cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The influence of cation non-stoichiometry on the properties of undoped and gadolinia-doped barium cerate

The influence of A:B cation non-stoichiometry on the structural and electrical properties of BaCeO_3 and of 15% Gd-doped BaCeO_3 has been investigated. X-ray powder diffraction and water uptake measurements suggest the occupation of Ba sites by Gd in barium-deficient, doped materials. This phenomenon is exacerbated by high temperature processing, which causes additional loss of barium. The relationship between defect chemistry, stoichiometry and conductivity, as measured by a.c. impedance spectroscopy, is discussed.
Superconducting and normal state properties of Li 1+x Ti 2−x O 4 spinel compounds. II. Low-temperature heat capacity

Heat capacity data are reported which confirm as a bulk effect the previously reported superconductivity in LiTi 2 O 4 . These data also establish LiTi2O4 as a weak couplingd-band superconductor with superconducting state properties well described by the Bardeen—Cooper—Schrieffer theory of superconductivity. The properties of LiTi 2 O 4 are compared with those of other superconducting spinel compounds, and the composition dependence ofT c for Li 1+x Ti 2−x O 4 is discussed. The disappearance of superconductivity forx≳0.1 was found to be correlated with a rapid decrease in the normal-state linear heat capacity coefficient.
On Brownian slow points

It is shown that, for a Wiener process X t , both the quantities $$\mathop {\inf }\limits_t \mathop {\overline {\lim } }\limits_{h{\text{ }} \to {\text{ 0 + }}} |X_{t{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}h} - X_t |/\sqrt h {\text{ and }}\mathop {{\text{sup}}}\limits_t \mathop {\underline {\lim } }\limits_{h{\text{ }} \to {\text{ 0 + }}} {\text{ }}(X_{t{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}h} - X_t )/\sqrt h $$ are almost surely equal to 1.
IMMIGRANT ENTERPRISE IN THE NEW YORK GARMENT INDUSTRY

Hispanic immigrants are revitalizing New York City's ailing garment industry by opening small, and largely unseen, factories. This paper analyzes the economic environment which has given rise to this immigrant enterpreneurship, and the business organization and industrial relations of the enterprises themselves. Through interviews with 96 Hispanic owners of garment factories, I reveal the advantages which the immigrant entrepreneurs have over more established garment factory owners in adapting to the marketplace and recruiting a reliable workforce. While the smaH immigrant firms look to an outsider like mere "sweatshops:' they in fact provide a ladder for immigrant social mobility by passing on skills. The papered-over windows on a string of small storefronts in Brooklyn tell the passerby that yet another street has succumbed to inner-city blight. What the windows conceal is that the stores have been put to new use. Inside, women are hunched over sewing machines. The floor is covered with piles of unfinished clothing parts. In the rear, clouds of steam envelope the only male worker in the shop as he lifts and shuts a heavy pressing machine. The shop's owners are two brothers from the Cibao, an agricultural region in the northern part of the Dominican Republic. Not so long ago they worked as pressers and pleaters for someone else. Now they employ 15 workers - all of them Dominican immigrants, most of them from the Cibao. New York's garment industry, the heart of the city's manufacturing complex, has long been in decline. But in recent years, the industry has shown signs of renewed vigor. First came a wave of cheap labor from Latin America and other areas of the Third World. Then, immigrants began opening small factories themselves. They have succeeded where native owners have all too commonly failed. Why has the garment industry proven to be a fertile terrain for these new immigrant entrepreneurs? Why do they succeed when many natives have succumbed to tough international competition? Immigrant enterprise in the U.S. garment industry and other economic fields is attracting growing scholarly attention. But most of the research has been too narrowly focussed on predisposing factors in the immigrants' home environment to tell us much about the niches in which immigrant business can grow and the organizational characteristics that favor the immigrant firm. Cultural analysis has emphasized those factors which either generate individualistic behavior, as in the case of Jews (Glazer, 1954) and Koreans (Kim, 1981) or else promote group solidarity, as in the case of early 20th-century Chinese and Japanese immigrants (Light, 1972). Other researchers have argued that small-business minorities tend to immigrate with the intention of returning to their home country, and stress the importance of this sojourning orientation and their solidaristic activities in the face of hostility in the host society (Bonacich, 1973: Bonacich and Modell, 1980).
Characterization of BNF-inducible cytochrome P-450IA1 in cultures of rainbow trout liver cells

Abstract We are investigating isolated rainbow trout hepatocytes as a model system for characterizing the carcinogenic and toxic effects of xenobiotics. For these studies, it will be important to characterize cytochrome P-450IA1, the β-naphthoflavone (BNF)-inducible isozyme, which is fundamental for the phase I metabolism of many xenobiotics. In this study, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity and immunoreactivity of P-450IA1 were measured in isolated trout liver cells maintained in culture for at least 3 days. Liver cells prepared from trout pretreated with BNF exhibited readily detectable EROD activity, which rapidly declined when cells were placed in culture, with a half-life of about 15 h. Addition of BNF, dexamethasone, glucagon, insulin or δ-aminolevulinic acid alone or in combinations neither prevented this decline nor induced EROD activity in isolated cells prepared from control animals. Acetaminophen in the culture media helped maintain EROD activity, immunoreactive P-450 and total cytochrome P-450 in hepatocytes prepared from BNF-treated trout. Light and electron microscopy revealed that concentrations of acetaminophen which were most effective in maintaining EROD produced distinctive toxic effects to the cells. The mechanism(s) by which acetaminophen influences EROD activity is not yet known; however, these findings establish one way to manipulate P-450IA1 in cultured trout hepatocytes.
The effect of trait anxiety and situational stress on working memory capacity.

Abstract Individuals were divided into high and low trait anxiety groups and were exposed to 10 min of a stressful environment (a video game competition) or a nonstressful environment. Their subsequent performance on word span and reading span tasks was examined. Unlike the word span task, which measures short-term storage capacity, the reading span task measures storage and manipulation capacity. No differences between groups were found on word span performance. In contrast, there were interactive effects of trait anxiety and situational stress on reading span performance. The performance of the high anxiety subjects decreased in the stressful condition. However, the high anxiety subjects performed better than the low anxiety subjects in the nonstressful condition. These data provide direct evidence for changes in working memory capacity resulting from the joint effects of trait anxiety and situational stress.
Cultural psychology as a transformative agent for vocational psychology

Vocational psychology is need of reinvigoration and one way to achieve this goal is by re-examining vocational psychology in the light of cultural psychology. Vocational psychology is a cultural enterprise and the embeddedness of culture needs to be more fully incorporated into career theory and research. Cross-cultural and cultural psychology are described. Specific reference is made as to how core vocational concepts, such as development and the self, can be re-interpreted through cultural lenses.
Association of Lp-PLA2 activity with allele-specific Lp(a) levels in a bi-ethnic population

Objectives Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] have been implicated as cardiovascular disease risk factors, and are differentially regulated across ethnicity. We investigated the association between Lp-PLA2 activity and allele-specific apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] levels in a bi-ethnic population.
Improving the sensitivity of a near-infrared nanocomposite photodetector by enhancing trap induced hole injection

We report the enhancement of the photoconductive gain of nanocomposite near-infrared photodetectors by a zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) rich surface at the nanocomposite/cathode interface. An argon plasma etching process was used to remove polymer at the surface of nanocomposite films, which resulted in a ZnO NPs rich surface. The other way is to spin-coat a thin layer of ZnO NPs onto the nanocomposite layer. The ZnO NPs rich surface, which acts as electron traps to induce secondary hole injection under reverse bias, increased hole injection, and thus the external quantum efficiency by 2–3 times. The darkcurrent declined one order of magnitude simultaneously as a result of etching the top nanocomposite layer. The specific detectivity at 800 nm was increased by 7.4 times to 1.11 × 1010 Jones due to the simultaneously suppressed noise and enhanced gain.
Live and deceased donor kidney transplantation in patients aged 75 years and older in the United States.

Objective: To examine the outcomes of geriatric ESRD patients selected for kidney transplantation. Design: Data were extracted from the USRDS Standard Analysis Files (SAF). All persons ages 75 and over who received a kidney transplant from 1994 to 2000 were compared with those remaining on dialysis or on a transplant waiting list. Data on mortality or removal from the waiting list were obtained from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The main outcome measure was patient and kidney transplant survival. Results: Superior five year survival after kidney transplantation was attained by the geriatric cohort given a live donor transplant (59.9%), compared with recipients of deceased donor kidneys (40.3%), dialysis patients waiting for transplant (29.7%), and those who were not selected for kidney transplantation and remained on dialysis (12.5%). The likelihood of being removed from the waiting list for any reason was higher in this group (over 75) (30.3%) than in the 66–75 age group (26.8%). Their average annual mortality rate on the waiting list was 7.9, compared to 6.6% for those 66–75. Conclusion: Even after the age of 75 years, kidney transplantation provides substantial life prolongation and excellent graft survival.
Efficient production of recombinant brazzein, a small, heat-stable, sweet-tasting protein of plant origin

Brazzein is a 54-amino-acid sweet-tasting protein first isolated from the fruit of Pentadiplandra brazzeana Baillon found in West Africa. Brazzein, as isolated from the fruit, is 500 times sweeter than sucrose on a weight basis (9500 times sweeter on a per-molecule basis). A minor component of brazzein from fruit, des-pGlu1-brazzein, has 53 amino acid residues and has twice the sweetness of the parent protein. We have designed a gene for des-pGlu1- brazzein that incorporates codons that are optimal for protein production in Escherichia coli. Production of brazzein from the chemically synthesized gene resulted in recombinant protein with sweetness similar to that of brazzein isolated from the original source. The best yields were achieved by producing brazzein as a fusion with staphylococcal nuclease with a designed cyanogen bromide cleavage site. Because of its intense sweetness and stability at high pH and temperature, brazzein is an ideal system for investigating the chemical and structural requirements involved in sweet-taste properties. This efficient protein production system for brazzein will facilitate such investigations.
Unsteady Flow Analysis Strategies for Flapping Flight

A current project is underway to create a prototype of an anatomically correct seagull with biologically accurate flight kinematics. The presented work is focused on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of bird flight kinematics. A finite volume approach, using Fluent, was used to attempt to model the kinematics of bird flight with varying degrees of freedom to analyze the lift, drag, pressure, and vortices magnitude associated with a range of flight kinematics. Dimensional analysis has been performed to analyze the effects of angle of incidence on the different sections of a seagull wing. Validated CFD analysis has been performed to identify optimal degree of freedom for generating maximum amount of lift while minimizing drag.The analysis benefitted from dynamic meshing and a user defined function to model the seagull wing, profiles of which were approximated by the S1223 airfoil. The user defined function allowed for variation of degrees of freedom to model the flight in the current bird prototype and to assess the effects of changing angles of incidence and inlet velocity on lift and drag. Difficulties were encountered when trying to accurately analyze unsteady aerodynamics over a flapping motion. The appropriate grid resolution, the user defined function, as well as the appropriate grid and dynamic mesh parameters within Fluent were all possible areas of concern. The grid resolution was determined by analyzing a steady state case and determining the variation in lift and drag values calculated by increasing the grid density. A user defined function was created that accurately represents the kinematics associated with the bird wing. A triangular grid was utilized for the dynamic mesh with re-meshing procedure activated at every iteration during the analysis. The final geometry provided an accurate method for dynamic re-meshing and overcame the problem of negative cell volume associated with re-meshing using a rectangular mesh configuration. It was determined that maximum cell volume, number of time steps, and time step interval were all important criteria when determining parameters for the unsteady flight analysis.Results indicate that the unsteady dynamics of bird flapping motion can be effectively represented with modified CFD analysis with updated finite volume scheme. Data indicates that values associated with varying angles of attack at a steady state cannot be used to model flapping flight. The paper will report on further validation to analyze the pressure, lift and drag associated with flapping flight in a three-dimensional study.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Second class currents and mirror beta decays

Abstract Answers are given to some questions raised by Lipkin concerning the relation between mirror asymmetry in beta-decay and second-class currents. Mirror asymmetry (not of electromagnetic origin) is evidence for second-class currents even taking into account possible CP violation. A non-vanishing mirror asymmetry can be calculated in terms of single-nucleon transition matrices but there is no unique relation between the mirror asymmetry and the matrix elements of the second-class current for free nucleons.
The role of the institutional review board in quality improvement: a survey of quality officers, institutional review board chairs, and journal editors

Abstract Purpose There has been growing concern about whether and when quality improvement activities require Institutional Review Board (IRB) review and informed consent. We sought to determine whether quality officers, IRB chairs, and journal editors share similar views about the role of IRB review and informed consent in quality improvement. Methods A survey consisting of six quality improvement scenarios detailing the development, implementation, and evaluation of a clinical practice guideline for the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction was mailed to all medical directors of quality and IRB chairpersons at hospitals with at least 400 beds that are members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The same survey was mailed to the editors of all U.S. medical journals that appear in Abridged Index Medicus. Results Quality officers were less likely than IRB chairs to believe that IRB review was required for all but one of the scenarios. When a clinical practice guideline developed by a national specialty society was implemented locally and its effects evaluated by chart review and telephone calls to patients, 47% (44/94) of IRB chairs, 66% (25/38) of journal editors, but only 20% (20/100) of quality officers believed the activity should be subjected to IRB review. Among those who thought that IRB review was required, there were similar but less striking differences in the perceived need for informed consent. Agreement between quality officers and IRB chairs within the same institution was poor, ranging from 44% to 52% for three of the six scenarios. Conclusion In light of the pressing need to improve quality while protecting the rights of patients, efforts should be supported to clarify the role of the IRB in quality improvement activities.
Pulse radiolysis of liquid water using picosecond electron pulses produced by a table-top terawatt laser system

A laser based electron generator is shown, for the first time, to produce sufficient charge to conduct time resolved investigations of radiation induced chemical events. Electron pulses generated by focussing terawatt laser pulses into a supersonic helium gas jet are used to ionize liquid water. The decay of the hydrated electrons produced by the ionizing electron pulses is monitored with 0.3 μs time resolution. Hydrated electron concentrations as high as 22 μM were generated. The results show that terawatt lasers offer both an alternative to linear accelerators and a means to achieve subpicosecond time resolution for pulse radiolysis studies.
Biological Invasions: Paradox Lost and Paradise Gained

A new study shows how an invasive snail species accrues elevated genetic variation for key life-history traits through multiple introductions and outcrossing to create genetically novel offspring. Furthermore, the invaders' offspring follow a unique life-history strategy that may enhance their ability to invade.
Noninvasive evaluation of hepatic fibrosis using acoustic radiation force-based shear stiffness in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Background & Aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common form of chronic liver disease in developed countries, may progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in a minority of people. Those with NASH are at increased risk for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The potential risk and economic burden of utilizing liver biopsy to stage NAFLD in an overwhelmingly large at-risk population are enormous; thus, the discovery of sensitive, inexpensive, and reliable noninvasive diagnostic modalities is essential for population-based screening. Methods Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) shear wave imaging, a noninvasive method of assessing tissue stiffness, was used to evaluate liver fibrosis in 172 patients diagnosed with NAFLD. Liver shear stiffness measures in three different imaging locations were reconstructed and compared to the histologic features of NAFLD and AST-to-platelet ratio indices (APRI). Results Reconstructed shear stiffnesses were not associated with ballooned hepatocytes ( p =0.11), inflammation ( p =0.69), nor imaging location ( p =0.11). Using a predictive shear stiffness threshold of 4.24kPa, shear stiffness distinguished low (fibrosis stage 0–2) from high (fibrosis stage 3–4) fibrosis stages with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 90% (AUC of 0.90). Shear stiffness had a mild correlation with APRI ( R 2 =0.22). BMI>40kg/m 2 was not a limiting factor for ARFI imaging, and no correlation was noted between BMI and shear stiffness ( R 2 =0.05). Conclusions ARFI imaging is a promising imaging modality for assessing the presence or absence of advanced fibrosis in patients with obesity-related liver disease.
Rhetorical Revolution Critical Race Counterstorytelling and the Abolition of White Democracy

Critical race theory (CRT) has fundamentally been about “talking back” through the production of coutnernarratives that are, above all else, intended to interrogate and subvert the logic of multipl...
Degradation of p53, not telomerase activation, by E6 is required for bypass of crisis and immortalization by human papillomavirus type 16 E6/E7

Bypass of two arrest points is essential in the process of cellular immortalization, one of the components of the transformation process. Expression of human papillomavirus type 16 E6 and E7 together can escape both senescence and crisis, processes which normally limit the proliferative capacity of primary human keratinocytes. Crisis is thought to be mediated by telomere shortening. Because E6 stimulates telomerase activity and exogenous expression of the TERT gene with E7 can immortalize keratinocytes, this function is thought to be important for E6 to cooperate with E7 to bypass crisis. However, it has also been reported that E6 dissociates increased telomerase activity from maintenance of telomere length and that a dominant-negative p53 molecule can substitute for E6 in cooperative immortalization of keratinocytes with E7. Thus, to determine which functions of E6 are required to allow bypass of crisis and immortalization of keratinocytes with E7, immortalization assays were performed using specific mutants of E6, in tandem with E7. In these experiments, every clone expressing an E6 mutant capable of degrading p53 was able to bypass crisis and immortalize, regardless of telomerase induction. All clones containing E6 mutants incapable of degrading p53 died at crisis. These results suggest that the ability of E6 to induce degradation of p53 compensates for continued telomere shortening in E6/E7 cells and demonstrate that degradation of p53 is required for immortalization by E6/E7, while increased telomerase activity is dispensable.
Performance Comparison of Partical Swarm Optimization Variant Models

In this work, an extensively comparative study is conducted to demonstrate the performance of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) variants based on five well-known benchmark functions in the area. According to the PSO's cognitive and social factors' contribution, we categorize the PSO algorithm into five variants. Different from other research work, which included only four PSO models, we propose an extra PSO variant called selfless Full-Model. Therefore, the five PSO variants, which named PSO Full-Model, PSO Cognitive-Only Model, PSO Social-Only Model, PSO Selfless Model and PSO Selfless Full-model, respectively, are applied to solve the benchmark functions. Their performances are compared based on the success rate, average function evaluations and the best fitness.
Employing Popular Children's Literature To Teach Elementary School Chemistry: An Engaging Outreach Program

Popular cultural themes or fads can provide an effective vehicle to enthuse students about science. The program described here uses current children's literature in a versatile chemical education activity. This activity generates excitement in elementary school students because of the integration of the popular Harry Potter literature series with hands-on experiments. Elementary school student participants are prompted to explore three main scientific topics during this activity: properties of solids, liquids, and gases; scientific ethics; and the scientific method. Undergraduate and high school student volunteer mentors are readily trained to conduct the activity at elementary schools via an introduction to the philosophy of the exercise in conjunction with working through the activity themselves. As an outreach activity it serves to connect undergraduate and high school students both with faculty and their local communities.
Carboplatin-Induced Oxidative Injury in Rat Inferior Colliculus

Carboplatin is currently being used as an anticancer drug against human cancers. However, high dose of carboplatin chemotherapy resulted in ototoxicity in cancer patients. Carboplatin-induced ototoxicity was related to oxidative stress to the cochlea and inner hair cell loss in animals. It is likely that initial oxidative injury spreads throughout the neuroaxis of the auditory system later. The study aim was to evaluate carboplatin-induced hearing loss and oxidative injury to the central auditory system (inferior colliculus) of the rat. Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups of seven animals each and treated as follows: (1) control (normal saline, intraperitoneal [i.p.]) and (2) carboplatin (256 mg/kg, i.p.). Auditory brain-evoked responses (ABRs) were recorded before and 4 days after treatments. The animals were sacrificed on the 4th day and inferior colliculus from brain stem and cerebellum were isolated and analyzed. Carboplatin significantly elevated the hearing threshold shifts at clicks, 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-kHz tone burst stimuli. Carboplatin significantly increased nitric oxide and lipid peroxidation, xanthine oxidase, and manganese superoxide dismutase activities in the inferior colliculus, but not in the cerebellum, indicating an enhanced flux of free radicals in the central auditory system. Carboplatin significantly depressed the reduced to oxidized glutathione ratio, antioxidant enzyme activities, such as copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione S-transferase, and enzyme protein expressions in the inferior colliculus, but not in the cerebellum, 4 days after treatment. The data suggest that carboplatin induced oxidative injury specifically in the inferior colliculus of the rat leading to hearing loss.
Spatially resolved polarimetry for background signature retrieval

We report experimental and computational results showing spatially dependent intensity patterns for polarized light, diffusely backscattered from highly scattering media. It is demonstrated that obtained two-dimensional polarization patterns can be used to differentiate between various scatterer sizes even if the reduced scattered coefficient for different media is the same. Our experimental technique uses Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter with a sensitive camera providing the signal detection at 12 bit resolution. The computational approach is based on Mie theory, Stokes vector/Mueller matrix formalism and Monte Carlo simulation for propagation of polarized light in scattering media.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Social-Psychological Factors Influencing Recreation Demand Evidence From Two Recreational Rivers

Traditional methods of estimating demand for recreation areas involve making inferences about individuals’ preferences. Frequently, the assumption is made that recreationists’ cost of traveling to a site is a reliable measure of the value they place on that resource and the recreation opportunities it provides. This assumption may ignore other important social-psychological factors influencing individuals’ behavior. In this study, the authors augment a traditional travel cost model with several of these factors, namely, individuals’ social-psychological attachment to the resource and their motivations for recreating there. Using data collected from two visitor use surveys of recreational rivers, the authors find that individuals’ affective and emotional attachments to recreation settings as well as certain desired recreation experiences have significant effects on recreation demand. These results reveal that various social-psychological constructs can be incorporated into a traditional travel cost model to create empirically and theoretically more robust estimates of recreation demand.
Cellular mechanisms of abscess formation: Macrophage procoagulant activity and major histocompatibility complex recognition

Charlottesville, Va. Background. Macrophage procoagulant activity (PCA) has been proposed as a key mediator of abscess formation. Experimentally, transient systemic bacterial infections lead to increased numbers of intraabdominal abscesses after a subsequent episode of peritonitis. We tested the hypothesis that these events were regulated by classic majar histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted antigen processing and presentation to lymPhocytes followed by lymphocyte-mediated up-regulation of macrophage PCA. Methods. In viera, macrophages and lymPhocytes from BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice either untreated or preexposed to Escherichia coli were coincubated with bacteria or lipopolysaccharide. Celllysates were tested for PCA in a one-step clotting assay. In vivo, mice were either preexposed to E. coli or received passive transfer of lymPhocytes from MHG-compatible or MHG-incompatible and naive or preexposed donors; peritonitis and intraabdominal abscesses were afterwards induced with E. coli, Bacteroides fragilis, and a sterile fecal adjuvant. Mice were killed after 10 days and were studied for abscess number and bacterial composition. Results. The presence of lymPhocytes consistently increased macrophage PCA,. lymPhocytes from preexposed donors induced twice as much PCA as lymPhocytes from naive donors regardless of MHC background. Both bacterial preexposure and passive transfer of lymPhocytes from preexposed donors increased later intraabdominal abscess number in an MHG-restricted fashion. Conclusions. Transient infections enhance subsequent lymphocyte-mediated macrophage PCA, correlating with in creases in abscess formation after peritonitis. The need for MHC identity to reproduce these results via passive transfer in vivo is consistent with classic T -cell receptor-mediated antigen presentation and lymPhocyte aetivation before enhancement of PCA during peritonitis. (Surgery 1996,.120:488-95.)
A high- or low-dose triamcinolone injection improved pain and function in adhesive capsulitis

Source Citation Yoon SH, Lee HY, Lee HJ, Kwack KS. Optimal dose of intra-articular corticosteroids for adhesive capsulitis: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 20...
The range of null operators: Evidence from clefting

In this paper, I examine the assumption that a typology of lexical categories defines what may surface in the focus position of cleft sentences. Assuming the analysis of the copula in Heggie (1988) and the structure of clefts in Chomsky (1977) and Barss (1984), I argue that it is a constraint on the null operator in cleft constructions (the Null Operator Generalisation, or NOG) which largely determines the grammaticality of cleft sentences. The one domain in which this observation does not hold is a certain class of cleft sentences which I have labelled METALINGUISTIC. The two resultant types of clefts are distinct, however, with respect to a number of interpretative properties, providing evidence for the positing of separate syntactic derivations. The NOG is demonstrated to make correct predictions for the grammaticality of non-metalinguistic clefts. The NOG is then generalized to include other base-generated empty elements, as illustrated in the analysis of predicate clitics in French.
A clofarabine-based bridging regimen in patients with relapsed ALL and persistent minimal residual disease (MRD)

In patients with relapsed ALL, minimal residual disease (MRD) identified prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a strong predictor of relapse. We report our experience using a combination of reduced-dosing clofarabine, CY and etoposide as a 'bridge' to HCT in eight patients with high risk or relapsed ALL and pre-HCT MRD. All patients had detectable MRD (>0.01%, flow cytometry) at the start of therapy with all eight achieving MRD reduction following one cycle. The regimen was well tolerated with seven grade 3/4 toxicities occurring among four of the eight patients. Five patients (62.5%) are alive, one died from relapse (12.5%) and two from transplant-related mortality (25%). The combination of reduced-dose clofarabine, CY and etoposide as bridging therapy appears to be well tolerated in patients with relapsed ALL and is effective in reducing pre-HCT MRD.
Study of a Magnetic Filter System for the Characterization of Particle Magnetic Property

A magnetic filter system has been constructed, and its performance has been investigated, to measure the magnetic property of monodisperse γ -Fe 2 O 3 particles in the size range from 100 to 300 nm. In the system, SS 430 screens are placed in the magnetic filter element and exposed to a strong external magnetic field generated by an electric coil. The high magnetic field gradient resulted from magnetized fine wires enhances the collection of magnetic particles in addition to the particle collection via the diffusion mechanism. The particle concentrations at the upstream and downstream of the magnetic filter element were measured by an Ultrafine Condensation Particle Counter (UCPC, TSI model 3025A). Particle penetration obtained in the experiment is a function of particle size, particle magnetic property, and wire magnetization. To retrieve the magnetic property of characterized particles from the measured penetration data, a numerical model was further developed using the finite element package COMSOL Mul...
Insulin pumps for children

Abstract The use of intensive insulin strategies in children with type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) to improve glycaemic control has increased considerably in recent years, particularly in the US and Europe. In an attempt to give a more physiological insulin replacement, the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), delivered by insulin pump, is now well established in children. Technological advances mean that modern pumps are compact, ‘user-friendly', and possess an excellent safety record. Recent guidance from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) indicates that CSII should be considered for many children with T1D. In this paper we review the pros and cons of this mode of treatment, and highlight the importance of CSII being delivered as part of a comprehensive package of care by a specialist paediatric diabetes team. We present some of our early experiences of insulin pump use and consider how CSII may develop in the future.
Catholic social policy and U.S. health care reform: a relationship revisited.

The Roman Catholic Church is the single largest denomination in the United States and the one with the most extensive provider stake in health (and related social service) care. As a follow-up to an earlier analysis of the Catholic role in the thwarted health care reform effort of1993–94, this article looks at the revival of interest in reform and at the rationale behind and strategy of the Catholic Church's current agenda-setting initiative. The emphasis in this article is on the delicate relationship between organized religion and social policy in a society with an officially secular culture, [health care reform, policy analysis, Catholic social policy]
Men and women watching and reading: Gender and information processing opportunity effects in advertising

This study examines gender differences in responses to advertising for low-involvement products. I argue that when an opportunity for detailed information processing is present, females will be inclined to use it and engage in systematic consideration of message content, whereas males will tend to ignore it and instead process an ad in a heuristic manner. I further suggest that this difference in cognitive styles will have implications for advertising effectiveness. In line with predictions, two experiments supported moderation effect of processing opportunity on behavioral intentions in responses to advertising. After viewing the ad in the conditions that allowed extensive elaboration on message arguments, females were more willing to engage in word-of-mouth (WOM) communication about the advertised product compared to males. No gender differences were observed when the opportunity for ad processing was low. Cognitive responses to advertising mediated the gender by processing opportunity interaction effec...
Composition of the nitrogenous components of the bush bean seed (Phaseolus vulgaris) including isolation of δ-acetylornithine

Abstract The components of the non-protein nitrogen (NPN) fraction of the mature bush bean seed ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) were quantitatively studied using ion-exchange chromatography. A sizeable part of the NPN consists of non-protein amino acids and γ-glutamyl peptides. Eight such compounds, not widely described in plants, comprise 43% of the Kjeldahl N of this fraction. δ-Acetylornithine was isolated from the NPN and characterized. The amino acid composition of the seed protein shows little relationship to that found in the NPN fraction.
Statistical distribution and size effect of residual strength of quasibrittle materials after a period of constant load

Abstract In preceding studies, the type of cumulative probability distribution functions (cdf) of strength and of static lifetime of quasibrittle structures, including their tails, was mathematically derived from atomistic scale arguments based on nano-scale cracks propagating by many small, activation energy-controlled, random breaks of atomic bonds in the nanostructure. It was shown that a quasibrittle structure (of positive geometry) must be modeled by a finite (rather than infinite) weakest-link model, and that the cdf of structural strength as well as lifetime varies from nearly Gaussian to Weibullian as a function of structure size and shape. Excellent agreement with the observed distributions of structural strength and static lifetime was demonstrated. Based on the same theoretical framework, the present paper formulates the statistics of the residual structural strength, which is the strength after the structure has been subjected to sustained loading. A strength degradation equation is derived based on Evans' law for static crack growth during sustained loading. It is shown that the rate of strength degradation is not constant but continuously increasing. The cdf of residual strength of one RVE is shown to be closely approximated by a graft of Weibull and Gaussian (normal) distributions. In the left tail, the cdf is a three-parameter Weibull distribution consisting of the (n+1)th power of the residual strength, where n is the exponent of the Evans law and the threshold is a function of the applied load and load duration. The finiteness of the threshold, which is typically very small, is a new feature of quasibrittle residual strength statistics, contrasting with the previously established absence of a threshold for strength and lifetime. Its cause is that there is a non-zero probability that some specimens fail during the static preloading, and thus are excluded from the statistics of the overload. The predictions of the theory are validated by available test data on glass–epoxy composites and on borosilicate and soda-lime silicate glasses. The size effect on the cdf of residual strength is also determined. The size effect on the mean residual strength is found to be as strong as the size effect on the mean initial strength.
The 1612−Nƒ expansion and the infrared fixed point in perturbative QCD

Abstract In QCD with 16 1 2 −ϵ massless quark flavours there is an infrared fixed point with α s /π = 8 321 ϵ , in the limit ϵ → 0+. I develop the idea of Banks and Zaks to expand about N ƒ = 16 1 2 . This expansion is certainly useful for N ƒ = 16, 15, 14,… , and arguably it can reach the phenomenologically interesting case N ƒ = 2 , where it suggests that αs/π “freezes” to a value of order of magnitude 0.4 in the infrared.
Tobacco Use by Male Prisoners Under an Indoor Smoking Ban

Introduction: Most correctional facilities have implemented tobacco restrictions in an effort to reduce costs and improve prisoner health, but little has been done to evaluate the impact of these policy changes. Patterns of tobacco use among prisoners were explored to determine the impact of incarceration in a facility with an indoor smoking ban on tobacco use behaviors. Methods: Recently incarcerated male inmates (n = 200) were surveyed about their tobacco use prior to and during incarceration. Results: Tobacco use was prevalent prior to arrest (77.5%) and increased during incarceration (81.0%). Though the number of cigarette smokers increased during imprisonment, percapita cigarette consumption declined by 7.1 cigarettes/day (p < .001). Despite widespread tobacco use, most participants recognized that smoking is a cause of lung cancer (96.0%) and heart disease (75.4%) and that it can be addicting (97.5%). Most tobacco users (70.0%) reported a desire to quit, with 63.0% saying they intended to try quitting in the next year. Conclusions: Indoor smoking bans do not promote cessation in prisons but may reduce the amount of tobacco consumed. Though smoking is commonplace in prisons, most prisoners recognize the risks involved and wish to quit. This creates an ideal setting for intervention. Evidence-based cessation assistance should be made freely available to all incarcerated smokers.
Phosphonoacetic Acid in the Treatment of Experimental Herpes Simplex Keratitis

In a rabbit model of herpes simplex corneal ulceration, 5% phosphonoacetic acid solution or ophthalmic ointment suppressed clinical disease and virus replication. The effect of 5% phosphonoacetic acid ointment was equivalent to that of 0.5% idoxuridine ointment in the treatment of this established herpetic eye infection.
Leptin and CCK modulate complementary background conductances to depolarize cultured nodose neurons.

We have previously reported that intraceliac infusion of leptin induces a reduction of meal size that depends on intact vagal afferents. This effect of leptin is enhanced in the presence of cholecy...
Gastroduodenal artery aneurysm, diagnosis, clinical presentation and management: a concise review

Gastroduodenal artery (GDA) aneurysms are rare but a potentially fatal condition if rupture occurs. They represent about 1.5% of all visceral artery (VAA) aneurysms and are divided into true and pseudoaneurysms depending on the etiologic factors underlying their development. Atherosclerosis and pancreatitis are the two most common risk factors. Making the diagnosis can be complex and often requires the use of Computed Tomography and angiography. The later adds the advantage of being a therapeutic option to prevent or stop bleeding. If this fails, surgery is still regarded as the standard for accomplishing a definite treatment.
Maternal psychological control and child internalizing symptoms: vulnerability and protective factors across bioregulatory and ecological domains.

Background: We examined ecological (family socioeconomic status (SES)) and bioregulatory (sleep duration, sleep efficiency) moderators of the link between maternal psychological control and children’s vulnerability to internalizing symptoms. Method: A large socioeconomically diverse sample of third graders (N = 141) and their mothers participated. Sleep was examined via actigraphy for one week. Psychological control and internalizing symptoms (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, pre-sleep arousal) were examined through children’s reports. Results: For children with poorer sleep, lower SES, or a combination of the two, maternal psychological control was positively related to depressive symptoms; this association was not evident for children with both better sleep and higher SES. Further, maternal psychological control, sleep efficiency, and SES interacted to predict both anxiety symptoms and pre-sleep arousal. Children were protected from the negative effects of psychological control when they were from higher SES families and had higher sleep efficiency; for all other groups of children, psychological control was associated with anxiety symptoms. A similar but less robust pattern of results was found for pre-sleep arousal. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of children’s bioregulatory processes within the socioeconomic context for an enhanced understanding of children’s vulnerability to internalizing problems in the context of maternal psychological control. Keywords: Children’s sleep, internalizing problems, depression, anxiety, family income, socioeconomic status. Abbreviations: SES: socioeconomic status; EA: European American; AA: African American; CRPBI: Children’s Report of Parental Behavior Inventory; RCMAS: Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale; CDI: Children’s Depression Inventory.
Double percolation in the electrical conduction in carbon fiber reinforced cement-based materials

Electrically conductive cement-based materials are important as multifunctional structural materials. Double percolation has been observed for the first time in the electrical conduction in carbon fiber cement-based materials. It involves fiber percolation and cement paste percolation. The fiber percolation threshold increases with increasing sand/cement ratio and ranges from 0.30 to 0.80 vol.% fibers in the paste portion. The cement paste percolation threshold is between 70 and 76 vol.% carbon fiber cement paste in the mortar. A sand volume fraction of 24% or less (i.e., a sand/cement ratio of 0.75 or less) and a fiber content of 0.80 vol.% (or more) of the paste portion are recommended for attaining high conductivity. The use of a higher sand/cement ratio requires a higher fiber content to attain the same level of conductivity. For a compromise between cost and conductivity, a sand/cement ratio of 0.75 and a fiber content of 0.80 vol.% of the paste portion (corresponding to 0.59 vol.% of the mortar) is attractive. At a fixed fiber volume fraction in the paste portion, the conductivity of the mortar decreases with increasing sand/cement ratio.
An Empirical Model for Fabric Hand Part II: Subjective Assessment

A method is described using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation technique to predict fabric hand. A fuzzy transformation matrix Rs is established for subjective assessment of light weight dress fabr...
Robotic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: update from 2 high-volume centers

Abstract Background Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a challenging operation in the most experienced hands. Robotic surgery allows the capabilities of the minimally invasive surgeon to be extended. An increasing number of robotic gastric bypasses are being performed each year with the assumption that the complication rates are decreased. The objectives of the present study were to review the results of robotic-assisted RYGB (RARYGB) from 2 high-volume centers, including 1 university and 1 private practice. Methods We report the most recently compiled, largest series of RARYGB in the world to show the effectiveness, morbidity, and mortality of this method. Databases were searched for patients undergoing RARYGB from 2002 to 2010, and the endpoints were recorded. Results A total of 1100 RARYGBs matched our search. The patients had a mean preoperative age of 46.9 years, mean weight of 131.9 kg, and mean body mass index of 47.9 kg/m 2 . The mean operative time was 155 minutes. There were no conversions. The mean body mass index was 39.8 kg/m 2 at 3 months postoperatively (79% follow-up). Complications were few, and included 2 cases of pulmonary embolism (.19%), 3 cases of deep venous thrombosis (.27%), 1 case of gastrojejunal anastomotic leak (.09%), and 9 cases of staple line bleeding (.82%). No patients died. Conclusion RARYGB is safe and effective. Although the operative time might be increased, the complication rates, most notably of anastomotic leak, are extremely low.