cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Responding to the Psychological Needs of OEF-OIF Military: A Commentary on Progress in Treatment Development.

Abstract America's involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (i.e., OEF-OIF) is entering its 9th year with casualties exceeding 5,000 American deaths and many times that number with serious physical injuries. Epidemiological surveys and mental health screening concurrent with service and at the point of discharge provide us with important information on the psychological status of those directly involved in the military action. Support to mental health professionals coming primarily from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institutes of Health provided an important catalyst in the development of psychological treatments aimed specifically at the presenting problems of service men and women and their families. This special series highlights the impressive growth in treatments developed for OEF-OIF military and demonstrates the wide-ranging nature of the treatments that are now available for testing and use in assisting those most affected by the war. The creativity of these research teams in addressing the needs of these service men and women inspires continuing work in this area that will undoubtedly enhance mental health services available to the general population in the near term.
Distribution of rocks on the Gusev Plains and on Husband Hill, Mars

[1] The population of rocks larger than 15 cm in diameter was measured at 36 locations imaged by the Spirit rover over ∼ 4 km of the traverse across the Gusev plains and Husband Hill in Gusev crater on Mars. The rock population observed on plains surfaces is consistent with impact fragmentation of rubbly/fractured volcanics and reveals little evidence for modification by secondary processes or weathering. Interpretation of counts from Husband Hill suggest an influence by bedrock for rocks larger than 0.5 m across, but the distribution of smaller rocks is consistent with ejecta possessing contributions from pre-plains impact events. Results indicate plains surfaces experienced only tens of centimeters of eolian erosion/deposition since the Hesperian, whereas meters rather than tens of meters of erosion modified Husband Hill since the early Hesperian.
Design of atomically abrupt solid interfaces

Abstract The materials systems of the future will be composed of mesoscopic components of different chemical composition that will work together to perform some function. To ensure that the different components do not interdiffuse or react with each other during the desired lifetime of the system, all of the interfaces should separate compounds that are in local thermodynamic equilibrium. The information required for the design of abrupt and stable interfaces comes from the bulk phase diagrams involving all the elements that will be present at an interface, a knowledge of how entropy will affect the solid phase chemistry in an open system, and the crystal structures of the compounds from which the components will be made.
Soft QCD Measurements at 900 GeV and 7 TeV with ATLAS

We present results on charged particle production in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider and center of mass energies s = 900 GeV and 7 TeV in the ATLAS Detector. Charged tracks are measured with high precision in the inner tracking system; track multiplicities, transverse momentum spectrum and the average track transverse momentum as a function of track multiplicity are compared to phenomenological models describing the soft QCD processes participating in the interaction. Although all models approximately describe the data, none show complete agreement, with the deviation between data and Monte Carlo becoming more significant at the the higher center of mass energy and for higher track transverse momentum. These data have been used in the determination of a new optimised model which provides a much improved description of the data.
Exchange of substituents between the dimethylsilicon and the dimethylgermanium moieties

Abstract Equilibria in the scrambling between dimethylsilicon and dimethylgermanium of chlorine, bromine, or iodine with either methoxyl or methylthio groups have been studied by proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The scrambling of methoxyl with the methylthio group is also reported. As expected, most of these equilibria deviate greatly from the values corresponding to random sorting of the substituents. The mathematical treatment of the scrambling of two kinds of substituents between two different central moieties (including atoms) is discussed and typical examples are presented for the variation with over-all composition of the six molecular species resulting from such scrambling on a pair of bifunctional moieties.
Rapid increase in prescission GDR γ-ray emission with energy

Abstract A rapid increase in the emission of prescission giant dipole resonance (GDR) γ-rays with bombarding energy is observed in excited Th and Cf nuclei formed in the reactions 16 O+ 208 Pb and 32 S+ nat W, 208 Pb. This increase begins around E exc = 40 MeV for the 16 O+ 208 Pb reaction and E exc = 70 MeV for the 32 S-induced reactions. The excess γ-ray yield above these thresholds cannot be described within the standard statistical model. Statistical model calculations which include a temperature dependent nuclear dissipation are able to reproduce simultaneously the observed GDR γ-ray spectra and recently measured evaporation residue cross sections.
Ge-Au eutectic bonding of Ge {100} single crystals

We present preliminary results on the eutectic bonding between two {100} Ge single crystal surfaces using thin films of Au ranging from 900A/surface to 300A/surface and Pd (10% the thickness of Au). Following bonding, plan view optical microscopy (OM) of the cleaved interface of samples with Au thicknesses ≤ 500A/surface show a eutectic morphology more conducive to phonon transmission through the bond interface. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) cross sectional interface studies of a 300A/surface Au sample show epitaxial growth of Ge. In sections of the bond, lattice continuity of the Ge is apparent through the interface. TEM studies also reveal heteroepitaxial growth of Au with a Au-Ge lattice mismatch of less than 2%. Eutectic bonds with 200A/surface Au have been attained with characterization pending. An optical polishing technique for Ge has been optimized to insure intimate contact between the Ge surfaces prior to bonding. Interferometry analysis of the optically polished Ge surface shows that surface height fluctuations lie within ±150A across an interval of 1mm. Characterization of phonon transmission through the interface is discussed with respect to low temperature detection of ballistic phonons.
Wind–Induced Baroclinic Motions at the Edge of the Continental Shelf

Abstract In a two-layer model of stratified fluid flow, motions in the internal mode are governed by the distribution of an equivalent depth he. For a typical continental shelf, the distribution of he with distance from shore may be closely approximated by two straight-line distributions patched at the shelf break, one of constant slope and one of constant (equivalent) depth. For such a simple model the forced response to a suddenly imposed wind stress (in the internal mode) is easily calculated. The component of the wind stress perpendicular to shore produces a step-like feature of the thermocline at the shelf, and a longshore Ekman drift gradually reducing to zero at the coast from the infinite ocean value far offshore. Wind stress parallel to the shore produces a thermocline step and a longshore jet at the shelf break, both of linearly increasing amplitude (in time), and an onshore or offshore Ekman drift, again reducing to zero at the coast but having the infinite-ocean magnitude far offshore.
Effects of estrogen and HCG on androgen synthesis by human testes.

ABSTRACT Testes from subjects with cancer of the prostate, who had been treated with diethylstilbestrol for varying lengths of time (0-30 months), were homogenized and incubated with either 17 α-hydroxyprogesterone-4-C14 or 4-androstene-3, 17-dione-4-C14and reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide. Quantitation of the metabolic products showed that long-term estrogen therapy prevented the reduction of androstenedione to testosterone, but it had little effect on the conversion of 17 α-hydroxyprogesterone to androstenedione, which accumulated in the incubation medium. Administration to patients of human chorionic gonadotrophin for 5 days, concomitantly with diethylstilbestrol, completely restored the ability of the homogenates to reduce androstenedione to testosterone.
Large eddy simulation for turbulent magnetohydrodynamic flows

Abstract We investigate the mathematical properties of a model for the simulation of large eddies in turbulent, electrically conducting, viscous, incompressible flows. We prove existence and uniqueness of solutions for the simplest (zeroth) closed MHD model (1.7), we show that its solutions converge to the solution of the MHD equations as the averaging radii converge to zero, and derive a bound on the modeling error. Furthermore, we show that the model preserves the properties of the 3D MHD equations: the kinetic energy and the magnetic helicity are conserved, while the cross helicity is approximately conserved and converges to the cross helicity of the MHD equations, and the model is proven to preserve the Alfven waves, with the velocity converging to that of the MHD, as δ 1 , δ 2 tend to zero. We perform computational tests that verify the accuracy of the method and compare the conserved quantities of the model to those of the averaged MHD.
Acute Water Intoxication in a Dog

Summary A one-year-old female labrador Retriever dog was admitted to the Emergency Service after playing in a lake for several hours. Physical examination revealed coma, hypothermia, and bradycardia. Marked diuresis was noted. A serum biochemical profile revealed hyposmolality, hyponatremia, and hypoproteinmia suggestive of dilution of serum constituents. Acute water intoxication was diagnosed. Recovery was complete and occurred without specific therapy. Acute water intoxication should be considered in the differential diagnosis of coma. (Vet Emerg & Crit Care, 1999, 9: 19–25)
Kinetic Inertness and Electrochemical Behavior of Copper(II) Tetraazamacrocyclic Complexes: Possible Implications for in Vivo Stability

The kinetic inertness of copper(II) complexes of several carboxymethyl-armed cyclams and cyclens in 5 M HCl have been determined confirming that the complex derived from cross-bridged cyclam (Cu-CB-TE2A) is by far the most resistant to acid decomplexation. FT-IR studies in D2O solution revealed its unique resistance to full carboxylate protonation and its retention of coordination by both pendant arms even in 1 M DCl. The X-ray structure of its monoprotonated form, [Cu-CB-TE2AH]+, also established full coordination by both COO– and COOH pendant arms in the solid state. Cyclic voltammograms of four carboxymethyl pendant-armed cyclam and cyclen complexes in aqueous solution were obtained with only Cu-CB-TE2A displaying a quasi-reversible CuII/CuI reduction wave. These indicators correlate with the superior in vivo behavior of this complex and its bifunctional conjugate. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)
Ontology-supported polarity mining

Polarity mining provides an in-depth analysis of semantic orientations of text information. Motivated by its success in the area of topic mining, we propose an ontology-supported polarity mining (OSPM) approach. The approach aims to enhance polarity mining with ontology by providing detailed topic-specific information. OSPM was evaluated in the movie review domain using both supervised and unsupervised techniques. Results revealed that OSPM outperformed the baseline method without ontology support. The findings of this study not only advance the state of polarity mining research but also shed light on future research directions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Steroid D-ring glucuronides: a new class of cholestatic agents

Abstract The inhibitory effects of estrogens on hepatic exretory function are well known. Recent studies suggest that these efects may be mediated by certain estrogen metabolites, the D-ring glucuronide conjugates. Although glucuronide onide conjugates have long been thought to be non-toxic end product of drug metabolism, Mary Vore and William Slikker discuss the evidence thatthe potent cholestatic activity of the D-ring glucuronides of estradiol, estriol and ethynylestradiol in animal models indicates that this metabolic pathway may be responsible for some of the hepatic toxicities seen in pregnancy and with oral contraceptive use.
Localization of PGI (biglycan, BGN) and PGII (decorin, DCN, PG-40) genes on human chromosomes Xq13-qter and 12q, respectively.

Abstract The genes for PGI (biglycan, BGN ) and PGII (decorin, DCN ) have been assigned to human chromosomes X and 12 by Southern analysis of a panel of human-rodent somatic cell hybrid DNAs with cDNA probes for these related small proteoglycans. Regional localization of BGN to Xq13-qter and DCN to 12q12.1-qter was also obtained by examining hybrids containing spontaneous breaks or well-characterized translocations involving chromosomes X and 12. Biglycan ( BGN ) is a single-copy gene about 6 kb in length. Hybridization with subfragment cDNA probes suggests the presence of two copies of the decorin ( DCN ) gene, or related sequences, at the locus on chromosome 12, although there is no evidence for function of more than one DCN gene. Efforts to detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms with these probes were unsuccessful.
Radiotherapy following gross total resection of adult soft tissue sarcoma of the head and neck

Abstract Purpose This study reports the outcomes of adults with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the head and neck following resection and postoperative radiotherapy (RT), and provides a framework for explaining the issues that radiation oncologists must understand to manage patients with this diverse group of tumors. Methods and Materials Twenty-four patients met the following inclusion criteria of this study: age ≥19 years, head or neck primary site, STS, with the exception of rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing, or angiosarcoma variants, and curative-attempt treatment with gross total tumor resection followed by RT. Results All patients underwent gross total tumor resection followed by adjuvant RT at our institution during the 28-year period between June 1, 1981, and December 31, 2009. This is a mature study with a median follow-up of 11 years (range, 0.6-27 years). No patient was lost to follow-up. All recurrences were at the primary site. No patient developed an isolated regional or distant recurrence. No patient developed synchronous nodal or distant recurrences at the time of local recurrence. Half of the recurrences presented within 1 year of completing RT, but there were 2 cases where we did not detect recurrence until years 6 and 8 after RT. No recurrence was successfully salvaged. The actuarial rate of local control and relapse-free survival was 83% (95% CI [confidence interval], 63%-94%) at 5 years and 73% (95% CI, 51%-87%) at 10 years. The incidence of moderate to severe treatment complications was 4%. Conclusions Our series documents that gross total resection followed by RT cures most patients (75%) with the most common types of STS of the head and neck. All recurrences were local, meaning near the primary site in tissue that received the full RT prescription dose. For this reason, modifying the approach to treatment of the primary tumor site is the only strategy that will meaningfully improve outcomes for this group of patients.
Youth Labor Markets in the United States: Shopping Around vs. Staying Put

The need for school-to-work programs or other means of increasing early job market stability is predicated on the view that the “chaotic” nature of youth labor markets in the United States is costly because workers drift from one job to another without developing skills, behavior, or other characteristics that in turn lead to higher adult earnings. However, there is also ample evidence that workers receive positive returns to job shopping. This paper asks whether youths in unstable jobs early in their careers suffer adverse labor market consequences as adults. Its specific contribution is to account for the endogenous determination of early job stability and adult wages as outcomes of a job search/job shopping process. Labor market conditions in the early years in the labor market are used as instrumental variables for the job stability experienced during those years. The instrumental variables estimates generally point to substantial positive effects of early job stability on adult wages, in contrast to ...
Reversible dry micro-fibrillar adhesives with thermally controllable adhesion

This work reports thin-film terminated micro-fibrillar adhesives made of adhesive polymers and shape memory polymers as reversible dry adhesives with thermally controllable adhesion. Structurally different adhesives were fabricated by coating a continuous thin layer of an elastomeric adhesive polymer onto either a flat or a fibrillar shape memory polymer surface. Experimental results exhibited that pull-off forces of the adhesives can be up to four times different depending on thermal conditions. These differences originate from the temperature dependence of either the intrinsic adhesion properties of the adhesive polymer and/or the stiffness of the sub-surface shape memory polymer.
Seth Forman. Blacks in the Jewish Mind: A Crisis of Liberalism. New York: New York University Press, 1998. x, 274 pp.

This is a welcome corrective to the many recent polemical and scholarly—but tendentious—studies of black-Jewish relations that portray Jews as differing little from other whites. As Seth Forman indicates, many of these studies bear the imprint of the Black Power movement, whose influence mounted in the late 1960s. Seeking to undermine the integrationist civil rights coalition in which Jews occupied a leading role, the writers of these works severely minimized or denied any special Jewish empathy for the African-American cause. David L. Lewis claims that Jewish involvement in the civil rights movement was motivated by self-interest rather than by heightened sensitivity rooted in a memory of antisemitic persecution. Jews allegedly “us[ed] Blacks as surrogates” (p. 12) to eliminate discrimination against Jews, blacks deriving little benefit from the alliance. Harold Cruse similarly portrayed Jews in the civil rights movement as opportunistic, as a privileged group that had not suffered in the United States and therefore had nothing in common with African Americans. According to Forman, Taylor Branch even cites Israel's refusal to grant citizenship to members of Ben-Ami Carter's “Black Hebrew” sect as evidence that Jews have been “perpetrators of racial hate” (p. 14). But Branch ignores the invalidity of the sect's claim to be Jewish as well as its virulently antisemitic and anti-white theology.
Population structure and genetic diversity in green turtles nesting at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, based on mitochondrial DNA control region sequences

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting population at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, is the largest nesting aggregation in the Atlantic, by at least an order of magnitude. Previous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) surveys based on limited sampling (n = 41) indicated low genetic diversity and low gene flow with other Caribbean nesting colonies. Furthermore, a survey of nuclear DNA diversity invoked the possibility of substructure within the Tortuguero rookery. To evaluate these characteristics, mtDNA control region sequences were determined for green turtles nesting at Tortuguero in 2001 (n = 157) and 2002 (n = 235). The increased sample revealed three additional haplotypes; five haplotypes are now known for Tortuguero female green turtles. Analyses of molecular variance indicated that there was no significant spatial population structure along the 30-km nesting beach. In addition, no temporal population structure was detected either between the two nesting seasons or within the nesting season. As a result of the larger sample size and additional haplotypes, estimates of genetic separation among Caribbean nesting colonies have changed and the concordance of phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns reported in the past for green turtles in the Greater Caribbean has weakened. The five haplotypes from Tortuguero represent 36% of the haplotypes identified in green turtle nesting aggregations in the Greater Caribbean and 17% of the haplotypes known to occur in nesting or foraging aggregations in the Greater Caribbean. Haplotype diversity (0.16) and nucleotide diversity (0.0034) for the Tortuguero population are substantially lower than those for the combined rookeries in the Greater Caribbean (0.44 and 0.0078, respectively). Although comprehensive evaluation of regional genetic diversity requires nuclear DNA data, our study indicates that conserving genetic diversity in Caribbean green turtles will require careful management of the smaller rookeries in addition to the Tortuguero rookery.
Contrast Gain Control in the Visual Cortex: Monocular Versus Binocular Mechanisms

In this study, we compare binocular and monocular mechanisms underlying contrast encoding by binocular simple cells in primary visual cortex. At mid to high levels of stimulus contrast, contrast gain of cortical neurons typically decreases as stimulus contrast is increased (). We have devised a technique by which it is possible to determine the relative contributions of monocular and binocular processes to such reductions in contrast gain. First, we model the simple cell as an adjustable linear mechanism with a static output nonlinearity. For binocular cells, the linear mechanism is sensitive to inputs from both eyes. To constrain the parameters of the model, we record from binocular simple cells in striate cortex. To activate each cell, drifting sinusoidal gratings are presented dichoptically at various relative interocular phases. Stimulus contrast for one eye is varied over a large range whereas that for the other eye is fixed. We then determine the best-fitting parameters of the model for each cell for all of the interocular contrast ratios. This allows us to determine the effect of contrast on the contrast gain of the system. Finally, we decompose the contrast gain into monocular and binocular components. Using the data to constrain the model for a fixed contrast in one eye and increased contrasts in the other eye, we find steep reductions in monocular gain, whereas binocular gain exhibits modest and variable changes. These findings demonstrate that contrast gain reductions occur primarily at a monocular site, before convergence of information from the two eyes.
Bananas Enough for Time Travel

This paper argues that the most famous objection to backward time travel can carry no weight. In its classic form, the objection is that backward time travel entails the occurrence of impossible things, such as auto-infanticide—and hence is itself impossible. David Lewis has rebutted the classic version of the objection: auto-infanticide is prevented by coincidences, such as time travellers slipping on banana peels as they attempt to murder their younger selves. I focus on Paul Horwich's more recent version of the objection, according to which backward time travel entails not impossible things, but improbable ones—such as the string of slips on banana peels that would be required to stop a determined auto-infanticidal maniac from murdering her younger self—and hence is itself highly improbable. I argue that backward time travel does not entail unusual numbers of coincidences; and that, even if it did, that would not render its occurrence unlikely.
The design of fast totally self-checking Berger code checkers based on Berger code partitioning

The authors develop several key theorems on Berger code partitioning on which a novel totally self-checking Berger code checker design is based. This design can handle any information length. It is shown that the design exhibits a tradeoff between the number of gates and the number of gate levels. In particular, the minimum-cost realization of the design achieves a speed improvement of approximately 50%, while the increase in the number of gates is less than 30% for information length or=15 while achieving almost the same speed improvement. >
IL-15 receptor α signaling constrains the development of IL-17-producing γδ T cells.

The development and homeostasis of γδ T cells is highly dependent on distinct cytokine networks. Here we examine the role of IL-15 and its unique receptor, IL-15Rα, in the development of IL-17–producing γδ (γδ-17) T cells. Phenotypic analysis has shown that CD44high γδ-17 cells express IL-15Rα and the common gamma chain (CD132), yet lack the IL-2/15Rβ chain (CD122). Surprisingly, we found an enlarged population of γδ-17 cells in the peripheral and mesenteric lymph nodes of adult IL-15Rα KO mice, but not of IL-15 KO mice. The generation of mixed chimeras from neonatal thymocytes indicated that cell-intrinsic IL-15Rα expression was required to limit IL-17 production by γδ T cells. γδ-17 cells also were increased in the peripheral lymph nodes of transgenic knock-in mice, where the IL-15Rα intracellular signaling domain was replaced with the intracellular portion of the IL-2Rα chain (that lacks signaling capacity). Finally, an analysis of neonatal thymi revealed that the CD44lo/int precursors of γδ-17 cells, which also expressed IL-15Rα, were increased in newborn mice deficient in IL-15Rα signaling, but not in IL-15 itself. Thus, these findings demonstrate that signaling through IL-15Rα regulates the development of γδ-17 cells early in ontogeny, with long-term effects on their peripheral homeostasis in the adult.
Permutation Reconstruction from Minors

We consider the problem of permutation reconstruction, which is a variant of graph reconstruction. Given a permutation $p$ of length $n$, we delete $k$ of its entries in each possible way to obtain ${n \choose k}$ subsequences. We renumber the sequences from $1$ to $n-k$ preserving the relative size of the elements to form $(n-k)$-minors . These minors form a multiset $M_k(p)$ with an underlying set $M_k'(p)$. We study the question of when we can reconstruct $p$ from its multiset or its set of minors. We prove there exists an $N_k$ for every $k$ such that any permutation with length at least $N_k$ is reconstructible from its multiset of $(n-k)$-minors. We find the bounds $N_k > k+\log_2 k$ and $N_k 2k$. We work towards analogous bounds in the case when we restrict ourselves to layered permutations.
Cost design for opportunistic multi-hop routing in Cognitive Radio networks

Cognitive radio (CR) is a revolutionary technology with promising applications in military areas since it enables CR users in the field to dynamically access to the vacant licensed frequency bands if no primary users are present. In practice, multi-hop routing in CR networks presents a great challenge due to unreliable traditional links and time varying unlicensed CR links. To improve the performance of multi-hop routing, opportunistic routing (OR) has been proposed and investigated extensively. Instead of using a single next hop, OR forwards a packet to an ordered set of candidate nodes and one node is chosen to relay the packet towards the destination. Most OR protocols prioritize the candidates and make the selection based on the cost defined as expected transmission times (ETX). Actually, ETX, as well as other existing criteria, does not always lead to the best forwarder choice for OR in CR networks since it ignores numerous potential CR links. In this paper, we propose a novel cost criterion for opportunistic multi-hop routing in CR networks, which leverages the unlicensed CR links to prioritize the candidate nodes and optimally selecting the forwarder. Simulation results show that our design efficiently decreases the number of transmissions, and effectively increases the throughput for most node pairs when compared with OR and traditional single-path routing.
How Do You Define “Hypertension” in a Patient With Type 1 Diabetes?

The definition of “hypertension” is an arbitrary term, which refers to a level of blood pressure that carries increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Given that patients with type 1 diabetes have more baseline risk for vascular disease than the general population, many consensus guidelines committees have recommended lower blood pressure goals, preferably <130/80 mm Hg.1,2 These recommendations are, in large part, based on observational and interventional studies in people with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, as one evaluates both observational and interventional clinical trial data, it is quite clear that there is a continuous relationship between blood pressure and cardiovascular events.3,4 Thus, although guidelines recommend lower target blood pressures, what is the correct number in a type 1 diabetic? In addition, does this depend on the presence or absence of microalbuminuria or other subclinical measures of cardiovascular disease? Older clinical trial data in patients with type 1 diabetes provided the suggestion that lower blood pressure goals might provide clinical benefit. Viberti et al5 reported that type 1 and type 2 diabetics with a mean blood pressure of 127/78 mm Hg derived advantage from captopril therapy (associated with …
Treatment efficiency as a function of target selection in the remediation of child language disorders.

A number of studies appearing in the recent literature examined the effectiveness of treating language impairments using indirect, conversationally based interventions. However, such studies have b...
Microtubule assembly inhibition by porphyrins and related compounds.

Administration of meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyI)porphine (TPPS4) to rats resulted in cyto-skeletal abnormalities with loss of microtubules in unmyelinated peripheral nerve axons (Winkelman and Collins, 1987). That in vivo toxic effect prompted the present in vitro study of microtubule assembly inhibition by porphyrins and related compounds. Several approaches were used to measure microtubule assembly inhibition including: (1) determination of the final optical density at 350 nm, (2) analysis of supernatant unassembled tubulin by direct measurement and by colchicine binding, and (3) ultrastructural examination for the presence of typical microtubule profiles. Of the 11 compounds studied, TPPS4, two less sulfonated TPPS congeners and me.so-tetra(N′-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphine caused profound microtubule assembly inhibition. Afoo-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphinc produced an intermediate level of microtubule assembly inhibition. The remaining compounds, including hemato-porphyrin D (HpD), had little or no effect upon microtubule assembly. In phytohemagglutinin stimulated lymphocytes, nonphotoactivated TPPS4 produced metaphase arrest to the same extent as colcemid. Thus, the specific interaction of TPPS4 with tubulin produces microtubule assembly inhibition in vitro and metaphase arrest in cell culture. Tubulin binding could explain the intracellular concentration of TPPS4 and TPPS-like compounds, and differences in the biological behavior of these from other porphyrins.
The degree of antenatal ventriculomegaly is related to pediatric neurological morbidity.

Objective: Our hypothesis was that the degree of antenatally diagnosed cerebral ventriculomegaly is related to aneuploidy, perinatal mortality and long-term neurological morbidity. Methods: Ninety-one cases of ventriculomegaly identified from 1 June 1994 to 1 July 1999 were examined for prenatal, intrapartum and neonatal complications. Pediatric follow-up was reviewed for infants with ventriculomegaly from birth up to as long as 4 years. Minor neurological morbidity was defined as a score of 70-80 on the clinical adaptive test/clinical linguistic and auditory milestone scale and included mild motor or language delay. Major morbidity included a score of 10-15 mm and group 2 being > 15 mm. Results: Twenty-seven cases (18 with neural tube defects and nine with holoprosencephaly) were excluded. Among the remaining 64 patients, 39 ...
Late presentation of cutaneous larva migrans: a case report

Introduction Cutaneous larva migrans is caused by infection with hookworm larvae in tropical and sub-tropical areas. A history of recent travel to the tropics is usually elicited.
The sensitivity of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the evaluation of metastatic pulmonary nodules.

Objective: Pulmonary metastasectomy is beneficial in select patients. The sensitivity of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for pulmonary metastasis is unknown. The aims of the study were to determine the accuracy of FDG-PET in detecting pulmonary metastasis and identify factors affecting sensitivity. Methods: All patients undergoing metastasectomy from September 2002 through December 2006 who had both chest computed tomography (CT) and FDG-PETscans or a fused CT/FDG-PETwithin 6 weeks prior to surgery were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to determine predictors of positivity. Results: There were 83 patients (41 men, 42 women) who had 104 resections. Median age was 61 years (range, 32—87). In total 154 nodules were resected; 1 nodule in 47 patients and multiple in 36. Histopathology was adenocarcinoma in 94 nodules, sarcoma in 18, squamous cell carcinoma in 15, renal cell carcinoma in 7 and other in 20. At least one nodulewas FDG-PETpositivein 68 patients(81.9%).Truepositive FDG-PETwas foundin 104nodules (67.5%)while50 were falsenegative (32.5%). Multivariate analysis revealed tumor diameter and grade correlated with increased sensitivity of FDG-PET. Conclusion: FDG-PET is positiveinonly67.5%ofmetastaticpulmonarynodules.NodulesizeandgradeaffectthesensitivityofFDG-PETformetastaticpulmonarynodules. FDG-PET is not a sensitive test in the evaluation of patients considered for pulmonary metastasectomy. Moreover, a negative FDG-PETshould not be used to rule out metastatic disease. # 2008 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Nucleation of gold nanoparticles on latex particle surfaces

Gold particles were nucleated on functionalized (i.e., sulfonate or imidazole groups) latex particle surfaces. Gold ions were associated with the functional groups present on the surface of the latex particles by metal-ligand formation and were then reduced to nucleate gold particles on the particle surface. The use of imidazole groups favored the metal-ligand formation more effectively compared with sulfonic acid groups, so gold nucleation was investigated on the surface of imidazole-functionalized model latex particles. The desorption of gold atoms or their surface migration first occurred during the reduction process and then gold nanoparticles were nucleated. The utilization of strong reductants, such as NaBH 4 and dimethylamine borane (DMAB) under mildly acidic conditions (i.e., pH 4) led to the deprotonation of imidazole-rich polymer chains present on the surface of the model latex particles followed by deswelling of hydrophilic polymer surface layers. As a result, well-dispersed gold nanoparticles were embedded in the hydrophilic polymer surface. On the other hand, the use of weak reductants led to the formation of localized gold aggregates on the surface of the latex particles. The removal of residual styrene monomer is very important because gold ions can be coordinated with the vinyl groups present in styrene monomer and would then be reduced by nucleophilic water addition.
Measuring Organizational Change Tactics to Improve Child Welfare Programs: Experiences in 13 Counties

This study introduces a new measure that assesses the extent of organizational change tactics usage within a human service organization. The Organizational Change Tactics Questionnaire (OCTQ) was developed based on a comprehensive review of effective organizational change tactics and adapted to the unique needs of human service organizations. This study presents the psychometric properties of the OCTQ using the tool with 13 large child welfare organizations experiencing organizational change. Respondents who saw a greater use of change tactics and those who were more involved with the change process were significantly more likely to perceive the change process as successful.
Dietary Fiber and Intestinal Adaptation

It is well recognized that the structure and function of the small intestine can be significantly modified by manipulation of dietary patterns (Creamer, 1974; Dworkin et al., 1976; Hageman and Stragand, 1977; Maudsley et al., 1976). There is also considerable evidence to suggest that modifications of the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids and/or increased luminal concentrations of unconjugated bile acids can result in morphological damage to the intestine (Dawson and Isselbacher, 1960; Low-Beer et al., 1970; Teem and Phillips, 1972) and cause abnormalities in water and salt transport (Mekhijian and Phillips, 1970; Mekhijian et al., 1971; Sladen and Harries, 1972).
Interstate Groundwater Law Revisited: Mississippi v. Tennessee

In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court granted the State of Mississippi leave to file a bill of complaint against the State of Tennessee, the City of Memphis, and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division for wrongfully converting groundwater from the interstate Sparta-Memphis Aquifer. The dispute arises from Memphis and its municipal utility pumping groundwater within Tennessee, which Mississippi alleges has lowered the water tables within its territory. The Supreme Court’s grant of leave raises for the first time the question of what legal doctrine applies to transboundary interstate groundwater resources. Tennessee and lower courts would subject interstate groundwater to the Court’s equitable apportionment doctrine, which divides and allocates interstate surface waters by determining the best overall utility for the water supply with a heavy emphasis on protecting existing consumptive uses. Mississippi’s bill of complaint seeks damages and declaratory relief based on property theories of absolute right, title, and exclusive possessory ownership of groundwater located within its territorial borders. This article offers a third alternative, the Supreme Court’s doctrine of interstate nuisance, which recognizes and balances competing sovereign interests in utilization and preservation of shared interstate natural resources.
The Szilard-Chalmers Reaction in Solids

Publisher Summary The chemical effect of a nuclear transformation was observed by Ssilard and Chalmers in 1934. They irradiated liquid ethyl iodide with neutrons and found that radioactive iodine could be extracted into water. The effect was attributed to the rupture of the carbon-iodine bond by the mechanical recoil imparted to the iodine nucleus by the incident neutron. Subsequently, Fermi et al. showed that the recoil energy given to the nucleus by the emission of gamma rays following thermal neutron capture was sufficient to break the bonds holding the capturing atom to the remainder of the molecule. The chemical behavior of the atoms that have undergone nuclear transformations are as yet imperfectly understood. Numerous investigations have shown that the radioisotope produced by thermal neutron irradiation of a compound in dilute solution or in the gas phase is usually obtained in chemical form other than that of the capturing molecule.
Queuing and elections: long lines, DREs and paper ballots

Computerized touchscreen "Direct Recording Electronic" (DRE) voting systems have been used by over 1/3 of American voters in recent elections. In many places, insufficient DRE numbers, in combination with lengthy ballots and high voter traffic, have caused long lines and disenfranchised voters who left without voting. We have applied computer queuing simulation to the voting process and conclude that far more DREs, at great expense, would be needed to keep waiting times low. Alternatively, paper ballot-optical scan systems can be easily and economically scaled to prevent long lines and meet unexpected contingencies. We have developed a heuristic "Queue Stop Rule" that can be applied to prevent long lines at voting stations. We have also carried out queuing simulations of other parts of the voting process, for example, voter check-in and ballot scanning. Our results can be used to help plan cost-effective election systems that will produce expeditious elections.
Variability and trends in runoff efficiency in the conterminous United States

Variability and trends in water-year runoff efficiency (RE) — computed as the ratio of water-year runoff (streamflow per unit area) to water-year precipitation — in the conterminous United States (CONUS) are examined for the 1951 through 2012 period. Changes in RE are analyzed using runoff and precipitation data aggregated to United States Geological Survey 8-digit hydrologic cataloging units (HUs). Results indicate increases in RE for some regions in the north-central CONUS and large decreases in RE for the south-central CONUS. The increases in RE in the north-central CONUS are explained by trends in climate, whereas the large decreases in RE in the south-central CONUS likely are related to groundwater withdrawals from the Ogallala aquifer to support irrigated agriculture.
Understanding the impact of flow rate and recycle on the conversion of a complex biorefinery stream using a flow-through microbial electrolysis cell

Abstract The effect of flow rate and recycle on the conversion of a biomass-derived pyrolysis aqueous phase in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) were investigated to demonstrate production of renewable hydrogen in biorefinery. A continuous MEC operation was investigated under one-pass and recycle conditions using the complex, biomass-derived, fermentable, mixed substrate feed at a constant concentration of 0.026 g/L, while testing flow rates ranging from 0.19 to 3.6 mL/min. This corresponds to an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.54–10 g/L-day. Mass transfer issues observed at low flow rates were alleviated using high flow rates. Increasing the flow rate to 3.6 mL/min (3.7 min HRT) during one-pass operation increased the hydrogen productivity 3-fold, but anode conversion efficiency (ACE) decreased from 57.9% to 9.9%. Recycle of the anode liquid helped to alleviate kinetic limitations and the ACE increased by 1.8-fold and the hydrogen productivity by 1.2-fold compared to the one-pass condition at the flow rate of 3.6 mL/min (10 g/L-d OLR). High COD removal was also achieved under recycle conditions, reaching 74.2 ± 1.1%, with hydrogen production rate of 2.92 ± 0.51 L/L-day. This study demonstrates the advantages of combining faster flow rates with a recycle process to improve rate of hydrogen production from a switchgrass-derived stream in the biorefinery.
Health Policy to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening: Improving Access and Aligning Federal and State Incentives.

Amajor goal of the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to expand access to healthcare coverage for individuals. Since October 1, 2013, more than 7 million individuals have gained coverage through government programs, including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Nationwide, as of
Mechanism, Purposes, and Role of Underground Banks in the Smuggling of Chinese

This study illustrates that the entrepreneurs operating underground banks responded to market opportunities arising out of the needs of a specific ethnic group of illegal immigrants. However, the avail-able information leaves other puzzling questions unanswered. Data derived from this research show that underground banking opera-tions rarely extended to customers beyond their co-ethnic group members and generally remained in a clearly defined, geographi-cally circumscribed area – the Fujianese settlements in Chinatown, NYC, and Philadelphia. These attributes of underground banks do not seem compatible with the principle of profit maximization and market expansion. A plausible explanation for this finding is the role of ethnic trust. However, how ethnic trust governs the transactions of underground banks and interactions between operators and their clients is not clear.
Selection on a Subunit of the NURF Chromatin Remodeler Modifies Life History Traits in a Domesticated Strain of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Evolutionary life history theory seeks to explain how reproductive and survival traits are shaped by selection through allocations of an individual’s resources to competing life functions. Although life-history traits evolve rapidly, little is known about the genetic and cellular mechanisms that control and couple these tradeoffs. Here, we find that two laboratory-adapted strains of C. elegans descended from a single common ancestor that lived in the 1950s have differences in a number of life-history traits, including reproductive timing, lifespan, dauer formation, growth rate, and offspring number. We identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL) of large effect that controls 24%–75% of the total trait variance in reproductive timing at various timepoints. Using CRISPR/Cas9-induced genome editing, we show this QTL is due in part to a 60 bp deletion in the 3’ end of the nurf-1 gene, which is orthologous to the human gene encoding the BPTF component of the NURF chromatin remodeling complex. Besides reproduction, nurf-1 also regulates growth rate, lifespan, and dauer formation. The fitness consequences of this deletion are environment specific—it increases fitness in the growth conditions where it was fixed but decreases fitness in alternative laboratory growth conditions. We propose that chromatin remodeling, acting through nurf-1, is a pleiotropic regulator of life history trade-offs underlying the evolution of multiple traits across different species.
Fundamental Operations of Bone Machining

Currently, the majority of conventional orthopedic surgeries adopted for shaping and forming bones involve the contact methods based on controlled mechanical fracturing (chipping) of the bones.
Terahertz generation and detection using nonlinear frequency conversion

Ti-sapphire is nonlinearly converted to 1 mW average terahertz power at 9.9% photon conversion efficiency. Terahertz is mixed with 1550 nm pump in quasi-phase-matched GaAs, for ultra-sensitive (78 fW/Hz1/2), room-temperature detection with nanosecond timing resolution.F
Binuclear, High-Valent Nickel Complexes: Ni−Ni Bonds in Aryl–Halogen Bond Formation

Metal–metal bonds play a vital role in stabilizing key intermediates in bond-formation reactions. We report that binuclear benzo[h]quinoline-ligated NiII complexes, upon oxidation, undergo reductive elimination to form carbon–halogen bonds. A mixed-valent Ni(2.5+)–Ni(2.5+) intermediate is isolated. Further oxidation to NiIII, however, is required to trigger reductive elimination. The binuclear NiIII–NiIII intermediate lacks a Ni−Ni bond. Each NiIII undergoes separate, but fast reductive elimination, giving rise to NiI species. The reactivity of these binuclear Ni complexes highlights the fundamental difference between Ni and Pd in mediating bond-formation processes.
Clock Offset Estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Bootstrap Bias Correction

Wireless sensor networks have become an important and promising research area during the last recent years. Clock synchronization is one of the areas that play a crucial role in the design, implementation, and operation of wireless sensor networks. Under the assumption that there is no clock skew between sensor nodes, the Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) of clock offset was proved by [1] for clock synchronization protocols that assume exponential random delays and a two-way message exchange mechanism such as TPSN (Timing-sync Protocol for Sensor Networks [2]). This MLE is asymptotically unbiased. However, the estimator is biased in the presence of a finite number of samples and much more biased in asymmetric random delay models, where the upstream delay characteristics are different from the downstream delay characteristics, and thus its performance is deteriorated. This paper proposes clock offset estimators based on the bootstrap bias correction approach, which estimates and corrects the bias of the MLE in the exponential delay model, and hence it results in better performances in mean squared error (MSE).