cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Correlation of excitation spectroscopy of edge luminescence and persistent photoconductivity in CDS

Abstract Simultaneous excitation spectra of time-resolved luminescence and persistent photoconductivity are investigated in near-zero stored-charge states at temperatures 1 - 4K and magnetic fields up to 4 Tesla.
STD Acquisition and coping in adolescent girls

Background Adolescent girls who acquire sexually transmitted diseases are a serious public health problem and are at greater risk for subsequent acquisition. In order to evaluate and improve interventions, it is important to understand whether girls cope with STD acquisition primarily as a health related problem or as an interpersonal problem. This study compared adolescent girls’ ways of coping with the acquisition of an STD to ways of coping with other types of interpersonal problems. Methods Forty-four adolescent girls with sexually transmitted diseases were recruited from a primary care setting as part of a broader study on adolescent health and sexual behavior. The Kidcope, a brief, 10 item measure widely used in pediatric settings, was administered by a trained research assistant to assess the girls’ reported methods of coping and degree of helpfulness both in regards to the acquisition of an STD and an additional personal problem which they identified. Speannan Rho correlations and paired T-tests were used to determine whether coping for STD acquisition was similar to coping with other interpersonal problems. Results With one exception, girls appeared to use similar strategies for both STD acquisition and other interpersonal problems. Further, girls displayed similar patterns of perceived helpfulness of coping strategies in both types of events. Girls were more likely to use wishful thinking as a coping strategy with STD acquisition than with other types of interpersonal problems. Girls who used wishful thinking extensively uniformly rated it as an unhelpful coping strategy. For both types of events there was a wide distribution of other coping strategies. Conclusions Adolescent girls with sexually transmitted diseases display a tendency to treat STD acquisition as an interpersonal event rather than primarily a medical one. They are more likely to use ineffective strategies such as “wishful thinking” in response to acquisition than they are in response to an interpersonal stressor even though they recognize it as non-helpful. Primary care physicians should communicate with patients recognizing that medical sequelae of acquisition may not be primary for the patient.
Library and Informatics Skills Competencies Statements from Major Health Professional Associations

Every major health profession now provides competency statements for preparing new members for their respective professions. These competency statements normally include expectations for training health professions students in library/informatics skills. For purposes of this article, searches were conducted using various sources to produce a comprehensive 32-page Compendium that inventories library/informatics-related competency statements. This compendium should aid readers in integrating their library/informatics skills training into various health professions education curricula.
Logically rearrangeable multihop lightwave networks

The optimization problem of rearrangeable multihop lightwave networks is considered. The authors formulate the flow and wavelength assignment problem, when minimizing the maximum flow in the network, as a mixed integer optimization problem subject to linear constraints. The problem is decomposed into two independent subproblems, the wavelength assignment (or connectivity problem) and the flow assignment (or routing problem). A simple heuristic provides a meaningful formulation to the connectivity problem, in a form similar to a transportation problem. An algorithm is then proposed which finds a heuristic initial logical connectivity diagram and the corresponding routing, and then iterates from that solution by applying branch-exchange operations to the connectivity diagram. The algorithm was tested on illustrative traffic matrices for an 8 node network with two transmitters and two receivers per node, and an improvement in achievable throughput over the Perfect Shuffle interconnection pattern was shown in all cases. >
The automatic generation of extended queries

In the extended vector space model, each document vector consists of a set of subvectors representing the multiple concepts or concept classes present in the document. Typical information concepts, in addition to the usual content terms or descriptors, include author names, bibliographic links, etc. The extended vector space model is known to improve retrieval effectiveness. However, a major impediment to the use of the extended model is the construction of an extended query. In this paper, we describe a method for automatically extending a query containing only content terms (a single concept class) to a representation containing multiple concept classes. No relevance feedback is involved. Experiments using the CACM collection resulted in an average precision 34% better than that obtained using the standard single-concept term vector model.
'Who Has the Youth, Has the Future': The Campaign to Save Young Workers in Imperial Germany

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: the natural history of a social problem 2. Young labourers in the population, labour force and industrial law: structural preconditions of the youth salvation campaign 3. Youth savers and youth salvation: the image of labouring youth and institutional reform 4. Vocation and civics: the continuation school in practice 5. Beleaguered churches: Catholic and Protestant youth work 6. The socialist youth movement 7. Youth cultivation: the centralisation and militarisation of youth work 8. Preparing for motherhood: the inclusion of young women in youth cultivation 9. Youth cultivation and labouring youth in war Epilogue and conclusion Bibliography.
Enhanced diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii: Promises and problems

Abstract Over the past 20 yr, PCP has gone from a rather rare pathogen to the most common cause of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. In response to this, sensitive and rapid staining methods have been developed for the detection of P. carinii and are in routine use in many clinical microbiology laboratories. In patients with a heavy organism burdens, such as those with AIDS, the diagnosis of PCP is often made by methods of specimen collection such as induced sputum and BAL that are less invasive than lung biopsy. PCR-based assays that are more sensitive than standard staining methods may allow for the diagnosis of PCP from induced sputum or BAL specimens in patients with low organism burdens, such as AIDS patients receiving prophylactic therapy for PCP, organ transplant recipients, or patients receiving chemotherapy. Future challenges include developing a PCR-based assay for routine use in the clinical microbiology laboratory that is sensitive enough to detect P. carinii in induced sputum and BAL specimens without compromising specificity.
Integrating bioinformatics, distributed data management, and distributed computing for applied training in high performance computing

The utilization of multi-core and multi-node parallel high performance computing (HPC) systems is growing rapidly to meet computational demands in the scientific computing arena. For example, the exponential growth of genomic data has outpaced increases in single CPU clock speeds by 15-fold over the last 20 years, placing great value on the use of parallel processing systems in bioinformatics. Fortunately, increased demand for multi-node architectures has resulted in decreased costs for distributed computing components making these architectures more affordable to organizations and institutions. As the demand for HPC computer architectures grows, so does the demand for professionals skilled in the implementation, utilization and administration of these systems. With the goal of training undergraduate and graduate students to meet this demand, a model HPC training module has been developed and implemented that integrates bioinformatics, distributed data management and distributed computing. In this HPC training module bioinformatics provides exposure to applied scientific computing as well as the rationale for multi-processor computing to overcome large computational problems. In addition, the parallelization of computing is explored from the classic divide-and-conquer approach, as well as the distributed data management perspective, which places emphasis on the network bandwidth and disk paging as detractors to HPC performance. Students participate in the HPC module through hands-on interactions with three different HPC cluster types: (1) Beowulf, (2) blade servers, and (3) multi-processor shared memory systems. The results of this training module include exploratory student projects to determine mathematical relationships between HPC performance and (1) processing nodes, (2) cluster type, (3) database size and segmentation methods, (4) bioinformatics application type, (5) RAM per node, and (6) network bandwidth. The outcome of this training module is hands-on training in HPC across multiple cluster types, and across multiple computer and information technology perspectives.
Prospective pilot study of living kidney donor decision-making and outcomes

In its recent report on organ donation, the Institute of Medicine has recommended rigorous studies of how living organ donors make the decision to donate. In this pilot study, 65 donor applicants were interviewed while being evaluated in the outpatient donor clinic and 20 were surveyed again three months after donation. Fifteen and six of these subjects were surveyed again in six and 12 months respectively. Several strategies for retaining donors in a prospective longitudinal study are discussed. Half of the donors indicated that the decision to donate was a shared family decision. Married donors were slightly more likely than non-married donors to involve another family member in this decision. Several donors made practical recommendations for improved education of donors during what many perceived to be a very lengthy evaluation process. Some subjects recommended more discussion about post-operative pain and the expected pace of recovery after discharge. Others spoke of the challenge of completing basic homemaking tasks when the donor and recipient were in the same nuclear family. We are continuing to explore these and other aspects of donor decision-making and outcomes and have expanded our sample to include non-donors in the post-evaluation period.
Serum uric acid as a cardiovascular risk factor for heart disease

Cardiovascular risk factors are those environmental, behavioral, genetic, and/or personal factors whose presence indicates a heightened risk of subsequent vascular disease events. Smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, initially identified by astute clinicians, were all subsequently confirmed and defined as risk factors through formal prospective epidemiologic study, long before evidence of causality was available. Ultimately, clinical trials demonstrated a reversible contribution of both high blood pressure and elevated lipids to stroke and heart disease. As a result, these risk factors are now the cornerstones for both assessment of relative cardiovascular risk and targets for preventive intervention. The criterion for risk factor status is a strong, consistent, timely, and statistically significant association to disease events that is independent of and unconfounded by other known risk factors. The purpose of this review is to assess available data to determine whether or not serum uric acid meets the standard for designation as a risk factor.
High interfacial activity of polymers "grafted through" functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle clusters.

The mechanism by which polymers, when grafted to inorganic nanoparticles, lower the interfacial tension at the oil–water interface is not well understood, despite the great interest in particle stabilized emulsions and foams. A simple and highly versatile free radical “grafting through” technique was used to bond high organic fractions (by weight) of poly(oligo(ethylene oxide) monomethyl ether methacrylate) onto iron oxide clusters, without the need for catalysts. In the resulting ∼1 μm hybrid particles, the inorganic cores and grafting architecture contribute to the high local concentration of grafted polymer chains to the dodecane/water interface to produce low interfacial tensions of only 0.003 w/v % (polymer and particle core). This “critical particle concentration” (CPC) for these hybrid inorganic/polymer amphiphilic particles to lower the interfacial tension by 36 mN/m was over 30-fold lower than the critical micelle concentration of the free polymer (without inorganic cores) to produce nearly the s...
β-d-Xylosidase from Selenomonas ruminantium: Thermodynamics of Enzyme-Catalyzed and Noncatalyzed Reactions

Beta-D-Xylosidase/alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase from Selenomonas ruminantium is the most active enzyme known for catalyzing hydrolysis of 1,4-beta-D: -xylooligosaccharides to D-xylose. Temperature dependence for hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside (4NPX), 4-nitrophenyl-alpha-L-arabinofuranoside (4NPA), and 1,4-beta-D-xylobiose (X2) was determined on and off (k (non)) the enzyme at pH 5.3, which lies in the pH-independent region for k (cat) and k (non). Rate enhancements (k (cat)/k (non)) for 4NPX, 4NPA, and X2 are 4.3 x 10(11), 2.4 x 10(9), and 3.7 x 10(12), respectively, at 25 degrees C and increase with decreasing temperature. Relative parameters k (cat) (4NPX)/k (cat) (4NPA), k (cat) (4NPX)/k (cat) (X2), and (k (cat)/K (m))(4NPX)/(k (cat)/K (m))(X2) increase and (k (cat)/K (m))(4NPX)/(k (cat)/K (m))(4NPA), (1/K (m))(4NPX)/(1/K (m))(4NPA), and (1/K (m))(4NPX)/(1/K (m))(X2) decrease with increasing temperature.
Archaea in organic-lean and organic-rich marine subsurface sediments: an environmental gradient reflected in distinct phylogenetic lineages.

Examining the patterns of archaeal diversity in little-explored organic-lean marine subsurface sediments presents an opportunity to study the association of phylogenetic affiliation and habitat preference in uncultured marine Archaea. Archaeal 16S rRNA clone library datasets across a spectrum of sediment trophic states characterized by a wide range of terminal electron-accepting processes reveals that organic-lean marine sediments in deep marine basins and oligotrophic open ocean locations are inhabited by distinct lineages of archaea that are not found in the more frequently studied, organic-rich continental margin sediments. We hypothesize that different combinations of electron donor and acceptor concentrations along the organic-rich/organic-lean spectrum result in distinct archaeal communities, and propose an integrated classification of habitat characteristics and archaeal community structure.
Effects of ischemic preconditioning and bevacizumab on apoptosis and vascular permeability following retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Purpose Using transient ischemia followed by reperfusion (IR) to model ischemic retinal disease, this study compares the effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and therapies targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α on retinal apoptosis, vascular permeability, and mRNA expression. Methods Rats were subjected to 30 or 45 minutes of retinal ischemia followed by reperfusion for up to 48 hours. Neurodegeneration was quantified by caspase-3 (DEVDase) activity and by measuring nucleosomal DNA content (cell death ELISA). Vascular leakage was quantified by the Evans Blue dye method. A set of IR-responsive mRNAs was identified by whole-genome microarray and confirmed by RT-PCR analyses. VEGF protein was measured by Western blot analysis. IPC was accomplished with 10 minutes of ischemia 24 hours before IR. VEGF and TNFα signaling was inhibited by intravitreal injection of bevacizumab or etanercept, respectively. Results IR caused significant retinal cell apoptosis and vascular permeability after 4 and 48 hours. Whereas IR decreased VegfA mRNA, VEGF protein was significantly increased. IPC effectively inhibited neurodegeneration, bevacizumab effectively inhibited vascular permeability, and etanercept failed to affect either outcome. IPC significantly altered the IR responses of 15 of 33 IR-responsive mRNAs, whereas bevacizumab had no significant effect on these mRNAs. Conclusions IR provides an acute model of ischemic retinopathy that includes neurodegeneration and VEGF-dependent vascular permeability and is amenable to rapid drug therapy testing. The distinct effects of IPC and bevacizumab demonstrate that the apoptotic and vascular responses to IR may be separated and that therapeutics targeting each pathologic endpoint may be warranted in treating ischemic retinal diseases.
Spectral Geometry and the Kaehler Condition for Complex Manifolds.

Recently, the relationship between the geometry of a smooth manifold and the spectrum of its Laplacian has been explored extensively. It is known that the Euler number and signature of a manifold are determined by the spectrum. Furthermore, the arithmetic genus of a complex manifold is determined by the spectrum of its complex Laplacian. Patodi [7] proved that it is possible to determine whether a real manifold is flat, constant curvature, or Einstein from the spectrum of the Laplace operator. He showed that it is possible to determine ira space is isometric to the standard sphere from the spectral geometry. In this paper, we answer a problem proposed by M. Berger [2]: we will show that it is possible to determine whether a complex Hermitian manifold M is Kaehler from the spectrum of the complex Laplacian ([~w acting on forms of type (0,0), (1,0), and (0, 1). John Sacks and the author [9] have used this result to show that it is possible to determine whether a complex Hermitian manifold is isometric to complex projective space with the standard metric from the spectrum of the complex Laplacian. The proofs of these results depend on certain asymptotic invariants of the eigenvalues of these operators. These invariants are computed by integrating corresponding local invariants of the metric tensor over the manifold. In this paper, we compute the second term in the asymptotic expansion for the operators Dp, q= (~* (~+(~*) on forms of type (p, q). In Section 1 we derive a combinatorial formula for the second term in the asymptotic expansion of an arbitrary operator using invariance theory and the results of McKean-Singer [6]. In Section 2, we compute all the invariant polynomials which are of order 2 in the derivatives of a Hermitian metric. This computation also uses invariance theory. In Section 3, we combine these results to compute the second term in the asymptotic expansion of the operators Dp, q. In the final section we derive the result cited above.
Reactions of bistable B-H loops on magnetic amplifiers

Magnetic amplifiers commonly use 50% nickel-iron core materials with oriented crystals. These materials are commercially named Delta-max, Hypernic V, Orthonik, Orthonol, Permenorm, Permeron, etc. They are used successfully in many applications, but frequently when they are used under-excited in magnetic amplifiers (where the power supply voltage is insufficient to drive the core from negative to positive saturation), instability and slow response time occur.
Silicone rubber used for fire safety and fire retardant cables

Fire safety cables are in many applications mandatory since they need to ensure in the case of fire the integrity of the cable especially in alarm systems, emergency lightning, ventilation, automatic doors on escape routes, etc‥
EMISSION IN THE HYDROGEN-BRACKETT LINES OF EPSILON AURIGAE DURING ECLIPSE.

Results of high-resolution infrared spectroscopy of Epsilon Aur performed from 1982 and 1985 in order to investigate the effects of eclipse on spectral lines at near-infrared wavelengths are reported. The profiles of the Brackett-alpha and Brackett-gamma lines of hydrogen are reported. The B-alpha emission has an integrated flux of 9 x 10 to the -15th W/sq m, a FWHM of 60 km/s, and a radial velocity that follows the predicted velocity curve of the primary star more closely than that of the secondary. The mean B-alpha/B-gamma flux ratio was approximately unity on the three dates both lines were observed, indicating optically thick emission. It is concluded that the emission originates in a flow rather than from material in Keplerian revolution; the Brackett line emission probably has the same source as the previously observed H-alpha emission.
Life cycle assessment: An international experience

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate environmental burdens associated with a product, process or activity by identifying and quantifying relevant inputs and outputs of the defined system and evaluating their potential impacts. This article outlines the four components that comprise LCA (goal definition, inventory, impact assessment and interpretation) and addresses various applications of LCA within industry and government. Included are references to several resources that may be used to better understand and apply LCA, such as books, journals, software programs and internet websites.
SCHIZOMUS SIAMENSIS (SCHIZOMIDA: SCHIZOMIDAE) FROM EASTERN ASIA AND HAWAII

A male lectotype and paralectotypes (male and female) are designated from material collected in Thailand. A complete synonymy and records from Hong Kong, Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and Hawaiian Islands of U.S.A, are provided. The female genitalia is illustrated for the first time.
ALLHAT and its implications in the diabetic population

The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) is the largest hypertension study ever conducted. It included a large number of diabetic patients, representing nearly a third of its entire cohort of 42,448 participants. Furthermore, the study showed a significant increase in the number of incident diabetes cases with the use of chlorothalidone throughout the trial. In this report we discuss the major ALLHAT results with emphasis on the diabetic population, a particularly high-risk group for cardiovascular events, the primary outcome for the trial.
An exploration of the formal elements in adolescents’ drawings: General screening for socio-emotional concerns

Abstract Screening adolescents for socio-emotional concerns is often challenging. Non-threatening and engaging tools are needed for this population. Art assessments can provide unique means of screening adolescents in group settings. Participants were asked to make two drawings: (1) their perfect romantic date, and (2) a place where they might be exposed to alcohol or drugs. The goal of this study was to examine the underlying factor structure of the FEATS and determine the ability of identified composite scales in detecting between-group differences on the BASC-2. As part of a larger study of health risk behaviors, 193 students from a traditional high school and a therapeutic high school completed the BASC-2 measure and two drawings. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to explore the underlying factor structure of the FEATS. Composite scale scores were used in MANCOVA to detect between-group differences in those scoring in the At-Risk on the BASC-2. The EFA supported the use of three reliable FEATS composite scales. However, these composite scales scores failed to detect between-group differences in students scoring At-Risk on BASC-2 composite scales. These results suggest future research needs to be done to adequately assess the ability of the FEATS composite scales scores for socio-emotional concerns in adolescents when using two drawings with different directives.
‘Carbohydrate handles’ as natural resources in drug delivery

Abstract Carbohydrates, perhaps the most ubiquitous chemicals in living systems, have been traditionally associated with energy production and as building blocks. Increasingly, however, the role of carbohydrates is seen as more pervasive and sophisticated. Their involvement in and with lectins, the high affinity carbohydrate-binding non-immune proteins or glycoproteins, makes them attractive as ‘handles’ in drug delivery. As such, carbohydrates could partake as (1) organ or site delivery, by making use of their particular physicochemical properties, and (2) specific cell delivery, using the idea of carbohydrate receptors to route useful drugs to cell targets. The latter concept has been re-ascribed to the selectivity found in carbohydrate conjugates of ellipticine, 8-hydroxyquinoline, 6-mercaptopurine, etc. Recently, polymeric carbohydrates have been used in the development of polyvalent drugs, those that bind to a target site through multiple interactions, and in the delivery of xenobiotics through neoglycoprotein conjugates.
Impact of onsite solar generation on system load demand forecast

Abstract Net energy metering tariffs have encouraged the growth of solar PV in the distribution grid. The additional variability associated with weather-dependent renewable energy creates new challenges for power system operators that must maintain and operate ancillary services to balance the grid. To deal with these issues power operators mostly rely on demand load forecasts. Electric load forecast has been used in power industry for a long time and there are several well established load forecasting models. But the performance of these models for future scenario of high renewable energy penetration is unclear. In this work, the impact of onsite solar power generation on the demand load forecast is analyzed for a community that meets between 10% and 15% of its annual power demand and 3–54% of its daily power demand from a solar power plant. Short-Term Load Forecasts (STLF) using persistence, machine learning and regression-based forecasting models are presented for two cases: (1) high solar penetration and (2) no penetration. Results show that for 1-h and 15-min forecasts the accuracy of the models drops by 9% and 3% with high solar penetration. Statistical analysis of the forecast errors demonstrate that the error distribution is best characterized as a t -distribution for the high penetration scenario. Analysis of the error distribution as a function of daily solar penetration for different levels of variability revealed that the solar power variability drives the forecast error magnitude whereas increasing penetration level has a much smaller contribution. This work concludes that the demand forecast error distribution for a community with an onsite solar generation can be directly characterized based on the local solar irradiance variability.
Heat shock proteins are differentially expressed in human gastrointestinal cancers.

The heat shock proteins (Hsp) are stress-responsive genes present in all species; increases of Hsp can confer chemotherapeutic resistance to certain cancers. The purpose of this study was to determine Hsp expression in human gastric, pancreatic and colon cancers. Gastric [ n = 3), pancreatic [ n = 6) and colon [ n = 8) cancers were extracted for RNA,and protein, and Northern and Western blots performed. We found that hsp70 and hsp27 mRNA levels were differentially expressed in the gastrointestinal cancers; mRNA expression closely correlated with protein levels suggesting regulation at the level of transcription. In addition, Hsp90 and BiP proteins were constitutively expressed in the gastrointestinal cancers. We conclude that the Hsp are differentially expressed in human gastric, pancreatic and colon cancers; these increases in Hsp occur constitutively and are not the result of physiological or environmental stresses. Increases of Hsp expression in cancer cells may enhance resistance and account for the altered sensitivity of certain gastrointestinal cancers to chemotherapeutic agents.
A Comparison of Impact of Undergraduate and Graduate Occupational Therapy Education on Professional Productivity

This article presents an account of the evolutionary changes in occupational therapy graduate education at the University of Southern California (USC) in response to the increasing professional demands and the expanding knowledge base of the field. The contention that undergraduate and graduate education represented by these changes would result in different student products was tested. A questionnaire survey was used to assess the responses of 189 former undergraduate and graduate occupational therapy students of USC on issues relating to professionalism, leadership, attitudes, and scholarly contributions. Results of this study support the theory that graduate education of a specific kind and quality enhances the professionalization of occupational therapy more so than does undergraduate education.
Coherence in political computer-mediated communication: analyzing topic relevance and drift in chat:

There is a general perception that synchronous, online chat about politics is fragmented, incoherent, and rife with ad hominem attacks because of its channel characteristics. This study aims to better understand the relative impact of channel of communication versus topic of communication by comparing chat about four different topics. Discourse analysis and coding for topic drift were applied to two hours of chat devoted to the topics of politics, auto racing, entertainment, and cancer support. Findings demonstrate that topic may have an effect on the coherence of chat, with discussion in the politics chat room surprisingly being more coherent than in the other rooms. This research suggests that users can sustain relatively coherent interaction on political talk, suggesting chat technology may not be an inherently problematic medium for political discourse.
The proportion and size of GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the magnocellular and parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the rhesus monkey

Neurons containing GABA-immunoreactivity in LGN of the macaque monkey were analyzed quantitatively in semithin (1 μm) sections. The percentage of GABA(+) cells per unit area of the sections was 26% in the magnocellular layers and 19% in the parvocellular layers. However, the percentage of GABA(+) cells in a unit volume of LGN, calculated by a stereological method that takes into account the observed difference in size of labeled and unlabeled somata, was 35% in the magnocellular layers and 25% in the parvocellular layers. GABA(+) somata in the magnocellular layers were significantly larger than those in the parvocellular layers. The possible role of GABAergic cells in inhibitory mechanisms of receptive fields of parvo- and magnocellular neurons are discussed in the light of current knowledge of the physiology and neural circuits of macaque LGN.
Organization Change in Business and Government

This paper discusses organization change in government and business in America. First the causes and dimensions of organization change are presented. The literature on organization change is review...
Experiments on probabilistic approximations

Recently much attention has been paid to probabilistic (parameterized) approximations that are generalizations of ordinary lower and upper approximations known from rough set theory. The first objective of this paper is to compare the quality of such approximations and ordinary, lower and upper approximations. The second objective is to show that the number of distinct probabilistic approximations is quite limited. In our experiments we used six real-life data sets. Obviously, inconsistent data sets are required for such experiments, so the level of consistency in all data sets used for our experiments was decreased to enhance our experiments. Our main result is rather pessimistic: probabilistic approximations, different from ordinary lower or upper approximations, were better than ordinary approximations for only two out of these six data sets.
What Comes First in German Studies, German or Studies?

(2000). What Comes First in German Studies, German or Studies? The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 226-243.
Starch characterization and ethanol production of sorghum.

This study aimed to characterize and compare the chemical structures, physical properties, and enzymatic hydrolysis rates of five sorghum starches (6B73, 6C21, 6C69, 7R34, and X789) with that of corn starch (B73). Sorghum kernels consisted of 68.7–70.6% starch, more than the B73 corn (67.4%). Sorghum starches displayed higher gelatinization temperatures (66.6–67.4 °C), greater gelatinization enthalpy changes (13.0–14.0 J/g), and greater percentages of retrogradation (60.7–69.1%), but slower enzymatic hydrolysis rates (83.8–87.8% at 48 h) than the B73 corn starch (61.7 °C, 10.1 J/g, 51.5%, and 88.5%, respectively). These differences could result from the sorghum amylopectins consisting of fewer short branch chains (DP 6–12) (12.8–14.0%) than the corn amylopectin (15.0%). The sorghum starches showed greater peak and breakdown viscosities but lower setback viscosities than the B73 corn starch, resulting from the lower amylose content of the sorghum starches. After 96 h of fermentation, most ground sorghums e...
Seasonal influence on the production of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni cercariae in Rhodesia

Abstract Batches of Bulinus (Physopsis) globosus and Biomphalaria pfeifferi were exposed to Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni respectively each month for a 12-month period. The snails were kept out of doors in Salisbury (highveld) and indoors at Chiredzi (lowveld S. haematobium only) and examined weekly to determine the duration of prepatency, and the number of cercariae produced per infected snail. There was a strong seasonal influence in the highveld experiments which showed sporocyst dormancy in winter and the almost simultaneous maturation of infection in nine batches during early summer. In the lowveld the release of cercariae by infected B. globosus continued throughout the year although numbers fell off in winter. The prepatent period was prolonged in winter, but there was no evidence of sporocyst dormancy.
Salt-Leaching Synthesis of Porous PLGA Nanoparticles

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles are widely used for controlled delivery of bioactive agents in therapeutic applications. These nanoparticles show bioavailability, better encapsulation, controlled release, biocompatibility, and in vivo biodegradability. This paper reports a novel approach to synthesize porous PLGA nanoparticles and their use as controlled release vehicles. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) loaded PLGA nanoparticles (porous and nonporous) were synthesized using water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion method. Specifically, PLGA nanoparticles were prepared using chloroform and polyvinyl alcohol, and freeze drying was employed for the phase separation to obtain the nanoparticles. The porous nanoparticles were prepared through the salt-leaching process where sodium bicarbonate was used as an extractable porogen. In vitro drug release behavior of porous and nonporous nanoparticles was monitored over a period of 30 days. A much more enhanced BSA release was observed in case of porous polymeric nanoparticles when compared to nonporous nanoparticles. The characterization was done using laser scattering, zeta potential analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The drug loading efficiencies for BSA in porous and nonporous PLGA nanoparticles were 65.50% and 77.59%, respectively. Over a period of 30 days, the cumulative BSA released from PLGA porous and nonporous nanoparticles were measured to be 87.41% and 59.91%, respectively. The synthesis of porous nanoparticles with this novel, rapid, and inexpensive method opens a new horizon of using a wide range of cheap and easily-accessible water-soluble salts that can be extracted through leaching process to introduce porous morphology on the nanoparticle surfaces. The porous nanoparticles can have useful applications in controlled drug delivery systems.
UNDERSTANDING INFLATION'S IMPACT

Inflation is here to stay. That hard truth has important implications for strategic planning and financial reporting. Managers who want to thrive in the 1980s will have to find new ways of turning inflation to their advantage.
Native tertiary structure in an A-state

Abstract The A-state is an equilibrium species that is thought to represent the molten globule, an on-pathway protein folding intermediate with native secondary structure and non-native, fluctuating tertiary structure. We used yeast iso-1-ferricytochrome c to test for an evolutionary-invariant tertiary interaction in its A-state. Thermal denaturation monitored by circular dichroism (CD)spectropolarimetry was used to determine A-state and native-state stabilities, ΔGA⇄D and ΔGN⇄D. We examined the wild-type protein, seven variants with substitutions at the interface between the N and C-terminal helices, and four control variants. The controls have the same amino acid changes as the interface variants, but the changes are close to, not at, the interface. We also examined the pH and sulfate concentration dependencies and found that while these factors affect the far-UV CD spectra of the least stable variants, they do not alter the difference in stability between the wild-type protein and the variants. A ΔGA⇄Dversus- ΔGN⇄D plot for the interface variants has a slope near unity and the control variants have near-wild-type stability. These results show that the helix-helix interaction stabilizes the A-state and the native state to the same degree, confirming our preliminary report. We determined that the heat capacity change for A-state denaturation is ≈60% of the value for native-state denaturation, indicating that the A-state interior is native-like. We discuss our results in relation to ferricytochrome c folding kinetics.
Teaching sacrospinous colpopexy

Abstract OBJECTIVE: A method is described by which residents can perform transvaginal sacrospinous colpopexy simply, quickly, safely, and effectively. STUDY DESIGN: Over 11 years, 134 sacrospinous suspension procedures have been performed, all or in part by residents, under the direct intraoperative supervision of the author. Minimum follow-up is 1 year. An operative technique has been developed with use of standard instruments and lights. The sitting resident, the attending physician, and the medical student are able to see the ligament penetrated by the suture. If necessary, the attending physician is able to perform the difficult steps of the operation without changing places with the resident. RESULTS: Results are known for 112 of the patients. There have been five recurrences of significant prolapse, and incontinence has developed in 8 patients. Ninety-nine patients felt the outcome to be satisfactory or excellent. There were two major complications and one postoperative death. CONCLUSIONS: This teaching method has provided our residents a direct-view, hands-on familiarity with sacrospinous colpopexy while achieving results for the patients consistent with the outcomes of other centers.(Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;177:6)
Brunner's gland cystadenoma of the duodenum.

Summary The second published case of benign duodenal cystadenoma of Brunner's gland origin is herein presented. An operative approach to these lesions, whether symptomatic or not, is suggested.
RATE OF INDUCED CELLULAR DEDIFFERENTIATION IN CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

A B S T R A C T During floral ontogeny in Catharanthus roseus, approximately 400 epidermal cells are induced to rapidly dedifferentiate during postgenital fusion, an unequivocal case of intercellular communication between somatic plant cells. Some fusing cells completely dedifferentiate within 4.3 hr of cell contact, and by 8.9 hr virtually all the cells undergo the dramatic change in cell shape and cytological features. To our knowledge, this is the fastest case of induced cell differentiation reported to date in any eukaryotic system. STUDIES to determine how cells detect their osition during developmentn so that diffierential gene expression can result in an organism with a functional pattern of tissues, require unequivocal examples where positional responses can be manipulated experimentally. In order to understand development, both the source of the positional signal and the response of the receiving cell to that signal must be identified. Few clear examples of such positional signaling have been reported for somatic tissues of higher plants, although a rich literature is developing on pollen-stigma interactions (Heslop-Harrison,1975;Knoxetal.,1976)and cell-to-cell communication in animal tissues
A geometric presentation of the 26-dimensional module for F4(q)

Abstract The fixed-point sheaf of the group F 4 ( q ), acting on its 26-dimensional module V , is described; it is shown that the 0-homology module is isomorphic to V . This gives a presentation of V by geometric generators and relations.
Oxygen Cost of Chloride Transport in Perfused Rectal Gland of Squalus acanthias

In the stimulated state, with glucose as substrate, oxygen uptake by the isolated perfused rectal gland is directly related to the rate of chloride secretion. Lactate production is negligible under aerobic conditions in the stimulated gland. A stoichiometric relationship exists between chloride transport and oxygen consumption, with a Cl/O2 ratio of about 30∶1, resembling that reported for sodium in mammalian kidneys. This ratio remains constant under varying degrees and modes of stimulation. The ratio does not change when the gland is induced to secrete chloride against varying electrochemical gradients by altering the concentration of urea in the perfusate.
Controlling the Kinetics of Contact Electrification with Patterned Surfaces

This communication describes a new approach for controlling static charging (contact electrification), and resulting electrical discharging, that occurs when two contacting materials separate. The prevention of contact electrification is an important problem; unwanted adhesion between oppositely charged materials, spark-initiated explosions, and damage to microelectronic circuitry are some of the deleterious effects of static charging. Current strategies for controlling contact electrification rely upon dissipating an accumulated charge by making contacting surfaces conductive and, therefore, can be difficult to implement with electrically insulating materials. Specifically, using our understanding of the ion-transfer mechanism of contact electrification, we patterned glass slides with negatively charging areas (clean glass) and positively charging areas (glass silanized with a cationic siloxane terminated with a quaternary ammonium group). The rate of charge separation due to a steel sphere rolling on th...
Numerical computation of the genus of an irreducible curve within an algebraic set

Abstract The common zero locus of a set of multivariate polynomials (with complex coefficients) determines an algebraic set. Any algebraic set can be decomposed into a union of irreducible components. Given a one-dimensional irreducible component, i.e. a curve, it is useful to understand its invariants. The most important invariants of a curve are the degree, the arithmetic genus and the geometric genus (where the geometric genus denotes the genus of a desingularization of the projective closure of the curve). This article presents a numerical algorithm to compute the geometric genus of any one-dimensional irreducible component of an algebraic set.
Analysis Article: Accuracy of the DIDGET Glucose Meter in Children and Young Adults with Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases among American children. Although studies show that intensive management, including frequent glucose testing, improves diabetes control, this is difficult to accomplish. Bayer's DIDGET® glucose meter system pairs with a popular handheld video game system and couples good blood glucose testing habits with video-game-based rewards. In this issue, Deeb and colleagues performed a study demonstrating the accuracy of the DIDGET meter, a critical asset to this novel product designed to alleviate some of the challenges of managing pediatric diabetes.
Transference, Countertransference, and Abuse in Psychotherapy

The complex factors that can lead to either creative or destructive experiences in psychotherapy for both patients and therapists are explored with reference to the treatment of patients with a his...
The Optical Constants of Some Oxide Glasses in the Strong Absorption Region

The optical constants n and k have been calculated for fused silica, three silicate glasses, and a phosphate glass from reflectance measurements made in the strong absorption region, from about 7 μ to 13 μ. Plots of the 2nkν product, which corresponds to the conductivity, as a function of frequency are used to determine the location of the resonance frequencies in the infrared.
Hemoglobins in Sheep: Multiple Differences in Amino Acid Sequences of Three Beta-Chains and Possible Origins

Among the three adult sheep hemoglobins (A, B, and C), two (A and B) are reportedly products of alleles. The β-chains of A and B differ by at least seven scattered amino acid residues whereas the β-sequence of C differs from A by at least 16 residues and from B by at least 21 residues. These changes suggest that the origin of C-β antedated the divergence of A and B. Five shared differences between A-β and C-β with respect to B-β can be interpreted as the result of selective advantage in favor of B. A complex of additional mechanisms has possibly been involved in maintaining the A-B- C porymorphism.
Effects of calorie labeling and value size pricing on fast food meal choices: Results from an experimental trial

Although point-of-purchase calorie labeling at restaurants has been proposed as a strategy for improving consumer food choices, a limited number of studies have evaluated this approach. Likewise, little research has been conducted to evaluate the influence of value size pricing on restaurant meal choices. To examine the effect of point-of-purchase calorie information and value size pricing on fast food meal choices a randomized 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted in which participants ordered a fast food meal from one of four menus that varied with respect to whether calorie information was provided and whether value size pricing was used. Study participants included 594 adolescents and adults who regularly ate at fast food restaurants. Study staff recorded the foods ordered and consumed by each participant. Participants also completed surveys to assess attitudes, beliefs and practices related to fast food and nutrition. No significant differences in the energy composition of meals ordered or eaten were found between menu conditions. The average energy content of meals ordered by those randomized to a menu that included calorie information and did not include value size pricing was 842 kcals compared with 827 kcals for those who ordered their meal from a menu that did not include calorie information but had value size pricing (control menu). Results were similar in most analyses conducted stratified by factors such as age, race and education level. Additional research is needed to better evaluate the effects of calorie labeling and value size pricing on fast food meal choices. Studies in which participants are repeatedly exposed to these factors are needed since long term exposure may be required for behavior change.