cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enabling full representation in science: the San Francisco BUILD project's agents of change affirm science skills, belonging and community.

The underrepresentation of minority students in the sciences constrains innovation and productivity in the U.S. The SF BUILD project mission is to remove barriers to diversity by taking a “fix the institution” approach rather than a “fix the student” one. SF BUILD is transforming education, research, training, and mentoring at San Francisco State University, a premiere public university that primarily serves undergraduates and ethnic minority students. It boasts a large number of faculty members from underrepresented groups (URGs), including many of the project leaders. These leaders collaborate with faculty at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), a world-class medical research institution, to implement SF BUILD. Together, the campus partners are committed to creating intellectually safe and affirming environments grounded in the Signaling Affirmation for Equity (SAFE) model, which is based on robust psychosocial evidence on stereotype threat and its consequences. The SAFE model dictates a multilevel approach to increasing intent to pursue a biomedical career, persistence in STEM fields, and productivity (e.g. publications, presentations, and grants) by implementing transformative activities at the institutional, faculty, and student levels. These activities (1) increase knowledge of the stereotype threat phenomenon; (2) affirm communal and altruistic goals of students and faculty to “give back” to their communities in classrooms and research activities; and (3) establish communities of students, faculty and administrators as “agents of change.” Agents of change are persons committed to establishing and maintaining SAFE environments. In this way, SF BUILD advances the national capacity to address biomedical questions relevant to communities of color by enabling full representation in science. This chapter describes the theoretical and historical context that drive the activities, research and evaluation of the SF BUILD project, and highlights attributes that other institutions can use for institutional change. While this paper is grounded in psychosocial theory, it also provides practical solutions for broadening participation.
Partnership, Partition, and Proof: The Path to the Hardy–Ramanujan Partition Formula

The year 2018 marks 100 years since the publication of one of the most startling results in the history of mathematics: Hardy and Ramanujan’s asymptotic formula for the partition function. To celeb...
Cooperative identification of advection–diffusion processes with spatially varying coefficients based on a multi-model structure

This work develops a practical real-time identification strategy for advection–diffusion processes with spatially varying coefficients. A novel multi-model structure that represents the processes i...
G347(P) Implementing clinical pathways in a paediatric emergency department

Background Despite the fact that evidence based guidelines are widely available adherences to them remains unsatisfactory.1 Embedding guidance and decision support into clinical work processes at the bedside might improve this. Aim We turned eight existing clinical guidelines into ‘clinical pathways’ embedded in paediatric Emergency Department (ED) workflow, which obviates the need to learn or look up a guideline, and gives clinical decision support at the bedside. We hypothesise that this would improve guideline compliance and reduce unwarranted clinical variation. Methods Clinical pathways were created for the most common and/or important presentations to paediatric ED, namely ‘The Wheezy Child under 5 years of age’, ‘Diarrhoea and Vomiting under 5’, ‘Child with Stridor’, ‘Febrile convulsion’, ‘Asthma in over 5’s’, ‘The Child with a limp’, ‘Non-blanching rash’, ‘The child with fever and cough’. Activation of the pathway is symptom- rather than disease-based, and the pathway forms part of the ED clinical notes. The pathway guides clinician decision making, from treatment and investigations options (including reminders of unnecessary or non-evidence-based interventions); criteria for discharge, referral and admission; and patient information. Results Pathways were well received and comprehensively implemented. At time of writing, clinical outcomes are available for four of the pathways. Results include reduction of the inappropriate use of nebulisers from 75% to 25%, reduced reattendances from 29% to 0%; more appropriate use of prednisolone and reduced requests for chest x-rays (for wheeze); increased urine sampling from 28% to 52% and more appropriate admissions and halved reattendance rates for diarrhoea and vomiting; reduced reattendances from 22% to 0% for stridor; reduced admission rate from 75% to 40% for febrile convulsion. Conclusion The creation of clinical pathways, embedding existing clinical guidelines into routine care processes, have improved guideline adherence, improved clinical outcomes and reduced clinical variation. Reference . Runnacles J, Roueche A, Lachman P. Arch Dis Child Educ Pract ED 2017;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2017-312740
Suicide conversations on Instagram™: contagion or caring?

Background: Suicide is a significant public health concern with approximately a million deaths from suicide worldwide each year. There is increasing evidence that media reporting of suicide can lea...
A Review of the Statistical Theory of the Phase-Change Behavior of Hydrogen in Metals

Theoretical treatments of the phase-change behavior of hydrogen in metals based on the lattice-gas model of statistical mechanics are reviewed. Early model calculations assumed that hydrogen in metals could be treated as a lattice-gas model in which the hydrogen-hydrogen interactions were either attractive (as in the Lacher model) or repulsive (as in the blocking models). Models based on attractive interactions predicted phase separations between the disordered phases α and α’ but did not predict the correct saturation behavior while models based on repulsive interactions predicted the correct saturation behavior but could not predict phase transitions. In the mid 1970’s work by Hall and Stell showed that both attractions and repulsions between hydrogen atoms were necessary to obtain the ordered s phase as well as the phases α and α’. Work by Horner and Wagner, showed that the elastically-based hydrogen-metal interaction is mathematically equivalent to an effective hydrogen-hydrogen interaction and that this effective interaction can be calculated in terms of experimentally measurable quantities. Recently, Futran, Coats, Hall and Welch have developed a model for hydrogen in niobium based on the Horner-Wagner work which predicts the α, α’ and β phases. The model has been extended to apply to the case where hydrogen is absorbed in niobium-vanadium alloys.
Our Part in the Evolution of Correctional Mental Health Care.

I am a general, forensic, and correctional psychiatrist and have spent decades involved in direct care and administrative services. I have provided consultation to secure hospitals and correctional facilities (jails and prisons). State and federal courts in various jurisdictions have appointed me to
Market-Aware Proactive Skill Posting

Referral networks consist of a network of experts, human or automated agent, with differential expertise across topics and can redirect tasks to appropriate colleagues based on their topic-conditioned skills. Proactive skill posting is a setting in referral networks, where agents are allowed a one-time local-network-advertisement of a subset of their skills. Heretofore, while advertising expertise, experts only considered their own skills and reported their strongest skills. However, in practice, tasks can have varying difficulty levels and reporting skills that are uncommon or rare may give an expert relative advantage over others, and the network as a whole better ability to solve problems. This work introduces market-aware proactive skill posting where experts report a subset of their skills that give them competitive advantages over their peers. Our proposed algorithm in this new setting, proactive-DIEL\(_{\varDelta }\), outperforms the previous state-of-the-art, proactive-DIEL\(_t\) during the early learning phase, while retaining important properties such as tolerance to noisy self-skill estimates, and robustness to evolving networks and strategic lying.
Drivers of Development

This chapter highlights four serendipitous things that happened in the 1970s, mostly unforeseen by the economists and disconnected from the bloody political process of that time, which laid the foundation of the present Bangladesh economy. These relate to the emergence of the ready-made garment industry, the start of international labor exports to the Middle East, the surge in agricultural growth, and the rise of nongovernmental organizations. Notwithstanding various challenges, these four drivers of development have remained robust to this day and have contributed to the country’s economic and social progress.
Analysis and Design of an Ultra-Low-Power Bluetooth Low-Energy Transmitter With Ring Oscillator-Based ADPLL and 4 $\times$ Frequency Edge Combiner

In this paper, we present an all-digital ring oscillator (RO)-based Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) transmitter (TX) for ultra-low-power radios in short range Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. The power consumption of state-of-the-art BLE TXs has been limited by the relatively power-hungry local oscillator (LO) due to the use of LC oscillators for superior phase noise (PN) performance. This paper addresses this issue by analyzing the PN limit of a BLE TX and proposes an RO-based solution for power and cost savings. The proposed transmitter features: 1) a wideband all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) featuring an $f_{\mathrm {RF}} / {4}$ RO, with an embedded 5-bit TDC; 2) a 4 $\times $ frequency edge combiner to generate the 2.4-GHz signal; and 3) a switch-capacitor digital PA optimized for high efficiency at low transmit power levels. These not only help reduce the power consumption and improve PN performance but also enhance the TX efficiency for short range applications. The TX is prototyped in 40-nm CMOS, occupies an active area of 0.0166 mm2, and consumes 486 $\mu \text{W}$ in its low-power mode, while configured as a non-connectable advertiser. The TX has been validated by wirelessly communicating beacon messages to a mobile phone.
Assessing Freeze-Thaw Damage in Segmental Retaining Walls Units by Mass Loss, Moisture Gain, and Relative Dynamic Modulus:

Segmental retaining walls (SRWs) constructed of dry-cast concrete masonry units are used in transportation-related applications for which freeze-thaw (FT) durability is evaluated on the basis of pe...
Personal Motivations and Systemic Incentives: Scientists on Questionable Research Practices

As concern over the use of questionable research practices (QRPs) in academic science has increased over the last couple of decades, some reforms have been implemented and many others have been debated and recommended. While many of these proposals have merit, efforts to improve scientific practices are more likely to succeed when they are responsive to the prevailing views and concerns of scientists themselves. To date, there have been few efforts to solicit wide-ranging input from researchers on the topic of needed reforms. This article is a qualitative report of responses from federally funded scientists to the question of what should be done to address the problem of QRPs in their disciplines. Overall, participants were concerned about how institutional and career-oriented incentives encourage the use of QRPs. Compared to previous recommendations, participants had surprisingly little confidence in the ability of ethics training to improve research integrity.
Disruptive view of medication effects on cognition in epilepsy

All models addressing the etiology of cognitive abnormality in epilepsy include the iatrogenic effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). This interest sustained through the decades began with bromides and phenobarbital1,2 and continues to the present.3 Critical contributions to this literature have included cognitive results from randomized clinical trials of initial and adjuvant therapy, controlled crossover trials in healthy volunteers, dose ranging studies, and numerous clinical investigations examining the cognitive effects of drug add-on or withdrawal. Further evidence of neuronal effects of AEDs that may affect cognition include reports demonstrating AED influences on brain metabolism,4 brain structure,5 brain neurophysiology,6 and functional activation during cognitive tasks.7,8
Dapagliflozin Suppresses Hepcidin And Increases Erythropoiesis

Context Dapagliflozin and other SGLT2 inhibitors are known to increase hematocrit, possibly due to its diuretic effects and hemoconcentration. Objective Since type 2 diabetes is a proinflammatory state and since hepcidin, a known suppressor of erythropoiesis, is increased in proinflammatory states, we investigated the possibility that dapagliflozin suppresses hepcidin concentrations and thus increases erythropoiesis. Design Prospective, randomized, and placebo-controlled study. Setting Single endocrinology center. Patients Fifty-two obese type 2 diabetes patients. Intervention Patients were randomized (1:1) to either dapagliflozin (10 mg daily) or placebo for 12 weeks. Blood samples were collected before and after treatments and serum, plasma, and mononuclear cells (MNC) were prepared. Main outcome measure Hepcidin and other hematopoietic factors. Results Following dapagliflozin treatment, there was a significant fall in HbA1c and a significant increase in hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit. Dapagliflozin treatment significantly reduced circulating hepcidin and ferritin concentrations while causing a significant increase in levels of the hepcidin inhibitor, erythroferrone, and a transient increase in erythropoietin. Additionally, dapagliflozin increased plasma transferrin levels and expression of transferrin receptors 1 and 2 in MNC, while there was no change in the expression of the iron cellular transporter, ferroportin. Dapagliflozin treatment also caused a decrease in hypoxia-induced factor-1α expression in MNC while it increased the expression of its inhibitor, prolyl hydroxylase-2. There were no significant changes in any of these indices in the placebo group. Conclusions We conclude that dapagliflozin increases erythropoiesis and hematocrit through mechanisms that involve the suppression of hepcidin and the modulation of other iron regulatory proteins.
The Cost of Entry: Internships in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums Education

Internships are widespread in GLAM and have become the cost of entry to the field for many students and early career professionals. This paper reports on preliminary findings from a content analysis of internship related information on the websites’ of 178 graduate-level GLAM education programs in the U.S. and Canada. We contextualize the study in relation to the available literature on internships, and recent professional discussions. We discuss the implications our findings that: (A) there is a high prevalence of internships in the field; (B) there are significant differences in internship practices by GLAM discipline and by specialization, focus, certificate, or other master’s degree enhancement; (C) the wide variances in internship practices by geographic region, setting, and institution type; and (D) the diversity of internship requirements and structures within these professional education programs. We address the implications of internships for diversity and inclusion throughout our analysis.
Hotspot formation due to shock-induced pore collapse in 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazoctane (HMX): Role of pore shape and shock strength in collapse mechanism and temperature

The shock to detonation transition in heterogeneous high energy density solids starts with the spatial localization of mechanical energy into so-called hotspots that form due to the interaction between the leading wave and microstructural features and defects. We used large-scale molecular dynamics to characterize the hotspots resulting from the shock-induced collapse of cylindrical voids and elongated cracks focusing on the effect of shock strength, defect shape, and size. The temperature fields resulting from the collapse of cracks elongated along the shock direction show significantly higher sensitivity to both shock strength and size than cylindrical voids. Cracks 80 nm in length result in temperatures almost three times higher than voids 80 nm in diameter, reaching values corresponding to the ideal case of isentropic recompression of a gas. The molecular dynamics trajectories reveal the atomic origin of this contrasting behavior. While circular voids undergo a transition from viscoelastic pore collapse to a hydrodynamic regime with increasing shock strength, shock focusing in elongated cracks results in jetting and vaporization which, upon recompression, leads to increased heating.
Utility of Focus Groups in Retrospective Analysis of Conflict Contexts

This article addresses the challenges of conducting retrospective qualitative research in conflict contexts, particularly those stemming from the susceptibility of retrospective accounts to present...
Long-term renal function after treatment for unilateral, nonsyndromic Wilms tumor. A report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND The impact of specific treatment modalities on long-term renal function and blood pressure among adult survivors of Wilms tumor (WT) has not been well documented. METHODS Among 40 WT survivors and 35 noncancer controls, we estimated the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using the Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) equations with and without cystatin C, obtained 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure readings, and, among survivors only, measured 99m Tc diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) plasma clearance. Survivors were treated with unilateral nephrectomy and nonnephrotoxic chemotherapy. Twenty received whole abdomen radiation therapy (WART) [median -16.5 Gray (Gy)], and 20 received no radiation therapy. Pairwise comparisons between survivors treated with and without WART, and each group to controls were performed using two-sample t tests. RESULTS Twenty-six (65%) WT survivors were female, and 33 (83%) were non-Hispanic white. GFR estimated with creatinine or creatinine + cystatin C was decreased among irradiated survivors compared with controls. No irradiated or unirradiated participant had an eGFR (creatinine + cystatin C) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 . The prevalence of hypertension was significantly increased among unirradiated (25%) and irradiated survivors (35%) compared with controls (0%). Of the 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring parameters evaluated, only mean sleep period diastolic blood pressure load of those who received WART was significantly different from that of controls. CONCLUSIONS Chronic kidney disease was infrequent in long-term survivors of unilateral nonsyndromic WT, whether treated with WART or no radiation. The prevalence of hypertension was increased in both groups compared with controls, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring of renal and cardiovascular health.
US Mortality Attributable to Congenital Heart Disease Across the Lifespan From 1999 Through 2017 Exposes Persistent Racial/Ethnic Disparities.

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) accounts for ≈40% of deaths in US children with birth defects. Previous US data from 1999 to 2006 demonstrated an overall decrease in CHD mortality. Our s...
Laser-Induced Fluorescence for Element Detection during Laser Welding of Al to Cu Foils

The use of laser-induced fluorescence for detecting Cu in the vapor plume under laser welding conditions is investigated. It is found that LIF is sensitive enough to detect Cu even before mechanical joint formation. (This work of the U.S. Government is not subject to U.S. copyright.)
Imaging the local biochemical content of native and injured intervertebral disc using Fourier transform infrared microscopy.

Alterations to the biochemical composition of the intervertebral disc (IVD) are hallmarks of aging and degeneration. Methods to assess biochemical content, such as histology, immunohistochemistry, and spectrophotometric assays, are limited in their ability to quantitatively analyze the spatial distribution of biochemical components. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy is a biochemical analysis method that can yield both quantitative and high-resolution data about the spatial distribution of biochemical components. This technique has been largely unexplored for use with the IVD, and existing methods use complex analytical techniques that make results difficult to interpret. The objective of the present study is to describe an FTIR microscopy method that has been optimized for imaging the collagen and proteoglycan content of the IVD. The method was performed on intact and discectomized IVDs from the sheep lumbar spine after 6 weeks in vivo in order to validate FTIR microscopy in healthy and degenerated IVDs. FTIR microscopy quantified collagen and proteoglycan content across the entire IVD and showed local changes in biochemical content after discectomy that were not observed with traditional histological methods. Changes in collagen and proteoglycans content were found to have strong correlations with Pfirrmann grades of degeneration. This study demonstrates how FTIR microscopy is a valuable research tool that can be used to quantitatively assess the local biochemical composition of IVDs in development, degeneration, and repair.
Altered immune phenotype and DNA methylation in panic disorder

Multiple studies have related psychiatric disorders and immune alterations. Panic disorder (PD) has been linked with changes in leukocytes distributions in several small studies using different methods for immune characterization. Additionally, alterations in the methylation of repetitive DNA elements, such as LINE-1, have been associated with mental disorders. Here, we use peripheral blood DNA methylation data from two studies and an updated DNA methylation deconvolution library to investigate the relation of leukocyte proportions and methylation status of repetitive elements in 133 patients with panic disorder compared with 118 controls. We used DNA methylation data to deconvolute leukocyte cell-type proportions and to infer LINE-1 element methylation comparing PD cases and controls. We also identified differentially methylated CpGs associated with PD using an epigenome-wide association study approach (EWAS), with models adjusting for sex, age, and cell-type proportions. Individuals with PD had a lower proportion of CD8T cells (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.78–0.96, P-adj = 0.030) when adjusting for age, sex, and study compared with controls. Also, PD cases had significantly lower LINE-1 repetitive element methylation than controls (P < 0.001). The EWAS identified 61 differentially methylated CpGs (58 hypo- and 3 hypermethylated) in PD (Bonferroni adjusted P < 1.33 × 10–7). These results suggest that those with panic disorder have changes to their immune system and dysregulation of repeat elements relative to controls.
Evaluating Compression Variation for Seamless Knitted Fabrics: An Experimental Study Using Kikuhime Sensors

Scientific knowledge about compression garments, such as sports bras, is necessary due to the established detrimental health effects caused by wearing the wrong size compressive garments. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate how compression of seamless knitted fabrics changes between dry and wet conditions, when variations of knit stich type, tension and length are used. Six different fabrics knitted on a 15” diameter circular knitting machine, using recycled polyester, spandex and wool yarns were combined to knit a jacquard pattern. A medical grade Kikuhime device was used to measure the pressure between knitted tubes and the body of a mannequin. The mean pressure significantly decreased from dry condition to wet condition, and the fabric density had a significant effect on pressure. Moreover, a more tensioned fabric construction resulted in a greater variability of compression between dry and wet conditions.
Drinking to cope as a mechanism between sleep problems and heavy episodic drinking among trauma survivors.

Objective: Women who have experienced trauma report high rates of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and sleep problems. Prior work suggests that poor sleep exacerbates heavy alcohol use; however, potential mechanisms for this association are unclear. Consistent with the self-medication model, one possibility may be that women with a history of trauma are drinking at increased rates in order to cope with the affective consequences of poor sleep. To examine this possibility, the current study tested the role of drinking to cope motives as a mediator of prospective associations between sleep problems and HED among women who have experienced trauma. Method: Community women reporting a history of trauma (N = 414, Mage = 21.8, 59.9% White, 36.2% Black) completed self-report measures at baseline and 4 month and 8 month follow-ups. Measures of trauma exposure (Life Events Checklist [LEC]) and sleep problems (Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms-Revised [CHIPS-R]) were taken from baseline, drinking motives (Revised Drinking Motives Questionnaire) at 4 months, and HED at 8 months. Results: Findings supported an indirect association between sleep problems and later HED through increased drinking to cope motives (b = .05, 95% CI [.018, .108], β = .05). Conclusion: As hypothesized, drinking to cope accounted for associations between sleep problems and later HED. Findings underscore the potential value in addressing drinking to cope motives as a means of reducing HED, particularly among women with a history of trauma who are sleeping poorly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Effortful control and health among triads of mothers and twin children: An actor-partner interdependence modeling approach.

Associations between effortful control and physical and mental health were examined among triads of mothers and twin children by simultaneously modeling the effects of one's own effortful control on one's own health (actor effects) with the effects of the other two family members' effortful control on one's health (partner effects). Families (N = 761 individuals; 254 families) included mothers (Mage = 39.98, SD = 5.64) and their twin children (Mage = 8.58, SD = 0.57; 51% female; 54.7% non-Hispanic White, 28% Hispanic). Mothers completed online and in-person questionnaires, and mothers' and children's body composition indicators and dominant-handgrip strength were directly assessed during two home visits. Actor effects dominated in families with twin boys and mixed-sex twins, whereas partner effects were more apparent in families with twin girls. In addition, the effects of children's effortful control on mothers' health depended on the sex of the twins. Findings uncovered important family dynamics linking effortful control to health, including that associations may vary by sex match of children in the family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Diseases of the Pericardium

Pericarditis, pericardial effusion, and cardiac tamponade are conditions that affect the pericardium in either isolation or association with systemic disease. The clinical presentation of these diseases are classic and should be easily recognized. Pericardiocentesis can be diagnostic and therapeutic (and potentially life-saving).
On Controlled Invariance for a Simple Class of Distributions with Singularities

Invariant distributions play a key role in the geometric theory of nonlinear control systems. It has long been recognized that distributions that are not invariant under a given control system can sometimes be rendered invariant under a feedback-adjusted form of the system, in which case the distribution is called controlled invariant for the system. The standard necessary and sufficient condition for controlled invariance is known as the “Quaker Lemma” and is usually proved under rather stringent regularity assumptions on both the distribution and the input vector fields of the control system. We will present an alternative proof of the Quaker Lemma that allows a significant weakening of the standard regularity assumptions, and in particular applies to the controlled invariance of a certain class of singular distributions.
Characterization and Validation Biomarkers in Drug Development: Regulatory Perspective

Novel approaches are being tested continuously for the successful integration of biomarkers in drug development. However, integration of these novel biomarkers into routine nonclinical and clinical practice, and regulatory submissions, have often been slow due to fear about how comprehensive data support these applications and regulatory interpretation of the context of use for these applications. This article focuses on the regulatory paths in biomarker evaluation and qualification, including ICH harmonization procedures. Keywords: biomarkers; drug development; regulations; voluntary exploratory data submissions (VXDSs)
Contrasting responses of Rb–Sr systematics to regional and contact metamorphism, Laramie Mountains, Wyoming, USA

Archean supracrustal sequences of pelitic, quartzitic, calcareous and mafic compositions in the central Laramie Mountains, Wyoming, have been affected by two metamorphic events: a 1.78 Ga amphibolite-grade regional metamorphism, and a 1.43 Ga contact metamorphism resulting from the intrusion of the Laramie Anorthosite Complex (LAC). Rb–Sr whole-rock isotopic data from both outside and within the LAC contact aureole define a linear array that lies along a 1.78 Ga isochron. This date has been independently established as the time of amphibolite facies regional metamorphism associated with collision of the Archean Wyoming province and the Proterozoic Colorado province along the Cheyenne belt. The Rb–Sr isotopic data require that Sr was redistributed during regional metamorphism on a scale of at least tens of metres. Although within the 2 km-wide aureole of LAC the pelitic rocks were thermally metamorphosed at temperatures greater than 800 °C, none of the whole-rock Rb–Sr data from samples within the LAC aureole show evidence of resetting at 1.43 Ga. It is interpreted that the regional metamorphism involved fluid transport which facilitated Sr isotopic resetting, whereas the contact metamorphism occurred in a relatively dry environment in which isotopic mobility was restricted to centimetre-scale or less. Rb–Sr data for biotite, feldspar and whole rock from a regional metamorphosed pelitic schist give an isochron age of 1450±40 Ma, which is interpreted as a cooling age resulting from crustal uplift. Rb–Sr data for biotite, quartz+feldspar and whole rock from a pelitic schist affected by contact metamorphism give an isochron age of 1420±43 Ma, the time of isotopic re-equilibration in response either to crustal uplift or to both contact metamorphism and crustal uplift. This study demonstrates that although the response of isotopic systems to metamorphism is complex, isotopic data provide insight into metamorphic processes that is difficult to obtain by other means.
Supernova Remnants with Central Pulsars

The recent discovery of a central pulsing X-ray source makes MSH 15–52 the third SNR to contain a radio pulsar surrounded by diffuse X-ray emission. The pulsar periods are all increasing with time and the consequent loss of rotational kinetic energy is enough, in each remnant, to power a synchrotron nebula with the observed luminosity and volume.
Replacement of Superior Vena Cava with Autogenous Tissue: An Experimental Study

Abstract Autogenous pericardium and vein were used to replace a maximally resected superior vena cava (average length, 5.5 cm.) in the mongrel dog. Simple replacement failed because of thrombus formation at the suture lines. Limited success was obtained with pericardium complemented with an arteriovenous fistula placed 1 cm. cephalad to the cephalad suture line. An autogenous vein graft with a similar complementary fistula was successful in 15 consecutive preparations. These animals, followed for one year, showed normal function with nearly perfect anatomical restoration without anticoagulant therapy. The fistula maintained graft patency probably because turbulence prevented thrombus retention while neointima formed. The fistulas had closed spontaneously in 6 dogs at one year; the remainder were nearly closed.
Resonance Self-Shielding Methodologies in SCALE 6

SCALE 6 includes several problem-independent multigroup (MG) libraries that were processed from the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B using a generic flux spectrum. The library data must be self-s...
Book Review: Limits of Law, Prerogatives of Power: Interventionism after Kosovo, by Michael J. Glennon

The author reviews Michael Glennon's Limits of Law, Prerogatives of Power: Interventionism After Kosovo, discussing Glennon's approach to NATO's 1999 bombing to stop the Milosevic regime's ethnic cleansing of Kosovo in the face of the UN Charter's absolute ban on states using force except in self-defense. Finding Glennon's study at once provocative and readable, the author emphasizes the strength of Glennon's core point - the inability for the Kosovo campaign to be reconciled with the UN charter - but points to the dangers of using one instance (Kosovo) to prove bad law.
Temporal factors in the discrimination of coherent motion.

When observers view the relative movements of a pair of bars defined by the difference of spatial Gaussian functions (DOGs), they can accurately discriminate coherent movements over a range of temporal frequencies and temporal asynchronies. Of particular interest is the fact that performance accuracy is maintained even when the two bars differ in spatial-frequency content and contrast. On each trial, observers viewed two brief presentation intervals in which a pair of vertically oriented DOGs moved randomly back and forth within a restricted range. During one observation interval, both elements moved in the same direction and by the same magnitude (correlated), and in the other interval, the movements were independent (uncorrelated). Temporal asynchronies were introduced by delaying the displacement of the right bar relative to that of the left bar in each interval. Observers were able to discriminate correlated versus uncorrelated movements up to a 45–60-msec temporal delay between the two elements’ relative displacements. If motion processing is accomplished by mechanisms operating over multiple spatial and temporal scales, the visual system’s tolerance of temporal delays among correlated signals may facilitate their space-time integration, thereby capitalizing on the perceptual utility of coherent-motion information for image segmentation and interpolating surface structure from the movements of spatially separated features.
Risk Assessment: Concepts, Development, and Future Opportunities

Farming is a risky business. Among the many risk factors, plant disease is an important one due to its close relation to climate and yield. Understanding and assessing disease risk reduce the uncer...
Improving robustness and reliability of phase-sensitive fMRI analysis using Temporal Off-resonance Alignment of Single-echo Timeseries (TOAST)

Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), often utilized in functional MRI (fMRI) experiments, is well known for its vulnerability to inconsistencies in the static magnetic field (B0). Correction for these field inhomogeneities usually involves measuring the magnetic field at a single time point, and using this static information to correct a series of images collected over the course of one or multiple experiments. However, common phenomena, such as respiration and motion, change the characteristics of the B0 field homogeneity in a time-dependent and often unpredictable manner, rendering previous field measurements invalid. The effects of these changes are particularly large in the image phase, due to its direct and sensitive relationship to the magnetic field, and methods utilizing complex information can suffer enormously. This dependence can be exploited to estimate the temporal dynamics of the B0 field. Use of this information to correct fMRI data can provide more effective motion correction, reduce temporal “noise,” and can substantially restore statistically significant power to complex fMRI data analysis. All of the necessary information is embedded in complex EPI images, and results indicate this is a robust way to improve the quality of fMRI data, especially when used with complex analysis.
Attention Effects of Abrupt-Onset Precues with Central, Single-Element, and Multiple-Element Precues ☆

Endogenous and exogenous processes of attention have been inferred with different types of precues used in allocation of attention to a target location. In the present research, a comparison was made between the typical peripheral single-element precue (SEP), a central precue, and a multiple-element precue (MEP) in order to further understanding of the processes involved in allocation of attention. Two precues were used on each trial in these experiments. An abrupt-onset precue appeared with an SEP, an MEP, or a central precue and was followed 50 or 300 ms later by a screen containing a target and two distractor characters. The abrupt-onset precue and the other precue each could be valid or invalid in indicating the location of the target, as in the study by Juola, Koshino, and Warner (1995). Response times to the targets showed that validity effects of the abrupt-onset precue and the MEP or central precue were additive, whereas those of the abrupt-onset precue and the SEP were interactive. These data suggest that, like a central precue, an MEP is an endogenous precue that guides conscious control of attention and has its attentional effects at a different processing level from an SEP, which is an exogenous precue and may compete for attentional resources with an abrupt-onset precue.
Chest development in early childhood

Summary A method is described by which the development of the chest may be better appraised. The method consists in taking the circumference of the chest at two different levels, supramammillar and xiphoid, and comparing the two measurements. Mean values for these measurements are reported for infants and young children. The transition from an upright conic to an inverted conic shape is characteristic for normal development of the chest. Deviations from the normal relationship between these two measurements occur in cases of pathologic development.
Additional Evidence for the Role of Hyaluronic Acid in the Macrophage Disappearance Reaction

A slight macrophage disappearance reaction was elicited in C3H/Hej mice, a low responder strain. Low levels of hyaluronic acid accumulated in the peritoneal fluid during the disappearance reaction, in keeping with the low response. The macrophage disappearance reaction was not simulated by the intraperitoneal injection of large amounts of hyaluronate into nonsensitized C3H/Hej mice. This suggested that these macrophages were refractory to hyaluronic acid. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that low concentrations of hyaluronic acid did not agglutinate these cells, in vitro, nor inhibit their migration to the extent obtained with macrophages from the responder mice (C57BL/6 strain), thus providing evidence that the low responder mice had at least two defects with respect to the disappearance reaction: 1) they accumulated less hyaluronic acid in their peritoneal fluid, and 2) their macrophages were refractory towards hyaluronic acid. Generalized defects in membranes of various cell types of C3H/Hej mice, involving receptors for lymphokines in the case of mesothelial cells, or hyaluronic acid receptors on macrophages may serve as the central defect and explain the above observations.
Human performance in a multiple-task environment: Effects of automation reliability on visual attention allocation

Diagnostic automation has been posited to alleviate the high demands of multiple-task environments; however, mixed effects have been found pertaining to performance aid success. To better understand these effects, attention allocation must be studied directly. We developed a multiple-task environment to study the effects of automation on visual attention. Participants interacted with a system providing varying levels of automation and automation reliability and then were transferred to a system with no support. Attention allocation was measured by tracking the number of times each task was viewed. We found that participants receiving automation allocated their time according to the task frequency and that tasks that benefited most from automation were most harmed when it was removed. The results suggest that the degree to which automation affects multiple-task performance is dependent on the relative attributes of the tasks involved. Moreover, there is an inverse relationship between support and cost when automation fails.
Civil Religion and Church and State

Earlier conceptualizations suggest a socially integrative civil religion in the United States and define it as not infringing upon church and state separation. No published empirical evidence exists, however, of the alleged compatibility of these two beliefs in the minds of the citizenry. Because the idea of civil religion rests largely upon such an assumption, the relationship between civil religion and church-state separatism is tested in an analysis of data from over 3000 respondents to a state survey. The findings indicate no conflict between the two belief systems. Institutional and organizational implications of civil religion in relation to the legalistic notion of separatism are discussed.
Recognizing Abuse and Neglect in People with Severe Cognitive and/or Communication Impairments

ABSTRACT It is widely acknowledged that physical abuse of persons with severe developmental disabilities is prevalent, usually perpetrated by a residential care provider and is rarely reported. However, no solid research on the topic has been reported. This article notes the lack of information about protective services directed to the developmentally disabled population and lack of coordination between agencies serving people with developmental disabilities and those providing protective services. The signs and symptoms of abuse in the developmentally disabled population, the alternative communication strategies required when interviewing, and the special skills needed for case assessment are presented. The author ends with a series of federal, state, and community level policy recommendations.
Post-release stress-engineering of surface-micromachined MEMS structures using evaporated Chromium and in-situ fabricated reconfigurable shadow masks

We present a novel post-release stress-engineering process that can provide out-of-plane curvature to initially planar MEMS structures. This process uses a layer of evaporated Chromium (Cr) with intrinsic compressive stress to provide the required curvature. The stressor layer is applied post-release, and is patterned using shadow masks fabricated in-situ as part of the surface micromachining fabrication process. The masks can be reconfigured to provide variable stressor layer coverage of the underlying structures without the use of photolithography. A model is presented that encompasses the increase in deflection, and thus non-uniform chromium coverage, during the stress-engineering of released structures.
Binding of Xenon to Halogens, to Alkali Metals, and to Itself

THE existence of stable XeF4 and XeF2 molecules has recently been demonstrated1. A description of the binding and molecular geometry using the conventional electron pair model has been proposed2. Twelve of the XeF4 electrons are assumed to be distributed in four electron pair bonds and two sets of lone pairs. This model is based on analogies with the chemistry and geometry of a large number of inorganic compounds. Simple chemical analogy must likewise predict that molecules such as Xe(Cs)4 or Xe(Rb)4 will not exist. Be2 offers a partial analogy to Xe2 and implies that the latter molecule will not be bound.
Focal atrial tachycardia after pulmonary vein isolation: noninvasive mapping with electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI).

Electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) is a novel, noninvasive tool for imaging cardiac arrhythmia and defining electrophysiologic properties.1,2 ECGI combines multi-electrode body surface ECG recordings with three-dimensional anatomical heart-torso imaging to reconstruct an epicardial electroanatomical map (Figure 1). ECGI-reconstructed data can be presented as epicardial potential maps, electrograms, or isochrones during activation and repolarization. The ECGI procedure has been extensively tested and validated in experimental preparations with normal and abnormal canine hearts3–10. Recently, ECGI has been validated in humans1,2,11–13. To date, we have presented human ECGI studies of normal activation and repolarization 1,2, right and left bundle branch block1,11, various pacing protocols1,11,13, atrial flutter1, native sinus rhythm and bi-ventricular pacing for cardiac resynchronization (CRT) in heart failure patients11, and focal ventricular tachycardia12. Figure 1 The ECGI procedure. Body surface potential maps (BSPM) are recorded using a multi-channel (256-electrode) mapping system. Non-contrast CT images with the body surface ECGI electrodes applied, simultaneously record the locations of the electrodes (shining ... This report describes the first case in which ECGI was applied in a patient with a focal atrial tachycardia. In particular, ECGI accurately located the earliest site of activation in an atrium which had previously undergone two percutaneous pulmonary vein isolation procedures. The tachyarrhythmia was successfully terminated with radio frequency (RF) ablation in the ECGI-determined location.
Choline acetyltransferase and carnitine acetyltransferase in the placenta of the mouse.

Abstract 1. The major 1-14C-acetyl labelled metabolite as identified by high voltage electrophoresis and thin layer chromatography was 1-14C-acetylcarnitine when crude or dialyzed mouse placenta homogenates were incubated in the absence or presence of exogenous 1-carnitine respectively and with 1-14C-acetylcoenzyme A. 2. Extensive dialysis removed >90% of endogenous substrates and should be performed prior to any measurements of acetylating enzyme activity. 3. Dialyzed placenta homogenate synthesized only small quantities of 14C-acetylcholine, and the relationship of this product to choline acetyltransferase was equivocal. 4. Some kinetic characteristics of carnitine acetyltransferase obtained by partial purification with ammonium sulfate were determined.
Non-epithelial tumors of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and nasopharynx: A clinicopathologic study. I General Features and Vascular Tumors

Two hundred fifty-six non-epithelial tumors of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and nasopharynx have been identified in the records of this department; 156 were benign and 100 malignant. The histologic classification and distribution of these lesions are presented. Vascular neoplasms were the most common, with 85 of the 256 cases being found in this category. The clinical findings related to the vascular tumors are discussed and their histologic features presented. Results of treatment are reviewed, and clinicopathologic correlations are made.