cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Serious doubts over “Eggs forever?”

A recent commentary in this journal by Byskov et al. (2005) claims that, despite published results from numerous independent lines of investigation from our laboratory and others, there does not “exist any evidence for neo-folliculogenesis in the adult mammalian ovary.” While we agree with Byskov et al. that our work represents a radical departure from the age-old dogma that mammalian females permanently lose the capacity for oocyte and follicle production during the perinatal period, careful examination of all of the available data leaves no doubt that adult female mammals retain the capacity for oogenesis and folliculogenesis. These findings do not change the fact that exhaustion of the oocyte pool occurs with advancing chronological age—a process responsible for driving the menopause in women—but rather question the basic mechanism underlying age-related ovarian failure. In this regard, studies of aging male mice have demonstrated that testicular atrophy is associated with a dramatic decline in the number, activity and quality of germline stem cells that maintain spermatogenesis during adulthood (Zhang et al., 2006). Therefore, to the contrary of the opinion of Byskov et al. that such a process would be “considered exceptional among stem cells,” it is certainly reasonable to hypothesize that a similar deterioration of female germline stem cell function underlies the decline in oocyte quality and the onset of ovarian failure in aging females. Further, while we accept that a departure from conventional thinking can take years to gain widespread acceptance, we feel this resistance to change should not be construed as the sole means to voice opinions about the validity of our data or the maturity of our principal conclusion.
A Systems Approach to Suicide Prevention

Summary The paper explores various factors contributing to suicide among the elderly; outlines major theoretical and conceptual models which are relevant to the issues; and highlights techniques of assessing suicide risk and strategies of preventing suicide among the elderly. Clues and warning signs of late life suicide are presented. The important role of the family in suicide and suicide prevention is discussed in depth. The role of the practitioner in working with the “at risk” individual and his/her family is also discussed in detail.
Social Network Observatory for Innovation in Enterprise-Employee Engagement

The innovation potential of social computing and real-time analytics is mainly untapped. We focus here on obtaining employee-engagement insights from messages posted on the enterprise Social Media. At the start, management feedback indicated that while current tools provide aggregated data views for overall trends, they were also of 'low-resolution' and lacking in specific causal details needed for implementing interventions at the individual actor or team level. This led to the formulation of a 'high-resolution' Observatory -- an innovation to aid the design of interventions to increase employee engagement. The Observatory framework treats the enterprise as a complex system with macro, meso and micro contexts that have to be aligned through 'little experiments'. The implementation is a semantic network-based feature at the meso (infrastructure) level. The management users felt this feature allowed them design interventions and observe the results needed to arrive at decisions beneficial to the actors at the micro level. This also achieved goals for the executives at the macro level. The use of technology to create semantic network views and the lessons learned are also presented.
Measurement of hand microvascular blood flow with isolated cold stress testing and laser Doppler fluxmetry

Isolated cold stress testing applies cold thermal stress to an extremity for noninvasive study of skin surface temperature as an index of digital microcirculation. In this study, laser Doppler fluxmetry was combined with isolated cold stress testing to examine the relationship between digital thermoregulation (measured by isolated cold stress testing) and digital microcirculatory blood flow (measured by laser Doppler fluxmetry) in 50 healthy men and women. After a 5-minute baseline period, both hands were subjected to cold stress (average, 8 degrees C) for 20 minutes and then returned to room temperature for 20 minutes. Digital temperatures and laser Doppler measurements were graphed to document individual responses. The 25 women had lower digital temperatures, lower laser Doppler fluxmetry values, and less average rewarming than the 25 men. Statistical cluster analysis revealed a cold pattern, found predominantly in women, and a warm pattern, found predominantly in men. These patterns of response may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of the vascular occlusive syndromes occurring predominantly in women.
An integrated approach to a biophysiologically based classification of floating aquatic macrophytes

Globally, invasive species are identified as one of the most serious threats to ecological stability and biodiversity. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an aggressive invasive aquatic species, has caused severe economic and ecological impacts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in California. In the Delta, water hyacinth co-occurs with native pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata L.) and non-native water primrose (Ludwigia spp.). All of the species express a wide range of phenotypic variability, making it difficult to map them with remote sensing techniques because their spectral response is highly variable. We present an integrated approach to mapping these floating species using a sequence of hyperspectral methods, such as spectral angle mapper (SAM), linear spectral unmixing (LSU), continuum removal and several indices in a decision tree format. The ensuing tree, based on biophysiological differences between the species, was robust and consistent across three separate years and over multiple flightlines each year, spread across an area of approximately 2500 km2. The most important inputs used to create the tree were reflectance in the short-wave infrared (SWIR), Red Edge Index, near-infrared (NIR) reflectance, LSU fractions and SAM rule values. The floating species were mapped with average accuracy of 88% for water hyacinth, 87% for pennywort and 71% for water primrose.
CRYSTALLIZATION Po2 OF SYENITE PORPHYRY FROM NAVAJO MOUNTAIN, SOUTHERN UTAH

Recent mapping in the Navajo Mountain region of southern Utah revealed the presence of a small syenite porphyry intrusion on the southwest part of Navajo Mountain. The presence of euhedral hematite crystals which appear to have crystallized directly from the magma suggests a means of estimating the crystallization Po 2 , At 500–600°C a Po 2 equal to or greater than 10 −13 to 10 −17 atms would be necessary for hematite to be the equilibrium iron oxide phase. It is suggested that intrusion at a shallow depth may be partly responsible for the oxidizing environment that existed during crystallization.
Factors Affecting Quantitative Studies of Surface Adsorbates Using Multiresonant Second-Order Nonlinear Spectroscopy

Fundamental quantitative studies of dyes (Nile Blue 690, Oxazine 725, Cresyl Violet 670) adsorbed to fused-silica surfaces were performed to determine the usefulness of multiresonant χ(2) spectroscopy as a surface-selective tool. Factors considered include laser-induced desorption, saturation of resonant transitions, choice of the most useful molecular resonances, molecular orientation, laser incidence angle, and laser polarization. In the most restrictive case (doubly resonant), elimination of desorption and saturation problems required laser power densities below 67 kW/cm2, while for a nonresonant case power densities of 2 GW/cm2 could be used. The resonant enhancement of χ(2) and limitations on usable power densities combine to yield similar detection limits for resonant and nonresonant studies. Detection limits of 0.037 to 0.17 monolayer were obtained for various multiresonant and nonresonant cases. The multiresonant case retains the important advantage of selecting a single mixture component for examination, as demonstrated by an initial study of an adsorbate mixture system.
Critical effects at 'complete wetting

The approach towards complete wetting is considered for adsorbed liquid layers and for gravity-thinned layers in binary mixtures. These layers are bounded by one or two fluid-fluid interfaces. The thermal fluctuations of those interfaces are studied in the framework of effective interfacial models. Their correlation function C(x) is calculated within the Ornstein-Zernike approximation and by transfer-matrix methods. For large distances x, C(x)\ensuremath{\propto}exp(-x/${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{?}$). Due to the divergence of the correlation length ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{?}$, complete wetting can be regarded as a critical phenomenon. Two different scaling regimes have to be distinguished depending on the nature of the long-ranged forces and on the dimensionality. In the mean-field regime, the critical exponents depend on the long-ranged forces. In the fluctuation-dominated regime, they depend only on the dimensionality. It is also shown that these critical effects are characterized by one superuniversal feature: The critical exponent \ensuremath{\eta} which governs the decay of the correlation function C(x) for x\ensuremath{\ll}${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{?}$ is zero both in the mean-field and in the fluctuation-dominated regime. The result \ensuremath{\eta}=0 is expected to be valid for all types of wetting transitions. The experimental work which has focused on the thickness of the wetting layer is briefly reviewed. Furthermore, two types of experiments are proposed by which the correlation length ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{?}$ could be observed: it should show up both in the intensity of the small-angle scattering of light from the interfaces and in experiments which measure the dispersion relation of the capillary waves. This relation is found to be ${\ensuremath{\omega}}^{2}$(q)\ensuremath{\propto}q(${q}^{2}$+${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{?}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$), where \ensuremath{\omega} and q are the frequency and the wave number of such waves. It is also suggested that the regime of critical wetting could be obtained in binary mixtures by the addition of impurities.
Knowledge Sharing in a Health and Human Services Contract Network

Existing research on contracting has paid little attention to knowledge sharing in a subcontracting network. Yet knowledge sharing is critical to addressing “wicked problems” in health and human se...
Differences in activities of daily living motor skills of persons with and without Alzheimer's disease

The purpose of this descriptive comparison study is to determine if persons with dementia of the Alzheimer's type differ from well older controls in the motor skills that affect the quality of performance of activities of daily living, and if so, to identify those specific activities of daily living motor skills that are retained or lost. The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills was administered to a proportionally matched sample of 567 persons with dementia of the Alzheimer's type and 378 community-living non-disabled controls, all of whom were 60 years or older. We found significant differences in mean activities of daily living motor ability between non-disabled controls, higher functioning participants with dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and lower functioning participants with dementia of the Alzhemier's type. Thus, diminished motor skills appear to affect the quality of activities of daily living task performance of persons with dementia of the Alzhemier's type, even those who are higher functioning. These findings suggest that motor skills may need to be addressed in intervention planning for persons with dementia of the Alzheimer's type.
Congruent Numbers and Elliptic Curves

(2006). Congruent Numbers and Elliptic Curves. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 113, No. 4, pp. 308-317.
Primary Factors Influencing Green Building in Cities in the Pacific Northwest

This article provides empirical evidence that the factors of context and social climate are the most influential for achieving green building. Using both chi-squared analysis and factor analysis findings indicate that providing the context and social climate which can reduce transaction costs influence green building. Specifically, through policies and guidelines, having the local expertise and support to make the outcomes occur are all important factors. Additionally, central cities were much more likely to engage in green building than suburban or non-metropolitan areas. This has implications for matters of collective action.
Comprehensive, technology-based clinical education: the "virtual practicum".

This article discusses the application of technology to promote more comprehensive clinical education in the biopsychosocial aspects of primary care. Comprehensive refers to the inclusion, in addition to scientific and technical knowledge, of knowledge that is less easily characterized, quantified, and taught: empathy, intuition, the demonstration of artistry. Clinical education will be increasingly facilitated by the proliferation of computers capable of displaying combinations of text, graphics, video, and sound; broadband networks capable of delivering these multiple media to the home or office; and new methods for using these technologies for education and training. However, current models for technology-based learning are limiting, lagging behind the rapid technological evolution driving our entry into the Information Age. Some recent educational models (Schon's reflection-in-action and reflective practicums [1], Boisot's E-space [2], Kolb's learning cycle [3]) provide for a more comprehensive and complete view of health professional education. This article describes these models in depth and proposes a new model for technology-based clinical training, the Virtual Practicum, based on them. The Virtual Practicum is illustrated with a new interactive CD-ROM program, dealing with primary care of patients with HIV/AIDS. The concepts presented here are generally useful in thinking about clinical education, regardless of the means used.
Cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior: a comparison between Chinese and American employees

The present study examined the differences in the perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) between Chinese and American employees. Survey responses concerning the presence of OCB in their organizations were collected from a total of 393 employees. Analyses showed that Chinese and American employees reported similar levels of personal support and conscientious initiative in their organizations, but Chinese employees reported higher levels of organizational support in comparison with American employees. In addition, results indicated that perceptions of personal support, organizational support, and conscientious initiative were a function of job/hierarchical level such that management reported lower levels on all three dimensions of OCB. Finally, the results showed that country and job/hierarchical level do not interact to influence perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior. Implications and directions for future research on cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavio...
Perpendicular bands of cyclopropane in the 3000 cm−1 region☆

Abstract The ν 8 and ν 2 + ν 9 bands of cyclopropane when studied with high resolution exhibit Q-branches at the band centers. The ζ constants calculated using these measured band spacings are +0.12 for ν 8 and +0.07 for ν 2 + ν 9 .
Theoretical investigation of the nonadiabatic interactions and the translational factors in proton-hydrogen collisions

The interaction in the (${p}^{+}$, H) collision system is examined in terms of the exact ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ and H electronic states. The nonadiabatic interactions between the ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ electronic states which asymptotically go to the $n=1$ or $n=2$ atomic states are calculated together with the corresponding translational contributions. The question concerning the choice of the space-fixed and rotating atomic bases is investigated in relation to the long-range interactions. The adiabatic-diabatic question is discussed in connection with the noncrossing rule and dynamic correlations between the separated and united atomic states. With the aid of the calculated interactions, the "coupling hypothesis," which states that the nonadiabatic transitions are directly correlated with the closest approach of the electronic state energies, is examined. The characteristic features of the radial and rotational couplings are discussed in a phase-interference model.
SURGICAL RESIDENTS' SCORES ON MEASURES OF MACHIAVELLIANISM AND PHYSICIANS' UNCERTAINTY

51 self-reported scores on the Mach V Scale and 56 scores on Physician's Reactions to Uncertainty Constructs from surgical residents in three different specialties (30 general, 14 orthopedics, 9 urology, and 3 other) showed no significant difference between means on the two measures.
Heat Transfer at Aluminum–Water Interfaces: Effect of Surface Roughness

In this paper, we studied the effect of microscopic surface roughness on heat transfer between aluminum and water by molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and macroscopic surface roughness on heat transfer between aluminum and water by finite element (FE) method. It was observed that as the microscopic scale surface roughness increased, the thermal boundary conductance increased. The thermal conductance increases 20% when the ratio of the amplitude of the surface roughness to the width of the system was changed from 0 to 1. At the macroscopic scale, different degrees of surface roughness were studied by finite element method. The heat transfer was observed to enhance as the surface roughness increases. The surface roughness was found to enhance the heat transfer both at the microscopic scale and at the macroscopic scale. Based upon the calculations at the microscopic scale by MD simulations and at the macroscopic scale by Finite Element method, a procedure was proposed to obtain the thermal conductance of surface roughness at the length scale of macroscopic and able to include the macroscopic scale surface roughness.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Dew-point Hygrometer with Constant Resistance Humidity Transducer

Abstract A dew-point hygrometer with a constant resistance humidity transducer is described which uses the salt solution phase transition of lithium chloride as its basis of operation. The hygrometer employs electronic error detection and signal amplification to control the heat applied to the humidity transducer and to keep its resistance at the preselected value. Using this method a high accuracy of measurement can be achieved. Sufficient transducer area is exposed to the ambient environment to assure operation at the lithium chloride salt solution phase transition. This also minimizes error from contamination. The feature characteristics of this unit are: 1) low power requirements, 2) operation of the humidity transducer at a nearly constant pre-selected LiCl film resistance, 3) small transducer size suitable for micro-climate study, 4) balanced operation between transducer and electronics, and 5) interchangeability of humidity transducer units.
The furcula and the evolution of avian flight

The presence of a short furcula in Archaeopteryx suggests that this bird possessed a small, shortfibered, cranial portion of the pinnate m. pectoralis originating from the furcula and possibly from the aponeurosis between the furcula and the coracoid and cartilaginous sternum, and inserting on the cranial edge of the humerus, and an equally small, short-fibered pinnate caudal part of the same muscle arising from the presumably cartilaginous sternum and inserting on the ventral surface of the deltoid crest of the humerus. In Archaeopteryx, the cranial-most portion of the m. pectoralis protracted the wing and held it in place against the backward pressure, or drag, of the air when the bird flew. There is no basis for postulating that the caudal part of the m. pectoralis in Archaeopteryx was sufficiently large for active flapping flight, although this presumably small muscle probably held the wings in a horizontal position necessary for aerial locomotion. The muscle fibers of all parts of the m. pectoralis were short because the small distance between its origin and insertion. The combination of features in the pectoral system of Archaeopteryx indicates strongly that this bird was a specialized glider, not an active flapping flier. Avian flight started from the trees downward, not from the ground upward.
Software quality management through process and product modeling

This paper presents a simple cost-based method for managing software quality during the development process. The technique may apply conceptually to the management of quality for other processes, as well. A unifying metric for quality is defined to be the ratio of the cost expended at a given point in time to that which will be required to satisfy all requirements placed on quality attributes, such as correctness, reliability, etc. Unit quality then corresponds to a system that fulfills all of its quality attribute requirements. The paper indicates the need for developing cost-versus-attribute relationships for all quality factors of concern.
Greedy approximation of characteristic functions

We discuss the problem of sparse representation of domains in ℝ d . We demonstrate how the recently developed general theory of greedy approximation in Banach spaces can be used in this problem. The use of greedy approximation has two important advantages: (1) it works for an arbitrary dictionary of sets used for sparse representation and (2) the method of approximation does not depend on smoothness properties of the domains and automatically provides a near optimal rate of approximation for domains with different smoothness properties. We also give some lower estimates of the approximation error and discuss a specific greedy algorithm for approximation of convex domains in ℝ2.
Physical Machine Resource Management in Clouds: A Mechanism Design Approach

We address the problem of physical machine resource management in clouds considering multiple types of physical machines and resources. We formulate this problem in an auction-based setting and design optimal and approximate strategy-proof mechanisms that solve it. Our proposed mechanisms consist of a winner determination algorithm that selects the users, provisions the virtual machines (VMs) to physical machines (PMs), and allocates them to the selected users; and a payment function that determines the amount that each selected user needs to pay to the cloud provider. We prove that our proposed approximate winner determination algorithm satisfies the loser-independent property, making the approximate mechanism robust against strategic users who try to manipulate the system by changing other users’ allocations. We show that our proposed mechanisms are strategy-proof, that is, the users do not have incentives to lie about their requested bundles of VM instances and their valuations. In addition, our proposed mechanisms are in alignment with green cloud computing strategies in which physical machines can be powered on or off to save energy. Our theoretical analysis shows that the proposed approximation mechanism has an approximation ratio of 3. We perform extensive experiments in order to investigate the performance of our proposed approximation mechanism compared to that of the optimal mechanism.
Incidence of Major Depressive Disorder and Dysthymia in Young Adolescents

ABSTRACT Objective An epidemiological study conducted between 1987 and 1989 in a single school district in the southeastern United States investigated the incidence, transition probabilities, and risk factors for major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymia in adolescents aged 11 to 16 years. Method Diagnoses were based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, which was administered to 247 mother-adolescent pairs at 12-month intervals. Results One-year MDD and dysthymia incidences were 3.3% ( n = 11) and 3.4% ( n = 9), respectively. Transition probabilities demonstrated movement from disorder to no disorder over time. Family cohesion (odds ratio = 0.95) was the only significant predictor of incident MDD. No factors were significant for dysthymia. While baseline MDD was a significant risk factor for depression at follow-up, 80% of subjects with baseline MDD did not meet the criteria for diagnosis at follow-up. Conclusion Findings suggest perceived family support or cohesion may be more important to adolescent mental health than family structure.
Scalability of PCMO-based resistive switch device in DSM technologies

This work systematically explores the relationship between the resistive switching properties of Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 (PCMO) thin film element and its geometry dimensions in deep submicron (DSM) technologies. A series of PCMO-based resistive switch devices (RSDs) with different geometry sizes were fabricated. Our E-test results show that by reducing the PCMO layer thickness from the normal value of about 200nm to 30nm, a low switching voltage (within ±2.5V) can be achieved. The reduction of PCMO layer thickness does not incur visible impact on device reliability: no significant degradation of two resistance states was observed after 1500 programming cycles. Based on the extrapolation from the measured electrical parameters of PCMO-based devices, we analyzed the design requirements of PCMO-based resistive memory with different cell structures in sub-100nm technologies. Our simulations show that one-transistor-one-RSD (1T1R) cell structure can be successfully scaled down to 22nm technology node. However, the scaling of one-non-ohmicdevice-one-RSD (1N1R) cell structure is significantly limited by the low driving ability of current non-ohmic device technology.
Topological susceptibility in staggered fermion chiral perturbation theory

The topological susceptibility of the vacuum in quantum chromodynamics has been simulated numerically using the Asqtad improved staggered fermion formalism. At nonzero lattice spacing, the residual fermion doublers (fermion tastes) in the staggered fermion formalism give contributions to the susceptibility that deviate from conventional continuum chiral perturbation theory. In this brief report, we estimate the taste-breaking artifact and compare it with results of recent simulations, finding that it accounts for roughly half of the scaling violation.
Teaching computational abstract algebra

Abstract We report on the contents and pedagogy of a course in abstract algebra that was taught with the aid of educational software developed within the Mathematica system. We describe the topics covered and the didactical use of the corresponding Mathematica packages, as well as draw conclusions for future such courses from the students' comments and our own experience.
Photoemission in a magnetic field as a probe of Luttinger liquid behavior

We study the single-particle properties of the one-dimensional Luttinger model in the presence of a magnetic field. The single-particle spectral functions are calculated and it is shown that the magnetic field induces shifts on both the spinon and holon peak positions, but with different magnitudes. From these results, we discuss the possibility of using angle-resolved photoemission in a magnetic field to probe spin-charge separation.
The effects of subtotal pancreatectomy on renal growth in streptozotocin diabetic rats

Increases in kidney size and function are characteristic features of the early stages of Type I diabetes mellitus, and may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. Other studies have shown that the relative circulating concentrations of insulin and glucagon may be regulatory to renal growth and function. In order to elucidate the role of pancreatic glucagon in diabetic renal growth, subtotal pancreatectomy was performed prior to administration of streptozotocin to rats. Glycosuria and kidney weight were significantly reduced by subtotal pancreatectomy, although creatinine clearance and blood glucose levels were not different from diabetic controls. These data suggest that hyperglucagonemia may be an important mediator of renal growth in insulinopenic diabetes mellitus.
Stability of a braced heavy standing column with tip load

Abstract A standing column is subjected to self-weight and a tip load. An intermediate support greatly increases its stability. The governing equation is integrated by turning the two point boundary value problem into an initial value problem. Stability boundaries are found for clamped or pinned base and free or sliding tip. Optimum locations of the support for maximum load bearing capacity are determined.
A spatial decision support system for transportation policy analysis in Bangladesh

Abstract Evaluating various alternatives for transportation policy and investments naturally leads one to consider a series of 'What if questions. Merging the technologies of geographic information systems with the analytic power of transportation models can yield a spatial decision support system capable of assessing the impacts of a wide array of planning options. We report here on the development and application of such a system, the Bangladesh Transportation Modeling System. Building the BTMS forced us to resolve several of the issues involved in merging GIS technology with transportation models.
Connective tissue reactions to 3% tetracycline ointment in rat skin.

Abstract The connective tissue reactions to 3% tetracyclin ointment were studied in 14 Sprague-Dawley white male rats. Using polyethylene tubes, the ointment was implanted subcutaneously in the pouches surgically created on the backs of the experimental group. Empty tube implants, tubes with the vehicle (vaseline/lanolin), and a sham operation (surgical pouches with no implant) served as controls. The animals were killed on day 14 and tissue blocks were taken containing the tubes and a generous amount of the peripheral connective tissue. The connective tissue surrounding the tube opening furthest from the surgical incision was histologically examined for the severity of tissue reaction (STR), the number of inflammatory cell infiltrates (II), and the spread of the reaction area (RSI). The data were statistically analyzed. The sham operation group showed minimal inflammatory response. All three parameters (STR, II, RSI) were significantly greater in the tetracycline group when compared with the empty tube group at 0.05 level of significance. There were significant differences between the mean values of the STR and RSI scores in the tetracycline and vehicle groups (groups 1 and 2). The vehicle group (group 2) had significantly higher STR and II values than the empty tube group (group 3); however, the RSI scores were not statistically different. Necrosis was observed in the reactions site in group 1 and vacuole-containing macrophages were noted in groups 1 and 2. This study, although an animal investigation, questions the use of topical 3% tetracycline ointment on sutured surgical flaps.
Effect of Brief Behavioral Intervention Program in Managing Stress in Medical Students from Two Southern California Universities

The study aims to assess 1) the prevalence of stress among a group of third and fourth year medical students (MS) from two Southern California universities and 2) the effect of a brief behavioral intervention program (BBIP) on stress management among the students instructed on stress intervention techniques. The stress level was determined by using the General Well Being Scale (GWBS), a self-report questionnaire designed by the National Center for Health Statistics.1 The stress testing was done prior to the psycho-educational lecture on stress. The prevalence of stress and the variation of stress based on gender, academic year (third vs. fourth year) and time of testing (beginning vs. end of rotation) was measured in 104 medical students. To assess the effect of the psycho-educational lectures on stress, the last 32 students who rotated in our service had the pre-test and the lecture at the beginning of the rotation and the post-test at the end of the rota­tion. Among the medical students studied, 53/104 (51%) reported stress; among this group, 20/53 (37.7%) reported severe stress or distress. The prevalence of stress in this group of students was not significantly different if the stress level was measured at the beginning (46.9%) vs. the end of the rotation (52.8%, p = 0.57). The total stress score was lower (suggesting higher stress) in the fourth vs. third year MS (69.7+/-16.3 vs. 73.2+/-12.7, p=0.2), and in female students vs. male students (69.9+/-14.5 vs. 73.7+/-13.8, p=0.17). Female students, when compared to their male counterparts, had a lower anxiety score (12.2+/-4.4 vs. 15.4+/-4.3, p<0.005), consistent with higher anxiety level, since the polarity for the anxiety questions is reversed. Among the students who had both a pre and post-test (N=32) after the BBIP (deep diaphragmatic breathing, self-control relaxation, walking meditation), the reported stress decreased from 46.9 % (15/32) to 21.9% (7/25) (p< 0.05). In ad­dition, scores indicated that the brief behavioral intervention program significantly decreased the anxiety level and improved the positive well-being. Our study showed that stress is very prevalent among the medical students tested, affecting 51% of the students. Among those who reported stress, 37.7% reported distress. Female students reported a higher level of anxiety compared to their male colleagues. Following the implementation of a brief behavioral program, the prevalence of stress in this group of students decreased by 46.7 %. This was associated with a decrease in the reported anxiety and an increase in the positive well-being. Since stress is very prevalent among medical students, increased awareness of stress and early intervention may prevent burnout, improve job satisfaction and ultimately improve health care delivery.
Measurement of the ratio of Σ0 to Λ0 inclusive production by 28.5 GeV/c protons on beryllium

Abstract The ratio of the cross section for Σ0 inclusive production to the cross section for Λ0 inclusive production has been measured with 28.5 GeV/c protons incident on a beryllium target at an average laboratory production angle of 4°. This ratio was measured to be 0.278±0.011±0.05 where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic in that order. The ratio does not depend strongly on the momentum of the produced particle between 10 and 24 GeV/c. The effect of Σ0 contamination on previous determinations of the polarization of inclusively produced Λ0's is discussed.
Regulation of white and opaque cell type formation in Candida albicans by Rtt109 and Hst3

How different cell types with the same genotype are formed and heritability maintained is a fundamental question in biology. We utilized white-opaque switching in Candida albicans as a system to study mechanisms of cell-type formation and maintenance. Each cell type has tractable characters, which are maintained over many cell divisions. Cell-type specification is under the control of interlocking transcriptional feedback loops, with Wor1 being the master regulator of the opaque cell type. Here we show that deletion of RTT109, encoding the acetyltransferase for histone H3K56, impairs stochastic and environmentally stimulated white-opaque switching. Ectopic expression of WOR1 mostly bypasses the requirement for RTT109, but opaque cells lacking RTT109 cannot be maintained. We have also discovered that nicotinamide induces opaque cell formation, and this activity of nicotinamide requires RTT109. Reducing the copy number of HST3, which encodes the H3K56 deacetylase, also leads to increased opaque formation. We further show that the Hst3 level is downregulated in the presence of genotoxins and ectopic expression of HST3 blocks genotoxin induced switching. This finding links genotoxin induced switching to Hst3 regulation. Together, these findings suggest RTT109 and HST3 genes play an important role in the regulation of white-opaque switching in C. albicans.
Vowel Duration in Whispered and in Normal Speech

Vowel duration measurements were made from the sound spectrographic patterns of normal and whispered consonant-vowel-consonant syllables produced by three male speakers. It was found that the avera...
Sustained Magnetoshear Instabilities in the Solar Tachocline

Linear theory has demonstrated that toroidal magnetic fields in the solar tachocline are destabilized by the presence of latitudinal differential rotation. Previous nonlinear investigations of these global magnetoshear instabilities have only considered freely evolving scenarios, which will eventually dissipate after the instabilities saturate. Here we consider more realistic nonlinear scenarios in which the rotational shear is maintained indefinitely by mechanical forcing. When a broad toroidal field profile is specified as an initial condition, a so-called clamshell instability ensues, which is the dominant mode predicted by linear theory. After the initial nonlinear saturation, the residual mean fields are apparently too weak to sustain the instability indefinitely despite the mechanical forcing. However, when a mean poloidal field is imposed in addition to the rotational shear, a statistically steady state is achieved in which the clamshell instability is operating continually. This state is characterized by a quasi-periodic exchange of energy between the mean toroidal field and the instability mode with a longitudinal wavenumber m = 1. This quasi-periodic behavior has a timescale of several years and may have implications for tachocline dynamics and field emergence patterns throughout the solar activity cycle.
Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Equivalence Tasks: The Influence of Symbols on Students with Mathematics Difficulty.

Students often experience difficulty with attaching meaning to mathematics symbols. Many students react to symbols, such as the equal sign, as a command to “do something” or “write an answer” without reflecting upon the proper relational meaning of the equal sign. One method for assessing equal-sign understanding is through nonstandard equations (e.g., 3 + 4 = __ + 5) where student answers provide cues about operational or relational interpretation of the equal sign. This study investigated the influence of symbolic and nonsymbolic presentations on a measure of nonstandard equations. A representative sample of 2nd-grade students (n = 413) solved a set of nonstandard equations presented with symbols (i.e., symbolic) and the same set presented with pictures and stories (i.e., nonsymbolic). Students with and without mathematics difficulty demonstrated significantly higher scores on the nonsymbolic version without mathematics symbols. Results have implications for mathematics assessment and instruction.
External cys/cySS Redox State Modification Controls the Intracellular Redox State and Neurodegeneration via Akt in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model Neurons

The extracellular redox environment of cells is mainly set by the redox couple cysteine/cystine (cys/cySS) while intracellular redox is buffered by reduced/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG), but controlled by NAD(P)H/NAD(P). With aging, the extracellular redox environment shifts in the oxidized direction beyond middle-age. Since aging is the primary risk factor in Alzheimer's disease (AD), here our aim was to determine if a reduced extracellular cys/cySS redox potential of cultured primary mouse neurons changes the intracellular redox environment, affects pAkt levels, and protects against neuron loss. A reductive shift in cys/cySS in the extracellular medium of neuron cultures from young (4 month) and old (21 month) neurons from non-transgenic) and triple transgenic AD-like mice (3xTg-AD) caused an increase in intracellular NAD(P)H and GSH levels along with lower reactive oxygen species levels. Importantly, the imposed reductive shift decreased neuron death markedly in the 21 month neurons of both genotypes. Moreover, a reduced cys/cySS redox state increased the pAkt/Akt ratio in 21 month aging and AD-like neurons that positively correlated with a decreased neuron loss. Our findings demonstrate that manipulating the extracellular redox environment toward a more reduced redox potential is neuroprotective in both aging and AD-like neurons and may be a powerful and pragmatic therapeutic tool in aging and age-related diseases like AD.
Modified Lawr-Doppler Anemometer to Study Fluid Flow in Microstructures

Traditional techniques cannot be used to measure the fluid flow in micro-test sections and fibrous assemblies. A new optical instrument, the modified laser Doppler ane mometer (MLDA), was developed to measure velocities in micro-test sections with a spatial resolution of 10 microns. The ability of this instrument to measure velocity fields was established by experiments in a 400 micron capillary tube, a 300 micron slot, and more complicated micro-test geometries. The MLDA is an accurate tool for measuring point velocities in micro-test sections and can be used to study the laminar, viscous flow of fluids in such sections in a manner never before possible.
Raman studies of the helix-to-coil transition in poly-L-glutamic acid and poly-L-ornithine.

The conformational transitions in water and in the solid state of poly-L-glutamic acid (PGA) and poly-L-ornithine (PO) have been studied by Raman spectroscopy. The Raman spectra of PGA, PO, and the monomer, dimer, and trimer of PGA in aqueous solutions and solid state are presented. The Raman spectral changes of PGA and PO were followed through the helix-to-coil transition induced by pH, temperature, and solvent composition. A hyperchromic shift in the intensity of the amide III line accompanying the helix-to-coil transition was observed. This hyperchromic intensity shift occurs abruptly as a function of pH but more slowly with heat denaturation of the alpha helix indicating that the Raman spectrum is sensitive to the transition mechanism. The high-temperature coil and the charged coil may have different conformations as evidenced by different amide III frequencies but similar intensities in these two conformations.
SPT Hammer Energy Ratio versus Drop Height

Automatic trip hammers have advantages for standard penetration test (SPT) of consistent drop height and low friction loss during hammer fall. These advantages, however, generate high energy transfer ratios (ER), typically about 90%. This efficiency causes lower sensitivity and higher energy correction coefficients, CE . To reduce ER and CE and to increase the sensitivity of SPT conducted at the Wildlife Liquefaction Array (WLA) and the Garner Valley Downhole Array, instrumented Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation sites, a 127 mm (5.00 in.) long sleeve was placed in the hammer mechanism to reduce the drop height from 762 mm (30 in.) to 635 mm (25in.) . To calibrate the energy for these drop heights, measurements were made for a series of SPT tests in Borehole X2 at WLA on November 21, 2003. For these SPT, sleeves were inserted with lengths of 50 mm (2 in.) , 127 mm (5 in.) 177 mm (7 in.) , and no sleeve. Resulting drop heights were 762 mm (30 in.) , 711 mm (28 in.) , 635 mm (25 in.) , and 584 mm...
On interference suppression using complementary filters in DS-SSS

An alternate interference suppression method used in conjunction with direct-sequence spread-spectrum systems (DS-SSS) is proposed. It consists of a complementary filter and reference loop using a scalar filter in the Walsh-Hadamard domain. Analytical expressions for chip-error probability (P/sub e/) in the reference loop are given, and the performance of the complementary filter is compared with that of the other suppression filters via a simulation. The results show that the complementary filter is superior to the other filters when P/sub e/ is less than 0.25. >
Variation in preschool teachers' styles of reading books.

Three day‐care teachers were audiotaped as they read books to their group of 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds. The books included some read spontaneously and six that we provided. Book‐reading sessions were transcribed and analyzed to discover patterns of teacher‐child exchange and to describe the content of book discussions. While the familiarity and complexity of books affected how books were read, the teachers assumed two distinct styles. Two teachers used an interactive style, engaging children in discussion of text as they read. A third teacher used a performance style, presenting stories in a skillful storytelling fashion with few breaks in the text. Analysis of children's participation and teacher style suggests that different reading styles resulted in the construction of different speech events.
Motion Planning for a Spherical Mobile Robot: Revisiting the Classical Ball-Plate Problem

In comparison to wheeled robots, spherical mobile robots offer greater mobility, stability, and scope for operation in hazardous environments. Inspite of these advantages, spherical designs have failed to gain popularity due to complexity of their motion planning and control problems. In this paper, we address the motion planning problem for the rolling sphere, often referred in the literature as the "ball-plate problem," and propose two different algorithms for reconfiguration. The first algorithm, based on simple geometry, uses a standard kinematic model and invokes alternating inputs to obtain a solution comprised of circular arcs and straight line segments. The second algorithm is based on the Gauss-Bonet theorem of parallel transport and achieves reconfiguration through spherical triangle maneuvers. While the second algorithm is inherently simple and provides a solution comprised of straight line segments only, the first algorithm provides the basis for development of a stabilizing controller. Our stabilizing controller, which will be presented in our next paper, will be the first solution to a problem that has eluded many researchers since the kinematic model of the sphere cannot be converted to chained form. Both our algorithms require numerical computation of a small number of parameters and provide the scope for easy implementation.
Meditation-Based Mantram Intervention for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Trial

Jill E. Bormann, Steven R. Thorp, Julie L. Wetherell, Shahrokh Golshan, and Ariel J. LangOnline First Publication, March 12, 2012. doi: 10.1037/a0027522CITATIONBormann, J. E., Thorp, S. R., Wetherell, J. L., Golshan, S., & Lang, A. J. (2012, March 12).Meditation-Based Mantram Intervention for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: ARandomized Trial. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advanceonline publication. doi: 10.1037/a0027522
The Washington aerial spray drift study: assessment of off-target organophosphorus insecticide atmospheric movement by plant surface volatilization

Post-application pesticide emissions from wetted leaf surfaces and soil may present a significant pathway of exposure to humans in nearby residential communities. In this study, high volume air sampling was performed to measure airborne concentrations of the pesticide methamidophos in a residential community in close proximity to aerial spraying. Sampling occurred before, during and 24 h post-application. To evaluate whether predictive models could reliably estimate residential exposure to methamidophos, an emission factor was used for estimating fluxes of volatilized material over the sprayed area for a 1-day post-application period. These flux estimates were then incorporated into a fugitive dust gaussian dispersion model (FDM) for assessing distribution of mass around the sprayed area. The predictive model output was compared with the field air sampler measurements. In our comparison, 1-day flux estimates from the model were found to be associated to observed field measurement data, with an r 2 ¼ 0:63 the day of the spray and r 2 ¼ 0:67 the day after the spray. The volatilization model however appears to underestimate surface