cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Collaborating for Family‐Centered Care: Integrating Child Life Specialists in the Prenatal Setting

Newborn Care Poster Presentation Purpose for the Program Le Bonheur Fetal Center opened in September 2009 to provide comprehensive care for women who had received a prenatal diagnosis of a congenital anomaly. After a generic request for child life staff to supervise the children of expectant mothers during their mother's ultrasound examinations, the child life team saw the need for more specialized psychosocial services for the expectant family. A certified child life specialist with prior experience in program development was assigned to the fetal center to assess the needs and initiate services. Proposed Change To more closely examine the psychosocial care provided to this population and ways in which all the disciplines could be utilized to provide support as needed for each unique family. Implementation, Outcomes, and Evaluation We discuss collaboration that begins in the fetal center during obstetric visits, moves into labor and delivery at the nearby adult facility, and then follows with entry into the pediatric hospital. During this journey, families trust that all team members are working together to care for their child. To assist in the multiple transitions, child life specialists, in collaboration with nurses, aim to support the expectant family by providing preparation, emotional support, sibling preparation, parental coaching, and bereavement support when necessary. Success is totally reliant upon ongoing communication between all team members and the desire to always do what is best for that family in their unique situation. The literature reveals that a prenatal diagnosis results in anxiety, grief, and uncertainty for the entire family. Whether a prenatal diagnosis is relatively minor or a lethal anomaly, ongoing multidisciplinary collaboration allows for individualized care and best practice to be provided for this population. Case studies will illustrate this collaboration. Implications for Nursing Practice Though nurses and child life specialists have worked closely to develop the communication and collaboration needed to successfully meet the psychosocial care of these patients, all specialties can gain further understanding and respect for the need for psychosocial care in the medical treatment of any population. It should be encouraged to consider if all the disciplines within an institution are being used to their best potential in collaborative efforts to provide patient‐ and family‐centered care. Though high‐risk obstetrics is not a population found in every healthcare setting and child life specialists are not staffed in every institution, the lessons learned from collaboration and communication in patient‐ and family‐centered care can be benefited by all healthcare providers.
A 24-Item Version of the Miller-Fisk Sexual Knowledge Questionnaire

Summary A brief, reliable measure of sexual knowledge would be of obvious value in studies of family planning, population, and related issues. A 49-item test of sexual information was created by Miller and Fisk in 1969. Analysis of this device on a sample of 104 Ss suggested that a shorter and more convenient version could be developed. Deletion of 25 questions with weak or unacceptable statistical properties left 24 items for retention in a revised questionnaire. This 24-item version was then administered to new samples including 287 males and 246 females, permitting specification of provisional normative and interpretational data.
Determination of elastolytic activity in blood of normal subjects and patients with acute pancreatitis

Abstract A new, sensitive fluorometric method for the determination of elastolytic activity in plasma and other biological fluids is described. It is based on an elastin substrate labelled with the fluorescent dimethylaminonaphthalene-sulfonyl radical. Assay of elastolytic activity in plasma of 30 normal subjects gave values corresponding to approximately 2 μg of elastase/ml. Analogous determinations in a series of 30 patients with acute pancreatitis demonstrated greatly reduced levels (mean: 0.6 μg/ml) or absence of plasma elastolytic activity. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.
Newborn screening for homocystinuria: Irish and world experience

Newborn screening for cystathionine β-synthase deficiency (homocystinuria; HCU) was started in the late 1960 s using a bacterial inhibition assay (BIA). At least seven countries have either national or regional screening programmes; 12 programmes are known to have discontinued. The worldwide incidence of HCU is approximately 1 in 335,000 but varies from 1 : 65,000 (Ireland) to 1 : 900,000 (Japan). Methodologies include the BIA, one-dimensional or thin-layer amino acid chromatography and, more recently, tandem mass spectrometry. The BIA diagnostic cut off concentration of blood methionine varies from 67 to 270 μmol/l (10–40 mg/l) with a median of 135 μmol/l (20 mg/l). In Ireland, 25 cases of HCU from 19 families have been identified from 1.58 million newborn infants since 1971; 21 cases were detected through the screening programme. Of the four missed cases, three were breast-fed at the time of blood collection and one was pyridoxine responsive. These findings were in broad agreement with the results from five other programmes, in which approximately one in every five cases was missed by the screening programme. Early hospital discharge, low protein intake, high blood methionine cut-off concentration and pyridoxine responsiveness were all identified as contributing to missed cases.
High-Speed MALDI-TOF Imaging Mass Spectrometry: Rapid Ion Image Acquisition and Considerations for Next Generation Instrumentation

A prototype matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer has been used for high-speed ion image acquisition. The instrument incorporates a Nd:YLF solid state laser capable of pulse repetition rates up to 5 kHz and continuous laser raster sampling for high-throughput data collection. Lipid ion images of a sagittal rat brain tissue section were collected in 10 min with an effective acquisition rate of roughly 30 pixels/s. These results represent more than a 10-fold increase in throughput compared with current commercially available instrumentation. Experiments aimed at improving conditions for continuous laser raster sampling for imaging are reported, highlighting proper laser repetition rates and stage velocities to avoid signal degradation from significant oversampling. As new high spatial resolution and large sample area applications present themselves, the development of high-speed microprobe MALDI imaging mass spectrometry is essential to meet the needs of those seeking new technologies for rapid molecular imaging.
A study of community band participants: Implications for music education

As viewed through the theoretical frameworks of Lave and Wenger's situated learning, leisure theory, and quality-of-life theory, the purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics, attitudes and perceptions of adult community band musicians (N = 275) in nine randomly selected ensembles in order to glean insights into how music education might facilitate (a) more meaningful connections between school and community, and (b) greater lifespan engagement with participatory music making. The "typical" survey respondent was over 45, physically healthy, white, nonsmoker, nondrinker, churchgoer, well-educated, upper-middle class, married with children, active in the community, studied piano and sung in a choir at some point, learned their instrument in school, enjoyed classical music, and chose to play in the band for both musical and social reasons. Significant differences between those who learned to play their instrument in school and those who did not were minimal. Implications for music educators concerned about the "carryover" of school music to music making later in life are discussed.
Enhancement of Adsorbed Dye Monolayer Fluorescence by a Silver Nanoparticle Overlayer

Deposition of silver nanoparticles directly onto a Rhodamine Red monolayer covalently bound to glass is found to increase the photoluminescence by as much as 20 times depending on excitation wavelength and nanoparticle density. At the same time, the excited state lifetime is reduced by more than a factor of 2, the fluorescence spectrum is blue-shifted, and greater polarization anisotropy in the emission is observed. We attribute these effects to local enhancement of the optical fields near the molecules by interactions with silver plasmons. We approximately separate the relative contributions of increased absorption and increased emissive rate to the observed enhancement of fluorescence. A study of the spatial inhomogeneity of the effect using scanning confocal microscopy demonstrates that average enhancements at least twice as large are possible.
Neurocomputational bases of object and face recognition

A number of behavioural phenomena distinguish the recognition of faces and objects, even when members of a set of objects are highly similar. Because faces have the same parts in approximately the same relations, individuation of faces typically requires specification of the metric variation in a holistic and integral representation of the facial surface. The direct mapping of a hypercolumn-like pattern of activation onto a representation layer that preserves relative spatial filter values in a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate space, as proposed by C. von der Malsburg and his associates, may account for many of the phenomena associated with face recognition. An additional refinement, in which each column of filters (termed a 'jet') is centred on a particular facial feature (or fiducial point), allows selectivity of the input into the holistic representation to avoid incorporation of occluding or nearby surfaces. The initial hypercolumn representation also characterizes the first stage of object perception, but the image variation for objects at a given location in a 2D coordinate space may be too great to yield sufficient predictability directly from the output of spatial kernels. Consequently, objects can be represented by a structural description specifying qualitative (typically, non-accidental) characterizations of an object's parts, the attributes of the parts, and the relations among the parts, largely based on orientation and depth discontinuities (as shown by Hummel & Biederman). A series of experiments on the name priming or physical matching of complementary images (in the Fourier domain) of objects and faces documents that whereas face recognition is strongly dependent on the original spatial filter values, evidence from object recognition indicates strong invariance to these values, even when distinguishing among objects that are as similar as faces.
Matlab Data Acquisition and Control Toolbox for Basic Stamp Microcontrollers

In this paper, we present a Matlab and Simulink based software platform that enables the use of inexpensive microcontrollers for data acquisition and control tasks. The proposed framework is well suited for data acquisition and control tasks that require graphical user interface (GUI) and/or advanced computational capabilities but do not require stringent hardware performance. We illustrate the efficacy of our data acquisition and control technique by performing position control of a DC motor using a Basic Stamp 2 (BS2) microcontroller and our Matlab data acquisition and control toolbox.
Investigation of basalt fiber composite aging behavior for applications in transportation

New materials such as basalt fiber offer the promise of innovative applications in transportation because of documented strengths (V. Ramakrishnan, N.S. Tolmare, and V. Brik, “NCHRP-IDEA Program Project Final Report, ” Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, (1998)). Previously, we found that mechanical properties of basalt twill fabric-reinforced polymer composites were comparable to composites reinforced with glass fabrics of similar structures [Q. Liu, M.T. Shaw, R.S. Parnas, and A.M. McDonnell, Polymer Composites, 27(1), 41 (2006)]. Use in transportation also requires knowledge of environmental durability. This study reports the tolerance of basalt-fiber-reinforced polymer composites to salt water immersion, moisture absorption, temperature, and moisture cycling. Parallel tests were conducted for the corresponding glass-reinforced polymer composites. Aging for 240 days in salt water or water decreased the Young's modulus and tensile strength of basalt composites slightly but significantly (p < 0.05). Freeze-thaw cycling up to 199 cycles did not change the shear strength significantly, but aging in hot (40°C) salt water or water did decrease the shear strength of basalt composites (p < 0.05). The aging results indicate that the interfacial region in basalt composites may be more vulnerable to damage than that in glass composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 27:475–483, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers
Calculation of Relative Binding Free Energies of Peptidic Inhibitors to HIV-1 Protease and Its I84V Mutant

A methodology is presented for calculating relative binding free energies of enzyme−inhibitor associations in aqueous solvent. The methodology uses synthesis of semiempirical quantum chemistry to determine the protonation state of important residues in the enzyme active site, molecular mechanics to determine the gas-phase energetic contributions to the relative binding free energy, and dielectric continuum solvation to calculate electrostatic hydration contributions. The methodology is then applied to the calculation of the relative binding free energy of the inhibitors KNI-272, Ro31-8959, L-735,524, and A-77003 to HIV-1 protease and its I84V mutant. The calculated relative binding free energy is sensitive to the active-site protonation state of the aspartic acid residues of HIV-1 protease. The protonation state is inhibitor dependent. Given a particular protonation state, it was found that quantitatively accurate relative binding free energies could only be achieved when solvent effects were included. Th...
Biology of Zonosemata vittigera Relative to Silverleaf Nightshade

Zonsemata vittigera (Coquillet) infests the fruit of silverleaf nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium Cavanilles. It was first collected in southeastern California in 1965. Its biology was studied in the field and under controlled laboratory conditions in 1966–68. The only known colony in California disappeared in 1968. Z. vittigera is a univoltine species, but nondiapausing individuals and others that diapause about 2 years were recorded. The egg and 3 larval stadia lasted about 7–8 and 17–19 days, respectively. Larvae fed on the endocarp and placenta but normally caused no seed damage. Usually only 1 larva emerged per fruit at the beginning of a photo phase. Newly emerged larvae were negatively phototactic. Most formed puparia 7–8 hours after emergence. Twelve males and 12 females lived an average of 38±3 days and 34±4 days, respectively, when caged in pairs with fruit-bearing bouquets of silverleaf nightshade and provided with honey. The preoviposition period averaged 9±1 days; the oviposition period averaged 15±2 days. Females laid an average of 52±9 eggs, 1.9±0.1 eggs/oviposition puncture. Mating occurred repeatedly, before, during, and after the oviposition period, and upon or in close proximity to fruit. Z. vittigera influences the reproductive capacity of silverleaf nightshade too little to warrant its reintroduction and widespread colonization for the biological control of this introduced weed in southern California.
Protoplasmic Extrusion of Pollen Grains—an Electron Microscope Study

SummaryProtoplasmic extrusion has been described previously and has been shown to be at least partly influenced by the salivary contents. An electron microscope study is hereby presented. These results demonstrate an active participation of pollen components in this process.
Benchmark calculations of bound states of HO2 via basic Lanczos algorithm

Abstract We report benchmark calculations of all the bound state energies of HO 2 on the DMBE IV potential of Varandas and coworkers using the basic Lanczos algorithm with no reorthogonalization. The results are in excellent agreement with previous calculations obtained using different methods. This work demonstrates the accuracy and efficiency of the basic Lanczos algorithm for a problem with a dimension of ≈ 10 6 . Several aspects of convergence behavior of the algorithm are discussed.
Transvaginal Ultrasonographic (TVS) Evaluation of Baboon Gestation From 37-62 Days Postconception

Our objective was to determine the growth of the embryo and surrounding structures during baboon (Papio anubis) gestation using transvaginal sonography (TVS). To this end, we evaluated 19 timed-mated baboons using TVS between 37 and 62 days of gestation. After visualization of the gestational sac, amniotic sac, and yolk sac, the three largest diameters of each of these extra embryonic structures were measured using longitudinal and transverse views. Embryonic crown-rump length (CRL) was also recorded. Embryonic heart rates were determined using the M-mode function of the ultrasound equipment. All 19 gestations developed without complications. No significant trend could be demonstrated for heart rate or yolk sac diameters over the 37-62 day gestational age period. Mean (SD) gestational age in days, heart rate, and yolk sac diameter, respectively, for the group were 48 (7.8) days (range: 37-61), 180 (15) beats per minute (range: 156-221) and 5 (0.1) mm (range: 3-8). Significant correlations (P < 0.0001) were determined between gestational age and CRL and gestational and amniotic sacs. We conclude that TVS allows a clear visualization of the embryo proper and all the cavities within the gestational sac of the baboon gestation. This study has determined the normal pattern of changes of these cavities from 37-62 days of gestation. Future applications of these findings may include sampling fluid from these cavities for biochemical, cytological, and metabolic studies.
Investigation of a class of systems of integral equations

A new class 99 of systems of integral equations is defined and investigated. It is of importance in the stochastic optimization theory, and in estimation problems. We give the description of the set of solutions to the system of integral equations in a class of distributions, prove the existence, uniqueness and stability in the sense defined below of the solution of minimal order of singularity. This solution is of principal interest for applications and we obtain explicit formulas for it. Convolution integral equations whose rational kernels are Fourier transform of a matrix kernel are (special) example of the equations of class 9. The theory does not require the factorization of matrix functions. The methods used is a generalization of that developed by the author in [l-7, 12-151.
Influence of Polymer Motion, Topology and Simulation Size on Penetrant Diffusion in Amorphous, Glassy Polymers: Diffusion of Helium in Polypropylene

The influence of polymer topology and motion on the diffusion of a small gas penetrant (He) in united atom atactic polypropylene models of varying density (0.872−0.971 g/cm3) and simulation cell size (27−60 A), are studied by performing molecular dynamics simulations on rigid polymer structures. A multimode analysis of the self-part of the van Hove space−time autocorrelation function for penetrant diffusion is introduced to investigate the mechanism of diffusion and distinguish simulation box size effects. For the frozen matrix, the diffusion is no longer an activated process but is better described as hindered kinetic motion. The anomalous diffusion regime is identified to be a consequence of the tortuosity in the percolated diffusion pathways in the polymer structure, which itself is connected to the correlation length in the polymer glass. Comparisons with fully mobile matrix simulations demonstrate the influence of polymer motion on the mechanism of molecular diffusion in glassy polymers and are in qu...
Acute retinal necrosis syndrome following herpes zoster dermatitis.

Abstract The acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome has been recently linked to intraocular infection with one or more members of the herpesvirus family. The authors report two cases of ARN following herpes zoster skin eruptions, and one case following ipsilateral facial nerve palsy (Ramsay Hunt syndrome). Evaluation of serial serum antibody titers against cytomegalovirus (CIVIV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) (types 1 and 2), and varicella zoster (VZ) virus revealed diagnostic changes for VZ virus alone following the retinitis. Immune precipitation of radiolabeled VZ proteins by these sera followed by gel fractionation yielded radioimmune precipitation profiles characteristic of a recent zoster reactivation. These cases further implicate a central role for VZ virus infection in the etiology of the ARN syndrome.
The crystal structure of a voltage-gated sodium channel

Voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels initiate electrical signalling in excitable cells and are the molecular targets for drugs and disease mutations, but the structural basis for their voltage-dependent activation, ion selectivity and drug block is unknown. Here we report the crystal structure of a voltage-gated Na+ channel from Arcobacter butzleri (NavAb) captured in a closed-pore conformation with four activated voltage sensors at 2.7 A resolution. The arginine gating charges make multiple hydrophilic interactions within the voltage sensor, including unanticipated hydrogen bonds to the protein backbone. Comparisons to previous open-pore potassium channel structures indicate that the voltage-sensor domains and the S4–S5 linkers dilate the central pore by pivoting together around a hinge at the base of the pore module. The NavAb selectivity filter is short, ∼4.6 A wide, and water filled, with four acidic side chains surrounding the narrowest part of the ion conduction pathway. This unique structure presents a high-field-strength anionic coordination site, which confers Na+ selectivity through partial dehydration via direct interaction with glutamate side chains. Fenestrations in the sides of the pore module are unexpectedly penetrated by fatty acyl chains that extend into the central cavity, and these portals are large enough for the entry of small, hydrophobic pore-blocking drugs. This structure provides the template for understanding electrical signalling in excitable cells and the actions of drugs used for pain, epilepsy and cardiac arrhythmia at the atomic level. The X-ray crystal structure of a voltage-gated sodium channel from Arcobacter butzleri has been determined, with the channel in the closed-pore conformation. Channels of this type initiate electrical signalling in excitable cells and are the molecular targets for many drugs, but the structural basis for their voltage-dependent activation and ion selectivity is not known. The selectivity filter in this sodium channel is found to be quite short, compared with those in open-pore potassium channels, and the voltage-sensor domains and linkers between segments S4 and S5 seem to dilate the central pore by pivoting together.
Untangling Physalis (Solanaceae) from the Physaloids: A Two-Gene Phylogeny of the Physalinae

Abstract Physalis (75+ species, Solanaceae) is most diverse in Mexico, with only the type, P. alkekengi, native to the Old World. Interspecific relationships are poorly known, and despite the distinctive inflated fruiting calyces, generic limits remain uncertain. Sequence data from part of the nuclear gene waxy (622 bp) and the internal transcribed spacer of the nrDNA (652 bp) were used to generate a phylogeny of subtribe Physalinae. Thirty-five species of Physalis and eight physaloid genera were sequenced. Data analysis included Bayesian and maximum parsimony methods. The Physalinae was monophyletic, but while the morphologically typical Physalis species formed a strongly supported clade, the morphologically atypical species made the genus paraphyletic. A grade of physaloid genera (Quincula, Oryctes, and Chamaesaracha) and Physalis subgenus Physalodendron separate P. alkekengi, P. carpenteri, and P. microphysa from other Physalis species. The Physalis clade consists of Margaranthus and species with solit...
Introduction to financial risk assessment using Monte Carlo simulation

The fundamental principles of financial risk assessment are discussed, with primary emphasis on using simulation to evaluate and compare alternative investments. First we introduce the key measures of performance for such investments, including net present value, internal rate of return, and modified internal rate of return. Next we discuss types of risk and the key measures of risk, including expected present value; the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of the rate of return; and the risk premium. Finally we detail the following applications: (i) stand-alone risk assessment for a capital-budgeting problem; (ii) comparison of risk-free and risky investment strategies designed merely to keep up with the cost of living; (iii) value-at-risk (VAR) analysis for a single-stock investment; (iv) VAR analyses for two-asset portfolios consisting of stock and either call or put options; and (v) VAR analyses for two-asset portfolios consisting of both puts and calls.
Effects of antimicrobial therapy on the microbial flora of the adenoids

The core of the adenoids contains polymicrobial aerobic and anaerobic flora and also includes potential respiratory pathogens. Similar flora, although in higher numbers and with a higher frequency of pathogens, are found in inflamed or hypertrophic adenoids and many of these bacteria are resistant to antimicrobial agents. Exposure to antimicrobial therapy can alter the colonization patterns and select for resistant organisms. Production of β-lactamase is one of the major mechanisms of resistance of these organisms. The adenoids of healthy individuals, in contrast to those with recurrent respiratory tract infections, are generally colonized by aerobic and anaerobic organisms that are capable of interfering with the growth of potential pathogens. Maintaining the beneficial effects of normal flora by avoiding unnecessary exposure to anti- microbial therapy may be a useful tool in preventing colonization of the adenoids by potential pathogens. This review discusses the unique microbiology of the adenoids in individuals with a variety of pathological conditions, the interactions between the various organisms and the effects of antimicrobial therapy on the microbial flora of the adenoids.
An Analysis of How Marketing Students Perceived Benefits from Cassette Tape-Recorded Instructor Commentary on Writing Efforts

Use of a cassette tape to transmit teacher evaluations of student writing effort was analyzed. Students preferred the cassette tape to written evaluations Nearly all felt that the method was a high...
Democracy online: civility, politeness, and the democratic potential of online political discussion groups:

The proponents of cyberspace promise that online discourse will increase political participation and pave the road for a democratic utopia. This article explores the potential for civil discourse in cyberspace by examining the level of civility in 287 discussion threads in political newsgroups. While scholars often use civility and politeness interchangeably, this study argues that this conflation ignores the democratic merit of robust and heated discussion. Therefore, civility was defined in a broader sense, by identifying as civil behaviors that enhance democratic conversation. In support of this distinction, the study results revealed that most messages posted on political newsgroups were civil, and further suggested that because the absence of face-to-face communication fostered more heated discussion, cyberspace might actually promote Lyotard’s vision of democratic emancipation through disagreement and anarchy (Lyotard, 1984). Thus, this study supported the internet’s potential to revive the public s...
FIMR and other mortality reviews as public health tools for strengthening maternal and child health systems in communities: where do we need to go next?

This article examines FIMR in relationship to two other maternal and child health mortality reviews—child fatality review (CFR) and maternal mortality review (MMR), and explores how their approaches to reviewing deaths can complement one another. Identifying opportunities for collaboration among these case review methodologies may lead to greater efficiencies at the local and state levels and strengthen the case review approach as a public health tool for improving maternal and child health outcomes. To enable comparative analysis, a table was constructed that identifies the purpose, structure, and process features of each case review approach. This was followed by an examination of two possible ways to improve maternal and child mortality review processes in states: 1) better coordination; and 2) improving each individual process through adapting and adopting promising practices from the others. A discussion is also provided of the state Title V role in facilitating both the coordination of reviews and the process of sharing best practices. Given the similarities that exist among the three MCH mortality reviews, it is important to view each review as one component of a larger system of maternal and child health death reviews. Implementing widely the recommendations generated by these reviews may increase the likelihood of improvements in services and systems on behalf of women and children.
Gravity wave breaking in two-layer hydrostatic flow

Abstract To better understand mountain-induced gravity wave breaking and potential vorticity generation in the troposphere, a two-layer hydrostatic flow over a three-dimensional Witch-of-Agnesi type of mountain is investigated. It is suggested that a two-layer model is the simplest model in which the partitioning of upper- and lower-level wave breaking and dissipation can be studied. High-resolution shallow water model runs are carried out with unsheared upstream flow and a wide variety of mountain heights. A regime diagram is constructed, in which gravity wave breaking is classified based on shock number, location, and type. It is demonstrated that different types of shocks identified in the numerical simulations can be consistently described using a shock regime diagram, derived from viscous shock theory. Four curious shock properties are shown to influence orographic flow: the steepening requirement, the tendency for external jumps to amplify shear, the bifurcation in external jumps, and the “double sh...
Speech recognition in noise and presbycusis: relations to possible neural mechanisms.

Abstract This study is part of ongoing efforts to characterize and determine the neural bases of presbycusis. These efforts utilize humans and animals in sets of overlapping hypotheses and experiments. Here, 50 young adult and elderly subjects, with normal audiometric thresholds or high-frequency hearing loss, were presented three types of linguistic materials at suprathreshold levels to determine speech recognition performance in noise. The study sought to determine how peripheral and central auditory system dysfunctions might be implicated in the speech recognition problems of elderly humans. There were four main findings. (1) Peripheral auditory nervous system pathologies, manifested as reduced sensitivity for speech-frequency pure tones and speech materials, contribute to elevated speech reception thresholds in quiet, and to reduced speech recognition in noise. (2) Good cognitive ability was demonstrated in the old subjects who took advantage of supportive context as well or better than young subjects, strongly indicating that the cortical portions of the speech/language nervous system did not account for the speech understanding dysfunctions of the old subjects. (3) When audibility and cognitive functioning were not affected, the demonstrated speech-recognition in-noise dysfunction remained in old subjects. This implicates auditory brainstem or auditory cortex temporal-resolution dysfunctions in accounting for the observed differences in speech processing. (4) Performance differences between young and elderly subjects with elevated thresholds illustrate the effects of age plus hearing loss and thereby implicate both peripheral and central dysfunctions in presbycusics. This is because the differences in performance between young and elderly subjects with normal peripheral sensitivity identified a central auditory dysfunction. © Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Collagenolytic activity in crevicular fluid from patients with chronic adult periodontitis, localized juvenile periodonitis and gingivitis, and from healthy control subjects

Collagenolytic activity in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) sampled from 25 healthy control subjects, 25 gingivitis, 25 chronic adult periodontitis (CAP) and 8 LJP patients was correlated with clinical disease parameters using both the site and the patient as sampling units. Among patients collagenase activity increased with the severity of the disease in the order: healthy < gingivitis < periodontitis. Among sites, significant correlation was found between GCF collagenase activity and pocket depth in CAP and LJP, but not in gingivitis patients. Enzyme activity was also correlated with GI score in LJP, but not in CAP and gingivitis patients. In a subset of 10 patients in each of the healthy, gingivitis and CAP groups the association of enzyme activity and crevicular fluid volume (flow) was examined. Significant correlation was found between fluid volume and pocket depth in CAP patients, and between fluid volume and GI score in gingivitis patients, but no association was observed between collagenase activity and fluid volume. The Collagenolytic enzyme was shown to be a genuine vertebrate collagenase derived from unidentified host cells. The concentration of the enzyme in crevicuar fluid from CAP patients was in the order of 10 μg/ml.
Logic Partition Orderings for Multi-FPGA Systems

One of the critical issues for multi-FPGA systems is developing software tools for automatically mapping circuits. In this paper we consider one step in this process, partitioning. We described the task of finding partition orderings, i.e., determining the way in which a circuit should be bipartitioned so as to best map it to a multi-FPGA system. This allows multi-FPGA partitioners to harness standard partitioning techniques. We develop an algorithm for finding partition orderings, which includes a method for increasing parallelism in the process, as well as for including multi-sectioning and multi-way partitioning algorithms. This method is very efficient, and capable of handling most of the current multi-FPGA topologies.
Arrhythmogenic substrate of the pulmonary veins assessed by high-resolution optical mapping.

Background— It has recently been recognized that atrial fibrillation can originate from focal sources in the pulmonary veins (PVs). However, the mechanisms of focal atrial fibrillation have not been well characterized. We assessed the electrophysiological characteristics of the PVs using high-resolution optical mapping. Methods and Results— Coronary-perfused, isolated whole-atrial preparations from 33 normal dogs were studied. Programmed electrical stimulation was performed, and a 4-cm2 area of the PV underwent optical mapping of transmembrane voltage to obtain 256 simultaneous action potentials. Marked conduction slowing was seen at the proximal PV, compared with the rest of the vein, on both the epicardial (31.3±4.47 versus 90.2±20.7 cm/s, P=0.001) and endocardial (45.8±6.90 versus 67.6±10.4 cm/s, P=0.012) aspects. Pronounced repolarization heterogeneity was also noted, with action potential duration at 80% repolarization being longest at the PV endocardium. Nonsustained reentrant beats were induced wit...
Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Live Donor Kidney Transplantation: Priorities for Research and Intervention

One potential mechanism for reducing racial/ethnic disparities in the receipt of kidney transplants is to enhance minorities' pursuit of living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Pursuit of LDKT is influenced by patients' personal values, their extended social networks, the health care system, and the community at large. This review discusses research and interventions promoting LDKT, especially for minorities, including improving education for patients, donors, and providers, using LDKT kidneys more efficiently, and reducing surgical and financial barriers to transplant. Future directions to increase awareness of LDKT for more racial/ethnic minorities also are discussed including developing culturally tailored transplant education, clarifying transplant-eligibility practice guidelines, strengthening partnerships between community kidney providers and transplant centers, and conducting general media campaigns and community outreach.
Dominant Lethal Mutations in Insects with Holokinetic Chromosomes. 1. Irradiation of Oncopeltus (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) Sperm and Oöcytes

Sexually mature 7- to 8-day-old Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) males and females were irradiated and outcrossed to untreated partners. The males received a dose of 10 krad and the females 1 krad. Egg hatch of females mated to irradiated males was reduced to 2.4% and that of irradiated females to 3.3% (only Metaphase I oocytes sampled). Eggs of different ages were dechorionated, fixed, and stained for cytological examination. Most eggs fertilized with irradiated sperm showed a decreased rate of embryonic development, but at least 70% reached the blastoderm stage. In eggs from irradiated females, chromosome aberrations were evident as early as the meiotic divisions that preceded syngamy. Again, early embryonic development was slow but otherwise essentially normal until the blastoderm stage. Thereafter developmental abnormalities occurred, and death ensued. Cells with more or less than the normal 16 chromosomes were not unusual in 18- to 20-hour embryos with irradiated parents. Different cells in the same embryo often had a wide range of chromosome numbers. Apparently, in species with holokinetic chromosomes, most dominant lethal mutations cause death after blastoderm formation. In dipteran and hymenopteran species, dominant lethal mutations are expressed during the early cleavage divisions.
Experimental and computational investigation of root-radius melting in C-shaped solid armatures

Heating at the root or throat position in C-shaped armatures is a concern because it can lead to cracking, melting, and premature failure. This paper presents results from experiments in which railgun armatures made of 7075 aluminum alloy were recovered after being launched at various levels of electrical action. Inspection of the recovered armatures showed reproducible patterns of damage at the root position that correlated with the severity of the launch conditions. Damage ranged from deformation and cracking at low levels of electrical action to melting to ejection of material and magnetic sawing at higher levels of action. There appears to be a threshold beyond which damage begins to propagate rapidly into the armature. The temperature rise in the armature was modeled with the three-dimensional (3-D) finite-element analysis (FEA) program EMAP3D. Our results show that it is possible to predict the onset of severe damage without modeling the complex phase-change behavior of the materials.
Tricyclic antidepressants block N‐methyl‐d‐aspartic acid‐induced lethality in mice

It has been suggested on the basis of in vitro studies that tricyclic antidepressants interact with the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-receptor complex to block the action of NMDA. The present study showed that tricyclic antidepressants prevented lethality produced by a large dose of NMDA. The potency of the drugs in preventing NMDA-induced lethality correlated with the inhibition of [3H]-MK-801 binding at the NMDA receptor complex, and not with effects on amine uptake. These in vivo data support the in vitro data of Reynolds & Miller (1988a,b).
Simple Coreference Resolution with Rich Syntactic and Semantic Features

Coreference systems are driven by syntactic, semantic, and discourse constraints. We present a simple approach which completely modularizes these three aspects. In contrast to much current work, which focuses on learning and on the discourse component, our system is deterministic and is driven entirely by syntactic and semantic compatibility as learned from a large, unlabeled corpus. Despite its simplicity and discourse naivete, our system substantially outperforms all unsupervised systems and most supervised ones. Primary contributions include (1) the presentation of a simple-to-reproduce, high-performing baseline and (2) the demonstration that most remaining errors can be attributed to syntactic and semantic factors external to the coreference phenomenon (and perhaps best addressed by non-coreference systems).
Decreased in vitro production of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α by uterine arteries from postmenopausal women

Cessation of ovarian function is associated with a marked increase in morbidity and mortality secondary to ischemic heart disease. Estrogen replacement has been shown to impart protection against ischemic heart disease. We hypothesized that estrogen may influence vascular production of vasodilators such as prostacyclin. To investigate this relationship we have measured the production of 6-keto-prostaglandin F 1α and thromboxane B 2 by superfused uterine arteries from pre- and postmenopausal women. Arterial specimens from healthy normotensive premenopausal ( n = 5) and postmenopausal women ( n = 5) were superfused for 5 hours. Production of 6-keto-prostagland in F 1α reached steady state levels by 120 minutes and remained linear for the length of the experiment. Indomethacin (4 × 10 −5 mol/L) added at 120 minutes significantly decreased prostanoid production. In subsequent experiments, 17α-estradiol in concentrations of 10, 100, 1000 ng/ml was added, to the superfusion media at 120 minutes. Total production of 6-keto-prostaglandin F 1α by premenopausal arteries superfused with neat media during the steady state interval (3 hours) was significantly greater than that of postmenopausal specimens (1.25 versus 0.27 ng/mg dry tissue, p 2 levels were undetectable in spent media. However, the addition of 17(β-estradiol did not alter production of 6-keto-prostagland in F 1α . These data suggest that arterial production of prostacyclin is significantly decreased in uterine arteries from postmenopausal women, but in this in vitro model system estrogens did not affect vascular prostanoid production.
The neurologic content of S. Weir Mitchell's fiction.

Background: Silas Weir Mitchell (1829 to 1914), one of the most important neurologists in American Medicine, was known for his seminal work on the phantom limb syndrome, causalgia, and nerve injuries. He was also a prolific writer of novels and short stories. The neurologic content of this fiction has not been studied. Objective: To assess the extent that references to neurologic topics were present in Mitchell9s fiction, whether these neurologic references reflected Mitchell9s scientific interests and contributions, and whether his fictional accounts of neurologic topics would precede those in his scientific writings. Methods: The authors read Silas Weir Mitchell9s novels and short stories. Results: Seventeen (63.0%) of 27 fictional works contained neurologic references. Fifty-five (69.6%) of 79 references were brief (a single word or sentence). In two works, a neurologic theme was central to the plot. Some of the neurologic content was sophisticated (aphasia, brain laterality). Phantom limb syndrome, causalgia, and nerve injuries were not prominent in his fiction. Neurologic consequences of battle injuries were featured in 10 (37.0%) works. With the exception of “The Case of George Dedlow” (i.e., phantom limb syndrome), Mitchell9s fictional accounts of neurologic topics followed his presentation of these topics in the scientific literature. Conclusions: The majority of Mitchell9s fictional works contained references to neurologic topics but most contained brief references. The number of references to Mitchell9s specific scientific interests (phantom limb syndrome, causalgia) was small, although more generally, references to the neurology of battle injuries occurred more frequently.
Functionally Graded Stitched Laminates: Illustration on the Example of a Double Cantilever Beam

Although stitched laminates have been shown effective in preventing delamination failure, the presence of stitches results in a degraded in-plane strength and stiffness in such structures. The solution suggested in the paper is based on using stitches only in a part of the structure where they serve as arrestors of delamination cracks, while the part subject to considerable in-plane loading could remain unstitched. This approach, that could be called “functionally graded stitching,” is considered on the example of a double cantilever beam (DCB) with a preexisting delamination crack that has penetrated into the stitched region of the beam. As is shown in the paper, the distribution of stitches in a functionally graded DCB (and in any other laminated structure) should be chosen to prevent three major failure modes. These modes include the failure of the stitches, bending failure of the unstitched delaminated section of the structure, and continuous crack propagation through the stitched region. The results ...
Tensile properties of Ti-70A and Ti-6aℓ,-4V containing 0-600 appm 3He

Abstract The sensitivity of the tensile properties of Ti-70A and Ti-6Al-4V to dissolved helium was determined by the decay of absorbed tritium to 3 He. Helium bubbles were observed at grain boundaries, dislocations and randomly throughout the grains following a 900°C anneal. The total elongation of titanium was found to be less sensitive to dissolved helium than 316SS but more so than niobium.
Highly fluorescent noble-metal quantum dots.

AbstractHighly fluorescent, water-soluble, few-atom noble-metal quantum dots have been created that behave as multielectron artificial atoms with discrete, size-tunable electronic transitions throughout the visible and near infrared. These molecular metals exhibit highly polarizable transitions and scale in size according to the simple relation EFermi/N1/3, predicted by the free-electron model of metallic behavior. This simple scaling indicates that fluorescence arises from intraband transitions of free electrons, and these conduction-electron transitions are the low-number limit of the plasmon—the collective dipole oscillations occurring when a continuous density of states is reached. Providing the missing link between atomic and nanoparticle behavior in noble metals, these emissive, water-soluble Au nanoclusters open new opportunities for biological labels, energy-transfer pairs, and light-emitting sources in nanoscale optoelectronics.
Parallel algorithms for one or two-vehicle navigation

A two vehicle navigator on a discrete space is analyzed. The concept of linking time maps as source to optimal path planning is discussed. The rules for constructing these maps are given in a cellular automata mode. The implementation of these rules on a parallel computer is presented. >
Improving end-to-end throughput of Mobile IP using SCTP

Mobile IP is the IETF-proposed standard to offer seamless mobile computing. A new transport layer protocol, called stream control transmission protocol (SCTP), has recently been accepted by IETF as a proposed standard to address a number of TCP limitations. Most of the previous research on end-to-end throughput over Mobile IP has been carried out on TCP-Reno. Both TCP and SCTP can use selective acknowledgment (SACK) for error recovery. The effect of SCTP on the improvement of throughput during handovers in Mobile IP is analyzed. We show that SCTP has a better performance than TCP-Reno and TCP-SACK due to its support for unlimited number of SACK blocks. We conclude that SCTP can be used to improve the end-to-end throughput when the bottleneck link bandwidth is low.