cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measurements of single molecular affinity interactions between carbohydrate-binding modules and crystalline cellulose fibrils.

Combining atomic force microscopy (AFM) recognition imaging and single molecule dynamic force spectroscopy (SMDFS), we studied the single molecule affinity interactions between the carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) and plant cell wall cellulose using the CBM3a (from Clostridium thermocellum) and CBM2a (from Cellvibrio japonicus) functionalized AFM tips. The binding efficiencies of the CBMs to the cellulose were determined by the binding areas on the crystalline cellulose fibrils surface using the recognition imaging. Several dynamic and kinetic parameters, such as the reconstructed free energy change, energy barrier and bond lifetime constant, were also obtained based on the measured single molecule unbinding forces, which are used to illuminate the affinity of the CBMs binding to the natural and single cellulose surface from a totally different aspect. It was found that CBM3a has a little higher binding efficiency and affinity than CBM2a to both natural and extracted cellulose surfaces and both the CBMs have higher affinities to the natural cell wall cellulose compared to the extracted single cellulose. The in-depth understanding of the binding mechanisms of the CBM–cellulose interactions of this study may pave the way for more efficient plant cell wall degradation and eventually facilitate biofuel production.
Study Designs for Program Evaluation: How Do We Know What Works?

Scientific Inquiry provides a forum to facilitate the ongoing pro- cess of questioning and evaluating practice, presents informed prac- tice based on available data, and innovates new practices through research and experimental learning . W hether or not we set out to be researchers, many of us encounter evaluation imperatives in our work (Grembowski, 2001). Administrators, funders, and accrediting agencies all want answers to the same basic question: How do we know our programs are effective? When we set out to answer this question, we may wish we had taken an extra research methods course or two. Evaluation language can quickly become technical, and we may feel in over our heads. We must answer evaluation questions, but how to begin? The hallmark of pharmaceutical research, which is in some ways the prototype for all healthcare research, is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). RCTs are the backbone of meta-analyses, Cochrane reviews, and other systematic reviews of the literature, which in turn are the basis for evidence- based practice in health care. But do we really need a rand- omized control group to evaluate a new patient-flow process on our clinical unit? If so, how can we randomly assign some patients not to go through the new system? The RCT is so dominant in healthcare research that it can be hard to think outside this paradigm. RCTs can be used to study virtually any type of program or intervention in healthcare settings. But this doesn't mean they always should be used: Witness a "review" in the British Medical Journal denouncing parachute use as an unvalidated intervention for the prevention of acceleration trauma (i.e., harm incurred by falling out of airplanes), because the evidence consists only of anecdotal reports. Where are the data from a control group randomly assigned not to use a parachute (Smith & Pell, 2003)? Clearly, the assumption that we always need an RCT is not quite right.
Overweight and Obesity Among African American Women: An Examination of Predictive and Risk Factors and Weight-Reduction Recommendations

There is substantial research evidence on the disproportionate number of African American women who are overweight, obese, and morbidly obese. African American women are at significant risk for wei...
The Validity of Self‐reported Weight Change among Adolescents and Young Adults

FIELD, ALISON E., PARUL ANEJA, AND BERNARD ROSNER. The validity of self-reported weight change among adolescents and young adults. Obesity. 2007;15: 2357–2364. Objective: To assess the association of weight change based on serial self-reported vs. measured weights. Research Methods and Procedures: Two thousand two hundred eighty-four male and 2476 female participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who provided information on weight at Waves II and III and were at least 16 years of age were studied. Linear regression was used to assess predictors of the discrepancy between weight change based on self-reported vs. measured weights. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of selfreport correctly classifying participants in terms of weight change category. Results: Self-reported weight was slightly lower than measured weight at Waves II and III, but weight change based on self-reported weights underestimated true weight change by only 2.1 (female participants) to 2.8 (male participants) pounds. Overweight and obese female participants were consistent in their under-reporting of their weight more than their leaner peers; thus, the discrepancy between weight change from Wave II to Wave III based on serial selfreports vs. measured weights was significantly smaller among the obese female vs. healthy-weight female participants (0.3- vs. 2.3-pound underestimation, p 0.05). Among the male participants, the same pattern was evident. African-American ethnicity, Hispanic ethnicity, the level of physical activity, the hours per week watching television, and weight change efforts were not related to the discrepancy between weight change based on self-reported vs. measured weights. Discussion: The discrepancy between weight change based on self-report vs. measured weights was minor and not related to race, weight change efforts, activity, or inactivity, thus suggesting that much of the error is random.
ONE-SIDED VERSUS TWO-SIDED COMMUNICATION UNDER INDIRECT AWARENESS OF PERSUASIVE INTENT

This section of the Quarterly is reserved for brief reports of research in progress, discussions of unsolved problems, methodological studies, and public opinion data not extensively analyzed or interpreted. Succinct case histories are welcomed, as well as hypotheses and insights that may be useful to other students of public opinion. Usually, material in this section will be shorter, more informal, and more tentative than in the preceding pages of the Quarterly.
Primate communication, comparative neurology, and the origin of language re-examined

The view that non-human primates lack significant voluntary control over their vocalizations and that their vocalizations lack propositional, referential, or symbolic qualities has been a persistent one, especially among those who have examined the evolutionary origin of human speech. This view would seem to favor proposals of human language having originated in the form of manual gesture, a modality that in non-human primates appears to be subject to greater voluntary control. Recent field and laboratory investigations of the information conveyed in the natural vocalization system of primates and comparative neurological data, however, point to important similarities between the vocalization system of non-human primates and human speech. In particular, use of innovative methodology such as the “playback” technique has shown in several New and Old World monkey species that calls convey more than the sender's emotionalmotivational state, including also information about the sender's sex, group membership, and social relationships. In some species, calls apparently also have semantic qualities, in that they encode specific information about external objects or events, and there is evidence that the decoding of calls may be governed by simple syntactical rules and that perceptual mechanisms similar to those in human speech may be employed. This structural and functional complexity of calls is also reflected at the level of governing neural mechanisms. Not only is there strong evidence for volitional components in calls and the involvement of neocortical mechanisms, but there may also be a differentiation of neural control mechanisms according to call type. Furthermore, in some species hemispheric asymmetries exist in auditory perception and perhaps also production of calls. Despite the absence of significant neurobiological data from apes, these data suggest that the vocal-auditory machinery of the earliest hominids was far more ready to take on “primordial” speech functions than has been previously supposed.
Ligand addition versus substitution in the slow reaction of 13CO with Mn(CO)4− in a flowing afterglow apparatus

Abstract The gas-phase reactions of Mn(CO)−4 with CO and 13CO are reported. Only addition was observed with CO producing Mn(CO)−5 (kapp = (2.5±0.2) × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1). Both addition (kadd = (3.2 ±0.4) × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1) and substitution (ksub = (1.2 ± 0.4) × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1) product-forming channels were observed in the reaction with 13CO. The average branching fractions for addition and thermoneutral substitution are 0.74 and 0.26 respectively. These branching fractions and the 70% collisional quenching efficiency of the excited addition intermediates [Mn(13CO)(CO)−4]★ with the helium buffer gas are essentially the same values as those previously obtained for the quenching/decomposition of [Fe(13CO)(CO) −3]★. The ground electronic state of Mn(CO)−4 is believed to be the triplet because the negative ion is isoelectronic with Fe(CO)4, a known ground state triplet complex. Thus, the slow rate of the Mn(CO)−4/CO reaction (reaction efficiency = 0.0036) is considered to be the result of the spin-forbidden curve crossing of the triplet Mn(CO)−4 + CO inlet surface to the attractive singlet Mn(CO)−4 + CO → singlet Mn(CO)−5 product surface. Comparisons with the results from the fast spin-allowed addition/substitution reactions of Fe(CO) −3 with 13CO are given.
The interrater reliability of the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality

We examined the joint interview interrater reliability of the Structured Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Personality Disorders (SIDP-IV) in 433 non-treatment-seeking military recruits. Reliability was computed for the diagnosis of a specific personality disorder (PD) and for the number of PD criteria present, and computed using a dimensional score. Reliability increased when PDs were computed using dimensional scores rather than categorical scores. Avoidant and dependent PDs demonstrated the highest interrater reliability, whereas schizoid and schizotypal showed the lowest. This large sample allowed us to perform item-level analyses of the SIDP-IV. Interrater reliability for each of the PD criteria was generally more than 0.70, with the notable exception of criteria scored through observation only. Overall, the SIDP-IV demonstrated good reliability in a non-treatment-seeking population.
Bibliography for molecular graphics

Abstract This paper presents a bibliography of about 140 references related to molecular graphics. There has been no restriction on the type of publication or the scope of the papers accepted. An author index and a keyword index are included to aid the ease of use. Finally, a list is included of system documents that have been widely circulated, ordered on the authors' names.
13C/15N−19F Intermolecular REDOR NMR Study of the Interaction of TAR RNA with Tat Peptides

The complex of the HIV TAR RNA with the viral regulatory protein Tat is of considerable interest, but the plasticity of this interaction has made it impossible so far to establish the structure of that complex. In order to explore a new approach to obtain structural information on protein-RNA complexes, we performed (13)C/(15)N-(19)F REDOR NMR experiments in the solid state on TAR bound to a peptide comprising the RNA-binding section of Tat. A critical arginine in the peptide was uniformly (13)C and (15)N labeled, and 5-fluorouridine was incorporated at the U23 position of TAR. REDOR irradiation resulted in dephasing of the (13)C and (15)N resonances, indicating the proximity of the U23(5F)-C and U23(5F)-N spin pairs. Best fits to the REDOR data show the U23(5F)-C distances and the U23(5F)-N distances are in good agreement with the distances obtained from solution NMR structures of partial complexes of Tat with TAR. These results demonstrate that it is possible to study protein-RNA complexes using solid-state REDOR NMR measurements, adding to a growing list of solid state techniques for studying protein-nucleic acid complexes.
Cystic fibrosis of the pancreas in patients over ten years of age.

Summary A study of 27 patients with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas who lived to be more than 10 years of age presents a wide range of clinicd states. Four of these children on whom observations were made after they had reached the age of 10 years have died at various ages up to nearly 20 years, all with the picture of progressive purulent bronchopneumonia. One of the fatal cases, coming to autopsy after a life span of 13½ years, showed cardiac changes consistent with cor pulmonale. Among the 23 living patients all have cough and clubbing of the fingers as continuing evidence of broncho-pulmonary infection. The healthiest show no other signs of impaired respiratory function, either by roentgenogram or following a work tolerance test; likewise, some of these healthier patients have attained a body weight and height which do not differ significantly from mean values for the appropriate age and sex. For the group as a whole, however, a trend toward significant retardation of growth in height and of gain in weight is evident, the degree of retardation being roughly correlated with the severity of the pulmonary infection. Pubertal changes may be delayed. A number of the most seriously involved patients are in effect respiratory invalids, having a markedly reduced exercise tolerance. Regardless of the severity of their somatic functional status, however, almost all of them sustain a cheerful outlook for the future and build ambitious plans in the manner of all normal children. Although their nutritional state depends primarily on the severity and activity of their broncho-pulmonary infection, as a group these children respond fairly uniformly to changes in diet. Almost without exception they prefer to avoid fat foods, having learned that ingestion of appreciable quantities of fat is followed by abdominal pain or by a change for the worse in the number and character of their stools. Many, having taken pancreatin for several years, now appear to do equally well without it. It would appear that adequate compensation for lost pancreatic digestive function in cystic fibrosis is quite readily attainable, but that the bronchopulmonary infection, once entrenched, is difficult to eradicate. Perhaps the best hope for the future lies in early recognition of the pancreatic lesion and in the institution of an effective prophylaxis of the infection.
Interactive breadboard activity simulation (IBAS) for psychomotor skills education in electrical circuitry

We present an interactive breadboard activity simulation (IBAS) to educate users in acquiring psychomotor skills in electrical circuitry pertaining to the ammeter, voltmeter and multimeter instruments. Psychomotor skills learning involves the association of cognitive functions with motor functions to make the task autonomous with repeated practice, and promoting better recall. In electrical circuitry, this is demonstrated by the fine movements involved in handling and manipulating components on the electrical circuit, particularly while measuring electrical parameters that facilitates learning. Two display metaphors are currently implemented in IBAS, the FishtankVR (FVR) and head-mounted display (HMD) viewing conditions. In an initial user study, we found that users effectively learned the psychomotor skills pertaining to electrical circuitry using IBAS.
Energy-loss profiles of transmitted electrons incident on dielectric spheroids

Abstract We have obtained expressions for the differential energy-loss probability for electrons passing through small condensed-matter spheroids, parallel to the symmetry axis, at arbitrary impact parameter. The expressions, appropriate to oblate, prolate, and spherical targets, are a sum over all multipole contributions. They are expressed as functions of the local dielectric function ϵ(ω), which is obtained from experimental bulk data as it is used here. Numerical evaluations have been carried out for silver and aluminum oblate and prolate targets, including multipole modes up to order (l, m) = (15, 15). The energy-loss functions have been averaged over impact parameter and presented graphically as functions of plasmon energy for a variety of parameters.
In vivo evaluation of patellar tendon stiffness in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome

The objective of this study was to utilise an ultrasonic technique to assess the effect of patellofemoral pain syndrome PFPS on the mechanical properties of the patellar tendon. Seven subjects with PFPS and seven matched control subjects volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects were asked to perform isometric maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors while their knee extension torque was monitored and the displacement of the patellar tendon was recorded with an ultrasonic system. Our results showed significantly lower tendon stiffness by ~30% in the PFPS subjects. Although tendon secant modulus was lower by 34% in the PFPS subjects, the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, we conclude that the ultrasonic technique was able to detect a decrease in the structural stiffness of the patellar tendon associated with PFPS. The decrease in tendon stiffness was moderately correlated with the length of symptoms in these individuals.
CO2 Utilization and Storage in Shale Gas Reservoirs: Experimental Results and Economic Impacts

Abstract Natural gas is considered a cleaner and lower-emission fuel than coal, and its high abundance from advanced drilling techniques has positioned natural gas as a major alternative energy source for the U.S. However, each ton of CO 2 emitted from any type of fossil fuel combustion will continue to increase global atmospheric concentrations. One unique approach to reducing anthropogenic CO 2 emissions involves coupling CO 2 based enhanced gas recovery (EGR) operations in depleted shale gas reservoirs with long-term CO 2 storage operations. In this paper, we report unique findings about the interactions between important shale minerals and sorbing gases (CH4 and CO 2 ) and associated economic consequences. Where enhanced condensation of CO 2 followed by desorption on clay surface is observed under supercritical conditions, a linear sorption profile emerges for CH4. Volumetric changes to montmorillonites occur during exposure to CO 2 . Theory-based simulations identify interactions with interlayer cations as energetically favorable for CO 2 intercalation. In contrast, experimental evidence suggests CH4 does not occupy the interlayer and has only the propensity for surface adsorption. Mixed CH4:CO 2 gas systems, where CH4 concentrations prevail, indicate preferential CO 2 sorption as determined by in situ infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Collectively, these laboratory studies combined with a cost-based economic analysis provide a basis for identifying favorable CO 2 -EOR opportunities in previously fractured shale gas reservoirs approaching final stages of primary gas production. Moreover, utilization of site-specific laboratory measurements in reservoir simulators provides insight into optimum injection strategies for maximizing CH4/CO 2 exchange rates to obtain peak natural gas production.
Intrinsic cardiac rate regulation in elasmobranchs: The horned shark, Heterodontus francisci, and thornback ray, Platyrhinoidis triseriata

Abstract 1. 1. Isolated spontaneously beating hearts of five horned sharks, Heterodontus francisci , and four thornback rays, Playtrhinoidis triseriata , have been perfused in vitro at various pressures with a saline medium in order to establish whether or not the pacemakers of these elasmobranchs contained an intrinsic pressure-sensitive rate regulatory mechanism. 2. 2. In the shark hearts 77 per cent and in the ray hearts 88 per cent of the observations yielded positive results. A total of 230 studies were performed on the nine hear from both species. 3. 3. In numerous instances, spontaneously occurring atrioventricular block or arrhythmias, which were observed at low perfusion pressures, were converted to a regular beat when the pressure was augmented sufficiently. 4. 4. The data consistently indicate that the pacemakers of both shark and ray hearts exhibit the fundamental property of intrinsic rate regulation. 5. 5. The data presented in this paper on elasmobranch hearts further substantiate the earlier conclusion that intrinsic cardiac rate regulation represents an ancient and independent phylogenetic development in the pacemakers of many species of animals.
Analysis of Capillary Flow in Rounded Corners

The problem of capillary flow in interior corners that are rounded is re-visited analytically in this work. By the appropriate geometric scaling, and through the introduction of a new parameter that features the roundedness of the corner, the Navier-Stokes equation is reduced to a convenient form for both numerical and analytical solution. The scaling and analysis of the problem is expected to significantly reduce the reliance on numerical data for such problems, and the design process can be both shortened and improved as a result. For capillary flows of perfect wetting fluids in the rounded corner with an advancing tip, a finite interfacial curvature related to the corner roundedness results at the tip. Accordingly, an outer and inner region of the flow is suggested based on the impact of the corner roundedness on the flow. In this study, asymptotic solutions of the geometrical ‘cross-flow’ problem for the outer region are sought under several constraints and are expected to narrowly bracket parallel numerical solutions. A complete understanding of the flow will be obtained only after the cross-flow problem for the inner region is solved. However, for the flow in the outer region a similarity solution is obtained and presented that reveals how roundedness retards the flow.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
ESR evidence for the generation of reactive oxygen species from the copper-mediated oxidation of the benzene metabolite, hydroquinone: role in DNA damage

In previous studies, we observed that Cu(II) strongly induces the oxidation of hydroquinone (HQ), producing benzoquinone and H2O2 through a Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycle mechanism. The oxidation of HQ by Cu(II) also results in plasmid DNA cleavage. In this study, using ESR spectroscopy we have investigated whether this chemical-metal redox system can generate reactive oxygen species which induce DNA damage. In order to set the stage for the ESR experiments and the inhibitors to be used in these experiments, some preliminary O2 consumption and plasmid DNA cleavage experiments were performed. Mixing 100 microM HQ with 10 microM Cu(II) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) resulted in a marked consumption of O2 and the concomitant generation of H2O2, and extensive DNA degradation in chi X-174 RF I DNA. The presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD) or mannitol did not affect either the O2 consumption, H2O2 generation or DNA damage. In contrast, the Cu(I) chelators, bathocuproinedisulfonic acid (BCS) and glutathione (GSH), extensively inhibited the HQ/Cu(II)-mediated O2 consumption and DNA damage. The presence of catalase also prevented the DNA damage. Although the HQ/Cu(II)-mediated O2 consumption increased in the presence of azide, azide markedly inhibited the HQ/Cu(II)-induced DNA degradation, resulting in primarily open circles. Using ESR spectroscopy, it was observed that Cu(II) strongly mediated the formation of semiquinone anion radicals from HQ in PBS, which could be blocked by BCS. alpha-(4-Pyridyl-1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone (4-POBN)-spin trapping experiments showed that the interaction of HQ with Cu(II) produced 4-POBN-CH3 and 4-POBN-CH(OH)CH3 adducts in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and ethanol, respectively, suggesting that hydroxyl radical or an equivalent reactive intermediate is generated from the HQ/Cu(II) system. The presence of catalase, BCS or GSH but not SOD completely prevented the formation of 4-POBN-CH3 adduct from the HQ/Cu(II) plus 4-POBN/DMSO system. This indicates that both H2O2 and Cu(I) are critical for the formation of reactive oxygen from the HQ/Cu(II) system. Anaerobic conditions induced an approximately 85% decrease in the formation of 4-POBN-CH3 adduct. Reactive oxygen scavenger experiments showed that the formation of the 4-POBN-CH3 adduct was significantly inhibited by azide but not by mannitol. Overall, the above results indicate that through a copper-redox cycling mechanism the copper-mediated oxidation of HQ generates reactive oxygen species which may participate in DNA damage.
Differential diagnosis of dementia and depression in the elderly using neuropsychological methods

Abstract This study examined the utility of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery in the differential diagnosis of dementia, major depression, and general neurological impairment. Orthogonal contrasts between groups showed superior performance for depressives on most Halstead-Reitan subtests. Contrasts between organically impaired groups showed that these groups did not differ significantly (p > .05) on any of the Halstead-Reitan subtests. A step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that on the basis of neuropsychological variables alone, demented patients were differentiated from elderly depressed with clinical levels of accuracy. However, when neurologically impaired and demented patients were considered together in a single group reflecting organic impairment, hits increased dramatically. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for differentially diagnosing dementia and depression in the elderly.
Hemoglobinopathies in pregnancy

Hemoglobinopathies represent a unique set of genetic disorders. Formerly, many affected individuals did not survive to childbearing age. Affected women now commonly reach childbearing age and desire pregnancy. Successful pregnancy is possible in many cases with carefully coordinated obstetric and medical management. Genetic screening and prenatal diagnosis is an important aspect of prenatal care in these disorders. DNA mutation analysis offers rapid and accurate fetal diagnosis. Pregnancy also offers a unique situation in that cord blood has become a valuable source of stem cells for transplant. This allows the potential role of the unaffected fetus as a donor for affected siblings. In addition, it was proposed that the fetus may be able to act as a donor of stem cells for an affected mother. Despite current screening recommendations,many couples are not aware that they are carriers; it is common for a child to be born with an unexpected, serious hemoglobinopathies. For this reason, newborn screening programs have been introduced in most high-risk areas. Early diagnosis can facilitate implementation of proper preventive health measures, education of the parents regarding their carrier status, and provide the child with ongoing comprehensive care.
Reactions of coordinated molecules. XIV. The substitution chemistry of the metallo-acetylacetonate complex [cis-(OC)4Mn(CH3CO)2]3Al

Abstract The attempted direct substitution of one carbonyl ligand on each manganese atom of the metallacetylacetonate complex [cis-(OC) 4 Mn(CH 3 CO) 2 ] 3 Al, by triphenylphosphane, o-phenanthroline, dipyridyl or methyl isocyanide using thermal or photolytic activation led to the degradation of the complex. However, when the substituted acetyl complexes, cis -CH 3 C(O)Mn(CO) 4 (RNC), where R is methyl, cyclohexyl or t-butyl, are prepared and treated with one molar equivalent of methyllithium, the resulting substituted metallo-acetylacetonate anions form neutral, tris-chelate complexes with Al(III).
A low-cost channel scheduling design for multi-hop handoff delay reduction in internet-based wireless mesh networks

Seamless handoff support is an essential issue to ensure continuous communications in multi-hop wireless mesh networks (WMNs). Due to the multi-hop transmission of network-layer handoff signaling packets, the handoff performance in WMNs can be largely degraded by the long queueing delay and medium access delay at each mesh router, especially when the backbone traffic volume is high. However, this issue is ignored in existing handoff solutions and multi-channel allocation schemes. In this paper, we address the seamless handoff support from a different perspective and propose a novel channel allocation design in hierarchical WMNs to reduce the queueing delay and medium access delay of handoff signaling packets over multihop wireless links and to improve the average channel utilization simultaneously. Both analytical and OPNET simulation results show that the performance of the average channel utilization and total handoff delay can be improved significantly using our proposed channel allocation scheme under various scenarios, as compared to other existing channel allocation and handoff solutions in multi-hop WMNs.
A Software Framework for Probabilistic Fatigue Life Assessment of Gas Turbine Engine Rotors

An enhanced life management process based on probabilistic damage tolerance methods has been developed to address material anomalies in titanium rotating components of gas turbine engines. Related methods are being used as tools to investigate the impact of engine monitoring and usage variability on prognosis for field readiness and life management. This paper begins with an overview of the process of probabilistic damage tolerant design, using the DARWIN® computer program to illustrate the interplay between various random variables and the conventional elements of structural design and life prediction. Special attention is then given to the initial distribution of material anomalies, scatter in fatigue crack growth data, and variability in complex mission histories. The significance of each source of variability for different applications is discussed.
Characteristics of panic attack subtypes: Assessment of spontaneous panic, situational panic, sleep panic, and limited symptom attacks

We report the analyses of daily journal descriptions of 790 self-defined panic attacks from 59 patients meeting DSM-III criteria for panic disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks. The DSM-III-R specified symptoms occurred with frequencies ranging from choking (17% of attacks) to palpitations (63% of attacks). The mean weekly panic attack severity correlated significantly with the number of symptoms per attack, but not their weekly frequency. Within a given person, situational and spontaneous panic attacks did not significantly differ over a number of characteristics, including severity, duration, frequency per week, diurnal distribution, and the number of symptoms per attack. Limited symptom attacks were less severe, but were otherwise similar to panic attacks. Also, panic attacks during sleep were less frequent than panic attacks in the awake state, but did not significantly differ on other descriptive characteristics. These data support the validity of the symptoms specified for panic attacks by DSM-III-R. They also suggest that within an individual, panic attacks of various subtypes may be descriptively similar, despite the differing contexts in which they arise. In addition, these data question the diagnostic significance of the limited symptom attack-panic attack distinction.
What Becoming Pilot-in-Command Taught Me about Teaching Adults.

This essay outlines the key lessons I re-learned about teaching adults when I decided to earn my private pilot license. I faced a steep learning curve and needed to conquer my fear of falling from the sky when learning required flight maneuvers. The lessons are not about adult development or learning theories or instructional techniques. The lessons are more basic and central to our daily work as educators. These lessons are about empathy, understanding, and building relationships in order to enhance an adult learner's motivation to learn and foster a passion for continued learning.
Cortical gray and white matter volume in unmedicated schizotypal and schizophrenia patients.

Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have revealed fronto-temporal cortical gray matter volume reductions in schizophrenia. However, to date studies have not examined whether age- and sex-matched unmedicated schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) patients share some or all of the structural brain-imaging characteristics of schizophrenia patients. We examined cortical gray/white matter volumes in a large sample of unmedicated schizophrenia-spectrum patients (n = 79 SPD, n = 57 schizophrenia) and 148 healthy controls. MRI images were reoriented to standard position parallel to the anterior–posterior commissure line, segmented into gray and white matter tissue types, and assigned to Brodmann areas (BAs) using a postmortem-histological atlas. Group differences in regional volume of gray and white matter in the BAs were examined with MANOVA. Schizophrenia patients had significantly reduced gray matter volume widely across the cortex but more marked in frontal and temporal lobes. SPD patients had reductions in the same regions but only about half that observed in schizophrenia and sparing in key regions including BA10. In schizophrenia, greater fronto-temporal volume loss was associated with greater negative symptom severity and in SPD, greater interpersonal and cognitive impairment. Overall, our findings suggest that increased prefrontal volume in BA10 and sparing of volume loss in temporal cortex (BAs 22 and 20) may be a protective factor in SPD which reduces vulnerability to psychosis.
Minimum perturbation coordinates on SO(3)

Systems that use internal shape changes to control their orientation in space have interested the geometric controls community for some time. Examples include the classic problem of a falling cat and the more applied attitude control of satellites. The dynamics of these systems are dominated by conservation of angular momentum, which induces a set of constraints between changes in shape and spatial orientation. This relationship can be combined with Lie bracket theory to identify shape changes that produce desired net rotations. The major weakness of the Lie bracket approach is that it only works for relatively small-amplitude motions; these methods depend on a local linearization of the system dynamics, which breaks down as larger motions are considered. Recent work on a related problem, planar locomotion, has shown that this breakdown can be mitigated by identifying a set of minimum perturbation coordinates for the system; application of Lie bracket theory in the minimum perturbation coordinates allows these methods to be applied to a broader and more interesting class of shape changes. In this work, we bring the derivation of minimum perturbation coordinates to the space of three-dimensional rotations. We show that as a result, we are able to derive visual tools that provide the control designer intuition into selecting cyclic controllers for inertial systems in free flight. These tools are demonstrated on a minimal satellite model taken from the literature.
Bundists and minority rights after the Holocaust

The Jewish Workers' Bund was shattered by the Holocaust, not only physically but spiritually. Its membership was decimated and its philosophical foundation was thought by many to have been discredited. Several thousand Bundist survivors made their homes in countries with liberal and democratic traditions, and tried to build new Bundist movements. This essay focuses on how Bundists in two of these countries – the United States and Australia – sought to adapt aspects of traditional Bundist thought, particularly as they confronted issues surrounding race that differed greatly from racial issues in Europe. It helps shed new light on the ultimate fate of the Bund and gives a sense of how local political and cultural circumstances came to shape a newly decentralised, and barely breathing, Bundism.
Recommended Guidelines on Using Social Networking Technologies for HIV Prevention Research

Online social networking can be used as an innovative method of HIV prevention. As these technologies grow increasingly prevalent, standards must be established to ensure their safety and efficacy in research. This manuscript presents the field of ‘‘social networking for HIV prevention’’ by highlighting (a) the purpose of social networking technologies, (b) methods of using the technologies for HIV prevention research, and (c) recommended guidelines to improve data quality and study efficacy.
Governmentality and the War on Terror: FBI Project Carnivore and the Diffusion of Disciplinary Power

Social control capabilities have increased significantly over the past several decades, particularly because of an increased utilization of technologically advanced surveillance methods. Following the tragic events of September 11,2001, U.S. Congress and the present Administration have granted law enforcement considerable new powers in the enforcement and prevention of terrorism-related crime. Collectively labeled under the heading of the so-called ‘‘war on terror’’ , the scope of such laws, policies and directives are challenged by civil rights organizations and numerous legislators for lack of definitional precision, arbitrary application of sanctions, and violation of privacy laws. One of federal law enforcement’s surveillance tools is ‘‘Project Carnivore,’’ a Justice Department Internet surveillance program that is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to access information flowing to and from a central processing unit on a network connection. While, theoretically relying on Michel Foucault’s theory of discipline and governmentality, as well as related insights in the social control literature, this paper examines Project Carnivore relative to the larger context of state rationality and related privacy issues.
Presentism, Walter Benjamin, and the Search for Meaning in King Lear

The much-used phrase “the meaning of life” is symptomatic of a cultural crisis in which such meaning is not obvious. The modern institutions called “literature” and “culture” arose in part as attempted answers to this crisis, producing the mid-twentieth-century discourses of New Criticism and liberal humanism. In the reaction against these discourses over the last thirty years of English studies, issues of larger meanings in literary studies have tended to disappear in favour of strictly political issues. However, signs are emerging that the crisis of meaning is on the critical agenda again, and the Presentist critical movement is one important vehicle for this renewed interest. A precedent for this new interest can be found in critics who are important theoretical forebears of Presentism, the 1920s’ “pre-Marxist”, Hegelian critics Georg Lukacs and Walter Benjamin, in whose writings the search for meaning was central. By applying Benjamin's idea that Shakespeare wrote, instead of tragedies, versions of mo...
Numerical simulations of transient flows in ram accelerators

Time-accurate simulations are performed for reactive flows around accelerating projectiles in rrun accelerators. The sirnulations show that the Row field is highly transient and the combustion process is strongly affected by the projectile acceleration. In the simulation, the acceleration of the projectile is coupled into the Bow computation using the noninertial source (NIS) term. Tests of this technique show that changes in the Bow field due to the projectile acceleration can be smoothly corn puted for acceleration values up to 108G, which ore much higher than typical acceleration valua of the ram-accelerator projectile (approximately from 104G to 10%). In addition, the virtual cell ernbedding (VCE) method is used to represent efficiently complex projectile shapes on Cartesian grids. We demorlstrated that the combination of the NIS and VCE methods can be used to simulate accurately and efficiently transient flows around accelerating hodies in ram accelerators and other propulsion systems.
An evaluation of stabilizing selection as a mechanism for stasis

Abstract In this paper we evaluate the role that stabilizing selection plays in mediating the long term stasis of species. We present a case study from the fossil record which questions the prominent role of stabilizing selection as a mechanism for stasis. We also discuss an alternative mechanism for stasis based on how species are organized in nature, which predicts that as long as a species occurs in several different environments it will be buffered against net change. We conclude that evolutionary and ecological theory indicate that stabilizing selection will only play an important role in maintaining stasis in species if communities are at equilibrium and/or the physical environment is stable over long periods of time. Currently, most data indicate that neither of these is likely, though the recent documentation of long term stability in the Paleozoic faunas of New York State, the phenomenon of coordinated stasis, could conceivably be correlated with some sort of stable ecological entities, possibly a stable community structure. However, in the case of one of these faunas, the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group, patterns of morphological stasis in species appear to be unrelated to stabilizing selection. This implies either that the stability of the Hamilton Group fauna is not equivalent to a set of stable communities, or, even if it is, then at equilibrium stabilizing selection is not an important mechanism mediating stasis.
Saturable absorber properties of a laser dye; stimulated propagation of the pump flux.

Inefficiencies in a laser dye resulting from excited state absorption are examined analytically with respect to its pump saturation behavior under conditions of small (extracted) signal gain. The spectrum of the lowest excited singlet state for such a dye shows a crossover point from excited state absorption σ* to gain σe, and this point can occur blue-shifted from the onset of ground-state absorption σo. At wavelengths where σo, σ*, and σe operate simultaneously and at flux densities used for laser pumped dye oscillators and amplifiers, stimulated propagation of the pump flux compensates, in part, for excited state absorption losses. Under certain conditions, higher transmissions, flux densities, and excited state population densities are possible than for even a pure saturable absorber. A laser dye pumped between the crossover point and the onset of ground-state absorption sacrifices high excited state densities at the pump surface in order to give a uniform distribution deep into the medium. The percentage photon loss from excited state absorption is a function of σ* and the initial pump flux only and is independent of σe and concentration.
Free recall learning in normal and retarded children.

Abstract General and operational distinctions were drawn between item and order properties and between primary and secondary organization in multitrial free recall (MFR) to explore the assumption that poor immediate memory on the part of retarded children is due to a deficiency in ordering. Twelve educable retardates and 12 normals, matched with the retardates for MA, were each given 10 free recall trials on a list of 10 letters drawn randomly from the alphabet. Estimates of item recall, primary and secondary ordering, and the frequency of omission, repetition, and intrusion errors were obtained. The results indicated (a) a retardate deficit in item recall, (b) no normal-retardate differences in primary or secondary ordering, and (c) a retardate susceptibility to errors of intrusion. These findings offer no support for the hypothesis that the retardate's lowered item recall is due to inefficient organization.
P gene mutations associated with oculocutaneous albinism type II (OCA2)

Oculocutaneous albinism type II (OCA2) is the most common form of albinism in humans. OCA2 has been previously associated with mutations of the P gene, the human homologue to the murine pink-eyed dilution gene. The P gene encodes a 110 kDa protein containing 12 potential membrane spanning domains and is associated with melanosomal membranes. The specific function of the P protein is currently unknown but is thought to be involved in tyrosinase processing and transport. We report nine novel mutations in the P gene associated with OCA2. These include two missense mutations, c.1938A>C (p.Ile646Val) and c.1556T>C (p.Val519Ala); one nonsense mutation c.612G>A (p.Trp204X); five frameshift mutations: c.2372_2373delTC, c.1555delG, c.1938_1939insC, c.2050delT, and c.1045_1046delAT; and a splice site mutation c.1951+1G>A. We also report 12 novel polymorphisms including one amino acid substitution, c.2365_2366GC>CA (p.Ala789Glu). At present, there is no functional assay to determine if a mutation is truly pathogenic. The presence of numerous polymorphisms of the P gene in the coding region, several of which result in amino acid substitutions, makes molecular diagnosis problematic. To ensure accurate molecular diagnosis, further mutational analysis will be necessary to produce a comprehensive list of mutations associated with OCA2. This information will also help define the critical functional domains of the P protein. Mutations associated with OCA2 can be found in the Albinism Database (http://albinismdb.med.umn.edu).
Inevitable self-similar topology of binary trees and their diverse hierarchical density

Self-similar topology, which can be characterized as power law size distribution, has been found in diverse tree networks ranging from river networks to taxonomic trees. In this study, we find that the statistical self-similar topology is an inevitable consequence of any full binary tree organization. We show this by coding a binary tree as a unique bifurcation string. This coding scheme allows us to investigate trees over the realm from deterministic to entirely random trees. To obtain partial random trees, partial random perturbation is added to the deterministic trees by an operator similar to that used in genetic algorithms. Our analysis shows that the hierarchical density of binary trees is more diverse than has been described in earlier studies. We find that the connectivity structure of river networks is far from strict self-similar trees. On the other hand, organization of some social networks is close to deterministic supercritical trees.
‘LET US SWIM IN THE POOL OF LOVE’: LOVE LETTERS AND DISCOURSES OF COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY TANZANIA*

This article uses a series of love letters exchanged between an African Anglican priest and a teacher-in-training before their marriage to investigate the relationship between the fashioning of the individual self, marriage, and community at the dawn of Tanganyika's independence. When seen through marriage's historical position as an institution central to community composition, these letters illustrate how the family – and the intimate process of building families – could become an alternate site of national imagination. These two young lovers understood their marriage as an explicitly political act of community composition, and cast themselves as characters in the drama of national imagination. In negotiating their twentieth-century marriage, Rose and Gideon became political innovators, selecting, producing, and testing the content and boundaries of the nation.