cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Art of Manipulation: Preparing the Learner for Uterine Manipulation in Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

Study Objective To determine whether kinesthetic learning using a simulated pelvic model while learning the uterine manipulation maneuvers of a laparoscopic hysterectomy improves learning compared to an interactive video module alone. Design Randomized controlled study. Setting Academic medical center. Patients or Participants Forty, first-year and second-year medical students who had never performed uterine manipulation Interventions A low-cost simulated pelvic model for kinesthetic learning during an interactive video module. Measurements and Main Results Forty, first-year and second-year medical students participated in the study, which included an interactive video module with formative assessment, summative assessment, cadaveric assessment, and qualitative post-participation survey. Participants were randomized to the intervention group (n=21) who used a simulated pelvic model for kinesthetic learning during the video module or the control group (n=19) who only had the video module to learn the uterine manipulation maneuvers of a laparoscopic hysterectomy. There was no difference between the control and intervention groups on final score, number of attempts, or time to completion of the summative assessment. On the cadaveric assessment, participants in the intervention group had fewer unnecessary movements with demonstration of both right pelvic sidewall (control 78.9%, intervention 42.9%, p Conclusion Kinesthetic practice may not be required for learning the uterine manipulation maneuvers of a laparoscopic hysterectomy, but it may be beneficial for more novice learners and to increase learners’ perceived preparedness. Our interactive video module alone may be sufficient to prepare learners to perform uterine manipulation maneuvers prior to the operating room.
Chapter 3 Electrophysiological correlates of early speech perception and language development during infancy and early childhood

Abstract It is logical to contend that early phonetic discrimination skills have direct relevance to later language development. Infants who experience difficulty in discriminating phonetic contrasts are more at risk for lower levels of later language development (Molfese & Molfese, 1985; 1997; Molfese & Searock, 1986). Moreover, this point is further supported by the fact that studies investigating some types of language related disabilities, as in the case of reading disabilities or learning disabilities, have generally indicated that these children and adults share a phonological deficit (see Lyon, 1994). The following review focuses on studies utilizing a number of paradigms conducted over the past 3 decades which indicate that event related potentials (ERPs) are sensitive to phonetic variations (Kraus, et al., 46; Molfese, 67; Molfese, et al., 72; Molfese and Molfese, 78, 79, 81, 82) and early word acquisition (Molfese, 1989, 1990; Molfese, Morse, & Peters, 1990; Molfese, Wetzel, & Gill, 1994). This review will focus on electrophysiological studies used to study phonetic discrimination abilities in young infants and children.
Influence of glucose, fructose, and water movement on calcium absorption in the jejunum

Abstract The first experiment demonstrated that glucose stimulated calcium absorption. Possible mechanisms include: (a) glucose stimulation of active calcium absorption, (b) glucose stimulation of water absorption with enhanced calcium absorption by solvent drag, or (c) glucose stimulation of water absorption caused an increased luminal calcium concentration with resultant increased active and/or passive calcium absorption. In a second experiment, neither glucose, fructose or water absorption stimulated calcium absorption when luminal calcium concentration was maintained at a constant level. These results suggest: (a) glucose and fructose indirectly enhance calcium absorption via an effect on water movement, (b) water absorption enhances calcium absorption by virtue of concentrating unabsorbed calcium within the intestinal lumen, not by solvent drag, and (c) bulk water movement and passive calcium ion movement take place via separate channels.
Reliability generalization of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intentions

A reliability generalization study (a meta-analysis of reliability coefficients) was conducted on three widely studied information systems constructs from the technology acceptance model (TAM): perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intentions. This form of meta-analysis summarizes the reliability coefficients of the scores on a specified scale across studies and identifies the study characteristics that influence the reliability of these scores. Reliability is a critical issue in conducting empirical research as the reliability of the scores on well-established scales can vary with study characteristics, attenuating effect sizes. In conducting this study, an extensive literature search was conducted, with 380 articles reviewed and coded to perform reliability generalization. Study characteristics, including technology, sample, and measurement characteristics, for these articles were recorded along with effect size data for the relationships among these variables. After controlling for number of items, sample size, and sampling error, differences in reliability coefficients were found with several study characteristics for the three technology acceptance constructs. The reliability coefficients of PEOU and PU were lower in hedonic contexts than in utilitarian contexts, and were higher when the originally validated scales were used as compared to when other items were substituted. Only 27 percent of the studies that provided the measurement items used the original PEOU items, while 39 percent used the original PU items. Scales that were administered in English had higher reliability coefficients for PU and BI, with a marginal effect for PEOU. Reliability differences were also found for other study characteristics, including reliability type, subject experience, and gender composition. While average reliability coefficients were high, the results show that, on average, relationships among these constructs are attenuated by 12 percent with maximum attenuation in the range of 35 to 43 percent. Implications for technology acceptance research are discussed and suggestions for addressing variation in reliability coefficients across studies are provided.
How can Garbage Collection be energy efficient by dynamic offloading

Garbage Collection (GC) is still a major issue in JVM for both mobile and cluster computing. GC offloading is proposed to improve the performance of GC by delivering part or all of the operations into another dedicated GC hardware. However, the traditional offloading just offloads directly not considering the phase change of GC behavior, which can be classified into two different groups: minor GC and major GC. The minor GC is fast and frequently invoked, while major GC is expensive in terms of time but seldom takes place. The direct offloading made GC workload frequently hopping between main processor and GC hardware, introduced a noticeable overhead and offset any possible benefits of workload loading. To solve this issue, we propose to offload GC dynamically by a careful selection of profitable and harmful GC operations. We also made a case study on Apache Spark, a lightning-fast cluster computing platform. It shows dynamic offloading can yield nearly 42.6% performance improvement with a concurrent 32.1% in energy cost reduction.
The active bacterial community in a pristine confined aquifer

[1] This study of the active bacteria residing in a pristine confined aquifer provides unexpected insights into the ecology of iron-reducing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in the subsurface. At 18 wells, we trapped the microbes that attached to aquifer sediment and used molecular techniques to examine the bacterial populations. We used multivariate statistics to compare the composition of bacterial communities among the wells with respect to the chemistry of the groundwater. We found groundwater at each well was considerably richer in ferrous iron than sulfide, indicating iron-reducing bacteria should, by established criteria, dominate the sulfate reducers. Our results show, however, that areas where groundwater contains more than a negligible amount of sulfate (>0.03 mM), populations related to sulfate reducers of the generaDesulfobacter and Desulfobulbus were of nearly equal abundance with putative iron reducers related to Geobacter, Geothrix, and Desulfuromonas. Whereas sulfate is a key discriminant of bacterial community structure, we observed no statistical relationship between the distribution of bacterial populations in this aquifer and the concentration of either ferrous iron or dissolved sulfide. These results call into question the validity of using the relative concentration of these two ions to predict the nature of bacterial activity in an aquifer. Sulfate reducers and iron reducers do not appear to be segregated into discrete zones in the aquifer, as would be predicted by the theory of competitive exclusion. Instead, we find the two groups coexist in the subsurface in what we suggest is a mutualistic relationship.
Case Studies in Complementarity: Improving Model Formulation

Over the past several years, many practitioners have been formulating nonlinear variational inequalities as mixed complementarity problems within modeling languages such as GAMS and AMPL. Sometimes the models generated are poorly specified, either because the function is undefined near the solution or the problem is ill-conditioned or singular. In this paper, we look at information provided by the PATH solver about the model that can be used to identify problem areas and improve formulation. Descriptions and uses of the data provided are detailed via several case studies.
Immunoregulation of mammalian fertility.

Abstract Fertility management is a global issue of agricultural, medical, economic, and social consequence. Although many methods have been devised to both inhibit and assist reproduction, more acceptable alternatives are needed. Regulation by immune intervention is a promising technology as applied to livestock, pets, wildlife, and human beings. Outcome is dictated by site within the reproductive axis that is targeted. Fertility is suppressed by immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone, gonadotropins, prostaglandin F 2 α, oxytocin, gonadotropin receptors, and gamete/embryonic antigens. It also is possible to lyse gonadal cells with ligand-antibody hybrid molecules. Ovulation rates are enhanced by vaccination with inhibin. Antibodies to sex steroid hormones have yielded mixed results. Perhaps recombinant viral vectors can be used to deliver reproductive immunogens. A new and simple technique to generate sustained autoimmune reactions to hormones and cellular antigens entails direct gene transfer into somatic cells. Evolving advances in reproductive immunology and biotechnology should furnish us with novel nonsurgical contraceptives and profertility agents that can be efficiently and safely implemented.
Computer Assisted Tomography without a Computer

In computer assisted tomography, measured projections are filtered and back-projected to obtain the reconstructed image. With radioisotopic imaging, however, detected events are processed individually so that it is also possible to both filter and back-project individual events. Since the filter function is the same for each event (except for the location of the function), the filter function can be stored and then back-projected from the proper location for each event. A computer is not necessary, therefore, for either the filtering or back-projection calculations.
THE EFFECTS OF HALIDE MODIFIERS ON THE SORPTION KINETICS OF THE LI-MG-N-H SYSTEM

In this present work, the affects of different transition metal halides (TiCl{sub 3}, VCl{sub 3}, ScCl{sub 3} and NiCl{sub 2}) on the sorption properties of the 1:1 molar ratio of LiNH{sub 2} to MgH{sub 2} are investigated. The modified mixtures were found to contain LiNH{sub 2}, MgH{sub 2} and LiCl. TGA results showed that the hydrogen desorption temperature was reduced with the modifier addition in this order: TiCl{sub 3}>ScCl{sub 3}>VCl{sub 3}>NiCl{sub 2}. Ammonia release was not significantly reduced resulting in a weight loss greater than the theoretical hydrogen storage capacity of the material. The isothermal sorption kinetics of the modified systems showed little improvement after the first dehydrogenation cycle over the unmodified system but showed drastic improvement in rehydrogenation cycles. XRD and Raman spectroscopy identified the cycled material to be composed of LiH, MgH{sub 2}, Mg(NH{sub 2}){sub 2} and Mg{sub 3}N{sub 2}.
Prediction of local skin-friction coefficient by transformation of the compressible boundary layer with heat transfer

Abstract This paper presents a transformation between compressible and incompressible two-dimensional and axisymmetric boundary-layer flows. The transformation may be used to predict local skin-friction coefficients for laminar and for turbulent flows, in zero as well as in favorable pressure gradient, and also for conditions with surface heat transfer through the use of the reference temperature. Application is limited, in the present version, to Prandtl number in the order of unity. The final form of the transformation involves a factor to be determined by comparison with experiment, and in the present case this is done for a particular range of data on air. Accordingly, quantitative application of the results will have greatest assurance for air over this same range, pending further data on other fields and ranges of flow conditions. Sample computations illustrate the application of the transformation to (1) turbulent flow of air along an insulated flat plate with free stream Mach number of 3.7, and (2) laminar boundary layer of air along a sphere with free stream Mach number of 2.855. These cases demonstrate good agreement between predicted and measured skin-friction coefficients as affected by aerodynamic heating.
Cellular automata in cytoskeletal lattices

Cellular automata (CA) activities could mediate biological regulation and information processing via nonlinear electrodynamic effects in cytoskeletal lattice arrays. Frohlich coherent oscillations and other nonlinear mechanisms may effect discrete 10−10 to 10−11 s interval events which result in dynamic patterns in biolattices such as cylindrical protein polymers: microtubules (MT). Structural geometry and electrostatic forces of MT subunit dipole oscillations suggest neighbor rules among the hexagonally packed protein subunits. Computer simulations using these suggested rules and MT structural geometry demonstrate CA activities including dynamical and stable self-organizing patterns, oscillators, and traveling “gliders”. CA activities in MT and other cytoskeletal lattices may have important biological regulatory functions.
Effects of Harvesting, Transportation, and Cryogenic Processing on the Microflora of Southern Peas

Samples of southern peas [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., cv. Purple Hull Pinkeye] were obtained at critical stages in a normal harvesting, transportation, and cryogenic processing operation and microbiologically analyzed for total plate count (TPC), Enterobacteriaceae count (ENT), and yeast and mold counts. Molds were identified to genera while ENT were identified to species. Operations involving extended holding times tended to increase all counts significantly, although subsequent processing reduced these counts to an acceptable level. Predominant genera of ENT and molds appeared to be soil borne organisms such as Enterobacter agglomerans, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsella pneumoniae, and Serratia liquefaciens, and Fusarium, Cladisporium, Alternaria, Phoma, and Aspergillus, respectively.
Biochemical Analysis of a Common Human Polymorphism Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration†

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in developed countries. A large number of human genetic studies have associated a common variant (Y402H) of complement factor H (CFH) with a highly significant increase in AMD risk. CFH is a modular protein with 20 homologous short consensus repeats (SCRs). The Y402H variant is located in SCR7 of both CFH and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1), a splice variant of CFH (containing SCR1-7) with unique biochemical properties. Because SCR7 is known to bind to heparin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and M protein from Streptococcus pyogenes, it has been hypothesized that the AMD-associated polymorphism may affect interactions with these CFH ligands. In this study, we tested this hypothesis in the context of full-length CFH (SCR1-20) and FHL-1. We systematically analyzed the interactions of the Y402 and H402 variants of CFH and FHL-1 with heparin, CRP, and several bacterial ligands: M6 protein of Streptococcus pyogenes, PspC of Streptococcus pneumoniea, and BbCRASP-1 of Borrelia burgdorferi. In comparing the Y and H variants of CFH and FHL-1, we found no significant difference in their protein secretion, cofactor activity, or interactions with heparin, BbCRASP-1, or PspC, but a significant difference in binding to CRP and M6 protein. This study reveals the fundamental properties of a common polymorphism of CFH and lays the groundwork for elucidating the role of CFH in AMD pathogenesis.
Leadership Development: Its Importance in Programs for Gifted Youth

Developing leadership skills among the nation's gifted young sters must be a part of their educational program, points out this writer, who explains here a variety of ways that it can be accom plished.
Power — The key to press freedom: A four‐tiered social model

Raw (pragmatic) and potential (theoretical) power is seen as the key to press freedom in various global settings. Because the locus of power determines the locus of freedom, the authors suggest a model to understand where the raw and potential power resides within a matrix consisting of the State, the Media Elite, the Journalists, or the People. Numerous questions concerning accountability and ethics are raised concerning the practical application of a model that purports to overcome cultural biases inherent in traditional theories of press and society.
Adhesive energy and charge transfer for MgO/Cu heterophase interfaces.

Local-density-functional-theory (LDFT) calculations within the plane-wave pseudopotential framework are performed for two polar (111) and two nonpolar (100) MgO/Cu interfaces. The polar interfaces have larger works of adhesion than nonpolar ones, consistent with field-ion and electron-microscopy observations of (111) interfaces in internally oxidized specimens. Large shifts in the potential of the interface layer relative to the bulk occur in the polar but not in the nonpolar interfaces. For both polar and nonpolar interfaces, the charge transfer profile is essentially confined to two layers on each side of the interface. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
One reason why we rarely forget a face

We wished to demonstrate that recognition memory for pictures depends at least in part on the perceiver’s construction of a coherent organized perception, rather than only on some independently ascertained stimulus variables. To do this, we used the very high contrast drawings of faces developed by Mooney. Each of these appears as what initially looks like a random assemblage of black and white elements. But is it possible for the perceiver to organize the components into a structure-a structure in which a face is seen. These pictures are useful in this context because of their organizational ambiguity-something happens in the perceiver, not in the stimulus itself. Adult Ss were initially shown half of the pictures, which they inspected one at a time, and were asked for each if they saw a face or not. For recognition testing, they were then shown all of the pictures, again one at a time, and asked to indicate for each one whether it was new or old and if they saw a face or not. Recognition testing was given either immediately after the inspection series or delayed 3 days. A third group of Ss was tested with the pictures upside down. Recognition in all cases was significantly better for an old picture if the S saw a face in it during inspection and recognition testing. Further, a new picture was more likely to be called “new” if it was seen as a face during recognition. These results were also found after a 3-day retention delay. These, plus subsidiary analyses, were taken as strong support for the intended demonstration that organizational properties of perceptual memory are important determinants of the adequacy of that memory.
The influence of group cohesion on the behavioral treatment of smoking: a failure to replicate.

Abstract The present investigation undertook a large-scale replication of an apparently successful group cohesion manipulation reported by Etringer, Gregory, and Lando (1984). A 2 × 2 factorial design was initiated in which subjects were to be randomly assigned to enriched or standard cohesion and to satiation or nicotine fading. However, subject resistance to the satiation technique necessitated the abandoning of this part of the experimental procedure. Subjects assigned to nicotine fading (enriched or standard cohesion) included 184 women and 169 men. In contrast to the Etringer et al. study, there was virtually no evidence of a treatment effect on either group cohesion scores or abstinence outcome. Future work might attempt to establish more powerful manipulations of cohesion, which could then be applied especially to groups that fail to coalesce on their own.
Iteration methods for stability spectra of solitary waves

Three iteration methods are proposed for the computation of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions in the linear stability of solitary waves. These methods are based on iterating certain time evolution equations associated with the linear stability eigenvalue problem. The first method uses the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method to iterate the pre-conditioned linear stability operator, and it usually converges to the most unstable eigenvalue of the solitary wave. The second method uses the Euler method to iterate the ''square'' of the pre-conditioned linear stability operator. This method is shown to converge to any discrete eigenvalue in the stability spectrum. The third method is obtained by incorporating the mode elimination technique into the second method, which speeds up the convergence considerably. These methods are applied to various examples of physical interest, and are found to be efficient, easy to implement, and low in memory usage.
Components of the Atmosphere and Synthetic Gases in Relation to Animal Life

IT was found several years ago in our experiments that small animals such as rats, pigeons, cats, guinea pigs, monkeys, etc., can live in a medium of air under control, but cannot live in pure oxygen under similar conditions, but will die within two to five days1.
Size dependent oscillatory magnetoresistance in cadmium

Abstract Magnetoresistance size effect oscillations of the type observed in Ga by Munarin and Marcus have been observed in Cd with H in the (0001) plane and are attributed to a broad minimum in d A /d k in the radial direction in the 3rd-band lens. Results are in agreement with a single-OPW calculation.
Reducing the contact time of a bouncing drop

Surfaces designed so that drops do not adhere to them but instead bounce off have received substantial attention because of their ability to stay dry, self-clean and resist icing. A drop striking a non-wetting surface of this type will spread out to a maximum diameter and then recoil to such an extent that it completely rebounds and leaves the solid material. The amount of time that the drop is in contact with the solid--the 'contact time'--depends on the inertia and capillarity of the drop, internal dissipation and surface-liquid interactions. And because contact time controls the extent to which mass, momentum and energy are exchanged between drop and surface, it is often advantageous to minimize it. The conventional approach has been to minimize surface-liquid interactions that can lead to contact line pinning; but even in the absence of any surface interactions, drop hydrodynamics imposes a minimum contact time that was conventionally assumed to be attained with axisymmetrically spreading and recoiling drops. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the contact time below this theoretical limit by using superhydrophobic surfaces with a morphology that redistributes the liquid mass and thereby alters the drop hydrodynamics. We show theoretically and experimentally that this approach allows us to reduce the overall contact time between a bouncing drop and a surface below what was previously thought possible.
New Products: The Antidote to Private Label Growth?

Abstract As private labels (PLs) continue to grow in power and market share, product innovation has become one of the strongest weapons in the national brand (NB) manufacturer's arsenal. In this article, the author assesses when and to what extent new products change NBs' market position. To address this question, more than 300 NB and PL introductions are analyzed using a multibreak model that quantifies the impact of product introductions on own share, rival NB and PL share, and category sales. Drawing on empirical generalizations, the author finds that products introduced by leading NBs, standard PLs, and premium PLs are more likely to increase category sales than products introduced by follower NBs or economy PLs. New products introduced by leader and follower NBs more often boost own share. Thus, new products help prevent the decline of NB shares. With respect to competitive impact, new products affect rival shares, with the exception of those launched by economy PLs. Still, NBs tend to hurt rival NBs...
Novobiocin in common pediatric infections.

Summary Fifty-six patients with common childhood infections were treated with novobiocin. A good response to the drug was obtained in all patients except one infant treated in the outpatient department. There were no toxic or untoward reactions observed. Higher blood levels were obtained with the calcium salt than with the sodium salt of novobiocin. The drug was well absorbed following oral administration.
Implications of a Global Survey of Venusian Impact Craters

We present a global survey of the areal distribution, size-frequency distribution, and morphometric properties of the venusian impact cratering record. We explore the resurfacing history of Venus, crater degradation, ejecta emplacement, and cratering mechanics. The number of volcanically embayed and tectonically deformed craters from 0.5 to 1.0 km above mean planetary radius is disproportionately high for an otherwise crater-deficient elevation range. More resurfacing occurred in this range, an elevation range dominated by volcanic rises, rifts, and coronae, than elsewhere on Venus. Although the majority of craters appear to be relatively undisturbed and have intact ejecta blankets, some craters appear particularly `fresh' because thay have radar-bright floors, a radar-dark halo surrounding the ejecta blanket, and a west facing parabola of low radar return; 20, 35, and 8%, respectively, of craters with diameters greater than 22.6 km have these features. Characteristics of ejecta deposits for venusian craters change substantially with size, particularly at 20 km crater diameter, which marks the transition at which the boundaries of ejecta blankets go from ragged to lobate and the slope of the ejecta distance vs diameter curve steepens. Secondary craters are a ubiquitous part of the ejecta blanket for craters over 50 km but occur infrequently as isolated rays about smaller craters. Comparison of complex craters found on Venus with those of other planets gave results that were consistent with the idea that interplanetary differences in complex crater shape are controlled by interplanetary differences in gravity and crustal strength. The interplanetary comparison indicates that Venus, the Moon, and Mercury appear to have stronger crusts than do Mars and Ganymede/Callisto.
Imaging of Aortic and Branch Vessel Trauma

Although infrequently encountered in busy trauma centers, injuries to the aorta and branch vessels remain an important cause of trauma-related mortality. Advances in the diagnosis and management of these injuries have led to more accurate and timely imaging, and improved patient outcomes. Despite these advances, several challenges in evaluating the severely injured trauma patient remain. This review provides an overview of current concepts in the imaging of aortic and branch vessel injuries, and provides pointers to improve detection and interpretation of more challenging injuries.
Bereavement research using control groups: Ethical obligations and questions

Abstract Scholars should both contribute to knowledge and project research participants from harm. When research methods provoke bereaved individuals to feel their distress, are scholars obliged to do more than place some people in control groups? An ethical dilemma that emerged in a study with bereaved college students is discussed. The instruments used to gather data clearly elicited grief related distress. More bereaved students in control groups left the study than did participants in social support groups. Three alternatives to a traditional control-group design are discussed as means by which scholars can meet their ethical obligations. The multiple-baselane design seems to meet the dual obligations of contributing to knowledge and of protecting research participants from harm.
Paradigms for the Study of Teacher-Student Behavior: An Alternative Perspective

In conclusion, this commentary--like Schempp's (1987) article--advances the view that a multiple perspective approach to the study of classroom processes is indeed critical to an increased understanding of teacher-student behavior. Contrary to the work of Schempp (1987), however, the rationale extended here as underscoring the need for this approach lies in the limited capacity of any single research approach--be it quantitative or naturalistic in nature--to adequately capture the complexity of classroom interaction. Finally, the view is offered that while each of these traditions of research offers its own contribution to the grand map of teaching (Shulman, 1986), the cumulative outcomes can complement one another. The challenge facing us as an educational research community is to engage in dialogue regarding the design of future investigations so that multiple perspective analyses can indeed become reality. The merit of such a posture is summarized by Weinstein (1983): It is difficult to maintain that one view of classroom events is more accurate than another. Rather, we must learn from each perspective, identify matches and mismatches among perspectives, and examine relationships between perceptions and behavior.... By investigating...[the various perspectives], we will improve our understanding of the social reality of classrooms. (p. 306).
Enzymes of the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae evidenced by starch gel electrophoresis

The coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, is often referred to as a living relic. The opportunity to examine its biochemical molecular structure was sought in an effort to define the degree of its genetic variability. The coelacanth is thought to live only in a small area around the Comoro Islands in the Western Indian Ocean. The scenario presented suggests that the coelacanth may have lost genetic variability as a result of genetic drift within a small population. The narrow geographic range of the coelacanth suggests adjustment to a relatively limited environment. The loss of specific alleles through genetic drift can reduce the ability of a fish population to adapt to changes in environmental conditions. The coelacanth needs strong conservation measures to be taken to curtail the capture of specimens and for the protection of its limited natural habitat.
Reversal of bradykinin-induced reflex tachycardia to bradycardia by captopril; evidence for prostacyclin involvement.

Abstract In conscious male New Zealand rabbits, bradykinin caused dose-dependent (0.03–1 μg/kg i.v.) hypotension and reflex tachycardia. After inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE, also known as kininase II) with captopril (1 mg/kg i.v.), the hypotensive effect of bradykinin was enhanced in magnitude and duration but the normally obsered tachycardia was reversed to bradycardia. In rabbits treated with indomethacin to inhibit cyclooxygenase and then given captopril, the bradycardia to bradykinin reverted to tachycardia whereas the magnitude of the initial hypotensive effect was unchanged. However, inhibition of thromboxane synthetase with SQ 80,338 (1-[3-phenyl-2-propenyl]-1H-imidazole) was without effect on either bradykinin-induced hypotension or bradycardia in captopril treated rabbits. Infusion of nicotine to inhibit prostacyclin synthetase completely reversed the bradycardia induced by bradykinin in captopril-treated rabbits, an effect unrelated to ganglion blockade by nicotine since mecamylamine had no effect on the actions of bradykinin. β-Adrenoceptor blockade with nadolol did not modify the bradycardia caused by bradykinin in captopril-treated rabbits whereas atropine methylnitrate caused a marked reduction. Captopril had no inhibitory effect on reflex tachycardia caused by nitroglycerin or acetylcholine and only reduced that caused by eledoisin. Hypotension and bradycardia resulted from giving rabbits prostacyclin (100 μg/kg i.v.). These results suggest that the bradycardia observed in conscious rabbits to bradykinin after captopril treatment is the result of an increase in circulating bradykinin due to ACE (kininase II) inhibition leading to a vago-vagal reflex induced by the synthesis of prostaglandins, probably prostacyclin.
Influence of Managed Care on Professional Nursing Practice

Purpose: To explore how nurses in one U.S. state perceived that managed care influenced professional nursing in that state. The nursing community is challenged to move with haste in demonstrating, through research, the clinical and economic value that nurses add to cost-effective outcomes. Design: A Delphi survey in 1996 of a convenience sample of 84 clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in California. Methods: CNSs and NPs contributed to the list of managed care influences on nursing practice. Fifty-seven (68%) completed the third and final round. Findings: Panelist agreement was the highest for (a) exploring new approaches to providing quality care more cost-effectively, (b) expanding nurse practitioners' rote in primary care, and (c) more effectively partnering with clients in helping them assume greater self-responsibility for their health. Greatest threats were perceived to be hassles involved in seeking authorization for care and responding to payment denials; the tenuous job market for nurses; and encroachment on nursing practice by others. Conclusions: The findings can assist nurses in states with low managed-care concentration to create their preferred future within health care delivery. A more highly educated nurse workforce will be needed for 21st century health systems in which more care is likely to be delivered outside hospitals.
Comparison of SMOS-retrieved and NDVI climatology-derived vegetation optical thickness

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission may require ancillary vegetation optical thickness (τ) information as part of SMAP's soil moisture retrieval algorithm. Currently, the ancillary τ data comes from a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) climatology that is converted to τ. The Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite measures τ as part of its soil moisture retrieval algorithm. In this paper, we compare SMOS τ to SMAP's proposed NDVI climatology-derived τ (SMAP τ). During the growing season in heavily cultivated parts of Iowa, SMAP τ is usually larger than SMOS τ. The timing of the peak in τ is similar between the two data sets on the whole, but some SMOS pixels in 2012 peak earlier by 15–20 days.
The importance of DFX, a foundry perspective

Silicon foundries are enabling fab-less chip design companies to meet market demand of highly integrated devices as mobile applications are flourishing in recent years. Foundries are also enabling other sectors of the semiconductor industry to provide high performance systems to meet the required bandwidth for mobile applications. Significant investments in the development of advanced technology nodes are made to ensure future demand are met. This makes Fab utilization of high importance. This paper discusses the importance of DFX (DFT, DFM, DFB, DFA) disciplines to accelerating technology bring up and enabling fast customer volume ramp up. We show how basic and advance DFT methodologies are used to design and test special structures to enable fast failure analysis identifying design and manufacturing constraints. We also discuss the role of DFX in failure analysis in improving the design and manufacturing rules.
Shorter turn-around-time and improved patient care in peripheral blood progenitor cell collection procedures

The collection of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) requires the combined efforts of the Transfusion Medicine/Hemapheresis and Hematology/Oncology services and HLA/Progenitor Cell and Immunology laboratories. Coordination and communication among these different services and laboratories are key to attaining an optimal collection in a timely manner for the patient undergoing PBPC collection. In an effort to improve patient care by same-day decision to cease or continue collections avoiding unnecessary collections, needless patient trips to the hospital and ultimately increasing patient satisfaction, a flow chart was used to capture the sequence of events. The flow chart served as a powerful tracking tool that defined system process and steps to attain enumeration of CD34+ cells the same day of collection. It provided documentation of work flow from each of the independent operations involved in progenitor cell collection and enumeration turn-around-time including attending and staff time involvement. By using the flow chart, potential and actual problem areas were demonstrated and this allowed for creative thinking and problem solving by individual sections rather than recriminations. Finally, it focused all the staff involved in the common goal of a shorter turn-around-time for CD34+ cell enumeration the same day of collection. This allowed a prompt decision for subsequent leukapheresis as improved service to oncology patients and their physicians. J. Clin. Apheresis 14:35–41, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma with features resembling verrucous hemangioma

Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a benign malformation characterized by a proliferation of eccrine glands and capillary vessels in the dermis. Hyperplasia of other dermal constituents, such as fat, nerve fibers, pilar structures and dermal mucin, has been reported. EAH typically presents as a painful lesion on the extremities of children or young adults and may be associated with local hyperhidrosis. We report a case of a 7-year-old boy with a keratotic lesion on the ankle, present since birth. Histologically, there was a nodular proliferation of eccrine glands intimately admixed with numerous small vessels in the dermis. In addition, there was marked epidermal hyperplasia associated with increased numbers of dilated, thin-walled vessels in the superficial and mid-dermis. The vessels were negative for glucose transporter-1 protein (GLUT-1), supporting the impression of hamartoma over that of hemangioma. EAH has been described in association with spindle cell hemangioma and arteriovenous malformation; overlying verrucous epidermal features have been noted in rare cases. However, changes resembling verrucous hemangioma associated with EAH, as seen in this case, have not been emphasized in the literature. The findings are unusual and expand the histological spectrum of this hamartoma.
Authoritarian environmentalism and China's response to climate change

Authoritarian environmentalism is a non-participatory approach to public policy-making and implementation in the face of severe environmental challenges. Using the case of China's climate change policy, the meaning, causes, and consequences of authoritarian environmentalism are explored. A key finding is that authoritarian environmentalism is more effective in producing policy outputs than outcomes. Theoretical and policy implications follow.
NUMERICAL MODELING OF SURFACE TEMPERATURE RISING ON IMPERFECT SLIDING ELECTRICAL CONTACT

This paper describes a model for numerical prediction of surface temperature rising due to frictional and electrical Joule heating between rough surfaces with discrete and continuous convolution fast Fourier transform (DC-FFT and CC-FFT). Contact resistance in non-conformal rough contact is defined and also surface temperature is simulated with frictional and Joule heating components of heat fluxes in rough surface contact. The computational prediction of temperature rising of sliding rough surface contact with electrical current may facilitate the understanding of imperfect electrical contact (ImPEC) and extreme condition lubrication.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Mechanisms of insulin resistance in cultured fibroblasts from a patient with leprechaunism: Impaired post-binding actions of insulin and multiplication-stimulating activity

Abstract The binding and action of insulin and of the insulin-like growth factor, multiplication-stimulating activity (MSA), were studied in cultured skin fibroblasts from an infant with leprechaunism and associated insulin resistance. Three actions of insulin were reduced in the leprechaun cells: activation of glycogen synthase was 30% as great as in control fibroblasts, the increase in 2-deoxyglucose transport was 33% of the control value, and the uptake of α-aminoisobutyric acid was sevenfold less sensitive to enhancement. On a molar basis, MSA was at least as effective as insulin in activating glycogen synthase in control fibroblasts; in the patient's cells there was a reduction in activation that paralleled the changes observed with insulin. To localize the site of insulin resistance, the binding of both [ 125 I]-insulin and [ 125 I]-MSA to fibroblasts was measured and found to be reduced in the leprechaun cells. However, the impairment of the actions of insulin and MSA in the patient's cells was not explained solely by the diminished binding of the two polypeptides. Since the hexose transport system and the terminal enzymes studied thus far are intact, the defect is postulated to involve the post-binding coupling mechanism and mediator formation.
Statistical Analysis of Precipitation Chemistry Measurements over the Eastern United States. Part I: Seasonal and Regional Patterns and Correlations

Abstract This paper describes the behavior of the chemical constituents in precipitation, including their typical concentrations and ranges, regional patterns, and seasonal changes. Daily precipitation measurements for the period 1978 through 1983 over the eastern United States were examined for 34 sites. The sites were operated by the Electric Power Research Institute and Utility Acid Precipitation Study Program (known as EPRI-UAPSP), the Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study (MAP3S), and the Wisconsin Acid Deposition Monitoring Program (WADMP). Data from these three networks were combined into a single, uniform archive of daily rainfall records containing precipitation amounts, pH, and constituent concentrations. Various statistical analyses were made to determine the predominant characteristics of the data. In Part I of this series of papers, a seasonal analysis is made of the concentrations of hydrogen ion, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium, and regional differences are described. Also,...
Trigonal distortion of the CrS6 chromophore in dithiophosphinate complexes of chromium(III)

Abstract The crystal structures of four compounds of formula (R2PS2)3Cr have been determined from diffractometer data. I: R = Me, C2/c, a = 15.430(3), b = 9.674(2), c = 12.314(1) A,β = 94.25(1)°, Z = 4, R = 0.030 for 1999 unique observed reflections. II: R = Ph, Pbca, a = 18.191(9), b = 17.748(5), c = 23.487(9) A, Z = 8, R = 0.044 for 1580 observed unique reflections. III: R = C6H11, P 1 , a = 9.679(1), b = 11.160(2), c = 20.339(4) A,α = 91.66(1), β = 103.36(1), γ = 94.74(1)°, Z = 2, R = 0.037 for 4186 unique observed reflections. IV: R = OEt (redetermined), C2/c, a = 14.374(2), b = 13.586(2), c = 14.270(2) A,β = 90.51(1)°, Z = 4, R = 0.057 for 1535 unique observed reflections. All four complexes exhibit a trigonal distortion from octahedral symmetry in agreement with both spectroscopic observations and ligand-ligand repulsion calculations. The average distortion in I, II and IV is 12° but in llI this is increased to 21°. The additional distortion in III is also manifested in the visible absorption spectrum.
Across- and Within-Population Differences in the Size and Scaling Relationship of a Sexually Selected Trait in Leptoscelis tricolor (Hemiptera: Coreidae)

Sexually selected traits are often assumed to convey information to conspecifics about the condition and genetic quality of an individual. However, sexually selected traits also are hypothesized to be among the most rapidly evolving and phenotypically plastic traits in natural populations. When found, such variability can bring into question the reliability of these traits as sexually-selected signals. Here, we examine the expression of a male weapon over multiple spatial and temporal scales in the wild. Specifically, we measured the expression of enlarged hind femora across and within populations of the Neotropical bug Leptoscelis tricolor Westwood (Hemiptera: Coreidae). We found significant variation in the size of this trait across populations and even within a population according to the plant species where adult males were collected. We also found differences in the intercept of the scaling relationship with body size; for a given body size, males in some populations express larger sexually selected traits than males in other populations. These results support the hypothesis that the expression of sexually selected traits is dynamic over space and perhaps time. Such patterns suggest that environmental variation or small amounts of movement across genetically differentiated populations may confound the reliability of information contained in the expression of these traits.
Serial-layered-transmission line contact-resistance representation for partially-overlaid Al-to-contacts to silicon

Abstract We have developed a contact resistance representation for metallurgical systems having two interfacial conductive and resistive layers to a semiconductor surface. This configuration results when an interconnect metal (e.g. Al), which only partially overlays a contact metal (e.g. silicide), reacts with it to form a less conductive interface. As a consequence, circuit designers can take advantage of the unreacted region's lower contact resistance to ease circuit layout constraints. Contact resistance minima are suggested by the degree of overlaid or reacted segment and specific contact resistance degradation trade-off. A coupling of two layered transmission lines is used to simulate these two segment contacts. The model is compared to measurements of hardware.