cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Uncovering unique plasticity in life history of an endangered centenarian fish

The ability to adapt to changing environments is fundamental for species persistence. Both plasticity and genetic selection are potential drivers that allow for traits to be advantageous, thus leading to increases in survival or fitness. Identifying phenotypic plasticity in life history traits of long-lived organisms can be difficult owing to high survival, long generation times, and few studies at sufficient spatial and temporal scales to elicit a plastic response within a population. To begin to understand phenotypic plasticity of a long-lived freshwater fish in response to environmental conditions, we used a long-term data set consisting of over 1,200 mark-recapture events to inform our understanding of dynamic rate functions and life history attributes. Furthermore, we used a common garden experimental approach to confirm whether changes in life history traits are in response to plasticity in the reaction norm or are genetically derived. Using these approaches, we demonstrated differences in life history traits among Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) occupying river segments of varying physical and hydrological stress. The common garden experiment corroborated plastic phenotypic expression in reaction norms for age at first maturity, longevity, fecundity, and maximum size. These growth-mediated attributes resulted in differences in overall fitness traits, where Pallid Sturgeon fecundity was greater than a tenfold difference and 3–6 times the number of life-time spawning events. Anthropogenic modifications to river form and function are likely responsible for the variation in life history attributes resulting from an increased metabolic demand for maintaining station, foraging, and migration. Collectively, our approach provided surprising insight into the capabilities of a centenarian fish to dramatically respond to a changing environment.
THE EFFECT OF IMPREGNATION AND HEAT TREATMENT ON THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GRAPHITE

A new process of impregnating graphite with sugar solution has been developed for the purpose of reducing its permeability to gases. The effect of this non-graphitizing impregnant on the physical, mechanical and thermal creep properties of the graphite is considered. The data can be rationalized on the existing theory that the elastic and plastic deformations of graphite are accommodated within the structure by relative motions of the layer planes within the crystallites.
Scaffolding in industrial construction projects: current practices, issues, and potential solutions

Scaffolding is a temporary structure whose configuration and location change as the construction progresses. As scaffolding is used and shared by multiple trades, its interaction with different con...
Permafrost Politics: Toward a Relational Materiality and Design of Arctic Ground

Permafrost—continuously frozen ground for more than two years—is one of the defining landscape elements in the Arctic. In the U.S., its development as an idea has parallelled mid-twentieth-century ...
Parametric and Nonparametric Estimation

This text is concerned with statistical estimation, in particular, with the estimation of probability densities of random variables.
Colonization, Duplication, Evasion: The Institutional Strategies of Autocratic Legalism

Over the past two decades, democratically-elected governments in Latin America and East Central Europe have used the law to disable accountability institutions and concentrate power in the executive, transforming consolidated democracies into "autocratic legalist" regimes. While several scholars have identified isolated instances of institutional change to explain these developments, they have less often identified larger patterns of change within and among cases. In this paper, I develop a new conceptual framework to clarify these patterns. I argue that autocratic legalist regimes consistently rely on three strategies to concentrate power in the executive. They colonize independent institutions with political allies; they circumvent opposition-controlled institutions by establishing parallel institutions subordinate to the executive; and they evade accountability institutions by creating legal grey areas within which the executive can exercise unchecked power. I substantiate my conceptual framework with evidence from Venezuela, Hungary, and Poland, and point to a set of red flags observers can use to tell whether a democracy is on the path to becoming an autocratic legalist regime.
Elastic Silicon Interconnects: Abstracting Communication in Accelerator Design.

Communication is an important part of accelerator design, though it is under researched and under developed. Today, designers often face relatively low-level communication tools requiring them to design straightforward but error-prone plumbing. In this paper, we argue that raising the level of abstraction could yield correctness, productivity, and performance benefits not only for RTL-level designers but also for high level language developers.
Projecting the Urban Future: Contributions from Remote Sensing

Mapping urban extent accurately with remotely sensed imagery is challenging. In addition to the inherent difficulty of defining urban land use in terms of land cover (LC) at fixed spatial scales, robust identification of LC using remote sensing has its own challenges. Many of these challenges are related to the fact that the physical properties and conditions that influence scattering and emission of radiation vary in time, space, geography, geometry and wavelength. A second set of difficulties arises in the process of discretizing multiple scales of LC that often vary continuously in abundance over the range of spatial scales at which sensors integrate responses into individual pixels. These factors underscore the importance of spatial and spectral resolution for mapping human settlements and urban extent. The evolution of urban remote sensing is discussed in the context of changes in spatial and spectral resolution and in the tools used to classify land cover. A multi-sensor approach to urban extent mapping acknowledges the limitations of individual sensors and uses the intersection of multiple physical criteria to distinguish the built environment from other types of land cover. A simple example of multi-sensor mapping combines decameter-scale reflectance, derived from Landsat imagery, with kilometer-scale emission of night light, derived from DMSP-OLS composites. Current availability of intercalibrated, accurately co-registered Landsat imagery extending back to the 1970s allows for retrospective analyses of a variety of human modified landscapes—including urban. Combined with continuous field representation of land cover at subpixel scales, many of the limitations of single image discrete classification can be avoided. Global availability of Landsat allows for comparative analyses of human settlements in different environments and cultures. To facilitate comparison in terms of physical properties of land cover, we use a standardized spectral mixture model to convert the Landsat surface reflectance spectra to areal abundances of Substrate, Vegetation and Dark fractions. Because many land uses result in time-varying land cover properties we characterize the Landsat response across multiple seasons within a single year in terms of the seasonal mean and variability of each spectral endmember. The results of the multi-sensor characterization quantify both consistencies and inconsistencies in the combined response of modified landscapes in a variety of environments worldwide.
The rate of rhodopsin regeneration in the bleached eyes of zinc-deficient rats in the dark

Rats fed a zinc-deficient, phytate-containing diet (ZD rats) for 4 wk showed typical signs of zinc deficiency: reduced food intake, slow weight gain, a poor food efficiency ratio and subnormal zinc concentrations in the serum, femur and eye. Pair-fed, weight-matched rats fed a zinc-sufficient diet (PF rats) showed normal serum zinc values, intermediate femur zinc levels and eye zinc concentrations similar to those in ZD rats. The vitamin A status of all three groups, expressed as the concen tration of vitamin A in the liver, was comparable. After extensive bleaching, the initial rate of rhodopsin regeneration in ad libitum-fed, zinc-sufficient rats (AL rats), ZD rats and PF rats was the same, whereas the extent of rhodopsin regeneration in AL rats kept in the dark for 120 min was almost twice that found in ZD and PF rats. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that zinc deficiency primarily affects dark adaptation by reducing the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase in the eye. Rather, zinc deficiency and the generalized malnutrition that results from markedly reduced food intake seem to depress the synthesis of opsin, and probably other pro teins as well, in the rod cells of the eya J. Nutr. 116: 121-127, 1986.
Scandate coating for tungsten field emission electron sources

Scandium oxide coated field emitter arrays have been investigated for enhanced field emission. The enhancement is proposed to originate in a reduction of the interfacial energy barrier between the tungsten and the scandium oxide, in analogy with thermionic cathodes.
Automatically detecting faulty regulation in HVAC controls

A new method is introduced to automatically detect faulty regulation of temperatures, pressures, and flow rates within HVAC systems and equipment of commercial buildings by using digital data typically available from an existing building automation system. The building automation system passes data by network to a general-purpose microprocessor executing this method. The method computerizes control charts and combines them with expert system logic to identify transients and record excursions of regulated variables beyond allowance bands set by the user. Its three separate functions monitor (1) variables regulated to a single set-point value, (2) actuating variables that drive the regulation, and (3), temperatures regulated to duplex set-points (i.e., thermostats). Faults detected include unstable, excessively oscillatory regulation and failure of regulated variable to maintain the allowed band. A brief background on control charts and expert systems is in Appendix A.
FRACTURE PROFILE ANALYSIS OF HEAT TREATED 4340 STEEL

ABSTRACT Hardened and tempered tensile specimens of 4340 steel were fractured at room temperature and the characteristics of the fracture surfaces studied quantitatively through profile analysis. Three parameters were investigated in depth: R L (n), the lineal roughness parameter; Vθμ, the mean angular deviation of profile normals from the vertical; and D, the fractal dimension. Pronounced roughness peaks were revealed for specimens tempered between 300° and 400° and at 600°C, and are identified with the well-known embrittlement behavior that occurs in this and similar tempered steels.
Refolding of the Precursor and Mature Forms of Mitochondrial Aspartate Aminotransferase after Guanidine Hydrochloride Denaturation

The mitochondrial isozyme of aspartate aminotransferase (mAspAT), a dimeric pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme, is encoded by the nuclear genome and synthesized in the cytoplasm as a precursor protein (pmAspAT) containing a 29-residue amino-terminal signal peptide which is essential for its targeting and import into mitochondria. In the cytosolic-like environment of rabbit reticulocyte lysate, newly synthesized rat liver pmAspAT has been found to slowly fold and bind PLP (Mattingly, J. R., Jr., Youssef, J., Iriarte, A. and Martinez-Carrion, M. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 3925-3937). On the other hand, isolated mammalian (pig) mAspAT, when denatured with guanidine hydrochloride, seems unable to refold to a catalytically active state (West, S. M., and Price, N. C. (1990) Biochem. J. 265, 45-50). With the availability of rat liver recombinant precursor and mature forms of mAspAT as homogeneous, stable preparations, an assessment of the influence of the signal peptide on the in vitro refolding of this protein can be made. Following unfolding induced by guanidine hydrochloride, we have investigated the refolding process of this complex, dimeric coenzyme-dependent protein system by activity, fluorescence, and circular dichroism. Both mAspAT and pmAspAT can be efficiently renatured after rapid dilution of the denaturing agent at low protein concentrations. The equilibrium unfolding/refolding transitions and the kinetics of folding are protein concentration-independent and identical for both protein forms. Binding of coenzyme into the active site pocket seems to occur at a late step in the folding process of both mAspAT and pmAspAT, suggesting that in these proteins the coenzyme does not direct the folding of the polypeptide chain. These results indicate that the in vitro refolding of mAspAT is not regulated or influenced by the presence of the amino-terminal signal peptide. On the other hand, in vitro refolding in buffer is significantly faster than the folding of newly synthesized precursor protein in reticulocyte lysate examined in our previous report (reference above), pointing at the likely influence of cytosolic factors in modulating folding in the cell.
Chronic respiratory disease among nonsmokers in Hagerstown, Maryland: V. Age at onset of hay fever and pulmonary function in later life☆

Abstract In white male nonsmokers of cigarettes the decline of the FEV 1 between the ages 35 and 55 was significantly less than expected among respondents who reported hay fever or sinusitis, still present, which began before age 21. These respondents, 52 individuals out of 410, showed lower FEV 1 's at age 35 and higher at age 55 than expected. Respondents with a history of asthma were excluded from the analysis. Individuals with hay fever or sinusitis beginning in adult life did not differ from the remainder of the population. The PEFR showed the same, but not statistically significant, pattern as the FEV 1 . The observed effect of early onset hay fever and sinusitis was very strong. Whether it is due to an age-cohort effect of undetermined origin or may be explained by one of the several biological hypotheses discussed is not clear. Early age at onset of hay fever and sinusitis is associated with higher socioeconomic status in early life.
Anthropology and History in Southern Europe

Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control. David I. Kertzer E1 Castillo: The Politics of Tradition in an Andalusian Town. Richard Maddox
Boat-Wake Statistics at Jensen Beach, Florida

Ship/boat wakes are identified in pressure and flow velocity records as chirp signals, which are also known as sweep signals in sonar and radar applications. A chirp is a signal in which the frequency increases or decreases with time. Wakes are analyzed using time-frequency techniques [windowed Fourier transform (WFT), wavelet transform (WT), and instantaneous frequency]. This approach allows for detecting boat wakes and studying their statistics, even in the presence of a relatively strong broad-banded wind-wave background. Time-frequency methods also open a new direction for the statistical description of wakes, which are applicable to the characterization of the wake climate (e.g., for sites with intense boat traffic). The usefulness of the time-frequency analysis on observations collected in 2010 at Jensen Beach, Florida will be demonstrated.
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE IN ETHICAL REASONING

Individual differences and structures of social knowledge in ethical reasoning were examined with 234 graduate business school students to see, among other things, what would be the role of gender in ethical reasoning. Individuals bring a variety of psychological, philosophical, and ethical orientations to organizational life, challenging traditional managerial assumptions concerning appropriate responses to ethical dilemmas. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this research demonstrated that the individual characteristics of gender, learning style, and personality characteristics are significantly more influential in the use of an ethic of care or an ethic of justice in ethical reasoning than are the structures of social knowledge. In this study, social knowledge was measured through the preference for an organic or mechanistic world view and a communitarian or consequentialist moral orientation.
SKIN-FRICTION-WORK RECOVERY BY AERODYNAMIC HEATING OF SKIN COOLANTS

These primitive panel modes are not orthogonal; however, for the present purposes we may reasonably neglect the structural coupling and also the coupling between modes due to the cavity. Thus we shall treat each panel mode individually. Eqs. (7), (8), and (9) have been solved by the Galerkin method. A comparison of the present theoretical results with previously obtained experimental results is presented in Figs. 2 and 3. In obtaining the theoretical curves the experimental values of the in vacuo frequencies were used. In Fig. 2 a plot of frequency vs cavity depth at standard atmospheric conditions is shown. Since considerably lower air densities are encountered in the wind tunnel, the variation of frequency with cavity densitv has been determined as well (see Fig. 3). As may be seen, the agreement between theory and experiment is good except at the smaller cavity depths and densities. In particular, the change in the mode of minimum frequency predicted by theory is confirmed by the experimental data, with reasonable agreement on the cavity depth for which it occurs. One may hypothesize that an inclusion of nonlinear and/or viscous effects would bring the theory into better agreement with the experimental results at the smaller cavity depths and densities. A theoretical calculation of the flutter dynamic pressure has been made for the tested panel with a cavity depth of three inches. The result indicates a decrease in flutter dynamic pressure of the order of 20 percent at Mach 2 with zero pressure differential across the panel. In many practical cases only the fundamental mode will be modified by the aerodynamic-spring effect and the virtualmass effect may be neglected. For this case a useful approximate formula may be written for the frequency of the fundamental mode—viz.,
Surface Protrusion of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

During leukocyte rolling on the endothelium, membrane tethers can be extracted simultaneously from both leukocytes and endothelial cells. Tether extraction, which has been shown to stabilize leukocyte rolling, is preceded by surface protrusion, which dictates whether tether extraction can occur. Although surface protrusion of leukocytes has been characterized, surface protrusion of endothelial cells has not. In this work, we present a detailed study of surface protrusion of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Using the micropipette aspiration technique, we measured the protrusional stiffness and the crossover force during HUVEC surface protrusion. We found that, compared with leukocytes, the protrusional stiffness and the crossover force of HUVECs were both larger at similar force loading rates. The values of these two parameters depended on temperature, the cytoskeletal integrity, α-actinin1, and whether CD31 or CD29 was used as the force handle. However, they did not depend on cell attachment state or intracellular calcium. These results show that similar mechanisms govern surface protrusion, hence also tether extraction in leukocytes and endothelial cells. They will help us understand and eventually control this critical step of the immune response.
Cenozoic radiolarian paleobiogeography: Implications concerning plate tectonics and climatic cycles

Abstract A preliminary study of the paleobiogeographic patterns of radiolarian facies during the Paleogene and subsequent time shows that: (1) Through time radiolarian assemblages display distinct faunal provincialism reminiscent of modern faunal distributions correlated with planetary temperature gradients and surface oceanic conditions. The equatorial—tropical radiolarian fauna extended apparently unrestricted across the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean through Early Miocene time. In the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, radiolarians reached their maximum abundance in the Eocene and Oligocene. Subsequently, they gradually declined to virtual disappearance in these areas in the early Miocene. Their Pacific counterparts remained practically undisturbed, except that post early Miocene assemblages there showed a marked trend toward decreasing test thickness. This trend has since been a worldwide characteristic of Neogene radiolarian assemblages and their modern equivalents. It is postulated that the disappearance of radiolarians in the Carribean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean at the end of the Paleogene is related to the onset of the emergence of the isthmus of Panama which interrupted the preexisting oceanic circulation between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. (2) Throughout the Paleogene there have been marked sequential fluctuations in the radiolarian assemblages of the Caribbean Sea which indicate intermittent incursions of higher-latitude fauna in this area. Associated with the faunal fluctuations are cyclic variations in the total carbonate of the sediment with patterns also comparable in duration to Pleistocene carbonate cycles in the equatorial Pacific known to have been induced by climatic changes. Based on similarities with Pleistocene climatic cycles in the equatorial Pacific and elsewhere, it is surmised that the faunal and lithologic fluctuations observed in Paleogene radiolarian sediments were also induced by the biologic and physico-chemical processes associated with worldwide changes in the climatic conditions of that time.
Apomorphine-induced alterations in striatal and substantia nigra pars reticulata glutamate following unilateral loss of striatal dopamine

Abstract We have reported time-dependent changes in extracellular glutamate within the striatum at 1 and 3 months following a unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway using the neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) (Meshul, C.K., Emre, N., Nakamura, C.M., Allen, C., Donohue, M.K., Buckman, J.F., 1999. Time-dependent changes in striatal glutamate synapses following a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion. Neurosci. 88, 1–16.). The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of such a lesion on glutamate within the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SN-PR) and the effect of subchronic administration of the dopamine D-1/D-2 agonist, apomorphine, on extracellular glutamate within both the striatum and the SN-PR using in vivo microdialysis. One month after the lesion, there is an increase in extracellular glutamate within the striatum and apomorphine treatment leads to a further increase. Within the SN-PR, a loss of striatal dopamine leads to a decrease in extracellular glutamate, while apomorphine treatment leads to a further decrease in nigral glutamate. Three months after a 6-OHDA lesion, there is a decrease in extracellular striatal glutamate, with apomorphine administration leading to essentially no further change in glutamate. The loss of striatal dopamine increased extracellular glutamate within the SN-PR while apomorphine administration resulted in a decrease in extracellular glutamate back to the value observed in the control group. The data suggests that the increase in striatal glutamate 1 month following a 6-OHDA lesion alone or following subchronic apomorphine is consistent with the hypothesis that a decrease in glutamate within the SN-PR leads to activation of the thalamo–cortico–striatal pathway. The decrease in striatal glutamate 3 months after a nigrostriatal lesion is also consistent with the observed increase in extracellular glutamate within the SN-PR, thus leading to a decrease in output of the thalamo–cortico–striatal pathway.
Estimating Distortion Parameters in Simulated Prosthetic Vision

Designing a retinal prosthesis that provides functional vision to users is a challenging problem due to the large design parameter space and the spatial distortions experienced by users. We describe an environment to simulate prosthetic vision in normal-sighted individuals which can be used to obtain information about the designing and tuning of a prosthesis. The main focus of our research is to incorporate spatial distortions into the simulation environment so that distortions experienced by prosthesis users can be estimated accurately. When distortions are estimated accurately, we can generate images that are compensated for distortions when they pass through the prosthesis. We describe an efficient algorithm, called the image distortion estimation algorithm, to estimate the distortion parameters of a given image based on the pullback operation. The procedure uses a large set of images with known distortion parameters to estimate the unknown distortion parameters of a given image. We also describe a content-based image indexing method to perform a quick search for images that may be close to the image for which distortion must be estimated. Our procedure was incorporated into the simulation of prosthetic vision environment and was used to estimate the distortion parameters of a number of images with different amounts of rotation distortion in one or more of X, Y, and Z axes. The experimental results showed that the image distortion estimation procedure was effective in estimating the distortion parameters of various images and the procedure converged in few iterations for most images considered.
How to Best Manage Glycemia and Non-Glycemia During the Time of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is common in patients with diabetes. Reasons for this are multifactorial, but all relate to a variety of maladaptive responses to acute hyperglycemia. Persistent hyperglycemia is associated with worse left ventricular function and higher mortality during AMI, but intervention data are far from clear. Although there is a theoretical basis for the use of glucose-insulin-potassium infusion during AMI, lack of outcome efficacy (and inability to reach glycemic targets) in recent randomized trials has resulted in little enthusiasm for this strategy. Based on the increasing understanding of the dangers of hypoglycemia, while at the same time appreciating the role of hyperglycemia in AMI patients, goal glucose levels of 140–180 mg/dL using an intravenous insulin infusion while not eating seem reasonable for most patients and hospital systems. Non-glycemic therapy for patients with diabetes and AMI has benefited from more conclusive data, as this population has greater mo...
SU‐FF‐T‐264: Impact of Heterogeneous Activity Distributions On the Tumor Absorbed Dose Distribution for An In‐Vivo Colorectal Cancer Model

Purpose: To compare the heterogeneous uptake distribution of intact and domain deleted monoclonal antibodies with simulated activity distributions used to derive the dosimetric impact of heterogeneous uptake. Method and Materials: A total of 4 tumors with approximate masses of 0.1 g (∼5mm diameter) and 0.5 g (∼10mm diameter) were chosen for this study. Tumor activity distributions were reconstructed in 3D using serially sectioned LS174T tumors grown on the flank of athymic nude mice. The mice received an injection of either 177Lu‐PA‐DOTA‐HuCC49 or 177Lu‐PA‐DOTA‐HuCC49dCH2 monoclonal antibody. Simulated distributions of similar dimensions were created for comparison. All distributions were normalized to 100 uCi/g uptake and convolved with dose point kernels for a short range (I131) and a long range (Y90) isotope. Compared were radial profiles for activity density and dose rate, mean dose and tumor central dose. Results: The activity distributions are much more erratic for tumor uptake compared to the simulated distributions. There is also variation in minimum and maximum activity density between tumors. The simulated distributions under‐estimated the tumor size dependence of the average dose for both isotopes by about 10%. The central dose for the small tumor were overestimated for Y90 and bracketed for I131. The central dose for the larger tumors was under‐estimated for both isotopes.Conclusion: The simulated distributions did not well represent the large variation in uptake observed in tumors. Compared to the simulated distributions, dose due to Y90 performed better for the 0.5 g tumors, but worse for the 0.1 g tumors and dose due to I131 performed better for the 0.5 g tumors and similar for the 0.1 g tumors. The heterogeneity of uptake in tumors are not well represented by a single simulated distribution because of the wide variation in local uptake.
Synthesis and fabrication of β-tricalcium phosphate (whitlockite) ceramics for potential prosthetic applications

A novel process is described for preparing dense, polycrystalline tricalcium phosphates. Singleβ-phase compositional integrity is achieved by introducing catalytic amounts of sulphate ion and this pore free material has close to theoretical density. Preliminary mechanical properties include a compression strength of 687 MN m−2 and a tensile strength of 154 MN m−2. The relationship between processing variables and phase composition, microstructure, strength and translucence is described. The material has promise for bone implant applications.
More Than Techniques: Team Members' Perspectives on Implementing Positive Supports for Adults with Severe Challenging Behaviors

How teams implement and understand the process of positive behavior support provides an important source of information for improving supports for adults with developmental disabilities who engage ...
A new reality: long-term survivorship with a malignant brain tumor.

Purpose/objectives To explore the survivor experience of adults who have been diagnosed three years or longer with a primary malignant brain tumor (PMBT). Research approach Qualitative using a biographical narrative approach. Setting Six sites across the United States. Participants Survivors of PMBTs (N = 35) and their family caregivers (N = 35). Methodologic approach Using a semistructured interview guide, survivors and caregivers were interviewed individually about their lives before and since the PMBT diagnosis. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes. Findings Stability in survivor lives disintegrated as a result of the changes experienced related to the tumor and its treatment. Those changes were profound and ultimately contributed to multiple losses in key areas of their lives. Over time, living with the diagnosis and its consequences required survivors and their caregivers to adapt to the new reality of their lives. Through the process of becoming a survivor, individuals were able to take back control of their lives. Adaptation required survivors to use internal and external resources as ways of coping with their new reality. Conclusions People with PMBTs require support as they adapt to losses and changes that impact their lives. Assessment of specific changes that impact survivors' lives may be useful in guiding type of support given. Symptom management and mobilization of internal and external resources may lessen the life-changing impact. Interpretation Nurses should capture symptom meaning during assessments and expand assessments to include social support systems. Instituting measures that facilitate survivor independence may lessen the impact of disability. The significance of symptom worsening over time requires additional research. Knowledge translation Restoring self-worth and taking control of their lives are critical concerns for survivors of PMBTs.
Quaternary periglacial records of voles of the genus Phenacomys merriam (Cricetidae: Rodentia)

Quaternary occurrences of voles of the genus Phenacomys south of the North American continental glaciation range in age from Kansan through early Recent times and are mapped from twenty fossil localities. Phenacomys cannot be used as an index fossil, but makes a good climatic indicator because of its modern boreal affinities. It is largely confined to the present day Canadian and Hudsonian Life Zones of North America.
In vivo radiofrequency thermal balloon angioplasty of porcine coronary arteries: Histologic effects and safety

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and histologic effects of radiofrequency thermal balloon angioplasty in the coronary vasculature of normal pigs. Radiofrequency thermal balloon angioplasty was performed in 30 coronary arteries of 16 nonatheroslerotic pigs. Heated inflations were performed at either 50°, 60°, or 70° C for 30 or 60 seconds, and were compared with five nonheated inflations in five additional arteries. All balloon inflations were performed at 2 atm pressure with a balloon/vessel diameter ratio of 1.2 to 1. Heart rate, arterial pressure, and left ventricular pressure were monitored continuously for each animal. A 12-lead ECG, coronary angiography, and two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography were performed before and 1 hour after each balloon inflation. Each animal was subsequently put to death for postmortem cardiac examination. Heated inflations were well tolerated in 28 of the 30 arteries without significant adverse effects. During one inflation, ventricular fibrillation occurred because of prolonged ischemia from an occlusive guiding catheter. In another artery, a heated inflation resulted in a dissection with a transient decrease in distal coronary flow. Histologic examination revealed a significant increase in wall thinning and elastic fiber straightening with heating at 70° C for both 30 and 60 seconds, and a significant increase in intracoronary thrombus with heating at 70° C for 60 seconds. Depth of periarterial myocardial heat necrosis paralleled the increase in temperature, with an average depth of 166 μm at 50° C, 312 μm at 60° C, and 1031μm at 70° C. In vivo, radiofrequency coronary angioplasty can be performed relatively safely without significant electrical, hemodynamic, or ischemic changes beyond those seen with conventional nonthermal angioplasty. The extent of heat-induced vessel wall thinning, elastic tissue straightening, intracoronary thrombus formation, and periarterial myocardial necrosis are all related to balloon temperature or duration of heating.
Left internal mammary artery graft decompression by covered stent treatment of an adjacent saphenous vein graft pseudoaneurysm.

A 75-year-old man with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting and recent pacemaker site infection was transferred to our institution for treatment of a descending aortic pseudoaneurysm. A computed tomography scan performed upon arrival also revealed a suspected mycotic aneurysm of the
Saccharomyces cerevisiae-Based Molecular Tool Kit for Manipulation of Genes from Gram-Negative Bacteria

A tool kit of vectors was designed to manipulate and express genes from a wide range of gram-negative species by using in vivo recombination. Saccharomyces cerevisiae can use its native recombination proteins to combine several amplicons in a single transformation step with high efficiency. We show that this technology is particularly useful for vector design. Shuttle, suicide, and expression vectors useful in a diverse group of bacteria are described and utilized. This report describes the use of these vectors to mutate clpX and clpP of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and to explore their roles in biofilm formation and surface motility. Complementation of the rhamnolipid biosynthetic gene rhlB is also described. Expression vectors are used for controlled expression of genes in two pseudomonad species. To demonstrate the facility of building complicated constructs with this technique, the recombination of four PCR-generated amplicons in a single step at >80% efficiency into one of these vectors is shown. These tools can be used for genetic studies of pseudomonads and many other gram-negative bacteria.
Special and inclusive education in Ghana: Status and progress, challenges and implications

Abstract This case study investigates the special and inclusive education in Ghana. The authors first delineate the wider human well-being and historical contexts. Applying a descriptive design based on measurable pre-established indicators, drawn from Anastasiou and Keller's (2011) typological framework, the authors provide a systematic description of the 2008 status of special and inclusive education in Ghana. Furthermore, the produced outcomes compared to pre-established observable goals set in the Education Strategic Plan 2003–2015 were recorded to evaluate the progress in Ghana's special and inclusive education. The main challenges for special and inclusive education in Sub-Saharan African countries are discussed.
Immersive environments for rehabilitation activities

This paper presents (a) new technologies for real-time immersion of humans into virtual reality (VR) environments with non-invasive real-time three-dimensional (3D) imaging, (b) a new methodology for evaluating immersive VR spaces in rehabilitation applications, and (c) experimental results documenting the benefits of Immersive VR (IVR) spaces for regaining proprioception. Our work focuses on designing immersive VR spaces with non-invasive multimedia sensory inputs where real time digital clones of humans are fused with virtual scenes for rehabilitation purposes. We hypothesize that humans with proprioceptive impairments can use their other senses as the proprioceptive feedback from real-time 3D+color reconstructions of their bodies in space. The objective is to investigate this hypothesis and quantify any benefits of immersive environments for regaining proprioception as one example of a rehabilitation application. The paper describes (a) the portable immersive VR system for real time 3D imaging, reconstruction and rendering, (b) a new methodology for quantitative evaluations of rehabilitation experiments in immersive VR spaces, and (c) the experimental results obtained for validating the above hypothesis with wheelchair basketball athletes. The novelty of the work lies in the first of its kind evaluation of the benefits of immersive VR spaces with multimedia cues for regaining proprioception.
Activation of Connexin-43 Hemichannels Can Elevate [Ca2+]iand [Na+]iin Rabbit Ventricular Myocytes During Metabolic Inhibition

Abstract ATP depletion due to ischemia or metabolic inhibition (MI) causes Na+and Ca2+accumulation in myocytes, which may be in part due to opening of connexin-43 hemichannels. Halothane (H) has been shown to reduce conductance of connexin-43 hemichannels and to protect the heart against ischemic injury. We therefore investigated the effect of halothane on [Ca2+]iand [Na+]iin myocytes during MI. Isolated rabbit left ventricular myocytes were loaded with 4μ m fluo-3 AM for 30 min, or with 5 μ m sodium green AM for 60 min at 37°C. After washing, the myocytes were exposed to: (1) Normal HEPES solution; (2) MI solution (2 m m NaCN, 20 m m 2-deoxy- d -glucose and 0-glucose); or (3) MI+H (0.95 m m , 4.7 m m ) for 60 min. Propidium iodide (PI, 25 μ m) was added to all samples before data acquisition. The fluorescence intensity was measured by flow cytometry with 488 nm excitation and 530 nm emission for fluo-3 or sodium green, and 670 nm for PI. The [Ca2+]iand [Na+]iwere then calculated by calibration. In some experiments, the effect of 10 μ m tetrodotoxin (TTX) and 20 μ m nifedipine (NIF) were studied. Metabolic inhibition for 60 min caused a significant increase in [Ca2+]iand [Na+]iin myocytes when compared to controls, which was significantly reduced by halothane in a dose-dependent fashion. In the presence of TTX and NIF, halothane also significantly reduced the rise in the [Ca2+]iand [Na+]iin myocytes subjected to MI. 1-heptanol, another gap junction blocker, had similar effects. Thus, halothane reduced [Ca2+]iand [Na+]ioverload produced by MI in myocytes. This effect is not solely due to block of voltage-gated Na+and Ca2+channels, and is likely mediated by inhibiting the opening of connexin-43 hemichannels.
Therapist Effects in a NIDA CTN Intervention Trial with Pregnant Substance Abusing Women: Findings from a RCT with MET and TAU Conditions

The authors investigated whether therapist effects may account for treatment outcomes among pregnant substance users in controlled and naturalistic treatments. Therapists randomized to Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) and treatment as usual (TAU) conditions and assigned at least five clients were included. Client self-reported substance use and urine toxicology at posttreatment, 1- and 3-month follow-ups were obtained. A therapist main effect was found across therapy conditions and within MET (five therapists) but not within TAU (five therapists). When substance use was treated as a dichotomous measure (abstinence/nonabstinence) corroborated with urine toxicology screening, no therapist effect was found. Clients perceived therapists to vary in their supportiveness and listening skills, for example, but these impressions were not associated with therapist effectiveness to reduce substance use. The authors found support for a limited therapist effect, but only within the MET condition and only with a ...
Existence of breather solutions of the DNLS equations with unbounded potentials

Abstract In this paper we use a discrete version of the compact embedding theorem and the Nehari manifold approach to show the existence of nontrivial breather solutions without the Palais–Smale condition.
Applications of a modulated laser for FT-Raman spectroscopy—1. Removal of thermal backgrounds

Abstract The removal of thermal backgrounds from NIR FT-Raman spectra using a modulated laser is demonstrated. Both synchronous and asynchronous detection of the interferogram is used to show a reduction of the background to within the noise level of the data.
VIEWS ON BROKEN SYMMETRY

The problem of determining the possible degrees of freedom in choosing a gauge model and connections with the old work on current algebra and symmetry breakdown is considered. Included are natural approximate symmetries of the strong interactions, second-order symmetry breaking, and weak corrections of order ..cap alpha... 16 references. (JFP)
Risk factors for cardiovascular complications following total joint replacement surgery.

Objective To determine risk factors for cardiac complications following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery. Methods We performed a case–control study of patients who had undergone a primary or revision total knee or total hip replacement surgery. Cases consisted of those who received a TJR and experienced a cardiac complication during the surgical admission period (myocardial infarction [MI], congestive heart failure [CHF], unstable angina, arrhythmia, symptomatic hypotension, or pulmonary embolus). Controls consisted of those who received a TJR and did not experience a cardiac complication during the surgical admission period. Controls were matched to the cases for age at surgery, year of surgery, and surgeon. Case and control status and identification of potential risk factors were ascertained by review of medical records. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of cardiac complications. Results The sample included 209 cases and 209 controls. Factors associated with a higher risk of cardiac complications included a history of arrhythmia (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.6 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.5–4.3]), a history of coronary artery disease, MI, CHF, or valvular heart disease (OR 1.6 [95% CI 0.9–2.6]), revision surgery (OR 2.2 [95% CI 1.2–3.9]), and bilateral surgery (adjusted OR 3.5 [95% CI 1.6–8.0]). Even though controls were matched for age (within age brackets), age was still associated with a higher risk of cardiac complications (OR 1.7 [95% CI 0.9–3.4]). Conclusion This case–control study identified 2 new risk factors for cardiac complications following TJR: bilateral and revision surgery. The study also confirmed previously documented risk factors, including older age at surgery and a history of arrhythmia and of other cardiac problems. These findings should help clinicians anticipate and prevent cardiac complications following TJR surgery.
Bladder mast cell expression of high affinity oestrogen receptors in patients with interstitial cystitis

Objective To investigate the role of oestrogens in the pathophysiology of interstitial cystitis (IC), specifically with respect to activated bladder mast cells (MC), as well as urine concentrations of MC-derived histamine and methylhistamine, all of which are increased in patients with IC. This goal appeared important because IC is a bladder disorder which occurs almost exclusively in women, and is characterized by polyuria, nocturia and pelvic pain, which worsen peri-menstrually. Patients and methods Biopsies from six patients with IC and four control patients were analysed blindly for the presence of oestrogen receptors (OR) using both custom-made and commercially available antibodies against OR. Results Bladder MC alone were shown to express high-affinity OR and there was a higher number of such cells present in patients with IC compared with controls. The identity of MC in the bladder was documented with immunohistochemistry for tryptase. OR were also identified in human MC (HMC-1), a MC line kept in culture. These steps were necessary because of the unique finding that only MC express OR, in spite of the inflammatory infiltrate present. Conclusion These findings may help to explain why IC occurs primarily in women, why IC and other associated symptoms tend to be worst at the midcycle, and may also suggest the prognostic usefulness of staining bladder biopsies for OR. These results are particularly interesting because oestradiol has been shown to augment MC histamine secretion in response to the neuropeptide, substance P, which may be released in certain neuroinflammatory disorders which have a high prevalence in women, such as IC and irritable bowel syndrome.
Framework for advancing otolaryngology: head and neck surgery in Ethiopia.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and its members have shown continuing commitment to improving global otolaryngology care through humanitarian and international outreach programs. These efforts, based on a surgical mission model, have produced only modest improvements in otolaryngologic care in Ethiopia. In cooperation with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and 2 Ethiopian medical schools, we present a framework for otolaryngology education for the next decade. It recognizes the limitations of the current didactic paradigm and aims to use available domestic and international resources to improve the quality and availability of head and neck surgical and medical services.
Social Welfare and Measurement of Segregation

This paper concerns the economic interpretation of developed measures of segregation. The paper includes two main results. First, an axiomatic characterization of commonly used measures of segregation is obtained. Second, conditions on individual preferences are obtained under which such measures are consistent with standard economic criteria of social welfare such as Pareto optimality. The results demonstrate the limits of welfarism by both being unable to incorporate important aspects of segregation and requiring an absence of heterogeneity in preferences within social classes for such an interpretation to be feasible. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: I20, J70, K31, R10.