cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Selective Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Coal Fly Ash Leachates Using Liquid Membrane Processes

Coal combustion residues and other geological waste materials have been proposed as a resource for rare earth elements (REEs, herein defined as the 14 stable lanthanides, yttrium, and scandium). The extraction of REEs from residues often generate acidified leachates that require highly selective separation methods to recover the REEs from other major soluble ions in the leachates. Here, we studied two liquid membrane processes (liquid emulsion membranes, LEM, and supported liquid membranes, SLM) and compared them to standard solvent extraction techniques for selective recovery and concentration of REEs from a leachate of coal fly ash. All separation methods involved an organic solution of di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid dissolved in kerosene or mineral oil and an acid strippant solution of 5 M nitric acid for the liquid-based separations. The LEM configuration, which separated REEs by immersing an acid-in-oil emulsion in the ash leachate, resulted in similar recovery percentages of individual REEs as the conventional solvent extraction approach. The recovery of REEs in the SLM configuration, which involved the impregnation of the solvent in a hydrophobic membrane, was slower than the LEM process. However, the SLM process was notably more selective for the heavy (and higher value) REEs, while the conventional extraction and LEM processes were more selective for the light REEs. A flux-based model of the extraction processes suggested that recovery rates were limited by REE affinity for the solvent chelator in the SLM, while the rates of REEs separation via LEM were limited by diffusive mass transfer across the liquid membrane. Altogether, these results help to identify specific steps in the recovery process that future work should target in the development of scalable liquid membrane separations for REE recovery.
Operation Veterans to Social Workers: A Military Social Work Certificate Program

Service members, Veterans, and their families have special needs for mental health services, but the nation lacks a sufficient pool of social workers competent in military culture. Noting the need for military cultural competency and an increasing number of student Veterans, a graduate school of social work created a military social work training program embedded in an existing MSW program. Operation Veterans to Social Workers (OVSW) were designed to increase culturally competent mental health services to this population by recruiting Veteran MSW students into a Military Social Work certificate program that included a specialized field placement with a trauma-informed clinical focus.
THE 30-DAY ADVERSE OUTCOMES AMONG PATIENTS TREATED IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT FOR HEART FAILURE BY LEFT VENTRICULAR SYSTOLIC FUNCTION STATUS

There is limited analysis of patients treated in emergency departments (ED) for heart failure (HF), especially by left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) status. We evaluated outcomes among patients treated in the ED for HF with preserved (HFpEF, ≥ 50%) and reduced (HFrEF, < 50%) EF.
Proposition 187 and Its Political Aftermath: Lessons for U.S. Immigration Politics After Trump

This Article critically examines how Proposition 187 set in motion a chain of events that forever transformed California politics. That history poses an important — and seemingly incongruous — series of questions for the future of U.S. politics: will the aggressive enforcement measures of the Trump administration have political ramifications for the entire nation similar to those that Proposition 187 had on California? Might the responses to President Trump’s immigration policies lead to a political realignment on a national scale similar to that which occurred in California? Ironically enough, the actions of President Trump, similar to those of California Governor Pete Wilson, who championed Proposition 187, might ultimately have wholly unintended consequences. The administration’s harsh immigration policies, in fact, may pave the way for a more immigrant-friendly national political climate. Such political change might lead to the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, which has been proposed for many years but is yet to be passed by Congress. That change might also spur the passage of other pro-immigrant legislation. Part I of the Article reviews Proposition 187, the racially-tinged campaign that led to its passage, and the litigation successfully barring most of the measure from going into effect. Part II analyzes how the initiative forever changed California politics. Nothing less than a political watershed, Proposition 187 set into motion a chain reaction that, if replicated on the national level, may reverse the contemporary trajectory of immigration law and enforcement. Part III draws parallels between the campaign for Proposition 187 and Donald Trump’s harsh immigration rhetoric and agenda. Finally, Part IV contends that, if current trends continue, the Trump administration’s immigration policies might well boomerang, triggering a national political transformation like that seen in California in the wake of Proposition 187.
Escape Room Teaching Pedagogy in the Didactic Learning Environment for Nursing.

Background Nursing students are diverse in their levels of experience, preferred teaching styles, and levels of engagement. This poses a challenge for nurse educators to deliver meaningful classroom activities. Problem Learning activities should promote analysis of data in the classroom that translates into the clinical practice arena. While escape room teaching methodology has been implemented in simulation, it has had minimal use in the classroom. Approach The escape room teaching methodology for the classroom was developed combining case study, audience response system, and group work activities. The escape room was created for teaching content for care of the patient with myocardial infarction and implemented into the didactic learning environment. Outcomes Students provided positive feedback for this new teaching methodology. Conclusions Escape room methodology can be applied to many content areas within the didactic learning environment.
The VCU-RVI Benchmark: Evaluating Visual Inertial Odometry for Indoor Navigation Applications with an RGB-D Camera

This paper presents VCU-RVI, a new visual inertial odometry (VIO) benchmark with a set of diverse data sequences in different indoor scenarios. The benchmark was captured using an Structure Core (SC) sensor, consisting of an RGB-D camera and an IMU. It provides aligned color and depth images with 640×480 resolution at 30 Hz. The camera’s data is synchronized with the IMU’s data at 100 Hz. Thirty-nine data sequences covering a total of ~3.7 kilometers trajectory were recorded in various indoor environments by two experimental setups: hand-holding the SC sensor or installing it on a wheeled robot. For the data sequences from the handheld SC, some were recorded in our laboratory under three challenging conditions: fast sensor motion, radical illumination changing, and dynamic objects, and the rest were collected in various indoor spaces outside the laboratory in the East Engineering Building, including corridors, halls, and stairways, during long-distance navigation scenarios. For the data sequences captured using the wheeled robot, half of them were recorded with sufficient IMU excitation in the beginning of the sequence, to meet the need of testing the VIO methods with the requirement of sufficient motion conditions for initialization. We placed three bumpers on the floor of the lab to create an uneven terrain to make the robot motion 6-DOF. The sequences also include data collected from navigational courses with a long trajectory. For trajectory evaluation, a motion capture system is used to generate accurate pose data (at a rate of 120 Hz), which will be used as the ground truth. We conducted experiments to evaluate the state-of-the-art VIO algorithms using our benchmark. These algorithms together with the evaluation tools and the VCU-RVI dataset are made publicly available.
Cannabis use, abuse, and withdrawal: cannabinergic mechanisms, clinical, and preclinical findings

Cannabis sativa is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Its main psychoactive component is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of over 100 phytocannabinoid compounds produced by the cannabis plant. THC is the primary compound that drives cannabis abuse potential and is also used and prescribed medically for therapeutic qualities. Despite its therapeutic potential, a significant subpopulation of frequent cannabis or THC users will develop a drug use syndrome termed cannabis use disorder. Individuals suffering from cannabis use disorder exhibit many of the hallmarks of classical addictions including cravings, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms. Currently, there are no efficacious treatments for cannabis use disorder or withdrawal symptoms. This makes both clinical and preclinical research on the neurobiological mechanisms of these syndromes ever more pertinent. Indeed, basic research using animal models has provided valuable evidence of the neural molecular and cellular actions of cannabis that mediate its behavioral effects. One of the main components being central action on the cannabinoid type-one receptor and downstream intracellular signaling related to the endogenous cannabinoid system. Back-translational studies have provided insight linking preclinical basic and behavioral biology research to better understand symptoms observed at the clinical level. This narrative review aims to summarize major research elucidating the molecular, cellular, and behavioral manifestations of cannabis/THC use that play a role in cannabis use disorder and withdrawal.
A Mixed Methods Study of Public Perception of Social Distancing: Integrating Qualitative and Computational Analyses for Text Data:

In a rapidly changing public health crisis such as COVID-19, researchers need innovative approaches that can effectively link qualitative approaches and computational methods. In this article, comp...
'LOL No One Likes You': Protecting Critical Comments on Government Officials' School Media Posts under the Right to Petition

As technology has continued to evolve and change, so too has the way people across the country communicate with each other. This trend has also affected the ways constituents interact and communicate with their political representatives. As a result, many citizens have taken to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to post, tweet, and hashtag about their elected representatives, whether praising them or airing their grievances against them and their policies. Perhaps the best examples of this trend are Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and Donald Trump, who have utilized these digital platforms to convey policy decisions and stances directly to their followers. However, in the process of maintaining these accounts, both politicians have blocked users from interacting with their accounts for various reasons, and consequentially have impeded those users' ability to communicate with them. As a result, Bevin, Trump and other government officials are being sued for allegedly violating their ex-followers' First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression may offer a viable legal path to those litigants but this article argues that there is another way: the right to petition. Specifically, this article argues that the practice of blocking users from official government accounts acts as a violation of their right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Thus, this article traces the history of the right to petition the government in the United States, seeks to create a modern definition of a "petition," and, applying that definition, shows that blocking social media followers from official government social media pages or feeds violates the right to petition.
200 HTML5 Simulations for Introductory Physics

In the teaching and learning of physics, simulations have many applications. Simulations can help to illuminate concepts (such as the motion of electrons in electric or magnetic fields) that cannot usually be seen with the unaided eye, or to slow down things that happen over short time periods or at high speeds. They can also be used to help students explore physics for themselves and allow students to see things from multiple perspectives, such as with accompanying graphs, bar charts, or motion diagrams. Other papers have expanded on the many uses of simulations, and have demonstrated the effectiveness of simulations for student learning, as evidenced by student interviews, for instance. In this pandemic era, in which much teaching and learning is happening online, simulations can also be useful for remote learners, who can benefit from simulation-based labs.
The Market for Products to Support Physical Fitness Activities

Physical fitness is a growing area of consumer participation, thus marketing interest. This study investigates the nature of the market for products to support this activity by distinguishing among three market segments based on expenditures for products to support physical fitness activities. The results show the segments can be characterized in terms of their patterns of relatively passive and relatively active leisure pursuits, their attitudes, and their demographics and media habits.
Radical Sites as Active Sites in Carbon Addition and Oxidation Reactions at High Temperatures

The concept that radical sites may serve as active sites in quantitative descriptions of carbon addition and oxidation reactions in combustion and high-temperature gasification has been recently applied to several reactions for which enough information is available to permit critical comparison of predictions against experimental measurements. The analysis, which is summarized here, includes consideration of the types and strengths of C-H bonds in the peripheries of PAH molecules and surfaces of carbonaceous solids, and description of the formation and loss of radical sites in terms of the equilibration of hydrogen abstraction by H atoms and radical capping by H2. Computed populations of radical sites are consistent with observed trends in radical/parent concentration ratios measured in flames. Predicted reactivities based on the computed population of radical sites in the periphery of PAH molecules and surfaces of soot particles are in good agreement with measured rate coefficients of carbon addition and oxidation reactions.
Replication of bacteriophage M13. XII. In vivo cross-linking of a phage-specific DNA binding protein to the single-stranded DNA of bacteriophage M13 by ultraviolet irradiation.

Abstract Ultraviolet irradiation of bacteriophage M13-infected Escherichia coli induces the formation of a covalent crosslink between progeny single-stranded DNA and the M13 DNA binding protein, the product of gene 5. The crosslinked complex is readily isolated from detergent-treated lysates by sucrose-gradient velocity sedimentation and CsCl equilibrium sedimentation in the presence of detergent. The crosslinked complex produced with optimal levels of irradiation sediments 1.06 times faster than uncomplexed M13 single-stranded DNA, has a buoyant density of approximately 1.62 to 1.64 g/cm 3 and a protein to DNA mass ratio of 2 mg protein per mg DNA. Cleavage of the crosslinked complex with cyanogen bromide or trypsin yields products similar to those produced by cleavage of purified M13 gene 5 protein. The crosslink is located close to the carboxyl terminus of the protein.
The Effects of Chylomicron Vitamin A on the Metabolism of Retinol-binding Protein in the Rat

Abstract Vitamin A-deficient rats have low levels of retinol-binding protein (RBP) in serum and elevated levels of RBP in their livers. Chylomicrons containing newly absorbed vitamin A were injected intravenously into vitamin A-deficient rats, and the levels of vitamin A and of RBP in serum were determined on samples collected serially from individual rats. Data were also obtained on liver immunoreactive RBP concentrations with samples obtained at death. Chylomicrons were used so that the vitamin could be administered physiologically, in the form in which it is normally absorbed. After the injection of chylomicrons containing vitamin A a rapid increase in the serum levels of RBP and of vitamin A occurred, with maximal levels observed at 2 to 4 hours. The magnitude of the response was directly related to the amount of vitamin A given, in the dose range 0 to 17 µg of vitamin A. In an initial study of the dose range of 0 to 32 µg, a maximal response was obtained with doses of 16 µg or greater. Substantial increases in serum RBP levels were observed soon after chylomicron clearance, by 45 min after chylomicron injection. Livers were obtained 2 hours after chylomicron injection in rats given graded amounts of vitamin A. The dose-response relationship of the increase in serum RBP was mirrored by a complementary dose-related decrease in the level of RBP in the liver. Release of RBP from liver into serum, which was a function of the amount of vitamin A given, apparently occurred. Rats pretreated with either puromycin or cycloheximide also showed a rapid and substantial rise in serum RBP and vitamin A levels, after the injection of vitamin A. The results indicate that the increased level of RBP in serum after vitamin A injection mainly represents the release of previously formed RBP from an existing pool in the liver, rather than representing newly synthesized protein. The secretion of RBP by the liver is regulated efficiently by the availability of vitamin A for the formation of the retinol-RBP complex.
X-ray spectra of young supernova remnants

The early identification of the strong X-ray source in Taurus with the Crab nebula (Bowyer et al. 1964) was the first milestone in the association of X-ray emission with supernova remnants. Unfortunately, it proved to be “red herring” which clouded the interpretation of X-ray emission from supernova remnants for a decade. Because the Crab was one of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky at a few keV, the interrogation energy of the early surveys, and because it was the first (and for several years the only) X-ray source conclusively identified, the potential association of a supernova origin with the large body of unidentified X-ray sources was not an unreasonable hypothesis.
Comparison of NMOS, CMOS and GaAs technologies

The relative merits of silicon NMOS, CMOS, and GaAs technologies are discussed. The relative commercial standings of these IC technologies are discussed. >
ON THE INTERCALATION REACTION

The insertion of adducts (I) in between the layers of pseudo-two-dimensional (2D) solids is called intercalation and the purpose of this chapter is to review recent work which has led to a better understanding of the following selected topics: 1.1.1 the chemical process of intercalation in transition element dichalcogenides TX2, i.e. the reaction: $$T{X_2}(c) + xI = {I_x}.T{X_2}(c)$$ (1) and 1.1.2 the physicochemical properties of the complex formed in (1). The work will be concerned mostly with cases where both TX2 and the intercalated product in (1) are solids and the changes in the direct and reciprocal lattice will form the basis for the discussion of experimental observations. Typical changes in TaS2 phases are shown in Figure 1 and the notation used normally is described in Figure 2.
Role of Histidine Transfer Ribonucleic Acid in Regulation of Synthesis of Histidyl-Transfer Ribonucleic Acid Synthetase of Salmonella typhimurium

The role of histidine transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) in repression of synthesis of histidyl-tRNA synthetase was examined in two strains of Salmonella typhimurium, one of which was a histidine tRNA (hisR) mutant possessing 52% of the wild-type (hisR(+)) histidine tRNA and a derepressed level of the histidine biosynthetic enzymes during histidine-unrestricted growth. Histidine-restricted growth caused a derepression of the rate of formation of histidyl-tRNA synthetase in both strains. In the case of the wild-type strain, addition of histidine to the derepressed culture caused a repression of synthesis of histidyl-tRNA synthetase for at least one generation of growth. In contrast, when histidine was restored to the derepressed hisR mutant culture, synthesis of histidyl-tRNA synthetase was continued at the initial derepressed rate. These results suggest that histidine must be attached to histidine tRNA for repression of synthesis of histidyl-tRNA synthetase.
The effect of instrumental broadening on LEED intensity-energy profiles

Abstract The effect of instrumental broadening on the measurement of a LEED intensity-energy ( J versus E ) curve is discussed. A simple method to extract from the measurements the scattering strength, the quantity calculated in dynamic theories, is described.
Correlates of HIV risk appraisal in women

This study examined the relationship of safer sex behavior practices, knowledge of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), social norms, and familiarity with persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with HIV risk appraisal in women. Risk appraisal was measured by perceived susceptibility and seriousness of AIDS. The AIDS Risk Reduction Model was used to construct a salient framework for this descriptive, correlational survey in which 208 urban women of mixed ethnicity residing in areas with high rates of sexually transmitted diseases/AIDS participated. Behavior, knowledge, and social norms contributed significant amounts of variance to percived susceptibility but none of the independent variables contributed significant amounts of variance in perceived seriousness. Overall findings indicate that risk behaviors are commonly reported, AIDS knowledge is incomplete, and denial of risk is pronounced.
Geometric ergodicity of the Gibbs sampler for Bayesian quantile regression

Consider the quantile regression model [email protected][email protected]@e where the components of @e are i.i.d. errors from the asymmetric Laplace distribution with rth quantile equal to 0, where [email protected]?(0,1) is fixed. Kozumi and Kobayashi (2011) [9] introduced a Gibbs sampler that can be used to explore the intractable posterior density that results when the quantile regression likelihood is combined with the usual normal/inverse gamma prior for (@b,@s). In this paper, the Markov chain underlying Kozumi and Kobayashi's (2011) [9] algorithm is shown to converge at a geometric rate. No assumptions are made about the dimension of X, so the result still holds in the ''large p, small n'' case.
Innovative practices session 2C: Design, fabrication and test of flexible electronics

The development of inexpensive high-performance electronics requiring low-temperature device processing will enable low-cost, large-area flexible electronics for applications such as large-area displays, sensors, and evolving technologies such as electric paper. The recent developments of thin-film transistor (TFT) backplanes processed on flexible plastic substrates opens the possibility for novel device structures, processes, and applications.
Stereoselective synthesis of 1,8- and 1,5-diketo-trans-syn-trans-perhydroanthracenes

Abstract A stereOselective conversion of 1,8- and 1,5-diethoxy-9,10-anthraquinone to 1,8- and 1,5-diketo- trans - syn - trans -perhydroanthracenes by successive sodium borohydride, metal-ammonia, and catalytic reductions is described.
Explicit determination of element stiffness matrices in the hybrid stress method

The hybrid stress method has demonstrated many improvements over conventional displacement-based formulations. A main detraction from the method, however, has been the higher computatational cost in forming element stiffness coefficients due to matrix inversions and manipulations as required by the technique. By utilizing permissible field transformations of initially assumed stresses, a spanning set of orthonormalized stress modes can be generated which simplify the matrix equations and allow explicit expressions for element stiffness coefficients to be derived. The developed methodology is demonstrated using several selected 2-D quadrilateral and 3-D hexahedral elements.
Mobility and thermoelectric power in many-valley polar semiconductors

Abstract The mobility μ and the thermoelectric power Q are calculated variationally for polar semiconductors having ellipsoidal energy surfaces in which the polar electron phonon interaction is dominant. Equations applicable to both Fermi and Boltzmann statistics are presented. Numerical results for μ and Q for the latter case are given as a function of temperature for varying degrees of ellipticity. These show that the thermoelectric power is relatively insensitive to changes in ellipticity. A simple approximate formula for the mobility given previously is shown to agree well with the results of the variational method.
Botryococcus braunii an unusual hydrocarbon-producing alga

The colonial green algaBotryococcus braunii has been proposed as a source of renewable liquid fuel principally because of its ability to accumulate large quantities of hydrocarbon and form prodigious natural blooms. A curious feature of the alga is that the type of hydrocarbon produced is apparently related to physiological status. Active state colonies produce unbranched olefins (largely C27:2, C29:2, C29:3, and C31:2) that have been reported to comprise up to 32% of the dry weight. In contrast, resting state colonies produce unusual branched olefins (general formula C n H2n−10;n=30–37) that appear to be of terpenoid origin. This “botryococcene fraction” has been shown to comprise from 27 to 86% of the dry weight in natural collections. Although these and other considerations may argue on behalf of large-scale cultivation, several problems require further investigation. For example, little is known about bloom formation and maintenance, growth and physiology of resting state colonies, or the mechanism of physiological interconversion. There is also a need to acquire and investigate new isolates, for much experimental work has utilized a handful of active-state isolates long entrained to laboratory culture. Furthermore, currently available data suggest that the conditions required to expedite the alga's typically sluggish growth would increase production costs and likely engender the growth of more competitive phytoplankton. Present considerations do not point optimistically to the widespread use ofBotryococcus as a renewable fuel source, although a long-range potential for the production of specific industrial feedstocks may exist.
Roles of Poly(propylene glycol) during Solvent-Based Lamination of Ceramic Green Tapes

Solvent lamination for alumina green tapes is readily accomplished using a mixture of ethanol, toluene and poly(propylene glycol). After lamination, the PPG is clearly present as a discrete film at the interface between the laminated tapes. This condition, however, does not generate delamination during firing. Systematic sets of experiments are undertaken to determine the role of PPG in the lamination process and, specifically, the mechanism by which it is redistributed during subsequent processing. PPG slowly diffuses through the organic binder film at room temperature. The PPG diffusion rapidly increases as temperature is increased to 80 C. The key to the efficiency of adhesives during green-tape lamination is mutual solubility of the nonvolatile component of the glue and the base polymeric binder.
Exclusion effect of a strong, short-range, attractive real potential.

The effects of strong, short-range attraction in exotic atoms are considered in a simplified model. The model consists of a spherical box of radius b which contains a strong, short-range, real potential well of radius a. Its eigenvalue spectrum has two parts: negative energy, strongly bound ``nuclear'' states, and positive energy ``atomic'' states. It is found that the primary effect of the attractive potential on positive energy states is to exclude the wave function from the well. The eigenvalues of these states, identified with experimentally observed atomic states, are thereby shifted upward to the values expected for a smaller box of radius (b-a). Implications for analysis of exotic atom spectra are discussed.
Development of video technology to analyze dynamics of inertia-based apple orientation

Development of machine vision systems to examine fruit for quality and contamination problems has been stalled due to lack of an inexpensive, fast, method for appropriately orienting fruit for imaging. We recently discovered that apples could be oriented based-on inertial properties. Apples were rolled down a ramp consisting of two parallel rails. When sufficient angular velocity was achieved, the apples moved to a configuration where the stem/calyx axis was perpendicular to the direction of travel. This discovery provides a potential basis for development of a commercially-viable orientation system. However, many question remain concerning the underlying dynamic principles that govern this phenomenon. An imaging system and software were constructed to allow detailed observation of the orientation process. Sequential 640×480 monochrome images are acquired at 60 fps and 1/500 sec exposure. The software finds the center of the apple in each image as well as the vertical movement of the track at a selected coordinate. Early tests revealed that the compliance of the track played a significant role in the orientation process. These data will be used to compare results from empirical tests with predictions of dynamic models.
Ultrafast X-ray Thomson Scattering of Shock-Compressed Matter

Spectrally resolved scattering of ultrafast K-α x-rays has provided experimental validation of the modeling of the compression and heating of shocked matter. The elastic scattering component has characterized the evolution and coalescence of two shocks launched by a nanosecond laser pulse into lithium hydride with an unprecedented temporal resolution of 10 picoseconds. At shock coalescence, we observed rapid heating to temperatures of 25,000 kelvin when the scattering spectra show the collective plasmon oscillations that indicate the transition to the dense metallic plasma state. The plasmon frequency determines the material compression, which is found to be a factor of 3, thereby reaching conditions in the laboratory relevant for studying the physics of planetary formation.
Characterization of Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cytochromes c 552 expressed in the cytoplasm and periplasm of Escherichia coli

Hydrogenobacterthermophilus cytochrome c552 (Ht cyt c552) is a small monoheme protein in the cytochrome c551 family. Ht cyt c552 is unique because it is hypothesized to undergo spontaneous cytoplasmic maturation (covalent heme attachment) when expressed in Escherichiacoli. This is in contrast to the usual maturation route for bacterial cytochromes c that occurs in the cellular periplasm, where maturation factors direct heme attachment. Here, the expression of Ht cyts c552 in the periplasm as well as the cytoplasm of E. coli is reported. The products are characterized by absorption, circular dichroism, and NMR spectroscopy as well as mass spectrometry, proteolysis, and denaturation studies. The periplasmic product's properties are found to be indistinguishable from those reported for protein isolated from Ht cells, while the major cytoplasmic product exhibits structural anomalies in the region of the N-terminal helix. These anomalies are shown to result from the retention of the N-terminal methionine in the cytoplasmic product, and not from heme attachment errors. The 1H NMR chemical shifts of the heme methyls of the oxidized (S=1/2) expression products display a unique pattern not previously reported for a cytochrome c with histidine-methionine axial ligation, although they are consistent with native-like heme ligation. These results support the hypothesis that proper heme attachment can occur spontaneously in the E. coli cytoplasm for Ht cyt c552.
Estrogen receptor β protects against in vivo injury in RPE cells

Epidemiological data suggest that estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women may contribute to the severity of AMD. We discovered that 17beta-estradiol (E2) was a crucial regulator of the severity of extracellular matrix turnover (ECM) dysregulation both in vivo and in vitro. We also found in vitro that the presence of estrogen receptor (ER)beta regulates MMP-2 activity. Therefore in an attempt to delineate the role of the ER subtypes, female estrogen receptor knockout (ERKO) mice were fed a high-fat diet, and the eyes were exposed to seven 5-second doses of nonphototoxic levels of blue-green light over 2 weeks. Three months after cessation of blue light treatment, transmission electron microscopy was performed to assess severity of deposits, Bruchs membrane changes, and choriocapillaris endothelial morphology. We found that changes in the trimolecular complex of pro-MMP-2, MMP-14 and TIMP-2 correlated with increased Bruch's membrane thickening or sub-retinal deposit formation (basal laminar deposits) in ERKObeta mice. In addition RPE isolated from ERKObeta mice had an increase in expression of total collagen and a decrease in MMP-2 activity. Finally we found that ERK an intermediate signaling molecule in the MMP pathway was activated in RPE isolated from ERKObeta mice. These data suggest that mice which lack ERbeta are more susceptible to in vivo injury associated with environmental light and high fat diet.
X-ray standing wave investigation of submonolayer barium and strontium surface phases on Si(001)

Submonolayer (2 x 1) Ba/Si(001) and (2 x 1) Sr/Si(001) surface phases have been studied with normal Si(004) and off-normal Si(022) x-ray standing wave (XSW) measurements. These results are compared to previous XSW measurements of a (2 x 3) phase of Sr on Si(001). The (004) and (022) coherent positions indicate that alkaline-earth metal (AEM) atoms occupy the same type of high symmetry site in the (2 x 1) Ba/Si(001), (2 x 1) Sr/Si(001), and (2 x 3) Sr/Si(001) surface phases. The difference between the AEM adatom heights measured for the (2 x 1) Ba/Si(001) and (2 x 1) Sr/Si(001) phases is consistent with the difference in the ionic radii of Ba and Sr. Consideration of the nearest neighbor AEM-Si bond lengths that would result from AEM atoms sitting on symmetrically dimerized Si(001) at the height specified by the Ba and Sr coherent positions strongly suggests that the AEM atoms occupy valley-bridge sites.
Treating pain with the lidocaine patch 5% after total knee arthroplasty.

Objective To investigate the potential benefits of the lidocaine patch 5% for pain control during the postoperative period after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Design/Setting A prospective cohort study in which we analyzed patients admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation unit after a TKA. Participants Fifty-three consecutive patients who underwent a TKA and were admitted to an orthopedic rehabilitation unit. Methods Thirty-one patients received the lidocaine patch 5%, and 22 patients served as the control group. On the day of admission, the 24-item Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) was used to evaluate each patient's pain and functional capacity before surgery. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to assess pain ratings every other day starting on rehabilitation day 1. The average end point of the study was rehabilitation day 11. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome measure was the change in VAS from day of admission. Secondary outcomes in the lidocaine patch 5% group consisted of length of use and a patient satisfaction survey. Results The lidocaine patch 5% and control group were demographically well matched. The average admission WOMAC score was 49.3 and 57.1 for the lidocaine patch 5% and control groups, respectively. The average length of stay was 13.2 ± 5.1 days for the lidocaine patch 5% group and 12.4 ± 3.7 days for the control group. A statistically significant difference in VAS was found on day 3 ( P = .05) between the 2 groups, with the control group demonstrating better pain relief. However, both groups reported similar pain improvements by the end of their hospital stay. Of the 31 patients receiving lidocaine patch 5%, 94% of the patients reported satisfaction and attributed pain relief to its use. Conclusions Overall, the concurrent use of lidocaine patch 5% in treating the postoperative pain of patients after TKA does not provide significant additional pain relief compared with control subjects.
Post‐translational processing of two α‐amylase inhibitors and an arcelin from the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris

Mass spectrometric methods were used to investigate the proteolytic processing and glycopeptide structures of three seed defensive proteins from Phaseolus vulgaris. The proteins were the α-amylase inhibitors αAI-1 and αAI-2 and arcelin-5, all of which are related to the seed lectins, PHA-E and PHA-L. The mass data showed that the proteolytic cleavage required for activation of the amylase inhibitors is followed by loss of the terminal Asn residue in αAI-1, and in all three proteins, seven or more residues were clipped from the C-termini, in the manner of the seed lectins. In most instances, individual glycoforms could be assigned at each Asn site, due to the unique masses of the plant glycopeptides. It was found that αAI-1 and αAI-2 differed significantly in their glycosylation patterns, despite their high sequence homology. These data complement the previous X-ray studies of the α1-amylase inhibitor and arcelin, where many of the C-terminal residues and glycopeptide residues could not be observed.
Effects of Age, Sex, and Placement of a Model on Children's Performance on a Ball-Striking Task:

The present investigation examined the effects of age, sex, and temporal placement of a model on performance of a ball-striking task. 90 boys and 90 girls, aged 7 and 9 yr., were randomly assigned ...
Constructing History in a Graduate Curriculum Class.

ABSTRACTThis article explores teachers' constructions of historical knowledge, their perceptions of the learning process in a graduate curriculum course assignment, and what they learned about the nature of curriculum history, historical inquiry, and themselves as learners and teachers. What is reported through the unfolding narrative of teachers' journal excerpts and resultant “historical models” concerns reflexive, pedagogical, and communicative work and what can be learned by using ambiguous, open-ended strategies such as building visual representations of curriculum knowledge in a university classroom. The effort of this project examines the engagement of the author and teacher-participants in seeing themselves and history in continuous, reflexive formation.
Low-power amdahl-balanced blades for data intensive computing

Enterprise and scientific data sets double every year, forcing similar growths in storage size and power consumption. As a consequence, current system architectures used to build data warehouses are about to hit a power consumption wall. In this paper we propose an alternative architecture comprising large number of so-called Amdahl blades that combine energy-efficient CPUs with solid state disks to increase sequential read I/O throughput by an order of magnitude while keeping power consumption constant. We also show that while keeping the total cost of ownership constant, Amdahl blades offer five times the throughput of a state-of-theart computing cluster for data-intensive applications. Finally, using the scaling laws originally postulated by Amdahl, we show that systems for data-intensive computing must maintain a balance between low power consumption and per-server throughput to optimize performance perWatt.
Clinical markers, management, and long-term follow-up of early ischemia after coronary artery bypass grafting

In summary, the occurrence of angina or myocardial infarction within 1 year after coronary bypass is associated with a high incidence of significant angiographic abnormalities. Early angiography is necessary to identify high-risk patients who could undergo revascularization. Patients with other markers of ischemia should have a noninvasive approach (stress imaging test) as initial evaluation, before coronary angiography is considered. When technically feasible, coronary angioplasty can be performed safely and with a high success rate. Repeat coronary bypass in this group of patients is associated with higher in-hospital complications. Patients with less compromised coronary anatomy can be treated medically with a good long-term outcome.
Social Schemas: An Investigation of Age and Socialization Variables

The Felt Figure Replacement Technique (FFRT) was administered to 160 normally adjusted male Ss in three distinct chronological age groups. It was hypothesized that the existence of common social schemas would vary with age and that a neutral-latency group of Ss (aged 9.5 to 10.5 yr.) would produce different schematic reconstructions based on relative degrees of perceived maternal warmth. Chi-square analyses did not support the hypotheses. The results were interpreted as consistent with studies of perceptual accuracy and at odds with the use of the FFRT by groups of normal children. Contrasts were made with the positive findings of other researchers using deviant and/or mature normal Ss.
Substantial improvement in compliance with universal precautions in an emergency department following institution of policy.

Seven months following the introduction of an institutional policy mandating compliance with universal precautions (UPs), we observed 127 health care workers performing 1421 interventions on 155 critically ill and injured patients in an emergency department setting in July 1989. Results were compared with a similar study undertaken exactly 1 year previously when UPs were considered as guidelines only. Overall adherence to UPs improved from 44.0% to 72.7% from 1 year to the next. Adherence to UPs improved from 19.5% to 55.7% during interventions on patients with profuse bleeding and from 16.7% to 54.5% during performance of major procedures. Compliance improved from 47.9% to 81.0% for emergency departmentbased health care workers (residents, attending physicians, nurses, x-ray film technicians). Prehospital care providers, a group not accountable to the institution, remained particularly noncompliant with only 13% adherence. We conclude that mandating UPs as policy with a monitoring component is effective in ensuring a reasonable level of adherence. However, given current barrier technology, achieving appropriate levels of compliance during unscheduled visits by patients requiring immediate attention and rapid intervention remains a challenge. ( Arch Intern Med. 1991;151:2051-2056)
Adolescent Seizures and Epilepsy Syndromes

Specific epilepsy syndromes begin during adolescence and create a significant neurologic burden. Knowledge of these syndromes has important treatment and prognostic implications, which usually extend into adulthood. Little is known about the effect of menarche on seizures, even though a relationship of seizures to the menstrual cycle has been observed for many years. In general, puberty is not thought to influence seizure frequency. However, estrogen is thought to activate epileptiform activity; testosterone may decrease seizure activity; and progesterone decreases epileptiform discharges. These effects are mediated by effecting gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission. Idiopathic generalized epilepsies are the most frequent group with adolescent onset. These are probably polygenic in origin and represent a biologic continuum. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common form. This contrasts with a variety of progressive myoclonic epilepsies that also are first seen in adolescence and have a genetic origin and specific treatments. Finally, although temporal lobe epilepsy associated with hippocampal sclerosis may have its origin in childhood, often the child does not come to surgical evaluation until adolescence or young adulthood. The characteristic clinical history, seizure semiology, and magnetic resonance imaging findings have allowed a discrete epilepsy syndrome to be established. Applying these same criteria to children and adolescents reveals that hippocampal sclerosis is the most common lesion responsible for their intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. Hippocampal sclerosis is probably underdiagnosed in children. The safety and efficacy of epilepsy surgery in the age group is excellent. Knowledge of the epilepsy syndromes that remit before adolescence, may persist into adolescence, or begin in adolescence is central to the treatment of this age group.
Direct AFM measurements of adhesion forces between calcium oxalate monohydrate and kidney epithelial cells in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions

Abstract Adhesion forces between the calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM, whewellite) crystal and the layer of the epithelial kidney cells have been directly measured under buffer solutions by using atomic force microscope (AFM). Two renal epithelial lines, MDCK (a collecting duct line) and LLC-PK1 (a proximal tubular line), were used. All experiments were conducted in buffer solutions containing additional Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions in the various concentrations. For MDCK-cells, the obtained values of the adhesion force were in the range 0.12–0.51 nN and 0.12–0.20 nN for Ca2+ and Mg2+, respectively. No adhesion force (larger than 0.05 nN) has been found for LLC-PK1 cells. The “critical” concentrations of ions, near which the adhesion force (for MDCK-cells) was maximal, were found to be 100 mM. The “critical” concentration of ions and the tendency of the adhesion forces with the changing ions concentration, confirm earlier results of Lieske et al. [J.C. Lieske, G. Farell, S. Deganello, Urol. Res. 32 (2004) 117–123], in which the affinity (rather than the adhesion force) between the COM micro-crystals and the layer of the MDCK-cells were measured, calculating the radioactive signal of radioactive 14C COM-crystals stuck to the cells. We believe that the aggregation of the COM crystals does not occur in the bulk urine due to short travel time through the nephron. If so, the kidney stone formation is determined by COM-seeding on the tubules walls. The further growth of the stone on the seed can take practically unlimited time because the COM crystal is practically is not soluble in water or urine solutions. The value of the adhesion force can be useful for evaluation of the adhesion energy or probability of the COM-aggregates to stick to the kidney epithelium under the urine flow. This probability is calculated taking into account the adhesion force, F ad , and hydrodynamic driving force of the flow. This probability reflects the opportunity of the small aggregates to grow and form the kidney stones.