cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do acceptance and mindfulness moderate the relationship between maladaptive beliefs and posttraumatic distress

Objective Maladaptive pre- and posttraumatic beliefs are reliable predictors of distress in the wake of trauma. Acceptance and mindfulness skills may be associated with less distress in the presence of these beliefs, but few studies have explored these relationships. This study examined whether individual differences in acceptance and mindfulness moderate the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and distress in postdeployment soldiers. Method We explored the relationships between posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs, acceptance, mindfulness, and posttraumatic distress (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and general psychological symptoms) in a sample of recently postdeployed active duty U.S. Army Soldiers (N = 1,524). Results Maladaptive thoughts, acceptance, and mindfulness predicted posttraumatic distress, adjusted for combat exposure. In addition, mindfulness partially moderated the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and PTSD symptoms, and acceptance partially moderated the relationship between maladaptive thoughts and general psychological symptoms. Moderation effects were small. Conclusions These findings suggest that individual differences in acceptance and mindfulness may weakly mitigate the relationship between maladaptive thinking and posttraumatic distress, but additional skills may be necessary to fully address maladaptive beliefs in Soldier postdeployment. (PsycINFO Database Record
Prejudice or Principled Conservatism? Racial Resentment and White Opinion toward Paying College Athletes

Despite its widespread use in studies of race and ethnic politics, there exists a long-standing debate about whether racial resentment primarily measures antiblack prejudice or ideological conservatism. In this paper, we attempt to resolve this debate by examining racial resentment’s role in shaping white opinion on a “racialized” policy issue that involves no federal action and no government redistribution of resources: “pay for play” in college athletics. Using cross-sectional and experimental data from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, we find evidence not only that racial resentment items tap racial predispositions but also that whites rely on these predispositions when forming and expressing their views on paying college athletes. More specifically, we demonstrate that racially resentful whites who were subtly primed to think about African Americans are more likely to express opposition to paying college athletes when compared with similarly resentful whi...
Fermionic Superfluidity with Imbalanced Spin Populations

We have observed fermionic superfluidity with population imbalance and the Clogston limit of superfluidity in an ultracold Fermi mixture [Zwierlein et al,2006]. Importantly, this demonstrated that in the case of population imbalance, there is no longer a smooth crossover from a Bose-Einstein condensate of molecules to a BCS type superfluid. Instead, as the pairing strength is varied, phase transitions occur between the superfluid and the normal state.
A Case of Creative Activity as a Human Right: Korean Activist Artist Sung-dam Hong

The arts encourage us to wake up, often by shocking us into a novel consciousness (Ayers, Greene, & Alexander-Tanner, 2012). Further, from the perspective of the artist, the basic human right to cr...
Is There a Racial Wage Gap in Research Libraries? An Analysis of ARL Libraries

Racial equality has been of great importance to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), as seen through various initiatives. However, in recent years, little research has been done regarding the racial wage gap in ARL libraries. Researchers used thirty-five years of raw ARL salary survey data to examine the wage gap between racial minorities and nonminorities (whites). Using this data, researchers created a model that controlled for institution, years of experience, years of experience squared, position, law or medical library, and sex to better understand the nature of the racial wage gap. This model shows that the gap has gradually closed over the years and that there is no longer a statistically significant wage gap between racial minorities and nonminorities in ARL libraries today.
Sodium Bicarbonate Alleviates Penile Pain Induced by Intracavernous Injections for Erectile Dysfunction

AbstractIn an attempt to determine whether penile pain associated with intracorporeal injections could be due to the acidity of the medication, we performed a randomized study comparing the incidence of penile pain following intracorporeal injections with or without the addition of sodium bicarbonate to the intracorporeal medications. A total of 38 consecutive patients who presented to our clinic with impotence received 0.2ml. of a combination of 3 drugs: 6mg. papaverine, 100μg. phentolamine and 10μg. prostaglandin E1 with (pH 7.05) or without (pH 4.17) the addition of sodium bicarbonate (0.03mEq.). Of the 19 patients without sodium bicarbonate added to the medication 11 (58%) complained of penile pain due to the medication, while only 1 of the 19 men (5%) who received sodium bicarbonate complained of penile pain. From these data we conclude that the penile pain following intracorporeal injections is most likely due to the acidity of the medication, which can be overcome by elevating the pH to a neutral l...
Metabolism of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid in Relation to Ethylene Biosynthesis

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) was first isolated in 1957 from ripe cider apples and perry pears by Burroughs1and from ripe cowberries by Vahatalo and Virtanen.2 Although Burroughs3 observed that the amount of ACC in perry pears increased during storage and speculated that ACC might be related in some way to fruit ripening, he could not detect ACC in other varieties of apple or pear. Undoubtedly this was because of the insensitive method employed at that time. Interest in this unusual, non-protein amino acid was sparked when it was recognized as the immediate precursor of ethylene in 1979. Adams and Yang4 unravelled this through tracer studies of methionine metabolism, while Lurssen et al.5 showed that ACC greatly stimulated ethylene production in a number of plant tissues.
6 kW/cm2 UVC laser threshold in optically pumped lasers achieved by controlling point defect formation

Optically pumped lasing from AlGaN/AlN multiple quantum wells grown on single-crystalline AlN substrates with lasing thresholds as low as 6 kW/cm2 is demonstrated via the reduction of unintentional point defects in the active region and waveguide, which reduces the non-radiative recombination by 2 orders of magnitude. A higher lasing threshold of 11 kW/cm2 is observed for AlGaN barriers, owing to the reduced localization of electrons and holes in the wells. It is shown that for electrically injected UVC laser diodes, AlGaN barriers are essential.
Symposium: Transformative Practices of Teacher-Scholar-Activists in the Era of Trump: Introduction

Recent political events have exacerbated the tensions between the expectation that faculty be neutral arbiters of knowledge and information and the reality that many individuals pursue careers in p...
Dynamic self-organized error-correction of grid cells by border cells

Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex are believed to establish their regular, spatially correlated firing patterns by path integration of the animal's motion. Mechanisms for path integration, e.g. in attractor network models, predict stochastic drift of grid responses, which is not observed experimentally. We demonstrate a biologically plausible mechanism of dynamic self-organization by which border cells, which fire at environmental boundaries, can correct such drift in grid cells. In our model, experience-dependent Hebbian plasticity during exploration allows border cells to learn connectivity to grid cells. Border cells in this learned network reset the phase of drifting grids. This error-correction mechanism is robust to environmental shape and complexity, including enclosures with interior barriers, and makes distinctive predictions for environmental deformation experiments. Our work demonstrates how diverse cell types in the entorhinal cortex could interact dynamically and adaptively to achieve robust path integration.
A Framework to Integrate User Feedback for Rapid Conflict Resolution

Data fusion addresses the problem of consolidating data from disparate information providers into a single unified interface. The different data sources often provide conflicting information for the same data item. Recently, several automated data fusion models have been proposed to resolve conflicts and identify correct data. Although quite effective, these data fusion models do not achieve a close-to-perfect accuracy. We present the demonstration of a system that leverages users as first-class citizens to confirm data conflicts and rapidly improve the effectiveness of fusion. This demonstration is built on solutions proposed in our previous work [1]. To utilize the user judiciously, our system presents claims in an order that is the most beneficial to effectiveness of fusion across data items. We describe ranking algorithms that are built on concepts from information theory and decision theory, and do not need access to ground truth. We describe the user input framework and demonstrate how conflict resolution can be expedited with minimal feedback from the user. We show that: (a) the framework can be easily adopted to existing data fusion models without any internal changes to the models, and (b) the framework can integrate both perfect and imperfect feedback from users.
Ethical Considerations in Interdisciplinary Treatments

The development of interdisciplinary treatment teams poses several ethical considerations that must be addressed. Significant challenges to service delivery and treatment fidelity may occur when melding several disciplines, their training, and their theoretical perspectives. This chapter examines ethical considerations in the development and implementation of interdisciplinary teams helping individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Following this examination, several proactive and reactive strategies are offered to improve the likelihood of successful interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation.
Dialoguing with the silent researcher: Rethinking the role of the transcriptionist in qualitative research:

Even though transcription is a mainstay of qualitative research, transcription itself is rarely present in discussions of data collection or analysis. A meager body of literature exists that consid...
“A Person of Large Appetites”: From Promiscuity to Matrimony in Janet Flanner’s The Cubical City

“Society can not really regulate anything so essentially personal and private in its nature as the sexual relation.” Suzanne La Follette, Concerning Women, 1926 “We...
The effects on F0 of a voicing distinction in sonorants and their implications for a theory of tonogenesis

Abstract: Burmese has a contrast between voiced and voiceless nasal and lateral sonorants. The voiced ones lower the pitch and the voiceless ones raise the pitch on the following vowel. This result is the one that is expected on the basis of most historical data on development of tones. However, it means that the explanation for consonantal effects on F0 must be unrelated to differences in supraglottal configuration, since sonorants and obstruents have similar effects.
Methyl Donor Deficiency Blocks Colorectal Cancer Development by Affecting Key Metabolic Pathways.

Our understanding of the role of folate one-carbon metabolism in colon carcinogenesis remains incomplete. Previous studies indicate that a methyl donor-deficient (MDD) diet lacking folic acid, choline, methionine, and vitamin B12 is associated with long-lasting changes to the intestinal epithelium and sustained tumor protection in Apc-mutant mice. However, the metabolic pathways by which the MDD diet affects these changes are unknown. Colon samples harvested from ApcΔ14/+ mice fed the MDD diet for 18 weeks were profiled using a GC-MS and LC-MS/MS metabolomics platform. Random forest and pathway analyses were used to identify altered metabolic pathways, and associated gene expression changes were analyzed by RT-PCR. Approximately 100 metabolites affected by the MDD diet were identified. As expected, metabolites within the methionine cycle, including methionine (-2.9-fold, P < 0.001) and betaine (-3.3-fold, P < 0.001), were reduced. Elevated homocysteine (110-fold, P < 0.001) was associated with increased flux through the transsulfuration pathway. Unexpectedly, levels of deoxycholic acid (-4.5-fold, P < 0.05) and several other secondary bile acids were reduced. There were also unexpected reductions in the levels of carnitine (-2.0-fold, P < 0.01) and a panel of acylcarnitines involved in fatty acid β-oxidation. Finally, metabolites involved in redox balance, including ascorbate and hypotaurine, were found to be persistently elevated. These findings provide clues to the molecular changes underlying MDD-mediated tumor protection and identify regulatable metabolic pathways that may provide new targets for colon cancer prevention and treatment. IMPLICATIONS: Metabolomic profiling reveals molecular changes underlying MDD-induced tumor protection and may provide new targets for colorectal cancer prevention and treatment.
Processing and integration of functionally oriented prespacers in the Escherichia coli CRISPR system depends on bacterial host exonucleases

CRISPR-Cas systems provide bacteria with adaptive immunity against viruses. During spacer adaptation, the Cas1-Cas2 complex selects fragments of foreign DNA, called prespacers, and integrates them into CRISPR arrays in an orientation that provides functional immunity. Cas4 is involved in both the trimming of prespacers and the cleavage of protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) in several type I CRISPR-Cas systems, but how the prespacers are processed in systems lacking Cas4, such as the type I-E and I-F systems, is not understood. In Escherichia coli, which has a type I-E system, Cas1-Cas2 preferentially selects prespacers with 3' overhangs via specific recognition of a PAM, but how these prespacers are integrated in a functional orientation in the absence of Cas4 is not known. Using a biochemical approach with purified proteins, as well as integration, prespacer protection, sequencing, and quantitative PCR assays, we show here that the bacterial 3'-5' exonucleases DnaQ and ExoT can trim long 3' overhangs of prespacers and promote integration in the correct orientation. We found that trimming by these exonucleases results in an asymmetric intermediate, because Cas1-Cas2 protects the PAM sequence, which helps to define spacer orientation. Our findings implicate the E. coli host 3'-5' exonucleases DnaQ and ExoT in spacer adaptation and reveal a mechanism by which spacer orientation is defined in E. coli.
Beta-lactam antibiotic test doses in the emergency department

Abstract Background Facilitating beta-lactam antibiotic use in patients reporting beta-lactam allergies in acute care settings is important to individual patient outcomes and public health; however, few initiatives have targeted the Emergency Department (ED) setting. Methods We implemented pathways for patients reporting prior penicillin and/or cephalosporin hypersensitivity as part of a hospital guideline in the ED of a large academic medical center in the United States. We described beta-lactam test doses, pathway compliance, hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs), and allergy record updating associated with ED-administered beta-lactam test doses from October 2016 to June 2018. Results 310 beta-lactam antibiotic test doses were administered to patients with penicillin and/or cephalosporin allergy histories in the study period (average volume 15/month [standard deviation 4]). Test doses were to cephalosporins (85%), penicillins (12%), and carbapenems (4%). 219 (71%) of test doses were compliant with the pathways. Ten patients (3.2%; 95% CI 1.6%–5.9%) had HSRs; five HSR patients (50%) had beta-lactams administered that were not pathway compliant. The allergy record was updated in 146 (47%) of patients, with improvement over the study period (p Conclusions Inpatient approaches to prescribing beta-lactams in patients reporting beta-lactam allergies can be operationalized in the ED. Additional efforts are required to ensure guideline compliance and appropriate allergy documentation.
Structure, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties of (Na1−2xCax)NbO3 ceramics

Mimicking the scheme of incorporating La3+ to Pb(Zr1−xTix)O3, Ca2+ is used to substitute Na+ in the lead-free NaNbO3 compound, with A-site vacancy introduced to maintain charge neutrality. The anticipated relaxor behavior is expected to suppress the remanent polarization and improve the energy storage properties of NaNbO3-based ceramics. Specifically, (Na1−2xCax)NbO3 (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08) ceramics were prepared with the solid-state method, and their structures and electric properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy reveal the existence of minor amount of CaNb2O6 second phase. Polarization vs. electric field hysteresis loop measurements verify the suppression of remanent polarization in compositions of x ≤ 0.04. The temperature-dependent dielectric tests indicate that both the relaxation and diffuseness parameters monotonically increase with Ca2+ content. The results demonstrate that the introduction of a smaller donor dopant and charge-compensating vacancies on the A-site in NaNbO3 is an effective strategy to disrupt the long-range dipole order.
Evaluating the Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Children’s Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) among Children with Autism

The current study examines the convergent and divergent validity between the Children’s Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) and other established measures among children with autism. Twenty-nine children with autism completed the CPFQ, the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), and the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). Results showed a significant negative correlation between the CPFQ and the AFQ-Y (r = −.449, p = .015) with a medium to large effect size, and divergent validity between the CPFQ and the AAQ-II (r = −.324, p = .086), and the CAMM (r = .279, p = .143) with a small to medium effect size. These results illustrate the value of self-report measures using child-specific language to target and measure the six psychological flexibility processes. This result highlights the benefit of the CPFQ by using child-specific language and measuring all six processes of the psychological flexibility model. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.
The Twilight of Brown: Empirical Analysis of Re-Segregation and Voluntary Adoption of School Integration Policies Across the United States

Based on the extensive work of Gary Orfield and others, scholars and legal practitioners have long known that across the United States, significant resegregation of public-school districts is occurring rapidly as states debate new modes of student assignment, increase charter school offerings, and the Supreme Court loosens rules for removing the taint of discrimination in public education. However, we lack systematic knowledge of how resegregation is being counteracted and the factors contributing to the choice of school districts to adopt voluntary desegregation plans. This empirical study attempts to fill that void. We found sixty experimental school districts that meet our strict criteria for voluntary adoption of school desegregation policies. Using student enrollment size at the school district level, we selected fifty-nine contiguous control districts that have not adopted voluntary desegregation plans for inclusion in our study. We relied on multiple analytical methods to examine the data, including correlation and logistic regression. Our findings highlight the importance of both institutional and contextual conditions in a school district’s choice of voluntary adoption of desegregation plans. Institutional factors such as the number of schools in the district, the history of court-ordered desegregation, and contextual conditions such as the proportion of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch and the race and ethnicity of students significantly explains whether a school district would adopt voluntary integration policies. We discuss the implications of our findings within the context of a Supreme Court and polity that remain split about the worthiness of school desegregation.
Dynamic modeling for heavy-ion collisions

Recent theory progresses in (3+1)D dynamical descriptions of relativistic nuclear collisions at finite baryon density are reviewed. Heavy-ion collisions at different collision energies produce strongly coupled nuclear matter to probe the phase structure of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Dynamical frameworks serve as a quantitative tool to study properties of hot QCD matter and map collisions to the QCD phase diagram. Outstanding challenges are highlighted when confronting theoretical models with the current and forthcoming experimental measurements from the RHIC beam energy scan program.
Visioning: A Navigational Tool in Schools

At the time of writing this introduction, the world sits in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic that has never before impacted so widely our world across geographic regions and socioecon...
The Contact Experiences and Needs of the Children of Prisoners before and during COVID-19: Findings from An Australian Survey (preprint)

Most of the research examining children visiting a parent in prison indicates that visits have a positive impact on children's well-being, their connection to the imprisoned par- ent and the parent themselves. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant change to prison visits worldwide, with limits or bans on face-to-face con- tact. Understanding the experiences and needs of children during this period remains limited. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 84 carers of 184 children across Australia, investigating children's experiences of contact with their imprisoned parent both before and during COVID-19 restrictions. Although most carers reported maintaining contact during restrictions, a range of difficulties were noted: reduced availability;the effect of prison-based issues, including lockdowns;and the suitability of video/telephone visits for young children. Some described the benefits of videocon- ferencing, including reduced travel time and cost, and not needing to take children into a prison environment. Despite this, respondents typically described the negative impact of restrictions, and lack of physical contact, on children's emotional well-being. Our findings suggest that, for video visiting to be successful, it should be complementary to in-person visits, tailored to the needs of children, with support offered to families.
Scientific Standards in Econometric Modeling

The increasing scale, complexity, and practical success of econometric modelling in recent years requires a rethinking of its foundations. Econometricians have made do with a formal description of the nature and objectives of their work which relies too heavily on the example of the experimental sciences, and thereby gives an incomplete and misleading picture. As a result, we have shown occasional confusion in judging or setting standards for empirical work. Perhaps worse, we have left ourselves open to apparently devastating criticism.
Evaluation of telemetry utilization, policy, and outcomes in an inner-city academic medical center.

Objective To evaluate the appropriateness and intermediate outcomes of telemetry admissions. Methods We abstracted demographic and clinical data from records of all new telemetry admissions during a 2-month period. To determine appropriateness, 2 authors classified patients using the American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines and our telemetry policy. Other utilization and outcome measures were assessed. Agreement between both guidelines was computed ( k coefficient). Categorical group covariates were compared using c 2 test. Variations in telemetry length of stay (LOS) were compared using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. LOS predictors were ascertained by multiple regression analysis. Results Of the 120 patients, appropriate admission was 81.6% (ACC criteria) and 83% by our criteria. Guidelines interrater reliability was .89 ( k ). Telemetry events incidence was 33.3%, with 5.8% major and 27.5% minor. LOS was longer among major than minor events group (7.8 vs 3.4 days, p = .01). Type of telemetry event was a predictor of LOS (p = .0001). The occurrence of a major telemetry event was associated with cardiology consultation (p = .03). Conclusions Appropriate telemetry admission was observed in more than 80% of cases. Our telemetry policy had very good agreement with standard guideline. However, the low rate of major telemetry events in all patient groups suggests current guidelines might have considerable limitations.
Commentary on late breaking trials in interventional cardiology at ESC, VIVA, TCT, AHA (Fall 2012), and ACC 2013

With the plethora of clinical trials, it is difficult for busy interventional cardiologists to stay up to date. Therefore, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) publications committee concisely summarized and provided editorial commentary on the most important trials from recent, large international meetings. The intent is to provide this summary every six months to allow quick assimilation of trial results into interventional practice.
Writing Against Revolution: Literary Conservatism in Britain, 1790-1832

Conservative culture in the Romantic period should not be understood merely as an effort to preserve the old regime in Britain against the threat of revolution. Instead, conservative thinkers and writers aimed to transform British culture and society to achieve a stable future in contrast to the destructive upheavals taking place in France. Kevin Gilmartin explores the literary forms of counterrevolutionary expression in Britain, showing that while conservative movements were often inclined to treat print culture as a dangerously unstable and even subversive field, a whole range of print forms - ballads, tales, dialogues, novels, critical reviews - became central tools in the counterrevolutionary campaign. Beginning with the pamphlet campaigns of the loyalist Association movement and the Cheap Repository in the 1790s, Gilmartin analyses the role of periodical reviews and anti-Jacobin fiction in the campaign against revolution, and closes with a fresh account of the conservative careers of Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Sensitivity and Stability of the Classifications of Returns to Scale in Data Envelopment Analysis

Sensitivity of the returns to scale (RTS) classifications in data envelopment analysis is studied by means of linear programming problems. The stability region for an observation preserving its current RTS classification (constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale) can be easily investigated by the optimal values to a set of particular DEA-type formulations. Necessary and sufficient conditions are determined for preserving the RTS classifications when input or output data perturbations are non-proportional. It is shown that the sensitivity analysis method under proportional data perturbations can also be used to estimate the RTS classifications and discover the identical RTS regions yielded by the input-based and the output-based DEA methods. Thus, our approach provides information on both the RTS classifications and the stability of the classifications. This sensitivity analysis method can easily be applied via existing DEA codes.
Idololatria: Philosophy as a Contrary Faith ( Con’t .)

It is necessary to ask in more detail what Hamann meant by the charge that the philosophy of the Enlightenment “divorced what nature had joined together” and “approached truth to take off her clothes”.
Drizzle correlations with giant nuclei

[1] Giant nuclei (GN) concentrations (NGN) below RICO small cumulus clouds were substantially correlated with drizzle drop concentrations (Nd), especially at higher cloud altitudes. The NGN-Nd correlation coefficients (R) progressively increased with altitude whereas R for CCN concentrations with Nd were negative with mostly decreasing magnitudes at increasing altitudes. These results indicate that the positive influence of GN [or CCN with low critical supersaturations (Sc)] on Nd is greater than the negative influence of high Sc CCN on Nd at high cloud altitudes where there are more drizzle drops. This work has implications not only for fundamental cloud physics but also for climate change; i.e., global warming and the indirect aerosol effect as well as geoengineering and hygroscopic cloud seeding.
Microtechnique for serum opacity factor characterization of group A streptococci adaptable to the use of human sera.

We have developed a microtechnique for detection of streptococcal serum opacity factor (OF) and for typing of group A streptococci by inhibition of OF. This technique, which involves the use of single wells of standard 96-well tissue culture plates, offers several advantages over previous methods: no advance test preparation is required, allowing tests to be quickly and easily performed; only small quantities of reagents are required; results can be determined visually (qualitative) or by using a photometric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plate reader (quantitative); and human serum samples may be quickly and easily screened for OF-inhibitory antibody and subsequently used in place of difficult-to-produce and expensive hyperimmune animal sera for OF characterization of group A streptococci. Fifty-eight samples of normal adult human serum were tested by this new microtechnique for anti-OF antibodies, and 49 (84%) were found to have antibody against 1 or more of the 27 recognized OF-positive serotypes. OF antibodies to M-4, M-2, M-75, and M-48 were most common in these individuals. These 58 human serum samples collectively contained antibody to 25 of the 27 different OF-producing serotypes. Serum samples from four individuals were tested for persistence of OF antibody. OF antibodies to eight different serotypes present in the serum samples collected 7 to 12 years previously were present in the freshly collected sera, indicating that OF antibody persists in human antisera for many years. This new technique has distinct advantages and makes it possible for many laboratories to use this technique to characterize group A streptococci. Images
Response of Mycobacterium avium to Ultraviolet Irradiation

The survival response of Mycobacterium avium to ultraviolet irradiation demonstrated the presence of a photoreactivating repair system.
Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Assembled Liquid Crystals: p-Alkoxybenzoic Acids

Thermotropic liquid crystal phases are ordered fluids found, for some molecules, at intermediate temperatures between the crystal and liquid states. Although technologically important, these materials typically receive little attention in the undergraduate curriculum. Here, we describe a laboratory activity for introductory organic chemistry students on the synthesis and characterization of the p-alkoxybenzoic acids. These compounds, through the formation of carboxylic acid dimers, exhibit liquid crystal phases common in rod-like (calamitic) molecules. The students are assigned different alkoxy chain lengths and synthesize the compounds through microwave-assisted nucleophilic substitution. Characterization of the phase behavior is then carried out by standard melting point techniques, differential scanning calorimetry, or polarized optical microscopy. The results for the class are pooled to allow the students to consider structure–property effects for the series. This activity allows students to explore s...
Boundary integral spectral element method for extreme ultraviolet multilayer defects analyses

The multilayer distortion caused by the mask defects is regarded as one of the critical challenges of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for high density semiconductor patterning. To numerically analyze the influence of the defected nano-scale structures with high accuracy and efficiency, we have developed a boundary integral spectral element method (BI-SEM) that combines the SEM with a set of surface integral equations. The SEM is used to solve the interior computational domain, while the open boundaries are truncated by the surface integral equations. Through comparing the performance of this method with the conventional finite element method, it is shown that the proposed BI-SEM can greatly decrease both the memory cost and computation time.
Spin-Exchange Term in the Solvent Equation of State Near the Critical Point for Electron-Transfer Reactions

Abstract Phenomenological equations of state (EOS) for fluids near their critical point have been obtained using literature compression factor data, Z c = P c V c /( nRT c )=0.40 to 0.10 in ( P c , V c , and T c are the pressure, volume per n mole, and the absolute temperature of the fluid at the critical point). The objective is to explain the deviations from the van der Waals value, Z c (vdW)=3/8 (−70% for molten Se and alkali metals up to 6% for molten Pb, Hg, and In) by including in the commonly used phenomenological thermodynamic relations a term which explicitly describes the Heisenberg spin-exchange interactions, in order to understand electron-transfer reactions in solvents near their critical point. Literature data near the critical point indicate that the 199,201 Hg( Z c ≅0.4) Knight shift pluments to zero while the alkali metals and Se ( Z c =0.2 to 0.1) are paramagnetic fluids, and that the enhanced rates for free radical electron-exchange reactions in CO 2 , n -C 2 H 6 , and CHF 3 with intermediate values of Z c , are correlated to Z c . The difference in the solvent behavior for electron-exchange reactions near its critical point is ascribed to spin-exchange interactions. The analysis shows that the solvated electron osmotic pressure in metal–ammonia solutions goes through a maximum where enhanced rates of electron exchange also attain a maximum versus the solvent density ρ r = V c / V ≅0.5. The results can be applied to choose the best solvents, near their critical point, for the syntheses of new materials and heavy metal oxide extraction.
The future of implantable hemodynamic monitors.

The syndrome of heart failure (HF) is widely prevalent in North America and Europe, estimated to be 1–2% of the general population in developed countries [1]. Even in patients in whom this common diagnosis is well established, identifying HF decompensation, surprisingly, remains a challenge, even in the hands of experienced clinicians. The reasons for this are manyfold. The usual ‘starting point’ in the clinician’s diagnostic algorithm – the patient’s history of present illness – usually includes the nonspecific symptoms of dyspnea, cough and fatigue. The physical examination may be difficult, especially in chronic HF, when recruitment of pulmonary lymphatics may result in the absence of audible rales, even in the setting of an elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Examination of the jugular venous pressure is poorly performed or not performed at all by many clinicians (at least in the author’s experience), and may not always correlate with left-sided filling pressures. The chest x-ray may be nonspecific, and revealing laboratory abnormalities, for example hyponatremia, may not be present until a significant volume overload is observed. More recently, neurohormonal markers such as brain natiuretic peptide (BNP), which are elevated in HF, have been added to the laboratory evaluation [2]. However, BNP may be falsely low, for example in obese individuals [3]. Transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrating depressed left ventricular systolic function may not be helpful as 40% or more of HF is associated with preserved systolic function [4]. It may not be until the patient undergoes invasive evaluation by pulmonary artery catheterization, demonstrating decompensated hemodynamics, that the true clinical picture becomes evident. Unfortunately, a limitation of hemodynamic evaluation as it is currently performed, at rest in the supine position, is that only a ‘snap shot’ is provided of the perturbations associated with HF. As patients will relate, symptoms will often worsen or abate with alterations in diet, position, day/night cycle and so on. Although clinicians have some idea of the hemodynamic changes that occur, the dynamic aspects of these changes have likely been underestimated and poorly understood. With better understanding of the hemodynamic fluctuations occurring, it might be possible to detect clinical worsening earlier and intervene quickly, thereby avoiding increased morbidity and mortality.
Rapid synthesis of nearly-pure high Tc superconductor HgBa2CuO4+δ at ambient pressure in an open system

Abstract Nearly-pure 1201-type cuprate HgBa2CuO4+δ was successfully synthesized at ambient pressure in an open system, and was characterized by powder x-ray diffraction analyses and by resistance and ac susceptibility measurements. The lattice parameters are a = 3.8742(5) A and c = 9.4798(11) A , and the Tc,onset is up to 95 K. The results of the present experiment are instructive to the understanding of the formation mechanism of Hg-based superconductors, and thus to the preparation of existing Hg-based superconductors and to the search for new Hg-based high Tc superconductors.
Information processing in contamination fear: a covariation bias examination of fear and disgust.

The current study represents the first examination of covariation biases in contamination fear. Using an undergraduate sample we examined covariation bias for specific emotion outcomes (fear specific and disgust specific) associated with contamination stimuli in high contamination fear (HCF; n = 32) and low contamination fear (LCF; n = 30) individuals. Following random stimulus-outcome presentation participants provided estimations on the proportion of each presented stimulus-expression pairing. Analyses revealed a specific bias for the over-estimation of fear and disgust contingencies among the HCF group, but not the LCF group. The current study also revealed a specific covariation bias among HCF, not LCF, participants to over-estimate the contingency between contamination stimuli and fear outcomes, not disgust outcomes. Further, results indicate that HCF individuals significantly under-estimate the covariation among contamination stimuli and safety outcomes compared to LCF participants. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for information processing biases in anxiety disorders.
The differential infectivity and staged progression models for the transmission of HIV.

Recent studies of HIV RNA in infected individuals show that viral levels vary widely between individuals and within the same individual over time. Individuals with higher viral loads during the chronic phase tend to develop AIDS more rapidly. If RNA levels are correlated with infectiousness, these variations explain puzzling results from HIV transmission studies and suggest that a small subset of infected people may be responsible for a disproportionate number of infections. We use two simple models to study the impact of variations in infectiousness. In the first model, we account for different levels of virus between individuals during the chronic phase of infection, and the increase in the average time from infection to AIDS that goes along with a decreased viral load. The second model follows the more standard hypothesis that infected individuals progress through a series of infection stages, with the infectiousness of a person depending upon his current disease stage. We derive and compare threshold conditions for the two models and find explicit formulas of their endemic equilibria. We show that formulas for both models can be put into a standard form, which allows for a clear interpretation. We define the relative impact of each group as the fraction of infections being caused by that group. We use these formulas and numerical simulations to examine the relative importance of different stages of infection and different chronic levels of virus to the spreading of the disease. The acute stage and the most infectious group both appear to have a disproportionate effect, especially on the early epidemic. Contact tracing to identify superspreaders and alertness to the symptoms of acute HIV infection may both be needed to contain this epidemic.
Nonverbal Behavior in the Digital Age: Explorations in Internet Social Communication

This Special Issue of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior explores nonverbal issues in the digital age, with an emphasis on how information is communicated and received on social networking sites such as Facebook. In addition to showing that a variety of user characteristics play an important role in the exchange of information, the featured articles also reveal the impact of different types of nonverbal cues individuals use to create and manage impressions.
Chemical Attack of Graphite/Epoxy by Hydrogen Peroxide

Techniques for studying the mechanisms of chemical corrosion in fiber-reinforced plastics are of considerable importance. The most common analysis technique for studying chemical changes in polymers is Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. For polymers reinforced with graphite fibers, however, study of the matrix is hindered by the presence of the graphite, which strongly absorbs IR radiation in a broad band of wavelengths. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degradation of AS-4/3501-5a graphite/epoxy composite material exposed to solutions of hydrogen peroxide. Evidence was also sought for degradation in high pH (up to pH = 12) solutions. After long-term environmental exposure, a simple gravity flotation technique was used to separate the epoxy matrix from the graphite fibers for FT-IR analysis. The resulting spectroscopic evidence indicates that hydrogen peroxide attacks the secondary amines in the cured epoxy structure. No evidence of attack by high pH solutions was found.
Numerical treatment of boundary conditions at points connecting more than two electrically distinct regions

Points of intersection of three or more lossy dielectric regions (i.e. tissues) often occur in anatomical cross-sections of the human body obtained with CT-scans. The boundary conditions for the electric and magnetic fields require special attention at these points, in contrast to points of connectin of only two tissues, thus posing a problems for numerical methods involved with calculating the electromagnetic fields in tissue. In this paper, a simple theoretical analysis, which exposes the dominant analytic behaviour near such points, is followed. The derived analytic behaviour is numerically enforced via a special basis function which is compatible with the finite element method. Results are shown which indicate that the special basis preserves the analytic behaviour while maintaining grid resolution that is typical of the overall mesh.
Urban Nature and Human Design: Renewing the Great Tradition

The city is part of nature, a fact that has profound implications for how cities are designed, built, and managed For centuries, city designers have exploited nature to promote human purposes The r...
Organic contaminants in the District of Columbia water supply.

Thirty-two organic contaminants have been identified in District of Columbia drinking water. These contaminants include aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorocarbons, bromine-containing compounds, alcohols and ketones. The concentration of each constituent identified was less than one part per million. The organic contaminants were extracted from the water samples with a 1:1 mixture of carbon disulfide (CS2) and methylene chloride (CH2Cl2). Each constituent was identified by its gas chromatographic retention time and by its mass spectrum.
Probabilistic analysis of bucket recursive trees

We introduce the bucket recursive tree, a generalization of recursive trees. The tree grows from a succession of integer labels that join the multitype nodes of the tree according to a stochastic rule. We study the multivariate structure of the tree and obtain a multivariate central limit theorem for the joint distribution of the number of nodes of different types for trees with bucket size b ? 26. For trees with b > 26 a phase change in the distribution is detected and the central limit theorem does not hold. Recent results on the extended Polya urn models (Smythe, 1995) provide the basic tool to reach these results. Two kinds of distances are also studied: The tree height and the depth of the nth label. Strong laws for the height are obtained via a technique based on introducing “ghost nodes”, then removing them. The ghost nodes create a companion tree that relates our tree to Biggins' (1976) first- and last-birth problem in a multitype process. A weak law for the depth is obtained by formulating and asymptotically manipulating the depth probability generating function.
Multimedia Hybrid Asynchronous Courses Using Internet and CD—ROM— Editing, Production, and Authoring Considerations

This article presents information about the process of creating an asynchronous learning experience for postsecondary school students employing a hybrid World Wide Web and CD-ROM technology. The steps include assembling an appropriate studio facility, identifying content experts and training them in the use of pre- and postproduction hardware and software, and designing the product to be user (student) friendly and attractive. Examples are included, and the advantages and disadvantages of types of software and hardware are discussed.
Immune Tolerance to Self-Major Histocompatability Complex Class II Antigens after Bone Marrow Transplantation: Role of Regulatory T Cells

The immune system undergoes rapid reconstitution after autologous or syngeneic bone marrow transplantation with the re-establishment of tolerance to self-antigens. Administration of drugs such as cyclosporine that inhibit thymic-dependent clonal deletion disrupts the reconstitution of the immune system. In the absence of a peripheral regulatory T cells eliminated by the preparative regimen, systemic autoimmunity with pathology similar to graft-versus-host disease often develops. Moreover, the resolution of autoaggression is dependent on the reconstitution of CD4+ regulatory T cells. This study examined the specificity and function of this regulatory population assessed ex vivo that plays a critical role in down-regulating the autoreactive T lymphocyte response in cyclosporine-induced syngeneic graft-versus-host disease. The results suggest that both the antigen-specific regulatory and pathogenic effector T cells recognize a common peptide antigen framework (CLIP, a peptide derived from the invariant chain) presented by major histocompatibility complex class II molecules. Analysis of the CD4+ T-cell compartment revealed two subsets of CLIP-reactive T cells that differentially require the N- and C-terminal flanking domain of this peptide. Regulatory function is associated with the cells that require the C-terminal flanking domain. This population expresses the Foxp3 nuclear transcription factor and plays a critical role in re-establishing tolerance to self-major histocompatibility complex class II antigens. In addition to suppressing the production of type 1 cytokines, these regulatory T cells can direct the apoptotic death of the pathogenic autoreactive lymphocytes. This study also suggests that the development of functional regulatory activity is an active response initiated by the presence of autoreactive lymphocytes that can present the target antigen (major histocompatibility complex class II CLIP) to the regulatory T cells. Moreover, this process can be mimicked by peptide antigen in the absence of the pathogenic effector lymphocytes leading to the development of functional regulatory T-cell activity.