cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fuel R & D to Improve Fuel Reliability

Light water reactor fuel is operating in an increasingly challenging environment. Fuel burnup extension and cycle length increase both can increase the local duty. Reactor water chemistry modifications for the purpose of protection the plant system materials have the potential of increasing fuel surface deposition and cladding corrosion and hydriding. The status of fuel performance in US reactors is summarized and an update of the “Fuel Reliability Program” established by the utility industry to ensure reliability is provided.
Strategy for substation information, control and protection within the National Grid Company

Where is technology going and how can it be managed to produce overall business benefit? With this question in mind, NGC have formulated technological strategies. These strategies take note of the way technology is likely to change and this is fed into the engineering planning process to ensure that technologies employed in the future will be introduced in a co-ordinated way to provide increasing benefits to NGC's transmission business. The greatest pace of change is in the Substation Information, Control And Protection (SICAP) technologies. A strategy in this technological area has been produced in close collaboration with NGC's operating units and its control, protection and monitoring equipment suppliers. The "SICAP Strategy" is discussed in this paper.
Cytosine in context: a theoretical study of substituent effects on the excitation energies of 2-pyrimidinone derivatives.

The ultrafast radiationless decay mechanism for cytosine has been shown to be in part dependent upon high vertical excitation, while slower fluorescence displayed in some cytosine analogs is generally linked to lower vertical excitation energies. To probe how excitation energies relate to pyrimidine structure, substituent effects on the vertical excitation energies for a number of derivatives of 2-pyrimidin-(1H)-one (2P) have been calculated using multireference configuration-interaction ab initio methods. Substitutions using groups with π electron donating, withdrawing and conjugation-extending properties at the C4 and C5 positions on the 2P system give predictive trends for the first three singlet excited-state energies. The S1 ππ* energies of 2P derivatives involving C4 substitution vary linearly with the Hammett substituent parameter σP+. Cytosine is shown to have the highest bright ππ* energy of the 2P derivatives presented, with that energy being strongly dependent on the position, orientation, and ...
CYP3A4 and MDR Mediated Interactions in Drug Therapy

Multiple drug therapy is recommended in many disease states including AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and stroke. Therefore, drug-drug interactions can result in changes in pharmacological or toxicological response following concomitant administration of many therapeutic agents. It has become evident that two factors i.e. drug efflux pump- P-glycoprotein (MDR gene product) and metabolizing enzyme- CYP3A4 play major roles in this process. These two key proteins regulate all pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions through the process of drug absorption, metabolism, disposition and elimination. Co-administration of two or more drugs can affect these processes due to altered functions of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and CYP3A4 and consequently change clinical response and final outcome. After co-administration, some drugs may induce the activity of P-gp and/or CYP3A4 resulting in subtherapeutic blood levels and therapeutic failure due to reduced absorption and/or increased metabolism. Conversely, inhibition(s) of P...
Certain fine structure and thermal properties of benzhydrylated cotton cellulose

The present paper describes the results of a preliminary study of certain physical and thermal properties of benzhydrylated cotton yarns. The 200-yd. lengths of 7/2 yarn consisting of purified mercerized cellulose were reacted in a special reactor to various degrees of substitution from DS 0.31 to DS 1.22 with benzhydryl bromide in a mixture of equal volumes of 2,6-lutidine and dimethylformamide. The products were examined for tensile strength at break, which decreased only slightly with substitution; ultimate elongation, which was relatively uniform at 60–70% of the control yarn; and tenacity, which decreased with substitution largely due to added weight. The energy of rupture remained relatively constant at about 50% above the control. Tensile stiffness decreased progressively with substitution to about 25% of the control. Density decreased 10–11% with substitution. Crystallinity of the cellulose largely disappeared with substitutions above DS 1, and the lattice of benzhydryl cellulose began to appear. Stiffness, elastic recovery and work recovery were measured on 5-in. specimens of the yarn in an oven while they were subjected to repeated extension to about 1–2% and relaxed as the temperature was raised twice to 200°C. and lowered. During the heating phase of the first cycle the yarn underwent considerable heat adaptation. However, during the cooling phase and during both heating and cooling phases of the second cycle, the yarns showed generally favorable behavior. Attempts are made to interpret the results in terms of molecular modifications.
Feeding...being fed: poetry and commentary.

Intellectual curiosity without sensitivity to the effects of curiosity creates an impasse. “Check out the fascinoma in room 303” is an instruction for medical students to puzzle out a difficult diagnostic problem. Young doctors-in-training receive a multitude of such messages encouraging objectification, distance, encapsulation and otherness vis-a-vis patients. By contrast, the three women physician-poets featured in this article offer strong voices calling for the primacy of human interaction as the basis for the doctor-patient relationship. Because their intellectual curiosity encompasses compassion, the explorations into patient and physician experiences are rich, nuanced and surprising. By using the form of poems—spaces between lines and stanzas, repetitions, continuities and discontinuities—poets give resonance and shape to their ideas. Words echo, phrases sing. Here, the songs acknowledge the separate lives of patient and physician but also, at times, the blurring of those separate lives.Who is teaching and who is being taught? Who is in pain? Who is the observer and who is being observed? Who possesses clarity of the human condition? Who is nurturing and who is being nurtured? These poems, with direct or slant approaches to patients, celebrate the dynamics and complexities of doctoring. Regardless of their diagnoses, patients are fascinating. The recognition of the profound in the common is what connects humans. It is what connects a poet to the reader. When one is cognizant of the emotional as well as the intellectual feast J Med Humanit (2009) 30:135–141 DOI 10.1007/s10912-009-9077-5
Regenerative medicine: drawing breath after spinal injury.

New work on a rat model suggests that, after spinal-cord injury, restoration of sustained and robust respiratory function is possible using strategies that promote both neuronal plasticity and regeneration. See Article p.196 Patients with spinal cord injuries in the neck area often need mechanical ventilators to help them breathe, and impaired breathing is a leading cause of death in these patients. Two factors combine to make recovery difficult. First, an injury above the fourth cervical vertebra disrupts the passage of nerve impulses from the respiratory centre in the brainstem to the phrenic motor nuclei in the spinal cord, and second, in the event of injury, adult spinal cord axons tend not to regenerate. Working in a rat model of spinal cord injury, Jerry Silver and colleagues have identified an upregulation of extracellular matrix molecules that impairs axonal regeneration following injury. Using a strategy of specific extracellular component digestion with chondroitinase, combined with peripheral nerve autografting across the damaged section of the spinal cord, the authors demonstrate a significant recovery of respiratory activity after axon regeneration. This study suggests that regeneration and restoration of diaphragm function may be possible after some types of spinal cord trauma.
Structure-Function Relationships of Inhibitors for the EAAC1 and ASCT2 Amino Acid Transporters

The SLC1 family of sodium-dependent amino acid transporters includes the high-affinity neuronal glutamate transporter EAAC1 and the closely related neutral-amino-acid transporter ASCT2, which exchanges neutral amino acids, such as alanine, serine, cysteine and glutamine across the cell membrane. ASCT2 may be important for glutamate release from astrocytes, but no high-affinity inhibitors are known that would allow one to test this hypothesis.ω-aryl substituted aspartamides and 2,3-diaminopropionates have been found to be powerful inhibitors of the EAAT1-3 glutamate transporters.1 We have synthesized a series of ω-aryl substituted amino acid amides, esters and ethers as inhibitors of these transporters to map out the pharmacophore and achieve selectivity for the ASCTs or EAATs. The properties of these new compounds were studied by electrophysiological recording from HEK293 cells expressing ASCT2 and EAAC1. We found that compounds of this class are competitive inhibitors of amino acid binding. In particular, ω-dithienyl-2,3-diaminopropionate is a potent inhibitor of ASCT2 (apparent Ki = 33 μM), with a Ki one order of magnitude lower than the best inhibitor known to-date.1) Greenfield A., Grosanu C., Dunlop J., McIlvain B., Carrick T., Jow B., Lu Q., Kowal D., Williams J., Butera J., Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2005, 15, 4985-8.
Evidence from solid-state NMR for nonhelical conformations in the transmembrane domain of the amyloid precursor protein.

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) is subject to proteolytic processing by γ-secretase within neuronal membranes, leading to Alzheimer's disease-associated β-amyloid peptide production by cleavage near the midpoint of the single transmembrane (TM) segment of APP. Conformational properties of the TM segment may affect its susceptibility to γ-secretase cleavage, but these properties have not been established definitively, especially in bilayer membranes with physiologically relevant lipid compositions. In this article, we report an investigation of the APP-TM conformation, using 13C chemical shifts obtained with two-dimensional solid-state NMR spectroscopy as site-specific conformational probes. We find that the APP-TM conformation is not a simple α-helix, particularly at 37°C in multilamellar vesicles with compositions that mimic the composition of neuronal cell membranes. Instead, we observe a mixture of helical and nonhelical conformations at the N- and C-termini and in the vicinity of the γ-cleavage site. Conformational plasticity of the TM segment of APP may be an important factor in the γ-secretase cleavage mechanism.
Coordination of Hemiparetic Locomotion after Stroke Rehabilitation

Objectives.Determinewhetherarehabilitationprogramtargetingfunctional motor recovery of persons with poststroke hemiparesis improved motor coordination. Methods. A subgroup of 20 persons with poststroke hemiparesis (n = 11 ininterventionand n =9 incontrol group)wasinvestigatedfromwithinalargerrandomizedcontrolledsingleblind clinical trial of 100 patients. Motor coordinationwas measured usingapedalingtask, andsubjectsintheinterventiongrouppedaledduringanintensivebroad-basedhomeexerciseprogramthattargetedflexibility, strength, balance, and endurance. Coordinationvariables based on pareticlegpedalforcesandE MG of 4thighmusclesweremeasuredwhile pedalingpre- andpostintervention. Results. Despiteextensivepedaling practice, upto30half-hoursessions that wereprogressivelymoreintense, therewasnoeffect(P> 0.05)of theinterventiononpercentof totalwork done by the paretic leg, quantitative measures of EMG, or pedaling speed. However, walkingspeedwas improvedandpedalingandwalking faster wereassociatedafter theintervention. Conclusions .T hereis no evidence of improved locomotor coordination postintervention. The increasedwalkingandpedalingspeedwaslikelyachievedbyamoreproficient useof thesameimpairedpatternwithout EMG timingchanges, likely because of increasedstrength andendurance postintervention. A moretask-specificinterventionmayberequiredtoimprovecoordination, consistent withprinciples of use-dependent plasticity.
An integrative framework for psychopathology and psychotherapy

Abstract This article presents an integrative framework for psychopathology and psychotherapy. The framework differs in kind from previous ones in that it is entirely pre-empirical (specifically, conceptual and logical) in character and does not represent an attempt to create a new empirical theory (cf. Newton's pre-empirical creation of a new conceptual system, which creation proved a necessary precondition for his subsequent empirical contentions). The present integration is accomplished in three parts. In the first of these, a definition of pathology as behavioral disability or functional impairment is presented and defended. In the second, this definition is used as a centerpiece to achieve a logical unification of many prominent explanations of psychopathology that are at present widely considered to be theoretically divergent and incompatible. In part three, established forms of intervention from our most influential schools of psychotherapy are shown to be both conceptually coherent and compatible in practice within the present overarching framework.
LightSlice: matrix slice sampling for the many-lights problem

Recent work has shown that complex lighting effects can be well approximated by gathering the contribution of hundreds of thousands of virtual point lights (VPLs). This final gathering step is known as the many-lights problem. Due to the large number of VPLs, computing all the VPLs' contribution is not feasible. This paper presents LightSlice, an algorithm that efficiently solves the many-lights problem for large environments with complex lighting. As in prior work, we derive our algorithm from a matrix formulation of the many-lights problem, where the contribution of each VPL corresponds to a column, and computing the final image amounts to computing the sum of all matrix columns. We make the observation that if we cluster similar surface samples together, the slice of the matrix corresponding to these surface samples has significantly lower rank than the original matrix. We exploit this observation by deriving a two-step algorithm where we first globally cluster all lights, to capture the global structure of the matrix, and then locally refine these clusters to determine the most important lights for each slice. We then reconstruct a final image from only these locally-important lights. Compared to prior work, our algorithm has the advantage of discovering and exploiting the global as well as local matrix structure, giving us a speedup of between three and six times compared to state-of-the-art algorithms.
Parity-violating photoproduction of pi(+/-) on the delta resonance.

We analyze the real-photon asymmetry Aγ± for the parity-violating (PV) π± production on the Δ resonance via the reactions γ→+p→Δ+→π++n and γ→+d→Δ0+p→π-+p+p. This asymmetry is nonvanishing due to a PV γNΔ coupling constant, dΔ±. We argue that an experimental determination of this coupling would be of interest for hadron dynamics, possibly shedding light on the S-wave/ P-wave puzzle in the hyperon nonleptonic decays and the violation of Hara’s theorem in weak radiative hyperon decays.
Effect of Oxygen Partial Pressure on the Dielectric Properties and Microstructures of Cofired Base‐Metal‐Electrode Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

The dielectric properties, dopant distributions, and microstructures of BaTiO 3 -based multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) sintered in H 2 N 2 -H 2 O atmospheres with P o2 = 10 7.5 Pa (BMX-7.5) and P o2 = 10 -9.5 Pa (BMX-9.5) were studied, and the effects of oxygen partial pressures were analyzed. Dielectric measurements showed that BMX-7.5 had a lower dielectric constant at temperatures above 20 C, but a higher dielectric constant at temperatures below 10°C when compared with BMX-9.5. The coexistence of core-shell and core grains was observed in bright field (BF) transmission electron microscopy images in both types of capacitors. Triple-point and grain boundary phases were observed more frequently in BMX-9.5 than in BMX-7.5, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer point-by-point analysis revealed that these second phases contained high concentrations of dopants such as Si, Y, and Ca. The dopant concentration in the shell regions in BMX-7.5 was higher than that in similar regions in BMX-9.5. Smeared and twisted grain boundaries with fringes observed in both types of MLCCs indicated that the shell regions in both samples were formed either by diffusion of foreign ions into BaTiO 3 or by crystallization of grain boundary and triple-point liquid phases. It was deduced that the partial pressure of oxygen in the sintering atmosphere influenced the microstructures, dopant distributions, and core-shell ratios of the grains in these materials.
Anvil Characteristics as Seen by C-POL during the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE)

Abstract The Tropical Pacific Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) took place in Darwin, Australia, in early 2006. C-band radar data were used to characterize tropical anvil (i.e., thick, nonprecipitating cloud associated with deep convection) areal coverage, height, and thickness during the monthlong field campaign. The morphology, evolution, and longevity of the anvil were analyzed, as was the relationship of the anvil to the rest of the precipitating system. The anvil was separated into mixed (i.e., echo base below 6 km) and ice-only categories. The average areal coverage for each anvil type was between 4% and 5% of the radar grid. Ice anvil thickness averaged 2.8 km and mixed anvil thickness averaged 6.7 km. Areal peaks show that mixed anvil typically formed out of the stratiform rain region. Peak production in ice anvil usually followed the mixed anvil peak by 1–3 h. Anvil typically lasted 4–10 h after the initial convective rain area peak. TWP-ICE experienced three distinct regimes: an...
Professionalism, Occupational Segregation by Gender and Control of Nursing

This paper develops a critique of the model of professionalism adopted by nurses and many other health occupations. The view of professionalism is criticized from two perspectives. First, as a strategy to increase nurses' control of their working lives, it fails to address two critical factors, social class and gender, and hence is ineffective. Second, it is suggested that the model of professionalism incorporates a number of masculinist perspectives that run contrary to the interests of most women. Recent strategies to improve nurses' working lives are analyzed in terms of these class and gender isues.
Azithromycin for the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis.

Purpose. A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials that evaluated the effect of the macrolide antibiotic, azithromycin, on clinical outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) was conducted. Methods. A systematic literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was conducted using specific search terms. Randomized, controlled trials comparing azithromycin or placebo in secondary CAD patients with adequately reported data on mortality and clinical cardiac endpoints were included. A random-effects model was used. Results. Six studies ( n = 13,778) met the inclusion criteria. The trials varied in their design. On meta-analysis, azithromycin resulted in a nonsignificant reduction in mortality versus placebo (odds ratio [OR], 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77–1.09; p = 0.31). Four trials reported the rate of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). Azithromycin did not have an effect on the rate of nonfatal MI versus placebo (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.80–1.13; p = 0.57). Five trials reported rates of hospitalization in which no significant difference was seen with azithromycin versus placebo (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.80–1.17; p = 0.76). Six trials were used to evaluate the composite cardiovascular endpoint. Again, no significant benefit was seen with azithromycin versus placebo (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.84–1.03; p = 0.218). Conclusion. Meta-analysis showed that azithromycin does not appear to reduce the frequency of recurrent cardiac events in patients with CAD. Results from ongoing trials may clarify the role of azithromycin in the secondary prevention of coronary events.
Optimizing wheat harvest cutting height for harvest efficiency and soil and water conservation.

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity is frequently limited by water availability and degraded by wind erosion. Managers of harvest operations must balance soil and water-conservation benefits of maintaining sufficient stubble height with the risk of losing grain yield due to unharvested spikes below the combine cutting height. This study calculated the relationship between expected harvest losses and conservation of soil and water at various combine cutting heights. Mature wheat spike height frequency distributions for 5 yr were collected for different tillage and residue-cover levels. Wind-velocity profiles were measured for different stem frequencies and heights at three sites with harvested wheat stubble. Potential evaporation of water was calculated by PENFLUX, a Penman-type energy balance model. Potential soil loss was computed from the relative friction velocity (RFV). Stem heights were generally normally distributed, regardless of year or treatment. Quantifying RFVs at the soil surface and relative evaporation rates showed that combine cutting heights <0.1 m offered little protection from erosive winds for sparse stands with <280 stems m 2 . Higher cutting heights of 0.3 or 0.5 m increased protection, especially for sparse stands, but the relative e benefits of increasing stem frequencies declined with higher cutting heights. Under normal sowing rates and conditions, harvesting wheat with a cutting-type header at two-thirds of its height will give 80% of the maximum soil and water conservation protection. Harvesting with a stripper-header combine attachment might be a potential new technology to further maximize soil and water conservation while minimizing harvest losses.
Gustatory Thresholds in Patients with Hypertension

THERE is generally acknowledged to be a relationship of some sort between intake of salt and hypertension1,2. Dahl3 has shown that groups habitually consuming large amounts of dietary salt show a greater incidence of hypertension than groups consuming lesser amounts. He has suggested that ‘prehypertensives’ eat more salt prior to the onset of their hypertension than do normotensive patients. Because of the possible importance of altered gustatory sensation, we decided to measure taste thresholds in hypertensives.
Ultrasound accelerates transport of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator into clots

Fibrinolysis is accelerated in vitro in an ultrasound field, and externally applied high frequency ultrasound also accelerates thrombolysis in animal models. Although the mechanism of this effect is not known, ultrasound does not cause mechanical disruption of clots but rather accelerates enzymatic fibrinolysis. To determine if accelerated fibrinolysis could be related to increased transport of enzyme into clot, we have examined the effect of insonification on the distribution of plasminogen activator between clot and surrounding fluid in vitro. Plasma clots were overlayed with plasma containing 125I-radiolabeled, active-site-blocked recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) and incubated in the presence of 1-MHz ultrasound at 4 W/cm2 or in the absence of ultrasound. The rate of uptake of rt-PA was significantly faster in the presence of ultrasound, reaching 15.5 +/- 1.4% at 4 h compared to 8.2 +/- 1.0% in the absence of ultrasound (p < 0.0001). Similarly, ultrasound increased transport of enzyme from the clot into the surrounding fluid. To determine the effect of ultrasound on the spatial distribution of enzyme, plasma clots were overlayed with plasma containing radiolabeled rt-PA and incubated in the presence or absence of ultrasound. The clots were then snap-frozen, and the radioactivity in serial cryotome sections was determined. Exposure to ultrasound altered the rt-PA distribution, resulting in significantly deeper penetration of rt-PA into the clots. We conclude that exposure to ultrasound increases uptake of rt-PA into clots and also results in deeper penetration. These effects of ultrasound on enzyme transport may contribute to the accelerated fibrinolysis observed in an ultrasound field.
Does reporting estimated glomerular filtration rate affect ordering of timed urine collections

Abstract Background The National Kidney Foundation recommends reporting estimates of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) rather than timed urine collections. When 2 of the 3major hospitals in our region began reporting eGFR at different times we recognized a natural experiment. Methods We conducted a retrospective, observational study at the 3major hospitals in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Data were collected on the frequency of timed urines during a 4½-year period. Regression analysis was used to study the association of the rate of ordering timed urines adjusted for other factors. Results There was a marked drop in the rate of ordering of timed urines at all 3 hospitals from a mean of 21.8 per 1000 admissions in the first 4 quarter years of the study to 10.9 in the last 4 (15th–18th) quarter years. The drop began before the reporting of eGFR at any hospital. The reporting of eGFR had a small effect (−1.7 per 1000 hospital admissions) that was not statistically significant ( P =0.15). Conclusions There has been a marked drop in the ordering of timed urines in our region. The decline began before the reporting of eGFR at 2 of the hospitals and therefore is attributable to other factors.
Ion—molecule reactions of CH3+ and CD3+ with acetic acid, methyl acetate, dimethyl ether and ethylene oxide

Abstract A tandem Dempster-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer was used to study the reactions of CH 3 + and CD 3 + ions with acetic acid, methyl acetate, dimethyl ether, and ethylene oxide at near thermal translational energies (∼0.1 eV). The only product observed for CH 3 + and CD 3 + reactions with acetic acid or methyl acetate was CH 3 CO + . Reaction of CH 3 + with ethylene oxide yields C 2 H 3 O + (45%), C 2 H 4 O + (3%), C 2 H 5 O + (6%), C 2 H 3 + (7%), CHO + (28%), C 2 H 5 + (5%), and CH 3 O + (6%). Reaction of CD 3 + with ethylene oxide results in considerable isotopic scrambling in the ionic products. The reaction of CH 3 + with dimethyl ether yields only two ionic products, C 2 H 5 O + (95%) and C 2 H 6 O + (5%). However, CD 3 + reactions with dimethyl ether show that reaction occurs primarily via a trimethyloxonium ion intermediate (∼60%), which dissociates to yield CD 3 OCH 2 + , CH 3 OCH 2 + , and CH 3 OCD 2 + products. The remainder of the reaction products may be attributed to hydride abstraction (35%) and charge transfer (∼5%).
Visuospatial competency, handedness, and cerebral dominance.

Abstract The present study addressed the question of Levy's (1974, Psychobiological implications of bilateral assymetry. In S. Dimond & J. G. Beaumont, Hemispheric function in the human brain , NY: Halstead. Pp. 121–183.) proposal that left handers would have lowered spatial skills relative to verbal skills. In the first part of the study, performance on the PMA (visuospatial subtest) and WAIS Block Design subtest were compared between right and left handed high school and college samples. No support could be found for deficient visuo-spatial performance in the left handers. In the second part of the experiment, no relative impairment of visuospatial skills was found when subjects were classified into predicted speech dominance groups on the basis of a dichotic listening task and/or a visual half-field task. An extreme groups comparison of the most left dominant and most right dominant groups again yielded no significant differences in visuo-spatial performance. Finally, the relationship between degree of speech lateralization and visuo-spatial skills was examined. Only partial support for differences in cerebral organization for speech in left handers was found in the college sample.
Amorphous‐state characterization of efavirenz—polymer hot‐melt extrusion systems for dissolution enhancement

The aim of this study was to improve the dissolution rate of efavirenz (EFV) by formulating a physically stable dispersion in polymers. Hot-melt extrusion (HME) was used to prepare solid solutions of EFV with Eudragit EPO (a low-glass transition polymer) or Plasdone S-630 (a high-glass transition polymer). The drug-polymer blends were characterized for their thermal and rheological properties as a function of drug concentration to understand their miscibility and processability by HME. The solid-state stability of extrudates was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and dissolution studies. Thermal and rheological studies revealed that the drug is miscible with both polymers, and a decrease in melt viscosity was observed as the drug concentration increased. XRD and DSC studies confirmed the existence of amorphous state of EFV in the extrudates during storage. The dissolution rate of EFV from the extrudates was substantially higher than the crystalline drug. FTIR studies revealed an interaction between the EFV and Plasdone S-630, which reduced the molecular mobility and prevented crystallization upon storage. EFV and Eudragit EPO systems lack specific interactions, but are less susceptible to crystallization due to the antiplasticization effect of the polymer.
Characterizing englacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet

Rapid, local drainage of surface meltwater to the base of the Greenland ice sheet is thought to result in surface velocity variations as far inland as the equilibrium zone (Zwally and others, 2002). Ice-penetrating radar surveys throughout this region allow us to characterize englacial drainage features that appear as vertically stacked diffraction hyperbolae in common-offset profiles. These data are used with a radar-simulation model, which allows for variations in geometry, penetration depth and infill material, to understand the characteristics of these hyperbolae and the likelihood that they are produced by moulins. We find only a moderate correlation between the locations of these possible moulins and supraglacial lakes, indicating that many lakes drain over the surface of the ice sheet, or do not contain sufficient water to reach the bed through moulin formation. We find a strong correlation between moulin location in the ablation region and elevated along-flow tension (due to flow over rough bedrock), which generates surface crevassing and provides an entry point for meltwater. Although theory suggests that moulins may form anywhere on the ice sheet given sufficient meltwater input, our data suggest that they are far more common in the ablation zone than near, or inland from, the equilibrium line.
Reductions in aggression and dominance status in guinea pigs following bilateral lesions in the basolateral amygdala or lateral septum

Abstract Two studies assessing the effects of limbic lesions on aggression and dominance status in the guinea pig were performed. In Experiment 1 the dominant animal in each of 13 groups (dyads or triads) was selected to receive a bilateral lesion in the basolateral nuclei of the amygdala, while its sham or unoperated peers served as controls. In 6 animals the lesions were in the target area and all of these animals fell in their dominance hierarchies, most to the bottom. The other 7 animals suffered damage to areas proximal to, but not in, the amygdala, and they maintained their dominance status throughout the post-operative observation period. In Experiment 2 the dominant animal in each of 9 triads was selected to receive a bilateral lesion in the lateral septum, while its sham or unoperated peers served as controls. In 5 animals the lesions were in the lateral septum and all of these animals lost their alpha dominance status. One animal died post-operatively; in the remaining 3 animals the lesions were dorsal to the target area and these 3 animals maintained their dominance status throughout. Both types of lesions led to reductions of aggression and dominance status, for apparently different reasons. The reduction following the amygdaloid lesions appears to be a result of the animals' inability to adequately defend themselves, while the reduction following the septal lesions appears to stem from an increase in hyperreactivity. No recovery of function was observed in the amygdaloid animals; however, the septal animals displayed evidence of recovery from the effects of their lesions.
The role of radiation therapy after surgical resection of nonfunctional pituitary macroadenomas.

Objective Radiotherapy after aggressive surgical resection of nonfunctional macroadenoma (NFA) of the pituitary remains controversial. Historically, immediate postoperative radiotherapy has been recommended to decrease risk of recurrence. With the availability of high-resolution imaging, most neurosurgeons now withhold radiation until recurrence. There is relatively little evidence to support this practice, however. This study reviews postoperative results in a large number of patients with NFA, the majority of whom did not undergo prophylactic radiation. Methods Of the 258 patients who underwent surgery from 1979 to 1999 for NFA, medical records were available for 176. Forty-four patients were treated with immediate postoperative radiotherapy after tumor resection, and the remaining 132 patients were followed up with serial imaging studies and treated with radiotherapy only when a recurrence was documented by follow-up imaging. Results Patients in the group that received immediate postoperative radiotherapy at time of initial diagnosis and surgery did not differ significantly with respect to age or sex from those in the group that was observed. Five- and 10-year recurrence rates were 2.3 and 2.3%, respectively, for patients who received immediate postoperative radiotherapy, as compared with 15.2 and 50.5%, respectively, for patients who were followed up and did not receive radiotherapy unless there was evidence of recurrence or progression. No patient had symptomatic recurrence in the group that was observed if consistent follow-up was performed. Of the 26 patients who received radiotherapy at time of tumor recurrence or progression, 18 had adequate follow-up, and in all cases, the tumors either remained stable or regressed. Conclusion Withholding radiotherapy after a high-percentage resection of NFA leads to a higher recurrence rate, but it avoids exposing all patients to the risks of radiation. Deferring radiotherapy for patients with complete or near-complete resection seems to be a safe and prudent approach, as our data suggest that recurrences may be detected early with high-resolution imaging and treated effectively with radiation at time of recurrence. Therefore, immediate postoperative radiotherapy may be eliminated for patients with complete or near complete resection of NFA and who agree to undergo close follow-up for a long period.
Active force as a function of filament spacing in crayfish skinned muscle fibers

Filament spacing is shown to have a pronounced effect on active force in skinned striated muscle fibers of crayfish. At constant filament overlap and constant ionic strength, the separation between the myofilaments (measured by low-angle X-ray diffraction) was adjusted by application of osmotic pressure. Force was induced by a calcium-containing activating solution. In the absence of compression, calcium-activated force in skinned fibers was approximately 80% of that in normal intact fibers. In fibers compressed somewhat beyond the dimension of intact fibers, force was maximal. With further compression, force was reduced and then abolished. The filament spacing-force relation reported here suggests that, at any instant, the distance between the myosin filaments and actin filaments affects either (a) the axial force per cross bridge or, more likely, (b) the number of cross bridges in the force-generating state.
Comparison of three AVHRR-based fire detection algorithms for interior Alaska.

Abstract Three satellite fire detection models (threshold, contextual, and fuel mask) were compared and evaluated using National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-11, NOAA-12, and NOAA-14 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer sensor data from interior Alaska. The fixed threshold model compared the radiant temperature of each pixel to predetermined threshold values. The contextual model compared the radiant temperature of each pixel to its surrounding (background) pixels. The fuel mask model is similar to the contextual model, but pixels were tested for fuel availability according to pre-fire vegetation index values. Fire location data from the Alaska Fire Service was used to assess the accuracy of the fire detection models. Fire detection accuracy: (a) was highest using the fuel mask model; (b) was lowest using the fixed threshold model; (c) increased as fire size increased; (d) was considerably greater in afternoon images than morning or night images. Fire detection methods may be less accurate in taiga/tundra regions such as interior Alaska due to landscape heterogeneity and relatively low aboveground fuel.
Racialized Sexual Harassment in the Lives of African American Women

Abstract To date, scholars who investigate sexual harassment have been disturbingly silent about issues facing women of color. The current study describes results of a qualitative study of sexual and racial harassment conducted with 37 African American women. These data indicate that African American women cannot easily separate issues of race and gender when considering their personal accounts of victimization, which creates a form of racialized sexual harassment. Implications for practice and therapeutic interventions are presented.
UXO signature extraction from measurement data : Automatic weighting and regularization

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) has prominent technique in UXO detection and discrimination research. Fast forward solutions are needed for target discrimination, which is essentially an inverse problem. We have previously developed a physically complete modeling system that includes all effects of the heterogeneities and their interactions within the object, in both near and far fields. Since the problem is highly ill-conditioned, the high order excitation modes were truncated and only the solutions of low and dominant modes were solved for. In this paper we introduce a two step approach for extracting the model parameters for both low and high order excitation modes. In the first step, high order modes are truncated. Solutions for low order modes are inferred from the measured data that mostly contain low order mode excitations. In the second step, solutions for both low and high order modes are solved by giving more weight to measurements that contains high order modes, and using the first step solutions as prior information. In the cases investigated here the two step approach provides a more accurate forward model and is still fast enough for inversion calculations in UXO detection and discrimination.
A natural image model approach to splicing detection

Image splicing detection is of fundamental importance in digital forensics and therefore has attracted increasing attention recently. In this paper, we propose a blind, passive, yet effective splicing detection approach based on a natural image model. This natural image model consists of statistical features extracted from the given test image as well as 2-D arrays generated by applying to the test images multi-size block discrete cosine transform (MBDCT). The statistical features include moments of characteristic functions of wavelet subbands and Markov transition probabilities of difference 2-D arrays. To evaluate the performance of our proposed model, we further present a concrete implementation of this model that has been designed for and applied to the Columbia Image Splicing Detection Evaluation Dataset. Our experimental works have demonstrated that this new splicing detection scheme outperforms the state of the art by a significant margin when applied to the above-mentioned dataset, indicating that the proposed approach possesses promising capability in splicing detection.
Air-ocean sciences curricula at the naval postgraduate school--Monterey, California

Air-Ocean Sciences Programs at the Naval Postgraduate School (NAVPGSCOL), Monterey, CA, are designed to provide graduates with a thorough understanding of either air-ocean, atmospheric, oceanographic, or hydrographic sciences and to develop the technical expertise necessary to apply the knowledge of these sciences in support of all aspects of military operations. Currently, Air-Ocean Curricula are open to U.S. officers of all uniformed services, allied officers and civilian employees of the U.S. federal government. Curricula include: #373 Air-Ocean Science; #374 Air-Ocean Tactical Environmental Support; #441 Hydrographic Sciences; #440 Oceanography; and #372 Meteorology. NAVPGSCOL provides a unique opportunity to study the environment in total; the atmosphere, the oceans and their interaction.
Learning to Teach Creative Writing

Is it possible to teach people to write fiction? A more important and helpful question is: how do we teach creative writing? And who are the teachers? A published writer is not necessarily qualified to teach creative writing. To helpfully share their declarative knowledge with students, a writer must embrace the art and craft of teaching, consider how different students learn and create the optimum setting to enable learning. There is a parallel challenge for the writer with the student, as each is faced with challenges around their previously held assumptions about ways of learning.
Evaluation in the government marketplace

Abstract A large government market has developed in evaluation over the past few decades. Governments let contracts to conduct evaluation studies, and these contracts shape the studies. Such contracting does not follow the idealized image of open markets. Rather, a few firms conduct most studies because of the dynamics of the contracting process. If we are to have honest, unbiased evaluations, evaluation ethics must take these market factors into consideration. The conditions under which evaluations are produced are as important as how evaluation results are used.
The Diagnostic Value of Cerebellar-Vestibular Tests in Detecting Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Attention Deficit Disorder

Neurological and optokinetic measures of cerebellar-vestibular (CV) dysfunctioning were shown to be of significant diagnostic value in differentiating between learning disabled subjects and controls matched for chronological age, sex, handedness, IQ, and background (ns = 35). Although traditionally used electronystagmographic positional and caloric parameters were not similarly discriminating, quantitative measures of vertical nystagmus in various eyes-closed positions appeared to have diagnostic potential and were related significantly to such CV-determined neurological signs as positive monopedal Romberg. As a substantial majority of learning disabled (82.9%) evidenced ADD-like symptoms and since learning disabled subsamples with and without Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) shared similar coexisting symptoms and CV signs, it appeared probable that learning disabilities and ADD were reflections of the same underlying CV determinants.
Security of community developed and 3rd-party wiki plug-ins

This paper discusses the significant security vulnerabilities that can occur in community developed wiki plug-ins and issues associated with managing the process of remediation. General guidance is given on how the vulnerabilities can be detected and rectified.The basis for the paper is direct experience with a number of community developed plug-ins for DokuWiki, although the findings have also been transferred to other wikis such as MediaWiki. The findings are also transferable to other similar web server technologies - such as blogs - that support similar plug-in frameworks.
Modeling of Human Reactions to Whole-Body Vibration

A computer-automated approach for studying the human body vibration is presented. This includes vertical, horizontal, and torsional vibration. The procedure used is based on Finite Segment Modeling (FSM) of the human body, thus treating it as a mechanical structure. Kane’s equations as developed by Huston et al. are used to formulate the governing equations of motion. The connective tissues are modeled by springs and dampers. In addition, the paper presents the transient response of different parts of the body due to a sinusoidal forcing function as well as an impulse function applied to the lower torso in the vertical direction.
Prediction and structural characterization of an independently folding substructure in the src SH3 domain.

Previous studies of the conformations of peptides spanning the length of the a-spectrin SH3 domain suggested that SH3 domains lack independently folding substructures. Using a local structure prediction method based on the I-sites library of sequence-structure motifs, we identified a seven residue peptide in the src SH3 domain predicted to adopt a nativelike structure, a type II b-turn bridging unpaired b-strands, that was not contained intact in any of the SH3 domain peptides studied earlier. NMR characterization confirmed that the isolated peptide, FKKGERL, adopts a structure similar to that adopted in the native protein: the NOE and 3 JNHa coupling constant patterns were indicative of a type II b-turn, and NOEs between the Phe and the Leu side-chains suggest that they are juxtaposed as in the prediction and the native structure. These results support the idea that high-confidence I-sites predictions identify protein segments that are likely to form native-like structures early in folding. # 1998 Academic Press
Challenges in Developing Community and Clinician Partnerships for Prevention

Developing links between primary care practices and community organizations to help manage patients with unhealthy behaviors has been proposed as a strategy to improve health care delivery. The objective of this study was to evaluate easily reproducible interventions to improve referral rates between primary care practices and community organizations to help manage tobacco use, poor diet, and physical inactivity. A 6-month, 3-group clinical trial involving 9 adult primary care practices was conducted beginning in February 2008. The 3 groups included usual care, a passive intervention in which practices received referral material, and an active intervention group in which practices also nominated a “champion” to support the project and had access to a Web site to assist in the development of links with community organizations. Charts were abstracted at baseline, at the midpoint of the project (3 months), and at the completion of the project (6 months). Field notes were collected from the project members du...