cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence of intense ongoing endemic transmission of hepatitis C virus in Egypt

Abstract Egypt has the highest prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the world, estimated nationally at 14.7%. An estimated 9.8% are chronically infected. Numerous HCV prevalence studies in Egypt have published various estimates from different Egyptian communities, suggesting that Egypt, relative to the other nations of the world, might be experiencing intense ongoing HCV transmission. More importantly, a new national study provided an opportunity to apply established epidemiologic models to estimate incidence. Validated mathematical models for estimating incidence from age-specific prevalence were used. All previous prevalence studies of HCV in Egypt were reviewed and used to estimate incidence provided that there was sufficient age-specific data required by the models. All reports of anti-HCV antibody prevalence were much higher than any other single national estimate. Age was the strongest and most consistently associated factor to HCV prevalence and HCV RNA positivity.It was not possible to establish a prior reference point for HCV prevalence or incidence to compare with the 2009 incidence estimates. The modeled incidence from the national study and collectively from the modeled incidence from the previous community studies was 6.9/1,000 [95% confidence interval (CI), 5.5–7.4] per person per year and 6.6/1,000 (95% CI, 5.1–7.0) per person per year, respectively. Projected to the age structure of the Egyptian population, more than 500,000 new HCV infections per year were estimated. Iatrogenic transmission is the most likely, underlining exposure to the ongoing transmission. The study demonstrates the urgency to reduce HCV transmission in Egypt.
Measurements of plasma levels of adrenergic neurotransmitters and primary amino acids in five stuttering subjects: a preliminary report (biochemical aspects of stuttering)

Abstract The present study measured plasma levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and primary amino acids of five stutters employing state-of-the-art high performance liquid chromatographic technology. Pertinent findings showed that glutamine levels of all five subjects were more than four standard deviation units higher than the reference mean, which was interpreted as reflecting a possible increase in left hemispheric GABAergic activity When considered within the parameters of a reciprocal interhemispheric neurotransmitter balance theory, such findings may well suggest that neurotransmitter ratios between and within the two hemispheres are aberrant in the stuttering population. A theoretical model is presented elucidating these disturbed relationships and their possible influence on speech fluency.
Nailing down an answer: participations of power in trial talk

This article examines a questioning strategy in trial crossexamination designed to control an evasive witness, and how that control functions through the interactive contours of verbal and visual conduct to index identity, construct multidimensional forms of participation and project intertextual relations. In the process of nailing down an answer, attorney and witness manipulate linguistic ideologies and project participations of power to calibrate the epistemological criteria for determining the legitimacy of legal realities. I demonstrate how indexical iconicities of trial dialogic form emerge as a contested ritual of truth in the situated details of multimodal discursive practices.
The automatic generation of bus-interface models

The authors describe a system, HIDE, that automatically creates very high-speed IC description language (VHDL) bus-interface models from timing and bus-state diagrams. The information required by HIDE is easily found in component documentation. Thus, HIDE reduces the time for understanding a component's operation and for writing the model. An Intel iAPX80386 model was developed in less than one week. HIDE can also be used to develop executable specifications, as its inputs are a normal element of the IC design process. >
Engaging in ‘Loose Talk’: Analyzing Salience in Discourse from the Formulation of Welfare Policy

Attempts to explain the emergence of policy innovation are regularly constrained by the complexities of political processes and the vagaries of social circumstance. Content analysis of media reports has been used routinely to provide an outline of policy change. However, the results of content analysis can be simplistic and lacking in depth of meaning. This study added the use of principal components analysis (PCA) of media text content to more substantively examine the evolution of a policy “sea-change.” Both the manifest and latent content of newspaper accounts were analyzed to measure the salience of a public policy innovation that expanded religious group utilization with the 1996 welfare reform act. In addition to tracing variations in the flow of policy deliberation, the analysis more fully captured the character of public discourse that surrounded the adoption of this controversial policy. Unexpected findings from analysis of the accounts included limited concern for Constitutional infringement and no evidence of a regional bias toward increased religious group utilization. Furthermore, principal components analysis of textual structure exhibited patterns of discourse indicative of privatistic (rather than communal) religious response, limited concern with diverse social groups and pronounced reliance on “praise and blame” persuasive strategies.
General Treatment of Optical Forces and Potentials in Mechanically Variable Photonic Systems

We present an analytical formalism for the treatment of the forces and potentials induced by light in mechanically variable photonic systems (or optomechanically variable systems) consisting of linear media. Through energy and photon-number conservation, we show that knowledge of the phase and the amplitude response of an optomechanically variable system, and its dependence on the mechanical coordinate of interest, is sufficient to compute the forces produced by light. This formalism not only offers a simple analytical alternative to computationally intensive Maxwell stress-tensor methods, but also greatly simplifies the analysis of mechanically variable photonic systems driven by multiple external laser sources. Furthermore, we show, through this formalism, that a scalar optical potential can be derived in terms of the phase and amplitude response of an arbitrary optomechanically variable one-port system and in generalized optomechanically variable multi-port systems, provided that their optical response is variable through a single mechanical degree of freedom. With these simplifications, well-established theories of optical filter synthesis could be extended to allow for the synthesis of complex optical force and potential profiles, independent of the construction of the underlying device or its field distribution.
A remark on the ODE with two discrete delays

Abstract The aim of this paper is to outline a formal framework for the analytical analysis of the Hopf bifurcations in the delay differential equations with two independent time delays. Some results for the differential–difference equations with two delays, when the both of the coefficients of linearized equation are negative were obtained in [X. Li, S. Ruan, J. Wei, Stability and bifurcation in delay-differential equations with two delays, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 236 (1999) 254–280]. In the paper we present some remarks on the case studied in [X. Li, S. Ruan, J. Wei, Stability and bifurcation in delay-differential equations with two delays, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 236 (1999) 254–280] and also two other cases, namely when the coefficients of linearized equation have different signs and when coefficients are both positive.
Effects of saturated and unsaturated dietary fat on aflatoxin B1 metabolism

Male Fisher 344 rats were fed diets containing either 20% corn oil, 20% coconut oil or 18% coconut oil plus 2% corn oil for 3 wk. A single dose of [3H]aflatoxin B1 [(3H]AFB1) was administered ip and the biliary excretion of aflatoxin metabolites and the binding of 3H to nucleic acids were studied. In other experiments the in vitro metabolism of AFB1 by liver postmitochondrial supernatants prepared from rats fed the different sources of dietary fat was determined. The major nonextractable aqueous metabolite of AFB1 was the aflatoxin B1-glutathione conjugate (AFB1-GSH). Variation in the source of dietary fat did not affect production of the conjugate, nor was in vivo binding of AFB1 to nucleic acids affected. Aflatoxin P1 ( AFP1 )--mostly conjugated--and aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) were also identified in the bile, and the quantities of these metabolites produced were unaffected by the dietary treatments. The metabolites recovered in the in vitro study included aflatoxins Q1, P1 and M1. The corn oil diet produced a higher microsomal cytochrome P-450 level than the coconut oil diet. Associated with the higher level of cytochrome P-450 was increased in vitro conversion of AFB1 to AFQ1 and AFM1, but not to AFP1 . The in vitro production of aqueous metabolites and the covalent binding of metabolites to protein was unaffected by the dietary treatments. The results of the in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that the formation of the putative carcinogenic metabolite, AFB1-epoxide, which undergoes detoxification through glutathione conjugation, is not affected by the type of dietary fat. These observations further suggest that dietary fat, in particular unsaturated fat, affects AFB1 carcinogenesis through a mechanism other than by alteration of the metabolic activation of AFB1.
A large vertical displacement electrothermal bimorph microactuator with very small lateral shift

This paper reports a novel electrothermal actuator design that can generate large vertical displacements with almost no lateral shift. The lateral-shift-free (LSF) piston motion is achieved by using a unique three-bimorph actuation mechanism. Both micromirrors and microlens holders based on this new actuator design have been fabricated using a combined surface- and bulk-micromachining process. A 0.62 mm vertical displacement is measured at only 5.3 V for a fabricated 0.8 mm by 0.8 mm micromirror, and both the lateral shift (10 μm) and tilting angle (0.7°) are very small in that full vertical displacement range. The measured resonant frequency of the vertical motion mode is about 0.5 KHz. The thermal response time is about 25 ms.
Diagnostic probes for fire hazard evaluation based on thermal analysis methodology. An example of use in hot asphalt mixing operations

Abstract The ability of thermal analysis techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TGA) to ‘fingerprint’ samples of varying thermal history, is demonstrated in this paper using an asphalt tank as an illustrative test system. The possibility of occurrence of smouldering fires inside such a tank is exemplified by a case study in which excessive heat build-up occurred inside the bitumen-limestone matrix. Samples collected from this tank showed essentially three types of thermal behaviour as probed by DSC and TGA. The first type was characterized by low temperature endothermic transitions and very little exothermic activity at temperatures, > 200 °C. In the second category, samples had a high unburnt (initial) bitumen content; these showed pronounced exothermic response at temperatures > 200 °C. The third type of thermal behaviour was characteristic of samples that had fire hazard potential; these showed strong low temperature exothermic response starting at ≈ 120 °C. A catalytic effect exerted by bitumen and/or limestone components (e.g. pyrophoric iron sulphide) is invoked for this response.
191. Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of a New Class of Quaternary Ammonium Gemini Amphiphiles for Gene Delivery

A series of novel quaternary ammonium Gemini amphiphiles was synthesized as a nonviral carrier for gene delivery. These amphiphiles contain a backbone of the bis(2-hydroxy-3-alkylammonio)propyl methylamine with various alkyl chains (C12 to C18) linked to two terminal amine groups. They were prepared via a bis-menshutkin reaction of the bis(2-hydroxy-3-chloropropyl)methylamine with 5M equiv of a corresponding alkyl amine (saturated or unsaturated, secondary or tertiary amines), or N, N, N|[prime]|, N|[prime]|-tetramethyl-1, 6- hexanediamine with octodecyl bromide in ethanol (75|[ndash]|80|[deg]|C, for 36|[ndash]|48h). Transfection activity of these new amphiphiles was evaluated in culture using murine melanoma BL-6, human embryonic kidney 293, HepG2 and Hela cells. We demonstrate that the transfection activity of the new compounds was dependent on the chain length of the alkyl group. Among the four cell lines tested, compounds with a relative short alky chains exhibited better transfection activity in BL-6, HepG2 and 293 cells. Cell specificity was seen in some compounds exhibiting high activity in one type of cells but minimal activity in the other. The overall transfection activity of the new compounds is comparable to that of standard transfection reagents (DOTAP/DOPE liposomes, PEI) at their optimal N/P ratio. The unique property of these new amphiphiles, especially those with short alkyl chains, is their lack of cytotoxicity to cells.
An experience in using the world reference base for soil resources for the soils of western Georgia

New and previously published data on the soils of western Georgia are generalized, and traditional soil names are correlated with the units of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources. It is argued that krasnozems (red ferrallitic soils) can be attributed to the group of Nitisols (the soils characterized by intense weathering (ferralization) and having shiny ped faces in the nitic horizon); yellow and yellow-brown soils (zheltozems), to the group of Luvisols (the soils with relatively high adsorption capacity in the eluvial horizons and with the horizon of the illuvial accumulation of clay); yellow-podzolic (zheltozem-podzolic) soils, to Alisols (slightly acid soils with the low adsorption capacity, poor aggregation of the upper horizons, low-activity (kaolinite) clay, and with the horizon of clay accumulation (argic horizon)); brown forest soils, to Cambisols (the soils with the cambic horizon characterized by some alteration of the lithogenic texture and structure into the pedogenic texture and structure); and mountainous forest-meadow and meadow soils, to Umbrisols (the soils with the dark-colored unsaturated umbric horizon).
Surface plasmon scattering on flat surfaces at grazing incidence

Abstract This paper reports a study of surface plasmon excitation on the flat, oxide-covered aluminum surface, using high energy electrons which pass the surface at a finite, and sometimes large, impact parameter. The scattering probability dependence on impact parameter agrees qualitatively with classical, quasi-static calculations, which assume that the materials are characterized by homogeneous dielectric constants. A broad intensity maximum near 16 eV is identified as a surface plasmon made possible by the frequency dependence of the aluminum oxide dielectric constant.
T1-weighted MRI characteristics of pedal osteomyelitis.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to better define the T1-weighted MRI characteristics of surgically proven pedal osteomyelitis.CONCLUSION. Decreased T1 marrow signal in a geographic medullary distribution with a confluent pattern and concordance with fat-suppressed T2- and T1-weighted postcontrast signal abnormality was present in 100% of the surgically proven cases of pedal osteomyelitis. None of the patients with decreased T1 marrow signal in a subcortical distribution or in a hazy, reticulated pattern had surgically proven osteomyelitis regardless of the fat-suppressed T2-weighted or postcontrast T1-weighted findings.
Simultaneous measurement of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using both endogenous and exogenous [4-14C]cholesterol as substrate

Abstract The HPLC-spectrophotometric method ( T. Ogishima and K. Okuda (1986) Anal. Biochem. 158, 228–232) for measuring cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity was modified by using a C-18 reverse-phase column to separate 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one and 4-cholesten-3-one and by adding 7β-hydroxycholesterol to each reaction mixture as an internal recovery standard. With this method, we were able to simultaneously measure cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity using endogenous cholesterol and exogenous [4-14C]cholesterol as substrate. Rat liver cytosol differentially stimulated (286%) the 7α-hydroxylation of exogenous [4-14C]-cholesterol. In contrast, total cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity was stimulated only 35% by cytosol. This method should prove useful for studying mechanisms of cholesterol delivery to cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase.
Hydrogen locations, diffusion and the electronic density of states in yttrium dihydrides: A nuclear magnetic resonance investigation☆

Abstract We report results of wide-line and pulsed proton magnetic resonance measurements on yttrium dihydrides, YH x (1.63 ⩽ x ⩽ 1.98), covering the temperature range 140–760 K and yielding information on hydrogen locations, diffusion and the density of states in the dihydride phase. Our principal conclusions are as follows. (1) At x = 1.98, wide-line second moment measurements indicate that 15% of the octahedral (O) sites in the f.c.c. CaF 2 structure are occupied by hydrogen. (2) Spin-lattice relaxation time measurements in the rotating frame ( T 1 ρ versus T ) yield hydrogen jump frequencies ν j showing three distinct regions in which the activation energy E act for hydrogen diffusion increases with T . (3) For x = 1.98 ν j is consistently higher than for x = 1.92, corroborating the partial occupation of O sites for x values below 2.0. (4) At the lower limiting composition ( x ≈ 1.8) E act becomes anomalously large (approximately 1.1 eV atom −1 ), compared with the value 0.5 eV atom −1 at x = 1.92, and the diffusion rate is about 10 3 times smaller. (5) At low temperatures the spin-lattice relaxation rate T −1 1 is dominated by the conduction electron contribution T −1 1 e . The quantity (T 1e T) −1 2 which is proportional to the density of states at the Fermi level, is 0.061 ± 0.002 s −1 2 K −1 2 for the dihydride compositions studied, indicating a constant density of states in the dihydride phase.
Changes in Organization of Crithidia fasciculata Kinetoplast DNA Replication Proteins during the Cell Cycle

Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), the mitochondrial DNA in kinetoplastids, is a network containing several thousand topologically interlocked minicircles. We investigated cell cycle–dependent changes in the localization of kDNA replication enzymes by combining immunofluorescence with either hydroxyurea synchronization or incorporation of fluorescein–dUTP into the endogenous gaps of newly replicated minicircles. We found that while both topoisomerase II and DNA polymerase β colocalize in two antipodal sites flanking the kDNA during replication, they behave differently at other times. Polymerase β is not detected by immunofluorescence either during cell division or G1, but is abruptly detected in the antipodal sites at the onset of kDNA replication. In contrast, topoisomerase II is localized to sites at the network edge at all cell cycle stages; usually it is found in two antipodal sites, but during cytokinesis each postscission daughter network is associated with only a single site. During the subsequent G1, topoisomerase accumulates in a second localization site, forming the characteristic antipodal pattern. These data suggest that these sites at the network periphery are permanent components of the mitochondrial architecture that function in kDNA replication.
Motion-compensated subband coding with scene adaptivity

This paper presents a new motion compensated subband video coding algorithm with scene adaptive motion interpolation. The work builds on temporal segmentation for determining the reference frame positions, and multi-resolution motion estimation in the subband domain. In the proposed approach, the reference frames for motion estimation are adaptively selected using the temporal segmentation of the lowest spatial subband. Motion compensation is used after subband filtering because it produces better performance than subband filtering after motion compensation. The proposed scene adaptive scheme, temporally adaptive motion interpolation (TAMI), determines the number and the positions of the reference frames for motion estimation using two types of temporal segmentation algorithms. The input video is split into the 7 spatial subbands by using a pair of low-pass and high-pass biorthogonal filters, and the TAMI algorithm is applied on the lowest of the subbands. Motion vectors for each subband are generated by a hierarchical motion estimation approach. Block-wise DPCM and a uniform quantizer are used only for the lowest subband of an intra frame, and all the other subbands are coded by PCM with a dead-zone quantizer. Simulation results show that the scene adaptive scheme compares favorably with the fixed interpolation structure.
Topic Modeling Users' Interpretations of Songs to Inform Subject Access in Music Digital Libraries

The assignment of subject metadata to music is useful for organizing and accessing digital music collections. Since manual subject annotation of large-scale music collections is labor-intensive, automatic methods are preferred. Topic modeling algorithms can be used to automatically identify latent topics from appropriate text sources. Candidate text sources such as song lyrics are often too poetic, resulting in lower-quality topics. Users' interpretations of song lyrics provide an alternative source. In this paper, we propose an automatic topic discovery system from web-mined user-generated interpretations of songs to provide subject access to a music digital library. We also propose and evaluate filtering techniques to identify high-quality topics. In our experiments, we use 24,436 popular songs that exist in both the Million Song Dataset and songmeanings.com. Topic models are generated using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). To evaluate the coherence of learned topics, we calculate the Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information (NPMI) of the top ten words in each topic based on occurrences in Wikipedia. Finally, we evaluate the resulting topics using a subset of 422 songs that have been manually assigned to six subjects. Using this system, 71% of the manually assigned subjects were correctly identified. These results demonstrate that topic modeling of song interpretations is a promising method for subject metadata enrichment in music digital libraries. It also has implications for affording similar access to collections of poetry and fiction.
Cytomegalovirus hepatitis in a nontransplant patient with autoimmune hepatitis taking immunosuppressants

Cytomegalovirus hepatitis in a nontransplant patient with autoimmune hepatitis taking immunosuppressants
Systemic therapy for moderate-to-severe psoriasis

Systemic therapy for psoriasis has undergone a considerable metamorphosis. Traditional agents, such as methotrexate, cyclosporin and systemic retinoids (predominantly acitretin), have dominated systemic therapy over the past 35 years, with second-tier systemic agents, such as fumaric acid, also known to be beneficial. With the primary role of activated T cells in the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis, targeted biological therapy has finally come of age. This article will review the traditional agents, as well as two main groups of biological drugs: T-cell agents (alefacept and efalizumab) and tumor necrosis factor antagonists (adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab). Lessons learned from the use of this latter group of drugs in the disciplines of rheumatology (rheumatoid arthritis) and gastroenterology (Crohn’s disease) are reviewed, together with a summary of each individual drug. Potential new biological drugs over the ensuing 5 years are likely to further increase the scope of systemic therapy for psoria...
Fluence rate distribution in laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy by mesh free collocation

Abstract The present work introduces an alternative method for calculating the spatial distribution of interstitial fluence rate in laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy. The method originates from the un-simplified integral–differential radiant transport equation, which is then solved by the radial basis function collocation technique. After comparing with the Monte Carlo and finite volume methods, it is concluded that this method is able to provide accurate predictions of fluence rate distributions along the penetration depth, particularly around the boundary.
Optimizing Tailored Health Communications

This review discusses evidence-based perspectives on tailored health communications for lifestyle modification. Future directions for inquiry and practice also are addressed.
Abstract 792: Prognostic significance of four molecular markers in relation to fatal prostate cancer after prostatectomy

Aside from Gleason grade, there are no established biomarkers to differentiate aggressive from indolent disease in early-stage prostate cancer. Such markers are needed to stratify patient selection for radical or conservative treatment. In the population of three managed care organizations, we conducted a case-control study to evaluate the predictive value of immunohistochemical expression of four molecular markers in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from prostatectomy specimens. Cases included 286 men whose prostate cancers progressed to death between 1971 and 2001; 344 controls with non-fatal prostate cancer were closely matched to cases on age, race, tumor stage, diagnosis year, and patterns of health plan membership. One expert prostate cancer pathologist reviewed all pathology slides to determine Gleason grade and select the highest grade tumor specimen for analysis. Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections from the above specimens were immunostained by an automated method using antibodies against Ki-67, p53, p27kip1 and BCl-2. Immunoreactivity was semi-quantitatively scored based on intensity and percentage of positive cells in both tumor and adjacent benign tissue, and results were correlated with clinicopathologic variables. Using unconditional logistic regression analysis, we identified Ki-67, P53, P27kip1, and BCl-2 as statistically significant predictors of prostate cancer mortality after adjustment for age, group, race, health plan, diagnosis year, and tumor stage. Marker expression was classified as presence yes/no (P53, BCl-2) or absence yes/no (P27kip1) of any staining or 10%+ expression vs. less (Ki-67). After further adjustment for Gleason grade, marker associations with mortality were as follows: Ki-67 odds ratio = 12.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3-28.3, p Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 792.
Exciton-exciton annihilation in organic polariton microcavities

Sublinear intensity dependence of photoluminescence from organic exciton-polariton microcavities under non-resonant excitation in two power regimes is shown. The sublinearity is attributed to exciton-exciton annihilation, which could compete with polariton-polariton scattering in these devices.
Establishment of epithelial cell lines from adult mouse regenerating liver

A simple technique for developing epithelial cell lines from regenerating mouse liver has been described. Twenty-one epithelial cell lines have been developed and can be divided into four groups according to their morphology. All these near diploid cell lines have the capacity to metabolize diverse classes of chemical carcinogens (3-methylcholanthrene, 2-acetylaminofluorene, dimethylnitrosamine and aflatoxin B1) to cytotoxic metabolites. It is not yet possible to determine which ones of these cell lines originated from hepatocytes. Studies are in progress to further characterize and to use these cell lines as lethally irradiated feeder layers for cell-mediated activation of various classes of chemical carcinogens and mutagens with C3H/10T1/2 mouse embryo fibroblasts as indicator cells.
Graphical Spreadsheets as Convenient Tools for Turbomachinery Education

An unfortunate aspect of engineering education in general, and turbomachinery education in specific, has been the difficulty of incorporating the design aspect of instruction with the time-consuming components that make up theoretical instruction. The primary reason for this difficulty is the extremely limited time (typically three months) allocated to teach turbomachinery as a senior-level quarter or semester technical elective. It is desirable to develop an educational design tool that can be simultaneously exercised by a student to perform various design tasks and function as a means of theoretical instruction. Such a tool can permit the students both greater depth and breadth of exposure and may be subsequently used by the students in their future capacity as professional engineers. In this paper, this tool is illustrated by several applications of a commercial “graphical spreadsheet” software package (MathCAD, though others such as Mathmatica and Macsyma are appropriate as well). Some graphical spreadsheet design tools are presented, and these tools are applied to the analysis and design of a radial pump, centrifugal compressor, and radial-inflow turbine.Copyright © 2001 by ASME
Low‐molecular weight organic composition of acid water from coconut oil soapstock

Soapstock from alkaline refining of coconut oil was acidified, and the resulting acid water after neutralization was subjected to gas chromatography, electron-ionization and chemical-ionization mass spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The chief low-molecular weight organic components were C4−C18 fatty acids, hydroxylated acids, and sugar alcohols. The prevalence of acids and total absence of phosphate compounds make coconut acid water different in composition from the acid waters from other soapstocks.
RTCP: A software package for experiments in process control research

Abstract Specific software requirements for process control experiments have been identified and incorporated in a Real-Time Control Package of programs (RTCP). These programs are sufficiently flexible to handle a wide variety of multivariable processes, yet simple to understand and modify. Each program is written in FORTRAN with a highly modular structure. An application to the control of coupled distillation columns is described. Apart from describing a specific program, the purpose of the paper is to elucidate the general considerations necessary for the design of an academic real-time control package.
Obstetrician-gynecologist experiences with abortion training: physician insights from a qualitative study.

Abstract Background Abortion is one of the most contested, yet common surgical procedures in the United States and a required component of obstetrics and gynecology resident education. Approaches to abortion training are variable. Study Design We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 physicians who had graduated 5–10 years prior from four US residency programs with routine abortion training. Interviews focused on their experiences with abortion during training and in practice. Results Graduates' positive and negative experiences demonstrated that many valued teaching about the social issues surrounding abortion as well as training in surgical skills. Respondents found training rewarding when attending physicians openly discussed their personal commitment to abortion practice, respected differences of opinions about abortion and demonstrated high regard for abortion training. Some residents who opted out of surgical training for abortion valued partially participating in the rotation. Conclusions Many physicians-in-training consider didactics related to the social context of care and respect for moral boundaries important components of abortion training.
Situational Dimensions of Self-Reported Nervousness

Summary Endler, Hunt, and Rosenstein's systematic application of the stimulus-response model in their psychometric study of anxiety provided the impetus and rationale for this work, investigation of the situational dimensions of self-reported nervousness. Factor analysis of a nervousness inventory revealed three broad dimensions, characterized by social situations, situations of physical discomfort or potential bodily harm, and situations of disorder or disruption. The first two of these dimensions have been observed before. The third has not been conspicuously noted and may especially merit further study.
Impact of the diagnostic label of osteoarthritis on perceptions of disability and willingness to help a parent in African Americans and whites.

Objective Family members are central to arthritis care, but little is known about public perceptions of osteoarthritis (OA) and how cultural diversity affects these perceptions. We examined the effects of participant race and diagnostic label of OA on family members' perceptions and willingness to help a parent with OA. Methods A total of 105 young adult African American and 308 young adult white participants were randomly assigned to read 1 of 2 vignettes (OA label versus no label) describing an older mother with marked pain and disability. Effects for race and diagnostic label were examined. Results Participants who were told that the mother had OA were more likely to believe the mother's problems were due to illness, but were less likely to believe that better health care would improve her condition than participants not told a diagnosis. African Americans attributed less blame to the mother, showed less anger, more sympathy, and were more willing to help compared with whites. Conclusion The finding that the OA label leads to pessimism concerning the benefits of health care for a parent suggests a need for public education on the effectiveness of arthritis care. Race differences in perceptions of the parent and willingness to provide care are consistent with previous literature on race and family caregiving, and indicate that cultural values regarding family caregiving may be important in arthritis care. Family members could serve as important allies for elderly individuals with OA, and public health efforts should not just target older adults but should also provide information on arthritis care for families.
Genetic relationships and discrimination of ten influential Upland cotton varieties using RAPD markers.

Influential Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) varieties are those that have the higher genetic contributions to modern Upland cultivars than other germplasms. Our previous research has shown significant differences in general combining ability (GCA) effects for yield, yield components, and fiber properties among ten influential cotton varieties. In this study, we used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data to evaluate DNA variation of these ten varieties. Of 86 random decamer primers screened for their capability of amplifying DNA via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 63 generated a total of 312 DNA fragments. Forty two bands were polymorphic, which showed a low percentage (13.5%) of DNA variation among these influential varieties. Genetic similarities among the ten varieties based on RAPD data were from 92.7% to 97.6%. All of the varieties were individually identified by variety specific markers in genetic fingerprinting. One primer, UBC-149, amplified a 1,430-bp DNA fragment that was absent in five varieties and present in the other five varieties. This RAPD marker had significant negative relationships with GCA-effect estimates for seed cotton yield, lint yield, number of bolls per plant and micronaire, and significant positive relationships with GCA effects for boll size and seed index. This finding, for the first time, identifies a DNA fragment in cotton that is a potential DNA marker linked to a yield gene(s) or a yield-related gene(s).
U.S. national economic policy, 1917-1985

Rewarding is Campagna's broad-sweep analysis of US macroeconomic policy under the several political regimes since WW I, evaluating whether these policies were 'justified,' 'successful,' and 'rational.' Impressive historical scholarship brings alive the views and personalities of the times and provides immense detail concerning economic settings and problems of each period. Choice This book examines the various economic problems of the past 70 years and critically evaluates what has been done to solve them. Claiming that previous macroeconomic policies have not been successful largely because of political problems, the book presents a cogent argument for the need for new institutions to conduct rational policies in the future.
Electron microscopic study of the regeneration of cementum and periodontal connective tissue attachment in the cat

Regeneration of periodontal connective tissue attachment was studied at the ultrastructural level in cats following the removal of cementum and superficial dentin through a surgically created fenestration in the facial alveolar plate. Non-decalcified specimens were examined 33, 45, 70, and 105 days after surgery. In early stages of healing, fibroblasts were aligned parallel, and immediately adjacent, to the cut, irregular dentin surface; subsequently, collagenous matrix formation was observed at this site. Some regions of the defects showed surface demineralization and extension of collagen into dentinal tubules. The first indication of cementum mineralization was the deposition of small crystallites along the irregularities of the dentin surface. After further development, a well-defined zone containing c1osel packed crystallites was usually evident at the new dentin-cementum junction. Peripheral to this, collagen orientation in the calcified cementum was primarily parallel to the tooth surface, with some perpendicular orientation suggestive of Sharpey's fiber formation. Collagen-mineral patterns typical of the normal cementum surface were observed, and cementoblasts were seen in various stages of inclusion into the calcified matrix. Where the injury had not reached the dentin, collagen fibrils of new and old cementum were interwoven, and the junctional region demonstrated incomplete mineralization.
Acousto-optical deflection-based whole channel scanning for microchip isoelectric focusing with laser-induced fluorescence detection

This paper describes the development of a technique amenable to the separation of proteins on a microchip by isoelectric focusing (IEF) with entire channel scanning laser-induced fluorescence detection using acousto-optical deflection (AOD). The ability to use AOD to scan the portions of or the entire length of an IEF separation channel allows for high-speed analysis since the mobilization step is circumvented with this technique. Employing no moving parts eliminates mechanical noise and, not only is there no loss of resolution, AOD scanning can potentially increase resolution. The ability of AOD to provide ultra-fast scanning rates (kHz timescale) allows for real-time imaging of the focusing process. This is demonstrated with the separation of naturally fluorescent proteins using entire channel (total scanning range of 2.4 cm) AOD-mediated scanning laser-induced fluorescence detection.
Aluminum and plant age effects on adsorption of cations in the Donnan free space of ryegrass roots

Four cultivars of ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. cvs. Gulf, Marshall, Urbana, and Wilo) were grown in nutrient solution (pH 4.2) at two Al levels (0 and 74 μM). Cations were desorbed from the Donnan free space of roots of 15-, 23-, and 35-day-old plants using BaCl2, BaCl2-triethanolamine, NH4OAc, and KCl. The amounts of desorbed Ca2+ and K+ decreased, while desorption of Mn2+ and Na+ increased with plant age. Differences between 15- and 35-day-old plants, but not between 15- and 23-day-old, were significant. Aluminum considerably decreased the amount of desorbed divalent cations (Ca2+, Mg2+) and increased the amount of desorbed K+ and Na+. Ability to resist these changes appeared to be one of the mechanisms determining Al tolerance of ryegrass cultivars.
Bone Dry in Texas: Resilience to Drought on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast

The Upper Texas Gulf Coast is vulnerable to weather-related hazards including drought. Climate change is likely to increase losses and reduce supplies of freshwater during drought. Resilience, briefly defined as the ability to reduce vulnerability, to drought is crucial to coastal communities. This article examines drought, reviews the resilience literature, analyzes one community’s efforts to address drought through their water resource management plans and their comprehensive plan, and concludes with a discussion regarding how resilience thinking can assist planners and their communities. First, resilience thinking facilitates the development of built environments that absorb change and persist. Second, resilience thinking encourages planners to keep options open across sectors and scales. Finally, resilience concepts can assist planners as they make decisions with limited knowledge.
Rapid prototyping of radar algorithms [Applications Corner]

Rapid prototyping of advanced signal processing algorithms is critical to developing new radars. Signal processing engineers usually use high level languages like MATLAB, IDL, or Python to develop advanced algorithms and to determine the optimal parameters for these algorithms. Many of these algorithms have very long execution times due to computational complexity and/or very large data sets, which hinders an efficient engineering development workflow. That is, signal processing engineers must wait hours, or even days, to get the results of the current algorithm, parameters, and data set before making changes and refinements for the next iteration. In the meantime, the engineer may have thought of several more permutations that he or she wants to test.
SYNTHESIS OF SINGLE-CRYSTALLINE AL LAYERS IN SAPPHIRE

Abstract Single-crystalline, buried aluminium layers were synthesized by 180 keV high-dose Al + ion implantation into sapphire at 500°C. The approximately 70 nm thick Al layers exhibit in XTEM investigations locally abrupt interfaces to the single-crystalline Al 2 O 3 top layer and bulk, while thickness and depth position are subjected to variations. The layers grow by a ripening process of oriented Al precipitates, which at low doses exist at two different orientations. With increasing dose, precipitates with one out of the two orientations are observed to exist preferentially, finally leading to the formation of a single-crystalline layer. Al outdiffusion to the surface and the formation of spherical Al clusters at the surface are found to be competing processes to buried layer formation. The formation of Al layers is described by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), Cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies as a function of dose, temperature and substrate orientation.
Integration of Hardware and Software for an Optimized Appliance Drive

The benefits of variable speed operations are well known for appliance applications. However, cost sensitive applications like appliances avoided continuously variable speed drives to reduce overall system cost. Several factors are rapidly changing this scenario. The prices of DSP controllers have dropped significantly. Moreover, DSP controllers now integrate a variety of sophisticated power electronics peripherals (general-purpose timers, PWM generators, analog-to-digital converters etc.). This integration of DSP core with a set of useful power electronics peripherals significantly simplifies the design process. At the same time, the cost sensitive drives like appliances are starting to utilize variable speed drives to maximize the system efficiency. This paper discusses an implementation where a continuously variable speed operation is provided for a cost sensitive application by using a single low cost DSP controller. This paper shows how to integrate "C" programming techniques for most optimized usage of on-chip memory (RAM & Flash) as well as peripherals to implement a field oriented controlled drive. In addition, the paper discusses how to integrate additional test routines to support standards like IEC-60730.
Adaptive software-defined coded modulation for ultra-high speed optical transport

In optically-routed networks, different wavelength channels carrying the traffic to different destinations can have quite different optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNRs) and signal is differently impacted by various channel impairments. Regardless of the data destination, an optical transport system (OTS) must provide the target bit-error rate (BER) performance. To provide target BER regardless of the data destination we adjust the forward error correction (FEC) strength. Depending on the information obtained from the monitoring channels, we select the appropriate code rate matching to the OSNR range that current channel OSNR falls into. To avoid frame synchronization issues, we keep the codeword length fixed independent of the FEC code being employed. The common denominator is the employment of quasi-cyclic (QC-) LDPC codes in FEC. For high-speed implementation, low-complexity LDPC decoding algorithms are needed, and some of them will be described in this invited paper. Instead of conventional QAM based modulation schemes, we employ the signal constellations obtained by optimum signal constellation design (OSCD) algorithm. To improve the spectral efficiency, we perform the simultaneous rate adaptation and signal constellation size selection so that the product of number of bits per symbol × code rate is closest to the channel capacity. Further, we describe the advantages of using 4D signaling instead of polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) QAM, by using the 4D MAP detection, combined with LDPC coding, in a turbo equalization fashion. Finally, to solve the problems related to the limited bandwidth of information infrastructure, high energy consumption, and heterogeneity of optical networks, we describe an adaptive energy-efficient hybrid coded-modulation scheme, which in addition to amplitude, phase, and polarization state employs the spatial modes as additional basis functions for multidimensional coded-modulation.
The JABBERWOCKY: A semiautomated system for the transcription of verbal protocols

The JABBERWOCKY is a system that greatly simplifies the transcription of verbal protocols by acting as a “smart” tape recorder which plays exactly a phrase at a time. In addition, it provides timings accurate to a centisecond. The final result is available as a file on a computer system that then may be used for other editing or processing.
Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and caregivers’ stress appraisals: Intra-individual stability and change over short-term observations

Dementia is commonly associated with memory loss, but Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) such as disruptive behaviors, agitation, and problems with mood, usually have a more significant impact on caregivers' stress. It is known that BPSD and caregivers' stress reactions vary in frequency over the long-term course of dementia, however little is known about the variability over the short-term. The current study included 85 people with dementia and their primary caregivers assessed over three months. Caregivers used a 24-hour log on multiple, consecutive days to report behavioral symptoms of dementia on seven domains of behavior, as well as their stress reactions for each domain. Using latent growth curve analysis, most BPSD and caregiver stress appraisals were found to be, on average, stable over the three-month time frame. For many BPSD and stress appraisal models, however, intra-individual differences in rate of change were significantly different from the mean trend, indicating behaviors and stress are not stable over three months when assessed at the level of the individual. Covariates were used to explain individual differences in rates of change; however few variables were significantly associated with intra-individual short-term change over time.