cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Potential for Cloth Masks to Protect Health Care Clinicians From SARS-CoV-2: A Rapid Review.

PURPOSE The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led at times to a scarcity of personal protective equipment, including medical masks, for health care clinicians, especially in primary care settings. The objective of this review was to summarize current evidence regarding the use of cloth masks to prevent respiratory viral infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), among health care clinicians. METHODS We searched 5 databases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, and the reference lists of identified articles on April 3, 2020. All identified publications were independently screened by 2 reviewers. Two authors independently extracted data and graded the studies. Randomized control trials (RCTs) were graded using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist, and observational and nonhuman subject studies were graded using 11 domains common across frequently used critical appraisal tools. All discrepancies were resolved by consensus. RESULTS Our search identified 136 original publications. Nine studies met inclusion criteria. We performed a qualitative synthesis of the data from these studies. Four nonrandomized trials, 3 laboratory studies, 1 single-case experiment, and 1 RCT were identified. The laboratory studies found that cloth materials provided measurable levels of particle filtration but were less efficacious at blocking biologic material than medical masks. The RCT found that cloth masks were associated with significantly more viral infections than medical masks. CONCLUSIONS The current literature suggests that cloth materials are somewhat efficacious in filtering particulate matter and aerosols but provide a worse fit and inferior protection compared to medical masks in clinical environments. The quality and quantity of literature addressing this question are lacking. Cloth masks lack evidence for adequate protection of health care clinicians against respiratory viral infections.
Differential habitat use patterns of yellow perch Perca flavescens in eastern Lake Michigan and connected drowned river mouth lakes

Abstract Understanding stock structure and habitat use is important for sustainable fisheries management and conservation of genetic and phenotypic diversity. In eastern Lake Michigan, yellow perch Perca flavescens is found in both the nearshore region of Lake Michigan proper and drowned river mouth (DRM) lakes, small estuary-like systems directly connected to Lake Michigan. Recent genetic analyses suggest complex stock structure between these habitats and the potential migration of Lake Michigan yellow perch into the profundal zone of DRM lakes. We quantified carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) stable isotope ratios of yellow perch otolith cores to index natal origins, and measured muscle δ13C, nitrogen (δ15N), δ18O, and hydrogen (δ2H) isotope ratios to reflect recent diet and habitat use. Stable isotope ratios of otolith cores and muscle samples support the existence of resident populations in nearshore Lake Michigan and DRM lakes, as well as Lake Michigan migrants using DRM lakes. Most fish caught in DRM lakes that had natal and recent stable isotope values similar to Lake Michigan fish were collected during fall in DRM lake profundal zones. Comparison of otolith core and muscle stable isotope ratios of individual yellow perch suggest that individuals that recently migrated to DRM lakes also spent early life in Lake Michigan. Differential habitat use patterns of yellow perch in eastern Lake Michigan may have important implications for harvest estimates and fishing regulations. Migration by Lake Michigan fish into DRM lakes does not appear to be related to reproduction, and the underlying benefits of these migrations remain unclear.
Public Health Decision Making during Covid-19 - Fulfilling the CDC Pledge to the American People.

Public Health Decision Making during Covid-19 Pressure placed on the CDC raises concern that in responding to the most critical public health emergency of our lifetimes, guidelines regarding the sa...
p300 in cardiac development and accelerated cardiac aging

The heart is the first functional organ that develops during embryonic development. While a heartbeat indicates life, cessation of a heartbeat signals the end of life. Heart disease, due either to congenital defects or to acquired dysfunctions in adulthood, remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Epigenetics plays a key role in both embryonic heart development and heart disease in adults. Stress-induced vascular injury activates pathways involved in pathogenesis of accelerated cardiac aging that includes cellular dysfunction, pathological cardiac hypertrophy, diabetic cardiomyopathy, cardiac matrix remodeling, cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Acetyltransferase p300 (p300), a major epigenetic regulator, plays a pivotal role in heart development during embryogenesis, as deficiency or abnormal expression of p300 leads to embryonic death at early gestation periods due to deformation of the heart and neural tube. Acetyltransferase p300 controls heart development through histone acetylation-mediated chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation of genes required for cardiac development. In adult hearts, p300 is differentially expressed in different chambers and epigenetically controls cardiac gene expression. Deregulation of p300, in response to prohypertrophic and profibrogenic stress signals, is associated with increased recruitment of p300 to several genes including transcription factors, increased acetylation of specific lysines in histones and transcription factors, altered chromatin organization, and increased hypertrophic and fibrogenic gene expression. Cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial fibrogenesis are common pathological manifestations of several stress-induced accelerated cardiac aging-related pathologies, including high blood pressure-induced or environmentally induced cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. Numerous studies using cellular and animal models clearly indicate that pharmacologic or genetic normalization of p300 activity has the potential to prevent or halt the progression of cardiac aging pathologies. Based on these preclinical studies, development of safe, non-toxic, small molecule inhibitors/epidrugs targeting p300 is an ideal approach to control accelerated cardiac aging-related deaths worldwide.
The journey from traditional parent involvement to an alliance for empowerment: A paradigm shift

University education partners have great potential to facilitate schools’ moving from a school led traditional approach for family involvement to an asset based, empowerment approach to partnership...
Cooperative Passive Pedestrian Detection and Localization Using a Visible Light Communication Access Network

Visible light communication (VLC) systems are promising candidates for future indoor access and peer-to-peer networks. The performance of these systems, however, is vulnerable to line of sight (LOS) link blockage due to objects inside the room. Considering pedestrians as the most common VLC links blocking obstacles, we develop a probabilistic passive pedestrian detection and localization method. Our method takes advantage of the blockage status of VLC LOS links between the user equipment (UE) and transceivers on the ceiling to passively detect a single pedestrian, modeled as a cylinder with a random radius. The VLC network gathers the blockage status and computes the geometry of the LOS link graph through a cooperative scheme between VLC device-equipped users inside the room. We also develop a mathematical framework to obtain an optimum solution for estimating the location and size of the object and conclude with a sub-optimum estimation by simplifying the problem to a quadratic programming approach. Simulation results show that using a 5 × 5 grid of transceivers on the ceiling and as few as eight UEs, the root-mean-squared error in estimating the center and radius of the object can be less than 5 cm and 3 cm, respectively.
Moral Development and Racial Education: How We Socialize White Children and Construct White Fragility

How do even well-meaning white people end up unable to have productive conversations about race? Or, put differently, how do even progressive white people fall victim to what Robin DiAngelo calls, “white fragility,” or the inability to endure any racial stress? In this chapter, I argue that, at least part of the answer is that we educate our children in ways that cultivate precisely this emotional response to being confronted with our own complicity in racism. In particular, I combine recent literature on the failures of color-blind education with a neo-Aristotelian analysis of moral training to argue that many white progressives socialize their children about race through color-blind racism in ways that cultivate bad habits, epistemic vices, and improper emotions. A major consequence of this is the construction of white fragility as the default emotional response for whites who are confronted about their own role in racism. In this way, white fragility should not simply be conceived of as an intellectual or cognitive confusion, but rather a constructed emotion.
Cryogenic spatial–temporal imaging of surface photocarrier dynamics in MAPbI3 films at the single grain level

We use cryogenic spatial–temporal photoluminescence (PL) imaging measurements down to 10 K and with short-wavelength, 405 nm laser excitation to study surface charge generation, trapping, and recombination at single bright and dark grains as well as their boundaries in model methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) polycrystalline thin films. These salient conditions are shown to be critical for identifying both the detrimental and cooperative roles of grain microstructures where the dark grains serve as the PL quenching center, while the grain boundaries are largely benign and may promote electron–hole separation.
Role of CD123 (+) Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in Etiologically Different Variants of Erythema Multiforme: A Monocentric Retrospective Study.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) constitute a subset of dendritic cells known to be the “professional” interferon type I (IFN-I) producers. pDCs play an important role in antiviral immunity, as well as linking innate and adaptive immunity. Under normal conditions pDCs are not present in skin. They are shown to be a part of the inflammatory infiltrate in different skin conditions including erythema multiforme (EM). This condition is considered to be a cell-mediated immune reaction to a wide variety of agents, most commonly herpes simplex virus. Nevertheless, the pathophysiology of EM still remains unclear. In this study, we grouped 32 biopsies from 30 patients diagnosed with EM, based on their etiology and analyzed the density and distribution of CD123 positive pDCs. In all cases we observed a greatly increased number of pDCs in the dermal inflammatory infiltrate. Virally-induced EM (by herpes simplex virus (HSV) and other viruses) was more likely to have a significantly higher number of pDCs compared to non-virally associated EM. Hence, we think that pDCs play a key role in the pathogenesis of EM independent of etiology and may play an increased role in virally-associated cases. Further studies on pDCs would clarify their importance in EM and improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease.
2008 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing

We report our experiences with using high-throughput techniques to run large sets of performance experiments on collections of grid accessible parallel computer systems for the purpose of deploying optimally compiled and configured scientific applications. In these environments, the set of variable parameters (compiler, link, and runtime flags; application and library options; partition size) can be very large, so running the performance ensembles is labor intensive, tedious, and prone to errors. Automating this process improves productivity, reduces barriers to deploying and maintaining multi-platform codes, and facilitates the tracking of application and system performance over time. We describe the design and implementation of our system for running performance ensembles and we use two case studies as the basis for evaluating the long term potential for this approach. The architecture of a prototype benchmarking system is presented along with results on the efficacy of the workflow approach.
Transgender Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (TABS): validation with a sample of self-identified Christians

Transgender people suffer from a variety of consequences as victims of anti-transgender prejudice. Christians have been frequently identified as holding negative attitudes toward transgender people...
Theoretical Distributions of Short-Lived Radionuclides for Star Formation in Molecular Clouds

Short-lived radioactive nulcei (half-life $\tau_{1/2}\sim1$ Myr) influence the formation of stars and planetary systems by providing sources of heating and ionization. Whereas many previous studies have focused on the possible nuclear enrichment of our own Solar System, the goal of this paper is to estimate the distributions of short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) for the entire population of stars forming within a molecular cloud. Here we focus on the nuclear species $^{60}$Fe and $^{26}$Al, which have the largest impact due to their relatively high abundances. We construct molecular cloud models and include nuclear contributions from both supernovae and stellar winds. The resulting distributions of SLRs are time dependent with widths of $\sim3$ orders of magnitude and mass fractions $\rho_{\scriptstyle SLR}/\rho_\ast\sim10^{-11}-10^{-8}$. Over the range of scenarios explored herein, the SLR distributions show only modest variations with the choice of cloud structure (fractal dimension), star formation history, and cluster distribution. The most important variation arises from the diffusion length scale for the transport of SLRs within the cloud. The expected SLR distributions are wide enough to include values inferred for the abundances in our Solar System, although most of the stars are predicted to have smaller enrichment levels. In addition, the ratio of $^{60}$Fe/$^{26}$Al is predicted to be greater than unity, on average, in contrast to Solar System results. One explanation for this finding is the presence of an additional source for the $^{26}$Al isotope.
Leadership Styles in Childcare Directors

Leadership is of paramount importance to any organization, as leaders can set the tone for the organization’s employees. The path to leadership in childcare can be markedly different from other professions, as there is no qualifying criteria; however, previous research has identified that for leaders to be effective they must possess skills, characteristics, and traits of effective leadership. The present study used The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (in Bass and Avolio, Multifactor leadership questionnaire (TM), Mind Garden, Inc., Menlo Park, 1995) with childcare directors to determine their self-identified leadership styles including transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant to determine if their leadership style was consistent with recommendations from the field. Results suggest that childcare directors who remain in the role of managers (displaying either transactional or passive/avoidant leadership styles) do not provide the leadership needed to provide a high quality of education for young children, which is consistent with previous research. This research echoes concern from the field for credentialing of childcare directors.
A Review of “A History of Modern Britain: 1714 to the Present”

Ellis Wasson's A History of Modern Britain: 1714 to the Present is an attempt to stuff a great deal of information—mainly very traditional political and economic history—into a series of short sect...
Effects of giving students data on task completion time in a college media course

task" input, and generally students are aware of time as a goal which they are encouraged to better. But what about the more normal classroom situation where time is mostly a constraint imposed by schools operating in specified blocks of time known as class periods? What evidence do we find that supports the contention that students should complete assignments within these predetermined time spans? While I was designing a new instructional format for college classes in educational media the question of what role time should play became an intriguing one. Another critical factor in the redesign phase of an instructional strategy is the possibility of losing sight of what hap-
Using Hardware Features for Increased Debugging Transparency

With the rapid proliferation of malware attacks on the Internet, understanding these malicious behaviors plays a critical role in crafting effective defense. Advanced malware analysis relies on virtualization or emulation technology to run samples in a confined environment, and to analyze malicious activities by instrumenting code execution. However, virtual machines and emulators inevitably create artifacts in the execution environment, making these approaches vulnerable to detection or subversion. In this paper, we present MALT, a debugging framework that employs System Management Mode, a CPU mode in the x86 architecture, to transparently study armored malware. MALT does not depend on virtualization or emulation and thus is immune to threats targeting such environments. Our approach reduces the attack surface at the software level, and advances state-of-the-art debugging transparency. MALT embodies various debugging functions, including register/memory accesses, breakpoints, and four stepping modes. We implemented a prototype of MALT on two physical machines, and we conducted experiments by testing an array of existing anti-virtualization, anti-emulation, and packing techniques against MALT. The experimental results show that our prototype remains transparent and undetected against the samples. Furthermore, our prototype of MALT introduces moderate but manageable overheads on both Windows and Linux platforms.
Sex and achievement motivation effects on risk taking.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of personality disposition (n Ach) and sex on the risk preferences of subjects performing a motor task. From a pool of 101 male and 134 female volunteers, 10 men and 10 women achieve-success subjects and 10 men and 10 women avoid-failure subjects were asked to perform a modified shuffleboard motor task. Results showed that both men and women achieve-success subjects preferred intermediate risk while both men and women avoid-failure subjects avoided intermediate risk supporting the risk taking theory. However, women were more cautious in their risk preferences than men supporting the cultural stereotype of female conservatism.
Grid resource management in legion

Grid resource management is not just about scheduling jobs on the fastest machines, but rather about scheduling all compute objects and all data objects on machines whose capabilities match the requirements, while preserving site autonomy, recognizing usage policies and respecting conditions for use. In this chapter, we present the Grid resource management of Legion, an object-based Grid infrastructure system. We argue that Grid resource management requires not a one-size-fits-all scheduler but an architectural framework that can accommodate different schedulers for different classes of problems.
Preoperative diagnosis of acquired valvular disease. Evaluation of different diagnostic methods with special emphasis on left heart catheterization and comparison with surgical findings.

Abstract The results of the physical examination and various accessory laboratory aids used in the diagnosis of valvular heart disease are compared to one another and evaluated in the light of the findings at operation and at autopsy. Physical examination alone is often inadequate for evaluation of the degree of stenosis or insufficiency which may be present in a mixed valve lesion and additional diagnostic aids, while often not supplying all of the necessary information, are helpful in arriving at a more precise quantitative diagnosis. The various roentgenologic methods were found to be much more helpful than the electrocardiogram in all of the categories studied with the possible exception of quantitating the degree of aortic stenosis, in which the two methods were about equal. Left heart catheterization was superior to both methods in evaluating cases of predominant mitral stenosis, both of the “pure” type and those with significant degrees of mitral insufficiency, but was less helpful in arriving at a precise quantitative diagnosis when mitral insufficiency was the predominating lesion. It is felt that a judicious use of all available diagnostic aids should be made in an attempt to give the surgeon as much information as possible prior to operation. The opportunity that major heart surgery has afforded in making available a quick “check” on the findings of the physical examination has served to increase the accuracy of this medium considerably over the last few years. In addition, newer developments in the field of physiologic studies, including indicator dilution curves, selective angiocardiography and cinefluorography have added much to the ever increasing accuracy of preoperative diagnosis.
Sensing and Autonomy for Riverine Vessels

Abstract : The principal goal of this project is to develop the technology and algorithms that will enable an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to operate fast and autonomously in unknown riverine environments, including tropical rivers. Robust autonomy requires that the USV senses the surface and subsurface environments, discriminates waterways that are navigable from those that are not, indentifies stationary and moving obstacles, including other vessels, and then optimally plans and re-plan a route in real time. Since speed is a vessel s principal defense, all of these tasks must be done as efficiently as possible to ensure successful operation at the greatest possible speed. This project is tightly coordinated with collaborators at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) whose work is conducted under a related project. Specific objectives for VT and NPS during 2011 reported herein are: 1. Develop a sparse topological representation for a riverine system suitable for fast planning over very large areas. 2. Development of a generalized sonar mount so that our autonomy and sensing package can be mounted on most riverine vessels. 3. Development of a feedback control architecture that is suitable for the full operating envelope of a riverine vessel, including sternward motion. 4. Development of a method for computing dynamically feasible trajectories that include sternward motion. We seek to develop a sensing and autonomy package that can be deployed on a variety of small vessels. Thus our activities are focused on the development of sensing strategies, and guidance and control algorithms, rather than on the development of a specific USV platform. Our goal is to operate quickly in large areas for which existing maps are inaccurate. The principal result of this project will be a set of algorithms and best-practice tools for robust autonomous surface vehicle operations in dynamic and partially mapped riverine systems.
Coercion as a basis for early age of onset for arrest

At different developmental stages, antisocial behavior may be learned in very different ways and in very different settings. It is hypothesized that young antisocial children are most likely to acquire antisocial behaviors in the home (Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992). In that setting, the most likely causal mechanism involves contingent use of aversive stimuli in escape-conditioning sequences. On the other hand, it is assumed that those who wait until adolescence to become antisocial are trained by members of the deviant peer group in settings where adult supervision is at a minimum. For them, the causal mechanisms are thought to be modeling, positive reinforcement, and avoidant conditioning rather than escape conditioning. Presumably, the early training in the home leads to early police arrest and chronic offending, whereas training in the peer group during mid-adolescence leads to late arrest but not to chronicity (Patterson, Capaldi, & Bank, 1991). The present report is focused primarily on the early-onset path to chronic delinquent offending. There is a succession of problems to be considered. First, how is it that one family member reinforces another for being coercive? Much of this unlikely training is supposed to involve the exchange of aversive stimuli and escape-conditioning sequences. What is the evidence for such a process in family interaction? The vast bulk of family interaction, even when it involves aversive stimuli, seems relatively trivial in nature. How can the progression from trivial to high-amplitude coercive behaviors (physical assault) be explained?
Robust Design and Control of Call Centers with Flexible IVR Systems

We consider the robust design and control of call center systems with flexible interactive voice response (IVR) systems. In a typical call center equipped with an IVR system, customers are handled first by the IVR system, which is a computerized system that often enables customers to self-serve. Those customers whose service cannot be handled by the IVR system are sent to the second stage to be served by agents. In order to address the design of a call center with a flexible IVR system, we consider a call center whose IVR system can operate in two different service delivery modes that have statistically different outcomes. We formulate a stochastic program to determine the number of agents needed in the second stage as well as the proportion of customers that should be selected for each IVR service mode under different demand levels with the objective of minimizing the total staffing and abandonment costs. We also propose dynamic control policies to achieve the optimal proportions without the knowledge of the exact arrival rate. We show that the staffing levels found by the stochastic program combined with the proposed routing policies are asymptotically optimal in large systems. We present extensive numerical and simulation results to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
Verifying Livelock Freedom on Parameterized Rings and Chains

This paper investigates the complexity of verifying livelock freedom, self-stabilization, and weak stabilization in parameterized unidirectional ring and bidirectional chain topologies. Specifically, we illustrate that verifying livelock freedom of parameterized rings consisting of self-disabling and deterministic processes is undecidable (specifically, $\Pi^0_1$ -complete). This result implies that verifying self-stabilization and weak stabilization for parameterized rings of self-disabling processes is also undecidable. The results of this paper strengthen previous work on the undecidability of verifying temporal logic properties in symmetric ring protocols. The proof of undecidability is based on a reduction from the periodic domino problem.
Nanosecond pulse generators for microdischarge excimer lamps

Pulsed electron heating causes an increase in electron temperature with negligible gas heating, as long as the pulse duration is comparable to or less than the relaxation time of the electrons in the discharge plasma. For atmospheric pressure plasmas this is tens of ns. Since the sustaining voltage of microhollow cathode discharges is only 200 V, pulsed voltages of up to 1 kV are sufficient to increase the electron temperature in these plasmas considerably. A combination utilizing a MOSFET as a switch with a pulse forming network (PFN) in a Blumlein configuration has provided pulses with FWHM down to 10 ns, and rise and fall times of 4 ns. Applying these short pulses to DC microhollow cathode discharges resulted in significant increases in excimer emission, and, for xenon discharges, in excimer efficiency.
Lateralization of norepinephrine, serotonin and choline uptake into hippocampal synaptosomes of sinistral rats

Abstract Rats exhibit asymmetry of turn preference which may reflect an underlying neurochemical laterality of the hippocampus, an allocortical structure implicated in spatial memory and preference. Rats were tested in a T maze to determine left (LTP) and right (RTP) turn preferences, after which uptake of tritiated serotonin, norepinephrine and choline into synaptosomes prepared from the left and right hippocampi, along with protein concentrations and wet weights, were assessed. The left hippocampi were consistently heavier then the right hyppocampi, but there were no differences in protein concentrations. LTP rats showed greater neurotransmitter uptake into the right, relative to the left, hippocampus. This asymmetry was evident to a lesser, and more variable, extent in RTP rats. These data provide the first preliminary evidence that sinistrality has neurochemical correlates at the allocortical level.
Effect of feature selection on machine learning algorithms for more accurate predictor of surgical outcomes in Benign Pro Static Hyperplasia cases (BPH)

Predicting the clinical outcome prior to minimally invasive treatments for Benign Prostatic Hperlasia (BPH) cases would be very useful. However, clinical prediction has not been reliable in spite of multiple assessment parameters, such as symptom indices and flow rates. In our prior study, Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms were used to train computers to predict the surgical outcome in BPH patients treated by TURP or VLAP. Our aim was to investigate whether, based on eleven clinical biomarker features, AI can reproduce the clinical outcome of known cases and assist the urologist in predicting surgical outcomes. In this paper, the objective is to perform data analysis to investigate if specific features have a greater impact on predicting whether the patients had the desired outcome after a surgical procedure is done. Finally, how the number of significant features ought to be weighted to predict the outcome after surgery, is determined to create the most accurate prediction method. Here both the Decision Tree and Naive Bayse machine learning methods are used and compared.
The raman spectrum of biosynthetic human growth hormone. Its deconvolution, bandfitting, and interpretation

Abstract The Raman spectrum of amorphous biosynthetic human growth hormone, somatotropin, has been measured at high signal-to-noise ratios, using a CW argon ion laser and single channel detection. The rms signal-to-noise ratio varies from 1800:1 in the Amide I region near 1650 cm −1 region, to 500:1 in the disulfide stretch region near 500 cm −1 . Component Raman bands have been extracted from the entire spectral envelope from 1800-400 cm −1 , by an interactive process involving both partial deconvolution and band-fitting. Interconsistency of all bands has been achieved by multiple overlapping of adjacent regions that had been isolated for the band-fitting programs. The resulting areas of the Raman component bands have been interpreted to show the ratios of peptide conformations in the hormone: 64% α-helix, 24% β-sheet, 8% β-turns and 4% γ-turns. Analysis of the tyrosine region, usually described as a Fermi resonance doublet near ∼830–850 cm −1 , shows four bands, at 825, 833, 853, and 859 cm −1 in this macromolecule. Integrated intensities of these bands (2:2:2:2) are interpreted to show that only half of the eight tyrosine residues function as hydrogen-bond bridges via the acceptance of protons. Both disulfide bridges fall within the frequency ranges for normal, unstressed SS bonds: The 511 and 529 cm −1 bands are indicative of the gauche-gauche-gauche and trans-gauche-gauche conformations, respectively.
Comparison of daily and weekly precipitation sampling efficiences using automatic collectors

Precipitation samples were collected for approximately 90 daily and 50 weekly sampling periods at Finley Farm, near Raleigh, North Carolina from August 1981 through October 1982. Ten wet-deposition samplers (AEROCHEM METRICS MODEL 301) were used; 4 samplers were operated for daily sampling, and 6 samplers were operated for weekly-sampling periods. This design was used to determine if. (1) collection efficiences of precipitation are affected by small distances between the Universal (Belfort) precipitation gage and collector; (2) measurable evaporation loss occurs and (3) pH and specific conductance of precipitation vary significantly within small distances.
Supporting the negotiation life cycle

Negotiation is often associated with the strategic posturing prior to agreements among nations or between management and labor. Computer negotiation is often associated with the “handshake” protocol between connecting computer modems. In fact, both are types of negotiation behavior. So broad and powerful are the techniques, that many human interactions, and increasingly human computer interactions, can be classified as negotiation behavior.
Characterization and Remediation of Chlorinated Volatile Organic Contaminants in the Vadose Zone

Contamination of vadose-zone systems by chlorinated solvents is widespread, and poses significant potential risk to human health through impacts on groundwater quality and vapor intrusion. Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is the presumptive remedy for such contamination, and has been used successfully for innumerable sites. However, SVE operations typically exhibit reduced mass-removal effectiveness at some point due to the impact of poorly accessible contaminant mass and associated mass-transfer limitations. Assessment of SVE performance and closure is currently based on characterizing contaminant mass discharge associated with the vadose-zone source, and its impact on groundwater or vapor intrusion. These issues are addressed in this overview, with a focus on summarizing recent advances in our understanding of the transport, characterization, and remediation of chlorinated solvents in the vadose zone. The evolution of contaminant distribution over time and the associated impacts on remediation efficiency will be discussed, as will the potential impact of persistent sources on groundwater quality and vapor intrusion. In addition, alternative methods for site characterization and remediation will be addressed.
A follow-up study of infants who wake at night.

Summary.-A retrospective follow-up study of 68 adolescents treated for night waking when infants or toddlers showed that 82% of them were described by their parents as currently sleeping "well," and only two continued to experience a nightwaking ddficulty. Night waking is one of the most common behavior problems exhibited by infants and toddlers. Estimates of night waking are 30% of infants 6 to 14 months of age and slightly less for toddlers ages 15 to 27 months (Bernal, 1973; Rchman, 1981). Persistent night walung by a child can have serious adverse effects on the physical and psychological health of the child and parents. Fortunately, behavioral interventions have been effective in reducing or eluninating the night walungs in the majority of the children (Schaefer, 1987; Schaefer & Petronko, 1987), and the improvements tend to be stable over a 6-mo. period (Schaefer, 1990). Parents of infants who wake at night often express the concern that this behavior foreshadows sleep disturbances later in Me. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether chddren who displayed night walung during early childhood continued to experience sleep difficulty as teenagers. Method.-The subjects were 170 children treated by the author during 1986 to 1988 at Fairleigh Dickmson University's Crying Baby Clinic. The children were all Euro-Americans from middle- to upper-middle class backgrounds. They were between the ages of 6 mo. and 3 yr. (mean age of 18 mo.) at referral for night wakmg. Of the san~ple, 56% were boys. All of the children met the standard definition of night walung: child awakened and cried for more than a few minutes and disturbed his parents, and these awakenings occurred three or more times weekly for at least four consecutive weeks (Moore & Ucko, 1957; Richrnan, 1981). In January 2000, the parents of these children were mailed a brief questionnaire which contained three questions: How well is your child currently sleeping (well, fair, poorly); Does your child have any sleep ddficulty or unusual sleep pattern (describe); and Has your child ever been diagnosed with a physical or mental health problem?
Mild cognitive impairment.

Interest in the continuum from normal cognition, to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to early Alzheimer's disease has increased considerably since the approval of pharmacologic agents for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This trend is likely to continue over the next several years as the research community hopes to develop agents for the primary and secondary prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Although no consensus regarding specific clinical criteria for MCI exists, there is general agreement regarding its conceptualization, namely cognitive impairment in the absence of dementia. Data suggest that MCI is common and associated with significant mortality and morbidity. It also appears to be due, in large part, to the same pathologic processes responsible for other age-related dementias, especially Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that the public health burden of these conditions is probably much greater than currently recognized. There are no current recommendations regarding specific treatment for MCI. However, a number of clinical trials are underway, and data should be forthcoming over the next several years. Future studies are likely to emphasize the identification of risk factors for MCI. Although some data suggest that risk factors for MCI are likely to be similar to those for Alzheimer's disease, this is far from certain, and rigorous, large, longitudinal population-based studies will be required to identify risk factors.
Cockroach muscle hemagglutinins - candidate recognition macromolecules.

Summary Protein hemagglutinins have been detected in homogenates of each of the six coxal depressor muscles in the leg of the cockroach. The quantitative ability of some glycosaminoglycans to inhibit these hemagglutinins correlates with the muscles' innervation by identified motor neurons. There is a large decrease in activity when the muscles are denervated. Activity increases again upon reinnervation or remains low if the muscles are maintained in a denervated state.
Protective Action of Inorganic Inhibitors on Mechanically Activated Aluminum Surfaces

We study the protective action of chromate and phosphate corrosion inhibitors on the mechanically activated aluminum surfaces. The values of the electrode potential in the course of repassivation of aluminum in reference and inhibited corrosive media are lower by about 100–400 mV than in the case of free corrosion, which indicates the possibility of galvanic interaction of mechanically activated and intact regions of the metal. The highest repassivation rate is observed in the uninhibited medium and in the medium inhibited by chromate. In phosphate-containing solutions, it is somewhat lower. Both inhibitors substantially decrease the current density of potentiostatic polarization of the fresh section of aluminum, which leads to the formation of a protective film forms on this surface. The chromate corrosion inhibitor proves to be the most efficient under the indicated conditions.
Complete set of eleven region-specific microdissection libraries for human chromosome 2

The construction and characterization of 11 region-specific libraries for the entire human chromosome 2 have been completed, including four libraries for the short arm and six libraries for the long arm, plus a library for the centromere region. These libraries were constructed using the chromosome microdissection and microcloning technology. Eight libraries have been described previously. This paper presents the final three libraries: 2q21-q22 (designated 2Q5 library), 2q11-q14 (2Q6). and 2p11.1-q11.1 (2CEN). The sizes of the dissected regions ranged between 20 and 30 Mb, with the centromere region of about 4 Mb. All these libraries are large, potentially comprising hundreds of thousands of recombinant microclones. Between 77% and 97% of the microclones were shown to derive from respective dissected regions. From 26 to 66 unique sequence microlones were isolated and characterized in detail for each library. The microclones have short inserts, ranging between 50 and 600 bp, with a mean of about 200 bp. The short inserts can be conveniently sequenced as STSs to provide high density probes for the dissected region. A plasmid sub-library containing at least 20,000 microclones, and usually more, has been prepared from each library and deposited to ATCC for general distribution. The libraries have been used effectively in constructing high resolution physical maps and for contig assembly, as well as in positional cloning of disease genes assigned to the dissected region. Comparing to other chromosomes with detailed mapping information and densely populated probes, chromosome 2 remains largely under-exploited. The availability of a complete set of region-specific libraries and unique sequence microclones from the libraries should provide valuable resources for genome analysis, high resolution physical mapping, region-specific cDNA isolation, and positional cloning for chromosome 2.
Action of Bracon hebetor Say as a Parasite of Plodia interpunctella at Controlled Densities

Under controlled conditions of 27°C and 60% relative humidity, standard populations of about 1800 larvae of the Indian meal moth, Plodia inter punctella (Hubner), were allowed to proceed through 12 days of larval development. Adults of the braconid parasite Bracon hebetor Say were then introduced at 9 different densities and with a sex ratio of 2 ♀ : 1 ♂. Tests at each density were replicated and randomized, and each experiment was terminated before the initiation of a 2nd host generation. Equilibrium was not sought, but rather the optimum ratio of parasite:host density for most efficient immediate control of the host. At an introduction of 250 ♀ Bracon , 97% of Plodia larvae were killed. Higher numbers of female Bracon up to 1000 did not increase this mortality significantly. The sex ratio of surviving Plodia in a parasitized colony was found to be dependent on the density of female Bracon . A significantly larger number of female larvae were parasitized in preference to male. The sex ratio of Bracon in the F1 generation appeared also to vary with the host:parasite density ratio. The female:male ratio of F1 Bracon showed a quadratic relationship, with a maximum number of female F1 at the 250-♀ wasp density.
Protective role of the L-arginine-nitric oxide synthase pathway on preservation injury after rat liver transplantation.

Background A major problem complicating liver transplantation is the preservation injury that results from cold storage and subsequent ischemia/reperfusion injury after organ revascularization. The L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO) pathway has been recognized to play critical roles during infection, inflammation, organ injury, and transplant rejection. Recent data indicates that NO synthesis has beneficial effects in several models of liver injury. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of the L-arginine-NO pathway on preservation injury in an experimental model of rat liver transplantation. Methods Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in syngeneic (LEW to LEW) rats. Liver preservation injury was determined by measuring serum liver function tests 6 to 48 hours after transplantation. In some experiments, rats received L-arginine supplementation 0 to 24 hours after transplantation. In other experiments, NO synthase inhibitors (L-NAME or L-NIL) were injected at the time of isograft revascularization. Results L-Arginine supplementation decreased hepatic transaminase levels at all time points examined (6-48 hours). L-Arginine produced a significant improvement in liver preservation injury by 12 hours after reperfusion. The NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME caused a significant increase in liver injury 24 hours after injection. The inducible NO synthase (iNOS)-specific inhibitor L-NIL had no significant effect on liver injury. Conclusions The results show that L-arginine supplementation and NO synthesis improve hepatic injury and have a protective role in the transplanted liver graft. The protective effect may be mediated by low-level cNOS-derived NO.
Selection and ranking of text from highly imperfect transcripts for retrieval of video content

In the domain of video content retrieval, we present an approach for selecting words and phrases from highly imperfect automatically generated transcripts. Extracted terms are ranked according to their descriptiveness and presented to the user in a multimedia browser interface. We use sense querying from the WordNet lexical database for our method of text selection and ranking. Evaluation of 679 video summarization tasks from 442 users shows that the method of ranking and emphasizing terms according to descriptiveness results in higher accuracy responses in less time compared to the baseline of no ranking.
Neurobiology: a channel sets the gain on pain.

Nerve impulses that convey pain signals to the brain are produced by sodium channels in the neuronal membrane. Studies on people who are unable to feel pain identify one specific sodium channel as essential to the process.
Does residential segregation help or hurt? Exploring differences in the relationship between segregation and health among U.S. Hispanics by nativity and ethnic subgroup

Abstract In order to unpack whether and how self-rated health of Hispanics is linked to residential segregation from non-Hispanic whites, this study employs multi-level analysis combining data from the 1997–2002 National Survey of America's Families (n = 16,753 Hispanic respondents across 82 metropolitan areas) with metropolitan area segregation scores derived from restricted-use Census 2000 data. Separate analyses by nativity (U.S.-born vs. foreign-born Hispanics) and ethnic subgroup (comparing Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans) are also conducted. Net of individual-level controls, findings reveal a small significant negative effect of segregation on health for all Hispanics and for Mexicans in the sample. Nativity does not have a significant interaction effect. Evidence of a positive segregation/health link is found for Cubans, challenging the assumption that segregation is always bad for minority health. This research highlights the value of multi-level analysis in examining segregation as a social determinant of health, and reveals key Hispanic subgroup differences.
Nanowire-Based All-Oxide Solar Cells

We present an all-oxide solar cell fabricated from vertically oriented zinc oxide nanowires and cuprous oxide nanoparticles. Our solar cell consists of vertically oriented n-type zinc oxide nanowires, surrounded by a film constructed from p-type cuprous oxide nanoparticles. Our solution-based synthesis of inexpensive and environmentally benign oxide materials in a solar cell would allow for the facile production of large-scale photovoltaic devices. We found that the solar cell performance is enhanced with the addition of an intermediate oxide insulating layer between the nanowires and the nanoparticles. This observation of the important dependence of the shunt resistance on the photovoltaic performance is widely applicable to any nanowire solar cell constructed with the nanowire array in direct contact with one electrode.
A Survey of the Lay Catechists Teaching Public School Pupils

∗ Excerpts from a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of a Masters Degree in the Department of Education, The Catholic University of America, 1954.