cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social skills training to reduce depression in adolescents.

The efficacy of Structured Learning Therapy (SLT) in treating adolescent depression was evaluated. SLT treatment focuses on developing social competencies, self-evaluation skills, and appropriate affective expression. Eighteen adolescents, aged 14-19 years, prescreened for depression were randomly assigned to the SLT treatment or control group. All subjects participated in six biweekly 60-minute sessions. Pre-, post, and follow-up assessments on depression, self-esteem, and personality measures were conducted. Results suggest that SLT reliably reduced depression in males (p < .05) and maintained their improved level of functioning (p < .02). Female treatment subjects did not improve significantly. Results suggest differential effectiveness of treatment across gender.
Direct-coupled desorption for small capacity ammonia-water absorption systems

Abstract An investigation of direct gas-coupled desorption for small capacity ammonia-water absorption is presented. Some applications favor or require the use of direct-coupling of the heat source for desorption; therefore, a systematic treatment of this topic is needed for the optimal design of small-capacity absorption systems. Gas-coupled desorption is accomplished through diabatic distillation, and an optimal gas side geometry is established. Gas side optimization considers pressure drop minimization as well as geometric constraints such as column diameter and number of gas tubes. A heat and mass transfer model is developed and validated with experiments. Excellent internal vapor purification is achieved and the results agree well with the heat transfer and pressure drop predictions. These results demonstrate the applicability of direct-coupled desorption to small-capacity ammonia-water absorption systems. A comparative assessment with indirect-coupled desorption components is also made.
Research and Development Expense and Analyst Forecast Errors: An Underestimation of Sales or Overestimation of Expenses?:

We test whether analysts adequately incorporate the implications of research and development (R&D) activities into their forecasts by observing the relation between R&D expense and future forecast ...
Risks and opportunities of GM crops: Bt maize example

Abstract The anticipated world population growth emphasizes a need to produce more food on less land. Cutting-edge technologies, including genetic engineering, can help to develop improved crop varieties and protect natural resources. In spite of the potential for genetically-modified (GM) crops to make crop production more efficient, they remain a polarizing issue due to safety concerns. This paper provides an overview of the risk assessment process. The safety of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins is used as an example for how risk assessment is applied to GM crops. Risks associated with GM crops have proven to be low to non-existent. Developing countries would benefit from GM technologies as one tool to improve crop yields and reduce production challenges.
Familiarity, Similarity, and Performance Effectiveness in Disaster Response

An effective response to a disaster requires responders to makes sense of a large-scale, dynamic, complex event from an array of public, private and non-profit actors. Factors that influence respon...
Essay Response to 'Asymmetries in the Generation and Transmission of Wealth'

What role should wealth transfer law play in reducing economic inequality? In “Asymmetries in the Generation and Transmission of Wealth,” Professor Felix Chang proposes thoughtful reforms to reduce economic inequality by altering the rules of wealth transmission. The current state of wealth inequality in the U.S. may, indeed, justify regulatory intervention, but this is a complex, subjective question. Consider, for example, a recent social policy experiment in which Yale Law School students self-identified as politically progressive but exhibited self-interested distribution preferences that favored efficiency over equality. Nonetheless, objective economic indicators published by French economist Thomas Piketty show that wealth inequality in the U.S. has, in fact, increased in recent years. That trend lends support for Chang’s normative claim of asymmetry between the regulation of wealth generation and transmission. In response to Chang’s call for redistributive reforms, this Essay proposes repackaging the federal wealth transfer tax structure and applying it to a postmortem system of “means testing” for federal entitlements, such as Social Security and Medicare. This system would recapture federal entitlement benefits from wealthy decedent estates, but to protect the vested interests of aging current beneficiaries, postmortem means testing would have to be phased-in gradually by exempting anyone currently over the age of fifty.
Lifetime estrogen exposure and cognition in late life: the Cache County Study.

AbstractObjective:Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is higher for women, possibly influenced by sex-dependent effects of the estrogen. We examined the association between estrogen and cognitive decline in over 2,000 older adult women in a 12-year population-based study in Cache County, Utah.Met
FeCrAl—iron–chromium–aluminum monolithic alloys

Abstract The use of monolithic FeCrAl alloys to replace zirconium alloys is the second nearest term for the accident-tolerant fuel claddings after coated zirconium alloys. Currently a single layer of less than 1-mm-thick zirconium alloy metal separates the fuel cavity and its toxic compounds from the coolant water. The simplest and most elegant improvement would be to replace the current alloy for another alloy, obviously as resistant to corrosion as zirconium under normal operation conditions but a thousand times more resistant to attack by steam under severe accident conditions. An alloy down selection was conducted in steam under severe accident scenarios (>1200°C) and the highest environmental accident resistance was always offered by FeCrAl alloys because of the formation of an adherent, thin, and shielding film of alumina, which protected the FeCrAl from steam attack until its melting point. FeCrAl are ferritic materials that have a low corrosion rate under normal operation conditions by the formation of a protective chromium oxide on the surface. Ferritic FeCrAl are also resistant to environmental cracking from the coolant side. FeCrAl alloys can be made into full-length fuel rod tubes with a wall thickness of less than 0.5 mm and they can be industrially welded to hermetically seal the fuel cavity by a solid-state method. The thermal neutron absorption cross section of FeCrAl is approximately ten times higher than that of the current zirconium alloys, but this fact can be partially mitigated by making the cladding wall thickness half of the current values for Zircaloy owing to the stronger mechanical properties at temperature of the FeCrAl alloys. The use of FeCrAl cladding may initially increase the tritium release into the coolant but is anticipated that the oxidation of the cladding from the fuel cavity side and the coolant side will be effective barriers for hydrogen diffusion across the tube wall. The use of FeCrAl cladding will eliminate the occurrence of debris fretting and shadow corrosion, two current Zircaloy cladding environmental degradation modes. FeCrAl tube cladding concepts are currently under irradiation both at the advanced test reactor in Idaho National Laboratory and in two BWR commercial nuclear power stations in the United States. Even though FeCrAl materials were never used in light water reactors before, their characterization in reactor anticipated environments is advancing rapidly through international development efforts.
Minimally invasive intraperitoneal photodynamic therapy using a new soft robot system

Currently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) of primary tumors in peritoneal organs is limited by the lack of specificity of photosensitizers (PSs) and availability of appropriate laparoscopy for accurate and dexterous PDT optical fiber deployment. Invasive procedures are often required in the conventional approach, leads to significant side effects such as bleeding and extended recovery time. The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a soft robot system for targeted and minimally invasive PDT of intraperitoneal tumors. Our soft robot system is fabricated with silicone materials to enable safe interaction with the abdominal organs. Compared to the conventional laparoscopic device, this soft robot system can be translated, bent, and rotated to reach the desired target by using three high-resolution DC motors. A miniature camera (ENA-10005-AS, Enable Inc.) is integrated with the soft robot to enable the intraoperative image guidance while reaching the target. A hollow channel was created within the soft robot so as to deploy the optical fiber towards the tumor. We conducted interstitial PDT using a peritoneal ovarian tumor mouse model and targeted near infrared photosensitizer. After the PS was injected, the optical fiber was inserted into the tumors through the soft robot. We found that PDT treatment greatly inhibited tumor growth. Our preliminary results suggest that our soft robot system may have great potential in the PDT treatment of intraperitoneal tumors.
How to Insert and Wear CGM

The insertion of CGM devices is usually easy and tutorials are available to facilitate it. The device consists of the sensor, the transmitter and the reader or the cellular phone. During the first use is important to set the appropriate alarms. Each device has its own platform to visualize or download glucose data.
Identification of Nitrogen Fixation Genes in Lactococcus Isolated from Maize Using Population Genomics and Machine Learning

Sierra Mixe maize is a landrace variety from Oaxaca, Mexico, that utilizes nitrogen derived from the atmosphere via an undefined nitrogen fixation mechanism. The diazotrophic microbiota associated with the plant's mucilaginous aerial root exudate composed of complex carbohydrates was previously identified and characterized by our group where we found 23 lactococci capable of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) without containing any of the proposed essential genes for this trait (nifHDKENB). To determine the genes in Lactococcus associated with this phenotype, we selected 70 lactococci from the dairy industry that are not known to be diazotrophic to conduct a comparative population genomic analysis. This showed that the diazotrophic lactococcal genomes were distinctly different from the dairy isolates. Examining the pangenome followed by genome-wide association study and machine learning identified genes with the functions needed for BNF in the maize isolates that were absent from the dairy isolates. Many of the putative genes received an 'unknown' annotation, which led to the domain analysis of the 135 homologs. This revealed genes with molecular functions needed for BNF, including mucilage carbohydrate catabolism, glycan-mediated host adhesion, iron/siderophore utilization, and oxidation/reduction control. This is the first report of this pathway in this organism to underpin BNF. Consequently, we proposed a model needed for BNF in lactococci that plausibly accounts for BNF in the absence of the nif operon in this organism.
Glutamate Mediates Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Between Tyrosines 730 and 731 in Escherichia coli Ribonucleotide Reductase.

Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is an essential enzyme in DNA synthesis for all living organisms. It reduces ribonucleotides to the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides by a reversible radical transfer mechanism. The active form of E. coli Ia RNR is composed of two subunits, α and β, which form an active asymmetric α2β2 complex. The radical transfer pathway involves a series of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions spanning α and β over ∼32 A. Herein, quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical free energy simulations of PCET between tyrosine residues Y730 and Y731 are performed on the recently solved cryo-EM structure of the active α2β2 complex, which includes a pre-turnover α/β pair with an ordered PCET pathway and a post-turnover α'/β' pair. The free energy surfaces in both the pre- and post-turnover states are computed. According to the simulations, forward radical transfer from Y731 to Y730 is thermodynamically favored in the pre-turnover state, and backward radical transfer is favored in the post-turnover state, consistent with the reversible mechanism. E623, a glutamate residue that is near these tyrosines only in the pre-turnover state, is discovered to play a key role in facilitating forward radical transfer by thermodynamically stabilizing the radical on Y730 through hydrogen-bonding and electrostatic interactions and lowering the free energy barrier via a proton relay mechanism. Introduction of fluorinated Y731 exhibits expected thermodynamic trends without altering the basic mechanism. These simulations suggest that E623 influences the directionality of PCET between Y731 and Y730 and predict that mutation of E623 will impact catalysis.
Nocturnal and Morning Wakefulness Are Differentially Associated With Suicidal Ideation in a Nationally Representative Sample.

Objective: Prior studies indicate nocturnal wakefulness is associated with suicide, while morning wakefulness is linked to reduced suicidal ideation. These relationships, however, may be confounded by sociodemographic factors. Therefore, this study investigated whether timing of wakefulness was associated with suicidal ideation in a nationally representative sample. Methods: Data were collected from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 2015 to 2018, resulting in a final sample of 10,166 participants (51.1% female) with complete data available on suicidal ideation status, time to bed, and time out of bed. Population-weighted logistic regression models estimated the associations between time spent out of bed (ie, being awake) and suicidal ideation. Results: A total of 385 survey participants (47.5% female) reported suicidal ideation in the past 2 weeks for a population-weighted prevalence of 3.37% (95% CI, 2.85%-3.87%). Wakefulness between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am was associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08-1.24 per hour), even after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and symptoms of sleep disorders, but not after adjustment for the severity of depression symptoms. Conversely, wakefulness between 5:00 am and 11:00 am was associated with reduced odds of suicidal ideation (OR = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.70-0.85 per hour) in all models. Conclusions: Individuals who spent more time awake at night were more likely to have recent suicidal ideation, while the opposite was true for those with more time spent awake in the morning. Moreover, these associations were independent of sociodemographic factors and thus not confounded by varying rates of suicidal ideation in different populations.
Court Orders on Procreation

The aim of this study is to empirically evaluate judgments entered from 1913 to 2013 in the matters of compulsory sterilization. Holdings and dispositions at the U.S. Appellate and Supreme courts are randomly located in LexisNexis using Shepard’s symbols. Continuous variables are processed with the Mantel–Haenszel method. Court orders are used as units of analysis. The majority of cases (56.4 %) concern minors at a mean age of 11.7 years. Forty-four (80 %) petitions are filed by the parents or guardians; 11 (20 %) are parens patriae. Petitions for female sterilization are denied in 56.4 % cases under the Federal Laws (2 U.S.C. 431; 28 U.S.C; 29 U.S.C; 42 U.S.C; 424 U.S.), Procedural due process clause of the 14th Amendment, statutes, and common law precedents. Petitions for female sterilization are granted in 36.4 % cases under the statutory penal codes, the Law of the land, precedents, and the dicta. No significant associations are found between the parity and degree of mental impairment (r = 0.342). Substantial correlations are met between the gender, degree of impairment (r 2 = 0.724), and dispositions (r 2 = 802). The mean age of women is 20.78 years; the mean age of men is 30.25 years. Correlations fail to establish reasoning between the age of the subjects and the entered judgments (r 2 = 0. 356). (1) The female/male ratio (8:1) and age gap of the respondents indicate on a disproportionate impact of the statutes. (2) The procedure of sterilization in itself is incommensurate with equality, as the volume of surgery is uneven in males and females. (3) The case law is instructive with respect to which arguments have not been advanced. (4) Lastly, due to the etiological intricacy of mental impairment, with genetic transmission strikingly different in men and women, expert-witnesses ought to act in a medical vacuum because there is no mathematical certainty as to the transmission mode of the traits in question (exon and intron mutations, triplet repeat disorders, histone disorders, autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive transmission, sex chromosome-linkage, polygenomic imprinting, and organic reasons).
Free and Forced Vibrations of Rotating Blades

SUMMARY The matrix equations governing transverse vibration of a rotat­ ing twisted cantilever beam, such as an airplane propeller or tur­ bine blade, are developed. From these equations the variation in natural frequency with rotational speed may be found, and some simplified methods for finding these curves are shown. The same approach is used for the case of forced vibrations of a blade due to oscillating loading, and the case of vibration in an airplane propeller due to yaw is considered as an example. It is shown that this approach can be expected to give results within about 10 per cent of experimentall y measured ones if a rather simplified determination of the aerodynamic forces is permissible, as it is in normal flight.
The Application of Gas—Liquid Chromatography to the Analysis of Lipids

Gas—liquid chromatography has become an eminently successful technique for the analysis of lipids when used in conjunction with other methods of separation. Further information may be obtained by chemical modification of compounds prior to the analysis of gas—liquid chromatography. Examples of these applications are discussed.
Compact, highly sensitive optical gyros and sensors with fast-light

Fast-light phenomena can enhance the sensitivity of an optical gyroscope of a given size by several orders of magnitude, and could be applied to other optical sensors as well. MagiQ Technologies has been developing a compact fiber-based fast light Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) using Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in optical fibers with commercially mature technologies. We will report on our findings, including repeatable fast-light effects in the lab, numerical analysis of noise and stability given realistic optical specs, and methods for optimizing efficiency, size, and reliability with current technologies. The technology could benefit inertial navigation units, gyrocompasses, and stabilization techniques, and could allow high grade IMUs in spacecraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or sensors, where the current size and weight of precision gyros are prohibitive. By using photonic integrated circuits and telecom-grade components along with specialty fibers, we also believe that our design is appropriate for development without further advances in the state of the art of components.
Chapter 5: Biological Factors in Psychiatric Disorders

Publisher Summary Many models have been proposed for interpretation of the familial occurrence of psychopathology, but none satisfy all available data. Continuing developments in genetic studies of schizophrenia have been recently reviewed. Single major locus or multifactorial models do not fit the population incidence, family and twin data when it is comparatively examined; one suggested possibility is a model with two interacting genes, although approximations using all models predict genetic heterogeneity among schizophrenic individuals. The neuroendocrine status of patients with depression has been assessed by measurements of the plasma growth hormone increase in response to insulin and L-dopa. Unipolar postmenopausal depressed women have reduced growth hormone responses to insulin in comparison to normal postmenopausal women. All clinical studies, including those of biological factors, rest upon accurate, reliable, and valid diagnostic assessment. Adequate diagnostic reliability has been demonstrated when standardized assessment scales are used, of which there are several new or refined versions available. This chapter provides a more circumscribed listing and brief commentary on research developments over the last year in the area of biological studies of these disorders. It highlights fields of current interest. The chapter has presented comprehensive statements or critiques of the evidence indicating interactions between biological and psychosocial factors in the etiology of the major psychoses and other psychiatric disorders.
Intentional Uncertainty within Jury Systems

Jury size, selection options, and selection sequencing all introduce uncertainty into the adjudicatory system in different ways. Large juries, like those the ancient Greeks used (500), effectively make bribery of the jury infeasible, but also make the juries more representative of the community's values and consistent from case to case in their verdicts - a seeming virtue that is nevertheless susceptible to systemic errors. Small juries, like those used in the United States, are more quirky and random, less consistent across cases and less likely to represent the average values of the community, but serve a useful purpose of adjudicatory diversification. In other words, small juries, despite their downsides, provide a helpful safeguard against systematic injustices or errors in the legal system. Strikes - whether peremptory or "for cause" - do not maximize the neutrality or fairness of juries, despite our frequent rhetoric to the contrary, because litigants cannot select jurors - the strike system is a method of de-selecting jurors whose biases are most evident or predictable. This means that the jurors who comprise the final panel at the end of voir dire are generally unpredictable or their leanings uncertain. The strike system maximizes uncertainty for both parties, which at that moment in the trial sequence directly impacts the parties' incentives for settlement. The sequence for jury selection varies between jurisdiction, with two main approaches to the timing of empaneling (beginning or end of voir dire), two approaches for strikes (alternating or simultaneous-blind), and two approaches for culling individuals from the venire to take a spot in the jury box (random or in order of seating in the courtroom). These three sets of binary options recombine differently across jurisdictions. Each sequencing system presents litigants with different types of uncertainty, or uncertainty at different points in the voir dire. This varying uncertainty directly impacts the optimal strategy for each side in using their strikes.
Effect of mean stress on fretting fatigue of Ti-6Al-4V on Ti-6Al-4V

Fretting fatigue tests of Ti-6Al-4V on Ti-6Al-4V have been conducted to determine the influence of stress amplitude and mean stress on life. The stress ratio was varied from R = -1 to 0.8. Both flat and cylindrical contacts were studied using a bridge-type fretting fatigue test apparatus operating either in the partial slip or mixed fretting regimes. The fretting fatigue lives were correlated to a Walker equivalent stress relation. The influence of mean stress on fretting fatigue crack initiation, characterized by the value of the Walker exponent, is smaller compared with plain fatigue. The fretting fatigue knockdown factor based on the Walker equivalent stress is 4. Formation of fretting cracks is primarily associated with the tangential force amplitude at the contact interface. A simple fretting fatigue crack initiation metric that is based on the strength of the singular stress field at the edge of contact is evaluated. The metric has the advantage in that it is neither dependent on the coefficient of friction nor the location of the stick/slip boundary, both of which are often difficult to define with certainty a priori.
Mercury in organic chemistry : I. A convenient synthesis of geminal dimercurials from terminal acetylenes

Abstract 1,1-Bis(chloromercuri)alkanes are readily prepared from terminal acetylenes via hydroboration-mercuration using “borane”. Attempted synthesis of these compounds utilizing disubstituted boranes has thus far failed. The physical properties of several new gem-dimercurials are reported.
Specification, Simulation and Automated Design of Interfaces and Digital Circuits.

Abstract : This report describes research done in hardware description, simulation, and design automation. Although the basic thrust of the work has been aimed at I/O and interface problems, most of the results are more general. The efforts in formal hardware description have produced a language for bus, I/O and interface specification, GLIDE. GLIDE is supported by a compiler which performs syntactic and semantic checks. A translator to the ISPL language has also been written. The resulting code and non-translatable GLIDE semantics forced abandonment of ISPL either directly or indirectly from GLIDE for I/O description. The major research reported here is design automation work. This grant has supported synthesis research - the mapping from a functional description of the system (ISP) to be designed to the structure. Automated design of the control circuitry is in the early stages, but a working program designs the data paths, registers and memories. An early design the program produced came within 25% of the cost of the design a human designer produced. The PDP-8/E design, included here, has a chip count within 50% of that commercial design, but the design program produced an entirely different design.
Psychosocial telephone interventions for patients with cancer and survivors: a systematic review.

Objective Over one third of patients with cancer experience elevated psychosocial distress. As screening for distress becomes more common, the number of patients referred for psychosocial care will increase. Psychosocial telephone interventions are recommended as a convenient and exportable alternative to in-person interventions addressing psychosocial distress. This study reviews the efficacy of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial telephone interventions for patients with cancer. Methods We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed RCTs evaluating telephone interventions in adult patients with cancer across the survivorship continuum. Results Through a database search, 480 articles were identified. After manual review, 13 were included, with 7 additional studies identified by back citation, totaling 20 studies. Participants were largely Caucasian, highly educated, with mean age ranging from 49 to 75 years. Most participants were patients with breast cancer (n = 13 studies). Sample sizes were generally small, with most patients recruited from large medical centers. Only one screened for psychosocial need. Interventions varied greatly in length and intensity. Eight studies reported significant effects post-intervention in the hypothesized direction on at least one psychosocial outcome measure. Of these eight studies, four included more than one follow-up assessment; of these, only one reported significant effects at last follow-up. No clear commonalities were found among studies reporting significant effects. Conclusions Methodological concerns and lack of consistency in adherence to CONSORT reporting guidelines were identified. This body of research would benefit from well-designed, theory-based RCTs adequately powered to provide more definitive evidence for intervention efficacy. This will probably require multi-institutional collaborations, guided by intervention and research methodology best practices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
China In the 21st Century: Will ICT Sustain Economic Growth?

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate critical thinking about China’s ability to consistently grow its economy by leveraging its information and communication (ICT) infrastructure in such as way as to prolong the competitive advantage it now enjoys from its ability to attract multinational corporations (MNCs) attention. The success of China’s transition towards economic and societal advancement is underpinned, to a large extent, by its total ICT investment. A competitive ICT profile is an antecedent to innovation, making China’s intention to become a significant force in the global knowledge economy more viable. This paper interprets current evaluations of China’s innovation circumstances in light of factual and perceptual data that represents the nation’s ICT capabilities in the context of its standings with other nations.
Surveys with SIRTF

NASA will launch the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) at the end of 2001. SIRTF is an 85-cm cryogenically cooled telescope using large format infrared arrays in cameras operating from 3.5 to 160μm and spectrographs from 5 to 40μm and, at very low resolution, from 52 to 99μm. Coincidentally - since no one can be given credit for planning the missions this way - SIRTF generally has strengths where the Infrared Space Observatory had weaknesses and weaknesses where ISO had strengths. The large format, high performance arrays in the SIRTF cameras will allow large area surveys of unprecedented sensitivity. The use of two dimensional arrays in the SIRTF spectrograph allows observation of an entire octave at once, bothimpro ving sensitivity and encouraging line surveys over the entire accessible spectral range. Large scale surveys withSIR TF will be encouraged through the “Legacy” program to be selected late in 2000.
(C5H5)2ZR(CO)2 and (C5H5)2Hf(CO)2, first carbonyl derivatives of zirconocene and hafnocene

Abstract Syntheses of (C5H5)2Zr(CO)2 and (C5H5)2Hf(CO)2, as well as a more facile synthesis of (C5H5)2 Ti(CO)2, Catalytic hydrogenation of diphenylacetylene in the presence of the new carbonyls and (C5H5)2 Ti(CO)2 is examined and indicates a reduc
Alteration of proline hydroxylase activity by glucocorticoids

Abstract The biochemical mechanism by which glucocorticoids affect collagen metabolism was investigated. Triamcinolone, hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone significantly decreased liver proline hydroxylase activity in vivo to an extent unrelated to the decrease of protein in the 15,000 g supernatant. Triamcinolone inhibited liver proline hydroxylase in a dose-dependent manner in vivo . An observed elevation of liver proline hydroxylase activity in adrenalectomized animals was decreased to control levels by hydrocortisone treatment. Subdermal implants of polyvinyl sponges were used to induce granuloma growth as a model system of inflammation. The anti-inflammatory activity of corticosteroids was correlated with inhibition of proline hydroxylase activity in granuloma tissue. The data indicate that corticosteroids decrease collagen synthesis by inhibiting the proposed rate-limiting enzyme. This inhibitory effect on collagen metabolism is correlated with observed anti-inflammatory activity.
Community College Governance: What Matters and Why?

This chapter sets the stage for understanding the importance of governance in the community college.
The Primacy of Politics Comparing the Foreign Policies of Cuba and Mexico

Before embarking on an analysis of decisions, this article sets out three structural constraints that condition Latin America's foreign policies: (a) the persisting hierarchy of the international system; (b) the countries' low degree of industrialization; and (c) the high centralization of political decision-making The article then sees how these elements are manifested in Cuba's decisions to deploy her forces in Africa (i.e., a great power's policy by a small power), and Mexico's decision to conduct an active policy in Central America. This comparative analysis leads to two general conclusions: (a) the primacy of the presidential center, especially in the field of high politics; and (b) the more centralized and authoritarian the political system, the less likely that foreign policy decisions need satisfy internal political demands. Moreover, the analysis of these decisions indicates an additional but more specific conclusion: the marginality or even absence of economic gains; on the contrary, both countr...
SU-E-J-141: Assessment of the Magnitude and Impact of Trigger Delay in Respiratory Triggered Real-Time Imaging during Radiotherapy.

Purpose: To assess the trigger delay in respiratory triggered real‐time imaging and its impact on image guided radiotherapy(IGRT) with Varian TrueBeam System. Methods: A sinusoidal motion phantom with 2cm motion amplitude was used. The trigger delay was determined directly with video image, and indirectly by the distance between expected and actual triggering phantom positions. For the direct method, a fluorescent screen was placed on the phantom to visualize the x‐ray. The motion of the screen was recorded at 60 frames/second. The number of frames between the time when the phantom reached expected triggering position and the time when the screen was illuminated by the x‐ray was used to determine the trigger delay. In the indirect method, triggered kV x‐ray images were acquired in real‐time during ‘treatment’ with triggers set at 25% and 75% respiratory phases where the phantom moved at the maximum speed. 39–40 triggered images were acquired continuously in each series. The distance between the expected and actual triggering points, d, was measured on the images to determine the delay time t by d=Asin(wt), where w=2π/T, T=period and A=amplitude. Motion periods of 2s and 4s were used in the measurement. Results: The trigger delay time determined with direct video imaging was 125ms (7.5 video frames). The average distance between the expected and actual triggering positions determined by the indirect method was 3.93±0.74mm for T=4s and 7.02±1.25mm for T=2s, yielding mean trigger delay times of 126±24ms and 120±22ms, respectively. Although the mean over‐travel distance is significant at 25% and 75% phases, clinically, the target over‐travel resulted from the trigger delay at the end of expiration (50% phase) is negligibly small(< 0.5mm). Conclusions: The trigger delay in respiration‐triggered imaging is in the range of 120–126ms. This delay has negligible clinical effect on gated IGRT.
Malnutrition In Obese Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: To examine the relationships between obesity, nutritional status, pulmonary function and frequency of the dietitian documenting addressing the protein needs of obese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A pilot study was conducted to examine the relationships between obesity, nutritional status, pulmonary function, and frequency of the dietitian addressing protein needs of obese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A retrospective chart review was conducted at a Veterans Administration Medical Center. Patients were selected from the Nutrition Clinic's chest patient appointment book. Inclusion criteria were (a) a body mass index greater than 27.5, (b) a diagnosis of COPD, and (c) a minimum of one hospitalization. Twenty-two patients' charts were reviewed. Data extracted from the medical charts included demographic information, and for each hospitalization, diagnoses, weight, height, BMI, serum albumin, pulmonary function, and incidence of the dietitian addressing the patient's protein needs. Serum albumin was utilized as the indicator of nutritional status. In this study, patients were classified as malnourished 49.3% of the time (serum albumin
Synthesis and initial in vitro characterization of 6‐[18F]fluoro‐3‐(2(S)‐azetidinylmethoxy)pyridine, a high‐affinity radioligand for central nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

6-[18F]Fluoro-3-(2(S)-azetidinylmethoxy)pyridine ([18F]1), a novel analogue of the high-affinity nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ligand, A-85380, was prepared by a two-step procedure from an appropriate nitro precursor. In the first step, a Kryptofix 222-assisted 18F nucleophilic heteroaromatic substitution in 6-nitro-3-((1-tert-butoxycarbonyl-2(S)-azetidinyl)methoxy)pyridine provided a radio-fluorinated Boc-protected intermediate. Subsequent acidic deprotection of the intermediate gave [18F]1 with an overall radiochemical yield of 8 to 12% (non-decay-corrected). The typical synthesis time was ca. Specific radioactivity of the final product ranged from 1000 to 4500 mCi/μmol, as calculated at the end-of-synthesis. In vitro studies demonstrated that the novel radioligand bound to a single population of sites in rat brain membranes, presumably, to the α4β2 subtype of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. This binding was characterized by a Kd value of 28 pM, consistent with the Ki value of 25 pM, derived previously for unlabeled 1 in competition assays with (±)-[3H]epibatidine Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Eradication versus control for poliomyelitis

Kimberly Thompson and Radboud Duintjer Tebbens model the economic and health effects of strategies for poliomyelitis eradication and control. They conclude that eradication (defined as the interruption of wild polio virus transmission globally) is less costly and more effective than control. Thompson and Radboud previously estimated a 50-100% chance of a poliomyelitis outbreak within 20 years of eradication and oral polio vaccine cessation. Sustained eradication is not achievable without continued vaccination. As Paul Fine and Ulla Griffiths correctly note in their accompanying Comment use of live vaccine to control future outbreaks is fighting fire with fire. To leave future birth cohorts unprotected would be irresponsible given the acknowledged chance for future infections possibly at older ages when there is an increased rate of paralytic poliomyelitis per infection. Any discussion of the economic cost of polio eradication should include a transparent and pragmatic assessment of the posteradication options from the outset. A realistic estimate of the cost of sustainable poliomyelitis eradication must include the cost of continued vaccination-about US$3-6 billion every 20 years for low-income countries only in line with other estimates of $20-24 billion for the entire world. Claimed funding shortfalls for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) of $575 million are therefore illusory. Semantic redefinitions of polio eradication might serve political goals and promises but should not come at the jeopardy of poor countries that look for public-health guidance. GPEI can celebrate the striking reductions in poliomyelitis. Failure to ensure long-term protection by not accounting for the continued need for vaccination would risk greater incidence and be negligent. (full text)
Structure of Hydroxyproline-arabinoside from Tobacco Cells

The hydroxyprolyl tri and tetraarabinosides were isolated from a cell wall preparation of cultured tobacco cells by alkali hydrolysis, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The structures of the two hydroxyproline-arabinosides (Ara3-Hyp and Ara4-Hyp) were determined by analysis of controlled Smith-degradation products, and measurements of PMR spectra and optical rotation to be β-l-Araf-(1→2)-β-l-Araf-(1→2)-β-l-Araf-(1→4)-Hyp and β-l-Araf-(1→3)-β-l-Araf-(1→2)-β-l-Araf-(1→2)-β-l-Araf-(1→4)-Hyp, respectively.
Control of oxygen, hydrogen, and tritium in sodium systems at Experimental Breeder Reactor II

The source rates and steady-state concentrations have been measured for oxygen, hydrogen, and tritium impurities in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) sodium systems. An analytical approa...
In Vivo Adaptation of Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium Results in Increased Growth Upon Exposure to Norepinephrine

Two studies were conducted to determine whether attenuated strains of Salmonella typhimurium, currently being investigated as possible vectors for mucosal vaccines, are able to respond to norepinephrine (NE). Bacteria were tested for NE responsiveness before and for 1 week after passage through juvenile rhesus monkeys. NE significantly increased the growth of the attenuated bacteria after being shed from the animal, but not before animal infection. Follow-up in vitro tests were performed by passaging the bacteria in Lauria-Bertani (LB) broth with or without selective antibiotic for the attenuation insert and supplementing with NE. NE increased the growth of bacteria passaged in LB broth with no selective antibiotic, but not in bacteria passaged in LB broth with selective antibiotic. These results show that the attenuated bacteria assumed to be safe for use as a vaccine are able to respond to environmental stimuli, such as NE, and change their characteristics. The results suggest that there may be problems with the stability of attenuated bacteria used as vectors for mucosal vaccines.
Keyboard acoustic side channel attacks: exploring realistic and security-sensitive scenarios

This research takes a closer look at keyboard acoustic emanations specifically for the purpose of eavesdropping over random passwords. In this scenario, dictionary and HMM language models are not applicable; the attacker can only utilize the raw acoustic information which has been recorded. This work investigates several existing signal processing techniques for this purpose and introduces a novel technique--time---frequency decoding--that improves the detection accuracy compared to previous techniques. It also carefully examines the effect of typing style--a crucial variable largely ignored by prior research--on the detection accuracy. The results show that using the same typing style (hunt and peck) for both training and decoding the data, the best case success rate for detecting correctly the typed key is 64 % per character. The results also show that changing the typing style, to touch typing, during the decoding stage reduces the success rate, but using the time---frequency technique, it is still possible to achieve a success rate of around 40 % per character. In these realistic scenarios, where the password is random, the approach described here can reduce the entropy of the search space by up to 57 % per character. This brings keyboard acoustic attack one step closer to a full-fledged vulnerability.
Efficacy of myocardial protection with hypothermic blood cardioplegia depends on oxygen.

Abstract The role of oxygen (O 2 ) in blood cardioplegia (BCP) remains controversial. On the one hand, O 2 reduces ischemic injury between BCP infusions by maintaining energy production through oxidative pathways. On the other hand, O 2 carried by blood may not be released to the tissue at 4 °C or potentially provides substrate for deleterious O 2 radical species. This study tests the hypothesis that O 2 is a critical component in myocardial protection afforded by BCP. In 17 anesthetized dogs, left ventricular performance was measured by left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relations using the position of the end-systolic pressure-volume relation quantitated by the left ventricular midrange volume intercept at 100 mm Hg (V 100 ) to describe performance. After 30 minutes of global normothermic ischemia, hearts were protected with multidose 4 °C BCP for 1 hour of arrest. Oxygen content in BCP was adjusted to 1.1 ± 0.2 vol% (n = 7; desaturated BCP group), 4.3 ± 0.5 vol% (n = 5; intermediate oxygenated BCP group), or 10.2 ± 0.6 vol% (n = 5; saturated BCP group) using a membrane oxygenator interposed in the BCP circuit and aerated with an appropriate mixture of O 2 , nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. After 1 hour of 37 °C reperfusion, 3 of the 7 dogs in the desaturated BCP group failed to generate sufficient cardiac output to discontinue bypass. In the remaining 4 dogs, severe left ventricular depression caused a rightward shift in V 100 from 17 ± 4 to 47 ± 9 mL ( p = 0.02). With intermediate BCP, all hearts were weaned from bypass with marginal left ventricular depression (V 100 , 20 ± 5 versus 46 ± 16 mL; p = 0.10). In contrast, hearts protected with saturated BCP showed no significant increase in V 100 (13 ± 4 versus 24 ± 13 mL; p = 0.23). We conclude that O 2 in BCP is critical to its myocardial protective properties.
Bipolar Intra-articular Radiofrequency Thermocoagulation of the Thoracic Facet Joints: A Case Series of a New Technique.

Background: This study tests the hypothesis that of bipolar radiofrequency thermocoagulation of the thoracic facet joint capsule may provide a safe and effect method of pain control from thoracic facet origin. Methods: Among patients suffering from localized mid back pain, nine patients with thoracic facet disease confirmed by magnetic resonance image and diagnostic thoracic facet block were enrolled. Bipolar radiofrequency ablation in the inferior aspect of the thoracic facet joint was done. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was measured pre-intervention and 1 month post-intervention. Any complications and changes in amount of pain medication were recorded. Results: Significant 47.6% reduction in VAS was noted at 1 month. There were no serious complications. Conclusions: Intra-articular bipolarradiofrequency thermocoagulation of the thoracic facet joint may be a technically easier and valid method of treating mid back pain of thoracic facet origin. (Korean J Pain 2014; 27: 43-48)
Crystallization kinetics and nucleating agents for enhancing the crystallization of poly(p-phenylene sulfide)

An experimental study of crystallization kinetics and the influence of nucleating agents on the solidification of poly(p-phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is described. The effect of molecular weight is considered by investigating PPS samples having different viscosity levels. We studied the effect of a range of nucleating agents including aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, kaolin, and talc. All of these compounds were found to enhance the rate of crystallization; in particular, silicon dioxide, kaolin, and talc were the most effective nucleating agents. An effort to study particle size effects of the silicon dioxide showed that the nucleation was very sensitive to the source of the material. These studies did, however, show that nucleation rates tended to increase with decreasing particle size and increasing loading of silicon dioxide. Comparison of PPS crystallization rates with those of other polymers indicates that it crystallizes much more slowly than polyethylene or isotactic polypropylene and is slower than polyetherether-ketone, when comparisons are made on an equivalent basis. PPS crystallizes at similar rates to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). However, our nucleated PPS does not crystallize as rapidly as nucleated PET.
Head Start Mentor Teachers Impact Child Outcomes in Protege Teachers' Classrooms.

This study describes the results of an evaluation of the Individualized Learning Intervention, a mentoring program for early childhood educators. This mentoring program includes 3 components: Mentor Teacher Seminar, Mentor teachers supporting professional development of Protege teachers throughout the school year, and Mentor coordinator meetings with Mentor teachers to support them in their mentor role. Sixteen Mentors, experienced teachers who maintained high quality classroom learning experiences, and 16 Proteges, less experienced teachers, in Head Start classrooms were selected and then randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions in the study. The results of this study demonstrate that mentoring, particularly when it is delivered by experienced teachers who have been trained to be Mentors and coupled by support to the Mentors themselves, can enhance the cognitive, language, and social emotional developmental progress of young children. In addition, the experimental Mentors and Protege teacher...