cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Motivational foundations of communication, voluntary cooperation, and self-governance in a common-pool resource dilemma

Abstract Conventional wisdom (rational choice theory) assumes that individuals are destined to collectively destroy vital ecological systems due to their narrow self-interest. In contrast, Humanistic Rational Choice Theory (HRCT) assumes individuals can cooperatively self-govern, devising effective conservation agreements and governance systems to constrain self-interest for mutual benefit. To test this assumption, we examined the motivational, perceptual, and cooperative outcomes of communication in a resource dilemma experiment. HRCT assumes that poorly managed dilemmas undermine people's fundamental needs (e.g., procedural justice, security, equity), motivating them to self-govern. Groups that make decisions fairly (e.g., democratically) and enforce their agreements, should satisfy their collective needs better, ensuring better institutional acceptance and trust, thereby improving cooperation and sustainability. Small groups of four (N = 41 groups) harvested valuable resources from a shared pool without communication (Phase 1), with communication (Phase 2), and then without communication (Phase 3). Groups destroyed the resource and reported low need satisfaction during Phase 1. During Phase 2, most groups created governance systems, greatly improving their need satisfaction (ds≥1.32), trust (d = 2.30), cooperation and resource sustainability (η2=0.87). Democratically governed groups reported the greatest need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation (i.e., institutional internalization and acceptance), and trust, especially if they primarily used positive social sanctions (e.g., praise) to enforce their agreements. Negative sanctions (e.g., shaming, threats) backfired, unless used in democratic groups. These factors accounted for 47% of the variance in Phase 3 voluntary cooperation and resource sustainability. Groups self-governed to collectively satisfy their interdependent fundamental needs.
Pulmonary Function Testing: Predictors and Readmissions

Hospital readmission is a key measure for quality of patient care in U.S. hospitals. Readmission not only takes a financial toll on the patient and the system, but it also becomes a burden on the patient’s psychosocial wellbeing. Pulmonary diseases are among top conditions identified with the most readmissions. Pulmonary function testing has been considered as a tool to identify the patients that can safely be discharged from hospital.
Who Threw That Snowball

Between 1000 and 540 million years ago, Earth is believed to have undergone several episodes during which much of Earth9s surface was frozen. Geological evidence provides some insights into the mechanisms behind these "Snowball Earth" episodes. However, as Archer explains in his Perspective, it has remained unclear why these episodes occurred during this time and not at any other time in Earth9s history. Ridgwell et al. have identified a mechanism that may help to answer this question. At the time of the Snowball episodes, plankton that precipitate calcium carbonate in the open ocean had not yet evolved, and only shallow-ocean calcium carbonate deposition occurred. In this case, a drop in sea level would have driven a larger excursion in ocean pH and atmospheric COthan would occur today, amplifying any initial cooling until the snowball was well underway.
Booklovers' world: An examination of factors affecting continued usage of social cataloging sites

Little is known about what factors influence users' continued use of social cataloging sites. This study therefore examines the impacts of key factors from theories of information systems IS success and sense of community SOC on users' continuance intention in the social cataloging context. Data collected from an online survey of 323 social cataloging users provide empirical support for the research model. The findings indicate that both information quality IQ and system quality SQ are significant predictors of satisfaction and SOC, which in turn lead to users' intentions to continue using these sites. In addition, SOC was found to affect continuance intention not only directly, but also indirectly through satisfaction. Theoretically, this study draws attention to a largely unexplored but essential area of research in the social cataloging literature and provides a fundamental basis to understand the determinants of continued social cataloging usage. From a managerial perspective, the findings suggest that social cataloging service providers should constantly focus their efforts on the quality control of their contents and system, and the enhancement of SOC among their users.
High resolution ADC interface to main magnet power supply at the NSLS

Previous readings of DCCT were limited to 11 bits of resolution with large offsets and drifts, providing inaccurate data. The current design overcomes this limitation by using Analog Device's AD7703 20 bit serial output ADC to digitize the main magnet DCCT at the power supply, and transmit the data serially at 2 kHz over to the VME controller. >
Kinetics of the conformational transition of poly(methacrylic acid) after a pH jump, 2. Studies of nonradiative energy transfer

Doubly labeled poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA) samples with two different concentrations of carbazole and anthracene labels were prepared, and one sample was divided into two fractions of different molecular weight. Emission spectra were recorded in solutions without added salt, at ionic strengths 0,05 and 0,40 and in a 2 : 1 water-methanol mixture, as a function of pH. The nonradiative energy transfer (NET) from carbazole donor to anthracene acceptor decayed as the PMA coils expanded. On mixing solutions of the labeled PMA with buffer solutions of varying ionic strength in water or aqueous methanol in a stopped-flow apparatus, the expansion of the PMA was monitored by the decrease in anthracene emission intensity when the solution was irradiated in the carbazole absorption band. Only part of the process could be followed, since the initial expansion occurred in a sub-millisecond time. Some studies were also carried out on the kinetics of chain contraction when partially neutralized PMA solutions were acidified. The changing NET with the conformational transition of PMA was correlated with the change in the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer. The kinetic data obtained were generally in excellent agreement with those of an earlier study in which conformational changes of PMA were monitored by the changing emission of a dansyl label. In particular, the surprising slowness of the final approach to equilibrium was substantiated.
Supporting clickers on campus and the faculty who use them

Several colleges and universities have implemented standardized audience response systems (also known as "clickers"), in some cases providing the clickers in large locked boxes for students to use during class. Other campuses have clickers on campus because faculty members require students in their classes to purchase disparate clicker systems based on personal preferences or textbook bundles. Panel members from Williams College, West Virginia University, and Purdue University will present three institutional perspectives on how clickers are used and supported on their campuses. The panel members will present different models of how clickers can be implemented and supported on campus, discuss advantages and disadvantages of the particular clicker system they have selected, and provide advice for those considering implementation of clickers for the first time.
Directly Chirped Laser Source for Chirped-Pulse Amplification

A programmable, all-fiber, chirped-pulse seed laser system based on direct phase modulation produces 2.5-ns optical pulses with 0.78-nm bandwidth centered at 1053 nm that are suitable for chirped-pulse amplification.
QoS supporting and optimal energy allocation for a cluster based wireless sensor network

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become a very active and important area of research due to their potential in civil and military applications. A lot of research works focus on energy efficient routing protocols due to the limited energy of battery-powered nodes. Currently, the increasing interest in multimedia applications has made the QoS (quality of service) supporting an unavoidable task. In this paper, we perform the analysis of QoS supporting and optimal energy allocation issues by presenting a cluster based WSN. A QoS supporting scheme is developed for dynamic traffic conditions by controlling data generating rates at individual clusters. In addition, an explicit solution on the energy distribution at different clusters in the WSN is investigated based on an optimal energy allocation criterion. The localized QoS controlling scheme is useful in WSNs due to flexibility and scalability, and the obtained network energy distribution formula is particularly convenient for node deployment design in WSNs and three specific situations are discussed as applications.
Chirale C2‐symmetrische CuII‐Komplexe als Katalysatoren für enantioselektive Hetero‐Diels‐Alder‐Reaktionen

Luftstabil und wiederverwendbar ist der CuII-Bis(oxazolin)-Komplex 1, der enantio- und diastereoselektive Hetero-Diels-Alder-Reaktionen von β,γ-ungesattigten α-Oxosaure-Derivaten 2 mit Vinylethern zu substituierten Dihydropyranen 3 effizient katalysiert [Gl. (1)]. Die Kristallstruktur von 1 in Verbindung mit Modellrechnungen legt nahe, das durch Austausch der beiden H2O-Liganden gegen das chelatisierende Substrat ein reaktives Intermediat entsteht. X=OEt, N(OMe)Me; R=Alkyl, Aryl, Alkoxy, Thiobenzyl.
Global spinor fields in space-time

This paper is concerned with space-time manifolds that are space- and time-oriented, causal, and possess spinor structures. Five propositions are proven: (1) If a connected, space- and time-oriented manifold is simply con-nected, then it is non-compact; (2) If such a manifold is simply connected, it admits a spinor structure, which, moreover, is unique; (3) If the space-like section of M is compact, then there exists a global system of orthonormal tetrads on M; (4) The necessary and sufficient condition for every space-time M whose space-like section is compact to admit a spinor structure is that M have a global system of orthonormal tetrads; (5) Every space-time M which can be imbedded in R6 admits a spinor structure. It is further suggested that in view of the fact that the existence of a spinor structure is related to homotopy properties, space-time manifolds may be classified in terms of their homotopy groups πi (M), i=1,2, 3,4. In a concluding section, some avenues for future research are discussed.
Abstract P6-12-03: Predictors of poor clinical outcome among patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) who did and did not achieve pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy (NST) is strongly associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes, even among the patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). In this study, we examined the clinical factors determining long-term outcome in patients with IBC who did and did not achieve pCR. METHODS: We identified patients with primary IBC treated with NST who received definitive surgery within 1 year and were evaluable for pathological tumor response, and whose hormone receptor and HER2 status was available at baseline. pCR was defined as no evidence of invasive cancer in the breast and ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. We also investigated the relationship between clinical outcome and the ratio of positive to excised lymph nodes (lymph node ratio) in the non-pCR group. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS); groups were compared using the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were fit to identify predictors of DFS and OS. RESULTS: Among 517 patients treated at MDACC between 1998 and 2011, 79 (15.2%) achieved pCR. A total of 50.3% had hormone receptor-positive disease, 37.5% had HER2-positive disease, and 26.3% had triple-negative disease. NST included an anthracycline and a taxane in 72.9% of the patients, an anthracycline only in 17.3% and others in 9.8%. A total of 83.7% of patients received adjuvant radiation therapy. The median follow-up period was 3.9 years in the pCR group and 2.4 years in the non-pCR group. Two-year DFS for pCR and non-pCR groups are 74% and 40%, respectively (p P = 0.006) and DFS ( P = 0.024). In the non-pCR group, high lymph node ratio, triple-negative disease, vascular invasion, and positive surgical margins were associated with decreased OS and DFS, and adjuvant radiation and hormonal therapies were associated with increased OS and DFS in the multivariate model. As shown in the table, increased lymph node ratios were associated with increased estimated hazard ratios for OS and DFS in the non-pCR group. CONCLUSIONS: In patients who do not achieve pCR, high lymph node ratio and positive surgical margins predict poor outcome after NST. Use of an optimized tri-modality treatment plan (chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy) is important to achieve the best outcomes in patients with IBC; Surgery including total mastectomy with clear margins and axillary dissection to remove all nodal tissue are critical for achieving optimal clinical outcomes in IBC. Even in the pCR group, some patients with triple negative disease still had a poor prognosis suggesting a need for more effective systemic therapy such as innovative agents tailored to the Lehmann subtypes. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P6-12-03.
Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Porcine Parvovirus (PPV) Provisionally Designated PPV5.

ABSTRACT A new porcine parvovirus (PPV) was identified from pig lung tissues in the United States. It is most closely related to the recently identified PPV4 with overall genomic identities of 64.1 to 67.3%. Unlike PPV4, this virus lacks the additional open reading frame 3 (ORF3) and has a much longer ORF2. The name PPV5 is provisionally proposed.
Inferior Alveolar Nerve Canal Position: A Clinical and Radiographic Study

Purpose To document a clinically relevant position of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) in dentate patients and identify patient factors associated with IAN position. Materials and Methods The investigators used a cross-sectional study design and a study sample of subjects who had a radiographically identifiable IAN canal and at least 1 mandibular first molar was enrolled. Predictor variables were age, gender, and race. Outcome variables were the linear distances between the buccal aspect of the IAN canal and the outer buccal cortical margin of the mandible, and the superior aspect of the IAN canal and the alveolar crest. Appropriate uni-, bi-, and multivariate statistics were computed. Results The study sample was composed of 50 patients with a mean age of 42 years, 42.0% were male, and 73.2% were white. On average, the buccal aspect of the canal was 4.9 mm from the buccal cortical margin of the mandible. The superior aspect of the IAN canal was 17.4 mm inferior from the alveolar crest. Age and race were statistically associated with IAN position relative to the buccal cortical mandibular margin ( P Conclusions The IAN canal was 4.9 mm and 17.4 mm from the buccal and superior cortical surfaces of the mandible, respectively. The bucco-lingual IAN canal position was associated with age and race. Older patients and white patients, on average, have less distance between the buccal aspect of the canal and the buccal mandibular border. To minimize the risk of IAN injury, these variables should be considered when planning mandibular osteotomies or using monocortical plates.
Estimating the joint disease outbreak-detection time when an automated biosurveillance system is augmenting traditional clinical case finding

The goals of automated biosurveillance systems are to detect disease outbreaks early, while exhibiting few false positives. Evaluation measures currently exist to estimate the expected detection time of biosurveillance systems. Researchers also have developed models that estimate clinician detection of cases of outbreak diseases, which is a process known as clinical case finding. However, little research has been done on estimating how well biosurveillance systems augment traditional outbreak detection that is carried out by clinicians. In this paper, we introduce a general approach for doing so for non-endemic disease outbreaks, which are characteristic of bioterrorist induced diseases, such as respiratory anthrax. We first layout the basic framework, which makes minimal assumptions, and then we specialize it in several ways. We illustrate the method using a Bayesian outbreak detection algorithm called PANDA, a model of clinician outbreak detection, and simulated cases of a windborne anthrax release. This analysis derives a bound on how well we would expect PANDA to augment clinician detection of an anthrax outbreak. The results support that such analyses are useful in assessing the extent to which computer-based outbreak detection systems are expected to augment traditional clinician outbreak detection.
Experienced and less-experienced nurses' diagnostic reasoning: implications for fostering students' critical thinking.

PURPOSE. To compare the use of mental representations (heuristics) in diagnostic reasoning of expert (≥5 years' experience) and novice (<5 years' experience) emergency nurses. METHODS. Clinical simulations were completed by a nationwide randomly selected sample of 173 experienced and 46 less-experienced emergency nurses (N =229). FINDINGS. Experienced nurses used the heuristic, Judging by Causal Systems (diagnostic inferences deduced from systems of causal factors) significantly more did than less-experienced nurses. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. Standardized nursing diagnoses may cut short the time needed to develop representational thinking and spare cognitive reserves for reasoning needed for complex patients. Faculty need to promote students' cognitive development through strategies that promote active, reflective, and integrative learning. Search terms: Clinical experience, diagnostic reasoning
Prone Breast Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy: 5-Year Results

Purpose To report the 5-year results of a technique of prone breast radiation therapy delivered by a regimen of accelerated intensity modulated radiation therapy with a concurrent boost to the tumor bed. Methods and Materials Between 2003 and 2006, 404 patients with stage I-II breast cancer were prospectively enrolled into 2 consecutive protocols, institutional trials 03-30 and 05-181, that used the same regimen of 40.5 Gy/15 fractions delivered to the index breast over 3 weeks, with a concomitant daily boost to the tumor bed of 0.5 Gy (total dose 48 Gy). All patients were treated after segmental mastectomy and had negative margins and nodal assessment. Patients were set up prone: only if lung or heart volumes were in the field was a supine setup attempted and chosen if found to better spare these organs. Results Ninety-two percent of patients were treated prone, 8% supine. Seventy-two percent had stage I, 28% stage II invasive breast cancer. In-field lung volume ranged from 0 to 228.27 cm 3 , mean 19.65 cm 3 . In-field heart volume for left breast cancer patients ranged from 0 to 21.24 cm 3 , mean 1.59 cm 3 . There was no heart in the field for right breast cancer patients. At a median follow-up of 5 years, the 5-year cumulative incidence of isolated ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence was 0.82% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65%-1.04%). The 5-year cumulative incidence of regional recurrence was 0.53% (95% CI 0.41%-0.69%), and the 5-year overall cumulative death rate was 1.28% (95% CI 0.48%-3.38%). Eighty-two percent (95% CI 77%-85%) of patients judged their final cosmetic result as excellent/good. Conclusions Prone accelerated intensity modulated radiation therapy with a concomitant boost results in excellent local control and optimal sparing of heart and lung, with good cosmesis. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group protocol 1005, a phase 3, multi-institutional, randomized trial is ongoing and is evaluating the equivalence of a similar dose and fractionation approach to standard 6-week radiation therapy with a sequential boost.
Secretion of nitrate by rectal gland of Squalus acanthias.

Abstract 1. 1. Rectal glands secrete nitrate at 30% of their capacity to secrete chloride. 2. 2. Nitrate secretion is directly related to its concentration at constant chloride concentrations. 3. 3. Chloride has a biphasic effect on nitrate secretion. 4. 4. Hill coefficients at chloride 5. 6. Lineweaver-Burk plots at chloride 6. 7. Bumetanide inhibits nitrate secretion. 7. 8. The data suggest that nitrate interacts with one of the two chloride sites of the chloride transporter.
Synchronization of estrus and ovulation in gilts with estradiol and prostaglandin F2α

Abstract Twenty-two crossbred gilts at various stages of the estrous cycle were injected IM with 5 mg of estradiol benzoate (EB) daily for 20 days. Five days after the last EB injection, 11 gilts were injected IM with 10 mg of prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α ) free acid and 11 gilts were injected IM with saline (control). Gilts were bred at first estrus, and ova were recovered 4 days later from PGF 2α - treated gilts. The controls failed to display estrus throughout the experimental period, and at necropsy, corpora lutea (CL) were present in 10 control gilts. The other control gilt had preovulatory follicles. Nine of the 11 PGF 2α - treated gilts displayed estrus 6.1 ± .4 days after treatment. However, one of these nine gilts failed to ovulate and only preovulatory follicles were present on the ovaries. The two PGF 2α - treated gilts that remained anestrual throughout the experiment had only preovulatory follicles present on the ovaries. Plasma progesterone levels of control gilts did not change throughout the experimental period while progesterone levels dropped sharply from approximately 14 ng/ml to 1 ng/ml within 24 hr after PGF 2α injection and remained low throughout the sampling period indicating that progesterone production of the CL maintained by the EB was suddenly terminated by PGF 2α . The number of ova recovered was 87% of the number of CL present and 77% of the ova recovered were fertilized. Ovarian cysts were absent and pretreatment ovulation rate of the controls and post-treatment ovulation rate of the PGF 2α gilts were similar. The results from this experiment suggest that estrogen pretreatment of randomly cycling gilts for 20 days followed by PGF 2α is an effective estrus and ovulation control regime.
The interaction of bovine dentine phosphophoryn and collagen during fibrillogenesis of collaten in vitro

Abstract Bovine dentinal phosphophoryn retards the rate of collagen self-assembly when monomeric collagen is the kinetic unit in fibriilogenesis in vitro. This inhibition is dependent on phosphorylation of the protein and affects the lag period rather than the growth phase for the formation of collagen fibrils. Treatment of the phosphophoryn with calcium markedly increases the inibitory effect. The use of several fluorescent hydrophobic probes indicates that the calcium-binding to phosphophoryn does not expose any additional interacting hydrophobic domains, thus suggesting that calcium potentiates this interaction, probably by providing a different spatial arrangement of charged groups on this polyelectrolyte, phosphophoryn.
Baumgartner's Modified Pull-Up Test For Male and Female Elementary School Aged Children

(1982). Baumgartner's Modified Pull-Up Test For Male and Female Elementary School Aged Children. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport: Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 163-164.
A new approach to the detection of DNA damage

A method is described which permits the detection of damage produced in unlabeled DNA by daunorubicin, nitrogen mustard, or radiation. After exposure to one of the agents the cells are embedded in an agarose block and lysed to release the DNA. The agarose block is then transferred to a well in an agarose gel and electrophoresis performed. DNA damage is recognized by the presence of DNA whose molecular weight is less than the DNA of cells not exposed to the damaging agent. By transferring the DNA to a solid phase the DNA can be probed with radiolabeled cDNAs to assess damage in specific genes. DNA damage detected by this method correlates well with a loss in the clonogenic capacity of the cells. This method will permit assessment of biologically meaningful DNA damage in unlabeled clinical specimens.
Interaction of soluble guanylate cyclase with YC-1: kinetic and resonance Raman studies.

The enzyme-soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), which converts GTP to cGMP, is a receptor for the signaling agent nitric oxide (NO). YC-1, a synthetic benzylindazole derivative, has been shown to activ...
Instability of a fiber-reinforced thick slab under axial loading

Abstract Equations for small deformations superimposed on a finite deformation of an arbitrary isotropic and compressible, non-linearly elastic solid constrained by inextensible fibers are reviewed. The instability of a thick slab of infinite extent reinforced by strong fibers oriented through its thickness normal to the loading axis is then examined by application of Euler's criterion for dead loading. Solutions are obtained which suggest that special results in the literature on the tension instability of an ideal reinforced Blatz-Ko foamed rubber slab are questionable. It is proved that if the non-linearly elastic matrix material of the ideal reinforced slab satisfies the empirical inequalities and the tension-extension principle, the only mode of instability consistent with plane strain conditions occurs for compression loading, never for tension loading. The class of generalized Blatz-Ko materials that respect these rules is described; the foamed rubber model is not in this class.
The effects of conflict intensity and promisor credibility on a target’s behavior

Noncontingent promises of varying credibility were made to Ss in conditions of high and low conflict intensity established by manipulating the payoff values in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (PDG) payoff matrix. Highly credible promises produced more cooperation on the message trials than did low credibility promises. Ss concealed their choice intentions more when credibility was low. Greater overall cooperation, trust, and repentence were displayed when the conflict intensity was low. Conflict intensity interacted with credibility on the proportion of forgiveness shown. Females were more repentent than males when promise conditions were compared to controls.
Beta adrenergic-blockers decrease adrenergically stimulated N-acetyltransferase activity in pineal glands in organ culture

Treatment with 10 μM l-propranolol caused a rapid decrease in the high level of acetyl coenzyme A: serotonin N-acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.5, N-acetyltransferase) activity in pineal glands cultured in the presence of 1 μM norepinephrine. d-Propranolol was ineffective except at high concentration (1 mM). The same stereospecificity was also observed in organ culture when d- or l-propranolol was tested as a blocker of the norepinephrine-induced increase in N-acetyltransferase activity. Practolol (10–300 μM), a relatively specific β1,-blocker, also initiated a decrease and inhibited the norepinephrineinduced increase in N-acetyltransferase. Butoxamine (10–300 μM), a relatively specific β2-blocker, had no significant effect in either experimental situation. The percentage decrease in N-acetyltransferase activity after 40 min of treatment with l-propranolol was strongly dependent on temperature. At 40° C enzyme activity decreased by 92% but at 34° C enzyme activity decreased by only 50%. l-Propranolol (20 μM) did not inhibit the increase or initiate a decrease in N-acetyltransferase activity in pineal glands treated with 1 mM N6,O2 -dibutyryl adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate. The fast response observed when l-propranolol was added to the culture medium of norepinephrinetreated glands was not blocked by cycloheximide treatment. Concentrations of ouabain or K+, which are known to completely inhibit the norepinephrine-stimulated increase in N-acetyltransferase activity, caused only a small decrease in induced N-acetyltransferase activity, similar to that due to cycloheximide treatment.
Tocopherols in Chicken Breast and Leg Muscles Determined by Reverse Phase Liquid Chromatography

Tocopherols were extracted from broiler muscles with hexane after saponification and determined by reverse phase liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Both alpha- and gamma- tocopherols were found in both breast and leg muscles, raw or cooked. Mean recovery values were alpha- 91.2% and gamma-tocopherols 94.2%. Leg meat contained almost twice as much total tocopherols as breast meat. This favorable distribution of tocopherols may be significant in retarding oxidative changes of cooked leg tissues during post-cooking storage. Cooking had no significant effect on retention of tocopherols on a dry weight basis for breast or leg meat.
THE EFFECTS OF REINFORCER CHOICE ON RATES OF CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR AND FREE OPERANT RESPONDING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

A multielement design was used to evaluate the eAects of three reinforcement conditions on the free-operant and challenging responses of two individuals with severe disabilities. Preference assessments identified three stimuli that could function as reinforcers for each participant. Reinforcers were delivered on a variable ratio schedule for a free-operant response. In the participant-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three diAerent stimuli in front of the participant, who was allowed to select one. In the constant condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three identical stimuli in front of the participant. Within each session the three stimuli were held constant, but varied across sessions. In the experimenter-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of an array of three identical stimuli being placed in front of the participant. Within each session, the three stimuli were presented in an order predetermined by the experimenter such that, on average, each stimulus was available every third reinforcer delivery. For both individuals, the participantselected condition resulted in lower average rates of challenging responses and slightly higher average free-operant response rates. No diAerences in responding were noted between the constant condition and the experimenter-selected condition. #1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Individuals with severe disabilities frequently require dense reinforcement for both skill acquisition and the reduction of challenging behaviors. Finding and maintaining eAective reinforcers are essential for eAective intervention. Most reinforcement procedures used in applied settings are derived from basic animal research in which establishing operations, such as deprivation, were manipulated (Michael, 1982). Although there is some evidence that manipulating establishing operations can aAect responding in individuals with developmental disabilities
Parental bonding may moderate the relationship between parent physical activity and youth physical activity after school

Abstract Objectives The processes and conditions through which parents may influence children's physical activity have not been identified. This study tested the hypothesis that bonding with parents would moderate the relationships between parental physical activity and youth physical activity. Design A cross-sectional preliminary study. Methods A total of 57 sixth and seventh grade students completed a survey that assessed bonding with parents and parental physical activity. Then, on 3 days, they reported their moderate and vigorous physical activity using the Previous Day Physical Activity Recall. Results Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed a moderation effect such that the interaction between bonding with parents and parental physical activity significantly predicted youth physical activity after controlling for their main effects. Conclusion This preliminary study suggests that interventions targeting parents as the route to increasing physical activity may need to target both increasing parental physical activity and the parent--child bond.
How provoking! what makes men and women angry?

This study looked at differences in anger-provoking behaviors and in verbal insults as a function of the gender of the aggressor and the target of the provocation. Responses of 416 college students revealed that males were more likely to consider a female exhibiting physical aggression or a male hurting another person as anger-provoking, whereas females were more likely to mention condescending or insensitive behaviors from either sex, verbal aggression from a female, and physical aggression from a male. Physical aggression and hurting another provoked more anger when they came from a male, whereas dishonesty from a female evoked more anger. Females also felt that insensitive and condescending behaviors were worse when they came from a male. Most of the verbal insults were sexual in nature, with few sex of subject differences. However, it was considered worse for women to be called promiscuous; for men to be called sexually inadequate, worthless, or cowardly; for women to call men an obscene name; and for people to be called homosexual by a same sex speaker. These results are consistent both with previous research and with traditional gender role beliefs suggesting that women are more upset by condescending behaviors and that women's promiscuity, as well as men's aggression toward women, hurting another, sexual inadequacy, and cowardice, are viewed particularly negatively. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
RESPONDING OF PIGEONS UNDER VARIABLE‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF SIGNALED‐DELAYED REINFORCEMENT: EFFECTS OF DELAY‐SIGNAL DURATION

Two experiments with pigeons examined the relation of the duration of a signal for delay ("delay signal") to rates of key pecking. The first employed a multiple schedule comprised of two components with equal variable-interval 60-s schedules of 27-s delayed food reinforcement. In one component, a short (0.5-s) delay signal, presented immediately following the key peck that began the delay, was increased in duration across phases; in the second component the delay signal initially was equal to the length of the programmed delay (27 s) and was decreased across phases. Response rates prior to delays were an increasing function of delay-signal duration. As the delay signal was decreased in duration, response rates were generally higher than those obtained under identical delay-signal durations as the signal was increased in duration. In Experiment 2 a single variable-interval 60-s schedule of 27-s delayed reinforcement was used. Delay-signal durations were again increased gradually across phases. As in Experiment 1, response rates increased as the delay-signal duration was increased. Following the phase during which the signal lasted the entire delay, shorter delay-signal-duration conditions were introduced abruptly, rather than gradually as in Experiment 1, to determine whether the gradual shortening of the delay signal accounted for the differences observed in response rates under identical delay-signal conditions in Experiment 1. Response rates obtained during the second exposures to the conditions with shorter signals were higher than those observed under identical conditions as the signal duration was increased, as in Experiment 1. In both experiments, rates and patterns of responding during delays varied greatly across subjects and were not systematically related to delay-signal durations. The effects of the delay signal may be related to the signal's role as a discriminative stimulus for adventitiously reinforced intradelay behavior, or the delay signal may have served as a conditioned reinforcer by virtue of the temporal relation between it and presentation of food.
Red Tape and Democracy: How Rules Affect Citizenship Rights:

Over the past 15 years, political science has paid increasing attention to the feedback effects of policy—the idea that the design of policies has profound effects on how citizens experience government and understand their role in the polity. One concept that is perfectly placed to explain how citizens experience administrative rules is red tape. But even as an impressive empirical scholarship on red tape has grown in recent years, it has focused almost exclusively on organizational actors rather than citizens. This article ties the red tape concept into a policy feedback framework. The authors argue that administrative rules frequently exert significant and unjustified compliance burden that restrict access to political and social rights. Furthermore, such burdens have equity implications, because they are often disproportionately experienced by disadvantaged groups. These propositions are illustrated using examples from welfare state and election policies in the United States.
NCX1 Na/Ca exchanger inhibition by antisense oligonucleotides in mouse distal convoluted tubule cells

NCX 1 Na/Ca exchanger inhibition by antisense oligonucleotides in mouse distal convoluted tubule cells. Background Plasma membrane NCX 1 Na + /Ca 2+ exchangers mediate cellular Ca 2+ efflux. Renal distal convoluted tubule (DCT) cells express transcripts encoding three alternatively spliced NCX 1 isoforms: NACA2 (exons B, C, D), NACA3 (exons B and D), and NACA6 (exons A, C, D). We used antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) to determine the function of these NACA isoforms on Na + /Ca 2+ exchanger activity and expression in DCT cells. Methods Sense and antisense ODNs targeting exchanger transcripts were introduced into DCT cells permeabilized with streptolysin O. Na + /Ca 2+ exchange activity was assessed by measuring Na + -dependent changes of free intracellular Ca 2+ concentration (Δ[Ca 2+ ] i ), in single cells, when the electrochemical gradient for Na + was reversed. Results The change of [Ca 2+ ] i in cells treated with antisense ODNs to a downstream or upstream region common to all NCX 1 isoforms was 173nm (-66%) to the downstream region located in the putative ninth transmembrane domain, and 226nm (-39%) with ODNs to an upstream region located 5′ to the variable portion of the intracellular loop. Antisense ODNs to exon B, present in both NACA2 and NACA3, decreased Δ[Ca 2+ ] i by 209nm (-44%), while antisense ODNs specific for NACA6 (exon A) were without effect. Antisense ODNs specific for exon C, present in NACA2 and NACA6, decreased Δ[Ca 2+ ] i by 226nm (-39%). Northern analysis of mRNA prepared from primary cultures of distal tubule cells revealed exon B- but not exon A-containing transcripts. Immunofluorescence analysis using a polyclonal antibody that recognizes NCX 1 confirmed that protein expression was inhibited after treatment with the exon B antisense ODNs. Conclusion These findings show that Na + -dependent cellular Ca 2+ efflux in DCT cells is primarily mediated by NACA2 and NACA3.
Early Results and Late Developments of the Waterston Anastomosis

The early results and late developments are presented of a consecutive series of 36 patients who underwent anastomosis of the ascending aorta to right pulmonary artery during a six-year period for a variety of congenital malformations associated with cyanosis and severe pulmonary stenosis or atresia. Twenty-six were infants under one year of age, and 16 of these were under one month of age at the time of operation. The early operative mortality of 22% was related to the severity of the anomaly and the young age of the patient. There were no early deaths in those aged three months or more. If the anastomosis was patent, symptomatic relief was good. However, the long-term mortality was 53%. Except for one baby who died of an associated congenital anomaly, the deaths were related to some consequence of the Waterston anastomosis that was unforeseen at the time of its employment. These included obliteration of the anastomosis, kinking of the anastomosis with partial or complete interruption of continuity between right and left pulmonary arteries, obliteration of the right pulmonary artery, progressive severe obstruction to right ventricular outflow and decreased flow to the left lung, as well as the complications of an excessive shunt with cardiac failure and pulmonary vascular obstructive disease. One or more subsequent palliative operations were required in nine symptomatic patients. Of the ten children with tetralogy of Fallot who underwent later open-heart repair, four died because of the difficulty in takedown of the Waterston and relief of the acquired stenosis or atresia of the right pulmonary artery and of the right ventricular outflow tract and hypoplasia of the left pulmonary artery. This mortality rate of 40% in these tetralogies contrasts with a concurrent mortality rate of less than 5% in a consecutive series of 50 patients with a tetralogy who had not had a previous Waterston procedure. We believe that this form of palliation should be reserved for those symptomatic, cyanotic newborns who are candidates for palliative rather than reparative surgery and who are not suitable for a Blalock-Taussig or Potts anastomosis.
Language Acquisition: When Does the Learning Begin?

Language acquisition is quite sophisticated by four months of age. Two cues that babies use to discriminate their language from another are the stress patterns of words and visual cues inherent in language production.
Protein-membrane interactions: specific vs. non-specific adsorption and binding of proteins and polyamino acids on erythroblasts transformed by Friend virus.

Abstract Friend-virus transformed erythroblasts (HFL cells) were incubated in solutions containing up to 3 different proteinaceous compounds at pH 7.2 or 5.5 at 5 °C. The specificity of interaction of each compound with the cell surface was determined by comparing the amounts of each compound adsorbed and bound in the presence of 2 or 3 different compounds or after prior binding of another compound to the amounts when the individual compounds alone interacted with the cells. At pH 7.2, ovalbumin and gelatin apparently interacted with cell surface components common to both proteins, as indicated by a decrease (up to 80%) in the amount of each compound adsorbed and bound in the presence, or after the binding, of the other compound. The relative amounts of each compound that interacted were different at pH 5.5 and pH 7.2. Gelatin and poly-L-lysine interacted mainly with different components at pH 7.2, whereas common components appeared to be involved at pH 5.5. Concanavalin A interacted preferentially with components that it shared with lysozyme at both pH values. In addition to variations in interactions with changes in pH and type of compound, variations occurred with changes in concentration of the compounds and with their sequence of addition to the cells. Comparative studies with horse red blood cells showed that the interactions differed markedly with cell type.
Datapoints: Perceived Benefits of Substance Abuse Treatments

780 A of benefits of substance abuse treatments has focused mainly on abstinence from or reduction in substance use. However, the benefits of treatment may go beyond substance abuse outcomes and include improvement in health, social, and vocational domains. This study used data from the Services Research Outcomes Study (SROS) (1) to examine benefits of substance abuse treatments in a number of domains. The SROS interviewed a representative sample of 1,799 clients who received care in 99 treatment facilities across the United States during the 12-month period ending August 31, 1990. Treatment modality, substance abuse outcomes, and perceived benefits of treatment in other Perceived Benefits of Substance Abuse Treatments
Homegrown web applications that organize, optimize and energize

The CITES Help Desk is the first point of contact for most IT-related issues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As such, we take in and push out incredible amounts of information every day. Internally, we receive policy changes, new triaging recommendations and status updates on more than 100 CITES services. This information has to be quickly and accurately shared with our front line consultants who in turn must communicate the information to our customers. All of these customer interactions are captured in our ticketing system, and these cases are monitored to ensure that our customers are getting the correct information. On top of that data, we must maintain personnel files and accurate, yet dynamic, schedules for our 35 student consultants. Keeping track of all this information used to be a big problem.In 2006, we got organized. We created an internal web page for our consultants where we could post and archive announcements, house our troubleshooting tools, and even have some fun. In parallel we devised an internal staff page where we could track wage histories, student commendations and service level definition data. Most importantly, the staff page helped us to standardize and expedite our case reviews, which were previously tedious at best or ignored at worst. We even developed a better student scheduling tool. And we did this all from the ground up. This paper will explore how and why we created these tools and explain how we were able to leverage our FTEs' and student consultants' collective knowledge and skills.
Model potential for beryllium clusters

A many-body potential is developed for beryllium based on the electronic information extracted from the total energy surface of clusters with up to 5 atoms. The cluster sequence of growth generated with the potential is in excellent agreement with the quantum mechanical calculations in the literature. The hcp lattice of bulk beryllium is correctly found to be more stable than fcc and bcc lattices.
What factors account for hormone replacement therapy prescribing frequency

Abstract Objectives : The purpose of this study was to compare hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescribing frequency to provider characteristics, attitudes and beliefs about menopause and HRT. Methods : There was a mailed survey of providers at a large staff-model HMO in Washington state. Participants included 250 family practice physicians, 22 gynecologists, and 13 women's health care specialists and nurse midwives (83% response rate). The primary outcome, ‘HRT prescribing frequency’ (derived from automated pharmacy and visit data) was defined as: the total number of estrogen prescriptions written by the provider and filled by women aged 50–80 years during the 12 months prior to the survey, divided by the number of visits made to the provider by women aged 50–80 years during that same 12-month period. Covariates included provider characteristics and beliefs about menopause and HRT. Logistic regression was used to distinguish providers in the upper 40% versus the lower 60% of HRT prescribing frequency. Results : Controlling for age and practice type, HRT prescribing frequency was lower among men than women providers (odds ratio [OR] 0.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21–0.65), higher among providers who agreed (vs. disagreed or neutral) that a convincing scientific case has been made that HRT prevents heart disease (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.53–4.61), and higher among those in the upper tertile vs. lower tertiles of an HRT encouragement scale (OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.29–4.85). Conclusions : Female providers and providers with positive attitudes toward HRT are the most likely to prescribe it.