cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic identification of axial force and boundary restraints in tie rods and cables with uncertainty quantification using Set Inversion Via Interval Analysis

Abstract A methodology is developed for the estimation of internal axial force and boundary restraints within in-service, prismatic axial force members of structural systems using interval arithmetic and contractor programming. The determination of the internal axial force and end restraints in tie rods and cables using vibration-based methods has been a long standing problem in the area of structural health monitoring and performance assessment. However, for structural members with low slenderness where the dynamics are significantly affected by the boundary conditions, few existing approaches allow for simultaneous identification of internal axial force and end restraints and none permit for quantifying the uncertainties in the parameter estimates due to measurement uncertainties. This paper proposes a new technique for approaching this challenging inverse problem that leverages the Set Inversion Via Interval Analysis algorithm to solve for the unknown axial forces and end restraints using natural frequency measurements. The framework developed offers the ability to completely enclose the feasible solutions to the parameter identification problem, given specified measurement uncertainties for the natural frequencies. This ability to propagate measurement uncertainty into the parameter space is critical towards quantifying the confidence in the individual parameter estimates to inform decision-making within structural health diagnosis and prognostication applications. The methodology is first verified with simulated data for a case with unknown rotational end restraints and then extended to a case with unknown translational and rotational end restraints. A laboratory experiment is then presented to demonstrate the application of the methodology to an axially loaded rod with progressively increased end restraint at one end.
Compact narrow-linewidth integrated laser based on low-loss silicon nitride ring resonator

We demonstrate an integrated silicon nitride/III-V laser leveraging the narrowband backreflection of a high-Q microring resonator for output coupling and feedback. We measure a 13 kHz linewidth with 1.7 mW output power around 1550 nm.
Child maltreatment severity, chronic substance abuse, and disability status.

PURPOSE Biological theories explain how exposure to child maltreatment and chronic substance abuse result in significant health reductions, often years or decades after the maltreatment and substance abuse end. Relationships among these variables are known to exist; however, the relative impact of each risk factor on disability status is not clear. METHOD Adults receiving inpatient treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD) were assessed for chronic illness and disability (CID), years abusing substances, and child maltreatment severity using the Child Trauma Questionnaire (n = 112). A logistic regression model classified participants by CID status based on criterion variables; using transformed data and model parameters, the odds and probabilities were calculated for each criterion variable to determine the clinical impact of each risk factor on CID. RESULTS The majority (52.7%) of participants reported CID; the majority screened positively for child maltreatment (87.4%). Our model was significant and demonstrates that the odds for CID increase as a function of maltreatment severity; years abusing substances did not significantly increase the odds. For those reporting the most severe levels of maltreatment, the odds of experiencing CID translates to odds ratio (OR) = 1.92, with an associated probability of 66%. IMPLICATIONS Child maltreatment severity is an important predictor of CID status, and was more likely to explain CID than years abusing drugs and alcohol in our clinical sample. Trauma-informed concurrent treatment for 3 clinical conditions of CID, childhood maltreatment, and SUD is needed for the majority of individuals seeking treatment for SUD. (PsycINFO Database Record
Micro- and nanomachining

Recent advances in miniaturization have led to the development of microscale components, usually in silicon. However, components made from engineering materials require shaping processes other than those established for processing silicon. Therefore, traditional machining processes require further development in order to machine components that are fit for purpose at the micro and nanoscales. This chapter provides a timely review of the current developments and recent advances in the area of micro and nanomachining.
Dietary Patterns and Mediterranean Diet Score and Hazard of Recurrent Coronary Heart Disease Events and All-Cause Mortality in the REGARDS Study.

Background Previously, we reported on associations between dietary patterns and incident acute coronary heart disease (CHD) in the REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) ...
Your President Is (a) White (Supremacist): Post Obama and Black Feminist Politics

For the majority of Black Americans—and, it must be said, for plenty of other Americans of color and for many white Americans, too—the transition of presidential power that occurred on January 20, 2017, was a devastating sociopolitical, cultural, and historic moment. It wasn’t simply the fact that America’s first Black President was leaving office after two terms, the end of an era that, for all its flaws, was still historically, socially, and politically significant.
Social Stress Affects Colonic Inflammation, the Gut Microbiome, and Short-chain Fatty Acid Levels and Receptors.

Objectives Gastrointestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), involve disrupted homeostatic interactions between the microbiota and the host. Both disorders are worsened during stress, and in laboratory mice, stress exposure has been shown to change the composition of the gut microbiome. Stress-induced changes to the microbiome exacerbate intestinal inflammation and alter intestinal motility in mice. It is, however, not yet known whether microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (butyrate, propionate, and acetate) and their receptors contribute to this effect. Methods Mice were exposed to a social disruption stress, or left undisturbed as a control. After the first stress exposure, mice were orally challenged with Citrobacter rodentium or with vehicle. The levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. SCFA receptors were measured via real-time polymerase chain reaction. Microbial community composition was assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results Stress exposure reduced colonic SCFA levels. Stress exposure and C rodentium, however, significantly increased SCFA levels and changed the expression of SCFA receptors. The levels of SCFAs did not correlate with the severity of colonic inflammation, but the colonic expression of the SCFA receptor GPR41 was positively associated with inflammatory cytokines and colonic histopathology scores. The relative abundances of several taxa of colonic bacteria were significantly changed by stress exposure, including SCFA producers. Conclusions Social stress can have a significant effect on infection-induced colonic inflammation, and stress-induced changes in microbial-produced metabolites and their receptors may be involved.
Music and poetics of devotion in the Jain and Sikh traditions

This special interreligious issue on ‘The Music and Poetics of Devotion in the Jain and Sikh Traditions’ is the product of papers adapted from those presented at the first Sikh-Jain conference held...
Air-interface condition promotes the formation of tight corneal epithelial cell layers for drug transport studies.

Purpose. To identify the growth conditions that would favor thedevelopment of a functional primary culture of pigmented rabbit cornealepithelial cells on a permeable support comparable to the intact tissuein bioelectric properties.
Monkeys Show Theory of Mind.

Hayashi et al. (2020) provide evidence that Japanese macaques show theory of mind abilities in an anticipatory-looking variant of the canonical false belief task. This study paves the way to investigate the neuronal basis of social cognition in non-human primates.
Mesalamine in the Initial Therapy of Ulcerative Colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic disorder of intestinal inflammation and includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The goal of therapy is to induce and maintain remission, which is achieved with conventional therapies. Mesalamine is considered a first-line therapy for ulcerative colitis. Clinical trials have confirmed its efficacy and safety in patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. Doses of more than 2.4 g/d achieve significantly higher rates of clinical and endoscopic remission, with a decreased risk of relapse. Serious adverse effects are rare, but nonadherence is common. Mesalamine is considered safe in pregnancy, excluding formulations with dibutyl phthalate.
Design Codes in Structural Engineering Practice and Education

AbstractCodes and standards are important tools in civil and structural engineering, but how they are applied in the workplace in comparison to how they are taught in undergraduate engineering educ...
Computational Approach toward Pulmonary Functional Imaging

Quantitative functional imaging has improved clinical understanding of lung disease, enhanced researchers’ abilities to develop new treatments, and has the potential to improve care for millions of patients who suffer from COPD, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and other diseases. While all imaging modalities rely on physics and computation, functional lung imaging is especially amenable to and dependent on computational approaches. Functional imaging modalities, such as hyperpolarized noble gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), inhaled contrast computed tomography (CT), and nuclear imaging, require complex processing strategies for synthesis, quantification, and computer-aided diagnosis. Early investigation into the use of such modalities for the development of computational metrics specifically tailored for the quantitative assessment of lung function has led to advanced machine learning strategies for classifying patients and predicting disease progression. Such developments will have a lasting impact on future diagnostic capabilities and the potential treatment of lung disease. In this chapter, we review these functional lung imaging modalities, their corresponding computational methodologies, and potential clinical significance.
Medical Treatment Decision-Making for Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is rare, accounting for approximately 1–2% of all thyroid cancers. Thyroidectomy is considered the primary treatment for MTC and conveys the highest chance for cure if the disease is detected early. Although typically indolent for most patients, those who demonstrate more rapid progression or symptomatic disease can be treated with either multikinase inhibitors (MKIs), such as cabozantinib and vandetanib, or selective RET inhibitors. The understanding that aberrant RET receptor activation is a primary driver of MTC led to clinical investigations with MKIs primarily targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), as well as RET and other kinase receptors. Selective RET inhibitors demonstrate exciting results in phase I clinical trials for RET-altered cancers, which led to the recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration of selpercatinib. This chapter uses a case-based approach to answer the questions of when to consider initiating systemic therapy and which agent to use.
Eco-routing for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Eco-routing aims to find routes that minimize vehicles’energy consumption, as an alternative to minimumtime or minimum-distance routes. This paper develops a new data-driven energy consumption model for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and proposes an algorithm that determines both the optimal path and powertrain strategy. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model and algorithm, we develop and calibrate a simulation model of the Ann Arbor city in SUMO, and implement the eco-routing algorithm with connected and automated vehicles in simulations. The result shows that on average we can achieve an energy saving around 7%-14%, while incurring a slight increase in travel time.
Developing Academic Leadership From a Distance: A Health Professions Education Practicum Course.

Problem Leadership skills are fundamental to the successful practice of health professions education (HPE), but HPE degree programs struggle with providing meaningful leadership instruction from a distance. Approach The leaders of the HPE program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences developed a practicum course to give learners guided experiences in their daily leadership roles and responsibilities from a distance. The ongoing practicum course, started in fall 2018 and broadly framed by the principles of deliberate practice and self-directed learning, involves a 6-step process where learners: (1) identify leadership competency/ies to develop, (2) identify roles and responsibilities in their own work settings that involve elements of leadership, (3) develop a learning agreement that identifies personal leadership goals for the practicum activity, (4) are assigned expert preceptors by practicum directors, (5) initiate regular meetings with their preceptors to receive feedback and expert advice, and (6) end the practicum activity with a debriefing reflection between themselves and their preceptors. Practicum activity timelines are flexible and preceptors work with learners through the lifespan of the project. Learners can participate in multiple practicum activities as they improve different leadership competencies. Outcomes Since fall 2018, 36 learners have participated in 83 practicum activities, 45 (54%) of which have been completed. The practicum activities show that leadership competencies are most often embedded within other activities and are unique to every situation. Reflecting on practice, collaborating in teams, and negotiating and resolving conflict are the most commonly identified leadership competencies learners want to improve. Feedback on the practicum from learners has been positive. Next steps This practicum course provides a model that can be applied in various organizational contexts. In the future, the authors plan to collect data from both learners and preceptors about their experiences and solicit feedback from learners' employers and supervisors.
Engaging family members in maternal, infant and young child nutrition activities in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic scoping review.

The influence of fathers, grandmothers and other family members on maternal, infant and young child nutrition practices has been well documented for decades, yet many social and behavioural interventions continue to reach only mothers. While recent guidelines recommend involving fathers, grandmothers and other family members in maternal and child nutrition, we lack a comprehensive review of interventions that have engaged them. This scoping review aimed to address this gap by describing social and behavioural interventions to engage family members in maternal and child nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Global Health and CINAHL for peer-reviewed studies meeting inclusion criteria. We screened 6,570 abstracts, evaluated 179 full-text articles, and included 87 articles from 63 studies. Studies reported a broad range of approaches to engage fathers, grandmothers and other family members to support maternal nutrition (n = 6); breastfeeding (n = 32); complementary feeding (n = 6) and multiple maternal and child nutrition practices (n = 19). Interventions were facility and community based; included individual and group-based interpersonal communication, community mobilization, mass media and mHealth; and reached mothers and family members together or separately. Most interventions were located within the health sector; rare exceptions included nutrition-sensitive agriculture, social protection, early child development and community development interventions. Few interventions addressed gender norms, decision-making, and family dynamics or described formative research or theories informing intervention design. These diverse studies can shed light on innovative programme approaches to increase family support for maternal and child nutrition.
Atomic scale phenomena - Nucelation and growth

Solidification is the result of the formation of stable clusters of solid in the liquid (nucleation), followed by their growth. These are phenomena occurring at the atomic scale (nano meter) level. The present understanding of the beginning of formation of solid crystals from their liquid is based on the classical theory of homogeneous nucleation. This theory uses macroscopic concepts and classic thermodynamics to describe the appearance of the first microscopic crystals in the melt.
Multiresolution representation and numerical algorithms: A brief review

We review recent developments in techniques for representing data in terms of its local scale components. These techniques allow data compression through elimination of scale-coefficients that are sufficiently small in the transformed representation. This capability for data compression can be used to reduce the cost of many numerical solution algorithms either by applying it to the numerical solution operator in order to get an approximate sparse representation, or by applying it to the numerical solution itself in order to reduce the number of quantities that need to be computed.
Combined radiofrequency ablation-cooling catheter for reversible cryothermal mapping and ablation.

Reversible cryothermal mapping of cardiac arrhythmias has beenperformed intraoperatively. However, a steerable cooling catheter forreversible mapping has not yet been developed. We therefore developed andtested a cooling system consisting of a +15°C hypertonic salinereservoir and a 7F steerable catheter also capable of radiofrequency (RF)ablation. Using excised ovine hearts placed in a 37°C circulating salinebath, we measured the temperatures at depths of 0 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm. Thetemperature after 90 seconds of cooling was 16.5 ± 2.1°C at 0 mmcompared to 23.9 ± 4.1°C at 1 mm and 31.1 ± 3.9°C at 2mm depth (p < 0.01). These data suggest that a 7F steerable combined RFablation–cooling catheter may achieve temperatures suitable formapping arrhythmias such as atrial tachycardias and right ventricularoutflow tract tachycardias. Further enhancements to achieve lowertemperatures at depth may be needed to reversibly map other arrhythmiassuch as left ventricular tachycardias.
State failure, governance failure and policy failure: Exploring the linkages

There is some tendency to lump together policy failures arising from different sources and having different fundamental characteristics. This is a problem conceptually, as well as for building effe...
Application of Fracture Mechanics to Rubber Articles, Including Tyres

The use of a fracture mechanics approach, based on the rate of release of strain energy, to account for various features of the failure of vulcanized rubbers is outlined. The properties considered include those to which fracture mechanics is often applied -- tear, tensile failure, crack growth and fatigue -- and others to which its application is less usual -- abrasion, ozone attack and cutting by sharp objects. The relation of macroscopically observed properties to the basic molecular strength of the material is also discussed. An example of a quantitative practical application of the rubber fracture work, to groove cracking in tyres, is then considered. Finally, the rather more complicated fracture that can occur in rubber--cord laminates is discussed and it is shown that the energetics approach can be applied to some features, at least, of this.
A Decimal Floating-Point Divider Using Newton---Raphson Iteration

Increasing chip densities and transistor counts provide more room for designers to add functionality for important application domains into future microprocessors. As a result of rapid growth in financial, commercial, and Internet-based applications, hardware support for decimal floating-point arithmetic is now being considered by various computer manufacturers and specifications for decimal floating-point arithmetic have been added to the draft revision of the IEEE-754 Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic (IEEE P754). In this paper, we presents an efficient arithmetic algorithm and hardware design for decimal floating-point division. The design uses an efficient piecewise linear approximation, a modified Newton---Raphson iteration, a specialized rounding technique, and a simplified decimal incrementer and decrementer. Synthesis results show that a 64-bit (16-digit) implementation of the decimal divider, which is compliant with the current version of IEEE P754, has an estimated critical path delay of 0.69 ns (around 13 FO4 inverter delays) when implemented using LSI Logic's 0.11 micron Gflx-P standard cell library.
Some principles of linguistic methodology

Current difficulties in achieving intersubjective agreement in linguistics require attention to principles of methodology which consider sources of error and ways to eliminate them. The methodological assumptions and practices of various branches of linguistics are considered from the standpoint of the types of data gathered: texts, elicitations, intuitions and observations. Observations of the vernacular provide the most systematic basis for linguistic theory, but have been the most difficult kinds of data for linguists to obtain; techniques for solving the problems encountered are outlined. Intersubjective agreement is best reached by convergence of several kinds of data with complementary sources of error.
Cataract Development and Cataract Surgery in Patients with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis-associated Iridocyclitis

Purpose: The authors used an aggressive stepladder, steroid-sparing, therapeutic algorithm in the care of patients with iridocyclitis associated with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) to preserve vision, limit cataract formation, and improve probability of successful visual rehabilitation when cataract surgery became necessary. Methods: The authors treated 60 patients with JRA-associated iridocyclitis with topical and regional corticosteroids, systemic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, systemic steroids, and systemic immunosuppressive chemotherapy to achieve total quiescence of intraocular inflammation. Cataract surgery (phacoemulsification extracapsular cataract extraction) combined with pars plana vitrectomy was performed on those eyes with cataract sufficient to limit visual acuity to 20/200 or less, after maintenance of complete freedom from inflammation for at least 3 months. The incidence of cataract development and the visual outcome of cataract surgery were analyzed in those patients for whom a minimum follow-up of 1 year was available. Results: Eventually, 10 of the 60 patients required systemic immunosuppressive chemotherapy in the stepladder therapeutic approach to achieve complete abolition of all active inflammation. Of 72 phakic eyes without cataract, significant cataract developed in 13 (18%) while under our care. The average postoperative stable visual acuity in this group was 20/40. Sixteen eyes of 12 additional patients had visually significant cataract at the time of our first evaluation of them. The average postoperative stable visual acuity in this group of patients after cataract surgery was 20/40. Conclusions: Iridocyclitis associated with JRA is an insidiously blinding disease, with 12% of individuals affected by this problem eventually blinded by the inflammatory consequences to the eye. A therapeutic philosophy of complete intolerance for active inflammation and limited tolerance for chronic steroid use may offer the most realistic hope for the next step in progress to prevent blindness in this patient population. The results of this study suggest that such a therapeutic attitude results in diminished cataract prevalence and decreased prevalence of vision-limiting retinal pathology, with resultant improved visual outcome of the cataract surgery which is eventually needed in a small proportion of the patients.
Slow Food Revisited

Food and diet trends come and go, but the Slow Food movement (http://slowfood.com) endures, gaining even greater traction throughout the world in the past decade. Slow Food's staying power may be a...
Stability of internally cooled superconductors: A review

Abstract This review acquaints the reader with the novel ideas that have evolved during the last five years regarding the stability of internally cooled superconductors. Among the topics included are stability-optimized conductors, zero-flow recovery, heating-induced flow, multivalued stability, and the maximum cooling capacity of confined supercritical helium.
Tools for application-oriented performance tuning

Application performance tuning is a complex process that requires assembling various types of information and correlating it with source code to pinpoint the causes of performance bottlenecks. Existing performance tools don't adequately support this process in one or more dimensions. We discuss some of the critical utility and usability issues for application-level performance analysis tools in the context of two performance tools, MHSim and HPCView, that we built to support our own work on data layout and optimizing compilers. MHsim is a memory hierarchy simulator that produces source-level information not otherwise available about memory hierarchy utilization and the causes of cache conflicts. HPCView is a tool that combines data from arbitrary sets of instrumentation sources and correlates it with program source code. Both tools report their results in scope-hierarchy views of the corresponding source code and produce their output as HTML databases that can be analyzed portably and collaboratively using a commodity browser. In addition to daily use within our group, the tools are being used successfully by several code development teams in DoD and DoE laboratories.
Paget's Sarcoma of the Vertebral Column with Neurological Complications

A patient with Paget's sarcoma of the vertebral column who developed cauda equina compression is reported. This is the first report of this condition in an aorthopaedic journal. The literature is reviewed. Palliative treatment is recommended.
Direct utilization of geothermal energy 2015 worldwide review

The worldwide application of geothermal energy for direct utilization is reviewed. This paper attempts to update the previous survey carried out in 2005, presented at the World Geothermal Congress 2005 (WGC2005) in Turkey and subsequently updated in Geothermics (vol. 34) (Lund, Freeston and Boyd, 2005). This update also compares data from 1995 and 2000 presented at two World Geothermal Congresses in Italy and Japan (WGC95 and WGC2000). As in previous reports, an effort is made to quantify ground-source (geothermal) heat pump data. This report is based on country update papers prepared for WGC2010 and other sources of data available to the authors. Final update papers were received from 70 countries of which 66 reported some direct utilization of geothermal energy. Twelve additional countries were added to the list based on other sources of information. The 78 countries having direct utilization of geothermal energy, is a significant increase from the 72 reported in 2005, the 58 reported in 2000, and the 28 reported in 1995. An estimate of the installed thermal power for direct utilization at the end of 2009, for this current reports is 50,583 MWt, almost a 79 % increased over the 2005 data, growing at a compound rate of 12.3% annually with a capacity factor of 0.27. The thermal energy used is 438,071 TJ/year (121,696 GWh/yr), about a 60% increase over 2005, growing at a compound rate of 9.9% annually. The distribution of thermal energy used by category is approximately 49.0% for ground-source heat pumps, 24.9% for bathing and swimming (including balneology), 14.4% for space heating (of which 85% is for district heating), 5.3% for greenhouses and open ground heating, 2.7% for industrial process heating, 2.6% for aquaculture pond and raceway heating, 0.4% for agricultural drying, 0.5% for snow melting and cooling, and 0.2% for other uses. Energy savings amounted to 307.8 million barrels (46.2 million tonnes) of equivalent oil annually, preventing 46.6 million tonnes of carbon and 148.2 million tonnes of CO2 being release to the atmosphere which includes savings in geothermal heat pump cooling (compared to using fuel oil to generate electricity).
The cytogenetics of solid tumors. Relation to diagnosis, classification and pathology.

This overview discusses the chromosome changes in solid tumors and how recent advancements in techniques have yielded results which at least qualitatively are similar to those obtained in the leukemias, i.e., that consistent and recurrent chromosome changes characterize most tumors adequately examined and that tumor entities consist of cytogenetically defined and unique subsets. Thus, the findings point to a similar application of the chromosome changes in tumors in their classification, diagnosis and causation.
31-year-old man with fever, palpitations, and generalized rash.

A previously healthy 31-year-old man without a history of cardiac disease presented to the emergency department with a 5-day history of a sore throat, neck stiffness, progressive dyspnea, transient confusion, fever, palpitations, and a generalized rash. His medical history was unremarkable. He reported no recent local or foreign travel, sick contacts, vaccinations, new medications, or exposure to human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis. He had not been on any recent camping trips and had had no tick or rodent exposure. Of note, he lived in northwestern Wisconsin.
Endemism centres, refugia and botanical collection density in Brazilian Amazonia.

HERBARIUM specimen collecting in the Brazilian Amazon has been concentrated in widely scattered collecting centres associated with some proposed centres of substrate-independent endemism1–3, suggesting that these may be sampling artefacts. Furthermore, many Amazonian plant species are uncommon, so the more intensely a local flora is studied, the more it will seem to be unique. This weakens the botanical argument for a dry Pleistocene Amazon4 and the associated forest refuge theory for the origin of Amazonian plant diversity1–3, because modern endemism centres are used as evidence to define past isolated forest patches—sites of allopatric speciation in a supposedly dry climate (Fig. 1). With a detailed map of botanical collection density, it is possible to recognize the true concentrations of plant endemism, which is important for selecting priority conservation areas to guarantee preservation of unique species.
Survey of advanced structural design analysis techniques

Abstract An extensive survey, critical review and basic development of linear elastic analysis methods for one-, two-, and three-dimensional continua is presented. For each of the continua the basic variation principles, significant for the development and understanding of the fundamentals of the structural analysis are given, and their use in deriving the basic equations is demonstrated. In some instances the results presented are original and in some cases they are given in a novel form. The detail intermediate steps are omitted to keep the basic picture as sharp as possible. An attempt is made to select out of the tremendous number of various proposed finite elements, the ones that are adequate for engineering applications in machine design and are not too complicated to make their used cumbersome or uneconomical. No discussion of computer programs is presented, however, it is understood that many present structural analysis problems are solved by the use of a computer. References cited in the discussion of various theories contain discussion and outline of computer programs utilizing the respective theories.
Determination of the fixed-point probability vector of a transition matrix

A method is given for the determination of the fixed-point probability vector w of a matrix A. This method is based on the well-known fact that any nonsingular matrix A can be reduced, by elementary transformations, to form A=T-1Q-1=PQ-1. A physical interpretation of P is given.
The processing of number and gender agreement in Spanish: an event related potential investigation of the effects of structural distance

Previous research suggests that the processing of agreement is affected by the distance between the agreeing elements. However, the unique contribution of structural distance (number of intervening syntactic phrases) to the processing of agreement remains an open question, since previous investigations do not tease apart structural and linear distance (number of intervening words). We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the extent to which structural distance impacts the processing of Spanish number and gender agreement. Violations were realized both within the phrase and across the phrase. Across both levels of structural distance, linear distance was kept constant, as was the syntactic category of the agreeing elements. Number and gender agreement violations elicited a robust P600 between 400 and 900 ms, a component associated with morphosyntactic processing. No amplitude differences were observed between number and gender violations, suggesting that the two features are processed similarly at the brain level. Within-phrase agreement yielded more positive waveforms than across-phrase agreement, both for agreement violations and for grammatical sentences (no agreement by distance interaction). These effects can be interpreted as evidence that structural distance impacts the establishment of agreement overall, consistent with sentence processing models which predict that hierarchical structure impacts the processing of syntactic dependencies. However, due to the lack of an agreement by distance interaction, the possibility cannot be ruled out that these effects are driven by differences in syntactic predictability between the within-phrase and across-phrase configurations, notably the fact that the syntactic category of the critical word was more predictable in the within-phrase conditions.
Soluble Phosphatidylserine Binds to Two Sites on Human Factor IXa in a Ca2+ Dependent Fashion to Specifically Regulate Structure and Activity

Clinical studies have demonstrated a correlation between elevated levels of FIX and the risk of coronary heart disease, while reduced plasma FIX causes hemophilia B. FIXa interacts with FVIIIa in the presence of Ca2+ and phosphatidylserine (PS)-containing membranes to form a factor X-activating complex (Xase) that is key to propagation of the initiated blood coagulation process in human. We test the hypothesis that PS in these membranes up-regulates the catalytic activity of this essential enzyme. We used a soluble form of phosphatidylserine, 1, 2-dicaproyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (C6PS), as a tool to do so. C6PS and PS in membranes are reported to regulate the homologous FXa nearly identically. FIXa binds a molecule of C6PS at each of with two sites with such different affinities (∼100-fold) that these appear to be independent. A high affinity C6PS binding site (Kd∼1.4 µM) regulates structure, whereas a low-affinity binding site (Kd∼140 µM) regulates activity. Equilibrium dialysis experiments were analyzed globally with four other data sets (proteolytic and amidolytic activities, intrinsic fluorescence, ellipticity) to unequivocally demonstrate stoichiometries of one for both sites. Michaelis-Menten parameters for FIXa proteolytic activity were the same in the presence of C6PS or PS/PC membranes. We conclude that the PS molecule and not a membrane surface is the key regulator of both factors Xa and IXa. Despite some minor differences in the details of regulation of factors Xa and IXa, the similarities we found suggest that lipid regulation of these two proteases may be similar, a hypothesis that we continue to test.
Effects of wind on turbofan engines in outdoor static test stands

Wind can affect measured thrust and can cause turbofan engine speed to fluctuate during outdoor testing. Techniques used at an outdoor test stand at NASA Lewis Research Center to make testing easier and faster and to improve data repeatability include using an inflow control device (ICD) to make fan speed steadier, taking many raw data samples for better averaging, and correcting thrust for wind direction and speed. Data from engine tests are presented to show that the techniques improve repeatability of thrust and airflow measurements under various wind conditions.
Bandwidth specification for adaptive optics systems

A simplified expression for the bandwidth of an adaptive optics system is found to depend on a weighted path integral of the turbulence strength, where the weighting is transverse wind velocity to the 5/3 power. The wave-front corrector is conservatively assumed to match the phase perfectly, at least spatially, if not temporally. For the case of astronomical imaging from a mountaintop observatory, the necessary bandwidth is found to be less than 200 Hz.
Increased child abuse in families with twins

Close spacing of children may be a significant risk factor for subsequent abuse in some families. Twin births are an extreme example of close spacing. Therefore, the authors hypothesized that twin births may predispose to an increased incidence of child abuse. Thirty-eight families with twins were compared with 97 single birth families and matched for birthdate, maternal age, race, and socioeconomic status. Families with twins experienced a significantly higher incidence of child abuse and neglect than did those with single births (p less than .003). A written questionnaire designed to study mothers' feelings and perceptions of support systems showed a significant difference only in greater difficulty in feeding twins as compared with single infants (p less than .001). Mothers of abused children were more likely not to answer the questionnaire at all (p less than .005). Neither mothers of single births nor those of twins felt that health professionals provided adequate education or support following the birth of their infants.
Sputtered magnesium diboride thin films: Growth conditions and surface morphology

Abstract Magnesium diboride (MgB 2 ) thin films were deposited on C -plane sapphire substrates by sputtering pure B and Mg targets at different substrate temperatures, and were followed by in situ annealing. A systematic study about the effects of the various growth and annealing parameters on the physical properties of MgB 2 thin films showed that the substrate temperature is the most critical factor that determines the superconducting transition temperature ( T c ), while annealing plays a minor role. There was no superconducting transition in the thin films grown at room temperature without post-annealing. The highest T c of the samples grown at room temperature after the optimized annealing was 22 K. As the temperature of the substrate ( T s ) increased, T c rose. However, the maximum T s was limited due to the low magnesium sticking coefficient and thus the T c value was limited as well. The highest T c , 29 K, was obtained for the sample deposited at 180 °C, annealed at 620 °C, and was subsequently annealed a second time at 800 °C. Three-dimensional (3D) AFM images clearly demonstrated that the thin films with no transition, or very low T c , did not have the well-developed MgB 2 grains while the films with higher T c displayed the well-developed grains and smooth surface. Although the T c of sputtered MgB 2 films in the current work is lower than that for the bulk and ex situ annealed thin films, this work presents an important step towards the fabrication of MgB 2 heterostructures using rather simple physical vapor deposition method such as sputtering.
Fragile fugue: p53 in aging, cancer and IGF signaling

Aging is driven in part by an evolutionarily conserved hormone signaling pathway. A new study shows that this pathway is controlled by the p53 tumor suppressor, which exquisitely balances the need for cell proliferation against that for tumor suppression.
Prototype Preservation Environments

The Persistent Archive Testbed and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) research prototype persistent archive are examples of preservation environments. Both projects are using data grids to implement data management infrastructure that can manage technology evolution. Data grids are software systems that provide persistent names to digital entities, manage data that are distributed across multiple types of storage systems, and provide support for preservation metadata. A persistent archive federates multiple data grids to provide the fault tolerance and disaster recovery mechanisms essential for long-term preservation. The capabilities of the prototype persistent archives will be presented, along with examples of how the capabilities are used to support the preservation of email, Web crawls, office products, image collections, and electronic records.
Changing paradigms in parasitic infections: common dermatological helminthic infections and cutaneous myiasis

Parasitic diseases caused by helminths, or worms, account for billions of human infections worldwide. Although most human pathogens caused by these organisms are infrequent in the United States, skin manifestations of parasitic diseases are being seen much more frequently in dermatologists' offices due to the increase in immigration and travel. Helminths are notable for their complicated lifecycles often including consecutive developmental phases, in separate hosts or in a free-living state. These parasitic organisms are usually macroscopic, multicellular organisms, and do not breed within their mammalian hosts. Notably, many helminthic diseases present with dermatologic signs and symptoms including skin nodules, cysts, migratory skin lesions, and pruritus. In this section, we discuss cutaneous myiasis as well as the four most common nematode dermatologic conditions seen in the United States.
Lead and Lead-210 in Rainwater

THERE is a continuing interest in the possible toxicity to man and animals from the present and future concentrations of lead in the environment. The importance of environmental lead was emphasized by Monier-Williams in 1938 (ref. 1), and has since resulted in numerous studies2–4.
Career orientation of IT personnel

The management of information technology (IT) personnel poses unique challenges, including high turnover, limited advancement potential, low organizational commitment, and burnout. By matching individual expectations and job characteristics, managers may be able to provide IT professionals with appropriate opportunities and career paths. This study is designed to identify the career anchors or orientations which are possessed by IT personnel, and to identify which career anchors are the strongest determinants of organizational commitment. Based upon preliminary results of the pilot survey, the respondents expressed a variety of career anchors, including Organizational Stability, Variety, Managerial Competence, and Geographic Security. The career anchors and career orientation variables that were less important to the respondents were Identity, Technical Competence, Creativity, and Autonomy.
The effects of neurodynamic mobilization on fluid dispersion within the tibial nerve at the ankle: an unembalmed cadaveric study

Objective: To evaluate the effects of neurodynamic mobilization on the fluid dynamics of the tibial nerve in cadavers. Background: Evidence showing patients benefit from neural mobilization is limited. Mechanisms responsible for changes in patient symptoms are unclear. Methods: Bilateral lower limbs of six unembalmed cadavers (n512) were randomized into matched pairs and dissected to expose the tibial nerve proximal to the ankle. Dye composed of Toulidine blue and plasma was injected into the nerve. The longitudinal dye spread was measured pre- and post-mobilization. The experimental group received the intervention consisting of 30 repetitions of passive ankle range of motion over the course of 1 minute. The matched control limb received no mobilization. Data were analysed using a2 62 repeated measures ANOVA with subsequent t-tests for pairwise comparisons. Results: Mean dye spread was 23.8i10.2 mm, a change of 5.4i4.7% in the experimental limb as compared to 20.7i6.0 mm, a change of 21.5i3.9% in the control limb. The ANOVA was significant (P(0.02) for interaction between group (experimental/control) and time (pre-mobilization/post-mobilization). t-test results were significant between pre- and post-mobilization of the experimental leg (P50.01), and between control and experimental limbs post-mobilization (P(0.02). Conclusion: Passive neural mobilization induces dispersion of intraneural fluid. This may be clinically significant in the presence of intraneural edema found in pathological nerves such as those found in compression syndromes.
Characterization of the promoter for the gene encoding the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway regulatory protein AFLR.

Abstract Most genes in the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway in Aspergillus parasiticus are regulated by the binuclear zinc cluster DNA-binding protein AFLR. The aflR promoter was analyzed in β-glucuronidase reporter assays to elucidate some of the elements involved in the gene’s transcription control. Truncation at 118 bp upstream of the translational start site increased promoter activity 5-fold, while truncation at −100 reduced activity about 20-fold. These findings indicate the presence of an important positive regulatory element between −100 and −118 and a negative regulatory region further upstream. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays on nuclear extracts from A. parasiticus induced for aflatoxin expression suggest that AFLR and another, possibly more abundant, protein bind to the −100/−118 region. Another protein binds to a sequence at position −159 to −164 that matches the consensus binding site for the transcription factor involved in pH-dependent gene regulation, PACC.
Spectroscopic studies on the interaction of calf lens membranes with crystallins

The interaction of crystallins with lens membranes and liposomes was studied by fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) measurements. Two extrinsic fluorescence probes ANS (1-anilino-naphthalene-8-sulfonic acid) and DPH (1,6-diphenyl, 1,3,5-hexatriene) were used to detect the binding and to explore the binding site. The ANS fluorescence intensity is greater in membranes than in liposomes, but is reverse for DPH. Among α, β and γ-crystallins, only αc-crystallin decreased the ANS fluorescence intensity in membranes, indicating a binding between membranes and αc-crystallin. The binding site appears to be at the polar-apolar interface in membrane protein (MIP26) and αc-crystallin. Fluorescence polarization measurements show that lipid bilayer becomes less mobile with αc-crystallin binding. The change in the near UV CD due to the binding also indicates a decreased freedom of rotation of aromatic amino acid residues either in MIP26 or in α-crystallin.
Bridge maintenance, safety, management, and life-cycle optimization

Bridge maintenance, safety, management, and life-cycle optimization, by D.M. Frangopol, R. Sause, C.S. Kusko (editors), CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group plc, A.A. Balkema, Boca Raton, London, New ...
EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL EXERTION ON MENTAL PERFORMANCE OF COLLEGE MALES OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL FITNESS LEVEL

Two mental tests were given to physically “fit” (N = 13) and “less fit” (N = 9) male students. Test 1 consisted of the 30 odd-numbered matrices from the Standard Progressive Matrices (1960) and tes...
Using the dynamic bond to access macroscopically responsive structurally dynamic polymers

In chemistry, some dynamic bonds can be selectively and reversibly broken and reformed in response to an environmental stimulus. This Review article discusses the incorporation of dynamic bonds, or interactions, in polymeric materials and the structural changes and macroscopic responses observed in the presence of different stimuli.