cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Central American and Caribbean Fisheries: An Overview of Current Activity, Trends and Import Demand

This paper reviews recent data and information on the Central American fishery and estimates US import demand equations for fresh, chilled and frozen fish products (FCF) from the Central American Common Market (CACM) and the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). Econometric estimation is used to calculate the own price, income and cross price elasticities of US import demand. In general, own price and income elasticities are found to be greater than one and estimates of cross price elasticities using the price of imported cod fillets are found to be negative and less than one for the regional model.
Longitudinal groove loading of a half-width microstrip leaky-wave antenna

Leaky-wave antennas provide advantages including high directivity, their relative broadband nature and their ability to scan the principle beam with frequency that may be useful for various applications. They can also be designed with different guiding structures. Half-width leaky-wave microstrip antennas have been studied extensively because of the simplicity of feeding them and the ease of fabricating them. They have found applications in communications systems and direction-finding.
THE ELECTROPHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF CHLOROPLASTS

— Delayed light emission emanating from preilluminated chloroplasts can be perturbed with pulsed DC electric fields (200–4000 V cm-1), The perturbation produces a strong stimulation of chlorophyll luminescence. During the field perturbation the stimulated emission rises to a maximum, typically within 100μs. and then decays. Two kinetic components, R (rapid) and S (slow)†, are distinguished on the basis of their rise and decay times and their field-dependence. The R component increases exponentially at high fields, decays within 100–300μs during the field pulse and collapses with t1/2= 15 μs at the end of the field pulse. The S component occurs at low fields, exhibits near saturation at 500 V cm-1, decays with t1/2 about 3 ms during the field pulse, and collapses with t1/2= 38μs at the end of the field pulse. Studies using inhibitors, ionophores, electron donors and electron acceptors associate the R component with ion transport processes. The relation to electron transport associated with Photosystem II is discussed.
A fixed-nuclei, ab initio treatment of low-energy electron-H2O scattering

We report the results of a theoretical study of low-energy electron-H2O scattering. The calculations employ the complex Kohn variational technique and are undertaken at both the static-exchange and polarized-SCF levels. Target polarization effects are included by using an ab initio optical potential. Particular attention is paid to the complications attending electron scattering from target molecules that possess a permanent dipole moment. We describe the steps necessary to extract meaningful differential cross sections from fixed-nuclei calculations that ignore the rotational motion of the target. Comparison is made with experiment as well as other recent theoretical treatments.
Occupational Sex Segregation and Job Satisfaction of Women.

The results of this study indicate wide variation in the effect of occupational sex segregation on the job satisfaction of women college graduates employed in public and private organizations. Women employed in sex-balanced and male- and female-dominated occupations in the public sector have comparable levels of job satisfaction. In private firms, however, women college graduates employed in sex-balanced careers are more satisfied with theintrinsic andoverall nature of their jobs than those employed in female-dominated occupations, and those in female-dominated jobs are more satisfied with theextrinsic nature of their careers than women in male-dominated jobs. The implications of these findings for those who conduct research on the career consequences of women employed in sex-dominated career fields and for college officials responsible for the educational and professional development of women college students are discussed.
Expanding Privacy Rationales Under the Federal Freedom of Information Act

Access to government information in a post-September 11, 2001 environment often involves the resolution of conflicts between privacy rights and the public interest inherent in information flow. On one hand, information about any individual investigated by the government, or merely landing in an investigative file, might very well invade the privacy of the detainees by unduly stigmatizing them. In fact, such reasoning reflects a line of argumentation central to the federal government's justification for denial of access: privacy interests, particularly the risk of stigmatization. This article reviews the origins and expansion of stigmatization as grounds for protection of information under the Freedom of Information Act. Examination of several key post-Reporters Committee cases decided by the federal courts illustrates the scope of the problem, as stigmatization has gained a great deal of legal traction in recent years.
Sequential kriging optimization using multiple-fidelity evaluations

When cost per evaluation on a system of interest is high, surrogate systems can provide cheaper but lower-fidelity information. In the proposed extension of the sequential kriging optimization method, surrogate systems are exploited to reduce the total evaluation cost. The method utilizes data on all systems to build a kriging metamodel that provides a global prediction of the objective function and a measure of prediction uncertainty. The location and fidelity level of the next evaluation are selected by maximizing an augmented expected improvement function, which is connected with the evaluation costs. The proposed method was applied to test functions from the literature and a metal-forming process design problem via finite element simulations. The method manifests sensible search patterns, robust performance, and appreciable reduction in total evaluation cost as compared to the original method.
Opiate-dopamine interactions in the neural substrates of acoustics startle gating in the rat

Abstract Swerdlow, Neal R.S. Barak Caine and Mark A. Geyer: Opiate-dopamine interactions in the neural substrates of acoustic startle gating in the rat. Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 1991, 15 : 415–426. 1. 1. The acoustic startle reflex (ASR) was measured in adult male Dawley rats using startling acoustic stimuli presented either alone or 60–500 msec after a weak acoustic prepulse. 2. 2. The inhibition of the ASR by the prepulse, termed “prepulse inhibition” (PPI), was blocked in animals treated either with the indirect dopamine (DA) agonlst d-amphetamine (AMPH) or with the direct DA receptor agonist apomorphlne (APO). 3. 3. Pretreatment with the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone (NAD prevented the AMPH-induced loss of PPI, but did not diminish the APO-induced loss of PPI. 4. 4 The opiate heroin had no significant effect on PPI. 5. 5. Dopaminergic mechanisms that modulate PPI in the rat may be regulated by opiate systems that act presynaptic to the DA receptor; brain opiate receptors may not have direct effects on startle gating independent of this opiate-DA interaction.
Scalable analysis of flow cytometry data using R/Bioconductor

Flow cytometry is one of the fundamental research tools available to the life scientist. The ability to observe multidimensional changes in protein expression and activity at single-cell resolution for a large number of cells provides a unique perspective on the behavior of cell populations. However, the analysis of complex multidimensional data is one of the obstacles for wider use of polychromatic flow cytometry. Recent enhancements to an open-source platform-R/Bioconductor-enable the graphical and data analysis of flow cytometry data. Prior examples have focused on high-throughput applications. To facilitate wider use of this platform for flow cytometry, the analysis of a dataset, obtained following isolation of CD4(+)CD62L(+) T cells from Balb/c splenocytes using magnetic microbeads, is presented as a form of tutorial. A common workflow for analyzing flow cytometry data was presented using R/Bioconductor. In addition, density function estimation and principal component analysis are provided as examples of more complex analyses. The compendium presented here is intended to help illuminate a path for inquisitive readers to explore their own data using R/Bioconductor (available as Supporting Information).
QUESTIONS IN FOREIGNER TALK DISCOURSE

A study was undertaken to investigate relationships among linguistic input, conversational interaction, and second language acquisition. Tapes and transcripts of eight informal conversations among native speakers of English and 36 conversations between native speakers and students of English as a second language were compared. Differences were found between the two corpora in (1) their discourse structure, and (2) the relative frequencies of certain syntactic and morphological constructions. Relationships existed between the discourse structures and the relative frequencies, and between the relative frequencies and the order in which second language acquirers produce the constructions accurately in obligatory contexts.
A new method for estimating subject specific body segment parameters using motion tracking data

Current segment inertial parameter estimation methods can be categorised as either regression, geometric or mass scanning based. Regression methods estimate segment parameters by developing regression equations using cadaver or live subject data. Geometric based methods model body segments as basic geometric shapes and calculate segment parameters assuming uniform density throughout the volume. Mass scanning methods also assume uniform density, but calculate segment shape and volume from mass scanning measurements. The first category does not yield subject specific segment parameters. The other two categories require time-consuming segment measurements and uniform density assumptions. This paper presents a new method for estimating subject specific body segment parameters that utilises work and energy equations and only requires kinematic and kinetic data from a standard walking trial. A preliminary evaluation of this method has been performed and results were comparable to current anthropometric data and...
IMPACT OF AORTIC VALVE CALCIFICATION MEASURED BY MULTIDETECTOR CT ON THE OUTCOME OF PATIENTS WITH AORTIC STENOSIS

Aortic valve calcification (AVC) load measures the lesion severity of aortic stenosis (AS) and discriminates well severe vs. moderate AS. However, the prognostic value of this measure in patients with AS remains largely unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of AVC measured
Self-organizing maps with a single neuron

Self-organization is explored with a single complex-valued quadratic neuron. The output is the complex plane. A virtual grid is used to provide desired outputs for each input. Experiments have shown that training is fast. A quadratic neuron with the new training algorithm has been shown to have clustering properties. Data that are in a cluster in the input space tend to cluster on the complex plane. The speed of training and operation allows for efficient high-dimensional data exploration and for real-time critical applications.
Perceived Child-Parent Relationships and Child Adjustment in Families with Both Adopted and Natural Children

Abstract The personal and social adjustment and perceptions of child-parent relationships of members of families having only natural children, families having only adopted children, and mixed families having both natural and adopted children were studied to determine whether the children in mixed families encounter unique adjustment difficulties and perceptions of their relationships with their parents. Although the effect was small, children in all-adoptive families reported lower adjustment scores than children in natural families; however, the adopted children in mixed families were similar to the natural children in both the mixed and natural families on all measurements. In addition, natural children in mixed families did not differ from the children in natural families. These results suggest that the placement of an adoptive child in a mixed family does not affect the overall adjustment of the natural child and may, in fact, have positive effects on the adoptive child.
Lung transplantation in children following treatment for malignancy.

Abstract Background: End-stage lung disease is a rare complication of treatment for hematologic and solid tumors in children. When present, it is generally progressive, resulting in the patient being cured of cancer only to die of respiratory failure. Lung transplantation is believed by some to be of overly high risk in this population because of the pre-existing malignancy as well as the presumed compromised immune status. Methods: Six children (Group 1), aged 5 to 17 years (mean 12.4 years), underwent lung transplantation at our institution because of either pulmonary fibrosis or bronchiolitis obliterans following treatment for acute leukemia ( n = 5) or medulloblastoma ( n = 1). All patients received chemotherapy, radiation and bone marrow transplantation in the course of treatment for their malignancies. The average forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) was 16% of the predicted value and forced vital capacity (FVC) was 28% of predicted. These results were compared with a similar group of 13 patients undergoing lung transplantation at our institution during the same time interval (Group 2). Results: There were 2 deaths in Group 1, 1 early and 1 late, for an overall survival of 67% at a mean follow-up of 4.02 years. There were no early and 7 late deaths in Group 2 for an overall survival of 46% at a mean follow-up of 4.8 years. The acute rejection rate in the first post-transplant year was 0.2 episode/patient in Group 1 and 1.8 episode/patient in Group 2 ( p Aspergillus and Mycobacterium chelonae. No such infections occurred in Group 2. Conclusions: Although this represents a small series, we believe that patients with respiratory failure following treatment of a prior malignancy are suitable candidates for lung transplantation. Although they may have some relative protection from acute rejection episodes by virtue of an already compromised immunologic status while receiving standard immunosuppression, an increased propensity for opportunistic infection may exist.
Test of linear trend in eigenvalues of a covariance matrix with application to data analysis.

Principal component analysis and factor analysis are the most widely used tools for dimension reduction in data analysis. Both methods require some good criterion to judge the number of dimensions to be kept. The classical method focuses on testing the equality of eigenvalues. As real data hardly have this property, practitioners turn to some ad hoc criterion in judging the dimensionality of their data. One such popular method, the ‘scree test’ or ‘scree plot’ as described in many texts and statistical programs, is based on the trend in eigenvalues of sample covariance (correlation) matrix. The principal components or common factors corresponding to eigenvalues which exhibit a slow linear decrease arc discarded in further data analysis. This paper develops a formal statistical test for the ‘scree plot’. A special case of this test is the classical test for equality of eigenvalues which has been suggested in several texts as the criterion to decide the number of principal components to retain. Comparisons between equality of eigenvalues and the slow linear decrease in eigenvalues on some classical examples support the hypothesis of slow linear decrease. A physical background to such a phenomenon is also suggested.
Designing programs that check their work

A program correctness checker is an algorithm for checking the output of a computation. This paper defines the concept of a program checker. It designs program checkers for a few specific and carefully chosen problems in the class P of problems solvable in polynomial time. It also applies methods of modern cryptography, especially the idea of a probabilistic interactive proof, to the design of program checkers for group theoretic computations. Finally it characterizes the problems that can be checked.
Content Management Systems: Trends in Academic Libraries

Academic libraries, and their parent institutions, are increasingly using Content Management Systems (CMSs) for website management. In this study, the author surveyed academic library web managers from four-year institutions to discover whether they had adopted CMSs, which tools they were using, and their satisfaction with their website management system. Other issues, such as institutional control over library website management, were raised. The survey results showed that CMS satisfaction levels vary by tool, and that many libraries do not have input into the selection their CMS because the determination is made at an institutional level. These findings will be helpful for decision makers involved in the selection of CMSs for academic libraries.
High surface plasmon resonance sensitivity enabled by optical disks

We report a systematic, experimental, and theoretical investigation on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing using optical disks with different track pitches, including Blu-ray disk (BD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and compact disk (CD). Optical reflection measurements indicate that CD and DVD exhibit much higher SPR sensitivity than BD. Both experiments and finite-difference time-domain simulations reveal that the SPR sensitivity is significantly affected by the diffraction order of the SPR peaks and higher diffraction order results in lower sensitivity. Numerical simulations also show that very high sensitivity (∼1600 nm per refractive index unit) is achievable by CDs.
Turbulent structure in free-surface jet flows

Results of an experimental study of the interaction of a turbulent jet with a free surface when the jet issues parallel to the free surface are presented. Three different jets, with different exit velocities and jet-exit diameters, all located two jet-exit diameters below the free surface were studied. At this depth the jet flow, in each case, is fully turbulent before significant interaction with the free surface occurs. The effects of the Froude number (Fr) and the Reynolds number (Re) were investigated by varying the jet-exit velocity and jet-exit diameter. Froude-number effects were identified by increasing the Froude number from Fr = 1 to 8 at Re = 12700. Reynolds-number effects were identified by increasing the Reynolds number from Re = 12700 to 102000 at Fr = 1. Qualitative features of the subsurface flow and free-surface disturbances were examined using flow visualization. Measurements of all six Reynolds stresses and the three mean velocity components were obtained in two planes 16 and 32 jet diameters downstream using a three-component laser velocimeter. For all the jets, the interaction of vorticity tangential to the surface with its ‘image’ above the surface contributes to an outward flow near the free surface. This interaction is also shown to be directly related to the observed decrease in the surface-normal velocity fluctuations and the corresponding increase in the tangential velocity fluctuations near the free surface. At high Froude number, the larger surface disturbances diminish the interaction of the tangential vorticity with its image, resulting in a smaller outward flow and less energy transfer from the surface-normal to tangential velocity fluctuations near the surface. Energy is transferred instead to free-surface disturbances (waves) with the result that the turbulence kinetic energy is 20 YO lower and the Reynolds stresses are reduced. At high Reynolds number, the rate of evolution of the interaction of the jet with the free surface was reduced as shown by comparison of the rate of change with distance downstream of the local Reynolds and Froude numbers. In addition, the decay of tangential vorticity near the surface is slower than for low Reynolds number so that vortex filaments have time to undergo multiple reconnections to the free surface before they eventually decay.
Quality improvement with prehospital-placed intravenous catheters in trauma patients.

The insertion and care of peripheral intravenous (IV) catheters, although a routine nursing task, is not without potential hazard to the patient. As many as 70% of patients in an acute care setting receive IV therapy during the course of their care. 1 About 30 million patients per year in the United States undergo placement of peripheral IV catheters. 2 Patients experiencing multiple trauma may be predisposed to infection as a result of IV catheter insertion and maintenance practices. Ironically, the same invasive interventions used to resuscitate and sustain trauma patients may be equally responsible for the subsequent development of infection. The greatest risk for infection occurs when patients are receiving intensive care, at which time they are more likely to have compromised immune function relative to their acute injury or concomitant medical conditions. 3 Peripheral IV catheters have been associated with several types of complications, including the formation of thrombi and infections ranging from phlebitis to septicemia. Bacteremia from peripherally inserted lines occurs in one of every 200 to 500 patients, or 0.4% of the time. 4 A significant factor influencing infection rates is the technique of insertion. Lines placed in conditions that are often less than ideal when resuscitating trauma patients outside the hospital are an obvious concern. This article will present the issue of an abscess resulting from a fieldplaced IV line and the quality improvement process that followed at a level I trauma center. Serious incident The serious event that precipitated the quality improvement process occurred when an abscess developed at an IV site in a male patient in an intermediate care unit at our institution. A review of all of the complications at our urban level I trauma center was conducted to identify other cases of abscess formation. The review of complications during the past 5 years revealed that 3 documented cases of abscess formation from peripheral lines had occurred during the most recent 18 months. No other cases had been documented in the trauma registry for the previous 5 years, and thus this recent increase in cases represented a significant change. A chart review showed that the 3 cases of abscess formation were associated with IV lines that had been placed before the patients were brought to the hospital. No single prehospital care provider had treated these patients. The prehospital care providers were not involved in the quality improvement process because of the large number of such service providers in our area. An unwritten standard at the medical center was that lines placed before the patient arrived at the hospital should be replaced within 24 hours of admission. This standard was set by the medical director and seemed to be consistent with current practice in trauma care and literature. 5 Materials and methods
The synthesis of wideband arrays using nature-based design concepts

In order to meet the growing demands of modern radar and communication systems, engineers often turn to nature for their inspiration. Genetic algorithms (GA), optimization techniques based on the Darwinian notion of survival of the fittest, have recently been applied to find solutions to these complex design problems. In addition, complicated geometries of many natural objects such as trees, ferns, coastlines, and vascular systems could be described simply with the advent of fractal geometry. Fractal geometry has also been applied to create a class of antenna arrays, called fractal-random arrays, which combine the physical and electrical properties of periodic and random arrays into one design. In previous research, The authors introduced a specialized subset of fractal-random arrays, that is now called polyfractal arrays, which are particularly adept in genetic algorithm optimization. In addition, the authors introduced a new type of nature-based design process which applies a robust genetic algorithm technique to evolve optimal polyfractal array layouts. In this paper, the authors consider several nature-based design examples, which illustrate that optimized fractal-random arrays can possess extremely large bandwidths.
Battery algorithm verification and development using hardware-in-the-loop testing

Abstract Battery algorithms play a vital role in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), and electric vehicles (EVs). The energy management of hybrid and electric propulsion systems needs to rely on accurate information on the state of the battery in order to determine the optimal electric drive without abusing the battery. In this study, a cell-level hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system is used to verify and develop state of charge (SOC) and power capability predictions of embedded battery algorithms for various vehicle applications. Two different batteries were selected as representative examples to illustrate the battery algorithm verification and development procedure. One is a lithium-ion battery with a conventional metal oxide cathode, which is a power battery for HEV applications. The other is a lithium-ion battery with an iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 ) cathode, which is an energy battery for applications in PHEVs, EREVs, and EVs. The battery cell HIL testing provided valuable data and critical guidance to evaluate the accuracy of the developed battery algorithms, to accelerate battery algorithm future development and improvement, and to reduce hybrid/electric vehicle system development time and costs.
Gender, psychopathy factors, and intimate partner violence

The present study sheds light on relationships between distinct psychopathic traits and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) in women versus men. Men and women with recent drug and/or violence histories (N = 250) were assessed for psychopathic traits using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version and for their and their partner's use of IPV with the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. The first goal was to examine the moderating role of gender in psychopathy factor relationships to IPV. Although both the interpersonal-affective traits (Factor1) and the impulsive-antisocial traits (Factor 2) of psychopathy were related to higher frequency of IPV perpetration, the relationship between Factor 1 and IPV was stronger in men. Our second goal examined the moderating role of psychopathy traits in the relationship between partner's perpetration of IPV and participant perpetration (mutual violence) in the 2 genders. Relationships between partner- and self-IPV were similar at both low and high levels of Factor 1 in men, although the partner- and self-IPV relationship was significantly stronger among women at low relative to high levels of Factor 1. The relationship between partner- and self-IPV was stronger at high levels of Factor 2 in men, whereas Factor 2 did not moderate mutual violence in women. These results indicate that relationships between psychopathy factors and IPV differ by gender, with psychopathy generally exacerbating IPV perpetration in men and Factor 1 traits playing a unique role in mutual violence in women. These findings add to the literature on female psychopathy and have important implications for future research on gender and IPV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Outliers, inliers and the generalized least trimmed squares estimator in system identification

The least trimmed squares estimator (LTS) is a well known robust estimator in terms of protecting the estimate from the outliers. Its high computational complexity is however a problem in practice. We show that the LTS estimate can be obtained by a simple algorithm with the complexity 0( N In N) for large N, where N is the number of measurements. We also show that though the LTS is robust in terms of the outliers, it is sensitive to the inliers. The concept of the inliers is introduced. Moreover, the Generalized Least Trimmed Squares estimator (GLTS) together with its solution are presented that reduces the effect of both the outliers and the inliers.
An in vitro system for studying hormonal induction of hepatic gluconeogenic enzymes

Abstract The behavior of activities of key gluconeogenic enzymes, hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, was followed in a slice system during a 90-minute incubation period. 1. 1. In slices from normal, untreated rats the enzyme activities showed an easily measurable increase. 2. 2. In slices from animals injected with the fluorinated adrenocorticosteroid hormone, triamcinolone, the enzyme activity increase was 2 to 3 fold of that found in slices from normal rats. 3. 3. Actinomycin treatment of triamcinolone-injected rats blocked the effect of triamcinolone in increasing enzyme activities during incubation; the rise found was similar to that occurring in normal, untreated rats. 4. 4. In slices obtained from rats injected with actinomycin alone, the activities of both gluconeogenic enzymes failed to rise during the incubation.
A graphical method for identifying positive feedback loops automatically in self-biasing circuit for determining the uniqueness of operating points

A graphical method for identifying positive feedback loops in analog circuits is presented for the purpose of identifying the stable equilibrium points. Graphical models for key analog components are developed and hierarchically used to obtain a graphical representation of an analog circuit. From this graphical circuit representation, positive feedback loops are defined. Applications to identifying Trojan operating states and trust in electronic circuits are discussed.
Chest CT for aortic injury: maybe not for everyone

Traumatic aortic disruption is a grave injury with startling statistics: 80-85% of patients die at the scene, and, if untreated, 40% of the survivors die within 24 hr [1]. Definitive diagnosis is made with aortography, whereas chest radiography serves as a reliable and sensitive screening imaging technique. The sensitivity of radiography is based on its ability to suggest the presence of mediastinal hemorrhage [2]. In most cases, the blood does not originate from the severed aorta but from smaller mediastinal vessels [3]. Its presence indicates that the force applied was severe enough to injure the aorta. Hence, the low specificity of chest radiography; in some series, over 90% of aortograms may show normal findings (Table i). Because we are dealing with a potentially lethal condition, however, overutilization of aortography is accepted practice, especially with the increasing safety and decreasing invasiveness of modern angiography. If chest radiography can suggest mediastinal hemorrhage by indirect signs (e.g., mediastinal widening), chest CT can show the hemorrhage directly. On the basis of this assumption, a number of studies have been published advocating the use of CT, especially when chest radiographs are technically suboptimal or the findings are equivocal. This practice, they argue, could decrease the need for unnecessary aortography, be cost-effective, and decrease patients’ discomfort [4-9]. However, this thesis has not been universally accepted [iO, ii]. In a letter to the editor, Wills and LaIly [10] rejected the use of CT as impractical in clinical practice. Their main concerns included the wasting of valuable time, as a finding of hemorrhage at CT still necessitates angiography, and the difficulties in interpreting and distinguishing normal structures from hemorrhage on CT scans. In this issue of AJR, Fisher et al. [12] justify these arguments with a prospective study done on 1 07 patients with chest injury and suspected laceration of the aorta and brachiocephalic yessels. Aortography was done in i05 patients and CT in 90, of whom only i8 (20%) had normal findings. This led to the conclusion that “absolute exclusion” of mediastinal hematoma by CT is often difficult and does not lead to significant reduction in the use of angiography. The major strength of this study is the high correlation of CT with aortography: 88 patients had both studies. However, there are two major, interrelated, weaknesses. Although modern equipment was used, the scanning time of 5 sec per section (and a 7-sec interscan delay) is extremely long, unsuitable for dynamic scanning, and may produce a number of artifacts. This, in turn, may explain the large percentage of equivocal scan results encountered in this series. The study by Fisher et al. prompts a number of interesting questions, and in Table 1 we summarize supportive evidence from similar studies.
Taking a Walk on the Wild Side with Planar Electrochromatography and Thin‐Layer Electrophoresis: Of Peptides, Proteins, and Proteomics

Abstract Planar electrochromatography (PEC) and thin‐layer electrophoresis (TLE) are examined for their potential application to peptide and protein analysis, employing one‐dimensional (1D) and two‐dimensional (2D) separations, which could potentially be useful for proteomics applications. The PEC and TLE literature are reviewed because the two methods are fundamentally similar in mechanical operations and performance. The application of TLE to peptide mapping is discussed and approaches to extending the technique to proteins and proteomics are offered. Much of the discussion is prognostic or hopefully predictive, attempting to ascertain how PEC might evolve in the coming years for peptide, protein, and ultimately proteomics applications.
Dietary α-linolenic acid alters tissue fatty acid composition, but not blood lipids, lipoproteins or coagulation status in humans

We examined the effect of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on the indices of lipid and coagulation status and on the fatty acid composition of serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) lipids in ten healthy men (age 21-37 yr) who consumed all their meals at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center for 126 d. There was a stabilization period of 14 d at the start when all 10 subjects consumed the basal diet (BD) containing 23.4 energy percent (en%) fat and two intervention periods of 56 d each. During the first intervention period, 5 subjects consumed the BD containing 23.4 en% fat, and 5 subjects consumed a diet providing 6.3% calories from alpha-linolenic acid [flaxseed oil (FSO) diet containing 28.8 en% fat]. Diets were crossed over between the two groups during the second intervention period. Feeding the FSO diet did not significantly alter serum triglycerides, cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins, low-density lipoproteins, apoprotein A-I and apoprotein B when compared to the corresponding values in the subjects fed the BD, nor was there any effect of the FSO diet on the bleeding time, prothrombin time and partial prothrombin time for these subjects. Feeding the ALA-containing diet did cause a significant increase in ALA concentration in serum (P < 0.001) and PBMNC lipids (P < 0.05). It also caused a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acid contents of PBMNC lipids, and a decrease (P < 0.01) in linoleic and eicosatrienoic acid contents of serum lipids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Modification of spontaneous emission from CdSe/CdS quantum dots in the presence of a semiconductor interface.

The spontaneous-emission lifetime of CdSe/CdS core–shell quantum dots was studied as a function of the distance between the dots and a polished Si surface. The experimental results reveal a significant modification of the spontaneous-emission rate of the quantum dots by the Si surface.
Degradation of methomyl in chlorinated water

Methomyl degrades rapidly in chlorinated water and the rate increases with decreasing pH, increasing temperature and increasing chlorine concentrations. Reaction rate with free chlorine is 1,000-fold faster than with chloramine. Methomyl forms methomyl sulfoxide and N-chloromethomyl before degrading to acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid and dichloromethylamine.
Psychological functioning of adults with cystic fibrosis

Study objectives The purpose of this study is to assess the psychological profiles of adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and to investigate predictors of patients' psychological status. Patients and methods Thirty-four adults with CF completed a battery of psychological testing including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. These were compared to health status data, including pulmonary function testing and nutritional status measures. Results As a group, adults with CF did not demonstrate significant levels of depression, anxiety, or other psychopathology. Results were not affected by age, sex, or severity of disease. Male gender predicted higher scores for depression and anxiety, and better lung functioning predicted less anxiety. Having a higher level of psychosocial support emerged as a strong predictor of better psychological functioning. Conclusions Overall, adults with CF report relatively healthy psychological functioning. Better lung function and a strong social support system predicted better psychological functioning, which may have implications for clinical intervention.
Bethe or Bethe-like Lattice Calculations Are More Reliable Than Conventional Mean-Field Calculations.

We demonstrate that the behavior on Bethe or Bethe-like lattices are qualitatively correct even when conventional mean-field theories fail. We also give a new and direct method for calculating the bulk free energy ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{B}$ for any model on a recursive lattice.
Strain balanced double quantum well tunnel junctions

Quantum well tunnel junctions have been shown to improve the performance of tunnel junctions within a concentrator solar cell with low absorption loss. In this work, we have demonstrated a strain balanced quantum well which may be used to incorporate materials within the tunnel junction which have more desirable bandgaps without any degradation in material properties. Our strained InAlAs/InGaAs QWTJ strain balanced to an InP substrate shows dramatically improved performance improvement over the baseline device in peak tunneling current and a 45,000x improvement in differential resistance.
Fetoscopic and Open Transumbilical Fetal Cardiac Catheterization in Sheep: Potential Approaches for Human Fetal Cardiac Intervention

Background Shortening the prenatal disease course of severe aortic and pulmonary stenoses by balloon valvuloplasty may diminish their postnatal expression. The purpose of this study in fetal sheep was to assess the feasibility of fetoscopic and open transumbilical fetal cardiac catheterization guided by fetal transesophageal echocardiography to provide alternative approaches for human fetal cardiac intervention. Methods and Results We studied a total of nine fetal sheep (95 to 103 days of gestation; term=145 to 150 days) and performed transumbilical fetal cardiac catheterization by a minimally invasive fetoscopic (n=6) or an open fetal surgical approach (n=3). Monitored by fetal transesophageal echocardiography, with an 8F or 10F, 10-MHz intravascular ultrasound catheter we placed guidewires and interventional catheters via the umbilical arterial route into the fetal heart. In three of the fetuses, we created supravalvar pulmonary artery stenosis by open fetal cardiac surgery. After fetal and maternal recovery, we exteriorized these fetuses and performed open transumbilical fetal cardiac catheterization with successful pulmonary arterial angioplasty in two. Three fetuses survived fetoscopic transumbilical catheterization for 1 or 2 days and died most likely of blood loss after sheath dislodgment (n=1) or removal (n=2). By securing the sheath insertion site with a suture, we prevented sheath dislodgment and minimized bleeding during sheath removal in three fetuses. These fetuses then survived fetoscopic transumbilical fetal cardiac catheterization for 1 to 2 weeks before being killed. Conclusions This study in fetal sheep demonstrates that fetoscopic and open transumbilical fetal cardiac catheterization are feasible and, guided by fetal transesophageal echocardiography, provide potential alternative approaches for human fetal cardiac intervention.
Multiple-Time-Scale Analysis of Spontaneous Radiation Processes. II. Many-Particle Systems

The multiple-time-scale expansion method has been used to study a system of $N$ -two-level atoms with one of them excited initially. It is found that, in the limit of large time, the Schr\"odinger equation for the system reduces to a set of algebraic equations, and can thus be solved exactly. A detailed study of a four-atom system is given. The analysis is then extended to a regular lattice of $N$ atoms. It is found that in a large lattice, the probability for the excitation energy to be trapped is very large, even when the lattice spacing is comparable to the characteristic wavelength of the radiation.
Development of large-area drift chambers for high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics

The development of large area xenon drift chambers as imaging systems for the advanced Gamma-Ray Astronomy Telescope Experiment (AGATE), sensitive in the energy range 20 MeV - 100 GeV, is presented here. AGATE is visualized as the successor to the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, and will add to the wide range of important results currently being obtained by EGRET. Experiments were carried out with a laboratory prototype consisting of a stack of sixteen 1/2m X 1/2m active area drift chambers using both xenon and argon gas mixtures. The spatial resolution of the drift chamber stack was measured with a multi-wire readout plane using atmospheric muons traversing the active volume. A spatial resolution of about 0.23 mm was measured with drift chambers using xenon- methane gas mixtures. The experiments with the argon-isobutane gas mixtures yielded a spatial resolution of about 0.14 mm.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Understanding the role of tumor necrosis factor inhibition in ankylosing spondylitis

BACKGROUND Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects approximately 350,000 patients in the United States. Over time, the spinal and peripheral joint involvement of AS may cause severe disability and functional limitations. Research in the molecular and cellular events of AS has uncovered a distinct role for the proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in the pathogenesis of this disease. OBJECTIVES This article reviews the role of TNF in the pathogenesis of AS and evaluates new therapeutic options for the disease. METHODS Literature searches were conducted and various studies were reviewed and evaluated from the perspective of study design and validity of conclusions. Data are presented from animal studies and human clinical trials designed to test the efficacy of TNF inhibition in AS. RESULTS The TNF inhibitors etanercept and infliximab not only demonstrate a significant reduction in the signs and symptoms of AS but also improve quality of life while reducing serious toxicities. Etanercept is the first TNF inhibitor to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the treatment of AS and has recently been approved in the European Union. Infliximab has also been approved for use in the European Union. CONCLUSIONS Early treatment with TNF inhibitors in patients with RA has been shown to result in significant improvements in disability, pain, and joint scores compared with delayed treatment. Ongoing trials are currently investigating whether these agents can halt or delay disease progression in patients with AS. RELEVANCE Understanding the role of TNF inhibition in AS has led to new therapies that offer improved function and less disability for many patients suffering from this disease.
Behavioral Approaches to Marital Discord and Conflict

This paper reviews the empirical research in behavioral approaches to marital therapy. The level of product of current research designs has not yet advanced significantly beyond the non-factorial single-group design, and the breadth of treatment populations employed thus far has been restricted. The power of the behavioral method is found in its theoretical base, observational and treatment-relevant assessment, procedural specificity, and quantification of outcome. The outcomes of treatment, though relatively small in number, thus far, have been almost universally positive and encouraging.
A novel acrylamide-free flocculant and its application for sludge dewatering.

In the present research, copolymers of methyl acrylate (MA) with anionic or cationic monomers were synthesized via emulsion polymerization, and used as sludge dewatering aids in wastewater treatment. The copolymerization of different stoichiometry of two monomers afforded a variety of water soluble copolymers with charge densities ranging from 40% to 80%, which align with the charge density of current flocculant products. These copolymers resemble current commercial products, but provide a greener solution by eliminating acrylamide monomer, which is a suspected carcinogen. High molecular weight copolymers were achieved by applying powder-like synthesis process with intrinsic viscosity of final products as high as 12.98 dl/g for anionic flocculant and 10.74 dl/g for cationic flocculant. The copolymers of methyl acrylate and [2-(Acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (AETAC) with 55% charge density exhibited comparable performance in clay settling test, real water jar test, and sludge dewatering, when compared to AM-based commercial product in the real wastewater treatment application.
Rent Subsidies An Impact Evaluation and an Application of the Random-Comparison-Group Design

Several studies have evaluated the experimental housing allowance program authorized by Congress in 1970 and implemented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The studies that are rel...
Pathologic fractures: A complication of microparticulate synovitis

We report seven cases of pathologic fracture in adult patients that were seen an average of 5 years (range from 33 to 114 months) after silicone wrist (three) and trapezial (four) arthroplasty. All patients had initially done well after their operation. At return, all had radiographic evidence of generalized implant and intramedullary bone destruction, the latter always including endosteal scalloping and widening from cortical resorption. These radiographic changes may be less striking than the discrete osteolytic lesions seen after degeneration of carpal implants. Our patients represent examples of pathologic fracture as the end stage of untreated microparticulate synovitis, a consequence of prosthetic wear. Our experience suggests that careful and continuous follow-up is justified after insertion of stemmed silicone implants, and that patients should be informed of the potential late complications of this procedure, including pathologic fracture.