cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among High-Risk Patients in the United States (NHANES 2001-2012): Implications for Clinical Practice.

INTRODUCTION Patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and respiratory disease are susceptible to health consequences related to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. This study examined the prevalence, time trends, and correlates of SHS exposure among these patients compared with individuals without these diseases (control). METHODS Data were obtained from the 2001-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. All adults (≥20 years old) who were nonsmokers and exposed to SHS (serum cotinine level 0.015-10 ng/mL), had cancer (n = 1,440), CVD (congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, angina, heart attack, or stroke; n = 1,754), respiratory disease (asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema; n = 1,444), or none of these diseases (control; n = 11,615) were included in the analysis. Weighted prevalence, weighted second-degree polynomial linear regression of prevalence on year for trend analysis, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed with adjustments to the complex survey design. RESULTS SHS exposure was the highest among patients with respiratory disease (72.1%), followed by patients with CVD (70.6%), controls (70.4%), and patients with cancer (65.4%). From 2001 to 2012, exposure decreased the most among CVD patients (19.6%), followed by controls (16.0%), cancer patients (14.7%), and respiratory patients (10.0%). Exposed individuals in all groups were more likely to be younger, Black, and less educated. Exposed patients with respiratory disease were more likely to be former smokers (p < .05 for all). CONCLUSIONS SHS exposure among these patients is high and comparable to the general population. Strengthening smoke-free policies in all settings is critical. More efforts are needed to address SHS exposure more effectively in clinical care settings. IMPLICATIONS Despite the negative health effect of SHS exposure among patients with cancer, CVD, and respiratory disease, modest progress has been made in reducing their exposure. Continued efforts to strengthen smoke-free policies in workplaces, public place, and multiunit housing is critical. In addition, exposure to SHS among these patients seems to be overlooked in clinical care settings. More efforts are needed to address this problem more effectively in health care settings and investigate specific interventions directed at increasing patients' awareness about the risk of exposure to SHS and helping them to reducing their exposure.
Improving classification with forced labeling of other related classes: application to prediction of upstaged ductal carcinoma in situ using mammographic features

Predicting whether ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) identified at core biopsy contains occult invasive disease is an import task since these “upstaged” cases will affect further treatment planning. Therefore, a prediction model that better classifies pure DCIS and upstaged DCIS can help avoid overtreatment and overdiagnosis. In this work, we propose to improve this classification performance with the aid of two other related classes: Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia (ADH) and Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC). Our data set contains mammograms for 230 cases. Specifically, 66 of them are ADH cases; 99 of them are biopsy-proven DCIS cases, of whom 25 were found to contain invasive disease at the time of definitive surgery. The remaining 65 cases were diagnosed with IDC at core biopsy. Our hypothesis is that knowledge can be transferred from training with the easier and more readily available cases of benign but suspicious ADH versus IDC that is already apparent at initial biopsy. Thus, embedding both ADH and IDC cases to the classifier will improve the performance of distinguishing upstaged DCIS from pure DCIS. We extracted 113 mammographic features based on a radiologist’s annotation of clusters.Our method then added both ADH and IDC cases during training, where ADH were “force labeled” or treated by the classifier as pure DCIS (negative) cases, and IDC were labeled as upstaged DCIS (positive) cases. A logistic regression classifier was built based on the designed training dataset to perform a prediction of whether biopsy-proven DCIS cases contain invasive cancer. The performance was assessed by repeated 5-fold CrossValidation and Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) curve analysis. While prediction performance with only training on DCIS dataset had an average AUC of 0.607(%95CI, 0.479-0.721). By adding both ADH and IDC cases for training, we improved the performance to 0.691(95%CI, 0.581-0.801).
Locate the hate: detecting tweets against blacks

Although the social medium Twitter grants users freedom of speech, its instantaneous nature and retweeting features also amplify hate speech. Because Twitter has a sizeable black constituency, racist tweets against blacks are especially detrimental in the Twitter community, though this effect may not be obvious against a backdrop of half a billion tweets a day. We apply a supervised machine learning approach, employing inexpensively acquired labeled data from diverse Twitter accounts to learn a binary classifier for the labels "racist" and "nonracist" The classifier has a 76% average accuracy on individual tweets, suggesting that with further improvements, our work can contribute data on the sources of anti-black hate speech.
Molecular characterization of genetic resistance to soybean cyst nematode in soybean line ss97-6946.

Breeding resistant cultivars is the most efficient means to control soybean cyst nematode (SCN) but the nematode overcomes the resistance. A study was conducted to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) conferring broad-spectrum SCN resistance in SS97-6946 at University of Missouri, USA. A set of 160 F2 individuals from the cross PI 567476 X SS97-6946 was genotyped with 347 Single Sequence Repeat and evaluated against four races of SCN bioassay. Three markers mapped on linkage groups (LG) A2, E, and G, accounting for 33.8% of the total phenotypic variance for resistance to HG type 2.5.7. One resistant QTL, detected on LG A1 accounted for 18.8% of the total phenotypic variance of HG type 1.2.5.7. Three resistance QTL detected on LGs A2, G, and M that shared 24.9% of the total phenotypic variance HG type 0. Three QTL on LG G alone and another four on LGs A1, B2, M, and O were linked with SCN resistance to HG type 1.2.7 that accounted for 70.8% of the total phenotypic variance. Resistant QTL on LGs A1, M and O in SS97-6946, appear to be unique for SCN HG types 1.2.5.7, 0, and 1.2.7 that can potentially be used in marker assisted selection.
Selenium and dental caries; an investigation among school children of Oregon.

Summary A study was conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the relationship between the trace element selenium and the degree of susceptibility to dental caries observed among native born and reared school children in the counties of Clatsop and Klamath of Oregon. It was found that a direct relationship existed between the prevalence of dental caries on one hand and the urinary selenium concentrations of the subjects on the other. The results of this investigation suggest the possibility that, in an as yet unknown manner, the trace element selenium may render the teeth more susceptible to caries attack. Further studies are necessary for a better understanding of the selenium-dental caries relationship.
On the distinction between physical and psychological stressors

The distinction between physical and psychological stressors is reviewed, including some implications for anxiety research. The relationships among anxiety states, anxiety traits, and type of stressor are complex and can be influenced by such factors as the preciseness by which the stressor is identified, how it is measured, and the coping mechanisms available to deal with the stress. The choice of appropriate state and trait anxiety measures is crucial when assessing the differential impact of physical and psychological stressors.
Chapter 15 Correlation-Based Methods for Output Analysis

Abstract We describe methods for estimating the variance of the sample mean of a steady-state simulation output process using correlation-based methods, all involving some form of “batching”. Since no single method dominates all others across all measures of performance, we provide a framework for asymptotic comparison of such estimators. Research challenges are also identified.
Optimization techniques in image analysis

Local parallel processes are a very efficient way of using contextual information in a very large class of problems commonly encountered in Computer Vision. A review of the current approaches to designing and analyzing such processes is presented. Applications to low level vision and symbolic matching are also considered.
Survey of the UV and Visible Spectroscopic Properties of Normal and Atherosclerotic Human Artery Using Fluorescence EEMs

Fluorescence spectroscopy has been recently explored as a new technique for the diagnosis of disease in human tissue [1–5]. Several groups have demonstrated that normal and atherosclerotic human artery can be differentiated on the basis of their fluorescence emission spectra [1, 3, 4]. Many have suggested that this represents a new technique for determining the histochemical composition of atherosclerotic plaque in vivo and potentially guiding laser angiosurgery catheters [1, 3, 4]. Similarly, it has been shown that neoplastic tissue can be discriminated from non-neoplastic tissue, in a variety of organs, including the colon [2] and lung [5], on the basis of tissue fluorescence emission spectra. Several workers have suggested that this technique may ultimately improve current endoscopic methods for diagnosing neoplasia, as it potentially can be used to identify small areas of neoplastic transformation difficult to detect visually with current endoscopes [2,6].
The Complexities of Effectively Teaching Client Server System Development

Developing realworld enterprise systems requires the in tegration of a number of complex technologies. The 2006 Model Curriculum for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems recognizes this need and recommends an integrated capstone experience directed toward helping the graduate student amalgamate the broad knowledge base required for successful development of enterprise systems. Conveying a practical knowledge of client� server systems development to computer and information systems graduate students can be challenging. In this paper, we summarize our approach to teaching and evaluation in masters' level clientserver computing and software engineering courses and our methods for overcoming obstacles, and we report on some novel solutions submitted by our students to the course's final project. The grades on the final project correlated with performance on the more traditional assignments but the correlation was low, representing only 5% of the explained variance. We propose that traditional text and narrative assignments represent a different skill set from clientserver system development ; therefore, the incorporation of both activities is beneficial to software skill development.
Industrial Workplace Design

Abstract A workplace is the place which contains the space, tools, and equipment where workers perform the functions and tasks of their jobs. The area of workplace design is a rich field with many facets. Historically, the study of workplace design has developed out of many different disciplines, including industrial engineering, human factors, and industrial psychology. Generally, a good workplace design is one where a worker can easily change positions to relieve the stresses and pressures of a posture while still performing job tasks efficiently and easily. Specific considerations for the design of the workplace include the type of workplace (sitting vs standing), work envelopes, and postural concerns are discussed. Finally, guidelines for the evaluation of existing and proposed workplaces are presented.
Hidden pathway during fcc to bcc/bct transformations: Crystallographic origin of slip martensite in steels

As a classical structural phase transformation with a long history in physical metallurgy, the face-centered cubic (fcc) to body-centered cubic/tetragonal (bcc/bct) martensitic transformation in steels is one of the most studied crystal structure changes induced by either temperature or stress. However, it has yet to be realized that besides the well-known Bain path that leads to {112} twinning in the bct lattice, a hidden pathway could also be activated during the transformation, which leads to the formation of slip martensite and {110} twinning in the bct lattice. We show by symmetry and crystallographic analysis that activation of the hidden pathway is driven by internal or external stress coupled with short-range migration of interstitial carbon atoms. By considering both the hidden pathway and the Bain path, we construct a transformation pathway network for the fcc to bcc/bct transformation, which allows a systematic analysis of defects generation during transformation cycling. A new mechanism for the formation of slip martensite in steels is demonstrated through the analysis of symmetry breaking along both the hidden pathway and the Bain path, by which two distinctive types of martensites, slip and twinning martensites, are placed on an equal footing from a crystallographic point of view. The pathway network provides new insights into structural transformation mechanisms and the nature of transformation induced defects in steels.
Lewis Acid Site and Hydrogen-Bond-Mediated Polarization Synergy in the Catalysis of Diels–Alder Cycloaddition by Band-Gap Transition-Metal Oxides

We present evidence from kinetic studies and electronic structure calculations that monoclinic ZrO2 and HfO2 can catalyze Diels–Alder [4 + 2] cycloaddition between furan and methyl acrylate. The two oxides present the same apparent activation energies, in the range of 11.5 kcal/mol, but HfO2 seems intrinsically more active. We use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate catalytic pathways and the influence of surface hydration on activity. Partially hydroxylated surfaces are more reactive than the dehydrated or completely hydroxylated surfaces on account of a synergy between Lewis acidic metal centers and surface hydroxyl groups that lowers the LUMO of surface-bound methyl acrylate. We argue that surface hydroxyl groups present a polar environment which, via hydrogen bonding, are solely responsible for the rate acceleration on completely hydroxylated surfaces without necessarily proton transfer. The Lewis metal centers of completely dehydrated surfaces are marginally effective active s...
Musculoskeletal Pain and Disability Disorders

Musculoskeletal pain is the most common single type of chronic pain. That is why this chapter specifically focuses on musculoskeletal pain and disability and what it consists of. Various common forms of musculoskeletal disorders, diagnosing strategies, and treatment strategies for specific musculoskeletal disorders (i.e., low back pain, arthritis, gout, tendon injury, and carpal tunnel syndrome) are discussed. Potential causation theories for musculoskeletal disorders are reviewed as to help discover why certain patients develop musculoskeletal disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders typically involve an integrated complex interaction of many biopsychosocial factors. These complications require the need to treat in a more integrated manner, using strengths from many disciplines to give the injured worker the best chance of recovery. Even with markedly varying economic, occupational, social, and worker compensation programs, the interdisciplinary approach to treating musculoskeletal disorders has been independently confirmed as being an effective treatment method. Therefore, it is essential for treatments to incorporate biopsychosocial approaches with an interdisciplinary treatment management style, making such a symptom management approach more accessible to the patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
1,6-anhydro-2,3-O-isopropylidene-β-D-lyxo-hexopyranos-4-ulose

Abstract Methyl sulfoxide-acetic anhydride is shown to be an effective reagent for the oxidation of an “isolated” secondary alcohol group in a carbohydrate derivative to the corresponding ketone; the reagents are removed by lyophilization to give the product in high yield. The procedure is compared with oxidations employing ruthenium tetroxide, and methyl sulfoxide- N,N ′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-pyridinium phosphate(Pfitzner-Moffatt reagent). Oxidation of 1,6-anhydro-2,3- O -isopropylidene-β- D -mannopyranose (I) gave the 4-ketone (III), which was obtained crystalline in high yield and was characterized as the crystalline oxime (IV) and epoxide (V). The methyl sulfoxide-acetic anhydride reagent was also effective for conversion of the “isolated” hemiacetal derivative VI into the lactone VIII. No significant oxidation of I or VI could be effected with lead tetraacetate in pyridine. The n.m.r. spectra of a number of the products are discussed, and spin-decoupling techniques were applied for analysis of the n.m.r. spectrum of the ketone III.
Drag of a heated sphere at low Reynolds numbers in the absence of buoyancy

Fully resolved simulations are used to quantify the effects of heat transfer in the absence of buoyancy on the drag of a spatially fixed heated spherical particle at low Reynolds numbers ( which fit the computationally obtained values with less than 1 % and 3 % errors, respectively. These correlations can be used in simulations of gas–solid flows where the accuracy of the drag law affects the prediction of the overall flow behaviour. Finally, an analogy to incompressible flow over a modified sphere is demonstrated.
Comparing responses of sensitive and resistant populations of Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) and waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus var. rudis) to PPO inhibitors

Resistance to protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) inhibitors was first observed in waterhemp in 2001 and was conferred by the deletion of a glycine residue at the 210th position (ΔGly-210) of the PPO enzyme. PPO-inhibitor resistance in Palmer amaranth was first observed in 2011, 10 years later. The objectives of this study were to directly compare PPO inhibitor responses in plants of both species with or without the ΔGly-210 mutation. Using greenhouse experiments, early (EPOST) and late (LPOST) postemergence dose responses using lactofen and fomesafen, and preemergence (PRE) dose responses using fomesafen and flumioxazin, were obtained for a sensitive and resistant population each of waterhemp and Palmer amaranth. An additional spray study confirmed each sensitive population used in the dose responses was representative of its respective species, with regards to PPO-inhibitor sensitivity. When treated at either POST timing, Palmer amaranth was more tolerant than waterhemp, and the ΔGly-210 mutation provided greater resistance in Palmer amaranth (48-fold to >3,440-fold, depending on timing and herbicide) than in waterhemp (31-fold to 123-fold). The level of tolerance in Palmer amaranth was striking; the sensitive Palmer amaranth population treated LPOST survived as well or better than the resistant waterhemp population treated EPOST. With PRE applications, response differences both between species and between resistant and sensitive populations generally were less pronounced, relative to POST applications. Collectively, this research indicates Palmer amaranth tolerance to POST-applied PPO inhibitors could have initially slowed (relative to waterhemp) evolution of resistance to these herbicides, and resistant and sensitive populations of both species are more likely to be effectively controlled with PRE rather than POST applications. Nomenclature: flumioxazin; fomesafen; lactofen; Palmer amaranth, Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson; waterhemp, Amaranthus tuberculatus (Moq.) Sauer var. rudis (Sauer) Costea and Tardif
History of Lithuania: from medieval kingdom to modern democracy

In 2000, Bronius Makauskas wrote a credible, if not overly romanticized Lithuanian language version of the history of Lithuania, Lietuvos istorija. The intent of this introductory survey of Lithuan...
Wetting angles of molten polymers on thermoelectric solid metal surfaces

Thermoelectric (TE) materials can provide solid state heating, cooling, and power generation—with the potential to reduce greenhouse gases and to provide cleaner energy. Practical accomplishment of...
On structure-preserving discontinuous Galerkin methods for Hamiltonian partial differential equations: Energy conservation and multi-symplecticity

Abstract In this paper, we present and study discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods for one-dimensional multi-symplectic Hamiltonian partial differential equations. We particularly focus on semi-discrete schemes with spatial discretization only, and show that the proposed DG methods can simultaneously preserve the multi-symplectic structure and energy conservation with a general class of numerical fluxes, which includes the well-known central and alternating fluxes. Applications to the wave equation, the Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation, the Camassa–Holm equation, the Korteweg–de Vries equation and the nonlinear Schrodinger equation are discussed. Some numerical results are provided to demonstrate the accuracy and long time behavior of the proposed methods. Numerically, we observe that certain choices of numerical fluxes in the discussed class may help achieve better accuracy compared with the commonly used ones including the central fluxes.
COMPARISON OF ALTEPLASE DOSING STRATEGIES IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING CATHETER DIRECTED THROMBOLYSIS FOR ACUTE PULMONARY EMBOLISM

Catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT) has become a recommended treatment in high risk pulmonary embolism (PE). Optimal dosing is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the effect of different dosing strategies on fibrinogen concentrations, bleeding events, and outcomes. Patients with acute PE who underwent
Role of persistent and worsening sleep disturbance in depression remission and suicidal ideation among older primary care patients: the PROSPECT study.

Study objectives We analyzed data from a practice-based randomized controlled trial within 20 primary care practices located in greater New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh to determine whether persistent or worsening sleep disturbance plays a role in the outcomes of depression and suicidal ideation at 1 year in older adults with depression. Methods The study sample consisted of 599 adults aged 60 years and older meeting criteria for major depression or clinically significant minor depression. Longitudinal analysis via growth curve mixture modeling was carried out to classify patients as having worsening, persistent, or improving sleep over 1 year. Results At 1-year follow-up, compared with patients with improving sleep, those with worsening sleep were more likely to have a diagnosis of major depression (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 28.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 12.15 to 67.34), a diagnosis of clinically significant minor depression (aOR = 11.88, 95% CI 5.67 to 24.89), and suicidal ideation (aOR = 1.10, 1.005 to 1.199), and were half as likely to achieve remission (aOR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.57). Patients with persistent sleep disturbance showed similar but attenuated results. Conclusions Older primary care patients with depression who exhibit worsening or persistent sleep disturbance were at increased risk for persistent depression and suicidal ideation 1 year later. The pattern of sleep disturbance over time may be an important signal for exploration by primary care physicians of depression and suicidal ideation among older adults with depression. Clinical trial registration NCT00279682.
Faculty and staff reporting & disclosure of sexual harassment in higher education

Sexual harassment in the workplace is an overt form of sexism that reinscribes patriarchal power relations within the university. Despite the perception that many people are reporting their harassm...
Association of Midlife Status With Response to a Positive Psychology Intervention in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background Physical activity is strongly associated with lower risk of recurrent cardiac events in patients who experience an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), yet most patients do not meet recommended levels of physical activity. Psychological well-being is associated with higher levels of physical activity, but midlife adults experience a multitude of stressors that can reduce well-being. Objective The aim of this study was to compare midlife (age 45–64) and older (age 65+) participants in a positive psychology intervention to increase physical activity and psychological well-being after an ACS. Methods This was a secondary analysis across 3 phases of a telephone-delivered positive psychology intervention development project. Participants were hospitalized for an ACS and had low pre-ACS health behavior adherence. They received 8–12 weekly intervention sessions. Psychological outcomes, self-reported adherence, and physical activity were measured before and after treatment. Mixed regression models were used to compare session completion rates and change in outcome measures between midlife and older participants. Results Across 164 participants, midlife participants showed larger improvements in depression, positive affect, and physical activity, but not anxiety or optimism, than older participants; session completion rates did not significantly differ. Conclusions Midlife patients post-ACS may be particularly responsive to a telephone-delivered positive psychology intervention. Clinically, the post-ACS period may be uniquely motivating for midlife patients to improve their physical and psychological health. Future work could customize positive psychology for unique midlife stressors.
Property Rights: Long and Skinny

This paper explores the relationship between private and common property. It starts with the state of nature, works its way through Roman law, and finishes with a discussion of the application of these principles in a modern context. It explains how the intensification of property use often leads to the need for a public trust doctrine for common pool assets, and explains why long and skinny assets have single dedicated uses, chiefly for communication and transportation which enable them to link together productive property sites used for residence, manufacture, and farming. These long and skinny assets have a large perimeter relative to area, which makes them difficult to defend on the one side, and often exposes them to multiple legal regimes with inconsistent commands. It deals with such specific issues as the distinction between alluvion and avulsion, and offers a detailed analysis of the difficulty of permitting oil and gas pipelines in the United States.
Across the disciplines: our gained knowledge in assessing a first-year integrated experience

This study discusses a writing assessment for State University’s first year integrated experience of Technology 120: Design Thinking in Technology and English 106: First-Year Writing and the implications it provides for curriculum design. The study used Adaptive Comparative Judgment to determine whether integrated research essays that utilized design thinking were more rhetorically effective (i.e., better attuned to addressing a purpose, audience, and context) than non-integrated English composition research essays. Results showed the non-integrated research essays had a statistically significant better rating than the integrated courses; this finding was counterintuitive to our expectations, therefore we utilized NVivo to conduct a word frequency analysis on judges’ holistic comments to determine strengths and weaknesses of the essays. The word frequency analysis demonstrated writing concepts were much stronger and more effective in a standard composition course. These findings led to the development of three literature-based curriculum and pedagogical changes to ensure that integrated students achieve general education writing outcomes in concert with design thinking principles—something our results showed as lacking significantly in these courses.
Chromosome-level genome assembly of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun, 1896) is an economically, culturally, and ecologically important species found across the temperate and tropical North and South American Atlantic coast. A reference genome will enable research for this high-value species. Initial assembly combined 200× coverage Illumina paired-end reads, a 60× 8 kb mate-paired library, and 50× PacBio data using the MaSuRCA assembler resulting in a 985 Mb assembly with a scaffold N50 of 153 kb. Dovetail Chicago and HiC sequencing with the 3d DNA assembler and Juicebox assembly tools were then used for chromosome scaffolding. The 50 largest scaffolds span 810 Mb are 1.5-37 Mb long and have a repeat content of 36%. The 190 Mb unplaced sequence is in 3921 sequences over 10 kb with a repeat content of 68%. The final assembly N50 is 18.9 Mb for scaffolds and 9317 bases for contigs. Of arthropod BUSCO, ∼88% (888/1013) were complete and single copies. Using 309 million RNAseq read pairs from 12 different tissues and developmental stages, 25,249 protein-coding genes were predicted. Between C. sapidus and Portunus trituberculatus genomes, 41 of 50 large scaffolds had high nucleotide identity and protein-coding synteny, but 9 scaffolds in both assemblies were not clear matches. The protein-coding genes included 9423 one-to-one putative orthologs, of which 7165 were syntenic between the two crab species. Overall, the two crab genome assemblies show strong similarities at the nucleotide, protein, and chromosome level and verify the blue crab genome as an excellent reference for this important seafood species.
Towards an optimized GROUP by abstraction for large-scale machine learning

Many applications that use large-scale machine learning (ML) increasingly prefer different models for subgroups (e.g., countries) to improve accuracy, fairness, or other desiderata. We call this em...
Cartesian and piecewise parametric large deflection solutions of tip point loaded Euler–Bernoulli cantilever beams

Abstract This paper focuses on the large deflection solutions of Euler–Bernoulli cantilever beams loaded at the tip with a force and moment. Cartesian large deflection solutions are given for general tip point loading, as well as a new closed form solution for the case of a large end-force only. Additionally, we develop piecewise parametric large deflection solutions, which can efficiently and effectively quantify the inherently nonlinear and complex load, deformation, and energy relationships exhibited by compliant mechanisms, thus, paving the way for the emergence of novel compliant mechanism syntheses. The utilization of the proposed solution methodology can help the precision engineering community in the design of new devices with fixed size and no dependence on the load magnitudes. We coded the solutions as BeamSol, a stand-alone user-friendly black-box solver, which is envisioned to help researchers in engineering analyses and syntheses of beam applications.
Asymptotic stress intensity factor density profiles for smeared-tip method for cohesive fracture

The paper presents a computational approach and numerical data which facilitate the use of the smeared-tip method for cohesive fracture in large enough structures. In the recently developed K-version of the smeared tip method, the large-size asymptotic profile of the stress intensity factor density along a cohesive crack is considered as a material characteristic, which is uniquely related to the softening stress-displacement law of the cohesive crack. After reviewing the K-version, an accurate and efficient numerical algorithm for the computation of this asymptotic profile is presented. The algorithm is based on solving a singular Abel’s integral equation. The profiles corresponding to various typical softening stress-displacement laws of the cohesive crack model are computed, tabulated and plotted. The profiles for a certain range of other typical softening laws can be approximately obtained by interpolation from the tables. Knowing the profile, one can obtain with the smeared-tip method an analytical expression for the large-size solution to fracture problems, including the first two asymptotic terms of the size effect law. Consequently, numerical solutions of the integral equations of the cohesive crack model as well as finite element simulations of the cohesive crack are made superfluous. However, when the fracture process zone is attached to a notch or to the body surface and the cohesive zone ends with a stress jump, the solution is expected to be accurate only for large-enough structures.
Promoting Advanced Practice Nursing

Meeting the goals of a reformed health care system requires the expertise of professionals, especially those with specialized knowledge and skills. In the restructured health care system, nurses prepared for advanced practice are considered to be unique and valuable providers. The effectiveness of advanced practice nurses is well documented. The use of advanced practice nurses to provide care has been limited by restrictions on their scope of practice, prescriptive authority, clinical privileging, and eligibility for reimbursement. Gaining clarity about the roles that advanced practice nurses will fulfill in the future, standardizing specialists' preparation, and removing practice barriers is imperative if advanced practice nurses are to realize their potential impact on the health care delivery system. This article discusses the current issues affecting advanced practice nurses, and provides visions of new roles for them in health care delivery.
Investigating the Ichthus (Fish) Christianity Symbol on Perceived Source Credibility of Service Providers under Different Service Evaluation Contexts

This study investigated potential consumer responses to the display of the Christian fish symbol (Ichthus) used in mock advertisements of services high in credence, experience and search attributes. Discussions from earlier research propose consumers may exhibit different reactions to Christian symbolism displayed in the marketplace and that purchase intentions and consumer perceptions of the seller may be influenced by the strength of the consumer's religious beliefs. This study adds to previous research proposing consumers display different purchase intentions due to differing perceptions of the seller's credibility, trustworthiness and expertise influenced by the consumers own religious beliefs which is influenced by the type of service context.
AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE ROLE OF MENTORING IN THE ACCULTURATION OF LATINO/A YOUTH

For youth from immigrant families, acculturation is an important process that impacts their overall developmental outcomes, which could have implications for mentoring models. In this cross-sectional study, we explore the relationship between mentoring and acculturation using a sample of 140 urban, low-income, Latino/a high school seniors. We explore the associations between various mentoring variables and acculturation variables. Overall, the results did not yield significant associations between mentoring and acculturation. However, having more mentors did indicate a higher familiarity with Latino/a culture and more frequent contact predicted a higher value of respeto. Also, having at least one cross-race mentor predicted less perceived discrimination, which may indicate that having cross-race mentors resulted in lower scores or that youth who perceive less discrimination tend to seek out more cross-race mentors. These findings inform how mentoring programs and other interventions can be adapted to serve young immigrants in the United States.
The Control of Liquid Helium in Space by Electrostatics for the Satellite Test of Equivalence Principle Experiment

The equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass has been advanced to a basic postulate of the Einstein view of gravity. As such it deserves the most rigorous testing possible. Recent advances in technology (SQUIDS, superconducting bearings, space-operable liquid helium cryogenics) have made it possible to test this equivalence to one part in 1017, an advance of a factor of a million. The Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle has been proposed to NASA and ESA for flight in about 2000. It will incorporate an extremely sensitive accelerometer in a liquid helium cryostat in Earth orbit at 550 km.
Parsing as Incremental Restructuring

A prevalent trend in modeling human sentence processing has been to account for both initial attachment preferences and reanalysis behaviors with minimal extensions to a presumed set of initial parsing operations. Here, an entirely different formulation of the initial attachment and revision processes is suggested. Rather than assuming that all parsing is (as much as possible) initial attachment, the opposite approach is advocated: that all parsing—even initial attachment—is restructuring. The realization of parsing as restructuring arises from a set of independently motivated computational assumptions within the competitive attachment architecture, a hybrid connectionist model of the human sentence processor. Central to the model is a unique parallel attachment operation that simultaneously attaches the current input phrase, while reattaching previously structured phrases. Within this model, reanalysis is not a separate process or module, but rather a side effect of the primary means of forming syntactic structures. The ease of performing possible reanalyses is therefore determined by the same conditions, such as recency and lexical preferences, that affect initial attachments. Furthermore, independently motivated constraints on the network structure determine the allowable syntactic configurations that may undergo restructuring within the competitive attachment operation. The model thus also provides a computational explanation of garden-path sentences, in which automatic reanalysis is impossible.
Prothrombotic Consequences of the Oxidation of Fibrinogen and their Inhibition by Aspirin

Oxidant stress leads to covalent oxidative modification of several plasma proteins, chief among which is fibrinogen. Aspirin can nonenzymatically acetylate fibrinogen's lysine residues, the functional groups most susceptible to oxidative modification. Because oxidation of fibrinogen may occur in the atheromatous environment, we studied the effects of oxidative modification on fibrinogen function and the consequences of acetylation by aspirin on fibrinogen's susceptibility to oxidation and functional properties. We exposed fibrinogen to Fe(3+) ascorbate for 1 hour and showed that the carbonyl/protein molar ratio increased from 0.71 +/- 0.18 to 2.86 +/- 0.50 mol carbonyl/mol protein (P < 0.02) with an accompanying reduction in the alpha-helical content of the protein from 34% to 29%. Exposure of fibrinogen to aspirin led to acetylation of lysine residues and inhibition of oxidation. Oxidized fibrinogen was more readily able to form fibrin, and acetylation prevented this enhancement of clot formation. Oxidized fibrinogen also supported platelet aggregation better than did native, unoxidized fibri ogen, and aretylation of fibrinogen prior to oxidation prevented the enhanced platelet aggregation. Oxidized fibrinogen was less effective in stimulating plasminogen activation by tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), with a catalytic efficiency that was reduced by 88% compared with native, unoxislized fibrinogen; metylated fibrinogen, by contrast, enhanced plasminogen activation by t-PA with a catalytic efficiency that was increased by 18% compared with native, anoxidized fibrinogen (P < 0.05) and was increased by 51% compared with oxidized fibrinogen (P < 0.05). Acetylation prevented the reduction in catalytic efficiency induced by oxidation. These data show that oxidized fibrinogen manifests prothrombotic effects that can be prevented by acetylation and suggest that inhibition of fibrinogen oxidation may be an additional antithrombotic benefit of aspirin therapy.
Helicobacter pylori in hispanics : comparison with blacks and whites of similar age and socioeconomic class

Abstract Helicobacter pylori infection is twice as frequent in blacks as in whites. It has been postulated that the apparent increase in susceptibility to H. pylori infection in blacks might have a genetic basis. A case-control seroepidemiologic study of H. pylori prevalence was performed in 108 healthy Hispanic volunteers. Eighty-nine Hispanics were matched (1:1:1) with blacks and whites for age and socioeconomic status. There was an inverse correlation between H. pylori infection and educational level that remained after logistic regression analysis adjusting for age and sex. The adjusted prevalence of H. pylori infection was almost identical in Hispanics and blacks and significantly higher than in whites. Because Hispanics do not constitute a race, the increased prevalence of H. pylori in Hispanics and blacks is unlikely to be genetic. It is speculated that the unrecognized bias is a reflection of a generation cohort phenomenon related to the generational distance from very low socioeconomic status, i.e., the prevalence of H. pylori in Hispanics and blacks is currently lower than that of their parents but higher than that of the white population, which has experienced higher socioeconomic status for several generations.
Functional Renormalization-Group Equations Approach to the Transition to Chaos

The functional renormalization-group equations approach to the study of the universal scaling properties of period doubling and intermittency is reviewed. The differential-equation method of obtaining the exact solutions for intermittency is explained in detail.
Dietary Myristic Acid Alters Acylated Proteins in Activated Murine Macrophages

After stimulation with select activating agents such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or recombinant interferon-gamma (rIFNgamma), several macrophage proteins may be induced, acylated with myristic acid, or both. Our goal in this study was to determine whether altering the levels of myristic acid in the diet would modulate the levels of a specific acylated macrophage protein, MacMARCKS (myristoylated, alanine-rich C kinase substrate), because that fatty acid can be found in substantial quantities in some foods. Thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages from groups of mice fed diets with various levels of myristic acid (from 0.2 to 99 g/100 g fatty acids) were treated with LPS, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), or rIFNgamma plus LPS, which are well-established macrophage activating agents. Levels of MacMARCKS were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a rabbit anti-mouse polyclonal antibody against the first 10 amino acids of murine MacMARCKS. A 42-kDa protein with the same molecular weight as MacMARCKS was identified in macrophage lysates by Western analysis using the antibody. Lipopolysaccharide- and PMA-activated macrophages from mice fed the trimyristin diet had significantly greater levels of MacMARCKS than LPS- and PMA-activated macrophages of mice fed the safflower oil-containing diet. The levels of MacMARCKS were also greater in lysates of LPS plus rIFNgamma-stimulated macrophages from mice fed the trimyristin diet and mice fed a diet containing a moderate level of myristic acid (12 g/100 g fatty acids) compared with the lysates of macrophages from mice fed the safflower oil diet. These results indicate that altering the level of myristic acid in the diet may alter the production of specific proteins that may be involved in macrophage activation.
Ultrasmall metal nanoclusters for bio-related applications

The study of ultrasmall metal nanoclusters (NCs, ranging from subnanometer to ca 2 nm) is evidently a quickly evolving field in current nanoscience and nanotechnology research. Metal NCs, typically composed of several to hundreds of metal atoms, have attracted great interest in recent years owing to their unique properties including ultrasmall size and enhanced photoluminescence, together with other properties such as excellent photostability, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility desired for biological applications. This review summarizes recent advances in the field of bio-related applications of metal NCs materials. We highlight the applications of metal NCs for biosensor development, fluorescent biological imaging, and biomedical research, and finally discuss briefly some current challenges and future work. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2013, 5:569–581. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1227 Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the Capacity of Escherichia coli to Support Bacteriophage T4 Growth

The loss in capacity of irradiated bacteria to support the growth of T4 phage has been studied for two strains, Escherichia coli B and E. coli B(s-1). Following a dose of 25 krads, the capacity is quite rapidly lost during postirradiation incubation so that after two hr of such incubation at 37 C only 12% remains in strain B and 3% in strain B(s-1). Evidence that capacity is lost in an all-or-none fashion was provided by two types of experiments: (i) a single-burst analysis of those cells which survived to give a burst, and (ii) an analysis of the regulation of an early phage enzyme. Several processes were examined to try to determine the cause of the loss in capacity. These were the ability of the irradiated and postirradiation incubated cells to respire, to allow phage adsorption and injection of phage deoxyribonucleic acid, to support the transcription and translation of an early gene, and to support replication of phage deoxyribonucleic acid. Of these processes, transcription and translation appeared to be the most closely associated with the capacity loss, although respiration was reduced to 50% after 2 hr.
Chemotactic peptide stimulated endogenous arachidonic acid metabolism in HL60 granulocytes

Summary The human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL60, which can be induced to differentiate into mature granulocytes by exposure to dimethyl sulfoxide, incorporates large amounts of [1- 14 C]arachidonic acid into membrane phospholipids following overnight incubation. Nanomolar concentrations of the chemotactic peptide, N-formyl-Nle-Leu-Phe-Nle-Tyr-Lys, stimulate a rapid, transient release of free arachidonic acid. The released arachidonate is metabolized via both the cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways. Arachidonic acid is also incorporated into triacylglycerols and phosphatidylinositol. The lipoxygenase product 5-S-hydroxy-6,8,11,14-icosatetraenoic acid is rapidly esterified, mainly into triacylglycerols and phosphatidylcholine. In contrast, 12-L-hydroxy-5,8,10-heptadecatrienoic acid and Leukotriene B 4 are not incorporated into cellular lipids.
VALIDITY OF THE STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING

The multitrait-multimethod procedure was used to assess the validity of Spielberger's dual conceptualization of anxiety and the interpretation of his scales based on that conceptualization. The res...
Autoantibodies against RNA polymerase I in scleroderma and Sjögren's syndrome scera

Anti-RNA polymerase I antibodies were detected by radioimmunoassay in the sera of 8 out of 9 Sjogren's syndrome patients, 11 out of 19 individuals with scleroderma, and 19 out of 19 systemic lupus erythematosus patients. The results of the radioimmunoassay were confirmed by demonstrating the ability of the patients' IgG to inhibit RNA polymerase I activity in vitro. Sera from four patients in each category were also tested for reaction with individual subunits of RNA polymerase I. All 4 SLE sera, 3 out of 4 scleroderma sera and 1 out of 4 Sjogren's syndrome sera contained antibodies against the 65 kDa (S3) subunit of RNA polymerase I in addition to antibodies against one other subunit. Sera from the remaining scleroderma and Sjogren's syndrome patients tested in this assay contained only anti-S3 antibodies. These results demonstrate that anti-RNA polymerase I antibodies are characteristic of a variety of rheumatic autoimmune sera.