cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A descriptive study of racial and ethnic differences of drug overdoses and naloxone administration in Pennsylvania.

Abstract Introduction Drug overdose is a significant public health problem, yet little is known about racial/ethnic differences in drug overdose rates and/or in responses to a drug overdose following naloxone administration. This paper examines differences in rates of survivorship, response, revival and administration of naloxone by race and ethnicity among those who experienced a drug overdose in Pennsylvania between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019. Spatio-temporal variations in drug overdose locations were examined to facilitate understanding of service development, planning, and delivery of effective treatment need. Methods Ten thousand two hundred and ninety drug overdose incidents were analyzed from the Pennsylvania Overdose Information Network (ODIN). The ODIN is a centralized repository that contains information on drug overdoses victims including age, gender and race/ethnicity, naloxone administrations and survivorship, drug(s) suspected of causing the overdose, victim outcomes (e.g. hospitalizations and arrests) and average naloxone dosage per victim. Between group differences were tested using χ2 -tests of independence. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the predicted probability of survivorship according to victim characteristics. All statistical analyses and mapping were performed using the R statistical programming environment. Results About eighty-seven percent of drug overdose response victims were white, and seventy-one percent were between the ages of 20–39. White females were more likely to receive an overdose response compared to black or Hispanic females. A non-opioid was indicated more frequently in overdoses involving black victims compared to either whites or Latinos. Latinos and blacks were more likely to survive a drug overdose. However, following naloxone administration, no racial or ethnic differences in survivorship were noted. Differences in responsiveness to naloxone and transitions to care following the drug overdose event were also found. Finally, overdoses among Blacks and Latinos demonstrated a stronger spatial patterning across counties compared to whites. Conclusions This study found a significant, disparate impact of race/ethnicity on fatal drug overdoses when naloxone is not administered. Further, individuals who were administered naloxone and subsequently received medical care in a hospital experienced lower drug-related mortality, suggesting that first responders are critical intervention points for individuals in need of medical treatment following a drug overdose. However, while naloxone administration is a necessary first step in the recovery process, longitudinal pathways towards treatment are critical to stem the drug overdose crisis.
Sourcing-Strategien — wo und von wem wird eingekauft?

Mit zunehmender Verflachung der Wertschopfungstiefe werden Lieferanten zu einem bestimmenden Faktor in der Wertschopfungskette des Unternehmens. Wenn beispielsweise in der Automobilindustrie weit uber die Halfte an Wertschopfung zugekauft wird, zeigt sich, dass die Auswahl und der richtige Umgang mit Lieferanten entscheidend zum Erfolg oder Misserfolg eines Produzenten beitragen. Einer der innovativsten und ju ngsten Automobilhersteller, MCC Smart, tragt weniger als zehn Prozent zur Wertschopfung im „ Smart“ bei und bei der Audi AG werden in einzelnen Werken uber 90% der Teile Just-in-Time angeliefert. Oder wie es J. Barry von EDS zum Ausdruck gebracht hat: “These days, the battle is not between my company and my competitor; it’s between my supply chain and my competitor’s supply chain“.
Negotiating screen time: A mother’s struggle over ‘no screen time’ with her infant son:

The literature on infant and toddler screen time has been built on two traditions—cognitive models of learning and sociocultural models of learning. Cognitive studies have cautioned against the use...
The Effects of a Brief Motivational Intervention for Alcohol Use through Stages of Change among Nontreatment Seeking Injured Patients.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the mechanisms of change underlying brief interventions and the patient characteristics that may affect them. The present study tested whether the stages of change mediate the effects of a BMI with and without a telephone booster relative to brief advice (i.e., multiple mediation). Further, the present study tested whether the effects of the BMI conditions on the stages of change were contingent on patients' alcohol use severity (i.e., moderated mediation). METHODS The present study is a secondary analysis using data from injured adult patients at 3 trauma centers who were screened for inclusion in the study and randomly assigned to brief advice (n = 200), BMI (n = 203), or BMI with a telephone booster (n = 193) (Field et al., 2014). Participants completed a baseline assessment and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up assessments that included self-report measures of the stages of change, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems, as well as other variables of interest. RESULTS The results demonstrated significant and consistent mediation at p < 0.05 wherein BMI with a telephone booster increased action at 3-month follow-up leading to reduced likelihood of at-risk drinking, less alcohol use, and fewer alcohol problems at both 6- and 12-month follow-up. However, moderated mediation analyses suggested that the effects of the BMI conditions on the stages of change were not contingent on patients' alcohol use severity. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the understanding of stages of change as potential mechanisms of change in BMI. Directions for future research are discussed.
Biofilm/Persister/Stationary Phase Bacteria Cause More Severe Disease Than Log Phase Bacteria – II Infection with Persister Forms of Staphylococcus aureus Causes a Chronic Persistent Skin Infection with More Severe Lesion that Takes Longer to Heal and is not Eradicated by the Current Recommended Treatment in Mice

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause persistent infections clinically. Treatment for chronic S. aureus infections ranges from at least one week to several months and such infections are prone to relapse likely due to the presence of persistent forms of bacteria such as persister cells. Persister cells, which are bacterial cells that become dormant under stress conditions, can be isolated in vitro but their clinical significance in in vivo infections are largely unclear. Here, we evaluated S. aureus persistent forms using stationary phase cultures and biofilm bacteria (enriched in persisters) in comparison with log phase cultures in terms of their ability to cause disease in a mouse skin infection model. Surprisingly, we found that infection of mice with stationary phase cultures and biofilm bacteria produced a more severe chronic skin infection with more pronounced lesions which took longer to heal than log phase (actively growing) cultures. After two week infection, the bacterial load and skin tissue pathology, as determined by hyperplasia, immune cell infiltration, and crust/lesion formation, of mice infected with the more persistent forms (e.g. stationary phase bacteria and biofilm bacteria) were greater than mice infected with log phase bacteria. Using our persistent infection mouse model, we showed that the clinically recommended treatment for recurrent S. aureus skin infection, doxycycline + rifampin, was not effective in eradicating the bacteria in the treatment study, despite reducing lesion sizes and pathology in infected mice. Analogous findings were also observed in a Caenorhabditis elegans model, where S. aureus stationary phase cultures caused a greater mortality than log phase culture as early as two days post-infection. Thus, we established a new model for chronic persistent infections using persister bacteria that could serve as a relevant model to evaluate therapeutic options for persistent infections in general. Our findings connect persisters with persistent infections, have implications for understanding disease pathogenesis, and are likely to be broadly valid for other pathogens.
Robust Subject-Independent P300 Waveform Classification via Signal Pre-Processing and Deep Learning

Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are capable of processing neural stimuli using electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements to aid communication capabilities. Yet, BCIs often require extensive calibration steps in order to be tuned to specific users. In this work, we develop a subject independent P300 classification framework, which eliminates the need for user-specific calibration. We begin by employing a series of pre-processing steps, where, among other steps, we consider different trial averaging methodologies and various EEG electrode configurations. We then consider three distinct deep learning architectures and two linear machine learning models as P300 signal classifiers. Through evaluation on three datasets, and in comparison to three benchmark P300 classification frameworks, we find that averaging up to seven trials while using eight specific electrode channels on a two-layered convolutional neural network (CNN) leads to robust subject independent P300 classification. In this capacity, our method achieves greater than a 0.20 gain in AUC in comparison to prior P300 classification methods. In addition, our proposed framework is computationally efficient with training time gains of greater than 3×, compared to linear machine learning models, and online evaluation time speedups of up to 2× compared to benchmark methods.
Engineering Large Event Catering Services.

In the United States, catering services constitute about $8.6 billion annually. The main objective in managing large catered events is centered around ensuring good customer satisfaction while minimizing food wastage. Achieving this management objective is challenging because of some of the key characteristics of such service systems such as long setup time, time-varying demand, and complex customer food preferences. Industry practice heavily relies on the experience of individuals with little use of model-driven decision-making for planning such events. This paper takes a service system engineering approach for event catering by developing an analytical framework for decision-making by event planners to determine kitchen capacity, temporary storage capacity for warmers, and staffing level for buffet service. The proposed model is distribution-free and provides intuitive visualization for decision-making. As a practical case study, the model is applied to a large catered event with an attendance of about 10,000 over three hours.
Predicting Transaction Outcomes Under Customized Pricing with Discretion: A Structural Estimation Approach

We consider a company selling heterogeneous products with prices customized for each customer and the final price is set by negotiations between sales agents and customers. This type of pricing modality is referred to as customized pricing with discretion and commonly used in insurance, consumer loans, mortgages, and many business-to-business markets. We assume that each sales agent has a minimum reserve price (RP) and each customer has a maximum willingness-to-pay (WTP) and, if the deal occurs, they agree on a price between these two values, which are not directly observable. Given the outcomes of a series of negotiations, our goal is to estimate the underlying joint distribution of WTP and RP and predict the outcomes of future transactions. We assume that the price that prevails as the outcome of the negotiation can be represented as a generalized Nash bargaining equilibrium. We develop a structural estimation method based on the expectation-maximization algorithm that allows for the WTP and RP distributions to depend on an arbitrary set of covariates. Using both simulated and a real-world data set, we show that our proposed method improves the predictive accuracy of the deals’ final prices by 6.8% and the customers' decision to accept the deal by around 2% compared to standard regression-based approaches. These results are robust to assumptions on the distribution of bargaining power between the two parties in the negotiation. We also show that the estimated distributions can be used to optimize controls on negotiated prices that can significantly increase revenues relative to both unconstrained negotiations and centrally-optimized fixed prices.
Patterning of metallic glasses using polymer templates

Abstract We demonstrate patterning of metallic glasses using flexible and reusable polymer templates. The elastic deformation of polymer templates is utilized to pattern features of varying dimensions and oblique angles on planar and non-planar surfaces. This is enabled by low thermoplastic processing temperatures of certain metallic glasses and the stability of thermosetting polymers used as the mold making material. The polymer templates are fabricated by standard replica molding of silicon master templates. This provides a scalable method for patterning of metallic glasses which otherwise requires expensive disposable silicon templates.
Reflections on Running a First-Year Seminar about Feminism and Jesuit Education

The purpose of this essay is to explain the reasons and benefits in bringing together the topics of Feminism and Jesuit education for a First-Year Seminar, to detail the curriculum steps and considerations in designing and proposing such a course, and to suggest a final list of overall dos and don’ts for running this course after one semester’s experience.
Application of Adaptive Control to In-Process Weld Geometry Regulation

In this paper, the control of manufacturing processes in real-time is addressed in the context of a weld bead geometry problem. Since weld geometry dynamics are highly non-linear and non-stationary in nature, adaptive control techniques have been chosen. Self Tuning Control and Model Reference Adaptive Control are first examined experimentally for an "ideal" position servo. The servo system represents a linear, low noise, constant (but unknown) parameter process and it is shown that an adaptive control system improves performance dramatically over a linear control system except when plant deadband is intentionally introduced. On the other hand, the welding process represents a process noise contaminated, time varying, nonlinear dynamic process. It is shown that Self Tuning Control is capable of modifying "incorrect" initial plant parameters, thereby attaining a model response in the real system. However, at the same time the sensitivity to the process noise inherent in welding is evident, indicating the need for great care in designing such systems.
Engineering of protein bound iron-sulfur clusters

An increasing number of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins are found in which the Fe-S cluster is not involved in net electron transfer, as it is in the majority of Fe-S proteins. Most of the former are (de)hydratases, of which the most extensively studied is aconitase. Approaches are described and discussed by which the Fe-S cluster of this enzyme could be brought into states of different structure, ligation, oxidation and isotope composition. The species, so obtained, provided the basis for spectroscopic and chemical investigations. Results from studies by protein chemistry, EPR, Mossbauer, 1H, 2H and 57Fe electron-nuclear double resonance spectroscopy are described. Conclusions, which bear on the electronic structure of the Fe-S cluster, enzyme-substrate interaction and the enzymatic mechanism, were derived from a synopsis of the recent work described here and of previous contributions from several laboratories. These conclusions are discussed and summarized in a final section.
The gamma-radiolysis of HEDTA in a simulated, mixed waste

The γ -radiolysis of the parent compound N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriaceticacid (HEDTA) in a simulant of a Hanford mixed waste, at a γ -dose of7.5 . 106±10% R, yielded 94.4% degradation. HEDTA radiolysisyielded four degradation products: glyoxylic acid, N-( nitroso)iminodiaceticacid (NIDA) and 2 dicarboxylic acids, ethandioic (oxalic) and propandioic(malonic) acids. Glyoxylic acid had been identified in previous studies byour laboratory as N-hydroxymethyl-N-methyliminoacetic acid (HMMIA). Promptedby studies from another laboratory, the chelator fragment previously reportedby our laboratory as N-(methylamine)iminodiacetic acid (MAIDA) is re-identifiedas NIDA. A methylamine moiety previously believed to be present in MAIDA,and several other chelator fragments, as well, has been re-identified as anitroso group.
Why Law and Economics' Perfect Rationality Should Not Be Traded for Behavioral Law and Economics' Equal Incompetence

The emerging movement within legal scholarship known as behavioral law and economics seeks to replace the perfect rationality assumption found in law and economics with an equal incompetence assumption: drawing on empirical research in psychology and behavioral economics, behavioral law and economics scholars assert that all people systematically fall prey to biases and errors in their judgment and decision-making and that these biases and errors lead to predictable irrational behaviors. Adopting this equality of incompetence view, these scholars argue for changes across virtually all areas of the law and offer new justifications for legal policies that would be deemed paternalistic and inefficient in a system of rational legal actors. Unfortunately, this equality of incompetence view propounded in behavioral law and economics overlooks substantial empirical evidence that people are not equally irrational and that situational variables exert an important influence on the rationality of behavior. A review of the empirical evidence on individual and situational variability in rational behavior reveals that the assumption of uniformly imperfect rationality found in behavioral law and economics is no more plausible than the assumption of uniformly perfect rationality found in law and economics. An empirical approach to rationality places the concept between perfect rationality and equal incompetence. While this middle ground position makes general theory development more difficult, it illuminates ways that the legal system may foster rational behavior or counter irrational behavior.
Narrative Perspectives in Psychosocial Intervention Following Adverse Life Events

AS SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL research has demonstrated, trau matic experience threatens basic as sumptions about the resilience and worthiness of the self and challenges fundamental perceptions of meaning, benevolence, and justice (Bulman & Wortman, 1977; Horowitz, 1980; Janoff-Bulman & Timko, 1987). In the face of adversity, the assumptive world that has provided one with a sense of coherence and continuity may be taxed beyond its adaptive capacities, leading to psychological disorganization and dysfunction. Inevitably, the effort to restore a sense of order and meaning assumes the form of narrative: Stories are ways of organizing experience and interpreting events (Bruner, 1986, 1990). According to narrative lines of inquiry in the social and behavioral sciences, people revise accounts of life experience in the face of unexpected or adverse events so as to maintain a
Storage of retort pouch beefsteak and beef stew packed under four headspace levels

Changes in specific physico-chemical and sensory attributes as well as acceptability of beefsteak and beef stew Meal-Ready-to-Eat (MRE) components packed under different headspace levels (10, 20, 30 and 40 cm 3 ) and stored at selected temperatures of 4, 27 and 38C (40, 80 and 100F) were evaluated over a six month period. No significant changes in microbial counts, pH, residual oxygen, color, hardness and oxidation occurred in retort-packed beefsteak or beef stew. Unlike beefsteak, beef stew received acceptable scores by consumers during all six months of analysis. Consumers' lack of familiarity with beefsteak may have negatively influenced product acceptability. Beefsteak and beef stew acceptability and specific attributes, particularly moistness and firmness, were detrimentally affected by high storage temperatures. Headspace may be increased to 40 cm 3 without significant detrimental effects on product quality and acceptability of beefsteak or beef stew.
Oblique-angle deposition: Evolution from sculptured thin films to bioreplication

Abstract The versatile oblique-angle deposition (OAD) technique, which is based on traditional vapor-deposition processes, allows the growth of thin films comprising one-, two- and three-dimensional complex nanostructures. The OAD technique has evolved into the conformal-evaporated-film-by-rotation (CEFR) and the modified CEFR (mod-CEFR) techniques, which have been successfully used to coat biotemplates for possible replication. Finally, the Nano4Bio technique – which is the sequential combination of the mod-CEFR technique, electroforming, plasma ashing and stamping/casting – is emerging as a robust and industrially scalable manufacturing process to fabricate bioreplicas.
Cortisol stress response of juvenile winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus, Walbaum) to predators

Abstract Wild stocks of winter flounder ( Pseudopleuronectes americanus ) in the Northwestern Atlantic have been depleted to an extent that has warranted increasingly stronger fishing regulations in the last decade. As a means to strengthen the wild populations of winter flounder and to avoid further fishing restrictions, the rearing of juvenile fish in hatcheries for release in coastal waters has been viewed as a possibility. Many fishery biologists have concern that hatchery-reared fish are not behaviorally and/or physiologically equipped to survive in the wild due to a lack of predator interaction and conditioning. This study aimed to determine whether hatchery-reared juvenile winter flounder exhibited a stress response, as evidenced by an increase in whole-body cortisol concentrations, to cohabitation with potential predators. The green crab ( Carcinus maenas ) and sand shrimp ( Crangon septemspinosa ) have been implicated as sources of juvenile flounder mortality in laboratory and field studies and therefore were chosen as invertebrate predators. In addition, the summer flounder ( Paralichthys dentatus ) was selected as a predator because of its co-existence with young winter flounder in estuaries during early summer. Juvenile fish ( n = 12) were exposed to predators for 24 h in an arena. Results from radioimmunoassay indicate that juvenile winter flounder initiate a cortisol response to sand shrimp and summer flounder cohabitation, whereas the presence of a green crab does not elicit such a response. The ability of a fish to detect and react to a predator is vital for survival to a reproductive size. This study demonstrates that a hatchery-reared juvenile winter flounder can mount a stress response in the presence of predators.
ANGULAR LIGHT-SCATTERING STUDIES ON ISOLATED MITOCHONDRIA.

Angular light-scattering studies have been carried out on suspensions of isolated rat liver mitochondria. The angular scatter pattern has a large forward component, typical of large particles. Changes in dissymmetry and in the intensity of light scattered at 90° have been correlated with changes in optical density during the course of mitochondrial swelling and contraction. Such changes can be measured at mitochondrial concentrations much below those required for optical density measurements. Changes in mitochondrial geometry caused by factors "leaking" from mitochondria, not detectable by optical density measurements, have been demonstrated by measuring changes in dissymmetry. Angular light-scattering measurements therefore offer the advantages of increased sensitivity and of added indices of changes in mitochondrial conformation.
Abstract 2434: CXCR3-mediated cellular and molecular events involved in breast cancer metastasis

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL We previously detected chemokine receptor CXCR3 in malignant epithelium of early stage breast cancers by immunohistochemistry and the expression levels were positively correlated with significantly poorer survival. We also showed that CXCR3 contributes to metastatic potential in a murine model of metastatic breast cancer. The goal of the present study is to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying CXCR3-mediated breast cancer metastasis. Treatment of the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 with the CXCR3 ligand CXCL10 induced calcium mobilization and Rac activation; both responses are essential for tumor cell chemotaxis. Not surprisingly, CXCL10 enhanced migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. We also showed that CXCL10 promoted anchorage independent growth of both human malignant mammary epithelial cells (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) and murine malignant mammary epithelial cell line 66.1 in an ERK- dependent manner. In tumor cells, ERK1/2 is robustly activated after CXCR3 ligand stimulation, whereas the same pathway is inhibited or not changed in normal cells. In addition, CXCR3 activation provided some degree of anoikis resistance to 66.1 cells. There are two isoforms of CXCR3 in human cells. The “classical” CXCR3 receptor (CXCR3-A) mediates proliferation and migration of various cell lines, while CXCR3-B, a splice variant of CXCR3-A, has opposing functions. We determined the expression pattern of these two CXCR3 isoforms in a panel of human breast cancer cell lines by real-time quantitative PCR and showed that the CXCR3-B/CXCR3-A mRNA expression ratio is decreased (0.16-0.63) compared with normal epithelial cell line MCF-10A (2.16). Taken together, these data indicate that multiple molecular and cellular mechanisms may contribute to CXCR3-mediated breast cancer metastasis. Due to the distinct functions of CXCR3-A and CXCR3-B, the relative amounts of CXCR3-A and CXCR3-B may dictate cell behavior. Further studies will investigate how the balance between CXCR3-A and CXCR3-B regulates the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells and allow us to optimize therapeutic strategies targeting CXCR3. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2434. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2434
Prognosis of patients with good exercise capacity and mildly abnormal exercise echocardiography results: identification of an at-risk subgroup.

Background Patients with good exercise capacity and mildly abnormal exercise echocardiography results have a favorable overall prognosis. Objective We sought to define subgroups that might be at higher risk. Methods We examined outcomes of 868 patients (women, ≥ 5 metabolic equivalents; men, ≥ 7 metabolic equivalents) with mild rest- or exercise-induced wall-motion abnormalities and evaluated potential predictors of time to cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). Results Mean age was 64 ± 10 years; 477 patients (55%) were men. Mean follow-up was 3.1 ± 1.5 years; cardiac event rate was 1.2% per person-year. A history of MI was the only significant predictor (risk ratio, 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.9–7.8; P = .0001), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year event-free survival of 98.5% ± 1.1%, 92.6% ± 2.6%, and 83.3% ± 5.1%, respectively (event rate, 3.4%). Conclusions Patients with a history of MI have a higher annual cardiac event rate and may benefit from reevaluation, whereas no history of MI connotes a favorable prognosis.
Organ formation in vitro as applicable to forest tree propagation

Literature concerning the influences of auxins, adenine, kinetin, light, heat, time, age, and physical characteristics of the medium onin vitro organ formation by sterile seed-plant fragments is reviewed and integrated.
Multiple-Scattering Description of Intensity Profiles Observed in Low-Energy Electron Diffraction From Solids

Abstract : The dependence on beam energy and lattice geometry of the intensity of electrons diffracted from surfaces is evaluated using the inelastic-collision model. At energies below that of the second primary Bragg peak, qualitative features of the intensity profiles are related to the lattice geometry. Their quantitative features depend sensitively on the scattering from the surface layer. The first detailed interpretation of such profiles is proposed for the (100) face of tungsten. (Author)
Symposium on Amartya Sen’s philosophy: 2 Unstrapping the straitjacket of ‘preference’: a comment on Amartya Sen’s contributions to philosophy and economics

The concept of preference dominates economic theory today. It performs a triple duty for economists, grounding their theories of individual behavior, welfare, and rationality. Microeconomic theory assumes that individuals act so as to maximize their utility – that is, to maximize the degree to which their preferences are satisfied. Welfare economics defines individual welfare in terms of preference satisfaction or utility, and social welfare as a function of individual preferences. Finally, economists assume that the rational act is the act that maximally satisfies an individual's preferences. The habit of framing problems in terms of the concept of preference is now so entrenched that economists rarely entertain alternatives.
Rhodopsin–lipid interactions

Purified, lipid-free rhodopsin has been incorporated into bilayers of natural and synthetic phosphatidyl cholines and a natural digalactosyl diglyceride. Successful incorporation and high regenerability of rhodopsin appears to depend on the nature of the hydrocarbon chains and not specifically on the type of polar head group of the lipids. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of recombinant membranes containing small amounts of spin labeled phosphatidyl cholines reveals that rhodopsin interacts directly with the hydrocarbon chains of the phospholipids in the bilayer, resulting in a dramatically decreased motional freedom of the chains. In studies of the recombinant membranes using freeze–fracture electron microscopy, the presence of rhodopsin is detected as discrete particles in the plane of fracture. The particle distribution is dependent on the nature of the lipid hydrocarbon chains and whether or not the rhodopsin has been photolyzed. From these studies, it is concluded that the rhodopsin-bilayer structure is stabilized primarily by direct interaction of the hydrocarbon chains with the protein molecule, and that structural parameters in this model system are subject to modulation by visible light.
Tunable Two-Photon Excited Luminescence in Single Gold Nanowires Fabricated by Lithographically Patterned Nanowire Electrodeposition

The two-photon excited luminescence (TPEL) of single gold nanowires was investigated under far-field illumination with picosecond pulses. These nanowires, having a rectangular cross-section, a precisely defined thickness, and millimeter-scale length, were prepared by using the lithographically patterned nanowire electrodepostion (LPNE) technique. The TPEL from these wires was investigated as a function of wire thickness. It is found that the optical properties of the wire are dominated by the transverse surface plasmon resonance, which enhances the two-photon absorption process and subsequent emission in the polarization direction of the plasmon mode. Upon tuning the thickness of the wire from 74 to 25 nm, an enhancement of 3 orders of magnitude in the TPEL was observed. The TPEL tunability is found to be consistent with the geometry-dependent field concentration at the metal surface as predicted by the lightning rod model.
Ground truth and benchmarks for performance evaluation

Progress in algorithm development and transfer of results to practical applications such as military robotics requires the setup of standard tasks, of standard qualitative and quantitative measurements for performance evaluation and validation. Although the evaluation and validation of algorithms have been discussed for over a decade, the research community still faces a lack of well-defined and standardized methodology. The range of fundamental problems include a lack of quantifiable measures of performance, a lack of data from state-of-the-art sensors in calibrated real-world environments, and a lack of facilities for conducting realistic experiments. In this research, we propose three methods for creating ground truth databases and benchmarks using multiple sensors. The databases and benchmarks will provide researchers with high quality data from suites of sensors operating in complex environments representing real problems of great relevance to the development of autonomous driving systems. At NIST, we have prototyped a High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) system with a suite of sensors including a Riegl ladar, GDRS ladar, stereo CCD, several color cameras, Global Position System (GPS), Inertial Navigation System (INS), pan/tilt encoders, and odometry . All sensors are calibrated with respect to each other in space and time. This allows a database of features and terrain elevation to be built. Ground truth for each sensor can then be extracted from the database. The main goal of this research is to provide ground truth databases for researchers and engineers to evaluate algorithms for effectiveness, efficiency, reliability, and robustness, thus advancing the development of algorithms.
Skin flaps inhibit both the current of injury at the amputation surface and regeneration of that limb in newts

For over two decades, we have been investigating a strong (ca. 20-100 microA/cm2), outwardly directed electric current driven through the limb stump for the first few days following amputation in regenerating salamanders. This current is driven through the stump in a proximal/distal direction by the amiloride-sensitive transcutaneous voltage of the intact skin of the stump. Limb regeneration can be manipulated by several technique that manipulate this physiology, demonstrating that the ionic current is necessary, but not sufficient, for normal regeneration of the amphibian limb. Here, we demonstrate that a full thickness graft of skin covering the forelimb stump of newts strikingly inhibits the regeneration of the limb, and that this procedure is also highly correlated to a suppression of peak outwardly directed stump currents in those animals that fail to regenerate.
Sol-gel polycondensation kinetic modeling: Methylethoxysilanes

Quantitative kinetic modeling of the condensation of methylethoxysilanes ~(CHJj.+$i(OCz H5)f 1 of varying functionality fl is needed to engineer inorganic polymers, resins, and ceramics. To that end, a kinetic model that accounts for hydrolysis pseudoequilibrium, nearest-neighbor substitution eflects, and unimolecular cyclization reactions in homogeneous ethoxysilane polycondensation is presented. Condensation rate parameters are determined by fitting to 29Si NMR transients. Several important features become evident: (1) the success of the hydrolysis pseudoequilibrium approximation; (2) strong negative substitution effects with unusual dependence on connectivity; (3) a strong kinetic tendency for ring formation, growing with methyl substitution; (4) acceleration of condensation upon methyl substitution; and (5) destabilization of three silicon rings by methyl substitution. The first three observations are consistent with previous findings for ethylethoqsilanes, but the last two are strikingly diflerent.
Macrosomia, cardiac hypertrophy, erythroblastosis, and hyperplasia of the islands of langerhans in infants born to diabetic mothers

T HE only anatomical variants that have been generally recognized in infants born of diabetic mothers are excessive body weight and increase in the size and number of the islands of Langerhans. Their exact incidence is not known, but it is significantly greater than in the normal newborn infant population. In the present communication it will be shown that other important deviations from the normal anatomy of the newborn infant are to be found in some infants born to diabetic mothers; namely, a marked hypertrophy of the heart and an increase in the erythropoietic tissue of tile liver. In fact, we have observed that macrosomia, hyperp]asia of the islands of Langerhans, cardiac hypertrophy, and erythroblastosis occur together in tile same infant in a surprising number of cases. Our attention was directed to these findings by a recent study made in this clinic of six infants born to diabetic mothers2 Two of the infants had by roentgen examination considerable enlargement of their hearts in the first few days of life. Similar observations have been made here in four additional infants. The observations in these ten infants led us to search the literature and the autopsy files of the New Haven Hospital, the New York tIospital,* and the Boston Lying-In Hospital} for anatomical confirmation of the roentgen evidence of
Complete Keldysh theory and its limiting cases.

An investigation of the foundations of strong-field theories of the Keldysh type is undertaken. It is found first that the Volkov solution, upon which the Keldysh approximation depends, exists unambiguously only in the relativistic case. Accordingly, a fully relativistic theory of atomic photoionization is formulated from first principles. A strong-field approximation (SFA) is expressed, based only on the proposition that the photoionizing field dominates the atomic potential in the final state. The nonrelativistic limit of the SFA gives exactly one of the known Keldysh-type theories, but the original Keldysh theory itself is found to neglect some fraction of the strong-field effects. It is shown on a variety of grounds that ${\mathbf{A}}^{2}$ terms must be fully retained in Keldysh-type theories. Important in this matter are the proper application of asymptotic conditions, the interchangeability of A\ensuremath{\cdot}p and ${\mathbf{A}}^{2}$ terms, and the consistent reduction to the nonrelativistic limit.
A Nation in Extremity: Sewing Machines and the American Civil War

AbstractThe sewing machine, a mid-nineteenth century civilian experimental invention with little public appeal, gained widespread acceptance in the United States only after it proved of value in outfitting the Union army during the American Civil War (1861–65). Although it is not unusual for wartime circumstances to advance development and implementation of new technologies, little attention has been paid to the military's role in advancing the major shift to mass-produced machine-made clothing and accessories that took place in the decades following the Civil War.
Effects of Real and Contrived Problem-Solving on Economic Learning

For many years problem-solving approaches have been touted as being superior to conventional teaching methods in precollege classrooms. Too few of the supporters of this technique have undertaken well-controlled research to determine whether or not it really is superior. Although the “final” answer remains to be given, Ellis and Glenn have made a commendable start in their research involving fifth and sixth-grade students. They have measured the effectiveness of three approaches to the teaching of economics in the intermediate school grades to determine which is more effective in teaching basic economic concepts and which is more effective in teaching problem-solving skills. Both their findings and their research design should be of interest to all who are concerned about the teaching of economics at the precollege level.
Regulation of embryonic cell adhesion by the cadherin cytoplasmic domain

Differential adhesion between embryonic cells has been proposed to be mediated by a family of closely related glycoproteins called the cadherins. The cadherins mediate adhesion in part through an interaction between the cadherin cytoplasmic domain and intracellular proteins, called the catenins. To determine whether these interactions could regulate cadherin function in embryos, a form of N-cadherin was generated that lacks an extracellular domain. Expression of this mutant in Xenopus embryos causes a dramatic inhibition of cell adhesion. Analysis of the mutant phenotype shows that at least two regions of the N-cadherin cytoplasmic domain can inhibit adhesion and that the mutant cadherin can inhibit catenin binding to E-cadherin. These results suggest that cadherin-mediated adhesion can be regulated by cytoplasmic interactions and that this regulation may contribute to morphogenesis when emerging tissues coexpress several cadherin types.
Practical Strategies for Detecting and Confirming Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus: a Tertiary-Care Hospital Laboratory's Experience

The clinical microbiology laboratory plays a critical role in the detection of Staphylococcus aureus with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin. Staff education and rapid laboratory response are of utmost importance. We report on our laboratory's experience and provide recommendations for the identification and confirmation of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus.
On bounds for groups of multipliers of planar difference sets

A subset D of a group S is a planar difference set if for each nonidentity element z of S there exists a unique pair x, y E D such that z = xy ‘; also there exists a unique pair c, d E D such that z = c-Id. The study of a planar difference set of a finite group S is equivalent to the study of a finite projective plane IZ admitting a regular collineation group isomorphic to S. (See, for example, [L or HP].) The latter leads to the study of multipliers. Here an automorphism of the regular collineation group S is a multiplier if it is also a collineation of 17. The set of all multipliers of Z7 is called the multiplier group of I7 and S is called a Singer group of Z7. In this paper we prove the following.
Mupirocin Resistance Related to Increasing Mupirocin Use in Clinical Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Pediatric Population

We investigated the proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from pediatric patients demonstrating mupirocin resistance related to mupirocin use at our institution. No mupirocin resistance was found in 98% of isolates, whereas mupirocin prescriptions increased by 110%. Resistance rates remained low despite the increasing use of mupirocin.
Interstimulus interval determines whether ethanol produces conditioned place preference or aversion in mice

DBA/2J mice were exposed to a distinctive floor stimulus (CS+) and ethanol (2 g/kg) in a place conditioning paradigm. A different floor stimulus (CS−) was presented with saline. Mice injected just before or 30 min before CS exposure (Groups 0, −30) showed conditioned place preference, whereas mice injected right after exposure to the CS (Group 5) displayed place aversion (Experiment 1). None of the other groups (−120, −60, 15, 60) showed place conditioning. Handling and saline injection given just before or after CS exposure were unable to produce place conditioning (Experiment 2). However, there was a positive relationship between ethanol concentration (10% vs. 20%) and test performance, suggesting that peritoneal irritation influences place conditioning (Experiment 3). Overall, these findings support the suggestion that intraperitoneal injection of ethanol produces an initial short-duration aversive effect that is followed by a longer lasting positive motivational effect.
Purification of animal viruses with Zn(OH)2.

Abstract A simple and rapid means for purification of three animal viruses is described. Vesicular stomatitis virus, vesicular exanthema virus, and infectious rhinotracheitis virus were all precipitated quantitatively with Zn(OH) 2 . The zinc hydroxide-virus complex was then dissociated by ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid. Approximately 90% of the nonspecific nitrogen was eliminated by this method from crude vesicular stomatitis virus suspensions. There appears to be a direct relationship between concentration of Zn(OH) 2 and the amount of vesicular stomatitis virus recovered. The virus was removed quantitatively by 0.05% Zn(OH) 2 from a preparation containing 10 7 plaque-forming units per milliliter. A high-titered preparation of vesicular exanthema virus was obtained after precipitation by Zn(OH) 2 and subsequent high-speed centrifugation. An electron micrograph of the purified preparation revealed spherical particles 55 mμ in diameter. The ratio of these particles to plaque count was approximately 200:1. The observed sedimentation rate of about 140 Svedberg units is compatible with the size shown by electron microscopy.
Mortality and growth characteristics of rat strains commonly used in aging research

In choosing an experimental animal for the study of aging, the investigator should have knowledge of certain basic characteristics of the animal. Of particular importance are longevity and growth. This review aims to provide available data on the mortality and growth characteristics of rat strains commonly used in aging research. In addition, the influences of nutrition and housing conditions on these characteristics are described and discussed. Finally, the usefulness of rats as models for the study of nutrition and aging is considered.
Utilization of empirically supported psychotherapy treatments for individuals with eating disorders: A survey of psychologists.

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the primary methods used by psychotherapists in treating individuals with eating disorders and to determine the extent to which certain empirically supported psychotherapies (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] and interpersonal psychotherapy [IPT]) are used in clinical settings. Method Surveys developed for this study were sent to 500 psychologists randomly selected from a list of all licensed doctoral-level psychologists in an upper midwestern state. Results Despite the findings that CBT techniques were reported to be frequently used, most respondents identified something other than CBT or IPT as their primary theoretical approach. In addition, the majority of repondents indicated not having received training in the use of manual-based, empirically supported treatment approaches for working with individuals with eating disorders, although most reported a desire to obtain such training. Conclusions Although commonly referred to as the “treatments of choice” in research literature, manual-based, empirically supported approaches to working with individuals with eating disorders has not received adequate dissemination. © 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 27: 230–237, 2000.
Precision ozone vapor pressure measurements

The vapor pressure above liquid ozone has been measured with a high accuracy over a temperature range of 85 to 95 K. At the boiling point of liquid argon (87.3 K) an ozone vapor pressure of 0.0403 Torr was obtained with an accuracy of + or - 0.7 percent. A least square fit of the data provided the Clausius-Clapeyron equation for liquid ozone; a latent heat of 82.7 cal/g was calculated. High-precision vapor pressure data are expected to aid research in atmospheric ozone measurements and in many laboratory ozone studies such as measurements of cross sections and reaction rates.
Attenuation of hyperactivity in the spontaneously hypertensive rat by amphetamine

Several experiments show that spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are behaviorally hyperactive when compared with their normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) progenitor rat strain. Behavioral hyperactivity was present in both 3-min open-field tests as well as in 1-hr tests using an automated activity recording chamber. In addition, under certain conditions, d-amphetamine (1.25–3.5 mg/kg) decreased activity in the SHR while inducing the expected increase in activity in the WKY. Further analysis of these data shows that the attenuation of SHR behavioral hyperactivity by amphetamine can be predicted based upon rate dependency of the actions of d-amphetamine. The SHR may provide a valuable animal model for studying spontaneous hyperactivity and for investigating the neurochemical basis of the so-called “paradoxical response” to amphetamine as seen in children.