cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A force sensing tool for disassembly operations

This paper discusses the design and characterization of a prototype disassembly tool that was designed to handle a family of electronic devices whose plastic, cantilever snap-fit covers house AA or AAA batteries. The tool was designed with the ability to release the snap-fit covers and the batteries contained inside. The tool design is based on the use of a force sensing tool tip that utilizes three force sensing resistors (FSRs) for force feedback. Two FSRs were used to measure horizontal forces applied to the tool tip while the third FSR was used to measure forces along a direction normal to the tool tip. The tool tip is used to push and lift up the snap-fit cover as well as the spring-loaded batteries. By using the conductance of the FSR sensors, a linear model of the FSR output was calibrated to the force applied to the FSR. The disassembly tool was mounted on a three-axis translational motion robot, and the robot was programmed to perform disassembly operations. Sensor feedback from the FSRs was used to control the movement of the tool during these operations. The results showed that the robot was able to successfully use the disassembly tool to perform the necessary operations to remove the device's snap-fit cover and batteries. Force readings recorded from the FSRs indicated that the disassembly tool was able to react to force interactions at the disassembly tool tip such as a missing part or misaligned part. The use of FSRs resulted in a low-cost, flexible disassembly tool.
Incentive reduction: Simultaneous delay increase and magnitude reduction and subsequent responding

Delay and magnitude of reinforcement in the first goal box (G1) of a double alley apparatus were manipulated in two experiments. Results indicated that simultaneous magnitude reduction and delay increase in G1 facilities locomotion in the second alley.
Repair technique for fractured anterior facings

A technique is described for repairing porcelain fractures on anterior units of fixed prostheses. A procedure for the repair of anterior facings, using a system of bonding porcelain to pure platinum coated with tin oxide, provides strength and maintains the contour and appearance of the original restoration.
Joint Transmitter/Receiver I/Q Imbalance Compensation for Direct Conversion OFDM in Packet-Switched Multipath Environments

This correspondence presents an algorithm for compensation of I/Q imbalance for a direct-conversion packet-switched orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) communications system, which accounts for transmitter I/Q imbalance, receiver I/Q imbalance, phase/frequency error, and dispersive multipath fading. The proposed estimation algorithm is then presented, which operates within the framework of existing multiuser OFDM radio standards (802.11a). It is shown that this algorithm accurately estimates and corrects transceiver I/Q imbalance on a packet-by-packet basis, all within the receiver's digital baseband.
The modal uses of de and temporal shifting in Mandarin Chinese

The Mandarin Chinese modal particle de has several interesting aspects to explore in formal semantics. Its interpretations include ability, disposition, and opportunity modalities. The three uses are all universal quantifiers. This paper focuses primarily on the ability use. This use has an agentivity requirement on the de subject. The semantics for ability de given in this paper makes reference to an enhanced Belief–Desire–Intention agent model and nicely captures the agentivity requirement. Ability de is incompatible with a past-denoting temporal phrase, except when the temporal phrase associates with certain focus sensitive elements or otherwise receives focus intonation. I argue that the general incompatibility of ability de with a past-denoting temporal phrase stems from the semantic requirement that the topic time of an ability de sentence should coincide with or follow the evaluation time of de, which is the utterance time by default. On the other hand, there are temporal shifters which can backward-shift the evaluation time to the topic time and as such, salvage otherwise ungrammatical ability de sentences that contain a past-denoting temporal phrase. The paper also discusses, albeit to a lesser extent, the disposition and opportunity uses of de.
Increased risk for distant metastasis in patients with familial early-stage breast cancer and high EZH2 expression

The identification of women with early-stage breast cancer who will develop distant metastasis may improve clinical management. The transcriptional regulator Enhancer of Zeste-2 (EZH2) is overexpressed in invasive breast carcinoma compared with benign breast tissues, with maximal expression in breast cancer metastasis. In this article, our purpose was to investigate the performance of EZH2 protein detection as a predictor of metastasis in women with early-stage breast cancer, which is unknown. We developed a cohort of 480 women with stage I–IIA breast cancer diagnosed between 1996 and 2002 and recorded detailed sociodemographic, clinical, and pathological information. Tumors were histologically characterized and arrayed in tissue microarrays containing 1,443 samples. The nuclear EZH2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry and was scored as 1–2 (negative and weak) or 3–4 (moderate and strong) using a validated scoring schema. Scores 1–2 were considered low EZH2; scores 3–4 were considered high EZH2. In this study, we found that after a median follow up of 9 years (range 0.04–14.5 years) 46 of 480 patients (9.6%) developed distant metastasis. High EZH2 was associated with larger size, high histological grade, negative hormone receptors, and first degree family history of breast and/or ovarian carcinoma. While EZH2 could not predict survival in the entire cohort, high EZH2 was a predictor of disease-specific survival in patients with early-stage disease and first degree family history (log rank P value 0.05). Importantly, in this group of patients, high EZH2 was an independent predictor of distant metastasis up to 15 years after primary carcinoma diagnosis (hazard ratio 6.58, 95% CI: 1.40–30.89, P = 0.016) providing survival information above and beyond currently used prognosticators. In conclusion, EZH2 may be a useful biomarker of long-term metastatic risk in women with familial early-stage breast cancer, and warrant further validation studies.
Solution of Highly Constrained Optimal Control Problems Using Nonlinear Programing

HIS paper considers the solution of highly constrained optimal control problems using the nonlinear programing method of Fiacco-McCormick.1 Several authors2'3 have successfully applied the technique to constrained optimal control problems of a limited scope. The present paper expands the theory to encompass a general mathematical model for trajectory optimization capable of directly handling six types of equality and inequality constraints. The user-oriented model is designed to facilitate the rapid set up of a wide range of different simulations and provides for the simultaneous optimization of design parameters and continuous control variables. Accurate and efficient methods of unconstrained function minimization and linear search required to implement the Fiacco-McCormick method are discussed. Contents The general mathematical model presented provides a flexible skeletal framework for describing a wide spectrum of complex optimal control problems in terms of problem-oriented functions. The model is capable of incorporating two classes of independent variables which are to be chosen to extremize some objective function. Independent variables which are functions of time are termed dynamic control variables and are designated by uk(t). Independent variables which are constant with respect to time are termed design variables, dp. Trajectory sectioning is a device commonly used to provide flexibility in modeling. It is a method of subdividing the time history of a trajectory simulation into parts relevant to the description of the simulation. A section is defined as any portion of the trajectory in which the mathematical model is of a given form and the state variables xt(t) are continuous functions of time. Section endpoints are chosen to coincide with points at which the differential equations of motion, the control model, or the trajectory constraints change form ; or at which the state variables experience a discontinuity. If the subscript) denotes the trajectory section, then the general optimal control problem is to
Longevity, fecundity, and fertility of adult pear psylla chemosterilized with tepa.

When winterform pear psylla, psylla pyricola Foerster, were reared in the laboratory through diapause and treated with 0.7. 2.1, or 4.6% aqueous solutions of tepa, egg hatch of treated females ranged from 0 to 22% and of untreated females caged with treated males was 0-8%. Longevity and fecundity were adversely affected only by the higher dose. The fecundity of unmated females (treated or untreated) was 3-6 times less than that of mated females (treated or untreated), but the fecundity of untreated females exposed to treated males was usually suppressed less than 50%. Females mated with normal males and then mated with treated males continued to lay fertile eggs. Both sexes showed some recovery from the effects of the chemosterilant 10-17 days posttreatment. Transfer of tepa from treated males to normal females and vice versa was negligible, and any that occurred had no effect on the untreated insects.
Drosophila dMRP4 regulates responsiveness to O2 deprivation and development under hypoxia

For most vertebrates, oxygen is a prerequisite for survival. Although we have previously shown that Drosophila melanogaster is hypoxia tolerant, how this species senses O2 deprivation and how it su...
Temporal variability of defibrillation threshold in a two-dimensional supercomputer model of “ventricular fibrillation”

We have investigated the question: Do defibrillation thresholds (DFTs) vary during an episode of “fibrillation,” and if so, what are the cellular mechanisms involved? Unstable microreentry ("fibrillation") and defibrillation (DF) shocks were simulated in a two-dimensional model of cardiac tissue on a massively parallel processor Connection Machine. The modelled tissue consisted of 16384 (128×128) 100 × 100 μm2 ventricular patches that obeyed modified Beeler-Reuter membrane kinetics. Reentry was initiated by stimulating the central region of the sheet during the repolarization phase of a passing planar wavefront. The DFT was then determined for several times following this premature stimulus. DFTs remained low (< 13 μA/cm2) until the initial figure-of-eight reentry degenerated into multiple unstable vortices (DFT ≈ 21 μA/cm2). Superimposed on this jump in DFTs was a small (±2.5 μA/cm2) quasi-periodic oscillation in DFTs whose average frequency correlated with the rotational frequency of the vortices. Therefore, we conclude that (1) there exists temporal variation in DFTs during fibrillation, (2) DFTs are lower during early fibrillation, and (3) DF shocks above ≈ 24 μA/cm2 are always successful.
STRUCTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE LOCATION AND TIMING OF URBAN UNDERCLASS GROWTH

This paper examines the demographic and economic conditions underlying the differential rise of concentrated urban poverty in large northern cities. These cities are shown to have experienced substantially more occupational and industrial restructuring since 1970 than have major cities in the South and the West, particularly losses of jobs that had been held by less educated residents. Despite improvements in their overall schooling levels, relatively few inner-city blacks have acquired education beyond high school, in contrast with employees in new urban growth industries. Underclass blacks with exceptionally high rates of school dropout are especially handicapped in transforming city economies. Whereas the number of jobs not requiring education beyond high school has been increasing in the suburbs, less educated blacks have been spatially constrained to remain in inner-city housing. Within underclass neighborhoods, few households possess private vehicles, which are shown to be increasingly necessary for...
Gold nanorods for optimized two-photon luminescence imaging of cancerous tissue

We demonstrate the use of gold nanorods as molecularly targeted contrast agents for two-photon luminescence (TPL) imaging of cancerous cells 150 μm deep inside a tissue phantom. We synthesized gold nanorods of 50 nm x 15 nm size with a longitudinal surface plasmon resonance of 760 nm. Gold nanorods were conjugated to antibodies against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and labeled to A431 human epithelial skin cancer cells in a collagen matrix tissue phantom. Using a 1.4 NA oil immersion objective lens, we found that excitation power needed for similar emission intensity in TPL imaging of labeled cells was up to 64 times less than that needed for two-photon autofluorescence (TPAF) imaging of unlabeled cells, which would correspond to a more than 4,000 times increase in emission intensity under equal excitation energy. However, the aberrations due to refractive index mismatch of the immersion oil and the sample limit imaging depth to 75 μm. Using a 0.95 NA water immersion objective lens, we observe robust two-photon emission signal from gold nanorods in the tissue phantoms from at depths of up to 150 μm. Furthermore, the increase in excitation energy required to maintain a constant emission signal intensity as imaging depth was increased was the same in both labeled and unlabeled phantom, suggesting that at the concentrations used, the addition of gold nanorods did not appreciably increase the bulk scattering coefficient of the sample. The remarkable TPL brightness of gold nanorods in comparison to TPAF signal makes them an attractive contrast agent for early detection of cutaneous melanoma.
Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Alters Elbow Flexor Muscle Recruitment Strategies

Abstract Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is known to reliably alter motor cortical excitability in a polarity dependent fashion such that anodal stimulation increases cortical excitability and cathodal stimulation inhibits cortical excitability. However, the effect of tDCS on agonist and antagonist volitional muscle activation is currently not known. Objective This study investigated the effect of motor cortical anodal tDCS on EMG/force relationships of biceps brachii (agonist) and triceps brachii (antagonist) using surface electromyography (EMG). Methods Eighteen neurologically intact adults (9 tDCS and 9 controls) participated in this study. EMG/force relationships were established by having subjects perform submaximal isometric contractions at several force levels (12.5%, 25%, 37.5%, and 50% of maximum). Results Results showed that anodal tDCS significantly affected the EMG/force relationship of the biceps brachii muscle. Specifically, anodal tDCS increased the magnitude of biceps brachii activation at 37.5% and 50% of maximum. Anodal tDCS also resulted in an increase in the peak force and EMG values during maximal contractions as compared to the control condition. EMG analyses of other elbow muscles indicated that the increase in biceps brachii activation after anodal tDCS was not related to alterations in synergistic or antagonistic muscle activity. Conclusions Our results indicate that anodal tDCS significantly affects the voluntary EMG/force relationship of the agonist muscles without altering the coactivation of the antagonistic muscles. The most likely explanation for the observed greater EMG per unit force after anodal tDCS appears to be related to alterations in motor unit recruitment strategies.
LPE growth of GaAs- Ga 1- x Al x As solar cells

The procedures for the liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) growth of high efficiency p-Ga(1-x)Al(x)As,p-GaAs,n-GaAs solar cells have been developed. The methods are based on forming the structure by a one-step process in which the Zn-diffused p-n junction in the n-type GaAs substrate forms in conjunction with the LPE growth of the Zn-doped p-Ga(1-x)Al(x)As layer. For structures with 1-10 micron thick Ga(1-x)Al(x)As layers, an isothermal soak of the GaAs substrate in a saturated Ga-Al-As: Zn melt followed by ramp cooling produces good cells. For structures with less than one micron thick Ga(1-x)Al(x)As layers, it is necessary to isothermally soak the GaAs substrate in an undersaturated melt, and ramp cooling is not required.
Wholesaling in Electricity: Inching Along

This article discusses the incremental but increasingly assertive efforts by federal policy makers toward encouraging deregulation of the electric utility industry. Focusing on the efforts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), we conclude that the federal government is involved in a sort of two-sided experiment. On the one hand, efforts to deregulate the electric power industry attempt to establish a competitive market pose the question: Can government provide rational guidance in the formation of markets in a complex industry? On the other hand, it asks whether the democratic process can permit agencies such as FERC to impose and implement an economically rational design on a self-interested pubic that is mostly interested in cheap, reliable power. In a sense, FERC is auditioning for a new role for regulatory agencies—as designers and overseers of markets. This is a dramatic shift from the traditional role of “regulator as policeman.” Whether regulators are up to the task remains to be seen.
Explanations of ecological relationships with energy systems concepts

Abstract In order to compare aspects of systems ecology theory, this paper is one of a group by different authors arranged by Sven Jorgensen to explain the quantitative relationships in the same set of recently published papers. Energy concepts were used to identify and explain the results as systems designs and hierarchical structures self organized for maximum empower. To clarify the discussion, each explanation includes an energy systems diagram of the main parts and processes related in the paper, required by the theory, including connections with the controls from the surrounding system—the next larger scale. Whereas most of the papers explain mechanisms and relationships of parts, energy systems diagramming and synthesis shows how these designs are adaptations to increase function on several scales. Human understanding of phenomena is aided by simplified overview models that include the phenomena of special interest and their empower interactions on smaller and larger scales.
Jewish affiliation in relation to suicide rates.

Jewish doctrine proscribes the taking of one's life, an admonishment which is apparently adhered to in the USA. A significant negative correlation (–.26) was found between 50 states' proportionate Jewish population and their suicide rates.
Renal responses of normal and preascitic broilers to systemic hypotension induced by unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion

During the pathophysiological progression of pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS; ascites), broilers concurrently develop systemic hypotension (low mean systemic arterial pressure) that may initiate renal retention of water and solute, contributing to fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity (ascites). In male Single Comb White Leghorns, glomerular filtration is autoregulated over a systemic arterial pressure range of 110 to 60 mm Hg, and corresponding reductions in urine flow are attributed to a phenomenon known as pressure natriuresis. Acute unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion was used in the present study to reduce systemic arterial pressure toward the lower autoregulatory limit for glomerular filtration, and to evaluate kidney function in normal and preascitic broilers. Preascitic broilers characteristically exhibited lower (P < or = 0.05) values for mean systemic arterial pressure (91 vs 100 mm Hg) and percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen (73 vs 84%), higher hematocrits (35 vs 30%), heavier right ventricles (3.44 vs 2.32 g), and higher right:total ventricular weight ratios (0.32 vs 0.24) than normal broilers. Body weights (2,445 vs 2,429 g, respectively), left ventricle plus septum weights (7.16 vs 7.19 g), and heart rates (349 vs 341 beats/min) were similar. Preascitic broilers exhibited larger (P < or = 0.05) dependent reductions in glomerular filtration, urine flow, osmolal clearance, and solute excretion and had a higher free water clearance than normal broilers in response to pulmonary artery occlusion. The differences observed between normal and preascitic broilers demonstrate that systemic hypotension can trigger renal mechanisms contributing to fluid and solute retention during development of PHS.
Antiferromagnetism in Chromium Alloys. II. Transport Properties

The electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power have been studied as a function of temperature in single crystals of Cr containing small concentrations of V, Mn, Mo, W, and Re. The onset of antiferromagnetism is marked by anomalies in the transport properties, and the N\'eel temperatures can be deduced from these. The variation of ${T}_{N}$ upon alloying is qualitatively in accord with the two-band model of Fedders and Martin, especially in its exponentially rapid dependence on electron concentration. In the incommensurable magnetic structures, the most important factors modifying the transport properties are the mutual annihilation of electron and hole regions of the Fermi surface and the consequent reduction in the probability of electron-phonon scattering. Field-cooling experiments in pure Cr indicate that the effect of magnetic superzones is much smaller than these contributions. The electron-phonon scattering depends sensitively on the relation between the energy gap at the Fermi surface and the maximum phonon energy, and consideration of the magnitude of the anomalies in the transport properties below ${T}_{N}$, in particular the variation with electron concentration, leads to an approximate value of $2.2{k}_{B}{T}_{N}$ for the mean energy gap, which is consistent with the theory. In the more concentrated commensurable magnetic structures, on the other hand, superzone effects appear to be dominant, since the change in resistance on ordering is proportional to the ordered moment. When different solutes are added to Cr, the low-temperature thermopower behaves in a very complicated way, but its large magnitude in the more concentrated Cr-Mn alloys can probably be ascribed to magnon drag.
Designing an ethics curriculum to support global health experiences in surgery.

Abstract Background The field of global health is rapidly expanding in many medical centers across the US. As a result, medical students have increasing opportunities to incorporate global health experiences (GHEs) into their medical education. Ethics is a critical component of global health curricula, yet little literature exists to direct the further development of didactic training. Therefore, we sought to define ethical encounters experienced by medical students participating in short-term surgical GHEs and create a framework for the design of ethics curriculum specific to global surgery. Materials and methods Emory University Departments of Surgery, Urology, and Anesthesia, in partnership with the non-profit organization Project Medishare, have taken annual humanitarian surgical trips to Hinche, Haiti. All medical students returning from the trips in 2011 and 2012 received a 35-question survey to assess demographic data, extent of prior ethics education, frequency of exposure and situational confidence to ethical subject matter, as well as ethical conflicts involved in surgical GHEs. The same comparative data were also collected for domestic clinical clerkships. Results Seventeen out of 21 medical students completed the survey. Nearly all (88.3%) students had previous formal ethics training as an undergraduate or in medical school. Ethical issues were commonly encountered during domestic clinical encounters and volunteerism. However, students reported enhanced exposure to the professional obligation of surgeons ( P = 0.025) and truth-telling/surgeon–patient relationships ( P = 0.044) during surgical volunteerism. Despite increased exposure, situational confidence did not change. Conclusions Ethical issues are commonly confronted during GHEs in surgery and differ from domestic clinical encounters. Healthcare ethics curriculum should be designed to meet the needs of medical students involved in global health.
Self-dual N=8 supergravity as closed N=2(4) strings.

As open [ital N]=2 or 4 strings describe self-dual [ital N]=4 Yang-Mills theory in 2+2 dimensions, the corresponding closed (heterotic) strings describe self-dual ungauged (gauged) [ital N]=8 supergravity. These theories are conveniently formulated in a chiral superspace with general supercoordinate and local OSp(8[vert bar]2) gauge invariances. The super-light-cone and covariant-component actions are analyzed. Because only half the Lorentz group is gauged, the gravity field equation is just the vanishing of the torsion.
Posterior urethral valves: pre- and postnatal management.

Posterior urethral valves are a common problem encountered by pediatric urologists. The diagnosis is most frequently suggested by antenatal screening ultra-sound. A variety of pre- and postnatal parameters have been identified to aid in predicting ultimate renal outcome. These prognostic tools are invaluable to the clinician for counseling parents and for choosing appropriate manage-ment. Several approaches to the treatment of patients with posterior urethral valves exist, and the ideal strategy is debatable. As technology evolves, more options for early intervention become available. Whether early detection and antenatal intervention improve patient outcome remains to be proven.
Concerning the dissipation of electrically charged objects in the shadowed lunar polar regions

[1] NASA recently suggested the construction of a lunar outpost at the south pole near the rim of Shackleton crater. While there are a number of advantages to such a base, the region will have periods of time when there is limited or no solar illumination - thereby reducing photoelectric and solar wind plasma currents compared to most of the lunar dayside. As a consequence of this reduction in environmental currents, we find that human systems charged by contact electrification with the regolith (e.g., roving, excavation) will have increased difficulty in removing accumulated electric charge. This situation is especially true within the cold, shadowed regions adjacent to the terminator (such as within Shackleton crater itself) where there are essentially no photoelectric currents, vastly reduced plasma currents (due to the local wake) and a highly-reduced regolith conductivity. In essence, there is no pathway for accumulated charge to “leak away” or dissipate, thereby creating an electrostatic hazard. Calculated dissipation timescales are found to be ∼1 millisecond in the weakly sunlit terminator region and dayside but could approach 100's of seconds in the “current-starved” shadowed regions.
Children's differentiations among potential recipients of aid.

EISENBERG, NANCY. Children's Differentiations among Potential Recipients of Aid. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 54, 1983, 594-602. The purpose of this study was to determine whom children prefer to assist and how their discriminations among potential recipients of aid change with chronological age and moral development. 125 elementary and high school children were interviewed to assess their level of moral judgment regarding prosocial behavior and the discriminations that they make when thinking about helping various individuals (e.g., family and friends, disliked others, someone from a different country). In general, the most important discriminations for both older and younger children were between family and friends versus others and disliked individuals versus others. The tendency to make differentiations based on the recipient's identity decreased with age, especially for distinctions involving disliked others and criminals. Furthermore, children who verbalized higher-level prosocial moral reasoning were somewhat less likely to differentiate among potential recipients of aid (particularly if the distinction concerned family and friends, disliked others, criminals or people of a different race or religion). When the effects of age were controlled, the relationships between the tendency to differentiate among recipients and level of moral judgment were reduced but frequently were still statistically significant.
Proposed 2011 American College of Rheumatology Recommendations for the Use of Non-pharmacologic and Pharmacologic Therapies in Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip and Knee

Objective The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) last published recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) in 2000. This project updated the recommendations for hip and knee OA and developed new recommendations for hand OA. Methods A list of pharmacological and non-pharmacological modalities commonly used to manage knee, hip and hand OA as well as clinical scenarios representing patients with symptomatic hand, hip and knee OA were generated. Systematic evidence-based literature reviews were conducted by a Working Group at the Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, a formal process to rate scientific evidence and to develop recommendations that are as evidence-based as possible, was used by a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) comprised of various stakeholders to formulate the recommendations for use of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic modalities for OA of the hand, hip and knee. Results Modalities ‘suggested’ for the management of hand OA include instruction in joint protection techniques, provision of assistive devices, use of thermal modalities and trapeziometacarpal joint splints and use of oral and topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tramadol, topical capsaicin. Non-pharmacologic modalities ‘recommended’ for the management of knee OA were aerobic, aquatic and/or resistance exercises as well as weight loss for overweight patients. Non-pharmacologic modalities ‘suggested’ for knee OA included self-management programs, psychosocial interventions, Tai Chi, medial wedge insoles for valgus knee OA, subtalar strapped lateral insoles for varus knee OA, medially-directed patellar taping, manual therapy, walking aids and thermal modalities. Pharmacologic modalities ‘suggested’ for patients with knee OA included acetaminophen, oral and topical NSAIDs, tramadol, intra-articular corticosteroid and hyaluronate injections; opioids are ‘recommended’ for patients who are either not willing to undergo or have contraindications for total joint arthroplasty after having failed medical therapy, Separate recommendations could not be made for hip OA because of limited scientific evidence. Conclusion These draft 2011 American College of Rheumatology recommendations for the management of patients with hand, hip and knee OA are based on the best available evidence of benefit and safety of both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions informing the consensus judgment of clinical experts from a wide range of disciplines balancing the benefits and harms of these treatments and incorporating their preferences and values. It is hoped that these recommendations will be utilized by primary care providers in the management of their patients with osteoarthritis.
Anthropogenic noise's first reverberation into community ecology.

Humans are noisy. Indeed anthropogenic sounds are now almost ubiquitous throughout the land and seas [[1][1]]. Much recent work has focused on how noise affects the presence, abundance and behaviour of animals, either through directly harming animals or by making it difficult for them to communicate
Nutrition and Behavior.

This article focuses on three nutritional problems that are associated with developmental problems in infancy and childhood. Major points are that (a) nutritional problems are often linked to environmental disadvantage, (b) the possibility exists for long-term developmental effects, (c) treatment for undernutrition does not appear to reverse all negative effects, and (d) prevention of nutritional disorders rather than treatment holds the greatest promise for eradicating behavioral and developmental problems.
The Influence of Relational Knowledge and Executive Function on Preschoolers’ Repeating Pattern Knowledge

Children’s knowledge of repeating patterns (e.g., ABBABB) is a central component of early mathematics, but the developmental mechanisms underlying this knowledge are currently unknown. We sought clarity on the importance of relational knowledge and executive function (EF) to preschoolers’ understanding of repeating patterns. One hundred twenty-four children aged 4 to 5 years old were administered a relational knowledge task, 3 EF tasks (working memory, inhibition, set shifting), and a repeating pattern assessment before and after a brief pattern intervention. Relational knowledge, working memory, and set shifting predicted preschoolers’ initial pattern knowledge. Working memory also predicted improvements in pattern knowledge after instruction. The findings indicated that greater EF ability was beneficial to preschoolers’ repeating pattern knowledge and that working-memory capacity played a particularly important role in learning about patterns. Implications are discussed in terms of the benefits of relat...
AN EVALUATION OF A PERSONALIZED SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION IN PSYCHOLOGY AT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEVEL

A study was conducted comparing Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) and lecture approaches using 301 community college students. Results indicate that students in a PSI class do not perform better than students using a traditional lecture method. However, when classes are compared on material learned early in the course, the PSI classes scored significantly higher than lecture. PSI students appear to diminish on more recent material PSI students estimated themselves to be studying more while lecture classes reported more personal satisfaction due to class interaction. Class interaction appeared to be an important factor in learning by PSI. Age may also affect how well a student does in a PSI or lecture approach. A post hoc comparison indicated that the number of students succeeding in PSI was significantly less than lecture.
Mouse skin tumor-initiating activity of benz[e]aceanthrylene and benz[l]aceanthrylene in SENCAR mice.

Abstract Benz[e]aceanthrylene (B[e]A) and benz[l]aceanthrylene (B[l]A), cyclopenta-fused derivatives of benz[a]anthracene, have been reported to be active bacterial cell and mammalian cell gene mutagens. In this study they were evaluated as skin tumor initiators in both male and female SENCAR mice. Both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) induced papilloma formation in the range of 50–1000 nmol/mouse. B[l]A was the most active, being approximately 4 times as active as benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) while B[e]A had activity approximately equivalent to B[a]P. These results are in contrast to those reported for the air pollutant, cyclopenta[cd]pyrene, another cyclopenta-fused PAH, which is a weak mouse skin tumor initiator. We postulate that these cyclopenta-PAHs are formed by pyrosynthetic routes similar to other environmental cyclopenta-PAHs and that they may be of importance as contributors to air pollution carcinogenesis.
Anaphylaxis to Intravenous Furosemide

A patient with long-standing hypertension developed urticaria, angioedema, and hypotension within 5 minutes after the intravenous administration of furosemide. Immediate hypersensitivity was documented by positive skin tests to furosemide as well as to related sulfonamide-based drugs. This is the first finding of an anaphylactic reaction to furosemide and underscores the need to consider such adverse reactions when patients who are sensitive to other sulfonamide-containing drugs are being treated.
Necessary Illusions: Misperception, Cooperation, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

A significant and growing body of literature related to security regimes focuses on the importance of either common knowledge or common norms to the success of efforts to limit military competition. This paper challenges this central pillar of the arms control literature. Security regimes, in particular arms control regimes, are not necessarily the product of common knowledge, norms, or shared identities. Rather, actors can and sometimes do cooperate because they do not fully understand one another and lack information. In these cases, examples of what I will refer to as “imagined intersubjectivity”—the mistaken belief that two actors share information, norms, and identities when in fact each has an idiosyncratic understanding—the lack of information is crucial for international cooperation. I analyze the record of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty negotiations. Through process-tracing, I will argue that three crucial moments in the negotiation process were premised on a misunderstanding of the posi...
Second-Personal Reasons and Moral Obligations

Stephen Darwall (2006, 2010) argues that a conceptual connection exists between second-personal reasons (explained below) and moral obligations. In particular, he claims that, ‘‘moral obligation is an irreducibly second-personal concept. That an action would violate a moral obligation is...a second-personal reason not to do it.’’ A second-personal reason, according to him, is ‘‘a distinctive kind of (normative) reason for acting,’’ a reason made on one’s will and purportedly given by an authority’s demand or address. This paper argues that Darwall fails to establish the above conceptual connection between second-personal reasons and moral obligations. The failure of Darwall’s construal of the second-person standpoint does not imply that there is no conceptual connection between second-personal reasons and moral obligations at all, since another construal might work. However, given that his construal is probably the best version, its failure suggests the absence of any conceptual connection between second-personal reasons and moral obligations. The implication is that second-personal reasons at best account for only interpersonal morality, the morality that is captured by autonomy-based rights theories. In other words, the second-person standpoint might amount to an autonomy-based rights theory in the end.
Sci-PM Fri - 07: The development and testing of an all-glass vessel for absorbed dose to water

Calorimetry is widely used for establishing primary standards for absorbed dose. The advantage of using water as a calorimetric material is that it gives directly the absorbed dose to water, which is the quantity of interest for radiation therapy. Unfortunately, radiation‐induced chemical reactions in the water (sometimes with impurities) may be exothermic or endothermic, thus contributing to an unknown “heat defect”. Calculations and measurements show that there are a few aqueous systems for which the heat defect can be established with small uncertainty. In particular, the heat defect of pure water saturated with an inert gas or with hydrogen gas is expected to be zero after an accumulated dose of a few gray. The need for maintaining high purity water systems and techniques for cleaning, filling and sealing vessels contributes significantly to the complexity associated with watercalorimetry. In an effort to overcome this limitation, we have developed a vessel in which only glass comes in contact with the water and which is flame‐sealed after being filled and saturated with an appropriate gas. We have measured the response of one such vessel over several years and found it to be stable and consistent with expected results. We believe these all‐glass vessels will ease the effort of maintaining watercalorimeters as absorbed dose standards and may be used for direct comparisons among laboratories with similar devices.
A segmentation algorithm for contrast-enhanced images

Medical imaging often involves the injection of contrast agents and the subsequent analysis of tissue enhancement patterns. Many important types of tissue have characteristic enhancement patterns; for example, in magnetic resonance (MR) mammography, malignancies exhibit a characteristic "wash out" temporal pattern, while in MR angiography, arteries, veins and parenchyma each have their own distinctive temporal signature. In such image sequences, there are substantial changes in intensities; however, this change is due primarily to the contrast agent rather than the motion of scene elements. As a result, the task of segmenting contrast-enhanced images poses interesting new challenges for computer vision. We propose a new image segmentation algorithm for image sequences with contrast enhancement, using a model-based time series analysis of individual pixels. We use energy minimization via graph cuts to efficiently ensure spatial coherence. The energy is minimized in an expectation-maximization fashion that alternates between segmenting the image into a number of nonoverlapping regions and finding the temporal profile parameters which best describe the behavior of each region. Preliminary experiments on MR mammography and MR angiography studies show the algorithm's ability to find an accurate segmentation.
Localization and mobility of omega-conotoxin-sensitive Ca2+ channels in hippocampal CA1 neurons

Voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) are modulators of synaptic plasticity, oscillatory behavior, and rhythmic firing in brain regions such as the hippocampus. The distribution and lateral mobility of VDCCs on CA1 hippocampal neurons have been determined with biologically active fluorescent and biotinylated derivatives of the selective probe omega-conotoxin in conjunction with circular dityndallism, digital fluorescence imaging, and photobleach recovery microscopy. On noninnervated cell bodies, VDCCs were found to be organized in multiple clusters, whereas after innervation the VDCCs were concentrated and immobilized at synaptic contact sites. On dendrites, VDCC distribution was punctate and was interrupted by extensive bare regions or abruptly terminated. More than 85% of the dendritic VDCCs were found to be immobile by fluorescence photobleach recovery. Thus, before synaptic contact, specific mechanisms target, segregate, and immobilize VDCCs to neuronal cell bodies and to specialized dendritic sites. Regulation of this distribution may be critical in determining the firing activity and integrative properties of hippocampal CA1 neurons.
Selective deregulation in chemokine signaling pathways of CD4+CD25hiCD127lo/− regulatory T cells in human allergic asthma

Background CD4 + CD25 hi CD127 lo / − regulatory T cells have been suggested to be critical regulators of inflammatory processes in allergic asthma. Recent studies reported a selective decrease in the frequency of regulatory T cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of allergic asthmatic (AA) subjects, prompting the possibility of defective recruitment of these cells to the airway in response to chemokines produced during asthmatic inflammation. Objectives This study aimed to characterize the chemotactic profile of circulating regulatory T cells in AA subjects in response to chemokines abundantly produced in airway inflammation, such as CCL1, CCL17, and CCL22. Methods The study was performed in a cohort of 26 AA, 16 healthy control, and 16 non-AA subjects. We used chemotaxis assays to evaluate cell migration, flow cytometry to examine chemokine receptor expression, and phospho-ELISA to study consequent signaling pathways in regulatory T cells. Results Regulatory T cells, but not CD4 + CD25 − T cells, from AA subjects showed decreased chemotactic responses, specifically to CCL1, in comparison with their healthy control and non-AA counterparts. Decreased CCL1-mediated chemotaxis in AA regulatory T cells was associated with decreased phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT), a protein involved in chemokine intracellular signaling. Furthermore, the decreased chemotactic response to CCL1 in AA regulatory T cells significantly correlated with asthma severity and decreased pulmonary function in AA subjects. Conclusions These results provide the first evidence of dysfunction in the chemokine signaling pathway in AA regulatory T cells.
Inhibition of Interleukin 10 by Rituximab Results in Down-Regulation of Bcl-2 and Sensitization of B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma to Apoptosis

Treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is frequently hampered by development of chemoresistance. Rituximab is a chimeric mouse antihuman CD20 antibody that offers an alternative; however, its mechanism of action is not clearly understood. Treatment of lymphoma cell lines with Rituximab sensitizes the cells to the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of therapeutic drugs, e.g., cisplatin, fludarabine, vinblastine, and Adriamycin. This study investigated the mechanism(s) involved in the reversal of drug resistance by Rituximab therapy. NHL cells synthesize and secrete antiapoptotic cytokines implicated in drug resistance, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. We hypothesized, therefore, that sensitization by Rituximab may be due in part to modification of cytokine production. In this study, examination of cytokine secretion by NHL 2F7 tumor cells revealed down-regulation of IL-10 by Rituximab treatment. Moreover, cytotoxicity assays using exogenous IL-10 and IL-10-neutralizing antibodies demonstrated that IL-10 serves as an antiapoptotic/protective factor in these tumor cells against cytotoxic drugs. Furthermore, expression in 2F7 cells of the protective factor, Bcl-2, was shown to be dependent on IL-10 levels and down-regulated by Rituximab. Other gene products such as Bax, Bcl-x, Bad, p53, c-myc, and latent membrane protein-1 (LMP) were not affected by Rituximab treatment. Drug sensitization, as well as down-regulation of both IL-10 and Bcl-2, was corroborated in experiments using the NHL cell line 10C9. The Ramos and Daudi NHL cell lines were not sensitizable, nor did their Bcl-2 or IL-10 levels change. These studies demonstrate that one mechanism by which Rituximab sensitizes NHL to chemotherapeutic drugs is mediated through down-regulation of antiapoptotic IL-10 autocrine/paracrine loops and Bcl-2. The clinical relevance of these findings is discussed.
Approximation of Prediction Error Variance in Large-Scale Animal Models

Abstract Computation of prediction error variances for genetic evaluations estimated by mixed model methodology requires inversion of the coefficient matrix, which is not practical for large populations. Although methods have been developed to approximate prediction error variance for sire models, they are not suitable for animal models, because sizable effects of the relationship matrix are not considered. To approximate reciprocal of prediction error variance, an iterative algorithm was developed that combines contributions due to production records (if any) and due to relationships. Contribution due to production records is a weighted number of records; contribution due to relationships is sum of contributions from parents and offspring. Accuracy of the algorithm was investigated with a simulated data set for three generations of animals that included 1000 cows, 40 sires, 2315 records, and 100 herd-year-seasons. The model included herd-year-season and permanent environmental effects. Iteration involved reading the file with records once and reading the relationship file once per round (seven rounds were required in the simulation). Correlation between repeatability estimates obtained by the algorithm and by inversion was. 996.
Dost: an environment to support automatic generation of user interfaces

This paper describes an environment that allows the user interface of an application to be generated automatically. The environment uses an approach based on the ideas of editor-oriented user interaction and object-oriented programming.