cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Determination of Large Protein Structures from NMR Data: Definition of the Solution Structure of the TRP Repressor

We have determined the solution structure of the E. Coli trp repressor (a 25 kD dimer) from NMR data. This is the largest protein structure thus far determined by NMR. The determination of the solution structure of larger proteins (MW ±15 kD) by NMR requires a different methodology, both experimental and computational, than that developed for peptides and small proteins. This structure determination illustrates a general paradigm for this purpose. We have found it necessary to first, use isotopic spectral editing and second, to develop new strategies for sequential assignment of the resonances. Third, since the protein contains more than one peptide chain it was necessary to distinguish between intra-chain and inter-chain contacts by spectroscopy of isotopically labeled hybrids. Fourth, in order to efficiently search a very large conformational space with a relatively small data set, we have used a hierarchical method of data analysis: the heuristic refinement method coded in PROTEAN has proven both accurate and computationally efficient in solving the structure of the trp repressor and placing the bound L-tryptophan ligand. Our NMR structure has the same general topology, and same binding site for the L-tryptophan molecule as the previously reported crystal structures. There are, however, some differences in the backbone trace. In addition, the solution structure shows significant structural uncertainty in the DNA binding region of the molecule.
Flavor Characterization of Grass- and Grain-Fed Australian Beef Longissimus Lumborum Wet-Aged 45 to 135 Days

The study objective was to evaluate the effects of extended postmortem wet aging of Australian beef, cattle diet, and their interaction on objective and subjective measures of beef flavor of the longissimus lumborum. Beef strip loins were collected from grass- and grain-fed cattle (n = 50 total) at a commercial abattoir near Brisbane, Australia. Beef longissimus lumborum were portioned and assigned randomly to one of 3 postmortem aging periods (45, 70, or 135 d). As each section reached its respective postmortem aging designation, that section was fabricated into 2.5-cm steaks, individually vacuum packaged, and frozen (−21°C). Trained panelists evaluated cooked steaks for numerous flavor attributes, tenderness, and juiciness; volatile compounds were also evaluated. Sensory scores differed (P 0.05) between diets. Extending postmortem aging from 45 to 135 d resulted in decreased beef and umami flavors (P < 0.05), along with concurrent increased detection of off-flavors, such as liver-like, rancid, bitter, and sour (P < 0.05). Volatile flavor compounds were more influenced by postmortem aging than diet. Increased postmortem aging time increased concentration for both lipid oxidation and Maillard-reaction–derived volatiles, resulting in the concentration of negative flavor volatile compounds rather than the absence of positive flavor compounds. Based on these results, differences existed in the flavor profile of longissimus lumborum from grass- and grain-fed beef, regardless of postmortem aging. However, aging beef strip loins 135 d is not recommended based on reduced beef flavor and increased off-flavor detection compared to samples aged 45 or 70 d postmortem.
Planner-Guided Robot Swarms.

Robot swarms have many virtues for large-scale task execution: this includes redundancy, a high degree of parallel task implementation, and the potential to jointly complete jobs that a single agent could not do. But because of their distributed nature, robot swarms face challenges in large-scale coordination, task serialization or ordering, and synchronization. We investigate the use of a central automated planner to guide a robot swarm to perform complicated, multistep operations normally beyond the capabilities of purely decentralized swarms. The planner orchestrates the actions of task groups of agents, while preserving swarm virtues, and can operate over a variety of swarm communication and coordination modalities. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique in simulation with three swarm robotics scenarios.
Fundamental Manufacturing Process Innovation Changes the World

We describe fundamental manufacturing process innovation (FMPI) and show that it is central to technological and societal progress. We identify the mechanisms by which FMPI occurs and also explain why it is frequently overlooked and/or misunderstood. By analyzing eight such innovations that shaped the modern world, we highlight the scope of FMPI and reveal its common characteristics. We aim to stimulate a conversation about FMPI, assess its frequency and range of impact, and consider methods for incentivizing it in the future.
Do hazard mitigation plans represent the resilience priorities of residents in vulnerable Texas coastal counties

Hazard mitigation plans (HMP) inform residents and policymakers of the risks a community is vulnerable to, as well as prioritize measures implemented to minimize hazard damage. HMP development emphasizes the importance of creating plans with a strong fact base and analysis of risk exposure, while also facilitating participatory planning with residents. This paper discusses the intersection of citizen perception of extreme heat risk, policy implementation concerning extreme heat risk and actual extreme heat risk exposure in four coastal counties in Texas, Brazoria, Cameron, Galveston and Nueces Counties. Through surveying county residents and analyzing the counties’ HMPs, it was observed that residents perceive extreme heat risk as very high but HMPs have very little information on extreme heat mitigation. By examining three major components of hazard mitigation planning (actual/projected risk exposure, policy implementation and citizen perception), planners can better understand possible disconnects and fallacies that decrease the efficacy of mitigation plans. As HMPs are updated, officials should ensure that resident perceptions, which may change over time and as the result of specific events, are reflected.
Liability for Advanced Care Practitioners

Advanced care practitioners are a group of medical professionals, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners who assume similar roles in healthcare delivery. Certified registered nurse anesthetists, also advanced care practitioners, receive specialized training in anesthesia. Although the models of education are different, evidence supports that advanced care providers deliver high-quality, safe, collaborative care. The scope of practice for advanced care practitioner is governed by the states; there are different state regulatory requirements for practice, different practice environments, and level of prescriptive authority. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and certified registered nurse anesthetist scope of practice and related regulatory requirements. Furthermore, an overview of legal theories will be explained. The chapter will conclude with malpractice trends of advanced care providers and steps to mitigate the risk of malpractice and liability.
A School Administrator’s Journey through an EdD program in the Midst of a Global Pandemic

This braided essay weaves together the reflective journey of a school administrator traversing through a doctoral program during the initial stages of the COVID 19 pandemic while considering her Problem of Practice in the current context of her school, local community, and global society. The ongoing challenges of a rural 3rd-5th consolidated school struggling through school improvement to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of all students are examined, while analyzing the place-based education model as it pertains to the current global pandemic and present state of education. While examining the issue of racial discipline disproportionality in the local context, this essay also addresses the potential implications upon both the local school and overall state of education by fostering a strong sense of place within and through the implementation of place-based educational practices.
Robust Implementation of Memristive Reservoir Computing with Crossbar Based Readout Layer

Reservoir computing (RC) is a neural network paradigm that aims to significantly reduce the training cost of recurrent neural networks. Physical reservoir computing is the hardware realization of this system that aims to achieve faster data processing with low training costs. This paper presents a robust memristor-based liquid state machine implementation of reservoir computing. A generalized hardware framework for this system's implementation is proposed that can be used to realize any given network topology. Also, a readout layer based on simple spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) based online learning is proposed for the system. Such an implementation will lead to reduced training cost for the system. Additionally, this readout layer is shown to be robust against device level switching asymmetries that are prevalent in contemporary memristor devices.
SimVLM: Simple Visual Language Model Pretraining with Weak Supervision

With recent progress in joint modeling of visual and textual representations, Vision-Language Pretraining (VLP) has achieved impressive performance on many multimodal downstream tasks. However, the requirement for expensive annotations including clean image captions and regional labels limits the scalability of existing approaches, and complicates the pretraining procedure with the introduction of multiple dataset-specific objectives. In this work, we relax these constraints and present a minimalist pretraining framework, named Simple Visual Language Model (SimVLM). Unlike prior work, SimVLM reduces the training complexity by exploiting large-scale weak supervision, and is trained end-to-end with a single prefix language modeling objective. Without utilizing extra data or task-specific customization, the resulting model significantly outperforms previous pretraining methods and achieves new state-of-the-art results on a wide range of discriminative and generative vision-language benchmarks, including VQA (+3.74% vqa-score), NLVR2 (+1.17% accuracy), SNLI-VE (+1.37% accuracy) and image captioning tasks (+10.1% average CIDEr score). Furthermore, we demonstrate that SimVLM acquires strong generalization and transfer ability, enabling zero-shot behavior including open-ended visual question answering and cross-modality transfer.
Confederate Richmond: A City's Call to Arms

CONFEDERATE RICHMOND: A CITY’S CALL TO ARMS Tucker L. Modesitt, Master of Arts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015 Major Director: Dr. John Kneebone, Department Chair and Associate Professor, History Department This work mainly focuses on putting the laborers of the Richmond Armory and the Tredegar Iron Works into the context of Civil War Richmond by focusing on their skills, backgrounds, and loyalties throughout the conflict. It highlights the similarities and differences between the two institutions and the legacies that they left behind in the years following the war. It also sheds light on some of the problems facing the Confederacy during the course of the war and its struggle to procure arms.
Chapter 14 Chromatophores: Their Use in Understanding Microtubule-Dependent Intracellular Transport

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the use of chromatophores in understanding microtubule-dependent intracellular transport. An overview of the techniques applied to the study of pigment cell motility is presented. The activity of chromatophores either under physiological conditions or in response to certain stimuli, drugs, or hormones has to be assessed in a quantitative fashion before conclusions concerning the effects of experimental treatments can be drawn. Light-microscopic observations and photoelectric recordings of chromatophore responses require devices that firmly hold tissue pieces in place and yet allow exchange of solutions for drug treatment or stimulation. It is found that dissection is followed by collection of cells with a micropipet or by centrifugation. The cell suspensions, which usually contain a variable number of nonchromatophore cells, are then plated on a substrate and allowed to settle and attach in the presence of culture medium. Immunofluorescence microscopy using antibodies directed against a wide variety of proteins involved in cytoskeletal organization and cell motility has become one of the most useful tools for the study of localization and organization of these proteins in cells.
Environmental and Colloidal Behavior of Engineered Nanoparticles

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are increasingly used in various industries and can be readily found in the products surrounding our everyday life. They are increasingly attracting attention from scientists, government regulators, and the public due to the concern over their potential toxicity and harms. Because of the widespread use of ENPs, they are most likely to release into the environment; however, scientific understanding on their environmental fate and behavior is very limited. Therefore, environmental and colloidal behaviors of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerene, and oxide nanoparticles were examined using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. CNTs could greatly adsorb organic contaminants including PAHs and endocrine disrupting compounds, which may affect the toxicity and fate of both CNTs and organic contaminants in the environment. Adsorption mechanisms are also discussed. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is able to adsorb on both CNTs and oxide ENPs, thus could increase their dispersion and suspension stability. Preliminary data demonstrate that oxide ENPs are more toxic than their bulk counterparts to nematode (C. elegans) and three bacteria species. Also, ZnO ENPs could inhibit plant growth and may be taken up by plant. This work highlights the importance of a better understanding of environmental impact of ENPs and calls for safe design, development, and use of nanoparticles.
Death and Lebanon

Mashaya ruins the night for everyone, both aunts say it has to stop. After dinner they find her sitting on our bed already in her nightgown, dark circles under her w7ide green eyes. Aunt Philamena says tell us, habibti, what do you see? Tree shadows? Branches against the window7 pane? The dark hair swings no from side to side. Something you hear, then? The backyard dogs howling, your old aunt here snoring? Maybe Mr. Truskaloski upstairs hacking out his lungs? No? No. Mashaya, child, something makes you scream. Sitting in our bedroom window I watch the bonfire in the yard across the alley. With my cheek against the cold pane of glass I see our neighbor wrapped in shawls bringing food on a plate to her dogs. They leap up in their chains. The high-pitched barking goes on and on. If our aunts weren't watching, Mashaya would be in the window with me, watching that fire in the tall metal drum. You tell me, Ajunya, Philamena says, what can I do now? At home I am Ajunya and Marcia is Mashaya, but only at home. In the Miner's Supply my aunt calls me Angie; it's Marcia who stocks the shelves. To her customers my aunt speaks Polish, Russian, a little Greek. Her sister Hikmet gets by with just Italian. Everyone here came from somewhere else but my sister and I are the newest: two years here from the Lebanon, because of the events. I was nine and Mashaya eleven when we came with our sita, called grandmother here, to live with her daughters in America. At night I sit in our window and think of Beirut: the flashes of light, the ten-second count to the artillery's boom. Ajunya, are you listening? Look at your room. What can I do that I haven't done? What?
POLLEN RECORDS, POSTGLACIAL | Northeastern North America

For more than five decades, northeastern North America has been studied intensively by palynologists, and the resultant network of more than 500 pollen records permits spatially resolved reconstructions of postglacial vegetation history. The fastest rates of change occurred between 13 and 9 ka and were marked by large shifts in the distribution of individual plant taxa, a reordering of plant associations, and the replacement of woodlands with closed forests. Plant associations with no modern analog were widespread until 12 ka. Most arboreal taxa expanded northward, but the timing and patterns of change varied widely among taxa. For example, some temperate arboreal taxa peaked in abundance during the late glacial period, whereas others continued to expand during the Holocene. Vegetation changes during the Younger Dryas chronozone apparently were widespread, but many older northeastern North America records are not dated well enough to confidently establish correlations. Moisture availability was a primary driver of Holocene shifts in forest composition and the position of the prairie–forest ecotone. Pollen abundances for weedy taxa increased and woody cover decreased after European settlement. Palynological research continues on many fronts; two examples are the use of multiproxy studies to link vegetational history to climate change and the use of pollen data to test macroecological theory.
Social work identity, competence, and autonomy: the ecological perspective.

The achievement of a social work identity, competence, and autonomy is often problematic for the practitioner in health care. An acological perspective can contribute to their development because of its congruence with the profession's social purpose, definition, and value-theory-skill component. Selected aspects of an ecological practice approach are described.
Accommodating Students' Learning Styles with Microcomputer Software

AbstractHuman beings learn through a combination of senses. An individual acquires information effectively if the message is communicated through a channel favored by that particular learner. For example, some people understand information through kinesthetic involvement with objects or humans related to subject matter; whereas, others prefer to learn primarily through auditory or visual channels (listening to an audiotape or reading a textbook).Microcomputers offer an opportunity to create a positive and intellectually stimulating learning environment. But the value of sophisticated technology is only worthwhile if the software stimulates an effective channel for a specific student. Therefore, a teacher needs to be cognizant of his or her students’ learning styles and then use computer software to meet each individual’s needs. Also if students become aware of their individual learning preferences, then they can apply specific techniques to acquire knowledge in an efficient manner.
A Depletion-Repletion Folate Bioassay Based on Growth and Tissue Folate Concentrations of Rats

To improve standardization of a folate bioassay, folate-depleted rats were repleted with a folate-free amino acid-based diet supplemented with 29 levels of folic acid. Growth was the main response variable and body tissue folate concentrations were also assessed. Because a positive correlation was observed between low levels of dietary folic acid and growth and little or no correlation was observed between high levels and growth, six regression models with a steep slope for low levels and a shallow or zero slope for high levels of dietary folic acid were evaluated. The model referred to as the "two-phase regression" or "change-point" model best described the relationship. Depleted rats needed 674 +/- 71 nmol folic acid/kg diet to reach their full growth potential. This value is biologically sensible, and this regression model is well established in the statistical literature. The change-point model is highly recommended to characterize the growth response, because growth is a functional response and, in the range of 226 to 680 nmol folic acid/kg, this response is linear, which is an additional advantage. Linear responses are easier to interpret because of complicated issues of interpretation and confidence intervals with nonlinearities. Linear regressions described serum and liver folate responses, whereas exponentials described whole blood and carcass folate responses. Depleted rats needed 5920 and 5780 nmol folic acid/kg diet to maximize their whole blood and carcass folates, respectively.
Performance, satisfaction and turnover in call centers The effects of stress and optimism

This paper reports the results of a study, which measured the role of optimism and its effect on stress in call centers. Service providers at inbound call centers answered questionnaires designed to measure their personal orientation towards optimism, perceptions of job stress, work/nonwork conflict, performance, absenteeism and intent to turnover. We found that optimists did perceive lower levels of job stress and lower work/nonwork conflict. However, pessimists reported higher levels of performance and satisfaction and lower turnover intent. Implications for future research are discussed.
Dressed Atom Approach to Line Broadening

When a two state atom is placed in an optical field whose frequency w is near the atom’s resonant frequency ω0, the atom cycles rapidly between its ground and excited states (|g> and |e> respectively). It is often more convenient — both mathematically and physically — to describe this system in terms of the dressed states |w(t)> and |s(t)>, i.e. $$|\psi >= {a_w}(t)|w(t) > + {a_s}(t)|s(t) > $$ (1) where aw and as are time independent in the absence of perturbations other than the oscillatory field. The fact that |w(t)> and |s(t)> are time dependent coherent superpositions of |g> and |e> is reflected in the notation.
AFM application on the topography study of stack cell DRAM processes

The stacked cell design of DRAM processes for lithography considerations has suffered severe topography step-height and unsmooth surface issues. In addition, the stability and uniformity control of thin film processes on the backend process can affect lithography process to a great extent. In this study, the AFM (atomic force microscope) has been used to study topography issues of a typical DRAM process. The detailed information concerning the topography step- height, flow angle, local unsmooth surface, etc., have been clearly identified. These studies provide useful information for future process development and improvement.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Asymmetric Competition Among Distant Taxa

For purposes of theoretical analysis, competition between distantly related taxa is interpreted as asymmetric competition. Several kinds of situations are examined: A predator competes with one of its prey species for a second resource; competitors utilize successive stages in the life cycles of prey; one predator facilitates the resource utilization of its competitor; competitors differ in their vulnerability to predation. Methods of signed digraphs (loop analysis) and statistics over time are used to predict the qualitative consequences of the different interaction patterns.
Adolescent self-control and music and movie piracy

Recent studies have applied Grottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime to investigate whether college students' inclinations toward internet software piracy is related to low self-control and opportunity (i.e., computer ownership). Given the widespread use of the internet to illegally obtain copies of music and movies, it is important to understand the factors in this form of piracy as well. This study applied the self-control perspective to examine the attitudes of high school students toward the internet piracy of music and movies. Attitudes toward the internet piracy of music and movies were related to self-control, biological sex, internet experience, affiliation with deviant peers, and grade level in this study of high school students. This information is important because studies of internet piracy had not yet confirmed the presence and predictability of internet piracy in high school students. This study also suggests that piracy prevention efforts may be most appropriately focused on high school age individuals and directed toward increasing self-control.
Credentialism as monopoly, class war, and socialization scheme

Social theorists in earlier periods have looked at credentialing from the perspective of its service to the economic or social system as opposed to its “protection of the public interest.” Adam Smith regarded the long education and the performance tests that the guilds required as monopolistic constraints on production; Karl Marx saw the same guild system as controlled by the propertied classes and uselessly exclusionary; and Emile Durkheim, unlike both Smith and Marx, regarded the occupational group with its entrance requirements as central to the stability of modern society. The application of the principles of Smith, Marx, and Durkheim, in past and present systems, tells us that the present credentialing system is not sacrosanct. It may have little basis in research, in the prevention of anomie, or in the protection of the public interest.
Physiological studies on Phymatotrichum omnivorum XI, Cellulolytic enzymes.

Cell-free culture filtrates of Phymatotrichum fimicola, P. fungicola and P. omnivorum, grown on different carbon sources, were assayed for extracellular cellulases. In all three, cellulase synthesi...
A new hat for an old enzyme: waste management.

Abstract The history of research regarding secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) has often focused in one of two directions. Originally, the enzyme was studied biophysically in terms of its fundamental structure, enzymology, and the relationship between membrane physics and catalytic activity. More recently, a large and growing body of information has accumulated concerning regulatory factors, tissue distribution, and physiological/pathological roles of sPLA2. Evidence is presented that suggests an additional function for the protein in which it helps to clear dead and damaged cells while avoiding digestion of those that are healthy. Apparently, the ability of the enzyme to discriminate between susceptible and resistant cells depends on physical properties of membrane lipids related to order, distribution, and neighbor/neighbor interactions. Investigations into this action of the enzyme offer the rare opportunity to apply biophysical approaches and principles to a physiological setting.
A Picosecond Kinetic Study of Nonadiabatic Proton Transfer within the Contact Radical Ion Pair of Substituted Benzophenones/N,N-Diethylaniline

Picosecond absorption spectroscopy is utilized in determining the dynamics of proton transfer within a variety of substituted benzophenones/N,N-diethylaniline contact radical ion pairs in the solve...
Assessment of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function with Doppler echocardiography in hypertensive patients receiving intravenous medroxalol

Abstract Intravenous medroxalol, an α- and β-adrenergic blocking agent, causes an immediate hypotensive effect. In 14 subjects with mild-to-moderate hypertension, cardiac output (CO) and cardiac index (CI) were significantly decreased without significant changes in stroke volume, reflecting the fact that a reduced CO and CI were related to decreases in heart rate. The vasodilator effect of intravenous medroxalol was not apparent with the dosages used in this study. Transient changes noted in two Doppler diastolic velocity indexes—mitral early diastolic peak flow velocity (PFVE) and the ratio of mitral late-to-early diastolic peak flow velocity (PFVA/E)—are suggestive of an improvement in left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling during medroxalol infusion, possibly related to changes in loading conditions. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not correlate with any of the Doppler diastolic and systolic indexes in our patient population. Reduced aortic peak flow velocity, rate of aortic flow acceleration, and the rate of mitral early diastolic deceleration were noted with increasing LV mass index, independent of age or blood pressure. Doppler echocardiography may be a useful tool in the assessment and follow-up of LV systolic and diastolic function in patients undergoing pharmacologic interventions.
Library of Congress Workplace Ergonomics Program

This article discusses the implementation of an ergonomics program for controlling the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and improving worker comfort and efficiency at the Library of Congress. Library work entails extensive handling of books and boxes, use of computer workstations, and typical office and maintenance work. Between 1991 and 1994 ergonomic training was provided to approximately 1400 office workers in two departments. During 1991,12 cases of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of gradual-onset were reported. Total compensation cost for that year was $858,363. In 1992 it was decided to develop a formal ergonomics program, which entailed a commitment by upper management, establishment of a coordinating committee, and development by the committee of a written plan that included health and risk factor surveillance, interventions, and training. The committee received 18 hours of training and conducted pilot job analyses and interventions. Key features of the program included goal statements, or...
Haemoproteus in Wild Turkeys from the Coastal Bend of South Texas

SYNOPSIS. Blood smears from 133 Rio Grande wild turkeys Meleagridis gallopavo intermedia live-trapped in the Welder Wildlife Refuge in south Texas, were examined for blood parasites. All of the 63 immature turkeys and 63% of the 70 adult turkeys were infected with Haemoproteus meleagridis. The infections were light, half the cases having less than 5 infected cells per 10,000 red blood cells. Infection with H. meleagridis caused significant enlargement of the host RBC. Other parasites specifically searched for but not found were Leucocytozoon, Trypanosoma, Plasmodium and microfilariae.
Studies in Perseveration: II. Determining Factors in the Development of Compulsive Activity

(1937). Studies in Perseveration: II. Determining Factors in the Development of Compulsive Activity. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 231-246.
Is the Dry Eye Contact Lens Wearer at Risk? Yes

Numerous studies have demonstrated that patients with dry eyes have a compromised ocular surface. Furthermore, these patients suffer deficiencies of various surface defense mechanisms, such as tear volume, tear components (lysozyme, lactoferrin, and beta-lysin), the mucin network, cellular exfoliation, and subsurface immune secretions. When such individuals wear contact lenses (CLs), a special set of circumstances arises that increases the risk of ocular infection. The risk is greatest if the lenses are soft and, therefore, provide for little tear exchange beneath their surface. Under such circumstances, limited tear flow allows for a greater buildup of lens deposits and metabolic wastes, while permitting increased tear evaporation from the lens surface. The pathogenesis of infection is attributed to various mechanisms, including decreased tear flow beneath the lens, decreased tear components, stagnation of the mucin network, changes in surface cell exfoliation, and putative changes in the subsurface immune secretory system. Dry eye patients who wear soft CLs also run a greater risk of bacterial conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and sterile corneal infiltrates.
Range face recognition based on the phase Fourier transform

The phase Fourier transform (PFT) of a range image can map a facet into a peak. The position and distribution of the peak represent the orientation and the boundary of the facet, respectively. Since the surface of the human face can be expressed as a set of facets, the PFT of the human face provides a new signature of the face. Following the PFT, the range face is invariant to the shift and out-of-plane rotation with an uncertainty in the range of ∼±10°. It is also scale invariant to a certain degree (scaled down to 70%). To achieve in-plane partial rotation invariance, the circular harmonic m-r (CHmr) transform is used in the design of the reference. The recognition decision is based on the intensity and performance of the correlation peak.
Home hemodialysis: a system and not only a treatment

To the Editor: The paper by Komenda et al.1 deals with a hot issue in home dialysis: the cost analysis, with particular attention to the ‘hidden costs’. As home hemodialysis (HHD) is a context-sensitive treatment, we would like to report on the situation in Piedmont, northern Italy, which shares with British Columbia a population of about 4,400,000 inhabitants, albeit in a smaller, partly mountainous area. In Piedmont, the cost of dialysis is entirely public; the reimbursement is per session, according to the care setting (home, satellite, hospital) and type of treatment (bicarbonate, hemodiafiltration, hemofiltration). The home set-up for HHD is reimbursed by the Region (1240 Euros, about 1500 USD per patient), along with a fixed payment for travel, electricity, telephone, and water expenses (56 Euros, 67 USD per month).
Accelerated Fabrication: A Catalytic Agent within a Community of Caring

Accelerated Fabrication is an ongoing project in the Building Institute, a design-build program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in which team members designed a master plan for a homeless shelter, then immediately fast-tracked the deployment of several modest but instrumental fabrications on site. As a deliberate tactic, acceleration generated project momentum and stimulated an improvisational design process.
Analysis of Composite Processing Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging utilizes FT-NMR in conjunction with linearly applied gradient fields to resolve spatially the spins in a protonated solution. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used extensively in the medical field. More recently, MRI has been used to image the distribution of liquids in materials.1–4 Protons are the most extensively used nuclei based on their sensitivity and abundance.
Low-molecular-weight heparin for deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis in foot and ankle surgery: A review

The necessity of prophylaxis for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in those patients who undergo foot and ankle surgery remains poorly defined. The authors explore and review the low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) preparations for use by foot and ankle surgeons. Recent literature has described a low incidence of DVT and pulmonary embolus (PE) following foot and ankle surgery. Nonetheless, it is paramount that foot and ankle surgeons be aware of the potential risk factors and methods of prophylaxis for DVT. Many options are available for prophylaxis. This article presents a review of DVT with particular attention given to distinguishing risk factors, prophylaxis, and LMWH preparations.
Using geographically weighted regression for environmental justice analysis: Cumulative cancer risks from air toxics in Florida

Abstract Previous quantitative research on environmental justice has been limited by simplistic assumptions used to measure health risks and traditional regression techniques that fail to discern spatial variations in statistical relationships. We address these gaps through a case study that examines: (a) whether potential health risks from exposure to hazardous air pollutants in Florida are related to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and (b) how the significance of statistical associations between health risk and race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status vary across the state. This study integrates census tract level estimates of cumulative cancer risk compiled by the EPA with Census 2000 data and a spatial statistical technique known as geographically weighted regression that allows us to explore spatial variability in analytical results. Our findings indicate that while race and ethnicity are significantly related to cancer risks in Florida, conventional regression can hide important local variations in statistical relationships relevant to environmental justice analysis.
The use of routine chest x-ray films after chest tube removal in postoperative cardiac patients

Background. The use of routine postoperative chest x-ray films (CXRs) for postoperative cardiac patients has been challenged, suggesting that only clinically indicated CXRs be obtained. The removal of chest tubes has been used as an indication for CXRs. Our hypothesis is that routine postoperative chest tube removal CXRs are not indicated in the asymptomatic postoperative cardiac patient. Methods. Charts of 1,021 consecutive postoperative median sternotomy patients were reviewed, focusing on postoperative findings of CXRs, clinical evaluations, and interventions. Those who died prior to tube removal were excluded from the study. Results. Tubes were removed on postoperative days 1 to 7 (average, 1.45 days). The two groups of patients were comparable in age, gender, procedure, and co-morbidity (p > .01). Seven hundred three patients underwent routine postoperative tube removal CXRs. Abnormal findings were present in 282 patients. Resultant therapeutic intervention was undertaken in 13 patients and 9 were symptomatic. No imaging after routine postoperative CXRs was conducted in 283 patients. These patients remained asymptomatic and required no intervention. Fourteen patients had clinically indicated CXRs after chest tube removal. Two of these patients had additional tubes placed, and 1 patient had follow-up films. In total, there was a 1.5% incidence of therapeutic intervention after chest tube removal. All patients were discharged without further sequelae of their tubes. Conclusions. Omission of routine postoperative chest tube removal CXRs in postoperative cardiac patients is safe. The removal of chest tubes in these patients is not an indication for CXRs.
SHORN-TERM TESTOSTERONE THERAPY FOR PUBERTAL DELAY (PD)

PD can be a significant problem for adolescent males. To determine the long term efficacy of a short course of androgen therapy (4 injections of 200 mg testosterone enanthate (T) every 3 wk), we have reviewed 59 PD subjects (age 13.5-17.1 yr) who received either T (n=37) or no therapy (C, n=22). Initially, subjects were Tanner stage 1 or 2. Follow-up data were collected 6 and 12 mo later. Questionnaires were sent to subjects whose initial visits were > 2 yr ago (return rate, 44% for T, 33% for C). To eliminate the effect of age, height data are expressed as Z-scores (HT-Z). (mean±SEM, * - difference p < 0.05) Preliminary adult HT-Z data from subjects older than 17 yr reveal no significant difference. Survey results indicate 90% of those who received T were quite satisfied and would undergo T treatment again. Increased height, sexual maturation, and self-confidence were all given as major factors in this decision. Side effects were minor: one allergic reaction to the vehicle, mild edema, and occasional joint discomfort. Although HT-Z at 12 mo was greater in the T group, preliminary data suggest no significant effect of this therapy on final adult height. T given in this manner does not decrease final height and is a safe and effective therapy for PD.
Simulating Nursing School to Engage High School Students

With the growing number of minority citizens receiving health care, increasing the number of minority students who will become nurses is important. Minority representation in professional nursing is low, and innovative steps are needed to encourage enrollment into nursing programs. A large university in the southwest United States has taken a proactive role by conducting a summer camp that introduces high school students to the profession of nursing. Campers learned foundational skills and applied them using an infant simulation scenario. End-of-camp simulation revealed active learning occurred. Simulation was an effective strategy to educate high school campers.
Sex differences in morphological predictors of sexual behavior: Shoulder to hip and waist to hip ratios

Abstract Differences exist between males and females in fat distribution, skeletal morphology, muscle mass, and body shape. We investigated sex differences in shoulder to hip ratios (SHR) and waist to hip ratios (WHR), and their relationships to different features of sexual behavior. Males with high SHR and females with low WHR reported sexual intercourse at an earlier age, more sexual partners, more extra-pair copulations (EPC), and having engaged in more instances of intercourse with people who were involved in another relationship (i.e., having themselves been EPC partners). The predictive value of these morphological features was highly sex-specific.
Routine use of screening and brief intervention for college students in a university counseling center

This study provides preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and ASSIST-linked brief intervention in a college mental health clinic. Data are from a single group, pre-post evaluation study (2006-2009) at a university counseling center. Students deemed to be at risk for substance use problems were offered the ASSIST and the ASSIST-linked brief intervention. Staff therapists administered the ASSIST and intervention as part of routine care; 453 students (ages 18-24) participated in the evaluation and completed baseline and six-month follow-up interviews. Changes in alcohol and marijuana use were examined by McNemar's test of proportions and by paired t-tests for means. Slight reductions in the rates and number of days (in the prior 30 days) of binge drinking and marijuana use were found. Routine screening and brief intervention procedures in a mental health setting may reduce problematic substance use among college students.
On the bifurcation to moving fronts in discrete systems

A distinctive transition in reaction?diffusion systems is the creation of travelling fronts from stationary fronts in a pitchfork bifurcation. We explore how this bifurcation is modified when the systems are made spatially discrete. We consider two model systems: a chain of coupled Lorenz equations, and a discretized Fitz?Hugh?Nagumo model. In the former, the pitchfork bifurcation of the corresponding continuum model is replaced by a supercritical Hopf bifurcation to a pulsating front that is, on average, stationary, which is then followed by a heteroclinic bifurcation that glues the pulsation cycles together into an unsteadily propagating front. In the second model, the Hopf bifurcation is subcritical, the heteroclinic bifurcation glues together unstable pulsation cycles, and there is a saddle-node bifurcation in which the unstable moving front turns around into a stable one. In the vicinity of the discrete version of the bifurcation we derive an amplitude equation that captures qualitatively the aspects of the two different bifurcation sequences. However, the amplitude equation is quantitatively in error, apparently as a result of the beyond-all-orders nature of the effect of discreteness.
Activity-Dependent Regulation of Synapses by Retrograde Messengers

Throughout the brain, postsynaptic neurons release substances from their cell bodies and dendrites that regulate the strength of the synapses they receive. Diverse chemical messengers have been implicated in retrograde signaling from postsynaptic neurons to presynaptic boutons. Here, we provide an overview of the signaling systems that lead to rapid changes in synaptic strength. We consider the capabilities, specializations, and physiological roles of each type of signaling system.
Using Discrete Event Simulation to Analyze Contention Managers

Understanding the behavior and benefits of contention managers is important for designing transactional memory implementations. Contention manager design is closely tied to other design decisions in a transaction memory implementation, and therefore experiments to compare the behaviors of contention managers are difficult. This paper presents a discrete event simulator that allows researchers to explore the behavior of contention managers and even to perform experiments that compare lazy conflict detection without contention management to eager detection combined with a contention manager. For our benchmarks, we found that lazy conflict detection was competitive with the best contention managers. Our experiments confirm that contention management design is critical for transactional memories that use eager validation. We used the simulator to explore new tiered contention managers that combine livelock-prone contention managers with livelock-free contention managers to provide the benefits of the livelock-prone contention manager while avoiding its pathological behaviors under contention.
The Robber Baron Concept In American History

The most vehement and persistent controversy in business history has been that waged by the critics and defenders of the “robber baron” concept of the American businessman. Far from being a pedantic exercise, this controversy has at various times exerted a decisive influence on business itself. The origins, spread, and obsolescence of the concept are traced here, together with the merits and failings of currently predominant historical attitudes.
Controlled Study of Critical Parent and Family Factors in the Obesigenic Environment

Objective: Critical gaps remain in our understanding of the obesigenic family environment. This study examines parent and family characteristics among obese youth presenting for treatment in a clinic setting. Research Methods and Procedures: Families of 78 obese youth (BMI z-score = 2.4; age, 8 to 16 years; 59% girls; 49% African-American) were compared with 71 non-overweight (BMI z-score = −0.02) demographically matched comparisons. Parents completed measures assessing family demographics, psychological distress (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised), and family functioning both broadly (Family Environment Scale: Conflicted, Support, Control) and at mealtimes (About Your Child's Eating-Revised: Mealtime Challenges, Positive Mealtime Interaction). Height and weight were obtained from all participants. Results: Compared with mothers and fathers of non-overweight youth, parents of obese youth had significantly higher BMIs (p < 0.001). Mothers of obese youth reported significantly greater psychological distress (p < 0.01), higher family conflict (p < 0.05), and more mealtime challenges (p < 0.01). Less positive family mealtime interactions were reported by both mothers (p < 0.01) and fathers (p < 0.05) of obese youth. These group differences did not vary by child sex or race. Logistic regression analyses indicated that maternal distress and mealtime challenges discriminated between obese and non-overweight youth after controlling for maternal BMI. Family conflict was explained, in part, by maternal distress. Discussion: Obese youth who present for treatment in a clinic setting are characterized by psychosocial factors at the parent and family level that differ from non-overweight youth. These data are critical because they identify factors that may be serving as barriers to a family's or youth's ability to implement healthy lifestyle behaviors but that are potentially modifiable.
Subcellular and regional localization ofγ-glutamyl transpeptidase in sheep brain.

Studies of the subcellular distribution ofγ-glutamyl transpeptidase from sheep brain by discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation showed that 40% of the transpeptidase activity associated with the mitochondrial-synaptosomal fraction was localized with the synaptosomal-enriched fraction. The microsomal fraction was found to have the highest specific activity whenγ-glutamylp-nitroanalide was used as substrate. This activity, however, represented only 5% of the totalγ-glutamyl transpeptidase activity. Approximately 90% of the total enzyme activity was apparently associated with the fraction containing cell debris and membrane fragments.