cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chemical fate, bioconcentration, and environmental effects testing: Proposed testing and decision criteria

Chemicals should have a minimum amount of available chemical fate, bioconcentration, and environmental effects data to identify those chemicals with potentially problematic environmental partitioning or persistence, or those with potential to bioconcentrate or cause adverse effects. Professional judgment, estimates of a chemical's mode(s) of action or mechanism of action, and its susceptibility to rapid transport or transformation should be utilized to determine the types of chemical fate, bioconcentration, and environmental effects data that should be available. Data-supported decision criteria should be used to develop additional data to characterize the persistence, bioconcentration, and adverse effects of chemicals that have been identified as potentially problematic. To facilitate an understanding of minimum chemical fate and bioconcentration data that should be available, recommended chemical fate and bioconcentration data from previously published testing schemes or approaches were evaluated. For environmental effects data, the types of organisms recommended for developing aquatic toxicity data in previously published testing schemes or approaches were evaluated. To facilitate an understanding of available testing decision criteria, those criteria that were used (as of December 31, 1988) to propose or require chemical fate, bioconcentration, on aquatic toxicity tests under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act and those criteria recommended in previously reported testing schemes were evaluated. Based on this comprehensive evaluation it was possible to propose (1) a base set of chemical fate and aquatic toxicity tests, (2) organisms for conducting aquatic toxicity tests, and (3) decision logic and testing scheme for developing chemical fate and aquatic toxicity test data.
A CMOS 10kpixel baseline-free magnetic bead detector with column-parallel readout for miniaturized immunoassays

The specific detection of anti-bodies or proteins in a point-of-care setting remains an unsolved technological challenge. While laboratory instruments rely on enzymatic labels and require complex, difficult-to-miniaturize optics, devices using super-paramagnetic labels have emerged as an attractive alternative for point-of-care systems [1]. The key challenge for all magnetic-bead detection systems [2–5] is the presence of a large measurement “baseline.” Since beads are paramagnetic, a polarization field must be applied in order to excite a magnetic response. This response is ∼1000× smaller than the polarization field, necessitating a combination of calibration, reference sensors [2], and temperature stabilization [5] to reject the polarization field. In addition to a low and stable baseline, a practical system should have low measurement time and large sensing area to reduce biological variations [6].
Culturing Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) Under Controlled Environmental Conditions For The Upper Midwest Market1

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) are in great demand in the upper midwest around the Great Lakes area. The supply of this species from natural waters is declining rapidly while the demand is increasing. To supplement the natural supply a system of culture for this species under controlled environmental conditions has been developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The fish are raised from fingerling to market size (150 g) in 9 to 11 months on a pelleted feed at water temperatures of 21 C and photoperiods of 16 hr. The water used in the system is cycled through biological filters so that it can be used approximately 20 times. Feed conversion is approximately 1.5. The fish have an excellent flavor and yield approximately 5% more fillets than fish from natural waters.
A SIMPLE MONOCHROMATIC POLARIZED 57 Fe MOSSBAUER SOURCE.

The use of a polarized gamma-ray source in Mossbauer experiments leads to a significant simplification of complex spectra and the possibility of obtaining information not otherwise easily available. Polarization effects must be considered in all studies utilizing the intensities or relative intensities of absorption lines, such as finding the orientation of EFG tensor, mean-square displacements, magnetic structure, and powders with quadrupole effects in external magnetic fields.
Goverance, Ownership, and Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Impact of Industry Technological Opportunities

Corporate entrepreneurship is important for organizational survival, profitability, growth, and renewal. Data from 127 Fortune 500 companies show that executive stock ownership and long-term institutional ownership are positively associated with such entrepreneurship. Conversely, short-term institutional ownership is negatively associated with it, as is a high ratio of outside directors on a company's board. Outside directors' stock ownership somewhat mitigates the latter negative association. Outsiders, including stock owners, might lead companies away from internal product development, the traditional route to corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, an industry's technological opportunities moderate the associations observed between corporate governance and ownership variables and corporate entrepreneurship.
‘He is more like us, looking for a person to date and eventually share his life with’: perspectives of undergraduate students on being a member of a ‘circle of support’

Based on a qualitative study, this article describes how undergraduate students in a teacher preparation program construct and make meaning of their experiences in supporting an adult with a disability as the member of a ‘circle of support’. Data were collected through detailed reflection journals that were submitted by the students. Findings indicate that being a ‘circle member’ enabled students to challenge stereotypical perceptions of disability, expand their understanding of relationships and the ways in which they are created or sustained within a community as well as develop an increased awareness of the exclusionary experiences that people with disabilities often face. The findings of this study suggest that field experiences that place pre‐service teachers in non hierarchical relationships with people with disabilities could play a crucial role in encouraging future teachers to challenge the dominant views of disability.
Looking Into Aristotle's Eyes: Toward a Theory of Rhetorical Vision

This article culls a theory of rhetorical vision from Aristotle's Rhetoric by examining the cluster of terms that bears on his theory of visual style. Rhetorical vision stands apart from but complements visual rhetoric in that it attends to the rhetorical and linguistic conjuring of visual images—what contemporary neuroscientists call visual imagery—and can even affect direct perception. The article concludes by examining rhetorical vision in Demosthenes' Epitaphios. At stake in this investigation is the visible and visual liveliness of rhetoric and its ability to alter sense perception.
Persistent Food Insecurity Is Associated With Higher Levels of Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence in Low-Income Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between changes in food insecurity (FI) and cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) among Older Americans Act Nutrition Program participants and wait-listed individuals in Georgia. This study used data collected from 3 waves of self-administered mail surveys conducted 4 months apart in 2008 and 2009 (n = 664, mean age 74.6 ± 8.9 years, 71.5% female, 31.0% African American). FI was assessed by using a validated 6-item U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module. Practice of 5 CRN behaviors was evaluated. Changes in FI and CRN were determined based on ≥2 repeated measures. Participants with persistent FI and CRN were more likely to be younger, low-income, and in poorer health. After controlling for potential confounders, persistently food insecure individuals and those who became food insecure showed 8.2 (95% CI: 5.4–12.5) times and 5.3 (95% CI: 3.2–8.8) times increased odds of reporting higher levels of CRN than persistently food secure individuals.
Intramedullary inflammatory mass dorsal to the Klippel-Feil deformity: error in development or response to an abnormal motion segment?

Intramedullary inflammatory mass dorsal to the Klippel–Feil deformity: error in development or response to an abnormal motion segment?
Prometheus Unbound: Southern Caucasia in Prehistory

This paper examines the intellectual traditions and recent advances in the archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Ages of the South Caucasus. The first goal of the paper is to provide an account of the scholarly traditions that have oriented research in the region since the mid-nineteenth century. This discussion provides a detailed case study of an archaeological tradition that arose within the context of Russian and Soviet research—traditions still poorly understood within Western archaeology. Yet archaeology in the South Caucasus was strongly influenced by international research in neighboring southwest Asia, and thus the region’s intellectual currents often diverged from the debates and priorities that predominated in Moscow. The second goal of this paper is to outline the primary issues that orient contemporary work in the region from the Neolithic through the Urartian period. My interest here is both didactic and prognostic. While I am concerned to fairly represent the primary foci of contemporary regional scholarship, I also make an argument for a deeper investigation of the constitution of social life. Such studies are critical to the advancement of archaeology in the South Caucasus over the coming decade.
Lattice thermodynamics for ultracold atoms

We measure the temperature of ultracold $^{87}\text{R}\text{b}$ gases transferred into an optical lattice and compare to noninteracting thermodynamics for a combined lattice-parabolic potential. Absolute temperature is determined at low temperature by fitting quasimomentum distributions obtained using band mapping, i.e., turning off the lattice potential slowly compared with the band gap. We show that distributions obtained at high temperature employing this technique are not quasimomentum distributions through numerical simulations. To overcome this limitation, we extract temperature using the in-trap size of the gas.
Effects of Elevated CO2 on Cotton and Wheat As Determined from FACE Experiments

In order to determine the effects of the increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration on future crop productivity and water requirements, free-air CO2 enrichment (PACE) experiments at 550μmol/mol CO2 have been conducted in an open field at Maricopa, Arizona, U.S.A., on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L., cv. Deltapine 77) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Yecora Rojo) crops at ample (Wet) and limiting (Dry) levels of water supply. With ample water, canopy net photosynthesis rates of cotton and wheat crops increased about 30-40%, with little evidence of down-regulation. Under the Dry treatment, the stimulation was about the same for cotton but much larger for wheat. Cotton growth was stimulated about 30% at both wet and Dry water levels, with lint yield being stimulated even more, up to 80% under wet and 50% under Dry. Wheat growth was stimulated less than that of cotton, about 20% at mid-season. Moreover, the final wheat grain yields increased only about 10% under Wet, whereas under Dry, the increase was about 20%. The FACE treatment had very little effect on the water use of cotton, but, for wheat, there appeared to be a small (4%) but significant reduction in water use, as determined by the soil water balance. Water use efficiency increased due to the larger growth and yields.
EXCITATION OF SURFACE WAVES BY SUB-SURFACE SOURCES.

A method is proposed for the determination of surface waves produced by a buried source in a half-space. The analytical problem may be divided into two distinct cases, in which the source region is compact or non-compact. For a compact source the angular variation of the outgoing field may be characterized by an analytic function, which we call the ‘emission’ func­tion. By the use of a representation integral, the surface wave is related to the value of the emission function at a complex angle. The emission func­tion may be approximated by the full-space emission function or its ray-theory representation. As an example of a compact source, a cylindrical cavity with a concentrated line source on its circumference is considered. It is shown that the cavity may have an amplifying effect on surface-wave excitation. Diffraction by a semi-infinite screen is investigated as an example of surface waves generated by a non-compact source. The emission function for the screen, as well as its ray-theory approximation, are not analytic, and the consequent complications are discussed. The general results of this paper provide a means of analysing the excitation of surface waves by combining the intuitively simple aspects of ray theory in real space with a classical integral representation of the wave field.
Testing for sectoral differences in child anthropometric status in Zimbabwe: a comment.

Using data from the 1988 Demographic and Health Survey of Zimbabwe (ZDHS) the author analyzes the incidence of malnutrition in Zimbabwe. The author posits that the statistical analysis of Loewenson in Machonaland in 1981 and 1983 is weak and maybe even untrue; Loewenson reports that the poorest health status was n commercial farm areas. In 1988 there is no difference in the incidence of stunting among children in communal areas and on large commercial farms nationally. Children in resettlement areas are significantly shorter than other children in the rural sectors. The differences in anthropomorphic status of children in Zimbabwe may be due to differences in levels of income the quality of the health environment and the level of infrastructure. Resettlement areas particularly lack infrastructure. Future research should focus on the determinants of malnutrition and interventions through private and public investment to reduce malnutrition rather than the polemics of Loewenson on the need for public control of the national wealth. Data were obtained on height for age (HA) as a longterm measure of nutritional status and weight for height (WH) as a short-term measure. The trends were that the incidence of wasting (WH) was lower in mining and urban areas but the differences in chi-square between sectors was very small in 1981 and 1983. In 1988 differences between urban and 3 rural sectors were small and insignificant. In the analysis regressing WH on a variable for each sector except communal areas there is no significant difference in WH but urban children have significantly higher mass given height than rural children. In the regression that includes parental education as a proxy for income-earning potential and socioeconomic status and childs age and gender urban children are still heavier given height. In the comparison of HA in 1981 there were significant differences across the 4 sectors in Mashonaland Central but the stunting in urban areas was 50% less than in mining areas which was 50% of the rural sector. The difference between communal and commercial farming areas was <10%. In 1983 stunting was reduced by 50% in commercial areas and reduced slightly in communal areas and other sectors were the same. When an additional commercial farm area was added in 1983 the incidence of stunting was 3 times that of other farms suggesting heterogeneity within sectors. In 1988 in Mashonaland although 15% were stunted in communal areas vs. 19% on commercial farms the differences were not significant. The likelihood of child stunting nationally on a commercial farm declines to 14% but remains stable in communal areas. In resettlement areas a child is twice as likely to be stunted. Stratified by age there is no difference among those 2-5 years old. Differences occur 7-24 months with stunting higher on commercial farms; stunting is higher in children 2-5 years in communal areas and twice as high for resettlement children. The incidence of stunting has declined well into the 1980s even in rural areas contrary to Loewenson.
Spectroscopic and computational studies of fulvenic molecules

Abstract Geometry optimization calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level have been carried out for fulvene (FU) diphenylfulvene (DPFU), diphenylmethylenefluorene (DPMF), and 9-[ pp ′-bis(dimethylamino)diphenylmethylene]fluorene (DAMF). The phenyl torsion angles for DPFU, DPMF, and DAMF are predicted to be 46°, 56°, and 49°, respectively. Agreement between experimental NMR data and computed magnetic properties support the prediction that the phenyl twist angle of DAMF is less than that of DPMF. The optimized ground state geometries were used as input for TD-DFT calculations of the electronic spectra of the fulvenic compounds. Agreement between the experimental spectral data and theoretical results is good. The calculations indicate that the S 0 → S 1 is primarily HOMO → LUMO for FU, DPFU, and DAMF and HOMO − 1 → LUMO for DPMF. Analysis of the nodal properties of the molecular orbitals shows that the HOMO of FU correlates with the HOMO of DPFU, HOMO − 1 of DPMF, and HOMO − 2 of DAMF. The LUMO of the compounds correlate with each other. Thus the lowest energy electronic transition is predicted to be B(B 2 ) ← A(A 1 ) under C 2 (C 2V ) symmetry for FU, DPFU and DPMF. Whereas, S 0 → S 1 is predicted to be A ← A under C 2 for DAMF. Assignments for other transitions appearing in the electron spectra are discussed.
Can catheter ablation therapy improve arrhythmia control in patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation?

Can catheter ablation therapy improve arrhythmia control in patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation?
Analysis of catalyst effectiveness in trickle-bed reactors processing volatile or nonvolatile reactants

Abstract The problem of diffusion and first-order reaction in catalyst pellets whose exterior surface is partially wetted, as encountered in trickle-bed reactors; is formulated to account for all cases of interest such as gas or liquid limiting reactants, finite or negligible external surface resistance, and volatile or nonvolatile liquids. It is shown that the problem of evaluating catalyst effectiveness for a slab, cylindrical, or spherical shape results in a general dual-series equation which for a given geometry may be reduced to a variety of cases of interest by proper assignment of Biot numbers for dry and wetted surfaces. The catalyst effectiveness factor is given by a simple expression that depends solely on the Thiele modulus and first series coefficient which is found by numerical solution of the dual-series using the method of weighted residuals. A comparison between effectiveness factors predicted by approximate formulas to those given by the more accurate numerical solutions suggests that these former expressions underestimate the catalyst effectiveness and consequently are safe to employ for initial design estimates. The opposite effect of contacting efficiency on catalyst effectiveness for nonvolatile liquid limiting and gas or volatile liquid limiting reactants is illustrated and quantified. Possible pitfalls of employing reaction studies to determine contacting are also discussed.
Grandmothers and Mothers: An Intergenerational Comparison of Child-rearing Practices with Pre-schoolers

Changes towards modernity in attitudes and behaviours in child-rearing come slowly. Stresses may arise in families when the developmental understandings of grandparents and parents lead to incompatible beliefs and practices. This research used in-depth, personal and separate interviews with 126 subjects, grandmothers and their grown daughters, to ascertain domains of congruence and of disparity in the child-rearing attitudes and techniques reported by each respondent. Greater awareness of areas where grandparents and parents agree and where they differ can lead to more efforts to understand each other's viewpoints and to reconcile differences which otherwise might lead to feelings of alienation or rejection between family members from different generations.
Real time bridge scour monitoring with magneto-inductive field coupling

Scour was responsible for most of the U.S. bridges that collapsed during the past 40 years. The maximum scour depth is the most critical parameter in bridge design and maintenance. Due to scouring and refilling of river-bed deposits, existing technologies face a challenge in measuring the maximum scour depth during a strong flood. In this study, a new methodology is proposed for real time scour monitoring of bridges. Smart Rocks with embedded electronics are deployed around the foundation of a bridge as field agents. With wireless communications, these sensors can send their position change information to a nearby mobile station. This paper is focused on the design, characterization, and performance validation of active sensors. The active sensors use 3-axis accelerometers/ magnetometers with a magneto-inductive communication system. In addition, each sensor includes an ID, a timer, and a battery level indicator. A Smart Rock system enables the monitoring of the most critical scour condition and time by logging and analyzing sliding, rolling, tilting, and heading of the spatially distributed sensors.
Adult Education In Correctional Settings: Symbol or Substance?:

The central goals of adult education, especially the development of self-directed, goal oriented learning and the generation of intellectual curiosity and critical thinking, may be subverted in a v...
Application of near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for on-line measurement of coal properties

The applicability of the Multi-wavelength Near-infrared sensor to analyze coal properties such as proximate analysis (moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon), ultimate analysis (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur) and heating value is discussed. The most useful wavelengths (1,680, 1,942, 2,100, 2,180, 2,300 nm) for determining coal properties concentration were chosen by analyzing the NIR spectrum according to coal properties. Absorbances at the characteristic wavelength obtained from 128 mixed coal samples, which are using at a conventional thermal power plant, were correlated to the coal properties by using multiple regression analysis. The accuracy of coal analysis was examined by calculating the RMSEC (%), RMSEP (%), comparing the error with ASTM/ISO tolerance and performing paired Student’s T-test. The result of on-line coal analysis for all moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, carbon, hydrogen and heating value is not different from that of ASTM/ISO traditional methods at 90% confidence level. The technology appears suitable for the determination of several coal prorperties. If calibrated periodically, this on-line analysis of coal properties is helpful to efficiently operate a coal fired power plant.
Thin, lightweight, foldable thermochromic displays on paper

This article describes an electronic display that is fabricated by patterning electrically conductive wires (heaters) with micron-scale dimensions on one side of a sheet of paper, and thermochromic ink on the opposite side. Passing electrical current through the wires heats the paper and changes the thermochromic ink from colored (black, green, or other colors) to transparent; this change in property reveals the paper underneath the ink—exposing any messages printed on the paper—and serves as the basis for a two-state “shutter” display. This type of display is thin (100 µm), flat, lightweight (the display weighs <20 mg/cm2), can be folded, rolled, twisted, and creased while maintaining function, and ultimately can (if required) be disposed of by incineration. The display is appropriate for applications where information must be presented clearly (usually only once) for little cost (each display costs <$0.10/m2 in materials) and where limited electrical power is available.
Comparative Analysis Of Classroom Speech In Upper Level Spanish College Courses: A Social Constructivist View

This study reflects a social constructivist theoretical framework in which the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a central element, as two teaching approaches, communicative language teaching (CLT) and explicit focus on form (FonF) are examined. Research questions include: Are CLT and explicit FonF conducive to reaching the ZPD? Is there a difference in academic achievement in Spanish between students taught with a CLT approach as opposed to an explicit FonF? W hat is the ratio of mother tongue versus target language used in each of the two classroom s studied ? Findings show that the ZPD can be reached through either approach with the use of the appropriate feedback techniques. In terms of academic achievement, the explicit FonF group outperformed the CLT group, but in terms of language use, CLT group engaged in a larger proportion of target language use.
Effects of robotic-locomotor training on stretch reflex function and muscular properties in individuals with spinal cord injury

Abstract Objective We sought to determine the therapeutic effect of robotic-assisted step training (RAST) on neuromuscular abnormalities associated with spasticity by characterization of their recovery patterns in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods Twenty-three motor-incomplete SCI subjects received one-hour RAST sessions three times per week for 4 weeks, while an SCI control group received no training. Neuromuscular properties were assessed using ankle perturbations prior to and during the training, and a system-identification technique quantified stretch reflex and intrinsic stiffness magnitude and modulation with joint position. Growth-mixture modeling classified subjects based on similar intrinsic and reflex recovery patterns. Results All recovery classes in the RAST group presented significant (p Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that RAST can effectively reduce neuromuscular abnormalities, with greater improvements for subjects with higher baseline abnormalities. Significance Our findings suggest, in addition to its primary goal of improving locomotor patterns, RAST can also reduce neuromuscular abnormalities associated with spasticity. These findings also demonstrate that these techniques can be used to characterize neuromuscular recovery patterns in response to various types of interventions.
A characterization of uniserial rings via continuous and discrete modules

It is well-known that quasi-Frobenius rings are characterized by the property that all propective right modules are injective, as well as by the property that all injective right modules are projective. Similarly, either the property that every quasi-injective or that every quasi-injective is quasi-projective characterizes uniserial rings. Oshiro has given similar characterizations for generalized uniserial rings. The purpose of this paper is to characterize rings for which continuous right modules are discrete. We show that these rings are precisely the uniserial rings. The property that every discrete module is continuous is also investigated.
Frequency changes of new inversions in populations under mutation-selection equilibria.

STABLISHMENT of an inversion arrangement of any chromosome consists E of three stages. The first stage is represented by stochastic survival of an inversion which has newly occurred in a given population. This stage is stochastic because a given inversion probably appears only in one individual in a population whether this population is large or small in size; and consequently the survival process of inversion descendants is subjected to stochastic errors. OHTA and KOJIMA (unpublished) examined such a stochastic process in large populations using a simplified genetic model. The second evolutionary stage of inversions is the phase in which the frequency of an inversion increases in a population. For a small population, this stage is also stochastic and cannot be distinguished from the first stage. However, once the number of inversion descendants becomes large in a large population, the chance elimination of all inversion descendants becomes extremely unlikely, and the second stage can be treated deterministically using the relative frequency of inversion descendants. The third stage concerns the genetic mechanism(s) by which inversions and their standard arrangements may be brought to a balanced polymorphism. Some conditions for this polymorphism were investigated by HALDANE (1957). This paper deals with the second evolutionary stage of inversions under a simple condition. In particular, the condition is that the selective advantage of an inversion is caused by a favorable combination of alleles in the inverted segment of a chromosome when the population is in mutation-selection equilibrium. The specific objective of this paper is to examine whether an inversion chromosome carrying few deleterious alleles relative to the average number of such alleles per chromosome can increase in frequency in such a population.
Enhanced Performance of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Fabricated by Polymer:Fullerene:Carbon-Nanotube Composites

By introducing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) into bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells made from blended films of regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and methanofullerene (PCBM), the short circuit current of these devices has been increased up to 14% compared with the device without SWNTs. It is surmised that the increased short circuit current in P3HT:PCBM:SWNT devices is attributed to the increased carrier mobility of the active layer as the semiconducting SWNTs provide lower resistance pathways for carriers directly to the electrodes in contrast to the normal hopping conduction in P3HT:PCBM devices. We also observed the open circuit voltage has increased from 0.69 V in P3HT: PCBM devices up to 0.74 V in P3HT:PCBM: SWNT devices. The increased open circuit voltage might be attributed to the lower effective high occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) by introducing SWNTs. In this study, SWNTs have been shown to be excellent additives to enhance the performance of plastic bulk-heterojunction solar cells. However, we also observe the detrimental effect of the presence of metallic CNTs that causes hole-electron recombination, and as a result degrades the device performance. This calls for a critical need to enrich the semiconducting ones in bulk CNTs either from fabrication or from post-fabrication process.
Age-Associated Decline in Renal Response to Vasopressin

It has long been known that the ability of the kidney to conserve water can decline quite dramatically in old age (Epstein, 1979). Renal water reabsorption is dependent on the action of arginine vasopressin (AVP) to increase the permeability to water of the apical surface of collecting tubule cells and on the presence of an osmotic gradient to provide the force to facilitate the movement of water out of the tubule into the interstitium. An age-associated renal concentrating defect could be caused by a decline in pituitary release of the hormone, diminished renal interstitial osmolality, or a reduced sensitivity of renal tubule cells of the collecting duct to the action of AVP. Since circulating levels of AVP have been reported unchanged or increased with age (Rowe et al., 1976; Helderman et al., 1978; Miller, 1987), and renal interstitial osmolality has also been reported to increase (Bengele et al., 1981), the present studies were designed to study target tubule cell sensitivity. The effects of age on renal cortical collecting duct sensitivity to AVP were determined by measuring AVP-induced water conductivity and adenylate cyclase activation in isolated rabbit tubules and monolayer cultures of collecting duct epithelia.
Evaluating scientific literature on biological effects of microwave radiation

In some cases, a publication - and more often, a conference presentation - reports preliminary results or work in progress. Results from these experiments, by nature, consist of a small number of cases and are first tests, to be repeated in further studies. It should be noted that presentation or publication of incomplete studies or preliminary results primarily serves as a means of communication among scientists to apprize each other of ongoing research activity. There are a number of general principles that should be applied in the evaluation of the scientific literature. For studies of biological effects of microwave radiation, it is important that the published description of methods should be given in sufficient detail that a critical reviewer would be convinced that all reasonable precautions were taken to meet requirements 1, 2, and 3. In analyzing the scientific literature to determine the probability of a biological response from exposure to microwave energy, one must consider: 1) the consistency of experimental results claimed; 2) the nature of the response and the biological system involved; 3) the ability to consistently replicate the results; and 4) whether results claimed and observations reported can be explained by previously accepted biological principles or must be explained only on the basis of new, untested hypotheses. Once an individual report has been reviewed to assure its reliability, results of that report must be considered in light of existing scientific principles and results of other studies of the same parameter under investigation. The results of an individual report should be compared to the rest of the literature being reviewed. Experiments with small animals, such as mice and rats that are undertaken to evaluate the potential effects of microwave exposure, must be carefully evaluated for their potential effects in humans. Differences in species, SAR, and specific absorption (SA) necessitate judicial extrapolations from experimental animals to humans based on J.C. Lin and O.P. Gandhi (1996). Moreover, any unrelated stressor - i.e., anesthetic, drugs, animal care, restrainers, ambient temperature, noise, etc. - could become a compounding factor. A reported observation may be the result of an unrelated stressor not intended to be studied.
Closed-form fiducial confidence intervals for some functions of independent binomial parameters with comparisons:

Approximate closed-form confidence intervals (CIs) for estimating the difference, relative risk, odds ratio, and linear combination of proportions are proposed. These CIs are developed using the fiducial approach and the modified normal-based approximation to the percentiles of a linear combination of independent random variables. These confidence intervals are easy to calculate as the computation requires only the percentiles of beta distributions. The proposed confidence intervals are compared with the popular score confidence intervals with respect to coverage probabilities and expected widths. Comparison studies indicate that the proposed confidence intervals are comparable with the corresponding score confidence intervals, and better in some cases, for all the problems considered. The methods are illustrated using several examples.
Comparison of the first 100 coronary bypass patients of a supervised resident with his first 100 as an attending surgeon at the same institution

Abstract Background: Although coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has been analyzed intensely for 30 years, little information is available on the characteristics and outcome of CABG patients operated upon by resident trainees or first-year attending surgeons in a public teaching hospital. Methods: The first 100 CABG patients operated upon by a supervised resident were compared with the first 100 CABG patients under the care of the same person as an attending surgeon at the same institution. In the first group, the resident was directly supervised by one of three different staff surgeons. In the second group, the same person, as an attending, performed 60 operations and directly supervised one of two trainees in 40. Results: Comparing the resident group versus the attending group, mean age (62 versus 61 years), percentage of females (37 and 37), tobacco use (74 versus 77), obesity (43 versus 55), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (20 versus 17), ejection fraction ≤0.5 (29 versus 35), and previous myocardial infarction (56 versus 54) were similar. Three or more coronary anastomoses were performed in 83 patients in the first group and in 74 in the second group. Early mortality (in-hospital and/or ≤30 days) occurred in 2 patients in the resident group and 3 in the attending group; each patient had a low ejection fraction and severe narrowing of all three major epicardial coronary arteries. Morbidity in the two groups was similar. Conclusion: If properly supervised by experienced staff surgeons, a resident trainee can achieve satisfactory results in CABG in a heterogeneous group of patients. Furthermore, the transition to attending surgeon can be achieved with a good outcome for the patients.
Cultivating a Cycle of Trust With Diverse Communities in Practice-Based Research: A Report From PRIME Net

PURPOSE Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are increasingly seen as important vehicles to translate research into practice, although less is known about the process of engaging diverse communities in PBRN research. The objective of this study was to identify strategies for successfully recruiting and retaining diverse racial/ethnic communities into PBRN research studies. METHODS This collaborative, multisite study engaged 5 of the 8 networks of the PRImary care MultiEthnic Network (PRIME Net) consortium that conducts research with traditionally underrepresented/underserved populations. We used a sequential, qualitative research design. We first conducted 1 key informant interview with each of 24 researchers experienced in recruiting research participants from 5 racial/ethnic communities (African American, Arab/Chaldean, Chinese, Hispanic, and Native American). Subsequently, we conducted 18 focus groups with 172 persons from these communities. RESULTS Participants’ comments indicated that successful recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in PBRN studies is linked to the overall research process. This process, which we termed the cycle of trust, entailed developing and sustaining relationships of trust during 4 interrelated stages: before the study, during study recruitment, throughout study conduct, and after study completion. Participants identified a set of flexible strategies within each stage and called for close engagement with clinic and community partners. CONCLUSIONS Our participants suggest that approaches to research that lay a foundation of trust, demonstrate respect for community members, and extend beyond the enrollment and data collection phases are essential to enhance the participation of diverse populations in PBRN research. These findings offer the PBRN community a guide toward achieving this important goal.
Temperate pyomyositis: a pain in the belly

Pyomyositis is a rare disease in temperate climates. This case is a unique presentation of pyomyositis of the rectus abdominal muscle mimicking an acute abdominal process. Most reported cases of pyomyositis are of extremity infections with Staphylococcus aureus.This report presents a case of polymicrobial pyomyositis from Haemophylus parainfluenza and Steptococcus viridians infection.
Effects of retinoids, β‐carotene, and canthaxanthin on UV‐ and x‐ray‐induced transformation of C3H10t1/2 cells in vitro

Abstract We observed that various retinoids (including all‐trans‐retinoic acid, 13‐cis‐retinoic acid, and the synthetic retinoid Ro‐11–1430) have approximately the same ability to suppress ultraviolet light‐induced transformation of C3H10T1/2 cells in vitro. Retinoids also suppress X‐ray induced transformation in vitro. 0Ro‐11–1430 has no effect when present for only 1 day after the X‐ray exposure but does have a suppressive effect on radiation transformation when present for 5 or 10 days after irradiation. Ro‐11–1430 has its major suppressive effect on X‐ray transformation when present in irradiated cultures in the confluent stationary phase of growth. Natural β‐carotene (type IV) from carrots, but not synthetic β‐carotene, has the ability to suppress radiation (X‐ray)‐induced transformation when present for the entire transformation assay period. Natural β‐carotene is without effect on the transformation process when present in irradiated cultures only during confluence. For these retinoids, as well as ...
Effective Event Identification in Social Media

Online social media sites are extensively used by individuals to produce and distribute content related to real-world events. Unfortunately, this social media content associated with an event is generally not provided in any structured and readily available form. Thus, identifying the event-related content on social media sites is a challenging task. Prior work has addressed the event identification task under two different scenarios, namely, when the events are known ahead of time, as is sometimes the case for planned events, and when the events are unknown, as is the case for spontaneous, unplanned events. In this article, we discuss both the unknown- and known-event identification scenarios, and attempt to characterize the key factors in the identification process, including the nature of social media content as well as the behavior and characteristics of event content over time. Furthermore, we propose enhancements to our earlier techniques that consider these factors and improve the state-of-the-art unknown-event identification strategies. Specifically, we propose novel features of the social media content that we can exploit, as well as the modeling of the typical time decay of event-related content. Large-scale experiments show that our approach exhibits improved effectiveness relative to the state-of-the-art approaches.
Sandstones, Tectonics, and Continental Evolution

At some stage in the geological investigation of a sandstone, we need to place the formation in a larger perspective—to see it in relation to the basin fill as a whole and even to think about it in the longer view of geologic history and continental evolution. We need to go from a provincial to a cosmopolitan outlook. Only by placing the local study in a larger framework can we really understand the sandstone in question. Hence in this chapter we consider the larger questions related to sands and sandstones.
Internet Economics and ISP Business Settlements

Internet service providers (ISPs) depend on one another to provide global network services. Within the current Internet, autonomous ISPs implement bilateral settlements, with each ISP establishing contracts that suit its own local objective to maximize its profit. However, the profit-seeking nature of the ISPs leads to selfish behaviors that result in inefficiencies and disputes in the network. From a macroscopic view, this concern is at the heart of the network neutrality debate, which argues whether content-based service differentiation should be allowed on the Internet. It asks for an appropriate compensation structure to resolve ISP disputes as well as to provide an efficient and well-connected network. From a microscopic view, this concern manifests in ISP selfish routing strategies and discriminatory interconnections, which limit the stability of routes, discourage potentially useful connectivity and deteriorate performance and profit of the network. In this dissertation, we study the use of Shapley value, which is originated from coalition game theory, as a profit-sharing mechanism to make ISP settlements. From a macroscopic view, we model a detailed and realistic network with three classes of ISPs: content, transit, and eyeball, as well as two types of user demand: elastic and inelastic. We derive closed-form Shapley values for structured ISP topologies and develop a dynamic programming procedure to compute the Shapley values under more diverse Internet topologies. From a microscopic view, we model a generic network with three layers of ISP decisions: interconnecting, routing and financial settlement. We re-design the current bilateral financial settlements by a clean-slate multi-lateral profit-sharing mechanism based on the Shapley value. We show that if the Shapley profit-distribution is enforced at a global level, then ISPs' selfish interconnecting and routing strategies will converge to a Nash equilibrium, at which these individual strategies maximize the aggregate network profit and encourage ISP connectivity so as to limit Internet balkanization. From a practical point of view, we explore our results' implication on the appropriate bilateral settlements between ISPs and the pricing structures for differentiated services. We conclude that our Shapley framework provides an ideal guideline and/or benchmark for solving disputes between ISPs and for building regulatory protocols for the Internet industry.
Youth finding meaning through a larger sense of community.

In his 1998 book, The Corrosion of Character, Richard Sennett observed the following: Adjustment and change is woven through human history. Natural disasters, wars, economic depressions have upset the status quo and engendered anxieties. Sennett proposed a collective solution to this state of precarity: A larger sense of community, and a fuller sense of character, is required by the increasing number of people who, in modern capitalism, are doomed to fail. This article begins with a discussion of the implications of the new economy for mental health and draws from Sennett's first image in which individuals are on their own to manage lives made precarious by flexible capital. The remainder of the article draws examples from my program of work on adolescents' political theories and interpretations of the social contract that binds them with fellow members of their society. The case is made that civic engagement is beneficial for young people and for democracy, and draws attention to the practices in developmental settings that enable adolescents to experience a larger sense of community. Rational choice models of human behavior reflect a rather negative view of human beings-that people are driven by self-interest and will make decisions that maximize benefits to the self at the expense of benefits to others or to the common good. Both individuals and society benefit when teenagers feel like they are connected to other people and institutions in their community. (PsycINFO Database Record Language: en
Variational formulations, instabilities and critical loadings of space curved beams

Abstract Beam theories have been extensively studied for applications in structural engineering. Space curved beams with large displacements, however, have been explored to a much less extent, not to mention explicit solutions concerning instabilities and critical loadings. In this paper, by carefully accounting for geometric nonlinearity and different scalings of kinematic variables, we present a variational framework for large-displacement space curved beams. We show that the variational formulation is consistent with the classic field equations, derive the appropriate boundary value problems for a variety of loading conditions and kinematic constraints, and generalize the Kirchhoff’s helical solutions. Explicit planar solutions for semi-circular arches are obtained upon linearization. Further, two nonlinear asymptotic theories are proposed to address ribbon-like and moderately deformed curved beams, respectively. Based on the method of trial solutions, we obtain explicit approximate solutions to critical loadings for semi-circular arches losing stabilities due to twisting and out-of-plane displacement. The variational framework, nonlinear asymptotic theories, stability analysis and explicit solutions are anticipated to have novel applications in stretchable electronics and biological macromolecules.
Electromigration in Aluminum Based Interconnects of VLSI-Microcircuits, with and without Preceding Stress-Migration Damage

In the narrow, confined metal interconnects used in the chip level, electromigration flux is resisted by the evolution of mechanical stresses in the interconnects. Recently there has been a growing concern on the effects of preceding stress-migration on the subsequent electromigration damage. We present here an electromigration model, which is able to address the effects of stress-migration and mechanical stresses on electromigration lifetime.