cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The association between delayed amniotomy and adverse outcomes in labor induction.

Abstract Objective To assess if delayed amniotomy during labor induction is associated with adverse delivery outcomes. Study design Retrospective cohort study of women with a viable, singleton gestation who underwent labor induction at a tertiary-care hospital (4/2014-3/2017). Women were excluded if oxytocin was not used or if spontaneous rupture of membranes (ROM) occurred ≤8 h after oxytocin initiation. The primary outcome was cesarean delivery, and secondary outcomes included postpartum hemorrhage, maternal infectious morbidity, neonatal 5-min Apgar score 8 h after oxytocin initiation) versus not delayed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between delayed amniotomy and study outcomes. Results Of 2081 women who met inclusion criteria, 1125 (before 54%) had delayed amniotomy. Women with delayed amniotomy had ROM 12.7 h (IQR 10.0, 17.9) after oxytocin versus 5.0 h (IQR 3.7, 6.5) without delayed amniotomy. In multivariable regression, delayed amniotomy was associated with increasingly higher odds of cesarean as maternal obesity severity increased (aOR 1.58, 95 %CI 1.24–2.03 at BMI 30 kg/m2; aOR 2.15, 95 %CI 1.45–3.21 at BMI 40 kg/m2; aOR 2.93, 95 %CI 1.54–5.57 at BMI 50 kg/m2). Conclusion Delayed amniotomy >8 h after starting oxytocin for labor induction was associated with higher odds of cesarean delivery. Significant delay in ROM should be avoided during labor induction.
Simple-Structure LC-Type Multi-Core Fiber Connector with Low Insertion Loss

We demonstrated a single-fiber multi-core fiber (MCF) connector without additional or high-precision parts for rotational alignment. Fabricated MCF connectors achieved low insertion loss of 0.07 dB in average and passed Telcordia GR-326-CORE mechanical reliability test.
Integrated Immunohistochemical and Molecular Analysis Improves Diagnosis of High-Grade Carcinoma in the Urinary Bladder of Patients With Prior Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Prostatic adenocarcinoma and urothelial carcinoma typically demonstrate distinct morphologic and immunohistochemical features. However, high-grade prostate and urothelial carcinomas sometimes show significant morphologic and immunohistochemical overlap, which can result in misdiagnosis and mistreatment. This diagnostic dilemma is particularly acute in patients previously treated with radiation and/or hormone therapy for prostate cancer, who later present with high-grade carcinoma in the urinary bladder. To address the diagnostic utility of integrated immunohistochemical and molecular analysis in this setting, we evaluated 25 high-grade carcinomas of the bladder for which morphologic features were deemed indeterminate. Our analysis included immunohistochemistry for urothelial markers (GATA3, p63, uroplakin II), prostate markers (NKX3.1, prostate specific antigen, P501S), androgen receptor (AR) and ERG, along with molecular characterization using capture-based next generation DNA sequencing. Immunohistochemical findings were concordant with the final integrated diagnosis in 21 (84%) cases. However, in three (12%) cases, immunohistochemistry supported a diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma, but molecular analysis identified the correct diagnosis of prostate cancer based on the presence of a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion. One case remained unclassifiable even after this integrated analysis. Notably, in 1 of 21 cases, the presence of a TERT promoter mutation and the absence of a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion would typically favor a diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma, but the aggregate immunohistochemical and molecular findings instead supported a diagnosis of microsatellite unstable prostatic adenocarcinoma with deep deletion of MSH2 and MSH6. Our findings highlight the importance of considering prostatic origin in high-grade carcinoma of the urinary bladder of patients with a history of treated prostate cancer, even when the immunohistochemical findings favor urothelial carcinoma. In a subset of cases, an approach that integrates immunophenotypic and molecular data may help correctly assign site of origin and prevent misdiagnosis that can result from overreliance on any individual immunohistochemical or molecular result.
Hospitalization Outcomes for Rural Children with Mental Health Conditions

Objective To identify where rural children with mental health conditions are hospitalized and to determine differences in outcomes based on location of hospitalization. Study design This is a retrospective cohort analysis of US rural children aged 0-18 years with a mental health hospitalization between January 1, 2014, and November 30, 2014, using the 2014 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Nationwide Readmissions Database. Hospitalizations for rural children were categorized by children's hospitals, metropolitan non-children's hospitals, or rural hospitals. Associations between hospital location and outcomes were assessed with logistic (readmission) and negative binomial regression (length of stay [LOS]) models. Classification and regression trees (CART) were used to describe the characteristics of most common hospitalizations at a rural hospital. Results Of 21 666 mental health hospitalizations of rural children, 20.6% were at rural hospitals. After adjustment for clinical and demographic characteristics, LOS was higher at metropolitan non-children's and children's hospitals compared with rural hospitals (LOS: adjusted rate ratio [aRR], 1.35 [95% CI 1.29-1.41] and 1.33 [95% CI, 1.25-1.41]; P Conclusions Although hospitalizations at children's and metropolitan non-children's hospitals were longer, patient outcomes were more favorable.
Strengthening Emotional and Physical Intimacy: Creating a Mindful Marriage

Being mindfully present together in a nonjudgmental and accepting way helps reduce conflict, resentment, and avoidance. Mindfulness has also been found to be helpful in romantic relationships by boosting relationship functioning and stress-coping skills, which increases relationship satisfaction, emotional closeness, acceptance of one another, and less emotional distress. Love can be rekindled through mindful practices. It is important for couples to deliberately choose to be loving, because compassion is the adhesive that keeps a relationship safe and strong after the initial headiness if infatuation fades. This chapter addresses how mindfulness can be employed in creating a mindful marriage, discussing how to develop mindful sexuality, overcoming sexual anxiety through presence and nonjudgment, and befriending your body through acceptance and nonjudgment and ends with a number of mindful practices for couples to explore together.
Using large-scale experiments and machine learning to discover theories of human decision-making

Predicting and understanding how people make decisions has been a long-standing goal in many fields, with quantitative models of human decision-making informing research in both the social sciences and engineering. We show how progress toward this goal can be accelerated by using large datasets to power machine-learning algorithms that are constrained to produce interpretable psychological theories. Conducting the largest experiment on risky choice to date and analyzing the results using gradient-based optimization of differentiable decision theories implemented through artificial neural networks, we were able to recapitulate historical discoveries, establish that there is room to improve on existing theories, and discover a new, more accurate model of human decision-making in a form that preserves the insights from centuries of research.
To be mindful of the breath or pain: Comparing two brief preoperative mindfulness techniques for total joint arthroplasty patients.

Objective Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) often reduces pain and improves function, but it is also a risk factor for the development of chronic pain and postoperative opioid use. To protect against these untoward postsurgical outcomes, TJA patients need better, non-pharmacological pain management strategies. This study compared two, promising, mindfulness-based pain management techniques. Method We conducted a single-site, three-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled study conducted at an orthopedic clinic among patients undergoing TJA of the knee or hip. TJA patients (N = 118, M age = 65, female = 73, Caucasian = 110) were randomized to either a preoperative mindfulness of breath (MoB), mindfulness of pain (MoP), or cognitive-behavioral pain psychoeducation (CB) intervention, approximately 3 weeks before surgery. Each intervention was delivered in a single, 20-min session during a 2-hr, preoperative education program. Change in pain intensity was the sole preoperative outcome. The postoperative outcomes, pain intensity, pain interference, and opioid use were assessed on the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th postoperative days. Results MoB was found to most effectively decrease preoperative pain scores, F(2, 89) = 5.28, p = .007, while MoP resulted in the least amount of postoperative pain intensity, F(8, 94) = 3.21, p = .003, and interference, F(8, 94) = 2.52, p = .016). Both MoB and MoP decreased postoperative opioid use relative to CB, F(8, 83) = 16.66, p Conclusion A brief preoperative MBI may be able to prevent both postoperative pain and opioid use. Moreover, the MBIs used in this study are highly feasible, capable of being delivered by nearly any healthcare provider, and requiring minimal clinic time given their brevity. As such, embedding MBIs in surgical care pathways has considerable potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Road Safety Effects of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Systems: a Call for Evidence

Road injuries are an important cause of global mortality especially in low- and middle-income countries. While these countries undergo major urban transformations, an integral part of their development has often been the implementation of mass transportation systems, including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. However, the net effect of BRT systems on road safety is still unclear, and while there is reason to believe that BRT systems improve safety, very few available empirical studies have tested this hypothesis using observational data. Furthermore, the existing evidence is mixed and sparse. This paper reviews the available literature on the links of BRT systems and road safety and calls for more research to strengthen the body of evidence on the effect of BRT systems on road safety in the future.
Thrift: Paradox or Virtue?

Does increased savings result in a "paradox" or not? In this paper, a simple model highlights the assumptions sufficient to make thrift a paradox. It also shows what assumptions are necessary to make thrift a virtue.
Citation littéraire et méthode lexicographique dans Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse (1530)

Antedating the dictionaries of Nicot, John Palsgrave's grammar-dictionary was a pioneering work in the use of illustrative examples and vernacular literary citations. Unfortunately we do not know Palsgrave's procedure for the collection of citations, and we do not possess his original source volumes. To verify his citations I have relied then on various published versions of the works cited by him. Without marked-up originals, I have used different methods for locating citations in the source texts, including a computerized search of two of the larger works. This has become possible in recent years through the advent of sophisticated scanning and searching software and its availability to scholars in the humanities. Using these technologies I have located over 200 of Palsgrave's unreferenced and incompletely referenced citations. I have found in many cases significant differences between the author's original wording and Palsgrave's excerption of it. I maintain that this variation is intentional on Palsgrave's part, and that he adapts the text primarily for reasons of brevity and simplicity, concerns felt by many subsequent lexicographers. The purpose of this study is first to examine the various ways in which Palsgrave modified his citations, and second to contribute to the development of a standard terminology for this kind of study.
Enhanced efficiency of atomic oxygen generation in a single-electrode, 5NS pulsed microplasma jet

A single-electrode, 5 millimeter long, 500 micrometer-in width, helium plasma jet was generated in ambient atmosphere when the electrode was excited with 5 ns, 8 kV pulses at 500 Hz. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) showed that the production of excited atomic oxygen increased by a factor of 2 for the 5 ns pulsed plasma jet when compared with that for a 164 ns pulsed plasma jet operating at the same voltage, amplitude, and flow conditions. This signifies an enhanced efficiency of atomic oxygen production using the 5 ns pulsed plasma with faster rise time, as the energy per pulse was 0.12 mJ, which had only 8 % more energy per pulse than that of the longer pulsed version. Emission due to excited species including He, O, H, OH, N 2 (C-B) and N 2 + (B-X) were observed in both of the discharges within the first 1 mm (from the tip of the electrode) of the jet. All of the emissions, except from that of N2 second positive system, decayed rapidly with the distance. Analysis of the rovibronic emission from N2 (CB) showed both the nanosecond plasma jets have a rotational temperature of 300 K and a vibrational temperature of 3000 K.
Neurons and Dendrites, Integration of Information in

Neurons are the building blocks of the brain. This article reviews the basic components and biophysical mechanisms that underlie nerve cell function, including a discussion of ion channels, the membrane potential, electrical signaling, synaptic function, and synaptic integration. The implications of these electrophysiological phenomena are then examined in relation to theories of information processing in single neurons.
Warning Analysis for the Information Age: Rethinking the Intelligence Process

Abstract : This book bequeaths to the Defense Intelligence Agency, and to the Intelligence Community at large, a substantiated vision, with examples, of how analysts can exploit already-available, massive databases to tackle many of the most vexing problems that we face. Dr. Bodnar builds on the earlier work and insight of Cynthia Grabo, whose book Anticipating Surprise: Analysis for Strategic Warning [ADA476752] was recently published by the Joint Military Intelligence College's Center for Strategic Intelligence Research. The author also usefully integrates into this book the often-cited but rarely-seen original work of the USAF's strategic and operational philosopher Colonel John Boyd. This book reaches farther than any other toward the objective of bringing together substantive expertise with an accessible, methodologically sound analytical strategy in the service of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Those who go on to apply this method will not only derive fresh understanding from existing data, but will also be able to guide future intelligence collection in an appropriately frugal fashion.
Disadvantageous Deck Selection in the Iowa Gambling Task: The Effect of Cognitive Load

Research has shown that cognitive load affects overall Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance, but it is unknown whether such load impacts the selection of the individual decks that correspond to gains or losses. Here, participants performed the IGT either in a full attention condition or while engaged in a number monitoring task to divide attention. Results showed that the full attention group was more aware of the magnitude of gains or losses for each draw (i.e., payoff awareness) than was the divided attention group. However, the divided attention group was more sensitive to the frequency of the losses (i.e., frequency awareness), as evidenced by their increased preference for Deck B, which is the large but infrequent loss deck. An analysis across blocks showed that the number monitoring group was consistently more aware of loss frequency, whereas the full attention group shifted between awareness of loss frequency and awareness of payoff amount. Furthermore, the full attention group was better able to weigh loss frequency and payoff amount when making deck selections. These findings support the notion that diminished cognitive resources may result in greater selection of Deck B, otherwise known as the prominent Deck B phenomenon.
The Mind–Body Problem

How mental experience (mind) and awareness (consciousness) are related to the physiological processes of the brain and body constitutes one of the most intriguing and challenging questions in contemporary science. Though this mind–body problem has been of interest for a very long time, in many ways there is little more insight today into the nature of the connection than there was centuries ago. Refined methods for observation of first-person mental experiences, and perhaps a revolutionary expansion of the framework of current scientific theory, may be necessary to achieve truly new insights into the mind–body connection.
Jay Cooke's Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, the Sioux, and the Panic of 1873 – By M. John Lubetkin

This book is a dramatic narrative that helps explain the rise and fall of the Philadelphia banker between 1861 and 1873. The early chapters describe his success in selling U.S. government bonds to ...
Regulation of gonadotropin subunit messenger ribonucleic acid expression in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-deficient female rats: effects of GnRH, galanin, GnRH-associated peptide, neuropeptide-Y, and thyrotropin-releasing hormone.

Gonadotropin subunit mRNA expression is differentially regulated during the 4-day estrous cycle in rats, with LH-β and FSH-β mRNA expression rapidly increasing on proestrus. Studies in an ovariectomized (OVX) GnRH-deficient female rat model have shown that GnRH pulses can increase alpha and FSH-β mRNA concentrations, but LH-β mRNA is unchanged. Thus, the factors required for physiologic regulation of the LH-β gene are not fully understood. To determine whether or not the proestrous ovarian hormone environment is required to allow increased expression of the LH-β gene, GnRH pulses were administered to GnRH-deficient (phenoxybenzamine-treated) intact female rats on proestrus. Both LH and FSH secretion and alpha and FSH-β mRNA concentrations were increased, but LH-β mRNA expression was unaltered. The effect of co-administration of GnRH and specific neurohormones (GnRH-associated peptide (GAP], galanin, neuropeptide-Y INPY], and thyrotropin-releasing hormone [TRHI) was also examined in OVX rats receiving estradiol (E 2 ) and progesterone (P) replacement. Alpha and FSH-β mRNA concentrations increased 2-fold in response to pulsatile GnRH, and no further increase was seen after the addition of GAP, galanin, or TRH. It was of interest that NPY blocked the GnRH-induced rise in alpha and FSH-β mRNA. LH-β mRNA expression was not increased by GnRH pulses alone or by addition of any of the neuropeptides. Further studies determined that continuous GnRH was no more effective than pulsatile GnRH in stimulating a rise in LH-β mRNA. The results indicate that GnRH pulses are not sufficient to enhance LH-β mRNA expression in the GnRH-deficient female rat. These findings suggest that other, as yet unidentified, factors are required to produce increases in LH-β mRNA expression seen on the afternoon of proestrus.
Beams of helium atoms at temperatures below 0.5° K

A cryostat containing an ellipsoidal cavity was used to produce He/sup 3/ and He/sup 4/ atomic beams. It was shown that at temperatures below 0.5 deg K the beams of atoms can be emitted from a heater, reflected from a wall, and detected by a receiver in the elliposid. The beam velocity was dependent on the input energy. Several observations were difficult to analyze because of the large number of unknown parameters. (C.E.S.)
Approaches for evaluating environmental quality: scientific problems and management needs

Abstract There are many disjointed efforts presently underway along the coastal zones of the U.S.A., variously designed as research programs, monitoring studies, or waste disposal projects. Portions of each of these address the same basic questions regarding the bioavailability and toxicity of particulate-bound contaminants. While there is little if any evidence of water column effects from discharges on marine biota, some projects (particularly regulated monitoring) are still pursuing this question. Agencies charged with regulating, monitoring and managing the marine coastal waters should join with the scientific community to develop a plan to eliminate non-productive sampling, and provide the necessary funds to generate a data base which could be used to predict impacts of discharges. Much of the data available from trawls and benthic infaunal analyses, coupled with good chemical analyses and some sediment bioassays, can provide ranges for threshold toxicity levels of multiple toxicants on sediment. To determine more accurately toxic concentrations of contaminants on sediment, carefully designed studies must be conducted. Several selected contaminants should be used, alone and in combination. Sensitive organisms representative of different coastal environments must be tested with sediments under conditions covering the range of factors found in polluted environments. The application of these findings would be extremely broad, encompassing industrial discharges, municipal wastewater discharges and disposal of dredged material.
Multiphoton ionization detection of photodissociation fragments: NO from CH3ONO, C2H5ONO, and C3H7ONO

Abstract The single photon photodissociation of CH 3 ONO, C 2 H 5 ONO, and C 3 H 7 ONO has been studied under collision- free conditions using multiphoton ionization to detect the NO fragment. NO rotational excitation from CH 3 ONO was very large ( E rot > 2100 cm −1 ) and non-thermal, while C 2 H 5 ONO and C 3 H 7 ONO produced NO which could be characterized by T rot = 350 and 250 K respectively.
On the performance of computational methods for the assessment of risk from ground-water contamination

The effect of parameter uncertainty and overly conservative measures on risk assessment has been addressed in numerous researches. Most of the work conducted to date is based on the use of the classic Monte Carlo simulation method (MCS) as a probabilistic modeling tool. Although the MCS is robust and asymptotically convergent, it lacks computational efficiency when the simulated probability is small. Furthermore, the sensitivity information can only be obtained with additional computational effort. First- and second-order reliability methods (FORM and SORM) have been developed in the structural analysis field and have been recently applied to ground-water contaminant transport and remediation problems. In this work, we extend the application of the reliability methods to the probabilistic assessment of cancer risk due to ground-water contamination. Results of the reliability methods compared well with a published case study of PCE contamination of a ground-water supply in California. The target risk level is extended over a larger range, and the sensitivity of the probability of failure to the relevant random variables is analyzed. The application of the methods to another case study, cancer risk due to the ingestion of benzene contaminated water, further illustrates a systematic way of directly accounting for the intrinsic uncertainty of the transport and fate model parameters involved in the risk assessment procedure. The probability of exceeding the target risk level in this case was found to be most sensitive to the uncertainty in the parameters describing the ground-water transport process.
Comparison of Post Implant Hemodynamics with 2nd Versus 3rd Generation Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device

Purpose Continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are the standard of care for end-stage heart failure. There are different flow characteristics in 2nd (axial) versus 3rd generation (centrifugal) continuous flow LVADs. We compared post implant hemodynamics in 2nd versus 3rd generation LVADs. Methods and Materials We performed a retrospective analysis of patients implanted with 2nd and 3rd generation LVADs from 2008 to 2012. Fifty patients, with a minimum of 6 month support were included. Of those, 39 patients (78%) had 2nd generation LVADs (Group A), and 11 patients (22%) had 3rd generation LVADs (Group B). Baseline characteristics and hemodynamics were comparable between groups. Results Average support time was 20.5±8.9 and 24.1±8.2 months for Group A and Group B, respectively (NS). Central venous pressure (CVP), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), cardiac output (CO), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and trans-pulmonary gradient (TPG) pre-implant and at 6, 12 and 18 months are shown in Table 1 . The CVP and PCWP was significantly higher in 3rd versus 2nd generation LVADs at 18 months. Conclusions There appears to be a more sustained ventricular unloading in the 2nd versus 3rd generation LVADs. Several factors may contribute to this discrepancy including patient selection, clinical management, unique flow characteristics and mechanisms of ventricular unloading for 2nd vs 3rd generation LVADs. These findings should be further investigated.
Synthesis and in vitro activity of long-chain 5'-O-[(alkoxycarbonyl)phosphinyl]-3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidines against wild-type and AZT- and foscarnet-resistant strains of HIV-1.

Lipophilic esters of 3‘-azido-3‘-deoxy-5‘-O-(carboxyphosphinyl)thymidine (PFA-AZT) were synthesized and tested for antiretroviral activity in CD4+ HT4-6C cells infected with either wild-type HIV-1LAI, a PFA-resistant strain encoding a single-point mutation in reverse transcriptase (E89K), or an AZT-resistant clinical isolate (A018-post). Arbuzov condensation of 1-octadecyl, 1-eicosanyl, and 1-docosanyl chloroformate with trimethyl phosphite yielded the corresponding dimethyl long-chain alkyl triesters of PFA. Selective removal of one methyl group from the triesters with sodium iodide yielded monosodium salts, whereas treatment with bromotrimethylsilane cleaved both methyl groups while leaving the long-chain alkyl group intact. Neutralization of the resulting [(alkyloxy)carbonyl]phosphonic acids with 2 equiv of sodium methoxide afforded disodium salts of the phosphonic acid moiety. Similar chemistry was used to obtain the mono- and disodium salts of the cholesterol ester of PFA. Reaction of the triesters w...
Hydrogen Storage in Li3N: Deactivation Caused by a High Dehydrogenation Temperature

As a potential candidate for hydrogen storage, Li3N can absorb more than 9 wt % hydrogen. However, because of its incomplete dehydrogenation at a temperature of 280 °C, only about 5.5 wt % reversible hydrogen capacity could be reached. Although by increasing the temperature one can enhance dehydrogenation, this paper demonstrates that dehydrogenation of hydrogenated Li3N at the high temperature of 400 °C is followed by a very low (0.4 wt %) rehydrogenation capacity. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer−Emmett−Teller surface area, and X-ray powder diffraction measurements have shown that both the sintering and the lattice structure change of Li2NH, which is a product of hydrogenation, might be responsible for such a major deactivation.
Cooperativity in Intramolecular Bifurcated Hydrogen Bonds: An Ab Initio Study

Molecular orbital and density functional theory calculations are performed on some di- and tetrasubstituted derivatives of anthraquinone, dihydrophenazine, and acridone to investigate cooperativity in a pair of bifurcated hydrogen bonds occurring in the same molecule. The various structures were selected as convenient model systems for three-center hydrogen bonding of both H···A···H and A···H···A types. In the former type, the CO moieties in anthraquinone and acridone act as bifurcated hydrogen bond acceptors, and substituted OH groups act as hydrogen bond donors. In the latter type, the N−H moieties in dihydrophenazine, acridones act as bifurcated hydrogen bond donors, and the carbonyl oxygens of substituted CHO groups act as hydrogen bond acceptors. Different indicators of cooperativity reveal that two intramolecular bifurcated hydrogen bonds simultaneously present in the same molecule significantly reinforce each other.
Understanding How Proteins Shape DNA Using Energy Minimization

Several proteins are known to produce significant changes in DNA shape by locally deforming the double helix or by mediating the formation a loop. For example, the binding of the bacterial proteins HU or Hbb produces large bends in DNA and the tetrameric Lac repressor protein induces the formation of a loop between two distant DNA operators. In order to understand how such proteins sculpt DNA, we have developed a novel optimization method for DNA at the base-pair level. Our method accounts for the sequence-dependent elasticity of DNA and can be applied to a DNA fragment in which the first and last base pairs are spatially constrained. Moreover, our approach makes it possible to constrain intervening parts of the DNA in order to model the presence of bound proteins. We can therefore compute the energy landscape for a wide variety of protein-DNA systems. For example, we studied the effect of the presence of multiple HU or Hbb proteins on DNA minicircles and identified the most likely configurations for given DNA chain lengths and numbers of bound proteins. We also investigated how the presence of HU can enhance or diminish the apparent flexibility of DNA. In addition, we performed a detailed analysis of the energy landscape for loops induced by the Lac repressor. We focused on the binding of the Lac repressor protein on DNA minicircles and studied the competition between large and small loops on supercoiled molecules. We also found that changes in the repressor structure can lead to different loop topologies. Our method makes it possible to conduct thorough analyses of the geometry and mechanics of protein-DNA systems by computing the associated energy landscape and paves the way for the study of other biologically relevant system such as the SV40 minichromosome.
Diffractive short pulse asymptotics for nonlinear wave equations

Abstract We present an algorithm for constructing approximate solutions to nonlinear wave propagation problems in which diffractive effects and nonlinear effects come into play on the same time scale. The approximate solutions describe the propagation of short pulses. In a separate paper the equations used to construct the approximate solutions are derived using the method of multiple scales and the approximate solutions are proved accurate in the short wavelength limit. We present numerical studies which even in the linear case indicate significant qualitative differences between these approximations and those derived using the slowly varying envelope ansatz.
An Automatic Recording Photographic Densitometer

For certain applications such as the detailed analysis of field emission patterns, to obtain the current density distribution at the field cathode, complete photographic density scanning of a negative is required. The present paper describes a projection densitometer which automatically plots a function of photographic density vs position by a polar scanning of the negative in steps of two degrees or more. The resulting graphs, as well as a calibration trace obtained by a single scanning of a photographic step wedge, are recorded photographically. The instrument, which may also be operated manually, has the advantage of high resolution and can be used for the investigation of fine detail on the negative.
Rotationally Resolved Spectra of 1620 Geographos

Abstract We present CCD spectra (0.54-0.98 μm) as a function of rotational phase of the Clementine target 1620 Geographos. We confirm the asteroid's S-type taxonomic classification (more precisely, SII-SIII). The surface mineral assemblage appears to be a metal and pyroxene/olivine mixture. Though our spectral observations sampled the rotational lightcurve well, we were unable to detect significant color variations across the surface of the asteroid.
The Role of Lifestyle Change for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes

The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is disproportionately greater in those with diabetes than in the general population, including higher rates of hospitalization, stroke, myocardial infarction, and mortality. Health-promoting lifestyle factors reduce both diabetes and CVD in healthy individuals; however, the efficacy of these strategies for CVD reduction in people with preexisting diabetes is unclear. In this review, we describe the most recent evidence (2013-2014) surrounding the effects of lifestyle changes on CVD outcomes in those with diabetes, and we contextualize the evidence against a backdrop of earlier key findings. Two major randomized controlled trials were identified, providing opposing conclusions about the role of lifestyle factors on CVD events in those with diabetes. Other recent prospective observational analyses support associations of physical activity and reduced CVD risk in diabetes. Limitations across studies include the use of self-report for measurement of lifestyle or lifestyle change, the length of follow-up needed to measure CVD outcomes, and the role of participants' medications on associations of lifestyle factors and CVD outcomes. Equivocal findings from the two randomized controlled trials support the need for additional research to identify the specific lifestyle factors that reduce CVD mortality and macrovascular complications in populations with diabetes.
Trials, Errors, and Successes in Agribusiness Education at Purdue

HIS paper summarizes briefly our experience at Purdue in developing an agribusiness management curriculum. Specific educational goals of the program are given in subsequent discussion. Four overall goals represent our current thinking in undergraduate program development. The undergraduate curriculum should include: 1. A broad and liberal education in the social and natural sciences. 2. Adequate professional emphasis to enhance student placement and performance with business firms upon graduation. 3. Adequate academic emphasis to provide the foundation for graduate work in business management and/or economics. 4. Adequate agribusiness emphasis to provide the student with special insights into the unique problems of agribusiness without becoming involved with the specific trade practices and problems of any one agribusiness industry or job activity. Overall graduate curriculum goals have emphasized excellence in academic performance, with sufficient applied problem analysis to acclimate the student to the workings of the business world. In this manner, both academic and industrial placement needs are met.
α1- and α2-adrenoceptors in the smooth muscle of isolated rabbit urinary bladder and urethra

The present experiment was undertaken to determine the existence of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in the smooth muscle of the rabbit bladder dome, trigone and proximal urethra. In the dome pretreated with propranolol (10(-6) M), phenylephrine (10(-5) M-10(-3) M) and norepinephrine (10(-7) M-10(-5) M) caused only a small contraction but norepinephrine, only at high concentrations (10(-4) M-10(-3) M), produced a small relaxation. Clonidine, however, had no effect on the dome. In both trigone and urethra, phenylephrine, clonidine and norepinephrine caused dose-dependent contractions. The contractile response to phenylephrine or norepinephrine was significantly greater than that to clonidine in the trigone but no such difference was observed in the urethra. Prazosin (10(-8) M-10(-6) M, alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist) produced a rightward shift of the phenylephrine and clonidine dose-response curve in both the trigone and urethra. Yohimbine (10(-8) M-10(-6) M, alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist) inhibited the response to clonidine without significantly affecting the responses to phenylephrine. These studies indicated that alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors are present in both the trigone and proximal urethra. In the dome, only alpha 1-adrenoceptors are sparsely distributed.
An analytic elastic-viscoelastic model for the shape and the forces in the left ventricle.

Analytic model resembling thick walled ellipsoid of revolution incorporating three dimensional shape of human left ventricle and ventricular wall thickness effects
Predicting organizational responsiveness to poverty: Exploratory model and application to Brazil and the United States

Summary Despite the fact that widespread, severe poverty is part of the national context in many countries, the private sector has done little to end world poverty and hunger. Among the many challenges to effective private sector engagement, understanding how to increase organizational motivation in this direction is essential. A model is developed to explain how four characteristics of the national context (issue salience of poverty, field cohesion of powerful stakeholders, field distance between rich and poor, and national concern with poverty alleviation) shape the competitive, legitimation, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) motives to alleviate poverty. In-group CSR and Universalist CSR are distinguished to reflect self-interested concern for employees and local communities on the one hand and a less utilitarian desire to alleviate poverty of marginalized, destitute individuals on the other. Together, these four characteristics of the national context and four organizational motivations may help explain cross-national variations in private sector poverty alleviation practices. Greater issue salience of poverty, less field distance between rich and poor, and a higher level of national concern about poverty alleviation in Brazil, relative to the United States, are predicted to explain why there are more private sector poverty alleviation efforts in Brazil.
On combinations of load effects

Abstract A procedure for a probabilistic evaluation of load-effect combinations is proposed. It is based on simplified representations of the time-dependent responses of a structure to individual loadings by marginal curves and on the extreme magnitudes of responses. To create a resulting histogram corresponding to several simultaneously appearing responses of a structure to time-dependent loads and to obtain the extreme (maximum and minimum) magnitudes, the Monte Carlo method has been proposed and the computer program RESCOM is utilized. The resulting histogram dependes on both extreme magnitudes of individual responses and on marginal curves expressing the time dependency of each response. Several examples are discussed and the results are compared with the results based on LRFD specifications. The proposed procedure allows consideration of different design situations by adjusting the shape of the marginal curves and/or by selecting the level of probability of exceedance.
SYSTEMATIC PREPARATION OF PATIENTS FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY. I. EFFECTS ON THERAPY BEHAVIOR AND OUTCOME.

OUR PREVIOUS studies have suggested that certain effects of psychotherapy and placebos on psychiatric outpatients may depend on the potentiation and activation of the patient’s favorable expectations.(Q) GOLDSTEIN(~) has pointed out the important role played by the patient’s expectations that he will improve, that he will receive a certain type of treatment, and that. he and the thergpist will behave in ctrtain ways. This paper reports a controlled study of the effects on psychiatric outpatients of a pre-treatment interview designed to clarify their expectations of psychotherapy and to increase the congruence of their behavior with therapists’ expectations as to how psychiatric patients should act. We tested the hypotheses that such an interview would favorably affect patient’s behavior during therapy and the outcome after four months of treatment. Because of the diversity and ambiguities of public conceptions of mental illness and psychotherapy, psychiatric patients reach the psychiatrist’s office with a wide variety of attitudes and expectations. Only the most sophisticated are perfectly clear about why they are there and what they expect (Ref. 4. p. 128). Less sophisticated patients may have unrealistic expectations for improvement: they may not understand their role in the therapeutic process@) and may be bewildered by a procedure that differs not only from usual medical treatment but from customary social interactions. As LENNARD and BERNSTEIN comment (Ref. 6, p. 26) : “Dissymetry of expectations not only interferes with the therapeutic task, but can actually lead to the premature death of a therapeutic system.” This might be an important reason why patients who are less educated and have a different cultural background than most therapists tend to terminate treatment prematurely.(‘W)
Software mechanisms for extensible and scalable 3D visualization of construction operations

This paper presents research that led to the design and implementation of an extensible and scalable software framework for the dynamic 3D visualization of simulated construction operations. In the domain of operations design and analysis, the ability to see a 3D animation of processes that have been simulated allows for two very important things: verification and validation. In addition, a model can be communicated effectively which, coupled with verification and validation, makes it ''credible'' and thus used in making decisions. In the presented research, a set of core animation statements of the most general use from the extension viewpoint is first identified. Second, methods to design an add-on interface to the identified core animation methods are investigated by capitalizing on documented principles of application framework design. Finally, the designed add-on interface and its scalability are validated by implementing the extensible framework on multiple computing platforms and then extending the language with several non-trivial extensions using the designed add-on interface. The research concluded that geometric transformation-based animation statements are: (1) collectively sufficient to visually describe a broad class of common construction processes, and (2) are at a level of abstraction that they can be logically concatenated to describe higher-level motion dynamics involved in performing construction. In addition, it was found that an open, loosely-coupled visualization scheme and direct interface methods to append the animation statement interpreter's vocabulary with new add-on designed statements: (1) allows language extensions without modification to or understanding of the underlying methods, and (2) presents users with a consistent interface to visually describe construction processes, thereby providing complexity concealment and a uniform end-user interface. The presented framework is implemented as an extension (add-on) interface to the VITASCOPE visualization system.
Origin and evolution of the solar system, II

(7)Formation of celestial bodies. The basic concepts of the accretional process are discussed, and the inadequacy of the contractional model is pointed out. A comparison is made between the general pre-planetary state on the one hand and the present state in the asteroidal region on the other. A model for accretion of resonance-captured grains leading to the formation of resonance-captured planets and satellites is suggested.
For Diplomacy: Representation and the Study of International Relations

People engaged in international relations/international studies (IR/IS) should study more diplomacy, especially since diplomacy is reviving in the aftermath of the Cold War. In methodological and theoretical terms, diplomacy has fallen afoul of the old arguments between diplomatic historians and IR/IS theorists. In prescriptive terms, it has fallen foul of critical perspectives on states, their practices, and their rationales. Advocates of diplomacy and its study have also contributed to its isolation by presenting it as an exclusive and esoteric practice. Nevertheless, an opportunity now exists to bring the study of diplomacy to center stage in IR/IS, and in so doing, to revive the flagging conversations among its subfields. Perspectives that focus on the construction of ambiguous identities offer a way of reinterpreting diplomacy, providing a richer account than positivist approaches. Diplomacy, seen in terms of representation of constructed identities, is not a residual of the modern state system, but transcends it and constitutes that which is particular to the kinds of human relations in which IR/IS is interested.
The PIN and LAX families of auxin transport genes in Medicago truncatula

Auxin transport proteins may be involved in nodule development. As a prelude to investigating the roles of these proteins in nodule development, we took advantage of the genetic and molecular resources available in the legume Medicago truncatula to characterize the gene families encoding auxin efflux and influx carriers. We identified ten auxin efflux carrier sequences (MtPINs) and five auxin influx/permease sequences (MtLAXs). The genomic sequence of each of these fifteen genes was determined, the genes were mapped on the publicly available map of M. truncatula, and their expression was examined in shoot and root tissue of nodulating plants. With one exception, transcripts of all MtPIN genes were detected. The expression of MtPIN2 was limited to nodulating roots, while transcripts of all other expressed genes were detected in both shoots and roots. Both the PIN and LAX gene families contain more members in M. truncatula than in Arabidopsis, but the gene families are not significantly expanded. Sequence comparison of the M. truncatula PIN and LAX genes with PIN and LAX genes from other dicots and monocots indicates that both gene families share a common overall structure, with areas of high homology both within M. truncatula and across species boundaries. Molecular phylogenies of both the PIN and LAX gene families were constructed. Combined with intron position and expression data, the phylogenies were used to assign relationships between MtPIN and MtLAX genes and the orthologous Arabidopsis PIN and LAX genes. MtPIN2 and MtPIN7 appear to be the result of a recent gene duplication with subsequent divergence of expression patterns. These results set the stage for the use of these genes in research on the role of auxin in nodulation.
Biphasic progesterone synthesis by the hamster preovulatory follicle in vitro.

In vitro time course studies of progesterone and protein synthesis by hamster preovulatory follicles (harvested prior to the proestrous gonadotropin surge) were done. LH appears to stimulate progesterone synthesis in 2 phases. The first phase lasts 0 to 4 or 5 hr and is not inhibited by either puromycin or cycloheximide. The second phase (apparent by 4-5 hr) is distinquished from the first phase by its inhibition by puromycin and cycloheximide, and by the differential dose response of dibutryl cyclic AMP on the respective 2 phases. Incorporation of a 3H-labelled mixture of amino acids into protein is not seen in LH-stimulated follicles in 2 hr incubations but is apparent by 4 hr. The LH-stimulated protein synthesis is inhibited by puromycin. The results indicate that although LH stimulates both phases of progesterone synthesis, the mechanisms may be different for each phase.
Acute cholecystitis: CT findings

Some patients with acute cholecystitis may have symptoms suggestive of an abscess or other intra-abdominal inflammation and, therefore, may be referred for a CT of the abdomen. This report reviews the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and CT findings of acute cholecystitis (gallstones, wall thickening, distention, pericholecystic fluid, and pericholecystic stranding). Pitfalls and complications of the diagnosis are discussed. Those scenarios where CT may prove superior to ultrasound or hepatobiliary scintigraphy are highlighted.