosphoryl transfer at both active sites. The source of processivity in DNA polymerase III is easily understood in terms of the donut shape of its β-subunit.
Delayed obturator artery rupture: a complication of high-voltage electrical injury.

Abstract Electrical burns cause damage to the cardiovascular system through different mechanisms. Immediate cardiac arrhythmia is one of the common consequences. A large vessel blow out due to an electrical burn is rarely documented. It is often undetected due to its “silent” symptoms. This article reports a delayed obturator artery rupture in a 32-year-old male patient 6 weeks after he sustained severe high-voltage electrical burns. The vessel injury was treated with computed tomography (CT)-aided embolization. The patient recovered to an ambulatory status 10 weeks after the injury.
A constitutive equation for a dilute solution of Hookean dumbbells with approximate hydrodynamic interaction

Abstract In a recent series of papers, Ottinger's consistently averaged hydrodynamic interaction has been shown to yield shear-rate dependent viscosity and normal stress coefficients in steady shear flow for dilute solutions of elastic dumbbells and chains. Even more recently, Fan has numerically solved the diffusion equation for the Hookean dumbbell with complete hydrodynamic interaction and he has compared his results with those of the Ottinger model. In this paper, a new approximation 1 for the Oseen—Burgers tensor is proposed where the configuration-dependent terms are replaced by appropriate averages rather than averaging the Oseen—Burgers tensor as a whole as in the Ottinger model. The proposed model leads to a differential constitutive equation which at low shear rates is similar to the Giesekus constitutive equation for a Hookean dumbbell with anistropic drag and anisotropic Brownian motion. The steady shear viscosity and normal stress coefficients for the proposed model are shear-rate dependent and are in close agreement with Fan's numerical calculations. Elongational viscosity for both positive and negative elongation rates are calculated.
Assessing the medical literature: let the buyer beware

As many as 30% of journal articles may contain errors. Most of these errors involve the use of simple statistical tests or elementary principles of research design. Assessment of the thoracic surgical literature involves cautious circumspection. This does not mean that it is necessary to have in-depth knowledge of sophisticated statistics, rather it means that common sense understanding of a few principles of research design and simple statistics are necessary to determine the usefulness and believability of literature publications.
Colony fissioning in honey bees: size and significance of the swarm fraction

During colony founding in honey bees, a portion of a colony’s workforce (the “swarm fraction”) departs with the old mother queen in a swarm while the remaining workforce stays with a new daughter queen in the parental nest. There is little quantitative information about swarm fraction size and about how swarm fraction size affects the growth and survival of mother-queen and daughter-queen colonies. We measured (a) the swarm fraction in naturally fissioning honey bee colonies, (b) the growth and survival of mother-queen colonies as a function of swarm size, and (c) the growth and survival of mother-queen and daughter-queen colonies as a function of the swarm fraction. We found an average swarm fraction of 0.75. We also found a significant positive effect of swarm size and swarm fraction on the growth (i.e., comb built, brood produced, food stored, and weight gained) and the survival of mother-queen colonies. We found no effect of swarm fraction on the survival of daughter-queen colonies. Evidently, a honey bee colony must devote a large majority of its workforce to a swarm so that the mother-queen colony can grow sufficiently rapidly to survive its first winter.
Boundary Contraction Solution of Laplace's Differential Equation II

A numerical method is introduced for solution of the Dirichlet problem within a circle. The data prescribed on the original boundary is used to compute the solution at mesh points on a concentric circle of slightly smaller radius, thereby defining another boundary value problem over the smaller circle. The solution for the entire region is obtained by successive contractions of the boundary in this way. Appropriate approximating relations are presented and their stability is discussed.
Use of sodium bicarbonate to stimulate triacylglycerol accumulation in the chlorophyte Scenedesmus sp. and the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

There is potential for algal-derived biofuel to help alleviate part of the world’s dependency on petroleum based fuels. However, research must still be done on strain selection, induction of triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation, and fundamental algal metabolic studies, along with large-scale culturing techniques, harvesting, and biofuel/biomass processing. Here, we have advanced the knowledge on Scenedesmus sp. strain WC-1 by monitoring growth, pH, and TAG accumulation on a 14:10 light–dark cycle with atmospheric air or 5% CO2 in air (v/v) aeration. Under ambient aeration, there was a loss of pH-induced TAG accumulation, presumably due to TAG consumption during the lower culture pH observed during dark hours (pH 9.4). Under 5% CO2 aeration, the growth rate nearly doubled from 0.78 to 1.53 d−1, but the pH was circumneutral (pH 6.9) and TAG accumulation was minimal. Experiments were also performed with 5% CO2 during the exponential growth phase, which was then switched to aeration with atmospheric air when nitrate was close to depletion. These tests were run with and without the addition of 50 mM sodium bicarbonate. Cultures without added bicarbonate showed decreased growth rates with the aeration change, but there was no immediate TAG accumulation. The cultures with bicarbonate added immediately ceased cellular replication and rapid TAG accumulation was observed, as monitored by Nile Red fluorescence which has previously been correlated by gas chromatography to cellular TAG levels. Sodium bicarbonate addition (25 mM final concentration) was also tested with the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum strain Pt-1 and this organism also accumulated TAG.
Ambulatory anesthesiaand surgery in America: A historical background and recent innovations

This article describes the history of ambulatory surgery and anesthesia in the United States. The innovations in surgical instrumentation and techniques, newer anesthesia drugs and techniques, as well as insurance provider changes that have led to an increase in the numbers and types of surgeries performed in outpatient settings in the United States, are detailed.
The effects of supported employment in Latino consumers with severe mental illness.

Objective Despite the large number of Latinos living in the United States, little research has evaluated the effectiveness of different vocational rehabilitation programs for individuals with severe mental illness in this rapidly growing minority population. This article presents a secondary analysis of a randomized, controlled trial comparing supported employment with 2 other vocational rehabilitation programs in 3 ethnic/racial groups of participants with severe mental illness: Latinos, non-Latino African Americans, and non-Latino Whites. Method The data were drawn from a previously published randomized, controlled trial comparing supported employment with standard vocational rehabilitation services and a psychosocial clubhouse program in persons with severe mental illness (Mueser et al., 2004), including 64 Latinos, 91 non-Latino African Americans, and 43 non-Latino Whites. Comparisons were made between the 3 groups at baseline on demographic characteristics, clinical and psychosocial functioning, and quality of life. Within each ethnic/racial group, competitive employment and all paid employment outcomes were compared between the 3 vocational rehabilitation programs over the 2-year study period. Results At baseline, the Latino participants had lower levels of education and disability income, were less likely to have worked competitively over the previous 5 years, had more severe symptoms, and worse psychosocial functioning than the non-Latino African American or non-Latino White participants. Latinos randomized to supported employment had better competitive and all-paid work outcomes than those assigned to either standard services or the psychosocial clubhouse program, similar to the non-Latino consumers. Rates of competitive work for consumers in supported employment were comparable across all 3 racial/ethnic groups. Discussion Supported employment is effective at improving competitive work in Latinos with severe mental illness. Efforts should be made to increase access to supported employment in the growing population of Latinos with severe mental illness.
Pretreatment Transperitoneal Laparoscopic Staging Pelvic and Paraaortic Lymphadenectomy in Large (≥5 cm) Stage IB2 Cervical Carcinoma: Report of a Pilot Study

Abstract Twelve patients with large stage IB2 (5–8 cm) cervical carcinoma underwent transperitoneal laparoscopically directed pelvic and paraaortic lymph node dissection prior to the initiation of radiation therapy. The mean length of operation was 176 min and the mean estimated blood loss was 60 cc. An average of 25 lymph nodes were retrieved from each patient: 18 pelvic lymph nodes and 7 paraaortic lymph nodes. No patients were hospitalized for more than 24 hr. No operative complications were observed. Pelvic nodal metastases were diagnosed in three patients, all of whom had negative computerized tomography (CT) scans prior to surgery. All patients began radiation therapy within 1 week of surgery. Laparoscopically directed lymphadenectomy for patients with stage IB2 cervical carcinoma is technically feasible, is associated with minimal morbidity, short hospital stay, and minimal delay prior to radiation therapy, and can add valuable information to radiation treatment planning.
System performance and user response under real-time information in a congested traffic corridor

Abstract A modelling framework is developed to analyze the effect of in-vehicle real time information strategies on the performance of a congested traffic communing corridor. The framework consists of a special-purpose simulation component and a user decisions component that determines users' responses to the supplied information. The user decisions component is microscopic and determines individual commuters' route switching, at any node of the network, as a function of the supplied information. The traffic simulation component moves vehicles in bundles or macroparticles at the prevailing local speeds, as determined by macroscopic traffic relations. The framework allows the investigation of system performance under alternative behavioral response mechanisms, as well as under different information strategies. Results are presented for simulation experiments in a commuting corridor with a special network structure that simplifies the network computations. The results illustrate the effect of the fraction of users equipped with in-vehicle navigation systems on overall system performance. In addition, alternative assumptions on user response reflecting varying degrees of optimizing behavior are explored. The modelling framework is shown to provide a useful approach for addressing key questions of interest in the design of real time in-vehicle information system.
Anisotropic proton chemical shieldings of methyl halides obtained from partially oriented molecules in a lyotropic mesophase

The anisotropic chemical shieldings of protons of four methyl halides are determined by a gradient method which has been reported previously, using a lyotropic mesophase (D2OC10H21SO4NaC10H21OHNa2SO4). These values are compared with those obtained by the same method from the p,p′-di-n-hexyloxyazoxybenzene (HAB) nematic medium. It is found that such nematic liquid crystals as HAB containing benzene rings are not suitable for the determination of the proton chemical shift anisotropy for a molecule orienting weakly to the long axis of the liquid crystalline phase. The variation in the obtained anisotropic chemical shieldings of the methyl halides from F, Cl, Br to I shows a trend similar to that of the calculated values from the magnetic dipole approximation. It seems to be justified that the neighboring group or atom having the large atomic magnetic susceptibility within a molecule plays an important role on the anisotropic chemical shieldings of the protons in such a case as the methyl halides.
Distraction for Children of Different Ages Who Undergo Repeated Needle Sticks

A distraction intervention for pain management and behavioral distress was implemented for six children with chronic illnesses and their parents as the children underwent repeated needle sticks. The children ranged in age from two to eight years. Several different cognitive distractors were used for the children based on their respective developmental levels. The needle stick procedures during which treatment was implemented included intramuscular injections, implanted port accesses, and intravenous placements. Nine sessions of distraction were provided in which a therapist taught parents to coach their children to use distraction techniques. Dependent measures included the child's behavioral distress and heart rate, parent ratings of the child's fear before the procedure, parent self-ratings of feeling upset during the procedure, and nurse ratings of the child's cooperation. Reductions in child behavioral distress during the distraction treatment program were observed in five out of the six cases. Concomitant improvements in parental reports of child distress, nurse estimates of child cooperation, and parents' self-report of feeling upset during the medical procedures also were found. Follow-up data were available for one of the successfully treated children. His improvements were maintained for both intramuscular injections and portacatheter accesses over 16 weeks without therapist involvement.
Effect on Radio-Frequency Characteristics of Pad-to-Pad Interconnection by Varying Vertical Interconnect Density in Magnetically-Aligned Anisotropic Conductive Adhesive

In a magnetically aligned anisotropic conductive adhesive (MA-ACA), high-density vertical interconnects (VIs) are created by agglomerating micron-scale ferromagnetic particles in an epoxy medium through their magnetization process when a magnetic field is externally induced. In this paper, we characterize the radio-frequency properties of pad-to-pad transition created in an MA-ACA on small input and output (I/O) pads less than 100 × 100- μm. In order to analyze created VIs in an MA-ACA, an equivalent circuit model is suggested and validated by using a parasitic extraction approach from the measured S-parameter responses of a silicon-on-silicon test sample. In addition, the effects of the composing parasitics are investigated depending on vertical interconnect density (VID) by adjusting the weight fraction of loading conductive particles. Furthermore, based on a uniform-spacing distribution model of VIs, a failure rate of a pad-to-pad transition is estimated depending on I/O pad size. Experimentally, by refining loading conductive particles, the RF properties of a pad-to-pad transition on silicon test samples are demonstrated to be more consistent. Therefore, by characterizing the RF performance of a pad-to-pad transition depending on VID, a proposed RF packaging approach using an ACA is expected to be effectively applicable to high-density RF applications.
Testosterone Use in Men With Sexual Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials

OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials to measure the effect of testosterone use on sexual function in men with sexual dysfunction and varying testosterone levels. METHODS Librarian-designed search strategies were used to search the MEDLINE (1966 to October 2004), EMBASE (1988 to October 2004), and Cochrane CENTRAL (inception to October 2004) databases. The MEDLINE search was rerun in March 2005. We also reviewed reference lists from included studies and content expert files. We selected randomized placebo-controlled trials of testosterone vs placebo that enrolled men with sexual dysfunction and measured satisfaction with erectile function and libido and overall sexual satisfaction. RESULTS We included 17 trials (N=862 participants) in this review. Trials that enrolled participants with low testosterone levels showed (1) a moderate nonsignificant and inconsistent effect of testosterone use on satisfaction with erectile function (random-effects pooled effect size, 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.10 to 1.60), (2) a large effect on libido (pooled effect size, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.40 to 2.25), and (3) no significant effect on overall sexual satisfaction. Trials that enrolled patients with low-normal and normal testosterone levels at baseline showed testosterone that caused (1) a small effect on satisfaction with erectile function (pooled effect size, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.65), (2) moderate nonsignificant effect on libido (pooled effect size, 0.41; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.83), and (3) no significant effect on overall sexual satisfaction. CONCLUSION Testosterone use in men is associated with small improvements in satisfaction with erectile function and moderate improvements in libido. Unexplained inconsistent results across trials, wide CIs, and possible reporting bias weaken these inferences.
Water Ordering Landscapes

Fractal River Basins . Chance and Self-Organization. IGNACIO RODRIGUEZ-ITURBE and ANDREA RINALDO. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1997. xvi, 547 pp., illus. $100 or £70. ISBN 0-521-47398-5.
Offshore transport of pesticides in the South Atlantic Bight: Preliminary estimate of export budgets.

Abstract Surface waters of the inner shelf (coast to 20-m isobath) of the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) were sampled in July 1994 and August 1995 for pesticides currently used in the south-eastern United States to estimate offshore transport. Only atrazine was detected at all stations in 1994 and 1995 and simazine was detected at all stations in 1995. Atrazine levels were 5.60–12 ng/l in July 1994 and 3.1–11 ng/l in August 1995 and simazine levels were 0.8–4.6 ng/l in August 1995. We calculated reservoir masses (in inner shelf waters) of 550 kg atrazine in July 1994, and 325 kg atrazine and 180 kg simazine in August 1995. Using these reservoir masses and a previously estimated residence time for waters of the inner shelf of 30 days, annual export budgets were calculated. For 1994, a budget of 6600 kg atrazine was calculated. For 1995, budgets of 3900 kg atrazine and 2150 kg simazine were calculated. Yearly riverine discharge to estuaries in the study region was estimated to range from 600 to 5600 kg atrazine and 100 to 550 kg simazine. The large budgets for the coastal inner shelf compared with yearly riverine discharge suggest that a significant fraction of atrazine and simazine applied in the region is being transported offshore from coastal waters. This transport pathway needs to be factored in when calculating mass balances and determining the ultimate fate of these pesticides.
Noncorticosteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents in Ophthalmology

Efforts have been made to develop noncorticosteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy. The goals of such therapy have been to eradicate the primary cause, prevent the initial tissue injury, moderate inflammatory response, and enhance tissue repair while minimizing and eliminating the undesirable aspects of the therapy.
TU‐D‐BRB‐06: Localizing Intracavitary Brachytherapy Applicators from Conebeam CT X‐Ray Projections Via a Novel Iterative Forward Projection Matching (IFPM) Algorithm

Purpose: To present a novel method for reconstructing the 3D pose (positions & orientations) of radio‐opaque objects of known but arbitrary shape from a small set of 2D x‐ray projections, in support of intraoperative brachytherapy planning. Methods and materials: IFPM finds the object pose by minimizing the sum‐of‐squared‐intensity‐differences (SSD) between the computed and experimentally‐acquired auto‐segmented object projections. Starting with an initial estimate of the applicator pose, IFPM iteratively refines the pose parameters (positions and 3 Euler angles) until the SSD converges. The applicator model is a mesh of discrete points derived from a complex combinatorial geometric model of the actual applicator. Three pairs of computed and measured projection images, with known imaging geometry, are used. Projection images of an intrauterine tandem were acquired from Acuity digital‐simulator. Image pre‐processing step was performed to create blurred binary applicator‐only images. To quantify IFPM accuracy, the reconstructed 3D pose of the applicator model was forward projected and overlaid with the measured images and the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was computed for each image‐pair.Results: In the numerical simulations, the tandem and colpostats positions (x, y, z) and orientations (α, β, γ) were estimated with (0.28, 0.3, 0.37) mm and (0.9, 0.8, 1.0)° accuracies, respectively. For the measured tandem images, the DSC was better than 0.88 for each image‐pair.Discussion: We have developed a new, accurate, and completely automatic method to localize radio‐opaque applicators of arbitrary shape from x‐ray projections. Also, no lateral film is required. By localizing the applicator internal structure and the sources, the effect of intra/inter‐applicator attenuation can be included in the resultant dose distribution. Further development and validation tests with tandem and colpostats will be performed for the accurate and robust applicator/sources localization in ICB patients. Supported by Varian Medical Systems
Dynamic mechanical characterization of PMR polyimide/carbon fiber composites modified by fiber coating with silicones

Viscous and elastomeric silicones have been applied as interlayers to carbon fibers in order to develop a tougher, micro-crack resistant, thermally stable polyimide (PMR-15) composite. Carbon fiber is continuously coated with very high molecular weight polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyvinyl-methylsiloxane (PVMS). Dynamic mechanical properties of the composites have been determined and compared with uncoated carbon fiber reinforced PMR-15 polyimide composites. The presence of the interlayer is shown by the appearance of a new relaxation peak. The peak temperature is found to be a good indication of the degree of the cure of the silicone elastomer. Comparison of the storage moduli of uncoated and coated carbon fiber composites at the service temperature range of the composites indicates that the presence of the silicone interlayer affects the shear moduli of the composites. Apparent activation energy of the α transition of the matrix in the modified composites varies with the amount of interlayer and com...
The partisanship of silence: Symbolic politics of school desegration in Boston

This article analyzes the symbolic aspects of the school desegration controversy using disputes in Boston as a case in point. The symbolic communication between actors in the public forum contains implicit views of the rights and obligations of different participants in the controversy, and the role of various individuals and collectives in the “history” of the controversy. These views also provide a framework for understanding the “position” of specific actors, which may constrain their ability to participate effectively in the controversy. This article analyzes these constraints with respect to those actors who attempted to establish a mediator role between “pro-integration” and “anti-busing” forces.