cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stoichiometric relationships amongst ecosystem compartments of a subtropical treatment wetland

Evaluation of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) ratios in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems can advance our understanding of biological processes, nutrient cycling and the decomposition of organic matter. This study investigated wetland nutrient stoichiometry within water column, soil flocculent material, recently accreted soil, and dominate vegetation within two treatment cells of the Everglades Stormwater Treatment Area, south Florida (USA). These cells include an emergent aquatic vegetation cell dominated by Typha spp.(cattail) and a submerged aquatic vegetation cell composed of species such as Chara spp. (muskgrass) and Potamgeton spp. (pondweed). Unlike results of prior studies, this study demonstrated that C, N, and P stoichiometry can be highly variable within and between wetland ecosystem compartments in a P-limited ecosystem. Generally, total P declined along the flow path in all ecosystem compartments, whereas trends in total N and C were not consistent. Meanwhile, TN:TP relationships increased as C:N and C:P varied in various compartments along the treatment flow paths. Assessment of wetland nutrient stoichiometry between and within ecosystem compartments suggest decoupling of organic matter decomposition from nutrient mineralization which may have significant influences on nutrient removal rates and contrasting dominate vegetation communities. This information could be used to further understand water treatment performance of these constructed wetlands.
The Influence of Body Habitus on Documented Brace Wear and Progression in Adolescents With Idiopathic Scoliosis.

BACKGROUND Although studies have been published stating obese patients are less compliant with brace use, no objective studies measuring hours of daily brace wear have been performed to correlate brace wear and success with body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between BMI and brace compliance, and between BMI and progression to surgical magnitude of 50 degrees or more. METHODS A total of 175 adolescents were prescribed thoracolumbarsacral orthosis for the treatment of an adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and followed to completion of treatment. BMI was measured at brace prescription, and divided into: (1) underweight ( 5th, 85%, 95%). Thermochron sensors were used to measure compliance. Radiographs were measured at brace prescription, and at time of brace discontinuation or surgery. Outcome was classified as successful if curve magnitude was <50 degrees and no surgery was performed. RESULTS The underweight group wore their braces more hours than the other groups (15.7 h low, 12.5 h normal, 11.7 h high, and 9.0 h obese BMI (low vs. normal P=0.031, low vs. high P=0.01, low vs. obese P=0.01). The underweight group had the highest rate of surgical progression (60%), compared with 27.7% of normal BMI teens, 28.6% of overweight patients, and 55.6% of obese patients. The low BMI had a significantly higher rate of surgery than the normal BMI group (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS Although overweight and obese patients wear orthoses the least hours daily, the highest surgical risk is in underweight adolescents despite good compliance. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level 2.
At the zero degree / Below the minimum: Wage as sign in Israel’s split labor market

Marx conceived of the reproduction of labor-power as a circuit in which the wage must suffice to purchase the commodities necessary to meet the worker’s “so-called necessary requirements,” which are “products of history.” In this article, I argue that, through ethnographic investigation of the wage as a sign of these requirements, we can arrive at a wealth of knowledge about how the wage helps to construct different groups of workers as belonging to different human types, which are often “bundled” together with categories such as race and citizenship. I make my case through the investigation of two groups of workers: young Jewish-Israeli citizens engaged in logistics work and earning the minimum wage, and migrant farmworkers from Thailand who are paid far below that minimum for their labor. I argue that the first group represents a “zero degree” of labor-power, defined by the legal and biopolitical concern of the state for its reproduction, while the latter is understood by its members, their employers, and the surrounding society as undeserving of such concern. Deploying the Marxist-feminist problematic of the social reproduction of labor power, I argue that, by affording different groups of workers, and their children, different standards of living and opportunities for integration into labor markets, the wage works together with other forces to lock people into embodied, inherited “types.” From this perspective, I suggest, some categories of oppression do not “intersect” at right angles but rather run almost parallel, and at times coming close to cohering—a finding with implications for both analysis and political practice.
Coproduction of regulations under the administrative procedure act: How close is the US to a classical Liberal regulatory system?

Aligica et al. 2019) posit that a form of public administration founded in the classical liberal tradition should recognize value heterogeneity, which would create a need for coproduction of rules and polycentricity in the production of rules. Utilizing a dataset of 130 economically significant executive branch regulations proposed between 2008 and 2013, this paper assesses whether US regulators act in a manner consistent with the predictions of their theory. US federal agencies use several methods that could facilitate coproduction of rules by stakeholders. Statistical analysis finds that agencies are more likely to employ some stakeholder participation strategies for the types of regulations that may involve more heterogeneous values. However, there is scant evidence that the stakeholder participation strategies that agencies employ more extensively when values are more heterogeneous are associated with consideration of a wider variety of alternatives. There is no evidence that agencies consider a wider scope of alternatives for regulations that may involve more heterogeneous values. Therefore, value heterogeneity and stakeholder participation have not by themselves been sufficient to move the US toward a polycentric regulatory system.
Emerging practice patterns in vascular surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract Objective Ever since the first positive test was identified on January 21, 2020, Washington State has been on the frontlines of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Using information obtained from Italian surgeons in Milan and given the concerns regarding the increasing case numbers in Washington State, we implemented new vascular surgery guidelines, which canceled all nonemergent surgical procedures and involved significant changes to our inpatient and outpatient workflow. The consequences of these decisions are not yet understood. Methods The vascular surgery division at Harborview Medical Center immediately instituted new vascular surgery COVID-19 practice guidelines on March 17, 2020. Subsequent clinic, operative, and consultation volume data were collected for the next 4 weeks and compared with the historical averages. The Washington State case and death numbers and University of Washington Medical Center (UW Medicine) hospital case volumes were collected from publicly available sources. Results Since March 10, 2020, the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases within the UW Medicine system has increased 1867%, with floor and intensive care unit bed usage increasing by 120% and 215%, respectively. After instituting our new COVID-19 guidelines, our average weekly clinical volume decreased by 96.5% (from 43.1 patients to 1.5 patients per week), our average weekly surgical volume decreased by 71.7% (from 15 cases to 4.25 cases per week), and our inpatient consultation volume decreased to 1.81 consultations daily; 60% of the consultations were completed as telemedicine "e-consults" in which the patient was never evaluated in-person. The trainee surgical volume has also decreased by 86.4% for the vascular surgery fellow and 84.8% for the integrated resident. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has changed every aspect of "normal" vascular surgical practice in a large academic institution. New practice guidelines effectively reduced operating room usage and decreased staff and trainee exposure to potential infection, with the changes to clinic volume not resulting in an immediate increase in emergency department or inpatient consultations or acute surgical emergencies. These changes, although preserving resources, have also reduced trainee exposure and operative volume significantly, which requires new modes of education delivery. The lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, if analyzed, will help us prepare for the next crisis.
Targeted Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and the availability of comprehensive genomic profiling has allowed for the characterization of its molecular subtypes. This has increased the ability to deliver “personalized medicines” by tailoring therapies to target driver mutations in a patient's cancer. The development of targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has helped define the era of precision medicine throughout oncology. This article aims to contextualize recent research and provide an updated summary of targeted therapies available for patients with NSCLC. With practitioners and clinical researchers in mind, we note standard of care therapies, important approvals, practice guidelines, and treatments in development. The first section discusses mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, and the second section examines rearrangements in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and ROS1 fusions. Finally, we explore the rarer molecular alterations in BRAF, RET, MET, HER2, and KRAS. Given the many available therapies, it is important to understand the molecular alterations in NSCLC, and how to target them.
Predictive coding in early vestibular pathways: Implications for vestibular cognition

Single unit neurophysiological and anatomical studies have provided us with a fundamental understanding of the circuit-based mechanisms by which vestibular information is processed to ensure accura...
Evaluation of Changes in Expected Ultimate Recovery for US Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Fields, 1975–2016

Quantifying the change in field expected ultimate recovery across time is an old and complex topic fraught with ambiguity and misinterpretation. In this paper, changes in recovery estimates performed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the US Gulf of Mexico are evaluated based on 782 offshore fields that began producing after 1975 and ceased production before 2017. At the time of first production, field expected ultimate recovery estimates totaled 6.3 billion barrels oil equivalent (38.6 exajoules), but by the end of their life, the fields produced 8.5 billion barrels oil equivalent (52 exajoules), a 35% growth. On an individual field basis, however, median recovery estimates grew less than 2%. The purpose of this paper is to explain the differences in these two statistics and quantify how expected ultimate recovery is influenced by field age, discovery year, reserve category, peak ratio, product type, size, and water depth to understand better the contribution of individual factors in reserves evaluation. Consistent interpretation of reserves category is probably the most important factor in application. Field age and size are positively correlated with changes in expected ultimate recovery in both the shallow water and deepwater regions of the US Gulf of Mexico, pre- and post-1988 evaluation periods are a significant factor, and a development variable referred to as peak ratio exhibits a meaningful correspondence. The results of this analysis show that Bureau of Ocean Energy Management procedures for expected ultimate recovery estimation in the US Gulf of Mexico post-1988 are consistent with the application of probable reserves classifications; these highlight the need for a precise understanding of factor inputs in reserves growth studies.
Distribution and Characteristics of Malpractice and Nonmalpractice Litigation Involving Interventional Radiologists in the United States from 1983-2018.

Abstract Purpose To describe the distribution and characteristics of both malpractice and nonmalpractice litigation involving interventional radiologists (IRs). Methods Using Westlaw and LexisNexis court legal databases, we identified all United States federal and state cases between 1983 and 2018 yielding appellate court or judicial opinions (legally precedent setting “complex litigation”) potentially involving IRs. Relevant court documents were individually and systematically reviewed to confirm IR involvement. Cases were categorized by type, jurisdiction, time, and disposition. Results Initial Boolean searches resulted in 251 and 575 potentially relevant Westlaw and LexisNexis cases, respectively. After eliminating duplicative (eg, multiple appeals) matters from the 123 cases individually confirmed meeting inclusion criteria, 85 unique cases were identified. Of these, 51 (60.0%) involved malpractice allegations, of which vascular interventions were most common (23/51; 45.1%). Of 34 (40.0%) nonmalpractice cases, employment (21/34; 61.8%) and disability (4/34; 11.8%) disputes dominated. Involved IRs prevailed in 56.9% (29/51) of malpractice and 11.8% (4/34) of nonmalpractice cases. In state courts, the Northeast accounted for 35.7% (20/56) of all litigation and 43.2% (19/44) of all malpractice litigation. Nationally, complex litigation has increased over time, from a low of zero cases in 1983 to a high of 11 in 2013. Conclusion Litigation involving IRs typically surrounds not only malpractice matters, but also employment and disability disputes. With only 85 unique cases over 35 years, complex litigation is uncommon but increasing. IRs seeking to minimize litigation should not neglect the risks associated with employment contracting and disability insurance.
Lee, Erika, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States: New York: Basic Books, 416 pp., $32.00, ISBN 978-1-5416-7260-4, Publication Date: November 2019

As Erika Lee persuasively argues in America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States, America is and has been a nation that welcomes immigrants and rejects them simultaneously. T...
A quasi-coupled wind wave experimental framework for testing offshore wind turbine floating systems

Abstract Two sets of experiments in the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) wave tank facility and atmospheric wind tunnel are integrated to provide a scaled representation of a floating wind turbine under heave and pitch motions due to ocean waves. The quasi-coupling is established by controlling the turbine rotor speed to generate a thrust force mimicking steady or fluctuating wind gusts in the wave tank, and by using two actuators to oscillate a miniature turbine in the wind tunnel. Measured pitch and heave motions under varying waves are scaled down using rotor geometry and the wake meandering frequency to study the effect of the floating platform kinematics on the evolution and characteristics of the oscillating turbine wake. For a limited case of experimental conditions results provide a phenomenological and quantitative description of the floating-turbine system under variable waves and simulated wind gusts. Specifically, we demonstrate that wind gusts contribute to increase the platform pitch range, and that periodic large scale flow patches of high and low momentum flow are generated by the oscillating rotor in the turbulent boundary layer and are coherently convected through the wake. Both mechanisms could amplify the pitch response of downwind floating turbine units within the offshore power plant, in particular if the wave and/or wind forcing frequencies happen to approach the pitch natural frequency of the floating system.
What Ought to be

Sometimes, instead of saying that a certain person ought to do a certain thing, we may say that a certain state of affairs ought to be, or ought to occur. For example, someone who is annoyed by loud motorcycles might say that there ought to be a law against such things. Someone who thinks government is getting corrupt might say that there should be more honesty in government. Someone who feels that the present distribution of wealth is unjust might say that there ought to be a more equal distribution of wealth in the world. Each of these could very well be a statement of the ought-to-be.
The ρ meson

The ρ meson was observed by Erwin et al. (1961) as a correlation in the invariant mass spectrum of two final-state pions from the reactions $$ \begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{\pi ^ - } + p \to {\pi ^ + } + {\pi ^ - } + n}\\ { \to {\pi ^ - } + {\pi ^0} + p.} \end{array} $$ .
Whoa, Nellie! Empirical Tests of College FootballAS Conventional Wisdom

College football fans, coaches, and observers have adopted a set of beliefs about how college football poll voters behave. I document three pieces of conventional wisdom in college football regarding the timing of wins and losses, the value of playing strong opponents, and the value of winning by wide margins. Using a unique data set with 25 years of AP poll results, I test college football's conventional wisdom. In particular, I test (1) whether it is better to lose early or late in the season, (2) whether teams benefit from playing stronger opponents, and (3) whether teams are rewarded for winning by large margins. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I find that (1) it is better to lose later in the season than earlier, (2) AP voters do not pay attention to the strength of a defeated opponent, and (3) the benefit of winning by a large margin is negligible. I conclude by noting how these results inform debates about a potential playoff in college football.
Supporting Fault-Tolerant Real-Time Applications Using the RED-Linux General Scheduling Framework

In this paper, w e study the fault-tolerant support for real-time applications. In particular, we study the scheduling issues and kernel support for fault monitors and the primary-backup task model. Using the pow erful sc heduling framework in RED-Linux, we can support a jitter-less fault monitoring. We can also provide the task execution isolation so that an erroneous runaw ay task will not take aw ay additional CPU budget from other concurrently running tasks. Finally, we provide a group mechanism to allow the primary and backup jobs of a fault-tolerant task to share both the CPU budget as well as other resources. All these mechanisms make the implementation of fault-tolerant real-time systems easier.
Wilms' tumor metastatic to mandible and oral mucosa: Report of a case

Abstract A case of Wilms' tumor metastatic to the lungs and multiple skeletal areas, including the mandible and oral mucosa, has been reported. This is believed to be the first report of such involvement secondary to an embryonal sarcoma.
National chronic respiratory disease mortality study: II. Mortality associated with persistent cough and phlegm in the United States, 1963

Abstract Based on the prevalence at death of chronic respiratory disease diagnoses, this study suggested in a previous report that these diseases contribute far more to U.S. mortality than published mortality statistics suggest. The present report confirms this finding using mortality rates associated with the symptoms, peristent cough and phlegm. These symptoms are found to correlate highly with the more severe forms of CRD diagnoses. The associated mortality rates for cough and phlegm were more than six times the CRD underlying cause death rates for females, whereas for males, they were not quite twice as large. The associated mortality rates for males, however, are more susceptible to possible differences between decedents with symptom status known and those with status unknown.
Synergistic Action of Staphylococcus aureus α-Toxin on Platelets and Myeloid Lineage Cells Contributes to Lethal Sepsis

Multi-organ failure contributes to mortality in bacterial sepsis. Platelet and immune cell activation contribute to organ injury during sepsis, but the mechanisms by which bacterial virulence factors initiate these responses remain poorly defined. We demonstrate that during lethal sepsis, Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin simultaneously alters platelet activation and promotes neutrophil inflammatory signaling through interactions with its cellular receptor ADAM10. Platelet intoxication prevents endothelial barrier repair and facilitates formation of injurious platelet-neutrophil aggregates, contributing to lung and liver injury that is mitigated by ADAM10 deletion on platelets and myeloid lineage cells. While platelet- or myeloid-specific ADAM10 knockout does not alter sepsis mortality, double-knockout animals are highly protected. These results define a pathway by which a single bacterial toxin utilizes a widely expressed receptor to coordinate progressive, multi-organ disease in lethal sepsis. As an expression-enhancing ADAM10 polymorphism confers susceptibility to severe human sepsis, these studies highlight the importance of understanding molecular host-microbe interactions.
Hedge Fund Investment Strategies

Hedge funds employ dynamic investment strategies designed to find unique opportunities in the market and then actively trade their portfolio investments (both long and short) in an effort to maintain high and diversified absolute returns (often using leverage to enhance returns). By contrast, most mutual funds only take long positions in securities and are less active in trading their portfolio investments (usually without leverage) as they attempt to create returns that track (and ideally outperform) the market. Some hedge funds attempt to exploit price anomalies in the market by, for example, taking advantage of a pricing mismatch between two related bonds. There are four broad groups of hedge fund strategies—this chapter specifically discusses these strategies: arbitrage, event-driven, equity related, and macro. The first two groups in many cases attempt to achieve returns that are uncorrelated with general market movements. Managers of these strategies try to find price discrepancies between related securities, using derivatives and active trading based on computer-driven models and extensive research. The second two groups are impacted by movements in the market, and they require intelligent anticipation of price movements in stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and physical commodities based on extensive research and model building.
Silyl group mediated linkage of closo-C2B10-cage to nido-C2B4-carborane: synthesis of the novel carborane ligand, 1-R-2-[5′-(SiMe2CH2)-2′,3′-(SiMe3)2-2′,3′-C2B4H5]-1,2-C2B10H10 (R=Me, Ph)

The reaction of the sodium salt of the monoanion, nido-[2,3-(Si(CH3)3)2-2,3-C2B4H5]−, with (chloromethyl)dimethylchlorosilane in a 1:1 molar ratio produced the B(cage)-substituted cluster, nido-5-ClCH2Si(CH3)2-2,3-(Si(CH3)3)2-2,3-C2B4H5 (1), in 81% yield. This product (1) was reacted further with the lithium salt of [closo-1-R-1,2-C2B10H10]− monoanion (R=Me, Ph) to give the novel linked and mixed C2B4/C2B10 carborane species, 1-Me-2-[5′-SiMe2CH2-2′,3′-(SiMe3)2-2′,3′-C2B4H5]-1,2-C2B10H10 (2), 1-Ph-2-[5′-SiMe2CH2-2′,3′-(SiMe3)2-2′,3′-C2B4H5]-1,2-C2B10H10 (3), in yields of 76% and 81%, respectively.
Credit Ratings: Strategic Issuer Disclosure and Optimal Screening

We study a model in which an issuer can manipulate information obtained by a credit rating agency (CRA) seeking to screen and rate its financial claim. Better CRA screening leads to a lower probability of obtaining a high rating but makes a high rating more valuable. Over an intermediate range of manipulation cost, improving screening quality can lead to more manipulation, dampening the CRA's incentive to screen. We further show that a CRA's own incentives to inflate ratings constrain its optimal screening intensity. Our model suggests that strategic disclosure by issuers may have played a role in recent ratings failures.
Quantitative characterizations of phasic structure developments by local measurement methods in two-phase flow

An experimental study on the internal structure an a out in a 25.4 mm ID pipe. The local void fraction and interfacial area concentration were measured by a double-sensor probe. The flow structure development was visualized by measuring the radial distribution of these two parameters at three axial, locations (L/D = 12, 62, and 112). A more detailed study on the fully developed flow structure was conducted at L/D = 120. The interfacial structure were measured by the double- and four-sensor probes. A bubbly to-=slug transition region was defined according to the local data.The area-averaged void fraction measurements were given by a gamma densitometer. Other parameters such as the Taylor bubble film thickness, bubble length and slug unit length in slug flow were measured by a film robe. The redundant measurements were made to calibrate the local probe measurements. The quantitative representation of the phasic structure can then be used for modeling.
Advocacy Skills for Social Work

Abstract Case advocacy in social work is more conceptual than operational. Social work educators can enhance the practice of case advocacy by helping students learn to argue for clients and for professional causes. This paper describes an evaluation of methods to teach graduate students oral and writing skills for case advocacy. Results suggest that students who learned the skills improved the organization, feasibility, and quality of their advocacy responses more than students who did not learn the skills.
Extracting Cosmological Information from Galaxy Spectra and Observations of High-Redshift Objects

I review the statistical techniques needed to extract information about physical parameters of galaxies from their observed spectra. This is important given the sheer size of the next generation of large galaxy redshift surveys. Going to the opposite extreme I review what we can learn about the nature of the primordial density field from observations of high-redshift objects.
Refuge, Refusal, and Acts of Holy Contagion: The City as a Sanctuary for Soldiers Resisting the Vietnam War

This paper explores the first instance of municipal sanctuary in the United States, when in November of 1971, the City of Berkeley, California, declared itself a Sanctuary for soldiers on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea who were refusing to return to duty in the Vietnam War. Berkeley’s left-leaning City Council called on residents of the city to provide bedding, food, medical and legal help to the soldiers, and passed a motion to establish a protected space where soldiers could access counseling and other support. The city also placed restrictions on local police and service providers, limiting their participation in the enforcement of federal laws related to military service. These local efforts to establish the city as a space of refuge from federal military authority came out of the sometimes contradictory politics of GI resistance on the Coral Sea, local civilian anti war organizing, as well as church-based traditions of Sanctuary and refuge. At the intersection of these political and religious movements, diverse practices of citizenship, soldiering and sovereignty produced the contemporary idea of the city as Sanctuary, and disrupted inherited ideas about the relationship of soldiers to the nation state. While a relatively minor intervention into anti-Vietnam organizing at the time, Berkeley’s 1971 policy became a model for municipal Sanctuary in the United States for decades to come.
Chi Mutation in a Transposon and the Orientation-Dependence of Chi Phenotype

ABSTRACT Chi, an element that stimulates recombination via the E. coli RecBC pathway, can arise by spontaneous mutation in the transposon Tn 5 . When in phage λ in one orientation, the mutant transposon confers Chi + phenotype (large plaque and a high rate of exchange near the transposon). In the other orientation, however, the transposon does not confer Chi + phenotype. The mobility of the transposon allows us to show that the Chi + orientation of the mutant Tn 5 is the same at different locations in λ. These include a site near gene J , one in gam at 69, one to the right of gam at 73 and several to the right of R between 95.7 and 99.5. To the right of R , the mutant transposon could be found in only one orientation, that which confers Chi + phenotype. We speculate that the other orientation of Tn 5 in that locale is lethal to λ. The orientation-dependence of Chi + phenotype also revealed that Tn 5 flip-flops in λ.
Rewarded by Punishment: Reflections on the Disuse of Positive Reinforcement in Schools:

Most approaches for dealing with student disruptions involve the use of various forms of punishment such as removals from the classroom, fines, restitutional activities, inschool and out-of-school suspensions, and expulsions. Although some of these approaches may make schools safer by removing the offending students, they have little effect on encouraging students to perform socially appropriate behaviors. There are many reasons why educators find punishment a more acceptable approach for managing students' challenging behaviors than positive reinforcement. This article delineates these reasons and argues for educators to plan the occurrence of positive reinforcement to increase appropriate behaviors rather than running the risk of it haphazardly promoting inappropriate behaviors.
Biosensor/tissue interactions

Although the first implantable glucose sensors were developed a few decades ago, there is still no glucose sensor that can work reliably and for a long period of time after implantation. This loss of function in vivo is caused by events that affect the sensor itself (e.g. degradation, fouling...), as well as by changes in the tissue surrounding the sensor, caused by the implantation. Therefore, in order to develop a reliable implantable glucose sensor that will remain functional for a long time in vivo, it is critical to study and control the effects of the biological environment on the sensor itself, as well as to control the tissue reactions to the sensor. Examples of such studies are described.
The Social and Policy Predictors of Driving Mobility Among Older Adults

This research was designed to identify the impact of state driver's license renewal requirements on the driving mobility (i.e., the reduction or cessation of driving) of older (70 years or older) drivers in the United States. Nationally representative data from four waves (1993-2000) of the Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old study were linked to state policies on relicensing and used in a longitudinal logistic regression analysis. The author assessed the driving behaviors of a sample of 9,638 men and women. The findings demonstrate that the driving mobility of older people is influenced by state relicensing policies. The analysis indicates that five policies--accelerated renewal, mental testing, peripheral vision testing, renewal in person at age 70+ (as opposed to renewal by mail or online), and restricted licensing--have a significant effect on an older driver's decision to reduce or cease driving. The driving patterns of older adults are influenced not only by their health and socioeconomic backgrounds, but also by state relicensing policies. In terms of public policy, this result shows that there is a mechanism for extending the years of independent mobility for older people: restricted licensing.
Reproductive Symptoms: Interrelations and Determinants

This study investigated the interrelation of women's symptomatic reports during menstruation and pregnancy, the association of these reports with the general tendency to report somatic and psychological symptoms, and the role of social stress in intensifying symptom complaints. The sample consisted of 196 women who were either pregnant or who had had at least one pregnancy in the past. The pattern of results varied with current reproductive status. Past menstrual symptom reports had a significant relation to current pregnancy symptoms, but the converse was not found. Women who reported a high level of general health complaints also reported more intense reproductive symptoms. Social stress, however, did not significantly affect reproductive symptom reports. The use of multivariate techniques was found to improve the explanation of the ways in which social and somatic factors interact to determine women's psychological responses to reproductive experiences.
Anaesthetic emergencies and complications: Part 1

Summary Anaesthetic emergencies and complications should be anticipated and prepared for prior to anaesthesia. Attentive patient monitoring will help to prevent most anaesthetic emergencies and increase the potential for success should an emergency occur (Table 8).
Transillumination Imaging for Blood Oxygen Saturation Estimation of Skin Lesions

Detecting the early stages of melanoma can be greatly assisted by an accurate estimate of subsurface blood volume and blood oxygen saturation, indicative of angiogenesis. Visualization of this blood volume present beneath a skin lesion can be achieved through the transillumination of the skin. As the absorption of major chromophores in the skin is wavelength dependent, multispectral imaging can provide the needed information to separate out relative amounts of each chromophore. However, a critical challenge to this strategy is relating the pixel intensities observed in a given image to the wavelength-dependent total absorption existing at each spatial location. Consequently, in this paper, we develop an extension to Beer’s law, estimated through a novel voxel-based, parallel processing Monte Carlo simulation of light propagation in skin which takes into account the specific geometry of our transillumination imaging apparatus. We then use this relation in a linear mixing model, solved using a multispectral image set, for chromophore separation and oxygen saturation estimation of an absorbing object located at a given depth within the medium. Validation is performed through the Monte Carlo simulation, as well as by imaging on a skin phantom. Results show that subsurface oxygen saturation can be reasonably estimated with good implications for the reconstruction of 3-D skin lesion volumes using transillumination toward early detection of malignancy.
Simultaneous Overexpression of Two Stress Proteins in Rat Cardiomyocytes and Myogenic Cells Confers Protection Against Ischemia-Induced Injury

Background Mitochondria are known to be a major target during ischemic cardiac injury. Previous studies have shown that in rodent myogenic cells and in the hearts of transgenic mice in which the heat shock or stress protein 70 is increased, there is a marked tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion injury. Two other heat shock proteins (HSP60 and HSP10) are known to form, within the mitochondria, a chaperonin complex that is important for mitochondrial protein folding and function. We were then interested in investigating whether increased expression of these two stress proteins is able to protect myogenic cells against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Methods and Results We generated recombinant adenoviral vectors containing HSP60, HSP10, or a combination of the two genes. These adenoviral constructs overexpress significant amounts of these stress proteins in both rat neonatal cardiomyocytes and the myogenic H9 c2 cell line. Cells infected with an adenoviral construct overexpressing both HSP60 and HSP10 were found ...
Subchronic effects of exposure to octachlorodibenzodioxin (OCDD)

Abstract Repeated exposure of male rats to OCDD results in accumulation of the compound in the liver and effects similar to those observed following low dose exposure to TCDD: Enzyme induction, liver hypertrophy and cytoplasmic vacuolization, and a mild non-regenerative anemia.
Method for Inducing Saprolegniasis in Channel Catfish

Abstract A method was developed to uniformly and systematically induce saprolegniasis in channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Three different methods for inducing saprolegniasis were evaluated in waters containing known zoospore concentrations of Saprolegnia parasitica: (1) low-temperature shock to induce immunosuppression; (2) physical abrasion stress; and (3) a combination of both low temperature shock and abrasion stress. Low-temperature shock or abrasion stress alone were not effective for inducing saprolegniasis. Only 10% of fish stressed by low-temperature shock alone became infected. No fish receiving abrasion stress treatments alone became infected even though these fish were subject to significant abrasion and dewatering stress. A combination of low-temperature and abrasion stress, however, was sufficient to induce saprolegniasis in 100% of fish tested and resulted in 90% mortality. No fish became infected in the positive control group (exposed to zoospores of S. parasitica without stress) or in ...
Optical atomic magnetometer at body temperature for magnetic particle imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance.

Optical atomic magnetometers are often bulky and operate at elevated temperatures that impose restrictions on studying biological samples. Here we report a miniaturized Cs-based magnetometer, in contrast to conventionally used K- and Rb-based ones, with high sensitivity. The magnetic shield employed is more compact, and the optimal operation temperature of 37°C is lower than previous magnetometers and is suitable for biological research. Applications include scanning magnetic imaging of functionalized magnetic particles and nuclear magnetic resonance of water. We reveal that the stability and sensitivity of the apparatus are not significantly affected by the absence of a laser stabilization device.
Herbicide analysis by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection (CE-UV) and laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) was used for analysis of a group of herbicides that have widespread use in the USA. CE-UV was employed for simultaneous determination of atrazine, simazine, alachlor and metolachlor in water. In addition, CE-UV was also suitable for analysis of dicamba, 2,4-D and chlorimuron ethyl. Dicamba, 2,4-D and chlorimuron ethyl were also analyzed using CE-LIF following derivatization with fluorescent reagents. Dicamba and 2,4-D were derivatized with 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxycoumarin and chlorimuron ethyl was derivatized with dansyl chloride following hydrolysis. The detection limit with CE-UV for atrazine, simazine and metolachlor was 0.1 μg/l and for alachlor was 1.0 μg/l. The estimated detection limit with CE-LIF for dicamba, 2,4-D and chlorimuron ethyl was 10 ng/l. Our results demonstrate that CE provides a powerful new analytical tool for herbicide analysis.
Leadership and Job Readiness: Addressing Social Determinants of Health among Ruralafrican American Men

There is increased recognition that the inequitable distribution of social determinants acts as a stressor that influences health outcomes. Men on the Move’s Leadership and Job Readiness (LJR) program was developed to improve employment opportunities and build leadership capacity for African American men living in a rural community. Pre-post questionnaires and interviews were conducted with participants to assess the immediate impact of LJR. Paired t-tests indicated that those respondents who were out of work significantly increased certain dimensions of their hope scores. Results also indicated increases in some elements of active coping and decreases in risky behavior. Using a linear regression model, increased hope was found to be a significant predictor of improvements in participants’ coping and behavior scores. Qualitative interviews showed increases in communication, job readiness and coping skills as well as an increased sense of hope and understanding among participants of their role as leaders in their community.
Microstructure Development and the Mechanisms of Lubrication in Magnetron Sputtered HfC-Ag and SiC-Ag Composite Thin Films

A soft thin coating on top of a hard substrate is a highly effective way to reduce friction of sliding mechanical components. However, soft coatings often have high wear and short lifetimes, and the restoring of solid lubricants can be remarkably uneconomical. In our recent work, composite TiC-Ag films were successfully deposited by the magnetron-sputtering pulsed laser deposition technique (MSPLD). Secondary electron (SE) images from the wear tracks revealed that silver migrates to the surface and smears along the sliding direction providing low friction, while the carbide phase provides adequate support and storage for the solid lubricant phase, all resulting in lower wear and longer lifetime. One proposed mechanism for lubrication is the friction-induced thermally activated migration of silver to the surface due to the insolubility of the carbide and silver phases which was corroborated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The formation of incoherent interfaces between the two phases, observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), may influence the adhesive friction behavior of the soft metal. In this study, we investigate the structural properties and vacuum tribological behavior of SiC-Ag and HfC-Ag films.
A theoretical examination of the acid-catalyzed and noncatalyzed ring-opening reaction of an oxirane by nucleophilic addition of acetate. Implications to epoxide hydrolases.

Ab initio and density functional calculations have been performed to gain a better understanding of the epoxide ring-opening reaction catalyzed by epoxide hydrolase. The SN2 reaction of acetate with 1S,2S-trans-2-methylstyrene oxide to provide the corresponding diol acetate ester was studied with and without general-acid catalysis. MP2 and DFT (B3LYP) calculations predict, for the noncatalyzed reaction, a central barrier of approximately 20−21 kcal/mol separating the reactants from products depending on which carbon center in the epoxide is undergoing attack. From these gas-phase reactions the immediate alkoxide products are not energetically far below their associated transition states such that the reaction is predicted to be endothermic. Inclusion of aqueous solvation effects via a polarizable continuum model predicts the activation barrier to increase by almost 10 kcal/mol due to the solvation of the acetate ion nucleophile. The activation barrier for the epoxide ring-opening reaction is reduced to ∼1...
High Schools for a New Century: Why Is the High School Changing?:

Secondary education in the United States has undergone a great deal of change in the last half of the 20th century. In the first wave of change, lower secondary education was transformed, changing the junior high school to the middle school. Most of this modification in middle level education has been completed; now profound change has reached the high school level.
Anesthetic and non-anesthetic effects on interfacial lipids around an ion channel

Abstract All atom molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the anesthetic and non-anesthetic effects on the dynamics of bulk and the interfacial dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine lipids surrounding a gramicidin-A (gA) channel. Two pairs of simulations in the presence and absence of halothane and of hexafluoroethane (HFE) were carried out for 2.2 and 8 ns, respectively. The order parameters, determined from the asymptotes of the autocorrelations of the vector between the nitrogen and the immediate methylene carbon of the choline head group and the C i −1 – C i +1 vectors for the i th carbon (C i ) in the lipid chains, show that the head groups are less ordered in the interfacial lipids than in the bulk lipids, and that neither halothane nor HFE at 5 mol% concentration has significant effects on the ordering of the interfacial or bulk lipid chains. Because halothane and HFE produce distinctly different effects on the global dynamics of gA channel, it is unlikely that anesthetic effects on gA are indirectly mediated through the lipids.
Analysis of somatic NF1 promoter methylation in plexiform neurofibromas and Schwann cells

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder with the characteristic feature being the neurofibroma. It is believed that both NF1 alleles must be inactivated as the first step in tumorigenesis. However, often the somatic mutations are not identified, suggesting that epigenetic changes such as methylation could account for the "second hit" in some tumors. The literature reports that the region of the NF1 promoter surrounding the transcription start site is completely unmethylated in several normal tissues and some NF1-related dermal and plexiform neurofibromas. We analyzed the methylation state of the NF1 promoter in normal Schwann cells (the cell type clonally expanded in neurofibromas) and in NF1-related plexiform tumor samples with unidentified somatic mutations. In a region of 451 bp surrounding the transcription start site, a low level of methylation was found at several specific cytosines in 12 of 18 tumor samples. Overall, epigenetic silencing through methylation does not appear to be a major mechanism for the second hit. However, this study, which analyzed the largest number of NF1-related plexiform tumors and is the first to include Schwann cell-enriched tumor cultures, detected greater methylation than in any previous reports. This suggests that methylation, especially at potential transcription factor binding sites, is moderately perturbed in some plexiform neurofibromas and should be investigated further.
Deterring a Nuclear 9/11

Can a nuclear terrorist attack be deterred? Nuclear forensic techniques to identify the origins of nuclear materials are improving, but significant associated strategic, political, diplomatic, and organizational challenges have yet to be sufficiently addressed.
Theistic Percepts in Other Species: Can Chimpanzees Represent the Minds of Non-Natural Agents?

The present theoretical article addresses the empirical question of whether other species, particularly chimpanzees, have the cognitive substrate necessary for experiencing theistic and otherwise non-natural (i.e., non-physical) percepts. The primary representational device presumed to underlie religious cognition was viewed as, in general, the capacity to attribute unobservable causal mechanisms to ostensible output and, in particular, a theory of mind. Drawing from a catalogue of behaviors that may be considered diagnostic of the secondary representations involved in theory of mind (or at least theory of mind precursors), important dissimilarities between humans and other species in the realms of the animate-inanimate distinction (self-propelledness versus mental agency of animate beings), imaginative play (feature-dependent make-believe versus true symbolic play), and the death concept (biological death conceptualization versus psychological death conceptualization) were shown. Differences in these domains support the claim that humans alone possess the foundational and functional representations inherent in religious experiences.
Tsunami runup on steep slopes: How good linear theory really is

This is a study of the application of linear theory for the estimation of the maximum runup height of long waves on plane beaches. The linear theory is reviewed and a method is presented for calculating the maximum runup. This method involves the calculation of the maximum value of an integral, now known as the runup integral. Laboratory and numerical results are presented to support this method. The implications of the theory are used to reevaluate many existing empirical runup correlations. It is shown that linear theory predicts the maximum runup satisfactorily. This study demonstrates that it is now possible to match complex offshore wave-evolution algorithms with linear theory runup solutions for the purpose of obtaining realistic tsunami inundation estimates.