cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Acquisition Experience and Performance on Acquisition Behavior: Evidence From the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry

We draw upon theories of organizational learning to examine acquisition likelihood in a sample of banking industry acquisitions from 1988 through 2001. Although research on organizational learning suggests that routines arising both from experience and from performance feedback guide organizational learning, the combined effect of these two sources of learning has rarely been examined. Findings are consistent with our theoretical predictions: (1) prior acquisition experience, (2) recent acquisition performance, and (3) the interaction between acquisition experience and recent acquisition performance are all positively related to the likelihood of subsequent acquisition.
Phase jumps of π at a critical value of injected signal amplitude in the laser with injected signal

Abstract In a laser with injected signal the behavior of the phase ∅ of the laser field changes from unbounded growth (phase drift) to bounded periodic modulation (phase entrainment) at a critical value of the amplitude of the injected field y = y c . The value y = y c is found by using a perturbation analysis in the limit of small values of population relaxation rate.
Landscapes of the Ghost Dance: A Cartography of Numic Ritual

Recent historical and ethnographic research indicates that the study of ritual behavior could be greatly enhanced by combining parameters of place and landscape use with interpretation of material culture. This strategy is especially useful for identifying the archaeological record of ritual among societies that incorporated topographic features and natural resources into their liturgical order. In this article we apply a behavioral framework to the study of Numic ritual technologies. By intergrating ethnographic and historic data on the geography, practice, and material culture of the nineteenth-century Nevada Ghost Dance, we demonstrate how this framework helps to determine the configuration of a ritual place and its position relative to other ritual and nonritual places.
A Climatology of Nocturnal Warming Events Associated with Cold-Frontal Passages in Oklahoma

AbstractA sudden increase in temperature during the nighttime hours accompanies the passages of some cold fronts. In some cold front–associated warming events, the temperature can rise by as much as 10°C and can last from a few minutes to several hours. Previous studies suggest that these events are due to the downward transport of warmer air by the strong and gusty winds associated with the cold-frontal passages. In this study, a climatology of nocturnal warming events associated with cold fronts was created using 6 yr of Oklahoma Mesonetwork (Mesonet) data from 2003 to 2008. Nocturnal warming events associated with cold-frontal passages occurred surprisingly frequently across Oklahoma. Of the cold fronts observed in this study, 91.5% produced at least one warming event at an Oklahoma Mesonet station. The winter months accounted for the most events (37.9%), and the summer months accounted for the fewest (3.8%). When normalized by the monthly number of cold-frontal passages, the winter months still had th...
Dietary Intake Quality Improvements after Participation in a Multi-Disciplinary Pediatric Weight Management Program

Pediatric obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, with incidence tripling in adolescents over 30 years. Poor diet quality with inadequate fruit and vegetable intake and excessive intake of sugar sweetened beverages has been linked to obesity. We report on diet quality before and after participation in a comprehensive weight management program for children aged 2-17 years. Demographics of the patient population reflect the demographics of the catchment area, a large city in the Northeastern U.S. Ethnic breakdown of participants is 69% African American, 20% Caucasian, 6% Hispanic, 5% Bi-racial or “other”, <1% Asian. Baseline participants’mean age is 12.05 years +/3.05 (N1⁄4359). After completing medical and psychological screenings, children and parents enroll in education sessions on nutrition, behavior modification, and exercise. Patients complete a dietary intake questionnaire baseline and six months after program initiation to evaluate diet intake. Several statistically significant improvements were observed in diet quality at 6 months. Changes included increased number of vegetables eaten in the past 7 days (6.33 +/3.74 baseline to 8.04 +/3.59 at 6 months, p1⁄40.033, N1⁄424), decreased intake of sugar sweetened beverages (includes soft drink, sweet tea, Koolaid, lemonade, not diet) in the past 7 days (2.00 +/1.81 baseline to 1.17 +/1.27 at 6 months, p1⁄40.036, N1⁄423) and fast food intake which decreased from mean of 1.18 +/1.26 to 0.66 +/0.66 times in the past 7 days (p 1⁄40.030, N1⁄422). These improvements demonstrate significant improvements in diet quality in this population.
Histoplasmosis on a Small Tuberculosis Service in a General Hospital

The recognition of mycotic infections of the lungs is particularly desirable on a Tuberculosis Service so that patients with mycotic infections alone may avoid unnecessary exposure to tuberculosis. When pulmonary mycosis and pulmonary tuberculosis are present at the same time and are recognized, appropriate therapy for the mycotic infection may be added to the anti-tuberculosis treatment. Pulmonary histoplasmosis, like pulmonary tuberculosis, may occur either as a primary type with little or no symptomatology, or as a reinfection type1 which may result in progressive disease with fibrosis and cavity formation. As in tuberculosis, the primary infection results in hypersensitivity which may be demonstrated by the histoplasmin test. The hypersensitivity may remain for many years or possibly for life. The complement fixation test becomes positive, but is transitory and reverts in a period of months. There is ah excellent discussion of the diagnostic significance of these findings by Smith.2 A chronic progressive form of pulmonary histoplasmosis with cavity formation has been described by Furcolow and Brasher.3 In this form of the disease positive sputum cultures for the fungus usually are obtained without diffi. culty. This type of pulmonary histoplasmosis resembles the fibrocaseous reinfection type of pulmonary tuberculosis. There is no present satisfactory specific treatment for histoplasmosis and the treatment of the chronic progressive form of the disease is similar in many ways to that of tuberculosis before the discovery of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Furcolow and Brasher found 7.2 per cent of 600 patients at a tuberculosis sanatorium had positive serology (complement fixation or precipitin) for histoplasmosis. Thirty-three per cent of these cases with positive serology had either a positive culture for H. capsulatum or organisms typical of H. capsulatum. in tissues removed surgically or at autopsy. The coexistence of pulmonary mycosis and pulmonary tuberculosis has been reported many times. Meleney4 presented a series of cases in which pulmonary histoplasmosis and tuberculosis were present and active simultaneously. Three cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were reported by Larkin and Phillips1 with a different coexisting pulmonary mycosis in each case. Cryptococcus hominis was present in one, Coccidioides intmitis in the second and histoplasmosis in the third. All three ended
Diffractive optics solution for phakic intraocular lenses

A single polychromatic diffractive lens that brings a multiplicity of wavelengths to a common focus is used as a phakic intraocular lens (IOLs) to provide excellent vision correction for both myopia (near-sightedness) and hyperopia (far-sightedness).
Electronic spectroscopy of jet-cooled phenylbutadienyltrimethylcyclohexene

Abstract The resonance-enhanced ionization spectrum of a trimethylcyclohexene compound in which the cyclohexene ring is formally conjugated to a phenylbutadienyl system has been recorded in a supersonic jet expansion. Two strong origin transitions, associated with different ground-state conformers, were identified, indicating that the electronic transition occurs with little change in torsional geometry. The frequencies at which these origin transitions occur indicate that the torsional angle betwwen the cyclohexene double bond and the phenylbutadienyl system is 15° from perpendicular. Similar electronic and steric forces are expected to govern the ground-state torsional geometry of the β-ionylidene ring in retinal.
Aeroacoustics of twin supersonic jets: a review

Interaction of twin supersonic jets can dramatically alter the dynamic pressures in the near-field and cause fatigue of aircraft structures. This review paper focuses on the twin jet coupling situation that is rich in fluid flow physics, requires sophisticated analysis tools and is of relevance to aircraft with closely spaced engines and other industrial situations involving multiple jet flows. The review consists of four sections: (i) a historical survey of twin jet exhaust coupling, (ii) rectangular twin jets with both spanwise uniform and non-uniform geometry, (iii) a description of multi-modes and mode jumps using higher order spectral analysis, and (iv) the suppression of twin jet coupling. The parameters that affect twin jet coupling include nozzle geometry, inter-nozzle spacing and nozzle operating conditions. Certain modes of resonant coupling increase the dynamic pressures drastically in the inter-nozzle region, whereas other coupling modes can suppress unsteady pressure levels. Since coupled res...
Classical Model of the Dirac Electron

A covariant, symplectic, classical dynamical system is presented whose quantization, by replacement of the Poisson brackets with commutators, gives precisely the Dirac electron theory. For the classical system the velocity and momentum are independent dynamical variables, as in Dirac electron; it undergoes a real Zitterbewegung so that the spin is the orbital angular momentum of the Zitterbewegung. Thus the longstanding problem of representing the configuration space of quantum spin by a classical model is solved. Three different forms of the dynamical equations are given.
High Performance and Sub-Ambient Silicon Microchannel Cooling

High performance single-phase Si microchannel coolers have been designed and characterized in single chip modules in a laboratory environment using either water at 22°C or a fluorinated fluid at temperatures between 20 and −40°C as the coolant. Compared to our previous work, key performance improvements were achieved through reduced channel pitch (from 75 to 60 microns), thinned channel bases (from 425 to 200 microns of Si), improved thermal interface materials, and a thinned thermal test chip (from 725 to 400 microns of Si). With multiple heat exchanger zones and 60 micron pitch microchannels with a water flow rate of 1.25 lpm, an average unit thermal resistance of 15.9 C-mm2 /W between the chip surface and the inlet cooling water was demonstrated for a Si microchannel cooler attached to a chip with Ag epoxy. Replacing the Ag epoxy layer with an In solder layer reduced the unit thermal resistance to 12.0 C-mm2 /W. Using a fluorinated fluid with an inlet temperature of −30°C and 60 micron pitch microchannels with an Ag epoxy thermal interface layer, the average unit thermal resistance was 25.6 C-mm2 /W. This fell to 22.6 C-mm2 /W with an In thermal interface layer. Cooling >500 W/cm2 was demonstrated with water. Using a fluorinated fluid with an inlet temperature of −30°C, a chip with a power density of 270 W/cm2 was cooled to an average chip surface temperature of 35°C. Results using both water and a fluorinated fluid are presented for a range of Si microchannel designs with a channel pitch from 60 to 100 microns.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Forcing Function Effects on Unsteady Aerodynamic Gust Response: Part 2 — Low Solidity Airfoil Row Response

The paper investigates the fundamental gust modeling assumption on the basis of a series of experiments performed in the Purdue Annular Cascade Research Facility. The unsteady period flow field is generated by rotating flows of perforated plates and airfoil cascades, with the resulting unsteady periodic chordwise pressure response of a downstream low solidity stator row determined by miniature pressure transducers embedded within selected airfoils. When the forcing function exhibited the characteristics of a linear-theory gust, the resulting response on the downstream stator airfoils was in excellent agreement with the linear-theory models. When the forcing function did not exhibit linear-theory gust characteristics, the resulting unsteady aerodynamic response of the downstream stators was much more complex and correlated poorly with the linear-theory gust predictions. It is shown that the forcing function generator significantly affects the resulting gust response, with the complexity of the response characteristics increasing from the perforated-plate to the airfoil-cascade forcing functions.
Membrane potential and input resistance of cat spinal motoneurons in wakefulness and sleep.

Abstract An approximation of the membrane resistance - input resistance - was measured with double-barrelled micropipettes in hindlimb motoneurons during wakefulness and the states of sleep in chronically implanted, restrained cats. During postural atonia in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, motoneurons had a sustained hyperpolarization of 5–8 mV and a 30% decrease in input resistance. There was little difference in membrane potential or input resistance between wakefulness and the other sleep states. The results directly support the hypothesis that motoneuron deactivation in REM sleep arises from active inhibition.
The CPE Aversion to Innovations: Alternative theoretical explanations

Three competing theoretical approaches address the factors determining the low technological capability of the CPEs. One, here called the risk-reward explanation, focuses on the excessive riskiness of innovation to enterprises or the lack of sufficient rewards for taking on additional risk. Another theory, called the zero-price explanation, links their lackluster technological performance to the state's willingness to rescue failing enterprises. Finally, the closed-economy explanation relates the CPEs' incapacity to the autarkic nature of CPE systems. If one restricts discussion to internal matters, the zero price theory appears to be the most plausible. Where a permissive state offers help to any unfortunate or mismanaged enterprise, this weakens interest in efficiency and in pursuing innovations whose purpose is to economize on resources. The risk-reward explanation loses force if one assumes the presence of a permissive (or paternalistic) state because it implies little real risk for managers, which makes the size of rewards for innovative actions rather irrelevant. However, one can scarcely be satisfied with a discussion of the factors behind the lackluster performance of the CPEs that remains within the framework of a national economy. Technological changes in contemporary economies are highly international, so that developments in one country are very dependent on those occurring elsewhere. Therefore, what most undermines the CPEs' efforts is their limited degree of openness to the world market, which reduces enterprises' exposure to foreign competition and limits the inflow of foreign direct investment. Unfortunately, this closedness is not compensated for by their extensive—but bureaucratized—trade with one another in the CMEA.
513 CAYMAN DISEASE AND A NEW STORAGE DISEASE IN A WEST INDIES ISOLATE

With a reported 1975 newborn malformation rate of 8.3%, and with isolation and inbreeding of its racially admixed population (now 13,260) for over 200 years, the Cayman Islands, B.W.I. have been the site of an intensive genetic study. To date, we have found an increased incidence in many, particularly recessive, disorders, including: sensorineural deafness (27 cases), with and without retinitis pigmentosum; congenital cataracts (14 cases); congenital ichthyosis (2 cases); and two new disorders, designated Cayman Disease (25 cases) and a new Storage Disease (6 cases). Twenty-two of the CD patients are clearly related, and all come from the town of West Bay (pop'n: 2715) as do the SD cases. All CD patients have congenital ataxia, MR, and ocular movement abnormalities. The SD (?MPS) patients are all related, and while normal at birth, develop abdominal protuberance by 18 mos., MR by 3-4 yrs., contractures thereafter, and die by 9-13 yrs. These diverse disorders appear to be the result of the combination of consanguinity, founder effects, drift, and selection.
Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among U.S. Adults, 1993-2002

Background Motor vehicle-related injury is the leading cause of death in the United States for people aged 1 to 34 years. In 2002, 17,419 (41%) of 42,815 traffic deaths were alcohol related. Objective To estimate trends in alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults from 1993 through 2002. Design, setting, and participants The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a random-digit telephone survey of adults aged ≥18 years in all states (and the District of Columbia). Main outcome measures The percentage of respondents who reported alcohol-impaired driving (AID) in the past month, total estimated annual number of AID episodes, and annual rate per 1000 adult population. Results The estimated annual number of episodes of AID in the United States declined from 123 million in 1993 to 116 million in 1997, but then increased to 159 million in both 1999 and 2002. In varying magnitudes, this increase was observed among most subgroups of the population. In each study year, over 80% of total AID episodes were reported by people who also reported binge drinking (more than five drinks on a single occasion). Conclusions After a general decline in the United States in the mid-1990s, self-reported AID increased substantially by the turn of the century. AID is strongly associated with binge drinking. Effective interventions to prevent AID and binge drinking should be widely adopted.
Experiences of mothers of infants with congenital heart disease before, during, and after complex cardiac surgery.

Abstract Objective Experiences of mothers of infants undergoing complex heart surgery were explored to build evidence-based family-centered interventions. Background Congenital heart disease is the most frequent birth defect in the United States and is common worldwide. Methods Eight mothers recalled through journal entries their experiences of the days before, during, and after their infant's surgery and shared advice for other mothers. Colaizzi's phenomenological method was utilized for data analysis. A validation survey of seven additional mothers from a support group occurred via email. Results Six themes were identified and validated: Feeling Intense Fluctuating Emotion; Navigating the Medical World; Dealing with the Unknown; Facing the Possibility of My Baby Dying, Finding Meaning and Spiritual Connection, and the umbrella theme of Mothering Through It All. Conclusions Through a clearer understanding of experiences as described by mothers, health-care providers may gain insight as to how to better support mothers of infants undergoing heart surgery.
Glutaraldehyde cross-linked glutamate oxidase coated microelectrode arrays: selectivity and resting levels of glutamate in the CNS.

Glutaraldehyde is widely used as a cross-linking agent for enzyme immobilization onto microelectrodes. Recent studies and prior reports indicate changes in enzyme activity and selectivity with certain glutaraldehyde cross-linking procedures that may jeopardize the performance of microelectrode recordings and lead to falsely elevated responses in biological systems. In this study, the sensitivity of glutaraldehyde cross-linked glutamate oxidase-based microelectrode arrays to 22 amino acids was tested and compared to glutamate. As expected, responses to electroactive amino acids (Cys, Tyr, Trp) were detected at both nonenzyme-coated and enzyme-coated microelectrodes sites, while the remaining amino acids yielded no detectable responses. Electroactive amino acids were effectively blocked with a m-phenylene diamine (mPD) layer and, subsequently, no responses were detected. Preliminary results on the use of poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) as a potentially more reliable cross-linking agent for th...
A Comprehensive Analysis of Built Environment Characteristics on Household Residential Choice and Auto Ownership Levels

Abstract There has been an increasing interest in the land use-transportation connection in the past decade, motivated by the possibility that design policies associated with the built environment can be used to control, manage, and shape individual traveler behavior and aggregate travel demand. In this line of research and application pursuit, it is critical to understand whether the empirically observed association between the built environment and travel behavior-related variables is a true reflection of underlying causality or simply a spurious correlation attributable to the intervening relationship between the built environment and the characteristics of people who choose to live in particular built environments. In this research paper, we identify the research designs and methodologies that may be used to test the presence of “true” causality versus residential sorting-based “spurious” associations in the land-use transportation connection. The paper then develops a methodological formulation to control for residential sorting effects in the analysis of the effect of built environment attributes on travel behavior-related choices. The formulation is applied to comprehensively examine the impact of the built environment, transportation network attributes, and demographic characteristics on residential choice and car ownership decisions. The model formulation takes the form of a joint mixed multinomial logit-ordered response structure that (a) accommodates differential sensitivity to the built environment and transportation network variables due to both demographic and unobserved household attributes and (b) controls for the self-selection of individuals into neighborhoods based on car ownership preferences stemming from both demographic characteristics and unobserved household factors. The analysis in the paper represents, to our knowledge, the first instance of the formulation and application of a unified mixed multinomial logit-ordered response structure in the econometric literature. The empirical analysis in the paper is based on the residential choice and car ownership decisions of San Francisco Bay area residents.
Nutritional Status and Psychometric Test Scores in Cognitively Impaired Elders

In a pilot study, we compared dietary and biochemical status for vitamin B1, B2, B12, and C and folate, iron, and protein in CI and CN elders grouped by MMSE scores. Biochemical evaluation of folate and B12 status was continued beyond the preliminary study. Intakes of all nutrients except folate exceeded 66% of the RDA. There were no significant differences among MMSE groups for dietary intake or biochemical values. Transketolase activity increased with degree of impairment, whereas measures for the other vitamins declined. Low or deficient LAA levels were found in 33% of all elders. Folate and B12 deficiencies, respectively, were found in 11% (12/109) and 4% (10/254) of the population. Very low values for serum B12 (less than 250 pg/ml) existed in 15% (37/254) of the subjects (31 CI; 7 CN). Moderately impaired elders (MMSE = 15-20) who used multivitamin supplements had RBC folate (p less than .003) and serum B12 (p less than .02) levels higher than those of subjects who did not use supplements.
Reconsidering the Culture and Violence Connection: Strategies of Action in the Rural South

Crime scholars have long conceptualized culture as a set of values that violence is used to defend or reinforce (i.e., honor). This analysis moves beyond this framework by conceptualizing culture as a toolkit providing strategies of action that individuals use to negotiate social situations. Qualitative data obtained from participant responses to vignettes describing potential conflict situations are analyzed to explore the merit of the cultural toolkit framework as it pertains to the “southern culture of violence” thesis. Contrary to the traditional culture as values model, these data indicate that interpersonal violence is a situationally viable response for diverse groups of people, including males and females, Blacks and Whites, the young and the older. The interplay between culture and social structure is also apparent. Although culture provides individuals with a toolkit, structural factors provide situations in which individuals must decide which cultural tools are most appropriately used. Violence...
Lineage-independent mosaic expression and regulation of the Ciona multidom gene in the ancestral notochord.

The transcription factor Ciona Brachyury (Ci-Bra) plays an essential role in notochord development in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. We characterized a putative Ci-Bra target gene, which we named Ci-multidom, and analyzed in detail its expression pattern in normal embryos and in embryos where Ci-Bra was misexpressed. Ci-multidom encodes a novel protein, which contains eight CCP domains and a partial VWFA domain. We show that an EGFP-multidom fusion protein localizes preferentially to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and is excluded from the nucleus. In situ hybridization experiments demonstrate that Ci-multidom is expressed in the notochord and in the anterior neural boundary (ANB). We found that the expression in the ANB is fully recapitulated by an enhancer element located upstream of Ci-multidom .B y means of misexpression experiments, we provide evidence that Ci-Bra controls transcription of Cimultidom in the notochord; however, while Ci-Bra is homogeneously expressed throughout this structure, Ci-multidom is transcribed at detectable levels only in a random subset of notochord cells. The number of notochord cells expressing Ci-multidom varies among different embryos and is independent of developmental stage, lineage, and position along the anterior–posterior axis. These results suggest that despite its morphological simplicity and invariant cell-lineage, the ancestral notochord is a mosaic of cells in which the gene cascade downstream of Brachyury is differentially modulated. Developmental Dynamics 236:1806 –1819, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
On the Location of an Eavesdropper in Multiterminal Networks

We study the optimum location of an eavesdropper from a secrecy capacity perspective in multiterminal networks with power control. We determine the logical location of an eavesdropper (represented by the channel gain from all the transmitters) which 1) results in zero secrecy capacity for maximum number of users in the network and 2) results in zero secrecy capacity for the bottle-neck links. We then analyze the asymptotic secrecy capacity of the system and the asymptotic behavior of the optimum logical location of the eavesdropper. Results indicate that power control can make eavesdropping more difficult as it results in infeasible locations for the eavesdropper. Power control is also shown to provide scenarios which can result in positive asymptotic secrecy capacity for all the users.
Implications for genotype-phenotype predictions in Townes-Brocks syndrome: case report of a novel SALL1 deletion and review of the literature.

Townes–Brocks syndrome (TBS) is a well-described genetic syndrome characterized by anal, ear, and thumb anomalies and variable expressivity. Over 60 nonsense and frameshift mutations have been identified in SALL1, the zinc finger transcription factor causing TBS, and are proposed to cause disease via a dominant negative mechanism. In contrast, only four deletions have been described, with mild phenotypes reported as a result of haploinsufficiency. We report on a family with features of TBS in whom a novel 149 kb deletion spanning the SALL1 gene was identified by high resolution cytogenetics SNP microarray. We review the available genotype–phenotype information for all known truncating mutations and deletions. Taken together, they do not support the correlation of SALL1 deletions with a milder TBS phenotype and highlight a need for more robust clinical phenotyping combined with investigation of mutational mechanism. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Microfabricated Teflon Membranes for Low-Noise Recordings of Ion Channels in Planar Lipid Bilayers

We present a straightforward, accessible method for the fabrication of micropores with diameters from 2 to 800 μm in films of amorphous Teflon (Teflon AF). Pores with diameters ≤40 μm made it possible to record ion fluxes through ion channels in planar bilayers with excellent signal characteristics. These pores afforded: i), stable measurements at transmembrane voltages up to 460 mV; ii), recordings at low noise levels (0.4 pA rms at 4.3 kHz bandwidth); iii), recordings at high effective bandwidth (10.7 kHz); and iv), formation of multiple planar lipid bilayers in parallel. Microfabricated pores in films of Teflon AF made it possible to examine, experimentally and theoretically, the influence of the pore diameter on the current noise in planar bilayer recordings. Reducing the pore diameter below 40 μm mainly increased the stability of the planar bilayers, but had only a small effect on the level of the current noise. The low-noise properties of bilayer recordings on micropores in Teflon AF films were exploited to record the smallest conductance state of alamethicin (24 pS) at an unprecedentedly high bandwidth of 10.7 kHz.
An Easily Controlled Network for Frequently Used Permutations

A π network, which is a concatenation of 2 Ω networks [2], along with a simple control algorithm is proposed. This network is capable of performing all Ω network realizable permutations and the bit-permute-complement (BPC) class of permutations[5] in 0(log N) time. The control algorithm is actually a multiple-pass control algorithm on the Ω network, which is more general than Pease's LU decomposition method [6] and Lenfant's decomposition method[4].
The Decline of the Addict as “Psychopath”: Implications for Community Care

The recent passage of the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act (NARA) has caused major changes in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons; greater responsibility is placed upon the local communities for the treatment and aftercare of addicts. The present study compares addicts admitted into the Clinical Research Center at Lexington under NARA provisions with previous categories of patients, and finds that the MMPI peaks of civilly committed patients show the broadest spectrum of psychopathology among the four groups studied. The greater heterogeneity of NARA patients argues for diversified approaches to treatment and aftercare in the community.
Selenocysteine incorporation directed from the 3′UTR: Characterization of eukaryotic EFsec and mechanistic implications

The mechanism of selenocysteine incorporation in eukaryotes has been assumed for almost a decade to be inherently different from that in prokaryotes, due to differences in the architecture of selenoprotein mRNAs in the two kingdoms. After extensive efforts in a number of laboratories spanning the same time frame, some of the essential differences between these mechanisms are finally being revealed, through identification of the factors catalyzing cotranslational selenocysteine insertion in eukaryotes. A single factor in prokaryotes recognizes both the selenoprotein mRNA, via sequences in the coding region, and the unique selenocysteyl-tRNA, via both its secondary structure and amino acid. The corresponding functions in eukaryotes are conferred by two distinct but interacting factors, one recognizing the mRNA, via structures in the 3' untranslated region, and the second recognizing the tRNA. Now, with these factors in hand, crucial questions about the mechanistic details and efficiency of this intriguing process can begin to be addressed.
Forward–backward semiclassical and quantum trajectory methods for time correlation functions

Forward–backward trajectory formulations of time correlation functions are reviewed. Combination of the forward and reverse time evolution operators within the time-dependent semiclassical approximation minimizes phase cancellation, giving rise to an efficient methodology for simulating the dynamics of low-temperature fluids. A quantum mechanical version of the forward–backward formulation, based on the hydrodynamic formulation of time-dependent quantum mechanics, is also available but is practical only for small systems.
A biochemical rationale for the interaction between gastrointestinal yeast and autism.

Abstract Autism is a disorder characterized by difficulty with social interactions, difficulty expressing empathy and intimacy and, in many cases, mild to severe language and learning deficits. Current estimates suggest autism now affects approximately one in 88 children, with rates increasing rapidly, making autism one of the most common and devastating developmental disorders. This trend is especially alarming considering that a cause for this disorder has yet to be discovered, nor are there successful biological treatments. Here a possible biochemical etiology is proposed for a certain spectrum of autism based on a reaction between propionic acid and ammonia released by Candida albicans in the gastrointestinal tract. A reaction between ammonia and propionic acid should result in the production of beta-alanine, a chemical similar in composition to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter which has been shown to be present in higher quantities in autistic patients. Assuming beta-alanine is able to cross the blood–brain barrier, beta-alanine would be used in the brain as a partial antagonist, blocking the receptor sites for GABA, thus facilitating the production of more GABA to achieve equilibrium. An excess of GABA has been proposed as a possible contributor to autism. Further research should be conducted with this hypothesis to determine whether the chemical reaction in the human body between propionic acid and ammonia does in fact produce a chemical structurally and functionally similar to beta-alanine, as well as how this product affects the brain. Positive conclusions from this follow-on research could result in a preventative screening test for sensitivity to propionic acid and gastrointestinal yeast, thus slowing the progression of this type of autism. A more targeted treatment for children already diagnosed with autism could also result.
Geologic carbon sequestration in Wyoming: prospects and progress

Coal supplies nearly 50 percent of electricity generation in the United States and 25 percent of the global energy supply; Wyoming produces approximately 40 percent of the coal consumed in the United States. It is likely that near-term energy strategies will include coal and other fossil energy sources in the fuel mix, therefore mitigating carbon dioxide emissions through geologic carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is crucial. Here we discuss the current state of CCS technology across the globe and its future potential for development. We also outline the current regulatory structure for CCS in the United States, specifically Wyoming, and we introduce the study undertaken by University of Wyoming researchers and their collaborators to characterize Paleozoic deep saline aquifers on the Moxa Arch in southwestern Wyoming for long-term geologic carbon storage. The research presented in this special issue of Rocky Mountain Geology and future research that builds on these findings, such as the site characterization project underway on the Rock Springs Uplift in Wyoming, will be important steps to advance successful CCS technologies at a rate and scale that can make a meaningful impact on greenhouse gas emissions and to construct commercial geologic sequestration projects in the Rocky Mountain West.
Performance comparisons of buffer coherency policies

A comparison is made of four buffer coherency policies: check on access, check on access with periodic notification, selective notification, and broadcast invalidation. These policies differ in their basic approaches on how and when the invalidated granules are identified, and hence, achieve different tradeoffs between buffer hits and overhead of notifications. Analytic models are developed to evaluate the buffer hit probability, CPU overhead, and overall response time under these coherency policies. The analysis is validated through simulations. It is found that the difference in buffer hit probabilities is very sensitive to the skewness of the data access and is further affected by the number of nodes, update rates, and the buffer size. >
Attribute Based Access Control and Security for Collaboration Environments

Proliferation of collaboration environments brings new issues to the area of security. In this paper, we briefly describe the characteristics of security associated with collaboration environments. We also discuss and analyze several schemes in different areas of security, including access control, secure group communication, and security management. Another contribution of this paper is a proposed access control model with more flexibility and ability to address trust and privacy preserving issues based on attributes.
Shifting Liberal and Conservative Attitudes Using Moral Foundations Theory

People’s social and political opinions are grounded in their moral concerns about right and wrong. We examine whether five moral foundations—harm, fairness, ingroup, authority, and purity—can influence political attitudes of liberals and conservatives across a variety of issues. Framing issues using moral foundations may change political attitudes in at least two possible ways: (a) Entrenching: Relevant moral foundations will strengthen existing political attitudes when framing pro-attitudinal issues (e.g., conservatives exposed to a free-market economic stance) and (b) Persuasion: Mere presence of relevant moral foundations may also alter political attitudes in counter-attitudinal directions (e.g., conservatives exposed to an economic regulation stance). Studies 1 and 2 support the entrenching hypothesis. Relevant moral foundation-based frames bolstered political attitudes for conservatives (Study 1) and liberals (Study 2). Only Study 2 partially supports the persuasion hypothesis. Conservative-relevant ...
Functional Test Selection for High Volume Manufacturing

Validation and legacy test suites are often reused for achieving at speed coverage required for testing high frequency semiconductor chips. Porting validation tests to high volume manufacturing (HVM) flows involves extensive manual effort but is required to ensure high quality chips. Functional test selection is the problem of choosing a subset of tests from a large pool of existing tests to maximize the fault coverage while minimizing the test data volume, fault grading time and porting effort. We formulate a framework for test selection that allows various coverage metrics to be used for evaluation. A novel dynamic untestability analysis method is proposed to identify faults that can not be detected by a given test sequence. Conversely this method can be used to compute tight upper bound coverage and hence as a metric for functional test evaluation. Test selection using this new metric gives significant additional fault coverage than toggle based test selection.
Error 404: or, what is the shelf-life of printed Internet guides?

Many publishers are producing books loaded with directions for finding useful Internet sites in a particular subject area. The moderate costs make them seem to be attractive additions to a collection. However, given the ephemeral nature of the World Wide Web, can a print resource be published with sufficient shelf life to justify purchase? This study evaluates some of these Internet guides for post-publication accuracy. In evaluating nine books published between two and three years ago, the researchers checked 3,941 URLs. In reviewing the data, the authors found that some books retained their value quite well, whereas others did not. The article presents the details of this study and offers selection criteria for identifying those web guidebooks that will increase the value of the collection.
Individual, Sexual, Seasonal, and Temporal Variation in the Amount of Sagebrush Lizard Scent Marks

Although many animals deposit scent marks, previous studies have focused almost entirely on rodents or on the chemical structure of the signal. Here, we study the quantity and temporal pattern of chemical deposition by the territorial sagebrush lizard Sceloporus graciosus, measuring both femoral pore and fecal deposits. Specifically, we tested whether variation in deposition is a good cue of individual and sexual identity and/or whether it is more closely associated with body size and reproductive state, indicators of physiological condition. The results support the latter hypothesis. We found that although the amount of fluid deposited on a single perch (rarely quantified in mammals) carries little information on individual or sexual identity, it reflects the physiological condition and reproductive state of individual lizards and is replenished on a roughly weekly cycle, potentially providing additional information on the producer's activity level. The amount of deposition may thus provide important information to chemical receivers making mate choice and territorial defense decisions. The results further suggest that seasonal increases in gland production allow lizards to mark more sites rather than to influence the quality of the signal on a single perch.
The Political Gender Gap in Afghanistan

Women’s empowerment has become a salient issue in nation building in recent times. The need to secure basic human rights may well be at the core of the attention, but development experts appear to have recognized the core role of women in family and community well-being in developing countries and are beginning to tout the importance of women’s empowerment in all the aspects of development policies as reflected in the European Union’s Millennium Development Goals. This study explores political gender differences in Afghanistan, a Muslim country of extensive gender differentiation. The gender disparities we observe are not what one might have expected. Men outperform women only in those specific areas where the prohibitive structural and social limitations placed on women by the larger Afghan society would predict. We contend that these gaps would attenuate as Afghanistan’s nascent democracy deepens and extends more freedoms to Afghan women.
Low frequency electrical impulses reduce atherosclerosis in cholesterol fed rabbits.

BACKGROUND This investigation studied whether low frequency electrical impulses (EI) induce or prevent development of new atherosclerotic plaque in previously diseased vessels. MATERIAL/METHODS In all rabbits, an electrode was sutured to the left psoas major muscle close to the upper part of the abdominal aorta (AA), and a pacemaker was implanted on the opposite side of the AA just below diaphragm. Group 1 received a high cholesterol diet (HCD) to induce atherosclerosis but no EI (control). Euthanasia followed after 3 weeks (series I), 8 weeks (series II) and 11 weeks (series III) of HCD. In series IV animals received HCD alone for 3 weeks then EI was added to the HCD for another 8 weeks (weeks 4-11) at a rate of 30 impulses per minute (IPM) at 3V. Euthanasia followed after 11 weeks. Atherosclerotic thickness grades were assigned using a 0 (low) to 4 (high) grading system, and the surface area involved in disease was calculated. RESULTS In control rabbits, after 11 weeks of HCD atherosclerotic thickness grade in lower abdominal aorta was 1.68 +/-0.25. In rabbits exposed to EI (30 IPM at 3V) this grade was 0.5+/-0.37 (p<0.05). The involved surface area was only 8.5+/-4.69% (series IV) vs. 32.5+/-4.0 % in control CONCLUSIONS When applied near the AA, electrical impulses (30 IPM at 3V) decrease atherosclerotic deposits despite continuation of a high cholesterol diet.
Receiver Function and Geometric Tomography along the Monterey Microplate to Test Slab Delamination or Lithospheric Drip Models of the Isabella Anomaly, California

Abstract Two hypotheses were tested for the origin of the Isabella tomographic anomaly, which has been interpreted as either a lithospheric drip (Jones et al. , 1994; Ducea and Saleeby, 1998) or a remnant of the Farallon plate, possibly attached to the Monterey microplate (Wang et al. , 2013). P ‐wave receiver functions and travel‐time residuals based on teleseismic events recorded by 41 stations were used to construct simple geometric tomography models of the Isabella anomaly and to test whether the Monterey microplate, or a similar fragment of the Farallon slab, can be connected with the location of the anomaly. The travel‐time residual pattern was modeled with a slab geometry composed of a high‐velocity rectangular block, and a lithospheric drip was modeled as a dipping cylindrical anomaly. Both gave statistically similar fits, but the cylindrical block appears less well constrained than the rectangular block. The top surface of the best‐fit rectangular block was located at 50 km below the Great Valley and dips 65° northeast toward the Sierra Nevada, with 100 km thickness. West of the Isabella anomaly, receiver‐function P ‐to‐ S converted phases from the top and bottom surfaces of the oceanic crust of the Monterey microplate were modeled as late‐arriving negative–positive dipole signals. Such dipoles are observed at times that place their origin at 10 km below the Moho at the Coast Ranges. These converted phases from the oceanic crust could also be traced from the Coast Ranges to the Great Valley, where the top surface of the slab model is located. The combined result of the receiver functions and a geometric tomography model is consistent with the fossil slab hypothesis, which initiated as a flat subduction system that later went through a delamination process. Online Material: Figures of receiver functions, sorted by back azimuth and ray parameter at 31 stations.
Robotic-laparoscopic rectal cancer excision versus traditional laparoscopy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Robotic surgery has been advocated for the radical excision of rectal cancer. Most data supporting its use have been reported from European and Asian centers, with a paucity of data from the United States documenting clear advantages of the robotic technique. This study compares the short-term outcome of robotic versus laparoscopic surgery. METHODS Consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic (group 1) or robotic (group 2) rectal cancer excision at a single institution over a 2-year period were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcome measures were operative time, blood loss, conversion rates, number of lymph nodes, margin positivity, length of hospital stay, complications, and readmission rates. RESULTS Forty-two patients were analyzed. The median operative time was shorter in group 1 than that in group 2 (240 minutes vs 260 minutes, P=.04). No difference was noted in blood loss, transfusion rates, intraoperative complications, or conversion rates. There was no difference in circumferential or distal margin positivity. The median length of stay was shorter in group 1 (5 days vs 6 days, P=.05). The 90-day complication rate was similar in both groups (33% vs 43%, P=.75), but there was a trend toward more anastomotic leaks in group 1 (14% vs 0%, P=.23). Similarly, a non-statistically significant trend toward a higher readmission rate was noted in group 1 (24% vs 5%, P=.18). CONCLUSION Robotic rectal cancer excision yielded a longer operative time and hospital length of stay, although immediate oncologic results were comparable. The need for randomized data is critical to determine whether the added resource utilization in robotic surgery is justifiable.
Teaching experiences in a college in Iraq.

Getting to know and understand people and their traditions, establishing good personal relations, adapting to a new environment, recognizing the progress the people have made—as well as the problems—all enter into the challenge of teaching abroad.