cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical Hidden Markov Models for Response Time Data

Psychological data, particularly measurements obtained sequentially in experiments designed to test theories of human cognition, are often treated as independent and identically distributed samples from a single distribution that describes the cognitive process. This assumption is made for mathematical and analytic convenience; it is widely appreciated that such data are in fact mixtures from two or more processes, only a subset of which are associated with the cognitive process of interest. Our modeling framework describes response times (RTs) as arising from a mixture of three distinct distributions. Transitions across the distributions are governed by a hidden Markov structure whose states produce either fast, average, or slow RTs. This process is nested within a second hidden Markov structure, producing an “environment” process that allows the distribution of the response modes to evolve due to both internal factors (such as fatigue and distractions) and external factors (such as changing task demands). We performed a detection experiment designed to elicit responses under three environments that mimic external conditions that influence latent response modes. We present our hierarchical model and demonstrate its fit on the experimental data. We also demonstrate the model’s fit in the case when external conditions were not manipulated as part of the experimental process.
Application of Child Rights to School-Based Consultation

Consultation, one of the central roles of a school psychologist, is a strong method for the promotion of child well-being at a public health level (Doll, Cummings, Transforming school mental health services: population-based approaches to promoting the competency and wellness of children. Corwin Press with National Association of School Psychologists, Thousand Oaks, 2008). As an evidenced-based service delivery model, consultation enables school psychologists to use a prevention framework of practice that better serves the needs of entire student populations (Hess et al., Comprehensive children’s mental health services in schools and communities: a public health problem-solving model. Routledge, New York, 2012). The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child continually calls for efforts to ensure the provisions of the United Nations (Convention on the rights of the child. United Nations, Geneva. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/crc/, 1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child (Convention) are widely known and understood (Committee on the Rights of the Child, Report of the committee on the rights of the child. United Nations, New York. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/55/a5541.pdf, 2000; United Nations, General Assembly, Report on the committee of the rights of the child. A/67/41. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/50a0cd982.pdf, 2012). This chapter serves to educate school psychologists on the Convention and to demonstrate how the Convention could be integrated into the consultation practice of a school psychologist. Through case examples that utilize primary forms of consultation, the chapter illustrates ways in which the Convention can strengthen the consultation process and improve outcomes for consultees and students. By engaging in consultation with a child rights lens, school psychologists improve the overall quality of their consultation practice as well as their capabilities overall.
Operator-Controlled Comparison Between 5 French and 6 French Guiding Catheters for Percutaneous Intervention Using Transradial Approach.

Objective To compare 5 French (Fr) and 6 Fr guiding catheters regarding the volume of contrast administered, fluoroscopy time, and total procedure time during transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Background Previous studies had compared 5 Fr and 6 Fr catheters and deemed 5 Fr catheters safe and effective. In this study, we retrospectively compared the 5 Fr catheter to 6 Fr catheter with an attempt to eliminate the effect of inter-operator skill level variability. Methods In a single-center, retrospective cohort study, we randomly selected patients who had received PCI through transradial access using 5 Fr or 6 Fr catheters. The study involved two groups of 100 patients each. These groups were comprised of an equal number of cases from each operator. The primary endpoint was contrast medium volume. Secondary endpoints were fluoroscopy time and procedure time. Results Less contrast was used in the 5 Fr group vs. 6 Fr catheter group (140.2 ± 45.7 mL vs. 158.2 ± 66.7 mL, p=0.004). PCI using 5 Fr catheters was associated with shorter fluoroscopy time (13.7 ± 7.3 mins vs. 15.2 ± 8.2 mins, p=0.584) and shorter procedure time (43.7 ± 22.2 mins vs. 46.5 ± 19.7 mins, p=0.890), but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion Transradial PCI using 5 Fr guiding catheters was associated with less contrast medium usage, but there was no advantage regarding procedure time or fluoroscopy time when compared to 6 Fr catheters. Similar to 6 Fr catheters, 5 Fr catheters achieved high PCI success rates through radial access when compared in the treatment of coronary lesions with the same level of complexity.
Diffusion of kinesin motors on cargo can enhance binding and run lengths during intracellular transport

Abstract Cellular cargos, including lipid droplets and mitochondria, are transported along microtubules using molecular motors such as kinesins. Many experimental and computational studies of cargos with rigidly attached motors, in contrast to many biological cargos that have lipid surfaces that may allow surface mobility of motors. We extend a mechanochemical 3D computational model by adding coupled-viscosity effects to compare different motor arrangements and mobilities. We show that organizational changes can optimize for different objectives: Cargos with clustered motors are transported efficiently, but are slow to bind to microtubules, whereas those with motors dispersed rigidly on their surface bind microtubules quickly, but are transported inefficiently. Finally, cargos with freely-diffusing motors have both fast binding and efficient transport, although less efficient than clustered motors. These results suggest that experimentally observed changes in motor organization may be a control point for transport.
The Blessings of Liberty: Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the Western Legal Tradition

Leading legal scholar John Witte, Jr. explores the role religion played in the development of rights in the Western legal tradition and traces the complex interplay between human rights and religious freedom norms in modern domestic and international law. He examines how US courts are moving towards greater religious freedom, while recent decisions of the pan-European courts in Strasbourg and Luxembourg have harmed new religious minorities and threatened old religious traditions in Europe. Witte argues that the robust promotion and protection of religious freedom is the best way to protect many other fundamental rights today, even though religious freedom and other fundamental rights sometimes clash and need judicious balancing. He also responds to various modern critics who see human rights as a betrayal of Christianity and religious freedom as a betrayal of human rights.
Listening Effort Is Not the Same as Speech Intelligibility Score

Listening effort is a valuable and important notion to measure because it is among the primary complaints of people with hearing loss. It is tempting and intuitive to accept speech intelligibility ...
Climate Change Conspiracy Theories on Social Media

One of the critical emerging challenges in climate change communication is the prevalence of conspiracy theories. This paper discusses some of the major conspiracy theories related to climate change found in a large Twitter corpus. We use a state-of-the-art stance detection method to find whether conspiracy theories are more popular among Disbelievers or Believers of climate change. We then analyze which conspiracy theory is more popular than the others and how popularity changes with climate change belief. We find that Disbelievers of climate change are overwhelmingly responsible for sharing messages with conspiracy theory-related keywords, and not all conspiracy theories are equally shared. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our findings for climate change communication.
Active Math Learning for Students with Writing Disabilities

In a typical elementary mathematics(math) class, Students with Writing Disabilities (SWD) operate at a disadvantage. Math lessons and techniques are geared towards students who are able to actively ‘work out’ math problems with pencil and paper. We conducted interviews with special educators in elementary schools to learn about the pros and cons of current writing assistive technologies that are used in classrooms for math. Informed by the interviews findings, we designed a prototype called SMPL that enables SWD to work out math problems digitally. We ran a user study with 8 SWD to obtain feedback on SMPL. We present the interviews and user study findings. We found that: 1) There is a lack of writing assistive technologies that are designed specifically for elementary math learning; 2) It is feasible to provide SWD with a math learning experience similar to their peers; and 3) The writing assistive technology should be adaptive to students’ skills and backgrounds.
Global Dynamics in Childhood Obesity: Reflections on a Life of Work in the Field

One of the more profound shifts in the last two decades has been the marked increase in child obesity in countries across the globe – rich and poor, urban and rural. The nature of this shift to a world that is fat needs to be understood very broadly, but the obesity engine is driven by local and well as national and international forces. In this chapter, I attempt to lay out the broad outlines of the shifts in obesity among school-age children and adolescents. I do not address the issues of preschoolers because there is currently a lack of reliable data in this age group.
Some Recent Development, In the Fundamental Theor of Light

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the recent developments made in the fundamental theory of light. It focuses on the basic aspects of the interaction of light with matter and discusses one of the most fundamental interaction problems—that of a single mode of the field coupled to a single two-level atom. Recently, an aspect of spontaneous emission—the influence of mirrors and cavities on the radiative properties of atoms—has been a subject of elegant experimentation. The chapter discusses the way a single atom interacts with light and the fact that truly single-atom interactions are of great interest in quantum optics. These effects bring into sharp focus some of the most basic features of quantum theory and some of the phenomena considered in this chapter can be observed only with a single atom at a time. This is the case with the so-called “quantum jumps” discussed in the chapter. These jumps provide a direct and dramatic illustration of quantum-mechanical randomness.
Personalized Energy Reduction Cyber-physical System PERCS: A Gamified End-User Platform for Energy Efficiency and Demand Response

The mission of the Personalized Energy Reduction Cyber-physical System PERCS is to create new possibilities for improving building operating efficiency, enhancing grid reliability, avoiding costly power interruptions, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. PERCS proposes to achieve these outcomes by engaging building occupants as partners in a user-centered smart service platform. Using a non-intrusive load monitoring approach, PERCS uses a single sensing point in each home to capture smart electric meter data in real time. The household energy signal is disaggregated into individual load signatures of common appliances e.g., air conditioners, yielding near real-time appliance-level energy information. Users interact with PERCS via a mobile phone platform that provides household- and appliance-level energy feedback, tailored recommendations, and a competitive game tied to energy use and behavioral changes. PERCS challenges traditional energy management approaches by directly engaging occupant as key elements in a technological system.
Specialty Certification in Professional Psychology

This chapter describes essential information for the graduate student who has questions about board certification in professional psychology and its importance as a long-term objective in the student’s professional training and practice preparation. Board certification through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) is a postdoctoral credential that follows licensure as a psychologist. However, even though awarding of this designation requires graduation and the accumulation of 5 years post-licensure experience, like other important professional training milestones, it makes sense to become as knowledgeable as possible at the earliest stages of one’s career so that prerequisites can be obtained during the formative years in one’s training so that you can take advantage of opportunities when they arise that will help you to meet licensure/post-licensure ABPP requirements. If you are a graduate student this means becoming aware now of what board certification is, why it is important to the profession, the processes for obtaining board certification, and the benefits that are available to board certified psychologists. Because board certification is not required for practice as a licensed psychologist, one of the first questions to ask is whether one needs to even expend the effort to become board certified. This chapter will discuss why it is worth the effort and, in fact, why a “best-practices” psychologist really requires board certification. Support for becoming board certified through ABPP will be explained systematically around five questions: (1) What is Board Certification in Professional Psychology? (2) Why is Board Certification important? (3) What are the benefits of board certification? (4) What is the process involved in becoming Board Certified? (5) What can I do now to prepare myself for board certification?
A lower bound for multicast key distribution

With the rapidly growing importance of multicast in the Internet there have been a proposal, the RFC 2627, for scalable key distribution such that when the nth user joins or leaves a group, broadcasting /spl Theta/(logn) encrypted messages is sufficient to redistribute the keys. We show that this bound is also necessary for a general class of key distribution schemes and under different assumptions on user capabilities. While key distribution schemes can trade addition cost for deletion cost, for any scheme there is a sequence of 2n insertion and deletions whose total cost is /spl Omega/(nlogn). Thus, any key distribution scheme has a worst-case cost of /spl Omega/(logn) either for adding or for deleting a user.
Probing Dynamics in Polyatomic Molecules Using High Harmonic Generation: the Role of Ionization Continua

We show that to understand harmonic generation from molecules undergoing a large change in configuration, multiple ionization continua must be considered. After exciting large amplitude vibrations in an N2O4 dimer, bright bursts of harmonics are emitted at the outer turning point of the vibration.
Qualitative analysis of value judgments in interpreting cervicovaginal smears using the Bethesda system.

Abstract Context.—We hypothesize that there are unrecognized value judgments that influence cytopathologists in interpreting borderline cervicovaginal smears and that these judgments contribute to ...
The Road to Twining: Reassessing the Disincorporation of the Bill of Rights

This article (a sequel to "The Lost Compromise," 61 Ohio St. L.J. 1051 (2000), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=229228) analyzes the early understanding in the Supreme Court, from 1880 to 1908, regarding "incorporation" of the Bill of Rights in the Fourteenth Amendment. The article provides a fresh and comprehensive analysis of all the relevant cases, with special attention to the briefs and arguments presented to the Court, a resource previously underused by scholars. It demonstrates that an incorporationist reading of the Slaughter-House Cases (1873), however unorthodox that may seem to modern legal thinkers, reverberated in the first extensive pro-incorporation argument presented to the Court, by John Randolph Tucker in Spies v. Illinois (1887). That incorporationist reading of Slaughter-House may also have played a role in the dissents by three Justices who embraced the incorporation theory in O'Neil v. Vermont (1892).The article details the treatment of the Bill of Rights incorporation theory up through the Court's historic decision in Twining v. New Jersey (1908), which embraced a theory of total disincorporation. It shows how this early case law has been profoundly misunderstood by earlier scholars, notably by Professor Stanley Morrison in a 1949 Stanford Law Review article (the companion to Professor Charles Fairman's famous analysis of the original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment). In particular, it defends the first Justice John Marshall Harlan's historic and critical role in these cases.The article concludes by surveying the Court's modern treatment of the incorporation theory, and by noting the recent revival of the Fourteenth Amendment Privileges and Immunities Clause in Saenz v. Roe (1999). It argues that the evidence analyzed should place the incorporation theory on a stronger foundation as the Court faces a new century.Additional articles by Professor Wildenthal discuss the original understanding with regard to incorporation during the period from 1866 to 1873. See "Nationalizing the Bill of Rights: Revisiting the Original Understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1866-67," 68 Ohio St. L.J. 1509 (2007) (available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=963487); "Nationalizing the Bill of Rights: Scholarship and Commentary on the Fourteenth Amendment in 1867-1873," 18 J. Contemp. Legal Issues 153 (2009) (available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1354404).
Decreased endothelial permeability in transplanted corneas.

We measured the endothelial permeability to fluorescein of 30 clear corneal transplants from one to six years after keratoplasty. The mean permeability of 1.51 ± 0.82 × 10 −4 cm/min was significantly lower than that of normal corneas (P
Preface: American National Pastimes

The place where we work, Pen nsylvania State University, has a solid reputation as an academic institution. The Times of London's most recent (2013) rankings of global higher education placed Penn ...
Impalement brain injury from steel rod causing injury to jugular bulb: case report and review of the literature.

AbstractBackground: The management of impalement penetrating brain injuries (IPBI) from non-missile objects is extremely challenging, especially when vascular structures are involved. Cerebral angiography is a crucial tool in initial evaluation to assess for vascular injury as standard non-invasive imaging modalities are limited by foreign body artifact, especially for metallic objects.Case study: This study reports a case of an IPBI caused by a segment of steel rebar resulting in injury to the left jugular bulb and posterior temporal lobe. It describes the initial presentation, radiology, management and outcome in this patient and reviews the literature of similar injuries.
Further evidence for sublexical components in implicit memory for novel words

This study provides further evidence for the notion, proposed by Dorfman (1994), that activation of sublexical components plays an important role in implicit memory for novel words. Priming in an identification task was observed consistently when nonwords were formed out of morphemes; weaker, more variable effects were observed when nonwords were composed of syllables or pseudosyllables. Priming was insensitive to changes in the surface features (type case) of the stimuli and was disrupted by rearrangement of the stimulus components. Results are interpreted in terms of the activation and integration of preexisting sublexical representations and as evidence against the role of newly established episodic or perceptual representations. It is concluded that findings of priming for novel information should not be taken as evidence against an activation view.
Complex Role of Zinc in Methamphetamine Toxicity in Vitro

Abstract Methamphetamine is a drug of abuse that can induce oxidative stress and neurotoxicity to dopaminergic neurons. We have previously reported that oxidative stress promotes the liberation of intracellular Zn 2+ from metal-binding proteins, which, in turn, can initiate neuronal injurious signaling processes. Here, we report that methamphetamine mobilizes Zn 2+ in catecholaminergic rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells, as measured by an increase in Zn 2+ -regulated gene expression driven by the metal response element transcription factor-1. Moreover, methamphetamine-liberated Zn 2+ was responsible for a pronounced enhancement in voltage-dependent K + currents in these cells, a process that normally accompanies Zn 2+ -dependent cell injury. Overnight exposure to methamphetamine induced PC12 cell death. This toxicity could be prevented by the cell-permeant zinc chelator N,N,N′, N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine (TPEN), and by over-expression of the Zn 2+ -binding protein metallothionein 3 (MT3), but not by tricine, an extracellular Zn 2+ chelator. The toxicity of methamphetamine to PC12 cells was enhanced by the presence of co-cultured microglia. Remarkably, under these conditions, TPEN no longer protected but, in fact, dramatically exacerbated methamphetamine toxicity, tricine again being without effect. Over-expression of MT3 in PC12 cells did not mimic these toxicity-enhancing actions of TPEN, suggesting that the chelator affected microglial function. Interestingly, P2X receptor antagonists reversed the toxicity-enhancing effect of TPEN. As such, endogenous levels of intracellular Zn 2+ may normally interfere with the activation of P2X channels in microglia. We conclude that Zn 2+ plays a significant but complex role in modulating the cellular response of PC12 cells to methamphetamine exposure in both the absence and presence of microglia.
Body-fat abnormalities in patients with HIV: progress and challenges.

The introduction of newer antiretroviral drugs has provided greater levels of HIV suppression with fewer of the metabolic effects, lipoatrophy, and body habitus changes associated with earlier therapies. Previously classified under the collective term, lipodystrophy, lipoatrophy and body-fat changes are now known to occur independently in some HIV-infected patients, depending on the type and duration of antiretroviral therapy and a myriad of factors including HIV infection alone that contribute significantly to these changes. This article reviews the current scientific literature and recent clinical trial results that distinguish lipoatrophy or dyslipidemia pathophysiologically from body-fat changes seen as central and peripheral lipohypertrophy and fat redistribution, as well as the nature and extent of changes associated with HIV infection alone and newer antiretroviral therapies. This information may assist physicians in identifying individual risk factors and choosing the type of antiretroviral therap...
Slip Flow in Colloidal Crystals for Ultraefficient Chromatography

Slip flow occurs in colloidal crystals made of 470 nm silica spheres that are chemically modified with hydrocarbon, giving enhanced volume flow rates and a narrower distribution of fluid velocities. Bovine serum albumin separates by pressure-driven flow with a zone that is 15-fold narrower than the theoretical limit for Hagen–Poiseuille flow. The zone variance, normalized for separation length, is 15 nm, which is 500-fold smaller than previous reports for pressure-driven protein chromatography. A colloidal crystal is shown to separate a monoclonal antibody from its aggregates in only 40 s, representing a 10-fold increase in speed. Slip flow, thus, has profound implications for protein chromatography.
Alteration of fibroblast phenotype by asbestos-induced autoantibodies

Pulmonary fibrosis is a relentlessly progressive disease for which the etiology can be idiopathic or associated with environmental or occupational exposures. There is not a clear explanation for the chronic and progressive nature of the disease, leaving treatment and prevention options limited. However, there is increasing evidence of an autoimmune component, since fibrotic diseases are often accompanied by production of autoantibodies. Because exposure to silicates such as silica and asbestos can lead to both autoantibodies and pulmonary/pleural fibrosis, these exposures provide an excellent tool for examining the relationship between these outcomes. This study explored the possibility that autoantibodies induced by asbestos exposure in mice would affect fibroblast phenotype. L929 fibroblasts and primary lung fibroblasts were treated with serum IgG from asbestos- or saline-treated mice, and tested for binding using cell-based ELISA, and for phenotypic changes using immunofluorescence, laser scanning cyto...
Global versus local extinction in a network model of plant–pollinator communities

The loss of a species from an ecological community can trigger a cascade of additional extinctions; the complex interactions that comprise ecological communities make the dynamics and impacts of such a cascade challenging to predict. Previous studies have typically considered global extinctions, where a species cannot re-enter a community once it is lost. However, in some cases a species only becomes locally extinct, and may be able to reinvade from surrounding communities. Here, we use a dynamic, Boolean network model of plant–pollinator community assembly to analyze the differences between global and local extinction events in mutualistic communities. As expected, we find that compared to global extinctions, communities respond to local extinctions with lower biodiversity loss, and less variation in topological network properties. We demonstrate that in the face of global extinctions, larger communities suffer greater biodiversity loss than smaller communities when similar proportions of species are lost. Conversely, smaller communities suffer greater loss in the face of local extinctions. We show that targeting species with the most interacting partners causes more biodiversity loss than random extinctions in the case of global, but not local, extinctions. These results extend our understanding of how mutualistic communities respond to species loss, with implications for community management and conservation efforts.
The present status of treatment of subacute bacterial endocarditis.

Some considerations concerning the fundamental pathology of bacterial endocarditis which have a bearing on treatment are discussed. In using antibiotics the importance of time-dose relationships is emphasized. It is pointed out that tests for strain sensitivity give a useful clue to the total daily dosage but that regardless of this, treatment must be carried out over a period of at least a month in order to achieve permanent bacteriologic cures. The difficulties and complications of treatment are discussed. Special methods for the treatment of highly resistant strains and the results with some of the newer antibiotics are outlined.
Single-Family Housing Market Segmentation, Post-Foreclosure Resale Duration, and Neighborhood Attributes

During the recent economic recession, the foreclosure crisis drew vast attention from scholars and policymakers. Numerous studies focused on factors resulting in foreclosures, the impact of foreclosures, and the relationship between neighborhood attributes and foreclosures. Fewer studies investigated the foreclosure resale mechanism by focusing on buyer characteristics and the market duration of foreclosed properties. This research uses foreclosed residential properties in Broward County, Florida, between 2007 and 2011 to explore how market segmentation by assessed value relates to time on market of foreclosed properties. This research finds that extremely low-value properties and very high-value properties generally take longer to sell. Mid-value properties take a shorter time to sell. After controlling for housing attributes and market segmentation, certain neighborhood characteristics, such as lower percentage black population, lower percentage Hispanic population, lower educational attainment, and hig...
Frequency and Orientation Effects on Whole Animal Absorption of Electromagnetic Waves

Experiments using a parallel plate waveguide as the measurement medium have revealed a strong dependence of RF absorption in rats and biological-phantom prolate spheroidal bodies upon the frequency and polarization of electromagnetic fields. The results correlate well to those of free space irradiation. Strongest power deposition is observed for fields polarized along the long dimension of the bodies for frequencies such that the major length is about one-quarter wavelength of radiation. At resonance, an effective absorption area of 2.5 to 3.5 times the shadow cross section is measured.
Form and role of deformation in excitation of an insect mechanoreceptor.

THE proprioceptive campaniform sensilla of insect legs are thought to sense strains developed in the cuticle of the leg in weight bearing and walking. Pringle1 proposed that a ridge in the cuticular cap of the sensillum bulges outward under compressional shear stress, thus stretching and exciting the underlying single bipolar sensory neurone. His main assumption was that the mechanical compliance of the cuticle should differ in at least two subregions of the cap. This hypothesis has been widely accepted and is probably substantially correct, but several essential details have not been tested directly. Until now, the structure of the cap has not been shown clearly in cockroach legs, although it has been in dipterous halteres2,3, and neither the mechanical properties of the cap cuticle nor the magnitude and direction of the excitatory deformation have been measured, although the fine structure of the bipolar neurone4,5 and its responses to punctate stimulation6,7 are known.
Alignment And Focusing Tolerance Influences On Optical Performance

Alignment errors among components of an optical system may substantially degrade the image quality. Focus errors also affect system performance. The potential for serious degradation of image quality is substantial and requires that the tolerances for these errors receive significant attention early in system design. The image quality and reconnaissance performance of an all-reflecting Cassegrain is compared to an all-refractive optical system under conditions of zero and anticipated "real world" misalignments.
Kink dynamics in the highly discrete sine-Gordon system

Abstract We study kink dynamics in a very discrete sine-Gordon system where the kink width is of the order of the lattice spacing. Numerical simulations exhibit new properties of kinks in this case: they lose the memory of their initial velocity and propagate preferentially at well-defined velocities which correspond to quasi-steady states, while a kink moving at other velocities suffers relatively high rates of radiation of small amplitude oscillations. When a small external driving force is applied to the system, the same velocities appear as plateus in the strongly nonlinear mobility of the kink. The energy radiated by the kink is calculated for a simple model that preserves the discrete character of the system, and the preferential velocities for the kink are obtained to good accuracy. Similar results may be expected to be valid for other discrete systems manifesting topological solitons. The numerical simulations reveal also new stable “multiple-kink” excitations which can propagate almost freely in extremely discrete systems where “ordinary” simple kinks are pinned to the lattice by discreteness. The stability of the “multiple-kinks” is discussed.
Psychosocial Capacity Building in New York: Building Resiliency with Construction Workers Assigned to Ground Zero after 9/11

Construction workers who worked on “Ground Zero” after 9/11 in New York City were exposed to stressful and traumatic conditions. Clinicians, trade union leaders and the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations designed a psychosocial capacity-building project which helped workers to recognize, understand and respond to their reactions through a series of interventions that included peer training, psychosocial workshops, brochures, and outreach and referral services. The project emphasized the use of mutual aid and social support through group interventions facilitated by clinicians and offered by trade unions. The article describes the planning and implementation of the project as well as the results of qualitative evaluations of the effectiveness of the project.
Time-dependent failure of rock under cyclic loading

Abstract A simple model which describes the failure of brittle rock under cyclic compressive loading is presented. It is assumed that the damage incurred by the material during each stress cycle is due to the extension of tensile microcracks and that the specimen will fail when the microcrack damage reaches a critical level. Two mechanisms for crack extension, stress corrosion and cyclic fatigue are assumed to act simultaneously and independently. The rate of crack growth due to stress corrosion was determined from an empirical relationship for the static fatigue of glass. The equation describing the rate of crack growth due to cyclic fatigue was taken to be similar to those derived for structural metals. By combining the crack extension rates due to these two processes, the time to failure for a specimen subjected to a given cyclic loading program was computed. The time to failure was found to depend strongly on the mean differential stress and the magnitude of the stress change during each cycle. At high mean stress and low cycle amplitude, stress corrosion dominates, whereas at low mean stress and high cycle amplitude, cyclic fatigue dominates. The predictions of the model are in good agreement with existing experimental data. Further, the model explains the observed breakdown of discrete memory in dilatant rock under certain stress conditions.
Use of indium tin oxide poling electrodes for improved performance of nonlinear polymer-based optoelectronic devices

Electro-optic (EO) polymer modulators have demonstrated a high frequency response (>50 GHz) and therefore hold promise to become the preferred solution for high-speed data transmission. Typically the modulation is achieved via a Mach-Zehnder waveguide configuration with the active polymer sandwiched between two passive cladding layers. This arrangement has been shown to not be optimal in regard to the efficiency for conversion of RF to optical signal. The cladding layers present an unwanted electrical load when either electric field poling or modulation of the active core polymer is desired. We propose the use of thin layers of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) deposited on either side of the core to enable direct and highly efficient poling of the central active region while maintaining acceptable optical losses in the waveguide geometry. Presented are the results of poling studies which indicate that out RF sputtered ITO is a viable electrode poling material, while the results of spectrophotometric and ellipsometric results indicate that the optical loss coefficient is within a range that should allow for acceptable use in the proposed geometry. This approach would eliminate the need for conductive claddings that also increase the device poling efficiency.
Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Dehydrated Bean Paste Products as Related to Bean Varieties

The objective was to compare physicochemical properties of bean paste products from six bean varieties to determine whether there were significant differences in the resulting product. Crude protein in the dried bean pastes ranged from 23% to 29% and ash 1.1% to 1.8%. Fiber ranged from 1.6% to 6.3% soluble, 10.6% to 22.7% insoluble, and 12.3% to 28.3% total dietary fiber. Nonstarch polysaccharide contents varied from 12% to 32%. Only 7.5% to 13.8% of total raffinose and stachyose were retained in the paste products. Trypsin inhibitor activity in the bean pastes was 1% to 2% of that detected in raw beans. Mung bean paste had lowest overall sensory quality. Navy and pinto bean pastes had good smoothness, aroma, and acceptance and could be used as substitutes for preparing traditional bean paste products.
Ultrasound-enhanced thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke: potential, failures, and safety.

Experimental and pilot clinical evidence shows that thrombolysis with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) can be enhanced with ultrasound. Ultrasound delivers mechanical pressure waves to the clot, thus exposing more thrombus surface to circulating drug. The international multi-center phase II CLOTBUST trial showed that, in patients with acute ischemic stroke, transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring augments TPA-induced arterial recanalization, with a nonsignificant trend toward an increased rate of recovery from stroke, compared with placebo. In the CLOTBUST trial, the dramatic clinical recovery from stroke coupled with complete recanalization within 2 hours after TPA bolus occurred in 25% of patients treated with TPA + TCD (n = 63), compared with 8% of those who received TPA alone (n = 63, P = 0.02). Different results were achieved in smaller studies that used transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (TCCD) and a nonimaging therapeutic ultrasound system. The findings of the TRUMBI trial (26 patients) underscored the adverse bioeffects of midkilohertz (300 kHz) ultrasound, such as promotion of bleeding in brain areas both affected and unaffected by ischemia. Exposure to multifrequency, multielement duplex ultrasound resulted in a trend toward a higher risk of hemorrhagic transformation. To further enhance the ability of TPA to break up thrombi, current ongoing clinical trials include phase II studies of a single-beam, 2-MHz TCD with perflutren lipid microspheres. Enhancement of intra-arterial TPA delivery is being clinically tested with 1.7–2.1 MHz pulsed-wave ultrasound (EKOS catheter). Multinational dose escalation studies of microspheres and the development of an operator-independent ultrasound device are underway.
[3H]tryptamine binding sites are not identical to monoamine oxidase in rat brain

: Competition binding studies, subcellular distribution, and in vitro autoradiography were employed to compare the binding in rat brain of [3H]tryptamine with two radio-ligands for monoamine oxidase (MAO), [3H]pargyline, and [3H] 1 -methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine ([3H]MPTP). The MAO inhibitors pargyline, clorgyline, and deprenyl all yielded biphasic competition curves versus [3H]tryptamine. At low concentrations, these drugs stimulated binding by protecting the radioligand from MAO oxidation; at considerably higher concentrations, they inhibited binding by direct competition at the [3H]tryptamine binding site. In subcellular distribution studies, [3H]tryptamine was localized preferentially to the synaptosomal fraction, whereas [3H]pargyline showed greater binding to the mitochondrial fraction. Equilibrium binding studies revealed that the potencies of a series of seven compounds at inhibiting [3H]tryptamine binding were completely different from their potencies at inhibiting [3H]MPTP binding. Finally, the au-toradiographic distribution of [3H]tryptamine binding in rat brain v/as different from that of [3H]MPTP and [3H]pargyline. We conclude that the [3H]tryptamine binding site in rat brain is not equivalent to MAO.
Utilization of umbilical cords to assess in utero exposure to persistent pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls.

In support of a study to relate developmental and cognitive effects with prenatal exposure to selected environmental toxicants, we developed and applied an analytical method to determine the concentration of two persistent pesticides, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and 32 specific polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in 316 umbilical cords taken in 1986–1987 from women of the Faroe Islands. The analytical method consisted of homogenization of the cords, partitioning, microsilica gel column chromatography for clean-up, and dual-column capillary gas chromatography (GC; DB-5 and DB-1701) with electron capture detection. Several quality control parameters were followed to monitor the performance of the method. Important criteria used before reporting unknown data were the recovery of in vitro-spiked analytes from a bovine umbilical cord (BUC) and the percentage lipid obtained for a Certified Reference Material (CRM)-350 of mackerel oil (MO). Recoveries of analytes that had been spiked at two concentration ranges (0.26–0.95 ng/g whole weight; 0.35–2.42 ng/g whole weight) into bovine cords ranged from 38.5% to 158% and from 50.4% to 145%, respectively, with a median recovery of 77.7%. Measurement of the percentage lipid for CRM-350 ranged from 73.8% to 107% with a median lipid value of 96.0%. The most prevalent analytes detected (%) in unknown umbilical cords were HCB (100), DDE (100), Ballschmiter/Zell PCBs 153 (100), 138 (98), 180 (98), 170 (93), 118 (88), 187 (86), and 146 (83), with corresponding median concentrations (ng/g whole weight) of 0.17, 1.19, 0.38, 0.30, 0.17, 0.11, 0.12, 0.09, and 0.07, respectively. Total PCB — sum of all measurable PCB congeners — had a median concentration of 1.37 ng/g whole weight. The analytes that were very low in lipid content were also quantified on a lipid-adjusted basis, which provided an analytical challenge in these umbilical cord samples. The gravimetrically measured lipids in the human specimens ranged from 0.01% to 1.43% (median of 0.18%). In the pooled BUCs, our lipid measurements varied from 0.05% to 0.33% with a median value of 0.13%. The utility of using the umbilical cord as a matrix to assess in utero exposure to persistent environmental pollutants, compared with the use of umbilical cord blood or mother's blood, is worthy of debate.
Multicomponent redistributions of exchangeable substituents between methylgermanium and dimethylgermanium

Abstract Equilibria in the scrambling of the exchangeable substituents Cl, Br, and I (System I) and Cl, Br, I, and OC 6 H 5 (System II) between the methylgermanium and dimethylgermanium moieties have been studied quantitatively by proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The experimental data have been evaluated in terms of sets of the minimum number of equilibrium constants, twelve for System I and twenty five for System II, which in turn have been used to compute theoretical equilibrium distributions. As a result of preferential affinities for methylgermanium versus dimethylgermanium, certain species at equilibrium appear in only small amounts or not at all.
Performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model for Month-Long Pan-Arctic Simulations

AbstractThe performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was evaluated for month-long simulations over a large pan-Arctic model domain. The evaluation of seven different WRF (version 3.1) configurations for four months (January, April, July, and October 2007) indicated that WRF produces reasonable simulations of the Arctic atmosphere. Ranking of the model error statistics, calculated relative to the NCEP/Department of Energy Global Reanalysis 2 (NCEP-2), for sea level pressure, 500- and 300-hPa geopotential height, 2-m air temperature, and precipitation identified the model configurations that consistently produced the best pan-Arctic simulations. For all WRF configurations considered, large errors in circulation are evident in the North Pacific. The errors in the North Pacific are manifested as an overly weak and westward-shifted Aleutian low and overly strong subtropical Pacific high simulated by WRF. These circulation errors are nearly barotropic, with a slight increase in magnitude ...
Spectrum of baryons with two heavy quarks

Antibaryons with flavor quantum numbers QQq, where Q is a heavy quark and q a light quark, have the two heavy antiquarks weakly bound into a small (compared with the QCD scale) color triplet system. Since the interactions of heavy color triplet objects with the light degrees of freedom (i.e. quarks and gluons) are independent of the heavy color triplet's spin and mass, the spectrum of baryons with two heavy quarks can be related to the spectrum of mesons with Qq flavor quantum numbers.
Immersion and Distance: Two Varieties of Experience of Psychiatric Hospitalization

In this paper we describe an inquiry into the experience of short-term hospitalization. Sixty- seven patients were interviewed shortly before discharge with the goal of obtaining a picture of their subjective impressions — satisfactions, criticisms, hopes for the future — growing out of their hospitalization. Two broad types of experiences were noted, which we label 'immersion' and 'distance'. We illustrate some of the clinical manifestations of these two divergent hospital experiences, discuss their relations to traditional diagnostic categories, and speculate on their implications for clinical management.
On the solution of linear equation/inequality systems

A pivotal algebra algorithm is given and finite convergence shown for finding a vector which satisfies an arbitrary system of linear equations and/or inequalities. A modified form of the algorithm, obtained by introducing a redundant equation, is then shown to be a way to describe phase I of the simplex method without reference to artificial variables or an artificial objective function. The hypothesis is introduced that in each pivot stage each row of the tableau has equal probability of being chosen as the pivot row. Under this assumption the expected value of the ratio of the number of pivot stages to the number of rows should grow with the natural Log of the number of rows. Use of the algorithm in proving theorems of the alternative is indicated.
The Model of The Principled Advocate and The Pathological Partisan: A Virtue Ethics Construct of Opposing Archetypes of Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners

Drawing upon contemporary virtue ethics theory, The Model of The Principled Advocate and The Pathological Partisan is introduced. Profiles are developed of diametrically opposed archetypes of public relations and advertising practitioners. The Principled Advocate represents the advocacy virtues of humility, truth, transparency, respect, care, authenticity, equity, and social responsibility. The Pathological Partisan represents the opposing vices of arrogance, deceit, secrecy, manipulation, disregard, artifice, injustice, and raw self-interest. One becomes either a Principled Advocate or a Pathological Partisan by habitually enacting or embodying the virtues or vices in the context of professional practices.
1233 EFFECT OF ACUTE HYPOXIA ON CONVERTING ENZYME ACTIVITY IN CULTURED ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

Hypoxia inhibits converting enzyme (CE) activity in vivo in dogs (Fed. Proc. 36:630, 1977). To study the cellular basis of this phenomenon, we harvested endothelial cells by perfusing human umbilical cords, rabbit and pig lungs and calf aortas with a mixture of 0.1% collagenase, 0.1% trypsin and 1.0% chicken serum in Hank's Solution, and propagated the cells in medium 199. CE activity in monolayer cells was assessed by adding both bradykinin and angiotensin I to culture flasks and measuring residual peptide over time by radioimmunoassay. CE activity was fully inhibited by SQ20881. Flasks were equilibrated with varying hypoxic gas mixtures. Hypoxia rapidly inhibited CE activity (< 2 minutes) and room air rapidly restored it (< 2 minutes). All CE activity was inhibited at PO2 of 30 mm Hg. In all species, the extent to which CE was inhibited was a direct function of PO2 (r = 0.99, p < .001). The velocity of the reaction, calculated from 0 to 4 minutes of incubation, was 5.4 nmoles/hr/106 cells when PO2 = 100, 1.6 at PO2 = 50, and <0.11 at PO2 = 30. Commercial purified pig converting enzyme was unaffected by hypoxia (VMAX = 2.2 nmoles/mg protein/hr at all P02 levels from 100 to 0 mm Hg). We conclude that the inhibition of CE by hypoxia 1) takes place at the cellular level and 2) is not a characteristic of the enzyme per se but is a unique property of the endothelial cell membrane.